Castiel walked through the gardens of heaven for the last time. He walked towards what could only be considered the edge, where a small crowd had gathered. It was not every day an angel fell. Most just disappeared or ran away, but he had no other choice but to fall and cut himself off from heaven completely.

It was not solely his choice. Gabriel, who had also 'fallen' - as much as possible, being an archangel - had asked Castiel to join him and Balthazar on Earth. They had been there for many centuries, living with the humans without concern for the business of Heaven and its war raging against Hell, which was reaching its peak.

Though of course even that alone could not fully convince him to fall. Castiel had caught sight of a soul. A soul more beautiful than anything in Heaven or Earth. He had followed its movements all over North America, though he had no clue of its owner's specific actions or intentions. He had simply enjoyed watching the pure magnificence since its creation 17 years ago. He had seen it begin with two other souls, rising to three then recently falling to now only one.

That soul was the main reason for his falling, he wanted to join it on Earth. He so desperately wanted to meet the owner of such purity. He knew so little about the person who carried it, he knew so little of the humans who lived below him. Castiel knew he could simply leave Heaven to join with the human, though he also knew it would only be temporary. He wanted no more to do with Heaven and its 'temporary inconveniences', and he did not want any chance of being found and subsequently punished like the many before him. He wanted out and Gabriel had given him the final push to leave indefinitely.

Castiel bowed his head so as to avoid the looks the small crowd was giving him. Looks mixed with sadness, pity and in some cases, anger. As he neared the edge and looked down upon the world he was to join, he heard the familiar voice of Michael call out to him.

"Don't worry Castiel, falling's just like flying, only there's a more permanent destination," Michael almost snorted with laughter. Castiel had never been particularly fond of Michael though he could neither speak up nor act out against him, the most powerful angel in Heaven. And even if he could, it was too late. Castiel simply shook his head at the mockery and continued.

Castiel took one last wavering step towards the edge and lined his feet up against it. One deep breath and determined look later, he was gone.

He felt the air rushing past his head at speeds incomprehensible to even an angel. The fall to Earth wouldn't take long and so the changes happening to him were almost overwhelming. He felt himself take a definitive shape, rather than the flickering uncertainty he was up in Heaven. He felt heavy as gravity caught him in its grasp. As everything was coming into place, Castiel felt one more thing happen to him that he was not expecting. He felt the bone and muscle of wings that must have a wingspan of at least 14 feet, form just below his shoulder blades. These alien appendages were almost instantly covered in feathers, though Castiel was surprised, if not horrified, at the deep ebony colouring of them as he stretched them out experimentally. His course was not altered until the very last second, when he saw the ground rushing up to meet him. Castiel almost winced as he came within meters of the ground, only to have his wings finally catch the air and take him softly down. Though not being used to the weight of his body, he came crashing down and had little will to get up.

Castiel heard the sound of air moving as the shadow of a person fell across him. He squinted to see who was standing above him but his vision began to blur.

A cheerful chime of "How's it going little bro?" was all he heard before he blacked out.

x

A few hours later, Castiel finally awoke. He felt tired and heavy and had to force himself to sit up, finding he was lying on a large, soft bed covered with pure white sheets. His eyes adjusted to the light and he took in his surroundings, a large open room with little furniture other than the bed and a couple of plain chairs pushed up against the wall on the other side. Another was positioned next to the bed and as Castiel turned to it he noticed a boy, no older than 18 sitting in it. He had slightly long brown hair that flicked up at the end and bright hazel eyes and stared at Castiel with a familiarity that could only be from one person, or angel rather.

"Gabriel?" he asked tentatively, his voice coming out hoarse as he tested it for the first time. Gabriel's eyes lit up instantly as Castiel recognised him and a big grin spread across his face.

"Took you long enough, you've been asleep for 4 hours now!" Gabriel laughed and jumped up from his seat, "We found you all the way down in New Zealand! Seems you don't have very good aim bro, but then who does when they're falling from up top?"

"We? Is Balthazar here also?" Castiel looked towards the door just opposite the bed he was lying on as it was flung open to reveal a man in his mid-40's strolling through it.

"Ah, Cassie's awake I see," he said with a thick British accent.

"I-I don't understand, where am I?" Castiel asked the two standing at the foot of the bed, gazing at them curiously and making himself familiar with their appearances. He supposed he would have to do the same with himself at some point, he was curious as to what he looked like as a human, though that could wait until Gabriel and Balthazar had brought him up to speed.

Gabriel bounced on the balls of his feet as he started to explain what he and Balthazar had been doing while Castiel had been in heaven, mostly causing mischief in small towns and running before hunters could catch up to them. Castiel had been unfamiliar with the concept of demon hunters though quickly understood the concept and became acquainted with the many different ways to screw up their days, for fun, as Gabriel had reassured him. He was also told to avoid them at all costs. While they may not be able to kill or seriously hurt angels without the aid of an Angel Blade, they could still cause more trouble than would be needed.

Soon enough, Gabriel and Balthazar had finished bringing Castiel up to speed with themselves and had shown him around the house they had acquired, through questionable methods no doubt. Once the house tour was over, Gabriel gave Castiel some surprising news.

"We're signing you up for high school bro!" Gabriel seemed to always be much too cheerful for his own good, especially when high school was yet another concept Castiel was unfamiliar with. After Gabriel established that it was an educational institution that he and Castiel were required to attend to maintain a normal appearance to the other humans. Gabriel had also clarified, with the use of a mirror, that much like himself, Castiel's body had taken the form of a teenage boy around the age of 17, with dark brown hair and inhumanly bright blue eyes, as if a part of his remaining grace was trying to shine out into the human world.

"When will I be starting at this high school?" Castiel asked Gabriel, as Balthazar seemed to get distracted and left the room.

"Next week, you'll be enrolled as my younger brother in the year below me with Balthazar as our uncle. I've been there already long enough to establish enough background for it to be believable so just tell everyone you're my little bro and you should be all good," he replied, almost smugly, as if proud of carving his own corner in the school.

Castiel tilted his head while looking at his brother, trying to figure out what he was thinking, what could sending him to school achieve? He had the knowledge of all of heaven at his command and yet he was required to learn what he already knew? Coming up a blank, he sat down on the couch that was pushed carefully against the far wall of the living room, though it appeared to be more for decoration than functionality as it seemed even fallen angels did not need them. He adjusted himself on the cushions and suddenly remembered the main reason for his fall. The soul.

If Castiel were to attend high school, surely that would limit his time to search for whomever the soul belonged to. He couldn't go to school, he had to search! But his loyalties lay more with Gabriel than himself at that moment, could he leave his own brother, whom he'd been with from the very first moment of his existence, for a single soul he'd only known for 17 years? That time was the blink of an eye for an angel, over in a flash, though it felt like an eternity watching the comforting glow as it lived its life.

Castiel dragged himself back to Gabriel's never-breaking chatter. He looked so happy, so glad to finally have his brother back. Castiel could never leave him, no matter how much Castiel wanted –needed- to find the person whose soul he'd been watching over, the two or so years it would take to get through high school would be insignificant in the long run. He could do it, he could make it two years, get adjusted to being 'human' or as much of one that he could be.

Speaking of being human...

"Gabriel, why don't you have wings? I could have sworn I-" Castiel was cut off when a huge grin spread across his brother's face.

"Oh Cassy boy, you're in for a whole lotta fun!" Gabriel grabbed Castiel's arm and pulled him up from the couch. Castiel's eyes widened as Gabriel tugged his shirt over his head and closed his eyes. With a rustle of feathers, two huge amber-coloured wings unfurled themselves from between his shoulder blades and spread out almost ten feet either side of him, brushing against the walls of the room. Castiel simply stared in awe as Gabriel's smile widened even further, if that was possible.

"How..?"

"Just concentrate, and it will happen. I'm surprised you managed to hold them in this long, it takes a lot of power and control, but as your grace weakens it will probably get harder" Gabriel shrugged at the last part and helped Castiel to take off the black T-shirt he wore that was slightly too big for him and so obviously Balthazar's.

Castiel closed his eyes and tried to focus on the same area of his back that he saw Gabriel's wings appear from. He could feel them, scratching at the corners of his mind, itching to burst forth into existence. He felt their weight, their shape, he could feel each individual quill and pulled them into being. He felt the stretch of muscles, the formation of bones and movement deep within himself. Suddenly a great relief washed over him, as if a pressure building within his body had suddenly been banished. Castiel heard Gabriel's sharp intake of breath and slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to see two huge wings, only slightly smaller than Gabriel's, a black so incomprehensibly dark that shimmered with their silky, perfectly even feathers. Castiel turned to Gabriel with a questioning look. Sure, angels could have wings of any colour, but black was unheard of, even for the archangels.

"Well that's certainly... Different," Gabriel's voice held no concern, which gave Castiel little comfort, "Ah well, guess that means you're just special! Now don't you want to try them out?" he patted Castiel on the back and motioned him to follow.

Once they had made it outside to the early hours of dawn, Castiel stretched out his wings far out to either side of him, shivering slightly as he felt the wind blow gently against them, causing the large ebony feathers so ruffle and misalign themselves from their perfect placing. While flying on Earth was much more complicated than in Heaven, it was instinct for Castiel to give his wings a few experimental flaps, catch the air, push hard off the ground and soar into the sky. From the moment he left the ground, Castiel was filled with a euphoric feeling. He felt every change in the wind and air around him, he had to smile at the glorious feeling of the wind rushing past him at amazing speed. The sensations he was feeling made him happier in that moment than he had ever felt in Heaven, he felt truly free.

Castiel took a moment to take in the world below him. Gabriel's house was the only one for miles, which couldn't have been coincidental. There was a small forest not far from the front of the house and never ending blankets of grass rolling out like a carpet in all directions. Gabriel was still on the ground, and was motioning for Castiel to come back down, which Castiel did less than gracefully. Not quite getting the hang of landing, he landed heavily on his feet and felt a strange crack and throbbing pain shoot through his lower leg. Pain. Castiel had never felt something like it before. Having a corporeal body would take some getting used to. Within seconds, the pain had vanished, replaced by a cooling wave of relief as he felt what must have been a broken bone repair itself within his leg.

"Careful there bro, come on we need to get ready. You've been up there for almost an hour!" Gabriel dragged Castiel inside after hastily teaching him how to hide his wings, which he did with more effort than he anticipated. With a grunt of discomfort he followed his brother inside who immediately started piling him up with books and other apparent necessities for school.

A short glance at a clock hanging high on a wall in the seemingly unnecessary kitchen showed the time to be 7:03. Gabriel threw Castiel some clothes and pushed him into what had been established as his room.

"Figure out how to put those on, I'm not helping you!" Gabriel yelled with a laugh from the other side of the door. Castiel stared at the navy blue top and black jeans in his arms, quickly figuring out how to put them on while having difficulty with the buttons of his shirt. After several tries he finally got all of them in their right positions and made his way to the door just as Gabriel started banging on it yelling that it was time to go. Castiel hurriedly made his way out the front door after Gabriel and followed him to the shiny red car parked haphazardly in the driveway.

"Gabriel, why don't we just fly there? Wouldn't it be much faster?" Castiel tipped his head to the side slightly as he took in the relatively small vehicle before him.

"Like I said before bro, keeping up appearances. We can't look human if we just magically turn up at school every morning, we gotta do what humans do and drive there," Gabriel replied as he motioned for Castiel to open the door as he did the same. Castiel soon slid in next to him and as Gabriel started the car and drove out, he studied the lights, knobs and displays spread out in front of him.

x

Around half an hour later, the two angels arrived in front of the large school building. Gabriel found a parking spot and dragged Castiel out and shoved a backpack into his arms, before turning him around and essentially pushing him into the grounds and into a room marked 'Office'. Gabriel went up to an older lady seated behind a desk and started talking to her, making gestures towards Castiel every now and then. The lady caught sight of Castiel and gave him a warm smile before looking back to Gabriel and shuffling through some papers and handing one to Gabriel. He took it and shot the lady one last smile before turning back to Castiel and handing him the slip of paper, dragging him out with him. Castiel read the paper, his Class Schedule.

"I'm sure you'll find your way around soon enough, I gotta go, my people await me!" Gabriel winked at Castiel and walked off down a hallway to his left. Castiel turned his schedule over to find a basic map showing him the various classrooms in the building. Quickly checking his first class, Chemistry, he soon made his way to his right and found himself in front of a door marked with the number he was looking for. Opening the door and slowly shuffling inside, he saw the class must have just started and waited quietly until the teacher up the front of the room noticed his presence, who did so after a few seconds.

"Ah, you must be Castiel! Our new student, it's not often we get new students half way through term like this, but please, sit down wherever there's a spare seat" The man, who appeared to be in his 30's gestured towards the rows of desks with numerous students seated behind. Castiel glanced around to the other students as he made his way to a seat at the back of the room, the only desk left empty. Even after falling from Heaven, he could still see the souls shining from within everyone around him, though most were muted and dull, nothing in comparison to the shining purity comparable to the brilliance of the stars he had been watching. The small glimmer of hope that he may find the owner of such magnificence was smashed as he could not feel its presence anywhere near. Castiel sat down and looked over his bag for a few seconds, figuring out how to open it and rifling around for a book similar to what the other students had out, as Gabriel had explained everything he would need would be in the bag.

Pulling out a rather large textbook labelled "Chemistry", he flicked through the pages and memorised all he already knew by the time the class was over, barely paying attention to what the teacher was saying.

Time on Earth was certainly much slower paced than it had been in Heaven, and the mere hours he had in the building seemed to drag on like years.