Warning: Child Abuse

God's Mistake

Dean and Bobby chatted quietly while the angels slept in the back of the Impala. They had gone out shopping for some clothes since Gabriel and Balthazar thought it would be funny to cut holes into the hunters' underwear. That had been a surprise. Too bad the angels' powers weren't strong enough to last. Otherwise the hunters would've just made the angels mojo the clothes back together. Either way, the two probably wouldn't do it. They found their little prank too funny to fix.

Bobby nudged Dean suddenly, pointing towards the back with a thumb. Dean glanced into the mirror and was met with the droopy gazes of three tired angels. Dean smiled fondly and started searching for a decent looking hotel.

"Just hang on, angels. Just a few more miles," he promised. The angels each stretched and yawned, glancing out the windows and watching the scenery change around them.

Suddenly, they stiffened. Dean frowned into the mirror, watching as the angels' wings tensed and their heads perked up. Bobby noticed too and turned around in his seat to look back at them.

"Hey, you idjits okay?" he asked. The angels looked to the old hunter, feathers fluffing up a little.

"There's an angel nearby," Gabriel stated. Both Dean and Bobby's eyes widened. Balthazar and Castiel peaked out the window and pointed towards the street coming up.

"Turn that way," Balthazar instructed. Dean did as told, taking a sharp turn down the road. The houses on the street all had their lights off except for one two blocks down.

"That one," Gabriel chimed in, wings fluffing up even more as they grew closer. Dean pulled up next to the house and turned off the Impala. As soon as she was stopped, the group hopped out and hurried over the sidewalk and up the steps to the pleasant looking house. It definitely looked like the kind of place perfect for a little 2 year old. There was a lovely garden and a white picket fence. It was the sort of place Dean had once dreamed about having when he was younger.

Bobby pounded on the door and Dean startled back into reality, looking back to the door and watching as it squeaked open only a little bit before being stopped by a chain. A woman with thin strands of straw colored hair and tear stained cheeks opened the door. The group froze. That was something they weren't used to seeing on their angel hunts. The woman glanced at them each briefly, eyes constantly flicking behind her.

"Uh…can I help you gentlemen?" she questioned, not meeting their eyes. Dean smiled charmingly at the lady.

"Hiya! We're the Winchesters and we just moved in next door," Dean said with a way too chipper smile and voice. All three angels had to cover their mouths to keep from laughing. "We just wanted to visit a bit and –"

"This is a very bad time, Sir," her voice had dropped to something icy. "My husband and I are very busy and…" She stopped, eyes widening. A small voice shouted from within the house. Everyone froze, listening and waiting for the shout again. It was soft, but they could hear it. It was a shrill shout, laced with pain and terror. Dean's eyes roamed up to the ladies to see that her gaze had darkened completely. "Like I said. This is a very bad time." There was another shout, but this once was louder and more menacing than the frightened one from before. The woman made to slam the door, but Bobby shoved his foot in the crack before it closed and Dean kicked the door in. The woman screamed and backed off, watching in terror as the two men plowed into her house. Cas, Gabriel, and Balthazar rushed after the hunters, staying far enough back so they weren't in the way.

The screaming got louder the closer they got to the living room and when they got there they were met with a hideous sight. A two year old with tiny wings with streaks of gold at the tips and barred lines of brown decorating the down feathers where his wings joined with his body was on the floor. Blood was covering his face and dark bruises littered his fragile form. A man stood over him, with bloodied fists and alcohol breath that the hunters could smell from the entryway. The little angel looked up at them, frightened at first until he saw his brothers standing right behind Bobby and Dean's legs. He reached out to them, sobbing as he collapsed to the ground. The angels rushed into action and reached their beaten brother. Castiel wrapped his wings around his brother since his were the softest and Balthazar crouched on the floor, hands gently petting the beaten angels wings in comfort. Gabriel stood in front of them with his wings flared up high. The man's eyes widened at the sight of three more angels, but it was quickly replaced with a grin and he lifted his fist again, hurling it towards Gabriel. The angel braced himself, but Dean caught the man's hand before it got close to the archangel. The man's eyes widened and he went to pull his hand back, but Bobby attacked him from behind, hitting the big guy over the head with a lamp. Dean twisted the guy's arm back then, listening to the bone crunch under his grip and the man screamed in agony. The woman showed up then, flinging herself at Bobby with a knife in her hand. Bobby caught her by the wrist easily enough and held her against the wall while Gabriel smacked the blade out of her hand with a wing. He had moved from his protective stance over his brothers to help, but he quickly maneuvered back once the woman was taken care off.

"What the hell, man! Get off of me!" the big guy shouted at Dean. Dean scowled at him, pressing harder against the broken arm. The guy shouted again in pain and Dean lent in close to his ear.

"Listen up you piece of shit. Me and my friend are going to take our kids and this poor little guy with us and you're going to look the other direction. Got it?" The man didn't answer. Dean started to twist the man's arm again. "Got it?!"

"YES! JESUS! JUST GO!" Dean released the man and Gabriel chose that moment to flash forward and kick the guy right in the balls. The man crumbled to the floor and Gabriel grinned proudly while Dean patted him on the head. Dean turned back around to Bobby then, watching as he released the now crying woman. She slid to the floor and Bobby kicked the knife on the floor across the room, before turning on his heels and looking towards the four angels seated on the floor. Dean followed his gaze and found Balthazar slowly lifting his baby brother into his arms. Balthazar carried the angel towards the door with Gabriel and Cas following close behind. Bobby and Dean walked after them, opening the front door for them and following them out of the terrible house and into the Impala.

Dean and Bobby sat on a hotel bed a couple of miles from home with their new broken angel seated between them. The angel was nuzzling Gabriel's wing while he dealt with the pain of the cleaning of his wounds. The little guy was pretty badly battered and the feathers on both his wings were frayed and bent. Balthazar and Castiel were helping clean the feathers though with little cotton balls and a bowl of cool water.

"There," Bobby sighed, dropping his hand and setting the roll of bandages at his side. Dean finished up with the leg he was bandaging and did the same. "How's the wings coming, idjits?" Bobby asked. Cas and Balthazar smiled at the hunter.

"Better," Cas stated simply.

"Yeah, but he's going to need some ice for them," Balthazar stated, pushing back the feathers of part of the wing to reveal the purple and blue skin beneath. Both hunters winced and Dean got up, heading to the little fridge in their room. He opened it and pulled out a cold beer and tossed it to Bobby.

"Use that until I get back from the icebox," Dean said while picking up a little silver pale. He looked to Balthazar, pointing at the angel accusingly. "Don't drink it." Balthazar grinned and crossed his heart before going back to cleaning his brother's bloody feathers. Dean smirked and looked back to the shivering angel on the bed. "And take care of baby…"

"Abner," Cas stated, holding up a card he'd found in the angel's pocket. They didn't need it to know though. They could tell by the wings easily enough.

"Baby Abner," Dean finished, turning back around and exiting the room to grab some ice. When he was gone Bobby flipped on the TV and found some old cartoons for the angels to watch. Abner perked up at the sound of the television and his eyes drifted to the screen, watching as Bugs Bunny skittered across the screen. His wings fluffed up a little and Bobby smiled.

"Like Bugs, huh?" Abner startled slightly and looked to Bobby with big eyes. He stared for one, two seconds before hastily looking away. Bobby's smile dropped and he plopped back onto the bed, pressing a big hand onto the angel's head and ruffling his hair gently. Abner flinched under Bobby's touch, but the hunter didn't make to move his hand. "You've got nothing to be scared of, Kid. Dean and I are gonna make sure you get a good home…"

"Dat what da other man say too," Abner whispered. Bobby pulled his hand back and glanced at the other three. They had frozen too. Abner looked at them, eyes widening in fear again and he pulled his wings in tight. Gabriel noticed and started to stroke the still bloody wings again.

"You're okay, Abner. You're okay," he whispered. Abner calmed under his big brother's touch and his wings relaxed again. They sat there silently for a moment, Abner watching the TV again and the angels cleaning his feathers while Bobby pressed the cold beer Dean had tossed him to the bruises. It was when Dean returned when the silence broke. He walked into the room quietly so not to startle Abner and held up the bucket of ice with a wide grin before grabbing a cloth and sitting on the floor right in front of the bed. He folded a few cubes of ice in the cloth and exchanged the beer in Bobby's hand with it. Dean set the beer by his feet then and smiled up at Abner.

"How you doing, Abby? Abner began to shy away, but when Bobby ruffled his hair again he was reminded that he was safe. He relaxed himself and smiled sheepishly at Dean.

"Otay," he whispered. Dean's heart melted at the tiny voice and he held out a hand to the angel, taking Abner's tiny hand in his own.

"We're going to take you home for a little bit and take care of you, alright?" Abner paused and looked at the Winchester nervously.

"H…home?" He started to shake. "I..no…I don't wanna…no more hurting. No more hurting!" Abner started to cry and Dean realized his mistake.

"No! Oh God no! Our home, Abner," Dean reassured. Abner calmed, relief flooding his face. Dean glanced to the clock on the wall then and nodded at that. "Once we get you all fixed up we'll go, alright? A few minutes, okay?" Abner looked at the clock for a little and then nodded, looking back at his cartoons. Dean stood up then and motioned for Bobby to follow him. The hunter got up and handed Cas the homemade icepack as he followed Dean out of the room.

"Jesus, Bobby, what are we going to do?" Dean questioned, running a hand through his short hair. "The little guy is so spooked and he's so lucky that he didn't get more than a few bruises, cuts, and bent feathers…" Dean paused and stared at the closed door. "How many more angels like him are out there, Bobby? How many angels did God put in the wrong place?" Bobby frowned at Dean.

"What makes you think it was the wrong place?" he questioned. Dean turned on the hunter, eyes wide with anger.

"Oh…" Dean huffed. "I don't know. Maybe because some fucking drunk bastard that was supposed to be his guardian beat the shit outa him?!"

"Yes, but then we found him," Bobby added. Dean stilled and shook his head.

"We would have found him too if he was with a good family. God's got a fucked up idea on how to treat his kids." Dean reached for the door handle. "I'm sick of this." Dean marched through the door and Bobby stayed outside, dialing their home number to let the other know they were on their way. When Dean entered the living room Abner was laughing with Castiel as Balthazar and Gabriel rattled off jokes in what sounded like enochian. Dean grinned and glanced at the clock before making his way over. "Come on, Angels!" he cheered. "Time to head home." He held out his arms and Castiel, Balthazar, and Gabriel flew into his arms, Balthazar and Gabriel crawling up to his shoulders to sit. Castiel remained in his arms and held out a hand for Abner. The angel hesitantly took his brother's hand and Cas pulled him up into Dean's hold. Dean grinned at the four and marched out the door.

When they got home Abner was greeted by everyone in the house. He had freaked at first, but after a bit of coaxing Abner crawled into Kevin's arms and the prophet carried him into the living to play.

"Gadreel and Ezekiel's mother called," Charlie whispered to him, while taking Cas, Gabe, and Balthazar from him. "She wanted to talk to you." Dean nodded, handing off the angels and retreating into the kitchen, grabbing the home phone along the way. He dialed a number and waited until someone finally picked up the phone.

"Hi, Gaddy spweakings," a little voice called from the other end. Dean smiled into the phone and took a seat at the table.

"Hi, Gadreel, can I talk to your mummy?" he asked. Gadreel made a giggly noise and Dean listened as little scuffing sounds made it through the other end. Gadreel was crawling.

"Why you talk to mama?" he asked, suddenly.

"We found an angel called Abner a few hours ago so I wasn't home. I missed her call from earlier."

"Abwer?" the scuffing sound stopped. "He otays? Cans I sees 'm?" Gadreel was starting to sound frantic. Dean frowned at the phone, but before he could question Gadreel if he was alright more scuffling sounded on the other side and a new voice called into the phone.

"Dean?" It was Gadreel's mom. "Where have you been, I've been trying to get a hold of you all day?! Ezekiel's got a rash on his wings and I wanted to ask if angels could get allergic. I think it's the new detergent I'm using, but…"

"Sorry, Betty," Dean sighed into the phone. "We found a new angel."

"A new angel?" The worry in her voice vanished momentarily and excitement replaced it. "That's exciting. What's his name? Who got him?"

"Abner. His name is Abner and right now he's got no one. His last 'family' abused him." There was silence on the other side. Dean almost thought he'd lost her, but then he heard a ragged breath.

"Oh…oh God, Dean. Abner? Gadreel's talked about him before. They…they were really close. Oh my god, is he alright?" Dean's eyes widened slightly. Well, that explained Gadreel's reaction from before.

Dean quickly explained to Betty about what happened and reassured her that Abner was alright. Betty still sounded worried though. Dean changed the subject off of Abner as soon as he could and discussed Ezekiel's apparent rash.

"Hmmm…I think I'd have to take a look at it myself. I think I might know what it is, but I'd have to look for myself. How about I come over tomorrow morning?"

"That'd be great, Dean. Hey, you can bring the boys over too if you want. The twins have been missing their brothers lately," Betty said through the phone. Dean nodded and glanced towards the doorway leading down the hall to the living room.

"Okay, I'll talk to them about it. See you, Betty!" Dean turned the phone off and set it down on the table. He turned on his heels and headed down the hall.

"I called the twin's mother…" he began as he entered the living room. "Ezekiel's got some sort of allergy to detergent or something and she wants Sam and I to run over as soon as possible." He slumped down on the couch, watching as Kevin played with Abner on the floor. He was teaching Abner patty cake. Kevin was moving slowly so Abner could keep up and the little angel would use both hands to just slap one of Kevin's since the prophet's hands were so big compared to his.

"Are we taking the angels along with?" Sam questioned. I'm sure the twins would love a play date." Dean sat up then, remembering something Betty had said.

"Hey, Abner?" The little angel looked up at him, setting his hand in his lap. "Betty mentioned you on the phone. You and her Gadreel were pretty close, huh?" Abner froze instantly, eyes going wide. "Abner?"

"Gwadweel, otay?" he whispered, voice shaking like he was holding back tears. His eyes were wide and full of hope. Dean frowned.

"Um…yeah, Abby. He's doing good…uh…you wanna see him tomorrow too?" Abner nodded his head enthusiastically, grinning widely. "Alright, looks like the twins'll have one more playmate tomorrow," Dean stated. Abner went back to playing with Kevin then and Dean turned his head slightly to whisper to the others.

"What's the deal with him and Gadreel?"

"They were cellmates," Gabriel stated. All eyes in the room traveled onto him. Gabe got a distant look in his eye. "He and Gadreel had been in Heaven's dungeons so long half of Heaven pretty much forgot they were even there." Bobby's brows rose.

"No more hurting," the old man stated in realization. The others frowned at him and Bobby repeated the words again. "Maybe when you mentioned home he didn't think of that damn house…"

"Maybe he thought of his home in Heaven," Sam finished. Charlie looked at him with wide eyes.

"Wait…you're saying this poor, sweet thing has been getting tortured for years and God just dumped him on some sick bastard that just continued hurting him?" Bobby nodded, eyes darkening.

"That sure as hell is what it looks like." Dean felt his blood boil in his veins. God was really starting to get on his nerves. What the hell is the point of putting someone so little through more and more pain? How was that supposed to teach him to love or embrace other emotions angels lacked in?

Dean shook himself and went back to watching Abner and Kevin play. The little smile and giggle emitted from the angel warmed the hunter's heart. This was what the little guy deserved; a real second chance filled with laughter and safety.

And they were going to make sure Abner and every angel like him got it.