I actually had this idea during class one day, and immediately went 'holy crap I have to write this down'. And thus, this story was born.

Not much of the main plot here, but believe me...it's coming!

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural

Dean woke up with a vague sense that he'd had some sort of weird dream last night, but another sense told him he always felt like that and so he brushed it off and went about with his normal business.

The coffeeshop was still pretty busy, even at six AM on a college campus, but it was a Starbucks and not many people went to those little mom and pop shops on the really far edges of the campus because it was just easier to go to the Starbucks when you were tired and had to go to class.

"Hello?" Dean realized with a start that he'd reached the front of the line while musing over why there were so many people in front of him, and grinned sheepishly at the barista.

"Sorry, drifted off there."

"That's alright." The barista smiled back hesitantly, but it was more a brief tug at the corners of his mouth than anything else and holy shit his eyes were blue how had Dean not noticed that. "What can I get you?"

Dean reeled off his order, a fold of bills already in his hand, and the man nodded and went about putting Dean's drink together.

It took about twenty minutes to get out of there and to his first class, and Dean didn't realize what he'd set in motion.

Dean went back the next day.

Of course he did, he had morning classes on Tuesdays too and he always got coffee in the morning regardless of his class schedule but for some reason today felt more momentous.

Dean walked in the door, saw the blue-eyed barista again, and realized exactly what was so important about getting coffee.

"Oh, hello."

"Hey." Dean grinned again.

"Same as yesterday?"

"Yup."

When the barista tried to give Dean his change, he dumped it in the tip jar with a wink and noticed that the guy's nametag said Cas.

"So, uh, is your name seriously Cas?"

Dean had started to make a habit of coming to that particular Starbucks whenever it didn't go incredibly out of his way [and it was just because that place did his drink the best shut up] and today he'd managed to catch Cas on his break, which was a lucky upside because he'd been running late and thought he'd missed Cas's shift.

"It's my nickname," Cas explained, looking up from the textbook he was flipping through.

"So what's your full name?"

"I feel like I should know yours before I tell you that."

"Picky." Dean extended his hand. "I'm Dean."

"Nice to meet you properly, then, instead of from across the counter." Cas shook his hand. "If you must know, it's Castiel."

"Castiel?"

"My parents are very religious."

Dean shook his head and whistled. "Dude, I think I like Cas better."

"Most people do find it less unwieldy."

"Whatcha reading there, anyway?"

"I'm studying for an exam I have tomorrow." Castiel lifted the book so Dean could see the title - it was some nonsense about mythology.

"In what?"

"My mythology course." Dean had guessed right.

"This place offers mythology courses?"

Castiel made his almost-grin again. "Yes, or else I am playing an elaborate prank on you."

"Nah, no one would buy that thing just for a prank." Dean gestured to the book, and his watch flashed at him as he did so. "Shit! Sorry, Cas, I gotta go!" He leaped up from the seat. "See you tomorrow!"

It was only as he was sprinting towards [what he hoped was] the right building that Dean wondered why he liked spending so much time with Castiel.

"Hello, Dean."

Dean almost jumped out of his seat and spun around, nearly knocking over one of those library carts full of books next to the end of the table. "Shit, Cas, don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Apologies." Castiel circled the table and slid into the unoccupied seat on the other side of Dean. "I've been told I can be...quiet at times."

"Yeah, no kidding." Dean snorted, closing the book he'd been halfheartedly paging through in favor of much more interesting wastes of time. "How'd you know I was here?"

"You told me you had a study period at this time. I assumed study would involve the library."

Dean's mouth twitched into a grin. "Yeah, well, lucky you chose today, 'cause normally it doesn't."

"I'll keep that in mind." Catiels had leaned forward slightly over the table, arms propping his head up. "I felt that, as we had a talk about my study habits a while ago-"

"Whoa, Cas, lighten up. Anyone ever tell you you sound like you came out of an old-fashioned novel?" Dean asked.

"Many times, actually, but I don't see the connection."

This time Dean actually laughed out loud, hastily muffling himself when the librarian shot him a glare. Cas watched him, puzzled.

"I don't understand. Was it something I said?"

"Dude, just - do you get out at all?"

"I believe we are both 'out' right now." God help him, Castiel used actual air quotes around the word 'out', and Dean had to fight not to burst out laughing again.

"What?"

"Just stop talking before you get us kicked out of the library."

Meeting Castiel at Starbucks and then sitting and talking outside once his shift was over became a regular occurrence [except the latter was only on Wednesdays and Fridays, because that was the only time they both had free].

They talked about all sorts of things - the topic never really was brought up, they just talked and it happened.

"Batman? You've never seen Batman?"

"I have not seen a great many things-"

"'A great many'? Dude, you're nineteen and you talk like you're forty. Loosen up!"

"I just don't see the point in spending so much time on a car - Dean, where are you going?"

"To find someone who appreciates Baby!"

"So you're here on scholarship?"

"Yep. No other way to get in unless I want to borrow a fuckton of money. You?"

"Partial scholarship. My family has some...influence."

"Influence, huh?"

"My father was an alumni of this place. Most of my siblings have chosen to go here as well. It's something of a...family tradition."

"Siblings? How many d'you got?"

"Many. My parents were...very traditional. Michael, Zachariah, Joshua-"

"Whoa. You weren't kidding when you said a lot. All your siblings go here?"

"Not all of them."

"Who didn't?"

"Luke. Gabriel. Anna. I'm not actually sure where any of them are right now...my mother can be very insistent, and they all left to pursue their respective chosen fields...and attend different schools."

"Yikes."

"What about you?"

"What?"

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah, sure. Little brother. Name's Sam. He's at Stanford, actually - freaking genius. He's going into law."

"Oh, that's quite a difficult path."

"Yeah, tell you what, though - he got a full ride."

"Quite an accomplishment."

"Yeah, mom's-"

"Dean?"

"Nothing. It's nothing. Anyway, we were all super proud of him."

Dean couldn't have explained why it felt so weird to refer to his mom in the present tense, but it did.

The phone was ringing.

It was three AM and his phone was ringing.

Grumbling, Dean extended his hand, smacked it into his desk, and found his phone while cursing fluently and hoping he didn't wake up his roommate.

"H'lo?"

"Dean?"

"Cas, wh-" Dean glanced at the clock. "Why are you callin' me at three in the morning?"

"I require your help."

"Help?" That made Dean sit straight up in bed. "Help with what, Cas?"

"My sister - Anna - she's here right now. It's too complicated-" Castiel's voice broke. "Dean, please, I can't handle this on my own-"

"Yeah, I'm comin'." Dean was already fumbling for his shirt and damnit, where had it gone? He was sure he'd thrown it over there last night - no, those were his jeans. Nevermind. "What's wrong with her?"

He could hear Castiel exhale shakily. "Just - I don't know for sure."

"Is she hurt?"

"Just come, Dean. Please."

When Castiel opened the door of his tiny apartment, Dean was soaking wet.

"Are you okay?"

"It started raining, and I don't own an umbrella. Your sister okay?" Dean asked in a rush.

Castiel looked paler than usual. "Yes - um - I think I may have panicked."

"What?"

"Dean, it was - I appreciate you coming-"

Dean saw what Castiel was about to say in a heartbeat. "No. No way, dude. I came all the way here in a freakin' thunderstorm, you better be ready to explain what the hell is going on!" He shouldered his way into Castiel's apartment.

"Dean, please, I overreacted, I panicked-"

"Why?" Dean demanded, swinging around to face Castiel. "Why panic? Cas, you can't just call me all freaked out like that and expect me to leave!" He stomped through to where he knew the kitchen must be, ignoring Castiel's sudden wide eyes and his trying to tug Dean away.

Dean stopped of his own accord for two reasons.

One, this was not the kitchen. It was the living room.

Two, there was a redheaded girl lying on the sofa.

And bleeding over.

"What the actual hell, Cas?" Dean hissed, backing up slightly because if the girl was as bad as she looked, then there was no way he was going to wake her up.

Castiel looked resigned. "Dean - come into the kitchen, please."

"You better have a really good explanation."

The kitchen was as sparse as the rest of the apartment, and Dean sat on a stool and glared at the countertop while Castiel moved around, putting together something from the cabinets. Dean only looked up when a cup of something hot and brown - not coffee, the smell was wrong - was placed in his line of sight.

Castiel took a seat opposite Dean, his own cup cradled in his hands. "I suppose you'd like an explanation."

"Yeah," Dean said tersely. "Your sister's like that and you don't want help?"

Castiel sighed. "It's more complicated than that, Dean."

"How is it complicated?"

Castiel didn't answer.

"Cas, come on." Dean pleaded. "I'm your friend! What the hell happened to her?"

"Michael." The word was said so quietly that Dean barely caught it.

"Michael?" He repeated, nonplussed. "Who's Michael?"

Castiel was staring determinedly at his cup. "My brother."

It took Dean a moment to process this. "Wh - your brother did this to her?" The Winchesters might have been a bit of a weird family - Dean couldn't say with a clear conscience that his Dad was the best - but he couldn't imagine himself or his dad doing anything like that to Sam. "How d'you know?"

"Anna managed to tell me before she passed out."

Dean still had trouble processing it. "And you're telling me you're just cool with your brother beating up your sister?"

"Don't you dare." Suddenly Castiel was glaring at him, and Dean came to the sudden realization that his friend could be kind of terrifying. "Don't you dare accuse me of that. If I could have done anything-" Castiel's voice cracked and another realization struck Dean - Castiel's eyes were red.

Cautiously, Dean leaned across the table towards his friend. "Cas, talk to me."

"It's a long story." Castiel took a while to respond.

"We got time." Dean realized he might be pushing too hard. "It's okay if you don't-"

"No, I-" Castiel took a breath. "You deserve an explanation."

"Michael, he, uh, he always loved our father. I know that's expected but he really did. Our mother was sort of in the background, my whole life - she took care of us all, but I don't think any of us really appreciated it.

"Luke was the second youngest - he always looked up to Michael, the two of them were off somewhere most of the time. I don't know what they were doing. But, um, one day Luke did something bad enough - I still don't know what, Michael wasn't involved - and Father got really angry. There was a really big argument, which ended with Michael yelling that if Luke was going to...do things like that, then he might as well go somewhere else to do them. And, ah, Luke left. Michael was very broken up about it, but none of us knew to what extent for sure.

"Michael stayed. He graduated. But things were never really the same. I think Michael blamed himself for Luke leaving, but there's no way to be sure since I was never stupid enough to ask him about it. Our Father went somewhere some time after this and never returned, and my mother basically took over the household. Anyone who wanted to do something other than what she wanted them to do, left. They weren't welcome.

"Gabriel was the next to leave. In the nighttime. We all woke up and there was a note on the counter with his signature. I have no idea what happened to him.

"Anna was after that. She wanted to go to art school. Up until now, I hadn't had any contact with her.

"Anyway, uh, about Michael...I think he became a police officer, sometime after my mother received a notification that Luke had been sent to jail. But, um, if he ran into Anna and thought that she was doing something that might lead her down the same path as Luke...I wouldn't put it past him to try and 'correct' her."

Dean listened with growing disbelief and something like regret, before the emotion fully manifested itself as sympathy. It took him a few moments to see that Castiel had stopped talking.

"Dude, that's fucked up."

Castiel made a noncommittal face and glanced towards the living room again.

"You just-" Dean stuttered, nearly loosing his train of thought. "Cas, that's like your entire freaking life story, and you're not bothered at all?"

"Well, unlike you, I've had time to get used to the situation." Castiel said flatly.

"No, but Cas, you - you realize that that's not what a family's supposed to be like."

"I do." Castiel's voice was heavy. "Are you done, Dean?"

Dean opened his mouth, closed it, and then sat back in his chair, staring at the now-cold cup that he hadn't taken a single sip out of.

"Yeah."

For a while, things seemed alright. Anna had settled in fine and showed no inclination to leave Castiel's apartment, despite having recovered quite well, and went so far as to go job-hunting to pitch in with the rent.

And then there was the news report.

Fortunately, Dean was in the Starbucks when Castiel froze, in the middle of handing him his usual coffee, eyes fixed on something over Dean's shoulder. Dean twisted and saw that Castiel was staring at a news report playing on the sole TV. The subtitles informed him that someone named Luke Milton had just escaped from prison, and should not be approached under any circumstances except by trained officers.

Oh, hell.

"Cas."

"What."

"Come out."

"No." Something shifted behind the door.

"Cas, I swear, if you're barricading me out-"

"He's what?" Anna, looking wild, darted into Dean's line of vision and rattled the handle. "Castiel, let me in!"

"No."

"It's my apartment too!"

"Cas, come on," Dean wheedled. "I don't care about your fucking brother-"

Anna turned wide eyes on Dean. "You should."

"What?" Dean looked down at her. "Why?"

"Because it means Michael will be furious." Anna flinched at the quiet words from behind the door, and Dean put out a hand to steady her.

"Cas, what are you talking about?"

"Michael hates Luke." Anna reminded Dean quietly, staring at the floor. "If Luke broke out of jail...then he'll do whatever it takes to get him back in."

Dean swallowed. That had sounded ominous. "When you say 'whatever it takes'..."

"Then it means Michael won't care what he has to do - or who he has to do in - to put Luke back behind bars."

Dean had been through a lot of shit in the past few weeks. Especially with trying to help Castiel out with all of his family shit. And trying to keep Sam out of it, even though the kid still emailed and called a lot and Dean knew he thought something was up.

And maybe the last few days were a little fuzzy, since he hadn't been sleeping all that well.

But he still could not, for the life of him, exactly recall how he'd ended up lying on a sofa.

That might have had to do with the fact that he vaguely remembered being knocked out.

And Jesus fucking Christ, was he tied up? Dean wriggled around and discovered that yes, he was, and very well since he could barely move.

"Oh, you are awake!" The overly cheerful voice made Dean freeze, but he was positioned so that he was staring at the back of the sofa and couldn't see who was talking. "I thought it was taking a while, but it's not like I've actually done this before."

"Who the hell are you?"

The voice tsked. "Like I'd tell you. You can call me Loki, though."

The name sounded vaguely familiar, and Dean racked his mind. "Isn't that the guy in the Avengers movie?"

The voice huffed irritably. "That's what everyone says. Honestly. Loki is way cooler than that, but nobody bothers with the myths anymore."

"Um, okay then." Dean's mind backtracked to the more important aspects of the situation. "Why the hell am I tied up?"

"Oh, I just didn't want to be seen. And despite my awesomeness, you'd probably manage to turn around if I didn't, so...tied up it is!" Dean didn't think anyone had a right to sound that cheerful. "And now onto the main reason for me intruding on your hospitality."

"Hospi..." Wait, what? Come to think of it, this sofa looked kind of familiar. "Did you break into my house and tie me up?" He screeched into the cushions.

The person laughed - Dean thought it was a guy, but it was hard to tell. "Please! How much easier could it get? You gave your friend Castiel keys, after all, I just borrowed them."

Cas? "What the hell have you done to Cas?"

"Nothing." The playful way the person said that made Dean think he was lying. "Nothing much, anyway." Oh, this guy was so dead. "But in any case, you know messing around with Michael might get ya killed, right?"

"What?" This wasn't making any sense. "How the - you mean Cas's brother?"

"Yes," The voice said, suddenly severe, "And I know you know about all that by now, so I'm telling you to leave well enough alone."

"No way, dude, Cas is my friend. I'm not just gonna leave him with all this shit hangin' over his head."

The person sighed. "You don't get it, do you? Castiel might have gone here like he was supposed to, but he's done a hell of a lot else. Helping Anna. Befriending you. You have no idea how much of an effect you've had on his life, do you?"

"How the hell do you know all that?"

"Get some more interesting insults. It's getting irritating to keep being told to go to Hell." The playful tone was gone as quickly as it had reappeared. "Seriously, Dean. Luke might be the outcast, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like order as much as the rest of 'em. He and Michael both would kill Castiel as soon as convert him."

"Convert him? The fuck are you talking about? How do you even know any of this, anyway?" Dean demanded.

"I have my ways. And my reasons." The voice faded slightly, as if the person speaking had turned around or walked away a little bit. "You can sit on that, anyway."

"What?"

"Have fun with that!" The voice was even fainter, and most definitely laughing at him now. Dean heard a creak and started writhing furiously.

"You fucking - get back here and untie me!"

His only answer was raucous laughter and a rustling thump. Dean wriggled enough to get himself off the sofa and hit the ground with a thump that drove the air out of his lungs. Coughing, he saw the window hanging open, and scowled furiously at it.

Now what?

After seriously considering what had happened, Dean thought he had a fairly good idea of who the mysterious visitor was.

"Hey, Cas?"

"Oh - hello, Dean. Um, now is not the best time."

"What? Why?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure my brother Gabriel just broke in and covered the apartment in candy wrappers."

Dean scowled again, even though Castiel couldn't see it. "Lemme guess - he stole your keys to my place, too?"

"What?" There was a faint rusting sound and some footsteps. "Oh my - how did you-"

"Long story short, I'm pretty sure I just met your brother too."

There was a long pause, and then Dean heard Castiel swear faintly and then let out a long sigh. "I apologize for him."

"Yeah, no offense, but Gabriel's a dick." Dean rubbed his hand absentmindedly - the rope had turned out to be just some fabric left over from the last time he'd had a party [and he'd rather not think about that disaster right now] and had been easier to get out of than he'd expected.

"What did he do?"

"Long story short? He tied me up and told me to bail on you or else I'd get myself killed."

There was a long silence from the other end of the phone.

"Cas?"

"I'm still here." Castiel's voice didn't sound any different. "It's just...surprising that Gabriel would say something like that."

"Yeah, well, he's your brother. I'll take your word for it."

"He really tied you up?"

"Unfortunately? Yes. Like I said. Your brother's a dick."

"That does apply to most of them." Dean had no opportunity to reply to this, because Castiel kept talking. "Again, Dean, I'm sorry about that. I'll call you back later."

" 'Bye, Cas." The click of someone hanging up interrupted Dean's farewell.

"...Okay then."

When Dean thought back on the events that led to where he was now, he really didn't see how they could have changed this outcome.

Because however he spun it, he couldn't see himself just leaving Castiel to this scenario.

"Dean?" Castiel spoke hoarsely, incredulity clear. "What are you doing here?"

"Shut up." Dean had put himself firmly in between Castiel and the blond man who stood at the center of the room, but the latter was smirking in a way that he didn't like.

"Little Castiel's friend," he crooned in a way that sent shivers up Dean's spine and shit, this guy was giving him 'crazy' vibes. "How brave of you."

"Shut up!" This time it wasn't Dean who had spoken, but the brown-haired man in a uniform that Dean guessed was Michael. He was pointing a gun at the blond one, and there was no shake to betray any hesitation he might have felt. He didn't seem to be paying attention to Dean or Castiel at all, and Dean took advantage of that as the blond man's attention slid to Michael - presumably, the blond was Luke.

"Oh, is that how this is going to be?" Luke asked mildly.

"I told you to be quiet." Michael hissed. "But you just think you can do whatever you want, don't you?"

"I escaped from prison. I think I'm entitled. Could you have done that? Oh wait-" Luke's eyes flickered down slightly, and Dean guessed that he was looking at something on Michael's uniform. "You won't need to. At least, not until you try and kill me."

"Try?" Michael's voice had taken on a steely tone. "You assume I won't be able to succeed."

"Oh, I have no doubt you'll try, Michael, but unfortunately you overestimate yourself." Luke grinned lopsidedly, but it was more creepy than endearing. "More importantly, you underestimate me." Luke's eyes shifted again, this time towards Castiel [who was still behind Dean]. "Maybe our little Castiel will help me prove that."

Dean almost wasn't sure what happened next.

Luke had lunged towards Castiel, Dean had moved in between them, Castiel had screamed something, and then there was the umistakable [and much louder than it ever was on TV] bang of a gun.

Dean thought he might have been shot, but things were fading to fast for him to keep track of. There was definitely something red on his chest, though, but it didn't hurt.

Castiel was reaching towards him with a look of horror and ow, Dean was definitely feeling a little bit of pain, but it didn't hurt that much, why was Castiel so worried? Dean vaguely registered that the blond man - Luke, his brain dimly recalled - was looking in shock not at him, but at the man holding the gun, who didn't look like he was feeling anything at all.

Then things faded for good, and neither did Dean.

The sound of the alarm startled Dean so badly that he flailed in bed for a minute before managing to smack the off button. He'd woken up with the vague sense that he'd had some sort of weird dream last night, but another sense told him he always felt like that and so he brushed it off. His chest cramped slightly as he sat up, and Dean rubbed it absentmindedly, frowning.

It felt like he'd forgotten something really important, but nothing was coming to mind.

Ah, well. He'd remember it eventually. If not, what did it matter if it wasn't important enough to try and commit to memory?

A sudden flash went through his brain. Oh right, Dean thought. Today's the first day of high school.

Well, that explained why he'd set his alarm in August.

...Well? What did you think? The ending might be a bit confusing, but I hope I got it across...either way, feel free to message me if you didn't understand.

Read and review, please, I love to know what you guys thought!