#midam anniversary

[paradisecas]

MIDAM ANNIVERSARY MIDAM ANNIVERSARY. i was supposed to have the proposal fic finished by midam anniversary 2023 and wouldnt you know it im STILL not done. but i want to celebrate so here’s the very beginning, which takes place right before last year’s preview.

——

“Miss Plumber says she got married and we can call her Mrs. Jacobs now,” Bunny says over dinner. She tears at her roll a little too violently, mushing butter between her fingers. Adam knows she’ll refuse to use a napkin and that he and Michael will spend half an hour after bathtime wiping greasy smudges off every surface in the house. He mourns the rags he’ll have to wash tomorrow.

“That’s exciting,” Adam says, picking his battles and letting her continue getting all buttery. “Getting married is a big deal.”

Kitty starts to say something, but she’s still chewing her massive bite of spaghetti and Michael, who has a sixth sense for these things, shoots her a warning look. Kitty, of course, takes this warning as an excuse to open her mouth and let the unchewed mass plop onto her plate in her hurry to say, “Tony from my class said his dad got married too and that he doesn’t see his mom a lot anymore ‘cause she married someone else first.”

Michael’s admonishment dies out immediately. Adam actually watches it happen—his grace goes from indignantly disgusted to rapturously curious in a split second. “Oh?” he says, and Adam kicks him under the table.

This is not the time or place to press their child for gossip.

(That’s what the PTA group chat is for, anyway. Someone’s bound to know what went on with David and Amanda.)

“Sometimes things are complicated,” Adam decides to say.

“Very complicated,” Michael says, a little too gleeful, and Adam kicks him again.

“Miss Plumber showed us some pictures,” Bunny starts again, smearing her buttered hands along the tabletop, but Liv starts babbling around her green beans so Adam is forced to tune Bunny out in favor of his youngest. Michael will tell him anything he’s missed.

Her bib patterned with small turtles is stained red, not just from tonight, and Adam tries to add laundry to the to-do list on the fridge through sheer force of will, but. He’s not an archangel. He’ll have to remember to do that later.

When Liv is back to happily gnawing on her dinner, Adam turns back to the table’s conversation, just in time to hear Kitty ask, “Are you married?”

Adam blinks. Michael catches his eye across the table and shrugs with one shoulder.

“We’re not,” Adam says.

“Why?”

“It’s a human thing,” Michael says. “Angels don’t get married.”

“Oh.” Kitty looks down at her plate, almost forlorn. Then, again, “Why?”

“Angels are siblings, ergo we don’t get married,” Michael says, which is simplifying things to a ridiculous degree, but they can cover—that—later. When the girls are older. Much, much older.

Kitty nods. “Right,” she says, going to shove another forkful of spaghetti in her mouth and seemingly thinking better of it. “But you love each other?”

“Of course we do,” Michael says immediately.

It’s a valiant effort, truly, but Adam fails to squash down the smile that takes over. “Of course we do,” he repeats, “but we’re—it’s romantic and exciting, but we don’t need that.”

Because they don’t. It’s been—they’ve been together long enough that technically, probably, they’re considered common law married. Or they would be, if Michael was a human with a social security number and a place in the American census or whatever it takes to get legally married. And it’s not like they need a piece of paper or some rings to hammer in the knowledge that they’re it for each other, for the literal rest of time.

“Why?” Bunny asks, taking her turn in the inquisition.

“Why don’t we need it?” Adam asks. “We love each other. And we love you, and that’s enough.”

Kitty hums around her spaghetti. Liv shoves her sauce covered fingers into her mouth. Bunny hmphs, and says, “You should get married.”

Something flickers inside Adam, then. Not grace—this is different. Closer to what he felt in that diner, mere hours after they fled the tsunami of hell and neither he nor Michael were ready to admit the full truth of what they wanted from each other at the same time as they carefully confessed that they knew they’d figure it out together.

Michael meets his eyes, and Adam thinks he might feel it too: the red-hot flame, somehow gentle as a candle as it roars in an inferno.

Huh. Something to think about, then.

[michaeliad]

Swan Lake is a ballet composed by Pyotor Tschaikovsky. It tells the story of Odette, a princess who turns into a swan every night because of a curse which only true love can break. The ballet usually ends on either Odette being saved by prince Siegfried and having a happy ever after, or her taking her own life by drowning after prince couldn’t save her from her curse.

Adam Milligan and Ghoul Impersonating Adam Milligan, Supernatural // Odette and Odile, Swan Lake

[michaelmilligan]

Hi, hello, did you know it's the Midam wedding anniversary??

Well, now you know. Have a little something. (Also on AO3.)

Warning: Once again, I have been unable to keep myself from making it kinky.

~~~~

When Adam picked up the phone, Michael could feel him smile, a moderate amount of joy coursing through his soul.

“Hey, Gabe-” The joy fell away pretty much immediately. “Oh, hey Sam. No, no, just... um. Hm? Yeah, I'm good. Great, even. Michael too, by the way.”

Michael huffed, not so much because of Sam but because Adam took every opportunity to be insulted on his part, even if it was barely a slight and Michael didn't even care about it. Well, he supposed that could happen when you took each of your brother's attempts to reach out as an insult in and off itself.

Thoughtfully, Michael continued mixing what would soon be a patty, egg and breadcrumbs sticking to his fingers. Adam and Sam's relationship was tense, even more so than the one with Dean – if only because Adam and Dean hadn't really talked since the almost end of the world.

It was fitting, maybe, that Adam's older brother who he didn't get along with was with Michael's younger brother, who had told him to go fuck himself a few years ago, when Jack had revived them. Fortunately, Michael had curbed his first instinct of replying 'No, that's Adam's job' and had simply let him go – along with Raphael, who had listened to the new God for a while, then had listened to Michael for a much shorter amount of time. Of course, Michael hadn't had very much to say, except to express his bitterness about their father and to back Jack's claims.

Raphael had taken it as they had always taken everything: with dignity, and betraying no emotion whatsoever.

After, they'd asked Michael one very simple question: Was he going to stay in Heaven?

The answer had been no, of course. Michael had agreed to help out, but not to stay, choosing instead to be with Adam. The last part, he had been vague about, speaking of 'responsibilities' on Earth.

Raphael had nodded and walked out.

Things had gotten better since then, but their relationships weren't fully mended. Maybe they would never be. Too much bad blood, too many bad decisions made. But at least they were talking. And Adam and Gabriel got along. Raphael and Adam also had surprisingly much in common.

So there was hope.

Lightly tugging on Adam's soul, Michael beckoned him over to try the mayonnaise that Michael had whipped up earlier. After licking his lips, Adam weighed his head and then conveyed to Michael that it could use a little more salt.

“Hm?” Adam then said into the phone, rolling his eyes to tell Michael how much he wanted to stop talking to Sam. “A barbecue? Oh, no, today is no good. What? Oh, come on, I'm not avoiding you, you just always ask me last minute... Hey, that was one time! Besides, even if you'd asked earlier about today, we still wouldn't have time.”

Michael tried his hardest not to listen to the other side of the phone call, which was difficult when you were sharing a body with the person holding the phone to their ear. But Sam always said that it was impolite to eavesdrop, and Adam had once told Michael that he didn't have to listen to Sam's anxieties about their relationship. So Michael concentrated on his projection and on the burgers he was making, trying to just be a comforting presence against Adam's soul.

“Oh, now you want to know why.” Adam huffed. “Why don't you ask Jack? Oh, whoops, forgot he wasn't talking to you.”

That was a low blow, though Michael supposed it said a lot about the Winchesters that their adopted son, who was now God and could have been anywhere and everywhere at the same time, didn't deign it necessary to visit or even call them.

Again, the image of Gabriel appeared in Michael's mind, angry and jaded as he had been, his golden wings which were so much like Lucifer's splayed aggressively. He'd left his family for Earth back then, while Jack had left for Heaven – but was there really such a difference in it?

Maybe there was hope for the Winchesters and Jack yet.

“Well, I'll have you know that it's our anniversary,” Adam was saying to Sam, “so don't disturb us later. We won't answer the phone anyway.”

Michael hummed, the thought of later pleasing, and he mentally went through their playlists, trying to decide which one to put on for them to make love to. Maybe Adam would concede to Taylor Davis this time – not the Disney covers, of course, which Adam had vetoed for any and all sexual activity. Apparently, having sex to 'Part of Your World' would 'destroy my childhood, Michael'.

“Mh,” Adam made into the phone, opening the fridge. “U-huh.”

Michael made sure to convey a stern look through their bond, and Adam looked back at his projection as his hand stopped just short of the cake, which was sitting – so far – pristine and untouched between different sorts of yogurt.

I'm hungry, Adam's pouting expression said.

You can't get hungry, you don't need to eat, Michael's responding eye roll conveyed.

More pouting. You're a meanie.

Michael slapped Adam lightly with a wooden spoon. Get away from the fridge.

“Hm?” Adam made into the phone while his eyes darkened, fixed on Michael. His expression clearly said how much he wanted to take the spoon and retaliate until the ass of Michael's projection was a deep, lovely red. “Oh, yeah. Sure. M-hm.”

Michael raised an eyebrow at him, but couldn't stop his grace from shivering in anticipation. Finish your phone call. Then you can bend me over.

“Right. Mh. Uh, hey Sam? Can we talk later, I really need two hands right now. Oh, no, you don't want to be on speaker, it's gonna be loud. Yeah, no, trust me, you really don't want to hear that. Hm? Oh yeah, maybe you can call again tomorrow – or, you know, next week...”

Or never, Adam's soul seemed to say, and he didn't say goodbye before he hung up on Sam.

“Now, where were we?” he said to Michael as he tossed the phone onto the kitchen counter, and licked his lips.

“Well I was cooking so that my darling husband would have something to eat, since he's always hungry,” Michael said teasingly. “You were trying to distract me, I believe.”

“Your husband is a lucky guy,” Adam teased back, slinging his arms around Michael from behind. He kissed his neck.

“Yes, and I'm very loyal to him, so you can't seduce me, scoundrel.”

Adam snorted against the side of his face before he pressed a kiss to that, too. “Are you sure? I'm pretty persuasive. And hot.”

“Only metaphorically.” This time, Michael used the wooden spoon to lightly bonk Adam on the head. “My grace burns brighter than anything else in the universe.”

“And it's magnificent.” Adam's hands roamed Michael's stomach under his apron, slowly making their way up to his nipples, while he licked over Michael's ear. “You know, food is great, but you're the real snack in this kitchen.”

“I thought you'd never notice.” Michael leaned back against him, making a pleased sound as Adam pinched one of his nipples and rolled it between his fingers.

Meanwhile, Adam's other hand snaked lower again, finally brushing over the panties that were the only thing Michael was wearing under his apron.

“You're going to look so pretty, all red under the black lace,” Adam murmured into Michael's ear.

Michael let out a contented sigh, as always when Adam called him pretty, the first and only one in his very long life to do that. Adam stood by it – his archangel wasn't just the strongest and hottest, but also the prettiest being he had ever met.

Later, when they would lie in bed all exhausted but happy, Adam would tell him again, would make him understand how much he loved him. For now, though, his tools of expressing his adoration were bite marks on Michael's neck and the imprints of a hand and wooden spoon on his ass.

Adam smiled against Michael's neck. "Happy anniversary, baby."

[dragonsareawesome123]

"Finally, I want to use this opportunity to introduce a few people. They will be handling the special exhibit for this first-anniversary event. CEO Lee Mi Dam of Midam. Manager Do Yoon Jae. And…"

The Story of Park's Marriage Contract (2023-2024) dir. Park Sang Hoon Episode 6 - "A knot, the link of a connection"

[stareyeddistinguishment]

Hey, it's Feb 5th

Re-reading my fic. Feb 5th is the day of Midam's anniversary -- well, their anniversary of entering Hell together. So happy anniversary, everyone!

[queerstudiesnatural]

📚 masterpost of my fics and ficlets 📚

fics - ao3

Nothing Above Us And Nothing Below - deanbenny, 3.1k words

Violet - jocassie, 4.5k words

God is (not) at your local Gas N’ Sip - a short Steve!Cas study, 722 words

Thank You - destiel horny grace healing momence, 1.5k words

I found my way living in you - destiel (cas comes back), 3k words

ficlets - tumblr 

Destiel kiss on the cheek

Friendsnatural

Gardener Dean

Destiel hair salon divorce arc

Dean & Bela 

Bufus 

CasMickDeanKetch love/hate rectangle? You better believe it

Endverse Destiel

Sam and Cas say I love you

Cas post Empty amnesia

“Why do you love me?”

Sam gets angry with Cas (+ ficlet by @faillen)

Sometimes Castiel lets himself hope

Cas doesn't know they're together

tiny scenes and vague ideas (some if these are just short ideas not really written out)

Dean comes out randomly 

Destiel anniversary angsty kisses in bed

Longest kiss buildup since 2007 Persuasion

Sewing up Cas’ trenchcoat

Emma and Dean in purgatory

Womennatural 

Alternate ending (beachnatural)

Horny grace healing

Destiel first kiss

Midam

boy besties

Cas wondering if he’s attractive

Musicnatural 

Annamary 

Evil dungeon scene rewrite

[jumptheshark]

midam wedding anniversary rapidly fucking approaching

[fandom-space-princess]

Oh how time passes. Anyway it's Earth Day next week, and you know what that means: midam wedding anniversary is upon us

[ckneal]

Hey! Thanks for the tag, @nalivaa! I'm so sorry it took me so long to get around to this. Things have been so busy lately.  

Three ships: Am I allowed to count midam and midamoul as one? I feel like every midam concept that comes to me these days has an optional midamoul add-in. The line is like an illusion that only exists in some lights--every fic idea has a parallel ghoul version!  None are safe! Meanwhile, when I have time to read lately, I've mostly been reading WangXian fics, so that should probably be my second ship. And then for my third. . .You know the book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne? I just finished it the other day, and the whole time that I was reading it, I just kept getting the feeling that Captain Nemo very clearly has a crush on Pierre Aronnax. Right up until the last chapter or so, it just seemed like some sort of Beauty-and-the-Beast-Under-the-Sea stuff was happening. So much so, that I actually started writing out a concept for a midam/midmaoul parody of the story on more than one occasion, but never got around to posting it.

First ever ship: Oh man, I guess Spuffy? Spike and Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer? I wasn't producing content for it or involved in the fandom or anything, I just watched the show and wanted these two characters to get together. Which is what shipping is in my mind.  

Last song: "Sweet but Psycho" by Ava Max. The line "her people say run don't walk away" makes me think of Joon-Woo from Vincenzo, and it's been stuck in my head for weeks. Currently reading: Well, I just finished Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, and I'm about to start reading the novelization of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, which I've heard really good things about. 

Currently consuming: Officially, I'm watching The Owl House right now. But, I've had so much on my plate lately that I haven't really been able to watch more than an episode of it. Instead, I've been watching 1 min long youtube videos of this adorable woman who makes her husband bento lunches every day, because they're so sweet and the lunches are so pretty, and I can usually force myself back to work after watching about 5-10 of them in a row. 

Currently craving: Not to dwell on my stress levels too much, but some down time would be amazing. I miss working on things for fun so much. (Though, you know, I would settle for an adorable bento box lunch.)

It’s been a little while since I was tagged in this, so I feel a little awkward tagging anyone else, not knowing who’s already done it. If anyone sees this and wants to fill this out though, please consider yourself tagged! 

[quicksilver-castiel]

Master List

Under the read more, you can find a list of my fics with tumblr and/or AO3 links.

General AO3 link: QuicksilverCastiel (note that not all my fics are on tumblr)

Writing tag: Quick writing

Multi-chapter fics (AO3 links):

It's my life (Destiel S14 AU - complete)

Everlasting (Midam royalty AU - complete)

In the End (Midam endverse AU - complete)

Twice the brinded cat hath mewed (Midam witch/familiar AU - complete)

Cross my heart (and hope to love) (Midam tattoo artist/bakery AU - complete)

A bed of thorny flowers (Midam royalty/arranged marriage AU - complete)

The Best Damn Thing (Midam high school AU - complete)

Putting all dragon eggs in one basket (Midam dragon angels AU - explicit and non-con - complete)

Up to his neck in dragons (follow-up to the dragons AU - Midam, Samifer and Nickifer - also non-con - ongoing)

Companionable (Destiel royalty/sex worker AU - ongoing)

S.C.I.E.N.C.E. series (Midam incubus Adam AU - started as a kinky porn AU and spawned plot - ongoing)

Short fics (tumblr links):

Heaven is no place on Earth (Midam, canon-verse, slight angst)

Hell Ones (Midam meet Rowena, canon-verse/after fix-it)

Over the moon (for you) (Midam anniversary fic)

Peonies and perfection (Midam, Destiel and Samycule Easter fic)

A graceful birth (Midam kid fic, trans Adam)

Angelsweek 2022 masterlist (Benjamin, Serafina, Raphael and Michael)

In grace you didn't know (Midam and a museum)

Jonasbrothersnatural (Midam)

Monkey see, monkey stare (Midam cage fic)

Midamoul Week 2022 master list (Midamoul, canon-verse and AU)

Dreamydrabbles master list (Midam and Destiel)

Adam Milligan Week 2022 master list (canon-verse, Midam)

Midam Week 2022 master list (Midam, canon-verse)

Build-a-twink (one body becomes two body Midam)

Get used to it (Midam, fluff)

Dietary permission (Midamoul with guest stars Sam, Kristen, Jack and Ghoul's dad)

Another year of us (Midam anniversary 2023)

Michael (Midam, fluff)

May It Be (Midam royalty/medieval AU)

[klayr-de-gall]

Benediction

Happy First Midam Wedding Anniversary!

I love this two to bits and I’m so happy I stumbled into this fandom just cause I was curious!

[My Patreon and Social Media] - Available as a print on etsy.

[paradisecas]

i'm only a few minutes late and technically its still the 22nd in some timezones so suck it. happy midam 2 year wedding anniversary i thought for sure i'd get this finished in time but rude awakenings galore so take a small part of midam proposal ft girlverse <3 the lore is increasingly intricate

—

The buzz of Kitty’s toothbrush cuts out and leaves behind—not a silence. Their house is never silent, not with three kids and a cat and a bubbling fish tank, but there’s a sense of contentment that falls over the white noise. It’s a feeling Adam’s familiar with now. The realization always guts him, just a little bit, comparing it to the everything of the cage. He was used to that, too.

But it’s quiet now, until he catches snippets of the bedtime story Michael’s telling Liv, until Kitty and Bunny start arguing about which nightlight to use tonight—the princess one Kitty likes, or the special one that casts constellations onto the ceiling that Bunny likes—until the cat skids around a corner, until a fish thrashes suddenly in the fish tank with a splash that always makes Kevin think it’s escaped.

And it’s like—Adam knows that this is forever. That he and Michael fought to have this life together, that they’re not giving it up anytime soon. But still. There’s something delicate about it tonight.

He pokes his head in Kitty and Bunny’s room. Bunny won the nightlight argument, and he catches her flouncing from the wall to her bed in her little nightgown that’s been shedding sequins for weeks but she refuses to replace.

“Stars tonight?” he whispers.

“Duh,” Bunny answers, gathering a half dozen stuffed animals into her arms.

“Princess tomorrow,” Kitty mumbles, half asleep in her own bed. “I brushed my teeth.”

Adam raps a knuckle to the doorframe gently. “I know,” he says, biting back a smile. “Do you want a story?”

“Dad said he’d tell us about the stars,” Bunny says. “You can read tomorrow.”

“Oh, may I?” Adam teases. “I know you like his stories better.”

“I like Uncle Gabe’s stories best,” Bunny says. “He’s real good at talking.”

Because Adam is a grown man, he doesn’t say unlike you to his six year old daughter. Time and place for sick burns, or something like that. Instead, he raps on the doorframe one more time and says, “Goodnight, then. I love you both.”

He gets a chorus of I love you goodnight back and it will never fail to get him just a little choked up. Knowing they love him like he loves Kate, knowing Michael loves him—

It sits with him, as he gets ready for bed. Pajamas, toothpaste, acne cream because somehow having a handy archangel doesn’t do anything against adult acne which is really just rude. He listens to Michael tell Kitty and Bunny his story about stars, and is still in the bathroom when he wanders in, shrugging on a pajama shirt.

“Bunny needs a new nightgown. I think there are sequins in my hair,” Michael says, but Adam’s eyes and attention are glued to the way he buttons his shirt, nimble fingers working up his chest because he always starts from the bottom like a weirdo, but that’s not what Adam’s thinking about.

Suddenly, all he can see is Michael in a pressed white shirt, maybe black if he wants to be sleek, or another color if he wants to be fun, the details aren’t important except for the fact that the shirt is nice and meant to be worn under a suit jacket. He’s watching Michael button it from the bottom up and reach his throat, where he’ll loop a tie around his neck and do some ridiculously complex knot just to show off.

He’s watching Bunny flounce around in a different dress, dropping petals instead of sequins. He’s watching Gabriel stand in front of a crowd and show off his good talking skills while giving what will probably be a really weird speech.

But he blinks, and Michael’s standing behind him in the bathroom, head tilted just so as he meets Adam’s eyes through the mirror. His left hand stretches around the last button and his ring finger is so empty and all of a sudden, Adam wants.

“We’ll go to Target tomorrow,” Adam says, and doesn’t realize he’s spoken until the words echo just this side of too loud between light blue tile. “For a nightgown, I mean.”

Michael nods. “Okay.” He extends a hand, and Adam spins to take it. “Bed?”

As they climb into bed, Adam listens to the cat, the fishtank, the fuzz of Liv’s baby monitor, Kitty snoring like an eighty year old man. And he can’t shake the thought.

Michael, of course, knows something’s up, but he waits until they’re settled, curled up so they’re nose to nose, before he whispers, “What’s on your mind?” into the inch of space between them. Adam can taste his toothpaste, bubblegum instead of mint because he doesn’t like the cold, and the ferocity of his want shouldn’t be so surprising. It is anyway.

“Maybe we should,” he whispers back. “Get married, I mean.”

The faint line of moonlight creeping through the crack in their curtains illuminates the smile that quirks on Michael’s lips. “Are you proposing?” he asks, and sounds amused.

“Maybe.”

Michael hums. “I hear that proposals are supposed to be romantic.”

“What, is this not romantic enough for you?” Adam flicks at an old baby puke stain on the frayed collar of Michael’s shirt. Michael retaliates by poking a cold finger through the hole in the shoulder of Adam’s shirt, made by an unfortunate arts & crafts incident.

“I have standards,” he says.

Adam can’t help it—he laughs. It’s a ridiculous, giddy sort of joy that bubbles up inside, too bright for the softness of the night. “Ouch,” he says, and knows he’s grinning. “Okay, feedback duly noted. I’ll try for romance.”

“You better,” Michael says. Under the covers, their hands find each other and hold on tight.

As much as he complains about having to sleep while holding the girls’ grace, Michael drifts off easily. Adam watches moonlight dance across his face, listens to his breathing, pulls their hands to his chest. He gets this forever. It’s been years and years since they escaped the cage, years since they’ve had something breathing down their backs, but he doesn’t think he’ll ever get over the relief of getting him like this. Getting their life, as it is now, as it will be forever.

Adam falls asleep and dreams of the morning.

[jewishadammilligan]

happy wedding anniversary to the main characters of the cw’s supernatural

[michaelmilligan]

Sooo. We're celebrating the Midam wedding anniversary again this year on Earth Day, right?

[peacewhendone]

The Winchester Gospels: Without You I’m a Disaster

Title: Without You I’m a Disaster (Read on A03) Series: The Winchester Gospels - Chuck’s Deleted Scenes (A03 | Masterpost) Rating: G Characters: Michael, Adam Milligan Pairing(s): Michael/Adam Milligan Episode: 15.19 Inherit the Earth Words: 1,405 Song Inspiration: My Darkest Days - Without You Soundtrack: Spotify | Rebloggable Summary:

Adam wasn't supposed to be part of this story. He was not the one God had destined for him. He was never supposed to know anything about God or angels or the devil or apocalypses. He was supposed to exercise the free will He had given humans, live out his life in the manner of his choosing. But somehow, Michael's Sword always rejected him, and after more than a thousand years in the Cage, Michael thinks it was better this way.

He saw Castiel's memories. He knows what his Father turned into (and he can't help but see the parallels between the cosmic deity and the Morningstar). Michael knew He was the cause of Lucifer's downfall, that everything He had ever done was just to manipulate His creations in the pursuit of entertainment. He missed the being that he had thought Him to be, not the actual being. But it was small, soft, a passing regret that didn't have much sway over his feelings.

But now that Adam is gone, Michael aches.

Michael doesn't know why he's here.

Adam wasn't supposed to be part of this story. He was not the one God had destined for him. He was never supposed to know anything about God or angels or the devil or apocalypses. He was supposed to exercise the free will He had given humans, live out his life in the manner of his choosing. But somehow, Michael's Sword always rejected him, and after more than a thousand years in the Cage, Michael thinks it was better this way.

He saw Castiel's memories. He knows what his Father turned into (and he can't help but see the parallels between the cosmic deity and the Morningstar). Michael knew He was the cause of Lucifer's downfall, that everything He had ever done was just to manipulate His creations in the pursuit of entertainment. He missed the being that he had thought Him to be, not the actual being. But it was small, soft, a passing regret that didn't have much sway over his feelings.

But now that Adam is gone, Michael aches.

Irrationally, he blames it on the eldest Winchester. If Dean had only said yes to him at the beginning (centuries, decades – in this case, they were the same – ago), he would have never known Adam. They would have never been thrown into the pit, trapped there by an act of pure love that he grudgingly respected the youngest Winchester for.

He would have never known what love was. He can't decide if he'd rather be Michael, Sword of Heaven... or Michael, the archangel who loved his vessel.

Oh, he'd heard the stories, of course. He knew about Akobel, Ishim. He had been the one to give Ishim permission to take his garrison and eradicate the angel and the nephilim. He knew Ishim had desired Lily to the point of obsession. Michael had seen the same obsession in Lucifer for Sam Winchester. He knew, now, that Akobel had indeed been involved with Lily, but also knew that the child – a daughter, an innocent – was not, in fact, nephilim. He knew how Benjamin, one of the angels in Ishim's garrison, had fallen in love with his vessel. He knew that Anna had purposely Fallen so that she could experience human love.

And he knows how Castiel had felt about Dean. How Gabriel had felt for Sam. It was remarkable, Michael thought, how the three human brothers had so changed two archangels and a seraph. He wonders if that possibility had always been there, and if his Father had truly never seen it. He thinks that, perhaps, the three humans are (were, because Adam's gone, he's gone and this mourning will never end) even more special then God had intended them to be. Perhaps it really was always meant to be the three of them, saving the world by saving three angels. Michael thinks it's almost fitting, after everything He has done, to end up with so many rebellious children.

He wonders if there was ever a human who could change Lucifer the same way. Perhaps Sam could have, if he hadn't grown so attached to Gabriel. But then, Gabriel wouldn't have been saved.

He had seen more of Castiel's memories then the younger angel had intended. He had seen everything in those few moments, from the start of his Creation until the instant he had placed his hands on the archangel in the bunker. It solidifies the anger roiling in him, knowing that not once in all the centuries they were in the Cage, did anyone ever try to come up with a way to free him or Adam.

But Castiel had found a way to save Sam Winchester's body, and then Dean had found a way to save Sam Winchester's soul. Michael had begged Death to take Adam, to save him, but the being older then God and Amara had simply looked at him and said it wasn't their time yet.

Adam and Michael had made a plan, once: if something ever happened where they were parted, if Michael was ever cast out of Adam's body, the human would go to the nearest church devoted to Michael. And he would wait there, until the archangel found him again. Neither of them had ever spoken about how that notion terrified them both.

He doesn't know why he's here. This isn't the plan. They had never made a plan about what to do if Adam was the one taken. But now Adam, and what looks like every other living thing on the planet, are gone. He can not get into Heaven to try and find Adam; it is closed. Michael can no longer hear his brothers and sisters, can no longer sense anything nearby.

The church is dusty, and he considers using his powers to clean it (it is a church devoted to him, after all) but decides not to. He doesn't want to do anything that will direct his Father's attention onto him. His eyes (his eyes, not Adam's; it's not his body anymore, not without his beautiful, mischievous soul inhabiting it) fall on the books sorted into little holders on the back of each pew. He picks one of them up, staring at the two words on the cover.

The book is black, with silver gilded words on the front. It fits perfectly into his hand, gilded silver pages and textured leather cover. It is thick, and well-worn, but beautiful in it's simplicity. He knows the stories written inside, witnessed most of them being transcribed by His prophets.

It says HOLY BIBLE on the front of it. He's not sure anymore if anything in it can truly be considered holy. Not when it was just another piece of the game.

On the outside, there is no other ornamentation – but he flips it open, and thumbs through the delicate pages, and every so often he comes across pictures. Some of them are black and white drawings and only take up a fraction of space on the page; others are full-page, full-color paintings. The first colored one that makes him stop and stare is of himself and Lucifer, and the lump in his throat (his throat, not Adam's, never again Adam's) feels like regret.

The painting doesn't depict their true forms, but it is obvious from the wings and lance one is holding that it's supposed to be Michael. The painted angel is floating in the sky among clouds, and there are other angels holding swords and lances and bows in the background. There is a figure falling to Earth; it has broken wings and horns, but still seems to glow, a look of betrayal on the beautiful face. There's a bolt of Grace shooting through him, what looks like flames surrounding his body as he falls through the atmosphere.

It was a very human depiction of Lucifer's fall. He feels, perhaps for the first time, the true ache of loneliness as he thinks about his closest brothers: Lucifer, hardly younger then himself, but with a fierce protector in Michael until their Father commanded otherwise; Raphael, who always had wise advice at the ready but did not want any type of leadership role; Gabriel, the youngest of the archangels, always brokering peace during their sibling squabbles. All three of them are gone, now; two dead and sent to The Empty, one lost to darkness. Castiel killed Raphael, he knows; he holds the memories in his own Grace now. Another Michael had killed Gabriel. He doesn't know what has become of Lucifer. There are no longer any other worlds, so any other versions of them that had been created were also gone.

Thinking about those other worlds once again, he wonders – did any of them have an Adam Milligan? Did any of the other Michael's ever come to treasure their Adam the way he had his? He hopes, for their sakes, that those other versions of him did.

He wishes Adam was here, for so many reasons, but also to help him put words to what he feels. He needs his guide here, not... not wherever God had sent him.

He is more alone then he has ever been, until the door creaks open behind him. When he see who it is, he snarls, but decides to stay. He decides to talk to them. He decides to go with them, and he decides to help.

Because Adam would ask him to.

[inochian]

don’t look too deep into those angel eyes