One Piece
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine. I do not profit from this story.
Pairing: I kind of implied Lucifer/Michael and perhaps one could also see Sam/Lucifer
Rating: PG-13
Warning: AU The premise is that Crowley did not initially plan to return Sam to life without a soul; there was simply someone who wouldn't give up possession of it.
Spoilers: up to and including 6.07 Family Matters
Beta: webbswoman
Summary: When Crowley pulled Sam from the cage, Lucifer wouldn't let his vessel go. In the end, the Morning Star was left with Sam's soul.
Sometimes, Lucifer wondered why Michael was still using his vessel. There was no real advantage either way but an angel simply didn't need a vessel in the cage. Still, his brother insisted on occupying the boyish Adam Milligan-Winchester. Perhaps he and his brother both had their flaws after all, his perfect older brother as much he.
Michael would claim that Lucifer wasn't much better. When Crowley had pulled Sam Winchester out of the cage, Lucifer had been in a rage. Sam was his, his to torture, and his to use in whatever way he saw fit, and he wouldn't accept a lowly demon taking the Winchester away. He put his every being into Sam to keep him, but the traitorous soul-dealer wouldn't give up either.
Sam's body had screamed in pain until his voice broke, while his soul's wailing continued. In the end, Sam's body had been pulled from the cage and Lucifer's essence had broken free like a bright star. Lucifer may not have had hands at that time, but if he had, his fingernails would have been buried in Sam's soul for that was the one piece he managed to keep.
Crowley had cursed but decided it was as much as he could risk at the time. He let Lucifer have the soul. The soul had given a cry of shock at being ripped from its body, then Michael had thrown himself at Lucifer.
Michael and Lucifer fought a lot. In the cage, however, there was no death for either of them and thus neither victory nor defeat was possible. They battled to exhaustion or until they saw no point to it anymore.
When Michael had sought to wrestle Sam Winchester's soul away from Lucifer, the Morning Star had fought more savagely than ever before. He'd ripped at Michael's grace, stomped on his vessel, and clawed at the archangel until Michael was forced to give up. The soul remained with Lucifer.
Sometimes, Michael could see his brother talking to it. It was fascinating really, how Lucifer stroked it soothingly one moment, speaking to it in friendly tones, and tore into it the next. Without its body, it was completely unprotected, less resistant against the Morning Star, and Lucifer took advantage of it. He was creative, Michael had to admit.
But the soul proved to be stronger than the archangel had expected: It did not shatter like he thought it would. It might suffer from fractures – Michael could not tell – but it did not fragment into pieces and die as he had expected it to. It looked foolish to him, how it struggled at times to escape the Morning Star when the fallen archangel inflicted his own personal torture on it, while at other times it seemed to accept, even welcome, Lucifer's gentle speech.
Michael began to hate it. Lucifer called it his soul. Didn't he remember the time when Lucifer had called Michael his and Michael called him that? Or did he remember all too well, knowing it would infuriate his brother to hear him speak like this to his former vessel's soul, a human's soul?
After all, it was true that they had always known best how to inflict pain on each other.
Thanks for reading this -rather short- little story. Comments are always welcome.