Chapter Text
Cheering – Silence – Panic, that was the reaction from both heaven and hell. The whole thing in reality only lasted a moment but for those invested in it the whole thing lasted for hours.
At first there had been the anticipation, the wait for Sam Winchester to enter the building and finally kill Lilith. Demons knew that Lilith’s death was necessary to free Lucifer, angels were glad that there would be one less demon to kill during the great war that was coming. The tension both in heaven and hell became even stronger when they got the news that Sam Winchester had entered the building.
Then finally, the death of the first demon. That was the cheering. It was the celebration of the fulfilment of the prophecy. Finally the fight could begin, the two forces could meet and their side would win, of course. Both sides were convinced of that.
The cheering grew louder and louder as the portal opened, waiting for that beam of bright light that would announce Lucifer’s arrival on earth. It didn’t bother them that Dean Winchester had joined them in the building and with the help of Sam Winchester killed Ruby. They didn’t care about their shock as Lilith’s blood formed the ritual either. All that was irrelevant in comparison to the portal that would mark the beginning of the end for the world in its current state.
Silence followed when instead of the bright beam of light of angelic grace being freed there was a black hole in the ground. They all waited, not only the angels and demons but also the hunters that stood directly next to the portal of the cage and waited for the inevitable. The silence stretched on and on. Nothing happened. It just stood there, as a hole in the ground. Reckless as always Dean Winchester took a step forward and cautiously peered down into the abyss of the cage.
“Dude, it looks empty.”
That was the moment the panic began.
The cage was empty. How could the cage be empty? That was impossible! The cage couldn’t be empty! Lucifer should be free by now! Why wasn’t he freed?
While the Winchesters were just incredibly confused, both staring now into the portal, both heaven and hell were in uproar. Angels and demons were running around, trying to find and explanation for what was happening. Maybe there was a way Lucifer left the cage without the bright light of grace. No, that wasn’t possible. Then what was it?
Had the Winchesters been able to listen to ‘Angel Radio’ they would have heard thousands of voices speaking over each over. That was what Castiel was currently hearing. It brought the discovery that angels could get headaches and Castiel could have easily gone without that discovery.
He was standing in heaven and not one angel was paying attention to him. Not that he necessarily wanted attention but he wanted to know what to do now that this unforeseen scenario had taken place. This hadn’t at all been accounted for. Nothing had pointed towards this. Nothing.
Through the chaotic voices he heard something about an angel being sent to check if the cage really was completely empty before they closed it again. There would be no use for it anymore if that was the case. Still, the panic held and only become more the more time passed since the angel had been sent.
When the angel finally came back he only confirmed what they already knew. The cage was empty. Worse, it looked like there never had been anyone inside it. The cage was not only empty, it was unused.
Meanwhile Dean and Sam returned to Bobby’s to explain to him what happened.
“So Ruby tricked me into freeing Lucifer. It was crazy. Her blood started forming this sigil and then the portal opened…”
“And it was fucking empty! I swear, I looked!”
“Which was the dumbest thing ever.”
“Shut up, Sammy. Fact is that there was nothing inside that cage. So either Lucifer is dead or the devil has been around for longer than anyone would’ve expected.”
“Let’s hope for the good option.”
“Do you know our lives? It’s never the good option. It’s always the next shit getting thrown at us and it’s never gonna end.”
“Stop being so pessimistic.”
“I’m being realistic. It’s never the good option and it never will be.”
“I come bearing bad news.”
“See?”
Cas had just appeared between them and while all of them had been surprised Dean easily got the proof he needed for his opinion. The angel looked confused as always before he simply continued.
“Apparently the cage was not only empty but unused. That means there is a high chance that Lucifer has never even entered it.”
Dean’s responding gesture was a clear ‘I told you so’. Sam hadn’t believed him but he had known. There was no way that they would get the good option. Life would never be done throwing shit at them, whether it was demons or angels or beings of literally any other type. Everything got thrown their way so why not? Then again…
“But why didn’t he do anything? I mean, the guy’s been around for the whole time, apparently. He would’ve had millennia to fuck us up as much as he could possibly manage.”
“Who knows, maybe he already did?”
“Come on, Sammy, we’re talking about the devil here? Are you one of those ‘everything bad that happens to me is the work of the devil’ guys?”
“No, but you already said there’s some fucked up shit in the world. Why can’t Lucifer be at fault for that?”
“Because that would be the dumbest shit ever. The mighty fallen archangel goes around doing anything but trying to defeat heaven. Yep, sounds like a completely evil being to me.”
“You can take you sarcasm and shove it up your-“
“Stop it, you idjits! I swear, you’re giving me a headache.”
Bobby opened a whiskey and took a big swig.
“So what do we do now?”
“I suggest we look for Lucifer.”
Dean rolled his eyes at Cas.
“Sure, because we have a magical devil radar that leads us straight to Lucifer. I’d say we just continue as always because either the devil’s gonna show on his own now that everyone knows he wasn’t in the cage or we’re just gonna run across him on a hunt.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Got a better one? No? Then don’t shit on my ideas.”
“Dean’s right, Sam. We can’t just walk around hoping the devil’s gonna jump out of the bushes and reveal himself to us.”
“I definitely wouldn’t wanna see that.”
“Dean, get your mind out of the gutter.”
Castiel just looked at their bickering with a rather confused expression. He should be used to it by now but he wasn’t. Was there really a way to get used to this?
Before their bickering could continue Bobby’s phone rang. It wasn’t a long talk and Bobby mostly listened before he agreed to send Sam and Dean. He hung up and looked at them.
“Seems like I’ve got something to help distract you.”
“What is it?”
“Trickster”
“Seriously, the Trickster?”
“Not ‘the’ Trickster. Apparently we got two and in two separate locations.”
“Awesome…”