Title: An eternal punishment
Summary: Lucifer loses the final battle, and Michael decides his punishment; life as a human child. But is it a punishment for the devil or the hunters who are given the three year old devil to look after.
Pairings: Castiel/Dean, Sam/Gabriel
Chapter 6: Golden Park
"Hey buddy," Dean grinned as he walked into the child's room and pulled open the grey blinds, "Did you have a good sleep?"
Lucifer murmured a yes, as he turned in his bed to face the man who was rummaging through his wardrobe. The boy clammed up when he noticed Dean had pulled out the dreaded school bag and threw it over his shoulder.
"Whenever you're ready buddy," Dean yawned, back turned so he was unaware of the child's apprehension. "Get dressed and come down for breakfast, uncle Flabby is making us yummy chocolate chip pancakes."
"Do- is there sk-school today?" Lucifer stammered, he wrapped his blanket around closer trying to draw out its comfort.
"No kiddo, it's Sunday, only nerds go to school on Sunday," Dean chuckled. "School's tomorrow."
"I- I dont wanna go," Lucifer whispered.
"Dont start that up again," Dean sighed.
"Please dont make me go, I'll be a good boy," Lucifer sniffled, his eyes large and blue and pouring into Dean. "I wont be evil anymore."
"Awww, shucks," Dean grumbled, the hunter was unable to deny his thirty year old brother, how the hell was he gonna deny a three year old? "I don't send you to school cause you're being a pain, I send you to have fun."
"It's not fun," Lucifer sniffed. Suddenly he cried, pouting outrageously. "Everyone hates me, 'Lesha said I'm the devil, I dont even know who that is- and everyone always pushes me, and sometimes Tony steps on my fingers."
"Luce, come on, your teacher wouldn't let that happen," Dean said concerned, "Ms Austin's very nice."
"No she isn't, she's mean!" Lucifer whined, his bottom lip quivering in a way that only a child could make a lip quiver. "Why don't you believe me?"
"Oh, Luce, come here," Dean sighed picking the boy up from his bed. "Let's go have breakfast, and then we'll go down to the park and you-"
"No! No park!" Lucifer cried alarming Dean as he jumped from the hunter's arms to the ground, using his good hand to break the fall. "I'll be good! I promise!"
"Hey! Calm down," Dean said, guilt reaping through him as he ran a hand through his short hair. "Uncle Sammy and Bobby are coming too. We're gonna have lunch there and you can play in the playground."
"You- you won't leave-"
"No, we're gonna go have some fun and come home," Dean smiled, cutting the boy off. "I promise, now let's go have breakfast."
"I think Sam's having more fun than Lucifer," Bobby chuckled as he watched the youngest hunter and the child sliding down the highest slide in the park. "I think Sam's stuck."
"Moron," Dean laughed as he looked up from the insightful magazine he was reading. The hunter was struggling to push himself down the slide as Lucifer stood behind him at the start of the slide waiting impatiently.
"Hurry up uncle Sammy!" Lucifer snapped angrily. "I wanna go down the slide today!"
"I'm trying! It's not my fault these things are only made for kids!" Sam grunted as he finally turned onto his side and slid down slowly. "I'm going on the swing."
"Daddy! Uncle Sammy needs a push!" Lucifer called out as he sat down at the start and looked down with wide eyes as his little hands gripped tightly around the slide. "Daddy!"
"What?" Dean asked, looking up again. The boy clung onto the sides of the slide, trembling slightly. "Hey, just slide down Luce; it's not that scary once you're down."
"Don't wanna!"
"Do you want Uncle Bobby to come and slide down with you?" Dean asked with a smirk as the older hunter rolled his eyes and muttered about idjits under his breath. The fluttering of wings alerted them to a new presence. Castiel was sitting beside him, smiling at the hunter in a rather sneaky manner. "Cass, hey, you're back. Where's Glab?"
"That's Gabriel, thank you very much," the archangel muttered, mouthful of course of chocolate.
"Cass, go play with Luce and Sam," Dean said, ushering the angel away. The angel stood up startled as he was pushed towards the playground, but he made his way over to the boy who was still on the top of the slide looking down, worried. "Glab, sit down, I need to ask you something."
"What's up, big guy?" Gabriel scoffed, "And how much are you paying?"
"I aint paying you squat," Dean grunted, "I'm calling in a favour you owe me."
"What favour?"
"I can't remember, but I need you to find out why Lucifer hates school so much," Dean said, "The way he's acting, he's scared to go, its not normal, day-care is suppose to be awesome, at least thats what I remember when Sammy and i went."
Gabriel nodded, "I'll go now, see what ails the little devil."
"Dont call him that," Dean warned, the archangel smiled but said nothing as he disappeared.
"You think something's going on at the school?" Bobby asked.
"It's just a feeling I can't shake off," Dean murmured. "I aint no child professional but the way he is acting it's not normal. I- if he was crying just as I was leaving him at the daycare I wouldn't say anything is up, but he starts the moment he sees his school bag or even when we mention the word school. And some of things he says as well are unusual, like that shit Tony pushing him, I think Tony is the kid that should be in year six, he's huge!"
"Not to mention he seems to be starving when he comes home," Bobby added, "That bruise on the kid's butt wasn't appeasing."
"And that's another thing, why is he so hungry?" Dean nodded, "It's not normal! He hates spaghetti, but he eats more than Sammy sometimes."
"Gabriel travelling back in time?"
"I think so," Dean nodded, "God; I hope the news isn't bad. He had a nightmare last night."
"Lucifer?"
"Yeah, third time this week," Dean muttered, "First time, he woke up crying about falling and begged me to catch him, though he was calling me father, not daddy which was weird, and the other two times he didn't say what was wrong."
"Falling?" Bobby asked, brow risen, "You dont think he's dreaming about his fall from grace do you? Father might really be God?"
"Jesus, you think he's dreaming about hell?" Dean gasped, looking at the child playing happily with his younger brother. The thought of his own dreams of hell running through a child's head terrified the hunter. "He's just a baby... Bobby, what the hell am I gonna do with him? How can I help him?"
"I dont know son, but I do know the best thing you can do for him is to be there for him," Bobby said, "What on earth is Sam doing?"
Dean looked back at his brother and the boy and snorted amused; Sam was sitting on the swing as Lucifer struggled to push the giant off the swing.
"Uncle Sammy, you're too fat!"
"I am not too fat!" Sam laughed, outraged. "You're mistaking me for your daddy!"
"Nah-uh," Lucifer grunted still struggling to push the overgrown hunter, "Uncle Cass! Help!"
"Alright, what do you need me to do?" Castiel asked. Dean and Bobby continued to watch as Lucifer commanded the seraph to push the hunter. The angel placed a hand on Sam's lower back and with a great push; the hunter was flying through the air screaming as he landed in the middle of a sandpit. The two older hunters stood up as Lucifer winced and Castiel stood by the swing awkwardly. "My apologies, Sam."
"I'm fine," Sam grunted shaking the sand from his clothes. "Where'd Gabe go?"
The words in his mouth, the archangel returned looking rather grim.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked, looking at the angel concerned.
"I think you should find him a new school," Gabriel said stiffly. Dean stared at the angel before he looked at the small boy prancing up to him with a wide smile that reached his eyes. "You need details?"
"No, he isn't going again," Dean muttered as the child reached him, arms stretched wide. Dean gathered the boy in his arms, placing a soft kiss on the back of the boy's head as Lucifer's little arms tried to reach around Dean's back to meet up at his fingers.
The fury on Gabriel's face was enough detail.
"I still think you should report them Dean," Sam grumbled, stroking the dark blonde locks as Lucifer slept snuggled in his arms, snoring lightly.
"I have," Dean nodded, "Well, Bobby did."
The hunter decided against telling Sam about the fact Gabriel had dealt with the problem in his own way; or the fact that Castiel had assisted the once Trickster. Dean didn't ask what the pair had done to punish the adults who had hurt his child, but he decided he didn't want to know, nor did he care.
"So, what's gonna happen?"
"I have no idea," Dean muttered, "I dont care, as long as no one hurts my kid again I dont give a damn."
"Are you gonna send him to another day-care?"
"When he turns four," Dean replied, after a moment of silence.
"Oh, okay," Sam nodded, before he looked at his brother thoughtfully, "When is he turning four?"
"6th of June," Dean smiled, the kid looked close to four. And the sixth day of the six month seemed appropriate enough. "Few months time, that way he should be a little more ready, and hopefully he'll forget what happened at that hellhole."
"6th of June? Funny Dean," Sam smiled, "Should I get him in bed?"
"Yeah, come on, I'll get his bed ready," Dean nodded. "Sam, you think you can help me this week, I wanna fix his room up, paint the walls, clean out his room, make it more kid friendly."
"Sure," Sam nodded as he arose holding the boy tight, "What are you going to do?"
"I got some blue paint, and just a few kids things; toys, bed sheets, a small table, shit like that," Dean rambled, "Here, lie him down, carefully, make sure his hand isn't underneath him."
Sam gently lowered the boy onto his bed and watched as Dean covered the child up with a thick blanket. "The windows closed? It's cold tonight, dont want him to get sick cause I'm taking him to the zoo tomorrow?"
"Really? Why?"
"No reason, I was surfing online and well, he likes Bobby's dog, I figured I'd take him to a farm, but the closest farm is four hours away from here," Dean grinned, switching off the light of the room and turning on a moonbeam nightlight. "Zoo's pretty close by, just two hours away by train."
"You sound like a travel agent," Sam laughed.
"You wanna come?" Dean asked, "I wouldn't mind the company. Luce is good company, but he's three."
"Uh, okay," Sam nodded, shrugging, "Never been to the zoo before."
"Me either," Dean smiled.
"It should be fun," Sam said, slowly, trying to hide his excitement. "I wanna see the elephants first!"
"No, the chimps! They eat their own-"
"The ch-ch-cheetah, daddy," Lucifer yawned, mouth wide. "Now get out of my room, I wanna sleep."
"Sam, why are you making sandwiches?"
"Dean, do you know how expensive zoo food is?"
"Who cares? We're gonna go once, it's not like we'll do this every week."
"Where are you two idjits going?" Bobby asked, as he placed a bowl of warm oats in front of the child. Lucifer grinned and picked up his spoon happily.
"Daddy's taking us to the zoo!" Lucifer grinned, milk dribbling down his lips. "I get to see cheetahs!"
"You really like cheetahs, dont you?" Dean smiled, ruffling his hair, before he wiped away the milk from the child's chin in a motherly manner. "I figured he'd like snakes. (Lucifer made a disgusted face.) We'll see them when we get there first okay, and before we leave."
"And we'll take lots of photos!" Lucifer giggled, "With uncle Bobby's ancient camera!"
"Nah, I got a digital camera the other day," Dean chuckled, "The batteries done charging and we're ready to go. Hey, Bobby you wanna come?"
"Yeah! Uncle Bobby you have to come! Otherwise Daddy and Uncle Sammy will fight all day," Lucifer said, spit out a mouthful of oats onto the table. The men stared at him expecting, "Sorry... its yummy uncle Bobby."
"Better then spaghetti?"
"Shit is better than spaghetti!"
"Lucifer!"
"what?"
Some one remind me why the hell I decided to name these stupid chapters?
Another 2-3 chapters to post in the next week and a half; feed me with your reviews!
Peace and chicken grease.
afro