Hi! So ages ago I posted Explosion, but I've decided to re-write and have another crack at it in a different way- there's still some similarities between the last story and this new one, and I hope you guys like it just the same!
I don't own Supernatural, only the original characters in this fic.
The explosion in the backseat of the impala nearly caused Dean and Sam to die in a car crash; again.
"What the- Cas?!" Dean yelped, only just swerving back onto the road and avoiding a tree that would've certainly made Baby's hood crumple like paper on impact at such speeds, spitting feathers out of his mouth and swatting them out of his sight as they leisurely floated around his head. He blew several out of his face as he kept driving, praying that there were no cops nearby who would wonder why he was driving in such a weird state. No doubt they'd seen worse, but still; he didn't want to get stopped tonight.
Cas was looking shifty in the back seat, his trench coat bulging at the front as if he'd shoved something down it- that or he'd put on weight and Dean would have to start enforcing diets on him. The angel was very attached to his fast food, and Dean wouldn't have him out of shape when they had monsters to fight.
"Hello Dean, Sam" Cas greeted nervously. Dean was immediately suspicious. He was wearing his 'I'm In Big Trouble' face. Capitals intended.
"Cas, can I ask why the Impala is full of feathers?" Sam asked irritably, spitting a few out of his mouth. Dean was seething as they settled around him, white and blueish and grey, clogging up his car. It would take ages to get them all out, dammit!
"Ah, that would be the fledgling" Cas replied as casually as he could, and Dean watched him shift the lump in his coat through the mirror. Sam turned around.
"The what now?"
Dean pulled into a nearby gas station, still fuming at the sudden feather bomb that had gone off in his pride and joy- they'd had a long day and Dean was always touchy about his Baby, so it was no surprise that he was glaring as he shut off the engine. Both brothers turned around to face the angel in the back, who produced a small ball of feathers from his coat, no bigger than a newborn baby. How that had filled the car with feathers, Dean didn't know, but he was not impressed.
"That's a fledgling?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow. Cas sighed.
"In heaven they look much different"
"But we're not in heaven" Dean drawled.
Sam looked at Dean as if to say 'no shit, Sherlock'. Dean rolled his eyes.
"I found this in the hands of a demon. How they got a hold of it I don't know, but heaven is on lock down until we find out- nothing gets in or out. Which means I can't send it back" Cas explained.
"So you're running around with a baby angel in your pocket?" Sam asked "And no one has checked up on that?"
"Oh I've been 'checked up on'; the demons are hunting me as we speak. I think they're trying to use the angel Grace as a weapon, and I can't let that happen" Cas said, and Dean sighed.
"I feel like we're about to be dragged into this" He said. Cas nodded.
"The bunker is the safest place for it" He confirmed.
"How do we look after a baby angel? Isn't there some sort of heavenly protocol for this?" Sam asked, eyeing the feathers warily.
"Only to protect the young at all costs. New Angels are very rare, which is why it's dangerous. The Angel won't be any trouble, I will be here to help-"
"Oh, so you're staying now?" Dean snapped despite himself, and he couldn't ignore Cas' small flinch at the words. Sam rolled his eyes.
"Yes Dean, I am. Remember it wasn't just me pushing for my absence" Cas responded, just as icy.
"What will happen if the Fledgling can't go back to heaven, Cas? It can't stay like that forever, right?" Sam asked, drawing Cas' blue eyes away from Dean's, interrupting their glaring match. The angel sighed.
"I've managed to persuade the Fledgling to adopt a more earthly state; you could assume that for now, it's like an egg, waiting to hatch. Hopefully I can get it back to Heaven before the Grace gets too intense inside the shell that it's built for itself"
"Wait, how did you convince it to do anything? Can it hear you?" Sam asked. Cas' features turned thoughtful.
"Its very hard to explain a Fledgling, it has an understanding of things around it without interacting with them; I managed to make it aware that it was no longer home, and it had to adapt- it chose this form on it's own. If you help me care for it they will know, and they'll make it as easy as possible to manage them"
Dean was outnumbered two to one and he made the drive back to the bunker in stony, defeated silence, whilst Sam smirked and Cas held the ball of feathers like it was spun glass, sitting quietly in the back seat like old times. He was mad at Cas for being away so long, though he couldn't deny that the angel's absence had affected him. He could however, deny to the ends of the earth the reasons why he missed him.
Little victories, he thought.
(Sorry its only a short chapter, but they'll be getting longer after this, promise! Send a review if you like it!)