[h3] Cason [/h3]

Cason breathed a small sigh of relief as Natalia promised him that she wouldn’t run off. His head ached a bit, and he brought a hand up, running his fingers over his left eyebrow. He took a second to think about what his plan would even be if Nat broke down or if she needed some time or a break. After that moment, he turned his eyes down to the side of Nat’s head, “Thank you…”

But then she mentioned that she needed a moment already, before they faced the day. Cason could agree, as Dean was being oddly quiet, but was still sitting on the couch in the living room, drinking coffee. Cason could hear Esme and Duke talking outside, but only a bit. They seemed fine. The others…Cason couldn’t hear them. He assumed that Sam and Anna must have been somewhere warded, maybe even still in the basement.

“We’ll take all the time you need, at least until your brother unglues himself from the couch he’s sitting on.” 

[h3] Anna [/h3]

Anna wasn’t surprised by Sam’s answer to her question. He seemed to just be holding himself up by the need to do so, and the need to support everyone else. The second he allowed himself to feel anything, he was going to break, and that was where her job in support came from. She nodded gently, as he explained exactly what he needed her to do, taking a deep breath, “Alright. I can do that. I will just stick with you, no matter what, and if you need me, I’m just a reach away. Just don’t bottle things up.”

After she thought for a moment, watching Sam look around at what they still had to do and where they were actually going to hold the funeral, she frowned, “Well, I’m going to go see if Cason will help with the wood. There’s no reason for you to do it all on your own, when you’ve got Dean to contend with, too. Who knows how he’s handling being awake after everything that happened last night? I don’t even think he’s seen Duke…”

She picked up Sam’s hand, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb as she placed both their hands on her knee and just watched his face for a little bit, giving him the time he needed to collect himself before they left the car.

[h3] Duke [/h3]

Duke used to hate when Esme would project emotions on him, or would try and calm him with her powers. It was something that he felt was a bit of an invasion of his mind. But in this moment, he welcomed it. Not that he was angry with her, anyway, but any fear or worry for her was replaced by the swelling feeling in his heart that he felt…all the way back when they first met. 

He was then a little confused when Esme’s hand showed up with a bandana clutched in her fingers, and she began dabbing at the blood on his face and neck. He hadn’t even noticed the bleeding. Honestly, he had forgotten that he was injured as bad as he was, other than the extreme soreness. Even his broken wrist didn’t seem so painful anymore…the very morning after it was broken.

Duke watched Esme’s face as she explained that she had had a rough night, and didn’t wake him to help her deal with it. The thought caused him to wince, and his head to tilt with sympathy. He frowned even deeper when she brought up Cason, and Sarah, whom he hadn’t even realized was near them. Reaching his hand from the ground, over Esme’s head, he touched Sarah’s side and then puled his hand back quickly, “Oh. Hi, Sarah. Don’t…don’t bite me.”, he raised his eyebrows, pointing in the direction of the fur that had just been under his fingers.

He turned his eyes back to Esme’s as her hand touched his face. He closed his eyes, nodding gently, until he felt Esme’s lips on his forehead and then she kissed him. Kissing her back deeply, he did his best to just let the concentration be on the moment, and Esme and safety, and not on what was to come.

[h3] A bit later [/h3]
[h3] Dean, Duke, Cason, and Anna [/h3]

Dean stood, leaned against the doorway of the panic room. He couldn’t move from his spot, even though he knew he had to. He knew that they had to move Mika’s body to the pyre, or the funeral could never happen. There would be no closure. No matter how much he tried to will his legs to move, he couldn’t…

Duke stood with Nat and Esme, silent, with his arms crossed. Bobby stood not far from him, holding a bottle of scotch in his hand as he stared off in the distance, stoic and unmoving. There wasn’t much else to do. Cason had already forced Natalia to babysit Duke, in case he lost his shit. When, in reality, he couldn’t even move. He couldn’t cry. All he could do was concentrate on the cramping in his stomach, and the loss that was already blanketing the entire lot.

Cason wiped his hands on his pants, having just stacked the last of the logs for the pyre, and added fuel to the base. He turned and walked back over to join Natalia, beside Duke and then turned to look at Sam, “I guess go and tell your brother that everything is ready. This isn’t going to get any easier…”

Anna watched Cason for a moment, and then turned her eyes up to look over Sam’s face, attempting to judge his emotions. She slowly released his hand, crossing her arms so that he could go help Dean, who showed up, as if summoned. Dean stepped outside the basement door, his legs like lead and his feet shuffling in the gravel. Clearing his throat, he finally spoke, his voice broken and exhausted.

“So um…I can’t…I can’t do that…” He admitted, “I don’t even really want to be down there alone. I know I won’t…I’m not gonna be able to bring…Sam?”