6 - Hearts

Aziraphale looked at the demon who had appeared from nowhere.

"Aziraphale? What's..." Crowley felt a major concern flowing through him as he looked at the angel. On the surface, he looked strong. Ready to fight. But Crowley could see the terror in his eyes. The barely noticeable trembles of his body.

"Crowley, I know it'll be hard, but I need you to try to leave."

"What do you mean hard?" Crowley tried to take a step forward, only to realize he couldn't. He began to panic. "What the fuck is going on?" The dark haired bastard held up the little stone with a chuckle.

"You know how this works you damned principality. Give me what I want or your precious demon will pay the price."

"Angel... What's....?" He didn't even know how to ask.

"Calm down Crowley. I promise you, you'll be okay." Crowley looked at him longingly. Aziraphale then met Daniel's gaze. "I won't give it to you. As I've tried to tell you, my blood isn't the same as other Angel's."

"Fine, I guess I'll have to take it myself." He held tighter onto the fallen star. "Demon, give the principality a mortal wound." Crowley's eyes widened, but nonetheless, he began walking towards Aziraphale.

"Angel! I can't stop it! Whatever he's done to me... Angel Run!" Aziraphale smiled at him. Though Crowley could see the fear in his eyes, Aziraphale had chosen to remain as the strong one in that moment.

"It's quite alright my dear." Aziraphale's eyes darkened as he looked back to Crowley's new master. "Did you really think you were the only one carrying around a demon's heart for protection?" He snidely spoke. Holding out his palm, a dark amethyst Colored stone appeared. "Aria I summon you!" He called. Suddenly in a small spacially localized location next to the angel was a little whirlwind, followed by the stern face of Lord beelzebub. Both Crowley and Daniel's eyes widened.

"A demon lord?" Daniel whispered. Beelzebub rolled her eyes.

"What is it you want Aziraphale?" The demon lord spoke. The angel nodded his head at Crowley who was approaching with his fists clenched.

"You and I both know that I'm not strong enough to kill him."

"No no no no. I don't want you to kill him, just... Keep him occupied until I can get his heart."

"Very well." She replied and turned to Crowley.

"What, your just gonna listen to him?" The demon asked his Lord.

"Aziraphale holds my heart, I must do whatever he commands of me."

"You see you worthless demon," Daniel began, "whoever the physical heart of a demon belongs to, controls the demon. Becomes their master." Crowley's eyes widened. "How does it feel? Knowing your precious angel was trying to control you?" Crowley looked at Aziraphale who was looking down at the ground.

"No. He knows he could ask me for anything. He doesn't need to control me. He wants it for something else. He would never make me do something against my will." Aziraphale met Crowley's eyes with an overwhelming relief that his demon still trusted him.

"Ugh, just bring me his blood already! You know what, destroy any emotions you have regarding this particular angel, and kill him!" Crowley's eyes blew up.

"WHAT!? No! ..." But before Crowley could say anymore, his body had reacted. He met Aziraphale's eyes briefly, before the fear turned to rage. Crowley suddenly had hands full of hellfire, running towards the angel. Before he could get close though, a whip wrapped around the demon, throwing him to the ground. Beelzebub was protecting the angel. Aziraphale nodded at her, before flying over to Daniel to snatch Crowley's heart, only for him to rapidly zoom away. Aziraphale, kept chasing Daniel, flying through the air, while Daniel used his inhuman speed to dodge.

"You can't hope to defeat me Aziraphale. You know it." Suddenly a screech caught the angels attention. Looking back, Aziraphale saw Crowley with a sword to beelzebub's throat. His eyes widened. The distraction was long enough for Daniel to throw the small little blade at the angel, which landed in his left wing. Grabbing it, Daniel sliced down. Aziraphale screamed in pain. Aziraphale fell with a hard bang to the floor. His wing feeling like it was being pulled to the ground. Despite the severity of the injury, it wouldn't be enough blood for the nephilim.

"Aziraphale!" beezlebub called, but shut her mouth as little trickles of black ink-like liquid splattered down her throat.

"No! Aria! Daniel stop it!" Aziraphale begged through the pain.

"Give me a vile of your blood and I will!" He yelled. Looking between the demon lord and Crowley, then back at his wing, he knew he didn't have the strength to fight back.

"Promise me you'll let Crowley go if I do!"

"Fine! Just give me the angel blood!" Weakly, the angel miracled a syringe. His hands were shaking. The pain he was feeling was unbearable.

"Hurry up already!" Aziraphale glared up at him and winced as he jabbed the needle into his arm. Slowly it began filling up with a thick golden substance. Daniel looked at the blood preciously. It took a while for enough blood to fall from Aziraphale's body, but eventually, the needle pulled out and Aziraphale fell limp. Daniel rushed and collected the vile.

"Finally!"

"N... Now... Pp... Please... Let him go," Aziraphale's voice was so weak, so pained. Daniel glared at the angel.

"Come here, pathetic demon." With a wave of his hand, Crowley miracled the sword to float, remaining at Aria's throat while he walked over to his master. Daniel pointed to the side.

"Go walk into that." Aziraphale followed Daniel's pointed finger towards a newly formed lake of what appeared to be boiling water. But the Angel could sense holy energy coming from it.

"What the hell is that?" He asked with gritted teeth.

"Do you like it? It's my own invention. A perfect balance of hellfire and holy water."

"But that'll kill him!" Daniel's eyes were deadly.

"You wanted him to be free of my control. He will be now."

"No!" Aziraphale pulled himself up weakly, blood splattering along the floor as he stumbled over and stood in front of the demon, preventing him from stepping into the water.

"Please Crowley... Please, try to fight it. Please." Crowley looked like some kind of walking doll with his emotionless face. Tears were streaming rapidly down Aziraphale's face, burning him from the inside. He tried to hold his hands out to Crowley's chest, pushing him away from the boiling water. It wasn't any use though, Aziraphale just skidded back. He was so weak. His own body fighting his movements. As he was pushed back, His broken wing fell down and hitting the top of the water. Aziraphale whimpered as the pain tore like knives into his whole body. He lurched forward in pain, his forearms meeting Crowley's chest. Aziraphale no longer had any strength to do anything. He was broken. His mind, his spirit and his body.

"I love you Crowley." He whispered oh so softly. "And if you're going in, I am too." The pain from Aziraphale's wing was expanding so much, that he didn't notice the golden glow lightly lighting a halo around Crowley's chest.

"Aziraphale!" Aria yelled. The angel didn't look up from Crowley's chest, where he silently cried. His body shaking in fear and in pain. Blood was still streaking down his arm and wing.

"Aziraphale, who does Crowley's heart belong to?" Aziraphale shook his head, unable to do anything in his state.

"Go on you stupid little angel, answer her. Tell her who it belongs to." Daniel smirked. His love for watching the angel tortured plastered a smile to his face.

"It belongs to you Daniel." The angel muttered, with no strength left in his voice.

"No it doesn't!" Aria chimed in. Daniel glared at her, taking over Crowley's miracle to push the sword closer to her throat.

"Why don't you look here little girl." He said, displaying the golden stone. "So long as this belongs to me, that demon is mine."

"But that heart... it didn't ever belong to you did it?"

"Of course it did Aria, who else would it belong to?" Aziraphale spoke, too numb from pain to feel anything, he didn't notice the arms wrapping around his back. It wasn't until he heard the words he'd heard before that his attention was brought back.

"How can someone so clever be so stupid?" The words were a gentle whisper but they were enough to cause Aziraphale to look up and meet Crowley's eyes. They were looking down at him, filled with an immense love. A slight warmth from Aziraphale's hand caused him to pull his arm away from the demon and unclench his fist. He was frozen at what he saw. In his palm was the glowing yellow gem that pulsed steadily in his hand. Crowley's heart.

"What!?" Daniel looked into his hands to see the gem gone.

"My heart has always belonged to you Aziraphale." Crowley spoke gently as he ran a hand down Aziraphale's cheek. Despite the agony and weakness the angel felt, he leaned into the touch, feeling the demon's familiar warmth. He frowned a little, noticing how cold his body had become, but now wasn't the time to focus on that. But despite the Angel's other intentions, he collapsed, only for Crowley to catch him. Walking him far away from any deadly water, blood splatters or any potential damage, he placed his unconscious angel on the ground. Feeling the cold from Aziraphale's skin, Crowley miracled a blanket to gently place over him. His worried eyes, quickly turned to hate as he turned back to the nephilim.

"You can't harm me, no celestial being can." Daniel tried to say as the demon walked deadly slow towards the shaking half breed.

"You're wrong about that." Crowley spoke low and deadly. "You know, when Aziraphale was younger, he wanted to be a scribe. He wanted to write holy scriptures and deliver them in God's name. But he was taken from a place of love and forced into a godforsaken war. He begged not to go. The thought of killing destroyed him from the inside out. I would never let him face that kind of pain. So I took the weapon they brandished him with and I slaughtered those who dared try to harm him. After all those I've already killed to save him, I have nothing against killing you." Summoning the sword that had been forgotten about at beezlebub's throat, without a single hesitation, the demon slashed the sword, decapitating, what he considerate to be, his worst enemy. Letting out a sigh, the sword disappeared, and Crowley ran back to Aziraphale.

"So you remember then?" Beezlebub spoke. Crowley was barely functioning as he held Aziraphale's body. His body was so cold. Aziraphale's hand still tightly closed around the gemstone.

"Yeah." Crowley muttered. Crowley ran his hand over the Angel's wing. It was covered in angelic blood. It was burnt and shriveled.

"Angel?" It was barely a little whimper. Tears fell from the demon's face. "Please angel," he whispered. "You're not allowed to leave me." His head nuzzled into the Angel's frozen neck

"C... Crowley." Came a slight exhale.

"I'm right here my angel. I'm right here."

"It hurts."

"I... I know" Crowley sobbed. He held the Angel's weak body to his face. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." Aziraphale's fingers climbed up Crowley, linking them through his.

"I love you."

"I love you too my angel. I love you so so much." Aziraphale smiled, his blue eyes shutting and his cold body motionless. His grip around the stone weakened and Crowley's heart fell to the floor beside him, a split tearing into it's surface. The Demon's cries wouldn't stop as he rocked the motionless body he held in his arms. The demon felt it for the first time in his life. The feeling of heartbreak.