I really like how alot of things just work off of Crowley or Aziraphale's expectations in the book, even when they're not intentionally miracling anything. Like the Bentley hasn't been filled with gas in 60 years and runs soley because Crowley expects it to. I highly doubt Aziraphale has ever even considered the possibility of a light bill but the lamps still turn on when he hits the switch because he expects them to. Its like the power of belief but increased. So here's a "Crowley and Aziraphale take Warlock and raises him themselves" AU but with an addition of Expectation.
Technically, Crowley fulfills the terms of his contract. He took the basket and delivered the little Antichrist to the Satanic Nuns of the Chattering Order. Its just that when he felt he was no longer bound by said contract he snuck back in to room 4.
He was maybe panicking and couldn't quite remember if it was room 4 or 3 but you could hardly blame him what with the impending apocalypse and all.
So with the little hellspawn, who had apparently been name Warlock as said on the crib, in one arm and the snapping of his fingers, the crib was replaced with the baby he saw wheeled away and he was walking back unnoticed to the Bentley.
Cue lots of panicking, showing up to Aziraphale's bookshop with the baby, and the same drunken conversation that leads to the sober decision of raising him to be normal themselves, with the addition of the suspected antichrist sleeping undisturbed in a miracled bassinet
Now in another world where Warlock went home with the Dowling's he grew up with a father he barely knew through a screen, a mother who didn't quite pay him attention but tried, and a Nanny and Gardener he saw most days but not all the time. The Nanny got days off and he only really saw the Gardener when he was allowed to play outside, both left when he was 6 and were replaced by two tutors he saw even less, only five days a week during learning hours. And while the Nanny and Gardener had been important influences, they were not his only ones. Mrs. Dowling still had days were she wanted to feed him herself or try to bond and there were plenty of fancy boring events were he was mostly expected to stand quietly by Mr. and Mrs. Dowling.
In this world all he really has is his Crowley and 'Zira, and being that they spend every second with him, they end up having a greater influence than anyone really intended
They spends nights in the Mayfair flat, all three of them because the bookshop isn't quite livable but sometimes the nightmares are better soothed by his 'Zira and he likes the funny voices and expressions 'Zira uses when he reads him asleep
They spend most days in the bookshop, all three of them because while the shop is a more stimulating environment than the flat, Zira often gets lost in the books and it would be quite a bit more boring without his Crowley there to play with him
Warlock grows up going to St James Park once a week, he learns to threaten plants into verdant health and the joy of stories, he patters around ancient stacks of books he treats with care and A. Z. Fell and Co's yelp reviews gain the addition of a three year old terror with a snake that goes from sweet to near-feral at the word "buy", and his room has glow in the dark stars on the concrete ceiling that are maybe just a bit brighter than they should be
It's around the time Warlock is almost 5, however, that the differences of this world really kicks it up a notch.
See this is the age children start kindergarten in London, and the hundreds of parenting books Aziraphale has read and one or two mommy blogs Crowley most definitely did not skim through all agree that children need to be socialized.
In this world there are no paranoid Americans worried about things like security details around to have final say in Warlock's schooling, and really being around normal human children can only help the Angel and Demon's plans along.
Besides wouldn't it be nice if Warlock made some friends
So off he goes to a nice little school where he meets lots of other kids, and learns a bit about Expectations
Expectation is a bit similar to the power of Belief and nothing is stronger or more steady than the Belief and Expectations of a child. It often weakens as an adult learns more about how the world works but for a child who knows almost nothing but what they Expect and Believe it can have quite the effect.
(It is nothing compared to the Belief or Expectation of occult and ethereal beings, however. The Bentley drives without gas because Crowley Expects it to move when he presses the pedal, Aziraphale's towers of books stay steady because he Expects them not to fall, the laundry and dishes get done not because either of them remembered to hit "start" when they loaded the machines but because they Expect them to be clean when they come back)
For example, there is a common Expectation shared by many people young and old that Warlock has just learn while playing with his classmates.
Children resemble their parents
For adults this can have a lot more specifics and exceptions. Children resemble their parents, but they could also have traits from a grandparent, or aunt, or resemble one parent more than the other, or even neither at all. Adults have more knowledge on mutations and recessive genes which tend to dilute the Expectation but not overpower the general Belief.
For kids its a lot more simple and straightforward truth, children resemble their parents. Thats it.
(Certain ethereal and occult beings also have this Expectation, they also know that a resemblance isnt limited to physical. A child's habits, the way they smile, a favorite food or activity, can also come from the people who raise them. It was a pretty common topic that cropped up in their research on Nurture Vs. Nature)
And Warlock, who has spent nearly every second of his life with two very powerful beings and thus has been exposed to a good many bits of magic and manipulations of reality, who has worn diapers miracled clean and drank forgotten coco that suddenly turns warm again, who has had scrapes healed in seconds and is quite used to things working because you Expect them to, who's understanding of "parents" is shaky but knows that his Crowley and Zira fit, takes this new Expectation to heart
And so it can really be of no surprise when his hair, which had just begun to lose the gold of his infancy, hesitantly lightens back up over the course of the next month and decides to take on a sort of pale auburn sheen in bright lights and sunshine
Meanwhile his eyes, which had always been blue and will remain blue, slowly and unnoticeablely shift to a less human detailing in the irises and the pupils split at the tops and bottoms to create very subtle points that are only really noticeable when very dilated and thus are well hidden by things such as a camera flash or bright days.
(It should probably be of note that this would not have happened had Warlock not been in constant exposure to two very inhuman entities, and if said entities, who by this point found that calling themselves Warlock's parents brought on far fewer unwanted questions than terms such as guardians or godfathers, had not begun to subconsciously think of themselves as his parents and thus through unintentional influence brought about the changes. And though they hoped to raise him to be normal, they still Expected some Antichrist oddities)
It was also around this time that Warlock began a habit of collecting
Specifically of collecting down feathers he'd find in the park and playground.
He'd pick them up when no one was paying too close attention and stick them in his pocket where he would mostly forget about them until he got home.
The first time this happened, Aziraphale looked up from his book that evening to see Warlock staring at his hand with adoration. "What do you got there, Warlock?" He would ask, to which Warlock would reply simply, "My feather."
This would give both he and Crowley pause at first, neither of them thinking about ducks or pigeons, and have to shake off a bit of suspicion that begins creep in
That suspicion steadily increases over time with each little feather found in his bedsheets, or dresser, or attached to the back of his shirt.
"You don't think...." "No, no, of course not." "His father was once an angel." "But he's not meant to come into power until he's 11" "come into power or come into full power" "..."
So they wait and they watch and somehow, though they never catch him picking any up, whenever they ask if he had any new feathers he'd pull one from his back pocket, looking almost like he was pulling them from his back, and held it out proudly.
And if they noticed, on days where he spent more time with Crowley, that the feathers were darker than the usual grey well it couldn't hurt for him to spend the next day with just Aziraphale and vice versa
(It is of note that the feather colors could just be a coincidence. Or it could be the result of Warlock, who has seen his guardian's wings in moments were they weren't quite as careful as they should be and had a particular itch at the shoulders, simply thinking something along the lines of "Oh, bright feathers like Zira! I spent all day with Zira!")
Either way, the possibility has now bloomed in their minds and as far as they know there isn't anything that indicates it couldn't happen. They find themselves at risk of Warlock growing feelings of being outcasted and other, which would be bad for their overall Plan to prevent armageddon.
With this in mind, they begin to tentatively let their wings out of the Ether more often when they're all three at home or alone in the closed bookshop. Its something neither of them have done very often, and not something they've done infront of eachother since Eden
On Warlock's end of things, he's quite happy to see their wings. Hes of the opinion that his Zira and Crowley have biggest, prettiest feathers than he could ever find. So he stops presenting "his" feathers and starts proudly showing them "Zira's feather!" or "Crowley's feather!" whenever they ask if he had a new one, to which fills them both with a warmth that goes unacknowledged on the serpent's end.
By the time he's 6 years old he no longer collects the ones he'd find at the park but loves to carry his guardian's feathers around. And they both still find enough of the little downs that this particular change goes unnoticed
By this point Aziraphale and Crowley have also started to take notice of the state of eachother's wings, which in turn lead them to the conscern of preening.
They both needed a good preening and, you know, Warlock needed to learn too. It was important, after all, with their suspicions. And really, what kind of guardians would they be, if he did develop wings and they left him wholly unprepared to care for them
So a new routine gets added to their afternoons and evenings about once a week. Where they take the time to sit down on a pile of pillows and they teach Warlock how to groom feathers
Its warm and comforting and Crowley has to bite back the affection he feels as he plucks a leaf from Aziraphale's scapulars and resolutely ignores its reemergence as he guides Warlock's tiny hands in straighten flight feathers.
(They never acknowledge the domesticity or familial feeling of the routine but they dont really have to, Warlock has never been discouraged from asking questions or seeking out books so all it really takes some years later is a brief mention of preening behavior from his science teacher and a lunch period spent in the library to secure the understanding in his head)
They're not sure when but by the time Warlock is 7 their suspicions have evolved into Expectation. And thankfully by that point they have mostly stopped thinking of him as "the Antichrist" and more as "Warlock", otherwise a young boy of equal age in Tadfield would be getting a few surprises. The Expectation that "the Antichrist will develop wings" would have a very different result than "Warlock will develop wings"
Warlock has also begun to Expect that he'll have wings and, with all the innocence and ignorance of childhood, thought there no more significance to the color of his guardian's wings than there was to the color of their hair and so settled on the Expectation that his own wings would be a mixed gray.
(It is also of note that the shaky beginning understanding of biology that would weaken a child's Expectation does not effect Warlock. Both his parents seem male but he pretty sure thet aren't human so he doesn't think it really matters. And if it did, well, his Crowley is a woman sometimes. Besides, they've taught him about all of God's creatures and a good bit of them don't follow the gender rules his science teacher talked about)
And so, with the Expectation of an occult and ethereal being (as well as a not-quite-human-by-this-point child bolstered by a few dozen actually-human children who all Expect children to resemble their parents) it can't be so surprising when the down feathers they have continued to randomly find suddenly seem quite a bit bigger than before.
Nor is it shocking when Crowley catches sight of a feather drifting into existence behind Warlock as he follows Aziraphale off to a bedtime story.
However, this Expectation takes quite a bit more time to persuade biology than his eyes and hair did. Its not until Warlock is 8 that they get true proof of their Expectations being confirmed
It was a nice day and they were enjoying an outing in St James Park. They'd brought along a tartan blanket and an improbably spacious basket full of various sandwiches and were quite content to picnic the day away until it got dark enough for a clear view of the stars. They were in a secluded little area by themselves and because they Expected to go unnoticed it was guaranteed that they would
On this particular day there was an abundance of love and appreciation in the air and our favorite angel was quite happy to sit back and bask in the feeling of it all. In fact he had even activated a special Sight so he could watch the lovely aurora of emotion float around the Park's Ether.
Aziraphale had not bothered to turn off his Sight when Warlock came up nor did he when answering the child's question. So it was because of this that he was in position to see them for the first time as Warlock turned to run off.
They were small and knobby and almost nonexistently faint, especially when compared to his own, which shone quite spectacularly in the Ether, and Crowley's, which ruffled languidly in a cloak of void like shadow over where he was enjoying the sun's heat. All that could really be made out was the shape, an excited twitch as Warlock spotted a flower, and the hazy possibility of fluffy down feathers.
They were probably the most beautiful little things he'd ever seen and he had to fight back tears as he gently smack Crowley awake to Look too.
After that they'd periodically check on his wings with Sight and when it seemed like they gained a strong enough presence in the Ether, Aziraphale and Crowley tried to teach him how to release them into this dimension
This did not have much success
They didn't Expect him to get it immediately but they suspected he could eventually, the little collection of grey shimmering down seemed to indicate that much
But mostly the only physical presence of Warlock's wings was the occasional ichy or achy shoulder blades
Its when he's 9 that he finally manages to get Crowley to give in to taking him flying because "You're gonna have to teach me one day anyway". It's only the once and they dont tell Aziraphale, who's away at a book auction, but it leaves Warlock with a taste and craving that even riding high speed in the Bentley with the windows down can't quite sate
By the time he's 10, Aziraphale and Crowley are hopeful and somewhat optimistic. He's not as human as they had hoped but honestly thats not that surprising. On the rest of the Plan, however, it seems to have gone well
Warlock played baseball with long time friends and was ahead of his grade in maths, he spent his spare change on comics and banana flavored bubble gum and Saturday mornings were preferably passed watching cartoons with his Crowley
He yells at house plants and scares off unwanted customers, he knows the words to just about every Queen song and uses phrases like "tickety-boo", he wears blue with leather and red with cream, he's perfected an annoyed hiss and willingly gives his umbrella to elderly waiting at bus stops, he never lies but isn't particularly bothered about whether what he says offends someone
He outwardly seems like a happy normal boy with a somewhat chaotically neutral approach to life
No hellhounds show up on his 11th birthday
Because he isn't actually the antichrist and hellhounds work a bit beyond Expectations. And even if they didn't, the Expectation of a single angel and demon are completely drowned out by thousands of angels and demons all Expecting the Antichrist to receive the hound.
Aziraphale and Crowley are concerned and confused because they have no idea where the actual antichrist is but somehow their not-antichrist is not quite human and they dont have time to worry about this because Armageddon
Cue the event of the book and show with the addition of a not-quite-human not-antichrist
Its interesting to see the place where he was born, and the people shooting eachother in the courtyard are entertaining
The lady they ran over seems nice if a bit nervous
Warlock thinks he would have liked Alpha Centuri even if his Zira didn't think he'd be able to breathe
Seeing the bookshop burn is very painful but he stays in the Bentley like his Crowley said, memories of hiding among the books and learning the nonsensical sorting system bring tears to his eyes. He can't stop them from falling when his Crowley comes back without his Zira
His Zira is fine, just wearing a weird old lady
There's a lot of shaking and panicking and his Zira has a flaming sword
Warlock doesn't think his parents meant to bring him to this strange white place but he glad they did. There's this release of tension as for the first time he truly, fully, physically stretches out his wings
They've grown quite a bit and even have a few primary and secondary feathers now. Embarrassingly, though, they're still mostly covered in fuzzy down but he can't quite help the swell of pride as he gives them a slow little flap
(From the actual antichrist, Adam's, view of things he's not sure who these three are but they all have wings and he's pretty certain the adults are the winged kids parents, he looks like them after all)
So Armageddon is prevented and if the background thought of the winged kid and his parents is there when Adam rewrites reality a bit, well, it honestly doesn't change much
Things continue on, the world keeps existing
Warlock still plays baseball but now sometimes with the Them, he still like banana bubble gum and comics and Saturday cartoons with his Crowley, its been much easier to pull his wings from the Ether since the Not-Apocalypse so they've been included in the preening routine, and he really likes their cottage in the South Downs
And in a few years, an angel and a demon start to teach their son how to fly
