First story, first chapter~! It's a Supernatural story with Castiel being the main love interest; its a CastielxOC love story-don't like, don't read. This story takes place a bit after Dean is brought back from Hell and right before episode 7. One or two things concerning how Dean and Sam-together-met Castiel and Uriel have been changed for my story, but nothing that will dramatically change Supernatural's plot. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this story and this first chapter. If you do, please REVIEW. Constructive criticism is welcome, but flaming is not.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Supernatural, it is rightfully owned by Eric Kripke. All I own is my OCs and certain plot points.
Warning: Features Castiel and OC romance, crude humor, swearing, sexual content, gore, violence, and drug and alcohol references.
Chapter One: Hello There
Long legs pumped as fast as they could, possibly faster based on adrenaline, leaves and twigs crunching and snapping beneath her feet. Heavily, almost to the point where she could barely breathe properly as her lungs started to constrict painfully, her breathing escaped passed her chapped and gnawed lips. The rapid beating of her heart pounded in her ears, thundering against her ribcage.
Trees, bushes, weeds, and other greenery that she only just barely make out through the darkness whizzed by her; occasionally something would scratch against her flesh or would snag clothing. Sounds of struggling, fighting, and hurried footsteps boomed from behind, provoking her to glance back. However, she tried her absolute hardest to not be distracted, she had to keep running, keep moving forward.
If someone had told her she'd be running for her life through thick woods from supernatural beings as they were after her, Hannah Murphy would've laughed in their face and had told them off. Nevertheless, there she was, doing exactly that; escaping from a burning cabin through a pitch black forest to safety while two men she barely knew defended her.
If only someone had told her three days ago…
To say she was having a bad day would an understatement.
It seemed as it Murphy's Law was weighing heavily on her today.
First, her alarm hadn't gotten off, so she woke up an hour and half later she had intended. That caused her to hurry in making her breakfast or a makeshift resulting in her accidentally burning her toast in her rush. Then, when she left her apartment only to remember she had left her keys inside thus, she had to reluctantly go to her landlord to allow her entrance into her home—his obnoxiously loud scolding made her feel even worse. After that, she stepped on a huge wad of gum on her walk to her internship. Did no one knew what a garbage can was? There had been one right beside the discarded gum for Christ's sake. Following that, she entered the Saint Prudence Hart Hospital two hours late, Hannah's foul mood getting worse when someone, purposely she was sure, slammed into her on his way out. She yelled at him, calling him a "butthead"; definitely not her best.
So to repeat, to say Hannah was having a bad day would be an understatement.
Thankfully, the adorable and humorous guy at the gift shop in the lobby could sense her growing enmity and held out a terribly soft-looking teddy bear to her. "Bad start, Han?" he asked in his usually upbeat, tenor-type voice.
"You have no idea, Gabe." Hannah sighed deeply in frustration. Gratefully, she took the brown-colored stuff animal and cuddled it to her chest. A tiny smile tugged at the corner of her lips finding comfort in the toy, but only briefly.
Her sour expression returned when she lifted her gray eyes to meet his caramel ones, which she barely noticed had scoped out the area briskly. "Does Julie know I'm not there yet?" she asked warily, pushing away the flash of caution in his peepers—she had probably been seeing things, wouldn't be the first time.
"Doll face, you're her best student, of course she's noticed you're not there." Gabe pointed out.
She scowled, her embrace tightening on the bear. "You're supposed to be making me feel better, asshole," she grumbled. Her brows furrowed when his eyes danced about again in the same fashion as before, that time though, she noted a small amount of tension in his shoulders.
However, such behavior disappeared so quickly that Hannah hardly believed she had spotted it at all, especially when he chuckled heartedly, impishly. The baby-faced male leaned forward across the counter, folding his arms. "How about this for making ya feel better? How about when we both get off, we go grab something to eat? I know a really wicked pastry shop down the street." Gabe smirked, wiggling his eyebrows.
A miniscule albeit genuine grin graced Hannah's pale face. "No, but thanks for the offer anyway, Gabe." she said, patting his smoothed back brown hair.
His disgruntled face was only moment when she did that, clearly not appreciating the patronizing gesture, yet his cheeky beam returned quickly. Straightening up, Gabe shrugged, feigning disappointment. "Can't blame a girl for trying."
"Everyday you try."
"I'm persistent, what can I say? I'll win you over one day, babe."
"Trying winning over, Iris. You'd definitely have more luck with her."
Gabe shuddered at the mere thought of even going near the dark-haired woman in the cafeteria that Hannah was mentioning; Iris was infuriatingly infatuated with him. "I'd rather swallow my own tongue."
Hannah giggled, which brought a grin to his face. "There ya go! A lovely smile should always be on the face of a lovely girl!"
"Gabe, if you're done hittin' on my girl, I'm gonna take her 'cuz Julie is pissed as it is with her fave not being here on time to kiss her ass and to distract her from some of her mentally retarded interns." came a Hispanic-accented female's voice.
Gabe and Hannah turned their heads to see a woman with all dark features and exotic curves standing there in scrubs that matched Hannah's but in pink. Gabe grinned at the woman with a cheerful greeting of "Heya, Carly" while Hannah made a snubbed expression and retorted dryly, "I do not kiss Julie's ass."
"Whatever, Hannah honey, lets go," Carly said dismissively. Grabbing hold of Hannah's elbow, she dragged her away. "Julie is on a war-path today and Conner ain't makin' it any better. See ya, Gabe!" Hannah grumbled that she didn't need to be dragged like a child, but she didn't pull away from her friend.
"Bye, ladies!" he hollered back, waving animatedly. They returned the farewell from over their shoulders.
Once they were out of sight, the male looked around once more in apprehension.
As it was, or maybe it wasn't so odd, when Carly and Hannah joined Julie's group of interns and Julie spotted Hannah, the fury in her eyes seemed to extinguish immediately; she had been yelling at a tiny, spectacled blonde boy (Connor), who was trembling. Of course, Hannah had been scolded by her mentor for her tardiness, but her firm voice had been soft unlike how she had been berating Connor. Julie's demeanor even became brighter when Hannah answered whatever question she had directed at her correctly.
So maybe Hannah was Julie's favorite, but there was no way she kissed her ass.
Either way, after Hannah's arrival things had become a lot smoother, even for Hannah; her day seemed to have gotten a bit better. Thus, by the time lunch break came around, Hannah was in a much better mood.
However, not in a good enough mood to go hit on someone like her best friend, Carly was pestering to do. But apparently, Carly didn't seem to understand—or just didn't care—that Hannah had no interest on hitting on some random person.
Then again, maybe it was her fault. She had been the one to suddenly stop in the middle of the maternity ward heading to the cafeteria for lunch to stare at the aforementioned person Carly was demanding that she flirt with. The young woman had no idea why said man had gotten her attention so abruptly, but she would not deny it that he had.
It wasn't as if the man was extraordinarily good looking like most people would associate Prince Charming with. Not that that he wasn't handsome because he was, but honestly, he appeared quite ordinary. Hannah was sure, in most cases, people wouldn't notice him or, at the most, note his attractiveness in passing and continue on with their lives. His dark brown hair, so dark that one could mistake it for black, was disheveled that it looked like he had just gotten out of bed. The male's jaw was strong, but soft with a visible five o'clock shadow. He had a pale complexion, but appeared to be a shade darker than Hannah's skin. It hard to see because of the distance between them, but Hannah was fairly sure his eyes were blue. He was adorned in a normal black suit with a blue tie and a slightly worn out beige trench coat.
Ordinary, but Hannah was drawn to him. She had no idea why she was, but she was. Maybe it was because, despite how plain he seemed, he seemed to stick out—at least to her—or maybe it was because he had such a serene expression as he gazed into the window where all the newborns laid; like he was savoring the tiny miracles before him.
Nonetheless, there was no power in Heaven and Hell that would convince her to go up to him and seduce, let alone speak to him.
Unfortunately, Carly would just not let it go.
"For the fifth time, no, Carlotta." Hannah grounded out, glowering at her companion; her gray eyes a dark hue in warning.
"First of all, Han, don't full first name me and second, when was the last time ya went on a date or even had sex?' Carly returned, crossed her long arms beneath her bosom.
"…I don't think that's any of your business, especially the sex part."
"I'm gonna assume 'cuz of that answer, its been a while. Even more reason for ya to go up to that lil' cutie and hit on him."
"No," Hannah retorted. That was the sixth time she had said it in the past five minutes. "You know perfectly well I don't handle most social convention very well, you're lucky I can, not to mention want to, hold a conversation with you," she pointed out.
"Yes, and I feel so very honored," the taller and older of the women said, cynicism dripping from her thick voice—Hannah deadpanned. She gave a mischievous smirk, patting her friend on the shoulder. "And I'm sure he'd feel just as honored. Maybe even more so."
Hannah rolled her eyes; she swore than Carly and Gabe shared the same body sometimes. "He's looking at the newborns, he's probably a father, which means he has someone here." she said, deciding to use a different tactic.
"He's got no wedding ring."
"That doesn't mean anything."
"Go and talk to him, Hannah."
"Again, no. I'm hungry, so I'm going to lunch." Hannah claimed in exasperation before turning on her sneakered heel and starting to walk away.
Carly grabbed her elbow and yanked her back. "If you don't go and talk to him, I will tell everyone your real age and your IQ," the Latina threatened, her chocolate hues flashing.
The fair-haired female bridled. "You wouldn't."
"You know I would. Now, go and talk to him."
For a while, Hannah glared at Carly, who evenly return the hard expression.
Why was she friends with Carly again?
Ultimately, Hannah sighed deeply in frustration, giving in. She knew Carly would be true to her word and that was the last thing Hannah wanted. She'd go up and speak to the man. What was the worse thing that could happen? He'd reject her? That was far better than Carly revealing to everyone her actual age and the number of her IQ—far better.
Thus, grumbling, Hannah shot her friend one last glare and began to trudge over to the trench coat-wearing man.
As she drew closer, nerves suddenly started to take over and she began to fiddle with her appearance, suddenly conscious of probably how terrible she looked considering she left her apartment in such a rush that morning. She pinched her cheeks a little, hoping to make it seem like she had color—she had only managed to put on cover-up earlier. She ruffled her wavy, strawberry-blonde hair to hopefully give it some volume since she hadn't washed nor blow-dried it. And she also tried her best to smooth out the wrinkles on her periwinkle scrubs.
She was sure she probably looked the same as before, but she could do nothing else as she was already standing next to the male.
Hannah opened her mouth to speak, but halted when a flash of something caught her eyes.
It had look like there was something sprouting from his back. Feathers? Feathered wings perhaps?
She had seen them on Gabe when they first met—and occasionally, she'd see them—but knowing seeing such was ridiculous, she brushed it off, just like she did with Gabe. It was probably just her imagination or the hospital lights or something.
Not to mention, the young woman couldn't dwell on such any longer as the male was staring at her and quite intensely actually.
Jumping, her cheeks becoming flushed, Hannah cleared her throat and gave her sweetest albeit probably her most awkward smile. He just stared at her allowing her to see how truly blue and beautiful his eyes were, almost otherworldly and ethereal—they seemed oddly familiar—and she felt more blood rush to her. She had to look away to calm her heart down as it had just picked up in its pace.
Thankfully, the sight of the crying, sleeping, and wiggling newborns behind the glass was a very good distraction. A tender grin tugged at the corners of her lips. "They're adorable, aren't they?" Hannah murmured before she realized she was speaking. "One of life's little miracles."
"Yes," the male spoke and Hannah nearly started at his voice. It was deep and raspy with a bit of gravel to it; it was quite modulating to the ears.
Feeling a bit more at ease that the conversation had started off better than she had suspected, Hannah peered to him. She leaned causally up against the wall against her side. "So which one's yours?" she inquired curiously.
He didn't look to her, but he did reply, "None of these infants are mine."
"Oh, so um, just looking then?"
"Yes."
"I see," Hannah gave a small nod. Okay, so things were going even smoother; he wasn't a father, so that probably meant he wasn't attached either. "You visiting someone then?"
That time, he did look at her, but only in the corner of his eye. "…Yes." His tone was vague and hesitant making Hannah's brows furrow quizzically, yet she didn't press the matter as it was none of her business.
"Um…" Hannah paused for a moment, contemplating what to say next. She tugged on her thick hair, eyes diverted to the ground in thought; she had told Carly she wasn't good speaking to people. Then, it hit her, making her smack herself mentally and call herself "stupid".
Exchange names.
Clearing her throat, as if clearing away her embarrassment, Hannah beamed brightly—maybe too brightly—and stuck out her hand. "I'm Hannah, by the way. Hannah Murphy."
He regarded her far longer than need be as she was beginning to shift uncomfortably. Then, finally, he placed his bigger and warmer hand in her contrasting one. Actually, he grasped her single hand with both of his. "My name is Castiel. It is a pleasure to meet you, Hannah." And he smiled. It was tiny, very tiny, but so very genuine.
At his grin and at his touch, even though she had initiated it, made her entire body jolt like she had been shocked and blood to rush severely to her face. She didn't touch others very often, only those she was close to and even that was very little, so such actions made her insides squirm. However, the tenderness of his touch was another factor of that, no one had ever treated her so delicately. It made her anxious and she had to—as smoothly and politely as she could—pry her hand away and step back.
Anxiously, she smiled, folding her hands behind her back. "Uh…C-Castiel, huh? Sounds kinda bib-biblical. Your pa-parents C-Catholic or something?"
Oh, God, she sounded so imprudent; she was definitely going to give Carly an earful after this nearly traumatizing incident.
"No," was his prompt response.
Hannah blinked. "…Oh."
Silence fell.
Where does one go after that?
Hannah had no idea. She didn't know whether to walk away or try to change the subject. A part of her was telling her to do the latter because for some strange reason she didn't want to leave Castiel's presence, despite that she didn't know what to say next. Maybe she was drawn to the man more than she had thought, but still…what could she say?
Thankfully, Carly appeared, wrapping a friendly arm around Hannah's shoulder and flashing Castiel a confident grin. "Sorry, man, but I gotta whisk this one away. Business calls for us. Hope ya don't mind," she said as if she was talking to an old friend. "But," A glint appeared in her eyes that Hannah did not trust and she had every right to feel that way as Carly suddenly grabbed Castiel's arm, shoved up his sleeves, produced a pen and began scribbling on his forearm. Castiel just stared with raised, dark eyebrows while Hannah watched horror. Carly smirked widely once she was done. "That's Hannah's cell phone number. Hit her up sometime. I'm sure she'd love it."
"Carly!"
"Toodles, cutie!"
Carly snatched Hannah's arm and began dragging her away as Hannah cried out complaints and scolding with a bright red face.
As the two women disappeared, Castiel watched them until they were completely gone, his written on arm still extended. That was until he felt a familiar presence behind him.
"Is that her?" asked a very deep African-American male's voice.
"Yes," Castiel answered seriously. "I felt her soul when we touched. Hannah Murphy."
"Then you know what we must do."
Briefly, Castiel glanced back over his shoulder at his partner, who was gazing emotionlessly at the babies before them. Then, Castiel looked down at his arm then, in the direction that Hannah had left in.
He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt cold, especially in comparison to how warm the look in her eyes were and how warm her soul had been. Such, made him feel even colder.
Nevertheless, as quickly as the feeling came, it went away as he lowered his arm and said boldly, "Yes."
Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Please review~!