Unexpected Destinies Chapter 109
Title: Unexpected Destinies
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 2,661
Summary: "Lucifer has made his first significant strike."
PAST
"What?" Dean demanded, incredulous. "When? Where? And how? I thought he couldn't with the Rite of Contressa or has he broken it already?"
"No, he appeared in his true form and caused extensive damage that way," Michael replied.
"That would have drained him significantly," Castiel stated before he frowned. "Why wasn't I informed of this?"
"Things transpired very quickly and I happened to be with the Virtues at the time and thus arrived at the scene quickly. As soon as I did so Lucifer fled knowing that he no longer had enough power left to face me directly, even without me being in my true vessel."
"What did he do and where?" Dean asked again.
"He opened the gateway to Perdition on Devil's Island, or at least one of his demons or Simiel did and then Lucifer arrived and destroyed the entire area including the surrounding islands."
Dean could only stare in shock for a moment, the news so unexpected and horrific that it took a short while to process. "Were the islands inhabited?"
"There were people there, yes, tourists among them."
"Dean?" Castiel questioned as Dean leapt to his feet.
"Laptop," Dean explained, grabbing it and surfing straight to the CNN website.
There was already amateur footage up of the events although luckily the cameraman hadn't caught anything too immediately supernatural. Or at least not for those who didn't know about what was really out there. Hunters, however, would instantly recognize the writhing column of dark mass for demons instead of the smoke most would assume it to be. Between that and the steam from evaporated seawater, the full extent of the damage wasn't yet visible, but he'd seen enough already to know it was bad. Very, very bad.
For one thing any surviving witnesses would all have had their eyes burned right out of their skulls as the video had needed serious filtering to be anything other than eye searing and the way the cameraman had screamed as he'd dropped the recorder had been enough for Dean to know exactly what had happened to the poor guy. But the video definitely corroborated what his friend had said; the gateway had been opened before the supernova that was the devil had appeared to wipe everything out.
When they started on the suspected death toll, Dean paled and closed the laptop. "What the hell was he trying to do? Wouldn't that explosion have closed the gate again?"
"No, the gateway is a metaphysical portal between Earth and Perdition, it will not be overcome by rubble," Castiel replied. "Most likely Lucifer was attempting to destroy the door and the protections around the gateway to prevent us from easily closing it all once more."
"Shit, you mean it's still open? Demons are still getting out?"
"It is still open but we have a garrison guarding the gateway," Michael stated. "Raphael and Castiel had prepared for this eventuality and so once they arrived and Lucifer fled, the flow of demons onto Earth was halted."
Dean sighed with relief. "That's good. Can you close the gateway again or will it need to be constantly guarded?"
"It is possible to create a new seal for the gateway, but with the old one so completely obliterated it will take a lot of effort and power to do so."
"Oh, you need me for this."
"Yes," Michael confirmed, wincing as he glanced down at his current vessel. "Although I have been as careful as I can be with your aunt, power decay has already begun to set in and should I attempt to create this seal while within her, I fear there may be very little of her left afterwards."
The image made Dean blanch and he wondered why it was that he couldn't currently see any signs of the power decay, but then figured that there were some things that he really didn't want to know and this was most definitely one of them. He really didn't want the memory of Aunt Deirdre looking like Lucifer had just before Sam had let the devil in tainting the few recollections of her that he had. He was just grateful to his friend for understanding that so well as to hide the evidence of it.
"Why didn't you say anything before? We could have gone right away," Dean inquired.
"This will require a lot of energy from both of you," Castiel explained. "It was better for you to eat before Michael took you."
"Precisely. The garrison guarding the gateway is one of our best and is more than capable of holding off the demons that are aware the gateway has opened as word will not yet have spread far," Michael added. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah, sure, let's get this gateway closed as quickly as possible," Dean stated, heading for the couch. "Is here good?"
"Yes."
The moment that Castiel had closed the curtains, Michael left Deirdre and came for him. Less nervous now than before, Dean was able to catch sight of his friend's lion and bat faces before the archangel was there, sinking into him. This time he allowed things to happen, reaching out and curling himself around the bit of Grace that Michael extended towards him. The close connection between them that flared to life at the first touch of Grace to soul let him remain calm as he started getting pushed down towards the darkness. So long as his friend wasn't worried, he wouldn't be either. The last thing he wanted to do now was to make his archangel waste energy needlessly on him that could be used far better on closing that damned gateway.
In the end the darkness grazed the very edge of Dean's awareness but he didn't actually go under. It still left him a little disoriented but soon he found himself nestled securely in Michael's Grace. A few movements that felt just like stretches later and he felt completely awake and aware again.
"Hello again, Little One," Michael greeted with a stroke to his soul. "I have missed having you here with me like this."
Strangely enough and against all odds, Dean found that he too had missed the closeness with his friend. "I wish that we could have the connection without the actual possessing bit."
"I do not believe that is possible."
"Yeah, I know."
But it didn't stop Dean from wishing for it. Michael was, essentially, only his second true friend ever and, given the way his relationship with Castiel had changed and evolved, Michael would be the first that would remain just a friend. Maybe it was simply the way he formed connections, but those he let in and close to him, he'd always wanted to keep really close and this whole vessel-archangel thing was really hitting that deep-seated need of his and he didn't want to give it up even if he knew that he'd have to. Perhaps he and Michael would have to do this occasionally if they won and everyone survived.
"Michael?" Castiel asked, standing before them. "Dean?"
"We are both well, Brother," Michael reassured.
"Do you require assistance?"
"Yes, and it would be best for you to learn how to seal a gateway should Lucifer or Simiel manage to break open any of the others."
The mere thought had Dean shuddering but it was a valid point as it was something that Lucifer was probably going to try again. Even now, given how quickly the angels had responded, he dreaded to think of how many hundreds or thousands of demons might have escaped and how quickly they were spreading worldwide.
"Dean makes a good point," Michael suddenly stated, catching him off-guard.
"Huh?" Dean questioned.
"We should probably see if we cannot prevent the demons from spreading too far," Michael continued.
"Yes," Castiel nodded. "I shall see to it and meet you there."
With that his lover was gone and Dean was left with Michael and his aunt's vegetative body. Briefly he spared another thought for her husband before he shoved the thought aside. There was nothing that he could for the man short of bringing him into his world and he sincerely doubted that was something either his aunt or his father would have wanted so it was best to just let things be even if it was no doubt hurting the guy. He then wondered why they didn't just leave before remembering that the transition from one vessel to another weakened Michael and instead he tried to wait as patiently as possible for his friend to recover, not wanting them to attempt this at anything less than full power even if he hated waiting around and doing nothing when something like this was going on.
Eventually though Michael was ready and they took off. Despite the seriousness of their mission, Dean found himself enjoying the first part of their flight. The feel of the wind in their feathers as Michael beat his large wings was terrific and the sights were amazing even if he still had some trouble processing it all. It was strange how he felt no fear like this given his usual terror with airplanes.
"If you would like, we could go flying just for fun once," Michael offered. "Without the need to get somewhere quickly I would be able to slow down enough so that you could enjoy it all."
"Really?" Dean asked, loving the idea even if it made him think of the stunts pilots pulled at air shows for some reason.
Michael laughed. "I could do acrobatics like that if you would like."
For a moment Dean almost felt the need to flush but then he shrugged it off. It wasn't his fault that thought had leaked out and he kinda liked the idea of doing all kinds of tricks in mid-air just for the hell of it. They deserved to simply have some fun after all and since he was a vessel anyway, he might as well enjoy the perks of the experience even if they were due to his being some kind of anomaly among anomalies. Since when had he ever done anything the normal way anyway? He was different and he'd always been proud of it so it was crazy for him to start caring about that now and he wasn't sure why he had.
It all seemed so clear to Dean now that he wasn't sure why he'd been so worried and against it before. Yes, so perhaps he didn't quite like or agree with the interpretation of why he was so different- special according to his archangels- but it really didn't bother him anymore that he was different. After all, normal people, or even normal vessels for that matter, didn't get to have angelic lovers or get to have such a great connection with the angel who wore them. In fact they didn't get to have any of the things that he currently loved about his life. Nor any of the bad things, truthfully, but he wouldn't give up Castiel or Michael for anything.
For the first time in his life Dean knew that he finally had the family that he'd always wanted and he was damned if he was going to give them up or if anyone was going to take them from him.
"We are here," Michael stated and Dean made a mental not to explain contractions to the archangel later before turning all of his attention to the task at hand.
The sight before them now was radically different from before. Gone were the endless, beautiful stretches of sky and ocean and in their stead was utter chaos and destruction. The first thing to catch Dean's eye were the columns of smoke that rose into the sky. For a split second he thought that the demons had rallied faster than expected and had overcome the garrison left to protect the gateway, but then he realized that it really was just smoke. It came from the many fires below some of which were burning on the water itself which had a slick sheen to it like gas and he wondered where it had come from.
The thought passed quickly as Michael took a moment to assess the full scale of the destruction and Dean saw that even some of the vegetation on the mainland had caught fire and he tried to connect the explosion he'd seen on his laptop with the devastation he saw now. The shoreline looked pretty bad with boats and all manner of debris littered quite far inland making him suspect that Lucifer's little show had caused a mini tsunami or at least a localized tidal surge. The anger flared hot and strong within him along with guilt for not having prevented this, but he tried to contain them so as not to distract Michael from what his friend was here to do. He got a brief flicker of gratitude for his efforts and then they were flying straight down into the heart of the damage.
From the ground the destruction looked even worse and Dean's unasked question about whether there had been any buildings on the islands was answered by the rubble around them though the twisted iron bars laying off to one side made him wonder exactly what type of buildings they had been. Regardless of that, there was hardly anything left of them now and fire and water were diligently working to consume what had survived so far. The presence of the water, especially where it seemed to literally spout from the ground, made him wonder if what remained of the island itself wouldn't be overcome by the ocean by nightfall. Lucifer had blasted most of it into oblivion and all that was left was a crater the center of which was definitely well below sea level.
"Michael," Castiel said as he landed beside them.
"Castiel. Has the hunt begun?"
"Yes, the garrisons I assigned were most eager to aid in any way possible."
"Lucifer's attack has angered them."
"Yes, particularly in light of the fact that there was no one present here who could have posed him any resistance."
Dean instantly recognized the gateway without any prompting when Michael's gaze landed on it for with his archangel enhanced senses, he could easily peer into it and the play of light that was only found in Hell shone through clearly. If he'd been in control of his meatsuit, his breath would have caught in his throat and his heart would have started beating a hard and fast rhythm. Instead he experienced none of the expected physical symptoms his mental condition warranted and it was throwing him for a loop. The decades worth of memories were also threatening to rush in and it was all that he could do to fight them off. He really should have expected something like this to happen given their mission and he should have been prepared for it. He-
His eyes fell closed as he was suddenly enveloped in Grace and Light, Michael coiling himself around him fiercely enough to chase away the lingering power of Hell. Dean took a few moments to simply bask in the comfort and security being offered before he began to pull himself together. Despite everything that was going on and Lucifer's escape from the cage, he'd hardly had so much as bad dream about his time on the rack with Alastair in a very long time. It was probably part of the reason why the abrupt reminder was hitting him so hard now, but he was also immensely pleased at the realization of exactly how much better he'd gotten and he knew that it was all thanks to Castiel and his lover's patience and persistence.
"Thanks, Mike," Dean finally said when he felt confident that his voice wouldn't shake.
"Anytime, Little One."
"What do we need to do?" Castiel inquired, also looking towards the gateway. "How do we create a new seal for it?"
Chapter 110
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 2,661
Summary: "Lucifer has made his first significant strike."
PAST
"What?" Dean demanded, incredulous. "When? Where? And how? I thought he couldn't with the Rite of Contressa or has he broken it already?"
"No, he appeared in his true form and caused extensive damage that way," Michael replied.
"That would have drained him significantly," Castiel stated before he frowned. "Why wasn't I informed of this?"
"Things transpired very quickly and I happened to be with the Virtues at the time and thus arrived at the scene quickly. As soon as I did so Lucifer fled knowing that he no longer had enough power left to face me directly, even without me being in my true vessel."
"What did he do and where?" Dean asked again.
"He opened the gateway to Perdition on Devil's Island, or at least one of his demons or Simiel did and then Lucifer arrived and destroyed the entire area including the surrounding islands."
Dean could only stare in shock for a moment, the news so unexpected and horrific that it took a short while to process. "Were the islands inhabited?"
"There were people there, yes, tourists among them."
"Dean?" Castiel questioned as Dean leapt to his feet.
"Laptop," Dean explained, grabbing it and surfing straight to the CNN website.
There was already amateur footage up of the events although luckily the cameraman hadn't caught anything too immediately supernatural. Or at least not for those who didn't know about what was really out there. Hunters, however, would instantly recognize the writhing column of dark mass for demons instead of the smoke most would assume it to be. Between that and the steam from evaporated seawater, the full extent of the damage wasn't yet visible, but he'd seen enough already to know it was bad. Very, very bad.
For one thing any surviving witnesses would all have had their eyes burned right out of their skulls as the video had needed serious filtering to be anything other than eye searing and the way the cameraman had screamed as he'd dropped the recorder had been enough for Dean to know exactly what had happened to the poor guy. But the video definitely corroborated what his friend had said; the gateway had been opened before the supernova that was the devil had appeared to wipe everything out.
When they started on the suspected death toll, Dean paled and closed the laptop. "What the hell was he trying to do? Wouldn't that explosion have closed the gate again?"
"No, the gateway is a metaphysical portal between Earth and Perdition, it will not be overcome by rubble," Castiel replied. "Most likely Lucifer was attempting to destroy the door and the protections around the gateway to prevent us from easily closing it all once more."
"Shit, you mean it's still open? Demons are still getting out?"
"It is still open but we have a garrison guarding the gateway," Michael stated. "Raphael and Castiel had prepared for this eventuality and so once they arrived and Lucifer fled, the flow of demons onto Earth was halted."
Dean sighed with relief. "That's good. Can you close the gateway again or will it need to be constantly guarded?"
"It is possible to create a new seal for the gateway, but with the old one so completely obliterated it will take a lot of effort and power to do so."
"Oh, you need me for this."
"Yes," Michael confirmed, wincing as he glanced down at his current vessel. "Although I have been as careful as I can be with your aunt, power decay has already begun to set in and should I attempt to create this seal while within her, I fear there may be very little of her left afterwards."
The image made Dean blanch and he wondered why it was that he couldn't currently see any signs of the power decay, but then figured that there were some things that he really didn't want to know and this was most definitely one of them. He really didn't want the memory of Aunt Deirdre looking like Lucifer had just before Sam had let the devil in tainting the few recollections of her that he had. He was just grateful to his friend for understanding that so well as to hide the evidence of it.
"Why didn't you say anything before? We could have gone right away," Dean inquired.
"This will require a lot of energy from both of you," Castiel explained. "It was better for you to eat before Michael took you."
"Precisely. The garrison guarding the gateway is one of our best and is more than capable of holding off the demons that are aware the gateway has opened as word will not yet have spread far," Michael added. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah, sure, let's get this gateway closed as quickly as possible," Dean stated, heading for the couch. "Is here good?"
"Yes."
The moment that Castiel had closed the curtains, Michael left Deirdre and came for him. Less nervous now than before, Dean was able to catch sight of his friend's lion and bat faces before the archangel was there, sinking into him. This time he allowed things to happen, reaching out and curling himself around the bit of Grace that Michael extended towards him. The close connection between them that flared to life at the first touch of Grace to soul let him remain calm as he started getting pushed down towards the darkness. So long as his friend wasn't worried, he wouldn't be either. The last thing he wanted to do now was to make his archangel waste energy needlessly on him that could be used far better on closing that damned gateway.
In the end the darkness grazed the very edge of Dean's awareness but he didn't actually go under. It still left him a little disoriented but soon he found himself nestled securely in Michael's Grace. A few movements that felt just like stretches later and he felt completely awake and aware again.
"Hello again, Little One," Michael greeted with a stroke to his soul. "I have missed having you here with me like this."
Strangely enough and against all odds, Dean found that he too had missed the closeness with his friend. "I wish that we could have the connection without the actual possessing bit."
"I do not believe that is possible."
"Yeah, I know."
But it didn't stop Dean from wishing for it. Michael was, essentially, only his second true friend ever and, given the way his relationship with Castiel had changed and evolved, Michael would be the first that would remain just a friend. Maybe it was simply the way he formed connections, but those he let in and close to him, he'd always wanted to keep really close and this whole vessel-archangel thing was really hitting that deep-seated need of his and he didn't want to give it up even if he knew that he'd have to. Perhaps he and Michael would have to do this occasionally if they won and everyone survived.
"Michael?" Castiel asked, standing before them. "Dean?"
"We are both well, Brother," Michael reassured.
"Do you require assistance?"
"Yes, and it would be best for you to learn how to seal a gateway should Lucifer or Simiel manage to break open any of the others."
The mere thought had Dean shuddering but it was a valid point as it was something that Lucifer was probably going to try again. Even now, given how quickly the angels had responded, he dreaded to think of how many hundreds or thousands of demons might have escaped and how quickly they were spreading worldwide.
"Dean makes a good point," Michael suddenly stated, catching him off-guard.
"Huh?" Dean questioned.
"We should probably see if we cannot prevent the demons from spreading too far," Michael continued.
"Yes," Castiel nodded. "I shall see to it and meet you there."
With that his lover was gone and Dean was left with Michael and his aunt's vegetative body. Briefly he spared another thought for her husband before he shoved the thought aside. There was nothing that he could for the man short of bringing him into his world and he sincerely doubted that was something either his aunt or his father would have wanted so it was best to just let things be even if it was no doubt hurting the guy. He then wondered why they didn't just leave before remembering that the transition from one vessel to another weakened Michael and instead he tried to wait as patiently as possible for his friend to recover, not wanting them to attempt this at anything less than full power even if he hated waiting around and doing nothing when something like this was going on.
Eventually though Michael was ready and they took off. Despite the seriousness of their mission, Dean found himself enjoying the first part of their flight. The feel of the wind in their feathers as Michael beat his large wings was terrific and the sights were amazing even if he still had some trouble processing it all. It was strange how he felt no fear like this given his usual terror with airplanes.
"If you would like, we could go flying just for fun once," Michael offered. "Without the need to get somewhere quickly I would be able to slow down enough so that you could enjoy it all."
"Really?" Dean asked, loving the idea even if it made him think of the stunts pilots pulled at air shows for some reason.
Michael laughed. "I could do acrobatics like that if you would like."
For a moment Dean almost felt the need to flush but then he shrugged it off. It wasn't his fault that thought had leaked out and he kinda liked the idea of doing all kinds of tricks in mid-air just for the hell of it. They deserved to simply have some fun after all and since he was a vessel anyway, he might as well enjoy the perks of the experience even if they were due to his being some kind of anomaly among anomalies. Since when had he ever done anything the normal way anyway? He was different and he'd always been proud of it so it was crazy for him to start caring about that now and he wasn't sure why he had.
It all seemed so clear to Dean now that he wasn't sure why he'd been so worried and against it before. Yes, so perhaps he didn't quite like or agree with the interpretation of why he was so different- special according to his archangels- but it really didn't bother him anymore that he was different. After all, normal people, or even normal vessels for that matter, didn't get to have angelic lovers or get to have such a great connection with the angel who wore them. In fact they didn't get to have any of the things that he currently loved about his life. Nor any of the bad things, truthfully, but he wouldn't give up Castiel or Michael for anything.
For the first time in his life Dean knew that he finally had the family that he'd always wanted and he was damned if he was going to give them up or if anyone was going to take them from him.
"We are here," Michael stated and Dean made a mental not to explain contractions to the archangel later before turning all of his attention to the task at hand.
The sight before them now was radically different from before. Gone were the endless, beautiful stretches of sky and ocean and in their stead was utter chaos and destruction. The first thing to catch Dean's eye were the columns of smoke that rose into the sky. For a split second he thought that the demons had rallied faster than expected and had overcome the garrison left to protect the gateway, but then he realized that it really was just smoke. It came from the many fires below some of which were burning on the water itself which had a slick sheen to it like gas and he wondered where it had come from.
The thought passed quickly as Michael took a moment to assess the full scale of the destruction and Dean saw that even some of the vegetation on the mainland had caught fire and he tried to connect the explosion he'd seen on his laptop with the devastation he saw now. The shoreline looked pretty bad with boats and all manner of debris littered quite far inland making him suspect that Lucifer's little show had caused a mini tsunami or at least a localized tidal surge. The anger flared hot and strong within him along with guilt for not having prevented this, but he tried to contain them so as not to distract Michael from what his friend was here to do. He got a brief flicker of gratitude for his efforts and then they were flying straight down into the heart of the damage.
From the ground the destruction looked even worse and Dean's unasked question about whether there had been any buildings on the islands was answered by the rubble around them though the twisted iron bars laying off to one side made him wonder exactly what type of buildings they had been. Regardless of that, there was hardly anything left of them now and fire and water were diligently working to consume what had survived so far. The presence of the water, especially where it seemed to literally spout from the ground, made him wonder if what remained of the island itself wouldn't be overcome by the ocean by nightfall. Lucifer had blasted most of it into oblivion and all that was left was a crater the center of which was definitely well below sea level.
"Michael," Castiel said as he landed beside them.
"Castiel. Has the hunt begun?"
"Yes, the garrisons I assigned were most eager to aid in any way possible."
"Lucifer's attack has angered them."
"Yes, particularly in light of the fact that there was no one present here who could have posed him any resistance."
Dean instantly recognized the gateway without any prompting when Michael's gaze landed on it for with his archangel enhanced senses, he could easily peer into it and the play of light that was only found in Hell shone through clearly. If he'd been in control of his meatsuit, his breath would have caught in his throat and his heart would have started beating a hard and fast rhythm. Instead he experienced none of the expected physical symptoms his mental condition warranted and it was throwing him for a loop. The decades worth of memories were also threatening to rush in and it was all that he could do to fight them off. He really should have expected something like this to happen given their mission and he should have been prepared for it. He-
His eyes fell closed as he was suddenly enveloped in Grace and Light, Michael coiling himself around him fiercely enough to chase away the lingering power of Hell. Dean took a few moments to simply bask in the comfort and security being offered before he began to pull himself together. Despite everything that was going on and Lucifer's escape from the cage, he'd hardly had so much as bad dream about his time on the rack with Alastair in a very long time. It was probably part of the reason why the abrupt reminder was hitting him so hard now, but he was also immensely pleased at the realization of exactly how much better he'd gotten and he knew that it was all thanks to Castiel and his lover's patience and persistence.
"Thanks, Mike," Dean finally said when he felt confident that his voice wouldn't shake.
"Anytime, Little One."
"What do we need to do?" Castiel inquired, also looking towards the gateway. "How do we create a new seal for it?"
Chapter 110