AN: I hope everyone's enjoying the story so far. There's one more chapter that's pretty long, but I don't want to divide it up anywhere. Parts of this one might move a little fast, but let me know what you think and enjoy!
VI
One of Lilith's employees came to retrieve her when they found a man sitting at the bar with a bottle of whiskey. They'd asked him to leave already, but he said he knew her. Agitated, Lilith sought out the intruder. They weren't set to open for many hours, and yet, someone thought it would be a good idea to skip the line.
She was surprised to find Crowley had been the intruder. He sat at the bar itself, indeed with a bottle of liquor though currently empty, talking to himself.
"Next thing I know," he said to the empty room. "I'm taking a million light-year dive into a pool of boiling sulfur."
Lilith approached the demon in the process of trying to unscrew a new bottle of scotch. He caught sight of her a few short yards away. His head slumped. He had trouble keeping much of anything under control it seemed, and if she had to guess, it looked as though Crowley had been drinking before he came to her establishment.
"He's gone," he told her with a sad expression.
Lilith lifted her sunglasses, drawing them up into her hair so she could look at him plainly. Her brows tugged together.
"Who?"
Crowley opened his mouth, but was silenced when lightning flashed in the bar and thunder boomed. Lilith glanced around the space. They were deep within a building. Those two things should have been utterly impossible.
Before she could ask what was happening, a glittering figure emerged standing beside her behind the bar and in front of Crowley. Her slacking jaw snapped shut.
"Aziraphale," Crowley mumbled with relief before adding more skeptically. "Are you here?"
"Good question," he said. "Not sure. I've never done this before. Can you hear me?"
"Of course I can hear you." Crowley was a bit snappy when he answered.
"I seem to have made a mess of things. Did you go to Alpha Centuri?"
Lilith cast Crowley a glance he didn't notice. In fact, she was fairly certain the entire room had disappeared to him.
"Nah," he shrugged a bit. "Stuff happened," And then he added with a sad, shaky voice, "I lost my best friend."
Her heart sank on his behalf.
Aziraphale, wearing a sad, weighted smile, said, "I'm sorry to hear it."
The following conversation between the two was rife with emotion. It was sweet, but also terribly sad because, without a body, Aziraphale wouldn't be able to see Crowley anymore. However he was managing the task currently wasn't likely to last, and Lilith doubted heavily that Heaven would give him another body.
It was clear to anyone that the pair cared for one another greatly, and while Lilith thought it sweet, she truly was jealous of it. She'd only ever been close to the serpent from the Garden. True, it was Crowley in the end, but that was a long time ago. They were both very different "people" then. Still, any part of her heart that still lived was happy for him. At least someone cursed by God was able to find a bit of solace.
Aziraphale soon dissipated, leaving the space as though he'd never been there. In many ways, perhaps he hadn't been.
"Wiggle on?" She asked Crowley with a cocked brow.
"Yeah," He said as he gathered up the notes which had spilled out of the book. "Not his first odd thing." He slammed the book shut and stood abruptly. "Come on."
"What?"
In his quick dash to leave, Crowley had already made it feet away in the few seconds it took for her to speak. When she had, he spun on his heel.
"Come on." He repeated. "We need to get to Tadfield."
"Why am I coming?"
"Why not?" He shrugged. "If we go now, we can end this." She didn't respond and his voice was a little higher than normal when he said, "Have ya got something better on? No? Thought not. Come. On."
Lilith opened her mouth to speak, but what emerged wasn't what she'd intended.
"Yeah, alright," She said under her breath.
Leaping over the bar, she jogged after Crowley.
In a home not far from Soho, where lived a fortune teller and a witch hunter, an angel found a body, and two demons were stuck in traffic.
"This is why I drive a bike." Lilith grumbled.
Crowley cast her a sideways glance. She'd been complaining almost as long as they'd been in the car.
Without a word, Crowley guided his beast onto the shoulder and began to finally make some headway. They hadn't made it ten yards, however, before the M25 suddenly burst into flames. Crowley immediately slammed on his brakes. The pair each lowered their sunglasses and peered over their respective lenses with wide eyes.
"Bloody hell…" Lilith mumbled as the flames rose high into the air.
"Right," he said in the same subdued tone. "The M25 is now a burning ring of supernatural fire and that's my fault."
"Of course it was your design." Lilith scoffed. She fell back into her seat with a sigh while Crowley's mind raced.
"Here," he handed her the charred book he'd kept close. "See if Ol' Agnes has anything to say about burning roads."
"Hm," she replied as she took the tome and began to flip through the pages.
Crowley began his trek toward the inferno at a much slower pace than before, in his own world while Lilith continued to flip through pages, until someone touched him. A disgusting finger curled beneath the arm of his sunglasses, sliding them from his face with ease.
At almost the same moment, he and Lilith noticed they were no longer alone within the Bentley. Somehow, Hastur had managed to materialize between them. Crowley noticed Lilith glance down. Hastur was, after all, sitting on the center console. There were only two seats up front and he'd somehow squeezed between them.
"Hastur!" He chimed with false joy while the Lord of Hell snapped his sunglasses in half. Crowley winced. "How was your time in voicemail?"
"Funny-ha-ha-joke all you like Crowley, there's nowhere to run."
"Aren't you meant to be lining up, readying for battle about now?"
"Hell will not forget. Hell will not forgive." He continued to speak while to toad on his head squirmed and wriggled. Crowley noticed Lilith scowl at it in disgust. "You know where the real Antichrist is, don't you? It won't matter. You think you can get past that?"
Crowley shrugged nonchalantly.
"I'll bet he can," Lilith said, drawing their attention. Her eyes were only on Crowley while a smirk curled her lips. "Come on, then. Give it a go."
Crowley began to smile too, wide and borderline happily. Reaching for his Mozart CD, he slid it into his CD player.
"Let's find out, shall we?" he said.
Pressing his foot to the gas pedal, Crowley set off once more toward the towering wall of burning Hellfire.
"Wha-what are you… stop this. Where are you going?" Hastur stammered.
"The only thing I like about time," Crowley said, glad to change the subject entirely as he sailed closer to the Wall of Death, "is that it takes us further and further from the fourteenth century. I really didn't like the fourteenth century. You'd have loved it. What about you, Lilith?"
"Not a fan of any time before humans bathed regularly," she replied.
Crowley chuckled and continued on. "They didn't have any cars in the fourteenth century. Lovely, clever little humans inventing cars, and motorways, and windscreen wipers. Ya gotta hand it to them, really."
"Yeah," Hastur choked nervously on the word. He even let out a little mewling cry of fear. "Stop this! It's over! You're doomed, you hear me Crowley! Whatever happens, you're doomed!"
But Crowley didn't stop, not even as the wall drew closer and closer until, finally, he burst through the flames. They surrounded him entirely, engulfed his car, and immediately allowed smoke to billow in through the vents.
"See?" He gave Hastur a manic smile, "This day's already got better."
"Stop this!" Hastur was truly panicked. "You'll discorporate us both!"
Crowley let out a truly insane laugh. "If you have to go, go in style!"
The deeper he drove, the sooner Hastur was engulfed in flames. The demon burned up, shouting and screaming his hatred for Crowley. When he was gone, evaporating as though he'd never been there, Crowley saw Lilith out of the corner of his eye. She had a palm against the roof of the car while her other hand gripped the door handle firmly. They were both bracing themselves for what could genuinely kill them both.
But he didn't care. He refused to feel the fire on his skin, refused to let it melt the Bentley's metal or the rubber of its custom tires. He refused to die within the wall of Hellfire.
For an untold distance, the pair rolled through the fires at breakneck speed. They ran over bumps and things that could have once been cars, though neither was certain.
Finally, after however long, Crowley burst through the other side with a triumphant laugh. After a wave to a passing police car, and still beaming with his psychotic smile, Crowley finally gave his attention to Lilith, and his smile faltered. She didn't look very good, or at least, not as well as she should have.
Her skin was blistering and a few places had actually burned through from the heat of the flames. Her hands, her neck, and her face were all affected. She didn't look like a walking briquette or anything so severe, but the patches on her skin were quite noticeable. Crowley couldn't help but grimace.
"You've a hole in your cheek," he told her as he drove.
She glanced to him and saw his expression. To his surprise, and mild disgust, she stuck her tongue through the hole that had, indeed, been burned through her cheek. After she had, she closed her jaw again, allowing him to see her shiny white teeth through it.
"Well," she said with an annoyed sigh. "That's a bother."
His brows rose. Lilith continued to look over the damage done to her and seemed genuinely put out by it, not at all worried. With another huff, she slumped once more in the seat.
"Can't you heal that bit up?" he asked, once more motioning to her face while he careened down the roads towards Tadfield Air Base.
"I need to eat," she replied. "I can't heal from Hellfire burns without feeding."
"Eh," he said, making a slightly acknowledging sound. "What do you eat?"
She rolled her head lazily toward him, revealing that her forehead had burned a bit as well. "People." Crowley's brows rose high in surprise. "Blood, really. Or a life force."
"Oh!" He chimed the sound. "Well, here," He offered his wrist. "There might be some in there somewhere."
A bit shocked, she declared, "I feed on humans. That's the deal. You're Fallen. I've no idea what that'll do to me."
"Fine," he said with a heavy, almost sarcastic sigh. Crowley returned his grip to the steering wheel. "I've never understood eating, personally. Aziraphale bloody loves food."
"Again, Fallen. You don't have to eat. I'd imagine it makes things quite simple."
"It does, yes." He grinned.
She rolled her eyes. Still smiling proudly that angels (be they true or fallen) never had to rely on something as pedestrian as eating to nourish themselves.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her remove her sunglasses and scoff when she saw that they'd melted as well. With an annoyed flick of the wrist, she tossed them over her shoulder and into the back seat.
Sometime later, a fallen angel and a monster found themselves driving along the streets of a quaint little village without an idea of where to go.
"You're lost," Lilith said.
"I am not lost. Demons do not get lost," he told her shortly. But he didn't quite believe himself. With a groan, he leaned over the steering wheel to better see through the windscreen. "I can't see past all this bloody fire."
"Ask someone for directions."
"I'm not lost," he snapped back at her.
"M-hm," she muttered, unconvinced.
They continued to drive through Tadfield, down street after street without the slightest indication as to where they were going.
"Look," Lilith pointed through the window at an older man walking his Dachshund down the street. "Just ask him."
"Fine," Crowley growled as he guided his burning Bentley to the gentleman. When he reached him, Lilith rolled down the window. "Uh, hi there. Sorry to bother you, but I seem to have gotten slightly," He hesitated.
The word didn't want to leave his lips, so Lilith replied, "Lost."
Crowley sneered at her, but gave his attention once more to the older man. "I'm looking for Tadfield Air Base."
"Might've taken a wrong turn." The old man went on to say, seemingly ignorant to the flaming car, or simply so shocked by it that his English propriety won out. "Sign post blown down. Easy mistake to make. Now," he motioned ahead of them, "Just take the second right."
"Right, got it," Crowley nodded. "Terrific."
Lilith reached through the sweltering window and for the old man's hand. Crowley saw her flash a smile that seemed to put the gentleman in enough of a haze that, despite everything surrounding him at the moment, he grasped her delicate hand.
"Thank you, ever so much." She cooed sweetly.
"Ah," The old man's shoulders slumped and a smile crossed his lips. "You're most welcome, my dear."
And before she let go, before they could drive away, Crowley saw something happen. Light, pale and likely invisible to the human, glided across his arm and to Lilith. The old man's face lost its smile and soon began to take on a slightly pained expression. But it only lasted moments before it was all over, before she pulled her arm back into the Bentley, and they were on the road once more.
Lilith let out a relieved sigh, rolled her head from side to side as she did. Crowley noticed that her skin was stitching back together and soon the gaping hole in her cheek, the one through which he'd been able to see nearly all of her molars and part of her jaw, was gone.
"Much better," she finally said.
"Have a lovely little snack?" he teased, accentuating each word by speaking them through his teeth.
"I only took a couple of years." Lilith's voice was as innocent as she could muster. "He'll never miss them."
"Alright, then. On to war."
The tires shrieked as Crowley took a wide turn, guiding them toward the Air Base gate at a speed not recommended on any sign. With his music blasting, he finally slammed on the brakes and exited with a flourish. Lilith stepped out a bit slower.
"Never get that performance from a modern car," he declared proudly. Lilith rolled her eyes and patted at her jacket, releasing puffs of smoke as she did. "Aziraphale!" He said happily as he sauntered toward the two humans and the woman. "See you found a ride. Nice dress. Suits you."
Aziraphale smiled wide. He seemed genuinely relieved to see Crowley, but it was down to business soon enough.
"Now, this young man won't let us by."
"I'll take care of it," he told the angel. Still oozing with casual arrogance, he approached the soldier while Lilith joined the pair.
"Ah, hello again, Lilith." The woman said with the angel's voice. "So glad you could've joined us."
She offered a small smile because she wasn't sure what else to do. Being kind to an angel felt odd, but he was being kind to her. It left her a little conflicted, honestly.
A large, booming explosion suddenly echoed through the space, powerful enough that Lilith felt the vibrations of it. She spun, shocked, alongside the others in time to see the Bentley finally lose its battle with the Hellfire.
"Oh," she said sadly. It was sad to her because, while being a beautiful car, it had held out for a long while. It tried its best, but it'd become too much.
Crowley slinked forward, passing between her and Aziraphale. He approached his car, the flaming wreckage it had now become, with his shoulders slumped. Yards from it, he fell to his knees.
But while Crowley mourned his most prized possession, the world continued to tick on. The American in the fancy uniform and the shiny gun was losing his patience. Aziraphale (jogging expertly in heels) raced toward Crowley and began to beg him for help, but Lilith wasn't as willing to wait.
She approached the young man with the gun. He continued to shout his orders, his heart rate continued to rise, and she knew he was close to firing.
When she was within a few feet, Lilith was sure she had his eye. She smiled and he began to falter. Pressing her finger to her lips, Lilith hushed the soldier, and his eyes began to fall. Not a moment later, he went entirely limp and collapsed to the ground in a pile.
"I hope you didn't harm him," Aziraphale said as he joined her side. "He was only doing his job, after all."
"He's only sleeping," she said. Lilith turned, "Crowley, come on with it. It's almost time!"
The thin man in black spoke soft words to his car before he glided to his feet and soon joined them.
"Alright, then. Nice work on the soldier."
Lilith gave him a soft nod of appreciation.
In the distance, Humvees rife with more soldiers charged toward them. Crowley's attention sharpened.
"Right, then… I need to get over the car thing. Um, no worries. I'll take care of them."
"Never fear, laddie. I've got a finger!" The older gentleman with Aziraphale said with a thick Scottish brogue.
"You may need to brandish your weapon, Major Shadwell." Aziraphale said confidently. "We may need to lick some serious butt."
Crowley grumbled and shook his head. "Kick, Aziraphale, kick butt. For Heaven's sake," Crowley instantly let out a strangled gag. "I can't believe I just said that."
Lilith smirked.