(Author's Note: this ended up being so long that I split it into two parts. It's also a bit darker than previous chapters, although I'm trying to keep it within the rating. Part Two coming soon!)


Something big was going on, but Castiel didn't know what. There were hushed whispers in the corridors and rumors in his classes, but no one was actually saying anything. Gabriel was always leaving for "super-secret" archangel meetings and not getting back until after Cas was already in bed. The other archangels were making themselves scarce, too; Raphael was teaching Angel School now, so Cas saw him every day, but he hadn't seen either Michael or Lucifer in several days. It was starting to worry him.

One day before school, he took a risk and came right out and asked. "Gabe, what's going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about, darling boy." But he wasn't looking at Cas when he spoke. He seemed to be waiting for some kind of message to come through.

"That doesn't mean no."

"It means it's none of your business. It's grownup stuff, kiddo. It's not your problem."

"What's not my problem? Are we under attack? Is that why we're all learning to make angel blades in class?"

"You're making blades?" Now he turned and faced the child. "Why are you making blades in class?"

"I'm not making blades. Raph says my grace still isn't big enough yet. How long do I gotta wait to be big enough to do stuff?"

"Don't rush it, sweetheart. Adulthood isn't what it's cracked up to be. When you're a grownup, you have to do all the hard stuff that's too dangerous for kids like you. We'll take care of it."

"Take care of what? There is something going on, isn't there?"

At first, Gabe looked like he wasn't going to tell him, but then he sighed and said, "Yes. There is something going on. But you're too young to know about it. Trust us to take care of it. Now you need to go to school, babe. And I'll have a word with Raph about teaching you to make blades. I think he's being premature, but I'm sure he won't listen to me about anything. Can't hurt to try, though."

"But I wanna help!"

"You will. Someday. Not now, though; you're still too little. Let's walk to school together and we'll talk more about this later. Okay?"

"Okay." Cas still wasn't happy about not being able to help or even know what was really going on, but he was excited about Gabe walking him to school. He hadn't done that in a long time.

When they got there, Gabe told Cas to go inside while he talked to Raphael outside, with the door closed. They moved out of sight of the door when they saw the students watching them.

"What's going on?" Balthazar asked. "You in trouble?"

"I don't know," Cas told him. "I mean, I'm not in trouble, but . . . I don't know what's going on. They won't tell me."

"Must be big," said Daniel, "if we're all making blades."

"I heard," said Bartholomew, who was the oldest one in the class now that Zachariah had been Assigned, "that Lucifer's planning to take over Heaven."

Anna gaped at him. "He can't do that! He's sworn to protect Heaven! He can't take over!"

"Way I heard it, he's recruiting his own army. When he's got enough soldiers on his side, he'll start a civil war with Michael. So we need to decide now whose side we're on."

Cas couldn't believe it. He knew Luci—or he thought he did, anyway. Was he really trying to go against his brothers and . . . what, rebel? Could he do that?

Raphael entered the classroom and slammed the door with a bang that got everyone's attention. "Quiet down, now! We need to begin."

Cas thought of raising his hand and asking, straight out, if the rumors were true. But what would Raph say?

Whatever he had been planning to say was lost as Raph began today's lesson, which was about the new planet Earth that their Father was still creating. Their book had pictures of some of the animals, and Cas was pleased to find that he knew each one of them, from his old baby blanket. See, that thing was still good for something.


After school, he and Gabe hung out for a while. Cas told him about the animal lesson and how he had known all of them from the pictures on the blanket.

"I remember you telling me all their names. Aardvark. Bear. Camel. Deer. Elephant-"

"Yeah, yeah." Gabe seemed distracted for some reason, like he was waiting for something to happen.

"Raph's not bad as a teacher. I thought he'd be really strict, but he's kinda cool, too."

"Uh huh."

"And then Lucifer came streaking down the hall naked and painted blue."

"Yeah, okay—what?" Gabe did a double-take and came face to face with his worried baby brother.

"You're not listening to me. Why aren't you listening to me? Did I do something wrong?"

"What? No, of course not. Sorry I'm not listening, kiddo, but something big is going down soon, and I need to be there."

"What kind of something?"

"The kind of something that can only be stopped by archangels. Don't worry about it. We'll take care of it. You just stay here and do your homework, okay?"

"It's happening now?" Cas nearly jumped out of his seat.

"Not right this second, but yeah, pretty soon. I need to know I can count on you to stay here and not go wandering off. I don't want to have to worry about you on top of everything else—yes?" He seemed to be listening to something that Cas couldnt' hear. "Right now? All right, I'll be there. Find someone to come and stay with the kid. He's still too young to be by himself."

"What? Where are you going? I'm not too-"

"Ssh!" He listened some more. "I'll be there. Yes, I'm ready. We'll do this." He blinked a few times and then focused on Cas. "They're coming, and then we need to go . . . do what it is we need to do. You stay here and wait for me."

"Why can't I come?" Cas asked, trying not to sound whiny.

"Because this is archangel stuff," Gabe told him. "This is work, and you're not ready for it yet, squirt. You just stay here till I come back. Don't go anywhere, don't open the door to anyone."

"Where are you going?"

"You know I can't tell you that, kiddo. I won't be gone long, though. You stay here and do your homework like a good little boy. There's some cake in the fridge if you get hungry."

"I wish I was big enough to go with you."

"No, you don't," Gabe said. "Not where we're going. But someday, not too long from now, you'll be grown up and strong in your grace. But don't rush it, okay?" He bent down and gave the kid a hug. "And never forget that I love you."

"Love you too."


He wasn't on his own for long after Gabe and the others left. Balthazar came and stayed with him, practicing swishing his angel blade through the air, but careful to watch out for the younger angel pacing around.

"When do you think they'll be back?" Cas asked.

Balth set his blade down on the table and sighed. "For the fourth time: I. Don't. Know! I don't know where they're going or what they're doing! So stop asking!"

"I'm sorry."

"Sit down before you wear a hole in the floor. Have you done your homework yet?"

"Yes," Cas sighed.

"Would you like to try my blade?"

Cas' eyes widened at the thought of holding a real angel blade for the first time. "Isn't it dangerous?"

"Not if you do exactly as I say. Pick it up by the hilt, not the blade. Go on."

Cas reached down and closed his fingers around the hilt of the blad, feeling cool metal under his fingertips. He slowly lifted it off the table, rotating it so that he held it vertically.

"Hold it so that the edge is away from you," Balth instructed him. "Which is your dominant hand?"

Cas stared at him in confusion.

"The one you normally write with."

"Oh." He shifted the sword to his right hand, sharp edge out. "Like this?"

"Just like that. Now sweep it down through the air. Reach out, forward, and down, all at the same time."

Cas got confused. He stabbed the point straight out, then brought his arm down and nearly cut his own leg off.

"No, no, no! Give me that before you smite yourself." Balthazar snatched the blade from his younger brother and showed him how to do it properly. "Don't stab like that. Sweep the blade out and downward. Make it graceful." He swished the blade through the air a few times. "Is it too big for you? Too heavy? Maybe when you learn to make your own blade, it'll be better."

"I can handle it."

"All right, then, try again."

Cas swept the blade downward in an arc, trying to balance its weight so he wouldn't fall on it. Angel blades were short, all business, but it was nearly as long as Cas' arm, and though he could make the motions well enough, he couldn't put any real power into it.

"Not bad for a fledgling. Once you get your full grace and make your own, you'll be a natural. You'll be leading Michael's army in no time."

"If I get Assigned to the army."

"You will. Everyone is. There's something big coming—I don't know what it is, but Mike needs every angel on board with him when it does come. He wants to know that he can count on you to be by his side."

Cas flung the blade to the floor. "I'm tired of all this secrecy! Why won't anyone tell me what's really going on?" He flopped down onto the couch and rested his chin in his hands.

Balthazar picked his blade up off the floor and then sat beside his younger brother. "I would if I could. But they won't tell me anything either. I'll tell you one thing, though: Lucifer's getting way too big for his britches. Sooner or later, Mike's gonna have to take him down a peg. The hard way."

The door crashed open, and Lucifer and Raphael rushed in, carrying an unconscious Gabriel between them. Cas gasped when he saw his brother covered in blood, his face pale, his eyes closed in an expression that was far from peaceful.

"Put him on the couch," Michael directed. "You two will have to move."

"What happened?" Cas cried out.

"Has there been an attack?" Balthazar held his blade out at the ready.

"It's been dealt with," Michael told him. "You can go now, Balthazar. Thank you."

He left, but Cas remained, trying to stay out of the way as Raphael ripped open Gabe's shirt to reveal an angry-looking wound with black around the edges. "The thing snacked on his grace . . . he doesn't have enough left to heal himself."

"But we can fix this," Lucifer insisted. "It's not gonna be pretty, though."

Cas tried to move in closer for a better view, but Raph blocked his way. "Get the child out of here!" he shouted.

Michael came up and put an arm around Cas' shoulders, leading him gently towards the door. "Come on, Castiel. You can stay with me tonight."

"But Gabe-"

"Gabriel's going to be fine. Raph and Luce have this in hand. They need time and room to work. There's nothing you can do but wait. He should be fine in a day or two. Do you need anything?"

Cas thought about it. "No," he said.

"Good. Then come on."


Cas had never been in Michael's office before. It was big and everything glowed white. There was a simple white throne, a desk in one corner, and a couch that could have fit two of Cas end to end.

It was to the couch that Mike led him. "This is very comfortable," he said, "if you need to rest. You might want to get a few hours' sleep, at least. There's no point in keeping yourself awake worrying."

"Can you at least tell me what . . . did that to him?"

"Nothing that you need to worry about. They're all safely locked away, in a place where you'll never need to go. I'll be right over here working, if you need anything." He sat behind the desk, and a huge pile of paperwork magically appeared in front of him. Cas turned away and stretched out, kicking his shoes off. He was kinda tired, come to think of it.

"Mike?" he asked.

"Yes, Castiel? What is it?"

Cas wasn't sure how to word his next question. "When I get Assigned . . . what if I don't like where they tell me to go?"

"What?" Michael got up from his desk chair and came over to sit in the easy chair so he could be within Cas' view. "You won't be Assigned for some time now. You've still got a lot of growing to do."

"But I heard it's already written down, what my Assignment will be."

"Where did you hear something like that?"

Cas didn't want to mention names and get anyone into trouble. "Around."

"Well, tell 'Around' that nothing is written in stone, and no Assignment is unchangeable. Until the moment your Assignment is formally announced in the Convocation of Angels, it doesn't exist yet. So stop worrying about it. You'll get the Assignment that you're right for, and that's right for you. I'll make sure of it."

"Okay, Mike. Thanks."

"There won't be any school tomorrow, so you can sleep late if you want. I mean, if you still sleep."

"I do sometimes."

"I'll be right back. You stay here and don't go anywhere." Cas had his face buried in the back of the couch, but he could hear Michael get up from the chair and walk across the floor, and out of the room. A short time later, he heard footsteps returning. Then something soft was draped over him.

"I thought you might need this."

Cas turned his head and looked at what was covering him. It was his animal blanket. "Thank you."

"Get some rest, little brother. I'll be here."