*This is my first Fan Fic, carried on from the end of Season 8 of Supernatural, I kept thinking what it would be like for Cas to meet the team again as he's suriviving being a human on his own

Chapter 1

When they first met Castiel again, they didn't know what to expect, Sam and Dean saw the angels fall that night, the sky was filled with them, they just didn't know when or if they would see Cas again. Dean worried about him, but his time was filled with looking after Sam, who was still weak from the trials. They brought back Crowley and locked him in the dungeon, but he's becoming a lot louder with his wails of 'I'm sorry', Dean didn't realise how breaking a demon and making it more human would be so difficult, he wanted to trust Crowley, but he couldn't, they couldn't risk it, but Dean will have to deal with that for another day, right now he had to see what was going on outside and get Sam strong enough, Kevin wasn't much use, he just sat there some days, but the kid had gone through enough.

They had been in the bunker for about 3 weeks, Sam was on a very slow recovery and Kevin was starting to act more normal. Sam and Kevin were sitting eating the leftovers from last night's dinner for breakfast because they couldn't be bothered to actually make breakfast food, so cold cheeseburgers and fries were good enough. Dean had just come back from shopping for extra supplies, Sam thought it was time to address the subject of Castiel, and if they were going to look for him.

"So, err Dean, since we've settled here now and we know nothings gonna get us, are we gonna go find Cas...I mean if you want to, or if you've heard from him..." Sam didn't know what else to say, Dean and Cas had been so close.

Dean turned to Sam "No. That son of a bitch ran off and tried to kill me remember? He betrayed us, and never even stopped to help after, we're better off without him."

Sam could feel the anger coming from Dean, there was something else in that anger, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but if anyone knew what was going on, it was Cas. Sam cleared his throat "But Dean, we need to know..."
Dean cut him off fast "Shut up Sam, we don't need him, we can figure this out on our own"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

They froze, everyone here took the key if they went out, no one knew of this location, Dean looked at them both "You two stay here, I'll go and check, get yourself armed", Dean picked up Ruby's knife and moved slowly towards the door, with the knife poised in his hand, he slowly opened the door.

And there stood Castiel.

Dean was not prepared to meet Cas again, at least not like this. Cas looked awful, like he'd been sleeping in a ditch for all this time, his suit was crumpled and covered in mud, his trenchcoat was not the colour it once was, covered in mud, grime, a lot of rips, he smelt like he'd been sleeping in a ditch too. Dean stood there and stared at him, he could not help but feel pity for this man who was once an angel, his life being a mortal must be hard. Cas stood there awkwardly, he didn't know where else to go, he had nowhere else, no one else, no other friends, but he sensed he was not welcome here anymore.

Dean was the first to break the silence, he couldn't let Cas be on his own, he just looked so sad and confused "Get in and shower, we have spare clothes, come on you stink"

Cas felt himself rise a little, Dean was accepting him back, he could make it up to him, he would make it up to him, all he could say was "Thank you Dean".

As they walked back into the bunker, Sam and Kevin were standing there with shotguns, when Sam saw Cas, he looked relieved "Wow Cas, we had no idea where you were, or what happened to you!"

Castiel gave a small smile to Sam "I was in a field a while away, I knew i had to come and see if you were all okay"

Dean gave a nod "Okay Cas we can talk after you've cleaned up, you're starting to stink up the place"

After Cas had gone, Sam, Dean and Kevin sat down at the table. Kevin spoke first "Boy, he really looked like crap"

Dean snorted "Well he's never been human before, and he was on his own, it's like leaving a puppy home alone, they panic"

Sam smiled, he didn't have to ask, he knew that look Dean was wearing, he'd already forgiven Cas, maybe not fully, but enough to let him stay and help.

A little while later, Cas entered the room, he was now clean and wearing Deans clothes, which were a bit baggy, as Cas didn't have as much muscle and he couldn't fit Sams. He sat down next to Sam and took one of the packets of cold fries still on the table, he started ravenously eating, like this was the first time he had eaten in years.

"Whoa, slow down there Cas!" said Dean, looking a little bit worried about this fallen angel, "So tell us what's been happening to you"

Cas finished off the fries and started his tale, "Well, my grace was taken, there was nothing I could do, then the angels fell, it was all Metatron...we couldn't do anything, so I was in a field, North from here, but I had lost most of my sense of direction, walking through woods, no one would stop to give me a ride, I had to run from demons, I had nothing to defend myself with. Then I saw I had made it here, no demons followed me, I had to hide out under a fallen tree for a couple of days to lose some, since the angels fell, the demons have been trying to find them, since the angels are defenceless now and we killed so many of them."

Sam nodded in sympathy, Castiel had obviously been through a lot, but he was safe now with them, together they were stronger, although Sam was still feeling weak from the trials. It was better if they were all together, even if they didn't know what to do with Crowley.

To be continued... (Next Chapter will be more about them helping Cas cope as a human and figuring out Crowley)