The room was dim, barely a light visible, even from the only window within the room, and was devoid of furnishings of any kind. It looked like a warehouse, empty of all its content, with a pipe or two running down the walls. There was a barbeque set up in the middle of the room, a fire burning steadily inside, filled with wood and pieces of coal. Castiel was strapped onto a table, facing the ceiling with tears running down his face. He looked horrible, cuts and burns covered 90 percent of his body, the only part not touched was his stomach, but it looked like Ezekiel was going to remedy that soon.
"Go FUCK yourself." Castiel didn't care about being proper, about keeping wholesome and angelic, he was PISSED and so very scared.
"Cassie, Cassie, Cassie. Don't you know it's rude to yell at me?" Ezekiel sounded proud of himself, as he grabbed a burning hot piece of coal and placed it on Castiel's stomach.
Castiel screamed out in pain as the coal burned a hole into his skin and Ezekiel smiled down at him. "Now, Castiel, I want some answers and I know you have them. How do I get Michael and Lucifer out of the cage?" Ezekiel sounded impatient, as though he had asked this question a million times. "I will NEVER tell you." Ezekiel looked irritated. Raphael had entrusted him with this task, ensuring he would be the new sheriff of heaven, and Ezekiel so wanted that power.
"Well then, you leave me no choice." Castiel looked terrified at those words. Ezekiel walked close to Castiel, removing the cooling coal from his stomach, and grabbed his sword, using it to gently touch Castiel's protruding stomach.
The baby inside, feeling her mother's distress, began kicking frantically, tiny legs and arms visible through the skin of Castiel's stomach. Castiel's heart shattered as he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.
The inevitable never came as Ezekiel screamed in anger, prompting Castiel to open his eyes and look down at his stomach, still intact, and his child still alive. Sighing in relief, he looked at Ezekiel trying to stab his stomach again and again, only to be pushed away every time. His grace, which had been near non-existent, seemed to have focused completely on keeping his daughter safe, and he thanked the lord for that, because at the moment he was too weak to do anything.
"That is fine." Ezekiel stated, gathering his calm once more. "I will kill you, and without you the child cannot survive." Castiel looked at the threatening angel before pain shot through him so severe, he found himself screaming out.
"Oh, well if this isn't just a stroke of luck. Your birth canal is forming…this is priceless. You're going into labor." Ezekiel looked so very happy at this news and walked over to Castiel, gently petting his hair. "You will be the death of your daughter, birthing her too soon and watching her die." Castiel lost all color in his face as another bout of pain, more intense than the first, hit him dead on, but he was too scared to cry out this time.
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The surrounding was quiet as Gabriel made his way towards the warehouse, the faithful not far behind. He could sense Castiel weakening, and it tore at his heart, knowing what his son must be going through.
"I want you all to scatter, find an entrance and call me." The faithful nodded before dispersing. Knowing Ezekiel, and how careless he had always been, there wouldn't be too many guards to worry about; but the problem was, he KNEW Ezekiel, and he knew this was not his doing alone.
The faithful had told him as much as they knew, which was mostly about Raphael and that stupid angel's obsession with restarting the end of days. Gabriel could just KILL that idiot, and he probably would, knowing how deep that fucker's obsession went, it was probably his doing that Ezekiel had taken Castiel.
"I have found an entrance." A faithful said, summoning the others and pointing out a door at the back end of the building. Gabriel praised him on a job well done and together they walked into the building and were immediately assaulted with the smell of burning flesh.
Gabriel felt bile rise to the back of his throat, knowing whose flesh he was probably smelling, and quickened his search for the younger angel.
Gabriel's hunch turned out to be true, there were only a hand full of guards, all of which refused to go up against Gabriel, who had higher ranking than any of the others in heaven, and flew off without a fight. The only challenge would come from Ezekiel.
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"There you are. That wasn't so bad now was it?" Ezekiel mocked as he looked at Castiel's fully formed birth canal. "And now the real work starts huh?" Castiel was covered in sweat, and so very tired. His body had sped through making the birth canal in preparation for the birth that the baby was not ready for. She would not make it, and Castiel's heart grew heavy as he thought about his child dying.
The doors to the room burst open and Gabriel strolled in, looking like god himself to Castiel, and the angel could not have been happier.
The faithful rushed to his aid, healing his wounds and getting him off the table and into some clothing. Castiel thanked them before begging them to help Gabriel.
The faithful ran to Gabriel's aid, though it didn't look like he would need it, as he had the upper hand, having impaled Ezekiel in the shoulder with his own sword.
Castiel watched as Gabriel tore Ezekiel to pieces, using his sword very creatively, and couldn't help but smile. His smile didn't last long, though, as his stomach cramped slightly. Nothing remotely painful, but worrying never the less.
Gabriel made short work of Ezekiel, leaving the faithful to clean up, and walked over to Castiel. "Thank god you're alright." Castiel shook his head and rubbed his stomach. "She will die today." Gabriel looked shocked and touched his hands to Castiel's stomach. "She's healthy for six months, why do you say she'll die?"
Tears fell from Castiel's eyes: "I'm in labor." Gabriel shook his head. "You can't be in labor, it's too soon." Castiel nodded. "My birth canal was completed a moment before you came to me."
Gabriel looked hopeful. "That doesn't mean anything. The birth canal shows up days or weeks before labor." Gabriel said, not sure who he was trying to convince. "I have already had my first contraction." Gabriel felt around Castiel's stomach and sighed in relief.
"Your water hasn't broken yet, we can salvage this." Castiel looked hopeful as Gabriel gave as much of his grace as he could to the younger angel, trying to halt the laboring process, only to be stopped by a splashing noise.
Gabriel didn't DARE look down. He didn't WANT to look down. He didn't want to confirm his worst fears, but he looked down anyway and saw the liquid that had pooled at Castiel's feet. Fear clawed at his throat as he noticed what this meant. Castiel was really in labor, three months early.
Castiel closed his eyes as another bout of discomfort tingled across his stomach, it was still not painful, but it was unnerving, knowing the inevitable end to his daughter's life was only hours away.
"There is one other option." Castiel looked up at Gabriel and waited for the answer. "With help from the faithful, we can speed up her gestation." Castiel looked confused. "We can use our grace to help her grow." Gabriel clarified, hoping to ease Castiel's mind as best as he could.
"Will it allow her to live?" Castiel looked white as a sheet, but he sounded hopeful. Gabriel nodded. "If you were any less along there would be no way to save her, but since she is at six months there is a good chance we can speed up the gestation about a month, which would make her survival rate go up to 85% or so."
Castiel nodded his consent as his stomach rippled with another cramp like sensation, the pain still nonexistent. Gabriel sighed with relief as he called the faithful forward, having them place their hands gently on Castiel's protruding stomach.
Castiel felt warmth spread through his body and towards his still growing daughter, praying to anyone that would listen, that Alana would live. The grace from six angels was entering his body at an alarming rate, assisting in the growth of his too little daughter.
Slowly, very slowly, he could feel his daughter grow, arms and legs lengthening, and weight being added to her, giving her a greater chance of survival. Castiel was smiling, feeling happy to have his daughter now, instead of dreading the moment.
The angels removed their hands, looking absolutely drained. Gabriel breathed heavily, smiling up at Castiel with hope radiating from his features. "She will live now." Castiel smiled widely and hugged Gabriel to him. "I do not know what I would have done had you not been here." Gabriel sighed with contentment, having long dreamed of hugging his son so close to him. "And to the rest of you, I bid you thanks greatly for saving my daughter." The faithful nodded and disappeared with a resounding whoosh.
"We need to get back to the others, they're worried sick." Gabriel said, breaking the hug. Castiel nodded and together they flew from the warehouse and away from the horrors it had held.
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Sam was pacing back and forth near Dean's head, wearing a path into the carpet. "Sit down you Idjit, you're giving me a headache." Sam ignored him and continued pacing, looking over at his brother who hadn't even twitched since being placed there hours ago.
"But what if something went wrong, what if I never see them again and Dean never wakes up…what the hell do I do then?" Sam looked defeated as he looked over at his brother with a frown on his face.
"Oh ye of little faith Sammy." Sam spun around immediately and looked at Gabriel, relief evident on his features. "Gabriel…CAS!" Realization dawned on him and he ran towards Castiel, looking the angel over for any serious injuries, but finding none. "I am fine Sam." Castiel said walking past the abnormally tall hunter towards his sleeping husband. "Thank you for keeping him safe Bobby." Bobby smiled and waved away the gratitude. "It's not like I would let him die now is it?" Castiel shook his head and placed a hand on Dean's face, wanting the hunter to awaken.
"Gabriel, please waken my husband, I wish him by my side and coherent when I am to give birth. And Sam please bring for me a change of clothing, since I have none, I wish to be in clothing far more dry than those I currently wear." Gabriel nodded and walked over to Dean as Sam mechanically walked up the stairs to gather a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt.
Gabriel placed his hand to Dean's forehead and immediately the hunter woke up and searched around frantically for Castiel. "I am here Dean." Cas stated, holding the hunters hand in his. "I am well." Dean clung to Castiel for all he was worth, crying tears of relief. "I thought I'd lost you." Castiel calmed Dean with words of love and raised the hunter's head. "It is not time to cry, my husband, it is a time to celebrate and prepare. I am to have our daughter today." Gabriel snorted, Bobby gasped and ran to the laundry room, and Dean looked absolutely gob smacked.
"You're only six months…she won't make it." Castiel shook his head. "With the wonders of my father's grace, she will live and be healthy." Dean looked relieved before looking up at Gabriel, who still looked rather smug. "And your problem would be?" Dean was now drying his eyes of the tears, still clinging to Castiel as though the angel might suddenly disappear. "I'm just laughing at my son a bit…thinking this would only take a day." Castiel looked at Gabriel with a bit of apprehension.
"And how long should I expect to labor?" Castiel was now curious. "My labor with you was around 32 hours from the time my birth canal showed up, but with you it could be longer or shorter depending. Are you contracting at all?" Castiel nodded slowly. "They are very light, a bit of tightening and cramp like sensations, but no pain yet." Gabriel winced at that. "Yeah you're in it for the long haul lovely."
Dean sat up on the couch completely and looked at Castiel, who looked a little on edge. "It's alright Castiel, I'll be here with you through all of it, I promise." Castiel let out a breathe he didn't know he had been holding and nodded at his husband, Dean wouldn't let him go it alone.
Sam appeared not long after, handing Castiel a set of clothing and looking at a wide awake Dean. "So…what did I miss?" Sam asked looking around the room at the very quiet trio.
Castiel excused himself to go change, while Dean and Gabriel filled him in on everything that had transpired. "So…a baby huh?" Dean nodded and immediately started panicking again. "What about baby stuff…we don't have anything…NOTHING." Gabriel let out a deep belly laugh and snapped his fingers, producing, among other things, a cot and clothing for their child. "It's only temporary, mind you, until you settle your happy ass down, get a job and buy the shit your kid needs. I might be making you the house, rent free and all that shebang, but you still have to feed and clothe yourself." Dean sighed with relief as he stood up to look at some of the baby clothes.
"There is no way my daughter is that small." Gabriel nodded. "You're right, she won't be that small." Dean looked relieved until: "She'll be smaller."
"What?" This time it was Sam who looked shocked. "Why?"
"She will be pre-term, she will be at most five pounds." Castiel answered, coming back into the living room wearing the too tight black plain t-shirt and grey sweat pants given to him by Sam. Another bout of uncomfortable cramping had Castiel grabbing his stomach and squinting his eyes.
"Everything okay?" Dean asked, running over to Castiel. "Just another small contraction, though this one was mildly uncomfortable." Dean sighed in relief and helped Castiel take a seat on the couch. "My water has already broken, I do not wish the fluid to leak onto Bobby's couch, I will stand." Castiel had protested, only to be silenced by a glare from Bobby, having returned from the laundry room. "I brought towels." He stated, placing a couple on the couch and letting Castiel sit down.
"This is your chance to take a shower and sleep little angel, when labor kicks in you won't have the energy to do anything." Gabriel said, walking towards the kitchen to prepare a snack. "That's a good Idea Cas, let's go. I'll start the shower while you get naked. I might even be able to find you a more comfortable shirt to wear." And together, Castiel and Dean disappeared upstairs towards the bathroom.
Bobby watched the two love birds leave and followed Sam towards the kitchen, he could use a beer.
Grabbing a beer he sat at his table and watched Gabriel fumbling with the stove. "Where the hell did this thing come from, the stone age?" He grumbled, sitting down at the table with a huff. "It's a gas stove Gabriel, it's only five years old, it's a perfectly good stove, just because you're too much of an idjit to know how to use it, doesn't mean there's anything wrong with my damn stove." Gabriel glared at the older hunter but then relented.
"I know you're worried about your son Gabe, but that doesn't mean you get to disrespect perfectly good appliances." Sam pointed out, making Bobby smile. "I know. It's not just my worry though, I mean I think it's been about…never…since I used a stove last so I guess that has something to do with it too." Sam's jaw could have hit the table, he was gaping so badly. "Flies Sammy." Bobby said, watching Sam close his mouth apologetically. "You've NEVER used a stove?" Gabriel shook his head. "Nope…never." Sam smiled before standing and walking towards the stove, grabbing Gabriel's hand in the process. "We are going to teach you how to use a stove.