Dean raised his eyebrows as he and Mika stepped out onto the sidewalk, and she shamelessly made her comment about testing the bed…again. He reached his hand back and scratched his neck, still contemplating just going back into the motel room, but then he dropped his hand to his side and flexed his hand, “I guess there is a definite incentive to finding this thing and stopping it quick, then. You know…we have science to do.”

He chuckled nervously, not having been able to enjoy this side of Mika for a while, even before going to Hell. Now, being topside, he was definitely taking advantage, considering how close they had come to destruction, the night before. He shuddered at those recent memories and walked with her to the Impala.

As he stepped up near the car, he unlocked the passenger side first, opening the door for her. He stepped back to let her get inside and bit down on his lip as she teased him with the way she sat down. He stayed motionless, until she pulled the door shut and then shook himself from his thoughts, forcing himself to step away, after slapping the window. She was making it extremely hard to leave.

As he opened the drivers door and sat down, he turned his gaze to her and raised his eyebrows, “Are you trying to get me to skip this whole mission? Because I’m about one second from skipping this whole mission.”

He kept his eyebrows raised, even though he was highly amused and excited by her sudden change of attitude, and brought the Impala roaring to life with the turn of his key. He put the car in drive and pulled it away from their parking space, adjusting awkwardly in the seat as he drove, and forced himself to keep his eyes pointed forward.



Annabeth gave a small wave to Mika and Dean as they stepped out of their room and over to Nat’s. She listened carefully to the rhythm that Sam knocked with, planting it into the back of her memory for future reference, as she was sure that if she and Nat kept on the friendly route, she would spend enough time in her room to need it. She nodded at Sam with a smile, “I think I got it.”

As Nat answered the door and instantly noticed Anna’s outfit, she couldn’t help but turn to the side a bit and lift her foot off the ground to show off her legs in the dress. She smiled brightly, and shook her head at Nat, “You look great. I feel naked.”

When Nat explained the situation at the school, Anna raised her eyebrows. Someone had drowned bobbing for apples? It was like this thing was trying to rack up a body count, but do so in the most extravagant and themed way possible. She looked up at Sam and nudged his arm, “So, I guess we’re not eating any Halloween candy today, yeah? Might be cursed. I can talk to some students. Considering my outfit, I have a feeling they won’t mind chatting.”

She shrugged her shoulders, teasing Sam and playing on the way her legs looked in the dress as she carefully opened the door and stepped into the back seat. Pulling at the hem of her dress, she remembered to close her legs in the sexy little dress, and wrapped her arms around her knees, “And next time Nat can have the sexy outfit…”



Duke half shrugged as as Esme shifted against his chest, and accused him of being nervous. He knew he couldn’t hide how fast his heart was beating, considering she was touching his chest, and his heart beat was almost visible as it hammered behind his skin, “Could be the fact that I have to be in here with you, but being naked is like…a whole other ball game for us.”

He chuckled, glancing down at her hand against his chest, before raising his eyes back to hers. He took a deep breath, and softened his gaze as he stared down at her, his signature smile wanting to stay on his face, hovering in the corners of his eyes and his mouth, “Considerin’ you know how I feel about you, and you’re all beat up and stuff…it’s just a stressful situation.”

Duke smiled brightly, rolling his eyes at Esme not only telling him to breathe, but reminding him of his old favorite expression of concern to Dean about not popping blood vessels in his eyes, which he seemed to do so often, mostly when he was angry with Duke or Esme. His smile faded slightly as Esme’s projection started. He had never experienced such a quick chill pill, than the one he was experiencing right then. His heart rate instantly stuttered, before slowing, beat by beat, and the timid shakiness in his fingers began to calm.

He glanced down at her hand, and furrowed his brow, slowly tilting his head to look at her eyes, “Did you do that on purpose? Cause your fingers just hit me harder than a Xanax ever did, and it honestly made me wanna snuggle you even harder, instead of runnin’ back to my jeans.”

Duke laughed, not afraid of the sensation at all, but a little skeptical as his wide smile slowly faded, and he ran his free hand through his hair, wetting it down a bit in the process, “But seriously, I always knew you were different from…well, everyone. But how did you do that? I ain’t runnin’ nowhere. It’s just a question.”

MIKA CHAMBERS

Dean's nervousness honestly amused Mika as she very rarely got to make Dean this nervous around her. She knew it had been what felt like a very long time since she was like this with him and she too was enjoying being like this. It was a breath of fresh air for her and it was helping in making her more relaxed about the whole other situation that caused such an explosion of emotions last night. "Definitely science" she agreed.

She looked out the window at how Dean was reacting to her getting into the car which just made her smirk with that all too familiar glint in her eye in the process. His words once he got in the driver's side made her chuckle as she looked back at him, "just testing your patience" she chuckled, knowing full well that he was telling the truth when he said what he did about not even doing this job.

As Baby came roaring to life, she relaxed back in the seat still highly amused by the whole situation and knew if they didn't stop their antics they would come across as highly awkward and highly unprofessional to the wife they were going to visit. "Better start thinking of some boring thoughts, can't have this meeting with the wife be....hard" she smirked, stifling back the laughter of her own play of words.

She didn't look at him as he drove, and kept her eyes either forward or out the passenger side window to look out at the town around them so she could try and get a feel for the area and its residents. The fact it was halloween just gave her more excuses for looking out the window of the car, seeing everyone's decorations out on the street or outside their houses as they drove. "I really hope the wife is cooperative today, I seriously hate it when people are difficult" she commented as she thought out loud.

SAM AND NATALIA WINCHESTER

Nat smiled as Annabeth showed off her shoes and dress, before she commented on how she looked which made Natalia look at Sam with a raised eyebrow. "You told her the story didn't you?" she said to him, Sam smirked and trying to give her an innocent look whilst pointing at himself, "who me? No...what story" he replied trying to sound convincing but knew he was anything but convincing.

After the extra information was told, Natalia and Sam listened to Annabeth's assumption, both of them scoffing in amusement at her words. "Yeah, it's definitely out of question for us, but Dean won't take that lesson from this. He'll still gorge himself on as much candy as possible" Sam said, Natalia nodding at his words firmly. "oh he will, but lucky for us three, we don't have to deal with that- Meeko does!" Natalia grinned as she opened the doors to her car, letting everyone in.

Sam got in the front passenger side, clsoing the door behind him as he did so then leaned over the seat to look at Annabeth, "Also, those school kids can keep their eyes on your face and nowhere else" he smiled back at her, before turning back to the front as Natalia got in, put the keys in and started the car.

"Right to the school we go" she declared as she pulled out of her parking spot and headed out and in the opposite direction to Dean and Mika. As she drove she kept her mind on what they were possibly about to walk into, hoping that the school wouldn't be a dead end result when it came to information. She was deep down anxious about it, knowing that the Angels had given them this task at hand and were no doubt probably watching them from afar somehow which just made her feel uneasy about it all.

Sam was similar, he didn't like that the Angels had put them on this job and he didn't like that it meant they had to split into two groups to try and get this over with quicker. The idea of them failing and Samhain rising again onto earth to wipe out this town didn't sit well with him and he was desperate for a win.

Before Esme used her emotion projection on Duke, she had listened to his comment back to her about what she said, giving a small laugh of her own. The way she saw it, though, he didn’t really have to be there with her. That was his choice. It wasn’t as if she had twisted his arm to make him stay in the room with her or give her a bath and then join her in it, even if she was grateful he was there to help her. Duke was also right about them being naked at the same time was a whole other ball game for them. But it also showed, at least to her, that there was still a connection between them after all the time apart and even after how things had been left when she decided to leave. That day still stuck out like a sore thumb in her mind, and she regretted it every day. She had gotten the chance to apologize to Dean about it, but she still needed to apologize to Duke. She just needed to find the right time and place to do so.

She had watched as he glanced down at her hand on his chest before meeting her gaze again. It was hard not to notice the breath he took, the softening of his gaze as he stared at her, and how his signature smile wanted to stay on his face, seeing it in the corners of his eyes and mouth. The soft smile she had slightly faded at his words, knowing how he felt seeing her beaten up and in a weakened state. It had even affected him back then, but now stress was added because of a new element they hadn’t had before. “I know.” she whispered. When he smiled brightly and rolled his eyes at her teasing by using his old favorite expression, her smile returned as she looked at him and held back a laugh from his eye roll.

Esme kept her hand on Duke’s chest as she used her emotion projection to calm him. She saw his smile slightly fade as soon as he began to calm, knowing it had to be from how quickly he felt himself calming since he had probably never experienced such a quick calming effect. After she felt his heart rate slow beneath her hand, she stopped the projection, and her assumption soon presented itself. She couldn’t help but smile as a light blush came to her cheeks. “On purpose, meaning trying to keep your heart from jumping out of your chest?...... Then yes, it was on purpose.” she replied, taking his furrowed brow and the way he looked at her. Her warm smile then faded into one of nervousness, even though he said he wasn’t running anywhere. She looked down at her hand still resting on Duke’s chest. Her thoughts drifting to when she came clean to Dean about what she was, and how he hadn’t taken it all that well. In fact, he had actually scared her with the way he reacted to the news.

Her hand on his chest went into a loose fist before she pulled herself from her thoughts and sighed heavily through her nose. At that moment, she half wanted to pull away and put her back to him, even though she knew Duke differed from Dean and handled things differently than he did. “You’re right…… I am different from everyone.” she half muttered. She fell silent for a moment as she searched for her words, then looked up from her hand, but not enough to look into Duke’s face, not being able to right then. “I was able to calm you because…… I can manipulate the emotions of others…… I also know the emotions of anyone near me. That’s how I knew how you felt about me before you said anything.” She finally lifted her head to meet his gaze after a small bit of silence. “I’m an…… Empath.” Esme watched him, letting her words sink in, waiting to feel any new emotion come off of him and waiting for him to say something.

“Testing my patience…”, Dean grumbled with a scoff, looking out the windshield as he drove and adjusted in his seat uncomfortably. As she mentioned that they needed to calm themselves down before they met with wife, but made sure to make another little quip, Dean raised his eyebrows with a wide smile, a bit astonished that Mika was behaving so overtly. Something had witched in her and she was in rare form, which he hated to waste on a hunt. It was another reason he wanted to just turn around and go back to the motel, just to take advantage of her mood.

“Yeah. We wouldn’t want her calling our supervisor to report any sort of sexual harassment stuff. Bobby would be furious…”, he laughed, as they passed a few children in their costumes. He was tempted to just reach out the window and snag a few bags of candy, but he restrained himself, and grumbled again.

“And I’m ready to dig into some Halloween candy. How is it this late in the day, and I haven’t had so much as a snickers? Halloween is one of my favorite friggin’ holidays and I can’t even enjoy it because the angels want me to work a stupid job.”, he grumbled as he watched another kid walk by with a bucket of candy, “But yes. I hope the wife is cooperative. I want candy and a burger. I can’t be held accountable for things I break when denied food and sex.”



Anna cringed at the idea of Dean eating a ton of candy, as keyed up as he typically was without the sugar. She almost felt sorry for Mika, in that moment as Sam and Nat chatted by the car. As she sat down in the back seat, and Sam stepped into the passenger seat up front, Anna crossed her arms and leaned back against the leather seat, only for Sam to turn to her with a smile. She laughed softly, and blushed as he mentioned the reaction she would likely get to her dress. She could almost hear a slight edge of jealous or possessiveness in his voice, and it excited her heart a little more than she would have expected.

“I will make sure to remind them of that. Wouldn’t want my very large and very ‘mean’ partner beating up any 14 year olds, yeah?”, she laughed, adjusting her dress. As they left the parking spot, she sighed, remembering how Castiel looked at her, and how he casually talked about killing her when they were back in Bobby’s kitchen. If this hunt went wrong, there was no telling what the angels had in store for them, specifically her and Sam. She shuddered at the thought and leaned her head against the window as they drove, staying relatively silent.



Duke raised his eyebrows as Esme explained why she was able to calm him so well with just a touch. He had heard of Empaths, in the past, and heard of a few of them having powers outside of just their feelings and ability to project them. It wasn’t a new term, but it did concern him as he thought over some of the powers he had heard about. He pouted his lip and nodded, as if it made perfect sense, but he had to think it over.

“So, that whole time, you knew that I was jealous and stuff? Wow…”, he muttered, his eyes widening slightly at the realization. He had spent well over a year with her and Dean, watching them from afar, or rather, trying not to watch them when they were together. They were so damn good together, but Duke couldn’t help the irrational jealousy (that he now knew she could feel) when he was near them, “That had to be awkward. I mean…I was a mess back then.”

He picked up the cloth he had wet her hair with, and dipped it in the water before brushing it over her soapy hair to wash the shampoo out. As he did so, he tightened his arm around her, and smirked, “You know what’s funny? I’ve been in this business so long that all I can really say to that is ‘there are worse things you could be’, I guess. I mean, I believe it was you that was whole heartedly convinced I could be chained up like a guard dog when we thought that werewolf in flagstaff had turned me. Remember that?”

He squeezed another stream of water over the top of her head, sliding the cloth over her head to keep the soap out of her eyes, “I don’t see where this is any different.”

MIKA CHAMBERS

She couldn't help but continue to smirk as she saw the whole situation and her quips really were testing his patience, so she swore to herself that she wouldn't make anymore quips whilst they were working, just to play nice. Even if his wide smile did tell her he was always enjoying her sudden good mood this day. Even she didn't fully know what had switched inside her to make her be in such a manner, but she was enjoying it. She was so fed up of being the grieving girlfriend, the one that did nothing but cry and cry along with drinking herself to sleep, or if she really had to let out any frustration she'd do the rare hunt just to take out her anger at Lilith for sending Dean to Hell, on any monster that stood in her way.

She laughed at what he said back, easily imaginging how Bobby would react if they got forced by the wife to call him and she had to let the wife have her complaint heard. "Oh definitely, he'd gladly scold us like we are kids again" she smirked, as she then saw him grumble about not having halloween candy, but seeing children with bags full.

Mika listened to rant on and on about it before ending his rant with him wiping his hands of any responsbility if he gets denied food and sex for any longer. "Aww baby, we'll get you some candy from the shop when this is done and all the burgers you want, with other things. Though I'm surprised you even want candy knowing a dude died chowing down on such a thing" she told him.

As she spoke, she refrained from patting his leg, not wanting to make him anymore uncomfortable than he already was. She certainly was wanting to, but knew she needed to behave just as much as he did, if not more as she was the biggest distraction for him right now, and the cause of his discomfort. "The quicker we get this done, the quicker you can gorge on junk food and screw me to your heart's content" she smirked once more.

NATALIA AND SAM WINCHESTER

Sam laughed at her comment about him being very large and very mean, knowing that he probably really couldn't be that mean to a kid, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be highly protective over Annabeth either. He wanted her safe over all of them as he knew Natalia was more than capable of defending herself and would only ask for backup if it really was required.

Like Annabeth, both Natalia and Sam really didn't want to think about what would happen if they failed to prevent this seal from breaking. The idea of the Angels taking matters into their own hands if they failed left a cold feeling in the pit of both of their stomachs that they wished would go away,but sadly refused to.

Natalia barely even said a word during the drive as so much was going round her head over this job. She was worried they wouldn't find anything useful, worried that Dean and Mika wouldn't find anything and just worried in general about the whole situation. As she drive them all to the school, her fingertips tapped on the steering wheel every now and then. "Why do I have such a bad feeling in my gut about this whole job?" she finally spoke up, glancing at both Sam and Annabeth then back to in front of her yet again.

"You're not the only one Nat, I'm nervous about this job as well" Sam replied, "but we'll deal with whatever issue comes our way one at a time" he tried to reassure her, stretching his arm across and giving her shoulder a light squeeze. It was only another few minutes before Natalia was pulling up to the school and parking in the first free spot she could find.

Esme watched Duke intently as he took in what she had told him. She knew he was no stranger to knowing Empaths existed, but she didn’t know how he’d react knowing he’d been around one without knowing it and it was someone he knew. To say she was worried about how he’d take it was an understatement, but when he pouted his lip and nodded his head, some of that worry faded. It actually surprised her with how well he seemed to take the news. Of course, she knew he need some time to think it over more and let it sink in more, but she couldn’t have been anymore relieved to not have him freak out on her, especially when they were in a bath together. She released a silent sigh as she watched him and took in his next words, a small smile brightening up her face as she saw the realization hit him.

“Yes, I was aware the whole time.” she said in a soft tone. She could still remember the time Duke and spent with her and Dean, and just how strong his emotions were when all three of them were together. It even came to a point where she tried not to be too affectionate towards Dean when Duke was around them, as to not stir up his emotions too much more than they already were. Then she had to find a way to tell Dean why she was being a bit standoffish without letting him on to how Duke felt about her, which wasn’t easy. “Awkward?” she questioned with a laugh as she dropped her head slightly and shook it gently. “Yes, it was, but there was more to it than that.” she said, lifting her head to look at him once again. “I had to fight to keep my own emotions in check when your jealousy rose. You felt it so strongly, it nearly took me over at times. That’s why I would suddenly say I needed to do something or walk off without a word.” she admitted to him with a small laugh.

When Duke picked up the cloth, wet it, and brushed it over her head, she was about to lean her head back slightly when he tightened his arm around her and smirked. The smile she had on her lips grew as she looked at him and he spoke, then she nodded, not being able to disagree with him and to show she remembered. She tilted her head back slightly when he squeezed the cloth over her head before sliding it over her head, then looked at him when he said he didn’t see this was any different. “I remember the time in Flagstaff vividly. I was the only one out of all of us that was sure you wouldn’t turn. Dean thought I was crazy with how adamant I was. You don’t know how much it bothered me to have to chain you up that night.” she finished with a heavy sigh. Esme fell silent for a moment, her gaze shifting from his a moment as if she was thinking about something.

She shifted her gaze back to his, her smile fading only a little as she looked at him. “Does it really not bother you to know what I am and what I can do?” she asked him, her tone growing serious. “I know you’ve heard about Empaths and what they are capable of.”

Dean shrugged his shoulders at Mika’s mentioning of the guy choking down razor blades while eating candy, “We find out where he bought that candy and we just avoid that place, I guess. I will not have Halloween ruined by some razor blades. I’ll just…check my candy. You know…like a normal human being.”

But he couldn’t help love the idea of just grabbing some burgers, telling the Angels to go and screw themselves, and kicking back with some junk food and his lovely girlfriend in a locked motel room. The thought caused him to tilt his head with a small smile. But Mika’s last words caused his eyebrows to shoot up, “Well damn. If that’s not an incentive to go in guns blazing, I don’t know what is. I hope it’s a witch. Kill the witch. Burn the body. Flip the bird to the angels because we win. Get a burger and a ton of candy. And me and you are hunkering down for the night.”

He wiggled his eyebrows and smirked, turning his eyes to her with a sly look. As they pulled onto the street they were looking for, he carefully looked for the street number, until they came up on a house with yellow tape wrapped around the trees and the mailbox, as if gift wrapped for them, “This must be it. Suburbia, and it doesn’t look plastered on enough to be a Halloween decoration, and doesn’t really fit the rest of the decor. Let’s go talk to a grieving widow!”

Dean pulled up to the curb, and he put the car in park, turning the engine off before opening his door.



Anna sighed as Nat mentioned having a bad gut feeling about the job. She too felt uneasy, working for angels after an angel had quite literally burned her eyeballs out of her head just for existing. They still had no leads on what that meant, or why a demon was able to give them back to her. She shook her head and tried to push the memory down, while speaking up.

“I have a horrible feeling about this job. I’m not the biggest fan of angels, for obvious reasons. Hopefully this is the only time we’ll be under their thumb. I like my eyeballs.”, she said quietly, leaning over the front seat close to Sam.

As they pulled up to the school, Anna stretched her arms, and adjusted her dress, before stepping out of the car and standing near Sam’s door as she looked up at the school. It didn’t look that scary or ominous. It was just a school. If there was something going on, it likely wasn’t attached to the building, or it was…and it was one of the most bizarre and unsurprising cases they had worked together, all wrapped in one.

“Just talk to the teachers…and we’ll be out of here in no time.”, she muttered to herself, adjusting the top of her dress to make sure she wasn’t showing too much skin around a bunch of teenagers.



Duke frowned, thinking back to all of the times he felt extremely jealous around Dean with Esme. As she explained that she had trouble regulating her own emotions around him, his frown deepened, although he heard the laugh in Esme’s voice. He relaxed his face, realizing that she wasn’t upset about the situation, despite the discomfort she had experienced. He rinsed the cloth and brought it back up to wash more soap from her hair, keeping his grip around her.

He laughed and shrugged his shoulders as she spoke about Flagstaff, “Honestly? I didn’t mind being chained up. I was a little nervous when I barked at Dean, just to be a smartass and he almost shot me, though. But being chained up, with nowhere to go and nothing to do but talk to you while I waited to not turn into a werewolf was honestly a bit of a break I needed.”

Rinsing the cloth one more time, he glanced down at her eyes as she asked him if he was truly not bothered and he shook his head with a small smile, “I mean. I’ve heard different things about Empaths. Powers and such, depending on how good they are at controllin’ their anger. I’m more concerned that you can basically read my thoughts, even if it’s only emotions and such. I mean, that can get complicated. But I know you won’t hurt me. You’ve had plenty of chances in the past, babydoll.”

Duke took a deep breath, “Do you want me to be bothered?”

MIKA CHAMBERS

The comment about checking his candy like a normal human being made Mika smirk and roll her eyes, lightly shaking her head in disbelief that someone choking on razorblades couldn't put him off candy. She was certain in that moment that nothing would put him off his food ocne he got his mind focused on it, though she did still wonder if there was anything that could accomplish that task and she hoped that she was in the room when it happened.

The better reaction from him however in her eyes, was his reaction to her other comment about what they could do post hunt. Her words got her the reaction she was hoping for and more, which made her chuckle. She met his eyes and saw the all too familiar eyebrow wriggle and sly look which just encouraged her to give him a matching look back. "Then we better do a good but quick job" she commented.

Pulling up to the street and eventually the house in question, she couldn't help but really look at the exterior to see if anything stood out but considering the day it was, it was a bit more difficult as it always was, to see what was unusual and what was normal halloween decorations. If it wasn't for the police tape being up modestly in comparison, she would have just thought it was another house decorated for trick or treaters. "Right, lets get this over with" she agreed, opening her side door and stepping out of the car, before pulling down her blazer back into place.

She gave her knees a little wiggle as she made sure her skirt wasn't hitched up anywhere and then walked round to Dean's side being careful to not get her heels stuck in a drain cover as she went. She gave Dean a quick look that said a hundred things then she began the walk up the driveway and to the house's front door where she gave it a couple of seconds then knocked on the door in three simple knocks, hoping that the widow was in.

After a minute or so she heard footsteps coming to the front door which she took as a good sign, which was followed by the front door opening revealing the widow to them, someone she could tell really wasn't taking her husband's death well in the slightest. A sight that she hadn't long been like herself and knew that them deciding earlier on that it should be her who does the talking to the wife, was no doubt the best idea. Though she had to mentally admit, seeing this woman in such a way was bringing up memories of herself grieving for Dean all up to the surface.

Internally shaking them from her mind, she gave the woman a smile and pulled out her ID, opening it to show her. "Hi, we've come to discuss with you about your husband's death, could we possibly come inside?" she greeted.

SAM AND NATALIA WINCHESTER

Annabeth's bad feeling about this whole case was of a relief in a strange way to Natalia and Sam as neither wanted to be the only one who had a bad feeling about it. "And neither of us or the others will let any asshole Angel take them again" Natalia told her determindly. Annabeth never deserved that brutal torture in her eyes, or Sam's and if she was able to get just one punch in to that Angel's face she would be satisfied, even if it meant she got killed.

Both Sam and Nat got out of the car, Nat locking it after closing the driver's side door behind her and then adjusted her blazer at the back as it had rucked up from all the driving. Placing her keys in her blazer pocket, she waited to get the signal from the other two that they were ready which she got from Annabeth's muttering to herself.

"Lets head in then" Sam said to the girls, beginning the walk up to the building so they could head to the reception first to find out where they would need to head to. Nat stayed close to the two of them, but not so close that it didn't look unprofessional or suspicious. It was bad enough in her eyes that students were already pausing to look at them walk passed and whisper to each other, making guesses for who they were and if they were here for the death of the student.

"Well something tells me the students might have been predicting this kind of arrival" Sam muttered quietly to the girls, also noticing how there were whispers stirring from their arrival. "I think any adult arriving in a suit would create the gossip ring to begin to be fair" Nat muttered back, as Sam reached the main door and opened it for both Annabeth and Natalia.

Reaching the reception area Sam took over, pulling out his ID which Nat followed by also doing then started talking. "I wonder if you can help us. We're looking for Tracy Davis, could you tell us what class she would be in right now?" he asked, giving the receptionist a professional but warm smile, that she took gladly and started tapping away at her computer. "Art class, down the hall to the right, and it's the side room at the very end" she explained, gesturing with her hand as she spoke.

"thank yu, it's much appreciated" Natalia spoke up, before starting the walk to the room.

Esme had watched Duke as she spoke about how it was when he was around her and Dean. She watched him frown as she described how it was hard to keep her emotions in check, then saw his face relax when he heard to laugh in her tone. She was glad that he picked up on her not being upset by the experience, even though it was uncomfortable at times. Though she could admit it was quite strange having two men in love with her at the same time. When he rinsed more soap from her hair, she slightly tilted her head back again. She was also still aware of his unchanging grip around her, which was keeping all her senses heightened. When he commented on Flagstaff, she could only smile a little more and give a laugh as she could clearly remember Duke barking at Dean and almost getting himself shot. She was still convinced if she hadn’t had been there, Dean probably would have shot Duke.

As for him claiming being chained up with nothing to do but talk to her and wait to not turn was a needed break, she could understand that. Things had been rough before that day, and it was like they were getting a slight break while they waited to see if Duke would turn or not. She could still remember sitting in a chair across the room from him, with her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned back in it as they spoke to pass the time. Dean had been determined to not let her get too close to Duke in case he had turned, even with how adamant she was he wouldn’t turn. After she had turned serious and asked her question, she watched him shake his head with a small smile before he answered. She listened to every word that came from his mouth, and letting then roll around in her head. It brought her relief to know that it did not bother him and knew that she wouldn’t hurt him or use her abilities against him since she had plenty of chances in the past.

A smile started to come to Esme’s lips at the use of her nickname, but stopped when Duke took a deep breath and asked his question. What smile had made it to her lips faded, and a look of genuine hurt took over her features. She then carefully shifted back to her original position, slowly leaned forward, pulling herself from his grip, then bent her good leg and propped the elbow of her good arm on her knee. Bringing her arm towards her, she rested her hand on her shoulder and leaned her head against her arm with a heavy sigh. “How can you even ask me that?” she asked quietly as she closed her eyes. She fell silent as she sat there, her fingers curling up on her shoulder. “No, of course, I don’t want you to be bothered.” she finally breathed. “It’s just surprising to see you take the news so well. Most don’t take it as well as you have. They shy away or freak out and see me as a danger, a freak, a monster…...”

She closed her eyes tight as she remembered some of the times being an Empath had gotten her into some hairy situations. She mentally shook them from her thoughts and took a deep breath. “You of all people should know I don’t want you to see me that way. I need at least one person out of this group, other than Cason, to see me as somewhat normal and not a threat to them.” she told him. “I know Mika sees me as a threat because Dean and I have a past. She’s been nice, but I know it’s hard for her because she knows we still care about each other. I think she’s afraid I’ll try to take him from her, but that’s something I could never do to anyone…… I still don’t know why I stayed after finding out he was back from Hell other than Dean begging me to…… Maybe it’s because I don’t want to be alone anymore.” Her last sentences were hardly audible, as she mostly said them to herself.

Sighing heavily again, she fell silent and closed her eyes tighter for a moment before finally relaxing her face. “I’m tired of being seen as a freak. I'm tired of being feared, and I’m tired of being used as a tool because of what I can do just for someone else’s gain.” A shiver overtook her and her fingers curled in making a fist as she spoke about being used as a tool, it obviously triggering something. Esme took in a shuddered breath and her head dropped a bit. Duke didn’t have any idea how much she sometimes wish she could just turn it off or wished she wasn’t an Empath. Throughout the years, she had searched for ways or some sort of object that would block the emotions of others from hitting her so hard, but had found nothing until recently. Never in a million years would she had thought that something would have been a Hellhound. Even with knowing that, she couldn’t just go about her life with a Hellhound attached to her hip. She still needed to see if she could find something else that would work.

Dean stepped out of the Impala, smoothing out the front of his suit jacket, before buttoning the single button in the front, and reaching an arm out to Mika’s lower back as she straightened her skirt. He was careful to keep the touch light and professional, closing the Impala door. He glanced down at Mika’s face, raising his eyebrows with a small smirk and then followed her up the drive to the front door.

He pulled the sides of his jacket up, and shoved his hands in his pockets, waiting impatiently for the widow to come to the door, but when she did, his gaze softened, seeing her face. She was in absolute mourning, and obviously wasn’t the culprit…or she was an incredibly good actor. Dean pulled his own ID out of his pocket and showed it to the woman, which caused the woman to step to the side and open the door wider.

Dean wasted no time stepping past her and into the kitchen, where he stepped over the police tape and grimaced at the bloody candy wrappers all over the bar. He picked one up, staring at it closely, before dropping it and wiping his hands on his jacket. Nothing seemed weird about the candy wrapper. It was a mass produced brand and not some weird creation specifically for this one victim. He stepped up to the cabinet and found the bucket for the candy, pulling a couple of pieces out, and squishing at them with his fingers.

“No blades…”, he muttered to himself, pocketing the candy and turning in a circle to try and find anything out of place in the kitchen. After a few moments, his eyes found a scrape mark in front of the fridge, as if it had recently been moved. He stepped up to it, and wrapped his arms around the side, pulling it forward in line with the scrape, and as the gap between the fridge and the wall grew bigger, a small cloth bag fell to the floor, “Son of a bitch. Witches…great. Just friggin great…”, he muttered to himself, quickly bending to pick up the bag.

He pocketed the bag and pulled the fridge back into place before walking back into the living room to stand near Mika’s side.



Anna walked close to Sam’s side as they walked up to the doors of the school. She peered around the front of the school at the kids that were staring at them, and whispering to one another as they approached. A few of the boys were sizing her up, and she simply smirked, deciding to potentially use their gaze as a conversation starter later on, if they needed an in with the kids.

“They seem to be excited enough to see us. I’ll try to talk to a few of them, later on, if we need it.”, Anna muttered back to Sam with a smirk, as she flirtatiously through her hair over her shoulder and followed Sam and Natalia inside. She pulled her ID from her bra, and waved at one of the older boys that passed them in the hallway, shooting him a polite smile, before showing her ID to the receptionist along with Sam and Nat.

She leaned in close to Sam and smirked, “So, the outfit was a good choice. I could have them eating out of my hands. If we find out who she’s friends with, I can work on them, if you think you can handle your professionalism.”

She laughed softly, and slapped his chest playfully with the back of her hand.



Duke furrowed his brow in confusion as Esme’s face turned straight to hurt. As she pulled away from him, he let her, but leaned forward, pulling his knees up on either side of her, making sure she couldn’t run away from him as he stared at the back of her head and swallowed heavily at her words, “I didn’t mean it like that. And I have never, and I don’t think I could ever see you as a monster. I should have…worded that differently.”

He sighed, turning his eyes up to the ceiling in frustration with himself as she continued and Cason was mentioned. He didn’t know much about the demon, but he obviously cared for Esme, and saw her as somewhat of an equal to him. He had wanted to take care of her after Duke showed up, and Duke’s possessiveness took over and prevented it.

As she finished by calling herself a ‘tool’, Duke clenched his jaw and he leaned forward with a sigh, placing a soft kiss against the space between her shoulder blades, resting his forehead against the back of her head, “Well, I might have stuck my foot in my mouth, but I’ll tell you this. I’m not afraid of you. I’m not bothered by you, and I’m not leavin’ you alone again.”

Duke brushed his fingers over her ribs and around her waist, wiggling his fingers between her stomach and her bent leg to hug her to him as he pressed another kiss to her back, “And no more being a tool. No more livin’ in the past. You breathe and you let it go. I’m sorry. I should know better by now than to ask questions like that…”

Esme was aware of Duke pulling his knees up on either side of her before she started speaking. She also knew why he had done it. Even if she had wanted to run, there was no way she could have gotten out of the tub fast enough before he grabbed her. There was no point in trying in her condition, anyway. When he answered her question, she didn’t answer back or make it clear she heard him, but it relieved her to hear him say he didn’t and couldn’t see her as a monster. He was one of the last people she wanted to think of her as such. With how close he was, it wasn’t hard to miss his sigh of frustration as he took in her words and how they affected him. She didn’t mean to unload on him, but once she started, she couldn’t stop herself until it was all out and off her chest for once in her life. She had kept it bottled for so long it just needed to come out, and she was glad it was him and not someone else that was the one to hear it.

She wasn’t one to just unload her thoughts and feelings on someone, because she didn’t want to burden anyone with her personal problems. But being alone for as long as she had with no one but herself to talk to, it was bound to happen, eventually, and she had known that. Duke’s soft kiss between her shoulder blades when she finished caused her to open her eyes and flinch, then tense up a little as he rested his forehead against the back of her head. His words warmed her heart and lightened her mood. His words ‘I’m not leavin’ you alone again.’ replayed in her mind as she sat there, not really expecting to hear those words from him, especially after hearing Duke say he was going to stay a few days earlier. Did that mean he would stay longer or try to get her to go with him when he decided to leave?

When Duke’s fingers brushed over her ribs, around her waist, then his fingers wiggling between her stomach and bent leg to pull her into a hug against him, then followed by another kiss to her back, Esme felt her breath catch. Her elbow fell from her knee and she lifted her head from her arm. A soft smile made its way back to her face at what he said next, and she slowly let out the breath she was holding. Bringing her hand from her shoulder, she rested her hand and arm on his as he held her to him. Closing her eyes, she could feel herself relaxing and melting into his embrace as she sat there with him. Leaning her head back, she rested it on his shoulder with a light sigh, then brought her other hand to rest on both their arms. “I’m relieved to hear you’re not afraid or bothered.” she said, turning her face towards him, then rested her forehead against his neck.

“I don’t plan on becoming a tool again. I’ll try not to live in the past anymore.” she whispered, softly nuzzling her forehead against his neck. “Breathe? That’s easy…… Let it go? That’s a little easier said than done. It’s a bit hard to be like Elsa and let it go.” Her smile grew a little more at her last words, holding back a laugh that threatened to show itself as she realized what she said. She had used a line she’d heard Duke and Dean use before and she knew he would catch it. I’ve spent way too much time with them. she thought with an inward laugh. “And you’re forgiven, Bright Eyes. I should apologize for unloading on you. I didn’t intend to and I’m sorry.” She nuzzled her forehead against his neck again and sighed softly, then gave a small laugh. “But you know, I always had an easier time talking to you about things. You could always get me to talk about something, even if I didn’t want to. Maybe it’s because I knew you would listen until I finished, not pick it to pieces, and handle it in a calm manner.”

MIKA CHAMBERS

Once let inside, Mika walked through the house, making mental notes of the place just incase anything was out of the ordinary, but honestly the house looked amazing to her. A typical surburbian house in her eyes, a house she was actually envious of in some ways as she had always dreamed of having a nice big house like this with Dean, but unfortunately the hunter lifestyle never allowed them to have it.

With Dean heading to the kitchen, she walked into the living room with the widow and began talking with her about what happened and when. She wanted to hear the timeline of events from the woman herself rather than relying on what the news said. It somehow didn't entirely surprise her that the wife described her husband as someone everyone who knew him, loved him. It was a description that was always said so she was actually expecting it. She also found herself at one point getting the woman to open up by expressing how she knew what she was going through, that she too knew of the grief she was experiencing. With that said, it seemed to make the widow trust her and open up.

"And there's no one you can think of who would have a grudge against him?" Mika asked, only to get a shake of the head after a bit of thinking. "No, like I said, everyone loved him who knew him. The only people he's interacted with lately is his work colleagues and our babysitter Tracy Davis" the widow explained, and the name she dropped seemed to hit in Mika'a memory to her for some reason. She would have to make note until later.

She wrote the name down as if she was legitamately an FBI agent when Dean came in and stood beside her. Sensing he was done doing what he needed to, she looked at the widow, "well thank you for the information, please, if you think of anything else don't hesitate to call me on this number-" she said as she pulled out a business card and handed it to the woman. "we'll be in touch with any updates ourselves. Thank you for your time" she told her.

The widow showed them both out with her own thanks to them before closing the door behind them. Outside Mika sighed and tucked some hair behind her ear as she exhaled. "that woman is seriously grief stricken...poor woman." she commented as they headed to Dean's car again. "The name Tracy Davis ring a bell to you with this case?" she then asked eventually.

SAM AND NATALIA WINCHESTER

The way the boys had been sizing up Annabeth wasn't entirely sitting well with Sam and even Natalia was getting a tad protective over Annabeth, wanting to play a older sister role and wipe those gawking looks off the boys' faces and tell them to divert their eyes unless they wanna have it slapped off their faces. A role that Natalia never thought in a million years she would ever feel. She was usually content with being the baby annoying sister to Sam and Dean, now here she was wanting to protect Annabeth which she could only think was a consequence of not being able to help Sam help save Annabeth from the Angel.

"lets hope we don't" Sam mumbled in reply to Anna's comment about going to talk to the boys if they felt they needed even more information. As they walked down to the art room, he listened to what she muttered to him again and nodded at her words even though he didn't particularly like the plan. "I can handle my professionalism, you'd be surprised at what I've have to remain professional through when it's just been me and Dean, or me and Nat" he muttered to her.

"he ain't wrong, he wanted to punch a guy one time with how letchy he was being with me" Nat said quietly back as they reached the art room and walked inside, where Sam then took the lead this time. "Excuse me, is this where we can Tracy Davis?" he asked as he saw a teacher in the room, doing some cleaning up. "Yeah but you just missed her, class clocked out early. But how can I help you?" the tall man replied, with hair nearly as long as Sam's.

Nat and Sam pulled out their ID's, showing them, "we're here about the death of her friend. We're following up on the reports to see if there's anything else we can find" Natalia spoke. "I'm not sure what you'll get out of her. She can be a....troublesome student at times. She almost clawed my eyes out when I told her her work was inappropriate and disturbing" the man named Don explained. "Really?" Sam replied curiously, which made Don show them the girl's work.

THe work was indeed disturbing and Natalia looked at Annabeth and gestured for her to take photos discreetly, whilst she and Sam spoke with the teacher. "Seems a bit of a overreaction to some critique that is justified" Natalia replied, whilst Sam remained silent for now. "Is she usually of this kind of mindset?" Sam asked, "she wasn't, but she has changed mood wise lately, I don't know if anything different has happened in her life. I know she babysits for the man and wife whose husband died recently. Maybe that has something to do with it" Don explained.

Dean watched Mika hand the widow her business card, wondering if she had managed to get any info from her. He didn’t ask. Instead, he stood still until Mika turned to leave and the widow showed them out. As soon as they were outside, Dean glanced to Mika expectantly, waiting for a light briefing. He shook his head sadly at her comment about the woman’s grief, “Yeah, I can’t imagine losing someone like that. Wake up in the morning and everything’s fine, and then by night fall, your spouse is just dead.”

As Mika brought up the name of the babysitter, Dean narrowed his eyes in deep thought and he tilted his head to the side, “Wasn’t that the name on the other paper? The girl Sam and Nat are going to talk to?”

He pulled the hex bag from his pocket and held it up between two fingers, “Think she could be our witch? I found this, behind the fridge.”



Anna smirked at Sam’s comment about having trouble keeping himself professional around Dean and Nat’s shenanigans. Though, he didn’t seem particularly excited about Anna going off to chat with the gawking students. He still seemed to understand it might be a plan, if they needed some info from the kids.

She followed Sam and Nat down to the classroom, and as Sam and Nat pulled their ID’s to show the teacher, she also pulled hers, but stood back from them a bit to look over the artwork on the walls, and the different clay pieces. She frowned at a few of them, seeing a lot of dark and potentially disturbing masks.

When Nat signaled to her to take photos quietly, Anna pulled out her phone, and she stepped closer to them, looking over the disturbing art as she pretended to text, while taking photos, “Her mood changed suddenly. Almost like she might be possessed by something? Like something snapped?”

She asked the questions in a way that Sam and Nat could pick up on what she was getting at, wondering if the girl was possessed by a demon, but keeping it vague enough that the teacher would just think she was simply mentioning hormones, or maybe trauma causing the outbursts.



Duke relaxed a bit as Esme actually reacted to his embrace and his words. He tilted his head to the side as she leaned back against his shoulder, and turned her face toward his neck. Glancing down at her, even though he couldn’t see her face, he smirked, his smirk turning into a wide smile, “I guess that’s a compromise…for now.”

Duke tightened his arms around her as she forgave him for the question and then apologized for unloading on him, as if he didn’t ask for it. He shook his head and turned his head to place a soft kiss to her hair, “You got no reason to apologize. You can lay all that stuff on me. I got plenty of room for it. But, we gotta…make that go both ways. Let me ask questions and…be here, while I can.”

He reached his free hand up to brush her hair back, brushing his thumb down the side of her face as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself the rest of the way, in hopes that it would help her own nerves if she was dealing with them, “I’ll hang around a while, so we can work on that…if you want me to."

When Duke tightened his arms around her, Esme gently squeezed his arms. A warm smile came to her lips when he placed the soft kiss against her hair, and she listened as he spoke. His sweetness was almost too much for her to handle and made her want to never leave his embrace. She just wanted to curl up right there in his arms and have him hold her close in a warm and strong embrace. It was something she had missed during her time alone and hadn’t realized how much she had craved it until now, even after what she went through two and a half years ago. “It’ll always go both ways.” she told him as she pulled her forehead from his neck and opened her eyes. She pulled her head back just enough to where she could see his face, a warm smile still rested on her lips. “You can also ask questions, as long as they aren’t stupid ones.” she teased. “I just don’t know how easy some of them will be to answer.”

She watched him as he brushed her hair back with his free hand, taking in how his thumb brushed down the side of her face and the deep breaths he took to calm himself. Before his hand could leave her face, she lifted her own hand and placed it on top of his, holding it to her cheek as he spoke once again. Her warm smile grew, and it shone in her eyes as she looked up at him. “Of course I want you to. Why wouldn’t I?” she asked, her tone as warm as her smile. “Not just to work on that, but also catch up on everything that we missed. I’ve really missed you.” Lifting her head slightly from his shoulder, she released his hand, and placed her hand on her chest, just under the cuts that were made by the demon earlier. Leaning forward, she placed a soft kiss on his cheek before laying her head back on his shoulder and looked up at the ceiling. “I know you’ve been trying to get out of this life, but I would like to spend some more time with you before you decide to leave.”

After answering, Esme found herself once again thinking about just how long Duke would stick around for. It could be as soon as she healed and was back on her feet for all she knew. She wanted to make sure they parted on better terms than they did the last time and also keep in touch. If she was completely honest, she didn’t want him to leave, but she wouldn’t force him to stay, either. It was his choice if he stayed or went. Taking a deep breath, she slowly let it out and focused back on him again. “So, what do you say to finishing up here, ordering in, and then either talking or we could try to find a good movie to watch until the others get back?” she asked warmly. It was pretty obvious she didn’t want to talk about him leaving anytime soon. She then remembered that she didn’t have any of her things. It was all in her car, which was left at the roadblock made by the demons earlier, which meant she didn’t have any clothes to put on when she got out.

It looked like she would have to borrow a shirt from Duke, keep a towel around her, or put her bloody clothes back on until she could get her car. Though she knew Duke wouldn’t allow her to put those clothes back on. Though she had a bra and underwear, at least. From what she could tell, they weren’t too badly messed up. She inwardly sighed, hating that they had left her car in the middle of the road with everything she owned in it. She tried to not let herself think of someone finding it and driving off in it since the keys had been left in the ignition when Cason and herself were dragged from her car.

MIKA CHAMBERS

Mika nodded in an somber manner when Dean said about not being able to imagine what the widow was going through, she was honestly glad that Dean didn't know that kind of grief and she hoped that he never would. She had gone through that and it the worst feeling to be drowned by, a feeling she never wanted to feel ever again, as she was certain that if she did lose Dean again she wouldn't be so willing to stay alive for everyone else's sake the second time. She knew in her heart that as dark as it was, she wouldn't want to stay alive if it meant living with Dean not in the world anymore, she would rather throw her life awzay than live on a planet without him. She just wouldn't ever admit that to him or anyone else as she knew they'd just try and stop her or do all they could to make her change her outlook on the decision.

Changing the subject to the name of the babysitter was a purposely done tactic and she was glad that Dean took the bait of the change of subject, whilst also managing to figure out where she had seen the name from. "You're right, I knew I had seen the name recently on something to do with this case." she replied as she watched him pull the hex bag from his pocket that he found. "Bollocks...it's always bloody witches" she mumbled in annoyance. "She very well could be, it does seem rather too coincidental that she's not only the babysitter of this couple, but also was there when her friend died at the party" she replied, thinking as she spoke.

"okay, I say we head back to the motel, let the others know we got information and we should all group up in one of our rooms over food and discuss everything so we know what to do next" she suggested. The fact that witches really were involved meant they'd have to be even more careful with their next steps. They didn't have the most pleasant history with witches after all, and she knew how easily it could get complicated with a snap of a finger when dealing with them.

"Maybe check the contents of the hex bag before burning it as well? I'm not prepared to risk our own lives with the damn bag near us" she added.

NATALIA AND SAM WINCHESTER

As Annabeth took the discreet photos of the artwork by the students, Sam and Natalia both listened to what Don had to say about Tracy to the best of his ability as her teacher. Hearing that a student seemed to change overnight was suspicious to the both of them, but not entirely all that rare of an occurance to either of them. Students changed personalities often, Sam had seen it himself when he was at Stanford, the stress of exams or coursework getting to his fellow students and even his dorm mate and girlfriend. It caused all kinds of mood changes in them, yet it never once made them go as far as to make disturbing artwork or want to claw out the eyes of their teacher.

Both of them looked briefly at Annabeth when she asked her question, then looked back at Don to see what his answer would be, proud of Anna for how she asked the question without coming across as some kind of conspiracy nut or making herself seem suspicious. Don had a look of thought on his face at the question as if he was trying to recall whenexactly Tracy snapped or how to answer the question.

"I guess if stress can come across as possession?" Don said before shaking his head with an amused look on his face at the very idea. "But no, I can't think of anything in particular. Students are coming up to some exams so I can only think it would be that, I know she's been having a little part time night time job somewhere, but I'm not sure where exactly, I only overhear so much between my students when I'm overlooking their work in class" Don continued to explain.

"I guess that will be all, we'll continue to look for Miss Davis. Thank you for your time, if there's anything else you think of or find her before we do, please. Don't hesitate to give us a call" Natalia explained, handing over a business card with her work phone number on it.

Sam glanced over at the furnaces used for modelling and saw some interesting bones inside, so as Natalia was speaking to the teacher, he pulled out a tissue and discreetly pulled out a few of the small bones and wrapped them up, stashing them in his inside pocket.

Dean tilted his head in agreement with his eyebrows raised at Mika’s annoyance with witches. Witches could be tricky, and with the careful placement of a hex bag, or even just one of your hairs, they could totally screw everything up or even kill you. He furrowed his brow and thought about the possibility that a teenager could be doing all of this.

“She just seems a little young to be doing this on her own.”, he muttered, as he approached the Impala and tossed the hex bag on the hood. He ran a hand across his eyebrows as Mika mentioned a solid plan of regrouping. He reached down and untied the leather strip around the hex bag, “I think that’s as good of a plan as any. Take pictures of this stuff. We can take them back to Sam and see if we can figure out what we’ve got.”

He flattened the fabric and gestured for her to take photos, as he pulled his keys and his zippo from his pocket, laying them beside it.



Anna nodded slowly as the Don answered her question, and she stepped close to Sam as Natalia finished up with him. She followed his gaze toward the furnaces and watched as he managed to get some of the small bones from the tray inside. She turned from him, waving politely at Don and then a few of the male students, before leading the way out of the classroom.

Once she was in the hallway, she turned to Sam and raised an eyebrow, “You think the teacher knows more than he’s telling us? I mean, its possible that this girl is just an angsty teen, but it’s just as possible that she’s doing some kind of weird magic with those bones, and hiding them in plain sight? Or Don…”



Duke stayed still as Esme confirmed she wanted him to stay. Her hand resting on top of his sent his heart racing a bit, just at the deliberate touch. He raised his eyebrows a bit further as she made it clear that she wanted to spend time with him, not just have him as an extra set of hands while hunting. As she kissed his cheek, he took a deep breath, his heart stuttering, but he nodded his head, “O-okay. Yeah. I’ll stick around for a bit. I don’t see no harm in that. If anything, I can do my best to make sure you don’t get yourself killed tryin’ to keep up with the Winchesters.”

He laughed softly, watching the side of her face as she stared at the ceiling, but as he took a deep breath, so did she and turned back to him. He furrowed his eyebrows at the mundane date night sound of her plans for them. He nodded excitedly and rolled his shoulders back, “Yeah! Yeah I think that sounds like as good a plan as any. We’ll go find your car in the mornin’ if we can’t talk one of the others into going to get it when they get back.”

Duke could feel that the water was getting a bit cool, as they sat there, losing track of time. He stretched his leg out and hit the lever to release the water from the tub and scooted her forward on the slick tile of the tub. He stood carefully, and stepped out of the tub, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his waist. He reached back and grabbed a second towel, holding it in front of him for her to stand so he could grab her. He laughed softly, trying to keep the mood light, “Can you stand up without help? I know sometimes that’s touch and go with you.”

Esme couldn’t help the smile that graced her features when Duke said he’d stick around a bit after she said she wanted him to. It wasn’t hard to miss how her touch and kiss affected him, and it made her hold back a laugh at how those simple actions affected him. A soft laugh escaped her at his comment about making sure she didn’t get killed trying to keep up with the Winchesters. Though it was true, one could easily get themselves into trouble trying to keep up with the Winchesters. It was still funny. Then again, she wasn’t a stranger to getting into trouble. Trouble seemed to follow the Winchesters around just as it did her. Even if she hadn’t stuck around or hadn’t followed Natalia back to Sam's room that day, she’d still run into many troubling situations on her own. They all appeared to be people that had unpleasant situations dropped into their laps, just flat out drew them in or even caused them some way. Yes, they would seek cases out to prevent the innocent from being hurt or killed, but some of them…. Just happened out of the blue. At least they did for her, anyway.

Before making a suggestion for plans, she had noticed how they had both taken a deep breath in unison, then his furrowed eyebrows after she asked. Yes, she was aware of how much it sounded like a date night, but what else could she do with a bruised face, a stitched-up shoulder, and a stitched-up leg? She was liable to scare many people if she went out looking the way she did, and she just wanted to relax for a while. Her smile grew at his excited nod and when he rolled back his shoulders, she even laughed a little. One eyebrow raised when he spoke about her car. It was as if he had read her thoughts. “Sounds good. You know my whole life is in that car.” she said in a joking tone with a laugh, even though it was pretty much true. Her car was her home, and the only one she could remember after her mother’s death. She and her father spent many a night sleeping in it when they couldn’t stay in a motel. He would take the front seat and she would take the back.

It wasn’t until he stretched out his leg and hit the lever to release the water from the bath did Esme realize just how cold the water had become. After he scooted her forward on the tub’s slick surface, she rested herself against her bend leg as he carefully stood and stepped out. Her focus went to the water swirling as it went down the drain as Duke grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. When she saw him hold out a towel for her out of the corner of her eye, she turned her head to look at him and was about to try and stand before he laughed softly. Her head tilted slightly to the side before he spoke, then she laughed softly as well. “Ah, so you remember that about me, huh?” she laughed as she joked. She tilted her head a little more in thought, then closed her eyes briefly with a small sigh that was followed by a warm smile that spread to her eyes. “I think the smart thing to do would be to have you help me up and then help me step out.” she said, looking up at him. “You know how danger prone I can be at times.” she added with a laugh.

MIKA CHAMBERS

While she did agree that a school kid seemed to be a bit young for this sort of witchcraft, she did think it wouldn't be craziest thing they've ever come across in their careers of being hunters. "She does yeah, but can we really afford to rule it out?" she countered as they got to the impala and he put the hex bag on the hood, and she gave more suggestions for the regroup.

At the request to take photos of the contents of the hex bag, she pulled out her phone and did exactly what he wanted, holding her phone above the open bag and snapping a couple of photos to make sure they got a decent in focus one. "Good idea, if anyone can figure out what is in here, it's our boy Sammy" she replied to him.

Finishing up with the photos, she put her phone in her pocket after sending the photos to Sam so he had copies, gesturing that he can now burn the contents and the fabric. "Just this whole case is confusing me if I'm honest, but I'm hoping now we've made the connection to the babysitter and the school girl we might actually get a win on this" she admitted to him. She also truly hated that witches were involved in this case, yet if she truly thought about it, she should have guessed it could have been witches, if it was to do with a rising of some big bad.

"I just hope the others got somewhere with the school" she added, opening the passenger side door as she waited for Dean to finish with the burning of the hex bag. The contents as they nearly always did, unnerved her. She had seen some strange things in bags, but there was just something about the contents of this one that really didn't sit well with her. The bones inside were so small and she hoped Sam or someone in their group would be able to figure what bones they were.

SAM AND NATALIA WINCHESTER

Sam looked at Annabeth as she started theorising out loud to him, a small smile appearing on his lips because of it as to him, she was sounding so much like one of them and she probably didn't even realise it. It seemed as Natalia looked at the two of them, she was thinking the same thing as Nat smiled briefly herself at the whole chat happening. "It's possible alright, one thing I've learned in all the years I've been doing this, is never dismiss anything" Sam replied to her.

"He seemed sketchy as hell to me personally. There's no way Don doesn't know what is being burned in those furnaces. Those things have to attended and watched over whilst being used incase a student causes an incident and blows the room up. Question is, why hasn't Don cleared the furnace out" Natalia chimed in with her own thoughts.

"you both got points, it does feel like we only have half the story and evidence right now and that's frustrating" Sam agreed with the two girls. It was then he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, making him pull it out and open it up to the photos from Mika. "Seems Dean and Mika found a hex bag at the widow's place, with very similar bones in it to what we found" he explained to the two of them.

"I guess it's time to head back to the motel and share what we all found" Natalia suggested.

Dean nodded his head, and he sighed, stepping back from the hood so Mika could take photos of the hex bag, “Sam’s gonna love trying to track everything down. Might keep his hands busy for a while, and gives us time to learn more about what to expect from all the ‘things’ around. I have a feeling this is all going a bit too well.”

After she finished with the photos, Dean picked up the edges of the fabric and he carefully lowered the entirety of the contents down to the ground in front of the bumper. He picked up his zippo from the hood and flicked it to a flame, carefully touching the flame to the edge of the fabric. The bag went up in a blue flame, quickly burning hot, before turning to ash at his feet. He stomped the ashes to make sure he didn’t catch the grass on fire.

“Like I said. This is all going a bit too well. There has to be a twist in the road, somewhere.”, he muttered, placing his lighter back into his pocket. He stepped around to the drivers side of the Impala and glanced over the roof at her, “If I know Sam, they found more than enough information about the girl. We should at least be able to pinpoint what kind of crap she’s into, and who’s helping her. With all the allies protecting his area, she’s not working alone…”

He opened the door and sat down behind the steering wheel, quickly turning the engine over.



Anna nodded at both Nat and Sam, stepping close to Sam’s side. They were dealing with a witch, it seemed, and not just a witch, but a potential of two witches. This was new territory for her, being with them only a few days, and to be honest, the seal scared her less than a malicious person with magic at their disposal.

“I’m honestly a little scared. Hopefully the things that the angel said would be here leave us alone? Maybe we can just…figure this out, burn the witch and get out?”, she asked innocently hopeful as she glanced at Sam’s phone.

As Natalia mentioned getting back to the motel to regroup with the others, she smiled and nodded. Safety in numbers calmed her nerves a bit, and the idea of being back around the more ruthless members of the group made her feel safe, even if Dean was still a bit afraid of her.



Duke laughed and he tilted his head to the side, shrugging his shoulders lightly as Esme mentioned his memory of her being a bit clumsy. He smirked and nodded, “I mean, add injuries to your normal mess you get yourself into, and I’m pretty afraid to let you do anything on your own. Hence…why I’m here.”

He lowered the towel to one hand and squared his shoulders, his abs rippling as he readied himself to help her out of the tub. He reached his hands out and laughed, “Well come here, then. Good arm. I don’t wanna have to re-do those stitches. Good hand.”

Before she had a chance to protest too much, he reached down and picked up the hand of her good arm, doing his best to keep his eyes on her face, as to not make the room awkward. He stepped back from the tub a bit and pulled to help her stand. He quickly realized she was going to need a bit more help than just an arm pull and stepped back up, carefully wrapping his free arm around her waist. He pressed his lips to her forehead and stepped back to coax her to step over the edge.

“I got you. C’mon. Lift that good leg first.”, he muttered against her forehead, “I got you.”

Esme laughed again as Duke laughed at her words, then nodded as spoke. It was true, adding injures to what she normally got herself into didn’t help her bouts of clumsiness any. Having the added injuries only made things worse and even harder to get around without more problems. “Then I consider myself lucky you’re here.” she smiled with a warm laugh. “This would be a lot harder without you.” She watched as he lowered the towel to one hand and squared his shoulders, finding it hard not to notice his rippling abs as he readied himself to help her out of the bath. At his laugh and request, she readied herself to have him help her, but before she couldn’t even lift her arm, he had taken hold of her hand. This caused her to lift an eyebrow as she looked at him. Did he really think she had much to protest about in this situation? “You don’t want to redo the stitches. I don’t want you to have to redo them.” she laughed, as she gripped his hand and took to her feet with his help.

As she stood, her feet slid against the bottom of the tub’s slick surface, which would make things a bit more difficult. She noticed how he was trying his best to keep his eyes on her face as he took her hand and help her up out of the bath. It kept a smile on her lips. Esme even noticed the realization hit him after he helped her up and stepped back from the tub, then stepped back up to wrap his arm around her waist. Using her free hand, she tucked some of her wet hair behind her ear before he pressed his lips to her forehead and spoke, her eyes closing briefly before he stepped back to coax her to step over the edge of the tub. She could feel her heart rate pick up at the simple action. She mentally shook her head to clear her thoughts and let out the breath she was holding. Placing her free hand on his arm around her waist and gripping his hand that held her other hand, she shifted her weight to her injured leg so she could lift her good foot from the bottom of the tub and over the side of it.

“I sure hope so. It’s gotten slippery in here.” she said in a slightly teasing tone as she felt her feet slipping a bit. Slowly, she lifted her foot from the bottom of the tub, wincing a bit as she felt a little pain in her other leg. Once she got her foot high enough, she brought it over the side of the tub and to the floor, but before she could step on the floor, her other foot slipped on the tub’s slick surface. Gasping, she came down hard on her other foot causing her to lose her balance from the force and fall forward. “Hellfire!” she said through gritted teeth from the surge of pain she felt from the jolt. Her grip on his hand and arm tightened to catch herself but knew she’d still hit the floor if Duke couldn’t catch her because she wouldn’t be able to get her other foot under in time. Then again, her leg would more than likely buckle as soon as her weight was on it from how she was falling. Esme braced herself for impact with the cold hard floor, not knowing if Duke would be able to catch her or not.