JustAnna

All Roads Lead To You

Duke

Duke shrugged off Esme’s apology about forcing him into the RV. At least in the RV he had more space to himself, and he didn’t have to deal with Dean’s mood swings. It was his little slice of heaven that a lot of nights, he chose to sleep in, whether they had company or not.

He was happy to see her laugh, though. Her laugh lit up the entire room, and was music to his ears after the time she had had the night before. He didn’t know her very well, but he knew that she had to be a good person. Bobby kept her around and she was close to Dean, who rarely held onto anyone. In fact, Dean rarely stayed in one place long enough to hold onto anyone. So, Duke wanted to get to know this girl better…or perhaps for worse.

He laughed with her, raising his eyebrows as she told him that she might bring him things he couldn’t handle. There wasn’t much he couldn’t handle. He had been around this business since he was barely old enough to read, and a shotgun felt like a lead brick in his hands. Duke didn’t extend more of an invitation, only shrugging his shoulders in a suave and ‘brush it off’ sort of way until she thanked him.

“You’re welcome.” He beamed, his smile only falling a bit as she mentioned that he could talk to her as well. His mind went to the deep scars on his back, and the fact that he was walking around without a shirt…around a stranger. Hard conversations tended to try and fire up around the scars on his back. Those conversations would not be had any time soon…at least he thought.

“I’ll keep that in mind. You do seem like you’d be a good shrink. I might have to be careful my dark and edgy side doesn’t come out, if we ever have a session.” Duke teased, before turning and tossing all the guns into the duffel that laid open on the cushion of his kitchen table. He nodded at her suggestion to get moving and tossed the handles of the duffel onto his shoulder. “Sure! Just try not to make too much eye contact when you go in the house. Dean might never let you leave.”

Without another word, Duke passed her, turning his back to her as he jogged down the steps of the RV, out into the covered carport. He walked up to the back door, and swung it open with excitement, stepping into the kitchen. Dean was on his second or third helping of breakfast when Duke stepped in, causing Dean to raise his eyes from the newspaper he had laid out next to his plate.

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Dean asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m goin’ shootin’ with your girlfriend. It’s restful. It’s at home and she wants to hang out with me. So, read your paper and relax.” Duke beamed at him, passing him to walk to the fridge, retrieving two beers before kicking the door closed. “You wanted a day off.”

“And you’re going to run around, around someone you don’t know…half naked? I know you’re excited to prove yourself to her, but…are you okay?” Dean asked, with narrow eyes. Duke simply shrugged his shoulders and stood at the head of the table, before pointing the beers at Dean.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“And Esme, you good?” Dean called over to Esme, still with narrowed eyes. “I told him to give you space.”

Duke rolled his eyes with a sigh, and turned on his heel, walking through the living room and out the front door, a clear sign that he would simply meet Esme at the shooting range, rather than listen to Dean order people around.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Anna

Anna didn’t like the tension she felt in her chest, thinking about why a murder victim would just stand up and walk out of a hospital. Sam brought up exactly what she was thinking. There was a small chance it was their kind of weird, which meant demons, or ghost possession, or zombies. None of those options were things she wanted to deal with after barely making it out of a hunt alive, just a few short hours beforehand.

She simply nodded her head in agreement to his plan. She wanted to leave this place, at least until they met back up with the others. Hopefully Duke was still safe and sound, locked into whatever room that they had put him in after they patched him up. It would be easier to come back and bust him out, than to try and run in and save him, while he was unconscious.

“I think that’s a good idea.” Anna replied to Sam as he turned he engine over and pulled them out of the parking lot. As soon as they made it a couple of blocks down, Anna did a once over of their surroundings and then relaxed in her seat, rubbing her hands on her legs nervously. She glanced over and watched Sam text Mika, the first step in hopefully getting back together and getting the Hell out of this town…as far away from Missouri as possible.

“Hopefully they hurry. The faster I’m locked in a room with a gallon of salt in front of the doors, the better. I definitely need to…to process some things.” She muttered nervously, silently pointing out that she was about to be on her way back down from the demon blood high.

Dean

Dean let his shoulders fall as Cason finally agreed to get into the car and he watched Nat and Cason both climb in. Dean took a deep breath, placing his hands on his hips as he leaned forward a bit, giving his brain time to adjust to both being alive and relatively uninjured. But then Mika pulled her phone out and Dean raised an eyebrow at the message she relayed.

“Well that doesn’t sound like anything good. Could be nothing. Could be something.” He frowned, rolling through all the possibilities in his mind. Part of him thought of the possibility that the ‘murder victim’ could be Duke, but he chalked it quickly up to false hope and the refusal to believe that Duke was actually gone. The sudden memory of Esme breaking the news to Dean flew through his mind like lightning, and he brought a hand up to wipe his face. “I don’t know how else to tell you this…so I’m just gonna say it. Um…”

He broke his words off, and dropped his hand back to his hip with a shuddered sigh, tears welling up in his eyes again, “Duke um…Duke didn’t make it. Esme told me he um…he…well he didn’t make it.”

Dean let the news linger in the air, almost feeling like he was hearing it for the first time as well. Duke’s smiling face haunted the back of his mind, and the anguish of losing someone so good, a bright spot in his life threatened to wash over him like a wave. But like he had many times before, while in crisis, Dean shook himself out of it. He buried those emotions and cleared his throat.

“But we have to go. Mika, we gotta go. C’mon.” He croaked out, reaching out and grabbing her hand. He pulled her toward the passenger side of the car, opening the door for her as he sniffled, and helped her in before closing the door and glancing up at the sky for a moment. He then stepped around to the drivers side, and quickly got in, turning the engine over without hesitation. If he didn’t keep working, he would fall apart and if he fell apart, there would be no one to hold everyone else’s pieces together.

Cason

Cason draped an arm over Nat’s leg as she settled into the car, and Esme got into the car beside him. He took a deep breath, but then she admitted that she didn’t have the power to hurt him, even if she wanted to. He would have sighed in relief, if he believed for a second that her skin couldn’t hurt him, even with her calm and burned out.

He pulled Nat’s knee a little closer to his own, even though they were already scrunched against each other and he sighed, still keeping himself as far away from any open skin on Esme’s body.

Nat mentioning Mika’s text from Sam perked up his ears and he tilted his head to the side, “Normal human murder stuff or demon stuff?” He asked honestly, trying to figure out if maybe Sam was mistaken, or if it was supposed to sound as strange as it was. Either way, they couldn’t just go back to the hospital and he was tempted to poof himself and Nat out of the car, to some random hotel and then call ahead to Dean. Any reason to piss Dean off just a little more and clear the tension.

As Dean stepped into the car and pulled away from the field, onto the road back to town, Cason leaned forward, close to Dean’s ear and smirked, “You know, I could go ahead and get us a hotel room. I’ll take Nat with me.”

“I’ve already told you no. We’re not going to a hotel in St. Joseph. We’re pulling through.” Dean grumbled simply but Cason scoffed.

“With the shape everyone’s in? Just seems like you’d use the tools you have to get everyone safe.”

“You’re not a tool in my tool kit, asshat. You’re only alive because…” Dean cut himself off, and stopped, staring with a scowl out the windshield as he drove.

“Go on…” Cason teased him, and Dean slapped his hand on the steering wheel, tempted to turn around and deck Cason right then and there, but he rolled his eyes.

“You’re here because Nat’s here. Nat wants you around. Otherwise, I’d blast your ass back to Hell in a heartbeat.”

“Right. That’s the reason I’m still alive.” Cason teased some more, not able to help himself. Dean fell silent, gritting his teeth as he continued driving down that familiar road, trying his hardest not to incriminate himself before he was able to talk to Nat. Cason was pushing him on purpose, and would probably never let him live it down.

After what felt like forever, the town was in the distance, and the Impala headlights caught a figure in their beams. Dean squinted, trying to make sure he didn’t hit the poor guy, as the blonde man seemed disoriented and was walking as if he wasn’t sure where he was. He was wearing an open flannel and a pair of jeans, and Dean couldn’t tell if he was even wearing shoes.

“It’s a little early in the week for drunks to be walking down side roads in the middle of the night, ain’t it? Poor bastard. If we had room, I’d pick him up.” Dean grumbled, right as they passed the guy.

“Wait. That’s…” Cason started, but closed his mouth as they passed, frowning at the back of Dean’s head to see if he would recognize the guy.

Duke

Duke looked down at his hands, absentmindedly rubbing them together every now and then, and then placing one over his stomach as he carefully navigated the highway, just wanting to find a trucker or someone that could pick him up. He wasn’t sure why he was alone, but he was. He had to assume something had happened to the group, if they had left his body at the hospital. But had they? Was he even alive? The nurse seemed to think so. Had he actually died? Again…the nurse seemed to think so.

A familiar rumbling engine approached from his back, and Duke didn’t dare turn to face it. He couldn’t afford the false hope that somehow the group had found him, or at best…Dean himself. He tilted his head down and kept walking, the cold air biting his bare skin with every step.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Anna

Anna watched each person that ran by, checking them for injuries or any sign of demonic activity. Her hands were shaking as she placed one on Sam’s knee, trying to calm her heart before she had a panic attack over the idea of demons being around. She believed him, though. He would know better than she would, if there were demons trying to go undercover to kill them, or something.

“Okay. We’re okay…” She sighed, her breath shaky as she closed her eyes, hoping that her racing heart wasn’t transferring to Sam in any way, while she was touching him. A hand banging on the window nearly caused her to scream, as she spun around to see a security guard standing there, asking her to roll down the window. Anna scooted away from Sam, reluctantly, and with a shaky hand, she cranked the window down, just enough to hear what the man was saying.

“Ma’am, we’re putting the hospital on lockdown. Once those doors are locked, you won’t be able to get inside. So, if you’re planning to come in, you need to do it now.” The security guard ordered, as if reading from a script.

“What’s going on?” Anna asked in a small voice, her eyes wide as she looked around behind the guard. He stepped away from the truck, realizing she wasn’t going to come with him and pointed to the doors.

“A murder victim got up and just walked out of here. The suspect? Also gone. I don’t know what you’ve got going on. You look pretty busted up, but I suggest you get somewhere safe.” He finished, and turned to guide other people from the emergency bay into the hospital. Anna turned back to Sam, not bothering to roll the window up and snarled her nose in confusion.

“A murder victim? That doesn’t seem right…”

Dean

Dean shied away from Mika’s fussing, making her chase his face as she looked him over, and finally he pulled both her hands down, holding them to his chest as she commented on Castiel’s statement. He shook his head. There was no way that whatever the angels were wanting was anything good, especially if they needed him to be physically ready for the call. In his limited experience with the winged dicks, that usually meant they were sending him into an impossible situation, in false hope that he would come out alive. If he didn’t? They would just resurrect him and move on with their day. That much was apparent, now.

He pushed Mika back by her chest, gently, so that he could move to stand up. His legs felt like lead and his neck was so sore he could barely move it, but he was able to stand with a groan of pain.

“He wasn’t wrong about the soreness. Damn…” Dean grumbled, moving his joints around to make sure they were all still functional. His ears were still ringing, which he chalked up to surviving what was basically a nuclear blast. Dean looked over at Esme, cracking his neck loudly before turning his attention back to Mika. “I need to talk to her. I know…how you feel about all of it, and if you want, when all this is over, I’ll explain everything. I should have explained it sooner, but it’s complicated and messy.”

He reached down and picked up Mika’s hand, bringing her knuckles up to his lips with a soft kiss and a knowing look that he used often to tell her he was being 100% honest with her. He then pulled her close to him, and began walking over to the group.

Cason

Cason breathed a sigh of relief as Nat’s wounds seemed a lot less dire than before. She even sounded a bit better, other than being super cold in the fall air around them. Although a part of him wanted to question whether she was okay, all over again, like a record on repeat, he looked into her eyes and saw nothing but honesty. She was telling him the truth, and he didn’t have to worry about her for the next several weeks, due to the fragile human nature of her body.

The string of thoughts almost made him smile, thinking about the difference between them, and how fragile humans were. But he was drawn out of his thoughts by her hand wrapping around his and the kiss that came soon after. He furrowed his brow, closing his eyes as that pesky human emotion he couldn’t place burned the back of his brain like acid and he inhaled a deep breath through his nose, returning the kiss. As she broke away and thanked him, he shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t like angels. I definitely don’t like angels touching…those I feel compelled to keep alive.” He muttered awkwardly, not quite sure what to call Natalia in that moment. Suddenly, he whipped around as Esme spoke to him, his body language tense after the exchange they had shared in the asylum, before she went nuclear. He frowned at her, wondering why she was asking him about her life, as if he knew everything about her, just by being a demon. “I’m…I’m not sure, honestly. There was a deal? I can um… I can ask around some of my circles and see if anyone knows of anyone who has the kind of juice to turn a human child into a virtual nuclear bomb. But I’ve never heard of anything like this, myself. I will tell you, though, it’s above my pay grade.”

Cason stood for a moment, just trying to read Esme’s emotions as she seemed upset, and the last time she was upset, the boom happened. He held a hand out to her, speaking a little softer, “I promise you, I’ll find out whatever I can, but you need to calm down.”

As he got the words out, Dean scooted in, turning Esme carefully so that he didn’t hurt her any more than necessary. He then wrapped his arms around her gently, bringing one hand up to the back of her head as he hugged her. He didn’t know what to make of the ‘not human’ thing. He wasn’t even sure if he was afraid of her or not, but he did know that she was okay and he hadn’t lost her, “I’m glad you’re okay. Holy shit your head.”

He pulled his hand back and groaned as he noticed his hand was covered in aging blood, at least telling him that the wound was trying to stop bleeding. But moving his head around her shoulder, he took a look at the wound, “Did that happen on the way down? We need to get you somewhere and get you looked at…as soon as possible.”

“Alright. I’ll take Nat.” Cason said simply, turning back to Nat and wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

“Whoa! Hold on. You’re not going anywhere with her until we talk. Get in the car.” Dean snapped at him, and Cason turned to look at him like he was insane. He wasn’t riding in a car. There was no way he was willingly riding in a car. But he also knew he wasn’t leaving Natalia in the hands of a bunch of sore, tired hunters, after the night they had just had. “Either get in the car, or we’ll meet you at the hospital.”

“Dammit…” Cason groaned, closing his eyes and putting a hand on his hip, as if it would make Dean feel any different. Dean simply raised his eyebrows and held out a hand, driving home his point with one look. “Fine. I’ll…ride in the damn car.”

With a huff, Cason opened the back drivers door and ushered Natalia in. It was then that he realized Esme would be sitting in the back with them, and he had just set himself up to ride in the center…between Nat and Esme.

“As if it couldn’t get worse.” He grumbled, sliding in next to Nat, squeezing as close to her as possible.

All Roads Lead To You

Duke

Duke thought about the name. There were at least a dozen hunters he could think of with that name, and none of them seemed to be the type that would pull a stunt nasty enough to get someone hurt on purpose, unless they planned to kill the person themselves. He sighed, wringing his hands a bit before wiping them on his pants and sitting up straight, glancing up at the sky, “Well, I’ll remember that name. Whether or not they think you’re dead, you’re not. It’s in their best interest not to come around.”

He smirked, and turned back to Esme, his smile widening as she thanked him and took that final drink of her coffee. He didn’t answer her thanks, shrugging a shoulder as he contemplated whether he should leave her alone with her thoughts, or press her for more, to let her get it all off her chest. Maybe she would feel better and resting up would be more comfortable without all that anger.

But her next words took him off guard. He tilted his head back and flashed another brilliant smile at her, “You want to go shootin’ with me? You know what? I won’t ask. I’m gonna go get my pistol and we can head out to the range, right out there.”

He stood quickly as he pointed toward the small garden of mannequins, pots, pans and other random things that Bobby had set up for the kids to shoot at. He got all the way down the steps, before turning around rubbing absentmindedly at his bare chest as he turned to Esme and tilted his head.

“You wanna come with me? I gotta go grab my stuff from the RV. Ain’t no sense in just sittin’ around here waitin’ on me to get back.” He chuckled and reached his hand out, offering it to Esme.

A few moments later

Duke grumbled as he walked across the gravel, making a mental note to grab his boots once he was inside the trailer. He turned to Esme and smirked, before pulling the door to the trailer open and climbing the steps, before turning to her and offering his hand to help her up the steps. Even though he was thin, he was stout and there was no way he was letting her walk up on her own, as banged up as she was. “Watch that top step. Welcome to my home, when I get kicked out of my home!”

He chuckled and stepped over to the small table that he had all of his guns torn apart on, hoping to go shooting later on. He began to rummage through them, putting the pieces back together as he let her explore the trailer. Around the table, there were books from every religion out there, along with a small radio that was playing country music at a low volume, something he only listened to when he was alone.

He kicked his cowboy boots from under the table and sat on the cushion, pulling them onto his feet, before standing again, and putting the last couple of guns together, glancing up at Esme.

“You’re welcome in here any time you need to talk, you know. I know how Dean can be. He’s nice and cuddly, but he’s not much of an open book. I ain’t goin’ nowhere. So, if you’re gonna be around, welcome to your new therapists office.” He joked, laughing with a bright smile.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya

Anya frowned as Sam pulled away from her, her eyes telling him to leave his phone. Most likely it was Dean, either being nosey or continuing his rant from earlier, which seemed the most likely case to her, rather than him being in danger or anything. She chased Sam’s lips for a brief second, until he picked up his phone and she smirked, leaning back on her hands.

She could tell, in his voice, that he was flustered and trying to straighten himself up so Dean wouldn’t notice. She also knew the timer for the oven would be dinging at any moment and their time together would come to an end…the second Dean got back.

She pulled her phone from behind her, where she had ditched it on the table and typed out a message, playing it with a slight shrug.

“Is he still pissed at us?”

Dean

Dean was tempted to look Lexi’s hand over, as he waited for Sam to answer the phone. But the look on her face told him to drop it, and he rolled his eyes, frowning and looking down at his lap as his anxiety rose with every trill of the phone. He opened his mouth to double down on Lexi’s observation of Sam not having his phone in his hand when Sam answered, “I know. He…Sam what the hell, man? Since when do you not answer your phone?”

Dean raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer, when he heard Anya’s phone speak to Sam in the background and closed his eyes in annoyance, “Ah. You guys are awful close, I hear. Well, if you care, Lexi and I came up with nothing. Dude was just a basement dwelling dweeb who wanted to take a shot at her, and got his face bashed in for it. So, we’re on our way back.”

Dean was well aware that he sounded like a jealous and ignored girlfriend at that moment, but after what had happened to Mika, the idea of either of them getting close to anyone made him nervous, especially this fast. Sam had just met the girl. He refused to acknowledge the hypocrisy of it all, instead turning the engine over and glancing to Lexi for girl advice in advance, “So, is she staying the night or what? I know we said she needed to be on lockdown with us, but we have a lot of work to do.”

All Roads Lead To You

Duke

Duke smirked as Esme asked him if he actually cared about what she had gone through. He probably would have been offended, if they hadn’t had such a tumultuous first impression. Instead, he shrugged with a smirk, “I’m just offering an ear and almost twenty years of huntin’ experience to the situation. Nothin’ more.”

As she seemed to let her guard down and start speaking, Duke lowered his eyes to the steps, taking in every single word that she said, without interjection. He couldn’t help but notice the anger that oozed from her when she spoke about the situation, the idiocy and unnecessary outcome hanging in the air.

“Ah…the old possessed car trick.” Duke mumbled, shaking his head with sympathetic annoyance. He had been taken out of work for months due to a possessed car breaking both his femurs after running him down. Luckily, like always, Dean was there.

As she finished got to the part about the bad informant, Duke squinted, a look of disgust on his face as he kicked a couple of pebbles on the wood steps, watching them fall into the grass below. His ears perked up when she brought up her mother, and he was very tempted to ask her about the situation, but he could feel the tension as he glanced to her. He could see it in her shoulders. It was a sore subject that he knew better than to touch while she was this emotional.

“Well that’s somethin’ we agree on. Any idea who the guy might be? Maybe who he runs with? I’d be happy to take care of him for you. I ain’t a big fan of petty bitch hunters.” Duke spoke at the end, turning without a single hint of a smirk on his face as he watched her face from under his hat. “Just give me a name.”

He was genuinely angry about the situation, a rare emotion for him to show, especially to a stranger. He took a deep breath and dropped his eyes, staring out over the yard, “I’m sorry that happened to you. You didn’t deserve that crap…”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Anna

Anna scanned Sam’s eyes as he spoke, her brain buzzing with all the ways she just wanted all of this to be over. She wanted to hope that things would go back to normal, and they could just forget all this. She knew that it was impossible, but she hoped, nonetheless. Part of her wished she could wipe the whole night from her brain, and just go back to blindly following them around, clinging to the idea of Sam Winchester.

Then Sam kissed her forehead, causing her to close her eyes briefly at the soft touch, and the tenderness of his actions. He said the most patient and loving thing she could ask for in that moment, that he would simply wait for her to work through her emotions and be ready to love him again.

“Well. Thanks for loving me, I guess.” She shrugged, a small echo of a smirk touching the corner of her lips. Just then, the alarm in the hospital sounded, and Anna instinctively whipped her head to look toward the emergency bay, as a ton of nurses and security guards ran into the hospital. “I wonder what’s happening? After tonight, I don’t know that I want to find out…but what if it’s the demons?”

The trauma of the night was definitely settled into her brain, as a simple emergency alarm being tripped was causing her to want to run away, as far away from demons as possible.

Cason

Cason was a little jumpier than he normally would be, teaming up with an angel against his will. Once Esme told him she was okay, even if she wasn’t all…okay, he sighed and nodded, staring off into space for a moment until she screamed at Castiel. The sound, and the fact that she was yelling at an angel caused Cason to tense up, the flinch switching his eyes to black for a split second and then back to blue.

“I would watch it. That’s an angel.” He frowned and murmured to Esme. He didn’t get much else out, before Mika shoved the seat forward and stumbled out of the car at his feet, running over to Dean the second Dean sat up straight. He wasn’t surprised, really. Mika and Dean struck him to be almost as dangerously co-dependent as Sam and Dean.

At that moment, he noticed that Nat had opened her door and stepped out of the car, and his instincts instantly kicked in. He ran over to her, and frowned at the words that came out of her mouth, that both he and Esme had heard.

“If it wasn’t them, it would have been me.” Cason scolded Nat, his eyebrows furrowed and great offense on his face, “Someone would have come after you, Esme’s right. If it wasn’t them…it would have been me, alone. I…”

Cason cut off his words before he said something he would regret and sighed, turning to stare off into space again, while wrapping an arm around her waist to help her stand.

“I was coming either way…”

Dean and Castiel

Dean heard Esme’s voice, and his heart leapt into his throat, as he turned to look at her. He was about to stand from the ground when Mika practically tackled him, causing him to groan with the stiffness that was taking over his body. He barely managed to hold himself upright as she hugged him. He wrapped his arms around Mika’s body, holding her tightly to him as her hair covered his face and a familiar comfort took over. He had almost left her alone. The odds of her forgiving him so quickly for that were slim. When she scolded him, he wasn’t surprised, but he tightened his grip.

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I um…I didn’t know what else to do.” He croaked out, his throat a little dry and scratchy, as he rubbed her back, trying to at least soothe her. It was then that he realized Cas was still there, awkwardly standing like a statue, just watching Mika and Dean. He uncovered his face from Mika’s hair and looked up at Cas with a grimace. “Hey, man. You think you can help the girls? Nat’s pretty banged up, and Esme can’t…she can’t be doin’ too hot.”

“No.” Castiel said simply, not moving from his spot. Dean tilted his head, giving Castiel a look of disbelief.

“No? Why the hell not? You can patch me up, but they don’t get a pass?”

“I only saved you. I didn’t…patch you up.” Castiel said simply, once again not moving. “You’ll still be sore for a few days.”

“Yes. I get that. But Nat is hurt bad, man. You can’t help her?”

“Natalia Winchester, yes. The other one? No. She’s not human, Dean. What more do you want me to say about it?” Castiel explained, holding his hands out to his sides. Cas didn’t give any of them time to process things, as he began to walk casually toward the Impala. Dean’s eyes were saucers as he pulled back from Mika’s hug, and turned to look toward Esme, echoing Cason’s own expressions as they stared at her. But then Cason noticed Castiel was walking toward Nat.

“No no no. No. We don’t want anything to do with angels.” Cason stepped in front of Nat and put a hand out, trying to wave Cas off.

“Move.” Castiel barked at him and Cason sighed, his eyes turning black as he stood firm, shaking his head. “Move or I will move you.”

“I don’t want you touching her. I don’t want your buddies having her scent. She will heal.”

“And you’re willing to allow her to suffer great pain, to keep her away from an angel, because of your fears as a bottom feeding hellspawn. Am I wrong?” Castiel spoke with disgust, and Cason began to growl, shaking against Nat’s chest as he backed up to her.

“Can you guys stop measuring dicks and help my sister? Fight in a parking lot somewhere later!” Dean called to them, as he sat on the ground with Mika, still trying to get himself back together, while thoughts of Esme’s humanity flooded his mind. He turned to look at Mika, scanning her entire face for a hint on how to react to this whole thing, and the only thing that came to his mind was the question, “You’re human, right? Like…you’re gonna stay human.”

Cason reluctantly tilted his head to the side, watching as Castiel’s hand passed over his shoulder, and he touched Natalia’s forehead, healing the worst of her wounds, outside of some soreness and a few scratches. Cason flinched as Castiel dropped his hand and turned back to Dean.

“Try to keep yourself alive. We have a lead on something that I will be bringing to you in a few days. I need you rested…and alive.” He ordered Dean, before disappearing.

Dean furrowed his brow at Castiel’s order, rolling over in his brain what the hell he could possibly be talking about. All they could really do is wait for his call.

As Castiel flew off, Cason released the breath he was holding in and turned to Nat, brushing her hair away from her face. He took his jacket off, in that moment, and draped it over her shoulders, brushing his thumb over her nose.

“I don’t like it. I don’t like angels spreading their grace all over everything, but how do you feel?”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Anna

Anna almost smiled as Sam seemed to breathe in her actions. He always seemed to calm along with her as long as she was playing with his hair and holding him close. Their heartbeats syncing could be stressful at time, because there was never any warning for which of them was going to be ‘the one’. So, if either of them was particularly stressed, there was a chance the other would feel every bit of it.

As Sam’s nose nudged hers, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to keep herself under control, being this close to him. She had to restrain the urges to just let everything go, kiss him, and make up. Her proclamation of sticking around wasn’t the end of this. It was just the beginning. She wouldn’t run, but she couldn’t promise that things would just go back to normal.

“How horrible is it that this is the closest I’ve felt to you?” Anna spoke, her right thumb brushing over his ear as she opened her eyes and stared into his. She knew her skin was burning hot and that she was probably in for a rough few days of detox, but she was going to ride her current high until it faded. And she didn’t want to send him mixed signals, “All this time, and in the one moment I can’t kiss you…I really want to.”

Cason

Cason glanced back at Nat as she willingly got in the car, causing him to sigh with relief, but Mika was beginning to raise her voice as the reality of what was happening was setting in. As she saw the light, and Cason recognized the cry of anguish and the motion of her feet to run into the building, he stepped forward. He reached for her, right as she fell to the ground and he groaned.

He felt like the odd man out in this situation. He couldn’t empathize with Mika at all. He didn’t care if Dean lived or died. All he cared about was that Nat was safe, and that he could pick up her pieces after this was all over. He stomped over to Mika, and wrapped his hand around her upper arm, dragging her to her feet as she cried.

“Come on. We have to go. You can hate me. You can cut my head off. You can do whatever you feel like you need to do later on, but you have to come with me. NOW!” He shouted, wrapping both his arms around her in a mixture of control over her body and an actual hug to attempt some sort of human comfort. He dragged her back toward the car, and turned her to him, wrapping his arms around her again in a tight hug. “He wouldn’t want you to fall apart and get yourself killed. Get in the car.”

Cason opened the back door, gesturing for Natalia to scoot aside, and then he roughly shoved Mika into the seat, just as Castiel appeared next to the car. With the wave of his hand, the Impala roared to life with no keys, and drove itself with a squall of the tires, straight backward, all the way into the field adjacent to the asylum.

As the car rolled to a stop, Cason stared out the window as the entire asylum crashed to the ground in a massive pile of rubble and dust. His eyes were saucers as he turned slowly and stared through the windshield.

There was no way Esme and Dean survived that.

Dean

Dean watched Esme walk away from him, his heart racing as the light within her grew brighter with every anguished scream. Every time she told him to leave, he shook his head and tried to yell over the sound of the rumbling beneath his feet, “NO! I’m not leaving. I’m not leaving you here!”

As she professed her love, something he hadn’t heard from her mouth in what felt like forever, his stomach lurched and he looked toward the window. He realized this was the point of no return. He could jump out the window, break a few bones and survive this. But his mind wouldn’t let him run for it. He turned back toward Esme, shielding his eyes from the light as she began to erupt. He ran over to her, and wrapped his arms around her as tight as he possibly could. He placed a hand on the back of her head, pressing his chin into her shoulder as she screamed, piercing his ears and the light engulfed both of them. “I’ve got you. It’s okay. It’s okay, Esme.”

A little later, Castiel walked over the rubble, his face blunt and unmoved as he searched for any sign of life. He glanced around, and after a few moments of kicking at stone and glass, he saw a hand hanging out of the rubble. He recognized the ring instantly, and began moving the heavy stones away from Dean’s body, until he completely uncovered him.

“I found him.” Castiel barked toward the Impala, not really caring if anyone heard him. He tilted his head to the side, squinting as he pushed a foot forward and kicked a piece of rubble next to Dean’s head, uncovering part of Esme’s shoulder. Two of the Hellhounds were alerted to things moving around and unburied themselves, shaking dust and pebbles from their invisible fur as they fluffed up. They stepped over the rubble, but had uncovered the majority of Esme’s upper body.

“Dean. Hey…Dean.” Castiel called to Dean, uncovering the rest of his body. When Dean didn’t respond to him, he sighed, and looked around for a moment, watching the Hellhounds pacing around on their way back to the Impala to meet back up with Cason. He didn’t waste much more time, as he looked back down and noticed that Esme was awake. “Hey! Are you hurt?”

He leaned down and pushed some of the rubble aside, before lifting Esme onto her feet. He held onto her, and bent slightly to wrap his other hand around Dean’s wrist, dragging him over the rocks and rubble with full plans to fix whatever was broken once he got him safe.

Castiel approached the Impala, still mostly carrying Esme and dragging Dean as Cason quickly jumped out of the car and ran over, hesitantly wrapping an arm around Esme’s back to help her stand. He walked her over to the drivers seat of the Impala and eased her down, holding a hand out, “Are you alright? I mean…physically? What about him? Is he alive?”

As Cason turned to Castiel, Castiel shrugged and tilted his head, “Yes. More or less. He has several broken bones, and his brain seems to be bleeding. I was hoping he would wake up on his own.”

Without another word, Castiel squatted next to Dean and pressed his fingers to his forehead, causing Dean to awaken with a loud gasp. He sat straight up, feeling around him for Esme. “Esme?!”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya

For a split second, Anya was afraid that Sam was going to pull away from her and tell her not to touch him, even though he didn’t move. His hand touching hers sent her heart aflutter once again, and she watched his fingers briefly, to see if he was going to peel her hand away from him.

When he didn’t, and instead pulled her closer to him, their chests pressed tightly together, Anya smiled into the incoming kiss. This one felt different than the first. There was still a bit of nervousness, but they were on the same page. She could feel it the second his lips touched hers and she stood on the tips of her toes as his hand reached the back of her neck.

As he pulled away from her, she chased his lips, her eyes still closed as took a deep breath, not even realizing she had been holding it in the first place. It was then that she once again wished she could talk. She wanted to say something, anything…

Instead, she smiled brightly, and leaned back in, taking his bottom lip between her teeth with a giggle, before kissing him again. She pulled them back toward the table, and carefully sat herself against it, pulling him between her knees so they could be impossibly close.

Dean

Dean leaned over against the window, putting his hand over his mouth as he watched Lexi approach the weird guy all by herself. Every fiber of his being wanted to jump out of the car and follow her, even if it meant the guy would clam up. At least she would be safe. As he watched them speak, his free hand tapped at the handle on his door.

“Don’t do anything stupid…” He grumbled at the guy, even though the guy couldn’t hear him. But then the guy turned and looked at the car and Dean tensed. This was either about to go way downhill, or Lexi would take care of it swiftly, judging by the guy’s body language.

Then the guy made a move, and Dean instantly pulled the door handle, opening the door a bit while watching as Lexi took care of the kid in a pretty quick order. He waited, making sure she would be okay, and as she slammed the kid on his car, Dean winced and smirked.

“There you go…” He cheered her on quietly, as Lexi dropped him and turned to the car. He closed the door of the car and settled into his seat, waiting for her to get back in. As soon as she did, Dean smiled over at her and laughed softly. “Maybe. But you almost killed that kid. It went about how we expected, honestly…minus him having the balls to actually make a move. What an idiot.”

Dean pulled his phone from the middle seat and sighed, “Time to break the news to the kids. Are you good? He missed, right?”

He asked his question with a raised eyebrow, narrowing his eyes protectively as he glanced over at her and pressed the number for Sam’s phone. He placed it on speaker and frowned when it rang more than twice. Sam’s phone was never out of reach. Half the time it was in his hand. How dare he not pick up? He was alone in the bunker with a stranger that was sweet on his ass, for what reason Dean couldn’t even begin to think of, and he wasn’t answering his phone?

All Roads Lead To You

Duke and Dean

Duke glanced over at Dean when Esme stated that she not only didn’t want them to work on her car, but also that she didn’t want to deal with their fighting anymore. He tilted his head in a way that said ‘see what you did?’ And straightened his cowboy hat. Dean had always been one to give Esme space, if she needed it. Even when he was hovering over her injuries or wellbeing, he was still willing to give her air. He knew this couldn’t be easy for her, being taken care of, and basically being on house arrest while she wasn’t super mobile.

He watched her stand up and took a deep breath, going back to his food. But Duke wiped his hands on his jeans and slapped a hand on the table next to Dean with a knowing look, “You know you’re supposed to run after the girl when she’s upset and needs air…right? Don’t kick me or so help me I will beat your ass in this kitchen and apologize to Bobby later.”

“I’m not gonna kick you. She wants space. I give her space. It’s what keeps things…kosher.” Dean explained, gesturing with his hands to punctuate his statement. Duke scoffed and shook his head, standing from his chair suddenly. “Where the hell are you going?”

“I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna talk to that girl. She seems like she needs an ear…” Duke stated simply, not smiling at Dean which weirded him out. He narrowed his eyes at Duke and leaned back in his chair, watching his best friend leave the kitchen, straight for the front door.

Duke stepped out the front door and carefully closed it behind him. He rolled his bare shoulders, and without making any more noise than necessary, he slowly stepped down the steps next to Esme and then sat down, not saying a word for a bit. After the awkward silence, he couldn’t handle it anymore and looked up from his folded hands, staring across the vast yard, “So, you wanna talk about it? What happened yesterday, I mean. You’re pretty busted up and I’m here if you wanna…talk about it.”