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Chapter Text

Prologue: Special People

                                      New York, Birch Street, 14 March 2000

“Jessica, get a move on, you slow poke!” A ten-year old kid rushes in her room.
He’s wearing a baseball bat, a sporty outfit and he really looks bratty.
He’s the youngest member of the Jones family.

“Geez, Philipp, don’t be a pain! I just have to grab my jacket and I’m ready!” The thirteen years old teenager replies, gathering all her stuff. She stares at her reflection in the mirror, combs her smooth, long, black hair, and irons out the heavy-metal t-shirt she’s wearing.

“Just hurry the heck up, mom and dad have been waiting for you outside for ages!” Her petulant little brother reminds her.

Among everyone’s agenda, school duties for the kids and professional ones for their parents, the Jones family doesn't have much time to spend together. That’s why everyone treasures these little trips every once in a while. And if the kids must lose a day of school lessons for that, well, it’s not that bad.

“You’re exaggerating. They've only been waiting twenty minutes!” Jessica shrugs, donning her jacket and taking her rucksack.  She almost dislocates her shoulder.

“Geez, it’s so damn heavy! Yesterday it wasn’t so damn heavy!” She complains, having serious trouble holding it.

Her little brother notices her inquiring glare.

“You did something!” She accuses him.

“Geez, Jess, what a fuss for a couple of things I added from my rucksack!” Phillip rolls his eyes.

“Couple of things like what? Huge stones?” She retorts.

“You’re such a wuss, aren’t you?” The young brother makes fun of her, opening her rucksack. 

“I’ll tell you what, I’ll take back my videogame so it will be less heavy. Happy now?” he says nonchalantly, taking the game back.
 

“Hey! First, nothing changed, dammit! Second, that’s my videogame!” She protests, irritated, grabbing the rucksack again with difficulty, also due to her skinny frame. 

“Yeah, sure. I’ll wait for you in the car!” Philipp trots away, giggling.

- What did I do so wrong in my life to have the most pain-in-the-ass brother in the world? -  the teenager wonders, upset, glancing at her beloved Greenday poster, before leaving the room and going downstairs, panting.

She would have preferred staying home, maybe listening to her favorite punk-rock songs, laying in her bed.

- This is gonna be such a long day! -.

*******************************

                                          London, St. James’s Street, 14 March 2000

About five thousand and six hundred kilometers away and five hours forward, in the silver buildings of Goldsmiths University, Kevin is focusing on his psychopathology book in the library.
There are just a few weeks before the exam and the twenty-three old student wants to excel.  He feels he had embarked on the right study path. It’s already the fourth and last year and so far he still has to find a subject that has not hooked him.

Sure, that has been the umpteenth disappointment for his parents, but Kevin has never had an ideal relationship with them, quite the contrary.  He barely knows what their faces look like anymore. The Thompsons are well-known scientists and they’ve always considered their unplanned son as a burden and a constant distraction from their oh-so-important research.
That’s why he has been tossed around, first from one nanny to the others; then locked away in a boarding school, except for holidays.Those are the only times when Albert and Louise tried to act like true parents… with very poor results.

Kevin always looked forward to going back to boarding school rather than spending time with them. That’s why he was more than happy when, at the tender age of fifteen years old, his parents kicked him out of that house without any affection and he went to live on his own.  Albert and Louise just confined themselves to sending him the money he needed to support himself.
And they kept doing that, even if unwillingly, when Kevin decided to apply to the Psychology University.

Albert and Louise were sure he would follow their footprints, studying Biology or Medicine, but there was no way Kevin would agree.  He was well aware that, save for their D.N.A., he had nothing in common with his parents.

Kevin had always been fascinated by the human mind and its huge complexity; that’s why he had no doubt about it when he had to choose in what area he should specialize.

“Here you go, Family-Less!” An irritating voice from behind catches him off guard.

It’s Riley’s voice, the bully who, with his gang, has been pestering Kevin since he set foot in the University.  News spread very fast and it took little time for everyone at school to find out about his dysfunctional family situation, jumping to conclusions and portraying him like some kind of antisocial freak.  This, along with the nearly perfect grades he was receiving, attracted the wrong kind of attention from other students.
 

Kevin never cared much about other people.  Social interactions were not his strong suit, although he was well versed in every single detail of them from a theoretical point of view.  All he wanted was to study in peace and have everyone leave him alone.
 

Too bad Riley doesn’t care what Kevin wants.

“So, is the Teachers’ pet getting ready to take another 100% at the next exam?” The bully teases him.

“That’s what happens when someone studies, you know? You should open books more often, rather than closing your hands into fists.” Kevin strikes back, with an extremely calm tone.

He never yearns for a fight, even less for violence, maybe also because his skinny disposition doesn’t allow him such things.  The bright yellow T-shirt he’s wearing that day probably isn’t helping his cause.

“Don’t act as if you’re better than me!” Riley growls.  He’s twice Kevin’s size, but has less than half of his brain.

- But I am better, you stupid monkey!- Kevin muses, bothered, wishing Riley will get sick of pestering him.

It must be his lucky day, because the bully confines himself only to taking his book and throwing it into the paper basket before leaving.  At least that’s a place where Kevin can easily pick the book from. During the last four months he had to rebuy that book three times: once Riley threw it beneath a moving truck, another time he threw it in the toilet bowl, and another time he drew very obscene drawings and dirty words on it with a permanent marker.  These were the luckier times, when Kevin himself was not the goal of Riley’s vexations.

- One fine day everything will be over. - Kevin cheers up, gathering his book.

 

*******************************

                                 Waterbury, W Main Street, 14 March 2000

Aziraphale has an odd, pleasant feeling when the phone rings, even before lifting the receiver.  He already knows who it is; his sixth sense can rarely deceive him. Okay, maybe a couple of times, involving a guillotine and a church ended up in wreckage.
 

“Hallo?” he answers calmly.

“Angel.”
 

That voice.  It’s been thirty-three years, more or less, since he has heard that voice.

“My dear, it’s been so long!” He lets the deep emotion slip into his voice.

- Maybe Crowley forgave me for telling him that night that he went too fast for me. - he ponders.

“I have to tell you something. I passed by your book shop today but it was closed. Did you take a day off, angel?” Crowley asks him.

He’s talking to him in such a calm and relaxed way that it seems they haven’t heard from each other just since the day before.  After all, for millennial and immortal creatures like them, time is relative; but Aziraphale is so accustomed to living among humans that he felt all those thirty-three years, day by day.

“Well, my dear, even for more than a single day. I’m in New York and not for holiday. I must prevent some people from deconsecrating a church,” he explains.

“Always dutiful in your work!” The demon chuckles. “Can’t you just take half day free, hmm? We could meet halfway, just in the time of a snap, hmm?” the redhead suggests.

“Temptation accomplished!” The blond approves. “Where do you want to meet?”

                                Amsterdam, Vondel Park, 14 March 2000

- This is not a date. This. Is. Not. A. Date. - Aziraphale keeps repeating to himself, trying to calm down, when, a few hours later, he’s walking through the park.  It’s beautiful, an explosion of all the colors that the imminent Spring is bringing with it.

Taking a stroll through the statues, the main points of interest, the meadows, the old trees and the large variety of flowers, finally the angel sees Crowley.  He’s waiting for him, across a little wooden bridge that leads to a wonderful blue gazebo, floating on the water.

He’s wearing oh-so-tight black pants, a black T-shirt that almost looks transparent with the sunlight and a black jacket, left open, fluttering in the wind just like his long red hair, wild and free.

- He’s beautiful, as always. - Aziraphale keeps his thoughts to himself, while he approaches him.

Crowley impatiently observes that living wonder made of tartan, soft and celestial colors, hair that’s softer than clouds and a smile that’s brighter than the sun, walking towards him.

- My amazing angel. How am I supposed to not to go fast when it’s about you? I’d like to just grab you and kiss you inside this gazebo, until both of us are worn out!- Crowley keeps his thoughts to himself, while he grumbles something to greet him.

“I admit that I got the wrong idea when you mentioned Amsterdam.” Aziraphale says, while they’re walking through the little bridge.

Crowley chuckles.  “I bet you would. Although, I didn’t disdain the idea of initiating you to red light districts and coffee shops!” the demon sneers maliciously,  before getting to the point. “Angel, do you remember when I convinced you to collaborate with me during our common missions?”

“How could I forget? You went on for ages and at the end you won.” The angel rolls his eyes at the sky.

“That’s right and I hope to win even this time, but at the first try, without taking centuries again!”

Aziraphale shrugs. 

“I was thinking… what if we found someone who can take on some of our missions for us?”

“What do you exactly mean?” The blond narrows his eyes.

“I’m talking about special people. People that we could ‘employ’ to help us.  You with your angelic duties, me with my diabolical ones,” the redhead explains.

“Do you mean a sort of… super hero?” Aziraphale stares at him, more and more dumbfounded.
 

“Ngk! More an anti-hero from my side… anyway, yeah, I mean something like that. Think about it… someone who can guarantee safety and protection or make people sin a little, here and there… Just think about how much time we could save.  Time to do other things?”

- Together, maybe. - They both think, but they just can’t know.

“And...assuming that we try to do that, how should we proceed?” The angel asks him vaguely, but Crowley can’t wipe the smirk off his face.

“Let’s each find a candidate to give some power to that can make them helpful in our missions.  As long as our bosses keep seeing their damn reports filled out, no one will ask questions.” 

Crowley anticipates Aziraphale’s doubts.  He knows him better than anyone else.

“Okay.  I suppose there’s nothing wrong with trying to guarantee a bit more protection and wellness for the human kind, is there?” the angel tries to convince himself.

“And neither is a bit of corruption and turmoil.” Crowley adds.

“Okay, count me in.” the blond stretches his hand and the demon shakes it more than willingly, sealing their deal. “Okay, now we just have to find these special people.”

TBC

Chapter Text

 
Chapter I: Genie of the lamp
 
                                                                          London, Tower Hill Street, 14 March 2000



“Angel, are you sure this is a good idea?” 
Crowley grumbles into the receiver of a payphone.  He'd been thinking of getting himself a cellphone, but he isn’t sure he would want to deal with carrying around one of those bulky little boxes that humans bring with them wherever they go.  Maybe within a few years, they’ll become more functional and have a more appealing design.  For now, Crowley thinks that dear, old, perfectly working phone booths are much better.  After all Aziraphale has returned to his home near New York, and his phone number has remained unchanged.

Crowley regrets not managing to convince Aziraphale to stay with him for the night instead, but he’s happy about the afternoon that they spent together.

“Sometimes I get the feeling that our bosses might be watching us. It’s probably better to be transparent from the beginning so as to not make them suspicious.” Aziraphale retorts, sitting by the desk as he sips white tea from his inseparable mug with the wings.

“I would have preferred not to say anything to anyone, but if that is what you want…” The demon shrugs. “When were you planning to go to your people?”



“As soon as possible. I’ll ask Gabriel and the others to meet me.”



“Then I’ll do the same with Beelzebub and her gang.”

- Maybe we can meet at the entrance? - Crowley ponders.

- If we go at the same time, it’s very probable that we can meet at the crossroads outside! - Aziraphale rejoices, before reminding to himself that he can’t consider that a date.
                
                                                Comstock,  Chamberlin Farms LLC, County Route, 14 March 2000

Staring at the starry sky and the moon reflecting over the lake, while breathing the healthy air in the hills, Jessica tells herself that this trip, after all, isn’t that bad. She goes back inside the tent that she is sharing with Phillip and she notices that her brother is engrossed in reading something.

- At least he's not using my video game.- she ponders, before her curiosity takes over and she leans toward him.

Her eyes fall immediately on a picture of a stunning brunette with pin-up curves who is wearing very little.

“Alright, so now you’re a fan of porn, are you? Just wait until I tell mom and dad about that!” She makes him jolt, using a threatening tone.

“You’re always such a idiot! What porn? This is Wonder Woman!” the kid laughs at her.

“Who? The teenager frowns.

“Geez, Jess, where the heck do you live? Haven’t you ever heard about her? She is the legendary Amazon Princess and, under the alter ego of Diana Prince she decides to remain on Earth, helping the humans and fighting the villains!” He explains, visibly thrilled.

“Well, that’s weird, I was sure you liked more male heroes, such as Batman or Superman…”

“Oh, please, those pompouses asses! Male superheroes are a bunch of idiots, swaggers. Superheroines are much better. Besides she has such cool powers: she has super strength, she is so clever, she can bear every kind of pain, she has a lasso that forces people to tell the truth and when she wants she can become invincible!” Her brother keeps his tale, skimming through the pages of his comic to display what he’s talking about.

“Hey, you really like her! What about you, would you like to be a superhero?” Jessica asks him, intrigued.

Except for when he sleeps, there are very rare times when Jessica thinks her little brother is lovely. This is one of these few times.

“Well, I wouldn’t be a pompous ass for sure, I would never grow tired of saving the world, without asking anything in exchange and I would have the most amazing costume ever!” He daydreams.

“I think that superhero costumes are just useless and stupid!” Jessica scoffs.

“Because you didn’t see the one I plan to have… but even without being a superhero myself, I would like to be friends with someone who is a superhero, I would protect his or her identity, no matter what, and I would be so damn proud of him… or her.” The kid beams at her.

“I’m sure that superhero or superheroine would be extremely grateful to have you as his or her friend.” She smiles at him.


                                                                              Paradise, Fourth Heaven , 15 March 2000

“... and that’s why I assume it could be extremely useful to acquire some human beings that can help us to preserve the welfare and safety and the serenity of a quiet life.” Aziraphale concludes the exposition of his idea - of course, it’s Crowley’s idea, but he can’t reveal that to the archangels Gabriel, Michael, Uriel and Sandalphon.

They’re staring at him in utter disbelief.

“You have a remarkable idea, Principality Aziraphale,” Gabriel says with his typical mannerisms, followed by a hypocritical smile.
 
- That’s it, play with your oh so precious humans while we think about very important matters, it’s only a matter of few years, we’re almost there.- the sly archangel with purple eyes muses.

“Go ahead with that, we’re impatient to see the results.” Michael gives her approval, which is as phony as her colleague's.

“Oohh, I’m sure I won’t let you down,” the Principality gloats. “But, of course, I’ll have to pick my protege very wisely. It’s not something you can do lightly, and…”

“I’m sure you can pick wisely somewhere else?” Sandalphon says with a cold smile, urging Aziraphale to leave.

Aziraphale smiles at him the same way.

“Sandalphon is right, you’ve monopolized our time long enough," Uriel urges him with the same ‘affability’, showing him the exit. "You can go back to your earthly matters now.”

************************** (In the meantime)

                                                                                       Hell, Fifth Circle, 15 March 2000

“So? Not even a weak ‘wahoo’? Geez, you were more excited when I told you about the M25!” Crowley grumbles at the end of the meeting.

“Demon Crowley, for what it’s worth, you may proceed with your project.” Beelzebub states resonantly, although she’s bored to death, rolling her eyes from the throne with the bones horns-shaped.
“Other demons, go back to your work… if I had known before, I would have not asked you to come here for nothing,” she adds, growing more and more irritated.

- ‘For nothing’? How rude. No one understands my genius! - Crowley retorts, his ego insulted.

“Crowley, Crowley, you’re a constant letdown. You want to resort to using humans because you don’t know how to act as a demon anymore, am I right?” mocks Hastur, one of the Dukes of Hell.

“You understood bloody well nothing about the explanation of my project, but what should I expect? Between you and your friend, I guess that the iguana Ligur has on his head is the one with the biggest brain!” Crowley laughs, scornfully.

“Hey, I said nothing against you!” Ligur, the other Duke of Hell, protests.

“Not yet, but you would.” The snake demon strikes back.

“Sure I would, I hate you!” Ligur growls, challenging him with his look.

“So have you already found your protege?” Hastur asks Crowley, curious.

“Of course I have.  With my skills and phenomenal intuition it was a piece of cake to find him. It’s just a matter of a few days before you see him in action!” Crowley brags.

Truth is that he’s just spectacularly bluffing. Demons adore blustering, even more among them. Crowley was so engrossed in explaining his idea that he had not even remotely thought about putting it into practice.

                                                                                   London, New Cross Road, 5 April 2000

Finding a protege was way more difficult than Crowley thought. During the last week, he strolled around Soho, Elephant Castle, Victoria Station, Paddington, Piccadilly Circus and many other areas’ suburbs without finding anyone. Or rather, those places are crowded with ill-intentioned people, criminals of every kind, and violent boozers, but they’re not who the stubborn demon is looking for.
Crowley doesn’t even know for sure what he’s searching for, but he’s fully aware he hasn't found it yet.

That morning he orders himself to take a break from searching and takes a walk through the quiet area of New Cross to relax a bit. And that’s where he feels it.
A beautiful, almost intoxicating repressed rage, a dormant desire of revenge that is waiting to be unleashed. And Crowley craves to be the one who is going to set it free.

He tries to figure out where it’s coming from and crosses the street.  It leads him to a bench with a view on a rather bizarre building. Sitting with his back towards him, he finds the source of the call so irresistible to the demon. 
 
It’s a boy, probably a student. The boy seems to be fighting back tears as he tries to fix the pages of a few books that have been brutally glued with chewing gum. With painstaking care he manages to bring some of the pages back to their original splendor, but many others rip and tear as he pulls, only making him more frustrated. Crowley decides to intervene, finding any excuse to break the ice.

“Excuse me, do you know what that monument is all about?” The red-haired demon wonders, pointing at the strange sculpture at the side of the building.

“I don’t know for sure, but I like imagining that they’re the synapses in the brain,” the student asks, without looking up.

Crowley is stunned by that particular answer, but even more but the boy’s voice, so similar to his, save from the oh so British accent. Well, definitely too similar.

It must be the same thing the boy thinks, because he abruptly raises his gaze, meeting someone who somehow seems to be a more than twenty-year-older version of himself. After all, Crowley has never been younger than his forty-six years old as a human, but he has the feeling that if he ever had been twenty years old, he would have looked like this.

The brown-haired boy bursts out laughing, out of the blue. “Oh, c’mon.  You can tell me! You must be an actor who Riley and his gang hired in order to scare the hell out of me!” The student hypothesizes, passing a hand through his messy hair.

“Who the heaven is Riley? And who are you? Wait, I got it, you must be one of Hastur’s demonic miracles, in order to throw me off!” Crowley figures out, snapping his fingers in front of him more than once; but since he’s a human being and not an optical illusion, the boy doesn’t fade away.

“Who the hell is Hastur? Anyway, I’m Kevin and, geez, stop snapping your fingers in front of my face!” The human snorts.

Crowley is more and more fascinated.
“So you’re real. And you have got this wonderful, amazing rage. Besides, you look like me so damn much, it must be a sign.”

“A sign of what? Are you going to tell me who the hell you are?” The other loses his patience.

(End part I)

 

Chapter Text

Chapter I (II): Genie of the lamp

Since no one is in the nearby; Crowley can introduce himself properly.

“I’m Anthony J. Crowley, tempter demon, here to service you.” Crowley removes his dark glasses as proof.  

Seeing snake pupils in the middle of yellow irises, even bigger than his own dark brown eyes, Kevin startles so much that he drops all the books he kept on his lap.

“I’m dreaming,” he mutters.
 

“Nope, you are not; quite the contrary, I can say I’m here to free you from your nightmare!” Crowley chuckles, as he helps Kevin gather his books.  “Well, well, ‘ Mindfulness’ , ‘ How to win friends and influence people ’, ‘ How the mInd works ’...” the demons mumbles, eyeing at the titles. “We are a bit control freak, Kevin Thompson, aren’t we?”

“Those are books for my exams and… hey, how do you know my name? I haven’t told you yet!” Kevin notices.

“I could say ‘you know, demon here, I can know anything, magic and blah blah blah’, but the truth is that I read it on the first page of one of the books, where you wrote it,” Crowley confesses and, despite the weird situation, the boy finds himself smiling.
 

“I can’t help but notice all the effort you put into fixing your books. You know, there’s a friend of mine who cares about his books even more than you do,” Crowley resumes talking again. “He would be better than me at doing this but I can give it a try.” He snaps his fingers and all those return to their original and undamaged splendor.

Kevin beams at him.  “I’m still not positive that I’m thinking straight and this is really happening…”
 

“Who did that to your books? Want to talk about it?” Crowley spurs him.

Kevin doesn’t know exactly how but it happens and he lets himself go, confessing to Crowley all the tyrannies and injustices he had to bear in all those years, not only by his schoolmates.  It feels like he’s talking with a dear old friend rather than a bizarre over the top demon.

- What would be the difference anyway? I’ve never had a true friend,- The boy ponders.

“Tell me, Kevin, would you like to make all those two-bit bullies pay for what they’ve done?” Crowley starts tempting him.

“How?” Kevin wonders, intrigued.

“I don’t know. Just pretend I’m a genie of the lamp who can make only one wish come true. Which would it be?”
 

“You know what? Everything is already so absurd that… okay, I’ll play this game. My wish would be to control those idiots’ minds,” Kevin replies. “No, wait.  Even better: I want to control everyone’s mind. I don’t trust anyone anymore,” he corrects himself, now with a darker expression.  “Save from you, because you look like me, although you’re a demon!” He chuckles.
 

But Crowley is not laughing. He stares at the young human in deep silence, caressing his chin, thoughtfully.  “Mind control, eh?” he muses. “Cool… charming… creative. I like that.  It would also serve another purpose.  It might even be better than what I originally had planned for you.”  The demon snaps his fingers, making Kevin’s innermost desire come true. 

“Have fun, young human, that power is all yours from now on!” Crowley says, before getting up and leaving Kevin sitting alone, dumbfounded.
 

-  I just have to stop studying so much if it brings such vivid hallucinations!-

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                               New York, 461 Fifth Avenue, 5 April 2000

The Jones family is on their way back from their umpteenth trip.
The amicable feelings of some evenings ago now seems like a distant memory, and the usual disharmony between Jessica and Phillip has returned once more. So typical between brother and sister.  They argue about everything, they spite each other and they don’t even miss the chance to punch each other.
Their mother seems to be resigned to their impossible behaviour, while their father keeps spurring them to behave in a more civilized way. 

In order to focus better on his undisciplined sons, sometimes he loses sight of the road.  It’s a constant distraction that could have a price too high to pay.
 

Not far from there, Aziraphale is taking a walk across Park Ave, one of the streets nearby.  The angel has deemed his mission at Waterbury a success, so he thinks he deserves to spend an entire day as a tourist, with a very peculiar interest towards the most refined pastry shops of the town.

When he’s done eating those scrumptious snacks, Aziraphale searches for a phone box.  He dials a number he practically memorized. If he’s lucky he’ll find Crowley at home. It’s late at night in London, but that has never been a problem for him.

Aziraphale is much more than lucky. Crowley immediately picks the call up, without even resorting to the answering machine.

“Is it you?” Crowley murmurs.

“Well, it depends, define ‘you’,” The blond wavers from the other side of the receiver.

“You’ve just done.” The redhead smiles. “So, how is your mission going?” he asks Aziraphale curiously, sitting in a messy way on his golden and red chair, a sort of throne.

“Oh, extremely good, thank you. Not only have I prevented those lost sheep from desecrating that church, but I was so convincing that they decided to become altar boys!” Aziraphale giggles, making his millennial friend giggle as well. “Oops, am I boasting too much?” He examines his conscience one minute after.
 

“I like you a little vain…” The other whispers.

- Who am I kidding? I always like you, in any way!”

“I’m so glad you called me, angel, otherwise I would have looked for you. I’ve found the perfect candidate, just today. Can’t wait to see him in action!” The demon gloats, recalling his meeting during that morning.

“Oh, well.. good for you… or bad for you, how do you demons say that?” Aziraphale grumbles in confusion, making Crowley laugh.
 

“The first expression works for us demons, too!” He confirms. “What about you? How are things going?”
 

“There were so many nurses, firemen, aid workers, boy scouts, but I’m afraid I haven’t found anyone yet…”

A very loud noise interrupts their conversation.

“What’s going on, angel?” Crowley wonders, concerned.
 

“Oh no, I just saw a horrible accident nearby, I… have to go!” Aziraphale ran off, leaving the receiver hanging from the phone box, no matter if Crowley keeps calling him out, uselessly.
 

The closer Aziraphale gets to the accident, the louder he hears a desperate cry.

I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die. i don’t wanna die.

Aziraphale becomes invisible and makes his way through the crowd of curious people who stopped or got out of their cars to stare at that scene.

Probably the driver of that car lost control, crashing violently, in a macabre scenario of broken glasses and blood.  Inside the car there is a family, and it seems that there's nothing to do anymore for any of them.  Looking better at the back seats, Aziraphale still manages to sense a weak, feeble hint of life.
 

I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die

It’s the elder of the two sons to emit it, together with that strong plead.

A teenage girl, who is coming into womanhood, has wounds on many parts of her body, she’s lying unconscious, but still with that persistent desire to live.

And like a genie of the lamp, Aziraphale craves to grant that wish for her.

“You won’t die, little dear,” he murmurs, snapping his fingers.  For a fragment of a second, the teenage girl pops her eyes open and Aziraphale has the feeling she is watching him, but it’s practically impossible.

The emergency services arrive in time and although he’s still invisible, the angel follows her to the hospital, to the intensive care.  While she’s connected to several medical machines with a restorative I.V. drip in her arm and waiting for the doctor,  Aziraphale observes her some more.
 

There’s something special about that teenage girl, apparently so similar to thousands ones of her same age.

- If she is so willing to live, maybe she would be as willing as well to protect other people’s lives, if I gave her the proper tools to do that… -  He ponders, approaching cautiously to her.

Once again, the young girl stirs and opens her big hazel/green eyes, and once again it seems that she’s just staring at him.

“Can you… can you see me?” Aziraphale asks her, stunned.
 

The young girl can’t speak a word yet, but she manages to nod with her head.

But it’s still such a big effort for her body to bear, so she passes out again, exhausted, but alive.

No human being in six thousand years has ever managed to see Aziraphale while he was invisible..  There must be a very strong bond between them.
 

- This must be a sign. - Aziraphale muses.
 

He was certain that he would give his gift to an adult; a serious, responsible, selfless and generous adult… instead he’s taking the case with a teenage girl and he doesn’t even know how he’ll deal with her and how she is going to react.
 

And yet he feels like he couldn’t have made a better choice than that.  The decision is made and the angel’s fingers snap, with all the consequences.

“My sweet, oh-so-young girl, you still have no idea how many good things you’re going to do!” He whispers languidly to her, caressing her long, black hair before leaving the room.

TBC

Chapter Text

Capitolo II I: Some itches to scratch
 

                                                          New York, Metro-General Hospital, 5 April 2000

As he lets the dedicated machinery and the professional equipment do their job, Aziraphale makes himself visible again, in order to use one of the hospital phones.
He doesn’t have to wait for long, because Crowley picks his call up at the first ring.

“Angel, are you okay? You abandoned me before, in the middle of the conversation,” he exclaims, nervous, before concentrating for one moment in deep silence. “But… you’re calling me from an hospital! Did something bad happen?” he grows even more nervous.
“Crowley, dear, breathe.” the angel tries to calm him down. “But mostly don’t do demonic miracles to localize my calls!” he snaps.
“Would you tell me why you are in a hospital?”
“It’s not for me, I’m more than fine, it’s for that accident. I ran there and, oh, Crowley, I’ve found my special person, too,” he informs the demon.

Aziraphale glances at the girl’s room where lots of people keep coming and going.

“Oh, that’s great! Tell me, does your special person look like you?” Crowley asks him, curious.
“Huh, well, nope, I definitely do not believe to have anything in common, neither in the physical aspect nor in the attitude with a teenage girl, who must be as restless as all teenagers are,” Aziraphale grumbles, a little dumbfounded.

“Ngk! Nope, I don’t think it’s the same case, then. That’s odd, you know what? My protégée resembles me like a drop of water… if I was twenty years old, more or less, I would be his same, exact copy. And about his attitude, oh, I have the feeling he’s going to make me so proud of him!” the demon informs him.
“Oh, I’m so curious to see what you looked like as a twenty-year-old human,” escapes from Aziraphale’s mouth.

“Do you want to have a quick glance? Reach me here in London, he’s been studying here,” the other urges him.
“No, I can’t. Firstly, I want to be here when my  protégée opens her eyes again..She was the one in the accident.  At the beginning I’ve miracled her to prevent her from dying, but then… I don’t know, I felt something that told me she had to be my chosen one.
That’s why I decided to give her the power of…” Aziraphale goes on with his tale, but stops before it’s too late. “No, wait, the less we know about each other’s missions, the better. That’s why I shouldn’t see your protégée, nor should you see mine. Besides, it would be desiderable those two to never meet each other.” the blond grows worried.
“You’re right, they could influence each other, yeah…” the redhead tries to get along with him, but the truth is that he doesn’t see why that would be a big deal.
 

“However, angel, once you’ve taken proper care of your protégée, save for our business with our candidates, we can meet, can’t we?” the demon asks him, his tone of voice turning languid.
“Sure we can, dear. I miss the walks, I miss feeding the ducks. I miss St. James’ park, and my bookshop…”
 

- And me? Don’t you miss me, angel? We haven’t seen each other for almost a month… - Crowley muses, making a bottle of red wine appear in order to outweigh his nostalgia.

“Dear, I must go now, there is way too much traffic in my protégée’s room.” Aziraphale says with concern. “But I’ll see you soon, maybe when we have to make the progress reports.” Aziraphale heartens him with his promise, before hanging up.
 

- Something like ‘Day number ten: the demonic applicant made seven subjects sin. The angelic applicant rescued six people. And I miss you, Crowley, much more than crepes!’ That’s what I call a sincere progress report. See the effect you have on me? I let you win even in the fake progress report I hypothesize! - Aziraphale loses himself in his thoughts.

He decides to turn invisible again in order to reach more easily the very crowded room where his protégée is resting.
 

- Are there cameras here? - he notices, puzzled, wondering who that elegant, blonde woman who seems no more older than thirty is.

There’s also a pretty teenage girl with red hair and the photographers keep framing her the most.
 

“And that’s why I, Dorothy Walker, and my daughter Patsy, have decided to take good care of this poor little girl’s misfortune. She has just lost her family, but now she has just found a new one,” the blonde woman declares to the cameras and the recording tapes. She keeps smiling at every camera that’s filming her.

Aziraphale casts the woman a touched look.

-It’s beautiful to know that humanity can still rely on such generous and selfless people.- he muses, pleased.
 

Bit by bit, all the television crew and the journalists leave the room, eager to write that juicy scoop.
“It’s wonderful, Mom, I’m going to have a sister!” the young girl with red hair rejoices.
 

So far she has kept silent.
 

Aziraphale beams, even more enthused.

“My darling, that little girl is not your sister.  You should see her more as a clear path to even more success!” the mother says with a fake sugary tone and an evil smile. “Do you have the slightest idea of the impact this news will have on you? This thing will get your face out there and improve your image by leaps and bounds!!” she goes on, like  the cold, scheming opportunist she really is.

Aziraphale can’t believe his ears.

“I don’t want stupid advertising, I want a friend, she’ll be my friend!” the girl insists.

“Honey, please don’t grow so affectionate over that gross beggar, she’ll never be your equal!” Mrs Walker tries to make her daughter see reason. “As soon as I saw the news of that catastrophic accident, I rushed here, guessing it was the right hospital and I wasn’t wrong. We’re so lucky that she's an orphan now, so we can adopt her and give  the media something to talk about for a long, long time!”

“Mom!” Patsy, whose real name is Patricia, yells at her mother, glaring at her with all the disdain she can muster. “Aren’t you ashamed for even thinking such awful things?”

Her mother’s slap came punctual on her now reddened and aching cheek.

“Ingrate! How dare you to talk to your mother like that?” the woman strikes back, venomously.

Even an angel’s patience has a limit and she’s already crossed it.

- Oh, for heaven’s sake! What a horrible, horrible person!- he thinks, planning his revenge.
- Revenge for fooling me so badly about the kindness of human beings.-

A snap of his fingers and suddenly the five-inch heel of the woman’s right shoe is broken.
 

“What the fu…?” Dorothy snaps.
 

In the attempt of checking her heel, she bends over and for some reason, her skirt rips in the back side, leaving a visible hole.
Not satisfied yet, Aziraphale snaps his fingers again and, while she limps towards the nearest bathroom, a clumsy nurse is walking towards them, holding the trays she has to take to the kitchen.
She is walking so fast that she just can’t stop in time, as a result she crashes against the elegant woman, pouring over her the rest of the soups, some mashed potatoes and some pieces of stewed fish.

“Look what a disaster! You useless incompetent!” Dorothy roars, so frustrated she could break down and cry at any moment.

Patricia can’t suppress a laugh, hidden from her mother.

There’s still something missing and the angel gets it with the umpteenth snap of his fingers.

Knocking at the door that leads to the corridor, before opening it, a reporter comes back.

“Excuse me, Mrs Walker, I forgot to ask if you…”

Seeing her in those deprecable conditions, the reporter doesn’t waste time and frames her in his pictures.  Maybe he can write an article that proves to be even more interesting than the former planned one.

“Hey, you damned idiot, wait! Where do you think you're going  with those pictures?” a limping and furious Dorothy races after the reporter, trying to stop him.

- Very well. I had some itches to scratch, now that’s better.- Aziraphale muses. - Crowley would be so proud of me - he smirks. -Which is not something I should be happy for. - he blames himself.

“Mrs Walker, please come…” one of the doctors who are visiting Jessica calls for the woman, but then she stops and takes a look around, clueless. “Where did your mother go? Are you alone here?” she interrogates the only visible person in that corridor.

“Yes… do I have to go away?” Patricia asks her, fearful.

“Quite the contrary, dear, I want you to come in. She has just awaken We were sure it was an irreversible coma, but...there was a miraculous recovery!” the doctor grins.
 

Hearing that adjective, Aziraphale smiles proudly.
 

“But this is such fantastic news!” Patricia Rejoices, as the doctor shows her the way.
Obviously, Aziraphale follows them.

Jessica is still linked to the medical  machinery, although now they’re pretty useless, but she is sitting up on her bed, taking a look around in deep confusion.

She can’t figure out what she’s doing in a hospital.

The hell with being sick, she feels she’s as strong as ten lions!

“How do you feel, Jessica?” the Doctor asks her.

- Jessica, that’s your name. - Aziraphale registers that precious info.

“A little dizzy…” the young brunette replies, touching her head and noticing it’s bandaged. “Who are you?” she asks the girl of her same age.

“Have you never seen me before?? Don’t you know the ‘It’s Patsy!’ show?” the redhead asks her, stunned.

“I’m thirteen years old, not eight!” Jessica strikes back way too rudely, but she seems to realise it. “Sorry.” she adds, immediately after, with a softer tone.
 

Patricia shakes her head, smiling at her.

“Don’t worry, it’s more than normal. You still must be in shock” she answers, quietly. “You know what? It’s like breathing fresh air to talk with someone who doesn’t know me. I’m Patricia.=,” she grins affably.

“Patricia. Tricia. Trish. Can I call you Trish?”

The former child prodigy beams enlightened.

“Trish. I like it. I like it a lot.”

(End part I)

Chapter Text

Capitolo II (II): Some itches to scratch

“I’m Jessica, Jess, if you prefer.” The brunette shakes the blonde’s hand quickly. “Where’s the rest of my family? They are all alright, aren't they? This room wasn’t large enough, so the doctors took them to another one, right?”

Trish’s silence and the doctor’s sorrowful look are the most eloquent and terrible answer for the girl.

“No…” she rests her hand on the bed rail made of steel.

Her tears are already running down her face.

“Noooo.” she repeats, shaking her head, as if she wanted to get rid of that shocking news, of that awful reality, as she strengthens her hold on the bed rail.

“NO!” she screams at the top of her lungs, with all the rage she’s feeling, tearing up the bed rail as if it was made of foam rubber.

She lets it fall on the floor, bewildered.

Aziraphale didn’t miss a single instant of that scene.

- Here’s a sneak preview of your powers, my darling.-

“Geez, what kind of hospital is this if you have such old, rotten and cheap stuff?” Trish snaps at the doctor, just before she rushes to hug that girl she already considers her friend and soon she can call ‘sister’.

“But… those beds are brand new…” the doctor mutters to herself, taking a mental note to report that complaint.

“Excuse me, let me in. What did I miss?” Dorothy makes her entrance, now as fresh as new. “See, Patricia, how is it essential to always have a change of clothes in the trunk of your car?” she explains, now feeling at ease again.

There are still traces of mashed potatoes in her hair, but no one dares to warn her about that.

Still sobbing, Jessica parts from Trish’s hug, to stare at the woman in confusion. “Who the hell are you?”

And that’s when Jessica finally focuses also on another presence in that room.

“You?! Again? What are you doing here? What do you want from me?” she snaps at Aziraphale, who stares at her stunned, but for all the other people in the room she’s just watching an empty spot.

“It’s evident that the patient is still deeply shocked, she needs some rest, absolutely. Those were too many emotions at once for her,” the doctor states, making sure that everyone leaves the room.

Even Aziraphale decides to leave, still impressed by Jessica’s capability of detecting him.

- Not now, dear girl, but we’re going to meet soon, in a more conventional way.- he decides, disappearing.

-------------------------------------------

London, Goldsmiths University, 6 April 2000

Still feeling dazed after that oh-so-peculiar meeting with Crowley, which he decided was likely a hallucination due to the intense study and stress of school, Kevin had taken shelter in his dorm room all the previous day long, in order to avoid dealing with any sort of social interaction.

That morning, he is oddly in a very good mood, maybe due to the long night of rest, or maybe because of the sunny day outside, typical for the beginning of Spring, or maybe because for some reason he feels that that is going to be his lucky day.

And he stays in a fantastic mood, at least for the three hours he spends studying in the library.
He has already decided that he has just imagined the chewing gum in his books the previous day, also because there seems to be no trace left of that sick prank.

The suspected author of that trickery rushes towards him in the corridor with his bully crew as soon as Kevin leaves the library.

“Hello, Family-less, are you trying to make the books adopt you? Maybe that’s the reason you and your books are so inseparable!” Riley scoffs as his bully friends laugh.

“Adopted by my book. Ah-ah. Very funny, yes.” Kevin rolls his eyes, hoping that torture will end soon.

- Maybe if I go along with him, he will grow tired and let me pass… - he ponders.

“Smile, you, nothing but a bookworm. Today I’m not going to touch even a page of your precious books.” The bully pretends to hearten him with that news, but Kevin already knows what it actually means.

He has already been through that.

“Today I’m going to hit you, directly. Let’s see if with a black eye or with a broken tooth you’ll still be the teachers’ pet!” Riley scoffs, rolling up the sleeve of his shirt to show his watch with a steel quadrant.

Kevin remembers that watch painfully well, the last time Riley used it on him, he punched his stomach so hard it took him whole days to recover.

At least it was a hidden zone, now the bastard is aiming at his face.

“You should eat that bloody watch!” Kevin snarls, exasperated, before closing his eyes and getting ready for the worst.

Not only does that punch never arrive, but he can hear Riley’s friends’ shocked and puzzled voices.

“Riley… what the hell are you doing? Are you nuts?”

Opening his eyes, Kevin realises that Riley has taken his watch off and is biting into the leather strap, chewing a piece of it as if it was liquorice.

That scene draws many curious people’s attention who are crowding the corridor.

“There’s nothing to see here!” Kevin warns them all, but he figures out too late that he has just made things worse.

“I can’t see anything anymore!”
“Oh gosh, my eyes!”
“I’ve lost my sight!”
“Why is everything so dark?”
“Hey, who turned out the lights?”

These are some of the frightened students' reactions who keep bumping into things and other people.

First the bully is eating his watch.
Now people who can’t see anything anymore.

- That’s exactly what I said. My specific words. People do what I tell them to do. I’m controlling their minds. So, it means that yesterday…-

Kevin doesn’t even have the time to finish his thoughts when a voice, very similar to his, gives him that confirmation.

“That’s right, my boy,” Crowley exclaims, appearing in front of him. “Take a mental note for next time: if a demon who looks like a twenty years’ older version of you gives you a mental power, believe everything he says to you!” he smirks.

They can talk freely, for a simple reason that Kevin immediately notices.

“You… you freezed the time!” he exclaims, taking a look around and seeing everyone standing perfectly still and silent, utterly unaware of what’s going on.

“Well, yeah, that’s one of my tricks!” Crowley shrugs as if it was nothing important. “I admit that it was my mistake. I left you without even giving you any directions for how to use your powers,” he adds, leaning against a closet. “Yep, Kevin Thompson, you can really control every human being’s mind, which means not mine, in case you were thinking about it.”

“I would never dare!” Kevin rushes to swear.

“Liar. I know you would love to. But I like it!” Crowley giggles, before going back to his list of rules and explanations. “The influence you can have on people lasts twelve hours if you don’t stop them before. To give you a limitless power would be too risky and problematic.”

“Crowley, what… what did you do to me? Isn’t there any chance that you could take it back and make me normal again?” Kevin asks him, still in full shock.

- And for what? To go back to my squalid existence?-

“Everything is possible, also because you haven't signed the contract with your blood yet ...naah, who am I kidding? There’s no contract to sign. Plus, who the heaven does want blood anymore? Humans invented Montblanc!” Crowley laughs, making even his young listener laugh as well. “Okay, now I’m serious again. Yes, if you want it, I can take it back.”

- Although I really hope I have not to … where else could I find such a perfect candidate as you?-

“But, tell me, Kevin, do you really want to get rid of this power?” he asks him, happy when he sees a creepy smile on the young student’s features.

“Nope, I do not want that. Plus, twelve hours is a lot of time,” Kevin reveals, pleasing the demon.

- I could make stupid Riley eat a whole watch factory in twelve hours! - he muses, amused.

“I really hoped to hear such an answer from you.” The demon smiles, lowering his dark glasses to wink at him. “About the Hell issue, let me clear a couple of things. You humans have such a distorted idea of it. To begin with, you’re facing no soul sale… maybe just a tiny competitive bidding!” he makes the boy smile again. “I gave you that power for a reason, that’s true. I need you to do some things for me.”

“What kind of things?” Kevin wonders, afraid that there could be a too high price to pay.

“Evil deeds. You have to make people do that. I’m not asking you to kill or make people kill themselves or someone else, I’m just asking for small stuff. Riots, a bit of violence, robbery, stealing… oh, right, adultery would definitely make me score. Stuff like that, you know. Besides, I’m positively confident in your creative talent. Do you think you can do that?” Crowley asks him.

“Yep, sure. Sounds like much fun.” Kevin sneers.

“Oh, trust me, it will be.” Crowley sneers. “Well, it doesn’t mean that you can’t resort to your power for personal use. Quite the contrary, I liked what you were doing, please, go on. Get ready, I’m about to unfreeze the time, but now I’m sure you know what to do. If you ever need me, just call me out and I’ll be there,” he waves his hand bye, disappearing with a snap of his fingers.

An instant later time is flowing again, normally.
The only difference is that now Kevin knows what to do.

“Everyone, you can see again. Save for Riley, you can leave, you will believe this was a very well planned prank.”

Everyone does as they’ve been told, leaving him alone with Riley.

The bully is keeping tearing out pieces of his strap and chewing them, before gulping them down.

At first Kevin seems to consider stopping him, but then he recalls all the humiliations and the abuses during those years.

- There’s no rush, after all. Maybe I can wait until he eats half the strap… and it he gets a bowel obstruction, well… it won’t be my fault.-

Plenty satisfied, he observes his tormentor obeying his order, but it’s only the beginning.

Kevin still has some itches to scratch.

TBC

Chapter Text

Capitolo III (I): Born to do that

                           Cheltenham, Pittville Circus Rd, 9 April 2000

For the next three days, Kevin worked on getting better acquainted with his new powers. 

He made Riley walk through the corridors with his trousers lowered at his ankles and, for the grand finale, made him drop even his boxers in the classroom as the professor came in, which earned Riley a solemn month’s suspension.

Kevin used his powers to start a riot during a break among all of Riley’s friends which brought (literally) bloody results and further disciplinary action.

He also made the most popular couple in the whole University break up, not because those two had ever done anything bad to him but just for the challenge.
It’s also true that Kevin  brought them back together the very next day, because… he is not that evil, after all.

Crowley praised Kevin for everything: the humiliation, the public indecency, the violence, the love breakups… all things that his people in Hell enjoy a lot.

Crowley appeared to him in every of those school days, making himself invisible to anyone but Kevin.
The only thing criticism Crowley gave Kevin was about how quickly he  repaired  the damaged relationship between his fellow students, but as soon the demon saw Georgia and David he agreed with Kevin that those two were way too lovely couple to tear them apart for any longer. With a snap of his finger, Crowley assured that no one else would separate them ever again. It’s the sort of thing that his bosses could hardly verify.

Kevin told Crowley that he needed to go out of town for at least one day, without giving him further explanation, and asked the demon not to follow him. For this occasion, the boy preferred to be alone.

That’s why now he’s inside a taxi that is about to take him to his destination, the driver just has to turn right.
The  place he is going is two and a half hours by car from his dorm.
But the kilometric distance is nothing compared to the sentimental one.
Kevin has decided to pay a visit to his parents, whom he hasn’t seen since… he doesn’t even recall when.

“We’re here, boy ” the driver informs him.

Another occasion for Kevin to perform his power.



“Set the mileage to zero. You’re glad to have brought me here and you’ll wait for me until this evening,” he orders, calmly.

The man pushes the buttons on his display, setting the previous import of three numbers to zero.
“Sure, boy, I’ll wait for you right here. No problem at all,” he replies, docile.

Kevin steps out of the taxi and walks toward the country house where  his parents live.

- I don’t like to be called ‘boy’, even less than 'Mr Thompson'. And it’s not that I allow anyone to call me Kevin either… I should find myself a more impressive name… but it’s not the proper time to think about it, - he muses, as he walks down a street that awakens memories from long ago.

Everything has remained unchanged, from the lawn, so perfectly cut, to the hedge that coasts it, from the sloping roof to the balcony with exposed brick.

Kevin crosses the lawn, observing all that green area, the most suitable spot for a swing, a rocking horse or for every other outdoor game. But this place or rather that family has never been tailor-made for children.

He glances at the veranda to see if someone is there, but he’s not that lucky.



- They must be inside. Knowing them as I sadly know them… working, probably.-



 He reaches the white front door and rings the doorbell quite insistently.



It takes several minutes before someone comes to open the door, and when it happens a tall, severe figure, with gray hair stands in front of him, his expression even darker after he narrows his eyes.

“What the bloody hell are you doing here? We've already sent you the money for tuition and the rent,” the owner of that house hisses, his tone cut-and-dry.



“Hello to you, too, dad, and yes I’m fine, thanks for asking. After all, we haven’t seen each other in … two, maybe three years?” Kevin's expression is as dark as his father’s, if not darker.

And, of course, he called him ‘dad’ with pure sarcasm.

“Go away, Kevin, I have no time for you now!”



Kevin bursts out laughing, disdainful.

“You haven’t had any time for me for twenty-three fucking years!”

He realizes that if he wants to shake things up, unfortunately the only chance is to resort to his powers.

- Anything to make such hostile expression change.-

“Now let me in and be a pleasant host.”



Host. Not even when he gives him a command Kevin manages to call that person ‘father’.

He’s not so surprised when he sees his father's mood change.

“Of course, my dear, you’re my guest.  Can I offer you anything?” the fifty years old man asks him affably, gesturing for Kevin to come inside.
 
- Yeah, you could offer me the family I’ve never had, but I guess it’s a tad late for this. - Kevin sadly muses, shaking his head with disdain.



“Louise, honey, come and see who has just paid us a visit!” Albert calls to his wife

.A sophisticated blonde woman in her mid forties walks into the room,  still wearing her lab coat, her expression one of confusion.

For a moment, just for a single moment, Kevin catches a glimpse in her eyes, an almost imperceptible look of happiness at seeing her son, but it’s immediately replaced by merciless chill.

“You show up here and you didn’t even bother to warn us beforehand,” she remarks, venomously.



“Louise, don’t be so rude!” her husband reproaches her, stunning the woman.

“Albert! What’s wrong with you?” she snaps.

“The same thing that's about to be wrong with you. You are happy to see your son, that’s all,” Kevin explains quietly, although he feels like he might break down and cry.
 
“Of course I’m happy to see you, honey,” his mother smiles at him.

“Then hug me. Both of you,” the boy urges them, and they obey.

Kevin enjoys every single second of that hug, although he’s utterly aware that there’s nothing authentic to it at all.

“I’m your son. Hell, I’m your only fucking son and I had to ask for a bloody hug. No, wait, it’s even worse...I had to order you to do such a thing!” Kevin breaks away from the hug.  “Reflect about how pathetic it is.”

“Kevin, I…” his mother hazards, but no matter what she’s trying to say, Kevin doesn’t allow her to go on.

“No. Shut up. Both of you. Sit down.”



The two adults do as they’re told and Kevin sits on the couch, in front of them.

“Why?” he asks his parents.

“Why what?” his father asks him, puzzled.

“Oh, please, you perfectly know what!” Kevin hisses. “Why was I born? Why did you bring me into this world if you didn’t even remotely plan to become parents? He puts the squeeze on them. “Tell me!”

“Louise was pregnant, it wasn’t expected, it wasn't planned.”

It hurts Kevin a lot to hear so blatantly that he never was desired, but he keeps listening to them.

“That’s right, but we are against abortion, that’s why we kept you,” Louise explains.



Kevin gets up from the couch, clapping at them derisively.

“Congrats, very good. So, is this your way to clear your conscience with the Creator, or whoever rules this bloody world, like two good and proper Catholic people?”

“Don’t you dare talk to us this way, Kevin!” his father snaps, ready to get up from his armchair.



“No! I said sit down and keep silent!” Kevin sets him straight. “And you must do the same, too.” he anticipates every possible reaction from his mother.

“Just let me see if I've got it straight. You are against abortion, but not against the possibility of condemning a child to a whole life without affection, without self-confidence, without a touchstone? I spent my whole life as a postal package, wondering what was wrong in me, why the other kids had lovely parents while I barely had a blurry shadow of a family.”

Just like ordered, Louise doesn’t say anything, but from her eyes some silent tears fall down.
At least this is not something Kevin prevented her from doing and he definitely  notices.

But he’s not impressed at all.



- She’s crying only because she fears for herself, surely not out of guilt.  She had twenty-three years to feel guilty!-

“Do you have the slightest idea of what impact this has had on me? Oh, sure, you told me you never made me miss anything: the best schools, the best education, the best discipline… but, fresh news, I missed the warmth of a loving home. I’ve just known the walls of a house around me and a roof over my head, but, trust me, this is not the same bloody thing!” he points out. “Now you both can resume being… just you."

“How do you dare to come into my house without warning and behave like this?” his father yells, and probably would have attacked him physically with a loaded blow if Kevin didn’t stop him.



“Slap yourself on your face and then stand still.”

Albert does as he’s been told.

“Kevin… why are you doing this? And why do we keep obeying you, as if we have no choice? What… what happened to you?” his mother wonders apprehensively, but she stays still, sitting down.

“What happened? I’ll tell you what, as I thought I was wrong, someone else found me right and gave me a wonderful gift,” Kevin sneers. “You know what? Let’s go out. Let’s take a walk somewhere, as a real family. Give me the illusion, just for one day. Give me some of your oh-so-precious time,” he suggests. “In exchange, I’m going to give you a lot of free time.”

“What do you mean?” Albert frowns.

“When we are back from our happy family trip, I’ll go away and you’ll set on fire your lab, your research, and all of the files in your computers. All the job of your whole life. Nothing will remain and you’ll restart from zero. And you’ll never figure out you’re the ones who did that.” Kevin announces.

“You can’t do that!” Albert snarls.

“You’re a monster!” Louise hisses, venomously.

Kevin just shrugs. They can’t impress upon him anymore, they can’t make him care anymore.



“Hell yeah I can, and I’m going to. But I won’t ask you to remain in the lab while it burns, although you would deserve that. Why those angry faces, by the way? And you’ll be happy when you obey me. Now, smile!” 
 
They beam. Kevin decides that he could easily get used to this.



----------------------------------------------------



Once they’re back from their happy fake family trip, Kevin waits until he sees the first flames coming out the open window in the lab.

Extremely pleased, he goes back to the taxi, where he finds the driver in rough shape.

“Y-you’re b-back..fi-finally,” the man says, glad to see him as he holds his stomach in pain.

That’s when Kevin figures out what has happened: he left late in the morning and came back at sunset, and the taxi driver has been waiting for him for seven long hours.



“That’s true, I told you to wait for me here, but I didn’t mean that you couldn't even move, I just needed you not to leave with the car… you’re free to go out, do what you need to do!” he sets him free from that mental captivity.
“Than… thank you, boy.” The driver rushes outside, relieved.

Kevin takes advantage of his absence to reflect.



- I need to pay more attention when I order something, I don’t have to slip… but mostly I have to find myself a new name. I can’t stand ‘boy.’ I need something new. Killtime? Naaaaaah, I can do much better. Killjoy? Too depressing. Kill… Killgrave. Yes. So bombastic. I like it. -

--------------------------------------------------------------
 
                                 New York, Columbus Ave, 10 April 2000

Jessica has been discharged from the hospital
Usually a diagnosis like hers would request at least two weeks of convalescence under strict medical control, but all the doctors have agreed that after such miraculous healing it would have been only a torture to keep such a young and surprisingly healthy  girl locked inside a hospital.



It has been more than four days since Jessica started strolling around the Walker's gigantic house in the Upper West Side, one of the most prestigious New York districts.
There were so many rooms inside the house, she quickly lost count and she can barely maintain her sense of direction.

Anyway, this is not the only problem she’s having and surely not the most serious one.
Since the day she woke up in the hospital, Jessica figured out that there’s something weird going on within herself. The first warning had been when she eradicated the bar from the bed as if it were made of paper. Furthermore, as she combed her hair, she disentangled a knot in her hair far too energetically and the brush completely split in two.

The day after, she tried to open a jar … and smashed it into thousands of pieces.
And she knows she had never been that strong.
The third day after leaving the hospital she wanted to prove something to herself and lifted her desk, finding it entirely too easily.
The fourth day Jessica raised the bar trying to lift the king-size bed. To her, it has been like lifting a pencil.



Trish popped to her room just in that moment and there had been no way to hide it.

That’s what they have still been talking about during that fifth day.

“I’ve already told you to forget what you saw, Trish. I’ll try to control it the best I can. Maybe it’s just a collateral effect of the IV drip I had,” Jessica shrugs.


“The hell with the drip!" Trish incites her with a wave of her arms. "You have a gift, Jessica. It’s something beautiful. You should show it to the whole world. You can save lives. You can make the difference.”

And that’s when Jessica notices Trish's umpteenth bruise.

“Dorothy did that again, didn’t she? When did it happen? I’m going to show you how I can save people. I’m going to shove a cupboard against her!” the brunette growls, ready to go, but the redhead - her mother still forces Trish to wear that wig although she’s blonde, just to keep her in character - grabs her arm.

“No. You can save anyone but me. I don’t need to be saved. I can deal with her,” Trish insists.

Jessica listens to her, but in the meantime she's noticed a pair of brown shoes with tartan socks behind the curtain.
In a fury, Jessica rushes in that direction, but when she pulls the curtain back she finds nothing behind it.

“Jess, are you okay?” her new sister questions her, puzzled.

“Maybe it was my imagination,” Jessica grumbles. “Anyway, this is the last abuse I’m going to bear from your mother. If she still dares to hurt you again, I swear that I’m going to…”

She stops her sentence, glancing at someone outside the window, someone who is observing her from the street.
Someone who has been obsessing over her for five days.

(End part I)

Chapter Text

Capitolo III (II): Born to do that

Jessica doesn’t think with lucidity; she wants to reach the street and the fastest way down is to open that window and jump… even if they are on the second floor. Another of the capabilities she gained, about following her instincts without a second thought, well, she has been doing that since she was born.

“Oh my God! Jessica!” Trish screams, seeing her jump, but she is even more surprised than Jessica when she sees her land perfectly, without any difficulty, unharmed.

 

Without losing time, Jessica rushes towards that mysterious figure that has now made himself material and seems to expect her arrival.
Okay, maybe he didn’t expect to be lifted by the collar of his coat and smashed against a wall.

“Who the fuck are you? Why are you persecuting me? Are you involved with these strange powers I have, aren't you?” the handsy girl questions him.
 

“Let’s try to calm down for a moment, my darling,” he spurs her, but with a hand she pushes him flat against the wall, as her free hand turns into a fist.
 

“You were there even the day of the accident. You caused that, didn’t you, you bastard?” she growls, ready to hit him, but much to her surprise the stranger stops her blow easily, without even using all his strength, which is greater than hers.

“Just like I was saying, you’d better calm down, darling, and then maybe we can talk about this in front of a nice cup of tea,” he suggests, freeing her hand.
 

“I hate tea,” the teenager grimaces, forgetting for a moment the absurd situation, as she loosens her grip.

“What about chocolate?” He smiles affably at her. “It would be extremely inappropriate if you discorporated me, I’m afraid such a thing could put both of us in trouble, my dear Jessica,” he explains, fixing his collar.

“Discor… what? How the hell you know my name? Who the hell are you?” Jessica loses her patience.

“Okay, we are off to a bad start, my dear. I’m as far from hell as I can be. I’m Aziraphale, I am an angel, a Principality, for six thousand years, I used to be the Guardian of the Eastern Gate too, a little before,” he introduces himself politely, stretching his hand, but Jessica rejects it, crossing her arms against her chest as she glares at him, moody as only a teenager can be.
 

“Enough with the bullshit, tell me the truth!”

“Mind your language, Missy!” Aziraphale summons her with severe authority.

Taking advantage of the fact that there’s no one around, not even Trish, because she can’t see them from the window at that corner of the street, Aziraphale snaps his fingers and makes a bright blue light appear on his open palm, with a celestial tinkling. It’s something so unequivocal that Jessica stares at him in awe.
 

“So, is this bullshit?” Aziraphale challenges her with his look, making the light and the sound disappear. “Oh dear, look what you’ve just made me say!” he rolls his eyes, making her chuckle.
 

“My dear Jessica, I’m not lying, I’m an angel and I chose you as my helper,” the angel repeats.
 

“So what am I supposed to do? Wear a stupid white, long tunic and shoot arrows at people to make them fall in love? Maybe I’ll play a lyre in the meantime?” the young girl strikes back, in disbelief.

“Oh good Lord, there’s so much misinformation about it…” the blond angel shakes his head. “Cupids make people fall in love. I’m a Principality. However, I don’t know what you have against white, long tunics, they are so comfortable! I’ve never played a lyre, but I’ve been told I’m discretely good with the transverse flute, and… okay, I’m stalling,” he realises, judging by the way the girl is staring at him.
 

“What I’m asking of you is to protect people. That’s why I gave you those powers: The super strength, a greater capability  to bear pain and a faster recovery from injuries. Besides, not only can you jump from any height, but you can even reach any height from a jump. Try  to jump when you have the time and you’ll see.” He smiles at her.

“Okay, you gave me all these super cool powers, you’re an angel and everything… but why just me?” she frowns.

“You have within you this strong desire to protect, I can feel it. Just like with Trish, you feel the urge to protect your sister. Well, imagine that the world is full of Trishes… every time you save a person, you save her,” he explains.

“Wait a minute, how the hell do you know about Trish? So I was right, you were there before, you damn stalker!” Jessica snaps.
 

“I may be a stalker, but surely I am not damned,” the blond points out. “Yeah, I admit it, I have been observing you. What I can’t explain is that I was doing that in an invisible state, so you shouldn’t have been supposed to see me. No one is supposed to, and yet you have this capability. It has never happened before… and I was in the Garden of Eden when Adam was created!” he winks at her. “I think this is a sign. It’s almost as if you were predestined to me, as if you were born to do that.”
 

“Yep, I feel like I can do that and I want to do that. Also Trish says I should use my powers and do something good.”
 

“Oh, dear girl, you’re going to do tons of good stuff, but not now, you’re still so young, after all, take your time to get acquainted with your powers, maybe for a couple of years. Once you're a little older, you can start to use them properly.”
 

Jessica is not paying attention to him anymore, as she’s lost in thought.
 

“If you’re an angel, maybe my family… you can…” she hazards, but he anticipates her.

“No, little sweetheart, I’m so, so very sorry, but I can’t do anything about it. When I arrived at the place of the accident, it was too late for all the others, I could save only you,” he explains sorrowfully.
 

- So it was you who asked me to do that, Jessica.-

What he couldn’t expect is that the teenager throws herself into his arms, crying, searching for some comfort and he gives her that, in a paternal way.
 

Judging by his apparent human age, he can easily be mistaken for Jessica’s father.
 

“Thank you, I feel better, now,” the brunette says, with the last sobs, before jumping to other conclusions.

“I could become a detective, find people who are missing, help people, protect the innocent from ill-intentioned people… I could have my own agency!” the girl starts daydreaming.

“It’s not a bad idea, I’m sure you’ll have time for anything. For now, just focus on little good deeds, the stuff that can happen every day. If there’s something bigger, well, now you’re equipped for it and if you need me just call me and I’ll come for you.” He smiles at her, fading away.
 

“Wait, Hazard-Refill!” Jessica calls him out.
 

The angel appears instantly.

“See? I kept my word. Anyway, my darling it’s A-zi-ra-pha-le,” he spells his name out, very patiently.

Jessica stares at him intently.

“Can I call you Zira?”

“Yeah, Zira is fine,” the blond agrees.

“What’s all this rush to disappear? Weren’t we supposed to have some chocolate together?” she smiles.

----------------------------------
                          London, Mayfair, Hill Street, 10 April 2000

Once he’s done with his dinner, which consisted mostly of three or four glasses of red wine, Crowley decides to make that phone call.
 

Where the receiver of the phone call  is, it is still afternoon.

“Dear!” the melodious Aziraphale’s voice welcomes him, as the angel immediately stops reading the book on his lap.

“Any news? How is your candidate going?”
 

“Oh, she’s going very well, tickety-boo,” he giggles. “I was about to call you, you know? Just this morning I managed to approach her and now she knows who I am and why all that stuff happened. She has such a temper! And also some language not very suitable for such young lady, but I’ll know how to tame her.”

- Stop it, Crowley, you just can’t be jealous of a teenage girl!- the demon reproaches himself, as he fills another glass.
 

“What about your candidate? Any news?” Aziraphale grows curious.

“Hell yeah, I’ve just got the printout of all the evil deeds! Looks like I chose a thoroughbred stallion for my Sin race!” Crowley sneers as he stares at the sheets he holds in his lap. He swings with his chair, his feet resting on the marble table.

He thinks he hears a voice calling his name, but he’s not sure because he’s drinking his fifth glass of wine on an empty stomach… he tends to hear more than a single voice.

“Well, I guess my filly will have to remain in the stable for a while, before she can run with your stallion… oh, good Lord, look what you’re making me say!” Aziraphale grumbles, making him laugh. “I mean, since I chose such a young girl, I took some further risks. She’ll need a burn-it, a slow rehearsal, at least at the beginning… just see it as a little advantage I’m allowing to you.” the angel shrugs.

“Judging how fast my protége is progressing, it could be a huge advantage,” the demon chuckles, before being alert.

Once more ,that oh-so-familiar voice calls out to him. 

If his mind wasn’t so blurred by the alcohol, Crowley could easily recall he gave a certain someone those instructions some days before.

“Really?” the blond grows concerned. “Could you…I don’t know… slow him down a little bit?”
 

“Hell no, he’s really got a taste for it!” the redhead chuckles, before hearing clearly that calling in his head.

- For Satan’s sake, I have to go to Kevin! -

“I supposed so… oh well, I don’t mind, it won’t take long before my protége can be a match for him. You know, dear I was wondering. Now that my candidate knows everything, I could take some free days and go back to London? We could have a lunch or dinner together... what do you think?”  Aziraphale asks him, feeling brave enough for that.

Silence from the other end.
 

“Crowley? Hello?”

Aziraphale makes a last attempt and then he hangs up, upset.

- Maybe he fell asleep. I’ll try again another time… maybe.-

***************** (in the meantime)

                    London, Goldsmiths University, Surrey House, 10 April 2000
 

At the end of a productive day of study, as he’s relaxing in his dorm room far from anyone, Kevin tries to test what the demon suggested to him.

“Crowley!” he calls him out, but nothing happens.

“Croowleeey!” he tries again a tad later, raising his voice a little more.
 

As he waits, without success, his mobile rings.
 

At first he thinks it’s Crowley who somehow is trying to contact him, but when he glances at the display he realises it’s something totally different: that call comes from his father.

“Yeah?” he glacially answers.

“Kevin, a tragedy happened… this morning, when we got up, our laboratory was gone forever! Only ashes, dust and rubble...nothing has remained. Our whole lives’ work has gone up in smoke… literally!” Albert reports to him, desperate.
 

- Surprise, surprise! - Killgrave sneers.

“Oh my, that’s terrible!” he says, displaying his best dramatic tone, as he can’t help but wonder if this phone call is about something else.
 

- Maybe he’s about to say that they’ve realised they have wasted our best years, maybe they want to get back in touch with me, maybe this is an outstretched hand…-
 

“I’ve just called to tell you that, under the circumstances, I expect you to figure out better than us that we can’t provide for you anymore,” his father icily points out, destroying even Kevin’s last ghost of hope to heal that wound.

“From now on, suit yourself with the University fees, the rent and stuff like that. Get a job, rob a bank, I don’t care, but we’re through with you!” The man hangs up.
 

At first Kevin feels like breaking down and crying, not for the money issue, of course, but then he drastically changes his mind.

- Oh, do not worry, father. I’ve never needed you, even less now that I can have anything.- he smiles at himself.
 

“Crowley!!” he tries a third time and it works, because the demon instantly appears.

“So it’s that easy, then?” the student asks him.

“That’s what I told you, isn’t it? All you have to do is call me,” the demon confirms. “It took me a bit longer because I was on the phone.”

“Alright, good to know! So, if I called you because I’m in mortal danger, you would take your time!” Kevin grumbles, insulted.

“Oh, c’mon, ya’re not in any bloody danger!” the demon slurs waving his hand in front of his face, annoyed.

“However, I thought it would have been way more complicated to invoke you.”

“Really? Told ya it was that easy. Complicated… how?” the redhead chuckles.
 

“I don’t know… I pictured you giving me a sort of talisman or a little casket to open whenever I needed you… or you teaching me a sort of Satanic ritual with the pentacle and some candles to wave…” the brunet grumbles.

Crowley laughs even louder.

“Just wave a bottle of red wine and I’ll appear at ya in one second, without even being called by ya. A bottle of Chateau Latour and I’m practically yours… you know what I mean!” he points out, chuckling.

Kevin stares at him.

“Crowley… are you drunk?” he raises his eyebrow, tilting his head.
 

“Yeeeah, maybe, but not sooo much that I need to make me sober,” the demon strikes back, swinging a little bit.  “However, even if you didn’t call me, I would pay you a visit, because I received the printouts of your evil deeds yesterday, and congrats, my boy! I guess you were really born to do that. You made someone set a fire… this will make even Hastur dizzy with joy!”

Kevin has no idea about who Crowley mentioned, but he prefers to ignore it.

“Guess what? I’ve found myself an alter-ego: Killgrave!” the student announces proudly.

“I don’t know why, but it suits you.” Crowley smiles at him. “So, Killgrave, tell me about what you did yesterday, and don’t spare any details!”

TBC

Chapter Text

Capitolo IV (I): Rules are rules

                                                                     London, Mayfair, Hill Street, 18 June 2000
 

Crowley has been vacuuming his living room probably for the tenth time that morning.
Sure, it would take just a snap of his fingers to have the cleanest room ever, but that human tool that makes a hellish noise happens to calm him down.
 

And Crowley does need calm.
Aziraphale will be there any minute.

The house is as clean as a whistle.
To be the perfect guest, there’s also a plate with some varieties of crepes.
Not ordered at a pastry shop.
Not created with magic, either.

Crowley made them on his own, equipped with a cookbook, a significant number of eggs and an even larger amount of patience.
It hadn’t been so difficult after all… after the first thirty crepes he burnt and nineteen pans ruined forever, cursing the whole of France more than once, Crowley finally made that elaborate procedure his own.

And judging by their smell, he must have done an amazing job.
Crowley is tempted to light some candles to soften the lighting.

- Then what? Sappy music as background? Bloody heart-shaped pillows? It’s not a date, you stupid demon. It’s just work!- he smacks his head right before the bell rings.
 

He doesn’t need any magic power to know it’s Aziraphale.
 

- So he chose the human way to announce himself. - Crowley figures out and, choosing the same method, he rushes to open the door and welcome him.
 

Aziraphale gets in, showing such a brilliant smile that he could light the whole house up.
 

“We haven't seen each other since Amsterdam, my dear. Usually I hate to fill out this bureaucratic paperwork, but I admit I’ve never been so happy to take stock of the situation,” the angel says, showing his leather folder with all the proper forms inside.
 

Very different from the crumpled bunch of sheets stained with coffee or wine that the demon has piled up on his marble table.

“You live in such a lovely apartment,” the blond congratulates him.

- There’s plenty of space, also for my books, if one fine day we lived togeth… what the heck am I thinking? - he bites his lips, thanking his lucky stars that Crowley is not watching him.

“NGK! It’s not as warm and cozy as your bookshop, but it’s a roof over my head!” the demon shrugs,as he’s not very used to compliments.

“You’re too modest; such an unusual thing for a demon … what’s this incredibly good smell?” the angel’s senses grow alerted.
 

“You’ll find the answer in the kitchen,” Crowley says as he shows him the way. “I’ve prepared something to make a boring job a bit sweeter,” he rambles.

“What does ‘prepared’ mean? You really made this wonderful deliciousness on your own?” Aziraphale asks him stunned, staring at the crepes on the table with adoring eyes.

“Well, yeah, otherwise I would have said ‘bought’ or ‘miracled’...” the other grumbled. “Do you really think they’re so beautiful?”
 

“Of course they are and I also bet they taste exquisite! You have to teach me how to prepare them,” the angel spurs him.

Very explicit images pop into the demons’ mind, about both of them covered only by skimpy aprons… and nothing else; Aziraphale’s face and body smeared with dough and Crowley cleaning him up his way, resorting even to his forked tongue.

In Aziraphale’s mind there’s a very different kind of image, much more suitable for a teen audience: he and Crowley reading the cookbook together, Crowley’s hand skimming over his own as he teaches Aziraphale how to hold the wooden spoon correctly, Crowley holding him tight, Crowley kissing the tip of his nose, smeared with the dark chocolate ganache Crowley taught him how to prepare.

“Well, yeah, we could do that… we’ll see.” Crowley mumbles, before collecting some sheets from his desk.
 

They patiently fill out every form and draw conclusions of those first months of their protegees’ activities, spacing out their task with Crowley’s crepes.
 

Aziraphale was right: they’re exquisite.
 

-------------------------------------------

“A couple of foiled robberies, three avoided riots, two homeless people rescued from lynching, four hooligans stopped, and ... nope, three old women she helped to cross the road, I can’t count that!” Crowley sums up, reading Aziraphale’s form.
 

“I don’t see why you can’t. Okay, it does not concern super strength, but it’s a good deed, nonetheless!” Aziraphale protests, as he eats the last crepe. “We wouldn’t be even anyway, even if you counted that. Look here: seven adultery cases, five domestic disputes, three riots in three different clubs, five armed robberies and … a theft in a church?” he grows suspicious reading the last issue, glaring at Crowley.
 

“Relax, no holy water, your gift is enough,” the demon smiles innocently. “It’s just an escapade, he made a guy steal the money offerings of the last two services,” he points out.

“On one hand that sort of comforts me, but on the other … oh my, this is such a despicable thing!” the angel shakes his head, snorting.

“Oh yes it is! Isn’t it great? My student is booming, and he has a penchant for forcing people to commit violence and lust!” the redhead giggles, pleased.
 

“Couldn’t you just curb his talent a little bit?” Aziraphale dares to ask him.

“What? Heaven no, you bloody wish, angel! Why don’t you spur your protégé a little more?”

“But she’s still so young!” the blond retorts.

“Well, you gave her all she needs to defend herself. Stop being such an angel hen and let her face the world as it truly is!” Crowley advises him.

“I’m afraid you’re right, I should quit protecting her from any danger, or at least from the minor ones. When we meet next time, things will be very different!” Aziraphale assures him.
 

“You think so? I guess my protégé can only improve, explore new paths, and test his own limits. As a consequence of that, I’ll climb the charts. I can already smell a promotion!” Crowley sneers. “First, I made Eve eat the forbidden apple, then I almost tempted Jesus during those forty days in the desert. What other prestigious assignments could Hell give me? Maybe they’ll choose me to bring the Antichrist to our world!” he brags.
 

Demons like talking big.

Aziraphale rolls his eyes. “As if you haven’t already made an impression among your people!”  “Well, I guess our meeting is over,” he adds, getting up and Crowley’s smug sneer instantly disappears.

“What? Already?” he pouts.

“I guess so, unless you forgot an evil deed to mention?”

“Nope, I’ve told you everything. Oh well, unless holding a far too dutiful angel here with me can count as an evil deed,” he winks at him, trapping the angel between the wall and his body.
 

They stare at each other in silence and their breathing now is more like panting.

- To him it’s just a game, demons always act like this… although he’s so different from any other demon!- Aziraphale loses himself in his thoughts, before wriggling to slip away from him like an eel.

“Oh well, I don’t think there’s a chance for such a deed, because this dutiful angel won’t let the tempting demon lure him away for long,” he strikes back, regaining his freedom. “I left my protégé on holiday in Malibu with her stepmother and her stepsister,” he explains.
 

“Oh sorry, I didn’t realize your protégé was Cinderella!” Crowley makes a witty remark.

“You’re not funny.”

“Didn’t you just tell me you wouldn’t act so obsessively protective with her anymore?”

“You don’t understand. That horrible Dorothy… she is pure Evil. Are we sure she doesn’t work for your people?” Aziraphale wonders, before snapping his fingers to fade away, leaving Crowley rather puzzled.
 

********************** (In the meantime)

                                                             Malibu, Paradise Cove Beach Cafe, Pacific High Coast, 18 June 2000

Jessica and Patricia are chasing each other on the ocean shore, chuckling, as cheerful and serene as every girl of their age should be.
 

After appearing in a place hidden from everyone, Aziraphale sees them from the bridge and reaches them.
 

“Where’s your mother?” he asks them.

“Trish is my sister, but that awful woman is not my mother!” Jessica snarls.

“She has a point, Zira,” the blond girl agrees. “But I’ve been bound to her since I was born and I can’t do anything about it.”
 

Since Trish already knew about Jessica’s powers, Jessica had decided to tell her a few days later  how she got them, and she convinced Aziraphale to appear to Trish and explain everything to her for himself.
 

“Oh well, there was something that I could do about it.” the brunette sneers with fake innocence.

“Jessica, I repeat, where is Dorothy?”

“In her beach cabin,” his protégé replies.

“And?” he urges her to go on.

“Locked. Gagged,” she reveals.

It only takes a deep look from the angel for her to tell him the whole truth.

“I might have found an iron bar and wrapped it around her waist,” she shrugs as if it was a normal thing to do.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Jess!”

“I head her talking on her stupid phone, with her stupid friends. She was trying to get an audition for Trish, and in exchange Trish should behave ‘very kindly’ with the director… if you know what I mean.”

“I’m afraid I do.”

- Protection of an underage girl. I didn’t put it in the deeds list. How could I forget it? Judging by how many times Jessica did it, Crowley and I could have been even!- the angel ponders, taking a mental note of calling Crowley later to edit their report.

He asks Jessica where the cabin is and heads over. Jessica gave him the key, so there’s no need for a miracle to open it.

Aziraphale finds the woman in the conditions Jessica described.
She’s mumbling something but no one can hear her. Aziraphale doesn’t know if removing the gag is a good idea but eventually decides to do so.

“You, lousy angel and that devil you created…” Dorothy roars, enraged.

Yes, she also knows the whole truth. At the umpteenth abuse over Trish, Jessica established it was a good idea to display her powers. Aziraphale immediately intervened, confessing everything, but making the woman promise she wouldn’t tell anyone.

“Please, Mrs. Walker, don’t force me to gag you again,” Aziraphale says. “I know what you’ve tried to do,” he adds, as he unfolds the bar as if it was made of paper.

“It was only work,” she justifies.

“Let me give you some advice. Work less.” he pauses, lingering on that word with all the irony he can muster. “And enjoy your holiday more. I’ll keep an eye to the girls. Why don’t you take a long, extremely long walk?” he spurs her.

“Are you threatening me?” the woman glares at him.
 

“Me? Nope, of course, I never could. It’s not in my celestial nature. But if I were you, I would accept the advice of relaxing. I’m guessing you don’t want to wake up tomorrow with cellulite, double chin or varicose veins, am I right?” Aziraphale calmly hints at his potential threat.

“And you dare call yourself an angel!” she snaps, collecting her stuff, before following that ‘friendly’ advice.
 

“As a matter of fact, I know demons who are ten thousands times more human than you!” he strikes back before she leaves, slamming the door.
 

-----------------------------------------------

                                                                    London, Goldsmiths University, Surrey House, 19 June 2000

“So, I made you score some points, didn’t? I'm glad.” Kevin smiles at Crowley the morning after, as they are having breakfast together in his student housing.
 

Oh well, just one of them is actually eating, the other one is spinning the spoon in the cup of his coffee that he might drink.

“Hell yeah you did, you made the brightness of Heaven turn pale!” Crowley chuckles, swinging on his chair.

“I’m happy I didn’t let you down,” Kevin beams as he smears the butter on his toast. “Who is my rival?” he casually asks him, taking the first bite.
 

“I beg your pardon?”  the other raises his eyebrow.

“Just like you chose me to make people commit evil deeds, I suppose that Heaven chose someone else to make them commit good ones,” the student cleverly figures out.

“Uh! Well, rules are rules, I shouldn’t tell you anything about that...” Crowley grumbles.

“But…” he anticipates him.

“Well, let’s say that she doesn’t make people do good deeds, but protects them from the evil ones,” he explains.
 

“So my rival is a she,” Kevin murmurs, intrigued, as he pours some orange juice.

“For Satan’s sake, it just slipped out. However, don’t get any ideas, she’s underage…
dammit! I shouldn’t have told you this either!” Crowley curses.

“She won’t be underage forever…” Kevin chuckles, pressing his tongue against his teeth in a mischievous way.

“Kevin…” Crowley reproaches him.

“Just kidding…” the boy giggles.

(End I)

Chapter Text

Capitolo IV (II): Rules are rules

“I do hope that you’re just kidding, Kevin. Okay, now tell me… what are your plans for the future?”

“Huh?”

“With the power I gave you… don’t you want to travel around the world?” the demon asks him.

His elbows are resting on the table, his chin rests in his hands, so he can watch his pupil better.

“What? My list of sins around this town is not enough anymore?” the student makes a witty remark.

“To me it’s more than okay, I was talking about you. With the power I gave you, you can practically have the world at your feet. Don’t you want something for yourself? Anything, really?”

“Sure I do. My graduation.” Kevin calmly replies. “Not because I have my powers, but because I’ve studied hard to achieve it. In November, not only will I graduate top of my class, but I’ll also have a year of pre-professional practice. And that’s because I want to see the difference between getting inside people’s minds when I use my powers and doing it because I have the proper training.” he sneers.

“So the world can wait, right?” Crowley shrugs.

“The world can wait.” the human confirms.

---------------------------------------
 

                           Manhattan, Chase Bank, Plaza Health Club, 22 September 2000 

As the police patrol crowds around the bank, against their cars, summoning the robber to let the hostages go and come out with his hands up, a brunette, by then aged fourteen years old, goes inside the building. She’s totally unarmed, and after three minutes she comes out with the knocked out robber and the hostages, who are finally free to go on with their lives.

“This is for you,” she says, throwing the criminal to the policemen who stare at her, dumbfounded.

Jessica reaches Aziraphale, who is waiting for her at the corner of the street and has enjoyed the whole scene. 

“This is the third robbery you’ve stopped in two months. You definitely know your way.” the angel congratulates her as they head back home.

“It’s just fun!” the girl grins.
 

“Crowley was right, I should have quit being so protective of you by now.”

“Who is Crowley?” Jessica asks him.

Aziraphale wishes he could have bitten his own tongue.

“Huh, I said nothing important, dear.”

“You wouldn't have mentioned him if he wasn’t someone important. Come to think of it, you know everything about me, but I know nothing about you. Don’t you think it’s time to tell me more? Starting from this Crowley…” she insists, with the attitude of one who can become a brilliant detective.

“I find it fair. Okay, what can I say? You already know that angels exist, well, so do demons. Crowley is one of them, although he is so, so different from them all, and he’s been on Earth for as long as I have. So, as I chose you as my assistant, he…”
 

“So are you telling me that there’s a fucking asshole among the humans who makes the evil deeds in the world increase? And maybe he even makes me do twice as much work?” she snaps.

“What did we say about that language, not suitable for such a nice girl as you?” Aziraphale rolls his eyes.

“Where the fuck do you see the fucking nice girl?” Jessica retorts and Aziraphale figures out that that is an uphill battle.

“However, know that it was Crowley’s idea!”

“So it’s your asshole friend’s fault if I’m in this fucking mess!”

“He’s not an... ‘asshole,’” Aziraphale protests, bringing a hand to his mouth a second later, shocked by his dirty language.

“But he’s your friend.” Jessica figures out, watching the angel blush. “No, wait, he’s something more than a friend, am I right?”

“My dear, can we please go back talking about how incredible you were today at the bank?” Aziraphale pleads, covered in a cold sweat.

“Nope, but we can talk about my rival, I’d prefer to know something about him.”

“What makes you think that your rival is a ‘he’?”

“I don’t know, it’s my intuition!” the brunette shrugs.

“You know what, Jessica? I’m sure you’ll become a brilliant detective.” Aziraphale smiles at her. “But I can’t tell you anything about your rival, and I think it’s better if you never ever meet each other.”

“Why not?” the teenager narrows her eyes.

“I don’t know, probably you would immediately figure out that you are each other’s nemesis, and would try to kill each other.”

“Does he have super strength too?” she grows curious.

“Nope, he has something very different, but, as I told you before, I can say nothing about him. Rules are rules.” the angel strikes back, inflexible.
 

-------------------------------------------

  London, Colbun Psychology, Bentinck House, Bolsover Street, 03 December 2002

“Here we go, Mr. Hartey, this is your schedule, planned with Dr. Manner to help you with your anger management,” the psychologist trainee Kevin Thompson says to the patient he’s handling with his mentor.

Everything went according to his plans. He graduated at the top of his class and he’s been working as an apprentice in that well-known studio for two years.

He smiles affably at the patient as he walks him to the door.

And it’s when the professional figure of Kevin is eagerly replaced by Killgrave.
 

“We’ll start next week. As we try to find the cure for your problem, follow my advice: give vent to your rage, Mr. Hartey,” he dismisses him, sending that mental order to him.

“I wasn’t joking when I said you were born to do that!” Crowley claps his hands, appearing in front of him out of the blue.

“How many times did I tell you not to spy on me when you’re invisible?” Kevin snorts.

“I can’t help it, it’s too much fun. Besides, this thing about using your own patients is brilliant!” the demon praises him.

“They’re not my patients, I don’t have my study yet, I just work here as an apprentice.” the twenty-six year old man points out. “If he doesn’t do any significant damage that can compromise his parole, maybe Dr. Manner will see Mr. Hartey again at their next sitting.” he chuckles.

“Why just Dr. Manner? Won’t you be with him?” the redhead frowns.

“Do you remember that old speech of some years ago? I guess it’s time to travel around the world.” the brunet sneers.

--------------------------------------------

                            New York, Central Park, Upper East Side, 24 February 2004
 

Walking around in one of the most disreputable places late at night, among drug dealers caught off guard, stopped robbers, prevented aggressions and ill-intentioned people she managed to disarm just with a kick, the seventeen-years old Jessica is more than than trained to protect people from every kind of danger or evil deed.

And Central Park has become her favourite playground.
 

Although she still keeps in touch with Trish, Jessica now lives on her own in a ramshackle apartment in Hell’s Kitchen and she is about to open her private detective agency in a few months.

“My dear, I guess I'll never thank you enough for all your amazing progress. Just yesterday, Crowley and I checked on your deeds and you made a gap over your rival of twenty good deeds, nonetheless!” Aziraphale gloats.

“So let me know if I’ve got it straight. This is just a challenge for you two, isn’t it?” Jessica darkens, her hands on her hips.

“Nooo, of course it’s not! It’s safeguarding people we are talking about; I could never underestimate something so important!” he protests, way too indignated and the young woman, fully developed and with an even fiercer attitude, notices that.

“Zira, Zira, you can’t fool me. C’mon, tell me, what did you bet this time?”

“I’ve driven his Bentley!” the angel reveals, grinning, his eyes shining with joy at the memory.

That was a very traumatic experience for Crowley.

“I knew it!” Jessica rolls her eyes, but actually she is amused. “Well, I’m glad to know I did better than that asshole!” she grins, satisfied.

“I’ll try not to mind your last epithet,” the angel snorts. “What is certain is that you don’t need my constant supervision anymore. It doesn’t mean that you can’t call me if you need me.”
 

------------------------------------

          New York, Minton’s Playhouse, Harlem, 206 W 118th Street, 5 April 2006
 

She didn’t like that man, from the very first moment she saw him on the street.

He’s been acting too nervously, too guilty, just like someone who is about to do something horrible.

That’s why Jessica changed her mind about the case she was working at and decided to stalk that guy instead.
 

It’s almost ironic how the guy seems to be stalking someone else.

He’s been stationed near the Minton’s Playhouse for at least a quarter of an hour, an elegant bar in Harlem.
 

Right after the happy hour time, the object of his interest seems to arrive.
 

Jessica sees a handsome young man approaching, maybe he’s not even thirty years old, he’s tall, slender, with elegant manners. He wears a dark blue suit and a grey-baby blue shirt.
He passes his hand more than once though his brown hair that seems to have its own gravity and then he enters the locale.
 

The suspicious character enters as well, but he does from the backdoor.
Without anyone seeing him, he grabs an apron and wears it.

Truth is that someone did notice him. Jessica enters his same way and doesn’t lose sight of him for a second.
 

She is trying to figure out why he walked behind the counter until a waiter, without even bothering to notice if that man belongs to their staff or not, gives him the handsome man ’s drink order.

The suspicious character starts preparing the requested cocktail with trembling hands and then he takes a look around, assuring himself no one is watching him.
He takes a vial from his pocket and pours some of the content inside it.
 

To Jessica everything is finally clear.


Kevin wasn’t joking when he said he wanted to see the world. During those three years he’s been practically everywhere: Paris, Strasbourg, Wien, Berlin, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Lisbon, Ireland and many other places.

Usually he doesn’t stop in a town for more than two months, but he loved Scotland so much he stayed there for a whole year.

He decided to visit the United States as well and he decided to start from New York. He’s been there for a week.

He has a fertile ground to act as Killgrave, especially to instigate women to betrayal.
Something particularly edifying to him.
Sitting on a comfortable red armchair, Killgrave is enjoying the jazz band playing on the small stage, as he ponders the next evil deed he could make someone do.
He recalls the last tally of the deeds Crowley has told him about, a couple of weeks before.

The most incredible thing is that the two rivals reached the same amount of deeds, nearly perfectly even.

- That little girl is not the disaster she used to be at the beginning anymore, when I could beat her even in my sleep. Well, it’s getting more challenging this way. - he muses, more amused rather than annoyed.

The waiter places his Manhattan on Kevin’s table, but before he can bring the glass to his mouth, someone snatches it out of his hand rather violently, breaking it in hundreds of pieces.

“If i were you, I wouldn't drink it. Someone put something funny inside it.” a rough female voice warns him.

Raising his gaze, Kevin sees a young girl, probably twenty years old, with big eyes that embrace bright hazel and dark green. She’s very tall, with an athletic figure. Her long legs are wrapped inside her skinny black jeans. Her white jacket creates a contrast with her black, satin hair, gathered in a soft chignon that lets some wild locks free, framing her perfect visage. Her mouth has full and sensual lips and her dark red lipstick sets them off.
 

Kevin is sure he hasn’t ever seen a more beautiful girl than her.
 

TBC

Chapter Text

Chapter V: Princess in danger

          New York, Minton's Playhouse, Harlem, 206 W 118th Street, 5 April 2006


“Excuse me just for a moment,” the beautiful brunette says, while Kevin is still staring at her dazed.

He follows her with his eyes, while with a self-confident pace she moves towards the counter, towards one of the bartenders.

He is a man of about fifty years, quite robust, but she lifts him as if he weighs twenty grams, flinging him to the other side of the room.

If possible, Kevin is even more fascinated by it.

- That girl has powers ... just like me! -

He is too captivated by her to stop, think and make the most basic of associations.

"Hey, you, little girl, what are you doing to my employee?" the owner of the restaurant intervenes, even if he is a little afraid to approach her… as a matter of fact he just screams cautiously from the counter.

“What? An employee? Does that mean… you work here then? Yet you entered so stealthily.” She stares bewildered at the man, who is barely trying to get up.

"Of course I work here ... who the hell are you?" the middle-aged man barks, glaring at her, as he manages with difficulty to get back on his feet.

The girl bursts out laughing, but it’s laughter without any joy inside.

"That's just the worst word  you could use, but I can say I'm working for the competition," she whispers in his ear, triggering the handsome Kevin’s jealousy, who would like her to be so close to him.

"Tell me," she turns back to the owner of the place. "Do you have a tendency to hire people who try to poison customers?" She puts him on the spot.
 

"But what…." the owner frowns.
 

"The glass I dropped, make someone analyze it and you will see that I am telling the truth," the girl instructs him.

"Bob, is she right?" his superior questions him gruffly.
 

"I ..." the man mumbles, before grabbing a knife from one of the tables with his remaining energy.

"Dammit, this is all your fault! You're doubly the bane of my life!" he growls, rushing with great effort, with the knife stretched forward, against Kevin, who would also be more than ready to immobilize him with the sheer force of his words if someone hadn't already thought about it with her own physical strength.

In fact, the girl is lifting him in mid-air holding him by the neck with one hand.
 

"So you really don't want to learn the lesson, huh?" she snorts. "Sleep on it!" she adds, before slamming him against the wall just enough to knock him out.

Kevin smiles at her, ecstatic, a smile that she finds herself returning too, deciding that she deserves a closer encounter with the guy she has just saved.

- Besides, I wouldn't mind getting to know this charming dude a little better.-

************************* 

                                                  London, Soho, Greek Street, 5 April 2006
 

"Please, handle them with care. they are very ancient volumes, not as old as us, but almost!" Aziraphale giggles as he descends the ladder just enough to pass to Crowley the pile of books he has piled up from the top shelf effortlessly.

Too bad he tends to forget too often that Crowley is not gifted with his same strength, indeed, he is much more likely to wear out than many humans.
This is why, once those volumes are collected in his arms, the demon falls, tumbling to the ground, but well aware of how much the angel cares for his books, he protects them by falling on his back.
 

"Oh dear!" the blond is alarmed, immediately descending the ladder to go to his rescue. "Forgive me, maybe I had to pass them to you one at a time?" he apologises, taking the books from Crowley’s arms with ease and placing them on a table.

"One? Why not half a book at a time? How hell much do they weigh? " the redhead grumbles, getting up.

"Half? I could never do that to my loved ones! " Aziraphale proclaims.

"But it’s okay to break me though as I were a breadstick?" barks the demon.
 

"The usual melodramatics. You look healthier than me, breadstick!" Aziraphale teases him.
 

Crowley will never tell him, but that little bit of his character, a bit of a bastard, is one of the things he loves most about him.
 

“And anyway you have been so…. that word you don't like, to help me with the inventory. When I told you on the phone that I was very busy, I didn't think you would come here to give me a hand. "

- Anything to spend some time together, angel.- Crowley mulls, disguising it all with a shrug.

“We can work faster together, can’t we? Besides, if I wasn't here, lazy as you are, you would surely have resorted to some miracle to do it, " he teases Aziraphale.

"Touchè!" the blond giggles. "And the demerit note from Gabriel wouldn't take long to arrive," he mutters.
 

"Someone should make demerit notes to your bigot boss for all the ones he makes!" Crowley snorts.

“I'd say we've earned a more than deserved break after this shelf, dear. Would you keep me company for tea with sweets? " Aziraphale offers, affable.

- And then stop for dinner, sleep here, stop tomorrow for lunch, then dinner ... and so on until the end of the world? Can't it be like this? - the beautiful angel mulls.

Crowley is about to accept that invitation willingly - well, the open part, at least, the other is a secret that Aziraphale will probably take to his grave ... if  angels have one! - when something makes him change his mind.

"Damn! My protégé ... I feel very bad vibrations ... "

"Now it's you who is acting like a hen demon! " Aziraphale mocks him. "Look at me. I go to my protégé just and only if strictly necessary, and..."
 

"Trust me, it is strictly necessary this time and if I say that these vibrations are bad, well, be sure that it means they are extremely bad!" Crowley grumbles. "I have to go!" he disappears with a snap of his fingers, leaving Aziraphale staring into an empty space as he bites into a butter cookie disconsolately.
 

********************************

      New York, Minton's Playhouse, Harlem, 206 W 118th Street, 5 April 2006


"Please, Sir, allow me to offer my sincere apologies. Bob has always given impeccable service for at least twenty years. I don't know what's wrong with him, but I've already called the police, " the owner of the bar informs the potential victim.
 

"You did very well. A double assassination attempt is certainly not something that can be ignored! " Jessica says, taking her place at the young man's table, in front of him.

She could almost swear he likes that, at least by the way he's looking at her.

She could sink into those two deep wells of warm dark chocolate.

- What a charming look he has! Okay, no, he's all charming! - she can't help but notice, keeping eye contact with him, in a kind of silent challenge.
 

"May I know the name of my savior?" he smiles at her gallantly.
 

- Oh my God, this British accent is so sexy… if he talks to me and still smiles at me like that, I’ll end up jumping on him in the back of the club! - the almost twenty year old girl gets lost in her fantasies.
 

"You can even offer her a drink to thank her!" she cheekily replies, amusing him, before holding out her hand: “I'm Jessica. Jessica Jones. "

"Kil ... Kevin Thompson, very pleased." He seems to have some uncertainty, before making the presentation more official, while shaking her hand.

- So beautiful and also so proactive. Ooh, I already like you so much, Jessica. Jessica Jones. - Kevin repeats that name in his mind, as if it were music.
 

They both feel a strange yet pleasant jolt, a kind of electricity between them, and they look at each other intrigued.
 

"Of course, this round of drinks is offered by the house, Sir and Miss," kindly offers the owner, who has remained there. "Hoping to please you, Sir, and have you back with us again."

"If you don't attempt to end my life, yes, I'll gladly come back!" Kevin replies, a little sour, but not too much, given the pleasant company in which he finds himself.
 

"Bring us both what he ordered ... maybe without poison this time!"  Jessica reinforces the message.

"I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to show some identification, Miss, since Sir had ordered a Manhattan." the owner turns to her.

"So what?  I'm old enough to drink Manhattan, even three if I want! " she shrugs.
 

Kevin watches her more and more amused.

"No problem, then," the owner smiles at her. "Show me," he insists, making her snort.

“I'm almost twenty-one…. well, next month, next year, I'll reach the damned suitable age, " she confesses. "A stupid year and forty-five damn days can't really be a fucking problem!" she blurts out, raising her eyes and already resigning herself to order a soft drink.

“It's no problem, indeed. She can drink Manhattan. Now bring us our drinks!" Killgrave intervenes.
 

"Of course, Sir," the man smiles, walking away.

"I don't believe it. You convinced him!"  Jessica stares at Kevin in awe.

"I can assure you it's one of the things I do best," he chuckles. "Meanwhile I, from my well over twenty-nine years, have no problem drinking."

"I wouldn't have either, except when I find big-headed and fussy bartenders like this!" she replies. “Although Zi … zippy. My zippy uncle doesn't want me to drink too much, " she corrects herself instantly. "Why don’t you tell me what you did  to that man to make him hate you so much?" she slyly changes the topic.

"Oh well, I may have convinced his wife to sleep with someone else." Kevin shrugs nonchalantly.

"With you?" she frowns and she can already feel jealousy eating her from inside.

"Noo, I just pushed her, then it's none of my business who she went with."

"It should be none of your business even pushing her," she investigates.
 

“Instead it is. I'm her psychologist. She is my patient," he reveals to her.
 

Over the course of those three and a half years he managed to open his studio in London, while also providing counselling at home, wherever he is. Needless to say how many victims this provides for his and Crowley's plans.

"I'm a detective, and I'll tell you what, for the past few weeks there has been a spike of marriages and relationships falling apart ... I'll have to do some more research to find out if they are all connected to you, Dr. Thompson!" she looks at him suspiciously.
 

"Do your best then, Detective Jones!" he challenges her, knowing that he has covered all the traces very well with his other patients, yet feeling that she can be a tough nut to crack.
 

- Beautiful, but a little too nosy! - Kevin ponders.

- Beautiful, but a little too arrogant!- Jessica ponders.

They both keep smiling at each other as if nothing had happened, even more so when their drinks arrive.
 

"What about your employee?" the man asks Kevin.

“Oh, don't worry, we took him to the back room, letting him regain consciousness. The police will be here shortly, " the other informs him.

“I want to give him a nice little talking-to before the police arrive. Take me to him. And leave us alone. " Killgrave commands, and his interlocutor has no choice but to obey him.

"It won't take long, my darling." He winks at Jessica, who watches him go a bit dazed, but then she has a cocktail to distract herself with.

Once they reach the back of the shop, the owner leaves them alone and undisturbed.
 

The waiter,huddled in a corner, has recently come to consciousness and is alarmed when he finds Kevin there.

It is a narrow space with exposed bricks, narrow corridors of medium length, with the walls impregnated with a strong smell of wine.
 

“What are you doing here? Bastard, haven't you ruined my life enough already? " he growls.
 

“You tried to poison me. And then to stab me. What do you think I should do to you? I find it fair to pay you back with the same coin. The difference is that mine will not be just an attempt. " Killgrave grins ominously, with a light in his dark eyes that can’t bring anything good.
 

"I don't ..." the man mumbles, panic stricken.
 

"I bet you still have some of the poison you used in your pocket, tell me if I'm right."

"Yes, Sir," the other finds himself admitting without hesitation, much to his surprise.
 

The devilish grin of the handsome Englishman’s feature widens further.
 

“But I also see knives in this room. It looks like they left us alone in such a nice playground. " Killgrave chuckles, pacing in the back room and picking up one of the knives from the wooden block, one sharp enough.

"Tell me what you wanted to do with that knife and why," he questions the man, approaching him with large steps.

"I wanted to point it at your throat and then cut your throat, like the pig you are, for putting certain ideas in my wife's head!" his victim confesses without filters, with all the hatred that hatches inside.

In response, Killgrave bursts out laughing.
 

"No doubt about it, you really took it badly," he comments amused, but then he becomes serious again. "Tell me if you've ever cheated on your wife." he asks coldly.
 

"Yes, three times," the man confesses.

"Then the pig would be me!" Kevin chuckles. "I could have you slicing your own throat and smile at me while you do it ... or I could make you cut your veins and bleed until the police arrive ... a gesture as desperate as understandable, of someone who doesn't want to end up in jail." Killgrave evaluates all the possibilities, terrifying his victim, even more so as he watches him run a finger across the blade showing off a maniacal look. “I've never asked anyone to kill themselves, you know? But there's always a first time… and let's not forget that there's still what's left of the poison, perhaps the quickest solution… uhmm, poison or knife? Maybe I should let fate decide," he says, taking a penny out of his pocket. "Head, you stab yourself, cross, you poison yourself!" he winks slyly, tossing the coin in the air.
 

(End I)

Chapter Text

Chapter V II: Princess in danger 

Kevin will never know the outcome, for the simple reason that the coin has remained suspended in the air.
Someone has stopped time.
 

"Crowley!" he turns, finding himself face to face with the demon.

“I wasn’t wrong about the vibes I felt. Kevin, what are you doing? Yes, I know what happened, I watched the whole thing," Crowley informs him. “Violence, wounds, some pain. I'm a huge fan of it, you know. But ... death? Think about it, my dear, if you do, there will be a giant poster with the neon sign 'Welcome to Hell, Kevin.'! " he warns him. “Tell me, is it really worth it? After all, this man has already ruined his life a lot with his own choices. And you've made me earn tons of points already like this."

"Okay, okay, I'll find something else." Kevin changes his mind. "You can make time flow again... and if you want you can also stand by and watch, if you make yourself invisible to him."
 

"Of course I'll stay and watch!" Crowley chuckles, bringing the flow of time back to normal.

The coin falls, along with the knife that Killgrave throws to the ground, turning back to his victim.
 

"When you are in jail you will pester your cellmate until you get beaten properly." Killgrave finds a viable alternative as he walks to the exit.

"What if he has no cell mates?" Crowley teases him.

"There is always a cellmate!" Kevin insists. "And even if there wasn’t one, you're right, his life is already compromised enough like this!" he reflects. "Happy now?"

"More than happy, believe me, it's much better this way." Crowley winks. "Now, go back to your table. Don't make that lovely girl wait too long."

"But ... can you tell me how long have you been spying on me?" Kevin snorts.

"All the time I needed!" Crowley sticks his tongue out at him, wittingly.

"Well, now though, my dear peeping demon, the show is over!" Kevin sends him a clear message before opening the door.

"I got the message!" Crowley snaps his fingers, vanishing.
 

As the loud sirens announce the arrival of the police, Kevin takes his seat in front of Jessica.

"It took you a while ... are you satisfied?" she asks. Her drink is almost finished.

"Not the way I would have preferred, but ... I'll be content with that," he replies, sipping his drink.
 

“You're so mysterious, Kevin Thompson… don't make me regret saving that pretty face of yours,” Jessica lets it slip. Perhaps she still has to learn to hold alcohol better.

"What?" Kevin asks, flattered. He reaches towards her.

"What?" she asks, realizing too late that she didn’t just think it, she clearly said it out loud.

Kevin flashes a smug grin.

"You said you like me!"

"You’re insane!" Jessica shamelessly denies it.

"Liar. I heard you great a while ago. And anyway, I don't see where the problem lies, since you are a vision." He watches her enchanted, his arms crossed over the table and his chin resting on them.
 

Jessica blushes flattered, nervously touching a loose strand of hair.

"No one has ever called me 'vision' before," she mutters, needing more alcohol, so much so that once hers is finished, she steals a few sips from Kevin's too.

"Well, you still had to meet me!" he smiles at her persuasively, before becoming more serious."Jessica, I want to be honest with you."
 

- At the worst I can always make her forget this last part. - he considers.

"Tell me everything," she urges him.

“You have powers, I've seen it before. It cannot be said that you do much to hide them."

“Yes, I have powers and if necessary, I use them. And if people want to gossip about it, go ahead. You know what? For now, no one has come to my door to dissect me! " she plays down.

"I hope they never do,." Kevin smiles. "Anyway I have them too."

"What?" she frowns

"Special powers," he specifies.

"And what would they be? To get you into trouble?" She makes him smile.

“Before, when I made you bring a drink even though you are not yet old enough to drink alcohol ... or when I convinced the owner to leave me alone with that waste of society that has now been entrusted to justice ... well, it was no coincidence."

"Okay, you can be very convincing, I grant you that, but that's not a power!" she comments skeptically.

“It's not that I'm convincing. I control minds. I can make people do whatever I want," he specifies, but Jessica still looks doubtful.
 

"What if I told you that I can make you use the spoon, the table and the glass as if they were your personal drums?" he suggests.
.
"I would never do anything so stupid!"

"Tap the table and the glasses with a spoon for thirty seconds," he spurs her on.

And Jessica obeys, making a fool of herself, with the people sitting at the other tables looking at her puzzled.

"Oh, fuck!" she finally realizes, staring at the spoon in her hand, shocked.

"That's what I tried to tell you ..."

Jessica draws conclusions and jumps up from her chair, glaring at him.
 

"Wait a minute. You use your powers to make people do more or less bad things… ”

Kevin also jumps to his feet, caught by the same realization.

"And you with yours prevent bad things from happening ..." he examines her, his face so dark.

"You're the asshole who works for Hell!" she points furiously at him, taking a step closer.

"You're the bitch who works for Heaven!" he accuses her, angrily doing the same.
 

They can't even tell themselves who actually started it, but the next moment they're both engaged in a passionate kiss.

They've skipped any kind of hesitant or awkward foreplay. They seem to want to devour each other, and it seems like they've never done anything else before.

The buzz of the club, the police sirens, the traffic outside… nothing seems to exist anymore. There are only Kevin, Jessica and their mutual desire to deepen that contact.
Jessica's hands are already under Kevin's shirt, and Kevin doesn't even ask for permission before he squeezes her buttocks, pulling her closer.

Before things get out of control, Kevin finds the self-control necessary to get away from her.

"It's funny when I think of all the times Crowley told me that you and I were never supposed to meet."
 

“The same thing Zira said to me. And do you know what I tell you? Fuck the fucking rules!” she swears.

Kevin bursts out laughing, pulling her back towards him.

"And you’re supposed to be the angelic one!" he teases her, caressing her face with infinite sweetness.

"Shut up and kiss me!" she cancels the distance once more.

When they separate, this time they decide by mutual agreement that the best thing is to get out of that place, where, definitely, they are giving a little too much of a show.

Jessica reflects on what she has just discovered.
 

- Damn it, I shouldn't feel so attracted to him ... he's still the enemy, after all. And yet, it is also true that now I feel less alone in this supernatural thing. Second, basically he doesn't do extremely cruel things… okay, some bad deeds, but he doesn't kill anyone… at least I hope. Third, he's giving my detective agency more work, so in a certain way, I should be even grateful to him for that.-
 

Jessica is so lost in her thoughts that she barely notices Kevin has taken her by the hand as they walk and it doesn't bother her at all.
It all seems so natural between them.

"Would you like to experience what it's like to have my power?" he takes her mind off her thoughts.

"What do you mean?" she looks at him, confused.

"I could command people to do whatever you tell them, so you would understand how it feels like!" he suggests.

“Thanks, but… I think I'll keep my curiosity to myself. I can't make you feel what it's like to have super strength, but I could pick you up and take a big leap on top of something… or throw myself off a building with you,” she offers.

He looks at her even more fascinated.
 

"What? Do you have another power? Can you also jump?"

"Yep. And you don't know how high." She grins proudly.

“Thanks for the offer but, no, I don't want to be picked up by you. It would make me feel too much like a Princess in danger to save," he twitches his mouth.

“You are a bit of a Princess in danger! I saved you. Twice! " she mocks him.

"The second time I could very well have saved myself!" he scolds.

"My dea Princess, who tells you that I'm not the Knight with shining armour you've been waiting for?" she teases him, ruffling his hair, probably something he would never let anyone do.
 

Anyone but her.

"Come here, my brave Knight!" he plays along, kissing her again.

"Okay, maybe I don’t want you to jump as you hold me but I want to see you in action. I want to see how you do it," he murmurs between kisses.

“Shall we do it tomorrow night? I’ll find a suitable and little frequented place and I’ll show it to you," she proposes, against his lips.

"Is this a date?" he smiles, touching her hair.

"Only if you want it to be." She clings closer to him.

"Of course I do, my darling," the boy assures her.

"I also have another kind of power ..." she tells him at the end of the kiss, as they continue their walk.

"Another? I'm starting to think that the angels are extremely generous and the demons are terrible wretches. Do you know that the effects of my power lasts only twelve hours?" he complains.

“Fuck! And you dare to call it nothing? You can get a lot of things done in twelve hours, but I won't be the one to suggest them to you.”

"What is certain is that I never want to make you do anything, Jess. I will not control you, neither now nor ever," he promises her, solemnly.

"Thanks. And I'll never use my super strength against you," she promises in return.

"Would you like to tell me what your third power is?" he returns to the subject, but without ordering her to do so.

“Well, it's not quite a proper full power like the other two, but… let's just say I have a greater resistance to pain. In short, it always hurts like hell when someone shoots me, but I tend to heal a little faster than normal," she explains.

"When someone shoots you?" he almost screams as he feels incredibly protective over who should only be his Nemesis.

"You understood well. Guess what? I caught my first bullet when I was fifteen! " she sort of brags.

“Bloody hell, that's terrible! You shouldn't have faced certain situations at such an early age!" He is alarmed.

“Hey! Maybe he was a guy you ordered to shoot me! " she strikes back.

“Anyway, this is what I have to do, I can't turn back, nor would I want to. Even though I didn't ask for my powers that distant April 5th of ... "

" 2000? " he anticipates her, astonished.

"And how the hell do you know it was 2000?" she opens her eyes wide.

“Because it is the same day that I received mine. The difference is that I was asked to and I accepted with great enthusiasm," he struts.

"Kevin?"

"Yup?"

“Today is also April 5th. Doesn't it seem strange to you?" Jessica points out.

"You are right. It's as if it were ... premeditated. " Kevin becomes thoughtful.

“Yeah, but by whom? Certainly not from Heaven, my angel didn't even want me to see you. "

"Nor does Hell want it. My demon hardly told me things about you."

"Then premeditated by whom?" Jessica frowns again, before Kevin squeezes her hand in his.

“From Destiny, Jessica. Almost as if the two of us were… inevitable. "

******************************************
                              London, Soho, Greek Street, 5 April 2006
 

"Well, well, or actually, bad, bad,  angel ... I walk away for a second and you immediately take advantage of that to slack off I see!" Crowley reappears in Aziraphale's bookshop, finding the owner lying on one of the sofas in the corner where the two are often used to get drunk.

“You have your own conception of time, dear, because you have been gone far longer than a second. I hope at least it was worth it."

"I would say yes, I intervened in time and saved my protege from eternal damnation," the redhead informs him proudly.
 

“My dear, you remember that you are a demon, don’t you? You should condemn people to eternal damnation, if anything I should prevent it. "

“NGK! Well, not him, and then, as long as that's how you intervene, lying on the couch, it's much better that I dealt with it." Crowley mocks him.
 

"She also rested after her efforts!" the angel justifies himself, looking at the ceiling. "I don't find anything harmful in imitating Her, I've made a lot of effort after all."

“Come on, make some room for me. Even saving from damnation is tiring! " Crowley lies down beside him with Aziraphale spreading his pale blue tartan blanket over them both.

Crowley is too tired to object to the pattern of that fabric and confines himself to appreciating its warmth along with the one that gives him that extreme closeness to his beloved angel.
 

"A little break can only do us good." Aziraphale turns in his direction, snuggling up to him with a yawn.

But Crowley cannot sleep yet, nor does he want to make the angel sleep, not yet, at least.
 

“Do you know that my protégé met a girl today? I mean, not that he has missed women over the years, with or without his powers ... but the way he looked at this one is different. I had never seen him so enraptured ... I think he found the right one!"

"In fact, I felt love here ... it must be the one you witnessed ..." the angel mutters.
 

- In what sense do you feel if there is love? - Crowley grows alarmed so much that he almost changes his shape into a snake, but manages to keep his nerve.

"Yes, it must be that ..." the demon plays along with him, finally closing his eyes.
 

"And anyway, I'm happy for your protégé ... I would very much like my assistant to find a good boy to look after her ..." Aziraphale murmurs, before falling asleep.

"One day she will find him, I'm sure of that," Crowley replies, already asleep.

TBC

Chapter Text

Chapter  VI (I) : You’re the Lasso to my Wonder Woman                     

                                     London, Soho, Greek Street, 5 April 2006

Aziraphale is the first to wake up from their nap and takes the opportunity to observe a still sleeping Crowley, with his mouth half open, his head bent in the direction of the angel and a hand holding tightly to a flap of the blanket.

It is too tender an image and Aziraphale cannot resist.

- Since he is sleeping, he will never notice ... - he meditates, as he begins to lean more and more over him, gradually.

- A small, small kiss on that mouth and I will not ask for anything for another six thousand years ...- he takes courage, bringing his celestial lips closer and closer to the goal.

Perhaps a sudden noise, perhaps an eventful dream or much more likely the infamous and mocking fate, but Crowley wakes up with a start just at that moment, beating his head against the blond one.

"Angel, but... what?" he looks at him stunned, widening his amber eyes, surprised by that proximity so prohibitive.

- Am I dreaming?-

“Huh! Well… I… you… a fly. Yes, there was a fly that landed on your face and I wanted to send it away. " Aziraphale explains, his fingers hidden behind his back snapping in time to run for cover.
 

Crowley watches the aforementioned fly prowl around the room. He cannot know that it has just been created.

"Oh well, thanks for doing it, then, I can't stand flies, they remind me of my Boss!" he mumbles, sitting up.
 

The truth is that he feels bitter disappointment for that missing contact in which he hoped so much and, if he has understood correctly humans, they use food to cheer themselves up.

- Maybe it could work,- he contemplates, before making that unusual request.

"Shall we have that snack we had pending together, angel?"

Aziraphale almost laughs in his face.
 

"Snack? Now we can only talk about after dinner! It's after eleven p.m., I'm afraid we've slept more than expected. " he informs him.

"I slept for a straight century, I guess our opinions on sleeping a lot diverge a lot." Crowley mutters, stretching.
 

"Let's take a stroll, angel, let's get out of here, I'll take you to the best pastry shop in the area." he suggests.

He feels the need to test the therapeutic effects of chocolate on his dejected thousands-year-old heart.
 

"When you say you offer, do you mean ... with real money?" Aziraphale looks at him suspiciously.

"Until the last pound!" the other displays his best innocent expression.
 

- Real money ... that I will make appear with a small miracle directly from the pastry cashbox ... there is no need to tell you everything, angel! -

-Humans were right, it seems that chocolate works wonders against bad moods. Earthly miracles, of course. - Crowley ponders, at the third forkful of that succulent triple chocolate cake that he is allowing himself.
 

"You know, dear, seeing you play the demon hen today reminded me that I haven't visited my protégé for a year now." Aziraphale comments, as he's enjoying his Mimosa cake with satisfaction.

He fumbles with his mobile for a while, watching the display engrossed.

Intrigued, Crowley slips closer.
 

"What are you looking at, ang ..."
 

The word dies in his throat, when he notices that Aziraphale is looking at some photos, mostly seeing who he is in company with.
 

Crowley has seen that girl before and very recently.
 

"Uh? Dear, why that face? It looks like you've seen a ghost! " the blond giggles. “There's no need to fidget like that. If you think about it, the fact that your protégé  becomes more and more your precise copy with each passing year gives me a way to understand what your assistant will look like. So it seems fair to me that I reveal my protege's features to you. We took these pictures last year, so she shouldn't have changed much. " he explains calmly, reviewing other photos of his moments with her.

"Well, she’s a really beautiful girl!" Crowley replies, as if nothing had happened.

Someone owes him explanations. Tons of explanations.

---------------------------------------------------
              

               New York, Four Seasons Hotel, 57 East 57th Street, 6 April 2006
 

Kevin wakes up early in the morning and in a great mood, ready to start the day, especially since he knows how it will end.

As a proof of his plans for that evening, he heas his cell phone vibrate and smiles when he reads on the display that he has an incoming message from 'Brave Knight'.

For fun or to seal that meeting, Jessica allowed him to save her number under that name, as long as he agreed to be registered under 'Princess in Danger'.
 

'Hey, you, make sure you don't manipulate too many people, because I want you full of energy tonight! ; P  J'

As he pours some tea thinking of a shrewd answer to give her, he feels the room tremble, the paintings fall one after another, the chandelier collaps from the ceiling and smashes to the ground and the windows explode one by one.

A moment later he sees Crowley appear in the midst of that rubble.

"Are you out of your bloody mind, Kevin?!" he yells, turning his head into that of a large black snake for a fleeting moment, hissing at him all his deep disappointment.

Kevin is not upset either by his impressive appearance or by his transformation.
He just removes the rubble that has rained down from the ceiling from his toast.
 

"I knew you would find out sooner or later, I just didn't expect it so soon!" he shrugs. "Would you like some tea?" he offers, affable.

Crowley looks at him, dazed.
 

"Sometimes I think you should have been Aziraphale's assistant." he mutters.

“Just for the tea? Almost all the Englishmen do it, you know. Besides, shouldn't you be English, too? " the human wonders.

"No, I am of every language and ethnicity and none at the same time ... the same should be true for Aziraphale but he insists on playing the Englishman!" the demon replies, rolling his eyes.

Kevin chuckles and it doesn't escape Crowley's attention.

“What are you laughing at? You are not in a comfortable situation, you know? What I did to the room is a reflection of what I could do to you. " he growls, using his best threatening tone.
 

"Granted that before you leave here you will refurbish my room, I laugh because ... do you listen to yourself? You start talking about your Aziraphale and you even forget that you were barking because I'm going out with his protégé! "

“NGK! It's not my Aziraphale! " Crowley agitates.

Kevin gives him his best 'Bitch please!' look.

"Consider yourself lucky that I can't force you to tell me the truth ..."

"Yet I don't recall to have also given you the power of super arrogance!" the redhead pretends to ponder, making him laugh.

"Now I'm going to tell you a number of valid reasons why, even if I hang out with my Nemesis, you don't have to make a fuss about it: first point, it wasn't premeditated, it's not that she or I woke up thinking ' what could we do to really put our guardians on a rampage? ' We met by chance, you saw it too, indeed; when you visited me, I still had to know the truth about her ... “ Kevin begins his harangue.

"Ah, so you're telling me that I only saw the previous part ... then you realized who she really is and you kept your distance from her as much as possible." Crowley calms down, trusting that his assistant has some sense into him.

“What part of 'I'm going out with his protégé' did you miss? I didn't keep my distance, if anything I shortened them, a lot! " he slyly grins. “Second point: knowing her hasn't distracted me from my tasks for you, do you want the amount of bad deeds I pushed people to do last night after we said goodbye? I'm still your Stallion in the race for Sins! " he reassures him, making Crowley smile in spite of himself. “Third point: you are just envious. She and I did in one day what you two have wanted to do for millennia! " it gives him a checkmate.

“In what sense… 'you two'? Are you really hinting that maybe he … ”Crowley mumbles, as the luxurious suite returns to its original state.

"We haven't talked much about you, but from what she said to me, I know that his guardian has hearts in his eyes every time he mentions you ..." Kevin reveals.

Crowley gives an intrigued smile but then becomes disillusioned.

"Ah, but that's his characteristic as an angel, he always does this, with everyone ..."

"You really don't want to believe that he likes you, do you?" the psychologist looks at him, with the look of someone who knows.

“I…bloody Heaven! It is not about me we were talking about but about you and how dangerous and wrong who you are dating is! " the demon returns to the main subject, trying to maintain an authoritarian tone.

“Why don't you try to see the benefits? Knowing the enemy means knowing their moves and maybe playing ahead. " Kevin slyly grins.

- If I make him believe that I have an evil purpose, maybe he will stop harassing me! -

"Uh, it's true ... I hadn't thought of that ..." the redhead admits, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

- I don't give a damn to counter the enemy's moves, but if he attends his assistant perhaps he could talk to her about me and convince her to let Aziraphale understand that, if it's true that he has some love interest in me, it would not be the end of the world if he let himself go a little more with me ... -  is the demon’s real 'evil' plot.

"So, did you understand that there is nothing harmful about this?" Kevin makes sure, finishing his breakfast.

The other just nods.

"And you won't say anything to Aziraphale, will you?"

"Are you kidding? He’s going to cut me in little pieces if he finds out! Besides, you know what? I didn't see all this drama if you two had ever met, it was Azirphale who instilled in me the idea that it would be an unprecedented cataclysm! " Crowley confesses.

"It just doesn't seem like it was." Kevin chuckles, only to become more serious.

There is a question that matters to him.

"Since you first brought up the topic of superpowers, do you know that your beloved has granted two ones to his assistant? Indeed, three, if you also count her greater resistance to pain." the human mutters. "On the other hand, I only have one and I would find it more suitable to have the complete 'mental package': telekinesis and mind reading." he ventures, nonchalantly.

“The hell you’ll get it. And if you continue to annoy me in this blessed way, I will halve the duration of your power! " the other blurts out.
"Okay, pretend I didn’t say anything ..." the human rolls his eyes. “But you could be of some other use, you know? I mean, I'll see her again tonight, but I don't know what to wear. " Kevin, who at the moment is still in boxers and t-shirt, explains to him,. "Yes, of course, I could go shopping, or take a jacket that I particularly like away from a passer-by, but it would take me so long and I also have to work first, both the real job and what I do for you ..."

"I understand where you want to go. Stay there. " Crowley snorts, before snapping his fingers.

"What do you say? To make her feel more comfortable. "  the redhead suggest, while the human approaches the first available mirror, looking at his reflection in an almost blinding white suit, before grimacing.

"Naah. And then, trust me, she is not as angelic as you think! " he giggles. "Actually, I'll tell you what, she seems to have a soft spot for alcohol, she could very well have been your assistant!"

"Oh no, I have you and I wouldn't trade you with anyone!" the demon makes him proud with his answer. "If anything, if you introduce her to me one day, she and I will go for a drink!" he shrugs. "Back to us, if you reject the white, then .." he snaps his fingers and the suit becomes entirely black.

"I like it, but I was thinking of a little more color ..."

Not even time to say it and he finds himself light blue.

"Well this makes me a little too much Prince Charming ... and to think that I strike her more like a Princess!" he comments amused, with Crowley frowning, not understanding what he means, before, a little impatient, he begins to scroll through a change of colors in review: red, orange, green, yellow, purple, hot pink ...
 

"Wait, wait, come back to the previous one. "

Crowley fulfills his client's request and brings him back that amethyst purple suit, with orchid purple pocket edges and a powder blue shirt.

"We have a winner." Kevin grins, gazing at himself from every angle. “And then it suits me so much, it's the color of the psyche, the unconscious… and it also gives me a more creepy look. I should dress more often like this."
"But you won't do it again with my help!" Crowley snorts. "Of course you are such a born manipulator ... I came to give you a dressing-down and instead I gave you a new wardrobe!" he mutters.

"You know, it doesn't have to be mind-related anyway." Kevin starts talking again.

"What?" Crowley looks at him confusedly.

“The extra power you should give me. For example, I like your power to freeze the time a lot, so… ”

“ Okay, from what I can see you really have an unstoppable desire for the duration of your power to change from twelve hours to twelve seconds, don't you? ” Crowley threatens him, ready to snap his fingers.

"Uh? No, no, no, forget what i said! " the other grows alarmed, blocking him in time.
"These are the moments when you remind me that you are such a bastard demon!"

"Thanks, sweetheart!" Crowley grins flattered, pinching  his cheek tenderly, before disappearing.

Kevin smiles to himself, undressing and carefully putting that newest suit back in the closet, before the phone vibrates again and it’s still the same sender as before.

'Okay I told you I want you full of energy, but you can waste at least the one to answer me, you know! J '

He certainly does not want to make her wait.

' Forgive me, but I was in the middle of a near-apocalypse with try-to-guess-who and had to keep up appearances. I will keep  all the energy for tonight , I can't wait! K '

****************************************

                      New York, 389 Upper East side 89th Street, 6 April 2006

"You got a message, Jess!" Trish calls her while her sister is in her room. "But I don't think it's who you expected, it’s from a certain 'Princess in Danger'!" she informs her, peeking at the preview of the display.
 

"It’s him, it's him!" Jessica runs to her, picking up her cell phone and reading with amusement. “You know, we met by chance because I saved him from a dangerous situation,” she informs her.

After all, she is moving forward with half-truths, such as the fact that she only told Trish one of his two professions.

"My Jess is dating a Doctor!" Trish smiles at her proudly, returning to the room with her. “You hit the jackpot, girl, you don't have to miss it! You did the right thing in coming to me. "
 

"There’s no match between my poor detective wardrobe and your huge Hollywood rising star one?" the other turns to the actress. "I only have ripped jeans, black sweatshirts and an escort outfit, you don't know in how many cases the last one was useful to me!"
 

“I would say it's just not the proper clothing style. Maybe the last one, when you two reach a higher level of confidence! " the blonde giggles, scanning her closet, while Jessica takes off a long yellow dress that convinces her very little.

"You should put this on!" Trish gives her verdict, handing her a short, tight black dress with a blue and red flowery pattern.
 

"It seems a little too much for a first date," Jessica mutters, doubtful.

"My dear, nothing is ever too much for a first date." her sister gives her important life lessons. "Try it now."

And as soon as she does it and looks in the mirror, the brunette realizes that this is the winning choice.

"Your wardrobe beats mine ten to zero, a bit like your extra luxury loft against my ramshackle joint ... if Kevin asks me to take him to my house, can I pretend I live here?" Jessica asks, changing her clothes and putting on her usual outfit, putting her sister's precious borrowed dress in a bag.
 

"Do not even try! You have made your own modest, free-range life choices and you must be proud of that. I really had to give you help in the clothing area, but for all the rest you must show Kevin who you really are! " the blonde advises her sister, accompanying her to the door. "Ah, Jess, I want to meet him sooner or later!"
 

"We'll see, Trish, we'll see ..."
 

TBC

Chapter Text

 Chapter VI (II): You're the Lasso to my Wonder Woman



New York, Hell's Kitchen, 485 West 46th Street, 6 April 2006   

What Jess doesn't expect, at the end of her investigation, is to return to her home and find Aziraphale waiting for her.

"Zira!" she welcomes him joyfully, embracing him.

“My dear girl, you are more and more beautiful and then you have such a spark in your eyes… something has happened to you. Something beautiful." the angel senses, smiling.

"Well, yeah ... let’s say you guessed right: I'm dating a guy and I’m fancying him so much!" she informs him.

After all, for better or for worse, he has always been his confidant.

"Oh, Jessica, I'm so happy for you, you deserve it!" the angel rejoices. "You must absolutely let me meet him!" he adds, anxiously.

"No!" Jessica stammers, making him suspicious. "I mean, it's such a recent thing, give me some time, we're still in those 'just me and him' situations, you know?" she immediately runs for cover.

- Oh, how I wish I was at that stage with Crowley… wait, I'm not at any stage with him. - he grieves, but he regains his cheerful mood quickly.

“I understand perfectly well, dear. I promise I will not interfere until you feel ready. " he smiles at her.

"But I can tell you that he is a Doctor, one of those jobs that you praise so much, he helps people and blah, blah, blah."

- Well, when he doesn't make them do bad deeds, it is true that he helps them! - she mostly tries to convince herself.

"I couldn't have asked for anything better for you, even if I don't know him, I already like this young man!" the blond approves, only to remember something. "I know I shouldn't tell you, but it's such a curious thing ... Do you know that Crowley's protége also seems to have found a very special girl?"

For a moment Jessica fears the worst, then she remembers which between them is the detective. She is also flattered by how Crowley talked about her.

"Oh well, I wouldn't be surprised, it's Spring, the season of love!" she comments lightly, shrugging.

"I’m sure that girl will be wicked and heartless." Aziraphale shakes his head, in a total disapproving attitude.

"Hey!" Jessica acts insulted, but then she realizes what she's done, even from the confused way he's looking at her. “I mean, you're a bit of an asshole to generalize like this, Zira! Who tells you that maybe he doesn't feel attracted to this hypothetical special girl precisely because she represents his opposite? "

"Oh, my dear, you're right, I shouldn't allow myself to judge a girl like that, without even knowing her then!" the angel immediately repents.

"Exactly. Without even knowing her! " she reiterates. “By the way, why are you here? Do you have a particular mission to entrust to me? "

- Not tonight, not tonight, please, not tonight ... - she begs her lucky stars.

"No missions, simply, it was so long we hadn't seen each other, soI thought I'd drop by." he explains, smiling. “However, I think I'm going to go back to my library now. I'll tell you what, I thought I could come back here, in the name of the good old days, maybe when it’s your birthday, to stay here little longer… a sort human thing, like travel, suitcase and hotel to book… ”he plans.

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea!" she approves.

- As long as he doesn't watch me twenty-four hours a day, it's a good idea, - she ponders, grateful that he doesn't aim to stop at her place.

“Yeah, maybe if I can convince Crowley too, he likes New York as well, but he never gets to see it properly. Of course, unless he has to look after his assistant, who knows where he is ... "

"Damn right, who knows, I'm certainly the last person in the world who can know!" she giggles with feigned innocence, making the angl laugh as well

--------------------------------------------------------

       New York, Minton's Playhouse, Harlem, 206 W 118th Street, 6 April 2006

"You really are a vision!" Kevin exclaims ecstatically, when he sees her arrive with that little dress only half hidden by a black velvet jacket, enhanced by black leather ankle boots with stilettos.

Upon Jessica's decision, they agreed to meet right in front of the bar where they met that night.

"Thank you. As for you, Willy Wonka called, saying he wants his clothes back! " she teases him and he pouts. "Come on, dandy, I'm joking, you look great, it's a color that particularly suits you." she admits, giving him a little kiss.

“Oh good to know, then you'll see me wearing purple quite often,” he smiles, against her lips, before deepening the kiss.

"Mm ... no matter how good it is, we can kiss later." she reluctantly separates, grabbing his hand. “Come with me, there is a taxi driver waiting for us and the driver already knows the destination,” she explains, taking him with him. "Don't you dare ask him to reveal it to you because if you ruin the surprise I'll hit you!" she intimates him.

"But how? What about your promise? " he looks at her disappointed.

“And who talked about super punch? A normal one, like any human! " she makes him laugh as they board.

"Don't worry, I won't ruin anything."

When the taxi arrives at its destination, Kevin is somewhat perplexed.

“But… we are at the Empire State Building ! Didn't you talk about an isolated place? "

“Yes, but I also wanted something spectacular. This is spectacular for sure, as far as isolated… it could become empty, if you… ” she winks at him, fiddling with the buttons of his shirt.

Kevin understands and grins.

"Ooh, the helper of Heaven is approving the use of my dark and evil powers!" he makes fun of her.

"I didn't tell you to make people throw down, just make them go away ... nothing too dark." she specifies.

"At you wish, Milady." he makes a half bow before going to the entrance.

As soon as he enters the reception /ticket office, he does not even give the operators the time to speak.

"I’m going to go up to the terrace, I will let everyone leave and you will block the entrance to all those who try to enter, except for a beautiful brunette in a black flowered dress." he arranges his orders, satisfied to see them nod.

Within half an hour the building empties of every tourist. Around midnight Jessica receives a text from 'Princess in Danger':

' Now you can go up, Vision, I am waiting for you on the terrace, on the eighty-sixth floor. K. P.s.  All these efforts of mine deserve a prize ;P  '

Jessica smiles, walking undisturbed through the hall, the corridors and taking the elevator up to the indicated floor, and then she walks towards him, beautiful and smiling, who is waiting for her with open arms , in the center of that terrace that is now only at their disposal.

“Now I understand what you meant when you asked me to save my energy for tonight,” he comments, a little disappointed.

"Oh no, I don't think you understand anything!" she smiles, before pulling him to her and kissing him passionately. 

Without stopping kissing, they move some steps until Kevin finds himself with his back pressed against the metal bars through which you can enjoy a breathtaking view, made even more enchanting by the lights of the night. They finish that fiery kiss just to be able to fully enjoy that view.

“Look, that's Brooklin , beyond there’s Queens . There should be New Jersey and then Pennsylvania , Connecticut ... ” Kevin explains, wrapping his arm around her waist, before they use the free binoculars to see everything better.

"Okay, you gave your show, I'd say it's time for me to give mine." Jessica decides, taking some sneakers from her bag and changing her shoes. "Powers or not, if I jump with those fucking uncomfortable boots I'll kill myself!" she makes him laugh.

When she is ready she takes him to the side of the balcony, the point from where he can have the best view.

"So, from here I will jump to the hundred and second floor and then from there to the tip," she announces.

“Won't it be too much? Jess, really, I just need to see you jump up a tree… it's better if we go back down. " he worries.

"This is because you don't know my powers!" she replies boldly. "Look!" she adds, before giving herself the push, an elevation that has nothing human.

With a series of quick leaps Kevin sees her reach the observatory on the 102nd floor and from there with another 'small jump' for her the final tip of the building.

She easily leaps back to the observatory and from there back down to the terrace in a single, nimble leap, grateful to Trish for giving her a tight dress that stays still around her legs.

"So, do you still want to see me only climb a tree?" she brags a little, while changing her shoes again.

“Amazing. You were absolutely amazing. You are unique, Jessica Jones!" he applauds her, before hugging her.

"You're not too bad either, Kevin Thompson!" she ruffles his hair, kissing him. "What do you say, do you still have some energy?"

-------------------------------------------------

           New York, Four Seasons Hotel, 57 East 57th Street, 7 April 2006

It's almost two in the morning when Kevin takes her to his suite.

Taking advantage of the clear and not too cold night, the two allowed themselves a romantic walk of half an hour.

"Holy shit!" Jessica exclaims as she enters that spacious, luxurious and fully equipped suite.

There is a large bed that looks very comfortable, a sofa that is no exception, a large window from which she can enjoy an excellent view, fresh fruit in a bowl, above the coffee table, a mega TV and a bathroom worthy of a royal.

"You could have just said 'Wow, what a nice room!'" He teases her for her bad language.

“'Wow, what a nice room' doesn't fucking give the same idea as 'Holy shit!' I mean, holy shit, Kevin, you live in a palace! " she replies, ecstatic, going to explore every corner. "And I bet you don't even pay a quarter dollar!" he adds accusingly, crossing her arms.

"Oh well, maybe someday I do, if I earn particularly well!" he shrugs, taking off her jacket and placing it in the chair, along with his jacket.

It is a sufficient trigger for her to start unbuttoning his shirt, as he searches for the zip that closes the dress, discovering that it is on the left side.

She lets him lower the zip, remaining in black lingerie, before shedding his shirt and pants that reach the white carpet of the floor, along with her little dress. In a whirlwind of kisses, hickies, moans and caresses, the two deepen their knowledge.

“Jessica, before this gets out of hand, let me tell you: I'm not aiming for sex with you tonight. I mean, I would like it more than anything, but I feel it would be too hasty. With you I want to take all the time you need. " he murmurs, stroking her hair.

She smiles softly, kissing him even deeper, until they both have to stop, to catch their breath.

“Which is really weird. I mean, I slept with a lot of girls ... "

"I don't like this topic!" Jessica growls, pinching his side.

“Ouch! But what? You can't be jealous, huh? Look, it was before I met you! "

"I am not jealous!" she lies shamelessly. "It's just that it's deeply wrong that you abused those poor subjugated girls."

"Did you see me right? Do you really think I had to resort to my powers? " he smiles cheekily.

"Stupid sexy English!" Jessica mutters, making him laugh. "But you better stop luring girls if you don't want me to super punch you!"

"You said you would never use your super strength against me!" he reproaches him.

"So don't give me a reason to change my mind!" she warns him.

"If you do, I'll change my mind too and use my powers on you to make sure you can't attack me!" the persuader is put on the defensive.

The detective looks at him in a way that is anything but threatening.

"Oooh, you have to be really quick, because I'm going to attack you right now!" she murmurs sensual, before jumping astride his black boxers for another series of hot kisses.

They spend the night talking about their powers, their first discoveries, their background and many other things.

Kevin also reveals his villain name to her.

"Bullshits! You can't call yourself that. What, was Murdercorpse already taken? "

"Hey, so-called superhero, without even a shred of costume, show some respect, Killgrave is a name that makes people tremble!" he scoffs.

"Oh yes, with laughter!" she sneers impudently, but then becomes more serious. "So, you can also force people to tell the truth."

"Well, yes, among other things." he shrugs.

"You're like Wonder Woman's Lasso!" she comments, as if enlightened.

"What?" the persuader frowns.

Jessica tells him about that DC heroine and her powers.

"Since Philipp is gone, I have read all the comics he used to read and have become a real connoisseur."

"Funny that you tell me about DC and this is the Gotham suite!" he makes her laugh.

"Really! And what about the purple painting and the vase of violets instead? " she asks, pointing to the various parts of the room.

"Coincidences, I swear to you!"

Then Kevin gets more serious.

"Jessica, the accident, the serious loss you have suffered, everything you have told me ... I would love to use my power over you to take that feeling of loss away from you." he sighs.

"I don't want that, because, as unpleasant as it is, that feeling is part of who I am." she explains, hugging him. “Not that you have any better feelings than mine, hearing your story. I may have lost my family, but you seem to have never had one. " she murmurs, looking for his hand. "I can be your family, Kevin."

He looks at her almost touched, intensifying his grip. "I'd tell you the same, Jessica, but you told me you have a sister."

“Oh yeah, Trish, she also wants to meet you! As Zira would like it too, but no fucking way I’m going to please him! " she mumbles.

“Do you know that, before you told me, I was convinced that Zira was a pretty little angel with the same appearance as you, but only a tad older? Because that's the way Crowley and me are, ”he tells her.

"Oh, then I want to meet him for sure!" she giggles, intrigued.

“I was thinking about what you told me earlier, actually yes, you are a little bit Wonder Woman and I could be your Lasso of Truth. Imagine what Crime Superduo we could be together… oh well, as long as Crowley is okay with me taking the side of justice, maybe with some bad deeds here and there, to compensate. " he speculates.

“No, don't worry, I suggest that everyone stays in their place. And then I would never fight alongside someone who has such a stupid nickname! " she mocks him again.

"Hey, come here, badass heroin!" he assaults her, carrying out a tickle-based revenge. And despite her powers, she suffers it, a lot!

When they decide to close their eyes, it's dawn and before she pulls up the sheet to cover herself, Jessica lays her head on Kevin's chest.

"You are the Lasso to my Wonder Woman." she murmurs already, half asleep and he, having heard her, smiles in the dark.

TBC

Chapter Text

Chapter VII: A missing gift

                                London, Soho, Greek Street, 7 April 2006

While a newborn couple sleeps tenderly embraced in a suite in New York, someone who hasn't slept all night is about to break into a specific bookstore.

The front door is closed, with a sign hanging politely inviting visitors to return at the indicated times, but for its demonic fingers that snap this is by no means an obstacle.

Without any problems, Crowley sets off for the shop, as if it were his own home… in a certain sense it’s a bit like that.

He arrives at the counter where Aziraphale usually issues his few, very few annual receipts, with a rusty 1950s-style cash register with a very uncomfortable crank to turn.

For at least twenty years, if not more, technicians have put more practical digital recorders on the market, but the angel seems indifferent to that.

And that's exactly how Crowley finds him, asleep next to that antiquated instrument, with his head buried in a book he was probably reading, with a very slight snore.

Crowley at first looks at him tenderly, then he grows nervous.

- How the heaven do you dare to find a book a more comfortable bed than me, angel? On my chest you would rest a thousand times better, when I’m naked I am even warmer and cosier. - he ponders, annoyed.

He remembers why he is there and does not hesitate to wake the angel. He had initially planned  a more tender way to do it, perhaps even finding an excuse to pet and pamper him a bit, but after that insult he has to revise his plans.

He snaps his fingers and the cash drawer comes out with an annoying trill, just missing Aziraphale's cheek.

The effect is immediate.

The blond wakes up with a start, a little dazed.

"It is not for sale!" he grumbles, not quite lucid yet.

The redhead laughs amused.

"Oh, Crowley, it's you ..." Aziraphale focuses, coming to other conclusions.

Falling asleep on that book led him to be all disheveled, with the marks of the folded pages on his face, in addition to the stains from the cup of chocolate he drank the night before which he spilled, causing the last drops to end up on his waistcoat. .

- Oh, good heavens, I'm unwatchable! - he thinks, desperate, trying to fix his indomitable curls and smooth out his face by lightly patting himself on the  chubby cheeks.

- For Hell’s sake, he couldn't be more adorable! - Crowley thinks, looking at him spellbound, but then he remembers why he is there.

"Listen, we had said one power each, how is it that your protégé in addition to super strength can also jump unnaturally and heal a little faster than the human kind?" he immediately corners Aziraphale.

"And how do you know?" Aziraphale's eyes widen.

- Oh fuck, that's right. How do I know? 'Oh, well, because your assistant directly told my assistant… while they were making out hard?' Of course I can't tell him that! - Crowley gets upset at first.

Then he takes a closer look at Aziraphale's guilty expression.

- No, wait a moment .. look at him, how scared he is, with his tails between his legs .. do angels have tails? Oh, that's not the point! The fact is that it’s me  who is gaining the upper hand - he regains his usual self-confidence.

"How I know it’s not your holy business, I have my sources!" he mysteriously reaffirms.

"Well the rule was one power each, as agreed, but nothing prevents me from equipping my protégé with some ... ehmm ... life jackets!" the angel looks for a way out, pretending to be innocent.

"It's two and a half special powers, life jackets, my ass!"  the demon snaps.

"Come on, dear, don't do that!" the blond tries to get close to him.

"Don't usssse your 'dear' with me, not thisss time!" the redhead hisses. "And that's okay, indeed, and it's bad, angel, if you play dirty I'll do it as well!" he warns him, storming out of the library with the door slammed soundly, a human way that emphasized the moment.

--------------------------------------------- 

                 New York, 16 E. 32nd St, Avalon Hotel, April 8, 2006

“Tell me about the relationship with your sister,” Kevin asks affably, sitting on the comfortable velvet sofa, absently taking notes, his eyes falling on the large window overlooking the street.

With a power like his, he doesn't even need to make his patient relax before she starts talking to him about every aspect she recalls.

Kevin takes notes of the most salient details that can help him formulate his analysis, when he notices that among the furnishing accessories there is an unexpected one, living, with showy red hair and the air of someone who does not want to wait at all.

Kevin has accumulated enough experience to understand that he is the only one who can see him.

“Mrs. Bricks, I'm sorry if I interrupt you. We will resume the session later, now it's good if we both take a short break, ” he runs for cover. "Don't worry, we'll track down the triggering cause of your kleptomania, if you want to loot whatever you like, go ahead, as long as you keep far away from my bag!" he commands, walking out, followed by Crowley.

"What do you have so urgent to tell me?" Kevin asks, taking advantage of the fact that the corridor is deserted.

It would certainly not help his reputation as a psychologist if someone caught him talking to... himself.

“You're right, I thought about it, a whole day, and I came to the conclusion that you should have an extra power too… to try and balance things. Consider it a missing gift from me. " the demon replies .

"That's what I was telling you, so ... are you going to  make me able to freeze the time?" Kevin gets thrilled.

"Shut up, you, eager boy, I choose what to give you ... how about a certain flexibility with people’s memory?" Crowley relaunches.

"What do you mean with ‘flexibility’?" the persuader grows curious.

"You can erase the total memory of a person, or just a part or even just a single reminiscence and you can decide for how long: an hour, twelve hours, twelve days ... forever!" the demon clarifies.

“Oooh, this is so interesting. Doctor Thompson might help some of his patients to get rid of their trauma this way. "

Just three days with Jessica and that's the influence she already has on him.

Crowley looks at him dazed.

“But that would be something… good. I guess Killgrave is the only one who must use it,” he corrects himself immediately after.

"I may not have heard you ... and I don't want to know anything about it!" Crowley throws his hands up.

"Can I also create new memories in my victims’ mind?" his protégé dares to ask.

“But you are never satisfied! NO, we didn’'t talk about it, just erase the bloody memories, it seems an already generous enough gift to me! " the demon hisses.

"Oh yes it is, I accept!" the other nods impatiently.

Crowley snaps his fingers and Kevin feels a new energy flooding him.

"Have fun, Doctor Memory!" Crowley winks "Hey, not bad for a new supervillain name!" giggles.

"Don't even try, Killgrave can't be touched!" the younger one retorts stubbornly.

"I knew you would say that." the millennial demon shrugs, before disappearing.

Kevin returns to his patient, but immediately catches sight of the woman's bag overflowing with all sorts of expensive furnishings in the hotel room.

- I wanted to test my new power and make her get rid of her problem, but… it's too much fun; I'll do it in a couple of sessions, maybe three. - he sneers.

----------------------------

      New York, Minton's Playhouse, Harlem, 206 W 118th Street, April 26, 2006
 

"Kevin, you won't like this, and neither will I, but we have to do it." Jessica says, biting her bottom lip.

They are seated at the table of what has now become their meeting point par excellence.

Of course, Kevin risked losing his life there, but what he gained in return makes him see that bar with different eyes.

In addition to the sentimental sphere, of course, Jessica loves that place because they make great cocktails and, thanks to who is now her boyfriend, it’s never a problem to get them.

The two boys never stopped seeing each other and when this was not possible they found themselves engaged in long, passionate conversations on the phone.

"I like things the way they are ..." Kevin mumbles, drinking his dry Martini.

"Me too, but I've been making all sorts of excuses for three weeks and I can't go on like this anymore: Trish wants to meet you." she warns him, nervously fiddling with the straw of her strawberry Caipiroska.

"Oh, well, I'm glad if you want to involve me in your family." he smiles at her, holding her hand.

She returns that smile, but then she darkens.

"Let's say I've talked to her a lot about you .... maybe hiding a certain aspect." reveals to him.

He quickly realizes what she is referring to and lets go of her hand.

"Oh, of course, you are ashamed of me!" he blurts out, insulted.

A moment later, Jessica is sitting on his lap, her hands cupping his face, oblivious to whoever is watching them.

"Don't you ever dare to think such a thing!" she almost growls, before kissing him, quickly but deeply.

“Truth is thatI want to protect you. You have no idea how many questions Trish asked me when she found out about my powers. And even though she has a promising acting career ahead of her, she has got it into her head that sooner or later she wants to start having a talk show… do you have any idea of the spotlight she might put on you? " she murmurs, hugging him.

"That's very sweet of you," he softens, stroking her hair. "But fear not for me, I have strong shoulders ... not as strong as yours maybe, but still." he snatches a smile from her.

“Besides, she doesn't necessarily want to make a scoop out of you. Let's give her a chance. If you don't have too many evil deeds to carry out, I would schedule the meeting for tomorrow night. " she decides.

"I'll try to carve out a space from my evil agenda." he plays her same game. "Also because I certainly can't miss the opportunity to meet Patsy!" he lights up with enthusiasm.

"Are you his fan?" she frowns.

"Who isn't?" is his answer.

"I don't know if I still want to organize that meeting ..." Jessica mumbles.

"You see, actually my diabolical plan has always been to get to her, through you ..." Kevin enjoys riding the wave of his girlfriend's jealousy. "Ouch!" he chuckles at the light punch she just gave him on the shoulder.

"You, silly! Change this fucking topic now, otherwise the next punch I give you will serve to test how strong your shoulders really are! " she threatens him, but he erases any jealousy with a kiss that leaves no room for any doubt.

------------------------------

                New York, 389 Upper East side 89th Street, 27 April 2006

"... so now he's downstairs waiting." Jessica finishes her tale, sitting in her sister's living room.

“But it is magnificent! Why didn't you bring him with you here? " the blonde asks her impatiently, trying to figure out if she can peek at him through the video intercom, but she has no luck.

"The point is, I haven't told you everything about him." the brunette mumbles.

"He is a brilliant psychologist, he makes you happy ... what else do you have to tell me?" the other smiles.

"Do you remember when I told you how I discovered that just as I am an angel’s assistant and I am active for Good, there is a counterpart in the service of Evil?"

"Yes, but what's that got to do with your boyfriend now?" Trish chuckles. "I could understand if Kevin was the counterpart, but ..."

In Jessica's guilty gaze, the sister reads every truth.

“Jessica, you can't be serious! You’re dating  a multiple murderer who with his super strength must have already destroyed God only knows how many lives! " she grows alarmed.

"You're exaggerating, he doesn't have any super destructive strength and he's not the one doing evil deeds, he makes people do that, because his power is to manipulate people's mind." the brunette reveals.

"Alright! So it’s more than evident that he is controlling you, too, probably from the first time you met him!" the blonde hisses sourly.

“It's not like that, you have to believe me, he promised me he'll never control me and I don't even need to believe him, I just know. Please don't consider him a heartless monster, you don't know what he's been through, what his story is. Maybe he'll tell you if he wants to, but, please, believe me, I know what I'm doing. " Jessica looks at her seriously.

“I've never seen you so into someone. Counterparty or not, he must be really special. " Trish states. 

"Trust me, he is." the brunette smiles.

“And you didn't even say a dirty word. It must be really serious. " the ownder of the house makes her laugh. "Okay, I'll open it, tell him he can go upstairs." she approves, with Jessica texting her boyfriend to join them.

And when he does, Trish first has to acknowledge that her sister has great aesthetic taste, but then she remembers what he is capable of and her friendly expression becomes wary.

"I do not like you." she snarls, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That's not true, you like me." Kevin promptly retorts, slyly.

"I like you!" the blonde smiles at him dazedly.

But Jessica is more than ready to intervene.

“Hey! You, damn shrink, take it back! Trish is my sister, whatever you do to her you do to me too. " she specifies, on the warpath. "If you don't control me, then you shouldn’t control her either."

"You are making a few too many requests, my darling." Kevin rolls his eyes. “Okay, okay. Patsy, feel free to have any kind of feeling you want to have towards me. " he re-elaborates his requests.

“Hey! Now I like you even less than before! " Trish snaps, putting herself on the defensive.

"Oh really?" Kevin scrutinizes her thoroughly. “Think about it, I might as well have made you and Jessica forget that you don't like me; instead I listened to Jess, canceled my previous order and didn't even make you forget anything about it." he summarizes with meticulousness.

Trish closes in a moment of reflection.

"You're right, Kevin, maybe you're not that bad ..." the blonde changes her mind, making him smile.

Jessica smiles with satisfaction, too.

----------------------------------

                              London, St. James' Park, 08 May 2006

“Angel, why did you want to see me. Do you have news of Armageddon? " Crowley asks furtively, approaching the blond as he feeds the ducks.

"Uh no, among my people there is no information about it, yet," replies the angel.

"Neither from my people, not that I'm in any hurry, if it depended on me it might not arrive at all!" the demon shrugs .

“Wiser words have never been spoken, my dear. But unfortunately it won't be like that and we have to be ready. " Aziraphale murmurs. “Anyway, I mostly wanted to say hello. I'm about to leave. "

“And where are you going? Another mission? " the redhead looks at him curiously.

"Not exactly. In a few days it's my protégé's birthday and I will take the opportunity to visit her for some time in New York. " explains the blond. "I'm leaving in two days, but maybe I shouldn't say hello to you if, if ... you were coming with me?" he stumbles on the last words.

"To come with you?" Crowley repeats.

“Well yes, have you ever been to New York? Maybe to help your protege? " Aziraphale asks him, curious.

“NGK! Nooo, my protege has never been to New York! " Crowley hastens to point out.

- Forgive me, angel! I hate lying to you. - he would like to bite his forked tongue.

"Oh, well,this is one more reason, then, you could visit it with me, we would be tourists ... a bit like humans ... maybe just a few miracles to skip hours in a row!" the angel begins to press the right buttons.

“Oh yes, I'd love to. I have nothing to keep me busy here, so ... let's do it! " the demon enthusiastically approves.

- Angel, even if you asked me to visit a gutter, in your company I would find it the most beautiful place in the world. - Crowley thinks, too happy to notice how sweet he actually is.

“Really, do you agree? It's fantastic!" Aziraphale rejoices, with such an impetus that instead of a few crumbs he ends up throwing the whole bag into the pond.

"We are practically already in the crown of the Statue of Liberty!" Crowley grins.

“Sure, and there are so many things to do. We can visit the Museum of Natural History, the MOMA, the MET… ”

The enthusiasm of the demon dies, replaced by a bored look.

"Angel .... look, you are supposed to convince me!" he points out, snorting.

"But didn't I already convince you?" Aziraphale retorts. “Oh, well, do you know that there is perhaps the largest M&M's store there? And also a place where you can create custom stuffed animals, usually they are teddy bears… but, who knows, it could also be a duck! "

Definitely, when it comes to Crowley, Aziraphale knows how to hit the right buttons, not to mention all the research he has done to find something that can thrill the demon.

“Why didn't you say that before? Let's go there now! " the redhead rejoices, taking him by the hand, ready to snap his fingers.

"No, I said in two days, first I have to fix the bookcase."

"But if you have two clients when they are too many!" the other mocks him.

“That's not a good reason to let it go to decay. I have to cast protection spells at my books, one by one and indeed… in two we could do it first… ”Aziraphale looks at him almost menacingly.

"What?! No, get it out of your head! I have better things to do than spend two days among your dusty bookshelves! " Crowley objects, but this obviously is a feigned grumpiness.

- Two more days with my angel before a full vacation with my angel! - he gloats inwardly.

"Wouldn’t you change your mind if I offered you an evening with the best wines from my reserve?" Aziraphale makes another smart attempt.

He wants to have the demon with him at any cost.

- Alcoholic evening with my angel! - Crowley rejoices.

"Deal!" Crowley grins.

"Great." Aziraphale claps his hands. “So we can better discuss our vacation and draw up a plan on how to fill the days. In Manhattan there are so many good musicals ... "

"Dare take me to see ' The Sound of Music ' and I'll never talk to you anymore, angel! " the demon growls.

(End I)

Chapter Text

Chapter VII (II): A missing gift

                     

                  New York, Four Seasons Hotel, 57 East 57th Street, 18 May 2006

"I was convinced that these days would be complicated for us to see each other and instead ... I think I have met Aziraphale no more than three times, busy as he is to be a tourist with your guardian! " Jessica chuckles, hugging Kevin while they are in bed, very lightly dressed.

“And to think that Crowley told me that your dear Zira wanted to book a room here, actually two rooms,  no way he would agree for them  to sleep together,” he explains. "Luckily Crowley convinced him to stay at the Avalon Hotel !"

"Yeah, it would have been inappropriate to cross him in these corridors, dressed like this then ..."

" Undressed , you mean." Kevin corrected her, admiring her in her complete black underwear with bows on the hips. "No bloody way I’m going to let you go out like this ... certain visions must remain mine alone!" he growls possessive.

"And yet you have never seen me without it!" she provokes him, about to untie the first ribbon, but he blocks her hand.

"It’s not necessary. Things are going very well as they are progressing. " he smiles at her, earning a kiss.

"So let's enjoy this night, because already tomorrow Zira will be in turmoil, he will probably start celebrating me from after midnight ... so we will see each other directly on the 21st I guess," she explains.

"But this way I’ll miss your birthday..." he mumbles.

“I know, but ... do you understand that if my guardian is there you can't be there too? It's not my fault if you and Crowley are so stupidly alike! You could have been a little less fucking exhibitionist! " she blurts out.

"Hey, we didn't decide we had to look alike!" Kevin defends himself.

“I know… it's just that I'm sorry… I don't give a shit about my birthday, I'm just sorry I can't spend it with you,” she murmurs, pouting, before snuggling into his chest.

"I'm sorry too, but I'll be there with my thoughts," he whispers.

"How sweet," she smiles, kissing him, before lowering his tight gray boxers again, the only garment he's wearing, and bending over his lap. "You sure deserve a second round!"

-------------------------------------------------- ------

                        New York, Hell's Kitchen, 485 West 46th Street, 20 May 2006

"Another toast for Jessica!" screams a girl and Jessica hasn't the faintest idea who she is, she's one of Trish's many friends who have joined her.

All it takes is a buffet, a little music and some alcohol and suddenly everyone becomes friends with everyone.

Jessica thanks with a nod and a smile of circumstance, finishing her beer.

"I'll turn a blind eye to the fact that you shouldn't drink, my dear, but only because it's your birthday!" acts as a Jiminy cricket Aziraphale, while however unable to resist the call of the music.

"And also because you are drinking the fifth beer while I will not go beyond the first, perhaps!" Jessica taunts him.

"Hey, hey, treat my Zira well, he's the life of the party!" Trish wraps her arm around Aziraphale’s shoulders, she’s also quite drunk and not just with beer.

“I didn't want this party and this mess. Dammit, Trish, those bimbos aren't even your friends, if anything they are friends of your popularity! " the birthday girl mumbles, detaching Trish from Aziraphale and the still half-full bottle of beer from her sister's hands. "And you're done with alcohol for tonight!"

"Don't be a pain in the ass, Jess!" Trish snorts, throwing herself on the sofa. "The night is still long and the party has just begun, wooohh!" she encourages everyone.

- Unfortunately, it’s certainly not  where I would like to be now ... - the detective thinks dissatisfied.

Aziraphale is still lucid enough to read her like an open book.

"You miss your boyfriend, right?" he asks her, already knowing the answer.

"Uh? Well, yes, I guess that's normal ... "

" Isn’t it ironic? I'm in London all the time and he goes there just those few weeks when I can’t be there. " the angel ponders.

"Eh, what an unfortunate coincidence ... but you certainly can't keep Kevin away from a convention!" she shrugs, while in reality she hates herself.

- Jessica, you're not a super heroine, you're just a fucking super liar! -

“And you? Don't you miss your boyfriend? " she asks him the same question

Aziraphale is so taken aback that he almost makes his wings appear in front of everyone, but only gets away with a few coughs.

"What?! But ... but no, Crowley is not my boyfriend at all. We are just ... good friends who should be sworn enemies. " he babbles. "But I must say that this holiday was needed, we have more time for us, I feel him closer, sometimes I have the feeling  that we exchange certain glances that make me lose the decorum of which I should be the emblem ..." he confides, perhaps under the effect of the fifth beer. "Well, I really think that things between us are going extremely well!" he grins enthusiastically.

******************************* (At the same time)

            New York, Manhattan, Fifth Avenue, 45 Rockefeller Plaza, 20 May 2006

"Aziraphale and I aren’t going any-fucking-where!" Crowley complains, while he and his protégé are taking a walk near the Rockefeller Center , to distract themselves from what is happening in an apartment not too far away, where there is the relative object of desire of each of the two.

“I also agreed to accompany him to one of those stupid museums he’s crazy about and the only nice thing is that we walked arm in arm the whole time. I tried to feed him while we were at the View of the World , on the twentieth floor of the World Center Hotel , with the most romantic atmosphere you can imagine and what does he do? He is offended by saying that he has enough autonomy to eat without any help ... do you understand how desperate my case is? " he gestures animatedly, rubbing his face.

“Are you sure you don't want my power to work on angels too? I would go to him and say: 'Fall into Crowley's arms as you have been craving to do for six thousand years, more or less!' ”Kevin replies, staring at the skyscraper towering in front of their eyes. "Jess would reach the top without any problem." he sighs melancholy.

"Your power remains as it is and in any case it wouldn’t change things ... he wouldn’t fall into anyone’s arms, much less mine, that angel will never let himself go." Crowley groans.

“Okay, you need shock therapy and I’m telling you more as a psychologist than as your protégé or friend… you are going too lightly with your angel, you have to put him in front of the reality of the facts, he has to understand what you feel for him; I'm certainly not talking about bringing him flowers or chocolates. Take him, nail him to a wall and kiss him as if it was your last day on this Earth! " Kevin spurs him.

Crowley gets so excited at the thought that he almost turns into a snake for everyone to see.

“NGK! Nooo, I never could! "

"So bask in your yearning for another six thousand years, but don't come complaining to me!"

“I couldn't even if I wanted to, in six thousand years I wouldn't find you anymore. I gave you the power of mind control, not the power of immortality! " Crowley chuckles.

"You’re so funny!" the other rolls his eyes.

"But you're right, I have to try everything I can and I think I'll try right away and you should do the same."

"Huh?"

“What's keeping you from going to Jessica's? Only that my angel might see you, but what if I took him away from you? It's almost eleven’o o'clock p.m. now, he celebrated enough. " Crowley decides.

"Would you really do it?" Kevin lights up with enthusiasm, since he had specific plans for that evening, before knowing about the arrival of Jessica's guardian and perhaps he can still fix everything.

"I am already doing it!" he winks, going into the first isolated alley just enough to allow him to disappear.

And when Kevin shows up at Jessica's door he finds that thesis corroborated.

"Kevin!" she smiles, surprised.

"I still have time, so happy birthday, my brave Knight!" he murmurs, kissing her tenderly.

“Thanks, but you don't know what you risked! Zira left just five minutes ago, he received a text message and didn't understand anything anymore…. " she explains.

"Let's say I introduced myself because I had this feeling." he reveals, with the smile of someone who knows everything. "And, tell me, Miss birthday girl, do you want to be kidnapped?"

"You would be my hero if you took me away from here ... but it's only Zira who left, I'm still in the middle of this fucking party and I certainly can't kick everyone away ..." she bites her lip.

"And who said you have to do it?" he looks at her with a sly attitude, entering without even waiting for permission. "Good evening, folks, go ahead and have fun, you won't even notice Jessica's absence and forget that I was here." he raises his voice, to overpower the music.

"Oh, damn, there's Patsy too, I saw her later ... do you want me to go and undo my command over her?" Killgrave grows worried, afraid he annoyed his girlfriend.

Jessica watches her sister as she is talking to a shelf, acting as if it was a person.

"Never mind, I don't think she'd notice anyway." she replies, only to look at herself in her ripped black jeans and a Nirvana T-shirt. "At least let me change before you kidnap me, it was supposed to be a quiet party, so I didn't even think about getting dressed up." she grows agitated.

"You're perfect like that, sweetheart." he approves.

As usual, he’s very elegant in his magenta jacket, with a colorful striped shirt over classic dark blue trousers.

He gives her just enough time to grab a jacket before walking away with her.

"Perfect, I'm more than ready for you, Mr. kidnapper."

"Great, because there is still a missing gift ... mine, but I want to give it to you in a special place."

Jessica not only has to agree to be 'kidnapped' but also blindfolded, before getting into the taxi that takes them to their destination and only after a ride in the elevator, the blindfold is removed from her eyes.

They are still at the Empire State Building , they are still on the terrace, they are still the only people present, but this time there is a blanket spread out in the center, other blankets stacked in case the night gets colder, a bowl full of juicy cherries , a dark chocolate ganache and a bottle of mint vodka, kept cold.

"Kevin, I’m speechless!" Jessica jumps around his neck, ecstatic.

“I'm happy you are, but this only serves to create atmosphere. There are still five minutes to midnight, I still have time. " he smiles at her, handing her a blue box.

Opening it, Jessica finds inside a silver pendant of the Empire State Building, with its chain, also in silver.

The girl says nothing, she simply smiles beaming and kisses her boyfriend's face.

"With the hope that it will always remind you of our first date, but I also hope this will be another wonderful night." he murmurs, putting it around her neck.

"I'm sure it will be, the start was with a bang." she smiles as they take their places on the blanket and Kevin opens the vodka.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm afraid I forgot the shot glasses." he notices.

"Do I strike you as the type who cares for certain formalities?" she chuckles, taking a sip from the bottle and inviting him to do the same, before they share a long alcoholic kiss.

"Did you also order the sky to be so starry and cloudless?" she comments when they separate, looking up.

"No that was just luck!" he smiles, holding her close, before he feeds her with a cherry he dipped in chocolate fondue.

The moan of appreciation that Jessica emits causes an immediate swelling in his pants and she seems to notice while she repeats the same process with him, taking off his jacket and starting to unbutton his shirt.

She dips another cherry but this time he deliberately drops a few drops of chocolate on the now exposed neck, cleaning it with licks and hickeys.

“Oh, Jessica…” he moans, his self-control increasingly compromised.

Exactly what she wants.

She takes off her jacket, throws it carelessly in some corner of the terrace and also takes off her T-shirt, letting it fall on the blanket, before straddling him, taking his hands and putting them on her breasts.

"Oh, my God, Jessica!" Kevin gasps, in obvious difficulty.

“There couldn't be a more perfect moment: here, tonight, you and me, all of this. We have blankets and vodka to warm us up until dawn if necessary… what else are we waiting for? " she looks at him slyly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He grins impatiently, kissing her hungrily, as he gropes her breasts, still covered by that thin layer of tissue that she is going to wear not any longer.

"I thought it was your birthday, but you're giving me the gift." he murmurs against her lips, before celebrating properly.

-------------------------------

               New York, Barnes & Noble, 555 5th Avenue, 21 May 2006

Not what Aziraphale expected. He thought he was savoring the authenticity of the place, immersing himself in the reading of the oldest and most unobtainable volumes of the city and instead ... everything is so modern that it almost sickens him, there are the latest releases, current trends, large-scale editions ... the same of Kryptonite if he was Superman!

- And yet I don't understand, Crowley knows my liking, why on earth did he advise me to come here? It almost sounds like ... a revenge. Did I do something wrong last night?- he wonders, pouting.

He decides that he has nothing to do with that bookcase, a product of the most extreme materialism, and rushes disappointed towards the exit, when he seems to see the very cause of his bad mood entering.

- Maybe it's the imagination that plays tricks on me ... no, I'm not mistaken, that's Crowley ... just a little different ... - he approaches between curious and confused.

"I was looking for you, but I never expected to find you in a bookshop that wasn't mine ... why did you suggest me a place that doesn’t match my preferences at all?"

"I beg your pardon? You must have mistaken me for another person, Sir, I'm here to pick up a book I ordered for work. I'm a psychologist ... and you look like you need one. " Kevin mutters, looking confused at that elegant gentleman with a bit of an old-fashioned look.

"Come on, Crowley, don't make fun of me ... but, above all, what the heck did you do to your beautiful red hair?" the angel grows alarmed.

Kevin finally figures out the misunderstanding.

"Oh, you must be Zira ... I mean, Aziraphale." Kevin lets slip.

Aziraphale may not be a detective, but he's certainly not stupid.

- This man is practically the exact copy of Crowley ... and he told me that his candidate looks a lot like him ... He called me Zira. Just one person, okay, two if I count Patricia, calls me that. Crowley's protégè  has a girlfriend. Jessica told me she's dating a Doctor. He just said he’s a psychologist ... -

Kevin also seems to realize the colossal trouble he's done.

"Forget what I said right now!" he intervenes promptly, looking him in the eye and concentrating as much as possible.

"Oh no, young man, I won't forget a damn thing!" growls the angel, more and more furious.

"Stupid power that doesn't work with angels!" Kevin grumbles, rolling his eyes.

TBC

Chapter Text

Chapter VIII (I): Forbidden Apple

                 New York, Barnes & Noble, 555 5th Avenue, 21 May 2006

"Ah, but this time he won't get away with it, he's crossed the line!" Aziraphale continues to mumble, storming towards the exit like a fury, before Kevin can stop him and slamming the door violently, as if the culprit was that library which has the only flaw of being too modern.

Kevin reflects on what just happened.

- I just met Jessica's guardian, in other words my guardian's love of a lifetime. There is a raging angel prowling the streets. The question is angry with whom? Crowley or Jessica? Both? Who he will go to first, who will I warn? -  he reflects, grabbing his cell phone.

If nothing else, the fact that the blond has chosen a humane way of moving away gives Kevin some time.

- I only have time for a phone call, who can I save? The one to whom I owe everything I have become or ... the one who is becoming the most important person in my life ? - he reflects with the index running between both numbers he has in his phone book.

The choice falls on Jessica, but in the meantime he recalls an important thing.

He can invoke Crowley.

Maybe he can do it mentally, too, if he concentrates as hard as he can?

It's worth a try, as he starts the call to Jessica

- Crowley! I'm at the bookshop that you recommended to your angel, if you hear me, immediately appear here, I’m afraid your life is in serious danger! -

Meanwhile the phone has reached the fourth ring.

- Oh come on, Jessy! - Kevin gets impatient, while at least he has proof that he has a very good mental connection with Crowley.

“Can I know what's going on? What does it mean that Aziraphale was here? " he asks, knowing that his protégé is the only one able to see it.

Regardless of whether or not people may think he’s crazy, in the eyes of the other humans present there Kevin apparently gestures to nothing to keep quiet, while someone finally accepts the call.

"Hey!" Jessica trills happily.

“Wherever you are, run, as far as you can. Zira-knows-everything,-now-I-don't-have-time-to-explain-you-but-run-for-your-life! " the persuader speaks, extremely agitated.

“What Heaven does it mean that Aziraphale knows everything? Everything what? " Crowley agitates.

“Holy Christ, Kevin, please, speak at a more human speed, I swear I didn't understand a fucking thing. Who the hell knows everything, where the hell should I go? " the girl tries to figure out, very confused.

“Your guardian. I met him by chance… he understood who I am, then I unintentionally said something that also made him understand who I am to you… ”he tries to explain more calmly.

"Oh, fuck, fuck, fucking fuck!" she begins to fidget too, pulling a duffel bag out of the closet and starting to fill it with various clothes.

- For the summer, for the winter ... I can use everything, I don't know how long I will have to take refuge, or where! - she mulls, throwing things at random and pulling her passport out of a drawer.

"Oh shit, now I’ll go outside and get hit by the first car available, if I get discorporated maybe it's better!"

Kevin grabs Crowley by the arm, before in the heat of the moment he does something so reckless.

The demon may not be visible to others at the moment, but he is still corporeal, so Kevin can touch him.

But, again to everyone's eyes, it seems like he's holding onto nothing.

Kevin feels a tug on his arm and whirls around, confused and irritated.

He doesn't like being touched.

“Hey man, are you alright? You seem to be hallucinating! " a middle-aged gentleman asks him, with a small group of shop customers who look at him, nodding in apprehension.

Something the handsome persuader just can't stand.

“I'm fine and you, instead of looking after me, should go make some paper airplanes! Here you are certainly not lacking in sheets! " he spurs them on, with the victims who begin to tear the pages from the books in order to carry out that order, with the consequent angry yells from the shop assistants.

"Great move!" Crowley chuckles.

"Killgrave!" Jessica uses her best tone of scolding, since she has heard everything.

“You, make sure you keep quiet here and you, Jessica, it wasn't anything that bad, and anyway, all you should  think about is running away. Damn me and my ideas, I don't manage both of you together, I should have let one of you meet your unlucky  fate! " Kevin grumbles, exasperated.

********************* (At the same time)

                      New York, Hell's Kitchen, 485 West 46th Street, 21 May 2006

“Both who? Who are you there with, Kevin? " Jessica asks nervously, putting on her jacket and grabbing the bag that now is ready.

She knows how unintelligent it is to try to run away from someone who could practically find her all the time, but at least she has to try.

She is walking towards the door when the last person she wants to see literally appears before her eyes.

Person is not even the most suitable term, perhaps a supernatural creature.

A very angry supernatural creature.

"Well, well, my dear, I find you quite busy." Aziraphale exclaims.

The calm in the tone of his voice makes it even more disturbing, if his icy expression weren't enough.
 

"Oh well, I ... I was going ..." Jessica climbs on the mirrors, completely taken aback.

She has never seen him like this.

“Jessica? Is everything okay? " Kevin calls her from speakerphone.

“Were you leaving? A sudden mission? Oh no, wait, let me guess… you decided out of the blue to join your boyfriend at that convention in London, didn't you? Too bad that that conference ... NEVER EXISTED! " he blurts out in the last part, yelling at her.

Kevin heard that.

“Jessica? Answer me, Jessica! JESSICAAAHH! " he yells agitated.

Aziraphale snatches the phone from Jessica, who still can't utter a word.

“I'm taking care of Jessica now. Ah, if you have a way of contacting that great coward of your guardian, tell him that I have no problem probing all six continents, even Antarctica if necessary, or even looking for him on Alpha Centauri , but I would appreciate very much if he had at least the courage of his actions and showed up here of his own free will. " he dismisses him, with a cold education, because even when he is furious, Aziraphale cannot help being kind.

"Zira ... you have to believe me, I couldn't stand to lie to you like that anymore, I wanted to tell you ..." Jessica seems to find the ability to speak again, as she drops the bag on the floor.

“Oh yes, sure, did you want to tell me? It rather seems to me that you wanted to escape! " he retorts.

"But that was more like a reaction in the heat of the moment!" she gets defensive.

“Jessica, do you realize how serious the situation is? I gave you a single indication of what you shouldn’t have done, whom you should have never approached and what do you do? The exact opposite of what I told you ... This reminds me, millennia ago, of someone who was forbidden to eat an apple ... and both times these rules have blissfully gotten fucked up by a snake , not just any one. The forbidden apple can change, but the snake is still the same!" Aziraphale rants.

Jessica doesn't know whether to be more shocked by his inappropriate language or by the content of his statements.

If nothing else, this gives her the courage to fight back.

"Do you really think Crowley brought Kevin and me together?" she frowns, approaching him at her own risk.

"Isn't that so?" he glares at her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Zira, I believe you are drawing some very wrong conclusions ..."

********************* (Simultaneously)

           New York, Barnes & Noble, 555 5th Avenue, May 21, 2006

Kevin stares in shock at the phone that has been barbarously hung up in his face.

Crowley gestures for him to follow him out, where, in a corner secluded enough to do so, he makes himself visible.

At least in the eyes of those who watch the scene, Kevin will actually talk to someone, without being too conspicuous.

“What is he doing to her? Is he torturing her? " his protégé alarms, continuing to stare at his cell phone.

"Do not be ridiculous! Angels don't torture people! " Crowley rolls his eyes. "Although there are two things Aziraphale can't stand: collectors who want to buy the very rare copies of his books and ... liars."

"I'm afraid that then my Jessica is risking a lot and certainly not for the first reason." Kevin bites his lip, worried

"Oh, come on, she's still his protege!" counters the demon.

"Exactly, who’s going to protect her from him?" argues the younger. "And anyway it's your fault only!"

"Oh yes? And, tell me, how would that be my fault? Who has held the game for you ssssince your firsssst official date? " Crowley hisses, annoyed. "Who yesssterday gave you the green light to celebrate her birthday with her?"

"Yeah, okay, it's true you have provided us considerable help," Kevin recognizes. "But it's also true that it was you who told Zi ... Aziraphale to go to this bookstore, to spite him." he raises his voice immediately after. “Why did you have to take revenge? What went wrong yesterday? Am I wrong or did I give you advice and specific directives to follow? "

“And do you think I haven't tried to put them into practice? I took him to Central Park, perfect evening, a sky so starry it seemed fake, ” the redhead begins his tale. "We were there in the middle of a romantic walk, I pretended to stretch to stretch my arm over his waist, I pulled him more to me, I was one step away from kissing him without getting lost in useless chatter ..."

"Great, that's it! " Kevin urges him.

“Wait before saying it. Guess what? He moved away from me because he had seen a homeless man and miracled him blankets, a little food, a hot drink and even some money? He killed the perfect moment… and from there it became a whole'make the blessed tramps happy'  mission  and woe to me if I didn't give him a hand! If my people knew about it they would throw me into holy water in a bloody heartbeat!” Crowley's tale of the disastrous night ends. "So everything is more than clear, that angel doesn't care about me and yesterday he clearly showed it to me!"

"I think you gave up too soon ..." Kevin says, but Crowley almost glares at him.

"Too soon? Too soon?! Too-fucking-soon?" he keeps himself from screaming. “Listen, kid, do you have any idea of the thousand ways and millennia of years I've tried to make him understand something? I have risked all kinds of measures, and you know that my people don’t play gentle at all, to save him from certain death when that perfect idiot ventured into the middle of the French Revolution, dressed as a noble! And then during World War II, when the perfect idiot was about to be discorporated by German spies and, as if that wasn't enough, I miraculously saved the perfect idiot's beloved books to keep them from the explosion I caused myself! Basically it was as if I had a giant sign with the words 'I LOVE YOU' with the LEDs and he… did nothing! So don't you dare to say anymore I haven't been trying for long enough!"

"Oh." Kevin is surprised. “Well, it's not my fault that in six years you haven't even bothered to tell me! So what? Do you want to make an appointment in my diary and lie down on my couch, too? I thought that besides your helper I was also your friend ... and friends confide things to each other. "

This time it's Crowley who feels bad about how he makes the other feel, but it's a temporary feeling.

"Oh right, the same way you did tell me that you were dating my angel's protégé, right?"  he retorts.

"Oh well, but you're the smart one and you found out in less than a day!" the younger shrugs.

"Are you implying that Aziraphale is stupid?" Crowley glares at him.

"Me?! You keep calling him ‘perfect idiot’! " the other points out.

“But he's my perfect idiot! I love him the way he is! "

Kevin smiles, satisfied that they have got to the heart of the matter.

“Bravo, was that so hard to say? Now why don't you also inform the concerned person? " the psychologist winks at him. "If I'm not mistaken, he invited you to take your responsibilities."

- So maybe he'll leave my Jessica alone. - he thinks about his own personal advantage.

“You're right, maybe it's the proper time. He’s already so furious, in the worst case ever he’ll discorporate me and my troubles will be over anyway!" Crowley decides, vanishing.

********************* (At the same time)

                      New York, Hell's Kitchen, 485 West 46th Street, 21 May 2006

"… so he didn't know." Aziraphale mumbles, stroking his chin.

“Nope, he didn't know. The first time he saw me he thought I was just a girl who had captured the interest of his protégé, as had already happened, even if for much shorter periods of time, let's even say just one night ... "Jessica repeats patiently, as she deals with an unwarranted jealousy in the last part.

- Jess, come on, it's the past, you too had fun with tons of guys, before Kevin arrived ... - she does a self-analysis.

"So he didn't force you to meet ..." the angel mulls.

"What part of ‘it wasn't something he wanted’ isn't clear to you?" she mutters in exasperation.

"I don't believe it, angel, did you really think I had planned their meeting, to spite you?" a voice behind them makes them turn.

A voice that is familiar to both of them, but when one of them turns, she gets shocked.

Not that Kevin hadn't already anticipated it, yet seeing it in person is another matter entirely.

"Fucking shit, you're identical to him and at the same time, fucking different!" Jessica walks up to him, analyzing him with the attention to every detail that only a detective can have.

"And she would be the angelic candidate?" Crowley chuckles amused, looking at Aziraphale who still doesn't speak to him.

“First Zira, then Kevin, now een you. Give it up, I'll never become a Bon-ton princess! " she snorts.

"Kevin is too idealistic, sometimes!" Crowley grumbles.

“Let me see something…” and saying it, Jessica takes off those dark glasses before he can figure it out.

"Hey!" he protests, almost feeling naked.

“Ah-ah! 'I knew, besides your hair you had to have something more demonic than Kev! " she comments, putting his glasses back on. "Can you show me that thing that freezes the time?"

“Did that chatty boy tell you that too? And anyway ... hell no, forget it! " he blurts out, grumpy as usual, especially with those he doesn't know.

(End I)

Chapter Text

Chapter VIII (II): Forbidden Apple

Jessica, however, doesn’t give up.

 "What about the wings? Do you have them too? Zira showed me his, do you have feathery ones too or are your more bat-like? "

Aziraphale seems to blow  off some steam as he watches them, amused despite himself.

“Bat-like, my arse! I have wings like his, but mine are black .. ”replies the demon, feeling a little uncomfortable in the last part of his speech.

"I guarantee, Jessica, he has beautiful and very soft wings." Aziraphale breaks his silence, which comforts Crowley.

"Do you have them here with you?" Jessica annoys him with another question.

"What the bloody heaven ssssshould I have with me?" he hisses at her in exasperation, but she doesn't even blink.

“The contracts of the souls, or, no, even better, the printouts with our trends. Zira never shows them to me… how did Kevin work this month? Is it true that I am better? What was my record? " she floods him with questions.

"Angel, can you get her out of my way?" Crowley complains.

"Come on, she’s so young and a little curiosity is normal in young people!" the angel chuckles, and then turns to his protégé. "As a good girl though, give him some slack."

"Okay, demon, I'm not asking you a fucking thing anymore!" she rolls her eyes. "Anyway, listen, sort of older, redder Kevin, I was explaining to Zira how you are not responsible for our meeting." she informs him.

"First of all, I have a name, Crowley, and you'd do well to address me like that, little lady with a more forked tongue than mine!" he hisses at her.

"Yes, I do know your name, boring!" she speaks to him smugly.

"Second, angel, if anything it’s me who feels insulted, if you think I have conspired against you to make them meet!" he acts resentfully.

"Okay, Crowley, you may not be the architect of their meeting, but do you want to deny that you have been going along with it all this time, keeping me in the dark?" Aziraphale countered, his tone angry again. “As a mater of fact, you both kept me in the dark about everything! I may be an angel, but that doesn't give you the right to treat me like the last of the idiots! " he blurts out, almost with tears in his eyes.

"Zira ..." Jessica feels guilty.

"Angel ..." Crowley tries to say something.

“No, shut up! You allowed my assistant  to fall into the clutches of your wicked protége, you allowed him to overwhelm her in a sinful, murky and promiscuous relationship and ... "

" Hey, easy with words! He didn't drag me into a fucking thing! " Jessica points out, stunning her guardian. "The two of us, together , have decided, step by step, how to carry on our relationship, which, for the record, has nothing sinful, turbid or promiscuous." she is keen to clarify.

“Jessica, but…”

“Why don't you want to understand, Zira? I’m not with Kevin because I’m a rebel girl who wanted to do as she pleased and show you that she could even put herself with her Nemesis, just because it was forbidden ... it’s not a challenge against you, it’s not an affront, it’s nothing personal. I'm with Kevin because I love him! "

Jessica pauses, surprising herself because of what she just admitted.

"You love him?" the angel asks her astonished, while the demon seems much less surprised.

 "I ... fuck yes, I love him and that's something I should say to him, first of all." she decides, reaching for the door. “It seems to me that you two still have a lot to argue about; I’ll leave you alone, maybe that's the best thing to do. " she takes her leave, with Aziraphale watching.

"She loves him ..." Aziraphale repeats.

"As I saw my assistant, I would say that he loves her too." Crowley comments, taking one step towards another. “Do you understand why I wanted to protect them? Or why didn't she tell you anything herself? You're the one with the obsession that their meeting would be an unprecedented disaster, it doesn't seem to me that anything irreparable has happened. "

"But ... Good and Evil together ..." Aziraphale protests and it’s no longer clear who he is talking about. "It's wrong."

"Why? How could it be wrong if it’s love that binds them? " Crowley takes another step closer, by now he can breathe on the angel, who shows no signs of stepping back.

He looks at him with his eyes made of sky wide open, unable to move, to speak and even to think.

Even more so when Crowley takes off his glasses to better face his gaze.

Those amber eyes drives Aziraphale crazy.

"It is just when they put a forbidden apple in front of you that you find it the tastiest of all fruits, isn't it, angel?" the demon murmurs, tracing the angel's lips with his fingers. “Couldn't it, indeed no, shouldn’t it be like that among us too? We have seen the effects on two Nemeses for a handful of years, why don't we find out how it could be between two ineffable millennial dumbasses? "

At first Aziraphale smiles, one step away from giving in to his flattery, but then he seems to recover his cold irrationality and moves away from him.

"I'm an angel! You can't tempt me with lustful carnal pleasures! '

“I don't want to tempt you, angel. I do not aim for the pleasures of the flesh alone, I love you, whatever you choose to do. "

Enough, he told him, once and for all.

They are both shocked.

"You love Me?" repeats Aziraphale, still incredulous.

"Wasn't that clear to you yet, angel?" Crowley looks at him, tilting his head to one side. “I rather understand if you can't love me, you know, right? Demon, blah, blah, wicked among the wicked, blah, blah, unforgivable… ”the redhead self commits, looking sad at the ground.

What he does not expect is to end up entangled in Aziraphale's embrace, made double by the wings that envelop him.

“Crowley, you'll never be any of this to me. Indeed, you are infinitely better than many angels and archangels I have known. " the blond holds him even tighter, while the wings dissolve.

“NGK! Really, angel? Could you then vaguely consider the idea of being loved by me? " the demon timidly ventures.

"Only if you consider the idea of being loved by me, little snake of my heart!" Aziraphale smiles at him.

The other almost faints.

"Do you mean that you ... you, too?"

"I have been loving you ever since on the walls of the East Gate of Eden you gave me that speech about right or wrong." Aziraphale decides to reveal to him. "I just thought that, being you a demon, your only interest was to make fun of me if you discovered this weakness of mine."

"Weakness?! I've been loving you since you told me about the sword! " Crowley confides to him in turn, with a big smile.

They both burst out laughing.

"So we spent over six thousand years to ..." the blonde continues.

“Mutually pining over each other, totally unaware of what the other was feeling? Yep, it seems so, angel. " Crowley admits.

"I hope we have over six thousand years to make up for all the lost time, dear." Aziraphale smiles at him.

"We won't waste a single day again, angel." Crowley strokes his hair.

“And, really, I wasn't kidding before, I don't want to force you in any way. I love you and whatever you want to give me will be enough, even if it's just holding my hand, I'll be fine… ”

Crowley can't speak anymore because Aziraphale pulled him to himself for a kiss that doesn't even pretend to be hesitant.

The angel's tongue invades the demon's mouth, which seems to wait only for that, starting to explore it.

Not that the angel has ever done anything like this before, his is pure instinct.

Crowley, who instead has a long and consolidated experience in this issue, prefers not to reciprocate, not yet, at least.

The demon moves away from him, looking at him with adoring eyes.

"So, do you still think it's wrong?" he questions him.

Aziraphale is still reeling from his own initiative, but he can't help watching him. And still craving him. In any possible way.

"'The only thing wrong would be to quit!" the blond almost growls, before resuming kissing him, but this time Crowley is more than ready to kiss him back.

"I love you so much, my precioussssssss Forbidden Apple!" he hisses against his neck, biting him passionately.

"You call me Apple because I'm a bit chunky, right, my dear?" Aziraphale protests among groans.

"Ssssshut up, you ssssssstupid angel!" Crowley hugs him, continuing to eat him with kisses. "What do you say, we make ourselves more comfortable? There is such a beautiful sofa there ... ” he suggests, pointing to the living room.

“But ... here, now? What if Jessica comes back? " the angel worries, albeit intrigued.

"I think your protége has better things to do."

********************* (At the same time)

                    New York, Four Seasons Hotel, 57 East 57th Street, 21 May 2006

Undecided about what to do and to keep his mind occupied, Kevin has walked back to his hotel.

He’s about to cross the hall when a phone call comes.

He sighs in relief as he reads on the display whom this is from.

“Jessica, my darling, how are you? What did he do to you? Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Can you ask me one question at a time?" she giggles, a sign that she is fine. "Tell me where you are instead."

"I’ve just got back to the hotel ..."

"Well, go up to your room, I'll join you." she decides, hanging up.

A few minutes later, Kevin hears a knock on his door and as soon as he opens he finds Jessica in front of him, who wastes no time, kissing him violently.

"I guess your guardian gave you his approval to keep dating me!" he chuckles, deepening the kiss.

"I would have done it even without his fucking permission!" she growls, holding closer to him. "I think he’s got his hands full with your guardian now." she adds, parting  from him.

"Are you saying that ...?" Kevin senses, happy for Crowley.

"Hell yeah, I’m saying that!" she giggles, sitting on the bed and inviting him to do the same.

"Dear my super heroine, you reached me a little too quickly… didn't you just happen to use your super jumps?" he scrutinizes her, suspicious.

"It was worth using them if I had a super desire to see you!" she retorts, snatching a smile from him, before she becomes more serious. "Kevin, I have to tell you something, but I don't know how you're going to react."

"Why don’t you just tell me?" he murmurs as she holds both of his hands.

"I know we have been together for a very short time, not even two months, but you make me feel so good, with you and only with you I feel so free and complete that ... Kevin Killgrave Thompson, I think I love you, no, fuck, I don't think it. I’m fucking sure  I love you and that's it." she bites her lip, fearing an unpleasant reaction.

Kevin could almost scream with delight.

“Oh, Jessica, I love you too, you don't know how much I do. I wanted to tell you yesterday, at the Empire State Building , but I was afraid it was too soon and you would be scared. " he reveals, making her feel all over the moon.

“The only thing that scared me was seeing Zira so out of his mind, before certain things happened. I swear to you, he could have done anything, at least I think so, and at worst my biggest regret would have been not being able to tell you these things while I still had time. " she reveals.

"Oh, Jessica!" he hugs her tightly.

"However, Kevin, being together seriously for me means that I need more stability, I don't like knowing you are in a hotel, where you could leave from one day to the next ..." she mumbles.

“Jessica, I love you. And loving you means I'm not going anywhere. " he reassures her. "What if I gave you a key to convince you?"

She separates from him to better face his gaze.

"A key?" she repeats perplexed.

“The one who opens the door of the house where we are going to live together, only we have to choose it first, what do you say? And I swear I'll buy it with the… normal method, no powers. " he promises.

Jessica laughs and then jumps on him, laying him on the bed beneath her.

“A house of our own? To live together? Fuck, yes, I'm in! And I don’t give a  fuck about what the others could say! " she smiles, kissing him with renewed enthusiasm.

"It’s just you and me, Jessica." he kisses her, pulling her hair back.

"Kev, just promise me one thing."

"Anything you want, love."

"Never dye yourself red!" she makes him laugh.

TBC

Chapter Text

Chapter IX: Building something

                  New York, Four Seasons Hotel, 57 East 57th Street, 21 May 2006

"Okay, now let's go out and tell them." Jessica decides, getting out of bed.

"But weren’t we supposed to give a damn about everyone's opinion?" Kevin protests, who would like to stay in that bed much longer. With her.

"Precisely. Before we can give a damn about what they think, they have to think something! " she specifies, with a sly smile. "Come on, come on."

Kevin may have the gift of mind control, but between the two, she's the one who really commands.

"But I don't accept jumps for the rooftops with you taking me in your arms!" he clarifies.

“And no random people you order to give us a ride. Let's call a taxi, like normal people do. " she negotiates, coming to a compromise.

                     New York, Hell's Kitchen, 485 West 46th Street, 21 May 2006

Once they arrive at their destination, Jessica opens the door to her apartment unceremoniously and finds an angel and a demon half-dressed on her sofa, one on top of the other.

"Have you found a funnier way to do your reports?" Kevin teases them.

Aziraphale jumps, taken by surprise.

"Oh ... fuck!" he lets himself escape due to the agitation. "I gave you an endless sermon on how much you should keep away from your Nemesis and I, who should set a good example, let you find myself here, on your sofa, in addition, as I’m ..." he begins to speak in bursts, before Crowley blocks him pulling the angel closer.

“Look at them a tad more accurately, angel. Do you see shock in their eyes? Do you really see them so surprised? Of course not, they already knew, before us! " Crowley points out to him, much more relaxed, despite being shirtless, while Aziraphale, in a hurry to cover himself, puts on his shirt backwards, with buttons on the back.

“Exactly, we know. We can also add 'About time, fuck!' ” explains Jessica.

Aziraphale seems to calm down, while with a small miracle he dresses himself correctly.

“Did you know before us? So you couldn't tell us? " mutters the angel.

"After six millennia, one month more, one month less, what would change?" Kevin shrugs.

"My protégé is not entirely wrong and then, angel, we had to get there by ourselves." Crowley hugs him, and the blond doesn’t even try to complain.

“As for my sofa, no problem; as a matter of fact, as far as I'm concerned, you can have the whole apartment in a few months, if you want, ”Jessica warns them, hugging Kevin before the big announcement. "Kevin and I love each other and are going to live together!"

"And we don't give a damn if you don't approve!" Kevin gives her a hand.

"But it's wonderful!" the angel rejoices, having yet another confirmation of how serious and stable their relationship is.

"I certainly won't hinder you, but forget that my angel and I are coming to live in this shack!" Crowley mumbles, putting on his black T-shirt.

"What a fucking snob you are, Kevin likes it here!" Jessica scolds the demon.

"No, love, let's clear something up, I may like who lives in it, but Crowley is right, your house is a shack!"

"Oh well, sure, you are Mr. Four-Seasons, if nothing else I understand why Crowley has chosen you as his protégé : you are two fucking snobs, identical!" she barks, and then looks at the angel. "Zira, at least you like it here, right?"

"Well, my dear, a few miracles to restructure certain spots would help ..."

"You made it very clear to me: I'm dealing with three fucking snobs!" the Detective snaps, pushing all three of them towards the exit. "Get out of my shack, thank you!" she slams the door in their faces.

"Me too?" Kevin protests from the other side of the door, loudly to be heard.

"Especially you!" she specifies in the same way, annoyed.

“Someone can explain to me exactly what happened? Two minutes ago we were happy, in love and now she ‘s kicked me to the bloody doghouse? " the persuader mutters. “Wait a minute… we didn’t even have a dog! Will she like dogs? Maybe I can fix things by buying one?!”

“Will you please just shut the heaven up?” Crowley groans, tired of hearing his paranoia.

“Actually I never asked Jessica about dogs, I can’t help you, boy, I’m sorry…” Aziraphae bites his lips, looking at Kevin, before gaining a glare from Crowley.

“Please, forgive me, dear, okay, no more dog topics.” he assures.

"That’s better, dogs won’t ever help you.Welcome to a serious relationship, my friend!" Crowly wraps an arm around Kevin’s shoulder. "Rule one: lie, always, if it's about making your partner happy, like when Azi invites me to drink in his library with all those boring and dusty books and I pretend it's the most beautiful place in the world ..." he tells him, but he remembers too late that the aforementioned partner is still there with them.

The blond now sports an expression identical to the last one they saw on Jessica’s face.

"Boring and dusty books huh?" repeats Aziraphale, angrily.

"But no, angel, that was just one example," Crowley grasps at straws. "Weren't we supposed to cuddle up all night?"

"I think I'm going to cuddle just a boring and dusty book!" the blond counters indignantly, vanishing with a snap of his fingers.

"These forces of Good are a little touchy, huh?" Kevin plays down.

"Between one glass of red wine and the next we will find a way to be forgiven," Crowley offers as they walk away. “And, nope, it’s not buying a stupid dog!”

"I'm up to having a remarkable amount of alcohol, after all both you and I have a lot to celebrate!" Kevin grins.

                      New York, 389 Upper East side 89th Street, 22 May 2006

"You and Kevin what?" Trish fears she hasn't understood properly.

Or rather, she fears she has understood very well.

When her sister told her she was going to come to her with big news, she certainly didn't expect these big ones.

"Kevin and I love each other, we want to spend as much time as possible together, that’s why we’re going to live together," Jessica repeats, with all the calm she can muster, but undisguised by a deep joy that shines through her eyes.

"Did he command it to you?" Trish ventures to ask.

"What? Fuck no, Trish, I'm in of sound mind and body, he promised not to use his power on me, as he won't on you. He will also be the helper of Evil, but above all he is a man of his word. "

"The only difference is that with his words he does a lot of damage." the speaker bites back.

"Trish!" the detective warns her.

“Okay, okay. It's just that it seems to me that you are running a little too much… ”mumbles the sister.

"Can you see you're a fucking hypocrite?" Jessica interrupts her, at loggerheads. "When you thought I was going out alone with a Doctor, with no paranormal powers involved, you wished you could see me with the ring on my finger from the first date!" she puts her in trouble.

“You're right, Jess, I'm sorry… I just don't trust him. If he’s the chosen one of a wicked demon, it must mean something. "

"This is because you don't know that demon!" the brunette chuckles, now calmer.

"And I don't plan to."

"You should, now that he's paired steadily with our Zira, who's over the moon." Jessica informs her. “As for me and Kevin, although we're going to live together, I don't want to see him at the moment. He said my house is a shack. " Jessica reports, still furious at the memory.

A long minute of awkward silence follows.

"Aren't you saying anything, Trish?" the brunette spurs her on.

"Well, Jess, your house is a bit of a shack."

"Well apparently I'm surrounded by fucking snobs!" Jessica grumbles, walking away and slamming the door, but not loud enough to cause any real damage.

- Ok, my house is a shack for real, but only I can afford to say it !

----------------------------------------------------

                      New York, Maspeth, 455 74th Street, 22 Aug 2006

It took just a couple of days to restore peace between the two couples, with a lot of goodwill and even more inventiveness, but finding a home for the two lovers took a little more time.

However, towards the end of the summer of that year, Kevin and Jessica can consider themselves the proud and satisfied owners of a lovely cottage in Queens , about a twenty minute drive from Hell's Kitchen and Manhattan in general.

The house is on two floors, alternating parts in wood with others in rock.

A small white fence borders the porch, there is a large lawn and even a small space used as a vegetable garden, if one day they wanted to create one, but neither Kevin nor Jessica seem to have a green thumb.

Once the moves were complete, Trish was the first to visit them, as she is the closest.

It must also be said that all the while she kept as close as possible to Jessica, avoiding being alone with Kevin, no matter how hospitable he might have been.

After their brief experience as tourists, Crowley and Aziraphale returned to London, taking care of the monthly reports, where sometimes Kevin excelled, sometimes Jessica did.

The balance between Evil and Good has remained intact, as it should be.

Due to the inauguration of the new home of their protégés, the angel and the demon, more in love than ever, have taken another short vacation to visit them.

Jessica and Kevin are waiting for them directly on the porch.

"Come in, I'll show you the whole house!" Jessica invites them, enthusiastic, a perfect hostess.

And now no one can dare to tell her that her house is a shack anymore.

The closer the two supernatural creatures get, the more Jessica notices that one of them is holding something.

"Crowley, how nice of you to bring us a plant," Jessica smiles at him.

"Huh? No way, this is not a gift, this is mine, I took it with me, so if I get bored I can scold her to spend the time. " the demon gruffly explains.

Jessica looks towards Kevin for answers, but the psychologist without even resorting to verbal language makes her understand that it is better not to ask questions about it.

"Anyway, I'm not nice at all! Never!" Crowley points out angrily.

"Oh yes sure, and what about the duck with the wounded wing that you rescued and miraculously healed the other day?" Aziraphale puts him in trouble.

"Angel!" protests the redhead, who still has a evil reputation to maintain.

Crowley will never admit that he called that duck Jay McDuck and that he keeps him in the greenhouse of his apartment, where he has made an artificial pond appear, waiting for the duck to return to his natural environment, or, perhaps more likely, to find him company. and keep them both, including future ducklings.

"But first of all good manners, we didn't come empty-handed!" the angel joyfully announces.

When they arrive at the kitchen, Aziraphale reveals their gift in front of the large double-door refrigerator.

“We had them made by an Earth craftsman, this is not a miracle,” explains Crowley, while Aziraphale exposes what they are talking about.

"That's right, every time you use them you will think of us!" the blond smiles, finishing sticking the set of magnets they brought to the refrigerator. 

In the order there are one in the shape of an angel, one in the shape of a devil, followed by a pile of books, a vase with a plant, a vintage car from the late 1920s, a vintage cash register, a cup of tea and a glass of red wine.

"Wow! They are very cool!" approves Jessica. "I think I'll always use this!" he adds, removing the one with the glass of red wine from the refrigerator.

"I prefer tea," Kevin admits, like a good Englishman.

"And here we always have the doubt that perhaps we have reversed the choice of our protégés ..." mutters Aziraphale.

"But the magnet of the car reminds me that I would like one too,"

"But if you don't even drive!" Jessica interrupts her boyfriend.

“Not a good reason not to have one. Sooner or later I’ll follow my mentor's example and 'persuade' a wealthy owner to give me his car. " Kevin grins and everyone understands what he means by 'persuade'.

"Oh no, Azi, I can confirm that we have chosen very well!" Crowley chuckles, hugging his angel.

The tour of the house continues and they arrive at the living room, where the element that stands out the most is a large painting, which is not a painting, but a framed photo of Jessica and Kevin.

Kevin notices Crowley and Aziraphale's unspoken interest and becomes a storyteller.

“The basic idea was to make one of those sit straight photos, like the perfect ones you find inside the frames when you buy them. I had set the self-timer, we were posing, only in the last seconds, Jessica got hold of the remote, while I was watching the final of a rugby match, the very last touchdown. As a result, I threw myself on her, who pushed the remote control further away and laughed carefree. And that's when the photo was taken. "

"Exactly, so instead of a fake photo of stuffed owls with the plastic smile that Mr. Control wanted, this image came out so lively and spontaneous and in the end he liked it so much that he printed it and put it there." the detective explains with satisfaction.

"Don't you have a picture of you two framed together in your house?" Kevin asks.

"We don't even have a house of our own." Aziraphale sighs unhappily, with Crowley hugging him.

"You know, my people, as well as his people, wouldn't like to know that the two of us ... fraternize." explains the demon.

“That's right, and even if we love each other we must do it with caution, so that no one suspects anything. Living together would be like putting up a neon sign for us to discover. " specifies the angel.

Kevin and Jessica look at them with something that comes very close to pity, looking for the right words to say, but they don't come.

"Wait a minute, angel, do you know what a neon sign is?" Crowley makes fun of him, but it's just to play down.

(End I)

Chapter Text

Chapter IX (II): Building something

**********************

    Paradise, Fifth Heaven, 22 Aug 2006

Archangel Michael finishes talking to an angel below the hierarchy and as soon as he walks away, making sure that no one is looking at her, she takes out her latest generation, ultra-flat, cloud-colored smartphone.

She doesn't have to wait long for the recipient of her call to answer.

"What do you want, feathered pain in the ass?" growls Ligur's hollow voice on the fifth ring.

"Tsk, tsk, you demons should take a crash course in good manners, this is surely not the way to treat your favorite informant..." the archangel pretends to scold him.

"You are my only informant!"

"One more reason to be the favorite, don’t you think?"

"I don't have time for your heavenly games, get to the point!" the demon urges her.

“It seems your Earth envoy and ours meet each other far more often than their duty requires,” begins Michael.

“A demon and an angel who… fraternize? Eeew, I could vomit just at the thought of it! "

"Don't tell me, but there's more ... Do you remember their weird plan to find special helpers?"

"I remember it all right, here in Hell we don't talk about anything other than the reports we get, the one who has chosen Crowley knows his stuff!"

"Aziraphale's protege is also very good, but that's not the point!"

"So why don’t you tell me, little archangel ..."

"That's exactly what I was going to do ... and don't call me that!" she gets angry. “It seems that these special helpers met…”

“And they killed each other? Too bad, I liked those reports… ”Ligur grumbles.

“Will you stop interrupting me? Other than waging war, those two fell in love and are now living together! "

"What? Those two are a disappointment, they are just like those two idiots who chose them ... ”the demon shakes his head, with a disgusted look.

"Yes, I know, it's really reproachful, but all in all it can work in our favor: from that love something very special could be born, a child who contains in himself a bit of Heaven and a bit of Hell, the perfect candidate for Armageddon. " Michael points out.

"Ooooh, I hadn't thought of that!"

"It doesn't surprise me, you demons never think!"

"Hey!"

"I've already informed my boss and I thought yours might be interested in it too ..."

"Oh yes, I'll have Beelzebub's full attention when I tell her." Ligur says.

“Anyway, I didn't tell you anything. And for the dirty work, I expect you to take care of it… ” Michael ends the call.

"Oh yeah, we're great at dirty work down here!" grins the demon, putting away the cell phone.

-------------------------------------------------

                          New York, Maspeth, 455 74th Street, 10 Sept 2006

"Best wishes to the most charming thirty year old guy I know!" Jessica trills happily, assaulting her sleeping partner under the sheets.

The fact of having her astride him, only wearing a skimpy black underwear, while kissing him everywhere, is certainly a pleasant awakening for the birthday boy.

“Thanks, love, but… how did you know? I’ve never told you… oh, you must have asked Aziraphale for a miracle! " try to make a local mind him.

"Oh please, I'm a brilliant detective, don't you think I haven't been able to check your ID on more than one occasion?" she smiles slyly. "Do you seriously call yourself Doctor Killgrave?" She mocks him.

"Of course yes, that's my name, Miss Nosey!" he retorts, reversing roles and placing himself on top of her.

"Not for me, you're just Kevin." she kisses him, remaining beneath him, well aware of a certain morning awakening in him.

"Oh well since I'm already awake ..." he smiles mischievously, making her feel his presence even more.

But Jessica has other plans.

"Exactly, since you're awake, we can think of your gift." she sneaks out of bed, waiting for him to do the same.

"My present?" he asks her, intrigued.

“Exactly, what birthday would it be without a gift? It's just not something I can wrap and it's something that will involve both of us, ”she teases.

"Huh, if you tell me so I'm just even more curious!"

"Then run and take a shower, I've already done before, so we should arrive in Manhattan by eleven, your gift is waiting for us there!" she instructs him.

-------------------------

                    New York, Manhattan, 235 W 18th Street, 10 Sept 2006 

"A tattoo shop?" comments Kevin skeptically, after the taxi, at Jessica's recommendation, dropped them off in front of Manhattan Tattoos LLC .

“Not just any tattoo shop, the best shop in town. Trish told me all the VIPs come and get their tattoos done here. "

"Well, I like being treated like a VIP." he smiles.

"Trish knows the owner and he gave me a special price, so don't be a bummer, because they won't refund me!" Jessica points out.

"When on the Empire State Building, I gave you that pendant, I don't recall saying: 'Enjoy it because the shop doesn't accept changes'!" he counters. "And anyway, it's not true, they would have accepted it from me." He grins. “And, tell me,, what do you want me to get tattooed? A skull, a snake or ... "

" A date. Our date: April 5th, 2006. Our very first meeting. The beginning of us. We'll both do it and you can choose where, although I think I'll do it at heart level, ”she confesses.

"And this would be the tough detective, all in one piece?" he looks at her, surprised, hugging her.

"I decide who to open up with," she murmurs, abandoning herself in his arms.

“I like the heart as a tattoo area. Okay, my Brave Knight, let's do this madness! " he agrees.

"After you, Princess in Danger!" she spurs him on as they walk along the short hedge that separates them from the study door.

"Luckily you don't want me to tattoo that nickname!" Kevin consoles himself.

About an hour later, when they leave, the two lovers are proud of their lettering at the left pectoral level for Kevin, along the curve of the left breast for Jessica.

“I was expecting an improvisation from Crowley and therefore also Zira, instead… nothing…” Jessica comments, as they wait for the taxi.

“I believe they won’t show up, Crowley doesn't even know it's my birthday, we never talk about these things that are too human for him. As a matter of fact, he doesn't have a birthday, ”Kevin explains.

"So? Zira doesn't have it either, but he likes these human things too much so he came up with a fake one, so Trish and I celebrate it, ”Jessica tells him.

"Seriously?"

"Yes, at first he had decided on December 25th, then it seemed too important as a date and he opted for a milder November 25th."

"I'll have to tell Crowley, even if it's fake it's not a good reason to forget his birthday!" ponders the persuader.

Once back in the house, as soon as they arrive in the living room, Kevin finds it different from how they left it.

There is no longer their picture, not even the television, the sofas are covered with sheets, as well as the furniture and there are sheets lying on the ground

"But what ...."

"Let me explain, while we were gone, I left my keys to Trish and asked her to fix the room, for the second part of my gift." she reveals.

"Is there a second part?" he wonders, amazed, as she goes away to return a few minutes later with a cart loaded with paint buckets.

And they are all purple. Every possible shade of that colour.

"Well, we can say the leitmotiv is still 'colour on the skin', only this time it is washable," she informs him, setting up all the colors, before undressing until she remains with the slips, with the film covering the small portion of tattooed skin that shines on her body.

“Oh, Jess, this is an even better gift,” he murmurs, starting to undress.

"Also because you know that on any other day of the year if you tried to do this to me I would make you swallow the paint!" she threats him, laying down on the sheet. "Come on, I'm your canvas, follow your instinct, you can paint my hair too."

Kevin, now left alone with the boxers, smiles and takes one of the smaller brushes, dips it in a purple so dark it seems black and begins his work.

Jessica smiles at the tickle that brush does to her nipples, the place Kevin decided to start from.

The improvised painter decides to color one breast mauve, this time using a larger brush for the other he chooses the periwinkle, saving only the area just tattooed ..

The movements are delicate, so much so that for Jessica that activity is purely pleasant.

Encouraged by her reactions, Kevin takes up the small brush again, this time painting it with a sangria color with which he draws squiggles, similar to spirals on the parts where he has just passed the two previous colors.

For the navel he chooses the orchid color, around which he draws a flower.

For her hair he already knows he won't have all that patience, he dips his hands directly into the magenta bucket and caresses those soft raven locks, streaking them with that bright tone.

Those hands still stained with color he puts them directly on the girl's face, kissing her, he has waited too long to do so.