[h2]Esme[/h2] As Esme made her way out of Bobby’s office, she struggled to stay on her feet, even by grabbing anything she could to keep her somewhat upright. She didn’t even hear the words exchanged between Dean and Bobby while she was in the office. When Esme saw Dean running over, she stopped and sighed in relief for his help getting back to the couch. She smiled weakly at his words, but everything went dark as soon as his arm went around her waist. Exhaustion and her injuries finally won out, knocking her out cold. Esme didn’t feel Dean hoist her off the floor and carry her over to the couch, sit on the edge of it, and move her so Bobby could look at her head. She didn’t even hear the scolding Dean gave Bobby. Esme was plunged into memories of times when it was just her, Dean, and Duke, The Three Musketeers. They started with the first time she met Duke and how she pushed him into his chair from her rage from her lousy day and Dean's state. Then, it faded to the next day when she and Duke went out to the range to shoot. They talked about how they had lost their parents and hugged to comfort each other, only to have Dean come out a little huffy about it. Esme's dreams then became a reel of all their greatest moments together, with every case ending with them finding the monster, dealing with it, and saving an innocent person who had been tangled up in a bad situation. They may have come out of it worse for wear, but they came out alive. Most of the time, they came back to Bobby’s, and he would help them patch each other up, sit back, and listen to everything they went through over drinks. A few of their worst moments they had slipped through the cracks, where one or two of them came out by the skin of their teeth. Dean and Duke, being the main two, feeling they had to step in and protect Esme at all costs in those situations, even if she was capable of fighting off the monster or ghost on her own, leaving her to drag them back to the car and drive them to a motel or Bobby’s to get patched up. Tears escaped her closed eyes as Esme slept, dreaming about the past. Esme’s dreams shifted back in the other direction, showing her a memory she remembered well and cherished deeply. She found herself in the bar just down the road from Bobby’s, but she was watching from the sidelines instead of reliving it through her own eyes. They had just finished a case and had gotten through it with only a few scratches and minor bruises. The three of them had walked in, Esme in the middle, with her arms linked with Dean and Dukes. After putting in their drink orders, they sat at a table near the karaoke stage. As they waited for their drinks, they joked, laughed, and threw playful jabs at each other. When the beers made it to the table and thanked the waitress, Esme took a long drink before standing up and getting looks from Dean and Duke that said, ‘Where are you going?’ She gave a look back that said, ‘You’ll see.” with a grin on her face. “Don’t touch my beer.” she joked warmly. Without another word, she walked away from the table to the karaoke stage and spoke to the DJ. After receiving a nod, Esme walked up to the microphone and looked at the boys. “This one’s for you two.” she smiled warmly as the music began to play. We will call his place our home The dirt in which or roots may grow Though the storms will push and pull We will call this place our home We’ll tell our stories on these walls Every year, measure how tall And just like a work of art We’ll tell our stores on these walls Let the years we’re here be kind, be kind Let our hearts, like doors, open wide, open wide Settle our bones like wood over time, over time Give us bread, give us salt, give us wine A little broken, a little new We are the impact and the glue Capable more than we know To call this fixer upper home With each year, our color fades Slowly our paint chips away But we will find the strength And the nerve it takes To repaint and repaint and repaint every day Let the years we’re here be kind, be kind Let our hearts, like doors, open wide, open wide Settle our bones like wood over time, over time Give us bread, give us salt, give us wine Let the year we’re here be kind, be kind Let our hearts, like doors, open wide, open wide Settle our bones like wood over time, over time Give us bread, give us salt, give us wine Give us bread, give us salt, give us wine Smaller than dust on this map Lies the greatest thing we have The dirt in which our roots may grow And the right to call it home As the dream played out, Esme mumbled some of the song's lyrics in her sleep, and a couple more tears escaped her closed eyes. The dream faded as she bowed to the crowd and made her way off the stage and back to the table with Dean and Duke. Then, she fell into a more profound and slightly more peaceful sleep.