The door opened and Gabriel strode in with such loathing on his face that Aziraphale found himself momentarily frozen, his gaze darting from Gabriel to the three angels behind him – Sandalphon, Uriel and Michael.
"Get out!" Aziraphale cried, trying to keep the fear out of his voice and failing.
The four angels ignored him, finding confidence in Aziraphale's obvious distress, and marched into the shop. The door slammed behind them.
Aziraphale was outnumbered. They could hurt him – even discorporate him - and there was nothing he could do about it. He tried to remember what Crowley had said about the execution but his mind felt hazy with the stress of the situation. All he remembered was that Crowley had assured him that Gabriel and his cronies would be too afraid to ever bother him again. Clearly, he was wrong.
Gabriel strode towards him while Aziraphale staggered to his feet, his chair scraping across the floorboards.
There was a large paper cup in Gabriel's hand with a yellow 'M' emblazoned on the side. If Aziraphale had been analysing the situation more closely he might have thought it strange that Mr 'My Celestial Body is a Temple' was carrying a soft drink.
Gabriel removed the plastic lid and then proceeded to empty the contents over Aziraphale's head.
Aziraphale spluttered as lemonade dripped from his hair onto his face and clothes. He wiped the liquid out of his eyes, feeling humiliated. His shirt and waistcoat were drenched.
"These are dry-clean only!" he heard himself cry furiously.
Gabriel looked disappointed, worried, and then defiant.
With a sickening clarity Aziraphale realised that it wasn't lemonade. "Holy water?"
"The Hellfire didn't work so… figured it was worth a try." Gabriel shrugged.
Anger burned in Aziraphale's chest. "You- You thought I'd fallen so you tried to destroy me again?! Get out! Now!"
"Don't you take that tone with me, sunshine!" Gabriel roared. "I'm in charge - you still answer to me! And don't think I haven't noticed you've been throwing miracles around like they're fucking candy!"
Aziraphale swallowed. He'd always been so careful not to upset Gabriel, and seeing him so angry now made him feel small. But Gabriel wasn't his boss anymore. Aziraphale forced himself to stand up straight. He reminded himself that these angels should be scared of him, not the other way around. "You don't get to try to kill me over and over and then expect me to still be on your side!"
"How did you survive? Tell us how you did it and we'll go easy on you."
"We're bound to figure it out eventually," said Michael. "You might as well get it over and done with."
Uriel stepped closer. "It'll be worse for you if you don't tell us."
"There's nothing to tell," said Aziraphale.
Gabriel let out a humourless laugh. "You're not as clever as you think you are. It doesn't matter that you're immune to Hellfire, there's still plenty of ways for us to hurt you." Gabriel nodded at Uriel and Sandalphon and the pair of them immediately marched forwards.
Aziraphale felt dizzy. He remembered when Sandalphon punched him outside of the bookshop and knew it was going to be much worse this time.
Sandalphon sneered at him. "You're not quite so confident when you're not hiding in a column of Hellfire, are you?"
"And breathing it at us!" Uriel added.
Aziraphale resisted the urge to run. Instead, he lifted his head high. "You seem to be forgetting that I control the only thing that can destroy you." Aziraphale lifted his hand and a ball of orange flame appeared, hovering just above his palm. It was just normal fire, of course, but the angels assumed the worst.
Sandalphon was the closest to Aziraphale - barely three feet away - and he immediately reared back. He let out a terrified shriek and bumped into Uriel in his desperation to get away.
Aziraphale remembered something Crowley had told him about the trial. "I believe I promised a barbeque if I saw you again, didn't I?"
"How dare you," shouted Gabriel but there was a tremble in his voice and he was already backing away. He glanced behind him and saw that the other three had already fled from the bookshop. The last of his confidence vanished and he turned back to Aziraphale with a look of wide-eyed terror. Aziraphale had never seen that look on Gabriel's face before and it made him feel strong and powerful.
"Sorry," Gabriel squeaked, and then he ran away through the open doorway.
Aziraphale closed the door, locked it, and then turned the sign over to read 'Closed.' He allowed the fireball to go out. His hands were shaking as he walked over to his desk.
There were puddles of holy water all over the floor and Aziraphale was still drenched in it. If Crowley had been here when Gabriel threw the water at him- Oh, it didn't bear thinking about. Even now, the thought of Crowley strolling in here without realising made Aziraphale feel faint.
With the help of several miracles, Aziraphale got rid of every last drop of holy water.
But what if Gabriel went to see Crowley next? Or a gang of demons went to see him instead?
Afraid for Crowley's safety, Aziraphale rushed to his desk and picked up the telephone receiver at the same moment that a bright beam of light shone down from the ceiling. He jumped and dropped the receiver which ended up bouncing on its cord just above the floor.
The Metatron stared down at Aziraphale from the beam of light. "Aziraphale. We need to have a chat."
"Make it quick," Aziraphale said coldly.
"I have just been informed that you threatened several high ranking angels with Hellfire."
"They came into my home and splashed me with holy water before attempting to physically assault me. I defended myself. I'm growing rather impatient with all of these attempts on my life, you know. I believe I made it very clear that I wish to be left alone. Did you know Gabriel and his cronies were coming here?"
The Metatron ignored the question. "They have agreed to leave you alone from now on. If you agree to behave."
"They agreed to leave me alone after the trial but clearly their word means nothing. Did you authorise their coming here?" Aziraphale repeated.
"Yes."
"Did you authorise my execution by Hellfire?"
There was a slight pause. "Yes, of course."
"It was strange that only Gabriel and his two best pals attended," Aziraphale said. "Did the Almighty okay it?"
There was an even longer pause and the Metatron looked shifty. "Of course."
Aziraphale suspected that the Metatron was lying. He also suspected that no one had seen or heard from the Almighty in a long time - Aziraphale hadn't spoken to God since she questioned him about the missing flaming sword in Eden.
Aziraphale smiled. "She knew we'd survive, of course. I'm sure everything worked out just as she intended."
God could have destroyed the fallen angels after the rebellion but she didn't - that had to mean something. God would never have approved of their executions.
The Metatron glared at him. "I contacted you to make sure you understand that you are officially no longer one of us. You do not work for us. You are to keep away from our agents on Earth and, in return, they will keep away from you."
"That's exactly what I believed we'd already agreed upon. It's your lot who seem incapable of keeping your end of the bargain."
"I will personally make sure that everyone will leave you and the demon alone."
"Make sure that you do."
"You are forbidden from setting foot in Heaven ever again. You are banished, and if you're automatically drawn back to Heaven through discorporation we will grant you a new body after which you must immediately leave. Understood?"
"Yes."
Never allowed in Heaven ever again. He'd known he would never be welcomed back but having it confirmed still hurt. He reminded himself that Heaven hadn't felt like home in a very long time.
The glowing light blinked out and the Metatron vanished with it. Aziraphale snapped back to reality, grabbed the telephone receiver and called Crowley.
"Hey, angel," said Crowley cheerfully.
"Oh," Aziraphale breathed, relieved to hear Crowley's voice. "Are you alright?"
"Er. Yeah?"
"Thank goodness. Gabriel and his cronies just gave me a visit."
"What!"
"You've not had any unwanted visitors yourself, I hope?"
"What? No. What happened? Are you okay?"
"Gabriel splashed me with holy water hoping it would kill me. The absolute buffoon. I've miracled it all away - water and books really don't mix," Aziraphale added, just in case anyone was listening in and wondered why he'd gone to such lengths to get rid of every last trace of holy water.
"Those bastards," said Crowley. "Shall I come over?"
"I could do with getting out of the shop for a bit, actually. Could I come to yours?"
"Of course, angel, of course. I'll pick you up. I'll be with you ASAP."
Through the phone there came the sound of a door opening and closing, then footsteps on the stairs.
"Do be careful, Crowley. I'm sure Gabriel went back to Heaven to talk to the Metatron, but better safe than sorry. And please hang up before you start driving."
Aziraphale waited for him outside of the bookshop and felt a surge of relief when the Bentley zoomed around the corner. Crowley leapt out, pulled him into a hug, and then fussed over him as he helped him into the car.
They picked up Chinese food on their way to Crowley's flat, and then, once they'd eaten, they curled up together on the sofa, cuddling under a big blanket while talking about all that had happened with Gabriel. Aziraphale felt soothed by Crowley's reassuring words and by the heat of Crowley's body against his own. He hadn't realised just how much he'd missed snuggling with him - they hadn't done this since their first day and night apart.
Crowley's face was so close and Aziraphale found himself staring at his lips. He wanted to kiss him, just like Crowley had kissed him all those years ago in the backroom of the bookshop. Aziraphale felt so sure his feelings were returned in that moment – it was in Crowley's smile, the touch of his hand – and yet he couldn't find the courage to close the gap between them.
Instead they watched television together until it was dark outside.
Crowley shifted, stretched, and then let out a long yawn. He settled against Aziraphale's side, eyes closed, and before long his breathing levelled out and Aziraphale knew he was asleep.
Aziraphale grabbed the remote control and turned down the sound so that Crowley wouldn't be disturbed. He still wanted to kiss him but he knew he'd lost his chance. Aziraphale stayed on the sofa all night, watching television while Crowley lay sprawled across him.
By the time morning came, Aziraphale felt rather foolish. He'd been so close to kissing Crowley! He didn't want their first kiss to be like that - he wanted to do it properly and explain how he felt instead of just kissing him unannounced while they cuddled on the sofa. He needed to figure out what he wanted to say and how to say it. He needed to go home, get a pen and paper, and put all of his feelings into words.
Once they'd had breakfast Aziraphale made his excuses and Crowley agreed to drive him home - though he did seem sad for some reason, even after Aziraphale assured him that he felt much better and promised they'd have dinner later.
Oh! Perhaps he could confess all after a lovely home cooked meal! How romantic! He might even have some candles tucked away somewhere. And he'd use the good china!
As Aziraphale opened the car door, eager to get to work with his plans, Crowley touched his sleeve. "Are you sure you're okay, angel?"
"Oh, yes, I feel much better now, thank you," Aziraphale said, his heart fluttering at the thought of what would happen next. Everything would change, one way or another.