Chapter Two

Gabriel was still getting over the shock of just what his brother had done to his pocket dimension, and now this? As if Lucifer could get any more obnoxious than he already was, he had just cast himself as the head of the whole freaking operation on top of everything else.

"Okay, bro. What the hell?" he demanded.

He was not expecting the open-handed blow Lucifer delivered.

"Ow!" he cried in shock, and, dammit, it really hurt. Like…

Gabriel had a sinking feeling as Lucifer continued talking.

"How dare you speak to your emperor like that?" he demanded coldly, but there was obvious enjoyment in his eyes. "Do you want me to punish you, Gabriel?"

"Kinky, but I think I'll pass, thanks."

Gabriel reached for his powers, planning to blast his brother into the next room, in the hopes of knocking some sense into him, but…nothing. His suspicions had been confirmed. He was officially grounded.

"That's right, little brother," Lucifer said in a low voice, taking a step toward him. "Your power was all tied up with the creation of this place, so I simply…used that to my advantage. My pocket dimension, my rules. And rule number one is that no one is more powerful than the emperor. I am a god on earth, after all. Which makes you my own personal servant."

Gabriel was furious, but there was nothing he could do. It would prove no point to piss his brother off more and have Lucifer simply throw him into the wall or something. That would just embarrass him in front of the Winchesters.

Speaking of… Tweedledee and Tweedledum still stood off to one side, watching with horror in their eyes.

Until that same angry man from earlier who had dropped off the armor burst into the room, then backed up and bowed as he saw Lucifer. "Apologies, my lord, but if you are done with my fighters here, I must have them get ready."

"Oh, I was just giving them a little pre-fight talk, but I'll send them on their way soon," Lucifer said and pushed past the still seething Gabriel to approach Sam and Dean. He gripped both of their shoulders tightly enough to make the hunters wince.

"As you can see, I'm running the show now," he said. "Which means you two are expected to obey the rules of the world, or there will be… consequences." Lucifer smiled. "Ancient Rome had some very creative ways of dealing with rebels."

Sam, the history geek, swallowed hard, obviously imagining a montage of everything he had ever read. Gabriel had to admit, there was a hell of a lot that could be punished in Rome and a hell of a lot of ways to do the punishing.

"So I think you know where you stand," Lucifer continued. "Play along, and nothing will happen to you."

Dean, of course, couldn't keep his mouth shut. He glared at Lucifer. "And why the hell should we? What do you even want here?"

Lucifer smiled slow, in a way that Gabriel knew meant pain was coming. Gabriel shot a warning look at the elder Winchester to shut his piehole but it was already too late. "I have my reasons, and you will learn to obey." He formed his hand into a fist and Dean suddenly collapsed, choking for breath from lungs that wouldn't work.

"Dean!" Sam cried and crouched to grab Dean under the arms, keeping him upright as he continued to fight for breath.

"Luci, that's enough," Gabriel said quietly as the elder Winchester was going blue in the face, eyes rolling back into his head.

Lucifer, of course, held on with the torture for another few long seconds before he released Dean who collapsed limply against Sam, gulping in breaths.

Sam glared up at Lucifer. "If this is some elaborate play to get me to say yes, it's not gonna work."

Lucifer smiled again. "Only time will tell, Sam. And here, no one else is going to find you, so I have all the time in the world." He patted Sam's cheek, causing the younger Winchester to jerk away. "Now, go give us a good show today. I'm looking forward to it." He turned back around to Gabriel and had the nerve to snap his fingers at him. "Come now, Gabriel, and don't forget the refreshments this time."

Gabriel seethed, casting one last glance backwards at the Winchesters. They looked at him pleadingly for a moment, but there was nothing he could do. So he turned and followed his dick brother through a back passage and up a flight of stairs that came out into a huge coliseum. The Coliseum to be precise, but possibly grander than the original, and in front of the opening they had come out of, into the emperor's own private box, was a huge golden throne with red seat cushions. Lucifer stood up in front of it, as the crowd roared at the appearance of their 'Emperor'. Gabriel rolled his eyes and scowled even deeper as a servant rushed up and deposited a gilded tray of cheese and grapes on it into Gabriel's hands.

He was about to just drop it, when he looked over to the other side of Lucifer's throne, and saw a beautiful dark-haired woman wearing a common Roman style dress, standing beside the throne with a tray of wine in her hands and an extremely dark expression on her face.

Gabriel's eyes went wide as she looked over at him, the relief he felt at seeing her alive, instantly dissipating at the look in her eyes.

"Kali," he hissed. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You tell me, Loki," she sneered. "This time, I really am going to kill you. For good."

"This isn't what I had in mind," he hissed again. "Lucifer hijacked my pocket dimension. And my powers."

Kali shook her head. "Always excuses with you, as usual. You always get me into the worst situations. I should never have trusted you. I'll make sure you're the first one he kills."

Gabriel gulped, and Lucifer motioned to the crowds to settle down, holding his arms wide as they silenced almost instantly. "For those about to die," he said, a smirk on his face. "We salute you."

The gate below opened and Sam and Dean were shoved out as another one on the opposite side of the coliseum was opened, at the same time releasing two more warriors, who were, if possible, taller and broader than the Winchesters.

"Oh raspberries," Gabriel muttered.


Dean watched Gabriel follow Lucifer out of the room, curses on his tongue that the archangel was abandoning them when this had all been his fault, but he didn't get time to protest or rush forward to drag Gabriel back, because that shouting man was instantly in their faces, scowling.

"Alright, lads, enough time has been wasted. Get your armor on and get out there. The emperor expects you to put on a good show today."

"Um, yeah, not gonna happen," Dean said, putting his foot down. "See, we've got someplace to be."

The man backhanded him across the face and Dean stumbled back against Sam.

"You watch your tone, boy! By Jupiter, if you weren't one of my best fighters, I'd have you flogged right now. As it is, I'll let it pass if you get your arse out there this instant."

"Okay, we're going," Sam said, pulling his brother along.

Dean turned to him as they went out to the outer room where several men were bustling around grabbing weapons and armor. "What the hell, man? You actually want to do this?"

"I don't think we have a choice, Dean," Sam muttered under his breath as several servants came forward and started strapping armor onto him. And precious little of it too. Only one arm was covered in plate metal. Dean got a similar one, and they both got a leather skirt thing belted around their waists. Okay, so at least the family jewels were protected, even though nothing vital was.

"This isn't Gabriel's whole 'play our roles' thing," Dean said.

"You're right, it's Lucifer's," Sam replied grimly. "Which means he can do whatever he wants with us here, and he's right. No one is coming for us. Bobby's in a wheelchair, and Cas…well, we don't even know what happened to him after Van Nuys."

"Gabriel's gotta know how to spring us from this joint, it was his freaking pocket dimension."

"Yeah, and did you see him?" Sam demanded. "I think Lucifer's got him locked down. He's totally in control of this place." He looked around. "And worse, it's not even actual ancient Rome, it's like the Hollywood version. I mean, the 'Romans' even have British accents."

Dean rolled his eyes. Of course that would be the thing that was bothering Sam most about this. "Well, no points for accuracy, but we've still gotta find a way out of this place before we die."

"Agreed."

"Come on ladies," the toga guy said, bustling forward with two swords, which he shoved into Sam and Dean's hands. "Stop chatting and get out there."

"Okay, Brutus, we're goin'," Dean growled.

"My name's Flavius, you idiot," the man snarled, and gripped both their shoulders. "Now get out there. Make me and the emperor proud."

Sam and Dean stumbled out of the entrance into bright sunlight. Dean squinted his eyes as he heard Sam's gasp beside him, almost drowned out by the roar of a freaking gigantic crowd.

"Holy crap," Sam gasped. "Dean, this is the actual Coliseum!"

Dean however, was more worried by the other gate opening across the way. "Okay, can we geek out later? We got company!"

They both turned to face their opponents who were advancing across the sand toward them. And holy crap, they were freaking huge! One guy was carrying a sword, and the other guy had a trident with a net in his other hand.

"One of these days, I'm actually gonna kill Gabriel," Dean muttered, shaking his head as he held his sword at the ready, falling instinctively into a fighter's crouch. Sword couldn't be too different from a machete, right?

But then, having about six hundred collective pounds of seasoned fighter barreling down on you while you were wearing a dress wasn't exactly the way Dean wanted to spend his day.

The two other gladiators roared out in challenge and barreled into the Winchesters.

Dean managed to block the first blow of the other guy's sword on his, the force sending tingles down his arms. He disengaged, and went for the hamstring, only to be smashed in the face by an armor-covered elbow. A ripple of oohs went through the crowd as Dean staggered back.

Sam was facing off with the trident guy, having to dodge both his longer weapon and the net he carried.

Dean growled, and rushed at his opponent again, kicking out. He hit the guy in the knee, but found he had armor there, protecting his shins. And even Dean's cleat-like sandals didn't do anything with that. The guy simply smirked and swatted Dean like a fly.

Dean crashed into the ground, getting a face-full of sand. He scrambled to his knees, spitting it out and spun around as Sam yelled. His brother had obviously gone to block a blow with his sword but the gladiator swung his net and caught Sam's sword arm in the weighted rope mesh. He tugged with a grin, sending Sam to the ground as well and kicked him in the side for good measure.

"Hey, asshat!" Dean snarled, leaping forward to attack the man before he could stab Sam with the trident and swung his sword.

Unfortunately, trident guy saw him coming and spun around, catching Dean's sword in the prongs of his trident and wrenched it to one side, effectively disarming the hunter. He then slammed the butt of the trident into Dean's stomach, sending him straight to the ground, collapsing next to Sam who was still struggling with the net.

Dean groaned. "Ugh, this looked so much cooler in the movies…"

"Silence, my people!" Dean glanced up and groaned again, seeing they were right under Lucifer's seat. The fallen archangel was standing up, arms spread wide as the crowds quieted. Dean pulled himself to his knees and helped Sam up too, who had finally gotten free of the net.

Lucifer then held up a fist, one thumb extended, held out horizontally. The crowd roared again, calling out what they wanted him to do, and as Dean looked around, it seemed like they didn't really have anyone on their team, and no kidding. They'd put up a terrible fight.

He caught sight of Gabriel standing next to Lucifer with a tray and a hostile expression on his face. He could help at any time.

Lucifer held on for what felt like eternity, the two other gladiators were growling and strutting around, obviously anticipating getting to finish the fight. Dean looked around for his weapon and saw it several feet away. Too far to reach without making a dive for it.

And then Lucifer shrugged and turned his thumb down. The crowd went wild, and started chanting, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Sam made a face. "That's not even accurate, the movies always got it wrong; it was actually thumbs up that meant the okay to kill the other fighters."

Dean stared at him. "Really? That's your issue with this?"

"No, it's just…"

"Watch out!" Dean cried and shoved Sam out of the way of the trident. Dean acted quickly, however, and grabbed the net that was on the ground, holding it like a bullfighter as he leapt to his feet. When the trident guy came back for another sweep, Dean leapt to one side and caught the prongs of the weapon in the net and bundled it up, tearing it out of the guy's hands.

The gladiator looked surprised for a second, and then lunged forward to tackle Dean with his bare hands.

Dean however, was ready and brought the trident up at the last second, impaling the guy on it. His weight, barreling into the weapon almost snapped Dean's wrists, but the hunter stepped to the side and dropped the trident with his opponent, not wanting to be caught under that.

There was another choked off cry and Dean turned to see Sam dispatching the other guy, who crumpled to the ground, sliding off of Sam's sword.

There was a gasp from the crowd before they erupted in deafening cheers.

"Bloodthirsty bastards," Dean muttered, but had to admit, his own blood was racing. Sam was cringing, wiping blood from his face, as Dean went over and grabbed his sword arm, raising it above his head as he shouted out, pumping a fist toward the crowd.

"Dean, what are you doing?" Sam demanded.

"Playing the game," Dean told him. "Look, if we can survive out here, gain some fans or whatever, then it will be harder for Lucifer to mess with us. Besides, it's better than getting killed, right?"

Sam shrugged and nodded, before waving hesitantly to the crowd. Dean cast another glance up toward the spot Lucifer sat and saw the archangel giving them a calculating look with a small smile on his lips. Dean didn't like that at all, but he wasn't going to let it bother him either.

He tugged Sam toward the entrance to the coliseum again and back into the place they had originally landed.

And there was toga guy—Flavius—standing there with a grin. He clapped them both on the back.

"You lads did good today! Nice going letting them think they'd had you. That's why you're my best fighters. Go get cleaned up, we'll have the supper in the hall later. You can bet there will be plenty of ladies there tonight."

He strode off, and Dean turned to Sam. "Okay, help me get this crap off, I'm gonna go see if I can find Gabriel."

"Good idea," Sam said, but was still looking around, probably judging the historical accuracy of the set dressing.

"So what's Flavius' deal, fight manager or something?"

"I think he's a lanista," Sam said as he worked on the buckles of Dean's armor. "They owned troops of gladiators, bought and sold them, told them when and where to fight….so, kinda more like a pimp."

"Awesome, now I definitely need a shower," Dean said as he took off the heavy belt.

Sam chuckled. "Well, it's probably gonna be more like a public bath house."

"Great, so I'm a pimped out fighter, and I get to bathe in the same pool as a bunch of sweaty, naked dudes," Dean mumbled. "I hate ancient Rome."

"Dude, you're the one who's watched Gladiator a hundred times," Sam said. "You know you love it."

"I liked the movie, that doesn't mean I want to be in it," Dean muttered. "Come on, let's just go find Gabriel and see if there's any way out of here."

But they didn't even get out of the gladiator barracks. Flavius appeared, his expression angry.

"And just where do you two think you're off to?"

"Dude, relax, we were just going to talk to—" Dean started but Flavius cut him off, waving a finger in his face.

"You know the rules, no leaving the barracks unless instructed. Did I instruct you?"

"No…"

"Then you stay put! And if I find that either of you have been wandering around unsupervised, I'll have you flogged!"

He moved aside and guards took his place, folding their arms over their chests. Dean wondered if they could make a break for it, but Sam took his arm.

"It's not worth it, Dean," he said, pulling his brother aside. "We'll find another way to talk to Gabriel, later."

Dean sighed, but had to agree. It did look like they would be able to cheat their way out of this one. And Dean didn't really want to find out how much worse this place could get for them if Lucifer thought they needed an attitude adjustment.

He wondered how the apocalypse could have possibly gotten worse than it already had been.


Gabriel didn't think this situation could get any worse. But, it turned out that he was wrong because he was currently holding a towel and adverting his eyes as his dickbag brother eased himself into the steaming pool in the bathhouse.

"Mmm, that feels good," Lucifer groaned as he closed his eyes and leaned back against the side of the bath.

"I'm so happy for you," Gabriel muttered blandly.

"You know, Gabriel, you can wash my hair for me since you're not doing anything else," Lucifer said. "A nice massage after this wouldn't go amiss either."

"You know, you get genuinely creepier the more I'm around you," Gabriel said.

"Oh, little brother, I missed you, you know," Lucifer said with a small smile, cracking his eyes open. "You always made me laugh."

"And you always made me want to scream and throw something," Gabriel snarked. "So what's the game here, Luci? What do you really think you're gonna accomplish?"

Lucifer snapped his fingers. "Wine, please."

"Not until you tell me your plan," Gabriel insisted, folding his arms over his chest. If Lucifer actually thought he was going to play faithful servant, he had another think coming—and it was probably going to come with Gabriel's foot to his ass.

Lucifer sighed. "You know my ultimate goal, Gabriel. Sam Winchester will say yes to me."

"Why do you expect him to do that here when he wouldn't out in the real world?"

"Because," Lucifer replied, blowing at some steam as it rose from the pool. "Here, I have control, and I can do whatever I want. They have nowhere to run, and eventually, I will find Sam's breaking point."

"You know what his breaking point is," Gabriel muttered. It wasn't like it was a secret, heck, he'd killed Dean a crapton of times before and it had still taken months for Sam to actually break.

"Oh, I have Dean, that's true," Lucifer said. "But I also realize that I can't just torture him—as much fun as that would be. That will just make Sam angry. No, I have to work up to something much better. Something where Sam isn't going to have a choice. It will take a little finessing, but it will be so much more rewarding in the long run. And like I said; here, I have all the time in the world."

"And you and I both know that's not true," Gabriel said, folding his arms over his chest. "Sure, you hijacked my powers—clever. But your vessel there is still falling apart, even though you can hide the fact it's corroding in this place. You're still using borrowed time."

"I'll have enough time," Lucifer said certainly. "The goddess you seem very fond of is also a large source of power. I've locked her powers down, but I'm keeping her in reserves for when I need her. She still has much more to give."

Gabriel shook his head. "You always were so sure of yourself. That's what got you into trouble in the first place. Always sure you were right. Always sure you would win. But let me tell you, going after those boys is a mistake. They beat me, Luci."

Lucifer chuckled. "And you always seem to forget I'm the one who taught you everything you know." He glanced back up at Gabriel. "Now, bring the emperor his wine."

"Drag your bare ass out of the water and get it yourself," Gabriel snapped. "If you think I'm gonna play a slave in this storybook land, you're wrong, buster."

He wasn't ready for Lucifer to grab him by the tail of his tunic and yank him into the water. Gabriel flailed, but Lucifer had him by the throat once he was fully submerged, forcing him down as he struggled and beat at Lucifer's legs. But he needed to breathe and after a long couple minutes, his struggles became weaker, his sight darkening around the edges, and he was actually drowning!

Finally, Lucifer released him and Gabriel scrambled up to the surface, gasping for breath and choking up water. He hauled himself out of the bath and collapsed on the side of the pool, panting and coughing, and shaking, he realized. Because he was, as shameful as it was to admit, terrified.

"That was a warning not to test me again," Lucifer said, his voice cold as he leaned close to Gabriel. "Do you understand?"

Gabriel panted, and pushed himself up onto his elbows, forcing a glare at his older brother. "I'm just trying to decide what was worse: the drowning, or having my face at the same level as your nuts."

"Always joking, little brother," Lucifer said, shaking his head as he pulled away. "But my point is proven. You're as good as mortal here, I have control of everything. Neither you, nor Kali have any power in this dimension, which means I can do whatever I want to you if you misbehave. So, if you do care about that pitiful excuse for a goddess, you might want to watch your tongue. Draining her of her power completely will only help me."

Gabriel schooled his expression. Yeah, Kali could take care of herself, but…without her powers he knew Lucifer could destroy her without a second thought, no matter how big a fight she put up. Him too, for that matter, and he didn't trust that Lucifer held any sentiment toward him that would stop him from doing that.

Nope, long story short, they were uber boned and even Gabriel wasn't sure if he was going to be able to figure a way to slip out of this one.

He climbed slowly to his feet, his tunic wet and clinging, making the movement difficult. Damn, he couldn't even mojo it dry. "I guess I'll get that wine for you now," he said carefully.

Lucifer smiled. "I would appreciate it."