A/N: This is a request for hopper18 who asked for Uncle Cas. I will never write Destiel so this is Dean and Cas friendship only. But I think it's pretty cute.

Dean could shoot a revolver and talk on the phone at the same time, he had no problem driving the Impala sixty miles an hour on the phone, and he rather prided himself on that one time he had managed to talk on his cell while being tied up to the bed with not one but two waitresses he'd brought home that night prancing above him.

But goddammit, the Hunter could just not figure out how to put on a two-year-old's shoes and answer the phone. The task was proving especially difficult since Sam's son had taken to repeating the phrase 'I do it! I do it!' over and over right into Dean's left ear.

"Uncle Dean, your cell phone is ringing!" Sam's other child, a girl of eight ran up and held out Dean's glowing cell.

"Thanks," Dean said, cradling the phone between his shoulder and ear, fully expecting to hear Sam's voice on the other end.

"Dean, is that you?"

"Cas?"

"I detect a large amount of screaming going on. Is everything okay?" Dean finally got one of the Velcro sneakers on his nephew and he switched knees to get to the other.

"Listen, Cas, it's not really a good time. I'm – uh – helping Sam out with something."

"Is he okay?" The concern in Cas's voice must have had something to do with the particularly ear-splitting howl Will let out.

"I do it!"

"Dean?" Dean gritted his teeth as Caroline danced around him.

"Caroline, put your coat on. We're leaving soon," he said, tilting the phone away from his mouth. Still, Cas heard. He always heard.

"Are you at Sam's house?"

"Yes, Cas. And I'm in the middle of something. What do you need?"

"Well, I could have used some assistance but it sounds as if you are otherwise occupied." Dean rolled his eyes and then held back a triumphant shout as Will's other shoe finally attached itself to the wriggling feet. He quickly snatched up the child's coat before the toddler could escape and wrestled him into it.

"Yeah, sorry," he told Cas.

"Uncle Dean, can I bring my book?" Caroline wanted to know, already clutching it in her hand.

"Sure," he said. "Go buckle yourself in the car. My car!" he shouted after her as she darted out the front door.

"Dean?"

"Why are you still there, Cas? I told you, I'm busy right now." He checked for his wallet and then swung Will onto his hip where the toddler immediately began playing with the closest toy in reach – Dean's ear.

"I have a demon problem." Dean snorted.

"So says the angel."

"Yes. I am the angel and I said I have a demon problem."

"It was just an expression, never mind."

"So, jut for clarification, you are not helping me?"

"I am not helping you," Dean agreed, somehow getting the Impala door opening and dumping Will in his carseat. Caroline was sitting in the front seat, flipping through the cassettes Dean kept under the passenger seat. "I am taking Caroline and Will to the mall because Sam's sister-in-law is in the hospital and they want to visit. So I'm watching the kids and they need new shoes."

"That sounds…fun?" offered Cas, his gravelly voice unsure.

"We'll see," Dean said, getting Will snapped in and shutting the door. "Listen man, I gotta go. I'll call you later though."

"Goodbye." Dean hung up and got into the driver's seat. He glanced over at his niece.

"Hey you, get out of the front seat." She stopped going through the tapes and giggled.

"Why?"

"Because you're eight and eight-year-olds have to ride in the back of the car," he said. "Now scoot!" She crawled into the backseat and buckled herself in, staying out of reach of her brother's sticky hands and opening the book. She was reading by the time they pulled out of the driveway and glancing back in the rearview mirror, Dean swore he saw young Sam for an instant, head bent over and lost in the words on the page.

Dean was rather surprised when they got to the mall and there was a man waiting for them at the entrance. A man in a trenchcoat. Who was wearing a blue tie. And looked lost.

"What are you doing here?"

"You sounded like you could use another set of hands," Cas said, literally holding up his two hands. Dean readjusted Will to his other hip and squinted at the angel.

"Dude, you don't know what you're getting yourself into. You're going to hate the mall."

"I love the mall!" Caroline piped up. She had left the book in the car and was staring at Cas with her arms folded across her chest. "Hey, you're the guy who had Christmas with us last year!"

"That's correct," Cas said.

"And you didn't bring me any presents," Caroline remembered, quirking an eyebrow.

"I apologize. I wasn't aware of the tradition down here on Earth."

"Cas!" Dean said, eyes widening and hoping Caroline hadn't picked up on anything but she was busy picking up the toy car her brother had brought out of the car and promptly thrown to the ground.

"Car!" Will said happily once it was back in his hands. He chucked it at Cas who ducked just in time. Caroline skipped ahead to retrieve the car from where it had skittered across the curb.

"No throwing," Dean said, trying to be stern but his nephew just laughed, blue eyes shining out at him.

"Dee!" he said. "My car!"

"Yeah, your sister's got it. Chill, little man."

"Dee, down!" Will said, kicking at his uncle's stomach to get down.

"Wait until we get inside," Dean said, ushering all of them inside before setting the toddler down but keeping a firm hold on his hand. "Cas, keep an eye on Caroline, will you?" he said as the little girl ran ahead of them, staring into the window of the nearest store. Having to walk slightly stooped to hold onto Will, the Hunter made his way over to the directory and scoured the board for the shoe store.

"Dee, dis way!" Will said, trying in vain to detach himself from his uncle. "Dis way!"

"I think we need to go up a floor," he muttered, as Will's feet ran in place next to him, pulling Dean's arm all the way to the side. "Yeah, it should be right above us. Hey, guys!" he called, coming out from behind the directory to find neither Cas nor Caroline waiting for him.

"Oh my god," he said. "Cas! Caroline! Jesus, where's your sister, Will?" Will looked up at him.

"Sissy?"

"Yeah, where is she?"

"Not here," Will said, shaking his head. Dean picked him back up so they could move faster. He only hoped the child was with Cas…oh god, he never thought he'd say that. The angel had probably never even held a conversation with an eight year old before. It was possibly that Cas had even left the mall, had evaporated into thin air with a little help from his feathered friends. The thought made him break into a trot, Will bouncing in his arms.

"Where Sissy?" Will asked, turning up a hand in question and looking adorable while doing it.

"I don't know, little man," Dean said, craning his neck when he made it to the main walkway of the mall. There weren't a lot of people around but those that were definitely didn't resemble Sam's daughter. Oh my god, he had lost his brother's child. "Cas!"

"Sissy!" Will called, mimicking Dean's tone. "Sissy, where you?"

The panic was surging fierce now, squeezing Dean's chest in a vise. The memory of losing Sam in a supermarket when he was little floated back to him. This was so much worse.

"Cas!" Dean said, deciding to go down the right side of the mall, glancing into the stores as he went. He was three or four stores deep when he saw the back of a trenchcoat disappearing further into a store. "Cas!" The trenchcoat paused and whirled. Cas's face grinned at him.

"Hello, Dean."

Dean hurried into the store, which appeared to be a pet store. It smelled rank and there were cages scattered around, containing rodents Dean didn't even know the name of.

"Birdy!" Will squealed, leaning out of Dean's arms and trying to stick his fingers in the large cage holding several dozen brightly colored birds. "Tweet tweet," he said to his uncle, pointing at the cage.

"Where's Caroline?" Dean asked the angel. "Cas, please tell me you have her."

"She wanted to see the puppies," Cas said, shrugging. "I wanted to see them too. I think small dogs are cute."

"Cas, you cannot just disappear like that. I mean, you two can't just wander off."

"I'm keeping an eye on her," Cas said. "She's right back there."

"Yes, but we need to stay together as a group though."

"You failed to tell me that," Cas said. Dean sighed, a long breath out through his nose. He could hardly handle the two children let alone them plus a clueless angel. Cas was great at fighting battles and self sacrifice and biblical lore but when it came to shopping and other human activities…not so much. But Dean just had to get through today. Sam was coming home tonight and tomorrow Dean could go back to the Bunker and back to hunting.

"Okay, but from now on stick close."

"Uncle Dean, come see this puppy!" A shout came from the back of the store and the three of them made their way to Caroline, who was sitting on the floor while a golden-haired puppy rolled around in her lap.

"Doggie!" Will said, kicking at Dean again, who let him down. Will rushed over to the puppy and fell to his knees, holding out his hands just as the puppy launched himself at the toddler.

"Eeeeee!" the toddler screeched as the puppy licked his face. Caroline grabbed at the dog's collar and hauled it backwards. Dean crouched beside the children.

"You okay, little man?" he asked. Will looked dazed but nodded, this time staying close to his uncle's leg as he reached out again for the dog. He kept one hand clinging to the folds of Dean's jeans while he patted the dog with the other.

"Doggie," he said, looking up at Dean who nodded in affirmation.

"Yep, that's a doggie."

"Can we keep him, Uncle Dean?" Caroline said, staring up at him with a look he knew too well. It was the same one Sam gave him when he wanted something. The exact same.

"This canine is extraordinarily soft," Cas said who was now also on the floor and petting the dog's ears. "Dean, feel the ears."

"I'm good, thanks," Dean said. "And no we can't keep him."

"Aw please?" Caroline said. "Pleaaaase!"

"Pwease," Will said without having any idea what he was begging for. Dean brushed dog hairs off the kid's shirt.

"I think this dog would make a fine companion," Cas said, scrunching up his nose as the puppy jumped up and licked him on the chin.

"No," Dean said, wondering when exactly he had become the voice of reason. "Definitely not. Your parents would kill me."

"Dad loves dogs," Caroline point out.

"Good doggie," Will said, grabbing the dog's tail.

"Time for shoes," Dean said, standing up. "Let's go."

All three of them pouted on their way out the store. Will got over it as soon as he found a penny on the mall floor that Dean quickly confiscated but Cas and Caroline both sulked all the way to the second floor of the mall.

"Who's getting shoes first?" Dean said as they walked into the kid's shoe store. All of the decorations inside were bubbly and cheerful and the words on the wall were scribbled to mock a child's scrawl. Usually the kind of place Dean avoided.

"I want these!" Caroline said, holding up a pair of bright purple fuzzy boots. Dean looked on in disgust.

"What are those?" Caroline frowned down at them as she stroked the foot of one.

"Uggs. Everyone has them."

"Well, you're not getting them. Your dad said to get you guys sneakers."

"I don't want sneakers."

"No want sneaters," Will echoed, plopping down on the floor and starting to play with the instrument that measured shoe size.

"Yes, you do," Dean said, sounding a little desperate. "Cas, tell them how cool sneakers are."

"Very cool," Cas said. "They um, they let you run."

"That's right," Dean said, surprised Cas had said something useful. "They'll make you fast."

"Dee, no sneaters," Will said. He grinned, the dimples showing up on his cheeks, making Dean smile back at him. An employee walked over.

"Can I help you?" The guy was older, probably in his mid-fifties with graying hair and thick-lensed glasses.

"Shoes," Cas said helpfully. "The little people need shoes."

"The children?" the employee said.

"Yeah," Dean said, shooting Cas a glance. "Uh, we can do the little guy first. Will stand up buddy, show me how much you love taking off your shoes." Will was happy to oblige and he pulled the shoes off and threw them at the employee who was kneeling next to him.

"Sorry," Dean said. The man – whose nametag read 'Hank' – merely grunted.

"What color?" Hank asked as Will danced back and forth on the spot, held in place by Dean's hand on the hood of his jacket.

"I don't care," Dean said.

"Blue," Cas said, narrowing his eyes and looking Will up and down. "Dark blue."

"Sure, sounds good," Dean said and Hank left for the back room. "Caroline, did you find sneakers yet?"

"Yeah!" she called, rounding the corner with at least four different sneakers in her arms. She let them tumble to Dean's feet. "I like these ones."

"You can't have all of those," Dean said. "One pair of sneakers. That's what your dad said." Why was this such a difficult concept to grasp? He didn't get what all the fuss was about; he and Sam had almost never had brand new shoes or clothes or anything growing up. Shoes were shoes, what did it matter what they looked like?

"But I like all of them," she said, sitting down on the bench next to them and lining up the sneakers in front of her. One was pink and one had a pattern of butterflies while still another were blue and green checked.

"But which one do you like the best?" Cas said, sitting down next to her. He pointed to the butterfly patterned ones. "I like those." She looked at him with curiosity.

"You do?"

"Yes. They are very existential." Dean rolled his eyes and let the two of them go at it as Hank came back from the storeroom carrying two boxes. Dean tried to make the process of trying on shoes seem as exciting as possible to Will who was staring at him with a dubious expression that reminded Dean of Sam. These kids were just like their father and it was freaking him out.

"No Dee," Will said when Dean told to walk around in the new shoes. "No like."

"Do they hurt?" Dean asked as Hank tested the shoes with his thumb. Will considered the question and his uncle's face before answering.

"Yes."

"They seem to fit fine," Hank said, sitting back on his heels.

"Well, he says they hurt. We should take them off," Dean said, staring the man down. It took a whole three seconds. Hank was the kind of man Dean's enemies ate for dessert. After they killed the other guys. The second pair of shoes must have had jetpacks attached because Will immediately started waddle-running around the store with Hank running after him as the toddler knocked down various shoes on display.

"Did you choose a pair?" Dean asked Caroline as he watched the chase out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't deny that he was having a lot of fun watching Hank try to catch the notoriously fast toddler. Dean knew that Will was loving it, the toddler's laughter carried all the way back to the group.

"Yes," Caroline said, holding up the white sneakers with the colored butterfly on them. Dean tried not to wrinkle his nose. "Cas says they remind him of the apocalypse." Dean coughed loudly in surprise.

"What?" he asked, recovering and clearing his throat.

"It's true," Cas said. "Butterflies are a symbol of hope. The world was in great need of hope during the apocalypse." Dean really wished there wasn't an eight year old around so that he could ask Cas if the angel had been smoking anything lately.

"Riiiight," he said. "I'm going to go get your brother."

After purchasing both pairs of shoes and apologizing several times for the havoc Will had wreaked on the store, they left, Dean carrying the shopping bags while Cas carried Will. The toddler had developed a fascination with Cas's tie and currently had it wrapped around his wrist and was tugging it from Cas's neck. The angel put up with it beautifully.

"Alright, let's go home," Dean said, relieved that the outing was almost over. They hadn't even been gone two hours and he was wiped. How did Sam do this every day? His respect for his brother tripled on the spot.

"I want ice cream," Caroline said as they passed an ice cream stand.

"Ice cweam!" Will shouted and even Cas smiled.

"Please, Uncle Dean?" Caroline said, pushing out her bottom lip and tucking her hands together in prayer. He noticed Cas watching the movement with his head cocked. Before he could ask any questions, Dean answered,

"Sure. Let's go."

"Ice cweam! Will said as they approached the stand. "'nilla ice cweam," he said to Cas who nodded as if the kid was reporting on the stock market.

"I want chocolate with sprinkles in a sugar cone," Caroline said. "What do you want, Cas?" The angel looked surprised and he turned to Dean.

"Do I get ice cream too?"

"Sure," Dean said, taking out his wallet. "My treat."

"Thanks, Uncle Dean," Caroline said after they got the ice cream and were sitting on the benches by the store. Dean looked behind him and smiled at his niece. Will wasn't trusted to hold his own cone so Dean was holding onto it while the kid took random bites and licks, letting the sticky dessert dribble onto his uncle's fingers without care. Cas was happily licking at his strawberry cone.

"You're welcome, kiddo," Dean said. Caroline got up and walked over to he and Will, sitting on the other side of Dean and leaned up against her uncle, looking up at him with Sam's eyes and her grandmother's smile.

"You're definitely my favorite uncle."

Despite the fact that Dean was her only uncle, he still thought that compliment was one of the best he'd ever gotten.

A/N: If you liked it (or didn't!) leave a review and tell me why! As always, I'm open to suggestions and requests.