I don't own Supernatural, Dean or Castiel.
The original character (SPOILERS: Aala) is mine.
Domestic!Destiel fluff. Post-Purgatory since Cas is a fallen angel, mentioned in the fic.
Please review if you liked it, your opinions/compliments mean the world to me.
But, most of all, enjoy!
"Tree, house, church, tree."- Cas hears a quiet mutter from the backseat, and he looks over at Dean and notices that the hunter has a distinct smile on his face in response to the words.
"Very good."- the angel says and shifts in his seat, pointing out the window towards something in the distance. Her eyebrows furrow in concentration and she goes silent for a moment.
"Corn field."- she answers triumphantly, but her smile fades a moment later and she looks at Cas with a sad and disappointed expression,-"No, that was wheat."- she says and Dean chuckles.
"Close enough."- he says and Cas nods in agreement.
A few minutes go by in silence, with Cas looking out his own window and counting the hundreds of trees they speed right by in the Impala, occasionally taking a look in the rear view mirror, only to see his daughter mumbling something to herself with a concentrated expression on her innocent, pale face. She smiles at him once or twice, and it sends a chill down his spine every time.
"Father..."- she calls after an hour of silent driving and occupation with her own thoughts, and both Dean and Cas turn around to look at her. She smiles at that and looks at both of them for a moment, trying to remember what she was going to say. She blinks and remembers, and Dean notices the inquisitive look on her face that she gets when there's something she wants to have explained.-"What am I?"- she asks finally, knowing that it isn't the best formed view of the question, so she continues,- "I mean, if I am your daughter, am I angel or human? Or am I something completely different?"
"You are a Destiny's child, Aala."- Cas answers before Dean gets a chance to speak, and the hunter sighs.
"I know that, but what does it mean?"- she asks, yet again, for an explanation neither of them is able to give, because they don't know either.
They don't know how a kid just appeared in their hotel room one day, almost fifteen years old, and didn't even know its own name but could name every constellation in the sky like it was nothing. And the strangest part was the birthmark on her right hand wrist, what looked like a handprint, but with wings on either side. At first they thought it was a tattoo, but Cas took a closer look and found that it was natural. They asked her name, and she didn't know; she only said that she was in Heaven at one moment, and down here the next, and that an angel told her she was going home to her parents. The next thing she knew, she was looking at a panicked Dean Winchester and a puzzled Castiel, who didn't know what else to do but let her stay, give her a name and pray to whatever was listening that she manages to survive next to them. Now, a month later, they're working on a hunt, and she's tagging along because Dean refused to leave her alone at the hotel, and Cas didn't want to burden Sam because he has his own case to work on at the moment. They don't let her near the action, though, because the hunter knows better than to turn an innocent kid into a killing machine, and Castiel agrees. She wants to fight, she wants to go with her parents and be like them and have adventures and face danger, but they say she isn't ready yet, so she keeps quiet and watches the world through the closed windows of the Impala, wishing she could be free, but also scared to try.
"It means that God made you because of me and Dean."- Cas answers, and Dean agrees with a sigh. This is bound to turn into a really, really long conversation.
"But why?"- she pushes, and Dean sighs, looking at Cas and mentally talking him out of making this into some big thing, but he ignores the hunter.
"We don't know for sure, but the books say that Destiny's children are made from unbreakable bonds between two species. So I suppose you were made because of the bond between me and Dean, seeing as he's human and I'm... well, I was, an angel of the Lord. And you were cast down from Heaven the moment I fell, I think, because you seem to be the only one of your kind who is on Earth and not with God and the angels."- he explains as calmly as he can, and she seems pleased with the answer.
"So you are my parents..."- she says, almost to herself rather than them, and a smile appears on the corners of her pale, chapped lips as she looks at both Dean and Cas.
"Yes."
"Yeah."- they say in unison, and she nods softly before turning back to look out the window, her smile still present, if not more defined than a moment before.
"Graveyard, house, corn... wheat field."- she continues numbering everything she sees out the window, and her voice blends with the otherwise silent interior of the Impala as Dean and Cas drift off into their own thoughts, having a conversation without saying a single word.
Dude, what the hell are we gonna do with a kid?
I don't know, Dean.
Well we can't just pretend like this isn't as weird as it is! We don't know the first thing about raising a kid, let alone a girl!
We have to try, I suppose. We cannot just leave her somewhere and hope she figures it out.
I wasn't suggesting that, Cas.
I know.
Do you think she's hungry?
Can her kind even get hungry?
I don't know, man. You're supposed to know everything!
You're forgetting that I've never heard of her kind before.
Stop saying 'her kind', she's human... Or angel. This is really weird.
We should stop to eat somewhere. I suppose she will need food eventually.
Yeah... I'm kinda hungry, too.
Dean?
Yeah?
Does she look happy to you? I feel... I don't know how I feel. Maybe it's guilt because she was taken away from her kind because of me.
She look fine, man. And she's better off with us than them anyways. We're her... parents.
I think she's fallen asleep.
They both look over their shoulders and, surely, Aala is fast asleep in the backseat, still muttering odd sights to herself. Cas takes his trenchcoat off and covers her with it, and Dean smiles at the odd gesture. She clutches onto the coat as if it's a life raft and smiles unconsciously, nesting her face into the comfortable material making her feel comfortable and warm and... safe. Finally, she feels safe, even more than she ever felt in Heaven.
~x~
In her dream she's running through a long, wide hallway painted entirely white, with paintings framed with gold and sculptures of unknown people lined along either wall. The floors are marbled, and her feet slide across the room, making her gain speed as she runs from something invisible... Or maybe she's running towards something. She can't tell, he only thing she knows is that there is a safe place she needs to go to, and that there are people she needs to see as soon as possible. It's urgent, she's faster and faster, running past a few angels looking worryingly at her and yelling her name, but she ignores all of them, set on reaching the safe place. She's almost there, but it seems like the hallway is longer than she though it to be, and less wide. The wall coverings are stripping off in long strips, and she stops at one painting that draws her attention, a grey fish on a shore, heaving itself out of the water and onto the sand. Two men standing next to it and grinning. It's odd, for some reason, and she feels uncomfortable, so she turns back to run, but the hallway is gone and there is a large cliff edge in front of her feet, just inches away from a deadly fall. Aala looks over her shoulder, but she finds herself enclosed on the top of a small circle floating in the sky, above spiky mountain tops and jagged edges of rocks, and she sees water in the distance, barely recognizable from up here, but she sees it. The grey surface providing shelter to fish and mammals and plants, it looks almost safe compared to the rest of the terrain, but she can't get to it. She can't get to the safe place and to the people she has to see, and there's a sinking feeling when she realizes that she can't get down, nor up, and that she's stuck floating motionlessly somewhere in the middle, alone and helpless and confused.
She hears voices, distant echoes that sound familiar, but so far away at the same time. She tries to answer, but her mouth is dry and refuses to let words escape. She tries again, but the voices just call or her and can't get a reply, so she falls to her knees and screams without a sound, yelling out the two names she thinks about immediately, and then it all goes black.
~x~
Aala's eyes flutter open and she finds herself clutching to something unfamiliar. She looks around, aware of her surroundings and the fact that she's in a car, laying in the back seat covered by a beige material that smells nice, and is making her feel warm. Two men, her parents, she remembers, are staring at her with worried expressions, and she sits up, coughing uncomfortably.
"What happened?" - Cas asks, peering into her mind with his deep blue eyes and making her shiver in response. -"You were screaming, are you hurt? Did someone hut you?"- he continues in a panic, and Dean looks at him, then back at her.
"N-no, I'm alright. I just... I had a dream and it wasn't very pleasant. I'm fine." - she shakes her head and makes a smile, and Cas' face softens along with Dean's.
"Good."- the hunter sighs in relief, and then he opens the door to the driver's side of the car.
"Come on, we need to get you something to eat."- Cas says and walks out the car, opening a door for her, and she joins them outside.
It's almost dark now. The Sun's down and she can see the silhouette of a nearly formed Moon in the distance, above the trees surrounding a small diner by the road. It's nice, a soft wind is blowing, but it's warm and comfortable.
"I think I'm hungry."- she says as her stomach begins to argue due to its emptiness, and she looks at Dean.
"Well lets get some burgers then."- he chuckles and puts an arm around her shoulder, having to bend down slightly because of the hight difference, and Cas follows them inside.
The diner's nice... for a roadside place. There are two-person seats on either side of every table, covered in red leather and food and drink stains. There are pictures on the walls, mostly of people who won eating competitions or employee-of-the-month plackets, and they're painted a dirty-white colour. Dean picks a table and they sit down, with him on one seat and Cas and Aala on the one opposite him. She picks a window-seat, of course, and immediately stares into the outside world, taking in every single tree and rock and car that drives by without so much as a sound, and then she turns back to look at Dean, who's already looking back.
"What's a burger?"- she asks finally, remembering her dad's words from before they went inside. He makes an exasperated look and then a grin.
"It's food, red meat between two bread buns, and you can add all sorts of stuff- ketchup, salad, mayo, mustard, everything."- he smiles and Cas chuckles.
"You're gonna like them, probably. Seeing as both of us do."- he adds, and Dean agrees with a nod.
The waitress approaches them and makes a face when she sees Aala. Cas thinks it's probably because they look too young to be her parents, as she looks like she's about fifteen years old, but he elects to ignore her awkward shuffle when she looks at either of them.
"What can I get ya, gentlemen?"- she asks in a strained-polite voice and Dean smiles up at her.
"Three burgers, two coffees and..."- he pauses, looking at Aala,- "You want something to drink?"- he asks and smiles softly at his daughter.
"Um... Water?"- she answers, unsure. Is there anything else to drink?
"Three burgers, two cuppas and a clear one!"- the waitress yells out and there's a rustle in the kitchen area in the back of the diner. - "Your order will be brought to you shortly."
And she walks away with a forced smile on her face, Aala looking at her from her seat and sighing uncomfortably.
"Are all people this loud?"- she asks and Cas chuckles.
"Most of the time, yes."- he answers and her eyebrows furrow in concern.
"I don't like it."- says she, and Dean smiles.
"No one likes it."- he smiles and looks at Cas, who looks back and their eyes meet.
She talks exactly like you.
I've noticed, yes... But she looks more like you, for whatever reason.
Nah, she has your eyes, and the head tilting thing.
What head tilting thing?
Cas tilts his head mechanically, and Dean chuckles. Aala's looking out the window again, muttering 'tree, tree, tree, rock, tree' to herself.
Nevermind. She has freckles, and dimples when she smiles, although she doesn't smile often.
Dude, yeah she does.
Only when we can see her. When we can't, she just stares blankly, like now.
She looks sad.
Concentrated is what I think it is. She knows much more than you and me combined, you know? It must be difficult to have all that, yet not know simple things like food or ketchup or leaves. She just needs time to learn and adjust.
Baby steps, Cas.
Baby steps, indeed.
~x~
The rustling in the kitchen stops and a bell rings. One of those countertop bells you see in movies, when you're at a diner and a cook is finished with making food, and he uses the bell to call someone to pick the meal up. There's a deep sight and an 'ughhh' from the waitress station and the woman from before goes to get the food, walking out of the kitchen with three plates, two cups and a glass on a tray, and looking anywhere other than in front of herself. She trips a few times, but manages to deliver their order in one piece and with the same forced smile as earlier.
"Here ya go, enjoy your meal."- she says, too cheerfully to be believable, and walks back to her waiting room, lighting a cigarette on the way.
Aala looks at her plate and then at Dean, with a worried and confused face, as if she was asked to deactivate a bomb, not eat a burger.
"You out it up to your mouth and then take a bite out of it."- he explains and she does as she's told, taking an unsure bite out of her burger and looking at Dean once more.
-"Now you swallow it. And then repeat."- he smiles and Aala swallows her first ever bite of food, and then she smiles widely, giggling and looking at Cas.
"I like these."- she nods and takes another large bite, and then another, until there's nothing left but crumbs and an empty plate.
"You want another one?"- Dean asks after finishing his own food, and Cas is already done with his.
She shrugs.-"I'm not hungry anymore. Can we go?"- she asks and they go back outside, Dean leaving money on the counter and ringing the small bell to announce that they're leaving.
~x~
It's night now, well after midnight. Dean's still driving on his third energy drink, and Cas doesn't seem to be any less awake than he was hours before. Aala, however, is looking out the window with her head resting on the seat, eyes opening and closing heavily on occasion. She looks at Cas and smiles when she sees his reflection in the rear view mirror, looking back at her.
"Are you tired?"- he asks and she nods.-"You should sleep, it's late."
"I find it's better when I'm awake."- she says and Dean looks over his shoulder. She smiles at him.- "I can't have bad dreams if I don't dream."- she explains.
"You need to sleep, come on."- Dean says in a worried tone and he looks over to Cas, who nods in agreement.
"Will you be here when I wake up?"- she asks, a seriousness they haven't seen before clashes with the softness on Aala's face, and Cas shifts in his seat to look at her completely. Dean can't help but marvel at how good he is with her, how human he acts around his own child, and how good this could be for both of them, to have someone other than themselves and each other to take care of for once.
"Of course we will."- he says reassuringly, and takes off his trenchcoat just like he did hours before, handing it to her. She lays down and covers herself with it, nuzzling into the seat and shifting into a more comfortable sleeping position, then she looks them both in the eyes one last time before her eyes close and a smile creeps up on her tired, yet relaxed face.
Cas sits back normally and turns his head to Dean.
I didn't know you were this good with kids.
That's because I'm not. At least, I wasn't, up to now. You should have seen the infant angels back in Heaven when I was in charge of them... It was not a pleasant sight to see. They had no respect for me, or any other authority.
They're kids, Cas. They're not supposed to respect you.
I suppose that is correct, in a way.
A moment of silence, and mental silence. And Dean looks at Cas once more, gazing at Aala with the corners of his eyes and sighing.
She likes you more.
No... I just remind her of Heaven.
What's it like up there? I mean, the part you know- what's that like?
Heaven? It's an endless space of different places and worlds. Easy to get lost if you're not an angel, or God. The main place, where the archangels live and rule- it's this big white mansion, with hallways as long as human highways, rooms as big as small towns, and it's all covered in marvel and gold and silver. Quite beautiful, actually. And the gardens, those are my favourite. There's this koi fish pond, with fish the size of cars, but I only went there once in all my life.
Another silent moment. And then Dean thinks of something else to say.
Do you miss it?
Sometimes. But I like it better here.
I don't know... Heaven sounds pretty damn great if you ask me.
Oh, it is. It is amazing. But a few things you have here, and they don't have there.
Like what? Burgers?
Cas chuckles in response to Dean's words, and Aala shifts in the backseat.
No... No, not burgers.
Then what?
I don't know... The wind. Snow, how it feels under your feet and the sound it makes when you step on it with heavy boots. Rain, and the smell of freshly cut grass mixed with it. Leaves falling in autumn. Little things like that.
Well ain't you poetic.
They smile at each other, and Dean has a sinking feeling in his stomach when Cas' eyes meet his own, like there's a silent space he needs to fill with words he can't seem to find the strength to say. And the angel can feel him contemplating in his mind, but he doesn't say anything, just looks at Dean with a smile on his face.
You know I can hear you, right?
Cas, get outta my head.
Of course, my apologies.
Cas turns his head back towards the road ahead, and Dean relaxes for a brief moment, allowing his head to rest on the seat and his hands to control the steering wheel.
I know what you want to say, but you don't have to say it, Dean.
Dammit, Cas... I wanna say it.
Then you should.
Dean turns his head towards Cas and stops the car on the side of the road. He looks the angel in the eyes, his palms seating, mouth dry and heart beating with a danger of bursting out of his chest if he relaxes. He takes a deep breath and smiles at Cas, who's looking back at him with a cheerful expression on his tired face.
"Fine. I'll say it, I can say it."- he breathes quickly, taking Cas' hand in his own and looking down at the floor.
A moment goes by in silence, and then he finally speaks.
"Okay, okay... Um."- he pauses and looks into the angel's eyes, and it's all he needs to persuade him into speaking his mind,-"I love you, okay. I love you and I've loved you for a really long time and we have a freakin' kid and it's scary and I don't know if we can do it, but I love her and I love you and-"
Their lips meet for the first time ever, Cas leaning forward to stop Dean from rambling on for who knows how much longer, and the hunter sighs in relief and cups Cas' face and relaxes into the kiss because it feels comfortable and new, the kind of feeling you have when you know something is right and supposed to be, but it's unfamiliar and exciting all the same. A gust of warmth flowing through his chest and stomach, and a chill going over his spine simultaneously.
"I love you too, Dean."- he says after parting for just a moment, and not more than two inches away from Dean. Their noses are touching, and he can feel Dean's warm breath on his upper lip, it's uneven and shaky, and both their hearts are racing uncontrollably, but here they are, together, finally. And it feels right, and good.
Dean sighs out a smile and kisses Cas again, this time allowing his tongue to explore the texture of the angel's, rather than just clashing their lips together. And Cas smiles into the kiss, putting a hand on Dean's shoulder and making him shiver because the handprint he left years ago is still there and tender. He bites on Cas' lip and the angel mumbles something under his breath, and they pull away once more. Breathing in heavily, almost panting, they look at Aala at the same time, but she's still fast asleep.
And so they continue driving along the highway, Dean's left hand on the steering wheel, his other hand stretching over his seat and Cas', and nesting in the angel's messy hair.
Please review/favourite/follow if you liked this, and I might to a PT2!
Love you all. 3