Fade Away (Sam/Dean/Cas - Linked)
Lucifer was bleeding.
No, Castiel was bleeding, his vessel was battered and bleeding, an archangel blade wound going straight through his shoulder. He'd been thrown around the forest by his brother and his alternate universe copy, and now grace was seeping white-hot and brilliant from his wounds.
He'd been weak enough that Dean and Sam had been able to throw him as well as themselves into the rift — and then the rift snapped shut behind them.
The green haze of the Fade obscured everything. It looked like the woods, but it wasn't the woods. Trees twisted around themselves and roots grew up out of the ground. Boulders floated effortlessly in the sky. The Cage itself was several yards away, hovering in the air.
With Lucifer in this state, it would have been easy to throw him in and lock him away.
He pushed himself up to his feet, staggering back with a soft, low chuckle. He looked back at the Winchesters, then to the Cage. The Fade was like nothing else he'd seen before. Where the fuck were they?
"Well, would you look at that," he said, holding his shoulder. "So close, but so far, am I right?"