Chapter Text
“You seem troubled.”
Cas blinked in surprise before turning to look at the child sitting next to him on the park bench. He hadn’t been there before, and Cas hadn’t noticed him approaching. But there he was. Estimating ages wasn’t something the former angel was good at, but he still guessed the child to be around twelve years old. His eyes and hair were both dark, and he looked at Cas with an expression that seemed far too mature for someone so far from adulthood.
The child gave him a tight smile and held out his hand. “I’m Henry,” he said as they shook.
“Cas.”
“Interesting name.”
“It’s a shortened version of my full name. I used to be known as Castiel.”
“That one’s even more interesting,” Henry replied. “Why’d you change it?”
One corner of Cas’ mouth twitched in a failed smile. “A friend gave it to me. A very dear friend.”
Henry watched him for a moment without saying anything. “Is your friend the reason you’re sad?” he finally asked.
Cas’ eyes narrowed. “You’re very perceptive for a child.”
Henry shrugged. “Runs in the family. So is that the reason you’re sad? This friend of yours?”
“Yes.” The word slipped out before he could stop himself.
Henry stared at him, apparently waiting for something more. When Cas stayed silent, however, he took it upon himself to continue the conversation.
“So what happened? Did they have to go away? Did you have a fight?” Henry paused, his eyes widening. “They didn’t die, did they?”
“No,” Cas replied, “he didn’t die.”
“What’s wrong, then?”
Without really understanding why, Cas answered him. “He’s sick.”
“Oh. Is it serious?”
‘Yes. If I cannot find a cure soon, it will devour everything that makes my friend who he is.” Cas frowned, clenching his jaw. “I cannot let that happen.”
Henry didn’t say anything after that, and silence settled between them. Cas looked out over the playground before him, his mind flashing back to a similar scene years ago. He hadn’t known then, just how much Dean would come to mean to him. It had been a beginning, though. Perhaps the most important beginning he’d ever have.
“That sounds more like a curse than a real illness,” Henry said suddenly.
Cas looked over at him sharply. “Why would you say that?”
Henry shrugged. “I’ve had a lot of experience with curses. Runs in the family.”
“I’m starting to think you have a very strange family.”
“It sounds like you might be in the same boat. So what kind of curse is it? What does it do?”
Cas ran his eyes over the child, quietly observing him. Nothing about Henry’s demeanor was setting off alarm bells. It was highly unusual for a child to known of such things, but Sam and Dean had had knowledge beyond their years as well. Some children were just born into extraordinary circumstances.
“It’s changing him,” he finally replied. “It’s eating away at the good in him and will eventually cause him to destroy everything that he loves.”
“That sounds like a pretty nasty curse.”
“It is.”
Henry took a deep breath, frowning as he thought. “Have you tried True Love’s Kiss?”
Cas stared at him. “I don’t understand.”
“Well, True Love’s Kiss trumps pretty much everything. I’ve seen it break some pretty bad curses, too. Maybe it could help your friend, if there’s someone who loves him like that.”
Cas couldn’t think of anything to say to that, and he found himself continuing to stare at the child. Before he could pull himself back together, though, a blonde woman in a red leather jacket was walking over to them.
“Henry!”
Henry slid off of the bench, picking up a backpack that had been lying at his feet. “That’s me,” he said. “I really hope you find a way to save your friend.”
The boy ran off, leaving Cas with some very strange ideas to think through.