Castiel liked lights. Lava lamps, Christmas bulbs, fiber optic decorations, you name it- they fascinated him. He would sit for hours, just intently staring at them, riveted. Not many things interested the man; least of all, people. He had long since concluded that all people were the same- horrid, detestable creatures that only wanted such luxuries as sex, money, fame…nothing worthwhile. Castiel was…peculiar. That was how most people described him, although not many people actually knew him, well, not really. Not one single person had taken the time to get to know the wonders of his brilliant mind…he was "too weird". No one had stuck around long enough to get past the monotone, the blank stares, the disinterest he seemed to have. Not even his own family had cared enough to get to that point. No, instead they stuck him in here- a mental hospital. Castiel was a selective mute; he never spoke. Not since he was fifteen had he uttered a word to anyone other than the occasional mumble to himself. He was now a young man of just twenty three years old, with no life beyond these white walls that had been his home for a little over a year. Oddly enough, he was considerably well-liked here- he was quiet, he never made a fuss, and he was easy to get along with, since he never really did much of anything. One orderly in particular, Anna, the Monday-Wednesday-Friday 'nurse', so to speak, had taken the most interest in him. She was a pretty young girl with red hair and kind hazel eyes. She ensured that Castiel got his own private room, and she was the one who had bought the object he was looking at now.
His attention snapped back to it, ah, it was so lovely. It was a ball that held spinning fiber optic threads. Anna was the first one to figure out that Castiel was fascinated by colorful objects. It started when he reached out to touch her bright red lanyard, on an impulse, and only spiraled from there. Anna was the only one Castiel would touch and the only one he let touch him. His blue eyes squinted intently on the spinning object, watching with fascination as it threw lines of light across the dark room, the only color in the white hospital. He thought back to his birthday, when Anna had brought him a red balloon. It had no string since that was considered a danger to himself, but he loved it all the same. He played with it for hours, bouncing it in the air on his fingertips. That night he had slept with it in his bed, next to him.
When he woke up the next morning, he saw that the balloon had popped. Anna came in to find him clutching the deflated thing in his hands, with tears in his big blue eyes. Later that day, she had come into his room with a box. The box contained the fiber optic light he was looking at now.
Someone knocked on Castiel's door. He ignored it, instead tangling his fingers through the color-changing threads. Another orderly, Rufus, opened his door. "Castiel….you have a visitor." Rufus sounded shocked, but not half as shocked as Castiel felt. Not once, never, had he gotten a visitor that wasn't another patient or someone who worked here. It was enough to make him turn away from his beloved light, and look at the stranger who entered his room. He was a tall man, who looked to be rugged and muscular. In other words, nothing of interest to Castiel. He went back to his light, ignoring the stranger that stood by his bedside. "Uh, hi, Castiel. My name is Dean." The man -Dean- waited for a response. "Oh, right, they told me you don't talk…listen, I have some very important things to tell you. I came here because..because you're in danger." Dean waited in silence again, hoping to elicit a response from me. "Look dude, I understand you're looking at your light thingy, and it's cool, it really is, but I feel weird talking to you when you're turned around..so could you..?" Castiel just wanted this strange man to leave him alone, and so he reluctantly tore his eyes away from the light. He flicked on the lightswitch next to his bed, lighting up the room. He unplugged his beloved color light to avoid distraction. And then, he turned around.
Castiel was glad he did turn because he saw something he didn't notice before. Dean's eyes, their color….they fascinated Castiel. He jumped up, abandoning all his rules, grabbing the side of Dean's face. He leaned in closely, studying his eyes, peering right into them. Dean looked shocked at first, his posture stiffening and his eyes widening in alarm. But when he realized Castiel was not going to hurt him, he stared right back.
Castiel couldn't stop looking at Dean's eyes, the way they held so many colors at once. They were a clear green flecked with gold, fringed with dark lashes and surrounded by laugh lines. The two were now perched on Castiel's bed, with Castiel only half listening to what the other man was saying. His big green eyes were too distracting for him to focus on words. "I'm called a hunter…I hunt things, Castiel. Things, not animals. Those things that your parents told you were just made up ? Yeah, those are real…It's all real, and my brother and I, we hunt them down, you know ? Well listen man –Castiel, you're in danger. There's demons that want you dead…we don't know why yet, but we're going to figure it out and save you, okay ? But I need to bust you out of here…" Dean looked at the smaller man, at his thin frame sitting cross-legged like a child, and then back up at his crystal blue eyes, trying to determine if he understood him. Castiel's head cocked, and he nodded ever so slightly. He had no reason NOT to trust this man, and almost nothing to keep him here…one day he would come back for Anna, but for now, he needed to get back into the world.
"Okay, I'm going to come to your window at midnight, two hours after lights out. I'm going to knock underneath the window, three times. DO NOT open it unless you hear THREE knocks, understand ?" Castiel nodded again lightly, although he didn't understand what Dean meant by "open the window". Surely he had noticed the bars over the window ? Dean left shortly after running through the plan, and Castiel went back to watching his light.
They had told him that Castiel was different, but…wow. Dean had almost lost his cool when he suddenly jumped up in his face, but something in the troubled man's pure blue eyes calmed him. When Dean left his room, they told him that he never touched anyone, and that he never even registered that he heard them. Dean began to question what made him so special….how did he break through to him ? All he knows is, the kid looked happy when he was staring at that color-changing thingy…so Dean went out and bought him a present.
Castiel was awake, sitting in the dark, waiting. As much as he loved color, he didn't mind the dark either, although he much rather preferred at least one light source. His eyes darted to the clock on the wall, and as he watched, it struck midnight exactly. Right on time came three soft knocks. Castiel wandered over to the window, and could vaguely see Dean's form in the darkness. "Watch out buddy, stand back." Castiel did what he was told, with some confusion. His name was not Buddy, it was Castiel. He watched with wide eyes as this Dean character used some sort of hand held saw to cut the bars off of the window. Castiel was no longer contained inside the holding cell they called a room. He turned and grabbed his beloved gift from Anna, then stood in front of Dean and the open window. Even in the darkness, he could see the other man's green eyes glowing. "Castiel man, let's go !" Tentatively, Castiel stepped toward the window, unsure of how to scale the space of wall between the floor and the opening. "Oh for…" Dean trailed off. He reached in and gripped Castiel under the arms like a child, lifting him out with ease. The man looked barely fed, and he was light as someone half his age. He stood awkwardly beside Dean, starting to feel uneasy. "Car is this way," Dean told him, as he began to walk away from the hospital. He kept glancing back to make sure Castiel was still behind him, and sure enough, he trailed along like a lost puppy. His eyes were just adding to the puppy theory, to be quite honest. He reminded him a little of Sammy in that way, given that he had a habit of looking like a sad sack himself. Plus, Castiel and Sam were almost the same age. Dean glanced back; Castiel had stopped. He was standing still, staring down at his feet. Dean walked back to him, "What's wrong ?" He pointed to his bare feet, then to Dean's shoes. Dean barked out a short laugh, "We'll get you shoes, don't worry." The full force of Castiel's blue eyes were put upon Dean as the younger man looked to him and nodded.
They reached the car just as the alarm in the hospital sounded. Castiel slid into the backseat, and Dean into the driver's side. The sound of squealing tires was heard, and then the black Impala sped off into the night.
Half an hour later, Dean finally turned on the radio to banish the unbearable silence. He was used to riding with talkative Sam, not quiet Castiel. He thought it odd that he had chosen to ride in the backseat, but hey, whatever made the guy more comfortable. Dean turned the dial on his beloved radio and lowered the volume, "Hey, Castiel. I almost forgot, I uh…got this for you." He pulled his present out of the glove compartment and tossed it into the backseat. "It's one of those flameless candle thingies." He suddenly felt embarrassed, and so he turned the radio back up and focused on the road. He noticed how the kid liked light up objects, so he had bought him something simple to keep him entertained. Over the noise of the radio, he could hear Castiel opening the box. He used his rearview mirror to glance back, and saw that the boy had switched the candle on and was now staring at it, a small smile on his face. The sight made Dean smile as well.
Every time he looked back to check on Castiel, he saw the flicker of the candle and the bright blue eyes of someone intelligent. So what if the guy was a little strange ? Most people are, himself included. You could tell just by looking at him that he was a very smart kid, and maybe now that he was out of the hospital he could get a chance to prove it.
Maybe it was because he was so young, or maybe it was because demons were on his ass, but Dean felt protective of Castiel. Someone so innocent shouldn't be subjected to such evil…Dean kept driving until almost 5AM, and then he had reached the motel him and Sam were staying at. He climbed out and opened the door to the backseat, only to find Castiel slumped over and asleep, the candle cuddled close to him, still flickering away.
He felt bad, but Dean had to wake Castiel up. He didn't want to scare him by carrying him, because he didn't like to be touched. Instead he whispered his name until he slowly uncurled himself and followed Dean inside. He sat cross-legged on top of his bed, placing his only two possessions on the nightstand next to him. He turned and flipped the covers back, burrowing underneath them immediately. Dean woke Sam up so that he could switch with him and watch over their new charge while he got some sleep. That night, Dean found that he could not sleep unless he was facing Castiel, just in case.
***I re-blocked the whole story and condensed it, and actually finished it this time ! I'm so sorry to everyone I kept waiting for months !
