MICHAEL

Chuck, as a writer, is used to being drunk out of his mind, and to spending long nights in front of a too bright screen unable to sleep.

He isn't used to three people showing up out of the blue, the one person, a lithe blonde woman chiding the other two as if they were children, before vanishing away in a flutter of wing beats.

"Who are you?" he asks, but in his heart, he already knows the answer.

"Castiel. This is my sister - Anna."

Both look shell-shocked and Chuck is torn between shouting denials at them, and making them a cup of coffee. He decides the former is dangerous to his own health, and so points them to the couch.

"My name is Chuck," he says instead. "And I think I'm a prophet. At least… I think I am, because you're in my dreams, and I've been writing them down, and you guys just came from the church right?"

Both don't say anything, but Castiel's eyes have drifted closed.

He's praying. For Dean, asking, questioning, pleading, and mentally shouting.

I trusted you.

He trusted Sam too to an extent, and to find out now that both were lying to him…

"Do you think Dean and Jophiel and Uriel and Zachariah are all fallen angels?" he asks Anna numbly. "That the seals… they were just releasing them all? And when I… when I broke the first seal… Dean decided to pull me out of hell as thanks?"

Chuck shoves the coffee in front of him and he drinks it, ignoring the way it scalds his tongue. "They were helping you though?" the man prompts. "At least… it seemed like they were."

"And Jo and Zach genuinely seem like holy angels of Heaven," Anna mumbles, shivering from any after effect of the demon blood. Castiel wants to be disgusted but can't summon up the energy. "Even Dean did, if it wasn't for his boring name."

Chuck frowns at them, because he feels like he should know the next plot point, but he doesn't. "You should go to Bobby's," he says. "Look for a way to sort this mess out."

The pair of siblings are so down they just numbly obey, just as they were used to obeying Joshua at the orphanage. Chuck sighs into his own coffee and glances at his computer, thinking about the words un-typed.

"Sammael is Lucifer," is how Castiel greets Bobby. "Lilith might still be alive, but she's not our problem."

"No." Bobby smiles, and besides him Anna freezes, "At the moment, it's really not." And that's when their friend's eyes slide back.

Anna automatically seems to stretch out her hand, but the demon inside Bobby just laughs. "You're all out of juice," he sneers, "Nice try though. I'd like to introduce you to a friend…" his shoulders roll as the front door opens.

"Brady?" Castiel wonders, the same moment Anna asks, "Ruby?"

The demon laughs. "Guess again."

"Meg," Castiel grinds out.

"Hello Clarence. I missed you. Did you miss me?"

"Sure thing sweetheart," Dean's easy tones break the silence and Castiel looks wildly for the angel, as he strides up to Bobby first, and for a moment Cas thinks the old hunter will lose his eyes, but there is a flash of red gold and Bobby drops, chest heaving, eyes intact.

"You're Azazel's daughter, right?" Dean ignores Anna and Castiel, stalking towards Meg. She doesn't flinch.

"That's right," she juts out her chin as Dean stops right in front of her, hand reaching out to trace her jawline. "And now Lucifer is back, I work for him."

Castiel gasps in shock as Dean just hums in agreement. "Go do something useful then, darling," he drawls. "Go and look for the horsemen will you? We lost them to the carnal pleasures a while back."

Meg smiles thinly at him. "I don't answer to you," she sneers.

Dean tilts his head in that stupid angel manner of his. "Don't you?" and for a moment Cas could have sworn his eyes flashed gold, and it makes him feel slightly sick at the thought of yellow eyes, gold eyes (was there really much difference?)

Meg is gone though, when he blinks and Dean turns around to them, face grave. "I'm sorry," he says simply. "For deceiving you... We… you don't need to worry about anything. We've got it under control."

"You and Lucifer..?" Anna sneers. "Burning down the world together?"

Dean is silent, jaw clenching as he just shakes his head. "We're looking for our father," he admits, being cagey about everything to do with Sammael and Lucifer and Apocalypse nowish.

"Who..?"

"God," he specifies.

"You mean… what do you mean looking for God?"

"He's gone," Dean looks distraught. "He... he just vanished." he laughs bitterly. "Went on a hunting trip and hasn't been home in a few centuries."

"Are you tell me that there is no God?" Anna bites her lip, actually looks shocked. Castiel's hands clench from where he checks Bobby's pulse, because a part of him already knew this, ever since his parents died, were killed by demons when he was nine…

Dean's anger falls as quickly as it had appeared. "He… I think he has abandoned us. Jophiel think I'm stupid, looking but I can't hope but…"

"Try Mexico," Anna mutters bitterly. "I hear he's on a tortilla."

Dean frowns. "Flatbread?" he shrugs, "I can try." But there's a hint of amusement which tells Castiel that he's caught the joke. "Look, I know you don't trust me…" Castiel snorts, "But things aren't as bad as they seem. I… I can't explain now, but I will… I promise."

"Are you going to stop Lucifer?" Castiel asks him. "Sammael..?"

Dean vanishes without answering.

They get ambushed by Uriel and Zachariah later that week. Castiel spends some time in a hellish universe of a mock future before they pull him back.

"What do you want?" he asks, as Anna spits out blood. "What do you want with us?"

"You..?" Uriel laughs, "You're bait."

"For who..?" Castiel shivers.

"Certainly not me, I'm sure," and once again an angel has turned up in time to save their asses, but this time it's not Dean.

"Sammael," Zachariah sneers, but looks nervous. "Where is he?"

"Where is who?" Sam shrugs, stalking forwards, and for a moment Castiel wonder why he ever doubted the fallen angel, all puppy dog eyes and long limbs, and then he remembers that this is Lucifer, the devil (and Jo had called him a devil once, hadn't she?) squashed in a meat suit of his choosing.

"Michael," Zachariah spits, "Where is he?"

Sam shrugs, "No idea. Why? You guys looking for him?" he whistles, "No wonder he's hiding. So would I if you guys were looking for me." A flash of silver as a sword drops into Uriel's hand and the angel steps forwards angrily. Sam just looks amused by the threat, making no move to pull out his own blade. "What?" he smiles blandly, deceptively calm. "Going to threaten me?"

"You know where he is," Uriel looks nervous. "What have you done to him? What lies have you used to deceive him Lucifer…?"

Castiel can see that he's said the wrong thing. "My name," Sam growls, "Is Sammael," and he clicks his fingers, suddenly all anger and hate and with one sound Uriel is ripped apart into bloody chunks. "You never got over your demotion, did you?" he sighed, "And you?" he asks Zach, nonchalantly; "It's been a while since I've smited anything and I can always use the extra practice…" the angel is gone before he can finish.

"You…" Anna steps backwards.

"Hey guys!" Sam relaxes, and suddenly he's a giant puppy dog. "Have you seen…? Dean?" Castiel notices the almost stumble over his brother's not-name.

"He's looking for God," Castiel ventures.

"Of course," Sam sighs, hand to his head. "Right, well he didn't exactly leave you guys protected… and he steps forwards, pressing his palms to their chests. There is hot heat and then nothing.

"What did you do?" Anna looks scared.

"Sigils to hide you from angels," Sam explains, "Mmm…" he hums for a moment, "Dean should have done it," he says eventually, "But he was too busy with his little daddy hunt, and I would have done it sooner but I was too busy killing Lilith."

"Killing… but she... you… Lucifer…" they can't get the words out.

"It's just a name," Sam shakes his head, "And she's still a whiny kid."

"Well aren't you fun at parties," Anna mutters venomously.

It feels weird, trusting Sam so easily, especially considering what they know about him. But somehow he becomes their angel to call when things go south, such as when they run into War, and then when they run into Meg who is actually trying to take down Pestilence.

Then they run into a Trickster, and this time it's Bobby who has to call an angel, and confused out of his mind the grizzled hunter ends up calling both, with something along the lines of a 'even if you are Lucifer, you're friends to those two and they need your help and you well… Castiel is head over heels for you…'

"What do you want?" Anna asks Loki, glaring at him.

"You…" Loki laughs. "You're bait."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Castiel shakes his head.

"Because everyone knows you're up high in the books with Michael and Lucifer," the Trickster shrugs, "And if we hurt you, they come running."

"We don't know Michael," Castiel shakes his head. "And what do you want with them anyway? Why is everyone looking for Michael?"

"You don't…" the Trickster laughs, "Wow, you really don't know! So now all the players are out, Michael and Lucifer can finally dance the Havana! It's their prize fight, and Heaven is looking for Michael to play, while Hell is waiting for Sammael to stop joking around with his horses and demons and to get to the point already! It's our Apocalypse! End of the World! Michael and Lucifer's big showdown, except they're not around…" He spreads out his hands and shrugs.

Castiel glances at Anna, because it's pretty clear from Sam that he's not going to fight. He also has no idea about Michael. "Why does everyone keep thinking that we know Michael?" he asks, frowning.

The Trickster laughs, "He pulled you out of hell, didn't he? That's his grace burning your soul on your shoulder there, isn't it?"

"So you're just going to keep us here?" Anna interrupts, while Castiel gapes.

"Precisely..!"

"You know a lot about the angels," Castiel tells him.

"I should," the Pagan God scoffs, "They're planning to destroy the world, doncha' know?"

The Trickster seems just like Uriel and Zachariah, with a vested interest in finding the star players of the apocalypse, and although he can say with 40% confidence (it used to be 98% but he's been thinking) that he doesn't know Michael. Everyone seems to think he does. (He's beginning to think they may be right.)

That's when the Trickster proves to be right, when Bobby's support shows up in a flutter of wings, and Dean moves straight for the shorter man with a look of righteous fury on his face. "How dare you?" he hisses, "How dare you show your face now?"

And there goes a tick for the 'trickster is an angel theory'. Loki's face just goes blank though as Dean shoves him against a wall, holding him there with one hand. Sam glances at the two of them. "Are you okay?" he asks them and they nod.

"Michael?" the guy gasps out. "M…Michael?" he seems in disbelief.

Dean snorts, dropping his brother in a pathetic heap on the ground as he stalks back to stand besides Sammael. "What are you doing, Gabriel?"

'Gabriel' pushes himself up from the floor, staring at the pair of them, "Michael?" he asks again, "Sammael?" Castiel wonders when they (or maybe it's just him) because so popular with the angels... archangels especially... and he turns to Dean... who isn't called Dean...

Turns out he did know Michael after all.

"Michael?" Cas hisses. "Your name is Michael?"

Sammael grins, as if this whole thing is one big joke. "We always get that reaction," he explains to the siblings. "Being archangels. And not just any old archangels but the two first born."

Michael. The archangel. He'd looked up angels with names beginning with 'M' after the third time Jophiel almost called Dean out, and had options from Metatron to Moreal. From Machidiel to Miniel. Never once had it actually occurred to him to go straight for the obvious.

Gabriel frowns and looks between Dean… Michael… and Anna and Cas. "They didn't know?" he asks. "They didn't even know your name?"

"Would it have made a difference?" Dean shrugs, "You didn't answer the question Gabe. What are you doing now, after all this time?"

"You…" Gabriel glances between his brothers. "I thought you were fighting."

Sam snorts, "Please don't tell me you thought I was locked up too."

"Is this a joke?" Castiel interrupts, "To you two… because first of all you tell us your names are Sam and Dean, and then it turns out you're really Lucifer and Michael and that despite meaning to fight, you're actually not and…"

"We're looking for Father," Dean tells him, and Sam sighs.

"It was our plan," Sam says "To try and find God. It just… it didn't work."

"To throw a mock apocalypse..! That was your plan? Well let me tell you, that is not how you get someone's attention! You don't have a temper tantrum and throw a party! You… you…" Castiel splutters, as loss for words.

"He's got a point," Gabriel points out helpfully, still on the floor.

"Says the kid who ran away from home to try and get someone to run after him," Sam sneers at him, and Gabriel shuts up.

"And really," Dean… Michael sighs, "Pagan, Gabriel, really?"

"Shut up," Gabriel looks like a pouting kid.

"We never asked for the demons to start breaking the seals," Sam admits, "Lilith and Azazel planned that amongst themselves. I'm not sure whether they knew I was out, or whether they just thought if the stage was set I'd finally step back up to the position."

"But when I refused to lock him in Hell, and he was kicked out of Heaven, Sammy got a chance to experience Earth and kind of liked it."

Gabriel pushes himself to his feet. "Since when do you refuse an order Michael? Daddy's good little soldier…? His blunt instrument even now trying to call him home …"

"Raphael wants me to fight Lucifer," Dean's voice is curt. "Some of them are calling for paradise, and I don't know how to explain to them that we don't need paradise anymore."

"Well this is pretty far from paradise," Gabriel snorts.

"It's not an inferno either though," Sam says quietly, "And we're going to keep it that way."

"I…" Anna swallows reflexively when the three angels… the three archangels turn to look at her. "I like the sound of that. And I … I don't know why you chose us, why you pulled my brother out of hell, but I' grateful you did, and we'll help with the horsemen and demons."

"And those fallen that Lilith let loose?" Gabriel challenges his brothers.

Sam's eyes darken to a deep molten gold. "Beelzebub is mine," he mutters, "Double crossing traitor…" Dean just raises one eyebrow and Sam shrugs.

"We'll get to them." Dean tell them, and they do.

It shouldn't be that simple, to derail and apocalypse. But somehow it is. Jophiel sighs and shakes her head, watching Sam and Dean joke around about something, while Zachariah cowers in his corner, well and truly with his tail between his legs. It's almost as if the two angels are part of their family now, and Castiel can't imagine what life without Sam and Dean (who sometimes go by Lucifer or Michael) is like. They show up to kill ghosts and demons for them. Dean steals his pie and Sam translates things for Bobby.

He can't remember how things were before the angels.

Then he doesn't have to, because Gabriel turns up one day out of the blue (Bobby almost stabs him with a wooden stake).

"They're gone." He says. "Daddy didn't show so they…" he swallows, seemingly unable to put it into words.

"They're dead?" Anna looks alarmed, Castiel just bites his lip.

Gabriel shakes his head. "They're still alive… just not angels any more. They… it's possible for an angel to rip out their grace… to be reborn as a human child. They… the pair of them must have been conspiring about this for a while, because for a moment, the whole of creation cried out, and then moments later it sang and they were just…" he waves a hand about uselessly. "Gone."

"So…" Castiel swallows the thick lump in his throat. "We'll never see them again?"

"Oh I'm sure you will," Gabriel shrugs reflexively. "Michael and Sammael always remember those in their favour. They're just… taking a break to learn how to become better brothers again." He shifts, pulling something from his pocket. "They wanted you to have this, to remember them by…" and he thrusts it at Castiel.

It's a small golden circle on a black piece of string. Castiel takes it, looking at the bull's head, some sort of deity from Egypt of Mesopotamia, if he remembers correctly. When he turns it, it catches the light and he can spot the sigils etched there into blank gold just for a moment, in some form of enochian. Then they are gone.

He frowns, squinting, as something soft brushes over his hand. Anna gasps, seeing it first, but as he stares he can see the pale shimmering as the light passes almost straight through the two feathers bound there. The feathers are made of air and light, but when you peer at them just right, you can see that one is a tawny golden bronze, while the other is a pale creamy grey-white. Castiel knows without asking that they belonged to Michael and Sammael respectively.

"That's their grace," Gabriel tells him, "Bound in that. Look after it, will you?" and after dropping that bombshell he snaps out of them, leaving the two siblings sitting quietly in the evening sun.

Years later, Castiel will see two small children, twins possibly, blonde and brown hair: dark and light, one with green eyes, and the other with hazel. He won't think anything of it, and passes by, too late to hear John Winchester call his two young sons over.

"Dean! Sammy! Time for dinner!"

Slouching against a tree Gabriel chews on the end of a lollipop and stares wistfully at his brothers. This whole human dealio might actually be kind of worth it.

Nine months later Mary Winchester gives birth to a hazel eyed, blonde haired boy named Adam.

January 2014 - I have a love for Dean as Michael (and occasionally Sam as Lucifer if well done) and so this was inevitable for my reverse!verse. Otherwise it would have been too similar to the canon plot with the vessels and it would have been so troubling to fit Sam and Dean into season 5 so I did this instead and like it so much better.

Hope you enjoyed!

Eclipse