Originally written for destinyandcoins on tumblr.

Earth wasn't where Castiel had planned on ending up. Not by a long shot. Earth was plain, boring, human. Nothing to interest him.

Of course, he now knew just how wrong he had been. Humanity, while seemingly dingy and hurtful from afar, was so much brighter than he could ever imagine. Was so much kinder than he would have believed. If he had been told before that he would be stranded on Earth and that he would enjoy it, he would have called that angel crazy. Now, though…

Now he has seen that kindness for himself. He's received selfless aid: Dean, stopping on the side of the road to help a confused stranger back to town; Bobby, who told Castiel in no uncertain terms that he would be staying at the older man's home until they could find a way to get the angel back home; Ellen and Jo, who didn't waste a second helping Castiel get clothes and teaching him how to take care of himself; Dean's brother Sam, always there to comfort when Castiel felt alone and lost.

Oddly enough, he felt they were his friends now. He'd been with them for nearly a year, had been doing small, simple jobs for Bobby for the past few months. He liked it here. He wanted to stay.

Castiel wasn't that lucky of course. Of course Heaven would send someone to search for the missing angel. Of course he wouldn't get to stay with his friends. Friends… 'Family don't end with blood,' Bobby had said once. Not when Castiel was in the room – he had been coming down the stairs and overheard a conversation between the gruff old man and Dean – but surely they thought of him as family too? They were all he had, the only things he truly considered his. Sure he owned clothes, and objects, but anyone could buy those and call them theirs. But Bobby and Ellen and Jo and Dean and Sam, Castiel chose them and they chose him right back.

Castiel didn't want to go. He didn't want to give them up, didn't want them to think he hadn't cared, that he'd used them to make it until someone could come and take him back. "Can I say goodbye?" Castiel asked in a small voice, eyes turning imploringly to Hester.

The blonde angel stared back at him, gaze hard and unyielding. He saw her lips press tightly together before one word slipped out: "…Yes."

Castiel wasted no time, drawing first Bobby, then Ellen and Jo into quick hugs. Sam and Dean he embraced at once, his arms going just a bit tighter around the two. They had never doubted him for a second, even with his non-human background. They had never faltered in their support, had been there for every step of the way, had been better friends to Castiel than any of the angels he had known for thousands of years.

When he let them go, Castiel murmured, "Thank you." If he wasn't sure if it was to the Winchesters for helping him or to Hester for allowing him his goodbyes, no one else had to know. But Hester was looking at the assembled humans oddly, a frown on her face and a furrow in her brow.

"Who…are you?" she asked.

Castiel replied before the humans could. "This is my family," he proclaimed, invisible wings puffing out slightly at the declaration. "I found it all on my own. It's little," he admitted, there were only five of them, "and broken," if the house went a week with at least one fight or three months without some kind of blowout it was a miracle, "but still good." Everyone always came back together eventually, always forgave each other.

And there was love there. So much love, shared between so many people, tying them so tightly together that Castiel had at first feared he would never be able to fit in. But then he had been a part of it, included, and it sent electricity through his grace for such unconditional affection to be sent his way. He smiled.

"Yeah. Still good." The angel looked over his shoulder at the humans one last time. He wanted to remember them, wanted to remember them for a long, long time. He never wanted to forget the way Dean always had a little bit of stubble on his chin, the way Sam could look so concerned and supportive and heartbreakingly sad all in one instant. He never wanted to forget Bobby's caps, or Ellen's perfume, or the way Jo would laugh and call him dumb and punch him in the arm when he almost succeeded in making references to pop culture.

Castiel's smile turned shaky and he blinked rapidly to push back the tears that were suddenly threatening to fall. But Hester was gone. Castiel stood in silence for a moment and stumbled back when a strong wind filled the room, Hester revealed once more. A male angel stood beside her, wearing a kind smile that Castiel recognized.

"It has been decided," Inias began, "in light of recent events, that Heaven may have need of contacts on Earth. It is obvious that we have little information regarding our Earthbound brothers and sisters. Perhaps, with time, we shall come to know them as well as you do your little flock." Inias paused, and Castiel's eyes darted between him and Hester. This…This couldn't be…Castiel was never this lucky…Never… "We would very much like if you would stay here, Castiel. To better learn and understand human culture so that we all might learn through you."

Castiel could not find words, only nod, and then the other angels were gone, a flap and a breeze all that remained. All was quiet. And then a pair of arms wrapped around Castiel from behind. Ellen's perfume cloyed around his nose.

A second pair of arms joined hers, a third, a fourth and fifth. And as Castiel was surrounded by the warmth and press of his tiny, imperfect, perfect family, he let himself think that for once, just maybe, he was this lucky.