Lucifer was terrified when he heard where Jack and Cass were going. Just a mere thought of it sent shivers down his spine. But he wouldn't back down. He couldn't. Otherwise he might get left behind, alone. And he was more afraid of that then the cage. "I want to help." he spoke and Cass looked at him confused and angrily. " I don't think that it a good idea." he said and when he saw the pleading look on Jack's face he rolled his eyes.
"No, Jack. We cannot afford any mistakes. Besides, I doubt Rowena would want to help us open the cage with him there." Cass said, his back turned to Lucifer. Jack looked down at the floor, thinking, trying to figure out how to make it work. But before he could even say a thing, Cass grabbed his shoulder and they vanished. Lucifer was left standing there, his mouth opened, his face frozen and his eyes sad. Was he really expecting them to take him along?
After a few minutes, he closed his mouth and looked at the ground. And that old defiant part of him rose again, and he frowned, thinking. He had to try. But how? He had almost no juice; he couldn't just teleport to the cage, to Hell. And he suddenly jerked his head upwards, having an idea. He ran into the library and started pulling out all the books from the shelves, glancing over them and tossing them aside, making a huge mess. "Aha!" he exclamated as he found the one he was looking for, titled "Demons and demonic possessions"
About two hours later, he had everything set up. It might have been sooner if he knew where to find all the things he needed, and he had to improvise. He set five candles on the table surrounding a frying pan, forming a pentagram. Inside the pan were supposed to be dried herbs, but instead had Sam's salad leftovers. And instead of preserved fruit, Lucifer used the remaining of Dean's cherry pie. He looked at his little set up, his head raised high proudly, confident it would work.
He sliced into his arm with an ouch face with an angel blade and let the blood drop into the bowl as he tucked the blade behind his back. A moment later, he rolled his bleeding hand into a cloth he found and picked up a box of matches. He lit up one and threw it into the pan. The ingredients inside lit up with a small explosion and he waved his hand clearing the smoke, slightly coughing. He smiled brightly at a man standing confused in front of him "Abraxas, old buddy, old pal.."
Cass was standing next to Rowena, helping her with the spell she needed as Jack glared at the empty cage. "We're ready." Rowena sad looking at Cass, her eyes filled with questions. Cass had the same thought. How the hell are they gonna pull this off? Even if Michael agreed to help, there would be other things to consider. His vessel for one. Is Adam still in there with him? Is his body still capable of holding him?
Cass's thoughts were interrupted by Rowena's slight cough; she was trying to keep him focused. "Right." he stated trying to look confident, but Rowena rolled her eyes at him. It was all too clear for her he didn't have a plan, and she didn't like it. She would make herself scarce as soon as she threw the spell, not wishing to meet an archangel who wanted for the apocalypse to happen.
Cass stepped closer to Jack and turned to nod at the witch. Jack flinched when the fire around the cage rose, but kept his ground. He was worried that this Michael, his uncle would be more like the Michael who burned down the whole world. But this Michael was locked up. How has the cage affected him?
When they blinked, a small figure appeared in the corner crouching down, his head buried in his knees. It seemed he was humming something inaudible and he stopped as soon as he heard the footsteps. He raised his head high, the expression on his face curious. Was he hearing things? It couldn't be footsteps. He had hoped for salvation for so long, the hope tearing him apart until he finally gave up. It was nearly a decade since he'd been in the cage, not long for a millennia old archangel, but it was more about what it represented.
In Michael's eyes, he was the one cast down. He was the one being punished now. His father had condemned him to the cage because of his actions, because he didn't stop his brother from leaving the cage and causing mayhem upon his creation. And after having ten years of dwelling in it, he thought his father was right. But was he redeemed enough? No, it couldn't be footsteps.
Could his father have sent someone to release him? And he approached the bars of the cage, and frowned at the sight. The same angel he had sent to pull the righteous man out of hell, his true vessel, and the same angel that disobeyed him and betrayed him, now stood in front of him. If Michael had a funny bone in his body, he would have laughed at the irony. "Castiel?" he stated, not wanting to sound surprised.
"Hello, Michael." Cass retorted as plainly as he would to Dean. "What do you want?" Michael asked looking annoyed, but there was a slight tremble in his voice. Cass sighed looking away for a moment. "We need your help..." and Michael waves off, turning his back to him with an eye-roll. "What have those two done now?" he asked and Cass gave him a confusing look. Michael glanced back at the angel "What, you don't think I know about some of the things they've done? Didn't you know the whole cage shook when the Darkness was released? And then Lucifer disappeared. It wasn't hard to put the two and two together."
"Amara was dealt with. There are other matters in play now." Cass said bluntly and Michael raised his brow "Dealt with? How?". "Doesn't matter. – Cass said not wanting to bring up what he thought would be a sore spot for Michael – their father – What matters is you help us and we help you."
"Are you offering me a deal, Castiel?" Michael sounded genially surprised. Angels didn't make deals. And how did the angel have the nerve, to almost blackmail him like that? Did he forget who he was speaking to? And suddenly Michael sighed. He was desperate enough, he would do anything to get out of the cage. But he wouldn't let it show.
"You help us by giving us just a bit of your grace and we set you free." Cass could feel his heart pumping hard. If Michael didn't take the deal, they would have no way of reaching the Winchesters. He gulped as he held his head high in an almost defiant way. "Why would you need my grace?" Michael asked feeling intrigued. Cass took a deep breath as he started his explanation "A while back a rift was opened to another world. A parallel world, where..." and Cass trailed of as he felt like he was back in Heaven, reporting in to its commander.
"Sam and Dean are stuck in such a world and we need your grace to reopen the rift and bring them back." He continued after a moment, certain he had said enough. Adam's face almost grinned at him as Michael said "And why would I help them?" And it was only when the kid behind Cass spoke that he took notice of him.
"Because you can. – Jack stated – And if you can help, then you should. It is the right thing to do." Michael gazed at the kid. Sure, he knew about the nephilim, the whole of Heaven knew the minute he was conceived. But he just couldn't put the abomination he felt Jack to be to the words that came out of his mouth. He wondered why he hadn't sensed him before, and as his grace examined Jack's, he was surprised. "Why... Why is your grace so low?" he asked curiously and Jack and Cass exchanged glances. Cass was almost sure Michael knew who he was, he must have felt the mix of soul and the small amount of grace Jack had.
"Because he used it to bring back Gabriel that a version of you had killed. A version from one of those worlds." Cass replied willingly omitting which Gabriel it was Jack helped bring back from the Empty. Michael slightly gasped at the mention of his long lost brother, but then focused his eyes on Jack, wondering. The old Michael would have destroyed the nephilim at sight, following his father's law. But nephilims are supposed to be all powerful beings that could possibly destroy father's creation. Somehow, it didn't seem like the kid that stood in front of him was capable of that.
The moment the spell was cast, Rowena turned to leave; pretty sure she was powerful enough to leave Hell on her own. A few steps in she froze in the spot as she saw a familiar face approach her. She took a deep breath, scared out of her mind, but not showing it. Lucifer barely even looked at her as he passed her by, feeling just a bit guilty over her reaction and not wanting to interact. She looked at him as he walked by and stood aside listening in on the conversation at the cage. She didn't need this. She didn't need any of it. So she turned around and got the hell out of Hell.
It took SSam a while to stop sobbing. He had calmed down enough, but GGabriel would still hover over him and he felt like he needed space. He got off his bed and headed out the door. GGabriel looked at him and before he could even ask, SSam said "Going out into the garden."
When he got there, he sat at a bench that was almost reserved for him and glared at the nature. If he focused enough he could almost hear the chirp of the non-existing birds. He closed his eyes and let his emotions wash away with the sound of a stream somewhere far. He was startled by a familiar voice and he smiled slightly at one of the rare angels that would talk to him. "It is good to see you here again, Sam." Joshua stated as he caressed a leaf of a nearby bush.
"Can't really say it is good to be back." SSam said to the garden's caretaker, his voice filled with pain. "Ah... – Joshua spoke as he took a seat next to Sam – I have heard what happened. I am really sorry, Sam." And SSam nodded a thank-you and went silent for a few moments. Joshua kept looking at him, knowing well what question was coming. "Do you still talk to him?" SSam asked and Joshua smiled. "You know I do."
"What... What did he say?" SSam asked uncertain he wanted to know. "Not much – Joshua said as he looked up at the non-existing sky – but you should know, he never does anything without a point." SSam huffed an ironic laugh "Yeah, right. He works in mysterious ways." he said as he looked up at Joshua, but the angel was smiling brightly at something in front of him. When SSam turned his head in the direction where Joshua was looking, he gasped.
He hadn't seen her in such a long time, he shouldn't even remember what she looked like, but there she was, standing in front of them in the same night-gown she had died in, the look on her face confused. "Sam?" she asked unsurely, and smiled genially as SSam replied "Mom?"
Surely enough, with LLucifer by their side, the first ingredient was quite easy to find. After all, who would know better where to find the forbidden fruit that casted the humans out of Heaven then the man directly responsible for that? Sam held the dried apple in his hand, his eyes examining it. It's the real deal he could hear LLucifer's voice from within and he sighed in relief as he placed it on the table of BBobby's kitchen.
After the Devil finding out what they were going and deciding to help out, there was no point in leaving. After all, he was the commander of Heaven. Who would dare confront him? Sam couldn't help but laugh at that statement from LLucifer as he felt it was just for show. The more he got to know LLucifer, and he had to, being his vessel and all, the more he saw through his facade. LLucifer would never admit it, not in a million years, but he cared. cared about all of them.
"So, what's next?" Dean asked with his mouth full and both Sam and BBobby had to laugh at the sight of both Deans leaning against the sink, drowning in their burgers in the exact same manner. No matter what a different life the other DDean had, some things would never change. "Next is the golden calf. But this time LLucifer has no idea where to find it. However – Sam said with finger raised – if I am reading it right..."
"Reading what right?" DDean asked confused. There was no book in front of Sam. Sam made a sort of a Oops face as he replied "Lucifer..." and could hear a loud "WHAT?" coming from all four, LLucifer included. He smiled awkwardly and continued "Doesn't matter right now. I think we might know a demon that could help." and kept his look on his brother. While DDean still looked confused, Dean was frowning. "He's alive here?" And Sam nodded. "Well – Dean said not sure how he felt about that – let's go summon a demon."
