Truthfully enough, Adam had never felt more relieved. He felt like he could just about collapse against Michael right then, and to be honest the rest would have been more than welcome, but he knew there was still more to do before he could close his eyes just yet. He offered the archangel an amused smile - particularly taken by the little nickname Michael seemed to have adopted. Horns. He had to admit, it made him laugh. It fit so perfectly with his own nickname for the archangel, clicking into place just as easily as the two of them were often able to. His lips twitched, quirking upwards at the corners as he looked over at his best friend, then turned his head slightly to look away, glancing around the park for only a second before he shut his eyes. Hey, he called out to Dean, prodding at the hunter with his thoughts, are you ready, or…?
There was a moment's pause, and he could feel Dean shifting slightly in the chair he was seated in. Michael looked up, and Adam peeked one eye open to look back at him, a faint smile appearing on his face as the archangel lightly brushed past him and headed for the jungle gym. He turned to follow almost immediately, keeping an ear out for Dean's 'okay' as he turned to sink his weight back against the bars, leaning backwards beside Michael as the archangel hoisted himself up ever so slightly onto one of the bars, letting his legs swing downwards.
"Did I miss much?" Michael asked after a moment, looking over at Adam once again. The demon paused slightly, as the archangel furrowed his eyebrows, a concerned look replacing the curiosity on his face as he leaned his head back and looped his arms around the bars behind him. "I wasn't out for too long, was I?" He asked slowly, looking worried. "I mean, I wasn't-" He paused when Adam shook his head to stop him, snapping his mouth shut and giving the demon an expectant look. He simply took a deep breath and turned his gaze to the sky, his eyes narrowing faintly against the sunlight - however fake it might be - as he twisted his mouth into a frown and thought that over. No, Michael hadn't been 'out' for too long… long enough, but…
"You've been out for about… A day and a half, give or take," Adam finally replied, sighing softly. Michael didn't say anything, but he visibly relaxed beside the demon, prompting Adam to look back over at him. The relief on his face said it all; it had felt agonizingly longer to both of them. "Felt like longer in here, huh?" He glanced the archangel over carefully, frowning a little when Michael's mouth tugged into a grimace, then relaxed again a moment later, offering a shrug. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to, and he knew it; Adam could read him like a book at this point, and there wasn't really anything the archangel had to say for the demon to just know. He knew his body-buddy well enough by now. Opening his mouth, he started to say something else, though he wasn't sure what, something that would hopefully reassure him somehow - but, before he could find the words, he was interrupted; looking away from Michael, the demon narrowed his eyes, pushing himself away from the jungle gym as Dean's voice reached him.
Alright, ready.
Adam took a deep breath and turned, quirking an eyebrow at Michael questioningly. The archangel didn't hesitate to stand, rolling his shoulders back and stepping toward the demon. "I can't wait to get back to normal," Michael sighed, a relieved smile appearing on his face.
"Me either," Adam agreed, chuckling. He paused for a moment, rubbing his hand down his face and opening his mouth to explain that Michael would have to guide them for the most part, as Adam wasn't exactly sure how to leave now - but, before he could even spit the first word out, Michael had reached a hand out toward him, an amused smile on his face; Adam snorted a little - of course, the archangel knew him just as well - and reached his own hand out, allowing the archangel to wrap his fingers around the demon's wrist, eyes slipping shut for a few seconds. "Hey- you can do this, right?" Adam added quickly, studying him for a moment. Michael seemed okay - and Adam had felt it himself when Amara had begun healing the archangel, but still…
"Yeah, buddy," Michael assured him, cracking an eye open to smile at him. "I can do this." Adam's lips twitched slightly at the archangel's confident expression, and he nodded slightly back at Michael as he closed his eyes again, concentrating deeply. After a moment, Adam followed suit, deciding it better to keep his eyes shut through this, as intriguing as it was. He was having an easier time with the whole 'out-of-body-flying' experience thing, but still, he wasn't going to push that too hard, either way. The demon shifted slightly, relaxing.
He felt Michael's hand slip from his grasp, but he could feel the archangel's Grace buzzing, curling around the demon's fingers instead. At least until Adam's hand dissolved into the same black smoke that he had turned into before; the demon shuddered a little, unable to help but feel odd as the rest of his body followed his hand's lead, becoming nothing but thick, black smoke. He could see again, though he hadn't opened his eyes; he could see Michael's Grace as it wove forward, moving through the air… gracefully - hah, Adam would have laughed if he could've - over to him. The archangel curled his Grace around the demon's soul - hell, not just around; it stretched out, spreading in different directions, some of it threading right through the small gaps in the smoke, filling up the empty holes Adam's soul left as it drifted somewhat aimlessly. Intrigued, the demon prodded forward a little, extending his soul toward the archangel in response, and managing to wind himself around Michael's Grace just as he was doing, the smoke spreading and filling up the little gaps in the buzzing, burning, electric blue Grace.
They fit so perfectly that Adam actually wondered for a second how Dean was Michael's true vessel, when he and the archangel fit together better than he ever could with the hunter.
Michael's Grace buzzed lightly in response, brightening slightly in agreement.
Then, ever so slowly, they began to move; Adam relaxed as Michael guided him along, continuing to coil up and around the archangel's Grace as they moved, keeping themselves perfectly intertwined with one another. It was an amazing sight - to be honest, Adam wondered what it would look like from the outside, as beautiful as it was up close. He followed after the archangel steadily, not noticing the way their souls began to fuse together, the way the black and blue steadily mixed, becoming - more or less - one. Complete. Whole. And, by the time they left Dean - Michael was careful to slow them down in the process, trying not to hurt the hunter - they were moving as one. Adam tugged them toward his own body, and Michael obliged.
Now, their souls fitting together was one thing - but as they settled back in their body again, everything was right with the world, for that moment. Adam gasped slightly, spreading out slightly to fill every little corner. Michael went with him, their souls moving in sync, as one - hell, at this point, their souls were one. They had fused together completely; Michael's Grace was Adam's, and Adam's soul was Michael's. They were officially one and the same, even more so than before, and the demon flexed their fingers curiously at the realization, while the archangel slowly shifted in their seat, a rush of relief rising in their chest. It was perfect again. Normal.
They fell back into the steady rhythm of sharing control again. God, somehow it was even easier to fit together. Adam rubbed a hand over their mouth, and Michael sank back into the seat, turning their head to look around. Their eyes widened slightly, prompting the demon to force his attention back to everyone else around them. Dean's head had fallen back, the hunter having fallen unconscious. He was breathing just as steadily as he had been before, though Sam and Castiel were hovering over him now, concerned. Michael pushed them to sit up, concerned.
"Is he okay?"
"He's fine," Castiel replied quickly, lifting his hand from Dean's forehead and wincing slightly as the white-golden glow from his hand died down. Michael frowned at that, and Adam narrowed their eyes a little, but turned his gaze back to his brother almost immediately. "His mind overwhelmed itself, having both of you in his head… his body needs to rest," the angel added, looking back down at Dean. Jack shuffled over to them, laying a hand on the hunter's shoulder.
"I'm gonna take him back to bed," Sam chuckled a little, offering his older brother a fond look. Adam arched an eyebrow, honestly slightly amused, himself. "He's earned a good rest."
"Agreed," the demon huffed a little, recalling how Dean had practically refused to sleep the night before; of course he passed out, he was probably exhausted, and stressed. As Sam lifted their brother up from the chair, Adam stretched out again, grinning a little to himself, and crossed their arms behind their head with a low hum, lifting their eyes to the ceiling. "So, halo," he began, "how's it feel to be back and kickin', eh?"
Michael didn't even need to speak - the warmth and relief and happiness radiating from the archangel told Adam everything he needed to know. But, he spoke up anyway, smiling as he turned their head to glance around the room. "Amazing," he responded honestly, and for lack of a better word. Their gaze focused first on Gabriel, and then immediately snapped up to Lucifer, who was leaning back beside the archangel and watching them cautiously, though with a faint, tired-looking smile on his face. Adam paused a little at that, once more reminded that, yes, something was wrong with the Devil, but he brushed it aside for the time being. "Hey, guys."
Gabriel's face split into a grin, walking over to him, and Lucifer followed suit. The youngest archangel wove around the chair, punching their shoulder. "Scare us like that again…"
Michael winced a little bit, but he was grinning. Adam retreated a little, not even bothering to growl at Gabriel, because to be honest, if he wasn't so happy to have the archangel back, he would've punched him in the face. Michael laughed a little as he acknowledged this, bringing an amused smirk to Adam's lips as the demon shook their head. "I'm sorry," the archangel told his brothers honestly, flicking their gaze back over to Lucifer and offering a small smile. "I didn't mean to scare anybody. I mean- I would've woken up if I could've, but it wasn't really my fault-" He paused, spreading their hands out slightly, then dropped them into their lap again. "Which, ah, reminds me- I'll fill you guys in later, but… first thing's first." He flashed the other two a sheepish smile - and Adam tilted his head a little, his own smile widening faintly. He seemed so much more… confident, so much more at ease with himself. It was different - yet, the same.
He paused a little bit when Michael retreated, and quickly followed after the archangel. The darkness was welcome, relaxing; Adam found himself stumbling a little on his feet, finally somewhat exhausted now that the drama had died down. Michael caught him by the arm as the demon staggered, throwing him a comforting little smile, and Adam just snorted.
"So, recaps are needed," the demon hummed, looking around the darkness for a moment, then letting his eyes drift shut. They'd done this before, catching each other up when one of them had been asleep, missing certain events. So it wasn't anything too different, Adam just had to think back to the past few days, to things he hadn't already told Michael about. The archangel seemed rather excited - for what, the demon wasn't really sure, but it made him smile. He left his own memories - Michael was already prodding, not afraid but still, of course, being careful. There wasn't anything they couldn't share between them, there wasn't any privacy in their relationship anymore, really, but Adam knew it wouldn't be the archangel if he wasn't somewhat cautious. So, amused, he brushed it aside, simply letting Michael do his thing and turning his attention to the archangel's memories, instead, running backwards through them. He caught a few glimpses of Zachariah, of all angels, but he shoved those concerns aside; they could wait until he'd seen the entire thing through. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long, he was curious now.
It went frighteningly slowly from the beginning, right after Michael had fallen unconscious. For a while, there was nothing but darkness, so Adam skipped forward just a little bit until it finally began to shift. It wasn't quite a dream - more of a hellish nightmare, and while Adam was confused as to how he couldn't reach Michael, even then, he watched on in silence, having to physically restrain himself from grinding his teeth together when Zachariah finally came in, just as slimy and manipulative as Adam remembered. The demon scowled, fingers flexing slightly at his sides, hands curling into fists before stretching out again, aching to get at least one punch in on the angel's stupid face. It was no better when Zachariah began spitting insults at Michael.
Regardless, he pressed on - frowning a little at the memories that were thrown at the archangel, of the other Michael, from the other universe. The things he did to Dean, the things he said - his wariness made sense, though it already had, to Adam, to be completely honest. When Zachariah appeared again, the demon cracked his eyes open and looked over at Michael.
The archangel's eyes were shut, watching through Adam's memories as calmly as ever. His expression was relaxed - hell, he was relaxed, arms at his sides, head leaned back, his mouth pressed into a thin, neutral line and his eyebrows furrowed faintly in concentration. He compared it to the way Michael was nearly in tears from the things Zachariah was saying to him. Something happened, that much was obvious; something happened in there, but Adam wasn't sure what. Either way, he closed his eyes again and continued watching, growing more and more unsettled as it progressed, and grinding his teeth together when the other two 'Michael''s came into play. He wanted to punch them almost as much as he wanted to punch Zachariah.
He frowned a little when he was called a disgusting, incessant piece of filth, but he brushed it aside rather easily. And almost started laughing when Michael practically threw John!Michael backwards into the wall - oh, how satisfying it was to watch. He found his smile widening that much more as the memory played on, finally huffing out a few chuckles every so often when Michael began telling Zachariah off. A mixture of proud and amazed, he blinked his eyes open again to look back over at his best friend, the grin on his face not faltering a bit.
It took a while for Michael to open his own eyes, a contemplative expression on his face, though he was smiling quite a bit himself. Looking back over at Adam, the archangel allowed his face to split into a grin, as the demon shuffled over to stand a little closer to him, nudging Michael's shoulder with his own and shaking his head. "Well, look at you," he chuckled a little, pride swelling in his chest like a balloon, feeling just about ready to burst. And, to be honest, his cheeks hurt from smiling so much, but he couldn't help it. Everything Michael had said to Zachariah, it had been everything Adam had always been trying to show him. Everything he'd wanted the archangel to realize for himself. And, it seemed like Michael was finally coming to terms with himself, finally forgiving himself, finally accepting and learning to love himself.
Which was good - as much as Michael loved, and as fiercely and so, completely, achingly unconditionally, he deserved to be able to reserve some of that for himself.
Michael's lips twitched, and, without a word, he wrapped one arm around Adam and tugged him into a small side-hug. Adam huffed a little, more or less amused than annoyed, as he looped his arm around the archangel carefully and offered a small squeeze, which Michael returned gently. "Look at you," his best friend retorted, a quiet half-chuckle rumbling in his chest as he grinned over at the demon. "Hell… look at us," he exhaled slowly and sank his weight sideways - causing Adam to stagger a little bit, huffing out a laugh in the process, and Michael joined in.
"Watch it, asshole," the demon chuckled, shoving lightly at the archangel. "Jesus."
"Not quite," Michael drawled with a smile on his face, his eyes sparkling brighter than they had in a long time, and Adam found himself returning the smile with equal warmth and enthusiasm. Everything was alright now, at least for now - he and Michael were reunited at last, and together, they could all work on taking down Chuck. The archangel hummed, leaning back again. "Yeah."
"We got this, yeah?" Adam glanced over at the archangel. He was already fairly confident that they could win, despite the circumstances. At the very least, they had a pretty good plan. Michael hummed lightly in agreement, not speaking, but Adam could still hear the quiet damn right echoing through his head as the archangel looked away, mildly contemplative now. Adam arched an eyebrow, easily thinking along with him. A few choice images flashed through his head, blood and gold and the sword that Chuck had stabbed Dean with, and then suddenly it all spun, dizzyingly abrupt, as Michael thought back to something Adam had heard from the memory, though he admittedly hadn't paid much attention to at first. The Cage- the sword- Chuck. They were connected. And they realized it at the same time - why it felt familiar.
To Adam. To Michael. To Lucifer. Even Gabriel.
It was part of the Cage. It had been made from a part of the Cage. Adam's expression twisted slightly as his thought that over, furrowing his eyebrows and twisting his mouth into a grimace. Michael simply pulled away, but not before offering a tentative squeeze to the demon's shoulder, silently explaining that he was simply going to inspect the sword, before he abruptly vanished, leaving Adam standing alone in the darkness. The demon shoved his hands into his pockets and stared down, still lost in his own thoughts for awhile - as well as Michael's. Hell, they were both thinking about a hundred miles a minute. Neither of them could stop.
He started to follow Michael, only to falter, frowning, mouth twisting slightly as he fought back a yawn and lifted his hands back to his face, lightly rubbing his fingers into his eyes. The brief surge of exhaustion was shaken off rather easily - and when Michael chided that he needed to get some rest, he refuted by saying he would, eventually, later on - and he brought himself up to take control along with his body-buddy, grinning slightly at how easily they clicked into place.
"Where did Gabriel go?" Michael was asking Lucifer, who was propped up against the table beside him, head lolling back across his shoulders in… well, it looked uncomfortable, but the Devil didn't really seem the mind it. Adam stretched their fingers out a little as Michael reached down to pick up the sword, curling their fingers around the handle himself and lifting it up. The archangel turned it over, inspecting it carefully, and Adam narrowed their eyes slightly.
"He and Rowena, are, ah… 'researching'," Lucifer replied easily, lifting his head to look over at them now, and then back down at the sword with a chuckle. "'Researching'..."
Adam let out a small laugh despite himself, while Michael shook their head a little, a mixture of amused and disgusted at the implications. Honestly, the demon really didn't know why Michael was such a prude - there didn't seem to be any particular reason, it was just how he was, but he really didn't quite understand why. Regardless, he brushed the thoughts aside for the time being, retracting most of his control to allow Michael to inspect the sword on his own, but still keeping just enough to continue talking to Lucifer. "What about everyone else?"
"Well, Sam got a call," Lucifer began, "Jack and Amara are seeing if they can amp up Cas, and Jesse's gone back to the Empty to keep working on the Cage. Which reminds me, actually-" The Devil heaved himself away from the table and stretched a little, bringing his arms up over his head, and Michael glanced up for a second to watch. Adam simply arched an eyebrow, leaning their head back a little and spinning the sword somewhat absently in their hands. "It'd be nice to have the extra hands." He wiggled his fingers at them. "If you catch my drift."
"Of course," Michael agreed immediately, while Adam just nodded.
"Not now, obviously," Lucifer added, sinking his weight back against the table again. "There's nothing we can do now except wait for that to finish." He jerked his head toward the table, and Michael and Adam looked back down, eyebrows raising faintly as they finally registered the other things on the table. A bowl filled with blood, Nephilim Grace, some other things Adam didn't really care to identify. Chains were wrapped around the bowl, and they watched as, every so often, some of the Nephilim Grace would rise up, coiling up into the air, before abruptly diving down toward the chains, wrapping itself around them and simply fusing into them, making the chains glow a brighter golden color with every little bit of Grace that they consumed. Adam arched an eyebrow, mildly impressed, while Michael's lips twitched ever so slightly in relief.
"It looks like it's working," the archangel offered hopefully, looking back down at the sword in their hands. After a few seconds, he suddenly turned it over again, raising one hand to the blade, and Adam watched, intrigued, as he pinched the blade with two fingers, and tightened his grip on the handle. "Luci," Michael began slowly, "you know what the Cage is made of? How it was formed?" He looked up at the Devil, and Lucifer seemed to visibly pause, staring at him with a hint of confusion flickering through his eyes as he frowned.
"Wasn't exactly there when Daddy-o made the Cage, big bro."
Michael made a face, and Adam arched an eyebrow. "Whatever it's made of, itself, wouldn't have been enough to…" The demon trailed off suddenly, staring down at the sword as it finally dawned on him, and Michael immediately looked back down, eyes widening faintly at the realization. He ran a hand over the handle of the sword, pinching the blade a little tighter now. Looking even more bewildered, Lucifer shouldered himself away from the table, moving closer.
"What is it?" The Devil pressed, narrowing his eyes down at the sword, then looking back up at them, eyebrows raised slightly in confusion. Michael frowned, lowering the sword a little bit.
"Well, we think that the sword is somehow connected to the Cage-" Michael paused, sighed, and breathed out sharply through his nose. It's so much easier just to show you everything, the archangel told Adam silently, causing the demon to snort, albeit internally, as he shook his head a little in agreement. Offering Michael an unspoken 'good luck', the demon retreated a little bit more, yawning slightly as he brought himself back to the darkness, letting himself fade toward the back of their mind. The archangel could deal with explaining everything to Lucifer for now - to be honest, Adam was getting too tired hold the little bit of control that he had taken, even if he had retreated for the most part.
Michael paused in talking to Lucifer to tell him, get some rest. You've done enough, we'll be fine, the archangel assured him, and Adam smiled a little to himself, letting the darkness around him fade away. Kind of sick of the park at this point, he let Lilith's Chamber materialize instead, grinning a little as the soft, melodic voices reached his ears, the three archangels harmonizing in Enochian. It was a pretty good lullaby, Adam mused tiredly as he sat down, crossing his legs. As long as Michael was sure - I am - then the demon would allow himself a little bit of rest.
Wake me if you need me.
Always, Michael murmured. Adam leaned back, listening for only a few seconds as the archangel continued to explain the situation - and their realization - to Lucifer, before finally letting their voices fade into the background in favor of drifting off to the sound of the archangels singing along. He put the memory on loop, watching the three for a moment, before letting himself sink back against the wall, leaning his head back, and letting his eyes drift shut. He was back with Michael, they had a plan, they were fixing the Cage up - everything was alright. For now, at least. Adam knew better than to get his hopes up too high, knowing that their luck could change very easily, but he was still rather hopeful, regardless. Things were looking up a bit. They had a fighting chance. It wasn't going to be easy, and the demon didn't expect it to be, but they could do this. Oh, they were going to destroy that motherfucker.
Adam's lips tugged into a smile at the thought as he began to drift off, lulled by the singing, and content with the idea of putting Chuck away for good so that they could all begin anew again.