Disclaimer: Not mine. The characters and basis of the plot all belong to the glorious Kripke and writers of Supernatural. The idea for the plot of this story goes to my best friend's mother.
A/N: Rated T for a few parts of this that could be read as either Michael/Adam or Michael/Lucifer. This was not written with either purpose. Just a little fluff for fluff's sake and Lucifer being creepy and manipulative. Read it as you please. It can also be read as a sequel to "What Started It All" and "Fallen Angels" but can be read alone. *!SPOILERS FOR 5x04 TO THE END OF SEASON 5!* Enjoy.
It was useless. None of them would ever get out. The Cage was sealed. Forever. Done. There was no one coming for him.
Michael sat in the old, dusty and bloodstained corner where he had been sitting for almost all of the past 4,800 hellyears. His old vessel, Adam, lay crumpled on the stone floor about ten feet away, knowing Lucifer would not come near him if he stayed within the immediate vicinity of Heaven's general. That was about all he knew. The Devil had poked and prodded and ripped and shredded his very being, his very soul, until he was no more than a drooling, incoherent mess running on nothing more than raw instinct. And his instinct told him that by Michael was the safest place here. The Devil hadn't bothered to screw with his brother for…a long time.
The eldest archangel was faintly aware of the boy's weak soul pulsing gently near the edge of his withered Grace. He tried not to feel it. In fact, he tried to have as little contact with his life force as he possibly could. It pained him to feel how filthy it had become, how tainted, after rotting in Hell for all these years. And that meant not moving. If he sat in silence, he had found that he could almost forget he was a separate object from the wall behind him. Almost. Every once in a while, thought, he would flinch and his elbow would brush up against a shriveled feather or he would feel the hard stone of his Grace bump up against the inside of his ribs. And the pain would begin all over again.
The sudden sensation was overwhelming at first and was not unlike being consumed by a supernova. It began with a barely audible crack, a flicker of warmth, then the flood of energy burned straight through Michael's assumed image and straight to his core, alighting it. It felt amazing. He lifted his head and stared upward. Beside him, Adam sobbed with relief and towards the other side of the Cage a sly grin spread across the Devil's face. The Cage door was open.
Michael's Grace roared as he spread his wings. Reaching out, he grabbed a hold of Adam's arm and shot towards the opening. His wings were stiff. Understandable. He didn't care. They were strong, functional, and already beginning to re-obtain their original silvery tone. That's all that mattered to him.
Adam gasped in half pain, half pure joy as the sunlight hit one side of his face. Cracking and eye and squinting from the brightness, he managed to make out a graveyard. He had been here before… That's right: the fight where he had been dragged into the Cage in the first place. The train of thought flittered from his mind when he smelled the grass cushioning his beaten body. It smelled divine…no. Better than divine. There were no words to describe how overjoyed he was. A warmth with no distinct shape gently stroked the back of his head and whispered softly in his mind. You're safe, Adam. You're safe.
The Archangel allowed the human a few moments to relish in his release from the Cage before transporting him back to Heaven where he belonged. Michael shifted into what would be the equivalent of a cross-legged position, had he had a vessel, behind Adam, so not to blind the boy. He continued to run his hand through the traumatized boy's hair, shushing him gently. He owed Adam that much.
The graveyard was eerily peaceful and he relished in that, having spent four human years of all imaginable and several unimaginable kinds agony in Hell. But that was alright. It was over. He was out. He was at peace… until the Sun disappeared behind a dark cloud in an otherwise clear sky and the General visibly shivered as a cold gust of wind swept over the graveyard.
"Well, won't you just look at God's green Earth? Smells amazing." A sniff. "Except for the smell of burning ancient-creature from the coal plant over there. And isn't it just beautiful!" A snort. "Except for the power lines over there."
"Lucifer," snarled Michael without turning around, his celestial body tensing. The Devil chuckled.
"What?! You didn't honestly expect me to stay in there when the door was wide open, did you?" He strode around front of Adam and Michael. The human boy screamed in agony, hands flying up to claw at his eyes. Lucifer smirked at his pain. "Or did you just forget about me?" He frowned. "Well that hurts."
Michael didn't hesitate to fly at his brother, wings spread in an offensive position. Everything was supposed to go back to normal now since he was out. He would make sure that the Devil wouldn't ruin that.
Lucifer shrugged and sidestepped, easily grabbing Michael's arms and using his own momentum against him, slamming the elder into the ground. After making himself comfortable atop Michael's chest, he pinned the General's wrists above his head and smiled.
"See, here's your mistake brother dearest." His patronizing tone grated on Michael's ears and he squirmed in Lucifer's grip. "I…have done this before. Been to Hell and back. Your powers come back when you get out, but not all the way. Deceiving, that. You're a little weaker, a little slower. But see, I knew that. That's how we've ended up in this…delightful position." Lucifer grinned seductively. Michael spat in his face.
His eyes snapped closed, and Lucifer wiped his cheek on his shoulder before smirking down at his older brother. "Really Michael? And they say I'm the filthy one. Incest is below me."
"Well you can't blame me for wondering. Not much is below you," Michael shot back. Lucifer chuckled.
"Touché. But now can we please stop these games and get down to business? You have distracted me from my original point." Michael didn't respond. Taking that as a go-ahead, Lucifer continued. "Because of the unfortunate re-immersion factor, we're both weakened. And you're still Fallen." He plucked lightly at a faded feather.
Michael snarled and thrashed in an attempt to free himself, but Lucifer's greater size made it fruitless.
"Are you quite finished? It's rather awkward when you do that." Michael glared, knowing his brother was trying to unsettle him with his lewd comments. "Alright, alright I'll skip the explanation and get right to the point. You're fucked, big brother. And I mean that with the upmost sincerity. There is no way you're going to beat me in your state."
The Devil was right, that much was obvious, but Michael would be damned if he believed it or at the very least let Lucifer know he believed it. He stopped struggling, gathering his energy to attempt another strike.
"I don't want to kill you Michael." The General froze. "That's right, I don't. You're my big brother and I love you. I don't want to see you die. Or anyone else from the family. So I'm going to make you a deal…" Michael cut him off.
"I don't make deals with the likes of you." If his words had stung, the Devil didn't show it.
"Well there's a first time for everything." Michael opened his mouth to speak but Lucifer spoke first. "At least…hear me out. Ok?" Michael closed his mouth and waited. "Good. Now, how 'bout this: you go shimmy on up back to Heaven and take all your angels with you and leave Earth to me." The other angel's answer was flat.
"No."
"So rude, interrupting," Lucifer chided. "I wasn't finished. If you don't do as I say and we go ahead with the fight as planned, I will defeat you. And when I defeat you I wipe out the humans, then the demons, then every angel who sided with you... which is most of the population." Michael stared in horror up at his brother. Lucifer looked down at him sadly. "Can't have any loose ends flying around looking to avenge their beloved General's death now can I?" He leaned forward so that his face was inches from Michael's and spoke in a whisper.
"You were right. I'm nothing like you. I take no pleasure in killing my family…"
"I never wanted to kill you, Lucifer." The General spoke softly, almost to himself.
"I know. You're blinded, Michael. But even you can see that there's no other choice here. That's why I'm hoping you'll accept this offer. You and the other angels go back on up to Heaven and leave Earth and Hell to me. I do a bit of house cleaning and restore Earth to its original beauty. I'll even let you have the dead souls! I sure as Hell don't want them in Hell!" He lowered his face so close that he was whispering against Michael's lips. "You can have your Kingdom with all your precious humans and I can have mine, ape-free. Well, at least the hairless type. The others I like."
Lucifer shifted both of Michael's wrists into one hand and brought his now free one to rest on his older brother's jaw. The Commander closed his eyes, swallowing down the rising feeling of revulsion.
"Whatdya say? Hmm? Take it or leave it."
"No."
"Going once…"
"No!"
"You'll get your precious humans back. They'll be dead, but you'll still have them."
"The answer is still no."
"My, Dean is quite like you isn't he? A complete and utter idiot. Blinded by Hope. It paralyzes, you know. Clearly. Going twice…" Michael bit his lip and swallowed heavily.
"…Fine." Lucifer ran his thumb over Michael's cheekbone.
"What was that?"
"I said yes! Earth is yours and Heaven, the angels and the human souls are mine. Now let me up."
Lucifer grinned triumphantly and sat up, sliding off of his brother who shot to his feet, immediately going for Adam. Just before he reached him a force quite like being hit by a jet plane slammed into his side, knocking him away from the boy, who was still crumpled up on the ground.
"I need that one."
"Breaking the deal already?" Michael coughed angrily.
"I said the souls were yours. As you can see, this one is still alive. Now go before I change my mind and send you all to Purgatory." Michael stood, unmoving, eyes boring into the Devil, who smiled back smoothly. "Go, brother dearest. The souls will begin arriving shortly."
Michael forced himself to hold his head high as he took wing and flew off to Heaven, calling out to the angels as he flew. They followed him joyously, not seeing the crushing defeat that made their leader's wings droop slightly.
Exhausted by the time he reached Heaven, he realized that Lucifer had been right. He wouldn't have been strong enough to win against the Devil. Still, the loss burned. Being a commander is all about making the choice no one else can make, he reminded himself. But he had failed his Father. No amount of logic would fix that. The humans were supposed to have life. Now they would just be souls, there to fuel Heaven, and nothing more. Michael leaned against the golden gateway and made one final call to any angel that may have been left on Earth and waiting for a moment before closing the gate and shutting off Heaven.
Lucifer stared at the spot where Michael had stood minutes before and smiled triumphantly. Turning to Adam, lying almost motionless on the ground, he kneeled beside the boy and touched his temple. The boy's body went rigid, the spots where his eyes should have been seemingly widening. His breath came in pained half gasps and a trail of bloody drool slipped from between his lips, dripping onto the brownish grass. The Devil leaned down and whispered in Adam's ear.
"Go and spread my sweet…" Then Adam stood, almost as if in a trance, and staggered toward the road. Lucifer watched him walk away, a light smirk on his lips, and whispered softly to himself, "Croatoan."
A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it! Special thanks to my best friend Amanda for beta'ing this