Quetzal – wow, long chapter. And just as sappy as promised too. Hope you all enjoy it! this bit at the beginning is a bit random, but i noticed that Cas keeps disappearing on me as i write this, so he needed to make an appearance. just assume he's been avoiding lucifer or something, maybe ill go back and fix it later.

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Chapter 7

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Sam had to admit, if only to himself that he was becoming at least a little annoyed with Cas's pacing and randomly flitting off for some thing or another (probably to go fly laps around the planet or something – that counted as pacing didn't it?) Cas had panicked when Heaven had gotten ahold of Dean. Freaking out to the point where Lucifer had knocked him out and stashed him in one of those little pocket dimensions that Gabriel loved using.

He'd refused to let him out until he had gotten a hold of himself. A task that was not as easy as it might have once been. The angels who had all taken a bite from the apple were still learning the joys of the certain level of mental instability that the knowledge seemed to bring with it. Either that or knowing were that line really lay would blow anyone's cool. They'd get it figured out eventually.

The look on Cas's face when he had realized Dean had reappeared without Michael and was apparently just fine and had talked the Archangel into eating an apple himself had really been something else. A look of such frustrated, exhausted, exasperation that Sam knew on anyone else it would have heralded at the least a good natured attempted strangling. Honestly Dean was just talented at bringing out those sorts of emotions in everyone he came across. You either loved him or hated him, and if you were really lucky – both.

Cas had been a little less forgiving when Dean had explained his Deal with Michael. This Sam could understand. After everything and saying no at every turn Dean goes and does this? Sam shot a look at said angel. Cas had stopped his pacing abruptly and was staring out the back window. A brilliant light shown in through the window for a moment before fading away. Cas was certainly glaring now.

"Was that Michael?" Sam asked after a moment. Cas didn't look away from the window.

"Yes." He answered harshly, expression flat. Ouch, Sam thought. Deans angel certainly wasn't taking this entire situation well at all.

"Well, lets hope this conversation goes well." Sam sighed, looking back at his book but not really focusing on the words.

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Dean had wondered what it would be like. To say Yes to Michael. He remembered what Jimmy had said. Comparing it to being strapped to a comet. Dean was beginning to think that Jimmy shouldn't be allowed to use metaphors. Clearly he didn't know how they worked.

All he could see was brilliant white light tinged with gold. But it didn't hurt in the slightest, it was actually pretty damn nice. It wasn't nearly as bad as he'd thought it was going to be, but he couldn't see a damned thing beyond the white gold light. "You're awake." Dean flinched in surprise at Michael's voice. Ok wow, so that was what an angel actually sounded like? Hu, when the heck had he learned enochian too? Because that sure as hell hadn't been English. "Dean?" Michael's voice had taken on an amused lilt.

"This is weird." Dean answered with a sort of mental shrug.

"It is." Michael agreed thoughtfully. "This is far different than any temporary vessel I have ever taken." The light shifted around him a bit tightening its grip on him.

"Different how?" Dean asked suspiciously.

"No matter how well a vessel fits me it should still feel, somewhat wrong, as it is not truly me. But this is different. This body is no more uncomfortable for my Grace than it would be for your own soul." Well that was mildly unsettling Dean thought. Wondering if Michael was going to be willing to leave when this was all over, if not – well, he'd had a good run of it. If this stunt stopped the apocalypse he could call it a job well done. It wasn't like he'd ever expected to live very long, hunters never did.

Michael at least, found that thought rather unsettling, he knew that Dean would likely never trust him. His saying Yes had in no way been a matter of trust. At least not trust in him. Trust perhaps in chance, but not in him. That Dean considered remaining his vessel as tantamount to death was…painful. That he had become such a creature that his true vessel would think of it in such a way….well – it made him think that perhaps father had indeed had a good reason for leaving.

True vessels….it was not the same as simply a vessel. The thing that even the other angels did not understand about true vessels, that he had been wholly unwilling to explain – was that a true vessel was their angel in a way that could not be fully explained. If he were to Fall, and become human, he would have been Dean. But Dean was already meant to exist as an entity in his own right. So in a way, he couldn't fall like that. It was part of why Lucifer had remained more or less an angel when he Fell, he did not lose his Grace and become human because Sam would exist. It was of course more complicated than that, but essentially…..

And so for Dean to feel the way he did about him, even if he didn't understand what it meant to be his true vessel. It certainly knocked his pride down more than a few pegs. Michael twisted his Grace slightly pushing Deans soul into a deep sleep. He wasn't sure how long it was going to take to talk to Lucifer, but he didn't want to leave Dean with nothing to contemplate but failure.

Turning his attention back outward he considered his surroundings for a moment. The flickering impressions of memories on the rusted out skeletons of cars would have once held no meaning to him. Being just another fleeting impression of humanity. It was like he had been blind and only now could actually see the world the way humans did. What had once been nothing but a mess of Sin was now laid out in all its shades of gray. And now Lucifer saw things this way as well. He could understand how it could have changed him as much as Dean claimed it had, it had certainly changed him. Before…he wasn't sure he would have cared what Dean thought of being his vessel, and now. With a sigh and a faint wry smile he spread his dark red wings wide and with a single decisive flap took off for the place that had been agreed upon for the meeting.

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Gabriel tensed when he felt the wash of power that was Michael taking his true vessel, he glanced sideways at Lucifer. Lucifer was facing away from him, looking out over the wave torn coast of this little rock in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. Gabriel didn't need to see his face to know how he felt about this. Lucifer's back looked so stiff it might as well have been made out of titanium.

The youngest Archangel sighed and surveyed the area again. He hoped this would work. What Dean and Sam had already pulled off? He could hardly believe it sometimes. That this seemed to actually be working was beyond dumbfounding. That Sam had been able to trick Lucifer, and that Dean had gotten Michael had actually seen reason. He wasn't sure which one could be labeled as more miraculous.

The sound of wings was their only warning before Michael landed a short distance away. But…he wasn't staring at Lucifer. He was staring at Him. Uh oh. Gabriel thought a moment before he found himself trapped in a hug like a bear trap. Gabriel flailed even as Michaels red wings wrapped around him flattening his own amber ones and making the nearly impossible task of escaping the hug even more difficult.

"Oh come on! Get off of me!" Gabriel yowled and tried to squirm loose.

"You let me think you were dead." Michael said gruffly. Gabriel paused in his flailing and winced. Ok, so they were having this conversation now, and here he thought he might squeak out of all the getting yelled at for running away by dint of there being more important things to do. "After everything that happened you let me think you died." The grip tightened slightly. Gabriel was more than a little shocked. Michael…just wasn't the sort to show emotion like this. Give how much the apple had changed Lucifer, he really should have expected Michael to be different.

"….sorry." he muttered stopping his escape attempts. Michael was silent for a long moment before loosening his grip and pulling away a bit. Gabriel had to crane his neck a bit to look up - briefly lamenting the fact the Dean had to be taller than his own vessel.

"Don't leave again, please." Michael said quietly. Gabriel hesitated for along moment before sighing.

"I can't promise I won't leave, but I won't try to fake my death again…..at least not without telling you." He added wryly. Michael looked torn for a moment before sighing and nodding.

"I suppose that will have to do." He agreed. Gabriel couldn't help but stare once more. Michael was actually compromising. That…that by itself was astonishing. A low cough dragged their attention back to the other side of the frozen island. Lucifer stared at them with a quirked eyebrow. Gabriel grinned.

"Sorry for stealing your thunder Luci." He teased. Lucifer sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. Michael smiled faintly for a moment, the expression was wiped away a moment later as he focused back on Lucifer. The two stared at each other silently for a long long moment. Gabriel shifted uncomfortably and glance between them.

"You were right, in a way, but I think we both missed the point." Michael said abruptly as Lucifer went to speak. The fallen Archangel went dead still, eyes wide in shock. He wasn't the only one - Gabriel's jaw had dropped in dumbfounded disbelief. Before, as far as Michael had been concerned he could never be wrong because he always followed exactly what Father had said. He still wasn't about to start saying that Father had been wrong about anything, he hadn't changed that much, but now at least – he could see that he hadn't understood.

"Perhaps" Lucifer agreed slowly, not sure how to react to that kind of admission from Michael. He didn't bother asking what exactly he'd been right about or what point they had missed. They both knew the list was a long one. Lucifer's scorched wings twitched minutely. Even another angel probably wouldn't have seen it, but Michael knew him a little too well for the tell to pass him by. Michael relaxed slightly.

"Are you really willing to stop?" He asked. Lucifer snorted, looking mildly annoyed.

"I still think there damned little monsters who are only ruining the earth….but it's not worth fighting you over. That and Sam would start giving me that look." Lucifer harumph'd while Michael blinked, bemused and Gabriel laughed.

"Sammy's puppy eyes are damn dangerous, poor big bad luci just can't take it," He taunted and yelped a moment later as a long soot stained grey wing whacked him over the head. "It's nice to know some things never change." He muttered darkly. Lucifer smirked and grabbed one of Gabriel's wings dragging the swearing archangel over and into a headlock. Michael smiled wryly, watching Lucifer heckling Gabriel just like old times. Things would never be like they had once been, but this was…alright.

"What now?" he finally asked as Gabriel managed to get loose and yanked out one of Lucifer's feathers only to hit him over the head with it. The question halted the fight before it could go beyond normal sibling slap fight levels. Gabriel gave them both worried looks. Lucifer considered this for a long moment.

"I don't know. Put a stop to the apocalypse at the least, it shouldn't take long to shut down Hell on that. If you get the brats to back off then we can worry about the rest of it later." He finally answered. Michael nodded quietly eye distant as he considered how to best call off Heaven without starting a riot. It wouldn't be easy – they were just so set on it now.

"So….are we good?" Gabriel asked cautiously. Michael and Lucifer eyed each other for several long moments. This was hardly the end of it, but just maybe, they could make this work somehow. Michael nodded slowly.

"I…think so." He agreed. Lucifer was silent for a long stretch before sighing heavily and waving a hand in the air.

"Well enough I guess." He agreed tartly. Michael studied him for a moment as Lucifer turned away to look back out over the water. He hesitated before gathering his courage and walking a bit closer to Lucifer. He could see the lines of his vessel's back tense as he approached – wings pulling in slightly. Michael paused a few feet away, uncertain how just to phrase what he wanted to say.

In the end he didn't know what to say, but perhaps there was another to get show what he wanted to. He stretched out one red wing and wrapped it briefly around Lucifer's shoulders while pouring a burst of Grace through them. Even as Lucifer flinched away from him, turning to attack, he was already gone. Strong wing beats carrying him away from the island. Lucifer stretched his top most set of wings out and starred at them dumbfounded. Once upon a time, his feathers had shone silver with a brilliance second only to father. After millennia in hell they had dulled to a dark gray. Some of the feathers where even burnt on the edges. But now….the healing Grace Michael had channeled into his feathers continued to do its work. The gray lightened to a burnished silver. Nowhere near what they had once been, but…. well.

Gabriel left as quietly as he could, more than a little disturbed by the look on Lucifer's face, the archangel looked a heartbeat away from bursting into tears. If there was anything else Michael could have done to show his sincerity about calling this insanity off than Gabriel didn't know it. The amount of power it took to heal an angels wings of the kind of damage Lucifer's fall and the millennia since had done was no laughing matter. He was surprised Michael had been able to fly off like that and not just collapse on the spot.

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Dean came back to awareness slowly. He was sitting on a park bench somewhere warm and sunny. He blinked slowly taking stock of his body and wondering just what was going on. He hadn't honestly expected to ever wake up again regardless of how things went. But really, other than feeling utterly exhausted, he seemed to be aware and in control. A glint of red out of the corner of his eye had him looking to his left only to find an expanse of bright red feathers limply half curled around him. A glance down revealed and additional two wings folded up a bit more neatly beneath it. Ok…so apparently Michael was still present, but why had he let him wake back up? Let alone give him control back?

"Uh Michael?" he thought worriedly. An odd shiver ran through him earning a wince at the weird sensation. It was nearly beyond creepy that he could feel…something, moving under his skin. It only muted the creepy factor by a small margin to know that it was Michael and not something more disturbing.

"I'm alright, just tired." Was the nearly inaudible response. Dean relaxed minutely but still tried to get a feel for what was really wrong. He doubted just anything could leave an Archangel completely exhausted. Michael tolerated the concerned prodding from Dean's soul with quiet amusement.

"What happened?" he asked warily.

"You needn't worry, Dean." Michael answered with a faint chuckle. "Thanks to you and your brother we have called off the apocalypse. Regardless of what anyone else wants we will not fight." Dean stared blankly off into space, surely he must have heard that wrong. Michael and Lucifer actually both agreeing to back off had been something of a pipe dream. Lucifer had seemed willing enough to back down but he was already the rebellious one. For him to change his mind wasn't really outside of believability. Michael on the other hand had never gone against his Father in anything. Time would tell if it would end well.

A rush of feathers had Dean snapping his attention back outward to locate the perpetrator. Gabriel flickered into existence in front of him. Soft amber golden wings folding to his back with a flourish. Gabriel tilted his head to the side curiously. "Dean?" he seemed equally bemused by the fact that Dean was back in the driver's seat.

"Gabriel." Dean huffed, not exactly pleased to see the angel that had killed him so many times. He generally tolerated him but today was weird and he just didn't want to deal with the others antics.

"He did what?" Michael muttered more to himself then to Dean. Dean hid his smirk. Somebody was in trouble he thought with a mental snicker.

"I knew he'd be tired after what he pulled but I'm surprised he let you out Dean-o." Dean shrugged.

"And he did, so what?" he countered. "What did he do anyways?" he asked curiously. A faint smile crossed Gabriel's face before he replaced it with his usual grin.

"Oh, he tried to heal Lucifer's wings then flew off dramatically. I think it's safe to say they won't be killing each other anytime soon." Dean's eyebrows just about hit his hair line at that. Michael had healed Lucifer's wings?

"I tried to. It would take more power then what I have to do it in one try." Michael commented.

"Right then, lets get your ass back to Sammy, it's going to take a few days for Michael to recover after that stunt. Might as well get some work done while you wait. Dean perked up at that. A hunt?

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Quetzal – annnd end chappy!