A/ N: Prior to the celebration of her three years with the Team Free Will, Castiel helps Oya with a case that means everything to her. Their bond gets stronger.
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Castiel was driving his car, with a sleeping Oya leaning into the passenger's seat. She had been patched up by the nurse they both rescued from Joshua's demon, and aside from the deep cut at the top of her forehead, she only had a busted rib and some bruises on her chest. The angel decided against her wishes that it would be better for her to return home than stay by Joshua's sides. They rescued him, the two of them. Castiel promised Oya they would find the young possessed man and they would rescue him. He noticed how distraught she was when she returned from that solo hunt and once Sam asked him to check on Oya because she might have met Lucifer, he didn't hesitate. Part of the angel was glad she had not met the fallen angel. Lucifer was the worst when it came to a supernatural creature. It wasn't so much his incredible feats than his unpredictable and cruel personality. He had played with, tortured, and broke the Winchesters and Castiel to such a capacity that no other entity could reach his level. He really hurt the three of them to the bone hence the angel's instant panic at the mention that Oya might have met him.
These two had a very rocky start. Filled with mistrust and anger. He couldn't blame Oya for rejecting the angels after what happened to her. He couldn't blame her for not trusting him or even just having troubles understanding him. Communication wasn't Castiel's strong suit but they managed. As soon as he realized she was genuinely caring for both brothers, he mellowed and when she noticed he was less on the defensive, she lowered her defenses as well. Day after day, moments after moments until finally, the angel caught the hunter trying to run away from the Bunker. Oya got scared because she realized she was attached to the brothers and convinced she would get them killed like she did her family, she tried to preserve them. That was what she thought was the reason for her departure.
Castiel saw through it, it wasn't so much that she wanted to protect them -she did want that- it had more to do with her thinking she didn't deserve to be loved and accepted. Castiel had been there, done that years ago. He too had to accept that the Winchesters became his family and he deserved to have one too. He had bled enough, made amends for his foolish ways already and just like any other person on Earth, after such hard work, he deserved some good rest. He spotted that in Oya, the low self-esteem she already had shone through her feeble attempts at justifying her trying to run away. He convinced her to stay and the two talked openly about what the brothers meant, why they were his family and that they had indeed adopted Oya as the new member of the team. She was family and she would need to accept it. That was a small victory.
Greater than her anger towards angels was her fear of Christian demons. He noticed how quickly she shook whenever they mentioned Crowley and even more when the king of Hell appeared in the flesh. Oya was petrified. She mentioned it a few times, that she couldn't fight a Christian demon and had yet to master her genuine fear of them. Castiel still remembered how frightened she was after she encountered a possessed Joshua. He remembered how distraught she was when she lamented she was unable to rescue her friend. Castiel took it upon him to help her. He took it upon him to save her if need there was, hence why both of them went on a mission to rescue her friend. Joshua was a very close friend to Oya. He almost was family to her so she would not allow his death. Saving him proved more difficult than it appeared to be, mostly because the demon was strong, way stronger than they imagined it to be. He maimed both of them pretty badly and could have taken the angel down if it wasn't for Oya who overcame her fear and incapacitated the vessel. Knocked out and bound, it became their priority to perform a successful exorcism. And they succeeded. That was a huge victory.
Oya and Castiel took Joshua to the nearest hospital and called Sarah so she could come and handle the situation from this point on. Castiel watched as the hunter refused to be seen by a nurse but after she realized that her bleeding wouldn't stop, she did agree to sit and be stitched up. The angel had already seen the woman anxious, so nervous that she would have been able to eat her own hair to control her stress. He had already seen her walk in a circle, clasping her hands together, assemble and disassemble her guns or polish her blades in an attempt to prevent a major breakdown. She was as stiff as a piece of wood, waiting for the doctor to come back with positive news. Sarah arrived and the two hugged, talked about Joshua and their shared past. Sarah held onto Oya's hand and pressed light kisses on top of her head. She knew the ebony hunter hated hospitals and was grateful she stayed until she was sure Joshua was safe. They waited like this, then Oya resumed walking in circles until finally a doctor arrived and spoke to Sarah who then informed Oya that Joshua was alive and finally woke up. It was a huge victory.
Seeing the two of them laugh-cry at the situation and Oya relax warmed the stoic angel's heart. He wanted to see her more like this, happier and laughing. That was hit him when he was driving back home. Oya wasn't just the human companion to the Winchester brothers. She wasn't meant to come and go like so many other people did in those boys lives. She was meant to stay. She wanted to stay. He watched as she turned on her side, struggling to find a comfortable position and wrap her arms around his right one. She leaned a little against his shoulder, knocked out by the days spent tracking and finally fighting against the demon. Seeing her closing the gap between the two of them opened his eye to the fullest. She truly had chosen him and accepted Castiel for who and what he was. An angel, the exception, the only one. She accepted him as her family. That was a huge victory. The best one. She was family.
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