Dean slammed the trunk shut, wincing at the way the metal didn't quite fit together anymore. God, he would have to fix that. He patted the still-warm aluminum in a comforting manner as he looked up at the large house he was parked outside of. Sam would have called it "Victorian-classic", but Dean was sticking to "a damn big house". Cas was pulling himself out of his pimpmobile, which Dean had gotten fixed while Cas had been on trial after the world calmed down. Thank whatever God was up there that Cas inherently knew how to control the car. He hadn't known the rules of the road, or how to drive stick. Both responsibilities fell to the elder brother, as he could no longer fly. The court had found him guilty, and ordered him to serve as a human with the Winchesters.
Him and Castiel shared a level gaze, one quickly broken when Sam called out of the front door.
"C'mon, you two! Decide whether you're going to kiss or not. We have a nest to get rid of."
They all sat in the stuffy living room of a shaken woman as the same old story fell from her lips. She saw a man pull a girl into an alley, seconds later the girl is ravenous with ungodly teeth. Sam smiled when he was supposed to, and hummed in agreement when he thought it necessary. Dean, however, was less experienced with the "people" aspect of the hunt. He sat back, gladly picking the finger sandwiches from the plate and stuffing them into his mouth. Cas was staring intently at the hamster cage sitting on the coffee table. There was a hesitation about him, as if he was thinking about asking for a hamster for the bunker. Of course not, hamsters smell and they need food-
Castiel stiffened as he looked up the seemingly ancient staircase to a girl who was looking down at them. She was thin, and peeking out from behind a wall. Cas felt a certain pain emanating from this human, and softly bumped his knee against Dean's. Dean followed his gaze to the girl and they exchanged silent conversation. It was time for the Cinderella method.
"Are there any other witnesses? Were you walking with a family member or someone else we can question?" Dean put on his most personable appearance.
"No, I was walking alone."
Cas stared, confused at the girls presence. He was never one for subtlety, so it was not a surprise when the woman followed his gaze to the girl.
"Ok agents, I think I'm done for today. I have a nail appointment soon that I REALLY need to be there for," the woman shuffled them towards the door. Dean caught her looking up disdainfully at the stairs. The moment that they were pushed out of the house, they heard the door slam and lock. They began down the sidewalk when Cas stopped and grabbed Dean's arm.
"Dean, we need to get back into that house."
Dean was about to make a joke about the hamster when a scream emanated from the house. Sam spun and bolted towards the house, immediately slamming into the door, gun already pulled. The door splintered and cracked as it swung open. He bounded up the stairs, three at a time as the other men followed him. Sam stopped at a closed bedroom door, but Cas barreled into it without hesitation. He had his handgun pointed straight at the woman, who clutched the young girls thin wrist. There wasn't any blood other than the small amount dripping from the girl's nose. Dean shoved between the woman and the girl, restraining the woman as Sam rushed forward to the teen. She looked quite weak, and he didn't think she could run. He looked at the woman being held by Dean before lifting the girl up and handing her to Castiel.
"Take her to the Impala. It has a bigger backseat. I'll be out there in a minute."
Cas took the girl. She weighed almost nothing as he awkwardly carried her downstairs. She looked nearly unconscience, a large bloody bruise resting on her temple. The men were still stirring above him, exchanging loud words with her mother. Castiel never understood this aspect of humanity. He understood true evil, and it's motives, but hitting children had always been a source of confusion.
She winced at the sunlight, and Cas got the impression that she didn't get out into it often. When he set her in the back of the Impala, he saw dark bruises contrasting the paleness of her skin. He opened the back door facing the house and sat in the seat, making sure the door didn't close.
He looked over at the girl struggling to stay awake.
"I-I'm Castiel. Those other men are Sam and Dean. We're going to get you help."
He tried to smile awkwardly, following the human custom of 'manners'.
Her eyes widened. "Don't take me to the hospital."
"It would... be advisable for you to have medical attention."
"I can't. They'd take me away."
Castiel didn't have a chance to ask before the broken door of the house opened and Sam stepped out with a large bag inscribed 'Party Gurl!'.
"This isn't exactly my style. It's for her."
He gestured to the girl slumped over in the seat.
"She's going to the hospital." Sam said, with a finality unlike him.
Dean came out of the house with the woman screaming behind him.
"Fine, take her then! Tell that harlot she isn't allowed to live here anymore."
Dean also held a bag, and a pillow tucked under his arm. A stuffed rabbit dangled from his hand. Cas jumped as the girl collapsed against him, her head resting on his shoulder. Sams eyes widened at the realization that she was unconscience.
"Dean, get in the car! Cas, we'll come back for yours. Go to the hospital!"
Dean threw the bag at Sam's feet and tossed the pillow and rabbit to Castiel. Sam spun in his seat and reached back to cradle the girl's face, examining the bruising.
"Seems like a nasty concussion. Hold on," he pulled a flashlight from the glove box and shone it in her eyes.
"Yeah, her pupils aren't looking too good. Is there any way we can speed up, Dean?"
"I'm already going ten over, Sammy. Any more and it'll draw suspicion."
The hospital was over an hour away.
"Can she wake back up?" Cas looked at Sam, who still had his eyes trained on her face.
"Yeah, she probably will wake up at some point during the drive. Buckle her in, Cas. We don't need any more injuries." Cas reached around her, stretching the seat belt over her midsection and over her lap. Dean spoke up.
"Her name is Sophia. She's sixteen, as of four weeks ago." He pulled out a birth certificate. He had thought to grab it for identification. Castiel was impressed. Then he realized.
"Wait, sixteen? She's can't be that old."
"Aren't human years different from what you're used to? How is sixteen old?"
"Dean, if she IS sixteen years old, the. she's about thirty pounds underweight. Even for the thinnest body type, she's malnourished."
"Thirty pounds? How can you tell?"
"When I was sentenced to being a hunter, my grace was taken away... most of it. I still have the ability to sense distress and longing, though it's dampened. Also, I can use small parts of diagnosis. She's thirty pounds and four ounces underweight. She likely has difficulty moving around, and probability stands that she hasn't menstrated in-"
"Alright Cas, Jesus. I get the picture. We're not too far now. Is she awake?"
She was, in fact. Sophia stirred a bit as her green eyes opened and she pushed herself from Cas' shoulders. She steadied herself on the seat and looked around, seemingly remembering what happened.
"Don't push yourself, now. You've got a pretty nasty concussion, and I'm sure a hundred other things. Cas, there's a first aid kit under my seat, could you grab it for me?" Sam was talking gently, as if a rabid cat was sitting with them.
Cas reached under the seat and handed the white box to Sam. Sam, in turn, popped open the small clutch and pulled out saline solution and gauze. He turned completely in the seat to wipe the blood from her face, chattering about this and that. He examined her arm and deemed her wrist sprained at best, broken at worst. Sophia had chuckled as she told him she assumed the worst, with how much it hurt.
"Ok Sophie, are you on medication?" Sam pulled a little bottle from the kit and read the small print.
"Nothing. I do hardcore drugs, though."
She smiled widely.
Cas' eyes widened as her grabbed her bicep and stared at her.
"You don't seem to have any substances out of ordinance, I don't understand-" he began.
"She was joking, Cas," Dean finally spoke up from the front seat.
"Oh, then..." Cas smiled widely. "I think I understand. Good one."
Cas awkwardly smiled. Sophia wasn't causing any alarm bells to go off... she seemed to be completely human. A broken, tiny human. Without realizing it, Cas brushed a hair behind her ear.
She flinched, and Cas withdrew his hand.
"Sorry.. I didn't kno-" Cas glanced at her sympathetically.
"Personal space, Cas. Remember?" Dean was looking at him through the rearview. Sam reached back with a bottle of water and painkillers, telling her to take them.
When they pulled into the hospital, Sophia's breathing quickened.
"You can't... don't make me go in there."
Cas reached around her to unbuckle the seat belt. "I'm sorry, Sophia. You need medical attention. We can't take you with us."
Sophia grabbed Cas' arm and looked him in the eyes. Icy blue clashed with a frenzied green.
"They'll take me! I came from an orphanage. Living with Cheryl was my last chance. I'll have to live there for years until I'm independent!"
Dean's eyes flicked down in the rearview, but quickly came back up.
"You need to get help. Cas, take her."
Dean was careful to keep his voice down. He lifted the girl out of the car, and she slumped after struggling for a few seconds.
"I am... sorry, Sophia. This is best. You wouldn't be able to stay with us anyway." Cas sighed. The girl reminded him of Claire, and even resembled her a bit. Her face was more angular, and she was paler, but he could see the same fire in her eyes. Sam and Dean walked close behind holding her bags.
"I don't want to go back to her." Sophia spoke in a small voice. Cas felt an ache, and he perceived it as sympathy until he realized it was coming from her. He looked again at the bruises and cuts marking almost the entirety of her skin, then quickly glanced away.
It's just another job.
This is best.
Take her to the hospital, Castiel.
The doors slid open to the ER and Castiel put her in a chair. Sam and Dean set the bags next to her, and Dean lowered to sit on his heels.
"Hey, kid. Here's the deal," he pulled on her hand and placed a piece of paper into it.
"If that bitch hits you again, here's a place you can lay low. A sheriff I know is running a house for wayward girls right now, both of them around your age. Call her if you need to."
He pushed the rabbit into her side, and the men left without being seen. Before they left, Dean handed ten dollars to a man and whispered in his ear. The man stood and yelled just as the painkillers took effect on Sophia and dragged her into sleep.
Dean and Cas stood outside of the Impala as Sam checked them into the most hole-in-the-wall, no-questions-asked motel in the town.
"I don't know if that girl will be okay." Cas said, leaning on the hood of the pimpmobile parked beside it. They had gone back to get it after the hospital incident.
"Who, Sophia? She'll be fine."
Dean held his hands clasped over the hood of his car.
"It's very strange. She seemed like she wanted to stay with us."
"Kids who are in that situation will try to stay with anyone who isn't hitting them."
"Did John... ever hit you, Dean?" Cas stared at him, Dean fidgeting in his gaze.
"What? No," Dean spoke while shifting from one bowlegged stance to another.
Cas continued watching him.
"Okay, maybe."
Cas stared.
"Yes, he did. But when I was misbehaving. Like, when I was at that bar, or I played outside with the other kids on the weekends." Dean shrugged.
"Dean, I'm not up to date on human tradition... but I don't believe that a child should be struck for playing with other children."
Dean didn't respond. Sam came stalking out of the main building, room key in hand.
"201!" He called, and Dean began grabbing bags out of the trunk.
"Why didn't you get two rooms?" Castiel tilted his head.
"Oh... I forgot you need to sleep. I can take the foldout for tonight, we can get you a room in the morning."
"Sam... you won't fit on the foldout. I can take it."
"None of us will fit on the foldout. He could sleep in my bed," Dean suggested, a bit too quickly.
"It's not like it'll be weird. He's hanging on to me all day anyway. At least he'll be sleeping instead of staring at me."
Sam smirked at him, ignoring the shattering sound of Dean's pride.
They had walked to the room, which Cas was struggling to open. Dean shifted the bag to his arm and grabbed the small card, flipping it and handing it back to him. Cas slid the card again and the light buzzed green.
The men stepped into the dingy hotel room.
"God, I miss the bunker." Dean spoke up, flopping onto the bed nearest the door. Cas sat on the edge of the same bed.
"Do you want some time alone?" Sam's mouth was turned up in a wry smile.
"Shut up. Go get some grease. And pie," Dean shot a glare at Cas. "And cake, I guess."
Cas smiled. Dean didn't approve of Cas' love for cake, discovered when the other men had decided on a birthday for him.
("I'm older than you'd ever realize, Dean. I don't know when my birthday is.")
Sam started towards the door. He jumped back as a loud banging sound erupted from it. Pulling his gun, he checked the peephole. He looked back at Cas and Dean, confused.
"It's Sophia."
Hello again, my lovelies! It's been FOREVER, I know. I'm back, though. With another story!
You know the drill: I don't own anything. This is a purely fictitious work.
I might have another story in the works... I'll never tell you. (I do, look out for it).
That's all, my darlings. Man, it's good to be back!
Also, I'm going to start posting to AO3 soon as well. Look for the username ActualRealLive5YrOld.