Hellfire and Holy Water (A Good Omens Fanfiction)

Chapter Six

Aziraphale stood in stunned silence for a time, long after the sound of Crowley's car wheels screeching down the road was nothing but a distant memory. The angel was left in utter silence and solitude once again. For once, he couldn't fight back the feeling that he had made a grave mistake. Crowley had just...stormed off. Maybe for good.

There were but a few short years until Armageddon, assuming they failed in their task and the Antichrist came into his power. And what then? The war he had been trying to forget about for centuries was rushing back to the forefront of his mind. And Crowley, his best–no, not anymore.

We were never friends, Aziraphale thought to himself stubbornly as he tore his attention away from the door once and for all. But something within him was stirring to life, something angry at the prospect of never seeing the demon again before it all went up in flames in a few years. Or, Heaven forbid, if Aziraphale found himself brandishing a sword licked by golden flames, staring into all-yellow eyes gleaming with hate and bloodlust. The face of his only...companion of six thousand years, contorted in rage and hate, and ready for war.

The image was unsettling, but Aziraphale reflected that it might have been far worse if he could actually picture Crowley like that. Even as a demon, he never seemed entirely evil. If he was ever racked with anger or ferocity he never showed that side to Aziraphale. And if nothing else, at least he had a definite soft spot for kids, which was something the angel was able to pick up on very early in their association with one another. But even when kids weren't involved it seemed Crowley was never up for anything worse than a bit of mischief. He wasn't even capable of concocting a scheme more devilish than the things humans came up with themselves, as he had pointed out on many occasions throughout the centuries.

No, he certainly couldn't picture Crowley as a war-crazed berserker, no more than Aziraphale could picture himself in that role. He felt dread creeping its way into his heart, remembering how he told Crowley to leave in a fit of righteous indignation. Was that really the last time he would see his devilish counterpart before the end of it all?

He snapped to focus and shook his head to clear his thoughts. Deep down he would no doubt continue to fret, but he shoved those thoughts aside and focused on going about his life as he would on any other normal night. It took him a bit too long to remember that on any normal night he would settle in with a good book for the evening. Right, that sounded pleasant enough. He could certainly do with a mental break of sorts and sit down and enjoy one of his favorite books for a few hours to forget the world and anything that might be troubling him.

Aziraphale was rather troubled when he turned his attention to the bookshop, only to discover that it looked as though a raven had exploded all over his shop. He frowned in disapproval as he remembered how Crowley shook his wings and scattered his musty old feathers about the room. Evidently, a good number of the inky-black feathers had made their way outside the back room as well, decorating the floor and even some shelves. He felt disgusted! Although, if he allowed himself to genuinely think about it, maybe he would have related the feeling to something more akin to "heartbreak" than actual disgust, per se. Feelings were fickle things, after all.

It didn't take long for him to shove all of Crowley's leavings into a big pile and promptly dispose of them in a rubbish bin. Finally he decided he could relax and see to getting that break he had promised himself. He made some tea and sat heavily into his favorite chair, sighing contentedly as he settled in for the night with a good book in hand.

A part of him was always distracted, though, despite his best efforts. He loosely wondered if he would ever see that wily serpent again. No, he decided inwardly. As a servant of Heaven he couldn't entertain dangerous thoughts of that devil returning to his shop, begging for a second chance and taking back everything he had said. They had to keep to their respective sides now more than ever. Aziraphale wondered, just a little bit, if they would meet again before the end times, if they did indeed come.