June 25, 1983

Dean squeezed his eyes tightly shut and prayed as hard as he could. "Gabriel? Will you help me, please?"

"Hey, kiddo!"

"Gabriel!" Dean shouted, running and throwing himself at the angel at full speed.

"Oof!" Gabriel ducked down to catch him and hefted him up. "Hey, Deanerino! Whoa, look how big you've gotten. It's only been a couple of months! Man, I forget how fast you little rug rats grow. So what's up? Your prayer sounded a little casual to be an emergency."

Dean frowned unhappily. "Mama doesn't believe me. She thinks I 'magined the angel at the pond. Can you make her believe me?"

Gabriel carried him over to his bed and sat on the edge, settling Dean onto his lap. "Why doesn't she believe you?"

"She says angels can't have wings."

Orange colored eyes studied Dean's face. "Well, we have them, but you know humans can't see them. What happened at the pond, exactly?"

"We were at the park, and I saw a little kid down by the water, so I runned down there, but I couldn't find him. Then I falled in the water and went under, but the boy brought me out, and he put his hand here," Dean patted his chest, "and made it better from when I breathed up water."

"You're saying this boy healed you?"

Dean nodded.

"He was an angel?"

"Yeah! He had a halo like yours, all shimmery around his head, and great big wings!"

Gabriel didn't say anything for a minute, but his mouth moved like he wanted to. Finally he said, "Describe him. What did he look like?"

"He was littler than me, and um, he had blue eyes and dark hair and black wings."

Gabriel's eyebrows shot up his forehead. "Black?"

Dean nodded again.

"Black wings. Actual wings with feathers," Gabriel repeated.

"Yeah! They were black and huge. When he stood up, his wings opened up this big!" He flung his arms out wide to show him, but then dropped both his arms and his volume. "It was kind of scary," he mumbled.

"Why?"

Dean thought about it. "His wings were so big. And he stared at me. He was all dirty, too, with messed up hair and leaves in his feathers."

Gabriel looked at him for a long time with a serious face he'd never seen on the angel before. It made Dean uncomfortable.

"Did he say anything to you?"

"No," Dean answered. "You believe me though, right? Will you tell Mama I didn't 'magine him?"

Gabriel pursed his lips and looked away, thinking. Eventually he said, "Here's the thing, kiddo. I believe you. I do. But I can't explain it. What you saw is impossible, so you can't blame your mother for thinking so."

"But I did see him!"

"I know – I hear you. But a child with a halo and wings? Do you understand why it's hard to imagine? Angels don't have physical wings. And demons, who do have wings, only come through the barrier to feed, plus they can't stay here in the world very long, not even full grown ones. Little demons can't come over at all. And little angels can't be off on their own like that. They have to stay with an adult angel until they're grown just like human kids."

Frustrated tears stung Dean's eyes. Why did everyone keep telling him reasons he couldn't have seen what he definitely did see?

"Hey hey, Dean-o, it's okay! Tell you what. I'll talk to your mom and make sure she knows I believe you. How's that?"

Dean scowled, but nodded.

"Whoever it was, I'm grateful he saved your life. But in the future, just remember to call for me, okay? Sometimes I'm close enough to feel when you're in trouble, but usually I'm not, so you have to pray. Deal?"

"'Kay," Dean agreed sullenly.

"Okay, short stuff." Gabriel set Dean onto his feet and stood up, ruffling Dean's hair. "I'm gonna go downstairs to have a word with your mom."

Dean ducked out from under the angel's hand.

Gabriel paused in the doorway on his way out, turning back to add, "Oh, and if you do see him again? Make sure to pray to me right away, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, Gabriel headed downstairs to find Mama. Dean crept out onto the landing at the top of the stairs. He could hear them talking, but even though he peered through the railing, he couldn't quite see them.

His mama's voice drifted up to him. "Well? What do you think?"

"I don't know, Mary. It's weird. I don't think he can be making it up – it's too specific. There's too many details."

"But he had to have dreamed it, though, right? He can't actually have seen a baby angel with wings. That's...that's crazy."

Dean's face got hot and a strange pressure squeezed his chest as he listened.

Gabriel answered softly, "It's likely it was just his mind helping him cope with such a big scare. But he really believes it. I think it's best if we just not bring it up. And if he talks about it, don't argue. Pretty soon he'll forget about it."

Tears spilled over Dean's cheeks. Gabriel had lied to him.

He ran back into his room and crawled under his bed so no one would see him cry.