AUTHOR NOTE: Just a short little scene I came up with one day. Can take place any time, really.

"What's your name?"

It was a question Castiel was familiar with being asked after spending a few years on Earth. He had gotten used to the awkward reactions and occasionally being informed that he was a "freak".

There were a few times when someone had said something along the lines of "Oh, that's different, where are you from?" to which Cas had learned not to reply with "heaven". He prepared the conversation in his mind as he answered the young girl who'd asked him this time.

"Castiel." He waited for the cocking of the head and the typical child's "that's weird" response.

"That's a funny name."

There it is, the angel thought to himself as the 8 year old girl, whom he'd just saved from a pair of demons, shrugged.

"I guess you gotta have a special name since you can do all that special stuff you just did."

Cas smiled.

"But what's your last name?" she asked, as though a good last name would make up for the odd first one.

Castiel frowned, his head beginning its confused decent. "Last name?"

The girl giggled. "Yeah, everyone has a last name. Mine's Richards. Olivia Richards. See? It's my whole name. I can't just be Olivia. That's weird."

Castiel nodded thoughtfully as he pondered the meaning of last names. He thought they were just used to identify people with the same names. He knew there were other Sams and Deans, for instance. But, as far as he knew, he was the only Castiel, so what use could he have for a last name? But they are also used to define families, he reminded himself. But Cas didn't have a family, did he? Oh, sure, he had his brothers and sisters in heaven, but they didn't know what family was, like the Winchesters did. Dean and Sam were loyal to each other, to the point of death.

Dean had even called Cas family once. Or, close enough. He knew Dean was willing to die for him, and he for Dean.

It was then that it struck Castiel: he belonged to a family.

"Winchester," he said finally. "My last name is Winchester."