Chapter Text
As King Darius’ men sealed Daniel away in the known den of a pride of lions, Aziraphale knew what he had to do. Heaven had commissioned him to protect Daniel throughout the night, a miracle that wouldn’t be too hard, given the circumstances. There would be no one to witness it until the morning except for Daniel.
Aziraphale performed a minor miracle to allow himself to pass unseen before slipping inside the den. It was dark, making it nearly impossible to see the prowling forms of the lions around Daniel, who was seated in the middle of the pride.
Daniel’s salt-and-pepper hair was tied back, and his beard was carefully groomed. His tunic, while cheaply made, was immaculate. He had a peaceful smile on his face, and his eyes were closed. He truly did believe that God would protect him.
It certainly was time for a miracle, wasn't it?
Aziraphale snapped his fingers, and the lions present in the den were immediately pacified, giving Daniel a wide berth. That would certainly last until morning, until the king came around to check on him.
It was a shame, really, that King Darius’ advisors had forced him into proclaiming the king was the only god there was. Daniel had served him well, but he was also a follower of God, and the king had been devastated to sentence him to execution. The king was a good man, and Aziraphale had no doubt that after witnessing the power of God, he would embrace Her.
He turned to leave, his job done, but hesitated. Perhaps it would be better to stay for the whole night, in case something, inevitably, went wrong. He was sure his miracle would do its job, but if Hell decided to intervene and seed discord, the best place for Aziraphale to be was here, in order to thwart them.
His mind settled, Aziraphale sat down on a rock on the outskirts of the cavern, content to stay put until morning. He was half-aware, a few hours later, of a snake slithering up next to him before morphing into the form of Crawley seated on the rock next to him.
“Fancy meeting you here, Aziraphale,” Crawley stated casually, leaning his body back and propping himself up on his elbows.
“Crawley? What are you doing here?” Aziraphale whispered quite loudly, before dropping his voice to avoid attracting Daniel’s attention. He needn’t have worried, however, as Daniel was fast asleep.
“Do I have to have a reason for being around? It’s not like everywhere I go, chaos follows- well, actually, it kind of is, but it’s not always my fault.”
“Crawley.”
Crawley sighed. “If you must know, I was in the area tempting a king, then heard about someone being sentenced to death by lions and thought it would be interesting. However, this,” he gestured at the scene of sleeping lions in front of them, “-isn’t exactly what I was thinking of.”
“I was sent to save this man’s life,” Aziraphale stated. “Heaven was quite clear that Daniel was to survive, to spread the glory of God.”
“Do you even hear yourself? ‘Glory of God?’ Really, angel, drop the ‘high and mighty’ act,” Crawley drawled.
Aziraphale was stung by Crawley’s words. “My dear fellow, I’m insulted that you would think such a thing of me. I am not acting ‘high and mighty’, I am just repeating what was said to me by my higher-ups.”
“Gabriel?” Crawley inquired.
“Gabriel,” Aziraphale confirmed.
The two of them spent the rest of the night in comfortable silence, and when Aziraphale glanced over next at Crawley, the demon had turned back into a snake and coiled back in on himself, completely and utterly asleep.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Crawley drifted back to himself as the sun rose the next morning, the light spilling into the now-open cave and warming his scales. He transformed back into his human-like form and stretched, easing out the soreness in his muscles.
Aziraphale glanced over at him. “You alright, Crawley?”
“I’m fine, just sore.” He hesitated a moment. “Why do you care?”
Aziraphale rolled his eyes. “Just because you’re a demon doesn’t mean I’m forbidden to be concerned about you well-being. Angels are supposed to care for all, unless you’ve forgotten that.”
“No. I hadn’t.” Crawley shot a glare at Aziraphale before getting to his feet. A glance around the cavern showed the man who had been trapped inside the night before was gone. “Whatever happened to that man who was in here? David, or whatever his name was.”
“Daniel,” Aziraphale corrected, rising to stand next to Crawley. “King Darius came to get him. Apparently, he is going to repeal that order in favor of all of his people following God.”
“Well, hooray for him.”
Aziraphale smiled. “It is a good thing, isn’t it?”
It seemed Aziraphale still wasn’t familiar with sarcasm, but he was also too happy for Crawley to feel comfortable with bursting his bubble. He could always wait until next time, anyway.
“Where are you headed, anyway?” Crawley asked. “Back to Heaven, I presume?”
“Actually,” Aziraphale began, “Heaven has decided to station me permanently on Earth. My orders, unless otherwise specified, are to spread peace and prosperity across the land.”
“Sounds boring.” Crawley flashed a smirk over his shoulder, picking his way across the floor of the lions’ den.
Aziraphale looked offended. “Crawley!” he exclaimed, but upon seeing the mirth sparkling in Crawley’s yellow eyes, his tone turned teasing. “What will you be doing after this, my dear? Fermenting discord wherever you go?”
“Something like that. Or sleeping for a century. If Hell gives me orders, I’ll follow them, but until then, I’ll do as I please, here on Earth. Astonishingly, they’ve decided to station me here permanently as well.”
“I suppose that means we will be seeing a lot more of each other over the coming years,” Aziraphale commented.
“I suppose we will.”
The two of them stepped out into the blazing sunlight. Crawley blinked a few times to get his bearings before turning back to Aziraphale.
“See you around,” Crawley said, snapping off a mock salute.
“I look forward to it.” Aziraphale inclined his head respectfully.
Crawley ventured out into the desert in search of civilization, Aziraphale by his side. When they finally reached the kingdom of Babylon, they parted ways, Crawley forging his way East.
He knew for a fact that this wasn’t the last he would see of Aziraphale. With both of them on Earth, who knew where they’d meet up next.