A/N: So this chapter takes place between chapter 5 and 6. Thought I would clear that up so there won't be any confusion

Castiel in Pieces

Chapter 7

Gabriel looked up at Jack. They were at the local diner; the two of them had walked to it. Gabriel wanted to conserve his grace. He frowned to himself and wondered if he will ever get it back to hundred percent.

Jack poured more syrup on his pancakes and smiled. "Sam never lets me use this much syrup." He sat the bottle down which was now half gone because of the two of them. "He says too much sugar will rot your teeth." He dug his forks into the pancakes. "Ummm Uncle, thanks for…"

"You're welcome kid." He had long finished off his pancakes. He sipped on a cup of coffee.

"I… needed this." He sat down the fork his pancakes had long been defeated. Jack looked tired and defeated, ran his hands over his face and sighed. "I just can't believe this happened. I wanted to help my father not hurt him. I just," He ran his hand over his arm, and flinched when he hit the bruises and cuts that were healing.

Gabriel nodded. "I know kid it's hard. I don't like to see him like that either." He gripped his cup and frowned. Memories lingered in the back of his mind; he looked up at Jack again. Jack reminded him a lot of young Castiel; if he didn't know better he would have honestly thought that Cas fathered him. He looked at the bruises on Jack's arms. "And kid despite what you think you do not need to be punished."

Jack pulled down his jacket sleeve. "I know I just. I hurt my father. What if we can't help Castiel, what if he is like that forever? Never remembering me or Sam or… Dean." He picked up the straw paper and began to roll it in his hand. Gabe noted the kid was clearly nervous. "Dean got so, so mad at me before… Uncle he blamed me for Lucifer killing him I can't," He choked back a sob and started to fold the paper. "I can't deal with it. If Dean hates me again," He balled up the paper and tossed it on the table.

"Dean's not going to help you because we are going to fix Cas." He said

Jack raised an eye brow. "We?" He asked

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah Jack I'm going to teach you how to fix it."

"Why can't you do it?"

He sighed. "Jack I'm still recovering. I… dude I have no idea when it will recover enough to fix Cas. It would be faster just to teach you how to do it."

Jack blinked. "But how? I already messed up Gabriel how can I fix it?"

"I'll teach you." He sipped his coffee. "I've taught fledglings before."

"Taught fledglings before?" He asked with a slight head tilt

He nodded. "Yeah. What did you think angels just woke up knowing how to use their powers?"

Jack shrugged. "Kind of actually, I never really got to ask Castiel about it so I just assumed that."

He shook his head. "Nope Jackie, can I call you Jackie? The archangels showed the lesser angels how to use their powers, including Cas."

"You knew Castiel when he was younger?"

"Yeah knew him when he was younger."

"So… can you tell me about him when he was younger?"

He laughed. "Want blackmail material for the future do you? Well Cas was… he was a quick learner." He looked at his coffee. He felt uneasy talking about it. Castiel was under his care his guardianship and… he bit his lip. "This one is special Gabriel. You will see." He remembered when his father told him that after he left him the group of angels he was to train. They were supposed to be soldiers, they had their own jobs assessments and tasks and… Gabriel realized pretty earlier that Castiel had a natural curiosity about him. Jack was looked at him eyes wide expecting more of a story. "So," Gabriel started. "Cas was always curious about things. He was more interested in humans than most angels. Most of them seen humanity as well beneath them. Cas wanted to observe which was odd for angel especially a solider. I didn't question it I just let him… I would take him to Earth and let him watch the humans and how they interacted with one another. He truly cared for God's creations." He smiled at the thought of the bright eyed angel who would look at the humans, and ask questions. "I remember trying to teach him how to fly." He laughed. "That was hilarious, he one time landed in the ocean." He laughed.

Jack smirked. "So everyone has to learn." He studied the table. "Does it take long?"

"Sometimes, usually it takes about a few weeks, months depending on the angel in question."

"Can I ask another question?"

"Yeah Jack."

"Why did you leave heaven? I've come to understand that angels are 'dicks' as Dean puts it but if you were an archangel why did you leave? Weren't you in charge?"

Gabriel sighed. The magic question, someone was bound to ask him about it. "Well Jack…" He frowned. "Michael and Raphael were pretty broken up about dad, your grandfather, leaving. I was pretty upset by it too, hell all of us that knew about it which wasn't that many. We decided to keep heaven going without pops. After all he left us the keys to the kingdom best we could do was keep it going for him. We had a set of checks and balances in place… we ran things smoothly for a while then… the in fighting started. They had plans, plans I didn't like. Well they didn't like the fact that I didn't agree with how they were doing things and…" He frowned the thought of it hurt. How his own family could turn against him so fast. "They started brainwashing angels, and whipping away memories."

Jack frowned. "And that happened to Castiel correct? That's how I broke him right I recovered all his memories."

"Yeah, Cas was one of the first ones they got to. See they sent him and few other angels to kill the first born in Egypt,"

"Oh I read that story in the Bible." He flashed a smile and nodded.

"Yeah see trouble was Cas decided he liked one of the kids. Refused, flatly told them he would not take the child's life or that of any child. Said the children shouldn't be punished for the adults. Well my brothers decided that Cas needed to be reprogrammed." Gabriel frowned the memory hurt. He remembered he showed up when they called him and there was Castiel strapped to the table. He screamed and begged Gabriel to help. Gabriel shook his head at the raw memories. "He was one of the first ones that they 'corrected' as they put it. The infighting got worse after that, I couldn't trust my brothers and they didn't trust me. I was worried they would 'correct' me next so I left. I couldn't take the fighting anymore, I tried I tried to hang in but, I was scared I was a coward and I ran. I found Loki and me and him cut a deal," He pointed at himself. "He gave me this face and told me as long as I didn't get involved in the angel business I could play trickster."

Jack blinked. "I didn't know that… heaven was so…"

"It wasn't all bad Jack. The human souls I can say that they are at piece, they are in memories the greatest hits. They are content but the angels' mess it was a long time coming if I'm being honest." He finished his coffee. "I brought you out here to help you feel better and now we are talking about my past." He laughed.

"I am sorry Gabriel. I was just curious."

"It's fine. Nice to think about the past from time to time." He got up from the table. "Let's go kid they are probably starting to look for us."

Jack gave a nod and followed him and the two started their journey back to the Bunker.