Hey everyone, back with another update, a little sooner than anticipated! This was a request prompt that Land of Parchment and Ink asked me to write about Cas overhearing kids talking about guardian angels and feeling sad that he no longer had his grace. It kind of morphed into something more, but I hope you guys will like it. Again, prompts are always welcome :)

Title: Cas is a Guardian Angel

Setting: My S9 AU

Warnings: a little bit of angst and derring-do ;)

Cas is a Guardian Angel

Set Season 9 AU

For a long time Castiel held out hope that being human might somehow get easier, and sure, sometimes he was able to forget his predicament for a while or feel the pain dulled a bit, but it was still constantly there—his mortality staring him in the face in glaring ways each and every day. He might be better at acting human now, at least with the basics, but there were still things that stumped him every day. Just the smallest things proved to be major discomforts, like paper cuts and forgetting to brush his teeth before bed or not showering for a few days and feeling grimy and uncomfortable. These things were humiliating but there were the harder things like getting sick, getting hurt, exhaustion, and hunger that drove him down more and more. The things he couldn't dwell on or he would only succeed in making himself more depressed than he already was.

Sam and Dean really did their best to try and cheer him up, but sometimes even that made him feel worse, although he would never let his friends know that, because he would never want them to stop. Instead, he made some time to himself so he could think things over, better contemplate his position and try to think of ways he could benefit from it. Other times he just liked to watch humans and see how they went about their lives. He would never stop being fascinated with them, especially now when he was one himself. If nothing else, this curse could really heighten his appreciation for what Sam and Dean had gone through and survived all those years. Castiel might have been an ex-angel, but Sam and Dean were stronger humans than he would ever be. He was sure he could never withstand half as much as they did on a regular basis.

But it was the children he liked to watch most. They were so alive, so full of imaginative ideas that might have seemed strange to most people, but Castiel found charming and in a way simple. They didn't let problems get in the way; they simply solved them or moved on. He envied their naivety more than he was willing to admit. In a way, he was like them, new to life, at least in this form, but he did not share their innocence and that was the quality he most loved in the children. A lot of times, he would ride his bike to the park to walk or sit quietly and watch them play their little games and listen to their discussions that always brought a smile to his lips.

There was a day care in town and across the street from it, a park that Castiel liked because it was within bicycling distance and had a large pond where he would feed the ducks. He also liked the ducks; they were enjoyable companions to have. The children at the park would chase them around, but the waddling, fat, bread-fed water birds didn't seem to mind, in fact, they seemed to think it was a game.

One day Castiel was walking around the pond and scattering breadcrumbs for a family of little ducklings when several children came in sight with a bag of bread and their conversation caught his ear.

"My mommy said that we all have a guardian angel to watch over us," one little girl said. "They come whenever you're in trouble."

"Like a super hero?" a boy asked.

The girl nodded. "Yup! Whenever you need them they swoop in and make sure you don't get hurt."

"How do you get one?" the other little girl asked. "I want a guardian n'angel."

"You already have one, silly!" the first girl said. "They come to you when you're a baby."

"How do they know you're in trouble?" the boy asked. "Do they stay in a place like a fire house and then come get you when you need them?"

"Are they invisible?" asked the second little girl.

"I don't know," the first girl said. "But they always know. Maybe they're right here now, watching us."

"Maybe they're disguised as ducks!" the boy said with a giggle.

"No, silly!" the girl giggled too and shoved him, grabbing the bread bag. "Give me the bread, I want to feed them before you throw it all away!"

Castiel watched with a fond smile on his face, but his chest ached at the topic of their discussion. He wished it was all as simple as that, he wished he could go back to being able to watch out for Sam and Dean instead of them watching out for him. The tables had been turned too sharply too soon and he was going to take a very long time to adjust to his situation, especially as it was looking more and more like it was going to be permanent. Some things were just never going to get easier.

He continued to feed the ducks and watched the kids as they played and fought over the bread until their mothers called them back that it was time to go and after they left Castiel went back to where he had parked his bike and rode slowly home, his heart still heavy.

Sam seemed to notice something was wrong when he came in and rustled around the kitchen, looking for something to eat, a sigh on his lips and a slump in his shoulders.

"Hey, anything wrong, Cas?" he asked kindly as he poured himself a glass of milk to drink with some cookies.

Castiel shrugged. "I suppose I am just a bit depressed. I don't think this situation will ever get easier, and I just feel continuously reminded of what I lost. Especially the fact that I can no longer look after you and Dean like I did originally. I fear that one day one of you will be severely injured during a hunt because I can't watch your back sufficiently."

Sam scoffed. "Cas, you can still kick our asses, even human. Just because you don't have your mojo doesn't mean you lost your fighting skills. You're still more technically skilled than Dean or I will ever be."

Castiel decided to join Sam with the cookies, and poured another glass of milk. "I know I should be thankful for the abilities I still have, and that I am still alive—it could be much worse, I know. But it is hard to lose powers you have, especially when you tried to use them to help people."

"I know," Sam said, nodding knowingly, and swallowing hard, thinking of his bout with the demon blood and how he had thought he was doing the right thing and obviously how that had turned out. Castiel saw his discomfort, and offered a small smile.

"I will get used to it, or at least learn how to cope, eventually, I suppose."

Sam smiled back, patting the ex-angel on the shoulder. "You know Dean and I are here to help you, man, and it's not a problem. Stop thinking you're not as useful as you once were. We don't care about that; you're family. That's all that matters."

Castiel nodded, but secretly he wasn't sure, and he didn't really feel better on the inside. Maybe that was something he would get over too, but he doubted he ever would.

He tried to forget his troubles, but for the next week he felt a bit down. Sam and Dean tried to keep his spirits up, making food he liked, and the three of them even went to see a movie in town since they hadn't had a hunt for a couple weeks. It did help a bit, and surely their efforts touched him, but he still felt slightly depressed and almost wished for another hunt so he would have something to do, and a way to prove that he was still able to do things even without his grace.

He almost skipped his weekly trip to the park because last time it had brought up many things he had wished to forget, but he couldn't quite bring himself not to go. He still loved watching the children and it hadn't been their fault their imaginative banter had made him sad. So he took his bike and rode out, the exercise already making him feel better.

But when he got within sight of the park, a commotion across the street caught his eye, and he instantly smelled smoke and saw a dark cloud of it rising over the surrounding area. He rode faster, until he saw a bunch of people standing outside the day care, herding screaming and crying children away from the building which seemed to be on fire. Castiel parked his bike on the side of the road and hurried over to see what was going on.

"What's happening?" he asked a woman who was wringing her hands worriedly, a cell phone clutched in one of them.

"A fire started in the back room, we're not sure how yet, but it's spreading pretty quickly. The fire department is on its way, but they're all the way across town."

"Are all the children out?" Castiel asked.

The woman opened her mouth to reply but there was a sudden whump and a burst of heat came from the building as windows shattered and flames burst out of them. Castiel instinctively shielded the woman as she shrieked, looking back at the building with worry forming a knot in his stomach. He had a bad feeling about this, an unease.

"Get the children away from here!" someone shouted and the screaming children were led farther away from the building.

"Where's Danny and Lisa!" one little girl cried, wiping her tears off. "Are they in the fire?"

One of the day care attendants, crouched next to the girl, and Cas was surprised to see she was the little girl who had accompanied the other who had talked about angels before. The unease in his stomach turned to nausea as he moved closer to hear what was happening.

"We're missing two!" another woman cried.

"Where did you last see them, Courtney?" the woman asked the little girl.

"They went to get paper out of the craft closet!" Courtney cried.

Just then more adults arrived, parents of the children. Some kids ran to them, while one woman stood out, looking around frantically.

"Lisa? Where's Lisa! Where's my daughter?!" she demanded of one of the workers.

"We're still accounting for the children," the woman tried to assure her, but Castiel knew that wasn't acceptable. He quickly hurried to Lisa's mother and touched her elbow.

"You're sure your daughter is not here?" he asked as calmly as possible.

"Yes, she's no where, where is she?!" she screamed again.

"There's two children still in there!" one of the daycare workers screamed. "Where is the fire department?"

"Oh Lord," Lisa's mother said weakly and collapsed to the ground. "My baby's in there?"

"I'll get her out," Castiel assured her. "Don't worry."

"I hear sirens!" one of the people said.

Castiel heard them too, but knew they would never get there in time. He surged forward to the scream of the gathered women, trying to get him to stop, and kicked in the door, covering his face with his jacket as a wall of hot air hit him.

But he wasn't going to stop now. He surged forward, looking around at the burning building, coughing on the smoke and pulling his t-shirt over his mouth and nose to breathe better.

"Lisa!" he called, wondering if she could even heard him in the roar of the fire. "Lisa, can you hear me?"

He hurried forward, crouching low and listening to the building creak as more and more of it burned up. He knew he didn't have a lot of time before it fell in. "Lisa!" His cry ended in a deep cough, but he kept going.

"Help!" a thin scream came and he instantly headed in that direction.

"Lisa?"

"Help, help!"

The sound was coming from behind a closed door, thankfully in the part of the building that wasn't burning so badly, and he winced as the doorknob seared his hand when he opened it. Smoke poured out and when it cleared he found two kids huddling together, Lisa and who he thought must be Danny, the two who were with Courtney last week at the park. They ran toward him as he whipped his jacket off and folded it over them together, hoping it might protect them from the heat.

"Come on, we need to get out of here!" he said. He could hear people shouting from outside and hoped the firemen were coming soon. The building was being more and more engulfed in flame and he knew they wouldn't have much time to spare.

"Are you an angel?" the little girl asked him with wide eyes, between coughs.

Castiel smiled sadly. "No," he replied. "But I will get you out. I promise."

He pushed them ahead of him and was shocked to see how much of the building had been consumed by the fire. The way he had come in was totally blocked.

"Come on, this way," he said, heading for a window he could see.

A huge cracking sounded and he flung himself over the children to keep them safe as fiery debris showered them when one of the support beams fell in. Lisa and Danny screamed and Castiel looked up frantically, seeing the way to the window getting smaller and smaller as the flames came forward. He picked up the children and ran with them the rest of the way, feeling the floor start to give in places as it burned away. He coughed in the smoke, his lungs feeling like they couldn't get enough air, but he had to keep going. He finally got to the window and set the kids down, looking around frantically for something to break the window with.

He finally spotted a chair and pushed the children farther away. "Cover your eyes!" he shouted and waited until they did before he threw the chair at the window in a shower of glass.

Unfortunately, the new outlet made the flames rush toward them and he only had time to snatch the screaming children up and throw them unceremoniously out the window before he felt the searing heat engulf him and then before he knew what was happening, the floor gave out and he fell through with a breathless shout, only feeling a sharp impact before everything went black.

Castiel woke, feeling oddly confined and very uncomfortable. His eyes wouldn't open and he felt smothered. Something was on his face, and keeping his body still. He began to panic, an annoying beeping sounding close by that he wished would stop as he raised a hand to his face and felt something hard on his mouth that he couldn't quite grasp. His fingers were clumsy and wouldn't work properly.

Someone cursed nearby and then there was a light pressure on his wrist, another on his shoulder as a familiar voice came to him through his panic.

"Woah, there, buddy, calm down, easy. Try to open your eyes, okay?"

Castiel did try. They felt like the underside of his eye lids was covered in sandpaper and were sore and bleary, but after blinking a few times, Dean's face started to come into focus looking tired, but with a smile on.

"There you go, welcome back to the land of the living."

Castiel frowned and tried to talk, but his voice was coming out muffled and his throat hurt so much tears sprang from his eyes and Dean reached up to put a hand on the side of his neck, squeezing gently to stop him.

"Don't talk, you probably can't anyway. And you've got an oxygen mask on, so stop messing with it. Do you remember what happened?"

Cas shook his head very slightly, even that small movement making his whole body hurt somehow.

"Well, there was a fire at a day care and you ran in to rescue two kids." Ah, that made the memories flash back. Castiel couldn't understand how he was alive now. Dean was shaking his head. "Dude, you're a frickin' hero. It was damn stupid, but you saved those kids."

Castiel looked up at him with a frown, trying to convey he wanted to know what had happened. Dean smiled. "Don't worry, they're fine. They're in here too with only some minor burns and smoke in the lungs, but they'll be fine. You have some very thankful parents out there, dude. You on the other hand are not so good. You got burned up pretty bad on your right side, and you broke a wrist falling through the floor." Castiel looked down at his clumsy hand, which he now realized was in a cast. "Plus you inhaled a crapload of smoke that's gonna make your lungs feel like you're breathing glass for a while." Castiel couldn't argue with that one. Even with the oxygen mask, it hurt to breathe. "You'll recover though," Dean assured him. "But you'll have to stay here a while. The firemen thought you were dead when they pulled you out, had to resuscitate you." He swallowed hard and Castiel could see him reliving some event, either when his mother died or learning Cas had been caught in a fire or both at once. He shook himself and smiled instead. "But you should get some rest, dude, here" he reached over and pushed a button on the machine next to Castiel. "You look like you could use another shot of morphine. Try to sleep."

Castiel felt a warm fuzzy feeling dull the pain in his body and his eyelids closed again, instantly slipping off.

When he woke later, a little more coherent, at least enough to drink something and be able to take the oxygen mask off, he found most of his body under the thin hospital gown covered in bandages. The burns hurt very badly, and his voice was only a very throaty rattle and he knew it was going to be a very long recovery, but he was glad he had saved the children. He knew they wouldn't have survived until the firemen got there.

A few days later, Dean and Sam came into Castiel's room after a coffee break with a surprise for him.

"You have a visitor, Cas," Dean told him.

Castiel frowned, wondering who else would know he was there, but his face brightened when he saw Lisa peek around Sam with a shy smile on her face.

"Hi, Lisa," he said roughly.

She came to the bed and smiled up at him. "Thank you for saving me and Danny from the fire, Mr. Cas. I'm sorry you got hurt. I got burns too, see? They sting bad."

Castiel smiled at her as she displayed her bandaged arms almost proudly. "I hope you feel better soon, Lisa," he said.

"You too, you're a hero," she told him.

"I don't know about that," Castiel replied.

"You are!" she insisted with childish surety. "I would have died!"

Castiel wasn't sure what to reply to that. Lisa didn't seem to mind because she reached into her jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "I drew you a picture to help you feel better, and to say thank you," she told him proudly, presenting the picture to Castiel, and putting it into his un-casted hand.

Castiel's breath caught in his throat. It was a picture of him with wings. Lisa pointed to it. "I know you're not a real angel, Mr. Cas, but Mommy says that sometimes people can be like angels too. And you must be one of those, because my guardian angel took a day off because he knew you would save me."

Castiel smiled, his throat aching with emotion. "Thank you, Lisa, this is beautiful."

She smiled happily. "I hope to see you again, Mr. Cas." Then she stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek before heading back out into the hall where her parents waited with Sam and Dean. Castiel looked at the picture again and smiled, the heaviness that had been in his heart for the past couple weeks finally dissipating. True, he may not be an angel anymore, but that didn't mean he couldn't still do good and help people. At the end of the day, that was all that really mattered.

Check out my new multi-chapter story "The Breaking" too if you are so inclined ;) It's an AU version of the episode "On the Head of a Pin" and features lots of Dean!Whump and a look into Cas' character in S4.