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Michael hadn’t bothered to keep up with the time on earth, it wasn’t as if it mattered. He knew that some time must have passed since he was cast down, but he was aware of the fact that less time on earth had passed as down in the pits.
Another thing he hadn’t bothered with was looking after his human vessel, Adam. He felt some sympathy for the kid, but it was smarter to put him into subconsciousness so he wouldn’t have to face the horrors of hell, which could break any human soul.
He had put Adam away in his own personal dream, he was probably hanging around with his mother, maybe even John Winchester and the Winchester brothers. In any case Michael knew he was safe and paid him no attention.
Lucifer and he had given up on fighting a few years ago. It seemed pointless, Lucifer didn’t even have a vessel to fight with anymore and all Michael was doing was damaging his own. So now they just sat across opposite ends of the cage not bothering each other, waiting for the time to pass.
One day something was different though, he suddenly got a massive headache as if screams were piercing through his head. He first thought it was some trick of Lucifer, but his brother just looked at him as if he was the most intriguing thing he had seen in ages.
Then Michael started counting and realised something, it was September 29th on Earth, St Michael’s day. If you would look way back in time you would discover that September 29th was the day that Michael had been created, the first angel in existence.
He cursed the angel who had made this known to the humans. The big feast up in Heaven was already overwhelming, him receiving continuous praise from the mortals made it worse.
Every year on September 29th, the amount of prayers would increase by an enormous amount. They were mostly just praise towards him and weren’t important in the long run.
In hell he had not received any prayers, his grace was finally quiet for once. He wondered if so much time had passed that people had forgotten about him, but now he realised that hell just blocked out prayers.
Even in hell the prayers that day were too extreme. Instead of blocking them out, hell turned the prayers into the one thing it knew, pain.
There was one place where Michael could go to that would lessen it, but that almost felt intrusive. Adam was probably at peace and he didn't want to make the boy realise in what position he was really in.
Still this wasn't much better either… The pain continuously kept on getting worse and worse until even for him it became overwhelming. Michael had fought in countless battles and had never flinched at anything but this felt as if he was being tortured non stop.
He had to go in, he felt sorry for Adam but he knew that if he didn't, he would die and that would mean Adam would be left alone in hell, rotting forever. So Michael closed his eyes and searched for the soul within his vessel.
He had been right, Adam was there with the version of his mom he seemed to hold so closely to his heart. They were eating something… something that seemed awfully close to what humans ate when they were having a birthday.
After a while John Winchester came in, he walked over to Adam and gave him a pat on the back. Saying something about going to a game of some sorts. Adam smiled and nodded.
Michael felt sympathy for him, he knew that Adam would not be able to move beyond this specific house and that the game would obviously not take place.
His mom gave him a hug and Adam seemed to be enjoying himself. That was up until his mother said she was going out to get something together with John. Adam's face fell but he let them go.
The world around him seemed to be changing as if Adam's mind recognised that Michael was there.
"So it's been a long time since I've heard from you." Adam said while his eyes darted around the room, clearly looking for the physical manifestation of Michael.
What would be smartest, would he keep quiet or would he reveal himself and try to explain to the human what was going on.
"Well what are you waiting for? Show yourself, I know you're here." Fine, revealing himself was the correct answer apparently.
Michael figured that it would be smartest to present himself towards the human as if looking in a mirror. He knew that Adam would be able to see his true form, but this was safer just in case.
And so he appeared. Adam gave him an annoyed look but waited patiently for him to say something, which didn't happen. How could he talk to the kid he doomed to hell.
"Are you going to say something? I'm sure you didn't just come here to eat cake and gossip. You want some?" He offered a piece of the cake to Michael, which he refused. Angels did not need to eat and especially not food that wasn't even real.
"No thank you, I am alright"
Adam shrugged "Your loss" as he continued to eat a piece of the cake on his plate. “So why are you here?” he glared at him with curiosity and a slight bit of annoyance.
“I’m sorry to intrude but I had to escape somewhere. Today I have been feeling a massive amount of pain due to the amount of prayers that I’m receiving. I need to stay here today because otherwise I will die.” Adam continued to glare at him.
“Is today something special? You haven’t been here before and I’ve never heard you complain about prayers. Aren’t they supposed to be holy or something, why would they hurt.”
“Yes they are holy and that’s the problem, hell doesn’t know what to do with them. So it turns them into pain. Today is the 29th of September on Earth and in Heaven, St Michael’s day, that’s why I am receiving so many prayers.” Adam suddenly let out a small laugh.
Michael looked at him with confusion, why was this mortal laughing at him receiving pain because of his own birthday. It didn’t make sense.
“Sorry, I’m not laughing because of you. I’m laughing because of the situation. Today is also my birthday. Ironic right?” He suddenly understood.
The cake, Adam looking happy, John Winchester coming in and talking about going to a game, Adam was celebrating his birthday just like he used to.
Adam was right, the irony of them both being born on the same day was heavy. Almost as if his father had done this on purpose because he was bored. Michael suddenly felt bad for the kid, did his father plan this from the start?
His father had told him that Dean Winchester would be his true vessel, his sword. However with this information it seemed as if his father had planned for him to always take Adam instead.
Had his father doomed this innocent bystander to hell from the start? No, no his father wouldn’t. His father was light and goodness and purity. He would never doom an innocent into the pits of hell without reason.
There must have been a reason, something that would make all of this make sense. Maybe it was just a coincidence that Adam and he were born on the same day. An accident that was never meant to happen, but wasn’t that what him taking Adam as a vessel was as well.
He hadn’t meant to take Adam, he had meant to take Dean but he was left with no choice and now they were both stuck. Michael wasn’t very in touch with the humans, but he knew that Adam must be feeling some sort of anger towards him for taking away his life.
Michael looked at Adam who was still enjoying the piece of his cake. He couldn’t bring out words, he just felt sympathy. A thing that angels were not even supposed to feel. Adam apparently noticed his lack of words and tried to lighten the mood.
“So, if you are going to be stuck here for a while, better not make it akward. I’m sure you know how I used to celebrate my birthday, so tell me how you used to celebrate yours.” Michael remained silent, why was the kid not mad at him? “Come on, I want to know.”
Michael sighed, “Every year up in heaven, they used to throw a big feast for me. Every angel was there no matter how small their function. Angels don’t need to eat, however they knew that I liked the style of the old feasts, they used to hold in the middle ages and the entire day they were trying to impress me”
Adam looked at him seemingly impressed by his story so he continued, “I never liked the day, the angels were only trying to impress me because of my status, not because of the things I did or what I was worthy of as an individual. In the earlier years, I used to spend the day with the few angels who didn’t seem to care about impressing me, Lucifer, Gabriel, Castiel, Balthazar and Anna.” He paused, remembering his past before all the wars and battles was nostalgic, but it also hurt.
“But over the years, we got separated from each other. Lucifer and Anna fell, Balthazar and Gabriel ran from heaven and Castiel got his mind wiped more times than I can count and I learned that in order to survive, I should just be what they expect of me. Every year a feast is given in my name, with countless angels, but every year it’s the one day, I feel completely alone.” Michael looked down, feeling emotions he knew he shouldn’t be feeling.
Adam put his plate down and looked at him with sympathy. “I’m sorry that happened to you, but you don’t need to be who they expect you to be, at least not with me. You know the Winchesters, they see John Winchester as a wounded hero, a father who despite his failings managed to raise them right and I was expected to see him like that too, but I don’t. I hardly see him as a father at all.”
Now Adam was the one who paused, “Being who you are vs being who you are supposed to be, is a difficult choice. However there is only one good answer. Being who you are, living your life to the fullest, that’s what’s most important.”
Michael looked at the kid to see if some form of anger or resentment was on his face, but he couldn’t find any. Adam was speaking from his heart, he was actually giving advice to the person who stole his life away from him.
“Why are you not mad at me? I took away everything you had, I took you away from the ones you love, so why are you giving me advice.” Adam gave him a sad smile.
“I was already dead, nothing you could do about that. I was manipulated by someone who was in your command but not in your control and I’ve had some time to process what happened. I just have one request.”
Michael felt the corners of his lips pull up, Adam was showing him compassion he hadn’t seen in hundreds of years. He could at least give him his one request “What is it?”
“When the day is over, don’t go and never come back, we only have each other right? So it’s best that we get to know each other, promise me that.” Adam looked at him with honesty, he wasn’t mocking him or trying to lure something out. He genuinely wanted Michael’s company.
Michael continued to smile at him, “Deal.” Adam returned the smile now. “I think I’ll have a piece of that cake now.” Adam nodded and shoved him a piece.
And so they spent the day together, it was nothing special, even for a human birthday it felt small. If he was still in heaven, he would be sitting at the table with his feast with all the angels, yet he would feel so lonely.
Now for once, he didn’t feel lonely at all.