Dean sat behind the wheel of the Impala, tapping his finger in agitation as Sam looked down at a map in the passenger's seat. They had been driving for around seven hours now, only speaking when discussing directions. Silence hung in the air, so heavy that Dean just had to break it.

"Aren't you getting a little bit tired of ghosts?"

Sam looked up from his map. "What do you mean?"

"Ya know... Ooh, a ghost, some guy died a while back and now he's haunting people. Now we have to burn his remains and shit... Isn't it getting kind of old?"

"And what do you suggest we do about that?" Sam put the map down in his lap.

"I dunno," Dean said, glancing out the window. "Maybe we should find a cooler job next. Like werewolves, those are always fun."

Sam sighed in exasperation. "Dude, we can't really be picky about what jobs we take." After a moment of silence with no response from Dean, Sam sighed again and picked his map back up. "Almost there. Take the next left."

Within a few minutes, the boys reached a small motel next to the beach. They were in Virginia Beach, Virginia; some mysterious death in a shack on the beach had occurred recently and the brothers figured they should check it out. They thought it was probably just a ghost, nothing they couldn't handle.

After checking into the motel, Sam and Dean entered their room, relieved to be out of the car. While Dean still thought of it as his "baby," Sam was beginning to see it as a new version of Hell. He wouldn't dare say that to Dean, though.

"Okay, so where are we gonna start?" Sam asked his brother as he lay down and stared at the ceiling.

Dean looked out the window toward the beach and then back to Sam. "How about you go do a little research," he looked back outside, "while I check out the scene?"

Sam sat up to see Dean grinning out the window. "And by that, you mean that I go do work while you go play 'Bikini Inspector'."

Dean shrugged and opened the door, gesturing for Sam to exit. "Basically."

With a bit of arguing and persuading, Dean soon found himself strolling down the shoreline "investigating." He walked for the better part of the hour, enjoying the weather and hitting on pretty much anything that moved, until he finally decided to head toward the shack. Looking up at the clear sky, Dean wished that he and Sam could just hang out at the beach for once without having to worry about hunting... But for now, that surely couldn't happen; knowing that, Dean continued to make his way toward the shack, humming and singing softly to pass the time.

"Hmmhmhmhmm, my my, Miss American Pie – WHOA!" Dean was cut off by a mouth full of sand and a seashell or two. Standing up and brushing the sand off of himself, he cursed under his breath. "The hell was that?!" As he turned around, he expected to see a stick or a rock. Instead, he saw something that he never would have expected.

In the sand lay an unconscious man with dark hair and a tired face. He wore a trench coat over a suit; peculiar clothes for the beach. His tie was loose and slung over his shoulder.

"Whoa, hey buddy, are you okay?" Dean knelt down next to the mysterious man, his eyes wide with concern. Not wanting to wait long for a response, he tapped the man's cheek lightly. "Hey, wake up."

The man's eyelids opened to reveal a beautiful blue, even deeper than the ocean that lay out before them. Not letting himself get sidetracked, Dean helped him sit up.

"Are you okay? You hurt?"

The newly awakened man looked around before finally setting his sights on Dean. "I don't know..."

"What do you mean you don't know, how do you not know if you're hurt?"

"...who I am..." The man looked down at himself, then back up at Dean. "Where am I?"

Rather than talk about this on the beach, Dean decided to take the man back to the motel. He stood up and took his hand, pulling him up. When he about fell on his legs that hadn't been used for who knows how long, Dean rested the man's arm around his own shoulders for support. They then made their way back.

"Sam?" Dean called as he opened the door. "Are you there?" Not hearing a response, Dean walked in and helped the man to a bed to sit. "So, you don't know who you are?"

The man looked Dean up and down before answering. "My name is Castiel... That's all I know."

Dean sighed and began pacing the room. "Well then, Castiel... I'm Dean. You have any idea where you are?"

"No."

"Virginia Beach, Virginia. That ring any bells?"

Castiel paused for a moment before responding. "No."

Dean stopped pacing and looked at Castiel. "So do you have any place to go, any money?"

The blue eyes stared up at Dean in a mixture of worry and confusion. "No."

There was a moment of silence as the two men stared at each other. Dean's green eyes stared right into Castiel's blue, trying to read the man and figure out exactly who he was. Not that Dean really thought he could do that, but it was worth a shot.

Interrupting the stare-down, the room's door swung open and Sam walked in. "Well, I didn't learn much, but I did figure out that it wasn't a..." Sam trailed off as he noticed a stranger sitting on his bed. He looked at his older brother, confused, and pointed at the random guy in a trench coat. "Who's that?"

Dean sighed and explained the whole situation to Sam, although there wasn't too much to explain. When he finished, Sam looked at Castiel again, then back to Dean.

"So what do we do with him?"

"What do you think?"

"I dunno, you found him."

Dean paused, looked at Castiel, then sighed. "I say we keep him."

Sam looked at Dean in surprise. "Keep him?"

"Did I stutter?"

"No, but why are we going to keep him? He's not our responsibility, and we're on a case!" Sam said, his voice rising. He looked at Castiel and added, "No offense."

"Yeah, I know," Dean replied at an equal volume, "But he could have something to do what happened! Maybe he knows something, but he just doesn't remember it!"

"Or he could be a..." Sam stopped and lowered his voice. "Or he could be a demon. He could be a demon, Dean!"

Castiel's eyes widened before he said his first words since Sam arrived. "Demon?"

Dean sighed, glaring at Sam, before looking back at Castiel. "Yes, demons are real. So are ghosts, vampires, and a dozen other things. Those monsters under your bed when you were little? Those were real. Not that you remember them now..."

Castiel looked down at his lap. "I see."

There was a pause before Dean spoke. "You see? You seriously accept all of this?"

Castiel nodded.

"You're not supposed to accept it! You're supposed to, you know, question our sanity."

Castiel looked back up at Dean with a blank face. "I can't really disagree with you, since I have no memories to base my opinions of reality on."

This threw Dean off a little. "Oh. Well... okay then."

There was another moment of awkward silence.

Sam took a deep breath, and said, "Well, we better check out that shack, huh Dean? I'm going to assume you didn't get around to that, what with all of... this..." He stood up.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. Let's get going." Dean stood and walked toward the door, but stopped and turned to Castiel. "You stay here. I'll call you when we're done. Just uh... watch TV or porn or something." With that, the two brothers exited.

Once they were at the shack, Sam ran his finger across a small table. After a sniff, he looked at Dean. "Sulfur."

"So... Demonic possession?"

"Sure looks like it... But what for?"

Dean looked around the small building. "Well, considering it looks like a tornado blew through here, I'm gonna guess it was looking for something."

"But what?"

Dean paused. "I dunno."

The boys looked around for a moment longer before Dean pulled out his phone. "I better check on Castiel..." He dialed the room's phone. No answer. He dialed again. Still nothing.

"Maybe he's in the bathroom..." Sam offered, his eyebrows slightly furrowed in worry.

Dean ignored the suggestion and dialed again. "He better pick up this time or so help me..." He was interrupted by a click on the other end. Silence. "Hello...?" Dean listened closely for a voice and soon heard a hoarse whisper.

"Dean... Help..."

Dean's eyes widened in concern. "Castiel? Hey are you okay?!" He looked at Sam, before yelling into the phone, "Cas!"

The brothers were back at the motel in minutes, Dean hurrying to open the door. When he ran in, he saw nothing at first. He scanned the room. He took a few steps further in and then saw a foot on the floor, peeking out from behind a bed. He ran over and saw Castiel sprawled out on the floor, blood flowering out from his stomach and staining his shirt. Dean knelt down next to him, not unlike he had when he first found the man on the sands of the beach.

"Castiel, what happened? What did this to you?!"

Castiel coughed and looked up at Dean. "A woman... black eyes. She told me to come with her, and I said no. She said she'd..." He trailed off into silence.

"Said what?" Dean prompted. "What did she say?!"

Castiel took a deep breath. "She said she'd kill you if I didn't cooperate. I tried to fight her, but she... had a knife. Then I reached out and touched her head, and she... There was a flash of light."

Sam, who had been standing at the foot of the bed, asked, "Where is she now?"

"When she saw me and the blood on her hands, she ran..." Castiel began to cough, a small amount of blood spilling out of his mouth. Dean lifted up Cas' head and rested it in his arms.

"You're okay, Cas," he whispered. "You're okay..." He looked down at Castiel's wound. "You lost a lot of blood."

Castiel looked down at himself. "Yeah..." There was a pause. "Take me to the shack."

"What? Why?"

"There's something there... I don't know what, but it will help me."

The brothers exchanged glances before Sam shrugged. "Maybe that's what the demon was looking for. If it's that special, it's worth a shot."

The boys hurried back to the Impala and down to the beach. After, parking the car, Dean hoisted Castiel out of the back seat and ran to the shack with the bleeding man in his arms, Sam close behind. "C'mon Cas... Hang in there..." he whispered.

When they got to the shack, Castiel spoke up. "Put me down."

Dean obliged. Castiel walked, slowly and unsteadily, toward a small sapling growing a few inches away from the back of the shack. He reached down and laid his hand over the plant. There was a glowing light, and then a white smoke rose out of the ground and around Castiel. He looked back at the boys, who were confused and worried. Castiel turned his head back around and the white smoke entered his mouth as he began glowing. "Cover your eyes!" he yelled. Sam and Dean quickly did as they were told as the glow intensified. There was a final flash of light before Castiel collapsed to his knees.

Sam and Dean slowly uncovered their eyes and looked as Cas, not sure whether they should approach him or not. Soon enough, the man in the trench coat stood and turned around to look at Sam and Dean. Any doubt or fear that had been in his eyes before had totally disappeared, and had been replaced with determination and strength.

He opened his mouth to speak, his voice much stronger that before. "My name is Castiel," he said, "I am an angel of the Lord, and I have retrieved my grace."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks before Sam spoke up. "So you're an... angel? Like, an angel angel."

"Yes." Castiel replied. "That is why the demon from the motel wanted me."

Dean spoke up, "Aren't angels supposed to be all... Ya know... Puffy wings and a halo?"

"That is merely a misconception," Castiel said. "My true form is much more intense and could possibly take your sight or hearing if you were to witness it."

"Then how can we look at you right now?"

"This is a vessel. This man agreed to let me use his body as long as I needed to."

There was a pause, then Dean spoke again. "So... Now that you're all angel and stuff... What are you going to do now? Can you still..." He paused, not sure if he should really say what he wanted. "Can you still stay with me? I mean... With us?"

Castiel looked down for a moment, then back up at Dean. "No. I'm sorry."

Sam spoke this time. "What? Why not?"

"I must return home for now."

"Home?" Dean said. "As in..."

"Yes. Heaven."

There was a pause as Sam and Dean looked at Castiel and Castiel's blue eyes shifted between the two boys. No one was sure what to say until Cas spoke up. "I must go..." He looked at Sam. "Goodbye Sam." He looked back to Dean and paused for a moment, green and blue eyes meeting again, saying so much yet so little. He sighed. "Goodbye... Dean."

"Wait, Cas, no– "

He was gone.

A few months after the Castiel ordeal, the Winchester boys found themselves with a case that brought them to a familiar place. They were in the Impala when Sam brought it up.

"This one is in Virginia Beach... That brings back memories, doesn't it?"

Dean stayed silent.

"People have been saying that they saw a man appearing and then disappearing by the water..."

Dean still said nothing. Sam continued reading.

"Says here that he was wearing a trench coat."

"What?!" Dean slammed on the breaks, almost slamming Sam into the dashboard. He took a deep breath and continued driving, faster now.

Sam looked at his older brother. "Do you think it's...?"

Dean continued to speed up. "Worth a shot."

When the boys arrived at the beach, Dean slammed his door shut and ran down to the shore line. He looked at Sam, who was a little ways behind him. "Where is he?"

Sam caught up with Dean and sighed. "Sightings usually occur around seven pm."

"What time is it now?"

Sam checked his watch. "About five."

"Then we'll wait."

"Well, we could check into a motel first, then come back and..."

"Sam." Dean said sternly. "We're waiting."

Sam nodded, and the boys sat down and waited... and waited... and waited... When it was finally half-past-seven, Dean was beginning to get worried. He stood up and looked around.

"Well? Where the hell is he?!"

Sam stood up and sighed. "I dunno, Dean, maybe we were..." He trailed off as he noticed something a few yards down the beach from them. "Dean... Dean look!"

Dean spun around to see a mysterious man with dark hair and a tired face. He wore a trench coat over a suit; peculiar clothes for the beach. His tie was loose and hung down his front. His eyes were blue, deeper than the ocean that lay out next to them.

Dean gulped. "Cas...?"

There was a pause before the man smiled slightly and walked quickly toward Dean, then pulling him into a tight hug.

"Hello, Dean."