A Witch's Experiment

"No!" light burst around them again and Castiel watching as the witch stole away his brothers. Dean and Sam collapsed to the ground and the gasped for breath as the horrible images disappeared from their minds.

Continued now…

Balthazar and Gabriel felt like Hansel and Gretel. The witch had shoved them both inside a cage and the smell of something burning filled the house. However, it probably wasn't any sweets. The baby angels took in their surroundings, shivering. They were back in their nightmare. Gabriel forced his head through the gap between the bars and stared at the lock currently keeping them from escaping. It wasn't anything special. If they found something to use they could easily pick it. Gabriel glanced around the cage, wishing he had a pin. Something tickled Gabe's cheek and the angel turned to see Balthazar wiggling a silver feather by the older angel's nose.

"Balthy, what –"

"It'll pick the lock," Balthazar stated, pushing the feather into his brother's hands. Gabriel nodded his thanks and turned to start on the lock. The clicking of shoes stopped him dead in his tracks though. Gabriel quickly hid the feather in his shirt and pushed his younger brother behind him protectively. The white haired old hag they had met so long ago walked into the room. Gabriel and Balthazar watched her carefully as she walked over to a shelf filled with books and picked one out with red binding. She opened it up, reading softly and completely ignoring her captives. The angels shifted on their feet uncomfortably at the silence.

"What you going to do to us?" Gabe questioned, unable to stand the silence any longer. The witch smiled up at him, shuttering her book and strolling over to their cage. Her form changed with each step. Her hair slowly turned back to a strawberry blond and her clothes became more fitting. She even magiced up a pair of heels. Gabriel pushed Balthazar farther behind him and the witch halted in her step.

"Calm down, Angel, I'm not going to hurt you just yet," the angel stated. "As for my plan…well, let's just say you two and your brother are an experiment." The angel's frowned at her and the witch held up a book. It wasn't a spell book like they had originally thought. It was a book on angel lore and a very old one in fact. Gabe shivered slightly, wondering what could be hidden in the pages of the book. "If my plan works on you then Heaven will be…reborn." A smile spread across her face and Gabriel finally shook himself from his frightened stupor.

"It won't work. The Winchesters will help us," Gabe stated. The witch continued smiling.

"Then I will give them their greatest nightmares." The older angel gritted his teeth, fists clenching into fists. Before he could sputter anything at the witch Balthazar pushed himself out from behind his older brother. Gabe frowned, reaching out a wing to stop his brother from getting any closer to the witch, but Balthazar just shoved the wing away. Balthazar looked into the eyes of the witch currently smiling at him, shivering slightly.

"You gave us those nightmares didn't you?" he questioned. The witch nodded. Balthazar's wings started to shake a little then. Gabriel frowned, wondering what was bothering his brother so much. He found out at Balthazar's next words. "Why didn't Cassie have nightmares?" All eyes were on the witch now. Her smile had faltered and she almost looked…sad.

"The spell I used puts its victims into their greatest nightmares. You two feared for your little brother, the Winchesters feared the very monster that ruined their lives, but then there is Castiel. I couldn't use the spell on him. Not unless I wanted him to…well, I'm not sure how much it would hurt him."

"What do you mean?" Balthazar croaked. The witch cast her gaze at her book for a long moment.

"I feared that his nightmares would do more to his head than what I wished. I couldn't risk losing part of my experiment just because I was bored waiting to snatch you three up." The angels staggered. How bad could Castiel's nightmares possibly be? They've seen Cas when he had nightmares, but they never thought the dreams were that bad. Worry swirled in their stomachs. They had all dreamed things from the past. Cas didn't necessarily have a good past. Gabe covered his mouth, suddenly feeling sick. The witch watched them for a moment before turning her back on them and walking back towards the small kitchen in the small motel room. "Don't worry. Your sufferings will end soon enough," she whispered before disappearing from the room. Balthazar and Gabriel gazed at each other and the older of the angels pulled out the silver feather from his pocket. It was now or never. Gabe stuck his hands through the gaps of the bars and started to fiddle with the lock. A few clicks and turns were made before the door swung open. Balthazar cried with excitement and Gabe, thrust a hand quickly over his brother's lips, shushing him. The last thing they needed was to alert the witch of their escape. Silently the angels crawled out of the cage and flapped softly off the table the cage was set on. They looked around for the door, finding it in the very cramped living room/ bedroom. There was a startling crash from the kitchen and a voice hissed angrily as footsteps started to race towards them. Balthazar and Gabriel's hearts pounded in their chests and they flew towards the door. Gabe jiggled the handle, but nothing happened. He snapped his fingers, but again nothing happened.

"Hello, Poppets!" the witch cackled. Gabriel and Balthazar stepped back, pinning themselves against a wall as the witch approached them. Her eyes blazed darkly in the candle light and the two angels felt their blood run cold.

"Leave us alone!" Gabriel and Balthazar shouted, wings bristling as she came nearer. The witch lashed out with her powers, lifting the two baby angels off the ground and into the air. They choked, trying to call for help, but the weight around their throats stopped them.

Sam and Dean burst through the door of the old hotel, guns ready to fire. The witch turned on them, eyes blazing and the brothers flew backward when she released her magic on them. Cas watched as Sam and Dean collapsed into the wall, grabbing the gun that Dean had dropped.

"Shoot, Cassie!" the angels screamed, only silencing themselves when the memory of their nightmare came back to them. They wanted to shout back at Cas to drop the gun and run, but it was too late. The little angel did what he was told, but with a wave of her hand the witch caused the bullet to get jammed and explode in the barrel. Castiel screamed as the shrapnel from the weapon embedded into the angel's skin. The witch cackled, turning her back on the stuck angels and flicking her wrist at Castiel and pinned him up in the air as well.

"That's better," she hissed, eyes glancing at all three angels hungrily. "Are we ready?" The angel's struggled under her hold and the witch lifted her arms. Bright light exploded throughout the room. The angels collapsed onto the ground, perfectly fine. The Winchesters were back on their feet, guns raised at the witch, but someone else was in the room now. The angels frowned. They recognized him. He was an old man that the angels recalled seeing plenty of times, but there was something they could see now that the old man had been hiding before. They could feel his grace.

"Joshua," the angel's gasped. Dean and Sam glanced at the older angel in the corner of their eyes, keeping their full attention on the witch currently slumped against the wall and completely blacked out. The bright light hadn't been from the witch's powers. It had been from Joshua's grace protecting the angels. Joshua smiled at his brothers, snapping his fingers together. Dean and Sam blinked. They were back at the cabin, but they had left the witch behind. Dean gritted his teeth together.

"What the hell?! We had her! We could have got the damn spell from her!" Dean shouted at Joshua, steam pouring from his ears. The older angel smiled in Dean's direction.

"Her time has not yet come. She is still greatly needed in God's plans and so are your angels," Joshua stated, nodding at the three angels currently sitting together on the floor. Dean and Sam turned their gaze to the three, eyes widening when they saw Cas bloody.

"Cas!" Dean yelped, grabbing the angel and checking for any wounds. There was nothing, not even a damn scratch. Dean's eyes glanced at the half blown up gun laying at Cas' feet and then up to Joshua. "Thank you," Dean whispered softly, squeezing the angel a little tighter. Joshua nodded and then looked at the sky like someone was calling him.

"I am afraid I must go. My garden needs tending to," Joshua stated before disappearing with a flutter of soft wings. The hunters each let out long sighs before turning back to their angels.

"What happened?"

Dean had to admit. This whole experiment scared the hell out of him. He didn't want to dwell on what evil things she was planning to do or what the point of this experiment was. When the angels had finished telling the Winchesters everything that happened Dean got them cleaned up, announcing that they had better get back home. The angels looked upset by the idea and Dean couldn't help but to admit that he was too. The cabin was so much better than their cooped up apartment, but the place was dangerous now. The witch had found them there without problem. Staying there could lose them their angels once again. Bobby helped Sam pack the Impala while Dean, the angels, and Custos went to say goodbye to Mrs. Wellington.

"Glad I could be of some help to you, hon," she said with a wide smile and then looked back to the sad looking angels at Dean's feet. "But why the long faces?" she asked. Dean explained to her how much they loved the cabin and told her about their too small apartment. Mrs. Wellington nodded in understanding. "Oh, yes, that can't be good for such a large family and three rambunctious boys." Dean held back a chuckle as Cas attempted to say the word and tried to focus on the old woman.

"Yeah, but Wisconsin isn't a good place for us at the moment so it's back to the old apartment," Dean sighed with a fake smile. Mrs. Wellington, pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Dean. The hunter frowned, staring at the address. "What's this?"

"My son and his daughters lived in a nice little house in Minnesota there. He died a few years ago with his girls in crash and I haven't had any buyers. Wouldn't be interested would ya?" Dean's eyes widened and the angels jumped down excitedly with Custos by his feet, pleading for Dean to except. The hunter cleared his throat as he stared between the old woman and the paper.

"Thank you, Mrs. Wellington. In fact, we could probably take a look at it when we continue our little road trip back home," Dean stated. Mrs. Wellington gave him a happy smile before giving them a wave farewell and disappearing back into her house. Dean turned to the angels, excitement in his eyes. "Should we go check it out?" Dean questioned? The angels nodded enthusiastically and Dean chased them to the Impala, starting the engine, and making their way to what would become their new home.

Joshua smiled brightly as he walked around his garden in heaven, smelling the fragrant flowers and humming a small tune.

"Joshua, why didn't you let me finish?" a strawberry blond witch asked as she sat in the green grass while making flower crowns. Joshua smiled at her.

"It was not yet time, child. These things take time if they are to be done right. We must learn much more from the Winchesters before you can finish your…mission," Joshua hummed. "The word of God must be followed carefully, Lydia. The world is resting in our hands now." The witch –Lydia nodded, tossing a finished flower crown into the air and using her magic to guide it to the top of Joshua's head. She chuckled and he returned her smile. His eyes trailed over to the small river running by his feet. Grey fish swam down the river, doing flips and catching dragonflies. Joshua let out a long sigh as he watched the fish. God's plan was just around the corner. He only hoped that by the time it dawned the angels would be ready. It definitely wasn't going to be pretty.

And the plot thickens! There is more to Joshua and the witch than what it looks like. As promised here is the next chapter. Enjoy and have an awesome 4th of July!