So sorry for taking so long! RL was being horrible, and between a final week at sixth form before the holidays and a funeral, I've been... occupied. And this one was a nightmare to try and write. Anyway, this is set on Saturday morning, before a memorable scene for all Crowley/Aziraphale shippers... anyway, on with the story!
The drive back towards London was tense and slightly uncomfortable. Neither Muriel nor Damian had anything remotely confident to say, and in all honesty they were hoping that their respective tutors had found something to work with. The demon dropped his angelic counterpart off at her home, before driving to his apartment. Muriel watched him go until she couldn't see his car any longer. Sighing, she headed indoors and started cleaning*.
She was, in fact, halfway through doing the dusting when They called. A blue light formed within her lounge, and a voice came from it. "Muriel?"
Swallowing, she called out a nervous "Um... hello?"
The light glowed brighter at the recognition. "Muriel, you are to return to Heaven. The time has come to prepare for the battle against evil, and you are to be among them."
"Really? I mean, you remember my way of wielding a flaming sword – we all agreed that a staff was a much safer-"
"You will join us. Now."
Thinking fast, the angel pretended to startle, simultaneously willing a coat to fall off of its hook by the door. She span around, a false look of horror on her face. "Oh, you've done it now! That demon has heard you, he'll be off to tell his superiors, no doubt. Oh, heck..."
The voice came back, a confused tinge to it. "We have said nothing of importance. What would he know?"
Muriel pretended to shake her head in exasperation, before retorting, "Sneaky thing, that demon. In fact, that is why there's been a distinct drop in discorporation. He can pick up everything from anything. Which is why I need to go, now, and stop him."
She'd made it halfway across the room before the voice came again. "But... we can sense nothing beyond that door." It was definitely uncertain now.
"Well, obviously! He knows that we know that he knows about our plans. D'you think he'd hang around to be smote? Really?" she yelled, her frustration starting to become true rather than faked.
The light appeared to flinch, somehow. Muriel had forgotten how scary she could be when in a bad mood. Oops. Before she could bring herself to apologise, the angel flounced out of the room, grabbed her house keys and an umbrella, opened the door - and promptly sprinted down the street, racing away from the house. She needed to find Damian, and fast.
*Well, they say that cleanliness is next to Godliness, and Muriel felt that it was worth a shot, all things considered. Anyway, the house loved her so much that there wasn't a huge amount of cleaning to be done. It was believed that, for as long as an angel wanted to have a clean house, it would be a sin for the house not to be spotless. Well, as much of a sin as is possible considering the fact that most houses don't have souls, no matter what some singers would say.
Damian had driven back to his apartment in a sour mood. They hadn't found the antichrist, he needed to contact Crowley and Downstairs both – and all they had on the radio was Madonna and Kylie Minogue. Could it get much worse than that? Little did he know, he was going to regret that thought later on...
Either way, he arrived, stormed into his apartment and decided that he may as well watch something on the television before everything went to Hell. Or Heaven, depending upon which side won. Whoever it was, TV was about to go downhill. He found a few soaps and decided that, actually, Saturday midday TV couldn't get that much worse after all. Still, it was the principle of the thing.
He was, in fact, halfway through an episode of 'Home and Away' when he heard a knock at the door. Before he could go to open it and scare away whoever it was, however, there was the unmistakable sound of a wooden apartment door being bashed in by a hammer. Blessing profusely, the demon leapt up and backed towards his safe, where he would find suitable anti-demonic protection in the form of innocent-looking liquid. He didn't have time, however, as a cloud of smoke swept in, and a humanoid shape appeared in the midst of it. Swallowing, he opted for a cheesy grin. "Heya, Sunny! How's it going for you?" he called out in a cheerful, hopefully not too shaky voice. The demon glared.
"I believe I warned you once, against calling me by that infernal nickname. The name, cockroach, is Sunur." Came the reply, in a voice that sounded like it belonged in a horror movie that was actually scary. Damian chuckled somewhat nervously.
"Oh, of course. My sincerest apologies. But what is a nickname between, er, fellow workers of the Underworld? Hm? After all, not like we have much longer before the end of Earth, is it? May as well be friendly..." he trailed off, noticing the blade in the other demon's hand. "Um... yeah, well, maybe not." With that, he pulled out his own knife, glad that he hadn't totally forgotten how to fight. Unfortunately, he still had forgotten parts. After a few minutes of fighting, he found himself trapped against the counter, blade held inches from his neck.
"Any last words?" snarled Sunur, before he laughed. It wasn't a nice laugh.
"Um..." Damian fought blindly with the onslaught of cowardly replies, desperately searching for one that sounded at least partially confident. He couldn't find one. He slumped as the blade was raised, preparing himself for the pain and distantly wishing that he could have at least said goodbye to Muri and their tutors before taking a one-way trip to Downstairs, possibly for the final time.
Sunur was about to deliver the killing blow when there was the quiet but recognisable noise of a throat being cleared deliberately. Both he and Damian turned around to discover who had made the sound. The sight that greeted them would have put the fear of Somebody into any sensible demon. Leaning against the doorway was Muriel, her face devoid of all emotion but a cold look in her eyes. The last time Damian had seen the angel looking like that had been just before she had discorporated him for the final time before the Incident. Needless to say, it was a chilling image, and the younger demon swallowed nervously.
Muriel glanced between the two, before speaking. Her voice was cold, unreadable, and for the first time in a long time Damian felt scared to be near her. The only thing that stopped him from trying to run was that the words were directed at Sunur.
"I see you are attempting to rid yourselves of him, demon." She commented, spitting out the final word as if it caused a bad taste in her mouth. "Last time I checked, I believe that the discorporation of him," she continued, nodding towards her counterpart, "was one of my duties. Emphasis on my... So why are you attempting to do such a thing yourself?"
Muriel stepped closer, and her voice lowered. "I do not take kindly to those who attempt to fulfil my duties in my place. So either you let him go and leave, or you can find yourself removed from existence. Permanently." She finished, waiting for Sunur's response.
The demon looked slightly nervous, but decided to go ahead with his confident act. "Why should I be scared of you? For one, you're a girl. A small girl, at that."
Damian winced. "Oh, bless it. You've done it now, mate. You've really done it now." He muttered, glancing fearfully over at Muriel. Blinking, Sunur did the same. In place of her earlier look of detachment there was a deep fury about her, eyes flashing like daggers. Speaking about daggers, one appeared suddenly in her hand and she held it up.
"You will regret your words, demon. If it is possible to regret words in oblivion." Was all she said before lunging towards Sunur. The fight was entrancing, and it was swift. After some heated combat, they both froze as the angel's dagger went into the chest of the demon. He looked down, feeling a burning sensation, before glancing up. Smoke began to spiral from the wound. Looking over from his position on the floor, Damian swallowed once more at the intense look on his angelic counterpart's face. She smirked slightly, before speaking. "Oh, yes, forgot to mention. The dagger? Doused in holy water. Bye bye." With that, she pushed the dagger upwards and Sunur vanished in a cloud of writhing, screeching smoke.
Both demon and angel watched him go, before Muriel closed her eyes and slumped to the floor. Concerned – and still a bit afraid – Damian headed over. "Hey...feathers, you alright?" he asked, sitting quietly across from her. She sighed lightly, before looking up.
"It's been a while, that's all. And... well, I was never a fan of bloodshed. It doesn't mix well with my whole status as 'Angel of the Youth', after all." She replied, before standing up slightly shakily. "Come on – we need to find our tutors."
Nodding, Damian stood up too, grabbing the keys to the car. "Let's go." He agreed.
So? Please let me know about thoughts, questions, etc. Reviews motivate me to work harder! :3 The next part will be up by next Saturday, I'm determined. Reviews will confirm it though :)