Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of the characters. I only own my OC.

Okay guys I know I haven't updated this story for a while, so I'm going to make this chapter extra special! It's actually a chapter that I was going to upload in "The Younger Years" and mention or add later on in "A Hunter's Soul." But since I haven't uploaded a new chapter for this story, I figured I'd just upload the chapter on here instead. Anyways, so this chapter has nothing to do with the previous chapter and instead features Ava when she's 10 years old and she meets a certain angel...a blue eyed angel. Also this chapter contains spoilers in a way...LOL. Anyways. don't worry though, for those who want to go back into story, the next chapter will continue on with the regular story. ^_^ So with out a further ado let's move on with this lovely chapter... (: Enjoy!

Oh BTW the face claim I have for Ava during her younger years is Rowan Blanchard. ^_^

"Know that love is truly timeless."— Mary M. Ripken

Chapter 26: Love is timeless

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Hawthorne Elementary School

May 18th, 2001

By the age of ten, Ava absolutely disliked going to school. Well at least to the one she attended to anyways. Although the reason why she felt this particular way wasn't because of the studies she learned. She loved to learn—well except for math. But really, who besides math lovers enjoys doing fractions and decimals problems? Her dislike for math though wasn't what made her conflicted about school. No, the real reason was because of the other kids.

Now Ava had no idea as to why the other kids were so mean to her. Ever since she could remember, they just were. Even whenever she tried being nice to them and asked several of her classmates if she could hang out with them during recess and lunch—and all they ever did was laugh at her face, denying her request for friendship and called her dumb for even suggesting that. This rejection along with the name calling and picking on her really did a number on her self system. Ultimately making her feel like the odd one out. She of course always tried her best to be strong and to not let those comments get to her. But sometimes...well it was just to hard for her to do.

Ava thought that the bullying would eventually stop, but it sadly didn't. If anything, she had every right to assume that the bullying actually increased as time went on. Even now at the age of ten and in the fourth grade, she still had to endure several of her classmates taunts. Which for a ten year old, that was something she shouldn't have to deal with. Overall in her opinion bullying was something that no one should have to experience for themselves. Since the act of bullying just caused severe results and the teasing towards the person really harms them—a lot.

Which is exactly how she was feeling right now...hurt.

And embarrassed. Really embarrassed.

The reason why was because of her stupid volcano project.

Okay it wasn't stupid...

Not to her anyways.

She actually did like her miniature volcano and making it was super fun. Plus since she knew that all of the other students were going to have neat projects, she wanted to make sure that hers stood out. So she spent a lot of time and effort on it. Putting in as much detail as possible and getting the right ingredients and such. Bobby had even helped her build it, along with providing the needed supervision when she was beginning to construct the whole thing. Ava knew deep down that Bobby was worried she was going to make a huge mess. Since she tended to cause huge messes when making things from scratch. Or he thought she was going to cause the volcano to erupt too soon or make it promptly explode due to her excitement. (Right in the kitchen, where she was building it.) But much to his and her luck that didn't end up happening...but unfortunately that wasn't the case for when she presented it in class today.

The excitement that had been building up, in the end got the better of her...

Because once it was her turn to present her project in front of the class, she kind of went over board with the vinegar. She didn't mean to pour in so much inside the volcano, but she got so feverish and excited with wanting to show all of her classmates her volcano, that she actually ended up pouring the whole bottle of vinegar. So because of that, the volcano ended up exploding—splashing everybody that was close to it with the baking soda, vinegar, and the red food coloring that was inside of it.

All of her classmates were shocked by the sudden explosion and many complained that they were covered in volcano goo. Saying and muttering comments like "Eww" "Get this stuff off me!" or "Oh no, my hair!" Which of course mostly came from the girls. But not from Ava. Who was covered with the most volcano goo, but she didn't mind at all. So because of this she tried to find the humor in the situation to make things a little less awkward. So with a final touch, she sheepishly said: "Ta da." With a small smile on her youthful face—which was covered by the volcano goo. Unfortunately, none of her classmates took this lightly and instead of making it less awkward, it actually increased the strain in the room. And due to that her smile faltered a bit. Especially with the hard stares she was getting from all her classmates. Thankfully, before they started booing her off, her teacher dismissed her back to her seat. And although Ava was glad the teacher spared her from getting ridiculed up front, she could tell by the sound of her voice, that her teacher was not happy with the fact that her volcano exploded. Her teacher probably thought she caused her volcano to explode on purpose, but that of course was not what Ava was intending. She tried to explain that she didn't mean to, that it was an accident, but the words wouldn't come out. She figured it was because she was full on embarrassed at the moment. And hearing the comments and whispers her classmates were saying towards her, did not make her feel better.

So yeah...the whole volcano incident that happened earlier today was such an embarrassing moment. And also add to the fact that her classmates were giving her a hard time about, didn't exactly help her either.

Ava wished Sam was close, so he could come over and visit her. She knew that he'd be able to cheer her up, with the whole about her school volcano fiasco..but sadly he was off miles and miles away at college.

Stanford...

She believed was the name of the college he was currently attending. She heard that it was a good school...good for law and that really smart people went there. And to her it made perfect sense as to why Sam was there. He did after all want to become a lawyer, and he was really smart as well. He's the one who use to help her with her math homework. In fact he was so smart, that Ava knew he would of had no problem with this project if he were in her shoes. He'd ace it so easily and fast, with no mistakes. And he wouldn't of let something like excitement ruin his chances at getting an A on the project.

If only she was as determined and settled as Sam...but alas she wasn't. Not entirely anyways.

Thinking about Sam also had Ava thinking about Dean.

She missed him.

It's been a while since she had seen him too. A few months at the most. Sure there had been a call now and then, but no actual appearance was made the oldest Winchester. She knew that he was with his father John, finding and fighting monsters on the road. So that of course was reasonable as to why he didn't keep in constant communication with her or Bobby...but what was Sam's excuse? He barely called and when he did the call was always under five minutes. Way too short. She liked to believe that he didn't call as much because he was busy with school. His studies and all, but something told her that wasn't necessarily the whole reason why...

Ava knew about the fall out Sam had with his father John and Dean, right when he left for college. Bobby had been the one to tell her, but even then she knew about the tension between father and son. It was obvious that Sam wanted nothing to do with the hunting life. He wanted a normal life...something that she too thought about having deep down. She'd never actual thought she'd be able to have it, and even though Sam told her about him wanting to go to college, it still greatly surprised her when he told her he got accepted. Sure she was happy for him but she was also worried, because she knew that John Winchester was not going like him going to college. And boy was she right...

But in the end Sam still decided to go to school and that's exactly where he was at right now. And although she was happy for him, she was also sad and even a little mad. Sad because he was far away and mad because he wasn't keeping in touch with her and Bobby. She felt like he was drifting away...but she guessed that's what happens when you're apart from the people you call family. It made her wonder if she'd be like that when and if she decided to go to college. But that was years ahead and most likely that wouldn't even end up happening anyways. She couldn't fathom being far away from Bobby. The man who took her in and raised her as his own daughter. It just wouldn't seem right to leave him, like the way Sam did with Dean and his father. Granted John wasn't exactly the greatest parental figure, and she wasn't necessarily his biggest fan, but still he was Sam's father...but like Ava already knew, Sam had his reasons as to why he left. She just couldn't imagine doing the same thing once she was his age. Plus if school right now was hard to handle, then how was college going to be like for her? There was something like hope swirling inside, inwardly telling her it wouldn't be as bad as it was now...but she let it slide. Instead she focused on the present.

And right now she was waiting sitting on a bench, waiting in front of the school for Bobby to pick her up. Of course before this though there was the case of her cleaning up the volcano mess that happened in the classroom.

Yeah...and boy was that fun...

Anyways, her teacher said she needed to clean up the volcano goo and before leaving. And Ava didn't want to make things worse, so she complied and did so. Besides it was just cleaning. She could handle cleaning. She was just glad she didn't get detention of any sorts for the stunt she pulled. At least her teacher was nice enough to spare her from that. Once she made sure the classroom was spotless, she said good-bye to her teacher and took her damaged volcano with her. Unfortunately she had to throw the miniature volcano away in the outside trash can because of how ruined it was. This sadden her but she also felt slight irritation on the account of the explosion.

Yeah, but whose fault is that? Ava thought inwardly as she shifted on the bench. She rolled her eyes at how silly she was being. What done is done. She told herself in hopes to lessen her humiliation, but it didn't at all.

As she was sitting on the bench, Ava swung her legs back and fourth, as the bottom of her tennis shoes grazing the ground. She looked around, but was not surprised to see not that many people around the school. It was after all Friday. Students were always eager to leave, but especially on a Friday. She too, but today she had been asked to stay in a little while longer, since she needed to clean up the mess she made. She had called ahead of time though and told Bobby about it, so he wouldn't have to wait until she finished. She had been embarrassed about calling Bobby and telling him about the whole volcano incident, because she thought he was going to be disappointed in her. But Bobby was not at all disappointed with her. In fact when she told him about the whole classroom volcano goo explosion, he laughed. And it wasn't a disincentivize type of laugh, it was a full on lighthearted laugh. It was the type of laugh, that Ava knew brought content to him. And even more when he told her:

"Don't worry about it sweetie. And don't let those other mischief-makers get the better of you. They're just jealous that their projects weren't as amazing as yours. I wish I had been there to see the whole thing. I'm sure that it would of been quite a scene."

That made her feel slightly better. To know that her dad wasn't disappointed in her, but rather that he was actually serene with the whole thing. If only her classmates felt the same way as her dad...but they didn't. And because of that Ava felt distressed. Even more so now as her appearance wasn't exactly the greatest. Now don't get her wrong, she barely paid any mind to girly things. She was more of a tomboy than anything. But right now she had to agree that she was over doing it with the whole "complete mess" appearance. Her t-shirt and jeans were covered in red-color dye from the volcano goo that came from the explosion. Also not to mention that her hair was loose, tangled, and it had some remains of vinegar water and baking soda as well. Yeah, she was quite the sight right now.

Ava sighed and hung her head low, letting her long brown hair act as a curtain.

Gosh, no wonder all the other kids picked on her...

She was so weird...

Why, oh why couldn't she be like the other kids? Why couldn't she be like the other girls and just like dolls? Why couldn't she find interest in girly things, rather than the peculiar interests she had? Why did she have to let her eccentric and energetic personality get the best of her? Why couldn't she just make one friend...

Ava pondered on all this and much to her inward refusal, she actually began to feel the tears form in her eyes.

"Are you...are you alright?"

As soon as Ava heard that unfamiliar yet soothing gruff voice, her head shot right up. Her hair swished back and forth before she narrowed her gaze towards where she heard the voice. And that's when she came face to face with an interesting sight. There standing in front of her was a man. An older man who looked to be in his late or early thirties. He was wearing what appeared to be a business suit with a tan trench coat over it. Ava right away found the the tan trench coat to be cool looking. After admiring it she then let her brown eyes wander higher and that's when they landed onto the man's eyes. His bright blue eyes...they were so blue that it instantly reminded her of the ocean. And they were just so beautiful. They weren't like any ordinary blue eyes. No, his were quite different...

Ava quickly got a hold of herself, remembering that he had just asked her a question. In response to this she merely just shrugged her shoulders as she still kept gazing into his eyes. She felt like she was in a daze or something. Which was weird because she had no flippin' idea as to who this man was. Yet here she was feeling like she already knew him.

What an odd feeling...

Ava thought as she stopped swinging her feet. The man in front of her had her complete attention, with no wariness coming from her at all. Just by looking into his his soft blue eyes, he made her feel better.

"May I, uh, have a seat here?" The trench coat wearing man asked her as he slightly shifted his feet.

Ava heard him ask her politely, but despite his manners, she was still able to hear the amount of awkwardness in his speech. She found this to be endearing and even a little funny as well. It was almost like he was being shy with her for some reason.

"Yeah, sure." Ava responded this time out loud. A smile wanted to escape her, but she controlled her actions. She then watched him take a seat next to her on the bench. And immediately as he sat down close to her, she felt all the distress she was feeling from before, disappear.

"So are you alright?" The blue eyed man asked her again.

Ava paused a bit. She then turned her head to look at him. She blinked a couple times, pulling through from her awe-struck. "I'm okay..." She said to him. Well I'm okay now that you're here...Mr. Blue eyes. She thought to herself and almost said out loud, but luckily she didn't. She mentally shook her head and instead kept the conversation going—in one way or another. "Why you asking?" She asked him with a slightly puzzled expression.

The blue eyed man gave her a soft expression. "Well you looked to be in a very abysmal state." He said to her with that gruff voice she was beginning to like so much.

But despite her fascination with his voice, she couldn't help but give a bemused expression based on that unfamiliar word he had used. "Huh?" She muttered, furrowing her eyebrows a bit as she titled her head.

The trench coat wearing man let out a low chuckle and Ava saw how his lips turned a bit upwards, wanting to form into a smile. But just as soon as she saw that, it went away with a blink of an eye.

"What I mean to say was that you looked rather upset. Did, uh, something happen?" He asked her more serious than before, yet there was a gentle touch as well.

Ava appreciated how nice the man was being to her, but she couldn't help but let out a small scoff. "Did something happen..." She muttered in chagrin. "Yeah...something did happen." She found herself surprisingly telling him.

"What made you so upset?" He asked her concernedly.

Ava was once again left in a daze by how kind this blue eyed, trench coat wearing man was being with her. She never felt this relaxed with people she didn't know before. She was always wary towards strangers. After all stranger danger...but yet with this man she felt safe...like she could trust him completely. Which is why she felt like she could talk and tell him just about anything.

"Well I built this miniature volcano for my class project, and I uh, kind of made it explode." Ava admitted sheepishly with a "Oops" expression. "My classmates weren't too happy about that...but then again they never are with me." She said sadly, letting her eyes wander to the ground.

There was a moment with complete silence, and during Ava did not notice how the mysterious kind blue eyed man was looking at her with compassion.

"There are many accomplishments in the world that once started off as failures." He said to her mindfully, causing Ava to look at him again. "And although others may not see that, know that you shouldn't feel inferior to them." His soft comforting words, finally made Ava smile at him. This then caused the blue eyed man to stifle up a smile as well. "Besides, uh, I hear that younglings find mini volcanic explosions to be cool. Perhaps your classmates aren't perceptive enough to find the hilarity in it." He said to her sounding just as awkward as before, especially when he said the word cool. But that didn't really matter to Ava, because what she liked was that he was trying to push away her embarrassment. And it was working...

Mr. Blue eyes...you're awesome!

Ava thought to herself.

She then gave him a lighthearted, as she remembered the rest of what he just said to her.

"Younglings?" She repeated back to him with a giggle. "That's a funny word."

The blue eyed man easily smiled back at her. "Yes, perhaps it is."

"Well then, mister blue eyes, my name's Ava." Ava said finally introducing herself. "What's yours?"

There was some kind of amused expression that passed through his face when she said blue eye's. "My name's, uh...Cas." He said to her giving her another smile.

"Cas?" Ava said testing out the name. She laughed softly. "I like it!" She exclaimed happily. "Well Cas, are you waiting for someone?" She asked him. "Schools already out, so if you're here to pick up your kid, most likely they'd be in the office. I'd be in there too, but it smells like gingerbread air freshener in there. And I do not want to smell like a ginger bread right now. It's May! Those office ladies really need to update their air freshener supply, I tell you."

Cas couldn't help but chuckle at her rant...it was captivating to listen to...it was absolutely Ava. "Uh, no I'm not here to pick up my child. I was just here to visit someone real special to me...I wanted to see how she was doing. And it turns out that she's okay." He said to her and he saw how she gave him a quizzical expression.

"Oh...well do you have any kids?" She asked him in childlike wonder.

Cas was taken back a bit by this sudden unexpected question. He was quiet for a few seconds, contemplating on what to tell her. He got this far away look, but after a few seconds she looked back towards Ava, with a soft smile.

"Yes, I do have a child. Her name's Marley."

"No way?!" Ava shouted in excitement, actually bouncing a bit on the bench. "That's such an awesome name! How old is she?" She asked him in complete curiousness.

"She just turned one." Cas said to her happily.

"Wow, well I bet she has your eyes." Ava said cheerfully.

Cas' expression became soft. "Yes, yes she does. But you know what..." He said eloquently to her. "She has her mother's smile."

Ava was slightly confused by how she was feeling right now...it was like she was happy but more so than usual...she didn't know why but something about what he said caused her great joy.

"Well I'm happy that your child has the both of you." Ava said her brown eyes staring right back into his blue eyes.

"Thank you..." Cas said to her smiling. "I'm also glad she has the both of us. I love her, just as much as I love my wife." His said as his eyes became filled with so many emotions, that he actually needed to look a way for a second so she wouldn't notice them glistening.

Ava bemused by this was going to ask if he was okay, but before she could she saw that her dad's car making its way from down the street. She smiled at this, but then turned to face Cas again.

"Oh, that's my dad's car. I'm gonna have to go now, but it was nice talking to you, Cas." She said to him, but inside she was feeling really sad that she was going to leave him. "Maybe we'll run into each other again!" She said trying to be optimistic.

Cas gazed at her and he smiled softly at her. "It was nice talking to you too, Ava...and yes we'll meet again. Just not in this time." He said meaningfully to her. Ava in return gave her a confused look, but before she was able to say anything to him, he softly placed two fingers on her forehead...and after that ten year old Ava forgot about the extraordinary meeting she just had with her guardian angel.

Cas from a far, watched as Ava got into Bobby's car and saw how she safely went back home. He felt relieved that she was safe. He was also happy that he was able to take way the embarrassment and distress she was feeling on this day. He knew about this specific day because Ava had told him about it sometime in the future when they were getting more acquainted more with each other. He had always been curious about Ava's childhood and more than one occasion did he want to travel to past to see how she was during her younger years. He's traveled to the past many times before, but he specifically traveled to Ava's childhood this time for two reason. One had been because he wanted to meet Ava as a child, out of mere curiousness. And he was not at all disappointed. Ava was just as unique and wonderful as she was in the future. The second reason, was because he wanted to know how quirky Ava was at a young age. And meeting her at such a young age, also made him wonder whether or not her appealing eccentrics would eventually appear in their beloved daughter Marley...