[h3] Cason [/h3]
Cason’s shoulders relaxed a bit when Nat admitted that she slept okay. He hadn’t noticed as much thrashing and screaming as he had expected. So, he had to believe her. For the most part, she had slept like the dead, from the outside. He couldn’t help but notice that she was disassociated and fell into her thoughts for a moment. Watching her eyes, his brow furrowed but then she pulled back and sat up. He followed her, sitting up against the headboard of the bed.

“Ah. Yes! The parents…”, Cason groaned, his annoyance clear in his voice. But she was right. Dean would likely come barreling through the door, as if he was a child with no knowledge of privacy, any second now. “Although, you could just stay in bed and let them find out the hard way that um…I’m not going anywhere.”

He laughed softly, thankful that he had at least partially redressed during his boredom, while Nat was sleeping. He didn’t feel cold the way humans did, but he felt oddly vulnerable, lying on the bed in his boxers after she stole the sheet. At her words, however, his eyebrows shot up and he laughed with his whole chest shaking his head, “Unfortunate consequence of…demons, I guess. Must have been a bit…excited.”

He laughed again and waved off her concern about him being nice to Mika and Dean. He didn’t intend to start a fight today, but, Dean was Dean.

Just a few moments later, the dreaded knock came and Cason rolled his eyes but stopped his movements when he heard Mika’s voice. Dean had sent Mika? That didn’t seem right. Dean was the nosiest person on the planet and the one person in this group who wanted Cason dead the most. He stayed still for a moment, hoping Mika would take the hint that maybe Nat was asleep. But instead, she knocked again, confirming that Dean was not with her. Cason stood from the bed, swiping his jeans from the floor and slipping them on over his legs. He didn’t bother to button or zip them before opening the door and leaning against the frame with his arm above Mika’s head.

“Well, hello there. I didn’t expect you to show up this morning. Where’s the puppy?” He teased her, giving his most dazzling smile as he scanned over her head to look for Dean. Little did he know, Dean was against the wall to the side of Mika, and as he spoke up, Cason literally flinched.

“He’s right here. Where’s my sister?” Dean asked him, more of an order to answer than a question. Cason turned his eyes back down to Mika’s face, biting his lip.

“She’s in the shower. She knew you were coming. So, if you wanna come in, come in. If not, we’ll be over in a few minutes.” Cason shrugged and dropped his arm from the doorframe. Dean let a low growl leave his chest as he glared at him, and then he looked at Mika.

“Why [i] we [/i]? Why can’t you just go do something, away from her? It’s not like we’re going to hurt her.” Dean snapped and Cason sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Hurt her? No. Lose her or casually forget she’s there so that she gets hurt? It’s the Winchester way.”

“You’re treading on some thin ice.” Dean snarled, clenching his fists to which Cason shrugged his shoulders.

“Then kill me. See how that goes over with your sister.”

[h3] Anna [/h3] 

Anna believed Sam, but only to a degree. She knew that with everything going on, and with what Lilith had said to her, his brain had to be moving a million miles per hour. Then there was the looming question that she wanted to ask him about demon blood, and if she could be of use if she could just get ahold of some…without going off the rails and turning into a raging psychopath. With Cason around, it might not be the best of ideas, but it was something she wanted to ask about…at another time.

But Sam saying he was alright was enough for her, at that moment. She didn’t want to press him super hard when she had scared him to the point of following her to California. She couldn’t even bother to think about what the group must be thinking of her, abandoning them and taking Sam away, all in one swoop. 

She simply nodded, her eyes fluttering closed as his lips pressed to her forehead. The gesture, along with a simple ‘I love you’ sent her heart off in a race, like the first time they had touched hands. She sighed and for a moment, she felt safe. He was safe. She was safe. They were together and no one could rip that from them.

“I love you.” She murmured, and then sighed at his next question, shrugging her shoulders gently. “We don’t have much of a choice, do we? I’m sure they’re headed somewhere. Maybe we could meet them there.”

Deciding to be the one to move first, she carefully removed her hand from his face, and rolled off the bed, onto her feet. She flattened Sam’s flannel against her chest and slipped her feet into her boots, before stepping away from the bed to at least try and do something with her thick and messy hair. She settled on pulling the hairtie from around her wrist, throwing her hair up in a loose bun on the top of her head.

“I mean, I look like a hobo, but I think I have the right. I ran away. They’ll probably be surprised I’m so clean…” She teased, turning to Sam and holding her arms out to her sides. She then crossed her arms over her chest and chewed at her lip, “What are we going to tell them?”

[h3] Duke [/h3] 

Duke grimaced at Esme’s words. She was right. If he didn’t have a clue where he was headed, maybe he was just…running. He was good at that. He stayed completely still, just staring at her as she explained his thoughts back to him, almost word for word. He needed to figure out if he had a role to play, here. If he wasn’t needed, or if he could do better somewhere else, he could leave then. But the tendency to run was still nagging at the back of his mind, like some sort of addiction.

However, when she stepped away, his heart sank. Instantly, that familiar feeling of mourning crept back up in his throat, like the day that they all split up. He had mourned them as if they were dead and he had missed them both, every day. He would never tell Dean any of this, however. But if this feeling was any indicator, he didn’t like it. He felt like he should run after her, grab her, kiss her, and tell her he would stay forever. But he couldn’t move from his spot.

In frustration, he balled up his fist and banged it against the side of the truck, opening the door. He just stood there. He could get in this truck and just drive away. Cut clean and run. But he stood there, holding the cool metal in his hand. But then Esme came back.

“I don’t want support…” Duke whispered, as Esme stepped away for a second time and he was left standing there, holding the decision against his chest, like an anvil. After a moment, he gritted his teeth, and stepped up into the truck, slamming the door behind him. He needed to drive and think. Even if that’s all he did, it’s what he needed.

—-

[h3] About an hour later [/h3]

Pulling back into the parking lot, Duke parked close to the Impala and shut off the engine. He reached over in the passenger seat and grabbed the bag of food and the crumpled-up note where he had information from Bobby for the Winchesters. Obviously, he would have to wait until Sam got back, but at least it gave him time to either convince Esme to leave with him or convince himself to stay…and help.

He walked up to the door of her motel room, took a deep breath, and shuffled his boots against the concrete before bringing his hand up to gently knock.