PATHCHING UP A WOUND

( CHAPTER ONE ! )

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"Dean Winchester is saved."

Castiel's voice rang inside his head. His brother's words was the only thing he had been waiting for the past six months on earth, inside a human vessel. It was time to extract his grace and finally become human since his visiting Dean's dream had been done and dusted.

It was an important day. The day he would meet with Dean Winchester, officially, that is.

It would be the first time they meet for Dean but for Nathaniel... He had known Dean for years. The strong headed hunter had been his missions for decades and he had been observing him, watching without interfering, studying his motions, his habits, and quirks; learning his drives, the things that made Dean Winchester angry, the things that made him sad, the things that gave him courage.

From the start of their creations, humans had puzzeled him. He was drawn to their habits, their culteres, their ugly wars and their beautiful art pieces. He had watched and walked among humans for centuries, usually not appearing to the human eyes. He had watched Dean Winchester, too.

Nathaniel knew him too much perhaps, but only technically. Figuring out a human was not that easy since they always found a way to surprise him. Just when he thought they had learned something they did the same mistake, just as he thought they would give up they found a way. They were intriguing, to say the very least. He liked a little challenge and meeting Dean would be the next thing he would have to tackle.

So far, everything was going according to the plan. He even had a car a now, a ford mustang '67. His base for picking up a car was, of course, to get attention from Dean but over time he had grown to enjoy his car. The navy blue shade was pleasing to his eyes and reminded him of big oceans and clear skies at a sunset. It was the first thing he actually owned in his pretend life as a human.

He drove over to the gas station he knew Dean would be at and he was almost excited (was this excitement? He was tapping the staring wheel. Normally, he didn't have nervous ticks nor he got nervous, not really.) to be the first face Dean would see after his time down in hell. Nathaniel would be the first person to anchor him and he wanted to become the pivotal person in Dean's life. Being an important person to one of the most important men to ever walk the earth would be a leverage. A much needed upper hand for an upcoming war. Every other angel and demon might've thought that it was a part of the mission and they would be right, but it was his mission only.

He had extracted his own grace for this, carved protection spells inside his vessel's bones, just to stay under the radar of other angels. That left him vulnerable to danger but he hoped it would be worth it in the long run. The act of it alone was dangerous since Castiel and Uriel were assigned to Dean Winchester as well and he didn't want to go against them. Castiel was a good soldier and Uriel was a ruthless angel that would put his mission first against anything. He was risking too much with his plan, he didn't have any room for mistakes.

Nathaniel left his car with confidence. The reflection on the car's mirror was identical to a human's and in all honesty, he was growing to like his vessel. His dark jeans that were a bit tight and the light pink shade of his v neck shirt stood out through his black jacket.

One day he wished to understand the concept of clothing better, for now, he would have to stick to plain things to blend in.

He took a deep breath (human's had to do it too many times a day, even after spending months without his grace he still found it odd whenever he became self-aware of it) and brushed his dirty blonde hair back. It was the time to play his part.

The way he jogged; anyone would think that he was rushing to somewhere in panic. His long slender legs took large steps to the gas station every step he took was followed by the sound of glass shattering. Nathaniel could always count on Castiel for doing the expected and he almost wanted to laugh. Being a human was starting to get under his skin.

He pushed the door open, it was partly broken and a small piece of glass pierced his skin and he gasped in surprise. His skin was so fragile right now but he didn't mind the small pain as his eyes scanned the room, to see Dean Winchester crunching down with his head in his hands in a pile of broken glass.

"Oh god, are you okay?" His boots created crunchy sounds as he took a few steps forward. His eyebrows were raised and his lips were pursed in concentration- he was getting the hang of acting worried.

The hunter raised his head in surprise, he was startled by the voice and as their eyes met, Nathaniel saw some kind of recognition. Visiting him in the dream had turned out to be useful after all.

"I'm good-" The man started but as he tried to get up while his eyes were still on Nathaniel and wide open, his lips parted with surprise, he tripped and fell forward. He was able to stop himself from crushing head first to the floor with his hands hitting the floor first. "Fuck!" He exclaimed as little pieces cut into his palms and fingertips.

Nathaniel rushed over to Dean's side and hovered over him as if he was hesitant to touch. And he was, on a level, Dean and affection didn't mix much. Always on the road had taken a toll on the man's soul; he was hard around the edges and getting intimate with someone was almost not even an option to him.

Actually, Nathaniel could relate. (it was odd that he was starting to see similarities between himself and a human.) They were both raised as soldiers. They both lived their whole lives to reach their father's expectations and felt like the unwanted son through it all. If Nathaniel was a human, he would feel a sympathy towards the man.

Despite the hesitant act he grabbed Dean by his elbow to help him up, trying to keep the man at arm's length to not irk him from the start. Thankfully Dean didn't react by pushing him away or doing something obnoxious like throwing a punch, he was a Winchester after all.

"You're bleeding."

"Well, aren't you an observant one," Dean's low voice and clear irritation that was laced with it almost made him smile and he slightly ducked down, but the movement was lost to Dean. He took the silence as a sign that Nathaniel was offended. He let out a sigh. "Sorry, man. It's just..."

"A rough night huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

Nathaniel was still holding on to Dean's elbows, He wanted just to see the man squirm, he was testing the waters here. His sign came as the sound of Dean clearing his throat and Nathaniel blinked as if he had just realized that he was still holding on and took a step back.

"I was about to fill my tank up when I heard the crash sound," he began to explain with his eyebrows drawn close, didn't continue just to see the excuse Dean would give him.

Dean was looking at his bloodied hands, there were some cuts on his knees too. "I have no idea what just happened here. It's freaky."

Huh. Sometimes the simplest way to get away was to use a simple lie. It was fascinating.

"I don't want to repeat myself but you're still bleeding and I have a first aid kit in my car."

As he suspected Dean was hesitant to accept his offer. His eyes had this glossy look, for brief moments he looked as if he didn't belong to this reality. Seeing that much pain and causing that much suffering must have messed with his concept of reality. Small cuts were nothing compared to what he went through in hell.

Nevertheless, Dean excepted his offer and the two exited the store side by side.

"Woah! Sweet ride."

Nathaniel smirked as his finger moved on the trunk lit. "I know. She is very dear to me. If you bleed in my car, I might make sure you bleed more outside of it."

Dean snorted, a smile appearing on his face. It was the best thing about humanity, whatever happened in their lives they were able to smile at the smallest things. After everything he went through, the hunter was still able to find the will to smile at a stupid joke. "It's not a joke, man. It is a touchy subject," Nathaniel kept going, he wanted to see a bit more of this relaxed sight.

"Okay, okay," Dean raised his hands in surrender and flinched simultaneously. He had forgotten about his injury for a moment there.

Nathaniel opened the truck and got his first aid kit. Opening the back door, he gestured for Dean to sit down and he did after a pause, his legs stayed on the ground and he kept his hands on his lap. He was actually being careful not to stain the couch with his blood, cute.

Nathaniel opened the first kit and started choosing that he needed as he explained himself a little. "I'm a doctor. Well, I'm a psychiatrist but I studied medicine for years until I choose my medical degree so you can relax." It was a well-crafted lie since he had been reading about human philosophy, psychiatry and psychology for a while now. Without his grace, he probably couldn't perform an open brain surgery but patching up a wound was easy. "I'm Nathan by the way."

The man was staring at his face while he was working so when he raised his chin to meet with his gaze he was embarrassed to be caught. He averted his gaze and after a brief pause, it seemed that the did everything with thinking it through first, he answered. "Dean."

Nathaniel was pleased that he was trusting him enough to give him his real name.

"May I?"

Dean simply nodded, looking down on Nathaniel's open hand. He placed his right hand in his, the back of his hand fitting inside his palm. For a tall man, Dean's hands weren't that large but Nathaniel's vessel had big hands with long fingers. Without losing time he started picking up the pieces of broken glass with tweezers. Dean didn't make a sound, just observed.

"How old are you? You seem a bit young to have your medical degree."

"I'm older than you'd think," Nathaniel replied. Telling the half-truth was a great way to deceive someone. His vessel had been twenty-six years old at most when he had offered himself to Nathaniel.  "Also, I'm a fast learner."

He looked down on Dean's through his lashes and smiled before returning to his work.

It took roughly ten minutes to pick up the glasses, wipe his hands clean and patch it up. They made small talk, Nathaniel had asked questions to keep Dean talking to open up him about the things Nathaniel knew he liked. Mostly music and cars but the way Dean seemed to speak more an more eagerly showed that he was relaxing.

However, he still tensed as Nathaniel dropped to his knees to do the same routine for Dean's knees. Nathaniel realized that he had moved too fast from the way Dean froze in mid-sentence, his eyes going wide with his pink lips parting. "I should check your knees too. Can you roll it up?"

He pretended not to pick up on Dean's discomfort.

"Why are you doing this?"

His voice wasn't cold or accusing. Dean Winchester wasn't used to gentle touches and kind offers. He didn't think he deserved it, the guilt in his voice told a lot to the angel. Nathaniel looked up, stared at him right in the eyes and for the first time in this mission, he just saw a broken man instead of a powerful weapon.

"Why are you letting me?" He said softly with a slight tilt of his head, it was the first genuine question he had asked him. Dean leaned over, started rolling up his pant's cuff. He didn't wear tight jeans so it wasn't hard to do. Nathaniel wished he had his grace just to know the things that were going through the Winchester's mind. "You need help, clearly. And despite the fact that I think you're overall sketchy with the little-shattered glass incident, for some reason I don't think you're a serial killer or anything."

He waited for his words to sink in. He had kept his voice soft and understanding and after a pause, he continued. "It's as if we've-"

"We've met before."

The forgotten dream of Dean's had its impact then. Nathaniel smiled coyly, his hand lingering on Dean's leg for a while. This time it wasn't deliberate and he tried to recover by going back to pick up the glass and once he was done, he tried to clean the pants as well.

"I don't know how to repay you dude, I..." Dean started but was cut off by Nathaniel.

"Don't even mention it. Will you be able to get home safe?"

As if he was in on a secret, he was quirking an eyebrow a little. Dean avoided his gaze and his face hardened at the mention of a home. "I can manage on my own after this."

Nathaniel rolled his eyes exaggeratedly and pulled out his valet from the inner pocket of his leather jacket. Dean started to protest, and that was easy to guess so Nathaniel gave a small amount, enough to get on a bus. "Wait for a second, please." He returned back to the car and grabbed a piece of napkin and a pen.

He wrote down his number while Dean watched his movements closely. He was waiting for a catch, on alert as if he was ready for the other shoe to drop. Nathaniel wasn't going to give him a reason to freak out. "Here. You can call me once you are ready to repay. I don't mind if you don't but I feel like you'd feel better this way."

Dean was looking him like he was out of this world, still slightly suspicious because he had too much of a self-loathing in his body to believe that good things did happen to him yet he looked speechless. Nathaniel almost forgot the bigger picture here, the long game of his, and war and the angels and the demons and the hunters. It was the two of them, Nathan helping Dean in a way.

It was gone as Dean took the napkin and placed it inside his pocket.

They parted ways that day but Nathaniel was sure Dean would call, soon. It was almost scary that he wanted Dean to call.

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( AUTHOR'S NOTE ! )

turns out its very hard to get dean's voice right. to the outside has a different persona but on the show to the viewer we have more insight to him. since nathaniel is like us, someone that actually knows dean, he sees beyond the façade of the careless badboy act. idk, if this makes sense.

anyways, i love nathan so much and its very fun to write about an angel that is trying to be human. but PLEASE let me know what you think! i want to   know my rights and wrong before i write so far ahead.

also looking through bill skarsgrad gifs makes me happy. what a man.