"What the hell took you so long?" Lucifer was sitting on top of the Cage - yes, right on the top, his legs hanging down through the bars and his arms behind him, keeping himself propped up. Adam stared, mildly surprised by how he could get so close to the Cage. Well, hell, forget that; He was shocked that Lucifer could be so high up and be comfortable, around the Cage or otherwise. He shied away from the edge of the platform as they neared - and, in turn, Michael slid them a few steps back and came to a stop, patient as ever, and Adam relaxed - slightly.
"Yeah, we got lost." Gabriel brought himself right toward the edge, not at all caring about the dark, fiery pit below, nor the Cage in front of them. "Several times." He stared at it as if he'd never seen it before, wide eyes roaming over every part of it. Not curious, not confused, not awed or fascinated. Just silent, assessing. Lucifer unhooked his legs from the top of the Cage and stood, climbing down, then stepped onto one of the chains and slid all the way down onto the platform standing up. Adam stepped back slightly, glancing toward the chains.
"Gabriel was leading," the demon explained simply, earning an indignant look from the archangel, and an amused snicker from Lucifer. Michael rolled their eyes, but he didn't say anything, a tiny bit of amusement curling up into their chest. It vanished, however, as they looked back over at the Cage - and, for a few seconds, silence fell over them all. Adam pressed their lips together into a thin line, while Michael, almost unconsciously, brought their arms up around them, tight but not tight enough to bring them back from the abrupt swirl of memories.
There were different things Adam remembered. Things Michael had missed. The archangel had been cooped up in their head for a long time, driven insane by his own fury, his own confusion. He had broken too easily, and, for a while, it had only been Lucifer and Adam, really. Michael would come out, every now and again. He'd mumble, and pace, and the demon would stay in control with him for the archangel's own sake, because leaving him to his own devices while he was in control was never much of a good idea, not when he wasn't in his right mind. And before Adam's Transformation, he could recall, the pain and the exhaustion he felt, constantly. Passing out from the torture, there were things he missed, that Michael remembered in that lost time.
There were a few things they could both remember, though - and one of those things was the day it had begun. The day they had fallen. The day they had started changing.
Before he could get too caught up in the memory, however, Lucifer had abruptly turned away from Gabriel - who was now walking across one of the chains to get to the Cage - and was facing Adam and Michael once again. He wasn't the blonde-haired, blue-eyed man that he had been in the dark, shadowy place - no, he was back to looking like Jack again, except this time, the shades were gone. He had eyes. Adam blinked a little at that realization, but he didn't say anything, and nor did Michael, both of them just staring as the Devil gestured upwards, toward the Cage. "Well, come on." He beckoned them impatiently. "We gotta get a move on."
Michael looked toward the chains leading up to the Cage, and Adam felt his heart drop straight to his stomach with a sickening jolt, leaving him completely paralyzed.
"You're not scared, are you?" Lucifer asked with a grin, and, with total confidence that that alone would be enough to make them move, the Devil turned and stepped up onto one of the chains, following after Gabriel. By that point, the other archangel had reached the Cage and was already pulling himself up onto the top, grunting in the process, using his wings for an extra boost without quite flying. Adam couldn't keep himself from shuddering as he watched Lucifer make his way up the Cage, calm as ever. Even Michael grimaced a little, but it was more from the idea of getting close to the place they had been held captive for so long than the idea of being up so high. As for Adam, for him, it was both of those things. That didn't help.
"If you don't want to go up there," Michael started slowly, but Adam didn't miss the way his voice shook, ever so slightly, looking the Cage up and down. "Maybe we- we can do this from here." The demon stayed silent, but he hesitated as he considered that, breath hitching, heart pounding, eyes wide and flickering as he watched Lucifer make his way to the top, and Gabriel extended a hand down from where he was already perched on top of the Cage, helping the Devil up with ease. Lucifer accepted the help with a smile.
The slight twinge of longing on Michael's end was all Adam needed to come to a decision.
"Be fast," the demon begged quietly, swallowing hard and taking in a deep breath. Michael exhaled a little and nodded, taking a step forward, and Adam had to retract most of his control so that he didn't flinch backwards the second the archangel stepped onto the chain. It shook under them, and Adam bit their tongue hard, cringing, as it rattled. As if in response to his fear, the archangel stilled, allowing the chain to settle beneath them before he braved another cautious step forward, reaching up to grasp at the chains above them to hold them steady.
As Michael inched along, Adam glanced downwards, just for a second. The darkness was dizzying, the fire having long been put out. It was cold, and empty looking, and… and far… and Adam could feel the nausea brewing in the pit of his stomach now. With a grunt, Michael lifted their gaze ahead, jaw setting, mouth twisting, teeth clenching. "Eyes up."
"Easy for you to say," Adam snapped back breathlessly, no real bite to his words. Michael huffed a little bit, but he didn't say anything. He wasn't angry, just concerned - and, honestly enough, the demon was grateful to him for keeping their gaze ahead for him, because Adam didn't think he had the strength to do so right then. His arms trembled as the archangel gripped onto the chains, legs shook with each step forward, but Michael pulled them along, steady and slow. All Adam could think about was what would happen if they fell, if they slipped, and the thought caused his heart to lurch in the most painful ways, as if it were bursting from the inside, tugging and pulling in different directions and threatening to rip itself into millions of tiny, broken pieces. His stomach curled, and, he had to surrender the rest of his control to Michael because he was scared that his shaking would hinder the archangel's ability to keep them steady.
"I got you," Michael murmured, and Adam grunted.
Lucifer and Gabriel just watched silently from where they were perched on top of the Cage, exchanging a look as their oldest brother struggled to pull himself and the demon along the chains toward them. The Devil muttered something that sounded something like "yeah, take your time, we got all the time in the world here", and he seemed like he was about to say more before Gabriel leaned over and elbowed him in the ribs - prompting Lucifer to shove him back a little bit - and that was distracting enough to take Adam's mind off of how high they were. At least until Michael, equally distracted, slipped slightly. He was able to hold them up by the chains above them, but that didn't stop Adam's heart from skyrocketing right out of his chest.
Michael I swear- The demon yelled, and Michael winced a little bit as he adjusted their feet back up over the chain again, breathing heavily and shaking slightly, all on his own now, as he tightened his grip. Lucifer's expression had dropped, just for a second, to alarm - but now it was back to normal, indifferent as ever as he watched. Gabriel had moved forward, hands gripping the edges of the Cage as he kept a steady gaze on his oldest brother, wings spread out.
Finally reaching the Cage, Michael let go of the chains above them with one hand and reached to grab the bars with the other, arms and legs trembling. Adam wanted to help, but he didn't trust himself enough to be able to hold them steady. I've got it, the archangel assured him - though in all honesty it didn't do much to calm him - as he stretched their other arm up, reaching a little higher and looping their fingers through the gaps in the bars once again, breathing in slowly and attempting to push them up just a little further, teeth gritting, as he began to lift them off of the chain to start climbing up the Cage. The demon was definitely glad he wasn't in control, because he knew that if he had been, the feeling of his feet dangling so loosely in the air, with nothing beneath them, would have startled him enough to let them both fall.
Michael startled, however, when someone grabbed their wrist. Adam felt it, despite not being in control; He felt the jolt, he heard the gasp, the rush of anxiety that slammed against the archangel's chest as his grip on the Cage loosened. Before they could fall, however, they were being lifted right back up. Michael didn't try to pull away, just twisted slightly to look up, eyes wide. Adam couldn't help the rush of relief he felt when he saw it was just Gabriel, the archangel pulling them up easily by one wrist while Lucifer reached down for the other. Michael surrendered easily enough, allowing both of his brothers to pull them to the top of the Cage.
The archangel rolled onto their back the second they were safe, trembling, eyes screwed shut and gasping for what little breath he could get in. Adam just heaved out a long, heavy sigh of relief, slowly giving in and taking control once more, doubting he could be on edge enough to make them fall now, at least, when they were somewhat steady. The demon blinked their eyes open and looked over at Lucifer and Gabriel; The Devil had sank back onto his knees, refusing to look them in the eyes, and the youngest archangel was merely watching Adam and Michael with a guarded sense of caution, wings still spread and poised as if to lunge for them, on the off chance that they did start falling from where they were. The thought made the demon nauseous. Honestly, even being inside the Cage was better than being on top of it, in his opinion.
"Thank you," Michael breathed out to his brothers after a moment, and Adam pushed them to sit up, slow and shaky, pushing himself away from the edge and digging his fingers into the gaps in the top of the Cage. He inhaled slowly, held it for a good few seconds, and let it out in a low groan as he finally caught a glimpse of the void below. He shook a little bit, shivered, realizing exactly how high they were, and he would have given literally anything at that moment just to be back in the bunker with his annoying as hell older half-brothers. He'd take Dean over this any day of the week, please, and thank you. Only reason he was doing this was for Michael - but that reminder was enough to strengthen his resolve, and so with a rather dramatic, defeated sigh, he leaned forward and looked over at the other two.
Gabriel had turned his gaze back to the chains without responding to Michael with anything more than a short hum. It was Lucifer who flashed the archangel a grin, eyes sparkling with amusement. It was so different from the innocence Jack had displayed before that it genuinely left the both of them reeling - this whole vessel thing was going to get confusing, especially if they ended up on another trip back to that weird, shadowy hellhole. Which, with the way things were going now, they definitely were going to… Adam grimaced at the thought, but said nothing.
"Okay…" Lucifer cleared his throat, looking around slowly. "I gotta get back to the guys real quick, tell 'em we're ready for the rift." The Devil paused, leaning forward to peer over the edge. Michael moved as if to follow, but he backtracked quickly when another rush of nausea hit Adam head on the second he even considered it. "We're probably gonna have to end up dropping the thing straight down, which shouldn't be hard once we get the chains off."
"How do you plan on even getting back there?" Gabriel questioned, twisting to face his older brother, and Lucifer wiggled his eyebrows slightly in response. "Without dying, I mean." The youngest archangel paused, and then a smirk was forming on his face, eyes glittering. "Then again, Luci- that can totally be arranged." He offered his brother a toothy grin, and Michael let out a low sound of disapproval in the back of their throat while Adam let out a few snickers at the same time - the mix of sounds didn't exactly end well, but neither Gabriel nor Lucifer reacted to the dying cat sounds as they broke down coughing, simply held in their own staring contest.
Ass.
You were the one that laughed.
"If anyone's going to kill me, Gabe, it's going to be me, thank you very much," Lucifer responded easily enough with nothing more than a roll of his eyes, leaning back. Then, grinning, the Devil was falling backwards, completely limp; The energy surrounding him, as little as it was, vanished in an instant, and he was gone, leaving behind the completely still, lifeless body behind him. Michael just stared, silent, before slowly turning back to Gabriel, while Adam tilted their head and nodded, genuinely impressed by that little display. Gabriel looked nothing short of irritated, sitting back with a huff and crossing his arms over his chest.
"Showoff." The archangel paused, raised a hand, and snapped his fingers; Michael visibly flinched, which caused an instinctive growl to rumble in Adam's throat, already on the defense because of that - but, it vanished instantly when a champagne glass shimmered to life, appearing out of nothing but thin fucking air, and filled to the brim as if someone was pouring a drink, a strawberry appearing on the rim of the glass. The red liquid practically sparkled, and, humming, Gabriel lifted the glass to take a sip. Adam only stared, blinking, a rush of jealousy exploding in his chest. He knew what it was, of course, with ease, at first fucking glance. John had taken him out drinking oh-so long ago, and managed to smuggle him into a low-security bar. They spent the day ordering him whatever he'd wanted to try, but only a few drinks had really caught his interest back then; Beer was number one, but a close second on that list was strawberry champagne. On ice.
Noticing his staring, Gabriel gave an amused look and snapped his fingers again - Michael didn't flinch this time, too intrigued now -, causing a similar drink to appear in his other hand. The archangel held it out to them, and Adam reached to take it at once. "You like champagne, do you?" Gabriel asked, amused, as the demon immediately began to sip from the glass. "Interesting. Don't know which one of you has the good taste, but I applaud."
"Adam," Michael responded quickly to his brother, after Adam had finished off the entire glass and was now nibbling on the strawberry. The archangel just seemed amused, but a tad concerned and bewildered as to how Adam had been able to finish the glass so quickly; Regardless, he didn't question it, and the demon didn't bother trying to explain, because, truth be told, even he didn't know. He did know that he was getting a shitton of strawberry champagne when he got back to Earth, because it was somehow even better than he had remembered, and he seriously wanted some more. "Slow down," Michael chuckled.
"Not a chance," Adam replied, finishing the cherry off and putting the glass down on top of the Cage. He ran his tongue over his lips, eyebrows furrowing faintly, grinning from ear to ear - part of him ached to wipe the smile away, but he couldn't even bring himself to do that. Gabriel just let out an amused hum and turned away, pausing and looking over the edge at something neither Adam nor Michael could see, and one neither of them were particularly keen on leaning over the edge to look at, either. Luckily, though, they didn't seem to have to.
"Great, there's the rift- that's disgusting…" Gabriel muttered, leaning back a little. In the same second, Lucifer burst upwards with a gasp; Michael had to take control rather quickly to prevent Adam from lunging at him out of pure reflex, the demon completely, utterly on edge from that now. The archangel managed to reign him in, but not before Adam could snarl out a string of curses at Lucifer in the process, which the Devil hardly even acknowledged, as if he were used to the profanity by now. Then again, after so long in the Cage with Adam, he would be.
"There we go," Lucifer interrupted Adam mid-curse, and the demon's fury increased tenfold, which caused Michael to reign him in just a little further. "Now we can get to work and drop this thing straight in." The Devil puffed his cheeks out, making a faint popping sound in the process.
"The sooner the better," Michael sighed, then paused, looking down into the Cage for a moment. He fell silent - at least on the outside. Hey, calm down a second, the archangel's tone softened, light and soothing, and it was enough, at least, to bring Adam's attention from Lucifer to him in an instant, anger fizzling out as the archangel continued. I know you don't like heights, so if you want to back off for now while we do this, I'll understand. I'm probably gonna have to be moving up and down the chains and… it's not gonna be pretty.
Adam paused slightly at that, frowning. He certainly didn't like the idea of that, but he hated, even more, the idea of leaving Michael alone to do this by himself. Of course, he wasn't technically 'by himself' with his brothers there, but he knew that the archangel didn't like being in control alone. And while the demon knew he wouldn't be too much help, for the most part, he knew Michael enough to know that his presence would be enough to keep Michael steady while they worked. So, setting their jaw, Adam threw one last glance toward the edge. No, he responded simply, and Michael didn't respond, unsurprised by the time that the demon had actually begun speaking, as he had been following Adam's thought process while he mulled that over the entire time. No, we're in this together, we're doing this together. I'm not leaving you.
Michael didn't respond for a moment, but the rush of warmth and gratitude was all Adam needed to know he'd made the right decision. If you say so.
And, I do say so, the demon replied steadily. Michael's lips twitched in response, taking a deep breath and lifting his gaze back to his brothers with a steady nod, confidence rising even further. And that - well, that was definitely worth being so high up, if nothing else was.
"Okay," the archangel murmured. "Let's do this."