"Dean. Dean"

It was barely a whisper and as much as Dean tried to ignore it and stay asleep, he couldn't. It was nagging at him, begging him to wake up.

"Please Dean, I need some help."

With that Dean's eyes shot open. The room was dark but he could make out a figure sitting on the edge of the bed. It didn't set off the usual alarms. Dean knew who it was. It was Cas.

"Cas? What the hell man? Are you ok?"

"No"

Dean waited but nothing more came from his angel friend. He rolled his eyes and swallowed the sarcastic comment that was trying to force its way out of his mouth.

"Cas, dude. Talk to me, what's wrong?"

"It's Julianna."

"Is she ok, did something happen?"

"No"

Dean waited,,, nothing.

"CAS seriously! What the hell?"

"Are you angry? Is it because I woke you? If you would rather go back to sleep, I can…"

"Cas!" Dean took another deep breath. "Just tell me what is wrong with lil sis?"

Dean started calling her that about a month ago and it stuck. Jules liked it and it made her feel better when she was missing her big brother. Now, her big brother was here. Dean thought Cas must be on a secret mission to drive Dean crazy. If he was, he was succeeding brilliantly.

Castiel sat on the edge of Dean's bed and clasped his hands together. He seemed to be struggling with something.

Dean pulled himself up to a sitting position and waited,, again,, for Castiel to speak.

"When Julianna was a guardian angel, before the "accident", she was disciplined, respectful, quiet and most of all, obedient. I'm afraid these human emotions have taken her over. Do you know she called me "Dude" yesterday? What does that mean Dean?"

Dean rolled his eyes but couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

"Sounds to me like little sister is growing up, getting a mind of her own. Maybe she is even having real feelings for the first time?"

"How do I stop it Dean?" Cas' face was serious with worry. "Perhaps there is a pill or something I can give her?"

"Cas, what's wrong with Jules stating her opinion or using a slang word now and then. She still worships the ground you walk on. No worries."

Cas looked at Dean with confusion. "You don't understand. I told her to straighten her room and lower the volume of the noise she was listening to and she said.." Cas hesitated. "She said, you're not the boss of me."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "She said that to you?"

"Yes and she was not overdue on her sleep either so it was not fatigue induced rudeness as others have experienced before."

"Well Cas, it is clear then what is going on here." Dean had seen it before in Sam, mostly with his father but sometimes with him as well.

"Please Dean, tell me. I have great concern in this matter."

"She is testing you. She wants you to call her on it."

Cas squinted his eyes and repeated, "Call her on it?" as if somehow squinting would help him understand what that meant.

"Yeah Cas. She is testing you. She wants to see if you will say something or do something to make her behave. I have seen Sam do it a million times to Dad. He still sometimes does it to me although he probably doesn't even know he is doing it. It is kind of like, if you don't say something then they think you don't care about them. If you do say something, they act like they are all mad that you said something but they are really glad because that tells them that you care. Got it?"

Castiel's eyes were darting back and forth in confusion. "I did not understand one word of what you just said Dean. Are you sure there isn't a pill that will correct this?"

"Dude, no pills! Listen, next time she says something like that or doesn't listen to what you say, here is what you need to do."

Dean then put his arm around Cas and instructed him on how to be a big brother. Castiel listened intently, making mental notes. When Dean was finished, Cas looked at him with renewed confidence.

"Are you sure that will work?"

"I'm positive. Trust me. I am a professional."

"Dean?"

"yeah?"

"You taught Julianna to say dude, didn't you?"

"Um, yeah, she might have picked that up from me."

Cas shook his head in understanding.

"Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for your advice. If you would like me to help you back to sleep, I can.." Cas raised his fingers to touch Dean's temple but Dean grabbed his arm.

"No Cas,, no-no thanks. I can do this on my own."

"Very well" And then Cas was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, Dean, Sam and Bobby were discussing the latest rash of new creatures that had popped up in New Mexico when the front door slammed.

Julianna walked in, rolling her eyes.

"That is ridiculous Castiel! Why do I have to stay here like a baby? I helped do the research on this hunt and I'm going! I can help you know."

Cas hesitated in his response, "You are not going and you will lower your voice when you speak to me."

"I am going, with or without your permission! You can't tell me what to do!" Julianna fumed at him.

Bobby and Sam's eyes were wide with surprise. Dean just smirked and looked at Castiel. Cas looked at his friend for some kind of sign and Dean nodded slightly and gave him the go ahead.

Castiel took a deep breath and then turned to Jules. His jaw was set and his face was tight and he looked at her but said nothing. Julianna saw the serious look in his eyes and fear flickered for a moment on her face. That was what Dean told Cas to wait for. Then, he began.

"Listen to me very carefully." He kept his voice low and serious, taking steps toward her as he spoke. "I am your big brother. You seemed to have forgotten that so let me remind you what that means. It means, you DO NOT speak to me with that tone. It means you DO NOT talk back to me. It means you DO NOT tell me what you are going to do and what you are not going to do. Do you know why Julianna?"

Jules swallowed hard and whispered, "why?", because it was all that would come out of her mouth.

"Because, I AM in charge of you. I AM the boss of you. I WILL tell you what you will do and what you won't do and you WILL listen. You DO NOT call me dude and you WILL shut your music off when I am talking to you."

Dean was smiling like a proud father as he listened to Castiel set the rules for his little sister. Ah, brought back memories of him and Sam,, good times, good times. He chuckled quietly to himself.

"Is anything I have said so far, in any way unclear?"

Castiel was face to face with Julianna now and staring her in the eyes.

Julianna immediately dropped her eyes and said "No sir, I understand."

"Understand this then as well, you will not be going on this hunt or anywhere else until I say it's ok. If you want to continue this argument, we can go back to the lake that we visited before and have another discussion. Do you want to continue this argument Julianna?"

Castiel waited for her reply.

"No Castiel."

"Now, please go up to your room and think about your behavior."

Julianna turned quietly and went straight up the stairs to her room. She was careful not to slam the door and decided to leave the music off as well.

Bobby sat there with his mouth open. He had never seen Castiel in this light.

Sam looked suspiciously at Dean. "That was all you, wasn't it? You did that, didn't you?"

"What do you mean Sammy?"

"Dude, don't act innocent. I recognize some of the stuff he was saying! You have said it to me before."

Dean jumped up, winked at Sam and pointed his finger at him. "I am not your dude, young man."

Dean walked over to Cas and put his arm around his shoulder. Cas let a small grin come over his face.

"Cas, you were awesome. That last part, with the lake, pure brilliance."

"Thank you Dean" Cas said quietly. "It really isn't pleasant to have to do that but it seems to have worked."

"Well Cas, you are a big brother. It isn't a pleasant job. You have responsibilities and sometimes that means, putting your foot down whether they like it or not."

Dean smiled at Sam who could only shake his head and roll his eyes at the two of them.

Upstairs in her room, Julianna sat at the edge of her bed and smiled to herself.