A/N: WOOOO! ACTION SCENE! Ok, so this chapter is a lot longer than any of the others and I had to cut it off into a cliff hanger just so it wouldn't run on. That and I'm evil that way and like leaving you guys hanging and wanting more. XD 3 I hope this is as enjoyable as the cute scenes were. I promise to get back to those too. ;) Also, side note: for those of you who are wondering "WTF?" while reading any part of this, please be assured that everything WILL get explained at some point. I like having my stories wrap up nicely so that they make sense so don't fret. If it's confusing now, it should get cleared up as we go. As for the angst you see in this chapter, yes, there has to be SOME angst. I want to show some character development through the story so there has to be a little angst here and there (it IS Supernatural after all) but I will try to keep it reasonable and break it up with lots of cute and funny moments.

For those of you who have been kind enough to review, THANK YOU! Your comments help make this so much fun for me and I'm thrilled stupid that you guys are enjoying this that much. ^_^

OOOO! And I am dedicating this chapter to Seraph5! She's a fantastic artist on DeviantArt who drew a lovely picture for me based on this story! You can see it by going to Seraph's DA page. I sadly cannot link here as it won't let me. *scowls* Just go to http:/seraph5[dot]deviantart[dot]com/#/d2vdjmu

It was early afternoon as the Winchesters finally pulled into the safety of Bobby's driveway. The crunch of gravel beneath the tires pulled Sam from his sleep and he mumbled incoherently as he came back to consciousness. "Good morning, sleeping beauty," Dean said as he punched his brother's arm in a friendly gesture, reserved only for siblings, that was supposedly to help him wake up. Sam scowled as he rubbed his quickly bruising bicep. When he looked down it was to find Castiel as awake as ever, demurely leaning back in the perfect picture of what every good little child should look like. Around them, littered over the floorboards and along the doorpanel were dozens of empty honey packets. Sam was sure that no child should be able to eat that much honey without getting ill but Cas had been more than content to run through them all and hadn't seemed to have even the slightest sign of sickness afterward. A part of Sam felt like the worst parent in the world, for while Castiel certainly wasn't his son, he was still a child and the young man couldn't imagine that it would be healthy to feed any child the way they had been. A sad smile touched his lips and he brushed a hand ever so gently over the angel's head, soft dark locks slipping between his fingers like the down of a small bird. Cas turned up to meet the touch, casting those ever inquisitive blue eyes in Sam's direction and the hunter ran the pad of one large thumb across the angel's forehead. There was an overwhelming feeling of protectiveness growing in his gut that he couldn't quite put a finger on.

"You ok?"

Dean's question startled the younger man and he snapped his head up. "Hm? Oh…yeah…just…" he sighed and let his hand drop back to his lap. "It just feels weird, ya know? Even when he was completely without his powers, Cas was still pretty capable. It's weird seeing him like this, knowing how much he's depending on us right now. We don't even know what happened to him yet." Sam paused and met the stare leveled up at him. His heart sank a little. "He pulled me out, Dean," he said quietly. It was the first time he had mentioned what had happened almost a year ago when he had thrown himself willingly into hell to save the world. He hadn't spoken about it since then, content to just let it slide to the back of his mind rather than confront himself with all that he had seen down there and he knew Dean didn't want to be reminded of his own time there either. The nightmares had faded, the pain eased, and eventually he'd fallen back into the norms that he'd clung to for the years leading up to that moment. Just him and his brother on the road, monsters falling before them as they saved people. Now he found himself once more potentially facing demonic threats and he wasn't sure that he had healed as much as he'd hoped. He'd wanted so badly to just put them all behind him, the angels, the demons, the eternal war, but apparently it wasn't meant to be as he and Dean were being dragged inevitably back in. A part of him hated them all for it. Why couldn't they just leave him and his brother alone? Hadn't they given enough? Hurt enough? In the next breath a swell of guilt tugged at him though. When he had turned his back on the angels after his return, he had also stopped talking about, or for that matter thinking about, Castiel as well. He hadn't wanted to think about any of the angels since they had been just as much at fault as the demons, but as he looked down at the child in his lap, he knew that wasn't really fair. Castiel had died to help the Winchesters…twice. He had gone to heaven when it was all over, intent on putting things right upstairs but even with the turmoil that was no doubt left in the wake of the apocalypse, the angel had still risked flying into hell itself to seek out Sam and rend him from the pit. It wasn't the first time he'd braved the fires either. "He pulled you out too," Sam added in grave tones, "I just….don't want to let him down."

Dean watched his brother very carefully, half holding his breath with each word. He knew they hadn't said anything since that night, hadn't talked about it or sought any kind of comfort over it despite being the only two beings on the planet who had been to hell and come back out. He pressed back his own memories of his time in the fires and tried to force down the panic that rose with those images. He swallowed hard at the guilt that rose like bile in his throat as well. It had been his fault Sam had gone through all that he had in the first place. His need to have Sam back, his weakness at not being able to carry on without his baby brother at his side, had been what led him to make the deal that sent his soul to the pit in the first place. Once there, he had done things, become things he didn't want to think about. He had felt his very soul soiled there and had kicked off the end of the world. Sam had been the one who had released Lucifer, sure, but he had also been the one that ended it. Dean on the other hand had been the one to break the first seal. He stared straight ahead out of the windshield and tried to fight the swell of old wounds threatening to open again. "We won't," was all he said by way of response to his brother's concerns. Sure, he had been pretty pissed at Castiel when the angel had up and left them without much of a goodbye but he had brought Sam back and that went a long way toward healing any grievances he had with the celestial. The fact that it had been Castiel who had pulled him from the pit as well meant that he owed it to the angel, pain in the ass that he was, to help him out now in his time of need.

Both brothers were saved from any further introspection by the appearance of Bobby in the doorway of the house. "Well are ya comin' inside or are ya gonna sit in my damn driveway all night, ya idjits?" With that, the older hunter turned and marched right back into his house leaving Dean and Sam to make up their own minds. Sam climbed out of the car with Cas hefted up onto his shoulder and as he reached into the back to grab the bags of clothes, he heard Dean snort in amusement.

"Hey, Sam. You know you got an angel on your…"

"Shut up, Dean." Sam rolled his eyes and snagged up the stuffed bunny from the backseat, handing it up to a grateful Castiel who immediately clamped onto one long ear and pulled it to his chest. The bags were tossed to Dean to carry as the trio made their way to the house. They stepped into the cool air of the hallway and followed the sounds of papers rustling until they located Bobby hunched over a few books in his study. He turned to say something to them but paused as he laid eyes on the little figure clinging to Sam.

"I'll be damned," he said, flabbergasted by the sight, "You weren't kiddin', were ya?"

"'Friad not, Bobby," Dean said as he dropped the bags into a nearby corner, "Please tell me you found something that will explain this cause I'm getting a little tired of being the punchline to a sitcom."

Bobby eyed the infant angel warily before finally stepping forward to take a closer look. "Well, I ain't found anything about turning angels into babies, if that's what yer lookin' for. For that matter, I couldn't even find a monster that was known for turning humans into babies. Just doesn't seem like it's somethin' that happens all that often. There's no lore, I could dig up on baby angels either, I mean aside from the usual crap about them fat little cherubs and such."

Dean shuddered and rolled his shoulders. "Trust me, Bobby, there's nothing 'baby-like' about cherubs and they sure as hell aren't 'cute'," he said with open disgust. "So, nothing at all that might explain this?"

Bobby shrugged. "Whata'ya want me to do, son? I can't make up lore that ain't there. There's just nothing on this. I mean, it don't make a whole lotta sense, ya know? What the hell kinda monster turns an angel into a baby anyway? Seems kinda ridiculous if ya ask me." He looked up and gave the child a crooked smile. "Hell, he's kinda cute like that, ain't he?"

Sam smiled like a proud father and pulled the angel down to hand him over for Bobby to inspect closer. Castiel put up with the manhandling with general good nature, seemingly unfazed at being passed around, and he turned to look up at the older man plucking him from Sam's hands. Bobby settled the child against the side of his chest but his hand paused as it ran over the infant's back. He shot a questioning look up at Sam and then over to Dean as his fingers brushed over the jacket again, feeling the two strange lumps hidden beneath the fabric. "Somethin' you boys wanna tell me?" He asked suspiciously. The brothers exchanged glances and it was Sam who spoke up first.

"Uh..yeah, we were gonna tell you about that but someone forgot to mention it before I called you last night." Sam shot his brother a look that Dean had often typified as his "bitch face" and then reached for Castiel's jacket. He peeled the little leather coat off and then gently lifted the hem of the shirt, exposing the infant's back. The two pearlescent wings shuddered a moment before unfurling themselves from where they had been pinned against Castiel's back. The angel let out a satisfied sigh and seemed to relax further into the chest he was leaning against as if the lack of constraint against his wings were a sudden relief.

"Well now THAT'D been an important thing ta know," Bobby griped irritably.

"They're solid," Sam offered helpfully as Bobby reached up to brush his fingers over the bottom of the feathers. The wings twitched and pulled up farther, like a bird shying from a touch, and Bobby let his hand fall back down to cradle the infant's lower back. "I think they're pretty sensitive," Sam continued, "he doesn't really like them being played with."

Bobby nodded and turned back to his stacks of books with his precious cargo still clinging to him. "So where do we go from here?" Dean asked to no one in particular as Bobby settled back in behind his desk to start his research anew. "I mean, we can't just hang out waiting until whatever did this comes back to finish the job."

Sam barked a short laugh that lacked any humor. "Yeah, I somehow doubt we're going to stand much of a chance in a one on one fight against anything that did THIS to Cas."

Dean sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well, at least we can hide out here for a bit until we figure out our next move. For now though, I'm gonna get a beer. You want one, Sammy?"

Sam shook his head and then turned to Bobby. "Hey, out of curiosity, do you have any honey around?"

Bobby shot him a confounded look. "Honey? What the hell do ya need honey for? You gonna bake somethin' at a time like this?"

"No, Cas likes it," Sam explained, "it's the only thing we've been able to get him to eat so far."

Dean leaned around the corner of the kitchen and took a swig from his beer. "Yeah, it's weird but he loves the stuff. Chowed down like frickin' pooh bear in the car ride here."

Bobby looked thoughtful for a second and then nodded. "Yeah, guess that makes sense," he said cryptically. After receiving extremely confused looks from both of the brothers he elaborated further. "Manna." The Winchesters exchanged another set of bewildered looks. "Manna, ya idjits. It's what angels eat. Supposed to be some kinda heavenly food or somethin'. Accordin' to legend it tastes like honey an' crackers."

"Wait…so you're tellin' me that honey and saltines are the food of heaven?" Dean asked incredulously, "Sounds more like the diet of a poor college kid than an angel's."

Bobby shook his head. "Yeah, well, I don't make the rules. I don't know that feedin' him a ton of honey is a good idea either. It might taste like somethin' he's used to and I don't know that angels can get sick off eating unhealthy but it ain't manna either and we don't know anything about baby angels. 'Sides, I ain't got any honey in the house anyway. I don't exactly drink a lotta tea, ya know. Now here," he said, tossing a book to Sam, "make yerself useful an' help me dig through these to see if there's anything in here about angel wings."

The boys settled in for a long afternoon of pouring over old tomes which left the whole of the study smelling like dust, old leather bindings, and well worn paper. Castiel spent much of the time sitting utterly still against Bobby's chest, causing the hunter to check several times to see if he had fallen asleep, but every instance had been met with alert bright eyes wide open and watching with interest. Dean and Sam had figured out already that Castiel's odd habit of not sleeping was not relegated to his being an adult and they took some amusement from the fact that this seemed to disturb Bobby on some level. The afternoon gave way to evening and still they could find very little that spoke about angel's wings outside of the usual descriptions of color, number or size, and they certainly hadn't found anything that was the least bit helpful in the matter of proper care and maintenance of such things. Finally, with the night having closed in and the remnants of their dinner spread around them, interspersed with open half read books, the trio decided a good night's sleep was in order. They set off for bed intent on starting the search anew in the morning and much to Bobby and Sam's surprise, Dean offered to keep Cas with him overnight. He mumbled something about it being his turn to watch the infant since the others had been taking care of him all day but in truth he wanted to see if having his friend nearby again would let him sleep as soundly as he had the previous night.

Dean freed the angel's wings from beneath the offending shirt he'd been wearing all day and then nestled Castiel down into the bed while he went to finish his nightly routines. When he came back, the child hadn't moved an inch from where he'd been set, his chubby little arms still wrapped tightly around the ridiculous bunny Sam had bought him. Dean smiled lopsidedly at him before crawling in and gently scooting the baby closer until Cas was pressed against his side. "Look, when this is all over and you're back to being you, we're not gonna mention this again, right? I mean…I'm only doin' this cause you're little," Dean said to the silent figure tucked into the crook of his arm. There was, of course, no response but after a moment, the angel turned and nuzzled closer, curling into the embrace and pressing his cheek against the side of Dean's chest. It felt like someone had turned on a furnace next to his skin, and Dean found himself quickly becoming drowsy as the warmth spread across his ribs. He couldn't quite put his finger on why cuddling up to the infant was so damn comforting but he figured it probably had something to do with the memories of holding Sam when he was younger and it was to those pleasant thoughts that Dean finally drifted off to sleep.

It was 2 am when Dean woke again. His eyes snapped open of their own accord and he felt his heart racing in his chest for some reason he couldn't fathom. A bad dream maybe. The room was dark and quiet, a light breeze wafting through the open window, and he tried to relax back against the pillows again. Beside him, Dean could still feel the comfortable warmth of Castiel and yet his instincts screaming that something was terribly off. The curtains billowed slightly in a short gust and Dean flinched at the movement, his eyes darting around the room. Nothing seemed out of place. There weren't any signs he could tell that anything at all was wrong and the rest of the house was silent but he couldn't shake the tingle of adrenaline creeping up the back of his neck. He glanced again at the window and watched the curtains move. The curtains. Dean's eyes widened as he lay perfectly still. He hadn't opened the window that night. Beside him, Castiel let out a thin strained whimper and in the next instant a dark shadow caught Dean's eye in the corner of the room. He snatched Cas up into his arms and rolled off the bed to his feet. He felt the impact of something hitting the mattress in the spot he had just vacated and without a second thought, his foot came up to slam backward. The kick connected with something and Dean felt the hit roll all the way up the muscles of his leg. He turned to find a woman bent over his bed, gasping. When she looked up at him, her eyes were solid black. They settled first on Dean and a predatory smile stretched across her face but then she seemed to notice Castiel for the first time, held protectively in Dean's arms, and those inky orbs widened in obvious surprise.

The demon let out a horrifyingly hungry noise and licked her lips in a way that sent chills down Dean's spine. In the next instant she was lunging at them and he narrowly avoided the attack by tucking into a roll, coming up on the other side of the room. In his haste to get Castiel off the bed, Dean realized he had forgotten to grab the gun tucked safely under his pillow and he cussed himself for the rookie error. The demon hissed in an animalistic fury and as she leaped at them again, Dean knew he wasn't going to be able to fight off a demon while holding an infant. He dodged again, bringing his foot up to slam her back against the wall but he knew it wouldn't buy him much time. "SAM!" he screamed as he dove for the bed. He leapt up onto the mattress and fell to his knees at the top, freeing one hand to shove under the pillow in his search for a weapon. As his fingers curled over the cold grip of the .45, he felt the burn of nails raking down his back. The demoness wrenched him backward and struggled to wrap her arms around in her attempts to get to Castiel but Dean brought the gun to bear and ended the fight with one swift shot leveled under her chin. His door slammed open and Sam's imposing figure filled the doorframe, silhouetted from behind by the light Bobby had just flipped on in the hall.

"Dean?" Sam rushed forward and pulled his brother to his feet, his eyes flicking to the body of the dead woman sprawled across the sheets which were already staining red beneath her. "What happened?" he asked anxiously. His question was cut off however by the splintering of wood from downstairs and Dean could hear Bobby cussing in the hallway below.

"There's MORE of 'em!" the older hunter called up. Below them, the brothers could hear the front door threatening to give way and Dean raced from the room without another word.

"We can't fight these damn things with Cas like this," Dean shouted back to Sam as they raced down the steps. When they hit the bottom, they found Bobby already in the study ripping open drawers and withdrawing everything from silver daggers to vials of holy water. Dean tucked the gun in his belt and moved to hand the angel over to the older hunter to free himself up for fighting but as he looked down he felt his heart ache a little at the sight of Castiel's small form hunched against him, his wings tucked tightly against his body. The infant peered up at him with wide eyes and it struck Dean how scared the angel looked. This was emphasized as the front door took another blow and Castiel let out a small troubled sound as he buried his face in Dean's shirt. His little fingers fisted into the cloth beneath him and it was almost heartbreaking when the hunter forced himself to pull the infant from his chest and hand him over to Bobby. Castiel whimpered as the contact was broken but turned to cling just as tightly to the older man the next moment, easing some of Dean's guilt. Bobby cooed something reassuring to the infant that Dean didn't quite hear but his attention was pulled by the sound of the door finally giving way under the assault. Four people appeared in the doorway to the study, one of them looking more like a frumpy housewife than a ravening demon, but the looks on their faces said they had anything but good intentions. Another window somewhere in the back bedroom gave way and the hunters knew more demons would soon be joining the fray. The calm demeanor of the intruders shifted eerily as they one by one caught sight of the infant angel. Dean and Sam had seen more than their fair share of demons, ranging from the insufferably smug to the seductive, but the change that came over all of them in that moment was a whole new experience. Hunger was written over their faces with painful clarity and the lead demon couldn't take his eyes off the cowering child.

"Give me the angel," the man hissed, his eyes flicking black as he took a step forward, "You won't want to make this difficult."

Dean brought his gun to bear and Sam stepped to the side to block the demon's view, a long shining blade in his grip. "Oh we're GOOD at making life difficult, pal, and that's as close as you're getting. You want a baby? Go find yourself one of those ugly hell bitches and spawn one of your own," he growled. Beside him, Sam clenched his jaw and braced himself for the inevitable fight that he knew was about to kick off. It felt like every muscle in his body had coiled and he felt that deep seated hatred he'd felt in the car rise in his gut again. He had too little patience left when it came to dealing with demons and he felt that anger boil over into something uglier when the lead demon craned to look around him. Without another word, Sam lunged forward and plunged the dagger up to the hilt in the man's throat. Flares of red and gold light burst under the man's skin as the demon was burned away by the power of the blade. He ripped the knife back out and let the body fall, his gaze intent on the rest of the group, but the action hadn't had the intended effect. Instead of being intimidated and backing off, this seemed to have unleashed the horde and they all rushed forward at once. Dean fired off round after round while Sam slit open throats so wide that heads nearly toppled off but more demons continued to pour in. They came from Bobby's bedroom, from the front door, and even from upstairs where Dean could only assume they had climbed into the open window. Whoever had sent these demons had certainly spared no expense and Dean quickly found himself fighting for all he was worth. Warmth tricked down his arm from where one of the demons had clocked him with a piece of broken chair but he ignored the burn for now as he put down the attacker and turned to face another. He could hear Sam fighting across the room and knew that they were being pretty hard pressed. At the rate they were fighting, he feared they wouldn't be able to keep all of the demons back.

As the battle raged across the room, Bobby made himself as useful as he could considering his cargo. He slammed a silver dagger through the throat of a demon that had slipped past the furious shield the Winchesters were providing and gave another a face full of holywater. Castiel made a high unhappy sound and curled tighter against Bobby's chest, his wings shivering with obvious distress. The older hunter bent protectively over the infant in his arms, instinctively turning to put himself between Cas and the demons, torn between wanting to help the two young men he considered his own sons and the helpless child he was holding.

"Bobby! Get him to the bunker!" Dean screamed from across the room as he placed the barrel of the colt squarely in the chest of the creature latched onto his arm. A moment later, the demon's body convulsed as the gunshot rang out but Bobby didn't wait to see it hit the floor. He turned and bolted from the study and out into the hall. As he tore down the path toward the cellar door, he could hear the sound of boots skidding across the hardwood floor behind him as another demon pursued him from the room. It was closing fast and he only got two steps down before a hand fisted into the back of his shirt, yanking him hard enough to almost pull him from his feet. Bobby swayed precariously but used the motion to twist himself around, drawing the hidden revolver tucked into this waistband. He pressed the barrel of the gun between the demon's eyes and squeezed the trigger. Its head snapped back sickeningly and as he wheeled around and all but fell down the stairs in a dead run, he could hear the dull thud of the demon's body above him. He staggered a few steps once his boots hit the flat concrete floor but managed to stay upright, whipping around the banister to rush for the bunker door ahead.

His hands closed over the cold steel and he yanked it as hard as he could, cursing the fact that he couldn't use both hands if he wanted to keep Castiel close to him. The metal squealed in protest as a new set of feet thundered toward the open door to the cellar. Sweat stung Bobby's eyes as he finally wrenched the door open and raced over the threshold. He spun to find the figure of a man filling the doorway, dressed smartly in a gray business suit, with sweat beading his brow as he glared holes straight through the hunter. His chest heaved with each panted breath and his eyes were black as midnight, broken only by the pinpricks of white light reflected from the bulbs overhead as they sprang to life. Castiel fisted tighter into Bobby's shirt and turned his face to hide it from the demon, his wings curling tightly against his body as he tried to make himself as small as possible. Bobby calmly met the hungry glare of their tormentor. "C'mon in here, you sorry sunnuva bitch, and I'll send yer ass back to hell one piece at a time," he growled defiantly.