Aziraphale turned to his daughter and Cassi's only response was an offended scoff. She pushed the demon next to her out of her space yet again, trying to get a better view of her demonic father. "This is ridiculous." She heard Crowley comment. "All of you are being ridiculous."
"It has been decided by our master." Shax's voice rang. "You will produce her, and we shall assess her ourselves."
Aziraphale gestured for Cassi to follow as he found a better view. The nephalem followed her father who was wearing some black jeans, a black button up shirt, with a black version of his beloved vest, and he topped the outfit with a leather coat. His hair was black, and Cassi thought he would look quite nice with some eyeliner, which she had given him after a small discussion. Meanwhile Cassi wore a black dress, with velvet leggings, and her black high-top boots. Hair was still curly but looked auburn instead of her fiery red with that one lone blonde streak.
"That one is trouble." Aziraphale discreetly pointed towards Hastur who was circling Crowley. "Dad is anxious."
Cassi looked at her father who was giving the council a stern expression and his body showed nothing but confidence. "Are you sure?" She turned to Aziraphale and whispered.
Aziraphale nodded and clicked his tongue. "Your dad and I know each other better than we know ourselves. Oh," he sighed, "I wish I could ease him."
Cassi looked back at Crowley and, despite her father saying, she could not detect any stress coming from the demon but surely her parents did, in fact, know each other better than she knew them.
"...and let's not forget the erupting volcanoes in the middle of the oceans." Dagon ended her statement.
Crowley shrugged as he scoffed. "Tha-that's normal…normal earthly things." He stammered. "You're seriously going to blame one person for all that…that nonsense?" He turned to Shax. "What about the other one? He could have done all of that."
Shax smirked. "Yes. We know he and yours are collaborating and we want you to bring him in as well. With them by our side, this war will be ours."
Cassi was squished temporarily by the demons as they cheered. Thankfully, Aziraphale caught her by her arm before she was shoved back into the crowd.
Hastur handed Crowley a folder, and upon noticing Crowley's baffled expression, he informed, "You cannot lie, Crowley. We know they are working together and soon they will be working with us."
—-
Crowley cocked his head to the side and rolled his eyes at how they were all wasting his time. He opened the folder to find a picture of Cassi with Elliot, though by the looks of it, it was during their first meeting. The second picture was from her trip to Wales, which Crowley knew about. It was when he came to the third picture that his bored expression turned sour. The picture was of Elliot leaning down and placing a kiss on Cassi's cheek. Crowley clenched his jaw as he turned to the next photo which showed her daughter smiling across the table from Elliot, no doubt it was at the coffee shop near their cottage. It was the next picture that made Crowley drown out the surrounding sounds. His chest rose in anger as he saw his daughter, embracing Elliot, smiling as they kissed. "I need to get back to earth." He growled.
Furfur took a step forward. "We are not done here."
Crowley's voice was strained. "I say we are."
Hastur placed his hand on Crowley's shoulder. "You will bring us the girl and the boy." He smirked. "And she will be our greatest weapon."
Crowley shrugged him off and tossed the pictures to the ground. "I'm not bringing you anything." He looked back at the demons. "If you want the boy-" he turned back to the council, "-look for him yourself but my daughter is staying where she's at…away from all of you." He turned to leave only for the exit to be obstructed by the two demons who had escorted him. "Ah, alright, so that's it then? I am going to stay here, is that it?"
Shax nodded. "Only until you agree to bring her and then you are free to leave."
"Is he really free to leave afterwards?" Crowley and the council turned towards the demons behind the window. "Do you promise?"
Crowley growled and snapped his fingers only for Aziraphale and Cassi to be revealed amongst the spectators; their disguises gone with a snap. Aziraphale mouthed an "I'm sorry" to his partner and pulled Cassi into him, trying his best to make sure no demon went near her. There were gasps, howls, and hisses among the demons, not so much for Cassi but for Aziraphale. "Right, um," Aziraphale gulped, "hello."
Soon the angel and nephalem were escorted to the other side of the window where they scurried to stand near Crowley. "We'll talk later." Crowley whispered to Aziraphale.
Both the council and the demons stared at the odd family. Dagon showed a disgusted expression while Furfur smirked triumphantly. "This could have been prevented if you guys listened to me." He grumbled. Hastur rolled his eyes at the comment and crossed his arms.
Shax stood from her seat and tried her best to look threatening. "Ahem," she took a step forward, "looks like the same one I met before. Furfur…confirm."
"Wha- me?" He pointed at himself.
"Yes, get on with it." Shax said through gritted teeth.
Furfur eyed Aziraphale and recalled how that one innocent looking angel had obliterated an army of demons a few months ago. He really didn't look like much, but Furfur had learned Aziraphale had commanded a platoon during the once upon a time battle between heaven and hell, not to mention he was supreme Archangel, and he had created a strong being. Nope. Furfur was not going to approach the angel too casually. He repressed a shudder thinking of how he would have easily been dealt with back in 1941. Aziraphale was good at mind games, Furfur had concluded. The demon cautiously walked towards the family and mentally cheered himself on when he noticed Aziraphale's hand come upon Cassi's shoulder. "So, you, ahem,-" he retrieved a notepad from his person and pointed at Cassi, "-what was the last evil deed you committed?"
Cassi cocked her head and shook her head in confusion. It took a small nudge from Crowley for her to answer. "Oh, um," she pondered for a moment, "I ate my pa-Aziraphale's tiramisu last week and sort of blamed it on Crowley." She nodded with a smile.
Aziraphale and Crowley exchanged glances. "I told you it wasn't me." Crowley whispered and Aziraphale shrugged innocently.
The council seemed baffled as they also exchanged glances amongst themselves. "That doesn't really," Dagon chimed in, "count. Have you killed anyone?"
"Now that seems mean." Cassi stated, looking somewhat disgusted. "Every life is worth something…it is not my job to take it."
Hastur growled and stepped forward. "Enough. Listen, little girl, we know about the weather. Making the humans miserable. First sign of the impending war is unusual weather patterns, the rise from the dead follow, and evil spreads among the world, afterwards the war." Noticing Cassi's blank expression, the duke of hell added, "We know it was you who started it all."
Crowley scoffed and rolled his eyes. "And you all figured that out, yea? She started it out how exactly?"
Dagon stepped forward and pointed at the nephalem. "She changed the weather."
Cassi shook her head in disbelief. "I did no such thing. I can't control Earth's weather. It's called climate change, look it up."
"He-" Hastur pointed at Crowley, "-can and therefore, you do too. You were the one who did it and you will be the one who will take us to victory."
"And why would you assume I would help hell?" She raised her eyebrow. "Without even asking me, the rudeness of it all. I heard bad things about demons, but I did give you the benefit of a doubt." She huffed. "And I'm not a puppet you can control, you do not get tell me what to do." Her nostrils flared.
Furfur cleared his throat. "So…you'll be in heaven's side then? The enemy."
Cassi shook her head. "I'm on my own side. W-well, technically-" she pointed back at her parents, "-their side."
"Our master will hear of this?" Hastur spoke up.
Cassi shrugged. "Who? Satan? Oh, I am so scared."
Aziraphale leaned down and whispered, "Cassi, darling, don't forget we are surrounded by demons."
Shax hissed and stepped forward. "Yes, exactly you should be scared."
"Shax," Crowley interjected, "she was being sarcastic."
The demon nodded as a slight blush appeared. "I-I knew that." She cleared her throat. "So, girl, you decide now, heaven or hell. Good or evil."
Cassi suppressed her laugh. "You can't be serious. I will not choose between my demon and my angelic side, it's what makes me…well, me. If we are being honest, I don't give a fuck about your bloody war."
Her statement earned hisses and gasps from the demons and the council. "Ah," Hastur exclaimed, "all this attitude screams demon."
Crowley crossed his arms. "No, this, what you see here is an annoying nephalem, ready to snark her way out of this and maybe hurt your feelings in the process. So," he grinned, "I would tread carefully if I were you."
Aziraphale nodded in agreement, "Don't take it personally. They are called teenagers up on earth. There are books on them if you wish to inform yourself more."
Furfur stepped closer towards Cassi, notepad in hand, "How do you spell your name? I need to add it in our handbook if you will be joining the adversary."
"I'm not fighting your ridiculous war!" Cassi's eyes darkened and the demons stepped back as a powerful aura came from the nephalem. Cassi felt a slight unfamiliar sense inside her and she had a small desire to rip the demon's head off, just for annoying her.
The parents exchanged glances as they too felt a small change within their daughter. She felt more demon than angel at that moment and they did not care for it. Cassi's chest heaved up and down as she eyed the council, somewhat terrifying them in the process. "Your friend," Shax gulped, "is-is he also more angel like you?"
Cassi clenched her jaw and before she could retort, Aziraphale placed his other hand gently on her other shoulder which pacified the nephalem. The angel's touch managed to bring her back from wherever it was she went to within herself. "Can we conclude she is anything but evil?" Crowley stammered, "May we go now?"
Furfur, Hastur, and Dagon turned to Shax. "I su-suppose." She sucked in a breath, "However, we will keep in touch."
The family felt their eyes on them as Crowley escorted his partner and daughter towards the elevator. "I'm tired, papa." Cassi's voice was low as she held Aziraphale's hand while they stepped into the elevator. She was not sure but having a full angel hold, her, subsided the darkness she had experienced.
