[IC] Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

[FuriePhoenix]

MIKA CHAMBERS

Mika watched the hex bag burn as she thought about what Dean had just said. She felt glad that she wasn't the only one who was thinking this was going too easily so far. Sure, the whole questioning victims families or useful people did usually go the easiest, but it still felt off somehow to her. After hearing that Esme and Cason ran into serious problems getting into this town, and that Nat's outside source warned them about all the literal and metaphorical barricades that were being planned to be thrown in their way, she expected so much more in the department of causing them a lot more trouble.

She nodded at him speaking up again, reiterating what he just said before continuing on with his guesses about what Sam and the others possibly would have found. "Yeah, Something just feels utterly off about this whole situation and yeah you're right, he probably has knowing him. He's got one hell of a knack for observation and noticing the tiny things that the rest of us don't" she replied, then got into the passenger side, closing the door behind her.

As Dean turned the engine over, bringing Baby roaring to life, she couldn't help but make a single glance toward the widow's house once more, remembering how distraught the woman looked in her face and demeanor. She really thought that look of grief would be burned into her memory for the rest of her life thanks to it being like she was looking in a mirror in those moments of questioning.

"I just hope that whatever twist comes our way it don't make us stick in town for a long time" she said to him, turning her head back forward again. She wanted out of this town in all honesty, but her work ethic just wouldn't let her up and run. So she would have to just swallow down her own thoughts and sympathies for the widow and get her mind back on track.

SAM AND NATALIA WINCHESTER

It didn't surprise either Sam or Natalia in some ways that Annabeth had expressed how the idea of witches being a big factor of this seal breaking scared her. She was new to this whole world in several ways, even though Sam seemed to remember that her mother was a hunter and their dad knew her to some degree. He remembered seeing his dad heading out with her mother and giving them the warning to stay at the motel that night, whilst he helped her mother look for her.

Yet she had also grown up with a demon without even knowing he was one because Cason for some unknown reason was actually protecting her from everything they knew truly existed in the world. Either way, he was glad that Annabeth had part of her life not tainted by this life, but now she was in deep and he felt sorry that she was thrown into the deep end of this life so quickly.

"burning witches ain't all that easy nowadays. They're much more evasive than back in the Salem Witch hunts days" Sam pointed out, "but we have dealt with witches before so fingers crossed they won't be too much trouble. We got witch killing bullets if all else fails" Natalia continued what Sam had started saying.

When it came regrouping at the motel, both Natalia and Sam knew it was the best option they had so far. They needed to share information with Mika and Dean and judging by the photo Mika had sent Sam, Sam knew there were similarities. He walked out of the school with the two girls, heading to Natalia's car that had seemed to gained the attention of a couple school kids, making him smirk. "Oi! Back up!" Natalia called out, putting on an authorative voice to show she was not prepared to piss about with these kids.

The kids quickly scarpered, but not before flipping her off with their middle fingers and laughing. "Bloody teenagers..." she grumbled, pulling her car keys out and unlocking the car for them to pile in, to which she wasted no time getting into the driver's side and bringing the engine to life as she waited for the other two to get inside.

Sam stood outside of the car and looked at Annabeth, "I'll keep you safe okay? I get you're scared but I won't let anything happen to you" he told her reassuringly.

[JustAnna]

Dean Winchester

As Dean and Mika arrived back at the motel, Dean put the Impala in park and glanced around the parking lot, to check for Nat’s car, before pulling his phone from his pocket. He scrolled through his numbers, until he found Sam’s number and he opened a text, to let him know they were back and to meet them in his and Mika’s room.

“All we can do now is wait.”, he grumbled, opening the drivers door and stepping out of the car. As he stepped out, he heard footsteps walking toward him and glanced up, pulling his pistol instantly to point at the person approaching, only for Cason to hold his hands up in defense. Cason was completely healed from his injuries, at this point and his hand rested on what seemed to be an invisible head, as he petted Sarah and smirked.

“Don’t shoot me. I don’t think she’d like that very much.”, Cason muttered simply, smirking down at Sarah. He shifted his weight to one foot as Dean lowered his pistol and shoved it into the back of his pants.

“What the hell are you doing back here? I thought you ran for the hills.”, Dean spat at Cason, glancing down at the hand that now scratched under Sarah’s ear. Cason shook his head and he scoffed.

“I’m here to help. Esme’s predisposed, but I brought her a present…and I want to help you guys.”

“I don’t think we need your kind of help. I’m not quite over you almost killing me yesterday, you know. So, no thanks.”, Dean grumbled once again, walking around to Mika’s door. He opened her door for her, and stood between her and Cason as he stared him down but Cason rolled his eyes.

“So you know there’s a witch, right? You know that there’s a hoard of demons guarding this place and…you know that the big shindig is about to go down at the cemetery tonight…right? You know all of those things just from talking to some sad and lonely widow? My, Dean! I never took you for the intuitive type. Hi Mika.”, Cason chimed, making it clear that he had inside information they couldn’t get, while prodding at that knife in Dean’s side.

Duke

Duke laughed softly, holding onto Esme tightly as she lifted her foot and joked about how slippery the bottom of the tub was. He stepped forward a bit further, to make up for the slippery surface, glad that this particular motel had a bath rug. As he worried about, Esme’s foot slipped from behind her, just before her other foot hit the bath rug, and he gasped along with her, tightening his grip on her waist. He bent at the knees and caught her, before she could fall completely to the floor, pulling her tight against his chest and then drug her the rest of the way out of the tub.

He barely let her feet touch the floor as he pulled her up against him with a wide smile, and his eyebrows raised, “You’re really makin’ me work for my time with you, there sweetheart!”

He laughed loudly, steadying Esme and leaning her onto her good leg, before stepping back from her a bit. He unfolded the towel in his hand and wrapped it around her chest, neatly tucking it into itself, to keep her modesty the best he could.

“Are you done tryin’ to kill yourself?”, he asked her with his eyebrows still raised, kneeling to one knee to run a hand up her bad leg. He brushed the towel up a bit, and traced his fingertips around the stitches in her thigh, with a relieved sigh. He stood to his feet carefully, tilting her head up with his fingers under her chin and smirked, “Somehow, you didn’t tear anything. Do you um…want me to carry you to the bedroom, or are we walkin’?”

[Wolvena]

Esme Stirling

Esme wrapped her arms around Duke and held on to him the moment his grip tightened around her waist and caught her. She then rested her forehead against his chest as he pulled her tight against his chest, then the rest of the way out of the tub. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, slowly letting it out to collect herself and to slow her heart rate as he held her close to him. She couldn’t have been more thankful that he was there with her to catch her before she connected with the hard tile floor. It didn’t take a genius to know that the fall would have done more damage to her already beaten up body, which was the last thing she wanted or needed. Once she felt stable in his arms, she loosened her grip around him, opened her eyes, and lifted her forehead from his chest, then looked up at him and laughed along with him at his comment. Maybe a little too hard because of his raised eyebrows.

“Well, you know me. I’ve never been one to make much easy.” she laughed as he steadied her onto her good leg. She let her arms fall from around him when he unfolded the towel that was on his arm but made sure they were out of the way as he wrapped the towel around her and tucked it in on itself. At his question, she raised a single eyebrow and watched him as he knelt to one knee and ran his hand up her bad leg. “For now.” she teased, even though her tone sounded serious. She continued to watch him as he lifted the towel just enough to check on her stitches and trace his fingertips around them. At his sigh, she knew he was relieved that her tumble didn’t tear or pop a stitch. When he stood and lifted her chin, she couldn’t help but smile softly as she saw his smirk, then it grew at his words and was followed by a light laugh as she met his gaze.

“Sometimes I do get lucky.” she replied with a laugh in her tone. She then fell silent, a look of playful thought taking over her features, showing she was somewhat thinking about what he asked her, then broke the silence. “I’m actually a little surprised you asked. Before, you would just take control of the situation and do what you thought was best. Then again, this is a tad different than all those situations.” she finished with a light laugh. “But since you asked…… I’m not sure I trust my feet to get me from here to there after what just happened.” As Esme held Duke’s gaze, the smile that rested on her lips spread to her eyes, showing that she was pretty relaxed at the moment even with them both being in nothing but towels. What also brought on the smile was that she knew her suggestion for him to carry her would probably surprise him, since she wasn’t really one to be carried no matter what state she was in.

Though if she wanted to be truly honest with herself, Duke and Dean were the only ones that could get away with carrying her without much protest from her, if any at all. She had trusted them both with her life back then and still did to this day. There probably wasn’t any other living person she trusted more than she did them. Yes, there were others that she trusted to help her out in a situation if she needed it, but her trust for those select few didn’t come close to the trust she had with Duke and Dean. Not to mention, they were the only ones left that she considered her true family at this point in her life. Without them, she would feel completely and utterly alone in this chaotic world.

[FuriePhoenix]

MIKA CHAMBERS

Reaching back to the motel, Mika sighed with relief that they were back and she let Dean do the texting to the other group. Whilst he got out of the car, she gathered her stuff but it didn't take her long to notice out the corner of her eye Dean reaching for his gun making her tense up in the car. Using all the mirrors and the windows of the car, she looked around to find some sort of danger, but only found Cason standing there and by the looks of things, he had an hellhound with him as well. If the night before hadn't happened, she would have relaxed a little but she didn't relax at all.

She remained tensed as she didn't know if Dean would make another attack or not even though he holstered his gun again into the back of his pants. Sitting in the car still, she went through various options of what she should do. Should she remain in the car and just stay out of this stand off between the two men or should she get out of the car and try and act like last night never happened? The latter idea made her scoff at herself, like hell she could pretend last night didn't happen. She also most lost Dean in a romantic partner manner and in a life or death manner all in the space of an hour.

Dean walking round to her side of the car and opening the car door for her made her snap out of her thoughts. Stepping out of the car, she remained behind Dean deciding not to irritate him any more by stepping to his side or in front of him. She listened to what Cason was saying, noting at how he was seeming to revel in being an utter smartass to Dean which made her roll her eyes lightly.

However it was when Cason turned his focus on her and said hi that made her raise an eyebrow as she had hoped he would just leave it at all the information he had given Dean and ignore her. Folding her arms across her chest, she looked right Cason, "Hi and yes we know it's a witch being involved but that's it so far. We don't know what the others know yet, but do yourself and don't be a smartass about the barrage of information you've given us Cason. It'll be better for everyone around" she replied to him, whilst also giving him a warning.

She soon unfolded her arms and placed one hand on Dean's back to try and be some kind of calming presence to him, but couldn't help but keep glancing at Cason and down toward where his hand was to get an idea of where the hellhound was then back up at Cason and then Dean. "Dean, let's just get into our room in time for when the others arrive. Don't let him get to you" she told him, kissing the side of his head.

If she was perfectly honest, the whole situation was putting her on edge as she didn't know how to react with both Dean and Cason in close proximity as each other and her. She still felt incredibly awkward and guilty for sleeping with Cason in the backseat of her car, which only brought on the whole feeling of needing to constantly make it up to Dean. The other side of her however saw that behind all the bravado, Cason didn't really seem all that bad for a demon and she almost wanted to make it up to him as well for dragging him into her heartache over Dean and Esme.

"Cason why don't you wait outside for the others? I wouldn't think they're that far behind us" she suggested, trying to verbally wave some of white flag to cool everyone down emotionally. Her eyes almost pleading at Cason to not rile Dean up any more than he already is, showing that if their weird situation ever cooled down, she was willing to see Cason for Cason and not for the demon he was.

SAM AND NATALIA WINCHESTER

As Natalia drove back from the school, Sam felt his phone buzz in his pocket as he had earlier put it on it vibrate and silent whilst they were in the school to come across a bit more professional. Pulling his phone out of his blazer pocket, he opened the message seeing that it was from Dean. "Dean and Mika are back at the motel. Says to meet them in their room" he told the girls.

"Not surprising, that's pretty standard by now, isn't it?" Nat replied back at him as she kept her eyes on the road. Considering the impressions she had given everyone (namely Annabeth as she was a newbie to the group), she did actually care about being a good driver and road aware. "Good point, we do usually all congregate in one room or the other if we split up into groups" Sam said, as he typed a reply to Dean telling him they were on their way back and they'd be back in around ten minutes.

----

They finally arrived back at the motel and nat parked where she had done earlier beside Mika's impala and then she killed the engine and removed her key, putting it in her pocket. "Temporary home sweet temporary home" she smirked before that smirk faded and she saw Cason was back. "Oh boy...I wonder how long he's been back" she commented which made Sam look in the direction Natalia was looking in and saw why she said what she did.

"I dunno but if Dean and Mika were back when he was, I'm surprised he's even still breathing" Sam remarked.

[JustAnna]

Dean Winchester

Dean tilted his head toward Mika as she responded to the demon in front of him. He didn’t even want Cason mentioning Mika, much less talking to her. He wanted him as far away from her as he could get. He wasn’t convinced that them sleeping together wasn’t a grand coercion to try and mess with Dean’s mind. And the Hellhound in front of him, didn’t give him much confidence that he was wrong.

“I’ll give you the information when the others get here. I want to check on Anna…and Esme.”, Cason said simply, with a shrug. Dean calmed a bit as Mika touched his back, realizing that she was there with him, and she was his, even with Cason in front of them. She wasn’t extremely friendly with him, and it made his heart rate calm a bit. But her next words were so calm and almost nice, and he raised his eyebrows. Cason nodded, “I’ll just chill here. I have nothing but time. You look good.”

“Alright that’s enough. You and your mutt chill here until we decide we need what you know, and then you can get out of here. I don’t think Anna really wants to see you as much as you want to see her, regardless your hang ups. C’mon.”, Dean snapped, turning to grab Mika’s upper arm. He pulled her with him as he walked up to their door, and quickly opened the door, pulling her inside. He pulled his phone out of his pocket as he released Mika’s arm, and nodded, “Sam says they’re on their way…”

Annabeth

Anna rode back mostly in silence, just staring out the window as she came to terms with the magnitude of what was happening with the group. As they pulled into the parking lot, and she laid her eyes on Cason, along with what Sam and Nat were saying, she sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She waited until the car was stopped, not saying a word and stepped out of the back seat. She stood and flattened her dress as Cason approached her with a bright smile.

“Wow! Look at you! What’s the costume today, sexy receptionist to the FBI?”, he chimed, walking up to Anna and wrapping his arms tightly around her. He pressed a tight kiss to her forehead before pulling back and looking down at her face.

“I’m just an agent. What are you doing here?”, Anna asked flatly, scanning his face as he watched her expressions. His hair was slightly fluffier than she remembered, and he almost seemed stressed, and tired. Being a demon, she didn’t even know that he could get tired, “And are you okay?”

“She cares?! Wow! I’m touched.”, he placed a hand over his heart and pouted, but then smiled widely, “I might have a chance to get back in her good graces, yet! I’m fine. I’m here to check on you and Esme, and I might have accidentally stumbled on some information that your new boyfriend might find useful, if he’ll talk to me.”

He stared over her head at Sam and waved, gesturing for him to come over.

Duke

Duke smiled a bit wider as she offered to allow him to carry her, and he nodded, a bit more than surprised but pleasantly so, “Alright then. I think I can handle that.”

He bent at the waist, carefully wrapping one hand around her back, before wrapping his other arm around her thighs, lifting her from the floor easily. He cradled her to his chest, leaning his cheek against the top of her head as he turned and walked into the bedroom, “You’re light as a feather. I’m gonna have to watch you and make sure you’re eatin’ enough. I’m not the skinny little thing I was when you were around last time.”

He laughed, and lifted his leg onto the bed, propping her legs over his thigh as he pulled the blankets back with his now free hand. He lifted her back up, and gently sat her against the headboard, stepping back from her to pull the blankets up around her chest with a sigh, “Comfy? I don’t know what hurts and what doesn’t right now. So, if somethin’ is botherin’ you, just let me know. We can turn on the tv, order a pizza or somethin’, and then I’ll check in on the others and see what they need.”

Duke sat on the edge of the mattress and reached his hand over, placing it against her thigh with a smile, “What do you want, right now?”

[Wolvena]

Esme Stirling

Esme watched Duke’s face, watching his smile grow as she said he could carry her into the bedroom. Her smile grew as well. Then more when he said he thought he could handle it, which made her laugh a little. When he bent and wrapped an arm around her back, she placed her arm around his shoulders and held the towel in place with her other hand, just in case it came undone as he wrapped his around her thighs and lifted her from the floor with ease. Once cradled to his chest, she leaned her forehead against his neck. Her smile grew once again when he leaned his cheek against the top of her head. She couldn’t help but think back on times when he carried her like this from past cases they had been on. She mentally shook her head and laughed inwardly as she thought about it. It was almost as if she had walked right back into what she had left all those years ago.

Duke pulled her from her thoughts at his comment, and she laughed softly. “I eat enough. I just have a high metabolism.” she laughed more. “And it’s very clear to see that you’re not the skinny little thing I once knew.” She playfully poked his muscled bicep as she spoke before he propped her legs over his thigh. She watched as he pulled down the blankets with his now free hand. When he lifted her back up and gently sat her on the bed and against the headboard, she let her arm slip from his shoulders as he practically tucked her in. Her thoughts went once again to a few times he had done this before for her. She let her arms rest on top of the blankets and her hands on her stomach, after he had tucked her in, then gave a nod in response to his words. “Very comfy.” she smiled warmly. “As of right now, nothing hurts too seriously, but I’ll let you know if anything changes. Pizza and a little TV sounds great.”

Esme watched Duke sit on the edge of the bed, her smile unfading as he placed his hand against her thigh and asked his question. She looked down at his hand for a moment, then ran a hand through her damp hair and brought her hair to lie over her uninjured shoulder. “Hmm, what do I want right now?” she repeated the question as she brought her index finger to her lips thoughtfully as she looked up. “A nap.” she joked with a laugh. She leaned her head back against the headboard, a look of thought overtaking her features. If she really thought about it, there was something she wanted or thought she wanted, but she couldn’t bring herself to voice it, so she pushed it back into the back of her mind. A smirk soon came to her lips and her finger dropped from her lips as she focused back on Duke, her hand coming to rest on her stomach once again. “You know, I’d kill to have at least one slice of cheesecake right now.”

Her tone was serious, showing that she really wanted some cheesecake at that moment. When it came to cheesecake, she was like Dean when it came to pie, and she was sure Duke would remember that. When they were all together and Duke would offer to go out and pick things up and ask if they wanted anything, she and Dean would speak in unison. Him saying pie and her saying cheesecake, which would send them into a bit of laughter. She could still hear Duke’s response ringing in her mind as if he had said it yesterday, “Should have known you’d ask for that” before he would leave to get what they needed. Her gaze then met his after the words faded from her mind. “Though I’m not sure where you’d find it around here. You’d probably have better luck finding pie.” she laughed. “Which would work too.” She sighed, sinking more into the pillows and resting more against the headboard of the bed.

Her hand slipped from her stomach and down to his hand and gave it a squeeze. “But I don’t expect you to go out and find it with all that’s going on right now. I can wait till everything settles and I’m able to move around a little better. So, until then, I’m perfectly content with pizza and your company.” She gave his hand another squeeze before a shiver overtook her. Keeping hold of his hand because she didn’t want to let it go just yet, she lifted the hand that was resting on her stomach, slid it under the blankets, then pulled them up to her neck and over one shoulder to fight off the chill she suddenly felt.

[FuriePhoenix]

MIKA CHAMBERS

When Mika said her suggested to Cason, she didn't intend it to sound as friendly as it came across to Dean, and she didn't realise it was sounding that friendly until he looked at her and rose his eyesbrows. She hated that Cason was being difficult when it came to telling them the information they desperately needed but she refused to let her irritation at it show on the outside. Now wasn't the time at all to show irritation to Cason and give him more ammo to possibly use against them (or more precisely Dean) than he already had.

She was ready to just leave the conversation where it was, but then came the last three words from Cason to her that she knew would just tip Dean over the edge slightly and mentally she groaned whilst bracing herself for what it was to come next. Dean's possessiveness of her had ever disappeared, just as hers hadn't left over him, even if they were always trying to get a grip on that trait and be better with each other, she knew it didn't take much to make Dean fall back into that trait and Cason just did exactly that....triggered the posessiveness.

Luckily for Mika she was almost sadly used to Dean grabbed her arm in such a manner that she learned to not show the discomfort it always brought when he did so and dragged her to their room. She was glad that he let go of her arm to check on his phone to see the text from Sam. Whilst he checked the phone and told her that the others were on their way, she used that opportunity to kick her heels off and sat on the end of the bed, lifting one foot up at a time to rub the balls of her feet.

"Good, but Dean? There really was no need to drag me to the room like that. You know I'm yours and your's alone" she told him, not wanting to just let her thoughts on his posessiveness fester unspoken. "i'm sorry if anything I said to him upset you though, I was just trying to get us away from him quickly but calmly" she apologised and reasoned. She hoped it would help calm him down again but she knew she couldn't be always 100% certain when it came to Dean, just as she knew people couldn't always be 100% certain it'd be easy to calm and bring her round to reason. Not only that she knew it was possible he wouldn't even want to talk about what just went on outside, as well as that it could only be worse for him because he wasn't around for four months.

NATALIA AND SAM WINCHESTER

Natalia and Sam got out of the car in unison, a consequence of having done the action so many times since she became part of the family properly and out on hunts with him. Out of the car, they watched Cason head straight to Annabeth and hug her tightly before placing a very firm kiss on ehr head. Sam gritted his teeth so hard that he felt his jaw locking up and it was only when Nat gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder that he eased up. She honestly understood why he was getting uptight over the exchange, it was clear to her just how much Sam was glad that Annabeth was back in his life and how rapidly his old childhood crush was coming back to him.

Annabeth being able to reply to Cason however without giving him any opening to get even closer or letting her guard drop around him was admirable to both Natalia and Sam. Nat actually got a wave of pride for the woman for verbally keeping Cason at bay. She certainly didn't trust demons and Cason was of no exception in her eyes. She accepted he had been useful and helpful the last couple of days but she also knew she had spent a good chunk of her life thinking the doctors in that damn hospital were nice to her when they were demons all along. Yet at the same time she was surprised that Annabeth asked Cason how he was, but then her brain kicked back into gear and remembered just how long the woman had been with Cason before being reunited with her brother.

Sam rolled his eyes at Cason being an utter smartass but when gestured to come over, he did move. "what information have you stumbled upon?" he asked Cason, wrapping one arm round Annabeth's waist. Nat followed Sam over and folded her arms across her chest, she remained silent but she knew she could say a lot of things to Cason if she so much as opened her mouth. Part of her also wanted to go check on Mika and Dean, but she also didn't want to leave Annabeth and Sam alone with Cason, so staying put is what she did.

[JustAnna]

Dean Winchester

Dean glanced over to Mika as she sat on the bed and began rubbing her feet. Her words caused him to wince in a silent apology. He sighed, and stepped over to the bed, kneeling down onto his knees. He reached his hands out, not saying anything, and picked her foot up, deeply massaging her foot as he looked up at her face with a sigh, “I’m sorry. He just…He acts like he can just wiggle in and sweep you away because of a mistake, and it’s a mistake that happened YESTERDAY.”

He frowned, and turned his eyes from her face, down to her foot as he massaged it, gritting his teeth. He could barely stand to let the mental image of Cason and Mika together into his mind, but it weaseled in, no matter how hard he tried to push it away. He still wasn’t convinced that Cason had been under any influence when he either didn’t fight back, or fully took advantage of Mika’s trance under Cupid. He glanced up at her again, “I’m trying. I didn’t hurt your arm, did I? I didn’t mean to lose my cool.”

It wasn’t in Deans nature for him to apologize for being possessive. In his mind, it was his way of showing how much he loved her, in the past, but he had also hurt her with his possessiveness in the past. The thought of leaving bruises on her skin, because of his own paranoia made his stomach turn as he scanned her face.

Annabeth and Cason

Cason winced as Sam stepped up and wrapped an arm around Anna’s waist, his nose snarling in a bit of disgust at how quickly Sam had managed to wiggle his way back into Anna’s head. Cason had worked hard to keep them apart, and after only a few days, they were close enough for Sam to show possessiveness. He shook his shoulders slightly, staring at Sam quizzically, “There’s a graveyard, not far from the High School, and in the center of the graveyard, there’s a chapel. The seal will be broken in the chapel. From what I’ve heard, there’s going to be a party tonight, you know…Halloween and all that. I figure you might want to get over there.”

Anna frowned and she tilted her head, “Why would kids at a party have anything to do with any of this? I thought we were dealing with witches and demons and stuff.”

“Oh, you are, but Samhain needs blood. He needs sacrifice. What better way to get those sacrifices than idiot kids drunk and out of their mind? I could use a date to the party.”, he chuckled, shrugging his shoulders as he scanned between Natalia and Anna’s faces. Anna snarled her nose, “What? Two weeks ago, we were eating sushi and sleeping in the same bed, and now you can’t even hang out with me at a Halloween party?”

“That was before I found out you’re a demon…and that you had been lying to me the entire time we’ve been together.”, Anna snapped, causing Cason to actually wince, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth, “So, that changes things, you know? I’ve had my fill of Angels and Demons, at this point.”

“Well. I just wanted to let you know. I’m mostly here to bring Esme a present.”, he muttered, petting Sarah’s back. Anna turned her eyes down to scan over the invisible hound and she pulled herself a bit closer to Sam’s side.

Duke

Duke laughed softly at Esme’s request for cheesecake. It was a blast from the past, instantly. Dean’s obsession with pie, any time he went on supply runs, were closely rivaled by Esme’s requests for cheesecake. Though, she was right. The odds of finding cheesecake around a small dusty town were slim. He thought about it for a moment, and then raised his eyebrows, glancing down at her hand as she squeezed his, “Well. I’ll order us a pizza, and then as soon as you’re up and movin’ around, I’ll take you out for cheesecake. I think a tiny diner with cute little waitresses feeding you sweets sounds like a pretty good catch up spot.”

He flashed his dazzling smile, and scooted further onto the bed beside her, pulling the blankets over his own body. Even still wearing a towel, he felt absolutely relieved to be in a bed, even just resting before he ordered a pizza. He scanned over her face for a moment, taking in her smile, and the feeling of her hand in his.

Surprising himself, Duke leaned in, bringing his free hand up to brush across her cheek as gently as he could. He hesitantly leaned in further, staring down at her lips, and gently pressed his lips to hers. He brought his hand from her cheek, to push her hair behind her ear as he just moved his lips carefully against hers, something he had wanted to do from the day they met.

[Wolvena]

Esme Stirling

Esme watched Duke as he took in her request for cheesecake and laughed softly. It was clear to see that he remembered her love for it and joined in on the laughter. It brought her joy that he could look back and laugh on those moments and laugh and that he still remembered after all the time apart. When she squeezed his hand, she noticed his eyebrows raise before he glanced down at their hands. She also noticed how he seemed to be thinking about something before he voiced it. A warm smile came to her lips, and she nodded. “That sounds like a great idea and it does sound like a good catch up spot.” she replied just as warmly as her smile. It gave her something to look forward to while she rested up from the ordeal she went through earlier in the day, which she didn’t see taking that long with Duke there taking care of her.

Duke then flashed his dazzling smile, one she thought she’d never see again after she had left them, then scooted up on the bed beside her and pulled the blankets over himself. This action surprised her because she didn’t think he would actually get under the blankets with her. Yes, she thought he’d come up and lie next to her on the bed but not under them with her, with them both being in nothing but towels. Yet here he was, under the blankets with her, a feeling of relief coming from him, and scanning her face. When he leaned in and brought his free hand up, gently brushing it across her cheek, she fought the flinch at the action but still flinched and felt nervousness creeping up on her and her heart rate picking up as she looked at him, looking at her. As he leaned in further, staring at her lips, she felt herself go tense, her heart rate picked up more, and her nervousness grow. She knew how he felt about her, but she didn’t think things would move to this point so soon after meeting back up. It had only been a few hours.

Esme froze as soon as his lips touched hers and took in a sharp breath before it caught. Her heart now felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. Her mind raced through the thoughts that popped into her head, most of them going back to that time, the time she tried to forget from two and a half years ago. She felt like she was drowning in the memories as she fought against them and they made tears well up in her eyes. Her inner voice screamed at her, telling her she should be happy in this moment, not fearing it. She knew that the voice was right, but for some reason, it was harder to push those memories from her mind today than any other day. Maybe it was because she was mentally tired. This was something she absolutely hated about herself, the fact that she couldn’t push it from her mind and forget about it and have it almost have control over her life, where other aspects of her life didn’t bother her at all. It crippled her in a way and made her think of herself as weak and hated to have others see this in her.

Then something changed, as if triggered by the way Duke pushed her hair behind her ear and the way he carefully moved his lips against hers. Her mind slowly cleared and her body began to relax as she noticed it was almost as if it scared him she might lash out at him for kissing her. She forced the rest of the memories to the back of her mind yet again, then mentally kicked and cursed herself for letting a simple kiss from someone she trusted affect her in such a way. Esme knew he wouldn’t hurt her and would do whatever he could for her. She also knew that she could trust him and not regret doing so. Letting Duke’s emotions in and swallowing her build up nerves and fear, she gently leaned into Duke’s kiss returning it, her eyes fluttering closed soon after. When her eyes closed, it forced the builded up tears to roll down her cheeks, which was something she never allowed to happen when around him in the past.

As she kissed him, she could feel the love that she held for him wash over her as if the floodgates had been opened. After she had left them, she had pushed all the love she had for him and Dean as far down as she could, and now it was rushing all back to the surface. Melting into his kiss and becoming lost in the moment, she didn’t realize she was projecting her own feelings, but not to where they would influence him. He’d be able to feel what she was feeling in that moment, which was love with nervousness and fear slowly fading as the love she felt swallowed it. Freeing her hand from under the blankets, she brought it up and placed it on his free hand before leaning a bit more into their kiss. She let herself become wrapped up in the warmth of the love she felt, it was something she felt she desperately needed. Normally she would scold herself for wanting to be consumed by any emotion but this time was completely different and it wasn’t like she was with someone she didn’t know or trust.

[FuriePhoenix]

MIKA CHAMBERS

Mika was expecting to be face to face with some kind of highly strung defensive rant by Dean, it was sadly what she was used to when either of them got possessive of each other, and it always ended up someone yelling at the other before storming off to cool down, so when he winced and then proceeded to verbally apologise it took her off guard for a brief moment. She let him speak, and she honestly could understand why he was being this possessive this time round. She wasn't expecting him to just move on and forget what happened the night before, hells, she couldn't even just forget about it no matter how hard she tried.

She wished so much that it never happened, she regretted it with every fibre of her core but she also knew no matter how ahrd she wished for it, it happened and nothing she could have done would have stopped it because it was out of her control. That didn't mean her guilt would eat away at her for quite a while to come, especially whilst Cason hung around and kept winding Dean up by talking to her. When he did finally look back at her whilst massaging her foot, she shook her head. "no you didnt" she confirmed, knowing how much it destroys him emotionally if he hurts her.

"Dean, I know you would never intentionally hurt me and I know you're sorry. I just really need you to remember that I love you and you alone. I don't want anyone but you and no one is going to sweep me away from you and if anyone tried they'd have me kicking and screaming in protest." she told him, giving him a soft smile in the hopes to reassure him. She didn't punch him and yell at him and Esme in heartache after grieving him for four months, just to let one moment of him dragging her away from Cason to ruin things.

She pulled her foot out of his hands to put it down on the ground, leaning forward she put her hand on his cheek, rubbing it with her thumb. Leaning forward more she placed a soft kiss on his lips before pulling back just enough to look him in the eyes. "Forever and Always yours, never forget." she reiterated, using the words she used to when they were younger to make her point more powerful. "if anything, I need you even more now. I'm useless without you" she smirked a bit.

"So lets promise each other we'll try and move forward from this and ignore any smartass remarks from Cason" she suggested to him.

SAM AND NATALIA WINCHESTER

Listening to what Cason was saying was something done with reluctance at first, but hearing what he knew did pique both Sam's and Natalia's interest. It did seem to be a plausible thing to happen with school kids, especially as it's halloween and by the sounds of it, it would be something that their suspect Tracey would be going to. As much as they didn't want to give Cason any credit for what he found, they had to admit it was another puzzle piece that seemed to fit with what they found out at the school.

"He's right Anna, raising someone like Samhain woudl take a lot, especially if it's deemed as one of the 66 seals." Sam explained to her, trying to ignore the fact Cason just basically asked not only Anna to be his 'date', but also Natalia. Luckily for him Anna seemed to snarl in disgust and Natalia rolled her eyes. "Don't look at me, I don't do plus ones" Nat chimed up, after witnessing with pride at Annabeth all but telling Cason where to shove it.

Like Annabeth, she and Sam both looked down at what they could only assume was Cason stroking a hellhound's head. The action making them remember how Esme had grown attached to the hellhound in Bobby's which they found rather unsettling if truth was to be told, but it wasn't their place to say anything, so they didn't when it came to that matter.

Nat looked across and saw that Dean's car was back, her mind snapping back to the situation at hand. "And we should head to Dean and Mika's room to discuss all this. As I'm presuming you won't have told them anything just to annoy Dean?" she commented, looking at Cason to show she entirely meant him in her last statement.

"Right, I have to admit I'm intrigued to know what they found out and to analyse the bones we found and the ones they found in that hex bag" Sam agreed, still glad that he managed to snag one from the furnace as he now could properly do a side by side check to see if they're the same ones and if there's yet another connection.

"I'll go ahead, you two can follow" Nat said, stepping forward, angling her body so she avoided bashing into Cason as she walked forward toward Dean and Mika's room, knocking on the door when she got there.

[JustAnna]

Dean Winchester

Dean sighed with relief as Mika confirmed that he hadn’t hurt her this time around. He at least had that, and her words following caused his heart to swell. Just hearing that he had locked her down, after all this time, and that she was willing to just fight back against anyone who came between them was yet another relief. He released her foot when she pulled it from his hands, and turned his eyes up to hers, the green in his eyes illuminated by the sunlight coming in from the window.

“You’ve ruined me, you know that? I would be a wreck without you, now.”, he murmured, nuzzling against her hand as she kissed his lips. He kissed her back, just as gently, and met her eyes with a soft laugh, “I don’t think you’re useless. You’re a lot stronger than me. A lot. Mika you’re terrifying.”

He laughed a bit harder, leaning in to kiss her lips one more time, “But I love you. I’ll do what I can to ignore him…until I can’t.”

As he sat there, scanning between her eyes, just taking in the calm of Mika not being angry with him, and having her beneath his hands as long as he wanted her there, a knock at the door caused him to flinch. He stood reluctantly from the floor, and walked toward the door, turning to glance at Mika with a bit of apprehension, as he swung the door open and Nat stood there, “I’m assuming you have news…”

Annabeth and Cason

Cason shrugged his shoulders as Nat passed him, and smirked, “Your loss. I’m a fun plus one.”

Anna simply rolled her eyes again, shoving him lightly to tell him to zip his mouth shut for now. He leaned in as she passed and pressed a kiss to her cheek, before patting Sam on the arm, “I’ll just wait for signs of life from Esme. I’m a little afraid to walk into her room unannounced.”

“If we’re lucky, she’ll shoot you again. So, feel free.”, Anna chimed over her shoulder with a sheepish grin. Cason waved her off, pulling a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his jacket, and pulled one, lighting it with a grumpy glare at the ground. Anna turned and laced her fingers with Sam’s, pulling herself close to him as they walked to Dean and Mika’s door. After Nat knocked, the door swung open, and Dean stood there, his face still a bit red from the drama with Cason. Anna stayed quiet, and pulled herself further behind Sam’s back, barely showing her face to Dean as he stood in the doorway.

Duke

Duke kept his kiss soft, as Esme froze against him, her body rigid and her heart racing against his fingertips. He had half a mind to pull back from the kiss completely, admitting that it was a mistake and handing her an apology on a silver platter. But slowly he felt her body relax, as he brushed his lips over hers once again, and she leaned into the kiss. Duke’s heart swelled as soon as her feelings hit his mind.

He wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck carefully, pulling her lips tighter to his as he carefully brushed his tongue across her bottom lip. He held himself back from furthering the kiss, not wanting to push her past her limits, or possibly push them past a point of no return that would be moving too fast…and that she wasn’t really capable of.

He broke the kiss carefully, brushing his fingertips across her cheek as he scanned her eyes and smiled brightly, “I’ve been wanting to do that from the day I met you, way back in the day. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”

He smiled widely again, chuckling as he glanced down at her lips. He moved his fingers down to her chin, and brushed his thumb across her bottom lip, “And judging by that buzz I feel in my head, coming off of you, I don’t think you minded.”, he whispered with another chuckle, leaning in to kiss her lips a bit more excitedly. He didn’t know what this meant. He didn’t know where they stood with each other. He didn’t even know if this really was a mistake. But what he did know, was that he didn’t want pizza yet. He just wanted to hold her close, and feel her lips that he had fought himself to the point of drawing blood from his cheeks, to not kiss them. Now, she was willingly kissing him, her skin against his palm and nothing but each other.

[Wolvena]

Esme Stirling

Esme felt a change in Duke when she leaned into the kiss. It was as if the hesitance he felt and fear of her lashing out faded away as soon as she returned his kiss. As he brought his hand up and wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck, her hand slid from the back of his hand, down his arm, then up to his bicep when he pulled her lips tighter to his and brushed his tongue across her bottom lip. She was half tempted to meet his tongue with her own but feared that it would push them to a point of no return, which would be moving too fast at this point for her, and she wasn’t capable of doing so. It surprised her she was even kissing him at his point. Yes, they knew each other from the past. They both loved each other back then and seemed that they still did today, but this wasn’t like her. She didn’t just kiss anyone, no matter how well she thought she knew them. Not to mention, this was Duke, who was practically a bother to Dean.

It almost felt like she was going from one brother to the other, but she still couldn’t deny that she had feelings for Duke that had lingered from their past. Yes, she was with Dean back then, but she had loved Duke as well. Her love was just stronger for Dean then. Back then, they were her everything; they were all she had, so of course, she loved them both dearly and would have done anything for them. That still stood true today. When Duke carefully broke the kiss and brushed his fingertips across her cheek, her eyes opened slowly to meet his gaze and bright smile with flushed cheeks as he scanned her eyes. She couldn’t stop the smile that came to her lips as she held his gaze and took in his words. “You don’t have to tell me. I know you have.” she whispered with a light laugh when he smiled widely and chuckled. She was about to say more when he moved his fingers down to her chin and brushed his thumb across her bottom lip, and spoke again.

Her eyes dropped from his and her cheeks flushed more in embarrassment from the unintentional sharing of her own emotions, followed by a light, nervous laugh. With her eyes averted away from him, Esme missed him leaning in for another kiss but kissed him back when his lips met hers, noticing the excitement behind it. She slightly smirked behind the kiss as she freed her hand from his and placed it upon his bare chest. She then pushed him back just enough to break the kiss, but to where her lips lightly brushed his. “Easy there, Cowboy.” she whispered against his lips, her smirk growing. Softly brushing her nose against his, she kissed him again, deepening it a bit more than the last one. Her mind soon drifted to the same things Duke was thinking about. She wasn’t sure what this meant either, other than there was a spark of some sort between them.

She wasn’t sure where they stood or even sure if this was a mistake or not. Did she care at that moment that it could possibly be a mistake? No, she didn’t at all. Would things come to light later to show if it was right or not? Yes, it probably would when they least expected it to. Would the others have a problem with it once they found out? She couldn’t say if they would or not. What she was sure of was that she was perfectly content there with him. All the nervousness and fear of being touched she felt earlier had faded away and had been replaced with a calmness that made her melt into Duke's touch and kisses. She also knew that she just wanted him to hold her close and not let her go. The pizza could wait. She just wanted to live in the moment and hold on to it for as long as she could until someone or something interrupted it.

[FuriePhoenix]

MIKA CHAMBERS, SAM AND NATALIA WINCHESTER

It didn't matter how many years she would know Dean for, the green in his eyes would take her breath away because they were so vastly different to her incredibly dark brown ones. She would always remember the first ever time she met him and even back then she was taken aback by how bright his green eyes were, something that always amazed her even after she learned what he did for a living thanks to his dad dragging him into the hunter life. Now, years later, it was just the same. he could be so down and feel mentally beaten but his eyes never seemed to dim and it honestly gave her a sense of hope which she was convinced that to anyone else, it would sound incredibly strange.

She was relieved that he was kissing her back and she couldn't stop the smile that crept up onto her lips when he told her she had ruined him. Deep down there was this almost twisted side to her that actually revelled in that fact, that still had this impact on him and she was still very much wanted by him also brought her a sense of relief. Yet it was hearing him say say she was stronger than him and not useless, but terrifying that made her smirk albeit baffling to her mind.

A reply couldn't even come to her as he kissed her once more, one that she returned as she always did before smiling softly, glad that he was at least willing to try and ignore Cason for as long as he could. "Thank you, I love you too but we're as strong as each other, you just don't realise it" she told him finally, never being able to see how she was so much stronger than he was. The idea that she was stronger than him in any capacity was the most baffling to her, especially after the last four months because she was an utter wreck that no one could get through to. She was willing to throw absolutely everything away if she couldn't have him back in her life, the hunting rampage she went on in the first month proved pointless, it didn't quelch her anger at Lilith and her hellhounds for taking him from her, it didn't stop her heartache or make her feel better. It didn't make her feel anything but the overwhelming grief she had.

The one thing however her four months of grieving did teach her was how Dean must have felt when they were teenagers and he thought she was dead. For her, it felt like the world was giving her four months of what he was feeling all those years ago and those times she had angrily yelled at him that maybe she should have died that fateful night. She just hoped that if she died on the job and he was still around, her death would still have an impact on him and he'd do whatever he could to keep her memory alive, not only that but would do what he could to seek justice for her death.

Just as he was staring into her eyes, she was staring into his back, when the knock on the door that she recognised to be Natalia's brought her out of her many thoughts. She let him get up and be the one to open the door and just as she had guessed, it was indeed Natalia standing there.

"Yeah we got a bit. Cason dropped a bit of information too to us, but Sam found some tiny bones in the school art class furnace that he thinks are similar to what you guys found in the hex bag" she explained. "What about you two? What did you get out of the widow?" she asked, now gently pushing herself into the room as she typically did, nodding her greeting to Mika as she did so.

"Cason says there's something going to go down at the halloween party some kids have organised at the graveyard or something. Fricking asked me and Anna if he could be our date for the damn thing" she said, visibly shuddering in disgust at the thought. "Like you would ever do the whole plus one stint" Mika smirked, "That's what I said!" Nat chimed back in reply.

Sam rolled his eyes at what Cason was saying but those eye roll quickly turned into a snigger when Annabeth made the smartass remark back at him about Esme shooting him again. He never recalled her being that snarky, but it was refreshing to see and he hoped he would see more of her standing up for herself and giving Cason the backchat he honestly thought the demon deserved at times. Especially after he slept with Mika and kept flirting with the other girls. He definitely didn't like how Cason kept seemingly pine for Esme, but flirted with Natalia whenever he could.

As Annabeth walked away from Cason, he followed and walked up to his brother's room with her, letting her stand behind him as Dean stood there. "So how much has Nat told you already?" he asked Dean, giving himt he gesture to be let inside the room. "Let them in already Dean" Mika said casually as Nat pulled herself to sit on the table instead of one of the two chairs.

[JustAnna]

Dean Winchester and Annabeth

Dean moved to the side, letting Sam and Nat come in, as he took in the information they had given him. He watched Anna closely as she stepped into the room, frowning a bit at how afraid of him she seemed, now that his mood had shifted into work mode. Dean smirked at the girls going back and forth over Cason inviting both Anna and Nat to be his plus one, and honestly, he didn’t really want Cason to come along at all.

“Well we can attempt to avoid that whole scenario.”, he chimed, before Sam asked him what they had found out from Nat, “It seems that we’ve all been given similar information, as far as things sounding very witchy. The widow said basically nothing, except that the girl…who’s name is on the paper you guys had is their babysitter.”

Anna stepped away from Sam, but stayed close to the door, leaning against the wall. She frowned at the word ‘witch’ being brought up again, but stayed pretty quiet. It was bad enough that it seemed they would have to work with her ex, but working with Dean and Cason, she felt like an easy target for almost anything that wanted to get ahold of her. After a few moments, she spoke up, “Maybe I should go with Cason.”

“What?!”, Dean asked incredulously, turning to her with raised eyebrows.

“I know him better than anyone here, at least…aside from the demon stuff. And he probably knows more about demons than most of us. So, maybe I should go with him, and you guys can mosey around and check into things.”, she explained, shrugging her shoulders as she turned her eyes down toward the carpet.

Duke and Cason

Duke chuckled as Esme brought her hand up to his chest and pushed him back from the kiss. Her words forced a wide smile across his face, and as she nuzzled his nose, his smile fell slowly until their lips were meeting again. He returned the kiss, pulling her into him as she deepened the kiss. He had just leaned his weight against her, to lay her down on the mattress, when the door suddenly opened, and he pulled from the kiss with a gasp of surprise, instinctively covering Esme a bit better with the blankets.

“I should know better than to not knock with this group. I haven’t even been gone that long!”, Cason complained as he stepped into the room. Sarah quickly ran away from him, and jumped onto Esme’s side of the bed, curling up near her side, while eyeing Duke with curiosity. Not that he could see that.

Duke narrowed his eyes and he raised his hand, “Dude! Yeah, knockin’ is usually a bit of a courtesy, you know! We were just about to order a pizza, since you took ten years to show back up. She needs to rest.”

Cason sighed, tapping his fingers on the table as he walked over to it, and he avoided raising his glance to look at Esme. He could tell, by the fact that Duke was shirtless and Esme’s shoulders were peeking out from under the blankets that there was more going on than just ordering a simple pizza. Something had been rekindled, and any work he had put into getting Esme to come around, and give him a chance was shattered, the second Duke came sweeping back in.

“Well, I brought Sarah. I thought she could…help with the healing and stuff. I’ll go…find a room.”, he grumbled, pointing a finger at Sarah, “Stay or go, but stay away from the Winchesters, Sarah.”

He turned and placed his hand on the door knob, before exiting the room with another grumble. He couldn’t take care of her. He couldn’t hold her, without being assaulted, and now, he had brought her a dog to say ‘sorry for you being tortured because of me’ and she was snuggled up in bed with some grifter he didn’t know. It was as if he was being punished all over again, for things he had done over two hundred years ago.

“Who’s Sarah?”, Duke asked, a little whiplashed from Cason’s quick in and out. The guy seemed really upset when he left, but Duke glanced over to the depression on the bed, where Cason had been pointing, and Sarah nudged Esme’s neck, draping a paw over her lap carefully, “Invisible dog?”

[Wolvena]

Esme Stirling

Esme felt a warmth flow through her when she heard Duke chuckle as she pushed him back from their kiss. There was just something about his laugh that filled her with warmth, just like it had done back then. When he returned her kiss and pulled her into him after she deepened it, she smiled behind their kiss and relaxed fully into his embrace. Her hand on his chest slowly moved up to rest on his cheek as he held her close to him as she felt herself becoming even more lost in the moment and emotions filling the room. When he leaned his weight into her, she was prepared for Duke to lay her back on the bed, but not for the door to open suddenly and Cason walked in with Sarah. She had pulled from the kiss at the same time as Duke and gave a gasp in surprise as well. Her hand had fallen from his cheek to hold the blankets in place as he brought them up more to cover her, then her other hand fell from his arm to meet her other hand.

She carefully adjusted herself against the headboard of the bed as she watched Cason with slightly narrowed eyes as he spoke and stepped into the room. “Yeah, you really should by now. You were also gone longer than you think.” she mumbled. He was once again lucky she didn’t have her gun handy. She literally could have shot him again for just walking in without knocking. Her gaze left Cason and went to Sarah as she ran to the bed, then watched as Sarah jumped up on her side of the bed and curled up near her side. When she saw Sarah eye Duke with curiosity, she gave Sarah a look that said he could be trusted and not to harm him. Once she saw Sarah understood, her gaze lifted and went back to Cason. It was hard to read any sort of emotion coming off of him with Sarah so close, but she could see how upset he was even without the use of her ability. Her gaze softened a bit, even though she was still upset about him coming into the room unannounced.

Her gaze shifted briefly to Duke as he spoke to Cason, wincing slightly at his words with a heavy sigh. She knew Duke’s words would probably hit Cason wrong and upset him more than he already was. As she sat in the bed, she watched Cason walk over to the table and tap his fingers on it. It wasn’t hard to see how he was avoiding looking at her. She couldn’t tell if it was because of what happened earlier or if it was because Duke was shirtless and he could see her bare shoulders were just above the blankets. If she were to put herself in Cason’s shoes, she could see how it possibly looked to him, and from what she knew from the little time she spent with him, that’s where his mind had most likely gone, even though she and Duke hadn’t gone that far. She sighed heavily once again as he spoke about bringing Sarah to help with the healing process and finding himself a room, then spoke to Sarah.

Esme couldn’t help but feel sorry for Cason right at that moment, and it caused her to grip the blankets tightly. Even though she couldn’t feel it, because of Sarah being next to her, she knew Cason was hurting by seeing her so close to Duke. Since they had met, she has had a problem with him being too close. She has shot him in the head, punched him in the face, flinched at his touch, and even yelled at him over it. Now here she was laying in bed with Duke, looking as if she were completely naked, and didn’t have a problem with how close he was. She knew it had to be a hard blow for Cason after everything he had tried to get her to come around to him and she took to Duke as if it was nothing, but he hadn’t seen how she had flinched and tensed up at Duke’s touch earlier. But he also didn’t know the past that she and Duke shared and that was how she could get so close to him.

When Cason turned and grabbed the doorknob, Esme painfully sat up with a hiss, the blankets fell from her chest and to her lap revealing the towel that was wrapped around her. “Cason!” she called out to him in a sorrowful tone. “Cason, wait!” When the door closed behind him, she let out a sigh as she dropped her head and brought a hand to her face and wiped it over the bridge of her nose and cheek before running it through her hair, then resting it back on her cheek and propping her elbow on her bent knee. She actually felt bad about how Cason found them and how much it upset him. She could admit to herself but not to him that she did care for him, but not in the way he wanted her to. Esme was thankful for how he had cared for her after being overwhelmed by everyone's emotions, after becoming a demon nuke, pulled her out of her deep sleep after the whole ordeal with cupid, even if he got a little closer than she had liked during those times, and even made it where she could see the Hellhounds roaming around.

Now he had brought Sarah to her to help her heal as he said, but something told her Sarah was brought to her as an apology for her being tortured. She was definitely going to have to find a time to talk to Cason, when that would be, she didn’t know. She didn’t even know if he’d talk to her after this. At Duke’s voice, Esme lifted her head a little and moved her fingers over so they weren’t covering her eye any longer so she could see him in her peripheral vision. “Sarah is, umm…….” She hesitated to tell him what Sarah was, not sure how he would take it. She saw how he looked over at the depression on the bed where Cason had pointed while speaking to Sarah. Esme was about to speak again when Sarah nudged her neck and draped a paw over her lap carefully, which made her tense up a bit, almost expecting Sarah’s paw to hit the wound on her thigh. She relaxed when it didn’t and looked at Sarah as Duke spoke again. “Invisible dog.” she repeated in a whisper.

Removing her hand from her cheek and dropping her elbow from her knee, she rested her hand on the side of Sarah’s face, pulling her head to rest under her chin before patting her cheek. “You could call her that.” she continued in a soft tone. Turning her head to the side, she rested her cheek on top of Sarah’s head and looked over at Duke, studying him as she fought against telling him what Sarah was or not. Though not wanting to keep anything from him won out in the end, even if she thought he might flip over the news, but she couldn’t blame him if he did. It was strange and unheard of for anyone but a demon to befriend a Hellhound. “Sarah is a…… She’s a Hellhound. And yes, I can see her thanks to the black dot on my hand.” she finally said after a moment of silence. She fell silent again, letting what she just said sink in, and waited to see how he would react to the news. The others didn’t like the fact that Sarah was around. She knew that, especially Dean, but she couldn’t blame him after his experience with them.

As Esme studied Duke's face, she tried to keep her own face neutral but knew she was failing miserably at it. She didn’t want to show she was worried about how he would react to what Sarah was. She wanted his reaction and words to be genuine and not based on how he thought she would want him to feel and answer about it. Esme then attempted to lean back against the headboard, but soon regretted it as a sharp pain shot through her, causing her to hiss at the pain and stop the attempt. At her hiss, Sarah nuzzled her neck with a soft whine to which Esme patted Sarah’s cheek to let her know she was alright. Sarah released a sigh that was heavy and filled with relief before she nuzzled into Esme’s neck once more.

[FuriePhoenix]

MIKA CHAMBERS, NATALIA AND SAM WINCHESTER

Dean's open comment about hoping they could avoid the whole scenario of Cason coming along to the halloween party in the graveyard didn't come as much surprise to either Mika, Natalia or Sam. They all knew that especially after last night with Cupid's interference Dean wasn't Cason's biggest fan and if he coiuld do all he could to keep Cason as far away from Mika as humanely possible, and if he wasn't far enough away Dean would love nothing more than to send the guy back to Hell or just outright kill him at the first given opportunity. This was something that all three of them wouldn't blame him for doing either as Mika still felt tremendous guilt over the whole situation that was out of her control, as well as awkward around Cason and both Natalia and Sam just didn't fully trust Cason and had their own reasons for not especially caring what happens to Cason.

Sam listened to what Dean was telling him, nodding in understanding as he found it interesting that the teenager Tracy was linked to both the school kid that died in the bobbing for apples game and the father who died via razorblades in the candy. He was about to say something back when Annabeth shocked them all by stating she would be Cason's plus one when it came to intergrating in the party that was going to be happening this evening. "Are you sure that's a good idea Anna? I mean, yeah you know him better than the rest of us but he's hardly been particularly trustworthy lately, unless it's been toward Esme." Sam countered a bit more calmly than Dean was, but still making his shock at her words evident.

"I can go with her and Cason, to keep Anna safe and be proper backup for her. Cason might have demon powers, but I don't trust him to not scarper at the first hurdle. They'll need a proper fighter on their side" Natalia spoke up in compromise, a compromise she didn't like but she didn't want to leave Annabeth alone with Cason even less. "Nat no, none of you are going with him" Sam protested, his protectiveness for not just Annabeth but his sister coming out in full force now. "Sam it's the best option we got right now. We need people on the inside and we can't all go it'll look suspicious, we need people on the outside of the graveyard to make sure nothing happens" Nat countered yet again.

"hate to say it, but Nat has a point" Mika spoke up with a shrug. "And lets face it, as much as we don't want Cason anywhere near this case, he got us information none of us could obtain, which means he could prove useful. Think of it as....using him for collatoral damage. With Nat with them, she can get Anna to safety if it gets too dangerous for any reason." she properly explained herself, hoping her words of 'collateral damage' would be of some reassurance to the brothers.

Sam found himself thinking about what Mika was saying and he tried to think of a way to debuke what she was saying but he really couldn't. All he could was sigh and run his hand through his hair, giving in to the suggestions. "Damn it I hate it when you two agree with each other" he smirked, which made Nat smirk back at her brother. "We're not just a bunch of pretty faces that tag around you two ya know. We got smarts up here!" Nat jested back at Sam, tapping her left temple as she spoke.

Natalia then turned her head to Annabeth with a jokey smile and glint in her eye, "So Anna...will you do me the honour of being my date tonight?" she laughed. She really would do her damnest to keep Annabeth safe until her last breath as well, knowing how much Sam would hate to leave her with Cason only.

[JustAnna]

Dean Winchester and Anna

Anna tilted her head to the side, giving Sam a look as she moved her eyes from the floor to scan his face, “I mean, no. But he won’t let me get hurt, and I don’t think he’ll be sketchy. As much as I want to punch him in the face, he seems to want to help.”

Dean shook his head with a sigh, as she spoke to Sam, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He didn’t want Cason to go at all, much less to have any chance to get his hooks back into Anna and both tear his brother’s heart out, and possibly turn her into a little nuke. He was willing to give her a chance, thanks to Mika’s insistence, but he still couldn’t fight back his fear that she was dangerous, if left with the wrong people. But then Nat chimed in, and Dean held his hand out to her in a ‘can you not?’ gesture.

But Anna raised her eyebrows at Nat’s offer, and she straightened, glancing between Nat and Sam as Sam complained about the option. But Anna shook her head, “Someone has to go with him, whether it bothers you or not, and he’s damn sure not going with you or your brother. That leaves one of us…”

Dean groaned, and tilted his head back, his frustration levels hitting the ceiling as he listened to all of them argue but justify why Anna and Nat should go to the graveyard with Cason. But then Mika stepped in and he shot a glare to her, “No, I don’t…”, he started, but broke his words off as she continued her explanation and he couldn’t completely argue with her logic. Someone would need to go with him, either way, or they could be blown before they ever got to the demon. He growled low in his chest and crossed his arms, “Fine. FINE! But if anything happens to either of you, I’ll kill him before he can leave the graveyard. One hair on either head.”

“Deal.”, Anna chimed in, and Dean’s eyes shot toward her with surprise that she was even speaking to him in this moment, “Since you seem to care for now. Fine. If anything happens to either of us, you have full reign to kill Cason.”

Dean raised his eyebrows even higher, and he nodded his head slowly at Anna, “Deal.”

Anna smirked as Nat turned to her, and she reached her hand out to pick up Nat’s hand, bowing in front of her in a teasing manner, “I would love to be your date. I have a feeling that my chauffeur isn’t going to be much fun…”

Duke

Duke watched as Esme tried to find a way to explain to him what Sarah actually was, raising his eyebrows as she repeated him. He glanced down at Sarah as Esme petted the side of Sarah’s face, and he could clearly hear Sarah’s little pants of excitement, and her small whimper to let Esme know she missed her. He raised his eyes back to Esme’s face as she leaned her head against the top of Sarah’s head and slowly explained what she was. Duke’s eyes widened suddenly, and he scooted back from Esme, causing Sarah to tilt her head to the side as she nuzzled Esme.

“A Hellhound?! The demon…has pet Hellhounds? And you can see them. You can see Hellhounds.”, he reasoned as he stared between Esme and the area he knew Sarah was lying, his eyes very wide and concerned. His heart was racing as he tried to decide if this was too crazy, or if this was just another weird circumstances of the Winchesters and their ability to gain weird alliances. He stopped scooting back and simply watched, waiting for Sarah to attack him and rip his flesh from his bones.

When she didn’t move, and instead, it seemed like she was simply loving on Esme, “Okay. I thought you had just got some weird tattoo on your hand but you can actually get the…the Hellhound to listen to you, and you can see her. She’s just…lying there?”, he asked carefully, wincing as Esme hissed in pain. He quickly scooted closer to her and sighed, “Anything else I need to know if I’m stayin’? You okay? I’m supposed to be here to help and all that. That was just a bit of a…shock.”

He chuckled, still a bit shaky at the fact that he had a Hellhound in bed with him, only separated from killing him, by Esme. He reached a hand out and brushed his fingers down Esme’s cheek, a show of acceptance, in the midst of his panicking heart, but he could feel Sarah’s breath hot against his arm. It was oddly not as scary as it should have been. Maybe because Esme was snuggling with her so close.

[Wolvena]

Esme Stirling

Esme watched Duke as he reacted to the news of Sarah being a Hellhound. Her grip on Sarah tightened a little when she saw Duke’s eyes go wide, scoot away from her, and then spoke. Yes, she knew he’d more than likely flip out over the news, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t affect her any. She inwardly cringed as she listened to his words and saw the concern in his very wide eyes, then nodded softly at what he was saying. She scanned his face as he stared between her and Sarah, wishing at that moment she could read his thoughts on what she had told him, and also wished she could reach out and help him through this. Though she knew this was something he was going to have to work out on his own, she couldn’t make him okay with having a Hellhound around if he wasn’t. When he stopped scooting back, she watched him intently, then realized what he was doing. He was waiting for Sarah to attack him as most would do, and she couldn’t blame him for expecting it to happen.

Her eyes never left Duke as he waited for Sarah to jump up and attack him, but when he realized she wasn’t going to and was loving on her, it was easy to spot. When he spoke, she lifted her head slightly from Sarah’s and listened to him, then gave a small nod before she had tried to lean back against the headboard and failed. When Duke quickly scooted closer from her hiss in pain, she quietly sighed at the same time he did and listened to him once more, giving a weak smile at his chuckle. It wasn’t hard to see how shaky he was knowing there was a Hellhound lying in the bed with them, but she hoped that her being between them would calm him a bit. She lifted her head from Sarah’s and was about to answer his questions when he reached out and brushed his fingers down her cheek, her eyes closing briefly at his show of acceptance and her smile growing a little. She could see just how hard he was trying to keep himself together, and it made her feel for him.

Esme hadn’t taken the news of the Hellhounds being around that calmly either when Cason first brought them around. In fact, it terrified her having them around at first. Then, oddly enough, she came to enjoy having them around and lost most of her fear of them. Releasing Sarah’s head after giving her cheek a scratch, Esme focused on Duke as she reached over and took one of his hands in hers. As she did, Sarah rested her head gently on Esme’s lap and softly nuzzled into her stomach. Esme held Duke’s hand a moment before she started to answer his questions. “Yes, she listens to me, but I haven’t asked her to do too much.” she started softly. “I once asked her to keep Cason away from me so I could get some sleep. Even though I was asleep, I could actually hear her growl at him for getting too close to the bed as I slept.” she told him, holding back a small laugh at the memory. “Then when she jumped up on the bed, I only gave her a look, letting her know you weren’t to be harmed.”

She looked over at Sarah briefly and met Duke’s gaze once more. “Yes, she’s just laying there. Somehow, she and I have formed a bond, but I’m not sure if the bond would last if Cason were to remove the mark he gave me so I could see Hellhounds.” Her gaze dropped to their hands, then fell on the black mark on her hand with a sigh as she ran her thumb over his hand. Cason could easily come and take the mark off her hand if he wanted to, and she’d only be able to hear the Hounds. “I know this was a bomb to hit you with and I’m sorry for that, but I didn’t want to keep it from you with Cason bringing her into the room and then leaving her. If you’re not comfortable with her being so close, I can have her move somewhere else. Or if you’re uncomfortable with her being in here, I can have her go somewhere else.” As if on cue, Sarah lifted her head from Esme’s lap, gently nuzzled her cheek, and slipped off the bed to lie on the floor on Esme’s side of the bed. Esme turned her head and watched Sarah with a small smile.

“Thank you, Sarah. We’ll just have to do things slowly.” she spoke warmly to her before she turned her gaze back to their hands. “The others aren’t thrilled I’ve allowed her to stay so close. So, I can understand if you feel the same way.” Esme lifted her head and looked back at Duke, now feeling his fear with Sarah on the floor. Her features were soft as she met his gaze once again. “But yes, I’m okay, just a little sore in some places.” she said, bringing her other arm and hand to rest across her stomach and side. “There is something else I think you should know, but I’m a little afraid to tell you right now. I think I should wait until you’ve calmed down about finding out what Sarah is. I don’t want to throw too much at you all at once.” With that being said, she took in a breath and slowly let it out as she tried to once again lay back against the headboard, wincing and gripping her side when the pain shot through her side and stomach.

[FuriePhoenix]

MIKA CHAMBERS, NATALIA AND SAM WINCHESTER

Mika knew she had to step in with reason when Dean gave Natalia the all too familiar gesture to say 'please don't' and she was glad that she did speak up as although it meant he glared at her, she knew deep down he couldn't argue with the logic and common sense of the plan. She also knew that Dean was only being like this because he cared about Natalia a lot more than he ever let on, and vise versa. She didn't particularly enjoy going with a decision that was against Dean's ideas and decisions, but sometimes she knew it was completely justified to do so.

So when he did finally back down and agree that the plan to have Nat and Anna go with Cason to one side of the graveyard, and them the other, she let the tension relax from her shoulders that she didn't even realise she was holding. She agreed though that if Cason so much as got a single strand of either of their hairs out of place, he had to suffer some kind of consequences, no matter who it was that dished it out. It was Anna's reply to Dean though that made her raise her eyebrows in surprise, having not expected such a cut and dry remark from the woman.

"Then it's settled" she commented, before smirking at Natalia asking Anna if she would be her date for the halloween party thinking how it so typical of Natalia to turn a serious and almost argumentative situation into something comical even for the briefest of moments. The fact that Annabeth could respond to it with ease made Mika see that the woman was going to truly fit in with their group just fine if she could give as good as she got. "Well I'd rather your date be my sister than Cason" Sam commented, shaking his head at how Natalia and Anna were being with each other.

"I'll look after her well big bro" Nat told Sam, giving him a playful punch in the arm that had no weight behind it in the slightest but that didn't stop Sam pretending that it hurt his bicep by giving it a rub and scrunching his face up. "I guess I'll head to my room and get ready, gotta get out of this dumb suit and into something more appropriate for a party. Gotta look good for my date" she smirked jokingly, giving Anna a wink as she headed to Dean's room door.

"Oh my god, stop!" Sam complained with a playful edge. He then looked at Dean and Mika, "Guess I'll do the same unless you need to discuss anything else? The bones we've both found are from what I can tell infant bones which just makes me cringe all the more...but unfortunately makes sense" he commented to his brother and Mika.

"Sick bastards, infant bones? That's just beyond wrong" Mika said with disgust as Nat slipped out of the room and headed to her own room, where she walked down a few doors, opened her door and got inside, locking the door behind her. The idea that some witch would think 'oh let's just burn an infant child for my spells' really did not sit well with Mika, the thought made her internally shudder with disgust.

Nat wasted no time in kicking her heels off, letting them fly across the ground as she walked to her bag to pull out some more comfortable clothing. "hmm...what to wear....ah who the hell am I kidding, I swear the same old shit every time" she commented to herself as she pulled out a pair of her bootcut jeans, a tshirt and overshirt.

[JustAnna]

Dean Winchester and Anna

Dean rolled his eyes at everyone being so playful, while he still grappled with his annoyance with taking a demon with them at all. He raised a hand and waved it at all of them, except Mika, “Alright. Get the hell out of my room so we can get dressed. We’ll catch up in a few. An Nat? This is a business trip. It’s not a frat party for you to…do whatever you do at a party. Got it? You too Sammy.”

Anna was too busy laughing at Nat’s messing with Sam to really be bothered by Dean acting like a father. She stepped close to Sam as Nat stepped out of the room, and shot Nat a wink as she exited. She snarled her nose at the same time that Dean did, but Dean gave a little shudder about the infant bones. Anna was realizing that she had even less of a reason to like witches, if they were all into killing babies or digging them up to use their bones.

Shaking the thought from her head, she looked up at Sam, and trailed her hand down to grab his. She shook her hair over her shoulder and leaned up on her tiptoes togged closer to his face, “I’m going to get dressed. I’m definitely not wearing heels to a graveyard. A broken ankle isn’t high on my list of things I am excited about, tonight. I’ll see you in a minute?”

She asked the question with a slight smile, leaning up a bit further to press a tight kiss to his lips, before she let his hand go, and walked to the door. Dean raised his eyebrows and glanced at Mika, before glancing back to Sam, “Pretty casual with the PDA after what…a day of knowing each other again? Some things never change, I guess.”, he teased, before turning to his bag.

As Nat stepped into her room, and kicked off her heels, Cason watched her patiently from the table that sat in the front corner of the room. He had already gotten himself dressed in a casual suit, with no tie and shiny Chelsea boots. His hair was carefully placed on the top of his head, and he smelled extra nice, as if he was taking out a first date somewhere in the city.

“I think you look stunning in the ‘same old shit’.”, his voice suddenly rang out in the room, smooth and calm as he smiled widely at her, showing every one of his too white teeth. He lifted a glass of whiskey he had poured himself from the bottle he brought as a gift, and took a drink, “And don’t mind me. I’m just here to drink away my troubles, and give you a ride…since this is a date, and all. I heard everything.”

Duke

Duke listened carefully as Esme explained that Sarah was essentially just a large and invisible guard dog. From the sounds of it, as long as Esme could see Sarah, she could control her, and Sarah didn’t seem to mind. Duke took a deep breath, and scanned Esme’s face, before glancing down to where Sarah laid. He nodded slowly and glanced down at his and Esme’s hands, scanning over the mark on her hand. Somehow he hadn’t noticed the mark before, but now, he couldn’t take his eyes off it. Some sort of demonic branding that could make her see Hellhounds? Sounded like a hunter’s dream.

“Don’t be sorry. It’s…it is a shock. I’m not going to lie. She seems big, and I know what Hellhounds can do to a person, you know? And most Hellhounds aren’t pets. I haven’t known many demons that kept them. I mean…I don’t go around hangin’ out with demons very often anyway, but apparently the Winchesters are doin’ in now. So maybe I’m behind on the times.”

He chuckled nervously, after his nervous ramble about Sarah. But as Sarah stood from the bed and climbed on to the floor, Duke felt the bed rise with the loss of her weight. He still shivered a bit, as the last of his adrenaline rush, at the revelation began to fade. As Esme turned back to him, he rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand and took a deep breath as she spoke, “It’s…unusual. But if she makes you feel better, who am I to ask her to leave. Just…keep her on her leash, if that’s a thing.”

He moved quickly as she mentioned that she had something else to tell him. He wrapped an arm around the middle of her back, helping her lay back against the headboard. It killed him that she was so injured, despite everything that seemed to be coming up about her life. He wanted to know everything about what her life had been since she had left. Every single thing. But she seemed genuinely worried he would run off if she told him anything more, “Sweetheart…I don’t think you could tell me anything heavier than what’s been laid on me tonight. I’m gonna need a stiff drink, an IOU for that kiss from earlier, and pizza, but you can lay it on me.”