Helluva Boss season two finale canon divergence

Octavia is having a really, really, really bad week.

She had to see her father lay down his life for his stupid imp boyfriend, only to apparently not actually lay down his life but instead actually move in with his stupid imp boyfriend, basically abandoning his entire family (including her, his only child!) in the process, because that's what she wanted to see when she turned on her TV the other day.

It does make her feel a little better to know that he's trying to contact her. He keeps calling and calling, not that it does any good when her mom won't let her answer. But he keeps trying, and that's what matters. He hasn't fully abandoned her. Not yet, at least. He's still trying to be there for her. He's just... not.

Her mother and her uncle are laughing about her father's misfortune, not a single thought given to how that may affect her, and she's had enough of it. Just because she can't see her father doesn't mean she has to stay here and listen to her mother's sick, twisted idea of a joke.

She storms out of the room, not for the first time this week, and, just like every time before, nobody seems to notice. Nobody ever seems to notice. It's like nobody even sees her anymore. Ever since her parents' divorce, she feels as though she's been nothing but a bargaining chip, just something her parents try to claim so they can goad it over the other. Stella's the main culprit these days, but she's sure Stolas would do the same if he could; if he was even here to use her.

She groans to herself as she throws open her bedroom door–

And Stolas's stupid fucking imp boyfriend is lying on her bed.

He flashes her a smile and greets her with a much-to-casual, "Hey, Via."

For a few seconds, all she does is stare.

Then, of course, she does the only logical thing:

She screams.

In an instant, Blitzø is in front of her, slapping a hand over her beak to silence her. "Hey, hey, hey!" he hisses. "Stop it!"

"Let go of me!" she yells. With his hand on her beak, she's not sure a single one of those words comes out as anything other than nonsensical grunting, but she's trying, dammit!

"Stop it!" he hisses again. "I'm not trying to hurt you."

Octavia writhes in his grasp, and he wraps an arm around her torso to hold her still. Oh, if her dad could see his stupid imp boyfriend now...

"I just want to talk!" Blitzø whispers, and there's a sense of urgency to his voice that almost has her... intrigued, weirdly enough. "Please, Octavia, give me five minutes, okay? For your dad's sake?"

Though she knows she shouldn't, though she knows she should keep fighting and fighting until she can free herself and somebody comes to take care of this intruder, she finds herself quieting at those words. For her dad's sake. She would do nearly anything for her dad. And though she has no idea what this is about or why his stupid imp boyfriend is in her room right now, her dad probably wouldn't want the guards to find him, so...

She sighs and gives him a resigned nod. Fine, it says. You can talk.

Blitzø hesitates. "If I let go, are you going to scream again?"

She shakes her head. Not unless he does something exceptionally stupid – although, if he was willing to carry out an affair with her dad, 'exceptionally stupid' may just be his usual kind of stupid.

Still, Blitzø hesitates, but he does let her go, and, just as she promised, she doesn't scream again.

"What do you want?" she snaps. She's not in the mood for this. She will never be in the mood to talk to the stupid, selfish asshole who tore her family apart.

Blitzø folds his arms over his chest. "You know, your dad's been calling you all week."

"I know," she says. And that's all the answer that he deserves.

"You haven't picked up once," Blitzø adds.

"I haven't," she replies evenly. And what of it? Why is that any of his business?

"He's really worried about you."

She can feel herself soften at that. She doesn't want to. She doesn't want her dad's stupid imp boyfriend to see how much that hurts to hear. But she can't help it. He's worried about her? After all of this, after nearly losing his life for his crimes, he's worried about her?

"I just think he'd really appreciate a call back," Blitzø says, and he offers her a small, almost hesitant smile.

Octavia lowers her gaze to her hands, clasping them in front of her as she fiddles with them uncomfortably. She doesn't really want to say this aloud. She really doesn't want to say it to her dad's stupid imp boyfriend. But...

She sighs. She might as well. There's really nowhere else for this conversation to go. So she mumbles, "My mom won't let me."

Blitzø scoffs, his hands clenched into fists at his side. "What?"

Octavia shrugs sheepishly. What else is there to say? Her mom won't let her. It's as simple as that.

Blitzø looks between her, the door to the rest of the palace, and the window, and though she can't really tell what he's thinking, she's fairly confident that it's a bad idea.

Finally, Blitzø looks at her, and he just asks, "Do you want to see him?"

Octavia's brows shoot up. "What?"

"Do you want to see him?" he asks again. "We could go right now. I can take you to see him. Your mom never has to know."

"We could?" she asks, her eyes lit with excitement. She could see him again? Today? In just a few minutes, even?

"Sure, why not?" Blitzø says with a shrug. "To get him to smile? I'd break his daughter out of his old house a million times over."

Octavia just looks at him for a few moments, a small, thoughtful smile on her face. To get to see him smile, he says – like it's the most important thing in all of Hell to him; like it's the only goal worth fighting for. That's... kind of sweet, actually. Maybe her dad's stupid imp boyfriend has a little bit more going for him than she thought.

So she nods once. "Let's go."

~~~

"Oh, Stolas!" Blitzø sings out, throwing the door to his house open without a care in the world. "I'm home!"

All she hears in response is a loud groan. It sounds just like her father, but at the same time, it doesn't sound like him. That's not how he acts. That's not how any Goetian acts, really, but it's definitely not how her father acts. He uses his words. He's good with his words. He doesn't just... do that.

"I brought you something!" Blitzø adds, ushering Octavia into the room so he can close the door behind her.

"Not now," Stolas mumbles.

It's then that she catches sight of him. He's lying face-first on the couch, his long legs awkwardly flopped over the arm because he can't squeeze himself into this imp-sized furniture. He doesn't move; he doesn't even look. She's never seen him like this.

Blitzø doesn't even seem to care. Either this is normal for them, or he's the worst boyfriend Hell has ever seen. She's not sure which is worse.

"No, I think you're really going to like this," Blitzø insists, an eager grin on his face.

Stolas sighs. "Not now, Blitzø."

Octavia's frown only deepens, and, hesitantly, she says, "Dad?"

Stolas's head snaps up, and when he sees her, his eyes almost seem to light up. He's on his feet in an instant, and before she knows what's happened, she finds herself engulfed in a hug. She closes her eyes and lets her melt into it. It's her dad. She has her dad back. She'd almost begun to wonder if she'd see him again at all in the next hundred years, but here he is, holding her tight. She can hardly believe it.

"Oh, Via," he murmurs. "I've missed you so, so much."

"I missed you, too," she murmurs back. She really, really has. And to be here with him now, it's only become that much more clear to her how miserable this last week has been for her. To finally have him back, even if just for a moment, means more than she could ever say.

"I'm so sorry," he tells her. "About everything. I promise you, I never wanted to leave you. I would never leave you."

"I know," she assures him. Of course she knows that. He's called her every day, even as she's been forced to ignore each one. He's done everything he could short of breaking into their home to keep her close. She just wishes he could have done more. She wishes it didn't have to come to this.

Her father presses a kiss to the top of her head, and they pull apart, though he keeps her hands on her shoulders as though afraid she'll disappear if he lets go. "What are you doing here?" he asks.

"Your boyfriend brought me," she answers. It may be the only thing his stupid imp boyfriend is good for, but at least he's good for something. At least he's not just here to tear her family apart.

"What?" Stolas looks between her and Blitzø's self-satisfied smirk, his bewilderment ever-present in his face. "Blitzø, what did you do?"

"Oh, it was nothing," he says, brushing his concern off with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I just broke into the palace and asked if she wanted to see you 'cause her shitty mom won't let her answer your calls. No biggie."

"What?" Stolas screeches, whipping around to face him. "You broke into the palace?"

"Well, let's not act like I haven't done it a million times before."

"Blitzø, Stella is going to kill you!"

"Nah." Blitzø shakes his head, a lazy sort of indifference to his tone. "It's fine."

"No, Blitzø, she will kill you!" he insists. "She will see you executed!" He throws his hands up, exasperated. "What were you thinking? She'll say you kidnapped her daughter, and that's not something I can protect you from!"

Octavia looks between the two of them with a frown. This was supposed to be a happy moment; a heartfelt family reunion. And all he's worried about is his stupid imp boyfriend? Not even a 'thank you for helping me see my daughter again'? All he cares about is how this is going to hurt them; how it's going to mess up their relationship. It's like she's just an afterthought; like she comes second to his real family here in Imp city.

"Okay, well, I didn't plan to kidnap her," Blitzø says, like that makes it any better. "I was just going to tell her off for not answering the phone. Kidnapping her was an impulsive decision, really."

"That does not make it better!" Stolas practically yells. "Have you lost your mind?"

"You've spent all week talking about Octavia!" Blitzø says defensively. "Well, sorry I wanted to make sure you got to talk to your daughter again!"

Stolas's expression softens at that, and he looks over at her. Octavia offers him a small, somewhat uncomfortable smile. Has he really been talking about her all week? He lost everything, and yet his focus hasn't wavered from her?

Stolas sighs and wraps his arms around her again, resting his head on top of hers. "And I appreciate that," he says, "but you shouldn't have done it. It was dangerous. It was reckless."

"And it worked!" Blitzø finishes cheerfully. "All's well that ends well, right?"

Stolas just sighs and hugs her tighter. Octavia hugs him tighter, too. She doesn't want to let go. She doesn't want to lose him again. And she'll have to. She knows that. She can't stay here forever. But, at least for now...

"If anybody asks," she says quietly, "I came here on my own. I won't make him take the fall for it." Not because she likes him. She definitely does not like her dad's stupid imp boyfriend. But he does. He's made that pretty damn clear, with the whole 'preparing to sacrifice his life to save him' thing he pulled last week. And if her dad has to live as a peasant for the next hundred years, he might as well do it with someone who cares about him.

"I don't want you to get in trouble," Stolas murmurs to her.

"Mom won't let me call you," she says. "She never said I couldn't look for you."

Stolas hums quietly and hugs her even tighter. If he does it again, he might literally pop her head off, but she doesn't mention it. She doesn't want to ruin this. She'd begun to think she wouldn't get to talk to him for another hundred years. Now that she can, she's not going to ruin it.

Blitzø has no such qualms about ruining their moment, though, because he says, rather conversationally, "You know, Via, my door's always open for you."

"Thanks," she says simply, and she expects that to be the end of it. It's not.

"As far as I'm concerned," Blitzø adds, "Stolas's family is my family. You're always welcome here."

It's ridiculous, and she knows it's ridiculous, but she can feel an all-too-familiar stinging behind her eyes. She's finally reunited with her dad for the first time since she thought she was about to see him executed on live TV, and the thing that's about to make her cry is her dad's stupid imp boyfriend who caused all this in the first place.

Why does her dad's stupid imp boyfriend have to make it so hard to hate him?

Octavia lets go of her father, discreetly wipes her eyes, and turns around to look at him. Stolas keeps a hand on her shoulder, even as she turns away. It means more to her than it should.

"Thank you," she says again. "And keep taking care of my dad, will you?"

Blitzø just smiles. "Always."