Fic: Angel Baby, 2/2

[h4ppy_fun_b4ll]

Title: Angel Baby
Author: h4ppy_fun_b4ll
Artist: votaku
Rating: PG-13
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Dean & Gabriel, Castiel, Crowley, Balthazar, Rachel
Warning(s): A bit of language, a bit of violence, to people who at that point inhabit the body of a child.
Spoiler(s): Up to s6, then AU after that, with a few plotty mentions up to around 06x03.
Word Count: 13,364
Summary: Using grace left in the DVD given to the brothers, Gabriel manages to come back from the dead. Unfortunately there was only enough grace to scrape together a child's body. Dean, on his own after Sam's leap into the Cage, finds himself with a tiny ex-archangel. Gabriel wants Dean to help him get to the other angels, to get enough grace to change back to his normal form, but Cas and the others haven't answered Dean for months. In the meantime, Dean's stuck taking care of the kid, from trips to Wal-Mart, to diners, to a King of Hell or two. It seems like it should be enough to make him lose his mind. So why does he find himself enjoying it so much?
Beta: Michelle
Part 1 here



Things quieted down for the night after that. The pair of them went out for ice cream as promised, then dinner. Gabe snarked about
Dean being a horrible parent, letting a kid eat dessert first. Dean countered that some rules needed to be bent in order to cheer up moody kids. The tiny archangel managed to kick him in the thigh from his booster seat.

Dinner was uneventful. No one gave Dean any dirty looks for toting around a half- dressed child, and Gabriel only tried to embarrass him with 'innocent' questions regarding the waitress' ass once. All in all, Dean considered it a victory. And victories called for pie, even if they'd had ice cream already.

A LITTLE piece for Gabe though. Last thing he needed was a sugared- up trickster kid later in the night.

As it turned out, he didn't really have to worry. He set Gabriel up in the hotel's bed, flicking on the TV to whatever crappy movie was playing. He may have seen it a thousand times, but he didn't know if Gabriel had. And really, it was just for background noise anyway.

He took the chair, the sort- of plush office chair with badly- patterned upholstery that came standard in every hotel room he'd ever stayed in. He slumped into it with an extra blanket from the main office.

Gabriel stared at him from the bed, his tiny form barely taking up any of the double bed.

And stared.

And then, for good measure, stared some more.

Finally, Dean caved. The kid reminded him too much of Cas like that, and it made him antsy. "What?"

"Why are you sleepin' in the chair? There's plenty of room up here, and contrary to what you hear about kids, I'm not gonna bite you."

Dean shuffled the blankets around. "Cuz you're the guest. Also cuz I don't want your tiny ass rolling out of this thing and waking me up in the middle of the night crying."

Gabriel shot him the three year-old equivalent of the 'you're a fucking asshole' face.

Dean just grinned and flicked off the lamp, plunging the room into semi- darkness. They sat in silence, the TV screen the only light and sound in the room. Within half an hour, Gabriel had dropped off, his tiny self exhausted from the day's stress and events.

oOoOo

Dean didn't know when he'd fallen asleep, but when he was roused from it, the room was still mostly dark. There wasn't any light from outside, only the TV, now playing some stupid infomercial, so he figured it hadn't been that long yet. He blinked his eyes open halfway as something pulled at his blanket. A small, warm weight settled down against his chest and he glanced down to see
Gabriel curling up against him. He let his eyes close again with a smile. Warmth spread through him that had nothing to do with body heat and everything to do with emotions he wouldn't dare admit to feeling out loud. He shifted, wrapping his arms around the kid in a comforting manner, like he used to do when Sammy had nightmares. Gabriel didn't say anything, just curled into it with a soft sniffle and drifted back to sleep. Dean followed shortly after.

When he woke again, the sun was shining through the closed blinds. He sat up, stretching the cricks out of his shoulders and back from sleeping cramped in a chair all night. After a few joints popped with some audible cracks, Dean looked around. He was alone, not only in the chair, but in the room.

He got up, shuffling to the room's tiny bathroom. The door was open a crack, but he knocked anyway. After getting no answer, he pushed the door open, starting to worry. What if Gabe had tried to take a bath and had drowned?

The bathroom was empty, which meant Gabe hadn't drowned. That was the good news, but now there was a more pressing question; where the hell was Gabriel if he wasn't in the room?

He was about to go down to the front office to check for him-- maybe he'd woken up early and had wandered down there for free pastries?-- when he found the note. He could barely read it; obviously Gabe had some trouble getting his small fingers to cooperate with the hotel's crappy stationary.

'Dean-

Sorry I ran off. But I guess you'd expect that from me by now. Anyway, since we can't get hold of the angels, I'm talking to the next best thing. Crowley says he can help me, and I've dealt with him enough times to know he's at least willing to try. Hopefully next time I see you, I'll look like myself again. Thanks for helping me out yesterday. I know I was a lot of trouble for you, and you didn't feed me to any dingos or anything, so hey, good for you!

But to be completely serious, which I never am, so if anyone asked, I never wrote this. It was fun, if not a little awkward. And without your help, I probably would've wound up a lot worse off. So thanks. When I get back to Heaven, I'll make sure to check on Cassie and see what's going on for you.

-Gabriel'

Dean's hand closed around the paper, crumpling it. He fumbled around the room, grabbing for his duffle bag. He had a spell to perform, and hopefully he hadn't used up all the ingredients from the last time they'd tried it.

He couldn't tell exactly how long Gabriel had been gone, but based on the time they'd gone to sleep, it couldn't have been more than six or seven hours. Less really, because Gabriel had climbed into the chair with him at some point. But that was enough time for him to get in trouble. Especially since it was Gabriel; ten seconds was enough for him to get in trouble, and you counted yourself lucky he behaved for the first nine.

The locator spell was hasty, thrown together as soon as Dean could find all the necessary components. At least Ruby had been useful for a few things, even if she was an enabling, brother- stealing demonic bitch. There was no way to track Crowley, the demon covered his tracks too well. But Gabriel, now without his grace and fully human, was an easier matter entirely. The spell worked well enough, charring the map except for the small area where he'd find the kid.

His location in hand-- some cannery in southern Ohio, after a quick check on the local map website-- he checked out, grabbed some of those free pastries at the office, and left without another thought. He drove there in one straight shot, car speeding along as fast as he dared in early morning traffic.

He reached the cannery by mid- afternoon, parking a few blocks away and trekking the rest of the way with the usual weaponry in hand.

There wasn't much to the place; it looked like your standard variety abandoned warehouse. Dark, damp, rusted and shady. Dean had the fleeting thought that if all the seedy stuff took place in the delapidated buildings, why didn't they just tear them all down?
He figured at least this way, the illegal activity was here, and not somewhere they'd have to work actively to keep safe. Then he smashed the lock to one of the loading bay doors and snuck inside.

He looked around, wishing he'd gotten some sort of layout for the place when he'd looked it up. Sam would have thought of that. Sammy had always thought of the little details, the tiny extras that would make things just a bit easier.

But Sam wasn't here, and Gabriel needed his help. So he started up the stairs toward where the offices would inevitably be in the building. He figured Crowley would want to hole up somewhere a bit nicer than the rusted machinery on the ground floor. There were a decided lack of stunt demons in the place. Dean had expected Crowley to come standard with a bit of hired muscle to sway intruders. The whole thing seemed fishy, but the last time they'd seen him, most demons didn't really seem to like him too well, so maybe he was still the demon outcast from the club.

Once he made it upstairs, there was no doubt as to where the crossroads demon and the ex- archangel were. From the office furthest down the long hallway, Dean could hear Crowley yelling. Crowley, for all his being a creature from Hell and all, didn't actually yell very much. Only a few times that he remembered, anyway. Leave it to Gabriel to piss off the smoothest of demons.

He crept closer, sliding the Colt out from the waist of his jeans. Pausing at the door, Dean peered through the open crack, hoping to see if Gabe was alright.

The boy was perched on the office's desk, tiny legs kicking back and forth. Crowley glared at the tiny angel, leaning back in the executive chair with his arms crossed. Gabriel only grinned back.

"C'mon, Crowles, lighten up! You're far too serious."

"And you're far too annoying."

"Don't be like that! You help me out and I make things easier for you when I get back to the castles in the sky. It's win- win, so I don't see why you're so grumpy."

"Possibly because every angel on the planet and above would like to see me dead, and here you are waltzing in and asking for a direct line to them!" He propped his feet up on the desk. "I'm offering to help you however I can, what more do you want from me?"

Gabriel beamed, looking like the child he was supposed to be. "My last guardian got me ice cream."

Dean snickered quietly at that. But then he remembered why he was here. His hand was on the door, gun raised and ready.
Crowley wouldn't go down easy, but if he could take him down long enough to get Gabe out of there, he'd worry about pissed off crossroads kings later.

Inside, the conversation moved on, oblivious to Dean standing at the door.

"We're not going for bloody ice cream, Gabriel!" A sigh. "I don't know why I put up with you."

"Because I'm the only angel that deals with you without tryin' to singe your ass with holy fire whenever the mood strikes me."

"You've got quite a mouth on you got such a tiny body."

"So they tell me. Now are we doin' this or not? Cuz I've spent the past few days with the intense urge to curl up with a blankie and have Dean tell me stories while I suck my thumb. I'm worried that this is startin' to do serious permanent damage."

Dean blinked, hesitating. Gabriel hadn't mentioned that. Though that would explain the kid cuddling up to him the previous night. And the frustrated tears in the store.

Gabriel's child mind and ex- archangel mind were fighting for control. Or blending, or something. Either way, if was freaking him out, and Dean hadn't done anything for him but treat him like a kid. Boy, didn't that just make him feel like an ass.

Crowley studied the boy curiously, as if this were some fascinating experiment he was considering the results of. "I've got an idea," he said finally, lips turning up into a slight grin that did nothing to ease Dean's worry.

Gabriel looked up, honey eyes alight with hope. "Yeah, what is it?"

Crowley nodded. Dean could sense a sort of change in the air, something that made his skin prickle and hair stand on end. He didn't like it one bit.

"How about you stay with me, and I call the angels. Then when they realize I've got one of their two remaining archangels under my thumb, I give my demands."

Gabe frowned. "That's it? That's the plan? Well, I guess it could be done. Then once you've got what you want, I'll go back to the others and--"

"That's... not really where this plan is going, angel."

Gabriel had time to scrunch his face up in confusion before Crowley made a grab for him, snatching the boy up by the shirt collar.
The demon lifted him off the desk, holding him at arm's length to avoid the thrashing of tiny limbs as Gabriel fought him.

Dean slammed the door open, aiming the Colt directly at Crowley. "Drop the kid!"

Gabriel paused in his struggles to stare in surprise. "Dean?"

Crowley, however, did not look so shocked. Instead he just sighed, flicking out his free hand. Immediately the Colt was knocked from his grip, scattering across the floor. Another wave of the demon's hand sent the hunter back through the doorway. Then the door slammed closed.

Dean was on it in an instant, crashing his weight against the door, but it was stuck tight.

"Got myself a bit of an upgrade since we saw each other last, Winchester," Crowley called from the office. "That's what happens when you take Lucifer out of the equation."

Gabriel cursed and snarled in the background, sounding like he was putting up a decent fight for a three year- old, ex- archangel or not. There was a startled yelp, then the boy fell silent.

"Did you just hit him?!" Dean yelled incredulously, his shoulder colliding with the door again. It gave, just a bit. "Dude, he's a little kid right now!"

"I'm a demon!" Crowley snapped by way of reply.

One last shove had the door crashing open again, and Dean was back in the office. Crowley had Gabriel by the throat, holding the boy by face level. Gabe was struggling to breathe, feet kicking, but the fight was fading from him fast. There was a red mark on his cheek already threatening to bruise. Dean grabbed the closest object he could find, a paperweight off the filing cabinet by the door, and hurled it at the demon. It beamed him on the head and bounced off, thudding to the floor.

Crowley glared at him. "Ouch!"

"Put him down!" Dean growled, reaching absently for more office supplies to toss. His eyes scanned the room quickly, looking for the lost Colt.

"Now you're just pissing me off," the demon grumbled, knocking Dean back into the cabinet with demonic power.

He slammed into the metal with a pained grunt, knocking the cabinet over. Its contents spilled out onto the office floor as he struggled to get back up.

Gabriel took the momentary distraction to duck his head down, sinking his teeth into Crowley's wrist and biting down as hard as he could manage. The demon yelled, throwing the boy without thinking and clutching his now- bleeding wrist.

"You fucking BIT me?!" He demanded, eyes going from the injury to the small form on the floor.

Gabriel just glared, looking as menacing as a three year- old could get. "You were gonna freakin' kidnap me for ransom! You're lucky bitin's all I can do!"

"It's not like there's very much of a difference between you then and now," the demon rubbed at his wrist, glaring at the damage.

Apparently kids had sharp teeth. Dean had a sudden appreciation for teething rings. He left Gabriel to distract Crowley while he tried to get to his feet in the corner. The air had been knocked from his lungs and his ribs made their displeasure known whenever he tried to twist, making it to his hands and knees.

"It would've worked out fine if you'd just cooperated," Gabriel clenched his tiny fists, not trusting himself to get to his feet with any kind of dignity. "It's not like you wouldn'tve gotten anythin' good out of it!"

Crowley wiped the side of his hand on his coat with a slight grimace, whether from pain or at the damage to his clothes the boy couldn't tell. "If you hadn't realized by now, angel, I'm of the school of 'why get good when you can have better'."

"Well now you get nothin' but an ass kickin'!" the ex-archangel put a hand to his cheek, rubbing the sore place with a pout.

Crowley rolled his eyes, holding his unbitten hand out, palm open. Like a magnet, the Colt scraped across the floor and into his waiting hand. Gabriel's eyes widened, but instead of the child, Crowley pointed the gun at Dean.

"And just who's going to give me this comeuppance?" he asked with a smirk, brow arching as he held the gun steady.

Dean looked up, pausing halfway to standing, more leaning against the doorway by this point. The Colt was aimed dead on him, there was no way it could miss. And Crowley was definitely the kind of person who could be counted on to hit where it hurts, even if he didn't feel like outright killing at the moment.

"Shit."

"That about sums it up," the demon drawled, aiming low.

There was a flash of orange and Gabriel was up on his feet, toddling as fast as he could to stand between demon and hunter.

Crowley sighed. "What are you doing, angel?"

Dean looked surprised, wasting no time in grabbing the boy by the shoulder and pulling him to the side.

Gabe scowled up at the hunter, trying to push his way forward. "Would you stop bein' a moron, he's not gonna shoot me!" the ex- archangel hissed, pressing his small fingers against Dean's hand.

"Dude, I don't care, I'm not using a kid as a human shield," Dean snapped back.

"What makes you so sure I won't shoot you?" Crowley tilted his head, bemused.

Both heads snapped up towards him with a simultaneous "What?"

"Well, if you look at it logically, it could be the best course of action," the demon explained casually, like he wasn't holding a monster- killing gun at the pair of them. "It would make the angel easier to work with, being shot and all. No energy for rebellion. Plus, it makes time more of an issue for the siblings. So really, it all works out in my favor." His head tilted to the other side, considering. "Unless you die, but then I'm not really any worse off than when I started."

Gabriel stared at him. His eyes widened during the course of his speech. Then he slipped wordlessly behind Dean, tiny fingers curling in the fabric of the hunter's jeans.

Dean set a hand on the kid's head, offering a wry smile. "You'd make a horrible human shield anyway, unless he was aiming for my knees."

Gabe returned the look, tears building in his eyes, before burying his face against the side of Dean's leg.

Crowley rolled his eyes. "I was."

Then he fired. Dean cringed, and felt Gabriel cling to him harder. But he didn't feel any pain. Maybe he was in shock? That would be a small blessing at least.

Crowley's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "What are you doing here?"

Confused, Dean peeked an eye open. There was a man standing between Crowley and them who definitely hadn't been there before. From the back, all he could see was a head of short, light blond hair and a dark suit.

Angels.

"Oh, you know, just passing by, figured I'd drop in for a little chat," The man shook his coat out, the bullet clinking against the wood as it hit the floor. He tapped his chest. "Not to mention testing out a little heavenly kevlar. Magical guns that kill supernatural creatures? There's a heaven- weapon for that."

He turned to Dean with a smirk. "Saving Cassie's pet human was just a lovely bonus."

Dean frowned, opening his mouth to stay something, but Gabriel beat him to it, peering around Dean's leg.

"Balthazar?"

Blue eyes fell to the kid, smug look all but knocked off his face. "Gabriel?"

"Long story," Dean replied, "Crowley--"

"--is taking his leave, thank you." The demon tipped his head and was gone before anyone could stop him.

"Dammit," Dean grumbled, but he couldn't really be too upset. Gabriel was safe, the angels were here and he hadn't gotten shot.
That was a pretty good day as far as Winchesters went.

The Balthazar guy, meanwhile, had crouched down, studying Gabriel with glee. "You're tiny, Gabes, what happened? Well... tiniER, anyway."

"Oh, cuz no one's said that before, thanks." Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"So, not that I'm not grateful," Dean rubbed at his temple, where a spectacular headache was blooming, "but who the hell are you and if you're not here for Gabe, why ARE you here?"

"Because I sent him here," a familiar voice growled. Dean recognized that particular grate anywhere.

"Cas!"

Suddenly there were two more people in the room. Castiel, in all his awkward, trenchcoated glory. And a blond woman with her hair tied neatly back and a suit varied enough to suggest to Dean she was a little less of a douche than the other angels.

"Dean," Cas greeted with a slight nod. "This is Rachel. And you've already met Balthazar."

"Yeah, I guess." He looked over to the back corner of the messy office, where Balthazar was still playing with Gabriel, grinning as he poked at the archangel's tiny, waving arms.

Castiel followed the gaze, his brows furrowing in a confused look.

"You have a child now?"

"What?" Dean snapped his eyes back to Cas, staring widely. "No, no! Dude, that's your brother!"

The angel's frown deepened, studying the child. Finally a hint of surprise lit in his eyes. "Gabriel?"

The boy looked up as his name was uttered, smiling broadly. "Hey bro."

Castiel looked from Gabriel to Dean, then back and forth again for good measure. "You're going to have to explain this."

oOoOo

Once the group was situated at the nearest hotel-- Dean and Gabriel driving, since the hunter wasn't in the mood for internal damages-- the pair of them explained everything that had happened in the past few days.

By the time they'd finished, Gabe was looking pretty tired. He sat on the bed, propped up against Dean's side, looking for all the world like a three year- old after a busy day, in need of a nap.

Cas couldn't stop staring at him. He frowned throughout their story. But it was his thinking frown, Dean noted, not his 'I need to smite something' frown.

Rachel sat primly in the chair, listening intently. She didn't really talk much, the hunter noticed. Balthazar talked enough for all three of them, though. The most at ease in his vessel, he leaned against the dresser, offering comments whenever a thought struck him.

"So what do you think?" Dean asked finally, looping an arm casually around Gabe as the boy nodded off. "There's a way to fix this, right?"

He wanted a solution for Gabriel's sake. Because Gabriel didn't want to stay in the form he was in. But maybe there was a tiny, selfish part of Dean that thought, 'if there's no way to undo it, he'd stay with you. You'd have someone to watch out for again'.

But Dean Winchester usually never gave into that selfish little voice.

"There should be," Cas responded, "if we take him back to Heaven, transfer a bit of our grace to him to jump start his own. Between the three of us, it should be enough to let his own return. Then he can change forms as he wishes once again."

Dean nodded. He scooped the kid up, now fully asleep, and handed him off to Rachel as she stood. Both her and Balthazar were gone with the sound of rustling feathers, and Castiel moved to join them.

"Hey Cas, hold up a second..."

The angel tilted his head. "Yes Dean?"

"Where have you been, man? You up and disappear while I was at Lisa's, then show up out of the blue months later? Did I piss you off or something? What gives?"

"We're at war," Cas replied, staring hard at the hunter. "I apologize for not contacting you sooner."

Dean was taken aback. "War? With who? What's going on?"

"Raphael has decided the only way to proceed is to follow Michael's last orders. Which were to bring Paradise to Earth. I've been put in charge of the rebellion. Balthazar and Rachel have been most helpful, but the fight... isn't going well. With Gabriel to help, this shifts things to a more equal level. We actually may stand a chance now.

"Wow, okay," Dean flopped back on the bed. "So how'd you know to swoop in right at that moment?"

Castiel almost looked like he might smile. "Balthazar intercepted a prayer with your name in it. He luckily brought it to me."

"My name?"

"Something along the lines of 'Winchester's going to get his dumb ass shot because of me, why don't you morons pay attention for once and get your feathery asses down here and save us'. It was... fairly effective."

Gabriel. Of course. He was human right now, his prayers worked the same as any other human. He probably could have called
Castiel from the start. He would be pissed if he'd realized they were listening the whole time.

Castiel stood. "I should go. Rachel and Balthazar will need my help in restoring Gabriel's grace."

Dean glanced at him, but made no move to get up. He didn't get shot, but he'd still gotten knocked around. He deserved a little rest. "Yeah sure. You gonna be around, now that your war's equaling out? You know I'm here if you need me."

The angel nodded. "Thank you. I will try to be in contact with you more often."

He was gone before Dean could reply. Feeling slightly better about things, and at the same time worse, he kicked his boots off, turned over and promptly fell asleep.

oOoOo

The room was dark when he woke up. He looked around, trying to figure out what had roused him.

A figure by the foot of the bed had him reaching instinctively for the knife under his pillow, but the familiar chuckle stopped him. He relaxed, letting out a yawn.

"So I see you're back to normal."

Gabriel stepped out of the shadows, throwing his once- again- adult- sized self bodily on the bed and jarring Dean further out of sleep. "Yup. Although I'm on strict orders not to do anything particularly archangelic for awhile, so I can build up strength."

"Somehow I don't think you'll be following those orders very well."

He grinned, snapping up a bag of gummi worms. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

They were quiet for a few moments. Dean sat up with a drawn- out stretch, and Gabe ate a few worms. Finally Dean spoke up again. "You think you'll be able to stop Raph from doing his thing?"

"Yeah, I got it covered. Me and Raph are a lot more equal on the scale. Not like Luce. And we both know it. He's just kinda messed up right now, cuz he's the only archangel left and he doesn't know what to do. It's sort of the angel equivalent to the company firing all the managers over the weekend and expecting you to run the place when you come in on Monday. I'll help him out."

Dean nodded. He'd been worried, when Cas had told him. Mostly because Cas was an honorary Winchester at this point, and if he was fighting a losing battle he was bound to do something stupidly crazy.

Gabriel pulled at a particularly stretchy worm, gnawing at it while he geared himself up to speak. "So I uh, wanted to say thanks. For, y'know, everything back there. It got kinda out of hand."

"You think?" he replied with no real bite. Mostly he was just too tired to feel angry at this point.

"Well, I'm sorry, okay? I figured, if anyone could help, Crowley would. So long as I could put a good deal on the table. Me and him go back."

"Yeah, well I'm guessing he was feeling a little cagey, being the demon all the other demons hate, not to mention being stuck in an angelic war and all." Dean rolled his eyes and Gabriel threw a worm at him.

"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know, for what it's worth, I think standing between a kid and a gun qualifies you as a damned good guardian."

Dean shrugged, popping the candy into his mouth. "Been doing it my whole life. I'm sorry I didn't take this whole thing seriously, I guess. You should've told me what was going on. Guess I got caught up in having someone around to take care of. It's been awhile since I did that."

"Apology accepted," Gabriel snapped the bag away, laying back with his arms folded behind his head. "You should get some sleep. Big day tomorrow."

"What are you talking about? I thought you said the thing with Raph was no big deal...?"

"It's not. But the next mission is a little different. And I figure since you're not terribly busy, you could help out."

"Gabe--"

"After all, someone's gonna need to take care of Sammich when we get him back."

Dean stopped short. "...What?"

The archangel smirked. "You heard me. Someone's gotta get the kid back before he finds a way to do it himself and screw it up. It's not gonna be easy, even when he's back. But it's better than leaving him there with the family. So I'm gonna need someone to make sure he's okay. You up for it?"

Dean couldn't help it, he laughed. "Yeah, I think I got that one covered."

"Good," Gabriel stood, hands in his pockets and a bright grin on his face. "So get some sleep. Tomorrow we're busting Sam out of the Cage."