It was the middle of February and the roads had turned a slushy brown, the sidewalks following suite. Bitterly cold wind blew through the streets without snow and everything was gritty with sand and grime.
It was a boring day.
A day where it wasn't nice enough to go play outside, but staying indoors did no good either. A day where all you had to do was clean the house and cook the food and pass the time as best you can. A day where no book was entertaining enough, no television show that kept people's attention for too long.
It was a boring day.
Until it wasn't.
Miles and Em had both been sick with a cold and had spent the day curled up together on the couch watching bad movies and napping intermittently. At around 5, Miles had gotten up to go buy groceries for dinner that evening. It was their turn to cook after all.
"You know you don't have to," Em called. "We could just order something."
Miles seemed to contemplate it for a minute before making up her mind.
"That's alright dear, I won't be gone long." he assured, pulling on a rather flamboyant coat.
"Okay well, call me if you need anything." Em said.
"I will darling."
~~~
By the time the clock stretched its limbs to 6:00, there was still no sign of Miles. The grocery store was no farther than a ten minute walk away and she said she was only going to pick up a few things.
It was getting darker and colder by the second, so Em called Miles' phone, only to have it go straight to voice mail.
Em frowned, and decided to give it just a tad longer.
By 7:30, no one had shown up and Em had grown significantly more concerned. Deciding to go out looking for him, they pulled on a sweater and went searching.
It was bloody freezing outside and the wind had picked up, the chill blowing through the fabric of their shirt, howling, asking them why they were out like this in such weather.
Miles wasn't anywhere in the store, nor anywhere around it. Em started panicking, calling their phone again.
No answer.
Their fingers and toes were numb but they refused to give up until they found her.
Em started asking people on the street, begging them if they'd seen her.
"Please, they've got brown curly hair, and they're about five foot eight. I can't find them." he begged one woman who looked back at Em as if they were insane and hastily kept walking.
They looked for two hours before giving up, only because they couldn't feel their hands anymore.
Em started back to their apartment, back past the grocery store, down the road to their place, keeping a careful watch out for Miles, starting to cry. Why couldn't they find her? Where did he go?
The wind picked up and Em winced, the cold stinging their body. They took refuge in an alley way halfway back home, waiting for the wind to die down.
They looked down the alleyway, trying to catch their breath, rubbing the tears out of their eyes when they thought they saw what they saw.
Tentative steps brought them to a dumpster where an unmoving figure was stuffed behind it.
Em almost screamed.
Miles.
They grabbed the body and shook it, yelling their name.
He was frozen, hands like ice.
Their coat was missing and the collar of their shirt stretched and torn. Their jeans had caught on a sharp edge and ripped, and one of their shoes was missing. His face was dirty with grime, and his head wet with blood, bruises littering his chest and arms.
Miraculously, their eyes opened.
Em sobbed, grateful that Miles was at least alive, hugging the frozen soul to his chest.
"We have to get up ok? We have to get help." Em told them, holding her head. "Can you stand?"
They nodded, dazed and confused. She wasn't sure what had happened entirely, but she recognized Em, and the three guys were gone, and the entire mess of events was finally over.
Em held him up, supporting him with one hand over his shoulders, another across his torso.
They had to get to safety.
~~~
The dial on Aziraphale's door was set to the Soho bookshop, and he was relaxing in the back room after dinner. Crowley had already gone to bed upstairs, ending the very boring day early.
Aziraphale was just getting settled into his book when a desperate knocking sounded at the door. He sighed a bit, grumpy that he couldn't just sit and read for Heaven's sake.
"We're closed!" he called all the way from the back, hoping they would hear, too comfortable to get up.
The knocking continued, loud and...scared. Aziraphale detected fear, and suddenly he realized that something was terribly wrong.
Switching the dial to the Berlin door, he swung it open to Em, eyes wide with alarm, holding Miles, who was slipping more into unconsciousness with every passing second.
"Dear God." was all Aziraphale could think to say, bringing the two in. He set Miles on the couch, and Emcee sat down with her, determined to not let go.
"What happened." Aziraphale asked, rushing to grab first aid supplies. Why were humans so delicate? Sometimes they were like flower petals, Aziraphale thought, so sensitive and breakable. He wasn't necessarily worried, understanding that he could save Miles in an instant if he absolutely had to, but he would be lying if he said he didn't lay in bed at night thinking about the expression of utter terror Em had at the notion that they might lose their best friend.
"I don't know. She went to go get groceries and didn't come back." Em sobbed, hyperventilating. "I went looking, and found her behind a garbage container in an alleyway. I think she was jumped."
"Alright dear," Aziraphale said, coming over with supplies, kneeling down and putting a hand on Em's knee. "You have to remember to breathe. I'm going to clean them up and I promise you they'll be alright. I'll make sure of it. Ok?" he said, steadily cleaning the scrapes on Miles' elbows.
Em nodded shakily, moving slightly so that Aziraphale had access to Miles' head and face.
They brought him over to the sink and Aziraphale managed to wash the blood and sand out of their hair and off their face, drying it as best they could before carefully wrapping the injury securely.
While Em went to get a blanket from upstairs at Aziraphales request, the angel swiftly pulled off a couple of...miracles, for lack of a better term, to ensure the poor boy's recovery. Suddenly she was in clean clothes, and their head wound no longer needed the stitches it probably needed beforehand.
Em came back downstairs, red from the cold and crying, handing it to Aziraphale, still shaking and too much in shock to even notice that Miles' hair had somehow dried completely in a minute.
"Come sit, dear. Let's all just take a moment to breathe," he said, taking Em over the couch across from the one Miles was on. "It's alright, she's okay, you're ok. Everyone is safe here, nothing can harm you." he assured Em who was standing by the couch, staring at Miles, still scared.
"Em, look at me please," he asked, standing up and taking their hand. It was freezing, and he took the other hand, holding them together, warming them up. Em looked over tearfully. "Everything will be alright." Aziraphale reiterated. He brushed the tears away with his thumbs and went back to holding Em's hands.
"You can stay here as long as you need," he said, Em nodding. "And I think it would do you good to get some rest as well. You're ill, and I can see it in your face darling. I think you need to go to sleep my dear boy." his voice was so gentle and soft and Em's eyes suddenly felt droopy. Perhaps it was all that walking, or the warmth that kissed them hello again after being out in the cold for so long. Em felt sleepy and heavy and nodded to Aziraphale's statement.
Sleep overtook them and Em started falling, only to be caught by the angel who eased him onto the other couch, making sure they were warm, and dry, and wearing properly clean and snug clothing before gently laying a blanket over them and letting the two rest.
~~~
When Em woke up the next day around noon, they found themselves in the bed upstairs. Miles wasn't there. Worried, they stood up, and ignoring the fact that they were somehow wearing different clothes, started looking around for her.
They found him downstairs in the backroom where Aziraphale was making tea, a plate of biscuits on the counter. Miles stood against the counter, fresh bandages wrapping their head. When they saw Em, they rushed over, pulling them into a tight hug, squeezing them. Em reciprocated, infinitely grateful to have Miles back okay and alive.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to worry you, they just- they broke my phone and I couldn't call and-"
"No Liebling I'm sorry I didn't go looking for you sooner. I'm so glad you're alive. God, I was scared." Em said, kissing Miles' cheek and forehead, indescribably relieved.
A little later, all four of them were sitting on the couches, chatting quietly, Miles and Em together once more like a knot you couldn't untie no matter how hard you tried.
"We should be off." Miles said eventually, getting up.
"Alright dears. You take care of that cut, come back if you need anything alright?" Aziraphale said, showing them out.
"I will. Thank you Aziraphale." Miles said genuinely.
"Yes, thank you. So much." Emcee piped in.
"Very well then. Home?"
"Home."