Disclaimer: I don't own Castiel or Meg. Nothing you recognize is mine.
Bees. They were… fascinating. Castiel had seen bees many times before, but only now did he find them even slightly significant. For the first time in his life – which was incredibly long from the human perspective – he was actually seeing them. They buzzed around the garden, pollinating flowers and appearing to be completely random. However, as time passed slowly, Castiel saw the order behind their actions.
He'd always known that one bee was a part of a hive. Each bee had a job. As long as most of the jobs were done well, the hive would be fine. It was a simple existence, with no incredible responsibility. Bees had no immeasurable decisions to make. They lived a life in which there were rules, and they simply were not broken. Free will did not exist in the minds of bees.
Castiel remembered such a life. For nearly two thousand years, he'd played his part, done his job. He had followed orders like a proper soldier. Part of him longed for it again. He'd encountered an unnecessary amount of pain. If he'd simply followed his orders without question, his life would be simpler. He never would have made all of his momentous mistakes; he never would have killed all of those people. He would be Castiel, angel of the Lord – nothing more, nothing less.
The garden was calm around him. A few people wandered past him aimlessly, and the bees continued to buzz in the many patches of colorful flowers. The wooden bench he sat on groaned and creaked with his every movement, but he hardly shifted, so it was relatively quiet. The sun shone brightly in the heavens, which he questioned. How could his home be so bright while he felt so dark and alone? He ached to return, but knew he couldn't. Not in its current state, at least.
When Castiel looked at the bees in the garden, he thought of his garrison. They were his hive. They'd all had a job, and as long as they had been done correctly, the garrison would be alright. His hive had been broken, though. He'd broken it. It was his fault.
His blue eyes caught on a bee a few feet away. It was pollinating a beautiful green flower.
"Everything all right over here, Clarence?" Meg's familiar voice called to him. He heard the sound of her heavy leather boots on the cobblestones, and then her shadow met his frame.
The bee flew away.
Castiel got up to follow it.
"Castiel?"
He paused to look at his caregiver.
"Where are you going?" she asked, eying him carefully.
He smiled at her. "To watch the bees."
And then he followed the bee as it flew through the garden, doing its simple duty.
A/N: This short little fic was inspired by a very, very clever Tumblr user. They wrote a small piece about how Castiel sees a bit of himself and his life in the bees and his boardgames. This is the product of me being forever infatuated with that comment.