Castiel had a fairly high pain tolerance so by this point the ripped skin on his knees and hands were only a dull whisper in the back of his mind. He kept his head down, not once looking back at the young men who had sent him hurtling into the dirt. It was clear now that Castiel had found his place, which really wasn't much different from his social ranking anywhere else. This cruel behaviour was something he was more than used to. There have been multiple occasions where has been tossed around and poked fun at, whether it be because he was adopted, that he was motherless or the more common; his sexual orientation. Castiel was never exactly sure what made him appear as such to his peers but he also had never really concerned himself with it, to him it was hardly of importance whether he liked men or women, he could admire both equally. He didn't see the point in gender isolation and found that people were more or less the same. Where his antagonists were picking 'faggot' and 'gay' was entirely a mystery to Castiel.

He had reached the heap of baggage sitting on the ground next to the old school bus and began looking around in search of his duffle bag. Spotting it's dark blue fabric he stepped through some yet-to-be-found items and picked it up by the longer strap, letting it rest on his shoulder. It wasn't that large a bag only filled with clothing, some books and bathroom necessities, combined with a few others odd and ends. He was a rather simple young man, not ever in need of much more then what was absolutely necessary.

With a small huff he made sure the bag was secure on his shoulder and began to walk along the beaten path into the trees, he could see many counsellors and C.I.T's moving about, going in and out of cabins, some even coming back already for the safety brief and informational.

A little ways into the trees he stopped and looked around. It seems to his right was the side where girls cabins were located and the boys were on the left. Once he established this he took a moment to admire where he was.

The way the noon sunlight poured through the leaves of the trees and made delicate glowing patterns on the soil was simply beautiful, blocking out the voices of the socializing people he could distinctly hear the sound of a breeze rustling the leaves; natures bells. Castiel took in a sharp breath of fresh air and let it out slowly. It really was lovely here and he was not one to deny that, he loved nature truly, this was certainly one of the aspects he would thoroughly enjoy about the summer.

Finally he continued to walk towards the boys cabins, stopping when he saw a gruff looking older man with a baseball cap and plaid shirt, Castiel assumed this man was a counsellor and could help him in locating the cabin he was assigned to.

The man stood with a hard, un-amused look about his face.

"Excuse me, but could you possibly help me locate where I'll be staying?" Castiel asked as politely as possible.

"Sure, kid, what's your name?" The man asked as he raised a beaten up piece of paper and awaited Castiel's reply.

"Castiel Novak," He stated.

The man took a moment to look at his paper, scanning names to find Castiel's.

"Here we go," He announced with a flat voice, "Cabin four, yer roomin' with two others."

Castiel nodded putting a smile on his face, "Thanks," he said simply.

"The names Bobby, by the way, one of the counsellors," The man told Castiel holding out his hand in greeting, "It's nice seeing a new face here at the camp," he added.

Castiel took Bobby's hand and shook it firmly "Thank you for having me," was all he replied before releasing his grip and making his way in the direction of the cabins.

There were eight small cabins with large numbers painted in white above the doors. Each had a small balcony with a little table and chairs on one side and bin full of wood fire wood on the other. There were chimes, dream catches, nets, potted flowers and other knick knacks hanging from the wooden canopy that shaded the deck. On either side of the doors were two large windows and some more he saw on the sides of the small structures.

The formation of where the cabins were located was a triangle shape, cabin one and two were the furthest apart, three and four were behind them but closer together. It created a sort of court yard amongst the cabins, picnic tables and soccer nets set up in the area. Castiel couldn't help but smile a bit, it was a really lovely area and it seemed to dull the sting of having to stay there for two months.

Spotting cabin four he briskly approached it and walked up the three steps, admiring some of the little paintings on the floor of the balcony done by previous children who had attended the camp. The wood was worn and it was easy to tell that the place was well used.

Stepping into the open door he was greeted by a dusty, smoky smell. It was a tight little space but Castiel quite liked it, it was cosy to say the least. There was a two metre wide path that led from one end of the room to the other and on both sides of the room were simple wooden bunk beds, three on the right side and four on the left. At the back of the room was a beautiful brick fire place, a shelf with books and a first aid kit. Just in front of the fire place was a small table with two young men sitting at it having a conversation that wasn't quite audible.

Awkwardly he smiled in greeting at the two of them, not taking much time to look at them in fear the situation might turn out how his last encounter did. The dark haired boy approached them warily.

"You gotta be our roomie," a loud and cheery voice spoke up.

Castiel looked up from the floor to see a lanky young boy with light brown hair and what appeared to be a mullet. He winced a little at the sight of it.

"That's me," Castiel replied examining him for a moment, he looked like an adolescent trucker; a younger version of Bobby. The thought made him crack a smile.

"Killer," The boy said, an accent touching certain pitches of his voice, "Well, I'm Ash and this heres Chuck," he exclaimed gesturing to the male sitting at the small table next to the fire place.

Castiel nodded his head to toward Chuck and got a relaxed wave back. He had a little more bulk than Ash, but he was quite scruffy, messy hair and a patchy beard growing on his chin, he had a very soft look about him, though; as if you could tell he really didn't want or cause trouble.

"I'm Castiel, nice meeting you."

"Castiel? Like the angel, Castiel?" Chuck suddenly spoke up, curiosity dripping from his voice.

He had to take a moment to understand how Chuck knew that. Castiel had spent his entire life trying to explain his name to strangers, it was incredibly odd for him to meet someone who knew it's origins.

Finally he gathered up his voice again "Uh, yeah." He paused shaking his head in confusion for a moment "My dad went through an angel lore kind of phase when I…was born," Castiel said, realizing that it was inaccurate to say 'when I was born' because he was in fact adopted, but he felt it was an inappropriate topic to bring up to people he had just met. There was also the fact that when he did tell people they always seemed to look at him from then on with pity in their eyes, he hated it with all his person.

"Dude!" Chuck exclaimed in excitement, "That's fucking awesome, I mean, I'm really into that kind of lore," he said a smile moving across his face. As excited as he seemed he moved his hands around awkwardly as he spoke, likely feeling a bit raw from the new encounter.

Castiel smiled and rubbed the back of his neck "Well thank you, I've always thought it a bit obscure myself, but sure, I suppose it is pretty interesting,"

Abruptly Castiel felt the weight of his duffle bag being pulled from his shoulder he looked over to see Ash lifting it to the top bunk nearest where he was standing.

"Thank you," Castiel spoke in genuine gratitude.

"Don't mention it, man, I mean we are stuck together for the next two months, might as well get us all on good terms, right?" Ash said, a chuckle behind his voice.

All Castiel could do was thank everything that was good and pure in the world that these guys weren't complete assholes.

After the greetings were all finished and they had all exchanged a bit of small talk they agreed to head down to the mess hall again for the introduction lecture. Castiel walked with Chuck and Ash down the path, he felt much more secure then he had felt before, less exposed. He had never really considered himself shy, but rather reserved, and reservation was often mistaken for shyness which led to prejudgments about his disposition which were more often than not negative.

"Hey, man, what happened to your shins anyway?" Ash suddenly asked looking down at Castiel's legs.

Castiel shrugged "I tripped into the gravel when I was grabbing my bag." He lied.

"Shit, dude, those are pretty long scrapes for a fall, got dried blood on em' too," Ash added.

"Yeah, it's fine, I'll clean them up later," was all Castiel replied with, he wasn't really in the position to want to go deeper into it.

Ash took a glance at Chuck, they shared a concerned look for a moment before shrugging it off.

Finally they had reached the mess hall, there were a few lingering kids standing on the balcony but it was clear by the sound of echoing voices that the majority were inside by this point. Castiel was relieved to see that Dean and the other young men weren't around and were also probably inside the building.

Walking up the steps they entered the hall, it was long and wide with high ceilings that were supported by thick, rustic looking wooden beam. The walls had pictures of previous counsellors and camp attendees, artwork, and even animal busts. He was intrigued and found himself lost in his thoughts as he examined the walls with a curious stare. It was only until Ash and Chuck called his name to sit down that he realized he was the only CIT still standing in the hall.

He obediently went to the table Ash and Chuck were sitting and sat down quietly. They were at the very last table on the left side of the long room. Castiel sat on the edge of the bench closest to the walking area that led to the front of the room. There at the front he could see a long window leading into the kitchen, there were a few women back there with aprons over their busts. Standing in front of the kitchen window however was a small crowd of counsellors. They all looked like they meant business, some with arms crossed over their chest and others with their hands jammed hard into their pockets.

Glancing at the tables closest to the adults he saw Dean, his friends, some girls and Sam, they were laughing obnoxiously. Castiel grimaced, "Fucking douche," he thought looking at his handsome face laughing, teeth showing and throat releasing the loud sound of joy.

"Alright, quiet down, people!" A loud and deep voice announced over all the voices in the room. If Castiel hadn't been watching the man preparing to speak he might have jumped at the sudden strongness of his voice.

The man was tall and dark haired, a beard covering his chin and locks of black hair falling over his forehead in messy pieces. His features were strong and very sharp, he looked like a man of strong discipline and virtue.

He continued after the room had silenced, "I'm John Winchester, I own this camp and you all report to me." He said "Alright, I'm telling you now that no one here is going to babying you this summer, you're all old enough to know right from wrong, smart from stupid and I expect that much from all of you," his tone was stern, "You're going to be the ones taking care of kids while you're here, so expect to be treated like adults. I have no tolerance for shitty attitudes and rule breaking, so mind your behaviour."

Castiel looked around quickly to see fear stricken faces. He couldn't help but smile a bit to himself. They were terrified.

John continued through some other basic guide lines and scare tactics to keep any trouble makers in line as well as meal times, wake up times and lights out before he pointed at Dean and Sam at the table, "And these here are my boys, Sam and Dean, don't any of you let them treat you like you're lesser then them, just because they're mine doesn't mean they can be jack asses." He announced, everyone seemed to chuckle a bit. Castiel watched Sam sink into his seat and look down at the table, not liking the attention; Dean just rolled his eyes and did a shooing gesture at his father. Castiel wondered if John knew his son was a bully in the purest sense of the word.

When John had finished a woman took his place, she had golden brown hair and a face that seemed to be inviting, like that of a protective mother figure, she waited impatiently for the crowd to quiet down again.

"Ellen; that's my name, don't forget it." She began; her voice was also loud and very projecting and was powdered with an accent from some southern state. "I'm the nurse around here, bring any cuts, bruises, or screaming children to me, I'm the one who deals with it. If you think a kid has broken any bones, for the love of god don't try to take the situation into your own hands, you may all be trained in first aid, but if you think it's serious, then you better as hell come screaming for me," She seemed like a really wonderful woman in that bitchy kind of way, Castiel liked it.

"If I'm not in the immediate vicinity but this one is," She pointed to a blonde girl sitting at the table next to Dean, "Then get her, she's my girl and she knows a thing or two about a thing or two. Jo, you wanna stand up for a minute so they can all see you," Jo sighed but obliged to her mother's order. She stood on the bench, high above the rest of the table and waved with a sarcastic smile on her face. She looked like her mother but with hair untainted by brown, it fell in curly locks onto her shoulders, she wore a simple black tank top with the blue bandana resting around her neck. She was a lovely looking thing.

Ellen finished her safety brief. She went through most of everything that could possibly hurt you in this area, some basic rules of where you can and can't go and some talk on where to bring the kids who take meds before bed.

When she was finished she introduced the other counsellors, pointing at them as she spoke their names, "That's Gordon, he's the one that watches the grounds at night and deals with the fire wood, Bobby, need any sports equipment whether it's mountain bikes, soccer balls, or bow and arrows, this is your man, of course you will need a counsellor with you for some of those. And this is Rufus, he's our grounds keeper, mind yourself around him, he doesn't take shit from anyone, and Cassie, she's our life guard…" Ellen went on for a few minutes going through all the counsellors, some of them were just there for C.I.T supervision and there were a few who maintained the horse stables and finally the kitchen ladies.

John took the floor again, "We'll all be around helping you out the first day, getting the kids organized and those types of things. We will make sure you're settled into your cabins, that you have your schedules each week for your activities, you all will usually have a counsellor with you, save for when you're having free time and when you're sleeping, of course. Now before I kick you all out to take the tour of the ground I ask that you all take one of the name tag papers and write your name on it, it makes it easier for us and the kids, too. You can attach them with the safety pins on the table. Do it now so we can get you guys looking at the camp, I know a lot of you have been here before but it's standard, so don't complain." John finished and the room exploded with voices once more and the sound of rustling paper.

Castiel, Chuck, and Ash quickly wrote their names down on the paper and attached it to their shirts then rose as everyone began to move out of the hall. Castiel was stuck in a thick crowd trying to get out the doors when he felt a hard pat on his back, he didn't catch who had done it but once he was outside where there was more space he reached a hand to his back and peeled something off his shirt. It was paper, looking at the back he saw it had been stuck to his shirt with tape. Curious he turned the small sheet over, and to his distaste he saw that it read 'faggot' in capital letters. He rolled his eyes and quickly crumpled up the piece of paper. This all seemed a tad immature even for young men of their demeanour.

Shoving the paper in his pocket he looked in the direction of that familiar laugh. Dean was openly chuckling with his friends friend's over what he had just done. Castiel was unamused, looking at them with a flat expression he lifted his hand and raised his middle finger in their direction. The laughing stopped and they looked at him for a moment confused that he had retaliated at all.

Putting his hand back in his pocket he jogged over to where Chuck and Ash were, pleased with himself that he had at least done something, even if it was small. He knew however in the back of his mind that it would likely result in something worse thrown his way. He filed the thought into the back of his mind for the time being.

The tour of the grounds took about half an hour, they went through a short path to the stable areas where the horses were kept, they went down by the shore of the lake and to the archery field, the bathrooms and the group fire pit area, the sheds with all the spots goods and the off limits areas. The entire camp ground was an incredibly beautiful place, spacious and wild with vegetation.

When the tour was over the groups returned to their cabins, for the few hours they had free Castiel, Ash, and Chuck sad on the deck of their cabin talking about their school lives and interests, in the meantime counsellors would stop by giving them schedules and lists of the names of the children they would be in care of as well as quick reminders on times and where their first aid kits were.

Dinner rolled by quickly and all the teenagers were called to the mess hall, so far he hadn't gotten any trouble from Dean and his gang, but he did notice that Sam seemed to look at him in sympathy, he was curious as to why but didn't let the thought linger too long in his mind. Over dinner some more information was given about what kinds of activities were offered on a day to day basis and what they involved. Castiel found himself smitten with the solid routine, apart from the obvious blemish that would loom over him over the summer, he felt that he could probably enjoy himself.

After dinner was done a group was put in charge of helping clean the dishes. Castiel made his way outside with Ash and Chuck, the sun was beginning to set and the air cooling. The light was orange and the shadows fell long and slender on the ground, making the entire grounds seem to glow.

He began to start walking back to the cabin with the others when he was pulled back by the shoulder. It was of course Dean, with a pinched look on his face, "I didn't like what you did back there, Novak," he hissed through a clenched jaw. His tall and well-built friends joined him, adding in their own snarky remarks, one of which he could hear had a European accent of some kind, he looked over to see a tall, regal looking young man with dark hair and a devious smile on his lips "Why don't you just introduce the little shit to your knuckles, Winchester? What he did was downright disrespectful," The words rolled off the boys tongue with poisonous efficiency, "I'm Crowley, by the way, mister Novak, and I must say, I didn't particularly like what you pulled earlier, you should know better," He added, burning the words close to his ear. Castiel squirmed under the gesture, Dean kept a firm grip on his shoulder, inescapable.

While some of the other boys began putting in their own input Castiel tuned it out and simply looked at Dean with calm eyes, biting the inside of his lips. Close up Dean didn't look nearly as mean as he did when he stood in front of a crowd, there was something smooth and pretty about his face, a light pattern of freckles brushing over his nose and bright green eyes framed my thick lashes that feathered along his cheeks, he was really quite pleasant looking.

When Dean realized Castiel was staring his jaw clenched and for a moment, fear flashed across his face and his eyes widened and if Castiel didn't know any better he could have sworn the taller man mouthed the word 'blue' while looking at him. Castiel's face contorted into a confused stare.

Suddenly Dean seemed to regain the hard composure he previously had and with a flick of his arm he pushed Castiel to the ground. Castiel landed with a hard thud in the dirt. Without a hint of hesitation Dean placed a heavy work boot onto Castiels chest and began to press down on his ribcage. Castiel struggled and gasped.

"Dean Winchester, stop while you're ahead, boy!" An angry voice said from somewhere behind him. Dean looked back taking his foot off of Castiel. All that was in his mind in this moment was rage, Castiel rose to his feet and with a quick force punch Dean in on the left side of his face. Dean grunted in pain and stumbled backward, completely shocked at what the smaller boy had just done. He touched his face trying to gather up whatever sense he had left of the situation. Dean looked over at his friends and almost on cue they lunged at Castiel, but before they could do any harm Bobby and Ellen were intervening in the conflict. They pulled the boys far apart and waited a moment for them to calm down.

"What in gods name just happened here?" Ellen asked breathing a bit heavy from holding off the heavier boys.

"This little shit punched me in the face!" Dean argued, anger fluid in the tone of his voice, lurching forward a bit while he said it only to have Bobby hold him back from doing so.

"Do you think we're idgit's, boy? We saw you with your foot pushing this boy into the dirt," Bobby corrected him sternly.

Ellen took a look at both of them and spoke "You're both in the wrong here, boys." She reasoned "Now grab a couple of axes and go cut up one of the trees so we can have some wood for tonight's fire," Ellen ordered Castiel and Dean.

Dean scowled at her, his eyes burning with rage, "We have enough wood," he protested, hissing through his teeth again.

"Well then we're going to have truck load after you do this, won't we?" There was no joking in her voice, she wasn't about to take any bullshit from him.

Dean pressed his lips into a hard line and looked at Castiel with a cold stare.

"Fine," was all Dean said as he began to walk in the direction of a shed on the side of the mess hall building. Bobby grabbed at Castiel shoulder and shook him a bit.

"You alright, son?" He asked with concern in his voice.

"I'm fine." Castiel replied.

Ellen chimed in "If you're fine then go with Dean, grab an axe and bring back some wood for tonight's fire, that's your punishment." She told Castiel, no sympathy at all for the dark haired boy.

Castiel only nodded and said nothing, he shook off Bobby's grip and followed after Dean, he could hear the green eyed boy cursing sharply under his breath.