**Author's Note: _
This chapter has been officially updated as of: 3/31/2015.
If there are any errors remaining, please message me with their location, and I will fix them accordingly.
Thank you.
Gabriel and Castiel were around thirteen or fourteen now.
Gabriel had gotten a little taller, as did his amber hair as it grew alongside him. His wings were now strong enough to have him fly around for a few good hours before they got tired, and he was getting better at hiding them away longer. However, all of his progress was stunted, at least with acknowledgment, by his brash tongue.
Alongside earning his ability to fly, Gabriel's snarky, smartass comebacks were driving Dean and Bobby up the wall enough to where they tried disciplining him from the ceiling. Sam, however, found it funny - but that's mainly because Gabe never gave him any lip to begin with.
Lucky bastard.
But then again, Dean was pretty lucky with his own angel, too.
Castiel was quite the opposite of his brother. Sure, he had gotten taller as well, but he just seemed to grow even more innocent than before with the added height. He wasn't as energetic as he was as a child, either, and he was quieter and calmer. His wings had now gone well over his head now, and they were shiny and even sparkled as if they had glitter or stars embedded within them. They could fly him for several more hours than Gabe's could.
The only major difference in his behavior was he clung more onto Dean than anybody else. Other than that, Castiel often read alongside Bobby and helped out with research for hunts, mostly finding locations while making fake ID's, or even just keeping himself quiet to accompany Bobby.
Besides all of that, everything was pretty ... normal. Well, until Gabe and Cas got curious.
"Can we go on the next hunt with you guys?" Gabe begged, his question more directed towards Sam than at Dean.
"I dunno, Dean?" Sam looked over to his older brother who was getting his shirt held onto by Castiel as he read some tome, "Do you think they're ready?"
Dean thought about it, looking down at Cas as he did so, "You think you can be up for a salt and burn, Cas?"
Castiel looked up from the huge page of printed text and nodded, "I think I can. We are angels, after all. We were meant to handle more than just a ghost."
"As long as y'all are safe, it should be fine. Oh, and Gabriel, you better keep a lid on the mouth of yours…" Bobby pointed at the angel in question, "I don't need any spirits causin' us any grief because you piss 'em off in Latin."
Gabe smirks, "I'll try to resist my urges as best as I can, Bobby, but there's no promises."
-X-
The salt and burn hadn't gone too bad ... at first.
Dean and Sam taught Castiel and Gabriel how to wield a knife, to burn the bodies, and some incantations - which Castiel already knew, of course - just in case. It had gone normally, till the whole damn graveyard came to life.
They supposed it had been an unmarked Indian burial ground before a graveyard, and the bodies were removed to have the city's dead take their place. In the end, Dean didn't blame the ghosts, saying he'd be pretty pissed too about being removed out of the ground like excess dirt.
Castiel was still fidgeting in the back seat as he winced, since his wing was attacked, while Gabriel just sat silently as he stared at the back of Sam's seat in silence.
It was quite unusual for the both of them.
Sam looked over to Dean with a worried expression, but his older brother just gave him a curt nod before looking back towards the asphalt in front of him.
The angels were quiet the whole way back.
"How did it go?" Bobby asked, a little ounce of concern lining his voice as the group came inside.
"Well, turns out it was a burial ground before, and a whole lot of vengeful spirits were there to greet us," Dean sighed, feeling Castiel behind him holding onto his jacket.
Bobby softened his gaze a little, "Oh... Sam, Dean, can I talk to you, privately?"
Gabriel glared at him for sending Sam away, but remained silent. Both of the angels turned towards each other and huddled on the couch. It was obvious they were trying to comfort themselves.
When Bobby got the Winchesters into the other room, he took a deep breath.
"How are they handlin' it?"
Sam ran a hand through his hair, "Gabe was quiet the whole way back, so I don't know… They've both been acting, well … different."
"Cas got his wing zeroed in on a little, but other than that, there wasn't much damage. Well, other than the emotional toll, apparently."
Bobby nodded, rubbing his chin and pausing for a second, "Maybe they shouldn't go on hunts anymore, at least for a while…"
For once, both of the Winchesters agreed that they should make Gabe and Castiel wait a while before they were in the field again - if they wanted to after that mess.
Bobby nodded then, dismissing the boys to go tend to the disturbed angels.
Dean took Castiel up to his room and tried not to scold him when he practically clambered up onto Dean. He wasn't this clingy since he and Sam first got him and Gabriel from Sarah. Dean decided to let it pass, knowing that the angel already had a rough evening and didn't need anything else added onto that.
In the end, the raven-haired boy was eyeing Dean from his bed, his blue eyes wide underneath his dark, curling lashes.
"What's botherin' you two? You've been all quiet after the graveyard and stuff."
"It's just-" Castiel's voice broke and changed pitch - it was something happening more often now as Cas aged, and that made Dean shudder, because he knew what followed after, "Gabriel and I were not expecting for those spirits to be so … angry. We thought death was a peaceful process."
Dean sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, "Sorry to break it to you, Cas, but death is never an easy business. Sure, it's a cold and sad thing, but it's a natural part of life. It's gotta happen. Still, sometimes, people don't want to go, or it happens violent;y and out of nowhere. Things like what happened tonight can unsettle them afterwards. Hell, Sam and I have almost died several times ourselves, and each time is just as terrifying as the first and even leaves us a little pissed."
Castiel grabs onto Dean's shirt, "Dean, please don't die on me… I don't want you to die. Promise?"
"I'll try my best, but-" Dean looks away from the pleading blue orbs, knowing he couldn't be looking at that them as he told Cas the truth, "You know I can't live forever, right?"
"I'm an angel, Dean. I can surely visit your soul in Heaven when I am fully grown. Which means, hopefully, that by the point your true time comes, I'll be able to travel there easily."
Dean smiles warmly, "So you're saying you're going to visit me in Heaven after I'm gone down here?"
Castiel nods, rubbing the plaid shirt Dean was wearing between his fingers, "Yes, I am."
"Thanks, Cas."
"You're welcome, Dean."
This time, Dean didn't shudder at Cas' small voice crack.
-X-
Sam was downstairs with Gabriel who was currently fuming at anything he could find something wrong with - and that meant everything.
Sure, by now Dean would tell him to shut the fuck up and Bobby would be painting a sigil on the wall to send him away, but Sam was renowned for his patience and tolerance.
It's only when a lamp flew his way that it gave a little.
"Hey!" Sam spat, "Gabriel! What the hell?!"
The small angel stops immediately, eyeing the plastic - which Bobby was grateful was invented and angel-tantrum proof - lamp as it lay on the floor beside Sam, the scuff mark on the wall it had created only inches from Sam's head, "Sam, I-"
"That's enough, Gabriel!" Sam scrunched his fingers at the bridge of his nose and sighed, "I understand if tonight was a little too much or stressful, especially the terrifying part, but you have to stop letting your anger and temper get the better of you. The other day Bobby told me you sent a spoon flying his way when he told you to stop being so snarky towards him."
"It was only a damn spoon…" the angel mumbled, kicking at the floor.
Sam shook his head, already given up on Gabe's new found love for cursing, "Thank your Father it was, because it could have been a knife or something else. How angry would you have been in the end if you had accidentally stabbed Bobby, or even killed him, because you were throwing a fit?"
Gabriel bites his lower lip right as it begins to quiver, "Not very, Sammy... I'm so sorry … it's just I don't like hearing all these angels in my head sometimes. I wanna be like you, just human…"
"Gabe…" Sam noticed the lowering of his wings, something of which the growing angel did whenever he was depressed, "I like you the way you are, and you should too. Being human isn't all perfect qualities and happy moments. In fact, I think the only differences between us are the connections to Heaven and wings. Plus, the whole aging thing, too…"
"You really think so?"
"I do."
Gabriel smiled, a rare feat barely accomplished since they received him from Sarah's, "Thanks, Sammy. That helped. I think I'm going to try and be calmer now."
Sam chuckles, "You're welcome, Gabriel. Just remember, it's okay if you slip and fall, because I'll be there to catch you."
The angel grinned, jumping into his bed and falling asleep.
This was definitely going to be an interesting few weeks.