Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. No money is being made for my having written this piece.

Sitting curled up on the nice, faux leather recliner in his new room, Castiel leaned on his hand and stared hard out the window of his second story room. He watched as a bird flew into the tree next to the window and began feeding its tiny fledglings.

He didn't really feel much of anything. Only, well, safety. It was a little strange to him. This was a different kind of safe. This wasn't like before, with Sam and Dean. This was...there weren't any words for it.

This felt a little more familial.

It was…good. He was good. He was at home. With his Father.

Dean was going out of his mind. Four days. Castiel had been gone, had left, four days ago. After waiting an hour to see if the guy came back on his own, they finally got in touch with both Bobby and Charlie. While Charlie took care of the internet surveillance side of things, Bobby helped them with tracking. Currently, Bobby and Sam were checking in town and some of the surrounding ones for Cas' scent. Sam was anyway. Bobby was doing his own part to be an extra set of eyes.

Dean put his head into his hands and found himself whispering, "Please. Please. Please Cas. Let us find you."

Charlie was right. Cas was some kind of missing piece in their lives. He was a good guy and they should've told him what they were doing. Dean's eyes found the paperwork that Sam had brought back with him and he shuffled through it. There were several photocopied pictures of Cas' license, student ID and social security card. Sam's handwritten notes were almost unreadable in his haste to write down enough to look into.

'Freaked out kid?'

'Adopted siblings - one missing?'

And, most unusual - 'Rehab stint?'

Dean knew that they knew next to nothing about the guy staying in their extra bedroom and it was pissing him off more by the minute. He took a tentative sip of a glass of brandy and, once it was empty, flung it across the room at the far wall where it broke into a thousand little pieces.

He could feel his mind shattering as well.

Sam walked down the stairs first, with Bobby right on his heels. There, they found Dean leaning with his back against the wall and his eyes shut with shards of broken glass by his side.

"Dean? You okay?" Sam asked worriedly.

"Fine, Sammy - just a little tired." He looked at the two of them with haunted eyes and sighed. "Did you find anything?"

"Not really. Sorry, man."

Dean shrugged and looked away. "That's okay. If Cas would've wanted to be found, we would've found him. First 48 hours, right?"

Bobby took one look at the two of them and went back upstairs to give them some time alone. Sam took a seat on his brother's other side (away from the glass) and both of them stared across the room.

"Should we even be looking for him, Sammy?"

"I don't know, Dean," Sam answered with a shrug. "Maybe we should just give him some time. He'll come back to us if he wants to."

There was an echoing knock on his large as the ceiling door.

"Come in," Castiel called politely from his seat. He turned to see a girl no older than twelve standing in his doorway, smelling exquisite.

"Our Father wishes to speak to you over dinner, sir."

Castiel nodded to her and got up from his seat before being led through the hall, down the stairs and into a very elaborate looking dining room with a long wooden table and animal heads and elaborate paintings mounted on the walls. Father sat at the very end of the table and a place setting was set up on the left-hand side.

"Ah, Castiel," he said, getting to his feet and coming to meet his son. He gave him a kiss on the forehead and led him to the seat. "I see you changed out of the clothing you arrived here in."

Castiel looked down at himself. Instead of the Winchester's hand-me-downs, he was now wearing a white button down silk shirt and black dress pants and dress shoes on his feet.

"They were hanging on the doorknob of my bedroom when I awoke from my rest."

Once they sat down, Father picked up and rang a bell next to his plate. A minute later, another girl came into the room with a large pitcher she needed to hold with two hands. She poured red liquid into the goblets at their settings and left without even saying a word to either of them. Gently, Father raised his cup and Castiel, after a moment's hesitation, did likewise.

"To the return of family," Father said.

An image came unbidden to Castiel's mind and he was suddenly standing in front of the door to an apartment. Sweat was pouring down his face and the person on the other side wasn't answering. He pounded on the door again.

"Son?"

Father put his hand on top of Castiel's and he came out of whatever daydream he'd fallen into. Castiel raised his goblet to his lips and took a sip before drinking the entire cup in a single gulp. Father chuckled.

"My, you must be thirsty."

He rang the bell again and the girl returned to refill his glass.

"Leave the pitcher, child," Father said to the girl.

"Yes, Father," she said and placed it on the table and left.

Castiel picked up his cup again and drank. Unlike the blood the brothers had given him, this was warm and fresh. It tasted sweet and tangy on his tongue and, dare he say, he liked it.

Bobby had commandeered a bedroom on the upper level for the night while the brothers sat awake in the basement downstairs. Dean was just about to abandon his side of the research and turn on the TV when there was a pinging sound on Sam's laptop and he made a noise.

"What was that?" Dean asked over Sam's typing.

Sam pulled up his mailbox and there was a new message from Charlie waiting for him. Dean leaned over his shoulder and Sam downloaded the files she'd sent them.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

Sam opened the files and was bombarded with pictures of a mansion in the woods. He put his fingers against his lips and leaned back in his seat.

"Dean, we know this place."

Dean stared at the images one by one, until they came upon the last. Castiel was walking up the steps to the house where a dark-skinned man in a suit was waiting for him at the door.

"Dean..." Sam murmured, looking up at him.

"I know," Dean answered, poking the screen with his finger. "He's with the Alpha."