Now that Gabriel was a little older, he was very busy carrying messages back and forth. He didn't have as much time to spend watching Castiel, so he made arrangements with some of the younger angels to take over babysitting duties.
Today, however, Lucifer was supposed to be watching Cas, which was why Gabriel was surprised to find himself summoned to the Healing Center.
"What's going on?" he asked.
The girl in charge of the fledglings, whose name was Sarah, said, "I wouldn't have called you, sir, but this is serious. You know about the angel pox outbreak, right?"
"Yeah." It had been going on for nearly a week now. "None of them have died, have they?"
"No. In fact, most are getting better. Then there's the little one who was brought in last night. One of the worst cases I've ever seen."
"That's too bad for him, but what's that got to do with me?"
"Because," she said, "he's been calling for you all night long." She led him through a door marked QUARANTINE into a ward where seven or eight fledglings lay in bed. "He's the one on the end there."
In the very last bed was Castiel, looking absolutely miserable, his ebony wings folded behind him in a way that didn't look comfortable at all. When he saw his older brother, he sat up and reached out for him. "Gabey! Gabey! Where you been?"
"It's okay, sweet baby. I'm here now." He bent down and scooped the boy up in his arms, being careful of his sore wings.
"Don' feel good, Gabe."
"I know, I know. This nice lady is gonna take care of you for a while. I'll be back."
"No! Don' leave!"
"I have to, sport. Don't worry, I'll be back." He put Castiel back down on the bed and turned to Sarah. "He's been here all night?"
"Brought in just before bedtime."
That would be right around the time that Lucifer had taken over babysitting duty.
"I gotta go talk to my brother," Gabriel said. "I'll be back to sign him out."
"Sign him out? I don't-I don't know if you're supposed to do that."
"It's my job. I gotta look after Cassie. I'll be back."
He gave Cas one last hug, and then Gabriel went to find Lucifer.
The door to the conference room banged open. Raphael and Lucifer looked up to see their younger brother storming in, looking furious.
"Why didn't anyone tell me that Castiel was sick?" he demanded.
For once, silver-tongued Lucifer had nothing to say.
"You and Mike had me carrying messages back and forth to each other all day! Why can't you two just talk to each other?"
"I would," Luci said sullenly, "but he's the one being a . . . a donkey's behind."
"You were supposed to be watching Cassie! And you dumped him at the healer's!"
"In case you haven't noticed," said Raphael, "there is a virulent outbreak of angel pox among the fledglings. The count is up to nine now; it was thought best to keep them isolated to protect the others."
"But not tell me? Why?"
"It was better you didn't know," said Lucifer. "We did our best to keep you busy."
"You kept me from my baby! My sick baby who cried for me all night long! Why would you do that?"
"Because you've never had angel pox!" Lucifer burst out.
Gabriel looked confused. "Yeah, I did. We all had 'em together. Even Michael. Don't you remember?"
"No, little brother, you never had them. The three of us did, but you didn't."
"But I remember! I remember being in a room by myself for days!"
"Of course you were. Father tried to keep you isolated so that you wouldn't get it. Just like we tried to keep you away now."
"But I'm old enough now that my grace will protect me!"
"That's what Michael thought. He was about your age when he nursed me through it. He thought he'd be okay. Guess what? Caught it, big-time! Boy, was he miserable! I was trying to keep you from suffering like he did. Don't you understand, little brother? I was looking out for you."
Gabriel looked at his older brother for a long moment. "Well, it's too late," he said. "I've already been over to see him. I've probably already got it."
"That's likely," said Raphael. "Angel pox is highly contagious."
"I don't care. I'm gonna go sign him out, and then I'm gonna take care of him. Like I should've all along."
"And if you get sick?" Lucifer asked.
Gabriel shrugged. "Then I'll still be there with him. You should've told me."
He looked at both of them, and then the young archangel stormed out as suddenly as he had come. Raphael turned to Lucifer.
"He's totally going to get sick, you know."
"I know."
"And . . . you'll be there when he does."
"Who else? Mike?" Luci made a rude noise with his lips. "He's too busy sending me love notes."
"And you're sending them right back."
"Don't want to be rude."
"How long before you go and give our little brother some peace?"
"I figure . . . three days?"
It was closer to four. But only because Gabriel was being stubborn.
Gabriel went back to the Healing Center, picked Cas up, and brought him home. He held him and rocked him and sang to him, and rubbed the base of the child's wings, so they wouldn't hurt as much.
When his own wings started to hurt on day three, Gabriel ignored them. He gave Castiel a bath, put clean pajamas on him, and fed him some soup. He was just putting him back in bed when the headache started.
"No, no, no!" he muttered to himself. Not when Cas was just starting to get better. "Just a few more days, please . . ."
But the pain didn't go away, so as soon as he put the empty bowl away, he climbed up on the bed and curled up next to his sleeping brother. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but his eyes closed all on their own.
Fire.
There was a fire.
He was on fire.
He could feel the flames under his skin, burning him, and just as he was about to cry out for mercy, the rains came. The first drops hit his forehead and trickled down onto his cheeks. The water felt so cool, so refreshing . . .
And then he realized someone was singing.
"I was soaring ever higher . . ."
He knew that song.
" . . . but I flew too high . . ."
He knew that voice.
"Luci?"
"Ssh. It's okay, little brother. I gotcha."
Gabriel opened his eyes to see his older brother leaning over him, wiping his face with a damp cloth. "Where's Cassie?"
"With Raph. I brought you to my place. Thought you'd be more comfortable."
That explained why it was so dark in here. "What day's it?"
"It hasn't been that long. Now shush. It's gonna get worse before it gets better, but I'm right here." He ran the cold, wet cloth over Gabriel's face again, and it felt so good. So good that he could almost ignore the ache in his wings. "Luci . . . my wings . . ."
"They hurt, don't they? I remember what that was like." Lucifer started stroking Gabriel's wings, massaging them at their base, and the younger archangel closed his eyes and sighed with relief. "You're gonna be okay, Precious. I'm gonna take good care of you."
Gabriel drifted off to sleep. When he woke up, Castiel was with him.
"Hi, Gabe," the child said.
"What are you doing here?" Gabriel tried to sit up, but there was no strength left in his arms.
"I all better now. Wanna see you. Sorry I made you sick."
"It's okay, squirt. I'm glad you're better now. I'll be better soon, too. I hope."
Cas reached his arms up. "Wanna stay with you."
"You're gonna have to get up here on your own, baby. I'm too tired to lift you."
Cas frowned, but he managed to climb up onto the bed and wriggle over beside his brother. "Love you, Gabey."
Gabriel managed to lift one arm enough to drape it over the child's shoulders. "Love you too, Cassie."
And when Lucifer came in and found the two of them snuggled together, he let them be. It was the best thing for both of them. Love was the best medicine.
