'I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.'
~~Friedrich Nietzsche
...
"We need you to bring us the boy."
Is the one thing that Mary hears and it finally catches her off guard. It finally knocks sense into her. Makes her mind wake up again. She stands in the corner of the room, hidden by the shadows of the door way, unnoticed by the living rooms occupants, watching as the boy in question stumbles around giggling.
Sitting in the middle of the floor, unaware of their audience, is the blonde archangel who'd taken refuge in the bunker with his infant son some months ago. He's smiling softly as he plays with the now physically grown two and a half year old, using building blocks and other such toys, cars that zoom around, and stuffed animals. The babe giggles again and reaches for the stuffed bear in his parents grasp, doing this small little toddler dance in place when the bears pulled back and daddy insists that he has to give him a kiss in order to get it back.
She smiles slightly, a feeling that shouldn't come off as being as odd at the moment as it does, when the little one does this little stomp in place and stumble-runs forward to collide with the blonde archangels chest, hugging him tight with teeny arms, and pressed a big kiss to his cheek.
They want her to take the baby, little two and a half year old Judas Kline (as he'd insisted that the boy keep his mothers name as well), away out from under the nose of an archangel.
And not just any archangel either.
They want her to take Lucifer's son and succeed in bringing him to them?
And she'd agreed?
Somewhere deep within her mind there is a near silent voice telling her that what she is about to do is so idiotic that if it gets her killed, again, then she deserves such an outcome. But the voice is still too damned silent for her to hear let alone listen to, and common sense out the window for her brainwashed mind, she formulates her plan.
Sam and Dean, though not completely on board with having Lucifer here with them as well, are enamored by little Judas. He wakes Dean in the morning, almost every morning, with a large shining smile and big round eyes, a closed mug of coffee in both little hands, and the promise of pancakes and bacon.
Lucifer had surprised them all when it had been discovered that he knew how to cook and he knew how to cook good food.
And Judas is there when Sam gets back from his morning run with a bowl of fruit salad and a glass of green tea.
Lucifer surprised them all once again when it turned out he was actually quite a health nut.
She knows she has to wait until Sam and Dean are out of the bunker, whether for an unnessecary supply run or a hunt, before she can even think about taking care of Lucifer enough to get Judas out and to the Brits. It takes a week of stirring the pot of a turf war on the verge of breaking out in the town next over for her to get the boys out of the way and turn her focus on the Archangel.
Hyperbolic pulse generator in hand, she softly steps back into the living room, Lucifer and Judas once again playing quietly in the middle of the soft carpet. Clad in only a diaper and a soft blue shirt, Judas spots her immediately and grins, waving teeny little slobbery fingers at her.
Mary, now ashamed of her using such knowledge for such an advantage, had become a sort of 'mommy' figure to the little boy. Not having his own mommy around anymore she was the next best thing, he adored her, and she him.
Even Lucifer had trusted her, to an extent, with his son.
The Morningstar turns to greet her and his eyes catch it a fraction of a second too late, widening at the sight, and she quickly gets out the soft 'Vade retro. Princeps inferni.' and the stream of energy shots out towards him, catching him in its path. There is nothing he can do, the white aura around him acting as a barrier, keeping him in place, and his red eyes snap to her in shock and betrayal.
"Mary! What are you doing!"
Lucifer knows what it feels like to be torn from ones vessel, to be forcibly ejected, and he reaches out as the female hunter crosses to gather up his son, eyes wide in disbelief and shock. Judas, not liking the quick change in events, turns to him with wide watering eyes and promptly falls into tears.
Mary scoops the toddler up and quickly retreats, holding on the squirming child tightly, Lucifer's chest squeezes into something akin to guilt and hurt when the little hands reach out to him over her shoulders begging to be taken up.
"NO! Bring him back! Judas! Judas!"
And then he's gone.
Ejected.
Lucifer, as a swirling mass of violent white grace, roars in anger, rage boiling under his 'skin'. And he shoots upwards, seeking out the one he needs to help him get his son back, taking Heaven by surprise when he breaks through the barrier. The eldest in creation, Michael, is taken by such surprise as the rest of the host when the white mass of enraged grace slams into him.
"Wha-? Lucifer? What are you doing?"
Yanking him back he forces the younger archangel to take form again, his true form not so different then his usual vessel. His hair is like Nick's blonde, though just a tab bit longer, eyes red as the rubies he'd created full of the fire of an enraged archangel. Immediately he knows its nothing good, as nothing riles his brother up this much, and he is passed the point of being angry. When he finally gets the distraught archangel to tell him what the problem is, Michael can feel his own temper rolling within, the tide of fire that is his core is boiling beyond belief at the betrayal committed upon their family.
And Michael calls for a full gathering of the host.
Raphael and Gabriel look confused, and not particularly happy, about being pulled away from whatever it was they had been doing and the other ranks of angels look just about as confused as they do, unsure and unsteady at the overwhelming feeling of the eldest two's rolling temper and for a moment they all fear that they have started fighting again.
And then the word is shared, Heaven is enraged, almost as much as it's four Archangels, that someone has done such a thing to Heaven's Baby.
...
"Sshhh sshh ssshhhh, it's okay, you're going to be okay."
"Dadddddyyyyy! Wan' daddddyyyyyyy!"
Mary tried to calm the little boy down, bouncing him like he knew he liked and whispering in what was deemed her 'mommy' voice, she would do anything to get the tot to stop bawling over her shoulder.
"I know you do and you'll see him again, my friends just really want to meet you, and then you can go back to your daddy."
"Ah Mary," The voice made her jump even after all this time, Arthur Ketch was a man who could make anyone's skin crawl, "You brought the boy? Good. Very good."
The dark haired man waved a hand and the small group of people at his side stepped forward at once, Judas whined softly as he was lifted up and away from Mary's familiar grip into something that was unfamiliar and he didn't like it.
She watched them go, his little lip wobbling on the verge of tears again, reaching little hands out for the only thing that still meant familiarity and safety and whined softly when she didn't reach back.
"Where are you taking him?"
"Don't worry Mary," the hand on her shoulder was not as comforting as she supposed it was supposed to be, "He's going to be taken care of. You have done us a large favor. You have no idea of the advancements you have helped create today."
Something about this situation was off, she could feel it in her gut, but they had said all they'd wanted to do was run some test and he was as good as done. Could be returned to his family and no harm done.
"Come, there is just a bit of paperwork to fill out and you can be on your way."
Mary took one look down the hall Judas had disappeared in and she sighed, nodding softly, and turned to follow her companion.
...
"He's crying. They are making my son cry. I don't know what they're doing but its enough that its making him cry and for that I am going to skin them alive."
No one wanted to get too close to the enraged Archangel and so they left him sitting there at the end right side of the table, not even his fellow archangels wanted to be near his extremely volatile temper.
And it only makes it worse that the babe is crying.
Michael's hand on his shoulder is what calms the rolling storm underneath, "Calm yourself brother, we are equally as upset at this betrayal, but we must keep a clear mind to get him back safely."
They stare at each other for a long moment and they all fear for a second that Michael and Lucifer are about to jump at one another, but the younger nods slowly and turns away, leaving them to breath out a sigh of silent relief.
Jeremiel and Zaveriel look between them both and clear their throats for attention, having returned from their scouting mission they'd been sent on and ready to report back as ordered.
Attention was given to them at once.
"Sir.", they bowed lowly, "The Winchester brothers have returned to their bunker."
Michael nodded at them both and dismissed the two with a wave of his hand, they bowed again and turned to leave now that their duty was complete.
...
Judas screamed and cried as they poked and prodded him, he's diaper was in dire need of being changed, and he needed to be taken out of this dirty grimy shirt.
Hours had turned to days.
Daddy hadn't come for him yet and he was starting to think that daddy was never going to come get him.
He went stiff, still, as the handle of the door on the other wall jiggled, the lock clicking open. Whining softly the fledgling scooted further into his corner and prayed softly to his father and uncles again, hoping that maybe this time they might hear him.
"This time we are going to test his healing rate."
"We've already tested that."
"I know we have but I enjoyed it."
Judas cried harder.
...
Gabriel tugged his older brothers back stepping in between them. Lucifer was on edge, easy to turn his rage now that Judas had been missing for over a week now.
"Guys, look, all we want is to know where your dear old mommy took the kid. Seriously things are real bad right now, Mike is this close to pulling the high risk prisoners out and letting them have at it unless we get some sort of lead."
"He will do no such thing. What's this about my favorite grandson missing?"
There was no way He was going to sit by while such a threat was hanging over the World. Those three were locked away for very specific reasons, and little Judy was His favorite grandchild. Chuck ignored the voice in the back of His head that soundedly oddly like Amara saying that Judas was His only grandchild.
He may be the only one He had but he was still His favorite.
The room fell into silence, and then Lucifer moved, "Dad please, please tell me you know where he is, please, I need him back!"
Chuck set a hand on the archangels head and nodded, "Yes, I know where he's at."
...
Mary tugged her arm free, "This is wrong. You never said anything about this sort of treatment. He needs a bath and to go home. This was a bad idea and I thought so but decided against it."
Judas was screaming from behind the two way mirror, squirming and struggling to free his little self from the restraints keeping him down on the table in the medical lab. The doctors made no outward acknowledgement of his cries of pain and terror.
"Mary with your help you have turned our tide against the Angels. We can take our planet back. Besides that thing is no child, it's a creature, a creature that needs to be studied."
The room was over come by more screams, screams that overcame the boys screams, the doctors struggling to get out and running away from whatever had just appeared in the corner of the room.
Judas was still crying, little fingers reaching out for the other person, clearly someone he deemed to be safe. Aurther Ketch cursed and rushed forward, stopped in his tracks by the tip of a blade at his throat and the cocking of a gun.
"I wouldn't move bud, these guys aren't playing around."
Lucifer made it across the room in record timing, tearing through the doctors one by one, and ripping the restraints away. Judas sobbed harshly as he was lifted from cold table and settled against his fathers chest.
"You.", Lucifer ground out as he looked his son over, "Broke my sons arm?"
Judas sniffled nuzzling into his strong chest as best as he could, his arm hanging down at an odd angle. The doctor, the one still alive that was, crawled away from the angered archangel in fear. They had done more then merely break the boys arm.
"He's only a babe, and you would do such a thing to a babe?"
"He asked you a question human, you'd best answer it."
The doctor gulped and nodded, not trained for this sort of situation, Michael growled lowly waving his hand.
"Take them to the dungeons."
She screamed as she was hoisted up by the forearms, two strong looking muscular angel guards had her, the others that managed to keep their lives weren't much better. Terror was written across their features.
"Sir?"
Michael seemed to think it over quickly, "Lock them in with Calathiel."
"Don't even think about it." Chuck was beyond furious with these humans but not even He would subject them to that particular angel, yet, "Put them in their own cell separate from the others."
Nisroc and Sampson nodded once and she screamed as they all disappeared from sight.
Raphael pushed through the others to get to his nephews side, "Let me see him. Let me see."
Judas whined and looked up from where he'd pressed his face onto Lucifer's chest reaching his injured arm out.
"Owie Unca Rapha!"
The archangel hummed softly, "Owie indeed," he took hold of the appendage with gentle hand, feeling the injury and hummed again. Something he picked up as a habit back in his younger days, he'd been known for his humming as he worked and it had been something that had calmed the younger angels.
And it still did the trick on little half fledglings too.
"You need a good washing little one."
Judas made a noise of soft alarm and borrowed closer, hiding in his daddy's shoulder, Lucifer pulled him closer and adjusted his grip to accomidate the skittish babe and they exchanged glances. Seeing the boy so frightened of a simple bath was worrisome seeing as he was usual so excited for that time of the day.
He loved playing in the tub. They always got into a bit of a splash war that ended in tickles and stories.
Chuck set His hand on Lucifer's shoulder and looked over at Raphael as well, giving them both a look.
"We will finish up here, why don't you take the young one home, get him washed up and food into his belly."
Lucifer nodded in agreement, Michael was itching to get his hands dirty, itching to seek vengeance for what had been done to his nephew. He wasn't going to stand in his brothers way, and wanted nothing more then to get his beloved child out of here.
His brother was at his side, the Healer wanting to make sure there wasn't any further injuries that he was not aware of and had not seen to in the short few moments that Judas had allowed him to touch him. He was sure that once back in his own home, back to his safe place and after a warm washing and a meal, he would get to look over him further.
Gabriel cracked his knuckles and gave a wide grin, elbowing his older brother until Michael turned to look down at him, "Bet I can get more then you can."
Michael smiled down at him, "I don't think so little brother."
...
Judas took one look at the woman and turned away, little fingers digging into Lucifer's flesh, and he whined again.
Mary backed away from them under the harsh glare from his father, "Stay away from him."
"Brother."
Raphael's voice cut through the din, distracting him from the human for a moment, "Leave her. The fledgling needs you more. Let us give him get him into the bath."
His brother was a voice of reason, he always had been, he had a clear mind and a steady head. Nodding along to his suggestion (though it was more of an order) Lucifer ignored the women he's trusted most with his son (next to the boys mother of course) and turned towards the hall he'd claimed as his own. Raphael was right. Judas did need a good washing, a warm meal, and a nice long sleep.
"It's okay Judy, it's okay, daddy's got you. And uncle Rapha is gonna make you feel all better again."
Raphael nodded and pet a hand down his little head, "But only after you get a good washing, I am not going to look you over in this state."
Stepping into the bathroom, the tub was already full with warm bubbly water and floating toys, boats and cars and the like. Thanking Father for small miracles they instead focused on getting the fledgling undressed.
They both made faces at the state his poor bottom was in after removing his soiled diaper. Poor thing had an angry red rash growing. Cleaning him up in record time there they got him into the bath, Judas clutched Lucifer's hand to his chest, little fingers curled around his as his eyes shined with tears.
"Hey hey hey," a soft tug to his little hands and a fluttering of long fingers over his belly, "You're okay. No need for tears. We're going to get you all cleaned up."
Judas whines and whimpers pulling the hand in closer. They don't know the full extent of his treatment in that place, not as of yet, and the reasons he could be so frightened of the bath now are vast and many but they work with it the best way they can.
Having the child has softened the eder archangel, made his patience grow indefinitely, and Raphael had always been known for such things as his position of Head Healer.
Scrubbing through his hair they worked slowly and as tender as they could, gentle and patient, from his hair to his little toes at which they both gained a soft round of giggles, it was good to see that some things would not change too much.
He'd always had sensitive little toes.
"What do you want for dinner kiddo?"
Judas rubbed his wet little face against his daddy's hand and looked up at him with wide eyes, "Nuggys?"
"Nuggets? Dino nuggets?"
"Dino nuggys!"
Raphael made a noise deep in his chest that sounded like him clearing his throat as he reached out to brush wet curls from the little ones eyes, "There must be something healthy on that plate."
"Grapes?"
Honestly, seeing his brother so taken with this child was still as amusing as it was when they'd first met their nephew.
Judas cracked a little smile, "Grapes!", he loved his purple grapes. His most favorite fruit and Lucifer's go to snack.
"I would be satisfied with grapes."
Lucifer smiled at him, reaching behind him to the towels, always warm and the softest of their kind as there was only the best in the world for his son. Judas lifted his arms as his uncle pulled the plug to drain the tub and daddy wrapped him in warm soft towel.
"Can I get a smile?", he ducks and tries to hide away from the both of them but Lucifer jiggles his arms softly and elicits a soft giggle into his shoulder, "There's a giggle but can I get a smile?"
They're playful, and he adjusts slightly, pulling away only just and looking down for that smile that his Judy was known for.
"Oh? Oh? There it is!"
They walked down to his room, Lucifer's room, and he dried his hair gently. A small set of pajamas are set out on the 'big bed' waiting for them, along with the beloved puppy and stuffed monkey.
"Pants on but I want to look him over before that shirt goes on."
Lucifer nods to his brothers command and helps his little Judas get into his blue pajama pants. Raphael sits himself on the edge of his brothers bed and motions for the fledgling to stand before him. Judas doesn't want to but he lets go of his daddy's hand to stand before his uncle for a thorough look over.
He giggles when uncle pokes at his belly and looks up to see him smiling this small fond smile down at him.
"Come up here little one."
Judas's little fingers curl around his uncles hands as he's lifted up to sit on his knee.
"How do you feel?"
"Cold."
"Then shall we get this shirt on you?"
Judas nods and lifts his little arms up to get his shirt on. He giggles again at the sneaky playful attack and folds up to protect his belly. Raphael smiles down at him and wraps his entire hand around his little belly.
"Don't let them change you little one. They will be dealt with for their crimes. But don't let them win this battle."
He hums when he feels the damp head tuck under his chin.
"Did someone order a plate of dino nuggets and purple grapes?"
He giggles at the sight of Uncle Gabe in his server costume holding the silver tray with a plate of dino nuggets, purple grapes, and a cup of ketchup.
"And how is our favorite little nephew?"
"Mikey!"
Judas smiles as he's lifted up into his biggest uncles arms settled on his hip. Lucifer watches them all in amusement, "You guys are such softies."
He's met with three different responses with, surprisingly, the same message.
"As if you're not."
"It is hard not to be."
"Oh you're one to talk big guy!"
...
Mary had been shunned.
Not just by Lucifer and his son, but to the point that to a certain extent her own sons had shunned her away as well. She had messed up this time, big time, she'd played with the big boys and they played back.
It took her a long while to finally get them alone, archangel and his child in the living room, where they'd been when this entire thing had happened for the first time. Sitting in the middle of the floor, little Judas up above his head, and pressing playful kisses to his belly.
He had such a ticklish little belly.
"Daddy!"
"Say it! Say it you little monster you!"
Judas shrieked and giggled, kicking and laughing, little fingers curled into his daddy's hair, "Love you! Love you daddy!"
Lucifer smiled up at him, "I love you too little stinker."
The little guy giggles down at him and licks at his nose. He lives up to fond monikor he'd been so fondly given as a 'little stinker' as he has fallen into a such a phase.
He never spares her a single look.
"Mary. I think we need to talk."