Disclaimer: I own very little.

A/N: Writing Raphael/Gabriel in last chapter was pretty fun. I think I might do some more of that in the future... Along with some more Crowley/Aziraphale, of course.

Oh, and by the way, Michael most probably won't be involved with anybody in this fic. However, if I ever write yet another GO fic, I might create more supernatural couples... Just because.

Chapter 7:

Demonic Discussions

Michael brought his sword down, effectively destroying the demon's corporeal form and severely damaging its true being. The evil creature screamed as it was pulled back to its original plane of existence.

The archangel now glanced around, noticing that he and his companions were surrounded by rapidly rotting demon corpses. "Canael!" he shouted at one of his soldiers. "Did we get them all?"

"Afraid not, sir," the cherub replied. "The original group was indeed taken care of, but we got a sighting of a Hellbeast nearby. However, being too involved in the battle, we failed to catch it as it ran away."

Michael's eyes flashed, his hand freezing with his sword halfway in its sheath. "Then what are you waiting for?" he spat, drawing his sword again and setting it on fire. "We have to catch it before it manages to cause any damage! Which direction did the beast go to?" he demanded.

Inwardly the archangel was more worried than angry, though. The demons they had fought were nothing unusual. Every year there were some who decided to use Heaven's Christmas preparations on their advantage, thinking that all angels were too preoccupied to notice some extra mischief on Earth. However, Hellbeasts didn't wander up by themselves. Their only reason of existence was killing angels, and they were always sent up by someone -- the beasts themselves were hardly more intelligent than any savage animal. However, the beast had avoided them, which meant that it was after somebody else. And, at the moment, aside from guardian angels who couldn't be damaged by even the strongest Hellbeasts, Michael and his soldiers were the only angels on Earth -- except for one. A very particular one.

Michael narrowed his eyes in thought while he heard Canael barking orders. Hellbeasts were thankfully very rare, but very destructive as well. Even with a group of well-trained cherubim and seraphim soldiers, like the ones he was leading at the moment, it would be hard to take down one of them.

Suddenly he thought of something. Hellbeasts were so deadly to angels because of their ability to spit hellfire, the demonic version of divine fire. However, aside from that, they were pretty much defenceless. Quick and nimble despite their size, they were hard to kill by angelic forces, as it wasn't hard to them to keep angels far enough to keep them from hitting. However, hellfire did not damage creatures of demonic origin... And a demon's claws would definitely hurt a Hellbeast.

It was a random thought, and a very slim possibility, but it was probably their best one. After all, there was one demon who definitely had a reason to kill this hellbeast. Maybe they could get rid of the monster with no casualties or even injuries. At the very least it was worth a try.

"Canael, you and the others shall follow the beast's trail," he ordered sharply. "I shall go to fetch some reinforcements." This got him a couple of wondering glances -- after all, with the Heavenly warriors they already had there, there was no point in getting any more -- but nobody questioned him. They had learned an eternity ago that when Michael ordered, he was to be obeyed without hesitation.

Concentrating for a second, Michael transferred himself to a certain place -- an ability only the highest angels had -- and then, after making sure he was still invisible, rose to his wings. He had a demon to find.

Crowley was having fun.

Most people wouldn't have agreed with his idea of fun, but he did, and that was all that mattered. Walking among the people busy with their Christmas shopping, all stressed and annoyed and about ready to kill whoever had created some particularly irritating Christmas carol, causing mischief was easy. In fact, his job was easiest just before Christmas, as impossible as that may sound. Especially since Aziraphale was busy with his own preparations and thus didn't have the time to thwart him at all. Ah, life was good.

Of course, Crowley didn't like Christmas itself at all. After all the hassle and hostile atmosphere, the holiday of peace was pure suffering to a demon. It wasn't that all humans were gentle and kind in their Christmas cheer, no, far from that. However, even if all humans had been ready to break against all the commandments at once and then some, he couldn't have exploited that. During Christmas, he was stuck.

He could understand where the tradition came from, of course. However, he wished they hadn't actually done anything about it. With all the Host gathered to sing to praise their Lord, being on Earth was pretty damn painful to any demon unlucky enough to reside there at the time. Namely, to Crowley.

Of course, it wasn't that he'd spent that particular night withering away in some hole and wishing that his pain would end, no. By the time the first Christmas came around, he had already got pretty much used to Aziraphale's angelic aura, at least enough so as not to be harmed by it. And, whenever he was in the circle of that aura, he was protected from the holiness of the angel choirs. Even before the Arrangement Aziraphale had been more than happy to provide him with shelter for the Christmas night in exchange for a promise not to do any tempting the following day. Crowley actually always kept his word, too. Not only did he like to consider himself a demon of his word, but he also knew that were he to break the contract, he would not get shelter the following year. Aziraphale might be an angel, good and all, but he wasn't that naive, not after all the millennia they'd spent with the humanity. And Crowley most certainly hadn't wanted to explain to his bosses why he couldn't survive the Christmas night this time when he could before. Not to mention that while temporary, the death of his human form was painful. Very much so, at times.

Making a mother of three decide to go for a trip to Hawaii and leave her husband to deal with the children and a mother-in-law for the holidays, Crowley almost wanted to start to whistle. He most probably would have, had he not been suddenly hit with an incredible wave of nausea. Not to mention headache. And the terrible, dreadful feeling of a non-Aziraphale angel being somewhere nearby. A powerful angel.

Forcing himself not to collapse in the middle of the street, he glanced to his left, where the sensations seemed to be coming from. There stood a tall man, his blond hair pulled back on a ponytail. Dressed wholly in black, he was radiating an aura of danger -- but not evil danger. No, it was good danger, and that was about a thousand times worse -- especially when Crowley was concerned.

"What do you want of me?" he spat, fighting against the urge to just curl up and wither in pain. The angel's aura was definitely on full force. Most probably on purpose. "Do you want to fight in the middle of the street? Tsk, tsk, angel. I never would have expected that from you -- well, not even from you."

"Stop that, Demon," Michael said coolly, his blue eyes icy. "I have no intention to harm you."

"Oh?" Crowley raised an eyebrow, uncaring about the humans who didn't even notice the two supernatural beings, merely went around them without paying any attention to it. "Shut down your bloody halo, then!"

"Ah, yes. My apologies." In an instant, the angel's aura dimmed to bearable levels, Crowley's willpower being the only thing that kept him from sighing in relief. "I was just smiting some demons."

"And wanted to brag to me about it?" asked Crowley bitingly. "Well, guess what? I don't care. Unless you do plan to attack me right here, we have nothing to discuss. If those idiots haven't learnt anything from all the previous years, it's definitely not my fault. So, go away and let me continue my walk."

"I shall not attack you, nor shall any of my forces," the archangel told him mildly, seemingly unfazed by his attitude. "We are under orders not to allow any harm to come to you unless you attack us first." Ignoring Crowley's surprised expression, "We do have something to discuss, though. It's about Aziraphale."

"What about him?" spat the demon, his eyes flashing behind his sunglasses. "He's not going to Fall, period. And as you're not allowed to hurt me, I guess that he's got a friend somewhere very far up there."

"Yes, he does," Michael admitted. "However, he now needs help -- your help."

"Why so?" Crowley again raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with him now? And why'd you know about it before me? After all, I generally do spend quite a lot more time with him than you do."

"He's in danger," the archangel said, his tone rather sharp by now. "While smiting the demons, we saw a hellbeast. However, it wasn't after us, and we're the only angels on Earth -- aside from Aziraphale."

Crowley had never been as pale as he now suddenly was. Nor did he recall ever being as scared.

Next chapter:

Aziraphale is still happily unaware of the growing threat.