Archive of Our Own ^beta

Crowley glanced at the mirror of the Bentley as he drove through the countryside. It had been a while since he had gone for a drive, but things had finally settled down at the cottage, so he had decided to take advantage of the weather and go on a drive. He had checked his phone before leaving to find a bakery to pick something up for Aziraphale on his way back. He smiled, already imagining Aziraphale’s delighted expression at the treat Crowley brought for him.

Crowley reached to turn the radio up, freezing when a sense of dread filled him up and a presence appeared behind him. He slammed on the brakes, raising his hand to do a miracle but he wasn’t fast enough. Something slammed into the side of his head and Crowley cried out as his head hit the window, blood spraying immediately. His vision blurred and everything went foggy. He feebly tried to snap his fingers, to miracle himself away, but he couldn’t gather the concentration to do it. His head was swimming and he squinted, trying to make out the figure in his backseat.

“Hello, Crawley,” a familiar voice said, smugly. 

“Hastur,” Crowley hissed. He took a few seconds to try and form words. “What…what are you doing here? I thought Hell was supposed to leave me alone.”

Hastur laughed. “Do you really think we would leave you alone? After everything you did? You killed one of our own and betrayed us, do you really think I would let you get away that easily?”

“You can’t kill me,” Crowley managed to say.

“I don’t want to kill you,” Hastur said. “I want you to suffer. You ruined all of Hell’s hard work to live happily ever after with that angel of yours. I’m here to take that away from you.”

“You stay away from him!” Crowley yelled, panicking. “He has nothing to do with this. Leave him out of it.” He should have known leaving the cottage was a bad idea, despite all the wards they had up. Aziraphale was all alone in the cottage right now, he would have no idea that he was in danger. 

Crowley stealthily tried to pull his phone out of his pocket but Hastur grabbed it from him and crushed it, dropping the pieces onto the ground.

“It’s way too late for your angel now,” Hastur said gleefully. “You should have known better than to leave him alone.”

“No!” Crowley screamed. “You didn’t do anything to him, you couldn’t have.”

Hastur cackled. “He may be immune to Hellfire, but I have other weapons at my disposal. A cursed blade took care of him, he bled out slowly, calling out for you.”

Crowley couldn’t help but break out into sobs. Aziraphale was gone, was dead, all because of him. He had left Aziraphale all alone and had failed to protect him again. And now he was gone, for good this time. He didn’t react when Hastur threw the car doors open and threw him to the road. He just curled up and continued crying.

“You see how it feels?” Hastur growled. “An eye for an eye, as the humans say.”

Crowley ignored him. He didn’t care what Hastur had to say. This hurt too much for him to tolerate. Aziraphale, his angel, was dead. He was gone forever. There would be no more dinners together, no more cooking together, no more lazy days spent cuddling on the couch together. No drinking, no long nights cuddling in bed. He was all alone now. Forever.

Hastur bent over him, grabbing a fist full of hair, and growling in his face. “Listen to me while I’m speaking to you, Crawley. Did you forget how to behave already?”

“I don’t work for you anymore,” Crowley growled back. “And I don’t care what you have to say.” He tried to gather some energy for a miracle. He couldn’t let Hastur get away with this. Maybe he could summon Holy Water and kill them both.

But before he could snap his finger, Hastur bashed his head into the ground. Crowley cried out at the pain. Everything blurred, he couldn’t tell where he was anymore or what was happening. And Aziraphale. There was something wrong with Aziraphale. Aziraphale needed his help. 

There were hands on him, holding him to the ground. Keeping him away from Aziraphale. He weakly struggled against them, he needed to get to Aziraphale, but it was no use. Whoever was holding him down was far too strong. He squinted at the bright sunlight and managed to make out the form that was holding him down. Hastur.

There was a hum of a miracle and Hastur started binding his wrists with rope. Crowley weakly thrashed, trying to dislodge the rope, but it was no use. Hastur bound his hands in no time and started tearing through his clothes. He tore through them easily, tossing the shredded fabric back into his Bentley. When all of Crowley’s clothes were gone, Hastur stood up and leered at him, eyes wandering all over his body.

Crowley squirmed against the hot, concrete road, tugging at the ropes binding him. He could feel dirt and grit getting everyone. There was something sharp under his back, cutting into him. He felt exposed and uncomfortable under Hastur’s gaze.

“Nice to see you’ve already made something for me,” Hastur said. “I’ll have to give it to you, Crawley, for managing to seduce an angel. How’d you do it?”

“It’s not like that,” Crowley mumbled. “Didn’t seduce him.”

Hastur sighed, clearly not believing him. He bent back over and flipped Crowley onto his stomach. “Much better,” he said. “I don’t need to see those disgusting snake eyes of yours.”

Somehow Crowley hadn’t realized Hastur’s intentions until his hands were on his arse. He winced when Hastur pushed him down against the ground, the rough surface scraping his sensitive cock. He struggled uselessly against Hastur’s groping hands, but refused to beg for mercy. He wouldn’t give Hastur that satisfaction.

He heard Hastur unzipping his pants and then he felt Hastur’s hands on his legs, pushing them apart. Crowley braced himself, trying to relax, but there was no point. Hastur thrust into him and he threw his head back and screamed. He felt something inside of him give and he could feel blood starting to drip from his arsehole. 

Hastur set a fast pace, holding onto his hips to keep him still as Crowley thrashed, squirmed, and kicked, trying to dislodge Hastur. Every thrust hurt more than the last and Crowley was helpless to do anything to stop it. He could feel his front getting scraped and torn up from the grit on the road and blood was flowing from his head onto his face. He let out a sob, managing to stop himself from breaking down completely. He couldn’t do that, couldn’t give Hastur the satisfaction of seeing him like that.

But it got harder to tolerate the longer this went on. It hurt so bad, and Crowley felt so helpless. How long was this going to last? How long would Hastur fuck him on the road? Hastur kept thrusting into him harder and harder and Crowley swore that he was increasing the size of his cock.

“Do you like this?” Hastur asked, gleefully. “Is this how that angel treated you? Because this is what you deserve.”

Crowley filled up with shame. He and Aziraphale had never had sex, it wasn’t anything they were interested in, but Hastur clearly didn’t believe that. He jumped when he felt Hastur’s hand on his completely flaccid cock.

“I guess not,” Hastur said. “But, you’re not supposed to be enjoying this. And I’ll make sure you never enjoy this again with your angel.”

Crowley sobbed as Hastur let go of his hips, stopped thrusting, and started touching him. His hands roamed gently, brushing over his back, his neck, his hips. He felt sick when he felt Hastur’s lips kissing him all over his back and neck. Crowley sobbed harder. He knew what Hastur was doing, he was making sure Aziraphale could never do anything like this again without reminding him of what happened.

Hastur only did this for a few seconds, before he resumed thrusting into him, causing Crowley to cry out in pain. He could still feel Hastur’s roaming hands, but it barely registered over the sharp pain in his arse and his head. After what felt like ages, Hastur sped up, and moaned through his release, finally stilling. Crowley felt the warm liquid fill him up before Hastur collapsed on top of him. Crowley squirmed, the sudden weight on top of him aggravating his pain. He thrashed, trying to dislodge Hastur, but he was still far too weak. 

Hastur laughed at him, giving him a few more kisses on the back of his neck before pulling out and standing up. As soon as the weight was gone, Crowley curled up, trying to protect himself as best as possible. But he was still far too exposed for his liking.

Hastur kicked him in the side once. “Have fun with your dead angel,” he cackled before vanishing with a pop.

Memories flooded Crowley. He suddenly remembered Hastur’s taunts, remembered that Hatur had killed Aziraphale. Crowley screamed. No, it couldn’t be true, Aziraphale couldn’t be dead. But Hastur had seemed so delighted about it and Aziraphale had been all alone at the cottage, vulnerable to attack. Crowley dragged himself to his knees and crawled towards the Bentley. Everything was spinning and he was bleeding far too much, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting back to the cottage.

He barely managed to drag himself up into the driver’s seat of the Bentley, before collapsing. Sitting normally was far too much agony so he turned onto his side, sitting on his hip instead, and patted the wheel of his car. “Take me home,” he wheezed. 

His car obeyed, roaring to life and speeding towards the cottage. Crowley curled up against the seat as best as he could and sobbed. Aziraphale was dead, gone forever…no. He couldn’t be sure Aziraphale was dead, he hadn’t seen a body. Aziraphale had to be alive.

It took far too long for Crowley to arrive back at the cottage. The car drove up as close to the cottage door as possible and opened its door for him. Crowley stumbled out of his car, grabbing onto it before he collapsed. Everything hurt so much, but he couldn’t focus on that right now. He needed to get to Aziraphale.

He managed to stumble inside, not bothering to shut the door. “Aziraphale!” Crowley screamed hoarsely. “Aziraphale, where are you?”

He was met with silence.

“No no no no,” he moaned. “Angel! Aziraphale!” 

He limped towards the study, using the wall to hold himself up. There was a loud crash as he knocked something over, but he didn’t care about what it was. And then he heard it.

“Crowley?” Aziraphale’s familiar voice called out. “Is that you?”

Crowley collapsed to the floor, feeling relieved. Aziraphale was alive. And he sounded fine. Crowley needed to see him to be certain, but he didn’t have any energy left to drag himself to Aziraphale’s voice. 

Luckily, Crowley heard a few footsteps coming towards him. “Crowley? What’s-” Aziraphale’s voice cut off and Crowley heard Aziraphale running to him.

“Crowley? Oh Lord, what happened to you?” Aziraphale asked. “My dear, can you look at me?”

Crowley looked up, relieved at the site of Aziraphale despite his horrified expression. Aziraphale was kneeling beside him, hands hovering around him. “Angel,” Crowley sobbed. “You’re alive.”

“Of course I’m alive!” Aziraphale said. “What happened, Crowley? Oh you’re hurt so badly, who did this?”

“Hastur,” Crowley choked out. “Was he here? Did he do anything to you?”

“No, no one was here, Crowley. I’m fine,” Aziraphale said. He reached down and Crowley flinched away from Aziraphale’s hands. 

Shame filled Crowley at Aziraphale’s sad expression. “‘M sorry, Angel. I didn’t mean to do that,” he said.

“Please don’t apologize, my dear. Can I see your injuries? You’re covered in so much blood, I’m worried,” Aziraphale gently asked.

“‘M fine, Angel. It’s okay. I just needed to know if you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, Crowley. I promise. But please, my dear. Let me tend to you,” Aziraphale begged.

“Hastur said you were dead,” Crowley said. He reached up and touched Aziraphale’s face. “You’re not a hallucination are you?”

Tears started running down Aziraphale’s face. “No, I’m not a hallucination. I promise, dearest. Can I heal your head, my dear? It’s bleeding so much and you must be so confused…”

Crowley’s head did feel like it was exploding, so Crowley gave a slight nod. Aziraphale reached down and gently touched his head, frowning at Crowley’s flinch. Aziraphale closed his eyes and after a few seconds Crowley felt the healing miracle.

His dizziness vanished and his head slowly cleared. As soon as Crowley could think clearly again, he practically threw himself at Aziraphale, collapsing against him and breaking down into sobs. Aziraphale was here, he was fine, he was alive. Aziraphale slightly jumped at the sudden motion, but wrapped his arms loosely around Crowley and started stroking his hair.

Everything hurt so much and every touch brought back memories of Hastur’s hands roaming his body, lips on his back and neck, hands holding him down as he thrusted into Crowley-

“It’s okay, dearest. You’re safe now,” Aziraphale reassured, cutting through the memories.

“Hastur. He-” Crowley cut himself off, unable to say it outloud. 

“I know, Crowley,” Aziraphale said sadly.

“You know?” Crowley asked, surprised.

“You’re naked,” Aziraphale explained, hesitantly. “And you’re bleeding.”

Crowley looked down at himself. He had forgotten to put his clothes back on in his panic to get back to the cottage. Not that there was anything left of his clothes. “I’m sorry, Angel,” he said, feeling ashamed. He was getting blood and who knew what else onto Aziraphale. 

“Oh please don’t apologize to me, my dear.” Aziraphale summoned a blanket from a nearby sofa and wrapped him up in it. “I suspect you are going into shock, dearest. And the floor must be uncomfortable. Let's go to the bedroom and I can tend to you there.”

Aziraphale carefully helped Crowley to his feet and to the bedroom. Crowley leaned heavily against Aziraphale, one hand clinging onto Aziraphale’s sleeve. 

Aziraphale helped him lay down on the bed and Crowley curled up immediately, wincing at the sharp pain it sent through his body.

“My dear?” Aziraphale asked. 

Crowley made a noise to acknowledge that he heard Aziraphale.

“Can I check your injuries? I promise, I won’t heal anything, I just want to make sure there isn’t anything life threatening.”

Crowley knew he didn’t have any life threatening injuries, but he also knew Aziraphale would feel a lot better if he could check himself. And since Aziraphale wasn’t going to heal him, it would probably be fine. So he nodded and braced himself. Luckily Aziraphale didn’t touch him before performing the miracle. He felt a gentle warmth go through him, but it didn’t feel intrusive at all.

“Thank you, dearest,” Aziraphale said. He sounded upset, but he was clearly trying to control his emotions for Crowley’s sake. “Nothing dangerous. I would be more than happy to heal you if you’re comfortable with that.”

Crowley shook his head. “No. It’s fine, Angel. Doesn’t even hurt that much,” he lied. He risked a glance at Aziraphale, filling up with guilt upon seeing Aziraphale’s tear-streaked face. He sat up, ignoring the pain, and reached out towards Aziraphale. “Come here, Angel. It’s okay.” 

He hugged Aziraphale, ignoring the discomfort and memories threatening to take over every time he touched Aziraphale. Aziraphale buried his face into Crowley’s chest. His shoulders were shaking and Crowley could feel the blanket that was wrapped around him dampening. He hesitantly stroked Aziraphale’s hair, trying to mimic the motion Aziraphale did so often on him.

“I’m so sorry, Crowley,” Aziraphale said in a muffled voice. “I shouldn’t be the one crying right now.”

Crowley carefully pressed a kiss into Aziraphale’s hair. “It’s okay, Angel. It’s okay for you to be upset.”

Aziraphale looked up at him, eyes red from crying. “It’s okay for you to be upset too Crowley. You were attacked and raped! All while I sat here in the cottage, enjoying myself.”

Crowley looked away from Aziraphale. “You didn’t know. There was no way for you to have known I was in trouble. You shouldn’t feel guilty, Angel.”

Aziraphale sat back and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “And there’s no need for you to feel ashamed, Crowley. What happened to you wasn’t your fault.”

“I should have been more careful,” Crowley said. “I should have known better, I should have known Hastur wouldn’t just leave me alone.” Crowley felt tears of his own start to fall, but he angrily wiped them away. “And you shouldn’t have to deal with this. You deserve better than this.”

“That’s not true, Crowley! You’re my partner and nothing will change how I feel about you. I’m more than happy to care for you, dearest,” Aziraphale reassured.

“But you shouldn’t have to deal with this,” Crowley said, still feeling ashamed. He should have known better than to believe that Aziraphale was dead. He should have healed himself and re-dressed instead of stumbling into the cottage naked and breaking down in Aziraphale’s arms. 

He should have hid this shame from Aziraphale. Aziraphale had finally settled and they both had been so happy. And now Crowley had ruined it all, just because he couldn’t control himself.

“Crowley? My dearest? Can I hug you?” Aziraphale asked.

More shame filled Crowley. Aziraphale had never had to ask before giving a hug and Crowley had been trying so hard to hide his reactions to being touched, but clearly Aziraphale had seen right through it. He nodded, slumping against Aziraphale who held him in a loose hug. It felt nice, being in Aziraphale’s arms was one of his favorite places, but every touch brought him back to the hot, countryside road. Crowley inhaled deeply, taking in Aziraphale’s familiar scent to remind himself that this was Aziraphale holding him, that he was in their cottage. He wasn’t facedown on the road, being held down by Hastur. He was safe.

Tears started falling again and this time he couldn’t stop them. He sobbed into Aziraphale’s chest, the anger, pain, helplessness all catching up to him. 

“I was so scared,” Crowley sobbed, unable to stop himself from speaking. “It hurt so bad and I thought you were in trouble. I thought you were dead, Angel.”

Aziraphale stroked his hair and this time it didn’t fill Crowley up with fear. He knew Aziraphale’s hand so well, he knew it could never hurt him.  

“I’m so sorry, Crowley,” Aziraphale said, also sounding like he was crying. “I wish I could have saved you.”

Crowley wanted to reassure Aziraphale, but he couldn’t stop sobbing. Everything hurt so much, even crying hurt. He was still covered in blood and filth and he could still smell the rot of Hell on him. He needed it gone, he needed to be clean. 

Crowley managed to choke back his tears. “I need a shower,” Crowley said. “Or a bath. Something.” Now that he was paying more attention, he could feel all the dried up blood and fluids on him. He squirmed uncomfortably. He needed it gone. 

Aziraphale didn’t protest. “Alright, my dear. Let me go draw you a bath, then I’ll come get you.”

Panic filled Crowley at the thought of being alone. He couldn’t bear having Aziraphale out of his sight. “No! I’ll come with you.”

Aziraphale frowned but didn’t say anything about Crowley’s outburst. “Would you like me to grab your cane?” he asked. 

That was probably a good idea. Crowley hadn’t had a flare up in a while, probably thanks to the lack of stress, so he hadn’t needed to use his cane in a while. He definitely could use it now. 

Aziraphale pulled the cane out of their closet and handed it to him. He helped Crowley to his feet and they slowly made their way to the bathroom. Crowley leaned heavily on the cane but also clung to Aziraphale for support as he walked.

Aziraphale kept an eye out on Crowley as he prepared the bath for him. Crowley was slumped over on a stool, looking like he was seconds from passing out, but Aziraphale knew better than to insist Crowley go back to bed. Crowley needed this right now and the bath would hopefully help relieve some pain for Crowley. 

He tried his best not to think over the events of the day, knowing he would just start crying again. The guilt threatened to overwhelm him, but he didn’t have time for that right now. He needed to take care of Crowley. 

Once the bath was ready, Aziraphale turned to Crowley. “Dearest? The bath is ready.”

Crowley looked up at him and nodded. His hand went to his face to push up his sunglasses and he winced when he realized they were gone. Aziraphale opened the nearest drawer and pulled out a pair and passed them over to Crowley. Crowley didn’t wear his sunglasses as much these days, unless they were going out, but he had enjoyed filling every drawer he could with sunglasses for his own amusement. 

Crowley slipped on the sunglasses, sighing in relief. “Thanks, Angel,” he said. He started removing the blanket that Aziraphale had wrapped around him and Aziraphale averted his eyes. They had never minded being nude in front of each other before, but Aziraphale wasn’t sure how Crowley felt about it now. He didn’t want to make Crowley uncomfortable. 

Aziraphale waited until he heard splashing to look back towards Crowley. He pulled the stool to the side of the tub and sat down next to Crowley. Crowley was already viciously scrubbing himself down with a washcloth. 

Aziraphale resisted the urge to reach out and take Crowley’s hand to stop him. “My dear? Please don’t hurt yourself,” he said as gently as possible. 

Crowley froze, slowing down his movements to be much gentler. His skin had already reddened and Aziraphale winced at the site of it. “Sorry, Angel. Didn’t mean to do that.”

Aziraphale hummed, but didn’t say anything further. “Would you like me to do your hair, my dear?” he asked, changing the subject. Crowley’s hair was dark red from dried up blood and was full of tangles and matted sections. It would be difficult for Crowley to wash it himself and Aziraphale knew that Crowley liked having his hair washed from Aziraphale. 

Crowley gave a shy nod, so Aziraphale picked up a cup and filled it with water. He gently poured the water over Crowley’s head, making sure to avoid getting it in Crowley’s face. He repeated this a few times before the blood softened and started to wash out. He used a comb to remove the more stubborn pieces of dried blood, then picked up Crowley’s fancy shampoo and lathered it up in Crowley’s hair. 

Crowley had finished scrubbing himself down and was now leaned back with his eyes closed and a peaceful expression on his face. Aziraphale couldn’t help but smile at that. 

Aziraphale kept his movements gentle as he rinsed out the shampoo and checked to make sure all the blood was gone from Crowley’s hair. Once he was sure of that, he applied some conditioner to the ends of Crowley’s hair and carefully combed through his hair to get rid of the tangles. 

Normally Aziraphale would let the conditioner sit in Crowley’s hair for a bit, but he decided against it today. Crowley was exhausted and the faster they went back to bed, the better. He carefully rinsed out the conditioner and combed through Crowley’s hair one last time before putting the comb aside. 

“Do you want to get out now?” Aziraphale asked Crowley. 

“Yeah,” Crowley said. “I…I’m tired, Angel.”

“I know, my dear,” Aziraphale said. “Let’s get you dry and we can go back to bed.”

Aziraphale helped Crowley stand up and Crowley held onto him as he stepped out of the tub. Aziraphale passed a towel over to him, averting his eyes as Crowley dried himself off. He heard Crowley snap his fingers and looked over to see Crowley dressed in simple, black clothes. Just a plain shirt and pants. 

Aziraphale took the towel from Crowley. “Here, let me get your hair.”

Crowley slightly ducked down to let Aziraphale dry off his hair. He was slightly shivering at this point and Aziraphale suspected it wasn’t just from being cold. 

After Aziraphale finished drying Crowley’s hair so it was at least no longer dripping, Crowley grabbed his cane and limped towards the bedroom with Aziraphale following right behind him. 

Crowley leaned his cane against the nightstand and collapsed onto the bed, curling up immediately. It was strange to see Crowley curled up, he usually liked stretching out since it helped with his pain and Crowley said it was more comfortable. But now, Crowley was making himself as small as possible. 

Aziraphale’s heart broke at Crowley’s pale, shivering form. He picked Crowley’s favorite blankets and covered Crowley with them. Once Crowley was tucked in, Aziraphale dragged a chair over to the side of the bed and sat down.

Crowley looked up at him with confusion. “You’re not joining me?” he asked. 

Aziraphale always joined Crowley in bed, even though he didn’t often sleep. He usually either read a book or held Crowley while he slept. But with how jumpy Crowley was everytime Aziraphale touched him or even came near him, Aziraphale assumed it would not be a good idea. 

Crowley seemingly understood Aziraphale’s train of thoughts without him having to say it out loud. “This is your bed too,” he said. “It would be unfair if I kicked you off.”

“If it makes you more comfortable I’m more than happy to sit on a chair,” Aziraphale said. “I can sleep on the couch if I need to. Or we could get a second bed. I promise, I don’t mind, my dear.”

Crowley was silent for a few seconds, clearly thinking over things. “I think it’s fine. If you join me. I…I just don’t think we can cuddle anymore,” Crowley hesitantly said.

Aziraphale made sure to keep the sadness from that statement off his face. He loved cuddling with Crowley and he loved holding Crowley as he slept. Crowley had been hesitant about it at first, saying Aziraphale would get bored, but once he realized Aziraphale enjoyed it as much as he had, he had been more than happy to be held while he slept. 

It hurt Aziraphale to know that Hastur had taken this away from them, probably permanently. But despite his sadness on the matter, he would never even think about trying to do it again, not unless Crowley said it was okay. “It’s okay, Crowley. We don’t have to cuddle, I’ll just sit on the bed next to you.”

Crowley gave him a sad smile. Once again, it seemed he understood Aziraphale’s thoughts without him having to say it aloud. “You can read, you know. You don’t have to just sit there all night doing nothing.”

“I know, my dear Crowley,” Aziraphale said. But he wasn’t going to read. There was no way he could read, knowing Hastur was still out there. No, he would keep watch over Crowley while he was vulnerable. He couldn’t let Hastur hurt Crowley again.

Aziraphale carefully sat down on their bed, making sure not to touch Crowley, and made himself comfortable. He dimmed the lights enough so that they shouldn’t hurt Crowley’s head, but there was still enough light for Aziraphale to easily see the room. He did a quick scan of the Metaphysical realm to make sure that there wasn’t any demonic presence nearby, except Crowley’s.

“...Angel?” Crowley said hesitantly after a bit of silence. “Can you kiss me on the brow? Like you used to do?”

Aziraphale’s heart broke at “used to”. “Of course, my dear. If you’re sure.”

Crowley nodded nervously. Aziraphale carefully leaned over and gave Crowley a gentle kiss on his brow, just above his sunglasses. It was a bit strange seeing Crowley wearing sunglasses in bed, but Aziraphale didn’t mind. If it made Crowley more comfortable, he had no objections to Crowley wearing them. Crowley slightly flinched at the kiss, but smiled at Aziraphale when he sat back up.

“He didn’t take that away from me,” Crowley said, sounding a bit choked up. “He didn’t take everything from me.”

“He can’t take me away from you,” Aziraphale said. “No matter what he did, no matter what changes between us, I’ll always be here, dearest. Always.”

Crowley reached out, taking Aziraphale’s hand and clutching it tightly. “Thank you, Angel. For everything.”

“Of course, my dearest Crowley,” Aziraphale said. “Anything for you.”

Aziraphale knew that Crowley was far from being okay. He seemed okay now, but Aziraphale knew they had a long journey ahead of them. But he would always be here, by Crowley’s side. And together, one day they could be happy again.