Forgiveness

Dean clung tighter to Cas as they waited in the Tran's living room for Mrs. Tran to bring Naomi in. The little angel was shaking in his arms, pale as a ghost and looking like he was going to be sick on the spot. Dean wanted to take his angel and leave, but they couldn't. This was their job now. Their duty. They had no choice, but to give every angel a second chance. Dean wasn't sure if he could be so forgiving though. Sure, he'd run into some bad angels in the past. Lucifer wasn't so peachy for example. He'd betrayed them countless of times and tortured Sammy even when the hunter was out of hell. Still, Lucifer's tried to right his wrongs since then and both Sam and Dean have seen that hidden beneath the darkened grace of the archangel there is also a loving brother. Naomi was a different story. Neither Sam or Dean knew much about her. They'd only seen her a few times in the past and apparently she'd had Cas under her control for most of it. They never discussed what Naomi did to Cas to make him turn against the Winchesters, but whatever it was it had to be bad to make Cas act so frightened. The only good thing she'd ever done for them was bring back Samandriel and Bobby. She'd told Cas how much she regretted her actions, but was she telling the truth or was she trying to manipulate the angel once again?

"Dean?" The hunter looked up to see Kevin standing by him with a small cup of tea in his hands. Kevin nodded at the angel shivering in Dean's hold and Dean gave Kevin a thankful smile. Kevin and Charlie had both been shocked to hear about what Naomi did to Castiel. Kevin even suggested that they should call off the visit, but that obviously didn't happen.

"Cas? Hey, want some tea, buddy? It'll make you feel better," Dean whispered softly. Cas slowly pulled back from Dean and looked at the cup of warm tea with honey mixed with it. The little angel reached out, taking the warm cup and sipping at it.

"Thank you," Cas whispered to Kevin and the prophet nodded before taking a seat between Charlie and Sam. Bobby was standing with his arms crossed by the arm of the couch. He was too nervous to sit. Cas' reaction had them all on edge.

"Maybe I should take Cas back and you guys can…"

"Dean…"

"Sammy, Naomi tortured him!" Dean shouted in a hushed voice. Cas flinched and stared at the liquid in his cup, looking ashamed. Dean noticed and started rubbing circles between Castiel's shoulder blades. "This could fucking hurt him for all we know."

"Or it could help him," Charlie offered. She glanced nervously between the others. "He wouldn't have to be afraid of her anymore." Dean began to speak, but Bobby quickly cut him off.

"It's Cas' choice if he wants to stay or not. Not ours," Bobby stated. The older hunter then looked at the angel in Dean's arms. "What do you say, Boy?" Cas licked his lips and glanced towards his brothers. They had been silent since getting into the Impala and had remained so while waiting for Mrs. Tran to return from the nursery. Both were worried for their little brother. They remembered his nightmares and the wicked grin of Naomi's face as she taunted Cas in his dreams. Dream Naomi had terrified the angel. What was the real Naomi going to do to him?

Not getting any help in his decision from his brothers, Cas turned to stare back down at his tea.

"I…I'll stay," Cas whispered. Dean's fingers continued to rub circles into Cas' back.

"You sure, Buddy?" Cas nodded hesitantly, sipping at his tea again. Mrs. Tran walked into the room then with a baby angel in her arms. The angel had soft tuffs of brown hair and dusty blue wings. Her eyes searched the faces in the room, stopping when they spotted Castiel. The two locked eyes and Dean felt Cas stiffen in his hold and the angel's black feathers bristle. Dean took the tea and set it off to the side so Cas wouldn't drop it because of his shaking.

"Well, here she is," Mrs. Tran said, setting the baby angel on a few pillows on the seat next to Dean and Cas. "Did you guys figure out who she is? I couldn't find any card that identified her."

"Naomi," everyone said at once, causing Mrs. Tran to frown in confusion. Gabriel cleared his throat then and nudged Balthazar with his elbow. Balthazar glared at his big brother in the corner of his eye, but followed when Gabriel slid off Sam's lap and onto the floor. They walked up to Naomi, crawling up next to her and smiling.

"Hey, Naomi, remember us?" Naomi reluctantly turned her gaze from Cas and looked both Gabriel and Balthazar up and down.

"Gwabsey? Bwalthy-zar?" the little angel attempted, frowning at herself at how the words had come out. She was still clearly getting used to her infant form. Gabriel and Balthazar nodded, smiles growing a little more. They glanced back at Castiel then, noticing Cas wasn't as tense as before. Maybe Naomi's childishness was helping him relax? Or maybe it was because his big brothers were with him?

"Good job, little sis," Gabe encouraged. He then looked around the room, pointing at everyone and introducing them, making sure to skip Cas. Naomi attempted to say each of their names, frowning at herself each time when the worlds came out jumbled. Finally, her eyes settled on Castiel, realizing he'd been skipped. She lifted a finger and pointed right at the angel. Cas stiffened a little, pressing his back against Dean stomach as he tried to back up away from the tiny angel. Naomi lowered her finger, noticing Cas' behavior. Instead, she crawled from her cushions and up into Dean's lap. Cas continued to struggled against Dean, trying to get away, but the hunter was like a wall he had cornered himself against. Naomi reached out again, placing a hand on Cas' cheek, finger tips brushing right beneath Castiel's eye.

"Cwastwiel," she stated, watching as Cas started to shiver again. She kept her hand in place, chubby fingers patting gently at his face. Cas slowly lifted his own hand and put it over Naomi's, taking her hand in his and gently lowering it from his face. Naomi squeezed his fingers lightly before leaning close and wrapping her arms around her brother. Cas gasped, stiffening in the embrace. Naomi didn't act like she noticed though. She only hugged tighter and buried her face in the junction between Cas neck and shoulder. "Sowrry ," she whispered into Castiel's ear. Tears prickled at her eyes and ran down her face. "Sowrry! Sowrry!" she cried out harder, burying her face in her brother's shoulder as she waited to be either shunned away or accepted.

Cas slowly brought his arms up around his sister. He felt a tear drop down against his shoulder and Castiel's eyes grew wide, shocked that his sister was letting her tears shed. He hugged a little harder and ran his fingers through Naomi's feathers in attempt to calm her, a thing he never thought he'd ever do in his life.

"It's…okay," Cas whispered. "It's okay."