Sam poured out the last of the holy oil onto the circle he'd inscribed in Bobby's yard and gave Gabriel a nervous look. "You're sure this can hold him?"

"I swear," the archangel promised. He added the finishing touches to the devil's trap he'd marked out nearby. Sam came over to inspect his handiwork.

"That's not normally part of a devil's trap," he said, pointing to some additional symbols Gabriel had spray-painted outside the familiar lines.

"A little extra protection. Crowley's probably on the level, but let's not be stupid. Lucifer's more powerful than I am and I could probably break a regular devil's trap even when in a circle of holy fire." Gabriel grinned at Sam, but the effect was ruined by the evident strain.

"You hate this," Sam observed, brushing his fingers across Gabriel's cheek.

"Of course," Gabriel agreed. "I never wanted any of this, remember. Except you." This smile was more genuine and Sam couldn't help but lean forward and kiss him.

"All right," Bobby said, grunting under Zachariah's weight as he helped him walk. "You sit here and keep your trap shut." He dumped the angel unceremoniously in an old folding chair. Zachariah winced and nodded. "Are we ready?"

"As we'll ever be," Gabriel said, nodding at Balthazar, who was standing by the gate. Balthazar opened it and depowered the wards.

Sam staggered at the sheer sense of power when he saw Lucifer appear in the circle of oil as agreed. He lit his Zippo and dropped it to the ground, watching the flames leap up and reflect in Lucifer's eyes. Crowley sauntered in and peered at Gabriel's modified devil's trap with curiosity, but he clearly didn't see anything that gave him reason to balk.

"Now, you better let me out of here when we're done," he said warningly. And then he stepped into the trap, and let out a yelp. "Hell's teeth," he muttered.

"Something wrong?" Bobby asked, looking bored.

"These enhancements," Crowley panted. "They're… heavy." He was sweating and his shoulders bowed under the strain the trap was exerting on him.

"Sorry," Gabriel said, not sounding sorry at all.

Sam ignored them, keeping his focus on Lucifer. The archangel wasn't paying much attention to him right now, seeming more interested in the sight of Gabriel. His eyes were wide and his expression unfathomable.

"Gabriel," he breathed. "You're bonded. Who's the lucky-" He broke off and turned horrified eyes on Sam. His eyes shimmered and for a mad moment Sam was sure he might cry. The idea was bizarre. "Sam…" Lucifer whispered. He sounded devastated, which wasn't at all the reaction Sam had expected. His gaze was riveted to the mark on Sam's neck.

Sam quirked his lips in a ghastly imitation of a smile. "Uh, yeah."

Lucifer began to pace inside his flaming circle, raking his hands through his hair and making a peculiar keening sound. Sam turned nervously to look at Crowley, who was staring wide-eyed at his master. Lucifer stopped moving, inches away from the flames. They cast eerie shadows on his face, making him look more like stereotypes of the devil in popular culture. His eyes were fixated on Sam and glowed a sinister red.

"Sam," the devil said once more. "You enslaved yourself to Gabriel, just to get away from me? Do you know what you've done?" He shook his head and turned his gaze back to Gabriel. "And you… Tell me why, Gabriel. Why would you agree to this? To save him?" Lucifer flung out a hand to point at Sam, and it was shaking violently.

Gabriel shrugged and gave his brother a sheepish grin. "It isn't about you. We fell in love. That's all there is to it."

"Love," Lucifer said derisively. "What do you know of love, Gabriel? He was my vessel! Mine. And you've turned him into a sex toy."

"Sire, you did say-" Crowley interjected and Lucifer swiveled his head like a striking snake, to fix his minion with burning eyes.

"Silence," he commanded. Crowley closed his mouth with a click. Lucifer returned his attention to Gabriel.

"You realize that this cannot be undone?" Lucifer said. "You're bound to Sam, for all eternity. Even after his death, you'll be screaming for him into the void?" He looked ill, his hands were shaking and his vessel began to disintegrate more visibly. "You should not have done this, brother mine."

"That's not for you to say," Gabriel said, his mild tone overlying a steely resolve. "And it's not why we're here. Sam's mine now, and we're supposed to be discussing Mikey and the turmoil he's causing in Heaven."

Lucifer breathed in sharply through his nose and his face blanked. "You're right. But this conversation is not over, Gabriel." He looked over the anxious faces of Bobby, Balthazar and Zachariah.

"Michael visited me, here on earth, yesterday," he said. His voice sounded rusty and old, like it was an effort to speak. "He's taken your half-brother Adam as a vessel for now," he said to Sam. He wrapped his arms around his body, his gaze dropping to the ground. "After a few moments it became obvious to me that he's had some kind of… what is the human term? Psychotic break?"

"How bad is it, Luci?" Gabriel pressed.

The threatened tears shimmered again in the devil's eyes, before falling silently down his ruined cheeks. "Bad." He swallowed hard and wiped furiously at his eyes. "He… he knocked me down and tried to…" He shook his head and made a helpless gesture. Gabriel's face was a mask of horror. "He pinned me to the ground and kissed me. I bit his tongue and he got angry, accused me of forcing my unholy lust on him!"

Sam wanted to vomit. He might have no love for Lucifer, but to be so assaulted and betrayed by your brother? He couldn't imagine the pain.

"Father," Gabriel breathed.

"Lies!" Zachariah declared from his chair and then shrank back when Lucifer turned that intolerable gaze on him.

"Why would I lie?" Lucifer asked, his voice a sibilant whisper. "What possible reason could I have to debase myself in front of my enemies and slander Michael in the process?"

"You're after sympathy," Zachariah sneered. "Our brother's been under a lot of pressure. I'm not exactly happy about how he's been behaving. The paranoia, the overzealousness, the insistence on perfection. I agree he's no longer capable of running Heaven. But what you're suggesting is… unthinkable. Blasphemous, even."

"Balthazar," Lucifer said sweetly, a vicious smile on his face. "If you would be so kind as to close Zachariah's mouth for me, I'd be ever so grateful. Or even remove it completely. I'm not fussy."

Balthazar looked irritated and made a gesture towards Zachariah, who looked furious but remained silent.

"Thank you," Lucifer said. He sighed heavily and sat down on the ground crosslegged.

"I'm not agreeing with Zach," Gabriel said cautiously. "But you have to admit it's an outlandish tale. Mikey was always the strait-laced one. I can't imagine what's caused him to snap like this."

"Neither do I," Lucifer retorted. "But we can worry about why later. The problem right now is, the Apocalypse is listing so badly I don't think we can right the ship."

"So?" Bobby spoke up. "You think any of us give a shit about that?"

"You might," Lucifer said, tilting his head back to look at the sky. "Setting these events in motion and then veering wildly off course? These things have… consequences. Forces have been unleashed that cannot be contained. The horsemen ride as we speak, the Antichrist is coming into his power, and of course, I walk the earth for the first time in millennia."

"He's right," Gabriel said heavily. "Much as it pains me to admit it."

"So, what do we do?" Sam asked. He didn't know what to do with this new side of Lucifer. He'd thought he'd seen all the archangel's moods, but this thoughtful, contemplative affect was alien. He thought ruefully that Lucifer hadn't ever really tried to understand him. If he had, this is the face he would have presented, because whereas Sam could dismiss seduction, and was too much of a Winchester to be moved by threats, a sober and reasoned approach might actually have worked. He felt a little dizzy with a combination of relief and fear at that realization, because hot on the heels of that thought was another. Gabriel had presented such a face to him and he'd never thought hard about how out of character it seemed.

It was too late, he loved the archangel and had bound himself to him. But Lucifer's words and the peculiarities of the situation they now faced made him wondered if Gabriel had been completely on the level with him. Was Lucifer right? Had he tumbled into enslavement without thinking of the consequences? He shook his head. Lucifer delighted in setting doubts in peoples minds.

"Lugh wants to kill the ruler of Heaven," Crowley said suddenly. "According to him he has both the means and the opportunity, he just wants a distraction here on earth while he does it."

Shock like a bucket of ice water forced Sam out of his uncomfortable reverie. He gaped at Crowley, not liking the look on the demon's face. Kill Michael? The idea was insane. Dammit, he thought, never trust a demon. They always lie. Something was up, this little conference wasn't what it seemed.

"Luci, I don't think I can do this," Gabriel said firmly. "I don't want to kill any of my brothers. Not even the sniveling sack of shit over there." Zachariah made a sound of protest that was quickly silenced by a glare from Balthazar.

"I thought you'd say that," Lucifer confessed. A slow cruel smile curled over his face. "In fact, I was rather counting on it. You've all been so careful not to say Michael's name, but I've been… rather careless, it seems." He was suddenly on his feet again, his arms spread wide. The ground began to rumble and lightning split the sky with an eardrum bursting crack.

"Get me out of here!" Crowley yelped. Balthazar dashed to his lover's aid, scrubbing out the lines of the devil's trap with one foot. Crowley took one look at the appalled faces in front of him and then grabbed Balthazar's arm and vanished.

"Ugh," Lucifer commented, rolling his eyes. "I should have known he would rabbit." More lightning lit up the yard, the air crackled with static and imminent danger, and Bobby turned to run towards the house. Zachariah began to laugh, maniacally and Sam's head began to pound.

"Gabriel," he managed. "What's happening?"

"Raph's coming," Gabriel told him. "Go get your brother. Luci and I will hold him off."

"But…" Gabriel shoved him towards the house.

"No time, Sam. Go!"

Sam half-ran, half-stumbled towards the house, tripping and almost falling when he entered. "Bobby?"

"I'm here," Bobby said, grabbing some items from his desk.

"Gabriel said we need to get Dean," Sam said urgently.

"OK, let's go," Bobby said.

As soon as Sam had staggered into the house, Gabriel clicked his fingers and the holy fire around Lucifer flared up and then died.

"Thanks," Lucifer said dryly. "Bet you never expected to fighting on my side." His blade slithered into his hand and he settled into a fighting stance.

"Shut up," Gabriel grated. "I am so fucking angry with you right now."

"Temper, temper," Lucifer admonished, wagging his blade at him.

"Lucifer!" Raphael boomed as his vessel appeared suddenly in the yard. The gates rattled with the reverberations. He stalked across the gravel, his feet crunching and raised his blade before he noticed the other person in this melodrama. He blinked in astonishment. "Gabriel?"

"Hey Raph," Gabriel said weakly.

"You're alive? And fighting alongside him?" Raphael looked revolted.

"War makes strange bedfellows," Gabriel told him. "Look, you know me, I hate the fighting. But I've been hearing a lot of strange rumors coming out of Heaven these days."

"Michael is trying to bring things to a peaceful conclusion," Raphael said. "As was foretold."

"Raphael, you know things are not going as planned," Lucifer insisted. "None of the pieces are in place. One of the horsemen, War, is dead. Famine is powerless and Pestilence will soon join him. Death is missing in action. And my vessel has been rendered unusable." He rubbed the back of his neck. "We're way off the map here, brother."

"I'm not interested in your lies and slander. And Gabriel, I thought better of you." Raphael's nostrils flared with fury. "I regret having to slay a brother. But I cannot tolerate your interference any longer."

"No!" Lucifer declared, blocking Raphael's sudden lunge with his blade. Gabriel had skipped out of the way but it was a close run thing. Raphael hissed and with an elegant half-turn, flicked out his wrist, catching Lucifer on the ribcage. Lucifer roared in pain and kicked Raphael in the face.

The ground began to shake and then the three archangels fell to the ground as a soundless explosion knocked them from their feet.

"What the Hell was that?" Gabriel asked, wincing and rolling to his feet. His blade was out but Raphael and Zachariah were nowhere to be seen. Smoke curled from a scorch mark on the ground. Lucifer was climbing laboriously to his feet, his hand pressed to his side.

"At a guess?" Lucifer said, sounding exhausted. "Lugh's gotten to our brother as planned."

"He's not dead," Gabriel asserted. "I can still feel his Grace."

"No," Lucifer agreed. "It seems Lugh's weapon wasn't quite as effective as he claimed. No matter, he has been… disabled. Can't you feel it? The Gates of Heaven are open to me once more." He sketched out a mocking bow. "I appreciate the assist, little bro. This was a most effective distraction."

"Was any of it true?" Gabriel said in a desolate whisper. Lucifer was shining so brightly it was hard to look at him.

"All of it," Lucifer assured him. "You know me. I don't lie. I never need to."

"So Michael really did do that to you..."

"He really did," Lucifer said, turning sorrowful once more. "And we will need to find out what happened to him. I will need your help, I hope you can forgive me enough to put this minor deception behind us." He smiled and then vanished in a flurry of feathers.

Gabriel stared at the empty space where his brother had stood. Tricking the Trickster? He supposed he deserved it. What a fucking mess.

"Gabriel," Sam called from the house. Gabriel's depression lifted slightly. Whatever had happened, he could face it as long as he had Sam. He looked over to where Sam and Bobby were leaving the house with Dean supported between the two of them. "Where is everyone?"

"Heaven. It's not a pretty story and we're exposed here now. This place isn't safe anymore. Let's get to San Francisco," Gabriel said. "I'll fill you in there."

A/N: So friends, we've reached the end of the road of Part 3. Follow me to Part 4, where Sam and Gabriel have to try and fix a Heaven out of control and finally do something about Lugh and Zurvan wreaking havoc wherever they go. Not to mention fixing Sam's brother Dean...