Party of the Ages
Parties had never been Vali's thing.
Before he ran away, parties were constant back in Asgard. Loki would disappear to visit balls and other grand events while Vali's siblings would stay up at late hours of the night drinking themselves sick and dancing until the sun came up. Loki was a party animal and his kids were all just as bad.
Well, most of his kids.
When Charlie showed up announcing a party was just around the corner, Vali was ready to lock himself in his room until further notice. He barely knew any of his new family yet and the thought of just having them all thrown at him at once made his heart go crazy and his lungs squeeze painfully.
"It's okay, Vali."
"They'll love you."
"We'll be right here with you."
His father's and uncles' words rattled through Vali's brain as he stood in the backyard. It was the day of the party and the entire Winchester-Angel family was either back in the house or relaxing in the giant hot tub Gabriel had managed to conjure up in the yard. There were smiles on everyone's faces but Vali wondered if that was mostly because the hot tub had a built in cooler and TV.
"Hey, you're Vali, right?"
Vali stiffened and turned. A little old woman stood in the doorway behind him. In her arms were two tiny angels. One was a little boy with green wings. The other was a little boy with wings covered in a splatter of pink, red, and purple.
"My name is Rosa," the old woman started. "Everyone just calls me Grandma Rosa, though." She nodded at the boys in her arms. "The one on the right is my daughter's son Raphael. The other one isn't mine but…" she pulled at the little angel's cheeks. "...I wish he was. He's too sweet for words!"
"Granny, I'm sweet too!" Raphael argued, bottom lip puffing out in a pout.
"Yeah! Raphy's cute too!" the other angel shouted and he launched himself into Raphael to give the angel a comforting hug.
Grandma Rosa let out a loud laugh and squeezed the two boys tight before releasing them on the soft grass by her feet.
"Yes, yes, you're right," she lamented. "How about you too go find your parents? Maybe they'll show you how that hot tub works, hm?"
"Okay!" the two cried together and they were scampering away to join the other adults and angels relaxing in Gabriel's giant hot tub.
Vali and Grandma Rosa watched them go.
"Phillips and Henry are lucky to have such a cute little boy like Amado. Though, I'm lucky to have my Raphy too," Grandma Rosa chuckled. Her eyes fell back onto Vali. "We all are lucky I suppose."
Vali smiled and nodded shyly. "Um…" He scratched at the back of his neck. "My dad told me a little about you. He said your family is from Mexico?"
Rosa nodded. "Yes, my family and I came up to visit. I hear the angels from the Japan, Egypt, and Brazil are here too."
Vali's eyes widened. He knew there were angels from different countries in his family but it still wowed him how diverse and far-stretched his family was. It was kinda cool.
"I should see if I can find the Winchesters," Grandma Rosa sighed and she reached out unexpectedly to Vali.
On instinct, Vali stiffened as the old woman yanked him into a tight hug. He should be getting used to hugs by now but sometimes they still caught him off guard.
If Grandma Rosa noticed how tense his body was, she didn't comment. Instead, she held him tighter and stood on the tips of her toes to whisper a soft, "welcome to the family, honey" in his ear.
Five little words drained the tight tension in Vali's body away and the boy's heart suddenly ached.
Smiling, Vali hugged the old woman back. "Thank you," he whispered.
She left him shortly after and Vali felt a newfound confidence glowing in his chest. Against his earlier thoughts, Vali ventured fully into the yard to where a group of angels had gathered. In the center of the pile of angels were Lila and Castiel.
"Hi, Vali," Castiel greeted and then he waved at his siblings. "Everyone, this is Vali. He's Gabriel's son. Please make him feel at home."
The angels blinked at him and the uncomfortable feeling in Vali's gut started to coil back into place.
"Angel pile!" an angel with parchment white wings with black speckles screamed and before Vali knew it he was sprawled on his back covered in a mass of tiny limbs and feathers.
The angels were laughing and giggling as they sat on Vali's chest and hugged him with what strength they had in their tiny wings and arms. Castiel and Lila stayed where they were, faces split in wide smiles as they watched Vali get the biggest welcome from his angel family.
"You're just in time," Lila revealed when the angels finally let Vali sit up again. "We're going to have a water gun war. You want to join?"
Vali nodded shyly and a water gun appeared in the palm of his hand thanks to a little grace from Castiel. He looked around, finding the other angels all had a gun too.
"Okay, kids, now here are the rules," Lila began, drawing in everyone's attention. "Only shoot those who want to play or those who have water guns to defend themselves."
"What about Sam and Dean?" the angel Vali remembered to be called Ezra asked.
"Those two you can blast either way. They're extra points too, by the way."
Vali had a feeling Sam and Dean would say something different about that but he opted to keep his mouth shut as Lila explained to the angels to not aim for anyone's face.
"Alright, gang," Castiel shouted once Lila finished. "Let's go!"
The angels dispersed in a cloud of feathers and Vali scrambled to his feet to find some form of shelter before the shooting began.
He made it to the cover of a thick bush with three other angels before the shooting started up. Water splattered all over the yard and the adults in the hot tub let out a series of startled gasps at the sudden war breaking out around them.
Vali fired with the other three angels with him, taking down four angels before ducking behind the cover of their bush when Gadriel and Ezekial aimed their guns at them. Vali glanced at his team as they peaked out around the bush. The one he recognized right away since they had met not too long ago. It was Kambiel, the little angel Bobby and Kevin had rescued. The last time Vali had seen the angel he had been a mess but now? Kam looked like any other happy child his age. The other two Vali had never met before. He recognized the patterns of their wings. His father had described a few to him and the bright flamingo pink and pigeon gray feathers in front of him should have triggered at least a guess at their names in his head.
It didn't.
"What are your names?" Vali asked the two and the two angels smiled widely at him.
"I'm Hannah," the girl with the pigeon gray wings whispered as if she were afraid the other angels would hear them and find their hiding spot. "The angel with the pink wings is Inias."
"Nice to meet you both," he said and then his eyes skimmed to Kambiel who was looking up at him with wide eyes. "Hey, Kambiel," Vali greeted. "It's good to see you again."
A smile eased over the wide-eyed angel's face and he gave Vali a quick nod before turning his attention back to the battle raging on around them. He fired a few arcs of water into the air, giggling as he got Gail right on the butt.
Vali and the rest of his team cheered for Kambiel's great aim only to scramble from their hiding spot as Gail came at them with four angels on her heals.
"What the hell is going-"
"Bonus points for Bartholomew!" Lila called from somewhere in the chaos and Vali glanced at the door leading to the backyard. Sam was standing by the doorway with Sherrif Donna right behind him. She had been lucky and only got a light sprinkle of water on her dark blue blouse but Sam had gotten a good shot to the crotch from the tiny angel sitting on Lila's shoulders.
"Gabe!" Sam growled and the angel sat up from where he was lounging in his hot tub.
"Sorry, Sammy!" Gabe called to the hunter. "But this one's on Cas!"
Sam scanned the yard, glaring pointedly at the trenchcoated angel hiding with the angels Uriel, Adina, and Daniel.
"Cas!" He held out his hands. "If you don't want your coat to go in the wash tonight you better make this an even fight!"
Gabriel whistled from his spot in the hot tub. "Woah, that's brave of you, Sammy. Never thought you'd willingly threaten the trenchcoat."
Sam ignored him and unsurprisingly, a water gun suddenly appeared in the Winchester's palm.
It was then that the battle really began.
Sam and Donna took shelter behind Dean's new outdoor grill, both taking part in the battle. Water sprayed throughout the yard harder than ever and Vali struggled with his team to find a new spot to hide. They foun
d it in the blueberry garden and fought their battle while also taking a few handfuls of Bobby's fresh blueberries.
A startled gasp from the doorway drew everyone's firing to a halt again.
Dean was in the door with a few of the other parents. Balthazar was on his shoulders with Anna and in Dean's hands was a tray of hamburger he was probably planning to cook on his grill.
"Cas," Dean said in a calm and steady voice. "Did you just shoot me?"
Cas grinned proudly and held up his gun to point at Dean again. "Bonus points!" he cried and the entire angel family burst from their hiding places and charged for the hunter. Sam, Lila, and Vali followed right away, laughing as the parents that had been with Dean shut the door behind him and left him outside to the angels' mercy. Even Balthazar and Anna knew to split. They grabbed the tray from Dean's hands and scurried away in the blink of an eye.
Dean bolted for his life through the yard. His long legs and speed gave him the upper hand, however, luck was not on the older Winchester's side. He slipped on the wet grass, landing in the mud with a huff. The angels jumped onto his back then, pinning him down and dowsing him with all the water they still had left over. Dean screamed and thrashed bellow them but his face was split in a wide grin. Vali found himself joining in on the pile. His laughter joined the others and he caught his father's proud smile before he too jumped in to join the fun.
As they day came and went, Vali met the rest of his family and continued to laugh and smile like he had surrounded by tiny angels joined together to soak Dean with their water guns. When the day ended, most of the angels said their goodbyes with their families and ventured home. The others stayed longer, some staying over a week before packing up and waving goodbye.
"Vali?"
Vali turned to his father. He and Gabriel were sitting out on the porch with a bowl of fresh blueberries between them. Gabriel had a smile on his face but Vali could see a hint of worry in his gold eyes.
"You had fun, right?" Vali raised a brow at his Dad and Gabriel scratched at his neck like Dean always did when nervous or stressed. "It's just...I know you never really liked parties before but...you were laughing so..."
"Dad," Vali interrupted. "I had fun."
Gabriel sighed, visibly relaxing at his words. He flew to his son then, plopping down in his lap and giving him a loose hug. Vali hugged him back and his eyes rolled up to the driveway where he had watched his new aunts and uncles wave goodbye the past couple of days.
Vali never thought he'd enjoy a party in his life but now he found himself looking forward to the next.
Thank you, Kjboulware, for requesting Gabriel's hot tub and thank you, Jalicejelsa4eva, for requesting the gun war.