Song: Devils Don't Fly, by Natalia Kills
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernautural
Enjoy!
Devils Don't Fly
"This is your entire fault!" The yell echoed through the Cage, resounding in its current walls.
"It is not." Michael said, his voice a tad calmer than Lucifer's, though his fear and disbelief was evident.
Lucifer's eyes blazed. "You were the one who wanted us to fight each other! You were the one that just couldn't understand that this is all God's will! That he doesn't love us! He doesn't care!"
"Blasphemy! Father loves us, and it was our destiny! We were supposed to fight each other! And you ruined it!" Michael had already lost his composure, all his anger and frustration finally showing.
Lucifer laughed. A crazy, bone chilling laugh, that would have sent shivers to anyone. But Michael didn't even flinch. He just gazed his brother with disgust.
"You still believe in him!" The Devil continued to laugh to the point of falling to his knees crying. "After all he had done?" He inquired after composing himself. "After all he hadn't done?" He looked at Michael in disbelief, like he was he the stupidest being in all creation. "He forced you to cast me in this damn Cage, just because I loved Him more than I loved humans! He let me rot in here!" Lucifer raised his hands and turned on himself, taking in his surroundings.
God's firstborn looked at his little brother in disdain.
"This place is not even half as terrible as you deserve." He said hatefully.
Lucifer laughed darkly again. "This is how you see it now. In no time, we'll start feeling the effects of Hell. This Cage, it will star affecting our minds, our grace. The fact that we are in mortal bodies only will fasten the process." Without another word, he turned around, and headed to the further corner of the Cage. Michael wanted to reply, but what Lucifer had said lingered in his mind. Was he saying he truth, or was he bluffing.
Michael didn't know how much time had passed, but he was starting to believe in Lucifer's words. He felt constant dread and fear, and was starting to lose the capability of thinking straight. Flashes of the worst moments of his life passed through his eyes. The most recurrent one was of him casting his beautiful little brother into the Cage.
In a moment of clarity, Lucifer's words managed to penetrate his confused mind. The fact that we are in mortal bodies only will fasten the process. Realization dawned into Michael, and as quickly as he could manage, he acquired his true form, bursting in light.
Lucifer was pulled out of his musings with a startling surge of light and power. It came from the other side of the Cage, were Michael was supposed to be. Despite himself, he looked up, somewhat worried. For a moment, the fallen archangel thought that somehow the angels had managed to rescue Michael from the Cage, leaving him alone all over again. The thought distraught him more than he cared to admit, even to himself.
After a while, the light subsided, allowing him to see the true form of his brother.
It was breath-taking. Lucifer had forgotten how beautiful an angel's true form could be, even more his brother's.
Lucifer couldn't tear his gaze form Michael, and soon he started feeling Sam's eyes burning at the sight.
Forcing himself acquire his true form, he abandoned the young Winchester's body, being careful of not ripping it apart.
At the departure of the fallen archangel, Sam, being human, was immediately affected by Hell, leaving him to the mercy of his own fear trapping him in his mind.
Lucifer approached his brother slowly, almost hesitantly.
When he was just a few feet away he stopped, waiting for his brother to acknowledge him.
"Lucifer." Michael said in a shaky voice, not glancing at him.
"Michael."
"How are you not affected by this?" Michael asked, trying to hold back his tears.
Lucifer raised his eyebrows. "You mean by the Cage? Oh, I am, yes. In fact, I've been affected by it ever since you casted me down here, driving me insane. Making me the monster, as you say. Am I the monster, Michael? Did I deserve what I got? What you are feeling now? My very being, tore apart by fear, hate and madness! DID I DESERVE THAT, JUST BECAUSE I LOVED OUR FATHER TOO MUCH?" Lucifer ended screaming, he couldn't help his feelings, the betrayal that always haunted him. "The thing is, dear brother, that I'm used to it" he added softly.
Michael was a little taken aback by his brother's rant. If he was honest with himself, he felt guilty. He never wanted to fight with Lucifer, not even all those years ago. Nevertheless, he had never even thought about questioning his Father's will. But now... He was stuck in the Cage. Why did God allow it? He was a good son, he didn't deserve this. He had gone to fight Lucifer, even if he didn't want to, just because his Father had commanded it several millennia ago. His Father, who was no longer in Heaven...
No. He couldn't be feeling doubts. This was all the Cage's doing. He wouldn't be surprised if Lucifer had something to do with all this.
Meanwhile, Lucifer wasn't oblivious to Michael's thoughts. It was evident in the archangel's face all the doubts he was having. For the first time in a very long time, Lucifer felt a glimmer of hope. Could he convince his brother? Make Michael love him again?
He sat in the floor, slowly pulling Michael with him. The older angel didn't put resistance, too confused to really think properly.
"Do you know what was the first thing I heard right after I was freed from this place?" Lucifer didn't really expect Michael to answer, so he continued talking. "It was the angels. Despite having been all those years in hear, I still could recognize the voices. They were talking about me, obviously. I had just been freed. But, oh, I was so happy! I could hear my name being spoken by angels. Maybe you don't appreciate it, you hear them all the time, but for me, it was being in Heaven again." Lucifer closed his eyes dreamily. He didn't intend to pour that much sentiment in his words, but once he started, he couldn't help but telling all the truth. After all, the Devil never lied. He didn't need it. "I celebrated, of course. I finally was free!" Lucifer smiled bitterly. "And then I realized that yes, I was free, and I could hear you, but you were talking about defeating me, killing me."
Lucifer looked al Michael. His brother wasn't looking at him, but he was indeed listening.
"I shut you all down. It actually hurt me. Can you believe it? It hurt me that I was the evil one, that you were preparing to fight me. And you know why it hurt so much?" The fallen archangel continued, smiling bitterly. "Because I still remembered when we loved each other, up in Heaven, before humans. We were happy, weren't we?"
Michael smiled, although reluctantly. He remembered, yes. Good times they were indeed. He glanced at his little brother sideways, their eyes meeting for a few moments. Just then Michael realized that Lucifer was no longer in his vessel. He looked at his wings. They were broken, the once white feathers now black, charred by Hell. That made him realize how low his brother had fallen.
He couldn't help but ask, "Why start the Apocalypse, then? If you regretted what you did?" That wasn't the right thing to say. Lucifer narrowed his eyes at him. "I do not regret falling, brother." He growled. "I was right about humans."
"Still, they were God's creations! He ordered you to love them! You should have listened!" Michael replied heatedly.
"No, Michael! Love shouldn't be forced! And you should know that! I loved God, more than anything or anyone, and look were it took me!" Lucifer had stood up, fuming. How could Michael not understand?
Michael got up too, facing his angry brother. He wanted to argue, tell him wrong, but he knew it was hopeless. Lucifer was as stubborn as he was, if not more. Besides -even if Michael couldn't bring himself to admit it-, he couldn't refute his brother's logic, if you didn't consider the 'God ordered it' argument, which didn't seem too convincing to Michael anymore (let alone Lucifer). He decided to go through another path.
"Then why the Apocalypse?" He repeated. "Why do you want to destroy humanity so badly? Fine, you don't love them, but what makes you hate them?"
Lucifer stared at Michael in disbelief. "They are reason why this happened to me! If it wasn't for humans, I would still be in up in Heaven! How can you not see this, Michael?"
The older archangel knitted his brows, thinking. "But you hated humans before falling." He pointed out. Lucifer opened his mouth to reply, and closed it. Then he scowled, not happy at having been bested by his brother in an argument.
"They made God order us to love him less. God liked them better, and they are flawed!" He finally said, though he wasn't completely content with his own response.
Michael smirked. "So, you are jealous." He said.
"I am not!"
"Yes, you are" Michael insisted, but continued before Lucifer could say anything. "Lucifer, I think you don't understand the meaning of love." He said kindly, resting a hand in his brother's shoulder. "Father loved humans, and he found joy in that feeling. He wanted us to feel that too, not to love him less, but to love humans too."
Lucifer wanted to reply something, snap a snarky remark at him, but he found himself unable to. He felt the truth in his brother's words. Could he have been wrong all this time?
"I see your doubts, brother" Michael said, smiling faintly.
"No." Lucifer said. "No. You're wrong" The fallen archangel didn't know if he was trying to convince Michael, or himself.
"Why can't you admit it? Why is it so difficult?"
Lucifer looked at Michael, doubt swirling in his eyes. He had to hold back the tears when he saw what was in his big brother's eyes: compassion, but also love. He had missed that gaze, too much.
"I..." Lucifer gulped, trying to get out the words. "Is the only thing I can hang on now." He whispered. "If I'm not the Devil, who am I? God made me this way. And I am no longer an angel. I've got nothing, no one, but what has kept me going this las millennia. The knowledge that I was right. What do you think it will do to me realize that the reason why I fell is in fact weightless, wrong?" Tears were rolling down his cheeks.
Michael smiled. "You have me, brother."
Lucifer looked up at Michael, not believing what he was hearing. "What?" He asked, dumbfounded.
"You heard me brother. I am here."
Lucifer couldn't help but throw himself to his older brother's arms, because despite being the so called Devil, he needed someone to love him. And Michael reciprocated, because despite being the so called Soldier of Heaven, he did love.
They held each other tighter for a few moments.
"Thank you, Michael." The archangel only smiled in response. They kept in silence, still hugging. After a while, Michael pulled Lucifer back down to the floor.
The Devil stared at nothingness, lost in thought. He felt the familiar pit his stomach, though now it felt more oppressive than ever. He tried to fathom what did it mean. When else had he felt it? When he was cast down to the Cage the first time, sure. Also, when Sam overthrew his control. When Castiel Molotov'd Michael with holy fire. There was anger in that last one too, but something else. Something in common with the rest. What? Fear. Lucifer was afraid. He was very prideful too, so it was hard, oh so hard, to admit it.
He trembled helplessly. Michael was startled. Lucifer trembling? He was surprised that his brother had even shown true emotion, se he definitely didn't expect this.
"Lucifer?" He asked hesitantly. He knew his brother well enough to know he didn't like being weak. "What's the matter?"
Lucifer shifted uncomfortably, but didn't respond.
"Lucifer." Michael repeated more sternly. Lucifer looked up, biting his lower lip. A very human gesture, if you asked Michael. He look very much as the little brother he knew when they were still little angel fledglings.
"I... What do you want me to say, Michael?"
"The truth." Lucifer rolled his eye at his brother's antics.
"What do you think the truth is?" He specified. Michael was silent for a few moments, thinking hard.
"I think you are afraid. But I don't understand what about. It seems to me that you fear love, or more precisely, to love. But it doesn't make much sense to me." At that, the Fallen Archangel started fidgeting with his hands.
"My Fall occurred because I loved God. I loved Sam too. He is my vessel, my true vessel. And I just caused him pain. I loved Gabriel. And now he is dead. By my hands." He looked up, meeting Michael's eyes. "How can I not be terrified of loving, if it has only brought everyone pain?"
"I used to like the pain, enjoy it." He continued. "Before I was set free, I made a habit of using my torn grace to hear past this walls, so I could hear Hell. That's how I was informed of what was going on out there. But I also could hear the screams and the agony of the souls in Hell. And I- I savored it." Brilliant, pure shame glistered in Lucifer's eyes, eating him from the inside out. "Do you get it, Michael? How can I love, if I was able to feel those things?"
"So what?" Michael asked, getting unexpectedly angry. "You don't think you deserve to love so you just decide not to?" He snapped. "No, Lucifer. That's not how it works."
"The how does it work?" Lucifer demanded. "I gave everything to God, I loved him with everything I had. Isn't that how love is supposed to work? Why can't I understand love as everyone else does?"
"You were the youngest of the Archangels-" Michael tried.
"Oh, no. Don't you dare!" Lucifer interrupted. "Age does not matter. I'm old enough now, and it haven't change a thing. And don't tell me that is because I grew up in here, because we spend a long time in Heaven before everything happened, and it wasn't that perfect either. So no, do not tell me any of those reasons, because they are bullshit."
Michael looked disapprovingly at his brother, but didn't reply.
"I did what I thought it was right." Lucifer said finally. Then he sighed. "It seems that I wasn't right after all." He looked at his big brother for a moment. "Do I belong to Hell, brother?" Lucifer asked pleadingly. "Was it God's Will for me to fall? Can I be redeemed?" Michael's smile was gentle and compassionate.
"Angels were never meant to fall, little brother." He said softly, caressing his brother's cheek. "And you were one of the most beautiful angels in Creation. Why would have Father made you like that if he intended to make you fall?" He inquired.
"Too make me suffer more?" Lucifer suggested, only half serious. Michael looked at him sternly, making him roll his eyes. "So it's my fault then?" He asked, not knowing if he should be sad or angry.
"You just have pray for forgiveness, and God shall grant it." Michael replied.
Lucifer scowled.
"God is gone." He snapped spitefully. "He can't and won't fix anything. He never has. When everything happened back then, his best solution was ordering you to throw me out of Heaven, and cast me down here. When the only thing I did was having a little of free will." His jaw clenched.
"That means you won't try to get redemption?" Michael questioned, actually fearing his brother's answer. Lucifer seemed to be thinking hard, trying to make a decision.
"I'm the Devil, Michael." He said in a low, dangerous voice. "And Satan is not supposed to want redemption. He is not supposed to be an angel. So don't expect me to do such a thing." He warned hatefully. It seems that the good old Devil was back.
Michael felt sadness wash over him. They were so close, almost back like when they were real brothers. He was starting to envy the Winchesters, that despite how fucked up they were, they always were brothers, and never stopped looking out for each other.
He had dared to hope Lucifer could change, but now he understood that there was no way to go back to how things where before. Lucifer and him were very different. He was an archangel in Grace, at the service of the Lord. Lucifer was the Devil, a Fallen, who no matter what was always chained to Perdition, one way or another. It wasn't fair, and Michael didn't like it, but that was the way it was.
Then, Lucifer spoke.
"I am no angel, Michael. But that doesn't I can't try."
Despite himself, Michael dared to hope again.
THE END.
A/N: Hi, everyone! That was longer to write than I expected. I got the idea while watching a Destiel video about this song. I was just listening and suddenly it fitted perfectly for Michael and Lucifer. Hope you liked it!
By the way, sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes, I actually speak spanish, and this wasn't beta'd, so yeah.
Luv,
Alex.
UPDATE: So. I had to edit this story because I didn't realize I couldn't copy & paste the lyrics of the song. I'm so sorry! Thanks to catspats31 for pointing it out, I changed it as soon as I read the review. And also a lot of thanks to Kajune for their fantastic review, it really made me smile!
Alex.
EDITED: Hi again! I edited this again 'cause I re-read it a couple of months after posting and realized there were a few mistakes. :) Thank you to everyone for reading this. :D
Alex.
