My big brother

Gabriel had protested about taking Castiel out on his first mission not because he didn’t want to do it but he simply thought Cas was too young being only 12 and all. Castiel had always been one to obey no matter what so when he was ordered on a mission with Gabriel he of course said yes where as Gabriel didn’t think it was a good idea. Gabriel had little choice though eventually he agreed to take Castiel on the mission to hunt down some unruly monster bats that had decided to settle too close to one of their fathers precious human settlements. Gabriel took lead while Cas followed both landing only a few miles from the cave so they could track any that were out feeding currently that way they got rid of them all not just the ones in the cave. Gabriel kept a close eye on Castiel cause after Lucifer was banished he had made a promise to look after his younger brother so as Michael couldn’t sink his talons into the younger angel although he was already having an influence judging by the way Cas acted.

“Keep your eyes open” Gabriel instructed as they walked through the dense forest

“I know what I’m doing” Cas responded

“What was…?” Gabriel began when he was suddenly blind sided by something large that came out of the dense canopy of the forest.

“Gabriel!” Cas exclaimed suddenly on high alert

“Damn it!” Gabriel cursed as he held the bats jaws with his hands in an attempt to keep it from biting off his head.

“Hang on! I’m coming!” Cas called as he ran towards the ball that was his brother fighting with the bat. Gabriel struggled with the bats strength as he peered to the side to see his archangel blade lying a few feet away just out of reach before returning his attention to the bats gleaming white teeth.

“Cas stay back! Oh yuck…gross” Gabriel grimaced as drool from the bats mouth dripped on to his chest and face. Cas didn’t listen instead he pulled out his own blade then leapt onto the bats back digging it in between it’s shoulder blades causing it to scream in pain. The distraction gave Gabriel just enough time to reach his blade then shove it into the bats chest right through it’s heart before rolling out from underneath it as the corpse fell limply to the ground.

“Good job” Gabriel praised Cas as he panted slightly from the effort

“Thanks” Cas said with a smile that swiftly turned to a grimace as Gabriel suddenly hit his knees with a yelp of pain.

“Gabriel? Are you okay?” Cas asked with concern in his young voice

“Damn…this stupid bats drool is burning…” Gabriel trailed off as he looked down at the spots on his chest where the drool had hit him revealing it had some kind of acidic compound in it.

“Will you be alright?” Cas asked again

“Yeah but the wounds…won’t heal till…I clean up…” Gabe stammered as he attempted to stand up still wincing slightly from the pain.

“Then maybe we should go home for now then come back later” Cas suggested

“No, it just means we need to finish this quickly” Gabriel explained with a deep breath to center his thoughts away from the pain. Cas looked at Gabriel in aw cause he knew that if he’d gotten hurt like that he’d never be able to continue on it only made him admire Gabriel more then ever.

After killing a few more stragglers Gabriel and Cas made their way into the cave where the rest of the bat nest was held up. They slashed their way through the entrance then they reached the heart where the queen was resting upside down.

“Holy…mother of crap…that’s one big mother…” Gabriel trailed off as the huge bat suddenly opened her gleaming red eyes letting out a screech that had even the angels covering their ears.

“Gabriel left! Go left!” Castiel called out as the bat let go of the cave roof to land on the ground using her wings to support her like legs.

“We’ll have to smite her! Our blades won’t do any good!” Gabriel instructed to Cas who nodded as they flew over the bat’s head. Suddenly the bat flung her head backwards hitting Gabe who was sent into the nearest wall then sliding down it with a yelp as a sharp pain shot through his shoulder that hit the wall first.

“Gabe!” Cas called out only to look back to see the bats teeth coming right for him

Cas screamed in pain as the bat caught his legs between her teeth then gave him a fling to the side where he skidded across the ground. Gabriel gasped in concern then anger filled him as he tuned out all pain to fly up to the bat’s head, digging his blade into the back of it for stability before planting his hand on her head. Gabriel concentrated all his grace to kill the bat in a single shot as she screeched then fell to the ground Gabriel with drew his blade from her head before leaping off. Gabriel took a moment to catch his breath as his pain began to return telling him he’d dislocated his shoulder but it didn’t over ride his concern for his little brother as he ran over to Cas who was now sitting sideways, propped up on one arm while the other lightly sat on his legs that were bleeding.

“Cas? Cas? Are you okay?” Gabriel asked running up to him then placing a hand on Castiel’s shoulder. Cas didn’t say anything he simply pulled from Gabriel’s touch but the brief contact had allowed Gabriel to feel Cas’ shoulder shaking slightly that’s also when he heard him sniff.

“I’m…I’m…fine” Cas tried to steady his voice but there was no hiding the fact that he was crying.

“Cas…” Gabriel whispered gently as he knelt down putting his blade away then extending his arms to Castiel. Cas slightly looked over his shoulder at Gabriel then looked away but after a couple seconds he couldn’t hold it any longer Cas broke down with tears pouring down his face as he reached out to his big brother. Gabriel gave a sympathetic little smile then scooped up Cas in to his arms despite his dislocated shoulder. Cas sobbed into Gabriel’s shoulder while Gabriel rubbed his back and spread his wings to take them both home straight to the infirmary where he handed off Cas to one of the female angels that worked there. They seemed particularly worried about young Cas’ injuries as they took him into a treatment room but when they tried to lock Gabriel out he wouldn’t have it.

“You should go get treated!” The one female angel insisted

“I’ll be fine! I want to stay with him!” Gabriel insisted showing an anger none of them often saw. Cas was sobbing as they hurried to gather some items to help treat him with while Gabriel walked up beside him to give a slight tussle to the little angel’s black sweat soaked hair.

“Gabe…they hurt…” Cas rasped causing Gabriel to look down at Cas’ legs that were still bleeding. The bat had not only punctured his flesh with her teeth but she’d also broken on of them causing the bone to break threw the skin plus Gabriel could clearly tell that Cas had a broken rib or two from hitting the ground.

“You’ll…you’ll be okay” Gabriel suddenly felt his balance give way slightly making him grab hold of the table Cas was lying on as well as place a hand to his throbbing head.

“Gabriel!” One of the female angels suddenly gasped as she grabbed his one arm to steady him unfortunately it was his dislocated one, which made Gabriel cry out in pain.

“Okay that’s enough! We’re getting you into a treatment area now!” The head female angel said helping Gabriel into another room just down from Cas’ and just as she managed to get him onto the table Gabriel passed out.

Gabriel woke with a start as white-hot pain shot through him while several angels struggled to hold him down. Gabriel groaned as he tipped his head back on to the pillow gritting his teeth as the pain slowly started to pass leaving only an uncomfortable soreness behind while the warm feeling of grace began to fill his shoulder indicating that the angels were healing him.

“Cas?” Gabriel managed to grit out after a couple minutes

“He’ll be fine Gabriel, we’ve already finished with him and he’s resting but your worse then him seeing as you’ve almost drained your grace to nothing” The blonde female angel explained as he felt her press a hand to his forehead. Gabriel could barely see his vision was so blurry and everything sounded like it was underwater but the pain was in living color coming from the welts that were left on his face, neck as well as his chest from the bats drool.

“I…I…where…?” Gabriel wasn’t even sure what his brain was trying to ask cause it was so hard to think of anything at the moment.

“Hush now, get some rest” The blonde insisted as she gently used her grace to knock out Gabriel again.

Gabriel’s vision slowly came into focus as he moaned softly while placing a hand to his throbbing shoulder. Gabriel slowly sat up feeling like he’d just gone 10 rounds with a T-rex or maybe he’d just gotten run over by one he’s not sure either way his whole body hurt like hell. He looked around the white recovery room then down at his own body that had bandages around his torso with one holding his injured shoulder in place across his chest then he moved his hand from his shoulder to his neck to rub at the bandage covering some of the welts there. Gabriel took a moment to gather his thoughts then took off the sling holding his injured shoulder in place before swinging his legs out from under the sheets and over the edge of the bed. Gabriel was a little wobbly on his feet but other then that he figured he was good enough as he made his way down the hall to find Cas’ room to check on him only to get stopped by the blonde angel that had been treating him.

“What in the heavens are you doing out of bed?” The blonde asked

“I’m looking for Cas” Gabriel answered simply giving that trademark smirk of his to her

“Cas is fine but you shouldn’t be up yet, Gabriel you were far worse then Cas was in fact how you even made it back into heaven is still a mystery” The blonde explained

“What? That’s not possible I felt fine,” Gabriel said arrogantly

“Gabriel your grace was nearly depleted…you were near death” The blonde suddenly dropped taking Gabriel off guard.

“I was? Well I’m fine now so where’s Cas?” Gabriel shrugged causing the blonde to shake her head.

“He’s this way” The blonde sighed realizing that she wasn’t going to win this one so she opted to simply help Gabriel to Cas’ room.

“Cas…is he?” Gabriel asked as he saw Cas lying in the recovery room looking quite pale

“He’s fine, in fact his fractures have mostly healed he just needs a little more rest,” The blonde explained

Gabriel smiled down warmly at Cas’ sleeping face then leaned down to press a loving kiss to his forehead. Cas stirred slightly with a low moan then opened his big blue eyes to stare up at Gabriel who simply ran his fingers through Cas’ black hair. Suddenly Cas leapt up to wrap his arms around Gabriel’s neck in a hug that completely surprised him.

“Gabe! Your alright!” Cas cried out as he nuzzled into the nape of Gabriel’s neck.

“Of course I am Cas,” Gabriel stated in a little confusion

“They said you were hurt real bad and that I couldn’t see you so I just assumed…” Cas began to cry as Gabriel embraced him back.

“Hey, I’m fine…Sshh” Gabriel soothed as he rubbed Cas’ back

“I can’t loose another brother Gabriel! I can’t!” Cas sobbed uncontrollably as the comment broke Gabe’s heart.

“Don’t worry Cas…you’ll never loose me…promise” Gabriel replied as he tapped his forehead against the top of Cas’ head but little did he know that was a promise that would be impossible to keep.