~ North Cove, Washington ~
Castiel stood at the edge of a lake, overlooking the gorgeous scenery. He watched the sun slanting over the rippling waves, and great rolling hills filled up the horizon. It was truly ideal.
He turned around and headed back to the house; a small white thing with old blinds tucked cozily into the mountainside.
As he approached his destination, he could hear Kelly griping over the phone.
"God, please, I need help," she groaned.
"I'm trying to help you, ma'am," someone replied.
"Are you, Sven? Because if you ask me if I have a quarter-inch Allen wrench one—one more time, I am going to come down there and burn your giant Viking junkyard of a store to the ground! Do you understand?!"
Cas winced to himself. Not in a good mood, then.
Then Kelly huffed and tossed the phone to the side with a clatter.
"Kelly," Cas said quietly. "I told you I'd put this together. I'm very good at following instructions. And you need to rest."
"No, I don't."
"Kelly—"
"No, Cas, I don't," she interrupted. Nonetheless, she accepted his hand and pulled herself up. "I can't. I don't know how long until..." She swallowed, separating herself from him. "I don't know how long I have left and I... I'm never going to be able to teach him how to ride a bike or watch him get married..." Her voice trembled. "... or even look him in the eyes."
Before Cas could even think about saying anything, Kelly whirled around to face him, her voice breaking.
"But I can build him a stupid Swedish crib!" she cried. "I can do that."
"Kelly, I know how hard this is." Cas paused. She stared at him. "That's a lie. I have no idea how hard this is for you. But I promise you... I will do everything. I will give my life for your son. And I will raise him. And I will make him someone you will be proud of."
Kelly swallowed thickly and nodded, her eyes glimmering with tears. "I know," she whispers.
~ The Bunker ~
"Okay, let me just get this straight. So... we beat the Brits, we kicked their psycho, tea-swilling asses, and instead of popping champagne and headin' to Vegas, we get Lucifer."
By the end of his rant, Dean's voice had risen in pitch with incredulity, and a less-than-pleased smile stretched across his face.
"And you're sure it's him?" Mary said.
"Yeah, that's his old vessel too," Sam confirmed, looking down at the grainy photograph.
"How is that possible?"
"Crowley, I guess."
"And now he's dead."
"Well, that's what Cas said," Dean put in. "But Crowley's a freakin' cockroach. I'll believe he's gone when I see the body and burn it."
"We don't need Crowley," Sam muttered, pulling out his phone. "We need Rowena. I mean, she's the one who can slam Lucifer back into the Cage."
"Great, so where is she?" Mary asked.
Somewhere, in an expensive penthouse, Rowena's phone dinged on the table. The place was covered in scorch marks and bloody streaks, and a burned husk of a person lay curled on the floor.
Lucifer picked up the phone and answered the call. "Oh, hey, Sammy."
On the other end of the line, Sam sucked in a breath and set Lucifer on speaker.
"Oh, if you're looking for Rowena," he chatted idly, "she is presently indisposed. Which is a delicate way of saying I stomped on her face 'til the white meat showed, and then set her on fire, just in case."
Sam and Dean closed their eyes, while Mary pressed her lips together.
"Ah. Gingers. It was messy and... screamy, but it had to be done, Sam. I'm about to be a dad. Can't raise the little nipper from a jail cell now, can I? Speaking of... you know where your little pal Castiel is?"
"Go to hell," Sam snarled.
"Ooh, good one," Lucifer drawled. "Witty. I'll use that in the future. Alright, well, I'd love to chat with ya, but, why waste my time, right? It's not like you matter. I don't need to put on the old Sam suit anymore, do I?"
"If you think we're just gonna let you walk-" Dean started.
"Oh, hey, Dean!" Lucifer greeted cheerfully. "I know you fellas are gonna try, you know, whatever. Whatever you're gonna try. But you can't kill me. You've never been able to kill me and with, uh, witch-bitch gone, you can't put me back in the Cage, so like I said... you don't matter. Buh-bye."
And with that, he hung up.
Sam and Dean stared at the phone for a long moment, thinking over Lucifer's ominous words. And the worst part about it?
He was right.
They couldn't kill him. They never could. And since Lucifer was clearing out the competition, there was no one strong enough to stop him.
Which meant they needed to find Cas, and fast.
~ North Cove, Washington ~
Castiel pulled up to the house with Kelly in the passenger seat.
"I'm just saying," Kelly panted, stepping around the truck. "The checkout guy looked at us like we were super weird."
"Ah, you'll get used to it."
"Okay, but... Cas, I mean, you went a little overboard."
"I disagree." Cas opened the back of the truck and yanked off the tarp. "I have read seventy-four books on child rearing, and there is one thing that they all agree on: everybody poops."
"Well, you're not wrong." Kelly chuckled before suddenly groaning and leaning against the truck, clutching her stomach. When Cas moved to help her, she waved him off. "I'm fine, I'm... I'm fine."
As Cas assisted her into the house, a tiny sliver of golden light separated from the metal where Kelly was leaning and arced into the sky.
~ The Bunker ~
"You know, Lucifer's right," Dean said, jogging up the steps to join his mom and brother. "We can't kill him and we can't slam his ass back in the Cage."
"Yeah," Sam agreed softly. "Okay. So maybe we play for time. Find Cas and Kelly, keep 'em moving. If Lucifer can't find them, he can't hurt them."
Mary lifted her gaze from the computer screen. "You think Castiel is gonna go along with that?"
"You think we'll give him a choice?" Dean countered.
"And the baby?" Mary asked after a moment.
"Hopefully, we can still siphon off its grace," Sam said. "If not, uh... we'll figure something else out."
"Yeah, we better," Dean muttered.
"Alright, then," Mary said. She scooped up her gun and rose to her feet. "Kind of always wanted to punch the Devil in the face. So, how do we find them?"
"Look, we know Kelly's gonna have that kid soon. Like, really soon. And according to the lore, whenever a nephilim is born, there are signs. Uh, storms, outbreaks of disease, plague of locusts..." Sam trailed off.
"Things get Biblical," Dean finished.
"Exactly. That much power into the world, whenever and wherever it happens, things get weird."
"So, we're looking for something... weird," Mary said.
Sam nodded.
"Story of our lives," Dean put in.
Back at the cottage, Castiel left Kelly to paint the room by herself. He stepped out the front door, glancing from side to side, when he caught sight of something several feet away.
A hovering, rippling streak of golden light sliced through the air, glowing and pulsing with otherworldly energy. Cas slowly revolved around it, staring at the strange crack in the universe. He reached out to touch it.
Golden light flashed around him.
Suddenly, he was standing on a ruined and ashy terrain, grey smoke curling up from the ground and massive spires of silvery rock jutting up from the ground. Great, rolling black hills filled up the horizon. The sky brewed with dark, threatening storm clouds, lightning crashing red instead of white. Corpses lay scattered around the land.
"Where...?" Cas whispered, turning in a circle. "How...?"
A low snarl behind him drew his attention.
A creature with massive fangs and slavering jaws advanced on him, ugly gnarled horns sprouting from its forehead. It was dressed in rags and had the general shape of a human, but it was quite obviously not. The monster lunged at Cas and sent him sprawling to the ground in shock. Before it could finish him off, a gunshot rang out, and the thing jolted, red fire burning under its skin and crackling with the orange glow of a demon death. It collapsed, dead.
Cas slowly sat up to look at his rescuer. Confusion welled up inside him as he saw a startlingly familiar face.
"You?"
Back inside the cottage, Kelly plugged the USB drive into the port. She opened up the web recorder. Once she saw her own face gazing up at her, she pressed 'record'.
"Hi, Jack," she said quietly, forcing as much enthusiasm as she could into her voice. "It's, uh... I'm your mom. I know you're gonna be okay. You are gonna be... amazing. You have an angel watching over you." A soft chuckle escaped her that turned into a sniffle. "God, I love you, Jack. I love you so much." A tear slipped down her cheek; one, then another. Her eyes burned. She laughed, but it was more like a sob. "Sorry. I love you." She brought her fingers to her lips, pressed a kiss to them, then touched the camera. She stopped the recording and unplugged the USB drive.
Painstakingly, she lurched to her feet, clutching her stomach, when she let out a groan of pain and leaned heavily on the table.
Outside, the rift pulsed and glowed bright gold.
Kelly inhaled shakily.
~ The Bunker ~
"Hey, listen to this," Dean said. "Two-headed calf was born in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. That's weird."
"That is weird," Mary agreed.
"Yeah, but not our kind of weird," Sam said. "Look, whatever this thing is, it's gonna be big and bad—"
"You rang?"
The trio whirled around to see Crowley lounging at the head of the table, annoyingly alive and cheerful.
"Hello, boys," he greeted.
Dean punched him so hard the chair toppled backwards and Crowley hit the floor. Then Dean grabbed a fistful of Crowley's collar and pressed the demon blade against his throat.
"Did you do it?" Dean snapped. "Did you let Lucifer out?!"
"I didn't 'let'—"
"Don't!"
"Moose, a little help here!" Crowley groaned as Dean pushed the blade harder.
"Dean," Sam said, "wait."
"Seriously?" Dean and Mary asked simultaneously.
"Look, just don't kill him. He worked the Cage spell with Rowena. Maybe he can help us."
Crowley smiled triumphantly up at Dean.
"And what if he can't?" Mary asked.
"Well, then we kill him."
Crowley's smug smile vanished. Reluctantly, Dean drew back, allowing Crowley to get to his feet. Crowley brushed himself off and adjusted his collar, righting the fallen chair.
"Cage spell," he muttered. "Thought you had mother for that."
"Rowena's dead," Dean said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really," Sam said. "Lucifer."
"Funny," Crowley remarked. "I always thought I'd be the one to kill her."
"Crowley... why did you do it?" Sam asked. "Save Lucifer—What did you want?"
"I wanted to win. I perverted mother's spell, put Lucifer in a vessel of my own making because I wanted to win. You have any idea how many people have made a play for my throne over the years? Lucifer, Abbadon, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Too damn many. I thought if I could put the Devil on a leash... my own personal nuke, no one would ever dare challenge me again.
"Yeah, that worked out great," Dean said.
"All ended with me narrowly escaping death by hiding in a rat."
"Wait," Mary said. "In an... actual rat?"
"Wasn't too bad, really," Crowley muttered. "Gave me time to think. You know, I've been focused for so long on keeping my job. Never realized I hate it. All those whining demons, the endless moans of damned souls, the paperwork! I mean, who wants that?"
"You," Sam said.
"Once, maybe."
"So why are you here?"
"Well, whenever there's a world-ending crisis at hand, I know where to place my bets." Crowley smiled a bit. "It's on you, you big, beautiful, lumbering piles of flannel. So if you'll forgive my transgression, I'll make it worth your while."
"Which means?" Dean questioned.
"After we put Lucifer back in his Cage—together—I'll seal the gates of Hell. You'll never see another demon again, apart from, of course, yours truly."
"You would do that?" Mary asked in disbelief.
"Why not? They stab me in the back, I'll happily stab them in the front, the sides, and right up their little black-eyed asses. So, we have a deal?"
Sam and Dean exchanged a glance.
~ North Cove, Washington ~
Kelly walked through the house, calling, "Cas?" Silence. "Cas? Castiel?" She was forced to stop several times, leaning heavily against the doorway and panting. She paused just outside of Jack's room, breathing deeply.
A hand touched her shoulder.
She gasped and whirled around, only to see Cas standing there, looking worried.
"Kelly," he said.
"Where were you?"
"I, um... Nowhere. Um, is everything okay?"
"No. The baby, it's... I think it's time." She groaned and doubled over. Lights began to flicker, electricity crackling in the walls around them. "Oh my God," she gasped out. "Oh, God."
Cas held her firmly by the forearms. "Everything's going to be fine."
~ The Bunker ~
Silence hung over the Winchesters + Crowley as all but one of them worked on finding Castiel. Crowley just sipped his drink, watching them curiously. He set down his glass with a thud.
"Is this what you do when I'm not here?" he asked incredulously. "Type?"
"Yep," Dean said, not taking his eyes off of the screen.
"Wait a second," Sam spoke up. "I've got something. Okay, two hours ago, there was a massive power outage in the Pacific Northwest."
"Sounds like the right kind of weird," Mary said, leaning over to look at the article.
"Yeah. Wait. They tracked the outage to an address in North Cove, Washington, to a house currently being rented by one James Novak."
"That's Cas," Dean said. "Let's roll."
"It's about time," Crowley complained.
In one swift movement, Dean stabbed the demon knife through Crowley's hand and buried it in the table, causing Crowley to cry out in pain. Orange electricity crackled around the wound.
"You think we're gonna trust you out there after what you pulled?" Dean said, glaring down at him. "Hm? No. You stay here, you sit down, and you shut up."
The Winchesters slammed the bunker door behind them.
Crowley stared at the blood dripping down his hand in detached irritation.
~ North Cove, Washington ~
Kelly sat upright, leaning against the head of the bed, breathing slowly in and out. She had her knees tucked up to her chest. A single lamp glowed gently on the end table. Castiel walked over and took a seat next to her, smiling comfortingly. Crickets chirped outside.
"You're alright," Cas assured her. "The pressure waves are still very far apart."
"'Pressure waves'?" Kelly questioned.
"It's what they—It's what they called contractions in my doula class." Cas bit his lip. "I-I took it online. First-time mothers, labor can be twelve to eighteen hours, sometimes longer. It... Although, given this is the child of Lucifer and a quasi-celestial being..."
"They didn't cover that online?"
"They did not."
The two shared a quiet laugh. Kelly squeezed his hand, and he pressed his lips together in a concerned echo of a smile in return. Then he rose to his feet, walking over to the window and pushing aside the curtains. He stared out at the slowly undulating rift.
"Cas," Kelly said softly. He glanced back at her. "Thank you. For everything."
A few hours later, Kelly's eyebrows were creased in pain and she was groaning hoarsely. Her pained grunts quickly faded into sporadic whimpers, with Cas holding her hand tightly.
"Kelly," Cas said.
"Tell me again," Kelly forced out between moans. "Tell me again what you saw."
"Right, I saw—I saw... I saw the future. I saw a world without pain or hunger or want. I saw the world that this child... that your child... will create." Cas met Kelly's eyes; she nodded rapidly. "And it is a world without fear and without suffering and without hate. I saw paradise."
Kelly made a quiet noise somewhere between a sob and a sigh. Tears filled her eyes and spilled over, trickling down her cheeks. The lamps flickered and crackled with electricity. Kelly sucked in a ragged breath.
Suddenly, Cas frowned at the sound of tires crunching over gravel outside. He quickly got to his feet and hurried down the stairs, angel blade in hand, freezing in place when he saw who was stepping through the front door.
"Dean," he said.
"Cas, is this place warded?" Sam asked without any sort of greeting.
"Yes, heavily," he replied.
"Heavy enough to stop Lucifer?" Dean said.
"Lucifer?"
"He could be right behind us," Mary explained.
"I don't—What are you doing here?"
"Saving your ass," Dean told him roughly.
"Look, you an Kelly just taking off was a stupid move," Sam put in. "But there's no way we're letting Lucifer get his hands on that kid." His voice turned assertive and borderline harsh. "It ain't happening."
"Sam's right, okay?" Dean said. "We'll work through our crap, we always do. But right now, we are here to get you, get Kelly, and get gone."
"She can't be moved," Cas replied. "She's having a—"
A low groan from Kelly upstairs cut him off.
"I'll check on her," Mary said. She stepped around Cas and rushed up the stairs.
"How much time do we have?" Cas asked the brothers.
"We don't know," Sam said.
"Hey, if he shows," Dean said, referring to Lucifer, "can you flame on again? Can you torch Lucifer like you did Dagon?"
"I don't know. No, that wasn't me, that was the child. And in case you haven't noticed, he's a little busy."
Dean doubled over, burying his face in his hands. "Son of a bitch."
"Here, Dean. Let me." Cas pressed two fingers to Dean's forehead and healed the scrapes on his face. Dean clicked his heel against the ground with a tentative grin.
"Thanks."
"Alright, we should double-check the warding," Sam suggested.
"Wait," Cas tried, but Sam had already opened the front door.
Several yards away, the glowing rift pulsed, illuminating the night-shrouded area around it. Sam stopped in his tracks.
"Cas, what is that?"
"It's a tear in space and time," Cas answered reluctantly.
"Uh, and that means?" Dean prompted.
"It's a doorway to another world." Cas moved past Sam and approached the rift.
"Anoth—What, like Narnia?"
"No. No, through there it's Earth, but... but different. It's a—it's an alternate reality."
"So it's Bizarro world?" Sam tried. "Or—Or like the place we got zapped to where we were, uh, actors on a TV show."
"Oh, yeah, the supernatural wasn't real," Dean remembered. "And you were Polish."
"R-Right."
Cas stared at them for a long second.
Sam took a step forward. "Wait, Cas, how did this get here?"
"Well, the child being born, his power, it seems to be puncturing the fabric of our universe."
"Awesome," Dean said dryly.
"And what exactly is on the other side?" Sam asked.
"You don't wanna know," Cas told them seriously.
"Probably," Dean agreed. "But we need to."
Cas didn't argue. When they were all close enough, the rift cast golden light over their faces, distorting the air around it. Cas reached out, and a bright flash of light enveloped them.
Thunder crashed. The monstrous clouds bubbling in the sky turned the world a greyish hue, as if soaking up all the color and life. No wildlife remained. The ground was ashy and hard packed, covered with corpses in various stages of decay. Thick, wickedly sharp spires of rock protruded from the barren landscape.
"Woah," Sam whispered.
"Cas, what is this?" Dean asked, reverence touching his tone.
"As I said, it's—it's Earth." Cas moved forward, wincing at the devastation that lay before them. "But this Earth is locked in eternal war between Heaven and Hell. There are armies of angels fighting hordes of demons, and the few humans that remain are caught in between."
"How do you know that?" Sam questioned, frowning.
"A friend told me."
"Oh, good," Dean said. "Now you're making friends? That's... Alright, on a scale of one to ten, how bad is this?"
"I don't know," Sam muttered. "I gotta say, a hole in reality to a bombed out Apocalypse world? I'm gonna go with eleven."
"Sounds right."
"You don't have to worry," Cas said. "The child, he opened this door. He'll close it."
"You sure about that?" Dean asked.
"I have faith."
"Really? In your unborn baby-God?"
"Yes."
"Well, then, you're a dumbass."
Suddenly, from the hazy white smoke, a figure dressed in rags and coated in ash strode towards them. Sam pulled out his gun; Dean did the same.
"Hey! Hands in the air!" Dean shouted.
"No, don't," Cas said. He flung out a hand to stop Dean.
The figure came to a stop a few feet away. They reached up, untied the scarf around their head with grimy fingers, and tugged it to the side, revealing the worn and stern face of Bobby Singer.
"Bobby?" Sam gasped.
Both Winchester brothers lowered their guns. Bobby scowled at them.
"Do I know you?" he asked gruffly, eyes narrowed in distrust.
"Bobby..." Sam trailed off. "Sam. Dean. Cas."
"You say that like it's supposed to mean something to me, but... no."
"Sam, this is Bobby," Cas introduced. "But it's not your B—"
"Bobby," Dean said, ignoring Cas. "It's us. Sam and Dean Winchester."
"The only Winchester I ever heard of was John," Bobby said.
"Yeah, John Winchester, our father," Sam tried.
"Doubt it. He's dead. Been dead over forty years now. Only reason I know about him is this hunter I ran with, Mary Campbell. You get a few pints of shine into her and she always told the same story about the man she loved—John Winchester. Azazel killed her about ten years ago."
"Cas, what the hell is this?" Sam asked, turning to the angel.
"This is a world where you were never born," Cas explained. "It's a world you never saved."
Back in the house, Kelly groaned loudly and tightened her grip on Mary, face screwed up in pain. She stuttered out an exhale. Her eyes were red with tears, and her forehead was slick with sweat.
"Okay," Mary said. "I think they're less than five minutes apart now. It's almost time." Kelly nodded, sniffling, and laughed softly. "How you doin'?"
"I'm dying," Kelly whispered.
"I know."
"But that's okay." Kelly's voice broke as she sniffled, smiling kindly despite everything happening. "'Cause wouldn't you die for your sons?"
Mary smiled back, nodding, ignoring the way her eyes had begun to burn. "Yeah."
In the Apocalypse world, Bobby was saying, "when this... whatever opened up, all sorts'a alarms went off back at my place. I got here just in time to see your boy get ambushed by a tempter demon."
"A what?" Dean asked.
"It's, uh, black eyes, pointed teeth, horns," Cas explained.
"Wait a second, demons have horns now?" Sam said.
"Whole new world, Sam," Dean said.
"Usually I'd gun down flyboys on sight," Bobby continued, nodding at Cas, "but, uh, he looked... different. Wasn't wearing a necklace made out of baby ears, for one thing."
"We got to talking about where I came from and our two worlds," Cas added.
"From what he says, pretty much peaches and cream on your side."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Dean replied. "It's better than this."
"Well, I don't know. Ain't so bad here, if you like killing angels."
"And you do?" Sam asked, lifting one eyebrow.
Bobby's lips tugged into an amused smirk. "It's my hobby and my passion. So... I figured, it's only a matter of time before the dicks upstairs get wind'a this. And when they show... me and Rufus go to work." He held up his assault rifle. "He's loaded with a hundred rounds, cast from old angel blades."
"Wait, angel-killing bullets?" Dean said. He grinned. "Awesome."
Cas stared at him. He had the decency to look abashed.
Kelly let out a shrill scream, fingers wrapped around Mary's as her shoulders shook with the force of her crying. Mary gripped her hands.
"Okay," Mary murmured. "You're good."
Outside, the trio landed back in the sand, the rift fading back to its normal golden glow.
"Are you okay?" Cas asked them.
"No, Cas," Dean replied shortly. "Pretty far from alright. I mean, we've got Lucifer on this side, we've got Mad Max World on that side. Yeah, we've been down before, but this? I-I mean, I don't even know where to start." He turned around, took one step, and threw up his hands, shouting, "oh, come on!"
"Hello, boys," Crowley said casually. "Again."
"Wait a minute," Sam said, "how the hell did you—"
"I improvised." Crowley held up his bandaged hand. "Lucky I did. Turns out I'm the answer to all your problems."
Once inside the house, Cas knocked once on the doorframe. Mary looked up at him.
"May I speak with her?" he asked.
"Sure," Mary said. She started to draw away, but Kelly grabbed her hand.
"Mary," Kelly whispered.
"I'll be back."
"Okay." When Mary was gone, Kelly said, "Cas... What's wrong?"
Downstairs, Dean cocked his gun. "You ready?" he asked Sam.
"Nope. When has that ever stopped us?"
"Yeah. You know, Cas has faith in this kid. I hope he's right. But me? I have faith in us. You, me, Mom, Cas. And Crowley. Sometimes." Dean pressed his lips together. "This is gonna work. It has to."
Upstairs, Cas said, "don't worry. It will be fine." He kissed her gently on the forehead. "Remember—Paradise."
Kelly closed her eyes and nodded.
A few minutes later, the Winchesters and Castiel walked down the front steps, pausing a good distance away.
Lucifer was waiting for them. With his hands stuffed into his pockets, he watched them approach, unsmiling, a gleam of anticipation in his eyes. "Well, this a fun surprise," he said.
An angel blade slipped into Castiel's hand. Lucifer eyed it with a sneer.
"I gotta hand it to you guys. You never give up, even when you should. Even when it would be so stupid not to."
"Look," Sam said, "whatever you're planning on doing, Chuck... God will stop you, just like He did last time."
"You're right. What should I do?" Lucifer hunched his shoulders and raised his eyes mockingly to the sky. "Oh God, don't strike me dead!" He let out a short laugh. "Come on, Sam. You sound like a virgin in Jesus camp. 'We can't, God is watching.' No. Chuck walked. He's gone."
"So you're just gonna smash His toys?" Dean questioned.
"Exactly. 'Cause every time I look at this sad trash fire of a world, you know what I keep thinking? I could do so much better."
"Apocalypse, take two. That's your plan?"
"When in doubt, go with the classics. That's what I always say." Lucifer's gaze shifted from Dean to Cas, who frowned a bit. "Well, boys, enough with the foreplay. Let's do this."
"See you on the other side, boys," Dean said.
Castiel raised his blade and lunged forward, but Lucifer flicked his wrist and sent Cas tumbling into the dirt with a groan.
"Well, that worked," Lucifer remarked.
The Winchesters exchanged a glance with each other, spun on their heels, and bolted.
"Mature," Lucifer muttered. "Real mature. You guys? I really want to enjoy this." He stalked around the back of the house, taking his sweet time, allowing himself to slow down and bask in the scenery. "Really wanna savor just rippin' ya apart, gettin' all up there, and gettin' all gooey. But, you know, little slugger's almost here and, uh. Well, I'm on the clock." He paused when he rounded the corner.
Sam and Dean were standing next to a vertical slit in the air, glowing with golden light and crackling with power. Lucifer frowned as they touched the rift and vanished.
"Interesting."
A quick hop through the rift landed Lucifer in a grey, ashy world, the dirt hard-packed under his feet and the sky choked with smoke. Thunder crashed above, shrouding the land briefly in flickering red light. Spires of thick silver metal jutted out from the ground. Lumpy piles that looked suspiciously like corpses were buried in ash and scattered around the terrain.
"You wanted the Apocalypse?" Sam said behind him. "You got it."
"Sammy," Lucifer greeted. "Hey. Where's your big bro?"
"Right here."
Lucifer turned around. Dean was gripping a large assault rifle, the shiny black barrel aimed directly at Lucifer.
"Ooh. Sweet toy," Lucifer commented.
"Yeah, I got it off an old—new pal of mine. See, we have this bet, see if it works against an archangel. So. Say hello to my little friend."
Sam threw himself to the side as Dean opened fire, dozens of small projectiles slamming into Lucifer's chest and shredding his new clothes. Lucifer jerked back from the force, but adjusted his footing and stood his ground, eyes narrowed at Dean.
Off to the side, Sam skidded to a halt and sank into a kneel beside Crowley, who was fiddling with ingredients.
"Took you long enough," Crowley muttered.
"Not now, Crowley. Come on."
When Dean finally stopped, Lucifer straightened. His eyes lit up fiery red. Dean's lips curled into a snarl as he yanked on the trigger again, until he ran out of bullets and was left clicking the gun uselessly.
"We do this ritual, we seal that rift, and we lock the Devil in this godforsaken place," Crowley said to Sam, going over the plan one last time. "That's the plan, remember? Two birds, one spell."
"Right, right. Just hurry." Sam scrambled to his feet, peeking over the sand dune at Dean and Lucifer.
"You lose," Lucifer drawled. He snatched up the gun and smacked Dean across the face with it, then grabbed him by the collar and hit him once, twice, three times, causing Dean to stagger back and collapse.
Sam ran back to Crowley. "Uh, dead sea brine, lambs blood, holy oil." He poured the holy oil into the bowl. "Here we go. That's the last of it. That's everything."
"No, it's not," Crowley murmured.
"What?"
"If we wanna heal that rip, we need one more minor ingredient."
"What?"
Crowley got to his feet. "A life."
Dean groaned as Lucifer kicked him again. He rolled to the side and spat out blood.
"Ah, I could do this all day," Lucifer commented. "You make such funny noises."
Suddenly, a force shoved him backwards and sent him sprawling into the dirt. Someone cleared their throat.
"Surprise," Crowley said.
Lucifer tipped back his head and laughed loudly. "Crowley!"
Sam sprinted into view and grabbed Dean by the arm, yanking him to his feet, then the brothers staggered away from Crowley and Lucifer.
"You sneaky little... So I guess I get to kill you twice, huh Crowley?" Lucifer said.
"I doubt it."
"Oh, no, you had your chance. You could've put me back in the Cage, but... you had to make it personal, didn't you?"
Crowley shrugged in an almost bashful manner. He took a few steps forward. "You're right. It is personal. You humiliated me. I... I hate you. Deeply. Truly. I'm gonna enjoy wiping that smug, self-satisfied look off your face. Personally."
"You mean... this one?" Lucifer grinned broadly and tilted his head. An angel blade slid into Crowley's bandaged hand. "Come on, Crowley. You know whatever you try, you're gonna lose."
"You're right," Crowley said again. He pressed his lips together in the faintest echo of a smile. He glanced back at the Winchesters. "Bye, boys."
He lifted the blade. Then he stabbed himself in the chest, sinking the blade in down to the hilt. Reddish white fire sparked in his eyes and under his skin, burning him out, mouth ajar in a wordless scream as his very essence was destroyed by the Enochian metal.
The rift pulsed and crackled when Crowley's body hit the ground. Lucifer frowned in confusion.
Suddenly, Castiel leaped through the rift and landed between the Winchesters, blade hefted and eyes narrowed with intent. He stormed towards Lucifer, despite the Winchesters shouting at him to stop.
Sam pulled Dean back through the rift.
In the house, Kelly trembled violently, her screams muffled by her gritted teeth. Mary held her hands still. Then, a ripple of yellow light snaked up her cheek and sank into her skin, her eyes lighting up golden as a small smile found its way onto her face.
"I love you," she whispered.
Back in the Apocalypse world, Castiel sank his blade into Lucifer's chest. Lucifer jolted from the impact, his eyes glowing red. Cas fled through the rift and landed facing the Winchesters. The three allowed themselves the barest of smiles.
"Cas," Sam breathed in relief.
The rift flashed golden. Cas stiffened, letting out a terrible gasp as his eyes and mouth flared white, the tip of the angel blade poking through his ribs. A great pulse of white light blinded the Winchesters before it all went dark and Cas collapsed, dead.
"NO!" Dean screamed.
Lucifer yanked the blade out, sighing. "That was fun. Seriously, guys, points for trying. Super impressed, but, uh... playtime's over."
Just then, Mary Winchester walked down the steps and stood between her sons. "Get away from them," she told Lucifer.
"Mary, right? Yeah, I've heard about you. You, uh, are certainly living up to the hype." Lucifer growled playfully with a laugh. Mary scowled. "Look, seriously, I just wanted to say thank you for everything. I owe ya, kid."
Mary stepped forward.
"Mom, Mom, Mom," Sam said quickly, putting a hand out to stop her.
"I love you," she told them. Then she drew back her fist and punched Lucifer across the face. He stumbled. Turning back around, he clicked his tongue.
"Cute. Is that all you got, mama?"
Mary hit him again, and again, causing him to drop the angel blade, light sparking under his skin wherever the blows landed. Enchanted brass knuckles enhanced her strength. Lucifer staggered back towards the rift. Mary hit him one last time, and his hand flung out, snagging her sleeve, yanking both of them back through the rift just as it pulsed and snapped closed.
"Mom, no!" Dean shouted. Both Winchesters lunged forward, but the crack in the universe was sealed up.
On the other side, Mary tumbled to the ground. Lucifer scrambled to his feet, crying, "no, no! No!" Panting heavily, he glared down at Mary, his eyes lighting up crimson.
Back at the house, Dean stared at the empty air with one hand outstretched, eyes wide. "No, no, no, no..." Sam raised his gaze to the sky, shaking his head. Suddenly, a faint buzzing from the house behind them drew Sam's attention. The windows were filled with flickering light.
Sam stumbled back a step, then turned and sprinted into the house.
Dean slowly sank to his knees before Castiel's body. He looked up at the night sky, slumping back on his heels.
Inside the house, Sam stopped in the doorway. Kelly was lying in bed, utterly still, hands clasped over her chest and eyes open but unseeing. He knew without checking her pulse that she was gone. He gently closed her eyes.
Something clattered in the distance. He stiffened. Stepping into the hall, which he saw bloody footprints on the wood leading to the baby room. He hesitantly followed them. A strange, high-pitched ringing noise swayed and trembled in the air. Sam's gaze landed on the corner and he let out a small gasp.
Crouched in the corner, shrouded in darkness and curled in a protective stance, Lucifer's son slowly lifted his head, letting a sliver of moonlight cut across his face.
His eyes burned golden.