Warning: Angst, hurt without comfort, character death

Notes: This lonelyphoenix85 fault. Entirely. It's a response of my brain to her "It's a Hell of a Life" story. Strange, really … since her fanfiction is just awesome and actually hopeful and mine so depressing.


The seals glow, when they snapped back in place and the Winchesters got a moment to sign in relief. Lucifer was back in his cage. But before they were able to truly enjoy the end of the apocalypse, a despairing voice thundered over the field.

"What have you done?" Over Team Free Will - as they had called themselves in the end to put up a sign against the manipulative powers of heaven and hell – stood Michael. He was wrapped in Adam's form, but until now he had always looked strange with it. No one who saw him, could actually believe that he was nothing but a fierce and very powerful creature beyond imagination. Even with or perhaps especially because of his angelic origins, Castiel could see how different Michael was.

Grace, light and fire poured from him like water from a fresh spring, estranging everyone with the boyish image of his face. And yet, right in this moment, when the apocalypse was ended, he couldn't have looked more human.

Pain weighted down his shoulders and anguish was written across his face, when Michael fell to his knees on the place, where Lucifer had just stood a few moments ago. With wonder the gathered parties stared, because Michael repeatedly pounded his fist in to the ground as if he could reopen the seals with his bare strength. When the earth just trembled, but remained solid and dark otherwise an unearthly sound escaped Michael's soul.

"What have you done?", he screamed at the bewildered Team Free Will, who was to shocked to react to to the sight of Michael's pain. "What have you done? Where's Lucifer? Where is my brother?"

"Michael..."

Gabriel spoke up first, placing himself between his brother he barely recognized, now when he was writhing in what looked like physical pain and the clueless, mainly defenseless humans.

"What do you mean with 'what have you done'?", Gabriel asked. "We ended the apocalypse without any further bloodshed.

Michael, still kneeling on the ground, wrung a small sentence out of his mouth.

"I worked so hard for this", he whispered and apprehension began to dawn on Gabriel, fear settling in his guts.

"I worked so hard to free Lucifer from hell. I endured all these years in pain and loneliness, only to face the same torture again, because you took him away from me?"

Fast as lightening Michael drew a half circle into the air, directing a hot destructive wave of grace against Gabriel and the humans behind him. Gabriel's eyes widened in understanding, when he saw the final death coming at him. All what Michael had been trying to do, what he had foolishly aimed to hope for … was to built a bride across the anger and hate of the ages that stood between Lucifer and him.

Light washed over Gabriel gathered his final thoughts to a 'Oh Michael, if had I known...'

Powers clashed a moment later, when Michael threw his pain, his despair over the hope and love he had lost with the resetting of the seals, Gabriel meant to hear his father sigh.

Then there was nothing, only Michael's last fading thoughts of having lost.

Everything. Again.