It took a long time for Dean to regain the use of his mind. It took an even longer time for either Dean or Sam to approach the poor lost looking kid sitting on the ground swimming in a pool of over sized clothing. A kid who was so plainly Castiel miniaturized it was unnerving.

In the hour that it took the unlikely trio to make it back to the motel they had confirmed three things.
One: Castiel could understand what they were saying.
Two: Castiel could now very easily fall asleep.
And Three: Castiel would not allow anyone to touch him, unless that person was Dean.

The rest they were still trying to figure out. Cas was clearly in a body about the age of a four or five year old. Cas seemed to know who they both were, although favored Dean majorly (Sam reasoned that was relatively normal Cas behavior anyway) but they couldn't work out the extent of his memories, whether he had them in his entirety or just got snippets. And although Cas was certainly mature enough to understand what they were saying to him and he could communicate back, it apparently didn't mean he was inclined to.

Once they entered the motel room Dean carefully placed a snoozing Cas out of his arms and into the centre of his bed still wrapped tightly in the oversized coat. Cas snuffled in his sleep when Dean released him, Dean was worried he'd wake up, but Cas then snuggled deeper into the coat and shirt he was still wearing and slept on.

Dean turned to look at his brother. "What do we do?" He kept his voice low.

"Not a clue man. Gotta say miniaturized angel is a new one. I think miniaturized anything would be a new one." Sam sat down heavily in one of the chairs near the table. "It'll help to know more about his condition. Whether he has his memories, his powers even."

"His condition? He's not a lab rat Sammy! It's Cas; we can't just poke and prod at him. We gotta fix him!"

"Well if you have a better place to start I'm all ears Dean." Sam snapped, "You never know it might just wear off after another hour or so."

Dean dropped his head into his hands and sighed deeply. "This wasn't supposed to happen man."

"Of course it wasn't. But it did. So as always, we just have to deal."

Dean picked up the Impala keys from where Sam had dumped them onto the table. "I'll go get us some food. Maybe some other stuff for him." Dean tilted his head towards the sleeping bundle.

"No you won't." Sam said immediately. Dean opened his mouth to retort but Sam cut him off, "You can't leave me here with a kid who won't let me go anywhere near him. What if he needs something? You have to stay."

Sam was out the door before Dean could even splutter indignantly.

-/-

Dean dragged a chair over to the side of his bed and spent the next thirty minutes staring pointlessly at the lump curled in the middle of it, his mind a conscious stream of helplessness. At some point Cas' small head had stuck its way out of the warmth of his coat blanket and it was now resting peacefully on one of Dean's pillows.
Dean felt that actually being able to see Cas made it worse. The kid was Castiel there was no denying it. The hair, the eyes, the face. It was Cas all over, even the attitude he'd shown in the car, before he'd promptly drifted off to sleep with his small hands fisted in Dean's shirt. His clingy arms had tightened around Dean when he'd first picked him up and they simply hadn't relinquished.

It felt surreal, seeing such a powerful being, one of the most powerful beings Dean had ever met, in the form of a helpless child. Looking so peaceful. At Rest.

How could they have let this happen? They should have had a better plan! They should have been better prepared! None of them, Cas, shouldn't have been put in harm's way.
What if it was hurting him? What if he had all his angelic knowledge and it tried to cram itself into such a tiny mind? What if they couldn't fix him? What if they fixed him and he was so mad that he left again? What if it killed him?!

It took Dean a minute or two to realize that the face he was staring at had started staring back.

"Hey buddy," Dean said softly when his brain finally clued him in on that whole speaking thing.

It took a long time for Cas to respond, Dean started thinking that he wasn't going to at all before he finally mumbled softly, "Dean?" Cas shifted under the coat and got a hand free extending it out, he seemed to change his mind halfway through, clenched it into a tight fist and left the limb near his face.

Dean wasn't aware of making the decision but he finished the movement for Cas himself. He carefully climbed onto the bed trying not to jostle the kid too much sat down leaning against the headboard and scooped the bundle that was Cas up against his chest, holding him like he had in the car on the way back to the motel. "I'm here buddy." He whispered softly into the black mess of hair. He felt Cas shaking slightly as the small arms once again clung onto Dean as if his life depended on it.

Finally, after Cas had stopped shaking and was breathing easily, Dean convinced himself that he had to ask the important stuff.

"Cas, buddy, you still awake?" Dean waited for the nod of a head against his chest before he continued. "So, you know you I am?" Another nod. "And you know who Sammy is?" There was hesitation before the nod this time, but a nod all the same. "What else do you know?"

Dean waited what felt like an eternity for the broken word that completely shattered him. "Everything." Castiel shuddered, his tiny voice cracking. "But it's too hard, none of it makes sense." So angelic memory shoved into a child's mind; fantastic. Cas started shaking again, it wasn't until he heard the sob that Dean realized Cas was crying.

As gently as he could, Dean lifted Cas' face to be even with his own. He used his thumbs to wipe away the tear tracks that had started to form. Dean's memory nudged at him as he realized he'd done this before, for Sammy when he was about this age, crying over something Dad had said. Dean leant forward and pressed a soft kiss to Cas' forehead before leaning him back down again his chest. "It's all gonna be alright Cas. We'll fix this. I promise you."

Dean suddenly realized how strange this was. He had friggin Castiel, Angel of the Lord, I am the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition Castiel, completely vulnerable and wrapped up tightly in his arms. Each clinging onto the other as if there was literally no other option. He may have been small, his mind inhibited, but his mind was still his, he was still completely Cas. At that thought all Dean could do was hold on just that little bit tighter.

What was stranger; Dean could never imagine letting him go.

-/-

When Sam got back to the motel room he cracked the door open as quietly as he could. He would be lying if he said the sight of his brother and their now miniature angel curled up on the bed together sleeping soundly shocked him. He knew Dean's protective big brother traits wouldn't need much help to transfer over to Cas when he was in such a vulnerable state. If he was being completely honest with himself Sam would have found it stranger if he came back and the two of them were on opposite sides of the room.

Back at the witches house when Cas' eyes had finally zeroed in on Dean they didn't waver. Sam could tell it would be hard separating them after that point. Cas felt vulnerable and he saw Dean as his protector. What with their 'profound bond' and all it probably didn't even matter if Cas felt vulnerable. Sam tried not to snort at his own thoughts.

He didn't fancy waking the sleeping duo. Sam hadn't seen Dean look that peaceful in his sleep for who knew how many years and he'd never seen Cas, well, sleep. Best to leave them rest for as long as their bodies allowed.

However all of this didn't stop him from snapping a picture on his phone, you know, just for good measure.

-/-

What woke Dean wasn't the mumbled voices coming from the low volume TV. Nor was it the incessant typing coming from his brother's laptop, although now that he could hear that he didn't know how he was sleeping through it. What did wake him was the tossing and turning little body beside him that seemed to be doing everything in its power to throw itself off the bed.

Dean was about to exclaim for Cas to cut it the fuck out until he realized the kid was still asleep. And whimpering. So, nightmare then. Dean grasped Cas firmly by his slim little body and held him as still as possible against the bed. Saying soothing things into his ear and attempting to wake him up without terrifying him more.

Cas' eyes flashed open and the fear in them was obvious. All Cas managed to get out was a broken "Dean," before he burrowed himself against Dean's body as firmly as possible and hid his face in Dean's neck, once again wet sobs tearing through his body.

Dean held on to Cas tightly until the tiny boy managed to get himself under control. Dean continued to whisper words of comfort into his hair until he did. It wasn't until Dean was sure Cas had calmed down enough to realize he was safe and still in the comfort of Dean's arms that Dean turned his attention to his brother.

"How's it going?" Dean nodded towards the laptop that Sam was clearly using to try and find a reversal to whatever spell that had been cast on Cas.

Sam shook his head sadly. Not voicing his disappointing findings out loud, in case it set Cas off again. "I bought you back something from the diner if you're hungry. In fact doesn't matter if you're hungry, you should eat something anyway." Sam pointed towards the fridge.

Dean nodded. Glancing to the window it was already dark out, so he and Cas must have slept soundly the whole afternoon. Turning to look back down at Cas, Dean was met with wide eyes staring up at him. "You ok Cas?"

Cas nodded his shaggy head slowly, and paused a moment before asking softly, "Food?"

"You hungry buddy?"

"My tummy feels strange. I think it requires sus- sust- sustn," Cas sighed, "I think it requires food."

"Alright, we'll see what Sammy bought for us."

Dean headed over to the fridge to pull out the burger and chips stashed in there. Sticking it in the microwave he turned back to his brother. "Been meaning to ask Sam, where'd you learn how to count?"

Sam tensed not wanting to get into this now. Yeah they'd messed up how many witches were involved. Sam already felt bad about it. He didn't need Dean rubbing his nose in it. "I think I've identified who the two we weren't expecting were." Sam attempted keeping his tone light. "The guy's name is David Stevenson, he works for the same company that Maggie does. The other one was Rose Horn, Jayde's younger sister."

"That's awesome Sam, and how exactly is that getting us any closer to finding any of them?"

Sam sighed heavily, any notion that his brother would wake up well rested with any positive outlook quickly flew out of his mind. "Look, Dean, I know your upset, but-"

"Upset?" Dean gave a dry laugh, "Upset doesn't quite cover what I'm feeling Sam. These people are dangerous! They've already caused more than enough damage and we let them get away!" Dean's voice was growing louder the longer he continued. "We should never have gone in the way we did!"

"So you've decided to blame me for the whole situation have you Dean?!"

Before Dean managed to snap back a retort there was a resounding crack throughout the motel room and the light bulb in the lamp next to Dean's bed shattered into smithereens.

Sam and Dean both froze, then simultaneously turned to face Castiel.

The angel had moved away from the coat, his small body now covered in nothing but Jimmy Novak's white business shirt, and was kneeling in the middle of the bed a look of pure determination on his face as he said in his still shaky voice, his tone stronger than it had yet been, "No fighting."

Cas continued to hold his head high with resolve even as Sam and Dean looked at him dumbfounded.

It wasn't the outburst that had them speechless, it wasn't even the fact that Cas used his powers, which meant that he still had his powers. It was the appearance of two extra appendages that seemed to be sprouting from the angels back that had them transfixed. Behind Cas where before would have been empty space now rose two shiny black wings.

"What's a 'matter?" Cas questioned hesitantly when neither brother showed any sign of moving.

"Ah, Cas, buddy," Dean hedged slowly, "You got wings kid."

Cas glanced over his shoulder upon Dean's words, let out a squeak of surprise, and before Dean or Sam could stop him Cas dived off and under the bed out of sight.

-/-

It took over forty five minutes for Dean to finally convince Cas to resurface. It was the smell of the hot chips that eventually won out. And the fact that Dean had finally managed to convince Sam to leave the room. 'Just for a few minutes, Sammy, I promise. Here take the Impala keys go for a drive.'

Now Dean was watching with utter fascination as Cas plowed through the majority of the chips and half of Dean's burger. Not that Dean minded sharing it with the guy, but he was surprised at how much he could eat.

"You might wanna slow down there kiddo, wouldn't want to make yourself feel sick."

"But it is all very yummy Dean."

Dean refrained from pointing out that it was just that morning that Cas had been telling him off about his eating habits.

Since Cas had come back into sight Dean had found it almost impossible to tear his eyes away from the angel's wings. They were sleek and shiny and they certainly looked incredibly soft. The only version of Cas' wings Dean had ever seen had been the shadows Cas had thrown on the walls the first night they'd met. These were so much cooler. Although size relevant, causing Dean to have spent the last ten minutes attempting to imagine full size Cas and these form of wings. Dean didn't think his imagination did the image justice.

When Sam returned it appeared that Cas had eaten as much as he possibly could and was in the middle of explaining to his brother why he suddenly had wings.

"They're gonna be a bit hard to explain in public Cas, can't you tuck them away again?"

"I'm trying Dean," Cas said, sounding strained, "I do not seem to have control over them."

Sam saw his brother roll his eyes and figured this conversation had most likely been going in circles for awhile.

"I think it's time we all went to bed." Sam said. Both Dean and Cas looked over at him in surprise as if neither had noticed his existence till then.

"But I'm not sleepy." Cas spoke up immediately. Dean wondered vaguely if that response was something that was just hard wired into all children under the age of ten.

"Maybe Dean should clean you up first then." Sam let his eyes pointedly travel over the mess Cas had made of his clothes and body while consuming his first meal.

Dean mumbled something that sounded like agreement. He scrounged through his duffle bag looking for an old shirt he could shove Cas in for bed. Suddenly Cas looked very apprehensive, as if he was being led to a dungeon instead of a meekly old motel bathroom. Dean decided quickly that the easiest way to get Cas clean was to put him in the bathtub.

There was a brief argument about Cas actually getting in the tub which resulted in a staring match that Dean won. Well not so much won, more so he managed to bribe Cas with the prospect of staying up later if he got himself into the water.
Sitting still in the tub also wasn't a concept that Cas seemed to grasp. He kept moving from side to side and end to end, shoving his own wings out of the way if they got in his face, more so playing with the bar of soap Dean had handed him than actually cleaning himself with it.

Soon enough Dean and the bathroom floor were almost as wet as Cas himself.

Cas seemed quite content to stay in the water and as hard as it had been to get him into the tub he was surprisingly upset to leave. Dean's argument finally won out however when the water started turning colder and Cas' wings began to tremble with chill. Reluctantly, Cas raised his arms above his head allowing Dean to hoist him up and wrap him tightly in one of the big fluffy towels. Being mindful of his new appendages of course.

Dean ensured Cas was perfectly dry before tugging an old AC/DC shirt over his head. Dean had grudgingly made a slit in the back of the shirt for Cas' wings to sprout through. The shirt still fell down past Cas' knobbly knees.
Cas attempted to hide the yawn his young body forced out of him but Dean noticed it anyway.

Chuckling softly Dean tousled Cas' hair lightly. "Go curl up in bed Cas."

"You'll come to?" Cas asked quickly, trying to stifle another yawn.

"Course," Dean smiled softly. "Just let me clean up in here a bit first."

Cas nodded, glancing around guiltily at the mess he'd made, before padding his way out of the bathroom.

Dean wiped up as much of the water as he could be bothered, before changing into his sweat pants. When he headed over to the bed it was to find that Cas had already made himself a cocoon of blankets, the trench coat pulled up close to him like a security item. Dean draped the coat over Cas more securely before climbing into bed with as little movement as possible, it already looked like Cas had conked out.

The sound of Cas' whispered "Dean?" shocked him slightly.

"Cas?" He whispered back, trying not to chuckle at how much he felt like a kid himself. Lying in bed having a whispered conversation with a friend, attempting not to wake their parents; or in this case, Sam.

"Thank you."

"What for Cas?"

"Taking care of me."

"I'll always take care of you, you know that."

"I'm supposed to be the one who looks after you." Cas' voice had dropped so low, Dean barely heard him.

Dean couldn't bring himself to say 'you have no idea how much you do Cas.' But he thought it, and he figured maybe Cas heard him anyway.
It didn't seem to overly matter, within the next breath Cas' breathing had evened out and he was sound asleep. Dean could feel the pull of unconsciousness coming swiftly for him as well. Man had it been a weird day. Friggin witches! Dean would be more than content to never cross paths with another one in his life.

The last thing Dean's hazy mind registered was Cas shifting in his sleep, instinctively curling his body closer around the larger one beside him. As Dean finally slipped out of his own thoughts and into peace his arm tightened around Cas, pulling him even closer.

Thanks again for reading everyone :) Just wanted to say that I don't live in America so if I get any cultural aspects or word phrasing wrong I apologize now. Feedback is always greatly appreciated.