18. Chapter 18

Gabriel was reclining on a chair and watching Balthazar pretend to sip at a glass of expensive wine when he felt the disturbance in the wards that he and Castiel had built around the nest. He sat up, interrupting Balthazar mid-sentence, and dropped his own glass when a ripple of agony flooded through where his grace meshed with Castiel's. It was so strong that, for a split second, it left him reeling.

As soon as he recovered, Gabriel spread his wings. He couldn't fly to where Castiel's grace was until he was inside of the wards, because the sigils had been purposefully drawn to hide that from the outside, but he had a fix on the nest and that's where he flew. He materialized at the nest for a blink of time and then instantly flew on to where he sensed Castiel and Dean, only vaguely aware of Balthazar following him.

It only took Gabriel a moment to grasp what was happening when he arrived. Castiel was lying on the ground, covered in blood and grace. One demon was standing over him holding an angel blade. The other was standing in front of Dean, who had a bruise on his right cheek and a terrified look on his face. He was crouched down with one hand out-stretched like he might come up swinging. The demon was laughing at him, taunting him, saying something about his daddy - Gabriel didn't wait to hear the specifics.

Cold rage burning through him, he launched himself forward and stabbed the demon through its throat with his angel blade. Brilliant white light erupted and the demon spasmed, burning out. He didn't wait for the corpse to hit the ground, instead spinning to face the one that had been threatening Castiel. But Balthazar was already there, grimly stabbing the demon in the belly. More grace flared and the demon hit the ground, eyes burnt out. Castiel's angel blade hit the ground and rolled, coming to a stop at Dean's feet. Dean looked down at it blankly before he automatically reached down to pick the weapon up.

"Dean," Gabriel said, taking a quick step forward. "Honey, are you okay?"

He didn't get an answer. Dean didn't even look at him. He just kept staring at the angel blade. Gabriel reached out and gently touched his shoulder, wincing when Dean flinched at the touch. Something had gone seriously wrong here. He didn't need to brush Dean's mind to know that the little boy had been seriously traumatized by what happened. Not only had Castiel been stabbed, Dean hadn't reacted the way a hunter would. If Gabriel and Balthazar hadn't come, who knew what would have happened?

But as much as he wanted to talk to Dean about it, Castiel needed to be seen to first.

"Balthazar, bring Cas back to the nest," he ordered without looking around, spreading his wings again. A second later they had touched down in the nest, and Balthazar arrived with Castiel in his arms. Gabriel directed Dean to sit down on the couch and then left him there, still holding the angel blade, while he went in to attend to Castiel. He sent Balthazar out to watch over the boy and then glanced over his brother.

Castiel looked awful. He'd been stabbed with his own blade, for one thing, and there were other deep cuts along his torso that suggested the demons might have had another angel blade in their possession. Gabriel ground his teeth, wishing that the two creatures were still alive just so that he could smite them again. There was very little he could do for Castiel in this state. Time and Castiel's grace would eventually heal the damage that had been done to him. All Gabriel could do was bandage his vessel - because having to replenish blood to keep the vessel alive would only slow the process - and try to boost Castiel's fading grace with his own.

"Boy, little bro, you've really done it this time," he muttered, banishing Castiel's clothing. Another twitch of his fingers made bandages appear on the nightstand. Gabriel picked up a roll, surveying Castiel's naked vessel. The damage was more extensive than he'd hoped. It was unlike Castiel to have been taken so off guard, and he wondered if the demons had gone after Dean first. It was the most likely explanation.

It took him a long time to bandage all of the wounds on the vessel. Castiel remained unconscious during the bandaging; the only sign that he was still alive was the way his forehead wrinkled from pain. When he was finished, Gabriel perched on the edge of the bed and laid a hand on his brother's forehead. Right away he could tell that Castiel's grace was not doing so well. Large pieces had been torn in it when he was stabbed, and the grace was struggling to knit itself back together. The process was tedious and would take hours, if not days, especially since Castiel was already a little weaker from nurturing Dean.

With a gentle touch, he pushed a little grace into his brother so that Castiel wouldn't have to struggle so hard on his own. Even though Gabriel didn't need to breathe, he still found himself holding his breath as he waited to see whether or not Castiel would accept the help. If he didn't, it wouldn't do him any harm. It just meant that Gabriel would be truly useless. But if he did, then Castiel's grace would be able to replenish and heal that much more quickly. And it would mean that Castiel trusted him all the way down to his core, in a way that Gabriel had nearly given up on hoping for after he fled heaven so many centuries ago.

He only relaxed when he felt Castiel's barriers giving away, the battered grace reaching for Gabriel eagerly. He gave what he could, only easing back when he knew that he was at risk of crossing that thin line where his help would become a hindrance. Castiel gave a quiet moan of protest and Gabriel shushed him, removing his hand from Castiel's forehead and standing. As much as he wanted to stay here watching over Castiel, he knew that Castiel's first thought would always be of Dean. In his absence, it was up to Gabriel. It was a sobering thought and for a split second, he actually entertained the thought of breaking that trust, taking the easy way out and just making a run for it.

But then he got to the door to the room and walked down the hall. Unseen, though Balthazar knew he was there, Gabriel looked at Dean Winchester and felt his own tired grace tremble with sympathy, and suddenly he knew what humans meant when they said their hearts were breaking. Because Dean was still sitting on the couch where he'd been left. He hadn't moved an inch. He was still staring down at Castiel's bloody blade, and his face was eerily blank except for his eyes. His eyes, brimming with unshed tears, were like a bomb just waiting to go off.

Briefly, Gabriel risked a brush against Dean's mind. He rocked backwards at the deluge of self loathing and terror, mingled with pure confusion and anguish and the raw edge of fear, but it was nothing compared to what happened next. Apparently the feel of unfamiliar grace was too much. Gabriel really should have known better. In terms of humans, Dean was already sensitive to angels. As a nestling, that effect was multiplied by about a hundred. The feel of Gabriel's grace was the last straw, the thing that broke him.

Dean started to cry.

It was very quiet at first, almost inaudible, but by the time Gabriel stepped around the corner, Dean was sobbing loudly. Balthazar looked torn between shock and revulsion, and in any other situation Gabriel would have been amused. As it was, he sent Balthazar an exasperated look for his lack of a reaction and hurried over to Dean. Another quick brush of mind and grace revealed that Dean was so emotionally overwrought after everything, and that the grace he'd consumed was pushing his emotions so close to the surface, that he just couldn't deal. He was literally breaking down right there in the living room, with his daddy unconscious in the next room.

"Um," Balthazar said hesitantly, which was completely at odds with how he normally presented himself. "Cassie's nestling is leaking."

"He's not a nestling, he's a hatchling," Gabriel snapped, running a hand through Dean's hair. At the touch, Dean cried louder, and Gabriel had to raise his voice to be heard as he added, "and his daddy just got skewered right in front of him. Don't be even more of a dick than you already are, Balthazar. Have a little compassion. C'mere, honey."

He scooped Dean up easily, holding him the way that Castiel did. Dean fought against him for a moment, but he was no match for Gabriel's strength and eventually he slumped against him. Hot tears dampened Gabriel's shoulder as he cried. Gabriel shushed him as best he could and began to slowly walk around the living room, hoping that the movement would calm Dean down. He even tried bouncing Dean a little as he walked. It didn't work. If anything, Dean's wails only picked up in volume until Gabriel was grateful for the sigils that meant no sound would escape the wards. The last thing they needed was human law enforcement showing up because of a child screaming.

He kept walking. Around and around. Balthazar sank down onto the couch, slowly moving from awkward and uncertain as to how to handle the situation to annoyance mixed with pity. Which was of no help whatsoever, of course, but at least he didn't leave Gabriel to deal with the situation alone. Though the fact that Gabriel would've hunted him down after the fact probably had something to do with that. Either way, it was comforting to know that Gabriel wasn't the only one was becoming extremely stressed out over a baby.

"Your daddy's gonna be fine, baby boy," he cooed to Dean a couple of hours later, feeling weary. Dean just wouldn't stop. It wasn't surprising considering that he had been suppressing several years worth of tears, but it was worrying. "C'mon, it's okay. It's okay, I promise."

"Can't you make it stop?" Balthazar asked, not for the first time.

"I'm trying, okay?" Gabriel hissed at him, wondering how the hell human parents put up with this sort of thing. Cupping the back of Dean's head, he gently bounced him again in the hopes that maybe this time, it would work. It didn't, but he did feel a warm wetness leaking between the two of them.

"Did he just -"

"Shut up," Gabriel barked. If Dean was even a little aware right now, he would be mortified that he had just pissed himself. Balthazar talking about it would not help. He turned his back and snapped his fingers, taking the easy way out and using grace to remove the soiled pull-up that hadn't been enough to contain the pee. Maybe it was cheating to just mojo a diaper onto Dean, but right then he didn't care.

"Don't you think -"

"What I think is that you should find a way to be helpful."

"Just calm him down."

"You know it's dangerous to interfere with the bond, and this isn't working. Find something to distract him."

"Like what?"

"Anything!" Gabriel said, not without a little desperation, because surely Dean couldn't cry for much longer? Even though he showed no signs of stopping anytime soon...

Balthazar got up and went into the kitchen, then came back out and wandered down the hall. Gabriel couldn't hear anything over the sound of Dean's sobs. For all he knew, Balthazar had taken the opportunity to run for it. He waited impatiently for a couple of minutes before he followed and ended up meeting Balthazar in the hallway. The other angel was holding two things: a fat stuffed bee that radiated with Castiel's grace, and a bright green pacifier.

Gabriel looked at it. Balthazar shrugged.

"At least it will make him be quiet."

Without a word, Gabriel grabbed the pacifier from him and pressed it into Dean's mouth. Dean resisted at first, whimpering in confusion, and then all of a sudden it was like his baby brain clicked in and he latched on. He started sucking furiously, still making soft whines in the back of his throat while tears rolled down his cheeks, but at least the desperate sobbing had stopped. It was a step in the right direction.

"Thank Father," Balthazar muttered, shoving the bee against Dean's chest until Dean had no choice but to take it. When he felt the warm grace imbuing the stuffed animal, Dean snuffled and pressed his face into the soft fur. His breath hitched audibly, but the whining stopped.

The tears, silent now, continued.

"There you go, sweetheart, there's a boy," Gabriel murmured, so relieved that his knees actually felt a little weak. He rubbed Dean's back some more and kept whispering to him, hoping that the comfort and exhaustion might eventually be enough to make Dean fall asleep. Otherwise, it was going to be one hell of a long night.