Author's Note: This is cross posted on AO3 under a different username. It's a small AU of episode 4. I always thought the episode needed more whump and protective Crowley. Enjoy and please be kind in your reviews!
The Price of an Arrangement
Aziraphale was busy in the back of his shop organizing some books and cataloging. He was trying to relax from all of this stress of finding the AntiChrist. He heard footsteps behind him and figured some customers had wandered in.
"I'm sorry we are closed. Come back tomorrow please." He called out.
"Hello Aziraphale."
Aziraphale froze as he recognized that voice. He turned around removing his glasses and saw Michael, Uriel, and Sandalphon standing there boxing him in. There was only one way out and it was currently being blocked by the three archangels.
"Uh..yes. What can I do for you?" Aziraphale asked placing down the books he had been holding.
"We have been hearing rumors about you Aziraphale. You have been a bit of a fallen angel? Consulting with the enemy?" Michael asked.
"The enemy? Whoever could you be talking about?" Aziraphale questioned innocently.
"The demon Crowley. Seems you two have a thing for each other. And you two seem to have been meddling in plans to stop the end of the world." Uriel stated.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Aziraphale insisted.
Sandalphon at that moment socked Aziraphale in the stomach. Aziraphale doubled over coughing at the force. Uriel grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him up slamming him against the bookcase. Aziraphale winced as his head was slammed onto a shelf.
"Do not lie to us Aziraphale. It will not end well." Uriel threatened.
"I swear I have no idea what you are talking about. I have been chasing the demon Crowley for centuries now. I would never fraternize." Aziraphale stammered.
Uriel brought a knee up to Aziraphale's stomach and let him double over on the floor catching himself on his hands and knees.
"I will...take this..up with a ...higher authority." He gasped out between breaths, dark spots danced in front of his vision.
"Do you really think Heaven would take your call?" asked Uriel.
"I think its time you learn what happens when you lie." Michael insisted.
Sandalphon took over then. He punched Aziraphale across the face causing him to crash onto the floor. Michael and Uriel stood by as Sandalphon beat Aziraphale. Aziraphale thought about fighting back, but something in him told him not too. He couldn't fight back against a punishment. Somewhere deep down he wondered if he deserved this. He had tried to meddle in the Great Plan after all, maybe this was his comeuppance. He tried to protect himself as Sandalphon kicked his ribs repeatedly. Sandalphon landed a few punches to his face for good measure. Suddenly a far off trumpet sounded. The angels stopped and looked towards the heavens.
"Its starting." Michael stated.
They looked back down at Aziraphale withering on the ground clutching his chest.
"Stash him somewhere. Somewhere he can't interfere with our plans. We will deal with him fully later." Uriel ordered.
Sandalphon snapped his fingers and Aziraphale found himself stuffed into an old broom closet he forgot he had in the bookshop. It was dark and cramped. His knees were in his chest, his wrists were bound to his knees, his ankles bound and a gag had been forced into his mouth, tied tightly around his head. Having his knees in his chest made his ribs scream. He started to struggle against the bonds but the movement aggravated his injuries. He could feel the darkness creeping in as his head felt lighter and lighter. He fought to stay awake to find a way out but he felt himself being pulled under faster and faster. As his eyes slipped closed he just hoped Crowley was safe.
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Crowley sped to the bookshop throwing the Bently into a parking space. Hell had worked out that he had meddled with the plans for Armageddon and now it was only a matter of time before they hunted him down. He was going to get Aziraphale and run away from here as far as they could. Alpha Centauri. The Angel would love it there. Running into the shop he snapped the door close behind him.
"Angel? You about?" He called out.
No response came. This worried Crowley. Aziraphale usually would come out when Crowley made his presence known or at least call out to him. Crowley felt celestial power in the air. It felt like other angels were here. Aziraphale had said in the past that sometimes they drop by. Were they here now? Was Aziraphale trying to keep him from being noticed? Crowley couldn't ignore the feeling something was wrong.
"Aziraphale?" he called.
Receiving no response again he started walking towards the back of the shop.
"Angel? Come on give me something to work with. If you are not answering me because you are reading I swear to someone I will start handing out books to people on the street. I will start with Oscar Wilde." Crowley threatened.
Still there was no answer. Crowley was starting to really worry. Any mention of his books being sold or given away usually drew the Angel out fretting about his books. Especially Oscar Wilde. Crowley walked further into the shop. He could sense Aziraphale was near but he couldn't pin down an exact location.
"Aziraphale? Come on Angel where are you? I'm not in the mood for games. We don't have much time." Crowley's tone was getting desperate.
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Aziraphale's eyes blinked open. His head was in a daze, but he could have sworn he heard his name.
"Aziraphale? Angel come on answer me."
Aziraphale's eyes widened. Crowley. Crowley was here. He had come looking for him. But the angel's were sure to find him. Aziraphale didn't know if they had left and he didn't want them to find Crowley. God only knows what they would do if they found him. Aziraphale started struggling against the ropes again. The closet was just too cramped for him to do anything. He started knocking his feet against the wall hoping the sound would draw attention to him and away from Crowley.
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Crowley suddenly heard something. It sounded like faint knocking. He followed it and it got slightly louder. Tucked into the corner by the back door of the shop was another door. The knocking was coming from there. Crowley didn't know what to think. He slowly approached the door, one hand behind him holding a ball of Hellfire. Reaching for the knob, he took a deep breath before throwing the door open. In the closet he found Aziraphale on the floor, bound and gagged. Aziraphale squeezed his eyes shut as the light poured into the closet.
Crowley quickly extinguished the Hellfire in his hand and dropped to his knees beside the Angel.
"Aziraphale!"
Aziraphale was looking at him, but he had fear in his eyes. He was struggling against the ropes and was moaning against the gag.
"Angel! Angel, hey hey hey. Look at me, it's ok." Crowley soothed taking Aziraphale's face in his hands.
"MMMpph!" Aziraphale yelled behind the gag.
"Easy its ok. Let me get this off you." Crowley gently pulled the gag out of Aziraphale's mouth.
"Crowley...you...you have to run. The Angel's...they will find you!" Aziraphale gasped out breathlessly, his voice hoarse as he continued to pull on the ropes.
"Hey, Hey relax. It's just you and me here. We're safe, just take it easy. Deep breaths Angel calm down. Take some deep breaths for me." Crowley assured smoothing his thumbs over Aziraphale's face.
Aziraphale took a couple deep breaths even as ribs screamed at him. Eventually he calmed down his breath coming out in small shakey gasps.
"Thats it. Lets get you out of here and then you can explain what happened." Crowley assured.
Crowley snapped his fingers and the ropes fell away. Aziraphale winced a bit as his legs were finally stretched from the cramped position they were in. He stood slowly allowing Crowley to help him rise from the floor. He wavered a bit before his knees gave out. Crowley easily caught him.
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa. Easy, I've got you. Lean on me and let's get you somewhere comfortable."
Crowley wrapped an arm around Aziraphale's waist and supported him as they walked slowly to the front of the shop. Crowley lowered Aziraphale down into his favorite armchair and pulled over a foot stool for Aziraphale's feet.
"Do you need something?" Crowley asked.
"Some water would be wonderful. Terribly parched." Aziraphale answered.
Crowley went to the back of the shop and came back with a glass of water placing it in the Angel's hands.
"Here. Small sips, don't over do it." Crowley instructed.
Aziraphale nodded holding the glass with both hands as he took a small sip. Taking a step back, Crowley took in the Angel's appearance. His clothes were wrinkled, he had a black eye and a few cuts and bruises on his face. Crowley noticed he was taking shakey breathes as he drank the water. The Angel tipped his head back and closed his eyes trying to control his breathing. He seemed so out of sorts and he was usually so put together that to Crowley it all seemed so wrong. Crowley felt his anger rise as he knew something terrible must have happened to get Aziraphale all out of sorts like this. He forced it down and sat on the chair's arm.
"How are you feeling? Are you in much pain?" Crowley asked taking the half empty glass of water and placing it on the table beside the chair doing the same with his sunglasses.
"Tickety boo my dear b..AHHH!"
A spasm went through Aziraphale's back and caused him to arch his back, which caused his ribs to hurt and he curled in on himself as he squeezed his eyes shut grabbing at Crowley's free hand.
"Easy Angel. Easy. Slow breathes." Crowley soothed gripping Aziraphale's hand back in reassurance.
"My chest..." Aziraphale gasped out.
Crowley gently prodded Aziraphale's chest. The Angel hissed and pulled away slightly resisting the urge to bat away at Crowley's hands.
"I don't think your ribs are broken, just severely bruised, maybe cracked in a couple places." Crowley stated.
"They hurt." Aziraphale winced.
Crowley pushed numbing energy into his hands. Aziraphale relaxed further into the chair.
"Thank you my dear." Aziraphale hummed.
"Who did this to you Angel?" Crowley asked.
"Sandalphon, Uriel and Michael. They worked out that we are working together to stop Armageddon. They cornered me here." Aziraphale explained.
"And stuffed you in the closet?" Crowley questioned.
"They wanted me out of the way, they were going to come back later to deal with me they said." Aziraphale answered.
"Which one hurt you?" Crowley demanded.
"Sandalphon. He roughed me up pretty well. I thought they were still here and they were going to hurt you." Aziraphale mumbled.
"I'm fine Angel. I'm just glad I came looking for you."
"I...I worked out everything with the AntiChrist. We have to get to Tadfield Airbase. That's where he is. Best get a wiggle on." Aziraphale stated as he tried to rise from the chair.
"And we will. For now let's take care of you. Can you heal your wounds?" Crowley insisted as he gently guided Aziraphale back down into the chair.
"I think so." Aziraphale nodded.
Aziraphale concentrated his healing energy and soon felt his wounds heal. Crowley miracled what he could and numbed Aziraphale's pain. If they were going to do this and go to Tadfield he needed his miracles. Aziraphale relaxed against the back of his chair as the pain in his chest lessened and his face was healed. He found his eyes drifting shut again.
"No, Angel I need you to stay awake." Crowley reached out and gave Aziraphale's face a couple gentle taps.
"M so tired." Aziraphale mumbled.
"I know. But if we are going to save the bloody world I need you awake. Can't do all the work myself. You said you worked out where we need to go?" Crowley asked.
"The book. The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnus Nutter. It's on my desk, I made notes." Aziraphale pointed to his desk.
Crowley went over to the desk and opened the book. Inside he found the notes Aziraphale made and a map with Tadfield Airbase circled. He gathered it all up and closed the book. Turning with the book in hand, he saw Aziraphale standing shakily from the chair. Crowley was immediately by his side offering a hand that Aziraphale gratefully took.
"You sure you're ok to do this? We can always run away. Alpha Centauri is nice this time of year." Crowley offered.
"No. We need to do this. The world didn't ask for this, we need to stop it." Aziraphale insisted.
"Ok. Just don't push yourself."
Crowley helped him out to the Bentley hoping this would go as well as Aziraphale hoped it would.
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Satan retreated back to Hell. The apocalypse had been averted. Adam went home with his father, the other kids took off for their homes. Anathema and Newt left as well. As soon as Satan had left Aziraphale's strength gave out and he collapsed against Crowley.
"Whoa Angel. Easy, I've got you." Crowley wrapped his arms around Aziraphale to keep him from falling to the ground.
"Head's all fuzzy. Everything's dancing."
"Not surprising. Had to heal yourself and being around Satan I'm sure didn't help. Let's get you home and resting."
Crowley wrapped one of Aziraphale's arms around his shoulders, putting his other around his waist and guided him back to the Bentley.
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They stumbled into the bookshop, Crowley snapping the door closed behind him. He pulled Aziraphale over to the couch and gently helped him lay down. Aziraphale's eyes were squeezed shut and his breath came in gasps.
"Easy Angel. Try to rest."
Crowley loosened the Angel's bowtie, undid his waist coat and undid a couple buttons on his shirt to make him more comfortable. He also took off the Angel's shoes. The Angel looked a little more comfortable but still seemed to be in pain somehow.
"Are you in pain?" Crowley asked.
"No, just tired." Aziraphale answered his eyes closed.
"You should rest. I can stay with you if you would like?" Crowley offered, not that he had any plans for leaving anyway.
"Yes, but we need to figure out Agnus's last prophecy. I had it in my pocket." Aziraphale stated opening his eyes and trying to dig into his pockets.
"I already looked at it and have an idea for it. I will explain it to you after you rest though. You have had a long day." Crowley insisted putting a hand on the Angel's shoulder.
"Do you think Heaven and Hell will come looking for us?" Aziraphale asked letting his eyes shut again.
"If they do, I will be here. You just rest and we will worry about that later." Crowley answered.
Aziraphale was already asleep. Crowley carefully ran a hand through the Angel's curls. He knew Heaven and Hell would come eventually. You don't get to avert the apocalypse and get away scott free. That is probably what the last prophecy was about. Crowley did have a plan for it, but all that mattered tonight was watching over Aziraphale for the rest of the night and making sure he rested. Crowley pulled the armchair from earlier up to the couch. He threw a blanket over Aziraphale before sitting down in the armchair and propping his feet on the edge of the couch. Snapping his fingers he threw up basic wards to ensure they were not bothered for the rest of the night and settled into watch over the Angel.