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Disclaimer: Own nothing and no one used here in. The song lyrics belong to Martina McBride
Title: Death and Mischief's Angel
Author: Kate
Summary: A song fic based on a video I saw for this song. It just made me write it.
AN: If thinking about child abuse bugs you don't read this.

Strife flashed into Asphodel fuming in rage. How could he have not understood she was going to die? How could he have missed his little Angelina being on the list?
Strife felt like a failure. His job was to protect children and he failed this seven year old girl. There was no was to stop her death now. Even if she was taken from her mother, the fucking bitch, she would still die from a head injury. Strife had checked. There was only one thing left for him to do to at least make it easier for her before he went to Cupid to cry about this: Ask Hades for a favor.
"Come in Strife," Hades called from the head of his dining table. He had to admit to being curious. Strife did not normally come near Asphodel. Not since his death more than two thousand years ago. Occasionally he would go down to Tartarus and torment the dead there and Hades would join him there to speak to him but Strife did not normally go to Asphodel itself.
"I...I have a problem Uncle Hades," Strife said as he sat quietly at the table. That got Hades' attention. Strife never sounded this subdued when he came to see him.
"What is this problem and why do you think I may be of help Strife?" Hades asked. Strife slumped lower in his chair.
"There's a name on your list now Unc. Angelina Cressa. She's one of my kids but the fates say she's meant to die an' I looked an' it...Unc, her mother is goin' to be the one who kills her and..."
"And you want...what from me?" Hades asked. Although he suspected he knew what Strife was going to ask.
"Would...Would ya go an gather her yourself? I mean Thanatos is great an' all but this little girl Unc...She's so special an' if... If she's gotta die... I was hopin'..."
"I will go Strife," Hades said. He knew Strife feared Asphodel and he knew this little girl must have been special indeed to have Strife come here to him.
"How old is she?" Hades asked. Strife sighed with relief. Hades wasn't going to make him bet like Poseidon would have.
"She's seven Unc why?" Strife asked. Hades' appearance shifted slightly and for a moment Strife was looking at what his Uncle might have looked like at seven dressed in jeans, tennis shoes and a leather jacket before Hades altered the image back to normal.
"So I don't frighten her when she meets me. You know those I gather personally I have to meet." He said. Strife nodded and watched as Hades called his list to his hand. he found the name and the location and winked at Strife.
"Tell Thanatos he's in charge. I'll be back in a week or so with your friend," he said as he flashed out. Strife sighed and nodded. he delivered the message to Thanatos and then went to Cupid to cry. It wasn't fair. Angelina was only 7. She didn't deserve to die. Not like this, at her mother's hand.
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Hades shared Strife's sentiment as he appeared on the mortal plain. No child deserved to die at their parent's hands. He sighed and soon found his target. Angelina. And she was like a little Angel. Her dreams were so beautiful and he suspected it was the balance of her home life.
Hades became her secret friend. Always there when she needed someone to speak to, never even blinking about the fact that this was as close to a mortal as he'd allowed himself to come since Persephone had...gone.
She was such a beautiful child but so sad. Hades sighed and watched. He had to stop himself from killing her mother repeatedly. There was nothing he could do to save her and he could have his vengeance with the mother later.
He watched her as she woke after a belt beating. Oh, he wanted her mother for that. And he knew he would eventually have the bitch. Every night he watched through the window of the house next door to Angelina's. He may have started this for Strife but he was going to finish it for all of them. he watched her get up and pull on her dress form yesterday and go downstairs to make herself some lunch for school that day.

"She walks to school with the lunch she packed.
Nobody knows what she's holdin' back.
Wearin' the same dress she wore yesterday,
She hides the bruises with linen and lace.
Oh."

Hades watched her as he could feel Strife watching her and he felt like crying. Not until this was done though. He had promised himself he would see this through and he would. Hades changed his appearance to his seven year old image just in case someone other than she could see him and he followed her.

"The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask.
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask.
Bearing a burden of a secret storm,
Sometimes she wishes she was never born."

Hades sighed as he watched her. Angelina, so fragile yet so strong and he wished for once he could remove someone's name from his list. But even he knew she was destined to come to him. He sighed as he watched over her knowing it would be soon.

"Through the wind and the rain,
She stands hard as a stone,
In a world that she can't rise above.
But her dreams giver wings,
And she flies to a place where she's loved:
Concrete Angel."

Hades joined her for lunch that afternoon on a bench in the park. She sat sadly looking at the other children playing with heir loving parents and it tore his heart. He knew he'd gotten thoroughly involved in this mission but Strife was right, this girl was special. His seven year old appearance was her best friend, her only friend really. Why didn't her damn teacher ask? She'd seen the bruises. Damn this world. It had forgotten how to care and that bothered him for some reason.
Hades watched later that night. She looked for him in his window and he came to her. She could see him but no one else could. She smiled at him from her window and then got a frightened look on her face as her bedroom door was thrown open. Hades braced for it. Knowing as he always knew, that this was the time. He watched her mother shake her and then begin to smack and then beat her mercilessly and again he had to force himself to stay focused. Angelina was important here, not her bitch of a mother. Hades would make sure she got what she deserved when the time came and he thought maybe Strife would like to help him devise her punishment for eternity.

"Somebody cries in the middle of the night.
The neighbors hear, but they turn out the lights.
A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate.
When morning comes it'll be too late."

Hades stared when the mother was done. He knew she was going so he moved himself over to her. She smiled when she saw him and he knew she saw him as he was, not as he appeared to be. So Strong she was he thought

"Through the wind and the rain,
She stands hard as a stone,
In a world that she can't rise above.
But her dreams give her wings,
And she flies to a place where she's loved:
Concrete Angel"

"It hurts Dis," she whispered as she began to slip away. He swallowed tears of pain and anger as he held her. She was so fragile laying in his arms and he couldn't help the lump in his throat. The stories about him not having a heart were lies. He could feel and what he felt now was sadness, pain and regret. But he could give her one thing as he marked her soul for Elysium.
"Your dreams will all come true where you are going," he whispered as he gently kissed her forehead good night. "You will be loved," he said as he felt her life fade and he saw Strife was here now as well. He silently gave Strife the ability to carry her soul to Elysium as he had to see her buried before he joined them. Strife nodded. He would wait for Hades. Angelina wanted to wait for him to join them before they went anywhere.
Her funeral, three days later, was not attended by many. Hades was there but as always could not be seen and it hurt to see her headstone. Gods she was so young! No wonder Strife had wanted him to get her himself. And she was a special little girl. The angel she was named for.

"A statue stands in a shaded place:
An angel girl with an upturned face.
A name is written on a polished rock:
A broken heart that the world forgot"

Hades stared down at her headstone etched with her name and again felt the tears sting his eyes. Even though he knew she was in a better place, her teacher and her father and the Minster didn't. Not really. And despite the better place, the world was dimmer for the loss of her brightness and strength. She had been lost and forgotten by all but those here. Such a small crowd and he vowed she would have joy in her Eternal Elysium. Slowly, he turned to walk away. Opening a portal of golden light he returned wholly to the spirit plain where Angelina was waiting for him. She smiled as she hugged him and they turned to go play with the other children Strife had brought to meet her. Strife grinned at his Dark Uncle who kept the image of a seven year old boy in jeans, sneakers and a leather jacket while they played.

"Through the wind and the rain,
She stands hard as a stone,
In a world that she can't rise above.
But her dreams give her wings.
And she flies to a place where she's loved:..."

Later Hades watched her rest in Elysium after her every dream came true and she was safe and happy. She truly was an angel and he would have given anything to prevent her death at the hands of her sick mother. Strife appeared behind him as he wanted to see her resting in safety too.
"Thanks Uncle Hades," he said. "Thanks for bringin' her yourself and all. I know you don't usually leave here but..."
Hades cut Strife off gently as he tucked a blanket around the child. She had reminded him of something and he was finally understanding it.
"It was worth it Strife," Hades said quietly. "SHE was worth it. Her life... Oh, her life was so painful but she was so beautiful and she...her dreams were...They wont be just dreams here."
Strife nodded and watched as he turned to return to his throne room. Her lesson was there inside of him, Strife knew. Even through the pain, she lived. And she had reminded Hades of that. He still lived, even if Persephone didn't. he did and as he lived, he could act. And Strife knew, he just Knew, Hades was going to start acting again. And living. And it was all due to his little Angel. Their Angel. Angelina...

"...Concrete Angel..."