Chapter Thirteen: For the Love of Humanity

Gadreel never takes his eyes off Lucifer as the archangel walks around the bar at a leisurely pace. Thankfully Addison stays directly behind him and he can feel her hand holding tightly to his arm. He is surprised to see the once and brilliant angel now has scars criss-crossing against his grace. They are far more numerous then Gadreel's own though it is not surprising. Apparently there had been a modicum of mercy in Michael's choice to put Gadreel in Heaven's prison and not Lucifer's cage.

"You can put that away," Lucifer says, pointing to Gadreel's angel blade. "You're not going to need that. Not yet at least."

"What do you want?"

"I only came to introduce myself to the newest Winchester." Lucifer smile turns into a half snarl. "I swear you're all like cockroaches the way you crawl out of the woodwork. How many Winchesters are there?"

"I see your views on the humans have not changed."

"Ditto, little brother." Lucifer takes a drink from the glass. "Still slobbering over the disease infested little monsters. Come on, you're better than that. We all are."

"The humans were placed in our charge. They are ours to protect, to watch over and care for."

"On whose orders? Dad's? Dad's not here anymore. We used to be peaceable, diligent and happy. Until the humans were created. Then the division came, those of us who followed Dad's order to love them unconditionally and those of us who refused to put something in front of our desire to love Him.

"But what would happen if we let the little vermin kill themselves so we can wash our hands of them. Everything that we, the angels, have ever fought for or about will be gone. We, united and at peace with our siblings will inherit Heaven and Earth." Lucifer moved to stand in front of Gadreel, his eyes full of sincerity. "And then you know what will happen? Father will return home to a utopia. And we will welcome him with open arms. Won't we, brother?"

Gadreel raises his blade slowly. "Not at the expense of human lives. I do follow our Father's orders in the hope that when he does return, he will find his prized creations to be well. That his angels were the caretakers that he tasked them to be. You seem to be mistaken that loving the humans is to not love our Father. But following His orders in spite of His absence is a show of true loyalty and devotion to Him."

"They'll be the death of you," Lucifer frowns. "And the little, cowering pile of dust behind you. You're willing to die for that?"

"I am."

Lucifer's eyes narrow. "Huh. You really are, aren't you? All those years in prison didn't teach you anything. That's a pity." Lucifer shrugged. "Addison, you and I will meet at a later time. Denver, most likely."

"You can't possess me while I'm the anchor," Addison speaks up from behind Gadreel. Her voice is surprisingly steady in spite of the situation. "And I wouldn't say yes to you no matter what."

Lucifer smiles. "That's what Sam said too. Eventually, he did say yes and so will you. I'll see you in Denver."

The archangel disappears and the bar returns to its normal function. Addison practically collapses against his back in relief. He quickly returns his angel blade to his sleeve and pulls Addison under his arm.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

He ushers her out of the bar as quickly as possible. As soon as the cool night air hits them, Addison twists away from him and vomits into the bush outside the bar. When she's done, she stumbles back to him with tears in her eyes. She doesn't say anything as she pulls her keys out of her jacket pocket and hands them to him. He finds the car easily enough and gets her settled in the passenger seat. He climbs into the driver's seat and starts the drive back to the bunker.

"Where are the others?" Addison finally asks, her voice thick with tears.

"Back at the bunker. Dean dropped me off when we found your car."

"You found me a lot quicker than I thought you would."

"I was...concerned."

"So you sent Joseph? Why would you do that?"

It's the first time that Addy has ever displayed anger towards him and it makes him ill. "I was..."

"What?"

"I thought you would be more comfortable speaking to him."

"Why? I don't know Joseph. I would have preferred to talk to you."

"But I don't know..."

Addy releases a long sigh but when she speaks again, it's with less bite. "You don't know what?"

He doesn't even know how to finish that sentence. There is so much he doesn't know how to do even after spending this much time on earth. He can only access so much of his vessel's memory and right now, Joseph has retreated completely just as he promised he would do.

"Gad?"

He swallows down the rise of emotions that he can't even begin to sort out right now. "There are many things," he finally manages to say, "that I do not know about. I...am very lost. Particularly when it comes to you."

Addy sniffs. "I'm sorry for running away. I didn't mean for it to worry you and I promise, I won't do it again."

"Thank you."

"Thank you for coming to get me."

"I will always come get you." They reach the bunker and he parks the car in front of the door once more. "I will inform them of our meeting with Lucifer and what was said. You should just go back to your room and rest."

"No. We'll go through this together." She undoes her seatbelt and gives him a completely open and oddly defeated look. "You're not the only one who's lost."

Addy realizes that she has a lot of explaining to do before retreating back to her room when she and Gadreel descend the stairs into the kitchen area and find everyone there waiting for them. But she is tired, exhausted to the point of barely keeping her eyes open. Panic has seized the residents in the bunker and with good reason.

The devil is on their doorstep, quite literally.

Michael seems to be the only one completely undisturbed by the whole occurrence so after an hour of questioning, Addy finally turns to him in an effort to bring an end to the conversation.

"You're taking this well."

He barely lifts his shoulders. "I knew this was going to happen. I told you he would come for you. But Jael was correct, Lucifer can not possess you until you cease being the anchor. Right now, all he can really do is wait."

"He froze an entire bar filled with people," Sam countered. "What else can he do to cause problems while he waits?"

"Not a lot," Michael answers. "What he did to the bar was typical Lucifer showmanship and I can assure you, it sapped most of his power. He was in worse condition than I was when we were ejected from the cage."

"Kicked his ass from one end to the other then?" Dean smirks.

"Not really, no," Michael answers. "The cage was built specifically for him, to contain him. The weakening sigils were more effective on him then me."

"Do we need to worry about retaliation from him?" Cas asks.

Michael nods. "I think we would be foolish to not expect it. But there is only so much damage he can inflict in his weakened state."

"Do we have to worry about him getting into the bunker?" Sam asks.

"No," Michael shakes his head. "I warded against him specifically. He can't get in here."

Addy stands up. "Good to know. In that case, I'm going to get some sleep."

"What? That's it?" Sam waves his hand in exasperation. "You go face to face with Satan and now you're going to go sleep?"

"What else am I suppose to do? Stay up, piling on more exhaustion as we go into our meeting with Metatron? For now, Lucifer can't get to us. He can't get in here. He can't possess me. We have time to come up with a plan to deal with that at a later time. So, in the meantime, I'm going to get some sleep."

Dean points at her. "No sneaking out this time. It seems whenever you say you're going to go do something, you go off and do something else. Do us all a favor and stay put."

Addy smirks as she heads out of the kitchen. "Yes, Dad."

"Don't think I won't ground you!" he shouts back.

Addy returns to her room but leaves the door open knowing Gadreel won't be too far behind her. There's a small bathroom next to the closet and she uses that to change into her pajamas and brush her teeth. By the time she emerges, her angel is standing in the doorway of the room, making no attempt to cross the threshold.

"Are you coming in?"

He frowns. "I was told to stand in the doorway."

"Why?"

"To prevent you from leaving again."

Addy tosses her clothes and toothbrush back in her bag. "Believe me, I'm not going anywhere tonight. The fun gets killed when you actually run into Satan himself."

A brief smile crosses his face as he steps into the room and closes the door. "Perhaps we should refrain from conversing this time since it did not go very well before."

Addy pulls the blankets back on the bed and climbs under them. "Maybe we just need to talk about something else, something more pleasant."

"Such as?"

"What are your happy thoughts?"

He gives her a quizzical look and she pats the empty side of bed. He toes his shoes off and lays down next to her.

"Happy thoughts, Gad," she explains as she arranges his arm around her so she can lay her head on his shoulder comfortably. "What do you think about when you need something to lift your spirits?"

He's quiet for a moment. "You."

It touches her more than she can say and it takes her a minute to regain control over her emotions. "Well, I don't want to talk about me. What else?"

"Eden, then."

Addy closes her eyes. "Tell me about Eden."

It doesn't take long for the steady drone of his voice describing the plants and animals found in the lost garden before she falls asleep. It doesn't surprise her either to find her dreams are filled with wild and riotous landscapes that she stalks through searching for an unwanted serpent to cast out.