Castiel writhed on the ground, gasping with the sudden pain. He felt the tears begin to escape his eyes just as Gabriel picked him up and flew back up to where Balthazar was doubled over with laughter, Michael was gawping, utterly horrified and Lucifer was flicking through a book, tired with their simple-mindedness. The young Castiel sniffed, trying to hide the fact that he was crying from his older brothers. Of course, in the company of three Archangels and Balthazar, an ordinary angel, there was no chance that he was going to be able to hide anything.
"Gabriel!" Michael shouted at his younger brother. "Just what did you think you were doing? You simply cannot teach Castiel to fly using that method!"
"It didn't seem to stop you when I was learning how to fly. The same goes with Balthazar, right Luci?" Gabriel turned to his oldest brother for reassurance.
"Gabriel has a point, Michael. You and I did throw those two off clouds when they were merely Cherubs." Lucifer looked up from his book, amused now.
"Yes but father told me to make sure Castiel comes to no harm! After all, he is the only Seraph in Heaven right now. Zachariah is busy, therefore Castiel is important." Michael defended himself fiercely.
"Shut up, Michael." Balthazar gasped, in between uncontrollable laughter. "The kid has to learn how to fly!" Balthazar began to calm himself.
Michael shot a cold glare to Balthazar, which only made his laugher start up again.
"Are you okay, kiddo?" Gabriel asked Castiel gently.
"Uh huh." The Cherub sniffed, desperately trying to not let the tears fall.
"Hey, don't cry. Everyone messes up when they first try flying. You'll pick it up." Gabriel smiled gently at his younger sibling.
Castiel looked up at his brother, adoration in his eyes.
"Come here, I wanna show you something." He held his arms out, ignoring Lucifer's eye roll, Michael's glare, and Balthazar's attempt to calm himself down.
Castiel stood up and walked into his brother's arms. Gabriel smirked at his brothers while Castiel's head was buried in his chest. Within a moment, they had both disappeared with a flutter of wings.
They sat on a natural beach on Earth, Gabriel looking out into the distance. Castiel stared up at his brother, thinking how purely amazing his big Archangel brother was.
Castiel got up and began walking close to the shoreline. He spotted a little grey fish heave itself up onto the beach. He soon lost interest and began to walk again. Suddenly, Gabriel was next to him, jerking him backwards by his shoulders. Castiel looked up, alarmed.
"Don't step on that fish, Cassie. Big plans for that fish."
He looked down at his feet and saw that he was about to step on the very fish he had just watched pull itself up.
Castiel was aware that his brother knew more than he did. The Archangels were respected more than any other type of angel, the only angel with a higher rank than them was God himself. The Archangels knew about the plans for the future of the humans. He daren't ask what the plans were for that fish in particular, but Castiel knew it had something to do with the evolution of mankind.
Gabriel smiled gently, with no intention of telling his brother why that fish was so important. He decided that it was in his brother's destiny to find out for himself.
"Come on, kiddo. Do you want to try flying again?"
Castiel ignored his fears and nodded.
"I won't throw you off another cloud, I promise." Gabriel smiled and winked.
Castiel nodded weakly, pretty unwilling to injure himself again. Gabriel must have picked up his reluctance, because he looked at his brother and a concerned expression spread over his face.
"Did you hurt yourself when you fell?"
Castiel's eyes widened in horror for a moment. He hasn't fallen. Only bad angels fell. Good angels stayed in Heaven. Had he been bad by not being able to fly?
"Cool it, kiddo. I didn't mean it like that." Gabriel chuckled and ruffled Castiel's hair. "Good angels don't fall, Cassie. But did you hurt yourself when your wings malfunctioned?"
"A little." Castiel squeaked.
"Where?" The concern was flickering in his eyes, but he had an air of self-confidence about him that made Castiel feel a whole lot better.
Still, the throbbing in Castiel's ribs wasn't comfortable, so he pointed to his ribs, careful not to touch them. Gabriel smiled a small, sad smile and tapped his brother's head gently. Immediately, the pain stopped and Castiel was ready to try again. He nodded at Gabriel, who picked him up and held him high in the air.
"I'm gonna chuck you upwards, and if you can't do it, I'll catch you, okay?"
"Okay." He squeaked.
"Spread your wings, Cassie!" Gabriel called out, making Castiel giggle.
Nevertheless, Castiel spread out his midnight black wings and the slight ache that he was used to seemed to lessen.
"Ready?"
"Yes!"
"Three," Gabriel raised him higher, "two," Gabriel lowered him very quickly, to get the momentum for a good throw, "one!"
Suddenly, Castiel found himself in the air, aimlessly flailing around, the panic taking hold in his chest.
He tried to spread his wings out further, to no avail. He began to fall from the sky, the air rushing past him faster than he liked. He caught sight of Gabriel, who was looking up at him, with a slightly frustrated look on his face. That was enough for Castiel. He made one last effort to push out his wings, but instead found himself back in his brother's arms with a painful jolt.
Castiel made a noise that was something between a growl and a cry.
"It's okay, little bro. Shall we try-"
Before Gabriel could finish his sentence, Castiel had flung himself up into the air and made his wings flap a few times. He managed to actually stay hovering before his wings began to ache and he started to fall from the sky.
"No!" He grunted through gritted teeth, forcing the movement of his wings.
After a few moments of trying, something almost snapped in his head, and flying began to get a lot easier.
He soared through the air, the aching becoming more of a pleasure than a pain, basking in the feeling of the air hitting his face. It was a few minutes before he realized how fast he was going. He suddenly stopped, lowering himself until he reached ground level. His feet once again connected with the sand of the beach he and Gabriel had been standing on mere minutes before.
He cast a gaze to either side of himself, and began to panic when he couldn't see Gabriel. He spun around, desperately trying to get a glimpse of his brother.
"Gabriel?" His voice was uncertain.
He always felt the same when Gabriel wasn't with him. Gabriel was his big brother, the angel he trusted the most.
"Come on, kiddo! Do it again!" Gabriel shouted as he flew past him, deliberately going slower than he normally did.
Castiel breathed a sigh of relief and tried to force his wings to work, to no avail. He took a deep, calming breath and jumped, spreading his wings out as he started to drop again. As he struggled to get himself flying, he didn't notice Gabriel hiding behind a cloud, silently cheering his little brother on. Then, as suddenly as it had happened before, his efforts began to pay off and he was flying properly. Gabriel grinned and quickly caught up with him. Castiel looked at his brother with joy in his eyes.
"Come on, Cassie! Let's show them what you can do!" Gabriel exclaimed and grasped Castiel's arm, pulling him upwards. Doubt passed through Castiel's mind, but he followed his brother nevertheless. A few moments later, the two were bursting into Heaven, at the exact spot they'd exited through. It caused Lucifer to look up in mild interest, and Michael to stop scolding Balthazar, who had finally stopped laughing.
Gabriel laughed at the sight of their brothers' expressions and let go of Castiel's hand, letting him fly freely. Unnerved, Castiel only managed to fly for another minute before slowly landing next to Balthazar, looking up at Gabriel's form.
Balthazar patted him on the back.
"Well done, Cas!"
Michael huffed and glared at Gabriel, who was slowly coming in to land.
"Gabriel, that was completely irresponsible. Anything could have happened down there." Michael snapped the moment Gabriel landed.
"Calm down, bro! You should be proud of Cassie." Gabriel narrowed his eyes, ashamed of his brother.
Michael huffed once again before flying off. Gabriel shook his head and looked to Lucifer for encouragement.
"Thank you, Gabriel. Good job, Castiel." Lucifer smiled at his younger siblings. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with father about those lamentable human things." With that, Lucifer smiled at his brothers once more before flying away, at twice the speed that Michael left at.
"See, Lucifer's proud of you!" Gabriel reassured the slightly apprehensive-looking Castiel.
"Yeah, me too!" Balthazar put in.
Balthazar was older than Castiel; old enough to be a role model, but a lot younger than Gabriel.
Gabriel thought back to what Lucifer had said and a thought struck him. Lucifer had been very opinionated when their dad had first talked about humans. With the grey fish already beginning to pull themselves out of the ocean, it wouldn't be that long before the first humans lived.
Thoughts began to fly through Gabriel's head.
No, dad wouldn't...would he? No, Lucifer's his favourite! He'd never...
"I've gotta go check something." Gabriel murmured, leaving Balthazar and Castiel animatedly discussing how flying felt.