Fallen ~•A Good Omens Fanfiction •~

Chapter 4: Angel?

Chapter 4: Angel?
By Crowley

  When Aziraphale called my name… Well, I was busy, like that kind of busy when you'd prefer doing anything else. So, I was at my temple, looking for Moses…
  'Lord Beelzebub.'
  What were they doing here?
  'Hem… Why do I get the… dishonor to meet you here?'
  He never came to Earth, so that was, I knew it, quite an important thing he had to do. And I was involved in this business, to my great horror.
  Lord Beelzebub looked unhappy. I mean, even more unhappy than usual: the flies around their head flew faster and with more noise, and they seemed to want to kill me with their eyes. Satan, Beelzebub can be terrifying when they're mad.
  'Bad newzz.' He's got this prononciation default that's quite funny, but you should never mention it. 'Don't worry. You're being promoted.'
  'Er… no, thanks, I think I'll pass.'
  'You don't have a choize, Crowley! Hell iz promoting you, and that'z it!'
  There was no way to fight back. That was bad, really bad.
  'You'll be heading a group of demons Hell will zend here,' Beelzebub continued. 'It'z because of all the good work you've made.'

***

  That's why I told Aziraphale to go. That's why I couldn't go with him. Twenty years had passed since then. Twenty years of regretting my actions. Twenty years of tempting and corrupting pharaoh, and to his death, pharaoh's son. Egypt had become the home of demons… and it was my doing.
  'And what exactly has he done since being promoted?' Asked Hastur. 'Has he harmed any human with demonic magic? Or even with human weapons? No.'
  Hastur had always been jealous of me. Even more since I had got promoted. The evil frog…
  'Another "why him" meeting? Really Hastur?' I said, annoyed.
  He hadn't seen me. When he finally did, he didn't seem quite as confident as he previously was.
  'Last time I checked, you were the duke of Hell,' I continued. 'Earth is my jurisdiction!'
  I stopped, a strange smell coming in the room. A smell I perfectly knew.
  'Oh, now that's interesting… You smell it too, Crowley? Smells like an…'
  'Angel!'
  Oh, fuck. What was he doing here? I ran straight to the palace and overheard a conversation.
  'Of course you are welcome here Moses! This is your home!' said pharaoh's voice.
  Moses?!
  'I'm not here to take my heritage.'
  That meant…
  I looked down from over the balustrade to check. Fuck. He's there.
  Angel…

***

  'Where are you taking me? You could've just talked to me!' Aziraphale protested.
  'No, they could've heard us…'
  You made sure of that, haven't you?' he replied. 'I could feel the demons as soon as we arrived. And they're following your orders, aren't they?'
  I turned round, my hand clasped around his arm so that he couldn't go away. I knew he was mad and upset, and the tears in his eyes that he was trying to hide only hurtfully confirmed it. And I, too, felt more than uncomfortable.
  'Hell promoted me, it's not my fault!'
  'Do you want me to forgive you for that?'
  'Actually…'
  'I wasn't offering.'
  'Come on, you're an angel!' I tried. A glimpse of light reflecting on a metallic object on his hand caught my attention. 'An angel that's still wearing my ring.'
  He brutally took back his hand and looked away. The little hope that had lit in my heart at the sight of the ring immediately shut down. However, he continued:
  'I'm only here because God told Moses to free her people. She said that if pharaoh refuses, She will smite Egypt…'
  'What?!'
  'I can't tell myself that they all deserve this, even though I've encountered their brutality first hand…'
  I froze.
  'What do you mean?'
  'Erm… you remember the man Moses killed, twenty years ago?'
  'The one beating the slave, yes.'
  I sounded calm, but the idea was slowly getting to my brain. I was starting to understand, and it revolted me.
  'Well, it's true he'd moved on to beating a slave when Moses arrived, but… the slave wasn't who he started with.'
  It hit me like a slap in the face.
  'He beat you?!'
  'Crowley, calm down, it doesn't matter…'
  Looking at the water, Aziraphale opened round eyes.
  'Crowley, what are you doing? Is that… blood?'
  'This isn't me, Angel…'
  The smite had started.

***

  After the bloody water, there were the frogs, the bugs, the darkness and some that I forgot. It was a dark time for Egypt. Somehow, I found myself helping Aziraphale protect the inhabitants. After all, they were almost all innocent.
  I watched him healing a little girl and trying to comfort her. How could someone even be that good-hearted?
  'Here, tip-top shape now,' he told her. 'Don't worry, I know for sure that this darkness will only last one more day.'
  It was a lie, of course. He couldn't know, because neither God or any angel had talked to him since… Well, I don't know. A long time, that's for sure.
  But maybe… lying, in that case, was an act of charity.