Angels didn't dream. Castiel slept, because he still hadn't come into his full grace yet, but he wasn't aware of it. It was a short period of not existing. When he slept, nothing would wake him until he was ready.

Today, however, he woke up earlier than usual. Today was the day. Today was the day!

"Gabe!" he called out. "Today's the day!"

No one answered him.

Cas got up out of bed and went out into the sitting room of his suite. "Gabriel?"

There was a sound like the snapping of fingers, and suddenly his brother appeared. "You called, bro?"

"Where've you been?"

"Had stuff to take care of. So, you ready?"

"Yeah!"

"That's my boy! You're gonna love angel school! You already know all your classmates. The lessons are pretty easy. What I remember of them, anyway. I got distracted a lot. But you'll be fine. What do you want for breakfast, kiddo?"

"I don't know."

"The usual?"

"I don't know."

"You must want something. I'm not giving you anything until you ask for it." Gabriel crossed his arms and stood in front of the cabinet that held Cas' favorite cereal.

"Fine," the younger angel sighed. "HalO's, please."

"That's more like it."

"When will I be big enough not to have to eat and sleep anymore?"

"Not long now," Gabe said, as he poured the cereal into a bowl and splashed milk on it. "Your grace is growing every day. When it's powerful enough to sustain you by itself, you'll be a full-grown angel. Then you'll get your Assignment, and then . . . then we won't really have time to hang out much anymore. But that's okay, cause you'll be Doing Your Job and Protecting Heaven." Gabriel took special care to pronounce the capital letters, just the way that Michael did.

"What if I don't wanna?"

"Don't wanna? Why wouldn't you wanna? You just know you're gonna get the best job ever, cause you're the baby and everybody loves you."

"Okay. I guess."

"Eat your breakfast."

Cas ate all his cereal, down to the last O. He was just finishing his juice when the knock came on the door.

"Hi, Cas." Anna bounded into the room, her pearly white wings flapping with each step. "Ready for school?"

"Uh huh."

"Got all your stuff? We need to go soon."

"Got it right here." Gabriel lugged Cas' backpack over and opened it up to show them. "Your lunch is here, your notebooks and pencils are in this pocket, and over here-"

But Cas had already opened the back compartment and pulled out something that he was pretty sure he wouldn't need for school. "What's this doing in here?" he asked, holding up his old animal blanket.

"Oh, um, uh . . ."

"I don't think I'll need a nap till after I come home. So this can stay here." He draped the blanket over the top of the chair. "Funny, it used to be bigger."

"No," said Gabe, "you used to be smaller. C'mon, I'll walk with you, just cause it's your first day. Don't expect this special treatment every day."

It was a long walk to Angel School, but Cas got the feeling that Gabriel was taking the long way just to have more time with him. He talked about the days when he went to Angel School, and baby Cas slept beside him in his little cot.

"No matter how loud things got-and there were some pretty crazy times-you never woke up. Unless you were hungry. Then I fed you, and you'd go right back to sleep."

"When do I get a baby to take care of?" Cas asked. It sounded like fun.

"I don't know, kiddo. There haven't been any new angels for a while yet. Dad's very busy on this new project of his."

"New project?"

"Very hush-hush. Don't mention it to anyone; they don't know about it yet. Aaaaaaand . . . here we are."

Suddenly the classroom door was there in front of them, huge and dark and not at all friendly-looking. Cas hung back a bit, not wanting to be the first to go in.

"I can't come with you," Gabe said. "I have work to do. But I'll see you when you get home." He reached down and gave his not-so-little-anymore brother a hug. "You'll do fine, okay? I love you."

"Love you, too."

"There's something special in your bag," Gabe whispered. "Down in the side pocket. Don't let anyone else see it; it's just for you."

"Okay."

"Take care, now. Do what you're told and be good."

"I will."

"Don't let anyone push you around, either, just cause you're little. Remember that you're-"

Someone cleared their throat. Cas looked up and saw his brother Michael standing in the open doorway, waiting for them. "Welcome, Castiel," he said. "Come in and take your seat. Good morning, Anna."

"Good morning, Michael." Anna bounded past them and took a seat in the front row.

"Sit in the front," Gabe told him, "so you can see better. You're smaller than all the other kids, so you don't want to get stuck behind someone and not be able to see."

"Gabriel," Michael said. "Don't you have a job to do?"

"Yeah, gimme a minute. Talking to the kid here."

"I can take it from here. You go on and do what you're supposed to."

"I will! The bad thing about being in the front row is that sometimes you get stuff thrown at you."

"Why would they throw stuff at me?"

"They won't," said Michael. "Because you're not annoying, unlike someone else we could mention."

"Don't be afraid to slouch down in your chair. Give them less of a target. And don't-"

"Gabriel."

"In a minute! Don't be the first one to put your hand up, even if you know the answer. And you'll know all the answers, cause you're just that smart."

"Scuse me." The other students were arriving, and had to squeeze by in order to get into the classroom.

"Gabe," Cas said. "It's okay. You can go now. I'll see you later." He took a seat in the front row, two seats over from Anna.

"Out of the mouths of babes." Michael was smiling. "I don't expect any trouble from this one. He's good at following orders."

"Too bad. I was hoping for a rebel. Shake things up a little."

"I think we've had all the shaking up we can handle for a while. I really need to get started here. And you need to get to work."

"I know." Gabe sighed and glanced in through the open door, giving Cas a little wave. Cas waved back. "I miss my baby."

"I remember when you were the baby. Now go on. Good morning, Daniel. Morning, Rebecca."

"Morning," the two young angels said, as they entered the classroom. They were the last ones. As soon as they were inside, Michael stepped inside and closed the door firmly. Gabe took the hint and left.

Cas was relieved to see him finally go. He would miss having his big brother there with him, but he was more excited about school. And it was just about to begin!

Michael waited until all the students were in their places, and then he stepped to the front of the room. "Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Michael!"

"We have a new student with us today. Our youngest brother has finally joined us. Stand up and say hello, Castiel."

Cas didn't really want to stand up in front of the whole class, but he didn't want to disobey, either. He stood on his chair so he could see everyone.

"Hi," he said.

"All right, you can sit down. We're going to begin the reading on page forty-five. Wait a minute." He crossed the room and took a book down off the shelf, and brought it over to Cas, laying it on the desk. "There. Now: page forty-five. Who wants to start at the top of the page?"

Cas opened the book and flipped the pages until he found the one with the right number. He followed along with the class until he heard a whisper from behind him: "Look at the fledgling pretending he can read."

He wouldn't turn around and see who it was who had said that. He kept his eyes on the book.

"I'm talking to you, baby. You don't belong here."

"Did you have something to say, Zachariah?" Michael walked down the rows until he was two seats behind Cas.

"No, sir."

"Good. You can take it from the next paragraph."

Cas forgot about it until lunchtime. He was sitting by himself, eating the food that Gabriel had packed for him, when someone came and sat beside him.

"I don't believe you can really read," Zachariah told him. "You're too little."

"Can too," Cas said without looking at him. He had been reading for a while now; Lucifer had taught him when he babysat.

"Oh yeah?" Zach slammed his empty drink container down on the table. "Read that word there, then." He pointed to a word on the side.

Cas looked at the Enochian symbols and tried to sound them out in his head. "Organic," he said at last. He had no idea what it meant, but he recognized the word.

"Really? How about that there?"

"Made with all nat-yoo-ral ingre-dee-yents."

"Oh, wow! You really can read it. Hey, Bart! C'mere! You won't believe what the kid can do!"

Bartholomew, one of the older angels and a special pet of Michael's, joined them at the table. "What's he doin'?"

"Here. Read this." Zach pulled a book out of his bag and opened it to a random page. "What's that say?"

It was a long sentence, but Cas knew most of the words in it. "Praise be to God the Father, cree-cree-ah-tor-Creator-of the Universe and Father of all things."

"That's not reading," said Bart. "Someone told him what it said."

"All right, then, you pick somethin'."

Bart flipped to a page in the back. "Read what it says right here," he said, his finger stabbing a section in the middle of the page. "First sentence. Go."

This was a lot easier. No long words at all. "And God said dot dot let there be light."

"Dot dot?" Zach sneered. "You don't pronounce the punctuation, Freaky-Wings!"

"Leave him alone," said Bart. "He's a little kid. He doesn't know all the rules yet. That was amazing, Castiel. How long have you been reading like that?"

Cas shrugged. "I dunno."


He waited at the door while all the kids went home. He waited forever, but Gabriel never showed.

"You're still here, Castiel?" Michael said as he turned off the lights and shut the door. "Who's supposed to walk you home?"

"I don't know," the child said. "I thought Gabe would be here, but-"

Michael closed his eyes for a second, listening to something. "He's still working. He might be a while. Did he say he would be here for you?"

"He said . . ." Cas had to think about it. "He said he'd see me at home later. I guess he's not coming."

"I'll take you home, little brother. I'll wait with you until he comes. It shouldn't be too long."

Cas stared up at him in wonder. "Really? You can do that? But you're always so busy . . ."

"It can wait. I can't very well leave you by yourself, can I? I'll even make you a snack if you want."

"Okay."

Michael took him home a different way than Gabe had, which only proved that Gabe had been stalling. But Cas wouldn't hold it against him.

"So how did you like your first day of school?" Michael asked him.

"It was great! Do I get to go back tomorrow?"

His brother laughed. "You can come back every day from now until I decide that you've learned enough. Once your grace is big enough and your wings have grown, you'll learn how to make your angel blade and the basics of defending yourself."

"From what?"

Michael's face darkened. "We'll talk about that another time. Just understand that not everything in Father's realm is harmless. Now what would you like to eat?"

"Is there pie?"

Michael took a look in the fridge. "There's pie."

"Can I have some?"

"I don't know, can you?"

Cas sighed. Having Mike as an older brother and a teacher was gonna be twice as hard. "May I have some? Please?"

"Yes, you may. Go sit down at the table."

Castiel obediently went and sat in his place at the table, his little legs swinging in the air just above the floor. Maybe when he was big enough that his feet touched the floor, he would have his full grace and not need to eat or sleep or go to school anymore. Not that he minded school. School had been kind of fun today.

Michael served him a slice of apple pie on a small plate, along with a glass of milk. Cas thanked him and went to work, demolishing the pie in a series of tiny but ferocious bites. He hadn't realized how hungry he was.

He was just finishing his milk when Gabe came in. And he wasn't alone.

"So I said, 'Hey, buddy, point that somewhere else, will you?'" He and his companion laughed, and Cas saw that it was Lucifer.

"Hi, Gabe! Hi, Luci!"

"Hey, kiddo!" Gabe came running and scooped the child up in his arms. "How was school?"

"Awesome!"

"Great! Oh, hi, Mike."

Lucifer gave his older brother an icy stare, but said nothing. He turned and left the room. Cas watched him go, wondering what was wrong.

"I'm just curious," Michael said. "Who taught Castiel to read at such a young age? Even my students were impressed."

Gabe coughed and said, "I did. We read all the time, before he goes to bed at night."

"We do?" Cas asked, but neither of his brothers noticed.

"Well, good. Keep it up. I'll see you tomorrow, Castiel. I probably won't be able to walk you home, though, so you might want to make other arrangements." With that, he left.

Gabe sat down in the other chair, looking tired but happy. "So, you had a good day, huh?"

"Why'd you tell him that you taught me to read? That's a lie, and lying's wrong!"

"Well, Cassie, it's like this." He rested his elbows on the table and leaned in close. "In case you haven't noticed, Luci isn't exactly Mike's favorite person right now. If they're not screaming at each other, they're avoiding each other. I'm not sure which one is worse. I didn't want you to get caught in the middle of their little war. Cause you don't deserve that, kiddo. I wasn't lying about one thing, though: you and I are gonna read together before you go to bed. I want to see how well you do. And I promise, if I'm not there to walk you home from school, I'll make sure someone else is. Okay?"

"Okay," Cas said, and yawned. "Guess I'm ready for that nap now."

"Fine. I'll wake you when dinner's ready."

Cas went to his room and lay down on his bed. Gabe came in and spread the animal blanket over him.

"Don't grow up too fast, baby," he whispered. "I'm enjoying every moment of this."