theangelfell

John

Aziraphale rather liked visiting churches, though he'd done less of it these days. Perhaps a small part of him was afraid that being more conspicuous in God's view might make those Up There decide to start paying attention to him again. And if that happened he was pretty sure they wouldn't like what they saw.

"Mr. Fell," said the priest kindly when he walked into the sanctuary. "How very nice to see you." He was just stepping out of the confessional booth, so he paused and said, "Did you come to take confession?"

Aziraphale blurted, "No," so very quickly that it was probably suspicious.

The priest blinked, and then lowered his voice a little and said, "Just so you know, Mr. Fell, I consider myself a progressive member of the clergy, and you won't find yourself doing hail marys for perfectly natural forms of lo - "

"I just came to sit and pray," Aziraphale said quickly, cheeks turning quite pink.

The priest only smiled. "Well it's nice that you're here. I've been wanting to share a book with you. I came across it recently and thought you might like a look."

Aziraphale brightened. "That would be so lovely. Thank you, father."

The priest nodded, and then shuffled away, leaving Aziraphale standing at the front of the sanctuary.

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Aziraphale blinked at him. "What does that mean? I'm not a nanny!"

"I don't need a nanny," John grumbled.

"Not a nanny," Gabriel said. "You're just going to make sure that this man is staying on the straight and narrow."

John looked at Aziraphale and smirked.

"Good fucking luck, love," he said.

"And now that's taken care of! Aziraphale, I'm so glad you volunteered," Gabriel smiled. "You two crazy kids get to know each other."

The archangel vanished.

Aziraphale was still a bit stunned for a moment, particularly since he knew that the Home Office thought he'd gone too "native" to do any real angel-ing.

"Not to worry," he said miserably. "He's probably just hoping we'll smite each other."

"Oh, I'll discorporate the shit out of you if you pull anything dodgy," John said, then sighed.

"Now you seem like a smart bloke. Why don't we make an arrangement where you don't bother me and I won't bother you," he offered.

Aziraphale sighed. "My point is, they don't like me either. And my reprieve has apparently lasted long enough, they'd just love an excuse to yank me back and put me on desk duty. So, no."

John groaned in frustration.

"I don't need another angel up my ass," he grumbled.

"No thank you, I have a boyfriend," Aziraphale said politely.

"Good for you, mate," he replied with a tight smile.

"Be honest...how big of a bother are you going to be?"

"I suppose that depends on how much trouble you get yourself into," Aziraphale said.

"I keep my nose clean," he lied with a dazzling smile.

"Tell me about the angel you killed," said Aziraphale.

"He should have fallen," he replied. "I've been tracking a demon stealing children. It lead me to trafficking and then I found him. In charge of it all."

John pulled out a cigarette and lit up.

"So I smote him."

Aziraphale looked horrified. "An angel? Was harming children? And what happened to the demon?"

"He escaped," John said. "I was hoping to catch a break here tonight, but it looks like I'll just have to hit the bricks again."

"I might be able to help you find him," said Aziraphale, thinking of Crowley. He might know where to find a demon, right? And he'd want to see justice just as much as Aziraphale.

"Oh, this should be good," he muttered to himself. Well, apparently they were doing this.

"Alright. Aziraphale, was it?" he asked, looking a bit resigned to this. "You don't look like most angels. You look..." he looked him up and down. The word 'useful' didn't pop up.

"Alright, I'm in. How can you help?"

"I need to get back to you on that," Aziraphale said.

It wasn't like he was going to say 'I need to call my boyfriend the demon.'

"You do that," John replied dryly. "Are you a local here, then? Hanging out in London?"

"Yes," Aziraphale said. "I have a bookshop on Carnaby Street."

"LEt's go there, then," he said. "I don't want to have this chat in the sanctuary."

The priest came out wearing a bright smile with a parcel.

"Mr. Fell. I am so pleased this will be safe," he said and handed the book to the angel.

"Oh, of course it will," Azirraphale said, reverently taking the book with a polite nod.

And then, in part because he didn't want to risk anything John might say in front of the priest, he nodded at him to follow and led him out of the church. Perhaps he could set the man up with a cup of tea and then slip away to talk to Crowley.

John's car was right outside. It was easily twenty five years old and looked like some of it was wired together. He gave it a nod.

"Hop in. Tell me where."

John wasn't a good driver. At all. But they didn't die so that was something.

John walked in the shop and smiled. The Love in here was intense. So. The angel had a book kink. Good to know.

In the corner, sunning by the window, was a slender man with red hair and dark glasses. He was reading a copy of Motor Sports Weekly.

He looked up, John looked right at him, then held up his hand and a burning wheel became a shiel before the two of them.

"There's a bloody demon in your shop!" he said in shock.

"What did you bring home now, angel?" asked Crowley, doing his best to sound put upon.

... damn, thought Aziraphale.

"Put that away, John," he sighed. "Does he look like a threat?"

John looked at Crowley sitting there sedately. An angel. And a demon. And that tone.

"...Is that your boyfriend?" he asked in shock. The shield stayed up.

Aziraphale... said nothing. He wasn't sure if he was waiting for Crowley to answer, or if he just hoped John might change his mind about asking the question.

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