A/N: This is my first SPN fic, so I'm sorry if it sucks and if they're OOC.
Also, give me one word prompts of stuff you'll want to see in this fic and I'll base a chapter on it. There are some prompts I won't take and I'll tell you if I can't take it. And I won't write the chapters in the order the prompts are given. Thank you in advance!
A crash was heard in the downstairs kitchen of the Winchester Orphanage and the padding of feet on wood came quickly down the stairs as Dean rounded the corner to see broken glass in front of the steel refrigerator and one of the kids were up early in the morning staring at the glass. Dean clenched his jaw to hold back a yell and instead spoke softly to the nine year old, "Bailey, can you please explain to me why you're up so early in the morning? And why are you playing with glass?" The younger didn't answer for a few beats of silence and Dean was about to repeat his questions.
"Dean, for the last time, his name is Balthazar." One of the older orphans-who was about sixteen years old-said with a smirk while leaning on the doorframe that led to the hallway of some of the orphans' rooms.
"Or Balty!" Balthazar smiled innocently, his accent thick.
"As long as you're under this roof, I'm calling you by the name your biological parents gave you." Dean replied firmly as Balthazar's face fell immediately at the mention of his parents. Hastily, Balthazar pushed passed Dean and ran into his shared room. "What did I do?" Dean called after Balthazar, but only the sound of a door slamming answered him.
Turning to the older orphan, Dean raised an eyebrow expectantly as the orphan sighed, "Listen Dean, you know how most of them don't like the mention of their parents. It's a sensitive subject for them." The orphan answered and placed a hand on the older's shoulder. "Here, I'll talk to Balty while Michael distracts the rest of the kids and you clean this up. Sound good?"
Dean nodded after a while, "Yeah, it does. Thanks Luke."
"Lucifer." The orphan corrected with a smile and walked to the room Balthazar trapped himself in. Dean sighed and went to the closet to get the broom and dustbin to clean up the glass shards. He grumbled to himself quietly and stopped cleaning for a moment to peek into the living room where some of the kids were playing house like how they often did so. His anger was forgotten immediately when he saw how carefree and imaginative the kids were as they tackled a laughing seventeen year old Michael down to the ground. At least Michael didn't change his name to something absurd.
"Do you miss it?"
Dean nearly jumped at the sudden voice and composed himself before replying with his own question, "Miss what, Gabriel?"
"The good ol' days where you didn't have a care in the world like them." The fourteen year old clarified.
"Sometimes." Dean answered honestly as the two watched the other children pile on to Michael who was pretending to be a monster. How a game of house turned into a monster attacking a city, Dean had no idea, but shook his head in amusement. "I miss it a lot." He admitted.
Gabriel smirked and looked up at Dean, "Then make the call. I promise, you won't regret it."
"He's not coming back, Gabe."
"You don't know that." Gabriel assured.
"He left with a set mind that he wouldn't be coming back." Dean argued quietly. "I guess being a lawyer was more important to him than the family business."
Gabriel pursed his lips in uncertainty, "Why didn't you leave?" He asked cautiously, hoping he didn't struck a nerve.
Dean chuckled, "You'll never stop asking, will you?"
Before Gabriel could answer, Lucifer walked in with Balthazar clinging to his leg tightly and looking up at Dean sheepishly. The youngest mumbled something quietly and stared down at the floor as Lucifer urged him softly, "Come on, Balty. You can do it."
Balthazar took a deep breath before looking up at Dean, "I'm sorry, Uncle Dean, I won't do it again." He said quietly and hid behind Lucifer's leg more when Dean walked over and crouched down to smile at the younger.
Dean placed a hand on Balthazar's head and ruffled his hair slightly, knowing very well that Balthazar likes his hair a certain way. "It's okay. Just wake me or Luke up the next time you want something, okay?" Balthazar nodded once and smiled smally when Dean gestured to the living room with his head, "Now go play with the others while we make breakfast." The younger's smile widened and he bounced out of the kitchen into the living room. His laughs and giggles echoing into the kitchen soon after.
"It's Lucifer." Lucifer said to break the silence.
"I'm not calling you all by nicknames you made up." Dean said, cleaning up the rest of the shards and throwing them away as Lucifer got out two egg cartons and placed them next to the stove. The three of them washed their hands thoroughly before Gabriel opened a cabinet and took out a bowl, cracking eggs open over the bowl and dropping the edible parts in. "Besides, what's the point of given names if you don't use them?" Taking out a fork, Dean took the bowl of egg from Gabriel and stirred it rapidly and skillfully.
Lucifer scoffed, "That's the reason for nicknames." He put a pan on the stove and started heating it up to a reasonable temperature, dropping oil onto the pan.
Dean turned to Gabriel and pointed at him with the fork briefly before continuing to stir. "Do you agree with this?"
Gabriel shrugged and answered, "I'm perfectly fine with my name. It's what they prefer, Dean, at least respect that." He grabbed a bag of bread and butter, pulling out a knife and slice of bread to spread the butter onto the slice.
"I can't be calling out 'Lucifer' or 'Balthazar' in the middle of a crowded place if I take you guys anywhere. Do you know how other people would react?" Dean asked.
"Well," Gabriel started "if you simply explain to them that it's their nicknames, then everyone will think nothing of it." Opening the toaster oven, Gabriel placed two pieces of buttered bread into the toaster and closed it, running the timer.
"Just trust us on this, Dean. Most of the kids would be delighted in knowing that you finally accept their names." Lucifer said with a smile as Dean poured the egg onto the pan and grabbed more eggs to stir. Lucifer moved and pushed the eggs around in the pan.
"Luci!" A young orphan whined quietly from the hallway to the rooms as Lucifer recognized the voice and smiled.
He moved to the sink to wash his hands, "Think you can handle cooking without me?" Lucifer teased as Dean rolled his eyes and the two went back to cooking and talking quietly. Lucifer dried his hands and walked over to the hallway, crouching in front of the younger, "Yes Anna?"
"Is our brother back yet?" She asked and lazily rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
Lucifer pursed his lips and looked behind him to ask Dean for help, but quickly decided against it. He sighed and turned back to Anna, "No, he's not back yet."
"It's almost been a year." Anna reminded him.
"I know, Anna…" He said sadly. "I know." He smiled at her to reassure her, "But I promise you, he'll be back one day. We just have to wait for him."
"But we're a family and we're supposed to stick together." Anna reasoned.
"This wasn't something we could control, Anna. The grown ups decided something and something happened as a result. We can't change anything unless the adults change their minds." Lucifer argued softly and sighed. "C'mon, you can help us with breakfast." He stood and offered his hand for her to grab, but she stared at the floor. Worried, Lucifer bent down to her level again, "Something wrong?"
Anna didn't answer at first, instead she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and waited for him to hug back before swinging her legs around him, silently telling him to pick her up and he did. He walked around the kitchen and dining area while carrying her before she whispered softly and sleepily next to his ear, "Luci…"
"Yea Ann?"
"I miss Cas." She said.
Lucifer turned to Dean who was smiling and chatting with Gabriel and hoped that their caretaker didn't hear her. After a while, Lucifer replied, "I do too." Soon enough, the nine year old fell asleep as Lucifer walked to her room and tucked her in her bed. He smiled down at her and a familiar face caught his eye, whipping his head to her nightstand where a picture of Anna, Uriel, Hester, Inias, Balthazar, and… Castiel stood there, mocking him. He clenched his jaw, he was supposed to keep them together, but he had failed. But just as quickly as the anger came, it left and the sadness washed over him. He had failed and he couldn't do anything about it now.
Quickly, he kissed the top of Anna's head and left the room hastily, closing the door softly and walking back to the kitchen. Dean turned and smiled widely at Lucifer who faked a smile, "C'mon Luci, stop slacking off and help us!"
Lucifer stared at Dean with a frown before smiling honestly when he realized that the older called him by his preferred name. Albeit a nickname of his nickname, but he still did and it just caused joy that soon overwhelmed the sadness that was clouding his mind just moments ago. "I'm coming, I'm coming." Lucifer replied and went to assist Dean and Gabriel before they messed up his perfectly good eggs. The kids did favor Lucifer's cooking more and they'll notice the difference. How? They didn't know it tasted the same to them.
After about thirty minutes, there was enough food for everyone in the orphanage to have seconds and Dean yelled, "BREAKFAST TIME!" Everyone in the living room froze and stared at the doorway to the kitchen almost hungrily and jumped off or over Michael who breathed a sigh of relief and decided to lay on the floor for a bit. Dean counted the kids quickly and left Gabriel to watch the kids at the table, walking over to eldest of the orphans and offering a hand. "You good?"
Michael grabbed the offered hand and stood up with Dean's help, "Yeah, it wasn't as bad today. They didn't jump on me like I was a bouncy house thankfully."
"How do you do it?" Dean asked curiously and put his hands in his front pants pockets.
Michael shrugged, "I just want to make sure that they know that they're loved here, y'know? That this is always a place they can go to if they're having troubles later in life."
"So does that mean you're staying?"
Michael nodded, "Yeah, once I turn eighteen, I'm staying and helping you out for the rest of your life whether you like it or not. Plus, you need your 'you' time once and awhile."
"Amen brother." Dean said with a smile and glanced at the table. "So, Luk-I mean, Lucifer, is giving Anna her food in bed, but we're still missing-"
"Raphael." The two said simultaneously. Michael nodded knowingly, "Yeah, I know. He's outside again." The two moved to the window and moved the blinds a bit to peek through. In the backyard, Raphael was sitting on one of the swings and staring up at the sky lost in thought as the small streaks of white rolled through the sky.
"What's he doing other than nothing?"
"I don't know. He never tells me."
Dean frowned, "And he's been doing this for how long?"
"As far as I know, for the past year."
Something made Dean's stomach churn at the thought of last year and he walked away from the window. "I'll go give him breakfast." He said through grit teeth.
"Dean wait."
"What?" Dean snapped.
"You couldn't have stopped it." Michael said. "You have to realize that you couldn't control it."
"And this is supposed to make me feel better?"
"Just-just call him first before you do anything else. Or better yet, send all those letters to him."
"What letters?" Dean asked dumbly.
Michael raised a brow, but answered him anyway, "The ones you write for Sam, but you never send because you're too afraid of what he'll say. It's been two years and he doesn't even know about Cas's-"
"Stop right there." Dean said. "I am not going to have this argument with you. Now go give your brother food and take the kids to the park afterwards or something, I need some much needed 'me' time."
"Dean-"
"I don't want to hear it." Dean said and went upstairs, closing the door because he trusted Michael, Lucifer, and Gabriel to take care of the kids. They've done it before and the longest he left them alone was for a month. Every time he came back from a trip, all of the kids were accounted for and there were less injuries than he expected. It's like the kids follow their orders without fail or hesitation.
Dean closed his bedroom door and walked over to his bed, pulling out a shoebox from under the bed and taking off the lid. He stared at the letters painfully and sighed, "Why'd you both have to leave?"
A/N: One word prompts please! You don't have to, but it would be much appreciated. ^~^
Questions? Comments? Criticism? Anything at all would be awesome.