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John makes the family sit down on one of the beds in the hotel room while he stands in front of them. Mary sits on the edge of the bed, Sam curled up in her arms. The new man – Castiel – stands at the foot of the bed, closest to the spilled salt. Dean sits on the bed, but he has a firm grip on Castiel’s coat sleeve. The man just looks amused by that.
“Okay, first thing.” John says finally. He points at the wall. “What was that?”
Mary answers him. “A ghost of some kind. One of the entities that haunts the hotel. I couldn’t tell you what kind without doing some research on it.” She shrugs. “I should have salted the place. Dammit.”
“It would have gotten in anyway.” Castiel replies. “This place is soaked in energy. The spirits here travel freely.”
Mary tilts her head back and closes her eyes. “Damn. It.”
John holds up his hand, drawing their attention back to him. “How do you know about it?”
That earns him a small sigh. “I used to be a hunter. My entire family – I grew up hunting these things. Ghosts, demons, wraiths, everything.” She’s shaking now, starting to cry, and John knows it’s not because of the ghost. “I didn’t want to do it anymore. I wanted a normal life. I thought if I pretended nothing was out there, then maybe it would leave me and my family alone.”
John can’t help it. “You should have told me.”
“I should have. But I couldn’t. You never would have believed me.”
He sighs. “Yeah. I can’t say I would have.” He turns his attention to Castiel. “So who are you?”
The man merely looks at him. “My name is Castiel. I’m an angel of the Lord.”
Mary snorts. “I’ve seen a lot. I’ve never seen an angel before.”
Castiel shrugs. “We stay under the radar. Very rarely are we ordered to directly interfere with humans, but the night of the fire I was given orders to protect this family.”
John holds up a hand. “So the fire was started by something – something not-normal?”
“A demon called Azazel. I don’t know the details, but I know he’s been targeting six month old children. I was ordered to stop him. Dean came into the nursery right before the fire.”
Dean nods. “I heard them talking. I didn’t want anyone to hurt Sammy.”
“So you’re the reason they were already in the yard.” John realizes.
“Yes.”
John stares at them for a moment. “Okay, okay. I need a moment to process this. We’ll check out tomorrow and find somewhere else to stay, and we’re gonna pretend like everything is normal until we get home.”
Mary nods. “Okay. I can do that.”
/--------/
That’s exactly what they do.
For the next two days, they stay in a small hotel that’s definitely not haunted. Mary salts the doors and windows anyway. They stay in the city for a while, visiting the tourist hotspots, but they don’t return to the Stanley Hotel.
John doesn’t see Castiel, but he has no doubt the man is around. Dean doesn’t seem happy that his new friend is keeping his distance, but he’s more concerned about looking after Sam than anything else. As long as Sam is happy, Dean is at least content.
The drive home is uneventful, normal. Just like John expected this entire trip to be.
They get home. Dean and Sam are settled in for the night, Mary asleep upstairs. John stands in the kitchen, a beer in his hand, staring blankly at the floor.
“I don’t understand your trepidation.”
John looks up. Castiel stands there, keeping a respectable distance from him, hands tucked into his coat pockets. Despite his unnatural blue eyes and the weird way he holds himself – leaning slightly forward, like he’s compensating for weight on his back – he looks normal. He could be someone that John saw at the garage.
“Everything was fine until the fire.” John says quietly.
“Everything is fine now.” Castiel takes a step forward. “Your wife is alive. Your sons are unharmed. Why are you so distressed?”
John can only stare at him. He looks so earnest, so confused, and suddenly he can’t help but laugh.
“You know what? You are absolutely right.” He sighs again and sets the beer aside. “Tell me this – what’s the life expectancy for a hunter?”
“Not long.” Castiel admits readily. “Most hunters, however, hunt alone. As you can imagine, most do not wish to endanger their loved ones.”
“And with no one to watch their backs, they just die quicker.”
“Exactly.” It’s Castiel’s turn to sigh, and the motion is so human it startles John. “They are soldiers in a never-ending war, and they are fighting alone. Once you start fighting, you never stop. Even when you want you.”
John nods, considering. “All right, then. No matter what, these things are going to keep happening, right?” Castiel nods. “Then there’s only one thing to do.” He puts the beer back in the fridge and starts back to his bedroom, but pauses.
“You said you were assigned to us. Did you mean that?”
“Of course. Those are my orders.” He allows a small smile to cross his face. “And I admit, I’m fond of Dean and Sam.”
John grins at him. “Thanks. That makes it better.”
Then he vanishes into his bedroom.
Castiel watches him go for just a second before vanishing from sight.
/---------/
The next morning, the family gathers at the breakfast table. John waits until everyone is seated with scrambled eggs in front of them before casually speaking.
“You’re going to have to start teaching us everything you know, Mary.”
Mary almost drops her fork. She stares at her husband. “But – “
“I’m not saying we’ll start hunting. I don’t want to paint an even bigger target on our backs. But these things are probably going to keep finding us.” He flashes her a grin. “Besides, Lawrence is home. I don’t want these evil bastards anywhere near by neighborhood.”
Mary gapes at him for a second before bursting out laughing.
“God, I love you.”
Dean perks up. “Will Cas help us?”
“If he wants to.” John says. “As long as he wants to stick around.”
Hidden from sight but still watching, Castiel smiles.
And so it begins.