Sick
It had been their first night in the cabin and it was definitely comfier than any old hotel and had far more space than the tiny apartment they all tried to squeeze in back at home. Mrs. Wellington had stopped over in the morning with some fresh cinnamon rolls and to see how the pipes were going. Now Dean and Sam were busying themselves under the sink as they tried to fix it and Bobby was munching on a roll. The angels scurried around the kitchen, playing tag for the billionth time today. Cas and the angels were running around the table legs when suddenly, everything went silent.
"I'm cold," Cas stated as he and his brothers stopped their game, wrapped his arms around himself. Dean chuckled, pulling his head out from under the sink.
"That's Wisconsin weather for-" Dean shut his mouth as he looked at the angels. Their faces were slowly turning from their usual healthy tint to a greyish white and their wings turned greasy. It was like they were watching green leaves shrivel and darken in fast-forward. Sam looked up from the pipes as well, worry flashing his face as well. "Bobby, get the thermometer will ya?" Dean asked, wiping his hands on his tattered jeans and kneeling on the floor by the sickly looking angels. Bobby fished out three baby thermometers from the med-kit they had sitting on the counter and tossed them at Dean. Dean shoved the thermometers under an angels' tongue and frowned at the blinking red numbers.
"Looks like they're running a fever," Sam said, pulling the thermometer from Cas' mouth first and glaring at it.
"Fuck, looks like we might have to stay here a little longer than planned," Dean sighed.
"We're sorry, Dwean," Cas croaked, blue eyes dulled down to a clouded baby blue. Dean scooped Cas up into his arms gently, brushing his fingers through the angel's back feathers.
"Don't worry about it, Cas. It'll take a while for us to completely fix the pipes anyway. Here, let's give you three a bath and get you to bed," the hunter decided, lifting Balthazar and Gabriel into his arms next and taking them to the bathroom. When inside the restroom he de-clothed the shivering angles and dropped them into the warm water. The angels continued to shiver, wrapping their wings tightly around themselves in attempt to generate heat. Dean gently rubbed soap through their baby feathers and hair, talking to them softly to kill the silence currently hanging over, but the most he got for a response was a shiver. This worried the Winchester even more. Bath time was always a thing of chaos for him or anybody else that had the job. The angels would splash at each other and attempt to escape the tub. Sometimes they would even manage to pull Dean in with them, but today was different. They were more than sick. There were no smart remarks, whining, or grumbling. It was just dead silent. Something was seriously wrong.
The angels sluggishly curled up onto each other once Dean sat them down on their bed after their bath. Dean tucked Castiel's blue baby blanket over all three of them and planted a chaste kiss to their foreheads before turning on the nightlight and leaving them to rest. When he opened the door to leave the room Sam was standing in the doorway with worry.
"They doing alright?" Sam asked. Dean glanced over his shoulder at the baby angels.
"It just bounced out of nowhere," Dean muttered before closing the door and walking back into the kitchen with Sam. Bobby was on Sam's laptop when they entered, frowning at something.
"What is it, Bobby?" The old hunter shook his head before closing the computer.
"Remember that spell the angels put on themselves so they could sense that damn witch?" Bobby questioned. Both hunters nodded. Bobby tapped a finger against the computer. "I looked up the spell online. It's not meant to make angels sick, but we don't have full grown angels. We have baby angels. I think this is the angels sensing her." Both Sam's and Dean's eyes widened.
"That means she's somewhere in this town then!" Sam gasped.
"Yeah, that narrows things down," Dean muttered running a hand over his face. "So what do we do? Walk around with sick angels and wait for them to just puke on a random citizen or something?" Bobby shook his head, thrusting a thumb towards the angels' bedroom.
"We have to keep them away from her. If they got that sick with her just suddenly popping into town then I'd hate to see what happens when she is just arm's length away," Bobby murmured. Dean bit his lip. He didn't either.
"What do we do then?" Sam asked.
"Find her before she finds them. You two can go hunt her and I'll stay with the angels. Maybe if we can get Gabe's fever down he can use some of his mojo to block the spell or something so they don't get like this when she's close?" Sam nodded and left the room with Bobby to get ready. Dean sighed. He hoped Gabe would be able to do something.
Dean dipped the cool cloth into the ice water again, dabbing at each angels' burning foreheads. Their breathing had grown worse now and the worry in the room for the angels was so thick you could cut it with a wooden sword. Custos had jumped up onto the bed after Dean went back to the room when Bobby and Sam left. The hellhound had snuggled next to them, licking at their cheeks gently and nuzzling their tiny forms. The entire time Custos would look over at Dean and the Winchester knew the overgrown puppy was thinking the same thing that he was. It was getting worse as time went on and Dean prayed silently that Sam and Bobby would hurry up and kill the bitch.
"Dean?" Gabe gasped, opening his eyes as he woke, panting from the fever. Dean wiped the sweat from the angel's brow, and rubbed circles into Gabe's hand.
"I'm here, Gabe. I'm here," Dean whispered. Gabe's eyes drifted to Balthazar and Castiel. The two smaller angels weren't in any better shape. Their cheeks were flushed and soft whimpers left their lips as they suffered from hot and cold flashes.
"Gabe, the link on you three and the witch is doing this to you," Dean explained, hoping Gabe was actually awake and not out of it. "Can you use your mojo to block the link a little so it doesn't hurt you like this?" Gabe coughed lightly, sitting up a little and lifting a hand, but he immediately collapsed into Dean's arms, out like a light. Dean cussed, rocking Gabriel gently.
"He's too weak," a familiar voice said from behind. Dean turned around to come face to face with Lucifer. Custos instantly began to growl at the form that appeared behind the Winchester, but made no move of attack. Normally Dean would have grabbed a gun, but after the last little fiasco with Lucifer watching the angels he had a feeling Luci wasn't here to make enemies. Lucifer was staring at the angels gasping with fever on the bed calmly. "I am afraid that I can only completely take away the spell they put on themselves, but at least they won't look like this," Lucifer offered, waving a hand at his brothers. "The spell is too strong for their small bodies." Dean, brushed his fingers through Gabe's wings.
"Why are you out of the pit?" Dean questioned. He had heard that Michael had let Lucifer out for a bet, but why now? Lucifer shrugged.
"Because Michael let me. I heard about what those demons did to my little brothers with that damn spell back at the cavern and I wanted to make it up to them somehow." Dean scoffed, but quieted when he saw the disgusted look on Lucifer's face. "I love my brothers and though If they had been older when it happened I would have turned a blind eye I would never wish infants to go through…through that sort of torture." Lucifer almost looked like he was going to be sick then and Dean felt a flame of trust begin to burn. Carefully Dean pushed Gabriel into Lucifer's arms.
"Then help them now," Dean whispered. Lucifer didn't meet Dean's eyes. Gently, he cradled Gabriel, pressing to fingers to the angel's forehead. A soft cry burst from Gabriel's lips as a warm light glowed from Lucifer's fingers. Dean was about to pull the angel back, but stopped when he saw the color slowly return to Gabe's face. The raspy breathing turned normal and Lucifer handed Gabriel back to Dean, smiling softly at his baby brother. His eyes trailed to Balthazar and Castiel then, eyes staring at Cas for a very long while before he pressed his fingers to the angels' forehead. "Thank you," Dean whispered as all three angels were finally calmed down. He looked up from the bed only to see that he was now alone and the devil was gone. Dean let out a soft sigh before laying down next to the angels and pulling them close before closing his eyes. He had only gotten the chance to keep his heavy lids closed for a second though before both Gabriel and Balthazar began to twist and turn in their sleep. Dean popped his eyes open and watched as the angels struggled. Their tiny fingers clung to the sheets and sweat rolled down their faces as they panted heavily. The older hunter started to run his hand gently along their wings, trying to calm them from whatever nightmare they were suffering from. Dean's eyes turned to Castiel, sleeping in the pile of angels. It looked like Cas was the lucky one tonight. It didn't appear that Cas was suffering from any nightmares at all. When Balthazar and Gabriel refused to calm down Dean started humming Carry on my Wayward Son. Usually he would sing Hey Jude, but he thought he should change up the angels' lullabies a little bit. In a few seconds Balthazar and Gabriel calmed, settling back into a deep sleep. A relieved sigh escaped Dean's lips and he fished his phone from his pocket, tapping in Sam's number.
"Please, tell me you've found that bitch and ganked her," Dean moaned into the phone. There was rustling on the other side and soft murmurs between Bobby and Sam before Sam's voice finally crackled on the other end.
"She's still here, but she's doing a damn good job of hiding," Sam grumbled. Dean's fingers rubbed nervously at the angels' feathers and Sam let out a soft swear on the other end of the phone. "We'll find her, Dean. Nobody's going to hurt our angels," Sam encouraged his brother. Dean nodded, telling his brother good luck when he realized Sam couldn't see his nod through the phone. Once Sam hung up Dean tossed the phone onto the nightstand and pulled the angels in his arms tighter, kissing the tops of their hair gently.