~ In Case Forever Ends Tomorrow ~ A Good Omens Fanfic

14 - Heaven Will Never Hear

~ Crowley's Perspective ~

"You really thought you could protect him." Satan drawled, his grip crushing Crowley's wings as tears flooded the demon's eyes. "You thought you could save him, didn't you?"

No, Crowley thought, his lip quivering as he looked down at the flames. Aziraphale was down there somewhere, Crowley had to get to him, had to -

"Aziraphale!" he cried, ignoring Satan's taunts, "AZIRAPHALE!"

He counted. He counted heartbeats as he waited for an answer, waited for anything.

One.

Two.

Three.

And there was nothing.

I failed. I've failed my Angel. He called for my help and I... I couldn't save him.

Crowley's heart shattered as he burst into tears.

"Y-you!" he cried, looking up at Satan, "... T-this is your f-fault! It's all your fault! You killed my best f-friend! You k-killed my Angel!"

"I did no such thing," Satan said calmly.

"He's g-gone, all because of you! They bow to you!"

"This is war, demon. The war bows to no one." Satan whispered into Crowley's ear. Whispered. The King of Hell did not whisper. Even so, the words broke Crowley. Tears fell from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks, the demon realising he had no one to blame but himself. His heart crumpled in his chest as Satan let go of him, letting the demon slip from his grasp and tumble out of the sky. Crowley's eyes squeezed shut. He didn't want to fall. He was afraid.

But there was no one to catch him anymore. Not a single soul left to love him.

And the demon finally understood why he could not love. He was a demon, after all, and he could not love. He had loved Aziraphale, and because he had... He had lost his Angel.

The war bows to no one, Satan had said.

Neither did Crowley.

Crowley opened his wings, tears spilling as his feathers caught in the wind. He soared through the black smoke, choking and spitting as he did so. He flew through the fires, shooting down to the ground as fast as he could.

"Angel!" he cried, looking around wildly, "Angel, please, don't leave me!"

Every minute of silence caused Crowley tidal waves of grief. He called Aziraphale's name, over and over until his throat grew soar. Still, he didn't stop. He zipped through the flames, his feathers signed but not burnt.

"You can't be gone..." Crowley whimpered, "You can't be..."

But no answer came from the burning city. Not a whisper of anything that had once been there. It was all ashes and fire. Ashes that fell to the ground and coated his black wings like stars. The remains of souls who no longer existed.

Souls who were freed because of an angel. An angel whose light Crowley would never again see. An Angel whose voice he would never hear. An angel who was gone.

"I promised you I would protect you," Crowley sobbed, "That they would never hurt you. Look what they've done... Aziraphale, I'm sorry... I loved you."

He didn't know why he bothered. The angel - his angel - was gone. He spoke to no one, no one heard him. He was truly alone in the fire. Crowley's knees shook as he lowered himself to the ground, kneeling on the floor as tears streamed down his face and boiled in the heat. Once, Crowley had believed he had lost the angel for good. Had believed that his best friend was gone because of Heaven and Hell.