It was raining.

Sam noticed the noise first, the persistent patter of raindrops. He assumed they were hitting the roof of whatever motel they were in, only something wet was striking his face. Was he outside? What was he doing outside?

Wait.

Sam opened his eyes.

A canopy of trees stretched above him, rain pelting down from the dark clouds further above, hovering gloomily in the night sky. The trees lashed in the wind, leaves looking almost black in the gloom. He fumbled to push himself up right, hands slipping on the wet grass. He snapped his head forward, gazing around the area for signs of anything familiar. He was in a forest somewhere, or at least a cluster of trees. Somewhere in the distance there were sounds of a nearby road, the odd car passing in the late hour, barely distinguishable amongst the patter of the rain. Sam twisted his head over his shoulder, searching for any clue as to his location, almost in his haste missing the other figure lying a few feet behind him.

Lucifer looked like Nick again. The rain was running down his face, flattening the short strands of blond hair to his forehead. He was lying on his side, one arm outstretched across the wet ground toward Sam. The green fabric of his shirt was stained dark with the rain, sticking to the slight curve of his waist.

"Lucifer," Sam said, crawling clumsily across on his knees to the archangel. He hesitated only slightly before reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder.

Sam's fingertips only made the slightest contact before Lucifer started awake, throwing himself upright, the slightest flash of white light in his eyes, before his gaze fixed on Sam.

Sam slowly withdrew his hand, fingers curling closed, as if hanging onto the memory of that slight moment of contact. He'd felt him. This was real. They were both really here.

"Where are we?" Lucifer snapped, studying Sam's face as if searching for some sign of deception.

Home, Sam nearly said. "Earth," he replied instead. "We're back on earth."

For a moment, Lucifer's eyes narrowed, before he slowly turned his gaze up toward the dark sky above them. A spark of lighting flashed, illuminating the swaying leaves briefly, before the dull roll of thunder filled the air.

A shiver ran up Sam's back. His shirt was stuck to his skin, the rain even running down inside the back of his jacket. "We… we should get inside."

Climbing to his feet, for a moment Sam marvelled at the feel of the wind on his skin, the shift of the breeze. There had been no wind in hell. The air was still, heavy, dead. It may have been wet and cold now, but at least the world around them seemed to breathe, shifing with life and possibility. It felt endless, looking out amongst the trees, after so long between those four bleak walls.

Sam started walking, heading toward the distant sound of the traffic, and hopefully civilisation. If they could just find someone to tell them where they were…

Stopping, Sam looked back over his shoulder.

Lucifer's face betrayed nothing of what he was thinking. Sam felt suddenly stupid and naïve. Too long alone together had made his thoughts far too simple. What was he doing? He couldn't just go strolling into the nearest town with the devil in tow? Could he?

Hell had been so simple, hadn't it? For a moment, Sam's thoughts slipped into memories he had been pushing back since regaining consciousness. He tried to push back the licking tendrils of fire, the rattle of chains whispering nearby as they threatened to ensnare him. Don't think about that. It's gone now. You're safe. Really safe. He'd got out…. They'd got out.

Both of them.

And despite whatever fantasies loitered in the most secret regions of his mind, this had never been the plan. This could never have been part of any real, feasible plan. But here they were. He was back in the living world, and regardless of whether it was impractical, detrimental, or possibly down right apocalyptic, Lucifer was here beside him.

"Sam…"

Snapping out of his trance, his eyes shifted to meet Lucifer's. He looked displeased.

"Sam, I'm not in the mood to kick start the end of the world. Let's just get out of the rain first."

Sam felt a blush creeping onto his face, shifting his hair slightly in hopes of slightly disguising his embarrassment. Despite himself- despite telling himself he was only following natural instincts of protecting possibly the entire human race- he felt stupid, cruel even, to have been so blatantly stood there judging Lucifer's intentions right in front of him. If Lucifer wanted to go and inflict whatever disaster upon the earth, it wasn't like he would be able to stop him anyway. Now was not the time to be trying to cling to some moral high ground.

He pursed his lips together to fight the instinct to apologise. "…Let's find somewhere out of the rain."

It was still raining. Despite the downpour, Sam seemed reluctant to head in the direction of the sounds of traffic and civilisation. Now, Sam Winchester wasn't stupid, he was more than capable of navigating them to somewhere more practical, but Lucifer could see the internal conflict practically dancing across the young man's features.

Lucifer was used to this. More times than he cared to count, he had stood while someone- or multiple people- took it upon themselves to make outlandish assumptions and accusations of what he intended to do. Some of the grand schemes these such people imagined were even admirable in their creativity. Sometimes he almost felt boring in comparison to the fantasized and over-exaggerated version of himself others imagined.

Really, it wasn't all killing and destruction. Those things were trivial, really. Lucifer did what it took to get a job done but mindless violence was far from his intentions.

Besides, it wasn't his fault humans died so easy.

Frowning, he flexed his fingers, staring down at his hands. It was strange being back in a vessel. He hadn't missed it. The restrictiveness, the discomfort, the slow, inefficient fumbling movements. Such flawed creatures; he didn't know how they stood being like this all the time.

Sam stopped walking ahead of him and Lucifer looked up.

Shifting from one foot to the other, Sam seemed to be contemplating something. He pushed his wet hair back behind his ear, glancing back at Lucifer, then ahead again. It was then Lucifer noticed what looked like the edge of a road through the trees, and across the tarmac, the outline of a small building, likely a gas station.

"Do you mind…" Sam started, clearing his throat awkwardly. "I mean, would you mind if I just grabbed some food quickly?"

"Fine."

Sam shot him an awkward half-smile, digging in the pockets of his jeans. He pulled out a few loose coins, counting them meticulously. Lucifer supposed that small money was all he had. It wasn't like he had brought his wallet to the apocalypse.

Sam took a step forward, before pausing and glancing over at him again. Lucifer resisted the urge to sigh. "Don't worry, Sammy. I'll wait right here. You don't have to tie me up outside."

Sam's expression danced awkwardly from embarrassed to flustered to frowning, but he failed to come up with any response, instead turning hastily and hurrying across the road.

Lucifer watched him as the glass-panelled door of the small store closed behind him, though he could still see his head and shoulders through the front windows. The place appeared empty aside from Sam and the one teenage cashier wearing a tacky blue cap over her blonde hair. Sam was shuffling about by a display, seeming a little shifty and deep in thought. Sam's anxiety over this situation was practically radiating off of him. He could almost hear his heart thudding.

No, wait, that was his vessel, wasn't it? There was that horrible sense of strain creeping up on him again. He hated this feeling, hated the weakness, the way his legs ached already. Pathetic, weak human vessel. He flexed his grace a little, pushing energy into every inch of the body, though his skin tingled uncomfortably. The rain hitting his skin between the leaves of the trees almost hissed when it touched him. He couldn't do this too often or this vessel wouldn't last a month, but the alternative was detestable.

Watching Sam make polite conversation with the cashier, Lucifer pondered this unexpected situation.

There was only one being in all of creation which he knew to have the power to move anyone out of- on into- the cage. The warding entwined into the walls was powerful, it had had to be to keep an archangel contained. And there was very little that was more powerful than him. The list was short enough to narrow it down rather quickly… the question was why. What was this? What game had his Father decided to play now?

The wind picked up, the tress lashing back and forth. Lucifer looked up, the rain running down his face. "What…" he said softly. "What do you want of me?"

There was no answer but the patter of the rain. Lucifer almost smiled. Some things never changed.

The soft thud of a door closing was followed by shuffling footsteps across the wet tarmac and Sam paused to check the road was clear before crossing back over to him.

"Hey… thank you… err…" Sam cleared his through awkwardly, busying himself with tucking his hair behind his ears and fumbling with the purchased items in his hands. "Are we… we should go…"

"Where are we going?"

Sam opened his mouth, then closed it again. He didn't know.

"There's a motel about twenty minutes walk from here," Lucifer supplied.

"Right," Sam said, not moving.

Lucifer's eyes narrowed. "Sam," he said tersely. Silence hung heavy in the air for a few long moments, before Lucifer's frown deepened and he turned away. "I don't need your patronisation," he snapped. "If you can do nothing but judge me on things you assume I am about to do, then I'll go elsewhere."

"No," Sam blurted before he could stop himself. His hand tightened on the bottle of water he had brought, the plastic denting. "Lucifer, wait, I…" He paused, contemplating his words. Eventually he awkwardly cleared his throat and continued. "I don't want you to go."

"You don't need to babysit me, Sam," Lucifer muttered, voice low. "I'm not your charge. I'll do as I please."

"…I know." Sam took a hesitant step forward. "Look, I can't stop you… no matter what you wanted to do. I'm asking you to… to stay with me. Because… I want you to."

The genuine tone in Sam's voice eases the tension that had been building within him. The conflict hanging in the air seemed to disperse. Lucifer let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding and turned back to face the other.

The smile on Sam's face was nervous and perhaps a little forced. Nonetheless, he shifted the item he was holding under one arm, the other hand reaching out. Lucifer took it, just their fingers curling briefly around each other's like that first night when Lucifer had appeared to him as Jess. In the cage, when the horrors and torture had become almost too much- for either of them- this small motion had grounded him, given him- both of them- something to hold onto.

The rain was finally starting to ease off.

"Lets get to that motel," Sam said, eventually loosening his grip and letting his arm fall to his side.