Sorry for the double post! I initially posted the wrong version of the chapter!
Hey! Apologies for this late upload, I kind of changed the entire ending of this story and have been rushing to rewrite it all.
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'Hey, Gabriel. Time to get your game shoes on. They made up.'
Part of him wanted to kill something. That was the irrational, angry half. The other part, the level one, was completely stunned.
God… and Lucifer had made up. Just like that?
Gabriel appeared in the middle of the kitchen where Lucifer was helping himself to the candy stash Gabriel had set aside as a precautionary measure.
"Not yours." Gabriel muttered, gaze flicking to Chuck.
"You're good? Just like that?"
"Just like that." He responded, averting his gaze. "And I guess, I owe you one too. I'm uh- I shouldn't have abandoned you, left you and your brothers to take care of Heaven. I was… wrong."
"Don't hurt yourself there, pops." Gabriel rolled his eyes, "I'll take my apology in the form of my kids and call it good."
"Later. After this is settled." Gabriel nodded once, crossing his arms over his chest and crossing the room to grab a chocolate bar from his brother's hand.
"Really, Gabriel?"
"Really, Lucifer?" He retorted, raising an eyebrow and turning back on the room. "So, what's the plan? What'd I miss while I was moping?"
"Well we've got you both on board, drop a nuke on Amara and end this?" Dean suggested, the three ancient beings already shaking their heads.
"There's a harmony, a balance, in the universe. Light needs dark. Dark needs light. If you blow one of them up, then, I mean-"
"It wouldn't be a good thing." Lucifer and Gabriel said at the same time.
"It'd be really not a good thing. Like 'end of reality' not good."
"Okay, so we gift-wrap Amara. I mean, we got the team back together, so-"
"Not quite. We're still a few members short of the original line-up." The two archangels shifted uncomfortably at Chuck's words.
"Yeah, first time it took the combined strength of me and my brothers to weaken Amara before Dad finished her off." Lucifer added.
"Even then it was close. Not to mention the surprise element. Now with just the three of us, we'll lose."
"Okay, so what? We need more, uh, group therapy between you and the archangels if we wanna have a shot?"
"It's not that simple." Chuck responded. "I could bring Raphael back, but Michael's an entirely different story."
"He's out of his mind." Gabriel added as explanation, fighting back the wave of emotion that the memory of his brother's death threatened to open.
"You can't just… erase the crazy?" Dean asked and Gabriel glowered at him.
"I was thorough." Lucifer responded with a lazy grin.
"grace is like a soul. You can't just chop out the bits you don't want." Chuck spoke up, the look he gave Lucifer extremely distasteful.
"No, but… Death, he walled off Sam's crazy."
"Yeah, and it blew up in your face." Sam reminded him.
"We can't have a crazy Michael on the loose." Gabriel interrupted. "You can't bring him back. I saw him- you have to understand why that's a bad idea." The look he gave Chuck was pleading, because the condition that Michael had been in before he killed him…
"Which is why I was going to recommend against it." Chuck responded. "Raphael would be easier, it will take some time, but I can bring him back."
"I think you should bring Michael back." Lucifer spoke up with a shrug. "He might be dangerous, but he's terrified of me. I've got him wrapped around my pinkie finger like the good little soldier he is."
"That's exactly why he was in Heaven when I found him? He's so well controlled that he slipped the Cage the second he had a chance?" The idea made him physically ill, a Michael that subjugated himself to Lucifer? That was an idea more horrifying than the Apocalypse.
"Hey, I sent him out. Told him to check the condition of Heaven. Figured we'd be making our move after Sammy broke- then you killed him."
"You're lying-"
"Michael's smart, and he was betting on your… humanity. Neither of us thought for a moment that you'd be bold enough to kill him."
"Chuck?" Gabriel asked, looking at his father, pleading.
"I- your brother does not lie, Gabriel." Chuck was looking at Lucifer though, almost like he was trying to read him. That was the problem, what had always been the problem. God's omnipotence wasn't like people thought, it wasn't a hundred percent and he didn't know everything. Lucifer's truth wasn't always everyone else's truth. Lucifer could believe every word coming from his mouth was true, and God wouldn't be able to see the difference. If he hadn't been paying attention before then, if he'd been ignoring the Earth, there was no tell. Time travel was a solution but if they were bringing archangels back it wasn't a smart one. Even God had his limits.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean demanded. "I bullshit for a living, Chuck. What's that look for?"
"Lucifer could be lying and I would never know it." Chuck responded with unbridled honesty.
"I don't lie." Lucifer responded with a scowl.
"No, but your truths are definitely not ours." Gabriel responded with a glower.
"Would you like to see, Gabbie?" His brother asked mockingly and he bit his tongue.
"No." If Lucifer shared his memories it definitely wouldn't just be the ones that he wanted to prove the point. It would be worse and he wasn't anywhere close to prepared to see just how low his brother had Fallen. "Swear on your grace."
"What?"
"You value nothing more in your life than your power. Swear that Michael is mentally sound enough to fight Amara. Swear on your grace that he won't flip his lid the second he touches down."
There was a moment of silence before Lucifer turned his back. "He might be a bit deluded."
"But?"
"I brainwashed him. I can guarantee he will fight. I can't swear he's near good enough shape to function on his own."
"No." Both Sam and Dean spoke up firmly.
"That's a bad idea." Sam added.
"They're right. We'll deal without Michael."
"Do you really trust me so-"
"Michael's his own ticking timebomb of power. Last thing we need is him under your thumb like some kinda heavenly attack dog. Answer's no."
"I have to agree with your brother on this one. The both of you are far too volatile to have present on Earth at the same moment."
"That's it?" Lucifer demanded, looking like someone had kicked his puppy.
"Yes, Lucifer. That is it. Unless you have a valid reason to being him back that doesn't end in the destruction of the Earth, the answer is no."
"I do actually." Lucifer responded, looking between the group with an air of bitterness. "Surely I'm not the only one thinking about the risk of not having him? As much as I hate to say it, it took the five of us the first time- and we had the element of surprise. I'm not going to be able to seduce Auntie again, she's not naïve enough to fall for it and I'm too corrupt to do it. We've seen what Dad plus my full strength does-"
"Actually, that was your strength, not mine. You can't use my Hands, Lucifer." Chuck was frowning though, glancing at Gabriel with a thread of familiar discomfort. Neither of them liked it, because what Lucifer was saying? It made painful sense.
"That's not the point." Lucifer glared at Chuck. "Maybe the little angels that could tried before and did damage, but Rowena healed her and more. She's stronger than she's been since the start."
"You don't think the four of you are enough."
"You can see it too." Gabriel swallowed heavily, shifting uncomfortably as dread pooled in his gut. The reality of Lucifer's words, the logic of it. "Come on, Father. I know you see what needs to be done."
"Four archangels, and all of Heaven." Chuck responded.
"What're you talking about?" Dean broke the reverie of the conversation, piercing it and reminding them that, right, they weren't alone.
"We need Michael, and we need Raphael."
"But you just said-"
"We can't trust Lucifer." Gabriel agreed, holding his brother's gaze and trying hard to ignore the victory smile on his face. "I haven't ever trusted him less."
"Michael has a significant amount of angelic power, power we need to stand a chance." Chuck spoke up slowly. "Michael and Raphael are necessary."
"And the little heavenly fluffballs." Lucifer added with a smirk.
"Because this ain't going to go south. You're all serious?"
"How can you not- you're God!"
"I'm not lying. I've never lied to you, Sam, and I have no reason to lie about this."
"You told us you could take Amara out on your own!" Sam snapped back angrily, "You might've been honest at one point, but you're a lying dickbag now. He trusted you, you bastard! Then you fucking lied to him!"
"Sam-"
"Get out of him! Now!" There was a lethal moment of silence after that, Chuck and Gabriel held equally tense breaths while Lucifer stared at Sam, long and hard. One, two, three, four, five-
A tense smile broke across Lucifer's face and he looked over at Chuck. "I need a Vessel."
"It will take some time." Chuck responded, soft, wary, gaze flicking between Sam and Lucifer as though he didn't know what to think- was he surprised? Well, Gabriel was. He was beyond surprised. What the hell was happening there? Why had- oh.
"I want you out of him."
"Sam, it will-"
"Yes."
"Sammy, don't!" Dean started a second too late, Lucifer rolling his shoulders and shifting slightly.
"Very well." Lips curling into a smile, Castiel's mouth fell open.
"Dean cover your eyes!" Gabriel hissed out as a bright light enveloped the room, Lucifer's bright light, True Form, glowing bright and beautiful even beneath the hard shell of darkness surrounding it.
At his core, Lucifer remained beautiful, blindingly, shockingly beautiful. The same archangel that had drawn thousands of angels to their deaths, the same one that had tempted The Darkness and allowed Creation to happen.
For those few seconds, Gabriel was lost. Then he was inside Sam- and Father help them because he had never been unfortunate enough to see that sight in the past. Never in his life had Gabriel seen an archangel in their True Vessel and it was an image he would never unsee.
Envy burned deep in his gut and for the first time he understood the reason why Lucifer had pushed so hard for Sam.
He also understood why Chuck hadn't put any of that information into The Winchester Gospels.
"I didn't even write it into the books. I was afraid it would make you look unsympathetic."
In the end Chuck had put it all in the books, he'd shared the dirty details of the demon blood- and then he'd skipped out on the details of Lucifer's possession.
There was a familiarity in the way that Lucifer's grace touched Sam's soul within his body, something Gabriel never could have dreamed of. It was almost as though Lucifer's grace was humming with approval, like he is purring.
No wonder he'd been so pissed that Sam overpowered him, it had to be intoxicating, raw and pure, and Gabriel wondered if it reflected in Sam, it probably did. How angry Lucifer had to have been to refuse consent in that church.
"Gabriel." Chuck's fingers appeared in his face, the loud snap snapping him out of his reverie and he shot an accusing look at his Father, a look that conveyed every ounce of anger and envy he was feeling in the moment, and Chuck's return response was apologetic, silent.
"Sam- what have you done?" Castiel was leaning against the table, gripping the wood and staring at Lucifer- Samifer as he had mentally dubbed the combination at one point- appalled.
"It's temporary." Chuck answered Castiel, a thread of discomfort leaking into his voice as a nervous Dean tried to steady his friend.
You sure about that, Dad? Gabriel prayed quietly, bitterly.
"Castiel." Lucifer- not Sam smiled broadly from Sam's Vessel, rolling his shoulders and stretching out a bit.
"Get out of him!"
"Just can't win with Winchesters and Co." Lucifer sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes. "On second thought, though. I'm quite liking the new housing."
"Lucifer, no." Gabriel spoke up, throwing himself forward and grabbing his brother's shoulder as they both shot from the room, landing in Gabriel's room where Lucifer shoved him off and into the wall by his throat.
"Watch yourself, little brother."
"You're not doing this."
"Doing what? Enjoying myself? Come on, Gabriel. I know I was angry at him and I know you've been lusting after the older one but look at me. Even you've got to see why it's hard to give it up. Not to mention the protection it offers. Where's the downside?"
"How about having Dean Winchester after your ass?" Gabriel reached up and shoved at his brother's shoulders to no avail. "Lucifer, this is serious!"
"I know it's serious. I also know I have the upperhand, a safety net for my survival as long as I have him."
"What-" A wave of nausea clawed at him as Lucifer's meaning clicked, and the only alternative solution to their problem…
"I want a guarantee for my life." Lucifer continued, grabbing his shoulder with his free hand and shoving him back against the wall with it, releasing his throat and staring down at him with Sam Winchester's hazel eyes. "I want to know that when it's over, I won't be stabbed in the heart. Castiel's been my guarantee, Sam's a better one, but if you're going to insist I'm moved…"
"You want to bond."
"Grace to grace." Lucifer responded, patting his cheek with his free hand. "Lifeline from the Empty, guarantee for my life if I die." Letting go, he turned and strolled over to the bed, leaving Gabriel to stare after him, leaning against the wall as his legs shook under him.
"You're disgusting, Lucifer." Gabriel scowled, "It's… forbidden."
"That's a weak excuse and you know it. Free will's part of the deal, even for us. Not to mention all your misdeeds. You just don't want to be the reason I keep living."
"You're right. I don't. Things might be… okay with us, but don't think for a second that this is fine. None of this is fine. What're you going to do when it's over? What do you think Michael will do when he sees!"
"Michael will do what Dad tells him to, or what I tell him. That's not the problem right now, and you know it isn't. You might not care about Sam, hell you don't really care much for the little seraph. But, I've seen you and Dean-o swap heart eyes. Granted I wouldn't call it love, but you wouldn't turn him down if he asked. I'm not judging. I've got no place to stand in Vessel lusting after all-"
"Don't you dare try to compare my willingness to acknowledge the looks Dean Winchester possesses with your warped- don't you dare!"
"I'll stop if you'll agree."
"What kinda deal is that!"
"The kind I'm happy to make. Come on, Gabriel. What do you really have to lose at this point? Unless you want to share how you brought yourself back with me."
"No-" That would never happen. Not in a million years. "Damn it, fine." Gabriel groaned, shaking his head. "I'll bond with you- but it's a courtesy thing. We're breaking it off the second that Dad's got her in her cage. Got it?"
"A month after she's gone." Lucifer countered, "I'm not going to have you stab me in the back the second she's down."
Sighing heavily, he leaned back into the wall, spreading his arms to the side. "Deal." Assuming they lived through it, it was likely that Raphael or Michael would do it anyways. Assuming Michael was in any decent shape.
"Wonderful." Lucifer responded with a grin, crossing back through the room. "Do you, Gabriel, take me as your mate- to follow each other through the passion of battle and beyond?"
"Ugh. Do you have to say it like that?"
"I could say it in proper Enochian but considering you're not in your True Vessel they might explode. Do you?"
"Yes." Gabriel huffed, flinching as Lucifer touched his face, their grace tingling beneath the contact of skin. "Do you Lucifer… take me as your mate, to follow each other through… the passion of battle and beyond?"
"Yes."
"Wonderful. Let's get this over with." A dark glint in his brother's eye was all that preceded the next action- a single kiss that Gabriel would never admit to because it didn't happen. Nope. Not at all.
"That should do it." Gabriel ignored the smug look on his brother's face -Sam Winchester's face- Dean will kill me if he finds out, snapping them both to the kitchen- instead being moved by a brush of his Father's power and appearing in the main room where Chuck was standing over the war table, Dean on the other side with an angry Castiel at his side.
"So, we came to an agreement." Lucifer chimed cheerily, crossing over to the table and clapping Castiel on the shoulder who stared in horror in response.
"You-"
"It was necessary." Gabriel interceded, joining Chuck's side.
"What? What'd they do?"
"We talked. Made a deal. Don't worry, no kissing was involved." Because they hadn't kissed. Gabriel refused to acknowledge that any touching of lips or mingling of grace had happened.
"Where'd you get that?" Lucifer grabbed a tuft of hair off the middle of the table, long and a deep brown. Sam's.
"None of your business." Dean responded, looking between Lucifer and Gabriel with distrust.
"Are you using it to make a new body?"
"Yes." Chuck responded as Gabriel shifted uncomfortably. "These bodies should be able to contain you and Michael at a similar level as Sam and Dean." Chuck explained as Dean set another tuft of his own hair on the table after pulling it from his pocket.
"In other words, they won't spontaneously combust when we go after Amara."
"In theory." Chuck answered dryly, the atmosphere shifting in front of them. "Fill his hair with your grace, Lucifer."
"Oooh, you're making a nephillim body!" Gabriel said suddenly, snickering slightly as a suddenly offended Lucifer did as told.
"You do the same with Dean's."
"What!" Gabriel yelped, feeling mortified. All desires to taunt his brother for what could've been a beautiful joke about Lucifer and Sam's child dissipated.
"Trust me, Gabriel. You don't want me to use Lucifer's Grace for Michael's. Stop being difficult and merge your grace with it."
"But-" Groaning, "Fine." Gabriel snagged the hair off the table and focused his grace onto the hair in his hand, merging his power with the base core of the DNA of Dean Winchester. A small spark of light glistened beneath the hair before both archangels dropped the hair tufts on the table. A couple seconds passed, the air sparking around them as God drew on something ancient before the hair tufts began to twist and turn, shifting and growing.
"So… what's it going to look like?" Dean asked, swallowing heavily and looking anywhere but at his brother.
"You- and him. The closest human manifestation of his grace and your body." Chuck began to explain apologetically, much to the chagrin of the hunter. "I'm sorry, Dean but I can't just make something from nothing and I don't have the time to drag together the primordial essence to create a new human that'll hold him. It'd be like… creating Earth again."
"So we're like… Adam."
"That's pretty close." Chuck accepted the spot-on analogy, "Gabriel, do you remember whose grace I used for Eve?"
"Anael." Gabriel responded, watching as the hair tufts morphed into fetal forms, still growing, aging and taking shape. A small nudge of his grace changed a single aspect of the growing body of Lucifer's future vessel that Chuck didn't acknowledge, much to Gabriel's contentment.
"So… Eve was a nephillim?"
"Why do you think it's Cain and Able's bloodline that houses Lucifer and Michael? Direct descendants of a nephillim enhances it- plus my own meddling."
"You know, I like it better when I make myself forget how involved you all have been in unhinging our lives." Dean muttered.
"Nothing personal." Lucifer smiled widely. "How about you go catch up with Cas? Let the big boys talk."
"What-"
"Don't worry, your baby bro will be in perfect shape when you're back." Lucifer grinned, trying- and failing, to snap Dean away. "Really?"
"Safety net." Chuck responded, most of his focus completely planted on the still growing fetus in the middle of the table. "He's right, Dean. I need to talk to my sons alone before I bring back Raphael and Michael. There's a lot of… unresolved anger there and it will be easier if you aren't involved."
"I'm not leaving-"
"He's right, Dean-o. See you two later." Gabriel snapped his fingers and they were a Winchester and seraph short.
"And then there were three." Lucifer mused.
"Five." Gabriel corrected, "You've got a baby on the way, Luci."
"It's not my baby." Lucifer was not amused.
"It's absolutely your baby."
"Well, it does hold you grace, Lucifer." Chuck spoke up, smiling slightly. "And Michael's holds yours, Gabriel. Welcome to fatherhood, boys. Since the two of you decided to elope, I hope you enjoy fatherhood as a married couple."
Almost immediately Gabriel's smile fell, "That's so not- no!" Shaking his head, "Hells no, fine. Okay, not his kid- and Luci's not my wife! Or my husband!"
"I see a ring around your grace that says otherwise. Now how about you both leave me alone so I can finish this? Go talk to the angels, get them on our side."
"Fine." Both archangels huffed out, each disappearing in their own annoyed flutter of wings.
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