Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. This is being done purely for amusement.
Enjoy and please let me know what you think.
Castiel was always awake by 5:30. It didn't really surprise him - even as a regular human he was always an early riser. He knew the brothers wouldn't even be awake for another hour or so, so there was nothing left to do but find that closet of books to occupy himself with and relax until the tornado struck. Castiel showered (thankfully, even his room had an attached bathroom) and exited his bedroom and shut the door quietly behind him. There was light snoring coming from within Dean's room so at least he was sleeping comfortably. When Castiel reached the door next to Sam's bedroom, he just barely touched the handle when Sam's own door flew open and Castiel flew backwards into the far wall.
"Sorry, Cas," Sam said with a chuckle.
"It's quite all right," Castiel responded, getting his breathing in order. "Did I wake you again?"
"What? No," Sam said, shaking his head. "No, I was just going to go for a run."
Belatedly, Castiel looked at the man to see him wearing sweatpants and a light tee-shirt. He had an iPod clipped to the waistband of his pants and running shoes on his feet.
"Oh. Yes, of course. Enjoy yourself."
"Maybe you can join me one day?" Sam asked.
"Maybe. I have enjoyed running for exercise in the past."
Sam waved to him as he ran up the stairs. Castiel stood staring for a minute before remembering what he was looking for and opening the closet. Dean wasn't kidding. Every inch of the closet (and it was a deep closet) was full of different sizes and shapes of all manners of books. Novels and non-fiction. How to books and ancient looking books that appeared to be about other supernatural creatures.
Buried at the bottom of the bunch though was an old, large tome that immediately caught Castiel's eye. He grabbed it with two hands and pulled so hard that his backside hit the floor and the book fell open on his lap. Castiel coughed out the dust that settled into his lungs and looked down to see a colored image of the Nativity. There, lying in a manger was the baby Jesus, his parents, the three wise men, some animals, a shepherd boy...and an angel. Castiel mindlessly traced the side of the angel's wing when, before he could move, Dean appeared, gun in hand, looking like he'd just gotten up and moved into action.
"I heard a thump? What's attacking us?"
"Um, nothing?" Castiel answered, sitting up and closing the book on his lap.
Dean stood straight and sniffed, lowered his gun and sheepishly scratched his head. He looked down at the book Castiel was clutching and stifled a laugh.
"The Bible? Really?"
Castiel opened and closed his mouth before pushing the book off to the side.
"You going back to sleep?" he asked instead, getting up to stand.
Dean looked back in his bedroom and shook his head. "Nah. Why don't you put back the 'Good Book' and we'll have a little drink for breakfast?"
Castiel rubbed his stomach and nodded. "Sounds good to me."
At seven that evening, after they were all showered and dressed, there was a knock on the front door upstairs. Sam excused himself to answer it and a few minutes later he came down with a short, red-headed girl that Castiel immediately wanted to sink his teeth into.
"Greetings, Bitches," the girl said before noticing Castiel and flinching.
Dean turned to him and gave him a slight push. "Hey, she's a friend. Cool it, Cas."
"He new?" she asked, looking up at Sam.
"Yeah. Charlie, this is Cas. Cas, this is our good friend Charlie Bradbury."
"It is...a pleasure to meet you," Castiel forced himself to say.
"Right back attcha," she said with a smile.
"Cas, maybe you should wait in your room until Charlie leaves -"
"No. If she is your friend and...and human then I must learn to interact with her."
Dean turned back to his friend. "You okay with this Charlie?"
"As long as he doesn't hurt me..."
Dean put a firm hand on Cas' shoulder and squeezed it tightly. "We'll keep a close eye on him."
Cas knew that Dean wasn't lying. Obviously this girl was very important to them.
Somehow, three hours later, the four of them were in the middle of an intense battle on the Wii she'd brought and hooked up to their television.
"I am the king of this game," Dean said, easily beating the three of them for the fourth time in a row.
"What the hell, Dean," Charlie exclaimed, throwing down her controller.
"It's all about the skills."
"Okay, well, I'm thirsty," Sam said, standing and starting to walk away. "I'll be right back."
That left Charlie alone with Dean and Cas. Dean was in the center seat of the couch with Cas and Charlie on either side of him.
"So, um, Cas?" Charlie said, fixing her sleeve and not looking him directly in the eye.
"Yes?"
"So you're, uh, like the brothers then, huh?"
Castiel shifted in his seat and crossed his legs, also not looking. "If by that you mean a blood sucking creature of darkness - then, yes."
Charlie turned and huffed out a laugh. "I wouldn't exactly call you a creature of darkness. You seem more like, like a puppy."
"Puppy?" both Dean and Cas said at the same time with both a mixture of confusion and humor.
"Oh come on, Dean. You don't see it?"
"See what?"
Charlie gave him a look. "You find this random dude in the middle of nowhere and you bring him home after figuring out he's just like you. And he's nice. You're like, some missing piece of the puzzle. There's something special about you."
She directed that comment right to Castiel and he floundered for a second before managing to blush and mumble a quiet, "Thank you."
"Yeah. A blushing, creature of darkness."
Charlie stuck around until nearly daybreak. Everyone was utterly exhausted for separate but valid reasons.
"Natural insomniac," Charlie said after Castiel questioned her about her ability to keep up with them, pace for pace, into the wee hours of the morning.
She gave each of the brothers a hug and then turned to Castiel and gave him one as well. Castiel's head ended up right in the crook of her neck and he took one tentative sniff before pulling himself away and giving her a closed mouth smile.
"Take care of yourself, Ms. Middleton," came out of Castiel's mouth just seconds before he realized that wasn't the last name the brothers' had told him she had earlier. Charlie's eyes widened and she gasped.
"What?" Dean asked, confused. Sam frowned and shrugged his shoulders.
"That's...nothing. Nothing. He said...absolutely nothing - so., I'll just be...I'll just be going. Cas. Boys."
Charlie shouldered her way passed them and walked up the stairs, tucking some hair behind her ear as she went.
"What was that about?" Dean asked.
"I don't know," Sam said, turning to Castiel. "Cas?"
"It was weird," Castiel murmured. "I looked her in the eye and I just...knew. I knew her name. I knew who she really was, what she was hiding. Her fears, her hopes, her lifespan."
He turned to the brothers.
"I knew everything about her in a single glance. What does that mean?"