"Let's stay here."
Those words were muttered hastily and with a sliver of humor but Castiel knew that Gabriel wouldn't say anything frivolous. They stood deep in one of God's forests on the newly created Earth and breathed in the surrounding trees. It took a bit for the younger angel to piece the meaning of the sentence though it made less sense when everything came together.
"I do not understand, brother. Why would we stay on Earth when we are angels?" Castiel eventually asked.
Gabriel turned from him and looked at the molecules that formed a nearby redwood's bark, memorizing one of its atoms' shape in an attempt to calm his irritation. He had chosen Castiel out of the other angels because of his strangeness. Everyone knew it when he stepped into view that this angel wasn't normal, wasn't like the others. Gabriel took an immediate liking to his peculiar little brother and offered his guidance.
"We aren't like the others, Castiel. You and I are different." he said, turning back to face the other. "Until God created this place, I thought I would have to be stuck in Heaven for all of eternity. Now I can escape, to this wonderland of beauty and who knows what else! Earth is under construction, Castiel, which means there is more to come."
The wind chose this moment to wrap itself around the trees, shaking their naked branches wickedly, momentarily distracting the two conversing angels. A soft sound arose from behind a cluster of twigs before a strange creature fell from the top of a nearby redwood. Castiel quickly caught the beast, cradling it in a white light while inspecting it for any injuries.
"Do you see that? Pretty soon this world will be crawling with new and interesting things like that...thing!" Gabriel exclaimed excitedly. "This can be our world. We'll name all of the creatures God creates and keep them safe."
Castiel watched the small thing in his hands spread its wings, feeling for once in his short life span. He looked through its flesh and examined each organ; the heart small but furiously pounding as if to fight for its right to exist. Watching it gave Gabriel's ramblings meaning and that strangeness in Castiel took control.
"Fowl. I wish to call this a fowl." he said, nodding in affirmation at his elder.
"Then fowl it shall be named." Gabriel grinned back.
Lawrence, Kansas, 1985
Two balls of brunette and blonde rolled past Mary Winchester's feet as she attempted to step into her home with numerous bags of groceries already nearly toppling her over. She let out a heavy sigh that sent a few locks of her hair flying before continuing her trek. The mantra of "John will pick them up in two days" kept the young woman from snapping at her two rambunctious sons.
Dean watched the front door slam shut before pulling Sam up from behind the bush, grinning maniacally. He felt pride swell in his chest, congratulating himself for the spy worthy escape he and his little brother pulled, not once getting noticed by their mother. They had been planning since before Sam's nap time and now they were free to explore the yard.
"Sammy, we're done being spies now." he said as Sam attempted to cover himself in fallen leaves. "We're in the clear, so lets make the most of it!"
"Okay, Dean!" Sam smiled and grabbed his brother's hand.
Although Sam only knew a several phrases now that he was two, Dean would never forget that his name was the first thing he ever said. Neither would Mary since Dean found this to be so important that he had waken her at three in the morning by yelling Sam's name in her ear. Both boys were put in time out for the rest of the week.
"New house?"
It wasn't until they had walked for several minutes that Sam spoke again, pointing his chubby finger across the street and at a blue building. Despite the neighborhood being filled with large suburban houses an apartment complex was placed in the middle of it, housing few and being altogether eyesore to the richer neighbors. But Sam and Dean were enchanted by it the minute the construction finished.
Dean looked across at it with wonder in his green eyes and nodded at his brother. He gripped their hands tighter, looked right and left, then quickly rushed toward the other stretch of sidewalk. Each step counted, every stride strong and life saving, Dean knew this well. They collapsed onto the grass, wheezing and laughing at their recklessness, not noticing that there hadn't even been any cars passing.
After collecting themselves, they rolled onto their stomachs and looked up with purpose. Being up close to the massive building gave them an onslaught of new information to digest. Stairways to conquer, fences to climb, vending machines to raid at the end of their adventure! These discoveries only strengthened the brothers' brave desire to explore this foreign terrain.
"Don't let go of my hand, Sammy." Dean lectured, using his free hand to wag his finger in Sam's face. "If you let go, a clown will come and eat you!"
Sam's brown eyes grew large with fear and he clung tightly to Dean's arm, rapidly looking around for the flesh eating clowns. The elder snickered to himself before leading them through the surprisingly open gates of the apartment complex. It was eerily silent and spacious, but Dean assured Sam that it was only that way because the residents were scared of spies.
"You see, Sammy, people are really really scared of us. They know how great of spies we are, so they ran away!"
"There is no one living here at the moment."
The sudden input made both Winchester boys scream in high falsettos and sent them running to hide behind a stairwell. Dean was the first to peek out, letting a relieved sigh as he saw a young boy standing stoically a few feet away. He looked no older than Dean, disheveled black hair dangling as his head cocked to the side, blue eyes burning with confusion at the commotion.
"Dude, you scared us to death!" Dean laughed and walked Sam back toward the boy.
"I did not intend to kill you, and it seems that you're greatly exaggerating since you are both quite alive." the boy said blinking. "I was merely stating the reason of why the complex is empty."
"You talk funny." Sam whispered from behind Dean, gaining confidence when hearing his brother laugh at the other boy's retort.
The boy momentarily watched as the two brothers bickered, keeping his stationary form, then stared over his shoulder. He seemed uneasy. It was if they had just stumbled into a possibly active mine field and the boy was the only one who noticed. It took only a few moments for Dean to realize the strange behavior.
"Hey man, you okay? I'm sorry about Sammy, he's a baby so he don't mean it when he says things like that." Dean said and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'll make sure to beat him up if he says anything like that again though."
"I took no offense to your brother's words. The two of you should return back to your place of dwelling before more trouble arises."
"I didn't understand half of what you said."
There are no words descriptive enough to convey the frustration boiling inside the young boy standing in front of the Winchesters. Without knowing how to continue their conversation, Dean did what he thought was logical.
"I'm Dean and this is Sam!"
"...Castiel."
"You should come and play with us since there ain't no adults around right now."
Dean grabbed Castiel's wrist and dragged him over to the sidewalk where he and Sam traversed from. Castiel looked back over his shoulder in exasperation then down at Sam, who was also getting dragged, pleadingly. Unfortunately the toddler only stared up in wonder. The fluffy haired boy gave in after seeing that an escape would be in vain and let himself be seated on the damp grass.
What followed was a series of lengthy games made difficult due to the lack of players and Castiel apparently having no prior knowledge of any of them. Dean patiently took the younger boy along with him during hide and seek and made sure that he didn't actually count to a thousand when he was It.
Despite the obvious clashing of cultures, the boys laughed cheerfully as they played. Even Castiel found himself quietly smiling when Sam could not understand where Dean went when he covered his face.
"Hey, Cas?"
The nickname confused him for a moment.
"Yes, Dean?"
"Can we come over again tomorrow? You're really cool and we like ya!"
Castiel stared at his new friend in bewilderment before nodding slowly, not quite sure if it was the correct response to the ludicrous question. The doubt dissipated when both Dean and Sam cheerily hugged Castiel. He let his sight drift back to where the apartments stood but lingered in their grasp a while longer.
"I have to return now. My older brother is waiting for me." he said then pulled away.
"Awh really? That sucks." Dean groaned, kicking at the ground.
Before Castiel could persuade himself to stay for a few more minutes a very angry Mary snatched up Sam and Dean. Her face was flushed with rage and worry, teeth clenched tight so that none of the upcoming lecture could seep out too early. At the same time two hands clasped around Castiel's small frame and lifted him up to face a preteen that looked just as aggravated.
"Where the hell were you, Cassie? I told you to go grab some snacks from the vending machine, not make them from scratch!" he seethed then turned his attention to Mary. "I'm really sorry about my little brother, miss. I don't think he meant to keep your boys for so long. he just gets carried away when he makes friends."
The nonchalant tone the teen spoke with seemed to calm Mary out of her catastrophic state and back into a passive aggressive time-bomb. She sighed and scrunched her brows together as the boys squirmed in her arms. Mentally reciting every mantra she ever heard that one bitch of a neighbor mutter gave Mary the patience to deal with the problem at hand.
"It's not that they were playing with your brother that angered me. It's the fact that they left the front yard without permission and didn't come back for an hour." she groaned out. "I guess I should be glad they were goofing off."
"Maybe we can just arrange play dates ourselves." the preteen smiled. "I think your boys will try to sneak out again if we don't and Cassie will definitely demand to see his little friends."
Dean immediately stop trying to escape and made ecstatic wriggling motions, calling out to his mother to agree to the terms. Both he and Sam began making promises of doing chores or giving her all their snacks in exchange for this one thing. Mary rolled her eyes and let a smile grace her beautiful features.
"Alright then, young man. I guess we can work out some kind of arrangement." she laughed as her boys cheered. "I'm Mary Winchester, and these two idiots are Sam and Dean."
"I'm Gabriel and this is little Castiel."
The three boys were set back down as their guardians exchanged home addresses and numbers. Dean grabbed Castiel's hand and shook it, grinning from ear to ear as if he had this planned the entire time. When the Winchester family left, Castiel stared at the hand his new friend shook with such vigor, smiling to himself.
"Well, I guess we can't move now." Gabriel said, glaring down at his little brother. "Of all the vessels to pick, you had to choose a child didn't you?"
"I wanted to experience human life as much as possible, brother." Castiel sighed and dropped his hand. "Be grateful I did not choose an infant instead."
"Just don't get too comfortable with those boys. Kids go through friends like clothes and they'll forget about you when they start school. But I'll allow this experiment of your's to continue."
Gabriel ruffled Castiel's hair before turning to walk back toward the apartments, leaving his brother to stare after the three walking forms that argued over what to have for dinner.