Cas was sitting patiently at one of the tables in the kitchen and I had finally finished making french toast and eggs. I put the plate down in front of him and I couldn't help the grin on my face when I saw how he was trying to analyze the food. "Cas...it's all edible I promise."

"I believe you...but...it doesn't seem..."

"I know it doesn't seem healthy." I groaned out, but I couldn't hide the smile on my face. 'Same old Cas.'

"Truly?"

"Truly what?"

"Am I truly like the Cas you know?" He asked as he drank the orange juice I gave him.

"You can read minds? I mean...older you could...but I didn't think you cpuld at such a young age."

"Yes, I can read thoughts and souls. It used to get on Brother Gabriel's nerves when we would play games together." He used his fork and took a bite of eggs as if he was afraid they would jump off the fork. Once the fork made it in his mouth his nervousness went away and he beamed at me with an appreciative smile. "These are good!"

"I'm glad you like them." I sat across from him at the table and ate my own food and drank my coffee. "Hey..." I started when a question came forward in my mind. "Your relationship with...Brother Gabriel...why were the two of you so close...how did the two of you get so close? I thought Archangels wouldn't have time for...fledglings."

"And you would be right." he answered as he took another bite of his eggs. "Not even Brother Gabriel had time for fledglings...but I was different."

"Yeah...how?"

"Oh, I was just like Brother Gabriel when he was a fledgling, and like I told you...he protected me. There were other reasons but..."

"That all may be true...but I mean...even after all that...why would an archangel spend his time with a fledgling...even if you are just like him, which you aren't. You're unique."

"That's very kind of you to say. I can see that normally that would be a hard thing for you to say. You don't like to show your emotions. That's okay...I was the same. You see...I told you I was different and I told you a little bit on how...but really...I just wasn't a normal angel at all. Brother Gabriel told me a story one time. He called it the great family dispute." He giggled lightly, but lowered his fork so slowly and carefully that once it did touch the plate, it didn't make a sound. "One night Brother Gabriel, Brother Michael, Brother Raphael, and Brother Lucifer got into a big argument. It wasn't even about his plans to make humans. It was his plan to bring another angel to life. At the time...there were already one hundred fledglings for each faction and father said that it would bring each faction up to a million angels not uncluding the archangels amd it wpuld be perfect balance, but then he suddenly brought on the creation of me. They all wondered who was going to get the special one hundred and one, but not Brother Gabriel. He didn't want another one. It didn't help that he showed what my fledgling form would be and my angel form would be. It was glorious and magnificent and my wings were completely unique comparatively to the other fledglings and angels. Only the archangels had wings similar to mine. Mine were colored, they weren't pure white. It showed that I would have grand potential."

"Why didn't Gabriel want you?"

"Because he didn't think there was a reason. He said he had plenty of messengers. The factions are messengers, Warriors, protectors, and caretakers."

"Caretakers?"

"Yeah."

"Who ran that one?"

"Brother Lucifer...before he...fell. He took care of the garden. He guarded it and he took care of all the animals father had ever created. Anyway...Brother Gabriel didn't want the special one hundred and one angel...He thought it was a bad idea."

"Why would it have been a bad idea?"

"He said it was because it would throw the balance of the other factions off." He started eating his french toast and I was happy to see that he liked it, but I didn't care about the food at this point. I cared about the history lesson on Cas' childhood. "But father said that it wouldn't throw anything off, because the next fledgling would be different. He said that I was to have every quality that the other factions had. They all got into a huge argument, and then that's when the fighting really started. At least that's what Brother Gabriel says. The other three were trying to convince father that I should only belong to one faction and it should be theirs...whoever was speaking at the time."

"So what happened?"

"Brother Gabriel had had enough and while they were all fighting he had made his way to father's throne and he drew a line with holy oil so that the others won't be able to cross and he spoke to father without interruption. Mostly, because that was the first time that Brother Gabriel had acted on his own rather than just speak his mind. Usually he would just speak his mind but for some reason he couldn't stand by and watch the bickering any longer, so he trapped the other three behind a wall of holy fire."

"What did he tell God?" I asked and I felt a strange sort of excitement build in my chest.

"He told father that he would train me in all factions. Since he had observed the other factions for many many years he knew how they worked and how the training went...it wouldn't be a problem for him. Especially since he was messenger, and sometimes he had to send messages to the other factions...he got to see a lot of what they did. Anyway, he said that he would train me in all factions, and that he would look after me just as father did when they were fledglings...the first angels...but he would only do so on a few conditions."

"What were the conditions?"

"That I be loved, fought for, cared for...and also that I be calmed, angered, inspired, and that I be able to speak easily with whom ever should gain my friendship, trust, and brotherhood...even if it meant it didn't come from himself or the other angels. He promised to be that person, but he wanted me to basically be looked after should heaven fall. The other three brothers didn't know what he meant and were confused, but they were even more confused when they saw father smile, and he agreed."

"Wait...what do you mean looked after even if it's not by other angels?"

"Brother Gabriel meant humans. If I found humans that I wanted to love, fight for, speak to and with, and who I wished to aid whenever I can...then I am to be looked after them just the same should heaven fall apart. I asked him how I would know and he said that father promised that there would be no question about it. I would know, and it would be difficult, but I would know."

"Do you know?"

"Well...I don't think he has officially recognized that he knows but I think older me really does know. I think he's known for a long time."

"Huh...and how do you figure that?"

"Older me was willing to go against all of my brothers and sisters and go to hell and back for you. I think he's known since before you made the deal that would put you in hell. I can't see any other reason why I might want to risk it all. I love my family. Which means you must be really special to older me for me to do that."

"Wha..." Just when I was about to ask what he meant by 'really special' I heard the bunker door open and Sam came into the kitchen, wearing a surprised smile on his face.

"So...fledglings eat?"

"Yes, Sam." Cas answered. "We also sleep, bathe, groom, and keep ourselves warm. We require everything that a human infant or child requires until we are a full fledged angel." Cas looked at all the bags in Sam's hand, then back up at his shocked expression and I was suppressing a laugh. "I'm going to assume that those clothes are mine, at least until I'm restored to my angel form."

"Uh...Y-Yeah. I also got you some clothes for when you're you know...grown...again. This is strange."

"You think it's strange? I don't have any memory of either of you, this place, this version of earth, of what the three of us might've been through that led to me willingly becoming a rebel against my own family, but I'm enduring. Thank you for the clothes." Cas hopped down and took a few of the bags from Cas and opened them on one of the counters, and I noticed he smiled.

"See some clothes you like?"

"Very much." He grinned and pulled out a black shirt that had three bumble bees on it going from the bottom left of the shirt to the top right. "I enjoy the bees. They sound funny in my ears in the garden. They also help pollinate flowers." He pulled out a pair of black jeans and underwear, and he left the kitchen. I followed after him, and realized that he went into my room to change, and I couldn't say anything, because it made sense. That's the only room he knew at the moment. Soon, I heard the door open and he spun around slowly. "Well, how does it look?"

I chuckled lightly and nodded my head. "It definitely fits you."

"Yes I know that it..."

"No, you misunderstood. What I mean is that it...is a good representation of your personality. The older you...he also like bees...quite a bit." I laughed at my own words, remembering what happened with Cas and the bees.

"Oh, thank you then!" He beamed up at me before looking at his own clothes. "I like this a lot better than what I was wearing. Why did I wear a trench coat?"

"Because your vessel Jimmy Novak wore a trench coat when you took over his body. You never changed it."

"Did you ever try and convince me to?"

"Many times. So, when do you want to go after the one who did this to you?"

Cas yawned and I could've sworn I saw something come out from his back, but I just filed it away in the 'you're seeing things, Dean' box in my mind. "After I rest, please. I am very tired."

"No problem, you know...you actually have your own room here. Do you want to sleep in there?"

"N-No...I..."

A chill rushed up my spine at how quickly his demeanor changed even though he is a child version of Cas, it was still unnerving. "What's wrong, Castiel?" I questioned, using his full name as I crouched down in front of him.

"I...The me now anyway...I've never been alone. Brother Gabriel always made room for me on his bed."

"I thought angels don't sleep."

"No, they don't need to and it's not required, and sometimes it can be a nuisance to angels, but some enjoy it. Like a pass time or hobby. They would also rest if they just spared with each other. It takes a lot out of an angel when they spar. It's one of the ways we're trained. Anyway...I just...I have...I've never been alone."

"Right..." I said, and I heard footsteps coming from behind me, and knew they were Sammy, but I chose to ignore them. "Do you want to sleep in my bed? I'll protect you, and there's plenty of room for you."

"I...I would like that...very much. Thank you, Dean." I got up and walked back into my room with Cas, and I heard Sam follow us.

"I don't believe it." He stated with a genuinely shocked tone. I turned around and raised my eyebrows, asking what he was talking about. He cleared his throat and smiled. "You're such a protective big brother. Not only to me, but to Cas as well. This is actually...kind of nice. I remember when you would do the same thing for me after I started hunting with you and dad."

"Yeah well...hey, did you happen to get him night clothes?"

"I just kind of figured he would sleep in a T-shirt and shorts. That's how we slept."

I walked over to him and he handed me exactly that; a T-shirt and shorts. I scoffed and looked at the clothes. "You know, this is a bit strange to me. I mean...I knew him as an adult..." I whispered as quietly as I could manage.

"Yeah, but it's Cas...and he's small, scared, and he doesn't know what's going on aside from what happened to him."

"Yeah...I know."

"And you do know I can hear you right? I may be a fledgling, but I have extremely high senses. Remember the story I told you, Dean? It's part of that." I looked at Castiel and he had an eyebrow raised with his arms crossed like a frustrated child, and I suppose at the moment he was.

"Story...what story?"

"Nothing...I'll tell you another time. Now, I'm gonna catch some Z's and I suggest you do the same Sammy. We have two people we need to gank at some point later today."

"Yeah, yeah...I'm going."