[h2]Esme[/h2]
Esme continued to stare at the far wall of the room until Dean spoke up, her eyebrows slightly knitting together when he said, “It can be seeing the future.” and continued. Esme only shook her head at the demon question; she had no idea what demon could do that much damage to the group. [i]If he didn’t think it was the future, what did he think it was?[/i] she thought to herself before Duke chimed in, the annoyance in his tone clear. She also wondered if Dean didn’t think they should take this premonition seriously, which only made her wish she hadn’t had to tell him. Esme slowly started to back her way closer to the door, feeling the rise in emotions in the room but stopped at Dean’s reply, her eyes widening with confusion. Her seeing the future didn’t freak him out; how the hell could it not? It did her.

It was clear that she wasn’t the only one surprised by it, and she was about to open her mouth to say something when Cason and then Anna spoke. She listened to Anna and sighed softly to herself when she said everyone was afraid of her; what Anna didn’t know was that she was mistaken. Esme wasn’t afraid of her; she felt a slight connection with her because she could burn demons as well, and she felt like she was the weird one, even if her weirdness didn’t involve demon blood. She would have to find a way to tell her at some point since now was not the time. When Duke and Cason spoke, Esme’s eyes darted to them. She wanted to throw in her own opinion, but Dean slapping the table caused her to flinch and look his way. Esme listened to Dean and Cason, bringing a hand to rest on her tight and aching chest. 

She understood where Dean was coming from, but as much as she hated to admit it, Cason was right about needing to find out what they were walking into. Esme continued to listen to everyone talk as she tried to hold it together, even with Sarah near, feeling slight relief when Sam spoke calmly to defuse things. After Mika and Natalia spoke, Esme nodded in agreement with the two women. She definitely preferred everyone to go in smart so that no one was hurt and they didn’t lose anyone. Looking at Dean, she watched him, waiting to see if he would listen to their reasoning, sighing softly when he conceded. From where she stood, she saw Duke’s and Cason’s shoulders relax and felt some of the tension fade, but not enough to help her out. There was so much tension, rage, and frustration in the air it would take more than this to clear the air.

Esme’s gaze shifted to Anna as she shifted in her chair and spoke, then to Cason when he snapped at her. She nodded after the back and forth between them, not liking that she actually agreed with Cason, but what he said was true. Then Dean agreed, which she knew he hated, and continued about how she wasn’t a weapon, and they would keep her away from the demons. Like Dean, Esme didn’t miss the glance between Anna and Cason and wondered what it meant. Was Cason feeding her? She shook the thought from her mind and looked around the room after Cason spoke again. Sighing heavily, Esme looked over at Anna, trying her best to fight through the pain. 

“They're both right, you know?” she started in a pain-filled tone as she looked at Anna. “I also consider you a friend, even though we haven’t had much of a chance to really get to know one another, but know this: I’ll fight alongside you and fight to keep you out of the hands of those demons for as long as I can.” Esme took in a shaky breath, looking back to the others in the room, still clutching her chest. She was close to losing control; Dean’s emotions had come close to pushing her over the edge, just like they used to. His emotions always seemed so much stronger than others, and his, with everyone else's, felt like a weight on her, especially in this small room. “I’m also up for getting out of here.” she added. Without another word, Esme turned to the door and left, almost at a run to leave the rage and frustration behind her. 

Esme only made it as far as Duke’s truck before her knees gave out, and she fell against the truck's tailgate. Closing her eyes tight, she gripped the tailgate, trying to hold back the release of emotions bubbling at the surface. She couldn’t let them go; this wasn’t the place. She half wished she could throw herself down in a hole so she could release them. Sarah soon came up behind her and whined softly. “I need to get to the room.” Same whispered. With a soft bark, Sarah moved close to Esme’s side. Esme put her arms around her, and Sarah just about carried her to the room door. Once in the room, with some difficulty, they went over to the bed and sat on the floor. Esme curled into a ball and leaned against the bed with Sarah close by her side. 

Being out of the room and having Sarah by her side, Esme should have started feeling more at ease by now, but she still felt as if she were still with the others. Which told her she had stayed too long and it would be a long and painful process to get back to normal unless she just released it, which would hit Cason. Esme closed her eyes and moved to curl up on the floor. She remembered what had happened at Bobby’s the first time she was like this. Sarah had shielded Cason with her own body, which worked for the most part. Would that work for her? She was smaller than Cason. Sarah could easily cover her small frame. A wave of pain shot through Esme as she curled into a tighter ball; she did her best to muffle her cry of pain only to have another follow. 

Then, as if Sarah had been reading her thoughts, she moved closer and curled her massive frame around Esme’s smaller frame. Sarah softly nuzzled Esme’s cheek with a slight whine before resting her head close to Esme’s. “Thanks, Sarah.” Esme said, almost crying. Just Sarah curled around her did some good; it was slowly becoming bearable, but it was still quite painful; she knew that the group would want to leave soon, and she wouldn’t be able to. So, feeling that Sarah was ready, Esme released what she was holding back, screaming into her hands, even though she was muffled by Sarah. Esme didn’t move afterward. She lay there, trembling and softly crying against Sarah, listening. It was silent save for Sarah’s breathing. “It worked.” Esme whispered before the flood of tears came.