WARNING: Rated 'M' for gore and the death of character who are beloved by many. So read at your own risk!
Nick was done with it all. Everything was becoming too much for him and he felt too fed up to deal with humanity in general. Twirling around his hammer in his hold, he glared at the humans milling around him – each doing their own business. He wasn't too fond of all those people from another reality living in the Bunker – being forced to be 'happy' about Lucifer's demise around Sam and Castiel was worse enough as it is, but he also had to act happy around Lucifer knew how many people?
No. That was where the man drew his last straw. He wanted them gone.
All of them.
"Nick, where did you get that hammer?" Castiel asked him, forcing him from his train of thoughts.
Forcing his eyes up to meet the angel's questionable gaze - not his angel - he replied, "I found it laying around. It has a rather calming effect on me."
"If you say so," the Seraphim replied before being called over by Sam and excusing himself from Nick's side, who watched him go in silence. Nick grumbled a bit and focused his attention back on his hammer, twirling it around in his hold and trying to ignore the hateful stares he still received - when looking at him, most were still reminded of Lucifer. But the difference was, when thinking about the Archangel, Nick didn't associate him with the hell as most did.
He felt a slight pulse from within, a stroke of grace, and Nick's heart fluttered. Take it easy, my love. They cannot know that you're still alive, Nick mentally scolded the angel, desperately trying to keep his emotions - and Lucifer - under control. Seeing Lucifer like this; terrified and weakened... it made Nick feel like slaughtering the entire world if it meant the angel would feel more at ease.
Weakened as he was - compared to his former glory - other angels couldn't sense Lucifer's presence from within Nick. The human had made sure to wrap his soul completely around the Archangel's grace, as if to remove all angelic traces that could be sensed from the outside.
Glancing at the Seraphim once more, Nick knew that they couldn't stay like this forever. If Lucifer's grace restored itself even a bit more, it would be beyond Nick's capabilities to hide him. And then they would be hunted and killed before Lucifer got powerful enough to protect them. He wouldn't be able to protect Lucifer.
Why not strike first? Lucifer's voice sounded in his head, out of breath from even having to speak.
Nick's heart clenched together and he stroked with his soul over the angel's grace. Lucifer did not have to say anymore, for he knew what he meant through their bond. No matter how weakened Lucifer might be, their bond would never break.
Looking around at the people all around him, his hold tightened around the hammer. They won't see him coming. They won't expect from the 'broken vessel' to take them down. Nick's eyes sparkled when a plan started to form in his mind.
A dangerous plan... but for his angel, he would do it and see it done.
I can do it. I can do it. I can do it, Nick mentally repeated to himself, trying to keep the erratic beating of his heart under control. He crept through the bunker's corridors, keeping to the shadows as he tried to stay out of sight.
Sam - and a handful of other hunters - had gone out earlier to back-up Mary and Bobby. Something with demons who might know something about Michael's locations; Nick wasn't sure and didn't care either. But he did knew that Castiel stayed behind - and Jack had gone someplace with a few others. So it was time for him to move and set his plan in motion.
How hard would it be to take down one broken angel with clipped wings?
Nick stopped in front of a door he knew the Seraph was behind. The door leading to Dean's bedroom. From the time he had spend in the bunker, he knew that Castiel spends the nights and moments the others were gone in Dean's room. Part of him admired the angel's loyalty towards the man, but he knew he couldn't back down now.
"Are you sure you can do this?" Nick muttered under his breath, too low for anyone to hear but the angel within.
Take... it, Lucifer replied in a gasping breath. So closing his eyes and focusing on the bond between them, the man did just that. The golden grace from the Nephilim - which had saved both of their lives - was still within, hidden by Nick's soul in the same way Lucifer's grace was. Nick had saved what was left for the times he would need it, for when he might be forced to harness their power.
He took some of it now, leaving a bit behind - which Lucifer could maybe use to replenish his own grace once the only one who could sense him was taken care of - and the power coursed through him. Nick's eyes snapped open and he kicked in the door as the grace burned through him like rampaging flames.
Castiel spun around in shock, surprised to see Nick. "What did you do?" The angel asked with a hint of fear.
Nick didn't knew if his eyes glowed red or gold, but he couldn't be bothered with such details, not when he could feel the power wanting to slip away. He held on with all his strength, vaguely being aware of Lucifer helping him doing so. "Something I should have done a long time ago," Nick replied, holding up his hand, "but for what it is worth. I am sorry it had to go this way. You shouldn't have refused him all those years ago."
Castiel fumbled for his blade as his gaze hardened but Nick wasn't about to give him even the smallest chance of survival as he snapped his fingers, unleashing the powers trapped within like they were a caged vicious animal and focusing them on the angel. Nick had never done something like this before, but Lucifer had, and Nick had always watched him - he knew how to do it.
With the snap, Castiel exploded. The only thing that remained from the angel was his trench coat and some ashes. Nick went for a clean kill, so there was no blood.
"One down," the man muttered, "too many to go." But he would take them out in one go.
Stepping out of the room and closing the door, Nick casually walked away, the power he had used to kill Castiel slipping away from him. Whatever remained, he gave to Lucifer to help him recharge his lost grace. He wasn't worried about getting suspected about Castiel's death.
Nick had it all planned out and it was time to put his acting skills to the test. The corner of his lips curled up in a smirk and a whistle left his mouth as he went towards the dungeon - which has been turned into a room for him to use. He just had to wait there for a bit.
As it turned out, Nick didn't have to wait for as long as he originally expected.
In maybe an hour time he could hear raised voices and footsteps echoing around the bunker as its inhabitants returned and became aware of the Seraphim's demise. The heavy door to the dungeon opened and Nick peeked over his shoulder, seeing a white-faced Sam shakily enter the room.
"Sam, is something the matter?" He asked the hunter, putting up a concerned expression.
"It's Castiel, he's", Sam's breath caught in his throat and Nick waited patiently for him to finish his sentence, even though he already knew what he was going to say, "he's dead. Gone."
Nick put up a frown. "Are you sure he didn't just go out to take a walk or something?" He questioned, tilting his head slightly.
Silently, Sam held up the trench coat, still white in the face. "He goes nowhere without his coat. It was on a pile of ashes, but no blood." Castiel's death must have shaken him up pretty badly. First Dean's possession by Michael, and now Castiel, Nick could see him breaking apart from within. He could see the man suffer. Good.
"Ashes?" He acted shocked. "What kind of being could pull that off?"
"Bobby thinks that it's an Archangel, for angels are some of the few beings capable of slipping past our wardings, but we're not sure," Sam's hazel-colored eyes fell on Nick, looking almost hopeful. "You were in the Bunker the entire time, did you notice anything unusual?"
Nick shook his head. "No, sorry. I didn't really leave my room," he simply said.
"Okay, that's fine. Be careful," Sam said, clearly disappointed of his answer, getting up and moving to leave him alone again. Nick understood that the man hoped that he would have any clue about his friend's death, but Nick wasn't about to give him any.
Once Sam was gone, Nick turned back around to face the wall, a slow smirk forming on his face when he heard the footsteps fade away in the distance. Feeling a pulse of celestial grace from within, Nick closed his eyes and tilted his head back. "Be patient, all's going according to my plan," he muttered to the angel, "you should take a rest and focus on regaining your strength. I look after our body for now." When Lucifer settled down again, Nick's eyes opened and he found himself staring at the ceiling.
Standing up from the bed, he went over towards the shelves lined with ancient books, his fingers gliding over the covers as his eyes scanned the titles for anything interesting. He had some time on his hands now, so he figured he would spend it doing research on ways to help Lucifer regain his grace faster.
It was like that how Jack found him, with his nose buried deep in the books as he made the knowledge they contained his own. In surprise, he looked up to face the child, not expecting to see him here in the dungeon. He didn't exactly saw Jack often and they rarely exchanged words with each other; most of the time, Lucifer's son just looked at him with a frown.
Clearing his throat and closing the book, Nick asked, "Can I do something for you, Jack?" He frowned slightly when he noticed the boy's troubled look. Lucifer stirred from within at that.
"Uhm," Jack started, clearly not sure how to say whatever he had on his mind, "Lucifer, was he... really evil?" He asked as he studied Nick's expression closely.
Nick was unable to completely hide his surprise at that question. "Why are you asking me that?" He asked, taking his turn to study Jack more closely, wondering if Sam suspected him after all and had set Jack up for this like a 'test' of some sorts.
"I was just thinking," Jack frowned.
Seeing no lies but complete honesty and curiosity on Jack's expression - and Nick was rather good at reading people - some of the tension left his shoulders. Jack was just a child who wanted to know more about his lineage. He decided to take the change. "Lucifer was never evil," Nick replied, being careful to refer to the angel in the past tense. Just to be safe. "I like to say he was misunderstood... and hurting."
From within, Lucifer scoffed at that but Nick decided to ignore him, instead watching how Jack took it. "What was it like?" He asked. Nick frowned slightly and Jack elaborated. "Being possessed by Lucifer."
"It was like being wrapped in many fluffy blankets," Nick blurted out, clamping his mouth shut after that. But at Jack's curious expression, he decided he might as well be damned already so he continued - well aware of the smug Archangel who was listening in on them. "Lucifer made me feel... safe. Like I mattered."
"Sam and Dean tell a different story. Castiel as well."
"They never knew him as well as I did."
"Can you tell me about him?" Jack sat down on the bed Nick was perched on as well, carefully shoving a few books out of the way.
And so Nick did. He told Jack everything, leaving nothing out. He told him about the good and the bad alike. About their triumphs but also their mistakes and countless sins. But he also told Jack about the dreams and hopes that Lucifer had shared with him. For Jack deserved to know. It's better to live in the truth than to live in a lie, no matter how hard said truth sometimes might be to take. Lucifer never lied and didn't liked lies, so Nick was not going to start lying now. Not a single word.
And it was not just Lucifer he told him about. He also spoke about the Winchester's, how they always put each other above the entire world and often doomed it along the way. Sure, they tried to fix it all those time. But did they ever learn? No. According to the change in Jack's expression, Nick could tell that the brothers never shared this piece of information with the Nephilim. Interesting.
"They... never told me any of that," Jack muttered, leaning forward and placing his head in his hands. "Lucifer was always the bad guy in the story."
"I'm sorry," Nick spoke, almost awkwardly placing a hand on the child's shoulders.
"Nick," Jack asked after a while, lifting up his head to look at the older man. His eyes were dry. "Was it you who killed Castiel?" Seeing Nick's doubtful expression, he added, "I won't tell anyone... I just want to know if you did it, and why."
Slowly, Nick nodded his head, confirming Jack's suspicions. "Partly because he was one of those responsible for so much of Lucifer's pain... but also because of what he did to the Novak's, and the things he did in Heaven's name a long time ago."
"The Novak's?"
"His vessel's family. He ripped their family apart. His vessel and vessel's wife are dead and their daughter is a hunter, living a life of danger. Something that Jimmy never wanted for her, I'm sure," Nick replied. "Jimmy Novak was the name of Castiel's vessel."
Jack turned towards him a bit more. "Do you have a family?"
Nick gulped. "I had. But a man broke into my house and killed them," he looked away for a while, needing a second to compose himself, "it was Lucifer who found me... and saved me." He tried to ignore the fluttering of the grace within, kinda failing at that as a slight blush rose on his cheeks.
Noticing this, Jack tilted his head in curiosity. Nick waved him off with a slight smile. "I understand that this all is a lot to take in. You should take a while to think it all over and let it sink in properly," he told the Nephilim, "but if you ever want to talk more, you know where to find me."
After that, Jack had visited him every day, wanting to know more about Nick's time with Lucifer mostly. Nick did not mind telling him, so he answered all of his questions. Of course, he eventually also told him - carefully - that Lucifer was still alive. Jack took it rather well - and even seemed a bit excited, much to Lucifer's joy.
"Just what kind of spell is this, exactly?" Jack asked, looking through the spell book they had found in curiosity.
"Like a strong colorless sleeping potion which also dulls the senses," Nick answered, carefully measuring some of the ingredients. "New Year is almost here, so I can easily put some in a bottle of champagne and let it go around the bunker. They drink of it, fall into a deep sleep," he picked up his hammer from next to the bowl with ingredients and tilted his head as he looked at the item in his hand, "and then I kill them so they can finally pay for their crimes."
"What did the people from the apocalypse world do?"
Putting down his hammer, he looked at the child. "The Winchester's should have known better than to mess with the balance of the universe. I feel bad for those people, but they are not supposed to be here, in our world," he carefully explained what Lucifer once told him, "if they stay, it will only bite all of us in our asses later on. It will be chaos manifested in our world and then we're truly doomed. We are unable to send them back to their own world... so it doesn't really leave much of a choice."
Jack looked down slightly. "You do understand that, don't you?" Nick asked, at which Jack slowly nodded.
"Will it at least be painless?"
Nick tapped the bowl. "That's why we're making the potion." He started working on the ingredients again as Jack placed a half-empty champagne bottle on the table.
"Is that... champagne?" A woman from the Apocalypse world Nick couldn't bother remembering the name of asked him.
Putting his most convincing smile on his face, "Yes, it is. It's New Years so I figured it would be fitting," he replied, handing her a glass of the bewitched champagne. Back in his dungeon, Nick had mixed the sleeping potion with the champagne and divided it amongst the glasses he could find. He had made sure that he would have enough - he even had a few extra.
"Oh, thank you. It had been so long since I tasted any," the woman replied, eagerly taking the glass from Nick and taking a sip as she walked away from him again.
Now he had to make sure that everyone got one. He and Jack were going around, handing everyone a glass. So far it wasn't any problem. Apparently, it had been a really long time since they had any champagne so they eagerly took it. Even Maggie - and Mary didn't refuse either.
Lucifer was completely quiet from within ever since Nick and Jack had started handing around the champagne. If the Archangel needed to breathe in his grace form, Nick concluded that he must be holding his breath. Everything is going well, he mentally reassured the angel, not daring to take the risk to speak aloud - even if it were to be in a whisper.
Only a few glasses left, Nick walked up to Sam who was watching a TV screen. The show that was on talked about the highlights of the year as they were counting down to the new year. There were about fourth minutes to go. "Hey, Sam," Nick greeted him, watching how the hunter turned around to face him with his haunted expression of having lost Castiel and still unable to find his brother, "would you perhaps like some champagne as well?" He gently offered, holding out a glass with the clear liquid his way.
Sam looked at the glass of champagne, unaware of the spell put over it, and he took it silently. Holding it up in a silent cheer, Sam gave a slight smile before he drowned the glass in one big gulp. Nick suppressed a smile as he turned around and walked away, but not before giving Sam a pat on the shoulder.
His eyes scanned all the faces in the bunker, to make sure he had missed nobody. Everyone was here, and everyone - except himself and Jack - had a glass of bewitched champagne in their hands. Most glasses were already half-empty. Quickly finding Jack, he stood next to him, leaning against the wall. "Any moment now," he muttered, watching as, after about ten minutes, a few people started to grow drowsy as they swayed on their feet.
It wasn't long before the majority simply fell down like a doll whose strings were cut. The others jumped in alarm before they fell as well. Pushing himself off the wall, twirling the hammer in his hold, Nick stepped between the snoring humans as he slowly walked up to Sam.
The hunter had taken a tight hold of a random table as he tried to stay upright with his legs struggling to keep him up. "Y-You," Sam stuttered, furiously blinking his eyes, "what did you-"
Nick shushed him, placing the hammer against Sam's lips. "Just close your eyes and sleep. It will all be over soon, I promise." He said in a tone as if he were talking to a small child. He watched how Sam sunk lower towards the floor, he watched how Sam's eyes widened when realization settled in. That is was Nick who had killed Castiel... and that he was now going to kill them all as well.
"For what it's worth, Sammy," Nick whispered, lightly stroking Sam's hair out of his face, "I do thank you for looking after me. I liked you, just like Lucifer used to. And I am sorry that it had to go this way. If it makes you feel better, you are going to a better place. You will never be hurt again in The Empty, and I will promise you that Lucifer and I will look after Jack."
Even when being drugged by the potion, Sam's eyes drastically widened at the mention of the Archangel. Nick smiled. "Yes, Lucifer is alive. He's still alive within me," he pulled his hand away from Sam's face, "you shouldn't have taken me in, Sammy. It's about time you payed for your sins, don't you think?" With those words, Sam's eyes finally fell shut and his head rolled back as he slumped towards the floor.
Turning his head to face Jack, he said, "You might want to go outside and wait there. I don't doubt that you would want to see this. Leave it all to me."
"Please make it quick," Jack asked of him.
Nick nodded his head in a silent promise and he watched how the child left the bunker before he turned back to face Sam. "Again, I am sorry, Sammy," he muttered, bringing back his hammer before slamming it down on Sam's head with a scream, hearing a satisfying crack as he broke his skull and the warm blood spattered all over him - as well as the grey-like brain fluids. Nick bought the hammer down again and again until Sam's face was nothing but a bloody pulp at his feet.
Slowly, he stood up, covered in blood as he tilted back his head. Taking a few deep breaths as he marveled over the adrenaline coursing through his veins and the power it bought him.
He held his hammer more tightly as he walked over towards the next person and slammed in their skull as well. He barely looked at the countless people he killed, he barely blinked as he crushed their skulls and made their blood and other bodily fluids flow freely and covering every possible available surface.
Completely covered in blood, Nick blankly looked at all the mutilated bodies surrounding him as blood dripped down from his hammer and hands. Casually strolling through the bloodbath, he entered the kitchen to clean himself and his hammer off before he went to see Jack.
Just when he had decently cleaned himself up and was walking towards the exit, the countdown clock on the TV struck midnight. Clanging one last time over his shoulder, he said, "Happy New Year, you fools," before he exited the bunker, an ancient book under his hand which contained a spell to restore lost Archangel grace.
For now, Nick had to look after them for a bit longer, but it won't be very long before Jack and Lucifer's grace would be completely restored and they could finally be the family they were always meant to be.