In more ways than one, a storm was brewing. Castiel had been stationed on Earth a while back and his orders had not yet changed, so he didn't know exactly what was to come. But he could tell the rest of the garrison was restless, and there were rumors flitting between the angels.

An apocalypse was coming, they said.

The particulars of this disaster were not yet known, but even if the angels did know, there was nothing to be done.

So Castiel sat on the park bench, doing what he had done for many years: watching. Today the clouds were gathering over the small Kansas town, but still the park was full of children. Soon the rain would come and parents would take their children home. Castiel would stay in the park a while longer, enjoying the silence and the rain, and then move onto somewhere else. There was nothing else for him to do.

He was contemplating one of the trees at the edge of the park when a small being crashed directly into his legs. Castiel jumped slightly and turned his attention to the small boy that had fallen in a heap at his feet. The little blonde boy, who could not be older than four, was now beginning to wail.

Castiel stared at it, unsure what he was supposed to do in this particular situation. He reached down and reluctantly patted the young human. The boy stared up at him with big green eyes. Castiel cocked

his head slightly, uncertain of what to do next, and settled for saying, "What is wrong?"

The boy sniffed, "I can't find my mommy!"

How the human had managed to lose it's mother in a park this small, he did not know. Castiel merely shrugged, and decided that he really ought to help the child. It upset him, seeing the boy crying. "What does your mother look like?" he said uncomfortably.

The boy sniffled once and proceeded to give a rambling, childlike description of his mother, from which Castiel was eventually able to ascertain that the woman was blonde, blue-eyed, and rather tall, though Castiel supposed that almost anyone would be tall to a being of this size.

It took only a moment of looking around for Castiel to notice the woman who fit the boy's description heading towards him and looking rather worried. Castiel stood, and lacking something better to say simply called, "Is this your child?"

The woman's head snapped around, looking panicked, but once her eye's landed on the secure, if rather shaken boy, a relieved smile filled her features. She walked over to the angel and knelt beside her son.

"Dean," she said, her voice kind but firm. "I've told you again and again not to go wandering off. You're going to have a little brother soon and you need to learn to be responsible." The boy pouted and stared at his feet, and the woman reached out a hand to bring his face back up to hers, "I know you're going to be a good brother, Dean."

Reluctantly, the child known as Dean nodded. Satisfied, the woman turned her attention back to Castiel. "Thank you . . ." she trailed off, lacking a name for him.

"Castiel," he supplied.

She smiled at the oddness of the name. "Well, thank you, Castiel." She looked lovingly back down to her son. "Now I had better be on my way, got to get this one home before he causes any more trouble."

"But mom-" the boy groaned.

"Dean Winchester, you will start moving right now," she said sternly, and the boy obeyed. The woman threw one more grateful glance back at Castiel and walked off.

_

Their second meeting was sunny, though the events that were to occur were less so. It was a bright day, the sun sat high among the clouds, an obnoxiously cheerful bird crooned from a tree in front of an icecream parlor on Main street, and a thirteen year old boy was telling a schoolmate to go fuck himself.

Castiel stopped his stroll down the street to observe the sheer volume of expletives emanating from the small human's mouth. Behind the furious blonde teenager a long haired boy of about nine was cowering,

though whether it was in fear of the other boy or his companion, Castiel could not tell.

The younger boy tugged at the teenagers jacket. "Dean," he whispered "really it's fine. Can we just go?" He looked around desperately. "Please?"

Dean shook his head. "No Sammy. No way. He's not getting away with this!"

"Dean, it's fine," Sammy repeated, but Dean was having none of it.

Castiel watched in amazement as Dean shoved the boy behind him and took a step toward his opponent.

"Now you listen to me, asshat," Dean shouted and the other boy cringed. "You don't talk about my family like that. If you ever talk about my parents again, you'll regret it. And if you EVER call my little brother a freak again I'll . . . I'll . . . I'LL RIP YOUR LUNGS OUT," behind the anger Dean looked rather pleased to have come up with this threat.

The other boy gave a frightened nod, and without hesitation turned tail and ran. Dean turned to his brother, who looked rather shaken by the whole ordeal. "When is dad coming to get us anyway?" Sammy shrugged.

Dean looked up in exasperation, his eyes landing on Castiel. "Hey," he said, "could I borrow some change for a payphone?" Castiel looked around for a second before realizing the boy was talking to him. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a few assorted coins. He was not exactly certain how much the phones cost these days.

He held the coins out toward the boy. "Is this enough?"

The boy took the coins and examined them, then he laughed. "This is like two whole bucks!" Dean turned back to Castiel with a grin, offering him his money back.

For some reason Castiel did not want to let the boy know that he really had no idea how much to take back, so he shrugged, "Keep it."

The grin widened, and Castiel couldn't help smiling back ever so slightly. The boy started to walk off towards his brother then turned back, "What's your name, guy?"

"Castiel," he replied.

"Thanks Cas, I'm Dean Winchester," the boy yelled as he turned on his heel and raced back to Sammy, putting an arm around his younger brother's shoulders.
_

Castiel was having a rather unpleasant time. Anna had told the garrison that he needed to unwind and coerced him into coming to this bar. He was not enjoying it in the slightest.

The rest of the garrison was not there and the bar was virtually empty save for one guy in his twenties who was passed out next to Castiel's arm.

Castiel had just made the decision to leave, and was about to ask for a bill so he could go when the man next to him stirred. He was very, very drunk. The man turned toward Castiel, apparently just realizing that he was there, and in greeting slurred, barely recognizably, "My br'ther left 'r college today."

"Oh?" Castiel said, not wishing to be rude to the human, but wanting very much to leave the bar.

"Eighteen years," the man continued, "and he leaves us on 'r own. Leaves me 'lone with dad."

"Is it not good that he is being educated?" Castiel replied absently, still attempting to get the attention of the bar tender.

"Sure," the man slurred, "it's just fucking awesome."

"You shouldn't be so angry with your family," the angel advised, not certain what to do in this social situation and feeling that some sort of advice was required.

"M'be you're right," the man sighed. "M'be I sh'ld go see 'im. Say I'm s'ry."

"Perhaps when you are less inebriated," Castiel suggested. The man appeared to be attempting to stand, a venture which was not working out too well. Still unsure of what to do, Castiel volunteered, "I could summon some sort of transportation for you."

The man laughed dryly at the strangeness of the phrasing, and offered his phone to the angel. Castiel dialed the number of a cab company, which the bar tender had posted on the wall under a sign informing patrons they should not drink and drive, and ordered a cab for the young man.

"What's you name anyway?" the man asked as the cab arrived.

"Castiel," the angel replied.

The man laughed again and seemed about to introduce himself, but then the cab arrived and he got in, leaving Castiel alone at the bar.

A moment later the bar tender shouted, "Hey! Dean Winchester! Your bill!"

Castiel rolled his eyes internally, so now the man was paying attention to the bills.

The angel ended up paying for both.
_

Several years later Castiel's orders from heaven had finally arrived.

He was to raise the righteous man from perdition.

Dean Winchester. Now where had he heard that name?

Author's Note-

Well that was my attempt at a Supernatural fic. I hope you liked it. Please review!