Itchy Feathers

"IT ITCHES!" Balthazar cried, reaching at his wings and scratching the grey feathers. A few feathers pulled loose, but that was the least of their troubles. Bobby quickly grabbed the angel's hands and held them down, preventing the angel from scratching at his wings. With a little adjusting he was able to free one hand to use his magnify glass and still hold the angel still. Sam and Dean did the same with their angels, joining Bobby in a hunt through thick black, silver, and gold plumages. What was happening? Well, it was all to blame on a night in a shitty motel. The other night, (when heading back from a drive) they had decided to rest at a motel instead of going all the way home. Just as they were leaving the damn place it got busted for having bugs. Now they were all back home and rashes covered the angels' skin and feathers.

"There you are you bastards!" Dean shouted successfully. Sam and Bobby both leaned over and looked at the magnify glass hovering over the joint of Cas' left wing. Little white bugs were crawling across the angel's feathers and skin, biting and nipping.

"Lice," Bobby growled, pulling back. He exchanged his own glass for the phone and plucked in Charlie's number. "Hey, Charlie?" Bobby called into the phone. "Get some of that bird lice shampoo and stuff while you're in town alright? Yeah…yeah…alright. Thanks." The old hunter hung up the phone and looked to the two hunters currently searching through their angels' feathers. "Charlie will be back in a bit with some stuff." Sam and Dean both nodded and went back to searching for bugs.

"I told you we shouldn't have stayed there," Sam grumbled. Dean glared at his brother in the corner of his eye as his fingers rifled through Castiel's dark feathers.

"How was I supposed to know they had a bug infestation?!" Dean questioned.

"Uh…because it's a fucking motel and they always have bug infestations!"

"Well–"

"Oh my father! Shut up! You guys are worse than the lice!" Gabe growled, yanking at a few feathers in attempt to get rid of the painful itching and biting. Dean and Sam both shut their mouths, guilty expressions drifting over their faces. Gabe tried to reach the itchy feathers where his wings connected to his back, but he could reach them with his short little arms. "Ugh…just shave me," Gabe moaned in defeat before collapsing belly first on the carpet floor. Sam rolled his eyes at the angel and gently rubbed the angel's back.

"Charlie will be here soon. Just hang on, okay?" Gabriel whimpered and Sam lifted the angel up, letting the angel curl up against his chest.

"They're so itchy," the archangel whined. Sam patted Gabriel's back gently and kissed the top of the archangel's messy hair.

"I know. Hey, how about I get the bath started. Charlie should be home by the time its ready," Sam offered. The archangel nodded against Sam's chest and the hunter pulled Gabriel away, setting him down in Dean's lap before hurrying to the bathroom. Dean let out a sigh as he watched his brother disappear and started massaging Cas' and Gabe's wings a little. The angels both let out soft purrs of relief as Dean massaged their wings and the hunter looked to Bobby, nodding towards Balthazar. The older hunter nodded and soon Balthazar was purring along with his brothers. The angels started to nod off thanks to the soothing massages their humans were giving them.

The front door creaked open and Bobby lifted a finger to his lips as Kevin tiptoed inside. The prophet had an ice cream bucket in hand, but blueberries were filled to the top instead of Kemps Moose Track ice cream.

"Thought this would help keep their minds off of S.C.R.A.T.C.H.I.N.G. and more on their bellies instead," Kevin offered. Bobby waved Kevin over and the prophet sat between the two hunters, setting the blueberries down on the carpet. Kevin held a berry out to Balthazar, watching as the angel lazily opened his mouth. Kevin dropped the berry into Balthazar's mouth and the angel let out a happy hum. Kevin then did the same to Castiel and Gabriel, repeating the pattern a few more times until there was a sharp knock on the door. Kevin handed a berry to Gabriel and quickly rushed to the door, opening it up to reveal Charlie behind several paper grocery bags. He quickly took a bag or two from her and they entered the room. The two hunters smiled with relief on seeing her and quickly got to their feet, carrying their angels up to the bathroom while Charlie and Kevin followed close behind.

On entering the bathroom they found Sam perched next to a filled tub. Sam smiled at them when they entered and held out his hands to take Balthazar from Dean. The hunter handed of the archangel and they started to pull of the three angels' clothes. Once free of clothing the angels were set into the warm water. Charlie handed Bobby a container of shampoo and the three got to work. The three hunters gathered together around the tub, working the special shampoo into each angel's feathers. Next to the bath Kevin and Charlie searched through the shopping bag, pulling out medicines and other things meant to help against lice. Dean dropped a rubber duck or two into the water, hoping the ducks would help distract the angels from the itchy patches on their wings.

The angels sat curled up in bed while Dean and Sam dabbed sticky medicine over the bug bights left by the lice. Kevin and Charlie were cleaning up the bathroom and Bobby was washing everyone's bug infested clothes.

"Hmmm," Cas moaned as he fought to keep his eyes open. Dean laughed a little and stroked some hair out of the little angel's face.

"Go to sleep, Cas," Dean whispered. The angel shook his head, murmuring about being too itchy. Dean started massaging the angel's wing then and Cas' head started to bob as the soothing pressure on his wings started to lull him asleep. Itchy or not sleep was going to win this battle. After a few more seconds Cas dropped off to sleep. Dean looked over at Sam to see that he was massaging Gabriel and Balthazar's wings too now, causing the two older angels to slowly drift off like their little brother.

When the angels were finally asleep Sam and Dean finished up rubbing the medicine onto the angels' wings and silently slunk out of the bedroom. They tiptoed down the stairs, stopping when they saw Custos bounding up the stairs. He was most likely taking up his usual post at the end of the angels' bed. Custos always made sure to be around when the others were not, protecting the angels even if the hunters were only in the other room.

"Take care of them, Boy," Dean whispered. Custos yapped back and disappeared through the cracked open door leading to the angels' room. Dean smiled and turned his gaze to his brother, smile falling as soon as his eyes landed on bitch face #74. "What?"

"No more motels, Dean," the younger hunter stated. "We've got to think better about their health." Dean let out a long sigh and scratched at the back of his neck as he made his way down the stairs one step at a time.

"Yeah, I know, Sammy. No more dingy motels," Dean promised. Sam smiled a little and clapped his brother on the back, almost making Dean miss a step.

"Good, now let's help Bobby disinfect our clothes," Sam suggested. Dean made a face, sticking out his tongue.

"Just our clothes?" Dean pulled a can of bug spray from his pocket and spritzed some of the stuff into the air. "This whole place is getting bug bombed!" Dean marched down the stairs, spraying bug spray as he went. Sam rolled his eyes and followed his brother. Looks like they had a hunt. A bug hunt.

Thank you to the guest who requested for the poor little angels to get lice. Poor Dean gets to disinfect the house now. Ick :P