Esme watched Duke, seeing how her voice pulled him out of thought and caused him to flinch. His flinch caused her to wince and take a couple of steps back. I guess sitting on the edge of the bed to put my boots on wasn’t the best idea. Maybe I should have sat at the table. she thought to herself. His voice then pulled her from her own thoughts. As he spoke, she started to feel a bit bad, that was until he called her a sex witch again. Esme placed her thumbs in her back pockets, shifted her weight to her hood leg, then looked at him with raised eyebrows. It seemed this was something he was going to hold over her for a while.

“Now hold on there, Cowboy…… You can’t pin all of what went on this evening on me. In case you’ve forgotten…. It takes two to tango.” she told him in a slightly more serious tone. “You had plenty of opportunities to get out of our activities this evening. It’s not as if I was holding you hostage or anything. Although, a little spell casing may have been involved.” She smirked to herself, then walked over to the table near the door and pulled her jacket off the chair it was draped over. Swinging it around behind her, she slid her arm into the sleeves, adjusted it over her frame, then adjusted the collar as she turned towards Duke. “Alright, let's go save my car from the side of the road.” she said with a warm smile.

Esme then made her way to the door and opened it, and looked over her shoulder. She opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it with a small laugh. She was going to ask Sarah if she was going to come with them but before she could get a word out, Sarah had darted from the bathroom and out the door. “Guess that answers that.” she said to herself softly. She then walked out the door and towards Duke’s truck. As she walked to his truck, her phone began to ring in her jacket pocket. Which was a surprise to her, she thought it had been left in her car. After digging the phone from her pocket, she looked to see who was calling and smiled at the name she saw on the screen. “Hey, I was planning to……..” she started warmly, but trailed off, her smile fading from her lips.

“Sassy…… Sassy, please…… Let me explain…….” Esme tried to speak, but the person on the phone wouldn’t let her get a word in. She leaned against Duke’s truck and sighed as she ran a hand over one side of her face, holding the phone away from her ear as the person on the line ripped her a new one. “Sa…..” She sighed once again at not being able to get a word in and dropped her head. She waited a moment before trying to speak again but as soon as she opened her mouth, the person that called started in again. “Sassy, please!” she said a little more harshly than she intended but it made them stop talking. She then brought the phone to her ear. “Look, I’m sorry I haven’t called to check in with you. Things have been crazy and I misplaced my phone. I had every intention to call you and fill you in on everything.” Esme blurted out in an apologetic tone.

“I can’t go into detail right now but know that I’m alright, and I’m not alone anymore. I’ll call you back later and fill you in on all the details.” she said. She went silent and nodded as she listened to the person talk, a small smile made its way back to her lips. “Yes, I promise I won’t leave anything out…… I’ll call you later tonight….. I promise.” Esme fell silent again, nodding softly as she continued to lean against Duke’s truck. “Hey, Sassy?..... I really am sorry I worried you…….. Love you too.” She ended the call and returned the phone to her jacket pocket. Leaning her head back, she ran a hand through her hair with a heavy sigh. “I should have known that call was coming.” she whispered to herself. Esme then felt a nudge against her leg followed by a whine, she looked down with a warm smile. “I’m alright. It was just a call from someone worried about me.” she breathed to Sarah as she scratched her head.



Once they arrived at the roadblock, Esme jumped out of the truck without a word, shutting the door behind her. She looked at her car, the driver's and passenger's doors were still wide open. As she stood there, the events of that day played in her mind as clear as day. A shiver ran down her spine and she wrapped her arms around herself as the memory continued. A few moments later, she shook her head to rid herself of the memory and let her hands fall to her sides. Esme then walked over to the passenger’s side of her car, looking it over as she went, then picked up the worn leather jacket off the ground, bringing it up and holding it close to her chest. “Hey, beautiful.” she whispered to her car, as she shut the door. “Sorry, it took me so long to get back.”

Esme walked around the front of her car and to the driver's door, looking over every inch as she went. Which wasn’t easy with what little light shown in the area thanks to the cloud cover. She placed her jacket in the car in its normal spot, draped across the back of the seat. After pulling her head from the car, she saw it as the clouds moved away from the moon, several nice long scratches along the back door and corner panel. Closing the door slightly, she saw the scratches also went along the driver’s door. “Dammit to hell! Those bastards!” she growled through gritted teeth as she stared at the scratches. She then ran a gentle hand over the scratches, feeling that they were deeper than they looked, obviously done with her car key, which she just so happened to see on the ground. She released an irritated sigh through her nose as she picked up her keys, then stood up and looked over at Duke. “Thanks for the lift here.”

Cason narrowed his eyes playfully as Nat all but demanded that he win her the puppy. It wouldn’t be hard to get the stupid thing, but he was more than determined to make it look like an effort, even if a tiny effort. He turned back around, squaring his shoulders, before reaching back into the bucket. Pulling a ball, he threw it and actually knocked all of the bottles over. Laughing, he pulled another ball, watching the aggravated carnie restack them.

As soon as they were stacked, he barely let the carnie finish, before he threw another ball and knocked them over again. The carnie threw his hands up, with a frustrated sigh, and then walked over to him, snatching the bucket of balls off the table, “You win! Ding ding ding…winner…”, he droned, pointing to the upper area of prizes, “Let the lady pick her prize.”

Cason laughed at the guy’s attitude, turning to Nat excitedly, “I won the puppy!”, he beamed at her, turning only far enough to point over his shoulder at the aggravated carnie, “you better tell him which one you want before he kicks us out…for whatever reason.”

He leaned in and whispered, “He probably thinks you’re hot. Fit guy in a leather jacket? He hates me.”



Dean smiled when Mika explained that Bobby was the one who basically kept her grounded while he was gone. Of course he did. It was Bobby. Bobby barely let either of them out of his sight when they were younger and there was no way he would leave Mika to her own defenses while she mourned, “Well, remind me to buy Bobby a beer next time we’re in South Dakota. I’m sure he won’t mind, considering it will be a switch up from the scotch and whiskey.”

He chuckled at his own statement, pulling his eyes away from her for a moment to look around the room. The rest of the people in the bar either seemed to be lovey dovey, dancing and being almost adorable…or they were essentially having sex in dark corners, and not exactly hiding it from anyone. He tilted his head, and turned his eyes back down to her, “Is it sad that I almost want to go back to the motel and watch a movie or something boring? I mean, as much as I would like to take you into one of those corners, I would much rather just have you in your pajamas.”

Dean laughed, tightening his grip on her waist a bit, “I think I’m a lot simpler these days, especially knowing we won’t have a lot of peace…”



Anna took another deep breath as Sam made it clear that he was after Lilith, and whether she was with him or not, he was going to try and kill Lilith. On one hand it made her feel a bit better. She didn’t have to stay away, because it would make no difference if she did or not. They would eventually cross paths, and it might just be because of Lilith possessing her. On the other hand, it made her more afraid, because if he was going after Lilith, then he was putting himself at risk no matter what she said or did.

The idea of getting the tattoo done did help her anxiety, however. At the least, she wouldn’t be able to be possessed, and she wouldn’t have to watch Lilith kill Sam, if she ever got her hands on him. She would be able to possibly kill her first. It helped even more when he all but admitted he was willing to learn more about their powers, and let her help…with them.

“Then I’ll come back.”, she said simply, scanning his eyes for a moment. She didn’t know how he would react to the news, considering it was the first solid answer she had given him all evening. She reached both her hands up, and brushed them back through his hair, just wanting to feel that he was real, and tangible. After a moment of just moving her fingers through his hair, she sighed, “Can you sleep with me? I know it’s been a rough night. So, I understand if you have trouble sleeping, but honestly, I’m emotionally wiped and before I even think about showing my face to the rest of the group, I need to sleep.”

She gave a small smirk, and bit her lip, running her finger over the top of his ear, “And I don’t want to sleep alone.”



Duke opened his mouth to speak as Esme corrected him, and she looked a little more serious than he expected. She wasn’t joking with him, or at least it didn’t seem taht way. But then he saw the smirk on her face with the second part of her scolding, and he mirrored the look on her face, shrugging his shoulders, “Touche, my love…”, he chirped at her. Straightening his hat, he grabbed a flannel off the back of a chair near him, and shoved his arms through it, right as she got to the door.

“Hopefully the roadblock is pretty easy to move when we get there. I don’t know if I have the energy to move cars and trains and…”, as he finished, Esme stepped out the door and he shook his head, pulling his keys from his pocket. He flipped them over his hand, and stepped out not too far behind her, wondering who she was on the phone with.



Duke pulled his truck up to the roadblock and stepped out of the truck, letting Esme run ahead to see her car. He didn’t even want to get involved with whatever thoughts might be running through her head. He stepped around to the front of his truck, and leaned against the bumper, just watching her, while glancing around a bit, in case they were being watched by any demons. At the sound of her growl, Duke’s attention was brought back down to the car, and he grimmaced. Obviously there was some sort of damage to her car, or something was missing, judging by the sound of her voice, “You alright?”

He pushed off the bumper of his truck and carefully walked up behind her car, glancing around the side as he approached with an audible hiss, seeing the damage, “I mean…it looks like Bobby could probably fix that in no time, if you wanna get it back to South Dakota in the next day or two. Ain’t no big deal, sweetheart.”

Duke did his best to reassure her, but he knew how she and Dean always were with their cars. He wasn’t quite the same with his truck, because he honestly expected it to get beat up. It’s why he never bought anything too pretty. But when she glanced up and thanked him for driving her, he waved his hand at her, shaking his head, “Don’t thank me for this. It had to be done, and I doubt your um…your demon friend is gonna be much help, here. Might as well be me.”, he explained with a shrug, looking around the rest of the car as he walked around, checking for any catastrophic damage.

NATALIA

Cason narrowing his eyes at her made Nat smirk. She was half joking when she said it but also half being serious as she was curious if he could stand by his previous words and actually win the puppy toy. She knew there was nowhere to actually store the thing, other than the back seat of her car but if he won it for her, she knew she would actually treasure it because it would be the first thing ever that someone went out of their way to win for her. Not even John won her anything at a carnival or arcade when she was a tiny little kid before he disappeared from her life.

She kept where she was as he squared himself up for the ball throwing and watched him intently. Even if he wasn't taking any of this seriously, to her it almost looked like he was for the sake of her, which she couldn't help but feel warmed by. All of these things and realisations in her head making her grow more attached to Cason without her even consciously knowing it. She couldn't help but smile and lightly applaud him when he continued to constantly knock all the bottles over and barely give the counter staff get the bottles back upright.

The moment the guy basically put a stop to Cason's skills by deciding he won a prize, she couldn't stop herself from laughing and applauding him once more, a smile growing on her lips. Cason's excited declaration was incredibly endearing to her and was infectious, she found it impossible to not smile and laugh around him as he acted this way. "right!" she replied to him, before turning to the counter guy and pointing to the giant grey husky looking puppy. "That one please!" she beamed, whilst instinctively leaning her ear closer to Cason as he whispered to her.

Hearing him say that he was convinced the counter guy thought she was hot made her roll her eyes but smirk at him comment about hating him. She took the plush toy from the counter guy when it was handed it to her, giving her thanks to him before turning to Cason as she hugged the toy and kissing his cheek without even thinking about it. "It's adorable, thank you" she said truthfully to him. "So where to now oh skillful one?" she chuckled, glancing around to see what else to do, then she felt her stomach feel empty which gave her her idea. "Actually...lets eat I'm starving" she admitted.

MIKA

Mika smiled as Dean said about owing Bobby a beer for keeping her grounded and alive. She felt that way toward her uncle herself now, even if she didn't at the time and actually held a grudge against Bobby for a good chunk of that four months for doing all he could to stop her from doing anything stupid. He just didn't calculate at the time that the stupid things she was doing was in fact mostly staying locked in her room, drinking herself until she blacked out and barely moving from her bed. The going out and hunting any demon to try and bring Dean back was all Sam and Nat's doing at the time.

"Ya know he'll either take you up on that tenfold or refuse because 'she's me bloody niece, what else was I supposed to do!?'" she replied, putting on her impression of Bobby for the last part of her reply then chuckled at herself. She followed his gaze as he looked around the saloon and saw what he was seeing. If couples weren't being all lovey dovey they were either being R-rated or care free. She remembered the days they were like that and yet it felt like a distant foggy memory at the same time, proving to her that this job mentally just ages one so much quicker than any plain joe on the street.

She looked back toward Dean and looked him in the eyes back, taking in his green eyes as if he would just disappear right in front of her and she'd wake from a cruel dream. At his next words, she smiled and shook her head despite said words surprising her just ever so little. "It's not sad. I'm perfectly content going back to the motel and doing boring. I always loved our movie nights in bed, I'd love nothing more than that tonight" she replied to him, moving one hand from round his neck and stroked his cheek.

"Sometimes simple is just perfect and you're right, we won't have much peace in the coming weeks so lets go back to the motel and make the most of this whilst we can. We can always grab some beers and snacks to have in our room" she suggested. She really meant every word she said as well, she didn't know how much longer they'd have this peaceful time alone, especially whenever Nat decided to show her face again, let alone whenever Sam and Anna returned to them.

SAM

Sam knew it would be risky telling her he planned on getting revenge on Lilith, but he did want to be honest with her. At least over the things that mattered in this moment. Everything else he knew he had to be honest had to wait until they were back with the others and he admitted to things in front of everyone in one hit. He dreaded the time when he'd have to admit about Ruby and her involvement and association with himself, but he also knew he couldn't hide it from everyone for that much longer.

Snapping his thoughts back to the here and now, he kept his eyes on her and saw a slight sign of relief when he suggested about getting her tattooed to help with lowering the risk to her. He himself couldn't hide the relief in his own eyes when she agreed to come back with him. It was all he wanted from her, to come back with him where he could protect her himself and not worry about what would be coming for her when she wasn't in his sight. He let her brush his hair with her fingers, glad to be feeling that sensation again and that back with the others wasn't the last time he would have felt that.

At her next request, he gave a small but genuine smile, "Yeah....yeah I can sleep with you" he agreed, lifting a hand up and stroking her cheek once more. "I'll stay beside you the whole time you want me to be" he told her lovingly, unable to stop the smile from growing on his lips as she brushed the top of his ear. "Come on...let's get off the floor and into the bed" he said, helping her up onto her feet and guiding her to the bed.

"We can leave in the morning or whenever you feel comfortable to head back. I'm not going to rush you okay? If you wanna say goodbye to Max you can before we do eventually leave. Back with the others it's all chaotic anyway, so we got time." he chuckled, "pretty sure Nat has done a runner at least temporarily with Cason as her and Dean but heads all over again" he told her, figuring that hearing some normal family drama might be a nice change of pace for her as she got ready for sleep.

Esme knew Duke was right about Bobby being able to fix the damage in no time. She could too if she had what she needed on hand. She also knew she probably cared about her car a little too much but when it’s become a home and has sentimental value, it’s not hard to develop a slightly unhealthy attachment, and even though she couldn’t see it, she felt like something else was wrong. She then watched Duke as he waved his hand and shook his head after she thanked him for bringing her here. She listened as he spoke, visibly wincing when he brought up Cason, saying he wasn’t going to be much help. Which was true after what had happened back at the motel earlier. “What do you mean, don’t thank you for this? If not for you, I would have had to walk or hitchhike my way here.” she told him. “And with the way things are going, that wouldn’t have been the best thing to do since it seems demons are out for my head.”

Resting one arm against the top of the car, she dropped her head, resting her forehead on her arm. Closing her eyes briefly, Esme released a silent and heavy sigh. “I feel like I have a bright neon sign above my head saying, ‘Here she is. The last Stirling and demon nuke. Get her before she gets you.’ or maybe that sign is just a giant target on my back.” Since she was a kid, she always felt like she was a magnet for trouble when it came to the supernatural, especially demons or the ones that sought out power. Who wouldn’t want someone that could control the emotions of others on their team, willing or forced? But in the back of her mind, was a thought she didn’t like to dwell on. What if there was more to it? What if they were drawn to her for some other reason other than to put fear into others or make them compilable?

Tilting her head, so her cheek was now resting on her arm, she looked over at Duke once more, watching him inspect her car. “Anyway, the important thing is that we got her back in one piece.” she told him as she lifted her head from her arm. “Let’s get out of here and go stuff our faces with something good. I’m starving and I’m sure you are too. We could go to that little diner we passed on the way here. If you want. ” Esme was trying her best to lift the mood and keep herself from dwelling on the scratches on her car and finding the leather jacket on the ground. Pushing herself away from her car, she tucked her keys in her pocket as she went over to one of the barriers and started to pull it off the road and into the ditch. Sarah took this opportunity to jump out of the truck and walk over to help her with the barrier.

Once it was off the road, Sarah went over and took care of the other barrier, pulling it across the road and putting it with the other. “Thanks, Sarah.” she told the Hellhound after she had made it to her side. “You’re such a big help.” Esme whispered as she scratched Sarah’s head fondly. Sarah gently nuzzled Esme, then they walked back over to her car. “Alright, let’s blow this place.” she said, pulling her keys from her pocket. Sarah barked before running off and jumping into the back of Duke’s truck again. Esme then got into her car and pulled the door shut. She was ready to leave this place before a demon or something else popped up, which she wasn’t looking forward to dealing with on an empty stomach. She looked around to make sure nothing was out of place or missing, everything was where it was supposed to be. Pulling down the visor, she made sure the photo of her parents was still there, it was. She gave a small smile to the photo before putting the visor back in its original position.

Placing the key into the ignition, she turned the key but nothing happened. The radio didn’t come on and her beloved car didn’t roar to life. Confused, Esme turned the key back and then forward again, and again nothing happened. She could already feel her anger rising. “What else did those bastards do to you?” she asked through gritted teeth. After pulling her key from the ignition, she reached over the seat, opened the glovebox and pulled out her spare flashlight, and then closed it back. Holding the flashlight firmly in one hand, she shoved her keys into her pocket with the other, pulled the lever to pop the hood, then opened the car door and got out. Esme stormed to the front of her car and opened the hood. Turning on the flashlight, she illuminated everything under the hood and immediately saw red. Everything of importance was destroyed and beyond repair, it would have to be replaced. It was clear the ones that escaped from Duke’s rescue had come back and did this to keep her here. They were planning on trying again at some point after trying to strand her here in this town.

Esme stared at the damage in disbelief. They really went the route of destroying parts of her car rather than hiding it somewhere. “Dammit to hell!” she hissed. Placing her hands down on the car to sturdy herself, she clenched her fists and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Her anger was rising and getting the better of her. She could feel the ache in her chest and her body heating up as it had back at Bobby’s the night she became a nuke. Esme opened her eyes after a moment, which were now glowing a lavender color, and lost it as soon as she saw the damage again. “I’m going to kill them! I’m going to kill every last one of them!” she growled as she stood straight. She then chunked the flashlight as hard as she could, it hit the underside of the hood with a loud bang, then landed on the damaged engine. “Those…… Bidh aithreachas air na bastards sin a-riamh a bhith ag obair còmhla ris a’ chàr agam agus mise! Tha mi a’ dol a losgadh na feòla bho chnàmhan nan soithichean aca agus dèanamh cinnteach nach fhaic iad solas an latha tuilleadh!” In her rage, she had slipped into Gaelic without realizing it.

While Esme was losing control, Sarah had jumped out of Duke’s truck again and was watching Esme, too nervous to get too close to her. She then ran over to Duke and barked at him to get his attention and to get him to look over in Esme’s direction. Sarah ran back over to Esme and whined seeing just how close she was to losing it entirely and becoming a nuke all over again. At least this time she didn’t have to throw herself on anyone to protect them from the blast.

Cason nearly gave a disgusted look at the puppy as the carnie handed it to her, shaking his head with a goofy smile on is face. He had pleased her. He had made her night better, just by winning her some plush animal. Her life was so chaotic and tragic, that something so simple could completely change her mood, and give her hope.

He flinched, frowning for a brief second when she kissed his cheek. It was what he considered an unwarranted display of affection, one that he definitely didn’t expect in public. He nodded his head, a bit speechless, “You’re welcome.”

But then she asked where he wanted to go, her mood still high and happy. That brought the smile back to his face, even though he rolled his shoulders, attempting to bring back at least a little of his bravado. He was about to open his mouth, and ask her if she wanted food, but then she decided for him, causing him to laugh.

“Alright, alright. Let’s get some food.”, he chuckled, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, before leading her over to a cart. The cart had some of the most random disgusting food he had ever seen, but it was intriguing. He only really ate food to keep up appearances, and although he had a few favorites, he just…didn’t see the need for taking the time around Nat. Then again, he would feel awkward just watching her eat, like some spectacle. As soon as he reached the counter, he leaned his elbow on the surface and looked up at the cook with a smile, “I’ll take a cheeseburger. Lots of rabbit food and no salt. Drink…I’ll take a coke.”, he ordered, before turning to Nat, “And then whatever she wants…”



Dean took a deep breath, not at all surprised that Mika would agree to go back to the motel. She always was a bit lower key, even if they enjoyed their crazy nights out…that typically led to them having way too much alcohol and often a fight or two. Her touch and tenderness was welcomed, and his eyes became a bit hazy as he listened to her speak.

After a moment, he pulled his hands away from her waist slowly, and reached up to grab her hand, lacing his fingers with hers without another word. He pulled his wallet with his other hand, and walked back to the counter. Tapping on the counter to get the bartender’s attention, he tossed a bill down and waved to let the bartender know they could keep the change. With that, he pulled Mika toward the door, smirking as they walked by several couples that definitely would not be going back to their motels any time soon.

“I say we hit this little gas station next door. They look like they have some cheap beers and snacks…maybe even some pizza. Then, it’s cheese. Any movie you want. Cheesy lovey movies, horror movies, action…whatever…”, he beamed, as he dragged her across the parking lot once they exited. He turned to her, and kept her hand in his as he walked backward, “Junk food. Beer. Quiet. No drama. No siblings. No demons. Just us.”



Anna stood with Sam from the floor, and on their way to the bed, she kicked off her boots, remembering that she wasn’t wearing much under the buttoned up flannel she wore as a dress. It would do as a gown for the night at least. She climbed onto the bed, and once up to the headboard, she kicked the covers out of the way, and then pulled them over her legs, “I will text Max on my way out, and let him know that I’ll see him soon, after he cools down. I don’t know if he fully understands what happened, and I don’t want him to be hostile toward you, as if I can’t take care of myself.”

She shook her head, making sure he understood that she didn’t want to stay in California any longer than necessary. Otherwise, she would lose her courage, and wouldn’t be able to come back with him. Around and around the circle…not exactly what she wanted. She laid back against the pillows, rolling on her side so she could look up at him.

“I say we leave tomorrow afternoon.”, she started, before his words crossed her brain again, “Nat ran away with Cason? After everything? Must have been a good night after I left…”

She frowned, and then cringed, as she tried to compute the two of them in her mind, and then a sudden giggle left her throat, “Though, Cason with someone like Nat is pretty funny to think about. She’ll eat him alive.”



Duke nodded his head with his lips pursed as Esme explained why she was thanking him. She was right. Sending her alone was the worst idea on the planet with the current situation in the demon world, one that they didn’t even truly have complete understanding of. He kept walking around the car, but he saw no physical damage that he could make out without opening the hood.

“I would have to take a closer look to…”, he started to mumble, but she spoke up about getting food and he took a deep breath, exhaling quickly. He had a bad feeling that the car wouldn’t start. There was no way that a pack of demons would just key the car and walk away, when she was able to get away from them so quickly. He placed both his hands on his hips, “Yeah, we should probably go grab some food, reassess what’s happening out there…and maybe see if we can hear anything through the wire about what might be coming.”

As he was speaking, she began to move things out of the way of her car, springing him into action. She was still injured but of course she wouldn’t let him help, she never did. He walked over to a set of spikes that were attached to a board, and thrown across the road. Grabbing a side of it, he picked it up, and dragged it to the side, before tossing it into the ditch. He reached for the second barrier, at the same moment that Sarah grabbed it, invisible to him, and began dragging it away.

“Show off…”, he spoke in the general direction of where he thought her eyes might be. He brushed her off as Esme commended her for her actions, and he realized that he was playing second fiddle to a dog…well…a hellhound. Chuckling to himself, he began to walk back to his truck. He heard Sarah bark, which caused him to flinch, and then watched the truck bed dip as she jumped in.

Duke vaguely heard Esme’s car refusing to turn over, and he wondered if maybe he was correct, but after waiting a few moments for her to come to him and tell him what he already knew, he heard her cry out in anger. Flinching, he quickly looked over the back seat of the truck, and didn’t see her as she was still hidden by the car. But Sarah jumped out of the truck, checked on her and quickly ran to him, barking like crazy. He frowned in confusion, looking up in the direction of Esme, “Alright! Alright. I’ll go check…”, he told Sarah, climbing back out of his truck and following Sarah as best he could back over to Esme.

As soon as he walked up close enough to her, he gasped, not even sure what he was seeing as his eyes scanned over her face, “I’m not a demon. She can’t hurt me, right?”, he asked Sarah, as if she was magically just going to start talking to him any second. He didn’t know how to handle all this. He had never met a demon nuke. Well, of course he had, but he didn’t know it at the time!

He pushed his hat back on his head and carefully wiped his hands on his pants, nervously trying to figure out what to do to dissolve this situation. She was also speaking in a foreign language, which didn’t seem like a good sign, and made him even more afraid to reach out to her. But he did.

“Don’t you kill me…”, he grumbled, shaking his head, his blue eyes massive as he finally reached her and wrapped his arms around her, “C’mon sweetheart. There’s nothin’ under this hood we can’t fix. Ain’t no reason to kill your puppy and get yourself all worked up…I don’t even know if you can kill me. So take a deep breath with me. C’mon. Don’t make me knock you out…”, he cooed to her, chuckling at the last part, to try and break through with humor if he needed to.

NATALIA

Natalia didn't even notice when Cason frowned slightly when she kissed his cheek without her even thinking about it. Her mood was getting better minute by minute and she couldn't get over how much him winning her the plush meant to her. To anyone else she was certain they'd find it utterly ridiculous or stupid but it meant the world to her honestly. Her smile continued when he simply said 'you're welcome' to her thanks, another moment where she could almost forget just what he was. Was she starting to willingly see the real Cason? The Cason he was before he became a demon? She didn't know but certainly didn't want to dwell on the thoughts tonight.

She did however notice him roll his shoulders in an attempt to bring back his bravado despite the goofy smile telling a completely different story. She did truly want to wait to see what he what he wanted to do, but when her stomach rumbled lightly, she couldn't help but quickly say how hungry she was, and luckily he didn't take offence to her making his decision for him. In face, his laugh was very much a welcome noise to her ears that broke through all the surroundings noises of the other members of the public at the carnival. She instinctively leaned slightly into his side as he draped his arm over her shoulders, whilst she kept a firm grip on the plush in front of her, hugging it close to her chest.

Walking over to the cart, she looked at the makeshift menu of hand written items available on a white board to decide what she wanted, whilst he rattled off his decision of food. From what she learned and had noticed before, Cason didn't need food but the fact he was ordering food and drink for himself made her see yet another side to him she hadn't really cared to notice before. He was truly attempting to blend in as a human for her. Or at least, so she assumed. The order of 'no salt' also didn't go amiss on her and realised that that was something she wouldn't have thought of before but her 'hunter brain' briefly kicked into gear to remind herself that salt does hurt him.

Snapping out of her 'hunter brain' she looked up when he eventually said 'whatever she wants'. "Oh, right! Uhh I'll take the large hot dog with ketchup and cheese sauce, no onions and fries and Sprite. Thanks" she ordered, fully aware of how much of a junk food lover she was, but that was all due to the trauma she went through and how she went for so long without real food. So for her any time she could eat, she still felt like it'd be her last ever meal. It was a mental state she still had a long fight with, but for now she'd take any food she could get.

Giving a smile, she wanted to play fair, so she began to take her wallet out of her jacket pocket and paying for the food before Cason could. "my treat this time as a thank you for bringing me here" she explained to him, whilst giving him a look that said she wasn't going to take no for an answer. She refused to come across as someone who just expected everyone else to buy everything for her, whether they were a demon or not. Even with Bobby when he let her crash at his during the four months of Dean being in Hell, she still insisted on doing the odd shop for him and refused to let him pay for it despite her mind being on 'interrogate and kill' mode most of the time when trying to get Dean back with Sam.

Waiting for a few minutes for their order to be done, she continued to squish the plush, only just about being able to even get one arm right round it so she had an arm free to pay their food. With the few minutes up, their order called out she grabbed what she could, balancing some of it between her hand and the plush, glad that there were tables nearby. "Can you grab the rest as I grab the table?" she asked Cason, giving him time to reply before going over to it and putting the stuff down and the plush on the third spare chair so not to get it dirty on the ground.

Grabbing her drink that she had brought over with the fries, she took a sip and sighed contently as she found out just how thirsty she actually was and people watched as she waited for Cason to come over. "oh how dad would have a fit right now if he knew what I was doing tonight." she thought to herself in an amused manner. The idea of John absolutely losing his shit over tonight was highly amusing to her as she knew she'd be able to come back at him for never being there for her when she needed him. Hells, he was still alive for some of the time she was locked away and he still never came for her, so why should she care if hanging out and enjoying the company of a demon would have angered him?

MIKA

If Mika truly thought about it, or more precisely, let herself think about, she'd have told herself that them leaving the saloon before they got too drunk was probably a very safe idea for them both. She just got him back and since he had been back they'd already had a fight over Esme, the last thing she wanted was to ruin another moment with him by arguing or fighting yet again. If she wanted to change and be more trusting, which she honestly did, then them not falling into that old cycle was for the best.

She always hated when he let go of her waist, but she knew as well as he did if they were going to leave then it had to be done. So him grabbing her hand made her remain content and connected to him as they walked to the bar together so he could pay for the beers they had (while she also made a point to shoot the bartender a smile) before exiting the saloon happily, passing the more promiscuous couples along the walls.

Exiting the saloon, she listened to his suggestion about grabbing the food from the gas station, thinking it was a perfect idea, even if his agreement to cheesy love movies was a part of his suggestion. He would usually always complain if she put on a rom-com on, even when they were teenagers he would complain, so to hear him willing include it in the list of options was quite the step for him in her eyes. She watched him as he walked backwards, whilst keeping a hold of her hand. "You know what? That actually sounds perfect" she replied smiling just as brightly back to him. "But you might just regret giving me full choice of movies depending what's on the TV" she smirked at him, squeezing his hand.

She walked across with him and into the gas station, heading straight to the snacks aisle first as she always did. Letting go of his hand she grabbed her favourite potato chips off the shelf in the biggest size the station stocked along with other snacks and chocolate. "You wanna grab the beer and pizza?" she asked him.

SAM

Sam walked to the bed with her, letting her kick her footwear off before climbing onto the bed, scooting himself up so he was sat up beside her. He looked down at her as she explained about just texting Max in the morning. He honestly could see where she was coming from but he also found it so telling of her personality and beautiful mind how she was thinking of him and how Max would see him if they went to tell him in person. "Alright, we'll leave mid morning to get to the airport in the afternoon and head back." he agreed.

Her reaction to the news of Nat and Cason did put a smirk on his face as he nodded, before sliding down the bed slightly and sweeping some of her hair behind her ear so he could see her face more clearly. "Oh that she could. Honestly it's worrying how eager she is to be around him. She went crazy at Dean for second guessing her decision making and ya know what? She says he was there at the asylum watching over her. He kept her alive until we could save her. You seriously missed a lot of drama" he chuckled, but it was a slightly sad chuckle. He still didn't kow if he actually believed Nat and Cason or if Cason was manipulating her, just like Dean didn't know but he was also acutely aware that Nat favoured him over Dean and thus, that put him in almost a more difficult position on whose side to go on. "I think you running off to here was the lightest thing to happen to our group" he joked with a smile.

"But anyway, let's not think about any more drama and get some rest before travelling tomorrow. You deserve a proper night's sleep without interruption and I'll be right here the whole time with you" he said to her, as he finally unbuckled his jeans and wriggled out of them, kicking them onto the floor, along with his boots and then his plaid shirt. Laying there next to her, he felt like he didn't want to fall asleep yet as he wanted to make sure she truly was there in front of him. His mind constantly telling him that he was incredibly lucky to have her back in his life.

------------

In the early hours he stirred awake feeling like he needed to be awake. He saw Annabeth still asleep beside him, so he figured him waking wasn't down to his paranoia of waking to find her gone again. Confused for a moment, he blinked a few times to adjust his sight to the darkness when he finally caught a glimpse of a familiar person outside through the gap in the window curtains.

Glancing at Anna's sleeping body beside him, he carefully and slowly peeled himself out of the bed, pulled his jeans back on and quietly stepped outside. "Ruby what are you doing here?" he asked in a hushed tone, so not to possibly Anna up inside the room. "well good to see you too Sam" Ruby smirked, folding her arms. "Must say, wouldn't have taken you for a California guy, already sick of your brother being back in your life?" she teased, making Sam scrunch up his face in response.

"Ruby cut the crap and just answer my question" Sam retorted back, "Fine, I was looking for you and wondering why your bailing on our little deal" she replied, making a step toward him which made him make a step backward. "I'm here to bring Anna home, I haven't abandoned on our deal. I'm still wanting to kill Lilith" he told her flatly, but hearing Anna's name made Ruby pause in her spot and look at him surprised. "Anna? As in Lilith's vessel? Sam are you insane?! You get with her vessel you're practically yours and everyone you love head's on a platter for her." Ruby said in a slight raised voice.

"Keep your voice down!" he scolded her in a hushed tone, he didn't want to get into an argument with Ruby and he certainly didn't want Anna finding out he had been on a rather confusing and complicated deal with this demon. He never meant for things to get so much but after everything that happened, he didn't see any other way round their predicament and he did believe that with Ruby's help they could kill Lilith and end this impending doom of an apocalypse that was nearing.

Esme was fed up with demons. In less than three years, she felt she had dealt with enough of them to last her a lifetime or more. Anyone that knew her knew she was pretty good at keeping her emotions and empathy in check, but recently it felt like both were in overdrive. Anyone new would more than likely see her as nothing more than an emotionally unstable lunatic and have the men in white coats after her. This wouldn’t be the first time she was in a place like that, and it took weeks, possibly months for anyone to find her after she was taken. She still didn’t know just how long she had been there. Sure she could have asked her aunt but she couldn’t bring herself to talk to her about it, even when she had plenty of opportunities to. Even with all the time that has passed, talking or even thinking about it still took a heavy toll on her mentally. It also didn’t help that she was still slightly sleep deprived.

The rage within Esme was still growing and growing quickly, much more quickly than it had at Bobby’s and when she was here the first time. Even through the rage, she could feel Duke’s and Sarah’s nervousness at her sudden and drastic change. She could just barely hear Sarah’s barking and whining, it sounded as if she were far away making her feel somewhat alone. Her eyes then rolled into the back of her head and glowed more, she couldn’t stop the rage from taking her over and becoming too much to bear. Her head and chest both felt as if they were about to explode from the pain. When Duke came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, she flinched and her body grew tense. His voice and words got through but not enough to change her rising rage as much as he would have hoped. She was far too overwhelmed by the rage to turn the tables in her favor.

Bringing up her hands, she placed them on his arms and held onto him. A whimper of pain escaped her as she closed her eyes, still trying to fight against it, even though she knew it was in vain at this point. “I…… Can’t stop…… It.” she told him through gritted teeth as her head dipped. She held onto him tighter as if holding him closer would help. “It’s…. Too…… Strong.” The pain and the fight to gain control were evident in her voice. She gripped Duke’s arm tighter and drew in a deep breath as her head tilted back. Sarah took this moment to run and hide behind Duke’s truck, just before Esme screamed and a psychic blast shot from her body. In the distance, screams of pain could be heard as the blast hit a few unexpecting demons that were lurking about. If she hadn’t been so wiped out, she would have smiled brightly about the screams but only a small, barely noticeable, smile made it to her lips.

With her body now weak and trembling, and her breathing heavy, Esme’s eyes closed as her head fell back against Duke and her grip on his arms loosened just before her knees buckled beneath her. She didn’t expect to feel the ground beneath her, because she knew Duke would prevent her from falling. Whenever close enough in the past, he had always kept her from falling or smashing her head into the ground. She knew that no matter how scared or nervous he was of her at this moment, he wouldn’t allow it to happen. While Esme worked on catching her breath and collecting herself, Sarah slowly came out of hiding. First, she slowly poked her head around the side of the truck and looked over at Duke and Esme, just to make sure the coast was clear. She then slowly made her way out from behind the truck and over to Duke and Esme, giving a slight whine as she approached Esme and gave her leg a nuzzle. “I’m so sorry.” Esme managed to say in a breathless and shaky voice.

She took in a deep shaky breath and slowly let it out, feeling terrible and embarrassed that she let rage overwhelm her over the damage done to her car, knowing it could be fixed. Sure, this wasn’t the first time Duke had seen Esme pissed off but it was the first time he’d seen her lose control of her abilities. She wished she could read Duke’s mind at that moment, wondering what he was thinking about the whole thing. Though knew she had to have scared the hell out of him with what he just witnessed, she couldn’t focus on anything other than collecting herself and calming her breathing at that moment to be sure. If she could have pulled herself away from him she would have, just so she could have turned around and read his face or walk over and sit in her car. “I scared the hell out of you, didn’t I?” she asked him in the same breathless and shaky voice as before.

Cason smirked when Nat seemed to be ripped from her thoughts to order food. Though her order caused him to scrunch up his nose. They were direct opposites in their taste in food, which didn’t really surprise him. Her brothers were both walking heart attacks, especially Dean. At least Sam seemed to try to take care of himself. But when she pulled her wallet, he began to protest, holding up a hand until she spoke. He sighed and dropped the hand, and glanced around, “Fine…”

He gave a small smile to let her know he wasn’t upset, and as the food came up and they were ready to go sit down at a table, he reached for the food. Nat grabbed all the food she could carry, causing him to reach a hand out to try and keep her from dropping half of it on the ground, but with a small chuckle, he shook his head and reached back for the rest. Nodding politely to the cook, he followed her away toward the tables.

As he approached, he realized she had sat her puppy in one of the chairs, and once again, he couldn’t help but chuckle and shake his head. He pulled one of the chairs and sat down, setting the food down on the table between them. He carefully pulled his fries toward him, making sure that he got the right ones, and quickly pushed one into his mouth. While was chewing, he leaned forward, “You really should eat better if you wanna live past forty, you know…”

He chuckled and tapped his fingers on the table, “I mean, we’re just now getting to know each other. I would hate something as boring as a heart attack to take you out.”



Dean smiled brightly, not entirely sure if his mood was a good one or just an obligatory positive one, due to all the human stress around them at the moment. Honestly, monster stress was easier to deal with, by far, than human stress. At the suggestion that giving her the choice of movies was a bad idea, he laughed loudly, and shrugged his shoulders, “Honestly? Even if the movie makes me wanna vomit, and I have issues staying awake or quiet because of how stupid the relationships are…it’s still better than any drama. I’ll take what I can get.”

As they walked into the gas station, his smile remained on his face. When she let go of his hand, he watched her head straight for the snacks, a moment that reminded him of the old days for sure. She was always the snackier of the two. He preferred actual pastries and pies, where it seemed Mika could fill an entire room with snack wrappers, and never even feel it in her gut. He stepped away from her with a wave at the suggestion that he go get the pizza and beer. Dean stepped over to the beer cooler, reached toward the bottom and pulled a case. Letting the door slam, he walked up to the counter, where a nice lady already had her book ready, having overheard him and Mika speaking.

“What would you like?”, she asked him in a sweet voice.

“Well, hello, sweetheart! We’ll take a pizza with basically whatever you got…”, he ordered, figuring that Mika could just pick off whatever she didn’t want, the way they always did. The lady blushed and nodded sweetly at him, walking away from the counter. Dean lifted the case of beer onto the counter, and then turned, leaning against it while he waited for Mika to finish finding her snacks.



Anna listened to what Sam was saying, but after the stress of the day, she honestly couldn’t think of anything she wanted to say about the drama. In fact, she was kind of excited to get back and just experience the tension…something normal. She watched Sam’s face for a while, a small smile on her face as she just took in all of his features, and concentrated on his fingers brushing her hair and her face, “Well, when we get back…I can’t wait to hear the girl gossip, if Nat is willing to talk, considering her thing with Cason.”

She smiled and closed her eyes. After a few moments of him being back in bed and close to her, she slowly drifted off to sleep. No dreams. No visions. No nightmares. Just sleep. She would wake up the next morning barely remembering falling asleep.



Duke held onto Esme, trying to ignore how helpless he felt. He didn’t know what to expect. He didn’t know what would happen when she exploded, if he couldn’t bring her back from that edge. He gritted his own teeth a bit as she tightened her own grip on his arm. He didn’t move. He only provided as much support to her body, “I got you. C’mon…just hold on.”, he grunted, before she warned him, and her head fell back onto his shoulder. Duke’s heart began to race, and he glanced over in Sarah’s direction, hoping that whatever this was couldn’t hurt her. Esme would never forgive herself, if she hurt Sarah.

Before he could really warn Sarah or even react further, the explosion happened. He growled loudly as he clenched down on Esme, half trying to cover her head, as if this was something around them, and not from inside her. He faintly heard the screams of the demons that were lurking in the woods, mentally noting that at least they wouldn’t have to deal with them. He wasn’t exactly in the mood to fight today.

As things settled, he panted, dropping to his knees with her in his arms. He wasn’t just going to let her smash her face on the pavement, even if he was a bit freaked out. As he pushed Esme’s hair out of her face, Sarah showed back up and he took a big deep breath, calming his own heart a bit. He had to figure out how he was going to handle this, or Esme would start to push him away, and as usual, he would let her. When she asked if she had scared him, he swallowed heavily, looking off into the distance for a moment to try and find his words.

“Um…yes. But, it was bound to happen eventually…”, he panted, with an incredulous chuckle. He took another deep breath, trying to steady his breathing as he placed a kiss to the side of her face, “I um…I need a bit of a chance to process the whole thing. Not the wierdest thing I’ve ever seen. Definitely the weirdest from you…but I um…I think I’m okay. And you didn’t kill me with it, so that’s a plus.”, he explained breathlessly, finally breaking a smile as he processed things behind his eyes. He wasn’t upset or ready to run away from her, he was just genuinely confused as to what her powers…meant.

NATALIA

Nat wasn't completely oblivious to her choices in food, nor was she oblivious to the reactions Cason had given her order, or his chuckle when he naturally went to make sure she wouldn't drop anything she was carrying before grabbing the rest of the food. The only thing she didn't notice at first was him chuckling at the fact she put the plush puppy in one of the chairs. She glanced up when he made it to the table and put his stuff down before sitting down himself and she smiled just that bit more. The endorphins and serotonin swirling around in her mind and body by this time. She picked up her hot dog and took a bite out of it, her eyes closing in joy as she nodded from approval. Sure, she had eaten much better food but it was all because of the experience, the environment they were in that made it taste so good to her. It was such a innocent thing to come from her considering what her job was, it was endearing.

As she swallowed her mouthful, she stared at him as he told her she needed to sort out her eating habits. He wasn't the first to say such things to her, Mika had said the same thing as had Bobby many many times. Yet the way Cason said it, it felt different for some reason. Maybe it was because he tried so hard to keep her alive in the asylum and he didn't want that be for nought, or maybe it was because he did actually care for her. She didn't know at this stage but she didn't let herself think about his reasons too much. "You're not the first to say similar and probably won't be the last but I can eat healthy foods when I want too, but tonight is cheat day." she told him back. "Unlike my doofus of a brother, I don't solely live off junk food 24/7. I'm just enjoying eating what I want at the moment. Without being a downer, every meal still feels like a last meal to me" she smirked, then let it change into a more warm smile.

She then continued to eat a bit more, switching from bites of the hot dog to the fries and taking sips of her soda. The lights of the carnival reflecting and shining on her cheekbones and in her eyes. Reds, blues, yellows..all looking bright against her dark hair. For Natalia this was most definitely logging into her mind as a core memory and she had someone who she never thought she would bond with to thank for it. She honestly thought that if anyone would give her a night of normality or even day of normal life, it'd have been Sam as he was always the one to tell Dean to give her a break and not be on her neck all the time.

----

As the night went on she found herself finally able to forget she was a hunter for a while, that she was a Winchester and felt like she was cursed because of her father's name. She just felt like a normal twenty-something woman having fun and spending it with someone who intrigued her and she felt safe with. She was laughing genuine laughter, the type of laugh that made her cover her mouth at one moment but another time she'd close her eyes tightly and throw her head back in laughter. She had a prep to her step that she didn't have before, a light in her eyes that wasn't there when they were at the motel. It was like for the first time Cason was able to see the woman she was deep inside and not the sick skinny thing she was in the asylum or the callous hunter she had become. He was witnessing a whole new side to her, and in a lot of ways, she was witnessing a new side to herself she thought had long since disappeared.

Soon enough it had gotten late and they had no choice but to walk back to the car and do the drive back to the motel. She was tired but she was also on such an emotional high, she couldn't help but keep the little skip in her step as she walked beside Cason, one arm firmly wrapped round the plush and one looped through his arm. "Thank you Cason for tonight. It's been the best ever" she told him honestly, as she stepped in front of him, walking backwards slightly before pausing her walking and leaning up, planting a kiss on his lips without a second thought. Pulling away, she smiled and chuckled sheepishly, before continuing to walk beside him again back to the car.

Once at the car, she remembered which pocket Cason had put her car keys in, so she slipped her hand into said pocket and grabbed her keys. Unlocking it, she opened the back seat door and pushed the plush onto the back seat where she couldn't resist strapping it down with the seat belt. "before you say anything, I'm doing it purely so it doesn't fall forward and cause us to crash the car" she said to him, turning to look at him knowing he was bound to give her a look for her action. Shutting the door, she walked round to driver's side, feeling like she was happy enough to drive back this time. "I'll spare you from driving back this time, I'm sure I can remember the route back" she explained, opening the door then getting in.

MIKA

Dean's response to the movie choosing did amuse Mika even if it didn't surprise her. She was now determined to find the cheesiest movie on the TV that was on just to wind him up a little and make the night stay on a humorous and light hearted vibe. In the gas station, she let Dean go to the chiller section to grab the beer, smirking and shaking her head at how he waved his hand in reaction to her suggestion. 'typical man of mine' she thought to herself happily. In the snack area, she continued to grab whatever she could physically hold, making sure she didn't forget anything. If she ended up picking up too much then in her mind, they had plenty of stuff to take on the road with them.

By the time Dean had put in the order for the pizza and leaned against the counter, she had finished having armfuls of snacks and brought them over. "don't judge me with the snacks" she told him, looking at him over the pile in her hands as she then placed them down on the counter. "Snacking is serious business during movie night and what is left we can take on the road with us. Also figured getting Nat's favourite flavoured oreos might break the ice in the morning between you two" she explained. As much as she didn't want to bring up the youngest sibling, she did think it might help in the morning. She knew like with Dean, the way to get through to Natalia, was through her stomach.

"And yes, I did find you some pie at the end of the aisle" she smirked as she waited with him for the woman to come back with their pizza. She had a feeling he'd order one with anything and everything on it and she'd spend enough time picking the bits she didn't like or want and chucking them onto his slices but that was just their way. It was a habit they had as teenagers and one that they never broke out of. It was also one she didn't want to break out of.

SAM

Sam spent a good fifteen minutes talking to Ruby outside, feeling anxious about Anna possibly waking up and asking who Ruby even was. He was just thankful that they were in California and not back with the others. "Sam you are playing with fire here being with her. That's all I'm saying! You know being with Anna won't make your life easier for killing Lilith right?" Ruby said, folding her arms across her chest once more. "I know but I also think we could use it to our advantage. With Anna on our side we can make it work in our favour, even if it isn't the easiest route to take but I won't let Lilith take her" he replied determinedly.

"Fine, but if this backfires I will say I told you so." Ruby sighed in annoyance and defeat. It was clear to her that Sam wasn't going to budge on the subject of Anna and it was pointless trying to break him. "Fine, you can say that if it goes wrong...but only IF it goes wrong" he retorted, glad that she was willing to drop it. "So tell me Sammy...does she know about us or your demon blood addiction?" she asked him, stepping up close to him and using her index finger to press against his chest. Sam crunched up his nose as she did so which told her everything.

"I'll take that as a no. For someone who hates lies Sam you're sure being good at lying to your loved ones" Ruby taunted with a smile. "Now isn't the time to gloat Ruby." he pointed out, stepping away from her, but stretched out his hand, "so do you have any more I can have?" he asked her, making her roll her eyes as she pulled out a small vial from her inside jacket pocket and forcefully placed it in his hand. "thank you" he said, wrapping his fingers round the vial. He was about to say one more thing to Ruby when he suddenly realised she had disappeared and left him alone.

Sighing, he crept back into the room, walked over to his bag and hid the vial deep in his bag so Ana wouldn't find it before he climbed back into bed, took his jeans back off again and let himself fall asleep beside Anna, one hand reaching out to hers and linking their fingers together. Satisfied she wasn't going to wake up, he fell into a deep sleep.

When Esme heard Duke’s answer to her question, she visibly winced even though she already knew the answer. If he had said no, she would have honestly been surprised. Scaring him and sending him running was the last thing she wanted, but when he kissed the side of her face and continued to talk, she nodded to show she understood, and the thought of him running at that moment faded. She smiled ever so slightly when he said it wasn’t the weirdest thing he’s seen but it was the weirdest from her and thought he was okay, and not killing him was a plus. She understood that he’d need time to process seeing her become a demon nuke, but part of her was glad that he witnessed it without the others after telling him about it not that long ago. And now he knew for sure that he wouldn’t get harmed or killed when it happened.

Esme kept her head rested against Duke and opened her eyes looking up at the night sky. Even though it didn’t seem like he was going anywhere at that moment, she did wonder if this whole thing would cause him to leave earlier than he intended. She pushed the intruding thought from her mind like she had done earlier that night. Knowing he was uneasy about this side of her, the old Esme would have started to push him away to keep him from witnessing anything more and possibly getting hurt trying to help her through it. She had tried to push both Duke and Dean away several times in the past when it came to her empathy getting the better of her but Dean fought against her and won. Now being older with a new ability, and going through so much on her own, it actually scared her of what it meant to go it alone and what this power meant. Truthfully, she didn’t want to go it alone this time.

Tilting her head, she rested her forehead against Duke’s neck, then released a soft sigh through her nose as she held onto his arms. “It’s always a plus when no one dies.” she breathed, nuzzling her head against him. “I know this whole thing has to have you uneasy and confused. This is the second time this has happened and I’m still confused about it.” She paused and closed her eyes briefly as she took a deep breath and slowly released it, due to her head pounding. “I’m sure yo……” She pauses again with a wince because of her pounding head and sighs softly. “You’re waiting for me to start pushing you away because that’s what I do. I push people away when I think it’s something I need to deal with on my own or I’m afraid they might get hurt if they stick around……” Esme then lifted her head from his shoulder and released his arm from her grip, she then slowly turned in his arms so she could see his face. “I’m not going to push you away. I’m done pushing others away.” she breathed looking into his face.

Lifting a hand, Esme gently placed it on his cheek. “I don’t want to go it alone anymore…. But if you do decide that this is all too much for you to handle and you need out…. I won’t stop you. I won’t force you to stay.” She spoke the truth. If he did want to leave because he didn’t know how to handle this or if it became too much, she wouldn’t stop him from going even though she didn’t want him to. She wasn’t one to force anyone to stay where they didn’t want to be, even if it hurt like hell to see them leave. She wasn’t that selfish of a person. “I love you too much to do that.” she told him as she ran her thumb across his cheek. Esme fell silent, watching him for a moment before she let her head fall into her free hand with a slight groan, closed her eyes, and messaged her temple. Her other hand slid from Duke’s cheek to his neck. “I need to get into the glove box. There should be some chocolate bars and some painkillers in it…. If they aren’t there, there’s a small purple bag in the trunk that will have it. Chocolate usually offsets the effects of when I overuse my empathy. I’m hoping it’ll help with this too.”

Even back when they were a team, Esme always made sure to keep some sort of chocolate on hand and easily accessible. She kept at least two bars or a small handful of small chocolates in the glove box, the same in the purple bag in the trunk, and in her duffle bags. On rare occasions, she’ll resort to some type of chocolate cookie, like Oreos or double chocolate chip cookies. After a moment, she opened her eyes and lifted her gaze just enough to where she could see her damaged car and sighed heavily, shaking her head a bit. “You don’t suppose I could sweet talk Bobby into coming and getting her, do you?” she asked him with a small smile. Sarah inched herself closer to Esme and gently placed her muzzle against Esme’s cheek. Esme smiled at the action and moved her hand from her cheek and placed it on Sarah’s, giving it a rub to reassure her she was alright.

Cason listened to her explanation for the meal, wanting to stop her and tell her she didn’t owe him an explanation, but she felt like she needed to. That meant that she felt at least a little of what he was trying to convey. The thought caused him to smirk, echoing the look on her face, “I’m just saying that it’s probably not the best for your gut to eat all that grease. But for tonight? Knock yourself out. At least you’re not washing it down with whiskey, this time.”

His smirk faltered just a bit when she mentioned every meal being like her last, as he was quickly reminded of how lucky she was to even be alive. He dropped the subject, and placed the soft smile back onto his face, and simply watched her as she took in the lights and sounds around her. If she was happy, for now, he was going to let her enjoy it until she had her fill.

——

Cason laughed genuine laughs as she enjoyed herself, taking in every smile on her face. Taking in all the new kinds of laughs that could replace her screams in his mind when he thought too hard about her. And by watching her, he began to feel an odd pain in the pit of his stomach, something like attachment or something. Maybe it was the food. Then again, food never affected him. The feeling was unpleasant, but at the same time, he was relaxed and just wanted to spend time around her. It was odd.

As they walked back across the parking lot, Nat’s skipping made him laugh a genuine laugh, his arm moving with ever bounce of her skipping. She just seemed so happy. He didn’t even want to break the silence that seemed so high and happy, but then she stopped skipping and thanked him. At first, he shook his head, but she was walking backward in front of him. The action tempted him to reach his hands out to make sure she didn’t fall on her ass. Before he could do that, she stopped, causing him to quickly pause and then kissed him. His eyebrows rose, and his eyes closed as he inhaled a deep breath through his nose, kissing her back. He was more than surprised at the action, considering the entire blow up at the motel had started with him kissing her, “Um…y-you’re welcome.”, he muttered, opening his mouth and giving his own small smile.

When they arrived back at the car, he flinched and raised both his arms away from his sides as she fished her keys out of his jacket pocket, and he chuckled nervously. She was becoming very comfortable around him, which he both loved and hated. She was unpredictable and exciting, and honestly…intoxicating. Her leaning into the backseat and buckling the plushie into the seatbelt caused him to raise an eyebrow with a confused chuckle, and then her explanation caused his laugh to get a bit louder, “I never would have guessed that a plushie could do much damage. I honestly thought you were just looking out for his best interests.”

He shrugged his shoulders and laughed again, but then he remembered she had the keys, just as she was running around to the drivers side. He held his hand up and opened his mouth to protest her driving, but she once again stopped him, and he couldn’t argue with her. He hated driving, “Better you than me. I’ll guide you…if you forget. Just don’t kill us. Well, don’t…kill yourself.”, he finished with a chuckle, opening the passenger door and sitting down in the seat.



Dean raised both his eyebrows and pursed his lips in a shape that almost said ‘what is all this for’ as Mika brought all her snacks to the counter and laid them down on the surface. He looked over all of the food, and chuckled, “I’m not judging. It just looks like enough to feed an army. I mean, getting some of Nat’s favorite food seems like the best idea, considering she basically hates everyone in the universe and she’s out with a demon. Not like he eats…”, he grumbled, the grumpy feeling he had left at the motel trying to bubble up in his stomach again.

But then Mika mentioned pie, and his eyes lit up, “You got the pie!”, he exclaimed happily, scooting a few of the snack items away, and pulling the pie boxes toward him. Before he could get too excited about the pizza, the lady came back and slid their box of pizza onto the counter with a smile.

“Here you go sweeties! I love your hair. It’s just so unique and pretty. You don’t see girls like you around these parts often…”, the lady mused as she punched the pizza price into the cash register, “Is this all together?”

“Yeah. Everything on the counter…”, Dean laughed, pulling his wallet from his back pocket. The lady scanned everything, and looked up at Dean, and then to Mika, as if she was just so happy to see two people together. Dean handed her his card, and as she took it, she winked at him and glanced toward Mika, which caused him to blush, “Don’t worry…most of this is for her.”



As soon as Duke felt Esme’s forehead press against his neck, he took a deep breath, calming his heartrate a little more as he closed his eyes. His breath almost echoed her own sigh, although a bit heavier. He chuckled tiredly as she began to explain, but he dropped the smile from his face as she started to go through what had just happened. Truthfully, he just wanted her to take it easy until he was confident she wouldn’t fall out on him. She felt a bit weak, and judging by the stutter in her voice, whatever had just happened…hurt.

She spoke his fears out loud, reading his mind. Truthfully, he was waiting for her to push her away, to give him a reason to leave, or to leave herself…like she had all those years ago. It wouldn’t surprise him a bit if he lost her again, and had to convince himself she was probably dead, “Well, I ain’t like all those other people. I know you inside and out and…”, he started to explain, but Esme turned, and he scanned her face with a serious and convicted look on his own. As she said that she wasn’t planning to push him away, he pressed his lips together firmly and took a deep breath through his nose, in pure relief, “Good…”

The feeling of Esme’s hand on his cheek caused Duke to close his eyes, leaning his face into her touch a bit. He frowned though, as she began to explain that he could leave if he wanted to. The fear that she had somehow read his mind, and knew that he had been thinking of leaving without even telling her bubbled up in his chest and his slowly opened his eyes, just as she said the words ‘i love you too much’. He pushed aside that stinging fear and shook his head, taking another breath, before simply stating in a quiet voice, “I’m not gonna go nowhere without you. If I leave, you leave…”

There wasn’t much time to dwell on the subject, and Duke decided to hold off on that discussion until she was in better shape, as her body language worried him. As she released him, he perked up at her instructions, ready to help in any way he could, though her words rang like an echo in the back of his head. He nodded at the instructions, and slowly walked her back, until she was able to lean her back against the side of the car, holding his hands out as he released her to make sure she wouldn’t fall. He then stepped around the side of the car to the passenger side, and opened the door, quickly flipping open the glove box. He spotted the chocolate bars immediately, along with a small bottle. Snatching them, he quickly shoved them in his pocket, before leaning over, and pulling her keys from the ignition.

He pocketed the keys as he stepped over to her, chuckling at her question as he pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket and ripped it open, peeling back the wrapper and handing it to her, “I think that if I called him and said I had a problem…and I wanted to cash in some son points for my girl, he would be a little more inclined.”, he laughed softly, and pulled the pill bottle from his pocket as well. He read the label for a moment in the dim light of the moon, before shaking two pills into one of his hands, and holding it out for her, “I don’t have nothin’ to drink. So, I hope dry is alright.”

With a wince and an apologetic look, he finally pulled his phone, and dialed Bobby’s number. Within 15 seconds, Bobby had already agreed to come get the car, and had told Duke to never apologize to him again for needing help, as he was the easiest of the boys to deal with. He rarely needed anything. He closed his phone with a proud laugh, and turned his eyes up to meet Esme’s, “Bobby said that if we wanna go back to the motel and get some rest, he’ll come get the car. It’ll be safe at his place, and we can go get it in a few days…”

NATALIA

She still had absolutely no idea why she even kissed him and made the first move, when she reacted so badly to him kissing her on the case much earlier on, the night before. Yet here she was enjoying his presence, learning new sides to him and not wanting his company to leave her. Then there was the fact she was somehow making him laugh and smile as well, she didn't realise she was capable of making anyone other than Sam or Bobby do that honestly. Of course she did make others smile and laugh but after her meltdowns and truths coming to light in her mind, she had almost forgotten she could make others feel happy.

"Well, it's for his safety too naturally" she quipped back with a smile before she had rustled in his pockets for her car keys. "I know you hate driving and figured you'd be more helpful as a guide than the driver. I won't kill anyone I am actually a capable driver believe it or not. Unlike Mika when she is on one of her major rages" she chuckled. She opened the driver's side door and got inside,closing the door behind her, putting the keys in and starting the drive out of the carnival to get back onto the main road to head back to the motel. The one place she didn't particularly want to go back to.

Driving back she put the radio on just for some background noise as she always preferred driving to noise in the background. She was still thinking about the fact she also gladly leaned into him and kissed him, finding she was smiling to herself as she drove. Part of her wanted to grab Cason's hand with one hand, but she resisted doing so and kept both hands on the steering wheel as she just about remembered the way back and only needed Cason's guidance once or twice to make sure she didn't miss a couple of turns.

------

Back at the motel she saw Dean's car wasn't in the car park like it was when they left she figured they beat them to it and she was incredibly grateful for getting back with no sign of Dean around. It was bad enough for her that just by being back at the motel, reality was setting itself back into her mind but she fought the negativity to keep a hold of the happy mood she was in as much as possible. Pulling up into a free spot which luckily was in front of her room, she turned the engine off and gave a sigh leaning back into her seat. "At least the big lug ain't around by the looks of it" she commented to Cason.

"So you sticking around tonight or gonna go into hiding from Dean?" she asked Cason, turning to face him giving him a smirk. She couldn't imagine him ever doing a runner from her brother but she also knew how much Dean probably wanted his head on a pike if Dean could have his own way. Not that she would ever let that happen, and she certainly couldn't imagine Annabeth letting it happen even if she was pissed off at Cason as well. "Because I personally would appreciate it if you stuck around" she smiled at him, opening the car door with one hand to get ready to exit the car.

MIKA

Mika gave a smug nod when he confirmed he wasn't judging her for the pile of food she had brought over. She was also thankful for the fact he agreed that getting some of Natalia's favourite snacks wasn't a bad idea and might be the start of reconciliation between Dean and her. She hated it when they were at lugger heads with each other because she hated that she always felt she had to choose a side to try and calm things down between them even though she didn't like taking sides in the slightest. "Exactly and even she insists on eating I'd rather have some kind of emotional bribe to bring her back round to our side. As much as I hate doing that to her, we gotta try anything" she explained her way of thinking, seeing how the negative thoughts were trying to bubble up in his mind again.

Seeing him light up however about her not forgetting the pie for him made it all worth it. She always was the better one out of herself and Sam to remember Dean's love of pie. She even softly chuckled when he moved everything else out the way to bring the tubs of pie closer to him as if someone or something would snatch it away from him any moment.

She looked up when she heard the clerk coming back with their pizza box. The woman had an infectious smile in Mika's mind as she smiled back, which only got wider when the woman complemented her on her hair, making Mika briefly looked down to stop herself blushing, then looking back at the woman. "Aww that's very sweet of you to say, thank you. I guess it's a bit of a trademark for me at this stage. Means this one never loses me in a crowd" she chuckled, gently nudging Dean's arm as she spoke. It wasn't far from the truth either as it seemed whether her hair was her natural dark burgundy red from when they were teenagers, the stark snow white hair when she dyed it to try and pretend to be someone else to protect Dean or being her current black and pink....Dean always found a way of spotting her in a crowd and pulling her back to him.

She let Dean pay for all the snacks, beers and pizza. "What can I say? I like snacking! I'm not some chick whose frightened of food" she said with pride and a chuckle, helping the woman pack everything into bags to be polite and helpful, especially as the woman had been so absolutely sweet to them both. With the bags packed up, she took a hold of them so Dean could take the pizza and beers. She was so ready to head back and start their movie night, to just ignore the drama for just that bit longer, at least until the morning but she would be lying is she said she wasn't concerned about where Nat went with Cason and if she would even return to them.

The idea of Natalia just disappearing with a demon and not returning to her family was a big concern and worry for Mika, even if she didn't say it out loud for the sake of not adding more worries onto Dean.

------

Back at the motel, she got out the car and saw Natalia's car was back in the parking lot but the people in question were nowhere to be seen. There was just a dim light emanating from Natalia's room so she figured that either the girl was still awake and with Cason still or she was hopefully asleep, alone and just simply forgot to turn the lights off. However she did think the latter option was probably the least likely. Snapping her thoughts of Natalia out of her mind, she headed to hers and Dean's room with him.

Drama could wait until the morning.........

Before Esme had asked Duke to grab her a chocolate bar and the painkillers from her car, Duke’s words repeated in her head. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t deny how happy she was to hear, “I’m not gonna go nowhere without you. If I leave, you leave,” come from his mouth, but in the back of her mind she had slight doubts about it actually happening that way because of how her luck was. She quickly pushed the intrusive thoughts to the back of her mind as Duke slowly walked her back to lean against her car. After finding her footing and leaning against the car, she watched Duke make his way around to the other side of the car, eager to help her in any way he could. As she watched him open the passenger side door, Sarah made her to Esme’s side to make sure she didn’t fall. Esme lifted her hand and placed it on Sarah’s head, giving it a scratch and silently letting her know she was alright. Sarah leaned into Esme when she moved her hand from the top of her head to her ear, then down to her neck, and patted it.

Watching Duke open the glovebox and pull out the chocolate and painkillers and pocket them while waiting for his answer to her question, caused a memory to quickly flash before her eyes of a different time. It had been the first time she had overused and had also been overwhelmed by her Empathic abilities around Duke, and it had been Dean that had grabbed the chocolate and painkillers while poor Duke stood off to the side completely confused about what was going on with her. That night she hadn’t been leaning against her beloved Chevelle like she was tonight, it had been Dean’s Impala outside a dilapidated warehouse that had once held a pack of Werewolves. They had played it off like she was suffering from low blood sugar so that they didn’t have to come clean about what she was capable of just yet. Though neither one of them knew for sure if he had truly bought it or not. She was brought back to the present by his chuckle and heard him come back to her side. After he opened the chocolate bar and handed it to her, she took it from him, then took a small bite.

When Duke spoke, a small smile came to her lips that was followed by a laugh to match his. She had also lowered her gaze to the chocolate bar in her hand as her cheeks flushed from him calling her, “His girl.” The words almost sounded too strange leaving his lips even with it making her happy to be called “his girl.” Though when he pulled the pill bottle from his pocket and read the label in the dim moonlight, she found herself questioning the words for some odd reason. Maybe it was because of events from her past, or maybe it could be because she was mentally and physically tired from losing control of her abilities that night, but she knew she shouldn’t be questioning it since she knew what kind of person Duke was. Esme mentally kicked herself for letting her mind drift and then pulled her attention back to Duke. A warm smile made it to her lips at his next words, brightening up the tired features of her face. Lifting her gaze from her chocolate bar, she looked up into his face catching his wince and apologetic look for not having anything for her to drink.

“Dry is fine. You should know this isn’t the first time I’ve had to swallow them dry.” she told him warmly as she took the pills from his hand. While Duke made his call to Bobby, Esme had taken the painkillers and had also managed to close the hood of her car, with the help of Sarah, who made sure she didn’t fall. As he spoke to Bobby, Esme leaned against her car, breaking off pieces of the chocolate bar and nibbling on them. She didn’t focus much on what Duke said to Bobby, because she was mostly focused on not eating the chocolate too fast and making herself sick. At his proud chuckle, she looked up at him just as he was looking at her. A relieved smile made its way to her lips hearing Bobby would come and pick up her car. A thought then hit her, with how things seemed to be going, maybe she would be better off leaving it at Bobby’s for a while. Yes, she loved having her car for those times she needed to go off on her own, but recent events had made it quite difficult even to drive her beloved car.

“Awesome! That means I have one less thing to worry about!” she said happily, which was followed by a light laugh. Then she slowly walked around him to the open driver’s door of her car, then sat down in the driver’s seat, leaning her shoulder against the back of the seat as she looked at him. “I’ll go along with going back to the motel, only because I know you’ll argue with me about going somewhere to get a bite after what you’ve witnessed tonight, but that’s only if you promise me we’ll pick something up on the way back.” she grinned. She knew he’d want to whisk her straight back to the motel now that her car situation had been resolved, even though they were both hungry and needed to eat. She knew he wouldn’t want to risk anything else happening to her with how weak she was after going nuclear. Esme then quickly glanced at her attire, and then back up and at the trunk of her car, and sighed softly. Before they left, she was definitely going to grab the duffle bag that had her clothes. She wasn’t about to let herself be stranded without them again.

“Could you help me with my duffles bags? I’m not looking forward to being stranded without clothes again and having to borrow from one of the girls again…. Unless you want to lend me something of yours to wear.” she said in a teasing tone followed by a mischievous grin. Esme knew Mika wouldn’t be too happy about having to lend her some of her clothes to wear again. She then popped one more piece of chocolate into her mouth before she folded the wrapper around the remaining chocolate and tucked it into a pocket of her jacket. Esme then scooted herself back and laid across the seat, opened the glovebox, and proceeded to fish out the remaining chocolate bars. She didn’t want to leave them in there with her car going to Bobby’s for a few days. By the time they made it to Bobby’s, there could be a mess waiting for her in the form of melted chocolate.

Cason’s fingers tapped against the edge of the window as they pulled into the parking lot of the motel. He honestly didn’t know what he wanted to do for the rest of the night. Part of his brain was telling him to stay, just to make sure that Natalia was okay. The other part of his brain thought that this might be the perfect place for a clean break. He could watch her from afar. He could make sure she was safe, but without the danger of being so close. It wasn’t like he needed her to fall for him or anything, even if he was the one who initiated contact.

Nat’s voice shook him from his thoughts, and he raised his eyebrows, turning to face her. Chewing at his lip, he tilted his head to the side, contemplating his answer. “I um…”

He turned his head, to stare out the windshield of the car for a moment, still contemplating, until she confirmed that she wanted him to stay. With a heavy sigh, he shrugged, and pulled the handle, stepping out of the car. He straightened his jacket, and walked around to the front of the car, waiting for her. Once she joined him, he shoved his hands in his pockets.

“I can stay. I mean, the worst that’s going to happen is that your brother storms in, and I disappear at the last minute and make him look like a jackass.”, he laughed, and reached a hand up, brushing a strand of her hair from her face. He tucked it behind her ear and trailed his thumb down her jawline. “But I’m tempted to do something stupid…”

Cason chewed at his lip a bit, studying her face. A few silent moments went by, as he tried to talk himself out of his impulses. Without saying another word, he leaned in and covered her lips in a deep kiss.



The next morning, Dean opened his eyes with a groan. He brushed his fingers lazily over his bare chest, and squinted at the brightness of the sun that seemed to turn the wall into a spotlight. He tried to move his other arm, but it was pinned down. Turning his head, he smirked, seeing Mika’s hair, messy and sticking to random places on his chest and face. There was no way in hell he was waking her up, after all the drama of the day before.

The drama.

He turned his eyes toward the ceiling and sighed deeply. He needed to get up. He needed to go and make sure that Nat was okay. Or maybe he just felt compelled to make sure Nat wasn’t okay…with Cason. It was ridiculous. Even Dean knew that. Cason wouldn’t hurt her, or at least it didn’t seem that he would. But Dean couldn’t shake the feeling from the back of his mind that the demon was somehow using the women in their group to feed them straight to Lilith. It didn’t seem that farfetched.

Lifting his shoulder slightly, he nudged the side of Mika’s face, “Hey, sweetheart. It’s probably time to check on the kids…”



Duke laughed, tilting his head back at how excited Esme became when she realized her car was going to be safe, and likely to receive its much-needed repairs. He watched her closely as she walked around to the driver's side, causing him to push off from his spot and follow her. What she said next made him roll his eyes, and he shook his head.

“Nothin’ that was said on that phone or by me…says we have to go back to the motel without getting food. I think after all that effort and hell…the shock of it all, maybe we should at least hit a drive-through. I just don’t like the idea of us sittin’ out here like ducks, waitin’ for another crop of idiots to come through, thinking they’re gonna take you away.” He rambled, waving his hand around. He then shrugged, kicking a foot against the rocks on the pavement.

He was half tempted to call Dean and see if he and Mika wanted to go get something, but he also didn’t know the full chaos that was happening with them. Being a family again was probably not…going to happen, now that Mika was back in the picture. Esme’s voice dragged him back from his thoughts and he nodded.

“Of course, I’ll grab ‘em. Not that I don’t appreciate seein’ you in my clothes.” He replied to her with a wide and bright smile. Despite the night, he was still in pretty good spirits. As long as no more surprises popped up, it was unlikely his mood would shift much. He jogged around to the back and hoisted her bags and anything he could gather into his arms, bumping Sarah on his way by. Although his heart lept into his throat, Sarah didn’t react horribly. She just huffed and stayed firm in her spot. After gently hoisting the bags over the side of his truck bed and then jogged back over to Esme.

“Let’s go get you one of them burritos you like so much. I’m sure there’s somewhere around here that sells at least…something that resembles food.” He chuckled, deciding to push all of his fears and possible bad thoughts to the back of his mind.

It could wait for the morning.

———-

The next morning, Duke woke to quiet. No one was yelling. Obviously whatever war was brewing the night before was no longer on the horizon, or at least was being slept on. As he opened his eyes, he stared into the darkness, toward the ceiling, and then internally groaned as he glanced toward Esme.

As much as he didn’t want to leave, they weren’t going to be able to create the family they had before. He knew that. She obviously knew that. This was never even part of his plan, to get caught up with the Winchesters again, and get his heart broken…again. Yet, the odds of her leaving Dean, again, seemed slim. He had work to do. He had people that depended on him.

But did he? No one had called him for a few days. His phone was quiet. But maybe Bobby needed his help…

…no…

He was looking for a reason to leave. Whether or not that was because of Esme’s powers, or how insanely in love with her he was, he didn’t know. Running…was just his nature, at this point and he had learned from the best.

Carefully, he dropped his legs over the side of the bed and stood. He quickly dressed himself, grabbed his backpack, snatched his hat off the dresser, and carefully slipped out the door of the motel room. If he thought too much about it, the decision would tear him apart. He could explain himself later, but for now…he needed to go, even if he didn’t know why.

NATALIA

Nat did wonder what had gotten Cason so wrapped into his own thoughts, but she didn't want to pry, so instead she chose to ask the question she did. Yet he still found himself unable to give her a full answer, choosing to remain silent for the most part and just exit her car, something she couldn't help but rise her eyebrow at briefly, until she realised he was walking round to the front of the car. Cracking open the door, she stepped out of her side, put her keys in her jacket pocket and stepped round to the front to stand beside him. She wanted to ask him what had gotten him so quiet all of a sudden as she noted him shoving his hands in his pockets, but he began talking before she could do so.

As he confirmed he would stay so she wasn't alone, she unknowingly let out a sigh of relief softly, her smile reaching her eyes as she lightly chuckled at his remarks about Dean. The smile never left her lips or her eyes as she let him brush a strand of hair behind her ear, a strand she hadn't really paid any mind to having fallen in front of her face until he had brushed it out of the way. Despite that very smile not leaving her face there was clearly the question of 'and what's that stupid thing?' in her eyes yet she didn't outwardly ask it, curious to what his next move could be.

Then it dawned on her as his face got closer to hers and she felt his lips cover her own in a deep kiss. She was surprised he so willingly kissed her after she had previously taken him by surprise by pecking his cheek or lips earlier at the carnival. The whole night was such a fantastical blur to her she couldn't remember where she kissed him, but she knew she had and she did not regret it once. Closing her eyes, she returned the kiss finally letting herself drop her walls and accept that despite everything of this man's ego, she was so incredibly drawn to him that nothing would tear her away from him from now on.

She always thought Mika was crazy for believing in romance or relationships, but maybe from now on she could actually understand it. Or at least attempt to. Though it did still amuse her heart that most people would have a guardian angel or a light to help them in the darkness and here she was having a guardian demon and a darkness in the dark guiding her through.

Eventually she forced herself to slowly pull away and reopen her eyes to look up at him once more. "I wouldn't say that's stupid" she clarified to him with a soft chuckle, her fingers walking up his jacket's front before she intertwined the collar in her fingers. "I'm really glad you're choosing to stay with me" she told him once more before she leaned back up and kissed him once more.

It was later in the night when Mika and Dean had arrived back that Natalia was still very much making the most of Cason's company in her room as her room's light was noticed by Mika from the outside......

THE NEXT MORNING

As morning came through, light desperately trying to break through the cheap curtains in the motel room, Natalia slowly stirred awake calmly. Whether it was down to the fact Cason was in the room all night or their activities, but she only had one mild nightmare in her sleep instead of the common influx of sweat inducing, panic filled ones. Her breathing slow and steady, she fluttered her eyes open as her vision began to focus she saw she was curled up into Cason's side but it was evident that he really didn't sleep all night, just as he always said- demons don't need to sleep and eat.

"Morning, you really did stay" she greeted sleepily, gazing up to his face as she readjusted her head to do so and became more aware she had her arm lazily draped over him.

MIKA

Mika was happily sleeping, for once finding she had in fact had the best sleep she had had in a short while, despite everything that had been going down around them. Yet it seemed Dean had other ideas his gentle nudging broke her from her sleep, waking her up. She grumbled in dislike at having to be awake once more and hearing Dean speak of 'the kids', knowing exactly who he was alluding to. "....fine" she sighed as she opened her eyes, turned round to look at him and sweep her hair off of him and into some kind of reasonable state until she could get a brush through it.

"You know most people say 'good morning, how'd you sleep?' in the morning" she teased sleepily, pushing herself into an upright position. "But you're probably right. When we got back last night I saw her light still on which I thought unusual for her, but she's not exactly been her usual self as of late so who knows" she explained, ending her sentence with a mere lazy shrug of her shoulders.

She didn't know how Dean would take that news, but now they had had a good sleep and a night just for themselves, she didn't see a reason to keep it from him any longer. She just really hoped Cason didn't use Nat last night. Like Dean, she didn't think for a minute that Cason would hurt Natalia, not after he supposedly kept her alive and going in that horrific place for years but she still couldn't help but worry about the girl. Natalia may not be a child anymore, but she was still the youngest in their group and that made Mika protective.

"So whose gonna go check on her? You or me?" she asked, looking at him, seeing a stray and rogue piece of his hair which she had to smooth back into place instantly. She also couldn't help but wonder out of the blue how Sam was getting on with bringing Annabeth back to them all. She mostly hoped that he was being a bit more successful than they were with Natalia.

SAM

With the morning's arrival Sam woke up, lifting his arm up and gently lowering it over his face, wishing there was just a bit more of the night to sleep through. He didn't want to be awake just yet but he also knew they couldn't exactly stay where they were for much longer. He glanced over and saw Annabeth was seemingly still asleep. Removing his arm from over his eyes once more, he couldn't help but dart his gaze over to his bag where the new vials of demon blood was hiding. The reality was setting in that it wasn't a dream but Ruby really had come and found him and brought him more of what he needed to stop Lilith before she could take Annabeth from him.

As Esme took the chocolate and a couple of other things out of her glovebox, setting them on the seat beside her, her thoughts went back to Duke’s reply of getting food. A new smile came to her lips but faded slightly as the rest came to mind. As much as she wanted to sit here and wait for Bobby, she was in the same mindset as Duke. They couldn’t just sit there like ducks, waiting for another attack by idiotic demons who wanted to kidnap her. That was one of the last things she wanted to happen to her. She was neither in the mood nor shape to hold off another attack and didn’t want to put any more stress on Duke. The poor guy had been through enough that night. After Duke agreed to help her get her bags in his truck, a warm smile made it to her lips that was taken over by a laugh as she looked over her shoulder. “If you had it your way, that’s all I’d be wearing.” she said playfully. She then placed the items from her glovebox into a royal purple zippered pouch with a running white wolf on it.

Esme sat up in the seat and tucked the pouch into the inside pocket of her jacket. As she sat in the seat, she watched Duke through the mirrors of her car. It surprised her, that despite everything that went on that night, Duke was still in rather good spirits. Then again, it did take a lot to bring his spirits down, which a lot had happened and yet here he was still smiling brightly. After he had put her bags in the truck bed and jogged back, she stepped out of her car, a smile resting on her lips. “That sounds like a great idea.” she said looking up at him with a laugh. “Let’s just hope this place makes it right, unlike the last one I had.” She shivered at the thought of the last burrito she had, that was a terribly rough night. Shaking the thought from her mind, she shut the car door, then walked to her trunk, pulled out a small bag then shut the trunk. Walking back over to him, she took his hand and interlocked her fingers with his. Giving his hand a squeeze, she led the way over to his truck.
___________________________________________________

Esme slept peacefully through the night, which was a rare thing. Not one nightmare plagued her dreams during the night or even early that morning. Her dreams were about the good times she had with the boys and then turned into ones only with her and Duke. Though most of them involved instances where they weren’t hunters, but people living an ordinary life. One of those dreams was of them going on that trip they had planned all those years ago but as normal people. What a beautiful dream it was too, but that’s just what it was, a dream. She was so committed to this life that she couldn’t see herself living a normal life, especially now with demons trying to kidnap her every chance they got. Even if she tried to be normal, she knew at some point there would be some black-eyed asshole laying in wait around a corner. If she didn’t have these abilities, maybe, just maybe it could be possible. What was it about her abilities that made her so desirable to demons? How the hell did she even get them? She didn’t mind the empathy too much, but being psychic was rough.

After Duke got out of bed, Esme began to slowly wake up from the empty feeling the bed had. As she lay there, her thoughts were far from him getting dressed to leave, she thought he had gone to the bathroom and would be back. When he didn’t return in the time she thought he should have, her eyes fluttered open just in time to catch Duke closing the door behind him, fully dressed and with his backpack. A frown appeared on her face as she jumped up out of bed and quickly got herself dressed so she could catch him. Running to the door and grabbing a key off the dresser, Esme stuffed the key into the back pocket of her jeans and somewhat tamed her hair with her fingers then opened the door, seeing Duke about to get into his truck. Taking a deep breath and slowly letting out, she did her best to relax to hide how she was feeling. “Taking one from my book, huh Cowboy?” she said calmly. She shifted her weight between her feet before leaning back on the closed door of the room and sighing quietly to herself as she looked at him.

“I guess this is karma coming back to bite me in the ass.” she said, mostly to herself. Her gaze dropped to the pavement, now knowing how Duke and Dean must have felt with the way she left all those years ago. This was definitely karma coming back to bite her, she knew for a fact it was. “I know you told me you never intended to stay very long.” she said, lifting her gaze to the tailgate of his truck. “I never intended to stay long either. I had planned to see if the rumor was true about Dean coming back from Hell and then leaving, but things happened and I ended up staying. I did try to leave though, and against my better judgment, I ended up staying because he practically begged me to. And to be brutally honest with you, I still feel like leaving.” she admitted. Esme sighed heavily as she ran her hand through her hair, bringing it all to rest on one shoulder. She didn’t know what made her tell him all that, but she was glad she did. She knew she didn’t have to tell him, but she felt like he should know.

She really did feel like leaving still but was struggling to make herself do it. Part of it was because Dean wanted her to stay, the other was because she was afraid of being ambushed by demons and being locked away and tortured again if she was on her own. Which was something she never planned to admit to anyone. That fear lingered in the back of her mind constantly. No matter how much she tried to shove it down and forget, it was always there.

“I also still stand by what I said. I wouldn’t stop you when you were ready.” she added after a short pause. Esme fell silent as she searched her mind for her next words. Before she could find them, Sarah came and sat next to her and rested her head against Esme. Esme brushed the back of her fingers against Sarah’s shoulder and continued speaking. “I just don’t know what has made you want to leave so suddenly…… Is it because of my powers or Sarah?…… You don’t want to get caught up in what tends to follow the Winchester name or are you afraid of getting hurt again?” She sighed, lifting her gaze higher, so she was now looking at his chest. “If your answer is yes to some or all of those questions…… I can’t say I blame you for wanting to leave so suddenly. I would too if I were in your boots.” She fell silent and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket and waited for some kind of response, either it be him answering her or getting in his truck and leaving in silence. She hoped that he would talk to her.

Cason chewed at his lip as he stared at the ceiling, basically waiting for Natalia to wake up. He didn’t know what was going to come from all of this, and honestly, he didn’t know what he had originally expected from that first kiss. All he knew, was that Natalia needed someone. She was broken, and he had seen the darkness that broke her. He had held her in his arms while she broke apart in front of him. In a small way, he felt obligated to take care of her.

Then there was the fact that he felt drawn to her personality. It was an emotion he didn’t recognize, as a demon. He had cared for Anna, but it was more of an…obligation to keep her safe. With Nat, he couldn’t place any of the emotions. He didn’t even know who to ask about them. He was just…drawn to her. He felt as if he would gladly die for her.

As the thoughts flooded his mind, Nat stirred against his chest, and he brought his hand up from the mattress to stroke her hair with a small smile, “Good morning. Where else was I going to go? I mean…you gave me plenty of reasons to stay, last night.”

He chuckled and tilted her head up to cover her lips in a gentle kiss, inhaling deeply as he took in the comfort of her still being in his arms. After a moment, he broke the kiss and smirked, “How did you sleep?”



Dean sighed, as Mika teased him. He was so high strung that he hadn’t even thought of how she might have slept, or if she slept. He shook his head, and sat up, roughly scratching the back of his head. But before he could apologize for ignoring her ‘good morning’ time, her words washed over him and he furrowed his brow, turning to look at her face a bit closer. He tried his hardest to read her expression, to see if he would be overreacting to worry about Nat in the moment. Her lazy shrug told him that the answer was ‘yes’, but he was worried nonetheless.

“I didn’t even think to check last night.” He grumbled, wiping a hand down his face in annoyance. Nat being up so late was odd for her, unless she was drinking, in which case, she usually wasn’t alone. After their fight, it didn’t surprise him that she would have trouble sleeping. The problem, in his mind?

She was with him.

“I feel like you should probably go. If I go over there, and he’s there…I don’t know if I can control myself. But if you go, at least there’s a buffer, you know? I promise to keep my cool and I promise that I won’t kill him, if he’s there.” He finally stated, giving his most convincing smile. He knew it wouldn’t convince Mika anymore than he could convince himself if he looked in the mirror. If Cason was with Nat, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t fly off the handle and kill him.



Anna barely felt Sam move, as he woke up. She was sleeping so hard that she didn’t even dream. The exhaustion from the day before had broken her. However, as the atmosphere of morning overtook the room, she began to stir and tightened her grip around Sam’s waist with a soft groan of annoyance, “It’s morning…”

She had no idea what had happened after she fell asleep the night before, but she could feel the tension in Sam’s muscles. She could feel the way that his breathing seemed a bit deeper, and more stressed and moreover, she could hear his pulse. Something had him rattled, and it may have been the entire situation that they found themselves in, or he may have been having anxiety from having to go off and find her.

But it felt like something bigger. She lifted her hand and placed it against his jaw, pulling his face to where she could see his eyes head on, “What has you thinking so heavily? Did you sleep?”



Duke stopped, just as he lowered his backpack into the bed of the truck. He felt the cold rush of a chill run down his spine as Esme’s voice broke the ambient noise of traffic and morning silence. He tilted his head downward, tapping his fingers on the side of the truck bed for a moment as he thought of what he could possibly say to her, after promising to stay. He wasn’t one to break a promise. But before he could say anything she continued, essentially speaking the words that were flooding through his brain. He had never intended to stay.

He closed his eyes, taking in her words, and opened his mouth to try and explain himself, but what could he say? He was leaving because he felt useless in this whole thing? He was leaving because being close to demons on a personal level was just a bit much for him? He was leaving because he felt he could be more use, just working for Bobby and doing his thing?

Or he was leaving because falling in love with his best friend’s ex girlfriend just seemed like a not so subtle stab in the back, considering he had thought about making his move while they were still together? Yeah. That was part of it.

“I don’t know how to explain any of it.” He almost whispered in between Esme’s questioning. He stepped back from the truck and crossed his arms over his chest, keeping his distance. He stared at the ground in front of him, shielding his eyes behind his cowboy hat as she began asking the real questions. He gritted his teeth and shook his head.

“This whole thing, what you have here, it used to me my life. I used to matter to Dean and you and all of this. And then we all split up and things got bad and I’ve been better on my own for a while now. Things are simple. They are quiet. I don’t have to wonder where I stand with people and to the people I help, I matter.” He explained calmly, although his voice rose just a bit in frustration. “I don’t want to take all that safety away from you. And I don’t want to intrude on what he has, either. None of them want me here…”

He kicked the pebbles in front of his boots in frustration and shook his head once again, lifting his chin to look at her, “I don’t even know where I’m goin’. I have no idea where I’m goin’…”

NATALIA

Feeling Cason stroking her hair as she stirred awake and realised he didn't leave her in the he night made her feel yet again safe. She just wished that her brothers and the others could understand what she felt around him. She couldn't help but chuckle lightly when he hinted at their night time activities the night before. Her chuckle got cut off when he lightly kissed her lips once more, reaffirming that none of what happened last night was a dream. It was reality, he brought her back to her usual self, her true self that wasn't plagued with PTSD and broken in so many ways and places inside.

"I guess I did" she smiled once their lips parted. "But I'm glad you stayed. I know how easy it is to sneak out at night and you can sneak out easier than any of us mortals" she chuckled very lightly. A slight improvement on her 'no demon talk' stance the night before. "But to answer your other question, I think I slept alright. I had one nightmare but it wasn't as bad as it normally was" she told him honestly, seeing Jo reason to lie to him.

She knew she had to get up and freshen up but she was comfortable laying beside him, she found comfort in being this close to him, just as he found comfort having her in his grip. If she had her own way, she'd gladly have stayed where she was all day long but she knew they had to move on from this location eventually and deal with the bigger looming doom that was etching ever closer to them all. Which also made her realise she had to stop being so angry at Dean and actually make amends if he could just do the same thing.

Sighing, she snapped out of her thoughts and slowly sat up a bit. "Guess I should go freshen up. The parents could pop across any time this morning and I'd rather not give them more reasons to moan at me" she smirked. It was times like this she missed Sam greatly, as he was always the barrier between herself and Dean. Sam never made her feel like she was fighting a parent, unlike Dean, but she also knew that's just how Dean was. He was used to practically raising Sam when John wasn't around for them as kids, so it wasn't entirely a surprise that's how he thought he should protect her, but she wasn't Sam.

Reluctantly she scooted across the bed and out of Cason's arms, dragging a sheet with her to wrap around herself. "Think last night is catching up to me... I ache all over thanks to you" she told him as she forced herself to stand up off the bed and not crawl back to him. "If 'mom' or 'dad' come knocking, be nice whilst I'm in the shower, please?" She requested of him. With that, she walked uncomfortably to the bathroom, opening the door and stepping inside as she closed the door behind her.

Thoughts of the evening before locking herself inside came flashing into her mind, but she forced those thoughts out of her head. "no, I'm not thinking about that today. I'm gonna remain positive" she thought to herself, as she dropped the sheet, turned the shower on and stepped inside.

MIKA

It wasn't the least bit of surprising that Dean was yet again worrying about Natalia. Mika knew he wouldn't stop worrying about her, even if she got out of the life and lived a cosy stepford life, he'd still worry. It's just who Dean was and one of the many reasons she loved him so dearly. She let him study her face to get some kind of answers he was obviously trying to find, something she was used to and never once judged him for.

"Don't be mad at yourself for not thinking about checking. I barely would have noticed last night, but I just caught the sight out the corner of my eye." She tried reassuring him as she saw the usual frustrated hand down the face movement of his. She too was concerned that Nat was with Cason and she was incredibly concerned about the possibility of him using her when she was at her weakest point but if the fights and arguments had showed her anything, it was that they had to ride it all out and nothing they said would pull their girl away from him.

She gave a nod in understanding why Dean wanted her to go check on Natalia and not himself. The smile he was giving her wasn't convincing her in the slightest, she knew as well as he did that he'd go after Cason at the smallest reason to. But she knew as well as he did, that if they wanted Natalia to stay with the group and not go her own way, he had to try his hardest not to harm Cason and start another argument. "I'll get up, freshen up and head over." She told him, pecking his lips and stroking his cheek. "It'll be okay" she said once more, trying to convince herself as well as him.

Pulling herself off the bed, she went into the bathroom, had a quick shower and walked back out, towel wrapped her body as she walked to the bed to dry off and get dressed. Pulling out some clean clothes, she got dressed and stood up after pulling on her boots. "I'll be right back" she told him, even though she had a feeling he wouldn't be able to help himself and would follow suit at some point.

Opening the room door, she walked across the parking lot that was between all their rooms and stepped up onto the sidewalk to Natalia's room. Taking a deep breath and exhaling to calm herself mentally, she knocked on the door. "Nat? You awake sweetheart?" She called through the door, barely noticing that Esme and Duke were having some kind of conversation by his truck.

"Nat Dean isn't here, it's just me. I just wanna check in on you that's all" she called through once more, unsure if Nat was awake and ignoring her or if she was actually asleep. Little did she know, Nat was in the bathroom and Cason was still around in the main room.

SAM

As Annabeth woke up and complained about it being morning, Sam couldn't stop the light amused smirk creep into his face briefly. Feeling her grip onto him tighter in protest was something he knew he'd never tire of experiencing and would have missed greatly if she continued to run away from him. The thought of another man experiencing that was something he didn't want to imagine as it was just too emotionally painful to think about. Anna to him, was what Mika was to Dean and he never wanted to let her go.

His amusement left his lips just as quickly as it appeared when she felt something was off about him. The fact she could even tell by his heartbeat told him he couldn't keep much from her and whatever he next said to her had to be partially the truth to make it remotely believable. "Just my mind not letting me forget about Lilith and everything we still have to do to stop her and the apocalypse. Then on top of that I can't help but wonder how Dean is doing with Natalia. Guess my brain just can't shut off, but I did sleep, on and off" he explained to her.

It wasn't entirely a lie after all, he WAS concerned about all those points he mentioned, he just so happened to leave out the whole 'a demon named Ruby visited me last night and gave me more vials of her blood to drink to send other demons to Hell to get stronger to kill Lilith'. He knew he had to tell Anna sometime, but right now wasn't the time. He was terrified that if he told her now she wouldn't want to continue going back with him and he couldn't take her leaving him again.

"But I'll be alright, I promise. Especially when we get back to the others" he added, giving her a small but genuine smile, placing his hand on top of hers on his jawline and kissing her forehead. "I love you" he felt the need to tell her. "So...you ready to head back to the chaos that is this crazy family?" He asked her.

As Esme watched Duke’s actions, she continued to lean against the door with the back of her hand resting against Sarah to keep her emotions under control. Her other hand, she brought behind her, and tucked her thumb into the back pocket of her jeans. It was a challenge keeping her face neutral and not letting it show how she was feeling, but she had a feeling she was failing miserably. She was only feeling a fraction of what Duke's emotions really were, thanks to the contact with Sarah. When he spoke, she swallowed a bit hard, just realizing how much he had been struggling with things. She mentally kicked herself for not seeing it sooner, and for letting herself get caught up in the moment with him and making it even harder for him. It was never her intention to get caught up in what she used to have, because she wasn’t sure it would have been at all possible at the time.

When he continued, she looked up from his chest and to his face, which was covered by his cowboy hat. His words hit her much harder than she thought they would, especially the part about how he used to matter to Dean and herself, and it caused her body to tense up. For a moment, the thought of him thinking he didn’t matter to her came to her mind. He still mattered to her, he always had even with them being a part. It also hurt knowing he felt better on his own but she could understand how it would. It even bothered her hearing him say that none of the others wanted him there and he thought she felt safe with all of them. Her gaze dropped to the concrete under her boots, sighing as she closed her eyes. When he finished speaking, she couldn’t bring herself to lift her gaze to meet his. She was struggling to find the right words to respond with.

She also was fighting the urge to reach out to him, only because she was afraid he’d pull away from her more. During this, Sarah had moved closer to Esme and was now leaning against her, pushing her into the door behind her. Taking a breath, Esme slowly let it out and lifted gaze just enough to see Duke’s boots. “Safety?” she said softly, trying to keep her tone even. She shook her head, fighting the tears that threatened to show themselves, then finally lifted her gaze to meet his. “You really think I feel safe with all of them? I haven’t felt safe in years.” Her voice rose a bit as she looked at him, and fought against her tears. She wasn’t about to start crying, she refused to cry at this moment. “I understand you not wanting to intrude on what he has, but I don’t understand what makes you think you're unwanted. I haven’t picked up on anything that should make you think that way.”

Esme sighed heavily as she pulled her hand from her back pocket and ran it through her hair in her own frustration. Even though she was still trying to hide just how she felt, it showed in her eyes just how hard his words hit her. She then tried to pull herself away from the door but Sarah leaned into her even more, pinning her even more to the door of the room, which creaked a bit. She tired again, and Sarah pushed more, causing the door to creak more. Esme put all her weight into Sarah and shoved her enough to free herself and walked away from the door but not towards Duke. “You matter to a hell of a lot more than just the people you help, you always have.” she said, turning to face him again. She momentarily fell silent as she looked over at him, obviously thinking about her next words. She then sighed heavily once again, running both of her hands through her long hair.

“If you don’t know where you’re going, that should be a sign.” she told him, her voice cracking slightly. She did see it as a sign, a sign that was telling him he was doing the wrong thing, being too quick to act on how he felt. Turning slightly, she looked over at a park nearby, watching the dogs running around and playing. “I know you don’t want to hear this but you should sit down and really think about what you want to do. Make sure you’re certain you want to leave now…… And if you still want to leave, I won’t stop you.” she told him. She didn’t want to be upset or angry with what he chose. That’s why she worded it the way she did. Walking back to the room door, she pulled out her key and unlocked the door, walked in, and moments later she walked back out with her hair brushed and with a small dark purple bag.

After closing the door, she started to walk away but stopped and looked at him, clutching the bag to her chest. “I’ll support whatever you decide to do.” But I hope you stick around. she finished the sentence to herself. Even though she wanted to, she could say it out loud. She didn’t want to influence his decision and make him feel obligated to stay. He was a grown man capable of making his own decisions. He didn’t need her saying things to make it even harder than it already appeared to be. “I’ll give you some space to think.” she told him softly. She then walked away, heading in the direction of the park with Sarah in tow at her side. If he decided to leave, she didn’t want to see him getting into his truck and driving off. It would just make her feel even worse than she already did. It didn’t help matters that he was breaking the promise he made to her last night, especially when he wasn’t one to break promises.

Cason’s shoulders relaxed a bit when Nat admitted that she slept okay. He hadn’t noticed as much thrashing and screaming as he had expected. So, he had to believe her. For the most part, she had slept like the dead, from the outside. He couldn’t help but notice that she was disassociated and fell into her thoughts for a moment. Watching her eyes, his brow furrowed but then she pulled back and sat up. He followed her, sitting up against the headboard of the bed.

“Ah. Yes! The parents…”, Cason groaned, his annoyance clear in his voice. But she was right. Dean would likely come barreling through the door, as if he was a child with no knowledge of privacy, any second now. “Although, you could just stay in bed and let them find out the hard way that um…I’m not going anywhere.”

He laughed softly, thankful that he had at least partially redressed during his boredom, while Nat was sleeping. He didn’t feel cold the way humans did, but he felt oddly vulnerable, lying on the bed in his boxers after she stole the sheet. At her words, however, his eyebrows shot up and he laughed with his whole chest shaking his head, “Unfortunate consequence of…demons, I guess. Must have been a bit…excited.”

He laughed again and waved off her concern about him being nice to Mika and Dean. He didn’t intend to start a fight today, but, Dean was Dean.

Just a few moments later, the dreaded knock came and Cason rolled his eyes but stopped his movements when he heard Mika’s voice. Dean had sent Mika? That didn’t seem right. Dean was the nosiest person on the planet and the one person in this group who wanted Cason dead the most. He stayed still for a moment, hoping Mika would take the hint that maybe Nat was asleep. But instead, she knocked again, confirming that Dean was not with her. Cason stood from the bed, swiping his jeans from the floor and slipping them on over his legs. He didn’t bother to button or zip them before opening the door and leaning against the frame with his arm above Mika’s head.

“Well, hello there. I didn’t expect you to show up this morning. Where’s the puppy?” He teased her, giving his most dazzling smile as he scanned over her head to look for Dean. Little did he know, Dean was against the wall to the side of Mika, and as he spoke up, Cason literally flinched.

“He’s right here. Where’s my sister?” Dean asked him, more of an order to answer than a question. Cason turned his eyes back down to Mika’s face, biting his lip.

“She’s in the shower. She knew you were coming. So, if you wanna come in, come in. If not, we’ll be over in a few minutes.” Cason shrugged and dropped his arm from the doorframe. Dean let a low growl leave his chest as he glared at him, and then he looked at Mika.

“Why we ? Why can’t you just go do something, away from her? It’s not like we’re going to hurt her.” Dean snapped and Cason sighed, rolling his eyes.

“Hurt her? No. Lose her or casually forget she’s there so that she gets hurt? It’s the Winchester way.”

“You’re treading on some thin ice.” Dean snarled, clenching his fists to which Cason shrugged his shoulders.

“Then kill me. See how that goes over with your sister.”



Anna believed Sam, but only to a degree. She knew that with everything going on, and with what Lilith had said to her, his brain had to be moving a million miles per hour. Then there was the looming question that she wanted to ask him about demon blood, and if she could be of use if she could just get ahold of some…without going off the rails and turning into a raging psychopath. With Cason around, it might not be the best of ideas, but it was something she wanted to ask about…at another time.

But Sam saying he was alright was enough for her, at that moment. She didn’t want to press him super hard when she had scared him to the point of following her to California. She couldn’t even bother to think about what the group must be thinking of her, abandoning them and taking Sam away, all in one swoop.

She simply nodded, her eyes fluttering closed as his lips pressed to her forehead. The gesture, along with a simple ‘I love you’ sent her heart off in a race, like the first time they had touched hands. She sighed and for a moment, she felt safe. He was safe. She was safe. They were together and no one could rip that from them.

“I love you.” She murmured, and then sighed at his next question, shrugging her shoulders gently. “We don’t have much of a choice, do we? I’m sure they’re headed somewhere. Maybe we could meet them there.”

Deciding to be the one to move first, she carefully removed her hand from his face, and rolled off the bed, onto her feet. She flattened Sam’s flannel against her chest and slipped her feet into her boots, before stepping away from the bed to at least try and do something with her thick and messy hair. She settled on pulling the hairtie from around her wrist, throwing her hair up in a loose bun on the top of her head.

“I mean, I look like a hobo, but I think I have the right. I ran away. They’ll probably be surprised I’m so clean…” She teased, turning to Sam and holding her arms out to her sides. She then crossed her arms over her chest and chewed at her lip, “What are we going to tell them?”



Duke grimaced at Esme’s words. She was right. If he didn’t have a clue where he was headed, maybe he was just…running. He was good at that. He stayed completely still, just staring at her as she explained his thoughts back to him, almost word for word. He needed to figure out if he had a role to play, here. If he wasn’t needed, or if he could do better somewhere else, he could leave then. But the tendency to run was still nagging at the back of his mind, like some sort of addiction.

However, when she stepped away, his heart sank. Instantly, that familiar feeling of mourning crept back up in his throat, like the day that they all split up. He had mourned them as if they were dead and he had missed them both, every day. He would never tell Dean any of this, however. But if this feeling was any indicator, he didn’t like it. He felt like he should run after her, grab her, kiss her, and tell her he would stay forever. But he couldn’t move from his spot.

In frustration, he balled up his fist and banged it against the side of the truck, opening the door. He just stood there. He could get in this truck and just drive away. Cut clean and run. But he stood there, holding the cool metal in his hand. But then Esme came back.

“I don’t want support…” Duke whispered, as Esme stepped away for a second time and he was left standing there, holding the decision against his chest, like an anvil. After a moment, he gritted his teeth, and stepped up into the truck, slamming the door behind him. He needed to drive and think. Even if that’s all he did, it’s what he needed.

—-



Pulling back into the parking lot, Duke parked close to the Impala and shut off the engine. He reached over in the passenger seat and grabbed the bag of food and the crumpled-up note where he had information from Bobby for the Winchesters. Obviously, he would have to wait until Sam got back, but at least it gave him time to either convince Esme to leave with him or convince himself to stay…and help.

He walked up to the door of her motel room, took a deep breath, and shuffled his boots against the concrete before bringing his hand up to gently knock.