Author's Note:

Thanks for the support so far guys, it really means a lot and helps me get through this writer's block/lack of motivation thing I've been punched with.

"You know I don't care, right?" Dean finally snapped at Bobby who didn't seem at all surprised by the outburst. "I don't care if I go to a nice college or whatever, I can work as a mechanic in a shop around here!"

"Well that's too bad," though he had seen it coming Bobby had no intentions of just taking Dean's yelling sitting down. "I care if you go to a nice college, I give a damn if you become something more than a mechanic in a tiny town so you're going to a decent school if you like it or not, boy!"

"And who's gonna pay for it?" Dean retaliated with whatever would come to mind, he didn't like arguing with Bobby but it was all he could do to try and stay.

"I'll pay your rent and food, you'll get a loan for classes."

Dean knew not a lot of people got that kind of help and he should have been thankful, he knew that a good education was worth pushing for but he couldn't pull himself away from family. He floundered, looking for any excuse but came up with nothing. "I don't want to go," he resorted to just himself, how he was feeling and the admittedly juvenile way of handling a situation. "I don't want to leave you after everything you've done for me, I don't want to be away from Sammy." He felt tears stinging at his eyes but tried to hide them with anger in his voice.

Bobby didn't fall for it though. He approached Dean with that same knowing smile he always seemed to get whenever it was needed. He pulled Dean into a hug and squeezed tight, it brought the tears out and left Dean with nothing but the ability to drop his face against his dad's shoulder.

"Sometimes I think he understands me and pretends not to just because he can get away with it," Dean grumbled.

Jet laughed, tailing Dean's lead with little determination if any, "That's exactly what I'd do if I could get away with it; wouldn't you mess with someone?"

"Maybe,"

"Let me rephrase; if someone like you or like me wasn't sure if you could understand them, wouldn't you fuck with 'em?"

Dean smirked and nodded, "It'd be a little hard not to, I mean you're such a dick and I'm no knight in shining armour."

"Exactly, if he understands you he's definitely messing with ya."

Jet wasn't wrong, but Dean couldn't ignore the very real fact that Castiel couldn't speak properly either. It was possible that it was some kind of experiment that left him mute, only able to communicate through noises like an animal but he could still comprehend humans and their language. But at the same time he didn't seem to know anything outside his dome, he'd stared at Dean like an anomaly, reacted as if Sam was a threat and didn't understand that their horseplay, and didn't know food came from anything other than the hatch in his floor.

Dean wanted to unravel the mystery that Castiel was, but taking care of him seemed to be a more pressing requirement. The first part of that was feeding him, and of course Cas would rather play hide and seek.

Dean wandered around the fourth floor aimlessly; he was still amazed at how big the damn place was but knew it wasn't big enough that Cas could stay that fucking hidden. Dean's amazement had gone from a version of wonderment to annoyance real fast, at first he was astounded at how well Cas could blend in. For such a chatty little guy he'd managed to stay so quiet, part of Dean thought maybe standing still and waiting to hear Cas' stomach growl was the best option.

After about ten minutes of circling Dean's patience was running thin; Jet's casual amusement wasn't much help, either.

"I'll go around to the other side," Jet said just before Dean snapped at him for being useless. "Maybe we can corner him."

"Thanks, good idea." Dean took a deep breath as Jet vanished down the hall, he didn't want his anger to seep through into his voice. If Castiel felt even remotely threatened Dean had no idea how he'd act or what he'd do. "Cas, buddy, the food will be here soon. Weren't you hungry?" he seriously wished he had another granola bar on him.

A sharp yelp caught his attention and Dean looked up the hall to see Castiel staring at him, the winged male had a big smile on his face and he dashed off again as soon as he saw Dean looking. "Wait! Goddamn it, Cas!" Dean ran to the end of the corridor and watched as feathery wings disappeared into a room. He grinned and hurried over to the door, the sound of a bed creaking greeted him as he peered inside.

Cas had dropped onto the mattress and was promptly started by the way it felt. He fluttered off the furniture immediately with a growl rumbling in his throat, he smacked the surface of the bed in retaliation to its strangeness. It was a dull 'thwap' kind of noise and made Cas pause. He hummed to himself and slowly leaned over, staring at the disturbed blankets before he tapped the bed again.

Dean leaned against the doorframe, unable to stop the smile Cas' curiosity brought to his face. "It's safe, go ahead." He didn't know if Cas could understand him or not but every now and then Castiel responded as if he had; it was enough to keep Dean talking to him as if he were a normal guy.

Cas looked up at Dean then back at the bed, a soft 'hmph' escaped him as he pressed his hand into the mattress. He quickly lifted it off and watched as his imprint faded, nothing but joy slipped over his expression. Castiel looked at Dean again, his eyes bright and his mouth in an open smile. Dean felt like he might pull a muscle if he smiled back any harder, he put his hand over his mouth and slid it down to his jaw as an attempt to help it relax.

The next moments Dean wished he had recorded. Castiel leapt back onto the bed, cooing softly as he rolled around on the sheets and rubbed his face against them. For someone who only remembered the feeling of dirt, stone, and glass, the softness of a bed was probably insanely amazing. Cas upgraded to purring as he wound up entirely wrapped in the comforter, Dean saw feathers sticking out every which way, as well as Cas' legs squirming about.

He took out his phone and started filming, it was something he'd never be able to explain properly and something he might want to watch a few more times.

Cas pulled his legs in, now a ball of cloth with wings that shuddered in his pleasure with himself. His pride was obvious in the way he chatted within the confines of his new home, Dean wasn't sure how comfortable Cas' wings could really be but it was enough to keep him occupied.

A text came in after a few minutes of watching balled-up-Castiel do almost nothing but make noise. It was just one little phrase and had Dean excited to head back downstairs; pizza's here. "Hey Cas," he walked over to the bed and reached for the blanket, unsure of where to start but figured anywhere would be fine, "food's here, I know you're gonna love it."

Castiel peeked at him after he moved the covers, a very gentle glow came from his eyes and Dean recognized it as Castiel's safety. He was comfortable and felt safe, something that Dean never expected to see in the first hour or two of knowing him. Cas popped his head out and chirped at Dean, it sounded enthusiastic until Cas realized he couldn't quite get out of the blankets as easily as he'd gotten in. He growled and snarled at the comforter the more it got caught around him, that joy swiftly grew into panic and his eyes were almost nothing but light.

It was a moment of panic for both of them, Cas was such a strange concoction of human experimentation and there was no way of telling how dangerous he might be if he got too upset. "Shhh, shhh," Dean instinctively cupped Castiel's cheek and pet him soothingly, something he would try to do with a struggling pet and he knew it. That single thought made him feel like an awful person but he focused, instead, on calming Cas down. "It's okay, it's just a little stuck, I've got you." He whispered as he slowly convinced Castiel to stop wriggling and started unwrapping the blanket.

Cas watched Dean's face and held very still as he was freed by the same man another time that day. Cas' wings fluttered in their freedom and curled in against his back as he sat upright, never taking his eyes off Dean. He made a short whining sound, it was directed at Dean but the college student had no idea what Cas might've meant by it. He guessed it was some kind of 'thank you' or something by the way Cas was looking at him.

Castiel inched closer in small bursts until he was in Dean's personal space bubble again. "Uh, hi?" Dean leaned back slowly the closer Cas got but it wasn't enough unless he'd give in to falling over. Cas rubbed his cheek against Dean's affectionately, that subtle purr resonating from his throat again.

Dean laughed a little and couldn't resist pushing his cheek back against Cas', "You're welcome, now come on, let's go eat."

Castiel followed his lead like a lost puppy, more than excited to be wandering around new places. Dean couldn't wait to give him pizza, he had no idea what Cas was used to eating but he was certain it would be priceless. They descended the stairs to the first floor and walked through the main hall, Dean didn't know exactly where the food was but he was pretty sure it'd be that way.

"Yo! Where you guys at?"

"Follow my voice!" Jet called back dramatically and went right into reciting famous movie quotes until Dean walked into the room.

"Okay, okay! We get it," Dean moved to cover Jet's mouth but his friend dodged his attempt.

"Quite frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

Dean rolled his eyes, "You done?"

Jet grinned back at him, "Yeah," he trotted over to the fancy-ass table in the fancy-ass dining room and handed Dean his pizza box. I just seemed so right to do it that way, Dean couldn't help but appreciate the clashing lifestyles.

"Alright," Dean turned and looked at Cas who was already trying to sniff at his box, obviously the smell of food was strong regardless of what form it had taken. "This is pizza," he said in a dramatic reveal, opening the box with a flourish that Sam choked on his meal over. The rest of Dean's presentation was interrupted and promptly ruined as Castiel tried grabbing the pizza from every wrong angle. He managed to scoop up a piece and a half and started stuffing it into his mouth, kinda exactly like he had with the granola bars. It was a bit of a disappointment to Dean, not seeing much of a difference in Cas' reactions. Maybe that was because Cas was starving and anything that seemed edible was good enough for him.

Castiel licked his fingers clean and scooted right back to Dean's side, peering inside the box for more. Dean sighed and turned to Jet, "You ordered more than one pizza each, right?"

"Of course, what do you take me for?" Jet smirked and pat the small pile of boxes proudly, as if it were some impressive feat that he ordered that many.

"A lunatic, but thanks man." Dean offered the already partially gutted box to Castiel who looked a little surprised to receive the whole thing. He took it and pulled a handful of pizza from the middle, he lifted it to Dean with a shallow nod. While Dean thought it was sweet that Cas wanted to share, he wasn't too keen on taking the cheesy pile as it was.

But, just like when a child offers a fake phone and you answer it, Dean played along. "Thanks, Cas." He put his hand out to receive the gift, keeping his cringing to himself as it dripped down from his fingers.

Sam put his pizza down and watched his brother interact with such a different person than any of them had ever encountered. Castiel wasn't the only oddity in the building; a basement full of experiments and corpses was just below their feet. It spread across the entire estate and answered any questions about why MacLeod had needed so much land.

He was quiet while the others dug into their dinner until finally speaking up, "What do we do about the basement?"

Dean and Jet both paused, Castiel continued as if not hearing. "Well," Jet leaned back on the fancy dining room chair and propped his feet up on the table, "if we tell the police about it there'll be an investigation and I have no idea what they'd do about Cas. Since we're here now there'd be some questioning but I bet we'd get away just fine, probably lose the estate."

Sam chewed lightly on the inside of his cheek, "Do you think someone else knew about this place? Someone had to be setting up the food and cleaning the mansion, right?"

"Maybe, yeah," Dean shrugged, "But what does it matter now? I mean, I think we should look to see if there's anything else like Cas down there but the rest look like fuckin' monsters."

"I think I can figure out the computer down there," Jet looked over at Sam with an eyebrow wiggle, "With your help, of course."

"By that do you mean that I will figure out the computer and you'll take credit for it?" Sam glowered and Jet nodded.

"Exactly. I get the feeling an explanation about our little pet here is on that thing."

Dean bristled at the comment but wasn't sure if he was allowed to; Castiel wasn't a pet but Dean had treated him as if he were. Petting his head, using a tone of voice that most use with a beloved animal, Dean even felt like whistling and saying 'c'mere boy' when hunting for him. "Maybe…" he trailed off, second-guessing himself. If he didn't have enough conviction or strength behind his demands to treat Castiel as a person he felt that Jet wouldn't take it seriously.

"What's up?" Jet raised an eyebrow at him.

"Don't call him a pet, okay? Cas used to be a person like us, just because we don't know what happened to change him doesn't mean he wasn't."

The other two were quiet at first, Jet sat upright and put his feet back on the floor and leaned his elbow on the table as he looked at Dean more seriously. "Well that answers my question."

"What?" Dean couldn't turn off the defensive tone of his voice.

Jet grinned in a way that made Dean feel a little unnerved, like he knew something that Dean didn't. "I was just wondering how much you already had invested in him, which leads to my decision that we shouldn't tell any authorities."

"Dean's right about one thing," Sam looked over at Castiel who was busily trying to eat the pizza flavoured box, "Cas used to be just like us, which means he probably has family somewhere. I'll take a look at the computer when I can, though I'll have more time when school's done."

"Sounds good, take your time." Dean agreed and moved to take the box from Cas before he actually got away with eating cardboard. It was a little too late but at least Cas didn't managed to eat the whole thing. Dean opened another box, took a few slices and handed them over to appease Castiel's appetite. "I think he loves pizza."

Jet scoffed, "Everyone loves pizza."