[h2]Esme Stirling[/h2]

Esme watched Dean’s face as she worked her magic to calm his anxiety. She took in the look in his eyes and his gentle smile while she kept a small soft smile on her lips. She could see and feel that he almost instantly relaxed when she pulled him closer to herself. She could see all that he tried to carry on his shoulders, and she wanted to help him lift some of that off his shoulders, but knowing him, he wouldn’t let her without putting up a struggle. So this was the best she could do for now. Ease his stress and anxiety with her gifts that sometimes felt like a curse. 

The moment she felt his heartbeat slow under her hand, her smile grew a bit, relieved that she was able to calm him more. At his joke, she gently shook her head as she laughed with him. “Yeah, sure you're not.” she joked back with a smirk. “But I’m glad I’m able to calm you…… You carry so much more than you used to. Someone needs to be around to help you through it.” She sighed a bit sadly as she felt it, but she didn’t let her smile fade. She wanted him in a better mood, not anything else. At his next words, she smiled warmly. “I know, and I’ll never get over how it surprises you.” 

Once she knew he was good, she stopped projecting her calmness to him, but didn’t let go of him, she could feel how safe he felt and she wanted him to keep feeling that. When Sam and Madison entered the room, she didn’t turn her head to them until Madison spoke. Esme let her hand slide down from Dean’s chest and rest on his stomach as she turned her body a bit to look at them better. She smiled warmly at Madison feeling how nervous she was, but that changed as Dean spoke to Madison with a smirk, she could feel her calm at his smirk. It was a start in the right direction. [i]Baby steps.[/i] she said to herself as Madison responded to Dean. 

When Dean sighed, Esme pulled him into a side hug, knowing how he felt about Madison being so scared of him. She also understood why he was keeping his distance from her, she couldn’t blame him for doing so in case the worst were to happen. At that moment she wished she had the ability of telepathy, just so she could talk to Dean without the others hearing. “So, you’re learning to control your powers? Sounds like you’re making some progress.” she said warmly to Madison with a smile as she took in how she clung to Sam. She then decided to try something she hadn’t done in some time, a distance projection of her calm. 

The last time she tried it took a bit out of her, but she had to try and calm Madison just to make sure nothing happened. Yes, Esme could feel she was calming, but she just wanted to help it along. They all needed to be calm for this to work between them all. Esme could feel that Sam was a bit nervous even if it didn’t show on his face. Taking a deep breath, she slowly let it out as she projected her calm to the two of them, mostly focusing on Madison. She knew doing this was more than likely going to kick her ass but she didn’t care. If she was close or had a hand on the person she was trying to calm, it took less effort, but at a distance, it took quite a bit more effort. 

Esme could feel that it was working on Sam, he had calmed quite a bit and she could feel his confusion about it. She saw the look gave her too before he looked back down at Madison. The effort it was taking must be showing on her face, she knew it more than likely would. The longer she kept it up, the more her hug loosened around Dean. 


[h2]Sam Winchester[/h2]

Sam kept his arm around Madison, resting his hand on her back to give her some comfort, but he could see her fear as her eyes lit up. He rubbed her back in a comforting way, but noticed her calm when she laid eyes on Esme and how close she was standing to Dean. Did she know something he didn't know about the woman? He pushed the thought back as her eyes flicked and she gripped the back of his shirt and almost hid behind him when they stopped, which made him move his hand to her shoulder. His eyes went back and forth between Dean and Madison as they spoke, feeling her relax little by little as Dean spoke calmly to her and even gave her a smirk, the action calmed him a little bit. 

Sam looked over at Esme and how close she stood to Dean, and also took note of how calm Dean seemed to be. He couldn’t help but wonder again what it was about her that calmed him so much. If she was able to keep him so calm, then maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having her around, but it still didn’t calm his nerves completely. His eyes went to Dean when Madison mentioned about being able to move the money, his sigh didn’t go unnoticed and he was sure he knew what was going through his brother's mind. The thought caused him to sigh inwardly, but he didn’t want to think about that. 

Sam looked at Esme when she spoke to Madison in such a warm tone and he nodded to her words. “She is.” he responded. “She gave me a small demonstration earlier to show me what she and Cas have been doing. She’s making good progress.” He spoke looking at Esme, but he also said it for Dean to hear to try and calm him and himself. After a few moments, he could feel his nervousness fading, not really understanding it. He knew it couldn’t be just because he had told Dean and Esme of Madison’s progress in controlling her powers, but it was strange how his nerves were calming all of a sudden. 

He watched Esme for a moment longer, she was starting to look a bit pale and the rosiness in her cheeks was fading some. He looked back down at Madison to see how she was doing and to see if she was experiencing the same thing he was at that moment.