2014!Castiel
Of all of the people to step through that door, Cas was the last person Dean expected.
He had thought that it would be another hunter, maybe someone that he and Sam knew, or someone on Bobby's call list.
After all, things just weren't adding up.
Cas had driven here in a car. He had knocked on the door and then walked down the hallway to meet them. Castiel was an angel. He always just popped up wherever he needed to be. It was one of the things about him that annoyed Dean to no end.
Then there was the way Castiel looked. He was wearing a different trenchcoat for starters. It was a different shade of tan and different style and it looked weird on a person that, as far as Dean knew, had not even thought about changing his clothes in all of the time he had known him. His crooked, backwards tie was also missing, and instead the top buttons of his dress shirt were undone. Dean had to admit it gave the angel a more relaxed air and made him look good, but again, it was just weird to see that his clothes had changed.
If that had been the only change, then Dean would have been fine with it. However, as it was, Castiel was just…different. His shoulders were slumped as if they held the weight of the world. He looked thinner, as if he had missed a few meals, and Jimmy hadn't had much meat on his bones in the first place. There were circles under his eyes and he looked exhausted, while giving off the same feeling that sick people had. Cas's eyes, while still having the spark that was purely Cas, were a bit duller, more sad, tired, and overall there looked like something was haunting him. It was a huge contrast to the Castiel that Dean knew, and he didn't like it.
Because something had obviously broken Cas. Maybe it was a different kind of broken than the one Dean had met the last time he took a trip to the future, since he didn't smell like drugs and sex, but something had definitely broken the angel to make him look so…human.
While Dean was thinking this, Cas had been studying the three of them, his head tilted the way it always did. A small smile crossed his face. He turned to Jody who stood behind him, "They are who they claimed to be, and really have traveled from past."
"Good." Jody sighed and walked over to the kitchen. "Alex, put away the shotgun."
"Alright."
That left Castiel standing across from the three hunters. It was slightly awkward for the three of them as they had just been planning on sticking the angel in a ring of holy fire. His next actions left them shocked though.
Cas walked over and brought Bobby into a hug. "It is good to see you alive, Bobby." He said quietly as he held the old hunter close.
Bobby blinked, a bit shocked. The Winchester boys had always been closer to the angel, so it was a surprise that Cas had missed him so much. "I guess it would be." He ended up replying, giving the angel a pat on the back.
"Yes." The angel drew back, that small smile still on his face. Then he proceeded to hug Sam, who looked more shocked than Bobby had been, and finally Dean. He held on a bit longer to Dean than he had with the other two, which made Dean feel a bit awkward as he gave him a short pat on the back and wondered when exactly the angel had become comfortable with such physical contact. As much as the angel seemed to enjoy getting into Dean's personal space, he'd never really been one for actually touching.
"So what year are you from?" Cas asked as he got done with his round of hugs.
"2011." Dean said, noticing a flash of sadness and guilt cross Cas's eyes as he revealed their origin.
Castiel looked down. "I see." He avoided their eyes. "Have you found out about – "
"Crowley?" Dean felt the same anger, that had taken him before Gabriel's arrival, come back. "Yeah, we were just thinking about asking you about that."
Cas looked back at Dean, meeting his eyes. "By trapping me in a ring of holy fire." It wasn't a question. His tone was a bit flatter, the way it always went when Castiel was trying to hide how hurt he was by something Dean did.
"Is that what we did to you?" Bobby asked, giving the angel a sideways glance.
Cas's gaze turned to him. "Yes." He didn't give any more than that.
"You and Crowley really are working together?" Dean asked angrily. Something in what he said seemed to snap at something inside Cas.
"That was years ago." His voice came out as a growl. "Besides, he's now your best friend, so you really cannot lecture me, Dean."
The three of them stared at him in shock. Castiel deflated, as he seemed to realize that he had said too much.
"What – " Sam began to ask.
"Burgers are on the table." Jody interrupted. "And no talking shop at the table, boys."
A smile twitched at Castiel's lips. "Of course, Jody." He led the way into the dining room, and sat down at the table. To Dean's surprise, and probably also Sam's and Bobby's, he served himself a burger and began to eat along with Alex. It looked like he had forgotten the tension of just moments before.
They gave each other a glance, before sitting down and joining them.
Still, the thought struck Dean as he watched Alex tell Cas about what she had been up to and he saw him smile once more. It even overpowered the weird thought of him being friends with Crowley.
Could Cas be human?
AN: I originally had this and the next chapter as one big long thing. Then I realized it was way too long. So this is just a bit of a transition chapter that really shows how Cas has changed just by looking at him. And Dean would totally notice. This is where those Destiel hints start to pop up. The reason why this is being updated so quickly is because I've got it all written and am just doing the final editing on things. There may still be some errors though, but I can live with that.
