Thank you so much VegasGranny and Ncsupnatfan for pre-reading. This chapter is un-beta'd, so I apologize for all remaining mistakes.

According to Facebook memories, today is the one year anniversary of the train ride up a mountain that spawned this story idea. Yes, I know there's no mountains yet and it's a loose inspiration, but the mountains will come ;-) To celebrate the anniversary, I am putting the chapter up a day early. Please enjoy, and if you do, please review. I'm still not quite finished with the sequel so your support means even more than usual.

Chapter Six

They pulled to a stop outside Jody's house between her cruiser and the crapped-out Ford Claire used. Nick was out of the car and walking to the door before Dean even had the keys out of the ignition. He was eager to get inside so he could start working on Jody.

As they'd driven north, Nick had thought over their situation and come to a decision. He was going to have to push himself out of his comfort zone to get the danger of the situation across to Jody by telling her what he knew about Lucifer.

It was going to be tough as he was going to have to talk about the Cage and what had happened there, also what he had done before to lead the world to that point, which he hated doing. Not only was it the memories of the most painful part of his life that veered him away, but it was the fact it was him at his weakest.

After spending his life as a hunter and being trained by the best—both his father and Dean—he knew what weakness could cost you.

It was going to change the way they looked at him, he knew, but he thought it was worth it to get the point across.

The only person that knew how low Lucifer had brought him, how helpless he'd been and the end he'd wished for in those awful years, was Castiel. He'd gotten the full insight into Nick's time in the Cage when he took the experience from him.

At first, Nick worried that it would change the way Castiel treated him, but when he'd woken, he'd been full-on crazy and had seemed to think nothing sane. However, when Castiel had gotten back from Purgatory, Nick thought he saw a difference in the way he looked at him.

They'd never discussed it, apart from when he'd tried in his stilted way to thank Castiel for it. Nick had struggled to conceal the emotion he'd felt, the guilt and gratitude, when he'd said it. Castiel hadn't been a reassuring recipient of his thanks as he'd been out of his mind at the time.

With Dean still closing the car door behind him, Nick raised his hand to knock. Before his knuckles could make contact with the wood, the door opened and Alex grinned out at him. "Hey, Nick. Jody said you were coming."

Nick nodded in greeting and stepped past her into the house when she gestured him in. He went straight to the living room where Claire was sitting on the couch with a heavy book open on her lap. Nick recognized it as one of the tomes he'd given her from the library when she'd started taking hunting seriously. That had only happened after her initial misguided attempts had cumulated with a lucky save that had cost Jody a broken leg and Nick more bruises than he cared to admit when the vampire had caught him off guard.

She looked up and said, "Trouble?"

"The worst kind," Nick stated.

She snapped her book closed. "What is it?"

"In a minute," Dean said, coming in behind him. "We only want to go over it once."

Castiel came in and smiled tentatively at Claire. Nick knew Claire held a special place in Castiel's heart that he didn't think was solely guilt for what had happened to her life because of him. She was important to him as a person.

Nick cared about her, too. She was a good kid with a lot of potential. In the beginning, she'd annoyed him with all her teen angst, and it had taken a while for him to warm up to her. She was turning out to be a good hunter, though, and Nick saw even more potential in her with the right knowledge. He encouraged it, lending books and teaching her some of the tech tips he'd learned over the years. That was a point of contention between him and Castiel, though Dean never weighed in on either side. Nick figured that the more she knew, the safer she'd be, but Castiel still held hope for her to have a normal, safe, life.

Nick went into the kitchen where Jody was chopping peppers and Patience was sitting at the table with a textbook and legal pad in front of her. They both looked at him as he entered, and though Patience's smile was a little confused along with welcoming, Jody looked solemn.

"You got here faster than I thought you would," Jody said. "I've only just got the ribs started."

"Dean was driving," Nick said with a small smile. "Besides, this is urgent."

Jody nodded and wiped her hands on a cloth. "Then let's get started."

She and Patience followed Nick back into the living room where Dean was sitting in an armchair, looking a little tense, and Castiel was standing sentinel beside Claire's place on the couch.

"Hey, Jody," Dean said, standing to receive her hug and then patting Patience's shoulder before sinking down again. "How's it going?"

"You mean apart from my late-night call out? Things are confusing."

Nick's jaw clenched. Things shouldn't be confusing. Jody should be worried, knowing the dangers now threatening her and her girls.

Dean saw his reaction and shot him a sharp look that was clearly intended to be a warning for Nick to let him lead. Nick shrugged and fell into an armchair by the empty fireplace.

Everyone took seats apart from Castiel. Claire, Patience, and Alex sat lined up on the couch with expectant expressions. Jody perched on the couch arm.

"So, what's going on?" Claire asked. "I left a werewolf in Lincoln to come back for this."

"Lucifer is back," Nick said.

Patience's eyes widened. "Lucifer! As in Satan?"

"Yes," Castiel said. "And his brother Michael."

Alex looked horrified, but Claire was wearing an analyzing expression that Nick knew on his own face in the mirror. "What does that mean?" she asked.

"Big trouble," Dean said. "We've come prepared though. We've got some ultraviolet paint that we're going to use to paint sigils outside to protect you from angels inside the house, and Castiel is going to do something to make it so they can't trace you."

Castiel spoke up. "If you get face to face with one, they're going to see you, but they won't be able to find you from a distance."

"Why would they come for us?" Patience asked.

"Because…" Jody grimaced. "I saw Lucifer last night."

Claire glowered. "And you didn't mention it because…?"

"I thought it was better to come at it when we have a solution," Jody replied. "They're here to show us what to do to protect ourselves."

Nick leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees, and said, "Lucifer has a vessel, so he's the biggest problem right now. Michael left his vessel, but he'll be dangerous when he finds one. He's from one of those worlds that Jack opened to us with Kaia."

Claire looked away and bit her lip, and Jody shot Nick a scolding look. Nick sighed. He'd forgotten about Claire's reaction to the dream walker's death. He probably should have been a little more mindful of what he was saying, but he was stressed out and his focus was on other things.

"How hard will it be for Michael to find a vessel?" Jody asked. "It's got to be a special kind of person, right?"

"It'll be tougher for Michael than it would be a normal angel since they need a specific bloodline," Dean said. "Our bloodline actually—me and Nick."

"What about Mary?" Jody asked.

"Not her," Dean said. "Michael's lineage comes down our Dad's side. Lucifer's is the Campbell bloodline—Mom's family. But since Lucifer has his vessel, and it's a good one thanks to Crowley, he's not going to want to switch."

"He won't want me then?" Claire asked.

Nick started. He'd not even considered that Claire might be an option. She wasn't of their bloodline, but she'd been a vessel for Castiel once, and Lucifer had used Castiel.

"No," Castiel said, his expression kind. "You're not of the Winchester bloodline."

Nick frowned as he spotted a problem. If Claire wasn't their bloodline, it meant Jimmy, and therefore Castiel wasn't, but Lucifer had used him. Did that mean Michael could use another angel?

He posed the question, and all eyes fell on Castiel.

"It's different for me," Castiel said, shooting Claire an apologetic look. "When I was destroyed by Lucifer, there was nothing left at all."

"Not even a molar," Dean muttered, obviously remembering what had been left lodged in Chuck's hair when it was Raphael that smote Castiel compared to the total obliteration of Lucifer's smiting.

"Jimmy departed for Heaven, but his body was recreated for me by God," Castiel went on. "It became the perfect vessel; it could be inhabited by any archangel without a bloodline connection." He paused a moment and then said, "My vessel is universal."

"Like a USB," Alex said with a tentative smile.

"Exactly," Castiel said, pleased. "But I will never give consent again. Michael cannot use me."

"Nor me," Dean said. "I'm the best vessel for him, his destined one, but I'm not giving up anything from him."

Nick crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. He knew Dean was an option for Michael, the perfect option in fact, but he also knew Dean would never say yes.

"But he might come for you anyway," Claire said. "Castiel used me when I was a kid."

"I'm so sorry," Castiel started. "I would never…"

Claire shot him a small smile. "I know, Cas. I'm just saying."

"He's no threat without a vessel," Dean said. "Just grace on the air. All he could do is hang around. He won't come for me."

Nick gritted his teeth. He wasn't sure Dean was right about Michael not coming, and that added a new dimension of trouble to their situation. Dean wouldn't say yes, but how would Michael go about asking?

Nick would make sure Dean was safe if Michael did come. He would find a way to protect him.

"So, Michael is on hold, but Lucifer is out there and came after Jody?" Alex said, shooting a glance at her surrogate mother who smiled reassuringly.

"He didn't 'come for me' exactly," Jody said. "He was just there when I answered a callout. And he didn't hurt me. He didn't even seem to want to. He left Frank and me alive, even after we shot him."

Claire snorted. "You shot the devil? Badass, Jody."

"It was instinct," Jody explained. "A damn stupid instinct. But me and Frank made it out okay. Well, basically okay. Frank is going to be stewing over it for a few months at least, since Lucifer flew off in front of him and lived with two bullets in the heart. He didn't hurt us though."

"Which means nothing good," Nick said, a bite of the anger he was feeling in his voice. "It's a game. He was weird with us, too. He acted like he was confused, and he stopped himself taking all of Jack's grace. He wants us to think he's weak and no threat. He is a threat though; he's the biggest threat we have right now. And he won't leave you alive if he comes back and decides you're not worth keeping around. When he works out that we're not fooled, he'll go back to being a murderous psychopath, and none of us will be safe."

Patience flinched.

"Don't hold back, Nick," Claire muttered.

"Fine!" Nick snapped. "I won't!"

"Nick," Dean said in a warning tone and with an expression that became worried when Nick went on, his voice impassioned.

"Do you want to know what I did? What he did to me?"

He looked around the room, seeing the expectant faces all focused on him and closed his eyes, not wanting to see them as he told his tale.

"I screwed up," he said. "I did things… awful things… and they freed Lucifer. He was in a cage in Hell for millennia, but because of me, he got free. Do you remember the things that happened in 2009 and 2010? The earthquakes and hurricanes? The missing people and unexplained deaths?"

"Yeah," Patience said slowly. "Wait! That was Lucifer?"

"It was the apocalypse," Nick said, opening his eyes and meeting her gaze.

"I remember that," Alex said quietly. "My... the nest were all excited about it. They were rowdy, hunting more and more. They talked about the end, but it wasn't like they were scared."

"They probably thought they'd survive it," Dean said.

"That excitement, that end, that was because of me," Nick said. "And Lucifer needed me. He came to me as my Dad, trying to persuade me to give him consent as a vessel. He was so… open. He made promises, told me he'd always be honest. I was almost fooled for a moment." He shook his head and cut his tale short. "The only way to stop it was to send him back to the Cage, and the only way to do that was for me to take him. I did it, got him in there—and Michael—but then I was trapped with them in Hell."

"You don't have to do this, Nicky," Dean said softly.

"I do," Nick stated and then continued his tale. "When I was in the Cage, Lucifer would hurt me, torture me, but he didn't do it openly cruelly. He would be so reasonable, explaining how I'd earned what he did, how it was my fault, and he still spoke gently and used that soft and pleading face. He did that for years before he showed his true colors—and true face." He fought a shudder that instead presented as a twitch of the head. "By the end of the first century, he had broken me down to nothing millions of times just to start again. He is the worst monster I've ever seen and the cleverest. He knows how to play people." He looked at Jody. "And that's what he did to you. He wants us to think he was being merciful, he wants us to believe he's changed, weakened, because that makes us weak. And when he's ready, when we are vulnerable, he'll strike."

Jody looked at him strangely, it was almost as though she was nervous, but she was also sad, sympathetic.

When Nick forced himself to take in the other faces in the room, he saw they all looked the same. They were pitying him. Even Castiel, who knew the story already as he shared it, was giving him that same look.

He cleared his throat roughly and finished, "We've got to be on our guard."

"We will," Jody said. "I see what you're saying now. Set us up with the protections, and we'll do what we can for ourselves."

"What does Lucifer look like?" Alex asked. "If we're going to be looking out for him, a photo would help."

"He's tall, stupidly long hair," Nick said. "He looks unassuming despite his height because he has these eyes that … He's evil."

"You can probably find a missing person file on him, Jody," Dean said. "His name was Sam Smith, and he disappeared around May 14th, 2009."

"I'll get my deputy to look now," she said, pulling her phone from her pocket as she stood and walked into the kitchen.

"What does Lucifer want?" Claire asked. "Apart from an apocalypse?"

"I don't think he wants that again," Castiel said, and then, in response to Nick's incredulous look, went on, "He had a grand plan for the world before, to bring it to its knees, but that was before he reconciled with God. In the time after, he seemed happier to explore life as the last archangel on earth. He lived in powerful people, vessels, a Rockstar and the president, and—"

"The president!" Patience squeaked.

"Yeah, Jefferson Rooney," Dean said.

"So that's what happened," Alex said. "He resigned out of nowhere."

"Yeah, we got Lucifer out by…" Dean's eyes widened. "We got him out!"

Nick leaped to his feet as he remembered. "Yes! The hyperbolic pulse generator!" His heart raced. "We have a way!"

Dean nodded eagerly and stood, too, his eyes bright with excitement.

Jody came back into the living room and looked between them. "Okay, what did I miss?"

"We've got a way to stop him," Nick said breathlessly. "And Michael. There's a way to get them out of their vessels and send them back to the Cage."

She looked surprised but pleased. "That's great. How?"

Nick flexed his fingers nervously, his breaths coming fast. "There's something we need to find to do it, and we'll have to get hold of Rowena again. She's road tripping with a friend, so we…."

Dean waved a hand. "We'll get it, Nicky, and we'll get Rowena. Breathe, man. We've got this now."

Nick drew a deeper breath and tried to calm himself. It was hard as he was overwhelmed with hope now. They had a way to stop Michael and Lucifer both. They couldn't kill them without Jack, and that would be the most fitting end for them, but they could send them to the Cage where they would be free to fight each other for eternity, leaving the world safe from them.

Jody's phone beeped, and she pressed a button and then held it up, displaying a photograph above details of a missing person. "This our guy?"

Nick peered at it, seeing the hated face, and nodded. "That's Lucifer."

Jody passed the phone to Claire, who examined the picture and showed it to Alex and Patience.

Nick ran a hand through his short hair. "I'm going to start with the house sigils. Cas, want to do the ribs?"

Jody frowned. "Do what to the ribs?"

Dean huffed a laugh. "Not dinner. Cas is going to carve some Enochian sigils into your ribs." He held up a finger. "I warn you though, it's going to hurt."

"Great," Alex said quietly.

"It's only for a moment," Castiel said. "I will be as quick as I can. And it will protect you."

Nick headed out to the car for the paint, feeling a flurry of excitement in his stomach. They had a plan now. Lucifer would be shoved back into his Cage, and this time there would be no Crowley to redirect him.

Lucifer was going back to Hell.

So… They have a plan. They always work out so well for the Winchesters, so the story should be simple now, right? No, didn't think I'd fool you with that. There is so much fun stuff to come.

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx