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Helping people was Castiel’s calling.
He specifically remembered what it was like right after he fell, how he had to live on the streets and in homeless shelters, unsure of where he’d get his next meal or if he’d even be sleeping with a roof over his head.
It had been a hard time, but now he had found Sam and Dean again; they gave him his own room in the bunker and all the food he could eat, and he was forever grateful.
For the first few months Cas lived with them, he experienced a strange, growing urge to go back to those shelters, which he first voiced to Sam, “I feel like I need to return the favor, to give them something in return for them giving me a safe place to stay.”
Of course Sam understood completely, explaining that that feeling was common in most humans, “You know what volunteering is, right? One of these weekends we can head back there, help them with whatever they need help with.”
Dean grumbled about it at first, “I don’t want to go spend my day with a group of stinky hobos,” but after Cas reminded him that he had in fact been one of those hobos, Dean apologized and decided to tag along.
Cas had never been happier.
All three of them had been assigned kitchen duty, Cas and Dean up front serving while Sam cooked in the back.
Even Dean was enjoying it, the gratefulness from the folks he served warming his insides and making him smile, but it was Cas’ joy that really made his heart flutter; he had never seen the man so cheerful, greeting and conversing with everyone like they were his best friend, helping them with whatever they needed, even if it went beyond his assigned duties. And the way Cas looked when he was complimented and thanked, that bashful grin and small dip of his head, a hint of pink on his cheeks, damn, that made his freaking month.
Sam noticed it too, whenever he came up to the front to deliver a fresh serving of something, the way Cas just seemed to be at home here, relaxed and joyful and free .
So it wasn’t a surprise that volunteering became routine for them, of course more for Cas than the boys. If they ever had to take a road trip for a hunt, Sam and Dean would spend the day doing the family business while Cas got ahold of any place he could find that was looking for volunteers, committing his time and energy there.
It was Dean’s idea for Cas to start his own charity, having heard over and over again nearly every night about how complete Cas felt when he was able to help all of these people, “You said it yourself, man, this is your thing, this is what you want to do in your new, human life. Sam and I can help you start something, chip in with whatever the expenses end up being.”
At first Cas was skeptical, not entirely sure where to start or how they’d work it out with them traveling so much. They bounced ideas off of each other though, Sam commenting, “How about something that doesn’t really have a home base, that can be done anywhere, by anyone?” The other two nodded from him to go on, “It’s obvious you don’t want to do this for money, so how about for inspiration?” Sam was getting excited now, grinning, “Cas, you know how sometimes when you can’t find a place to volunteer at, you’ll go buy a box of doughnuts or some pizza and walk around downtown, handing them out? And how you always comment that you just love making people smile, love making people’s days? Random Acts. That’s what you could call it. Inspire people to make others happy with random acts of kindness.”
Sam wasn’t the only one excited now.
Like a busy beehive, the three of them started putting their plan into action. Cas and Dean hopped on a computer to get a Facebook page going, Sam researching all the technicalities they’d need to put in place.
It wasn’t long before the Cas’ charity Random Acts was up and going, the three of them getting some cards made with the Facebook link on it to hand out whenever Cas headed out to make people smile.
Of course things were slow at first, a few likes and views to their page trickling in every week. Cas kept with it though, letting people know about it and how he wanted to “conquer the world one random act of kindness at a time,” and soon enough the page had 100, 500, then nearing 1000 likes.
The first time they received a message asking Random Acts to help a woman in Florida set up a free lemonade and cookie stand at a local park, Cas was over the moon. Printing out a banner, fliers, and business cards, the boys packed up and headed to Tallahassee for what would be one of the best times of Castiel’s long, long life.
Summer heat and humidity is what greeted them on day one, as did little crowds and hardly any interested persons. It hurt the Winchesters to watch Cas start the day with one of the biggest smiles on his face, offering a RA flier and a free cookie to anyone who passed, only to end the day with a frown, hardly anyone having actually accepted their offers.
Fearing the same for day two, the group set up their stand with nearly half of the provisions they had the day before, but Cas, not wanting to give up quite yet, kept on trying.
At some point late that morning a little kid came up to the stand, their parent watching with a smile a few feet away. “I... my momma got one of your fliers yesterday and... and she said she wanted to help, so here,” he handed a kneeling Cas a twenty dollar bill before dashing away to return to his mother.
Of course Cas had to go over and thank the woman, who then told him that she had visited the RA Facebook page and shared it with everyone she knew, believing it was one of the best charities she’d seen in a long while, even if it was still small. Cas gave her a hug and thanked her for her support before returning to the stand to relay the news with enthusiasm, adding that this one person’s comment and support had made the whole weekend worth it for him.
But the weekend wasn’t over yet.
Word spread fast in that woman’s circle of friends and beyond, and by just 2 o’clock that afternoon, Sam had make a run to get the rest of their supplies, easily surpassing what they had on hand the day before.
Their stand became busier and busier as the hours passed, more curious people coming over to investigate as the crowd grew. The tip jar they had out ended up overflowing, and they almost nearly ran out of cookies to hand to everyone.
When the day was done, Cas was so high up on cloud nine that he was quiet as can be, his body buzzing, and a gleeful smile stuck on his face.
In their motel that night, when Dean and Cas were alone with Sam in the shower, Dean wrapped his best friend in a tight hug, “I’m so proud of you, Cas.” It was clear that he was happy because Cas was happy, “This is such a great thing that you came up with, and man, your enthusiasm and dedication is contagious.”
“Well, it was your idea, really, and you guys helped with a lot of it,” the ex-angel’s cheeks were flushed nonetheless, “but thank you. I’m glad it’s starting to catch on, at least a little bit.”
Unknown to Cas though, it was more than a little bit.
Before bed that night, Cas checked in to their Facebook page to post an update for the day and add some photos, thank everyone who came out, but screamed as soon as he pulled up the page, “Oh my god... oh my god!”
And almost instantly he was crying, face buried in his hands. “Cas, what’s wrong?” When the brothers came over to check on him, they saw what had him in tears: the Random Acts Facebook page had blown up, 2000+ likes, 10 messages, and plenty of new comments on their past activities, praising them for what a great charity it was and how they wanted to support and spread the word.
Dean pulled Cas into a hug as Sam scrolled through the page, reading off things, all of them grinning. Finally Cas lowered his hands and leaned into Dean, shaking with happiness and excitement, “This is amazing, I can’t... oh my god.”
And their reach kept growing and growing.
By the end of the month the page was over 5000 likes, the boys busy nearly every weekend to help with someone’s event. Even when they couldn’t make it, they helped fund and send out RA supplies (posters, fliers, cards, stickers) to whoever needed them, wanting to help as much as possible.
It wasn’t long before Random Acts became a proper, nationally recognized charity, Cas having to find people to help the three of them, but he had no problem doing so since so many wanted to be part of running it.
As the months went on and turned to years, Random Acts became bigger than Cas could ever imagine, reaching global scale. They had their own website, celebrities were working with them, news sources were doing articles and segments on them.
Sam and Dean made sure to keep back in the shadows of it all, somewhat returning to their old life and letting Cas have the spotlight to himself like they knew he deserved after all these years, but of course they always had his back, there for him whenever he needed them.
This was Cas’ new life as a human, spreading kindness across the world one random act at a time, and he couldn’t love it any more if he tried.