"Makes sense," Dean agreed. "I hate him so much." He shook his head. "But we can't tell people to stop hunting, either."

"No, we can't," Sam agreed. He sighed. "And we only have half of the equation, we still have no idea what's going on in Hell."

"And we can't find out until Runa gets back," Dean said with a huff. He was so done with angels and demons and purgatory and everything.

"We'll do what we can," Gabriel said. "I can keep the rest of the garrisons off our backs for a little while, but they're all going to notice something is going on sooner or later."

"We can always distract them if we need to," Kyra said, rubbing her forehead. "We just need to give Runa enough time to get back, and then we can figure out how we're going to stop him." And she'd feel much better when Runa was back again. So would Dean and Cas, she knew.

"It's only been a few days," Sam said. "Even with the time discrepancy in Hell, that's not enough time to gather information."

"No, she'll need more time," Kyra agreed, abruptly moving and going to plop herself next to Gabriel. "Just hopefully not too much more time."

"We can hold out until she gets back," Gabriel said, putting an arm around her waist absently. "No problem."

Kyra cuddled in closer to him for comfort, trying to distract herself for a while. Dean just scowled and went back to checking on things around them and checking in with Bobby.

Down in Hell, Runa was navigating her way lower and lower, towards the Pit. It got colder as she went lower into Hell, and she'd already had to kill thirty demons who had gotten in her way. It was obvious that most of Hell's non-prisoner residents were on the move; the Hellgates were packed full of the weaker demons trying to get out, and the stronger ones were patiently waiting behind them. That meant Runa's way was a bit clearer, though, and she took advantage of it enough to make it all the way to the Cage.

Inside the Cage, Michael and Lucifer were still trapped, but they had long since given up on fighting each other. Instead they sat quietly, observing what was going on around them but unable to touch or interfere.

Runa approached the Cage cautiously, watching both archangels. It was freezing there; while the highest levels of Hell were the stereotypical fire-and-brimstone, the Pit was bitterly cold.

Lucifer was the first to notice her.

"Well, well," he said, "look at this. A visitor. Lucky us."

Michael looked over as well. "You don't look like you belong down here," he noted, his voice quiet. "What is it you want?"

"Oh she belongs here, brother," Lucifer said, smirking a bit. "Just look at her. Obviously a cambion."

Runa ignored Lucifer, instead looking at Michael. The archangel was in a vessel, which was surprising; she hadn't expected that. And the vessel looked oddly familiar, somehow.

"I was wondering if you were interested in striking a deal," she said.

"Oh, a deal, that's a good one," Lucifer said. "What, did Crowley send you?"

"Hush, brother," Michael said, rolling his eyes at Lucifer before refocusing on Runa. "I'm not in the habit of making deals with demonic beings of any kind."

"You might be interested in this one," Runa said. "And I can't help what I am, it's not my fault. Now, are you going to hear me out, or should I walk away now and leave you in there?"

Lucifer just made a face at Michael, sticking out his tongue at his brother.

Michael was silent for a moment. "I am listening," he said, ignoring his brother now.

"Up top, there's a lot about to come to a head," Runa said. "A war in Heaven, Crowley trying to crack open purgatory, things like that. God's essentially off the clock at the moment, and from what I understand, Raphael is trying to turn things a bit more towards a dictatorship. Between that and the whole Purgatory thing, we could use a bit more help than we've currently got."

Lucifer listened carefully, now.

"Sounds like things are way more interesting than they were before," he commented. "And all without my help, too."

"You were never the only one to cause problems, just the most noticed one," Michael said without looking at his brother. He remained focused on Runa. "So you want my help to do what exactly? Help Raphael? Or stop Crowley?"

"Stop Crowley, first and foremost," Runa said. "After that, maybe you can beat some sense into Raphael. Beating the shit out of them always worked with my brothers, it should work with yours." She paused. "Well. When I had brothers."

"Whose spawn are you, again?" Lucifer asked, curious.

"Azazel's," Runa replied shortly.

"Oooh, the torturer," Lucifer purred. "Fun."

Michael nodded. "I presume you have some plan to get me out of here, then," he said, motioning at the Cage. "Else you would not be down here."

"I might," Runa said. "Being what I am has its perks." Reaching out, she touched the bars of the cage. She almost flinched back; the bars were so cold it hurt to touch them.

"Yeah, that happens," Lucifer commented.

Runa ignored him, instead pulling a heavy, complex key out of her pocket. Everywhere it touched her skin, her skin turned white, and then a bit red as the cold leeched heat from her.

"How did you get that?" Lucifer asked, looking at the key.

"The way a succubus would," Runa muttered as she touched the bars again. A large padlock appeared, just as heavy and bitingly cold as the key. Quickly, she put the key in and opened the lock.

Michael's eyes narrowed at that. A way for him to get out, but if he wasn't careful, Lucifer would also get out and then they'd have a repeat scenario.

"I agree to your terms, then."

"Good." With that, Runa popped the lock and slowly opened the door.

When Lucifer realized that yes, she really meant to open the Cage, he got up and tried to make his escape as fast as he could. He wasn't stupid, he'd take the opportunities that presented themselves.

Michael quickly tackled him, pinning him down.

"Not this time, little brother," he murmured. "You get to stay in here for a while longer."