A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR :)! Only four more chapters to go :D

Lucifer did hear gunshots, but from… far, far away. Like he was hearing them through cotton wool stuck in his ears. The loudest sound he could hear was his heart beating. And it was… slowing down, held in Michael's hand.

It hurt. The betrayal hurt worse, though.

Chloe was screaming his name, and he really, truly wanted to answer her, to tell her to run, but his words didn't make a sound. He couldn't even feel them in his mouth. He couldn't feel anything in his mouth except for that metallic taste of blood.

When Michael's hand left his chest, Lucifer's legs gave out from under him and he fell down to his knees like a marionette. Like a— like a worshipper. Michael finally got what he wanted after all.

XXX

"Fuck." Dean threw away the gun with no bullets left in it. So much for killing angels with them – or, he actually guessed, angels were fine, it was one furious archangel that the gun had a problem with. At least he's gotten Michael to move away from Lucifer, and without ripping his heart out first.

Better have the Devil with a gaping wound in his chest, than with a wound and without his heart. Jesus, seriously, what was wrong with their family?!

"Long time no see, Dean." Michael turned around slowly, breaking into a wide grin at the sight of the hunter, his destined vessel. "Missed me?"

"No, not really, pal. And you're pretty late, too, I've already had another Michael inside of me." Dean pushed himself up and smiled. "Oops."

Their short conversation gave Castiel just enough time to grab the flaming sword from the floor and swing it at Michael. He didn't expect the flames to go off the moment he touched it, though.

"I-I'm the o-one… Bloody hell…" Lucifer choked out from his position on the floor. Chloe was kneeling next to him, putting pressure on his wound so he wouldn't bleed out. Normally she would have unloaded an entire clip into Michael's head by now, but she couldn't leave Lucifer's side if she didn't want him to die. And… that wasn't happening, not on her watch, not when she just got him back, not again.

Michael caught the sword with terrifying ease. Castiel grit his teeth when the archangel turned to him this time.

"Lucifer isn't a thing to own," he growled. "He's a person."

"Don't you think I know that? But he's my person." Michael broke the sword in half and threw it back on the ground. "And he should've known better than to put his mouth anywhere near a human." Sam charged at him, yet Michael caught and threw him across the room, completely effortlessly.

"Hey, asshole." Dean exchanged looks with Sam who pushed himself up from the floor, groaning – the angel blade and the sword didn't work, so they kinda were out of options. "He's your brother, okay? And I don't know why, but he dragged you here with him. This is how you repay him? By trying to kill him?"

Castiel raised his eyebrows (seriously? Wasn't that like the pot calling the kettle black?), but Michael only shrugged.

"Don't worry. He's alive, and he stays that way. Since I know all you care about is me starting an apocalypse, I want to assure you that it won't happen." Michael spread his arms peacefully. "I just want to enjoy a simple life out of the Cage, you know?"

"And you expect us to believe you?" Castiel asked incredulously. "Are you out of your mind, Michael?"

The archangel stepped closer to Lucifer, making Chloe put herself between the two celestials. She was still on her knees, pressing her jacket against the wound in Lucifer's back, but at least Michael would have to go through her if he wanted to get to his brother.

"I expect all of you to leave," Michael said calmly. "Only Lucifer stays."

"No," Chloe spoke up, shaking her head. "No way. I won't let you."

"And you think you can stop me? You?" Michael tilted his head, amusement evident in his voice. "I hope you realize you're, well, not dead, only thanks to a possibility of Luci throwing a fit over this later, right?"

"I don't care. You won't get him."

Meanwhile Rowena was thanking herself that she had thought to wear heels today. She was hiding next to the doorway, trying to figure out a way to help poor Winchesters win. It didn't look like they stood even a wee chance right now, after all, and if they lost… ah, let's just say that Rowena wasn't too keen on facing a mad archangel by herself, again.

And the Devil… Well, he looked nothing like their own Lucifer. First of all, his hair was black, and he was swaying on his knees, leaning against Miss Decker. For all Rowena knew, the poor thing was about to lose consciousness from the blood loss.

She closed her eyes, focusing on the incantation of the dark medic spell she had used to heal Amara herself. "Mahday, eelohtah sahn. Serloh, eelohtah. Lucifer," Rowena whispered. She couldn't possibly go out there and touch him, so saying his name out loud was a nice improvisation. "Mahday, eelohtah sahn. Serloh, eelohtah. Lucifer."

XXX

Castiel and Sam were struggling to breathe, both of them held by an invisible force against the wall. Michael wasn't even looking at them, barely paying attention to anything that wasn't Lucifer. He walked up to his pet to get a closer look at that beautiful, almost-too-pale face.

"Luci, Luci, Luci…" he sighed as he reached out. "Do you see what you've done?"

"He's done nothing," Chloe snapped, eyes fiery. She caught Michael's wrist just before he could touch Lucifer, and then broke it in one swift move. Michael didn't even register the pain at first, too shocked that a mere human… a mere mortal would dare to do such a thing to him. "He's actually the victim here."

"You—" Michael started, furious, but Dean interrupted them quickly.

"Hey, hey, heeey, you guys. Let's just- stop." The hunter practically pushed himself between them. Fine, fine, Jesus, he was suicidal, wasn't he? But he was also pretty sure that if he did nothing, Decker would die. And Cas, and Sammy. And… goddamnit, Lucifer would too. "If you let all of us go, and I mean, all of us, even our broken bird here, I might say yes to being your vessel. Adam's body won't hold you for long now that you're out of the Cage, hmm? And you can't be at your strongest in it. Only in me. Huh? See? Is that a good offer? What do you think?" Dean chose the words very carefully to avoid saying yes right away. He just wanted to get Michael interested.

"Why would you do that for him?" Michael narrowed his eyes, suspicious. He did let go of Cas and Sam, though, allowing them to breathe freely. "You hate him."

"You know, that's a damn good question. But he's… family," Dean sighed. "For some of us, at least." He looked at Castiel who nodded, grateful. It wasn't like Cas thought that Dean was agreeing for real. Just that he was biding their time. "And he didn't kill me on sight, which is quite impressive, considering he's evil and whatnot."

"Oh bloody hell, for the last time, I am not evil."

Everybody turned to stare at the owner of the voice.

Lucifer smoothed out his bloodied shirt and smiled at everyone present, charming as always. Only Chloe noticed that the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Lucifer, you're— you're okay," Sam breathed out. The relief he felt was overwhelming. Castiel closed his eyes for a moment, thankful just as much.

"Yes, it appears so." Lucifer turned just a fraction to the right, enough to see a redhead hiding outside of the room. He couldn't help but feel an involuntary shiver running through him, though. Ah, lovely, ginger gals, giving even him the creeps. "So! What did I miss?"

"How are you fine?..." Chloe frowned, not understanding the situation. Dean gave Rowena the thumbs up before he faced Michael again. "You were just bleeding out, Lucifer."

Lucifer just pressed his finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet. It was better if the Detective wasn't on Michael's radar right now.

"Luci… What are you doing?" Michael asked, voice low and calm. He was doing everything in his power not to lose patience.

"Ah, you know, same old, same old." Lucifer looked around the room, cataloging where everything was. He was going to need that later, if… No. It wouldn't come to that. "Brother, please. Just leave, alright? We don't have to fight."

"You're right, I don't want to fight you, Luci." Michael reached out to take Lucifer's hands in his. "I just want you."

Lucifer swallowed, but forced himself to smile cheerfully.

"Very well, not possible either." He took a step back, making Michael let go in the process. "You've already had me for seven years, don't be like that, brother! Sharing is caring, they say."

"But—"

"Ah! No buts." Lucifer shook his head, then thought it over and smirked. "I mean, yes butts, but. Doesn't matter. What matters is, you've almost killed me ten minutes ago."

"You kissed that human, Luci. You've brought it upon yourself."

"Riiight. My fault. Sorry, sorry," Lucifer grimaced. It wasn't like he suddenly forgot how it was to just be with Michael all these years, or that they were brothers. He didn't want to fight him, not if they could avoid that. In the Cage, it'd been easy. Now, though? Now he had all these people here, depending on him to protect them. "Last chance, brother."

"Last chance to…?"

"To leave, obviously!" he exclaimed, impatient. "Just- just go your merry way. No possessions, no killing anyone, promise me."

That just wouldn't do. Heaven or Earth, both seemed so ridiculously lonely if he were to walk them without Lucifer by his side. And he had enough of being alone after spending millennia in the Cage.

"What about you?" Michael asked coldly.

"I'm staying here, with the Detective. Or actually no, we're going back to our world."

"She's your detective?" The archangel pointed to Chloe and Lucifer frowned, suspicious now. It wasn't a secret, of course, not after their kiss, but still.

"Why? Why do you want to know?"

"No reason."

It all happened so fast. Michael moved towards Chloe, mouth set in a grim line, and Lucifer threw himself at him, slamming him up against the wall. He bared his teeth, growling.

"Don't touch her," Lucifer snarled, enraged. It was fine when it was about him, but now that the Detective was in danger… He knew what Michael was capable of. He knew that really well.

Michael… Michael didn't even seem fazed by his brother's anger. No, he actually relished it.

"So I was right about you throwing a fit over their death. You've gone soft, brother." Michael grabbed Lucifer's throat, wrapping long fingers around the column of his neck, and squeezed, hard. "Do you really think I would let you love somebody else? You just chose her over me, Luci, do you think I'll let her live after that?"

Lucifer let out a raw scream of despair when he threw Michael across the room. The archangel's body hit the kitchen cabinets, breaking them into pieces. It didn't stop Michael from getting back to his feet almost right away, though.

"I won't let you kill her. Or any of them." Lucifer stood there, in the middle of the room, between the broken bits of wood. His eyes were wide and desperate as if he was seeing not only Michael standing before him, but Uriel, too. "You're not giving me a choice."

("I know. I know. Hurts you more than it does me."
"Please, please, forgive me, brother, I had no choice…"
"Do you really believe that?"
"No…")

This one second here felt like a century in his own personal hell loop where he killed Uriel over and over and over again. Over and over, and over—

"Lucifer!" Castiel's urgent voice brought him back to the present moment. Lucifer didn't even have time to blink, though, before Michael grabbed him by the hair and hit Lucifer's head against a chair, breaking it. The Devil stumbled back, stunned, but there was something being pressed into his hand. Something cold and— oh, was it the sword?

"What?" Lucifer looked up in alarm, only to see Castiel's serious face. The other angel nodded.

"You're trying to turn him against me," Michael hissed. It was somewhat scarier than if he roared instead. It was like the calm before the storm. He squeezed his hand into a fist and suddenly Castiel couldn't breathe again.

"You little bitch…" Dean gritted out, charging at Michael with an angel blade, but he was grabbed and thrown away with ease. Michael clenched the other fist, and all of sudden everyone couldn't breathe – not even Chloe. Her hands flew to her throat, clawing at it as she tried to suck some air in. Her lungs were burning.

"STOP," Lucifer's deep voice resonated in the room. His eyes were burning just like the sword in his hand. It wasn't broken anymore. "You want me, Michael. Not them."

"Their lives are not important!" Michael couldn't understand why Lucifer wasn't getting it. It was frustrating, to see his magnificent brother wasting his time on some pathetic humans. Wasting his love. "Only we matter. We can live forever, Lucifer. Just us two."

"Kinda hard to live forever without a heart in your chest," Lucifer reminded him. He started walking towards Michael, and with every step he took, fire followed. Michael blinked, not sure what it was that he was feeling right now. Could it be... actual fear? "Let. Them. Breathe."

"No. You have to understand—"

Michael never had the chance to finish his sentence. Lucifer stopped mere inches from him, just watching as the flames he conjured enveloped Michael's body, burning him alive. The archangel stared at him in shock and panic, right until he finally opened his mouth and screamed, shattering every glass in the room, and with them, Lucifer's heart.

"I love you, Michael. You're my brother. You'll always be my brother," Lucifer's voice was no louder than a whisper when he finally pushed the flaming sword through Michael's stomach. "But you gave me no choice."

Then… it was over.