"Why can't I work at Bobby's?" Dean was shocked that his dad wouldn't let him work with his friend. He had offered to take Dean on part time when he was old enough but now his dad wasn't letting him.
"Because you need a real job, Dean, not something for a family friend who probably won't pay you much."
"It would be a real job, dad. You were a mechanic once too!" He had been so happy to bring this up and couldn't believe his dad was reacting this way.
"I know, but that's not the job Bobby offered. You'd need to learn a lot before you could be a mechanic."
"Dad…"
"No," John cut him off with a raised hand, "you need to go out and get applications for something that will at least pay you minimum wage."
Dean sighed loudly and walked out of the living room. He stomped up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door shut behind him.
Castiel looked at him in worry. He was sitting in his chair with his notebook on his lap. He hadn't been writing lately, but was drawing shapes with his pencil. Dean was clearly angry, and Castiel could hear what about before he entered the room.
He huffed before sitting at his desk and dropping his books loudly on the table. Castiel hadn't wanted to practice his writing since the night he left his book by the door. Dean was almost hurt by it. His dad was angry that he didn't have a job yet and now Castiel seemed to lose interest in a way to communicate.
Feeling overly aggravated, Dean opened his book with a little more force than necessary and glared at the math problems like they were the cause of his anger.
Castiel chewed his bottom lip as he thought of what might help Dean. He let his pencil flow over the paper as he thought. He had an elaborate pattern of waves on the paper and turned it to a blank page and stood to walk over to Dean. He knelt beside his chair and dropped his notebook in front of Dean.
Dean looked at the angel. "What?"
Castiel tapped the page with his pencil and looked at Dean.
"What?"
He drew a circle and pointed at Dean.
Dean rubbed his forehead and shook his head. "I don't understand."
Castiel touched him with a finger and mouthed the word 'you'.
"What about me?"
Castiel touched him again and then scribbled with his pencil.
"Cas, I don't…" He stopped when the angel started drawing letters. When he was done it spelled 'naym'. Dean read it a couple times before it clicked. "Name?"
The angel nodded and tapped Dean again.
"My name?" Castiel nodded and scribbled again. "You want to learn to write my name?"
Castiel nodded and seemed relieved that Dean finally understood.
"Why?" Castiel shrugged and put a hand on his own chest and mouthed 'me.' "You want to learn yours too?" He nodded again. "Okay." Dean laughed softly.
Castiel handed him the pencil and shifted a little closer. First Dean corrected his spelling of the word name and then slowly wrote out his name and Castiel's. The angel watched intently.
Once he was done, Castiel took the notebook from him and started practicing the names so they would be neat like Dean's handwriting.
Dean watched him as he concentrated hard to trace the names and then redraw them. He didn't know what brought that on, but it was nice to talk with the angel again. They hadn't done that much the last couple days.
He turned back to his homework and continued with none of the previous anger. Castiel looked up when Dean turned back to his homework and smiled when Dean seemed calm.
The weekend came around and Castiel was going in for his appointment at the hospital. He was shaking as the car approached the building. His past experiences with doctors had never been good and he didn't know what to expect.
The angel hospital was small and it only made Castiel more nervous. He sat with Dean as John checked him in. Other angels and their owners were waiting in the room and he felt like they were all looking at him. His wings pulled in as his nerves got worse.
Dean could see the fear in Castiel's eyes and leaned in to talk lowly to him. "Relax. It's just a routine checkup. It won't take long."
Castiel nodded and tried to relax but the other owners and angels made him nervous again. They all had leashes and collars on and seemed irritated that Castiel didn't have one. He rubbed absently at the mark on his neck and closed his eyes.
Dean noticed Castiel rubbing his neck and how he seemed to start scratching around the marks. His head dipped lower and his nails began to leave red lines. Dean reached out and touched Castiel's hand.
The angel jerked violently, his wings expanding briefly, and pulled away from Dean.
"Cas, hey" Dean pulled his hands back, alarmed by the angel's reaction, "it's okay."
Castiel was breathing rapidly, eyes wide in shock, and shaking. He shook his head and pulled his wings back into his body.
"I didn't want you to hurt yourself." Dean put his hands on his lap, not wanting to startle him again. "I'm sorry."
Castiel could feel the stares of everyone in the room and dropped his head in shame. He didn't want to draw attention.
They waited another fifteen minutes before Castiel's name was called. The three of them followed the nurse to a private room. She took Castiel's temperature, weight, and blood pressure before leaving them alone.
Dean and John were sitting on the chairs off to the side while Castiel sat on the exam bed waiting for the doctor. He seemed slightly calmer now that he was out of the waiting room. They sat in silence for about ten minutes before the doctor entered with a chart.
She greeted him and began testing his reflexes, eyes, ears, and throat. She asked him to extend his wings out for her to check them. He nodded and opened his wings fully. Dean and John were both surprised by the width of the wingspan, having never seen them open before.
The doctor ran her hand along his wing bone, making him flinch. When she felt the spot that had been broken, she stopped.
"What happened here?" She looked at John.
"His wing was broken when we found him, along with other injuries."
She nodded and ran her hand around the bone again. Castiel twitched with a grimace a few times from her touch.
"It didn't heal as well as if it had been done professionally, but whoever bandaged it did a good job. The feathers seem to be growing back too, which is good."
She continued by checking his feathers and bone on the other wing before letting him pull his wings back in.
"Now, just hop off the table for me. I need to check your back."
Castiel hesitantly got off the table and stood eye level with the doctor.
"Bend over to touch your toes for me."
Castiel glanced nervously at Dean. Dean nodded encouragingly to him. He'd had to do that before too. He knew the doctor needed to check his spine. Castiel bent down and the doctor circled behind him and ran a hand up his spine.
Dean watched Castiel's face and saw him shut his eyes tight and his nostrils flare. He knew he was on edge from all the contact. The doctor pulled her hand back and told him he could stand back up and sit on the table. Castiel took a quick breath and sat on the table again.
"I just need to look at one more thing." She moved close to Castiel. "Could you tilt your head up to look at the ceiling for me?"
The angel seemed confused but obeyed. The doctor gently held his chin with one hand and ran the other one along the circular mark on his neck. Castiel jumped when she touched him. She stilled and waited for him to relax before touching him again.
After getting a close look, she stepped away and picked up his chart. "Okay, everything seems good, normal. He is underweight for an angel his age and size, but otherwise he seems healthy. We're gonna take some blood to test for any infection or disease as well."
"We're working on the weight thing." Dean smiled at the doctor. "He didn't have much to eat before he lived with us."
She nodded and wrote on her chart. "I do need to speak to the owner outside briefly."
Dean made to stand, but John put a hand on his arm. "You're only 16, Dean. I'm legally responsible for him right now." He stood and followed the doctor into the hall, shutting the door behind him.
Dean sat back in his chair and sighed. He looked at Castiel and could tell he was still nervous. He walked over to him. "Don't worry, Cas. I'm sure everything is fine. You won't have to come here again for a long time."
Castiel glanced at Dean but wasn't able to feel comforted by his words. All he wanted to do was go home.
John was standing by the doctor as she voiced her concerns about the marks on Castiel's neck. "If I had seen that on an angel I knew wasn't a new addition, I would have to notify someone about angel abuse. Those marks have been there a long time and could only be caused after several months or years."
John shifted uncomfortably. "What would make marks like that?"
The doctor shook her head. "Best I can tell, a collar."
"What? What kind of collar could do that?" He had always thought collars and leashes for angels were ridiculous, but he never thought they could cause damage like that.
"Not the common cloth ones most people use. Those marks were caused by something metal and tight. I can't imagine what that poor thing went through to get those marks." She shook her head in sympathy.
"Well, I have a good idea that his last owner was abusive in some way, but I never imagined something like that."
"I just wanted to let you know and ask about it. I know you didn't do this, Sherriff, but I needed to be thorough."
"I understand. Thank you."
The lab tech coming to take a blood sample was entering the room when John said goodbye to the doctor. He followed the man inside.
Castiel was very hesitant to hold his arm out to the man. Dean told him to look at him and just keep breathing. The angel bit his lip from the pain of the needle but kept his eyes on Dean and kept breathing. When it was over, they were able to leave.
Once they were home and Castiel was up in Dean's room, John decided to tell Dean what the doctor had told him about the marks. Dean was furious.
"What kind of dick would do that?!" Dean couldn't even fathom what the angel had to have gone through. "That shouldn't be allowed to happen!"
"I agree." John put a hand on Dean's shoulder. "You'd be surprised how many horrible people there are in the world. I'm just glad he doesn't have to go through that again."
"Yeah, but that guy probably has some other poor angel going through the same thing. He doesn't have the right to do that." Dean was shaking in anger.
John grabbed Dean's shoulders, making him look at him. "You can't think about that, Dean. It'll drive you nuts. Just take care of Castiel."
"I will." Dean nodded and went upstairs. Castiel was sitting on his chair and running a hand over the bandage where they'd drawn blood.
Dean shut the door. "You'll want to take that off as soon as possible. The longer it stays on, the worse it is to take off." Castiel looked at it in worry and started trying to peel it off. "You feeling okay?"
Castiel nodded as he grimaced and pulled the tape off his arm. He rubbed the now red spot.
"Good." He wanted to ask Castiel about his last owner, but knew the angel had been through enough today. "You want to watch a movie?" Castiel nodded and they settled in for the night and watched a couple movies.