Chapter Text
Timeline: 3 years after Season 2
Crowley finds himself in an alley, locked inside his Bentley and holding back tears. Why? Does crying hurt his pride? He doesn't know, he just can't let them go down his face. He feels confused, vulnerable and... angry. He stays there for what feels like hours before driving to a bar to swallow his feelings with a good whiskey.
— Bartender, give me the strongest thing you have. - Crowley asks while leaning against the counter.
— Bold request, you don't look very... let's say, healthy, to drink too much. - The bartender points out while handling him a cup of the strongest whiskey they have.
— I guess so, but who cares anyway? — Crowley takes the glass and drinks it all at once, feeling the burning sensation in his throat making him forget about the hurting one in his heart. The bartender walks away, leaving him alone with his thoughts. Should he call Aziraphale and hope that he would answer or suffer in solitude? Perhaps calling was the worst action he could take now.
— Tsc, that would make me a crybaby... — he mumbles before deliberately bumping his head on the counter. His head aches, his chest aches, everything seems to hurt, but he ignores it while gulping down more whiskey.
Hours later, Crowley leaves the bar completely drunk. He gets into the back of his car and lays down with an urge to vomit, that quickly goes away when he passes out. He wakes up the next day in the chaos of London, his hair a mess and glasses out of place.
— Mhmp... i forgot about the headache... — he complains to himself. He sits, now correctly, on the seat and tries to form coherent thoughts about the current situation, but it is no good. He feels even more confused than before, what made Aziraphale leave? He was not enough, again? He has no idea. Should he have an idea? He doesn't know. He only has one option, and it is the one he was hoping he didn't need to take. He needs his job back. He drives back to an alley and stops the car, getting out and standing in front of a brick wall. He walks directly to it, then turns around in a spin while still walking, now backwards, towards the wall. He points to the Bentley, — Stay right there, i'll come back soon, probably. — He smirks as the scene slowly transforms into the dark, greenish corridors of Hell.
The demons who had been smoking and chatting all stop to look at the "traitor", some with hatred, others with disgust. Crowley went straight to, now, Shax' office, but he bumps into someone really familiar.
— Oh, sorry... wait, it's you. — Crowley doesn't seem really surprised to see Furfur with a pretty angry expression, even with Shax in command he couldn't get a promotion, or did he?
— Crowley, the traitor. Came here to beg for your job back? — Furfur gives him a clear ironical smile.
—Maybe so? It's none of your business anyway. — Crowley continued walking to Shax' office without looking back and with his usual confident pace. He clearly wanted to avoid any conversation with Furfur. Furfur doesn't insist, just goes back to his work but his mind is still bothered by Crowley's presence. Crowley reaches the door of Shax' office and, as there seemed to be no one guarding it, he enters without knocking. Shax was busy demanding demons to clean the office Beelzebub used to leave full of with cobwebs.
— How did they used to work here... — Shax crosses her arms and turns around, only to face Crowley with a clearly forced smile. — Crowley? What makes you think you can step here without permission?
— I'm back, i guess. — He says, taking his glasses off and letting his big, yellow snake eyes be shown. — Well... things happened and i was wondering what would happen if i came back here and ask... for a little work. — Crowley admits to himself that is really embarassing to say that. The office is silent for a while, then Shax' laugh starts to build up, getting louder and louder while making Crowley even more embarassed by asking.
— Look over here! The big Crowley, the one who didn't need Hell, is now asking... for a job! — She laughs loudly again — I thought i would never see you become so pathetic!
— Yeah yeah, i know. — Crowley comments with a low voice while he waits for Shax to calm down.
— Ohh... oh my Satan... — She pants heavilly while trying to catch her breath. — So, what made you take such decision?
— Angel... left. — He answers with a bit of pain in his heart, but Shax quickly starts to laugh again and Crowley stares at her with a long face. She seems to be enjoying that, a lot. — So funny right? — Crowley mumbles.
— Yeah, a lot. You know that as a demon, i'm not much into charity but maybe you deserve one — Shax hands him a small silver badge with a snake carved on it. — But don't expect things to be easy.
— Oh i don't, trust me. I didn't know you guys had badges now. — Crowley analyzes it carefully before putting it into his pocket.
— New safety policy, we don't want any angels disguised as demons here. Always carry yours with you, otherwise you might get in trouble. Also, get used to your new room. — Shax smirks and dismisses him.
He is conduced to his new room and discovers that it looks like a prison cell. — Ew... atleast i have a roof over my head — He grunts before laying down on the bed and realizing how hard it is. This is his new life, atleast that's what he thinks. He works his ass off to be too busy to think about problems, something that made thousands of demons murmur theories on why he came back. That also falls on the ears of the dukes of Hell, the fallen angels, who are also curious to know why their old friend is here. Simple acts can come with big consequencies.
Things go on and on until reaching Lucifer's ears. Somewhere in Hell, he is sitting in his throne, his face with clear exhaustion and anger. His blue eyes are narrowed and his blonde hair is wet with sweat after training. Lucifer is a rebel who doesn't care about anyone's opinion except his wife, Lilith and maybe his friends, the fallen angels. A servant comes close to his ear to tell the news. — He's back...? What does he want? I don't want him bringing his problems for me to solve.
— No one knows, he just works normally... no one actually believes he wants to do this... he seems to be in a pretty bad mental state. — The servant comments.
— Schedule a reunion with all the dukes of Hell, but add Crowley in it, things need to be discussed so we can... solve everything. Make sure no one misses it. — Lucifer eye's tick with stress, everyone knows he's searching for something for a long time but no one has the information of what it is. He gets up and walks towards his lab. For decades he has been preparing something and he really thinks it needs to be used soon.
Beelzebub and Gabriel live in a far planet in Alpha Centauri called Sky-465, really similar to Earth. Beelzebub is in a bar where their goth group meet up to talk about bullshit. They are wearing a long dress covered in lace and a black tight corset. The sleeves are ruffled at the end, their nails were long and decored with red roses and crosses and their hand was decored with skull rings. Their makeup was a white base with long black eyeliner that also forms flowers and small tears. The dress had some red stains that no one dared to ask about, Beelzebub looked at them with a threatening face if they do so. Beelzebub receives an email from Hell talking about the reunion.
— Huh... what does he want? I already said i retired... - Beelzebub leaves it on read while their friends offer them a drink, but the felling that something is off still lingers their mind. — I might go, they are... my family, after all. — They sigh and go back to their friends. Hours after it, Beelzebub goes back to their house extremely tired, their feet hurting because of the heels. Gabriel is sitting on the couch, but he gets up to greet his lover.
— Darling, you look so tired... i'll take care of you now. — Gabriel kisses their cheek.
— Thanks babe... you're sweet... — Beelzebub thinks about calling him an angel, but they agreed to not talk about their past and never use their powers. They want to live like normal humans and the email made Beelzebub anxious. But they don't want to tell Gabriel about it. They take off their heels and walk to the kitchen to get something to eat. Gabriel feels like something is off.
— Babe? - Gabriel hugs them from behind, inhaling their awesome perfume. — There's something else right?
— No... please, don't worry - Beelzebub kisses his lips and walks to the couch with a plate of simple bacon and eggs from breakfast. Gabriel sits down next to them to cuddle while they eat. Beelzebub needs to go, what if it's something serious? Their family needs help, they were never alone and that's not going to change.
Dagon is in his office, it had a big aquarium filled with all kinds of fish, big and small... that only serve as food for his pet. The office was stained in colorful ink that he used to make his equipments and dolls that he hang around his room and workshop. Some servants are standing behind him, that was sitting in a chair turned to the aquarium. The servants tell him the news.
— The snake is back? Does he have a motivation atleast? — Dagon smirks, his sharp teeth making his mouth bigger than it is, while he colors another doll.
— We don't know sir — One of the demons answer.
— So weird... things are going to get hot. — Dagon looks back, his curly and frizzy red hair falls on his back.
— King Lucifer wants a reunion with the fallen angels sir.
— Oh yeah? - Dagon seems surprised but quite excited about it. - Will Beelz go? If they do, i will as well. — Dagon and Beelz were best friends since Heaven and they admire each other a lot. Dagon feels lonely without them but doesn't want to admit.
A demon comes to Crowley's room to talk about the reunion.
— I'll go, it has been ages since i've seen him... my old friend. Family always stays together. And things are already critic anyway. — Crowley stretches in his bed, but he can't help but feel weird about the reunion. He has no choice, atleast not a better one than see his family, the ones who has been with him since the fall.