Guardian-Destiel UA Prolougue

Prologue:
The first time I met him I was ten, and it was a chilly october afternoon, only days before Halloween. The houses in our neighborhood had pumpkins out and carved sitting on the pathways. Paper bag ghosts hung from tree branches and fake spider webs were strung in a tangle from one corner of the house to the next. Some of the lamp post light bulbs had been switched for colored ones and if you breathed out, a smoky cloud appeared and disappeared into the frigid air. I was taking Sammy to the park because he’d wanted to go and because I didn’t really want to be stuck in the house with Dad, listening to him growl and hearing the pop as yet another beer was opened. He was always such an asshole, and most definitely never sober, his words slurred the majority of the time when he spoke. Bending over, I picked up a fallen leaf from one of the towering oak trees planted evenly around the square park. I picked at it, pulling at the thin veins, sitting down on a bench so I could keep an eye on Sammy as he climbed all over the playground.

Most of the time he was more a pain in the ass than a friend but there were times, when I remembered he was all I really had. Dad treated him worse than me, and I was already treated like a racehorse, only good when I won something. So maybe I should take care of him myself, I remember thinking, as I weakly threw the oak leaf and picked up another one. Sam was rejected ever since Mom’s death those six years ago. I remember the night, barely- and when I tried to sleep it was emblazoned on my eyelids, a friendly reminder that everything was not okay.

Being as it was in his room he had found Mom in, Dad didn’t hesitate to blame Sam, like a six month old infant still laying asleep in his crib could do anything like that. I know the details, but I don’t like to talk about them. Her death involved the white-plastered ceiling, lots of fire, dripping red blood and a loss of a true explanation. I dug my nails through the leaf until they bit into my palm on the other side. There was one small and crucial fact Dad was missing about that night, however. After he told me to take Sam and run, after I was outside the smoking house, I saw a man standing on the porch, yellow eyes flashing once before he disappeared. It had been almost six years, and I still hadn’t told him anything of it. Mentioning Mom brought around the raising of his voice and his hand
.
I dropped the leaf, watching it fall to the sidewalk, the bruises on my left arm aching. With a groan I pressed my hand to them, trying to relieve the pain but only succeeding in making it worse. That’s when he showed up for the first time.

“Stop doing that. You’ll only make it hurt more.”

I jumped, a chill shooting up my spine. Even then I was hard to sneak up on. I craned my neck to get a look of who had spoken. He wasn’t that much older than me, maybe a year and a half at most and he was as tall as I was.

“Hey?” I said to him but glancing back to Sammy to see him swinging on the monkey bars.
“Hello.” He replied, taking his seat next to me on the bench. Like me, his toes barely reached the ground.

“Hi...” I was cautious because the lack of interaction my Dad had given me made it to where I didn’t know how to be a kid.

“Your arm hurts.” The boy said, and I got a better look at him. He had bright blue eyes and dark hair and looks like he’d never been in a fight before. I knew the type because I’m that one kid that throws a punch just because I feel like it. I put my hand to them, like I could make him unsee the blue and black splotches peeking out from under my sleeve. “Did you fall off your bike?”

Swallowing, I glanced at the piles of orange leaves littered around the yellowing grass. “No.”

“Oh.” We sat like that for a long time, simply watching Sam play before he started talking again. “My name is Castiel.”

“That’s a weird name.” I said, propping my leg up to tie my shoe. My laces were so frayed it took me over a minute.

“It’s my name nonetheless.”

“Got it.” I retorted, popping the gum in my mouth. “I’m Dean.”

“Hello Dean.” His eyes were watching me now, not my brother and I squirmed under his unwavering gaze.

“Aren’t you here to play?”

“No...I actually came here to talk to you.” There were long pauses as he talked, like he was deep in thought, or in some far off place. His eyes seemed a little dazed too, as he talked, like he was unsure of himself and his surroundings.

“Me?” Shifting I glanced at Sam, who was in the wood chips now, picking them up and gathering them into piles in a circle around him.

“Yes. I know you saw it.”

My voice caught, and I was afraid, no one knew what I knew and that was the only secret I had left to keep. “Saw what?”

“The yellow eyes, Dean. I don’t know how I know about this or why I have come here to talk to you, just that I am supposed to. I’m supposed to tell you that there was a man there, and he did have a major role in that night.”

I tripped as I stood up defensive, my heart pounding and head racing. “I didn’t see anything!”

“It’s real, Dean. You know it is.”

“Get the hell away from me! Sammy! We’re going!” Sam stood up quickly, not bothering to dust himself off and quietly starting his way back home. I glanced back at Cas, who sat on the bench in silence. “I didn’t see anything...Don’t talk to me again.”