There was no true day or night in Heaven. There were periods when everyone was active, and then there were times when they were less active. Likewise, there were really no secluded places or hidden back alleys, only roads less traveled.

So it wouldn't be exactly true to say that Lucifer dragged Cas and Gabe to a dark alley in the middle of the night, but it was essentially true. They were by themselves in a place where not many angels needed to go, at a time when no one was out and about.

This felt wrong to Castiel. And not just because he was missing sleep for whatever this was. Luci had made him give his word not to tell anyone, anyone, what they were about to do. This made the young angel very uncomfortable.

"What are we doing here, Luci?' he asked.

The archangel beamed. "You," he said, "are in for a real treat. You see, I happen to know," and he moved in closer, "the back door," closer, until he was almost nose to nose with Castiel, "into the Garden."

"Joshua's garden? I've been there all the time."

"Not that garden! The special one! The one on Earth that Dad won't let us into cause we might mess it up. I know the secret way in, and I'll let you come with me, but you can't tell anyone what we're doing. Not anyone at all. If Dad finds out . . . we're all dead."

Cas froze.

"He's kidding!" Gabe reassured him. "He might be angry with us, but He won't actually kill us! At least . . . I don't think so."

"If we're gonna go," said Lucifer, "we gotta go now. In or out, Cassie?"

Cas didn't want to do something he'd get in trouble for. But he wanted to see the Garden. He looked over at Gabe. His big brother would protect him, wouldn't he? "Okay," he said at last.

"Great! Now follow me, both of you, and try not to make too much noise. The tunnel really magnifies sounds, so be as quiet as possible."

"Tunnel?"

"Not claustrophobic, are you, kiddo?"

"No," Cas said.

The tunnel access was so well-hidden that Cas didn't see it at first, until Luci lifted off an access panel and revealed a circular opening that looked barely big enough for Cas to fit inside, let alone two fully-grown archangels. Lucifer jumped up, grasped the rim of the tunnel, and pulled himself up, climbing into the tunnel on hands and knees. The top of his head brushed the roof of the tunnel, and Cas began to worry.

"You coming?" Luci called back to them, his words echoing hollowly.

Gabe took a running jump, missed his first time, but caught it the second time and swung inside. He landed feet-first and had to shift around until he was lying on his belly, leaning out of the opening with arms outstretched.

"Jump, Cassie!" he called out. "I'll catch you!"

Cas looked up at the gaping hole so far above him. He couldn't jump that high, and his wings weren't strong enough to lift him. "I can't!"

"Sure you can! It's not that high! Come on, we don't have much time!"

Cas stepped back a bit, got a running start, and jumped as high as he could. He didn't think he was going to make it, but then he felt Gabe's hands close around his smaller ones and pull him up.

"Told ya," Gabe smirked. "Now come on. Stick close behind me. You don't want to get lost in here."

Cas shifted his body around until he was on hands and knees, and he crawled forward, trying not to think of what might be lurking in a dark tunnel.

I wish I'd never said yes to this, he thought. I knew this was a bad idea from the beginning. Now I'm stuck. He hurried to keep up with his older brothers, who were almost out of sight. Trust me, he said. Trust that everything will work out. I don't know, Mike. I don't think this will be okay.

"Cassie, come on!" Gabe called back faintly.

Cas crawled on through the tunnel, hoping that he would get to the other side before someone-or something-found him.


It was all Mike's fault.

He had called both Cas and Gabe into his office one morning when Cas was off from school. He said it was important.

"I know Lucifer is up to something," he began. "I don't know what. And I can't ask him, cause he won't talk to me. But you, Gabriel, you and Luce were very close once."

"Were. Not are. He doesn't have my back anymore-" Gabe's hand went to his side, though the terrible wound was long since healed.

"Still, he's more likely to confide in you than me or Raph. If you're careful about how you approach him, you can learn all sorts of things.

"I don't know . . . but I'll try."

"Good." He turned to Cas. "Castiel, I know you're still young and not at your full power yet, and I think we can use that to our advantage."

"How?"

"He knows you won't be able to overpower him. Therefore, he won't see you as a threat. And he knows that you won't lie to him."

"But you want me to spy on him." Cas wasn't sure he understood what it was he was being asked to do. "That's kind of lying, isn't it?"

"Let me do the talking, kiddo," Gabe said. "Don't speak to him unless you're asked a direct question. If you need help, I'm here."

Michael leaned across the desk, looking deadly serious. "None of us wants a war. If I can do anything to keep it from happening, I will. I don't want to have to hurt my brother . . . but I'm not sure he'd say the same. Lucifer doesn't seem to care who gets hurt as long as he gets what he wants. We need to stop this behavior before it gets out of control."

"Where's Our Father?" Cas asked him.

"He's on Earth," Mike told him. "He's still working on His special project, and I'm told it's almost ready. When it's done, He'll call us all together and tell us all about it."

"He should be here. If He was . . . maybe Luci wouldn't even try what he's getting away with."

"If only it were that simple, child. I don't think Luce cares anymore. He's given up on seeking Father's approval, and now he only does what he wants."

"Then it's hopeless?"

"Not necessarily. I want you to try. Try to get close to him without losing yourself. I believe in you, little brother. I know you can do this. Report back to me everything that he tells you."

Cas had been there a few days later when Gabe had hunted his brother down and cornered him outside his rooms.

"I just wanted to let you know," he said, "no hard feelings about . . . you know. It was an accident. Could have happened to anyone. And everything's fine now, right?"

Luci narrowed his eyes. "And you're telling me this because . . ."

Gabe looked a bit embarrassed. "I miss you," he said. "I miss how close we used to be. I'd like us to have some kind of a relationship again, if that's okay. I know it'll never be as it once was, but we can try, can't we? Even just a little bit?"

There was a moment when Cas didn't think he was going to go for it. Then his whole face brightened and he said, "All right, my precious one. We'll give it a try. I'll see you later. Got something to do right now. But I'll keep in touch." He started to walk away, and then stopped and looked back. "I just might have something in mind for us to do together. Possibly. Like I said, I'll call you."

Gabe watched him go with a hopeful expression on his face, at least till he was out of sight. Then he looked satisfied.

"Stage One, complete," he said to Cas. "When he contacts me, I'll let you know."

"And Mike," Cas pointed out.

"Of course. And Mike. Everyone will be in the loop."


So now here they were, crawling through the longest, darkest, dirtiest tunnel that Cas had ever been in. Granted, it was his first ever tunnel experience, but it was still long, and dark, and disgusting. He hoped they'd be out of it soon.

Eventually the tunnel opened up enough so that he could stand up. It was getting warmer, too. A little further on, it started getting brighter and brighter.

"Almost there now!" Luci called back. "Stay with me, kids!"

And then they came to a grate in the floor, the source of the light leaking up from below. It wasn't much light, but it was blinding after the darkness of the tunnel.

"Give me a hand with this, Gabriel," Luci said, pulling up on the grate. "It's heavy."

"I can help, too," said Cas.

Luci gave him a condescending look. "I think we can handle it," he said. "We don't want you to get hurt."

"Where does this lead?" Gabe asked as he took one side and started lifting it up.

"You'll see." Luci lifted from the other side, and between them the two archangels moved the grate out of the way. What was revealed was a square hole into a dimly lit room that Cas didn't recognize.

Luci jumped down first, then Gabe. When it was Cas' turn, he suddenly realized how very far down it was.

"It's okay, Cassie!" Gabe called up to him. "Jump! I'll catch you!"

"I can't!" Cas took a step back from the opening.

"Yes, you can!"

"We need to get a move on here," said Luci, unhelpfully.

Cas sat down and scooted forward until his legs dangled over the hole in the tunnel floor. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes . . . and slid downward.

Hands closed around his ankles and guided him downward. When his chest cleared the rim of the hole, they moved up to his waist, and then under his arms. Then there was nothing between him and the empty air but Gabe's two hands, holding him up. Gradually he descended until his feet hit the floor. Only then did he open his eyes.

It looked like the portal room, but smaller. There was only room for a control console and one single transport pad. The console was off, but Luci flipped a switch and it started up with a hum.

"What is this place?" Cas asked him.

"This," Luci said proudly, "is the original World Portal. Way back when it was just Dad and the four of us, this is how we got around the universe. No one uses it anymore, so no one else knows about it. They'll never know we were here. Normally someone would stay behind and operate the controls to bring us back, but since this is a secret mission, no one else can know about it. So I'll have to set the timer. Two hours should be long enough. When the timer goes off, we'll have to be right at the spot where we entered the world, so you're gonna have to stick with us, kiddo, okay? We don't have time to run around trying to find you, like that one time."

"Come on," said Gabe in annoyance. "He was just a little kid then! He'll stick with us, won't you, Cassie?"

Cas nodded. "Of course I will."

"Okay, then," said Luci. "Go stand on the pad while I set the coordinates."

Gabe led him up onto the tiny pad and stood in front of him so he couldn't see what Luci was doing. "You do know how to work that thing, don't you?"

"Bro," Luci said. "Please. All right, that should do it. Now just hold still . . ."

He hopped up onto the platform next to them, squeezing in close just as Cas felt the flip-flop sensation of transport. He closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, they were standing on a broad plain bordered by two rivers.

"Welcome to the Tigris-Euphrates valley. One day this will be known as the cradle of civilization-but more on that later. Let's go see what we've come to see! The garden is just over this way."

They started walking towards a wall of green just beyond where the rivers met. As they got closer, Cas could see that it was a high hedge of greenery—and there was a gate. And the gate was guarded by an angel with a flaming sword.

"Halt!" he called out, and swung the sword in their direction. "Stand and be recognized."

Luci smiled broadly. "Hey, Gadreel. How's it going?"

"Lucifer. You're not supposed to be here, you know."

"Yeah, about that . . . I just wanted to show the kids here around real quick. Just a peek and then we'll be gone. No big deal, right?"

"I'm really not supposed to let anyone in . . ."

"We won't tell anyone. Your job is safe, buddy. Not a word will get back to anyone, ever. Just let us poke around for a couple hours and then we'll be right out of your way."

"I don't know, Luce . . ."

"Come on, I helped Dad build the place! That gives me the right to come and go as I please!"

"That's not what I was told."

"Well, obviously Dad doesn't want me tromping through this place all the time, but this is a special occasion. We'll be in and out. No one has to know. And if we do get caught . . . your name will never come up. I promise I'll leave you out of it. It's all on me."

"Well . . ."

Luci reached out and grabbed Cas by the hand. "Look at this little face," he said, squeezing Cas' cheeks with his other hand. "Are you gonna tell this little face that he can't come in and see the garden? He'll cry. Do you want to make my baby brother cry?"

Cas felt his eyes welling up, but only because Luci was squeezing his face so tightly.

Gadreel looked down at his feet. He looked over his shoulder into the garden, and then he looked at Cas' streaming eyes. Then he sighed.

"Okay," he said, "but you have to be out before the sun goes down. That's when the Father comes for his evening walk. If he catches you here-"

"I get it, I get it. Not to worry, we'll be long-gone by the time Dad shows up. You don't have to worry about us, Gad. Thanks a bunch. You're a real pal! C'mon, kids, this way! Don't forget to shut the gate behind you. We don't want any of the animals getting loose."

"There are animals?" Cas was intrigued.

"Why do you think Raphie took the time to teach you all their names? They're all here. Well, most of them. Some of them don't exist yet, but the ones that do are all here. Come and see!"

"Remember," Gadreel said as he unlocked the gate for them, "be out before sunset. Or I can't cover for you."

"Not a problem. I guarantee we'll be out of your hair in less than two hours. Thanks, Gad, I owe you one."

Cas thought he heard the guard angel mutter something like, "You owe me more than one," but by that time they were through the gate and into the garden proper. The sight took his breath away. Trees of every kind surrounded him, some bearing fruit, some merely the greenest leaves he had ever seen. Some had bird or animal nests in their branches. As they were passing one, he grabbed a lower branch and swung himself up onto it, using the higher vantage point to look out into the rest of the garden.

He didn't see any animals yet. Maybe they were further on.

"Hey, come down from there!" Gabe called up to him.

"I'm trying to see where the animals are!"

"They're closer to the center of the garden," said Luci. "We need to keep going."

Cas dropped down from the branch, which really wasn't that high at all. "Wish my wings were stronger so I could fly," he said. "Then I'd get a good look at this place from the air."

Luci looked at Gabe. "Now there's an idea," he said. "Faster than walking, too. Can you carry the kid, or do you want me to take him?"

"I got 'im." In one swoop, Gabe grabbed Cas and flew high into the air with him.

"Nooooo! Gabe, put me down!"

"You said you wanted to fly!"

"I said I wished I could fly! We're too high! Please put me down-gently!"

"Why don't you take a look at what's down there? Might change your mind."

"Okay, just don't drop me."

"I won't drop you."

"You mean it? You won't even pretend to almost drop me?"

"You think I'd do that to you? I promise I won't even pretend to almost drop you. But you gotta promise not to squirm around too much."

"Okay." Cas slowly brought his gaze downward. "Whoa," he said. "It's so . . . green."

There was a flapping noise from behind them, and in an instant Cas saw massive silver wings out of the corner of his eye. "Notice anything special about the garden, Cassie?"

"Like what?"

"Look at how it's laid out."

Cas did so. "It's . . . circles. Big circles around little circles."

"That was my idea. Small animals in the outer ring. Bigger animals in the next two. And right in the center . . . well, I don't know if I can show you that yet."

"Show me what? What is it?"

Lucifer swung around so that he was in front of them. "If I show you this, Castiel, you have to promise that you won't tell anyone. Not a single other angel. No one's supposed to know about this until the big announcement next week. If Dad finds out I told you-"

"I promise I'll keep it a secret!"

"You'd better. Let's head for the center circle. You're not gonna want to miss this."

"I don't get to see the animals?"

"First you need to see the reason that all this is here. Now follow me!" He went into a steep, furious dive as he headed for the center of the garden.

Cas closed his eyes as Gabriel began his descent, which was nowhere near as fast or as steep as Luci's. His wings fluttered uselessly, and the more he tried to hold them still, the more they tried to hold him up.

"Just relax!" Gabe called to him. "Let them go limp! I promise I'll bring us down gently. Nothing to fear at all."

Relax. Easy for him to say. He could fly. He didn't have to worry about slipping out of his brother's grasp and falling all the way to the hard ground-

And then, he felt his feet touch the ground. He opened his eyes just as Gabriel let go of him. "We made it!"

"Toldja."

Luci was leaning up against a tree, smirking at both of them. "You're trying to fly, squirt. The instincts are all there; you just need a little more muscle power behind them. But we can worry about that later. Follow me, but be quiet. We don't want to scare them."

"Who?" Cas asked him.

Instead of answering, Lucifer turned and made his way through the brush into the inner circle. Gabe let Cas go in the middle, so that he could bring up the rear and watch their backs in case something happened.

When they emerged into the clearing, Luci stopped suddenly and held his arm out to stop his younger brothers from going any further. "Close enough, boys. You can see just fine from right here."

"See what?" Cas tried to peer around him, but he couldn't see anything but grass. Wait, there was something moving. An animal?

"You've got to be kidding me," said Gabe. "They . . . they look like us!"

"That's the idea," said Luci. "Dad created them to be like angels, but without angelic grace. Instead, they have something called a soul. I'm not really sure what it is or what it does, but it's really important."

Cas could see the creatures now. There were two of them, and they did look like angels, only much smaller. Also, they had no wings.

"What are they called?" he asked.

"Human beings," Luci told him. "Dad created this whole garden and everything in it, just for them. It's all theirs . . . except for the two trees in the very center of the garden. They're not supposed to touch those."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Rules. Anyway, they seem to be working out a lot better than those other things that we had to lock away. We just barely managed that, eh, bro?"

Gabe glared at him. "'We', huh? I don't remember you being there when I needed you to watch my back!"

"I was guarding the rear so that they wouldn't escape!"

"You could have done something!"

"Well, I didn't. And everything turned out okay anyway, didn't it? I was there to help pick up the pieces."

"Too little, too late."

"Guys!" Cas whispered fiercely. "I think they can hear us! They're coming this way!"

"Hide!" In an instant, they were back on the other side of the hedge. Cas was crouched down, shaking, Gabe's hand on his back, waiting for the strange creatures called human beings to either discover them or leave them and go about their own business.

"Hello?" a voice called. It wasn't like an angelic voice at all. It didn't have the power of galaxies behind it. But Cas liked it anyway. It was high and clear, like the wind through the trees. "Is anyone here?"

Cas stood, paralyzed, while Luci stood with his back to the hedge, his lips pressed together in silent warning.

"There's no one there," said another, deeper, voice.

"I thought I saw someone watching us," said the first speaker.

"Well, if they were there, they're gone now. Let's go gather some more fruit."

"I swear I saw-" But they were moving away now, the voices growing fainter.

Cas waited until he was sure they were out of earshot, and then he asked, "Why can't we go say hi to them? Because we're not supposed to be here?"

"That," said Luci, "and . . . they can't really see us as we are. Human minds are . . . small. They can't handle seeing an angel's true form. Dad's working on a way that we can present ourselves to them, but it's gonna take some time. Now let's go see some animals before we have to leave this place, okay?"

Gabe was watching Luci carefully as they walked away. He was looking at him like he didn't quite believe what Luci was telling them, but he didn't want to come right out and say so. What was going on? Did it have to do with those creatures that had hurt Gabe?

Cas tried to put it out of his mind and look for animals. Within minutes, he spotted one that he knew. "Lion!"

"That's right!" Gabe said. He smirked at Luci. "And you said that blanket was a waste of time!"

"Oh, whoop de doo, we have a magic blanket," Luci grumbled. "Kid's too old for a baby blanket, anyway. Time to get rid of that thing."

"No!" Cas protested. "I'm gonna give it to the next baby angel. The one I get to take care of."

Luci stopped walking and put his hand on Cas' shoulder. "Hate to break it to you," he said, "but there aren't gonna be any more baby angels. Dad is so done with us. It's these guys he's spending his time with now. He's made them so that they can make new humans all on their own; they won't need his help. So you're it, kiddo. Maybe Dad will let you be guardian to a baby human, but no more baby angels. Sorry."

Cas stood there, his mouth hanging open, slightly in shock. "No more ever?"

"Nope."

"It'll be okay," said Gabe. "Maybe, like Luci said, someday you'll get to be guardian to a human. That might be fun."

"I guess," the child sighed.

They saw a few more animals from the blanket: a deer, a monkey swinging through the trees, and two snakes slithering past side by side. Lucifer followed them for a bit, fascinated.

"How can something defend itself with no limbs?" he asked. It was meant to be a rhetorical question, but Cas' face brightened.

"I know! We went over this in class! Snakes bite! Some have venom that they use to paralyze and kill small prey. Others constrict around the animal and crush it to death. They don't like being bothered, so keep your distance."

"Okay, fine. Not like they'd be much fun anyway. Can't pet them. They don't fetch sticks or do tricks."

"You want one," Gabe said, "and you know it."

"Yeah, I kind of do. Think Dad'll let me keep a pet?"

"Probably not."

"Not like He's around to care."

"Just because He's not there doesn't mean He doesn't know. He knows everything."

"Yeah? Where was He when you got chomped on? Why didn't He stop that?"

"I don't know! Maybe He couldn't."

"You actually think there's something He can't do?"

"All right, stop!" Cas stepped between them. "We're wasting time! Has it been two hours yet?"

"We've still got time," said Luci. "Let's go to the river and see some of the fish."

"But not step on them," Cas said with a half-smile.

"You remember that? When we took you to the edge of the ocean, and that fish crawled up on land?"

"I remember."

"I don't know," said Gabe. "You were pretty little then. Barely walking and talking. We had a good day, though."

"Yeah."

They walked to the bigger of the two rivers, the one that Lucifer had called the Euphrates. The water was fast-moving but clear, and far below the surface, they could see shapes moving with the current.

"I see them! I see them!"

"Do you now?" Luci seemed to be in a good mood again. "Aren't they something?"

"Too bad we can't take them home."

"We'd have to take the water with us," said Gabe. "And I like to stay dry, thank you."

"Too bad for you," Luci said. His arm shot out and knocked Gabriel into the river. The archangel's splutters of outrage were matched only by Castiel's screams of horror.

"Oh, relax," Luci said. "He'll fly out of there."

"Not if his wings are all wet! He's getting carried away! We gotta save him!"

"At least he's getting a good look at the fish."

"Luci!" Now the child was nearly frantic. "Do it or I'll tell everyone! I'll tell 'em you snuck us in here when you weren't supposed to!"

"Think they'll believe you?" Luci said, but he looked nervous.

Gabe was slipping around the bend and out of sight. Cas ran after him, but he wasn't strong enough to pull him out of the river's grasp. "You gotta do something, Luci! Now! He'll die!"

Luci sighed. "Okay, fine. You stay here and don't move! I'll be right back." He flew off until he was directly over Gabriel's position. Then he reached down and grasped his younger brother by the shoulders and pulled.

The river wasn't giving him up easily. Lucifer pulled and strained as far as his wings would go, and finally he was able to haul Gabriel out of the water and fly him to shore, where Castiel waited anxiously. Gabe collapsed on the bank, still coughing and spitting up water, and when he was done, he rolled over and lay face-down, arms and legs spread and wings drooping and dripping.

"He needs a towel," Cas said.

"He needs a lot of things," Luci said, "but we don't have time." He waved his hand, and Gabe was instantly dry. Then he knelt down and touched Gabe's forehead. A wave of healing energy enveloped the golden-winged archangel, and as soon as it faded, he rolled over and sat up.

"Thanks, Luce," he said. "Can we go home now?"


"We went home the same way we came," Gabe told Michael some time later, when he and Cas were seated in Mike's office. "Told no one where we'd been. Haven't seen Luci since, but he said he'd keep in touch."

"I see." Mike nodded gravely. "You did very well. I'm proud of you both. Keep me informed, the next time he contacts you. That's all. You can go now."

Cas was confused. "That's it? You're not gonna do anything?"

"What I do or don't do is not your concern. This . . . incursion will be dealt with. Don't worry, you're not in trouble. I'll talk to Lucifer as soon as he turns up. He won't find out that you told me." Michael smiled. "Now go do something fun. But safe. No more swimming with the fishes."

"Oh, don't worry," Gabe said. "I am staying on dry land from now on. If I were you, I'd lock down that old Transport Room. I don't know who else he's shown it to, but we can't be too careful."

"Good idea. Thanks for the suggestion. I really do have a lot of work to do, so if you don't mind?"

"Oh, sure. Come on, Cassie." Gabe stood up and then took his younger brother's hand. They went home.

"So what happens now?" Cas asked him.

"Well, one thing's for sure," Gabe said. "Things are definitely changing around here. It'll never be like it was before."

"But that's a good thing, right? There's gonna be all new stuff for us to have fun with! I can't wait to see how humans turn out."

Gabe reached out and gave his little brother a hug. "You're one in a billion, kid. Don't ever change."