I'm Gonna Set Things Right Again (Good Omens fanfiction)

What the Heaven happened in Heaven?

As soon as Aziraphale stepped into the elevator, his whole being went through a range of emotions, each one of them showing on his face ever so subtly. Then, when a cheerful "ding" announced that they had reached their destination, his mind settled on a deep sense of sorrow, while his face was lit up by a brave smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

It was the expression that all angels could skilfully put on in almost any situation, seeing as that was a capability necessary to survive. They were always compelled to put on that smile of sheer idiocy just to avoid suspicion, no matter how much some of them may have doubted where it all was going and their part in it. A servant of the Almighty had to be willing and devoted and find joy in their work and position, after all.

Aziraphale, too, had learned to scrunch his face up into that smile and be a good angel despite an immense inner turmoil, because that way, everything always worked out. This should be no exception as long as he could keep that smile, he thought.

However, there was a flaw in his reasoning. He had miscalculated. Yes, everything had worked out for him in the past, but not owing to that smile – or not entirely, that is. It had only saved him because it had served as a façade to hide that he was in trouble while Crowley came up with an ingenious plan to save his celestial behind, and the demon had done so, every single time. Now, however, there was no Crowley, and Aziraphale was not going to be alright.

For one, the other angels were compelled to accept the Metatron's decision to appoint Aziraphale Supreme Archangel and Commander of the Heavenly Host, but there was no way of ensuring that they put a good face to it too. Therefore, Aziraphale was only met with hostility. It was not like he was not used to it, though, seeing as he had been working for Heaven for the majority of the last six millennia. The difference was that there was no demon who would occasionally turn up and lighten his mood despite all the reprimanding or – in this case – interactions with emotionless inferiors.

Furthermore, the whole business of focusing on wrapping things up and setting into motion the next step in the great plan, as the Metatron had put it, didn't go quite as planned either. Aziraphale's sole goal was to prevent humanity's extinction by self-destruction – seeing as that fate was the most likely one – and spare the humans from as much suffering as possible. As it turned out, that was not what the Metatron and the Almighty had in mind for him. Instead, he was commanded to bring about the Second Coming, which – as he had suspected from the very first moment – was a second Armageddon of sorts, with the Son of God returning to Earth as a bonus feature.

However, Aziraphale did not give up his position lightly when it came to this matter. He even managed to convince his fellow angels that stripping him of his rank just because his opinion happened to be "nah to the Second Coming" would not be a wise idea, considering what that course of action had led to the first time. Due to this, it was agreed upon that a status quo should be maintained, and that Heaven's primary duty should be to guard the Almighty's creation – the humans, that is. The other angels' hands were tied, what with Aziraphale being their appointed superior, meaning that they could not do much but agree. The Metatron, however, pressed the new Supreme Archangel on the matter repeatedly without relenting.

***

The next time a memory appeared, it showed an enormous head swimming into vision in front of a minimalistic glass table that was laden with so many old tomes that one wouldn't have believed that the slim piece of furniture would hold their weight, had one not seen it with one's own eyes.

"I would advise you to return your material objects to Earth, Aziraphale," the head boomed.

"I- I thought you said I was allowed to have them here?" Aziraphale's voice could be heard coming from a point just outside the image.