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Castiel stunned. He had just killed Dagon. The raw power he felt nearly overwhelmed him, and it felt empowering. The Nephil. He needed to bring them somewhere safe—somewhere away from the hunters, away from everything. He remembered the attempt of the apocalypse years ago. The Antichrist. His brother who did not burn in the hellfire, and the demon who was resistant to holy water. He remembered Heaven and Hell feared them and left them alone. His nest moms.
Castiel’s hand was still joined with Kelly’s. Looking up at the brothers’ horrified expression, he said, “This child needs to be born with his full power.” He did not have time. Before the brothers could say anything to him, he flew away—to London.
They soared through the sky. Castiel told her that they were heading to London—far, far away from everything—and that was because he knew someone who could help them. It took them roughly five minutes before they landed in a dark alley in London. They walked to the corner of the street, to a bookstore.
The sign at the door showed they were closed, but Castiel kept banging on the door. "Aziraphale," Castiel called a name. It sounded like an angel's name.
There was a rushing sound from inside before the door swung open. It showed them a man. He was shorter than Castiel, and he had curly light blond hair. He had a smile on his lips before his jaw dropped, horrified when he landed his eyes on Castiel. Of course, he would. Castiel’s face was full of blood. Kelly could tell the man, Aziraphale was surprised when his eyes landed on her behind Castiel. But she trusted Castiel, so if Castiel trusted Aziraphale, she could at least try to trust him as well.
“Thank you,” Castiel said with a ragged breath. He put his arm on the small of her back and helped her to sit in the nearest chair.
“Castiel, what in the earth happened to you?! Who is this?” asked Aziraphale, clearly losing his words, his hands trembling, “Crowley! Oh, my goodness, oh dear—"
Castiel looked at her as if he was asking if she was alright. Which no, she was not, but this was better, so she gave him a nod and a small smile. Castiel turned around to face the other angel. His hands reached out to hold Aziraphale’s trembling hands and began to explain, “I don’t know if you were aware, but I assumed you were cut off from angel radio. So, there was another attempt at the apocalypse in the US. I was tasked to make sure it happened but I rebelled. Yeah, I know, so much like you. But I was too late, now Lucifer is walking on earth possessing humans. He impregnated a human. This is Kelly Kline, and she is carrying a Nephil. Dagon kept her locked before. I helped them and the Nephil killed Dagon through me. But Aziraphale, I swear to myself, he is good. He chose me as his chosen father and he is good. But the hunters wanted to kill him, and angels and demons wanted to have power over him before he was even born, and he was just a child, Aziraphale. And then I remembered about Adam. Please, I- I need help. I need to keep him safe.”
"A Nephil," Aziraphale repeated the word. Kelly remained silent, her hand rubbing her belly, seeking comfort from her baby.
“Angel,” another man came out from the back room. He was lean, tall, a fiery redhead, and a bit weird because he wore sunglasses inside at 10 PM, and he was staring at Castiel. He said, “Eyas! What the heaven happened to you?” Eyas? Maybe it was some kind of angel thing. Kelly saw the worry on the other man’s face before he hovered over Castiel for a second. His eyes fell on her then, questions in his eyes behind those round shades, and she could feel it. He threw a questioning look at the blonde angel.
Aziraphale took a deep breath before repeating Castiel’s explanation, “There is another attempt at the apocalypse in the US. Castiel was tasked with making sure it happened but he rebelled. Lucifer impregnated this woman, Kelly Kline, with a Nephil. Dagon took her before Castiel found her. So, right now, we need to keep them safe,” the angel explained to Crowley.
“A Nephil? Ohshitohshit, okay, okay! Eyas, let me look at your wound, yeah?” Crowley walked Castiel to the back room with him. She could hear the soft murmur of Crowley. She looked up from the direction where Castiel disappeared and caught the blonde angel’s eyes on her.
“Miss Kline—”
“Kelly is fine.” She smiled up at Aziraphale. She trusted Castiel, and from the look of these men worrying about Castiel like that, she thought she could try to trust them as well.
“Kelly,” Aziraphale returned her smile, “Do you want tea? Chamomile would calm and warm you. You flew a long way to get here."
“That will do, thank you,” she said with a smile.
Aziraphale tilted his head towards the stairs. “Come, it’s warmer upstairs.” She rose from the chair and followed Aziraphale upstairs.
This place felt homey, with the dim light, the various shades of warm color, and the wood patterns, the fireplaces with a real fire in them. Most importantly, she felt safe, and her son was finally settling down after the stress they had for the last few weeks. She watched Aziraphale silently. How he moved around his tea corner. There are many containers with different labels with different kinds of tea inside them on the tea shelves in the corner.
“Can I ask something?” She asked the blonde angel quietly.
Aziraphale smiled over his shoulder, “Of course, my dear.”
Kelly took a seat in an armchair near the fireplace. Her coat was off, and she looked down at her blouse. It was dirty. She exhaled, realizing that she didn’t have spare clothes. “Who is Adam?” Kelly asked carefully. She was curious about this Adam. The way Castiel said his name, it was like something similar to this had happened before.
Aziraphale did not answer her right away. He brought the teapot and poured it into two cups. They were surprisingly warm and not too hot, the perfect temperature. She sipped the tea slowly, and the warmth spread to her whole body, and it felt comforting. “He is the antichrist, Lucifer’s son. His purpose was to start the Armageddon. Some Satanist nuns swept the baby antichrist with a human baby. Adam was raised in a lovely home by a loving family and he grew up to be a nice kid. He helped us to stop the Armageddon instead.”
Kelly put down the cup carefully and asked, “He lives here? In London?”
“Yes, he is thirty-seven years old now. Physically, I think he stopped aging in his twenties. Crowley and I were like his guardians or something like that.”
That caught her attention. “So, Jack will have... a longer life?” asked Kelly, her eyes down at her belly. She felt oddly relieved by this. Her son would have a long life and be surrounded by kind people, kind angels. He would never feel different and left out. He would have people who loved him. He would have sort of an older brother.
When she looked up, Aziraphale smiled at her, “Yes.” But then the blonde angel’s smile faltered, and now concern filled his eyes. “Are you aware of the risk of—"
Kelly’s smile wavered. She felt like she wanted to cry. “Yes, I’m aware I probably won’t survive the birth. But I’m glad he will be surrounded by good people.”
Aziraphale instinctively walked over to the poor woman and wrapped his arms around her. “Oh, my dear. It’s going to be okay. I’ll personally teach Castiel how to be a nestmom.”
“A nestmom?” she wondered.
Aziraphale caressed her hair, and carded her hair with his fingers, “It’s an angel thing. Your son, even if he decided to live like an ordinary human like Adam, was still a half-angel. And angels—you see, we were not created at the same time, and Castiel was the younger one. Crowley, the other man with Castiel downstairs, was an archangel and Castiel’s nestmom before he fell.”
“Fell? He is a demon?”
“Yes, but he was… a good-hearted one. He doesn’t like being told he was nice though. He had chosen humanity over heaven and hell for over six thousand years if that could make you feel any better." And it did make her feel better about it. "Anyway, after he fell, I became Castiel's new nestmom. In human terms, we are like a nanny but we have a deeper connection to our core because we imprinted our eyas. Nestmom was supposed to take care of the fledglings. We teach them to fly, to use their power wisely, and to take care of their wings. We did make a nest from soft things; it will help us sleep better and keep our balance when we are flying.”
“Oh… That’s why Castiel was a little bit unsteady earlier.”
Aziraphale frowned his brows, “Unsteady?”
“Castiel told me, he doesn’t sleep and the Winchesters, the humans who were with him, are always on the road. So often they sleep in the car or motel. So, I was assuming that he couldn’t sleep because there wasn’t a nest, right?”
“Wha-what?” Aziraphale pulled back from Kelly and walked toward the doorway before he yelled, “CROWLEY!” and he paced near the doorway. She heard two pairs of rushing steps from the stairs before Castiel and Crowley poked their heads into the room.
“Are you okay, Angel?” asked Crowley, and she noticed he didn’t have his sunglasses. His eyes were yellow, not like Dagon’s, Crowley’s were like reptilian eyes. But she could also feel a concern from those animalistic eyes. It was a bit unsettling for her, for now. And she also noticed Castiel’s face was already healed, and cleaned, like there was never blood on his face.
“NO, Crowley, nothing is fine. Our eyas hadn’t been asleep for years because he didn’t have a nest, the humans who are tasked with him are always on the road.” Aziraphale said he seemed distressed.
“YOU WHAT?” Crowley whipped around to the younger angel beside him. He looked horrified.
Castiel, now Kelly knew he was the youngest angel in the room and noticed the antics of a younger brother, rolled his eyes, “I’m fine—”
“EYAS, NEST. NOW!” Aziraphale shouted again before Crowley dragged the pouting Castiel out of the room.
“I had my sleep when I lost my grace, and at Chrismas at James' house,” she heard Castiel say petulantly. And it only made Aziraphale rigid.
The blonde angel strode towards the hallway that, she guessed, led to the bedrooms. “Say that again?! Lost your grace?!” Aziraphale asked the younger angel. Kelly could see Crowley staring at Castiel blankly when the younger angel turned back to Aziraphale.
“Metatron stripped me of my grace so I couldn’t interfere with his ‘great plan’ and I became human. But I got my grace back!” Castiel said bluntly and it made her jaw drop. For the short time she got to know Castiel, he had always been hesitant, even with Sam and Dean. She knew he hadn't told the whole truth, not the whole truth. But with Aziraphale and Crowley, Kelly could see his body seemed more relaxed even when Aziraphale and Crowley were raging over their emotions. Maybe because they were his nestmoms.
“Metatron did WHAT?” snapped Aziraphale.
“DID YOU FELL?” This one was Crowley. He seemed pained and horrified. Maybe because he was one of the Fallen and he knew how it felt and he didn’t want Castiel to feel that kind of pain.
“WINGS OUT! I bet you haven't preened your wings for a long time!” Aziraphale hovered over Castiel's back.
Castiel pressed his back to the wall and argued, “I didn’t fall, I’m still an angel. I was just stripped.”
“Just stripped—" Crowley repeated, disbelief in his voice.
“Not better!” Aziraphale said furiously.
“Wings out!” Crowley ordered Castiel.
Castiel shook his head, "No!" still pressing his back against the wall.
Crowley rolled his reptilian eyes and pulled Castiel from the wall. Crowley hit Castiel’s upper spine and the angel spread his wings. They were deep midnight blue, almost black, and they were absolutely stunning. Even in the dim hallway, they glow softly. It was just that they were… unruffled.
Kelly heard Aziraphale and Crowley gasp at the sight of Castiel’s wings. “Eyas, what happened to your wings?” asked the demon in a low voice.
“You never bring them out, do you?” Aziraphale asked in his soft voice like he was talking to a frightened child.
Castiel hung his head low. He said in a mumbled voice, “No, I never felt safe to bring them out.”
Both the angel and the demon fell silent.
“Oh, eyas,” Crowley pulled Castiel into a hug. With this display of affection from the demon, Kelly’s opinion of this Crowley softened. Yes, he remembered there was a demon named Crowley with the Winchesters. Maybe she would ask this Crowley about that Crowley later.
Aziraphale joined the embrace. “How about you take a bath first, my dear? And then we will fix your wings. I’m going to get our guess settled first, alright?”
“Please, don’t let the British Men of Letters find out we are here. They are all the way to America just to kill Kelly." Castiel informed them. Aziraphale nodded and pulled away from Castiel and Crowley.
“You know I loathe them too,” Crowley said. Castiel nodded and obeyed his nestmoms. Crowley hovered behind him like a mother feared their child would fall if the child took one step too fast. It was endearing, and Kelly felt safe for the first time since she found out she was pregnant.
“I’m sorry my dear, you have to see that,” Aziraphale’s face was red. He took a deep breath, maybe trying to calm himself. “If I had my way, I'd teach those humans a lesson for using my eyas like that.” She heard the angel grumble under his breath.
“No, I understand. If someone used my son like that, I would be mad as well." Kelly smiled at the angel. He remembered the Winchester’s suggestion about her son, that they wanted to extract her son’s grace and make him human. And they said that in front of Castiel, the person they claimed to be their friend, their brother, who had lost his grace one time and was devastated about it.
“Let’s get you settled, alright?” Aziraphale suggested, pulling her from her hateful thoughts on Castiel’s behalf.
“But I don’t have clothes to change into.” Kelly stared down at her dirty clothes again.
“Oh, right,” Aziraphale said. The angel miraculously had a pile of clothes in his hand the next second. “Here,” he handed them to her.
“Wow, that’s handy. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing, my dear.” Aziraphale opened the door to the guest bedroom. “One question, do you have some kind of attachment to your last name? Or any living family left and we need to move them to safety?”
“No, not really. I’m an only child. And my parents died a long time ago.” Kelly told the angel. Her eyes trailed over every corner of the room before turning back to Aziraphale.
“Alright,” Aziraphale clasped his hand, plans running through his head, "So, our rough plan right now is to let Castiel sleep first, maybe for a week.”
Kelly smiled in amusement at the angel’s first plan. Of course, he would be putting Castiel’s needs first. He was Castiel’s nestmom after all. “Yeah, he really needs it.”
“But in the meantime, Crowley and I will get you both new legal identities. And then move you both to Tadfield.”
“Tadfield?”
“It’s a village. Adam lives there. There is a nice cottage that Crowley and I own there, and Tadfield is protected; Adam has protected the village from everyone he doesn't want to be there. You, your son, and Castiel will be safe there. Now, you take a bath and have a rest, alright?"
Kelly could feel tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She was kind of overwhelmed by their kindness. “Thank you.”
Over six thousand years, heaven forbade the Angels to contact the Fallen. Well, except Aziraphale, and even then, heaven wasn’t aware of it. The angel who guards the Eastern Gate of Eden didn’t know who was Crawly at first until the demon asked the angel about Castiel. Aziraphale remembered it was at the border of Eden's walls after Adam and Eve left Eden.
“Castiel, Seraph fledgling, Angel of Thursday, how is he?” asked the serpent.
Aziraphale stepped back and folded his wing back on his back, away from the demon. He didn’t have his sword anymore to defend himself, but surely, he could fight the demon if he had ill intentions. “Why do you ask?” he asked warily.
The demon didn’t answer him right away. Aziraphale could see Crawly's eyes harden with guilt, looking away at the horizon in front of them, “I’m… worried." Crawly scrunched his eyebrows, “I was his nestmom.”
“You-you are—were Raph—“
“Don’t say that name.” Crawly hissed urgently. They stared away at Adam who was fighting a lion with the flaming sword he gave him. “I don’t know what Her purpose was, but it pained our core if you said our ‘angelic’ name,” the serpent rolled his eyes.
He said nonchalantly, "Well, it must be some sort of punishment."
"Hadn't 'fallen' quite enough of punishment?" Crawly asked to no one, bitterly.
Aziraphale didn’t know what to say to the demon. He must have done something that caused his fall, right? “What did you do anyway?”
The demon whipped around and yelled at him, “I didn’t mean to fall! Even though I’m glad, heaven is full of shit. Except for Castiel.”
Aziraphale tried to read the serpent’s eyes. The concern and guilt in those eyes seemed so genuine. They fell into an uncomfortable silence for a while before he said, “He is not a fledgling anymore. Raziel has trained him now. He was good, especially with his healing ability. I am guessing it was because he imprinted on you?”
Crawly ducked his head. Aziraphale could see his lips tugging up at the corner for a second before it disappeared. “Yeah,” the demon mumbled.
“He was devastated when you fell. He was quite loud as a fledgling. He yelled at Michael that it was a mistake to fall you, Naomi did something to his head, it was for the best, she said.”
Aziraphale watched as rage grew inside the demon’s eyes. “For the bessst.” Crawly hissed angrily.
He had already started it, so he continued, "So, with curiosity like his, he tried to remember, and he sometimes asked about his power, especially his healing power. How he knew how to do A to solve problem A, and why his certain ability was far superior to the other angels. He assumed it was from his imprinted nestmom.” Aziraphale looked down at his feet, “I was his nestmom after you fell. He asked me about that. But, you see, my healing ability is… almost piteous. He knew it wasn’t me who taught him. So, I told him, I couldn’t lie to him, with those eyes and face. How can I resist? Right now, though, I think he already has his memories back, but he fears Naomi will do something to them again. Because he really loathes that woman now.”
The demon ducked his head and chuckled softly, “Yeah, I know. Who could resist those eyes anyway? I remember the look in his eyes, so eager to learn something new.”
“Yeah,” he breathed. They fell into silence again, watching Adam and Eve walk away. From where they stood, the humans almost looked like ants.
“Can you tell him that I didn’t mean to leave him? And that I- I am sorry?” Crawly asked him reluctantly.
“Of course.”
“Thank you for taking care of him when I- fell,” the demon told him. He almost felt Crawly's gratitude caressing his core. But when Aziraphale turned around to his side, the demon was already gone.
They often argued when they met over the centuries. Castiel had become a common and neutral topic between them since then. Right now, though, this was the first time Aziraphale saw the affection Crowley gave to Castiel with his own head and his own eyes.
“I missed you. I wish I could’ve come here sooner,” Castiel whispered. Aziraphale saw the interaction from the bedroom door, a tray with three mugs of hot cocoa in his hands. Castiel sat with his back facing the door. He leaned on the chair's backrest, his wings spread out for Crowley to preen.
“I know, eyas,” replied Crowley solemnly. The demon stopped preening Castiel's wings and placed a kiss on Castiel's strawberry blonde hair.
Castiel shuddered at that. He ruffled his wings. A few feathers fell on the floor. “I wanted to come to you after the Armageddon you prevented. But Naomi erased my memories again," he and Crowley exchanged glances while listening to the young angel's tale. "It was my third time. The second time was when I got an order to kill a kid. There was a prophecy, saying that her lineage would discover the way to eliminate angels. I can’t do that, killing a kid. But, I know the trick now; I can store my memories somewhere in the back of my mind and let them believe I’m broken.
“Or maybe I am broken. It still affects me most of the time, even though I know how to get my control back.”
“You are not broken. That only proves that you are strong. The other angel might not survive what you have gone through." Guilt. Aziraphale's conscience was filled with guilt. He could be there for his eyas, but he was staying on Earth instead. Or at least he should check on him more often. He felt like a shitty nestmom, shittier than Crowley before he fell from his grace. He was sure if Crowley was in his position, he would have checked on Castiel more often. Aziraphale felt guilty because he didn’t even know about this when Naomi was ‘re-educating’ Castiel.
Castiel gave Aziraphale a smile over his shoulder, and it only made Aziraphale want to cry. His eyas grew strong, stronger than anyone else's. He felt pride swell in his chest, but he also felt an ache in his heart. “Michael used me when I was still under Naomi’s thumb. She told me that ‘God commanded you, Castiel. To revive The Righteous Man, Dean Winchester, from hell.’ She used my ability to rebuild the Righteous Man’s soul and body.” Castiel continued. From the way Castiel said Dean Winchester’s name, Aziraphale knew his eyas was fond of this human. He looked at Crowley. He also knew.
“Why were you rise the human again? The seal was in hell, and he had already broken it.” Aziraphale asked.
Castiel exhaled again. “Oh, Michael wanted to use him as her vessel. After you possess a human last time for the first time in our existence, Fake-Gabriel has been experimenting with that. Turns out, we could use the human soul as our power source. Our power would be… limitless. And the Righteous Man’s soul—it was so bright, so powerful, I was so enchanted with it when I carried it out of hell that it managed to bring me back to myself. I realized Michael was going to use this beautiful soul for herself. I can’t let that happen. So, I left a mark on the Righteous Man’s soul. So that Michael could never touch his soul.” Aziraphale could hear Castiel’s fondness when he described how he felt about this one soul.
“Apparently, that was Heaven and Hell’s backup plan. They planned it even before the Armageddon occurred, prevented. Well, except for the vessel thing, the original plan was simply to let Dean rot in hell after he broke the first seal. However, after they found out about using a human’s soul as an angel’s limitless power source, they told me to bring him back.
“They also told me to take a vessel too, his name’s James Novak. He has a daughter and a lovely family. I can’t ruin that. And it’s frightening how much we look alike. Well, except for the hair; he was black and mine was black, but I changed it after the Armageddon to reddish-blondish like both of you and the wings, and I’m a bit taller than James. I told him who I was and what my order to him was, and I pledged him protection instead. He is quite a believer; his faith was so bright, it’s calming. I like to spend Christmas with them, I had a nest at their house."
"I like this human better than the Righteous Man," Crowley mumbled.
"I heard you mention about making us a new legal identity. Would it be possible to extend it to them as well? I don’t want anyone to do anything to harm them to get to me.” Castiel told them, his eyes pleading, and who could resist that?
Crowley caressed the strawberry blonde hair of Castiel. “I’m sure our contact can do something about it.”
"I thank you." Castiel sighed and continued his story. “There was also another antichrist. His name is Jesse. I met him when he was nine or ten years old. And well, he refused to end the world because he loved his mom. So, he decided to disappear with his family and refused to be found. Good for him. I was about to tell him about Tadfield, but I don’t want Dean and Sam to know about Adam and you. I think it was for the best for Jesse not to be found.”
“The antichrist, you met him after your rebellion or before?” asked Aziraphale.
“After. My rebellion started when they were about to break the final seal. Sam was about to kill Lilith. Dean asked me, demanded me, to bring him to Sam. And I helped him, we went to the prophet's house, Charles Shurley. After we found out the location, I sent Dean there, and then Fake-Gabriel smites me. So, basically, I rebelled for him, Dean, the Righteous Man.” Aziraphale caught a sad note in his eyas' voice. He didn’t know if he wanted to strangle the human or kill Gabriel.
Before Aziraphale spat out some harsh words, Crowley beat him to it. “He WHat?! Gabriel that bitch! I loathe that sorry excuse of an angel! I remembered he fucking looked so delighted when Aziraphale was about to walk into hellfire. I’m going to burn his face next time I see him!”
Castiel, the sweetest eyas he could ever have, reached out his hand to hold Crowley’s. And it did make Crowley stop pacing. “But God brought me back. The angels are confused and maybe scared. To them, who were loyal to Michael, it was another nightmare after both of you tricked heaven and hell about your death sentences.”
“You knew it was fake?” asked Crowley with wonder in his eyes.
“Of course, I knew. You are my nestmom. I could feel you the moment you entered the hall, but I saw Zira. So, I knew, somehow you managed to trick them.” Aziraphale's heart warmed at the sight. He knew Castiel and Crowley had a stronger connection between them than Castiel did to him. He was just happy for them.
“You are never alone. You could just ask us, eyas. You always have us.” Aziraphale squeezed the younger angel’s shoulder.
Castiel looked up at Aziraphale, his hand still holding Crowley's. “But you are so happy. Heaven and hell are finally off your backs. And you are finally together.”
“But we also don’t want you to suffer all of it alone.” Added Crowley.
Castiel ducked his head and played Crowley’s fingers in his hand. “I’m not alone. I have James and his family! I have—had? Dean and Sam.”
Sad. Castiel was sad.
“But they are humans, you are an angel. They don’t understand what you need. They don’t understand that we are not designed to live alone. To have a purpose for something,” Aziraphale explained.
“Well, mine was to help the brothers,” Castiel argued weakly, "And James understood about it."
“That’s why you never feel safe to bring out your wings? Because you hunt monsters every day?” Crowley asked, remembering Castiel’s words in the hallway.
“Yeah… except for Christmas, James' daughter Claire liked to preen them.”
Aziraphale moved his hand to Castiel’s nape, helping him stay grounded and not drift away from his thoughts, “I'm glad you have James and his family. But, the hunters, did they even make the effort to get to know you like James did, about what you need? Do you even know what you are to them?”
Castiel tilted his head. “An ally? Sam said I’m his best friend, and Dean said I’m family, I was like a brother to him.” Castiel wasn’t sure of his answer. And it made him… displeased, greatly.
“And, did they treat you as such? Did they ever call you only because they wanted to know you were okay?” Aziraphale asked again. He needed Castiel to understand human relationships. He was so new to humanity.
Castiel fell silent after that. “He said he needed me,” Aziraphale noted the use he, not they.
Aziraphale nodded. He understood, but good Lord, Castiel was so naïve in this matter. “Yes, he needed you. And for what? To help them to hunt? As their celestial being at their disposal? Or as best friends and brothers as they claim? If it was that case, had they ever asked or wanted you just to be there and be there with them? Did they ever just be there with you? Without doing research or hunting? Because, that was what best friends do, what brothers do.” Aziraphale tried to explain, Crowley still holding Castiel’s hand. Aziraphale knew that Crowley knew where this conversation would lead.
"They... call me when they need my help. Or when they think I did something stupid. But Sam likes to text me sometimes. But most of the time Dean only texted me when he needed me to do something.” Castiel answered uncertainly.
And Crowley snapped, “How dare they!” he shouted and began to pace around the room again. Aziraphale grabbed his hand when he paced in front of him. Crowley was trembling with rage. Aziraphale kissed his knuckles and tried to calm him down.
But first, he needed Castiel to understand. “Eyas, it appears that they only use you for your power,” Aziraphale told him carefully.
Castiel had this blank look after that. They had to call his name several times before he snapped out and said in a low voice, "I think- you are right. But—”
“I’m going to pay them a visit.” Crowley decided.
Aziraphale held Crowley's hand tighter. “Crowley, no. It’s not worth it. Taking care of our eyas here is more important.” He said, knowing Castiel was Crowley’s weakness right now. Crowley was back at Castiel’s back, preening the fledgling’s wings frantically like a distressed mother needed to fix something. “Do you want to continue telling us? You don’t need to tell us everything, but we would like to understand what you’ve gone through.”
Castiel nodded, “So after She brought me back. Well, I begin to help the brothers hunting, with Lucifer out from his cage, I think, they would need help. Lucifer killed the real Gabriel. Apparently, he had been under the Norse Gods' wings. Gabriel told the brothers they could open the cage with the horseman's rings. You know before we opened the cage, I blew Michael with a molotov made from holy oil when she was inside Dean’s half-brother, Adam. She burned, but she came back. Limitless power indeed. Lucifer, who was inside Dean’s brother Sam, smites me. I literally explode.”
Aziraphale heard Crowley shudder under his breath beside him. “I’m about to have a heart attack," he whined.
“But God brought me back, again, and this time She upgraded me? I’m an archangel now.” Aziraphale was glad and proud. He squeezed Castiel’s shoulder and let him continue. “With Michael and Lucifer in the cage, Fake-Gabriel planned to restart the apocalypse again. There was a war in heaven, and some angels following my steps believed that God wanted me alive. Well, because She kept bringing me back every time the archangel discorporated me. He lost, and I was tempted to fall him, but I couldn't. So, we clipped his wings and kept him in prison in heaven." Castiel concluded. He could tell the younger angel was exhausted.
"And how did you lose your grace again?" Crowley asked. Aziraphale realized he wanted to know about that too.
Castiel took a deep breath before he started again. “After the war in heaven, Metatron has another idea. I think he was jealous of me? Because God kept bringing me back, but She never spoke to him anymore. So, he had this brilliant idea, that he was going to be a god. I didn’t know about his plan before, he just said that he was going to close the Heaven gate for angels. I told him that it was a good idea, but I wished to remain on earth, and I helped him. He did close the gate, but he needed an archangel's grace for that. So, he used mine. I fell and became a human. But Dean told me he couldn’t let me stay with them.”
And Crowley snapped again, “Those ungrateful hairless apes just kicked you out when you were powerless?” if Crowley was a cat, Aziraphale was sure his furs were standing right now.
“Um, I didn’t understand at the time,” Castiel hung his head lowly, “I was homeless for some time, worked at Gas-n-Sip, and well, Dean came, asking for help,” Castiel hesitated, unsure if he wanted to tell them or not, “And then he left again.”
Aziraphale was sooo done. “I think I will come with you if you want to pay them a visit, Crowley. I'll bring my flaming sword with me." As he looked into Crowley's eyes, he knew Crowley was already planning something in his head.
“Of course, Angel.”
Castiel just sighed, slumped in the chair, and whined, “Please don't ma!”
Aziraphale could only smile when he caught Crowley’s face flustered. Aziraphale knew about the nickname. Castiel told him Ma was Crowley’s nickname, “Can you continue preening my wings, Zira?” and it was his nickname from Castiel.
“Of course.” Aziraphale breathed out, wondering how it was to be an eyas. He was never an eyas, never had a nestmom. Aziraphale was one of many angels that were created for the first time, along with Crowley. Anyway, about nestmom, he remembered asking Castiel something, “How about the Nephil? How could he… come to being?”
Castiel shrugged his shoulders, “You know, the birds and the bees, you literally saw Adam and Eve doing that in the Garden for the first time in human existence, weren’t you, Zira?”
Aziraphale rolled his eyes. “Don’t sass me, kid.”
“Well, when I was human, an imp named Crowley—”
“WHO the heaven is ThAT?” Crowley shouted incredulously and Aziraphale couldn’t help his giggles.
Without paying any attention to Crowley’s dramatic antics, Castiel continued, “—freed Lucifer from the cage, I don’t know for what. But Satan possessed Kelly’s lover and got her pregnant. We managed to exorcise Lucifer back to Hell, but the British Man of Letters and the hunters still want to kill Kelly. Heaven and hell want to get their hands on the kid.”
“And then the kid chose you as his father,” Aziraphale said, ignoring Crowley grumbling beside him about his evil imposter.
“To put it simply, yes!” Castiel said with a sigh, clearly exhausted.
Aziraphale smoothed Castiel’s messy hair. “Let’s get you to bed, yeah?”
Castiel nodded, moved himself to the bed, and positioned himself in the center of the nest. Before he lay down, he turned toward Crowley who was still pissed at his evil imposter. “Would you join me, ma?”
And just like that, Crowley's whole posture softened. "Yes, of course." Crowley spread his wings before embracing Castiel with his arms and his wings.
“You too, Zira.” And Aziraphale joined the embrace from behind Castiel, his wings wrapped around Crowley's.
Castiel sighed in contentment while being embraced with both his and Crowley's wings, “It’s a nice nest.” He mumbled before he fell asleep.
“Welcome home, Castiel,” Aziraphale whispered before they fell asleep.