Chapter Text
Before the fiasco that was the last Extermination, Adam had never really thought of Lucifer as a King of Hell. He would mock him and his title, call him that to his face and throw some snide remarks in conversations. But he never truly thought about what being King of Hell meant. What it made Lucifer become.
Mostly the First Man just saw him as a pathetic and lying piece of shit. He was an apathetic loser not capable of managing his own life, not to mention the whole hellish realm. All he thought about was his equally pathetic family and something useless and stupid. So, beside bitterness and anger, Adam hasn’t felt anything else in regards to the fallen angel for a long, long time.
It all changed during the last Extermination. Especially during the battle. Lucifer was angry, vicious, mocking and arrogant. Most importantly, he was powerful. Adam considered himself in the higher half of a power scale. He was gifted holy powers fitting for his holy mission of eradicating all Hell’s filth which was quite a powerhouse. The First Man had no problems killing sinners and he was one of the (if not the) strongest winners in Heaven.
It made him confident. Too confident.
Adam would have slain Hell’s princess. She sure possessed some powers passed on from her parents but she clearly was inexperienced and reluctant to be violent. The First Man had no such problem. The same could be said of King of Hell.
And he proved it fast and hard.
It was humiliating and pathetic how fast Adam was beaten, how big of a difference there was between them in terms of power. Getting absolutely destroyed in a matter of minutes hurt First Man’s pride just as much as his body. He was not supposed to lose. He was a winner – it kind of meant he was supposed to win. Angels are the good guys, demons – the bad, good versus evil, good wins. Or so he thought.
The most pathetic thing was not even the way Adam got his ass handled to him. Losing to the King of Hell was one thing. Getting stabbed in the back by some fucking nobody demon was absolutely lame. He didn’t even have time to process what happened – just the flash of pain, the sudden weakness and the way his senses began to dull.
At least there was one person in Adam’s life who truly cared about him. Seeing Lute crying was not pleasant but it warmed his slowly beating heart. He was not dying alone. He was not dying unloved. He smiled at the only person close to him.
And then Adam died.
Later he wished he actually died in that moment.
***
- What shall we try today? Knifes? A mace? Old fashioned whipping? No, no, we already did this a week ago…, - the sound of claws tapping against stone.
It meant that Lucifer was thinking. It was never a good sign. Adam learned that a hard way.
- Oh, maybe drowning? I doubt you and your lot have managed to actually drown anyone during Exterminations but I think you still deserve to try it out! – said King of Hell in a cheerful tone, smiling with white sharp teeth.
The First Man felt knew how sharp they were.
Slim fingers harshly grabbed his cheeks, squeezing with enough force for claws to sink into pale skin, drawing gold holy blood. The strong grip was the only thing keeping Adam's head from falling back on his chest – there was not enough strength or pride in him to hold it straight. It also meant that he didn’t react in anyway. Just looked King of Hell in the eyes, his expression dull and empty.
- I would say “hold your breath” but I don’t think it will help you much, - Lucifer smiled even wider, letting go of the other’s face and gripping brown dirty hair in a fist instead.
Adam blinked and in the millisecond his eyes were closed the basin with water had appeared before his crumpled form. He looked at his own bloodied, beaten-up reflection and didn’t feel any connection to the person on the water's surface. He just felt numbed and detached from this man. From himself.
- Say “hello” to the Hell’s form of baptizing! – And the slender hand pressed his face into the water.
For a good minute Adam didn’t resist. He automatically held his breath, closing his eyes. It actually felt kind of nice – the water was slightly cold; it soothed his hurts and gently lapped at his face like a soft touch of the gentle hand. He couldn’t hear a thing beside the low and far away hum of water around him.
It was almost peaceful.
Until his lungs began to burn.
Without command from his brain, his body began to struggle with all the might left in his battered form. It was surprising how much fight he still had after all the Hell he’s been through. It still wasn’t enough, of course. Lucifer’s hand was still and unyielding. Until it did yank him out.
Adam gulped air, coughing and swallowing some of the water still in his mouth that made him cough again. He tried to breathe in as much as he could before it would repeat. Because it was never just once with King of Hell. He enjoyed his continuous suffering, not a short moment of pain and panic.
- In the name of the Father…
The First man was dunked in the water and held there once again.
This time Adam’s body was in fight or flight mode from the beginning. He struggled, trying to wiggle away or move the hand holding him by the hair, ripping some of it in the process. It didn’t really make any difference for him – he would scalp himself in the moment for the chance to inhale even a small portion of precious air.
The moment he thought about finally breathing in, he was yanked up.
- … the Son…
And before Adam managed to take two breaths, he was in the water once more.
Burning. Struggle. Breathing in water. Yanking up. Breathe in. Out. In-
- … and the Holy Spirit…
Water. Burning. Struggle. Breathe In. Breathe In. Breathe-
Up. Air. Air. Breath In. Throw up water. Breath in. Cough. Breath In-
- Amen.
Adam was dunked. And held.
Burning. Struggle. Breathe in. Breathe in. Breathe in.
And held more.
More burning. Less struggle. Breathe in… Breath in… Bre-
And more.
No burning. No struggle. Breathe i- no.
And-
He closed his eyes.
***
Adam opened his eyes.
The sky above him was beautiful, blue and vast and never-ending. The rare clouds slowly drifted through like lazy fluffy sheep through the field. The sun was high up bright but gentle and warm. The light breeze carried the fresh and earthy smell of nature.
It was all so mundane and familiar yet so heart-breaking. For a solid minute Adam didn’t think of anything but this soul-shattering earning in his chest.
Then he blinked. The picture in front of him didn’t change. He tried to stand up, putting his hand on the ground, feeling soft grass caressing his skin. It was such a stark contrast to everything he felt recently that he shuddered violently and flinched back, his back pressing into the mighty tree behind him. He looked up and saw fruit hanging from the branches, ripe and begging to be plucked.
Peaches.
He was glad there were no apples.
Looking around, Adam furrowed his brows, feeling confusion and panic slowly rising. He knew where he was right now. But it couldn’t be true. This place was no more, saved in happy-bitter memories and buried deep in the furthest parts of his mind. The First Man looked down, breathing a little easier at the familiar sight of his bloodied and torn clothes.
It must be some trick. Some new kind of torture. He just needed to think and it will definitely be-
- Adam?
Adam froze, looking at his own knees, breath stuck in his throat. He knew that voice. Of course he did. Just… it wasn’t supposed to sound like that. No mockery, no anger, no… negative emotions in. It was wrong. It was right.
The First Man could hear his heartbeat in his ears. Even blinking felt like a colossal task. But he made himself slowly move his eyes upper and upper until his gold locked with red blue ones.
Why were they blue?
Adam stared, not believing his eyes or ears. He must have been under some magic or something like that. There was no other explanation. Or maybe he finally has gone mad.
Or else why would he be in the Garden of Eden with fully angelic Lucifer in front of him?