Puppies and Angels

Castiel sat on the swing set in the park Bobby had brought him and his brothers to play at until the three hunters finished a little demon hunting. After their last fiasco with demons almost discovering the baby angels the hunters have been more careful with what they do. That's why they are now at the park, waiting to be picked up. Cas swooshed his legs back and forth, willing the swing to go higher. Suddenly, something black caught his eye. The angel stopped pumping his legs and the swing stilled. Cas' eyes scanned the bushes by a big oak tree.

"Hey, Castiel," Samandriel said, walking over to the little angel, shoes crunching against the leaves resting on the green grass. Cas looked up and smiled at his brother before turning back to the rustling bush. Alfie frowned, glancing up with Cas. "What's the problem?" Cas scooted off his swing, plopping to the ground and pointed at the bush. Samandriel eyed it suspiciously. "I think we better go get your brothers," he whispered, reaching for the blade in his pocket. He was about to start pulling away, when a big wolf with red eyes bounded out of the bushes. Alfie let out a cry, pushing Castiel behind him so the hellhound wouldn't get to his smallest brother. Balthazar and Gabriel heard his cry and were flying over to their brothers in an instant. Alfie raised the knife, ready to plunge it into the beast when Castiel darted in front of him and stood right in front of the beast. Alfie let out another cry, waiting for the bright light the dying baby angel would give off once the hellhound bit him in half, but it didn't come. Alfie and Castiel's older brothers stared in awe as the hellhound rolled over on its back, letting Cas pet it.

"Puppy!" Cas squealed in delight. Alfie's mouth dropped as the hellhound pup licked Castiel's face and his tale wagged happily.

"Crowley's hounds just aren't what they used to be," he summed up, watching the two cuddle with each other on the ground. Gabriel raised a brow at the hellhound.

"Um…Alfie, Why's this puppy nice and isn't it supposed to be….bigger?" Gabriel questioned. Alfie gave a nod, leaning down next to the pup to get a better look at it.

"Must have been a runt," he guessed. "The mum cast it out and the poor guy's been living on his own." Alfie looked over the pup again and realized the eyes and ears were all wrong. This hellhound's ears were more floppy than a regular hellhound and its eyes weren't the usual hellfire red. They were more like the reflection of flames in gold. Maybe it was a mutt too then?

"Can we keep it, Alfie?!" Castiel asked, hopping onto the big dog's back. Samandriel and Gabriel both gawked in surprise. Keep it?! The thing was a monster! A killer! That thing had sent Dean to hell! There was no way…

"If we keep him he'll need a name," Balthy said, walking over to his little brother and the hound. The middle angel held a hand out to the big beast letting it sniff him. After the dog sniffed him it licked his face, earning a giggle from both angels.

"Who said anything about keeping it?" Alfie asked, crossing his arms. The only answer he got was an attack of puppy dog eyes from both the two angels and the hound. Alfie willed himself to stay strong, but god damn it! Baby angels were too cute to say no to. He glanced down at Gabriel, who was staring at the dog longingly. Cas waved him over and the archangel reached out his own hand, petting the dog. The hound nuzzled its nose into the angel, flipping Gabe up into the air with its snout and catching the angel on its back. Gabe let out a laugh, scratching the dog behind the ears and smiling at his brother sitting with him.

"Yeah, he's a keeper," Gabe decided. Samandriel rolled his eyes and then nodded.

"Alright, he's a puppy so I guess we can train him to work with us and not demons," Alfie decided. "It all depends if the Winchesters agree though." The wee angels nodded, patting their new pet.

"We'll show them how good he is. When they see they'll just have to let us keep him!" Cas reasoned. Alfie nodded and scratched the dog's ear.

"What are you going to name him then, Castiel? You found him so you name him." Cas stared at the puppy for a moment and the hound stared at him patiently. Balthazar and Gabriel tried a few names but neither the dog nor Cas reacted to them.

"Custos," Castiel spoke up. The hound's ears perked up to the name.

"Gesundheit," Gabriel teased his brother. Cas ignored him, patting the puppy on the head gently.

"It mean guardian," Cas continued. His brothers rolled the name over their tongues for a moment and the hound's tale wagged happily as the name was said over and over again.

"It is a perfect name for a protector of angels, Castiel. Now we just need to train him to do so," Alfie decided, glancing at his watch. The hunters would be back soon hopefully. Maybe that means they could go try out training the puppy before they got back.

"Custos!" Samandriel called out to the hellhound. The puppy's ears perked up. "Alright, Pup. We're going to train you to be a good boy and if you do good then maybe your little angel friends will get to keep you." Custos barked happily and the little angels crawled off of him, standing in front of their pet hopefully.

"Now, let's starts with the baskets."

"You mean basics, Cassie," Balthazar and Gabriel corrected. Cas pouted at them and looked back to Custos. Samandriel glanced up into the sky, glaring up at his brothers that were probably watching this all with amusement. Hopefully Hael isn't recording it.

Three hours later Alfie was impressed. The small angels had succeeded in teaching the hound tricks and to growl when demons and other angels are around. Samandriel found it slightly rude every time he made a sudden movement when the hound couldn't see him that the dog would growl at him, but Cas would sputter a command in Enochian and the hound would calm down.

"Hey, Angels!" Dean shouted, walking into view. His clothes looked a bit scuffed up, but the hunter looked perfectly safe. Custos stood to attention, but didn't growl at the human, clearly sensing no threat. Cas scurried over to Dean, launching himself into Dean's arms.

"Dwean, can we keep him?! Please!" Cas babbled excitedly, pointing at empty space. Dean frowned.

"What?"

"Him!" Cas shouted pointing at the hellhound. Dean squinted at the empty space again and glared in Samandriel's direction.

"Is this why you're here? Did he fall on his head today?" Alfie held back a laugh and straitened his posture before turning back to the wee angels.

"I was simply watching my brothers for you since you were on a hunt. Someone has to protect them," Samandriel informed the hunter, eyes still on the angels. Dean opened his mouth to speak, but Alfie cut him off in addressing the wee angels. "Dean's not a supernatural being, boys. He won't be able to see our little friend. Gabriel, how good are your powers lately?" Alfie said, eyes going to Gabriel. The archangel shifted uneasily on his feet and glanced at his hands.

"Better. I might be able to give Dean the sight…maybe," Gabriel muttered. Alfie gently pushed the angel forward.

"Well, try it out then!"

"Try what out?" Dean questioned, but the only answer he got was Gabe's hand to his forehead and a bright light. When Gabriel pulled away Dean could only see different colored spots. When the spots finally disappeared Dean followed Cas' finger to what he was all excited about. What he saw made his blood run cold. A big black wolf with hellish red eyes sat next to Balthazar. It was small, but it was still 100% a hellhound. Dean lifted for his gun and the hound ran at him. Dean lifted the gun, but Cas shoved it out of his hands. A cry left Dean's mouth as the hellhound pushed both him and Cas to the ground. Dean closed his eyes, waiting for teeth to claw into him, but instead he was attacked by a big slobbery tongue. Giggling came from the little angel in Dean's arms and the hunter opened his eyes to see that the hound was sitting on top of his stomach with that big sloppy puppy grin. Cas was scratching the dogs ears and Dean could see the monster's tail wagging happily in the corner of his eye. "What the hell-"

"Cas found him. We think he was abandoned either because he's a runt or possibly because he's a mutt. Anyway, the boys have been training him all day," Samandriel informed the hunter, catching him up on the situation. Dean frowned at the Cas for a moment.

"This is what you want to keep?" Cas nodded enthusiastically and the dog licked the angel's cheek lovingly. Dean's stomach turned. That picture just didn't look right in his book. A celestial being and a dog from hell? He doesn't remember and scriptures on that.

"So can we keep him?" Gabe asked, him and Balthazar walking over and scratching the dog's ears too now. Dean propped himself up on his elbows and stared at the hellhound.

"Guys you realize that this thing is a…"

"We trained him to warns against demons and he knows commands in Enochian," Balthazar explained. The other angel's nodded enthusiastically. Dean still wasn't impressed. He got dragged to hell because of one of these things. It was going to take a lot more to…

"Grrrrr…" the angels and Dean froze as the hellhound began to growl. He got up off of Dean and stood protectively in front of the angels and their hunter. The dog's eyes followed something in the shadows none of them could see. A deadly howl burst from the hellhound and he lunged into the shadows, topping whatever had been threatening them to the floor. "Believe them now, Dean Winchester?" Alfie asked waving a hand to where the hellhound had her pinned. Dean stared at the seen in front of him. The hellhound had his teeth wrapped around a demon's teeth, but no blood was drawn yet. It looked as if he was waiting for an order. The three baby angels muttered something in Enochian and sure enough, the hound let go. As soon as the hound was off of the demon Samandriel snapped his fingers and the fake projection he created burst into golden light and dust. The hound then strolled back over to the angels, fiery eyes checking for any wounds on its masters. The puppy stared expectantly at Dean and the hunter kneeled in front of him, staring into the huge dog's eyes.

"What's his name?" Cas and his brothers smiled at each other.

"Custos!"

"Bless you," Dean teased, earning a few glares from the angels. Dean held a hand out to Custos and patted the dog's head. "Well then, Custos, how do you feel about watching out for these three trouble makers for now on?" The hound howled happily, licking at Dean's face. Dean sputtered, smiling at the dog. "Welcome to the family then."

Every little angel needs a puppy! Hope you all enjoyed today's chapter. school started back up again so posting everyday isn't going to happen that much until the next break. Still, i'll post them as much as I can. So what do you think of Custos? would you keep him?