"Hello, Mel."

Mel jumped and spun around, her eyes landing on the rugged and battered-looking man that the deep voice had come from. "Do not be frightened. I am Castiel, angel of the Lord," he announced calmly.

"P-pardon?" Mel stuttered, eyes going wide. She had clearly misheard; that or this man was utterly insane.

"I said my name is Castiel. I am an angel of the Lord."

Mel raised an eyebrow. Insane, then. Definitely insane."But you can't be an angel. You're a person," she argued lamely. And how did he know her name?

Castiel tipped his head to the side and narrowed his eyes scrutinizingly. "How would you expect to distinguish an angel from your own kind?" he questioned.

"I.. uh... Well don't angels have, like, wings or some shit?" she mumbled, face turning pink.

The stranger sighed. "No, Not that you humans can see," he replied, taking a step closer.

Mel instinctively backed up. "Well if you are an... angel," she started, "then what are you doing in my house?" she demanded.

"I require your services," he declared.

"My what?"

"Your services," he repeated

"Could you maybe... be a little more specific?" she suggested, wondering to herself why she was even bothering to talk to this man and not just calling the police.

'Castiel' paused, swallowing thickly. "I need a companion."

"A companion?" she echoed.

"Yes. A... friend," he replied, looking grimly down at his feet. She had the strangest impulse to race forward and hug the sad-looking man and quickly shoved it away.

"You wanted to make a friend so you... broke into my house?" she asked.

"I did not break in. I flew in," he corrected her, glancing up.

Mel decided to ignore the absurdity of that statement. "Okay, but why do you need me to be your friend? Don't you already /have/ friends?" she asked, although a small part of her mind was scolding her for not focusing on the important matters here.

Castiel's eyes fell back to the floor. "I had friends once. But that was a long time ago," he murmured quietly.

Again, she felt a stab of sympathy. "Where are they now?" she asked quietly.

"They grew old." he replied. His voice was steady but his eyes told a different story. "There was nothing I could do but watch. You humans are so fragile, you can only live for so long. Once that life has run out... There's nothing I can do." His voice was starting to quaver now.

Without thinking, Mel took a step forward, thought about closing the distance completely, then quickly decided against it. There was a long pause. "I'm sorry," she murmured gently.

Castiel swallowed thickly. "Please do not apologize. I do not blame you," he replied, voice cracking slightly.

Mel decided that she didn't care if this man was a stranger, or crazy, or whatever he was. "Then what can I do?" she asked, shuffling towards him.

Another long pause. "Would you... be my friend?" he asked quietly, gazing softly down at her. And now there was something else there in his beautiful blue eyes. Hidden far behind the grief and the pain, there was hope, too. It was very small, buried deep beneath hurt and sorrow and loss, but it was there nonetheless.

And Mel was helpless to do anything but throw her arms around him, bury her face into his chest and say softly, "Yeah. Yeah, I'll be your friend, Cas."

Castiel stood very still for a moment before tentatively wrapping his arms around her and gently pressing his nose into her hair. "Thank you," he murmured, a single tear rolling silently down his cheek.