Title: Imaginary Friend
Summary: Despite what Dean always thought, his first meeting with Cas happened before that night with Bobby in the wooden barn. They were friends long before that.
A/N: Started writing a fic from Dean's POV of their friendship but I wasn't feeling it. So I scraped it and wrote this instead. Hope you like it.
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The first time they met, the boy was eight months old. He was lying in his cot struggling to gain the attention of his exhausted working parents. The boy was crying out for his soother. His dark green eyes were red with tears. After an hour of tossing and turning, he was finally able to roll himself over to his side. He stretched out his hand and tried to reach what he longed for. The soother rolled towards him and he quickly stuck it in his mouth. With two sucks on the comforting rubber, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
The second time they met, the boy was tightly holding onto the leg of the kitchen table. His legs were unsteady and wobbled back and forth. It wasn't his first time to stand but he was thinking of doing more this time. This time he wanted to reach the sliding door to the small back garden. This time he wanted to go outside and he didn't want to wait for his daddy to carry him out. He looked around to see if he was being watched. His mother was washing dishes with her back turned to him. His father was sitting on the living room couch watching a game. It was the boy's time to shine. He stuck out his left foot and steadied himself before letting go of the table. Another step was followed by another. With a slight wobble and a fast step, he stumbled quickly over to the glass sliding door. His hands fell on the glass stopping his head from making contact. He had made it. His face light up with laughter. He saw his reflection in the glass and laughed some more. Two more steps and he would be outside. He looked back to his mother. She was quietly humming a tune to herself and hadn't noticed that her baby had left his high chair. He turned back to the glass then looked up at the stranger. He giggled again and waddled his way to freedom.
The third time they met, his parents were having a heated argument in the kitchen. His mother had lovingly placed him in the garden among his trucks and toy cars but he could still hear them shout. "Can you pass me the action man, please?" the small boy asked politely. The stranger, although surprised the child could still see him, handed him the toy in question. Children were always more susceptible to seeing an angels in their hidden form, especially babies. As a child grows, however, their eyes and imagination also grow and angels fade away. The boy was nearly four years old. The stranger knelt down in front of him and cleared his throat. "Dean, I need you to do something for me," he began. "Yes sir," the boy replied not looking up from his toys. It didn't seem to bother him that they hadn't been formally introduced.
Angels don't smile, not usually, but ever since this angel had been assigned the task to watch over this boy, he had quickly learned how to use those small muscles. The angel smiled slightly when their eyes finally met. "In a few months, your daddy is going to ask you to do something very important. He's going to hand you your baby brother..." "I'm getting a brother?" the boy's eyes lit up with excitement. The stranger nodded and smiled. He raised his index finger to his lips. "But shush, it's a secret, okay?" The boy nodded enthusiastically and turned back to his truck. His was now using a digger to transfer some sand into a bucket. The angel tried again. "You're daddy is going to hand you your baby brother and tell you to bring him outside the house. You have to do this, Dean." He turned his head and wondered if the boy was even listening to him. He had seen a possible future for this boy and without his brother he would have no reason to live. "Do you understand me?" he asked. The small boy nodded.
"Is it my fault?" the boy sadly asked. The angel narrowed his eyes in wonder then followed his gaze to the house. The shouting had stopped soon after the front door shut with a bang. "No, it is not your fault," the angel bluntly said and stood up to leave. The boy held up action man to him. "Can you play with me until my brother comes?" The angel shook his head. "I'm afraid your brother won't be coming for a few months..." he began but stopped when he realised time is irrelevant to a child. He gracefully accepted the toy and sat on the grass across from him.
His brothers had given out to him that day for interfering with a human's life. He shouldn't have warned the boy about his future, not matter how little he actually said. He shouldn't have interfered. He should have trusted fate. So the fourth time they met, it was a few years later. It was the winter of 1991. The boy's father had left him in charge again and in anger he had left his little brother alone in their motel room. He followed the boy into the supermarket and down each aisle under a sheet of invisibility. He watched the boy hide a packet of crisps in his jacket and a bottle of soda in his trouser leg. He had seen him do this a hundred times before. When you're hungry and poor, you learn very quickly how to survive. Usually, the boy was careful and scouted the shop before even thinking of stealing food but he was after arguing with his brother and wasn't in the mood to wait.
He got to the front door when he was dragged backwards by the collar of his jacket. "Where do you think you're going?" the large security guard angrily asked. "C'mon with me son," he tried to haul the boy to the back security room. "I'm not your son," the boy shouted and struggled to break free. The angel stiffened. This couldn't happen tonight. If the law enforcement were called, the boy and his whole family would be in trouble. His future would be changed too much to return to his scheduled path. The angel quickly decided to reveal himself. "I'm his father!" he shouted from the back of the supermarket.
The security guard stopped walking and the boy stopped struggling. They both turned and raised their heads in search of the unfamiliar voice. A man in a black suit appeared from behind the bread shelf. "I'm sorry officer, it was my fault," the man raised his hands in defeat. "We've been on the road all day and haven't eaten much." The stranger placed his hand on the boy's head and playfully scuffed his hair. "Dean, I thought I told you to go to the till not to the car."
The boy shrugged and pretended to laugh. "Sorry... dad, I guess I heard you wrong." They both looked to the security guard and gave fake smiles. No harm done. The guard let go of the boy and scratched his head. He couldn't remember seeing the man walk in but shrugged it off. "Just be careful next time, yeah?" The stranger thanked him with a slap on the shoulder. "Of course, thank you for being so understanding."
The angel paid for the goods with what little money his vessel had in his pockets. He was surprised to find the boy waiting for him in the dark parking lot. "How'd you know my name?" the boy greeted him rudely. The angel threw him the foods he had paid for. He realised his mistake as soon as he placed his hand on the boy's head. He shouldn't have used his real name and now he didn't know how to explain it. "The last time we met, you were three years old." The boy narrowed his eyes. "Do you know my dad?" "No," the angel replied quickly. "But, I knew your mother," it was a partial lie. His sister was her guardian angel so in a way, he did know of her. "Oh," the boy's head dropped and he kicked some gravel away from under his feet. "Do you know she died?" the boy didn't lift his head. "Yes," the angel nodded in reply.
He walked with the boy as they strolled away from the scene of their crime. The angel wondered if he should exchange some words of comfort. But he had witnessed humans in times of sadness before and found the best thing he could say was nothing at all. So that's what he did and they walked back to the motel together in silence.
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