Intima Duellum

Adam fell into a fitful sleep; he tossed and turned so many times that Bobby had to put a pile of cushions and pillows on the floor in case he accidentally tossed himself off the couch. Little moaning and whimpering noises escaped his throat during the two-hour power nap, but nobody wanted to wake him. He deserved some rest, no matter how tortured he seemed in his sleep. Once, Sam thought he heard the word “Michael” on the youngest Winchester’s lips, but before he could process it, the moment was gone. Sam attributed the occurrence to having been stuck in the cage for over a year, right alongside Michael and Lucifer, the ever-warring brothers.

When Adam woke, he kept his eyes shut and pretended to still be at rest, but his ears were open – he could hear Sam and Dean mumbling about him nearby.

“...take forever to explain to him,” Sam was saying. “And I mean like a long-ass time.”

“So we’ll have family story time later, Sam. What’s wrong with that?” Dean hissed.

“Because for all we know, he might not want to have anything to do with us. Bobby’s right, Dean. We left him down there and I’ll be damned if he forgot how he ended up as Michael’s vessel in the first place.”

“Look, if he’s looking for someone to blame, he can look up Zachariah’s number. Oh wait, that’s right, he’s dead. Why’s that? Because he’s been a lying, scheming sonofabitch from the very beginning and we ganked him for it. He ruined Adam’s afterlife, not us.”

There was a pause. “I’m not so sure if he’ll see it like that. Zachariah may have led him on but in the end, we’re the ones who left him in that room in Van Nuys.” Another pause. “He’s awake, by the way.”

Adam stiffened before opening one eye. Sam and Dean were staring down at him expectantly. Caught eavesdropping, Adam had no choice but to yawn, stretch himself, and sit up, swinging his legs over the edge of the couch. He rubbed his eyes tiredly as he spoke: “How’d you know?”

“The lack of groaning in your sleep. It got too quiet in here,” Sam mumbled apologetically.

Adam nodded slowly before sighing and getting to his feet. “Well, it’s been a real treat, being reunited oh so lovingly with you guys, but –”

“Whoa, hold on there, cowboy. You’re not going anywhere.” Dean put a hand on Adam’s chest as he tried to walk past. “We need to talk.”

“About what? About how you left me for Michael to ride around? How you left me in Lucifer’s cage for over a hundred years?” Adam could feel something like angry bile rising in his throat. “Fine. Talk. I’m dying to know what you’re gonna say. And don’t start with ‘I’m sorry.’ I don’t need false sympathy.”

“It’s not false if we mean it. Adam, we tried everything,” Sam said. He was lying a bit – they hadn’t tried everything – but what Adam didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. “There was nothing we could do.”

“Really. Then who broke you out, Sam?” Adam asked venomously. “Because I may have been sitting backseat at the time, but I remember you falling in with me. Michael grabbed you.” He swallowed hard; his throat had dried up. “So what made you so special that you were pulled out and I was left behind?”

Sam couldn’t answer him. How could he? He didn’t know himself. The only reason Sam had been yanked out was because of Crowley, and that wasn’t even a walk in the park for him; he’d been dragged out soulless.

He tried tackling the issue from another angle. “We wouldn’t have stopped trying.”

“Who pulled me out?” Adam asked abruptly.

Caught off guard, Dean sputtered, “We, uh...we think it was an angel.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “No shit. I mean which one. It wasn’t Cas. And Dean killed Zachariah last time I was on the surface.” He nodded at the elder Winchester. “So that leaves about a million to go, right?”

“Not a million.” Cas’s voice made them all jump; he’d reappeared without warning. He stepped out from the kitchen doorway and joined them all standing in a semicircle, eyes downcast. “More like thousands. We’re not exactly as numerous as the human race.”

“Oh well that’s comforting,” Adam remarked.

Cas ignored him. “I think I know who pulled Adam out of the cage.” He paused, waiting for someone to beg him to continue, but all he received were expectant looks. He sighed. “Raphael. As I expected.”

“Why’d you expect Raphael?” Dean asked.

“Because it’s obvious now what he’s planning. Don’t you remember?” Cas began to pace slowly back and forth like an agitated cougar. “Raphael wants the Apocalypse back on track, no matter what it takes. If he breaks the cage open, he releases Michael and Lucifer.” He paused. “Perhaps Adam escaped by accident, and Michael and the Devil are already on the loose elsewhere.”

Adam tried to hide the guilty look on his face. Luckily, nobody paid him much attention, as they were too busy looking at Cas in disbelief.

Why don’t you tell them? The looks on their faces will be priceless.

Be quiet Lucifer or so help me I’ll exorcise the living fuck out of you.

And people think you’re such a sweetheart.

“Raphael is really gung-ho about this whole paradise-on-Earth thing, isn’t he?” Sam asked.

“You think, Sammy?” Dean retorted. He ran a hand through his hair in agitation. “Well this is just great. We have Eve, the Bitch of All to deal with, and now this. What do we do?”

“Prioritize,” Cas said. “Right now, we know where Eve is, thanks to your...friend.” He was referring to Lenore, the reformed vampire the Winchesters had met years ago, but Adam didn’t understand the reference. “We must strike now, while we can, otherwise she’ll move to a new location and we won’t be able to find her again. And when I say strike now, I mean it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dean asked.

“It means that whatever you three have to say to each other can wait until afterwards.”

The three Winchesters looked each other, each one with a different expression on his face. None of them really wanted to continue this conversation – so much was to be said, or yelled, or shouted – but nobody wanted to go chasing after Eve either. Adam didn’t even have a clue who she was, so he was fairly certain that his opinion didn’t really count at the moment. Still, he couldn’t help but say, “When you say we have to strike now, who are you including in the ‘we’?”

“Not you, that’s for damn sure,” Dean said a little too aggressively.

“Why not?” Adam challenged.

“Because you have no idea what you’d be getting yourself into. This isn’t just some low-class spirit or shapeshifter. This is one of the baddest bitches we’ve ever gone up against, and I’m sure as hell not letting you come with us because you’d just get in the way.”

“Right, like I haven’t faced anything potentially dangerous before.” The sarcasm was practically tangible.

“You’ve faced plenty,” Sam assured him, trying to be the good cop to Dean’s obvious bad cop style. “It’s just that...without training or any kind of defensive strategies –”

“Yeah, yeah, I’d get in the way. I heard you. But can’t I just, I dunno, tag along?”

“No,” Dean and Sam said at the same time.

“Drive the getaway car?”

“No.”

“Can I do anything other than be a useless blob?”

“Oh sure. You can stay here and help us figure out whether or not Lucy and Mike broke out of the hot pit,” Dean said.

Adam swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. “And how do you expect me to do that? You have a GPS locator on them or something?”

“No, but don’t worry. Lily’ll teach you about demonic omens. You’ll be able to track any evil son of a bitch anywhere in the country. Hopefully that includes the Devil,” Dean added as an afterthought.

“Lucifer was once an angel, Dean. I’m not sure if tracking purely demonic omens will help,” Cas said.

Dean turned to glare over his shoulder at the angel. Cas didn’t seem affected by the look.

“Who’s Lily?” Adam asked, fixating on the unfamiliar name.

“Bobby’s goddaughter. She’s been living here for the past couple of months. Her parents were, ahh...” Sam trailed off, rethinking himself. “You know, it’s not my place to say. She’ll tell you if she wants to.”

“Bobby’s goddaughter is gonna babysit me?” Adam asked warily, one eyebrow cocked.

“Yeah, that’s right.” Dean smacked him on the shoulder and gave him a wink. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Which means you have free reign,” Sam added. “Because Dean has no boundaries.”

Dean opened his mouth, preparing what no doubt would’ve been a snappy and snarky reply, when Cas interrupted. “If you’re done here, I believe it’s time we get a move on. Eve will know by now that we’re coming for her. She would’ve sensed us talking with Lenore. We don’t have much time to get to her.” He turned his back and walked towards the front door as he added, “Bobby is waiting outside.”

The Winchesters turned to Adam at the same time.

“Seriously, Adam. Stay here. You’ll be safe while we’re gone,” Sam promised.

“And when you come back, we’re gonna talk,” Adam demanded.

“Sure, if you promise that by ‘talk’ you mean really talk and not rip us to pieces,” Dean said. He waved goodbye with two fingers and called over his shoulder, “Lily’s probably in the basement! Check the panic room! Introduce yourself and be nice!”

And in typical Winchester swagger, they were gone, the door shutting behind them with finality. Adam sighed after they left and ran a hand through his hair. Someone had done a pretty good job of cleaning most of the dirt and muck from his skin, but his hair was matted with sweat and mud; he needed a shower desperately. And he smelled like the armpit of a gorilla.

First thing’s first, though. Adam decided it was better to introduce himself to this Lily girl now rather than have her walk in on him showering, which, with Adam Milligan’s shit luck, was probably likely to happen.

He made his way down into Bobby’s basement, where he vaguely remembered the panic room was located just behind the wooden staircase. He’d never been down there personally before, but the first and last time he was at Bobby’s house, Dean had been locked down there for some time. He didn’t know exactly what it was, what it looked like, or what it did, but the connotations behind the word ‘panic’ gave him a general idea.

As he reached the bottom step, he heard a rustling noise coming from behind what looked like a thick iron door.

Adam tentatively stepped around the staircase and called out, “Hello? Is anybody here? I’m Adam. I’m, uh, I’m Sam and Dean’s brother.” Sort of, he wanted to add but decided against it. Technicalities. They didn’t matter much.

“In here!” a female voice called. “I’m just sorting through some shit in the panic room.”

Adam translated that, as he was welcome to approach the iron door and step through the odd painted star on the floor to get inside. He looked around at the random paraphernalia strewn across the floor and the walls. He recognized the guns, of course, but there were some oddly-placed items that didn’t seem all that useful to him. A clear jug of water, for one thing. Adam walked over and picked it up, looking into it to see if maybe there was some kind of powder floating inside.

“That’s holy water, junior.”

Adam turned to face her, the girl who looked to be about his own age. Lily. She was sitting at a metal desk with her booted feet up on it, leaning back casually as she rifled through a large stack of papers on her lap. Totally relaxed and at ease, she definitely wasn’t how Adam had pictured her. Call him traditionalist, but the name ‘Lily’ evoked an image of a petite and delicate girl. It was a flowery name. Very innocent. Very girly. The Lily in front of him looked like nothing of the sort. The way she sat slouched at the desk, the confident and half-cocky grin playing on her lips, the devious little glint in her eyes as she finally looked directly at Adam...

Someone’s about to learn the meaning of “whipped.”

Shut your damn piehole.

“I’m guessing you’re Lily,” Adam said as he awkwardly set the jug of holy water back on the table.

She swung her legs off the desk and stood, holding out a hand to him and smiling broadly. “Correctamundo. Lily Watson, at your service. And you said you’re Sam and Dean’s brother?”

“Yeah. Well, half-brother,” Adam amended with a slight eye-roll. “It’s sort of a long story, to be honest.”

Lily’s smile only widened. “I’d assume the boy from Hell would have a long story.”

Adam quirked an eyebrow and tried not to return the infectious smile. “The boy from Hell?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “It sounded catchy and badass. And it’s what you are, right? You popped right out of the hole like a whack-a-mole.” She bit her bottom lip gently. “How’d you do that, anyway? Nobody’s told me a damn thing around here.”

“Sam and Dean haven’t...?”

“They treat me like a five year-old. Bobby’s even more aggressive about it. I eavesdrop, but it’s hard to catch everything. I just know that you got out of the cage and you’re a free man.”

Not quite as free as you’d think, sweetheart.

Adam clenched his jaw and shut Lucifer’s voice out. “Yeah, well, I didn’t really do much of anything except unbury myself. Castiel’s the one who pulled me up.”

“Did he raise you?” Lily asked.

“Not exactly.”

Lily cocked an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue, but Adam didn’t offer anything further, so she prodded, “You gonna be cryptic or are you gonna tell me this whole epic story?”

Adam suppressed another smile. Part of him wanted to open up and spill everything, from describing his time in Lucifer’s cage to escaping, but the other part wanted to keep everything inside. He didn’t want to talk about it all just yet, especially the bits about Hell. “Maybe some other time. It’s still a, uh...fresh wound.”

Lily nodded. “I get it. Don’t worry. I mean, being in the pit and all...it must’ve been hard.”

Adam tried to shrug as casually as possible without downplaying the seriousness of what his situation had been. “Understatement, but yeah. It was.”

Lily turned back to the table, speaking as she did so: “At least you’ve put it all behind you now.”

Not so much behind him as inside him.

Shut up.

Tsk, tsk. How rude, Adam. Aren’t you even going to introduce us?

I said shut up.

Lucifer, leave the boy alone.

You know, when people say they have an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, it’s not supposed to be literal. Can both of you just shut up?

Someone didn’t take his Midol this morning.

Lucifer –

“Adam?” Lily’s voice brought him out of his head. She was looking at him from her spot in front of the desk, eyebrows quirked. “You feelin’ alright? You looked a little sick.”

“I’m fine. Just...disoriented, I guess. Being trapped in a hole for a few months does that to you.”

Lily tried not to smile at the reference to his predicament. “You can take a nap on the couch upstairs, if you want.”

“No, that’s fine. I just woke up from a nap actually.” Adam tried leaning casually against the wall to pretend he hadn’t just been about to hit himself in an attempt to get the two brothers in his head to stop fighting.

“Maybe you’re hungry.” Lily got up from her seat again and grabbed his hand, pulling him after her out of the panic room and towards the stairs. “Come on. I’ll fix you something to eat.”

I don’t think he’s hungry for human food, little girl.

Adam quashed Lucifer’s voice as he allowed Lily to lead him up the stairs and into the kitchen. His stomach growled loudly, but something about the emptiness he felt deep within told him that Lucifer wasn’t really lying. There was something a little off about the hunger in his stomach, something that hadn’t existed there before. It felt foreign and wrong, but Adam didn’t know what to do about it. He didn’t know how to get rid of the painful feeling. Lucifer clearly did, but the last thing Adam wanted to do was take advice from the friggin’ Devil. He’d rather die.

You will if you don’t feed properly.

Then so be it.