Gabriel wasn't paying attention when Cas woke up. He held his head, not sure what was happening to him. Names and faces, they were disappearing. He was forgetting people. Important people, he could tell. The tv static turned on, so did the radio. The lights flickered and Gabriel just rolled his eyes,
"On or off Cas. Quit flicking them, you'll wake Bobby and he gets real grumpy at night." Cas was still holding his head and rolled off the couch and onto the floor, "Cas?" Gabriel just about saw him fall from the kitchen and headed in. The kid finally saw him and pulled himself away with his arms, backing into a corner and pulling out his knife,
"Where am I? Who are you?"
"Well. That was quick. I thought it would just gradually make you forget." Cas didn't respond to that and stared up at him with a fearful gaze. Gabriel got down on the floor a little while away from him, "Cassie? You recognise me?" Cas furrowed his eyebrows, tilting his head as he stared at Gabriel,
"Should I?" He asked. Gabriel shook his head,
"Not in this form at least," he said. They both heard footsteps as Bobby entered the room,
"Who the hell is playing that damn radio at three in the morning?" He seemed irritated and looked accusingly at Gabriel as he turned it off, "Gabriel?" Cas stood up, backing further in the corner, holding his knife in front of him,
"Hey Cas, you're ok," Gabriel assured him,
"Who are you?" He asked,
"He lost his memories now?" Bobby asked, the irritation leaving him and his voice took on a less rough tone. Gabriel nodded, "I thought you said he'd still know you." Gabriel gave a sigh,
"Well if I was given the chance to introduce myself," Gabriel was starting to get a little frustrated and now Dean walks into the room and flicked the switch on, again making Cas get more defensive and squint as the light was turned on,
"Cas? You ok?" He asked on seeing him,
"Give them a moment," Bobby said, leading Dean out,
"And make sure to keep Sasquatch out too," Gabriel called after them. He took a breath, sitting on the couch and looking back at his brother. "It's fine, you can come out now," Cas realised his wings were out the whole time,
"What?" He then tilted his head at Gabriel, "you know already?"
"About you being an angel? Yeah, sure I'm one too," he then realised for the first time how natural Cas was with the knife in his hand. He was poised to use it. He shouldn't remember how to use one. "What are you doing with a knife at your age?" He asked, plucking it from Castiel's grasp,
"Michael gave me it,"
"Well Michael starts too early, what is he thinking giving you a weapon so young?" Cas still looked confused,
"Who are you? What's happened to me? What were you saying I've lost my memories?" Gabriel pat the couch next to him and Cas finally left the corner and sat down on the edge of the couch,
"You've fallen victim to a very powerful spell," he said,
"A spell?" Gabriel nodded, "what type of spell?"
"A deaging spell. There is no counter but it should wear off within the week."
"So where am I? How much have I lost?"
"Well that depends on the last thing you remember. Have you moved out of the nursery yet?" Cas shook his head, "so you haven't started training." Cas shook his head again,
"I'll be leaving soon," he said, "or I would be leaving soon," Gabriel nodded, "how much am I missing?"
"Too much to describe really. We're long passed the apocalypse Cas."
"Really?" Cas looked around him, "this doesn't look like heaven."
"No, we're not in heaven."
"But earth would have been destroyed."
"Yeah, the apocalypse didn't really play out as planned. But hey, we saved earth. The vessels tricked both Michael and Lucifer back in the cage, they're gone."
"So who are you? I can't see you past your vessel."
"Yes well, that's kind of the point. How do you think I've gone undiscovered for so long?" Cas tilted his head and Gabriel sighed, "your favourite brother."
"Gabriel?" Cas stopped tilting his head after he said it. It finally clicked with him on who he was talking to, "Gabriel."
"I knew you were lying when you said Balthazar was your favourite," Gabriel smirked. Cas just sat there frozen, staring up at him now, "yeah, that's why I didn't tell you right away." Cas didn't look like he was listening, his eyes searched Gabriel to see if he was lying,
"This is a trick," he said,
"Nope, this is not a trick. Trust me, I tell much more believable lies."
"And this place? Where are we?"
"In a house, don't you see?" Cas rolled his eyes,
"Where?"
"On earth, I don't know. I popped in to help you, this is your friend's house not mine."
"I made friends with humans?"
"Oh yeah, this is Bobby's house." Cas looked around the cluttered space. The old wallpaper was peeling from the walls, the shelves were covered with books and old papers. The desk by the fireplace was littered with open books about witchcraft and angel lore and the whole place had quite an oily smell. A whiskey glass sat in the only small space of the desk between books with a small lick of alcohol sitting in the bottom. Through the doorway Cas saw there was a kitchen and through the window he saw the salvage yard, not that he understood what it was. He wasn't scared by these surroundings, just confused. The last he saw of the humans, they were living in smaller houses and did not have such an extent of books and knowledge, nor did they have cars so the salvage yard made no sense to him. He looked back at Gabriel,
"Was that who was just in here? Bobby?"
"Yeah," Gabriel smiled, glad Cas was starting to understand, "hey Bobby, come introduce yourself." The older man walked in and leaned against the desk next to them,
"He caught up?" Bobby questioned Gabriel,
"More or less." Dean wandered in not long after Bobby with Sam, both stayed closer to the door to not impose. "That's biggie small. He's big, he's small." Gabriel pointed them out,
"Really?" Dean looked at Gabriel, drooping his eyelids exasperatedly,
"Well that's how I tell you apart." Cas sighed too. Now was not the time. He needed to know all the details, "alright they are, the one, the only, Sam and Dean Winchester. Always there to spoil the fun. Grown up you is no fun either, you fit right in."
"I wonder why." Cas turned to Gabriel with a meaningful look,
"How is that my fault?!" Gabriel said with his arms out,
"Without you, there is just Michael and Raphael."
"Yeah but- you know," Gabriel sighed, folding his arms, "whatever. They're friends of yours. You pulled Dean out of hell."
"I pulled him from hell?" Cas searched his memory for any clues to why he would, Gabriel nodded at him. "The righteous man. Dean is Michael's vessel?"
"Yeah."
"So Sam is Lucifer's vessel."
"Yep."
"And they tricked Michael and Lucifer into the cage?"
"Uh huh."
"Together?" Gabriel nodded,
"I know, I'd hate to be anywhere near that place. If they haven't murdered each other, their screaming has probably made any nearby demons kill themselves," Gabriel muttered, "I helped too by the way, I was pretty detrimental. Tell him Sammy," he pointed at Sam. Sam nodded, "see? Hero," he pointed at himself, "and genius, I told you you'd have an important role in the future."
"You didn't know that, you were trying to make me feel better."
"When have you known me to lie?" He looked down at his brother still sitting apart from him. Castiel narrowed his eyes at him knowingly, "ok, aside from when I drew a mustache on Michael," he admitted. Cas' look deepened, "and covered Raphael's room in glitter," Cas continued with the look, "I thought you couldn't remember things, stop looking at me like that."
"Well that's great but if you don't mind, I'm going back for some shut eye," Bobby said going to leave. He turned off the TV on his way back out,
"Yeah, see you in the morning Cas," Dean smiled and the humans all left leaving just Cas and Gabriel. Cas was still sitting at the edge of the couch, starting to rub at his eyes with a yawn and once the others had gone, Gabriel opened his arms,
"Come on, it's been a few thousand years for you. Bring it in. You know you want to." Cas raised his eyebrows at that before edging closer. Gabriel pulled him into a hug and Cas took his time to hug back, his vessel was unfamiliar to him, he still had a doubt that this wasn't Gabriel but it disappeared when he hugged him. He felt relieved now as his arms wrapped around Gabriel, that this was his brother, the one who left heaven and who he hadn't seen in centuries,
"Why did you have to go?" Cas hugged Gabriel tightly,
"I'm sorry Cas," Gabriel said, stroking his brother's hair thoughtfully, "It was just all the fighting."
"I missed you," Cas said. It took Gabriel off guard, he hadn't realised what his disappearance did to the little fledglings that were left behind when he fled, much less the one he used to protect fiercely. Gabriel bent down and moved the hair away from Cas' forehead,
"I missed you too, little brother." When he looked down at the eight year old, he could see he was already asleep. The corner of his mouth twitched up and he realised how much he'd missed being a pillow for children to sleep on. Cas was quiet. His sleep lasted long until morning. Everyone else had already woken up and were treading lightly around him. He was still snuggled into his older brother until he eventually woke up. "Always one to sleep in, lazybones," Gabriel said, shaking his head, alerting everyone else that he was awake. Cas gave a smile and sleepily sat up. Breakfast was already made but Cas didn't remember that he needs to eat now, heck, he didn't even remember what that sickening feeling in his stomach was. It made an urgent lurch at him and Cas held his stomach. It growled at him in response, trying to tell him to eat,
"What was that?" Cas asked Gabriel,
"That's your stomach telling you to eat."
"But I don't eat," a slight frantic feeling came over him, "is something wrong with me?"
"It's the spell," Gabriel replied, "but hey, it's not too bad. Food's gotten a lot better since you last tried it."
"Oh," Cas nodded and then his wings folded behind him naturally,
"Come on, let's get you something to eat." Gabriel led Cas into the kitchen and fixed up a couple PB&Js for the two of them. Cas was cautious about eating just like the first time he had a real meal but he seemed to like the sweet taste of peanut butter and jelly. He ate up quickly with Gabriel. Gabe looked over Cas and gave a smile. The pair of them sat up straight suddenly and after a while of them not moving, they both looked at each other,
"What?" Dean asked, noticing their reactions, begging for it to be nothing. They have enough on right now,
"Was that... Jophiel?" Cas asked,
"He can sense you now," Gabriel replied,
"Who's Jophiel?" Dean asked,
"The anointed protector of all the fledglings," Gabriel explained, "he can sense Cas' mind has been brought back to when he was a fledgling." Gabriel was calm but he did start painting a cupboard near him with some kind of sigil, "he's coming to take Cas to heaven."
"And what would happen then?" Dean asked a little hesitant,
"Well, Jophiel will protect him from the other angels but after the spell wears off and Cas isn't a fledgling anymore, he has no obligation to."
"And Cas is stuck in the lion's den" Bobby nodded, "so how do we stop him?"
"Well, as an archangel, I can dismiss him but I don't want to reveal myself unless I have to so I'm hoping these wards will work," Gabriel nodded. He went to the door and started to paint warding on the window panes. Everyone could start to hear the high pitched noise as Jophiel got closer. Cas covered his ears particularly and slid under the table, his wings creating a tent of darkness to hide him within the shadows of the room. The high pitched noise grew louder and all the windows and glass shattered, including the ones with warding. "Well, it was worth a try," Gabriel muttered. Cas slipped out from the table and rushed through the halls as the rumbling started but Jophiel didn't appear where Gabriel expected him to. He appeared in the hall in front of Cas. He was a tall man compared to Castiel's current form. He had no hair and dark skin and eyes. His face looked hardened until his eyes fell on him. Cas backed away from him as he sunk down to his level,
"I will not harm you little one," he said, "I only come to bring you to heaven. You will be safe there, I will protect you." Cas didn't move. Jophiel's voice was smooth and deep, almost monotone. Cas almost wanted to go with him but he knew he couldn't. Stopping the apocalypse certainly meant he'd betrayed his brothers and sisters to do so and he could not face them. "You seem familiar to me. What is your name, youngster?"
"Castiel."
"Castiel? What happened to you?"
"A spell," Cas replied, "but I don't remember."
"I will keep you safe," Jophiel said,
"I can't go back there." He started to back up again. Jophiel didn't reach for him, he was patient,
"I'm sorry for what happened to you back then. It was under my watch and there was no excuse for it. I promise to do right by you. If you let me, I can protect you," Jophiel bowed his head, "I won't let it happen again. I promise you that." Jophiel held out his hand, "you can trust me." Cas looked at his hand, tempted,
"Cas?" He turned sharply and Dean was behind him at the start of the hall,
"Stay back Winchester, I know what you're capable of," Jophiel poised his blade,
"No Jophiel," Cas said,
"Castiel, she's still down here. She will take advantage of your form and she will come for you."
"And if I go with you?"
"I will take you to heaven, out of her reach."
"And the angels up there? What do you think they'll do? I've been on the receiving end of their judgement before, that's before I helped avert the apocalypse." Jophiel dropped eye contact,
"That was a mistake." Cas narrowed his eyes at that,
"Mistake?" Dean questioned behind him, Cas turned back to Dean again, momentarily remembering he was there. From his reaction, he clearly didn't know what they were talking about. Obviously he'd not seen fit to tell Dean about it. He hinted towards his wing over his shoulder, opening it a little. He watched Dean's eyes rake over them before a realisation hit him and his face uncrinkled, eyes going cold before they turned back to Jophiel,
"Heaven isn't safe for me anymore than earth is."
"Castiel."
"I'll take my chances with her." Cas backed up now, going to head towards Dean when Jophiel suddenly reached forward and grabbed his wrist. On instinct, Cas' feathers ruffled up and his knife slid down his sleeve though he had no intention to use it on his brother. "Let go of me," he hissed, struggling in the iron grip,
"I'm sorry Castiel but I must take you back." Dean rushed down the hall and Jophiel stood up, pointing his blade at him, "stay back." Sam moved into the hallway with Gabriel,
"Let him go Jophiel," Gabriel ordered. Jophiel nearly fell over from shock,
"Gabriel, you're alive?" He took a step back in awe of the archangel. Gabriel's gaze moved to Cas who was in the process of prying Jophiel's fingers off his wrist. Jophiel noticed his gaze and immediately opened his hand, freeing Castiel. Cas wandered to that side of the hall, using Dean as cover as he watched the angel,
"Jophiel, I will take care of Castiel. On earth."
"But-"
"I'm serious. Go back, don't tell the other angels where we are," Jophiel nodded and left. Cas gave a sigh of relief, rubbing the red marks on his wrist. Gabriel took a breath, "who's this 'her'?"
"I had trouble with a demon once," Cas replied,
"No, no, no," Dean shook his head, "you see, he causes trouble," he pointed at Gabriel, "demons cause harm." Cas tilted his head at him, not appreciating the tone,
"I was watching over my younger brother."
"D'you fight it?"
"Samandriel wasn't going to outrun a demon. I was older, I had to fight." Sam looked up at that, noticing the familiar details. Dean clearly recognised them too, clearing his throat and swiveling his head a little,
"It explains the blade," Gabriel shrugged, "anything good on TV?" He turned back into the living room. Sam and Dean just sort of ignored him and went back to whatever it is they do when they're not hunting, strengthening their own self-loathing. Cas sat on the couch by Gabriel. "Hey, watch this," Gabriel picked up the TV remote and turned the TV on, "welcome to the future." Cas rolled his eyes, moving his attention to preening his wings. They pretty much ignored each other, Gabriel absentmindedly started raking the feathers on the back of Cas' wings where he couldn't reach to preen. It took some time for him to notice the bumpy skin under the feathers before he started parting the feathers to get a look. "You weren't kidding about having trouble with a demon." Cas froze,
"That uh-" Gabriel moved further along the wings,
"That one looks really bad, must have been one hell of a fight."
"That's not..." Cas ducked his head as Gabriel continued, "Gabe?"
"I mean, I've seen some wounds by a demon but not this numerous. Looks like it was trying to tear you apart."
"Gabriel." Cas said firmer, making Gabe pause, "that's not from the demon attack." Gabriel stopped, looking over the assortment of faint scars criss crossing across the surface of his wings,
"Oh." Cas didn't say anything more meaning it was the end of that discussion. Gabriel went back to the TV and Cas turned back to preening, both not paying attention to their decided tasks anymore. Gabriel turned the TV off and Cas was worried he'd have to talk. "I'm bored." He looked at Cas and smiled. Cas knew that smile. He couldn't get away fast enough and Gabriel grabbed him, zapping them both to the top of one of the many stacks of cars outside. Bobby was already out there at work, managing to catch the moment Gabriel appeared with the squirming fledgling in his arms. Cas didn't have much leverage in the hold. His wings and back were against Gabriel's chest and both arms where held tightly,
"Let go," Cas could only chirp as the archangel held him tightly,
"Nope, we're gonna have some fun," Gabriel smirked, turning to look at Bobby, "high enough?" He questioned. He loosened his grip enough to let Cas fight his way out before giving him a push over the edge. Immediately Cas' wings spread out to stop his fall, acting like a parachute but they didn't slow him enough as he reached the ground. Luckily there was something other than dirt to hit. Dean managed to catch him... sort of. He acted like a crash mat and they both fell to the ground. Gabriel appeared next to them, "not high enough." He shook his head,
"Just watch, he'll have you on the roof next," Dean muttered. Jody came walking up the drive and when she did, Cas panicked slightly, folding his wings tight into his back in hopes she didn't see.
"That's Jody," Dean said, "she's another friend, it's alright, she knows about it all."
"Did he forget again?" She asked,
"Yeah, he's completely regressed now." The spell worked well, he remembered nothing about his past life and all his memories from his earlier years were fresh in his mind. Gabriel really had no idea how bad it got after he left.