Castiel scanned the bar he had entered. It was of good condition, no broken tables or chairs and even the most drunk patrons were able to hold conversation. No matter how slurred their words seemed.

Overall, it seemed an odd place for Gabriel to invite him to. His older brother's tastes usually involved loud, repetitive music blaring in his ears, too much alcohol and scantily-clad women. Castiel decided that he prefered this much more to that.

Behind the bar was a stern, motherly-looking woman conversing with a man seated on a stool. She had a soft look on her face, and Castiel caught himself wishing his mother was as kind as she seemed to be. He was cradling a beer bottle, taking sips in between sentences. He was well-built, and his brown-blonde hair matched his green eyes well. He looked slightly tipsy, so he had obviously had a few beers. He discreetly admired him for a moment longer before he scanned the pub for an open seat to wait for Gabriel. Knowing him, he'd probably be late and then tease Castiel for his punctuality. Nine o' clock meant nine o' clock, and his brother ought to learn that one day.

Castiel walked over to table in the back, tucked away in a corner. He sat down on the leather, it was well-worn but it was still comfortable. Castiel leaned back slightly, though his posture was still straight, it was less rigid. Years of life as a marine had drilled proper posture into him, as well as manners. If you cut out the horrendous warfare, countless deaths and weapons training, being a marine was like going to an all-boys military school. Except instead of making model citizens, it created soldiers willing to lay down their lives for the innocent.

A girl, she looked around nineteen, walked up to him.

"Hey, I'm Jo. What can I get you?", she asked with an odd smile on her face, "Or do you need some time to look at the menu?"

Castiel smiled back at her, though his was a little less big, it was still friendly.

"My name is Castiel, and, yes, I will be needing some more time," he replied before adding a 'thank you'. His mother had always taught him to be polite. If by "taught", you mean abused. She was a disgusting witch of a woman, and Castiel couldn't of waited any longer to get out of her clutches when he was eighteen.

Jo nodded slightly before walking back to the bar. The woman looked at her with a raised eyebrow before saying something to her. Jo looked frustrated as she replied. The green-eyed man looked a little mad, but his worry was evident. They argued quietly for a moment and the man looked back at Castiel. Seeing that he was looking at them, he glared. Castiel tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion for a moment before he picked up his menu and read through the options.

There was quite a few, but he finally settled on the burger and a glass of whiskey. He placed the menu on the table after he he folded it back up neatly. Castiel reached into the bag beside him an took out the book he had been reading, "The Innocent Mage" ((A/N: Brilliant book, go check it out. It's apart of a trilogy)). He opened the page he was last on and began to read, instantly being sucked into the author's world.

A hand came down hard onto the table, the loud smack startling Castiel. His instincts made him move without thinking, he grabbed the stange's hand -Green-Eyes, his mind supplied- and twisted it behind his back in a technique that he had been forced to practise over and over again until it had become second-nature to him. When Castiel realised his mistake, he instantly let go of the stunned man with an apologetic look on his face.

"I apologise, you startled me"

Green-Eyes glared at him when he had regained his senses, which was very quick. Perhaps he had had some training in the past? There was a slight blush to his face, which Castiel though suited him well. Though, he shook away the thought as soon as it popped up. The other patrons turned back around, not interested any more now that it seemed like there wasn't a fight breaking out.

Castiel tilted his head again, taking in the man's form. He was tense from embarrassment and the adrenaline from being "attacked". You could easily make out his muscles from underneath his leather jacket. He had a lovely dusting of freckles along his cheeks and nose, which matched his sandy-coloured hair and bright green eyes perfectly.

Castiel looked at the man before him, the way that he was holding his arm was concerning.

"Is your arm alright?", he asked, "I did not mean to harm you"

"You didn't mean to harm me? Then why the hell did you bend in backwards?", Green-Eyes replied, he was obviously angry.

"As I said before, you startled me. What is it that you want"

Just as it seemed like he was going to start yelling, the woman who had been standing behind the bar walked over with a scowl on her face. It reminded him of his mother just before he was going to be punished. His back instantly straightened impossibly more as his face fell blank. He could hear her screaming in his mind, "Why do you do that with your head? You look like a stupid idiot!", "You deserve this!", "You're a disgrace!", "I should've put you in a basket and sent you down the stream!", "It's your fault your father died!"

That last one was a favourite of hers. He had always been close to his father and part of Castiel blamed himself for Chuck's death. His mother knew this, so he guessed that was why she used it so often to belittle him.

Dean looked confused at his sudden change in demeanor for a split second before turning around to see the woman coming towards them.

Castiel took a step away from her, hoping that nobody had noticed. He still had his pride, no matter how nervous he may feel.

"Dean, what are you doing?", she asked, her tone demanded an answer. But, there was something about it that took Castiel off guard. It was fond, though the annoyance was still there, it was a huge difference to the blind rage his mother exhibited.

Her gaze turned to him, she had noticed. Castiel silently berated himself in his head. She obviously wasn't going to "punish" him as his mother had, he was a complete stranger for god's sake! But it still didn't stop him from holding his breath when she looked at him. He refused to meet her eyes, instead staring to the right of her head.

"Hey, are you alright?", the woman's concerned voice took him off guard. His stance relaxed a bit and he met her eyes finally.

"You merely reminded me of m- someone," he began rather quietly, coughing slightly to rid himself of the stutter.

He didn't know if he was apologising for being afraid - because that was what he really was, afraid - of Ellen, or her reminding him of his mother.

Green-Eyes - or Dean, as the woman called him - didn't exactly look worried, but Castiel thought he saw a flash of understanding dance across his face. Dean looked a lot less angry and his fists unclenched.

He then turned to the woman, who looked like she wanted to ask questions not even Castiel's therapist could get him to answer.

"Sorry, Ellen," Dean spoke, "I just came over to ask him a few questions, but it looks like I caught him off guard".

"I apolo-", Castiel began before being cut off by Ellen's raised finger.

"Stop apologising, you didn't do anything wrong", she said, "Numb-nuts over here is the one who was gonna start interrogating you"

Castiel tilted his head to the side, "Why would he be interrogating me?", he asked.

Ellen chuckled, "He's just being protective, you and Jo seem to have hit it off"

Castiel still didn't understand, furrowing his eyebrows a bit he said, "Yes, she is a very nice girl"

"Look, I saw the way you were looking at eachother", Dean cut in.

"How were we looking at each other?"

"Oh, c'mon! You guys were obviously flirting!", he said rather exasperatedly.

"I...was?"

Had he been 'flirting'? Castiel thought he was just being polite, had he given the wrong idea to Jo?

"So you weren't trying to woo her?", Dean snickered slightly. Castiel briefly wondered what could have provoked a reaction like that before answering.

"Well, I am not attracted to women. I would never intentionally lead a someone on. Let alone Ms. Jo, she seems rather nice", he said, "That seems like such a mean thing to do to a person"

Ellen glanced over at Jo, who was motioning her over.

"Well, that's good to hear", Ellen said, "I've got to go, so I'll leave you two alone"

((A/N: I'm just gonna leave this here for now, toodlu)