A/N: Hello again. As promised here is another chapter.
Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews and please keep them coming!
As always, please alert me to any grammar or spelling mistakes. Enjoy!
It took Castiel five days to find the Winchester house. Partly because he was only a fledgling and couldn't fly well, and also because he kept getting so distracted. There were so many things to see in the human world. When he finally did make it to their house, the Winchesters were obviously not there. Castiel realized how foolish it was to spend a day resting at the zoo. Though the lions had been nice and so had the pandas.
He sighed dejectedly; he was utterly and completely ashamed. Looking up at the top floors of the house he noticed that the windows of the top floor of the Winchester house were blown out, he gasped. Could he have failed his mission already? He flew into the top room, nearly smacking into a wall. The entire room was scorched; on top of that, there was water damage everywhere. He felt the remnants of a demonic presence, one with impossible power.
Then he was downstairs with a thought, almost clocking himself on the table. He needed to practice his landings. The house was almost completely empty except for furniture. He searched around the house, trying to find remnants of the family that had lived in before the fire, trying to find if he had truly failed. He looked under the couch, which held the most remnant essence of the Winchester family. There he found bits of food and a crumpled piece of paper. He pulled it out for examination and shouted in triumph. It was a picture of the Winchester family, all of them sat together, well dressed and smiling their best. He could use this to track them, just holding the picture in his hands allowed him to feel very faintly which way they headed.
They look happy. Jimmy's sleep muddled voice spoke up from within their head. That was the problem with being inexperienced and taking on a vessel, it was hard to quiet the soul into sleep. It was also very hard to stop the body's bodily functions. Castiel managed to substantially slow them down, but he still needed to eat every couple of days and use the restroom. Luckily Jimmy had experience in these areas and taught him everything he needed to know about them. He remembered the first time their stomach growled, he almost punched himself.
Back to the present. "Yes, they do. We need to keep it that way." Castiel stated. He sensed something and his head shot up right as someone knocked on the door.
Should we answer it? Jimmy asked, now fully awake from his nap.
"They do not seem hostile…" Castiel muttered. He fished out Jimmy's wallet, the one he grabbed before they left, and carefully placed the Winchester's family photo in it. Then he flew outside and right into the arms of a strange woman, who laughed and stumbled upon impact.
"I knew you'd come out here, you sneaky thing!" She said, Castiel didn't sense any hostility from her, but he still knew she was different. He wrenched himself from her grasp.
"Who are you!" He demanded, hastily backing up a safe distance from her. She had dark skin and curly black hair.
"Calm down, boy! It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you." She raised her hands in a placating gesture, but Castiel was not convinced.
"You will tell me who you are or I will smite you!" He said, raising a hand threateningly. He wasn't exactly sure how you smote stuff, but he would figure it out.
"Honey, put that down before you hurt yourself." She said, completely unafraid. "I'm Missouri Moseley. I know where the Winchesters went." She said, smiling at him gently.
Castiel relaxed slightly, but was still ready for a fight. "Where did they go?" He asked.
"They're after what killed Mary." She explained. Castiel tilted his head.
"Is that what caused the damage up there?" He pointed to the top story of the house and Missouri nodded. He frowned. "I failed…" Tears threatened to make their way past Jimmy's blue eyes, his first mission from his Father and he failed it.
"I know what you're thinking and you haven't failed yet, Honey." Missouri assured, walking over and kneeling by Castiel, placing a hand on the tearful angel's back. "I'll tell you where they're at and you can go find them, that sound good?"
Castiel nodded and wiped a sleeve over his eyes. "That would be ideal, thank you." He looked up at her, a ghost of a smile on his face.
"I sent them on to Nelson, Nevada, that's where I could feel the closest type of energy to what killed Mary." Castiel nodded.
"But it isn't the same, is it?" His face turned serious again. "It is a different creature you sent them after. Why?"
"John needed something, even though I had nothing." Castiel tilted his head again, unfamiliar with human emotions. "You won't understand until later, Honey. For now go find them and do your best." She patted him on the back one last time and before she could stand up from her kneeled position, Castiel was gone.
It was cloudy and gloomy as John pulled up in front of an old gas station; Dean was sat in the back with Sammy, who was stirring after sleeping for the drive. He looked back at Dean and smiled.
"You hungry?" He asked, half heartily trying to sound enthusiastic. Dean shook his head no and turned his attention to Sammy who was now awake and fussy. He stuck his little finger in Sammy's reach and Sam latched onto it, showing no signs of letting go. He calmed down and stared at Dean with wide eyes while he clutched his finger.
"Tough, you're gonna eat something, Dean." He said, getting out of the car and shutting the door behind him. Dean stared at him from the back seat and turned his attention to Sammy, cooing at him.
When John entered the gas station, the first unfortunate thing he saw was that the bathroom was closed, which meant he would have to hold it until the next one. The second unfortunate thing was when he went to the aisle where they kept all their snacks. There was a young boy with dark messy hair and shockingly blue eyes, staring at three nickels, a dime and a quarter in his hand. His brow was furrowed more than any child should know how to and he was muttering things to himself.
"It isn't enough…?" His brow furrows more. "But this coin is worth twenty-five." He points to the quarter in his hand. "But why?" He pauses for a moment. "So it is only a part of one, thus the name 'quarter'." He returns the change to his pocket and moves a hand to his stomach. "I'll go find more of the quarter pieces until we have a whole." He wanders out of the aisle, only to be stopped by John's hand.
"Hey, are you hungry?" John asks, and the kid looks up at him with wide eyes. He stares for a minute before replying.
"Yes." His answered was affirmed by the large growl that sounded from his stomach. He placed his hands over it and looked horrified and embarrassed. "I apologize." Man, this kid talked weird.
"Here, I'll buy you something." The kid looked even more horrified.
"I cannot ask you to do that for me." He states seriously. John laughed
"Who says you asked? It was my idea, now go pick something out." He patted the kid's head before he wandered down the aisle again. "Come see me when you've picked something." The kid nodded.
When the strange man sent him down the aisle, Castiel was unsure of what to do.
He's being really nice! Jimmyremarked happily.
"Yes." Castiel affirmed. The nice man looked at him oddly, and he shied down another aisle. "What should we request then?" Jimmy was going to reply and Castiel interrupted him. "It should be something nutritious and filling because I may not be able to get food again for a while." Jimmy seemed to agree, albeit with hesitation.
After Castiel had read almost every label in the snack aisle, both he and Jimmy decided a granola bar would be the most filling and healthy snack. Castiel picked one of the small packaged bars and located the nice man in the drinks section.
"That what you want?" The man asked, and Castiel nodded. The man offered to take it from him and Castiel surrendered it with little hesitation. He looked at the bar with a strange look on his face before asking "You sure?"
"Yes." Castiel said, looking at the man earnestly, which honestly came off as slightly creepy.
Remember to say thank you! Jimmy chided, and Castiel nodded, drawing a curios look from the man.
"Thank you." He said and they headed to the counter together.
After John had purchased the granola bar for the kid, he said a quick goodbye to him and then headed to the car where Dean was. Before he got in the car he looked back to see the kid sitting on the curb, eating the granola bar and looking very serious about it. His gaze was pulled back to the car when Dean tapped on the window. He opened the door and ducked his head inside.
"Hey!" He held out a bag of snacks to Dean who took it and rummaged through it before pulling out the juice John had bought and handing it back to him. "That's all you want?" Dean nods and turns his attention to a sleeping Sammy. John turned his head back to the kid, who had finished his granola bar and was now sitting on the curb, talking to who John assumed to be himself. "Hang on, I'm gonna go talk to someone. I'll be right back." Dean nodded and watched his father leave.
John approached the boy sitting on the curb and was greeted by bright blue eyes. "Hello, sir." The boy said.
"Where're your parents?" John got right to the point and just as he expected, the kid hesitated.
"I.. I uh… They… Are not… Here." The kid said hesitantly, looking everywhere but John.
"Where are they?" John asked, tone stern.
"Not here." The kid said finally. He looked down and fidgeted with his hands.
"Where are they?" The kid hesitated, seemingly fighting with himself.
"I don't know." He said finally.
TBC... (Again, I implore you for reviews. If I know what you guys want to read I may be able to squeeze them in. I've only got up to chapter four written.)