Angel on Your Shoulder • A Destiel Fanfiction

Part Two • Coming Back

Castiel woke up. Through tear-blurred eyes, everything was so bright. Was this heaven? It couldn't possibly be. His eyes focused sharply on his environment, a modern...white office. How original. "Is anyone here?" He tried, echoing voice grating against his throat from disuse.

The noise of someone clearing their throat came from behind him, and Castiel spun on his heel and came face-to-face with...what looked like a balding businessman off of Wallstreet. A manila folder was tucked between the man's arm and his side, and knowing eyes bored right through Castiel. Without another glance in Castiel's direction, the man withdrew the folder and disappeared. An unfamiliar voice sounded from the desk behind Castiel, and he turned slowly.

"So," the man said, voice somewhat tinny, "Castiel Novak."

It would be pointless to ask how he knew his name. "Where am I?"

The man gave a long-suffering look to Castiel. "You already know. Heaven." He leaned back in his chair and spread his arms wide, looking pompous without really trying. "Really, this isn't all of heaven. This is heaven's...how would you humans say it," he spat the word out as if it tasted bitter, "...front desk. The only difference is that it's not, 'how can we help you,' it's how you can help us."

Castiel looked mildly uncomfortable. "You say 'human' like you're not, but with the things I've seen...saw," he corrected himself, "Lately, I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't. You do look human enough, though."

The balding man gestured to a chair that had appeared at some point in time at the front of the desk. "Sit, Castiel." The makings of an order laced his tone, and Castiel sat with some hesitation. The manila folder lay open on the desk, and words in a language Castiel couldn't understand decorated the pages inside. "I'm Zachariah." The man continued.

Castiel looked at him thoughtfully. "Like the angel."

Zachariah sighed and gave him yet another long-suffering glare. "Yes, just like the angel. Surely not all humans are this stupid."

"You're an angel?" Castiel questioned. Well, that certainly explained the whole 'human' thing. "But you look like-"

Zachariah held up a hand. "I'm well-aware of what I look like. This body is just a vessel. My true form would likely burn out your inferior human eyes."

Castiel ignored the insult to his humanity and gestured to the folder. "What's in there?"

"Inquisitive thing, aren't you. This," the angel held up the folder and opened it, "is you." His eyes scanned the writing. "You really had no one in the world, didn't you? Spoiler alert, I'm guessing, everybody you knew died. Some people just don't stay dead. Now, I know people say that 'everyone dies alone,' but my God, you really were alone. Not that I or anyone else cares."

"Well," Zachariah stood, snapping the folder shut, "I guess Daddy's rules are rules, even when he's not home."

Castiel stood as well, eyes level with the angel's. "What do you mean by that?"

Another folder appeared in Zachariah's hands, replacing Castiel's. It flipped open and Zachariah began reciting. "According to this, something about true believers being rare or something, blah blah blah..." The tip of his index finger hit a spot on the page. "There. Because you're a true believer, you get the glorious right of being a guardian angel. Don't ask me why, Daddy's rules. So, do you consent?"

Castiel's hands dropped to his sides. "Do I really have a choice?"

Zachariah smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "No, you don't. At least now you're asking the right questions. Anyway...I apparently have to clarify the rules and regulations, what you as a guardian angel can and can't do."

"Pray tell." Castiel muttered sarcastically.

"Your human body stays as your vessel, obviously, and because you're not as powerful as a regular angel, you don't have the ability to cloak your wings. Before you say anything else, you are invisible to everyone but your assigned human, and only they can hear you. Only manifest yourself when your charge is in danger or alone...ugh, right, and lastly, when your human is attacked, you'll know what to do. It's automatic." He finished, looking bored as...well, hell, and the folder snapped shut.

Castiel shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Wait, what did you say about wings?"

Zachariah waved a hand in dismissal. "This won't hurt," he snapped his fingers, "much."

Foreign objects appeared in Castiel's back, the feeling painful and uncomfortable as they split his skin and shirt and continued to grow. He fell to the floor and writhed there for what seemed to be forever, in too much pain to make a sound. After a minute, the pain ebbed away and something connected to him fluttered against the floor. His shoulder blades felt sore, and he slowly got up from the floor and was on his hands and knees. Something heavy weighed him down slightly.

After another moment's process, Castiel took the opportunity to look over his shoulder as far as he could. Massive black wings had sprouted from his shoulder blades, and they didn't weigh nearly as much as they should.

Zachariah clapped his palms together once. "Now that that's in order...you'll be watching over the..." he unfurled a slip of paper. "...elder Winchester brother. Shouldn't be too hard, you've met before. Now-" he mended Castiel's torn shirt with his mind. "-don't mess this up...the Righteous Man is the key to our victory against the devil. No pressure."

Light consumed the office and melted it away with an even brighter white color. Heaven faded from Castiel's view and he found himself in...a crappy motel room. Noise of a shower running emanated from the bathroom, and Castiel turned as the door to the room opened. Dean Wesson-no, Winchester-stood in the doorway, two bottles of beer in one hand and a box of pie in another.

"Honey, I'm home," he said sarcastically as he banged on the bathroom door. Something along the lines of, "yeah, yeah" from Sam came from the bathroom as water stopped hitting the tiles. Dean stopped and set the beer down on a counter.

Castiel made a small noise as his shoe scuffed the carpet. Dean whipped around and froze, evidently seeing him for the first time. Castiel cracked a small, lip-quirking smile in Dean's direction, who stopped and rubbed his eyes to clear his vision, like if he did that Castiel suddenly wouldn't be there. Dean cleared his throat and frowned. "That settles it, I must be crazy."

Part three coming soon, guys (like there are a lot of people reading this.) What do you guys think so far? This is shorter than I thought it'd be, for exactly 1,111 words.
See you later,

〜Kay