The Cradle Will Fall
Part Four
Dean woke up curled around Castiel. He was worn out in the most delicious way. He'd lost count of the number of times they'd gone at it last night. The sex had gotten better by the time dawn approached, though they still hadn't gone without a condom. They'd get there. Cas's control was getting better. Anyway, condom or not, sex with his angel was great.
Cas shifted in his arms, a quiet grunt escaping his lips. He must be waking up. Dean kissed his shoulder before pushing himself out of the bed. They needed to head back to Bobby's and rescue Sam from their little boy. Heaven knows Daniel could be a handful at times. He obviously picked up a few things from his Uncle Gabriel.
Dean jumped into the shower and by the time he emerged, fully dressed, Cas was up and had their bags packed. There were days he really loved angel efficiency.
"Are you ready?" Cas asked, glancing up from their bags.
"Yeah. I'm ready. I miss my little rascal. And Sam and Gabe, too, I guess," Dean told him. Cas gave him a small smile.
"I miss our family, too," the angel replied.
Family. Dean liked the sound of that. They might be a weird little family, but what they had worked.
"Alright, let's head back then." Cas came over and gripped his wrist. Dean blinked and they were standing in Bobby's living room. He could hear laughter and Danny's little voice coming from the kitchen. He walked into the cheery room to find his son sitting in his high chair, covered head to toe in sticky peanut butter and a purple substance that had to be jelly. Daniel snapped his gaze up to Dean. His son had an uncanny way of knowing when Dean was around, whether he could see him or not.
"Dada!" Danny called out, reaching out to him with sticky little hands.
"Hey, buddy! I missed ya," Dean told his son, pressing a kiss to his dark head. "Let's let Papa clean you up and then I'll pick you up, kay?" He raised an eyebrow at Cas and watched the angel walk over and lay his hand on their son's head. Daniel's mess disappeared in a heartbeat. Dean scooped up the little boy.
"I think he missed you," Sam told him, watching the whole scene with a smile on his face.
"How was he?" Cas asked.
"A perfect little angel," Gabriel told the pair with a smirk. Dean rolled his eyes at that.
"Well, it's good to know that the two of you didn't burn down the house while we were gone," Dean ribbed his brother and their friend.
"You know, I don't think he trusts us, Sammy," Gabriel joked. "Well, I have errands to run. I'll be back. Tootles!" The Archangel fluttered away with a small, parting wave.
Yeah, they were definitely weird, but Dean was okay with that.
Sam watched the Archangel disappear. It had been nice waking up in the other man's arms. Maybe a little too nice. Since they'd started their little fuck arrangement, Gabriel hadn't once spent the night until the night of his last nightmare, and even then he'd been gone when he woke up. This spending the night and waking up in each other's arms might be the straw that broke the camel's back.
Sam could have sex with someone and it mean nothing; he really could, but sex with the same person, a person who was starting to act like he actually cared? It was proving to be much harder than Sam thought it would be back when Gabriel first slammed him into the wall and blew him.
He needed to be careful. Falling for the errant Archangel would only end in heartbreak.
Sam watched Dean and Cas cuddle and coo at their son. It was so out of character for them, yet so right at the same time. He knew it was almost Danny's naptime and figured the happy parents would want to be the ones to put the little boy down.
Sam had thought long and hard this morning before finally coming to the decision to talk with both Cas and Dean about his dreams, so he waited impatiently for the two men to get Daniel settled. When the couple returned to the kitchen, Sam nervously cleared his throat. He remembered the trouble that came with keeping things like this from Dean and that was what gave him the courage to speak up.
"Hey, guys, there's something I need to talk to you about," he started. Dean eyed him, confusion clear on his face, but Cas's gaze was steady and calculating, as if he already suspected what Sam was about to say.
"I... I've sorta been keeping something from you..." he told them but stopped at the hurt, betrayed look on Dean's face. Even after everything, apparently there was still a part of his brother that didn't trust him. He sighed but continued on. "I've been having these dreams. Like the one I had the night Danny hatched." Dean's face melted a little, relief starting to show through.
"Are they the same one you had that night?" Dean asked.
"Not really, but similar. It's always two or three of us... and a little girl I don't know, but... but I'm starting to think she's my daughter," Sam told them, voice trailing off at the end.
"Your... your daughter? Since when do you have a kid?" Dean asked incredulously.
"I don't!" Sam vehemently swore. "Or... not that I know of."
"Could it possibly be... I mean, how old is the child?" Cas asked, gaze calculating.
"I don't know. I've seen her at all different stages. From newborn to around ten or so. There's something else..."
"What?" Dean asked hesitantly.
"There's a woman in the dreams as well. Someone I don't recognize. She seems to think I should know her though, and..." Sam swallowed roughly before telling his brother the next part. "She was feeding the little girl demon blood," he finished in a whisper. He glanced up to see revulsion on his brother's face. "When I woke up, I... I was craving the blood again," he admitted, knowing he had to get it all out.
"Sam," his brother spoke up, voice rough, "Please tell me you didn't..."
"No! I... I called Gabriel," he quietly admitted. "He came and was able to mojo all the cravings away."
His brother let out a sigh of relief and buried his head in his hands. It took a few minutes for Dean to raise his gaze back up.
"Sam... Could it... could it be Ruby?"
Sam froze. That thought hadn't even crossed his mind.
"How? We killed her."
"Yeah, well, we thought she was dead once before and she tricked us. I mean, it fits. You definitely had sex with her and she would definitely be the kind of mom to feed her damn kid demon blood," Dean growled.
Sam felt his stomach roll at the thought. It made sense though. She spoken disparagingly about angels, she'd been sure Sam knew her... fuck.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Sam muttered, trying to decide if he needed to run to the bathroom or not.
"Okay. First things first. If you do have a kid out there, we need to find it," Dean started but was interrupted by Cas.
"And do what? Destroy it?"
Dean shut his mouth and glared at the table before him. Sam realized his brother didn't know how to answer that.
"I'm gonna go lay down," Sam muttered. He couldn't handle any more of this. He stood up and made the trek up to his room, completely lost in thought.
He let his mind wander back to the little girl from his dreams. He tried to remember if he'd ever felt anything... off, anything... evil about her. He didn't. Yes, he'd felt unease when ever the woman entered his dreams, but just the ones with the little girl? No. He always felt at peace, content, happy to watch her play or romp or just sit at a table doing what appeared to be homework. His daughter was not some monster. He'd find a way to prove it.
Sam wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep when he was awoken by his mattress dipping behind him. He rolled over to find Gabriel perched on the edge of his bed.
"Hey, kiddo. Sorry to wake ya. Any dreams?" the Archangel asked, worry evident in his tone.
"No, thankfully," Sam answered, pulling himself to sit up. "I, uh, talked at Dean and Cas about everything," he told the other man.
"How'd that go?" Gabriel asked, raising an eyebrow at the hunter. Sam just shrugged.
"They think I managed to knock up Ruby," Sam mumbled. Gabriel's eyes turned hard.
"And what do you think?"
"I don't know. I don't think she's half-demon, though. I could sense something off with the woman, but never with the girl." Gabriel was quiet for a minute before changing the subject.
"Here, gotcha something," he told the hunter, pulling a simple necklace out of his jacket pocket. It looked like plain leather cording with a small brown oval talisman hanging from it.
"What is it?"
"It will keep your dreams safe and your demons at bay. It's made from the wood of a cedar from Lebanon. It holds seven drops of..." Gabriel faltered.
"Drops of what?" The angel looked him in the eye as he answered.
"Seven drops of blood from an angel." Sam pulled back at that.
"Your blood?" Gabriel just nodded. Sam didn't know what to say but he knew that it meant a lot for the Archangel to trust him with something that held that much power over him.
"Wear it all the time, not just when you're sleeping. Your mind will stay your own."
"Thank you," Sam told the other man, tenderly taking the talisman from Gabriel and placing it over his head. It hung down directly over his heart and Sam felt warmth flood his body. Gabriel's solemn look melted away into his trademark smirk.
"Well, you can go back to your nap. There's something I want to talk to my baby brother about. Later, Sammy." With that, the angel was gone.
Gabriel actually had no intention of seeking out Castiel for anything. He just couldn't stay in that room with Sam any longer. Things were getting complicated, fast, where the youngest Winchester was concerned. Gabriel didn't like complicated, but he did like Sam, okay, more than liked, but that thought freaked him the fuck out so he'd just forget he ever thought that, which put him in a very awkward situation.
At the top of the stairs, Castiel appeared directly in front of the Archangel, effectively ending his mental musings. He sighed. So much for not wanting to face his brother just yet.
"Hey, Bro," Gabriel greeted his fellow angel, pasting on his Trickster smile.
"Gabriel. I want to discuss something with you." Wow, his little brother really didn't believe in beating around the bush.
"Okay. Shoot."
"I know that you and Sam are... involved." That made Gabriel's smile slide right off his face.
"What's it to ya?" he asked, a note of warning in his voice.
"Could the child be yours?" Castiel asked, straight to the point once again. Gabriel felt his heart clench at the question.
"No," he bit out, attempting to walk around his brother. Castiel placed a hand on his chest, stopping his retreat.
"Are you sure?" Damn it, did the angel really not know when to let things go?
"Yes," he hissed at the taller man. "There is no way Sam's daughter is mine."
Castiel tilted his head to the side, staring unblinkingly at his brother. Suddenly, his expression cleared then faded into one of pity.
"But you wish she could be." Gabriel felt his anger boil over. He stepped right up into his brother's face and hissed his response.
"You are out of line, Castiel! Stop trying to understand things you don't have a hope of comprehending," he warned before stretching out his wings and taking flight. He never saw the sad, hazel eyes watching him from the doorway.