NATALIA

Nat was curious to where Cason's answer was going, but it seemed he had other plans in the form of taking her duffel for her. She let him bump her forehead with his own, she was starting to learn that this must be some kind of comfort thing for him or a notion of affection, if affection was even something demons could give. Either way, she accepted it gladly.

She watched him solely as he repeated what she said, then gave it some thought before figuring something out. Of all the things he could suggested, a carnival wasn't something she'd have thought of, especially since he previously suggested a few different countries. Yet compared to the ideas of going Paris or somewhere else entirely, a carnival that was wasn't so far from their current location, but far enough away to be a fresh sight to see was highly appealing. She hadn't been to a carnival since she was around five or six years old, whilst she still had her parents. The idea of walking around somewhere so fun and just letting her hair down was the most appealing part of it.

"I'd love that" she said honestly, as she let him stroke her cheek once again with his thumb. "it sounds perfect for what I need right now and if you're gonna make such a bold statement then I have to see it for myself" she replied to him, making the most effort to show him a tiny smile. She knew she had some time before a genuine normal smile came back to her faced, but she was determined to see it happen. "So....and I can't believe I'm saying this because my car is my child, why don't you take the keys and drive us there?" she suggested.

MIKA

Mika knew just as well as Dean did how much they all deserved a day and a night of normality. She certainly knew Dean deserved it, and it was one thing she instantly thought he and Natalia had in common with each other. Though deep down she knew the two of them were extremely alike and she figured that was probably why the two siblings bickered and fought so much.

She listened to the options he was giving to what he wanted to do and she couldn't help but smirk and snicker at the ideas. Usually when bars, drinking, trouble and them were put together, it ended up being a highly interesting night. "Ya know what? I think that's a great idea. Hopefully though it won't end like that one night when we were younger...vamp bar fight and ending up walking home drunk beyond belief and hiding in Bobby's old abandoned school bus." she replied, going down memory lane of that particular night from their twenties and chuckling more as she remembered it more and more. The bollocking they got from Bobby was of epic proportions in Bobby's own way and the dirt on their wet clothing was also pretty impressive. She didn't like the washing half of those the next day however.

"So shall we get the hell out of here and live like the old days?" she smirked, almost forgetting for that moment that they probably should say their goodbyes to Duke and Esme as well as letting them know that Sam has gone and Natalia is taking time out elsewhere with Cason.

SAM

Seeing Anna not happy to see him broke Sam's heart just that little bit more, even after he asked for just a moment of her time. He didn't however like that Max was looking at him suspiciously as if he was going to hurt Anna like an abusive boyfriend would. That couldn't be far from the truth and he hoped that Max would listen to Anna and trust her wishes. Luckily he seemed to and Anna agreed to talk with him.

He let her speak first when they were finally alone, her words cutting deep in his heart but he was determined to still say his peace. "I..I know I've been the world's crappiest boyfriend to you. I know I have...and I don't blame you for leaving but it didn't feel like you either. I wanna say I'm sorry, I love you Anna. I do, and I never knew how much my life wasn't complete until you came back into it." he began saying, never once straying his eyes away from hers.

His eyes threatening to well up but he tried to hold the tears back just long enough for him to talk to her. "Please Anna, just tell me why you left." he begged of her, reaching out for her hands, unsure if she would even let him hold her hands. "I wanna do better by you" he told her honestly.

"I need you" he said once more, before taking a risk and cupping her face in his hands and kissing her firmly and slowly, letting his lips linger on top of hers.

Cason smiled softly as Nat agreed to go to the carnival, tilting his head back with a very amused chuckle as she all but challenged him and his talent for carnival games. She wasn’t smiling big just yet, but he could see it peeking through. By the end of the night, she would have a bright smile on her face, if he had anything to say about it. And by the end of the night, she wouldn’t want him to leave, for sure, no matter what her brothers said.

“I like a challenge.”, he teased, dropping his hand as she suggested that he drive her car. For a moment, he made a face that mirrored a confused dog, even cocking his head to the side at the prospect of driving somewhere, “You want to take the car? You realize I can get us there in less than a second, right? We could stash your stuff in the car and I could…you know what? If you want to take the car, I’ll…drive, I guess.”

He shrugged his shoulders, still confused at this particular group of humans and their obsession with their cars. He would almost rather go back to hell than be stuck in a moving can that smelled like leather and gas station food, for any forseeable time. However, Nat had things she loved, and she was used to, and until he could break through and gain more of her trust, he would abide.

Reaching down to pick up her hand, he pulled her toward him and stepped back toward the door again, “Let’s go do human things and eat disgusting human food. Hell, they might even have beer.”, he teased, as he backed through the door, headed to her car to…drive.



Dean laughed out loud when Mika mentioned the night they ended up banged up, drunk and lost in the rain at Bobby’s. Fond memories, but honestly they seemed so distant now. It had been so long since they were able to just unwind, and not be on a case. Hell, even that night, they were forced onto a case by vampires.

He stepped over to his bag, digging around for a moment before he found a flannel. He pulled the red flannel out and pushed his arms through the sleeves before picking his jacket up off the back of the chair he had thrown it over the night before, “I say yes to living like the old days. Though, the odds of being sore tomorrow go up every single year…”

As he teased her, he leaned in and pecked her on the lips sweetly, and then he sighed with a groan, “But we can’t just leave Esme here without her knowing where we went. She had the incident yesterday, and who knows if Duke will stay, and she doesn’t have a vehicle and…let’s just go let her know. Hopefully, he’ll still be there, and they’re too distracted to care.”, he rambled, shrugging his shoulders with his eyebrows raised in reason. He hated even mentioning Esme to Mika at this point, as she always seemed to be a point of contention with them…for good reason.



Anna winced visibly, and closed her eyes. As she pressed them together, her nostrils flared. Sam’s words broke her heart, because realistically, he hadn’t been horrible to her. They were just…disconnected. It might not even be anyone’s fault but the universe, and the angels, and the demons. It wasn’t just Sam. But then he said the three words she had never heard from him, and her breath caught in her throat, causing her eyes to shoot open as she stared wildly at his face. The gravity of the words almost seemed lost in his desperation to explain things to her, as if she would just disappear from in front of him.

Her eyes darted between his, trying to muster up the words to respond to him, when he continued, reaching for her hands, which she didn’t even have the strength to pull from him. She just allowed it, beginning to shiver. If she told him what Lilith had told her, she would likely just kill him. But if they both knew, could she kill him? Surely it wasn’t that simple.

“Sam, I…”, she started, but before she could even finish her thought, his lips were on hers, his hands capturing her in a hold that melted all sense of control over the situation that she thought she had. She reached both hands up to wrap them around his wrists, tiptoeing as she leaned into the kiss, deepening it on her own. She kissed him for a moment, before pulling away, and pressing her forehead tightly to his, “Y-you really shouldn’t have come…”

Anna tightened her grip on his wrists, to make sure he didn’t pull away from her as she finished her thought, “But if you will let me figure out a way to explain, we can get a room and I’ll…try.”, she explained, her eyes still closed as she just breathed him in for a moment. Just with the day that they had been apart, it felt like a piece of her had broken off. He was just so familiar, and having him in front of her felt surreal. She pushed herself up on her toes and kissed him deeply again.



Duke smiled a bit brighter at the way that Esme explained how weird them coming back together was, more eloquently explaining his own thoughts. His eyes nearly fluttered closed as she played with his hair, one of his many weaknesses, but he couldn’t drag his eyes off her face, seeing her smile, seeing the fading bruises show more of her natural features…

But then she laid back down, and it was almost as if he could read what the motion meant. He wrapped his arm around her a bit tighter, concentrating on her fingers in his hair. Then it hit him. Whether she meant to or not, she was in his brain, wrapped up in his emotions, and no doubt could tell that he was feeling less than sure about his own motives and direction. He didn’t let his emotional state change much when the realization hit him, he simply drew circles on her upper back, his eyes darting around the blank white ceiling to try and keep any one thought from resting in his brain.

Her voice broke through the silence in his mind, and he almost flinched from the sudden sound. He stopped his motion on her back, contemplating her options for what they could do for the day. Realistically, they needed to go get her car, before in ended up towed, but he also just wanted to stay wrapped up in her all day, before he had to leave…

He quickly pushed the thought of leaving aside again, and cleared his throat, tightening his hold on her once again, “I say…we enjoy being warm a bit longer, stretch the legs, you know the drill. Then, if you want, I’ll drive you back to get your car. Ain’t a reason I can think of to rush, today…”, he muttered, reaching over with his free hand to place a finger under her chin. He pulled her chin up, to where he could crane his neck down and kiss her lips gently, the thoughts of leaving barely brushing through the back of his mind. After a moment, he broke the kiss long enough to add, “And I still need to feed you.”, he murmured against her lips with a bright laugh.

As Esme waited for Duke’s answer, she went from staring at the wall to closing her eyes. She also noticed how he seemed to notice she felt a change in him by the way he held her tighter and drew circles on her back. She also noticed how he tried to keep his emotions from changing. So to make sure to not get sucked in again, she concentrated on his hair in her fingers, his breathing, and his heartbeat. Being this close to him, and having her mind at ease, it wasn’t hard to be aware of any emotional changes, whether she was trying to or not. Also, the link she had created between him and her had never been broken, which would somewhat explain how he found her and Cason while being tortured by the demons.

The link, no matter the distance, would alert and draw him to her if she was in danger. But that was something she never told him about. Which made her wonder if he felt something when she was kidnapped and tortured by demons the first time. The thought made her sigh to herself, making her remember she had the same unspoken link with Dean. She would need to break it now that he was with Mika but for her to do so, she would have to be close to him and that made it hard because of Mika. The two hadn’t gotten off to the best start and she knew her being here wasn’t going over well with Mika.

Esme would have jumped out of her skin from Duke clearing his throat if it hadn’t been for him tightening his hold on her. She opened her eyes and smiled as he spoke, even giving a laugh as he said he couldn’t think of a reason to rush. Honestly, neither could she. Before she could reply, he had placed a finger under her chin, lifted it, and kissed her. She closed her eyes and smiled behind the kiss before returning it, all the thoughts from before drifted from her mind, and were replaced by thoughts of being in his arms and of his kiss. When he broke the kiss just long enough to murmur one more thing against her lips she smiled and returned the kiss.

Now it was her turn to break the kiss for a moment to say something of her own. “Sounds like a plan to me.” she breathed against his lips. She placed a gentle kiss on his nose before kissing his lips and tangling her fingers in his hair, then deepened the kiss. She could stay there with him all day if she really thought about it, but in the far corner of her mind, she knew they would eventually have to leave the bed and go get her car before it was found and towed off. Having her car towed off wasn’t something she was looking forward to, but right now, that wasn’t even on her mind. She was swept up in the moment.

NATALIA

Nat saw the amusement in his face when she practically challenged him at the carnival games, but she also noticed the very confused look on his face when she said about taking her car with them. She knew he could just materialize them anywhere she wanted to go, and as tempting it was to just disappear in a blink of an eye, she also had her reasons for wanting to take the car and having Cason drive it.

"I know you can, but hear me out okay? 1) I wanna take it to make a point I'm serious about getting away from Dean for a bit to clear my head. If they see for themselves I'm actually leaving with the car then it shows them all, him especially that when I say I'm leaving for a bit, I have full intention of going far enough away from them that I wont be tempted to come running back at the first hurdle, or whatever." she started explaining to him, then she continued, "and 2) You know where he carnival is, so you driving if even can makes sense and as you may guess it's a bit of a crutch so to speak for me. If I need to take a break and hide I can in there." she finished, hoping that would help him to understand her decision a bit better.

She was well aware of how much he didn't understand humans and their needs for cars, she remembered last night for the hunt how he complained about taking the car and not travelling his way, but she needed normality. Seeing him eventually shrug his shoulders and agree to taking the car made her sigh with relief. She let him take her hand and pull her close to him as he backed toward the door and exited the room. She walked with him to her car and pulled out her keys to unlock the doors, then placed them into Cason's free hand. "Don't crash her" she warned before heading to the passenger side and getting in.

MIKA

Oh how Mika had missed that loud raw laugh of Dean's. She thought she'd never hear it again but here she was seeing it for herself and it made her remember just how much she had missed it when he was in Hell. It truly was the little things like his laughter, the way his eyes scrunched up when he laughed that she loved and missed the most during those months. Like Dean, those memories did feel like a lifetime ago even to her, but because they were some of her most treasured memories of her young life with him, she could never forget them. Even if Bobby wasn't impressed with their antics half the time, it was well worth it to her.

She too decided to change into fresher clothing now that she wasn't breaking up arguments or giving her clothing to other people. When he said about living life like the old days but it would no doubt make them more sore the next day compared to back then, she couldn't help but chuckle and nod. "yeah I get you on that one, but for once it'll be worth it!" she smiled, then gladly kissed him back, but her smile also disappeared when he mentioned Esme.

Sighing, she nodded. She knew deep down he was right, they couldn't just up and leave for a while without letting Duke and Esme know, though she did hope Esme was too wrapped up in Duke's company to even notice that they were going out for what could almost be considered a typical date night for them both. "Yeah, you're right..." she replied, hoping that once this little thing was done they could just forget about Esme for a night and be focused solely on each other. Sure it was selfish, but in her eyes she had a right to be.

SAM

Sam knew he was risking a lot just leaning in and kissing her, but he had to get her to see and feel that him saying he loved her was true and not just empty platitudes to get her to come home. So when she leaned up, placed her hands on him and deepened it of her own accord it gave him hope that maybe, just maybe he could convince her to come back with him. If not now, but at some point soon. He'd honestly wait for her for however long it took, apocalypse be damned.

As they parted lips, he looked at her still as she told him he shouldn't have come, but he gently shook his head whilst letting her keep her hands on his wrists. He then nodded at her next suggestion, his thumb stroking her cheek as he did so. "I will stay for as long as you need to explain. Anna I've lost you before, I can't lose you again" he told her honestly, before she leaned up to him again and kissed him first.

He kissed her back deeply, keeping her face in his hands, before he felt the need for air and slowly pulled away from their moment. He really wanted to make this work this time and prove he was worthy of her time and attention. She was the one who, since coming back into his life, made him feel like hope was worth holding onto to and that maybe, no matter what came their way. Together they could anything.

Cason dragged Nat all the way to the car, holding his hand out as she fished out her keys and slapped them into his palm. He brought her hand up to his lips, kissing the back of it as if he was some sort of hopeless romantic and with a wide smile, he let her hand go and opened the drivers door, “I wouldn’t dare crash your precious car. I’m not a monster.”, he joked, feigning offense.

He sat down in the car, and stuck the key into the ignition as she climbed in on her side, and as he started the car with a rumble, he tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. He hated driving cars. Honestly, he found them to be a waste, and more dangerous for humans than almost any other means of transportation. Though, humans didn’t exactly have the ability to fly or disappear the way he did. The thought made him smirk. Such fragile creatures.

“So…”, he quipped as he backed out of the parking space and headed out onto the road, “Since you’re tolerating me, now, we should probably get to know each other. I can start…the annoying human side of my brain still likes classical music. I find it a little calm, on the demon side of things, but that’s the unfornate part of having a split personality that is kinda…glued together. I’ve heard of demons that were unfortunately graced with the sides of themselves melding together under the right circumstances. I don’t plan to ever do that. But…I’m rambling.”

He laughed, and shook his head, “I just don’t know how to do the whole…niceties thing.”



Dean noticed the way Mika’s face changed when he mentioned Esme, and he couldn’t honestly blame her. It wasn’t as if he had done any sort of good job hiding his repressed feelings from the sudden breakup he had experienced with Esme. He hadn’t had closure and no matter how many times he tried, he couldn’t just…ignore that.

He bent his knees, meeting her eyes a bit lower as she tried to hide that she was annoyed, “Hey. It’s only a courtesy. I’m not going to go over there and ask her to come out with us…or be convinced to stay or anything, okay? I’m all yours. I’ll eventually get that to sink into your brain again, but I don’t want Duke to worry either. He’s like a brother to me.”

With that, he leaned in and pecked her on the lips again, stepping toward the door as he reached his hand back for her. Once she willingly came with him, he stepped out the door and out onto the sidewalk. He made the quick walk over to Esme and Duke’s room, clearing his throat before knocking on the door.

At first, no one came to answer it, but after a moment, Duke swung the door open, still buttoning his jeans, which caused Dean to raise an eyebrow, “Um…hey. You seem um…busy. We’re gonna head out for a bit and I didn’t want you guys to think everyone bailed on you. I’ll…I’ll leave you to it.”, he explained awkwardly.



Duke smiled brightly at Esme’s words as she broke the kiss to confirm their plans, and a chuckle left his chest as she kissed his nose before kissing him again. The kiss took his breath away, reminding him once again how long he had waited for her to be willing to reciprocate his feelings. If she was to ask him in this moment to stay forever, he just might. He reached both his hands up, brushing his fingers through her hair, before cradling her face in his hands and flipping them both. He chuckled at how awkward it was under the covers, but after a moment, he settled in, kissing her passionately.

Suddenly a knock at the door rang out through the room. He ignored it at first, but Dean’s quick knocks were not something you could ignore for long, before he ended up in the room, one way or another. With a low growl, he broke the kiss, keeping her head cradled in his arms. He glanced up at the window, seeing Mika standing on the sidewalk through the thin curtains and he groaned, “Dammit. Somethin’s probably goin’ on. I should probably…he’s not goin’ away any time soon.”, he explained dropping his head with his eyes closed in frustration. After a moment, he pushed himself up on his knees, and stepped off the side of the bed, whisking a pair of jeans from his bag on the way to the door. He quickly slipped them over his legs and swung the door open, buttoning his pants before even looking up at Dean.

He narrowed his eyes at how awkward Dean spoke, as if he expected anything different from Duke and Esme, now that they weren’t held down by geography or relationships, leaning on the door frame in amusement, “Don’t lose your shit, now. You guys go have fun. Don’t get into any trouble and if I need you, I’m probably dead, because I ain’t never relied on you for anything.”, he teased, and Dean scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Just…keep your head up.”, Dean waved him off, stepping away from the door with a shake of his head.

“I don’t plan on it!”, Duke called down the sidewalk at him, before shutting the door.



As Sam pulled away from their kiss, Anna took a deep breath, almost forgetting to breathe for a long while, with the passionate kiss. She pulled his hands slowly down the sides of her face, dropping her own hands to his chest as she thought about where they could go. After a moment, she sighed softly and reached for both his hands, “Let’s go to a motel nearby. I’ll go and grab my things.”

She stared up into his eyes for a moment, to make sure he knew for sure she was coming back, and she was planning to leave with him. She then turned around, and walked back into the apartment, to Max bombarding her with questions.



Anna sat her things down in the floor of the motel room, crossing her arms as she turned to Sam, and tried to wrap her brain around what she was going to say to him. She wasn’t sure if she should lie to him about why she left, or if she should just tell him the truth. So, she settled on the truth, hoping that their link to each other mentally might help him not tip Lilith off.

“So um…I guess I should just get it all out there.”, she started, before taking a deep breath, and taking a seat at the foot of the bed, “Um…I was visited by…by someone that I didn’t honestly know I was connected to, well not really.”

She broke off, not realizing before just how emotional explaining all this would make her. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, and she exhaled roughly, pulling her hands down to her lap to play with her fingers, “She’s a demon, and um…she threatened to kill you, and maybe the others if I didn’t leave. She said she had a plan or something? And that I had to ‘be good’.”

She brought her hands up to do quotations, and then sniffled, taking another shaky and deep breath, “With the way that things had been for us, and how disconnected we have felt, and all the times we had broken apart before, I thought that you would just accept things and move on. I thought maybe you would be safe. Upset, maybe, but safe, and now…I feel selfish and stupid, and you’re here, and I don’t know what to do.”

NATALIA

At his reply about not daring to crash her baby, she rolled her eyes but deep down it did amuse her that even he knew not to mess with her car. She was just as protective over it as Dean was with the Impala, and it was solely because it's her first car and the first thing that truly felt like it belonged solely to her after her brothers and Bobby managed to help her come out of her skin a bit after the rescue. "Good to know" she replied.

She watched him pull out of the car park, noticing that no one of their group was even looking out their windows to see her exit, and some part of her felt a twang of hurt over it even though she wouldn't actually admit to feeling that. She continued to keep a side eye watch on Cason's driving skills, feeling slightly more comfortable once she discovered he was capable of driving with very little problems.

As they drove and he started talking, she glanced over at him from having looked out the window for a bit and when he said about getting to know each other, she didn't know what she could tell him that he wouldn't already know about her. However, then came a bit of information about himself that made her want to burst out laughing. Instead, she quickly covered her mouth and sniggered, desperately trying to stop herself from laughing. Classical music!? That was something she never would have pinned onto Cason, despite the fact he was older than he looked.

She also found his rambling strangely endearing to hear. Pleasantries may not be in a demon's memo but he was trying and was constantly nice to her which was making her almost begin to forget he was even a demon at times. "I'm sorry... but, we need to backtrack there for a moment. Classical music? Like Beethoven, Chopin and all that? Wooow....You've surprised me Case" she said, trying to apologise for almost laughing in his face, but also still struggling to not come across as amused. She also didn't fully realise that she had said a partial nickname for him.

"So uhh...I guess should tell you something about me? But what don't you know about me?" she asked him.

MIKA

Mika didn't even notice that she was looking down slightly at the Esme news until Dean had knelt down slightly and lifted her head up to reassure her that it was just a case of being considerate. "I know...Sorry, I am trying, I promise" she told him back, and she really was, she just knew of her stubborn ways and that it would take her time, no matter how hard she tried.

She exited the room with him, noticing that Nat's car was now gone and it honestly made her sigh slightly to herself. 'So the kid didn't waste any time leaving us huh?' she thought to herself, as Dean knocked on Esme's room door and Duke eventually showed up in the doorway, still doing up his jeans. It was quite the sight and amusing to her, not only that it gave her hope that finally the whole Esme and Dean situation could move behind them if Blondie was now hooking up with the other blonde of their group.

She loved Duke dearly, and understood why Dean saw him as a brother, so she could only imagine how this would have been taken by Dean at one point or another, but then again, she also thought 'well Dean is on the side I have been on'. She smirked when Dean and Duke spoke and as Dean started away, she shook her head, still visibly amused by the whole thing. Duke's comeback to Dean's comment just sent her over the edge and got her laughing, "you dirty SOB Duke!" she called back, giving him a flick of her wrist type of wave goodbye.

Jogging to catch up to Dean, she slipped her hand into his jeans back pocket as she always loved to do and continued their little walk to wherever they wished to go, whether it be to the car and they drove somewhere or walked into town and found somewhere locally. "So, which way?" she asked Dean.

SAM

The moment Anna suggested a motel nearby, Sam began to nod but he couldn't help but worry that she would go back into Max's apartment and not return. That was, until she reassured him she would come back. He found himself pacing up and down the corridor ever so slightly near the apartment as he waited for her to grab a bag and from what he could hear, answering a lot of Max's questions about him and if she should be leaving so soon. He wasn't even mad at the fact she was with Max, in fact it was the complete opposite. He was glad that she seemingly found someone she knew in the past and was considered safe to be around, even if he did notice how Max looked at her compared to himself.

AT THE MOTEL

Finally at a motel, he walked into the room after opening the door and let Anna in before closing the door behind them both. He walked over to the bed and dumped his bag down on the ground beside it, before sitting beside her as she too seemed to want to use the bed as a sofa.

He watched her and listened with every fibre of his being as she began to speak, seeing just how emotional it was making her and wondering what could have been so bad to get her this way. Then she continued and he didn't like how it was going. He kept quiet the whole time she spoke, letting her have her moment to get it all out as much as she could before he even thought about opening his mouth to speak. This was something that he didn't want to interrupt her over, and he was also focused on putting all the pieces together in his head about who she could be talking about.

The fact that she was doing this to try and keep him and the others safe just proved to her how selfless she was being, far from what she was seeing it as. He shook his head and placed one of her hands into his own. "you may think it's selfish of you to have done this, but I think its the complete opposite. I think I can get an idea of who you're talking about and they will do anything to get you on their side. I've dealt with enough demons lately to know that." he replied to her.

"But if she thinks she can break us apart to be able to use you for her own gain, she's got another coming. We can beat her, I know we can. She already ripped Dean away from me, I'm not having her rip you away from me as well. I mean it Anna. I will fight for you every damn day if it means I can keep you by my side." he honestly poured his heart out to her, trying not to cry himself. He could easily imagine how Dean would react to this scene, calling it some chick flick moment but he honestly couldn't care less.

"I am so sorry that I have had some part to play in the disconnect between us, it was never my intention to make you feel that way. I guess I got so comfortable in just having you back that it never occurred to me that I still had to make an effort. Then that big hunt came about and I never got a chance to see you...and I mean truly see you." he explained softly.

"You are my world Anna, you always have been and always will be".

Esme couldn’t hold back the smiles that came to her lips at Duke’s chuckle from kissing his nose before kissing his lips. After the nervousness she had put him through earlier, it was nice to hear it ring in the air. A sigh escaped her nose as he brushed his fingers through her hair, but that sigh turned into a gasp as soon as he flipped them, then into a laugh. Her laugh continued at how awkward he was finding it under the covers and did her best to help him find it less awkward. Once he settled in and kissed her passionately, she returned it and brought one of her hands to rest on his cheek while the other hand was in his hair. She was just getting swept up in him when there was a sudden knock at the door.

Like Duke, Esme also tried to ignore it at first but she also knew that was something you couldn’t do for long. Since she knew he was one that would get into the room one way or another. When he broke the kiss with a low growl, she sighed heavily through her nose as she opened her eyes to look at him. She followed his gaze to the window to see Mika standing just outside the window on the sidewalk through the curtains. She shared his frustration but it was also hard not to grin a bit at his frustration, she was starting to get used to the interruptions they seemed to always get. When he dropped his head, she gave his forehead a light kiss before he pulled away to push himself to his knees.

“Hopefully it’s nothing serious. Maybe they're here to say they're going somewhere.” she said as she let him slip from her hands. She watched him as he made his way off the bed, and then grabbed a pair of jeans. As she watched him slip them on, she sat up in the bed and pulled up the covers around her. She just got the covers in place when Duke opened the door. A laugh threatened to escape her as she watched him button his pants before looking up. She could almost imagine the look he must be getting from Dean. Esme sat back listening to what Dean had to say, finding it nice he came to let them know that he and Mika were going out for a bit, even though he didn’t have to. She then listened to the back and forth between Duke and Dean, bringing the covers up to her mouth to stifle her laughter.

Esme kept the covers up to her mouth even after Duke had shut the door, still finding it a bit hard to stifle her laughter. Once she gained most of her composure, she brought the covers down to just above her chest and smiled warmly at Duke. “Well, it was nice of him to let us know they were going out. Even if it did disrupt our fun.” she said, a laugh in her tone. Bringing her arms out from under the covers, she held them in place, and then brought a hand up, running it through her hair to push it away from her face. “Now that the message has been delivered and the messenger is gone.” she grinned, laying her arm in her lap. “Get your ass back over here.”

Cason frowned, and glanced over at Nat as she asked for clarification about his music taste. He then rolled his eyes at the little nickname she gave him, though the fact that she gave him a nickname made his chest swell a bit. He shook his head, “I’m old. Like…really old. Most demons are.”, he tried to justify, but glancing over and seeing the amused look on her face, he shook his head and had to chuckle himself. Of course giving her any information about him was an instant way to give her ammunition to get the upper hand. He didn’t even know if he minded…

When she asked about his knowledge of her, he thought about it for a moment, and shrugged, “There’s plenty I don’t know about you. Our…meeting circumstances weren’t exactly conducive to relationship building. I know you love your car. I know you have an odd relationship with your brothers, and you have a tiny bit of a prejudice toward me, for good reason. I know you like to drink and you like junk food…a few specific types. But tell me, what kind of music do you like? Movies, hobbies, travel wishes…”

As he spoke, he waved his hand in a bit of a circle, as if to tell her to just spill as much information as she wanted to. He legitimately wanted to know everything she was willing to tell him, even if he didn’t quite know why…just like he couldn’t quite say why he had kissed her the night before, or why he had been tempted to do it again, several times since.



Dean chuckled at Mika’s call back to Duke. The two of them always had a complicated relationship, but they loved each other, and Mika was the only one who could get away with the type of teasing she threw at him. She also happened to be the only one who could calm Duke down in a lot of cases, when he rarely became angry. Feeling her hand in the pocket of his jeans, he flinched at first, and then chuckled and stared down at her with a smirk, “I mean, if you’re gonna do the whole PDA thing, we may want to find a darker bar…”

With another amused laugh, he pulled his keys out of his pocket, just as they stepped off the sidewalk, causing him to point toward the Impala. He glanced down the road a bit, seeing a beacon in the sea of diners and motels along the road, “Down there…”, he muttered, pointing at a sign with a neon naked woman on it, and just the word ‘Saloon’. Raising his eyebrows, he shrugged his shoudlers up around his ears, “They always have the cheapest beer. Let’s go.”



Dean stepped out of the Impala and ran around to the passenger side excitedly. He opened Mika’s door, and helped her out of the car, before turning and pointing to the sign, “It’s a Saloon.”, he chimed happily, with a wide smile on his face. He practically dragged her to the door of the establishment, and as soon as he opened it, the smell of cigar smoke and whiskey hit his nose, causing him to sign in ecstasy.

“Its…a saloon.”, he chimed again, walking her toward the dusty bar. The entire place was dark, save for a light behind the bar. The music was loud, and country, and around the room, various people had ‘fun’ against the walls. Dean was in heaven. This was heaven, “Let’s get a drink, and mingle. This is quite literally our kind of place!”



Anna didn’t fight Sam as he picked up her hand. The warmth of his palm against hers was honestly the most comforting thing she had felt since simply touching his hair again while they kissed. Feeling his heartbeat through his fingers calmed hers down a bit, almost syncing up with his the second they touched and she took a deep breath as he began speaking.

She nearly interrupted him when he told her she wasn’t selfish, opening her mouth to speak, but quickly closing it against to let him speak fully. She sighed through her nose, and finally raised her eyes to watch his face as he spoke. A small sob left her throat as a couple of tears fell, just hearing him admit that they would fight Lilith together. They would be in this together, and he definitely wanted her to stay. She kind of already knew that, obviously. He had flown over 3000 miles to find her. But the words were enough to nearly tear her down to her core.

She opened her mouth to speak again, only for him to continue in reference to their relationship. She hated that he felt solely responsible for how distant they had felt in the last few weeks, as if the was the only one who hadn’t worked toward anything. When in reality, she wasn’t seeing his true feelings either, due to the past. She was living in the past. He was here, now. He came after her, and he was here.

At his last words, she took a deep and shaky breath, not even sure how to react to his words. He didn’t hate her. He wasn’t angry with her. He didn’t even think she was selfish. He just…wanted her.

“I love you.”, she blurted out, her hand tightening in his. She had the urge to just smash her lips into his, and kiss him until morning to prove to him that she wouldn’t disappear. She wanted to somehow show she wasn’t the same runner she was at 16 and 22, and now recently…

Taking a chance, she leaned in and just gently brushed her lips across his, as if he would disappear from in front of her at any second.



Duke rolled his eyes at Esme as she stifled her laughter, but when she pulled the covers down, the smile on her face was hard to resist. He mirrored it almost instantly, and nodded, placing both his hands on his hips. He flashed a toothy smile, “That’s just how it goes around here, I guess. Every…single…time. Pretty soon, they’re gonna come into the room to a whole lot of ass…”

He laughed again, and watched her face intently, as she brushed her hair away from her face. The simple motion nearly took his breath away. She was just…too beautiful to be in his bed right now. He dropped his hands to his sides as she gave him the order, and glanced up at the ceiling, “I mean. I don’t know…I’m a bit afraid of traumatizing someone. Then again, everyone’s gone…and we’re all alone…so maybe there’s just nothing else to do.”

The whole time he spoke, he would pause, climbing onto the foot of the bed, crawling over her like a bridge. He stopped at the end of his sentence, and leaned forward, nuzzling her nose, “And I mean, we do have a to do list, today.”, he said softly against her lips, breaking into another wide smile.

NATALIA

Seeing him roll his eyes at her reaction just made it all the more amusing to her. She even found it strangely adorable that he was trying to justify his taste of music to her, even if she decided in that second that she would have to make a rule for the rest of this trip.

She listened to him explain exactly what he knew about her and she had to admit, she couldn't even deny any of what he was saying. She watched him do the universal sign for 'tell me anything you want to about yourself'. SO she gave it a small thought and made a little nod, "Okay, well...first off: I'm banning the word 'demon' from now on. I'm wanting to forget about everything not dwell on it." she said to him, before continuing on. "As for about me? I love alternative and rock music. Considering how complicated my relationship is with Dean, I'm more like him than I am Sam. When I was a kid before ending up..well you know where, dad taught me acoustic guitar and I sometimes enjoy singing. Or at least...I used to from what I even remember of my past." she began explaining, it suddenly dawning on her she was still working on even remembering some of her past before the asylum years thanks to the lobotomy she endured.

"Movies I'm a sucker for the action genre. Mission Impossible movies are classics, I don't care what anyone says. I may or may not have a guilty pleasure for the film for Wall-E, that little damn robot is adorable but if you utter a word of that to anyone I will kill you" she said to him, pointing her finger at him. Yet truth was, Mika introduced her to the film as a way to bring her out of herself with something that didn't relate to their world or jobs in the slightest. It was one of the first ever times Mika had seen her smile and even chuckle, so she considered it a guilty pleasure, despite being considered a kids film.

"Travel wishes? Anywhere that isn't the States! If this job wasn't my entire life I would leave America in a heartbeat and just soak up different cultures, see a white sandy beach, drink cocktails on said beach or visit a seafront somewhere via a cliffside. Soak up different music scenes...it's why I couldn't answer you earlier, there's literally so many places I couldn't just say one" she admitted to him.

As she spoke, an old glimmer of passion began to shine in her eyes, a need to remember what it was like to live a life and not feel like she was just existing and still finding out who she was as a person. "I feel half complete as a person thanks to you know where, I just wanna feel complete again" she sighed, glancing from him as he drove to her lap, where her hands gripped her thighs. "I'm sorry...that probably sounds completely ridiculous" she scoffed, trying to shake everything she said off.

MIKA

Dean's remark on her placement of her hand made her smirk back and chuckle. "Of course you'd think that" she teased back, "Just deal with the fact I can enjoy doing this again" she told him as he then pointed to Impala and she gave a nod of understanding back. She walked off the sidewalk and to the car when he pointed down the road and she looked where he was pointing. Her eyes instantly landed on the neon sign and she smirked once more. "Glad to know your tastes haven't changed" she quipped.

AT THE BAR

Reaching the bar, she let him get out first and run round to the passenger side. It was so refreshing and heartwarming that she could see him do this action all over again. She took his hand and got out of the car, closing the door behind her. Seeing him so excited about checking out such a bar brought a smile to her own face. This was what she wanted to see after all the family drama that had occurred just lately.

Walking into the bar, she took in their surroundings and the scene as well as noting the strong cigar smell and smell of alcohol in the air, not to mention the loud music being played. Oh this brought back memories for her of their younger days. Especially thanks to the couples in the darkened corners of the bar. With Dean dragging her along she refrained from giving a small yelp and chuckle as she just gladly followed him to the bar.

"It really is! Sure is bringing back some good memories!" she beamed back at him as they got to the bar and waited to be served.

SAM

Sam knew if he had paused on anything he had to say to her, he was sure he wouldn't be able to continue because he'd get himself into such an emotional state. He was also glad that she let him just spill his thoughts and feelings out on the whole situation, even if he could see she was getting highly choked up by everything he was saying to her. When he was done talking, he glanced at her as she tried to get some kind of response out.

Instead all she could say was the three words he always wanted to hear from her. That she loved him just as much as he loved her, even if he was awful at showing it at times or even saying. It was in these moments that he realised he was like Dean, only slightly being better at voicing his feelings but not by much. He let her grip his hand tighter, glad to still be feeling her hand in his and still relieved that she was even giving him the time of day after travelling so far for her.

He watched her lean in closer and as he closed his eyes slowly, he let her lips glide over his before he pressed his lips onto hers and kissed her deeply. He only just about broke apart, but only ever so slightly to brush his hands through her hair and smile. "I love you too" he said once more, before leaning in again and continuing to kiss her.

Esme found herself stifling another fit of laughter as she watched Duke. This was a side of him she loved and had missed from their time apart. At that moment, she finally saw just how he looked at her, even when she made the simplest movements. The look made her heart beat faster and her laughter calm, as a warm smile made its way to her lips. It wasn’t every day that she had someone look at her that way, especially with how she had tried to shut herself off from all of that after all she had been through. She had tried to keep herself from getting involved or close to anyone after her kidnapping, which she had been doing well until Duke came back into her life. He had broken through every wall she had put up as if they were nothing.

She watched him after she gave him her order, biting her bottom lip to keep from laughing at how he spoke in response to her order, almost losing it when he mentioned being afraid of traumatizing someone. If someone were to get traumatized by walking in, it would be their own fault for barging into the room unannounced. Her eyes never left him as he spoke, then made his way over to the bed, then on it, then over her. Her heart sped up as he got closer and nuzzled her nose, which she scrunched up as he nuzzled it. His next words against her lips caused her to finally laugh a little. Esme was tempted to kiss him right then and there, but she decided to do something else to see what kind of reaction she would get out of him.

“A to-do list, huh?” she spoke just as softly against his lips. Her smile grew to match his as she looked up into his eyes and brought her hands up to rest on his shoulders. “Since when did you become such a stickler for to-do lists?.... The Duke I remember did what he wanted when he wanted. He didn’t rely on lists to get things done.” she teased. Esme then moved her head to the side as she leaned in, rubbing her cheek against his, and resting her lips close to his ear. “But if you feel the need to take care of the list….” she whispered softly in his ear, then pulled back and brushed her lips against his. “I guess I’ll get up and get dressed.” Kissing his cheek, she removed her hands from his shoulders and acted as if she was getting out of bed.

Cason felt a tiny pang of guilt hit his chest when she said they were no longer using the word ‘demon’. It shouldn’t be that hard, but then again, he was a demon. It was hard not to notice, especially if he ended up injured or in a place where he was expected to do human things…like sleep.

He shook the thoughts out of his head and then listened intently as Nat spilled her guts about her favorite things. He wanted to know everything. The music wasn’t all that surprising, but when she got to the movie part, he scoffed and tilted his head in a way that said ‘well, that’s interesting’, “I will um…keep that in my mind somewhere. Might have to use that one against you.”, he said with a chuckle as they pulled near the carnival, and got in line for the parking lot.

His travel wishes were what piqued his interest the most. He wanted her to travel. He wanted her to actually experience all the things he tried to put into her brain when she was in the hospital. In fact, the things she described, fit that bill just right. He would end up taking her, just to prove to her that they were real, and that there was more to this world than an old car and a dusty motel room.

“You will.”, he said with certainty when she mentioned wanting to feel whole again. He was sure of it. She would recover, but she needed to not only forgive herself, but she had to get past what happened to the point that she could grow from it, “It’s not ridiculous at all. Part of being human, the part that I don’t miss, is feeling everything all at once. You learn to shut it off, until you turn into some sort of cornered animal and you lash out…and then you heal and around the block you go.”

He waved his hand in the air, and then sighed, “What I would like, is to find a way to break that cycle. No more wounded dog. No more lashing out. I meant what I said. And ‘no one’ means you too. No one will hurt you while I’m around…even yourself.”, he finished his sentence, glancing over at her with a serious look on his face, a rare occurance for him, as his natural state was snark. After a moment, a heavy knock on the window caused his eyes to cover over in black for a split second as he was startled, and he turned and rolled the window down.

“You snuck up on me!”, he cooed to the elderly lady, holding her hand out. He flashed her a wide smile, and pulled a bill out of his pocket, dropping it into her hand. She said nothing, just ushering them through the gate to go find a parking space.



Dean sat down at the bar and instantly pointed to a bottle of beer he saw down the way, “We’ll take four of those!”, he called to the bartender, who slung his towel onto his shoulder, nodded and instantly fished four beers out of the cooler below him. He popped all four tops and sat them on the counter in front of Dean and Mika, “Just start us a tab!”

The bartender smirked, nodded, sized Mika up, and then walked away, fishing a note pad out of his pocket. Dean grabbed his beer and held it up in the air, gesturing for Mika to grab her own. As soon as she did, he clanked their bottles together and then took a long drink of his own beer, glancing around them, “This place makes me want a cigar, I swear. I don’t even smoke anymore, but that smell. It just brings back way too many good memories, and a few not so fun memories of Bobby nearly chasing me out of town for smoking in my room.”

He laughed, shaking his head. This was the first time he had felt truly normal since returning from Hell. It was the first time that he didn’t constantly have those thoughts of Hell running through his brain, and for a moment, he felt happy. Maybe it was the bar or maybe it was Mika, but whatever it was…he felt good.

“Just don’t get me too drunk. I get a little handsy…”, he leaned in and told her with a goofy smirk, as if they had just met, and she knew nothing about him.



Anna let go of Sam’s hand as he kissed her deeply, bringing both her hands up to brush them through his hair, doing her best to not let him go. She honestly wanted to chain herself to him, after feeling like for the first time, she would never see him again. When he pulled back, just enough to whisper those three words back to her, she smiled softly, sniffling and as the tears fell between their lips, turning the kiss salty and in a way, more emotional, she tightened her grip on his hair.

Shifting her body, she climbed onto his lap, straddling him at the foot of the bed. She reached her hand down, pulling at the hems of his shirts, before brushing her fingers over his abs gently, feeling his muscles move against her palm as she kissed him. And after a few moments, her heart suddenly began to hammer in her chest and her mind flooded with intrusive thoughts. She was no longer in the moment, and was in a sheer moment of panic, out of nowhere. She felt sick.

She suddenly broke the kiss, pulling her hand from the back of his hair, and pulling her other hand to her chest as she climbed off his lap and brushed the flannel she was wearing as a dress down flat. She brushed her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath as more tears came.

“I c-can’t. We can’t. This was a mistake and you’re probably going to just…drop dead in front of me at any second because I’m stupid. How could I be so stupid?! I let you in. I was told not to and I let you in. I let you come to me. And now, I…I…I don’t know what to do but this…this isn’t where we should be. I need to go. I need to keep you safe and I need to make sure that…that this…”, she rambled while pacing back and forth, her voice desperate and terrified. At the end of her sentence, she finally broke, sinking to knees on the floor as she sobbed. This was quite literally a lose/lose situation, and there was no way Sam would accept it, but she couldn’t just put him in danger, even if he was dumb enough to get himself killed over a woman.



Duke opened his mouth to prepare to capture Esme’s lips as she nuzzled his nose back. He just wanted to get back to business, and possibly go out later, if they found the time. Not that he thought they could find the time. But as she spoke against his lips, his breath stopped for a moment, chasing her movements with his lips. It was then that she realized she was looking him in the eyes, and though his eyes were hooded, he couldn’t help but sink into the gaze.

“Yeah…you know, that thing you make when you have stuff to do.”, he whispered back, but her next words were surprisingly sexy, acknowledging his rebel nature and his toughness. He nearly groaned at the sound of her voice, but tilted his head with his lips pouted, as if she was definitely correct.

But then her cheek was on his and her breath was washing over his ear, and he shuddered visibly, tightening his hands in the sheets near her shoulder. He was barely functional, by the time she pulled back and her lips were in kissing distance once again, only for her to continue teasing him. When she began to sit up, he moved his hand from the sheets to her bare shoulder and pressed her back down, “I think…”

Duke leaned down, placing soft kisses from her collarbone, all the way up to her jaw, where he gave a tiny little bite and a chuckle, “The list can wait.”, he drawled. He then reached back with one arm, and pulled the covers up over his head, before covering her lips with his again. It would be a miracle if they could get any work done at all around each other, at this point.

NATALIA

Deep down she knew asking him not to utter the word 'demon' whilst they were out together would be difficult for him, but she just needed both of them to at least try. She needed to see Cason not as what he was, but as someone she felt safe around. Just a guy who was taking her to the carnival to and try and bring a smile back to her face. They had to try...they just had to.

She glanced out the corner of her eye as he reacted to her list of favorite films, deciding that instead of defending her choices, she would just continue talking, which she did. She half smirked when he said about remembering that and keeping it as possible future blackmail. She honestly had a feeling he would, but as embarrassing as she might find it, it was nothing compared to the kinds of things he truly could use against her if she thought long and hard about it.

She listened to his reply and opinions on what she finally said about travelling and wanting to feel complete again. The fact he openly said he would even stop her from sabotaging her healing process was reassuring to her. Like her brothers, or more to the point Dean, she was her worst enemy when it came to sabotaging any kind of self healing to be done. Her constant fighting with Dean was some proof of that. "Thank you Cason, that means more to me than you'll ever know" she replied to him honestly as they reached the queue for getting a space in the parking area.

When the elderly lady came knocking on the car window, Nat herself even flinched slightly as she also noticed Cason's flashing pure black for a split moment before going back to normal. She hated that look on people and was convinced she didn't think she'd get over the soulless dark in a demon's eyes any time soon. She let Cason pay for a parking spot, even though she would have gladly done it as it was her idea to take her car. She let Cason drive them to a parking spot and when they had found one, she opened her door, glad to have a moment to stretch her legs.

The noise and lights in the near distance drew her attention instantly, giving her that innocent excitement deep within her, something she hadn't felt in a very long time. The moment they would reach inside, she knew it would be overwhelming but she was determined to stay and just have fun. She still had a competition to follow through with, in trying to beat Cason on some kind of carnival game. She looked over her shoulder to Cason, "shall we get in then? I need major fun, try and beat you on the carnival games and terrible street food" she commented.

MIKA

At the same time of Dean sitting on the bar stool, Mika also sat down as she let him him order for them both. Dean requesting a tab get started wasn't a surprise to her as he had a habit before all the Hell crap came into their lives for him to do exactly that. With the bottles opened, and put in front of them, she grabbed one for herself as she noticed how the bartender was clearly sizing her up, making her raise an eyebrow very briefly, curious to what the bartender's problem was with her.

Deciding to ignore it for now, she clanked her bottle with Dean's and gladly took a long mouthful, sighing as she lowered the bottle, happy to feel the liquid run down her throat. She chuckled when he told her not to let him get too drunk , as if he never went on some weird casual date with her before. "you're assuming I don't like you being handsy or I wouldn't you to be" she retorted in a playful tease.

She was mostly though happy to see him smiling and be happy. When he first came back it was almost like she was witnessing a shell of the man she loved. So to see him finally smiling, joking and laughing again, being in a place that he felt comfortable in and brought back humourous memories from, it was refreshing to her. Whilst he was still leaned into her slightly, kissed his cheek before going back to her drink for another wig of the bottle in her hand.

SAM

The feel of Anna's hands in his hair made him get so many memories from throughout the years of when she'd come and go into his life. He was glad to be feeling her lips upon his own, her hands on him as he felt how much she loved him. He just hoped that his reactionary movements showed her how much he loved her back. She was back in his life yet again and if he could, he would literally go to immeasurable lengths to keep her by his side.

As her hands found their way to under his shirt, he smiled into the passionate kiss, letting her place her hands wherever she felt like putting them. He held her on his lap after she had crawled onto it, holding his palms flat against her back, keeping her in place so she didn't fall. So when she broke the kiss off and scrambled off of him like her life depended on it, he looked at her confused as he tried to gather his breath. Had he made things between them move too fast? Was he scaring her off? But then it rapidly occurred to him that she was having a panic attack from the fear that Lilith had instilled into her mind.

"Hey hey hey..it's okay...it's okay" he cooed to her, remaining calm to try and reassure her. He knelt down in front of her when she fell to her knees after rambling about how they shouldn't be doing this, that they weren't safe, he wasn't safe around her. He slowly reached out to her, but was cautious not to touch her just yet in case she flinched away from him. His heart broke as he watched the love of his struggle with the struggles that Lilith had instilled on her. He wished he could just kill her himself right here and now, if it meant it would remove all of this anguish and pain on Anna.

"I'm not going anywhere, I know that's what you're scared about but I won't let you deal with this alone" he cooed more to her, placing his hands on the floor in front of her knees. "Just take some deep breaths, you're going to be okay, I swear to you. I won't let anything happen to you or anyone else- including myself" he said to her softly, but with conviction.

As Esme sat up from the bed, she was holding back a smirk of accomplishment from getting a shudder from Duke and causing him to grip the sheets. It was just the reaction she was hoping for from him, which also told her she still had it. She hadn’t lost it from all that time on her own with hardly any human contact. She also couldn’t help herself when it came to teasing him a bit and having him try to keep her in bed, because, in truth, she wasn’t quite ready to get out and about. So she had to be a little sneaky to get him to keep her in bed just a little while longer even if he possibly knew what she was up to.

When he grabbed her shoulder and pushed her back down, she looked up into his face, a soft smile resting on her lips as she heard him speak. She opened her mouth to speak but when he leaned down and started softly kissing her collarbone to her jawline, she lost her train of thought and bit her bottom lip as her eyes closed. A soft gasp escaped her lips and her eyes opened when he gave her a tiny bite. It had caught her off guard, but it was quickly followed by a laugh to match his. “Good. I think the same.” she breathed as he pulled the covers over them. When he kissed her, she brought her hands up and cupped his face, and returned his kiss. Esme felt like her head was in the clouds and she didn’t have to worry about a thing for once in a long long while.

Esme felt like she could be a normal woman enjoying a special moment with a special someone and not have to worry about anything that went bump in the night. It was something she had longed for and felt she desperately needed after meeting and joining the group but that wasn’t something she would come out and tell anyone, not even Duke. Yes, she enjoyed helping the innocent and ridding the world of creatures that caused problems for everyone but sometimes you just needed a slight breather and a little bit of fun when you were in this line of work.

Esme moved her hands up into Duke’s hair, then gently pulled his head towards her to deepen the kiss. She held his head for a moment before letting her hands slowly slide down his neck, over his shoulders, over his chest, and over his abs. She stopped above the button of his jeans, then broke the kiss to take in a breath of air. She nuzzled her cheek against his, bringing her lips close to his ear. “I can’t remember if I said this earlier or not.” she spoke softly. “Thank you, Bright Eyes. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for patching me up, and thank you for taking care of me.” She then kissed his ear before giving it a small nibble, she then trailed kisses along his jawline to his lips, kissing him passionately as her eyes slowly closed.

Cason parked the car and stepped out, his boots crunching against the gravel, as the sounds of screams and laughter met his ears. A lot of those sounded like kids, which made him cringe at the thought of a bunch of kids running around everywhere. However, when Nat stepped up in front of him, and her hair blew in the wind, as she took it all in, he decided that he would quietly kill the kids if he had to. But Natalia was having a good night.

He caught up with her, slinging an arm over her shoulders and pulling her head close to his chin as they walked, “I think that sounds like the best idea you’ve had since I had the idea for the carnival.”, he said in his normal snarky tone, absentmindedly turning his head to kiss the top of her head. They stepped up to the ticket booth, and he quickly pulled out money, tossing it onto the counter and holding up two fingers. A small woman, just about as angry as the old lady huffed and glared at both of them, before mumbling under her breath about ‘punks’. Cason gave Nat a confused look, but then laughed softly as the woman gave them their change and tickets.

“You look beautiful tonight, sweetheart. Don’t lose that smile, alright?”, he flirted with the little woman, who raised her eyebrows, but didn’t completely drop her scowl. He stepped up to the fence, and dropped both their tickets in a bucket next to a sleeping elderly man watching the fence, and then he turned to Nat, “Alright. So, what do you wanna do first? Food…rides…games?”, he asked with his eyebrows raised as if he was overly excited to hear her answer.



Dean smiled brightly, raising his eyebrows, “I mean, I’m not going to say you’ve ever complained about getting me naked…or my affinity for being handsy. And it’s not like the deviant ones in this bar are really going to judge. Half feels like an orgy out there.”, he chuckled at the end of his sentence, bringing his beer back to his lips where he took a drink.

A Led Zepplin song began playing over the jukebox, and Dean’s ears perked up, “You hear that? We should dance. Put your beer down.”

With that, he grabbed her hand, and sat his beer down on the bar, dragging her off her barstool to follow him onto the dance floor, a rare choice for him. Normally, he wouldn’t be caught dead dancing, but this was his first time in a bar with Mika…or even really alone with Mika since he had returned from Hell. Nothing else to do, and the girl liked to dance back in the day.



Anna rocked back and forth as she saw Sam’s shadow in front of her. She was acutely aware that he had knelt in front of her but he wasn’t touching her, as if she was a bomb that would explode at any second, which for all she knew, she was. All she knew was that Sam was stubborn and he would gladly die before he would leave her alone. She knew that.

She opened her eyes while rocking and glanced down at his hands on the floor, as soon as she heard them pat the dusty tile. She followed every wrinkle, callous and divot in his fingers as she took a deep breath, sniffling. She reached her hand out and touched his fingers with her own, just a bit, and took another deep breath. Another sob rocked her body as she fought with her brain over letting him stay with her, giving in.

“B-but if anything happened to you, I swear. I would nuke the planet. They told me I was capable…”, she spoke through her tears, tapping one of her fingers against his, “And you’re the only light out there for me. The only person w-who treats me like I’m human. And I can’t let anything happen to y-you but I don’t want to not know you.”

As she admitted the last part out loud, she was able to take another deep breath, falling back on her ass, where she twisted her legs into a pretzel, her body caged in by his arms a bit, “I don’t want to stay away, but I don’t know if I can stay with you. The n-nightmares I will have. The powers I am still learning I have…and the demon blood. Oh god. The things you can do…”, she rambled, before glancing up at his face, remembering him washing blood out of her hair after the massacre, and how gentle he was…treating her like a human, instead of a monster, “And how am I supposed to leave when you know I love you?”

NATALIA

For Natalia, she didn't even care that she could clearly hear children among the screams of joy and adrenaline from the rides. For her it was actually a pleasant sound as she had spent far too many years only hearing screams of pain and agony. His remark to her comment making her lightly and briefly smirk. She briefly smiled when he slung an arm over her shoulders and began to walk with her to the ticket booth and entrance, being aware that he kissed the top of her head without even a second thought. She kept her head close to him as they walked, only lifting her head up a bit so he could pay the woman at the booth.

She took notice of how they were being judged negatively when all they had done was walk up, drop some money down for two tickets and not much else. Okay so granted Cason probably could have done it less abruptly, but she knew Cason enough to know that was clearly just his personality, which got her wondering just how old he was as well. She just about heard something be muttered under the woman's breath and she glanced at Cason back before looking forward again.

At his remark to the woman, she couldn't help but chuckle lightly at his comment, his usual snark coming through clear as day. It was becoming more evident as each snarky comment was made from him, that he and herself were clearly well matched in the snark department. She walked with him as he dropped the tickets in the bucket by the sleeping man as they then continued through the gate and seeing the whole place in it's bright colorful glory. She almost didn't know where to start as all her senses took in the sights, colors, sounds and smells of all the food stalls. "....wow" she gasped in a whisper before snapping out of her mind as she heard Cason's voice pierce the noise of the carnival.

Looking at him, she saw him with raised eyebrows, clearly interested in what her decision was to be. "I say rides before food" she replied, deciding that no one deserved being vomited on because their stomachs were full of junk food and alcohol and then being hurled around on rides. She then looked around at what rides there, seeing all the typical ones that were always at a carnival in movies or tv. Ferris Wheel, bumper cars, ghost train....it all looked tempting except for the ghost train as she had enough of real ghosts. She didn't need to ride something with made up ghosts. Eventually she decided upon the first ride which was a small scale rollercoaster, or at least, small scale compared to big theme parks. "And I say that one first!" she beamed, pointing at the coaster.

She reached her hand out and grabbed his then started heading to the ride of her choice. The vibe of the place starting to lift her out of herself. She felt like she just a normal person for the first time in a long time and she didn't want to let that feeling go. She didn't want to let him go as he was the source for this growing feeling in her soul.

MIKA

Dean's words made her laugh and shrug knowing that he was right in every point. She never had complained before and she certainly wasn't go to start complaining now. She also laughed when he pointed that half of this bar felt like a massive orgy because he wasn't wrong. She noticed from the moment they walked into the bar that it seemed like anything goes in here and no one would judge or say anything, unless it was some kind of bar fight.

She took some more sips of her beer, when Led Zepplin came on through the speakers and she knew instantly where this was going to go. Dean never could resist a good Led Zepplin song, yet him dragging her up off her stool still managed to take her by surprise and she only just managed to get her bottle on the bar before she was yanked right across onto the dance floor. She smiled and laughed as she got pulled onto the one place of a bar where Dean normally wouldn't go near for love or money.

Yet he was also correct in remembering she always used to love a good dance on the dance floor, especially if that moment included him in it. So she made the most of the moment and gladly danced with him to one of his favourite bands playing. "You never fail to surprise me Dean, usually I'm convincing you for ages before you'd dance with me" she said to him over the music. There was a part of her that wanted to add 'I'm so glad to have you back and be like this' but she didn't due to her not wanting to be the one who brought back any negative memories of Hell to him. This was to be a Hell and impending doom free night and she was going to stick by that mindset and decision no matter what.

SAM

For Sam, it wasn't for fear of her exploding on him that made him hesitant to touch her. For him, it was because he didn't want to scare her off. He knew sometimes, as it showed with Nat before he left the group, that not everyone appreciated being touched when they were having a meltdown, whereas others needed to be touched to be brought back into reality and slow their breathing. He was still learning which way was best for Anna due to it being so long since they were remotely this close with each other. He was terrified of doing the wrong thing.

He let her decide when it to be touched, and it seemed to be the right decision as she reached out and placed her fingers on top of his hands. He gave her the time she needed to slow her hitched breathing and the sobs that were clearly stuck in her throat. "It's okay...take your time" he cooed to her softly, letting her know she didn't need to rush her talking to her. He just wanted to be a calming influence on her in this moment. Nothing more, nothing less.

He listened as she began to talk, still convinced something would happen to him if they stayed together. Whatever Lilith said to her had clearly twisted her mind deeply and it made him even more determined and tempted to just beat the crap out of the demonic woman. Hearing that he was a light to her brought a small single tear to his own eyes, as it fell down his cheek. "I treat you like a human because as far as I'm concerned you are human. You're no less of a human than myself or the others in the group of ours." he began to explain to her, gently pulling her into his grip to hold her against his chest.

He looked back down at her and stroked her hair, keeping it out of her face for her, before kissing the top of her head. "shhh....look, staying away when someone like her is trying to drag you down is not the answer. She will say anything to get under your skin. But it doesn't matter if I have to be there for you through every cleansing of demon blood if that comes back to you, or you think you're losing control of your growing powers...I'm gonna be there to help you through it all. We are stronger together Anna. I love you too and you're as much of a rock to me as I am to you" he told her, still wondering how on earth he could tell her he himself has a demon problem in the name of Ruby.

Cason tried to follow Nat’s eyes, as they darted all around the carnival, looking for what she wanted to ride. He cringed a bit at a few people his eyes scanned across that seemed to be losing all of their dinner to a trashcan. Suddenly, Nat pointed and Cason sighed with relief that he didn’t have to stay in place and mingle too long. Kids creeped him out a bit.

“That looks absolutely horrible. I’m in.”, he laughed, leaning in close to her ear,as she chose. He laced his fingers in hers as she grabbed his hand and ran off to the rollercoaster. Truthfully, he was tempted to sit this one out. As if cars weren’t bad enough, this rickety thing looked like an absolute death trap for his vessel. But then again, he couldn’t leave Nat alone on that thing. He would have to attempt to let her have ‘fun’.

As they approached the coaster, he climbed up the shaky platform with her, and led her in by her hand to her seat. He quickly sat down beside her and pulled the bar down over his lap, “Hold on tight. I don’t want you getting flung out of this thing. I’m pretty sure teenagers built it.”, he teased, holding onto the bar with one hand, and reaching a hand over to rest against her knee, just in case he needed to poof them out of the thing.

When the ride was over, Cason flattened his hair as best he could and looked over at Nat, a wider than normal smile on his face as he beamed over the fun she was already having. The ride attendent came over and wrenched the lapbar up off their legs, quickly moving on to the next seat behind them. Cason picked up Nat’s hand, and helped her out of the coaster, “So, that was something. What did you think?”



Dean spun Mika around as she commented on how much he surprised her. It was part of his charm, most of the time. No matter how long they had known each other, he always found ways to make her smile, and to make her eyebrows raise, at least a bit. He was more successful in making Bobby do the same. He laughed, and pulled her close to his chest, touching noses with her as the song continued, “Well, if I didn’t surprise you then I would be boring. And boring is not what I plan to do with my second chance, you know? I work too much. I drink too much, and not for fun. The least I can do is to take my best girl out for a little dancing…”

He pushed her out from his body, and quickly pulled her back, pressing his hand against her lower back as they danced. He leaned in close to her ear once again, “And I owe you a bit of fun, after the last couple of weeks. I haven’t been there, and I’ve been selfish…not that that is anything new, but I wanted to make it up to you. So, thank you for coming out with me tonight.”

Dean pulled back from her ear, and touched noses with her again with a smile. Even in a sweaty, smoky, and loud bar, somehow it felt like they were the only ones in the room. She just kinda made it that way, by existing.



Anna sighed as Sam brought her close to his chest. She could hear his heart beating in his chest, and she closed her eyes so that she could concentrate on the strong beat that hammered against her ear. His words were so gentle, and vibrated beneath her face, but she could hear them clearly through her other ear and she slowly wrapped her arm around his bicep, holding onto him for dear life. He considered her human. She was clearly not a human, and was clearly more of a hazard than he was, due to the demon blood that she decided not to drink but was still screaming at her to come back to.

It made her feel like some sort of monster. What if Cason got too close on a day that she was struggling? Would she drink him dry? Would the group just let her? Would she turn into some sort of bomb afterward, like she had with the other demons she had massacred? She shook her head, but as she felt Sam’s fingers against her forehead, she sighed, trying to relax into the safety of just being in his arms again, and the warmth of his fingers against her skin. He wanted to be there through the times when she could potentially kill him. He wanted to stick around even though it was wildly dangerous to be around her. He needed her…

“You need me.”, she confirmed out loud without even realizing it at first. She opened her eyes and stared up at his face as she sniffled, “We’re…we’re stronger together.”

As she confirmed his words, she reached her hand up to brush her fingers across his lips, and a tiny smile appeared on her own, “You’re stubborn. You’re stubborn and I should have known that…but Lilith. I believe what she said, and I want to know that you’ll do whatever you need to to stay safe. I would never forgive myself if she hurt you. I would probably kill every single person on this planet, somehow…”



After spending most of the evening in bed, Duke finally unwrapped his arms from around Esme and threw his legs over the edge of the bed with a huff. He picked up his jeans, slipped them over his legs, standing up and jumping to pull them all the way up, “Someone has to be responsible here and get out of the bed, and I’m breaking free of your spell. You’re a sex witch.”, he teased with a laugh, grabbing a fresh t-shirt from his bag and tossing it over his head.

“So, I’m getting dressed, and you’re not allowed to touch me until we leave this room.”, he teased once more, pointing at her. Even just standing there while she laid in bed, he was tempted to just climb back in with her and kiss her. He was already exhausted, and hungry, and honestly a little thirsty…but he didn’t care. She was truly like some type of witch, or maybe it was the lingering crush he had held onto for so many years being validated, that made him feel so crazy.

Duke shoved his feet in his boots and tapped on the top of the table as he walked by it. And finally he brought up the one thing he didn’t want to do…leave the room, “We really do need to go get your car. Inevitably they’re gonna move on from here, once they get all their business finished and all that, and you’ll need a ride unless you wanna be stuck with me.”, he explained awkwardly, quickly darting his mind away from the prospect of leaving before it even invaded.

NATALIA

At Cason's agreement to go on, she felt like they had now truly started an evening of stupidity and fun without the consequence of fighting anything nasty or demonic and risking their lives. She let him lace their fingers together as they made their way to rollercoaster and as they got up there and sat down in one of the 'cars' she felt a strange sense of adrenaline, not the usual type from being on a hunt and fighting monsters, but an innocent type of adrenaline that she presumed most normal people feel at these kinds of places.

Cason's words about teenagers building this contraption made her lightly smirk and roll her eyes at him, but she let him hold onto her nonetheless. She didn't think for a second she could be flung out of it but she wasn't going to complain about him keeping his word in keeping her safe either. "wow, you have such faith in our safety" she said sarcastically and teasingly back.

With it over, she felt exhilarated from the first ride. Sure it wasn't some amazing ride that would be up there as completely unforgettable. But it was the first coaster she had ever been on, which if she admitted that out loud, she'd feel like it was utterly pathetic. She waited for the attendant to unlock the safety bar and she took Cason's hand as they exited and walked through the carnival again. "It was fun! A good start to the evening!" she told him honestly and started to smile just a little bit more than earlier.

She glanced around as she pondered what to do next when some games stood out to her. "let's do that next!" she suggested, pointing at a ball throwing game with a load of various sized plush toys as the prizes. "You can show me those supposed carnival game skills you like to boast about to me" she smirked at him, giving him a light side nudge with her shoulder into his.

MIKA

The moment he spun her round, Mika smiled widely, gladly accepting him taking the lead as she spun round and back to him. She didn't want this night to end or this side of Dean to go away ever again but she knew their lives wouldn't allow such luxuries for them. It would only be a matter of time before something else came crashing down on them and making their lives difficult. It was just a case of when.

She kept smiling as he touched noses with her and replied to her words, her heart fluttering just as it did when he took her out for a first date when they were teenagers. Only this time there was no third partner waiting to drag her home after beating her ass for being with a Winchester. She stepped back as he guided her out and then back into him again, where she gladly placed one hand on his shoulder, keeping her other hand in his.

"I haven't been the best of partners either to you lately. But I'll never say no to going out with you for a night out." she replied to him, leaning up slightly to peck his lips after he touched noses with her again. "we're chaotic but we work, that'll never change. I love you Dean" she smiled, if she never got to tell him anything else, she was determined to always remind him just how much she did love him. Despite everything they had been through, she had loved him since her teenage school days and still did to this day. She knew she'd love him until she died which she hoped wouldn't happen until they were very old.

SAM

Annabeth may not be fully human, but to Sam, she felt emotion, reacted and did everything else just one and that to him is what made her human. She had humanity and that was the most important thing to him, especially as when they very first met neither considered each other as anything but human. That would never change in his mind.

They both had their secrets, both had their problems that were lurking behind them every step of the way but he was determined to not let her feel alone with that. He wanted to be there and help her through things, even if it put him in danger. It wouldn't be the first thing that meant he was in danger over something or someone. He's done some pretty stupid stuff to keep ones he loved safe and he didn't think he would ever change that trait.

He looked down at her as he heard her repeat his words and confirm what he said about them being stronger together. As she finally looked up at him, he looked her in the eyes to show he meant every word he said to her. He let her brush her fingertips across his lips, causing her to smile. "I promise you, I will keep myself safe as well as you. I know now you believe her, and frankly, it's probably not too bad an idea to have some belief in the words. It'll keep you grounded and ready for anything she may throw at you and us. But I also know you, and I know you're a damn strong fighter when you have something to fight for. You won't give up the fight, even if it doesn't feel like that now." he explained to her with a soft smile.

He lifted a hand up and tucked some of her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead once again. "I won't let her hurt me, I won't give her the chance to. After Dean, I'm more determined than ever to not let anyone in our family, which includes you, to ever feel lost or leave me in any manner again." he said with pure conviction.

Esme was enjoying spending most of the evening in bed, even if she knew she needed to go get her car and eat something but she was having trouble pulling herself from Duke’s arms. When he unwrapped her and pulled away, she gave a small groan of protest, then rolled onto her side to watch him as he put on his jeans. At his words, she put a playful pout on her face, then one of shock at him calling her a sex witch in a teasing manner. “A sex witch?” she breathed to herself. She gave a light laugh, she had never been called a sex witch before but it wasn’t a surprise such a term would come from Duke’s mouth. As he stood there, she pushed herself up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, holding the sheet up around her chest. Esme looked over at Duke with one eyebrow raised.

“Is that what you call every woman you have a good time with?” she teased back with a light laugh. She then stood up from the bed, still holding the sheet, and looked around to see where her clothes were. She then dropped the sheet and began to gather her clothes. “Well, if I can’t touch you, you can’t touch me.” she teased more. She gathered the last of her clothes and looked over at him as he tapped the table and spoke. The awkwardness he showed as he spoke brought a slight smile to her lips, then nodded to show she agreed with him. It was clear that he didn’t want to leave the room and neither did she but they really did need to go and get her car before something happened to it.

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she stood there holding her clothes, then released a small sigh. She was trying to think of something to lighten the heavy mood that had settled into the room so quickly. Esme’s smile suddenly grew a little bit and she walked to the end of the bed, swaying her hips a bit dramatically as she went. “You make it sound like it's terrible to be stuck with you…… Unless you're implying I’m the one that would be terrible to get stuck with.” she teased. Esme then brought her hand to her chin, then tapped her index finger on her lips in a thoughtful manner. “Then again, today has shown we don’t get much done when we’re alone together…… Still doesn’t sound bad to me.” she said, smirking at her last comment.

Removing her hand from her chin, Esme placed it back on the clothes she was holding. “I’ll go get dressed and make myself presentable so we can go get my car and maybe do a little something after.” she smiled. She then walked to the bathroom, swaying her hips as she made her way there. She stopped at the door and looked back at Duke. “I won’t be long.” she said warmly before blowing him a kiss. She then walked into the bathroom, closing the door to a crack behind her. “Oh, Sarah. Have you been in here the whole time?” she asked the hound with a slight gasp. Leaning down she scratched Sarah’s head for a moment, then proceeded to clean up and get dressed. A few moments later, Esme came out of the bathroom fully dressed and made her way over to the bed.“See, that didn’t take long at all.” she smiled warmly. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she put on her socks and boots, then took to her feet. “Alright, ready when you are.”

Cason smiled a bit as Nat exclaimed how much fun the rollercoaster was. As much as he hated places like this, and hated how dangerous a lot of this stuff was for a simple human, he was happy that she seemed happy, for once. Her smile seemed genuine. He glanced around as she grabbed his hand and practically drug him across the gravel ground, through hoards of random people, to a section with games. The sight also brought a wide smile to his face.

“Hey, I’m not going to say the D-word, but I have been around for a long time. Like…a really long time. I have perfected just about all of these out of a mixture of boredom and benefit from various dates.”, he chuckled in his own defense about the games, “And they’re only rigged if you suck. I would say you could ask my date from the WW2 celebration carnival, but she’s probably dead.”

He shrugged nonchalantly and stepped up to the counter, pulling her with him this time. Tossing a few bills on the counter, a young teenager brought two buckets of softballs over to them. Cason shoved her bucket over to her, and leaned in close to her ear, pointing at the bottles they had to knock down, “The key…is to aim for the corners. Bottom corner will probably pick off at least one side, but if you hit the middle corners just right, you’ll take out the whole stack. Watch.”

He pulled back from her, and stepped back a bit from the counter, throwing the first of his bucket at the bottles. Hitting the middle of the stack, the carnie seemed a bit surprised when all but one fell down on the first strike. With the one wobbling, he pulled another ball and knocked it over pretty easily with a proud smile on his face, “And if I can do that with at least two more stacks, I can take home that cute and very…large puppy up there.”, he laughed, as the carnie stacked the bottles back up. He finally turned his gaze down to Nat’s face, the proud look staying, as he finally was able to impress her with something not dire.



Dean listened to her all but agree that she had been in the same mindset he was in, and had been selfish, to which he started to shrug off with a simple ‘meh’, but he barely even got the noise out, when she pecked his lips. A goofy smile spread across his lips, and sighed, “I love you too. I don’t say it enough, but you know it, I think.”

He smiled a bit wider, the corners of his mouth only shifting down a tiny bit as a chair moving across the floor near them made a sound eerily familiar to a few of the more visceral noises he had heard in Hell. Flashes crossed his mind, and he quickly shook them off, grounding himself with Mika’s face, and the way he could brush his thumb across her fingers. There was still work to do on his mind, if he was going to be able to be there for her the way he was before he died.

The song began to come to a close, and he gazed into her eyes for a moment, before he decided to speak, right as a slower song began to play, “And thank you for still…existing after…you know. I don’t want to talk about it, but I haven’t been able to get you still enough to tell you how relieved I was when I saw your face that day at Bobby’s. I might have been a little more surprised than I should have been.”, he explained with a chuckle, swaying side to side with her, like the others on the dance floor.



Anna scanned Sam’s eyes as he spoke, trying to decide if she believed him, and the words he was saying. Sometimes, Sam was good at telling people what they wanted to hear. She guessed he had learned that from Dean, as an easier way to break people’s heart without having to deal with the fallout. She wondered at times what Dean had told the people around him before he died, however he died, and if he had fed them some bullshit line about the ‘greater good’ to make them feel a little better about him leaving.

But the look in Sam’s eyes wasn’t just a ‘come home with me’ look. It wasn’t Sam telling her what he wanted her to hear. It was Sam believing in himself, more than anything. He believed in what he was capable of, and for some reason, what she was capable of, even if her powers depended on her drinking demon blood. The demon blood. What about that? He said they would handle it but with about half of the creatures wanting to kill them being demons, she needed it to feel strong.

“I’m only strong when I have demon blood in my system, but I can do a few things without it…mostly mind control.”, she explained honestly, as he pushed her hair behind her ear, and kissed her forehead. She allowed her eyes to flutter closed, and took a deep breath through her nose, “And I do believe you when you say you won’t let her hurt us. I just know demons, by now. They can show up anywhere, and it’s not like I have one of those fancy tattoos the rest of you have. If I’m Lilith’s vessel or whatever, I’m vulnerable…and I could hurt you…and I would see it happen, right? I would just watch her hurt you?”

She opened her eyes suddenly with a look of pain behind them, as she gazed up into his, “If I come back, I want to find a way to ward her off completely, and I want to learn more about our powers.”



Duke chuckled as Esme finally got out of bed, teasing him back over his comments. He shrugged his shoulders, fumbling with the button on his jeans, “Only the ones that turn me into some sort of sex machine or somethin’. We’ve been in bed for hours. I have had more exercise than I have had in years…in hours. I would say that makes you a sex witch.”, he finished with a bright grin, picking his hat up off the dresser and tossing it onto his head.

The second he turned, adjusting his hat, Esme dropped her sheet and began to collect her clothes, causing him to audibly groan. She was trying to kill him, or imprison him, one or the other. He fidgeted a bit with his fingers, trying to force himself to look down before he could be mesmerized again, “No touching…”

He repeated the words, reaching a hand out, as she passed him. It was so tempting to just take the clothes from her and end up back in bed, all over again, regardless of their list. But eventually they had to get to their tasks. He groaned again and waved her off, “Go get dressed before I have an aneurism…Please.”

But as soon as Esme began to walk to the bathroom, giving him a nice little show on the way there, he gritted his teeth, “You better hurry up. I don’t know how long I can handle just standing here…while you’re in there like that.”, he laughed, tilting his hat back on his head as the temptation to chase after her became nearly overwhelming.

“Alright Duke. That’s enough. Get your wallet and your keys, and just…drive the truck. That’s all you gotta do.”, he spoke to himself, reaching across the table for his keys and wallet. Before long, Esme returned and he breathed a slight sigh of relief, as she came back dressed. But she was sitting on the bed. She was dressed…and sitting on the bed. She was sitting on the bed that he could easily just climb onto and ruin their day, and that…wasn’t fair. When she announced she was ready, his attention was grabbed again and he flinched, “Yeah! Yeah I’m ready. Let’s go get your car before I go insane in this motel room. You…are a sex witch.”

NATALIA

As she pulled Cason across the carnival to the games section, she listened to him explain without using the 'demon' word how he had so much expertise on these kinds of games. She didn't think he was bluffing about how good he was, but the way she saw it was that a little bit of competitiveness wasn't such a bad thing when it was all for fun. She gave a small chuckle at his words when it dawned on her a few seconds later that he said about a date from World War 2. "wait...what?" she muttered to herself, following him over to one in particular game. "You're telling me stories at some point about those times" she told him, deciding she wanted to know.

She let him pull her over to the counter, seeing instantly what the game was and her mind instantly started wondering whether or not to use her skills as a hunter on the game. Hitting a target in this kind of game couldn't be all that different to focusing on a target that usually was moving constantly and getting a hit in. She snapped out of her thoughts when Cason pushed a bucket of softballs over to her and then leaned in to explain to her what the trick was. She was going to say she thought she had it figured out, but from the way he was being with her, she decided to just go along with it all.

Watching Cason do a demonstration and practically getting all the bottle in one hit, she had to admit she was impressed with his skill. She was starting to think that even when she thought she previously wasn't underestimating him, she very well may have well been after all. She looked where he was gesturing and saw the giant plush puppy available as a top prize and even she had admit to herself that it was beyond adorable and she does kind of want it.

Looking at him back, she saw the pride in his face and it made him seem so much more warm and kind of a person. It's like she was almost seeing a whole new side to him she had once wanted to deny he even had. "Okay, I'm impressed! But I'll be more impressed if you get the puppy!" she smiled more at him back. "So lets see what ya got!" she said one last time.

MIKA

Mika was glad that Dean didn't try and convince her that she hadn't been selfish and hard work lately to be around. She knew she was, and she was glad that Dean still was of the kind of person to not try and say differently. That always was one of their things, they always knew when and how to admit they were wrong and call each other when it was warranted and not try and sugar coat each other's negative traits. She gave a nod and smiled widely when he told her explicitly that he loved her too, he was right, he didn't say it often and it was rare to hear those words leave his mouth but she did also know it. "I do know it, even if there's times my mind tries to convince me otherwise" she replied.

When the sound of the chair screeched against the floorboards, she saw the change in his face and without him even needing to say anything, she got a good idea of why it was causing such a reaction. "It's okay, it's just a chair" she said to him, lifting her hand up and placing it on his cheek, which seemed to work as he mentally came back into the room and looked at her again, making her give him a reassuring smile. She didn't need to say the words 'i'm here', her look back at him said everything she needed to.

Her hand lowered again from his cheek as she wrapped her arms round his neck loosely, swaying with him to the slower song that played and listened to him thank her. A smile and soft chuckle left her lips when he admitted he was surprised to see her when he arrived at Bobby's finally. "I won't lie...things were rough and I thought of many stupid things to try and bring you back but honestly, Bobby needs to take the credit for keeping me under his roof. But I was ready to give up on everything until you showed up." she admitted to him.

"I'm just so thankful I got you back thanks to that Castiel angel" she said one last time and smiled warmly at him as she continued to dance with him. Considering how this night off for them all came about, she had to admit she was damn glad for it and almost didn't want it to end, but she knew the night could only last so long before tomorrow reared it's head.

SAM

Sam did mean every word he said to her, but hearing her say to him that she only thought of herself as strong when she was on the demon blood, it saddened him honestly. Yet he did understand it to some extent, it just wasn't the time for him to admit what he had been doing before she came back into his life. He let her talk once she had composed herself with a few deep breaths. "Then we'll get you the tattoo done if you want it, if it'll help you feel a little bit more secured when it comes to the demons that are around." he suggested, willing to do anything to bring her some kind of security.

"Listen to me, she's already hurt me once when she stuck her hellhounds onto Dean, sending him to Hell. I've seen her games, I've seen what she's capable of but that isn't stopping me from defending my family and my loved ones. I'm working on finding a way to kill her once and for all for what she's done to Dean and what she's doing to you." he told her, never once letting his eyes stray from hers.

He then decided to fully answer her wishes in the hope of squashing some of that pain in her eyes and giving her some kind resolve or hope. "It won't be easy, it never is in this life but I can promise you, together we will find a way to ward her off completely and if learning about the powers is what you want then we'll do that" he gave a soft reassuring smile to her. "No matter what" he said one last time firmly.