Work Text:
The first time Dean saw her, he was taken by surprise. He’d known, of course, that she was half Angel, half Demon- that was why he and Cas were there after all- but he hadn’t expected that it would be as obvious as it was.
Her hair was a vibrant red and hung free around her shoulders. She wore a shirt two sizes too large for her slender frame and had it knotted around her thighs over her jeans. Her head was ducked down low over some kind of gaming device, headphones covering her ears.
She held her wings high and tight against her back, and Dean couldn’t stop staring though the two-way mirror at her. She knew it too if the fine tremble that ran through them was any sign. They were large for a child of her size and age. The leather of them- from her Demon mother- was a dark, nearly black red. The feathers from her Angel father’s heritage started at the joint where it was hidden beneath the drape of her top and followed the ridge of her wings. They trailed down the lines of the spines, thinning out half-way down her wings to reveal the Demon leather. The feathers were white streaked with the same red of her hair.
They were stunning.
The girl tucked her wings in further, drawing them in tighter against her back. She didn’t turn around, didn’t stop playing her game, but it was apparent she disliked Dean’s staring.
“What’s her name?” he asked.
The social worker glanced over at Cas, answering when he didn’t. “Her given name is Celeste, but she refuses to answer to it.”
“She prefers to go by Charlie,” Cas explained when she did not continue, stepping a bit closer to Dean, his fingers catching Dean’s to hold on tightly. Dean could feel Cas holding himself in check; he didn’t want to bias Dean’s feelings if such a thing were even possible between them now.
Dean nodded. “Charlie. Okay. Can we go in?”
The social worker looked between him and Cas, mouth pinched tight. Dean narrowed his eyes, but she said nothing, just stepped forward and knocked on the door before opening it. Charlie hunched further over her game, shoulders and wings curling up defensively. Dean frowned as the social worker sighed and came around to tap on the screen of Charlie’s game.
For a brief moment, Dean thought there was going to be a fight, but then Charlie snapped the game closed and tugged her headphones off her head to settle them around her neck while her music continued to blare from them.
“What?”
“There’s a couple here to meet you.”
“Oh yay,” Charlie muttered. The social worker stepped back, hands going to her hips as she watched with barely concealed irritation while Charlie made a show of pulling out her music player and pausing the music.
Dean bit his lip to keep from smiling and felt answering amusement from Cas.
“So is it Angels or Demons this time?” Charlie asked, blatantly refusing to turn around to greet them.
“Both, actually,” Cas answered for the social worker.
Charlie started, whipping around on her stool to gape at him and Cas. Dean kept his wings low but spread them so the girl could see the dark brown leather of his wings. Cas followed suit even though she already knew he was an Angel.
Her eyes darted back and forth between them and their wings as she frowned suspiciously. Dean folded his wing back as Cas stepped up beside him and rested his hand on Dean’s shoulder.
“This is my bonded, Dean,” Cas introduced.
Dean flicked his hand in greeting. Charlie rolled her eyes at him. Dean felt a low-grade amusement kick up and glanced over at Cas. His looked as unimpressed with her attitude as he did with anything else, but Dean could feel the truth. He bit back a smile and turned his attention to Charlie.
“‘Sup, Charlie?”
Charlie groaned and dropped her head into her hands. “You’re too old to be throwing slang around, Dean.”
Dean raised his eyebrows. “Dude. I’m not old.”
“Celeste, I don’t think-” the social worker started to say, but Cas cut her off.
“Thank you, Ms. Lewis, but I think Dean and I will be fine from here on out.”
“I can’t just leave you unsupervised with a minor,” she argued.
Cas didn’t bother hiding his disdain as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, flicking it open to display his ID card.
“Actually, I’m far more qualified to be in charge of her than you are, Ms. Lewis.”
He held it up for her inspection. She pinched her lips together, but leaned forward to read it. A vindictive joy shot through Cas as her mouth dropped open in shock and her feathered wings pulled in sharply against her body. She stepped back, squaring her shoulders and forcing her expression into something more neutral than the barely concealed disgust she’d worn since she’d met him and Cas.
“My apologies, sir. I will be in my office if you need anything.” She nodded at Cas and then at Dean, the movement forced and jerky.
“Good riddance,” Charlie muttered as the door to the meeting room slammed shut.
Dean laughed, turning it into a cough when Cas glared at him.
“Charlie, that’s inappropriate.”
“Whatever,” Charlie grumbled. She watched them warily as they came around the table to sit across from her, but her wings relaxed and she uncurled slightly, sitting up straighter. “What are you doing here anyway? You said I probably wouldn’t see you until next week.”
Cas cleared his throat as nervousness shot through their bond. Dean pressed comfort against it and gratitude echoed back at him.
“I wanted Dean to meet you.”
Charlie looked back and forth between them. Dean could see the moment she got it, her face shuttering, her wings drawing close to her body again and curling around her shoulders.
“Why?”
The spike in Cas’s nervousness has Dean reaching for him automatically, catching his hand under the table to squeeze it tightly.
Cas took a deep breath before explaining, “As part of my work Dean and I have both been certified to be foster parents. I… I thought perhaps you might like to, um…” Cas hesitated.
“Cas thought you might like to come live with us,” Dean interrupted, shooting a comforting smile at Charlie.
Charlie continued to look between them, her wings quivering with nerves. Cas clutched at Dean’s hand, his control wavering. Dean could feel his adoration for Charlie, his hope that she liked him, liked Dean, enough to consider it. With all that she’d been through, losing her mother so violently, Cas just wanted to give her a home, hopefully some security, but it all depended on Charlie and what she was willing to accept from them.
“I have some questions,” Charlie said after a moment.
Dean and Cas glanced at each other and nodded in unison.
“Not for you.” She scowled at Cas. “For Dean.” She straightened up, squaring her shoulders and pulling her wings back. Dean recognized the challenge and mimicked her posture, keeping his wings low and relaxed.
Charlie tilted her chin up and stared at Dean for a long moment before asking, “Who’s your favorite superhero?”
Dean scoffed. “Silverlight, of course.”
Charlie narrowed her eyes. “What’s your favorite episode of Heaven’s War?”
“Courage First, but only because Angels and Demons ret-conned Agent Harridan’s backstory.”
Charlie pursed her lips for a moment, then leaned forward and clasped her hands together on the table in front of her. “Okay. We can talk.”
Joy shot through the bond, bright and overwhelming, and for a moment, Dean couldn’t tell what was his and what was Cas’s.