I'd like to thank my wonderful beta musedbysecrecy[dot]tumblr[dot]com/

Chapter 2:

Eventually, Bobby headed to bed. It was about 3 in the morning and Ambriel refused to answer anymore questions, telling him that he knew enough to trust her and that sleep was important. That night, he slept with an Angelic Sword next to his bed, just in case.

Much to his surprise, he woke up the next morning, or noon, in one piece. It was also much too quiet for there to be a three, four and five year old in the house. Part of him hoped it was some kind of half-crazed drunk hallucination. The sword by his bed started to prove him wrong.

Stumbling out to get some coffee, the rest of the night was confirmed. Tuffs of feather were spread out over the floor leading at the large form on the couch. The 'angel' he let in last night was soundly sleeping, the small lump of a mini-Castiel on the floor, also asleep, leaning against the arm rest. Angel, yeah right. Angels don't sleep. But what about Castiel? He's right on the floor next to her, he was asleep last night. A voice in the back of his head whispered.

"The boys are asleep still," a groggy voice that sounded vaguely like the one last night mumbled. "I don't know how. They were up for about an hour around 8:30."

About an hour later, a nervous child-Dean, nervous being an understatement, and a hyper-active toddler Sam, with innocently long, blonder than normal hair, woke up too. Another trip up in everything. The boys had a 4 year age difference, yet they seemed to be at the most 2 years apart. It didn't impress Bobby to figure that one out.

"Hi! Who you?" Sam asked happily upon seeing Bobby, trying to free himself from Dean, who had a tight hold on his hand. Bobby still couldn't get over the fact that these were his boys.

"Who are you, Sammy. Are." The angel that Bobby assumed was asleep corrected. The first thing that popped into Bobby's head was a sarcastic remark on her childcare skills, he bit his tongue. The 'angel' sat up, what appeared to be too quickly, because she sat her head in her hands. "He's a smart boy, you know?" She said, standing up on slightly wobbly legs. "And Sammy, he's your...Uncle...Uncle Bobby. We'll be staying here for a little while."

"Where Daddy?" Sammy asked, toddled over to Ambriel. "Up."

"Not today, Sammy, I have a boo boo." She slowly leaned down to his level.

"Boo boo?" He knew the term, of course.

"Yes Sammy, a boo boo in my head." Every thought Bobby had about the girl hurting the boys was gone. The adoration and sorrow that she couldn't lift him that filled her half-guarded eyes was pure. "Up here." She tapped the side of her head.

"All better?" Sammy asked, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Wrong kinda boo boo, kid." Ambriel pushed herself up again. "Let me help with that." She attempted a stride to reach Bobby, who was in the kitchen, looking for something to make actual food with. "I've lived around humans for 500 years, a few eggs won't be too hard."

"No," Bobby glanced from the fridge to her, "You sit and talk. I want answers." The angel obeyed, hearing the harshness in his voice.

"You're angry?" She asked, tilting her head. "Answers only come to those who ask questions." A flustered huff came from Bobby.

"The age difference. Start there," was the demand.

"I turned Sam and Dean back to 2 months before their destinies were assigned." Ambriel pushed a feather that she picked off her shoulder around with her finger, noticing a few flaws in the wood of the table. "Who the hell knows about Cassy. Best I can guess is that it was his vessel, Jimmy? Yeah, Jimmy's destiny to be Cassy's vessel. His destiny was assigned at the age Cassy is. They are, obviously, stuck in the mindset they were as children," Ambriel lowered her head to her folded arms as they sat on the table. "A destiny can be cancelled at it's current state or never exist. The boys were infected so their destiny, while cancelled, wouldn't even matter, so they had to be brought back to before it existed. My only option."

"You know Cas?" The morning fuzziness made Ambriel unable to figure out if it was a question or statement.

"Of course," Ambriel answered, it seemed she was attempting to pet a shy Dean's head as he stood curled close to her. Yet, she didn't lift her head. "All angels know each other, but yes. Most angels grow up like a child in boarding school. I was not, therefore it was my job to ensure that a fledging would grow up with support, like me. Encouraging free thinking, but not prejudice. Cassy held...holds, more potential than many could imagine. Gabriel, he said that he saw the same thing looking at me."

That brought a flood of questions, she was close to Gabriel? Even Bobby knew well enough not to ask. It would be far to personal.

"Amy?" A small voice asked. In reaction to hearing the nickname, her eyes shot to the side it came from. "I feel funny. I sound weird."

"Oh, Cassy." She ran her fingers through his hair. An odd habit she picked up. "We're gonna be here, like this for a while."

Why?" He asked, reaching up to attempt to get her fingers out of his hair. She ignored the attempt simply.

"Because that's the way it is, Cassy." She told him.

"Breakfast is done," Bobby interjected, putting some eggs and burnt toast in front of the group.

"I don't like eggs." It was the first phrase Bobby heard out of Dean since he became a child. "The toast is burnt."

"It's what we've got." Bobby quirked an eyebrow, unimpressed with this 'picky' Dean.

"I don't want it." Dean argued, arms crossed in front of him.

"Dean, look, the eggs are good. See," Ambriel ate a small bite from the plate she made for Dean, a look crossed her face. She didn't like the taste and tried to hide it. "And we can scrape off the burnt part." She set to work scraping the black off the toast.

"It's still burnt." Dean pouted.

"Fine then," Ambriel shrugged, "I'll eat it. Bobby, do you have any cream cheese?"

"Go check," He point at the fridge. Ambriel did just that and Dean, sighing, started on his eggs.

"Amy," Castiel has his head tilted and poked at the scrambled egg on his plate. "What-"

They're eggs, stupid." Dean huffed.

"Dean!" Ambriel and Bobby said at the same time.

They're eggs. I'm sorry." Dean just looked back to his plate, poking at the scrambled eggs.

"They don't look like eggs." Castiel poked one with his finger.

"Good!" Sammy smiled, tearing a piece off with his fingers and eating it. Ambriel learnt quickly not to give him any silverware aside from a spoon.

"Thanks," Bobby shrugged, sitting down.

"Good job, Sammy." Ambriel smiled and pulled cream cheese from the fridge, then set to work finding something else. "Cinnamon and Sugar?"

"Top cabinet, left." Bobby told her between bites.

"Thanks." She stood on her toes to reach the cinnamon.

"These don't look like eggs." Castiel brought up again. Ambriel glanced up, like she was saying a silent prayer, probably along the lines of "Don't let me screw this one up!"

"They are eggs. I promise, now eat," she demanded.

"They taste weird." Castiel complained, taking a bite. "Aren't eggs baby chickens?" Ambriel banged her head against a cupboard. It was going to go to hell now.

"Baby chickens?" Dean and Sam said at the same time.

"They aren't baby chickens." Ambriel started, then looked to the ceiling, "Help!" She mouthed.

"Okay, so maybe they kind of are." Her eyes darted around the room. "Bobby!" She nearly shouted, "Your Uncle Bobby can explain better."

"No," Bobby said between bites, considering getting a beer while watching the whole thing unfold.

Okay then," She focused on the boys, not the tuffs of feather landing on the floor, "Well, you see," They were staring at her. "Eggs are..." They were too young to understand 'infertile' or how the whole thing worked, and if the word 'dead' past her lips, they would never eat eggs again. "Eggs aren't baby chickens, they just come from chickens. Eat."

"What are they?" Dean asked, looking at his eggs.

"Food, now eat." Ambriel told them, "Bobby, tell them to eat."

"Eat," Bobby echoed.

"Here," Ambriel sprinkled a bit on cinnamon on their eggs and her cream cheese toast,

"Eat, you'll like it."

The boys set to eating, however unhappy they were. Ambriel sat down placing her toast away from her and laid her head on her arms.

"I'm absolutely awful at this." She groaned, then a plate, her toast, was pushed into her arm. "Thanks," She lifted her head and started to nibble at the toast. "Thanks for the toast. The eggs were good too."

"Sure, kid," Bobby gave a gruff laugh.

"I'm not a child, compared to me, it is you who is young and I'm not joking. It's just my stomach is sensitive, in memoria will do that to an angel. An entire falling condensed into one month, you know."

"Sure," Bobby itched to grab a bottle of beer. Not so much as to drink it but to feel the cool glass that sat in his fingers for so long. "Sure, kid," Ambriel sighed, she wasn't going to waste her energy fighting over a nickname with him.

"Whatever," She grumbled.

"It's good," Castiel smiled, eating the egg.

"I thought you'd like it with cinnamon." Ambriel beamed, her mood suddenly better. "I knew it."

"It's fine," Dean grumbled.

"Awesome," Her mood didn't fade, "Awesome. Hey, Bobster-"

"Bobby," the sharp growl cut her off.

"Bobby," She soothed over, "Once these guys go do...whatever it is that kids do, we need to talk. On orders of the Big Man Upstairs. It's technical stuff, Heavens paperwork and ground rules. So on and so forth. If it makes you feel better, I hate it too."

A couple hours later, when the December sun started to fall behind the trees and metal mountains of old cars, the boys sat down to watch some TV. It was the perfect time to go over the 'paperwork.' Bobby sat in his chair behind the desk, still nursing his first beer. Ambriel sat in an ugly gray overstuffed mound of chair, a can of ginger ale that she must have just poof'ed up, because Bobby knew that he didn't have any ginger ale in the fridge. Her knuckles started to bruise after she slammed them in his cabinet while looking for a bottle opener as a peace offering for whatever she did earlier to piss him off.

"Okay, so...let's get down to business," she said firmly. "Maybe we can get through this relatively painlessly."

"Maybe." Bobby wasn't delusional, it would take a miracle to get through whatever needed doing without one of the boys in tears or demanding attention.

"This kind of thing rarely happens. However, that doesn't mean it never has, so luckily for you," She was all business now, despite the mild dizzy or nauseous spells that would occasionally wash over her, "We have proper protocols."

"Luckily for me?" Bobby was taken back.

"Well, you are intending to keep them, the boys, aren't you?" Ambriel was more taken back.

"Of course," The response was quick, he didn't need to think about it, he knew they were his boys, "How did you-"

"I'm an angel, hard to believe, easy to forget, but I am an angel. While I don't know everything, I know a lot. You have loved them like sons for years, you were their real father, even if you won't admit it to anyone but yourself." She shifted in her seat.

"Right."

"Now, back to the more 'legal'," She actually did air quotes, "aspects. I need to spend 30 days here, just to make sure you're the right choice. That won't be a problem as you already said I could say until I'm better. Of course, you won't get rid of me then, I am their Guardian Angel, I'll be stopping in for different periods of time and check if they're in trouble." She sipped on the ginger ale. "Understand?"

"Hard not too," was the sarcastic response.

"After the 30 day 'trail period,' you will go back to the same physical condition you were in 20 years ago, unless you wish for less of a reversal. The money you need to build an extension or buy a new house to have enough room for the boys and a guest room." Ambriel went extremely pale for a few seconds and stopped talking, then started as if nothing was wrong. "On the last day of every month you'll find the exact amount of money you'll need for the boys and a random bill that is due the next month. The money will be in your mailbox if I can't deliver it directly. When I am only guarding the boys I will need a place to stay, you'll be repaid for my room and board. Understood?"

"Think so," The nod that followed was not reassuring.

"Now the ground rules," The business woman persona left Ambriel and the tension that unknowingly filled the room left. She leaned back in her chair. "Rule Uno, I am their Guardian Angel, I am the best in the business as well as the eldest to have the official title, I am good at my job. Hurt them and you'll wish I would give you mercy and throw you into the fiery pits of the lowest levels of hell. Trust me, it isn't pleasant there. Rule Two, when th-"

"Amy!" Castiel cried, running over to her with tears in his eyes, he climbed up onto her lap and hid his face in her neck.

"What's wrong, baby?" She rubbed his back with one hand, the other put down the can of soda and signaling that she'd calm him down, not that Bobby had any intention of getting in her way originally.

"D-Dean hit me!" Ambriel bit her lip to keep from calling Dean over and making things 'right'. First she had to calm down Castiel, again. Dean was being awfully mean the entire day, which was odd. The group got along fine the entire car ride from Massachusetts. "And called me stupid!" Castiel wailed.

"Cry baby," was heard from the other side of the room.

Bobby gave Ambriel a look, there was no way he knew how to deal with a kid being as much of a brat as Dean. He knew how not to deal with it, his parents taught him that, but how to deal with it was another story. Ambriel, if she knew he was clueless or not, used her free hand to signal him to go talk to Dean.

"Come on, boy." Bobby huffed, walking over to the front door, expecting Dean to follow. Surprisingly, Dean got the look, and he knew that if he fought it, the punishment would be worse, and followed. Right before slipping out the door behind Bobby, he gave Sam puppy eyes.

It took Sammy all of 5 seconds to stop looking around like a lost animal and go back to watching whatever it was on TV. Once Dean left Castiel's loud sobs, he calmed down ever so slightly until they were merely sniffles. Ambriel pulled him away from her neck and smiled at him.

"Better?" She pushed the hair from his eyes.

"Uh huh," Castiel answered.

"How about we watch some TV with Sammy? Does that sound fine?" Castiel nodded and the hair she pushed from his eyes covered them again.

As the three settled down on the floor to watch Rudolph and curled themselves into the old comforter Bobby found in the attic, they heard the distinct sound of two doors slamming closed and the Impala starting. As the sound of the engine got softer and softer, Ambriel sent up a prayer that Bobby would know what to say and discipline with more grace then she could have.

Bobby, meanwhile, was sitting in the driver's seat of Dean's baby, and had his eyes on the road, refusing to look at Dean as he messed with the seatbelt. He resisted the urge to ask the child how Ambriel drove the children all the way to his house without any car seats and kept driving. He knew where he was heading and refused to let anything get in his way.

15 minutes later, Bobby missed the turn he needed to get to the small lake where he was going to talk to Dean and let out a string of curses without thinking.

"Mommy said not to use those words, they're bad." Dean glanced over to Bobby, "Daddy uses 'em lots now that Mommy isn't coming back."

"Kid," Bobby didn't know how to continue. "Kid, why ya actin' like this?"

"Like what?" Dean asked, curious. Any sign that he was being a brat before was gone.

"Misbehaving and being mean to Cas," Bobby answered gruffly.

"He's takin' Am-Bree and Sammy from me. I ain't got no one left but them. Especially Sammy." Dean looked down. "I ain't got no one left."

"Kid,"

"My name's Dean."

"Dean," Bobby tried again, "Cas isn't trying to take away Sam...or Ambriel."

"Promise?" Dean's eyes almost lit up at the words yet need to confirmation.

"Yeah, kid. I promise, the kid just needs some attention too. He's used to lots of brothers and sisters to keep him company and I guess Ambriel was kind of like his favorite. Ya need to share." Bobby turned down a road, having no idea where it would lead, but knew the town enough to get home.

"And Sammy?"

"Sammy's gettin' used to him around. Be nice to the kid, might get along fine once ya get to know him." Bobby started to head back to the yard. "So, can you be good to Cas?"

"Sure, Uncle Bobby. I guess I could."

"Good. Now, don't pull that kind of thing again. I'm letting you off easy 'cause it's the first time this happened and you don't know all the rules yet. Next time you won't get off so easy. Got that?" Bobby felt like he should be doing more than twisting his head once in a while, that he ought to be facing the boy for such conversation.

"Does that mean we'll be staying with you?" Dean asked.

"Yeah kid, that means you'll be staying with me." It sunk in that he'd be able to give his boys the childhood they deserved and if he weren't supposed to be serious and drive he'd have the biggest smile on his face, probably happy-dancing even.

"Am-Bree too?"

"For a while," Bobby agreed. "We're headed back now, you better tell the girl that I gave you a talking to and that you'll never do it again."

"Okay,"

"Good."