Of course Aziraphale had to play the hero this time. Of course he had to shield Crowley with his own body when Micheal attacked him. Of course the idiot had to sacrifice himself against a blow that was delivered by the one who threw Satan down to Hell herself. The hit would have killed Crowley, there was no doubt about it, but at least he wouldn’t have to see his angel like this, limp and lifeless with only the tiniest residual grace resting within the corporation proving that Aziraphale was just barely hanging on.

He finally reached Her, or about where he thought She was. His eyes were glued to the floor, not knowing if looking at Her with his damned eyes would be enough to set Her off.

“Please,” he begged. This was his last and only hope, and he’d beg and grovel on his hands and knees if it would convince Her to help, but he wasn’t going to let go of his angel. “Please, he’s all I have. He’s the only real good left on Earth. Lord, I’ll do anything, please…”

He stood there, gaze still glued to the floor, but now he was dripping tears onto Aziraphale’s wrinkled coat.

“Crowley,” She said to him. This made him finally look up at Her.

She said his name. Not the name She had given him upon his creation, but his name. The one he chose for himself ages ago.

That would have caused Crowley a whole different kind of crisis if there weren’t more pressing matters at hand.

She looked just as he remembered Her. She was Everything. She was Everything there ever was and Everything there would ever be. And that was all that could really be said.

“Crowley, what would you give in return for his salvation?”

Right to the point, as always.

“Anything,” he breathed. He wasn’t sure why She asked. She had to have known this already. “Anything at all. Please. Please, Lord, please save him.”

Though She was Everything, and thus hard to discern Her expression, he knew She was watching him closely.

“Would you give your life for him?”

Crowley expected this question, so he was more than prepared to answer.

“Yes.’”

The atmosphere in the room shifted, and suddenly there was a giant pair of hands before him, open and waiting for Crowley to move. He gently lowered Aziraphale’s corporation into Her hands, selfishly letting his fingers linger as he pulled away, not sure if he would ever hold his angel again. She waited until Aziraphale was carefully set in Her hands before pulling back and lifting the angel towards Herself.

At first, nothing happened. The atmosphere was silent save for the softest humming of holiness that existed everywhere in Her Domain. Then, so quietly Crowley thought he imagined it, there was a soft blowing of air. Similar to how someone might gently blow on glowing embers to raise a fire.

Crowley held his breath as the surrounding holiness focused into Her hands. It reminded Crowley of what it felt like to Create. Like gathering hydrogen and helium to make a tiny little star in your hands before setting it out into the black canvas of space to shine.

She was breathing life back into Aziraphale.

The next moment the focus was gone. The surrounding holiness calmed and rested loosely in the air, its job done.

“Crowley,” She spoke again. Without uttering anything else, She lowered Her hands, offering Crowley his angel back.

“Aziraphale, Aziraphale!” He panted as he nearly leapt up to take him from Her. “Angel, angel, angel…” He scooped Aziraphale up in his arms, holding him close and looking over him. He was still a bit of a mess with wrinkled clothes and ruffled feathers, but his chest was rising with the familiar habit of breathing, and his eyes were shifting under his eyelids as if he were dreaming.

And Crowley could feel Aziraphale wholly in his corporation again, not just withering vestiges of his fading grace.

Crowley sobbed with relief. His legs gave out under him, and he crashed to his knees, just barely managing not to jostle the angel out of his arms.

“Thank you,” he whispered in between relieved sobs. “Thank you, thank you…”

He cried and held his angel as tightly as he could without crushing him. He was making Aziraphale’s face wet with his tears as he peppered kisses onto his brow and into his hair. He coughed out pained ‘I love you’s over and over again, hoping that it’d stick, that Aziraphale would know this one thing. The one thing he could never manage to say, and he doubted he’d ever get another chance.

The room (if you could even call the strange dimension a room) grew quiet again as the demon’s sobs died out, giving way to a dreadful sort of peace.

Aziraphale had been saved, but Crowley now had his end of the bargain to uphold.

Still not having the strength to let go of the angel, Crowley looked up at Her again with a heart filled with equal parts relief and dread.

“He will still need rest for a while, but he is healed and whole again. A bit of time and care and he will be up and well again.”

Crowley nodded. He hoped that Muriel or maybe Maggie and Nina would be up to the task of caring for the angel after he was gone.

“And… when will I be destroyed?” He gulped, trying to be brave. “Do I have time to bring him back to Earth or do I…?”

Die now, his mind finished for him unhelpfully.

The holiness in the air bounced around with a jovial sort of movement, almost as if it were a chuckle.

“You are not to be destroyed, Crowley,” She said, sounding mirthful.

“But… but I agreed to give my life for him.” He hoped She wasn’t just playing games with him. He wasn’t in the mood to be given false hope just for him to be suddenly snapped into oblivion.

“And you will,” She promised.

Crowley blinked and suddenly She was there.

She had taken on a human-like form. Still made of pure Everything, but something smaller… almost comforting.

It was impossible to describe God’s appearance in something as trivial as words, but if Crowley had to, he would say…

That She looked like his Mother.

She smiled at him, and he could see it plain on Her face. It was the same proud look a mother might give to her child after learning they had helped an elderly neighbor bring in their groceries. It was soft and warm and something Crowley had never seen before.

She calmly stepped towards him, and it took all Crowley had in him not to try and flee. She crouched a bit and lifted a hand towards his face. He was ashamed to say he flinched the tiniest bit, but he then squeezed his eyes shut and lifted his head towards Her. He focused all his attention on the feeling of the angel resting in his arms. He wanted Aziraphale to be the last thing he thought about before he was wiped from existence.

Her hand gently cradled the side of Crowley’s face, and She used Her thumb to wipe the tears from his cheek.

“Oh, Crowley. It’s all right. Open your eyes.”

What else could he do but comply? He opened his eyes to see Her looking down at him fondly.

“You said you would give your life for him, and so you will.” She spoke in the same voice he’d known since his creation, but here in Her smaller form, it did not sound like the booming thunderstorm that echoed across time and space. It sounded human.

Strange. He didn’t think She liked humans anymore, but perhaps he was wrong.

She knelt down in front of them and rested Her other hand so that it sat on Aziraphale’s shoulder. The angel sighed quietly, still asleep.

“You will give your life for him. You will take him home to Earth and you will care for him as he recovers. You will give your life caring for him, protecting him, and loving him. You two will care for each other, protect each other, and love each other, just as you always have.” She gave Crowley a happy, patient smile. “It won’t always be easy, and you may have to save the world again a time or two, but you’ll muddle through it together just fine, I’m sure of it.”

Crowley looked at Her, then down at the angel in his arms.

“…You gave the Earth a good protector,” He muttered tiredly, still reeling from having his loved one saved and himself being permitted to live.

“And now I’m giving him a good protector,” She added conclusively. “Demon Crowley, the First Tempter, the Serpent of Eden… and the Guardian of the Guardian of the Eastern Gate. That’s quite a title.”

“Bit of a mouthful,” he tried carefully, still unsure about what She thought of him.

“Don’t like it?” She teased.

“Nah, ‘s all right,” he shrugged. “I’ll get used to it.” He attempted a weary smile, then hauled himself up on his feet with the angel still cradled gently in his arms.

She stood with him and reached up to place Her palm on his cheek again, and he leaned down a bit so She could reach him more easily.

“Go now. There is much yet to be done, but your angel needs you now.” She stood on her tiptoes for a moment to place a gentle kiss on his brow.

Before Crowley could even react, God pulled away, and Her form returned to the larger form of Everything that She always was--

--And then he was in the bookshop.

He firmly decided that he would unpack all of that once he got the angel settled and resting in bed.

For now, he sat the angel down on the couch, propped a pillow under his head, laid that ugly tartan blanket over him, and went deeper into the bookshop in search of some fresh bedclothes.

God, from wherever She was, looked down upon Her two most interesting creations and marveled at how they and their relationship kept on surprising Her in the most wonderful ways. She looked at the bond they’d built over 6,000 years… And God saw that it was Good.