A friend wanted a story about demon!Adam and Michael, so I said that I'd write this for him. And then my headcannon got out of control, and this turned into a multichapter thing. I'm planning on updating it in short bursts, so each chapter will probably be about a thousand words or so. Even so, I'm really busy (to the point that I really shouldn't be starting a new story at all), so I'm not sure when I'll get the chance to update this story again. I am going to finish it, but it might be a bit of a wait. (Honestly, the wait time probably depends on how much the aforementioned friend bugs me about getting this done.)

Warnings for torture, demons, and general angst.

Michael never had any intention of letting it come to this.

During the first few hundred years, Lucifer was entirely occupied with torturing Sam Winchester. Michael never joined in – he may have known that humans were going to harmed in the final battle, but that didn't mean that he would deliberately torture one of his father's creations. Even so, he couldn't say that Sam didn't deserve it, after trapping them all in the Cage and destroying God's plan. Which was why Michael never interfered.

The Milligan boy, however, was a different matter.

Adam Milligan had only been playing his role. It wasn't even a role that he had been meant to play – it had been thrust upon him after Dean had proven disobedient. Michael refused to allow Lucifer to punish the boy for that. And Lucifer harbored enough hatred for Sam that it did not take much persuasion to convince him to focus his efforts on the elder human.

There had been one time – Michael wasn't even sure how long they had been in Hell at that point, it must have been at least fifty years. But Lucifer had been occupied with his newest torture method. He had created a body double of Dean, and was slowly tearing it to shreds. It wasn't the most effective torture – logically, Sam knew that this wasn't actually his brother – but that had become harder to remember as the hours had passed. This had been going on for a week now, and the way Sam screamed made even Michael begin to pity him.

Adam was lying alone, with his hands crossed behind his head, staring at the iron bars that made up the ceiling of the Cage. By now, he seemed to have grown adjusted to Sam's cries, though every once in a while Michael still saw guilt flash across Adam's face.

Michael sat beside him. If he were on Earth, his true form would have blinded Adam, or else Michael would have been forced to continue using the boy as a vessel. In Hell, though, the rules were different. Nobody had a body – except Adam, the lone, pitiable exception – and Michael was able to manifest his own form. He had chosen to shape it after John Winchester, the last human he had possessed, besides Adam. It had seemed easier than creating a body from scratch, and he'd thought that basing his form off of Adam's body would frighten the boy further.

Michael wasn't sure what had led him to sit beside the human. Michael certainly didn't need the company, and if Adam had seemed lonely, well, that was hardly Michael's concern. He had long since stopped caring about humanity; there was a reason why he had remained in Heaven, allowing his brethren to obtain the Winchesters' yeses before Michael bothered to descend. He had meant to fulfill his destiny, and not involve himself further.

Still, Adam had tried to help. He hadn't been the one to rip apart the story. Perhaps that was why Michael joined him.

Adam said nothing. It had taken several decades, but he had finally stopped flinching when Michael approached – it seemed that he finally believed that Michael meant it when he said that he would not harm him. Now, Adam didn't even react as Michael lowered himself to sit beside the boy, and for a long time, the only sounds were Sam's screams and the guttural noises coming from the copy of Dean as its throat was carefully taken apart.

Michael, finally, was the one who broke the silence. "What do you think about?" He had noticed that Adam spent the majority of his time by himself, saying nothing to anyone, and Michael thought that that was a safe-enough topic.

There was quite a long pause between Michael's question and Adam's answer, but finally, Adam responded. He didn't glance at Michael or even move at all, but he did say, "My family."

Michael nodded, not sure how to respond. He had never cared enough to speak to a human before, and didn't know the customs, or even if Adam would care about the customs under these circumstances.

The silence eventually wore Adam down, and he let out a huff of breath. "I did it all to save my mom, you know? I wanted her to come back to life, I figured maybe we could be together again after this whole Apocalypse thing was sorted out."

Michael nodded again. "Admirable."

If Adam cared about Michael's compliment at all, it didn't show on his face. "Now I'm thinking its better that you guys never brought her back," he said quietly. "At least this way, I'm hoping she doesn't know that I'm stuck in here."

"I'm sure that my brothers and sisters will care for her," Michael said. He did not think it was the truth, but he did know enough about humans to sense that Adam needed comfort. Judging by the look on Adam's face, though, Michael's words had not been enough to calm him. Perhaps he would have reacted better if Michael had told him the truth – that if Adam's mom was in Heaven, as Adam had implied that she was, then the angels likely didn't care about her one way or another. She would be neither harmed nor helped, which was likely the best fate she could have.

"Tell me about her," Michael said. He was sure that Adam would refuse.

But Adam did.

It became a new routine. They both needed some way to pass the time, aside from listening to Sam's torment. Michael did not suffer from boredom as humans did, but even he had to admit that the screaming became tiresome.

Adam told stories about himself and his mom, being careful to avoid any mention of John Winchester, and very obviously changing the subject the one time that Michael had asked. It didn't take long for the stories to begin repeating – he only had nineteen years worth of tales to tell, and numerous decades to tell them. Michael did not mind listening, even as the repeated retellings grew somewhat tedious. It was the least he could do to repay the boy – the man – who had done so well as his vessel.

Michael sometimes told stories, simply for a change of pace. He had lived for many thousands of years, and had experienced numerous adventures that Adam could barely imagine. Michael discovered that he enjoyed seeing the interest and wonder appear in Adam's eyes as Michael shared stories of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, the original battle against Lucifer, of speaking to Joshua and wrestling with Jacob.

Everything changed after Sam was taken from Hell.

Adam refused to speak for a long time, and when he did, it was only to ask, "Why wasn't I taken with him?"

And Lucifer needed a new way to occupy his time.

Michael tried not to let it happen, of course. He and Lucifer took to fighting, day after day. Neither of them even succeeded in killing the other, though there were times when they came close. Some days, Michael was successful, and Lucifer was incapable of harming Adam. Other times, Michael was left broken and unable to fight, and there was nothing he could do but lie there and listen to the things that Lucifer did to the human, and hope that he recovered fast enough that he would be able to stop Lucifer before he did too much damage.

There was one huge difference between Sam Winchester and Adam Milligan. Well, there was the fact that Sam had deserved this torment for destroying God's plan, whereas Adam was an innocent. But beyond that, there was the fact that Sam had never broken, not really. Not in the way that a normal human would break. No matter what Lucifer did to Sam, there was always a part of him that was able to hold on, and which never gave in.

Adam's soul shattered to pieces and never recovered.

It became a race, with Lucifer doing everything he could to destroy Adam, and Michael racing to heal him as best he could. It was more than Sam had ever gotten, and Michael liked to believe that it helped. But it wasn't enough.

There was a moment, several hundreds of years after Sam had been saved – perhaps even a thousand years or more, Michael couldn't be sure. Lucifer was lying on the ground in a heap a few hundred feet away. The moment that Michael was sure that his brother would not rise – not for a while, at least – he dropped into a crouch beside Adam, his hands immediately reaching for the mangled wounds that Lucifer had left on his body.

For a long time, Michael had wondered how long it would take for Adam to break completely. Now, he knew.

"Adam," Michael said softly, cradling his body, taking care not to hurt him further. "I am here. Lucifer will not harm you again." It was the same promise that Michael had been making for years now. He knew that he could not keep it, and yet he could never stop himself from saying it.

Adam's head rolled to the side, and his eyes remained closed, as if he were unconscious. He should not have been, as Michael had healed his injuries already. He should have woken immediately.

"Adam," Michael repeated, louder this time.

Adam awoke, his body jerking in Michael's hands as he threw himself forward as though he was trying to escape. He twisted to the side, panting hard, violent tremors shaking his body.

His eyes were black.

No, this had never been Michael's intention. Not at all.