Penance { for Lizardwhisperer

[Nene]

Sam sunk down in his seat, blushing madly and he looked away from his brother. He breathed in and out to calm himself and he looked down to Cas, adjusting his position slowly and carefully so he wouldn't wake him. There was no use becoming angry over this. "Fine, you really want to know? Gabriel roasted my butt for not coming to help you the first time we had to discipline Cas." he responded as calmly and softly as he could, and looked back down to Cas. Fortunately there were no signs of him waking.

..........................

The ER doctor propped up Claire on some pillows and adjusted the bed so she wouldn't strain, and Claire slowly ate her jell-o and drank her chicken broth. "ugh." it wasn't that good. Claire turned an angry look to Jody as she was told there would be new rules, "Yeah, like what? I-you can't-" she began her protest but Jody interrupted her. Claire slammed her spoon down and folded her arms, "what, you're going to spank me?" her jaw went slack when Jody confirmed that she would and threatened to spank her here.

Still, stubborn as ever, Claire kept her arms folded and turned away from the jell-o, not wanting any more. She didn't want another trip over someone's knee like some dumb little girl but she couldn't help being obstinate. She was angry and sour and she hated hospitals.

[Lizardwhisperer]

Dean noted his brother's cringing and flipped the radio back on, "So, next time I tell Cas I'm gonna call his brother, mine's gonna make himself scarce?"

Dean laughed a bit, but it wasn't mean-spirited. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Gabe has a soft spot for ya."
Sam looked appalled, so Dean dropped the subject and they rode in silence, aside from Dean singing along with Jim Croce.
Back at the bunker, Sam handed Cas to Dean, still wrapped in the hunter's jacket and said goodnight. Dean considered the hallway, leading to Cas' room, then turned into his own, tucking the drooling little cherub in and climbing in beside him. Cas immediately rolled over to snuggle up to Dean, sighing sweetly when he got a kiss on the forehead. "'Night, buddy."

...........................

Jody wasn't having it--she clutched Claire's jaw and turned the girl back to face her. As soon as Claire opened her mouth to protest, she got a spoonful of jell-o popped in. "There, was that so hard?"
Jody wiped her foster daughter's chin, speaking more gently, "Look, Claire--I already buried one child--twice. I can't lose another, especially if I can prevent it. I love you and so does Alex--I mean, you can be a bitch, but you're our bitch. Now, let's finish your gourmet hydration and get you dressed and home."

[Nene]

"N-No, because if I don't stick by you when we're disciplining Cas, Gabriel will... ah. He'll... you know." he looked down and sunk even lower, and he shot an appalled look to Dean at the idea that Gabriel could have a soft spot for him. He breathed out slowly out of relief when Dean dropped it and he went back to holding Cas close to him, his heartbeat comforting the sleepy baby.

When they finally after a long drive arrived at the bunker, Sam allowed Dean to take Cas, and he said his goodnights; he placed a soft kiss to Cas' warm forehead and nodded to Dean. "Night Cas... Night Dean." he went to his room to get some shuteye. It was well past midnight and the brothers and their baby angel were spent.

Cas cuddled up close to Dean, his small body so warm to the touch, and he sighed at the kiss. "Ni De..." he said sleepily and he went back to sleep, not to wake til morning.

...........................

"Mmf!" Claire opened her mouth to protest when Jody gripped her jaw and made her look at her, "FFF." she sputtered as the jell-o was spooned into her mouth. She huffed and swallowed, and pouted as Jody wiped her chin. She looked down and sighed at Jody's words and nodded, "... I love you, too." for the moment her badass tough girl demeanor went away and she showed more of her softer side. "You sure they don't want to keep me overnight?" she asked, worried as she still felt horrible and she saw the doctor speaking with the nurse that was taking care of her.

[Lizardwhisperer]

The next day, Dean got up quietly, so as not to wake Cas. He drove into town, to the local department store, leaving with three bags of stuff.

Back at the bunker, he found Sam and Cas up and eating eggs and toast for breakfast.

"Well, lookit little Susie Homemaker." Dean joined them, shrugging in response to where he'd been.

"Something tells me our little adventurer could use a bath, Sam--would you mind?"

With Cas in the bubbles, Dean set to emptying the bags he's brought back--opening packages and cutting off tags.

When Sam returned with a fresh-smelling, damp Cas (a bit damp, himself), Dean announced, "Voila!"
He sat back and watched Cas explore his new things--toy dinosaurs, robots, cars, and Legos, markers and coloring books, paper, glue, and stickers--and a number of sets of book series.

"I figure, if either Sam or I are going to be spending a lot of time with you, here in the bunker, we better have some fun things to keep you busy. What'ya think, Cas?"

..................................

"I think I can spring you tonight--in my care."
Jody caught the Dr.'s attention and after speaking with her a few minutes, she came back to Claire's side. "They are just baffled how the head injury you had on initial exam seems to have miraculously healed. Looks like we're going home, kiddo." Then, "Aw, shoot--I don't even have my Jeep. Where's your car?"

[Nene]

Cas woke shortly after Dean's departure and he made sure he went potty before he went to find Sam. Cas sniffed the air and sighed happily, it smelled so good; however when it came to eating he was very fussy and caused some trouble for Sam, but Sam somehow got him to eat. He'd warned him that if he kept up his tantrum that he would find his bottom in the corner.

Cas ate his breakfast and huffed, and when Dean came in and suggested he needed a bath, Cas shook his head. "I don't WANT A BATH," Cas argued and Sam carried him away. It seemed Cas was having one of those days where he was going to be fussy all day. That would improve some when Dean dumped out the bags that he brought from the store.

Cas immediately grativated toward the markers, and he opened the box. He inspected them and all of the different colors, and he looked at the box. He popped the cap off of the color blue marker and ignoring the coloring books, began to drag the tip of the marker on his hand. He was intrigued by the flow of ink and he wondered if he could also draw on other surfaces and what the flow of ink would look like on concrete, wood or even fabric. Cas' interest was caught by the other toys as well but he was more fixated on his intrigue for the markers and to a much lesser extent the other creative tools Dean had given him.

"... They are interesting," Cas told Dean and he smiled, "These make me happy." he didn't know any better and he went over to the wall, and began to draw on it. Then he rushed over to grab more colors, wondering how they would look together!

"Uh, Dean-" Sam sighed, "Cas! Don't color on the wall, Dean got you coloring books," Sam scolded but not unkindly as he cleaned up the kitchen and noticed how Cas behaved.

..................................

"... Jody, I don't... even know where I am right now." Claire told her foster mother honestly and sighed, "My car... is ... ugh. I can't remember. I think it's... outside that diner, in... Moorhead. That rock'n'roll diner... fuck, where I met Douche-ius. Whatever, it doesn't matter, we're still leaving tonight, yeah? I want to get the hell out of here...whoa." Claire tried to sit up fully on her own and became dizzy, but she didn't want Jody nor her doctor to know how she felt.

[Lizardwhisperer]

Dean was tired--tired from the hunt, from the long drive, and from hauling himself back up at an ungodly hour to try to make Cas happy. This proved to be a bit of a bust, as their little friend was cranky and whiny, all morning--until he discovered his new things. Dean watched with amusement as Cas colored his tiny fingers--then gasped in exasperation, when the brat started to color the bunker walls.
"No, Cas! Keep the markers on the paper and books and off the walls--or you'll lose custody of them." Cas' stern pout gave Dean an inward chuckle, as the hunter knelt on the floor and "drove" some of the boy's toy trucks around, making brrrm-brrrm sounds. Failing to impress, Dean reached in his pocket and produced a black Impala Matchbox Car. "Whatt'ya think of this, Cas?"

....................

Jody made some police calls and tracked down Claire's car, as the girl struggled to slowly get dressed.
"You really did a number on yourself, young lady. We're going right home and you're staying put a while. Gotta let me and Alex help you get your strength back--then, we'll have more than your new rules to talk about.

[Nene]

Cas stomped and began to cry as Dean reprimanded him for drawing on the wall. He was already so grumpy and overemotional this morning.

Cas rose a brow, unimpressed as Dean 'drove' some of the toy trucks around. Those were not Cas' favorite toys, and he was still grumpy at the thought of losing his markers. Cas' sweet blues lit up when Dean presented the Impala car, and he peered up at him, "it looks like your car, De." he said and took it from Dean. He plopped down onto the floor and began to make car sounds, trying to copy what he heard from the Impala. "grrrrv, grrrv, brrm brrm," for the moment, Cas was happy.

Sam turned around with Dean and sighed softly, "he's been like that all morning... he's scared, and he wants his wings... but he can't have them and he knows he can't... but I don't think knowing that is helping. He's acting more like a baby than ... well, the Cas we know." he told his brother. He hoped that Cas was still learning the lessons that Gabriel wanted him to - fortunately, Cas' memories were still very much in tact and he was only giving in a little bit to his child-like desires.

[Lizardwhisperer]

Dean was pleased to see Cas at least a little happier. Huh, the kid didn't do a half-bad Baby impression.

He listened to Sam, nodding, as he watched the little boy crawl around on the library floor. The angel inside him knew practically all the information contained in the books around him, a wealth of knowledge, spanning back from before the dawn of mankind. Of course he was frustrated.

Dean did a quick search, on his phone, then announced, "Who wants to take a road trip? I hear that giant ball of twine is even more spectacular in person."

Dean folded his arms and smirked at the looks he got.

"I'm messin' with you, guys. C'mon, I really do have somewhere fun in mind."

[Nene]

Cas enjoyed himself and the company of the brothers as he played with his toys. He crawled around, driving the Impala and still making the sounds, until he grew tired of this game and went back to the markers and coloring books. He opened the coloring books and flipped through, and he frowned, "Dean. These bees are wearing underpants." he said, showing Dean the coloring book page. He then flipped the pages and became even more perplexed. "The bees are going to school."

Cas dropped the coloring book unintentionally and he teared up, becoming upset that he was so clumsy, but when Dean mentioned a road trip, he calmed down, looking up tearfully. He rose a brow - the giant ball of twine didn't sound very interesting at all and he didn't understand that Dean was joking.

"Where are we going?" Cas asked and he looked down at his colorful hands. He needed to wash his hands and change his clothes.

[Lizardwhisperer]

Dean scooped his little friend up and tossed him above his head, joining him in a laugh. “You’ll see, kiddo. First, let’s get you cleaned up, Picasso.”
Dean carried Cas to the bathroom, bracing the boy against the high sink with one hip and pulling up his sleeves. He turned on the tap and lathered up a facecloth, then handed Cas the bar of soap, scrubbing at his face. “How the Hell did you get market up your nose?” Dean was too busy trying to twist the washcloth into Cas’ itty bitty nostril to notice what the kid was doing. “Cas, cut that out!”

The little angel’s soap art all over the mirror earned him a firm whack on the bottom.

“C’mon, buddy—don’tcha wanna take at least one ride, without dealing with a sore butt?”