Author's note: Thanks a lot to Ghastly Eternity for beta-reading and to Maknatuna, Mello18, Maddy Love Castiel, RejectedShyRebel18, keacdragon and Tendencia for last chapter's reviews.

Edit: Now betaed by the wonderful Ghastly Eternity!

14

It had started with some coughs and sneezing. Both Castiel and Gabriel had noticed, but they hadn't been too worried. On the second day Sam barely managed to get up in the evening, though. His nose was running and he swayed when he tried to walk. Not that he tried that too much. He had completely lost his appetite, too.

It didn't need mentioning that the golden hamster was out of his mind with worries for his partner at that point. He had tried grabbing pieces of fruit or vegetables and bringing them over to where Sam was holed up in the hamster-house, but the taller hamster had only smiled at him tiredly and had declined.

"You feel cold," Gabriel mumbled very worriedly as he tried to wrap himself around his partner to warm him up as much as possible.

"Gabe, you'll only get yourself infected!" Sam protested weakly and tried to push the smaller hamster off of him, but he couldn't quite find the strength to do it.

They continued to just lie there and snuggle in silence for a little while. The taller hamster was too tired to do anything else and his smaller friend couldn't quite bring himself to voice any of the worries that went through his head.

When Castiel came into the room to check on his pets a little later Gabriel ran to the door of their cage and squeaked urgently while running in little circles. He somehow had to make sure that the kid understood that he wanted something from him.

Castiel looked at the freaked out hamster and cocked his head slightly. He didn't quite get it for a second before his eyes started to scan the cage for Sam. The little boy quickly opened the door and reached into the cage to get his second hamster out of the hamster house. The animal didn't move all too much, but Castiel was a little relieved that he moved at all.

"Mom!" the preschooler yelled at the top of his lungs, "Mom!"

He might have panicked a little, but Gabriel was still squeaking and jumping up and down nervously and Sam felt a little cold to the touch and sneezed.

"Mommy, we need to get Sam to the doctor!" Castiel exclaimed urgently when his mother came into the room. He showed the ill hamster to her immediately, tears already threatening to fall.

The golden hamster didn't like being left behind and he didn't like having Sam taken away, but at the same time he trusted that their caretaker would never do anything that was bad for them. He was still freaking out, not knowing what was going to happen, though.

"What if he dies?" Castiel managed between sobs just as they were walking from the room and hopefully toward that doctor the boy had mentioned before.

"Oh, sweetie, we'll get you a new one if that happens," his mother promised, but it did nothing to reassure either her son or Gabriel.

"I want my Sammy back!" the golden hamster squeaked at the top of his little lungs, "Give him back! Give him back now!"

With an attitude like that he didn't want the woman to be anywhere near his partner. He wanted to get the taller hamster back and he'd somehow make it all better with lots of love and cuddles and everything would be alright!

Gabriel just kept running circles in their cage as he panicked more and more until he collapsed into a shuddering, sobbing heap of a distraught hamster. The golden hamster rocked forward and backward for some time until he managed to calm down ever so slightly. Panicking didn't help anyone! He had to do something productive!

The only idea that came to his mind was one he knew Sam wouldn't like, but the taller hamster wasn't there to reason with him and to stop him, so Gabriel quickly ran to their food bowl and started to collect the things he'd need.

Castiel was still worried and not completely convinced that the adults weren't just lying to him, because they thought he was only a child, but he had been given some instructions by the vet and that made him feel a little better.

The preschooler approached the hamster cage and realized that Gabriel was again – hopefully not still – freaking out, so he quickly opened the door and put Sam back to his fellow hamster. Only then something caught his eye and his forehead scrunched up in confusion.

"Mom?" Castiel called, "There's something in the cage."

The little boy's mother showed up quickly, but she did look just a little annoyed by the prospect that something new was up with the hamsters, already. She had always thought that they weren't the best choice of pets for a preschooler, but now that they were there, she couldn't do anything about it.

"Give Sammy back," Castiel's mother read out loud startled before she realized that it would have been better not to let her son know that there was an actual message on the bottom of the damn hamster cage.

The little human's eye grew comically wide when his mother told him what the words spelled out in food were. "Gabriel wrote that for me," he whispered in awe even as his mother was already ushering him out of the room saying something about hot chocolate.

"Gabe?" Sam asked his partner a little groggily, "Did you seriously write a message for Cas?"

"I was so worried," the golden hamster sniffed and supported his partner as they went over to the hamster-house to get some rest, "I didn't want a new hamster, only you!"

Once they were both settled, the taller hamster realized that his mate couldn't quite stop touching him and changing his position every other second.

"'S okay, I promise. Just a cold, the vet said and we're getting vitamins and stuff to make it go away quickly," Sam summarized what had been said at the vet's office, "I already got an injection."

"In the butt?" Gabriel couldn't help asking as he finally relaxed against his partner.

The taller hamster nodded slightly and stroked the smaller hamster's fur.

"Want me to kiss it better?" the golden hamster wanted to know with a slight grin.

"Let's keep that for when I'm healthy again."