These take place between the season 5 episodes "Free to be You and Me" and "The End." I don't know how much time is in between the two episodes but for the sake of the one-shots it's a couple of months. Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke. If I did own Supernatural then Destiel would have gone cannon a long time ago. Unfortunately while I do ship Destiel I can't write it. Though it could be there if you squint. Hope you enjoy.

Being Human

Basic Necessities

Dean half carried, half dragged Castiel from the abandoned factory in Nowheresville, USA to the Impala. He had no idea what kind of angel mojo or whatever the hell that was had been used but it had put Cass flat on his ass in an instant. Something which terrified Dean to say the least. Damn witches, he hated them all. Why did it have to be witches and where the hell had they learned that kind of magic? He knew witches drew their powers from demons but he'd never seen a demon pull that kind of stuff. Well there had been Alistar but he was a class in and of himself so he didn't really count.

Dean held Cass up so he could get the back door of the Impala opened and plopped the semi-conscious angel in the back seat. Going over to the driver's side Dean got in and tore out of the warehouse parking lot. He kept checking the review mirror but Cass had yet to move. At least he was still breathing; Dean could see the rise and fall of his chest.

Taking a breath to steady himself he brought the vehicle down to a less insane speed. Luckily for him Nowheresville just happened to be about half a day's drive from Bobby's which is where Dean decided the best place to go was. He hoped the older hunter was back from the job he was currently assisting another hunter on. A groan from the back seat drew his attention.

"Cass?" Dean asked, slowing the Impala and pulling to the side of the road.

Castiel sat up, "What happened? Where are we?"

Dean turned around in his seat. "Heading back towards Bobby's. How are you feeling?"

Castiel's eyebrows drew together in thought. "Tired?" he sounded very confused about that fact. "My head aches."

"Yeah well, you look like you were rode hard and put away wet." At the extreme look of confusion sent his way by the angel Dean said, "Forget it. Just lie back down." Castiel did so slowly and Dean started the car moving again. "Any idea what that was back there?"

"It was a spell." Castiel replied, he even sounded tired.

Dean knew that wasn't good. "Any idea what it's supposed to do?" Dean remembered the whole room going white from the witches spell and something hitting Cass. So far there didn't appear to be any adverse side effects other than the angels' tiredness.

"It was an Enochian spell but I do not…"

Dean heard a deep sigh from the back seat. When Cass didn't continue Dean's worry escalated. "Cass?" Still no answer. Dean pulled over again, put the Impala in park and twisted so he could get a better look at Castiel. The angel's chest was still moving, indicating he was breathing at least. Castiel's face was lax with sleep, his mouth slightly open as he drew breath. Dean let his forehead fall against the back of the seat. At least Castiel wasn't dead… yet. Dean didn't know what he would do if anything happened to his friend.

Rubbing his hands over his face, Dean groaned. This just wasn't his week, month, year, hell friggin' life time. Turning back around he once again started the Impala forward. Cass was essentially dead to the world at the moment so Dean knew he wasn't going to be getting any answers from him until he woke up. This was going to be a long trip to Bobby's.

Castiel hadn't woken up until they pulled into Bobby's. Dean helped his friend inside to lay down on the makeshift bed in Bobby's study. At least Castiel was beginning to look a little better, his color had returned at least.

"Care to tell me what happened?" Bobby asked as he wheeled in after them.

"I wish I knew. We were taking care of a witch when she cast this spell and it kinda…" Dean gestured vaguely with his hands, "I don't know but it hit Cass and he's been like this ever since."

"It was an Enochian spell," Castiel said from his place on the bed, eyes still closed. "I have never encountered a spell such as this."

"Do you remember what she said?" Bobby asked.

Castiel opened bloodshot eyes and carefully sat up. He still appeared a bit out of it. "She spoke of removing God's Grace and falling and…" Castiel's eyes went wide. A look of panic crossed his face. "I think her spell removed my grace I…" His voice lowered to a whisper. "I think she made me human."

"Wait, back up." Dean said. "How can a witch make an angel human?"

"I do not know."

Dean felt bad for his friend. He couldn't imagine going through what Cass was. "Maybe it's wrong. Spell's are usually meant to kill and since you're still here…"

"Possibly…" Castiel didn't sound too certain.

Bobby wheeled over to his stacks of books and began to rifle through them. "You said it was an Enochian spell?" Castiel nodded. Bobby pulled down a particularly large leather bound book and rolled over to his desk. "Give me a few hours and I'll see what I can find."

Castiel only nodded again. "Thanks Bobby," Dean replied for him. Poor guy looked like he was about to drop. Who knew turning human would be so tiring. Reaching down he hooked an arm under Cass. "Come on," he said, hauling the angel to his feet.

"Where are we going?" Castiel asked.

"Upstairs," Dean replied. "Since we don't know how long this is going to last and Bobby will be busy for a while there's nothing for us to do. You look like you're dead on your feet. Might as well rest where you'll be comfortable."

Castiel looked like he was about to protest. Probably going to say something about not needing to rest. After helping Cass upstairs and into the guest bedroom he helped the angel out of his trench coat and suit jacket. Dean probably wouldn't admit it but seeing Cass like this scared him. Cass was supposed to be the bad ass Angel of the Lord. Nothing should be able to put him down like this. Cass was out again the second his head hit the pillow.

Dean stayed and watched over him before heading downstairs to see if Bobby had found anything. The older hunter had a large ancient looking tome in front of him. "Did you find anything?" Dean asked as he approached Bobby.

"Maybe," Bobby replied, "I've got a book here I could use feathers help to translate but if my translation is correct then I may have found something." He turned the tome so Dean could see it better. "This whole book is written in Enochian and what little there is I can translate was done by someone else a long time ago so I can't be one hundred percent certain it's right." He pointed to an angel being held down by chains.

"My best guess is that whatever the spell was, was a binder, not something that would de-angel Castiel. This here," he pointed to a section of writings that wasn't Enochian, "is part of a demon spell. It's meant to turn their enemies into prey. It's very powerful and requires a powerful demon to pull off. Here's the thing, you mentioned a bright light?"

Dean nodded.

"That's actually a good thing."

"How can that be a good thing?" Dean asked. "White light is an angel thing. Usually exploding white light is a bad thing."

"Not in this case. Here it means the spell was incomplete."

"Bobby, Cass's mojo is gone."

Bobby shook his head. "No, he just can't get to it. As I said, right now white light is a good thing." He turned the book back around. "The spell only worked to a point. Cass is gonna be human for a while but his powers will come back to him over time."

"How much time?" Dean asked warily.

Bobby shrugged, "Couple weeks, maybe a month or two. Says here it will be gradual."

Cass wasn't going to be suck like this. Honestly that was probably the best news he'd had all day. "So what do we do now?"

Bobby leaned back in his chair. "Help him cope for the time being. He doesn't know how to be human Dean. He's going to need a friend. You could use one too right now."

Dean did not want to get into a discussion with Bobby about his problems, especially if they related to Sam. That was still a sore spot for Dean. Though Bobby was right. He could use a friend and Castiel had wormed him way into that position. Dean wasn't going to abandon him. Hell, this could turn into a good thing. "Yeah, alright," Dean said with a nod. He had a good idea where to start.

Castiel slept the rest of the day and all through the night. When he did get up he made his way groggily downstairs. Dean was the first to spot him. His clothes were a mess, part of his face had wrinkles from the blankets pressed in and he had the worst case of bed head Dean had ever seen. Then again, Cass always seemed to have bed head.

"Hey there Sleeping Beauty," Dean said a little too cheerfully, "how you feeling?"

Castiel blinked at him. He was either slow on the uptake or Dean had miraculously sprouted a second head.

Castiel took a seat at the kitchen table, "Strange," he replied. "I have never felt tired before or…" he placed a hand over his stomach when it growled. "I believe I may be hungry and my throat is dry."

"You're probably thirsty too," Dean replied. "I can help you with both." He figured on something simple to start with. He poured a bowl of Lucky Charms. God love Bobby because, yeah, Lucky Charms, guilty pleasure. He also poured a cup of coffee and left it black. After grabbing a spoon and adding some milk to the cereal he gave them both to Cass then took a seat across from him. "Eat up."

Castiel eyed the food warily before giving in to his hunger and digging in. Dean watched him eat, trying to figure out how to tell him what Bobby had found. Castiel reached for the coffee, took a sip and promptly gagged. He put the cup down and glared at the offending liquid. Dean forced himself not to laugh. "Don't like coffee huh?"

Blue eyes looked up to glare at him. Oh yeah, Cass could tell Dean was laughing on the inside. "No, how do you drink that," he asked.

"Simple," Dean replied, taking a sip from his own cup. "Though for some it's an acquired taste."

Castiel returned to eating his cereal. Since he was obviously not going to drink the coffee Dean got up and got a glass of orange juice instead. That, at least, was something Cass liked.

Sitting back down Dean figured he may as well tell Cass what had been found. "I have some good news and some bad news for you," he said carefully.

Cass placed his spoon carefully in the bowl. Dean could tell he angel –man- was bracing himself for the worst.

Dean took a breath, putting his own up down. "The good news is that your mojo is gonna come back." He met Cass's gaze, saw the relief reflecting in his eyes.

"And the bad news?" Castiel asked warily.

"We don't know how long that's gonna take. From what Bobby found, and he said the translation isn't a hundred percent, you could be stuck like this for a couple of weeks or it could be months. We just don't know."

Castiel's gaze had lowered so that he was staring at his empty bowl. He was silent for a few minutes. Dean let him think, let him adjust to his situation. Finally Cass's eyes met his again. "What do I do now?"

"Short term," Dena felt giddy, not that he'd admit to it, at the knowledge that his plans cooked up the night before were going to go into use, "we get you some new clothes. You can't wear your holy tax accountant outfit the whole time you're stuck like this. Once you get cleaned up we'll go looking for things you can wear."

Castiel didn't appear to like that idea at first. Most likely because everything was going to be a constant reminder that he was human for the time being. Dean was going to find a way to cheer his friend up. He wasn't going to go for what could be months with an angsty angel. Nope, not going to happen.

"I'll be fun," Dean said with a smile.

Whatever Dean's idea of "fun" was Castiel did not agree with it. After he had eaten and cleaned up he and Dean had headed out to pick up some things he was probably going to need. Castiel was glad that Dean was helping him but he hated that he even needed it in the first place.

They had gone to a place called Wal-Mart. Dean said they'd go there because they would have everything they needed. Castiel took his word for it.

Upon entering the store Dean had grabbed a cart and immediately took Cass to the men's department. Honestly Castiel had seen nothing wrong with his attire. The thought of having to give it up due to his current powerless state unnerved him. Castiel didn't like it one bit.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Dean tossed a pair of jeans at him. Castiel caught them, the denim felt strange. Not at all like the material he currently wore.

"You're going to have to try those on," Dean said, continuing to look through the clothes. "I don't know what size you wear and I'm not about to check. Let me know how they feel and we can figure out whether you need to go larger or smaller."

Castiel simply stared at Dean. Was he expected to change here?

Dean sighed and pointed to his left. "There's a changing area over there." He made a flicking motion with his hands, "Go on, shoo."

Turning on his heel, Castiel headed for the dressing room. After the woman in charge of the dressing rooms told Castiel which one to use he found himself in a tiny space with a small bench and mirror. Taking a moment Castiel sat on the bench, pinching the denim between his fingers. It wasn't an uncomfortable fabric. He'd seen plenty of humans wearing it.

He shook his head slightly. Dean was waiting for him to try the pants on. It took no time to do so and Castiel saw how well they fit from his reflection in the mirror. Dean had chosen the perfect size. They were also, much to his surprise, quite comfortable.

He changed back into his normal clothes. He, perhaps, tugged his trench coat around his shoulders with a little more force than was probably necessary. The muscles of his shoulders flexed, trying to move something he could not feel anymore.

Picking up the jeans he headed back to where he'd left Dean. The hunter had added more items to the cart. "Well?" Dean asked once Castiel was close enough.

"They fit," he replied.

"Great," Dean took them, checked the tag, and then grabbed some more of varying shades and placed them in the cart as well. "I grabbed a couple of shirts too and…" his gaze went down to Castiel's feet, "Definitely need something besides those dress shoes. They can't be comfortable."

Castiel decided to stay silent. Dean had a point on the shoes. They tended to slide off the backs of his feet if he had to run. It wasn't often yet it was… annoying.

After acquiring various other clothing and personal hygiene items they went back to pick up a pair of boots for Castiel. They found a decent pair, according to Dean anyway, after some trial and error. Castiel didn't care much. What surprised him though was how much more comfortable some of the new items were. Maybe it had something to do with his newfound mortality.

They went over into the grocery area and Dean went through like a kid in a candy store, if Castiel had the saying right. The cart filled up quickly.

"I'm sure it'll take some experimenting to figure out what you like," Dean was saying. "Though there are some things you have to try. Burgers, bear, soda, chips, pie. Definitely have to try pie. I wonder if you have a sweet tooth."

Castiel couldn't help but be amused by Dean's behavior. As they walked he fought to keep a smile from forming. And simply because he could he tilted his head to the side and asked, "Sweet tooth?"

Dean sighed dramatically as they walked down the candy isle. "Its' a figure of speech Cass. It means you like sugar. Candy, sweet foods."

"I see," he replied. His gaze travelled over the array of candies. For some reason, possibly a lingering memory from Jimmy, Castiel reached out for the York Peppermint Patties.

Dean caught the movement, "Good choice, throw those in." Dean grabbed some more candy. Something called a Reeses, and Hershey's Special Dark. Like many of the other items in the cart Castiel decided to trust Dean's judgment.

Once Dean concluded they had all of the items they'd come for they checked out. They packed everything into the trunk of the Impala then headed back to Bobby's. The drive back was quiet. Castiel watched the landscape go by.

"How are you holding up?" Dean asked suddenly.

Castiel tore his gaze from the passenger window to face Dean. "I'm fine," he replied.

"You sure?" Dean shifted slightly in his seat. He appeared uncomfortable. "I mean, this can't be easy for you."

"It has been less than a day Dean," Castiel reminded him. "Knowing my Grace will return shortly helps." It's the not knowing, being cut off from Heaven and having his powers lessen. That was hard. "You don't need to worry about me."

"If you say so."

"I do," Castiel replied. He was unsure of the emotion he felt at Dean's questions. Happy perhaps? It was good to know that Dean cared about his welfare. He knew that Dean cared deeply for those he deemed worthy of his friendship and trust. Not to say that he didn't care about others, Dean had a large heart after all. There was a reason Dean was the Righteous Man and it had nothing to do with what had happened in Hell. But to have those feelings turned towards him, Castiel was unsure what to make of it. He was not used to anyone caring for his well-being. It was a human trait, he knew, one he himself had learned quickly.

"Good," Dean said, nodding slightly. His mind appeared elsewhere. "That's… good."

Inwardly Castiel smiled.

After returning to Bobby's and unloading the Impala, of which Dean glared at Bobby before the older hunter could comment on the amount of items bought, they took Castiel's new things up to the spare bedroom. Considering they were still trying to figure out the full effects of the witches spell Dean thought it best to stay put for the time being.

Castiel looked confusedly at the array of items laid out on the bed. "Dean, what am I supposed to do with all of this?"

Dean rubbed his hands together. "The clothes you wear," his tone of voice clearly conveyed the 'duh!' "Since you won't be able to mojo yourself clean you're going to have to shower and do everything else us lowly mortals have to." He clapped Cass on the back. "You'll figure it out. And if you don't you can always ask."

Castiel simply continued to stare.