[h3] Dean Winchester [/h3]

Dean stared down at Mika with a flirty smile as she reminisced about the failed skin walker case.  He had struggled so hard to keep his hands off her that he almost broke his cover, just so he could be personal, and not businesslike.  And the night had ended up in a good place, albeit bruises and a few scrapes.  He pouted his lips out, bobbing his head to the side, “I seem to remember something like that.  I’m really…REALLY looking forward to seeing you all dolled up today.”

He bit his lip, and raised his eyebrows at her as she made it obvious what she planned to do to him, in full celebration of an actual king sized bed, “I think…just maybe…I could make something happen.”

Dean placed his hands on her hips and pushed her back toward the bed, wiggling his eyebrows in response to her mischievous smile.

[h3] Annabeth [/h3]

Anna laughed at the fact that Dean was the loud sleeper of the two, not that she was particularly surprised with the way Dean ate and how little he slept.  He was bound to sleep incredibly heavy when he finally did get some rest.  She squeezed Sam’s hand as they stepped into their room and he instantly began finding solutions to the single bed.  She was unable to stifle the small giggle that left her throat.

“I think…correct me if I’m wrong…but we left modesty in Bobby’s basement.”, she muttered softly with a giggle.  She stepped up to him, and caught his gaze, wrapping her arms around his waist, “I wasn’t complaining about the single bed.  I was just surprised…because Dean did this on his own.  I half expected two beds in opposite rooms of one suite or something.  You’re warm.  You’re cute.  You’re safe.  One bed is fine, Sam.  You’re not sleeping on the floor.”

She reached up and brushed his hair behind his ear with a smirk.

————-A WHILE LATER —————-

[h3] Duke [/h3]

Duke put the truck in park and carefully stepped out the door, his boots landing heavily against the pavement.  Hearing Mika’s voice, he instantly turned, pushing his hat back on his head in preparation for what he knew was coming.  He smiled brightly and wrapped his arms around Mika, “HEY!  That can’t be my pretty girl, up in here in one piece and still…STILL huggin’ on me.”

He laughed and spun her in a circle, before dropping her to her feet and pulling back, “I was um…checkin’ out some demon omens in the area and it led me to some weird warehouse full of torture supplies and stuff.  Just so happens, some demons had a couple of your people all tied up and in rough shape.”

Duke glanced over Mika’s shoulder as Dean walked out of the motel room to see what she was doing, and his eyes widened as he slowly approached them, “And as usual, I came in and saved the day.  You know…normal Wednesday.”

He flashed his signature smile at Mika, bringing a hand up to brush her hair back from her cheek, just as Dean made it to them.  Dean and Duke stared at each other for a long moment, Duke not knowing what shape Dean was in since coming back from Hell, or how mad he was for Duke bolting all those years ago.

But then Dean threw his arms around Duke’s neck, holding him tight to his body and burying his face in his shoulder.  Dean sighed before grumbling, “It’s good to see you little brother.”

“It’s good to see you too…”, Duke murmured back, holding onto Dean’s shirt tightly, “And I want to catch up, but I have to grab Esme, alright?  She’s in rough shape, and I’ll um…I’m gonna stick around for a couple of days.  So, let me get her resting, and I’ll come find you, okay?”

“If you need anything, come knock.  We got plenty of supplies.  She always liked your stitches better than mine anyway.”, Dean teased, slapping the back of his hand against Duke’s chest.  Duke turned and pinched Mika’s chin lovingly before he turned back to the truck and jogged around to the passenger side.  He opened the door and leaned carefully across Esme’s body to unbuckle her seatbelt.

Slipping a hand under her legs, he slowly ran a hand around to her lower back and hoisted her into his arms, cradling her back to his chest with a sigh, “I got you, beautiful.  Just relax.  We’re safe here.”

He smiled down at her, just as Dean stepped up with a note from Cason that had been left on the hood of the Impala, along with Duke and Esme’s room key.  Duke nodded, which Dean took as a signal to help him open the door.  But Dean couldn’t help look at Esme as if he was incredibly worried.  There was a lot of blood covering her clothes, and she looked as if someone had worked her face over good and hard.  Duke saw Dean shake his head and run over to the door of their motel room, which was situated just to the left of Dean and Mika’s room, and he opened the door for Duke.

Duke tipped his hat, and stepped over the threshold with Esme, “I’ll see you cuties in a bit, alright?”

Closing the door behind him, he walked Esme over to the single bed in the room, and carefully lowered her to the mattress, holding his hand out to make sure she stayed steady.  He then brought both his hands up to carefully cradle her face, looking into her eyes to make sure she heard him, “Alright.  So, we’re here.  Let’s get these clothes off you so I can stitch you up, yeah?  That okay?  And then I’ll run you a bath.  I got some stuff in the truck that will take the edge off and help your stitches not itch so bad.  What do you think?"