"Dean, not everyone finds a Cas, alright? Just let him look around."

"It's too big of a decision to make based purely on looks. Angels are expensive and last a lot longer than demons, Sam."

Adam didn't want a demon or an angel or any form of 'pet', really. But since his mother died, he lived on his own and this concerned his older brothers. They were used to being around each other 24/7, never alone, never fully in silence. But for the youngest brother, silence and loneliness were everyday occurrences. For as long as he could remember, his mother worked nights and his father only visited once a year. (Why the bastard had never told him that he had brothers, he had no idea. They didn't seem to be ashamed of him in any way…)

He didn't want to deal with a pet (or, as Dean believed, the best sort of lifelong companion.), but he'd amuse his brothers. An angel could do the dishes and clean his room, right? It's not like he was paying for it, anyway. He chose an angel over a demon because, well, he'd never met a demon he'd liked. Sam had a few demons and they were all too bitchy and vocal for his tastes.

Dean's angel Cas, though, was friendly and loyal. Adam liked Cas, but Sam was right… He wouldn't end up with a profound-bond like Dean had. It was a one-in-a-billion chance to get something like that. ("So of course it would be Dean." Sam had said, obviously trying to control his jealousy.)

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed when his brothers stopped arguing and a man approached them, black clipboard in hand. Dean tapped Adam on the shoulder and they stood up from their seats in the very dentist-like waiting room.

The man with the clipboard seemed to be in his 30's, messy blonde locks and facial hair suggesting that he wasn't as professional as his labcoat suggested. He held out his hand to Sam and Dean (who apparently knew him as Chuck), then turned to Adam. "Mr. Milligan?" He nodded. "Alright, I got your test results back. You rate as a 7a-x. Do you know what that means?"

"Seriously?" Dean blurted out, grinning. Sam just rolled his eyes. "Adam, dude, you got higher than Sam and dad!"

Before anyone was allowed to 'adopt' an angel, they had to go through a series of tests to decide what types of angels and what types of personalities/afflictions you were allowed to consider. This particular 'Nest' had hundreds of angels, from all levels.

The number was a measure of how bright (powerful) your soul was. Some angels needed a brighter soul to keep their grace at safe levels, when they soul-bonded with their new masters. The Nest would keep them at decent levels by attaching them to trainers, all level 8 through 10's. But angels preferred to have more intimate bonds with humans. (Preferably, one angel, one human… though some rich people liked to break that ideal.)

The letter 'a' symbolized the ability to adopt angels that had been returned and had their graces negatively affected by breaking the bond or angels that had been taken from abusive owners. Angel's have their own grace rating system, 1 to 50 and any angel below a 15 was considered for repossession by recent abuse laws… Dean thinks it should be higher.

A letter 'b' shows someone who might be good for training stubborn/disobedient angels. The only people allowed to have this, were rated 8 and above.

One 'x' meant you could visit the archangels and if one took to you, you could adopt them. (Completely the angel's choice though.)

Sam, though, was rare in that though he only rated a 4, he also had an 'xx' rating. He could not only adopt an archangel, but he could have his choice. (Adam had no idea why, but Sam refused to have an angel anyway.)

Dean rated an astounding 8abx, so it was no wonder he had ended up with a 'profound bond'.

"Yeah, I know what it means."

Chuck nodded. "Good. Shall we head out then?" His brothers technically weren't needed in the picking-out process, but each considered their opinion vital enough to tag along. They followed close behind Chuck and Adam, as he was lea down the winding hallways of the massive Nest, past doors marked only with numbers, until they passed through a large set of double doors marked '6+'.

Dean spoke before Chuck could, eager to explain. "Not many people rate as high as we do, but there are a lot of angels here in need of placement." Sam rolled his eyes. "So they want you to seriously consider adopting one."

Chuck was quick to interrupt here. "But there's no pressure. If you don't find a compatible angel here, you're allowed any angel below, as well as a visit to the archangels."

"I don't want an archangel." They were known for being beautiful and highly intelligent, but those benefits were nothing to Adam in comparison to their tempers and high maintenance care. Chuck nodded, seeming to understand.

"Well, here we are." They arrived at a massive pure white hallway, hundreds of glass doors lining the walls. Each had four small slots in the door, probably for speaking, since each of the small rooms had air vents in the ceiling. Inside each of the rooms was a single angel.

There was really no theme among them, other than their ratings (ranging from 6 to 8). There were short angels, tall angels, light and dark skinned, wings like bluebirds, sparrows and hawks… Adam walked down the hall, nodding politely at the angels standing at the front of their cages. He took time to read the files displayed on the ones that looked pretty (well, they were really all pretty in their own ways). Most of them mainly just needed help with weakened graces.

Nothing particularly caught his eye, until he passed by a room that he had initially mistaken as empty. He took two steps back, seeing then a quivering mess of pure white feathers, balled up in the corner of the room.

'Samandriel' was the name written on top of the file and Adam took it down to get a better view of the angel, handing it to Dean. His eldest brother was smirking, as though Adam's interest means something more than it actually did… Just a curiosity on why the angel was hiding from him.

Adam tapped twice on the glass, causing the angel to twitch before raising his eyes above his feathers. Samandriel was the youngest angel that Adam had ever seen, looking as though he were a teenager, with bright blue eyes and…

"His wings are gorgeous!"

"Yeah," Adam replied quietly as he pressed a hand to the glass. The angel looked from him to Dean, back to him again.

"Says here that he's really skittish… a rescue from a physically abusive home." Dean said quietly, trying to keep Samandriel from hearing. But the angel still curled into itself, hiding behind its small, fluffy wings. "Poor little guy. Used to be rated 3, now he's a 7. He needs a home with a single master who has time to love him. He's loyal and extremely tender, despite his past."

Damn Dean, playing with his heart strings… Go figure that something like this would catch his interest over the especially beautiful angels. He shifted on his feet, wanting to see the angel's eyes again.

"Might have actually been amplified because of his history, really." Chuck approached the brothers, Sam close in tow. "He's been here for a few months, just recovering. We put him out here because he likes being near people."

Sam peered over Dean's shoulder at the little angel. "Doesn't look like it."

They all heard a soft sound from behind the glass, Adam was sure it was a sob.

Dean seemed to notice this too. "This is why you're a 4, Sammy." Sam gave Dean his best bitchface, but allowed himself to be lead away. Dean gave Adam the clipboard and a wink.

"Can I visit with him?" He asked.

Chuck replied with a smile.

Trying not to seem too jittery, Adam found himself regretting letting Dean leave. Technically, being an 8, he would have been allowed to stay with Adam as he met the unbonded angel. But he seemed to think that this had to be a personal experience.

Adam forced himself to stop bouncing his legs and sighed. He was in a small meeting room with white walls, a white floor, a white door and the fluffiest light blue couch he'd ever sat on. He needed to calm down, couldn't let Samandriel see how (stupidly) nervous he was. He had to show the angel that he was strong of mind, could take care of him, be a proper master, not…

A knock on the white door and he nearly jumped out of his skin. He stood up quickly and tried to seem as tall as he could.

The door opened to reveal Chuck, a thin silver chain in hand, connected to a black leather collar. Behind him, Samandriel was shaking, hands clamped together in front of him, though no true binding existed. The angel searched the room with his eyes, avoiding Adam, before looking to the floor. Chuck looked behind him, encouraging the angel to step forward with a gentle hand behind the angels back.

"Good luck." Was all that Chuck offered, before stepping out of the room and leaving the two alone.

Samandriel had stopped shaking and Adam would have been happy for that, if it hadn't meant that the angel was completely still as he approached, eyes still on the ground and hands held tightly together like a prayer, his pretty white wings rigid behind him. The angel's blue eyes didn't seem distant though, if anything he was hyperaware of the situation, petrified into stillness like a threatened rabbit.

The human sighed as he finally stood in front of him, putting his hands deep in his pockets and slumping down a bit. Anything to look smaller, less scary for the obviously frightened being in front of him. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay? Whatever happened to you before… it's all over now." His voice was soft and warm and the angel blinked a bit, gently closing his eyes.

"I-I know, sir." His voice was a whisper, even in the complete silence of the meeting room. Adam nodded, ignoring the formal title and turned partly to the couch.

"Let's just go sit down and talk, okay? Just talk for now."

To his surprise, the angel complied, partly opening his eyes and followed Adam to the couch. He sat with his wings against his back, hands folded in his lap and eyes ever downcast. Adam lounged against the other side of the couch, unsure of what to say.

"You've been back in the Nest for a while, yeah?"

"Yes, sir."

Adam sighed and sat up straighter. "Just call me Adam."

The angel's eyes flickered up to really meet his gaze for the first time and a small smile played at the edges of his lips. "Yes, Adam." Adam was almost shocked by the immediate warmth in the two words, as though allowing him to speak Adam's actual name was a gift.

The human chewed on his bottom lip. "You have really pretty wings, you know. I can tell you take good care of them."

Samandriel's eyes dropped again, his cheeks turning a light pink as he obviously tried not to preen at the compliment. "Th-thank you, si-… Adam. They've recovered well."

His stomach turned at that statement. Recovered from what? Biting down his automatic protective nature over the creature, he tried to focus on the task at hand: seeing if they were compatible enough to bring him home.

"So, uh…" He let the words sit in the air, unsure of what to ask.

"If you take me home, I swear I'll continue to care for them, on my own." The angel spoke quickly, as if that was what Adam was trying say. "U-unless you'd like to, then of course, you… Whatever you'd like." His words got more quiet as he spoke, as though he was worried about what Adam would… like.

Adam looked him over, silence hanging thick in the air after the meaning behind those words struck something inside of him. Samandriel began to fidget nervously at Adam's lack of reply, until the human finally spoke up. "Do you want a home, angel? Or would you feel safer here?"

Samandriel looked up at him again, eyes wide with emotion as his wings twitched and his hands were placed on the cushion between them, as he leaned forward. "I would very much like a home, Adam. I would like… I would like to prove myself to you. I get nervous, but I do love people. Humans. Your warmth and love and creativity and live. I just get scared sometimes, however I do… I love…" The angel swallowed hard and blinked at him, but didn't continue.

Adam dared to lift his fingers to run them through Samandriel's soft hair. He smiled and leaned a bit forward, too. "Then I would love to have you around."

The angel smiled softly at him, leaning into his touch.

/Ch 1/

Please tell me if you'd like an update. I've never written anything like this before and needless to say I'm a bit nervous!