Gabriel heard him long before anyone else did. He had let the animal part of his brain take over his senses before he fell asleep in case Lucifer tried anything else, so he woke up as soon as the footsteps registered in his sleepy brain. He groaned softly and pulled himself out of Sam's bed. He shuffled into his room and pulled on a pair of jeans and a new t-shirt before walking silently downstairs.
Pamela was still asleep on the couch, Meg curled up on her stomach. The cat lifted her head as he passed and he gave her a small smile. She ignored him and went back to sleep. Rude. He peered out of the window before he opened the door to make sure that it wasn't Lucifer, then opened the door wide and stared bleary-eyed at the man standing in front of the door with his finger poised above the doorbell.
"Are you Michael?" Gabriel asked in a bored tone; it was way too early to be awake. The witch nodded. "Awesome." He stepped aside and allowed Michael to enter. His blue eyes scanned critically over everything in the room, finally coming to a rest on Gabriel.
"Where is everyone else?" he asked.
"Sleeping," Gabriel replied, heading towards the kitchen. He reached into one of his jars and pulled out a lollipop, which he unwrapped and gave a lick as he studied Michael. "Hold on, I'll wake my witch."
Sam, get your moose ass out of bed.
Gabe, what the hell? Why'd you wake me up?
Michael's here.
He's here?! How do you know?
Because he's sitting at the table eating an apple.
Okay, I'll be right there. Wake up Pam and Meg.
Roger that, Captain.
"Sit tight, I'll be right back," he said to Michael. The witch gave a curt nod to show that he heard and Gabriel walked into the living room. "Hey, Meg, wake up. Michael's here."
"I know," said a sarcastic voice behind him and he turned to see Meg leaning against the wall. "I heard him come in. Pamela's already awake."
Gabriel's reply was cut off as Sam, Dean and Cas stomped down the stairs, Sam heading immediately for Gabriel while the other two headed for the kitchen.
"Morning, Meg," Sam greeted, throwing an arm around Gabriel's waist.
"Hiya, Sammy-boy," she gave him a quick smirk and headed into the kitchen, Sam and Gabriel following. Pamela was already there, sitting next to Michael while Dean and Cas leaned against the counter.
"Alright," Dean said. "Now that we're all here, let's get down to business."
"Eager, are we?" Michael asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Damn right I'm eager. Your brother is a dick, and we want him gone. Think you can handle that?"
Your brother's gonna get his ass fried by Michael if he keeps that up.
Yeah, I know, but it's not like we can just turn off his snarkiness.
I'm sure we can find a spell for that.
Gabriel, pay attention and stop distracting me.
"I'm more than capable of subduing my brother," Michael said coolly. "Just get me the ingredients I'll need for a locating spell, and I'll handle the rest."
Dean turned to Cas. "Can you go get the stuff he needs?" Cas nodded and headed to the basement, brushing his shoulder against Gabriel's as he passed.
"My brother is a very powerful witch," Michael said, tossing his apple core into the trash can. "When we locate him, he'll probably be able to sense me coming if I just head straight for him."
"So, what can we do?" Sam asked.
"Someone with a weak or nonexistent magic signature should be able to sneak up on him and distract him long enough for me to get there and engage him."
"Who did you have in mind?" Sam's voice was suspicious, and his grip on Gabriel tightened a little.
"The familiars," Michael said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"No way!" Sam shouted at the same time Dean said "Screw that!" and Pamela yelled "Are you nuts?"
"We won't send our familiars to be Lucifer bait," Dean spat angrily at Michael. Cas chose that moment to come up the stairs with his arms laden with supplies, and he looked at Gabriel in confusion.
"Michael wants to send us and Meg to distract Lucifer so he can sneak up on him," Gabriel explained.
"And the witches are angry?" Cas asked.
"Duh."
"Unless you want Lucifer to get away again, this is the only way," Michael said. "Besides, it's not your choice. Your familiars are the ones going, so they get to decide whether or not they want to help."
"Even if they say yes, do you think we'll just let them go on such a suicidal mission?" Pamela asked, eyes flashing with anger.
"Don't I get a say in this?" Meg drawled.
"No!" all three witches shouted together.
Sam, don't be such an overprotective parent.
Gabe, remember what happened last time we let you and Cas go after Lucifer.
Yeah, he showed up here and attacked you guys instead.
He attacked us to find out where you and Cas were. He wants to kill you, so I'm not just going to let you waltz right into whatever hole he's living in.
But if we don't do this, we might not ever get another chance to take him out, and then where would we be? Spending the rest of our lives living in fear of Lucifer attacking us, and that's not how I wanna spend the rest of my days.
Yeah, I guess you're right.
Of course I am, I'm always right about everything.
Whatever, Gabe. Just promise me that if it gets too dangerous you'll get out of there.
I promise.
Gabe looked around the kitchen and saw the other two familiars staring angrily at their witches, having the same conversation that Sam and Gabriel had just had. Michael had already set up the locating spell. He threw the match onto a map of the city, watching intently as the paper crumbled into ash, leaving only the name of a small park a few miles away from the house.
Meg finally looked away from Pamela with a smug look on her face, the witch looking angry but resigned. Dean took the most convincing, but eventually he agreed to let Cas go.
"Excellent," Michael said. "Now, he's somewhere in this park. Let your witches know immediately when you find him, alright?" The three of them nodded and Michael gave them a tight smile, the expression looking out of place on his stoic face. "Then go."
"Hey, let's call ourselves the fellowship of the familiars," Gabriel said right before they transformed.
"No," Cas and Meg said together. They transformed and left, Cas taking to the sky and Meg running along fences. Gabriel pouted.
"Killjoys," he muttered. Then he, too, transformed and took off, not needing to try very hard to catch up to his brother. Cas brushed their wings together in greeting then returned his attention to the ground. Gabriel could see the park where Lucifer was coming up ahead. He put on a burst of speed and got there first, landing in a tree to wait for the other two.
Cas landed next to him and Meg eventually scrambled up the trunk as well.
"Okay, you guys," Gabriel screeched. "If this is going to work, he has to be completely focused on us."
"We know, bird brain," Meg growled.
"Fine, hairball," Gabriel retorted. "Get to it." He waited until Meg and Cas had gone before throwing himself out of the tree and taking to the skies. He knew his brother would be flying low, so he soared high enough to see most of the park at once. His golden eyes scanned the ground below him, searching for any sign of Lucifer.
He saw the occasional jogger, but other than that there was no one else out.
Any luck so far?
Nope. If it weren't for the locating spell that Michael did, I'd be pretty sure that Lucifer wasn't even in the park. Oh, nevermind, there he is.
You see him?
Yeah, he's on the swings. He's not exactly hiding.
Be careful.
Aren't I always?
That's not reassuring, Gabe.
Gabriel tucked his wings in and dived, heading straight for Lucifer. At the last second, he opened his wings and extended his talons, aiming them right at Lucifer's already scarred face. Only, his talons went right through Lucifer as if he wasn't there at all. Before Gabriel could even land, something heavy slammed into him and pushed him roughly to the ground.
He looked up and saw Lucifer, the real one, standing over him with a smirk on his face. Something pushed into his mind, into the space that Sam usually occupied, and blocked off his Bond. He closed his eyes at a sudden pain and when he opened them again, he was human.
"Hello, Gabriel," Lucifer sneered, and Gabriel felt a fierce satisfaction at the scars on his face, scars that he put there.
"Hiya, Luci," he smirked. "Fancy meeting you here."
"Indeed," Lucifer mused. "I was expecting your master and his brother. They've really got to stop sending familiars to attack me, they should know by now that it won't work out."
"Yeah, well, what are you gonna do?" Gabriel shrugged, wincing at the woodchips digging into his back. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"
"No," Lucifer said, looking around the playground like he was expecting something else to pop up and attack him.
"Thanks. You see, I've been wondering. All we did was expose your crimes to the general witch public, is all this quote unquote revenge really worth it?"
"Didn't I just say no?" Lucifer looked back down at Gabriel, an expression of annoyance on his features. Good, annoyance is distracting.
"It's rude to answer a question with a question," Gabriel pointed out.
"It's rude to ask a question after being told not to."
"It's rude to try to kill familiars just because you're a buttface."
"Well, it's rude to- wait, did you just call me a buttface? Is that really the best insult you could come up with?"
"No, but I just really wanted to point out that with all of the lines running across your face, I can't tell the difference between your scars and your butt crack."
Lucifer's face turned a little red and Gabriel mentally cheered. Anger is even more distracting than annoyance.
"You are more trouble than you're worth," Lucifer hissed. "I can't imagine why your witch or your brother puts up with you."
Gabriel rolled his eye. "Because I'm the leader of the fellowship of the familiars, duh."
Lucifer's anger was replaced by confusion and Gabriel started to worry a little.
Come on, Michael. Hurry up! How distracted does he have to be?
Lucifer jerked back and Gabriel felt his magical hold disappear. Instantly, he scrambled backwards, getting to his feet and changing to his animal form. He flew up into the air and looked down at what had distracted Lucifer.
He could see Lucifer on the ground, writhing in pain, and standing above him was Michael.
It's about time!
Gabriel! Are you okay? What happened? The Bond closed up.
I'm fine, Samsquatch. It was just Lucifer being Lucifer. He blocked the Bond somehow.
Where's Cas and Meg?
I don't know, I haven't seen them for a while.
Okay, Dean, Pam and I are on our way, just hold tight.
'Kay.
From his vantage point in the air, Gabriel could see everything that was going on. Lucifer managed to throw Michael back, cutting off whatever spell he was using.
"What are you doing here?" Lucifer snarled, Gabriel's raptor hearing allowing him to hear what was being said.
"I've come to finish what Father started," Michael replied. Lucifer scoffed and flung out his hand. A bright blue ball of energy flew out of his hand, but Michael merely flicked his hand and it fizzled out.
"Father was a fool," Lucifer sneered. He threw three more energy balls at Michael, but the older witch didn't even flinched. He held up his hand and the orbs floated in the air in front of him, and with another flick they had doubled in speed and thrown themselves at Lucifer. He wasn't fast enough to dodge and ended up getting slammed back by all three energy balls.
The front of his short was completely burned away, revealing blistering red skin that was slowly oozing blood. Lucifer hissed in pain and hauled himself to his feet. He tried to attack again but Michael was relentless. Lucifer was thrown back against a tree and Michael stalked forward, face cold and expressionless.
He held up his hand and it started to glow white. As the glow intensified, so did Lucifer's struggles. Michael gazed at his brother, finally showing just a hint of regret.
"I'm sorry, brother," he said. "But you made me do this."
Michael took his hand and slammed it down onto Lucifer's forehead. The witch's eyes and mouth lit up with the same white light as Michael's hand as he threw his head back and screamed in pain. There was a small explosion and the sound of glass shattering, and then Lucifer's lifeless body fell limply to the ground.
Michael spared one last glance at his brother before snapping his fingers and disappearing. Gabriel flew down to the ground and landed next to the dead witch. He shed his feathers and stood staring at Lucifer with his mouth slightly open.
Gabriel, what happened?
Lucifer's dead. Michael killed him.
Well, that's why we called him.
Yeah, but you didn't see the fight, Sam. Compared to Michael, Lucifer was practically powerless.
Are you still in the park?
Yeah, where are you?
At the start of the trail the joggers use. We found Cas and Meg in a Familiar's Trap.
A what?
A Familiar's Trap. You know how a Devil's Trap can trap demons? A Familiar's Trap can to the same to familiars.
Sounds boring. Alright, I'm coming to you.
He turned back into an eagle and took off, a little tricky since he was on flat ground. It took him less than a minute to fly to where Sam and the others were. He transformed before he landed and fell the last few feet to the ground, landing in a crouch next to Sam. The witch pulled him into a one-armed hug when he straightened up.
"So, the wicked witch is dead?" Meg asked, leaning into Pamela.
"Yup," Gabriel said, popping the 'p'. "Luci's dead, Mikey's gone and all is right with the world."
"I hope that bitch stays dead this time," Dean growled. Cas put his arms around Dean's waist and Dean wrapped one of his arms around Cas' shoulders.
"I'm sure he's really dead," Sam said. "Michael wouldn't have left otherwise."
"Michael did say something weird, though," Gabriel said. "Right before he iced Lucifer, he told him that he came to finish what their father started."
"I thought their father was dead," Pamela said.
"That's what Ash told me."
"Huh. I'm sure it's nothing, Sweet Cheeks."
Gabriel felt his face heat up a little at the nickname and he pressed his face farther into Sam's jacket. Everyone laughed at his expression and he stuck out his tongue, face returning to it's natural hue.
"Can we go, now?" Cas asked. "When Lucifer's body is discovered and the police are called, I don't want to be here."
"Good point, Cassie." Gabriel turned on his heel, heading to where he had seen the Impala parked on the curb. The others followed behind him, but Sam caught up to him easily with his longer legs.
I'm so glad that's over.
Sam took his hand and intertwined their fingers.
Me, too. The whole constantly in danger of dying thing was getting old. It was even worse because Lucifer was basically just a brat throwing a temper tantrum, according to what I gathered from Michael.
Sam chuckled and Gabriel's mouth stretched into a smile, as it always did when he managed to make Sam laugh.
"You are going to make my life very sarcastic, aren't you?"
"Oh, definitely."
Sam just grinned again and squeezed Gabriel's hand as the two of them got into the backseat of Dean's car, and they stayed like that the whole ride home.
Finally done! This story gave me a lot of trouble for some reason. But anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be working on two new multi-chapter fics, but I won't be posting until I have most of the chapters written.
One will be an Avengers fic, and the other will be Rise of the Guardians. Don't expect the the first chapter of either one (I haven't decided which one I wanted to do first) for at least two or three weeks, maybe more.
Until then, I'll be posting a series of one-shots for a few of my favorite fandoms that I'm calling the Nighttime Terror Series. The title is pretty self-explanatory, and as of right now, there'll be five of them, though I may post more as I come up with them.
Thanks so much, guys! Keep a look out for my stories, called Nighttime Terrors Series, Mother Nature and the Generals (Rise of the Guardians) and The Avengers save Loki and the World (Avengers, obvi).