Adam sank back down to sit beside Sam's soul, glancing over at it silently.
"Looks like the fire's back on," Lucifer commented softly as he looked outside the Cage. Michael shivered faintly at his unusually, uncharacteristically quiet tone, but Adam simply kept their gaze lingering on the soul for a moment before he reluctantly turned to look. Sure enough, there was fire flickering at the bottom of the Cage, taking its sweet time in licking up the bars. The young man couldn't help but flinch slightly despite himself at the sight of it, unconsciously curling in on himself a little bit at the memory of the fire lapping at his skin, burning at his flesh and consuming him in that horrible, unwavering pain that he didn't think would ever escape his memory. Truthfully, he had a hard time deciding what was worse; fire, or being eaten alive.
Regardless, it was coming. For him, or for Sam, the human wasn't really sure. But it was enough to make him curl in on himself while still unconsciously scooting closer to the shivering, trembling soul. It never moved from its spot in the corner, still just curled up as tight as it seemingly could be, as tight as was possible, as if it were scared any kind of movement would just hurt it even worse. It looked just like his brother - but a slightly faded version of him. Adam remembered when it had been ripped straight from Sam, tossed to the bottom of the Cage as if it were nothing; it had glowed so brightly then, but over time, it had just… dulled. Considerably.
His chest ached sympathetically, watching it tremble. He would've reached out to touch it if he wasn't scared of hurting it further, so he just kept his hands to himself and looked away. He couldn't do anything, he was well aware of that. Even Lucifer and Michael couldn't seem to piece the poor, broken thing back together. The Devil still continued to protect it as much as he could, and the archangel would slowly try to heal some of the wounds, but nothing really worked anymore. If anything, it had started making it worse; there was nothing left to do but curl around it when the fire came, and wait for the Cage to stop rumbling, and hope it made it out alive. Rubbing a hand down his face, the man couldn't help but wonder if it was even better off like this in the first place; wonder if maybe they should put the poor thing out of its misery already.
Lucifer pulled himself away from the bars and walked over to them, settling himself down on the other side of the soul. Michael flicked their gaze toward him, grimacing slightly toward his younger brother, but as far as Adam could tell, there wasn't anything hostile directed toward the Devil. More or less, there was just something… grim stirring in the archangel's chest, something that suggested Michael had been thinking the same thing for quite some time, but he just hadn't had the courage to point it out. They both knew how much Lucifer was trying to protect the damn thing, and neither of them were sure how he'd react to what they were thinking now.
An uncomfortable amount of hesitation was pressing at their chest from Michael's end, and Adam had to bite his tongue to keep back a rush of panic. The emotions from the archangel still made his head pound every so often. It just wasn't natural. Not for him, anyway. He wasn't supposed to be feeling what someone else was feeling - but, then, at the same time, he was sharing a vessel with the guy. Literally sharing minds with him. The emotion thing, though, it still caught him off guard every now and again, and he had to force himself to calm down.
Lucifer extended a wing, eyes narrowing faintly in concentration. It trembled with the effort to keep it steady; Adam couldn't help but tilt his head back to stare, slightly entranced by the motion, but Michael frowned at the sight of the wing; it was broken, clearly enough, in several different places. Twisted and charred, burned feathers sticking out in odd places. It looked like it had been broken multiple times and simply healed wrong over time, only to be broken over and over again. If it hurt, though, the Devil didn't show it; draping the wing over the soul, he settled back against the bars of the Cage and pulled the poor, shivering mess toward him, ignoring the way it just tensed even further at the, admittedly, gentle touch.
"If you're gonna try and avoid the fire, Adam," Lucifer advised, "now would be a good time to go ahead and do that." He glanced up at the human and archangel, and Michael had to tear their gaze away from the broken wing himself so that Adam could meet Lucifer's gaze, eyes narrowing faintly as he did so while the Devil quirked an eyebrow. "Just saying. Probably a good idea to go ahead and get a head start before it can catch up to you. Micha, why don't you play go fish or something with him? He could use the distraction," Lucifer muttered, and right on cue, a crack of thunder rolled through the air and lightning shot down at the Cage, sending it rocking and jerking. Adam bit his tongue and sank back even further, prompting Michael to unfurl their wings and fold them around them carefully like some kind of security blanket.
"Of course," the archangel breathed, shaky and unsteady, "come on, Adam."
Adam blinked rapidly, ready to give in and retreat. He could already feel teeth against his flesh, poised and ready to sink in at any given moment, body going rigid at the feeling.
But before he had the chance to retreat into their shared mind and let Michael distract him before the pain could properly begin, Lucifer's head suddenly snapped up from where he'd previously been curled over the soul, attempting to reassure it as it had curled in on itself even tighter when the Cage had rocked. The shaking was dying down, replaced with an unfamiliar rumbling that even had Adam glancing around quizzically; even he knew this was different from the violent tremors the Cage would offer when it was getting ready for another torture session, and he bit the inside of his cheek as Michael forced him down a little into the back of their mind, wariness replacing the archangel's concern. He spread his wings out slightly, looking up.
"Who-?" Michael cut off rather suddenly, and Adam felt every muscle in their body tense as the archangel shot Lucifer a look, one filled with pure and utter horror. A strange amount of bitterness had begun to curl in the archangel's chest, a fury that Adam couldn't quite place, but it did somewhat intrigue him, considering that he'd never felt any actual anger from Michael directed at anyone except Lucifer, and even those feelings were rapidly deteriorating.
The look Lucifer shot Michael nearly bordered on apologetic, and that's what it would have looked like if an excessive amount of confusion wasn't shadowing the Devil's face. He wrapped his wing a little tighter around Sam, almost defensively, as he twisted around to glance back.
"Hello, boys."
A growl rumbled in Michael's chest, low and inhuman, as the archangel began to twist around to face whoever was there. Lucifer raised a hand in a half-placating, half-"back the fuck off" gesture, but it did little to make the archangel back down; Adam, however, stared with an odd sense of curiosity at the newcomer on the other side of the Cage. An old, somewhat fragile looking man stood on the other side of the bars - well, not stood, actually, he was floating, balancing on absolutely nothing but air beneath him as he peered in at the beings in the Cage. His mouth was twisted into a faint frown, but his eyes, blank and eerily calm, displayed absolutely no emotion as he glanced back and forth between Lucifer and Michael, before fixing his gaze on the Devil's wing, where the soul was still curled up.
"You," Michael hissed through clenched teeth, and a spark of emotion finally lit the old man's gaze, glancing back at the archangel in silence. He quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing; mostly because, before he could open his mouth, Lucifer was speaking up, sounding puzzled.
"Death, old friend…" Lucifer's eyebrows raised slightly. "What brings you to my lovely establishment? Come to play some poker, drink some whiskey, talk 'bout life?"
"No," the old man - Death, holy shit - spoke simply and direct. Adam watched, blinking in surprise, as even Lucifer seemed to wither slightly under his stare; the Devil nearly seemed to falter, setting his jaw slightly as he looked away, just for a second. Michael just clenched his teeth even further, seeming positively infuriated by the presence of the man before them, for reasons that Adam didn't entirely understand, and he didn't really think it was his business to, either. "I've come to collect, actually." He lifted the bag in his hand, and Adam stared.
His heart practically sank, and he could feel Lucifer go rigid beside him.
"Collect what?" It was Michael who spoke, and Adam couldn't help but tense in surprise at his tone, cold and angry as he glared at the man. Death glanced over at him again, but he still didn't say anything to the archangel, only holding his gaze for a split second before simply flicking it away again, which only seemed to make Michael even angrier. "Oh, don't you dare-"
"Sam's soul," Death interrupted, as calm as ever, though now his voice was slightly strained with quite obvious impatience. Lucifer shot Michael a look, but the archangel didn't seem to notice, his glare focused solely on Death. The old man lifted his chin, not looking at Michael now, and fixed his gaze back on where the Devil's wing was still blocking Sam's soul from his vision. Lucifer's expression shifted considerably when he registered exactly what Death had said, and Adam was torn between relief and grief. Was the soul really that far gone? Was Sam as good as dead now? Had it really been necessary for Death to come all the way down here to get it?
Well, at least now maybe he'd be at rest…
"I've come to return it to its owner."
Lucifer froze again, and even Adam couldn't help but tense up, staring at Death incredulously. He couldn't possibly mean he was going to put that- thing back inside of Sam. God, that would- that would fucking destroy him. The man knew he certainly couldn't imagine having something as broken and twisted and… tortured as that inside of his body. Would he even survive that? Adam didn't think it was likely. If he was, somehow, up there functioning without a soul, then Lucifer had been right when he said that Sam was much better off without it. Even Michael's fury had died down considerably, staring at Death with a mixture of surprise and disgust curling in his chest at the implications. At least they could all agree that they definitely weren't expecting that, and they most certainly didn't agree with it by any means…
"You're joking, right?" Lucifer finally asked, "like, that's a joke. Haha, funny. Not really. You're not actually considering dumping this-" He finally lifted his wing, albeit reluctantly, to reveal the trembling soul; unconsciously, Adam ended up shuffling a little closer, somewhat protectively. He didn't trust the guy, especially not after realizing exactly what he planned to do here. "-back into Sam. That's literally the most stupid thing I've ever heard. Especially from you."
Michael rolled his eyes and muttered, "I don't know about that," but otherwise, remained silent.
"I don't joke about souls, Lucifer. You of all people should know that," Death replied curtly, and Lucifer's mouth practically fell open, staring at him incredulously. For a brief second, Adam almost thought the old man was about to smile; but, he didn't, simply edged closer to the Cage and lifted his chin slightly, eyes narrowing down at the archangels in the Cage. "I've made a deal. Regardless of whether or not I agree with it, I uphold my end of my bargains. Dean Winchester requests his brother's soul to be returned, and I'm going to return it." For a moment, he faded, briefly vanishing from sight; Lucifer whirled his head around immediately, and while Adam and Michael were a little slower to turn around, neither of them were surprised to see Death was now standing with them inside the Cage, clutching the bag tightly.
"Fuckin' dumbass…" Lucifer said incredulously, and neither Adam nor Michael could tell who the fuck he was talking about at this point; Death or Dean. Truthfully, the former thought it was a little bit of both, while Michael was more convinced that Death was definitely the dumbass here.
Regardless, nobody moved as Death leaned forward. Lucifer looked about ready to lunge at any given moment, both wings spread out now, but even he didn't make a move to stop the old man. Honestly, the only thing keeping Adam back was Michael; furious as the archangel seemed to be with him, for whatever reason, he still continued to hold Adam back for the most part. Mostly because as angry as he was, he also seemed somewhat wary. And… well, Adam was going to be completely honest, he didn't really blame the guy. He was pretty wary himself, I mean, facing literal Death. Didn't mean he wouldn't punch the old man if he was given a chance, but…
Still, as Death reached for the soul, carefully reducing its curled up, shaking form into nothing but a small, flickering ball of light, another thought popped into Adam's head. Or maybe it had popped into Michael's head, neither of them could tell at that point. Didn't stop Michael from speaking up, though, even in the process of grinding his teeth together, while Death gently put the soul into the bag and closed it up. "Well, what about Adam?" The archangel demanded furiously, and the old man seemed to visibly freeze, his gaze darting back up to them instantly. "You're taking him too, aren't you? He doesn't deserve this either."
Death's mouth twisted slightly, and Adam didn't need any other answer. That alone was enough to make his heart sink straight into his stomach, that along with the horrible, lurching realization that Dean had asked Death to come down here and get Sam's soul, but not him.
"But…" Adam's mouth was way too dry for him to be able to be speaking at this point, and it took several tries for him to be able to spit out anything coherent, swallowing furiously and licking his lips, wide-eyed with horror, fear and disbelief. Was he really not going to get out of here? All he wanted was to get back to Heaven, back to his mother again, but was that really too much to ask for? His breath hitched slightly despite himself, not knowing whether to feel furious, betrayed, sad or all of the above, so he settled on something rather… blank, honestly. "But- I can't- I can't stay here, I don't-" A choked laugh broke through his lips, though he didn't even know why he was laughing. Nothing about this situation was funny.
"You son of a bitch," that was Michael, sounding more horrified than angry, surprisingly enough, as he stared at Death with wide eyes. "You can't just leave him here. He doesn't deserve that. He's not even supposed to be here, I swear to- I swear if you don't take him back with you-!" The archangel heaved himself to his feet and walked forward, wings flaring out behind him. Death didn't retreat, expression unchanging for the most part as he stared back at Michael, but there was a faint flicker of guilt flickering faintly through his eyes as he watched him approach.
"That's not fair," Lucifer agreed simply, not moving from his spot, and not even making an effort to keep Michael from attacking Death. If anything, he looked a little pissed off, himself, keeping his stare level with Death's even though the old man wasn't looking at him. "What the hell?"
"Dean has made his choice. I told him he could only pick one. I am not a soul train, Adam Milligan, and I'm already breaking enough rules here by bringing Sam's soul back at all." Death stared back at Michael and Adam, as the human finally managed to bring up enough strength to tell Michael to stop; the archangel seemed reluctant to listen, but he did so, stopping about a foot away from the old man and glaring at him through narrowed eyes as he went on carefully, "I'm truly sorry. For what it's worth, I wish he had chosen you."
Michael leaned forward. "Shove it up your ass."
"Michael-" Adam protested breathlessly, heart sinking slightly as he thought Death's words over. They really didn't think anything of him, did they? "I just- I- I don't- I don't understand…"
Death closed his eyes for a moment, looking for all the world like he was kicking himself, but it didn't help. Adam still didn't understand - he couldn't quite comprehend the situation. Even if Dean had chosen Sam's soul over him, why couldn't Death just bring him back anyway? Clearly, he wanted to, and if he had that kind of power, then what was stopping him? "I'm sorry."
"I don't…" Adam began, voice quivering slightly now. He hated himself for it, but at the same time, he couldn't quite stop it. Regardless, he didn't even get a chance to finish before Death had simply disappeared from in front of him, vanishing with the bag containing Sam's soul as if he had never been there in the first place. Adam found himself staggering, stumbling back, left without the ability to steady himself. And that's when Michael took over again, cautiously reaching back to grab the bars behind them to steady them up against the Cage once again. Lucifer was silent, eyes fixed on where Death had been standing, somewhat disbelievingly.
"I don't understand," Adam mumbled. Nausea rolled through his stomach, twisting at his insides and pushing against his chest, painful and sickening and oh god he couldn't breathe. "I don't…"
Whatever hope he'd had of getting out had completely crumbled now; Sam and Dean weren't going to be coming back for him, that much was clear. Dean has made his choice. He chose Sam over Adam - and of course he did, why wouldn't he? But it didn't make it hurt any less. It didn't make the feelings of betrayal fade. And it didn't make him feel any less sick. He had genuinely thought they would come for him - god, honestly, how stupid was he? How could he have really expected that of them? They weren't his family. He had insisted on it himself.
Still, after everything with Zachariah… he had genuinely let himself believe that maybe…
Adam… Michael began, but he faltered after a few seconds. Adam only swallowed and breathed in sharply, trying to focus on composing himself. His eyes stung, but he was determined not to cry - at least not with Michael openly focusing on him, and with Lucifer right there before him. Blinking rapidly, he shut his eyes, and shook his head slightly.
"Asshole…" Lucifer mumbled after a moment, finally turning back to Adam and Michael. He was silent for quite some time, himself. To be honest, though, he didn't even seem surprised; more or less exhausted, in a lot of different ways. Adam blinked his eyes open, silently pushing himself down to sit back against the bars of the Cage again, and brought one hand up to cover his mouth. He still felt damn close to throwing up, and he wanted to do that even less than he wanted to cry. "Damn, you're… really surprised, aren't you?"
Both Adam and Michael offered him a glare in response, but the Devil didn't falter under the withering stares, simply narrowed his eyes and sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, but if you really expected them to look past each other for once in their miserable, codependent lives, then- you're an idiot, honestly. Those two don't care about anybody but themselves, and that's just a fact. You're blood, Adam, for sure - but that doesn't mean shit. And it doesn't make you family."
Adam stayed silent, but he couldn't keep his mind from flashing back to something he'd said before, straight to Sam and Dean, himself - so we may be blood, but we are not family.
He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, another burst of pain flaring to life in his chest, and at this point he was aching for nothing more than the fire to simply come back and swallow him whole, because god damn, it had to be way better than what he was feeling now. He heard Michael hissing at Lucifer, a quiet, "could you just knock it off and try not to be insensitive for once in your life?", but he just shook his head a little at the archangel, trying to make him shut up. Honestly, he appreciated the honesty, brutal as it was. It was something he needed to hear right now, the reality of the situation, the bluntness, no sugarcoating, because he already felt like he was about to break apart as it was, but the last thing he needed was for them to be walking on eggshells around him. Michael seemed to hesitate, but eventually, he did retreat, nodding.
"All I'm saying," Lucifer went on, and Adam could practically hear him scowling as he spoke, "is that there's one thing you gotta learn, and learn it fast; you can't rely on the Winchesters. In the end, the only thing that matters to them is each other. Hell, you're only down here because Dean didn't want to let Sam down by saying yes to Michael himself. You're down here because of them, and still, they're too worried about each other to bother with you, because that's just who they are. That's just how they were raised; look out for each other, and nobody else."
Adam swallowed, breathed out sharply, and nodded. He shouldn't have expected anything else. Zachariah hadn't been lying to him, not completely, when he spoke of Sam and Dean's relationship - how they would choose each other over and over again, everyone else be damned. But he hadn't wanted to believe it, to let go of the last shred of hope he had left.
"But hey." Lucifer heaved himself up off of the floor of the Cage, "we ever get outta here, man, I'll help you kill them myself." He turned to face Adam, eyes glittering with a malicious kind of amusement, but Adam only continued to stare - at least until Lucifer offered him his hand, eyebrows raising slightly and a small smirk forming on the Devil's face. "Wanna fight it out?" He offered, and for the first time, a slight rush of appreciation rose up in Michael's chest toward his brother - and Adam couldn't help a twinge of gratitude, himself, as he took Lucifer's hand and allowed the Devil to pull him to his feet, somewhat unsteady. Nothing better to do, was there?
"Hell yeah."