September, 13th 2014
I don't own any of the characters, CW and Eric Kripke do!
Beta for this Chapter: Ashqtara
A/N: Hey there my loyal readers :)
I'm...I can't even excuse this, huh? Yes, I'm still continuing. It's a motto of mine that no story is left unfinished, even if the last update was last year. The PJO story also needs to be finished as well as my Merlin fic but they're gonna be. Just that this is the hottest one right now so you get the next update :). I'm so sorry but I'm at Animation school right now and it's really rad but also really time consuming and exhausting and I'm thinking much about my future right now since I'm gonna write my Bachelor Thesis in October and I'm really nervous. I hope I can participate in NaNoWriMo again this year even with all the stress so I can finish this story (because how I plan it'll probably take another 50.000).
So again, sorry for the lack of update. You know how summer is, right? ^^"
You have free time and you think "hey, I can write/draw/do stuff now!" and then you just...do nothing. Or go swimming because it's f***ing hot. Oh well. Here it is, you earned it my lovelies *hugs you all*
Ky111: Thank you, I'm glad you like the way I solved it :3. Yeah, I wanted the Gabriel-Lucifer fight to be another parallel to the actual show, just..different. You'll see. No, I don't mean the alpha. I mean in the "Spinoff" startup at the end of Season 9, where there was that episode in Chicago that was kinda weird all the way actually. It doesn't matter though xP
Skylark18: Thank you! I really apreciate your review, I always love them and the praise makes me blush and want to continue *blushes*. I'm glad you like it :3
Falchion: Yeah, It's a little confusing. I also call them Dean AND Michael in this chapter but they're just combined with a stronger connection than a normal angel and vessel now since Michael isn't taking up all of Dean's conciousness but rather kind of sharing and making it a mutual relationship and it makes them more powerful than ever and that kinda makes it even more complicated xD I'll explain more later.
Evanescence2189: There'll be more of Lisa and Ben in later chapters, just right now they kind of don't fit into the whole fighting-situation but I might arrange something ^^. I'm so glad you like it that much, thank you! *hug* I'm always so flattered people read my stories in one go since...well, there's freaking long x'D. So yeah, thank you and I will ^^
harrylee94: Thank you so much for the praise *blushes*. I'm glad you like the story. I always wanted Dean to say yes and for Michael to not be a dick. Season 5 started out great and I was really please with the storyline up to the point where I started with Fic (where Gabriel died and they kind of drive everything to the ground, let Adam take Michael and Dean walks away and ugh). I just wanted Dean to be special too, you know? xD I mean he is, in the end. But all the potential for the story was waisted. So yeah. That's the motivation and you propably guessed that...sorry for the rant.
Apalala: Youtube? Oh wow, I didn't know that! If you ever find the link could you show me? I always feel so honored x_x. Me too! I was disappointed ^^"". Your English is just fine, I'm not a native speaker myself (I'm German) :). Thank you for the long review, my friend, it really warmed my heart *blushes and hugs you a lot*
guest_4: I'm sorry for the late update, Guest. Of course I will continue, I always do ^^. Just sometimes, life gets in the way and I hope you understand that. maybe it's easier to make an account on fanfiction and "watch" the story, then you get a notification everytime I update :) Just a suggetion of course, you don't have to do that and I'm really happy you like the story so much that you check for an update so often ^^.
LucediDio: Dir hab ich schon per PM geantwortet aber nochmal hier danke für die deutsche Review, sehr cool , hat mich sehr gefreut :3.
Now please enjoy :3
Chapter 22
I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn
Gabriel's back hurt. In fact, that wasn't the only thing that did. He had no idea he could still feel pain like this. Being out of angelic fights for centuries sure wasn't good when you went up after your angry, temper tantrum throwing older brother. He was just simply out of practice, that was all. It wasn't that Lucifer was stronger or older than him…or more powerful. No, that couldn't be it. Just outta bounce a bit, yeah.
Slowly, he peeled himself off the broken wall of the house Lucifer had been staying in. Just that right now, it was starting to crumble around them, having been on the receiving end of an archangel fight wasn't good for any human-made construction after all.
"Why don't you just give it up, Gab? Just because you're a little frustrated I finally killed Big Brother shouldn't have your panties all twisted. Since when did you root for him, anyway? I thought you were more the independent kind of man?" Lucifer teased, advancing on him slowly, taking his sweet time. They were alone, the two of them. The Devil couldn't send his higher demon soldiers away fast enough, Gabriel had just slaughtered them. It was a shame about the hosts but he was just so angry he hadn't really cared. Now he glanced over at the bodies lying around, wondering if it was possible for an angel to jump into deceased humans.
"It won't help. I'll just pulverize your new vessel as well. Not feeling so good are you?" the older archangel grinned wickedly and Gabriel held his side. A noise filled the room, a sort of high pitched scream. It was erupting from his side together with the glowing white light of his grace. Gabriel tried to suppress a whimper, swallowed it down.
"Shut up, Lucifer. You have no idea what you did." He warned. The sight of that gaping hole in Michael's chest, the agony on his face…it wouldn't leave his mind alone and again, he felt the very human urge to cry his eyes out. Or advance on the angel responsible, that worked too.
"Oh believe me, I do. I got rid of the little pest that always ruined my plans. Seriously, what's so special about humans? They're whiny little flaws that constantly sin and sin and want forgiveness and can't see anything farther away than five minutes from now. Michael seemed just too fond of them right before I you know…" his grin grew wider, head tilting and he made a fist with his hand, as if crushing something. "let Death crush his grace."
With his fist closing, Gabriel felt himself being pinned to the wall behind him again, pain in his chest as if Lucifer had grabbed his heart and held him in place with it. The angel gasped but his glare was still present.
"How could you, Luci? He's your brother, he even still loves you. How can you force us to battle you?" he asked, lifting his glare up to heaven, let it become gentle. This illusion of him would be gone soon, he knew. Another one was appearing being Lucifer, his real self, and he was raising his sword, preparing to stab Lucifer from behind. The devil wasn't showing any sign of knowing it yet so he kept on creeping up behind him, letting him think the one pinned to the wall was himself.
"Oh come on, don't give me that crap. Besides, it's past tense now. Do you feel his presence? Because I don't. You know what that means. He's gone. How does that make you feel, huh, Gabriel?" Lucifer teased, finally stepping toe to toe with the version of him hanging on the wall.
"I bet it feels real good, knowing you just had your precious big brother back, having him torn to shreds right before your eyes. Seeing him in agony like that, pain no angel felt before…except maybe me, you know. Down in that cage it wasn't really a five star hotel. The grace you got back from Michael may have made you stronger, Gab. But you're still no match for me." He said and whirled around, grabbed the Gabriel behind him, just before he stabbed him and whirled him right on top of the other one, pinned him to the wall with his arm, making the illusion evaporate. The memories of what Lucifer had just described didn't make dodging any easier, keeping him in Lucifer's grip fully.
"You know why that is?" a dramatic pause followed as Lucifer slowly put his own angelic blade to Gabriel's chest, pressing it into his skin and making him blind with pain, white-blue light escaping from below his skin. This was it…this was the end. Last trick, he couldn't escape. But at least he had tried avenging Michael…at least he'd killed a few upper demons. Maybe it would help just a little bit. It wasn't worth living anyway, if he could just watch Lucifer burn the world down. He's rather die having tried to end it than anything else. Still, the trickster in him was aching for one last joke.
"No, I have no clue. Please, enlighten me." He said, a joking grin on his face. You know, enlighten, grace? No? Oh well, he tried. His eyes closed for a moment, so he could keep his composure and not scream out loudly at the rising level of pain from his chest. Lucifer's dark chuckle would be the last thing he heard.
"Because your tricks will never work on me. I taught you everything you know." He said in a fake sweet tone, the blade inching deeper into his chest, Lucifer's power pinning him down fully. Not far from his grace now…
"Well that's just pure bullshit." A voice startled both of them. The devil didn't let go but he turned around slowly, surprised. Gabriel's eyes were still closed. He was probably imagining that voice. Couldn't be. He had felt his presence being erased from the earth. But suddenly, Lucifer's weight and grip was gone, a crash sounded from across the room.
"Because I was the one to teach both of you, Luci." A smug smile seemed to be lingering in the voice and finally, Gabriel dared open his eyes.
A figure stood above him, gleaming golden wings blocking the sunlight from outside. Wait, sunlight? There had been a storm brooding above their heads just seconds from now. The figure leaned down, touched his cheek without a word. Gabriel's eyes adjusted and he saw Dean- or Michael? They had mold into one person. No chest wound, nothing. Blood was still caked to his shirt and there was a hole in it too but otherwise he seemed perfectly fine. Michael's free hand stroked down his face softly and suddenly, the pain was gone from his side and chest, skin repairing, light retreating inside. His other held the sword he had used in his last big fight with Lucifer, centuries ago.
"Michael." The younger archangel breathed. He thought right then that he hadn't felt that much relieve in a very long time. "You're…not dead!" a grin spread across his face and he shot up, hugging the hell out of his brother, forgetting about the immediate threat that had crashed into the other side of the room.
"Yeah, how is that? I was pretty sure I killed you stone dead." Lucifer interrupted them. Michael smiled at Gabriel and his gaze went dark when he turned around to face his other brother, sword dragging on the ground as he rose up, a slow flap of the wings giving him an extra boost.
"Well, you weren't thorough enough then. Look at me. I'm stronger than ever before. Do you want to know how? Death didn't like being imprisoned." He said, lifting something in his hand. Gabriel gasped. Why was he showing Lucifer this? And where the hell did he get it from? It could ruin all their plans…
"He gave me this." Michael said, his voice calm and calculating while he watched the gears in Lucifer's head spin, realizing what the black ring in Michael's hand meant and seeing that he had his flame sword with him, was in full armor basically, his true vessel united with him...
A kind of nervous chuckle escaped the Devil's mouth.
"Oh so you thought I didn't know you were collecting the rings, huh? Sure, I knew. Never doubted." He said, grin on his face. But there was a fracture of something Gabriel couldn't place. The fallen angel pursed his lips as Michael slowly let the sword rise to a fighting position, taking a stance in front of Gabriel. The youngest angel got up and stood side by side with his brother, let his blade fly back into his hands and lifted up his chin, appearing more confident, now that his brother was by his side.
Lucifer stepped back a bit, seeing them next to each other.
"Fine. You want a war? I'll give you a war, Michael! Your precious earth won't be recognizable when I'm done with it!" he spat. Michael hadn't said a word back to him, just stared with those green eyes, jaw set steadily, the combination of Winchester and Archangel staring the devil down without a single doubt about being able to kill him stone dead. He didn't though. Just stared. And a second later, Lucifer was gone.
Finally, both of the remaining angels let out a breath.
"We have to get back to the others. Lucifer will be gathering his army now. It's time we took our own." Gabriel nodded when his brother spoke and the both disappeared, on their way back to that shabby motel room that had such a strong contrast to their surroundings of just a few seconds ago.
Gabriel mused on what just happened. Had Lucifer run from them? The gaze he tossed them had been strange…envious? Fearful? Both of them were just impossible to consider, concerning the Morning Star. But they had certainly succeeded in driving him away for now. He had almost feared that the fighting would start now, right in front of him with him still being too weak to interfere. So he was pretty glad it didn't happen that way…
Sam's knee wobbled up and down in a nervous heap and he fiddled with the Impala's keys in his hands. What was taking so long? He was seriously starting to get nervous. After all, he had just thought he lost his brother, read his suicide note just to find him not dead after all and then lose him again to get his apparently adoptive brother back. It was just short of confusing, their momentary situation. There was nothing to really describe what he was feeling really.
Suddenly, there was a presence in his head. Black, red, menacing, everlasting, consuming him…
Lucifer, he thought.
It's your last call, Sam. Final fight, you and me-
"Sorry Sammy, didn't plan on taking so long." He snapped out of it. The presence was gone and replaced with a deep breath for his lungs and a sight for sour eyes: Michael!Dean and Gabriel back in their room, apparently whole and healthy. He smiled and got up, seizing the opportunity to close his brother into his arms once again, trying to chase the images of Lucifer out of his mind. Since Michael was with him, Dean seemed to have less issues with contact and Sam won't complain about that slight change.
Sam spotted a sword on the bed when he let go and gasped.
"That's the sword from my vision." He said, stepping closer to examine it.
"So it's time?" he asked. The hunter hadn't been sure if they actually had encountered Lucifer in their little detour. Michael nodded.
"Yes, it is." He confirmed. Gabriel looked around the room, eyebrows raised.
"Where's the rest of the crew?" he asked.
"Grocery shopping." Sam answered dryly. The angels stared, blinking. Sam sat down again and there was an awkward silence.
"You're serious." Gabriel stated, flabbergasted. Sam never thought he'd see that expression on an angel. "It's the end of the world and our tag team is going shopping?!"
Just as he said it, the door to the motel opened.
"You're back!", Abby cheered. She was carrying a paper basket with a logo on it, setting it down on the table heavily. Adam and Bobby followed behind her, carrying even more of them.
"You went shopping.", Gabriel repeated, this time staring at Abby, still not quite believing it. The huntress just returned her gaze, expression dry.
"Yeah well. Not all of us can rely on their angely feathers to feed us, we have to eat sometime. So I thought, if the Apocalypse is coming, we might as well get the groceries while they're not laced with Croatoan or otherwise polluted or you know…burning." Her hands were at her hips and she stared into Gabriel's eyes. Their stare was interrupted by Dean's loud laughter. It tore all of their gazes to him. Sam had to smile slightly. It was so rare to hear Dean laugh that the sound was soothing to his ears.
"I really like you, you know that Abby? Sam, don't leave her side. Like, ever.", he pointed at her, then at his brother. Both blushed, which only made Dean grin wider.
"Tz, seriously. Humans." Gabriel chimed but it was an amused one, seriously cheerful somehow. Michael clapped his hands together.
"Very well. Now that the food issue was obviously settled, let's get this thing going. Lucifer knows about the rings, of course. It was impossible for him not to." He was met with puzzled gazes, even bewildered but he didn't let them ask questions and continued.
"It doesn't matter though. As long as we defeat him his knowledge can't save him. The spell to the cage is not one that can be broken or undone and there is no protection from it. It will just suck in everything in its reach, like last time. So the plan I have.." he walked over to the table, making the groceries appear on the bed instead of it and the rings on the now free table.
"…requires very hard team work on our part." He finished. All four rings sat there, building a perfect square. Michael leaned forward and pushed Death's ring a little bit closer. The three others were drawn to him like a magnet, building a Y of some sort. The others didn't say anything, recognizing a speech when they heard one.
"This is the key and there's a verse that has to be said to open the cage. And Lucifer has an army. We need to meet them head on in three days time, that's how long he'll need and how long we have. I'm going to recruit heaven or what's left of it and mobilize some other parties I'd like to secure in this fight. Are you all with me?" he asked into the room and there were just nods all around, even from Adam it was decisive, sure. The angel smiled and set the key back down that he had held up for all to see.
"Gabe, teach these Ladies and Gentlemen how to recite the ritual, I want all of them to know it, just in case. Be right back."
And within the blink of an eye, he was gone. Just a second later, Castiel suddenly appeared.
"I…I couldn't feel hi-" he stopped his frantic speech when he saw the bed -empty. Looked around to see the faces of his companions, all determined and set and not at all grieving. And an empty bed.
"What…what happened? Where is he?" big blue eyes looked from face to face, resting on his older brother, finally.
"Gabriel?" the confusion was so apparent and Castiel's arms hang limply at his side, giving him the perfect impression of a small lost child who didn't know what to do with his limps yet.
And suddenly, they all found themselves laughing their hearts out and Castiel found himself in a hug or two or even three and in the end, when somebody finally decided to give him the good news, an honest smile found its way to his vessel's lips and his hands buried themselves in his brother's embrace.
The tears he may have shed that night were not –as he expected, dreaded- from grieve but from joy.
Castiel decided that for the Apocalypse, that was a pretty good way to end a day.
Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play
And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn
And I've been fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I'm always dragging that horse around
All of his questions, such a mournful sound
Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground
'Cause I like to keep my issues drawn
It's always darkest before the dawn
Shake it out, shake it out
Shake it out, shake it out, oh whoa
Shake it out, shake it out
Shake it out, shake it out, oh whoa
And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back,
So shake him off.
~Shake it up, Florence and the Machine
Haha, I'm currently in a Florence + The machine fever and I can't stop listening to her sing x_x. Please bear with me. Plus, this song is so inspirational, it is what pulled this chapter through being written more quickly than I though I could actually type. So, thank this glorious song by listening to it :)
Also, I know I might have gone a little overboard with Castiel at the end there. But I just love how he just stands there sometimes and I thought the characters probably quietly learned to love that about him, that's why they're laughing. Also, Lucifer ran, yes. that's because I think deep down, he's a bit terrified of Michael, especially if he sees that unlike Lucifer himself, Michael doesn't have to really FORCE people/angels to stand by him and that makes him envious...just my thought on that.
What do you think? PLEASE tell me what you think, I'd really appreciate it! :3