"Hey, you're back! You missed dinner!" A woman's voice greeted when Dean, Sam and Cas entered the bunker, and from the balcony he spotted Dom, wearing a sundress as usual, beaming up at them. He cheered up a little at the sight of her, her cheerfulness a tad contagious sometimes. Sam certainly looked perkier, and Dean snorted.

"Hey Dom, where's the rest of your squad?" Dean asked, reaching the table she was sat on and ruffling her hair.

"Around- I think Nikita is in the shooting range, Mia is probably taking a nap" She reported, grinning, blue eyes shining as if them coming home was the best part of her day. Considering the kind of life they lead, he wasn't surprised. She was too young for such a hard life, but she found ways to make it better; like being happy the boys had come home unhurt.

"Dean, Sam, who is this?" Cas asked, eyeing Dom carefully. She smiled in greeting, but Dean could see suspicion in the angel's pretty blue eyes. Dom glanced to Dean, who tried to look cheery.

"This, is a whole load of trouble" Dean told him, and Dom punched his arm, hopping off of the table to introduce herself. Her heavy boots made a low thudding sound and she suddenly seemed much shorter stood beside Dean, but his arm throbbed where she hit him so he knew that even with the size difference, she was not someone to be messed with.

"I'm Dom Carter, I'm a hunter, sort of- You must be Castiel! I heard a lot about you from Sam and Dean, I've wanted to meet you for such a long time" She said happily, and Dean sniggered at how even a pissed off Cas was charmed by her, his face sofening a little.
"Hello Dom. You're accent tells me you're a long way from home" He said, and Dom chuckled.
"Yeah, there's a story to go with that. Mia and 'Kita should be along soon to say hello; what's that?"
"This is a fledgling" Cas told her, and Dom stared at the feathers, eyes wide like a cartoon character.

"A baby angel? In there? How did you get hold of that?" She asked excitedly, and Cas smiled wryly.
"A demon had it I'm afraid; I saved it" He reported, and she took in a sharp breath.

"Wow. Can I … can I hold it?" Dom asked. Cas hesitated, but he seemed to think better of it and carefully placed the fledgling into Dom's ready arms.

"I won't drop it, I've been an Aunt twice now so I know how to hold babies. Oh wow, the Grace is very strong, this will be a powerful angel- they seem to like me, they're glowing bright under those feathers"

Cas' eyes narrowed as Dom spoke, and Dean's widened in alarm. He'd totally forgotten to tell Cas about Dom, about what she was. About how impossible she was. Considering how long they'd spent apart he hadn't even heard about Sam and Dean gaining a few new team members, a totally unexpected but not so bad development. He had a lot to catch up on.
"You can feel that?" Cas asked, and Dom looked up.

"Yes. Can't you?"
"Yes, and that's what concerns me; humans can't sense Grace like you just did"
Dom grinned shiftly. Cas gave Dean and Sam an 'Explain-right-now-or-i'll-smite-you' look.
"Dom, why don't you grab the girls? They'll want to welcome us home" Sam suggested quietly, and Dom nodded, handing the Fledgling back to Cas before darting away. Cas rounded on Dean and Sam.
"Explain" He ordered. Dean and Sam exchanged a glance.

"Remember that Nephilim you killed? The only one in the world?" Dean asked, and Cas frowned.

"Far too vividly" He said heavily.

"Well...she wasn't the only one" Sam said nervously.

"Of course she was, Nephilim are extinct-"

"No, they're not. It's a long story, and Dom can't stay focused for long enough to tell us everything in detail; but she is a Nephlim. And Mia, her friend, is one of the most powerful magic users we've encountered, and she's been shielding her from Heaven's eyes"

Cas was silent for a moment, a storm brewing and fading in his eyes. Dean was ready to get all defensive, but Cas seemed to deflate a little. He didn't know what was worse.

"You're housing a witch?" He asked eventually, and Dean sighed.

"Yeah, I didn't think we'd ever reach that point, but Mia helps us out, and we help her. She doesn't hurt anyone" He explained. Cas nodded.

"I would like to meet this witch, and speak with Dom- a Nephilim is so rare, learning about them would be useful"

Sam and Dean nodded, both breathing small sighs of relief.

The girls appeared not a few minutes later; Nikita, her long dark hair in a braid, rocking the traditional plaid and layers of the hunters, followed by Mia, sporting a tank top that left her tattooed arms uncovered; she had sleeves inked with runes and wards and protection symbols, much like Dean's anti demon possession tattoo. Dom followed behind, humming cheerfully as the trio gathered around. Cas eyed them all warily, and they watched him too; Nikita rubbing a scar on her arm, standing out against her dark skin. Dom was smiling as usual, and Mia had an eyebrow raised, her tattoos shifting occasionally.

"So, the angel makes an appearance" Nikita said warmly, brown eyes twinkling "You're just as good-looking as I hoped"

"My vessel is rather Aesthetically pleasing, thank you" Cas replied, and mia snorted as Nikita gave him a once over and winked.

"And all yours too; the poor bastard who was born in it doesn't seem to be in there with you" Mia commented.

"You must be the Witch" Cas said, and Mia nodded proudly.

"That I am; did these two not gush about how amazing and wonderful I am to you? I haven't trained them well enough"
"Before your head starts growing, we need to give you the run-down on our newest addition. Besides Cas that is" Dean said, and Nikita smirked, ready to no doubt give a comment about how Cas wasn't new to them since Dean wouldn't stop bitching about him, but Dom distracted her by squealing loudly. Dean had a feeling it was to save his ass. He would thank her for that later.

"We have a baby angel in our midst!" She cried joyfully, her long hair swishing as she swayed happily. Nikita eyed Cas suspiciously.

"Can male angels get pregnant? Count me out of that Mpreg bullshit-"

"No, that baby angel, look" Dom ordered, grabbing Nikita's chin and forcing her to look at the ball of feathers in Cas' hands.

"Yes, this is a fledgling, and it was somehow removed from Heaven and ended up in the hands of a demon, until I saved it. Until I can safely return it, it has to stay here where its safe"

"It? Doesn't the angel have a gender?" Mia asked "Seems weird saying 'it'"
"I'd say it was a girl" Dean mused, and Dom nodded.
"A girl? Nah, that's a boy right there" Mia said, and Nikita made a noise of agreement.

"Fledglings don't have genders. It's a wave of celestial intent" Castiel insisted.

"Well it will be referred to with female pronouns until it decides it wants to be addressed otherwise" Dom declared. Dean tried not to laugh at Cas' thunderous expression.

"You heard the Nephilim, female she is" Sam chuckled. Cas sighed.
"Fine. I suggest you all introduce yourself to it- her- so she knows who you are. It will create somewhere safe for her to develop if she knows she's amongst friends. Dean, would you like to be the first?"

"Uh, sure? I just have to hold it right? Because I'm not talking to it"

"Her" Dom corrected. Sam smirked.
"Her" Dean said. Cas shook his head.

"Just hold her. Here" Cas held out the feathers and Dean arranged his arms in the same way he would when holding a small baby, and Cas placed the fledgling there carefully, hands brushing against Dean's elbows. Maybe it was him, or maybe the fledgling was the one sending small electrical pulses through his skin; but the contact wasn't unpleasant. Nikita snickered quietly and Dean fought the blush from rising to his cheeks.
"Aw, Daddy Dean, I could cry" Dom sighed, getting up to stand beside Sam, who completely towered over her, but leaned down slightly to talk to her- probably talking shit about Dean. They enjoyed doing that. Dean ignored the cooing at him and observed the feathers in his arms, trying not to glare at them too much. They began to feel warm, as if they'd been bathed in sunlight, and waves of peacefulness began to wash over him.

"Ooh, she likes you" Dom told him. Cas nodded, smiling a soft smile that Dean would never admit made his heart stutter a little. He'd rather put it down to a heart attack from too many greasy diner meals. Anything but feelings.
"Yes, the Fledgling seems at ease in your arms. That's good news. Sam, would you like to hold her?"

The fledgling was passed around the group carefully, Dom and Cas nearly jumping a foot out of their skins when Sam got hold of her; apparently the fledgling likes sasquatches, and Dom laughed at Sam's humble blush. Nikita petted the feathers like a cat, and Mia cooed just as much as Dom, which didn't make any sense at all. The girl didn't coo; Dean did a double-take at the sound, and the witch glared at him.
"Shut it you, I like animals" She shot at him. He took a mental note of this to tease her about later.

"So, this is all well and good, but what do we actually do with her? Carry her around everywhere?" Nikita asked, sitting next to Mia on the table and smoothing the feathers over her shoulder. Someone would definitely have to tell her that it wasn't a cat.

"That would be best, so we can keep an eye on her- fledglings are notorious for disappearing when unattended. We can't let her leave the bunker" Castiel said, and Dean sighed.

"Of course they are. Luckily there's six of us to make sure that doesn't happen" He said.

"And I am an excellent finder- so even if this little thing does vanish, we'll get her back again pronto" Dom agreed, and Dean admired her optimism.

"Well that's settled- you guys hungry? There's some left-over mac and cheese with your names on it" Nikita asked, and Dean nodded, following her into the kitchen. They'd had wars over cooking; Nikita went for simple but tasty, whilst Dean liked to take his time with it. Eventually Mia made them organise kitchen rotas, which was really childish (but apparently very necessary, looking back on the food fights they had) and she made them stick to it.

"Well, all those times you told me about your angel, you didn't say just how fit he was" Nikita said as she started heating the mac and cheese.

"You think I notice when a guy is good-looking?" Dean shot back. Nikita snorted.

"Oh Dean, how deep in the closet are you exactly?"

I'm not in any closet, you shut your mouth"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night babe" She replied cheekily, and Dean huffed. Why she felt the need to tease him every five minutes was beyond him; why he let her was also unknown.

"How come he's not been around? You guys seem close, we haven't met him and we've been here for months" She asked. Dean sighed.

"This life is hard. Sharing space constantly, being on the road; fights break out a lot"

"He must really like you if he came back after all this time" Nikita said softly, something like sadness in her eyes. Dean rarely saw that expression on her face, and he wondered what caused it.

"That's the thing with Cas and me; we keep coming back" He said "I don't know why"

"I think I do" Nikita told him, but she didn't elaborate, just served the food onto separate plates and ordered him to take them to the table.