[h3] Anna [/h3] Anna shook her head, holding her hands out toward Sam as he bent and picked her up. Over his shoulder, she reached for Cason, trying in every way she could to twist her body out of Sam’s grip as she screamed out to Cason, “Cason, NO! No. Sam we have to go back. We have to go back! You can’t just leave him! He’s the only reason I’m alive. Sam please!” She continued to scream, until they were almost halfway up the hill and the shock set in that Cason was definitely dead. There was no way he could fight back against the demons that were coming, especially Alastair. And with her gone? They were going to take losing her out on him, 100%. She was silent, sniffling as her head buzzed with demon blood, and her skin seemed to crawl, as if she was covered in bugs. And for the first time, her faith in Sam was shaken. For the first time, her trust in the entire group was broken…especially the goodness she tried to see in Dean. [h3] Dean and Duke [/h3] Dean hustled up the hill, as best he could with the majority of Duke’s weight against his body. He was trying to hold him as close as he could, both to make sure he stayed alive, and so Esme could keep his wound covered, and hopefully slow some of the bleeding. As they approached the vehicles, Dean scanned between them, trying to decide which car would be best to transport Duke in. He finally decided on the Impala, right as Mika dipped and picked something up off the ground. He signalled for Esme to walk with him around to the drivers side of the backseat, using his free hand to open the door, and then carefully lowered Duke’s head, turning and laying him down gently on the seat. “You hang on, you hear me?” “I waited this long…just watch…” Duke choked out, giving his best attempt at a smirk as he struggled to open his eyes. “Watch the bumps. I know. Rest, man…” Dean stopped him, not closing the door as he jogged around to Mika. He didn’t even look up, not willing to meet Anna’s eyes as she fell into silence, numb. But that’s when Mika’s words sank in. “What did you say?” “She said they took Nat. So…this isn’t over. We’re not out.” Anna murmured, staring off into space. Dean closed his eyes, his nose snarled, and for a moment, he was tempted to make the trek back down the hill to get Cason. He growled, grappling with the idea before turning his back from Mika with a loud and frustrated scream. “What the hell is going on?!” He screamed, echoing through the empty farm. He glanced up at the sky, his face anguished as he was tempted to pray. He couldn’t take this anymore. He couldn’t take the losses. It was getting heavy. It was getting too heavy. He placed his hands on his hips and turned to Mika again. “What is that? Where did they take her?” [h3] Cason [/h3] Cason didn’t fight any of them. He simply resolved himself to dying, until Sarah walked over to him. Such a good girl. The Hellhounds were always the bright light for him, ever since he was tasked with taking care of some of them in Hell. He smirked at her, shaking his head as Sarah leaned her head against him, a silent goodbye. He knew that she would always choose Esme…because he had asked her to. “I love you too. Go on.” He whispered to her, lifting his hand to scratch behind one of her ears until she reluctantly turned and went after Esme. And then the barn fell into silence, with only Anna’s screams being heard outside. On cue, the door opened again, after the group was up the hill. Three demons rolled in, their Hellhounds snarling as they padded along beside them. Cason smirked, seeing how large the hellhounds were, and how pissed they seemed. Before either of the demons could approach him, Cason began to laugh. “What’s so funny? You’re going to die…and you’re laughing?” One of the demons asked with his eyes narrowed. “A little something I learned from a frenemy of mine, I guess.” Cason groaned, suddenly realizing his legs were working again. He pulled one of them up, causing the smaller of the three demons to flinch, his fists clenching. “And what’s so funny? You brought me dogs.” “Yeah. Alastair said to make it fun for you.” The demon attempted to tease Cason, but he just laughed louder. “Make sure you didn’t poof your way out of here.” “Is that so? He knows me…but he doesn’t [i]know[/i] me, I guess. See, Lilith trusted me with a lot…including her babies.” Cason explained, glancing down at the Hellhound to the right of the demon who seemed to be in control. “And by babies, I don’t mean her food.” “Get the dogs out. Right now!” “Attendite! Discedite nunc, pueri!” Cason suddenly began screaming at the dogs, causing them to growl, their attention focused on him, and then turning in fierce obedience toward the other demons. “Nunc!” And suddenly the Hellhounds jumped on their handlers, ripping them limb for limb in front of Cason, as he smiled, choking out a laugh. He glanced down, as the screaming continued, and touched the bloody wound to his stomach, pulling both his legs up in front of him. The wound was nearly healed, which meant that if he hurried, he could get up the hill to the Winchesters, and beat the life…out of Dean Winchester. But as he tried to teleport, he couldn’t and he realized very quickly his legs weren’t healed enough to stand. With a sigh, he leaned back and smiled at the dogs. “Bonum est. Nunc ite. Find Natalia.” Cason ordered them, and the Hellhounds turned and ran out of the barn. [h3] At the hospital [/h3] [h3] Dean and Anna [/h3] The ER nurses rushed out to the Impala, pushing everyone aside to help Duke after Dean called ahead. They needed him in a bed, getting fixed up as soon as possible, or there was no hope of him surviving, if there ever was. As Dean followed the nurses to the doors, one woman held a hand out, placing it on his chest. Dean looked past them to Esme, whom they let go in with Duke. Sure, Esme could handle it but he wanted to be there if she got the bad news he was dreading. He looked down at the nurse, opening his mouth to speak but she cut him off. “He requested his girlfriend. But you? We have questions. Don’t leave, sir.” The nurse snapped at him, and Dean furrowed his brow, watching them wheel Duke inside, out of his reach and eventually out of his eye sight. He turned and walked back with frustration to the Impala, wiping both frustrated hands down his face. “So what the hell are we doing now?” “Miss, are you okay?” A random nurse leaned in and asked Anna, who was sitting in the passenger seat of Duke’s truck, leaning against the open window. Anna didn’t answer him at first and he tried again. “No.” “Do you need help? If you don’t feel safe, I can call ahead for…” The man continued, insinuating that Sam may have hurt her. Anna winced at the accusation, but shook her head. “No.” “I have to insist that you get checked out. If you’re afraid, I can escort you.” “I don’t need help. I’m fine.” Anna grumbled, rolling her eyes. The nurse could see that she was covered in sweat and her shoulder was bleeding badly enough that it was still weeping down her arm, splattering onto the leather seat below her. “Well, that shoulder needs attention. If you won’t come with me, I’ll have to call ahead.” “Fine. Stitches, a bottle of water and I’m out. I just want to go home.” Anna snapped finally, opening the truck door without so much as a look to Sam. She climbed out of the truck and followed the nurse. The nurse didn’t even give Sam the option to follow them, turning to him. “You stay here. There will be questions.” Inside, the nurse that had held Dean back pumped the manual respirator they had already set up for Duke, her expression concerned and stern. She looked up at Esme as they walked along and frowned. “Hes going to need blood, right away. You wouldn’t happen to be O-negative would you?” She asked her, still suspicious of the woman in front of her. Sure it was this man’s significant other, but she had arrived with a man that seemed awfully emotionally invested. They burst through a set of doors and another nurse came to take over the bag, as the female nurse touched Esmes arm gently, stopping her. “Let’s um…let’s get that sleeve rolled up so we can help your boyfriend.” She explained, as Duke was rolled back to surgery with urgency. “We can pray for a miracle together, alright? He’s in good hands.”