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It had seemed at first to be a small blessing that they could now move more than a Cage-width apart, but as time wore on, it became more like a curse - one that Michael, in his anger, was using to its full advantage.
“So,” Adam began.
“Mmm?” Michael asked, still stubbornly ignoring Adam, giving him the bare minimum of his attention in a way that would have had Adam falling over himself to cross the distance between them, had they still been stuck in the Cage.
“Look, I know you’re mad,” Adam started, but suddenly Michael’s form was too close, surprisingly solid as he pressed him against the hotel wall.
“Mad? Mad? I’m livid, Adam! I have just betrayed my Father to the Winchesters. Me! The Good Son! The faithful one! His second in command! The-”
Adam wasn’t sure how long this tirade would continue, so he did the only thing he could think of to shut the archangel up - he leaned forward and kissed him.
A small, broken sound passed between them, and Adam wasn’t quite sure which of them it was.
When they drew away, Michael’s eyes were wide, and something soft and vulnerable was lurking just beneath to the surface.
“Like I was saying,” Adam forced himself to say, as if the kiss had been inconsequential, as if he couldn’t feel the pounding of their shared heart. “We’ve got to find you a new body.”
“What?” And damn it all if Michael didn’t sound so betrayed that Adam was reaching out to kiss him, again, to take those words back, to press their lips together so he could forget how shattered Michael looked in that moment. “You want...” A bitter little laugh crossed Michael’s lips. “Of course.”
“Michael-”
“No!” Michael roared. “You… You just want to get rid of me. After all that time, you just want me gone, don’t you? Clearly what we shared… Was meaningless to you.”
“No,” Adam hastened to say. “It’s just that…” He turned towards the wall, just so he wouldn’t have to face Michael in this state. “I convinced you to betray your Father. You’ve been ignoring me for days. If anything is clear to me, it’s that you don’t want me around nearly as much as I’d like you to stay.”
“Oh, Adam,” Michael said, voice soft. “Nothing could be further from the truth. You and I… Have been through so much together. I was angry, yes. I was… I was just trying to protect you. That’s all I’ve ever tried to do.”
Adam turned back to face Michael, tears gathering on his lashes. “Then stay. I’d… I’d like you to stay.” He put a hand on Michael’s shoulder. “Stay with me,” he whispered, eyes fluttering shut. Suddenly, he was helpless against the cascade of emotions that had been building in him for days. He hadn’t cried in front of his brothers, but crying in front of Michael was a whole different story. Often, in the Cage, Michael had held him while he cried, making soft little comforting sounds and stroking his back as he rocked him into sleep.
Michael drew him close, still warm and solid against him as he held Adam to his chest, soothing him. After a moment, he felt Michael’s wings wrap themselves around him, and all was right in the world, for this one, small moment.
“Adam,” Michael whispered. When the human man tried to move away, Michael just shushed him and drew him closer. “I have been trying and failing to put into words how I feel. About you. About us.”
Another broken whimper sounded in the space between them, and this time, Adam knew it was his own traitorous lips. “Michael-”
“Shh,” the archangel soothed. “I need you to know that you are loved.”
A new bout of tears made their way down Adam’s cheeks, soaking into the fabric of Michael’s shirt - no, his shirt; the one they shared, the same one they had been wearing for eons.
“I love you, Adam Milligan,” Michael continued. “I will go wherever you ask of me. Do whatever you bid me to do. And I would gladly stay by your side for the rest of eternity, if you’ll have me.”
Adam’s eyes met Michael’s. Somehow, the angel always managed to appear taller than him, even if only by a few fractions of an inch. It was probably something about the way he held himself so straight and so proper. “I love you too, Michael,” he whispered. A ghost of a smile flickered across his lips. “So much.”
This time, it was Michael leaning down to kiss him, and Adam would have sworn the meeting of their lips felt like a revelation - one he would cherish in the days and years to come, one that assured him he’d found what he’d been wishing for.
They parted for air after a long while, and smiled at each other. Their eternity in the Cage had come and gone. They were finally, beautifully, wonderously free.