A/N—Greetings my fellow Supernatural fans! At first the idea for this story was just a fun thought I had and shared with a close friend of mine, BraveStarGazer, but she encouraged me to write an actual fanfic about it. Enjoy this first chapter, and please take the time after you're finished reading to leave a review, they really keep me going, thanks! d-(^_^)-b
For those of you who are also Teen Wolf fans, feel free to check out my other story "Of Fairest Blood," I hope you'll like it if any of you decide to read it, just know that I've started over to expand the plotline and am currently having some writers block, but I hope you enjoy the couple of chapters I have updated. (^_^)
Disclaimer—I own nothing from Supernatural except for my OC, this goes for any future chapters I update. :)
Chapter 1:
"Hey Jude"
Waking up can be greatest feeling ever, especially when you have nowhere important to be, but waking up because you're supposed to be somewhere is just cruel, I mean, your bed automatically becomes a million times more irresistible: your matress is strangely more comforting and your blankets make you feel like an angel baby swaddled in a cocoon of cloud candy. And on a cloudy day such as today, that level of irresistibility shoots up to a billion. But this challenging part of anyone's day is surprisingly somewhat of a relief to a certain individual stirring inside of his sleeping bag that's spread out upon the linoleum floor of the Gas–N–Sip's tiny supply closet.
For former angel Castiel, waking up is certainly the best feeling, because it means he's not dead, and he's thankful to see that he has awoken in the supply closet he's called home for less than a month and not a dark and scary abandoned warehouse surrounded by his crazy dysfunctional family who want nothing more than to cut out his precious little beating heart and throw it in a box like the Evil Queen from freaking Snow White, because that would definitely not be a pleasant sight to see when you're groggy and in desperate need of a warm cup of Joe. And a warm cup of Joe is just what Castiel is craving; who would've thought that ground up beans liquefied into a warm beverage could fill you up with happiness? Certainly not Castiel, sadly he's never had a chance to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, it happens when you're a celestial being trying to end a civil war. But that's what he enjoys most about being human, there's no need for him to be caught up in all the heavenly family drama, now it's all about getting up early in the morning, going to the bathroom to brush teeth and bathe, and fixing up a pot of coffee to start off the long day ahead of work. First its refilling the coffee urns by the soda and smoothie machines; then restocking the shelves with chips, candy, and sweets; later placing more sodas and juices inside the refrigerators; and finally getting to wiping down the counters and windows and sweeping the floor. This process has become so routine for him that he's finished within less than two hours, leaving him free to drink up more of that coffee he brewed this morning and listen in on the conversations of travelers or locals who've decided to make a stop at the Gas-N-Sip, though it's really called eavesdropping, but for Castiel it's learning the ways of the human dojo! For him it's almost like watching the nature channel.
Ahem, cue narrator voice… Humans are indeed a unique species, their minds are set up to work in such a way that they rely on feeling and thought and strategy, not just mere instinct. Like this trucker for instance, several miles back he felt hungry and yet he knew that if he pressed on his journey across Northern America he would save more time, ultimately causing the arrival time to his desired destination in Illinois to be sooner than expected. It seems that now he has stopped at this gas station for a bathroom break, thankfully with plenty of time on his hands. Our man on the ground, Castiel has the rare privilege of an up-close encounter with the man, shh... it appears as if the man is scoping the area in search of the restroom—ah, he has found it, fascinating, it seems as if he knew bathrooms are usually located in the back of a gas station store, truly amazing indeed, ooh, now he leaves to return to his journey!
Something along those lines. Watching people isn't all that much fun anyway—unless of course you turn everything into a nature documentary and have Morgan Freeman narrating for you—but only because we've been born and have grown up as humans and are too bothered to notice anyone else, Castiel on the other hasn't, and he's got a lot to learn from us. But on this particular day in the life of Castiel, he will actually become familiar with something new though not actually knowing right away: a runaway.
Nora's seen plenty of runaways wander into the Gas-N-Sip, but never while Castiel was here, and right now he's by himself, he'll be alone for the next few minutes or so because Nora's shift starts at 8:00. Thing is though, Cas doesn't realize that the teenage boy that just walked in is a runaway, because he doesn't exactly fit the description, he looks more like he's on his way to school or something—his dark brown hair, spiked in the front, looks like it'd been done just this morning along with his brushed teeth and washed face, his burgundy pullover hoodie and black pants are fresh, the grey converse on his feet look fairly new though slightly scratched up—not to mention he even looks like a high schooler, probably sixteen or seventeen, and he's got a satchel slung over on his shoulder and a set of headphones covering his ears, so Cas doesn't pay too much attention to him, instead he turns his eyes toward the large windows to see Bill the newspaperman hopping out of his truck to deliver the days news.
"Bill, good morning!" Cas circles around the counter to meet him, raising his hand up for a high five.
"Morning Steve." Bill gives him a welcoming smile while also promptly receiving the high-five. Yay, that's the... something-th high-five Bill's given him since he started working here, too bad he can never stay and chat for a few seconds, normally he'll a least say his hellos before leaving Castiel to put the stack of papers in the newspaper rack and to crank up the radio that's set on the news station. Right now it's the weather, seems like the clouds overhead bring wind and rain.
"Whoo!" Nora rushes through the doors in an effort to escape the cool morning air. "It's actually pretty chilly out."
"Sure is." Cas nods, taking another sip of his coffee. "Morning."
"Morning." Nora greets as she scans the store, noting how spick-and-span it is; "have you already finished cleaning up?"
"Uh, yeah." He shrugs like it wasn't a big deal, guy's just doing his job.
"Oh, Steve, you really are the best." She gives him a warm smile while walking behind the counter. "But the rest of us have got t do some work around here too you know. What haven't you done yet and I'll get a move on that right away."
He chuckles. "Uh... I haven't had a chance to mop the floor or clean the ladies bathroom, if you'd like I'd be more than happy to mop the floor for you as well, perhaps cleaning both the bathroom and mopping would be unfair for you to handle by yourself?"
"No, it is not a problem at all, you've done enough already, thank you Steve." She rubs his shoulder gently. "I'll go ahead and get started on mopping, you just man the cash register, sound good?"
"Great." He nods and grins.
"Okay, remember if you need any help out here just give a holler." She claps her hands together.
"Yes, thank you." He watches as Nora, returning his attention back to the radio after she disappears behind the corner of the hallway. As usual the day's news brings nothing engaging other than a car accident involving a moron focusing on the message on their phone instead of the road and hitting a bystander.
"What's the word, Cas?" A familiar deep voice says from behind him. "Or should I say Steve, sales associate?"
Cas turns the radio down before turning around himself. "Dean, what are you doing here?"
"Man, Cas, is it really that hard to start out the conversation with a nice 'hello, how are you doing.'" Dean complains, throwing his hands up slightly in exasperation.
"Sorry, it's just that you were in this neck of the woods not too long ago." Castiel gestures him up and down with his hand.
"Did you just say, 'this neck of the woods?' Correctly, I mean." He arches an eyebrow, his lips hinting a smirk.
"I believe so." Cas thinks about it for a moment, deciding then that he had.
"Huh." Dean bows his head slightly. "Anyway, reason I'm here is 'cause Sam found a case up in Portland, decided to go check it out…" He hesitates before leaning in closer to Cas. "See, thing is though we're not sure what exactly we're dealing with, so there's a chance we'll need you. We already know part of it's definitely demons, the rest we're not too sure, angels probably or something like that—this isn't the first we've seen this either, same thing happened in over in New York, Orlando, D.C., and Chicago too."
Cas' face scrunches up in confusion. "Strange, there's been hardly any demon activity since Crowley was imprisoned by the two of you."
"Exactly," Dean says in agreement, "but it gets weirder: demons are just showing up and then they're disappearing before they can get on with whatever they're planning."
Castiel straightens up hearing that. "Wait, what do you mean by that?"
"Sam can tell you all about it in the car, let's go, we'll need your help on this." He jerks in thumb in the direction of the door.
"B-but what about keeping our distances?"
"I know, I know, but we really need you on this one, there's something about this case that we don't know about, I can't even begin to explain it to you 'cause it sounds so funky." He shakes his head.
"Well, that's fine, however, I do have a job to do."
"As a sales associate?" Dean raises an eyebrow.
"Precisely." Castiel beams.
"Then ask for some time off." Dean drawls out.
"'Time off?' I can't ask for time off."
"What do you mean, it's not like you're the only one working here, right?" He scoffs.
"Well, besides Nora and I, there's also Lauren, Matthew, and Tori, you know, young people." Cas shakes his head.
"Okay, cool, you can have one of them cover you for the week so we can get this case solved."
"Well, I can't just announce my absence out of the blue, you should have called me the day before so Nora would have at least had time to call someone in, she can't let me go due to a last minute decision."
"Sure she will, she likes you and you're a hell of an employee." He raps his knuckles against the counter. "I'm gonna go ahead and tell Sammy you're coming."
"N—Dean!" Cas reaches out and grabs Dean by the collar of his jacket. "You know I can't go with you, it's not safe."
Dean sighs. "Look, Cas, I appreciate the whole keeping-your-distance thing, I know it's been rough on you—and I realize that I'm being cryptic here... but Sam said that we really need you on this one, if I say no to that he'll wonder why and he can't suspect anything."
He scowls in confusion. "What do you mean, why would Sam be suspicious, what of?"
"You just gotta trust me, man, I need to keep Sam in the dark until—" Dean freezes, sensing a presence directly behind him. He peeks over his shoulder to see the boy who had come in earlier slowly taking off his headphones.
"Umm, you in line?" A younger voice mutters awkwardly, his eyes flickering between Dean and Castiel. "Oh, am I interrupting something, is this a private conversation 'cause I can totally come back later."
Dean's eyes narrow suspiciously at the teenager, knowing that kids his age are usually in school, but steps aside anyway. "Nah, you're fine, sorry about that."
"No problem, I'll just be a second." The teen waves his hand dismissively, then sets down a bag of Funions and a large bottle of Dr. Pepper. "Soooo… while you guys were talking, I overheard something about a road trip?"
Dean and Castiel both exchange a wary glance. "How much did you hear, kid?"
"Nothing really, other than something about your boyfriend Sam over there," he points over to Sam, who's the only person at the pumps; "suspecting something that you're doing—whatever that is. Everything before that was blocked out by my music."
"Okay let's get something straight: we're brothers, not a couple, okay, brothers." Dean scowls.
"'Brothers,' like I haven't heard that one before… it's okay, dude, I support you one-hundred percent." He beams, giving him a thumbs-up.
"Whatever." Dean rolls his eyes heavily. "Hey, you had headphones blasting out that hipster music on when I came in, how did you hear that bit?"
"Song ended." The boy shrugs. "So you guys going on a road trip or aren't you?"
"Uh, yes, yes we are."
"Where to?"
"...Portland." He responds cautiously.
"Me too!" The boy chirps. "What are the chances, huh? Hey, can I come with you guys?"
Dean's eyebrows shoot up in surprise, he raises both his arms. "Whoa, kid, slow down there. Look, you don't even—"
"I can pay for gas—for the entire trip!" He offers immediately.
"Really?" He arches an eyebrow skeptically. "The whole trip?"
"Yep!" He says, popping the 'p', peering over Dean's shoulder at gas pump's number that's fueling the impala. "And since you obviously don't believe me, I'll prove it to you." He hands Castiel a spiffy credit card that's obviously not his. "Sixty-five on three."
"Will that include the snacks?" Cas asks, taking the card in his hand.
"Oh, right, that too." He grins upon seeing Dean's amused expression.
Castiel looks unsurely at Dean, wondering if they should let the teen go through with this, but Dean just nods in confirmation so Cas starts typing the credit card number into the cash register.
Dean puffs out a chuckle. "As much as I appreciate you paying for fuel, I still can't take you."
"Yeah I know, but it was worth a shot," The boy lifts his hands up and lets them fall back down with a slap against his thighs; "still though, why not?"
"I think you know why not." Dean narrows his eyes. "Sorry, kid, but I don't pick up runaways."
Several emotions flicker across Castiel's face, ranging from confusion to pity to anger. "I am not a runaway if I'm moving."
"Moving, at your age?" Dean shakes his head.
"I mean, I'm moving into a dorm, but yeah I'm moving."
"Oh, for college."
"Yeah, I've already been enrolled at Portland State," he chides, rummaging through his satchel; "look, here's my acceptance letter!"
Dean snatches the paper from the boy's hand to skim over it. "Fine, so you're not exactly a runaway, but I'm not gonna be held responsible if something were to happen to you."
"Ugh, you old people worry too much!" The boy pouts to himself and crosses his arms.
"Sorry, but that's the way it's gonna be—" He pauses. "Who are you calling 'old?'"
"Dean." Sam calls out as he's swinging the front door open. "You guys ready, what's taking so long?"
"Steve here has, uh, work to do, so he can't make it for our little road trip." Dean leans against the counter.
"Can you ask for time off?" Sam suggests.
"See, that's what I said." He looks at Cas pointedly.
"I still don't see why I can't hitch a ride with you guys, we're going the same way, and I even offered to pay gas—I already did." The boy cuts in, and then looks Sam up and down. "Wow, you're really tall up close."
"Who's this?" Sam waves at the small teenager standing by them.
"Some kid who want's to steal a ride with us over to Portland." Dean answers before turning to the boy. "And I'll pay you back for the gas."
The boy waves his hand. "No, it's fine, you don't need to pay me back."
"Why are you paying for our gas, why is he paying for our gas?" Sam asks them both.
"Kid offered to pay gas for the whole trip if he could come with us."
"Okay sure, why not?" Sam shrugs nonchalantly.
"See, he's smart." He smiles up at Sam. "Dude, you've got like the most glorious mane ever, you'd put Thor to tears."
Sam kind of just smiles to himself proudly and rolls his shoulders back a bit. "Here that, Dean, 'glorious mane.'"
His older brother rolls his eyes. "I'm sorry, kid—"
"Your brother, Sam, seems perfectly fine with me tagging along."
"Kid, please, I'm telling you, man, you can't come because we've got some private business to take care of, this ain't your average road trip, we've got… family business to take care of, but mainly I don't want you tagging along because we don't want you to do anything stupid or get into trouble, which I'm sure you will."
"Most likely yeah, but I can't help it, I'm all about stupid." He lazily drags the plastic bag containing his snacks off the counter. "Fine, have fun on your road trip, stay safe, don't talk to strangers and all that jazz."
"Hey, you too, kid." Dean nods. "Here, let me pay you back for the fuel—"
He motions for him to stop. "Like I said, it's fine. Peace." The teen throws up a peace sign and then makes his way over to the exit.
"Thanks and sorry, good luck..." Sam pauses.
"Jude." He calls over his shoulder.
"Jude, bye." Sam gives him a short nod.
"Bye, thanks for coming to the Gas N' Sip, come back soon." Castiel says, which Jude promptly responds to with a thumbs-up, and with that he walks out of the Gas N' Sip.
"Nice kid, remind me again why we can't take him?" Sam asks his older brother.
"What do you mean 'why can't we,' do you wanna play babysitter during a case like this?" Sam nods no in reply. "Besides, kid's a runaway, his parents are probably looking for him." Cas is about to say something, but Dean continues. "Well, anyway, right now we need to figure out a way to get you outta here, talk to your manager perhaps."
Just as the words leave Dean's mouth, Nora comes back from cleaning the ladies' restroom, a slightly dirtied white cloth in one gloved hand and a spray bottle of cleaning solution in the other. "Just follow our lead Cas." Sam instructs, quickly switching from a serious expression to one that is more beseeching yet enthusiastic. "Steve, come on, we've been talking about this trip since October!"
"Seriously, man, don't bail out on us, it ain't gonna be the same without you." Dean holds his arms out.
Castiel doesn't speak right away, because the poor guy doesn't actually know what they're trying to do, seeing this, Dean continues. "You've been working everyday, you've gotta take a break sometime."
Sam and Dean's little performance receives the desired response, becuase Nora, of course, could perfectly hear the conversation going on at the front counter and decides to join in. "Hi, can I help you two?"
"Yeah, can we get the manager here, maybe they can force Steve to stop being such a workaholic and lay back for once?"
"Oh, well you've come to the right person." She smiles and joins Castiel behind the counter; "If I heard correctly, you guys are going on a vacation somewhere?"
"Yes, we're on our way for a family trip over in-in Seattle—"
"I thought we were going to…" Cas interrupts, but then pauses because he's finally caught on; "Oh, right, that was last year, duh." Cas feigns a chuckle, though it sounds too forced.
Sam continues. "And, uh, since Steve here is practically family, you know, we didn't wanna go without him, can't call it a family trip if he doesn't come."
"Oh, how fun! Steve, why didn't you tell me about this, I would have been more than happy to let you have some time off to enjoy yourself, don't let work hold you back!" Nora smiles sadly at him.
"I-I know, but… but I couldn't just leave like that—especially with everything that needs to be done here, I couldn't possibly…" Cas shrugs.
Nora nods in understanding. "You know what, you're going." Cas is about to protest but she holds her finger up to silence him. "Steve, you've been working your butt off keeping this place in check nonstop, I believe it's high time you take a break from all this and let us take care of it, okay?"
"Wait, really?" Dean asks, somewhat astonished by how well and speedy everything turned out. "Wow, t-thank you, we've been trying to get this guy to hang out with us forever."
"Well this time he doesn't have a choice, you're going." Nora grabs Castiel's blue work vest and gently slides it off his shoulders. "Now go on and spend some time with your friends!"
"Here that, Steve, that's an order." Dean drapes his arm over Cas' shoulder as soon as he's past the counter.
"Sure is." Nora winks at them. "How long are you guys planning to stay out there?"
"Um, what's today... Tuesday, so we'll be back next Thursday, Steve will call you." Sam notifies her; a week is usually how long it takes for the boys to crack a case, maybe more.
"Okay then, sounds good, we'll see you in a week, Steve." She waves before pulling her phone out of her back pocket. "I'll have Lauren take over you shift until you get back. Bye Steve, you guys have fun."
"Bye, thank you so much for doing this for us, I hope it's not too much trouble?" Sam shakes hands with her.
"Not at all." She enunciates every word with a warm grin spread across her face. "You guys be careful now."
"We will." The boys wave to Nora one last time before ducking out the main entrance of the Gas N' Sip. Team Free Will is back in business!
"Well, that turned out better than I expected." Dean mutters under his breath when they near the impala.
"Yeah, it actually did." Sam purses his lips.
"So Cas, you wanna sit in the front, I know you want to, you like riding shotgun." Dean claps his former angel friend on the back, earning a deep, throaty chuckle from him.
"Absolutely." Cas bobs his head, beaming like a five-year-old on Christmas morning. "Tell me, why did you two give Nora false information concerning out whereabouts?"
"Never tell anyone where you're actually going."
"But you told the boy Jude where we were headed to." He reminds him.
"Eh, we don't know him and we'll never see him again." He waves his hand dismissively while at the same time throwing open his door and climbing into the driver's side, Cas and Sam climb in as well.
"So tell me now that we're in the car…" Cas buckles himself in; "what is it about this specific case that requires my assistance, does it for sure involve angles?"
"That's the thing," Sam leans forward to grab his laptop from the spot between Dean and Castiel; "you see, according to the reports two female students attending their second year at Oregon State University were in their dorm Friday night, at around 8:57 pm, Valerie Yin was suddenly attacked by her roommate and friend Diana Velázquez. Yin claims that her friend was trying to slice her throat open with a small knife, sounds familiar, right?"
"It's certainly a demon attempting to make a call to someone." Castiel says.
"To who, Abaddon?" Dean asks.
"Possibly." He nods in response. "But how did the girl survive, surely she couldn't have overpowered the demon."
"I'm getting there…" Sam clears his throat. "So get this, Cas, tell us what you think. So, according to Valerie's statement she claims that a few days before the attack her roommate started acting differently, such as going out without telling anyone, not studying for finals that were coming up, isolating herself—"
"You know, the usual 'I'm a demon and I'm up to something' kinda thing." Dean chimes in, twisting the key in the ignition. The roar of the engine announces its readiness to embark on yet another fun-filled journey of rainbows and love stuff.
"Yeah." Sam clicks his tongue and continues. "Now here's where it gets weird. During the attack of course the demon revealed itself, but just before it could kill her, all of the sudden it smoked out—at least that's what it sounds like in the report—"
"It fled, that's the only reason a demon would stop their attack." Castiel fills in.
"That's what we thought, but the demon didn't leave right away, for some reason it stayed in the dorm room, then, as the witness described it, the demon began to, get this: purify."
"Purify?" At this, Castiel twists in his seat to face Sam, his face morphed into confusion, recall, and frustration all in one expression—it was conf-reca-tration!
"Mean anything to you?" Dean notices the multiple emotions flickering across his friend's face.
"Yes..." Cas slowly turns his body back to the normal sitting position, his eyes are blank now, staring absentminded my out the window.
"Cas?" Sam says looking up from the screen of the laptop.
"I'm sorry..." Cas blinks his eyes and returns to reality; "sorry, um... I can't–I can't—I mean, I have seen this before, sadly I can't seem to remember where I've seen it or when, but what I do know for certain that this demon didn't flee..." a random pause for dramatic effect "it was cured."
"C-cured?" Dean stutters out.
"Cured." Cas nods solemnly.
"Cured?" Sam asks, though it sounds more like a statement.
"Yes, cured." Castiel nods again, narrowing his eyes at his friends.
"...Cured, really?" Dean whispers.
"Yes!" Cas hisses exasperatedly, shaking his head at Dean.
"But... I thought you could only do that with the demon inside its hosts' body?" Sam shuts his laptop and lightly tosses it aside, scooting forward in between his brother and friend. "Remember that old film Josie Sands made, Father Thompson seemed to only be able to cure a demon while it was trapped inside its meatsuit?"
"I do, I do…" Cas runs his hand over his mouth. "Hopefully the witness can tell us what she saw in better detail when we find her."
"So, you're not too sure what his is either." Dean mumbles to himself.
"I'm sorry, I-I know I've seen this before though." He says softly. "I told you there was no need to bring me along."
"Don't worry about it, we're glad you still get to work this case with us, you know, better your hunting skills, huh?" Sam pushes back into his seat, grabbing his laptop. "I'll see if I can find out more info on anything that can… cure a demon?"
Castiel sighs. "Mmm-hmm."
The boys are quiet for some time. Sam types away on his computer, searching for any further information; Dean focuses on the road, letting the information Cas gave them sink in; and Castiel gazes out the passenger-side window, watching the trees of the forest fly by, their leaves now all bright and vibrant for the fall season, splashes of red, burgundy, orange, yellow, and green are all mixed together in a soft blur, and dark clouds overhead create that nice rain smell. It's been a long time since Castiel had a chance to really enjoy the wonderful world around him, this world of color, life, and pollution—oh, that smoggy air—but having a moment of tranquility is always good for the soul, just like food and free wi-fi. And it's completely silent as well, which makes this moment even more serene, the pretty slightly untrustworthy birds and mild breeze are the only sources of noise—then out of nowhere the impala hits a huge bump in the road and makes the back of the impala jump five freaking feet in the air, followed by distant squeaks from the suspension and—and a faint yelp and a heavy thud from the trunk.
…~o~O† Supernatural †O~o…
A/N—Huzzah, chapter one is done! So I hope I did okay with characterization, especially with Dean when he was telling Jude he wasn't allowed to join them, I didn't want him to sound mean I was leaning more towards him trying to avoid another teenager accidently getting involved with the supernatural, 'cause you know anything can happen on the road. ;) What do you guts think of, Jude, I hope once you get to know him better you'll fall in love with him, obviously you'll see more of him later. :D
Thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter—or want nothing more then to set your computer on fire because you can't believe you wasted however many minutes it took you to read… whatever your feelings are, please review on what I can fix or what you liked most about this chapter, I appreciate the feedback! (^_^)-b
—Ayden