Adam woke up before Michael did. The demon didn't move at first, beyond blinking his eyes open and turning to look out the window. It took him a good few seconds to realize where he was, remember that he was with the Winchesters - and it took him everything he had not to bite back a groan. Truthfully enough, Lucifer or not, Adam would have made the same decision. Didn't mean he wasn't kicking himself over it. It was a moment of weakness, of longing - watching everybody else reconcile, Michael with his brothers, Crowley with his mother, it had made him want it, somewhat. It had made him ache for it, at least.

But even then - was he capable of that? Was he capable of forgiveness? Sure, he could try. And he would try, he would try as much as he could possibly try, but he was still so angry. So hurt. He could see the guilt on their faces - Sam's, at least - he could hear the regret in his voice. But it didn't change the pained fury that had been swirling inside of him for the past ten years. It didn't change the fact that he wanted to turn away from them or rip their throats out, one or the other, constantly - no in between. Even now… even as much as he wanted to try…

Adam twisted his jaw a little bit and flicked his gaze back out the window, his head leaned against it and his legs curled up onto the seat beside him. It was a comfortable position, but he felt stiff all the same; He'd have to move soon, but he didn't want to alert Sam and Dean to the fact that he was awake, and risk having to interact with them so soon. Any word could change his mind - hell, a look could change his mind - or, at least, that's what he was afraid of.

Afraid of… being angry.

Of course, he knew why. He had been fine for a while, until he'd realized that, not only did it hurt him, but the people around him. More importantly, it had hurt Michael. The moment Adam let his anger get the better of him, the moment his grudge toward Sam and Dean had gotten in the way of his relationship with the archangel, that was the moment Adam had realized just how damaging it really was. And he wanted, so badly, to be able to fix that. For so many reasons; For Michael, for himself. And he was terrified, shockingly so, that he wouldn't be able to.

The demon ran his tongue over his lips, silent, and turned his head ever so slightly to look ahead. They must have stopped somewhere, because Sam and Dean had switched; The younger of the two was driving now, with Dean curled up in the passenger's seat - and asleep, judging by the sound of his snores. Sam was silent, focused on the road. Adam let his gaze flicker over his older brother's face in the mirror for a moment, eyebrows furrowing, before he looked back out the window again. He didn't need them as much as he needed Michael. Maybe he could forgive and forget. Maybe he could let go, and leave. Maybe reconciliation wasn't needed, per se, but… but, a part of Adam still longed for it.

Adam sighed, and Sam's gaze flickered up at once. The demon looked over as the hunter lifted his head, and bit back a groan the second their eyes met; And, since he had already been caught awake, he decided that now was as good a time as any to sit up completely, moving his legs to the floorboard and sitting up straight, stretching his arms over his head.

"Hey…" Sam started, a little hesitant, and Adam glanced back up at his older brother, quirking an eyebrow slightly before turning to look back out the window again, crossing his arms behind his head with a frown. It hadn't even been that long since he'd had a shower, as far as he could tell - he had had one just before they'd left the school - but, for some reason, he was aching for another one already… The demon frowned, but said nothing. "You two sleep well?"

"Halo's still sleepin'," Adam muttered simply in response, sparing Sam a glance. The realization flitted across the hunter's face, along with a slight twinge of uncertainty, but Adam didn't focus on that too much. Wasn't surprising, anyway. The demon hesitated for a while, mouth twisting into a much deeper frown, almost a scowl, but he had to bite his tongue to force that back. Slow and steady, he reminded himself, struggling to force down the anger bubbling up in his chest. I chose this, I wanted this, I still want this, I can do this.

"I slept fine," the demon said quietly after a few seconds, tense muscles relaxing slightly in relief as the fury simmered down a bit, his own silent reassurances calming him, if only slightly. It wasn't much compared to what Michael could do, but it was enough. Adam narrowed his eyes out the window for a moment before looking ahead again, leaning forward slightly so he could see out the windshield. "How much longer 'til we get to… wherever?"

"Not long," Sam assured, glancing back at him in the mirror before looking ahead again. "Half an hour, at least. Took a lot longer, because we had to stop for gas, and then Dean wanted tacos." The hunter rolled his eyes a little, then paused. "Speaking of, though, are you hungry, or…?"

"I'm a demon, Sam," Adam told him dryly, leaning his forehead against the back of Dean's seat and sparing his older brother a look, slight irritation sparkling through his eyes, but, despite himself, just a twinge of curiosity had entered his expression. After a moment, though, eyebrows furrowing, the demon looked ahead again. He hesitated, one corner of his mouth pulled taut, while the other just curled downwards as he sighed. "Haven't had tacos in a while, though…"

"Well, I've got two up here," Sam offered, his tone seeming to brighten considerably at the demon's words. Adam, on the other hand, felt absolutely nothing, looking back at his brother's hopeful expression. Then he did feel something - frustration, confusion, and anger, but all directed at himself this time. Why was he even trying, if it wasn't going to- ugh, no, no, he was giving up too easily. He had to give it time, right? Time…

The demon took a moment to force down the fury again, having a little less luck, but it was enough for him to continue functioning without spitting curses and trying to rip Sam's throat out, so he would take that as it came. "Yeah, gimme." He sat back, a little too heavily, letting out his breath in a low, irritated huff. Sam reached over, shooting glances toward the road, and grabbed a bag that was sitting between the two front seats, handing it back to him without looking back.

Adam hummed and leaned back, pulling one of the tacos out of the bag and unwrapping it silently. He studied it for a moment, turning it over in his hands curiously; He hadn't seen food in… well, quite some time. Every so often he would visit one of his memories of a restaurant or something, places his mother used to take him, but, of course, as a demon, he didn't really need to eat - so why bother? Regardless, he was still curious, so, after a moment, he took a bite.

The flavors burst to life at once, and the demon went completely still the second the taste exploded on his tongue. It was a little less… well, less strong than beer was, but this had somewhat of an edge, a tang that even alcohol didn't possess. For a moment, it almost felt wrong, the feeling of the food in his mouth - every part of him wanted to spit it out, and yet, at the same time, he almost wanted more. So, apparently, he had missed food - and on some level he was completely disgusted by it all the same. He chewed and swallowed, licking his lips.

And then he took another bite. And then another.

Sam actually chuckled a little bit, sparing glances between him and the road as the demon finished off half of the first taco in barely less than ten seconds. "So much for not getting hungry, huh?" The hunter mused, and Adam didn't respond for a moment, in favor of finishing off the rest of the taco and rubbing the crumbs off from around his mouth. "Guess you missed food."

"Yes, thank you, Captain Obvious," Adam responded shortly, but his tone lacked the bite he would have usually poured into his words. He licked his lips again, pulling the other taco out of the bag. He certainly didn't need to eat, but, yes he had definitely missed food. The taste, at least, as something he had been deprived of for so long, was certainly favorable.

"You're welcome, Lieutenant Sarcasm," Sam replied easily enough, and Adam paused with the taco halfway to his mouth, flicking his gaze back up to the hunter. His brother didn't look back at him, but a small smile had settled across his face as he took a turn; Adam raised his eyebrows slightly for a moment, almost genuinely impressed by that.

The demon studied the hunter for a moment longer before looking back down again, starting on the second taco with a hum. He finished this one off a little slower, savoring the taste a bit longer this time, but he devoured it quick enough either way - quicker than a human would have been able to, at least. He stuffed the wrappers into the bag and crumpled it up when he finished, simply tossing it beside him in the seat and rubbing a hand over his mouth.

For a while, they were both silent - at least until Dean suddenly shifted, head rolling to the side, and let out a very loud snore. Adam blinked over at his oldest half-brother, eyebrows raising ever so slightly. He didn't bother to push down the irritation this time, since, in this case, it was most certainly understandable. Truthfully enough, in an interesting turn of events, he had ended up a lot more angry at Dean than he was at Sam. Probably had something to do with him killing Lucifer and, of course, the way he acted around Michael wasn't exactly unnoticeable.

"Jeez, he's fuckin' loud," the demon muttered under his breath, not expecting the laughter from Sam to follow. Adam quirked an eyebrow, flicking his gaze back to the hunter, as Sam just shook his head a little and grinned.

"Yeah, I know. Always has been," He spoke fondly, however, amusement clear in his tone. Adam just studied him for a moment, falling silent. Back then - after he'd met his brothers, he could tell how close they both were, how much they cared for each other. It wasn't the only thing he had been paying attention to, but it was definitely something he'd noticed - and, especially now, looking back on it, it was hard to miss. Truthfully, he had been somewhat jealous of it, even back then. He was a little surprised to note how those feelings had changed, and abruptly so. He wasn't jealous, despite still feeling angry, and abandoned…

The demon tilted his head, looking back toward Dean for a moment. He was tempted to speak up again, to continue the conversation - but, before he could think about what to say next, he felt Michael beginning to stir. His attention was ripped away at once, his expression brightening and his lips tugging upwards, just for a second, before the expression disappeared, masked just as quickly as it had come. "Morning, asshole."

"Mm…" Michael was still a little groggy, clearly enough. The rest seemed to have helped them both, quite a bit - but the demon was a little miffed at the realization that they were both still just a little bit tired, even after that. He couldn't understand it - as much as they slept, they shouldn't be this exhausted all the time, shouldn't be getting this tired for no apparent reason. He hadn't been concerned about it before, but he was starting to worry now. "Adam?" The archangel questioned, quietly, once he could at least somewhat function again.

"Who else?" Adam rolled their eyes a little bit, sparing Sam a glance in the process. The hunter was silent, focused on the road again, no more half-uncertain, half-hopeful glances backwards. The demon raised an eyebrow and glanced away. "How are you still tired?"

"I don't know…" Michael mumbled, sounding just as puzzled. Then he paused, looking toward Sam, himself, and abruptly went silent - well, not completely silent. He continued talking, just internally. Most likely stress. We've had a lot going on recently. I'm sure it'll be alright now that things are calmer… The archangel fell silent for a moment, running their tongue over their lips, and blinked. What is… I…

"Tacos." Adam leaned his head back, not bothering to stop speaking aloud. Sure, it would be confusing for his brother, but it wasn't like a little confusion was going to kill the hunter or anything. "Don't worry about it." The demon raised a hand, running it through their hair lightly.

Salty… Michael mumbled, licking their lips again. After a moment's pause, the demon dropped their hand and blinked. Oh… oh, that explained his initial disgust. It must take mass amounts of salt to actually be harmful to demons, considering that he definitely felt alright, but even a bit of salt in food was enough to cause some mild discomfort. It was bearable, though, anyway.

Well, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, all the same, the archangel continued, sparing a glance out the window. He did a double take, watching everything blur past, and after a moment, he leaned forward a little bit so that he could get a better look, eyes going wide. Adam just hummed, reaching out to roll the window down in response; The feeling of the wind on their face seemed to startle Michael for a second, causing him to jerk back-

Which made the demon laugh, in turn-

-before Michael leaned forward again. He flinched from the wind a little, but adjusted to it rather quickly; Adam raised their head slightly, inclining it faintly to the side and letting their eyes drift shut contentedly for a moment. He had always liked riding in cars. At least, the feeling of the wind in his hair and on his face as they rode on. It was something that had always been able to calm him, somewhat soothing; It seemed to have that same effect on Michael and, in turn, the further they relaxed, the more awake the both of them felt. Then again, the wind smacking them in the face could have most certainly been just as much of an effective wake-up call.

They stayed like that for a while, neither of them noticing nor caring about the quiet, affectionate glances that were being thrown their way from the front seat, as Sam continued to drive.

Both of them were a mixture of disappointed and relieved when they finally arrived; Sam slowed the car to a stop outside of a rather large-looking building, but at first glance, that didn't even seem to be what was important; No, the thing that deserved focus was the entrance to what Adam and Michael could only assume was the actual bunker. There was a short staircase leading down into the ground, toward a door. The bricks that surrounded it, rising up out of the ground, were chipped, damaged, but not quite broken - Adam raised an eyebrow, internally noting that the outside, at least, could certainly use a paint job…

The demon opened the door, and Michael pulled them out of the car after Sam had parked, while the hunter turned to wake his brother up. They shut the door behind them, venturing forward a few steps, but for the most part, they remained close enough, waiting for the other two to take the lead inside. After a while, Adam ended up lifting his gaze to the sky, watching the clouds for a few seconds - before Sam stepped up beside them, and the car suddenly started again; Adam and Michael glanced back, watching as Dean, now behind the wheel, drove off.

"Where's he going?" Adam questioned, arching an eyebrow as he stared after the car. He turned back to Sam after a moment, though, watching his older brother dig through his pocket, pulling out a key as he headed forward, already walking down the stairs to get to the door.

"Garage," the hunter explained quickly over his shoulder, working on unlocking the door. Adam hummed a little, sparing once last glance backwards as Michael headed forward. "Just so you know, by the way, there's some warding in here - so you might feel a little, uh, weakened. And I'd… probably watch where you step, too. Devil's traps," Sam added, opening the door.

Adam had literally no idea what that meant, but he just grunted. Michael, on the other hand, taking the warnings seriously as always, nodded slowly and carefully in response. "Right."

Sam stepped aside to let them enter first, presumably so he could close and lock the door behind them. Adam didn't say anything, leaning to the side as he passed so to avoid brushing against the hunter, wanting to keep physical contact to a minimum for both his and Michael's sakes, and headed forward. There were more stairs, surprise, surprise - and the demon slowed a little bit despite himself. Now the warning made a little more sense; He could definitely feel… something draining the further they went. Not quite energy, he still felt wide awake. More like - well, more like power, for instance. Judging by Michael's frown, it wasn't all too pleasant on his end, anyway. Adam actually kind of hated that - and it worried him, just for a second. Hopefully this 'warding' wasn't going to damage the archangel any further.

"I'll be okay," Michael promised quietly, under his breath, and Adam just gave a low sigh as he paused at the bottom of the staircase, finally taking a good look around. The lights came on slowly, but once the room was completely lit, both the archangel and the demon widened their gazes in surprise. This hadn't quite been what Adam was expecting - it was definitely impressive at first glance. He was particularly taken by the amount of bookshelves in the room, each one filled - hell, there were too many books in the room to even fill the bookshelves, some overflowing onto the floor and the tables. Most of them didn't even have titles, just odd, unintelligible inscriptions on the covers, symbols - but that was all the more interesting.

Hook, line and sinker…

Whatever doubts Adam had fizzled out at once, disappearing, at least for the moment. Michael was equally impressed, less focused on the books and more on the symbols on the walls, the ceilings, the floors, the doorways - but they could both definitely agree that the bunker had made a damn good first impression. Adam could most certainly get used to a place like this, Winchesters or not…

"Well," Sam piped up, having reached their side; He stepped down from the last step of the staircase to stand beside them, but they were both far too busy to look toward the hunter now, alternating between looking around the rest of the room, and focusing on the books, all of which were looking even better to Adam by the second. "... Welcome home."

Neither one responded, but this time, Adam did feel something - not rage, not irritation, not pain. Warmth. Not too much, hardly comparable to anything he'd ever felt, before and after his Transformation. But considering that it was toward Sam, his brother - yeah, it was something.

I think we're gonna like it here, Michael said quietly, and Adam, despite it all, had to agree.