Imagine that you have a special teddy bear that helps you sleep at night, but your brother throws it away when he gets angry at you and then you suffer from terrible insomnia and nightmares until Castiel intervenes.

Word Count: 1620

~

Nightmares have haunted you ever since a young age, possibly the result of being raised in paranoia and fear. Monsters are real, as you found out when your mother died on the ceiling of you and your brother's nursery. You were just a kid, raised in the harsh reality of a hunter's lifestyle. Scared that the monsters would get you and your family. 

You would stay up late, terrified that when you slept, the monsters would find you. Your brothers tried to convince you that everything was fine, that dad would come home, but you were never convinced. 

You would check every square inch of whatever room you were spending the night in, and then carefully sink into the bed. Your small hand would clutch your hunting knife since you were too young to sleep with a gun. 

But everything changed one fateful day. 

You remember the first time you saw the teddy bear. You had felt connected to it right from the start, and had begged your father to let you have it. Of course, John didn't see the need for it and refused to let you waste money for it. 

Disappointed, you let it go and walked away from the shop window. 

That day, John left for the hunt and left Dean in charge of you and Sam. You spent the day as usual, bored out of your mind just sitting in the motel room. Until you begged Dean to take you to the park. 

He had been resistant, but eventually gave in. You played at the park while Dean watched from the sidelines until he started flipping through a magazine that he brought along. 

When he wasn't looking, a man in a tan trench coat had walked up to you. He smiled and said hi. You told him that you weren't supposed to talk to strangers and he said that he understood, but he just wanted you to have something. 

Curiosity peaked, you asked him what it was. 

With a wide grin, he handed you the teddy bear from earlier. You beamed and shyly took it and thanked the stranger before he walked away.

When Dean saw you with it, you told him you had found it abandoned on the ground. He had shrugged and let you keep it. 

Ever since then, no more nightmares or insomnia had plagued you. You kept the stuffed bear with you at all times and took it wherever you went. 

You have it now, sitting on the dash of the Impala. You and your brothers just finished a particularly rough hunt. You had been injured and almost killed, but Dean had ganked the beast before it could end your life.

Dean is angry, there is no doubt about it. Sam seems a bit ticked but that's nothing compared to Dean's audible fury. 

"I'm sorry, Dean," you say after the silence becomes too great.

He shakes his head and clenches the steering wheel with white knuckles, "Sorry doesn't cut it, Y/n! You almost died!" 

You bow your head in shame, "I know."

"You've got to grow up and realize this isn't a game!" 

"I know it's not a game!" You argue. 

Sam adds, "Dean's right Y/n, you've got to grow up."

"I am grown up!" You argue, hurt that Sammy is agreeing with Dean.

"Oh yeah?" Dean says and snatches your beloved teddy from the dashboard, "You call this grown up?" 

An anxious feeling swells in your chest as you assess the situation, "Give it back."

"No. You think you're so grown up, so I guess you don't need this ratty old teddy bear anymore." He says coldly as he rolls down his window. 

"Dean, no," you plead as he holds the bear dangerously close to the open window. 

He doesn't say anything and doesn't give any hint that he even heard you. He casually tosses the stuffed bear out of the vehicle.

You shout in protest as you watch the bear hit the cold road and is left behind as Dean drives. You try to open the door in order to launch yourself out and reclaim your bear, but Dean has locked the doors.

You scream and cry, but Dean doesn't go back to get it and Sam stares straight ahead. They ignore your pleas. 

After a while, you calm down enough to stop crying loudly and as you get to the bunker you run into your room and lock the door behind you.

"She'll get over it," Dean assures Sam.

Sam shakes his head, "I don't know."

~

A week passes and you are still angry at your brothers. You haven't been able to sleep straight through the night since the incident, and even your brothers have noticed a serious change in your mood. 

"Dean you should apologize to Y/n," Sam says as he watches you across the room. You've been researching the latest case nonstop and Sam's concerned about your welfare.

Dean looks up from his computer. He does feel guilty about what happened, but he's not about to apologize. "Y/n's fine, she'll get over it."

Sam watches as you groan in frustration and rub your eyes. He knows you haven't been sleeping and when you do fall asleep, nightmares torment you. He can hear you whimpering and even screaming behind your bedroom door. 

"Dean, she hasn't been sleeping. And, have you heard her at night?"

Dean has in fact noticed. "She's fine. She can handle a few nightmares." 

Sam's not so sure. He knows how sensitive you were as a kid and even though it seemed like you moved on from your insomnia and paranoia he can tell you're backsliding. 

You've been through some tough times. You even went to Hell the same time that Dean did until Castiel managed to save you. 

"Dean," Sam sighs, about to argue some more until Castiel appears and interrupts the conversation. 

"I need your help," he states. 

You and the boys decide to help Cas with his problem involving some rouge angels. While you're fighting against the angels, Cas notices something off about you and decides to ask Dean what's wrong after the fight. 

"Dean, Y/n is not acting like herself." He says after you walk away to take a shower. 

Dean sighs, "I know."

"Do you have any idea why?" 

"We got into a fight."

Cas narrows his eye, "You guys always fight but she's never acted like this."

"I know, alright?" Dean answers in irritation.

"Dean, what did you do?" Cas pries, certain that something is wrong.

"Nothing!" He defends himself but he sighs and continues, "I just threw away her stupid teddy bear! I didn't think it was a big deal."

Cas sighs, "Dean, that was a foolish thing to do."

"What do you know about it?!" Dean argues.

"I am the one who gave her the bear in the first place."

Dean looks at him in confusion, "Why would you do that?"

"I placed a warding on it to keep away bad dreams. As her guardian, I felt it necessary to help her." He shakes his head, "No wonder she's been acting differently. She's been having the dreams again."

"The dreams?" Dean echoes.

"Yes. She was always plagued with dreams of her family dying. Now those dreams combine with her memories from Hell. Poor Y/n."

Dean feels even more guilty now, "I didn't know."

"I know Dean, it's not your fault. I'll make it right." Cas assures him before heading off to find you.

You had a nice shower and are now inspecting the dark circles underneath your eyes, a telltale sign of lack of sleep. With a sigh you remember the dream that you had the other night. 

You were stuck in Hell and had to watch as Sam and Dean were tortured in front of you. 

Shaking your head, you assure yourself that it was just a dream. Just a messed up dream. A knock on the door distracts you, so you wrap a towel around yourself and open the door. 

"Yeah?" You ask, expecting one of your brothers. When you come face to face with Cas, you smile a bit, "Oh, yeah Cas? I thought you'd left already."

He returns your smile, but it fades as he talks, "Y/n, I know what happened."

You frown, "What happened?"

"I know about the bear."

You blush in embarrassment, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"It's alright, I understand why you had it. It helped with the nightmares."

"How'd you know?"

Now it's his turn to blush a bit, "I gave it to you. Remember? That day in the park?" 

You blink in shock, "You did?" 

"Yes, I warded it against bad dreams so that you'd be able to sleep." He explains.

"Wow, I had no idea. Thanks Cas, that was really nice of you." You say, slipping past him and making your way to your bedroom. 

He waits outside your door as you change. When you open the door, you are taken by surprise as he wraps his arms around you. You stiffen in shock but then gratefully return the kind embrace. 

"I love you Y/n and I hate seeing you like this." He explains, not letting go of you. 

You hold him tightly, "I love you too, Cas."

He smiles and pulls back, "I got you something." He pulls out a small box wrapped with f/c paper. 

You grin shyly and take it into your hands. You look up at his blue eyes before opening the box. Gasping, you remove a gorgeous necklace in the shape of a anti-possession symbol that is engraved with Enochian. 

"Wow, Cas, it's beautiful."

"I figured that you're too old for teddy bears now. This necklace will guard your dreams when I can't." 

You look up into his eyes with a happy smile and hug him again, "Thank you Cas! I'll cherish it forever!" 

He smiles, "I'm glad you like it."

"I love it."