Romeo and Juliet (Had Nothin' On Us, Babe.) Arc One

[c00kie]

The first time Dean Winchester meets Castiel, she falls out of a tree and crashes on him and his brand new bike. He’s eight, she’s seven. He takes it as well as any boy would when they realize their most precious possession has been ruined by a girl in curly pig tails.

"What the hell?" he yells, pushing her off into a pile of leaves beneath the tree so he can assess the damage.

Dean tries to bend the handle bars back into shape as she looms behind him. "You broke your bicycle."

Dean jumps three feet into the air. "No, you did!" He shouts, dropping the bike in frustration.

"What the hell where you doing up in that tree anyway?"

The girl picks a leaf off her sweater, “I don’t see how that’s any of your concern,” she says, “and don’t use the H word.”

"Whatever,” Dean closes his eyes in frustration, “you owe me a new bike.”

To his utmost surprise, she doesn’t argue with him. "Wait here," she orders before running across the yard into her house. Figuring she’s running away, Dean picks up his broken bicycle up and starts walking it down the sidewalk.

"Hey!" He turns around to see her running after him, leaves falling out of her unruly hair.

"This is all I have." Coins rattle inside when she shoves a pink piggy bank into his hands.

The pig is heavy but he can still hear the clang of coins inside, so it’s not completely full. Still, he’s surprised she’s just giving it to him.

"What's your name?"

She straightens herself out and sticks out a tiny hand, there’s dirt underneath her fingernails and a scrape on the inside of her wrist but when she speaks it’s formal, like she’s introducing herself to the Queen. “I am Castiel.”

Dean scrunches up his face. He’s never heard a name more ridiculous.

"Castiel?" he laughs,

"What kind of name is that?"

"It's after the angel of Thursday!" she starts after him, daring him to make fun.

"Yeah, that doesn't make it any better," Dean scoffs. "I'm Dean." He doesn’t tell her he was named after his grandmother, because really, what eight year old boy wants to admit that?

"Hello, Dean," she says with a slight nod of the head. Thinking the sooner he gets away from her, the better, Dean walks his bike home with one hand while carrying the piggy bank in the other, dreading what his dad will say as he walks up the driveway. His father's back’s turned away as he does maintenance on the family Impala. Slowly, as though sensing trouble, he stands up and turns around. Looking at Dean and then the bike, his lips turn down.

"I thought we talked about this," John Winchester says, wiping his hands off on a dirty rag,

"You're supposed to take care of your things.”

"I was!" Dean knows it’s bad to talk back to his dad, but it wasn't like it was his fault.

"Why is it broken then?" John asks, taking bike from Dean to assess the damage. When Dean doesn’t answer the question immediately, he asks again.

Slowly, Dean replies, looking down at his feet. "I was riding back from Victor's house and I stopped for just a second to tie my shoe and that's um, when it happened."

"When what happened?" John repeats, patient yet firm and Dean knows his dad won’t ask again and he’ll be in trouble.

Dean looks his father dead in the eye. "I was kamikazeed."

"Kamikazeed, huh?" John repeats blankly, scratching his beard. "By the Japanese?"

"Worse," Dean confesses. "A girl.” He thinks about it for a moment before adding, “It’d be better if it was the Japanese, ‘least they have cool swords.” Not to mention kick ass karate moves. Dean doubts Castiel has either of those things.

Dean’s not expecting his father to begin chuckling, but that's exactly what he happens. "I guess that explains the piggy bank,” pointing to the object in Dean’s hand. “Did you take that from her?”

"She gave it to me!" Dean claims, tucking it under his arm. “Fair and square.”

John shakes his head. “Sorry, son, but you're gonna have to give it back.”

"I know," Dean lets out a petulant sigh. “There’s probably not enough in it to buy a new bike anyway.”

"Come on, Dean,” John orders, putting the hood down and gesturing Dean to get inside the car while he puts Dean’s bike in the garage.

"What about my bike?" Dean asks worriedly looking at his favorite object in the universe as his dad gets into the car.

“We’ll think of something,” John promises and turns on the radio.

They don’t talk on the way to Castiel’s house except for Dean’s instructions on how to get there. He thinks about lying and saying he doesn’t know which house it is, but he also knows he’ll be caught and punished. When they park, John just looks at him until Dean opens his door and gets out; John following as Dean goes up the path to the front door.

John stands behind Dean while he nervously rings the door bell. The door swings open and a young, skinny black boy answers. He’s an inch or two taller than Dean, but Dean figures he has more weight on him so he can probably take him in a fight. He’s obviously older than Dean though by at least three years if Dean has to guess, so this may be an issue.

"Are you the kid who took Castiel's money?" the kid glares at Dean, not giving a damn his dad is standing behind him.

If there was one thing Dean hates, it’s being called a thief. Once, Victor thought he took his Fruit Roll Up and they didn’t speak for a week. "She gave it to me!"

Unfortunately, this turns out to be the wrong thing to say. The boy turns and yells, "Michael!

Gabriel!" and as quick as lightning, two boys came running down the stairs, right as Castiel comes from out of nowhere, playing catch with an apple. One boy is rather short and Dean thinks he might recognize him from school, and the older one could be the Incredible Hulk if it weren’t for the fact he’s not green. There’s no denying their resemblance to each other or to Castiel, though her hair is darker and curlier.

"What is it, Raphael?" the short boy asks. Behind them, Castiel waves to Dean and takes a bite of her apple. Unable to stop himself, he waves back.

"Dean," John says, nudging on Dean’s back with his hand, "Give the girl her pig."

“I don’t want it,” Castiel frowns, but the oldest brother shakes his head.

“Cas, we’ve talked about this,” he’s rather soft spoken for a giant.

“But Michael,” Castiel whine is muffled by her mouth full of apple.

Michael ignores his little sister’s pleas, turning to John and Dean. “I’m Sorry, Mr…?”

“John Winchester,” John replies, shaking the boy’s hand. “This is my oldest son Dean.”

“Hello,” Dean says politely trying to look anywhere but at Castiel, who’s staring at him like she’s trying to read his mind, and the short boy who keeps popping caramels into his mouth, seeming to take great pleasure in Dean’s discomfort. The black boy is also there, lingering and watching with a masked expression. He’s not even close to double digits yet and he’s already a dead man. Dean’s life officially sucks.

John, however, is laughing. “You’re Michael Paradis, I think my wife and I saw you play last week at the park. You’re very good. I tried to get Dean interested in baseball but he never went past Teeball.”

“Thank you sir,” Michael replies, eyes sparkling at the compliment, “This is my brother Gabriel.”

“Hiya,” Gabriel grins, tossing another caramel into his mouth.

Michael continues, “Our foster brother, Raphael,” the black kid nods, “and our sister, Castiel.”

“Hello, Mr. Winchester,” Castiel greets, politely putting her hand out for John to shake. John smiles down at the little girl as he envelopes her hand in his.

“Hello, Castiel,” John matches her formality and Dean can’t help but gape at the display.

“Here,” Dean puts the piggy bank on the in table. The sooner he gives it back, the sooner he can get out of there. “Can we go now, dad?”

“Michael, honey, have you taken out of the trash yet?” a sweet sounding woman asks, coming in from the sliding glass door leading out to the back yard. Seeing John, she stops and smiles.

“John!”

“Missouri,” John replies, striding over to give the woman a hug. “I thought this house looked familiar. We just came by so Dean could see Castiel.”

“Oh,” Missouri says, wiping dirt onto her apron. “I see. Well would you two like something to drink?”

“Iced tea if you have it,” John smiles, turning to Dean, “Dean, you can go play while Missouri and I catch up.”

“Let’s go to the park,” Raphael suggests, grabbing a catcher’s mitt off the arm chair and catching the woman’s eyes for permission. She gives him a sharp nod but gives Castiel a warning look.

“Don’t forget you’re grounded young lady, I know it was you who broke that window.”

“I don’t want to go to the stupid park anyway,” Castiel pouts for a moment before turning to Dean, “I have the latest Batman, would you like to see it?”

And that is how Dean ends up in Castiel’s bedroom, reading Batman with her while his dad chats with the woman downstairs. He’s never been in a girl’s room before, but it looks just like he thought it would, with purple walls and stuffed animals and a dollhouse in the corner. The only thing that makes it bearable are the comic books on her bookshelf and the action figures on her dresser and a George Brett poster on the wall. It’s actually a lot like Dean’s room, only with more clothes on the floor.

“So, you, uh live here?”

“Yes,” Castiel flips the page, “My brother’s and I are orphans and Missouri took us in when I was a baby.”

Dean doesn’t know what to say other than, “Oh.”

Thankfully, Castiel changes the subject quickly. “Now, Dean, if we’re going to be friends, there’s something I need to know.” Dean frowns. Friends? With her? He’s almost about to say ‘who says I want to be friends with you’ when she continues. “What’s your favorite baseball team?” She asks it like she’s asking a question of life and death.

“The Royals?” Dean answers, hesitantly.

“Me too!” she beams. “My birthday party’s this weekend, would you like to come?”

The last girl’s birthday party Dean went to was Lilith White’s and she’d thrown a tantrum about not getting the right colored pony, but there’s something about Castiel that makes him think this one will be different.

Dean is right, Cas’ party is different. For one thing, there are no ponies. However, there are a lot of kids from school, mostly from Cas’ class and her brothers’ friends. When Gabriel comes in wearing a black cape and a top hat, Cas demands he sit next to her while her brother pulls a white bunny out of the hat. After which, Castiel praises both the brother and the rabbit for a job well done. When a boy from Cas’ class comes and asks Dean if he wants to play with them outside, Dean follows them out and runs around, pretending to shoot zombies in the face.

“Your girlfriend is staring at you,” a kid named Duanne informs Dean. Dean stops, narrowing his eyes at the other kid.

“Shut up!” No way is Castiel his girlfriend.

“Don’t kiss her,” Duanne warns, “You’ll get cooties!” He takes Dean’s hand and starts drawing two overlapping circles with his finger nails, all the while saying the magic words,“Circle, circle, dot dot now you have your cootie shot.” Dean sighs, relieved. He’s safe now from girl germs.

“Dean and Castiel, sitting in a tree,” another kid sings songs, “K.I.S.S.I.N.G”

“Shut up!” Dean’s surprised when the words don’t come from his own mouth, but Cas’. She pulls on Dean’s sleeve. “Come on, Dean.”

He goes with her, partly because he’s tired and hot, but mostly because she’s not giving him a choice. It’s to his benefit though because it’s time for cake. All the kids gather around the dining table while Missouri brings out an cake shaped like the Batmobile, with eight yellow candles lit up.

“Make a wish, Casafras!” Gabriel urges, his rabbit, whose name Dean learns is Marshmallow, pokes his white head out from his jacket, nose twitching.

Castiel frowns at the flames, considering them as if her wish is a matter of life and death. Dean has a suspicion this might be a common theme with the girl. She takes a deep breath, blowing out the candles in one blow. Dean’s suitably impressed, most kids her size need at least two breaths to blow out every candle. Her brothers squeeze her into a hug, ruffling her already messy hair.

The cake itself is chocolate, with a layer of vanilla ice cream inside. When Cas’ devours hers and then eats two more pieces, Dean’s even more impressed.

After the cake, it’s time to open presents. Cas is ever diligent about opening her presents. She doesn’t waste time making sure the wrapping paper is taken off neatly, but she doesn’t rip into it either. She reads the cards, money quickly going into her piggy bank beside her. Actual presents are piled beside her carelessly until Raphael starts organizing them.

“Superman”?” she asks, holding the video up, glaring at the room.

“Oh!” a woman cheers, “I know how much you love superheroes!”

“Cas, say thank you,” Missouri tells her, but Cas just keeps glaring at the woman.

“Oh hey!” Michael claps his hands, “Open my present next,” he trades her his wrapped box for the Superman movie, hands it to Gabriel who hands it to Raphael who hides it out of sight while Cas opens her gift. It’s a Scarecrow action figure and judging by the way she jumps up and throws her arms around Michael’s waist, she loves it. Then she sits back down finishes opening up the rest of her presents.

Later, Cas is dancing her sugar high off with some of the other girls to Madonna while he and some of the other boys watch horrified on the couch, he takes the chance and asks her. “So you don’t like Superman?”
Castiel answers with a tight lipped, “No,” and she continues dancing.

Okay then, Dean thinks, jumping off the couch to get away before she makes him dance with her. This is good information to know.

When Dean’s mom picks him up most of the other kids have left and the only ones still there are Gabriel’s friends who’re all watching Gabe do card tricks. Dean thanks Cas for inviting him and despite his initial misgivings of her, tells Cas she should sit next to him at lunch.

“Aww,” Gabriel croons while his friends laugh alongside him. “Casafras has a boooooyfriend.”

“Shut up!” Dean and Castiel yell in unison. Further embarrassed, Dean runs out of the house and jumps into his mom's car as fast as he can.

Dean forgets that he invited Castiel to sit with them at lunch until she plops down next to him and opens her Royal’s lunch box. “Hello, Dean,” she says, “Hello, Dean’s friends.”

“Hi?” Victor guesses, giving Dean a ‘Who is this?’ look as he empties his brown paper sack. Castiel eyes his lunch.

“Would you like to trade sandwiches? I don’t like Turkey, and you’re not eating yours,” Cas notes, offering her lunch to Victor.

“I hate bologna,” Victor groans, making the trade. “I tell my dad all the time, but he keeps buying it.”

Cas’ eyes grow big and Dean thinks they might actually pop out. “I love bologna. Does he use miracle whip or mayo?”

Victor smiles brightly. “Mayo. Miracle Whip is stupid.”

Dean can’t believe it. His two friends are bonding over sandwiches. “Hey,”

Dean says, feeling left out, “I like sandwiches.”

“What is your favorite sandwich?” Cas asks, in the same voice she used to ask what his favorite baseball team is.

Dean thinks about it for a moment before deciding. “Ham,” and he doesn’t miss the pitying look Victor and Cas share. He doesn’t care though, they can keep their stupid sandwiches.

“Hey, guys,” Dean’s other friend, Chuck says as he puts down his tray containing that day’s selection of cheese pizza. “Oh, Hi, Castiel,” he squeaks. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come to your party, I had to go to go visit my gramma in the nursing home.”

“Hello, Chuck,” Castiel nods in his direction.

“You guy’s coming over?” Dean questions the group with his mouth full of potato chips.

“Sure,” Chuck says, wiping ketchup off his mouth.

Victor shrugs, poking his straw into his chocolate milk. “I’m in, bro.”

“I would be delighted, Dean,” Castiel makes it sound like he’s invited her to a tea party. She’s probably the kind of girl who has tea parties. She better not make him have a freaking tea party. Seriously, why does she talk like that? He’d ask, but then their teacher announces it’s time to put their trays up and get in their respective lines.

Castiel doesn’t make any mention of tea when they get to Dean’s house. Instead they play Ghostbusters and search for Ectoplasm and Dean quickly learns that Castiel makes an excellent Egon to his Dr. Peter Venkman. It’s weird having a girl in the group, but she somehow manages to fit.

It becomes standard that Cas goes home with Dean in the afternoons. Mary greets them both with hugs and afternoon snacks consisting of apples and peanut butter. Dean licks the peanut butter off all the apples and gives them to Cas. Then they both read to Sam, which turns into an argument about how one should react say a cat wearing a hat shows up at your doorstep.

“I say you shoot it,” Dean makes a gun with his fingers, “bang!”

“You can’t shoot a cat, Dean,” Cas glowers, pointing her finger at him,

“That’s animal cruelty.”

Dean snorts. “Please, it’s a walking, talking, cat wearing a hat. That’s no ordinary cat, Cas! It’s probably a werecat!” Dean watches a lot of old movies with his dad, so he knows about these things okay?

It’s Sam who ends the arguments by pointing to the book and ordering them to, “Read!”

After they play with Sam, or more accurately Sam gets bored of their arguments and goes to play with his toys, they watch TV. This is the part that’s dangerous because one minute they will be sitting on the opposite ends of the couch, and the next they will be side by side, snuggled up beside each other. Dean should protest, kick Cas away, something, but the truth is he kind of likes being close to her. Almost always, they end up curled up side by side, fast asleep while Scooby Doo runs from this week’s ghost. Mary puts a blanket over them and snaps a picture for her scrapbook.

“Do you want to play house?” Castiel asks. Sam’s down for his nap and Dean’s mom is on the phone. Victor’s grounded and Chuck has a dentist appointment, so it’s just them.

Dean shrugs. “Sure,” he’s bored enough to do about anything. Playing house doesn’t seem too bad. “Um, so what do we do?”

“Well, you can be the mom and I’ll be the dad,” Castiel explains, “and I will go to work and bring home the bread while you stay home with the babies.”

Dean regards Castiel with great skepticism, “I think it’s supposed to be the other way around.”

“If you say so,” Castiel replies, “We will play it your way. You’re the dad, I’m the mom.”

Dean’s still not sure about this, but at least she’s not lecturing him.

“Got it.”

They stand, both waiting for the other to actually do something. Finally, Castiel huffs indignantly.

“You’re supposed to kiss me.”

Dean really should know better. Of course Castiel would want to play a game that resulted in them kissing. All girls are evil and want to infect innocent boys like him with their germs. Next thing, she’ll want to hold hands on the bus.

“Do you not want to kiss me?” her bottom lip sticks out and she starts staring at him with big eyes. Dean tries as hard as he can to resist, but somehow Castiel has this ability to make him do whatever she wants. It would be so much easier if he could just hate her, but she’s like a puppy. It’s impossible. So, Dean throws his hands up in the air.

“Fine, I’ll kiss you!”

She beams, making his stomach flutter slightly. Her eyes close and her lips stick out like a fish which makes her look kind of silly but instead of laughing, Dean starts to lean down to just get it over with.

Castiel’s eyes snap open. “Wait!”

Startled, Dean jumps back. “What?”

“We have to get married first!” She says it the same way his mom does whenever they go out and she remembers she left her curling iron on.

Dean’s not sure he follows her train of thought. “We do?”

Castiel rolls her eyes in exasperation, “Yes. That’s what you do when you’re a grown up. You get married, you kiss, and then you have babies.”

“Babies?” Dean asks in a weak voice. Next time they were so going to play Ghostbusters. Dean likes playing Ghostbusters. Hunting ghosts, now that sounds like a good job. None of this crazy baby business. “Fine, we’ll get married but make it quick, Ninja Turtles is going to be on soon.”

She turns and looks at the time, “You have to propose. Get down on one knee and ask me to marry you.”

“Do I have to?” Dean whines. He’s just glad no one else is here to see this. If Chuck or Victor were here, his life would be over.

“You’re the one who wanted to play the dad,” Castiel reasons with a shrug.

Sighing, Dean bends down on one knee like he’s seen in those romantic movies his mom is always watching. “Will you marry me?” he asks, bored. Then he stands up because being on one knee’s painful. He’s never doing that again.

Castiel’s hand flies to her mouth, “Oh, Dean! of course I’ll marry you!” She throws her thin arms around him in a quick hug. Dean blushes from the top of his head to the bottom of his neck.

“Now for the wedding! I’ll do it because you’ll mess it up,” Castiel informs him and Dean shrugs. “Do you take me in sickness and health, for richer or poor, in the seasons of the sun, amen?”

Dean’s pretty sure that’s not how it goes, but he agrees nevertheless. “Um, sure.”

“Okay, and I also take you, Dean, in sickness and health, for rich or poor, in the seasons of the sun, amen.”

“Awesome,” Dean declares. “Are we done? It’s starting.”

Castiel nods happily. “Yep!”

Awhile later they were sitting on the sofa, watching the Turtles fight Shredder’s horde when Castiel pecks him on the cheek. Once again, the flutters in Dean’s stomach appear, this time not going away as she cheers the Turtles on.

“You kissed me.” He’s torn between wanting to go wash it off and staying where he is and sputtering like a lunatic. He decides to go with the latter.

Castiel doesn’t even so much as glance at him, “Yeah, and?”

“And, and, you kissed me!”

This time, she does look at him, “I told you, Dean. Kissing is what married people do!”

“Oh,” Dean says, not at all comfortable with her answer. “Wait, how long are we gonna be married for?”

She rolls her eyes. “It’s until we die, Dean. Everyone knows that.”

This time Dean’s strangely appeased, because at least he knows how long he’s in for. Besides, he can think of worse girls to be married to, like Lilith. “Oh, okay. Wanna play Ghostbusters after this?”

She smiles. “Sure. I get to be Egon.”

Now, if anyone asks, Dean’s very quick to say Victor’s his best friend, but fact of the matter is when all is said and done, aside from Sammy, there’s no one more important to him than Castiel and that scares the crap out of him. He’s nine now and nine year old boys shouldn’t have these warm fuzzy feelings for a girl. He shouldn’t want to be around her all the time and he shouldn’t be sad when she has to go home and he especially shouldn’t be thinking she’s kind of pretty with her curly pig tails and her big blue eyes. So he pushes his feelings down, pretends they don’t exist. Only it doesn’t work out because despite all her quirks, Cas has somehow gotten under his skin.

Unfortunately for him, it comes out in this stupid need to protect her. Someone so much as teases or looks at her the wrong way, Dean’s ready to fight them with insults and maybe even his fists if it comes down to it.
And that’s why he’s currently sitting in his bedroom waiting for his dad to come home from the police station. He’s got cut lip and a bruised ego, all because some older kid said Cas was weird. Looking back on it Dean knows what he did was stupid because, well, Cas is weird. She’d rather play with Batman toys instead of My Little Ponies and she doesn’t own a single Barbie and she stands way too close and uses really big words and looks weird and is weird. But it didn’t mean the boy had to say it.

He hears the front door open and instantly tenses. He’s not afraid of his dad, not at all, it’s just the last thing he wants is for his dad to be disappointed in him. Dean hears his mother’s voice, muffled by the door and the stairs, but Dean knows she’s telling him. He expects John to come up and start yelling, but instead he waits. And waits, and waits. In the meantime Dean gets bored and does his homework, and after that’s done, he starts doodling in his notebook. Drawing is just something he kind of does whenever he’s bored or anxious. He likes doing it, likes creating characters from his imagination. He becomes engrossed with his current drawing of a man who looks suspiciously like his dad killing a werewolf when his door opens and John steps in.

“Dean.”

Dean drops his pencil down and stands up with his head hanging down. “Dad.”

“Well,” John says, “Let me take a look at you.”

Dean raises his chin at his father’s order and John steps closer, peering at Dean’s injuries. “Alright, tell me what happened.”

Dean reiterates the story as best he can. “A kid called Cas weird.”

John frowns. “You call Cas weird twice a day.”

Dean knows that, but when he does it’s not meant as an insult. “It’s not the same.” He thinks he sees a hint of a smile on John’s face but it leaves as John shakes his head as he sits down on Dean’s bed and pats the space beside him. There’s not a lot of space on Dean’s bed due to his father’s large frame, but somehow he manages to squeeze in.

“Now, I’m supposed to ground you and make you run around the block two times like usual, but between you and me, I’m proud of you.”

Dean doesn’t know what to say to that. “You…are?”

John somehow makes his laugh turn into a cough. “Yes, well, don’t tell your mother,” he stands, rubbing his hands on his jeans. “Was Castiel okay? The other boy didn’t make her cry did he?”

“No.” He’s not going to admit that Castiel yelled at him the whole way home.

Dean still has to run around the block two times and he gets grounded for three days which sucks because it means he has to stay home alone after school and he can’t go to his friend’s houses and they can’t come over. He also has stay inside at recess and write lines. He doesn’t though. Instead he draws his teacher as a witch and watches Cas play with Chuck and Victor out the window.




Cas is sleeping soundly in her bed when her brother Gabriel runs in and jumps on top of her. “Snow day, Cas! Wake up, we’re going sledding!” Upon hearing her brother’s words, Cas shoots up like lightning and begins to search for her snow outfit. Every year when it snows, the Paradis siblings get dressed, eat a big breakfast consisting of hot oatmeal with maple syrup stirred in, gather their sleds and go find the highest hill they can.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Missouri bellows as soon as Michael opens the door. The four kids still, afraid to move. “I have expressed my feelings about you taking your sister with you on your foolish adventures.

You, miss, are staying here.”

“But Missouri,” Cas whines, “I want to go!”

The foster mother snatches Cas’ sled away from her. “I said no.”

“We can still go, right, ma?” Raphael asks, the other boys staring eagerly for permission.

“Yes, be careful,” Missouri grants it, ushering the three boys out of the house while Cas glares at Missouri. Seeing this the woman simply shrugs.

“I’m not changing my mind. You are staying home today. I don’t want you catching cold. Remember last year when you caught pneumonia?”

“Gabriel had pneumonia, too, and you let him go.”

Missouri refuses to concede Castiel’s point though. “Take off those clothes, you’re going to die of the heat.”

“Good, then I won’t have to be around you,” Castiel crosses her arms and sulks.

Missouri’s exasperation shows. “Child.”

“Sorry.” What’s the point in having brand new snow boots if you can’t even wear them? Cas stomps up to her room and stares out her window forlornly at all the kids playing outside, building snowmen, forts and having snowball fights. There’s even the weird blonde kid who lives down the street who makes peculiar looking snowmen he calls art.

She imagines her brothers trekking up the hill with their sleds, the snow getting into their boots but not caring because they’ve put on four pairs of socks each. Eventually, they’ll get to the top of the hill and will take the time to look around, to enjoy the moment. Gabriel will try to catch a snowflake with his tongue while Michael and Raphael make snowballs. Then Michael and Raphael will pelt Gabriel but it’ll be okay, because he’s the master of snowball fights. The three will run around the top of the hill, throwing snowballs at each other, laughing.

“I wish Casafras was here,” Gabriel will say in an extremely over dramatic tone and Michael and Raphael will agree, cold tears streaming down their faces at not having her there.

Then, one by one, they will get on their sleds, stare down at the abyss below and will take off.

After they land, they’ll do the whole thing over again.

All the while Castiel sits at home, locked in her bedroom like Rapunzel.

Briefly, Cas looks in her mirror and wonders if she has enough hair to climb down with. Only problem with her plan though is her hair doesn’t grow down so much as it grows out and up in giant frizzy curls. One thing’s for sure, Cas isn’t staying locked away like some fairy tale princess. Cas is a Paradis and Paradis’ are warriors. At least, that’s what Michael says and he’s usually right.

She just needs to strategize. She can’t sneak out the front door as Missouri’s currently on the couch watching “Miracle on 34th Street.” She can’t leave through the back door either for the same reasons. Going out from the bottom floor’s not an option. Acknowledging this, Cas quickly redresses into her snow outfit and opens her window. Cool winter air blasts her face and Cas pulls down her knit hat over her ears, straightens her gloves and nods seriously at the outside world before climbing out the window.

Climbing down is a lot harder than she thought it would be, due to the slickness of the snow, but all she has to do is ask herself, “What would Batman do?” Her fear dissipates, becoming something else entirely; a need to make her favorite character proud.

As soon as she drops to the ground, Cas stills, sure that Missouri is going to open the door and shout at Cas to come inside. She counts to five and then takes off running.

Sure enough, when Cas arrives at their hill, Raphael is flying down the hill so fast his sled isn’t even touching the ground, screaming at the top of his lungs. As soon as he reaches the bottom he goes flying off his sled and crashes into a snow bank. Then he stands, putting his fist in the air. Up top, Michael and Gabriel holler and high five.

“What are you doing here?” Raphael asks as he picks up his sled.

“I snuck out,” Castiel tells him and he narrows his eyes.

“You’re going to get into trouble.”

“I don’t care,” Castiel shrugs. “Let her ground me. I want to fly.”

Gabriel’s already coming down when she and Raphael start walking up the hill. Just as she fantasized, the snow gets into her boots and gloves, chilling her fingers and toes but she doesn’t care because soon she’s standing on the top of the world.

“Missouri is going to ground you into the next century,” Michael informs Castiel, but he’s putting her on his sled while he says it, so she can tell he’s not mad.

It’ll be worth being grounded, Cas decides as soon as Michael kicks the sled and Cas is sent down the hill, clutching the sides of the sled, freezing air slamming into her face. The ride seems to last for an eternity, or maybe time stops, because in that moment, she’s happier than any other time she can think of, except for when she’s with Dean. Years from now, she’ll decide this is what being in love is like.

They get in a few more rides before the sun starts to set and it’s time to go home. As soon as they walk in the door, Missouri shoos Cas up to the bathroom to take a hot bath and starts in on Michael and Raphael for not bringing her home. Missouri feeds Cas soup that night like she’s trying to curb an illness that hasn’t happened yet and starts feeling Cas’ head every five minutes.

“Go to bed,” it’s only seven. As she leaves the table, she wonders if she’s Tiny Tim and if she needs to start walking around with a crutch. Cas doesn’t go to bed like instructed though. Instead she puts in Legend of Zelda and starts trying to beat her high score. Gabriel comes in, dressed in his Star Wars footie pajamas.

“I’m gonna borrow Spiderman, kay?”

Because he’s respectful when it comes to comics and he didn’t try to send her home, she gives him permission. Gabriel chooses one seemingly at random, sits next to her and starts reading. He’s closest to her in age, and they get along best so there’s nothing strange about this. She’s too worried that Michael’s in trouble because of her to concentrate on her game.

“Is Michael mad?”

“How could you tell?” It’s true Michael can be kind of a grump, but still he’s never actively been mad at her. Cas orders Gabriel not to touch her controller and runs to the room he and Raphael share.

“I’m sorry.”

Michael puts down his book and pats the space beside him, “Come here.” Cas climbs the ladder and curls next to her big brother. For a teenager of considerable size and strength, he’s got the most peaceful presence Cas has ever known. “You want me to read to you?”

Cas shrugs, “Sure.” She can finish Zelda later. Michael picks his book back up, “Alright, so this is Mohammad Ali, the greatest boxer of all time.
Don’t let anyone try to tell you otherwise.”

“I won’t,” Castiel promises and Michael starts reading.

The road crews clear up the snow and what’s left all but melts the next day, which means school isn’t canceled. Missouri makes her wear a turtle neck, a sweater, a coat, as well as a pair of thick pants and her puffy gloves, hat and scarf. By the time she and Gabriel walk to the bus stop, she’s boiling up.

“She just doesn’t want you getting sick again, Casafras,” Gabriel says, helping her pull off her coat.

“You were sick too and she doesn’t make you wear all these clothes!” Cas stares at her brother like this is all his fault.

“I dunno,” Gabe shrugs, “Maybe I’m a superhero.”

“What’s your ability then? Watching television and eating candy?”

“Better than most,” and Castiel has to give him that. “Speaking of candy, want anything?” he asks, opening his Incredible Hulk backpack up, revealing what’s probably more candy then most kids get on Halloween. Cas take a few pieces of candy, some chocolate bars and a grape flavored lollipop for her, some peanut M&M’s for Dean and some other miscellaneous candy for the rest of her friends. She puts most of the candy in her own bag, unwrapping the sucker to eat while they wait for the bus to arrive.

“Hey, I want some!” a kid Castiel doesn’t know exclaims and one by one,
every other kid at the stop is pleading at Gabriel for candy.

Gabriel cocks his head thoughtfully, “What’s in it for me?”

“How ‘bout you give me all your candy and I won’t slam my fist in your face?” the much taller boy leans into Gabriel’s personal space and to anyone else it would be intimidating, but Gabriel just sort of smirks.

“Aren’t you the kid who was held back two years in a row? That must suck, being that stupid.” By some miracle, the bus arrives at that moment and the bully isn’t able to respond. This can only be a good thing since he’s the kind of bully who responds with his fists for lack of anything to say.

Castiel shakes her head and steps onto the bus. Dean’s already on it with a backpack in the seat next to him. She waves, standing behind four other kids, two of whom ask Dean if they can sit beside him. As soon as Cas makes it over, he lifts up his bag and lets her sit. Gabriel takes the seat behind them and leans over the seat, crossing his arms.

“Hey, Deano,” Gabriel pokes at Dean who swats his hand away, “You wanna help me kick that kid’s ass?”

“What’d he do?” Dean asks, looking over the seats at Zachariah.

It’s Cas who answers, giving Dean his bag of peanut M&M’s. “He tried to bully Gabriel into giving him his candy.”

Opening the bag, Dean shoots Gabriel a look. “You want to beat up someone because he stole your candy?”

Cas corrects him. “Tried.”

Dean regards Gabriel with shake of the head. “Yeah, no.”

Gabriel huffs. “What if I told you he was mean to Cas?”

Dean instantly turns his head to her. “Was he?”

She’ll admit, she loves when he gets protective over her. But alas, she isn’t going to lie to Dean just so Gabriel can give the bully his comeuppance for something he didn’t even do. “No.”

Dean shrugs then and Gabriel who huffs and leans back in his seat. “So what’d you do yesterday?” he asks Cas.

“Oh you should have seen it!” Gabriel exclaims, forgetting about Zachariah for the time being. “It was so cool. So we were going sledding right? But Missouri’s all ‘oh no! Castiel can’t go because she’s too precious,”” Cas rolls her eyes, even though it’s not a bad impersonation, “and so she’s sent to her room right? So what does little sis do?” He doesn’t give Dean the chance to guess, “She climbed out the window! You should have seen it, Deano.”

“You didn’t see it,” Cas reminds him.

“True,” Gabriel admits, sitting back to talk to another kid. Castiel leans back in her seat, placing her hands in her lap and Dean bumps her with his shoulder.

“What did you do yesterday?” she asks, smiling back at him.

“Not much,” Dean admits, “Built an awesome snow family, but all’s left is their heads. You want a ring pop?”

Castiel smiles broadly as Dean gives her a grape ring pop from his bag. “Thank you, Dean,” she says, taking his hand in hers. He stares at her hand for a minute before shrugging and squeezing it back.

Someday she’s going to marry this boy for real.



Arc Two