The house was awkwardly quiet. Three days passed without a note from the angels. Dean was standing in front of the coffee pot, helping herself to the forth cup this morning.
Bobby entered the kitchen, rustling with the newspaper in his hands. Dean mistook the sound and bolted around, yelling "Cas!"
Bobby stopped dead in his tracks. After the first shock was gone, he frowned sympathetically. "I'm sure he'll be back soon."
Dean flustered over her overreaction and awkwardly looked away.
Bobby glanced at her cup. "How many of 'em 've ya had?" he asked, nodding at her cup.
"Four?" Dean answered guiltily. Whenever Dean was worried or mad at someone, she started drinking or trashing things. Both were out of the question now, but old habits die hard and Dean started drinking tremendous amounts of coffee instead. But the coffee only made her more wary and aggressive.
"Ya know that can't be good." Bobby probed gently.
Dean pushed the cup away from her. She'd lost all appetite anyway. There suddenly was a quiet noise coming out of the study. Dean stared.
"Was that a rustling of wings?" she asked paranoid. Bobby raised his head.
"I think it was..." he murmured.
Before Bobby could even think of moving, Dean bolted past him.
But there was not one of the expected angels standing in Bobby's study. It was a blond man with short curls, wearing a shirt with a v-neck.
"Who are you!" Dean yelled at him, immediately pointing one of the many hidden shotguns at him.
The man didn't even bother to turn to Dean. He grabbed a knife, sliced over his arm and started to draw bloody sigils with hasty movements on the windows.
"I'm Balthazar." he replied, not stopping his efforts.
"An' what'cha doin' here?" Bobby demanded.
"I'm trying to protect some puny humans from my brethren." he said with a British accent. He only looked at them for a second, gestured at their weapons and said "Now put those toys away, it's an insult that you actually think you can hurt me with that."
Then he turned back and continued to draw bloody sigils everywhere on the walls and windows. He seemed to be in a hurry.
Dean and Bobby exchanged a glance and slowly lowered their shotguns.
"And why are you doing that?" Dean asked. By now, Sam was also here. As he saw that Dean and Bobby put their guns down, he lowered his also.
"This little thing in your belly... most angels think it's an abomination. I'm doing an old friend a favor here. Cassie and Gabriel are currently flying around, trying to get Raphael on a false track."
"But... Raphael? What does he want?"
"Raphael is the head of the whole agenda against your little family. Cassie and Gabriel didn't notice because they were too busy playing around with you little mortals until I called Cassie to warn him." Balthazar's explained with a bitter voice.
"How's Cas? He all right?" Dean asked worried. Balthazar ignored him, he had finished his last sigil that moment, put a hand on it and chanted something in Enochian. All the sigils lightened up and suddenly disappeared into another plane. Then, Balthazar was gone.
"Freaking angels!" Dean swore.
Bobby patted his shoulder. "You heard him, he is flying around somewhere. That means he should be okay."
Dean looked down darkly. There went her dreams of an apple pie life with Cas. She stroked her belly, now not only concerned about Cas but also about her baby. Some part of her was not even surprised something like this happened, but more surprised how long it took for something like this to happen.
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Two more days passed, and they still didn't hear a word from Castiel or Gabriel. Dean sat at the kitchen table, her head propped up on one hand while she pushed a piece of pie around on the plate without appetite.
Bobby and Sam exchanged serious glances over the table. If Dean didn't like her pie, something was more than wrong.
"I thought I'd do you a favor there." Bobby murmured, gesturing toward the pie.
"Yeah, thanks Bobby." Dean murmured without appetite, staring at the pie.
Sam and Bobby exchanged another serious glance.
"You don't have to eat it." Sam suggested cautiously, carefully watching Dean's reaction.
Dean just kept pushing the pie around and muttered "I know Sam, I'm not a baby."
They sat in silence. Sam and Bobby tried to think up a way to cheer Dean up, but it was a lost cause. Bobby had already pulled out all the stops went to get Dean some pie. But not even that managed to cheer her up. Sam ruffled through his hair at a loss. Dean's mood swings were bad enough as it was, but with Cas gone it got even worse. It was like poking the ice with every word he said.
"You know it doesn't bring Cas back if you make a sad face the whole day?" Bobby asked.
"I know." Dean finally lifted her gaze from the plate and looked at Bobby. "But this is his favorite kind of pie!"
Bobby was surprised. "Cas has a favorite kind of pie?"
He looked at Sam, but Sam shrugged as surprised as he was. Dean didn't respond.
"Your angel can handle himself." Bobby said gently.
"I know." Dean muttered, looking down on her plate and shoving the pie around again. Sam leaned back, huffing tiredly.
"Dean, he's okay!" Sam insisted. Sam was also strained by the situation and Dean seemed to forget completely that Sam's angel went awol also. It wasn't like much could actually harm an archangel, but Sam just couldn't help it. He was worried anyway.
"But he isn't here and I still haven't heard from him and... "
Dean got louder and more desperate with every word. She suddenly paused, the words stuck in her throat until she finally cried out.
"...andMY BABY DOESN'T LIKE PIE!"
Dean collapsed onto the table crying. Her whole body trembled from the uncontrolled sobs she couldn't stop from escaping her.
Sam and Bobby stared at Dean before they glanced at each other again.
"I really hope 'em angels come back soon, for our sake." Bobby commented. Sam nodded, sat down next to Dean and awkwardly patted her back.
"Hey, Cas is flying around with an archangel. What could happen?"
"He's flying around with Gabriel, all kinds of screw-ups could happen!" Dean sobbed. Her words were muffled because her face was buried in her arms.
"That's not true!" Sam huffed.
Across the table, Bobby crossed his arms and sighed exasperated.
Suddenly, the lights flickered off, but right back on. It happened so fast that Dean didn't even notice it, but the other two hunters had already jumped up and grabbed shotguns. The lights flickered again and a light bulb in the kitchen exploded.
"Get her in the panic room!" Bobby shouted.
Dean looked up, the little exploding light bulb had startled her enough to stop crying. But she was still too worked up to think straight so Sam decided it was the fastest way to simply pick her up and carry her down.
"Hey, I'm not a baby!" Dean exclaimed angrily, but held onto Sam anyway because she didn't want to be dropped. Sam instantly regretted his decision to pick her up as the full boobs of his brother pressed against his chest. Awkwardly, he hurried down, dropped her on the panic room bed and got some steps in between them as fast as he could.
But the lights flickered also in the panic room.
"Whatever it is, it's down here also!" Sam called up.
"Check the sigils!" the older hunter's voice could be heard.
Sam immediately went to check the sigils. Dean still hadn't pulled herself fully together but she did her best to stay calm and check the sigils. The old hunting instincts kicked in and she managed to shove all besides for a moment and check the sigils, while the turmoil still boiled in her. Bobby joined them only a moment later.
"It calmed down up there right after you left." he said, cautiously looking around. The lights where still flickering in the panic room.
"The sigils look okay." Dean said. Her voice was still shaky, but she did her best to hide it. It wasn't much of an act, everyone who knew Dean could easily see her uneasiness.
Bobby looked Dean up and down, scrubbing his beard thoughtfully. "Dean, why don't'cha come up with me. Sam, follow us after a minute."
Sam followed Bobby's gaze and a light bulb lit up visibly in his brain.
"Sure!" Sam said.
"Okay... ?" Dean said, looking confused from one to the other..
They both went up, and the lights were still flickering upstairs.
"Hey, you said it stopped here!" Dean complained.
"Yeah, it did. Just wait a minute, Dean."
Sam went up after a minute. "Calm as a summer breeze down there."
Sam and Bobby both stared at Dean.
"What?"
"It's you." Bobby stated.
"What? That's bullshit!" Dean shouted. That moment, another light bulb exploded. A window flew open suddenly and a jolt of wind swept in the room, causing the curtains to fly and the papers on Bobby's desk to whirl around.
"Dean, you have a little angel in there." Sam explained. "You're all emotional, babies feel stuff like that."
"Bullshit. I'm not being emotional!"
"You were crying!" Sam insisted.
"We're NOT having this discussion!" Dean threw up her arms angrily. Two other light bulbs exploded that moment. The wind picked up also, and it seemed to swirl around Dean.
Dean lowered her hands in defeat.
"I suggest you calm down now." Bobby suggested.
Dean just stood there for a moment, staring down at the floor before she stormed up to her room.
/-/
Sam sighed and went up to look after Dean. He secretly glanced in her room to see her curled up on her bed, stroking her belly and singing Hey Jude silently. She seemed to try to calm down not only her baby but also herself. Her voice was still shaky, but she seemed to be on the right way. The lights flickered only lazily and the wind had died down.
Sam didn't want to disturb her so he went to his own room. He flopped down on his bunk, sighing heavily. He missed Gabriel. Dean was not the only one concerned about the missing angels. But his brother had always been there for him, and now was his turn to be strong for his brother. So he ignored his own strain and tried to support Dean. She was climbing the walls and he owed her that much and much more.
"Hey sweetheart! Long time no see."
Gabriel was standing in his door, holding a bottle of chocolate sauce in one hand and a bottle of lube in the other.
"Gabe!" Sam shouted, jumping of the bed and pulling Gabriel up into a fierce hug.
"Cas!" a high voice shrieked two doors down the hall.
Further down, the older hunter shook his head as he could hear two grown men (or rather a grown man and a girl that pretended to be a grown man) shrieking like little girls.
"Idjits" he muttered, but smiled fondly.
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Bobby had to wait longer than he expected before the two couples finally appeared downstairs. He had expected that they would need a few moments. But really, he didn't want to know what took them so long. Dean was practically glued to Cas side when they finally appeared, arms slung around each other in an intimate way they didn't show often. Sam seemed relaxed, and Gabriel had his trademark mischievous smile playing on his lips.
"Okay, what took you so long to come back here, and why was this Balthazar here?" Bobby went right to business.
"Troubles up." Gabriel stated seriously. The playful smirk was gone now.
"This Balthazar dude told us already. So what's up up there? I have to worry about my baby?" Dean asked worriedly.
"Heaven has plans for you, Dean." Cas explained gravely. "They do not approve of our child and they intend to take it from us."
"They're not getting my baby!" Dean exclaimed.
"They wanna take it, not kill it?" Bobby asked. "What do they wanna do with it?"
"Keep your mouth shut and let me explain!" Gabriel cut in. "Theoretically, angels can't get babies. The only way lil' baby angels are made is when daddy creates them. I bet you buckos know that much."
The hunters nodded.
"And now Cassie has gone, after screwing around with fate and free will and everything, and knocked this little mortal up. That made quite some waves upstairs. Some think Dean could be a new Maria. Others think it's against nature or whatever. But Raphael has decided to take advantage of the situation."
"How could Dean's baby be of any use to Raphael?" Sam asked confused.
"I already told you that angels don't have babies! And a lot of us died recently. The apocalypse wasn't exactly fun, ya know?"
"We remember."
"We're pretty short in numbers. Raphael wants to make a full angel out of the baby and let it join the heavenly forces."
"Wait," Bobby said, "you're saying, basically, that there is a way to make a seraphim out of a nephilim?"
"They think they can do it. But no one knows if it will work or if it dies in the process." Cas said darkly.
"Hey wait, why me?" Dean asked. "Why doesn't Raphael come down and knock up his own baby when he's so wild on the experiment?"
"'Cause it's not that easy, bucko! Nephilims shouldn't even be possible in the first place. You think our dad would hard wire us to fuck around like bunnies? Or like humans? You're one of a few, very rare cases, if not the only one. No one knows for sure. Not even I know how it works. But it's got something to do with true love and all that shit. I knew it would work with you and Cas."
Dean flustered considerably and looked down to the ground.
"Let's get back to the case." Bobby suggested. "You know already how they want to do it?"
"Not exactly, but I was able to pick up a few things. Not even ol' Raphie can keep a secret from god's messenger." Gabriel grinned. But he was serious when he continued.
"They need to rip apart what's soul and what's grace in whatever it is the baby's gonna have. They can't do it before it's born. But when it's born it's too late already. If they kill it after it's born, the soul-grace-whatever will die as it is and go to heaven, just like every other soul. We're not too sure about that, though. Maybe it's gonna be mortal, maybe not. But they think it'll work that way, so they need to kill it when it comes out of Dean or shortly after, while it is still weak. I think they first want to kill Dean to shatter the only bond the soul has to the mortal world, and then they will kill the baby. The birth will be so stressful on the baby that its soul will be weak. With the death of its mom in the same moment, it will be weak enough to shatter it, send the soul part upstairs to its mom and take what's left back to the garrison. It would never be as strong as a real angel. It would only be a weak excuse for an angel, but the mortal part would be gone so it would be like us in every other aspect."
Gabriel paused shortly before he continued.
"And if whatever's left is an agonized, crazed freak Raphie will kill it."
They sat silently for a moment, Gabriel's explanations hanging heavily over the group. Sam's face was a frown of pure horror, while Dean stared darkly at no point in particular. Even Bobby looked unsettled.
"I won't let that happen." Cas growled sternly. He took Dean's hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
Dean looked up into his hard, determined eyes. She held his gaze as she said just as sternly, "We won't let that happen."
"Okay." Bobby sighed. "Now that's that, but we also have another problem."
The angels looked at him curiously.
"The little one's already working its mojo."
Gabriel grinned. "So strong already?"
Neither of the angels seemed worried. Castiel just stared at Dean's belly in awe. Gabriel even seemed to look fond - although it was hard to tell with Gabriel if he was fooling or not.
"What did the lil' prankster do?"
"It seemed to feel Dean's outburst and started playing with the lights and made a mess of my table." Bobby answered, nodding at his table. The papers and books were still scattered everywhere around.
"I see." Castiel said softly. "I should be able to prevent something like this in the future."
"It can't zap out of my belly, right?" Dean suddenly asked, panic written all over her face.
"Don't be ridiculous, Dean-o!" Gabriel laughed. "What you saw was only a bit unconscious mojo-stretching. It can't do anything bigger than that for a bit longer."
"Cas, I have my ultrasound tomorrow. You'll come with me, right?" Dean asked.
Cas frowned. "What is an ultrasound?"
"The doctors take a look in my belly and show us a picture of our baby!" Dean explained, a happy smile on her face.
"I would like that." Cas smiled.
"Uhm, Dean, you do realise that you might not be able to get the baby like normal women?" Sam asked hesitantly.
"That doesn't mean I can't do the tests!" Dean snapped.
"But they won't tell you anything." Bobby stated. "Nobody knows what's normal for a nephilim."
"Cas and I would notice if anything's wrong inside you, Dean-o."
Dean glared at them. "And if I wanna know what's it gonna be? You can tell me that, Gabriel?"
"Call it Gabriella when it's a girl!" Gabriel grinned.
