School was going well. Once Castiel got used to the routine, he became one of the top students in the class. It took him some time, but he finally found the gift that Gabriel had hidden in his backpack: a pure golden feather from one of Gabe's own wings. So he would be there, even when he wasn't actually there. Cas put it away again and never said a word about it.

He wished he could talk to someone about what was going on between Luci and Mike. Every angel, from highest to lowest, was aware of the tension between the two archangels, and while most simply stayed out of their way, Cas wanted to help, somehow. But Raph didn't want to talk about it, Gabe told him to keep his distance or he'd get hurt, and Father was nowhere to be found.

"Gabe," Cas asked one night before bed, "where's Father gone?"

His brother looked a bit startled by the question. "You've never asked about Him before. You haven't even seen Him since you were born. Why do you want to see Him now?"

"I thought maybe . . . maybe He could talk to Mike and Luci. Get them to stop fighting."

"Yeah, at this point I think that's what it's gonna take," Gabe muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing. Go to sleep, baby bro. Big day tomorrow."

Castiel took a long time falling asleep. He was worried about his family falling apart without their Father to guide them. He wondered if he'd ever see Him again.


"I have a surprise for you," Gabriel said, as soon as Cas woke up. "Eat your breakfast first. You'll need your strength."

"For what? School?"

Gabe leaned forward with a huge grin on his face. "You're not goin' to school today, kiddo. This is tons better."

"Won't I get in trouble for not going to school?"

"Not if you're with me. If anyone asks, I'll tell them I'm taking you for an independent educational experience."

"Inda . . . edjoo . . . what?"

"A field trip. Like the time we went to see the dinosaurs-you remember that?"

"Yeah," Castiel said, though he didn't really, because he'd been very young at the time. All he remembered was chasing after some fuzzy flying thing nearly as big as his head. The rest of what he thought he remembered was what Gabe had told him, including running from a huge thing with lots of teeth that wanted to eat him. "Are we gonna see the dinosaurs again?"

"Fraid not, bro. They're all dead now."

"Dead? Why?"

Gabe shrugged. "Rocks fell and all of them died. There's all new animals now. We might see a few of them."

"We're going to Earth?" the boy asked excitedly. "Are we gonna see Father's special project?"

"Sorry, squirt. No can do. Dad says hands off till it's ready. But we can see other parts of the world that He's not working on. Now eat. There's only so much daylight down there, and we don't wanna waste it."

Cas finished his HalO's in record time, shoveling them down so fast that Gabe had to stop him. "Whoa, whoa, easy there, kiddo! You'll get a stomachache, and then we won't be able to have any fun. Now chew your food. I gotta go get the stuff, anyway."

"Stuff?" Cas said, when he had swallowed what was in his mouth.

"You'll see, Cassie. Eat. Slowly. I'll be back."

Castiel ate. Slowly. He could hear various thumps and bumps, as well as Gabe swearing under his breath, and it sounded like it was coming from the closet. What was he doing? What was in the closet, anyway? Cas' old outgrown clothes, maybe. His baby toys, waiting for the next baby (if there ever was one). Nothing he needed on a daily basis.

When he had finished his cereal, he put the bowl in the sink, just as Gabe came back carrying something in his arms. "Here," he said, tossing it to Cas, "you'll need to put this on. It's very cold where you're going. The cold doesn't affect me, but I don't want you to freeze."

Castiel unfolded a thick bundle of cloth. It was a quilted snowsuit that looked about his size. "Do I put this on over my clothes?"

"Yep, and zip it up tight. Don't forget the boots! And the hat and gloves." He tossed each item to his younger brother, who dropped one of the boots and both gloves. "Never mind, I'll help you. Put that stuff down and I'll get it."

Cas dropped the hat and the remaining boot and sat down on the floor. "Where are we going that's so cold?"

"I told you: Earth. A part that's under a thick sheet of ice right now. Lift your legs up."

Cas did so, and Gabe slipped his little legs into the pant legs of the snowsuit. "Now your arms."

"Am I gonna be able to move in this thing?"

"I hope so! It'll be boring playing in the snow if you can't move!" Gabe reached out and zipped the suit up to just under Cas' chin. "Hat and gloves now."

"I'm gonna get in trouble for not going to school, aren't I?"

"Of course not! We're fine."

"Are you sure?"

Gabe held him by the shoulders. "Cassie," he said, "I already told Mike you wouldn't be in class today. He's fine with it. Well, okay, he's not thrilled, but he said it was all right. So stop worrying! Relax and have a good time!"

"Okay."

"Great! Put on the hat and gloves while I get the rest of the stuff."

"Rest of what?"

There was a thumping, bumping sound, and Gabe came back in dragging something big and round. "I wasn't sure the pump would work in the freezing cold," he said, "so I blew it up now. Hope it fits through the portal with us. I'll hold it." He picked it up and held it lengthwise against his body.

"What's that?"

"It's a Fun Tube! You sit on this and slide down the hill over the snow! I got the big one so we could ride together!" He beamed at the boy, who only looked confused.

"Um . . . okay."

"And that's not all! Look what else I got you!" He held up two long planks of wood. "Huh? Huh?"

"What?"

"They're skis! To go skiing! And ski, on the snow, and stuff!"

"I don't get it."

Gabe sighed in irritation. "I'll show you what to do with them. You'll love it! C'mon, we don't want to miss our ride!"

Cas found it hard to walk in the snowsuit; it was so bulky and thick that he could barely move. And it was hot! He voiced his complaints to Gabe as they made their way slowly through the corridors to the Exit Hatch.

"Of course it's hot! It's meant to keep you warm in the cold. We'll be there very soon, and you'll be glad it's so warm. Try and keep up, we're almost there!"

It was almost impossible to keep up with his brother's longer strides, but Castiel tried. He was just glad no one was around to see him waddling along in this thing. The kids in school would never let him live this down.

They made it to the portal between Heaven and Earth. An angel that Castiel had never met before was monitoring it today.

"And where are we going?" he asked. His eyes lingered on Cas in his puffy snowsuit, but he said nothing about it.

"Right here." Gabriel pointed to a spot on the map. "Far, far away from You Know What."

"I hope so. That's off-limits until further notice. Isn't this little one supposed to be in school?"

"Field trip. I have special permission."

"Right," the angel nodded, as if he didn't quite believe that. "All right, both of you stand together on the white circle. This should only take a minute."

The two young angels moved to stand side by side in the middle of the white circle. Cas was worried he wouldn't fit because of the bulky snowsuit, but if Gabe stood slightly in front of him, they just managed to fit inside the circle.

There was a humming, and then a bright white light enveloped them. When the light faded, Cas thought at first that they were still in the circle, because everything was white. He blinked several times and looked around. Everything was white, all over the ground, and the trees, and the mountains in the distance. And it was cold! Now he could see why Gabe had made him wear such a thick outer garment.

"Welcome," Gabe said, "to Russia. Or what will one day be Russia, anyway. You don't need to know the whole future history; we're here to enjoy ourselves! The sledding hill is over this way, the snowball fight range is over there, and just beyond the little dip there is a place with thick, soft snow that's perfect for building snow creations. I'll show you how."

"Why is it so cold?"

"Because it is. I don't know. Parts of this world are warm right now, and parts are cold. Maybe next time we'll go surfing in Hawaii-when it pokes itself out of the ocean, anyway."

Cas didn't understand a word that Gabe was saying. Ocean? What was an ocean? Was it warm or cold?

"Let's hit the hill first, what do you say? Since I spent all that time blowing up this monstrosity." Gabe dropped the Fun Tube onto the ground and towed it along behind him as they made their way to the top of the hill.

"What do we do now?" Cas asked him.

"Now," said Gabe, a huge smile crossing his face, "we slide down. All the way to the bottom. Here, you get in the front. Don't forget to hang on!"

Cas climbed into the front of the contraption, trying to hold onto the slick sides of the tube. He found that if he put his arms around the outside and squeezed, he could hang on that way. He just hoped it didn't slow them down.

Gabe hopped into the back and reached down so his hands were on the bare snow. "Ready?"

Cas nodded.

"Here we go!" Gabe pushed off as hard as he could, and they went flying down the hill.

It felt like the time that he had been pushed off the cliff when Gabe was trying to teach him to fly. The wind whipped past his face, stinging his exposed skin. The Fun Tube bounced and bumped, and Cas gripped the sides even harder, so that he wouldn't fall out. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't see the ground rising up to meet him . . .

And then the tube slid to a stop on the level ground at the base of the hill. Cas waited a full minute after it had stopped moving before he dared open his eyes. "Is it over?"

"You okay, kiddo?" Gabe was looking down at him with an expression of concern.

Cas turned his head and looked back up the hill. Wow, it was a lot higher than he had thought. And yet, the ride down seemed to have taken no time at all.

"Can we go again?" he asked.

Gabe laughed. "Sure we can! As many times as you want. Let's go!"

They went down the hill four more times, and each time was more exciting than the last, now that Cas knew what to expect. After the fourth time, Gabe called a halt and said it was time to try the skis.

It took a long time to strap the two planks securely to the young angel's feet, so that they wouldn't go flying off down the hill ahead of him.

"Are they too tight?" Gabe asked. "They're not too tight, are they? I mean, they're supposed to be tight, but if they're hurting you, let me know."

"No," Cas said. "They're not too tight." It was a weird feeling, but he could handle it.

"What do I do now?"

"You push off with the poles-not yet! Not till I tell you to!" Gabe looked down the hill and whistled. "That's a long way down."

"It wasn't too bad in the tube."

"Yeah, well, in the tube, you were a little more protected. On skis, you're out there all alone. Well, not alone, cause I'm here, but you've got nothing surrounding you but trees. And they're not soft, so don't hit any of them!"

Cas looked around. There were lots of trees, but they were set pretty far back from the side of the hill, and the only way he would hit one would be to go sideways. "I'll be okay."

"You know what? Let's move to the other side of the hill and use the practice slope."

"There's another side?"

In response, Gabe snapped his fingers. Suddenly they were no longer on the steep slope, but in a place where the hill was not quite as frightening.

"Okay, we can practice here a bit. Get the basics of it before we try the tougher course. First, get into the proper stance: legs together, poles out, head up. Let's see it!"

"Legs together." Cas shuffled his skis so that they were touching. "Poles out." He stuck his arms straight out and planted his poles in the snow. "Head up." He straightened up and looked directly in front of him.

"Good, good. Now push off with your poles and shift your body weight forward."

Cas managed the first but not the second. His skis went out from under him and he landed on his fortunately well-padded butt. Worse, when he tried to get up, the skis got in the way. "Help! I'm stuck!"

Gabe sighed and shook his head. "This is why we practice. All right, try rolling over on your hands and knees."

"I tried! I can't get the skis to flip over!"

"Okay, fine." Gabe reached down and helped Cas up. "This time, try shifting your weight before you push off with the poles. See if that helps."

Cas did. This time, he was able to stay upright until he reached the bottom of the slope. "I did it! I did it!"

"Great job, kid! Wanna go again?"

It got easier the more he tried. After about an hour, Gabriel told him to take the skis off.

"I know you're having fun," he said, "but if we don't stop now, we won't get in any snowman-making time. And you don't wanna miss that!"

"What's a snowman?"

"Come with me and find out."

Gabe tossed the skis into the Fun Tube and invited Cas to climb aboard as well. Cas crouched in the bottom of the tube and tried to hang on as Gabe towed him across the snow field to a broad, flat place where the snow was deep.

"And here," he said, helping the boy out of the tube, "is where we will make our first snowman. You start by scooping up some snow, like this," and he bent down and gathered up a bit of snow with his bare hand, "and form it into a little ball."

Cas reached down and gathered the snow into the palm of his glove.

"Pack it in tight. You want it to be solid enough to stand on its own. This is a snowball. Keep that in mind for later, if we have time for a snowball fight. But right now, you want to roll that snowball around until it gets bigger and bigger." He demonstrated, rolling his little snowball across the snow until it formed a thick round ball about waist-high.

Cas tried, but his snowball kept getting away from him. "I can't do it."

"Oh, let me see." Gabe rolled Cas' snowball back and forth, packing it into a good-sized mound of snow. "That's good enough. Mine is the body of the snowman. This smaller ball goes on top; that's his torso. Now we need one the size of a head. You think you can do that?"

"I'll try." Cas rolled himself another snowball, trying to pack it in tight, and this time it held together. "Is this big enough?"

"That'll do, Cassie. Bring it over here. Carefully!"

Cas cradled his snowball in his arms like a precious object. He set it on top of the other two balls of snow, a bit off-center at first, but then he fixed it. "How's that?"

"Looks great! Now we need sticks for his arms, and some little pebbles for his face. Can you find those?"

"How long?"

"Doesn't matter. It's not like we're gonna bring him to life or anything. They don't even have to be the same length. Hurry up and find them, it's getting late."

"Have we been here all day?" Cas looked up at the sky. The sun had been high overhead when they had arrived, but now it was dipping down toward the western ridge, and there were pink streaks along the horizon. "Wow. Didn't feel like we were here that long."

"Did you have fun today?"

"Sure did! Snow is great! Can we come back?"

"Any time you want, little brother. Just say the word."

There was a hum and a shimmer of light, and Raphael appeared before them. "So this is where you've been all day."

"Yep. Kid's been working so hard in school, he deserves a little R and R."

"Not on my watch. I don't allow unscheduled absences from school for any reason."

"Since when are you a teacher?"

"Since Michael needs to handle . . . other things. He needs to see us, by the way. Where is Castiel going?"

At the sound of his name, Cas turned and said, "I'm going to get some stuff for our snowman."

"That will have to wait till next time, little one. We need to leave now."

"We'll come back and finish Frosty another day," Gabe said. "Get your stuff together and let's go."

Cas sighed and picked up the rope tied to the front of the Fun Tube. He could just manage to pull it across the snow, following his brothers back to the point where they'd entered this world.

All of a sudden, something wet and cold hit the back of Raphael's neck. He didn't even need to turn around to know what it was.

"So that's how it is, eh?"

His only response was another snowball, this time to the back of his head.

"Oh, it is so on, brother!" He bent down and scooped up the perfect snowball, which hit Gabe square in the face.


In his office, Michael looked at the three dripping, shivering angels and asked, "Which one of you wants to explain this?"