Work Text:
“Gabriel!” Crowley screams, his voice pitching high as he turned around at the unexpected voice in Aziraphale’s shop. His body is in front of his Angel, hand reaching out behind him, begging Aziraphale to allow him to be shielded. This wasn’t how today was supposed to go, Gabriel, and the rest of his company, was supposed to be leaving them alone. That’s all they wanted; to be left alone with each other.
Aziraphale’s hand was on his shoulder, and it’s enough to ground Crowley in the present; if only for a moment. Aziraphale was safe; they were safe. For now. How long had Crowley been away? How long had Gabriel been in the shop playing twisted mind games on Aziraphale. He never dared to tell Aziraphale of the last words that Gabriel had said to him while they had been swapped.
“Shut your stupid mouth and die already.” words that had all but haunted every waking moment and there had been nothing that he could have done. Nothing he could have said that wouldn’t have raised a red flag and compromised them. And Aziraphale, sweet, wonderful, Aziraphale, who never wanted to see the worst in anybody, didn’t need to know the true extent of what had transpired while Crowley was in heaven.
“What’s he doing here?” Crowley gasped, chancing a look behind him to make sure Aziraphale was still safe. They didn’t need a repeat of last time.
“I don’t know.” Aziraphale replied, looking back at the Archangel currently using a flat sheet as a makeshift toga. His eyes void of the usual purple instead, taking on a more normal, a more human shade of hazel. The very sight of them had an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of his stomach, he almost felt sick.
“What’s happened to him?” He asked, relaxing only slightly as Aziraphale’s hand came to rest on his arm, his heart still hammering in a chest cavity he didn’t actually need.
“I don’t know.” Aziraphale responded, voice pitched as Gabriel continued to smile at him, all signs of life vacant from his eyes in ways he hadn’t even seen in the humans in the 6000 years he’d been on Earth.
“Well,” Crowley began, eyebrows raising and voice echoing in his throat, “I guess our dinner plans are canceled then.” he finished, and he couldn’t help the grin that spread when the angel slapped his arm.