The day had been a long one, and really quite strange. When Crowley had shown up to where the 'showdown' had begun, the last thing either he nor Aziraphale expected was to see was to see the four horsemen being taken down by four children, with a very familiar object.
"Isn't that your sword?" Crowley asked out loudp softly.
"You know, I do believe it is..." The angel wondered sadly about how the sword had gotten here.
Death was the only one that he wasn't so much as 'taken down,' like his brethren, but rather left in a flurry of dark wings of night shortly after one of the children said something to him. Well that was one situation down, now what to do with the Boy.
'What exactly DO we do, my dear?' Aziraphale voiced his concern when Crowley gripped the tire iron tightly.
"Dunno angel. I just... we have to... but..." Crowley could not get the full thought out. Neither of them wanted to do it, but if they didn't...
'My dear, we have to do SOMETHING.'
"Excuse me," The boy called their attention, looking completely unphased at their appearance. "But why are you two people? You should go back to being two separate people."
The sensation of splitting into two was next on the list of oddities. Crowley looked over at the angel in disbelief. Aziraphale had been looking down at himself, patting himself in places as if to check to make sure that everything was still there. The demon looked back at the boy, who nodded in satisfaction over fixing them. He had half a mind to wonder if he should thank the boy? I mean technically speaking the lad outranked him.
Before either he or Aziraphale could do anything further, a pair of humans exited the building. The woman, who Crowley recognized as the woman who hit his car greeted the children happily, before turning her attention to him. Before she could get more than a few words out, he tossed her book to her.
As nice as everything was going, both Crowley and Aziraphale knew better than to think everything was over. And as if on cue, there was a flash of lightning and two figures appeared on the tarmac. The Archangel Gabriel, and the Lord of the flies themself, Beelzebub. The two friends looked at each other with concern. Just how were they going to get out of this?
...
The day had been long, as later that evening, well after sunset, an angel and a demon sat on a bench at a random bus stop in Tadfield. After everything that had happened that day, from the M25, to dealing with their respective bosses and the fact that Satan had broken through to the surface of the earth to yell at his son, the two of them wanted nothing more than o just go home and sleep for a week, the demon more than either of them considering he had to pause time long enough to talk to the boy. However, there was still so much to deal with yet; as Aziraphale liked to say, 'there was no rest for the good.' Either way, it was all Crowley could do to stay awake.
While they waited for the bus, they shared a bottle of wine that the angel had summoned from his bookshop and talked about ineffability and all that.
"It all worked out for the best. Just imagine how awful it might have been had we been at all competent." Aziraphale passed the wine bottle back to Crowley, who made a non-committal sound after he nodded his head.
"eh... point taken." The demon took a deep pull from the bottle.
"Oh, here comes the bus." The angel furrowed his eyebrows. "It says Oxford on the front?'"
"Yeah... but he'll go to London. He just won't know why."
"I don't suppose he'd go to Hayling? I do miss Wiliam. I hope he's alright."
Crowley coughed on his drink, forgetting momentarily that he didn't really NEED to breath. He looked at Aziraphale sadly, "He's in hell, 'member?" His voice cracked. "Hastur kidnapped him."
Aziraphale's face fell as he remembered the snippit of thought he came across when sharing Crowley's body. They hadn't the chance to talk about it.
"We WILL get him back, mind you," Crowley's face hardened. "That toad's days are numbered. AFTER we figure out what that prophecy means."
The angel nodded as the bus pulled up in front of the stop, the driver had a blank look on his face. Aziraphale made sure to put a sizable fare into the box, he hoped it would be enough to cover the long trip he had ahead of him.
...
They arrived at Crowley's flat, and climbed the stairs together.
"Sorry 'bout the mess." The demon gestured to the pile of singed and melted clothing in the doorway. "'S just Ligur."
Aziraphale gingerly side stepped the pile, and Crowley tried to miracle it away. Nothing happened, and the demon tried again, eyes narrowing.
"Am I really that worn out?" Crowley knew stopping time would take a lot of his energy, but he didn't think he was completely powerless.
Aziraphale laid a hand on his shoulder. "My dear, it may be the holy water. Even in this manner, it sill has divine properties. Let me."
Aziraphale miracled the clothing to the dumpster behind the building in a sealed trash bag. Crowley was suddenly glad he didn't do what he was about to do, and pick the clothes up by hand. He noted that there wasn't even a wet spot on the carpet.
"Right."
The silence was rather awkward. Crowley could not wait for things to go back to normal. As exhausted as he was, he couldn't afford to rest; neither of them could. Not with heaven and hell surely to be out for revenge for the aversion of their stupid war. There was a sudden noise coming from the bedroom area, and it WASN'T from the plants. The plants were smart enough for once to not act out and tremble. The demon quietly headed in the direction of the soun, placing a finger on his lips as he blocked Aziraphale from going ahead of him. If hell was showing up now, he would do anything to protect the angel.
He peered into the dark bedroom, and at first nothing looked out of ordinary. The bed stood in the center against the back wall, bedding a mess. Odd... The bed should be made, as for one thing he never used the bed in the flat, and two: it had been 11 years since he had even been in the flat's bedroom. That's when he noticed that there was someone actually SLEEPING in the bed. Someone...human. That's when the realization hit him.
"WIlliam!" Crowley rushed to the bed, startling the occupant. "You're alright!"
"Dad?" The boy asked sleepily.
Aziraphale looked around for the light switch, however when he did not find one he made a motion with his hand, whispering softly, "Let there be light," illuminating the room with a soft glow.
William looked over at him sleepily; smiling softly. "Papa!"
Aziraphale returned his smile. "Hello my dear. Did you sleep well?"
William nodded the best he could, considering Crowley had pretty much wrapped him in a tight hug, rivaling a boa constrictor. If he hadn't been wearing his glasses, the angel was certain there would be tears in his eyes.
"Da-ad," William struggled, only halfheartedly to pry Crowley's arms from around him.
"HOW?" Crowley asked, emphatically. "How did you get here?"
William frowned, thinking for a moment before shrugging, making a small sound, one that Crowley understood better than Aziraphale had.
The demon looked over at Aziraphale, who had moved to the foot of the bed. Something told him that the night was far from over.
...
The small family all sat together in Crowley's mostly unused bed, Aziraphale sitting next to the demon, William nestled comfortably in both of their laps, wrapped in a slightly warmer blanket than the one that had been on the bed. As soon as they were settled, Aziraphale had miracled the boy a nice mug of hot chocolate.
"So, my darling child, what happened after Hastur teleported you? Do you know that?" Crowley was so worried about what the boy went through, he had to know.
"Hastur? Oh! You mean the man that smelled like poo?" William wrinkled his nose at the memory. Crowley couldn't help but smile. He had a point too. Pretty much only a very small amount of demons adapted to personal hygiene, and that damned toad was not one of them. "I'm not sure. I was in an empty room. At least I think it was a room? There weren't any walls. Just a chair."
"A chair?" Aziraphale furrowed his eyebrows. He had an idea, but he had to be sure.
William nodded. "Yeah. And then There was a voice. It said I was earlier than expected and to have a seat and wait. So I did."
"I see."
Crowley looked over at the angel wondering what he was thinking. "That doesn't sound like any part of hell I've ever seen, or heaven that I remember."
"Because it wasn't." Aziraphale had a far away look, waiving his hand as if he were trying to think of the best way to put it. "He may have been... in the middle."
"The middle?" Crowley frowned. He certainly had never heard of it.
"Its rather difficult to explain. Lime a waiting room, if you will. from what I can surmise...SOMEONE intervened."
"Someone?" The demon frowned taking a minute to catch on to what Aziraphale was implying. "Wait, you're not saying... that..." Crowley looked to the ceiling, eyebrow quirked, then looked back at Aziraphale, who nodded. "Well... I'm not thanking Her!... not that I'm not grateful." He muttered the last bit under his breath.
"Her? Her who?" William's innocent question brought them back to the present.
"The Almighty." Aziraphale gently squeezed the boy's knee, smiling fondly. "God." He added when William looked at him cluelessly.
William's eyes widened at that. "God really exists?"
Crowley let out a sharp laugh. "Your dad's are an angel and a demon, 'f course She exists."
William rested his head on Crowley's shoulder, starting to feel tired again. "Well I did just find out about that three days ago."
The three of them laughed.
"So now what?" William asked sleepily
Crowley let out a puff of air, letting out the same 'I don't know' sound that William had let out earlier.
"The head offices certainly aren't going to take what happened today lying down."
"No, they wont. Beelzebub is especially... ehhhh 'difficult,' to say the least when things don't go their way." Crowley wrinkled his nose. "I'd also wager a guess that heaven and hell found out about our arrangement."
"Oh dear. I hadn't thought about that. That certainly isn't good if they have."
William tilted his head. "Why not?"
"Angels and demons are enemies, our 'arrangement' was something neither side would EVER tolerate." Crowley muttered, suddenly having a bit of perspective on an argument that happened so long ago.
"Oh. I guess that makes sense. That doesn't seem fair."
"That's how it is sometimes," Crowley sighed, rubbing his hand over his face, ditching his glasses. "We need to figure out that damned prophecy of Agnes's."
"What's a prophecy?"
Aziraphale pulled out the singed scrap of paper he had grabbed at the airbase. "A prophecy is a prediction of the future. The woman who wrote the prophecies in the book this came out of, was a very adept witch. They say every one of her prophecies came true."
William looked at the paper. "'When alley is fayed and all is done, ye must choofe your faces wisely...' What kind of language is this?" The boy wrinkled his nose.
Aziraphale laughed softly. "It's english, but a rather out dated writing. Roughly it says 'When all is said, and all is done, you must choose your faces wisely, for soon enough you will be playing with fire."
"Leave it to a witch from 300 years ago to make a confusing prediction."
William thought a moment. "Hey dad?"
"Yes, darling?"
"You know how that holy water made that one demon go away?"
Crowley tried and failed to suppress the shudder that ran through his body. "Yes...?"
"Is there something like that that would hurt an angel?"
Crowley swallowed thickly. "Yeah. Hell...fire"
The room went very quiet as the demon's voice trailed off. Aziraphale likewise went stiff. The two old friends looked at each other.
"Crowley, my dear... you don't suppose that...?"
"Heaven and hell are planning on d... using holy water and hellfire on us? Wouldn't put it past those wankers."
"CROWLEY!" The angel admonished him.
"Come on, angel. You know I'm right. They'd give anything to get rid of us."
"Well, yes. But there's still no need for such vulgar language!"
"So why would your guys's bosses want to hurt you? Is it really that bad to be friends?" William asked ever so innocently.
Crowley snorted. "An angel and a demon aren't really supposed to be friends."
"And I guess an angel and demon aren't supposed to secretly raise the Antichrist, either, are they?"
The demon narrowed his eyes, he gave the boy a hug. "Don't you sass me!"
William laughed as Crowley gave him a kiss on the cheek. "So that's the fire part. What about the 'choose your faces' part?"
"That's the part we need to figure out then isn't it."
The silence was a calm one, and if it wasn't for the looming danger tomorrow would bring, it would have been pleasant. William found himself drifting off when a thought occurred to him, causing him to sit up abruptly, startling his dads.
"What if you switched places?"