Castiel's First Bus Ride

Around him, nothing stood still. Not even him. The sun inched across the sky, the wind around him rustled his trench coat, the vehicles whizzed passed him, and his legs mindlessly moved in front of him. Castiel was confused, deeply confused. His feelings of remorse and guilt dragged him down like an anchor, but he still moved at the same pace. Even though is heart felt like a cannon ball and his stomach threatened to slide right out of him but to his amazement, he continued to walk. He needed to stop. Just beside him a rather large vehicle filled with people hissed and came to a sudden stop. His feet momentarily paused and he pondered. This must have been what Sam had called “the bus”. He had seen someone take it while flickering through the television multiple times before. He stared at it for a moment and decided he would give it a try, he would be stationary even though the bus would be taking him elsewhere. He’d always seen people sit on it for quite some time.

Perfect.

He turned toward the vehicle and stepped into the contraption, staring around at it. Before him stood a metal box with a few holes in it in various sizes and the custom clicked in his mind. Ah, money. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a crumpled bill and stared at the various holes, trying to figure out which one to place it in.

“Sir, that’s not gonna get you anywhere.” The bus driver looked at his open palm.

“My apologies, is it not enough?” Castiel’s eyes flicked between the man and the crumpled twenty dollar bill he harbored in his hand. The man rolled his eyes incredulously and huffed before opening his mouth but someone behind Castiel cut him off.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it.” A younger woman slid a two unfamiliar looking coins into the box and ushered the angel down the isle and settled into a seat.

Castiel stood awkwardly next to her and stared at the kind stranger. She had long black hair that hung around her face slightly and emerged from underneath a hand knitted hat. Her jeans were black and speckled with what Castiel believed to be paint and her blue shirt fitted loosely around her curves. He was brought out of his la la land, however, when the bus began to move and he nearly lost his footing. With a grunt he quickly found hold of a bar above his head and glanced at the passing scenery.

“You can sit down if you’d like.” Her gentle voice emerged from beneath him once again. “I don’t bite.” She assured him with a smile. Castiel cocked an eyebrow but complied, and awkwardly settled into the seat next to her.

“Thank you. For helping me before, I…have never taken the bus before.” Castiel said over the hum and grumble of the buses engine.

“No problem. You seemed kind of stumped, and something kinda told me you weren’t having a good day to begin with.” She lifted her chocolate brown eyes to meet his.

“Yes… it was very kind. Please allow me to repay you.” Castiel started digging through his pocket before she stopped him.

“Oh no don’t worry about it, really.” The girl’s reply was laced with warmth, which had recently felt unfamiliar to him in many ways. The cold tone in Dean’s voice just before he had left still sent an unnerving chill down his spine and seemed to lay dormant there. “I’m Carly, by the way. What’s your name?” she stuck her hand out after her introduction.

“My name is Castiel.” He nodded and returned the handshake.

“That’s a cool name, foreign.” Carly smiled before rummaging through her purse.

“Yes, foreign is correct.” Castiel stared at the strangely comfortable woman.

“So where are you from?” She asked interestedly and offered him a piece of gum.

“No, thank you… I’m from…the sky.” In mid sentence Castiel remembered that Dean mentioned it was not a good idea to tell humans exactly what he was. Apparently upon their meeting, telling the police officer he had nearly deafened the truth was out of the question.

“Oh so you flew here.” Carly nodded.

“Not exactly.” Castiel shook his head.

“Oh so what, you’re an alien?” Carly smirked.

“No.” Castiel sighed and looked at the female curiously. “Can you keep a secret?” he asked.

“I’m a master at keeping secrets.” Carly smiled at the man as he squinted at her, trying to analyze her reaction for signs of deception. Yet he found none, this human seemed trustworthy for reasons he did not understand.

“…I am an angel of the lord.” He leaned closer and looked her in the eye and stiffly waited for her reaction.

“That’s cool man.” She smiled. “Everyone’s got their thing. I mean I’m not big on religion but if I was I would think that in some tiny way everyone kind of is.” She shrugged and patted his knee. For a moment he leaned back and felt the corner of his lips pull upward slightly, and an almost silent laugh erupted from his mouth. Out of all the craziness that had happened since his journey with Dean and Sam, that simple kind reaction seemed, no matter how pleasant, nearly impossible. How amazing humans could be.

“Perhaps.” Castiel chuckled.

“So Castiel, you’ve never been on a bus before but you hopped on one. And here you are probably not knowing which way you are heading. Do you have a destination?” Carly asked amused and looked over at him.

“Yes I do, actually. A store of some sort…with food in it and trinkets.” He sat back and stared at the passing scenery as the melancholy began to seep back into his system.

“Okay we have plenty of those around here.” Carly laughed but stopped once she got a look at his facial expression. “Hey…Castiel? Are you okay?” She asked concerned.

“Yes. Just troubled…” He murmured.

“I’d ask why, but as we are human there are an infinite amount of things wrong with the world….” Carly trailed off on her own tangent of thought.

“This was my doing… I caused someone very dear to me to, be upset…with me.” Castiel said and hung his head slightly in shame. “I will do whatever it takes to redeem myself to him.”

“Hey don’t get all Sylvia Plath on me, it’s not all bad. Everyone makes mistakes, you know? And if they’re truly your friend then they will understand that you are sorry.” Carly smiled at Castiel sympathetically and touched his shoulder in solace.

“Perhaps…” Castiel muttered once more but set up and turned to face Carly. “What would you accept, as an apology?” he asked.

“Well… I don’t know. Aside from a verbal apology? I remember a friend once dropped off a basket of a few of my favorite things in it. It reminded me about how well she knew me, and took the time and care to remember them all.” Carly recalled.

“That pleased you?” He asked gravely and stared at her hard in the eye.

“Yeah it was really sweet.” Carly nodded.

“Then perhaps that is what needs to be done.” Castiel agreed.

“Well, the next stop is me. There is a convenient store, down a minute or so from there, would you like me to take you to it?” Carly zipped up her purse.

“Yes, please. That would be wonderful.” Castiel stood up and followed Carly out of the bus and onto the street. They walked together in comfortable silence. By now the sinking feeling in his stomach had subsided a bit, and Carly’s happy mood had spread contagiously to him.

“Alright, so this is the convenient store I was telling you about. They have almost everything ever in there, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding what you’d like.” Carly smiled and gestured to the little corner shop.

“Thank you, my first bus ride was most pleasant due to your company.” Castiel actually cracked a smile at her.

“No problem,” she smiled back gleefully “So the bus stop to get back is where we were just at, just on the opposite side of the street. And once you’re on there, you’re going to want to get off at Kensington.” Carly said sternly, not wanting him to get lost. Castiel smiled once more at the sentiment even though he would be “zapping” it back, as Dean called it.

“I will find my way back. Thank you for all of your help, Carly.” Castiel put his hand out for her to shake good-bye. But his smile dropped as she looked up at him and shook her head, fearing he had done something wrong. Was this not a hello and good-bye custom?

“We’re friends now. We hug.” Carly grinned and gently embraced the taller man. Castiel kept his hands to his sides at first in shock, but then wrapped his arms around her in return for some time before she pulled away.

“I’ll see you around.” Carly smiled and waved at the man and began to walk down the road.

“Good-bye Carly.” Castiel called out and stepped into the convenient store once she turned the corner.

And so Castiel began the hunt for Dean’s favorite things.