Author's note: Thanks a lot to Ghastly Eternity for beta-reading and to Mankatuna, Mello18, midnight0211, Maddy Love Castiel, AzzaBbby, Larkafree, FireChildSlytherin5, Tendencia, No pen names left, keacdragon and kb18142 for last chapter's reviews.

9

Apparently, selling the idea of free will to angels was a lot like trying to sell vibrators to nuns. Sure, some might jump at the opportunity and some might be mildly curious at least, but most would just be baffled by the very concept or scandalized by the idea.

At least, Dean supposed that was how nuns worked. Nuns who weren't starring in porn, anyway.

The point was that Castiel might have found some angels who were very willing to follow his lead and take their lives into their own hands, but most would prefer to keep things going as they had been. And Raphael was very much encouraging that way of thinking with his entire 'the Apocalypse didn't work out as planned, let's try it again!' policy.

Lucky for them, it didn't look like Raphael knew how exactly he could open the cage, for the moment being. That only gave them some time, however. The angels would eventually come up with a way for sure, they had before, after all.

Repeating all the facts for Sam and Bobby's benefits did nothing to make Dean's mood better and the fact that Gabriel was snoring and drooling against the crook of the younger Winchester's neck didn't help, either.

Actually, what was annoying the older Winchester was that it really started to look like his brother and the damn archangel were attached to each other permanently. He hadn't really seen Sam without Gabriel ever since they had picked him up in Walkerville and it was beginning to bother Dean a little. Especially since they had no real clue what the archangel could do and was possibly already doing without any of them noticing.

"I suppose we cannot expect any more help from your father," Bobby stated matter-of-factly.

If God didn't lift a finger to stop the Apocalypse while it was going on, it was highly doubtful that he would do anything against one of his children wanting to bring it back. Then again, if Bobby felt like being overly optimistic he would say that He might have given them some aid in the form of the two formerly dead people He had brought back. Though how exactly Gabriel was meant to be useful in the state he was in was up for questioning.

"That's assuming that it even was God who brought us back," Sam added in a hushed tone as to not disturb the sleeping infant.

Sure, the younger Winchester assumed that it was so himself, but this was the perfect chance to get the input of someone who had been brought back to life by God before.

"There might be other entities that could have pulled you from the cage," Castiel replied seriously, "But I do not believe that anybody else could have resurrected Gabriel."

And that pretty much settled the matter.

"And He simply could not remember how small exactly Gabriel was before and overdid it a little?" Dean asked sarcastically, even though he really should have known better than to use sarcasm with his angelic friend.

"I do believe this is his punishment," Castiel answered without acknowledging the tone the older Winchester had used at all.

As a matter of fact, there was no reason whatsoever for Gabriel to be in the shape he was unless their father had wanted him to be. It couldn't have been a mistake or and accident and there was no room for doubt about that in the angel's mind.

Sam stroked the baby's back absentmindedly as he listened to the explanation Castiel had come up with. He didn't like the thought that Gabriel was being punished and might be suffering in some way. Granted, the infant didn't seem to be in any sort of distress most of the time. The only exceptions being things that might upset any other baby, as well.

"Why punish him like this?" the younger Winchester asked with a frown, "There had to be other and probably more practical options."

Castiel simply shrugged in an imitation of a gesture he had seen other people do quite often. It looked quite strange – by far too tense and drawn out just a little too long – when the angel did it, however.

"Fact is," Dean stated thoughtfully after a moment of consideration, "The littlest douchebag angel should be able to tip the scale in our favor once he's his slightly less little self again."

He wouldn't have lost a word about it, but Sam liked that thought even less. He knew what sort of a reaction he would get from his brother – and maybe even the others – if he had said that he really didn't want them talking about Gabriel playing a part in any violent angelic conflicts as long as he was an infant though, so he kept silent. To tell the truth, Sam was a little concerned by the fact that protecting the baby seemed to come to him so naturally, as well.

"Looks like we've got a whole lot of research to do," Bobby more or less agreed with what the older Winchester had just said, "And I ain't doing it by myself. You're coming with me."

Dean didn't miss a beat to complain half-heartedly about how unfair it was that he had to go, but he knew that Cas – no matter how little he showed it – needed the rest and Sam couldn't really carry heavy books around as long as he had that angelic growth attached to his shoulder. Of course, the older Winchester might have argued about the possibility to put the freaking baby down for a fucking minute with his younger brother, but he opted to go for the more peaceful route and help with finding a way to force Gabriel to grow up.

He really hoped that there wouldn't be any more cuddling once that happened!

Well, if there was that would at least give them all a dead certain sign that Sam was – in fact – acting strange because of the archangel.

"Hey Cas," Sam began a little awkwardly once the other two men had left the room, "I'm… I'm sorry. Y'know, last time we saw each other… I'm really glad God brought you back."

This had to be one of the hardest apologies the younger Winchester had had to make in his entire life. How did you say sorry to someone for killing them, after all? Especially if it was actually the devil using your body at the time. Sam still felt that he should apologize, though. If only – or mostly – for not preventing Lucifer from doing it.

It came as a big surprise when Castiel simply stood up from the couch he had been resting on and gave Sam a short but tight hug.

"I understand this is the appropriate response to the resurrection of a friend," the angel stated, standing in front of the human a little awkwardly now that the moment was over.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks Cas," Sam replied with a short dimpled smile. It was a nice – if surprising – gesture, after all.

The angel took the opportunity to take a closer look at the baby archangel while he was this close to him, already. He might not show it as clearly as Balthazar had, but the entire situation was fascinating and highly baffling.

"It seems my brother is leaking," Castiel suddenly stated in a completely serious tone which made it impossible for the younger Winchester to keep a straight face.

"Yeah, he's quite the drooler," Sam managed between chuckles before a more serious thought came to his mind again, "What I don't get is why he even sleeps, though. Angels don't need sleep, right? He obviously has some of his powers and he doesn't need to breathe…"

The younger Winchester trailed off at that point, but of course mentioning that he knew for a fact that Gabriel did not have to breathe if he didn't get the chance didn't faze Castiel at all.

"I would think that he simply likes it," the angel suggested, looking at the infant quizzically.

Which would explain why the baby ate, too. Not having to do something and being unable to do it were two different things, after all. And Sam sure was relieved to hear that everything was within the limits of what would be considered normal for an angel.

Dean and Bobby came back carrying a lot of books before the younger Winchester could have made any more questions. The most pressing matters had been addressed already, anyway.

"So, you might start to crawl, babble and teethe," Sam told Gabriel silently as he tried to feed him some more pudding while still reading through the website he had just found, "Normal babies your age would, anyway."

Which meant that the archangel might start to do any of these things and also start to smite people, use his powers however the hell he wanted and – heaven forbids – fly. The thing was that none of them really knew what to expect from the angelic part of Gabriel being an angel baby. Sam figured he might at least gather some information about the baby part, though.

"And the suggested diet says nothing about applesauce and pudding only," the younger Winchester added in a slightly reprimanding tone that made the infant look at him questioningly for a moment before he simply went on happily devouring his pudding.

"Dude, this is not the sort of research you should be doing here," Dean pointed out, taking a look over his brother's shoulder as he went into the kitchen to get himself and Bobby something to drink, "You're really getting way too much into the mommy business!"

Sam secretly completely agreed with his brother about the latter, but he couldn't help wanting to be prepared for his new role as a caretaker of a young child. Especially since he didn't have any clue when he would get rid of it again.

"Glad you're being so mature about it, Dean," he replied out loud instead, "And if anything, it's daddy business."

The younger Winchester knew perfectly well that he wasn't doing himself a favor with his last comment, of course. It just had felt like something he really wanted to point out, though. There hadn't really been a reason not to do it, either.

"How could I ever think otherwise?" the older Winchester shot back sarcastically, "Bitch."

No matter how that might have sounded to someone else they both knew that there was no heat behind their little argument. In fact, it was just their form of brotherly banter that let them both know that things were at least sort of okay, even though they might still have many things to deal with.

"Did you find anything useful at all before you decided to indulge your weird fascination with toddlers?" Dean asked once he had gotten two bottles of beer from the fridge and was about to go back to the study.

"There's a lot of stuff about the fountain of youth and related things, but that's counterproductive I'd say," Sam shrugged, "And of course there are curses to make someone age rapidly."

But that obviously wasn't what they were looking for, either. Not to mention that using a curse or dark arts spell even for a good purpose was highly risky, in any case.

"Basically the same crap we've been wading through then," Dean groaned and turned to leave the kitchen for good before he thought of something else, "I'm going on a supply run later. Anything in particular I should get?"

The younger Winchester considered that question for a few moments. There were a couple of things he figured might be useful to get for Gabriel, but he didn't think he could send his brother into a baby store and expect a satisfying outcome.

"More pudding," Sam finally answered, "Maybe some vanilla flavor for a change. Guess trying to get him actually healthy baby meals would be like throwing money out of the window, anyway."

Dean snorted amusedly and shook his head at his brother. Yeah right, like Gabriel would ever be convinced that any of Sam's rabbit food might be better than all the deliciously artificial flavors and sweeteners of the meals he was currently having. After all, he hadn't been able to convince Dean of the same and – no matter what Sam might say – Dean was able to comprehend logical arguments and go for the more beneficial option instead of the simply pleasurable one.

"Right, you're totally not in mommy mode," the older Winchester chuckled and left before his brother could say anything.

The younger Winchester huffed and threw a glare – that totally wasn't a bitchface – after his brother's receding form. He had the bad feeling that this wasn't the last time he had ever heard that particular joke or a variation of it, though.

"Brothers. Can't live with them, absolutely can't live without them," Sam sighed and shook his head slightly to get rid of the unwanted thoughts he had just brought upon himself. After all, thinking about the time Dean spent in hell was about as bad as thinking about…

Gabriel suddenly exhaled soundly and rubbed his face against the younger Winchester's shirt. It should never be said that the infant archangel wasn't willing to share. He shared his annoyance with everyone, he shared his drool with Sam mostly and he was all too willing to share the leftover pudding on his face with Sam's shirt.

The younger Winchester grabbed one of the napkins on the table to wipe the infant's face with and put the pacifier back into the archangel's mouth when he was done. Yes, he knew pretty well what Gabriel wanted and when he would want it. He was really good at picking up the signs the infant was giving him, by this point.

"We're a good team, Gabe," Sam decided, giving the content and happy baby a smile, "Know what? Try not to forget that once you're an adult again."