Broken Angels
Castiel scampered into the living room still dressed in his footy pajamas. He had woken up early from his nap with Dean. The hunter was still asleep, but the angel wanted to go play with his older brothers.
"Balthy, why is Gabby sleeping?" Cas questioned when he saw Gabriel snuggled up on the couch. Gabriel never takes naps. He always says that they're stupid. Balthazar looked up from the pair of pants he was now cutting holes in. He must be trying to get back at Bobby for hiding the beer again. Balthazar's eyes skimmed over Gabriel briefly before concentrating on his cutting again.
"Gabby's Grace was acting up again while you and Dean were sleeping," Balthazar explained. A sharp whimper escaped from Gabriel's lips as he tossed his head back and forth while sleeping. Sweat was slowly beginning to bead down his forehead and drip down his chin. Castiel's eyes widened and he crawled over to his older brother. "Cassie, keep away," Balthazar ordered, looking back up from his cutting. Cas ignored his brother and began shaking Gabriel, trying to wake his brother from whatever terror was frightening him. "Cassie," Balthazar warned, dropping the scissors and pants. Cas continued to shake Gabriel. "Cassie, stop!" It was too late. Gabriel shot bolt upright, grace blasting in all directions. Cas let out a scream as the light blasted him into a glass coffee table and a book shelf toppled over him. Books and papers flew around the room and Balthazar dived for cover as the storm of Gabe's grace blasted around him. Finally, the storm died and all that was left was Gabriel staring wide eyed around the room. Balthazar popped up from behind a chair, breathing heavily. Gabe's eyes swept the room, complete and utter panic littering his eyes.
"Castiel?!" Gabe called out for his brother, hopping off the couch and spinning around, trying to find his little brother. His eyes stopped when he saw the blood covered flakes of glass littering the floor around the now toppled over book case. "CAS!" Gabriel cried, rushing over to the book case and pushing up with all his might.
"Help!" Balthazar cried out, helping his brother to lift the case. It was too heavy. "Help!" Bobby and Sam were at their side right away, eyes blown wide.
"What happened?" Sam asked, taking one side of the book case and Bobby took the other.
"M…my grace. I couldn't control it and it…h…hit Cas…he…" tears began streaming down Gabriel's face. The hunters didn't say a word. They needed to help Cas first. As quickly and carefully as they could they lifted the case and pushed it away. Laying under a pile of glass and books was Castiel's shivering and bloody body.
"Dwean," the tiny angel whimpered painfully. Sam reached out a tentative hand, but the angel flinched away from his touch. "Dwean!" the baby angel screamed. Sam glanced up at Bobby and the hunter quickly dashed out of the room to get the sleeping Winchester. Castiel began to whimper again, clutching at his arm tightly and his bloodied black wings draping over him protectively.
"Cas, it's ok. Dean will be here soon," Sam tried to comfort, reminding himself not to reach out to the baby angel now cowering on the floor. "Balthazar, get me the first aid will you?" he asked the angel hovering by his side. Balthazar nodded, bolting under Bobby's legs as he came rushing in with Dean by his side.
"Cas?" Dean's voice called worriedly as he and Bobby entered the room. Dean's hair was de-shelved from sleeping. His eyes fell on the shivering angel and he instantly jumped into action, kneeling down next to the baby angel and gently stroking the glass covered wings. Cas looked up at Dean, tears streaking down his bleeding cheeks. Dean's fingers gently entwined around the baby angel's body and he lifted Cas out of the glass he was currently laying in. Cas let out a pained sob as Dean held him. The angel's wings had thick glass cutting into them and his arm was swelling and turning a nasty color. The angel curled himself up tightly into Dean's embrace, crying loudly. Dean rocked him back and forth, trying to calm the hurting and terrified angel. "How bad is the break?" Dean asked as Bobby kneeled down next to him and gently took the angel's arm. Bobby's eyes scanned the tiny arm and he shook his head.
"He needs to go to the hospital. The bone fractured by the looks of it," Bobby said, gently laying Cas' arm down on the angel's belly again.
"Hospital?! Bobby, he's an angel! We can't just take an angel to the-"
"Dean, we don't have the right equipment here to help him and without angel powers that arm isn't going to get any better," Bobby explained. Dean looked down at the angel curled up in his arms. Castiel was crying and shivering in his arms like any other injured child.
"Gots it!" Balthazar called, rushing into the room with a first aid in his hands. Dean laced his fingers through Castiel's hair as Bobby and Sam inspected the wings after taking the kit from Balthazar.
"Alright, Castiel, Bobby and I are just going to take the glass out of your wings. It's going to hurt, but we'll try to be quick and gentle," Sammy whispered to the angel. Cas nodded, sniffling with tiny fists clutching at the pajama shirt Dean was still wearing. Sam and Bobby gave Dean a look before beginning to pull at the glass shards with the tweezers. Cas began screaming and crying instantly as the shards were gently pulled from his flesh. As softly as he could, Dean began humming Hey Jude. It seemed to work a little, but it didn't take away the pain. Bobby handed each shard to Balthazar, who was holding up a small trash bin. Gabriel stood by Dean's side repeatedly apologizing to his little brother as he continued to cry and held Cas' hand.
Dean sat in the waiting room of the hospital, Castiel sniffling in his shirt. He had cried himself to sleep back at Bobby's and Dean had taken that chance to wrap the angel up and get him to the hospital. Several mothers were glaring at Dean. They were probably wondering why the three year old looking angel was covered head to toe in bandages and bruises. It definitely didn't make Dean look like the good guy.
"They call him up yet?" Sam asked, walking in with Gabriel and Balthazar's hands in his. He had taken them to the gift shop just to pass time since they were starting to get nervous and antsy with all the looks they were getting. Dean shook his head, handing a clipboard with Cas' medical information on it to Sam. Everything on it was mostly true. They had learned much more about the angels' health since they became babies. Balthazar's allergic to romantic movies (well, that was already obvious), they suffer from Migraines due to thousands of years of life crammed into their juvenile brains, and angel puberty is hell.
"Adopted, birth parents unknown, three and a half…Dean, he's more four than three," Sammy corrected when he began to read. Dean gave Sam a look and the young Winchester went back to skimming the paper. "Other than that it looks good, Dean." Sam slumped down in to one of the chairs next to Dean, pulling Gabe and Balthazar onto his lap in the process. Once settled Sam handed Gabriel a jolly rancher.
"What happened to no snacking before supper?" Dean said in a mocking tone. Sam was the nervous control freak daddy of the family. Sweets before dinner were a big no.
"The sugar seems to calm him down. If it calms down him then it calms down his grace," Sam explained. Dean nodded, eyes finally meeting Gabriel's. The angel hasn't said anything since they got to the hospital.
"Don't worry, Gabe. We just need to practice controlling your Grace more often like Michael said to," Dean reassured the angel. Gabriel nodded, still looking like he was going to be sick. Dean couldn't blame him. Dean had felt the same way whenever Sammy got hurt or threatened because of him and that had happened a lot.
"Castiel Winchester?" a nurse called, eyes drifting over to the hunters and baby angels. Dean stood, being careful not to disturb Castiel too much and Sam followed him. The nurse smiled at them, tilting her head to the side much like Castiel did and she led the five of them into the doctor's office. A bald man with thick glasses smiled as Dean came in with the resting angel and introduced himself as Doctor Horton.
"Why don't you wake him up so we can get started?" the doctor said, getting everything ready for the X-ray. Dean nodded, nuzzling Cas' face gently with his own. Sam let out a snort as he attempted not to burst out laughing, causing the other two angels to giggle too. Dean ignored them, continuing his attempt to wake the injured angel curled up in his arms. The little angel let out a soft moan, opening his blue eyes slightly.
"Hey, Buddy. Dr. Horton here has to take an X-ray of your arm so they can fix it up for you," Dean told the angel. Castiel nodded, but he looked too tired to really understand. Still, Dean set the angel gently on the doctor's table. Dr. Horton smiled at Castiel.
"Get him dressed into one of those hospital robes sitting on the counter for him," the Dr. said, going back to fiddling with the X-ray. Dean paled slightly, remembering that Castiel had very real wings underneath the puffy coat and trench coat/blanket. Dean turned his back to the doctor, grabbing the small hospital robe. The best he could do was block the doctor's vision with his own body. Sammy ang the other two angel brothers seemed to guess Dean's plan and soon Castiel was completely surrounded and hidden from sight. As gently and quickly as he could, Dean undressed the angel. Every so often Cas would whimper from the pain, but he stayed quiet otherwise. Once Cas' layers of clothes were gone Dean wrapped the robe over the angel. Instinctively, Cas' wings attempted to poke out from the tied back, but Gabe gingerly pushed them back underneath the fabric. "Ready?" Dr. Horton asked, smiling at the group. Dean swallowed nervously, lifting Castiel into his arms and carrying Cas to the X-ray. Horton offered to take Cas, but Dean ignored his outstretched hands and lay Castiel down himself. Cas yelped when his body put wait on his injured wings and Dr. Horton eyed the angel slightly. "Perhaps we should do a full body scan just in case? Does something else hurt, Castiel?" Horton questioned the angel. Cas shook his head quickly and nodded at his arm.
"Just hurts," Cas whimpered, readjusting his body so he isn't laying on top of his wings. Dr. Horton doesn't seem convinced.
"I think I'll do one anyway," he decided, plunking at a few buttons on the X-ray and began the scan. Shit. Dean's eyes scanned Castiel briefly. How were they going to hide those wings from a fucking x-ray?! He partially closed his eyes, praying that by some miracle the machine would bust. All that happened was a quick touch of Gabriel's fingertips to Cas' wings and a small warm glow of light that didn't seem to catch the doctor's attention. Gabriel gave Dean a wink before stepping back from his baby bro. The X-ray snapped a few pictures and a photo of Cas' bones appeared on the screen of a computer. Dr. Horton glanced over the picture briefly, pointing at the fractured areas of Cas' arm and smiled. "Looks like your arm is all that is injured, Mr. Castiel, and I believe I can have that in a cast in no time at all."
Dean lifted the robe over Castiel's head, careful not to catch it on the angel's new cast. Dr. Horton had been true to his word about getting Cas fixed up quickly. Dean secretly wished that it had taken a little longer just so they wouldn't have to go back home and help Bobby pick up what was left of the living room. Now they just had to get out of here before they risk exposing Cas' wings.
"Dwean, it itches!" Cas whined, scratching at the cast. Dean smiled at the angel, glad that Cas was feeling somewhat better now. The angel was back to gabbing away and acting cuter than what should be possible.
"I'll pick up a few things for you before we get home," Dean told the angel, pushing Cas' clothes on and the puffy coat to hide his slowly materializing wings. Whatever spell Gabe put on them didn't last for long.
"Done!" Balthazar and Gabriel called after finishing their doodles on Castiel's cast. Cas glanced down at his cast, smiling at the crazy doodles now covering it. There was a drawing of Custos, candies, and what looked like Super Mario Brothers. A nurse walked in with Dr. Horton then and handed Dean the copy of Cas' arm X-ray, giving him the usual instructions for bone care and discussing Castiel's next appointment, but he wasn't really paying attention. He was watching the three little angels in the corner of his eye.
"Cassie, I'm so sorry," Gabe said for the billionth time already. Cas smiled sadly at his big brother.
"It okays, Gabby. It don't hurts no mores. Sees?" Cas said, lifting up his cast covered arm. Gabe still didn't look pleased. Cas rolled his eyes at his brother and pulled him into a big hug. "It was an acc-i-dents," Cas sounded out slowly. "And Dwean said I can haves ice creams for dinner!" A smile spread across Gabe's face at that and glanced at the broken arm.
"Sammy, if I accidently break my arm too can I eat ice cream for dinner?" Gabe joked. Sam frowned, sending a glare in Dean's direction.
"Uh, no. Neither of you get dessert before dinner," Sam stated.
"Oh come on, Sammy, you're no fun," Dean teased. Sam raised a brow at his older brother.
"Alright then, but when they are bouncing off the walls from all that sugar you can be the one that cleans up the mess." Dean froze, glancing at the baby angels now giving him sinister little smirks. His eyes skimmed over Cas' arm and the wings hidden under his shirt. The odds of that keeping the angels from going berserk from sugar was absolutely zilch.
"Point taken," Dean decided, taking the papers from Dr. Horton and scooping the angels back up into his arms. "Although, they could use the extra energy to help clean up Bobby's living room-"
"So does that mean we can have icy cream?" Balthazar asked. Dean glanced down at the angels, heart clenching as the three batted their big eyes at him. He swallowed.
"Sure, why not?!"
"DEAN!" Sam whined.
Thanks MorbyGal for the request. Hope you all enjoyed todays chapter!