All eyes on them, Michael felt like he was about to be sick.
Adam dropped the halves of the fork, blinking down at it as if he hadn't even known he could do that - which, to be fair, he probably hadn't - and Michael just kept their gaze low, feeling the stares burning into the side of their head. His mind was spinning, a dizzying, whirling, roller coaster of mixed thoughts and emotions, and he didn't want to look up, he didn't want to see the expressions on their faces, see the gears turning in their heads as they fought to put together why they had reacted the way they did - and what they really knew about his brother. Adam wasn't nearly as anxious - eyes narrowed, glaring down at the fork, the demon was more pissed off than anything. Michael ached to help, to take that fury away, but he couldn't think past the freezing pain piercing through his chest, heart hammering harder than ever before.
Castiel's eyes narrowed faintly, watching them, but he didn't say a word.
"... Guys." It was Sam who spoke, slow and unsure, but a bit of realization had entered his tone. Michael just clenched their teeth, and Adam spared a narrowed glance upwards toward his older half-brother, eyes darkening faintly as they rested on the hunter. "You alright?" Sam didn't get a response, which only caused the concern on his face to deepen, leaning forward across the table slightly - and, in turn, a low growl began to rumble up in their throat from Adam's side, with Michael struggling to push it down. "What is it?"
Michael faltered, staring at him uncertainly. For a moment, he wished he had Gabriel's ability to lie, to make up stories off the top of his head. He wished he could say something, anything, hell - he wished he could tell them the truth, that Lucifer was alive. Instead, he just stared, throat tight, mouth dry, waiting for the bomb to drop; Waiting for them to realize it. And then what? Well, they certainly wouldn't be pleased, with either of them - maybe he could take the fault for it, maybe they'd let Adam off easy. He didn't want to ruin the demon's chances of reconciling with them now, not after everything, all of the effort that he'd given, trying to forgive them. He didn't want their anger to be justified toward the demon; Adam didn't deserve that, after being dragged into this mess-
Adam spoke up before anyone else could, fury reaching its peak.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" The demon demanded, practically snarling at Sam. The hunter didn't move, but a confused expression replaced the concern, just for a second, before Adam had continued, "we were told that Lucifer - Michael's brother - was dead. Now, I'm sorry, but the sudden possibility that he might be alive is a little bit much to take in, don't you think? Maybe you guys don't exactly think too highly of him, but he was basically all we had in the Cage. You do remember the Cage, right?" He directed his question toward Sam, who flinched, guilt flickering to life in his hazel eyes. Dean was silent, but Michael caught a glimpse of his expression, an equal amount of guilt on his face, before the hunter looked away.
"Yeah, I thought so," Adam growled, pushing their chair back and standing up. Michael stayed silent, helpless and concerned, as the demon reached down to grab the salad, leaving the journal on the table. "So you guys can go ahead and start panicking over Lucifer being alive - because, oh, woe is you, you have to deal with the Devil again. Just do me a favor, don't start making murder plans until we leave the room."
"Adam," Sam finally spoke up, gentle and pleading, and a rush of guilt was all it took to completely overpower Michael; The archangel shuddered and retreated, unable to hold onto control any longer. He missed Adam's response, though the demon had seemed to soften, just slightly, toward his older half-brother, in particular. Michael simply retreated, as far as possible, guilt and shame and confusion mixing in his chest as one.
He had started pacing, fast and unsteady, arms wrapped around himself, by the time Adam had retreated along with him. The demon looked a lot less pissed, a mixture of irritated and concerned, now, as he watched the archangel pace back and forth through the darkness. Michael didn't look up, just tightened his grip around himself and screwed his eyes shut tight.
After a moment, Adam sighed and moved forward. Michael didn't flinch away, feeling the demon's hand close around one of his wrists, pulling him to a stop - but he jerked a little, jolted in surprise, eyes opening to look over. The demon furrowed his eyebrows faintly at the archangel, turning Michael around to face him, and he took in a deep breath and swallowed hard, trying to force down the lump in his throat enough to try to talk.
"Don't talk," Adam interrupted before Michael could even begin speaking, and the archangel stared at him desperately, chest heaving as he fought for the breath he didn't even need. "Just breathe." He grabbed the archangel by the sleeve and tugged lightly, pulling Michael along through the darkness. Already knowing where they were headed, the archangel followed on after him, stumbling, staggering, barely holding himself up, barely steady - but he didn't need to be, because Adam kept him upright, pulling him forward, leading him on through the darkness, his anchor right there, steadying him the way he'd always been able to.
The second they reached the chamber, Michael sank to his knees, unable to hold himself up any more. He shuddered, arms wrapping tighter around himself, and Adam lowered himself to the ground beside the archangel, releasing his wrist and choosing instead to place one hand over Michael's shoulder, steady and grounding enough to keep him rooted to the present.
No words were spoken.
They stayed, just like that, silent and listening to the singing echoing around the room, the voices bouncing off the walls. Adam didn't move an inch, he didn't say a word, he didn't let the archangel go. Michael just stayed still, until his shaking calmed, and he was slowly able to pull his arms from around himself to reach up, clasping an unsteady, shaking hand over Adam's shoulder in return. The demon looked over at him, not moving his own hand.
"It's gonna be okay," Adam told him simply, holding Michael's gaze with a steadiness, an optimistic kind of confidence, that Michael hadn't even been sure he had. "We've come this far." He squeezed Michael's shoulder. "Lucifer's still alive, despite everything. And, whatever he's doing, whatever he's planning, whatever the Winchesters do - we're what matters. You and me. And what we do, that's up to us. Not them, not Lucifer. Us."
Michael didn't reply at first. He just swallowed and breathed in, shaky and unsure. "I don't know what to do," he finally gasped out, voice shaking. "I want to tell them- but I know what they'd do." He swallowed, hard, as he continued, "I know what they'd think, and I don't- I don't-"
"You don't want what's going on with Lucifer to interfere with me and my brothers," Adam interrupted, and Michael, unable to speak once more, just managed a short, shaky nod. Adam sighed a little bit in response, mouth twisting ever so slightly as he thought, then nodded and looked up, toward the singing archangels in the Chamber - after a moment, Michael followed his gaze, helpless and confused. "... Michael, Lucifer's secret is one that we kept together," the demon finally spoke. "It wasn't just on you."
Michael glanced over at him, hesitating. It was hard not to feel like that, to feel like it was all on his shoulders. Lucifer was his brother, after all. Protecting him, protecting his secret, that was on him. It was his job - it was what he had to do, now, to make things right.
"Buddy," Adam interrupted sharply, breaking into the archangel's thoughts, and Michael flinched slightly, eyes snapping over to him at once. "You're not holding a knife to my throat, are you? You're not forcing me to do these things. You're not making me go along with this, keeping this secret, lying to Sam and Dean - that's on me. And I'm not even just doing it for you - I'm doing it for Lucifer, and for me." The demon paused, and Michael's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he watched him. Finally, after a long moment of hesitation, Adam continued. "I care about him, too."
"But I know…" Michael exhaled, finally calming down enough to talk. "I know how much you hate- you hate lying, and I… I just…" The archangel trailed off, and Adam raised an eyebrow. "Just- you're in this position- choosing him over them-"
"And that's my choice," Adam insisted. "Not just because of you, and not just because of him. This is what I want. Lying or not, I'm protecting Lucifer, and I'm protecting you. Sam and Dean can go fuck themselves when it comes to the two of you. As far as I'm concerned, you're my family. Not them. So, yeah, I'm choosing you and Lucifer. We both did. Like it or not, we're in this together - and I, for one…" He gave Michael a light shake, and the archangel blinked, looking up at him. "Don't regret a thing. And I'm not worried. Whatever happens…"
"We'll figure it out," Michael mumbled, but that thought just made him even more nauseous.
"Together," Adam insisted. "Not just you, and not just me - us. And, I mean, hell - if the Winchesters figure it out, and they find out we knew, then so what? So, we're not going to be the perfect, nuclear family. I don't need them. Yeah, maybe I want to give them a chance, maybe I want to try now, but when it comes down to it, I've got you. You, and Luce. And right now, you're the only family that I give a damn about. So stop it - stop thinking about me. Stop thinking that I'm a prisoner here, for fuck's sake."
Michael fell silent for a moment, but he relaxed under the demon's grip, much to Adam's satisfaction. Slowly, and still uncertainly, the archangel faltered and lowered his gaze to the floor, sinking back onto his knees and wrapping his free arm around himself, not moving his other hand from the demon's shoulder. "... what do we do?" He finally asked, taking in a shaky breath. "Should we try to warn him?"
"Yeah, once they actually do start making murder plans," Adam muttered, shaking his head a little. "No, we need to just stay out of it for now. Lucifer can handle himself right now, and whatever he's doing, he's obviously not doing it alone," he pointed out, and Michael nodded slightly, thinking back to the way his brother had spoken sometimes; The 'we' he had spoken of whenever his plans were brought up, the plans he wasn't supposed to talk about. "Don't stress yourself out over this, man, seriously," the demon continued, finally dropping his hand from the archangel's shoulder. "We'll be fine. He'll be fine."
Michael couldn't help but huff out a laugh, humorless, but gentle. "Where'd this confidence come from?" He asked quietly, as he spared the demon a slight side glance. "I like it, but, coming from you, it's kind of weird. You're always so, uh… I don't know, pessimistic."
Adam rolled his eyes, looking away for a moment. He was silent for a while, after that, looking thoughtful, before he suddenly spoke again. "I don't know," he finally responded, quietly. "I just don't think that this is anything worth panicking over. Whatever happens, it'll happen. We can't stop it, and we can hardly prepare for it - the most we can do is just do the best we can, and…" The demon's mouth twisted a little bit, and Michael blinked, watching him. "... hope for the best."
"Hope," Michael echoed, almost absently, staring at Adam for a long time. After a while, though, a faint smile appeared on his face, eyebrows furrowing together. "Didn't think I'd ever hear that from you," he admitted, and the demon rolled his eyes again, looking a mixture of embarrassed and annoyed now as he stared at the wall. "You're right, though," the archangel mumbled, almost to himself now. "With everything that's been going on, hope is the one thing that I've just… forgotten about."
"Well, maybe you should start," Adam suggested, finally looking back over at him. Annoyed as he was, his words were genuine, and his eyes were soft. "Don't lose that part of you, man. Especially now. That hope of yours is what held us together in the Cage."
"And it's yours that's holding us together now," Michael noted, and Adam's lips twitched.
"Somebody has to," the demon pointed out, quiet but intent. Michael just huffed out another low laugh and looked away for a moment, pulling his hand off of Adam's shoulder and pressing it to the ground instead. After a few seconds, he heaved himself up - but only to sit right back down again instead, crossing his legs indian-style and crossing his arms over his lap with a sigh. Adam did the same, grunting in the process, sinking back against the wall behind them and stretching his legs out in front of him.
"What do we do if they find out?" Michael asked suddenly, staring up at the ceiling. The singing seemed to be growing quieter, the memory around them fading to darkness, but neither of them noticed. Adam didn't respond, but he turned his head toward the archangel. "That we knew?" Michael turned his head to look back at Adam, the demon only blinking back at him silently. "They trust us," he mumbled. "Castiel and Sam, at least - they trust us."
"You ever heard the saying, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it?" Adam questioned after a moment of silence, and Michael nodded faintly in response, prompting the demon to continue. "Well, there's my answer. When they find out - if they find out - then we'll deal with it then. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. And-" The demon paused, looking away for a moment. "If we have to burn that bridge on the way, then… I say let it burn."
Michael fell silent for a moment, guilt and anxiety churning together in his stomach. "I'm sorry."
"You're really going to be sorry if you apologize again," Adam grumbled, irritation finally rising up again. Michael sighed, glancing at him, then looked away again. The memory had returned to normal, the singing loud as ever; For a moment, the archangel just stared at his brothers, side by side, singing their hearts out. A faint, wistful smile appeared on his face, watching.
Nothing else to say, they simply sat there, silent and listening, the both of them wide awake and exhausted already at the same time, but neither of them wanting to sleep.
And, for quite some time, they were almost content.
Until the memory suddenly shook, and, like glass, it began to shatter.
Michael reached over for Adam instinctively, the demon doing the same at once; They grabbed onto each other's shoulders again, just watching in confusion and shock as the memory broke apart, giving way to that familiar, dizzying darkness. This time, it didn't come back; It vanished, along with the others, splitting apart, as if… as if…
Adam's grip tightened around Michael's shoulder, and the archangel was physically unable to hold onto him any tighter than he was. "The fuck's going on?" The demon demanded. Michael looked over at him, just as confused, desperate and terrified. And that only grew stronger when, suddenly, they were ripped apart; Michael practically screamed, while Adam snarled.
Before either of them could fight through the darkness to get to each other, though, Michael went spiraling. Everything was shaking, at that point, and the archangel could feel every last bit of control slipping away from him, every string connecting him to Adam seemingly being snipped, one after the other. Until, suddenly, it was gone; There was no fury, or irritation. No raging confusion, no annoyed concern - Adam's thoughts had vanished, just like that.
And then, in the next second, he was back in the darkness - but this time, it felt… wrong. This time, he really couldn't see. This time, he was alone. He couldn't sense Adam anymore - not even a flicker of emotion, the smallest thought, not even just his presence; He was gone.
Pushing himself up onto his knees, the archangel raised his head, and gasped.
Two figures stood in front of him, one unrecognizable, and the other, it took several seconds of staring for him to be able to make out. It was Lucifer - but… no, that wasn't Lucifer. It was the vessel, though, he knew; Just… different. This kid had eyes. He didn't stand confidently, as Lucifer had used to. He shifted back and forth on his feet, wide eyes staring down at Michael, uncertain, concerned, confused, and innocent. That wasn't his brother. No way in Hell.
"I told you that this would freak them out," the kid complained, looking up over at the other figure - a woman, now Michael could see, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. "You shouldn't have split them up…" The kid turned, eyes scanning through the dark, searching for something.
The woman just stared down at Michael unapologetically, no clear emotion on her face. "It was the only way to get them here. They're still two different souls, however attached to one another they may be." The woman quirked an eyebrow at Michael, who just stared back at her, finally finding the strength, and the courage, to heave himself to his feet. "Hi, Michael."
Michael opened his mouth to respond, but he couldn't force the words out. So he just stared, trying to muster up enough courage to actually speak, and flinched - violently so - when someone abruptly grabbed his shoulder. It took him a second, struggling to see through the darkness, before he realized that it was Adam. The demon looked pissed, and confused, but Michael couldn't feel either of those emotions from him - the thought made his heart lurch.
"Adam," the woman greeted, and the demon's head whirled in her direction fast enough to snap his own neck. Michael could hear a distinct, low growl rumbling up in his chest, but, again, he couldn't feel it. Adam's lips curled back, teeth bared in a vicious, distorted-sounding snarl - but he paused when Michael murmured his name, quiet, scared, and confused.
"We're not late, are we?" Both Michael and Adam whirled around, as one, still somehow in sync despite the connection between them seemingly having been severed. Michael didn't recognize the two people standing there, not at first glance. One stood tall, confident and amused, a smirk written across pale features as blue eyes flicked back and forth between Michael and Adam.
The other figure was much shorter. He was leaned back, one leg crossed over the other, hands in his pockets. While he wasn't too focused on Michael, he seemed to be looking at Adam with an increasing amount of interest, which only grew when the demon hissed at him in response, seeming to have noticed his staring, himself. He didn't let go of Michael, though, and, in turn, the archangel lifted a shaky hand to grab onto his arm, feeling dizzy.
"The fuck?!"
Michael cringed, but he recognized this voice with ease. He turned his head, searching through the darkness, mumbling out a quiet, shaky-sounding, "Gabriel?", as he looked around for his younger brother. He finally caught a glimpse as the younger archangel pushed himself to stand, stumbling slightly in the process, looking disoriented, confused, and just a little bit angry. Michael wanted to go over to him, but he couldn't bring himself to move away from Adam.
Gabriel just mumbled a string of curses under his breath, head whirling around wildly, struggling to adjust to the darkness. He looked bewildered, seeing Michael and Adam, but when his gaze darted past them, to the woman and the kid, and then to the other side, where the two other men stood, the fury had completely vanished into nothing but complete, utter confusion. He blinked, several times, before he spoke again. "What the Hell."
"Not quite," the woman drawled, lips twitching. Beside her, the kid facepalmed. Both of the men on the other side just started laughing. Gabriel looked unamused, for once.
Then his gaze darted past Michael and Adam, and his eyes widened.
Michael was the first to turn, and he immediately pushed Adam behind him. And it wasn't because of the black goop that was rising out of the ground, slowly forming a person, but with no features, no skin. It wasn't because of the grin plastered across the figure's face, just one simple, curved line, creepy enough to send shivers down anybody's spine. It wasn't because Michael recognized this entity almost immediately, one of the few with a power that could rival even that of his Father's. It wasn't for any of those reasons.
No, it was the woman standing beside the entity, the picture of impatience and confusion. Her gaze met his, and she only blinked, once, before her eyes narrowed. Michael's heart dropped.
Adam's grip tightened around his shoulder, peering out from behind the archangel - Michael was holding him as still as he could, not letting him move forward an inch - and the demon bared his teeth and snarled, again, at the woman. "The fuck you lookin' at?"
The woman blinked back at him, confused and offended. "My nephew, you…" Her face twisted slightly, screwing up in disgust as she glanced the demon up and down. "Creature…"
Thoroughly freaked out, now, Michael stepped back, pulling Adam along with him - and tightening his grip ever so slightly when the demon tried to lunge. Finally, though, the archangel had enough; He whirled around, desperate and confused, and turned to face the other woman, sparing wary glances toward Amara every now and again and pulling Adam as far away from her as he could get the demon. "What- what's going on?"
"Yeah, I'd like to know that, too," Gabriel added, the archangel still not moving his gaze from Amara, and he hadn't looked away since he'd first seen her. "I was literally getting ready for a threesome with these two really hot pornstars from L-"
"Kids, kids present!" One of the men interrupted quickly, pointing to the kid standing beside the woman, who just looked amused now, watching them. Adam looked like he didn't know whether to be disgusted or intrigued, so he had settled on a mixture of both. The kid, on the other hand, just looked completely, one-hundred percent done with everybody's shit.
"Shut up, Luci," Gabriel grumbled, and Michael did a double take, looking toward the blue-eyed man, who gave the youngest archangel a mockingly offended look in return, rolling his eyes.
"Please," the kid added in sweetly, and now Lucifer really did look offended, but he didn't say anything, simply rolled his eyes again, grumbled, and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Beside him, the other man just snickered. "Now, can we explain? Is everyone here?"
"Everyone's here." The woman placed a hand on the kid's head, ruffling his hair lightly, a warm expression finally breaking past the stone-cold expression on her face - if only for a good few seconds, before she was all-business once again, addressing the others. "Okay. Now. Everybody, sit down, shut up, and listen." Her eyes hardened. "This is important."