Two Men and Half an Angel

Chapter 2

"Please, God, make it stop." Dean mock-prayed as little Cas kept shifting on his lap. Every now and then a knee or a foot would dig into his skin and make him wince.

Cas let out a soft pathetic cough before finally settling with his head nestled on Dean's shoulder. "Make it stop hurting, Dean."

"I wish I could, buddy." Dean rubbed his palm in comforting circles along Cas' back. "You took your medicine so it shouldn't be too much longer before it starts to work." If it worked, Dean thought as he stared down at the baby angel now clinging to his shirt against the cold sweats. Of all the luck in the world Cas just had to get sick when he was a child.

After two weeks they still haven't figured out what happened, even though they had an inkling that it was Gabriel who was behind the whole thing. Castiel learned to behave and listen to Sam and Dean although he was still causing trouble wherever he ventured. Dean got used to the wide-eyed youthful angel and actually loved having him curled up in his arms. Cas was so fragile like this, so dependent on Dean.

"What the hell?!" Sam's voice boomed through the bunker.

Dean instantly was on his feet with Cas tucked protectively under his arm. He was sprinting toward the library before he quite knew what was happening. Upon reaching the doorway he was dumb-struck as he saw a small child with golden blonde hair perched on Sam's thighs.

"Cassie!" The small child yelled around a lollipop in his mouth.

"Gabey!" Cas squirmed out of Dean's hold. Once his feet hit the floor he was padding toward the other kid with outstretched hands.

The two embraced once the other kid climbed down from Sam's lap. As the two kids giggled together, Dean and Sam both raised an eyebrow at each other. It wasn't until a moment later when Dean met the whiskey colored eyes of the young child that it finally hit him who it was.

"Gabriel?" Sam's voice came just as Dean was about to open his mouth.

"Aren't you two a bunch of geniuses." Gabe rolled his eyes. Gabriel was about a few years older in appearance than Cas and he seemed to be still as snarky as he was when he was a full-sized angel.

Castiel turned from his brother with a little cough before padding back over and pumping his fists into the air for Dean to pick him up. Dean felt better when he had the weight of Cas in his arms but his eyes never left Gabe.

"What happened to the two of you?" Sam asked just as Gabriel crawled back up onto his lap.

Gabe shrugged and twirled the lollipop around in his mouth. "Don't know. My first thought was that you two broke the world again. Seems angels' vessels are regressing in age to children. Balth looks to be about ten and he is the oldest I've seen. Be thankful Cas here isn't a teeny baby."

"Fuck." Dean uttered with wide eyes and an open jaw.

"Language." Cas murmured as his eyes started to slip shut, the sickness making him sleepy all the time. "Don' wanna be a baby."

"It's okay." Dean whispered, running his hands through Cas' locks in an effort to comfort them both. He turned his attention back to the pint-sized archangel. "So what do we do?"

"I don't know." Gabriel leaned back against Sam's chest. "All I know is that I can't very well take care of myself like this. I may still be me but no one takes me seriously as a small child."

Sam stared down at the archangel in wonder as the small being's body relaxed completely against him. "Uh-"

"Great. Two baby angels." Dean rolled his eyes but subconsciously gripped Cas a little tighter to his chest.

Gabe stuck out his tongue before twisting his head and giving his best puppy dog eyes to Sam. "I don't want Dean to look after me, he's a dick. Please, Sammy. I need help until this all gets sorted."

Sam's eyes immediately softened. "Sure."

Dean rolled his eyes. "For Christ's Sake-"

"Dean." Cas warned with a yawn. "Not good words."

Gabriel raised his eyebrows. "Huh. So Cas really is a kid?"

"Yeah." Dean's throat went dry as he stared down at the fragile beating angel in his grasp. "He's as innocent as they come."

Gabriel popped out his lollipop and looked over his younger brother in wonder. "You're not going to let anything happen to him, are you?"

Dean met Gabe's eyes. "You know I won't."

That got a curt nod out of the archangel before he turned in Sam's lap and laid his head against his shoulder. "Let's put on a movie. I'm tired from flying around."

Dean watched as Sam stood with a kid Gabriel in his arms and made his way out toward the 'family' room. He listened to Cas' deep breaths and realized that even if they never intended for it, they had themselves a small family. Even though it seemed that Gabriel was still very much his adult self, there was a part of him that was still as small as his body.

Cas shifted a little and pressed his face into the crook of Dean's neck. "Sleep, Dean."

"Shhh." Dean turned and started to follow where Sam had walked. "Wanna watch a movie with Gabe and Sammy?"

Cas gave a short nod followed by another wide yawn that scrunched up his serene face. "You too?"

"Course, Cas." Dean grinned when he took a seat on the couch beside where Sam already had Gabe cradled against his side. "I'm not going anywhere without you."