AUTHOR'S NOTES - The idea for this was given to me by Chikan666, who wanted Dean and Castiel slowly falling in love over time, and learning different things along the way, like the mportance of family and friendship etc.

CHAPTER ONE - DAY ONE.

Castiel stood beside Dean, gaze intent upon Dean's actions as the hunter leant beneath the hood of his Impala, butt sticking out into the open air and sunshine. A greasy handprint stained his left butt cheek, and smears of grease and engine oil spotted his clothes, his skin, his face. Castiel felt an inward glow of pleasure, which was almost a smile for the angel. He could see that fixing the car made Dean happy, and whatever made Dean happy, also made Castiel happy.

"You see this gasket? It's blown. Means we need a new one," Dean said, as he showed the angel the blown gasket held between oily fingers.

Castiel regarded the unfamiliar object with tilted head and quizzical expression, before he nodded - information assimilated - before he let Dean continue, torque wrench in hand, assorted tools and bits for the engine scattered around his feet.

"I fail to see the point of why we need to do this, Dean," Castiel admitted, leaning beside the hunter, palms downward on the hot, sun warmed metal of the Impala's bodywork.

He reached in, laid one hand upon the engine and it roared into life, gaskets in place, heads fully working now, oil topped up and glistening in its container.

"CAS! That's not the point, dude! You're supposed to take time doing these things, you know. What happens when the day comes and you can't do that any more? You have to learn how to look after my baby when, or if I can't, okay? That's why I'm showing you this, so you know," Dean said, hiding his frustration as best as he could behind another repetition of his explanation for this.

"Okay, Dean, I understand," Castiel said, silently withdrawing to watch from some distance away.

The engine coughed into silence, returned back to its state before Castiel had "fixed" it. Dean nodded, decisively, before leaning back underneath the hood, replacement gasket pinched between his fingers once more.

"Cas, come here, dude. This is how you replace a gasket," Dean said, voice slightly muffled, as he gestured with grease slicked fingers at the angel behind him.

Castiel padded forward on near silent feet, leant beside Dean once again, mindful of the grease staining Dean's clothes and hands, not wanting to get any on his own pristine clothes. He shrugged, even as he thought he'd cleaned worse from Jimmy's clothing in the past. He watched, fascinated, as he watched Dean's methodical, precise movements, longed to touch Dean's hands, follow every movement by feel, but held back, eyes blinking owlishly as he took in every last word that Dean said.

Dean smiled at Castiel, glad to have an attentive audience in the angel, caught the vaguest hint of a smile curling Castiel's lips into a much warmer expression. Dean clapped Castiel on the shoulder, a familiar gesture that left black handprints on the angel's tan coat.

"Ya know, Cas, I'm glad that Bobby insisted we spend more time together, get to know each other a bit more. Seems like we need to do that if you're gonna be hanging around us a lot more in the future. I think it will be nice having you around," Dean said, turning away to slowly ease the Impala's hood closed. "I sure didn't understand his smile though. I think the dude's up to something."

Castiel merely shrugged at Dean, before he said - "Maybe he was just happy."

"Bobby? Happy? The last time I saw the dude smiling that way, he was drunk," Dean laughed, with a shake of his head at the angel. "Nah, I think he's up to something. Wish I knew what it was though."

"Everything's eventual, Dean. I'm sure you'll get the answers to your questions when you least expect them," Castiel predictably replied.

"Oh and Cas? You gotta stop talking like that. You sound like Dr Spock's long lost brother or something," Dean shot back at him, as he walked away, wiping his hands on an already oily rag.

"Dr who?" Castiel asked, confused.

"No, wrong programme. Oh, never mind, Cas. I want a beer," Dean groaned, sighing as Castiel's confused expression grew even more confused.

Castiel merely followed Dean as the hunter made his way into Bobby's house, leaving the sun soaked yard behind for the dim, cool interior, beer and shared conversation between hunters and angel. Castiel stood mostly silent, too content with listening to the others, musing over Dean's efforts with his car. He'd worked to get that car to its present state, labored over it to the point of obsession, like it was an extension of Dean himself.

Castiel looked round at Bobby's house, at the piles of books, the slightly dusty air, the lived in feel of the house itself - all attained through work and labor. It seemed to Castiel that things didn't come easy for humans. It wasn't as though they could click their fingers and things happened; they had to work, to strive for their chosen ideals and would eventually achieve what they'd set out to do. The angel smiled to himself, turned his vague smile onto Dean when he realized the hunter was staring intently at him and was rewarded with a smile in return.

Castiel realized that Dean was a hard worker, would never stop until things were right, were perfect and would not skimp on details once he'd set his mind to do something. Castiel knew that with a bit of guidance, Dean could really do great things, which was partly why Castiel himself was there - to guide him. The angel found he respected Dean, his tenacity, his propensity for hard work and loyalty, his strength that shone through everything he did, and his inability to bow down to authority. Dean didn't seem afraid of anything and Castiel liked that in him.

He put his thoughts far from his mind and joined in the conversation when Bobby started reading things from a nearby book, telling them more about the next hunt they were about to embark upon. They were all attentive, listening to Bobby, hearing him talk like Bobby was the most important thing in the world. For that one instant, maybe he was, Castiel thought ....

-tbc-