[h3] Dean [/h3]

Dean shifted as Bobby finished up his last stitch on the outside of the knife wound in Esme’s shoulder. He didn’t figure there was any way he was going to be able to carry Esme anywhere that she would rather sleep than the couch, and with Bobby up for the day…he didn’t need it. Dean turned and carefully laid Esme down, as Bobby stood from the couch and gathered everything to return it to his desk. 

“I think she’ll live. She’s just gonna be sore if she doesn’t heal up super fast.” Bobby grumbled, walking over and grabbing his trash can, before walking toward the kitchen. Dean heard him stop in the kitchen and he heard Mika’s voice, not turning at first. Dean sighed, looking down at Esme with concern etched in his eyebrows as she continued to mumble in her sleep. He then turned and looked toward Mika, nodding his head simply at her offer to head to bed. He was beat, and it seemed like they had done everything they could for the time being.

He stood from the couch, just as Anna and Sam stepped through the front door, his eyes going straight to Anna for a fleeting second. He quickly turned his eyes toward the floor, as Anna did the same and simply walked past him with Sam. Dean ruffled his hair and walked over to Mika, instantly reaching out for any sort of skin contact. He brushed the backs of his fingers down the side of her face with a tired but warm smile, “Let’s go to bed. Just me and you, alright?” 

Dean dropped his hand to pick Mika’s up, and he tugged, pulling her toward the stairs. He walked up the stairs with her, his footsteps heavy as the tiredness in his muscles began to officially set in, and as he pushed open the familiar door to her room, he pulled her inside and quickly turned to her. Placing both hands on her cheeks, Dean kissed her desperately, as usual pouring all of the stress, anguish, anger, and desperation of the day into the kiss.

[h3] Cason [/h3]

Cason froze as Nat reached her hand up, and began gently brushing her fingers over the wounds on his chest. He didn’t even realize that he had closed his eyes, until she spoke and he took a deep breath, shaking his head. “I had more pressing issues, sweetheart. It’s not that easy to kill a demon.” But that’s not what she was asking. She wanted to know how it happened, or at least what happened. He wasn’t even sure how to start answering the question.

‘Oh! Alastair happened…then your brother.’ Was the first thing that popped into his head, but there was no way he was saying that to her, not here. So, he took his eyes off her for a moment, and stared at the wall behind her head, and then turned his eyes down to pick up her smaller hand in his.

“The short story, I wasn’t going to let them hurt Anna. Not that the demons made it easy for me to defend anyone. They shackled me by the neck…to a wall and then skewered me…” Cason explained simply, shrugging his shoulders. But as she looked in his eyes, he was tempted to explain further. There was that familiar acid burn in the back of his mind, as he scanned her eyes and sighed through his nose, “And I fed Anna…a lot of blood. I was getting out of there one way or another. Things just got really really complicated. But hey…I’m alright. I’m right here.”

He leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to Nat’s forehead, before gesturing toward the bath. As she turned to get in the bath, the took the opportunity to finish removing his clothes and boots, walking over and stepping into the bath behind her. He brought his knees up to frame her body, making sure she knew that there was no way she was going under the water, as long as he was with her. She was completely safe.

He frowned as she balled up, wrapping her arms around her legs, but he quickly cupped his hands, gathering some water and began to work on the bloody mess on the back of her head. He said nothing as he worked on things, somewhat glad that the blood seemed to come out easier than he expected. He had to assume it was because the hair had already been wet, just a bit earlier. 

“You won’t have to cut your hair…” He murmured, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to Nat’s shoulder as he pulled her wet hair over her other shoulder. As he peppered sweet little kisses along her shoulder, up the side of her neck and finally to the base of her skull, the acid burn in the back of his head grew, and he nearly had to sit back and let it dissipate, due to the pain. “Just relax. You’re safe with me. As long as I’m alive, you’re safe.”

That word was rumbling around amongst the burning sensation in the back of his mind. It was the dirty word that Anna wouldn’t let him say in the barn. It was honestly an emotion he wasn’t sure existed for demons. Their souls had been so twisted and broken that all that existed was a plume of smoke that could possess human bodies. Even this body wasn’t his…not really. He hadn’t had his own body in 200 years. But the word felt like acid in his throat, just as much as the burn hurt the back of his head. He closed his eyes tightly, and pressed his forehead against the back of Natalia’s head and sighed, “I love you…”

[h3] Anna [/h3] 

Anna’s lips pulled, as if trying to smile when Sam spoke about the wound to her shoulder so protectively. She should have expected it, but it was still a pleasant surprise to hear such a protective tone from him. He was changing with all of this, and honestly, the change was a bit intoxicating in itself. He looked stronger. He spoke as if he felt stronger. For a fleeting moment, she felt like they might come out of all of this okay…and that Sam really could take down Lilith, if for no other reason than to protect Anna.

She stood back, allowing Sam to take the lead as he stepped into the house and she instantly made eye contact with Dean. They both turned their eyes to the ground, silent submission from them both, which she was grateful for. If she wasn’t avoiding him, she would have thanked him for not trying to reach out for her. She stayed quiet as Sam explained their plan to Mika, and took a deep breath, watching Sam’s hand open that dreaded door to head down to the basement.

Each thump of the stairs made Anna’s face flinch, until they reached the bottom and Sam’s hand squeezed hers a little tighter. She nodded at his words, her feet refusing to move as he first stepped over the threshold of the panic room. The last time she had been in this room, they had shared their first moment together…but she had also gone through the worst pain of her life, chained to the floor like an animal, covered in demon blood, “Right…”

Anna took a tentative step over the threshold, the room suddenly falling into silence. The buzzing stopped, as the iron drowned out all of the noise from upstairs. Anna reached back and flinched heavily as she closed the door behind her, just to be safe. While the iron was quieting the sound of Cason’s heart, it was also causing the demon blood in her veins to almost bubble, tickling beneath her skin. Her skin erupted in goosebumps and she crossed her arms in front of her. She stared at the handcuffs that were attached to the bed. Bobby had told her that he hadn’t sorted anything out in the basement, but that wasn’t completely true. Someone had tipped him off about the demon blood, and he had prepared for her to be locked up…at least that’s how it seemed.

Anna zoned out, the sound of Cason’s screams filling her brain as she began to replay the events of the night before, over and over. Even a few of the thoughts she had created in her mind about Sam’s death, and the state of the rest of the group seeped in. Sam’s voice brought her back to reality and she flinched, nodding her head, and stepping over to the bed. She sat down as if the bed was going to electrocute her, her hands shaking violently until she was finally sitting and let out a sigh.

“You’re not going to leave me here, right?” She asked, without even realizing she was speaking at first. She turned to look up at his eyes, and reached for the hem of her shirt. She couldn’t stand the stickiness of the blood anymore. It was all over the front of her shirt and felt like glue, sticking to her skin. She carefully reached down and lifted her shirt, groaning as the stitches in her shoulder pulled, but she managed to peel it from her skin and toss it aside, glad that she had thought to wear a sports bra for this hunt. Even covered in blood, it made her feel less exposed in this giant room. 

“Alright. I guess I’m ready…” She grumbled, turning to give Sam a better look at her shoulder.