Chapter Text
Then
Lucifer tried to hide his nervousness. It isn’t like teaming up with Michael, this Michael, was the smartest thing to do but he was out of options. This was his best chance to get back to his own world and to his son. Sure, Michael was bound to betray him, just as he’d inevitably betray Michael if given an opening, but if he had Jack on his side, it won’t matter. He’ll win and then he’d be able to remake the world as he wants it.
Michael, for his part, was busy giving orders. The pair had made it back to one of Michael’s strongholds to prepare the spell. Michael didn’t seem to have much difficulty obtaining the ingredients. Most of it was on hand. The blood of a most holy man was apparently the only thing they needed to find, but Michael seemed confident that it wouldn’t take long.
Lucifer paced slowly. The building was once a prison of some sort, all blunt concrete and harsh steel, the colors pale, muddy, and blurring. The room they were in was once the prison library and there were still a few books scattered about or stacked in the corners. Long tables, probably pulled from the cafeteria, lined up across the room and were littered with warplans and various debris. He wasn’t allowed to explore beyond the room and since Michael could kill him without breaking a sweat, Lucifer wasn’t willing to push it, yet. But once he had Jack…
“And there’s our most holy man,” Michael said with a broad, unnerving grin as a man was ushered in, flanked by two angels. “Extract the blood and place him in a cell.”
The man started to recite a frantic prayer as the led him back out.
“Planning on keeping him?” Lucifer said.
“Of course. I can’t rule two worlds without a way from one to the other whenever I want,” Michael gave a confident smirk. It was jarring.
One of the angels came back with a vial of blood. Michael took it and cleared off a table by pushing everything off in one sweep. He set the vial down, then fetched a bowl and the remaining ingredients.
All except the archangel grace of course. This was the part Lucifer had been dreading. After all, what were the chances that Michael would use his own? Lucifer couldn’t help but take a step back, even if this was a sacrifice he’d already decided to make.
Michael gave him a predatory grin. “Something wrong, brother?” There was something mocking in his pronunciation of brother.
Lucifer took a step forward. “No, just ah, do it quickly.” He closed his eyes only to be met by Michael’s laughter. Lucifer opened one eye, then the other.
“If we’re going to invade together, I need you at full strength, Lu.” Michael said. “Bring him in.”
And with that, another two angels dragged in the shackled corpse of their brother, Gabriel, eyes still staring up lifelessly.
“Yeah, good job restraining the corpse.” Lucifer snarked. “I was real worried Gabe would kick our asses but I see you’ve got this all under control.”
“I do,” Michael grinned again. “You see, I have this.”
Michael walked over to another table and lifted a tablet.
“Is that...That’s the angel tablet.” Lucifer took a few steps over.
“That it is. Have you never studied it in your world?”
“No, it was destroyed.”
“Shame. You see, you can learn a lot from the tablet if you have a prophet to devote to reading it. Including how to raise our own kind. How else do you think I keep up my troop numbers after eight years of brutal warfare?”
Lucifer raised his eyebrows. “I see.”
“Most of the ingredients aren’t too hard to find,” Michael sad, taking a jar off the shelf. “In fact, we keep most of it premixed and ready to go. Michael poured the contents into a bowl, then dropped in the Seal of Solomon in. As Michael recited the words to the spell, Lucifer glanced between Gabriel and Michael. Just as the last words are spoken, Gabriel began to glow. The wound on his chest disappeared and he heaved in a breath of air. Gabriel instinctively started to push himself up then paused halfway up as he noticed the shackles inscribed in Enochian, then took in his surroundings.
“Welcome back, little brother,” Michael said as he approaches and then, without warning kicked Gabriel hard, sending him rolling. Michael followed, stomping hard on his leg. “I’m so glad you can join us.”
“Well, it’s not a party without-” Gabriel’s next words were cut off by his own scream as Michael kicked him again. Then he pulled Gabriel up by the shoulders and slammed him into the wall. Gabriel blinked through the blood on his face and looks toward Lucifer in desperation. Lucifer gave him a faux shrug of sympathy. “Sorry man, but it looks like you’re the cancer to be stamped out now.”
“Oh no,” Michael said with a glint in his eyes. “They’ll be no end to the pain Gabriel’s going to endure. As I said, I’d like to keep the ingredients I’ll need, indefinitely. I’ll be milking your grace for eternity, little brother.”
Now
Ketch was proud to be picked to join the team storming one of Michael’s remaining strongholds. It wasn’t that he hadn’t helped take down others in the past, ever since Michael's death in Ketch’s original universe at the hands of the Winchesters, the humans had made steady gains in their war against the angels. Intel had it that the power vacuum left by Michael led to infighting among the angels, the two main factions being between someone named Naomi and Metatron, though smaller fractions had splintered off, including one led by Samandriel, who had formed an uneasy alliance with the humans. The number of angels still loyal to and awaiting Michael’s never to come return was ever dwindling, by both desertion and angel-killing bullets.
Ketch gave Charlie a curt nod as they stalked carefully through the hall. This was Michael’s last remaining stronghold, the last few angels who attempted to carry on Michael’s commands, the last few angels to disbelieve his death. They believed resistance had weakened since Metatron’s forces tried to take it two weeks ago, but the fight was harder than expected. Their were more angelic soldiers holding the fort than they originally expected. But still, the resistance forces continued to make gains. And from what they understood about the building’s layout, they were just paces away from Michael’s inner sanctum, the former prison library.
The pair paused at the door. All around them they could hear gunfire, but perhaps once they take this room, they’d have the advantage. Ketch looked across to Charlie, than back the Joe, Mia, Buck, and Maria. They’d ate, fought, slept and bled together. They no longer needed words to communicate. They moved into the room as one.
There were six in the room, but they had the element of surprise, but that’s not to say they’re guard wasn’t up. But within seconds it was over. Joe was on the ground and Maria, clutching a bleeding shoulder checked for a pulse, then slowly shook her head.
“Well,” Ketch said, surveying the room while Buck went over to help Maria. “What do we have here?”
“This certainly looks familiar,” Charlie said, indicating one of the tables.
Ketch stepped over and nodded. “This must be where Michael and Lucifer came over from.”
“To bad we don’t have any archangels left, otherwise we’d be able to pop over and visit,” Charlie said, as they fell into position. They intended to hold the room, either until the fighting stopped or they did.
***
Later, when the echoing gunfire lessened to sporadic bursts then stopped altogether, Mary check in on them.
“Good work you guys,” Mary said.
“Yes,” Ketch said, distractedly as he looked through the contents of one of the rooms cabinets. Charlie, who was going through a large stack of notes, was too absorbed to even partake in the conversation.
“What is this place?” Mary asked. She steps further into the room, curious at what’s so absorbing to her friends.
“Good question,” Ketch said, pulling out two vials of what looks suspiciously like angel grace. “It appears Michael or his forces used this room to plan attacks and do spells. Charlie and I found what we believe to be the angel tablet. Charlie’s going over the prophet’s notes now.”
The two looked over to Charlie, whose eyes were wide open in shock.
“What is it?”
“They were bring them back,” Charlie looked up.
“You lost me,” Mary said.
“The angels. They were resurrecting them. No wonder it felt like we never made any progress. Once they were killed, they could just bring them right back.” Charlie held up the page she was reading.
“Ah, it’s starting to make sense now,” Ketch said as he took a step towards her. “An angel resurrection spell.”
Mary took the page from Charlie and began scanning it. “So after every battle we fought, they’d just collect their dead and resurrect them.”
“And once Michael was dead and the infighting between the angels began, only Michael’s followers had access to the spell,” Ketch said.
“And that’s also why this battle was harder than we anticipated. Given Metatron’s attack two weeks ago, we anticipated they’d be far weaker than they were.” Mary said. “If it weren’t for Jack freeing the prisoners in the east wing and Bobby arming them, we might not have made it.”
“But once Metatron’s forces know we have the spell, they’ll attack again.” Charlie said. “They’ll all be after this. We need to destroy it.”
Ketch wandered to another table, which held a bowl, and most of the ingredients to open the rift. “If only we had a way to send it over to Dean and Sam.” He looked thoughtful and eyed the cabinet with the grace vials.
Mary nodded. “The one world has too many angels and the other has too few angels but doesn’t-”
“Excuse me, ma’am?” Came a voice from the door.
“Yes Luke?” Mary and the others turned to the younger resistance member.
“Jack wants you and Ketch downstairs. There's someone in one of the isolation cells he wants you to see.”
All three followed Luke down the stairs and to another wing of the prison. Jack and Bobby were standing just outside a cell. Apparently they were arguing about something. The door was open and Jack kept glancing in with a concerned look. He waited until they approached and pointed to the cell. Ketch and Mary gave him a curious look before peaking inside.
The room was filthy. It was bare except a slab which bedding once lay on, a metal toilet and a narrow window. Once white, the concrete walls were now gray and covered in mold. The gray floor splotched with rust-brown dried blood. A figure was huddled in the corner, his head down against his knees.
“Who is-”
“Gabriel,” Ketch said before she could finish. He turned to Mary. “Our Gabriel.”
“My uncle,” Jack added.
“Are you all crazy? I keep telling the boy that the Winchesters saw Michael kill him. There ain’t no way,” Bobby said.
“Actually that’s not entirely true,” Charlie said, and explained her findings to Bobby.
“We need to destroy that tablet,” Bobby said.
“Or better yet, we can bring it to my universe,” Mary said. “We have everything we need, right?”
“Probably,” Ketch said thoughtfully. “I suspect they’ve been taking his grace. I found two vials of it in the library. I’m willing to wager one of the prisoners is the most holy man. There was some fruit of the tree of life and the seal of solomon in the library as well.”
“We can go through, bring Gabriel back home and give my boys the tablet,” Mary said.
“If we can get him out of there,” Bobby said.
“Hm,” Ketch hummed. He started pulling his weapons out and handing them over to Luke. “I’ve taken him out of one cell, I can take him out another.” He paused and added as an afterthought, “perhaps a bit less roughly this time.”
“I’ll find this most holy man,” Charlie said.
“I’ll help,” Jack said. “I think I might be able to sense him.”
“I’ll get the rest of the ingredients,” Mary said. Bobby moved to follow her, but paused.
“Well, I guess we’re opening an inter-dimensional rift,” Bobby said. “You’ll be okay alone with him?” Bobby eyed Gabriel. He still didn’t trust angels, not even Gabriel, at least not entirely.
“Yes, in fact it’s preferable you leave,” Ketch said. “He’s scared so the fewer people around the better. I just hope he remembers how I saved him the first time.”
Bobby made a little humph and followed after Mary, leaving Ketch alone with the archangel.
***
Ketch took a slow step into the cell. “Now then.”
Gabriel didn’t move.
“I admit, this situation isn’t exactly playing to my strengths, but perhaps you’ll remember the last time we met under similar circumstances I delivered you to the Winchesters. I intend to do the same now.”
He waited but got no response from Gabriel. He gave an impatient sigh then took a breath and forced himself to walk slowly towards the archangel. When he was only a couple feet away, he squatted down, careful not to touch any of the filth around him. Ketch oozed confidence before, but he was at a loss at how to handle this. Months ago he half-dragged the archangel out of Asmodeus’ cage, being too concerned with escaping and new to his own redemption that he was not at all concerned with putting his new terrified charge at ease. Things were different now but kindness still didn’t come easily to him.
“Do you remember me?” Ketch asked. He wasn’t entirely surprised when his words failed to get a response. Gabriel shivered whether from the cold or because he was expecting a blow, Ketch didn’t know.
“I haven’t come to hurt you,” Ketch said. “Do you remember the Winchesters? Sam and Dean?”
Gabriel stilled, for a moment. Still, it was a response.
“I’m going to take you back to Sam and Dean,” Ketch said. “But I need you to stand up.”
With a heavy sigh, Ketch grabbed hold of Gabriel and pulled him up. The archangel was compliant, at least, but kept looking down at the ground.
Ketch snapped his fingers in front of Gabriel’s face. He lurched back, but his eyes-finally-were focused on the British man.
“Gabriel. I’m taking you home.”