Dean smiled a bit brighter than he should have as she reacted to the kiss. It was the exact response he was hoping for. He nuzzled against her nose, trying to play into her hand and confirm that they were on the same page, “You did say you were staying. I’m just not a very trusting person…so, I take out insurance.”

He laughed softly, before Sam’s voice rang out in his ears. He closed his eyes, letting a sigh leave his nose as his brother approached, and he turned from Esme, brushing his nose against hers as he turned his head.

“Hey! What…”, he called back, before standing suddenly at their appearance, especially Madison’s hair being in tangles all over her head, “What the hell happened to you guys? We were only gone for a few minutes. You look like you’ve been through a hurricane…”



Madison was relieved that Sam agreed with her praying to Castiel. So, Castiel was a good guy. Castiel wouldn’t hurt her. Castiel was someone she could confide in. Good.

She followed him, carefully running to keep up with his long strides, as he was a good foot and a half taller than herself. She took note of every aura and every being she passed, feeling different waves of power coming off people, as if they were a mixture of species.

As they arrived and Dean stood and asked what had happened, she reached her hand up to her hair, attempting to smooth it by patting it down. While she failed miserably, she was learning, and that made her smirk but dryly answer Deans question, “There was a loud bunch of voices in my brain. I panicked and caused a um…a scene in the restaurant. But don’t worry…I didn’t hurt anyone this time.”

As she finished, Dean’s face relaxed and he rolled his eyes, turning his gaze from Madison to Sam, “Well that’s a relief. We’re going to have to find a better way for you to deal with your crap, than just having random outbursts every time someone hurts your feelings, alright?”

Madison glanced down at the ground, suddenly feeling guilt in her stomach. Dean sighed, closing his eyes in frustration, and turned back to Esme. He tried to whisper so that only Esme could hear him.

“How am I supposed to be easy on her, when she can’t even have a meal without going nuclear?”, he whispered through gritted teeth. As he turned back toward Madison, she had disappeared, causing him to throw up his hands in exasperation, “Great…just great.”

Madison sat on the base of a statue behind Sam, just out of Dean’s eyesight but not out of Esme’s. She had tried to position herself to the back of the statue, and was hugging her legs, her face buried in her knees as she sobbed. She felt guilt. She felt like she wished she had never been born. It was obvious that everything she touched, exploded. And she didn’t want to be near Dean Winchester.

Esme smiles at his bright smile, knowing that she had given him the reaction he wanted when he kissed her. Her cheeks flushed a bit more when he nuzzled her nose, getting his message fully. She laughed softly at his statement and was about to answer back when Sam ran up and called Dean’s name. A sigh escaped her as well. After his nose brushed hers, she turned her gaze to Sam and Madison. She didn’t have time to take them in before Dean suddenly stood up, making her almost fall onto the bench where he was sitting.

Pushing herself upright, she stood next to Dean, looking the two over as he spoke. She had to agree with Dean. They really looked like they’d been through a hurricane. Esme’s eyes went to Madison as she tried to smooth down her hair. She would have smiled if this were a different situation. She listened as Madison explained what had happened. Hearing she didn’t hurt anyone set her mind a little at ease, but she still worried about how she could lose control while they were around others.

Esme couldn’t hold in the sigh that escaped her at what Dean said, and saw how it affected Madison. As Dean turned to her and whispered, she looked up at him, understanding how he felt. When he turned from her, she looked back at Madison, seeing her move over to the statue. At Dean’s reaction, she knew he couldn’t see her. Taking in a deep breath, she slowly let it out before turning to Dean. Esme placed a hand on his arm and gave a gentle squeeze, then looked up at him before reaching up and placing a hand on his cheek and gently turned his head to look at her.

She could feel his frustration from the situation, she felt the same way. “Dean.” she said in a calm tone, to get him to look at her. “Take a breath and calm yourself…… I know this is difficult, but you have to try to take it easy on her. This is all new for her just like it is for us.” She tried to keep her tone as calm as possible, which was hard with what she felt coming from Madison. “We’ll get through this…… Together.” she told him with a warm smile.

Esme let her hand slip from his cheek and rest on his chest for a moment, then gave his arm another gentle squeeze before turning and walking around the bench to Madison. Before reaching Madison, she stopped next to Sam, then placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Don’t worry, I have this.” she said, hoping to ease his worry. She made her way to Madison’s side, feeling the guilt pouring off of Madison. She sighed heavily as she took a seat next to her. “Hey, it’ll be okay.” she whispered.

Esme put an arm around her and pulled her into a hug, resting her head on hers. She then dropped her voice so only Madison could hear her. She was going to tell her something she hadn’t shared with many. “I know what it’s like to lose control when you get overwhelmed. I know how hard it is to stay in control.” she told her, hugging her close. “I don’t have the same powers as you to worry about losing control over, but I still have to worry about losing control.” she paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

She could hardly believe she was about to share her secret with this girl she met only hours ago. “I’m what they call an empath. I can feel what people are feeling around me. If I get too overwhelmed with those feelings it can be pretty bad, especially if it's anger.” She fell silent as a memory flashed in her mind of a time she had lost control. She pushed it away and focused back on Madison. “Not many know that about me. I keep it a secret.” she said after a moment of silence. She then tried to project some of her calm to Madison, she wanted to ease the girl's grief.



Sam saw how Dean acted to his arrival, but didn’t play into it. He watched as Dean jumped up from the bench at the sight of them, and how Esme almost face planted when he did. He studied both of their faces as they stood there and was about to answer when Madison did. He turned to as she briefly explained what had happened. He didn’t approve of Dean’s way of responding to Madison, but that was Dean. He watched as he turned to Esme and whispered to her before turning back to Madison who had walked away.

He sighed debating if he should follow or let her work things out on her own. His attention was pulled back to Dean and Esme, when he heard her talking to Dean. Sam’s eyebrows rose at the interaction but kept quiet as she talked to Dean, clearly trying to calm him. When she turned and headed towards him, he relaxed his eyebrows, and she stopped next to him. Sam gave a sigh of slight relief at her words and gave a nod. “Thanks. Just be careful.” he told her as she walked over to Madison.

He looked over at them for a moment before walking over to Dean. “There’s one other thing from the diner.” he said looking at Dean. “A guy in a suit came into the diner and sat at the bar, Madison said she could hear someone in his head talking about God's power remade, then she lost control.” he told Dean. “When everything settled, he vanished with a gust of wind.” He then paused to let it sink in a bit, his eyebrows knitting together. “She’s being watched.” He stole a look over at the girls, he saw how Esme was so gentle with Madison. He was actually glad that she was there to help. Sam almost wished he could hear what she was saying to her and hoped she was getting through to her to calm her.

Dean huffed a bit as he coped with the feeling of basically fear he felt every time Madison was near him, especially when she made any show of power. She was more powerful than they probably could fathom, and those little shows of power were just teasers. Shifting his gaze as he felt Esme’s hand against his cheek, he stared down at her and sighed deeply. She was right. The girl was just a kid. As much as he didn’t want her to latch onto them, and become their problem, she already was. He was still acutely aware that he would have to kill her, eventually, but until that time came, he had to hold himself together.

He closed his eyes for a second as she placed her hand on his chest and stepped away from him, thankful that she seemed to be able to get through to Madison, when he and Sam couldn’t.

Dean opened his eyes and sighed, as Sam stepped up next to him and explained what happened in the diner. He couldn’t help his eyebrows raising nearly into his hairline as he heard the words.

“And you think this was Angel radio.”, he muttered, as he realized what Sam was actually talking about. The angels were watching Madison. Great, “Wonderful. So, the angels are wanting to use our own little Superwoman as some sort of angelic weapon of God. That means the demons have to know she exists, right? Maybe even Michael. So, we’re in a deeper mess than we originally thought…”

He sighed, placing his hands on his hips as he turned and kicked a bit of dirt with his boot. Now, he couldn’t let the girl go. He wanted to kill her, to end all of this, but in their experience, Angels had ways of making sure she either couldn’t die, or that her power could go somewhere else. And now that Michael had made a child, the Angels would be aware that they could just make another, with the right Angel.

Even worse, Lucifer could make his own, if he found out about her. Dean shuddered at the thought, “Alright, then. I guess we keep her from the Angels, until we figure this out..especially Lucifer.”



Madison didn’t even know how she had gotten to the statue. One second she was feeling sick to her stomach and the next, she was curled up on the base of the statue, glad to be away from Dean as he ranted at her. These people didn’t want her around, not even Sam. Dean hated her. Sam felt sorry for her. She was alone, and she didn’t even have her mother to care for her.

However, as Esme took a seat beside her, she jumped, not knowing any of them could see her. Hearing her voice, Madison sniffled and raised her head slightly, before wrapping her arms around Esme tightly and burying her face in her hair as she spoke.

Hearing that Esme had powers too, her shoulders relaxed just a bit, and she furrowed her eyebrows against her shoulder, “Really?”

She pulled away from her gently, enough to look at her face and scan her eyes as she explained what being an empath meant. Finding out about Esme’s powers made her feel more guilty for a brief second, and she felt the need to apologize, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel all of this, then…I don’t know what to do. And I can’t stay with you, if Dean wants to kill me. I’ll hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you, when he makes my brain angry.”

As Esme’s projection began to affect her, her shoulders lowered slightly and her face turned into a small smile, almost as if she was high. She leaned her head on her shoulder, and sighed.

“I don’t want to be God’s power, like the man in the restaurant said. I just want to learn about the world. I want my mom…”, she whispered quietly, her gaze falling on Dean as she spoke. She sighed as a flutter of wings blew both their hair aside.

“Hello, Esme…”, Castiel muttered as he landed. He had never met the woman, but like most humans, he was aware of her name, and her connection to Dean, “Madison…”
Madison’s head perked up, not instantly recognizing Castiel, until she took in his voice for a few seconds on her own, “Castiel? Castiel?!”

She stood from the statue, carefully removing herself from Esme and practically jumped onto Castiel, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. In shock, he simply stood, his arms at his side and stared at Esme, “Um. You called.”

“I did. I’m so happy to see you. Teach me everything about being an angel…go.”, Madison chirped at him, finally releasing him from her death grip. Castiel smirked lightly, placing a hand on her shoulder to bring her back down to earth.

“You’re not an angel. I can explain everything, but for now…we should all find a place to go where we can be more, discreet. The angels know of you. They’ll be circling almost anywhere you go.”, he explained, giving a glance to Esme, “And your…Esme can come with us.”

Esme smiled a bit when she felt Madison’s shoulder relax just the tiniest bit when she confessed her secret. She simply nodded to her words, then looked at Madison as she pulled away to look at her. Esme softly shook her head to Madison’s words with a warm smile. “You don’t have to apologize. It’s part of being what I am.” she told her. “What I’ve felt today is mild compared to what I have felt before…… Don’t worry about Dean. I won’t let him do anything to you…… You also don’t have to worry about hurting me. I’m tougher than I look.” she finished with a smile.

When she realized her projection had some effect, she smiled a bit more, then sighed when Madison placed her head on her shoulder. She was glad it had some effect on her to bring her a little calm. She was now calming down herself, seeing that Madison was. Esme placed her cheek on Madison’s head and hugged her as she whispered. Esme closed her eyes and was about to say something when she heard the flutter of wings. Her eyes popped open, and she lifted her head when she felt the wind blow her hair.

Her eyes landed on Castiel as he said her name. It shouldn’t have surprised her he knew her name, but she was slightly. When Madison said his name, she loosened her hug, then let her go to him. As Madison hugged Castiel, Esme stood and watched him. She took in his appearance and how he stared at her, which was a little unnerving. So, this is an angel in a vessel up close. she thought to herself. Esme looked at Madison as she asked Castiel to teach her everything about being an angel.

She couldn’t stop the smirk that showed itself, she even noticed Castiel smirk. Esme’s eyebrows rose at Castiel’s words to Madison about not being an angel. If she wasn’t an angel, then what was she? The rest of the news was troubling, causing her to look over at Dean and Sam, then back to Castiel when he spoke about how she could go with them. He better believe she was going.



Sam took in Dean’s reaction to what he told him. He couldn’t blame him for reacting in such a way. He nodded at the mention of thinking it was angel radio. “That’s what I was thinking, too. Why else would they be monitoring her?” he replied. “If the angels know of her existence, I’m sure demons would know too and it’s a high possibility that Michael knows as well.” He breathed in deeply as he looked at the ground, shaking his head at the mess that was unfolding. He could almost tell what Dean was thinking by how he sighed and placed his hands on his hips.

But if he were to try to kill her now, would they even be able to? They’ve dealt with enough angels to know they wouldn’t make it easy to kill her, and would have her power go somewhere else. He closed his eyes tight as the thoughts swirled in his mind and how they could get through this. He then lifted his head, opening his eyes and looked back at Dean. “That’s all we can do right now.” he said in agreement. “We need to find a way to hide her though.” he added. How would they do that? He didn’t have an idea, but they had to figure something out, and soon.

Sam tensed and turned his head towards the girls when he heard the flutter of wings, soon relaxing when he saw it was Castiel. He said nothing as he spoke to the girls, but was glad to see him there. Hearing that Madison wasn’t an angel caused his eyebrows to raise.

Madison nodded to Castiel as he mentioned she needed to be somewhere safe. She didn’t understand how she wasn’t an angel. Her powers were angelic and there were angels after her. That made her mind swirl with ideas of being an angel, and romanticized emotions about flying through the heavens and helping people.

“The house I was born in…is it safe?”, she asked him, and he narrowed his eyes, trying to think of a way to tell her ‘no’, and simply shook his head, “Then where?”

“I have been preparing a building, not far from here, since before you were born.”, Castiel explained simply, turning his eyes to check on Dean. He then turned back to her and gave a small smirk, “I had a feeling you would be, how do you say it…a handful. So I warded the place from everything short of God himself, and you’ll be safe there until we figure out our next steps.”

Madison turned excitedly to Esme, “We have a house to go to! And I…”

As she spoke, another angel’s wings could be heard fluttering, as an angel blade pierced her back and the tip shoved through to appear from her stomach. She didn’t react, really. She simply stood, staring down at the blade tip, “Esme?..”

Castiel reacted, stepping forward without hesitation, and stabbing his own angel blade through the angel’s chin, and skull. The angel’s eyes lit up with a long scream, before he collapsed, his wings burned into the sidewalk.

“Madison. Are you?”, he started to ask, watching her not falter, just stand confused.



Dean nodded his head to Sam, processing the thoughts he was already having himself, with Sam’s confirmation. He knew that hiding Madison was their only choice, and that there was a good chance that they would fail, and Dean would be forced to kill her. Like Sam, he wondered how that was even possible, considering Angels were damn near impossible to take out on their own, much less their offspring.

And with all of the buzzing going around on Angel radio, about her powers, he had to assume she was godlike, if that’s what the angels believed. Seeing Castiel land, and speak to Madison caused his heart to flutter and a relieved sigh to leave his throat. He had hoped Castiel would come around sooner rather than later, but he was here now, and Madison recognized him, judging by her reaction.

He started walking over to them slowly as they spoke, stopping and furrowing his brow at Madison not being an angel. On one hand, they already knew that she wasn’t just an angel, but a hybrid between an angel and a human, but she seemed more angel than human. He didn’t speak up about the observations, only watched Cas explain their safety plan.

As Madison turned and was instantly impaled, his fatherly instincts took over, causing him to run to her, “Nooo! No. Hey kid…”

He grabbed her, his hand cradling her head in case she collapsed and his other hand coming to hold the blade in her back. As Castiel dispatched the angel behind him, causing his body to nearly fall onto Sam’s legs as he collapsed, Madison swatted Dean’s hand away from her back. She grabbed the handle of the blade herself, slowly pulling it from her back.

Dean looked to Sam, asking him to chime in as he attempted to stop her hand from removing the blade. She finished and dropped the blade with a loud ring onto the sidewalk, the wound not even bleeding.

“That hurt…”, she whispered, her eyes angry and scared again, glowing amber and bright. Castiel stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, which she shrugged off, a slight wind surrounding her again. Dean desperately looked to Sam for answers, as Sam had been through this with her before.

Esme had shifted her weight to one leg and crossed her arms over her chest as she listened to Madison and Castiel talk. She was also still going over what he said about Madison not being an angel. It confused her more as she thought about it. She focused back on Castiel when he told Madison that he had been preparing a building for her, and had warded the place to keep everything but God out. It sounded like it would be pretty safe for her. She sighed a bit in relief that they had a place to take her.

She then felt a rush of excitement hit her just before Madison turned to face her. A smile came to her from the excitement she felt and how happy she was to have a house to go to, but her smile faded quickly as the angel appeared and stabbed Madison. “Noooo, Madison!” she yelled. She bolted to Madison and reached her, just as Dean had, and placed a hand on her arm and shoulder. Her eyes were like saucers and full of worry. She didn’t even look at the angel as Castiel took care of him.

She glanced at Dean, then back to Madison as she waved Dean’s hand away from the blade and slowly pulled it out. She flinched the slightest bit when the blade hit the sidewalk. Esme dropped her gaze to where the blade had once been protruding from Madison’s stomach. To her surprise, it wasn’t bleeding. She stepped back to take all of Madison in, having trouble registering what she had just seen. She looked down at the angel blade on the ground. She was unfamiliar with it, but could tell it was made for an angel.

If an angelic weapon couldn’t harm this girl, and Castiel says she’s not an angel, then what the hell is she? Esme soon grew tense as she felt anger and fear come to her from Madison. She looked at Madison’s face, seeing her eyes glowing amber and bright. This scared her and she wasn’t one that easily got scared. She watched Castiel step up and place a hand on Madison’s shoulder, only to have her shrug it off, followed by a slight wind surrounding her. Esme looked at Dean and Sam to see if they had any answers.

She saw Dean looking at Sam the same way she was looking at them. Esme worried they wouldn’t be able to keep her calm and Madison would lose control or her anger would get the better of her. Madison’s emotions came in stronger than any she had ever been around. Dean’s was a close second. She didn’t know how it would affect her if she became overwhelmed by Madison’s anger. She watched as Sam slowly made his way over to Madison.



Sam continued watching the interaction between Madison and Castiel. Listening intently as he told her about the place he had been preparing for her. It was a relief to hear that Castiel had a place that would keep her safe. It put his mind at ease about having a place for her to go that would hide her from essentially everything but God, as Castiel had said. Sam smiled at her brief moment of excitement, but it vanished and morphed into shock when an angel appeared and shoved their blade into Madison’s back.

“Noooo!” Sam yelled and ran to her. Dean and Esme beat him to her. So, all he could do was hang back as they looked over her in as much shock as he was. He saw as Castiel took care of the angel, then took a step back as the body fell to the ground. His attention went back to Madison at Dean’s look to chime in. “Madison. Wait.” he said to her. But he spoke too late. She had already pulled the blade from her back and had dropped it on the ground. He looked at the wound, surprised that it wasn’t bleeding.

He was also surprised that the angel blade hadn’t killed her. If that didn’t kill her, then what did that mean she was? Sam tensed when he saw her eyes glowing amber and bright. He knew this couldn’t be good and could end up badly in a hurry. Sam looked at Dean as he looked at him for answers, then looked back to Madison as he walked up to her as a slight wind surrounded her. “Madison.” he said softly, taking her face into his hands. “You need to breathe.” he told her. “Listen to my voice and don’t let yourself lose control.”

He hoped that the same method from the diner would work again. If just hearing his voice didn’t work, he would wrap his arms around her and pull her into a hug to try to calm her.

“That man hurt me…”, Madison explained to Sam, her glowing eyes turning sad as she stood with her feet firmly planted, a tear falling down her cheek. When her eyes met his, she studied his face, taking a deep breath, “Am I going to die?”

“No…”, Castiel answered simply as he rejoined them, allowing Sam to take control. He could sense that she was connected to Sam, which meant that other than Esme, Sam was the only person who could control this outburst. That is, if she didn’t erupt and kill him, “You can’t be killed that easily. But now that the angels know, they'll come up with another way. It’s hard to understand, but listen to Sam…”

The wind calmed a bit at the confirmation that she wasn’t dying. She continued to analyze Sam’s eyes, seeing the calm, care, and peace behind them. She studied how his eyes were two different colors, one a sort of green and the other a shade of blue, and let out a sigh. The wind completely stopped, as she jolted herself forward, wrapping her arms around his waist, clinging to him for dear life.



Dean’s head was swimming as his entire humanity wanted him to care for Madison, and make sure she’s okay. Even Castiel’s reactions to everything swayed his mind a bit. He also wanted to know where the Hell Castiel had been this whole time. He was supposed to help them with the whole birth situation, and dealing with whatever came next. Instead, he had disappeared, dealing with the situation in Heaven.

He reluctantly watched Sam step up, after he begged him to. He didn’t want his brother in the middle of what could be a bomb, as he watched him take Madison’s face in his hands. He raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised that she allowed him to touch her. Apparently they had bonded pretty heavily while he and Esme were away.

Dean held up both his hands in front of him, as he stepped over to Esme and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her against his chest. He wasn’t completely convinced of Madison’s good nature, yet, and he was not going to let Esme get hurt in this scenario.

He took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself as he watched Sam work on the girl. As the wind calmed a bit, he took the opportunity to pull Esme’s face up to meet his as he scanned her eyes, “You okay?”

Esme’s right hand had crept up to her upper chest as she felt pain growing within it. It was already starting, and that was making her worried. Madison’s emotions were so strong it didn’t take much for her to feel them. As she watched Sam take Madison’s face and talk to her to calm her, she realized that they had gotten closer than she had thought in such a short time. She had to admit that she was glad that she wasn’t the only one that could calm her. She then zoned out a bit as she concentrated on keeping herself calm.

She was still aware of how many were around her, but not really hearing much of the talking going on. Her head was swimming with thoughts of what she would be capable of if she were consumed with Madison’s anger. Her thoughts were also filled with wanting to go over and help Sam calm her, but she knew she might not be of much use right now. She unconsciously backed up a bit more as her gaze fixed on Sam and Madison. When Dean came up and put his arms around her shoulders, she gave a small jump.

She took a deep breath and slowly let it out when he held her close to his chest. His simple action of protecting her calmed her a bit. She freed her left arm from their closeness and placed it on his arm. As she waited for Sam to work his magic, she closed her eyes and concentrated on Dean’s breathing and heartbeat, as well as on how he held her close to his chest and the way he smelled. It was slowly working to bring her to a calm point, but she was still tense. As Dean pulled her face up to meet his, she looked back at him and gave a weak smile at his question. “I will be once she’s calmer.”



Sam continued to hold Madison’s face gently in his hands. He tried to stay calm as he looked into her glowing eyes. As she spoke, his eyes softened, and he wiped her tear with his thumb. He was going to answer her, but Castiel spoke first. As he spoke, Sam stayed quiet, but didn’t take his eyes off her. He nodded to Castiel’s words, knowing what he said was true. This was only their first attempt to kill her, and since it didn’t work, they would be back to try again.

Sam felt the wind calm as Madison learned she wasn’t dying, and when she gazed into his eyes, he looked right back. He was almost afraid to blink, in case it broke the connection between them. He softened his gaze to let her know it was going to be ok. “There we go. Just keep looking into my eyes and focusing on me.” he told her. “We’ll get through this.” He continued to look into her blue eyes, taking in her features and the way she was studying his eyes. The wind finally stopped, and he sighed in relief.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close as she clung to him. “Hey, it's okay.” he whispered softly, rubbing her back. “I told you we could get through it.” Sam looked up at Castiel, then over at Dean and Esme. He hadn’t even noticed that Dean had walked over to protect Esme from what could have happened. He was about to look back at Madison, but stopped when he saw Esme take a deep breath then close her eyes as she placed her forehead on Dean’s chest. Sam gave Dean a look that said ‘Is she okay?’ as he looked at her.

Dean had noticed Esme’s flinch when he touched her, but was thankful that she relaxed a bit. He continued to scan her eyes, needing to focus on anything he could, except the chaos that was going on around them. He smirked and nodded when she told him that her emotions were hinging on Madison calming down, and pulled her head against his chest, stroking her hair as the wind began to calm.

He gave a small relieved sigh as Sam’s attempts began working on Madison, as he was truly afraid she was going to explode again, but this time there was plenty that she could hurt them with, around them. Not to mention, her sonic blast seemed to stop blood flow, something he never wanted to experience again.

When Madison rushed Sam and everything stopped as she hugged him, Dean’s shoulders dropped in relief and he let out an audible sigh, “Oh thank God…”

He looked down briefly at Esme as she placed her forehead on his chest, sighing again in relief that they were both okay, and that he was so close to her. He glanced back up at Sam, and nodded, confirming that both he and Esme were fine, just rattled, while he brushed his fingers through Esme’s hair, “I got you…”



Castiel also let out his own sigh of relief as Sam managed to divert an absolute emotional disaster for the boys and anyone who dared to get near, while she was self destructing. He still didn’t know the full spectrum of Madison’s power, only that the lore stated she would be more powerful than Michael or Lucifer. The thought of that kind of power was almost hard to conceive.

“This is good to note. She has made multiple bonds with humans, which makes it less likely for her to want to smite them…”, he muttered dryly, his attention suddenly coming to Dean as he stood there, “Dean, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Focus on them.”, Dean said simply, as he cradled Esme. Castiel pressed his lips together and nodded, half knowing he was telling the truth, and half knowing that Dean was good at covering up his problems.

Madison continued to listen to Sam’s heartbeat, learning more about him with every beat. Everything she knew, was something she learned from a human. As she concentrated, her heartbeat slowed to match his, almost as if her heart was learning from his.

She calmed enough to pull her face away, raising it to look at Sam as the light slowly faded from her eyes, pulling them back to normal. She let a slow sigh leave her lips as she attempted to match his breathing, as well.

“Are you okay?”, she asked, causing Castiel to roll his eyes. Even after being attacked, she was still concerned about hurting people. Maybe she was more human than he had given her credit for, something that would definitely anger Michael, if he ever showed up.

Esme left her face in Dean’s chest, taking in everything about him in that moment as he ran his fingers through her hair. Within a few minutes, her shoulders came down, and she sighed heavily, wrapping her free arm around him. The pain building in her chest had started to die down and fade, and she could feel that Madison had finally calmed, thanks to Sam. She breathed deeply again before she turned her head to look at Madison and Sam, her head still laying on Dean’s chest. She saw how Madison was clinging to Sam.

She didn’t have the words to explain how glad she was that Sam could calm her. “What a hell of a day this has been.” she whispered. She was glad that she didn’t have to go through all this alone. She knew she would have been in worse shape than she was now, and probably would have lost control before being able to calm Madison. “I feel like I could do with a drink and a nap.” Which was true. She felt mentally and physically drained from everything that had happened today, not to mention going on only a few hours of sleep didn’t help.

Esme pulled back a little so she could look up into Dean’s face. She studied his face for a moment as she pulled her hand away from her chest and placed it on his. “Are you doing okay?” she asked softly. “And be honest with me.” Being an Empath, she would know if he was being truthful or not. She was pretty much a human lie detector. She hoped he would be honest with her and not try to sugarcoat anything too much for her.



Sam looked back at Madison after Dean gave him a nod to say that he and Esme were alright. That sent a wave of relief to wash over him, causing his shoulders to relax fully and his heartbeat and breathing to calm more. He rubbed her back to continue to calm her as she hugged him. He could tell that she was listening to his heartbeat as he had suggested to her. When she pulled back, he loosened his hug and looked down into her face. He watched as the glow slowly faded from her eyes and went back to blue.

He let out a sigh at the same time she did, seeing that she had calmed enough to control herself. Sam smiled at her question, finding it amusing that she would ask if he was okay when she was the one that had been attacked. “I’m the one that should be asking you that.” he told her. “But yes, I’m fine. Are you okay?” He studied her as he waited for her answer. He wanted to make sure she was before he fully let go of her and they made their way to the place Castiel had prepared for her.

He knew she was excited about getting there, but he wanted to be completely sure she was mentally stable before going. They didn’t need her going nuclear while they were on the road.

Dean furrowed his eyebrows at hearing Esme speak about being exhausted. He then lifted his eyebrows, noting the prospect of a drink, which was exactly what he needed, at the moment. He continued to stroke her hair, until she pulled back from him, almost surprising him.

He scanned her eyes, his own growing a bit wide. He stammered for a second, his lips not forming words. He wasn’t used to caring about his own well being, especially since his trip to Hell a little over a year prior. He gave a nervous laugh, his head tilting to the side as he tried to find the words to brush her off.

“Um. I’m…Not too good, actually.”, he admitted, noticing how his hand was shaking in hers. They had lost so much. They had been through so much, in the past several months. He had almost lost Sam to the demon blood…to Ruby. And now, Lucifer was circling, trying to get a vessel and he was stuck with Michaels kid. Yeah. Things weren’t the best.

“I’m tired. I can’t even look at the kid, without wanting to take a machete to her throat and hope for the best. I don’t even know how to begin thinking about that…”, he started again, releasing her from the last of the hold he had and placing his free hand on her cheek, running a finger under her eye, “Let’s get a drink. Then I’ll make you hate me…”

He gave a small smirk, but made sure his eyes were honest in letting her know that he still fully planned to kill Madison if she hurt anyone.



Madison glanced down at her chest, running her fingers over the small hole with no wound behind it and shrugged her shoulders, her eyes raising back up to scan Sam’s. She watched his facial expressions, noting the concern he was harboring, but the care.

“I’m fine, Sam. Just glad I didn’t hurt anyone.” , She reached a hand up, brushing some of his hair that had flown into his face behind his ear, which caused Castiel to clear his throat.

“Um. Madison we should go.”, Castiel muttered, stepping forward and placing a hand on her forearm. She furrowed her brow, dropping her hand from Sam’s face and turning to Castiel, who was giving her a disapproving look.
“Did I do something wrong?”, she asked him, recognizing that look from Dean. Castiel half shrugged, making a face that said ‘not necessarily’.

“No. You’re just learning…affection, and you don’t understand ‘boundaries’.”, he held his hands up in air quotes. Dean had taught him what personal space was, and which humans to imitate and which humans not to. This was something Madison didn’t understand, yet. And he didn’t want Sam to be led down a path of possible heartbreak.

“Um. I’m sorry?”, she whispered as a question. Castiel shook his head, never wanting her to apologize for not understanding. He stepped forward and picked up her hand. With his free hand, he handed Sam a piece of paper with an address.

“You can meet us here. I’ll fly her, for your safety.”, Castiel finished, and he and Madison disappeared with a flutter of wings.

Esme studied Dean’s face, watching his eyes go wide and stammer for a second. Her eyes softened as she looked at him, seeing that he didn’t normally care about his own wellbeing. His next actions told her he was trying to find the words to brush her off, and it hurt. As he spoke, she held his shaking hand in her and gave it a squeeze. She could feel his pain as if it were her own. Taking her one arm from around him. She placed her hand on his, so now she was holding his shaking hand with both of hers. Her eyes saddened as he spoke about wanting to kill Madison and not knowing how to think about it.

It broke her heart to see him in such a state of mind, and she wanted nothing more than to help him out of it. At his touch on her cheek, she closed her eyes briefly and leaned her face into his hand. At his words, she squeezed his hand and shook her head gently with a sigh. “I don’t think that’s possible.” she mumbled. Esme looked into his eyes, seeing that he was being honest about what he said about Madison. She knew he mean it, and knew there would be no stopping him if she ended up hurting someone. She knew that deep down she would have to do it as well, but didn’t like or want to think about it. She shook the thought from her mind and focused on Dean again. “I’ll drive.” she said with a slight smile.

Sam didn’t think too much about Madison brushing his hair from his face, and behind his ear, he knew she was still learning. He listened to Castiel, then looked at Madison when she apologized, but shook his head with a smile to let her know it was okay. “Okay, thanks Cas.” he said as he took the paper. Once Castiel and Madison left, he looked at the piece of paper and memorized the address. Sam walked over to Dean and Esme, feeling a bit awkward intruding on their moment. “Um…… Cas and Madison have gone to this address.” he said handing them the paper.

Esme took one of her hands from Dean’s and took the paper from Sam and looked at it and nodded. “We can meet you there.” she told him. “We’re going to take a detour on our way.” she added with a small smile. She got a nod from Sam as he understood what she meant. She turned back to Dean with a small smile. “You ready?”

Dean smirked when she told him that she couldn’t hate him, but it made him wonder if she had thought about killing Madison as well. The thought of her being forced to do it, with how much the girl seemed to like her made him a little sad. At her offer to drive, he had to smile, raising an eyebrow. He wasn’t much of a highway rider, but considering they were just going to be going a few blocks over, he would deal with it.

His attention was turned to Sam as he walked over and handed Esme the address Cas had given him, shooting his brother a look to tell him to ‘be careful’. He was uneasy with Sam being alone with Madison, even with Cas there. But Cas seemed to understand her power better than any of them, and Cas would never put Sam in unnecessary danger. He knew the price he would pay, if he did.

Sighing with worry, Dean turned back to Esme and gave her a nervous smile, “I definitely am ready for that drink.”

He pulled her with him as he started walking toward her car, taking her hand and linking his fingers with hers.

—

They had arrived at a dive bar in town, something that was impossible not to see as his style. As they sat at the end of the bar, he raised his hand, smiling that the female bartender seemed to remember his order, from his time spent at Bobby’s. This bar was where he went to get away from everyone, during their days and weeks of research, and he was almost nervous to bring Esme here, considering his relations with basically every female in the building.

He was thankful that the bartender didn’t seem in the mood to play games. She smirked as she took his drink order, and turned to Esme, “And what would you like, sweetheart?”

Dean smirked, wrapping his arm around the back of Esme’s barstool, “Why don’t we start her off with my usual. We’re relaxing.”

The bartender smirked, giving him a small wink as she nodded and turned to grab a bottle of top shelf whiskey and two glasses. She poured a triple in each glass, and slid them in front of Dean and Esme.

“So, about what happened in the park, earlier…”, he started, deciding to get the awkward out early in the alcohol, “Do you pick up where you left off, after nearly a decade with all the guys?”

He smirked as he joked bringing both his hands up to cradle his glass of whiskey.

The raising of Dean’s eyebrow to her offer of driving didn’t go unnoticed, and it made her smile. Esme figured he wasn’t much for being a passenger, but it was nice he went along with her wanting to drive. When Sam came over, the look Dean gave him made her smile a little. She herself worried about Sam being alone with Madison too, but if they both trusted Castiel, she could too. She looked at Dean when she heard his worried sigh and saw his nervous smile, but she gave a small smile in return at his words.

Her smile grew as he pulled her with him, then took her and hand linked his fingers with her. She gave his hand a squeeze before she looked over her shoulder at Sam. “Be careful, Sam. Call us if anything happens.” She caught his nod before she turned her head back and walked to her car with Dean.
___________

As they took their seats at the bar, Esme took a quick look around. This was a place she could see Dean visiting frequently while in town. She then let her eyes fall back on Dean, noticing his smile to the female bartender. She then turned her gaze to the female bartender, noticing how she knew his order. Esme gave her a warm smile as she asked her what she’d like. She was about to answer when Dean wrapped his arm around the back of her barstool and answered for her. She couldn’t help but give a little smirk as well.

The thought of being able to finally relax was almost too hard to believe. She thanked the bartender when she slid her glass to her, then turned to Dean with her hand resting around the glass. She raised an eyebrow at his question, a smirk coming to her lips. Already hitting the awkward questions I see. she thought to herself. “Oh yeah, all the time.” she said, carrying on with the joke. She looked at him, the smirk still resting on her lips that threatened to turn into a grin.

Dean couldn’t help the laugh that escaped as she understood the joke and retorted with her own. He couldn’t help scanning her face as he looked at her in the neon lights of the bar. It was nice. He could already see how relaxed she seemed, just being out of the chaos that was their life, even if just for a little while.

“Me too.”, he quipped back, waggling his eyebrows. He drank his triple in one shot, tapping the glass on the bar to ask for another, turning back to her, “You see…I seem to remember we had some good times. Like, crazy ‘come back soon’ kind of good times.”

He smiled briefly at the bartender as she brought him the bottle.

“And Sam knows nothing about any of it. I don’t figure he expects you to stay around long. But I do…”, he started again, raising his eyebrows at her to make sure she knew he was being honest, “I think you should roll with us, even after tonight…even after all this is over. You have nowhere else to be.”

He leaned in close, clinking his glass against hers, with a smile. He could be manipulative if he wanted to be, and right now, he was torn. On one hand, he wanted to manipulate her into staying, for the company if nothing else. On the other hand, he wanted her as far away as she could get, to keep her safe.

“But I want you safe. What are you thinking right now?”, he asked randomly, scanning her eyes.

Esme’s smirk became a large grin as Dean laughed at her joking back, then she joined in. She had missed hearing his laugh, and it was contagious. She couldn’t help but laugh when he did. She laughed more when he quipped back with his waggling eyebrows. Him downing his shot and asking for another gave her a moment to compose herself and feel just how much she had relaxed in the short time they had been there. “Yes, I seem to remember that myself.” she grinned. A sparkle came to her eye, as she had a memory come to mind of one of their crazy times.

It was of the time they got into a heated pool match after being on a case. To this day, she had no idea how the whole bar got in on it and a fight broke out within the bar. She let the memory fade as he spoke once again and focused on him. It didn’t really surprise her that Sam knew nothing about their crazy times. Sam also seemed like one that wouldn’t expect her to stay around long. She couldn’t hold back the smile when he said he did. Of course he did. She rolled his words around in her mind as she looked at her glass. Sticking around after tonight and even when everything was over.

She had to admit that it sounded nice. And he was right. She didn’t have anywhere else to be after everything was over. The thought of staying and not going it alone again was something hard to pass up, but she also didn’t want to bring the trouble that followed her to him. Esme looked up from her glass when he leaned in and clinked his glass against hers. She sighed softly at his words and looked at him, watching him scan her eyes for a moment, then drank her drink in one shot.

“I know you want me safe, you always have.” she smiled warmly. She fell silent before answering him. “Honestly,,,,.. I’m thinking about a lot right now.” she told him, setting her glass down on the bar. “You really want me to stick around with all my baggage and what seems to follow me?”

He narrowed his eyes at her vague answer to his question, but let it go as he continued to stare at her. He understood that she had her own baggage, but at the same time, bad things seemed to follow he and Sam. The damned apocalypse was looming over their heads, while they dealt with one half’s kid. He scoffed at the thought, “Have you met me? You think I’m not used to baggage and broken people? I practically live off it.”

He laughed, making sure that he didn’t ruin the mood as he took a drink from his glass, and looked away from her, to focus on the wall behind the bar. He finished off his drink, and sat it on the bar, without asking for another.

“Do you want to dance?”, he asked her suddenly, the whiskey making him feel a bit spontaneous. He slipped off his stool, offering a hand to her as a slow song began to play on the jukebox, “C’mon. I’ll do my best not to step on your feet.”

He gave a bright and reassuring smile.

Esme saw the narrowing of his eyes to her vague answer to his question. She knew he wouldn’t like it. She would have answered, but she didn’t want to put a damper on the mood and good time they were having. She gave a little laugh and looked at the bar top as he answered her. She should have known of all people he would understand what it was like, but still didn’t want to bring more on him when he already had a full plate. At his laugh to not ruin the mood, she looked up from the bar top and at him.

She watched him as he finished his drink and didn’t ask for another, which she was expecting he would want another after the day they’ve had. His sudden question took her by surprise, but a warm smile returned to her lips as he slid off his stool. “I’d love to.” She took his hand and slid off her own stool, then stepped up beside him. “I’m sure you can’t be that bad of a dancer.” she laughed. “I might be the one to step on your feet or fall on my face.” she joked.

Esme then wrapped her free arm around him and looked up at him with her own bright smile. “Let’s go make them regret letting us out there.” she laughed. She then gently pulled him out to where others were dancing and to their own little space. Esme released her hold on him and took her place in front of him, then she reached up and placed her hand behind his neck and interlocked her fingers with a smile.

Dean laughed loudly over the music as she agreed that they were both probably bad dancers, but her being the worst. He shook his head, “No way! Your legs are too nice to not be able to dance!”

As she led him out onto the dance floor, he couldn’t help remember back to the last time he had made her dance like this. They were both drunk off their asses, and if he remembered correctly, he was wearing a cowboy hat and no shirt, while they danced around. The night had ended up with a fight, Dean walking away nursing a bloody nose and Esme doing the nursing for him. It seemed to be a pattern. He laughed the memory off, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist.

He lifted her off her feet a bit as he spun her around to the music, and then sat her back down, “I think it’s too late for that. I’m here, drinking and offering to dance. The regret ship has sailed.”

He was a little surprised at how loose he felt after only two triple shots. He was laughing. Hell, he was dancing.

He leaned his forehead against hers as they swayed, trying to resist the urge to kiss her again, like they had in the park. Regardless of how they had left things, the gut feelings he had had about her hadn’t really changed all that much. She was so sweet, yet brutal when she needed to be. She made a strong case for being ‘his type’.

He angled his head down a tad, and touched noses with her, “Would you be upset if I kissed you, right now?”

Esme had given a laugh and shook her head at his comment on her legs.Only he would make a comment like that in a moment like this. As she waited for him to put his arms around her, she too had the same memory. It brought a smile and a laugh along with it. She let the memory fade as he wrapped his arms loosely around her waist. She leaned her head back a little and laughed happily as he lifted off her feet and spun her to the music, then looked back at him when he set her back down. A bright laugh escaped her at his comment about the regret ship had sailed.

“You’re probably right around that.” She sighed in contentment as she watched him and saw how much of a good time he was having, and he only had two triple shots. It was just like old times and they hadn’t even gotten drunk yet. It also felt as if they had never been apart. Esme closed her eyes when Dean rested his forehead against hers as they swayed to the music. Every feeling that she had pushed down about Dean after her father’s death to fully focus was flooding back. They were consuming her once again and they made her heart flutter and almost put butterflies within her stomach.

She could still hear her father’s words about him, saying he was a bad boy and he didn’t want his daughter around a bad boy. But her father didn’t see the caring and protective side of Dean she had seen. So apparently her type were bad boys, and it always made her laugh thinking about it. Esme opened her eyes when he touched noses with her, then tilted her head up so he didn’t have to angle his head so much. A warm smile came to her lips at his words. “You’re actually asking me this time?” She gave a little laugh and gently rubbed her nose against his, then kissed him as she closed her eyes.