Chapter Text
~*~
A nonspecific amount of time had passed since the world didn’t end. It had been months, perhaps. Definitely not years.
To the casual observer or infrequent patron of one Soho bookshop, it would seem that not much had changed. If one had a little more attention to detail, you might notice that the gold ring that Mr. A. Z. Fell typically wore on his pinkie had at some point migrated over to his ring finger on the opposite hand. On further observation, you may notice that the tall lanky bloke with fiery hair nowadays tended to be lounging around the bookshop more often than not. There had also been a case of a somewhat outrageous claim from a customer that they, having picked out a book to flip through, tried to sit down in a chair and were promptly hissed at by a rather large snake that popped out from under the cushion.
~'*'~
It was the middle of the night. Across town, in the mostly dark bedroom of Crowley’s flat, the faint light of a forgotten lamp shone on a sleeping angel, having drifted off in the corner chair, book still in his lap. Right next to him, in the vast bed, the demon slept soundly, tangled in black bed sheets.
AZIRAPHALE
A gentle, yet booming voice, accompanied by an an otherworldly cone of light, startled the angel violently awake. His wings shot out unexpectedly from where they were tucked away on another plane, his left one took out the reading lamp, sending it to the floor with a crash, and his right managed to smack the sleeping demon square in the face with enough force to send him tumbling off of the opposite edge of the bed with an 'Ngk!' and 'Ow!'
"Oh! Oh dear-"
AZIRAPHALE
"Lord? Oh- It's been quite some time," the angel began nervously, eyes darting back and forth over to where Crowley fell. The demon had since picked himself back up and was peering cautiously over the edge of the bed- not that he was foolish enough to believe it would make any difference, of course, She knew he was there. Crowley looked on at Aziraphale bathed in light, but the demon was unfortunately only able to hear one half of the conversation.
WHERE IS YOUR SWORD?
Really? The bloody sword again? "I- I returned it- to the nice International Express chap-"
RETRIEVE IT. KEEP IT BY YOUR SIDE ALWAYS.
The cone of light began to constrict and fade. The angel blinked with searching eyes.
YOU'LL NEED IT FOR THE TASK AHEAD.
Before Aziraphale could gather any further thoughts, the Almighty was gone, and the room fell dark.
Crowley rushed over to the angel and looked him over, checking for any obvious signs of smiting.
"Oh my word, I've made a mess of things," Aziraphale said, tucking his wings back away and looking at the toppled lamp along with the smattering of glass from the smashed bulb that now covered the bedroom floor.
The demon snapped his fingers and everything was back as it was a few minutes prior. Even the angel's book had returned to his lap on the same page he had left off.
"Thank you, my dear," Aziraphale said smiling, reaching out and touching Crowley's face gently. "Are you alright?"
"Angel, what the fuck just happened?"
"Sorry?" Aziraphale blinked.
"You just had a chat with God. She doesn't just chat with anyone for fun. No one has heard a word from Her for thousands of years. This can't possibly be a good thing for us."
"We don't know that."
They both looked uneasy. The quiet of the room dragged on.
"Come on to bed, angel," Crowley sighed finally, tugging Aziraphale closer. "We can face the world in the morning."
~*~
In the morning the angel and demon made their way to the bookshop, after stopping for a spot of breakfast, of course- Crowley's treat.
"I'm not even sure how to go about getting the sword back. Though, I am more concerned about what I could possibly need it for."
"There must be some way to contact International Express. Maybe just place an order and he'll show up at your door, just like that? No, no, it couldn't be that easy."
"He appeared to be a normal human. I wonder if there some way to get his address? Oh, if only we knew his name."
"Angel, you once managed to work out the location and name of the missing Antichrist, I'm sure you can track down one postman."
As the two reached the front of the bookshop, they noticed a plain cardboard box in front of door. The top of it was ajar. The only visible contents was a wad of fabric of some sort poking out.
"I don't recall ordering anything," Aziraphale pondered out loud, as he unlocked the door.
"Well," Crowley said, picking up the unmarked box so that they could step through the entrance, "too bad this one isn't sword shaped. That would have been convenient."
As soon as the angel managed to shut the door and put up the CLOSED sign, the box the demon was holding sneezed.
Crowley froze and looked down at the box.
"Uh, Angel?"
Aziraphale rushed over. They looked at each other, then they looked back at the box.
The angel slowly reached out, opening the box all the way and pulling back the fabric of what was now clearly a blanket.
A baby, no more than a few days old, stared back at them.
~'*'~
"What human would abandon their newborn in front of a bookshop of all places?" Crowley exclaimed, pacing back and forth and gesturing wildly. He poured another glass of wine. "It doesn't add up." He continued fretting. "You don't even open the shop every day, that baby could have starved to death."
"Aren't you lovely?" Aziraphale smiled softly at the baby girl he now cradled in his arms. She had brown skin and a few tufts of soft black curls, and she looked up at the angel with wide happy eyes. Besides the blanket, she had a band of some sort on her wrist with most of the text rubbed away.
"I didn't think it was still a- a thing- dropping off your unwanted kids on stranger's doorsteps. I thought that went out the way of bashing them against cliffs and- and floating them down rivers- and- DROWNING THEM IN FLOODS!"*
*Crowley yelled that last bit at the ceiling.
"My dear, I'm sure her parents were just trying to give her a better life." As the baby started to fuss, Aziraphale miracled a bottle and started to feed her.
"They threw her away," Crowley muttered, throwing himself onto the sofa, and downing another glass of wine.
"We can't keep her."
"I never said anything about keeping her, Angel."
"Well, we'll make sure little Jess here goes to a good home."
"Jess?"
"That was the only bit still legible on her bracelet."
"Lemme see," Crowley slurred slightly, as Aziraphale handed the baby over.
The demon eyed the bracelet. The first three letters were definitely J-E-S. The remaining two or three rubbed away letters escaped recognition. There was also remnants of an address and phone that were torn away. But, if whoever abandoned this baby wanted to leave no trace, why not just remove the bracelet entirely?
Midst trying to examine Jess' arm, Crowley failed to adequately juggle both baby and wine glass and accidentally spilled some onto the girl's stomach.
But before he could take any action to miracle the spill away, it seemed to just fade.
"Wha? Aziraphale, did you do anything just now?"
"No, why?"
And then the child's hand brushed the wine glass and its contents turned to water right in front of them. Crowley's eyes went wide.
"Christ!" The demon exclaimed at the baby in his arms.
Aziraphale gasped as all the pieces fell together, "Oh sweet baby Jesus."
~*~
Crowley held the glass of water at arms length.
"You can relax, my dear," Aziraphale said, quickly taking water away and giving it a once over. "It's not Holy."
The demon sighed. "First the Antichrist and now this," he said, slowly handing the Christ child over to the angel.
Aziraphale immediately miracled up a bassinet and reverently set her down inside. Once assured that she was sufficiently comfortable, the angel and demon plopped down on the sofa and opened a fresh bottle of wine.
"This must be the task the Lord spoke of," Aziraphale began, watching the baby start to fall asleep.
"Has to be," Crowley shrugged and sipped at his wine, "but why is she here, now? Armageddon didn't happen. I thought the Second Coming was foretold to occur only after all that unpleasantness was over and done with."
"Well," the angel pondered, "I suppose, could it be technically over, since it never happened?"
"Maybe. But what does it mean for us, Angel?"
"I wish I knew, my dear."
"Is this the End Times Part Two? What exactly does the Good Book say about Jesus popping back in for a second round?"
"Not much I'm afraid," Aziraphale sighed, then added, "and I believe she prefers Jess now."
"More of the Ineffible Plan, then," Crowley muttered.
The angel took another drink of wine.
"And little Jess is already performing miracles," Crowley continued, waving his arms about. "That's not going to go unnoticed. Can't be giving her over to just any human family."
The Christ child started to stir awake from all the noise. Azirphale set down his glass and reached over to pick her up as she started to cry. He settled back into the sofa next to the demon and rocked her in his arms to soothe her.
The demon's expression softened as he watched his angel comfort the child until she stopped crying entirely.
"If Heaven finds out-" Crowley began, almost in a whisper, "If Gabriel finds out that the Almighty entrusted you- you- with all this-"
"I know," Aziraphale replied with worry, looking down at Jess, holding her tightly.
"Angel, If Hell finds out-"
"We'll protect her." Aziraphale said with determination. "She's part of our side now."
~'*'~
Weeks pass.
Aziraphale and Crowley fall into a new routine of caring for baby Jess. These days the demon finds the living room in his flat covered in miracled baby items, and the back of the angel's bookshop looks to be in much the same shape, with a crib, carrier, and rocker taking center stage.
Currently, though, the couple was enjoying a walk through St. James Park. The Christ child was snugly strapped into one of those devices that allowed Aziraphale to carry her against his chest. The demon smiled at his angel as they walked hand in hand. But, they were in danger of growing complacent. The two had heard nothing from any ethereal or occult forces since the failed Apocalypse. With the Second Coming of Christ here, on earth, one would think someone or something would take notice. Yet, nothing. Silence.
Miraculously, a bench in a perfectly shady and picturesque spot opened up, courtesy of Aziraphale, and the three would be able to enjoy a pleasant rest. The angel had even packed a lunch to enjoy.
As Crowley sat down, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, a chill running down his spine.
"Angel," he said with alarm, turning to Aziraphale. He could see in his angel's eyes that he sensed it too.
They were not alone.
An unfamiliar ethereal presence was watching them. And getting closer.
Crowley instinctively stood up as the unfamiliar angel approached. He placed himself in between Aziraphale and the view of the approaching figure, flexing his black wings out, in a plane only they celestials could see, in a wide and aggressive manner in an attempt to look as intimidating as possible.
The woman-shaped angel stopped just in front of the demon. She was posed as a jogger, wearing a white jumper and gray slacks. Her sliver-blonde hair in a bun. She looked at Crowley with a blank expression, neither aggressive nor friendly. If a human had been asked to describe her face they likely would have said she looks to have lost a battle with a tub of silver glitter.
"Principality Aziraphale," she began, attempting to ignore the fact that Crowley was blocking her view of the angel.
"Know this one, Angel?" Crowley asked behind him without taking his eyes of this new ethereal threat.
Aziraphale leaned past the black feathers enough to catch a glimpse of her.
"Don't believe I've had the pleasure," he replied.
"I am the Principality Periel," she explained with some reluctance. "I am the current official angel assigned to earth."
"Oh," Aziraphale said softly.
"Look, Perrier-" the demon began.
"Periel," she corrected, flatly.
"Alright, Periel, why haven't we seen you lurking around sooner?" Crowley asked, skeptically.
"Until this moment I have been stationed on a different continent," Periel continued, "to lower the chances of encountering- the traitors- you."
"Ha!" Crowley exclaimed, briefly startling the blank look off of Periel's face. "That was wise of Gabriel."
She glared at the serpent with disdain, but then raised her eyebrows at the sounds of a fusing baby coming from behind Crowley's wings. The agent of heaven tried to lean around him to take a look, but the demon matched her movements.
"What is that?" Periel asked, with genuine confusion, managing to spot the baby now being rocked gently in Aziraphale's arms.
Crowley got up in her face, glaring with his yellow serpentine eyes. "She's an orphan. Ours now," he growled firmly, "and none of your concern."
The official Principality of earth took a couple of steps back and cocked her head to the side. "I suppose head office shouldn't be surprised. First the marriage and now a baby. Ticking off all of the human life milestones, are we?"
The demon growled in response.
"Crowley," Aziraphale said, as if to caution him.
The demon sighed, "Alright, why are you here, then. Lots of trouble, hopping continents."
"I was getting to that," Periel began, pulling out her heavenly mobile and scrolling through it. "We've sensed something strange Above, miracles are occurring that cannot be traced to any agents on earth, rogue or otherwise. The most detail we can get is that it is happening here, in London-"
"What part," Crowley interrupted, "of it would be best if we were left alone did you lot not understand?"
Seeing this was going nowhere, Periel sighed, and leaned to the side one final time. "If you hear anything, Principality, I trust you'll let us know."
And with that, she turned and began jogging away, mixing into the crowd of park goers.
As heaven's agent left their view completely, Crowley let his wings relax behind him. One feather happened to brush against Jess' face and she gurgled at the touch. Aziraphale's eyes went wide as the single feather transformed into a bright white before then fading in the same breath back to its usual black. Before the angel could react, Crowley had already fully tucked his wings away.
Aziraphale looked up at the demon with alarm.
"What? Too much?"
Aziraphale's face softened. "You did fine, my dear." He didn't notice, then. The angel bounced Jess in his arms and she cooed happily. I wonder…
~*~