Castiel

Castiel frowned at Bobby's response to him, he'd studied somewhat about human civilization both with his superiors as well as by exploring the heavens of some of the deceased who were granted admittance into heaven. Both to satisfy his curiosity and also as of recent to learn more to be more well suited for his interaction with Dean & other humans.

"Again I'm not the most well qualified to determine what might be a fun or jovial experience, but even I'm able to discern that any sort of encounter with the demonic lord of the dead will be none of those things. I do not know what beach you are refering to when you mention that, but it must not be one that I have ever been stationed at or aware of in all my time working for Heaven. I promise you this will not be a fun experience, nor do I appreciate if this is what you all call humor. Six of my brothers have died in the field this past week, and 75 hunters also perished during that same time frame." Castiel said scorning them for their sarcasm, not knowing it was a tool they utilized to keep sane but rather perceiving it now as them not taking this mission seriously.

"Dean you realize that liberating you out the hotbox left an interdimensional rift behind that also allowed Lilith to release several demons from hell. How often do you think an innocent man winds up in hell, I assure you it is nowhere near the amount of times you humans especially in more barbaric & dark ages put innocents among your people in prison. Almost every human who makes a deal with a demon is one who is filled with greed, pride or one of the other seven deadly sins. What I'm saying is almost without fail the humans that make deals with demons are ones who were already going to hell or would have worked their way to earning a spot there on their own with or without communion with the demons. In the past 700 years the only instances of that happening that I am aware of are you & your father. Luckily in the case of John Winchester when you are all were led by the yellow eyed demon to open that hell gate, he managed to claw his way out allowing us to immediately snatch him up to Heaven after you all slew that monster. However for you Dean no such gate was open, we angels had to lead a militaristic force to break you out, this not only allowed a flood of demons to emerge but demons typically too powerful too emerge to earth also made the trip and in swarms. Our mission to liberate you indirectly allowed great evil to rummage this planet, yet our father still declared it necessary both to avoid an innocent man from lounging about in eternal torment and also because of you being the chosen one to save mankind. " Castiel lectured briefly explaining some of the consequences to natural order that breaking Dean out of Hell cauesd.

"That being said you will be faced with many a threats that are a different caliber then the monsters you've been raised to fight. For the sake of the lives lost both human & Angel, you taking this very seriously would be much appreciated. Lastly I'm not suppose to tell you this, but I...I..'ve heard much about you Dean Winchester & the company you keep. Such as that you are very capable at combating evil especially for humans, but in truth there are some battles that Heaven dosen't even want you to risk your life fighting. This is one of them, and in some situations the alternative that is usually implemented is utter angelic annihilation of the entire area. To put this in simplistic terms because the possibility of a threat as grave as Samhain is at stake, to 100% prevent that we would lay waste to not only the entire town but all the surrounding towns as well. Just my garrison alone could use our collective grace as a heavenly missile or bomb for lack of a better word, that would disintegrate everything caught in the blast human, monster, demon, witch or otherwise. Every angels concern for the preservation of all human life at all costs is not created equally, there are some like me who wish to spare & save every life, while there are others who lay waste to few to save many without blinking an eye as a prefered method."

"The power i described pales in comparison to the devil's by himself alone, the same experience you had in Hell he will be able to make ALL humans experience on earth.I say all this to paint a vivid picture of why there are angels who are willing to lay waste to an entire state to save a seal that imprisons absurdly powerful demons like Samhain. With that being said I must go, I fear I've said too much already. I just wanted you to know both the ramifications your liberation from the pit had on the earth, as well as how many lives are at stake with this assignment should you fail or even cause my superiors to "think" you will fail." Hurry and get a move on saving this seal immediately." Cas said with finalty in his tone, before he vanished into thin air accompanied by a fluttering of wings.

When Cason moved to Esme’s side and grabbed her hand she thought little of it, she didn’t even look in his direction. She mostly played it off as his instincts kicking in as she kept her focus on Castiel. She stayed quiet as Castiel spoke to them, but mostly to Dean, taking in and processing everything she heard come from his mouth and also Dean’s. Esme was surprised by what she was hearing, but not quite as surprised as she thought she should be. It was just something that came with the job of being a hunter, which made it hard for things to really surprise her about certain aspects of cases. After everything she had witnessed in her time as a hunter, thinks that revolved around the supernatural were almost nothing, but there were things about humans that would surprise her to no end. It was a little funny to her on how that worked.

When Castiel’s attention when to Cason and Annabeth, Esme grew tense at his words to Dean. She stood straighter and moved slightly so that stood in a spot that she shielded Cason and Annabeth both, even if Sam and Natalia were protecting Annabeth as well, her eyes narrowed. But it seemed her action was for not for Cason disappeared with a pop, leaving her standing there on her own. So she moved a little more, so she was closer to Natalia, Sam, and Annabeth with a small sigh. She wasn’t going to let her be smited by Castiel, she had been helpful and had done nothing against them. “You will do no such thing.” she stated firmly almost at the same time Natalia and Sam spoke. Esme knew she wasn’t a match against an angel, but she wasn’t going to let Castiel just up and kill her without a fight.

She also knew that their words were more than likely falling on deaf ears, since Castiel only seemed to listen to what Dean had to say. Her gaze shifted more to Dean, waiting for him to say something to stop Castiel from doing anything. When he did, a wave of slight relief washed over her. Esme continued to watch Dean and listen to what he said to Castiel. Her fists clenched as she stood there, her eyes dropping for a moment as she heard Annabeth speak, then went back to Dean and Castiel. At Castiel’s words and powering down, she relaxed slightly and moved back to her original spot. She placed her palms on the table and leaned into them, her gaze dropping to the table as Castiel continued to speak to Dean. Her gaze lefted slightly at the mention of Annabeth having a deeper connection with Lilith than Sam, this was new news to her.

Esme kept silent though, just leaning against the table and taking it all in. Her fingers gripped at the table, her nails slightly digging into its surface as she felt Dean’s anger rise and Annabeth’s nervousness rise. Her eyes closed tightly as Dean snapped at Sam, but was relived when he didn’t continue on. Now was not the time for that discussion. They needed to focus on what they needed to do for the seals to remain unbroken. Opening her eyes, she lifted her gaze as Dean took the note from Castiel’s hand. When Dean looked around at them after looking at the note and saying it sounded easy, she pushed herself upright and gave a small smile and a nod, letting him know she had his back on this. When Bobby came over, she watched his actions. She too was wondering about the question he asked Castiel. They needed more information before going out to take care of it.

She watched Bobby walk to the fridge and pull out three beers for himself, Dean, and Castiel. At Bobby’s works, she nodded in agreement. It was definitely going to be that, no doubt about it. Esme watched Dean take the beers from Bobby and open Castiel’s before handing it to him. Her gaze fell on Castiel, watching him as he inspected the beer before taking a sip and thanked Dean. She lifted an eyebrow when he then downed the entire beer and spoke. Spending time with this guy was definitely going to be a challenge for her. He was strange and one of the driest people she had met. She pushed that aside as he continued to talk and then answered Bobby’s question, his words causing her to cross her arms over her chest. Of course, he didn’t have any more information for them. That’s how it always seemed to work out, but at least he could tell them a little more.

Esme turned her head to Natalia when she spoke to her about helping her grab the beers from the garage, noting the tone she used. “Umm, sure. I can give you a hand.” she replied. She then walked around the table and met up with Natalia and walked out into the garage with her and seeing Cason standing there smoking next to Dean’s Impala. Esme saw her nod of acknowledgment to Cason before Natalia turned to her and spoke. She opened her mouth to respond, but closed it when Cason spoke up and turned her gaze in his direction. “I agree with you on that.” she replied with a sigh. “No, he didn’t tell us where they are, but gave us, or rather Dean, a location to go to.” Esme turned her attention back to Natalia, the look on her face slightly troubled. “Honestly…... I don’t have any idea if we can stop it from being broken or not, but can we really stand by and not try?” she asked her.

The thought of just sitting back and letting it happen hadn’t crossed her mind. She felt the need to go there and at least give it her all to try and stop the seal from being broken. She knew it could be a long shot and that one of them could possibly be killed or seriously injured in the process, but she still had to try, even if that person was her that ended up seriously injured or dead. Esme then looked Natalia fully in the face to read her and see what she could be thinking.

Dean rolled his eyes at Castiel’s long winded response to Bobby’s words and his own. But as the words washed over him, he narrowed his eyes, realizing that Castiel was literally telling him that the entirety of the situation they were fighting was because he was resurrected. The self hatred that Dean fought with every day began to bubble up, and the fear that he was better off dead took over as he swallowed and stared at Castiel’s face as he continued.

Dean frowned a bit deeper as Castiel explained that the angels would obliterate the town they were headed to, if they failed to save the seal, “Now hold on a second…”.

It was power they had never dealt with before, and a concept that Dean couldn’t sit back and let happen. They had to stop this seal, no matter what it took, or thousands of people were going to die.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, but when he opened them, Castiel was gone, “Don’t give me time to respond, you dick!”

Dean screamed the words up at the ceiling, slamming a fist on the table in front of him. He glanced around the room at everyone, trying to keep his cool, but he was terrified. Now, the angels were giving them make or break tasks, and it was something that he couldn’t fathom without stress.

“Well, I guess we had better try, right?”, he turned his eyes to Mika and shrugged. He shot a glance toward his brother, momentarily remembering that Castiel had said something about Annabeth's demon blood activities, "And on the way, me and Sammy are going to have a conversation..."

MIKA CHAMBERS AND SAM WINCHESTER

As Castiel went into the long winded answer to such a simple question, both Mika and Sam listened and found their minds being blown over everything that was being said to them. It was such a lot to take in and both of them looked at Dean briefly when Castiel kept reiterating how this was all because he was ressurected. That was a bombshell that no one deserved to hear and both of them knew in that second that Dean would only blame himself for everything once again. Mika particularly coiuld read Dean like a open book and knew what he was thinking. She had those thoughts of being better off dead far too often over the years that she just knew when Dean was having those exact thoughts.

It broke her heart to know that what Castiel was telling him was having this effect on the love of her life and what surprised her even more was that she was glad that Esme wasn't in the room at this moment as her empath ability would have been in overdrive very rapidly. She couldn't believe she was thinking it but low and behold she was. Like Mika, Sam also could tell that Dean was far from okay with hearing the information but he couldn't tell exactly what going through his head like Mika could because he didn't know about what happened in Hell, unlike Mika who did know.

When Castiel said how if they failed the Angels would literally nuke the whole town, that was news that didn't sit well with either of them, the look of disapproval, anger and shock all evident in their faces to everyone in the room. There was no way either of them woiuld just let a town be nuked if they failed to keep the seal that raised Samhain got broken. They'd rather have their own lives on the line than have a town full of innocent people get hurt or killed.

Then Castiel left in a blink of an eye before they could drill anything else out of the Angel. Mika flicnhed ever so slightly when Dean slammed his fits on the table she was sat at, looking up at him and placing a hand ontop of his to try and give him some comfort and silently letting him know that they will succeed in doing this, or at least do their damnest to make it succeed.

Sam saw the look he got from his brother and he couldn't help but sigh when Dean declared that they were going to be having a long chat on the way to the location. He nodded his agreement to have the chat, even though he knew Annabeth probably wouldn't want to travel with anyone else, even if it would be safer if she rode with Mika whilst the chat happened. "Anna can ride with me whilsrt you have the chat" Mika told Sam, giving Annabeth a glance behind Sam to say 'trust me, you won't wanna be in the car with them during their chats'.

NATALIA WINCHESTER

In the garage with Esme and Cason, she began rummaging in the outside storage, pulling out quite a few beers, putting them on the work desk nearest to Esme as she did so and Cason spoke up about her question to Esme. She sighed when Cason answered a question meant for Esme but let it slide this time. They did however have bigger issues to deal with than people answering questions not meant for them.

She nodded at what Esme was saying, agreeing wholly that they couldn't just let a town be at risk with Samhain roaming the Earth if they didn't try to stop it. Her face showing how she was thinking what Esme was saying. "I agree with you, theres no way I'd feel comfortable with letting that seal break and a town be victims to who knows what as Samhain walks the damn Earth" she replied.

She then looked at Cason, "yeah that's exactly what I said before you ask" she said before he could even repeat what she said as if he misheard her. "Castiel gave Dean a location of a town where the next seal is to break. Said we have to stop it from happening or Samhain gets risen again" she told him, sighing again. She opened three of the bottles of beer whilst the three of them were outside and handed one to Esme then one to Cason, deciding that they seriously did need it, even if she was about to drive.

"Guess we should bring in these bottles to everyone else and see what else was mentioned" she then said to Esme.

Josiah

Pesky coven of witches, that was something. He'd snuck into the couple's house, that had required help from divine breaker. They'd placed some enchantment on the front door, a few moments later his glowing right hand had helped him dispel that. Then he went snooping around the good thing about being the one who had the jump on them was not having to worry about surprise hex bags making something nasty happen to him.

Still they were working with the witches across town who sought to break the seal. So he had to be alert and see what he could find. Not only that but he thought back to the conversation earlier, how he was assured that his mother was still alive. That they could liberate her from the demons or even take him to do it himself. Either option was fine with him, as long as the left his little sister out of it.

As he crept alongside the corner of a wall he could hear the couple conversing about the actions of their friends across town & their desire to shatter a seal.

"These are quite perilous times for the humans aren't they, the final days are among us. Well at least for them or rather their reign. Honestly I quite like this world, I just wish we could change some things so it was more like the old days where we were feared and in charge" The female witch spoke to her husband who locked lips with her and backed away to show her something in a book.

"I do agree with you entirely Loraine, that's why I've always felt calling this spectacle we're putting together more of a new beginning, taking the planet back to it's rightful state, where humans are second class citizens who live in fear to the superior creatures who deserve rightful ownership of this realm."

Loraine smirked "Oh your so right Gideon, but I suppose before any of that we should deal with the intruder. Can you believe this foolish hunter is trying to stop Don's plans?" The witch said and Josiah felt a shiver go down his spine knowing that that the two witches had identified him. He still didn't make himself known drawing his knife in one hand and a gun in the other, happy that he was ambidextrous.

"Oh fine well I'll send someone to play with you." Loraine yelled out and a clone of her appeared in-front of Josiah. The clone then growled, starting to mutate. Josiah lunged forward slashing at the mutated clone with his blade, only for the clone to form claws blocking it. The clone then began taking on a humanoid wolf appearance and growled biting at Josiah who narrowly avoided getting his neck chomped off. The laughter of the two witches in the living room served to annoy Josiah who elbowed the wolf creature sending it crashing through the wall. This provided an opening for Gideon who used a blast of magical energy sending it surging into Josiah's chest causing him to yell in pain as he was blasted into the stair-case.

"Well Well Well what do we have here look at his right arm honey, that's the divine breaker, you wouldn't happen to be here on business from some pesky angels on your shoulder would you" Gideon asked while Loraine cast a spell causing Josiah to be hoisted into the air and slammed against the wall behind the staircase, as gray energy swirled around Josiah. This caused cuts to appear on his left arm drawing blood which was absorbed into the grey energy then shot back into Loraine's palm who then absorbed it.

"Now I've searched his memories, in-fact the angels warned him not to come here or he wouldn't be under their watchful eyes, which means." Loraine's voice trailed off.

"He's a toy that we can play with to our liking." Gideon said with an evil look as Josiah drew his weapon only for Loraine to use telekinesis to fling his gun away.

"Well heads up I use to break all my toys when I was a kid, so gun or no gun you won't find me a easy toy to play with."

"Oh well we'll see what Wolfaine has to say about that, devour him my precious." Loraine said with a sinistr snarl as the wolf-clone growled and lunged towards the now disarmed Josiah.

Dean stood a bit straighter, letting his shoulders fall as he felt Mika’s hand over his. He looked down at her and softened his expression, feeling bad that he was losing his temper. He had fought really hard against the rage and the fire inside his chest that he had dealt with since going to Hell, but sometimes it just bubbled over the surface.

“I’m sorry…”, he muttered quietly to Mika, an apology for being so aggressive and making her flinch, something he never wanted to do, “I’m gonna go get dressed and then we can head out. We have work to do. Sammy. Get dressed.”

He pulled Mika’s hand up to his lips and gave her knuckles a kiss before stepping away from her to go get into his work clothes.

Annabeth nodded at Mika's offer for her to ride with her. She didn’t want to leave Sam, as she felt safe pretty much only when she was touching him. But she also knew that if Dean and Sam were going to fight the entire ride, it would be a pretty explosive and potentially dangerous situation. She didn’t understand how Dean drove so well, glaring at people in the car with him.

“I think that sounds like a good idea. You guys need some time…you can work on him.”, she leaned forward and whispered in Sam’s ear, before giving him a small kiss against the side of his neck, “I’ll just meet up with you, when we get there, and I’ll have my phone.”

Their connection was relatively strong, now that they fully recognized each other, and the connection had formed a bit of clinginess, at least on Anna’s side, as she feared losing him again, above all else.



Cason opened his mouth to speak, his eyebrows raised almost into his hairline as Natalia mentioned the seal they were working on being Samhain. THE Samhain. He shook his head, taking a beer from her, and then took a long drink, his eyes still a bit wide.

“Where do we even start, with a demon that powerful? Like…this is stuff that I don’t even have a lot of information about. I mean, I know the angels and demons are fighting. Why do you think I’m chilling here in the Bobby Singer resort and spa? I’m staying out of the mess.”, Cason explained, pointing his beer toward Bobby’s house, “But if they’re raising this dude, he’s got some serious power. The odds of us being able to actually stop it are pretty slim…”

He hated to be the Debbie Downer, but he also had to be realistic. The team consisted of two demon blood addicts, a wayward demon, a drunk, the drunks girlfriend, an empath, and a hard ass hunter he hadn’t felt out yet. Getting everyone on the same page would be nearly impossible.

“I guess if there was ever a day to die, at least it’s sunny outside!”, he said joyfully, stepping away from the Impala with his beer, and heading back inside.

MIKA CHAMBERS AND SAM WINCHESTER

Seeing Dean's shoulders fall as he calmed down from his momentary outburst made Mika internally sigh with rleief that the simple act of her placing her hand ontop of his helped him. It gave her hope that she still had the ability to calm him down as well. As he looked down at her and muttered his apology, she gave him a soft look and soft shake of the head, "don't be its okay" she said just as quietly, but loud enough for him to hear and him only. She was there for him and she was going to do her damnest to let him know that, even if it meant her feeling like she had to make more of an effort now that she knows Esme was that calming presence for him.

She gave a nod at him saying about going to get dressed, something she needed to do properly herself as she was in lounge wear still. "I'll meet you up there" she told him as he kissed her knuckles and walked away as Sam nodded and sighed, this drive was going to be possibly chaotic or tense emotionally which he wasn't looking forward to, but he was going to do his damnest to defend Annabeth until he couldn't speak anymore and his throat would be hoarse. If it would come to that.

Sam listened to Annabeth whisper to him after Mika gave her offer to drive Annabeth, giving Mika a look of gratefulness for offering to take Annabeth in her car. "Thanks Anna" he whispered back, showing her that he was grateful to her as well for letting him have this time to talk with his brother alone. He knew as well as Mika and Natalia did that in these moments, he had to bring his brother round to his way of thinking on his own and not have others involved.

He let go of Annabeth and headed downstairs to the basement where his bag was and grabbed some clean clothes, getting dressed and raking his hands through his hair to tidy it up a bit. He was dreading this chat with Dean, but the sooner it got done, the better it would be for everyone. Once done, he headed back upstairs to the main part of the house and waited for everyone else to finish getting ready.

Mika saw stood up as the boys exited the kitchen and gave Annabeth the look that said 'they'll be fine'. "I won't be long, Nat should be back inside soon enough, i'm gonna get changed and I'll be right down. Feel free to get yourself a drink and anything else you wanna bring in the car." she told the woman with a smile, suddenly seeing that young girl from years ago all over again on the kitchen counter.

NATALIA WINCHESTER

The moment Cason reacted to the mention of Samhain she knew they were possibly utterly screwed but that wasn't going to stop her from damn well trying to stop this seal from breaking and raising the bastard demon. She nodded at his words, actually appreciating that he was being straight with them. "It may be utterly pointless, but we gotta try...right? But I appreciate you being honest with us over this" she told him back.

At his next remark, Nat found herself raising an eyebrow at how he could go from doom and gloom to acting like it was the cheeriest day ever. She grabbed some of the beer in the box that wasn't already open, as well as her open beer, balancing both things in both of her hands and looked at Esme, "GUess we should head inside and see when everyone is wanting to leave. Sooner rather than later...right?" she commented.

With that said, she then walked out of the garage and headed inside with everything, walking straight to the fridge seeing that the boys were already out of the kitchen getting dressed, and Mika was heading out and upstairs as well. "Guess everyone is getting ready to leave?" she asked Annabeth as she stocked the fridge with the beer, keeping her own one out.

Josiah

"Enough is enough I'll show you what your up against." Josiah yelled out, as the beast clone charged. Josiah performed a sweep kick tripping up the monster then his right arm began glowing with a blue hue. The hue then surrounded his whole body except the rest of the hue around him aside from his arm was white, with a focus on his dreads which emenated the most white energy. I told Nat I wouldn't focus on my powers, but perhaps that's not the answer. But neither is abandoning my skills as a hunter I need a dual combination

"Oh please your bringing out your little tricks that won't help" Gideon yelled out casting a spell, the floor boards came to life and formed tendrils surging forward towards Josiah. He performed a karate chop with his right hand using divine breaker to disperse the spell, as the beast woman charged Josiah spun around and kicked the creature sending it plummeting through a wall.

Loraine used her telekinetic power to fling a piano towards Josiah only for him to emit a blue aura that caused the piano to drop to the ground. He then lunged forward grabbing his blade and rolled out of the way of thet monster trying to punch him. He then got up and lunged forward tossing the knife to his left hand. "Night nigh freak." Josiah punched the mutated clone with his right hand causing her to revert to normal, then twirled his machete around cutting off the clone's head.

"What the hell was that" Loraine called out firing another magical blast only for Josiah to swing his arm dispersing the blast. As she fired more Josiah charged forward punching through the blasts before sliding forward and grabbing his gun causing Gideon o cast a spell sending a surge of magic fire at him.

Josiah transfered the blueish hue to his right leg kcking upwards dispelling the fire blast then pulling the trigger firing two shots into Gideon's chest causing him to cough up blood as he fell to the ground bleeding. "How did mere bullets..."The witch called out in shock only for Josiah to lunge forward and plunge his machete into Gideon's forehead then jerk it out tossing his limp body against the stairwell with a thud.

"Witch killing bullets, combined with your powers?! You bastard that was my husband!!!" Loraine yelled calling out another spell that made the floor came to life surging upwards slamming Josiah through the ceiling, then using her powers to fling his gun full of anti witch bullets away.

"No!" Josiah yelled out as she caused vines full of poision to surge forward towards Josiah only for him to jump off from some of the debris created by crashing through the ceiling and use his right hand to punch towards the vines. The blue hue emitting from his right hand disintegrating the vines as he neared the witch and threw another punch shattering a magical barrier she had cast around her.

"No! My defenses! Damn it, so that's the power of your hand to nullify suprnatural phenomnen whether from a physical manifestatio created by magic or an actual spell itself!" Loraine cried out as she pulled out her own trump card a gun of sorts, and pulled the trigger while casting a spell.

Josiah braced himself to defend with his right hand, excep the spell targeted the upper ceiling above him causing it to surge with demonic energy and fall towards Josiah from behind like an evil meteor shower that pelted him into the ground. The hunter slammed into the ground yelling out in pain as his back was struck by the projectile attacks. "Your ability does have a weakness though it seems to come from that right arm of yours, so attacking you from behind leaves you just as vulnerable as any other pathetic hunter!"

Damn it she figured it out so quick, at least I managed to kill one of them before they did but let's see her figure her way out of this Josiah had landed somewhat near his gun with the witch bullets and rolled to the side trying to retrieve the gun only for her to cast a spell that caused the gun's shooting mechanism to lock.

Josiah grabbed onto to the gun and tried to pull the triger to no avail only to be struck in the shoulder by shattered glass Loraine flung at him with telekinesis. "Oh you thought those bullets of yours would help, listen here bastard! Your going to leave the earth today just like my husband!"

"Shut the hell up." Josiah yelled out trying to stand but fell to one knee. Loraine smirked and used her power to lift up several pieces of glass only for Josiah to whip out a second gun firing shots. These weren't witch killing bullets but salt rounds which was good enough to blast back the shards she was flinging at him.

"Salt rounds sorry honey but I'm not a vengeful spirit yet, but I'll happily make you one if you can't accept that your time is up now!"

Right then and there Josiah fully stood up and charged. He tossed his witch killing gun at the witch who flung at aside easily, which provided the opening he hoped for. Lunging forward he drew his machete and dove downwards slashing through her waist cutting her in half before crashing into a wall right behind the cut up witch.

"Fuck that wasn't easy, now I need to search this place, get some clues and get the fuck outta here I'm in no shape to fight two more witches not to mention if I run into the ones trying to raise Samhain. But I need some insight into their plans to break the seal." Josiah spoke to himself spurning himself to get a second wind standing up as both the blue & white aura's around him vanished. Usually his power was easy to mesh with fighting the supernatural, but witches were particularly tricky opponents for him depending on how many spells they had as each seperate spell would require him to use his power seperately to counter them. I should have gotten another gun with witch bullets instead of relying on my arm but whatever, at least Nat wasn't here I'd never hear the end of that

Esme watched Natalia as she reacted to her question, happy to see that she wholly agreed with what she said and how she felt about the situation. She nodded softly at Natalia’s response, taking in her words and knowing she meant what she said. When Natalia turned to Cason, her gaze followed and listened as Natalia confirmed what she had said. As Natalia sighed, so did she, feeling that this was almost an impossible task to complete. She gladly took the beer offered to her and took a long drink from it, even though she knew she was about to drive. She felt she needed it after the way she woke up and now being hit with this news. With her emotions and nerves high, she seriously needed something to calm them, and a beer would definitely do the trick. Luckily for her, she had a little something in her stomach to keep the effects to a minimum.

Esme’s gaze when back to Natalia when she spoke to her. “Right.” she said with a nod. She knew they had discussed more while they were out in the garage getting the beer and talking. She looked at the kitchen door. Esme could feel the rise of emotions coming from the kitchen, even with the bit of distance that was between her and the others. Her brows knitted together a bit and wondered what had been said or done to cause it. Cason's’ words pulled her attention away from the kitchen do and to him, her brows still knitted together as she took in what he said. Esme sighed heavily at his words, not being able to hold it back, but glad he was being honest with them. She knew how slim their chances were of stopping it from happening, especially with the team they had. She didn’t need to hear him say it to know that. But they still had to try to keep it from happening and keep the people in the town from becoming innocent victims.

At Natalia’s words to Cason, she nodded softly in agreement. It could be pointless, but they had to try and stop the seal from being broken, that much was for sure. At Cason’s next statement, she shook her head at how he went from gloomy to joyful, then watched as he headed inside. Of course, that would be his way to handle the situation at the moment. When Natalia gathered the beer and looked at her, Esme looked back at her and nodded at her comment. “Yeah, I’m hoping sooner rather than later myself.” she replied as she followed behind Natalia. Once inside, she found a place to stand and wait for everyone to return from getting dressed. She leaned against the counter, crossed her arms over her chest as Natalia asked Annabeth her question. Esme could still feel the rage that was once high in the room but had been calmed, it was easy for her to tell who it was from and glad that it had been calmed.

Esme projected some of her own emotion into the room to clear it of the rage that lingered to keep herself from feeling it. Once she was satisfied, she stopped and took a drink of her her beer after giving a soft sigh. As she stood there, she found herself going over things in her mind of how things could possibly play out when they arrived in the town to take care of things. She tried her hardest to keep things on a positive track, but negative thoughts kept worming their way in and causing her to grip her bottle of beer tightly.

Dean walked upstairs, digging in his side of the closet for a suit to take with them on the road. He walked back over to the bed and threw the suit bag down, before picking his duffel off the floor, and unzipping it to find a t-shirt. As he stood there, he closed his eyes and leaned his head down toward his chest, taking a deep breath.

He hadn’t had time to really process being alive, much less that he was the number one fighter in the angel arsenal. Every time another scenario popped up that involved angels and demons, his heart sank a bit lower. Being alive was beginning to feel more like a punishment than salvation.

Dean opened his eyes, stepping back from the bed to scan the room and calm down. His eyes fell on the back of Mika’s vanity chair and he smirked, seeing her jeans there. Being able to touch little things that belonged to her, and that seemed mundane grounded him. He picked up the jeans, and laid them out on the bed beside his shirt. Dipping into her set of drawers, he pulled one of her plain t-shirts, and threw it onto the bed by her jeans.

He then picked up his own t-shirt and threw it over his head, popping his arms through and then glanced down at his bloody jeans that he was still wearing from the night before. Unbuttoning them, he shoved them down his legs as he heard Mika coming toward the room and smirked.



Anna climbed down from the counter as Sam stepped away from her, with a sigh. She glanced down at her clothes and smirked, deciding to just stay like she was for the day. As Mika left to go get dressed as well, Anna simply picked at her nails and leaned against the counter, waiting patiently for Sam to return.

She didn’t like the idea of being anywhere away from him, as the group didn’t know much about her, other than she was sort of like Sam, and that she was powerful. She still wasn’t convinced that Dean didn’t want to kill her, but she also didn’t think Mika did. So, at least she would be with someone that didn't look at her like a monster.
As Natalia approached the fridge Anna looked down at her and nodded, “Yeah. Dean went up first. So, I figure he’s preparing himself for a fight with Sam, considering they’re riding alone.”

She sighed and crossed her arms, glancing over at Esme. She couldn’t help noticing that Esme seemed a bit stressed, like she was fighting with something in her mind. Even as Cason stepped through the door, and stared a hole into Anna’s head, she didn’t turn her eyes from Esme. She wondered if the powers Esme had used to help her, were also what caused Esme herself so much pain. The thought caused Anna to frown, her hands heating up a bit in need to help.

“So, what are the car pairings?”, Cason’s voice broke through the silence, causing Anna to flinch.

“I’m riding with Mika and Sam and Dean are together. I don’t know beyond that. What have you guys decided?”, Anna asked, glancing down at Natalia.

“I’m riding with Esme!”, Cason chirped, causing Anna to roll her eyes and sigh with a smirk at Natalia. She raised her eyes to Sam, as he came back from the basement and stepped away from the counter to walk over to him as Cason followed her with his eyes.

MIKA CHAMBERS

Mika didn't feel too great about leaving Anna alone in the kitchen as she went to go get ready but she knew Natalia would be back soon enough with Esme, which was proven as she heard them entering the house again as she just exited the kitchen and reached the staircase. As she ascended the staircase, she couldn't help but hope Dean was alright, even though she knew deep down deep inside he most certainly wasn't. She hoped that no matter how bad he was feeling inside, she would be able to help in some way and find the Dean she knew and loved in him again.

Reaching their room, she walked in as she noticed his smirk at her coming up. Looking around to see he was already setting things aside to pack into his duffel and then her eyes landed on one of her rare proper tshirts and her only pair of jeans that were on the back of her chair, but now on the bed with said tshirt. "One would think you're implying I wear leggings too much" she smirked as she walked over to him and slid her arms round his waist. Her tone teasing. She knew what a lot of hunters and her family thought about her wearing her many faux leather thick leggings to do a hunt, she had heard it plenty of times from Bobby 'you need to wear proper pants woman!' 'would a pair of jeans actually hurt ya?!' having been told to her more times than she could count.

Kissing his cheek, she forced herself to step away from him and to her clothing where she began to change her vest to the black fitted tshirt he pulled out for her, then she perched on the edge of the bed and switched her lounge pants to the jeans he laid out for her, standing up as she pulled them up and over her ass and buttoning them up. With her clothing suitably on and catching ehr reflection in her mirror, she wondered who the hell was the woman staring back at her. She really wasn't used to wearing such mundane clothing as it had been so long since she wore anything of the sort.

She grabbed her boots and leaning slightly on her the back of her chair, she pulled each one on and laced them up before grabbing her own duffel and beginning to shove some things inside that she thought she might need. She turned ehr head over her shoulder to look at Dean to check on him, knowing she was going to be worried sick about his mental health for a fair while. "You doing okay?" she asked him.

NATALIA AND SAM WINCHESTER

With Annabeth replying to her, Natalia nodded at what was said. It wasn't all that surprising that the brothers would be riding alone in Dean's car after what was discovered when the Angel was in the room. She had been in the back seat a couple of times when they needed one their 'chats' and quite frankly it drove her to getting her own car all that much more quicker because she couldn't take it. She just wanted to exit the car or bang their heads together when they got like that, so the idea of Anna getting the refuge of Mika's car was a relief to the woman.

"Trust me, best call. I've been stuck in the car when they've had their 'chats' and yeesh, it was excruiating" she told her. "let's just say when Bobby helped me get my own car it was the best day of my life" she smirked. "And Mika is cool, even if you've not witnessed much of it, but she's a good one." she reassured her, still unaware that Anna and Mika met years ago when they were much younger as Anna convicned Sam to run away with her.

She glanced over to follow Anna's gaze, seeing it was on Esme and she too could notice that the lingering vibes in the room did seem to have some kind of effect on Esme. She felt sorry for her, being around such a chaotic family when she was an empath. It certainly made her glad she had no special powers of any kind and she definitely did not want any. At Cason and Anna discussing the driving set ups, she realised she would be driving alone which suited her just fine.

"I get my car to myself! Nice!" She joked, smirking back at Anna as she was trying to lift the feeling of the room when Sam returned and Anna went straight to him making her smile.

Sam smiled at Anna coming to him as he put an arm round her shoulders giving her the look of 'you alright?', managing to say it all with just a glance and not saying a single word out loud. He then looked around the room, "guessing that means everyone knows who they're riding with?" he asked, Nat nodding in confirmation, "Yeah it does. You and Dean, Anna and Meeko, Esme and Cason and then me myself and I" She replied.

Josiah & Natalia

After rummaging through the belongings of the now deceased witch couple house he did uncover some intel about the enemies plan to shatter the seal In the next town over. Afterwards he gathered his bearings & departed from there. On the way back to the motel he stopped to grab a bite to eat. Additionally he put more stress on his body using divine breaker to counteract a hex bag that was planted underneath his car which of course led to a fight & eventual ganking of the third witch in an ally by the diner spot.

Three outta four witches in this town’s coven are dead, my best bet is to kill the last one so they can’t warn the two sons of bitches actually trying to break the seal in the next town overJosiah thought to himself as he settled into the motel opting to smoke inside just in case he was followed or being watched. He whipped out his phone and pulled up Nat’s contact. “I don’t have Singers number in my new phone, so my best bet is to call Nat.” He decided and pressed down on her name to give her a ring.

As Natalia was waiting for everyone to be done getting ready in the house, she finished her beer and pulled out her car keys of her pocket, swinging the keyfob round one of her fingers as she waited. It was then she felt her phone vibrating in her other pocket and wondered what made her so damn popular lately as she pulled her phone out and saw it was Josiah.

Clicking to connect the call, she held he rphone up to her ear, "what's up now?" she greeted him in her usual manner.

Josiah was walking around the motel room puffing on a joint and sipping honey jack on the rocks as he awaited Nat to pick up. Unlike many hunters who stuck to drinking he prefered a low cross fade to be at his absolute best, the added paranoia from a bit of trees kept him on extra guard. "Hey Nat" He exclaimed happy she picked up. "Look I need to talk to you, I've got some info that's relevant to you or well the Winchesters specifically. Remember that stuff I was talking about earlier, the witnesses. Well listen to this and I promise it's not some nonsense I stumbled on while getting too high. The witnesses is one of the seals, there's over 600 of them, but get this if the demons break at least 66 of them then Lucifer will walk the earth again." He finished wondering if she'd think he was just super inebriated not knowing she'd met an angel herself earlier.

From the way Josiah greeted her on the phone, Nat knew instantly he was getting high once again, making her pinch the bridge of her nose even though he couldn't see it. She listened to him ramble on, explaining everything that Castiel told them all earlier. "yeah we know. Had a visit from an Angel who told us. We're all heading out to to one now to try and stop it from being broken. I'll text you the location so you can meet us there if you want. Seems we gotta stop Samhain from being risen again" she replied to him. "and when you do, sober up a bit please?" she requested. She didn't have too much of an issue with him smoking joints, but drugs were a bit of a difficult subject for her as she spent years being pumped with drugs in the asylum against her will. Something she never ever said to anyone.

Josiah wondered if Nat would be able to tell he was a bit buzzed, that damn paranoia got to him already so he ashed the joint and decided to focus on his cup of jack. "Wait wait wait you guys are friends with angels too? Well I'm not friends with mine." Josiah flashed back to Uriel's rude behavior and quickly got back on the subject at hand. "Damn it Nat I think we're working the same case, that's why I called. I'm in the next town over hunting a coven of witches that's working with the witches trying to break the seal. Anyway I've got bad news, Samhain is the demon lord of the undead, so the witches used recruited a bunch of demons & vampires to come to the town where the seal is, and there assignment is to hunt down any and all winchesters that show up to interfere. Worst it seems they've carved some type of spell called enochian into the bodies of the demons & vampires they recruited, which means no angels can find them." Josiah continued explaining the lengths the witches were going to ensure Samhain was revived.

Natalia listened to what Josiah was saying, sighing as he all but told her in his own way that it was an Angel that told him about the seals as well. When he told her they were already on the same case, she knew it was one less thing she would need to sort out and sending him the location wasn't needed. The extra news he gave her made her sigh and again pinch the bridge of her nose. "fan-bloody-tastic" she said sarcastically. "I'll let the boys and everyone know. Thanks for the warning Josiah, we're gonna need all the advanced help we can get right now. And we're definitely not friends with any angels. It's a long story." she replied, letting him know by her tone that it was a story she was not willing to discuss now. "we'll be there as soon as possible. I'll let you know when we're there" she told him.

Josiah wanted to get this info to Natalia as soon as possible, considering the threat was directed at winchesters & he was familiar with her last name. "Yeah you do that and if you can send me singer number, one of the witnesses smashed the phone I had with his number in it and you never know when his intel will came in handy. Wait wait wait hold on Nat you just said "the boys" as in plural, as in not just Sam? Either I misheard you and really do need to be completly sober while were working or are you implying that Dean's somehow not in hell anymore? Don't tell me you or Sam made a fucking deal?!" Josiah exclaimed in shock even though from stories he heard Sam had tried to reason with plenty crossroads demons to get his brother back without fail, he wondered & feared if maybe the demons accepted Nat's soul, not knowing that Castiel & his soldiers had busted Dean out the pit

Knowing that Josiah knew her last name, she really was grateful to him for giving the warning about what was coming their way. Now that angels were coming into the equation, she just knew deep down that they'd know who she truly was and that she would be just as much at risk as her brothers. She listened to him reply, then suddenly twig what she said. "firstly, yeah i can text you his number and secondly, yeah, Dean is back and no don't worry yourself. Neither of us made a deal, not one that was ever accepted anyway. An angel called Castiel dragged him out of hell and back to us" she explained. She knew that Josiah he would have been beyond pissed if she had sold her soul to save her brother, that much was evident from his tone.

Josiah let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that Nat didn't make any sort of demon deal to get Dean out of hell, which also meant he was glad she got her brother out of Hell as well. "Wow an angel got him out of Hell?! That's great news, i mean I always knew and heard stories that Dean kicked major monster ass, but if the friggin angels got him out the hotbox he must really be legendary." Josiah took a moment of silence out of pure admiration for the hunter, no wonder the witches were collaborating with demons, monsters & angel hiding spells if the Winchester brothers were getting involved. "Alright well send me his number and one more thing." Josiah swiped up to facetime Nat he wanted to look her in the eyes and confirm that she hadn't made a deal eye to eye. As he did he checked his messages a girl he'd met at the diner had taken up his offer to come over for some fun making him grin and send her his address.

Nat could have sworn she heard Josiah's sigh of relief that she didn't make any kid of deal with a demon to bring Dean back. His little fan boy ramble made her smirk a d chuckle slightly down the phone. To her, he was just Dean the sometimes annoying big half brother who was a badass on hunts and saved her life. So when people gushed about him, it was slightly strange to her. She noticed he switched the call to video call, making her hold her phone in front of her. "I swear to you, I'm telling you the full truth. I know what you're thinking. Look, I better get going or I'll be holding everyone up" she told him.

Josiah hated the annoying ring of facetime while it waited but he had to get this final confirmation. He wasn't trying to be too annoying but he cared about her and didn't want her soul to be in danger. When she picked up and he was able to see her face to face he let out a second sigh. "Okay I'm sorry Nat, but from what I've heard your family isn't exactly a stranger to deals and I don't mean that in a mean way, I just...you know my mom got kidnapped by demons, I can't stand the thought of anyone else I care about being messed with by these beasts." Josiah announced before hearing a knock on his door. Oh she's here already, well I need to wrap this up I deserve a little fun after witch hunting all evening

"Oooh looks like I got a visitor, hold on one second " Josiah said more cheerfully then he'd been the whole call putting the phone down as he walked over to open the door letting in a woman with blonde hair in her mid 20's wearing a black skirt that almost barely qualified as appropriate. He introduced himself to her having the briefest of idle talk before rushing back and picking up the phone holding it up. "Look like I said I'm sorry I should of just trusted you, but if you can send me Bobby's number and I'll see you soon." Josiah added at the end holding the phone up to see Nat again. In the corner of Nat's eye through the reflection of the phone she'd be able to see that the woman Josiah let in his room to flirt with face was distorted indicating that she was a wraith.

Listening to his explanation, Nat sighed nodding. She did understand why he was worried, she got it more than he would realised. "I know. Trust me, I know what it's like." she replied when the knock on his door came through, and she got put on hold metaphorically speaking as she waited for him to come back. When he did, she nodded showing she would give him Bobby's number before noticing the woman looking distorted behind him. "Jo, bud, get outta there she's a damn wraith." she said to him, then hung up so he could actually deal with it without her being a distra tion.

As the phone clicked and went dead Josiah groaned. The burning desire in his nether regions wouldn't be satisfied by this woman, he had a few life rules he never broke which included no sex with monsters. "How dare you...you..bitch...you have no idea how bad I wanted to tap something after killing witches all fucking day!!" Josiah roared angry as he turned to face the woman who made her signature insanity inducing blade emerge from the palm of her hand.

"Oh wow looks like I'm here a little late, sorry about that it took a little time to complete my spell to inhabit the body of this monster. Do you know how long this spell took, not to mention I need the blood of ten kids to return back to normal, and it got ruined by a reflection on facetime! You wiped out my coven and made the lengths I went to make you an easy entertaining kill pointless, you'll pay for that hunter." The woman hissed apparently revealing that she was a witch with some pretty strong magic if she was able to switch her body into that of a wraith.

"You think I give a damn about that shit, woman are you crazy?! Never mind I'm wasting my breath asking that if you used your magic to turn into a monster, props on the plan though. I was way too focused on your ass, so you woulda been the one to send me to meet my maker." Josiah exclaimed after some more internal grumbling, it was time for a change of plans. The last of the four witches was here, which meant he was getting out of town tonight.

"Oh well let's hurry up and finish this, I'll need to let Don know that you got chatty with the winchesters already and gave them a hint about our monster demon combo surprise." The woman lunged forward while Josiah jumped out the way running to the corner of the room and drawing his machete.

"Let me ask you something bitch, there was four and now there's one, what's the difference between you and the rest? Wanna know, you used a spell to make yourself a monster, so now I don't have to worry about getting flung in the air or any other spells so it'll be easier to kill you!!!" Josiah snapped back at the creature who laughed.

Josiah charged slinging his blade right and left, but the creature was very agile avoiding the slashes then kicked Josiah sending him reeling into a mirror that broke. "Ugh thank you I didn't wanna happen to catch a glimps of your real ass ugly mug so that'll make things a bit easier on me."

"Your really cocky for the boy who let his mother got kidnapped by demons. Where was all that spunk when they snatched her up, maybe they'll go after your sister next. That'll be what finally saps away that massive ego of yours, well theoretically speaking since your dying today!!!"

"Oh you just extra signed your death warrant you fucking freak, don't ever talk about my mama or my sister again!!!!" Josiah yelled charging forward the wraith using it's wrist spike to knock the blade out of Josiah's hand as he was trying to avoid getting infected.

"Oh what's that about extra signing, come on baby that's weak." The wraith lunged forward tackling Josiah against the bed frame. It grabbed Josiah head lifting it up and slamming it against the metal part then leaned forward to prick him in the neck with it's spike. "Just relax, in a few minutes the real fun can begin. I'm going to make your mind detoriate maybe I'll even make you think you killed me, and drive you to your next little casse, maybe I'll warp your perceptio so much that YOU go to kill the winchesters or your precious little sister yourself. Wouldn't that be funny then give you a moment of clarity as you stand over the dead bodies of your pathetic friends and loved ones knowing they died at your deranged hands hahahhahaha"

"YOU BITCH!!!!!" Josiah screamed as his right hand surged with energy summoning divine breaker he grabbed onto her wrist stinger his hand causing it to disintegrate. The creature howled in pain as Josiah kicked the wraith off of him then turned over and began pummeling the creature with a series of punches. He continued wailing down punches with his right hand beating the wraith savagely until the creature was left with a bruised & very bloodied face. "Don't you ever talk about my family & friends ever again you sick piece of shit." Josiah got up and ran over to grab his discarded machete.

"You humans sicken me, you pathetic monkeys! You think this is over, sooner or later the big man on campus will be back, and it'll be hell on earth! One big never ending hot ass party!!!" The wraith bragged as it struggled to get up after the beating it took. "Wow that little right hand of yours is nifty, those punches should not have hurt as much as they did, I see how you gave the rest of us trouble. But this isn't over this-"

The creaure's words were cut short as Josiah had thrown the machete fiercely itno the creature's chest. The beast wailed in agony from the silver/iron blade impaling it in the heart. "NOOOOOOOOOO"

"Just shut up and die already." Josiah rebutted full of rage as he marched over and dug the blade deeper through the beast it's skin literally burning as it passed away in agony the witch within dying as well having been killed while binded in it's body. "Fuck and now the hotel's gonna charge me for that mirror, oh well let me clean this shit up and get going. Looks like Halloween's getting started early this year." Josiah muttered to himself going over to grab his phone and shoot Nat a text. Thanks for the warning, I'm pissed I didn't get any ass though, but monsters aren't ever on my menu. I'll see you soon Josiah clicked send and turned to look around the torn apart motel room. Well at least the place was already a dump and didn't get booked in his name. All he needed to do was get rid of the body, and anything else incriminating then he was on his way out. "Let's get started." The frustrated hunter muttered as he retrieved his joint sparking it up as he went to work to get rid of any and everything that made this room a potential crime scene for the supernaturally unaware.

Dean’s smirk raised a bit into a smile as Mika stepped into the room. He pulled his fresh pair of jeans over his feet as she spoke up, “I might be. But I like your leggings…easier to take off than jeans.”

He chuckled, and buttoned his jeans as he looked down at her, arms around his waist smirking up him. The sight caused his heart to melt a bit. Maybe it was because they were standing in the middle of their bedroom, that they shared, or maybe it was the fact that she was the only person he seemed to be able to protect in all of this. But her smile brought him a glimmer of hope.

Sitting on the bed to pull his boots on, Dean watched her get dressed after she pulled away, absentmindedly tying his boots up slowly. But he had barely noticed she was fully dressed and speaking to him, until he noticed the inflection in her voice asking a question. He raised his eyebrows and snapped his eyes to meet hers with a shrug, “What? Oh…yeah I’m fine. There’s just a lot on the plate, you know? I haven’t had a lot of time to process things.”

He stood up after his boots were both tied, and grabbed his duffel bag off the floor, stepping up to Mika’s back. Burying his face in her neck, he sighed deeply, and placed a kiss to her skin, his free hand coming to rest against her hip, “When all this craziness is over, if it’s ever over, me and you are going to take a long vacation.”



Annabeth couldn’t help but smile widely at Natalia’s enthusiasm. She was already starting to feel safe, mentally around the youngest Winchester, and she couldn’t help but smile when the woman made jokes. She leaned in close to Sam, and sighed glancing up at his face to judge his expression.

She simply nodded to him, letting him know that she was fine, just worried about the drive without him, “Should be a good way for some of us to get to know each other, I guess. I haven’t had any time with Mika since…well you know.”
Anna furrowed her brow thinking about the fight that was likely going to take place in the Impala and how nasty Dean’s tongue could be when he was angry. There was a reason she was afraid of him. Her experiences with Dean hadn’t exactly been polite ones. She brought her other hand down to reach across Sam’s body and grab his free hand, turning her body to face him, “Are you sure you’re going to be able to ride with your brother without dying in some fiery crash? No fist fighting in the front seat?”, she couldn’t fight back the tiny smirk that curled in the corners of her mouth.



Cason reached out and wrapped an arm around Esme’s waist gently, noticing that she was still in a zoned out place in her mind. He gripped her waist a bit and leaned in close to her ear, “You okay? I can drive if you need a minute. I know things got a little heated in here when the angel showed up.”

He pulled back and stared at her face for a moment, scanning her eyes before speaking again after reading a bit of her emotion, “Or do you just want to get out of here, now? We have an address. We can take our time.”

Cason gave a sweet smile, trying to help project a bit of his own energy onto her as his fingers scrunched the fabric of her shirt, wiggling until he could touch the skin just above her hip with his thumb in small strokes. He softened his gaze and worked on projecting calm as best he could.

As Esme leaned against the counter in the kitchen, she became more and more lost in her own thoughts and eventually zoned out. Most of the conversations going on around her went unheard, but there were a few things that made their way through her heavy thoughts. She just barely caught the conversion of who was riding with who on the way to the town they were headed to and hardly any of the conversation that Natalia had on her phone. Her mind was still swimming with all the potential outcomes of the case, if they managed to keep the seal from being broken or not. What exactly would they go through when they got to the town and began to keep the demons from breaking the seal and what would happen if Samhain was in fact risen? She unconsciously gripped her beer bottle tighter as scenarios flashed before her eyes. Esme knew this was going to be the biggest thing she had ever faced in her time as a hunter.

When Cason approached her and gently wrapped his arm around her waist, she was completely oblivious until he gripped her waist, leaned in, and whispered in her ear. The action caused her to flinch and take in a sharp breath as she looked at him as he pulled back. Esme could see that he was scanning her eyes and trying to read her emotion before he spoke again. She had to admit to herself that she wanted to go along with what he said. She did just want to leave Bobby’s and be on the road for a while. As she saw his sweet smile and she worked to find her words, Esme didn’t realize that he worked to scrunch up the fabric of her shirt or the fact that his arm was still around her. “I’ll be better once I get out of here for a bit.” she said in a low tone. “Leaving before the others sounds………” She trailed off when she felt Cason’s thumb on her skin just above her hip and flinched.

She knew what he was trying to do. Calming someone was much easier with skin to skin contact, but did he really have to worm his way under her shirt to touch around her hip for the skin contact? His was calming her, but really? It was feeling like a losing battle to keep him from getting so close, almost as if he had no knowledge or didn’t care about personal boundaries. “Really? You couldn’t have just taken my hand?” she asked him with a raised brow. After a moment, Esme pulled away from him and downed the rest of her beer, and tossed the bottle in the trash. “Come on, let’s get a head start.” she said to Cason before walking to the door. She turned once at the door and looked at the two women in the kitchen. “We’ll meet you all there.” she told them, then walked out the kitchen door without waiting for a reply. As she walked to her car, she pulled her keys from her pocket with a small sigh.

She was just about tempted to let Cason drive her car, just so she could relax in the passenger’s seat on the way there and not worry about too much. Though it was really hard for her to let anyone drive her car, the only ones that had ever been behind the wheel were her parents, herself, and Dean. Then there was the demon that Cason had to retrieve her car against her will, which still got under her skin a bit. Was she in a fit state to drive? Probably not. Could she drive? Yes. Esme had driven in a far worse state before and had made it to her destination just fine, with only a few minor hiccups on the way.

MIKA CHAMBERS

When Dean admitted finally that he actually liked her leggings choices it made her smirk all the more, even if it was because it meant it was easier to get her undressed, thus benefiting him as well herself. That was the Dean she knew and loved so much, the Dean she missed more than anything else she had lost in her life. It was in this very moment that she was so thankful that the night before didn't tear them apart once again, that they could get passed it and still remain together and strong, something that wouldn't have happened a while ago, Esme's presence in his life proving just that.

She knew as he was pulling his boots on that he was partly in his own head, which was what prompted her to ask if he was okay. After he admitted to her what happened to him in Hell, before telling anyone else, she was determined to help him process being back and everything that happened, to be the girlfriend he so deserved. So when he finally responded to her after a brief moment of seeming to not hear her, she internally sighed with relief.

"I know and no matter what, we'll do all we can to help you get that time to process everything. You won't have to do it alone" she told him, totally understanding where he was coming from. No matter how much she ever tried to forget it, she could still remember how she was when she was eighteen and hiding up in the attic just to avoid every single possible face that would come into Bobby's, because she just couldn't process she was still alive when she should have been dead and her parents weren't around anymore. She had of course managed to live with that as time went on, but that didn't mean she just forgot what it was like to be in that dark empty void in one's head.

As he stepped up to her back, she looked in the mirror she was in front to look at him as he buried his head into her neck, the silent action that said a thousand words to her of how much he truly did love her and needed her as much as she needed him. She placed her hand ontop of his, partially linking their fingers on her hip as she listened to his suggestion and smiled, her free hand coming up and over to the back of his head, weaving her fingers into his hair. The idea of taking a long vacation like a normal couple kept the smile on her face, "I would love nothing more, lord knows we deserve it" she replied to him. Lowering her hand from his head, she turned in his grip to look at him, stroking his cheek with her thumb, "I will do everything I can to make that vacation happen. I love you" she told him.

She knew they needed to get downstairs with their bags but right now, she also could see Dean just needed a couple of moments of normality, to breathe and refocus whilst gearing up to get back in the game.

NATALIA AND SAM WINCHESTER

As Nat hung the phone she really did hope that Josiah was okay and he would be able to cope with the wraith on his own, she hated to admit it but that guy really did manage to get under her skin in the most positive way and she did actually care about his friendship. Even if he was a lot more open about how he became a hunter than she was, and only let him know she was the younger half sister of the Winchester boys.

Not only that she now had all the extra information that he gave her about what they could expect when reaching their location and the fact that there were plans already put in place to keep them all as far back from the witches as possible so the seal could be broken quite honestly terrified her, not that she was willing to let that show. She knew she'd have to tell people, especially her brothers but how does she just drop the extra barrage of information on them like that, when they were already concerned about even succeeding in the first place?

Hearing Sam talk to Annabeth helped to bring her out of her own thoughts as she then caught a glimpse of what Cason was doing to Esme which made her very briefly raise an eyebrow then lower it again in a speed that quite literally meant if anyone blinked they would have missed her reaction to the two of them. Though in a strange weird way she was almost rooting for the two of them as it selfishly meant it would possibly help Dean and Mika's relationship remain strong at the same time. She may think Esme was an alright woman, and actually dare she say it, like the woman, but she would always be biased and root for her brother and Mika over anyone else because of her ties with the two of them.

Sam listened to Annabeth and smiled, glad that Natalia's ways was bringing a smile to Annabeth knowing that if those two were ever in a room together on their own a lot of stories would be shared between them and they'd be a force no doubt they'd all have to worry about. He could easily see Nat getting protective over Annabeth, even if she would try and keep up her abrupt and closed off personality. He knew his sister better than anyone and knew what a heart of gold she truly had. He just wished she would at some point actually tell them what the demons did to her in that damn asylum and why she was even there.

He let Annabeth go over and hold onto him whilst she still could, bringing his own hand up onto her shoulder and using his thumb to stroke it. "I know, and trust me. Despite what you've seen of Mika recently, she is a softie really and I'm pretty sure she now remembers you too, so it shouldn't be too hard to get along with her." he told her, "and don't worry I'll be fine with Dean in his impala. Nat jests about the arguments but it never ends in one of us falling out of the car or being beaten up. I'll keep texting you between discussions so you know I'm alright, not to mention if Dean is a pain in my ass I can tell you and you can rat him out to Mika" he smirked with a chuckle, knowing Mika would call him out for being an utter ass when they all stopped driving.

"He actually listens to her...contrary to popular belief and past things" he chuckled, before noticing Nat was in her own little world all of a sudden after being on the phone again to someone she called Jo. "you alright Nat?" he asked her, snapping her out of her mind. "Yeah, seems my contact Josiah? He's been put on the same mission as us and he knows that demons and such have put up all kinds of barricades metaphorically speaking to stop and I quote "the winchesters". He warning me because he knows I'm your sister." she said back at him, and it was almost hard to tell if her tone was of somber infliction or matter of factly speaking.

"Damn...Dean is not going to like that" Sam said.

Dean smiled brightly against Mika’s neck as she stroked his hair and agreed with him. His shoulders fell as he thought about a normal vacation, maybe with an ocean and some drinks. Mika in a bathing suit wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. As she turned to him, he leaned into her hand with his cheek, pulling her closer to his body, “I’ll hold you to that. I love you too. Let’s get ready to go before I get used to this again…”

He smirked and leaned in, kissing her deeply for a moment. Pulling back, he nuzzled her nose, pecking her lips one more time, “I have a really long drive ahead of me.”

Dean reluctantly pulled back from her, bringing his hands to her arms. He slid his fingers down her arms and into hers, holding one of her hands while his other reached over for her bag. He shifted it to his shoulder, leaning down to pick his up, and turned toward the door, pulling her behind him.



Annabeth smiled gently at Sam’s attempt to reassure her about his time with Dean. She had to admit that she was worried about what Dean was going to say, and whether he would bring up the fact that she was both a distraction, and something someone could use against Sam. Then again, he had his own distractions to worry about, between Mika and Esme. She nodded, but when he mentioned he would be texting her, she raised an eyebrow.

“If I didn’t know better, I would say you’re smitten on me…”, she giggled, but glanced up at Natalia as Sam did, her eyebrows furrowing. Hearing the news, she turned her eyes back to Sam’s face, confused as to what exactly the barricades would consist of.

“So, its worse than just stopping some super powerful demon. Now we have to fight our way through?”, she asked, turning from Sam to Nat, and back to Sam.



Cason took a deep breath as Esme spoke, knowing that she was ready to argue with him, until she noticed his touch. He waited for the punch, or slap, but she was calm and simply asked him the reason for his particular method. His reasoning? He wanted to touch her. That was it. And it was a lot more conspicuous to touch her near bundles of clothing than it would have been to just pick up her hand.

“Your hip was more convenient.”, he whispered back to her, just before she pulled away from him. Sighing, he shoved his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and watched her finish her beer, before turning back to him as she walked toward the door. Raising his eyebrows, impressed that his plan had actually gotten through to her, he turned and followed her like a puppy.

As Cason walked behind Esme, he jogged to step up near her, running a single finger down her bicep all the way to her hand with her keys. He dug between her fingers and snatched her keys from her, kissing her cheek quickly before jogging around to the drivers side of her car, “I’m driving. I felt your vibe back there and you could use a bit of time to get your shit together. Let me help. Get in.”

Shooting her a bright smile, he opened the drivers door and sat down in the seat, turning the engine over without a chance for Esme to complain too much. If she wouldn’t let him in personally, he would just protect her until she made him leave or killed him…either were options, at this point.

Esme listened to Cason’s footsteps behind her as she walked to her car. It was as if he was a puppy following their favorite person. Having a demon that was smitten with her and doing all they could to keep her safe and alive instead of trying to kill her at all costs was still strange to her. All she did was help Annabeth by taking away her pain and stitching up her wounds that were caused by an angel named Samael, for him to say he was in her debt. She still couldn’t believe that she was running around with a demon and hellhounds, two things she was taught to kill and never trust. If her family was here now and knew all that she had been through since their passing, she could only imagine what they would say about it and tell her how big of a mistake she was making trusting him, because he could turn around and stab her in the back at any moment.

In the back of her mind, she knew full well it was a possibility. She knew Cason could decide to kill her himself or even send a hellhound after her, though wondered if his feelings for her would impede that. It was a thought she had sitting on the back burner to think about when she actually had a chance to think about things other than cases that were thrown in her lap or being overwhelmed by everyone's emotions and being completely exhausted from it. With the way things have been going, she hardly had the time to think about things that revolved around herself since she met up with the Winchesters and the others after hearing of Dean being alive. Since meeting up with them, it had been one giant crap sandwich after another and seemed like more were on the menu, with no end in sight just yet. She hoped they could all get through this with no fatalities and if anything were to go right, it would be the town and its residents got through it in one piece.

When Cason caught up with Esme and ran his finger from her bicep and down her arm, she flinched at his touch. She didn’t put up much of a fight to keep him from prying her keys from her hand. For once, she didn’t really want to drive. She didn’t want to have to concentrate on the road and where they were headed. A chance to sit in the passenger’s seat and relax sounded too good to pass up. When Cason quickly planted a kiss on her cheek, she flinched and paused in her tracks as he jogged to her car. She closed in on herself a bit, just barely catching his words, smile, and him starting her car. She was fighting against the images that flashed before her eyes of a past event and scolding herself for letting a simple action affect her still after all the time that had passed. Esme had thought she had somewhat gained control of it, but with her mental state not being the best at the moment, it made it hard to bottle and hold back the flinching like she had.

It’s been a year and a half since the event and it still had its claws deep in her. She mentally kicked herself and scolded herself for being so weak and letting it still affect her, and told herself she was better and stronger than this. Shaking herself to snap herself out of it, she walked to the passenger’s side of her car without a fuss to Cason, who was in the driver's seat. Esme didn’t have it in her to complain about who was driving. She was just too mentally tired to fight with him over it. Once at the car door, she opened it with a shaky hand, got in, then shut the door and ran a hand through her hair as she leaned back in the seat. “Ready when you are.” she sighed as she looked over at him. She then turned her gaze out the window as she sighed again. Propping her arm up on the door, she rested her head on her arm as she continued to look out the window.

“Be honest with me.” she said after being silent for a while. “Do you think we really have a shot at this?” She asked so that she could get her mind on other things and she honestly wanted to know what he thought.

MIKA CHAMBERS

Hearing Dean actually tell her he loved her too still inflicted that full feeling in her heart as well that feeling of that yes, he did still very much plan on doing right by her and be with her. She knew she needed to try harder to wipe those thoughts from her mind but she couldn't help having them every now and then seeping through, yet it was in a way her mind and her heart reassuring her they were solid.

She was about to reply to him when he kissed her deeply rendering her speechless for that brief moment before pulling away from her and nuzzling her nose making her smile again as she return the peck on the lips. "Don't go too hard on Sammy okay?" she asked of him, knowing what he could be like and she didn't want him to raise his blood pressure and losing his temper whilst driving.

As he ran his fingers down her arms, she interlocked their fingers together as he also had the same idea and before she could even pick up her bag, he grabbed it for her, 'he never really changes' she thought to herself fondly as she walked out their room with him and down the stairs just as she saw the door close but not who went out. It was when they met the others still in the kitchen that she realised it was Esme and Cason who were clearly making a head start to their location.

As they got to the room, she heard the very end of the conversation that was being had. "What's this about fighting through?" she asked curiously.

NATALIA AND SAM WINCHESTER

Sam chuckled at Annabeth's teasing about him, calling him smitten on her. He used his free hand to awkwardly run it thoguh his hair, tucking the front bit behind his ear. He wasn't sure how to even respond to that and suddenly knew how Dean felt around Mika, especially all those years ago when he first grew to know her and became smitten. "I cannot confirm or deny either way if I am or am not smitten with you" he joked back at her.

At the news however of what Natalia was saying, his smile and moment of joy vanished and a sigh of annoyance escaped his lips. of course it wasn't going to be smooth sailing so to speak, it was their lives after all. "Did this contact of yours say exactly what they meant?" he asked, just as Mika and Dean came in and Mika asked what was being said.

Natalia and Sam both glanced at the entering couple before back at each other, Nat every now and then looking between her entire group. "Josiah mentioned that witches have been heavily involved in this and have recruited vampires and demons to hunt down any and all Winchesters when they get to town to hold them back so the witiches can break the seal to bring Samhain to Earth. He told me because he knows I'm a Winchester and is worried" she explained to everyone in the room.

"He knows who you are? Nat seriously?" Sam asked, surprised by the whole news, but he also wanted her safe and didn't think she would let anyone know who she was in that way. "Chill Sam, I can trust him. Bobby knows of him too so trust me and my instincts on people. If he says witches are recruiting these beings to stop us, then I believe him. They're also marked in enochian to shield them from Angels." she replied, whilst elaborating more.

"So I guess this challenging job just got upped in difficulty" Sam sighed, then saw Dean with the bags. "Guess we're ready to go then?" he asked Dean, dreading this car ride but mentally was prepared for it. "I just gotta get my bag out of my car" he told him, knowing Annabeth probably had to get hers out of his car also to put into Mika's car with her.

"Cason and Esme are getting a headstart already" Nat added before either of them asked where they were.

Dean pulled the door open and shrugged his shoulders at Mika’s request, “I’ll go easy on him if he doesn’t lie to me. I’ve never given him a reason to hide anything, and yet somehow he still manages too.”

He stepped through the door and walked down the stairs with her. As he turned the corner from the stairs and into the kitchen, he could hear voices having a rather tense conversation, but their voices weren’t raised. So, they weren’t fighting at least. As Mika asked the question that was burning his mind, he sighed and stepped closer to her, scanning between his brother and Nat.

Dean listened to Nat’s explanation of the phone call she had had with Josiah, and his frown deepened when she mentioned that Josiah knew of her real identity. He would have a conversation with her later on how dangerous that could be, especially now that they had angel hits out on them.

“So, witches, vampires and demons fighting to open seals with a handful of rogue angels!”, Dean beamed sarcastically, “It most be friggin’ Tuesday!”

He dropped his hands to his side and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath through his nose. He didn’t know what their first move would need to be against the barriers they were likely going to have to fight through. And it was up in the air on whether they would have a demon with them, while their angel sat out and literally watched.

“Well, I’m gonna head to the car. Everyone make sure to pack machetes and any demon-y supplies in the cab of your car, don’t rely on your trunks. It probably wouldn’t hurt to put spares under the seats and…you all know the drill.”, he explained as he leaned in toward Mika’s face. He pulled her to him, giving her a kiss on the temple, before pulling away from her completely, “Be safe.”



Annabeth listened to Natalia’s explanation of what she had heard on the phone. Shockingly she wasn’t all that worried about the demon side of things, possibly because she was very aware that she and Sam could both take care of them, and they would be done fighting relatively quick. She wrapped her hand around Sam’s, planning to at least walk him out to the cars before they inevitably separated.

The thought of separating from Sam caused her to glance over at Mika. She felt a bit better about riding with her, as she thought of how worried Mika would be about Dean being in a separate car. If anything, it was something they had in common, and Mika would also be watching the Impala like a hawk, while the boys duked it out inside.

“C’mon. I’ll walk you to the car. I need to get my backpack.”, she muttered softly up at Sam, lacing her fingers in his.



Cason waited for Esme to get inside the car and shut the door, before he placed the car in drive and they slowly made their way down the alley, and toward the front gate of the junkyard. He pulled out onto the dead highway that Bobby Singer lived on, and kicked his foot against the gas a bit aggressively to speed them up quickly.
As Esme spoke, he was shaken from just staring at the road in silence and he shot a glance over at her with a nod as she started with ‘be honest with me’, the most anxiety inducing words he had ever heard, “Alright…”

Hearing the actual question she was wanting to ask, Cason frowned, tightening his hands on the steering wheel as he watched the road. He narrowed his eyes and then bit down on his lip, before he finally blinked and tilted his head to the side.

“I think that the Winchesters are surprising…able to handle just about anything. So, because of that, I would say ‘yes’, we do have a chance. But I also know that if this is about Lucifer, our chances go down with every demon they add to the mix. So, honest answer? Yeah. We have a chance, just not a good one.”, Cason explained honestly, shooting another glance toward her face.

He took a deep breath, “I’m going to back off a bit, from you. I can see that something is going on in your head, and it’s something you don’t want to talk to me about, which I get. I had never noticed it until today. Don’t my words against me later, but I’m sorry.”

Esme continued to look out the window with her head rested on her arm as they made their way down the highway, waiting on Cason to answer her question. As soon as he started talking, she glanced up and looked at his reflection in her window. When Cason finished explaining and shot a glance her way, she gave a soft and silent sigh as she closed her eyes briefly. She knew he was truly being honest with her. She could feel it and it put her a little at ease despite the situation they were driving towards. Esme found a little comfort in knowing that he could be honest with her, especially when she asked him to be. Plus, her being an Empath, she would know if he was being untruthful, it’s hard to lie to an Empath. Taking her eyes off his reflection, she looked back at the scenery passing by out the window. Adjusting her arm and head, she put her free hand on her forehead and rubbed it as it began to ache, then rubbed one of her temples. A common side effect when she wasn’t in a good place mentally.

Esme had closed her eyes at the same time Cason took his deep breath before speaking again. She listened to his words and couldn’t help but his the slightest of smiles as he confessed he had finally noticed she had been fighting with something mentally since they met. She softly shook her head, to say there wasn’t a need to apologize. “I guess you somewhat see why I act the way I do to certain things.” she whispered. She gave a shuddered, heavy sigh as she opened her eyes and swallowed hard. She dropped her hand from her head and into her lap, then buried her face in her arm for a moment before looking out the front window. “No one knows what I struggle with daily, not even Dean.” As she spoke, she barely sounded coherent, as if she had drifted off into her own world to keep from thinking about it. “Thank you, though.” A shiver overtook her as a partial memory flashed before her eyes before she could stop it, causing her to sigh again.

After somewhat regaining herself, adjusting her position, she reached over the seat and into the back seat and opened the cooler she kept back there. Esme pulled out a couple of bottles of water before closing it, then grabbed the black faded leather jacket that was draped over the seat. Turning back around, she made herself comfortable, then draped the jacket over her lap with care before setting the waters on the seat between them. She then reached for the glove box and opened it, pulled out a bottle of painkillers, then opened it and dumped two into her hand before closing it and putting the bottle back into the glove box and shutting it. Popping the pills into her mouth, she grabbed one bottle of water, opened it, and took a to wash the pills down. After putting the cap back on, she set it in the seat next to her, then took the jacket and folded it into a makeshift pillow with care.

Sinking down into the seat, she placed the jacket against the window and laid her head on it, then crossed her arms over the chest Esme nuzzled her face against the jacket before looking out the front window and took in the scent on the jacket, the scents on the jacket almost instantly making her body relax and her mind calm. The jacket almost severed as a security blanket and it held a special place in her heart, which was clear to see. The more she took in deep breaths and the scents of the jacket, the more her body relaxed and the calmer her mind became. Eventually, the jacket relaxed her so much; it caused her to doze off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.