Sam knew something was wrong before he even found Lucifer. For one, he is stuck in Lucifer's hell/dreamland again. Two, Adam is there with him, eyeing him with distrust. Or rather, Michael was there as well. Lucifer is staring off in the distance at the exact same scene Sam saw previously. Heaven in all it's glory. And not long after will be Michael throwing Lucifer out. Call it sympathy for the Devil, but Sam could see where Lucifer was coming from in the case of him and Michael. Or it could be just the fact of Lucifer being in his head messing him up.
"What is happening?" Michael speaks up, startling Sam out of his rather troublesome thoughts. "Why is he like this?" He drags Lucifer along with him, but the scene keeps unfolding. Michael and Lucifer shows up in the memories, and Michael turns to Sam again. Sam finds himself, for the second time, with an Archangel by his throat. Holding him up by his throat, that is.
"Let go." He glares at Michael. Here in the cage, even the Sword of Heaven cannot hurt him. Much. And any respect he had for the Archangel dissipated after him and Dean got chased across the country so Michael can wear Dean and Lucifer can wear Sam and they can have their prize fight.
"Tell me what is happening to my brother."
"I don't know."
"Lies!" Michael snarls as Adam fights for control in his mind, begging him to not rush in and make a mess of things. But Michael cannot wait. The last few days- weeks? Spent with Lucifer, his brother has been- Seeing Lucifer like this, dead to the world and vulnerable- hurts him. And if Sam Winchester can fix it then he will damn well make sure that the human does.
"Not. Lying." Sam glares at Michael. Michael lifts him into the air.
"You must be doing this to him." Michael declares while proceeding to crush his windpipe. "Let him go!"
"Why do you even care?!" Sam yells back, kicking at Michael. Lucifer definitely left some residual personality in him. The irrational anger burning at Sam.
"He is my brother!" Michael punches Sam, his fist cracking against his jaw, sending Sam flying. Sam reaches up and grabs a fistful of Michael's hair. Michael howls, and kicks Sam in his leg, disturbingly close to his groin. Sam bites the Archangel's hand. The scene around them shifts, and Michael pushes Sam away and returns to Lucifer's side.
"Lucifer?" He whispers, and the skies light up with their last battle, and Michael chokes up, watching himself, in all his real, angelic glory, with his sword pointing at Lucifer's throat. Lucifer is begging, saying please, Michael, please, and Michael is cold. So cold. "Lucifer!" Michael yells, and the image blinks out of existence.
"At least we get a scenery change." Adam tells him, voice shaking. He is almost as affected by this as Michael is.
"Stop." Michael whispers. Adam stops.
"What happened?" Sam asks, propping Lucifer up. Lucifer blinks, not quite believing that Sam is there.
"Michael." Lucifer stares at Michael, who stares back. Sam backs away and the two Archangels, the two brothers are enveloped in each other's embrace, babbling in Enochian. They break apart, and move to opposite sides of the clearing awkwardly, like it was pre-arranged. Sam looks between Michael and Lucifer. The three of them sat across from each other in the clearing.
"How can we get out?" Sam asks, to disperse the uncomfortable silence, and because he really, really does want to leave the cage. If Hell is fire and brimstone and constant noise like Dean described, then the Cage is the opposite, and it drives him insane.
"You cannot." Lucifer tells Sam. His vessel is here, his true vessel, and all he wanted to do is to reunite with Sam. He needs to give it time, Lucifer thinks. Despite what the human thinks, Lucifer never lied to him. The link between an Archangel and his true vessel is different, more intimate than regular vessel-angel bonds.
"There has to be a way!" Sam tries not to sound desperate. The cage is bearing down on him, slowly grounding him into nothing.
"An Archangel uniting with his true vessel could, theoretically, tear a hole in the cage. It would probably not lead back to the physical plane." Michael says, and all the alarm bells in Sam's head rings.
"I'm not saying yes." Sam wanted to say yes. He wants to latch on to any chance to get out at this point, but letting Lucifer in again is not an option he even wants to consider. He cautiously thinks that it could be true, since it is Michael suggesting it and not Lucifer. The trust he has for either of them is practically on the same level. Which is none.
"The cage." Lucifer speaks up, staring intently at Sam, ignoring Michael's heated gaze. They are both affected by what they saw in Lucifer's...unfortunate previous state of mind. "The cage is a construct of your mind. It is a non-space. It is a wall between worlds. The only way to leave is to attack it's weak spot-" Lucifer gestured at the clearing.
"And let out a massive burst of energy." Sam finishes the sentence for him.
"That will break the barrier, yes."
"Swear. That you will let me go once we get out." This is a bad idea. This is probably even a worse than listening to Ruby and letting the Devil out of the cage.
"I am an Angel, Sam." Lucifer says and Sam freezes, wondering if he read his mind. "I swear on my honor."
"Your honor means nothing." Sam bites back, the flash of hurt on Lucifer's face satisfying some ugly part of him.
"You will not speak to my brother this way-"
"I swear on my grace, then." Lucifer interrupts Michael, looking at Sam like he is the most important thing in the world, and damn but it is disturbing.
"A grace-oath means that an Angel cannot break his word, or else his grace is torn from him and scattered in a thousand pieces." Michael injects darkly, glaring at Sam. Uniting with a true vessel is counted as a miracle, a blessing for an Archangel, and Sam Winchester has done nothing but reject Lucifer.
Sam takes a deep breath. The three of them, two Archangels and Lucifer's vessel, stands facing each other in the cage. If this is his only chance to get out, back to Dean, his family, and live again, then he will take it.
"Yes." He breathed.
Lucifer smiles. A flash of light and, Lucifer stood, smiling blissfully at Michael, as bright as him, the Light Bringer, the Morning Star, should be. He is bright, has always been almost too bright, and the brightest ones are the ones who fall first.
Then Lucifer releases his grace, his energy and lashes out at the walls of the cage. When the powers of an Archangel and his true vessel is combined this way, even the cage, the wall between worlds, gave way. Large, dark tears formed, glimpses into worlds that are not theirs.
"Are we going in?" Adam asks. Michael joins him in their mindspace.
"Yes."
"Will we get out okay?" Adam is scared. And he is not afraid to admit that yes, Adam is pretty freaked out by this whole thing, because he likes it here, as absurd as it sounds, with only him and Michael and maybe Lucifer for company.
"I don't know." Michael is truthful, for he could not be anything but truthful to Adam. This shining, bright human who got himself caught in this mess. Adam nods, and leans up to kiss him.
It was a chaste kiss, a brush of lips. Michael returns the affections without a thought. He decided a long time ago that what he felt for the human is much more than friendship. They deepen the kiss, grasping at each other like drowning men.
"See you on the other side." Adam tells Michael when they split, lips red and swollen. Michael nods and presses a kiss on his forehead, shimmering out of their mindspace.
They step into a tear in the universe.