Adam wasn't sure what was worse, the sound, or the souls.
The second that Lucifer blew the Crook, the entire room had begun rattling. Adam was completely still, while Michael was holding onto something behind them to keep them steady as the room rocked and trembled from the force, both of them just staring, wide-eyed, as they watched. Gabriel was less surprised, and more worried - but he stayed back, watching as the souls streaked in, each one, whizzing through the air and launching straight into the Crook, disappearing at once. And they continued on, coming and coming, one after the other. There must have been thousands - hell, hundreds of thousands, but Adam was already losing count.
Michael widened their eyes slightly, head turning as they both tried to track every single one that came through the door. There were too many to even register, appearing and disappearing in bright flashes of light, in the blink of an eye, too quick for them to get a good glimpse. Gabriel stood tense beside them, eyes narrowed now, never once moving his gaze from Lucifer. The Devil didn't pause, not for a second. He just continued, head tilted back, blowing into the horn for all that he was worth. The louder it became, the more souls streamed in.
Unconsciously, they wrapped their arms around themselves. Adam was practically frozen in place, the mere sight being enough to still him; Even when they were being attacked, he had never seen quite a sight like this. Not so many, and not so… fast. The demon inhaled sharply, holding the breath. This time, it didn't come back out, not for a while. Not that it needed to.
Michael's eyes shifted to the side for a second, toward Gabriel, but Adam redirected their gaze forward again at once. He didn't want to take his eyes off of the souls - it was almost mesmerizing, in a way, the way they all dove downwards, disappearing straight into the Crook. For a moment, he wondered how it could hold them all; So many souls had gone in, already, so many had disappeared into it, sucked inside - and more were coming, unrestrained. The demon's eyes flickered, eyebrows furrowing, fingers digging into his shirt as he watched.
It took a while, but finally, finally, the number decreased. Fewer souls came through the door, but it was just as fast. Adam drew their shoulders back a little bit, and Michael slid a step back as the last few souls streaked through, seeming to hesitate - but, evidently, they had no choice. They were sucked in just like the others, and the second the last one had disappeared inside, Lucifer finally stopped. The rumbling stopped at once, as the Devil lowered the Crook from his mouth, looking down at it for a long moment before slowly turning back to the others.
"There," the Devil murmured, a strange expression on his face now. He held up the Crook slightly, and Adam narrowed his eyes, just staring. It seemed to be twitching, glowing faintly, as if the souls were trying to find a way out, but they were held tightly, trapped. "It's done. Earth is saved." Lucifer paused, turning his head slightly over his shoulder. "You all should go, now," he added. "We're finished here."
Adam was about to agree, but both he and Michael paused, quickly realizing something rather off about those words. Gabriel was the first to realize it, however, and the archangel had taken several steps forward before either the archangel or the demon could stop him, approaching the Devil with a look of disbelief and suspicion written across his face. "Oh, and what about you, huh?" He demanded, nodding toward the Crook. "What are you going to do with that now?"
"I don't have the time to explain anything to you, Gabriel," Lucifer snapped back, his sarcastic, snarky demeanor giving way to something a little bit more serious, a little colder. It was enough, at least, to make Gabriel reel back on his feet. But Adam crossed forward, pushing past the archangel and sparing a glance back down at the Crook before their eyes flicked back up to Lucifer's face, staring at him intensely. Michael was even more confused than anything; No suspicion, no betrayal, just complete, utter confusion.
"Luci, what are you doing?" The archangel asked carefully, while Adam narrowed their eyes faintly, frowning. "You're not coming back with us?" At this, Lucifer's head turned toward them slightly, the cold expression cracking, just for a second; But then it was masked again, furrowed eyebrows smoothing out and his frown fading into a neutral, thin line as he nodded toward them.
"We won this battle, brother, but the war isn't over. I can't explain here, but you'll understand," the Devil insisted, his head twitching briefly in Gabriel's direction as he added, "you all will."
Gabriel was silent, but the tension seemed to fade after a moment. He looked torn, a part of him clearly wanting to believe his brother, but the rest of him not quite allowing him to do so. And, so, he was just completely silent, never moving his gaze from the Devil. Finally, sighing, Lucifer turned his head back toward Adam and Michael, arching an eyebrow slightly. "Stay with the Winchesters. I know you despise them, Adam, but it'll make things much easier on me. You'll need to protect each other - we need them, for what's coming, like it or not."
Adam just furrowed his eyebrows, not quite understanding. But, whereas he didn't, Michael seemed to. The archangel hesitated, lifting one hand slightly, only to drop it back to their side almost immediately, just staring at his brother. Lucifer's expression relaxed again at the lack of disagreement, not quite needing a confirmation to know that, if nothing else, Michael would be able to convince Adam to stay with Sam and Dean, if only for a little while. And he would, the demon knew that well enough. The Devil looked down, tucking the Crook away in his jacket.
"I'll be back," Lucifer promised, lifting his head slightly, as if to look back up at them. Adam narrowed his eyes slightly. "There's just some things I need to do now. People to find." He arched an eyebrow toward Gabriel. "I'd offer you a chance to join me, but I don't think you'd trust me enough to come along. You'd probably be more useful here, anyway…" He muttered, almost to himself, then shook his head. "I'm wasting time, anyway. Go," he insisted, turning his head back toward Adam and Michael.
Michael hesitated; Finally, it was Adam who drew them back a few steps, nodding.
"Whatever you're doing, Luce," the demon started to warn, eyes sharpening slightly toward the Devil. "Be fuckin' careful, got it?" Lucifer replied with nothing more than a laugh, stepping back a bit, himself. Gabriel only grunted, after a moment, but, finally, he backed off. It wasn't quite an agreement, or any kind of approval, but he wasn't going to stop his brother - Adam knew that was enough of a display of trust. As for him and Michael… well, they already trusted Lucifer. If nothing else, Adam trusted the Devil's word, and the archangel was always willing to give his brother a chance whenever the opportunity arose.
"Yeah, don't worry, I'll be fine," Lucifer responded dismissively, "and, uh, remember - this, just between us. Tell Sam and Dean whatever you have to, but they can't know I've been here." Gabriel frowned at that, visibly, but he was silent. Michael only nodded, seemingly having trouble being able to even process the idea of speaking, and Lucifer gave a dry smile.
"Lucifer," Gabriel spoke up suddenly, and the Devil turned toward his brother at once, as did Adam and Michael, eyebrows raising slightly. "I swear- I swear if this is your way of double-crossing us, if anything happens, I will know it's you," he warned, glaring at the Devil. Lucifer was silent for once, no snarky replies or sarcastic quips, but after a few seconds, Gabriel seemed to soften, ever so slightly. "But I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here. Only because I don't think I've ever seen you so serious about anything in my life."
"Believe me when I say, Gabriel, this is important for everyone involved," Lucifer responded simply, then waved a hand, as if to shoo them all away. "Would you stop stalling the moment, then? Get back to your weird little lives now. I'll be back when we're ready."
There it was, that we again. It was slightly frustrating, not being able to figure it out, but Adam didn't dwell on it for too much; He didn't have the time. Michael managed to get a few last words in, however, a mixture of worried and guilty as he stepped forward. The words were rushed, but Adam understood; He had been given the chance to say it before, but he'd hesitated. And, so, he was saying at now, for the fear, the possibility that this might be the last time he saw his brother, at least for quite some time. "Lucifer, I'm sorry."
Lucifer didn't miss a beat with his response, his tone unchanging, his expression still completely, eerily relaxed. "I know."
And, with that, he was gone, taking the Crook along with him. Adam jerked back a little, faintly startled by the rather sudden disappearance; Gabriel let out a quiet, breathless curse, and Michael had long fallen silent. He didn't seem upset, or anything of the sort - the guilt faded after a moment, but the concern lingered, even then. That wouldn't go away until he saw his brother again, Adam knew Michael well enough to know that. But even then, somehow, he almost seemed content, in a way - hopeful, even.
"He'll be back," the archangel mumbled, quiet but confident. "I trust him."
Adam hummed quietly in agreement, still sort of speechless by everything that had just happened that day. Gabriel simply exhaled slowly through his teeth, not seeming to disagree nor particularly agree with his brother. "I wish I did," he muttered, turning around to face Adam and Michael again. "You ready to get the hell out of Hell?" He asked simply, eyebrows raising.
"Definitely," Michael sighed a little, and Gabriel reached out, clapping a hand down over their shoulder. Adam had to bite back an instinctive growl at the contact, stifling his own rage for once - something that the archangel actually smiled at a little bit, seeming proud for a second - as he turned their head away from the archangel and screwed his eyes shut, already knowing what was coming and so, so not wanting to have to experience it again. It was a little better when he knew what to prepare himself for, but it was still dizzying and disorienting when the ground moved from under him, and then reappeared; And then he opened their eyes, and they were standing in the middle of the graveyard, in front of the rift, which had just finished closing.
Adam sighed, deeply, in relief, glad that he didn't feel nauseous that time. He turned slightly when someone moved from beside him; Dean was approaching now, watching as the ground filled back up, the Earth seemingly mending itself right then and there, until there was nothing. No tear, the main door to Hell had been shut, and that was that - the souls were gone.
It was over. Well, according to Lucifer, this part of it was, anyway.
Seriously, when had he gotten dragged into all of this?
"Where's Belphegor?" Castiel demanded as he stepped up on Adam and Michael's other side - the archangel jumped a little, but relaxed quickly, and the demon bared his teeth and snarled at Castiel just for scaring his body-buddy. Castiel hardly seemed fazed, giving him an irritated yet bewildered look, before turning his inquiring gaze onto Gabriel, as he seemed to realize he wasn't getting any information from Adam after that, and Michael was still hesitating over what, exactly, to tell them about Lucifer.
"Taking his job back, I guess. Wrangling the souls back up where they belong," Gabriel replied, all-too casually, without even missing a beat - it was as if it had been rehearsed, even though it wasn't. Adam was both impressed and disgusted at how easily lying came to the archangel, even if it was all for Lucifer's sake. "The good news is-" The archangel interrupted when Castiel opened his mouth, looking suddenly uneasy, "-hey, look, apocalypse over. Again. Boy, you Winchesters- always saving the world. But, with that, I'm back to the porn stars, so. Adios."
"Thanks for the help, Gabriel." They all turned at the sound of Sam's voice, as the hunter left the crypt, Rowena and Crowley following him side by side with identical smug expressions on their faces. Gabriel just gave a slight hum and a peace sign in reply to Sam, his gaze lingering on Rowena for a good few seconds before he looked away again. "Keep in touch."
"Yep, sure, I'll send postcards."
Adam closed his eyes for a moment. He wasn't tired, but he was… well, a little worn. It had been a rather eventful day, compared, at least, to everything that had been going on recently. You can rest, if you want, Michael offered, albeit hesitantly. Adam merely shook his head in response, opening his eyes again - and, in doing so, they ended up catching Gabriel's gaze, just before the archangel had spread his wings out and vanished with nothing but a whoosh and a gust of wind, and then he was gone. Adam quirked an eyebrow, but stayed silent.
"Where's Bel?" Sam questioned, making his way up beside Dean. Crowley stepped forward to listen, as well, while the hunter explained what Gabriel had told them; Adam and Michael just turned away, eyes trailing toward Castiel for a moment as the angel stared down at where the tear in the ground had been, as if he was expecting it to open up - hell, as if he was longing for it to open up and swallow him whole. Michael frowned a little at the thought, but Adam was much too worn out to care… And besides that, he wasn't all too fond of Castiel anyway, so…
"Alright, guess now's a good time to let everyone know they can go back home," Sam sighed after a while, clasping his hands together. "We did it, guys."
Silence followed for a good five, eight seconds. Adam was the one who broke it.
"... Hallelujah," the demon mumbled, raising one hand to rub the back of their neck while Michael stretched the other arm over their head, both of them fighting back a yawn as they closed their eyes again, shoulders dropping. "I need a shower…"