Chapter 64

"Alright, so do I get to kill someone or what?" Lucifer asks his father impatiently.

"Better yet, would you like to kill two somebodies?" Chuck asks.

Lucifer grins. "You already know I do. So, who am I killing?"

"Jess and Kali. And Jess and Kali."

Lucifer nods slowly as he attempts to think of a plan for killing them. If he only gets to kill two people in the next... long time, he better make them count.

Finally he says, "So, is it almost time for the humans to go to sleep or what?"

"Yeah, could happen any minute. Why?"

"Just curious," he replies. "And Kali, where's she?"

"Locked her up with Jess. They haven't really said anything, though."

"Let me and Kali out first, then everyone else. And make it in the war room. I want it to be somewhere I know he'll find it."

Chuck hesitates, knowing he's about to do something scarring, but he already promised his son he could kill them. No taking it back now. So with a snap of his fingers, he does what Lucifer asked.

~~

"Lucifer," Kali hisses.

He just smiles. "Hold still. This'll only hurt a lot."

Before she can react, he punches his hand through her stomach, watching with satisfaction as the life begins to leave her. He pulls his arm out roughly, and a machete appears in his hand. With a quick swipe, her head tumbles to the floor, leaving a trail of blood as it rolls a few feet away. He snaps his fingers, and her body explodes, her blood and guts decorating the room.

He leaves the head intact, lying on the floor. He wants people to know who this is, to know it's someone from here. Looks like this is their first look at the fact that even here, nobody is ever safe.

Lucifer looks up at the ceiling. "Let them out." With a flap of his wings, he teleports away, ready to listen to people's reactions.

~~

"Oh my god," Gabriel breathes, covering his mouth with his hand. If angels could puke, there would be more to clean up than blood and guts.

He falls to his knees helplessly. He can't believe it. Kali's dead. Kali, whom he's known for millions, maybe billions of years — but at this point, they've given up on counting — is dead. And she's not a Winchester; she's not Castiel or Crowley or Rowena. She's just a god, and gods like her don't get second chances.

Michael and Jo come out next, and their laughter disappears immediately when they see the room. Jo freezes, completely unsure what to do. Michael follows his first instinct and stands next to Gabriel, looking down at his brother sympathetically. He puts a hand on his back, and the younger archangel flinches slightly but doesn't tell him to go away.

After a few moments' pause, Gabriel says quietly, "So, looks like we've missed a lot."

Michael sighs quietly. "I'm sorry, Gabriel."

"Why are sorry?" Gabriel asks, his voice coming out colder than intended. "You didn't do it." He pauses, then looks up at his brother quickly and asks, "You didn't do it, right?"

"Of course not," Michael replies. "But I'm still sorry for your loss."

"That makes two of us," Gabriel mutters.

He had never really thought about his relationship with her in technical terms. For a while, he just thought of her as a nice treat on a slow night. Sure, eventually they started tossing the word "love" around, but he never really thought about whether he actually did love her or not. But right now, he can say with absolute certainty that he definitely did and still does love her. It wouldn't hurt this much if he didn't.

Samandriel and Adam walk in next, and they both turn away immediately, mostly for Adam's sake rather than Samandriel's. They warn most of the other residents of the bunker away from the room, but not everyone gets the warning.

Sam had to go hunt down Jess, so he expects by the time the two of them get to the war room, everyone else would have beaten him. The deafening silence coming from the room should have been their first clue to stay away, but neither of them think anything of it. Deep in conversation, it's not until they're in the doorway that they notice everything wrong with the picture.

Unable to stop herself, Jess screams in horror. Sam quickly covers her eyes, but just before he turns her away, he takes in the display in front of him. The only other person in the room is Gabriel, who kneels in front of Kali's severed head, his hands covered in her blood. Whether it's from Kali herself or the floor, he doesn't know. The angel doesn't acknowledge them, though it's impossible that he could have missed Jess' scream.

Sam wants to go to him, to sit next to him and tell him everything will be okay over and over until he starts to believe it, but he doesn't. Instead, he gives Gabriel one last glance and leads Jess back to their bedroom.

He gently pushes Jess down so she's sitting up on the bed, her eyes wide with horror. He sits down next to her and rubs her back reassuringly. The first exploded body is always the hardest. Maybe that's something he say...

"I'm sorry you had to see that," he says quietly.

"Did — did that just happen?" she asks. "Did I just see...?"

"Yes," Sam replies simply, because there's no point in being less blunt. She already knows the answer. It just takes a few minutes to process it.

"How are you so calm about this?" Jess asks.

"I've seen worse," he says vaguely. Hell, he's worse, courtesy of Lucifer's Cage Time Extravaganza.

"Worse than... ?"

He thinks back to all the different deaths he's seen. There was the time he saw Lucifer explode Castiel, or Lucifer's guest appearance at the hotel... so apparently Lucifer gets around a lot...

"Yeah, worse than that," Sam replies. "But never mind that. C'mere." He holds her closer, trying to reassure her that it's okay the best that he can. "I know that was freaky. Trust me, I do. Try to think of something else, okay?"

Jess nods slightly. After a few moments, she says quietly, "Remember that Halloween party at Stanford?"

"The one you had to drag me to?" Sam adds.

"Mm hmm."

"What about it?" Sam asks, trying to keep her talking.

"That was fun," she says.

"It really was," he agrees. When she doesn't add on, he continues, "Remember that sexy nurse's costume? And how I couldn't keep my eyes off you?"

"Yeah," Jess replies, a slight smile on her face.

"And remember how drunk Luis got?" Sam adds.

Jess makes a noise that can almost be considered halfway to a laugh. "Yeah."

"And remember watching him try to bob for apples?"

She does laugh this time, more than just a breath out her nose. Sam keeps going, listing the best parts of that party from all those years ago, until she seems to be smiling again.

"Now, I think it's time for bed, don't you?" he asks eventually.

As if on cue, she yawns. "Yeah, probably."

They lie down together, and Sam holds her close. He can only hope just having him here will fend off the nightmares she's sure to have.