Chapter 14
"Cas?" Dean asked, surprised by the angels sudden appearance.
"Crowley?" Chuck asked, unfazed by the angel's presence and more concerned that Dean had been talking with a demon.
"Your brother brought you here in order to protect you, that's what we agreed upon, and you decide to summon a demon?" Castiel's usual indifferent tone was on angry.
"Bwought me here? Don't you mean you two abandoned me here?" Dean asked irritated.
"We did not abandon you." Castiel insisted.
"Yeah, well I though' Cwowley migh' know wha' di' this since no-one else seems to have any idea wha's goin' on." Dean growled, receiving almost guilty looks from Chuck and Castiel. "An' he di', he said we shou' talk to Gabwiel. So go on," he waved his hand as an indication for Castiel to summon the fellow angel.
"Go where?" Castiel asked, confused as ever.
Dean sighed, "You know, call him or use tha' angel wadio thin', or wha'ever you do to call e'other." Dean climbed to sit on the bed, waiting for the angel to contact Gabriel.
"You really trust Crowley?" Chuck asked him, from the visions he'd had that involved the demon, he hadn't come across as a very trustworthy person, actually he'd come across as the complete opposite.
"He's a demon, Dean." Castiel added, emphasising Chuck's point.
"Well, i's our only lead and I'm sick of this." He said gesturing to his age regressed body.
"Sam's back tomorrow, right?" Chuck asked, hoping to find a way to buy them some time. The last thing he needed was another angel in his house, especially one with such a cruel sense of humour. "So why don't you at least wait until he gets back. He might've found a way to reverse the spell by then anyway." He prayed this would keep Dean from summoning the archangel.
"Fine, I'll wait till Sam ge's back so you can stop glawing a' me Cas." Dean groaned, moving his hand to stifle his yawn. Chuck sighed, relieved they had momentarily averted summoning Gabriel. "Wha' are you doin' here anyway? I though' you an' Sam were a team now." Dean questioned, still resentful that his brother had gone on a hunt without him.
"Sam thought it would be best for me to stay here with you, ensure that no harm was inflicted on you." He explained, Dean pouted, annoyed that his brother thought he needed another babysitter. "What happened to your arm?" Castiel asked, already feeling like he had failed his objective.
"I spwained i' when we wen' to the park." Dean explained, strategically leaving out the part involving the bullies.
"He was pushed over by an older kid." Chuck added, unaware Dean hadn't planned not mentioning that part.
"Why would someone push you over?" Castiel asked. "There would be no benefit to that."
"He di' i' 'cause he was a bully; tha's wha' they do." Dean explained bitterly. "An' can we no' mention the bully to Sam?" he looked up at chuck. "I don' wan' him to thin' I'm even more pathe'ic."
"Okay, I guess." Chuck replied, suddenly guilty for telling Castiel the truth.
"Do you want me to heal your arm?" Castiel offered, raising his hand in preparation.
"No." Dean protested, thinking about Chuck's invitation to Lucy and Clara and how it would seem weird that his wrist had completely healed overnight. "I' doesn' even hur' tha' much." He said, biting back the scream of pain he wanted to release when he moved his bandaged arm to illustrate his point.
"If that's what you wish." Castiel complied, despite seeing the obvious pain Dean was in.
"Do you want to go to sleep now?" Chuck asked when Dean yawned for a second time, this one lasting longer.
"No," Dean fought, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I'm no' tired." He claimed around another yawn.
"Are you certain?" Castiel asked, recognising the human indication of tiredness.
"Yeah," Dean said rapidly blinking to keep himself awake. "I's only eigh' o'clock." He stated, this was still considered early afternoon to his adult self.
"A child's body needs a vast quantity of sleep in order to develop and function correctly." Castiel pointed out.
"So, I'm no' ac'ually a ki'. I developed jus' fine." Dean yawned sleepily, laying his head down on the pillow, eyes fluttering closed. "I'm wi' awake." He said dreamily before drifting off into sleep.
"I think he was lying." Castiel observed seriously, Chuck smiled, amused at how the angel didn't understand humans at all, his point was emphasised when Castiel tilted his head, confused to why Chuck was smirking.
Dean threw his arm out, searching for something and becoming jittery when he couldn't find it. Chuck rushed downstairs when he realised what Dean was searching for; he returned within the minute, passing a confused looking Becky on the stairs, and placed the teddy bear in Dean's outstretched arm. Dean pulled zeppelin close to his chest and settled once again, sleeping peacefully.
The next morning Dean awoke to see Castiel perched on the end of the bed. He looked down at his body and realised he was not wearing the clothes he had fallen asleep in. "Who the hell pu' me in pyjamas?" Dean asked, pulling his thumb out of his mouth embarrassedly mid-sentence when he realised he had been sucking on it.
"I did," Castiel said, turning his head to address Dean. "That's what Sam did yesterday, aren't you meant to sleep in them?" He asked.
"Yes, but it doesn't mean you can go and play dress up with me. I'm not a Barbie doll." He said while struggling to change his clothes, pulling a new t-shirt on that had pictures of multi-coloured dinosaurs on it.
"What's a 'Barbie doll'?" Castiel asked, watching as Dean tried to place one leg into his jeans.
"I' doesn' ma'er," Dean couldn't help but notice the similarities between his conversations with Castiel and Clara.
Castiel helped Dean finish getting dressed and then followed him downstairs. Castiel continued to follow and observe Dean while he ate breakfast and spent the majority of the morning playing with the toys Sam had bought him the previous day.
It was just before 12 o'clock when there was a knock at the door. Becky made her way through the minefield of toys scattered on the floor, careful not to step on any like Chuck had earlier that morning- who knew a 5" plastic hulk figure could cause so much pain. "Who are you?" she asked the beautiful stranger.
"I'm not sure if I have the right address." She replied, stepping back from Becky's intense gaze.
"Dean!" Clara squealed in excitement, running past Becky and her mom to greet her friend with an immobilising hug. Castiel, who was sat cross-legged opposite Dean, tilted his head, unsure whether the young girl was harming Dean or not, judging by the smile that Dean wore he chose not to intervene.
"Oh, Lucy, hi." Chuck greeted, fumbling his way through the living room to get to the front door. "Come in." Lucy nodded her head, and when Becky finally stepped to the side, she walked inside.
"Hi, I hope we're not interrupting anything. Clara's just been really excited about seeing Dean again; she's been talking about him all morning and I just couldn't take anymore of her nagging."
"Shut up, mom." Clara moaned, embarrassed by her mom's account of the day's events.
"You're her mom?" Becky was shocked, she had assumed they were sisters or Lucy was a nanny. "I'm sorry, you just look really young."
"Um, thanks I guess." Lucy laughed awkwardly.
"Oh, Lucy this is Becky, Becky this is Lucy." Chuck introduced the two.
"I'm his girlfriend." Becky blurted out.
"Okay, well it's nice to meet you Becky." She said fondly as her and Becky shook hands.
"Come on through," Chuck insisted since they were still stood in the doorway. "Be careful where you step." He cautioned as they stepped into the toy covered living room.
"Don't worry; I have a gold medal in avoiding toys." She joked following him. She smiled when she saw Dean beaming and laughing with Clara, she still felt guilty about what had happened at the toy store, seeing that he was okay and happy reduced the amount of remorse that was clawing at her. She knelt down in front of him. "Hey buddy, how's your arm?"
"S'okay." He replied with a shrug.
"You forgot this yesterday." She said pulling the crossbow out of the bag she was carrying.
"Thanks Lucy." He said ripping open the box.
"You got a crossbow?" Chuck asked, he should have guessed Dean would've chosen something like that.
"It isn't actually a crossbow. It's made of plastic." Castiel pointed out.
Lucy laughed, blushing slightly having only just noticed him. "Who are you?" Clara asked. "I like your coat."
"Thank you, yours is also pleasant." He commented, causing Clara to beam proudly from the compliment she had received about her orange coat.
"This is Cas." Dean explained. "Tha's clawa an' tha's Lucy." He said, pointing to either one in turn.
"It's nice to meet you Cas," Lucy said, trying not to giggle like a school girl as she shook his hand. "Are you Dean's brother?" she asked, recalling that Chuck had mentioned an older brother.
"No," Dean said between laughter.
"Dean's correct; I'm not related to him." Castiel explained, unsure why Lucy was giggling at his response.
"He's a fwiend." Dean corrected her.
"Can we play outside?" Clara asked her mom after her and Dean had finished inspecting the crossbow. Lucy looked towards Chuck to confirm this was acceptable.
"Sure, if they want to." Chuck said, Dean and Clara a blur as they ran past him, Castiel following Dean as he had done all morning. Once out in the cold, Dean put on his hat, gloves and coat he had grabbed from the chair, Clara was already dressed in the suitable attire since she hadn't bothered to take her outerwear off.
She threw herself onto the ground, "C'mon let's make snow angels." She pulled Dean down by his good arm to lie down next to her. Castiel tilted his head to watch as the two children threw their arms and legs out repeatedly, Dean struggled due to the lack of use of one arm. They stood up to survey their work. "They don't really look like angels," Clara noted, staring down at the two undistinguishable shapes.
"Angels are not made from snow," Castiel pointed out.
"Shu' up Cas." Dean warned him, not wanting him to reveal that he was in fact an angel.
"Do you know what an angel looks like?" Clara asked Castiel.
"Yes, but angels don't have a physical presence aside from their vessel."
"Wow, how do you know that?" Clara asked, intrigued by Castiel's knowledge.
"Because I am an angel of the lord." Castiel said, Dean buried his face into his palm.
"If you're an angel where are your wings? And why aren't you in heaven? And I thought angels wore white dresses." Castiel tilted his head in response to her questions; before he could provide answers to them she started talking again. "I'm an angel in the nativity we're doing. I was a donkey but Sarah Morley broke her leg so now I get to be an angel." She explained, "Were you there when Jesus was born?" she asked.
"yes." Castiel replied.
"Cool. So you hunt ghosts and have angel friends?" Clara asked Dean, Castiel also stared at Dean when he heard Clara mention hunting ghosts but remained silent.
"Yeah," he was surprised she was so accepting of all things supernatural.
"That's awesome." She grinned. "Let's build a snowman." She suggested, running towards a mound of snow and waiting for Dean and Castiel to join her; after nearly two hour of playing in the snow Dean, Clara and Castiel returned to the warmth of the indoors.
"Clara we have to go in a minute, okay?" Lucy told her daughter as she finished her second cup of coffee.
"Why?" Clara whined.
"Because we have to go to your uncles." Lucy said.
"Five more minutes? Please" Clara asked, nudging Dean to contribute to the pleading.
"Okay, but then we have to go." Lucy said, smiling as Dean and Clara ran to make the most of their limited time. Castiel sat down beside her on the last chair, "Sorry if Clara was a handful out there, she's just energetic." Lucy apologised to him.
"My hands were never filled." Castiel replied. Lucy laughed, thinking it was a joke.
Five minutes soon turned into twenty, the adults all talking in the kitchen and Dean and Clara playing in the living room; but when Lucy began to receive texts from her brother she dragged herself away from the table and helped Clara into her coat.
"Thanks, it's been really fun today." She said to Chuck and Becky. "Say thank you Clara."
"Thanks," Clara said with a pout, unwilling to leave. "Can we come back tomorrow?" she asked with hopeful eyes.
"I'm not sure if Dean's going to be here tomorrow." Clara's eyes became tearful, "His brother's supposed to be coming later."
Clara wrapped her arms around Dean, "Don't go, I'll miss you." She almost cried into the top of his head.
"I'll mis'u too." Dean said ignoring the overwhelming feeling to cry that was consuming him; the headache that had returned was not helpful in this.
"Well, it was nice to meet you Dean." Lucy said, ruffling his hair when Clara pulled herself away. "Bye." She waved to the three adults. "Come on Clara." She picked up the now crying girl and walked out to her car.
"Are you okay?" Chuck asked Dean who was dabbing his eyes with his sleeve.
"I'm fine," he whispered, wandering over to the couch to distract himself with cartoons. Chuck and Becky returned to the kitchen, worried about how Dean was reacting and how differently it was to how his usual self would behave. Becky had always remembered babysitting to be a lot easier, although the children she had looked after didn't have a background like Dean had; considering everything he'd gone through she was surprised at how stable he seemed.
Nearly an hour later Chuck and Becky's conversation was interrupted by the familiar voice. "Chuck, what happened to Dean's arm?" Chuck looked up to see Sam standing in the kitchen doorway.
"Sam, how did you get in?" Chuck asked, standing up to greet him.
"I le' him in." Dean said standing beside his brother.
"Dean, I told you not to open the door to anyone." Chuck scolded him.
"Bu' i's Sammy." Dean said.
"You didn't know it was Sam when you opened the door though." He said. He couldn't even imagine what could have happened if it had been the demon from the past couple of days, or any other supernatural creature at that.
"Sowwy." Dean hung his head in shame.
"It's okay." Chuck said, he hadn't expected Dean to react in that way, and judging by the expressions Sam and Becky wore, neither did they.
"Hi Sam," Becky waved, grinning at him.
"Hi Becky," Sam nodded. "So, what happened to Dean's arm?"
"I tol' you, I fell over a' the park." Dean said, glaring at chuck.
"Yeah, he slipped on the snow." Chuck lied, remembering his promise he had made to Dean. Sam nodded yet he was still unconvinced. "Did you find anything? To change Dean back?" Chuck asked optimistically, changing the subject before their lie could be unravelled.
"No, no-one's heard of anything like this happening before nor has any idea how to reverse. This seems to be the only Case." He sighed, "Sorry Dean." he added noticing the large green eyes look down pitifully.
"So, can we summon Gabwiel now?" Dean asked impatiently.
"Why?" Sam asked.
"'Cause Cwowley said he knew what was happenin'."
"You talked to Crowley?" Sam was furious with Dean's lack of consideration for his safety.
"Yeah, ge' over i' Sammy. I'm still al'ie aren' I, an' he tol' me tha' Gabwiel will know somin'." Dean said, ignoring Sam's disapproving looks.
"Are you sure you want to summon him, I mean after last time…"
"Sam, if i's gonna turn me back, we're doin' i'." Dean insisted.
"Fine, let's get this over with." Sam sighed, as Castiel stepped forward to summon the archangel.
AN: Here's the next chapter (to be honest I'm not too happy with it, but I hope you enjoy it) and the next one should be up soon. Thank you for all your reviews they let me know if you're enjoying it or not. Anyway, until next time, enjoy!