Note: Thank you to everybody who's read, voted, and commented!

So... I'm cheating again and posting this now because I just finished with it and it IS technically Saturday, even if it is only like 1am.

So, I got hit hard by some writer's block this week-- probably having something to do with the crazy amount of assignments rolling in right now from all my classes. But I wrote one scene of this a long time ago and revisiting it was enough to get me moving and make me write something today. Next week, the chapter will be a requested one, and the week after should be another requested one, if I can write it quickly and well enough, and the week after that might be another requested one (depending, again, on how well/fast I can write it).

This one, though, was born of my desire to do a Cas and Anna bonding chapter. In it, Anna is sixteen. Enjoy!

Human Care

"I swear, Sam, I haven't done anything but sleep and answer your stupid phone call." A pause. "Actually no. But eating would be a good idea." Anna wrinkled her nose at the chastisements that started echoing through the cell phone in her hand. "Don't call anyone! I am. If you want to leave me alone at some point, I'll go back to taking awesome care of myself," she argued, effectively interrupting while Sam was halfway through a sentence. "No, don't! I'm being respectful now. I'm being very, very, perfectly res- Hey, Dean," she said dejectedly, barely resisting the urge to sigh long and loud.

It was one of those days-- well, actually, she was on a three day streak-- where things just weren't going her way. They'd finished her April break from school with a hunt that landed her with several broken ribs and a moderate concussion. Anna had spent the last two days puking her guts up every time she dared open her eyes against the pounding in her skull. The previous night, she'd finally been able to spend half an hour awake without suffering from debilitating nausea. Then she'd been shaken awake in the middle of the night to see Dean's face hovering over her explaining about a hunter that needed help a couple states away, speaking way too fast for her fatigued brain to comprehend.

With barely restrained frustration and misery, Anna curled an arm protectively over her aching ribs and listened to Dean reprimand her for giving Sam so much lip when he was just trying to make sure she was taking care of herself. She silently dwelled on the injustice of her life as her older brother doled out a brief lecture that went from being about respect to being about the responsibility she had to be looking after herself while they were gone.

She'd insisted, however groggily, that they didn't need to call Castiel or Jody or anybody to stay with her while they were gone. She was hurt, yes, but her ribs had started to heal and her concussion was no longer so incapacitating. She'd thrown up halfway through her argument, meaning it was purely miraculous that Dean hadn't just shut her down and started making phone calls.

"I'm going to. I just haven't gotten there yet," Anna snapped into the phone when Dean mentioned breakfast just as Sam had before.

"Mhm. Except that you haven't eaten yet because you're still nauseous from that concussion."

"That has nothing to do with it," Anna insisted, a bald-faced lie.

"You know, I could still call Jody. She's only three hours out. I'm sure she could get a little time off-"

Anna had to take a deep, calming breath that hurt like hell thanks to her broken ribs before she could even attempt to answer Dean. Without the little calming exercise, she surely would have started screaming into the phone, and that would have hurt her ribs way more. "Don't call anybody. I'm fine."

"Kiddo, you don't have to brave it, alright? If you don't want it to be Jody, I'll just call Cas, ask him to check in, at least."

The urge to throw an all-out temper tantrum was real. But Anna resisted because she was sixteen, not six, and tantrums were generally frowned upon even coming from small children, so it just seemed best that she try to get a handle on her emotions. She very nearly kicked the foot of her bed in frustration, though. The only thing stopping her was the notion of how much that would hurt her ribs and her head and everything. As it was, it seemed like every part of her hurt. Come to think of it, all that pain was probably half the reason she felt so damned angry over such a simple argument even though she knew her family was just trying to make sure she was cared for.

"You're an awesome listener, Dean. So let me tell you, for what must be the first time, that I'm fine."

"You're hysterical, Rugrat. I'm calling Cas."

"Don't!"

"Can you even stand up right now?"

Instead of lying, Anna just stayed quiet. She was a little offended that he'd pointed out her lack of autonomy so blatantly, though.

"Exactly. So you stay put and don't do anything stupid and we'll get Cas there with you."

"I don't need a friggin babysitter," Anna grouched into the phone and picked absently at the blankets with her free hand. Her eyes drooped in exhaustion, and the weakness only made her more angry. She let out a little angry huff.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you planning to throw a bash while we're gone? What's the harm in some company?" When she said nothing, Anna heard Sam's voice in the background, though his words were indistinct. Dean spoke again, "Look, Anna, this time yesterday, you couldn't even lift your head without gagging. We left in kind of a hurry, but we've been driving ten hours and we'll be going for twelve more..."

Which meant they'd had time to think about the fact that they'd left their little sister alone injured and overtired to take care of a hunt that could take more than a week. And they would only be left to think about it further and feel more guilty over the next half of the trip if they didn't get someone to go look in on her, maybe stay with her for at least a couple days while she was recovering from the worst of her injuries. Basically, Dean was asking her, not in so many words, to humor her brothers, relieve them of some guilt, and give them some peace of mind.

"Look, kid, we gotta get back on the road. Just play nice when Cas gets there and don't give him any trouble, or we'll hear about it."

Anna pouted further at yet another implication that she was a kid being babysat. "I'm not ten."

"Well, you are cranky."

"Shut up."

"Just remember, you're on bedrest for the rest of the week. You're not goin' to school and you're certainly not leaving the bunker for any other reason."

Anna's entire body drooped at that command. "It's just a couple cracked ribs and a little head wound. I'll be fine by tomorrow."

"I would so kick your ass for that if you were within arm's reach. It's four broken ribs and a moderate concussion. That's completely different from a couple cracked ribs and a 'little head wound' and you know it."

Anna rolled her eyes and shifted uncomfortably on her bed, moving the phone quickly away from her face as she gasped in pain from the movement. She didn't need her brother thinking of her as any more of an invalid than he already did. She hurriedly returned the phone to her ear with an arm curled tightly around her ribcage. Dean was just starting to speak again, apparently assuming she'd stayed quiet because she was angry.

"Anna."

"What?" Anna ground out, pretending she hadn't heard the warning note in his voice.

"Stay in bed."

"I'm not goin' anywhere," she mumbled, adding a silent for now in her mind.

As if he could hear her thoughts even though he was over four hundred miles away, Dean said, "Uh-huh. Except I'm not talkin' about right now. I'm talkin' about an hour from now and twenty-four hours from now and for the rest of the week unless we clear you."

"Fine," Anna finally relented. It wasn't as if he could actually stop her or tell if she got up without him there. He'd said Cas wouldn't stay long, and, while Anna would prefer the angel not check in at all, that at least meant that she wouldn't be confined to doing absolutely nothing the entire time they were gone. No, she didn't like lying to her brother, but if telling him she would stay in bed, or even just in the bunker, was enough to give him some peace of mind while she went about her business, Anna didn't see the harm in that.

"Good. Alright, we're takin' off. If Cas is tied up, we'll send Jody or Donna or somebody else out."

"Don't bother anyone," Anna begged, letting a slight whine make its way into her voice despite that she knew it would probably aggravate her brother. She couldn't bear the thought of poor Jody or Donna driving all the way to Kansas just to spend a couple days mothering Anna within an inch of her life when they could be doing important Sheriff-stuff, whatever that entailed, and going about their lives. Jody had Alex and Claire to worry about and Donna was bubbly and fun to be around, so she surely had a busy social life as well.

"Call if you need something," Dean said shortly instead of promising not to call Donna or Jody. Anna knew it was evasive. He wasn't promising because, if Cas wasn't available, he would call one of them.

"Dean-!"

"We'll call tonight, Rugrat." His words were rushed as if he wanted to end the phone call before Anna had a chance to keep complaining, which was probably the case.

"Bye, Ladybug."

They'd both called her by her nicknames, and it pissed her off because they were ignoring how upset she was with them. So, Anna glared at the phone and hung up without a goodbye before they could just to show how irritated she was. Somehow, they'd managed to make her hope that Cas could spare the time to come to the bunker, but only because she didn't want to drag Jody or Donna into this when she didn't need help at all.

()()()

She'd been trying to hold it in, but there was no more denying that she had to go to the bathroom. Slowly, Anna eased herself out of the slouched and mostly horizontal position she'd been in, angrily staring at her phone since she hung up on her brothers about half an hour ago. The moment she moved toward the edge of the bed, she caught and held her breath as pain overtook her.

She'd been gagging and puking nonstop since she first woke stretched out in the backseat of the Impala five minutes from the bunker, and all that stress on her broken ribs had certainly not helped her heal. Now, her head was pounding, her ribs were a source of heavy and constant pain, and without any painkillers to knock the headache away, Anna could feel the nausea beginning to make its return. Staying in bed had actually never sounded better. But that notion only made her feel angry, because she hated it when Dean was right. She especially hated it when he bossed her around and then turned out to be right.

Her phone buzzed on the bed beside her and Anna wrinkled her nose but risked reaching back with one arm to grab the device. She hoped it was Kate because she wanted to rant to her best friend about how annoyed she was and then just talk about nothing and everything with her until all the shit Anna was dealing with went away. Instead, it was a text from Sam.

Cas is in Tennessee. Jody's on her way.

"Dammit," Anna grit her teeth and barely resisted the temptation to chuck her phone across the room. It was so unfathomably rage-inducing the way they could just completely ignore what she asked of them. How hard was it to just leave their friends out of this when Anna practically begged them to do so? She could take care of herself. It wouldn't be fun, especially considering that she had yet to even get her legs over the edge of the bed and she already felt like there would be puking in her near future. But they weren't the ones who had to figure that out. Anna was.

I hate you, she typed and added a straight faced emoji, because it wasn't true and they would know that.

She set her phone down to continue her trek to the bathroom where she prayed she would find painkillers. She groaned a little to herself. She wished she could just wait-- as much as she hated that they'd sent help against her will, Anna had no desire to walk anyplace on her own at the moment. She had at least three hours before Jody could show up and probably more like four because Anna was willing to bet that, as Sheriff and mother, Jody had some loose ends to tie up before she could leave town for any significant amount of time. There was just no way she could wait that long without going to the bathroom, and maybe even getting a bottle of water from the kitchen. That was far away, though. Inwardly groaning, Anna steeled herself.

Shoving herself upward and out of bed before she had time to second guess herself, she spent nearly five minutes riding out the crashing waves of pain that action resulted in. Finally, she was able to take a stuttered step forward. Fortunately, now that she was vertical, the actual movement it took to walk wasn't as bad as she'd expected. Her head pounded worse with every step, but her ribs kept at a duller aching throb so long as she stayed hunched with one arm wrapped firmly around them and didn't move her other arm too significantly. She also took small, measured steps to avoid jarring any of her injuries.

It took her nearly ten minutes to get to the bathroom just a little ways down the hallway, and once there, she sat down much harder than intended on the toilet. She did her business and managed to stand up very painfully by levering herself up with a hand on the counter. She managed to swivel around to the sink before her nausea hit its climax and she began dry-heaving, nothing but a little bit of saliva and bile coming up even on the first bout. By the time she was done, Anna was gasping to just breathe, and her ribs felt like they strained with every breath she took. Childish as it was, she began to silently wish that Sam and Dean hadn't gone away. Or that at least one of them had stayed. Her gaze tracked sideways to the bathroom door that she hadn't bothered to close. She longed for her phone, so far away. She thought about calling Cas even though she knew he was busy and she shouldn't be making him zap to the bunker just to bring her back to her freaking bed. Before she had the time to make any real decisions, her head grew fuzzy and her vision warm.

Anna eased herself down on the floor beside the vanity. Well, she intended to ease herself down. Really, she wound up sliding with her back against the wall and landing hard enough on her ass to jar her ribs something awful. It took awhile for her to remember how to breathe and, by that time, she'd also realized that her phone was still on her bed and that she was, oh yeah, sitting helplessly on the floor in the freaking bathroom like a total loser. There was no way in hell Anna would be trekking all the way back to her room anytime soon, but she did feel irritated and a bit guilty. With her alone and hurt, the boys would probably be texting to check in every half hour or so until she confirmed that Jody had made it to the bunker to stay with her. They were mother hens like that. So, not only would they get worried if she didn't get her ass in gear and get back to her phone, but Jody would find her in the freaking bathroom, hunched over her ribs on the floor, head a foot from the toilet, looking like hell frozen over.

"When did I get so pathetic?" she muttered to herself and then reached up one arm above her head to get a grip on the edge of the vanity. The movement pulled the breath right out of her as she could have sworn she felt her ribs shifting inside of her. "Dammit," she breathed and white-knuckled the counter with her hand. She took as deep a breath as she could without exploding and then, in one swift-- but not smooth-- motion, she pulled herself up and turned around to face the sink again. She planted both hands on the counter to stop herself from falling down again as her legs went weak and her face flushed red with exertion and pain.

Her ribs weren't even the worst part anymore. It was her head, which felt like it was folding in on itself, collapsing inward one cell at a time and creating a heap of fucking ouch in the center of her brain. She dry heaved again, but it didn't last so long this time, and not a thing came out but air.

"I'm not... spending the whole day in the... the fucking bathroom..." she said breathlessly to herself. "Talk about lame."

"Who are you talking to?"

Anna flinched bodily, lost her balance, and very nearly fell backwards into the toilet. But Castiel managed to catch her in time with his hands under her arms. Trying not to let her nausea win again, Anna waited a minute before shoving Cas' hands away. "I'm fine," she said stubbornly, because it was what Sam or Dean would have done. "What the hell are you even doing here? You're supposed to be in Texas."

"Tennessee."

"Same thing."

Cas frowned and tilted his head slightly. "They are quite different."

Anna sighed and gave him a little shove that left her feeling more unsteady than it did him. "I was kidding. You can go now."

"Anna, I used up what was left of my grace flying to the bunker. It is more than a sixteen hour drive to get back to the lead I was following in Tennessee. I would rather stay with you than waste that time driving. Until your friend Jody gets here, at least."

Suddenly understanding why he was here, Anna practically growled, her nose wrinkling angrily. "They sent you, didn't they?"

Cas cleared his throat. "No," he answered strangely enough that Anna knew he was lying.

"You suck at lying," she said with more vehemence than was necessary. "And I'm- I'm not twelve. I can take care of myself, so go back to Texas. Fly, drive, whatever. I don't care."

"Tennessee."

"That's what I meant."

"They are not the same."

"Cas, just go! Please. You shouldn't have wasted your grace zapping here anyway."

The angel looked hesitant. "I am not sure that Dean would be pleased if I go."

"Then don't tell him," Anna said like it was obvious. Really, she was just running out of patience and energy. She couldn't keep up appearances much longer, and she was pretty sure she wasn't doing a great job of it anyway. She felt like she could fall over at any second, but, fortunately, it hadn't happened yet. "Just go back to Tennessee."

"Anna, I don't believe that would be the right thing to do."

"I didn't ask, Cas. I told you to go."

Cas studied her for a second, squinting in that way he often did when detecting bullshit. Then he crossed his arms over his chest and straightened his spine. It looked odd, and Anna had never seen him take up that stance before, but it did still feel familiar. She realized pretty quickly that he was imitating Dean's favorite lecture position, and she rolled her eyes as he even managed to copy her brother's favorite scolding facial expression. "You are supposed to be in bed, resting. Yet you're standing in the bathroom, pale and shaking, trying to act 'tough.' I think it's pretty obvious that you do need somebody here with you," he said with finality.

"Cas, come on. I had to pee, man, and it was a long walk."

"Oh, yes," Cas said thoughtfully, arms dropping to his sides. "That is one of the more unpleasant human functions."

"Yeah," Anna breathed. "Right. Um. So, you can go," she added and then stepped away from the counter. She was unsteady but managed not to fall on her face or start dry-heaving again, so she felt a little more confident in pushing Cas away.

"You appear unwell."

"Your face appears unwell," Anna snapped back. "I'd appear more well if you'd get out of my way so I can go back to bed, Cas."

"Terseness is often a sign of upset in your family."

"Astute observation, Sherlock."

"It is also something often frowned upon by your brother."

"Oh, come on. You're gonna lecture me on respect? Really? I already have a few reasons to pass out, and you're gonna try and bore me to sleep?"

"You should be in bed," Cas said, getting rather terse himself now. He reached out two fingers as if to touch Anna's forehead and, probably, teleport her back to bed.

Anna reached up and grabbed his wrist, flinching a little when the movement once again made her ribs wail. "At least help me like a normal person," she requested in a much politer tone of voice. "Please."

Castiel frowned. "You mean... as Sam or Dean would."

"I mean, I guess they don't qualify as normal, but yeah."

"Oh."

Anna made a sound that was very much like a squawk when Cas lifted her right off the ground to carry her bridal style. "Cas!" she squealed when she could breathe again. They were already in the hallway. "That's not what I meant! Put me down."

Castiel frowned. "But this is the easiest way-"

"I don't give a shit about the easy way. I'm not four years old! I can frickin' walk, okay?"

They were already at her bedroom door, though, and Anna gave up, going limp in Cas' arms. Her head was pounding so badly she could swear she was going to throw up again if she did anything but close her eyes and lay down in a dark, quiet room. Anyway, Cas was basically like a third brother to her. Technically, he was millenia old and not actually human, but still. If there was anybody she would cut some slack for something like this, it was him, because he was family and he was generally slow to understand social norms.

Back in her bed, Anna pressed the back of her head into the softness of her pillow. She knew she should pick up her phone. Cas was probably here because she'd missed a text or call from her brothers. But... she just wanted the crashing waves of pain to stop, so she rolled onto her stomach, pulled the blankets over her head, and buried her face in her pillow, arranging herself so she could breathe but not see any light or feel any cold from the room.

()()()

When she woke, it was to a hand on her forehead.

"No, this is a new development." ... "Why would I lie about something like that? It seems unproductive." ... "Yes, she is still asleep."

"No 'm not," Anna corrected and rolled over. It was then that she realized her mistake. Sleeping on her stomach with all those broken ribs had been a bad idea. She hadn't noticed it earlier because her head had been claiming most all of her attention. But now... she hurt. And while her head was still unhappy, the worst of it was coming from her ribs now. "Tylenol," she requested. "Please."

"Where is the Tylenol?" Castiel asked, but it didn't seem to be directed at her. Anna squinting, shading her eyes from the light with her hand. Cas was holding a phone to his ear, and she groaned. He was totally talking to Sam or Dean. "Okay, where is that?"

"Tylenol is fine, Cas," she grumbled and let her hand fall to cover her face. She knew damn well that whichever of her brothers Cas was talking to had suggested he give her a stronger painkiller, but her injuries were relatively minor compared to some of the stuff they came out with. Her eyes slid shut as she listened to the angel continue talking to them.

"She said that-" There was a brief pause before Cas looked down at Anna. "Dean would like to speak to you."

Anna sighed, knowing exactly where this was going. "What?" she asked without greeting as she held the phone a short distance from her ear. She wanted the sound to be as quiet as possible so as not to aggravate her head.

"Miss you too, kid," he said, and she was pleasantly surprised that he was purposely speaking quietly, apparently mindful of her headache.

"Shut up," Anna groaned, but there was a smile in her voice. She knew she was being a grouch. But she thought it was justified.

"How you feelin'?" Dean asked.

"Fine. You can tell Cas to get outta my face now."

"Be nice. From what I hear he basically pulled you off the bathroom floor when he got there." Anna gave Cas an affronted look. He'd told on her. Unbelievable. "By the way, you can start treating him with a little more respect. He went out of his way to make sure you're okay, and walking all over him is not a great way to show gratitude."

"I didn't ask for that," Anna reminded her brother.

"That's not how gratitude works, kid. You don't get to pick and choose when people help you. Stop throwing attitude around and let Cas help you until Jody shows up. And god help me, if you pull this shit with Jody, you're gonna get an earful. Concussion or not."

Anna pinched the bridge of her nose and mumbled, "I won't."

"Good. And take some actual painkillers. Not Tylenol."

"It's not that bad," Anna insisted for the tenth time that morning. Even as she spoke, she was covering her eyes with her left hand, trying to avoid the light that made her headache ten times worse.

"Yeah, we're not havin' that discussion again. Have you eaten?"

Anna pursed her lips, nose wrinkling in distaste. "No," she admitted.

"Anna," he said on a sigh. "Just listen to Cas and Jody, and stay in bed. And you're gonna eat something, so don't give Cas a hard time about it."

Feeling like a chastised five year old, Anna grumbled an affirmative, then passed the phone back to Cas when prompted. Not five minutes later, Cas watched intensively as she swallowed pain medications that were much stronger than Tylenol, chasing them down with water from a bottle he'd brought for her. He studied her face, and she needn't have seen the frown on his face to know it wasn't good. She could feel how pale she must be in the way that her fingers, toes, and face all felt cold and slightly clammy. She just wanted to go back to sleep and not wake up until she was all healed.

"What would you like to eat?"

Anna barely managed not to complain out loud, but she let her misery show on her face and sighed. "I don't really care," she said, trying to sound as respectful as possible. "Just something small, please."

"I can handle that," Cas agreed and left the room.

Anna pulled the covers up to her nose and wrapped her arms over her stomach and ribs. Once the door had clicked shut, she finally groaned out all her pain. She could do with about a century's more sleep. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to breathe in a way that wouldn't hurt. But everything hurt, so she eventually just gave up and tried to think about something other than the pain.

She startled from a light doze to the sound of the door opening. In walked Cas with a Cup of Soup and a packet of Ritz crackers. Anna was about ninety percent sure he'd consulted somebody on what to make her, because this the only combination of food she would eat while sick in any way, and only two people knew that about her. Well, three now, she supposed.

"It's the chicken one," Cas explained as he set the food down on the nightstand.

Anna couldn't help but smile a little, even despite how crappy she felt. "Thanks, Cas."

"It is not problematic."

She smiled a little wider at the way he misspoke.  

"Cas, why'd you even bother calling Dean? Just cause I was getting a little fever?" She looked up at him from behind a handful of sweaty curls that had fallen over her face, standing out against the pink tinge of her flushed cheeks.

"I am not well versed in human care," Castiel answered a moment later. He looked uncomfortable trying to respond to her question, and his final reply made Anna laugh.

"You sound like we're pets, man. Make your human soup when they aren't feeling up to par. In case of fever, call older brother." 

It took a minute, but Cas' face broke out in a smile. "I did not intend to compare you with a domestic animal," he allowed.

Anna laughed a little harder, then cringed as her ribs ached with it. "D-domestic-" she broke off and kept laughing, but Castiel didn't seem to understand the joke this time. "Sorry," she said a second later, blinking rapidly to clear tears of laughter from her eyes. "I think I'm kinda loopy. Fever loopy. Is that a thing?"

"I don't think I understand."

She didn't laugh again, but Anna did grin at Castiel. "Do you wanna watch Netflix?" she asked. "I kinda think sitting here moping is getting old."

"What is a Netflix?"

Anna widened her eyes and let her mouth fall open in an 'o' of shock. "Cas! How do you not know what Netflix is?!" He clearly didn't know how to respond, so Anna shook her head. Fortunately, the painkillers she'd swallowed were working almost completely by then, her headache almost gone and her ribs not complaining much either. "Okay, I'll show you but, uh... Do you wanna carry me again? Because Sam's TV is the good one."

La Fin