JustAnna

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean tilted his head side to side, mocking Esme’s tone a bit as she explained to him that his bad habits could rub off on his employees, as if he didn’t already know that. But at least she accepted his offer for dinner. If they were going to even attempt to save their marriage, they had to start somewhere. Dinner was probably a good place. He couldn’t remember the last time they had eaten a full meal, in chairs, face to face…

His expression turned a bit more to concern, hearing that the situation with the stalker wasn’t going as well as he had hoped. It shouldn’t have been that hard to figure out. It was one guy. One creep. He had a pretty distinct method and type. Surely the rangers, with the intel from the security teams could wrap it all up quickly.

“They will bury him. I can promise you that. I’ll talk to whatever judge gets ahold of him.” Dean said firmly, stepping closer to Esme. He could tell that she was struggling with the whole thing, and he wasn’t exactly present. He hadn’t exactly been the most supportive husband, through all this, “I’m also gonna call over to the rangers. Maybe the talkative one…what’s his name? Singer? Maybe they can put him on it. He seems to need something to do.”

Dean stepped over closer to Esme, and he reached a hand out, putting the tension between them aside to wipe a few crumbs from the corner of her mouth. He pinched her chin affectionately, and then leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her temple as her phone rang, “Get that. I gotta go get dressed. I’ll call the rangers and see if we can get a meeting.”

He carefully listened on his way out of the room, until he pulled his phone and dialed up the rangers station.

Duke and Anna

Duke snarled his nose at the idea of just sitting around doing paperwork all day. He would be bouncing off the walls by noon. But Sam offering Duke a case made his brain perk up, and he nodded quickly. Of course he wanted that email. He wanted something to do. It was way too quiet around, almost eerily so. It was rare that they weren’t swimming in loads of information and desperate families, asking for their help.

“Um. Yeah, they’re still dealing with that thing. She’s not been able to get a lot of information, but the last time I talked to her, it was basically spinning wheels. They don’t know anything more than they did a month or so ago, there’s just new victims. One…that’s pretty high profile from what I gathered.” Duke explained, mentally reminding himself to call Mika, later in the day. If anything, going to see her for lunch would give him an excuse to see…

“Duke.” Anna called, jarring him from his thoughts. She hadn’t missed that little glance from Sam, tipping Duke’s hat at him with a smirk, but then she held the phone out to him, on hold, “Dispatch just sent it over. He asked for you.”

“For me?”

“Yeah, by name. It sounds important. He sounds important.” Anna explained as Duke sauntered back over and took the phone from her hand. Anna took the chance to stand from the desk, tilting Duke’s hat back on her head, and stepped around to lean over Sam’s cubicle, “And you. What do you like to drink? I don’t think I’ve ever asked you before. It always seemed really inappropriate, but since you’ve been invited to my…house, by my idiot room mate, I have to ask. What does Cap prefer with his BBQ?”

A moment later, Duke dropped the phone on the base and chuckled, shaking his head. There was a lot behind that little laugh and Anna turned to raise her eyebrows at him.

“So that was Mr. Smith. You know…security company Mr. Smith?” Duke chuckled, and Anna’s eyes widened as they shared a silent conversation between them about Duke’s ‘extracurricular’ activities with the man’s wife. Duke tilted his head and clenched his jaw, before plastering his smile back on his face, “He wants the rangers all in on the stalker thing. We’re supposed to head down to the headquarters as soon as possible.”

“We? Like you and Cap?”

“Yep. I’m sure we can find an excuse for you to come along, though. Dispatch can handle things for a couple of hours, right Sam? We can get coffee on the way there.” Duke offered with a bright smile.

“Sure, because there’s no other reason you would want to go. None at all.” Anna rolled her eyes, and removed his hat from her head, before placing it back on his with a pat to the crown. She then turned to Sam and shrugged, “Field trip, then!”

———

When they arrived at the headquarters, Duke wasted no time, walking in front of both Sam and Anna, approaching Mika’s desk almost in a jog, before dropping himself on the corner and picking up her name plate that sat on the front, “Don’t you just look like a dream for just about any passerby that’s lonely!”

Cason

Cason growled and closed his eyes tightly as the man on the other side of the phone hung up on him abruptly, barely even listening to what he was saying. He turned and gritted his teeth, sighing. His eyes softened as Nat’s eyes met his. He shook his head, “No. The bastard hung up on me. I think it’s time for the big guns, on this.”

He glanced around to Rosie and nodded his head, encouraging her to pull her own strings, since he was going to get absolutely nowhere. He then turned his eyes back to Nat and he reached a hand up, pinching her chin with a small smile, “We’ll get it taken care of. Why don’t you just relax. Let me…”

He glanced around, until he found a bucket of paint. Carefully taking his jacket off and draping it over the large bucket, he gestured for Nat to sit, picking up her hand. He tugged and took a deep breath, “Just sit down and relax. I’ll stay close, alright? They can handle this. If anything, Beau is distract enough to be somewhat still.”

Beau

Beau frowned at the idea of someone being handsy with Rosie. Not that she couldn’t take care of herself. She absolutely could, and obviously did. But he was still tempted to go back out in the hall and put the guy in the hospital, just on principle. But as she pulled her hand from him, he didn’t tighten up. He just let her fingers slip from his and he sighed, plastering that charming smile over his lips to hide his disappointment in yet another rejection, “Well, I think you’ll crack eventually. We’re better together than you wanna admit…”

Beau went back to his pacing after a moment, glancing up every now and then at Rosie as she spoke to someone far more powerful than him, and seemed to at least get somewhere. He was tempted to reach out and chase that pesky flyaway piece of hair away from her face as she spoke. It had to be tickling her cheek. But he kept his hands to himself, shoving them in his pockets as he glanced over at Nat with a frown, “You alright? I know sittin’ on paint buckets ain’t the most comfortable thing in the world, but we’ll be out of here soon, and this won’t happen again. It better not…”

Rosie’s voice caught Beau’s ear and he turned back to sigh, stepping over to her as she finished her phone call. Beau shrugged out of his jacket, and tugged his tie free as he settled into being stuck in the room while they waited out security. He folded his jacket and reached down to the floor, scooping up Rosie’s bag. He placed his jacket on a nearby shelf and sat her bag on top of it before stepping back over to her briefly.

“So, we settle in. We get comfy.” He reached up and unbuttoned the top two buttons of his dress shirt and leaned against the wall next to Rosie, “And after this, we can get drinks. Cason looks like he could handle private security for the night?”

Cason rolled his eyes at Beau as he squatted on the floor in front of Nat, and Beau just chuckled.

“I mean, I could take it, but I’m a lot more fun to drink with than I am to have watchin’ a front door.”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean couldn’t help the thoughts that were tumbling over and over in his mind as Mika explained what she remembered and what she was currently feeling about being alive. He knew those feelings all too well. When he had dug himself out of that grave, the first worry on his mind was ‘who had to die in order for me to live’? And it was a crushing guilt. It was unfounded, but crushing.

He pulled her a little loser as she struggled with the pain in her head from digging through the memories. But he never broke eye contact when she needed it. This was what she needed, the last time they had separated. She just needed him to be still, and to listen. So, he did, until she dared to apologize.

“Hey. Don’t say you’re sorry. This is a lot. And I mean…A LOT. We’re gonna process this together, this time, alright? C’mere.” Dean pulled Mika closer, forcing her to break eye contact and to stop apologizing. He kissed the side of her head, and at some point, they had both drifted off, Dean finally able to rest for the first time since Mika had been gone.

Dean heard Esme’s voice as he stirred from his sleep and he groaned, waving his hand from under his pillow. He buried his face further into the high end pillowcase, and tried to go back to sleep, despite his wife’s insistence to starting the day. It was his company. If he wanted to oversleep from a night of…whatever the hell he had done the night before, he would. But then Sarah was sent to wake him up and her giant paws and body weight began drilling his back, knocking the wind out of him.

“Alright! Sarah get down!” Dean growled into his pillow, eventually rolling over and scratching the sides of Sarah’s face to get her to stop jumping on him. He sat up, ruffling his hair as Sarah hopped down and ran into the kitchen with Esme. Dean stood from the bed and dragged his feet to the closet, grabbing his clothes and shoes. He quickly got dressed, barely doing anything with his hair, and with his tie in his hand, he walked downstairs with a huff.

“You know, having your giant dog break my spine is not the most effective way to wake me up in the morning.” Dean complained, grabbing a travel mug from the cabinet, and pouring himself some coffee. He glanced over at Esme and sighed, “So, would you at all be interested in attempting to have dinner tonight or do you have another appointment with the Rangers? How is all that going, by the way? Any new leads on the creeper out in Liberty Hill?"

Anna and Duke

Duke smiled brightly at Sam’s acceptance of his invitation. He turned his attention back to Anna, pushing a foot out to kick her rolling chair, just to get her attention, “See?! Golden opportunity. You can hit on the Captain. You can put in a good word for me to get that promotion. We can hang out and just be…normal! You can even do something with your hair!”

Anna frowned and glanced up at him, confusion written all over her face, “What’s wrong with my hair?”

“Nothing! You just…don’t wear it down very often. Maybe we can change that tonight. I bet Sam’s into that sort of thing. I see the way he looks at you. Or maybe you can wear my hat! He might be freaky like that.” Duke teased, as he picked up his hat from the desk and plopped it on Anna’s head. It was way too big, but she couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face. Duke was her best friend for a reason.

“And maybe you can finally bring Esme over? Maybe talk to her about her marriage…situation.” Anna teased back, and Duke covered his heart, as if she had shot him.

Duke slid off the corner of the desk and he walked over to Sam’s, slapping the edge of his cubicle wall, “So, what’s the plan for today? Anything exciting?”

Cason and Beau

“She has a point.” Cason grumbled, stepping back from Natalia as his boss Beau paced in the room, as if he was waiting on someone. Beau shook his head, ruffling his messy hair a bit and then loosened his necktie, throwing his hands up.

“Well, we can deal with that when we’re out of here. We are gonna have to call in the other security team to secure that exit. That way we can get out of here. Otherwise, get comfy, because we’re stuck.” Beau sighed, walking up to the door. He opened it, just enough to glance out, only to be met by screams and more camera shutters.

After a few moments of silence, Beau turned to the door as Rosie banged on it, asking to be let in. He tilted his head to the side. She was alone? Of course she was alone. There was a reason he was so sweet on her. Opening the door, he took a step back, allowing Rosie to enter the room with them. As he closed the door behind her, he opened his mouth to speak, but Rosie wasn’t going to let him get a word in. Instead, he simply nodded.

“I will call again and make sure they’re coming, ma’am. Give me five minutes.” He confirmed to her, but then he frowned, picking her hand out of the air and bringing it in front of his eyes. He looked over her knuckles and smirked, “Looks like you did a little security fixin’ of your own. My god. When are you goin’ to marry me?”

“I’ll call security.” Cason grumbled, rolling his eyes at Beau’s attempts to flirt with Rosie. He pulled his phone up to his ear, sticking close to Natalia, while dressing down the head of security of the venue, and demanding at least tend more guards.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean settled in on the couch as Mika continued to process even being alive. He could tell that there were a lot of emotions bubbling under the surface that were threatening to explode. That was something Mika would normally never let out in front of the rest of the group, and was, in itself, worrying. Dean pulled the blanket back, not asking permission, and pulled it over himself. He wrapped his arms around Mika’s legs, and pulled them into his lap, while shaking his head.

“No. No apologizing. There’s a lot. It’s a lot.” Dean explained, taking a deep breath, before pulling Mika’s body into his, rubbing her arm to warm her up, “But it’s not your fault. I want accept an apology because you’re here. You’re alright.”

As he looked around the room, he noticed that everyone was hovering, either with their eyes, ears or just in general. No one really knew what was appropriate in this situation. They had a million questions, but didn’t know if they could ask them. They were worried about Mika, but were relieved she was alive. They didn’t want to leave her alone, but didn’t want to crowd her…even though they were.

“Hey Cason?” Dean called out to Cason, who was standing with Natalia. Cason had just reached an arm around Nat, rubbing his hand up and down her back, but he raised his eyebrows to acknowledge Dean, “Why don’t we try to give her some space. Maybe get the bathroom ready for a shower?”

“Alright. We can go run some bathwater, and grab some towels.” Cason shrugged, pulling Nat with him, as Dean turned his attention back to Mika, but then to Sam and Anna.

“Let’s just make sure we aren’t gossiping too much, yeah?” He met Sam’s eyes, tilting his head to tell Sam that if anyone else was going to have conversations about deals or Mika’s resurrection, they needed to take them outside. He turned his eyes back to Mika and took a deep breath, “Now. We have some room, and I want to make sure you’re good. Do you feel anything? Remember anything?”

Anna

Anna scanned Sam’s face when he said that he didn’t make a deal. She didn’t honestly think he had, but seeing the honesty in his eyes as he spoke was a relief. They weren’t looking down the barrel of the ‘going to hell’ shotgun all over again. It seemed, at least for the moment, that everyone was safe. The group was back together, fully, and okay.

“I believe you.” Anna whispered, clearing her throat before following his eyes back to Mika and Dean. Dean’s scolding them caused Anna to take a deep breath, but she nodded. They shouldn’t be putting more thoughts in Mika’s head than were already there. If anything, they should all give her some space. Anna turned her eyes back up to Sam’s face and she pulled her arm from him, crossing her arms, “M-maybe we should go gather Mika some clothes or something? Something useful other than just sitting here staring at her like she’s a zoo animal…”

Without saying much else, Anna tapped her foot a few times and then nodded her head toward the stairs, “C’mon.”

She walked up the stairs with Sam behind her, reaching for the doorknob of the bedroom, once she was at the top. As soon as she opened the door, and stepped through the threshold, suddenly they were no longer in Bobby’s house. They were standing in a bustling office. Anna glanced down at her body, feeling as if something had changed, but as she ran her hands down her crisp white button up shirt, she turned to look up at Sam with a bright smile.

“Follow any closer, Ranger Smith and we’re gonna stick together like glue!” She giggled with a southern drawl she didn’t previously have. Sam was now dressed in modern western gear, a gun belt strapped around his waist and a large white cowboy hat sat on top of his head.

Cason

Cason turned with Nat and walked toward Bobby’s room. Maybe getting Mika into a warm bath would settle her down enough for the group to have a conversation about what had happened. It was all moving so fast that Cason worried Mika would be the one to bolt as soon as she could get her legs under her.

“Maybe a bath will give her time to…quietly process things. I can tell she’s more than overwhelmed. More overwhelmed than any of us…apart from Dean.” Cason grumbled, as he pulled his sleeve over his hand and opened the bedroom door. The second he stepped through, camera flashes nearly blinded him, and for a moment he was confused. But he quickly snapped into character, another, taller man barking orders next to him. The orders were jumbled at first, becoming more clear as Cason looked over at him.

“Cason! I said we need to hunker down for a bit. C’mon.” The man barked at him, dragging Nat with him as he opened a door in the cement corridor they were walking through. As soon as they were behind the door and it closed behind them, the southern guy shouted and took a deep and aggressive breath, “That was crazy, right?! I mean, we need to wait for security at the venue to clear them out or they would have eaten her alive…Jesus. It’s gettin’ harder to do this as a two person team.”

“You could say that again…” Cason grumbled with a frown, his mind buzzing with the feeling that something wasn’t right. But when he turned to Nat, he noticed her hair was a bit messed up from the chaos in the hall, and he quickly stepped over to her, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “You alright? They didn’t touch you, right?”

Duke

Duke could tell that Esme was practically basking in the quiet in her brain, and he felt proud of himself for being the one to put it there. He just let her bask in it for a bit, before she finally answered him. Part of her answer caused him to chuckle softly, as he shrugged. The other part of her answer caused him to frown and his stomach to dip. He didn’t want to think about the fact that this may be some temporary fix to just mess with the group. They could be bringing Mika back to life, only to kill her the second someone stepped the wrong way or didn’t follow orders. He refused to entertain the thought very long when he was just getting his mind back.

“How about…since it seems like Dean doesn’t want to give anyone any room to ask any questions, I steal Mika away here in a little bit and I ask her all those burning questions myself. And we go get some air? Just me and you? Might be nice and quiet.” Duke smirked at the end of his recommendation, turning to glance at Mika and Dean. He looked around the rest of the room, noticing that he, Esme and Bobby were the only ones left other than Dean and Mika. “Besides, it looks like everyone is trying to give them some space.”

Carefully, Duke pulled Esme’s arms from around his body, sliding his hands down to her hands, as he walked backward, guiding Esme’s footsteps. Sarah followed close behind her. He kept eye contact with her the entire time, until he pushed himself through the back door and suddenly a phone rang. Duke jolted, as if he had been electrocuted. Esme was gone, and he was sitting on the edge of a desk in what looked like an office.

“Jace, did you hear me?” Anna’s voice called out.

“Hmm?” Duke raised his eyebrows and glanced down at her, now seeing his best friend on the planet sitting in front of a computer, his cowboy hat next to her.

“I said do you want to get some lunch or do you want to wait until we head home?”

“Hell, I don’t know. Sam, what do you got goin’ on this evenin’? Wanna come over for some BBQ?” He teased, calling out to Sam while waggling his eyebrows at Anna. Anna’s eyes went wide and she slapped him in the chest for the offer. She had been crushing on Captain Smith for over a year. Inviting him over…was war.

“I will kill you. The house is a mess, Jason…” Anna hid behind her computer screen, trying to hide the red in her cheeks.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean and Cason

Cason pulled a hand away from Mika’s legs, reaching forward to open the back door into the kitchen, before stepping inside with her. He took a deep breath and then decided to respond to her comment touching on her own confusion.

“Trust me when I say, everyone here is confused. No one here made any deals. I watched them to make sure. There’s no…explanation.” He explained quietly as he walked her over to the living room. He sat Mika down on the cushion on the opposite side to Dean’s pillows, quickly covering her up with the blankets that were still there.

Dean wasn’t far behind Cason, not stopping to check on anyone else. He shoved his way past Duke to enter the kitchen, and almost jogged into the living room. He wedged himself between Cason and Mika, quickly reaching out to touch her face in the less harsh light of the living room.

Duke stood back for a few moments, until Nat approached, and he nodded. He wrapped Nat’s arm with his own as Bobby passed them, staggering up the steps behind the others.

“How are you feeling? Are you thirsty? Go get her some water…” He ordered Cason over his shoulder, causing Cason to frown in confusion. Dean was bossing him around? Cason rolled his eyes, after glancing down at Mika, and stood up to go fetch water from the kitchen.

“How about we give her some space to just…process things?” Duke chimed in, crossing his arms to prevent himself from smothering Mika more. He shivered slightly, now warming up from the chill outside. But stayed close to Natalia. At least that way, while Cason was busy, she wasn’t left on her own.

“She’s fine.” Dean responded simply, brushing his fingers over every place that he could remember there being a cut or a bruise. Duke growled in frustration, rolling his eyes and began to step forward when Cason brought back the bottle of water he went to the kitchen for. Cason reached between Dean and Mika, causing Dean to lean back a bit. Dean then reached under the blanket to pick up Mika’s free hand. “Are you warm enough? I can um…I can warm you up if you want.”

Duke

Duke rolled his eyes again as Dean navigated how to take care of Mika, as if she wasn’t still the same person. Dean almost seemed afraid of her, or afraid he would break her. His annoyance tempted him to step forward and pull Dean away, just to give Mika some space to process even being alive. It wasn’t going to help her process anything for Dean to act as if she was glass. If she wanted connection, she needed to be held…tightly.

“Oh shit…” Duke whispered, realizing he had just left Esme outside in all the chaos. Knowing how she internalized everyone’s emotions, she was probably drained and barely standing, if she was standing at all. As Duke turned around to head outside, prepared to apologize profusely for leaving her alone, she stepped into the room and perched against a wall.

“Hey! I was afraid you were still out there freezin’ to death.” Duke reached out, pulling Esme’s arms away from her body to hold both her hands. He could see, by the look in Esme’s eyes and by Sarah’s weight against his own legs between them, that she was spent. She was absolutely wiped out and as he watched her face, he could also tell that she was thinking about something heavy, “You alright? I know this is…it’s shocking. I mean, I’m not even sure any of this is real. But you don’t look so hot.”

He brought his good hand up, brushing it through the side of Esme’s hair, before cradling her cheek, his thumb brushing a soft line over her cheek, “It ain’t like I’m needed over there right now. I’ll have to kidnap her to get a word in…”

Anna

As soon as Sam had returned to Anna from lighting the fire, she quickly buried her face in his side, holding onto him as if her life depended on it. As she sobbed into his side, she could feel him tense, as if something was going wrong and she hoped with every fiber of her being that something wasn’t coming to destroy this moment. It could be the angels or the demons, but she couldn’t will herself away from Sam, until she heard Duke.

Reluctantly, Anna pulled her face away from Sam’s jacket, back toward the fire, where her eyes widened teary and afraid at the sight. She looked around at the others. Even Duke seemed terrified by what he was seeing, and Dean couldn’t move. But then Duke ran to Mika, and it was clear to Anna that Mika was alive. She didn’t offer to hurt Duke. In fact, she seemed more than relieved to be in Duke’s arms.

Looking up at Sam’s face, Anna took a deep breath, trying to calm down the hurricane of emotions she was still feeling in her chest. She was still heartbroken and confused but at the same time she was feeling an overwhelming relief that was washing through her brain like a tidal wave.

“I don’t understand…” She whispered, holding onto Sam’s arm as he began following the others. She unstuck her feet from the gravel, and followed him, shuddering at the uneasy feeling she had about the whole situation. But as soon as they entered, and Duke and Dean began bickering, Anna’s shoulders relaxed a bit. She stayed with Sam, watching Duke suddenly realize that Esme had stayed outside. Anna tore her eyes away from Mika and Dean, watching as Duke walked over to Esme, his entire demeanor now calm, relieved and maybe a little tired.

Cason’s heartbeat in Anna’s brain caused her to clench her teeth, her jaw popping a bit, but she pushed it aside and turned her eyes back to Mika and Dean, “Who was it?”, she asked innocently, looking up at Sam. Her gaze was almost accusatory, but she didn’t believe that Sam would have had even a moment to make some sort of deal, “Surely someone made a deal, right? Duke maybe?”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Duke

Duke closed his eyes for a moment as Dean came out of the basement and stated that he couldn’t bring Mika out on his own. Duke couldn’t move either. As Esme squeezed his arm, he took a deep breath, bringing his other hand up to grip her wrist, signaling that he at least knew she was there. He stared straight ahead, not turning to look at Sam as he returned with Mika’s body. His mind told him that if he refused to look at her, this wasn’t real. But then Sam placed her on the pyre, and Duke couldn’t wrench his eyes away. His gaze was glued to her face as Sam pulled his matches.

As soon as the flames caught the bottom of the pyre, Duke couldn’t stare at it any longer. HIs mind finally allowed him to wrench his eyes away and he looked down, gasping for air for a moment as the tears finally flowed, rolling off the tip of his nose. For a moment, it felt as if his legs would collapse beneath him. But he held himself up, holding Esme closer to him as Sarah stepped over and leaned against both their legs.

As the flames crackled, Duke sniffled, his senses numbing out until he heard, through the ringing in his ears, Sam’s voice. The two words perked Duke’s head up. What was happening, in the worst moment of his life since his parents’ death? What could possibly go wrong? As he was asking himself a million questions, he felt Esme tense and then heard her ask the same question he thought he had heard from Sam, only quieter.

Duke lifted his head, and glanced up at the flames, a deep frown falling into his expression, along with confusion. The bird was confusing enough, as he believed the grief was making Sam see things, and it was projecting into Duke’s brain. But it was obvious, by Esme’s body language that she was feeling off about the situation too. She could see it too. Then came the figure, causing Duke to gasp. HIs boots ground into the gravel, the urge to run into the fire and retrieve what he could feel in his bones was Mika…overwhelming.

As she stepped down, and across the gravel. Duke lost control of his breathing, with wide and teary eyes. She smiled at him, and his right foot stepped forward, his whole body aching to run to her until Esme stopped him. He wrapped his arm around Esme and watched Mika approach Dean, who seemed frozen, just staring at her with wide and confused eyes. As Mika spoke, Duke couldn’t even really hear what she was saying. He simply watched, not sure it was her at first. Maybe it was some sort of cosmic joke to add to the pile and to weaken the group even more.

As Dean took a couple of steps back, and Mika fell to her knees, Duke’s boots ground in the gravel once again, the temptation to run almost overpowering any sense of self preservation he ever had. Esme turned her eyes up to him, and he could read her expression before she ever spoke. He scanned her eyes, as his own went wide, realizing that Esme could feel it. This was Mika.

“Oh my god…” He breathed, taking off in a full jog without hesitation. He slid to his knees on the gravel in front of Mika, wrapping his arms around her so tightly that it hurt his entire body. “I’m right here. I got you. You’re okay. Just hold onto me…”

As he spoke the words to her, it almost felt out of body, as he heard her own words from a hunt that had almost left Duke dead in her arms. He was confused, but honestly didn’t care that she had just been dead and was now in his arms. He could feel it, from looking into her eyes before he hugged her to the way her skin felt against his, she was alive…

Duke brushed his fingers through her hair, checking to make sure that she was all there and all in one piece, and uniquely…her. She was fine. She was breathing, he could hear it. He could feel her heartbeat in her temple, which was pressed against his. Duke pulled back from the hug, only to smooth Mika’s hair back from her face, and search for eye contact. Once he found that eye contact, he sniffled, his tearful eyes now a bit brighter as he smiled, “You came back to me.”

He then wrapped his arms around her again, as Dean’s footsteps approached and Duke felt Dean fall to his knees beside him. Dean’s body weight leaned a bit on Duke, and Duke sat back, letting go of Mika to allow Dean to quickly smother her with a hug. Duke was a little taken aback by the length of Dean’s pause before coming to Mika, but he didn’t say anything. Mika didn’t need to hear that…

Dean and Cason

Dean didn’t move from his spot at the entrance of the basement, when Sam said he would go and get Mika’s body. He knew that when Sam said that he would go and get her, he didn’t mean with help. Dean would have to remember that favor later, and make it up to Sam. In that moment, however, his mind was nearly blank, his eyes wide and unmoving as he stared into the gravel in front of him.

When Sam returned with Mika’s body, Dean slowly turned his eyes up to follow Sam as he carried her to the pyre. With a deep breath, Dean walked, willing his heavy feet toward the rest of the group. He stopped, his eyes filling with tears as Sam placed Mika on the pyre and before Dean could even process seeing her there, Sam lit the fire.

“Wait…” He croaked, his voice only a whisper as he held his hand out toward the fire. It was as if he thought he could stop what was happening, and none of this would be final. But before he could step forward, he was forced to take several steps back, his eyes wide and tearful and confused. The giant bird coming out of the flames was like a hallucination, and before Dean could even comprehend what he was seeing, a figure began walking out of the flame, and then? That figure turned into…

“Mika…”, He whispered, staring at her with wide eyes as she approached him, her eyes not her own, and even the voice she spoke with…not hers. As he stared at her with wide eyes, trying to understand what was being said to him, he opened his mouth and shook his head, “What does that mean? Hey! What does that…”

As she walked backward, Dean stepped forward, reaching out to attempt to get more information, but then Mika dropped to her knees. Her demeanor was less confident, and when she looked around at the group, she seemed terrified, and…human. His name falling off her lips sent his heart racing, but Duke was the first to approach, grabbing Mika as if he knew for a fact she was human. Yeah…that was Duke.

Dean stepped forward, his legs barely carrying him as he approached her, falling to his knees. He leaned against Duke, wrapping an arm around his back for a moment, before pulling Mika into his chest as Duke moved back.

“I-I don’t understand. What…” He muttered, his wide and teary eyes turning up to look around at the others. “Who was it? What…”

“Let’s just b-be happy, alright?” Duke stopped him, and Dean turned his eyes to Duke, only to see him pulling his flannel from his bare shoulders without a second thought. Duke brought his flannel over and draped it over like a blanket, “And maybe we should get her inside, before she freezes to death. Yeah? Guys?”

Cason had waited, trying to hold his tongue as the boys got their little reunion with Mika. But as Bobby passed him, he shook his head, “Uh uh. I got it old man. You’re way too drunk to be carrying the precious cargo. I got it.”

As Bobby conceded, grumbling but still shocked that Mika was right there in front of him, Cason pressed forward. He wanted to stay with Nat, but he also knew that he was probably the best person to grab Mika, now that she was out of the panic room.

“Hate to rush the reunion, but move.” Cason ordered Dean, who glared at him for a moment. Dean leaned back, still cradling Mika’s face in his hand. He brushed his fingers through her hair, tempted to say ‘no’ to Cason’s order. But then Cason spoke up again, “Unless you want her to freeze to death, and for us to actually be able to use this pretty pyre…again, you move.”

“Dean…” Duke spoke up, his body beginning to shiver in the cold.

“Fine. Take her.”

Cason scooped Mika up in his arms without another word, moving his head to the side to allow hers to rest against his neck. He pressed his cheek against her forehead and stood straight, “C’mon stubborn girl. Lets get you inside…in the heat. It’s damn good to hear your heartbeat right now.”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Cason

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.”

Anna

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.

Duke

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.

A bit later

Dean, Duke, Cason, and Anna

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?”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean and Cason

Dean was reluctant to just let Lexi and Nat walk toward the war room without him holding onto both of them, now that they were getting along. He was almost afraid they would gang up against him, and he would begin to be left out, something he didn’t handle well. Shaking aside his childish thoughts, he followed behind everyone as they filed into the war room with the food.

Cason leaned into Nat’s kiss to his cheek, staying close to her back as they both walked to the war room, knowing that Dean was probably shooting daggers with his eyes behind him. He sat the food down on the table and walked around to his seat, choosing to not kick his feet up on the table, but rather to drape them over the arm of the chair that Anna sat down in. Without skipping a beat, Anna draped her arm over Cason’s legs, grabbing a plate and some cutlery.

Cason grabbed a few pieces of bacon, toast and then stole Anna’s fork to throw some eggs on her plate, before grabbing a plate and doing the same for Nat. He sat Nat’s plate in the spot to his left and then leaned back in his chair, tempted to start day drinking for the conversation coming…even though he couldn’t get drunk.

Dean wasted no time, grabbing himself a piled up plate while everyone else grabbed theirs. When he took his seat, the glanced over at Anna, who seemed perfectly fine with Cason just draping himself over her lap, and he narrowed his eyes. He was genuinely curious how much he had missed while Anna wasn’t around. Obviously, the situation between her and Cason and Nat had changed. They all seemed like a unit, almost.

As soon as Lexi sat down, Dean reached over to her rolling chair and pulled her closer, reaching up and pulling her plate toward him as well.

“So, Anna…How hard do you think it would be to convince Duke to come visit?” He randomly asked, and Anna raised her eyebrows mid chew, confused by the sudden question.

“I think you would have a better chance of convincing him to cut his hair again, than getting him to come to this bunker.” Anna bluntly admitted. Duke hadn’t stepped foot in Kansas since Mika died. He had buried himself in working on the farm and didn’t really hunt anymore. He definitely didn’t want to be around reminders of Mika…

“I might have to stop in if we’re ever out that way…”

Anya

Anya was relieved that Sam was at least listening to her, whether he would actually act on the advice or not. At least for a moment, he seemed to be okay, and he seemed to be letting some of the guilt go. She followed the others into the war room, taking a seat that had been rolled into the stacks and rolling it back to the table with her legs, like a Bedrock car.

As she got there, she reached forward, watching Sam load his plate up with a chuckle before she began loading up a plate and then sat it down and pulled her phone. She typed a message and turned it to where Sam could hear it in the larger room.

“Just don’t choke. We’ve got nothing but time.” She pressed play with a laugh, and turned to smile at Lexi. She then typed one more message, “But should we get the hard conversations out of the way today?”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Cason

Cason moved to lay a bit flatter on his back as Nat draped her arm over him and her head pressed to his shoulder. Bringing his arm around to brush his fingers through her hair, he listened to her worries. He had already known she wouldn’t be prepared for the pain of the day and the only thing he could really do…was support her as best he could.

As she continued, Cason’s head seared with that same battery acid feeling he had explained to Esme the night before, “I know today is going to be rough. But I’ll be there, the whole day. If it gets too much, I’ll be there and we can go for a walk…”

He knew it wouldn’t be much comfort, or at least he didn’t think it was very comforting. But at the same time, what Nat seemed to need was someone to tell her that everything was going to be okay, even when it felt like the worst day of all of their lives. What little he knew of Mika, he knew she would want at least that…for them to be okay.

At the question of whether the fear of a final goodbye was stupid, Cason frowned deeply and tilted his head down to look at her face properly, “No. That’s not stupid at all. You guys were close, closer than either of you would like to admit. One of the things I’ve learned about humans, and vaguely remember from being a human…is that relationships tend to be deep. Losing someone you care about feels like drowning, I have to assume. The emotion that Duke was showing last night when I had to break his arm to talk him out of suicide…”

Cason paused and took a deep breath, wincing a bit at the pain in his forehead, “I wouldn’t have been able to imagine that level of pain and hopelessness if I tried. So, no. The fear of saying goodbye seems mild. Just…don’t run off. I’ll go with you.”

Anna

Anna nodded her head in understanding as Sam explained that he was still feeling heavy, even though he got some rest. Of course that was the case. Anna hadn’t known Mika nearly as long as the rest of the group, aside from Cason and Esme, and even her chest hurt even thinking about the events coming. When Sam reached down and toyed with her hand, she glanced down at his hand, but let him just express his fears for the day.

“Well, you need to handle your own emotions today, too, Sam. Both our hearts are hammering. I can see my pulse. Between that and the…situation, you have to remember yourself, alright?” Anna did her best to not lecture Sam, especially about the demon blood, but she had to be honest about her own worries…for him.

Anna turned her eyes toward the back window of the car as she heard Duke yelling for Esme. She narrowed her eyes in confusion, until Sam asked if they should go help. After thinking about it for a second, Anna shook her head, as Duke stopped yelling and she heard Esme calling out for Duke off in the distance.

“I think Esme found him, actually.” She said softly, turning back to throw her legs over Sam’s. She picked his hand up and took a deep breath.

“What do you need? I want to help you get through today.”

Duke

Duke was beginning to tear up, his soreness telling him that even if he wanted to, he likely wouldn’t be able to run off and find Esme. He definitely couldn’t fight through anything for her in the moment. He was helpless and if she had gone somewhere or was taken…his hands were tied.

Then he heard it, Esme’s voice. It wasn’t loud, but as he turned toward the sound, a wave of relief washed over him that caused both his shoulders to visibly fall. He relaxed his hands, and sighed, sniffling before he began limping toward Esme. Just the sound of his nickname leaving her lips was enough to send his heart racing somewhere into the field where he couldn’t catch it if he tried.

“God, don’t ever do that again…” Duke sighed as he finally made it to where Esme was sitting, stumbling in the grass before hitting his knees in front of her. He didn’t give much of a warning, crawling to where he could cage her in, and lay her back. After he looked over her face for a moment to make sure she was all in one piece and fine, his heart picked up again and he leaned down, kissing her deeply.

As heartbroken as he would likely be later that morning, for a moment, he had a win. Breaking the kiss briefly, he pulled his head back, still not aware that he was bleeding from his neck and one of the places on his cheek, “Why were you sleepin’ outside?”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Name: Beau Dickenson

Nicknames: Cowboy, Big Dog

Species: Human/Hunter

Age: 30

Appearance: 6'6", Large and Muscular


Relationship to characters(optional): He knows of the Winchesters but has never met them.

Bio:
Beau was thrust into the hunting life, just like most other hunters. He grew up on a farm in southern Texas. He was a simple kid that liked to ride horses, play outside, and just…be a kid. Things were normal, all the way into his adulthood, when he took over the farm and his parents decided to downsize. They moved into town, and Beau was left to care for the land, with his girlfriend, Clara.

One night, Clara came up missing. Beau searched the entire property and horrifically, he found her, mauled by an animal in the middle of a meadow. As he mourned her, he was also attacked, and for some reason, left barely alive. He couldn’t explain what had attacked him, or why he was left alive. He couldn’t explain how the hunters that found him knew he would be there, or that he would be attacked.

All he knew was that there was more out there than he had ever known, and that those forces had taken everything from him. Years later, he learned that it had to be demons. The demons had killed his parents, killed his fiancé, and had left him alive…but why?

He obsessed over things for a while, before an older hunter sat him down and made him realize that he was accomplishing nothing by obsessing over demons. He could do something good with his interests and the skills he had picked up. He could help others…

So, Beau became a hunter.



Weapons: A sawed off shotgun with salt rounds, iron bars, a Colt .45 semi auto pistol.

Vehicle: A black 1994 Chevy Silverado

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya

Anya watched Sam’s face closely as he contemplated how he as feeling. She could tell something might be on his mind, but she had to chalk it up to worry for her, or at least guilt. Then, he mentioned that tension and the reason for it, and Anya sighed, waving her hand as if to tell him not to worry about her voice. But she knew he would dwell on it. Even Cason seemed to be dwelling on it and he was a demon.

She pulled her phone down to her chest, and typed a message, turning back to him to look up at his eyes. After she knew that she had eye contact, she raised her eyebrows, giving a stern ‘listen to me’ look, before pressing play on the phone.

“I hate it too. But can we still talk? Yes. Are we all alive? Yes. We will find another way, if there’s another way. But this isn’t your fault.”

After the message finished playing, Anya leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to Sam’s lips, pulling back to give him one more stern look, just to punctuate the fact that she wouldn’t tolerate him self blaming any more than he already had…or any more than the nurses had at the hospital.

Dean

Dean frowned in confusion as Nat took Cason’s side and repeated his words, as if Dean was expecting anything less. And then when Lexi laughed at Nat’s retort, Dean nearly clutched his metaphorical pearls, turning to give Lexi a look. “I didn’t say she was a teenager. I…”

But then Nat agreed with Lexi and Dean instantly felt overpowered and outnumbered, an uncomfortable situation that Dean usually avoided like the plague with women. He threw his hands up a bit and then held them out in front of him, as Nat continued to tell him off.

“No. No no no. I don’t want to know what you and…your demon boyfriend do in the dark. I would rather gouge my eyes out with screwdrivers. And since when do you take up for her?!” Dean asked, turning to Lexi with an exasperated look. “I was just…I’m just…You know what? Nevermind. Nevermind. Now that you guys are getting along, I should just keep my mouth shut.”

Cason stepped away from the stove, with Anna behind him, bringing a bunch of bacon and eggs to the table. Anna sat her plates down on the table in front of Sam and Anya, before walking back to the counter to grab the last two pieces of toast from the toaster.

“Alright kids. Let’s get to a bigger table and see what today’s gonna hold, shall we?” Cason called out to everyone, gesturing for someone else to grab the plates.

“Since when are you the boss?” Dean asked with a scoff, dodging Anna’s slap to his hand as he attempted to steal a piece of toast. Cason shrugged his shoulders.

“Since I’m the only demon you know, and…you need my expertise.”

Dean was quiet for a moment, trying to decide how to respond, until Anya’s phone suddenly broke the silence and Anna had to turn her head to her shoulder to stifle her laughter as she walked out of the kitchen, toward the war room. Anya stood from the table, holding her phone in the air as it played her message and she followed Anna.

“I would rather the demon be the boss right now. He has the food and the information.”