For the deaged angels prompts, angels coming back from the empty as babies?
AO3
Dean closed his eyes and counted very, very slowly to ten. “Cas. We are not keeping zombie angel babies in the bunker.”
Cas narrowed his eyes and shifted the babies in his arms. “They are not zombies, Dean. They are not undead.”
“Coming back from the dead seems pretty undead to me.”
“Dean,” Cas pleaded, “they are my family. I… murdered… many of them. The least I can do is give them another chance at the lives they deserve.”
Dean pinched the bridge of his nose and stared at the floor. “Why are they like that, anyway?”
“I don’t know,” Cas admitted. “The most likely theory is that they used large amounts of their grace to escape the empty, and the stress manifested itself as such. As far as I can tell, they all have the same vessels they died in. But… younger.”
The baby in Cas’ right arm babbled loudly and hit Cas in the cheek with his tiny fist. Cas tried to lean away from his assault without dropping him or the baby he carried in his left arm.
“And you can tell which one is which?”
Cas looked insulted. “Of course I can.”
Dean stared at all the babies. “Then which mini douchebags are these?”
Cas gave him a warning look, but name all the babies. He bounced the baby in his right arm. “This is Samandriel.” He bounced the baby in his left arm. “Balthazar.”
“Balthazar? I-had-a-twelve-way Balthazar?”
“Do you know any other Balthazars?”
Dean waved his hand for him to continue.
Cas glanced down at the baby pulling itself up by his pant leg. “That one is Hannah, and the one currently attempting to eat my shoe is Gadreel.”
Dean looked up sharply. “Hold up. That litttle shit is Gadreel?”
“I know your relationship with him was not particularly amiable, but-”
“No, no way, Cas. We are not keeping him in the Bunker. I’m not letting him anywhere near Sam.”
Cas’ voice was icy. “You seemed perfectly happy to let him near Sam a few years ago.”
Dead silence. Then, “That was a low blow, Cas.”
Cas’ face softened. “I’m sorry. I should not have said that. But Gadreel died for me, Dean.” Dean’s face must have betrayed his thoughts, because Cas kept pushing. “To the best of my knowledge, none of them have retained any of their previous memories. He doesn’t even know who we are.”
Gadreel shoved his face against Cas’ shoe and blew a wet raspberry.
“He truly is just a child, Dean,” Cas pleaded. “They all are.”
The babies all seemed blissfully unaware of the severity of the situation. Samandriel was nodding off on Cas’ shoulder. Hannah fell on her butt and tried to stand up again. Balthazar was trying to eat Cas’ tie.
“Three days,” said Dean. “We do a three day trial, and if anything happens, they leave.”
Cas’ smile was like a sunrise. “Thank you, Dean. This means the world to me.”
“I know. I hope it works out. For all of us.”