I still like the interpretation that God favours Aziraphale and Crowley, and is sort-of preventing Aziraphale from Fallling properly for his little indulgences, because they both have Free Will.
God created Humans with Free Will - not Angels, and therefore, not Demons either.
Well. Except Aziraphale and Crowley - it can be seen as them ‘going native’ from exposure to Humans, being able to make their own choices now, but I think it goes deeper.
Crowley has clearly been comfortable with exerting his Free Will and defying Hell since the very Beginning - emphasised most, I think, in the Job minisode, where he’s already settled into the ‘I’m on my own side’ routine and it feels like he’s been disobeying Hell for a good while. And if i may tie this into the Crowley is Lucifer theory for a second, he’d be the first Angel to ever develop Free Will, which is what led to him falling in the first place. He has something no Angel or Demon has - imagination. He’s been unique in his ability to ask questions from the very start.
But Aziraphale also had it from the start. He gave away his sword. He acted on his own internal sense of Right, of Good, that was separate from Heaven’s wishes at the Beginning. People have already made observations about the ‘I gave it away’ moment from S1E1 as the moment Crowley fell in love, but it goes deeper than that. This is where Crowley realises that he’s NOT the only Angel to ever develop Free Will. This Angel, who’d previously warned him off asking questions like any other would’ve, had an Inkling of human choice in him (a choice that led to the birth of violence and the Sword becoming the symbol of war, unintentionally).
THAT is why Crowley became interested in Aziraphale. That’s why he sought him out at Noah’s arc, to talk to the only other Celestial Being capable of choosing like he could. It’s why he stuck to Aziraphale during the Job fiasco. He was nurturing that part of him, encouraging his Free Will to blossom. Introducing him to human food. Letting him see what he could do with it. It’s also why he doesn’t want Aziraphale to Fall - obviously, Crowley is heavily protective of his Angel, but at that early stage he also doesn’t want the only Angel with Free Will left in Heaven to suffer the same fate he did.
The part of Aziraphale Crowley fell in love with was his ability to choose. His free will. His silly little requests like asking him to miracle away a paint stain when he could do it himself, enjoying food so immensely, assisting Aziraphale in a dangerous magic trick because he CHOSE to do it, because he said ‘Trust Me’, all his little quirks and their arguments and the exceedingly HUMAN behaviours he’s picked up over the years. Crowley loves Aziraphale as Aziraphale, not the Angel.
And despite himself, its also what Aziraphale loves about Crowley. He loves Crowley for Crowley’s Goodness - what he doesn’t understand is that Crowley’s Goodness isn’t Heaven’s Goodness. Heaven’s Goodness is the Goodness that drowned the world. Heaven’s Goodness is the Goodness that wanted Job’s children dead. Heaven’s Goodness with leave the world just as destroyed as Hell’s Evil.
But he doesn’t realise that. Not yet, anyway. And, as an Angel with Free Will, why wouldn’t you want him for the Second Coming?
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Hear me out bae,, Chamber x GN! Agent! Reader where they have similar personalities / relationship is Vi and Caitlyn from Arcane? Just the Reader being super flirty and bold, where Chamber is more focused on the task at hand? The reader also refers to him as Angel (as a nickname!) The reader gets into a SUPER bad fight with a mirror agent and wins, but Reader is left practically bleeding out + crawling (Reader got stabbed pretty bad in the side of their stomach, and over all just beaten up ; Basically the Bar fight w/ Vi and Sevika) and Chamber has to step in and help Reader get back to base, and even though Reader is literally bleeding out, they still flirt with him and are like, "See.. I knew you were my Angel :')" and then Chamber FINALLY reciprocates / flirts back saying something like, "If I were truly an Angel, I would follow you to the deepest pit of hell if it meant being with you." (or something like that) and the reader is just 😳 because Chamber flirted back x10 ???
OML I love this concept!! Pls bear with me as I haven’t actually seen Arcane (I swear as soon as I remember the Netflix password im in cause there’s this really hot lady with the gold hair bands and I have a mighty need to simp) but hehehe always down for a bit of a scuffle…
I also fully believe your reader is the reason behind Chamber’s line “stay focused, eyes off me.”
Chamber x GN!Reader: My Angel
The flyover on the dropship is a bog-standard one. Kay/0 sits at the control panel, Reyna broods in the front seat, Viper is… somewhere, checking her chemicals.
That leaves you, and him.
Chamber currently sits, back pressed against the metal and Headhunter in hand, examining the metal intently for any kind of imperfection. His eyes flicker quickly, methodically, rotating the weapon ever so slowly as he does so.
Naw, the opportunity’s too good to pass up.
“Chamber, darling, that weapon really is like its owner—you’re not going to find any imperfections there. Lost cause if you ask me.”
Without looking up, the man allows a small smile to tug the corner of his mouth.
“Oh believe me, mon canard, if I could be certain of that I would not be here. A person that cuts corners in this line of work is a corpse.”
“And yet, Phoenix and Yoru seem to be doing fine.”
“Touché.”
“Anyway, we’ve got your back, Angel. Not gonna give you up or let you down with hair so perfect it looks like it came straight from god.”
Chamber scoffs, and gives the gun a final appraisal, running his fingers along the barrel before he sets it back in the holster. “I trust you as much as I trust my tech. A healthy serve, but not the only thing on my plate.”
“Oh ye of little faith, Chamber.”
As he moves to quality check on his calling cards, you sigh and fiddle with your own pistol, idly spinning the fixings on the barrel and twiddling the ammo through your fingertips. He was always so focused when it came to missions… which was fine.
You don’t know why it wouldn’t be fine.
Why wouldn’t it be fine?
As the ship starts to land, it jolts you out of your thoughts as Kay/0 comes over the intercom.
“Sights set on Helipad R. Initial sweep from sensors indicates no hostiles on ground. Preparing to land.”
“Hear that pretty boy?” you turn to him. “Beach holiday has just moved up on the agenda.”
“Ahh, if only we had a free moment between all these gunfights to kick back. But alas, mon tresor, we do not.”
“Ugh. Guess I’ll put my bikini away then.” This one does get a mild chuckle from the man. “Now that would be an interesting mission.”
“Oh, you wouldn’t object to a bikini shotgun combo, Chamber? I thought it was kinda trashy but if you’re into that kind of thing…”
“All wild speculation, my dear,” he says, cutting you off and turning away. “I believe this is our cue to set up.”
“Well you’re no fun,” you pout. “Didn’t think Angels were supposed to be so dry and humourless.”
“Plenty of time for frivolities after the mission, ma puce.”
You swing your legs over the side, and land softly in the sand. Stretching and yawning, you take a moment to fully appreciate the ocean breeze and direct sunlight after hours cooped up. Nothing quite like having actual open space to stretch your legs—it was a novelty you could rarely indulge in in your covert lifestyle.
Maybe a beach trip would be nice sometimes.
Starting to move your way over to the bomb site with a massive pillar and old crumbling castle walls, you begin to scope out where you’ll need to put your util once the enemies arrive. You notice with satisfaction that there are a few cracks in the architecture which could be used to hide some shit if it came down to it.
A clean click lets you know that Chamber has started putting his trademarks around the entrances.
“Ah, the Angel returns from yonder, here to grace us with his presence and wisdom~ welcome great one.” You do an exaggerated bow to punctuate the bit.
“I believe Reyna said enemies were on their way, mon chou. I’m here to keep us alert and alive.”
“Have it your way, I’m trying to keep us dripped up and hot as fuc-“
You’re cut off by one of Chamber’s alarms pinging, and you whirl around to get an angle on the main entrance to site. Sure enough, recon bolt has lodged in the cobblestone and you can hear multiple footsteps hurtling around the corner.
“Fuck me. Viper we’ve got shit here, we’re gonna need you to cover.”
“Copy but it’s gonna take me a bit.”
You swear under your breath. “Chamber, where you at?”
The voice comes back through gritted teeth. “My apologies, mon bijou, we have a fair bit of company in elbow.”
You go to make a snarky remark along the lines of ‘where’s a good guardian angel when you need one’ before instinct takes over and you jerk back to avoid a slurry of bullets from the main entrance. Fuck.
A malevolent arcane hiss from around the corner tells you all you need to know—the mirror Reyna is fully on your ass right now.
Counting the three beats like your Reyna taught you, you prime your pistol and set up for an angle. You take your moment and peek the corner, firing your own spat of bullets. You hear a hiss of pain and grunt in satisfaction—probably clipped her shoulder.
You draw back, back pressed against the cold stone as you reload and gather your breath. About to take a step out to fire again, something screams in the back of your mind and you whirl around just in time to shift as Reyna’s knife embeds not in your chest, where it would have stuck, but into the top of your left shoulder.
You let out a hard grunt of pain as Reyna’s eyes pierce yours, whirling with bloodlust, hate and satisfaction. Fucking bitch.
“Fucking bitch,” you hiss out under your breath, and use the moment her gaze finds yours to get a left hook in against her jaw. She reels back, drawing her knife back. Using the momentum, you push through the pain to aim a sharp kick into her chest and send her off balance, lunging in.
Reyna’s quick on the recovery, quicker than you’d expected, and she grabs your bad shoulder and uses it to pivot you, slamming your back against the wall and pinning you there. Her thumb pushes into your open wound, eliciting a strangled gurgle for you as you fight the waves of pain.
You retaliate with a kick to the shins, and as the woman in front of you doubles down you bring your knee up to connect with her jaw. You allow yourself a small, petty grin hearing the crack and watching her stumble back, dazed.
As you do, a white-hot pain sears through your side and thuds out through the rest of your body. You look down to see her knife, this time jammed to the hilt in your lower abdomen. Oh, that’s not ideal.
You turn back to see her face contorted in a wild grin, wiping the smear of blood from the side of her mouth.
Something in you just snaps.
Biting the inside of your cheek to take the edge off the pain in your side, you lurch forward once more. With an uncanny surge of strength, you yank the knife from your side and in the same fluid movement, you arc your arm up and draw it across her clavicle.
Reyna barely has time to let out a raspy yelp before you’ve unholstered your pistol and fired three shots into her head.
The body crumples to the ground.
You stand there, numbly, blood roaring in your ears as your brain works to make sense of the bloody scene in front of you. And then the pain comes flooding back with a vengeance. You let out a strangled cry as a wave crashes over you, starting in your side and blossoming out to every nerve ending in your body.
You can feel your legs giving out and your vision growing dim, and so you make your best attempt to stumble back in an effort to get stable against a wall. Something. Anything.
Arms catch you.
Your back thuds against a chest, steady against your form as it starts to shake involuntarily. A voice comes through, warm in your ear like honey.
“Easy now mon tresor, I have you. Slowly now.”
Ugh, of course.
“I thought you were supposed to be the one falling from the sky, my angel…” you manage out with a wet chuckle.
“Falling is an interesting way of putting it, mon bebe. I wouldn’t let you fall alone. Save your voice now though, you need to be still so I can stop the bleeding, no?”
You go to respond but the pain hits you like a truck, so you opt to let Chamber gently settle you against the cobbled wall and start to check your injuries. He isn’t able to conceal a small huff of concern as he clocks the blood soaking rapidly through your shirt from your stomach and shoulder. In spite of everything, you still find yourself enjoying the closeness as his worried eyes flick over you.
God, you can’t help yourself.
“Hey now angel, don’t worry about me too much yeah? We’ve got healers and shit at base, and 50/50 Sage has the res online anyway.”
The last comment, your slightly ham-fisted attempt at dark humour, has his eyes flashing with something almost unplaceable.
“I am not, under any circumstances, going to let you go through that mon etoile. Not now, not ever. Please, stay still so I can stabilise you, I’m not losing you like this.” If your ears weren’t deceiving you, you could have sworn there was a scratch in his voice by the end of that last bit.
Fumbling through his med kit, Chamber stretches his role of gauze and pulls up your shirt for access.
“Deep breath, mon chouchou. This will likely not tickle.”
No shit sherlock. You grit your teeth and try to temper your strangled grunts of pain as Chamber applies pressure to the wound and begins to wrap. You’d never been hurt this bad before, but it was a point of pride at this point to keep up the stoic façade.
Chamber seals the first strip and gets to work on your shoulder. Your heart rate has abated enough that as he leans in, you manage to whisper;
“See? Knew you were my guardian angel.”
Chamber draws back, and that look in his eyes has returned. It’s fierce, and passionate, and holds a surprising amount of warmth for someone who is only ever professionally charming. When he speaks, it’s so quiet it’s almost to himself.
“Mon coeur, angels will only ever watch from above. I would rather be doomed to my mortality and die a horrible death than spend a single day in paradise without you next to me.”
Oh did he just.
OH.
Despite everything, you still have enough blood in circulation to feel it all flood to your cheeks, completely and utterly speechless for the first time in god knows how long.
“Chamber, yo- the—my angel y—”
Nope, words gone. He got you good.
Snapping back from his moment of intensity, Chamber seems to finally register the effect his words have on you. Despite the concern, he allows himself a small grin.
“Oh? I see mon amour is finally quiet for once. If you’ll allow me to share this moment with you?” He leans in, ever so gentle and careful to avoid your injuries, head cocked to the side in a silent question.
You close the distance, pressing your lips against his with a hunger that he returns tenfold. His lips are soft, his hands move to cup your cheek so gently and he’s all around you, beautiful and ethereal and overwhelming.
At long last, you draw back. As much as your injuries hurt, you can’t keep the smile from splitting across your face as you hold his warm brown eyes in your gaze.
“You have a little bit of blood dribbling down your chin, mon biquet.”
“Shut up Angel face.”
“Let’s get you out of here.”
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