Disclaimer: I own very little.

A/N: I'm terribly sorry for not updating in time. However, between exams, Christmas preparations, and catching a nasty cold, that's been rather impossible due to reasons no fault of my own. Don't worry, though -- chapter 25 will be posted on Christmas Day. And as this chapter has the last cliffhanger in the whole fic, you don't have much time to spend in suspense.

So, enjoy.

Chapter 20:

Adjusting Auras

As the demons came to sight, Crowley and Aziraphale glanced at each other. Then they took their positions on both sides of the three young angels. "You ssstay put," Crowley hissed. "Only if sssomebody'sss about to catch you, you ussse your holy ssstuff or fly away. Got it, angelsss?" The three nodded fearfully.

"Excellent," Aziraphale said, taking a fighting stance. "Now, Crowley. Ready to slay your kind?"

The demon in silver armour grinned, flexing his claws. "When they're coming after you? You bet." Glancing at the demons now hurrying towards them, he added, "Looks like they're really desperate to get you, too. Well, all the more reason to take the whole bunch down, right?"

"Right, indeed." And then, they spoke no more, as the demons reached them.

Some demons seemed surprised to see one of their kind fighting against them, but didn't care; they were all trying to get to the angels and specifically Aziraphale. On the other side, Aziraphale was well holding up his own. His cherub's aura was keeping the weakest demons away altogether, and the rest were done in by his excellent swordsmanship. The few that managed to get past him or Crowley were soon encountered with various holy objects held by three absolutely terrified angels.

Aziraphale raised his sword once again, absently blowing yet another falling flake of snow from his face. The demons were still pressing on, but he wasn't about to give up.

The divine flames around his sword flared high, tearing at the demons. Stepping aside, Aziraphale just barely managed to avoid a relatively strong demon charging at him. Noticing a wound on the evil creature's side he then strengthened his aura and stabbed with it. With a scream of pain, the creature collapsed, cherubic powers too much for it to bear. The angel smirked briefly, then turned to face the next demon trying to get at him. His sword was humming with divine power, smiting a demon after demon, and he never got exhausted, moving quickly and gracefully, one with his sword.

Even after several millennia Aziraphale was so used to fighting that he actually could let his thoughts wander while his body took care of moving. The change of Crowley's armour fascinated him. At first he hadn't paid much attention to it, subconsciously assuming that it had always been that way. Now, however, his memory made sure to tell him that Crowley's armour had been mostly back ever since his Fall.

Next he assumed that Crowley had simply changed his style. Then, however, he noticed something strange as his senses scanned the area. There were no humans around, all subconsciously avoiding the park. Besides himself and the numerous demonic auras, he sensed three -- no, four angels somewhere nearby.

At first he thought he'd made some kind of a mistake. Then, however, he was able to catch a glimpse of Crowley. Adjusting his eyes to the spiritual scale, he was then shocked as he saw a faint glow of holiness around his lover. There wasn't as much as there would have been around a true angel, of course, but definitely enough to be identified as angelic instead of demonic.

Sword down, right, step back, strike to left. Expand aura, stab, withdraw to get them nearer. Another glance at Crowley told that the angelic demon was fighting much in the same manner, with little conscious thought but rather on instinct. Claws flashed, fangs tore, a kick sent a lower demon flying.

A thought came to Aziraphale. He didn't know whether it would work, but it sure was worth a try. After all, there was angelic power in Crowley's aura... the aura that seemed stronger than before.

"Crowley!" he cried out. "Crowley, put your claws on fire!" Now, he sensed a bit of doubt in Crowley's presence. It wasn't a surprise; only stronger demons could do such a thing, and even if it did manage, hellfire would hardly hurt their enemies. "Don't think, just do it!" he shouted.

A second later there were screams and yelps of surprise from the demons. Out of the corner of his eye Aziraphale noticed a silverish white glow around Crowley's hands, and smirked. So it had managed, then. Truth be told, he was rather surprised himself -- but definitely happy as well.

"Raphael, you should be in bed in that condition!" snapped Uriel the moment he saw his fellow archangels. "Michael, Gabriel, what in all of Heaven were you thinking? Can't you see he's absolutely exhausted?"

"We tried, but he wouldn't stay," Michael said sharply. "So, we thought it'd be better if we at least were there to look after him instead of him sneaking away alone!"

"Well, where are you going, then?" asked Uriel dryly. "It surely can't be that serious."

"It is," Gabriel said. "A large group of demons has decided to attack Aziraphale!"

The dark-haired archangel only looked vaguely interested. Before Michael managed to explain just why he wanted Uriel to come along -- something Gabriel and Raphael were rather curious about as well -- a small dove flew to them, carrying a message. Michael took the message from the bird and read it. Then, a grin spread onto his face. "Guess what?" he asked happily. "Crowley's armour is wholly silver now!"

"Really?" Uriel raised an eyebrow, now looking more interested. "My, my, this is truly getting interesting. I shall come to Earth with you -- but at first there is something I must fetch from my apartment." And with that, he disappeared, leaving the three others to wait for him.

Crowley was rather bewildered as not only did he manage to put his claws on fire -- something he'd thought to be impossible after he'd lost his rank as Duke -- but on divine fire, too. It sure was effective, though -- demons burned and melted whenever he struck at them.

Experimentally he spread his aura further while his body took care of the fighting. It was definitely stronger than before, almost as strong as it'd been before his rank got revoked. This fact surprised him even more than the divine fire -- and it definitely pleased him more as well.

A flake of snow floated down onto his hand, melting immediately. A wicked grin spread onto his face as a plan started to take form in his mind -- a truly wicked plan.

"Angel!" he called out, confident that the four angels behind him all knew which one of them he meant. "Angel, this snow -- it's just frozen water, right? Then just fucking bless it all!"

There was a hint of surprise in Aziraphale's presence. "I can't!" replied the angel. "There's too much of it for me to bless it alone. And besides, I don't want to hurt you!"

"Those idiots already tried, and their holy water didn't work, right?" Crowley replied. "And it shouldn't be too hard for a fucking cherub to bless the whole bloody cloud. It won't hurt me, my fire's bloody divine --" And suddenly another thought hit his mind.

It was insane. It was absolutely insane, but he liked the idea. At the very least it was worth a try.

Kicking the nearest demons away, he raised his hands. Not really knowing how to act in such a situation, he decided to improvise. "Oh Lord Above, bless all this snow!" he yelled.

Aziraphale immediately sensed the difference in spiritual powers as Crowley's trick worked. A second later, there was a wave of screams of pain as the demons all started to burn and melt. However, Aziraphale paid no mind to these. There was only one thing he actually heard.

...The horrifying scream of pain escaping Crowley's lips as the now holy snow made contact with his lover.

Next chapter:

Crowley's hurt. Archangels make yet another appearance. Anael, Unsurel, and Lyriel are punished.