It was about two months later that everyone was finally ready to travel to the alternate universe to stop alternate Michael and save Mary. Michael had recovered enough that he was prepared to fight once more, and Gabriel's Grace had recharged quite a bit. It wasn't a hundred percent.
Everyone was in library getting ready to go. Lucifer turned to Michael. "Are you sure you're ready for this? We could wait longer."
"Has our mother not waited long enough?" Dean asked coolly. As far as he was concerned, they should've gone over a month ago. Michael was coherent and sane, but everyone was so busy treating him like a fragile child.
"Better to wait than have her end up dead because we're not all ready," Gabriel countered.
"I'm fine. I'm ready to fight. We cannot allow my counterpart to come here and destroy this world," Michael said.
"Rowena should be down any second to start the spell," Sam said. They'd gotten in touch with Rowena not too long ago. She reluctantly agreed to help. She was even more reluctant when she learned Lucifer was with them. They'd explained that he was not the same being that killed her, but it did little to assure her. Thankfully, they still managed to convince her to help.
"Sam, how much do you trust this witch?" Lucifer asked. Not only did they need to trust her to keep the rift open, he would also be leaving his son there with her. He didn't relish the idea of leaving his son with a stranger.
"On a good day, maybe seventy percent," Sam said.
"I don't like those odds. I'm leaving my son with her," Lucifer said.
"I don't need a babysitter. I'm not a child!" Jack grumbled as he sat petulantly in an armchair away from the group. Once again, he was forbidden to go and help while everyone he cared about left to save the world. It wasn't fair. He wasn't a child. Well, he supposed he technically was, but he didn't look or feel like one. He sometimes wished he did. It would seem more true. Plus, he sometimes wished he could experience life the way everyone else had. Right now though, he just wanted to go with his family to stop the other Michael.
Lucifer ignored his son. He decided it was best not to engage with him right now. He figured it would only make things worse, so he'd just let the boy be angry for now.
"I don't think you have to worry about Rowena. I don't think she'd dare try to hurt Jack," Sam said. Rowena was terrified of Lucifer. It didn't seem to matter that he was not what killed her so brutally. The fact that that thing was made up of his Grace was enough to scare the hell out of her.
"Perhaps," Lucifer said. He was far from convinced, but had no other choice. He refused to take Jack to a warzone, and they needed everyone else with them. Well, not so much Sam or Dean, but neither would agree to stay behind. He really couldn't blame them in this instance. Their mother was in that world.
Just then, Rowena came into the room. "Alright, I suppose you're all ready."
"Yeah. Each of us have given you a vial of our Grace. That should give us fours days, correct?" Amenadiel asked.
"In theory. This hasn't exactly been tried before," Rowena said as she began setting up her ingredients.
"As we mentioned, Jack is going to be staying here with you," Sam said.
Jack began grumbling at that.
Lucifer walked over to Rowena, who took a step back and looked away. "You're afraid of me, correct, Darling?"
Rowena wouldn't give him the satisfaction of answering.
"If anything happens to my son, I will make that fear a reality," Lucifer warned. He knew what the woman had been through thanks to his creation. He had no desire to make it worse, but his son was his priority. So, he decide that if she already feared him, he might as well use it to make sure she didn't try to hurt Jack.
Rowena nodded quickly.
Lucifer went over to Jack, who pointedly looked away from him. "I know you're angry, but you knew long before now that I wasn't going to let you come."
"But it's not fair! I can help!" Jack protested.
"Jack, we are not going to have this conversation again," Lucifer said in a tone that left no room for argument. "You will stay here, and you will not step one foot towards that rift, am I understood?"
"But..."
"Jack!" Lucifer said, raising his voice slightly.
"Yes, Father," Jack finally said.
"If you go through that rift, I cannot even begin to explain to you the trouble you will find yourself in, and for the record, I mean with me, not with whatever you encounter," Lucifer said in the sternest tone he could use.
"Okay, I understand," Jack said. "You'll come back, right?"
"I have every intention of it," Lucifer said in a softer tone before pulling him to his feet and pulling him into his arms.
Despite his anger, Jack hugged his father.
After letting go of his son, Lucifer walked over to his brothers.
Michael gave his younger brother an amused look. "Wow. That was like watching a clip of the past, only you're me and Jack is you."
Lucifer gasped and looked at his brother with a fake insulted look. "What? Take that back. I'm not nearly as mean as you were."
Michael chuckled. "You know we had the same fight over and over again, minus the alternate universe aspect. You always wanted to come with me on my assignments. And you only knew t warn him not to follow us, because you remember the one time you followed me."
"Yes, you weren't pleased, were you?" Lucifer asked. He remembered that instance. It was hard not to. He was punished big time for that, both by Michael and his father.
"Alright, gentlemen. We're ready," Rowena said. She added all the ingredients and then spoke the spell. Seconds later, a thin light appeared out of nowhere.
The team all looked at each other and then one by one walked through.
Lucifer took in his surroundings. The entire area around him looked dead. There was no sun or flowers. There were a few trees, but they all looked to be dead and rotting. "Bloody Hell."
"No, I'm pretty sure Hell looked better," Maze commented.
"Damn. So this is what would've happened if we really did fight to the death," Michael commented.
"Hmm," Lucifer responded.
Soon, they all heard screams from a few feet away. They all ran to find the source. They arrived just in time to see a human smote while several angels looked on in glee.
"Excuse me!" Lucifer called out.
"What the hell are you doing?" Dean demanded to know.
The angels all turned to them.
"You do realize that it's forbidden to kill a human, yes?" Lucifer asked them.
"It is?" Sam asked Gabriel in a hushed tone.
Gabriel nodded. "No one's followed that rule in a long time though. Well, I guess Luci has, and probably Amenadiel."
"Who are you?" one of them asked.
Michael stepped forward. "You know who we are. You can sense us, just as we can you, Raphael."
Raphael stared at him. "It's impossible!"
"Do you think this Michael forgot to inform him of an alternate universe? That was quite inconsiderate of him, wasn't it, brother?" Lucifer asked Michael.
"Kill them!" Raphael yelled.
The other angels went to attack, but didn't even make it one step before Michael snapped his fingers and imploded them all.
"Did you really think a handful of seraphs would have any chance against the four of us? Do you think you do?" Gabriel asked.
Raphael went to take flight, but found that he couldn't move.
The four archangels approached the alternate version of their dead brother. Michael smirked at him. "Alternate version or not, we both know your power will never outweigh mine."
"You should be on our side! Father's gone now. This world is ours! It should've always been pours!"
Lucifer looked around him. "Your prize doesn't look too grand."
Michael placed his hand to Raphael's head and slowly smote him. He was only able to do so by remembering that this was not really his brother. It also probably helped that he focused on what his Raphael had done to him, pressuring him to murder their brother until his broken mind finally completely snapped.
When it was over, they all heard it as a gun was cocked. They turned around to see a machine gun pointed at them. "Who the hell are you?"
Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Put that away. It wont do anything to us."
"It might hurt. They've got angel killing bullets," Dean said before addressing the man. "Look, we're not here to hurt anyone."
"That one's an angel. I saw what he did!" the man said as he motioned to Michael.
"Yeah, you saw him kill other angels. He did so to help. We're all from an alternate universe," Sam said.
The man lowered his gun slightly, but still appeared suspicious and ready to shoot if necessary. "We met a woman from an alternate universe not too long ago."
"A blonde?" Dean asked.
He nodded.
"She's our mother. Is she okay?" Dean asked.
"You're Dean and Sam," he said.
"Is she okay?" Dean asked again.
"Yeah. We rescued her from Michael's compound not too long ago. She's been working with us since," the man said.
"You have to take us to her," Sam said.
"Are you crazy? Even if I trusted you, you've got angels with you. I will not take angels back to our safe house," the man said.
"We are not here to hurt anyone. We have come to stop Michael once and for all. With our help, you'd be able to take your world back," Castiel said.
The man scoffed. "Yes, I'm sure. Michael has ruled this world for years. You think all of you can stop him. Even angels wont be much use. He has hundreds."
"And none of them can hold a candle to the four of us, to four archangels," Amenadiel said.
"You're archangels? Is one of you an alternate version of Michael?" he asked. He raised his gun again, ready to shoot whoever claimed to be Michael.
"Yes, but I'm not like him. I don't know what happened to him, but I never had any desire to see the world come to this," Michael said.
"Why should I trust you? You are him! You're what ruined our world!"
"Because I could've killed you by now by barely lifting a single finger," Michael said frankly.
"We have the power to end this war. At this point, what do you really have to lose by letting us help? Your world has already been destroyed," Amenadiel said.
The man stared at them for several moments before lowering his weapon once more. "Alright, I'll take you, but don't expect a warm reception, especially you," he said as he looked at Michael.
They all immediately followed the man.
~
Back at the Bunker, Rowena was keeping an eye on the rift while Jack sat at the piano. He started playing the song his father had been teaching him. Playing the piano helped to calm him sometimes.
"You are good at that," Rowena said.
"I'm not as good as my father. He's still teaching me," Jack said.
"I need to leave the room for a few wee moments. Watch the rift, will you?" she asked before walking away.
Jack waited for her to leave the room before approaching the rift. He really wanted to step through. He wanted to be with his family and help them fight. His father had warned him not to. He said there would be consequences. But they would be worth it, wouldn't they? Anything would be worth being allowed to help his father.
Jack had made his mind up. He was going to do it. He was just about to step through when he heard a stern voice behind him.
"Step away from it, Jack."
Jack turned around to see a short man with curly brown hair. He'd appeared pretty much out of nowhere. "Who are you? How did you get in here?"
"Your father warned you not to follow, didn't he?" the man asked sternly.
"I...I wanna help," Jack said.
"How does it help him to have to worry about you too?" the man asked.
"Who are you, and how did you know who I am and who my father is?" Jack asked.
The man smiled.
Jack was beyond confused. He had no idea what any of that meant.
The man stepped forward a few steps. "I'm your grandfather, Jack."