Chapter Text
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Dean Winchester met the boy with the funny name on an unnaturally cold day in April.
He had been sitting outside with his younger brother, Sam, trying to distract him from the distant sound of his parents arguing inside. Dean loved his family more than anything, but he didn’t understand why they fought so much.
The sound of something crashing had Dean tensing, wondering if he should go inside and ask them to stop, but he didn’t want to leave Sam alone. Instead, he pulled his brother out into the lawn and sat down with him there.
Since all their toys were in the house, Dean had taken to messing with Sam in an effort to keep him occupied, which was stupidly easy to do to a four year old. He poked at Sam’s face and belly, causing him to laugh and bat Dean’s hands away, occasionally grabbing on his fingers and tugging in an attempt to make him stop.
A car door slammed somewhere nearby, and Dean jerked his head up at the noise. For a moment, he thought Uncle Bobby might have shown up. He was the best at talking to their parents when they were fighting. Sometimes he even took Sam and Dean out for ice cream. Dean knew Uncle Bobby was just trying to distract him, when he did this, but he was grateful anyway. Sam was just a kid, and he shouldn’t have to listen to his parents argue.
Dean was disappointed to see their driveway was empty. Frowning, Dean looked around and saw that a car had pulled up to the vacant house just up the street. Dean remembered the family that used to live there. The Middletons. Dean used to hang out at their house all the time when he was younger, they’d had a daughter about his age that liked to watch Transformers with him and make castles out of Legos. When they moved away suddenly almost a year ago, Dean had been really upset that he couldn’t see his friend anymore, not even at school. His mother had been very sad when she told him they didn’t live there anymore, but she didn’t seem to want to tell him why.
The house had been empty ever since, but Dean had noticed someone took down the ‘For Sale’ sign last week. He hoped another family with kids his or Sammy’s age would move in there. He missed having friends in the neighborhood.
Sam tugged at his shirt, bringing his attention back.
“Who’sat?”
Dean looked in the direction Sam had pointed and saw a young boy, probably about his age, standing stiffly on the sidewalk across the street, staring at them intently. He’d never seen the kid before, either on the street or at school.
Dean lifted his hand and waved at the stranger, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Sam did as well, though much more enthusiastically.
The boy hesitated only a second before waving back, and after a moment, he crossed the street and approached the brothers.
Dean was curious, but he wasn’t stupid. His parents had made it clear that it was his job to look after his brother, and that meant being wary of strangers. So, as the boy approached, Dean stood to greet him, but made sure Sammy was slightly obstructed by his body.
The boy stopped a couple feet away from Dean and just stared, and Dean got a good look at him.
He reminded Dean of the private school kids Dean had seen in a movie once. His clothes were a lot nicer than Dean’s, there were no dirt stains on his khaki pants and even his blue button up wasn’t wrinkled at all, unlike Dean’s clothes. It looked like the kind of outfit Dean usually wore church.
The boy stood stiff, with his shoulders back and his head level, as if he was trying to hold himself as still as possible. It reminded Dean of the people who could balance buckets or stacks of bricks on their heads without holding them. He’d tried that a few times with his school books, seeing if he could walk to one end of the house to the other without dropping them. Dean had never made it very far.
The whole time Dean was staring at him, the boy did the same. The attention made Dean uncomfortable, he’s never had anyone look at him like this. Dean made sure to look Cas in the eye. His father had said that real men make eye contact, or else they’d seem weak. Dean didn’t want to seem weak.
“Uh, hi.”
“Hello.” The boy said.
Dean frowned, the kid seemed odd, and Dean worried he might be the kind that liked to sit around and read or play piano. Dean didn’t think this kid was the type to play with Legos.
“Did you just move in up the street?”
He nodded. “Yes, I live there with my brothers.” He paused and then seemed to remember something and added, “my name is Castiel.”
Dean scrunched up his face and eyed the boy. “Tha’s a weird name,” he accused.
The boy with the weird name frowned slumping his shoulders, and Dean immediately felt bad. His mother had always taught him to be nice to other people and respect their differences, and she would be upset to know that Dean had hurt someone’s feelings.
He hurried to reassure him, “sorry! It’s not a bad name,” he stepped forward and waited until Cas-something looked back up at him. “lt’s just kin’a hard.” Dean furrowed his brow, trying to remember the way the other boy had said it. “Cast’l, Casseel, Cast-el.”
The boy tilted his head to the side, looking confused but less offended than before. “Castiel,” he said again slowly.
Dean opened his mouth to try again, but he didn’t get past “Cas-” before Sam interrupted him.
“Ca-tle!” Sam shouted bouncing up and down on the grass. “I’m Sam!” He said leaning around Dean and pointing proudly at his chest. “And this is my big bruv’r Dean.” Sam nudged Dean slightly.
“Hello, Sam.” Cas nodded down at him, before turning his gaze to Dean. “Hello, Dean.”
Dean held out his hand like he’d seen his father do and waiting until Cas went to take it, “Hey, Cas, it’s nice to meet you.”
Cas seemed confused by the nickname, but he didn’t tell Dean he couldn’t use it, so Dean figured it must be okay.
The three of them sat in the grass, Dean didn’t think Cas would want to get his pants dirty, but Cas said he didn’t mind, and they talked for a long time.
Cas told him he had moved here from Colorado with his older brother Gabriel, and a younger brother, Inias. Dean was sad for him when he said he didn’t have parents but Cas said it was okay because he had Gabriel to take care of him.
Dean was excited to find the boy was his age, and that they’d both be going to the same school in August. Dean still thought he was a little weird, but he wasn’t as lame as he’d thought. Cas had never heard of the Transformers or Star Trek, so he wasn’t a fan like the girl who used to live on the street, but he agreed to watch it with Dean sometime, so he supposed that was something.
It was a long time before Dean’s parents came out to get them. Sammy, hopefully oblivious to the fighting, ran up to his mother immediately, grabbing her legs and shouting about the new friend they made.
Cas stood when Dean did, hovering next to his shoulder as he introduced Cas to his mom and dad. Cas offered both of them a handshake and said “it’s very nice to meet you” which earned a nod from his father. His mother seemed to think Cas’s politeness was adorable.
Promising to come by again sometime, Cas left, and Sam and Dean went inside for dinner.
- - - -
“Gabriel!” Castiel called, shutting the door behind him as he tumbled into the house. “Gabriel!”
Gabriel appeared in front of Castiel in an instant, eyes wide and brows raised. He stared down at Castiel curiously, eyes searching his face.
Pulling the oversized lollipop from his mouth with a slick noise, wings still fluttering at his back from the sudden flight, he said, “what is it, Castiel?”
Gabriel assured him that the humans could not see his wings the way Castiel could. That only other angels could see the shadow of his wings, while they were hidden. Castiel paused to stare up at Gabriel’s wings enviously. He couldn’t wait until he got his own.
“I made a friend today.” Castiel told him seriously, with just a hint of excitement in his voice. He’d never had a friend before, other than Inias. He hadn’t had a chance to meet a lot of people when they lived in Colorado. “His name is Dean and he lives down the street. He’s really nice and his soul is so bright, Gabriel. He has the brightest soul I’ve ever seen.”
It was true. The light of the boy’s soul is what had drawn him to the house in the first place. He was almost like a beacon, sitting out in his front lawn and shining bright enough to catch Castiel’s eye the moment he stepped out of the house. Castiel couldn’t imagine how bright it must look to someone like Gabriel.
Castiel was much younger than Gabriel, who had gotten his wings centuries ago, and bonded with a human he knew at the time.
Gabriel had told him that their father wanted the angels to grow up among humans so they could better understand them. As fledglings, Castiel and his brother, Inias, were still somewhat stronger, faster, and more knowledgeable than the humans, but they wouldn’t receive their wings and become full angels until they hit puberty, (which Gabriel tells them probably won’t be until their mid-twenties). Only when they got their wings would they will be able to enter Heaven.
Castiel was never too interested in the idea of Heaven, probably because Gabriel always seemed so cynical about it.
In order to remain on Earth – at least, for extended periods of time – they need to create a bond with a willing human. Only by using the power of the human’s soul would they be able to hide their wings and tether themselves to Earth. Though Gabriel and his human had a somewhat ‘on again, off again’ relationship, he’s assured Castiel that most angels and humans bonded platonically.
Gabriel’s human, Kali, was the reason they were currently in Kansas. Kali had been reborn a few years ago, and once Gabriel found her he’d relocated them immediately. Castiel hadn’t met her yet, assuming that it was because she was still so young by human standards. Gabriel was content to wait until she was older, before approaching her and reminding her of their bond.
“Well, can’t wait to meet him kiddo.” Gabriel said with a grin.
He summoned another handful of lollipops and offered one to Castiel, shrugging when Castiel shook his head.
“You didn’t tell him about the ‘angel thing’, did you?” Gabriel asked around a grape lollipop, pausing halfway through opening a new one to tap it against his head. “You know we gotta keep that under our hats, yeah?”
Castiel sighed. “I didn’t tell him anything, Gabriel. Promise.”
“Good.” Gabriel nodded. “Now go find your brother. We’ve got some errands to run.”