Castiel found Gabriel in Anna's room, patching up her wounds. Her injuries looked quite serious.

"Gabe, they're gonna kill Luci!" He cried as he approached Gabriel.

Gabriel saw him and was about to be happy that he was back, until he realized what he said. "What?"

"Th-they're gonna kill him! M-Michael has a s-sword, and he's gonna kill him!"

"Oh. His sword, huh?" He murmured.

"Yeah. Is it because he hurt Anna?" He approached Anna's bed, seeing her face covered in bruises.

"Probably. She'll be okay, she's just resting now. I decided to keep an eye on her- are you sure they intend to actually kill him?"

"Well, what else do you use a sword for?"

He saw Cas's point and nodded truthfully. "Good point. But... I don't think they're actually gonna... kill him. I think... he's about to fall."

Cas had heard of this before, but he never really knew what it was supposed to mean. "What do you mean by fall?"

"I mean... he's gonna fall from grace. Fall from Heaven."

This was a bit of a surprise for Cas. "Oh. That's a really long fall."

"Yeah. It is. Kind of a shame, too. He had a pretty big responsibility."

"What was it?"

"He's been guarding this thing called the Darkness. There's a little mark in his arm, it's like the lock and key to the prison where the Darkness is kept. Funny thing is, he hasn't really started acting up until-" He suddenly had an epiphany. "Oh my god."

"What?"

He looked Cas in the eye. "We need to stop them."

They flew down to the main cloud of Heaven, where Lucifer was about to be cast out. "Stop!" Gabriel called.

Everyone stopped and looked at him. "Gabriel, we don't have time for this." Michael groaned.

"Dad, it's not him! It's the Mark!" He walked up to his father. "Dad, the Darkness is getting to him. It's the Mark, it's corrupting him. If we just move it somewhere else-"

"I know." He interrupted.

"What?"

"What?" Michael echoed.

"I know that it's the Mark. I would have had him cast out long ago if it hadn't been for Michael's persistence. He thought he could snap Lucifer out of it. But... I'm afraid he is too far gone."

"But it isn't him!"

"I am aware. But the only foreseeable option in regards of removing the Mark is transferring it to another angel. Is this truly what you want?"

Gabriel thought about it before answering. "Give it to me."

"No!" Cas cried, not wanting the Mark to corrupt him.

Gabriel looked down at him. "Sorry, little bro." He looked back at his father. "Let me carry the Mark. We don't have to cast Lucifer out. Let me take the Mark."

"There is no point, Gabriel. Lucifer has carried the Mark for far too long. It is too late for him."

"He is my brother. I won't let you do this."

"It is not your decision." He looked to Michael. "Do it, now."

"No!"

But it was too late. Michael used his sword, and he had cast Lucifer out.

~

Gabriel and Cas sat in his room, coming to grips with what happened. They were both pretty shaken up about it, Gabriel most of all. He thought he could save him. He thought there was another way.

"Maybe if I had gotten there sooner," He thought aloud. "Maybe it wouldn't have been too late."

"Yeah," Cas replied flatly. "Maybe."

"He didn't deserve that. Sure, he got on everyone's nerves, but... I do too, and I haven't fell!"

"He hurt Anna." Cas looked up at him with starry blue eyes.

Gabriel nodded, seeing his point. "Yeah. I know. But... there's redemption for everyone, Cas. It's never too late."

Cas would remember this. It's never too late. "Why do you think he hurt Anna?"

"I'm not sure. That Mark corrupted him, so who knows? Maybe the Mark had a bone to pick with her."

Cas found himself fascinated by this "Mark". It contains the Darkness, but he didn't know what that was. But he wouldn't ask, it seemed pretty bad.

"So," Gabe decided to change the subject. "How was Earth?"

Cas smiled at the thought. "It was great! I saw a kangaroo at the zoo!"

Gabe grinned. "Good for you." He intentionally added to the rhyme.

"And I met a boy named Dean! He was really nice and funny, and I'm gonna see him again tomorrow!"

"Ah, making friends already, munchkin?" He ruffled Cas's hair.

Cas giggled and fixed his hair. "Yup!"

"Tell me, what's the first thing you saw when you got to Earth?"

Cas's smile faded as he remembered. "Jimmy."

Gabe became confused. "Who's Jimmy?"

"The birdie. He died."

He very much didn't like what he was hearing. "Aw, I'm sorry Cas. Michael brought him back though, right?"

Cas looked up at him and shook his head no. This seemed to surprise Gabriel.

"Huh. He didn't." He murmured.

"I wanted him to, but he said that it was the 'way of our father'."

"Did he now?" He seemed to get frustrated.

"Why did Dad kill the bird?"

Gabe sighed softly. "He didn't actually kill the bird, he just... allowed him to die. That's the way it works, Cassie. You're born, you live, then you die. That's just how it is."

Cas looked down at his hands. "But why?" He murmured.

Gabriel sighed softly. "It's getting late. You should get to bed."

"I'm not tired yet." He murmured.

"I don't blame you. But just go to bed and I'll be there to read to you in a minute. I've got... things to deal with."

Cas nodded and went to his room, getting into bed and thinking about everything that just happened. Lucifer fell. But where did he go exactly? Was he in North America? Where could he be? Cas wondered all of this as he held his kangaroo doll with red button eyes.

He couldn't help but to hear an exchanging of words outside his closed door. He couldn't hear very well, but it sounded like Gabriel. "You sent Lucifer to hell right in front of the kid! You know how scarred he could be now? And not to mention that bird! Jimmy was it? You could've healed the poor thing! Did you not stop and think about how upset Cas was? What the hell, Michael?"

Lucifer was in hell? That's where he was? Cas couldn't believe it. That was horrible, even for Lucifer.

"I'm sorry, Gabriel. But he must learn that not everything is so bright and happy. He can't grow up thinking life is a fairy tale."

"He's just a fledgeling! Take it easy on him, alright!"

Michael sighed lightly. "Yes. Alright."

"Thank you." Gabriel's tone softened. He spoke again, too quiet for Cas to hear, and he walked into Cas's room. "Hey there, you little tyke." He grinned.

"Can you read now?" He asked softly.

"Of course, little bro." He spawned the book into his hand and read it until Cas dozed off. He had the most vivid dream about him and Dean, down on earth at the zoo with the kangaroos and wombats, having so much fun together. It was a good dream.

When he awoke, his immediate thought was Dean. He was meeting him at the zoo at noon. He got out of bed, kangaroo doll in hand, and went to find Gabriel. He soon found him at the main cloud of heaven. "Gabriel!" He called.

Gabriel saw him and smiled. "Morning, Cassie!"

"Gabe, I need to go to earth. I'm meeting Dean there, at the zoo. I need to be there at noon."

"Oh. Well, I should probably talk to dad about it first. Don't know how I can even look at him though."

Cas looked down at his feet. "Because of Luci?" He looked to Gabriel again.

"Yeah. It-it's okay, I'll ask. Let me go find him." He left to look for their father, leaving Cas alone.

While Gabriel was gone, the little angel looked around for something to occupy his time. Against the cloud wall stood a pedestal which held the halo, suspiciously unguarded. The halo caught his eye, and he couldn't help but be drawn to it. Looking around to make sure he was alone, he went to the pedestal to look at the halo. Since he was so young, his idea of looking at something was picking it up and messing around with it until he was bored; which so happened to be his intent for the halo.

He was rather short, so he had to stand on the tips of his toes in order to reach it. Once he grabbed hold of the halo, he held it in front of him, a small grin on his face. He wondered what sorts of places he could go to with the halo. He very much wanted to go to Australia, but he also wanted to see Dean again. Maybe they could go to Australia together some day.

He thought back to the day they spent together yesterday at the zoo, how much fun they had. For Cas, it was the best day ever. Before he knew it, he was lost in his thoughts, and suddenly was not in Heaven anymore. He was back at that park bench where he and Dean parted ways. He must've thought too much about Dean and the halo brought him there.

Realizing he had moved, he jumped up, dropping the halo. It made a loud CLANG! as it hit the sidewalk. He didn't mean to use the halo, he only wanted to look at it. Although, now that he was there, he might as well wait for Dean. So he picked up the halo and sat down on the bench, and waited.

It felt like forever as he waited for Dean. But he was ever persistent as he sat there, occasionally eating candy from the kangaroo pouch. At times it seemed like Dean would never show up, and he nearly gave up, until he saw a familiar car park nearby. He saw Dean's father step out of the driver's side, Dean out of the back. A smile lit up Cas's face as he laid eyes on the freckled boy.

"Dean!" He exclaimed, hiding the halo in his little overcoat. He ran up to Dean, hugging him tightly. Dean hugged him back, chuckling.

"It's only been a day, Cas."

"Feels like forever." He released Dean, looking into his emerald green eyes. "I wanna go to Australia."

Dean seemed surprised to hear this. "That's a bit far away, Cas."

"How far?"

"I dunno, like, a million miles."

He didn't know Australia was so far away from Kansas. A million miles. That sounded like a lot.

"Where's your brother?" John asked. "Michael, was it?"

"He's home. I... left without telling him."

John's eyebrows shot up. "You came here alone? Without an adult?"

Cas nodded shyly. "It was an accident. I - I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. We should probably call him, or your parents. You have parents, right?"

"I have a dad, and a lot of brothers and sisters."

"Well, we should call one of them. Do you have their number?"

Cas gave a confused look. "What number?"

"You know, like a phone number."

This didn't help his understanding. "What's a phone?"

John wasn't sure what else to say. "Um... maybe you should... come with us to our house and we can figure everything out, okay?"

Cas nodded. "Uh huh."

Dean looked up at his father. "But dad, we were gonna spend the day at the zoo!"

"Priorities, Dean."

While they went to the Winchesters' house, Gabriel had just discovered that Castiel was gone. He walked back to where Cas was. "Well I can't find him. Sorry buddy." He stopped when he realized Cas wasn't there. "Cas? Cassie?" He looked around until he saw that the halo was missing. "Son of a bitch."

He looked everywhere for Castiel, with no luck. Every cloud, every nook, every cranny. He was nowhere to be found. That's when Gabriel started to panic. He found Michael to panic to.

"Michael, I can't find Cas! And the halo's missing too! I've looked everywhere, they're just gone!"

Michael calmed him down. "Don't worry, we'll find them."

"We better. And I can't find dad either so he can't help. I'm really freaking out, man! What if Cas went to Australia without me?!"

"Gabriel! Calm yourself down! I'm sure Castiel is just fine."

Gabriel remembered something Cas said. "He said he was visiting someone today. Dean something."

Michael recalled this name. "Dean Winchester. Yes, we should start there."

"How are we gonna get there without the halo?"

He thought about this. "We will have to make another one."

"How're we gonna do that? It took centuries to make the first one, and that was with dad here."

"I will figure something out. You try to make contact with dad, and Raphael and I will handle the rest."

Gabriel nodded. "Okay. Sounds good." But when Michael left, he felt hopeless. How could he possibly get in touch with him? It seemed impossible. But he would have to try. For Cassie.

(A/N: this ones a bit shorter than I wanted it to be but whatever. I'm liking this fic what about y'all?)