Sneak Peek! (Good Omens Fic)
So upon request, I extended one of my Whumptober prompts into a full fledged story (the “Stay Quiet” prompt) and will be posting the first part on Monday! In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek:
Aziraphale went to reluctantlyflip his store sign to OPEN then sat down at his desk in the back of his shop to finish his morning cup of tea.
A few minutes later, the bell on the door rang, and Crowley called out.
“Back here,” he returned.
The demon strode in, holding something, which he dropped onto the desk. “This was in your mailbox. Smells Heavenly,” Crowley said with a slightly disgusted sniff.
Aziraphale frowned and took up the letter, seeing from the seal on the back that it was indeed from Heaven.
A small anxiousness twisted his stomach, but he opened it all the same as Crowley poured himself a cup of tea and took a seat on the couch.
“Well, what is it?” the demon asked.
Aziraphale read it out loud. “ ‘To the former Principality, Aziraphale: After seeing your heroic rescue of the Member of Parliament Mr.-- and his wife in the park last week…’”
“Heroic rescue?” Crowley asked skeptically, sliding his glasses down his nose.
Aziraphale shot him a look before he continued. “ ‘…it has come to my conclusion that your knowledge of Earth and its customs and your ability to move among humans is a valuable asset. I have a proposition I would like to discuss, another job to help a person in need. If you are interested please come see me. Sincerely, Gabriel.’”
Aziraphale lowered the letter carefully to his desk. “How strange,” he muttered.
“Come on, angel, you can’t actually be considering that’s anything but some kind of ruse to get you to work for them. They try one mission, see how bad they fail, and who do they look for to help them again?” Crowley sipped his tea angrily. “Ignore it.”
That was admittedly his first reaction, but Aziraphale gave pause. “Well, yes, I’m sure that’s part of it, but…Crowley, what if they have important missions that we miss hearing about. If every one of their missions goes as bad as that one last week, then people could die! Innocent people!”
“Aziraphale, these are the same people who wanted to burn you alive only months ago!” Crowley appealed.
“Oh, no,” Crowley said, standing up. “You can’t seriously be considering taking Gabriel up on his offer.”
Aziraphale sighed, and picked up his teacup. “Would it be so bad to just hear him out?”
“And go to Heaven?” Crowley demanded. “Aziraphale, it’s undoubtedly a trap!”
“But they could really need help, Crowley,” Aziraphale insisted, his better side winning out.
Crowley cursed and reached up to yank at his hair. “Angel, you’ve seen behind the curtain, you knowwhat Heaven is! You can’t be so stupid as to think that ‘forgive and forget’ is going to work here.”
“But if I don’t at least see, I’m afraid the knowledge that I could have helped someone and didn’t might haunt me forever!” Aziraphale said. “It might not be a bad thing that they point us in the right direction so we can get there in time.”
Crowley groaned, pacing. “They’re using you, angel!”
“And I’m pretty certain of that myself,” Aziraphale assured him. “But, Crowley, I have to see for myself as well. I’m sorry, but I have to at least talk to them. Besides,” he added. “If I don’t go, then Gabriel will likely send someone here or pay a visit personally, and I would really rather not have that happen.”
“I don’t like this,” Crowley growled. “I promise you’re walking into a trap. And then what?”
“Then we’ll just have to figure something out!” Aziraphale said as he stood. “It will be all right, dear.”
Crowley didn’t look at all convinced. Aziraphale didn’t want to admit to just how much he agreed with him.