Baby Brother, Come Back

It was a regular quiet day in the Winchester household. Sam was doing laundry, Bobby was napping in his office, Charlie was putting together a new cosplay, Kevin was visiting his mom, and Dean was outside on the dock with a fishing pole and a bucket of fat fish by his feet for supper. Things had gotten better after Bobby's little intervention a few days ago, but things still weren't perfect. For example: Cas was still in his coma.

Machines beeped softly in the dimly lit bedroom that now held Castiel's sleeping form 24/7. Custos (as always) was seated by the angel's side, watching two small forms sitting on the floor. Gabriel and Balthazar were sat facing each other with a pile of jacks in front of them. Balthazar happily bounced the ball into the air, snatching up as many jacks as he could before it hit the ground. He cheered when he looked at the number of pieces in his hands and looked up to gloat at his big brother. The words trapped themselves in his throat though when he noticed his brother's wet looking eyes.

"Gabby?"

"Sorry," Gabe whispered, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. The motion did nothing to wash away his tears. They just kept spilling, unwilling to not run down the archangel's face. "It's just…" Gabe paused and looked to the sleeping angel still against the pillows and blankets of their bed. "I was just thinking about when Kevin first showed us how to play this," he explained to his brother. Balthazar lowered his head and stared at the jacks in his hand. He remembered that day. They were all seated in a circle together back at Bobby's place. It was the day after they had gone caroling for the first time. Kevin had stayed over and was making it his mission to teach the angels all the games he had played as a kid. Jacks had been the third game they had attempted and Cas was surprisingly the first to cheat at the little game. He'd bounce the ball at the wall and while it ricocheted wall to wall, Cas scooped up every jack he could hold.

Balthazar glanced towards Castiel's sleeping body, watching the angel's chest rise and fall. He wished Cas was with them now, tossing the ball and scrambling to grab all the pieces in his tiny hands. That wasn't going to happen though. Their little brother was trapped in his mind, stuck there thanks to the terrors that had been unearthed…

Balthy froze, a thought coming to the middle angel out of nowhere. His eyes widened and he looked towards Gabriel. The angel was still rubbing at his eyes.

"Gabe?" Gabriel looked up at his brother and let his hands fall to his lap, giving up on trying to clear away the tears. "D…do you think that maybe…maybe if we talked to him about the nightmares he'd –"

"Balthy, stop," Gabriel pleaded, chin wobbling slightly. He reached out for his brother and squeezed his shoulders. "We…we can't blame ourselves. Cassie…he…he wouldn't want that. We…" Gabriel choked slightly as tears squeezed his heart and throat. "…we did enough of that already." Balthazar nodded and Gabriel loosened his grip on his brother's shoulders. Balthazar glanced at Castiel in the corner of his eye.

"Let's talk to him now," Balthazar suggested. Gabriel frowned in confusion at his brother. "They say coma patients can sometimes hear the people talking to them, right? Maybe if we can talk to him he'll…" Balthazar trailed off, not wanting to get his or Gabriel's hopes up.

Two arms wrapped around Balthazar unexpectedly from behind and the angel squealed as his feet left the ground. He turned his head back and forth, catching glimpses of Gabriel flying him to Cas' side. They both dropped onto the bed and the two stared at the slumbering angel. Cas had grown thinner as the days went on. Sam said it was because he was only being fed by an IV and stuff. His thin form made him look even more fragile than before and only added to the worry nagging at them all every once and a while.

Custos yapped at the two and both angels scratched behind his ears before taking a seat on either side of the puppy. Custos plopped his head back down on Castiel's tummy and closed his eyes tiredly. When they were all comfortable, both angels took in a deep breath to prepare themselves before finally speaking.

"Hey, little bro," they both whispered. Cas didn't answer and it pulled sharply at both angels' hearts.

"We just wanted to…" Gabriel swallowed. "…to talk to you about your…nightmares." The atmosphere seemed to grow heavy around them. Balthazar decided to help his brother.

"We saw your nightmares one night. We were just curios, but…" Balthazar shared a look with Gabriel. "Cassie, we saw your fears. We know you're scared, but we're here for you, little brother." Balthazar's voice cracked at the last part and tears stun at his eyes. "We weren't there for you the first time those bastards hurt you, but…"

"We'll be here now," Gabriel finished, his own tears falling again. "We know you hate yourself for the past, little brother, but believe us. We forgive you and we're not going to leave you to struggle with this nightmare alone ever again." Gabriel sprawled out on his belly then, wrapping his arms and wings around Castiel. Balthazar followed his older brother's actions and did the same, nuzzling his face against his baby brother's shoulder gently.

"Love you, Cassie," Balthazar whispered against the fabric of his brother's shirt. He met Gabriel's gaze briefly, both smiling softly at each other before closing their eyes and drifting off to sleep. Their baby brother hummed in his sleep and Custos raised his head from where had rested it on the tiny angel. He watched, waiting for the angel, but Castiel didn't move. Custos lowered his head back down, tongue licking at Cas' fingers gently as he waited.

Monkeygirl77, doubt this is what you had in mind when you requested it ages ago, but I still hope you enjoyed it.