"Gabe?"
No. Not now. Any time but now. "Hey, Cas."
"What're you doing out here? Are you going somewhere?" He rubs his eyes sleepily. He's still so young, and he trusts you so much. It hurts to do something like this to him, but you don't have a choice.
"...Yeah," you sigh. "Yeah, I am. Just for a little while, I won't be gone long. Go back inside, Cas."
"Where're you going?"
"Just down to Earth. Gonna go hang out with some humans for a bit."
His nose wrinkles as he tilts his head. "Humans? But Raphael says - "
"Don't ever believe what Raphael says, especially about humans." Pause. "He's wrong about a lot of things."
"Can I come with you?"
"Not this time, Cas."
"But last time you let me!"
"It's different now."
"But why?"
"It's too dangerous where I'm going. There'll be monsters and demons and demigods - really scary stuff."
He tries to puff himself up, making his little black wings flutter a bit. "I can handle them! They don't scare me!"
You grin at him. "Hate to say this, but you're too young, Cas. Your wings still have fluff on 'em."
He frowns. "Not that much fluff..."
"You wouldn't want to come anyway. Remember last time, how boring you thought it was?"
"Yeah, but..." He shifts awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.
"But what?" You sit down and motion for Cas to sit next to you. He does so and leans against your side, so you put your arm and a wing around him protectively.
"None of the others like me, I think. Uriel and Zachariah definitely don't. They tease me all the time. And Raphael lets them. One time they were trying to pull on my feathers - the new long ones, too - and Raphael just walked on by. He didn't make them stop or anything."
"Did you tell Michael?"
He shakes his head. "He's never around. Always busy doing stuff for Dad."
"What about Anna?"
"She doesn't like to get involved, remember?"
You shrug. "I don't know what to tell you, Cas. If it makes you feel better, though, they don't like me either."
"I know." He hugs his knees to his chest. "I hear Raphael talking about you a lot. He thinks it's your fault Lucifer left because you didn't side with him and Michael."
"I didn't side with anyone; I stayed out of it."
"That's what I told him, but he said that because you didn't go with them that you were basically on Lucifer's side. He told me I didn't know what I was talking about."
"Hey, he tells me that, too. Looks like we're in the same boat."
You both laugh half-heartedly, then Cas looks up at you, his blue eyes wide. "Please don't leave, Gabe. You're the only one in this entire family who actually likes me."
"I have to go, Cas. I can't stay here, not with all the fighting going on."
"Was it bad today?"
"Bad enough for Michael and Raphael to actually start throwing things at each other's heads instead of just yelling."
"Oh."
"And it's just going to get worse and worse, until it turns into a full-blown apocalypse." You stand up and turn towards the gates leading down to Earth. "That's why I have to leave - I can't watch my brothers tear the family apart any more."
Cas tries to stop you by grabbing onto your hand. "But you can't leave! You're my only friend! What'll I do?"
You kneel down and look him in the eye. "Listen to me, Castiel. I have to go - there's no other option for me. And you can't follow me, either. It'll be too dangerous if both of us turn up missing tomorrow."
"You could try and help...you could stop them from fighting."
You shake your head. "They won't listen to me. They won't listen to anyone. I can't deal with them any longer."
He nods as tears start rolling down his cheeks. "I understand."
"Hey, look - they still need you up here, okay, buddy? You remember that fish we saw, a long time ago?"
He nods again, wiping his eyes. "The one on the beach you told me not to step on."
"That's the one. And you know what?" You smile. "I heard there's even bigger plans for you than there were for that fish. I heard that one day, you might even save the world."
Cas smiles weakly, but his expression quickly turns worried again. "But what about Uriel and Zachariah? What if they start picking on me again?"
"Hm." You think for a moment. "You know Balthazar, right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. As soon as I'm gone, you go straight to him and tell him what happened, why I left, everything. He can keep a secret, and he'll look out for you. No one will mess with you when he's around. All right?"
He sniffles, but nods. "I'm gonna miss you, Gabe."
"I'll miss you too, Cas. Hopefully I can come back soon, but if not...well, you come and find me when you're older, okay?"
"Where're you gonna be?"
You grin again. "I don't know yet. Maybe I'll try being a trickster for a bit. Who knows?"
He nods again. "I'll find you."
"Good." The two of you hug for a good while, but finally you decide it's time to go. "See you soon, okay?"
"Okay."
Just before you take off, you turn and give your little brother one last wave goodbye. "It'll be all right, Cas. Everything's gonna be all right."
"Bye, Gabe."
"Bye, Cas."