Disclaimer: I make no profit. Az and Crowley belong to Gaimen and Pratchett. Christmas belongs to Coca Cola. :P

Author's Note: Hello everyone! It has been a long time since 'It Was Christmas' which this is a sequel to. Much as I adore A/C, in 'It Was Christmas' I explored the option of pairing them with other characters. This continues in the same fashion. The reason this even exists is that a friend of mine sent me the most amazing present and re-ignighted for the hundredth time my passion for Good Omens and my inspiration, so I thought why not. I do reccomend you read the original, otherwise this will make very little sense. On second thought, it might not make sense anyway ;P

Also, footnotes are in parenthesis within the story because having to scroll down irritates me. ;)

Have fun!

Angels in the Snow

(Sequel to 'It Was Christmas')

Part One

There was an angel on top of the tree.

To tell the truth, Aziraphale had always found the idea of putting angels on top of Christmas trees a bit strange, especially since it often looked like the angels had the trees shoved up their…

Never mind.

The point was, the large Christmas tree in the middle of the Tadfield square had a real angel sitting on top of it. (*That tree had grown improbably tall and lush in the last year. The truth was, a certain demon was periodically intimidating it.) He had his wings out and was miraculously balancing on a small bow that normally would not have even supported the weight of a sparrow. His arms were crossed, his back was straight and his expression was that of solemn nobility. He was also – inexplicably – dressed as a Christmas elf in a green shirt with matching shorts, red-and-white stockings and red suspenders. His muscular chest strained beneath the shirt. Aziraphale carefully lowered the packages he was carrying to the ground and adjusted his purely decorative glasses as if that would somehow change the image before him. It didn't.

"Uh… Michael?" he tried.

The Head of Heaven's Army looked down and finally spotted him.

"Oh, here you are, Aziraphale, I was starting to wonder if you would show up," he said, leaping off the tree and landing gracefully on the snow-covered ground. (*Lower Tadfield always had the most wonderful snow at Christmas. Adam made sure of it.) Michael's human form looked more angelic than Aziraphale's. It was tall and in good shape with handsome features and shoulder-length blond curls. Normally he was clad in impressive-looking golden armour. His current outfit was pretty impressive in its own way. The little bells tied to his elf shoes jingled. Aziraphale tried not to stare.

"Yes, here I am," the Principality said. "That's me. Uh… Were you waiting for me?"

Michael nodded.

This couldn't be good, could it? When Aziraphale had last seen the Archangel about a week ago, they had parted on rather… complicated terms. Aziraphale had spent almost all year in Heaven, trying to convince other angels to leave Crowley and his family alone. (*Of course, there was no time in Heaven but Aziraphale remained aware of Earth time by habit.) It had been a surprisingly eventful year, considering this was Heaven we're talking about. He wasn't sure what to make of it by the end but at least it had seemed like he had won. He had returned to Earth with a sense of accomplishment and the intention to surprise Crowley with a visit for Christmas. He missed the bastard. But here was Michael now. His sudden appearance made the Principality very nervous.

"What can I do for you?" Aziraphale asked finally because it seemed more polite than 'What the Manchester do you want?' which was what had first come to mind.

"I came to… look around," Michael said. "To try to understand why you're so attached to this place."

"Tadfield? I'm not particularly attached to Tadfield, it's just that Crowley, well, he's not particularly attached to it either, he prefers London, but he moved here because the place has a certain, uh, quality about it. You see, humans don't age here unless Adam wants them to so that's very good for Molly and, besides, she says it's a good place to raise a child so…"

Michael looked like he would roll his eyes if such a gesture wasn't unbecoming of an angel of his rank.

"Not Tadfield, Aziraphale. Earth. I still don't understand what's so fascinating about it."

"Ah… Well, that takes a while to understand, I'm afraid."

Michael cast a sceptical look around. "This is what you exchanged Heaven for? I offer to relieve you of your lousy job as an agent here and you turn me down for what? Is there really something I am missing about Earth or are you so in love with your demon that you can't bring yourself to leave him behind?"

"I am not in love with him, de-" Aziraphale stopped himself before the highly inappropriate 'dear' could leave his mouth. He'd already started using the tone of a slightly exasperated teacher and was astonished at himself. A while ago he would have been extremely nervous in front of a high-ranking angel, not to say a bit scared but… well… things had happened. The near-Apocalypse for one thing. Fighting angels with a flaming poker to defend Crowley's baby last Christmas for another. And for a third, he and Michael…

He cleared his throat. "I am thankfully not in love with him in the sense you seem to be implying. He's taken. Under the circumstances, that would be a predicament worthy of a bebop song."

Michael frowned. "What is a bebop song?"

Aziraphale shook his head. "You are better off not knowing. My point is that I am not in love with Crowley. Is this what you came to check?"

"Not specifically. I told you. I came to understand why you turned me down."

Aziraphale softened. "I didn't turn you down, my b-… My general, I didn't turn you down. Just your offer. I like it here."

"You don't like Heaven?"

Aziraphale bit his lip. "Look… I belong here. It's not personal. I'm not quite me in Heaven."

"I don't see anything wrong with who you are in Heaven. Three times, Aziraphale! Three times you've turned your back on me! First you get yourself demoted and out of my army by losing your sword, then you refuse to join us for The End and now not only do you solely come to Heaven for the sake of that Crawly but, given the choice, you pick his company over ours! You showed so much promise back before Eden but every time I see a hint of that promise you… you…"

"It's getting late and I would like to get there before the baby is asleep..."

"Do not talk to me in that tone! Like you are politely dismissing me! YOU WILL GIVE ME THE TIME OF DAY!"

Aziraphale sighed.

"Does it have to be this day? You saw me last week."

"We have unfinished business, the demon will wait."

"Michael, they will finish all the sherry trifle. I am awfully fond of sherry trifle."

"You are waving me off in favour of food?"

"That's not it. I simply can't seem to find a way to explain to you… Come join me?"

The offer shot out of Aziraphale's mouth before he could stop it. A moment later his brain registered that this was the most terrible idea he had had in a long while but, well, Michael had sounded so neglected... At any rate, the Archangel was looking at him like he was crazy. Surely he would refuse.

"Join you while you pay a visit to a demon? Not to thwart him but to give him presents?"

Aziraphale gave him a little sheepish smile and shrugged, bending down to pick up his now slightly soggy packages. He miracle them dry and looked at the Archangel again.

Michael seemed to be contemplating the offer. "Very well," he said finally.

Aziraphale's jaw dropped. "Really?"

"Perhaps I should see with my own eyes if that demon is really not all that bad."

"Right. Lovely. Uh… The thing is…" Aziraphale shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. Crowley was going to kill him. "You won't do anything to them, will you? It would hardly be fair, what with Crowley being weaker than usual and with a defenceless woman and small child in the house…"

Michael gave him an irritated glare. "And what would you do if I did, Aziraphale? Would you fight me with a poker like you fought my troops? Try to discorporate me?"

"Well, I…" Probably, Aziraphale thought. Most likely. Yes. But I would really, really rather not.

Michael sighed. "I already gave you my word that I wouldn't harm them when you left Heaven. I'm hurt that you're making me promise twice, you evidently don't trust me."

Aziraphale blushed bright pink. "I'm terribly sorry, you're right. I'm delighted you're joining me and I'm sure Crowley will be…" He paused. There was a limit to how blatantly an angel could lie. "I'm sure he'll be very surprised," he said.

Michael snorted. "No doubt."

"Uh, Michael?" Aziraphale asked as they made their way to the Crowleys' house to the accompaniment of Michael's jingling shoes.

"Yes, Aziraphale?"

"I hope you don't mind me asking but… why are you dressed like this?"

"The human clothes? I wanted us to have an informal chat and I thought armour would not be appropriate. You like Earthly things so much so I looked into a human's head to check what they thought was appropriate for the season and this came up. Why, what's wrong with it?"

"Oh… Oh, no, nothing's really wrong! It's very… very endearing, really." Someone help Crowley if he starts laughing and pointing.

Crowley didn't laugh when he opened the door. He stared for half a moment before his expression became panicky. Aziraphale hastened to lift his hands in calming gesture.

"Crowley, dear boy, Merry Christmas! We're only here on a social visit, I hope you don't mind. You didn't know I was back from Up There, did you? Surprise! And Michael was just, uh, passing by…" He smiled in a way he hoped was reassuring to the demon.

Crowly didn't looked all that reassured. He kept looking between the two angels as if he expected them to explode.

"Aziraphale…" he began slowly but then didn't seem to know how to finish the sentence.

"What's daddy doing now?" a woman's voice cooed from inside the house. "Wanna see what daddy's doing?"

And then Molly Crowley (*Molly was the woman withone of the most interesting prenups ever written.) showed up at the door carrying baby Henry who was holding a chocolate biscuit. Her eyes fell on Aziraphale and the pile of presents.

"Oh, Aziraphale! We haven't seen you in ages!" She pushed past Crowley to kiss his cheek and only then saw Michael who was a step behind. She paused to survey him, took in his outfit, noticed the wings and her smile thinned slightly. Since her experiences the previous year Molly was still a little disinclined to be nice to any angel or demon who was not Aziraphale or Crowley. "Well, Az, I see you've brought a friend," she said sweetly. "Who is he and why does he look like he's about to take part in Christmas-themed porn?"

There was a pause in which Henry dropped his biscuit and started making indignant noises. Crowley gave a strange little squeak. Aziraphale's shoulders began shaking suspiciously. Michael blinked.

"What do you mean, child?" he asked.

"Oh, it's a compliment, love. Great abs for an elf."

"Biwkit," Henry said.

"Mol," said Crowley in a slightly strangled voice, "This is Archangel Michael."

"Oh…" She stepped back, holding Henry tighter and giving Michael a suspicious look. "Well, I suppose that explains the abs if he's Heaven's best warrior. Wasn't it your troops trying to kill my son last year?"

Michael had the decency to look uncomfortable under her glare.

"We have decided that was a bit of a misunderstanding," he said.

"Biwkit," Henry said.

Aziraphale had a sudden stroke of inspiration. "He's here on a visit of good will to smooth things over!" he said.

Both Crowley and Michael gave him an eyebrow but Aziraphale pretended not to notice. "Really, Crowley, my boy, it's quite all right, you can let us in." He patted the demon's arm.

Crowley exchanged a look with Molly who shrugged. Finally, he hesitantly stepped aside. After all, it was unlikely that the Archangel could hurt them here – this was Adam's territory and the Them seemed to rather like Henry, even if they still saw the baby as something like an interesting alien.

"Aziraphale, what is wrong with my clothes?" Michael muttered as they stepped over the threshold.

"They are… Well, they are… They are a bit too dressy. If you will allow me…"

He waved a hand and Michael's clothes changed. Aziraphale nodded to himself, satisfied. He'd had an inkling that tartan may not suit the Archangel very well. With that option out, he had done his best and he thought the result was… well, rather dashing.

Michael was now wearing a pair of light beige trousers and a cheerful sweater with Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer on the front. Crowley's palm hit his face but he said nothing as he followed the two angels inside the house.

A/N: Part two to come before Christmas, please review :) 3