Chapter 8

Learning You Were Wrong

Lucifer gradually broke the barrier of consciousness. His mind struggled to remember the last thing that happened as sensations sluggishly came back to him. He felt oddly heavy, that was for sure.

The most prominent thing that stuck out immediately was the harsh throbbing radiating along the side of his head. Maybe he had gotten shot in the head with the Colt again. It almost felt like it. Well... no, this wasn't as bad. That demon couldn't swing a crowbar worth—

Panic hit hard with the sudden flood of memories.

The Winchesters had finally found him. They always ruined everything. He needed to get Gabriel away from them. Now.

But he couldn't feel the boy. Where was he? Lucifer knew he was still inside of the boy – Gabriel was still acting as his vessel – but where was he? He couldn't feel the boy's soul. That beautiful oddity Lucifer had come to crave being near. Where–?

There! Curled tightly in itself, that spark Lucifer cared for was tucked away in the deep recesses of the boy's mind. That— that didn't make sense. Why was the boy so far from the realm of consciousness? It was as if Gabriel had locked himself away from everything else…

Throwing his gnawing worry to the side, Lucifer carefully moved his grace to wrap around the soul he'd become attached to. Lucifer blanketed the boy in all the comforts the archangel could give the human. His grace whispered soft, soothing nothings in an attempt to coax the soul into returning to a higher plane of consciousness. And Lucifer was left to hope that Gabriel would come back to him soon.

On to the next order of business: where were they? If Lucifer could get them away from the Winchesters, he might have a chance to keep the idiotic brothers from messing everything up – everything he had worked so hard to build with Gabriel.

His vessel was being carried somewhere. There were faint voices floating about, but he was still disconnected from the boy's hearing. Figures that the sense of feeling would be the only one working at the moment.

Lucifer turned his attention to the injury that had knocked him out in the first place. His grace had been steadily working on healing the head wound, but a pain still radiated from it. Lucifer was glad that the blow hadn't been hard enough to kill the boy if Lucifer wasn't cohabiting the boy's body. That would have been a bit trickier to heal without having to mess with technicalities.

Sure, Lucifer wouldn't have died from a crowbar to the head, but the boy would have technically been dead. Dead was dead. And dead meant having to deal with a reaper over where the soul would go once Lucifer released it from the body – something Lucifer didn't plan to do at all. He'd admit himself to being a possessive bastard that did whatever the hell he wanted to. Besides, Gabriel's soul would probably be 'recycled' again. The boy's soul was in far better care than any reaper could give it.

"—getting answers—"

Lucifer perked up at the two words, faint as they were. Finally, some reception… Too bad Lucifer didn't have any context to guess what answers the words were referring to, though it probably had something to do with him.

"—sorry—...come to mind—...asking him about—...up to—...was a priority—"

With an inward, frustrated huff, Lucifer focused on trying to hear the rest of the conversation, or argument as it was starting to sound like.

"—have some decency, Sam!"

So that was Dean… Lucifer briefly wondered what exactly Sam had done, but no matter. If he could finally hear what they were saying, he should also be able to move, right? His hand twitched marginally.

Lucifer let out another inward huff. This is what happened with slowly healing head wounds. Control was limited until it was finished healing.

Gingerly, Lucifer pulled some of his grace away from the blanket around the boy's soul and put it to the task of hurrying up the healing process. The effect was immediate.

Holding back a groan, Lucifer squinted at the bright light that attacked his eyes. He was able to properly flex his fingers this time. The archangel got himself sitting up right without the room swirling too much.

"Enough!" Oh, so Castiel was there, too? Then again, that would make sense. The little angel had been there with the Winchesters earlier. Lucifer's eyes narrowed sharply at Castiel's next intended statement: "The boy's name is of no consequence—"

"I beg to differ, little brother," he interjected coldly.

Gabriel was of every consequence. The boy was quite literally the center of Lucifer's world (and the boy had been for the past six or so months), and the archangel wasn't able to deny the fact. He had come to terms with it early on and decided he didn't care.

A flash of amusement ran through Lucifer as the two humans and the angel froze, comically turning to look at the awoken archangel in a mix of terror, shock and surprise. It was nice to know that they were still wary of him.

"Now," Lucifer said slowly, drawing out the word with a bit of dramatic flare. "Who's going to convince me not to paint the walls with your blood?"

Lucifer was rightfully pissed. It may not have been completely manifested as a pure emotion to act on just yet, but the fury was there. Okay, so maybe Lucifer wouldn't be making a canvas of the concrete walls. After all, Gabriel wouldn't be very happy if Lucifer was involved in a blood bath. Still, the idea was looking rather prospective at the moment.

"You're not in a position to do anything right now," Dean stated from where he stood in the doorway.

Lucifer's eyes predatorily rolled over to him. "What makes you say that, hmm?"

"Those cuffs around your wrists are upgrades of the last ones," the older hunter said casually. "I'd like to see you get out of those without a key."

Lucifer glanced down at said accessories, lifting a wrist up to inspect them. The metal was just a steel alloy of iron, silver and carbon. Lucifer's biggest problem came from the little sigils etched into the sides. At a closer glance, he saw that they affected his grace being used for outward purposes. Well, that explained why he couldn't use the illusion after the first cuff was placed but could still use his grace to heal himself.

"Fancy," he commented, still looking over the individual sigils. "Give me another couple minutes, and you can pay up."

Whatever Dean had been about to say next was overcast by a slight stirring. Lucifer tuned out the Winchester to look inwardly at the delicate soul wrapped in his grace. An unspoken question was asked by the soul, and Lucifer sent back a soft reassurance.

"Hey!"

"What?" Lucifer snapped, irises flashing red for a second before the archangel reigned his anger back in.

As he refocused back on the other occupants of the room, he noted that Sam had taken an involuntary step back and that Castiel and Dean were eyeing him warily. At least they weren't overconfident enough to be stupid and arrogant about where they stood, even with the cuffs on Lucifer's wrists. That would have just pissed the archangel off even more.

"We could always put you back in the dungeon," Dean told him. "I bet you wouldn't fancy getting put under again."

Getting put under..? Lucifer caught the glare Castiel sent Dean's way as well as the concerned glance Sam shot Castiel.

"You wouldn't wake up…"

Relief flooded through Lucifer's being at the sound of the voice, tired as it may have been. The boy was okay. He would be fine.

"If you want to keep your tongue, I suggest you shut your traps!" Lucifer hissed when the others in the room began talking over Gabriel – not that they could hear the boy, but that wasn't the point.

"It's okay, Lucifer," the boy told him placatingly. "They're worrying for the right reasons... They just have not-so-great ways of keeping those fears from happening."

"And that gives them the right to keep us here," Lucifer muttered, sarcasm not being hindered by how soft spoken his retort was.

He smirked at the way the humans looked him like he was crazy, talking to himself. Castiel knew though. Sam should have too, but it could have been that the younger Winchester had forgotten that Lucifer liked to talk to his vessels, which sometimes included aloud.

"Not really, but it doesn't mean they're wrong. Hear them out… please," Gabriel added, knowing that Lucifer would attempt to do as he asked, even if his request made the archangel question the boy's sanity.

"Fine," Lucifer ground out. He then turned his attention to Sam, Dean and Castiel. "Now, you were saying?" he addressed them in a forcefully sweet tone.

"It'd be great if you didn't cause any trouble until we figure out what to do with you," Dean piped up in answer.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow at the underhanded insult. Gabriel was quick to speak before Lucifer could retort something nasty. "He has a point. If you want to get us out of here faster, try to be nice."

"Take off the cuffs, and I'll be a good little archangel," Lucifer tested.

"Yeah, right," Sam scoffed.

Lucifer turned his gaze to his true vessel, bringing up a hand to place over his heart in mock hurt. "I'm offended you don't believe me, Sam. After all we've been through…"

"Belief requires trust," the human shot back. "And I trust you about as far as I can throw you."

"Look how well that turned out for you," Lucifer muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"Not helping, Lucifer," Gabriel sighed exasperatedly. "It's like you want them to stab you with that blade Castiel's fingering."

Blade..? Now that he knew about it, Lucifer located the blade within milliseconds. Castiel did indeed have an angel blade in his right hand. But Gabriel neglected to mention that it was the same one Dean had tried to kill him with by the river. What truly bothered Lucifer, however, was that the blade was the archangel Gabriel's blade. The one that had been left in that forsaken hotel.

"Plan on killing me with Gabriel's blade, Castiel?" Lucifer inquired with an air of nonchalance. "You realize you'll kill the boy too if you do."

That was technically a lie (an archangel's blade could only kill an archangel if it was being wielded by another archangel), but it was clear that they didn't know that. The frown on the angel's face only deepened, and Sam and Dean exchanged a look. "If you force my hand, then I will," came Castiel's solemn reply.

Lucifer cracked a smile and splayed his hands as far apart as he could until the chain between the cuffs snapped taut, halting his arms' movement. "Again, I'm hurt," Lucifer said. "Even after all the fun we had together, you'd raise a rather lethal weapon against me."

"Lucifer," the boy's voice came warningly. He must have been able to sense Lucifer's dismissive assessment of the blade's presence.

The archangel briefly huffed in response. "They're all so judgmental," he mused.

"You're not exactly giving them the best actions to go by." Lucifer didn't need a visual to see the boy's eye roll. "I'm feeling better now. I can take over."

"Are you sure?" Lucifer muttered just under his breath. "I'd rather you not get stabbed by these buffoons."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have insulted them."

"They started it," he grumbled, eyeing the weird looks they were giving him again.

Dean let out a scoff. "You're the one who threw that fancy comment first."

"And you're the one that—"

Lucifer was cut off as the jarring feeling of getting shoved out of the way hit him like a bag of bricks. The archangel mentally spat a rather vivid profanity as he realized what Gabriel did. The boy had learned early on how to forcefully take back control, though neither of them liked it and came to a truce not long after the first couple incidents.

That being said, Lucifer was not happy about the sudden relocation to the 'passenger seat'. But the removal from the 'driver's seat' was fair, and Lucifer grudgingly reclined in the chair within the little corner of Gabriel's mind that he held claim over. If the Winchesters did anything to threaten the boy, there weren't any promises keeping Lucifer from taking control again.

~o-O-o~

Gabriel's body jerked slightly its rightful owner took back control. A hand snapped out to connect with the mattress of the bed so that he wouldn't fall over, and Gabriel winced at the swirling torrent of grace, soul, thoughts and emotions shifting to reorganize according to the current 'driver' if the boy went on with Lucifer's car analogy.

Gabriel took a minute to gather himself, rubbing his face tiredly – the chains clinking with the movement. "I'm sorry. H-he gets snappish when you start to accuse him of things."

An indignant huff came from the aforementioned being.

"Yeah," Sam said slowly, gauging how he should go along with the abrupt switch. "We've had some experience with that."

"I know," Gabriel stated, moving to sit cross-legged on the bed and settling his hands in his lap. "But you won't get an apology from him— not a heartfelt one anyway. It's a rare thing in his nature, so I'm apologizing for him."

"You don't have to do that," Castiel spoke up from where he stood a few feet away on Gabriel's left side.

Gabriel looked over at him with a thoughtful expression. He was silent for a minute but then responded: "We learn by example, by direct experience, by the influence of those around us. Through our own mistakes or the failures of others, we still learn. Change is an inevitable but sometimes long and arduous process."

"Looks like we picked up a little Buddha," a new voice claimed cheerfully. Dean Winchester, Gabriel registered without Lucifer having to tell him. The archangel had told the boy enough about all three of Team Free Will to know them just by looking at them. "Again, something you neglected to mention, Sam."

Gabriel stared at the glass of water the older man was holding out to him. Not completely steady hands reached up to take the cup, and calloused, warm ones supported them until just after Gabriel nodded his thanks and took a sip. The rejuvenating liquid washed away the dryness of his mouth and the odd taste of dust.

"Yeah, my little brother gets a little carried away sometimes and forgets to take care of people," Dean told him with a conspiratorial glance Sam's way. "Don't let him fool you, though. He's a big softie— just use the puppy eyes on him."

A small smile twitched its way onto Gabriel's face at Dean's wink, and the man stepped back, taking his place at the doorway again. The smile only grew at Sam's affronted look. The faint grumblings in the back of Gabriel's mind wouldn't be enough to make the smile go away.

"So, uh, I'm Gabriel," the boy said awkwardly. "Gabriel Bennett."

"That's Sammy, resident nerd," Dean 'formally' introduced, pointing at his brother. "Over there is Cas, our awesome angel friend." The pointing finger shifted to be directed at the trench coat wearing angel. "And I'm Dean, the coolest one here," he finished, crossing his arms back over his chest. "Oh, and uh, the lady you saw the other day is me and Sam's mom."

Gabriel blinked. "No way… B-but she died like when he was baby," Gabriel sputtered with a slight gesture to Sam for emphasis.

Sam leaned over to whisper something in Dean's ear, and Dean's eyebrows raised a whole inch. The older brother made a face that was just kind of like 'oh', and he muttered a "right, that's great".

"Well, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself since you know us so well," Sam suggested, sitting down in a chair next to a desk Gabriel was now noticing. To be honest, there were several things in the room that he was now noticing.

Where do I even start? the boy thought nervously.

"You could start at the beginning. That's always a great place," Lucifer inputted.

Gabriel refrained from rolling his eyes. Thank you, for your oh-so-wise advice, great Morning Star. "Um, I turned thirteen a couple months ago. My dad died when I was eight. I have a little sister who's four to five years younger than me, depending on the time of year. Mom works a lot, and she was never around the house that often… Uh, I said yes to Lucifer about six and a half months ago. The first place we went to after we had to leave LA was the town my cousin lives in…"

~o-O-o~

Mary silently listened as the boy— Gabriel listed off random facts about himself. When Dean had hurriedly walked into the kitchen for a glass of water, she had gotten a brief "he's awake" before he rushed back out, and she quietly followed behind him. The boy was sweet, kindhearted, mindful. She still found it hard to believe he was possessed by Lucifer.

She could hear a tiredness in the boy's voice, and it saddened Mary to hear it. The soft undertone shouldn't have been in one so young. But something told her – perhaps it was actually the sound of his voice – that he was far older in spirit than body. In a way, the notion fit.

Gabriel was very childlike (and for being a young teenager, that was to be expected), but he had these moments of a matureness some adults couldn't obtain in their lifetime. The moments held a strange note a sadness to them as well as the wisdom of an enlightened being. And then it faded back into his innocent, sometimes juvenile mirth.

In the end, no, Mary could not say that this child sounded like he was possessed by the Devil, let alone anything else. However, she would have to admit that there was something off about Gabriel. And maybe it was because he was acting as a vessel for Lucifer, or maybe not.

Mary just knew that Gabriel was of sound mind and – just as she could tell Lucifer cared for the boy – that the boy also cared for Lucifer. The fact made her doubt some of what Sam, Dean and Castiel told her about the archangel. Not everything, but just some of the finer details.

She trusted her boys. They wouldn't be wrong about something as big as this. But maybe – just maybe, they weren't right either. Gabriel had been mentioning something about change right before Dean had walked into the room. And that lead to the question: had Lucifer changed like the boy was suggesting?

Mary couldn't find it in herself to say that such a thing was impossible. Implausible, hard to believe – most definitely. But still possible.

So, had they been wrong to assume that Lucifer had to be dealt with as soon as Sam found the picture? Perhaps, but they hadn't known that Lucifer might have changed. Were they wrong to lock the boy away to keep Lucifer under control? Again, they hadn't known (and still didn't know) all of the facts.

It left them with an incomplete moral dilemma. One that was starting to sort itself out on its own. They wouldn't have to face a hard choice – not about this. And at the center of it all, there was a human boy. There was Gabriel.


A/N: Well, since my exams are over and the concert went well, I'm posting this a day earlier than expected. You're welcome.

Last edited: [May 24, 2018]


Broken Twisted Lullabies: I know what you mean – real life just hits you in the face sometimes. I love writing Gabe and Luci (especially this version of him). Things aren't looking too good for our favorite Devil with Something Between Heaven and Hell an' all, and while I'm not the biggest fan of the Nephilim subplot going on, I can't help but wonder what kind of dad Lucifer would be like, you know? Like, would he be a bit of a dictator or would he be more like this protective variation? Anyways, everyone is getting so close to the big secret (can I even call it that anymore, lol) about Gabriel.