Fic: And The Angel Said "Be Not Afraid"
Title: And The Angel Said "Be Not Afraid" - Part 3
Rating: R
Author: bellacatbee
Artist: chosenfire28
Beta: casness
Genre: Slash
Pairing(s) / Character(s): Adam/Michael, Dean/Castiel, hinted at Sam/Gabriel, Raphael, Lucifer, Kate Milligan
Warnings: MPREG, graphic descriptions of illness, slight violence
Word Count: 23,144
Notes: Thank you so much to everyone who helped with this story.
Summary: Adam is alive and out of the cage but things are wrong. He can’t reach Michael, he’s sick and when he falls asleep he’s having dreams where he sees his dead mother. Men aren’t supposed to bear children but Adam’s special, and Michael’s an archangel; only the baby is killing Adam slowly and there’s nothing Sam and Dean can do but stand by and watch. Castiel and Dean are fighting, Sam thinks the child might be Lucifer’s, and somehow Gabriel has been resurrected to carry the glorious news. Adam just wishes Michael would answers his prayers.
Art Masterpost
“I don’t like this.”
“So you’ve said,” Adam agreed, fixing Dean with the best glare he could but it was hard to do when he was bedridden. Dean and Sam had moved all of furniture to the sides of the living room, creating a space on the floor and Castiel had drawn summoning signs on the floor in case this attempt in reaching Michael failed to work. They still had no idea if Michael would appear and if he did what form he would take. He couldn’t possess Adam any longer. He didn’t have Adam’s permission and even if he had the fledgling grace growing in Adam would prevent it. Dean point blank refused to give permission and Adam didn’t want to have a conversation with his lover while the other was in his older brother’s body. There was a chance, however slim, that they might be calling down Michael in his true form.
Dean sighed again; obviously unhappy with the idea and Adam could see Castiel tensing. Maybe they were risking something. Maybe Michael hadn’t changed the way Adam had thought he had, maybe if they called him down he would take that as a sign that Dean was giving in to him. Adam thought he wanted the fighting over. From the dream visitations he experienced, Michael wasn’t that person any more, he’d changed and his fight in Heaven now was against those who wanted to destroy humanity, not against Lucifer who was safely locked away. At least that was what Adam hoped.
“Right. Let’s get this over with,” Dean muttered. “Everyone, keep your eyes closed till Cas says it’s okay. Cas, you’ve got the holy oil, right?”
Adam blanched, remembering the feeling of his skin burning when Castiel had thrown the cocktail of holy oil at him - at Michael - and he almost wanted to say something to Castiel then, to remind him how much it had hurt to burn alive but it wasn’t the time or place, so he shut his eyes tight and just hoped that this worked.
“Yes, Dean,” he heard Castiel say and there was soft sound after that, which Adam took to be the two of them kissing which meant both he and Sam had their eyes closed and Dean thought they couldn’t tell what he was doing with his angel. Sam cleared his throat loudly and Adam chuckled softly, hoping that Dean couldn’t hear him. It was difficult doing this with his eyes closed when he wanted to look, wanted to see what Dean was doing, wanted to see Michael but he knew he had to keep his eyes shut. He didn’t want to be blinded.
“Right…uh…Michael, if you can hear me, this is Dean Winchester., Dean began and Adam bit his bottom lip and concentrated on keep his eyes shut. “I…would you come down here? Adam is…” Whatever else Dean had been about to say was drowned out by the noise of wings and Adam pressed his hand across his eyes, wanting so badly to open them. Part of him wanted to throttle Michael, hating him for ignoring every one of Adam’s prayers but turning up when it was Dean. It was just another reminder that Michael hadn’t wanted him, that Adam had been his second choice and maybe that was why he stayed away, maybe he didn’t want this baby. Maybe that had been a mistake too. More than anything though he wanted Michael to just reassure him that every doubt he had wasn’t true. Cautiously he opened his eyes, peeking through his fingers and sighed as he realized Michael had taken human form.
“Adam.” Michael looked handsome like he had the last time Adam had seen him in his dreams. He seemed tired too, dark circles under his eyes and Adam almost wanted to reach out to him but he couldn’t. He was still too angry that it had taken Dean to bring Michael down to earth and down to him.
“So even after everything, even after knocking me up, you still rather have Dean than me?” he asked, pointing to his swollen stomach and Michael’s handsome brow furrowed in confusion.
“You have prayed to me every day, Adam. I have been…busy. It was not until Dean summoned me that I realized you must be in danger. I know your brother would never call for me otherwise.” Michael said solemnly and Adam wished that the archangel would feel it when he hit him.
“Castiel,” He said carefully. “I want you to set him on fire.”
Castiel looked down at the bottle of holy oil in his hand, obviously weighing up the consequences and started to raise his hand but Dean grabbed hold of his wrist, stopping him.
“He’s joking, Cas.”
“No, I’m not.” Adam hissed. He felt a painful kick inside him, the fledgling making its feelings known about his plans to assassinate its father and he doubled up in pain. “Shut up, you.” he muttered to his stomach. “Just because he’s your father doesn’t mean you have to take his side. Besides, he’ll come back from it. He always does.”
Adam remembered all the skin knitting back together, the way his body had grown back from the burns and it might hurt Michael but it wouldn’t stop him. Adam just wanted Michael to feel a little bit of the pain that he’d felt when Michael remained silent to all of his prayers. Castiel looked torn and Dean had wrestled the bottle of holy oil out of his hand and passed it to Sam, who took it carefully as if it might explode on him at any minute.
“Adam,” Michael breathed, kneeling before him and reaching out a cautious hand to settle on Adam’s stomach, feeling the movement there. His eyes widened and Adam sniffed softly.
“I named her Kate,” he said watching Michael’s face and daring him to say anything against it. Michael looked up at him, smiling softly and despite his best intentions Adam felt all the anger drain out of him. He wanted to hate Michael but he couldn’t. Even now he could feel a swell of love through him and he assumed that was from the fledgling. It made it impossible to be angry. He couldn’t control his own body and now he didn’t have the ability to control his own emotions.
“It’s a good name,” Michael whispered, his hand rubbing over Adam’s swollen stomach and Adam let out the breath he’d been holding and wrapped his arms around Michael, leaning their foreheads together.
“When I call you next time, you better come,” he muttered, not willing to let Michael think he was forgiven just yet.
“I will,” Michael promised him.
“Iedidiel is dead,” Castiel said and Michael broke away from his embrace, leaving Adam’s arms feeling very empty. “He came last night to kill Adam. I stopped him.”
Michael straightened up, his face expressionless. “I must return to Heaven.”
“What? No!” Adam shouted at the same time as Sam cried out “Can’t you see he’s dying? You can’t leave!” Adam blanched, gripping the bed sheets hard and he glared at Sam.
“I’m not dying,” he whispered.
“Sam is correct, Adam. Your body cannot support it,” Castiel said softly, turning accusing eyes upon Michael. “I understand this was a mistake, Michael but you cannot leave Adam here. He will die - either from your enemies or from trying to support the baby’s grace.”
“I am protecting him, Castiel. I am trying to stop Raphael. I do not want Lucifer freed; I do not want Adam hurt. It is regretful that Iedidiel got past my watch but I will not allow that again.” From the way Michael moved, with slow deliberate steps Adam realized he must have some hidden injuries. He’d seen Dean walk like that after his fight with the angel, as if every part of him ached and that was after Castiel’s healing. “I sent Gabriel to help you.”
“And a great help he’s been,” Sam said with a snort. “Where is he now? He’s here to do all the sitting at bedsides but the moment there’s a hint of danger he was off like the coward he is.”
There was a noise like a knife slicing through butter and Gabriel was standing at Sam’s side. “I died for you, Sammy. Don’t you forget that,” he said, jabbing Sam in the rib.
Michael fixed his gaze on Gabriel. “I bought you back to life to protect Adam. If you are not fulfilling your duties Gabriel then I see no reason to keep you alive.” He raised his hand, a sword appearing in his outstretched fingers and Adam saw Dean start from across the room, Castiel shrinking back fearfully. He opened his mouth to say something; to stop Michael because he couldn’t just kill his brother like that, couldn’t just strip him out from existence but Sam had shoved Gabriel behind him.
“He died for me, Michael. I’m not watching him die again,” he said, his voice even, almost light but Adam knew that Sam was supposed to be Lucifer’s vessel, that there was a dark side to him too. He could see Michael falter, his hand lowered by half an inch or so.
“Please, Michael,” he said, delighted when the archangel turned to look at him. “This isn’t Gabriel’s fault.”
“No,” Sam agreed. “It’s yours. Your problem so you fix it.”
Gabriel snaked his arms around Sam’s middle and seemed to be using him as a human shield. Michael would have had to drive his sword through Sam to have half a chance of killing him. Eventually Michael lowered his hand completely, his sword vanishing from his grip.
“And you think you’re any different from Lucifer,” Sam said with a slight sneer. Gabriel buried his head in Sam’s back and Adam thought he might have been crying. He’d never asked Gabriel how he’d died. He’d had more pressing things to worry about like the fact that Gabriel was telling him he was pregnant but now Adam wished he had. There was a history here he didn’t understand, that he wasn’t part of. Michael’s face was ashen and he collapsed slowly onto the cot beside Adam, drawing an arm around Adam’s shoulder to keep him close.
“I am not like Lucifer,” he said, more to Adam then to anyone else in the room. “I am not…”
“I know,” Adam said softly. “I know.”
Dean snorted and Adam knew Dean was the only one who’d been completely in control of himself at the cemetery, who remembered everything that had happened. He’d been the only one who hadn’t missed a moment of it.
“He’s not like Lucifer, Dean,” He snapped and to his credit Dean didn’t argue.
Adam wrapped his arms around Michael, sagging against him. Now that Michael was here he suddenly felt exhausted.
“Stay,” he murmured. “Please, Michael. This is your child. Stay.” He rubbed his cheek against Michael’s shoulder, trying to get comfortable against him. He felt as if he could sleep for years now and it would be peaceful, if he had Michael beside him. The baby wouldn’t kick, there would be no visitations. He could just rest.
“I will stay,” Michael agreed, shifting them so they were lying down, Michael’s heavy, reassuring form spooned behind him and Adam blinked once, taking in his brothers face - Sam still angry and Dean looked disgusted - then closed his eyes. Michael’s hand rested gently over his stomach and Adam could believe that he would stay now. If the others in the room said anything more to each other, Adam didn’t know it. He slept like the dead and knew no more.
**
When Adam awoke it was only him and Michael in the living room. Michael was watching him intently with bright green eyes and Adam knew he must have watched him the whole time he was out. He was used to that. Before he’d said ‘yes’ Michael had spent a lot of time watching him. At first Adam had found it unnerving but now he knew it was just something angels did. It had prepared him for Castiel who stared constantly without saying a word. At least Michael had always tried to engage him in conversation while watching him so Adam felt less like a labor intensive science experiment that might blow up at any moment the way he did under Castiel’s calculating gaze.
“Hi,” he croaked out, reaching to run his fingers through Michael’s hair. It was coarse and thick and Adam liked that because he could tangle his fingers in it and hold on. He licked his lips, glancing around again. “Where is everyone?”
“Your brothers are asleep,” Michael said. “Gabriel and Castiel are replacing the wards and strengthening them. I have volunteered to stay by your side and protect you.”
“Good,” Adam said, giving his handful of Michael’s hair a hard tug. “Then no one will disturb us.” He’d read a few times that there was an interesting side effect to pregnancy hormones, that sometimes people just got horny and he was certainly feeling that now but he didn’t know if that was down to the pregnancy or the fact that he hadn’t seen Michael in a few months. All he knew was that he didn’t want to waste the time they had together. After a few minutes of bouncing bedsprings and creaking floorboards either Dean or Sam would be down like a shot and ruin everything.
Adam wasn’t really up to much and Michael seemed to understand that. He was gentle with him, the way he had always been, kissing him and holding him. He coaxed Adam to orgasm with his fingers, running them along his cock and then back to press inside Adam, Adam whimpering and bucking his hips up to meet the gentle press and thrust of Michael’s fingers. All the while Michael whispered in Adam’s ear how beautiful he was, how right he looked swollen with Michael’s child and when Adam came he cleaned up every trace of it, tucking Adam back up and spooning protectively around him again.
Sexual desire didn’t seem to matter much to Michael. He made the effort when he wanted to but he seemed to enjoy it more when Adam was spent, when Adam came apart under his hands. Adam wasn’t used to having anyone who cared about just getting him off. All his teenage fumbles hadn’t even covered technique but Michael was certainly skilled and when he made the effort, Adam really liked it. But now he was grateful that it was enough for Michael just to give him pleasure. He didn’t have it in him to go up against the stamina of an archangel.
Adam wiggled in his arms, turning so he could see Michael’s face and even exhausted as he now was there were questions he still wanted to ask Michael.
“Was she a mistake?” he asked, catching Michael’s hand in his and bringing it to press against his stomach. Castiel had called her a mistake. Adam didn’t know if he believed that, if he wanted to believe it because he’d been a mistake, someone his father hadn’t wanted even though his mother had loved him. He might not have wanted Kate at first, thought she was some sort of abomination but now he could feel her growing inside him and while that had freaked him out at first now he knew he’d fight the whole of the Heavenly Host to protect her.
“It was never my intention to create a new life, Adam,” Michael said seriously and Adam swallowed, biting his tongue to let Michael finish. “I was overwhelmed by my desire for you. Once I knew she had been conceived, that my grace had mingled with you, I put all my attentions towards freeing you both. I would not have you confined in Hell nor I would have my fledgling born there, not with Lucifer there.”
“He would have killed her.” Adam didn’t ask. He knew. Kate was something good even if she made him sick, even if Castiel said he was dying, she was still something precious they made together. Lucifer would have killed her in an instant just to see the pain on his brother’s face.
Michael nodded and Adam found himself kissing the angel for all he was worth. Michael had saved them. He’d freed them from the cage although Adam didn’t quite understand how and partly he didn’t care. He was alive again and that was all thanks to Michael.
“What’s happening in Heaven?” He gasped, breaking the kiss. “Why are angels coming after me?”
Michael’s face was grave. “There are those who believe that I have forsaken my duty, my brother Raphael among them. They believe I have forgotten our Father and Heaven because of you. They believe, wrongly, that if you and the child die I would return to my fight with Lucifer.”
Adam shuddered. “But you won’t, will you? You’ve given that up.”
“Yes,” Michael agreed. “I do not want to fight Lucifer. I wish for him to stay trapped. To fight him only gives him a chance to win. While I cannot bring about paradise on Earth, I have found there is much to enjoy in the world as you have shown it to me.”
Adam smiled, turning his face to kiss Michael again. “Maybe they’re right then, about me being a distraction from your duty.”
Michael frowned. “My Father told me to love humanity and to serve Him. I love you. I believe that is what He would have wanted. He does not do things without reason, Adam. He ensured your creation so I could meet you. I am certain of that now.”
Adam snuggled a little deeper into Michael’s arms, not certain he agreed with Michael’s interpretation of God as a heavenly matchmaker but he was happy Michael wasn’t about to forge off and attempt to re-start the apocalypse. The fact that there were angels in Heave ready to kill over that fact worried him but Michael was here now; he’d protect Adam like he’d done in the cage. Michael was the angel other angels were scared of. He even frightened Dean. Adam knew that Michael could seem cold sometimes, distant and the moment when he’d picked up his sword to strike down Gabriel for disobeying him had reminded Adam of how non-human Michael was but he was still learning. Michael had been a weapon before, he’d carried out orders because it was what he was made for. Now he was changing. He loved Adam when before he had only loved God and, at one point, Lucifer. Michael’s devotion was at times a fearful thing but Adam knew Michael would never let him die. Not again. Not while he was still standing and had strength.
Knowing that was almost enough to make Adam forgive him for the silence that he’d endured since Michael returned them both to Earth. Not completely but almost. He settled warmly into Michael’s arms and kissed him a third time, still grateful to whatever force - fate or Michael’s stubbornness - that had thrown them together in the first place.
**
Adam pushed the plate away from. He didn’t want to eat. Everything that was offered to him felt like ash in his mouth when he bit into it. Sam sighed, reaching to pick up the sandwich and took a bite out of it.
“Come on, Adam. This is good. You should eat something,” he said through his mouthful and Adam covered his mouth with a hand, trying to keep the wave of nausea rushing through him at bay.
“Sam, if you’re going to eat that go out in the kitchen,” he said, closing his eyes.
Sam sighed, setting the sandwich back down on the plate and pushing it away from both of them. “You have to eat something,” he said quietly, reaching out to touch Adam’s hand. “I can see your bones, Adam. You’re wasting away.”
“It makes me sick,” Adam said, looking up at Sam worriedly. “This is what Castiel meant, isn’t it? That I’m dying?”
“No,” Sam said quickly. “No. You’re just having…a backwards craving. I’m sure this is normal in pregnancy. We just need to find out what you do want to eat. Think about it.”
Adam lay back on the pillows, trying to think about all the flavors, tastes and different foods he’d eaten over the years and there was only one thing that didn’t make him feel completely sick. The crisp, sweet taste, the juice of it, the noise it made when he broke the skin - Adam wanted all of those things. It was the only thing he could think about eating now.
“Yes,” he said, licking his lips. “I think I’d like an apple.”
**
“Adam wants apples,” Sam said, sticking his head round the door to look at the four men sitting outside.
Gabriel nodded. “I was afraid you’d say that. Right, who’s drawing the short straw? Dean can’t go so he’s out. I don’t want to go and Michael has to go. Castiel, that leaves you. Hop off to help Michael fetch the apples.”
Dean glanced between the angels, raising an eyebrow. “Someone want to fill me in? I’m pretty sure I could go down the road and pick up some apples. I’m not completely useless.”
Castiel sighed. “It is not that easy, Dean. What Adam is craving are not simply normal apples.”
“No,” Gabriel burst out, obviously unable to keep down his delight. “It’s apples from the Garden of Eden. Original sin and all of that!” He wiggled his fingers towards Michael and Dean was surprised at how quickly Gabriel and Michael seemed to have patched up their differences. It always surprised him how angels could be at each other’s throats one moment and then behave like loving family the next. Now Gabriel was teasing Michael, like little brothers all over world do, and Michael just smiled indulgently at him.
“Could you repeat that part about original sin?” Sam asked, frowning and stepping out onto the porch to join the others. He reached to take Gabriel’s bottle of beer from his fingers, taking a swig from it and then frowning. “Is this chocolate beer? Where did you get this from?” he asked, passing the bottle back to Gabriel.
“Yes, it is and it’s delicious.” Gabriel said with a smirk. “And original sin is what makes you guys human. Baby needs to be born with it, otherwise she’s all angel. Adam’s body is trying to compensate but it won’t be enough.”
“Right,” Dean muttered and took a swig from his own bottle of beer.
“The only place we can get the apples are from the Garden of Eden, in the middle of Heaven,” Michael said smoothly. He was the only one not drinking. Even Castiel had a bottle next to him, although he’d hardly taken more than a sip or two.
“Eden?” Dean raised an eyebrow incredulously but both Castiel and Michael seemed to take his question as completely sincere.
“Yes,” Castiel said.
“It will be dangerous,” Michael agreed. “There are many in Heaven who are unhappy. Before I was called down to you I had been winning, I believe, but I fear Raphael may have used my absence to gain more ground.”
“Yes, Raphael is like that,” Castiel agreed quietly. “He will have used your disappearance to his advantage.”
Michael stood up. Sam slipped into his vacant seat, looking as if he still had a question or two he wouldn’t mind asking.
“We should go then, Castiel,” Michael said. “We must not waste time. If Adam cannot get the food his body craves, he will starve. I do not intend for him to die.”
“Nice to hear,” Dean said, more to himself then to either of the angels since they had vanished within the blink of an eye.
**
The Garden was as beautiful as Michael remembered it. He had not had reason to come here often. It was Joshua’s to tend and Michael had always been busy with the preparations for war with Lucifer and then with Adam. He should have bought Adam to the Garden. He would be one of the only humans to ever see it. Michael could have shown him this side of paradise, shown him where the first man had fallen from grace, could have bought the story full circle by bring his Adam to the Garden, by giving him back paradise but he had been too busy with Lucifer and kept Adam close to him. Adam had been his secret weapon, the one who would allow him onto the battlefield with Lucifer. Even as Michael had given part of himself to Adam he hadn’t ever considered the possibility of taking him somewhere simply for the two of them, without the pressure of their destiny on his shoulders. When they were in Hell it had been too late and he had put all his energy into finding an escape for them both, into protecting Adam.
Now that chance had passed completely. Adam could not come here unless he was no longer tied to humanity and Michael would not do that to him. Adam had to live.
Behind him Castiel was touching the leaves of a flowering tree, his expression unreadable. “I have not been here for a long time,” he said quietly, echoing Michael’s own thoughts.
“We must find the tree,” he said, determined not to dwell on sentimentality any longer. “We do not know if we are safe here.”
“It will be at the center of the Garden. Our Father’s taste is for the theatrical, after all,” Castiel wore the hint of a half-smile on his face and Michael had to smile back. Their Father had always loved a taste of showmanship. Gabriel took after him in that respect. Michael could hardly say he hadn’t indulged himself once or twice when spreading the word - he’d appeared to one prophet as a flaming bush but he only took that option when he could not find a vessel to accommodate him. Michael preferred to talk face to face. All but Dean Winchester had listened when he spoke to them.
They walked through the garden, through the beautiful flowers and tall canopy of trees. Everything was lush, fresh and perfect. Just as Castiel had suggested the tree stood in the middle of a clearing, branches laden with bright red apples that looked as if they would be crisp and juicy. They were made to be tempting. Their Father has spared no detail or had it been Lucifer who had taken the time to lovingly craft the tree and its apples? It made Michael feel physically sick to know that part of what might be needed to save Adam, could have come from his brother’s hand. He didn’t want Lucifer to be involved with Adam, even by such degrees of separation.
“How many do we need?” Castiel asked. He was staying back at the edge of the clearing and Michael knew why. Even from back here he could feel the sin that tainted the apples. They looked beautiful but they were rotten inside.
“I do not know,” Michael responded truthfully. “Adam has not eaten well since he returned to the living. I think we should take as many back as we can carry.” He held his hand up, conjuring a bag to hold them in and hoped that once Adam had had a few bites of the apple, once the baby’s need for humanity had been sated then he would eat properly and Michael could destroy the rest of the rotten fruit.
Castiel nodded. Michael didn’t make his brother pick the first apple. He grasped it himself, snapping it from the tree and holding it in his hand for a moment before dropping it into the bag. He would have to make sure no one but Adam ate them. Castiel picked another from the tree and together they filled up the whole bag.
“This should be enough,” Michael said, looking down into the bag of juicy red apples and Castiel nodded, wiping his hands on his trench coat, trying to wipe away the taint of them.
His eyes widened suddenly and Michael wondered what was wrong when there was the snap of a twig behind him and he whirled in time to block the blow of a sword, shoving Raphael away from him bodily. His brother had snuck up on him. He’d been planning to kill him, in the Garden of all places. Michael knew that death was one of the options Raphael might use against him but he had assumed, given the recent attack on Adam, that he was concentrating on ridding Michael’s life of that little distraction rather than eliminating Michael himself. As far as Michael knew Raphael wanted the apocalypse. Without Michael there could hardly be one unless Raphael had decided to fight Lucifer himself and even if he did it would not be as was written.
He dropped the bag of apples at his feet, drawing his own sword. “Raphael,” he nodded coolly at his brother.
“Michael.” Raphael nodded back. “And Castiel.”
Michael felt rather than saw Castiel draw his own sword then appeare Michael’s side. Castiel didn’t have the power of an archangel. He could not take down Raphael and yet he still stood by Michael, determined to fight with him. Michael wondered if he had simply been too focused on Lucifer to realize before the loyalty his brother had or if this was something Castiel recently developed. They were closer now. Castiel was not just a simple seraph and Michael was no longer only Heaven’s sword. They had become more than what they had once been. Not Raphael though, he had not changed.
“You mean to kill me?” he asked his brother.
“Wound you,” Raphael corrected him. “I mean to kill Castiel but you, I mean to wound. My assassination attempt on Adam Milligan failed. The boy will die though, without these apples and he will take that bastard child with him. I mean only to keep you from giving them to him.”
Michael gritted his teeth. “There is still Gabriel….”
Raphael laughed. “Gabriel would never come here. Gabriel is afraid of me, afraid of Heaven.”
“You are wrong,” Castiel said quietly. “He would come if it meant saving Adam.”
Raphael’s gaze shifted to him and his smile was cruel. “Then I will kill him too. As long as Michael survives and Adam Milligan dies I do not care what happens. Once Adam is dead I know you will come to your senses, Michael.”
Michael could not help but smile at that. Adam being dead had not prevented him from being resurrected before. Michael had drawn together the ashes of his body and built them back into a man. Castiel had pulled him from the earth but it had been Michael who had rebuilt him. It was Michael who had escaped the cage with Adam, brought him back to the cemetery where they had died and returned him to his former glory with only the addition of their child growing inside of him. Michael had woven something of himself into Adam from the first time he restored him. Even if Raphael killed him now, Michael would never restart the apocalypse.
“If he dies I will bring him back,” He spat out. He would go wherever Adam’s soul was kept - Heaven or Hell - and if Adam wouldn’t come back with him then Michael would stay there at his side.
“Your child will still die.” Raphael did not seem at all angry with Michael’s proclamation. He was right though. The child had never had a chance to live. She was still growing, still becoming more than simply unformed grace. If Adam died she went with him and she would never be. Michael would not be able to bring her back.
“If you hurt either of them Raphael, I will kill you,” He warned his brother, hoping that Raphael would remember that once they had been close, once they had meant more to each other than pieces on a chess set as Lucifer had called them. Michael hated to find himself quoting Lucifer but for once his little brother and his tongue of lies had spoken the truth. “You should walk off the board, Raphael,” He told his brother and heard Castiel’s gasp behind him.
“I will not allow this.” Raphael raised his sword again. “I will poison the tree if I have to. I will not allow you to ignore our Father’s wishes for some human boy. He’ll be dead in the blink of an eye, Michael. Let him die.”
Michael raised his own sword but it was Castiel who darted out, who slashed and defended and Michael knew he could leave. He could take the apples and go to Adam, could save Adam but Castiel would almost certainly die. Raphael would not allow him to walk out of the garden alive. Even as he thought that Raphael swung wide, his blade cutting in an arch, the tip of it slashing through clothes and into skin. Castiel staggered back, blood spilling over his fingers from the wound to his stomach and Raphael raised the sword to finish the job. Castiel did not have time to heal, to block or avoid. Time itself seemed to slow as Michael stepped between them. Raphael had meant to strike the killing blow and in the process, had left himself unguarded. Michael simply raised his sword and let Raphael impale himself on it.
Raphael’s eyes were wide as he looked down at the sword in his chest and Michael let go of the handle even as Raphael’s fingers reached for him.
“Brother,” he whispered before the Garden was filled with light. Michael shut his eyes tightly. He heard the sound of Raphael’s empty vessel as it hit the floor - a solid, dull, dead weight and then behind him he could hear Castiel sinking to his knees. He opened his eyes again, reaching forward to pull his sword free from the corpse and then turned to take in the full extent of Castiel’s injuries.
“Castiel, get up,” Michael barked. “Heal yourself.”
Castiel made no move to stand, the blood spreading underneath his hand, wetting through his white shirt.
“It was not a fatal hit, ” Michael countered him, annoyed that Castiel would not respond. His brother had been wilful but this was pointless rebellion. Castiel’s refusal to heal only hurt himself and then indirectly the Winchesters. Michael knew he should leave his brother here. If Castiel was in no fit state to carry on then he could be sacrificed. He was a foot soldier after all but even so he hesitated. Adam would not leave someone, Michael knew that. If he came back without Castiel, Adam would never forgive him.
He knelt down at Castiel’s side, fingers touching the long gash and Castiel shuddered, turning his head away. Michael probed a little deeper, beneath the flesh and came into contact with Castiel’s grace. It was weakened, diverted and he followed the diversion. Nestled there, growing and protected, a second grace beat, previously undetected.
Michael pulled his hand away as if stung. “You…”
“You mustn’t tell Dean,” Castiel said quietly. The first words out of his mouth since he had been hit and Michael hated that Castiel still put the feelings of that human above himself. “I told him it wasn’t possible, Michael. He hurt me. I wanted to hurt him too.” He swallowed hard, the blood sticky and wet on his fingers and Michael covered Castiel’s hand with his own, letting his grace flow through the tips, helping Castiel to heal himself.
“You cannot keep this hidden,” he said gravely and Castiel shook his head.
“Dean doesn’t want…I am his when he needs me, nothing more than that. I cannot put this burden on him.”
Michael thought of how he had ignored Adam, how he had sent him back to his brothers and the prayers he had heard from the boy while he was in Heaven. Adam had begged him and cursed him. He hated and loved him with a passion that had terrified Michael. He kept him at arm’s length because Adam was precious to him and a weakness that could be used against him. He had killed his brothers to protect Adam. He had bought them back from the dead for the same reason. If Dean Winchester was his true vessel, and Michael did not doubt that, then he suspected Dean adopted a very similar line of thinking. He had pushed Castiel away to save him.
“He must know about this,” he said and Castiel’s shoulders drooped miserably. The blood flow had stopped but the wound was not closing as Michael would have liked. Even with Raphael dead they were not safe in the garden. There might be others who believed that Michael had been corrupted, others who would try to stop them. He picked up the bag full of apples from where he had dropped them and forced them into Castiel’s arms. “Hold these. I will take you home.”
**
( Part Two) | ( Part Four )
Rating: R
Author: bellacatbee
Artist: chosenfire28
Beta: casness
Genre: Slash
Pairing(s) / Character(s): Adam/Michael, Dean/Castiel, hinted at Sam/Gabriel, Raphael, Lucifer, Kate Milligan
Warnings: MPREG, graphic descriptions of illness, slight violence
Word Count: 23,144
Notes: Thank you so much to everyone who helped with this story.
Summary: Adam is alive and out of the cage but things are wrong. He can’t reach Michael, he’s sick and when he falls asleep he’s having dreams where he sees his dead mother. Men aren’t supposed to bear children but Adam’s special, and Michael’s an archangel; only the baby is killing Adam slowly and there’s nothing Sam and Dean can do but stand by and watch. Castiel and Dean are fighting, Sam thinks the child might be Lucifer’s, and somehow Gabriel has been resurrected to carry the glorious news. Adam just wishes Michael would answers his prayers.
Art Masterpost
“I don’t like this.”
“So you’ve said,” Adam agreed, fixing Dean with the best glare he could but it was hard to do when he was bedridden. Dean and Sam had moved all of furniture to the sides of the living room, creating a space on the floor and Castiel had drawn summoning signs on the floor in case this attempt in reaching Michael failed to work. They still had no idea if Michael would appear and if he did what form he would take. He couldn’t possess Adam any longer. He didn’t have Adam’s permission and even if he had the fledgling grace growing in Adam would prevent it. Dean point blank refused to give permission and Adam didn’t want to have a conversation with his lover while the other was in his older brother’s body. There was a chance, however slim, that they might be calling down Michael in his true form.
Dean sighed again; obviously unhappy with the idea and Adam could see Castiel tensing. Maybe they were risking something. Maybe Michael hadn’t changed the way Adam had thought he had, maybe if they called him down he would take that as a sign that Dean was giving in to him. Adam thought he wanted the fighting over. From the dream visitations he experienced, Michael wasn’t that person any more, he’d changed and his fight in Heaven now was against those who wanted to destroy humanity, not against Lucifer who was safely locked away. At least that was what Adam hoped.
“Right. Let’s get this over with,” Dean muttered. “Everyone, keep your eyes closed till Cas says it’s okay. Cas, you’ve got the holy oil, right?”
Adam blanched, remembering the feeling of his skin burning when Castiel had thrown the cocktail of holy oil at him - at Michael - and he almost wanted to say something to Castiel then, to remind him how much it had hurt to burn alive but it wasn’t the time or place, so he shut his eyes tight and just hoped that this worked.
“Yes, Dean,” he heard Castiel say and there was soft sound after that, which Adam took to be the two of them kissing which meant both he and Sam had their eyes closed and Dean thought they couldn’t tell what he was doing with his angel. Sam cleared his throat loudly and Adam chuckled softly, hoping that Dean couldn’t hear him. It was difficult doing this with his eyes closed when he wanted to look, wanted to see what Dean was doing, wanted to see Michael but he knew he had to keep his eyes shut. He didn’t want to be blinded.
“Right…uh…Michael, if you can hear me, this is Dean Winchester., Dean began and Adam bit his bottom lip and concentrated on keep his eyes shut. “I…would you come down here? Adam is…” Whatever else Dean had been about to say was drowned out by the noise of wings and Adam pressed his hand across his eyes, wanting so badly to open them. Part of him wanted to throttle Michael, hating him for ignoring every one of Adam’s prayers but turning up when it was Dean. It was just another reminder that Michael hadn’t wanted him, that Adam had been his second choice and maybe that was why he stayed away, maybe he didn’t want this baby. Maybe that had been a mistake too. More than anything though he wanted Michael to just reassure him that every doubt he had wasn’t true. Cautiously he opened his eyes, peeking through his fingers and sighed as he realized Michael had taken human form.
“Adam.” Michael looked handsome like he had the last time Adam had seen him in his dreams. He seemed tired too, dark circles under his eyes and Adam almost wanted to reach out to him but he couldn’t. He was still too angry that it had taken Dean to bring Michael down to earth and down to him.
“So even after everything, even after knocking me up, you still rather have Dean than me?” he asked, pointing to his swollen stomach and Michael’s handsome brow furrowed in confusion.
“You have prayed to me every day, Adam. I have been…busy. It was not until Dean summoned me that I realized you must be in danger. I know your brother would never call for me otherwise.” Michael said solemnly and Adam wished that the archangel would feel it when he hit him.
“Castiel,” He said carefully. “I want you to set him on fire.”
Castiel looked down at the bottle of holy oil in his hand, obviously weighing up the consequences and started to raise his hand but Dean grabbed hold of his wrist, stopping him.
“He’s joking, Cas.”
“No, I’m not.” Adam hissed. He felt a painful kick inside him, the fledgling making its feelings known about his plans to assassinate its father and he doubled up in pain. “Shut up, you.” he muttered to his stomach. “Just because he’s your father doesn’t mean you have to take his side. Besides, he’ll come back from it. He always does.”
Adam remembered all the skin knitting back together, the way his body had grown back from the burns and it might hurt Michael but it wouldn’t stop him. Adam just wanted Michael to feel a little bit of the pain that he’d felt when Michael remained silent to all of his prayers. Castiel looked torn and Dean had wrestled the bottle of holy oil out of his hand and passed it to Sam, who took it carefully as if it might explode on him at any minute.
“Adam,” Michael breathed, kneeling before him and reaching out a cautious hand to settle on Adam’s stomach, feeling the movement there. His eyes widened and Adam sniffed softly.
“I named her Kate,” he said watching Michael’s face and daring him to say anything against it. Michael looked up at him, smiling softly and despite his best intentions Adam felt all the anger drain out of him. He wanted to hate Michael but he couldn’t. Even now he could feel a swell of love through him and he assumed that was from the fledgling. It made it impossible to be angry. He couldn’t control his own body and now he didn’t have the ability to control his own emotions.
“It’s a good name,” Michael whispered, his hand rubbing over Adam’s swollen stomach and Adam let out the breath he’d been holding and wrapped his arms around Michael, leaning their foreheads together.
“When I call you next time, you better come,” he muttered, not willing to let Michael think he was forgiven just yet.
“I will,” Michael promised him.
“Iedidiel is dead,” Castiel said and Michael broke away from his embrace, leaving Adam’s arms feeling very empty. “He came last night to kill Adam. I stopped him.”
Michael straightened up, his face expressionless. “I must return to Heaven.”
“What? No!” Adam shouted at the same time as Sam cried out “Can’t you see he’s dying? You can’t leave!” Adam blanched, gripping the bed sheets hard and he glared at Sam.
“I’m not dying,” he whispered.
“Sam is correct, Adam. Your body cannot support it,” Castiel said softly, turning accusing eyes upon Michael. “I understand this was a mistake, Michael but you cannot leave Adam here. He will die - either from your enemies or from trying to support the baby’s grace.”
“I am protecting him, Castiel. I am trying to stop Raphael. I do not want Lucifer freed; I do not want Adam hurt. It is regretful that Iedidiel got past my watch but I will not allow that again.” From the way Michael moved, with slow deliberate steps Adam realized he must have some hidden injuries. He’d seen Dean walk like that after his fight with the angel, as if every part of him ached and that was after Castiel’s healing. “I sent Gabriel to help you.”
“And a great help he’s been,” Sam said with a snort. “Where is he now? He’s here to do all the sitting at bedsides but the moment there’s a hint of danger he was off like the coward he is.”
There was a noise like a knife slicing through butter and Gabriel was standing at Sam’s side. “I died for you, Sammy. Don’t you forget that,” he said, jabbing Sam in the rib.
Michael fixed his gaze on Gabriel. “I bought you back to life to protect Adam. If you are not fulfilling your duties Gabriel then I see no reason to keep you alive.” He raised his hand, a sword appearing in his outstretched fingers and Adam saw Dean start from across the room, Castiel shrinking back fearfully. He opened his mouth to say something; to stop Michael because he couldn’t just kill his brother like that, couldn’t just strip him out from existence but Sam had shoved Gabriel behind him.
“He died for me, Michael. I’m not watching him die again,” he said, his voice even, almost light but Adam knew that Sam was supposed to be Lucifer’s vessel, that there was a dark side to him too. He could see Michael falter, his hand lowered by half an inch or so.
“Please, Michael,” he said, delighted when the archangel turned to look at him. “This isn’t Gabriel’s fault.”
“No,” Sam agreed. “It’s yours. Your problem so you fix it.”
Gabriel snaked his arms around Sam’s middle and seemed to be using him as a human shield. Michael would have had to drive his sword through Sam to have half a chance of killing him. Eventually Michael lowered his hand completely, his sword vanishing from his grip.
“And you think you’re any different from Lucifer,” Sam said with a slight sneer. Gabriel buried his head in Sam’s back and Adam thought he might have been crying. He’d never asked Gabriel how he’d died. He’d had more pressing things to worry about like the fact that Gabriel was telling him he was pregnant but now Adam wished he had. There was a history here he didn’t understand, that he wasn’t part of. Michael’s face was ashen and he collapsed slowly onto the cot beside Adam, drawing an arm around Adam’s shoulder to keep him close.
“I am not like Lucifer,” he said, more to Adam then to anyone else in the room. “I am not…”
“I know,” Adam said softly. “I know.”
Dean snorted and Adam knew Dean was the only one who’d been completely in control of himself at the cemetery, who remembered everything that had happened. He’d been the only one who hadn’t missed a moment of it.
“He’s not like Lucifer, Dean,” He snapped and to his credit Dean didn’t argue.
Adam wrapped his arms around Michael, sagging against him. Now that Michael was here he suddenly felt exhausted.
“Stay,” he murmured. “Please, Michael. This is your child. Stay.” He rubbed his cheek against Michael’s shoulder, trying to get comfortable against him. He felt as if he could sleep for years now and it would be peaceful, if he had Michael beside him. The baby wouldn’t kick, there would be no visitations. He could just rest.
“I will stay,” Michael agreed, shifting them so they were lying down, Michael’s heavy, reassuring form spooned behind him and Adam blinked once, taking in his brothers face - Sam still angry and Dean looked disgusted - then closed his eyes. Michael’s hand rested gently over his stomach and Adam could believe that he would stay now. If the others in the room said anything more to each other, Adam didn’t know it. He slept like the dead and knew no more.
**
When Adam awoke it was only him and Michael in the living room. Michael was watching him intently with bright green eyes and Adam knew he must have watched him the whole time he was out. He was used to that. Before he’d said ‘yes’ Michael had spent a lot of time watching him. At first Adam had found it unnerving but now he knew it was just something angels did. It had prepared him for Castiel who stared constantly without saying a word. At least Michael had always tried to engage him in conversation while watching him so Adam felt less like a labor intensive science experiment that might blow up at any moment the way he did under Castiel’s calculating gaze.
“Hi,” he croaked out, reaching to run his fingers through Michael’s hair. It was coarse and thick and Adam liked that because he could tangle his fingers in it and hold on. He licked his lips, glancing around again. “Where is everyone?”
“Your brothers are asleep,” Michael said. “Gabriel and Castiel are replacing the wards and strengthening them. I have volunteered to stay by your side and protect you.”
“Good,” Adam said, giving his handful of Michael’s hair a hard tug. “Then no one will disturb us.” He’d read a few times that there was an interesting side effect to pregnancy hormones, that sometimes people just got horny and he was certainly feeling that now but he didn’t know if that was down to the pregnancy or the fact that he hadn’t seen Michael in a few months. All he knew was that he didn’t want to waste the time they had together. After a few minutes of bouncing bedsprings and creaking floorboards either Dean or Sam would be down like a shot and ruin everything.
Adam wasn’t really up to much and Michael seemed to understand that. He was gentle with him, the way he had always been, kissing him and holding him. He coaxed Adam to orgasm with his fingers, running them along his cock and then back to press inside Adam, Adam whimpering and bucking his hips up to meet the gentle press and thrust of Michael’s fingers. All the while Michael whispered in Adam’s ear how beautiful he was, how right he looked swollen with Michael’s child and when Adam came he cleaned up every trace of it, tucking Adam back up and spooning protectively around him again.
Sexual desire didn’t seem to matter much to Michael. He made the effort when he wanted to but he seemed to enjoy it more when Adam was spent, when Adam came apart under his hands. Adam wasn’t used to having anyone who cared about just getting him off. All his teenage fumbles hadn’t even covered technique but Michael was certainly skilled and when he made the effort, Adam really liked it. But now he was grateful that it was enough for Michael just to give him pleasure. He didn’t have it in him to go up against the stamina of an archangel.
Adam wiggled in his arms, turning so he could see Michael’s face and even exhausted as he now was there were questions he still wanted to ask Michael.
“Was she a mistake?” he asked, catching Michael’s hand in his and bringing it to press against his stomach. Castiel had called her a mistake. Adam didn’t know if he believed that, if he wanted to believe it because he’d been a mistake, someone his father hadn’t wanted even though his mother had loved him. He might not have wanted Kate at first, thought she was some sort of abomination but now he could feel her growing inside him and while that had freaked him out at first now he knew he’d fight the whole of the Heavenly Host to protect her.
“It was never my intention to create a new life, Adam,” Michael said seriously and Adam swallowed, biting his tongue to let Michael finish. “I was overwhelmed by my desire for you. Once I knew she had been conceived, that my grace had mingled with you, I put all my attentions towards freeing you both. I would not have you confined in Hell nor I would have my fledgling born there, not with Lucifer there.”
“He would have killed her.” Adam didn’t ask. He knew. Kate was something good even if she made him sick, even if Castiel said he was dying, she was still something precious they made together. Lucifer would have killed her in an instant just to see the pain on his brother’s face.
Michael nodded and Adam found himself kissing the angel for all he was worth. Michael had saved them. He’d freed them from the cage although Adam didn’t quite understand how and partly he didn’t care. He was alive again and that was all thanks to Michael.
“What’s happening in Heaven?” He gasped, breaking the kiss. “Why are angels coming after me?”
Michael’s face was grave. “There are those who believe that I have forsaken my duty, my brother Raphael among them. They believe I have forgotten our Father and Heaven because of you. They believe, wrongly, that if you and the child die I would return to my fight with Lucifer.”
Adam shuddered. “But you won’t, will you? You’ve given that up.”
“Yes,” Michael agreed. “I do not want to fight Lucifer. I wish for him to stay trapped. To fight him only gives him a chance to win. While I cannot bring about paradise on Earth, I have found there is much to enjoy in the world as you have shown it to me.”
Adam smiled, turning his face to kiss Michael again. “Maybe they’re right then, about me being a distraction from your duty.”
Michael frowned. “My Father told me to love humanity and to serve Him. I love you. I believe that is what He would have wanted. He does not do things without reason, Adam. He ensured your creation so I could meet you. I am certain of that now.”
Adam snuggled a little deeper into Michael’s arms, not certain he agreed with Michael’s interpretation of God as a heavenly matchmaker but he was happy Michael wasn’t about to forge off and attempt to re-start the apocalypse. The fact that there were angels in Heave ready to kill over that fact worried him but Michael was here now; he’d protect Adam like he’d done in the cage. Michael was the angel other angels were scared of. He even frightened Dean. Adam knew that Michael could seem cold sometimes, distant and the moment when he’d picked up his sword to strike down Gabriel for disobeying him had reminded Adam of how non-human Michael was but he was still learning. Michael had been a weapon before, he’d carried out orders because it was what he was made for. Now he was changing. He loved Adam when before he had only loved God and, at one point, Lucifer. Michael’s devotion was at times a fearful thing but Adam knew Michael would never let him die. Not again. Not while he was still standing and had strength.
Knowing that was almost enough to make Adam forgive him for the silence that he’d endured since Michael returned them both to Earth. Not completely but almost. He settled warmly into Michael’s arms and kissed him a third time, still grateful to whatever force - fate or Michael’s stubbornness - that had thrown them together in the first place.
**
Adam pushed the plate away from. He didn’t want to eat. Everything that was offered to him felt like ash in his mouth when he bit into it. Sam sighed, reaching to pick up the sandwich and took a bite out of it.
“Come on, Adam. This is good. You should eat something,” he said through his mouthful and Adam covered his mouth with a hand, trying to keep the wave of nausea rushing through him at bay.
“Sam, if you’re going to eat that go out in the kitchen,” he said, closing his eyes.
Sam sighed, setting the sandwich back down on the plate and pushing it away from both of them. “You have to eat something,” he said quietly, reaching out to touch Adam’s hand. “I can see your bones, Adam. You’re wasting away.”
“It makes me sick,” Adam said, looking up at Sam worriedly. “This is what Castiel meant, isn’t it? That I’m dying?”
“No,” Sam said quickly. “No. You’re just having…a backwards craving. I’m sure this is normal in pregnancy. We just need to find out what you do want to eat. Think about it.”
Adam lay back on the pillows, trying to think about all the flavors, tastes and different foods he’d eaten over the years and there was only one thing that didn’t make him feel completely sick. The crisp, sweet taste, the juice of it, the noise it made when he broke the skin - Adam wanted all of those things. It was the only thing he could think about eating now.
“Yes,” he said, licking his lips. “I think I’d like an apple.”
**
“Adam wants apples,” Sam said, sticking his head round the door to look at the four men sitting outside.
Gabriel nodded. “I was afraid you’d say that. Right, who’s drawing the short straw? Dean can’t go so he’s out. I don’t want to go and Michael has to go. Castiel, that leaves you. Hop off to help Michael fetch the apples.”
Dean glanced between the angels, raising an eyebrow. “Someone want to fill me in? I’m pretty sure I could go down the road and pick up some apples. I’m not completely useless.”
Castiel sighed. “It is not that easy, Dean. What Adam is craving are not simply normal apples.”
“No,” Gabriel burst out, obviously unable to keep down his delight. “It’s apples from the Garden of Eden. Original sin and all of that!” He wiggled his fingers towards Michael and Dean was surprised at how quickly Gabriel and Michael seemed to have patched up their differences. It always surprised him how angels could be at each other’s throats one moment and then behave like loving family the next. Now Gabriel was teasing Michael, like little brothers all over world do, and Michael just smiled indulgently at him.
“Could you repeat that part about original sin?” Sam asked, frowning and stepping out onto the porch to join the others. He reached to take Gabriel’s bottle of beer from his fingers, taking a swig from it and then frowning. “Is this chocolate beer? Where did you get this from?” he asked, passing the bottle back to Gabriel.
“Yes, it is and it’s delicious.” Gabriel said with a smirk. “And original sin is what makes you guys human. Baby needs to be born with it, otherwise she’s all angel. Adam’s body is trying to compensate but it won’t be enough.”
“Right,” Dean muttered and took a swig from his own bottle of beer.
“The only place we can get the apples are from the Garden of Eden, in the middle of Heaven,” Michael said smoothly. He was the only one not drinking. Even Castiel had a bottle next to him, although he’d hardly taken more than a sip or two.
“Eden?” Dean raised an eyebrow incredulously but both Castiel and Michael seemed to take his question as completely sincere.
“Yes,” Castiel said.
“It will be dangerous,” Michael agreed. “There are many in Heaven who are unhappy. Before I was called down to you I had been winning, I believe, but I fear Raphael may have used my absence to gain more ground.”
“Yes, Raphael is like that,” Castiel agreed quietly. “He will have used your disappearance to his advantage.”
Michael stood up. Sam slipped into his vacant seat, looking as if he still had a question or two he wouldn’t mind asking.
“We should go then, Castiel,” Michael said. “We must not waste time. If Adam cannot get the food his body craves, he will starve. I do not intend for him to die.”
“Nice to hear,” Dean said, more to himself then to either of the angels since they had vanished within the blink of an eye.
**
The Garden was as beautiful as Michael remembered it. He had not had reason to come here often. It was Joshua’s to tend and Michael had always been busy with the preparations for war with Lucifer and then with Adam. He should have bought Adam to the Garden. He would be one of the only humans to ever see it. Michael could have shown him this side of paradise, shown him where the first man had fallen from grace, could have bought the story full circle by bring his Adam to the Garden, by giving him back paradise but he had been too busy with Lucifer and kept Adam close to him. Adam had been his secret weapon, the one who would allow him onto the battlefield with Lucifer. Even as Michael had given part of himself to Adam he hadn’t ever considered the possibility of taking him somewhere simply for the two of them, without the pressure of their destiny on his shoulders. When they were in Hell it had been too late and he had put all his energy into finding an escape for them both, into protecting Adam.
Now that chance had passed completely. Adam could not come here unless he was no longer tied to humanity and Michael would not do that to him. Adam had to live.
Behind him Castiel was touching the leaves of a flowering tree, his expression unreadable. “I have not been here for a long time,” he said quietly, echoing Michael’s own thoughts.
“We must find the tree,” he said, determined not to dwell on sentimentality any longer. “We do not know if we are safe here.”
“It will be at the center of the Garden. Our Father’s taste is for the theatrical, after all,” Castiel wore the hint of a half-smile on his face and Michael had to smile back. Their Father had always loved a taste of showmanship. Gabriel took after him in that respect. Michael could hardly say he hadn’t indulged himself once or twice when spreading the word - he’d appeared to one prophet as a flaming bush but he only took that option when he could not find a vessel to accommodate him. Michael preferred to talk face to face. All but Dean Winchester had listened when he spoke to them.
They walked through the garden, through the beautiful flowers and tall canopy of trees. Everything was lush, fresh and perfect. Just as Castiel had suggested the tree stood in the middle of a clearing, branches laden with bright red apples that looked as if they would be crisp and juicy. They were made to be tempting. Their Father has spared no detail or had it been Lucifer who had taken the time to lovingly craft the tree and its apples? It made Michael feel physically sick to know that part of what might be needed to save Adam, could have come from his brother’s hand. He didn’t want Lucifer to be involved with Adam, even by such degrees of separation.
“How many do we need?” Castiel asked. He was staying back at the edge of the clearing and Michael knew why. Even from back here he could feel the sin that tainted the apples. They looked beautiful but they were rotten inside.
“I do not know,” Michael responded truthfully. “Adam has not eaten well since he returned to the living. I think we should take as many back as we can carry.” He held his hand up, conjuring a bag to hold them in and hoped that once Adam had had a few bites of the apple, once the baby’s need for humanity had been sated then he would eat properly and Michael could destroy the rest of the rotten fruit.
Castiel nodded. Michael didn’t make his brother pick the first apple. He grasped it himself, snapping it from the tree and holding it in his hand for a moment before dropping it into the bag. He would have to make sure no one but Adam ate them. Castiel picked another from the tree and together they filled up the whole bag.
“This should be enough,” Michael said, looking down into the bag of juicy red apples and Castiel nodded, wiping his hands on his trench coat, trying to wipe away the taint of them.
His eyes widened suddenly and Michael wondered what was wrong when there was the snap of a twig behind him and he whirled in time to block the blow of a sword, shoving Raphael away from him bodily. His brother had snuck up on him. He’d been planning to kill him, in the Garden of all places. Michael knew that death was one of the options Raphael might use against him but he had assumed, given the recent attack on Adam, that he was concentrating on ridding Michael’s life of that little distraction rather than eliminating Michael himself. As far as Michael knew Raphael wanted the apocalypse. Without Michael there could hardly be one unless Raphael had decided to fight Lucifer himself and even if he did it would not be as was written.
He dropped the bag of apples at his feet, drawing his own sword. “Raphael,” he nodded coolly at his brother.
“Michael.” Raphael nodded back. “And Castiel.”
Michael felt rather than saw Castiel draw his own sword then appeare Michael’s side. Castiel didn’t have the power of an archangel. He could not take down Raphael and yet he still stood by Michael, determined to fight with him. Michael wondered if he had simply been too focused on Lucifer to realize before the loyalty his brother had or if this was something Castiel recently developed. They were closer now. Castiel was not just a simple seraph and Michael was no longer only Heaven’s sword. They had become more than what they had once been. Not Raphael though, he had not changed.
“You mean to kill me?” he asked his brother.
“Wound you,” Raphael corrected him. “I mean to kill Castiel but you, I mean to wound. My assassination attempt on Adam Milligan failed. The boy will die though, without these apples and he will take that bastard child with him. I mean only to keep you from giving them to him.”
Michael gritted his teeth. “There is still Gabriel….”
Raphael laughed. “Gabriel would never come here. Gabriel is afraid of me, afraid of Heaven.”
“You are wrong,” Castiel said quietly. “He would come if it meant saving Adam.”
Raphael’s gaze shifted to him and his smile was cruel. “Then I will kill him too. As long as Michael survives and Adam Milligan dies I do not care what happens. Once Adam is dead I know you will come to your senses, Michael.”
Michael could not help but smile at that. Adam being dead had not prevented him from being resurrected before. Michael had drawn together the ashes of his body and built them back into a man. Castiel had pulled him from the earth but it had been Michael who had rebuilt him. It was Michael who had escaped the cage with Adam, brought him back to the cemetery where they had died and returned him to his former glory with only the addition of their child growing inside of him. Michael had woven something of himself into Adam from the first time he restored him. Even if Raphael killed him now, Michael would never restart the apocalypse.
“If he dies I will bring him back,” He spat out. He would go wherever Adam’s soul was kept - Heaven or Hell - and if Adam wouldn’t come back with him then Michael would stay there at his side.
“Your child will still die.” Raphael did not seem at all angry with Michael’s proclamation. He was right though. The child had never had a chance to live. She was still growing, still becoming more than simply unformed grace. If Adam died she went with him and she would never be. Michael would not be able to bring her back.
“If you hurt either of them Raphael, I will kill you,” He warned his brother, hoping that Raphael would remember that once they had been close, once they had meant more to each other than pieces on a chess set as Lucifer had called them. Michael hated to find himself quoting Lucifer but for once his little brother and his tongue of lies had spoken the truth. “You should walk off the board, Raphael,” He told his brother and heard Castiel’s gasp behind him.
“I will not allow this.” Raphael raised his sword again. “I will poison the tree if I have to. I will not allow you to ignore our Father’s wishes for some human boy. He’ll be dead in the blink of an eye, Michael. Let him die.”
Michael raised his own sword but it was Castiel who darted out, who slashed and defended and Michael knew he could leave. He could take the apples and go to Adam, could save Adam but Castiel would almost certainly die. Raphael would not allow him to walk out of the garden alive. Even as he thought that Raphael swung wide, his blade cutting in an arch, the tip of it slashing through clothes and into skin. Castiel staggered back, blood spilling over his fingers from the wound to his stomach and Raphael raised the sword to finish the job. Castiel did not have time to heal, to block or avoid. Time itself seemed to slow as Michael stepped between them. Raphael had meant to strike the killing blow and in the process, had left himself unguarded. Michael simply raised his sword and let Raphael impale himself on it.
Raphael’s eyes were wide as he looked down at the sword in his chest and Michael let go of the handle even as Raphael’s fingers reached for him.
“Brother,” he whispered before the Garden was filled with light. Michael shut his eyes tightly. He heard the sound of Raphael’s empty vessel as it hit the floor - a solid, dull, dead weight and then behind him he could hear Castiel sinking to his knees. He opened his eyes again, reaching forward to pull his sword free from the corpse and then turned to take in the full extent of Castiel’s injuries.
“Castiel, get up,” Michael barked. “Heal yourself.”
Castiel made no move to stand, the blood spreading underneath his hand, wetting through his white shirt.
“It was not a fatal hit, ” Michael countered him, annoyed that Castiel would not respond. His brother had been wilful but this was pointless rebellion. Castiel’s refusal to heal only hurt himself and then indirectly the Winchesters. Michael knew he should leave his brother here. If Castiel was in no fit state to carry on then he could be sacrificed. He was a foot soldier after all but even so he hesitated. Adam would not leave someone, Michael knew that. If he came back without Castiel, Adam would never forgive him.
He knelt down at Castiel’s side, fingers touching the long gash and Castiel shuddered, turning his head away. Michael probed a little deeper, beneath the flesh and came into contact with Castiel’s grace. It was weakened, diverted and he followed the diversion. Nestled there, growing and protected, a second grace beat, previously undetected.
Michael pulled his hand away as if stung. “You…”
“You mustn’t tell Dean,” Castiel said quietly. The first words out of his mouth since he had been hit and Michael hated that Castiel still put the feelings of that human above himself. “I told him it wasn’t possible, Michael. He hurt me. I wanted to hurt him too.” He swallowed hard, the blood sticky and wet on his fingers and Michael covered Castiel’s hand with his own, letting his grace flow through the tips, helping Castiel to heal himself.
“You cannot keep this hidden,” he said gravely and Castiel shook his head.
“Dean doesn’t want…I am his when he needs me, nothing more than that. I cannot put this burden on him.”
Michael thought of how he had ignored Adam, how he had sent him back to his brothers and the prayers he had heard from the boy while he was in Heaven. Adam had begged him and cursed him. He hated and loved him with a passion that had terrified Michael. He kept him at arm’s length because Adam was precious to him and a weakness that could be used against him. He had killed his brothers to protect Adam. He had bought them back from the dead for the same reason. If Dean Winchester was his true vessel, and Michael did not doubt that, then he suspected Dean adopted a very similar line of thinking. He had pushed Castiel away to save him.
“He must know about this,” he said and Castiel’s shoulders drooped miserably. The blood flow had stopped but the wound was not closing as Michael would have liked. Even with Raphael dead they were not safe in the garden. There might be others who believed that Michael had been corrupted, others who would try to stop them. He picked up the bag full of apples from where he had dropped them and forced them into Castiel’s arms. “Hold these. I will take you home.”
**
( Part Two) | ( Part Four )