"Good to see you too, Sammy. Anyways, it's not important. Right now, it's important that we get my grace back, yeah?"
"What do you mean by 'endless'? I thought an angel's grace was limited once it was extracted…"
"Ding, ding, ding! That's exactly right. But… I'm not, exactly, an ordinary angel, am I?"
"Sam, he's human. It's painfully obvious," Dean had, to his own distaste, decided to believe the Devil, for now.
"Well, that will keep him from being much of a threat, right? I don't see how that's bad," Sam pondered the idea of Lucifer being human. It was actually tragically ironic in the most hilarious way.
"It's bad, because someone… something is out there with an endless energy source!" Lucifer had crawled out of the dungeon (not literally) and found himself following Dean to find Sam. Even without his grace, he seemed to be good at just appearing out of nowhere, because the brothers jumped just slightly at his voice and turned to look at him.
"You let him out?" Sam asked, confused. That didn't seem like Dean at all.
"No, I didn't- how-" Dean was at a loss for words, rather unable to figure out how Lucifer got himself out.
Lucifer just shrugged, leaning on the doorway for support, seeing as he still needed it. "Good to see you too, Sammy. Anyways, it's not important. Right now, it's important that we get my grace back, yeah?"
The brothers were quiet until Sam spoke up. "What do you mean by 'endless'? I thought an angel's grace was limited once it was extracted…"
Lucifer chuckled slightly, making a ringing noise as if Sam had answered correctly on a game show. "Ding, ding, ding! That's exactly right. But… I'm not, exactly, an ordinary angel, am I?"
Sam raised an eyebrow, deciding to push onwards with his curiosity. "Archangel grace holds different properties?"
"Correct again, Sammy!" Lucifer glanced over at Dean with a certain hatred, but it came out as more of a distaste. "You're behind two points, pretty boy."
That earned a roll of Dean's eyes, to which Lucifer responded with, "yeah, roll your eyes at me. You might find something back there besides your over-inflated ego."
Sam stifled a laugh, which Dean glared at him. Sam tried to justify himself; "what? Devil or not, that's hilarious."
Dean sighed in exasperation then tried to change the subject. "So, why is an archangel's grace endless?"
Lucifer didn't answer Dean. Probably out of spite. He looked expectantly towards Sam.
But Sam was only confused, and he looked at Dean for an answer.
Dean only grumbled, thoroughly annoyed. "I swear, you're like a thirteen-billion-year-old child!" He spoke up after quietly voicing his thoughts, looking at Sam. "He wants to talk to you, not me."
It was Sam's turn to roll his eyes. He shouldn't have expected any less from Lucifer. His brother and the archangel never got along.
Well, Dean did shoot him with the Colt. And throw his Apocalypse off track. And throw his ass in the cage. His hatred was justified.
Then again, it worked the other way around, too. The Winchesters' lives had been complete hell from the beginning all thanks to little Luce.
Sam opened his mouth to speak, but Lucifer spoke first, seeming concerned with himself. "Sam, you're human. Why does my stomach hurt so badly?"
It hit the Winchesters like a train: the fact that Lucifer was human. And he now had to deal with everything that came with being human. Oh, this was going to be a long week…
"That's hunger, Lucifer. It means you need to eat," Sam explained, gesturing to the kitchen. "There's food in the fridge if you want to figure out what you want."
For a moment, Lucifer didn't really move, since the reality of the situation was hitting him hard. Wow, he already hated being human. It sucked. And he was a bit afraid to eat. He never had, before. What did food taste like, anyway? Was it good? And the process of digestion; was it painful? These thoughts made the former archangel far too uneasy to actually do anything about his body's starving needs. "I think I'll pass…"
Dean didn't really care whether or not Lucifer took care of himself, but Sam seemed to. He walked over to Lucifer, and, for once, Lucifer actually felt a little intimidated by Sam's height. It was probably natural human instinct. But he pushed that down, considering he believed Sam was his only 'friend' here.
"Come on, I'll help you, okay? I guess it could be kind of weird trying to do something you've never done before without a little bit of help…" Sam was sympathetic, especially compared to Dean, who only glared onwards at the Devil's form retreating into the kitchen, followed by his younger brother. Stupid Satan.
An hour later, Lucifer discovered that he would refuse to live on Sam's diet, which he so artfully named the "tasteless, eat-less diet", or he occasionally switched it up with "the unbe-leaf-able diet", which got a facepalm from Sam and made Lucifer happy. Instead, he stole Dean's leftovers from the last burger stop, finding it to be the only edible thing that didn't take long to prepare (Dean did not know his hamburger was stolen, and there would surely be consequences).
Lucifer seemed to be content, no longer complaining of the pain called hunger. It annoyed him more than anything, only further reminding him of his newfound mortality.
And, seeing the Devil was satisfied, Sam decided to push onwards on the whole 'endless grace' thing. It kind of seemed important.
But Sam didn't get to ask. Even without his grace, Lucifer could tell what was on Sam's mind. "Dad made us so that we would get stronger with time. He wanted us to have… something of a childhood… and then, when we matured, we would be strong enough to fight Amara. So, our grace was something he tampered with before our creation. For every bit of power we use, we only get stronger, whereas normal angels have a constant, non-depleting supply of power, as long as their grace remains intact. The more us archangels fight and heal and use our wings, the stronger those components become. There really is no way to measure the amount of grace one has, but, let's say, for explanation's sake, for every unit of power we use, we regain a unit, plus part of another one. And for every century our grace exists, it gains five units of power. Does that make sense? It could probably be represented with some complicated Calculus…" Lucifer really was trying to explain it in a way that Sam could understand, but it was hard to explain something so abstract. It didn't stop him from trying, though.
Sam seemed to understand, though, nodding slightly as he thought about it. "And, let me guess, the grace doesn't need a host to continue multiplying?"
"Exactly. Anyone could create an infinite power source with it that is just going to get more and more dangerous."
Finally, it seemed, Sam realized why Lucifer was so insistent on coming to them, despite the obvious danger. They actually had a common enemy, now. One that could wipe out the human race and more.
But a question arose in Sam's mind, which he voiced, "but what would happen if a normal angel took the grace? Or even a human?"
Lucifer shook his head just slightly, easily able to answer such a question, as if he'd thought of the very same thing beforehand. "A human wouldn't be able to take any of that grace without imploding. It's too great a power for anything that… fragile." He cast Sam an almost longing look at that. Perhaps he still somewhat longed to be in Sam's body. After all, it was his true vessel. His most comfortable home. Even if Nick sufficed, surely he still longed for Sam…
But he pushed those thoughts aside, continuing with his answer. "And an angel could only take small quantities of it at a time without suffering the same fate. I wouldn't know of anything else that could handle that much power without collapsing in on itself."
"What about a demon? One like Abaddon or Crow-"
"No way in hell could scum like that handle any of my power." Lucifer didn't even let Sam say his name. It seemed he was still a bit touchy on that whole subject. It wasn't all that surprising, though. His opinion on demons hadn't changed in the slightest. Again, not surprising.
While Sam was thinking about who could possibly be able to contain that kind of power, Lucifer seemed to go rather quiet. That caught Sam's attention. "What is it, Lucifer?"
"Nothing, Sam. I'm just unsure of what this feeling is." That was a half-truth, but Sam didn't push, for now.
"What kind of feeling is it?"
"It's in my throat… I don't know…"
"That might be thirst. Here, let's get you some water…"
"Dean, something's out there with a lot of power. We can't just back down from this one!" Sam and Dean were arguing in the next room over while Lucifer seemed to be exploring different tastes in liquid. Water, beer, vitamin water…
"Sam, I've had enough of this! I've saved the world enough times in the past several years. Maybe someone else can take a hit for us this time, yeah? Besides, who's saying he's even telling the truth?! Maybe he's just trying to use us to get his misplaced grace back!"
"He's not lying," Sam said, rather sure of himself. Why? Because he trusted Lucifer. He trusted him far more than Dean ever would. It was something he couldn't really explain, but he felt as if Lucifer couldn't lie to him. And he wasn't too far off.
Sam was the only person that Lucifer would feel guilty lying to. And Lucifer couldn't feel guilty. It would mean he was wrong. It would mean he was the bad guy. And he told himself over and over again that he wasn't. He couldn't contradict that. Not after everything.
"So you trust the Devil?" Dean scoffed. Obviously, he was skeptical. There was really no reason Dean found he could fully believe Lucifer's story. After all, it's not like people were dying on a mass scale. In fact, the world seemed relatively peaceful. They hadn't had a case in over a week.
Actually, that was concerning. They never didn't have work. That was kind of odd…
"Yes, Dean, as a matter of fact, I do. And you should, too." Sam was irritated that Dean couldn't see past his own hatred for the archangel. It was to be expected, but it was still infuriating.
"Why?"
"Because… because I just do, okay?!" Sam snapped at Dean, which only ticked Dean off.
"Whatever. You take care of him, then." Dean huffed as he grabbed his jacket, heading up the stairs to the door.
"Hey, where are you going?!" Sam didn't really want to be left alone with Lucifer, even if he was only human.
"I'm goin' for a drive. I'll be back in an hour."
"I don't understand. If she hates this 'Stacy' girl so much, why doesn't she just kill her? It would surely get rid of her problems."
"Because killing is illegal, Lucifer."
"You two do it all of the time, Sam. Are you simply exempt from the law?"
Sam sighed, shaking his head, deciding to leave the room, going out to the kitchen to get a beer.
He heard the bunker door close, and he assumed Dean was home. It had been way more than an hour, and Sam had been tense from the moment he left.
Dean came into the kitchen with a few groceries and the day's paper, setting everything down on the counter, then glancing around. "Where's Lucifer?"
Sam only sighed, walking over to the bedrooms wordlessly.
Dean followed cautiously, unsure of what Sam was doing.
Sam opened the door to his bedroom, and Lucifer was sitting on his bed, enveloped in a TV show.
"What the hell? What is he even watching?"
"I don't know. He just came in here and made himself comfortable. He started yelling at the TV at some point, and I found him just like this."
"Is this a high school drama?"
Sam shrugged.
"Because nothing is more fascinating than watching the real-life, human drama unfold in front of me because you two just don't cut it." Lucifer's tone was pure sarcasm. "You guys realize I can hear you, right?"
Dean cleared his throat awkwardly. He still felt uncomfortable with Lucifer so close to Sam. Close to him, even. Sure, Lucifer was powerless, but he was still the same Devil.
Sam sighed, going into the room and picking up the TV remote, turning it off, which brought a negative response from Lucifer.
"Hey, I was watching that-"
"Do you want your wings back or not?"
Lucifer went silent at the mention of his wings. He obviously wanted his wings back. More than anything.
Sam had a feeling Lucifer wasn't going to answer him, so he assumed his silence was a 'yes'. "Then we need to know everything you can remember from… whatever happened."
Lucifer nodded slowly, sighing. But he remained silent.
"Lucifer?" Sam was confused. Maybe Lucifer had gotten lost in thought? Or maybe he was too shy to answer. After all, he'd been beaten pretty badly. But whatever it was left him alive… that was something.
"Sam, I'm sorry, I'm trying, but…. Well, there's nothing there… I remember… I was in… in, uh… Idaho, I think, and then it just goes black… and then I'm practically crawling through your front door… Wait, no, I remember I was in a lot of pain… and chains…" Lucifer genuinely looked upset and panicked. Lucifer was so used to remembering everything. Every little detail from the past fourteen billion years of his life. Drawing blank like this? He didn't know how to react.
Sam sighed and shook his head, looking at Dean. "Now what? Go to Idaho?"
Dean thought for a moment, then said, "No, I think we should try to figure something else out. That could have been weeks ago. And it would take a lot of time that we don't have to get to Idaho."
Lucifer got up from the bed, which instinctively made Dean reach for his gun, and, Lucifer, being smart and cautious with his newfound mortality, stopped moving. "Woah, hold it there, cowboy. I'm not going to snap anyone's neck."
Lucifer looked mildly annoyed – not really scared or anything – while Dean took his hand off the gun, letting Lucifer pass by him.
The former archangel ended up in the kitchen, going for a snack of some kind, but his eyes caught the paper, instead. Interested, he unrolled it, picking it up and reading it, flipping through the pages. Something caught his eyes. "Sam!"
It was amazing how fast Sam appeared in the kitchen. It was almost like he ran. Maybe he thought Lucifer had hurt himself, but he was a little confused when he saw Lucifer perfectly fine, just standing there, holding the paper.
"Yes, Lucifer?" He sighed out the question. Oh, maybe he was disappointed Lucifer hadn't been hurt.
Lucifer turned the paper towards him, pointing at a headline. "This sounds like your guys' kind of thing, yeah? A vampire, maybe?"
Sam quickly read over the headline. It didn't give a lot of information, but yeah… it looked like a vampire. He nodded.
"Perfect. A vampire can't be too difficult, right? Take it easy for my first case."
"Your what?" Dean had arrived only just after Sam, and he just now decided to speak up.
"My first case. The more I work, the closer I'll get to finding my wings, yeah? Sitting around won't find them.
"Lucifer, you can't come with. It's going to be dangerous, and I can't rely on you to watch my back," Dean declared, watching the former archangel cross his arms over his chest in irritation.
"And why not?"
Dean rolled his eyes, giving him an answer: "because you're not up to par right now. You can't even hold your own! And you're… you!"
Lucifer scoffed, looking mildly offended. "Yes, I can! And that's discrimination!"
And, with that, Dean quickly tripped him, and Lucifer hit the floor with an ungraceful thud, followed by a grunt.
"You can't even fight me," Dean observed, feeling mildly proud that he knocked the Devil on his ass.
Lucifer brushed himself off as he rose to his feet, a light pink dusting his cheeks from embarrassment. "W-well, I'm not used to these... These humanly slow reflexes! It's not my fault! I'll figure it out," he huffed, before pointing his thumb towards his back, continuing; " besides, these are my wings. One step closer. Like Hell I'm gonna let you go find them without me. I'd rather die."
Dean shot Sam a glance, who had been quiet up until this point, as he grumbled, "Yeah, well that can be arranged..."
"No, Dean, we can't kill him."
Dean looked annoyed with that, but he decided not to push on.
It was silent for a few moments, and Sam decided he needed to fill Dean in on everything Lucifer had told him in the kitchen, earlier. "Dean, I need to talk to you."
"Yeah, Sam, convince him I can come with-"
"Not… not about that." Sam sighed, pulling Dean away from Lucifer, into the main area of the bunker. "So, get this…"
To be continued.