A/N: My first purely Supernatural fic! Yay! Inspired by the awesome fics of Scyllaya, who is awesome. I decided to do a NaNoWriMo in June, so hopefully by the end of the month we'll have a 50,000 word fic. Let's see if I manage it.
Summary: All-human AU. From the ages of 10 - 15, Dean and Castiel were inseparable. Then Dean's dad died, and rather than lose his brother to CPS, Dean took him and ran. Years later, Castiel's big brother Gabriel finds Dean working as a prostitute, and decides to try and help him - but does Dean want to be saved?
Pairings: Not sure yet if it's going to be Dean/Gabriel, Dean/Cas or Gabriel/Dean/Cas. I'm open to suggestions.
Chapter warnings: None
-MWM-
The first time Dean and Castiel met, they were ten. Dean was sitting by himself, the new kid at school, yet again. He hated it, always moving around, but that's just how it was. His dad was a Marine, and while he hadn't been out of America since before Dean was born, they still had to move a lot. Now that his little brother Sammy was ready to start school, however, he'd decided to keep them in one place. So he'd applied for – and gotten – a job at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
So now Dean was sitting, by himself, at Bradley Hills Elementary School, and glaring at his shoes. He'd already gotten into a fight with one of the other kids, and was now unsure how to approach anyone else.
"What did your shoes do to deserve that look?"
Dean looked up, seeing another boy standing close by. He was shorted than dean – though not by much – and his hair was darker – again, not by much. His face was rounder, and his eyes were a brilliant, bright blue in contrast to Dean's hazel. His head was tilted to the side, and though he had a smile on his face, Dean could tell that it wasn't mocking. The other boy seemed genuinely interested in him.
Dean blinked, then shrugged.
"They didn't walk away when I got in a fight."
"I wouldn't blame them. Rory's a dick."
At that, Dean burst out laughing. The other boy looked confused, as though he didn't know what it was that was funny. Once he'd calmed down, Dean grinned at him.
"Who told you that?"
"My big brother, Gabriel." The boy then sat down next to him, before pointing at a group of boys a little older than them, playing on a climbing frame. "The one right at the top."
"Isn't he gonna fall?" Dean was a little concerned at how Gabriel was climbing so high, constantly moving, but his new friend just shrugged.
"Probably not. He does this a lot." The two sat quietly watching for a few minutes. "My name's Castiel."
"I'm Dean."
"I know. You're in my class."
"Oh, right."
There was silence for a few minutes, before Castiel reached into the satchel Dean hadn't noticed earlier and pulled out some toy cars.
"You wanna play?"
-MWM-
That evening, Dean listened as Sammy chattered away to their dad about his first day of school. He'd made friends with several of the other boys – he'd always had a talent for making friends – and was looking forward to going back the next day.
"And what about you, Dean?" John asked, turning to his older son. "What was your day like?"
"It was okay. I made a friend."
"That's great," John smiled encouragingly. Dean had been getting into fights at school ever since he started, fuelled by the fact that they rarely stayed in one place for more than a term. So to hear that he was actually mixing with the other kids was a huge relief to his father. "What's his name?"
"Castiel Novak."
"That's a funny name," Sam piped up. Dean sent him a brief glare, which surprised John.
"No it's not. Him and his brothers are named after angels."
"It's still a funny name."
"Shut up, Sammy," Dean muttered.
"Jerk."
"Bitch."
"Boys!" John was shocked at the sudden animosity between his sons. "That's enough. Sam, it's not polite to say things about someone's name. After all, he didn't choose it."
"It suits him," Dean glared at his dinner.
"Okay," John nodded. "I'm glad that you're making friends, Dean. Try and keep it up, yeah?"
"I don't like the other kids," Dean shrugged. "Cas doesn't either. They're mean to him."
Suddenly, it clicked for John. Although Dean was often in fights, he'd never been a bully. It was more that he couldn't stand sitting back while anyone else was bullied, so he'd take on the brats and stand up for the weaker kids. Now he seemed to have attached himself to another one he saw as needing protection, as evidenced by the way he stood up for this Castiel to his brother.
He wondered if a friendship like that would last, and hoped that it would. Dean needed friends.
-MWM-
Dean and Cas sat together in nearly every class. Despite the other kids not particularly liking either of them, the two didn't seem to care. Castiel had always been considered odd, and Dean's attachment to him meant that he was also pushed to the outside. His fight with Rory on his first day didn't help matters much.
A few days after their first meeting, John was talking to one of the receptionists at work. He'd found that the women accepted him much more easily than he'd thought, until he realised it was because of his sons. They didn't see him as a threat, due to his single parent status. It was quite useful, really, as he could now get much more information about the local area as it would affect his sons.
"Castiel Novak?" Chelsea narrowed her eyes in thought. "Ah, yes, I remember him. My eldest was in the same grade as his older brother Lucian."
"Lucian and Castiel?" John commented. "Were their parents trying to get them picked on?"
"I know. Out of four boys, two got weird names, two relatively normal. It's actually quite sad – the mother, Grace, died giving birth to Castiel, and the father ran out on them a few years ago. Michael's the eldest, he was nineteen at the time, and Lucian wasn't far off turning eighteen, so they were allowed to stay together without being put into foster care."
"That's gotta be tough on them," John winced in sympathy. There was also anger there – what sort of father would abandon his sons like that? And how would it affect the boys?
"From what I gather, Castiel's a pretty good kid," Chelsea shrugged. "Michael's the one that pretty much raised him to begin with, so he behaves. Gabriel's a couple years older, and quite the handful – he might be named after an angel, but he's been referred to as a little demon for years." She laughed a little in remembrance. "He has a fondness for pranks, and a knack for finding out things he's not supposed to. He's closer to the other brother, Lucian." Here her mouth twisted a little, and John knew that it wasn't going to be good. "Lucian and Michael don't get along. I think the only reason Lucian stayed at home was so that the younger ones wouldn't be put into care."
"Sounds like a difficult situation," John sighed. "How do they get by?"
"Michael was accepted into the Marines straight out of high school. And Lucian managed to get work for a politician… can't remember which one now, but he's earning a decent wage. Between the two of them, they make enough to keep the little ones in school, clothed, fed, and with shelter."
"I guess it's a good thing Dean's befriended him then," John considered. "Sounds like Castiel could use a friend."
-MWM-
It wasn't until several weeks later that John actually met any of the Novak boys. He'd said that Dean could invite Castiel around to play on the weekend, and to give him their number so his brothers could call. It was Thursday evening, not long after dinner, when the phone rang.
"Winchester," John answered in his usual manner.
"Good evening, Mr Winchester," a smooth voice responded. "My name is Lucian Novak, I believe my brother is friends with your son?"
"Yeah, that's right," John nodded, even though it couldn't be seen. "Dean's been wanting Cas to come over, is that okay?"
"If I said no, I'd have two ankle-biters out for my blood," Lucian said with a laugh. "Possibly three if Dean joins in."
"Huh?" John frowned in confusion.
"Ah, if Cas gets angry about something, Gabriel goes into overprotective mode," Lucian explained. "The benefits of being so close in age to each other, but so far away from we older brothers."
"I hear ya. Dean's like that with his little brother too. So, this weekend work for you guys? If you want, I can bring Cas back here Friday night, and return him to you Saturday afternoon."
"That sounds great," Lucian agreed. "Just don't give him apple juice, he has a mild allergy."
"Thanks for the warning."
"No problem, he knows about it and won't try to get any, but we figure it's best to tell anyway."
-MWM-
The next day, John arrived at the school to see Dean dragging a smaller boy towards him by the hand. The other boy didn't seem fazed by the transportation, so he figured that it was a regular thing.
"Hi Dad! This is Cas. Cas, this is my dad." Dean was grinning, obviously happy about getting to spend time with Castiel outside of school.
"Hello, Mr Winchester," Castiel nodded a greeting. John was struck by the apparent maturity of the ten-year-old, and nodded back.
"Hey guys. You can call me John, okay Cas?" Castiel tilted his head slightly, considering, then nodded. "Great. Now, where's Sammy?"