"Gabriel, I don't want to fight you, but I will if necessary. Do not force my hand."
A chuckle emanated from the archangel's throat. "You misunderstand me, Cassie. I'm not trying to fight you."
Castiel stared at his brother with a confused glare. "I don't understand. Why did you ask to meet here if you have no conflict with me?"
"I think you'll find it helpful to look at this specific jig from a different… perspective. Sometimes a fresh point of view is all you need to solve a case." Gabriel smirked knowingly at Castiel, then raised a hand to snap his fingers.
"What jig? The Winchesters are currently-" Castiel was suddenly cut off by the snap of Gabe's fingers followed by a bright flash of yellow and gold light.
Once the illumination had subsided, a little boy was revealed sitting on the floor of the empty warehouse, right in the spot where Cas had been standing just moments before. The boy looked around with an owlish gaze before letting out an anguished wail. "No fair!"
"Oh, come on, Cas! Don't be that way, it's only temporary." The trickster loped over and knelt down in front of his baby brother. "I think you'll find this much more suitable for what you're hunting. Or will soon be hunting... Anyway, here, maybe this will make you feel better." A lollipop appeared in Cas' hands and he stopped crying, putting the candy in his mouth instead while staring up at Gabriel with giant, innocent eyes (yet still somehow managing to look angry). "That's better. Well, I should get you back to Dean before he has a conniption fit."
"Meany…" Cas mumbled around the lollipop. He pushed Gabriel's hand away when he tried to pick up the grumpy toddler; however, he squealed with laughter when Gabe poked his sides and started tickling him. While Cas was thusly disarmed, Gabe took the chance to swoop him into his arms. Rather than fight him, Cas snuggled into his brother's chest and yawned.
"Looks like it's somebody's bed time," Gabe cooed before snapping his fingers once more to transport them to Dean and Sam's hotel room. When he looked around to survey their surroundings, Gabe discovered that all three were sound asleep. With a cocky grin, he tucked Cas in beside Dean and set the lollipop on the bedside table. When Cas cuddled closer to Dean and the grown man wrapped his arms around him, Gabriel had to stifle the laughter that threatened to explode at the thought of Dean waking up to a hyper five year old bouncing on his stomach. With one final glance around, he disappeared to watch from afar.
A few hours later, at precisely six a.m., Dean woke up to a vicious attack by an unknown enemy. He shot up to his feet, pistol already in hand, but a sweep around the room revealed no obvious rivals. He frowned and started turning toward Sam to ask what was happening when a squeaky voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Dean! Dean, Dean!" Tiny hands grabbed at his t-shirt and he finally looked down.
"Sam!" Dean shouted. His giant moose of a brother tried to perform the same smooth transition from lying down to fighting pose, but his gangly limbs got caught in the sheets and he ended up on the floor instead. He was about to tell Dean off for waking him up in the middle of a pleasant dream, but reconsidered when a small face appeared inches in front of his, then a tiny finger poked his nose.
"Sammy! Wake up, the sun's out! We're burnin' daylight here, mister." The young boy then proceeded to jump back up and run over to the curtains, yanking them open and effectively blinding both of the adults.
"Woah, hey, no need for that!" Dean shielded his eyes and walked over to close the curtains again, but the toddler tackled his legs.
"I'm hungry, I want pancakes. Can we go get pancakes, Dean? Pleeaaase?" He batted his insanely large, blue eyes with his pale pink lips pulled down in a pout.
"Look, kid, I'm not sure who you are or how you got in here, but we need to find your parents. They're probably worried sick about you…" Dean bent down and hefted the kid into his arms and balanced him on his hip.
"But.. But Dean…" His eyes started tearing up. "Don't you know me?"
"Uh, Dean…" When Dean looked towards his brother, Sam held up a miniature trench coat that had been draped over the desk chair. "I think this just got a bit more difficult."