IMPORTANT: Okay, maybe it's not important to you but it is to me so here goes. This is a story I intend to write, still intend to write my others but I'm really bummed right now so it's also an excuse to make a request. This is a little morbid so I'll come out and say it bluntly, my cousin was murdered on Monday and I could really use distractions. I don't even know how to begin processing this, it just hurts, so I'd like something good. So I'd like to request of anyone willing to write to write some De!Aged Winchesters for me. Or Transformed Winchesters (as in, into animals or body-swapped?]...maybe John/Bobby are around... Present!Winchesters, Teen!Chesters, WeeC!Chesters whatnot. Whatever works for you. Wasn't sure where else to make a request but it sure would mean a lot to me. So thanks in advance. -Witchy

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"Is he dead?"

"No! I don't know! No!"

"He looks dead…"

"You don't know what someone dead looks like!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do no-he's waking up!"

The brown-haired boy on the ground twitched and then inhaled suddenly, even though before it seemed that he hadn't been breathing at all. Blue eyes slowly opened and the older of the two boys who had been speaking shoved the younger back behind him.

"…You okay?" The older boy asked, and the younger peeked out from behind his back curiously.

The blue-eyed boy's gaze trailed over to them slowly, and for a long moment, remained on them unblinking before he muttered. "Dean?"

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"Cas…mmm…he's dead."

Castiel could hear the words being spoken through his lips, or Jimmy's rather, but he no longer had control. The Leviathans had shoved him into the furthest reaches of his vessel and made him a virtual prisoner of his mind. He was forced to watch as his body was used to harm Dean, and he saw every moment of his reactions. It wasn't right, it wasn't supposed to be this way.

"Stop this! You will not do this! Release me, or I will-" Castiel raged within his own mind, and a Leviathan who wasn't controlling Jimmy's body directly replied to him mockingly.

"-Do nothing. We've taken this body for our own and soon, so soon, we'll eat you alive, little angel. Your kind are nothing to us."

"I will not let you harm the Winchesters!"

"Pretending to care? Isn't that just disgustingly sentimental? So worried over your 'pets', then again, from the looks of your memories…you were more than willing to toss Sam to the wolves and disintegrate Dean…so maybe it's less sentimental and more hypocritical?"

Castiel took the words as a blow, and he couldn't deny them. But that didn't make his urgency matter any less. He tried to summon up whatever power he could muster-anything to stop them…anything to stop- "I will not let you harm the Winchesters." he repeated as he began expanding his Grace within the vessel. He had been in danger of bursting from the presence of the Leviathan, he could barely contain himself, so let them see how they did when Castiel brought his full measure of Grace into the vessel.

"What are you thinking? You can't stop us with parlor tricks."

"Perhaps not, but I can destroy this vessel and prevent you from harming the Winchesters." Or Bobby Singer, if only for the moment. Castiel knew that he couldn't kill the Leviathan, but he was more than willing to sacrifice his vessel and potentially himself if it meant that he could get the Leviathan away. If they stayed, Dean, Sam, and Bobby were surely doomed and he could not let that happen. He had to protect his friends, his…family. He had already lost Balthazar, whom he regarded as the angelic brother closest to him, he would not lose his human brothers too.

Already, his attempts were proving useful, the Leviathan had stumbled away and were content to take their leave. Now if only Dean would just stay away…but that was too much to ask, Dean was unfailingly loyal, and the knowledge was only that much more painful when faced with the reality of his own betrayal of that loyalty.

I'm sorry, Dean.

Castiel would give anything to fix things, to repair the damage his own arrogance had caused. He had meant well, truly, he had had good intentions but he could not say honestly that pride hadn't been a huge influence as well. He'd wanted to exceed his father, he'd wanted to prove himself to the Winchesters and Bobby as more than merely a 'baby in a trench coat', and moreover…he had wanted simply to prove himself to Dean. His best friend, his brother, his family, the infuriating, obnoxious, blasphemous, wonderful man who had given Castiel something to fight for, to live for, and now…to die for.

"You…this changes nothing…we will find new vessels, we will hunt the Winchesters down and tear into them piece by piece." hissed the Leviathans in his mind.

Castiel smiled grimly in his mental prison as the vessel stepped out into the water and began to sink. He'd take a page from Dean's book on this one.

"Go to Hell…you son of a bitch."

An explosion of inky black pervaded the water as Castiel's vessel imploded and the Leviathan were violently rejected. He felt a brief moment of satisfaction before all sense left him, and his last thought was.

Thank you for being my family.

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Noises…there were noises…incessant voices going back and forth and causing an odd feeling in what he supposed was his cranial region. And there was something causing an irritating sensation on his arms, the grass, although he didn't recognize it for such. A dull throbbing and residual ache seemed to permeate his being, which felt decidedly…odd, disconnected from the world around it. Castiel was unaccustomed to the feelings and sensations, and he ignored the desire to simply lie there as he cracked his eyes open and squinted against the blinding light above.

"You okay?"

One of the voices had addressed him, of that, he was aware and he made an attempt to locate the source as he trailed his eyes over and found himself startled. There was a pair of boys, one a good bit younger boy with a mop of hair and half-hidden behind the freckle-faced boy who stood in front of him protectively. A boy who had a familiar pair of green eyes.

"Dean…?"

The older boy jerked in response to the name, and the younger boy seemed awed. "He knows your name, Dean!"

"Be quiet, Sammy!" he hissed in reply, and he kept an arm out to keep Sam from moving forward while his eyes never left the boy before them.

Dean and Sam had taken a quick stroll to the park just by their motel, they were more than a little stir-crazy after all and what could one little park trip hurt? But they'd come across a boy who didn't seem to be breathing, and had naturally been concerned, and in Dean's case, suspicious. He had on weird clothes, a shirt and slacks like he was going to church or something, and a geeky, somewhat over-sized tan trench coat.

Castiel, for his part, had viewed plenty of memories on Sam and Dean, and had been to their past a few times as well. Still, to see the pair this way and interact with them would have been highly forbidden…and the situation was unusual even to an angel. Furthermore, he had been under the impression he was going to die, which left him more than a little confused as to why…he wasn't.

"Hey! I asked you your name, and how come you know mine?" Dean snapped.

Castiel blinked in surprise as he realized he had been being addressed again, had he gotten lost in thought? How old were Dean and Sam in this time period? And how had he ended up there? Castiel could tell at least that it was no illusion or dream, which meant-

"-Hello!" Dean seemed even more tense by that point, and Castiel realized he'd gotten side-tracked again, a new experience for the angel.

"Cast-…just Cas." Confused or not, he had the foresight to realize that if he gave Dean and Sam his true name and they called out for him-they might accidentally summon the Castiel of this time. That would be…problematic.

"That's a funny name." Sam, beside Dean, giggled a bit and Dean's already firm scowl deepened as he tried to shove Sam behind him again.

"So how do you know my name?" Dean growled. First the kid was dead or something, and he just plain looked weird, then he woke up and acted weird, and spaced out or something, and now he had a weird name to boot? His hunter senses [as he liked to think of them] were going crazy.

Castiel thought quickly. "I heard Sam say it when you thought I was dead. I heard you say Sam's name just now."

Dean and Sam both seemed to ponder that a moment, and Dean was clearly trying to review whether or not Sam had actually said his name. He frowned deeply as he asked. "Well, who are you anyway?"

"I am…" Castiel wasn't sure how to answer. Both because any answer he might have given honestly would be impossible to give in his current situation, and because he wasn't sure what was true anymore. Based on how he felt currently…he felt…human. Worse so than when he'd been infected by the Horsemen after nearly Falling before. "…not sure." Castiel finally answered. He took the opportunity to look down at himself and take note of his attire and his decidedly smaller vessel…he was a child. But for all that he could tell, it was still Jimmy's vessel in appearance, albeit as stated, a child.

Castiel then took the opportunity to take note of Dean and Sam. "How old are you both?"

Dean seemed startled and then started a snaky reply before Sam piped up. "Dean's ten and I'm six!" he said proudly.

"Sammy!" Dean hissed. He was more on edge than usual, since Dad had warned them to keep on guard of strangers especially since he had been hunting a Shifter. And true, their Dad had ganked the Shifter, but it was only a couple of weeks back and while he was ready to chance the park, he wasn't so ready to trust a stranger no matter his age. Especially when he looked weird and kind talked funny. There was something kinda rough about his voice, like he was about to cough. But Sammy didn't know about monsters or anything, so he didn't know why it was so important to be careful. Which meant Dean had to work extra hard to watch out for his little brother.

"What? You're not eleven yet, Dean." Sam replied with a faint pout, as he'd misunderstood the cause of his big brother's agitation.

Dean sighed and shook his head slightly as he regarded 'Cas' again with a frown. " Whad'ya mean you're 'not sure'?"

Castiel had the oddest urge to smile at the other's behavior, since something like affection was putting a strange warmth in his chest. But he refrained and instead settled for what he hoped was a simple, believable explanation. "I don't remember." he clarified. "I know that my name is Cas, but all else is blank." As Dean had once said, it was sometimes necessary to lie to get what one wanted, and right now, he wanted to figure out his situation and remain in proximity to the Winchesters. And attempting to explain that he was an angel-turned-rogue-turned-sheriff-turned-traitor-turned-God-turned…something, wasn't going to help him much.

Dean's eyes narrowed and Castiel sensed that his answer wasn't well-received. But Dean couldn't just go demanding if he was a Shifter or something in front of Sammy. His brother didn't know and anyway, Dean only knew because he'd snuck and read their Dad's journal…their Dad would kill him if he found out.

"He talks funny too, Dean." Sam whispered-not too quietly-as he tugged on Dean's shirt a bit.

Dean had been thinking the same thing, because every time the kid opened his mouth, he sounded way too old. As it was, he only looked maybe a year or two older than Dean. "Okay…well…" Dean had opened his mouth to say something authoritative and something like their Dad would say, he wanted to make a grown-up decision here…but what the heck was the right decision? Dean wasn't sold on the idea that the weird kid was just a kid, but if he was…well, they couldn't just leave him out there.

"Hey, kids…you look real sweet…how about you just hand over anything you got on you, and you can get back to playing, okay?" All three boys turned to face the man who spoke. He was haggard and dressed sloppily, and he smelled heavily of alcohol. Which might have explained why he thought a bunch of kids would have money worth trying to steal in the first place.

Dean stiffened and shoved Sam behind him in the new direction, which actually put him closer to Castiel, but it was the man brandishing the large knife that had his attention. "Just walk away and you won't havfta get hurt." Dean warned lowly. He had a knife of his own and he knew how to use it if he had to.

"Dean…" Sam whined a bit as he tugged on Dean's shirt, and Dean shushed him quickly, his attention torn between his little brother and the threat before them.

Castiel had risen by then as well, and he moved to stand beside Dean who cast him a quick, wary glance and shoved Sam a bit further to the other side before he focused back on the immediate threat.

The man shook his head. "Kids never learn. Listen, I got a knife, see? And if you don't give me what you got, I'll just cut it out of ya, okay?"

"Sam, get out of here." Dean said lowly, and the man's grip on the knife tightened.

"No one's gonna go anywhere!" the man shouted suddenly, and Dean tensed while Sam made of sort of whimpering sound and clutched further at Dean's shirt.

"I'm not gonna go till you come too!" Sam said insistently.

"You're annoying me…I'm not playing around!" The man suddenly jerked his arm out and clumsily slammed the hilt of his knife against Dean's head.

The boy gasped in surprise and sudden pain as he stumbled sideways.

"Dean!" Sam was near-frantic as he grabbed at his brother. "Dean? Are you okay? Dean?"

"I'm fine, Sam-Sammy!" Dean lunged as the man grabbed Sam's arm and started to tug him away. That was it, emergencies called for action and he withdrew his long pocket knife. But the man was already bringing his knife towards Sam's stomach. "Sammy!"

A body inserted itself between Sam and the knife, and all three pairs of eyes widened in surprise as the knife slid in through the back of the trench-coated boy.

Cas gasped, stunned by the sudden pain of it, but he wasn't deterred. "You…will not hurt them!" Cas said vehemently as he grabbed the man's wrist and felt a surge of power through him as he did so. Despite his apparent humanity, it seemed that he still had some Grace to call upon and he used that to blast through the man who fell to the ground in a heap.

Sam heaved a gasp with tears in his eyes and Dean was at his side instantly as he scooped the boy into a tight hug and rubbed his back. "It's okay, it's okay Sammy." he soothed as the boy clutched at him, before he allowed himself to look to the other.

Cas was still on his feet, and he had a grimly satisfied expression a moment before he turned back to face the Winchesters and his gaze softened, as if his tan coat wasn't turning red with blood at the moment. "Are you alri-" Cas slumped forward suddenly, unconscious before he hit the ground as his system went into shock. He had no real concept of human pain and limitations on himself, so other than the intense pain in his back, he hadn't thought ahead to blood loss or anything.

Sam pulled back from Dean, his eyes wide. "Is he-"

"No! Come on, we'll take him to the motel and fix him there!" Dean had some basic working medical knowledge, courtesy of their dad. He could take care of a stab wound, right…? Dean hoped so, because hospitals were out of bounds, their dad had already made that clear.

As if he wasn't already going to kill them for this whole event anyway.

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I debated on Cas' 'vessel' being older or younger, and thought it would be cute both ways. But I figured it'd go along better with the story anyway if got to be the older 'protector'. Since he was often undermined [lovingly] in that regard. He's going to go through different times and ages and we'll see how it all turns out. Yeah, I know it was a little quick to throw in drunk-dude, but I needed to get Cas invited to the motel somehow, and in a condition they couldn't just kick him out…and I guess it's a good way for them to start seeing some powers from him…I dunno, I'm just so out of it right now. But distractions help, so we'll see how soon I post. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to write my request(s), and for just reading in general…Now I am going to collapse into slumber…night, people. -Witchy