There will never be enough Kitten!AU stories in this category. So I wrote one ;D It was soooo fun to write~ I hope you like it :P I know they're a little OOC, but I was hoping the presence of kittens would serve to make you not notice that :D I may add some drabbles for later chapters, if people like it :3

Thanks again o/ Please tell me your opinion x3

~IA

Dean, six weeks old, pale brown fur, green eyed and big for his age, felt like he was the king of the world. Even since he figured out how to unlock the cat flap – by pressing his nose to the button before going through – a week earlier, his life had been getting more and more fun by the day. Being able to escape the house alone meant that he was able to explore the garden unabated, without his mother fretting or his owner Chuck constantly picking him up and moving him whenever he ventured somewhere he shouldn't, for up to an hour, before slipping inside again to avoid arousing suspicion. He was almost confident enough with the garden's surroundings to tell the cat flap secret to his littermate Sammy. It would definitely be a lot more fun outside if he had somebody to play there with.

Of course, he also had to wait until none of Chuck's other cats were watching before he could make his escapades; his parents would never let him go outside alone to save their lives, and most of the others were just so righteous that they never let him have any fun. Michael or Raphael would tell his father in a heartbeat if they saw him leaving. So would Crowley – but more out of spite than responsibility. Lucifer…he was more the type to wait until he left and then pounce on him himself. There were some cool cats in their house, though; Gabriel would be totally on board with taking Dean out personally, even at risk of being in as much trouble as the kitten, just to feel smug at having evaded Chuck's radar. An older tom, Bobby, although being friends with Dean's father, had more than once turned a blind eye on Dean's adventures just to let him have a little fun.

All in all, life in the Shurley household had its dramas between the innumerable felines their owner cared for, but even the worst of these served to make Dean and Sam's young lives more and more exciting with every passing day.

It was on one of Dean's garden excursions that he had his first experience with a cat outside his home.

He was rolling in a patch of catnip when his eyes caught the tentative blue ones peering at him curiously through the fence. Alarmed, he sprang to his paws and arched his back. "Go away!" he hissed, his fluffy brown fur standing on end. "You don't scare me!" His tiny heart started thumping. Was this stranger one of those feral cats his father had always warned him about? Was it going to attack him?

It didn't. Instead, it shied away behind a fencepost before emerging again a second later, its blue eyes wide with innocent curiosity. Hesitantly, Dean let his fur lie flat, not taking his eyes off the stranger, who cocked his head to one side.

Having calmed down, Dean began to register that this was no wildcat – he was a kitten, perhaps eight weeks old, fluffy and tan in colour and about the same size as Dean. He began to feel silly. "I'm sorry," he mewed shyly. "I shouldn't have hissed at you."

The kitten padded up to the fence and sat down a foot away from Dean. "That's okay," he purred. Then, "My name is Castiel."

"That's a funny name," Dean couldn't help replying, and then almost bit his tongue, hoping he hadn't offended Castiel.

"I've seen you in your garden a lot," Castiel mewed, ignoring Dean's comment. "I never spoke to you, though – my owner doesn't let me talk to strangers. But you seem nice – can…is it okay I come over?"

Dean nodded, burning with curiosity, and padded up to his neighbor as his tiny body slipped easily through the fence, hesitantly touching noses in greeting. They fell into a brief silence.

"You smell really nice," Cas meowed suddenly, brushing his small pink nose to the fur on Dean's shoulder.

Dean purred. "It's the catnip I was rolling in," he meowed. "The smell is irresistible! Has your owner ever given it to you?"

Cas nodded excitedly. "Once I got a hold of some he gave to my mother – it smells amazing and I can smell it all over you." Unexpectedly, he leapt at Dean and the two kittens entered into a play fight which ended with Castiel pinning Dean to the ground with his oversized front paws. Letting out a little mewl of delight at having a new friend, Dean pawed playfully at Cas's face and managed to push him off again. Flicking his tail energetically, he sprang to his paws and bolted across the garden, Castiel giving pursuit and leaping on him from behind.

"I'm not really supposed to be here," Dean admitted, panting, after they had expended enough energy to calm down and collapsed in the dusk next to Chuck's front door. "My owner doesn't let me go outside alone – I sneak out a lot."

Castiel's ears twitched with amusement. "I do that all the time too – it's no fun being inside; I don't have anybody except my mother to play with and she's no fun."

His ears pricking up, Dean tackled his friend again, bowling him over onto his back. "You can come over here and play with me whenever you want!" he insisted. "It'll be so much fun! Chuck looks after a lot of cats, so there's always something new going on. I could let you meet my brother, Sam! We've never had another kitten to play with and he's never even gone outside alone."

At this, however, Cas's crystalline blue eye darkened sadly. "I would really like that," he confessed. "But…I don't think I'll be living next door for much longer."

Dean stared at him. "What? Why?"

Cas sighed, kneading the ground with his paws. "I'm too old; my owner has started giving my litter away. I'm the only one left – there used to be five of us."

Dean stared at him. Chuck had never given away any of his cats, even kittens! Some of the cats in his house were the kittens and grandkittens of his first cats. "What? Why can't he keep you?"

Cas shrugged sadly. "He only wants one cat…most humans do. Your 'Chuck' is pretty special, I think."

Dean felt the fur on his back rising. "But that's not fair! We cats need to be with other cats. It's…it's how it should be."

Cas shook his head. "I don't understand why they do it, to be honest. Humans are confusing…" He looked up again, the playfulness returning to his eyes, almost masking his underlying sadness. "Anyway, we can still have fun until then, can't we?" Without warning, he crash-tackled Dean again, rubbing his face in the younger kitten's fur – which still smelt strongly of catnip. Purring, Dean started wrestling Cas again, trying to throw him off. Cas was right; he had to enjoy his company while he had it. But still…it didn't seem fair that he had waited so long for a new friend, only to have him immediately snatched away like this.

"Okay, kids, gather 'round!" Chuck's voice rang out throughout the household. "I've got a surprise for everyone!"

As if his voice held some kind of magic spell, cats immediately started pouring out from everywhere in the household; Lucifer, Crowley, Ruby, Lilith and the rest of their cohort appeared at the top of the stairs leading to the basement, while Michael and Raphael dropped nimbly from the bottom of the stairs to the attic followed by Anna, Uriel, Zachariah and Rachael. Gabriel bounded in from the kitchen where he had been helping himself to a bowl of cream, Balthazar gave a yawn and stretched before padding out of his basket over to Chuck's feet, and countless others began emerging from their respective haunts.

Lastly, Dean and Sam reached the mini-congregation, flanked on either side by their parents. Eager to see their owner's surprise, the two kittens squeezed between the rest of the cats until they were both planted just in front of Chuck's feet and looking up at him expectantly. He laughed.

"Today, there will be a new family member joining out midst," Chuck declared, showing them an open-topped cardboard box he was holding carefully in both hands.

Dean's ears pricked up with interest. A new family member? Chuck had brought home another cat? He fidgeted with excitement, hoping it would be as fun as Cas had been.

A smile lighting his features, Chuck set the box down on the floor and reached inside gingerly. Dean stood up, straining to see inside.

A pair of blue eyes framed by a fluffy brown head emerged, their owner letting out a soft mew as Chuck picked him up and cradled him to his chest.

Dean's eyes lit up like a beacon. "Cas!"

"Dean!" Cas meowed, his voice high-pitched with surprise when he saw him on the floor. "Dean, what are you doing here?"

"I live here! What are you doing here?" Dean's tail started twitching with excitement. He sprang up, hooking his claws onto Chuck's trouser leg in a futile attempt to climb up to Castiel. Chuck laughed, bending down again and scooping up Dean with his free hand, bringing him eye to eye with Cas.

"I can't believe you're here!" Dean mewed, reaching out a single brown paw towards Cas. "Chuck really adopted you!"

Chuck gave a massive grin and winked at Dean as though he had understood every word of the kittens' exchange. "I was worried you'd miss your friend if he left."

Dean looked up in alarm. Chuck only laughed again and dropped his voice. "Oh yeah, I know all about your little excursions. We humans have these things called windows."

Dean averted his eyes, embarrassed. Chuck was like an all knowing deity.

The rest of the cats, who had remained silent until now, started getting to their feet, those at the back unable to see the new kitten properly. Dean was brought back to reality.

"Okay, everyone, I'd like you to meet Castiel!" Chuck declared, addressing the countless curious feline eyes trained on him. "He's ten weeks old and he came from next door. I expect you all to treat him nicely – there are a lot of you for him to get to know so teasing or pranks – and yes, that includes you, Gabriel. I want him to feel welcome and loved by each and every one of you."

With that, he set Dean and Castiel on the ground, where they immediately tackled one another in the heat of the moment. A chorus of amused purrs erupted from around the room, and Dean was forced to let Cas go in order for the rest of their giant family to get a chance to meet him.

His paws were itching to show Cas around his new home. He wanted to spend hours outside playing in the garden without worrying about getting caught. He wanted to teach him to steal Chuck's socks and how to best avoid the total anarchy that was dinner time. And from the look that Cas shot him from amid the throng of adult cats that surrounded him, he could tell that Cas was just as excited as he was.

Everything was perfect; Cas was living with them permanently, Chuck wasn't mad about his sneaking out and at that moment, Dean, eight weeks old, pale brown fur, green eyed and big for his age, knew he was the king of the world.