[h3] Dean Winchester [/h3]

Dean smiled brightly at the reactions to his sleepover comment, until Mika brought up the times he had hidden from her mom and dad.  He frowned, and raised his eyes to the ceiling briefly, before glaring at Mika for bringing up embarrassing stories.  Only he was allowed to do that, “Yeah yeah.  We’re not talking about me, here.  We’re talking about Sammy, his love for facials and teddies…and keeping him safe for the night.”

He gave a small smirk and then laughed, “I’ll go grab the blankets and some sleeping bags.  I know where everything is, Bobby…don’t worry about it.”

Bobby nodded to the boys, as Dean patted him on the back on the way out of the vault.  His stomach hurt, the more he thought about this whole mess.  It wasn’t a pang of optimism, but at the moment, they didn’t really have the luxury of worry.

“There’s a cabinet over there with guns, knives, and about a gallon of holy water.  Hell, I think there’s even a few rosaries in there, if you want to give your lady friend some jewelry.”, he explained to Sam, giving him a ‘loving father joking with his son about a new girlfriend’ look, “I’m gonna go upstairs with the girls, and see what we can come up with for defense up there.  I have a few ideas, but I need some extra hands.”

[h3] Annabeth [/h3]

Annabeth stepped around the room slowly, as the room began to clear.  She went over every crack in the wall, and what Bobby filled it with, as well as the paint of the sigils that were meant to protect her.  She laughed lightly at a few of the things that were said, as she studied everything.

She finally made her way across the room, as one by one, everyone ended up leaving the vault, leaving only herself and Sam.  She couldn’t help break the silence in the echoing room, even if it changed the mood a bit.  It would possibly be the last time she could speak to Sam, before the timer started, and her words became muddled in anxiety.
“I think it’s time for us to have a talk, about how this should go.  I’m going to put it bluntly…if this doesn’t work.  If it doesn’t…you have to be able to let me go.  I feel what you feel, like I’ve known you, missed you, and maybe even in some ways have been attached to you pretty much forever.  Maybe it’s the fact that I’m ‘like you’ with whatever is going on with us…or…or maybe it’s something else that I don’t remember…But promise me that if I have to go, you’ll close your eyes, and let me go.”

She spoke the words with a bit of extra clarity, compared to her normal nervous demeanor.  It was as if the nervousness and fear were bringing out a bit of clarity.  She reached her hand up to Sam’s cheek, brushing her thumb down the bridge of his nose, and over his lips, “Promise me.”

[h3] Cason [/h3]

Cason continued to scan Esme’s face, a bit worried that she was going to say ‘no’ to all of the above options.  When she asked the question about being locked in the vault with Sam and Annabeth, he didn’t nod or shake his head, simply staying silent to let her know that his options for protecting her were very limited.

When she finally agreed to the dogs, he smiled, nodding his head, “I can take care of that.  I can’t do it for the dogs I’m unattached to, but I can for those that are mine.”

He reached forward, carefully finding a bit of skin on her hand to place his finger on.  As he touched her skin, a small black mark appeared, and he pulled his hand back, “I’ll have to talk to them, and you’re welcome to come with…but now, you’re basically marked.  They can see you.  You can see them.  And anyone that comes near you, that doesn’t smell like this house, will be a pile of guts on the floor, before they know what hit them.”

He glanced toward the window, hearing one of his hounds howl, as she grew restless simply standing out in the junkyard.  If he gave them something to do, any one of the five would be ecstatic.

“Let’s go get you acquainted with my girls.  Sarah is sitting right outside the window over there, and I think Violet is nearby.  They’re my biggest two, and I think they’ll love you.”, he joked with Esme, slowly unfolding himself and standing from the floor.  He held his hand out to her, “And I’ll remove that mark when we’re through this.”