This Time Imperfect
{{SPN AU: hunter!Lucifer angel!Sam}}
It was the same voice, night after night - the same breathtaking eyes, undefinable, yet entirely unforgettable, lingering behind the hunter’s eyes long after the sun had risen and the day had begun. They had been haunting him from the beginning of his relatively limited memory - from the day one Bobby Singer had found him, slightly battered and entirely confused, shut away in the back room of some unnamed, unmapped facility.
He’d known little more than his name - though of that he was certain - but a nagging in his mind had convinced him to conceal that truth from the rough, yet kind man, offering him the shortened “Luce” to be safe. Bobby had taken him back to his humble home, for which Luce was eternally grateful. He had cleaned him up, given him clothing and a place to sleep, and when it became undeniably obvious that the displaced man’s memories would not be returning anytime soon, he had allowed him to stay.
Bobby had been forthright about his life as a hunter, but had been content to leave Luce at home during the few trips he took these days, research into his missing past and the creatures who had held him a constant side-focus for the elder. It was only bad luck that changed their little arrangement - a group of demons had attacked the hunter in his own yard, drawing Luce out of the old house in a heartbeat, despite Bobby’s insistence that he secure himself inside.
The fight that had been hardly that, adrenaline and anger bringing skills out of the younger he’d had no idea he possessed, and in the end, standing in the center of a handful of fallen, yet very much alive and demon-free bodies, Luce could do little more than stare back at Bobby’s shocked face anxiously.
But, despite his fears, the old hunter had not turned him away or attacked him as he would have any other monster. In fact, he began to allow Luce to accompany him on hunts, eventually trusting him well enough to send him on his own while Bobby stayed at home to do the desk work.
It was during one of these solo hunts when, like every night, Luce had been awoken by that rich and familiar voice echoing quietly in his mind. Only, this time, the voice had been much more persistent, and when he had found himself bolting upright on the small bed, tears running unexpectedly down his face, his icy eyes turned immediately toward the murmuring television (hadn’t he turned that off?). His focus fell onto the dim lights of the news broadcast, and he listened intently as the pleasant faced woman spoke of a series of mysterious deaths in a small town in Kansas.
And that was exactly what had brought him here - standing in a seemingly abandoned farmyard on the outskirts of Lawrance, Kansas, sighing exasperatedly into the phone for what must have been the 8th time.
“Bobby - look, I know this wasn’t - Bobby - hey - Bobby! Could you just let me say something?” He huffed in annoyance, dropping a hand to his hip as he spun around to look back at the run-down house and dilapidated barn. “I know you’re worried, but -” He pressed his lips together, rolling his eyes as Bobby exclaimed just how free of worry he truly was.
“Hey - I finished up that last hunt in a day! But I received a good tip about this, and something is definitely going on…” He trailed off, his gaze growing more distant as he considered the desperate sound of that voice, causing his chest to tighten in an inexplicable pang of fear.
“Luce? Ya there?”
“Bobby.” He spoke the man’s name with a calm certainty, his voice gentle and almost pleading. “I need to check this out - I can’t explain why or how, but I just know that I’m meant to be here.” A short silence ensued, followed by a quiet sigh of acquiescence from the man on the other end of the line.
“Fine. But you be careful, ya hear me? And call me the minute you find something. And if anything seems fishy, you get the hell outta there - no questions, got it?” Luce smiled softly, nodding in relief, despite the fact that Bobby couldn’t see him.
“Got it. Thank you, Bobby, really. I’ll call you soon.” With that, he disconnected the phone call, slipping his mobile back in his pocket and working his way across the yard. The space was littered with old, rusted out vehicles and field machinery, and it wasn’t difficult for Luce to cross from one end to the next in relative secrecy. There were no signs of recent human activity, but he’d learned long ago that one could never be too certain when things seemed so calm.
He moved directly into the barn, the large doors nearly hanging off of their hinges, allowing for effortless access inside. He stuck close to the wall, eyes scanning every last inch of the space. He had a gun securely upon his hip, as per Bobby’s insistence, though he loathed to actually use the thing, refusing (however foolheartedly) to draw it until absolutely necessary.
He made it to the back of the barn without incident, however fortunate or unfortunate that may have been. Luce continued to scrutinize every visible meter of the building, growing more frustrated the more he began to admit that there might be nothing here. With a slow exhalation, he began to move back around to the other side, prepared to search the old home next.
Halfway back toward the entrance, a low creaking drew his eyes upward. He hardly had time to react before he was rolling out of the way of a falling beam, the fluttering of feathers telling him what had caused the rotted wood to finally give out.
As the old hay and dust settled around him, Luce pushed himself up, pausing midway as his palms pressed against a gap beneath the layer of years-old straw. Sitting up slowly, he brushed the area clean, his lips parting in quiet surprise when a small hook revealed itself. He lifted himself up into a crouch, reaching out and slipping his fingers through the ring and giving it a sturdy tug.
The door hardly shifted, and he clenched his jaw in concentration, shifting into a more balanced position before pulling again, using far more strength than before. The hidden door, though wooden in appearance, was clearly made of a heavy metal, and his muscles strained beneath the weight. But Luce had long since come to terms with the fact that he was no usual human, and what discourages a normal man would not discourage him.
With another tremendous surge of strength, along with a short shout of effort, he managed to lift the door upright, allowing the thing to fall backward with a loud clang. Panting quietly, he pinched his brows together, gazing down into the newly revealed opening. There was a long ladder, and the base of the descent seemed to be well-lit, much to his surprise.
Looking around once more, Luce dropped down onto the ladder, reaching the bottom quickly and turning around to see a long corridor ahead of him.
“Well… this is normal.” He muttered quietly to himself, moving slowly down the length of the narrow hall when the sound of disengaging locks caused him to draw to a stop, eyes fixed on the door at the end as it was pushed slowly open.
The woman stepping through clearly did not expect company, here green eyes wide in surprise as she stared straight into Luce’s own.
“Who the hell are you?” She nearly snarled at him, and Luce raised his brows in response, offering her a gentle shrug.
“New farmhand?” A small smirk crept across his lips, falling away as the female’s eyes shifted to pure black. Good. No guns necessary. He reached up when she charged him, gripping her forearms and managing to push her back against the wall. If his strength hadn’t been enough to shock her, the quick flash of white across his sapphire eyes would have done the trick - had she survived so long. Without even a scream, the demon was gone, the woman’s unconscious body falling heavily against Luce’s own.
He laid her down carefully, rising up again and moving warily through the now open door. The room was far larger than he’d imagined, built down a little deeper, a short staircase leading to a landing of sorts, a control panel on one end, and a line of cages on the other. At first glance, they all seemed to be empty, but a quiet rustling sound drew Luce’s attention, and he moved silently down the stairs and toward the enclosures.
He had hardly made it to the first of the little cells when the creature inside seemed to become aware of his presence, shifting quickly, a small inhalation that sounded far too human causing Luce to close the remaining distance a little faster, his heart nearly stopping when he saw a boy looking up at him from the dark shadows of his small prison.
“Woah - hey.” He spoke in a soft voice, slowing his movements again to avoid frightening the young man. “Hey, kiddo. Are you alright?” His cool eyes scanned the floor for any signs of blood, moving back up to the face peering out at him.
“I am now.” That voice. Luce felt himself tense slightly, his brows twitching together as he studied the boy a little more closely. “I knew you’d come for me.”
“What?” Luce lifted his head a bit, confusion settling in as he heard the relief in that eerily familiar voice. Of course this boy was relieved - he’d been trapped in a cage for God knows how long. Even so, for him to instantly assume Luce was here to help him - to speak as though he’d been expecting him - the hunter had to wonder just how malnourished or abused this kid might be.
“No - You really lucked out. That’s all.” But was this luck? Whatever had led Luce here was certainly something more than mere coincidence. The fact that demons were present was enough to tell him that - they always seemed to be looking for the confused hunter - following his trail or leading him into their own traps. And who was to say that this wasn’t simply another?
“How long have you been locked up inside this thing?” Luce crouched down slowly, studying the boy with a soft, concerned expression, hoping to keep him calm, despite his situation.
“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Well, that was unexpected. The hunter had anticipated at least a little bit of panic from this caged man, but all he was getting was an almost serene relief. And then those eyes turned up to meet his - those beautiful, undefinable, unforgettable eyes. Luce found himself completely speechless, staring back into those eyes that felt like a warm light in a window on a cold winter’s night.
“You came, Lucifer. I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time.” And yet another surprising blow. No one - not even Bobby - knew of that name. The name that Lucifer had woken up knowing was his own, but had never allowed to leave his tongue. And here was this boy - this man he had seen in his dreams every night from the moment he could recall - speaking his name as though he had done so a million times before.
“It’s you -” That low, calm voice seemed to read his very thoughts, answering his unspoken questions with complete certainty. “You were always meant to find me.” The boy shifted forward, his fingers curling around the bars of his cage as he stared up at the hunter before him.
“You feel it, don’t you?” There was such hope in his voice, and Lucifer found himself almost nodding in silent agreement, eyes wide and bright with emotions.
“I -” He cleared his throat, shaking his head as he rose to his full height once more, turning around and pinching his brows together as he located the controls. “I’m gonna get you out of here, okay? You don’t belong in there.” He moved to the small panel, studying it only a moment before locating the correct switch (marked with surprisingly candid instructions), flipping it back and turning around as the door of the cage shifted open.
The young man crawled forward, rising up from his confined space, the hopeful, happy look yet shining brilliantly in his beautiful eyes.
“Hey kid - you have a name?” Lucifer stepped forward, prepared to help the boy walk if need be. To his surprise, the young man reached forward, immediately taking the hunter’s hand in his own, his touch careful and unafraid.
“Sam.” His smile widened, if that were possible, and something about that, along with the warm touch, brought an unbidden smile of comfort to the elder’s own lips. “You call me Sam.”
