Angel on Your Shoulder • A Destiel Fanfiction

Part Three • Hidden in Plain Sight

*shrivels, dies, and slides down a wall* WOW, GUYS. A hundred plus reads?!?! And I reached 70 followers *fans self* (which is probably not a lot by other peoples' standards, but STILL. Thank you all ;u;

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"Did you say something?" Sam emerged from the motel bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist.

Dean made a disgusted noise and tossed him a pair of pants. "Go put something on, man. And I said that I must be crazy."

Sam retreated back to the bathroom with the article and continued to talk, out of view as he changed. "Why would you say something like that?" He came out fully clothed this time, wiping at his curtain or hair with a hand towel.

Castiel thought to say something to Sam, but realized that he wasn't able to see him unless he manifested...and oh, yeah, he couldn't since nothing was attacking Dean. He sighed loudly and sat on the bed, sensation slightly muted, watching Dean's reaction. It went from, why can I see that, to, oh my god it MOVED. Castiel smirked a little. He was going to enjoy making him as uncomfortable as possible.

Dean's eyes didn't leave him as he spoke to Sam. "You're telling me you can't see..?" Sam made a confused noise and gestured for him to go on. "...Cas right there?"

Castiel crossed his legs. He could see the bed beneath him, since his body was slightly transparent. "Oh, so I have a nickname now?"

Dean went red. Sam sighed. "Dean, I know you feel guilty, and we probably should have never let him come with us, but that ghost was going to get to him at some point. It's not like we knew it had a bone to pick with whomever was the resident teacher," he clapped a hand to his shoulder, "and you should stop punishing yourself. There've been people who we couldn't save before, so what makes this one any different?" He started walking over to the motel's counter.

Castiel called after him, knowing Sam wouldn't be able to hear. "That was slightly heartless, Sam, and as a dead person, I'm mildly offended."

"Well, he was young, had his whole life ahead of him, worked with kids, probably never would've died had we not showed up..." Dean muttered at the same time, the 'weirded out' look never leaving his face, and his eyes never leaving Castiel.

Sam made a sound like a beached whale from the kitchenette area. "Did you get any food?"

"Yeah, pie."

Another groan from the kitchen. "Dude, pie is not a healthy meal. At this rate, there are two things in life that are gonna kill you, and between demons and pie, pie is winning. I," Sam grabbed the keys to the impala from a sidetable, "am going to grab something healthy. You can go eat your box of diabetes." He sashayed out the door, locking it behind him.

Dean started speaking in a low tone. "Are you really here? Not just some hallucination I've made up in my mind?"

Castiel felt himself solidify, for lack of a better word. His skin wasn't transparent anymore, and he could feel sensations more. "Ah, I've 'manifested.'" Finger quotes. "No, I'm not a hallucination. Apparently, I'm now an 'Angel of the Lord.'" More finger quotes.

Dean let out a startled laugh. "What? Angels...that's not possible, they don't exist." He eyed the looming black wings attached to the other man suspiciously.

Castiel fixed him with a disbelieving look. "Yes, and I assume it's logical that ghosts and demons exist, but not angels? You wound me."

"Okay, well, let's say you're right. Let's say angels do exist. How are you..." Dean waved a hand in Castiel's general direction. "...here? What are you now? Are you possessing some poor bastard?"

Castiel looked down at his body. "No, this, this is my body. It is my vessel. And I am, not to sound cliché, a guardian angel...yours, to be precise." He smiled and tugged down the sleeves of his shirt. "Dying should've probably been a more jarring experience. I'm sort of underwhelmed."

Dean ran a hand through his hair. "So you did actually die? Did it...did it hurt?"

Castiel frowned, and after a moment's silence, said the same lie many parents tell their children to make them feel better. "It hurt a little. You really shouldn't blame yourself."

The elder Winchester looked away, a guilty look adorning his face.

The angel swung himself off of the bed, a springy creak issuing from below the mattress. Suddenly he was in front of Dean, the sound of feathers fluttering was slightly muted. Castiel's wings cast a tall shadow over both of them. Dean averted his eyes from Castiel and muttered embarrassedly, "Personal space, Cas."

Castiel stepped back and said sheepishly, "Sorry, I kind of just...willed myself here." Another pause filled with silence. "I need to tell you something," he started, tone sobered, "when I was in heaven, someone told me something."

Dean leaned closer to Castiel, features serious. "What did they say?"

"That you'd be instrumental in..." He thought for a moment, trying to remember. "The defeat of the devil." (SEE GUYS I'M GOING SOMEWHERE WITH THIS!!!!)

Dean scoffed. "Did you just say, 'the devil'? I'm sorry, but you can't possibly expect me to believe that that's real. There's already a shit-ton of evil in the world, with demons and wendigos and ghosts, trust me, I could go on. Now you're telling me the devil exists?"

Castiel nodded grimly. "So it's been said. I understand that you may not want to believe it, but this is something that can't be avoided. I'll help in any way I-"

The lock clicked in the motel room's door, and they spun around. Dean withdrew a wickedly sharp knife, and Castiel gave the door a glare of somewhat righteous fury and blinked out of existence.

I KNOW. It's shorter than the others by a bit. I was organizing the plot so I could figure out where I want to go with this. BOOM. You've all been summoned. Good night, or morning...or something.

〜Kay