Blessed is His Child (2/10)
Title: Blessed is His Child (2/10)
Parts: Previous Parts
Authors: ameonna1 and kijikun
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Castiel/Dean, eventually Gabriel/Sam
Betas: luc_darling and paper_legend
Word Count: 4,349
Warnings: Minor language, Baby fic, no m-preg
Spoilers: Up to 5x10
A/N: While not required to fully understand this fic, the prologue: Foundlings and Empty Nests should be read.
Summary: Gabriel's lesson might be over but Dean's and Castiel's is just beginning
“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family” - Anthony Brandt
Dean's rubbing a towel over his hair as he stares at his bloodshot eyes in the steamed-up mirror. Cas had said he had the baby situation under control and Sam was there, and well Dean hadn't showered since the demons. Plus he'd had blood in his hair, not to mention little bits of metal.
And dammit, he needed time to think.
He wipes his hand across the mirror and scowls at himself. Right, he can handle this. The baby is cute and fires up all their protective instincts so maybe she's a trick or a trap. Possibly this is the work of a real Trickster this time. Or a glamor put on a perfectly normal human baby by a Fertility Goddess. Because babies did not poof out of nowhere.
Dean curls his fingers around the cold porcelain of the sink. Something had spooked Cas though. Spooked him enough that he called Gabriel -- which Dean still thought was a really shitty idea. Then again, Gabriel had seemed a little -- spooked -- as well. Dean frowns, and resists banging his head against something.
Whatever the kid is, whatever the hell was going on in those angel brains, Dean will handle it. The chances of the baby still being there by the end of the week, given the Winchester track record for weird things hitting them then going, is next to zero. Dean might just put money on it.
He tosses the towel over the side of the tub and starts pulling on the clothing he brought in with him. Sure, he and Cas fuck (make love), and sure Sam's seen him in his birthday suit but he ain't putting on a show. And he and Cas haven't had a chance to be alone in almost a week. Cas gets handsy when Dean exposes a lot of skin around him, and Dean's not going to tempt fate.
Not that he thinks Cas will pay him much attention with the baby in the room. Dean pulls his t-shirt on over his head. He tried to tell Cas not to get too attached but it's not even been a full two days and Cas is obviously head over heels for the kid. The baby's going to disappear, hell, Gabriel's probably telling Pru to undo whatever she did right now, and Cas is going to be broken hearted.
Dean's not, though. It would have been easier if she'd disappeared after the first night like he thought, but he's not getting attached. Sure, she has Cas' (Jimmy's) eyes, and is soft and warm, and cuddly, and curls into his chest trustingly like Sam did all those years ago (though she's older than Sam was and Dean's quietly grateful for that). Sure, what he saw of her other -- angel -- form made something in his chest tighten. And the way Cas looks at her -- eyes soft, adoring, like he's holding the most unique thing ever known in all creation --
And sure, she might be Castiel's and his daughter --
He leans heavily back against the door and rubs a hand over his face. He can handle this.
Dean pushes himself away from the door and tugs it open. The TV is on, almost too bright in the dark room. It's some cartoon, Dean could probably name it if he tried, but the first thing -- the only thing he can think is that he doesn't see Castiel. He doesn't see the baby.
He must make a noise, Dean's not sure, but suddenly Sam is shushing him. "Hey, you'll wake her up. She just fell asleep."
Sam's lying on his on the bed, and the baby is on her stomach beside him. She's tucked up in a baby blanket and wearing a white onesie that Sam bought at a thrift store near the Walmart. They're at the last of their money now.
Dean wonders who changed her into it after she burnt up the first one when she shifted, because Cas had been holding a naked baby when Dean headed in to take his shower.
"Where's Cas?" Dean asks softly, walking across the room to Sam's bed. There's a half full bottle on the nightstand, next to a pair of cheap sunglasses. Dean notices some of the chrome splatter has been scraped off the fake wood.
The baby stirs a bit at the sound of Dean's voice, and Sam smiles. His eyes are slightly red rimmed. "Talking to Gabriel outside."
Dean frowns, but strokes his fingers tips over the baby's soft hair, "He say anything to you?"
Sam shakes his head, and carefully sits up and stretches, "No, well, nothing important anyways. He was wondering if she was drinking the bottle because we offered it to her or because she was hungry," Sam shrugs a little. "Nothing about the fertility goddess other than some grumbling about 'flighty pre-christian goddesses'."
Gabriel talked to Pru and the baby is still here. Dean swallows hard, "Did he seem upset? Worried?"
"Distracted," Sam tells him, wrinkling his brow. "I don't know, he's harder to read than Castiel."
Dean looks towards the motel room door and scowls. He thinks about going out there and demanding answers, but with his luck, Cas and Gabriel have gone to Mars or someplace to talk.
"Is there something wrong with the baby?" Sam asks carefully, and Sam was never good actor, the worry is plain in his voice. Dean suddenly remembers he wasn't there when Gabriel showed up.
"Other than existing?" Dean asks sharply. The baby makes a sound in her sleep, and Dean soothes her with a hand on her back. Sam gives him a bitchface. "Don't give me that look, you're the one that does all the extra credit research. Angel and human babies aren't allowed, Sammy."
Sam looks at Dean then at the baby. "Looks like this one is. Look, I know..."
Dean narrows his eyes at Sam. "You don't know shit."
"Okay, okay." Sam holds his hands up. "Fine, whatever."
The room is quiet for a long moment, only the sound of the low sound of the cartoon on the TV and their breathing. Dean leans down and gently picks up the baby. "I just don't want to talk about it," he tells Sam, retreating back to his bed with the baby. "Okay?"
Sam finally nods. "Okay. We won't talk about it. I'm going to take a shower."
Dean nods. "Yeah, okay." He sits down on his bed, watching Sam grab his stuff and head into the bathroom. The baby seems content against his chest, and Dean lies down so they're both more comfortable.
She stirs again and raises her head, blinking at him sleepily. Reaching out with a hand, she pats his face and smiles.
Dean rests a hand over her back. "Go back to sleep, baby girl," he whispers.
He closes his own eyes as she settles against his chest.
God, let him be able to handle this.
***
Castiel re-entered the motel room, with Gabriel behind him. "Sam..." the words die in his mouth as he sees that Sam is gone and it's Dean stretched out on the bed with the baby. For all Dean's protests, he seems very comfortable sleeping with the child so close.
He hopes fervently that Dean will be able bond with the baby. Dean will be a good father, Castiel knows this.
"We were gone awhile," Gabriel comments.
Castiel nods in a agreement and moves closer to the bed. Careful not to wake man or child, he places his hand over Dean's where it rests on the baby's back. They both seem so fragile and vulnerable like this, and Castiel is unsure of his ability to keep them both safe. Dean would never admit to needing protection, but Castiel protects him as best he's able... But he could not save Ellen and Jo, could not protect Dean from the pain of their deaths.
Gabriel had said that the baby could not have been created without their Father's knowledge, but Castiel worries -- fears that this is punishment. To be given this tiny life, whom Castiel finds he is incapable of not loving, only for it to be taken away.
He looks up from his contemplation of Dean and the baby to Gabriel. "Gabriel," he starts then pauses.
The other angel's eyes are on the bathroom door and the sound of the shower running beyond that. There is something to Gabriel's face that's almost unreadable, a longing.
"You covet him," Castiel says softly, measuring his words, worrying that Gabriel will not take kindly to them.
Gabriel turns his head away from the bathroom door quickly. "I'm just..." he shakes his head. "Don't worry about it, Cas. I'm not going to do anything to the boy. He's made his feeling about me pretty clear."
Castiel frowns, feeling as if he's missing information. He will not pry into this unless it's needed, though Samuel could do worse than have Gabriel's attentions on him. "They do not trust you because of your actions towards them before, but both he and Dean would appreciate your help."
"They'll be getting my help whether they like it or not," Gabriel says with a sense of finality, looking meaningfully at the baby then Castiel. "There are some things I need to check on. You know how to call me if you need me, little brother."
"I do. Be safe Gabriel," Castiel tells him. There was a time when "Go with our Father's love" would have been said, but now...
Gabriel nods. "Keep your family safe until I return."
Then with the sound of wings, Gabriel is gone.
Castiel turns back towards the bed; and Dean and the baby. He sits down on the other side of the bed, and reaches a hand out to trace Dean's features, relaxed as they are in sleep. The worry lines are smoothed away, and Castiel wishes they could always be so.
The baby stirs slightly, but doesn't wake.
Castiel finds he wishes she would and that she would shift.
He finds he wants to take his daughter flying.
***
The demon approaches in fear, head bowed. He's failed in his mission, and living to tell the tale might be worse than having died at the hands of the Winchesters and their pet angel. But he has news, and he might be rewarded, if not forgiven, for it.
"You dare come before me after failing so miserably? I ask you and the others to do one simple thing, to bring me one empty headed fertility goddess and you are all that's left. Did she giggle the others to death?" The room is filled with the sound of pacing footsteps.
"No, my lord," the demon stutters, "There were hunters. The Winchesters and that angel."
There is the sound of leather creaking, but the demon keeps his eyes on the ground. He doesn't trust, no demon fully does, but given the options it was better to serve him than --
"You know where the Winchesters are?" There's a curious note to his voice, still angry but the demon takes it as a good sign.
He nods. "Yes, my lord. I even know the motel they're at."
There's a soft chuckle. "Well, you've proven yourself useful after all."
The demon glances up just barely. "I know more than that. The fertility goddess, she rewarded them. The older Winchester and that angel."
The pacing stops. "Oh? Do go on. What did that little blasphemous creature reward them with?"
"A baby."
***
Sam is scraping spattered chrome off the headboard when Dean returns triumphant with three greasy bags. It had been an exciting morning, the baby had already shifted forms twice, once seemingly after getting excited about seeing a bird out the window.
"Lunch time ladies! And Cas." He swaggers into the room looking far too proud of himself, but of course he has a grinning one-year-old looking at him like he's her own personal God.
Cas looks up from the floor where he's been talking to the baby in a strange lyrical tongue. The baby had been cooing back happily, and occasionally answering back in the same language. Now she's making excited noises and wriggling to turn around as Dean dumps lunch on the table and scoops her up. She squeals, and he and Dean both briefly close their eyes but she just sighs and cuddles into Dean's shirt, thankfully not shifting this time. They should really watch how excited they make her.
Sam frowned as he shuffled through the bags, before looking at Dean, "Did you like steal someone's food, because this is a lot more than..."
Dean elbows him before he finishes, dropping his voice, "I may have had to make some eyes at the cashier to get the fries, don't tell Cas."
Sam rolls his eyes and starts handing out food.
“Okay.” Sam begins, around the food in his mouth, “Plans?”
They're all eating, or attempting to eat. Even the baby had munched down on a fry, and Cas had cautiously tried one.
“Plans for what?” Dean grouses as the baby decides his ear is the most fascinating thing in the world right now. He's mostly finished his burger.
“Well, you’re not just gonna throw her into one of those baby pouches and go after a werewolf. She’s too little to drag around; I remember how much it sucked,” Sam points out, gesturing with his soda.
“It’s not going to be for long… Cas can stay with her if a hunt comes up and…” Dean trails off as he pulls grabby hands from the collar of his shirt and sits up.
“And what?” Sam asks, a bit frustrated by Dean attitude, even if he understood it, “Dean, what happens if she doesn’t just magically go away in another week or something?”
“I thought we were most especially not gonna talk about this?” Dean shoots Sam his patented "conversation over" look, ignoring hands trying to yank at his mouth.
“Ever?” They’d nearly forgotten that Castiel was in the room, perched silently on the edge of the bed. There's something disappointed in his voice, and he looks at Dean with an intent that makes even Sam feel guilty.
The baby makes a noise when Cas speaks and twists in Dean’s grip until he lets her onto the comforter to squirm over to Castiel’s knees, where the angel smoothes his hand over her head before scooping her up onto his lap.
Dean rolls his eyes. “Not ever, ever. But it’s still too early to make any sort of permanent decisions.”
“This isn’t a permanent decision.” Sam pipes up and Dean glares.
“Okay, genius, what’s your master plan?”
Sam shrugs, it's not a master plan, but it's a plan. “We go to Bobby’s. It’s a stable place and we can lie low until this is all…”
“Oh no, no way am I going to tell Bobby I have a magical angel love baby,” Dean stands and starts pacing. Sam’s sure his brother hasn’t noticed that he’s doing it.
“Come on, it’s bad enough when we stay at a motel, she’s going to trash every other place we stay in. And someone or something is going to notice sooner or later," Sam insists. Plus Bobby dealt with them as kids. A half-angel baby might be a piece of cake for him after them. "Bobby might be able to help us keep her in human form and we’ll draw less attention…”
“So we take her to Bobby’s so she can trash his place?” Dean asks, rolling his eyes.
“We did.” Sam grins and Dean stops pacing for a moment to shake his head, but he was still almost smiling.
“We don’t need to drag him into this. We can wait.” Dean insists, steadily.
“Bobby!” the baby shouts as she tugs on Castiel’s coat until it’s lopsided.
“You are not helping, young lady,” Dean turns, but his voice has gone soft and he isn’t trying to not smile anymore.
The baby squeals and tugs on Cas again before going after his tie and jerking him forward. The look of surprise on Castiel’s face is priceless.
“Oh man,” Dean is laughing and stepping forward to try and pry her off while Sam rolls his eyes and covers his grin.
“I’m not sure where her interest in clothing stems from…” Castiel straightens as he attempts to reclaim his tie.
“She’s just bored,” Dean explains, “Damn, we should have gotten her some toys or something.”
Sam sighs; he thought about it but there hadn’t been enough money. He was hoping she’d be entertained by the TV or well… them but… Castiel makes a curious noise as they finally get the baby untangled from him and shifts her in his lap as he reaches into his pocket.
He pulls out a rather shiny figurine of a golden lion.
The baby makes a pleased noise and flings herself forward to claim it, waving it in the air with an excited squeal.
“I guess she likes it,” Dean says, “Cas, where’d you get that?”
“It was a gift to me from some time ago,” is all that Castiel says as the baby quite busily starts to chew on its head.
“Is it a clean gift?” Sam asks.
Castiel frowns and tilts his head, “I… would imagine so.”
Sam isn't quite sure if half angel babies can get sick but he's not entirely sure he wants to find out. Of course it's too late now...
"Is that thing really gold?" He asks.
"Yes," Castiel says, "It is quite solid."
He and Dean exchange a glance, only an angel would think that the equivalent of a bar of gold would be an acceptable plaything for a baby. Drool slides off the lion's back and drips off it's tail. Oh yeah, he's definitely going to have to figure out some way of washing that thing.
Hell, he doesn't even know how she's lifting it.
"Sam, stop being such a goddamn mother hen," Dean says, watching the baby. "We can handle whatever comes along."
***
It hasn't even been two hours and the windows are shivering slightly with the near unholy volume of crying that the baby is emitting. Sam has shoved himself in the corner of the room, near the door, with both hands over his ears and the only reason he hasn’t gone out the door yet is that he’d have to move them to work the knob. He's surprised they haven't gotten complaints yet; hell, he's surprised the cops haven't shown up.
Castiel is a wreck and he’s pretty sure Dean has already gone deaf since he was holding her when the whole mess started. They still haven’t figured out what’s going on; one minute she’s perfectly fine, holding her lion with Dean holding her while they watched the Mythbusters tie a rocket to a rubber cow and Cas was trying valiantly to figure out just what the show was about and then bam...
Baby goes off like an air raid siren.
She isn't hungry, can’t be wet, she has her toy, Dean was holding her, then they tried to give her to Cas but that didn’t work. Sam even tried holding her. Now Dean had her again and Sam is seriously waiting for his brother’s ears to start bleeding.
“Baby, baby, sweetie, please. Just calm down and we’ll fix it? Okay?” Dean is pleading as he rocks her and strokes her head, his face a grimace of pain the entire time.
Castiel looks to be about two seconds away from doing something angelically drastic when suddenly the crying stops. The silence is like a knife and Dean works his jaw, trying to pop his ears. Sam, though, is staring at a pair of terrified blue eyes that are staring at the closed door.
He jumps over the bed right when the door crushes in on itself and crumbles to the ground.
Zachariah stands in the doorway, smiling. He looks entirely too pleased with himself. Sam can make out flickers of shadows behind him, but whether they're demons or angels he can't tell. It takes a split second for Castiel to be in between the angel and Dean, who is holding the baby.
Shit.
“You know, you can hear that thing crying from two states away?” Zachariah asks in a disgusted tone. His smile sharpens, becomes something more.
It’s menacing and threatening enough that for a the space of a heartbeat Sam is almost worried, of course then his brother opens his mouth and "almost" ratchets up a notch.
Dean lifts his chin. “Did he just say something? 'Cause I can’t hear shit. Was he trying to be witty or scary? Come on, someone throw me a bone.” Dean is holding the baby to his chest, body angled protectively around her. She shimmers in his arms, and Sam really hopes she doesn't pick now to shift.
“You,” Zachariah hisses, pointing a finger at Dean, “You refuse your fate and now you bring this filth into existence?”
Sam sees his brother stiffen, and hug the whimpering baby closer. Oh yeah, Dean can hear just fine.
“I should have known it was you,” Zachariah turns to Castiel, “the fledgling and his dirty humans. Who else is capable of harboring such an abomination to our laws? An abomination that should not -- cannot exist.” He steps across the pieces of the broken door, further into the room, and there's something slimy about the way he moves. Like a corrupt TV lawyer. The shadows, thankfully, stay on the other side of the threshold.
That’s a threat now. Sam straightens, fists clenching, because this is his niece Zachariah is talking about. Nobody talks about Sam's family like that.
Dean turns, tucking the baby to his side. Sam can see the anger thrumming through Dean; he shakes with it.
Castiel practically growls, “You will not touch her…”
“You’re going to stop me? You’re practically powerless now and your humans are as well. The thing must die. It is our Father’s will,” Zachariah declares loudly, lifting his hands, a mockery of preacher giving a sermon.
“You know not of our Father’s will. You only know your own twisted desires,” Castiel spits and Sam can feel the tension rising in the room, prickling like static electricity.
The baby is crying again, clearly terrified. Tears stream down her face and her nose is in desperate need of wiping. Dean kisses her forehead, face twisted in anger, fear, and desperation, and for a brief moment Sam sees another Winchester holding another crying, frightened baby.
Zachariah's face twists with revulsion at the noise. “I know you’ve created this outrage! This sin of flesh and lust! Not only do you deny your fate and the entirety of the Host, now you mock it with this monstrosity?!”
Zachariah has moved into full-on ranting territory, which is probably why he doesn’t see Dean. Hell, it all happens so fast Sam almost doesn’t even see Dean. In two steps, he pushes past Castiel, presses the baby into his arms, calm as you please, and then punches Zachariah right in the face, hard enough to make the angel shut up. There's a cracking noise that Sam has the feeling was Dean's hand.
“See baby, told you we’d fix it,” Dean says, with a cocky, if forced and pained, grin.
Shit, oh shit, his brother had to end it like that. Okay, that was a pretty good way to end it. Sam wonders just how long the seconds are going to feel before they’re all smited out of existence, but hey, meat-suit apocalypse averted.
Zachariah is crazed, his hand sliding from his face where Dean hit him and he starts screaming, “You filthy…!”
“Go on. Finish that sentence," a familiar voice says from behind Zachariah.
Sam knows that voice. That's Gabriel's voice.
There aren’t shadows behind Zachariah now, just Gabriel. He isn't smiling, he doesn’t even have that smirk he always wears. This isn’t the Trickster at all. This is one hundred percent Herald Angel of Judgment and he’s pissed off as fuck. Sam doesn't believe the relief he feels makes him any less of a man, not in any way.
Zachariah isn’t looking so pleased anymore, he isn’t even looking angry. If Sam had to describe it in two words, he’d say scared shitless. Zachariah has whirled around to face Gabriel, clearly feeling safer to have his back to two human hunters and an underpowered angel than an Archangel of the Lord.
“You were gone,” the angel breathes like he’s just seen a ghost, “You left! You have no more right over…”
Gabriel's steps are slow and measured. His eyes are focused on Zachariah, pinning the other angel with his gaze. “Ah now, let’s not drag politics into this. You always were the slower study. I’ve been meaning to talk to you, Zachariah, about the treatment of my fledgling and now I find you here threatening my family?”
Sam doesn’t have a chance to process that, all he hears is Zachariah muttering, “You left…” and then Gabriel snaps his fingers.
They’re in the car. Dean’s in the driver's seat, keys in hand. Sam’s next to him with Ruby's knife and the Colt between them on the seat. Castiel is in the back, still holding the baby.
That is when all the windows explode out of the motel in a hail of glass and twisted aluminum. They all turn to stare as room 3G starts to suck in on itself, like someone has unleashed a black hole in it.
Sam swallows, “Now, can we go to Bobby’s?”
“Yeah,” Dean's voice is shaking, “Let’s go to Bobby’s.”
“Bobby,” the baby says wisely, waving her lion.
Castiel clutches her to his chest, sinking into the backseat as Dean starts the car and peels out of the parking lot.
Chapter Three: Houses of the Holy
Parts: Previous Parts
Authors: ameonna1 and kijikun
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Castiel/Dean, eventually Gabriel/Sam
Betas: luc_darling and paper_legend
Word Count: 4,349
Warnings: Minor language, Baby fic, no m-preg
Spoilers: Up to 5x10
A/N: While not required to fully understand this fic, the prologue: Foundlings and Empty Nests should be read.
Summary: Gabriel's lesson might be over but Dean's and Castiel's is just beginning
“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family” - Anthony Brandt
Dean's rubbing a towel over his hair as he stares at his bloodshot eyes in the steamed-up mirror. Cas had said he had the baby situation under control and Sam was there, and well Dean hadn't showered since the demons. Plus he'd had blood in his hair, not to mention little bits of metal.
And dammit, he needed time to think.
He wipes his hand across the mirror and scowls at himself. Right, he can handle this. The baby is cute and fires up all their protective instincts so maybe she's a trick or a trap. Possibly this is the work of a real Trickster this time. Or a glamor put on a perfectly normal human baby by a Fertility Goddess. Because babies did not poof out of nowhere.
Dean curls his fingers around the cold porcelain of the sink. Something had spooked Cas though. Spooked him enough that he called Gabriel -- which Dean still thought was a really shitty idea. Then again, Gabriel had seemed a little -- spooked -- as well. Dean frowns, and resists banging his head against something.
Whatever the kid is, whatever the hell was going on in those angel brains, Dean will handle it. The chances of the baby still being there by the end of the week, given the Winchester track record for weird things hitting them then going, is next to zero. Dean might just put money on it.
He tosses the towel over the side of the tub and starts pulling on the clothing he brought in with him. Sure, he and Cas fuck (make love), and sure Sam's seen him in his birthday suit but he ain't putting on a show. And he and Cas haven't had a chance to be alone in almost a week. Cas gets handsy when Dean exposes a lot of skin around him, and Dean's not going to tempt fate.
Not that he thinks Cas will pay him much attention with the baby in the room. Dean pulls his t-shirt on over his head. He tried to tell Cas not to get too attached but it's not even been a full two days and Cas is obviously head over heels for the kid. The baby's going to disappear, hell, Gabriel's probably telling Pru to undo whatever she did right now, and Cas is going to be broken hearted.
Dean's not, though. It would have been easier if she'd disappeared after the first night like he thought, but he's not getting attached. Sure, she has Cas' (Jimmy's) eyes, and is soft and warm, and cuddly, and curls into his chest trustingly like Sam did all those years ago (though she's older than Sam was and Dean's quietly grateful for that). Sure, what he saw of her other -- angel -- form made something in his chest tighten. And the way Cas looks at her -- eyes soft, adoring, like he's holding the most unique thing ever known in all creation --
And sure, she might be Castiel's and his daughter --
He leans heavily back against the door and rubs a hand over his face. He can handle this.
Dean pushes himself away from the door and tugs it open. The TV is on, almost too bright in the dark room. It's some cartoon, Dean could probably name it if he tried, but the first thing -- the only thing he can think is that he doesn't see Castiel. He doesn't see the baby.
He must make a noise, Dean's not sure, but suddenly Sam is shushing him. "Hey, you'll wake her up. She just fell asleep."
Sam's lying on his on the bed, and the baby is on her stomach beside him. She's tucked up in a baby blanket and wearing a white onesie that Sam bought at a thrift store near the Walmart. They're at the last of their money now.
Dean wonders who changed her into it after she burnt up the first one when she shifted, because Cas had been holding a naked baby when Dean headed in to take his shower.
"Where's Cas?" Dean asks softly, walking across the room to Sam's bed. There's a half full bottle on the nightstand, next to a pair of cheap sunglasses. Dean notices some of the chrome splatter has been scraped off the fake wood.
The baby stirs a bit at the sound of Dean's voice, and Sam smiles. His eyes are slightly red rimmed. "Talking to Gabriel outside."
Dean frowns, but strokes his fingers tips over the baby's soft hair, "He say anything to you?"
Sam shakes his head, and carefully sits up and stretches, "No, well, nothing important anyways. He was wondering if she was drinking the bottle because we offered it to her or because she was hungry," Sam shrugs a little. "Nothing about the fertility goddess other than some grumbling about 'flighty pre-christian goddesses'."
Gabriel talked to Pru and the baby is still here. Dean swallows hard, "Did he seem upset? Worried?"
"Distracted," Sam tells him, wrinkling his brow. "I don't know, he's harder to read than Castiel."
Dean looks towards the motel room door and scowls. He thinks about going out there and demanding answers, but with his luck, Cas and Gabriel have gone to Mars or someplace to talk.
"Is there something wrong with the baby?" Sam asks carefully, and Sam was never good actor, the worry is plain in his voice. Dean suddenly remembers he wasn't there when Gabriel showed up.
"Other than existing?" Dean asks sharply. The baby makes a sound in her sleep, and Dean soothes her with a hand on her back. Sam gives him a bitchface. "Don't give me that look, you're the one that does all the extra credit research. Angel and human babies aren't allowed, Sammy."
Sam looks at Dean then at the baby. "Looks like this one is. Look, I know..."
Dean narrows his eyes at Sam. "You don't know shit."
"Okay, okay." Sam holds his hands up. "Fine, whatever."
The room is quiet for a long moment, only the sound of the low sound of the cartoon on the TV and their breathing. Dean leans down and gently picks up the baby. "I just don't want to talk about it," he tells Sam, retreating back to his bed with the baby. "Okay?"
Sam finally nods. "Okay. We won't talk about it. I'm going to take a shower."
Dean nods. "Yeah, okay." He sits down on his bed, watching Sam grab his stuff and head into the bathroom. The baby seems content against his chest, and Dean lies down so they're both more comfortable.
She stirs again and raises her head, blinking at him sleepily. Reaching out with a hand, she pats his face and smiles.
Dean rests a hand over her back. "Go back to sleep, baby girl," he whispers.
He closes his own eyes as she settles against his chest.
God, let him be able to handle this.
***
Castiel re-entered the motel room, with Gabriel behind him. "Sam..." the words die in his mouth as he sees that Sam is gone and it's Dean stretched out on the bed with the baby. For all Dean's protests, he seems very comfortable sleeping with the child so close.
He hopes fervently that Dean will be able bond with the baby. Dean will be a good father, Castiel knows this.
"We were gone awhile," Gabriel comments.
Castiel nods in a agreement and moves closer to the bed. Careful not to wake man or child, he places his hand over Dean's where it rests on the baby's back. They both seem so fragile and vulnerable like this, and Castiel is unsure of his ability to keep them both safe. Dean would never admit to needing protection, but Castiel protects him as best he's able... But he could not save Ellen and Jo, could not protect Dean from the pain of their deaths.
Gabriel had said that the baby could not have been created without their Father's knowledge, but Castiel worries -- fears that this is punishment. To be given this tiny life, whom Castiel finds he is incapable of not loving, only for it to be taken away.
He looks up from his contemplation of Dean and the baby to Gabriel. "Gabriel," he starts then pauses.
The other angel's eyes are on the bathroom door and the sound of the shower running beyond that. There is something to Gabriel's face that's almost unreadable, a longing.
"You covet him," Castiel says softly, measuring his words, worrying that Gabriel will not take kindly to them.
Gabriel turns his head away from the bathroom door quickly. "I'm just..." he shakes his head. "Don't worry about it, Cas. I'm not going to do anything to the boy. He's made his feeling about me pretty clear."
Castiel frowns, feeling as if he's missing information. He will not pry into this unless it's needed, though Samuel could do worse than have Gabriel's attentions on him. "They do not trust you because of your actions towards them before, but both he and Dean would appreciate your help."
"They'll be getting my help whether they like it or not," Gabriel says with a sense of finality, looking meaningfully at the baby then Castiel. "There are some things I need to check on. You know how to call me if you need me, little brother."
"I do. Be safe Gabriel," Castiel tells him. There was a time when "Go with our Father's love" would have been said, but now...
Gabriel nods. "Keep your family safe until I return."
Then with the sound of wings, Gabriel is gone.
Castiel turns back towards the bed; and Dean and the baby. He sits down on the other side of the bed, and reaches a hand out to trace Dean's features, relaxed as they are in sleep. The worry lines are smoothed away, and Castiel wishes they could always be so.
The baby stirs slightly, but doesn't wake.
Castiel finds he wishes she would and that she would shift.
He finds he wants to take his daughter flying.
***
The demon approaches in fear, head bowed. He's failed in his mission, and living to tell the tale might be worse than having died at the hands of the Winchesters and their pet angel. But he has news, and he might be rewarded, if not forgiven, for it.
"You dare come before me after failing so miserably? I ask you and the others to do one simple thing, to bring me one empty headed fertility goddess and you are all that's left. Did she giggle the others to death?" The room is filled with the sound of pacing footsteps.
"No, my lord," the demon stutters, "There were hunters. The Winchesters and that angel."
There is the sound of leather creaking, but the demon keeps his eyes on the ground. He doesn't trust, no demon fully does, but given the options it was better to serve him than --
"You know where the Winchesters are?" There's a curious note to his voice, still angry but the demon takes it as a good sign.
He nods. "Yes, my lord. I even know the motel they're at."
There's a soft chuckle. "Well, you've proven yourself useful after all."
The demon glances up just barely. "I know more than that. The fertility goddess, she rewarded them. The older Winchester and that angel."
The pacing stops. "Oh? Do go on. What did that little blasphemous creature reward them with?"
"A baby."
***
Sam is scraping spattered chrome off the headboard when Dean returns triumphant with three greasy bags. It had been an exciting morning, the baby had already shifted forms twice, once seemingly after getting excited about seeing a bird out the window.
"Lunch time ladies! And Cas." He swaggers into the room looking far too proud of himself, but of course he has a grinning one-year-old looking at him like he's her own personal God.
Cas looks up from the floor where he's been talking to the baby in a strange lyrical tongue. The baby had been cooing back happily, and occasionally answering back in the same language. Now she's making excited noises and wriggling to turn around as Dean dumps lunch on the table and scoops her up. She squeals, and he and Dean both briefly close their eyes but she just sighs and cuddles into Dean's shirt, thankfully not shifting this time. They should really watch how excited they make her.
Sam frowned as he shuffled through the bags, before looking at Dean, "Did you like steal someone's food, because this is a lot more than..."
Dean elbows him before he finishes, dropping his voice, "I may have had to make some eyes at the cashier to get the fries, don't tell Cas."
Sam rolls his eyes and starts handing out food.
“Okay.” Sam begins, around the food in his mouth, “Plans?”
They're all eating, or attempting to eat. Even the baby had munched down on a fry, and Cas had cautiously tried one.
“Plans for what?” Dean grouses as the baby decides his ear is the most fascinating thing in the world right now. He's mostly finished his burger.
“Well, you’re not just gonna throw her into one of those baby pouches and go after a werewolf. She’s too little to drag around; I remember how much it sucked,” Sam points out, gesturing with his soda.
“It’s not going to be for long… Cas can stay with her if a hunt comes up and…” Dean trails off as he pulls grabby hands from the collar of his shirt and sits up.
“And what?” Sam asks, a bit frustrated by Dean attitude, even if he understood it, “Dean, what happens if she doesn’t just magically go away in another week or something?”
“I thought we were most especially not gonna talk about this?” Dean shoots Sam his patented "conversation over" look, ignoring hands trying to yank at his mouth.
“Ever?” They’d nearly forgotten that Castiel was in the room, perched silently on the edge of the bed. There's something disappointed in his voice, and he looks at Dean with an intent that makes even Sam feel guilty.
The baby makes a noise when Cas speaks and twists in Dean’s grip until he lets her onto the comforter to squirm over to Castiel’s knees, where the angel smoothes his hand over her head before scooping her up onto his lap.
Dean rolls his eyes. “Not ever, ever. But it’s still too early to make any sort of permanent decisions.”
“This isn’t a permanent decision.” Sam pipes up and Dean glares.
“Okay, genius, what’s your master plan?”
Sam shrugs, it's not a master plan, but it's a plan. “We go to Bobby’s. It’s a stable place and we can lie low until this is all…”
“Oh no, no way am I going to tell Bobby I have a magical angel love baby,” Dean stands and starts pacing. Sam’s sure his brother hasn’t noticed that he’s doing it.
“Come on, it’s bad enough when we stay at a motel, she’s going to trash every other place we stay in. And someone or something is going to notice sooner or later," Sam insists. Plus Bobby dealt with them as kids. A half-angel baby might be a piece of cake for him after them. "Bobby might be able to help us keep her in human form and we’ll draw less attention…”
“So we take her to Bobby’s so she can trash his place?” Dean asks, rolling his eyes.
“We did.” Sam grins and Dean stops pacing for a moment to shake his head, but he was still almost smiling.
“We don’t need to drag him into this. We can wait.” Dean insists, steadily.
“Bobby!” the baby shouts as she tugs on Castiel’s coat until it’s lopsided.
“You are not helping, young lady,” Dean turns, but his voice has gone soft and he isn’t trying to not smile anymore.
The baby squeals and tugs on Cas again before going after his tie and jerking him forward. The look of surprise on Castiel’s face is priceless.
“Oh man,” Dean is laughing and stepping forward to try and pry her off while Sam rolls his eyes and covers his grin.
“I’m not sure where her interest in clothing stems from…” Castiel straightens as he attempts to reclaim his tie.
“She’s just bored,” Dean explains, “Damn, we should have gotten her some toys or something.”
Sam sighs; he thought about it but there hadn’t been enough money. He was hoping she’d be entertained by the TV or well… them but… Castiel makes a curious noise as they finally get the baby untangled from him and shifts her in his lap as he reaches into his pocket.
He pulls out a rather shiny figurine of a golden lion.
The baby makes a pleased noise and flings herself forward to claim it, waving it in the air with an excited squeal.
“I guess she likes it,” Dean says, “Cas, where’d you get that?”
“It was a gift to me from some time ago,” is all that Castiel says as the baby quite busily starts to chew on its head.
“Is it a clean gift?” Sam asks.
Castiel frowns and tilts his head, “I… would imagine so.”
Sam isn't quite sure if half angel babies can get sick but he's not entirely sure he wants to find out. Of course it's too late now...
"Is that thing really gold?" He asks.
"Yes," Castiel says, "It is quite solid."
He and Dean exchange a glance, only an angel would think that the equivalent of a bar of gold would be an acceptable plaything for a baby. Drool slides off the lion's back and drips off it's tail. Oh yeah, he's definitely going to have to figure out some way of washing that thing.
Hell, he doesn't even know how she's lifting it.
"Sam, stop being such a goddamn mother hen," Dean says, watching the baby. "We can handle whatever comes along."
***
It hasn't even been two hours and the windows are shivering slightly with the near unholy volume of crying that the baby is emitting. Sam has shoved himself in the corner of the room, near the door, with both hands over his ears and the only reason he hasn’t gone out the door yet is that he’d have to move them to work the knob. He's surprised they haven't gotten complaints yet; hell, he's surprised the cops haven't shown up.
Castiel is a wreck and he’s pretty sure Dean has already gone deaf since he was holding her when the whole mess started. They still haven’t figured out what’s going on; one minute she’s perfectly fine, holding her lion with Dean holding her while they watched the Mythbusters tie a rocket to a rubber cow and Cas was trying valiantly to figure out just what the show was about and then bam...
Baby goes off like an air raid siren.
She isn't hungry, can’t be wet, she has her toy, Dean was holding her, then they tried to give her to Cas but that didn’t work. Sam even tried holding her. Now Dean had her again and Sam is seriously waiting for his brother’s ears to start bleeding.
“Baby, baby, sweetie, please. Just calm down and we’ll fix it? Okay?” Dean is pleading as he rocks her and strokes her head, his face a grimace of pain the entire time.
Castiel looks to be about two seconds away from doing something angelically drastic when suddenly the crying stops. The silence is like a knife and Dean works his jaw, trying to pop his ears. Sam, though, is staring at a pair of terrified blue eyes that are staring at the closed door.
He jumps over the bed right when the door crushes in on itself and crumbles to the ground.
Zachariah stands in the doorway, smiling. He looks entirely too pleased with himself. Sam can make out flickers of shadows behind him, but whether they're demons or angels he can't tell. It takes a split second for Castiel to be in between the angel and Dean, who is holding the baby.
Shit.
“You know, you can hear that thing crying from two states away?” Zachariah asks in a disgusted tone. His smile sharpens, becomes something more.
It’s menacing and threatening enough that for a the space of a heartbeat Sam is almost worried, of course then his brother opens his mouth and "almost" ratchets up a notch.
Dean lifts his chin. “Did he just say something? 'Cause I can’t hear shit. Was he trying to be witty or scary? Come on, someone throw me a bone.” Dean is holding the baby to his chest, body angled protectively around her. She shimmers in his arms, and Sam really hopes she doesn't pick now to shift.
“You,” Zachariah hisses, pointing a finger at Dean, “You refuse your fate and now you bring this filth into existence?”
Sam sees his brother stiffen, and hug the whimpering baby closer. Oh yeah, Dean can hear just fine.
“I should have known it was you,” Zachariah turns to Castiel, “the fledgling and his dirty humans. Who else is capable of harboring such an abomination to our laws? An abomination that should not -- cannot exist.” He steps across the pieces of the broken door, further into the room, and there's something slimy about the way he moves. Like a corrupt TV lawyer. The shadows, thankfully, stay on the other side of the threshold.
That’s a threat now. Sam straightens, fists clenching, because this is his niece Zachariah is talking about. Nobody talks about Sam's family like that.
Dean turns, tucking the baby to his side. Sam can see the anger thrumming through Dean; he shakes with it.
Castiel practically growls, “You will not touch her…”
“You’re going to stop me? You’re practically powerless now and your humans are as well. The thing must die. It is our Father’s will,” Zachariah declares loudly, lifting his hands, a mockery of preacher giving a sermon.
“You know not of our Father’s will. You only know your own twisted desires,” Castiel spits and Sam can feel the tension rising in the room, prickling like static electricity.
The baby is crying again, clearly terrified. Tears stream down her face and her nose is in desperate need of wiping. Dean kisses her forehead, face twisted in anger, fear, and desperation, and for a brief moment Sam sees another Winchester holding another crying, frightened baby.
Zachariah's face twists with revulsion at the noise. “I know you’ve created this outrage! This sin of flesh and lust! Not only do you deny your fate and the entirety of the Host, now you mock it with this monstrosity?!”
Zachariah has moved into full-on ranting territory, which is probably why he doesn’t see Dean. Hell, it all happens so fast Sam almost doesn’t even see Dean. In two steps, he pushes past Castiel, presses the baby into his arms, calm as you please, and then punches Zachariah right in the face, hard enough to make the angel shut up. There's a cracking noise that Sam has the feeling was Dean's hand.
“See baby, told you we’d fix it,” Dean says, with a cocky, if forced and pained, grin.
Shit, oh shit, his brother had to end it like that. Okay, that was a pretty good way to end it. Sam wonders just how long the seconds are going to feel before they’re all smited out of existence, but hey, meat-suit apocalypse averted.
Zachariah is crazed, his hand sliding from his face where Dean hit him and he starts screaming, “You filthy…!”
“Go on. Finish that sentence," a familiar voice says from behind Zachariah.
Sam knows that voice. That's Gabriel's voice.
There aren’t shadows behind Zachariah now, just Gabriel. He isn't smiling, he doesn’t even have that smirk he always wears. This isn’t the Trickster at all. This is one hundred percent Herald Angel of Judgment and he’s pissed off as fuck. Sam doesn't believe the relief he feels makes him any less of a man, not in any way.
Zachariah isn’t looking so pleased anymore, he isn’t even looking angry. If Sam had to describe it in two words, he’d say scared shitless. Zachariah has whirled around to face Gabriel, clearly feeling safer to have his back to two human hunters and an underpowered angel than an Archangel of the Lord.
“You were gone,” the angel breathes like he’s just seen a ghost, “You left! You have no more right over…”
Gabriel's steps are slow and measured. His eyes are focused on Zachariah, pinning the other angel with his gaze. “Ah now, let’s not drag politics into this. You always were the slower study. I’ve been meaning to talk to you, Zachariah, about the treatment of my fledgling and now I find you here threatening my family?”
Sam doesn’t have a chance to process that, all he hears is Zachariah muttering, “You left…” and then Gabriel snaps his fingers.
They’re in the car. Dean’s in the driver's seat, keys in hand. Sam’s next to him with Ruby's knife and the Colt between them on the seat. Castiel is in the back, still holding the baby.
That is when all the windows explode out of the motel in a hail of glass and twisted aluminum. They all turn to stare as room 3G starts to suck in on itself, like someone has unleashed a black hole in it.
Sam swallows, “Now, can we go to Bobby’s?”
“Yeah,” Dean's voice is shaking, “Let’s go to Bobby’s.”
“Bobby,” the baby says wisely, waving her lion.
Castiel clutches her to his chest, sinking into the backseat as Dean starts the car and peels out of the parking lot.
Chapter Three: Houses of the Holy