A/N: Again, sorry this is taking so long, life is crazy! Also I feel like this chapter is very obviously translated, as in it feels a bit wooden and unpolished, but hey I tried my best so sorry if it isn't up to standard!

Part 3: As if Newborn

Dean was rolling back and forth in his bed, drenched in sweat, before he woke. His legs were tangled in the blanket. He struggled free and swung his legs out of bed. Dean rubbed his face tiredly.

"Dean." He turned to the other single bed in the room. Jimmy lay, quietly snoring, in his bed. In that moment, he realised the shower in the bathroom was running.

With the gun he'd bought himself on his hip, Dean crept to the bathroom and soundlessly opened the door. Behind the shower curtain he could see a female silhouette. The woman was humming softly to herself as she turned around, pulling the curtain slightly to the side and revealing Anna. "Dean."

"I didn't expect to meet you in my shower." said Dean, raising his eyebrows in surprise and pursing his lips suggestively. He was almost slightly disappointed that he hadn't caught sight of more of her.

"I found him. We'll meet up there." Her naked arm glistened damply, but the note that she held out to him was, to his surprise, dry.

Dean woke with a jolt. Sluggishly, he rubbed his hand over his clammy forehead. Jimmy was sleeping like a dream in the bed next to his, but the bathroom was silent. He scrabbled groggily out of bed.

Dean went to Jimmy's bed to wake him, but instead stared at the sleeping man. His mouth was slightly open; he had totally rolled himself in the blanket. He looked so peaceful. Dean berated himself inwardly – he was still seeing Castiel in him – and tried fruitlessly to compose his feelings. Finally, he just pushed them to one side.

"Jimmy, get up! Cas is here!" Dean whispered gently. He shook Jimmy's shoulder, who grimaced. Dean needed to shake him again, more forcefully, to get a reaction.

"Please don't," he murmured, frowning petulantly without opening his eyes and gripping his head. "Leave me alone. Need sleep."

"Fine. If my sidekick doesn't want to..." Dean retorted. Jimmy probably hadn't understood him, but he was fine with that. He pissed, gave himself a quick wash and cleaned his teeth to get the nasty taste out of his mouth. Despite this, he only felt slightly better than Jimmy, who'd really overdone it with the alcohol yesterday. No wonder, after over a year of angelic abstinence.

Dean looked up the address on Anna's note on the internet: it looked like a small-town clinic. It wasn't even an hour away from their motel, which couldn't be a coincidence. Dean scrawled Jimmy a note. On leaving the motel room, he threw a glance behind him. Jimmy had placidly sunk once again into the land of dreams.

Outside, Dean stood for a moment and spoke toward the heavens: "If I've hurried myself now and he's a stupid baby, you owe me!"

The Honda was gradually beginning to get on his nerves, but at least Dean had found a classic rock station on the radio, which made the drive bearable.

During the trip to the clinic he wondered whether Castiel was going to come into the world there or whether he already had. He had no idea how the 'Fallen Angel' thing went. Dean had often sensed his presence before he saw him. They had a profound bond, which make him ask himself if he could recognise Castiel as a human child just as effortlessly.

The sun blazed down from the sky as he got out of the car in the parking lot. Dean went to the public entrance. Inside, he removed his sunglasses, even though he'd rather have left them on for camouflage. He headed towards the payphone on the wall, picked up the receiver and pretended to call someone.

"Anna, I'm here. Where are you?" Dean looked searchingly around him. "Anna, sweetest of all angels, show yourself already."

"Hello, Dean," Anna whispered into his ear.

Dean whirled around. "You angels must always be sneaking up on each other."

"I like it here on Earth, even now I'm not a human anymore," responded Anna, and walked away so quickly that Dean had to hurry to catch up to her. With every step she took into the clinic, Dean became more and more agitated.

"So Cas is a real boy now," said Dean, alluding to Pinocchio. "Or a real girl." He shrugged carelessly, but was nevertheless a bit disappointed that the angel hadn't caught his reference. By now he was really ruffled at the prospect of seeing Cas, without it having been apparent to him before. His heart pounded restlessly. Dean became nervous as he began to feel Castiel's presence; so it still worked.

"Where is he? Dean threw a fleeting glance at the panel showing the different floors. They were definitely not heading for any delivery room.

"Be patient."

"Come on. Don't let everything be wheedled out of you. Are we meeting a woman who's pregnant with Cas? Is he being born in the emergency room? Anna!" complained Dean.

"There he is."

"Him? Yeah, him?" Dean could see the crowd slowly dispersing. His heart beat faster. Anna stood directly in front of a young man around Dean's age. He vaguely resembled someone out of a film, with his short, tousled dark hair and his blue eyes.

Dean raised an eyebrow and looked at Anna in confusion. "That's him? Are you sure?" He couldn't believe it, even though he already knew the answer. His gaze wandered from her back to him. Likewise, he was staring at him through his black-rimmed glasses. Dean's cheeks burned as he came aware of the stranger's attention. That was him, Castiel, his angel.

"Hello," he said, and appeared just as confused as Dean, who couldn't make a sound. "What...what can I do for you?" The man looked at him and adopted a friendly smile, as if he were talking with a patient.

Anna said nothing, instead laying her hand on the man's chest, who jerked in agony.

"Shit," he swore and pressed his hand reflexively to his aching chest.

"Anna! What are you doing? You don't have to let the Terminator out immediately!" Dean hissed.

"I have burned Enochian symbols into his ribs that will protect and hide him from angels," she explained.

The man, whose name badge read 'Joshua Attenborough', looked dumbfoundedly at them both. "What was that? Who are you?" he asked through clenched teeth.

The angel didn't reply. Anna took Dean's hand and dragged him away, so that they were soon out of sight in the overcrowded corridor. Anna didn't stop until they were outside.

"Couldn't you have warned me first? 'Hey Dean, I want to burn an angel ward into Cas Junior.' How is that even possible? Doesn't he have to wait to be born? Or at least be a baby? I don't get it."

"Castiel was very clever. He travelled into the past, to before he ripped his Grace out of the vessel. It was a huge task to find him." The redhead looked impressed.

"And all without DeLorean and plutonium engines." Dean looked over his shoulder.

Anna squeezed his hand. "We both want Castiel to be safe. He is safest when we initiate no contact with him. Angels and demons aren't stupid. They could follow you or I and we would lead them directly to him."

"That was it, then. Hi and bye."

"I wanted you to see that he was well. Castiel wanted to be human. Experience things, feel things. Angels will never understand humans. They are cold and serve a Father who never shows himself. I envy him. For all the experiences that he's having and will have. He did it. I wish I could experience all that he is once more." Anna smiled sadly.

Dean nodded. "That's just it. He got out," he said, not without disappointment, even though he could understand her reasoning. "Okay, I'm cool! Cas should have his fun."

"Eat chocolate cake."

"Have sex."

"Very good sex." Anna smiled.

"Hopefully it'll work..." Dean said, slightly doubtful.

Anna laughed in amusement and told him again about her final task. "The only thing we need to do now is to find his Grace so no one else can get their hands on it."

Meanwhile, back in the hotel, Jimmy had woken up and got dressed. He greeted Dean with a tired yawn. You could see last night's alcoholic excess in him. Dean reported that he had found Castiel and that he was well, though he forwent mentioning Anna and her markings on Castiel's ribs. Jimmy wanted to know how he'd known that he really was the angel. Dean trusted in Anna and in his instinct, his gut feeling, responding to Jimmy with the latter. When he explained about Castiel's time travel, Jimmy was all ears.

"Angels can time travel?" Jimmy asked interestedly.

"Yup. Cas is about as old as I am now. If we have any luck, his Grace will be just as untouched on Earth. You've got to give it to him, genius idea with the time travel." Dean picked his laptop up from the table. "Let's go grab something to eat."

"Good idea. I'm starving," agreed Jimmy. "What is his Grace?"

"A sort of energy that makes an angel into an angel. Without it, they're a human." Dean brought a small phial on a broken chain, in which Uriel had kept Anna's Grace before she'd ripped it from his throat, out of his duffel bag. Dean had picked up the empty glass tube from the floor of the barn and taken it with him.

"Maybe we can trap it with this somehow."

Jimmy went outside with him to the car. He'd seen a small diner on the main road, in which they had a decent lunch, even though it was already afternoon.

In the diner they looked for a place by the window. "We should drink to Cas' successful landing," suggested Dean.

Jimmy nodded curtly but said nothing. They ordered food when the waitress came to their table.

"What's Castiel's name now he's human?" Jimmy asked curiously.

"Joshua Attenborough."

Jimmy asked him for the laptop so he could use it to search for Castiel's Grace. If they found his birthplace they would already be a whole lot closer to the mark. Dean gladly relinquished the research to him, which formerly had been Sam's job.

"Did you know that Joshua is the English form of Yehoshu'a? That means "God is salvation, rescue," Jimmy remarked ironically. He had been deeply religious before everything had happened – a logical choice for Castiel.

The mad thing was, Castiel had asked his permission and Jimmy had, in fact, agreed. It had been left unsaid that the angel could do anything with his body. For the most part of Castiel's experiences, Jimmy had had no access, but the angel's especially distinct emotions hadn't escaped his notice.

Jimmy knew. He knew exactly what Castiel felt for Dean, probably before the angel himself or Dean – in case he ever saw the light – would know: Castiel was completely head over heels for his charge. Jimmy kept this fact to himself, however, and feigned a feeble memory. What could he have told him? Dean would have tried to help Castiel either way. It wasn't that he begrudged others their happiness either, since after the death of his family he himself had no hope left. No, it just didn't change anything.

Their drinks came. "What's that?" asked Jimmy, with a look at Dean's glass.

"Apple juice," said Dean, grinning cheekily and holding his glass up to toast. Jimmy's eyes were on the screen as he raised his own. "If you don't look each other in the eyes while toasting, you'll have seven years of bad sex."

"That's a myth," Jimmy retorted, smirking. "It's only five years."

Dean laughed. "To Castiel..."

"To Castiel's life," suggested Jimmy, and Dean repeated it eagerly.

Shortly afterwards, their food came. Jimmy ate small bites from time to time and searched the internet on the side. Dean had given him the tip to look for a natural occurrence on the day of Joshua's birth.

During the meal, Dean watched him. Jimmy was absorbed in his search and now and again made a comment on it. For all intents and purposes, he didn't need him, but it was good to work with someone. The task of finding Castiel and protecting him from angels and demons was keeping Dean from falling back into his black hole. Like him, Jimmy had nothing left, since his family had been killed by demons. Dean knew exactly how he felt.

"Does a snowstorm count as a natural occurrence?" asked Jimmy.

Dean looked cluelessly at him. "No idea. Where do you start looking? We need something like the townhall clock in Back to the Future."

"Lightning strike," Jimmy typed, as well as the year, mumbling to himself. He'd found out Joshua's date of birth relatively quickly.

"Found something?"

"No, nothing like in Back to the Future." Jimmy gave up and snapped the laptop closed. Afterwards he found out that Joshua worked in the psychiatric department of the town clinic and at the same time supervised a couple of groups of addicts in the community centre. With the facts, it had been child's play to find out his address, which he noted on a serviette.

Jimmy looked at Dean. "I'll need the car later. I want to buy myself a few new things. I can't walk around in this apocalyptic trench coat forever."

"Sure, no problem." Dean adopted his serious look. "What are you going to do when this is over?"

"I..." Jimmy stared at the empty plate before him. It appeared as though Dean had thrusted him into a possible 'afterwards' that he had until now deliberately ignored.

"Do you have family somewhere, friends that you can ask for housing?"

"My sister lives with her family in Wyoming. I haven't spoken to her in an eternity...she'll be in for a surprise."

"Okay. That's good."