Chapter 1
By prettyboyangel
"Damn this cold weather," Dean said, rubbing his hands together for warmth. He had gone into town just to do a quick food run, but he was not expecting it to snow. It began as flurries for a couple minutes on the drive up, but it quickly escalated to heavier snowfall.
He made his way to the grocery store and decided to himself that he would try to do his shopping as quickly as possible so that he would actually be able to drive home. The last thing he wanted was to get stuck in town for the night when he only lives a twenty minute drive out. He grabbed a shopping basket and pulled the crumbled list out of his coat pocket. It was damp, but he could still make out his younger brother's handwriting.
"Okay… soup, soup…" he said, making his way through the aisles. After filling up his basket, he headed over to pay and was on his way out. "That wasn't too bad," he said as he braced for the cold air.
Dean was about to turn the corner when a better thought hit him. He decided to take a short cut through a small wooded area to reach the parking lot. He figured that it would be faster and he'd be less likely to slip there than on the icy sidewalk. He walked through the snow that was beginning to pile up and started working out the rest of his evening in his head. He really should be working on his search for a job, but he kind of wanted to take the rest of the night off. He was thinking of something he could use as an excuse when he saw him.
He thought that it was just a man at first, dressed in a dirty robe-like dress, but immediately noticed the large pair of black wings behind him. They were sprinkled in snowflakes and kept closely against the creature's body, but he knew what they were. And he knew what he was looking at.
They were on the news for the past week. Winged creatures found across the region; newly discovered species. Apparently there was some natural disaster somewhere which left them without a home, but the government was working with some kind of animal protection agency to find them a new place to live. They said to call a certain number if you ever see one, but to stay clear of them. They were called dangerous creatures.
They did not look very dangerous though. In fact, they looked really human.
Dean tried to get a closer look. The creature looked like it was asleep so if he was quiet he might be able to get- Crack.
He stepped on a broken branch that was hidden under the snow. He silently cursed to himself. The creature immediately poked up at the noise and his eyes locked unto Dean's.
Dean froze. He did not know anything about this creature so he couldn't accurately figure out what chance he had against it. He decided to stay still for now.
The creature did not shift his gaze. He stared directly at the human before him without moving a muscle. Dean began to slowly back away. One step at a time, he backtracked until his foot hit a tree root and he fell backwards and slipped when he tried to catch his fall.
The creature's wings expanded and he sat upright; still watching Dean. Dean cursed as he began to pick his groceries off the snow covered floor. He watched the creature from the corner of his eye, making sure it wasn't going to make any sudden moves. He then began to get himself back up when he realized his day was going even worse than he thought. He had twisted his ankle in the fall. It was not his day.
He slowly made his way upright, holding onto the tree next to him and slowly tried to walk normally. He wasn't sure how intelligent the creature was, but he knew better than to show his weakness in front of it. The creature was able to tell though, and it slowly walked towards the human. Dean stayed as still as he could and watched as the creature, which up close appeared to be completely human in his eyes, walked up to him. His wings were kept low at his sides and he did not appear to be hostile at all.
Dean clenched his fist as the creature stopped right in front of him. It then knelt down and softly touched his injured ankle. Dean could feel a warmth around where the creature's hand was and he could feel the pain in his ankle leave him.
As the creature stood back up, Dean looked at it in confusion.
"What did you do?" he asked, unsure of what kind of response he was going to get.
"I healed you," it responded. Dean's eyes widened as the creature spoke seemingly perfect English.
"Wait, you can speak English?" he retorted.
"After learning it from you." Dean narrowed his eyes in confusion and the creature continued to speak. "I can learn another being's language by sense of touch. I now understand English in the same degree that you do."
"Wow, that's, well, pretty damn awesome," he smirked. The creature smiled in response. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting you to be so, well, human."
"What do you mean?" The creature tilted his head slightly.
"Like, don't take this the wrong way, but the news was always stressing how dangerous you guys were and yet, here we are having a nice conversation."
"The news?"
"Yeah, the people broadcasting about you guys. The ones who are trying to help you guys find a new place to live or whatever." The creature became silent and his wings slowly lowered themselves closer to the snowy forest floor. "What's wrong?" Dean finally asked.
"No humans are trying to help us. I'm afraid you've been misinformed," the creature said. This time it was Dean who was quiet.
"So, um, what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere by yourself? Are there more of you guys around here too?"
The creature shook his head slowly. "I'm afraid not, I'm kind of on my own for now."
Dean bit his bottom lip. He looked the creature in front of him and noticed the redness around the joints of his body and just how pale he looked. He wasn't sure how much was natural, but he knew that he was at least partially affected by the cold. He had to make a decision.
"Do you have a place to stay?" Dean asked. The creature's head shook once again.
"I was planning on getting some more land covered today, but I had to take a break. I tried to look for some food to recharge, but I'm really unfamiliar with the area," the creature admitted.
Dean let out a sigh and gave in. "Well, my car isn't too far out so if you want to ride back with me I can get you warmed up and recharged back at my house."
The creature's wings perked up at the offer and his eyes widened. "Are you sure? You don't know me and your people seem to think that I'm dangerous-"
"Yeah, I'm sure. I have pretty good judgment and it's the least I can do for healing me up," Dean smiled. "But, you do have to do something first…"
The winged creature's head tilted again as he spoke, "What?" Dean proceeded to take off his coat and hand it to his new companion.
"You gotta put this on," he stated. "Partially because you look like you are freezing your ass off and also because if we are going to walk through a parking lot, you gotta hide your wings."
The creature understood and nodded as he took the coat. He then wrapped his wings tightly around his torso and put the coat on over them.
"Good boy," Dean teased. "Now follow me, the car's not too far from here." He picked up his bags of groceries, that he had nearly forgotten about, began to walk through the snow that had only gotten thicker since the beginning of his walk. "So, do you have a name?"
"Castiel," the creature responded.
"Okay, Castiel. My name is Dean."
"And this is home. It's not much, but it works for us. That is, me and my younger brother. We share the place, but don't worry, he won't mind your company," Dean said, parking his car in the driveway and helping Castiel work the door handle. Dean had been amused the whole ride up at how amazed Castiel was at everything. Everything from the car itself, to how fast it moved, to the heater, and the windows were fascinating to him.
Dean unlocked the door and carried the groceries into the kitchen. He watched in the corner of his eye at how Castiel's eyes widened with amazement and seemed to want to examine every object in his house.
"I'll give you a tour later if you want," Dean said, laughter in his voice. Castiel's eyes lit up and he nodded enthusiastically.
"Who are you talking to? Don't tell me you picked someone up at the grocery store again," a voice shouted from upstairs.
"You bet I did, a real babe too," Dean shouted back. Castiel's wings puffed out from underneath Dean's coat which only amused Dean even more. "You can take that off now, by the way. I can't imagine that it's very comfortable and you're safe here."
Castiel looked at Dean with uncertainty and then over at where the voice came from.
"Don't worry about Sam, he won't mind," Dean assured his new friend. He was unpacking his bags of food when Sam came down the stairs.
"So where's this chick you-" He stopped as his eyes landed on Castiel who was carefully taking off Dean's coat. His wings uncurled from his body and he stretched them out and shook them a little to shake off the small pieces of ice that still stuck between his black feathers.
"Dean…" Sam said. Castiel turned around and noticed Sam staring at him. His wings lowered once again and he fidgeted with Dean's coat, unsure of what to say. Before he could say anything, Dean came into the room and gently put his hand on Castiel's shoulder.
"Sam, this is Castiel. Castiel, this is my brother, Sam," he said casually. "Castiel is gonna stay here for a while to get his strength back, okay?"
"Yeah, sure, of course. It's nice to meet you. Dean, could I have a quick word in private?" Sam said, pulling his older brother with him into the other room.
"What?" Dean asked.
"What? Dean, you can't just let one of those things into the house! You heard the reports, they are dangerous and we are supposed to notify the authorities, not let one stay for dinner!" Sam whispered loudly.
"He was in the forest alone, freezing, and starving. Not only that, but he healed my ankle just for the sake of helping me out, okay? He's not the monster that the news reporters were making him out to be, he's basically just a kid with wings. Seriously, just for a few fucking days and then he'll be on his way," Dean responded.
Sam rolled his eyes and sighed, "Just for a few days." Dean smiled and pat his brother roughly on the arm.
"Okay, Cas, you can sit where you want and I'll start making something for dinner," Dean said as he walked back into the living room where Castiel was waiting. "What do you like to eat?"
"Fruits and other plants mostly," he responded, unsure of what his host would think of his answer. Dean considered his answer for a minute and then turned to go into the kitchen.
"Okay, don't worry, I'll make you something you'll like," he said. Castiel just smiled nervously and then sat down on the old couch. Sam walked into the room and took a seat in a chair next to the creature. He scratched his head nervously before speaking.
"Hey, um," he began, "I'm sorry if I didn't give the best first impression, it's just, from what I've heard of your kind, I wasn't exactly okay with the idea of you staying here. However, Dean seems to trust you so I guess that means I can too. You said your name was Castiel, correct?"
"Yes, and it is okay. Dean told me that your people were telling you things about my kind, but I'm afraid that they aren't true."
"What do you mean?"
"We aren't receiving any kind of help from your kind, but rather, they are the reason that we lost our home in the first place. We are just trying to find somewhere else to go, but they won't leave us alone."
Sam's expression dropped and he suddenly felt guilty for reacting the way he did. "If you can speak English, then why not try to work it out with them? I mean, we have never even heard of your kind before so it's possible that they misunderstood or something."
"We learn language from sense of touch so at first we couldn't communicate with them. Then once one of my clan's leaders learned your language, she tried to talk to them, but they only became more determined to capture us. That's when we all had to take off, but there are a lot more of you than there are of us. Frankly, I'm not even sure how many of my kind are still running. I got separated from my group a few days ago so I haven't had any form of contact with them since."
Sam was quiet as he processed all that he had been told. "I'm sorry. Well, you are welcome to stay as long as you need to, okay?"
Castiel gave him a small smile in return, "Thank you."
"So what do you think?" Dean asked eagerly. The winged creature chewed slowly, examining the unfamiliar food's taste.
"It's…slippery," he finally said. Sam and Dean both smiled.
"Yeah, but do you like it?" Dean chuckled softly.
"Yes, it's good," Castiel said, taking another spoonful of noodles from his bowl.
"Great! It's called soup. We have a lot of different kinds in the pantry, so you can try some others later if you want. I wasn't sure if you'd like meat or not, so I gave you a plain one. Oh, and the plate next to your bowl, I gave you some peas, some bread, and an apple so just have whatever you like. I just gave you small portions for now, but if you are still hungry later, I can get you some more of whatever food that you liked," Dean explained.
"Thank you, Dean," Castiel said. "I'm really grateful for all this."
"It's not a problem, Cas. Just let me know what you like and don't like," Dean smiled as he began to eat his own dinner.
"Dean, we still have extra sheets and stuff in the attic, right?"
"I'm pretty sure. Yeah, I packed them up in boxes a couple months ago, but they are still there."
"Do you want to set up a place for our guest to sleep after dinner? I mean, he's probably pretty exhausted," Sam said, looking over at Castiel as he curiously took a bite out of his piece of bread.
"Yeah, sure. I was actually thinking about giving him my bed and sleeping on the couch tonight. Figured a bed would be more comfortable and it would give him more room for his wings and whatnot."
"You sure? I can sleep on the couch tonight, I know you haven't been sleeping well lately so maybe it's better that you get a bed too."
"Nah, I'm good."
Sam sighed a little to himself, but gave in. Dean was always like this.
"So are you feeling better with some food in you?" Sam asked. Castiel nodded with his mouth full.
"That's good. I was worried that you were going to be a real picky eater," Dean laughed.
"I like the soup a lot," Castiel said. "It's really warm."
"That's good to hear," Sam said. "I know you are probably really tired too, so let us know when you want to go to sleep, okay?"
"Okay."
Sam led Castiel up to Dean's room while Dean brought down a pillow and sheet to put on the couch. He turned on the lights and showed where some things were in case he needed them. He showed him where the bathroom was and that if there was any problem, he could go to the room next door and wake him up.
"Thank you, Sam," Castiel said. "You two are really doing a lot for me."
"Like Dean said, it's really not a problem. We're happy to help you out, okay?" Sam replied. "Now do you have any questions? Don't feel embarrassed to ask anything because I know our customs and stuff are probably really different from what you are used to."
Castiel bit the bottom of his lip and avoided eye contact with Sam for a minute before speaking. "I, uh, is there a room for releasing your food."
Sam held back his laughter at the awkward wording and then guided Castiel to the bathroom.
"I'm guessing you interpreted the bathroom as simply a place for bathing, but it's actually used for more than that. The shower is for bathing, the sink is for washing just your hands and face, and the toilet is for, well, releasing your food."
Castiel squinted at the bowl and debated whether to ask about it. This was not a subject that he and his kind typically discussed without feeling slightly uncomfortable about it as it was not a proper topic.
"It might look strange, but you just have to position yourself and aim. It shouldn't be difficult," Sam explained.
"What the hell are you teaching him?" Dean said, as he stood in the doorway. Sam's face grew pink, but he explained to his brother what he was actually teaching their new guest.
"Uh-huh," Dean smirked, "I'm not sure I should leave the two of you alone up here." Sam rolled his eyes and turned back to Cas.
"So you think you'll be okay?" Sam asked, hesitantly.
"Yeah," Castiel said, although he wasn't exactly sure.
"Do you want to change out of that dress?" Dean asked.
"It's not a dress," Castiel began to clarify. "It's our-"
"I was teasing," Dean interrupted, "though I wouldn't judge even if it were. Did you want something else to sleep in though?"
Castiel pinched the dirty cloth and felt how worn it was. Before he could ask, Dean was already out of the bathroom. Sam gestured for him to follow and the three of them went into Dean's room where Dean was digging through his dresser. He pulled out a few pieces of clothing and tossed them at Castiel.
"Those should fit you okay. They might be a little big, but let me know if they feel okay. You should be able to figure out how to get them on, just make sure to put the tags go in the back and…shit. How did I forget about your wings? Here, pass me the black one on top." Dean then went over to his desk and took out his pocket knife. He cut two large holes in the back and handed it to Sam. "You wanna help me get it on him?"
"Okay, well you need to take your robe off first, okay? Or wait, um, do you have anything on underneath it?" Sam asked.
"Of course, you have some kind of undergarments, right?" Dean said, putting his knife away. Castiel's brow furrowed and his cheeks reddened. "Oh."
"Well, put on the boxers first, and then take off your robe, okay?" Sam said, maturely. Castiel listened and did as Sam instructed. Then Sam gestured for Castiel to sit on the bed and the two men helped get his wings through the holes. "Is it comfortable for you? You don't have to wear any of our clothes if you don't want to."
"No, it's comfortable. Thank you."
"Good," Dean said as he pat Castiel's shoulder, "And if you need anything during the night, let either of us know, okay? Sam will be right next door and I'll be in the room downstairs."
Sam smiled and turned off the lights as he and Dean left the room.
Castiel got under the sheets and spread his wings out against the soft queen-sized bed. It squeaked with his movement, but it was soft, much softer than any of his nests had ever been. He looked up at the ceiling and thought about how lucky he had gotten today. He had met a human who took him into a warm home and another human who quickly accepted him and has been helpful as well. They have been nothing but kind to him and he finally can sleep without waking in fear every time a branch snaps. He smiled to himself and quickly drifted off into sleep.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please let me know what you thought and if you want me to continue this story. :)