When Dean woke, it was to low voices in the Cage.
"I don't understand," Michael was saying, "if you have a way out, then why the hell don't you just use it?"
"Because I don't have a way out," Lucifer said with a sigh, sounding like his patience was being strained. "You do. And I will tell you how, if you promise to take Dean with you."
"I don't get it, brother. What is your obsession with this boy?"
"Does it matter?" Lucifer breathed, annoyed. "Will you take him with you?"
"Why are you trying to get rid of me now?" Dean grumbled rolling over in Lucifer's arms. He had no idea how long it had been, but Lucifer curling up next to him while he slept had become rather normal by this point. It was strange how being trapped in a small area with only one person who was willing to talk made such fast friends.
Lucifer exhaled heavily, looking down at Dean. "The Cage is killing you, Dean," Luc murmured quietly. "I can only protect you for so long. You have to get out. Get back to Sam." He paused, exhaling quietly. "Stop the next Apocalypse."
Dean blinked. "So… that douchebag is taking me out of here?"
"Yes."
"And you're stuck here. By yourself. Again."
Lucifer smiled faintly. "I'm the Devil, Dean, remember? This is what I deserve."
"You're different. Different than you were up there. I don't know why, but-"
"Dean," Lucifer whispered, shaking his head slightly, "stop. I'm the bad guy. I'm the Devil, you're a hunter, and you have to stop. You're going back to Sam. You're going to go find your brother, pick up where you left off, and forget about all of this."
Dean exhaled heavily. "But if Michael can get out, why can't you?"
Lucifer chuckled. "You want me to get out, Dean? You do remember how that went last time, don't you?"
Dean rolled his eyes, sitting up. "Dude, you're not-"
"Yes, I am," Lucifer snapped, cold and ruthless. "Now get the hell out of here."
"As touching as this is," Michael drawled, "how exactly are we managing that?'
"Flight," Lucifer said simply. "With a combination of both of our Graces pushing at a single point on the Cage, and the power of your wings, you should be able to make it through. With Dean."
"That's going to be a close call," Michael commented.
Lucifer smiled sharply. "Well, you better hope that it works, because that's all I've got."
"It'll be a close call even without the extra baggage."
Lucifer narrowed his eyes. "If you even think about leaving him here, I won't help you with my Grace, and you'll be trapped half inside the Cage and half without- flickering between dimensions for the rest of eternity."
Michael smirked. "Fine then. The little human gets to come with me. Although it's not like he'll have a body once you get him back upstairs."
Dean blinked, surprised, but Lucifer seemed unconcerned. "I'll worry about that. You just get him out of here."
"One question," Michael said after a moment, "if you know there's a weak point, why'd you never exploit it?"
Lucifer shrugged. "You need the power of two Archangels to even have a prayer. It's not as though I've ever had a spare one of those on hand."
Michael regarded him for a moment, and then smiled like he knew something that the others didn't. "So, when do we leave?"
"As soon as possible," Lucifer answered, all business, "before the Cage wears down your power too much."
And before Dean could say another word, asking for- honestly, he didn't even know, time, an answer to all the questions Lucifer had always avoided, the chance to ask why the hell the Devil even cared about him- Michael grabbed him by his upper arm and the entire world seemed to shift around him.
There was a blinding light that Dean could feel even behind his closed eyelids, and an intense pressure all over his body. It built and it built until he couldn't do anything but scream, yet there was no air in his lungs. For a few startlingly frightening moments, Dean couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, and he couldn't even scream. He felt panic start to claw away at him from the inside out, fear creeping through his bones, and then-
Dean snapped awake.
He sat bolt upright, hands roaming over his own body, checking it for injuries or anything else. He seemed… well, he seemed fine. When he'd been rescued from Hell, he'd woken up in a coffin, but now he was just lying on an ordinary green field, his body was fine, and he didn't even feel like he'd been missing for… however long it had been.
Slowly, he got to his feet, testing his legs, his muscles, but they weren't even cramped. Whoever had fixed his body, they had done a damn good job of it.
He checked his pockets and frowned as he came upon a folded piece of paper, pulling it out to read the note written in elegant, left-handed writing.
I hope your body is put back together properly. I suppose if you turn up with a tumor in a month or so, you'll know who you have to blame.
I found Sam. His address is at the bottom of the paper.
Have a good life, Dean.
The note wasn't signed, but Dean knew exactly who had written it. So the Devil was left-handed. That was good to know, he supposed. Dean smirked, but he couldn't help but feel just a bit guilty. Of course, that was ridiculous. He and Sam had gone through so much shit because of Lucifer, and they had been willing to sacrifice everything to put him away. Now Dean was feeling fucking guilty because he didn't escape? Yeah, that made sense.
"Get your head in the game, Winchester," Dean muttered to himself before promptly heading off to the road that he could hear in the distance. He had no idea where he was, but Sam, as it turned out, was in Arizona. So he was going to go find him. Simple.
The Devil was in the Cage, where he belonged.
And Lucifer… well. Dean would get used to sleeping without his presence easily enough. And if he didn't, he had gone without sleep plenty of times in the past. It's not like he missed him or anything.
He sure as fucking hell was not feeling goddamn sympathy for the Devil.