The Curse of the Rit Zein

For any other angel, staying in an old people's home for a couple of hours would have been nothing. To Ephraim, however, it was everything.

Ephraim sat on the lap of an old man, tears in his eyes. No matter what the little angel did, the man wouldn't acknowledge him. The old man was lost— trapped in his own head.

The Rit Zien were angels who put the hurting out of their misery. Despite that, there wasn't a thing Ephraim could do for this lost man. His powers were gone, his grace too weak to support it.

It's for that reason, on a foggy afternoon, that Ephraim sat crying in the lap of an old man's lap despite his caretaker's words.

"Hey, hey," the angel's father— Jasper— called from where he was changing the old man's sheets. He quickly finished up and hurriedly picked his angel up. "It okay, Ephy." Jasper bounced him lightly. "We're almost done."

I hope so, Ephraim hoped. This is torture.

"I just have to finish up with Mr. Jones here, okay?" He forced a smile. "He has some visitors coming in a bit."

Ephraim whimpered, bottom lip shaking as he threatened to burst into tears.

Jasper held his son tighter. "Oh, baby, what's wrong?" he cooed.

A distressed noise left Ephraim's lips and this time he did burst into tears. He wanted to leave. Why couldn't they go home? Why couldn't—

The door to Mr. Jones's room popped open and Jasper quickly hid Ephraim's wings under his big, muscular arms to the best of his ability.

Ephraim stared wide-eyed at the two men now standing in the doorway. They were big and tall— about half as big as Jasper.

"Are— are you two Mr. Jones's nephews?" Jasper questioned.

The two men grinned.

"That's right," the shorter of the two confirmed. "How's Uncle Fred doing?"

"He's—"

Ephraim whimpered at the mention of the old man in the room, unintentionally bringing every eye in the room onto him.

The taller of the two men bent slightly to get a better look at the angel, his eyes going wide when he noticed yellow tipped feathers peeking out from under Jasper's arms.

"Dean, he's a—"

Jasper pulled away from the strangers and squeezed Ephraim protectively.

The fear building in Jaspers heart set Ephraim off even more and his body started to shake.

"He's just a normal kid," Jasper hissed. "Now back off or—"

"Hey hey!" The tall man held up his hands in a show of peace. "It's okay. We don't want to hurt him."

"My brother's telling the truth," the shorter added. "In fact—" He pulled his wallet out and opened it to reveal several pictures. Each one was an image of a child sporting a pair of wings just like Ephraim's. "We have a baby angel or three too."

Jasper's eyes widened. "who— who are you people?"

"I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean," the taller of the two introduced. "We're kind of baby angel hunters."

"We make sure baby angels are in safe hands and help out their caretakers," Dean added and then pointed at Jasper. "That would be you."

Jasper lowered his head, a sad smile playing at his lips. Some caretaker I am," he huffed. "Ephy— all he does is cry. I— I feel like I can never make him happy."

The pain wavering off his father sent a spark of pain deep within Ephraim's chest and a wail left the angel's lips.

"Shit," Jasper swore and he rubbed his angel's back lightly. "Hey, Ephy, you're okay," he reassured. "Calm down, baby."

Sam and Dean shared a look.

"Mind if we have a look at him?" Sam asked. "Angel's need a lot of upkeep to stay healthy. If you're using the wrong shampoo or something on his wings his feathers could get too dry and start to hurt."

Jasper reluctantly handed Ephraim over and the two Winchester's carefully carded through the angel's wings and poked at his skin.

"See anything?" Dean murmured.

Sam shook his head. "Not a thing," he sighed.

Ephraim stared up at the two men, peace suddenly washing over him as he sat in their presence. He could feel pain deep within them but it was faint— covered by love and joy.

A smile cracked over Ephraim's lips and he reached out, hugging the two men tight.

Sam and Dean stiffened instantly.

"Uh…" Sam glanced between Ephraim and a flabbergasted Jasper. "This is new."

Jasper's shoulders slumped. "Maybe I wasn't meant to be his caretaker?"

"No." Dean shook his head. "No, that's not it. Trust us. We've met plenty of people not meant to take care of angels."

"Yeah, you definitely don't fit that category." Sam tapped at his chin. "This is something else."

Dean snapped a picture of Ephraim with his phone and sent it quickly. "Let's see what the kids think," he hummed.

They waited for a second and when Dean's phone buzzed, he opened the message, a gasp quickly leaving his lips.

"What?" Sam glanced at the phone. "Oh." His eyes grew wide. "That explains it."

Jasper stepped forward, worry pouring off of him like a river.

Ephraim wiggled as the feeling reached him, not liking the pain coming off his father.

"He's a Rit Zein," Sam explained. "They're angels whose job is to put those in pain out of their misery."

"He's probably upset because he's around people in pain," Dean sighed. "With him being so little, he can't use his powers to help them. I can't imagine how much that hurts."

Ephraim slouched his shoulders and Jasper knelt down, squeezing the angel's shoulder.

"Ephy?"

The little angel looked up, eyes watery not from other people's pain this time but his own.

"Is that true?"

Ephraim bobbed his head and suddenly, he was being pulled into a tight hug.

"Oh, Ephy," Jasper whispered. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"There really isn't anything we can do for this," Dean sighed. "It's… just something your angel is gonna have to get used to on his own."

"No," Jasper said with a shake of his head and he pressed a kiss to Ephraim's brow. "He's got me. He won't be alone."

The Winchesters smiled. "Good answer."

I don't want to jinx (haha) it but I think my writers block is gone for this story finally. Idk I'm only two chapters in rn so we'll have to see.

Anyway, Mr. Jones in this is Fred Jones from the earlier seasons of SPN— the telekinetic. Sam and Dean visit him often to check up on him and give him some company. Ephraim is the Rit Zein Cas and Dean ran into in season 8. However, Wee Angels Cas and Dean never met him since that part of SPN didn't happen in the Wee Angel universe.