Hey everyone! This is a series of Christmas related one-shots that are in answer to prompts I got from readers. You guys are awesome, so I always enjoy giving you a little something back, consider it my Christmas present to all of you =)

The first story was suggested by AFanGirlof5sos who wanted to see a sick Cas with Dean taking care of him (poor baby). This is set Human!Cas period in the bunker, my typical AU like I use in "A Thing or Two About Being Human" (non slash) Hope you enjoy this!

Christmas Cold

For AFanGirlof5sos

"Gaa-choo!"

Dean heard the sneeze from the other room as he was cleaning up the kitchen in preparation for cooking the—spectacular, he was assuring everyone—Christmas dinner. It was Christmas Eve tomorrow and he had just been out shopping for what he would need. He was determined to make this Christmas a good one, now that they had the bunker to call home and he and Sam and Cas were all in a major need of a break after everything that had happened recently. Besides, it was Cas' first Christmas being human so he wanted to make sure he experienced it better than he and Sam had as kids, with all the decorations and the turkey dinner—which Dean was totally not going to mess up, by the way. Sammy needed to have more confidence in his culinary skills.

"Dean."

The hunter looked up from sorting through a cupboard, looking for the right sized pan to cook the turkey in, to find Cas standing in the kitchen still in his pajamas and robe, looking like he hadn't slept all night.

"Dude, you look terrible, what's wrong?" Dean asked, frowning as he stood up.

Cas sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve, leaving a mark that made Dean cringe in disgust. "My nose is leaking and my head aches and I feel very cold and uncomfortable."

Dean's heart sank at the words. "Sounds like you caught a cold, buddy. There's always stuff going around this time of year and your newly human immune system is probably no better than a baby's."

"How do I cure it?" Cas asked before letting out another wet sneeze that he only barely covered with his arm. Dean wasn't exactly a germiphobe, but in his kitchen… He stepped forward and grabbed Cas by the arm, steering him out of the kitchen and back to the bedrooms.

"You need to go back to bed first. Get some rest. I'll find you some medicine and we'll take your temperature."

Cas went willingly and allowed himself to be tucked back into bed, letting out a harsh sneeze in Dean's face in the process. He closed his eyes in a longsuffering manner.

"Okay, rule number one, cover your mouth when you sneeze," Dean said, tiredly wiping his face off.

"Sorry, Dean," Cas said, already starting to sound stuffed up.

"That's okay, you're still new to this, I know," Dean sighed and went down the hall to the bathroom, grabbing a thermometer and a bottle of cold medicine they kept for emergencies.

Sam walked by the door on his way to shower and frowned, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Hey Dean, you feeling all right?"

"Yeah, it looks like Cas caught a cold though," Dean told him. "You feeling okay?"

Sam nodded, making a sympathetic face. "I thought he was looking a little tired yesterday."

"Too bad he had to get sick over Christmas," Dean said.

Sam smiled sympathetically, knowing how much Dean had wanted to have a nice holiday that year for the ex-angel. "Don't worry, we'll still be able to make a good day of it. We'll take care of Cas and have him back on his feet by Christmas morning."

Dean nodded in agreement and then went to grab a glass of orange juice before he returned to the ex-angel who was curled in the bed, miserably breathing through his mouth.

"Here, drink this," Dean told him, handing him the orange juice. "It's good for colds."

Cas took it gratefully and drained the glass in only a few seconds, gasping for breath afterwards, his nose clogged. "I can' breade bery well, Dean," he said, or tried to say, rather, his nose so stuffed his words came out garbled. He frowned at the sound of his voice and Dean fought a grin, grabbing a box of tissues from the desk in the corner and handing it to Cas.

"Blow your nose, it will help."

Cas took a tissue and cautiously blew his nose into it, awkwardly at first, then tried again with better luck. He sighed, able to breathe a little better and turned back to Dean with a tired smile. "Thanks."

"Now time for your temperature," Dean said, taking the thermometer and putting it into Cas' mouth. They waited for it to beep and when they did, Dean found that he did indeed have a fever. "101," he told the ex-angel.

"Is that bad?" Cas asked.

"Not too bad," Dean assured him. 'Just enough to be uncomfortable." He measured out the medicine and handed the tiny cup to Cas. "Take this and it should help take the edge off of the fever."

Cas drank it and pulled a face. "It is not a very good flavor."

"No," Dean chuckled. "I'll get you some more juice. You just try to rest, sleep in the best thing for it."

Cas slid further into the bed with a small grateful smile on his lips. "Thank you for taking care of me Dean. I have no idea what to do, I'm afraid. I feel so helpless."

"Hey," Dean told him gruffly. "You're not helpless, you just need to get used to this stuff. Just let Sam and me take care of you for a while, okay?"

"'kay," Cas mumbled, already almost asleep.

Dean pulled another blanket over him before he went back to organizing stuff in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, Cas only got worse as the day went on and early the next morning, he woke Dean and Sam up by vomiting. Dean was the first one there and hurried to Cas' side, grabbing him around the middle before he took a face plant into the toilet.

"Easy, buddy," he said gently.

"This is very unpleasant, Dean," the ex-angel said tiredly, leaning against the hunter, having no strength left.

"Yeah, I know, this is just something you're going to have to get used to as a human," he said as Sam came into the room then, casting a sympathetic look at their friend.

"Not very glamorous, is it?" he asked wryly as he stepped past Dean and Cas, going to the sink for a cup of water and a washcloth. He told Cas to rinse his mouth, then handed Dean the washcloth. He wiped Cas' face with it but had to stop as the sick man scrambled for the toilet again and proceeded to throw up once more.

"Aw, Cas," Dean said with a sigh as he patted the ex-angel's back as the other man crouched on the bathroom floor, trembling. "I hope you don't have a stomach bug now too."

"There's bugs inside of me?" Cas asked, alarmed.

"No, Cas, that's just what we call a sickness," Sam told him with a chuckle.

"I think it's just the fever," Dean said after they had gotten Cas cleaned up and put back into bed and checked his temperature again. "It's at 103.5 now. We need to cool him off."

"But I'm already, c-cold," Cas protested, shivering as they stripped off the robe and sweat-soaked henley he had been wearing and changed them for a t-shirt and light blanket. Cas groaned as Dean wet some cloths to put over his forehead and squirmed but Sam rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.

"You're going to feel cold, but you're actually burning up. We need to get the fever to break."

It was a long night of Sam and Dean taking turns to watch over Cas. He threw up one more time, but thankfully seemed to be done after that so they could rule out stomach flu. His fever continued through the next morning, stubborn and refusing to break. They moved him out to the couch so he could watch Christmas movies on TV and they would be able to better hear him if he needed anything.

Most of the day, Dean sat at his feet and watched the movies with him, talking about all his favorites, and explaining things when Cas asked about them. Though most of the time, the ex-angel dozed, between sneezes and doses of medicine and bouts of a wet cough that had cropped up that morning. At least his fever finally broke that afternoon, taking away a little of the discomfort.

The Winchesters packed him back into his room and allowed him to sleep in peace and quiet.

"Well looks like he's not going to be getting much celebration in this year," Dean said as he and Sam shared some eggnog in the study. "Though, a cup of this eggnog might put him back on his feet. This stuff could kill any germ."

Sam snorted good-naturedly from across the table. "We'll still make sure he has a good day. Now that his fever's broken, he should start to feel better. He'll probably be well enough to get out of bed tomorrow, and hopefully eat some of your Christmas dinner. If you don't burn the bunker down in the process, that is."

"Have a little faith, Sammy," Dean said with a glare, then put his cup down, standing up. "But I have an idea."

With Sam's help, he gabbed some of the decorations they had bought and quietly made their way to Cas' room. The ex-angel was still sound asleep, snoring gently from his congestion, and they quickly strung some lights and tinsel around the room, casting a warm glow with the colored lights, and Dean finished it off by hanging a stocking on the bedpost.

"There, that looks good," he said with a grin, as he and Sam left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. "Now you had better get off to bed, Sammy or Santa won't come."

Sam gave him the bitchface, but he yawned despite himself, tired. "Whatever, Dean. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sammy," Dean said and then when he was sure Sam was in his room, he set out presents and filled stockings and then he too went off to bed, leaving his door open in case Cas needed him.

The next morning, early, Dean got up and tiptoed out to the kitchen to make coffee when he was accosted by his little brother, already there with two mugs in his hands.

"Merry Christmas, Dean!" he cried, shoving a hot cup into Dean's sleepy hands.

After he got over his shock, Dean grinned, slinging an arm over Sam's shoulders. "Come on, let's go wake Cas up."

"Shouldn't we let him sleep?" Sam protested.

"Nah, man, it's Christmas," Dean told him. "He can sleep later, after he opens his stocking."

They went to the room where the ex-angel was still sleeping deeply, curled under his blanket. Dean reached out and gently shook his shoulder. Cas murmured something and stirred, his eyes flicking open, confused by the colored lights and looking up into Dean and Sam's grinning faces.

"Merry Christmas, Cas!" they said.

"Oh, is it Christmas already?" he asked, slightly confused and tired, rubbing his eyes as he tried to sit up. Dean hurried to help him as Sam put pillows behind his back.

"Yup, you slept most of yesterday. How are you feeling?"

Cas took a moment to take stock of his body and shrugged. "Better, I think."

"Great!" Dean said and plopped a full stocking into his lap. "This is yours, we're gonna open them."

"Is that…tradition?" Cas asked.

"Yup," Dean told him and handed one to Sam too who exchanged it with one for Dean who grinned like a kid. "Alright, let's get to it!"

They all sat on Cas' bed and opened their gifts, laughing as they saw what they had gotten each other. And afterwards, they took the day to relax and just enjoy each other's company, and Dean worked on making a holiday meal that turned out very well after all and didn't burn down the bunker, as Sam had feared. All in all, Castiel decided it was a good first Christmas with the Winchesters even if he had to get sick for it. He certainly wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

I'll be posting these every other day until the last one on Christmas Eve :) Hope you all enjoyed the first one!

Up next is one for Clare Hope