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“We should be focusing on reversing whatever spell that witch cast, not goofing off,” Sam complained as he poured through yet another book of lore from the bunker’s vast library.
“I agree,” Castiel said as scanned the pages of a different tome. “But he is being rather insistent, and it’s becoming somewhat distracting.”
“I wanna go trick or treating, Sammy!” Yelled Dean as he ran into the room, his four year old body full of far too much energy. “I wanna costume, and I wanna get candy, and I wanna do it now!” They’d been dealing with this for over an hour already.
“Dean, we need to be fixing what the witch did,” Castiel scolded him.
“You’re not the boss of me, Cas,” Dean pouted. “You’re the same age as me, so you can’t be.” The freckle faced child stuck out his tongue at the angel before running back off again. Castiel just sighed and turned the page, his legs dangling in the air because they weren’t long enough to touch the floor now.
Whatever the spell was that had hit Dean and Castiel, causing them to de-age, had also apparently worked on their mental ages as well. The angel was quite certain that Jimmy, were he still in this vessel, would probably have been acting the same as Dean right now.
“Maybe we should just take him?” Sam suggested, closing his book. “We’re obviously not getting anywhere right now, and I doubt taking a break for a few hours would really affect this one way or the other. Besides, he didn’t get that much of a childhood, since everything started around this age. Maybe this is a temporary good thing?”
Castiel closed his book as well. “I didn’t think of it that way, Sam,” he said, still not used to hearing his voice come out so high pitched. This wasn’t the first time he was in a child’s body, but Claire hadn’t been quite this young for the short amount of time he used her body, so this was all quite new to him. “Dean could certainly use more happy memories.”
“So, to the store then?” Sam asked, and Castiel nodded. “Hopefully there are some costumes left still,” he muttered before calling to Dean.
“Oh boy, trick or treating,” Dean said from the backseat of the Impala, bouncing up and down no matter how many times Sam told him to sit still. “This is gonna be so much fun! You’re gonna love it Cas, I promise.”
“Dean, I’m not actually a child, so I have no reason to go trick or treating,” Castiel said, which was apparently the worst possible choice since Dean immediately burst into tears. “You can still go, though,” Castiel promised, trying to sound as soothing as possible.
“Wanted ta go with you, Cas,” Dean said in between sniffles. He rubbed at his eyes, though tears were still leaking out.
“Of course I’ll go with you, Dean. I’m sorry,” the angel said, not wanting Dean to start crying again. He really hoped they could lift this curse soon, because children were a lot more difficult to deal with than he had originally imagined.
“You’re gonna love it,” Dean said, already back to his smiling, happy self.
Just as Sam had expected, the costume selection at the store was rather sparse, having already been picked over by the other children and families going trick or treating that night. But Dean still rushed over, all excited energy and laughter. Sam and Castiel followed behind him, but Dean was already holding up a dark colored costume by the time they got there. “I wanna be Batman!” He shouted, holding the clothing up like he had won a prize.
Sam smiled, obviously amused at how Dean was acting. “Sure, if it fits we’ll get that one.”
Then Dean rushed off to another section of costume pieces, and was back in seconds holding a plastic bag filled with black feathers. “And Cas can be an angel.”
“Dean, I…” Cas started to say before Dean cut him off.
“Please, Cas?” He begged, giving the real angel a pleading look that would have looked completely ridiculous had he still been an adult. “They’re nowhere near as pretty as your real, actual wings, but they’re kinda close,” he continued, holding up the package awkwardly to show off the picture of a little girl wearing them.
Castiel felt himself blush, even though he didn’t fully understand why. This wasn’t the first time he’d been complemented, or even the first time Dean had complimented him. Yet he could still feel the heat staining his cheeks. “Thank you,” he said softly, feeling more awkward than he usually did. He accepted the wings from Dean, who was smiling at him in a way he’d never seen him smile before, and tried not to let his disgust show when he saw a little plastic halo was included with the wings. Why humans ever decided angels had such a silly thing as halos, he would never understand. At least it didn’t come with a harp.
The Batman outfit ended up fitting perfectly, much to Dean’s delight, and after grabbing two special orange plastic buckets to collect the candy in, they were on their way back to the bunker. Dean went right back to jumping around in the back seat until Sam threatened to not take them if he didn’t settle down. Dean was even more well behaved than when he was an adult for the rest of the ride. Castiel would never understand children, even if it was Dean.
Since the bunker was located quite a distance out of town and had no neighbors, they left early enough to drive to one of the suburbs in the nearest city. Dean was still being well behaved, though every so often Castiel could hear him say, in a gruff voice, “I’m Batman.” Since Metatron had given him all of his pop culture knowledge, Castiel knew enough to know that Dean was imitating the character, but he was unsure what appeal it held.
He was doubly unsure why anybody would ever want to wear fake wings like the ones he had on his back right now. Even through his shirt, they itched, and they barely resembled the real thing. As soon as Dean wasn’t looking, Castiel was planning on ‘losing’ the halo, as well. But at least the look of awe that Dean had given him when he stepped out of his room had been worth it. And when Dean had stuttered out “You look so awesome,” Castiel had found himself blushing again.
The angel was shaken out of his thoughts when he felt the car stop and Sam announced, “Well, here we are, guys. Ready for some candy?”
“Yeah!” Dean shouted from the back seat, already scrambling for the door handle. Castiel climbed out of the Impala more slowly, but then Dean grabbed his hand and yanked him along, explaining how trick or treating worked as they headed towards the first house.
The lessons didn’t seem to stick, though, because more often than not Castiel forgot to say “trick or treat” when he was supposed to. Dean would elbow him in the ribs to remind him, but thankfully most of the people passing out candy just thought his awkwardness ‘adorable’ instead of strange.
“They’re so cute,” a girl in her early twenties told Sam after giving Castiel and Dean their candy. “Are they yours?”
“Uh, no,” Sam stumbled over his words, the question somewhat unexpected. He recovered quickly though. “That one’s my brother, and that one’s his friend,” he explained as he pointed to each child. Both things were technically true.
“Best friend,” Dean corrected his little brother, pulling Castiel in for a tight side hug.
A second girl walked up behind the first and hugged her from behind. “Aww, they’re so cute, just like we were back then,” she said, laying her head on the first girl’s shoulder.
The first girl laughed. “Yeah, they are, aren’t they? You guys gonna get married, too?” It was then that Castiel noticed they both had matching rings, which usually indicated a married couple.
Castiel didn’t know how to respond, but it didn’t matter because Dean apparently did. “Yep,” he said proudly, squeezing Castiel even tighter. “Cuz I’m in love with him.” Castiel froze while the girls both giggled. They told Castiel and Dean again how cute they were, and added a second handful of candy to each of their buckets before closing the door. Dean started to hop down the stairs, but Castiel was still frozen to the spot. Sam was also unmoving, staring at Dean.
“Hey, you guys comin’?” Dean called from the sidewalk when he finally noticed that he was alone.
Sam jogged to catch up, but Castiel could barely handle anything above a walk. Had Dean meant what he said? The angel went through the motions for the next few houses, though his mind was elsewhere, playing what Dean had said over and over, trying to figure out what it had meant. Was it just because they were children, or was it how Dean felt even when an adult? Castiel would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t attracted to the hunter, hadn’t been attracted to him for years now. From what he understood of romantic love, it was definitely what he felt towards Dean. But never had he thought his feelings might be reciprocated.
When their buckets were both full of candy, they all headed back to the Impala. Castiel stopped Dean before he climbed into the back seat. “Did you mean what you said back there?” He asked, hoping Dean was old enough to understand. Dean nodded. “Even when you’re an adult?” Dean nodded again. “Why did you never say anything?”
“I was scared,” Dean admitted, blushing a little himself now. Then he looked at Castiel and smiled. “Dunno why now, though. It’s not really scary. Not like demons or ghosts or monsters.”
Castiel could feel tears well up in his eyes, he was so happy. “I love you too, Dean,” he said, never thinking he would be able to say it out loud. Then Dean did something even more unexpected, and leaned in to kiss Castiel. It was a quick peck on the lips, completely innocent, but probably meant everything when you were only four years old.
They were interrupted by Sam calling out of the open car window, “As glad as I am that you two guys finally got your heads out of your asses and admitted your feelings for each other, we need to get back to the bunker. I’m sure Dean should probably be in bed soon or something.”
“Don’t wanna go to bed,” Dean pouted, back to being a normal child again.
“Tough,” Sam said, turning the car on. “Now get in already.”
“Meanie,” Dean muttered under his breath, before opening up the door. “Since we’re boyfriends now, you wanna ride back here with me, Cas?”
Castiel nodded. “I’d like that, Dean.”
“And can I have your Snickers? They’re my favorite.”
“Of course, Dean.” Never, in his very long life, had Castiel ever been more thankful that witches existed than right at this moment.