[h3] Dean and Bobby [/h3]

Dean’s shoulders relaxed a little thinking about Esme’s words of ‘I’ll keep fighting’. It was all he could ask for in that moment, when all he wanted her to do was try. If not for him, he wanted her to try for Duke. He matched a lot of her expressions, as he knew that some of the injuries she had must have been painful, even for a hunter. That head gash alone was one of the worst he had seen, for her to still be walking around. It was a miracle she was on her feet at all.

He turned his eyes up from Esme’s face to Bobby’s as Esme began to drink the concoction Bobby had made. Dean was silently asking Bobby what was in the glass, to which Bobby just tilted his head, silently explaining that it wasn’t something Dean was going to like, or agree to, but it wasn’t just whiskey. Dean glared at Bobby briefly, before turning his eyes back down to Esme as she downed the entire glass.

Dean matched Esme’s scrunched face, as she reacted to the taste of the whiskey, wondering what Bobby had poured in the glass to make it taste like crap. The only thing he could think of was possibly African Dream Root, but there was no reason for Bobby to want to knock her out, ESPECIALLY after the trauma she had just gone through. 

“Yeah. I might wanna grab another bottle when I go to town later on. You know how quick it can go off when you drink straight from the bottle…” Bobby quipped, and Dean glared at him once again, only for Bobby to shake his head at Dean. Dean’s attention came right back to Esme when she placed a hand over her stomach. He echoed her, hovering his hand over hers as he watched her face. Out of nowhere, she stood from the couch and ran to Bobby’s trash can, puking to the point that Dean had to assume it was her body rejecting something.

“What did you give her?” Dean asked Bobby, who was just watching Esme with both frustration and worry. “Bobby! What did you give her?”

“A hunch. We were goin’ off a hunch. If she’s connected to demons, maybe demon blood…”

“You gave her demon blood?! Great. Wonderful. Just what we need…” Dean sighed, reaching up and rubbing his eyebrow with frustration. Esme seemed to get everything out of her system, and Dean heard Bobby’s desk scoot as she leaned against it, and he glanced over to her, sighing again. He couldn’t hear what she was mumbling, but he could tell she wasn’t going anywhere on her own any time soon. When she stood, he jumped up, quickly running over to her. “Hey! I got you. I got you. Let’s get you…”

As soon as his arm wrapped around Esme’s waist, she fainted, causing Dean to groan as he barely caught her, quickly reaching for her legs and hoisting her off the ground, “Dammit…” 

He carried her back to the couch, not wanting to put her back down, in case worse things were to come. He had seen Anna on demon blood and they knew what Anna was. He chose to sit on the edge of the couch, turning Esme so that Bobby could access the back of her head.

“Patch her up. And no…more hunches.” Dean scolded Bobby, causing Bobby to straighten up, as if he was going to tear Dean down, only to sigh and rummage through his tool box for what he needed to fix up Esme’s head and shoulder.

[h3] Duke [/h3] 

Duke was a little surprised, when Mika began to scold him for his words. She had never really spoken to him like this, and for a moment, it felt like he was sitting in front of a mother. He watched her eyes, his own eyes filling up with tears again. He didn’t expect Dean to mourn him, really. It was obvious that Dean would. They were practically brothers, but at the same time, it felt like Dean should have felt relief, not having to worry about Duke anymore or protect him…or save him. 

He rolled all of it over in his mind, trying to decide whether he believed her, or whether she was telling him what he wanted to hear, in that moment. But Mika never said anything that the others simply ‘wanted to hear’. She was the most blunt and brutally honest person he had ever met, more so than Dean. So, he didn’t have much of a choice but to nod, as the soft touch to his cheeks calmed the tears that were now flooding over her hands.

“Alright.” He nodded, agreeing to let her look at his stitches. She was right. He needed to sleep on all of this. He needed to get patched up and maybe tomorrow, he would feel better, or at least he would feel safe…and home. Duke carefully sat back, shrugging his flannel off his shoulders and he tossed it to the side. Mika was one of only four people who had ever seen the scars on his body. So, he didn’t feel self conscious about her seeing them again.

“After I sleep on all this, I will take any advice short of screwin’ my liver with whiskey…and even that’s not off the table.”  Duke murmured, attempting to stretch, but he only raised his arms a tiny bit, before the stitches in his stomach caught and weeped a bit, causing him to hiss. “Where do you want me?”

[h3] Cason [/h3]

Cason watched Nat’s face as she seemed to be struggling with something. Her words of being grateful he came made him smirk and shake his head. There wasn’t a universe where he wouldn’t have fought his way out to get to her. He couldn’t exactly explain why, but something in the back of his head burned like acid when she looked at him like this. Even with that pain, he relished in it, and he just didn’t quite know which human emotion was trying to kill him, but it felt oddly familiar.

Her next words caused him to wince, scanning her entire face for a way to explain to her that giving up was never an option. He wouldn’t have allowed her to give up. He would have kept her alive against her will, if he had to do so. He would have wrangled some strange human off the road, and forced them to sell their soul for her, if that’s what it came to. He could be very persuasive…

When he didn’t say anything in return, a bit worried about how harsh his words would sound, he noticed that Nat looked down and seemed ready to go to sleep. Sighing, Cason shook his head, “No. You need to shower. Trust me. If you could see yourself, you would agree with me.”

Then it hit him. The last thing that Nat would want to get anywhere near after what had happened, was water. So, he tried another angle, glancing briefly toward the small connected bathroom, “I have an idea. That tub in there is a clawfoot, which means it has plenty of room in it. Lucky for you, neither of us are particularly large.”

He chuckled, in an attempt to make Nat smile…just a little.

“So, if I go run some warm water, and I am there…the whole time, like a magnet, will you let me clean you up?” He asked sweetly, pulling her back toward him so she couldn’t just lay down and pass out. He leaned in, trying to sweeten the deal, and pressed an oddly gentle kiss to her upper lip. “I’ll be there, the whole time.”

[h3] Anna [/h3]

Anna almost shook her head at Sam’s words. She didn’t want him to make up for anything that happened when they were kids. She was on the run. He was stuck with his family. She would have been hunted, because even though John knew about the demon blood in Sam’s veins, no one knew what the special children were. All anyone knew was that they were ‘different’ and different to the Winchesters meant dead. 

Her heart fluttered, hearing Sam echo her words. This was right. Sam in front of her, under her touch, his heart beating steady beneath her fingers…was right. Anna honestly didn’t even hold any anger toward him, anymore. Was she scared that he would choose Dean’s judgement over her, when push came to shove? Of course. But was she angry that he had done what he felt was right, and that it had lead to Cason…not dying? Not anymore.

“I don’t know where we’re going to sleep, but I’m tired. I don’t know if I can sleep, though.” Anna admitted, glancing down at Sam’s lips before glancing toward the deck beside them. She sighed, and closed her eyes, a sign that she was about to suggest something that made her uncomfortable. “If there’s no room, I’ll go to the basement…if you’ll go with me. I don’t want to be alone while I dry out. It doesn’t feel as dangerous this time, but I can feel that it’s going to be a bit of a mess.”

She trailed her hand down Sam’s cheek, and brushed them over his lips with a soft smile, “Rest with me? And then we figure out what…next looks like for us. I can’t think about it anymore, with Cason’s stupid heart buzzing in my ears.”