Lucifer is here in Detroit; you can feel it. There are demons in the building he's residing in because you can see them when you look into your binoculars. There are at least a dozen of them just hanging out, either waiting for something to happen or for you three to show up. Lucifer is many things, and you believe patient is one of them.
"There a shit ton of demons. At least twelve of them," you say when you make your way back to the four men.
"He's here. I know it," Dean nods.
He leaves the group to open the trunk so that Sam can have access to all the demon blood he needs in order for this thing to do the way he wants it to go. You step aside with Castiel to let Sam and your dad have a moment since you don't think they will see each other ever again.
"This is going to work, right?" you ask the powerless angel.
He doesn't give you an answer, which weirdly enough, gives you everything you need to know. Castiel has had no faith in Sam or Dean before, and things worked out just fine. But then again, you were never dealing with Lucifer.
Sam and your dad part ways, and the younger brother heads over to the open trunk where the six bottles of demon blood are waiting for him. You leave Castiel's side and approach the younger brother from the left while Dean is on his right.
"You two mind not watching this?" Sam asks sheepishly.
"If you die, I'm going to kill you," you whisper tearfully.
He nods slowly, and you and Dean leave his side so he can do his thing in private. You don't know what to talk about with Dean, so you two just stand there in uncomfortable silence. Five minutes pass by, and you hear the sound of Baby's trunk closing. Sam wipes his mouth with his sleeve and approaches you from behind.
"Okay, let's go."
"Ready or not, here we come," you comment and head off towards the abandoned apartment building. Sam raises his arms when he's close enough to the building as if to say, 'I'm here, and you better watch out'.
"Alright! We're here, you sons of bitches! Come and get it!" he yells loudly.
The front door opens, and three bulky demons walk out with stone-cold faces.
"Hey, guys. Is your father home?" Dean asks with a bittersweet smile.
It's your job to get captured, you so don't fight when one of them grabs you. The other two take the brothers inside, and the three demons manhandle you three up the stairs and into one of the apartment rooms. Lucifer stands by the window and looks out of it. He doesn't turn to greet you and based on what little you can see of his reflection; he's gotten worse since the last time you saw him. There are more red sores all over his face. Whoever he's inhabiting is slowly dying from the inside. He needs Sam now more than ever.
"Hey, guys. So nice of you to drop in," he chuckles lowly. He breathes hot air over the window like a child would do in a cold car to make a smiley face before the window could defrost. However, his breath is ice cold, and it freezes the window in icicles. "Sorry if it's a bit chilly. Most people think I burn hot. It's actually quite the opposite."
"Well, I'll alert the media," Dean says.
Lucifer turns his face so you get a better look at the state he's in. You know not a lot of people can handle such a powerful archangel inside themselves. If, for some reason, Sam says no, then Lucifer's going to have a hard time trying to find someone who can take him for who he truly is. The Horsemen's rings sit in your pocket, and you finger them nervously.
"Help me understand something, guys. I mean, stomping through my front door is a tad suicidal, don't you think?"
"We're not here to fight you," Sam answers.
"No? Then why are you?"
"I want to say yes."
"Excuse me?" Lucifer says as he manages to keep his cool exterior.
He doesn't believe that Sam is just going to give himself willingly, so that's why he's not jumping at the chance to get inside Sam's body. Sam closes his eyes, and with just a thought, he kills the demons that brought you inside the room. They drop to the floor, dead.
"Chock-full of Ovaltine, are we?" Lucifer chuckles.
"You heard me. Yes," Sam glares.
"Oh, you're serious," Lucifer says when he realizes it.
"Look, Judgment Day's a runaway train. We get it now. We just want off."
"Meaning?"
"The deal of the century. I give you a free ride, but when it's all over, I live, he lives, you bring all of our parents back—"
"Okay, can we please drop the telenovela? I know you have the rings, Sam."
Wait, how does he know about that? The only reason why you came here to do this is because you thought you had the advantage of having the rings without him knowing. You try not to give anything away with your facial expressions, but Dean's having more trouble than you are. You look over at him as Lucifer passes in between you so that he's standing behind all three of you. Dean closes his eyes briefly before opening them. All three of you turn slowly to face the angel.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"The Horsemen's rings? The magic keys to my Cage? Ring a bell? Come on, Sam. I've never lied to you. You could at least pay me the same respect. It's okay. I'm not mad," he chuckles and changed the topic. "A wrestling match inside your noggin... I like the idea. Just you and me, one round with no tricks. You win, you jump in the hole. I win... well, then I win. What do you say, Sam? A fiddle of gold against your soul says I'm better than you."
"So, he knows. Doesn't change anything," Sam mutters to you and Dean.
"Sam, no," you whisper.
"We don't have any other choice."
"No!" Dean exclaims.
"Yes," Sam says to Lucifer.
He closes his eyes, and a bright light illuminates from his body. You shield your eyes to protect you from the brightness, but what's done is done. When the bright light is gone, Lucifer's old body is gone, and Sam is lying on the floor. Apparently, having an archangel in your head is going to take a few minutes to get his body kicking again.
"Do it!" Dean yells at you.
You take the rings out of your pocket and throw it at the wall. They stick to the wall as if they are magnets, and you rack your brain for the incantation that's needed to open the cage. Death told you what to say when you want to open it, and what to say if you want to close it.
"Bvtmon... Tabges... Babalon," you chant.
The wall begins to crack, and suddenly, the walls caves in on itself as a hole appears where the rings were. Air is sucked into it like a black hole. Whoever or whatever goes near it will be sucked into the hole and down into Lucifer's cage. Sam stirs at the right time, and Dean rushes over to him.
"Sammy!"
"Dean! I can feel him. Oh, god!" he groans.
"You got to go now!" Dean yells as he helps his brother to stand.
"You need to go Sam! I'll help you!" you yell, and blue magic starts to form around your hands.
It's not ideal, but you'll push him into the hole if it's necessary. Sam stumbles towards the hole, and you grab his hand to help him.
"I have to do this!" he yells.
You let go of his hand and step back to join Dean's side. Sam takes a few more steps but stops. You don't know what he's doing since he's supposed to be jumping into the hole. He turns, and the look on his face tells you it's not Sam... it's Lucifer.
"I was just messing with you. Sammy's long gone," Lucifer grins. He turns to the hole and chants the words in order to close it back up. "Chdr bvtmon tabges babalon." The hole closes immediately, and Lucifer snatches the rings from the wall. "I told you... this would always happen in Detroit."
Not a moment passes, and he's gone. It's just you, Dean, and the dead demons now. You have no idea where Lucifer is, or if Sam is even okay. This is not how things were supposed to go. Lucifer is going to meet with Michael, and you have no way to stop it.
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The news is playing on televisions in a store window. Ever since Lucifer disappeared, bad things have been happening all over the country. You don't know what the rest of the world looks like but you know it's going to be a wasteland soon enough.
"The reports are flooding in," the female news reporter says loudly as the wind whips past her. "A 7.6 earthquake in Portland, 8.1 in Boston, more in Hong Kong, Berlin, and Tehran. The U.S.G.S. has no explanation but says to expect a six-figure death toll."
"It's starting," Castiel comments quietly.
"Yeah, you think, genius?" Dean scoffs.
"You don't have to be so mean."
"What do we do now?" you ask since you're fresh out of ideas.
"I suggest we imbibe copious quantities of alcohol, and just wait for the inevitable blast wave."
"Yeah, swell. Thank you, Bukowski. She means, how do we stop it?" Dean argues.
"We don't. Lucifer will meet Michael on the chosen field, and the battle of Armageddon begins."
"Then where is this chosen field? We can go there and at least try to stop it. We can't give up," you scoff.
"I don't know where it is."
"Well, there's got to be something that we can do!" Dean shouts.
"I'm sorry, Dean. This is over," the angel sighs.
"You listen to me, you junkless sissy, we are not giving up! Bobby?" the older brothers asks and turns to face your dad who is silent. "Bobby?"
"There was never much hope to begin with. I don't know what to do," he sighs sadly.
"No, I am not accepting that answer. We didn't make deals, kill demons, work with them, and take all four horsemen rings for nothing. We can't just give up! That's not who we are. We have another option."
"What?" Castiel asks.
"We have a prophet," you smirk and take out your cell phone.
You turn away from the men to take this call in private. Your dad knows that you might do something stupid, and Dean knows that you're going to get some kind of answer from Chuck. He goes to the car to get her ready. Whether he likes it or not, he'd be stupid to not take advantage of your powers for this fight.
"Mistress Magda?" Chuck answers.
"Um, no, Chuck," you chuckle awkwardly.
"Oh, uh, Y/N. Uh, wow. I, uh, I didn't know that you'd call," he stutters in embarrassment.
"Yeah, I'm sure you're really busy. Look, Sam said yes to Lucifer."
"I know. I saw it. I'm just working on the pages right now. I'm also very sorry, I know how sad you are," he sighs.
"What are you talking about Chuck?" you sigh.
"About your baby. I know that you really want—"
"The next person who mentions my child, I will rip them a new one. Do you get what I'm laying down, Chuck?" you growl.
"Yes, ma'am," he gulps in fear.
"Do you know where Sam is right now? Like where this big fight is supposed to happen?"
"Well, the angels are keeping it top secret—very hush-hush."
"Shit," you muttered.
"But I saw it anyway. Perks of being a prophet," he smiles, you can hear it. "It's tomorrow at noon at a place called Stull Cemetery."
"Stull Cemetery? No, that can't be right. That's an old cemetery outside of Lawrence. Dean and I used to sneak in there after it got dark. Why is it in Lawrence?"
"I don't know. I guess it has to end where it started."
"Do you know how to end this thing? Sam was supposed to get rid of Lucifer, but I have to do it now. Please tell me there is another way," you beg.
"Besides the rings? No, I'm sorry."
"Do you know what's going to happen next?" your annoyance grows by the sound of your voice.
"I wish that I did. I honestly don't know yet."
"Do you know anything, Chuck? I thought you're supposed to be a prophet and all knowing? What the fuck?" you yell.
"I'm truly sorry, Y/N," Chuck sighs guiltily.
It's not his fault this is happening, so you shouldn't take your anger out on him. He did help you, after all.
"No, I'm, sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. You helped a lot, so thank you. I'm just frustrated."
"I know. If it means anything, I'm rooting for you."
"Thanks, Chuck. I'll let you know how it goes if we survive," you say and hang up. You turn around to see Dean standing behind you with his arms crossed. "Why are you just standing there?"
"You mentioned my name?"
"Yeah, the big fight is happening at Stull Cemetery. You know, the place we went to after it got dark? We snuck away from your dad after Sam went to college. We stole some of his alcohol. We even brought a tent there once to stargaze. Do you remember that Dean?" you ask, hoping the trip down memory lane will make him realize how stupid he's being.
"I got the car ready. It's a long drive ahead of us. Eleven hours," he says and walks away.
"You going someplace?" your dad asks when he overhears what Dean said. "You two are going to do something stupid. You got that look."
"We're going to talk to Sam," you say when you rejoin them.
"You two just don't give up."
"I told you we weren't!"
"It's Sam!" Dean argues.
"If you couldn't reach him here, you're certainly not gonna be able to on the battlefield," Castiel says.
"Well, if we've already lost, I guess I got nothing to lose, right?" Dean shrugs.
"I just want you to understand that the only thing that you're gonna see out there is Michael killing your brother."
"We're not going to let him die alone," you reply.
"I can't let you do this," your dad sighs tearfully.
"It's not your right to let me do anything. This is my choice. Sam's my best friend, and he'd do this for me."
"Come on," Dean says and gets into the car.
Before you go on the suicide run, you hug your dad tightly. It's been a pleasure knowing him as your dad and not as your uncle. You pass your hug onto Castiel, but he's as stiff as a board. Whether or not he's realized, he's been there for you since the beginning. Even when you were a kid.
Without saying anything else, you let go of the angel and get into the car. It's going to be a long road ahead of you.