Anna
Anna wanted to turn around and tell Mika that she wasn’t necessarily upset with her. But truth was, Anna didn’t even want to look any of them in the eyes. She didn’t feel like a part of the group before, and now? Even less so.
She made it back to Duke’s truck, quietly opening the door. She tossed her jacket on the seat between her and Sam, and climbed in with absolute silence. She pulled her legs up in the seat and twisted them like a pretzel before running her hands through her thick hair with a sigh. She knew Sam was dying to talk to her and honestly? If she wasn’t so angry, she would have been happy to have that conversation with him. If anything, it would clear the air.
As if reading her mind, Sam asked her if she was okay physically, and Anna didn’t look at him but she did nod, “Yeah. Just a few stitches in my shoulder from the Hellhound bite. I’ll be fine.”
Dean’s words to her suddenly flooded her mind, as she tried to avoid having a conversation with Sam. She didn’t want to talk to him. She didn’t want to talk to any of them, or be near any of them. She wanted to just…be alone for a while. Then again, angry or not, she loved Sam and she wanted to keep him safe.
“We’re um…we’re not going after Dean and Mika. We’re supposed to wait here. I probably wasn’t supposed to say anything, but Dean asked me to stay here, with you.” Anna murmured, staring down at her hands as she picked at her nails, only then realizing that she hadn’t washed Cason’s blood from her skin and was covered in dried blood. “I guess as long as there aren’t any demons around, we should be covered, right?”
Dean
Dean climbed into the drivers seat of the Impala with an exhausted sigh, bringing the engine to life without pause as he stared blankly through the windshield. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel for a moment, and then turned so he could see out the back window to back them out of their space, just as Mika spoke up. With a sigh, he put the car in drive and peeled out of the parking lot. “She knows. Nat knows I would never stop until I found her. I just hope she’s strong enough to hold on until we get there.”
—-
During the long drive, Dean ran over many possible scenarios for how this night would go. The fight was going to be brutal either way, and the odds of them succeeding weren’t the highest. If only they had Cason there as a buffer, they could be in and out in no time, and Nat would come home with them…safe, even if Cason had to revive her himself. He shook those thoughts from his head as they pulled up to the asylum. For the most part it looked the same, to Dean, but older…forgotten. He stared at the building, looking for any sign of life before shutting the car off and taking a deep breath as Mika spoke up.
“Yeah, well…it’s not like we’ve never been here before. Same crappy gothic building, different demon era.” He quipped, stepping out of the Impala. He stepped around to the back with Mika, loading himself down with every weapon he knew could take down a demon, including Ruby’s knife, which he kept in his hand as he closed the trunk and began to walk to the doors with her. As he reached for the door, all the crickets and cicadas stopped singing, and the entire area went quiet, heightening Dean’s senses.
With a huff, he pulled the door open and ushered Mika inside, only for the door the slam behind them and within seconds they were surrounded by demons. One particularly snarky demon showed up and called them out on their codependency, which caused Dean to snarl, glaring at the demon. But they were surrounded, and Dean flinched, turning around in a full circle before the fight began.
“Son of a bitch…” He growled, stabbing the first demon and shoving it against the wall, before turning to another who landed a heavy blow to Dean’s jaw.
Cason
Cason frowned as Esme accused him of being happy that Duke was dead. He wasn’t happy that any of their cursed little gaggle died. It didn’t make anyone stronger…except Dean Winchester’s anger. He flinched even more at the look that Esme gave him as soon as he brought up a demon deal. It was the Winchester way. He had just assumed that she wasn’t so different from the two stooges he was unfortunately tied to.
He followed Esme’s eyes down to his hand and then glanced back up at her face as she mulled over her options. He didn’t feel the need to explain anything to her. He didn’t need for her to know how much he helped her, or that his attachment to her started while he was working at the asylum. In this moment, she probably would have taken it as a sign that he had helped with all that happened, not helped her escape.
His eyes then fell on Sarah, who he was tempted to call back, and have stay behind. He was a little bit attached to the pup. But he also knew that she would be a fierce protector of Esme, something he was going to need if he was going to save Nat.
“I sent dogs after Nat. That’s how I found out where she is. They’re not mine, but they’ll do. You keep Sarah close. You’re gonna need her.” Cason explained simply, as Esme finally made the decision to come with him. “Sarah, you know where to go? Good girl. We’ll see you there.”
Without giving Esme much of a choice, he pulled his jacket sleeve down over his hand and wrapped an arm around her and disappeared as Sarah took off toward the door of the hospital. They landed in the broken down asylum, the glass crunching under their feet from the various broken windows and doors of the corridor they had landed in. Cason released Esme’s waist and stepped away from her, quickly popping into a nearby storage room, a room that he had used often while working the halls of the institution. He returned, his covered hand now holding an iron wrench the size of a small baseball bat.
“Not that you technically need it, but the last thing you need is to pass out in the middle of this whole thing. So, use the wrench.” Cason ordered Esme, as he turned and listened closely, his fists clenching as he heard Nat screaming from far off in the building. Sarah stepped up beside him, nuzzling his knee as the other two dogs also appeared next to him. The three Hellhounds growled to each other and Cason composed himself quietly. He turned back to Esme with fear in his eyes, and stepped close to her, “I will come back for you. Sarah will stay with you, and you can use her to find the others.”
Cason stared into Esme’s eyes with a knowing look, his fear and anguish evident on his face. It was new from his normal stoic behavior he showed toward the humans he was forced to work with. Without another word, he took a deep breath and disappeared, suddenly appearing in front of Dean and Mika. Dean nearly fainted, he flinched so hard. Releasing the dead demon he was holding, just as he and Mika finished the first wave of assailants.
“What the hell?” Dean breathed, staring at Cason as if he was seeing a ghost…and wasn’t Dean Winchester. He stared at Cason’s face for a long moment, seeing the danger that stood right in front of him, but Cason’s face wasn’t exactly showing anger as much as fear and resolve. Cason stepped up to him, their noses nearly touching as the shorter man stared him in the eyes and reached down to Dean’s hand.
“I need this.” He murmured, taking Ruby’s knife from Dean with a snarl. He stepped back from Dean, and Dean still didn’t move, glancing down at the knife, now clenched in Cason’s fist. Cason looked away from Dean, up at Mika as he took a deep and even breath, “Down this hall. Take a right. She’s in the second door on the left. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Cason nodded at Mika, and then disappeared once again. When he reappeared, it was behind a demon that stood near the door, as a separate demon was in the process of slowly drowning Nat in a pool that he had seen them use…way too many times. With a snarl, Cason stood up straight, cracking his neck as his dogs took care of every demon that came between Dean, Mika and the door he didn’t bother to use. The demons’ screams curled a smirk into the corners of his mouth.
“Well there he is…” Another demon called from the dark corner of the room that Cason hadn’t bothered to check. The demons knew he was alive, well before he showed up. With an evil smirk, he turned and held the blade out in front of him, guiding every demon in the room, except the one torturing Nat, to attack him. “I’ve waited ages for this. Lilith will be so pleased.”
“She really doesn’t take breakups well, does she?” Cason teased back, turning in a circle as more demons slid into view, a clear ambush they had sat up for him. Cason tilted his head with a nervous scoff, “And it’s going to take six of you to take me down? I’m flattered.”
“We’re making sure that the job stays done. There’s no universe in which you’re walking out of here…with or without the girl.” The head of the snake sneered at him. “Palling around with the Winchesters is one thing…but falling in love with one? Wow. That human soul is just clinging on for dear life in that brain, isn’t it?”
“Could explain the temper and the drinking…and the self preservation.” Cason shrugged, scanning each of them as he made a plan to survive the scenario.
“But you’re not 100% there, are you? You’re still injured.”
“Yeah. Iron will do that to you. Maybe I’ll have to show you, while I gut your lackies.” Cason quipped, his stance getting lower every time the demons took a step toward him. And then all at once, they rushed him. Now would be a good time to have a Winchester. But alas, he was alone.
Twisting on his heel, he drove Ruby’s knife into the first demons stomach, slicing all the way across until the demon fell to the floor, burnt out. Another demon rushed him, placing his arm across Cason’s neck and driving him into the nearest wall, tilting his chin up, while grabbing his knife hand with the other hand. Cason growled, his eyes turning black as he struggled, eventually dropping the knife and catching it with his other hand. The demon bashed at his face, breaking Cason’s nose in the process.
On the third hit, Cason flipped the knife up and stabbed the demon in the chin, between his own arms. With an evil smile, Cason twisted the knife and shoved the demon’s body off himself, turning to the other four.
“C’mon! We all know how this ends. We all know who walks out of here alive. We’ve been here before.” Cason called to them, his nose bloody. The blood began to seep over his teeth, making him look even more unhinged as he stood straight, “Who’s next?”
Out of nowhere, an iron rod swept across Cason’s face, knocking him down to the ground in a daze, and he brought his empty hand to his temple, groaning. The demon with the iron then brought it down on his upper back, once, then twice, until Cason was lying face down on the floor, groaning in pain. He reached out for the knife, and the demon stepped on his hand, grinding his fingers into the floor as he gasped.
At that moment, a bark ruffled Cason’s hair, as one of the hellhounds made it into the room, standing over him with a snarl. He recognized that growl instantly. Violet had found him, after all this time. She had come back for him. She always was one of his favorite pups, and one of his most vicious.
He couldn’t see the demons behind him, but Violet stepped over him, backing the demons into a corner, before pouncing on them. Their screams caused Cason to smirk, as he struggled but eventually sat up on his knees and then pushed himself onto shaky legs to stumble across the room. The Hellhound ripped each of the demons apart, scattering limbs all over the room, and Cason did nothing to slow her down. He simply turned the knife over in his hand, as the demon over Nat continued his job, holding her harshly under water with no emotion.
With a flick of his wrist, Cason threw the knife, lodging it in between the demon’s shoulder blades. The demon stood, it’s body sparking and glowing as it slowly faded. Cason growled, his eyes jet black and his body numb with rage as he staggered forward, shoving the demon to the side and leaning over the tub.
Reaching his hand into the water, he didn’t bother to bring the table up, simply busting the straps that held Nat down, and with a sharp tug to her collar, he pulled her from the water and wrapped his arm around her back. All that rage subsided, as he looked at her face, and all of the pain she had suffered while he was stuck in that barn. Guilt was an emotion he wasn’t familiar with, but he was suspicious that it was creeping into his bones in that moment.
“Hey princess…” He smirked, reaching his other hand up to wipe some of the water away from her eyes as he held her in his arms. “I got you.”