Sorry for the delay guys! I just finished moving and finally got the chance and amount of inspiration/concentration to get the chapter finished up! Thank you for everyone who has been staying patient with me and with luck, the chapters will be able to keep coming.
Edit: oh, my god, I just barely saw what the document uploader did to the last half of this chapter and I'm so sorry I didn't catch it! Thank you CherlyB1964 for letting me know!
Over the next few days after the androids' freezing incident, Sam and Dean decided that it would be best to keep them with Chuck while they worked to keep an eye on them. Chuck found no lingering damage from it and was happy about that to say the least. He didn't want anything to happen to them when they hadn't been up and running for so long.
Despite Chuck's care over the projects, the brothers couldn't help but notice that Castiel and Gabriel seemed a little bored. It wasn't that they didn't like spending time with Chuck, it was just that they spent so much time in this place and didn't really ever get to see much of the outside world. Maybe it wouldn't hurt for them to go out and explore just this once. With much careful preparation, the brothers let the angels out to go explore the city. They were given cell phones and numbers to call for if anything went wrong, as well as some of their allowance from the company.
The androids mapped out the area they would be in, writing down addresses of the main places that they would be. They mostly just did it to put Sam and Dean at a little more ease since this would be their first time getting out. Either way, Dean was going to spend most of the day listening to the dispatch angels to make sure that they didn't get in trouble or that anything bad happened to them on their little excursion.
The main place that Castiel wanted to go to was to the book store so that he would have something to busy himself with when they were home and the Winchester brothers would be at work.
Castiel looked through the different book sections, trying to find some interesting ones that he could take home. He slowly grabbed more and more books, resting them against his chest each time he went to a new section.
Gabriel busied himself with Starbucks and magazines, sitting down at the table while he watched Castiel try to narrow his selection down from the stacks of books he had placed on the table.
"Are you guys new?" The androids glanced up at the new voice, seeing a tall and slender blonde man leaning against the railing beside their table.
"We are technically new to this city, yes."
"No, I meant are you guys new products?" The man asked, resting his cheek on his palm as he watched the two. Castiel tried to think of what to say since they weren't really supposed to say that they were new models, especially to strangers.
"Don't look so tense, I know how it goes." The man rolled the sleeve of his black jacket down a little to show he had a bracelet around his wrist. "The name's Balthazar. I'm a lover unit. So what are your names?" He asked, looking over the two new androids. He was trying to estimate just how new androids were and what kind of units they were.
"I'm Gabriel and this is Castiel. We're a new project that's just starting out." Gabriel introduced, happy to see that there were others out there like them.
"So what exactly does being a lover unit entail?" Castiel asked curiously, just wondering what all he got to do besides the obvious task of having sex.
"Mostly just taking care of my owner and helping them out." He said with a shrug. "They buy us for a reason so we need to take care of them however we can." He added.
"So what are you guys anyways? Lover units or service ones?"
"We're not really either." Gabriel stated, leaning back in his chair. He wasn't sure what to tell him since they really weren't either of the two.
"I guess we are just mostly for companionship." He said with a slight shrug. "That makes sense." The lover unit stated as he moved to sit beside the two other androids.
"Between us, we aren't the full products that will be going on the market, so our main purpose is supposed to be taking everything in and learning from the humans that we are staying with." Castiel explained briefly, figuring he could trust this man since he was another android. Balthazar nodded at that, smiling widely.
"If you guys ever need to learn anything special, come and see me. I'm usually out and about during the day, and you two seem like you aren't the boring old stiffs I'm used to seeing around here." He replied, happy to find some androids that he could actually carry on a normal conversation with. He was just so tired of the old ones that would just drone on and on about their missions or something else that would completely bore the lover unit. It was always the worst with that damn mail carrier bot that would come to his owner's house.
He would make the mistake of saying 'Nice day, huh?' as light conversation, only to get an entire and completely detailed weather report for the week in various places on the globe. He didn't give a damn that in China it was seventy degrees at this very moment, he just wanted the robot to kindly shut the fuck up and give him his damn mail so he could carry on with his day. He may have slammed the door in its face once or twice to see what it would do, but the damn thing continued talking for a good minute and a half before it would finally carry on with its day. The fact of the matter was, it could be more than a little tiring to try and communicate with non-humans sometimes.
"Are there any other Angel projects that you know of?" Castiel asked the blonde curiously, wondering how many of them he could be able to meet.
"Um, I've met a few in my life. Sometimes you'll see them at parties or somewhere on the street. Some of them are a little dry in personality. It's the Demons you really gotta watch out for though. They're sneaky little bastards and they'll do whatever they can to get what they want out of you. By the way, don't ever let one see your wallet." He grimaced, recalling a curvy blonde one that had managed to sneak off with all of his allowance that had been in his wallet. He hoped that she fell into a ditch and malfunctioned after whatever kind of shopping spree she went on with his money. "Pretty much, if you want to stay safe, just avoid them completely." He added after pondering it over again.
"Alright, we'll keep that in mind." Gabriel snickered, shaking his head. He kind of liked this guy already. It'd be nice to have a friend so that he and Castiel could get out more and get to know their surroundings.
Balthazar began writing on a napkin before turning it and smiling. "I need to be going, but that's my number for if you guys ever get bored and want to get out. I can take you to all the best night clubs that this place has to offer."
"Sounds good, it'd be really cool to get out and have some fun." Gabriel replied with a smile as he took it and put it in his pocket.
"Alright, have fun with the rest of your day, but not too much." Balthazar winked at the two before he headed out.
"I like him, he's interesting." Gabriel said with a wide smile as he watched him go.
"Yes, he does have a very interesting charm to him." Castiel agreed.
The androids spent a bit longer in the bookstore to get more books for Castiel to entertain himself at home with before they went out to go do more wandering around the they could leave the bookstore, Castiel's phone rang for the first time.
"Which one of them is calling you already?" Gabriel asked curiously, glancing over at him as the darker haired android looked down at the phone.
"It's Dean." He replied before he answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Cas. It's almost time for Sam and I to go on lunch break, do you want to meet up with us somewhere?"
"Gabriel and I don't require sustenance." He stated, wondering why Dean hadn't seemed to realize this just yet.
"Speak for yourself." Gabriel retorted, shaking his head.
"Yes, Cas, I understand that. Just because you don't need it doesn't mean that you can't have it. Do you want to meet us or not?"
"Yes, that sounds fine. I'm sure Gabriel would like to find something to eat. Where would you like to go?"
"There's a Big Gerson's on the corner of Windle and Ninth Street. We'll probably be there in about forty-five minutes, so don't worry about getting there too fast." Dean replied, having checked the GPS on Castiel's phone to make sure that they didn't get too far. He wasn't being overprotective no matter what Sam said, he just didn't want to wind up on the bad side of the company's higher ups for losing two very valuable assets.
"Alright, we will see you there." Castiel replied, keeping track of the address for when they needed to head over. When he hung up, he took in how much time they had and how long it would take to get there. The restaurant turned out to be in walking distance anyways, so it made everything a little easier. "We should be able to continue looking at things for another half an hour." He said softly to Gabriel after calculating the time it would take to look in a few more stores before going down a few blocks.
"Sounds good to me. Also, you gotta loosen up a little. We're supposed to be learning more human behaviors and that whole 'we don't require sustenance' thing you've got going on is gonna set you back. Now, since you don't taste things very often, I recommend that you start doing that as much as you can because tasting all the different edible things out there is probably one of life's greatest pleasures."
"I don't think that's one of them, Gabriel."
"Well, how would you know? You don't eat anything. Why do you think there are so many chefs in the world? There are endless mixtures of ingredients that someone with the right knowledge and tools can use to create amazing things."
"That is true if you look at it that way, I guess." He said softly.
"Good, now you are going to try more things, right?" Gabriel asked, smiling widely as Castiel nodded.
"It couldn't hurt."
"Damn right it couldn't, now let's check out a few places." Gabriel grinned at him before carrying on his way to find more stores that they could go there before they would need to meet up with Sam and Dean.
They of course had to stop in a candy store since there were different kinds that Gabriel hadn't tried but really had wanted to. Castiel left the store ahead of him, wanting to see what else was around them when he accidentally ran right into someone.
"I apologize, Sir." He said quickly, looking up and meeting the cold star of a slender, statuesque man. The dark haired man looked over him for a moment before he smiled eerily at him, taking the android's chin between his index finger and thumb.
"Don't worry yourself so much, Angel. You just need to learn to watch where you are going." The man eyed Castiel carefully, glancing down at the bracelet around the android's wrist. He smiled and hummed in content before glancing back up at Castiel's azure colored eyes.
"Don't worry about it, angel, anyone can have an accident. You just need to pay more attention next time." Castiel furrowed his eyebrows as he watched the man, wondering what he should do.
Gabriel soon came out and frowned when he saw the creep touching Castiel. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" The man glanced over at Gabriel before smiling wider. This just made things all the more interesting.
"Nothing, I was just making sure that he is fine after his small act of clumsiness." The man replied with a shrug.
Gabriel's frown deepened at that, not liking this man's presence. There was just something really off about him. "Well, it looks like you've done that already, so your business here with my brother should be done." He stated, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, little one, you never know what could knock you back." The stranger stated with a sneer before he looked back at Castiel. "It looks like I'll see you later then, Angel." He smiled at Castiel, casting a smug look at Gabriel before he took his leave.
"What the hell was that?" Gabriel questioned Castiel, watching the guy go with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't have a clue. I accidentally bumped into him, and then he started talking strangely and touching me."
"Okay, do me a favor, Castiel. Hands in your pockets, eyes forwards, don't talk to any more strangers." Gabriel instructed after Castiel listened to the first step.
"Well, I didn't know that was what would happen. In all fairness, some of the people here are very strange." The taller android replied, still a little confused from everything. He wondered if the man knew what they were, or if he just liked using the term 'angel' as a pet name.
"Well, you know what, if I didn't know any better, I would've thought he would have eaten you if I hadn't stepped in."
"Don't be ridiculous, Gabriel." Castiel replied. "We are made out of plastics and metal, he would not have been able to get very far." Gabriel had to stare at his brother for a second. He wondered if Castiel just wasn't installed with any software for humor or if he would ever be able to acquire the ability to understand jokes.
Well, at least Castiel had his looks.
"Yeah...Let's just keep walking." He motioned for Castiel to follow him as he continued to look for things.
The man watched the two for a bit longer from a good safe hidden distance, keeping good track of them. He studied their different personalities and movements for future reference if needed. He couldn't wait for the day that he could have a chance to get an up close look at how these two worked, in his own way. He managed to follow them undetected until they reached their destination at a chain family sit down restaurant. He wondered why the two of them stood outside looking around for a moment before a black car pulled up and he understood, they were awaiting their masters.
When the driver of the car stepped out, his eyes narrowed. So these two belonged to the Winchesters? That perked up his interest in the angels even more and he just couldn't wait for a chance to see how this things functioned. He answered his phone when it went off, smiling wider as he watched how the Winchesters interacted with Gabriel and Castiel. Such interesting names for Angels.
"Alastair, you've got a lead on the project?" A man's voice came through the speaker of the phone.
"I'm looking at them right now. They pass for human if you don't know where to look. They come with a catch though, they have their own set of guard dogs. The Winchesters."
The other end of the conversation was quiet for a moment. "You know how this will have to go. They all have their weak points and when the Winchesters aren't hovering around them playing guard dog, we can take them and you can get to know them a bit better before passing them on to someone else." Alistair couldn't help but smile wider at that. Getting to know the new projects was what he did best after all.
"It sounds like a plan. I'll let you know when I can get close enough to them, Sir." He said softly, watching the two new angels enter the building. He couldn't wait to get his hands on them and see what would make them tick.