Dean nudged the label with his fingernail, the corner peeling back a little more. Damn, was it hard to just sit and wait while Gabriel and Cas were out risking their necks to get his latest suicidal plan in motion. Just sitting on his ass, waiting. At least being out in the yard he could feel the sun, though he missed how it had felt when he had only thought of himself as a human.

He sensed Sam before he heard the lug shuffling out towards him. The kid had to be worried, had to be sick with it and there wasn't a lot he could do. He hated this plan with a vengeance but time was up and pretty soon both sides were going to be figuring out who the unknown on the field was. Best not to fight a two-front battle with earth sandwiched in-between.

"Hey, Sammy," he said, glancing up as his brother sank himself into one of Bobby's decrepit lawn chairs. The old man must have picked these up like half a century ago by the looks of them. "What's up?"

A small shrug, and yep something big eating him. Skimming the surface of his brother's mind all he got was a loud jumble of sounds. Cas was way easier to read, really straight forward on the thinking front. Must be the angel portion.

"You wanna talk or you just shuffling your gloom cloud out here, Eeyore?"

"Would you –" Sam stopped, and Dean got the sense that he wasn't sure he wanted an answer.

"Would I what? Wrestle in jello? Hell yeah, if the chick was hot enough."

Sam let out a small huff and ran a hand through his hair. "How are you a pervy archangel?"

"Dad just made me that special," Dean said, fluttering his eyelashes. "Come on, spill. Is it about tomorrow or something else?"

Sam had reached for a beer from the cooler, the thing almost swallowed up in those chops he called hands. The kid turned it around a few times and Dean was about to ask the princess if he needed help finding the top when he finally spoke. "Would you forgive Lucifer if he asked?"

Dean started. Not what he had been expecting by a long shot. "Don't think that's on the table, Sam."

"No, I don't mean he would," Sam hastily said, shaking his head. "I mean, like, hypothetical."

Frowning, Dean stared up at the sky, thinking. Morning Star. He could remember a lot of what Lucifer had done, good and bad, given that he had known him the longest. From the moment he was created wanting attention to those last terrible screams when he had been sealed in hell after his final abominable act against creation. When Dad had finally wised up, realized that Luci was never going to fix his shit, and ordered it done.

He'd never say it, never in a million years, but he thought he had to be the one to seal up and kill Lucifer because dear old Dad just couldn't off that one.

Sam had started fumbling more with his beer and he got it, he really did. His brother was terrified that he didn't forgive him because he didn't know if he could forgive the devil. That Sam still saw the two of them as entwined and inseparable and always marching on a path to damnation.

"You aren't him, Sammy," he said quietly, the kid finally stilling. "The answer is, I don't know. If he actually showed up, felt remorse, really understood what he did and why it was just so, well, fucking terrible, then maybe. That one, there's a lot there, Sam. Shit, you don't know and don't get to know so don't ask. But it would maybe be possible if he did."

Sam nodded, relaxing a bit into his chair and Dean tried to think of something better to talk about then sins and forgiveness and all the crap they kept screwing up.

"So, let's figure out how old I am in human terms," he offered, grinning when Sam's face went white.

"Dude, you're – you're older than the universe."

"Well, but I was also a soul for a while, don't know if that counts."

"Huh." Sam leaned back, pondering now. "Well, that was by far a shorter amount of time than you spent alive as an archangel. Which is still beyond weird by the way, just saying."

"You'll get used to it."

"I think I'll need like ten lifetimes for that."

Dean snorted, watching Bobby walk out towards them. It was late afternoon and glorious out here, didn't blame the old man coming to sit. Wasn't much else to do while waiting.

"Well," Sam continued, "humans existed in some form for about two hundred thousand years, right? At least the Homo Sapien part of this. And Satan didn't do his big tantrum until we were more established. So it's only thousands compared to trillions."

Bobby had been reaching for a beer when he stopped, looking at them. "What you two knuckleheads blabbering about?"

"Trying to figure out how old Dean is."

There was a long sigh before Bobby settled himself into his chair. "Your brother has like all the secrets of the universe locked up in there. Well, the parts of him that aren't fried. And you two decide that this is the best thing to ask about instead of like how stars were formed, or how the bloody planet was?"

Dean smiled around the lip of his bottle as he took a drink. "Some things aren't supposed to be shared."

"Uh-huh," Sam said, looking serious. "Like, no humans allowed club?"

"Nah, just more the mysteries of creation. Telling makes it seem less mysterious."

There was pouting, he knew that without having to look over at Sam but Bobby seemed relieved.

"Kind of don't want to know anyway, ta be honest. Like some parts of my human ignorance to a point."

There was silence and he knew Sam was over there thinking really big important Sam thoughts. He tried really hard not to dip into that brain, remembering how annoying it was. Finally, his brother turned to him, his face serious and Dean knew it was going to be good.

"How about the day you were created?"

Dean nearly choked on his beer, which had to be an angelic first. He was getting good at those. "Well, Sam, when a man loves a woman –"

"Boy," Bobby said, leaning forward interested. "You know what he means."

Rubbing the bottle between his hands, he thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Not a lot to tell. I wasn't there, then poof, I was."

"That's a terrible story," Bobby said.

"That's what it is. Sorry. No grand mysterious entrance with chorus girls and shooting stars. Just bam, alive." Dean paused, thinking about how much he could say. "I was really different."

"I would gather," the old man huffed. "Don't think God programmed you to be a jackass."

Rolling his eyes, he sighed inwardly. "I mean, I had like two settings, love and obey." Dean paused again, staring at the ground, trying to find words to explain things that had happened before words were a thing. "I was kind of like the default, the test run, I think, to see if it was worthwhile."

He didn't have to read his brother's mind to know Sam thought that was one of the worst things he ever heard just from that look.

"Why did He make you?" Sam asked softly.

"Dunno." Dean shrugged. "I honestly don't know. He could have told me at some point and it's lost across the cosmos with the rest of my fried grace, or He just never shared, which could be a real thing. Just that I followed Him around like a drooling fangirl with zero ideas of anything outside of Him."

Bobby snickered a bit. Glaring, apparently, was not a useful threat to get the old coot to stop.

"Can you – can you talk about the other archangels? I mean is that allowed?"

It might be but he wasn't sure. Wasn't like Dad was around currently to slap him upside the head and he didn't see the harm in sharing generalities.

"There is some stuff I am forbidden to talk about," he started as Sam's face fell. "But I think I can tell some of it."

"Well, get crackin' Shakespeare, not all of us are immortal."

Again, glares did not seem to even come close to unhinging the old man and Dean was sure he had lost his archangel touch with his family.

"Well, obviously he should have stopped with me because I am perfect," Dean started, not allowing himself to feel underwhelmed by his family's laughter. "But Lucifer came next. And he wasn't, it's not like he is now, that big twisted mess. He was gorgeous. We didn't really have a good concept of what things were. There wasn't creation or ideas like the sun," Dean waved his hand all around them. "But even against everything else, Morning Star was probably one of the most beautiful things Dad ever formed.

"I think you could say we got more personalities as Dad went along. There's not a good way to put it, but Lucifer seemed to come with more settings than I did, mainly that he found out what adoration was and wanted it all the time. Seriously, the guy was in a void with like two other things and it was like 24/7 'adore me, adore me'. Should have been an early red flag, that one."

Taking a sip of the beer he could barely taste anymore, he rocked his chair back a little, pushing the heel of his boot into the dirt. Not like he needed balance, he had a good enough grip for that. For once, the two were quiet, waiting, and he was trying to figure out better ways to explain things without forms.

"So, next it was Raphael. He was always quieter but I liked that. As much as I loved and adored Lucifer, I enjoyed Raphael's quiet peace."

"Peaceful?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Yeah, before all that shit went down, Raphael was the peaceful one, almost serene. Like, when he moved it was fluid and always with, um, hell, I guess purpose. I don't know. I'm trying to describe light in a void, guys."

"You're doing good, son." Bobby's tone was so gentle, like a sort of reverence that Dean didn't feel he deserved but acknowledged all the same.

"And then came Gabriel. And he was, uh, wiggly."

Sam's laugh, so bright and clear, was the most joyous sound he heard out of his brother for a long ass time. He had forgotten what it sounded like and couldn't help smiling.

"He was always wanting to see. I mean, there was like close to frigging nothing outside of us idiots to see, but he was always wanting to see it."

"Let me guess, you were the stern one who oversaw the zoo," Bobby said, looking at him and Dean nodded.

"There's a boatload of crap I can't say, but it wasn't like we were all brought in to have daycare playtime. All of us could maim or kill one another and Dad got pissed when someone lost a few eyes or arms to a fight."

"Eyes and arms?" Bobby asked softly and Dean winced.

"Scratch that. Just imagine me as a human with cool ass wings. Like bat wings on fire."

"So, you bunch of mooks just sit on your asses while we do the heavy lifting," Gabriel whined as he and Castiel appeared.

Relief flooded Dean at the sight of them. Instead, though, he just grinned and shrugged, pointing at himself. "Oldest."

"So not a reason," his brother returned, conjuring up two chairs before flopping himself into one. "Sit, Cassie. Why do the humans look like they've swallowed flies?"

"He was telling us about the day you were created," Sam said, Gabriel opening and closing his mouth a few times. "He said you were wiggly."

"You – you described me like that? I'm a fearsome, awesome, older than frickin' time Warrior of the Lord and you described me like I'm some kind of earthworm stuck on hot pavement?"

Before he could say anything, Bobby said, "Well, it fits."

"I feel like I've lost some kind of oomph here. Cassie, help me out."

Glancing over at Sam as the bickering commenced, he saw a small, sad smile on the kids face as he played with his bottle. He didn't need mindreading to know what was up and rocked forward, sliding his boot over to the Sasquatch feet by him.

"Still my baby brother, Sammy," he said quietly. "Ain't nothing going to change that."

He was glad when some of the angst slide off his brother before he got involved with Gabriel's petulant whining.

~x~

He's terrified. Terrified out of his fucking skull to be standing here, waiting on the edge of what felt like very probable damnation. Nothing but dead grass and weeds and dry crumbly earth all around him. A barren nothingness that even the Impala parked nearby couldn't take away. Like he was the last human on earth and it wouldn't matter if he screamed yes up into the sky anymore.

"Lucifer," he whispered into the stunning sky, immaculate and pure and just the opposite of him. "Lucifer, I'm done."

"Oh, Sam," came that voice and he turned, backing up a few steps. That face was showing wear and tear of the archangel still trapped up inside it. Burns and the look of a radiation victim and he swallowed at the sheer painful look of it. "I always knew you would call me."

Sam didn't trust his voice so he just nodded. He didn't want to babble nonsense because the last thing he wanted was Lucifer upset. A hand reached out to touch his face. He willed himself to stay still. He needed to stay here just like this.

"I heard what heaven did. That Michael now fully has Dean."

He nodded again because apparently using words was beyond him right now, grateful that Dean's deception had worked. He can feel the archangel all twisted up and wrong. Felt that heavy presence saturating the air around them and he wondered if Lucifer was proclaiming to heaven that he was moving in for his own kill. That he would deal with them once the earth was collapsed and barren under his heel.

"They are arrogant and blind," the devil crooned at him, stroking his face like something longing to mimic love. "I can make them pay, Sam. Pull those little lackeys' and pop them one by one," Lucifer said, annunciating the last words with a tap of his fingers. "Unless you want to make them scream for mercy. I'll give them as much as I got."

A wicked grin and Sam stared at him, into those eyes that took him in as if already making measurements for future living space arrangements. Which was probably highly accurate.

"Alright," he said, feeling the word crawl off his tongue, not wanting to say the wrong thing. Not wanting to say that word. Not yet.

"Don't be afraid. You and I are the same, Sam. Always as we were meant to be."

He felt a sudden rise of bile and he choked it back down trying not to look distressed, hoping that the illusion over him held and Lucifer couldn't hear his current thoughts.

"What do I do? I mean, do I just stand there?"

"Stay alive, and for Creation's sake, don't say yes. Don't say that word under any circumstance."

Gabriel's words bounced in his mind as the devil tilted his head, suddenly curious and Sam stepped forward wanting to distract. He needed to distract.

"I want Zachariah to pay especially," he said because it was true, and sticking to true statements was a good thing, even if it was a dead angel. "He hurt us, tortured us. Abused both of us and tried to make me die in front of Dean to get him to say it."

"I dislike those who touch what is mine," Lucifer answered, voice low, a wind passing over Sam as the dead grass rustled around them. "You were always meant to be mine. They had no right to you, especially Michael."

That name and Sam stares at him wondering what the devil was thinking, the chill of that twisted blackness touching him was seeping further into him in some sort of bizarre form of torture and rapture. He wondered if he had been left at the edge of the Cage if this is what would have happened demon blood or no. If he was always meant to fall into it.

Fire was in front of him, Dean's arm around his waist with the shocked outraged sound of Lucifer ringing out across everything. It wasn't just a circle, it was a complex line of shapes carved into the ground, shining with something that he wasn't sure but it was pure unlike everything in the thing that had been touching his face moments before.

"I'm so sorry," he breathed trying to get his bearings, Dean turning to face him but there was no anger there.

It was truly the first time he could fully see the archangel in those eyes.

"It's what he did to you, Sammy," his brother said softly, a sadness he didn't think he had ever heard before. "It's how he made you, trying to tangle you enough that you would respond to what he is now. Bobby," his brother barked. "Take him."

Strong hands-on his shoulders and he was marched away from it to stand by Gabriel and Cas who were on the outskirts of the strange markings. When he looked back he saw Dean, his eyes were almost silver and he knew Dean was all of himself, angel and human, as he turned his attention to Lucifer.

"Michael, what are you planning on doing here?" Lucifer was close to the fire line trapped as he was, eyeing what he could see until his face finally looked at his brother. Really looked. "What have you done to yourself?"

Sam couldn't see Dean's face as he walked towards that figure. Couldn't see what his brother was feeling if it showed at all or if he had the blank angelic look that they all seemed to have carved into them. Dean's hands hung at his sides, one in a fist that had the rings as a wind blew but could not touch what lay on the ground.

"I loved you once," Dean said, his voice with that same sad stillness in it that ripped a little deeper. "Once I would have died for you."

"Michael, what treachery are you up to? What have you done?" Lucifer demanded again his voice petulant but thick with some sort of fear. Something that wasn't becoming to him.

"I remember many things, brother," Dean said raising up his fisted hand and looking down at the lock to the Cage. "The day you were made, the day we conquered evil with our baby brothers. The day the choir sang with the joy of its creation and the formation of all of this."

"Michael, the history lesson isn't needed."

"I also remember," Dean kept going staring into those flames as though he hadn't been interrupted, "the day you stopped loving me. The day you struck me and tried to kill me and I was commanded to this. I remember the loss of Father, of Gabriel, of Raphael turning to hate and the choir looking at me as though your choice was my fault. But there is one thing I don't remember."

"Which is, Michael? Really if you want to guilt me to death at least try to be original." Lucifer waved a hand at them and Sam flinched expecting something terrible but nothing happened. "Unless this is for the benefit of your audience."

"The day I ripped myself apart over failing, especially you," Dean said and Sam caught it. He caught the implication of those words, of how his brother ended up like this as that lock was placed on their side of the fire, just beyond Lucifer's reach.

Everything felt weak, something giving a bit and he realized that Cas was by him, closer, a hand under his arm because that little angel was still strong. Falling or not he was still able to hold up his giant frame under that confession as Lucifer was still. So unmoving it was like a statue was caught there as Dean stepped back.

"You are an abomination, Michael," Lucifer said and Sam really wanted to point out that was probably not the best way to talk one's way out of this. "You desecrated yourself when you had a chance to stand with me. Against what ended up hurting you and now you betray me all over again. Send me back to the dark."

"I can't kill you."

Lucifer made a sound that sounded seriously close to deranged and crossed his arms. "And why not, dear brother? Hasn't that been your entire life goal? What you've wanted, me out of the way of your precious obedience and devotion?"

Dean said raised up a hand, not answering, and Sam could finally see the side of his face something grim in that stoic expression enhanced by the angelic glow of his eyes. "Goodbye, brother."

"Michael, don't you do this," Lucifer screamed at him as Dean raised a hand. "I swear if you send me back I will come for you and tear you apart. I will rip that mutation out of you."

"That mutation is me. BVTMON TABGES BABALON."

Sam watched with growing horror as Lucifer screamed in futile threats, the last being in a language he didn't understand as Dean turned his back to the sight. Ground crumbling, consuming everything in its path as Lucifer desperately backed up to the other side of the ring. Thousands of sounds, the screams and scents of hell and he could hear Bobby whisper something beside him like 'sweet mother Mary'. It didn't stop, it yawned wider and wider offering no escape as hell was hungry and waiting. Sam caught Dean's face, back still turned to his once beloved brother, eyes bright and he wished he could tell Dean he loved him. That this wasn't his fault.

All he could do was watch the hole consume its prey, the anguish of the final screams that were beyond human before the ground was suddenly replaced, rings sitting as though they were nothing more than jewelry and the sudden silence was so loud Sam was sure he had gone deaf.

Then his brother had moved back to the rings, picking them up and staring at them, his eyes the normal Dean that he could see. Nothing glow-y or angel-y or anything. Just Dean looking at them calmly as if they had taken a wrong turn on the way to a picnic.

"Got to take care of these. Cas, Gabriel, make sure they're safe. And Cas, I'm glad man."

Then he was gone and Sam was still not used to his brother just appropriating, thank you very much.

"What's happened to Cas?" Bobby said, putting a steadying hand on his shoulder and Sam felt a bit more stable. In shock but stable.

"Cassie bobassie there is all juiced again."

"Really?" Sam smiled because at least it was good news as the angel gave a short nod. He'd hug Cas but he was fairly certain physical contact was an alien concept and he didn't want a confusion smiting to ruin their moment. "Do I, uh even want to know what Luci was screaming?"

"Oh, the normal pleasantries," Gabriel said shrugging, a smirk that didn't quite look genuine but he was calm. "Normal things like 'my hate for you will keep me alive eternally'. That sort of hallmark message that uplifts the soul. Now then, sitting targets that we are," and there was a snap the world spinning and Sam tried to breathe a bit as he knew where ever Gabriel was taking them it was better than where they had been.