Hi everyone! It's been a while, but I found some time to update. I got a couple of reviews asking to update, so here I am! Also, I wanted to speak to Cassie-D1's review about liking the fact that Cas isn't being portrayed as the clueless human, even though he still can be at times. That's actually why I started writing this story! I wanted to explore what it would be like if Castiel had to be responsible for helping someone else adjust to life on Earth, and here we are!
There will be a small time jump in the next chapter and throughout the story from now on, but they'll be clearly written so there shouldn't be any confusion! Thanks for reading, following, favoriting and reviewing! I'm glad people are liking the story so far.
Disclaimer: In no way do I have any rights to Supernatural or any of the characters you are familiar with. I only own Amriel and any OCs that pop up along the way.
Chapter Four: Safe
Once the gas station was closed for the night, Castiel gathered his belongings that he had hidden in the back room as well as a few items for Amriel, like a hair brush, dental floss and other things he thought would be useful, and as soon as he locked the doors to the store they were on their way to find an abandoned house.
Amriel led the way back towards the bus station, and after about fifteen minutes they came upon a small neighborhood full for for-sale signs. They peered into windows and checked doors to see if there were any residents or if they were locked, until the two finally found a tiny house at the end of a cul-de-sac that was completely abandoned.
The front door was unlocked, so Amriel walked inside first, since she was the one that could still heal at a rapid rate. There were no lights, so they had no idea if the power worked, but Castiel had taken flashlights and a camping lantern he had been using at the gas station, so Amriel took one and flicked it on, telling Cas to wait outside.
With her blade drawn, Amriel walked through the two-bedroom house, inspecting each room, followed by the bathroom and the kitchen before allowing Castiel to come inside. He immediately shut the door and locked it behind him, laying a line of salt along the threshold and on the window sills.
He took a look around the house, noticing that the previous owners had left it in a disheveled state. Moonlight was shining through the sheer curtains, and some windows had blinds that were twisted and bent. There was a wobbly table in what seemed to be the dining area, but there were no chairs. There was a bare mattress on the floor of one of the bedrooms, which he would offer to Amriel when the time came. A frame hung unevenly on one of the living room walls, the phrase "Home Sweet Home" staring back at them in red lettering.
The entire place seemed so run down and sad, Castiel decided.
"It'd be best if you drew some sigils," Cas said, but Amriel was already busy slicing her forearm open and drawing on the walls.
"I have been doing this since I took my vessel, Cas. I will keep us safe," she told him confidently, continuing to put up wardings until she was certain they would be protected from angels and demons alike. She drew a few banishing sigils around the small house too, just in case they needed to get rid of any angel that found them.
Cas went into the kitchen and turned on the faucet, surprised and relieved to find that there was still running water. He knew that he could certainly use a long shower, and he wondered if Amriel knew about the intricacies of faucets yet.
"Amriel, I was wondering if you have learned how to use human appliances yet," he said, unsure of how to ask about the strange topic.
She looked at him blankly before furrowing her eyebrows in thought, biting her bottom lip as she shrugged, something she had seen Castiel and countless other humans do.
"Yes, I know how to use things based off of what my vessel has done- I tap into her memories if I need to figure something out," she answered with a nod.
He was relieved, now knowing that he wouldn't need to explain how to shower or do anything to maintain her vessel. Cas could see that she was tired, and he was as well. He told her that he was going to take a shower, and that they would talk once he was done. Amriel merely nodded and told him that she would double check her wardings, just to make sure that everything was correct.
Cas rested his head against the cool wall of the shower, reveling in the feel of the scalding water pouring over him. It had been a long time since he had been able to take an actual shower, and it felt amazing now that he was actually doing it.
Coming with Amriel had been a good choice so far- he wouldn't have to sleep at the gas station and he could rest easier with all of the wardings she had put up. At the Gas-N-Sip, he couldn't draw any without drawing suspicion, and he would have to clean them up each morning, which would have been redundant.
He thought of Amriel as he washed his hair with the shampoo he had brought, wondering what she had been doing during her time on Earth. She was on the move, hiding from vengeful angels, and he knew that he should ask why she didn't side with any of them.
Amriel, he mused, closing his eyes and ducking his head under the spray of water. She was an interesting creation. In Heaven, her wings were a striking emerald color towards the tips that faded down into a bright white, inspiring the stone that represented the month she guarded. She was a kind and gentle angel, but fierce and unrelenting when she fought for him against Raphael. It was strange to only see her vessel when he clearly recognized her by the way she carried herself.
He knew that her vessel was visually stunning, and Dean would probably say she was hot, but Cas didn't know what to say or how to act around someone that was so breath taking. He had spent time watching Dean when he was still with the Winchesters, and noticed that he radiated self esteem and something he couldn't place, and women flocked to him.
Castiel spent much of his time at the gas station watching how humans interacted with one another, and he hoped that would help his interactions with Amriel.
Perhaps he could use what he learned from the pizza man, back when Sam was soulless and he was still an angel. Cas sighed and shook his head, realizing that he was taking far too long and turned off the water. He had purchased a few towels from another store and kept them for when he needed them, and he figured he would let Amriel use the other one if she wanted to shower as well.
When he was dressed, Castiel hung up the wet towel and returned to the living room, only to find it empty. His heart jumped up into his throat and his eyes widened, trying to look around in the dark house for any signs of Amriel. All of her sigils were up and still completed, and the salt lines were still intact. He hadn't heard anything unusual when he was in the shower, but he couldn't find her anywhere.
He called out her name, his voice sounding strangled and foreign to him as he frantically looked for his phone. He had given her one of the pre-paid phones that the gas station sold, telling her to keep it with her in case they were separated and needed to get in contact with one another.
He quickly found her name at the top of his short list of contacts and pressed send, only to hear it ringing from the small table near the kitchen. Cas hung up and heaved a sigh, trying to calm himself down so he could think rationally. That was one of the most difficult things about being human, he found. He couldn't think rationally all the time, and it was hard to adjust to that.
"Amriel?" he said again, his voice louder this time, and he listened carefully as he walked into the bedroom with the mattress, noticing that the closet door was ajar. Castiel approached the door and opened it, looking inside to find Amriel huddled in the corner, her head between her knees that were pulled up to her chest. Her blonde hair was covering her face, but he could see that she was breathing, although it seemed rather slow to him.
Cas knelt down and gently pushed her hair out of her face, causing the girl to stir. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, but not really focusing on him.
"Are you okay? Why are you in a closet?" he asked her, noticing how far away she seemed to be. Her eyes weren't focused and something seemed different about her.
"I can't handle feeling so much, Castiel," Amriel mumbled quietly, and Cas wasn't sure he quite heard her. "I just want it to stop."
"What did you do?" he gaped, wondering if he even wanted to hear her answer.
"Someone in Philadelphia let me try these," she told him, holding up a clear bag that contained what looked like a few hundred pills.
"What are they, Amriel?" Cas took the bag, eyeing its contents and trying to figure out what they were based on the markings etched into them. What did these numbers even mean?
"Oxycodone? Percocet? I don't quite know- they go by different names," she said lazily, "I like them because I don't have to feel anything."
Castiel's heart stopped momentarily and he felt bad for her. He dropped the bag beside him and wrapped his arms around Amriel, trying to comfort his fallen friend. She stiffened as much as she could- he had no idea how many pills she had taken, but he was sure that she required a good amount due to her grace.
Once she realized what he was doing, her body loosened and she returned his hug, tightening her arms around him. Cas felt tears falling down her cheeks and onto his shirt, and he was surprised. As an angel walking on Earth he did not cry, but when he had been powerless and in the hospital he had certainly wanted to due to the physical pain he had been in.
"I- what is this?" she asked, using one of her hands to wipe them away so she could see what they were. "Is my vessel leaking?"
"You're crying, Amriel… Humans do it when they are under great physical or emotional strain," he explained to her as he stood, lifting her up as well. She was a full four or five inches shorter than he was, and he he noticed that he could easily rest his chin on top of her head.
Amriel continued to cry, burying her face into Castiel's chest and squeezing her arms around his waist. She mumbled about how she didn't like being trapped on Earth and that she just wanted to return to Heaven.
"I'm so sorry, but you know that's not possible right now," Cas said as gently as he could, moving his fingers up and down her back like had seen in movies. "You can do this. If I can somehow manage to stay alive as a human, you can do it with your grace. We'll stick together, and you won't be alone anymore."
She pressed herself into him further, finding that the warmth he radiated made her feel better and calmed her down until she stopped crying. Amriel let out a small sigh when she realized that she was no longer feeling the numbing effects of the pills she had taken.
"What?" Cas asked, setting his hands on her shoulders and holding her back at arm's length. "What's wrong?"
"I feel things again," she groaned, her eyes searching the floor for the pills. "Please, Cas, let me take a few more, just so I can fall asleep. I need them!"
"No, Amriel," he said as he shook his head, a frown on his face. He quickly leaned down and pocketed the pills before looking down at her tear stained face. "From this moment on, no pills. I will help you through this, I promise."
She knew that a promise from Castiel meant something, and surprisingly Amriel felt a little better.
"Why don't you shower and then we can go to sleep," Cas suggested, gently leading her towards the bathroom, glad that she followed him without any resistance.
"I will be in the living room if you need anything," he told her once she was standing in the bathroom, and once she nodded in understanding he closed the door and went to look over her wardings and consider calling Dean.
Nearly twenty minutes later the bathroom door cracked open and Castiel turned to see Amriel peeking out at him.
"Castiel… I seem to have forgotten my clothes to change into. Would you please bring me some?" She sounded embarrassed, but Cas wasn't sure she even knew what that was, so he said that he would only be a few seconds.
He found her duffel bag quickly and he rifled through it carefully, looking for something appropriate for her to sleep in. Cas saw pants that weren't jeans and seemed comfortable, and something Dean had once called a tank top. He also found undergarments that were, to his understanding, rather provocative, but they would have to do.
Cas knocked on the bathroom door and waited for it to open before he handed Amriel the clothes, which she took from him and said a quiet thank you before shutting it again. At least she had the mind to close the door, perhaps she knew to do so from her vessel.
Amriel emerged from the bathroom, her blonde hair a few shades darker because it was still wet, and Cas worried that she would get sick if she slept with it like that. Fortunately he had yet to contract an illness, but he still had plenty of opportunity now that he was human.
"I believe the wardings are sufficient and then some, are they not?" Amriel asked as she saw Castiel looking over her work. She caught the impressed look on his face and a surge of happiness spread through her.
"Extremely, Amriel," he agreed, and she realized that she enjoyed the way her name sounded coming from him. "You have used sigils I have not seen in years."
The two moved from the living room to the bedroom with the mattress, and Castiel began to roll out his sleeping bag, telling Amriel that she could take the bed.
"Oh no, I couldn't possibly, Cas. You are the human- you require far more comfort than I do!"
He stared at her, surprised that she would think to offer. Amriel was beginning to reveal more and more of her newfound humanity with each passing minute, and he was glad for that.
"There is plenty of room," Castiel pointed out. "We can share."
Cas moved his sleeping bag so it was unfolded and laid it out on top of the bed as a blanket. The mattress didn't look too terrible, so he wasn't concerned about sleeping on it. He noticed that Amriel hadn't moved an inch, and he sent her a concerned glance.
"Amriel, is everything all right?"
"It's a sin to lie with a man before marriage," she squeaked, her eyes moving from Cas to the bed and then back to him again.
"We will be sleeping, not fornicating," Cas told her with a small smile. "You must realize that you will sin while you're here, it's natural for humans."
"I suppose that is acceptable then," Amriel nodded after a few moments of thinking, motioning for Castiel to get settled in before her. She wanted to see how he did it before she embarrassed herself- since she fell, she had been sleeping in small spaces and had no idea how to treat this large mattress.
Cas grabbed his jacket and balled it up for a pillow and set it on the side closest to the wall before lifting up the sleeping bag and sitting on the bed. He motioned for Amriel to join him, and he watched her carefully mimic his movements, taking her new sweatshirt for a pillow and sitting beside him. Once the sleeping bag was over their legs, Cas laid down and Amriel did the same, laying on her back while he shifted onto his side.
"Thank you for taking care of me, Castiel," she said quietly, turning her head so she could look at him, his bright blue eyes shining in the moonlight. "You have always cared about us all. If only everyone else reciprocated your devotion."
Her statement caught him off guard and Cas didn't know what to say, so he sent her a small smile and said "you're welcome."
"Good night, Cas. Sleep well," Amriel told him as he began to doze off, completely exhausted from the day's events.