The soft chime of Aziraphale's shop door alerted the angel of someone's arrival, though he'd been quite sure he had locked the door and the sign read closed.
"I'm afraid we're closed," Aziraphale called from behind a large pile of books.
"So I figured by the locked door," A voice Aziraphale knew too well spoke.
The angel, surprised by the voice, dropped his pile of books. "Oh my, Gabriel," Aziraphale swallowed thickly as he took a step back, knocking into a bookcase, sending several more books clattering to the floor.
"Where's your slimy friend?" Gabriel sneered as he stepped forward.
Aziraphale was thankful Crowley was out. He didn't know why Gabriel was there, but he was sure that it wasn't for anything good.
"Ditch you after getting what he wanted did he?" Gabriel took another step.
"N-no, he's just...out." Aziraphale didn't dare tell Gabriel Crowley's whereabouts in case he meant him harm.
"Oh, I'm not here for him. I'm here for you. See your little rebellion has caused me a lot of grief upstairs. Other angels are questioning my authority. I can't have that, so I'm here to show them what happens to angel's who dare cross me. I may not be able to kill you with hellfire, I'm sure you're snake of a boyfriend has something to do with that, but I can do damage in other ways."
Aziraphale was frozen in fear. His back was pressed against the bookshelf so hard it was in danger of tipping.
"First additions seem to be your favorite thing," Gabriel reached forward plucking a book from beside Aziraphale's head.
The principality flinched at the movement.
"Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. First edition I'm guessing?" Gabriel asked, reading from the front.
Aziraphale only nodded.
Gabriel opened the cover to see scribbled in the front, "To my dearest friend, Aziraphale."
Gabriel gave a cutesy pout before ripping the page from the book.
"Oh," Aziraphale gasped in surprise by such a heinous act.
Gabriel continued to rip the book apart before moving on to another, much to Aziraphale's horror.
"Please, that's really not necessary," The younger angel reached to pull the current book from Gabriel's grasp.
Gabriel, in response, threw Aziraphale back harshly. His back hit the bookshelf across the room with a crack. Books fell down on and around him.
"It's very necessary, you've done nothing but make my life a living hell. I'm an angel, for crying out loud," Gabriel snapped, grabbing another book.
"Please, take your aggression out on my, but not the books," Aziraphale pleaded, pulling himself back to his feet.
"You really care about these stupid things, don't you?" Gabriel sneered in disgust. "You're a pathetic excuse for an angel. I don't know how you've not fallen."
Aziraphale grimaced as Gabriel returned to ripping his books.
-
Crowley reached the bookshop with a bag of apple turnovers and a bottle of brandy. He'd spent the day trying to find a bakery that made apple turnovers to his liking. He wanted to surprise Aziraphale with them. The brandy was for him.
He opened the shop to see books and pages scattered around the shop. It looked like a tornado had hit the room. Panic spread through the demon.
"Aziraphale?" Crowley called. The worry evident in his tone.
No answer.
"Aziraphale?" Crowley ran into the back room to find the angel sat on the floor clutching a torn book to his chest. Tears fell down the angel's bruised cheek.
Crowley set the bag and bottle on the table and knelt by Aziraphale's side.
"Angel? What happened?" Crowley lifted the angel's chin to see the watery green blue color of his eyes.
"G-Gabriel," Aziraphale whispered.
Anger surged through Crowley. His teeth grit so hard, his jaw ached.
"He ripped so many of my books, I begged him to stop but..." Aziraphale pulled the book he was holding away from his chest.
Crowley looked down to see it was one of the books Crowley had given Aziraphale as a gift. 'The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad' It had been a book Aziraphale had wanted for so long and Crowley spent three years looking for it.
Aziraphale pulled a torn page from the book. It was where Crowley had scrawled inside the front cover. 'To my angel'
"That bastard," Crowley growled.
"He did this too?" Crowley gestured to the bruising on the angel's face.
"He wouldn't stop tearing the books, I tried to stop him but he..."Aziraphale trailed off once again.
"I'm gonna rip his wings from his back," Crowley hissed. "Why come for you now? Why after all this time?" It had been a month since they'd averted the apocalypse.
"He said the angels are questioning his authority," Aziraphale answered. "He blamed me."
"I'm going to shove hellfire up his-"
"Crowley, please," Aziraphale reached for Crowley, cutting him off. "Promise me you won't go after him."
"He can't get away with treating you like this, angel. He hurt you and the thing you love most. I can't stand for that," Crowley hissed.
"No. If you go after him, he will hurt the thing I love most and I can't let that happen, not to you," Aziraphale shook his head.
Crowley's jaw dropped slightly.
"Promise me, Crowley," Aziraphale begged.
Crowley leaned forward and pressed his forehead to the angel's. "I promise."
He felt Aziraphale relax slightly.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here, angel," Crowley closed his eyes. Just imagining the torment his angel had to endure in his absence hurt.
"I'm glad you weren't. He could have hurt you."
Crowley pulled back, before wiping a few stray tears from his angel's cheek.
"Why don't you rest, and I'll get this cleaned up for you. Good as new, I promise."
Aziraphale gave a sad smile.
"Here, maybe this'll cheer you up. Best apple turnovers in London," Crowley grabbed the bag from the table and handed it to Aziraphale.
"Oh, how splendid," Aziraphale's face lit up slightly more.
"Head upstairs and I'll join you in a bit," Crowley gestured to the bottle of brandy on the table.
"Oh, I'll get started on that if you don't mind," Aziraphale grabbed the bottle before standing.
Crowley followed suit, "Oh one more thing, angel." He leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to the bruise on his cheek. When he pulled back it was as if it'd never been there.
"Thank you, my dear," the angel blushed before scurrying up the stairs.
Crowley would make sure every book was as good as new for his angel. If he also sent a message to Gabriel via hellfire, well the angel didn't need to know about that.
(Request for I-am-tardis-locked, hope it's okay)