Work Text:
Aziraphale had to go and talk to Heaven. He was informed that Gabriel had wanted to tell him about the fallen archangel Raphael who ruled the rebellion.
"Gabriel said that it was a shame that nobody know where he is right now," Aziraphale said when he handed Crowley a mug with tea, sitting down on the couch.
Crowley was laying on the couch with his hands crossed and took a sip of the drink. He had been quite silent since the angel started talking about the archangel. He rarely answered Aziraphale's questions and was only murmuring something under his nose.
"On my way back, I was trying to remember anything about him. But the only thing that came up to my mind was his tattooed arms," Aziraphale said with a dreamy smile. "I wonder whether his back or chest were tattooed too." Crowley smirked and got up from the couch, finishing his tea.
"Crowley, my dear, don't be jealous," the angel tried to stop him but the demon kept walking to their bedroom.
Eventually, he managed to grab his wrist and pulled him in a deep kiss. Aziraphale burrowed his hand in Crowley's hair when the second one slid down and under his dress shirt. He could feel the demon's muscles and how they tensed when he went higher and higher.
Crowley broke the kiss, "No, stop." He pushed away a little from his angel and propped his chin on Aziraphale's shoulder. He hugged him tight. They stood like that for a while until the blonde suggested going to sleep.
Aziraphale gently grabbed Crowley's hand and led him to the bed. With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared his clothes, leaving himself in checked pyjama bottoms. Meanwhile, he looked at the demon who left a black long sleeved shirt and black boxers.
"Aren't you too hot, Crowley, dear?" he asked, laying next to his lover. The demon only lifted his eyebrow.
"Me? Too hot? You're talking to a demon, angel." After saying that, he fixed his sleeves and startled Aziraphale's chest. The angel's fingers immediately found Crowley's ginger hair and massaged his head slowly.
***
"Some angels want to find Raphael and take vengeance on him," said Gabriel when he met with Aziraphale once more.
The angel could notice that Heaven had been a little alert since some time.
"How do they want to find him?"
Gabriel smirked, "Don't tell me that you can't feel this, Aziraphale." The angel looked at Gabriel with confusion. "Since the Apocalypse that you and the demon Crowley stopped, every angel started feeling a very suspicious aura around London. Some say that it is Raphael who came back from his hideaway."
Aziraphale didn't really feel different. Of course, he felt happier after he and Crowley finally shared their feelings about each other but nothing different apart from that. But somehow he felt sorry for Raphael, even though he didn't remember much of him.
***
"They want to do what?" Crowley jumped off the couch and ran towards Aziraphale, placing his hands on the angel's hips.
The blonde was taken by surprise. "They want to find him, Crowley."
The demon scratched the back of his neck and sat down on the couch, hiding his face in his hands. "Are you alright, my dear?" Aziraphale asked, throwing his arm around Crowley's waist.
Crowley nodded but deep inside him, he didn't feel good. He had to protect his angel.
***
The next few nights, Aziraphale was trying to arrange some intimate moment with Crowley. Whenever they came back from a dinner at the Ritz, the angel started touching his lover, planting small kisses on his neck and collarbones. But every time he wanted to go lower, the demon pushed him away, making a variety of excuses. Aziraphale had to admit that it hurt. He started questioning his appearance or even Crowley's love. Fortunately, the angel wasn't a quiet type so one night he decided to ask Crowley about his odd behaviour after another failed attempt.
They were laying on the bed when Aziraphale found himself on the top of Crowley. His hand was rubbing the demon's cheek, brushing against his lips. Finally, the angel lowered himself and connected their lips in a passionate kiss. After a while, Crowley felt when the angel's hand crept under his shirt and it was the moment when the demon quickly jerked off, pushing the angel away.
"Stop," he whispered and rolled over, turning his face away from Aziraphale and covered himself with a duvet.
The angel looked at his lover with worry. "Crowley, dear, am I doing something wrong?" he asked and his voice was trembling a little.
"What?" The demon went back to the angel and grabbed his hand.
"I know I'm not the best looking but I love you, darling," Aziraphale kisses Crowley's knuckles.
The ginger observed the blonde's acts and his heart fell apart, seeing the angel so hurt. "No, no, no, angel." Crowley hugged Aziraphale tight, being at the edge of crying. "It's not you, angel. I just... ugh... It's me, not you. I'll tell you... but not today. I'm sorry." He rubbed the angel’s back and felt bad for making his love insecure. He won’t be able to live with such a secret for long.
***
The next couple of days were quite peaceful. Both men came back to their routine and enjoyed each other's presence. That day was particularly lazy for them. Aziraphale was about to close his bookshop and spent the evening with his lover. Unfortunately, he wasn't so lucky because when he was trying to lock the doors, somebody pushed them, making the angel nearly fall down on the floor.
"Michael?" he asked and look behind her back to see the rest of the angel gathered in front of the bookshop.
"We wanted to talk, Aziraphale," Michael pushed him out of her way and led the rest of her friends inside. They surrounded Aziraphale.
"May I ask what is the purpose of your visit?"
Michael looked around the bookshop, evidently looking for something or somebody.
"What do you know about the former archangel Raphael?"
Aziraphale lifted his eyebrows. "Only the things that Gabriel told me."
"Liar!" shouted one of the angels, hitting the a pile of books that landed on the floor.
Suddenly, all of them heard a loud thump and everybody's eyes turned towards the source of the noise.
"What are you doing here?" Crowley hissed, facing the angels.
Nobody wanted to answer his questions and some of them even took a few steps back. Only Michael stood there confidently and smiled mischievously at the demon.
“Get away from him,” Crowley hissed.
Michael took a few step closer.
“Your wish is my command.” She was just about to turn around when she whipped a knife from her pocket and stuck it right in Crowley’s chest. “Don’t think you can hide.”
And just then the rest of the angels could hear a terrified scream. Soon, Crowley collapsed on the floor and blood was leaking from his wound. Aziraphale ran towards the man, falling on his knees right next to him. Meanwhile, he could hear their 'guests' disappear.
"Crowley, darling," the angel was mumbling. He didn't understand why the demon couldn't heal himself. Aziraphale touched lightly the wound and he could feel it... Holy Water. "Oh my God, Crowley, please, don't close your eyes," he begged. The blood was quickly covering the demon's shirt. Crowley tried to say something but his voice was completely muted. His chest was burning and everything inside him screaming.
"I'm sorry, Crowley, but I have to do this," Aziraphale said and torn the demon's shirt. Before Crowley could stop him, he heard his angel. "That's impossible."
***
The bed was comfortable. Crowley immediately recognized his and Aziraphale's bedroom just by the touch of the pillows. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times. Thanks to the window inside the room he could see that it was already night or at least a late evening. His angel was nowhere near. Then every thought came back to him. The angels, Michael, the dagger... Holy Water... Crowley touched his chest and noticed a bandage around his body. He groaned and just then realized that he wasn't wearing any shirt. The demon's hands started shaking and his breath was quicker. He quickly grabbed Aziraphale's cardigan and wrapped himself in it. After leaving the bedroom, Crowley noticed that the bookshop was suspiciously quiet. He wandered around the rooms and then noticed that the rooftop's door was opened. The wind blew lightly and Crowley decided to go out.
The bookshop's rooftop was covered in plants that the demon didn't want to leave unsupervised in his flat. Crowley and Aziraphale decided to create a small rooftop garden. They loved spending time there. It reminded them of their first meeting in Eden. Well... at least that was what Aziraphale thought.
Right on the edge of the rooftop, Crowley could notice Aziraphale standing there, watching the sky and being completely pensive. He hadn't noticed the demon walking closer to him. Before saying anything the ginger fixed the cardigan so that his chest was completely covered.
"Angel?" he whispered and Aziraphale immediately spun around.
"Crowley, dear, how are you feeling?" the angel gasped, looking at his lover from every angle. "I tried to stop the effects of Holy Water and surprisingly, your body could fight it back a little..." he said quieter before taking a look at the demon's chest.
"May I?" Aziraphale asked and waited for the slight nod that Crowley gave him.
The blonde gently grabbed the material of the cardigan and slowly revealed what was hidden under it. The black patterns appeared on his shoulders and shoulders. They wandered to Crowley's back. Aziraphale traced the swirls with his finger until they disappeared under the material.
"I think we could take off the bandage," the angel suggested. He received another nod from Crowley.
The bandage quickly fell down on the ground. "Just a small scar," Aziraphale smiled and leaned to kiss the wounded place and the demon purred at the feeling. He then put his head on the angel's shoulder and hugged to him tightly.
"Are you crying, my love?" the blonde asked, a little worried when he heard a few sobs, leaving Crowley's mouth.
"I'm so sorry, angel. I should have told you earlier b-but I was so scared of Heaven to h-hurt you because of me," the demon cried.
Aziraphale rubbed Crowley's back and soothed him. He slid his hands under the cardigan's material and the demon shivered sightly.
"May I take it off, my dear?" Again the ginger nodded and took a step backwards to give the angel a better access.
Aziraphale gently took the piece of clothing, placing it on the bench on the rooftop. Crowley bit his lip and turned around to show Aziraphale his back. When he did that, the angel saw amazing patterns, covering the demon's body. Her then took a look at his arms and noticed the same tatoos that he once saw on Raphael's body.
"But how?" was the first thing that the angel asked about. "When we swapped I didn't see the tattoos."
Crowley was now facing Aziraphale again. "Because these are impossible to fake." The demon still avoided the angel's look but Aziraphale finally lifted Crowley's chin up. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you earlier," he added.
Aziraphale rubbed the demon's back. "It's okay, my darling." He wipped off a single tear falling down Crowley's cheek. "May I see them, my love?"
The ginger tensed for a while but relaxed under the angel's touch. He slowly turned around and let Aziraphale look at his back. For a while the demon didn't hear any reaction but just then he felt a gentle hands carresing his back. The familiar finger were tracing the patters and giving him goosebumps. It wasn't an uncomfortable feeling but it was foreign. Since the Fall, he hadn't let anybody see let alone touch his tatoos. Suddenly, he let go of a quiet purr and leaned in Aziraphale's touch.
"I can see you like it," Aziraphales chuckled and planted a few small kisses on the back. He threw his arms around Crowley's waist and kissed his cheek. "They are beautiful, my dear, just like all of you."