Chapter Text
Once upon a time, there was a little snakey.
"That's you!" Gabriel whispered excitedly.
"I know, you drew me very clearly, sunglasses and everything. Keep on with your story," Crowley encouraged.
Once upon a time, there was a little snakey, slithering around on earth. He was a smart, sexy snake who didn't know his own worth and always got caught up with the wrong people.
Crowley's eyebrows raised higher with every word. Gabriel read carefully from the page he'd written, every letter formed precisely.
A mean owl spotted the snake one day and decided he wanted it for himself. He flew down and told the snake how pretty he was, and brave, and fascinating - for a snake. Of course, he couldn't ever be as good as an owl. But if he stayed nearby, the evil owl said, he might learn to fly one day, or at least see how wonderful it was.
Crowley shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Gabriel read, torn between interrupting a story that was obviously about him, and letting Gabriel continue. But the archangel was so proud of writing down the whole thing, Crowley couldn't bear to stop him, and merely tapped his fingers on the couch arm, trying not to think too hard.
So the snake stayed with the owl, even though the owl flew away a lot, coming back with brilliant stories about the places he had visited, saying how he wished the snake could have come with him, but oh no, he was a snake, wasn't he? Those places weren't for him.
But the snake loved hearing the stories the owl brought him, and stayed quiet, hoping he would one day be good enough to fly with the owl.
One day, the snake saw an eagle with the owl. The owl looked unhappy, and the snake got upset. How dare the eagle hurt his owl, who brought him such pretty stories! So the snake thought mean thoughts about the eagle, mean things that the owl had said to him before, and the snake got angrier and angrier at the eagle he had never met.
Then the owl found himself in trouble. He flew to the snake, and cried, Oh! The eagle is going to eat me. I don't know what to do. But maybe if you disguise yourself in feathers, and go in my place, the eagle won't be able to eat you! Aren't I a smart owl? Wouldn't you do anything for me?
And the snake agreed.
The snake dressed himself in big feathers and little claws, even though the costume was heavy and it was hard to move in. He made his way to where the eagle waited, high up in a tall tree, and said, Here I am, eagle! I am owl!
And the eagle snapped down with its sharp beak, and tried to eat him, thinking he was the owl.
But the eagle only got a mouthful of feathers instead of flesh, and the snake darted aside, laughing, Ha! You cannot catch me! I am owl, and I am wonderful, and stronger than you.
And the eagle was afraid.
Seeing that the trick had worked, the snake grew bold, and told the eagle to bring him down from the tree that he had climbed so carefully, slither by coil in his owl costume. The eagle agreed, afraid of what the owl might be capable of, and helped the snake down the tree.
On the way, the snake said, I am owl, and have always been stronger than you. Don't you want to worship me and my greatness?
The eagle bowed its head, and agreed. I will worship you, it said, because you are stronger than me.
The snake reported his great success to the owl. The owl said that he had done very well - for a snake. Then he demanded the snake tell him the story again, and again, and again, hungry to hear the way the eagle had bowed its head and submitted to his superior strength.
Soon, hearing the story wasn't enough for the owl. He wanted to see the eagle bow for himself. So he flew up to the tree and shouted, Eagle! Come out! It is time for you to worship me!
And the eagle crept out, afraid, and bowed to the owl. You are stronger than me, it said, what do you desire?
Pleased with his success, the owl strutted around the eagle, who cowered from the strange powers it thought the owl had. I want you to come down with me to my home, the owl said. You will serve me there.
When the owl returned with the eagle in tow, the snake was surprised. Hadn't they gotten rid of the eagle? Wasn't the eagle dangerous, wasn't it better to leave the eagle alone? But the owl was proud, and told the snake that the eagle was under his control now, and the snake shouldn't worry his pretty little snakey head about it.
The snake wasn't sure about this, but kept quiet.
Days and weeks and months passed, and the owl got meaner and meaner. It wasn't enough for the owl any more, to boss around the snake and make the snake feel small: he could make even the eagle feel small now! He could tell the eagle how bad he was, and how weak, and pluck his feathers, and peck at his feet.
Soon enough the eagle felt itself small, and weak, and deserving of the hurt that the owl gave it.
The snake, meanwhile, was unhappy. The snake loved the owl, but the owl was busy with the eagle now, and didn't bring him stories any more. The snake tried to help the owl, and the owl was glad for his help, but went right back to the eagle, pecking and tormenting it, and cackling happily to himself all the while.
The snake began to see that the eagle was not cruel, as he'd thought from hearing the owl talk. And the snake began to see that the owl he'd loved all his life was not, in fact, a good owl.
The snake knew that if he told the eagle that it had been a trick, and the owl was not stronger than the eagle, the eagle would be able to defeat the owl and break free easily. But the snake had a problem: if he told the eagle this, it would know his part in the trick, and could easily tear him to shreds.
So for many days, the snake watched the owl torment the eagle, and his love for the owl faded, and his heart swelled for the eagle.
Finally, the snake couldn't bear it any more. The owl approached the eagle again, pecking at its wings and face, and the snake reared up between the owl and the eagle, shouting, Stop!
The owl was very displeased.
The owl turned upon the snake, angry that the snake he had coddled and groomed all these years would act against him. How dare you! , the owl screeched. Have I not shown you wonders! Have I not shown you love and pleasure and happiness!
You have, the snake said quietly, but I cannot watch you do this.
You will watch me and you will like it, the owl sniffed. With one great wing, he flung the snake into the bark of the tree nearby, and while the snake lay stunned, the owl tore into the eagle, leaving it wounded and bleeding.
When he could move again, the snake slunk off into the forest to think.
The next day, the snake came back, and watched the owl torment the eagle again. The eagle had grown tired, and ragged, and hungry, but the snake knew it was still stronger than the owl, if only it knew. When the owl's back was turned, the snake slithered up next to the eagle.
It is a lie, he whispered. The eagle couldn't lift its head, but it listened sharply. It is a lie, the snake whispered again. The owl can be defeated. You see, it was not the owl that day -
At that moment, the owl returned.
What are you doing to my eagle! , the owl demanded, towering over both animals. You have been a very bad snake, you will never be as good as an owl, now leave us!
But the snake stood up proudly, raising his beautiful scaled head, and said, I have not been a bad snake! You have been a bad owl! Leave the eagle alone, or I shall tell him the trick!
You will not, the owl said angrily.
I will, the snake said again.
The eagle watched, frightened but listening.
The trick was, I was the owl that day, the snake said, turning to the eagle.
Enraged, the owl descended upon him, battering the snake away again with one strong wing. But the snake did not stop speaking.
I was the owl! , the snake yelled. I wore a disguise and pretended to be the owl, and you were tricked, and thought he was more than merely an owl!
The owl continued to peck and lash at the snake, furious at this betrayal.
You are stronger than the owl! , the snake cried, beginning to grow weak. You are the strong one! Eagle, it is up to you, fight back!
The owl lay one great peck on the snake's head, and the snake lay still.
But behind him, the eagle stood. For the first time in many weeks, the eagle raised its head. And the eagle said, Stop.
Though it was uncertain, the eagle knew the snake had tried to help it. The eagle did not want the snake harmed, and even if it was still frightened of the owl, it would not watch while the owl destroyed the snake.
Get back down! , the owl screeched, turning on the eagle. How dare you! You are nothing! You are mine!
I am not nothing, the eagle said. But even if I am nothing, the snake is not nothing, and you, owl, you will not hurt him!
Taking one great leap forward, the eagle swiped at the owl, and was shocked to see its wings hit the owl's body, like they hadn't in the tree. It lashed out with its beak, and the beak hit the owl too!
The eagle learned then that it was not weak.
When the eagle had finished with the owl, the owl lay still. The snake stirred, hurt but alive.
I'm sorry, the snake said, without lifting his head. Through me, the owl has done this to you.
You are right to be sorry, the eagle replied. But it was the owl who did this, not you.
The snake laid his head on the ground, and prepared himself to be killed, like the owl before him.
But the eagle only stepped back, and looked at the snake for a great long while. Then it extended a wing, and helped the snake into a comfortable coil. The snake was confused, but the eagle said, Calm. I will not harm you.
You saw that it was wrong, the eagle said. You helped me, in the end. You are right to be sorry, but you are also right to be spared.
You followed the owl because he said you were beautiful - for a snake. He said you were good - for a snake. He brought you scraps and said it was a meal, and that it was all a snake deserves.
The owl was wrong, but you did not know any better. Now you know better. Now you will be better. And you will be better because you are a snake, and yourself, and not because you have learned to be an owl.
Come with me, the eagle said, helping the snake towards the tree. You wanted to fly? I will show you flight.
Gabriel looked up at Crowley, eyes shining, proud of the story he had written, waiting for the demon's response.
Crowley... was stunned. Somehow - somehow - Gabriel had taken everything that had happened between him and Aziraphale, and between Crowley and Aziraphale, and distilled it down to a children's story.
After a moment, Gabriel's expression fell, and he dropped the pages, lifting a hand to Crowley's cheek. "I'm - I'm sorry, did I do it wrong? Did I - I'm so sorry, I made you cry, I shouldn't have written anything like - oh - "
"It's okay," Crowley broke in, voice ragged. He hadn't even realized he'd been crying. "It's okay, it's... these are..."
He didn't even know how to explain it.
"Just got a lot of emotions here, sweetheart. I'm not... sad, I promise, you didn't make me sad. You just made me feel a lot."
Gabriel still frowned, but his frantic apologies had stopped. Tentatively, he wiped at the droplets still making their way slowly down Crowley's face. "How can I help?"
Groping for words, Crowley fell back on praise. "You did a fantastic job writing that, I'm so proud of you. So proud of you. But right now, can you just…" He hesitated. "Can you hug me?"
Wordlessly, Gabriel drew him in, strong arms encircling Crowley's body - and held on tight while Crowley clung, sobbing softly into his shoulder.