Hey, all! It's been about a month or two, so I'm back with another baby chapter! I'll make this quick.
Disclaimer: I do not own a television network, a mansion or Jensen Ackles. Or, you know, SPN.
Chapter 28: Pitter-Patter of Baby Wings
It all started with a bucket of melted gummy bears.
Or at least that's what Balthazar said when asked about the entire thing, later on. He was questioned by a twitchy-eyed Raphael, so there was little to no probability of him lying. Gabriel had kind of just stared at him with bright golden eyes, slapped him then settled into Michael's wing for a nap, which ruined any chance of retribution.
It had all started innocently enough, with the semi-normal assault by parrot and the aftermath of said attack. He didn't really want to get into the amount of shit he got for it. Suffice to say, it was a lot and Lucifer's stare had not lessened in murderous intensity and was still quite frightening. That and the cat staring up at him hungrily from where it lay curled at his brother's feet. "For the last time, I told you the parrot was not my doing! I don't know why you are angry, brother. He has plenty to spare!"
Lucifer's eyes narrowed dangerously. The result was the ice cold of that gaze piercing him straight through to the core. Frozen in place, he was forced to meet the devil's angry face as he hissed, "He is mine, Raphael. I do not like it when people hurt what is mine." At a plaintive roar from the cat, he corrected, "Ours. Now, either give me the damned demonic parrot or find yourself as another sculpture in my ice garden!"
Gabriel snoozed on, oblivious to the harsh exchange of whispers that would soon turn to bodily harm and threats of evisceration. Michael was nowhere to be found during all of this and was, quite honestly, hiding from his little brothers. He never did have a way with words, and had the distinct feeling that if he intervened, he would need to hide in perdition with the repenting souls for a few decades. He vowed long ago not to argue with Lucifer; it always ended badly. Gabriel cooed at him suddenly from the crook of his arm and he promptly decided to abscond while he had the option.
Lucifer had, for reasons known only to him, grown fiercely protective of their baby brother and had claimed him as his alone. Even Ariella couldn't get her sly hands between him and Gabriel, which was saying something since she moonlighted with Hermes. Gabriel had apparently had enough and transported himself to Michael, leaving a fairly good copy of himself in his stead. Steeling his resolve, he took his brother to Eden for a cuddle with Joshua, AKA the only angel Lucifer was forbidden to murder painfully during his Reflections.
He was given a wry look and a sarcastic, "Thank you, commander. I'll be sure to dodge the flaming arrows when they come my way." He still took Gabriel, though. As soon as Michael left, he softened and murmured to Gabriel, "I always knew you and your brethren would get me killed one day," he mused. "I wonder what my memorial would say..."
Gabriel just squealed and waved his chubby little arms around. "T'sa!"
"Yes, very tragic indeed." Joshua looked towards the extremely locked entrance to the garden as it was pounded upon with all of the strength of a speeding Archangel. He muttered, "I am just thankful that Lucifer was always a string bean compared to the rest of you."
Gabriel blinked up at him, then disappeared.
Joshua just sighed and opened the gates to the Garden before they exploded. Lucifer, looking more ruffled than he had been since 'The Dinosaur Incident' in the BC's, skidded to a messy stop right in his gardenias. Staring at him blankly, he waited until the flowers were righted to report, "Michael dropped him off. He spent exactly three minutes with me before he got bored and went to someone else. If you kill me, I hope you know that I will come back and poison your cats."
Lucifer glowered at him. Joshua remained totally unimpressed. Lucifer's eyes started glowing. Joshua raised an eyebrow. It started to get suspiciously cold in the Garden. Joshua narrowed his eyes and told him, "If you kill my plants, they will never find your Grace," in the most pleasant voice he had. Lucifer started to twitch under the deadpan stare, carefully inching away. Joshua rolled his eyes and shoved him bodily out of the gate. Staring bemusedly after the retreating figure, he chuckled and murmured to himself, "I wonder when he'll realize that I can't actually do anything to him."
Meanwhile, Gabriel avoided the Grace poking at him and curled inwards towards Ariella's warmth. The lion licking at his wings was apparently a bonus. Cooing and waving his arms at her, he squeaked a few lines of utter nonsense as he told her the story of his day with only a few syllables and too many consonants. Laughing, she indulged him and jabbered back with a seriousness offset by her mocking tone. Gabriel loved it. He laughed and bounced in place, supplemental arm gestures getting more and more detailed as he went on. The sound effects were purely coincidental. And if she had managed to get him into a little pair of overalls, who was there to say? It was adorable.
Ariella's baby time was also shared by the Garrison. They were all huddled around in a celestial steel bomb shelter complete with sentries in case of Lucifer. Giggling, she manipulated him so that he was sitting in the centre of their ring and purred, "Okay, baby brother! Who's the funny one?" She had discovered that he understood old Enoch well enough, but couldn't speak it. She repeated it in the new version for the spring chickens in the group. "Who's funny, baby?"
Laughing in a surprising cackle, he went straight to Tariel and papped him on the cheek. "T'sa!" He cried, clapping his hands together ecstatically.
Tariel beamed at him in pride, which was promptly diminished by the angel who called out, in an oddly Australian accent, "Funny looking, you mean, Ari!"
She threw back her head and roared out a wild laugh. It took a second, but she managed to choke out, "Okay, baby! Who's cute?"
Almost shyly, he crept up to a petite angel named Queriel. Buttscooting the remaining inches, he stared up at her beseechingly and held out his arms with a quiet inquiry of, "G'e?"
Eyes shining joyfully, the admittedly plain young angel scooped him onto her lap and gave him a playful peck on the nose. She rustled her grey wings in an all out wriggle of glee as the others looked on indulgently. Aziraphael even managed to crack a smile! Ariella let it go on for a little while longer before calling out, "Who needs a hug?"
Getting tired now, Gabriel magicked himself over to Aziraphael, gave him a sleepy cuddle and a sloppy kiss on the cheek then promptly passed out halfway over his brother's shoulder. The others let out a moan of disappointment but stayed quiet as their leader was carefully changed into a camouflage sleeper and tucked lovingly into bed. Chuckling quietly, Aziraphael tucked the bundled fledgling into his wing and stated, "I suppose I should get him to Raphael for a while. Are you ready to fly decoy, Lioness?"
Ariella rubbed her hands together gleefully. Lucifer seemed to think that Gabriel would only let the Archangels hold him because he could understand what they were saying. He had forgotten one thing; Aziraphael and Gabriel were almost the same age. He knew old Enoch, too. And Gabriel just so happened to have a love of everything that could snuggle him, including most animals other than parrots and frogs. Bad experiences and all.
So, while Ariella took flight at an impossible speed only slightly faster than the blur coming in behind her, Aziraphael took off running. With a smooth gait and the stabilization of his free wing, he moved quickly and soundlessly through Heaven towards the meeting place he and Raphael had set up. Passing him off to the second youngest Archangel, he instructed, "Keep your parrots away from him and we won't have any problems. Also, avoid leaving Heaven, don't visit Earth, Lucifer, shiny things, sugar, tickling, truth or dare, flowers, tall grass, cats, water, fish, furry animals with violent tendencies and Balthazar."
"...Balthazar?"
"Sugar."
Enough said.
Taking the fledgling carefully and smirking at the snores emitted from tiny rose petal lips, he settled Gabriel against his chest under the warmth of his robes. Nodding to Aziraphael, he turned and strode nonchalantly away. Far away from where he stood, the origin of a frustrated scream was bristling in anger as cherubs held buckets that used to be filled with a dubious green substance. Which was now on him and, more importantly, his wings. "Ariella, you bitch!" He shrieked. "I'm going to kill you! Where. Is. Gabriel!"
Giggling at his suffering, the Lioness of Heaven was quick to soar out of her flightless brother's range. With that gunk mucking up his wings, it would take ages for him to manage to follow. The look on his face was thunderous, but slowly turned to despair the further away Ariella went. Attempting to flutter his wings, he whimpered almost childishly when the best he could do was shrug them. His eyes widened as he looked uncertainly back at the gates of Heaven, so very far away, and wondered absently if God had meant for him to come back.
He had defied the Father of All Creation and lived to tell about it, but in the process had become a symbol of everything evil in the world. He'd been trying to get their Father to realize that he had his perfect creations already at his side, so why bother creating those... Things? He had been jealous and because of that, had ruined everything for everyone, including himself. Now he was back and the little ones stared at him stonily, taunting him with their gazes and judging him silently without remorse. They viewed him as a warning of what they could become, if they became defiant.
As a result, he wasn't all that he could be. Where before there was love, awe and comradeship there was now frigid cold. The ones who had accepted him were all close to Gabriel, so he thought that if he kept his brother close, the others wouldn't hate him as much. It was a stupid reason to keep his baby brother as a permanent attachment, but even as the best negotiator of the four his words just dried up when he was faced with the blank faced glares of his little siblings.
Lips trembling a little, he turned around sharply on his heel and began to walk.
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Gaia watched in concern over her martini as the poor baby walked away, alone and once again doubting himself. Death had paused to watch their scrying pool dispassionately as his former 'master' fought back tears, not particularly feeling sympathetic to the brat. However, his partner was glancing at him pleadingly from the other side of the pool and he sighed. "Does he deserve it, or are you just feeling merciful today?"
"He does," she stated firmly. "All he ever wanted was to be loved by his father, to spend time with him like the others did. Instead, he gained possession of a world that would be destroyed by creatures that his father loved more than anything. He gained the hatred of his brother for a thing that could have been resolved with so much as a spoken word from God about how much he still loved his sons and daughters. But he stayed silent because he needed an angel on the throne of Hell. Whether that be one of the Legion or Michael himself, it didn't matter, because Lucifer was perfect. He had anger and influence and that was all he needed. He was alone in that cage for millions of years. Don't you think he deserves something good?"
Death was certain she had said the alone part on purpose. After all, what was a more lonesome thing than Death? He killed everything he touched and was feared by all but the angels. Sighing in contemplation, he thought about all of the things he could do to Lucifer in return for the treatment when he had been under the brat's thrall. Gaia gave him a look of warning and she was a powerful goddess in her own right. He could take her, but not without serious repercussions. Such as the earth blowing up completely. Grumbling irritably, he muttered, "Fine."
Smiling serenely at him, she laughed and went to intercept their next victim. As he mingled with the shadows, Death wondered savagely if the Demon King would like his gift.
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Lucifer was still a long way from Heaven when he saw it. A paradise; one that drew him in unlike any other thing he had seen. Slowly stalking towards it, his tears dried up as he stared at it in awe. A soft laugh made him glance curiously at the person who made it. She stood under a tree wearing a simple brown dress with hints on emerald green. Deep brown hair had several strands of gold and silver woven into it, with a few gemstones catching the light. He met her eyes and inhaled sharply. They were a strange mix of colours that could only mean one thing. "Titan," he breathed.
A dark chuckle came from behind him. By then, the spell of the paradise had worn off and he spun to face Death. Backing away carefully, he stopped abruptly against a body as hard as stone. She smiled at him and gathered his face in her hands. "Lucifer. Oh, look at your poor wings!" she fretted. "Don't worry, it will all come off soon." Death just snickered. Gaia gave him a catty snarl then ignored him. "Now come to Gaia, dear. I'll make it all better."
Lucifer was powerless to do anything but whimper as his life cycled before his eyes. Before he blacked out, he could hear Death's horrifying cackle as he breathed, "This is my vengeance, brat."
He was gone before he hit the ground.
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Ariella was starting to get worried. Raphael was walking around freely with Gabriel and nothing had happened yet. She was starting to wonder whether she had gone too far with the gummy bears and resolved to ask Balthazar what the hell else he had put in that concoction he had given to her. She sighed when she took flight and honed in on Lucifer's Grace, then froze. She tried again. Slamming on the breaks, she darted in a full u-turn and started shrieking for Michael to get his feathered ass over there.
He came holding a bawling fledgling and Raphael's collar with a harried look on his face. "He's been crying for the past ten minutes and I caught Raphael shaking him upside down looking for the off-switch." Raphael hadn't really been big on child rearing. He just waited until they were older; now they knew why. "Where's Lucifer? We aren't exactly safe out here and I have no wish to recreate the fall of Babylon's Tower."
Ariella fidgeted nervously and whispered, "I, uh. Kinda lost him. Slightly. I think he may be like Gabriel."
Michael paled. Raising a baby Lucifer the first time had been absolute hell and he definitely wasn't ready for a repeat. His little brothers were different in several ways from when they were just little bundles of fluffy feathers with fledgling hair. For example, Gabriel was a cheerful child and cried surprisingly quietly but was easy to calm down. Lucifer, to put it simply, wasn't. Michael had pulled his hair once, and then never again. The fledgling had screamed nonstop for hours until God took a physical form and cradled him to his chest. Even then, it took bribes of sweet honey to make him forgive Michael his trespasses. Stifling a moan, he handed a whimpering Gabriel to Ariella and began a military grid search for his brother.
It didn't take to long. After all, how many tiny black screaming specks can there be in the middle of Heaven's war zone? Balancing precariously on the edge of the Pit, a baby Lucifer screamed his nonexistent heart out at the lack of attention he was receiving. Michael was actually surprised that he hadn't heard that earlier, considering the shockwaves that were being given off. He landed next to his brother and tried to remember the few things that would shut him up. Finally, he settled on a soother and stuck it into his mouth before scooping him up with a sigh. Lucifer suckled contentedly on the honey flavored baby toy and attached himself to Michael's chest. Then he suddenly had two feathered bundles of joy curled up against him for warmth.
Sighing and muttering to himself, he adjusted his hold on the two passengers and took flight. He absently wondered why Gabriel could teleport himself while Lucifer couldn't. Actually, he wondered how Gabriel could teleport himself at all and then resolved to just stop thinking about it and hope it goes away. It usually didn't when it came down to his brothers, but someday, the universe would take pity on him and just stop throwing this random shit towards him and just leave well enough alone. The two fledglings, now bundled together in a feathery ball, were cooing and poking at each other's face. Lucifer somehow managed to catch Gabriel's eye and he had to make a pit stop in order to calm them both down. Three seconds after he took flight again, Gabriel smacked Lucifer and made him drop his soother, which in turn nearly made Michael drop due to the sheer strength of Lucifer's wailing.
Oh, but that wasn't all. In a parody of every road trip come to horrific life, he got distracted and somehow managed to run into a bird. He wasn't harmed, of course, but the bird? Yeah, not so much. With it's little head snapped around the wrong way and hanging limply in his hand, he was forced to prepare an impromptu funeral even though it would end up back where it started immediately after it died. The fledglings, however, refused to be picked up until the deed was done, so Michael found a patch of dirt to bury it in, said a few words and took off.
There was also the incident where Michael relaxed his arm a little too much for his g-force flight speed and had to make a panicked dive in order to collect a screaming dark-haired fledgling before he hit the ground. After that he cuddled them closely and flew upside down so that if he dropped them, they would at least land on his chest. The shell-shocked look on his face was sure to stay for awhile but Lucifer looked quite proud of himself, spreading his little wings and making bird calls. Gabriel was pouting cutely and eyeing his brother with something that looked scarily close to mischief. And then he suddenly pushed him back out of Michael's arms. The screams this time were closer to anger than fear and he promptly decided that after he scooped up Lucifer again, he would stop and wait for someone to take one of the troublesome fluff balls.
Therefore, a nearby cherub was wing-jacked so that he could carry the golden-eyed little demon that was Gabriel. Godamnit. And that was also how a five minute trip by wings turned into well over a half-hour, with several more unspeakable incidents a la Gabriel that ended up with Michael resembling a drowned rat and the cherub who would greatly prefer to stay nameless scorched and covered in soot. There hadn't been any plans to dive into Hell, but that's what you get when the fledgling you're holding jumps on one of your wings.
Raphael met them at the gate accompanied by Ariella. Michael took to slamming his head off of the golden posts that held the gates when the little devil actually had the balls to reach for Ariella and coo at her like an innocent baby. The cherub kind of just gaped and slunk away, muttering to himself things like 'never again' and 'shoot myself if ever…'.
Michael greatly shared his sentiments.
However, in the arms of Ariella both of the fledglings were on their best behavior so at least that was something. Lucifer's cats had all gathered around in order to examine their master, trailing their tails under his chin and purring like mad at the fact that they could baby him again. Cats; who knew what they were thinking? The effect on the gathered angels was instantaneous. Several jostled to the front in order to get a glimpse of the helpless Devil while others jeered to have him removed from Gabriel's vicinity. The squeal of pain from where one of the angels poked the babe with a sword was enough to get both Ariella and the cats snarling and, surprisingly enough, a dive-bombing from the parrots, who appeared to like Lucifer a hell of a lot more than Gabriel.
The resulting squabble caused a thunderstorm that covered most of the northern continents and little itty bitty pieces of the south. Raised angelic voices crashed and rolled throughout Heaven, causing human souls to cower in fear and the divine to raise their heads in either curiosity or sorrow. Meanwhile, a certain Titaness gazed horrified into her pool and wondered just what she had wrought. Soon enough, weapons clashed as the angels fought young against old, those who had heard only stories and those that had known the heart behind the hatred. Ariella roared a challenge to anyone who came near, a menagerie of animals rearing, hissing and biting any who had the intent to harm.
God watched.
Suddenly, with a mighty cry, the gentle Joshua, gardener of Eden, grabbed a scythe from a youngsters' hands and threw it heavily into the crowd. There was immediate silence as the younger angels stared in shock at the wise old teacher, who was breathing heavily and had a twitchy left eye. Gabriel started screaming his little(again, nonexistent,) lungs out and Lucifer just looked around with a pitiful heart-shaped face and fluffy little wings drawn inwards in a do-it-yourself cuddle. The scythe had lopped the blade clean off of a sword just inches away from the Morningstar's face. The angel to whom that blade belonged was breathing heavily and had a light splatter of shining gore on his face, but just kept staring into the eyes of an innocent devil.
It came to him then, in the back of his mind, that he had no right to judge someone for what they had done before his creation. That whatever evils such a creature had done belonged solely to the past and had no right to linger in a brightening future. And maybe, just maybe, even the Devil himself deserves a second chance. Much like wild animals that were brutally murdered in the name of humanity, Lucifer had done no wrong that had not been planned out for him in advance. It was little more than an instinct, the gift of fierce love and loyalty that had caused the horrific war that shattered Heaven, though jealousy had played it's factor. After all, who wanted to be forgotten?
But then, that was deep in the back of his mind and the angel had no qualms about ignoring the thought completely. This was the demon who hid behind innocence like a shroud, burying who and whatever came close enough to taste his poison. This in front of him was the one who would cast his own brothers and sisters down, down, down from the Heavens in a torrent of fire, ice and endless pain and sorrow. The golden child who could do no wrong turned evil incarnate. And how suiting it should be that he fall at the hands of an Angel of Mercy? He thought as the remnants of his sword cut deeply, drawing up blood as blue as the ocean. He gazed into those eyes as the fledgling fell towards the ground, made up of tiny bones that would shatter on impact and delicate wings that would never again be able to fly.
Then again, when has the world ever done as expected?
The fall was cut short of the ground by another tiny creature, one who knew love and hate and mischief all in equal bounds. One who was just as breakable, but always willing to be broken so that something would be able to be fixed. Getting to the point, Gabriel teleported himself under Lucifer to break his fall and also several dozen sensitive bones in his wings. The savior himself broke a few ribs and displaced a disc in his spine. And the unnamed angel fell to the heavy blade of an angered Titaness, who discovered that what was broken could only be fixed with time.
So as the two fledglings wailed and gripped at each other for comfort, curling up into a little ball of opposites, others started to think. Really think, that is, about what they were seeing. They watched silently as the ashes of their brother were swept away in the wind, content with themselves with knowing it was over but wondering what had happened in the first place. Were they really ready to kill a child, for what had been done in the past?
Some say that the world will end in fire
Murmurs started up as Raphael knelt beside the two bawling fledglings and started to gently prod their injuries back to rights. They pressed in on each other, thinking about past wrongs and how there was still so much hatred, such passionate loathing for something that had happened before their times. How that hatred ruled their everyday lives and made them think, this is good, this is bad and maybe blocked out, I shouldn't be doing this, this is wrong, and, I have to do this, because of what he did. Because to have something good and something bad, there has to be extremes such as divinity and evil and the inability to see the space that sat between in all different shades of colors. Because hatred could be good; it could be a warning, but it can also consume you, raging like a fire until there isn't anything left to burn.
Some say in ice
After that comes the solid certainty that one person is completely evil and can do nothing good in the world, while others do things, much smaller things, that add up to a grand explosion and yet there isn't anyone to care. Hung up on a certain evil, they miss all the little things done to fill the gaping void left behind by that hated evil. But in hating evil, it often drags even the brightest into the depths of misery and therefore, nothing can be innocent forever. Pastors waste their time preaching about sins and demons when in reality, that is what we are made up of. If not innocence, then intolerance. Angels bowed their heads solemnly amidst the cries of pain from two innocent fledglings, dropping to their knees with tears running down their faces.
God watched in quiet awe as the problem solved itself, still in the mindset that what had come to pass was meant to be. Beside him, Samiel snorted in derision at the chilly indifference of a once loving father before vanishing back to the place where he had come from. All other planets before this one have ended in fiery hate, he mused. This one is special. It will be the one to end from ice.
From what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire
Michael cradled his weeping brothers in his strong arms, fuming noticeably but keeping his grip gentle and loving. It was a far cry from what he used to be when his brothers had left. Usually, there would be flaming swords and burning souls running and screaming to get away from his wrath but now, he was able to hold back. Ariella, on the other hand, went to town with it and completely destroyed the younger generation's weapons and took from them the ability to hold arms unless there was an absolute emergency in which they were all going to die unless all hands were on deck. She returned quickly in order to beam lovingly at her older brothers-turned-miniature. She tickled Lucifer's nose with a feather and murmured, "Hush, dear heart. It's all over now and no one here is going to hurt you."
Gaia fidgeted quietly behind them, guarded by a sturdy pair of seraphim. They wouldn't look at her and refused to let her move. She wanted nothing more than to make everything better; to place kisses on booboos and sing them to sleep. She was a mother, after all. Some may argue that she wasn't the best mother around but she had tried her best. Gaia shifted slightly to get a better look at the silk bandages covering vital points on the tiny bodies and was quickly rebuffed by her guards. She closed her eyes and turned away instead.
Finally, Raphael turned to her and stated, "The spell you wove was indeed powerful, lady Titan. We don't know how to reverse it, but in the name of our holy Father we will bleed it out of you if need be. The spell is not Pagan in origin, nor is it Christian or any other religion you support. We have no way of reversing it if we do not know of it's origins, but that was your intention, was it not?" Raphael stalked around her casually, eyeing her as an owl does to a mouse. "It would be in everyone's best interests if you untangle the web of magicks surrounding our brothers and allowed Father's influence to work."
Gaia stared longingly at the babies when she spoke. "It was merely the way of the river, angel. It twists and turns, never ending and always flowing. Budhism states that when we die, our souls become a part of the river, to be washed clean and given a new start. It will give us our innocence back and life will start anew. Death changed it slightly, forcing the river to flow in a direction it did not know and reversing some of the good it had done. I just prevented it from happening to everyone in the world, holding the souls steady in my arms and giving them something to focus on other than the pain of such an action." She followed him with her eyes and whispered, "I see now that I have done more harm than mercy. I am willing to help your God reverse the spell."
But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate,
"…what are the conditions?"
She sighed. "They will not be as they once were, at least not right away. To cause such a disruption in the river of life is no easy feat and to change it's course immediately after could have terrible consequences. It must be done slowly or else the devastation caused on Earth will be dire."
It was acceptable.
Again, they went into the Garden of Eden under the watchful eyes of Joshua to place both of their brothers into the water. Gaia stayed on the grass, which curled and teased at her hair as she placed herself close enough to be Involved but not enough to evoke God's ire at another god being so close to his sacred place. She closed her eyes and began her soundless chant, God joining in after a few beats as the gibberish that was the language of Khaos flowed between them. There was a notable change in the water and as the watching angels stood in awe, the river began to change. They weren't looking at a simple brook anymore. Instead, they saw an ancient stream flowing and burbling, filled with peaceful faces and relaxed voices whispering of their former lives.
The change was almost unnoticeable, except for the tiny little splash as a current was slightly redirected not even a centimeter, causing the voices to turn to wails of anger and despair. The Archangels flinched at the sound and Ariella made as if to cover her ears, but just as suddenly as it began the painful sound stopped. Gaia reached out for the fledglings but was instantly batted away with a hiss from one of Lucifer's many cats. Michael searched for any changes, but was stopped short by the shrieks from both of the babes, which signified that they had not healed as much as he thought they would. Gabriel whimpered tearfully and shocked them all by suddenly calling for Castiel. It sounded more like 'Casil', but call it an educated guess.
To say that for destruction, Ice is also great,
Castiel, who had been somewhat lost during the proceedings, was promptly dragged away from his humans and given a clingy fledgling before being told to carry on with what he was doing. Slightly bewildered at the sudden change of scenery, Castiel did as he was told and took them back to Earth.
Sam looked up from his research only to receive an armful of angel from an angst ridden Gabriel as he whined and babbled away with his little body covered in bandages. Shocked, he blinked at a growing stain on one of the pristine shimmering clothes and wondered if it would be considered blasphemy to change divine bandages. The babbling continued endlessly until Michael, tired and dull-eyed, realized he had just sent his little brother to a place that was full of creatures and Hellbeasts, and promptly poofed him back into the nest in Heaven, leaving two frozen Winchesters and a still confused Castiel behind. Giving them both a snuggle, Michael examined them critically and noticed nothing had changed. He immediately began wondering if it was better this way.
It was too late now.
And would suffice.
He would deal with it, whatever it was.
Robert Frost~ Fire and Ice
Next up, we have the fast-forwarded version of Angel growth, puberty and all that fun stuff that no one talks about during high school reunions. Also features Gaia throwing Death under the bus, nightmares, wing gore and other things that I will pull out of a hat when I start the next chapter. Bye!