[h2]Esme[/h2]
As soon as the words about Duke left her mouth, she felt how hard they hit Dean. She wanted to be the one to tell him first, but not like this. Not in this state. Not when she was about to blow and take out the whole place with her. She clutched her head more, watching Dean and Cason trying to get each other out, with Dean refusing to go. “Get out of here!” she yelled at them, not even sure they were listening. Suddenly, Cason disappeared, and Dean ran up to her, causing her to step back. She didn’t want to hurt him more than she already had with her words. She also didn't want him to get caught up in the rubble after she went nuclear. But Dean quickly closed the gap and placed his shaky hands on her cheeks as he begged. As he spoke, she took in his words. They stirred up the memory of the first time he told her he would also jump if she jumped. More tears streamed down her cheeks, and a glow started to take over her body. It also tore her up seeing him begging her to go with him. 

When Dean closed his eyes and looked down, Esme pulled her face from his hands, walked past him, and stood in the center of the room, clutching her head with both hands with a whimper. “I remember,” she replied with a tear-filled voice. She then turned around to face him once more. “I remember the first time you told me that, and every other time we said it to each other... when we were in desperate situations.” She fell silent except for the whimper that escaped her from the pain engulfing her, and the glow of her body grew steadily brighter. She heard his whimper and saw the tear trailing down his cheek. She didn’t want to take him with her. She didn’t want to take him away from the others. They needed him. Esme doubled over with a cry, closing her eyes tight and holding herself as the next wave of intense pain, just as Dean spoke again. She looked over at Dean, her eyes returning to normal. “I know he wouldn’t.” she cried. She then collapsed to her knees, muffling a scream. “That’s why you have to leave now…… You have Mika….. Natalia and Sam…. They need you.” 

She breathed heavily as she looked over at him through blurring vision. “I’m not jumping because I want to…… I can’t stop it….. I’m not strong enough.” she cried to him. The glow around her got brighter, almost blinding. “You still have time to get out….. If you go now.” Esme leaned forward with a cry, trying to hold it back longer to give him a chance to run for it, but something told her he wouldn’t. “I love you….. Dean….. Please…. Don’t jump with me.” She knew she couldn’t hold it back much longer and was terrified of the blast's strength. She was afraid of dying alone but didn’t want Dean to die with her. She hated the thought of him dying because of something she did. Her soul would never find peace after that. Esme reached the point where she couldn’t hold it back any longer. She took a deep breath as her body reacted on its own. Her glow intensified, filling the room. Her torso lifted and arched back, her face lifted to the ceiling, and then a gut-wrenching scream erupted from her throat, followed by a strong blast of energy that shot out in all directions. 

The walls of the asylum shook and cracked from the force of the blast, then started to crumble slowly. When everything passed through her, Esme took a shaky breath as her body rocked forward on its own accord, she couldn’t hear anything but ringing in her ears, she couldn’t see, and she was numb all over, but she knew the building was going to come down around her and on her. She didn’t know if Dean got out or not, but she prayed he did. Esme sat on her knees shaking and breathing heavily. She couldn’t move, and her body felt made of lead. Esme closed her eyes and waited for everything to end for her. Unbeknownst to Esme, Sarah and Violet stayed behind after Cason left, watching over Esme. They had braced themselves during the blast. At the first signs of the place coming down, they ran over to her and tried to get her to move. When she didn’t respond, they stepped closer and used their bodies as shields from the crumbling walls and ceiling. Not long after that, the whole building crumbled into a heap of rubble around them, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. 

A little later, Esme opened her eyes and saw nothing but darkness, but she could smell the dust in the air from the building collapsing. She coughed and winced at the pain she felt. She wondered if she was dead, but that was soon answered when she saw Sarah’s eyes shining in the darkness. “How am I still alive?” she whispered from the lack of a voice. She still couldn’t move, her body was still numb, and there was still a ringing in her ears. She was trapped under the rubble. There was no reason she should be alive except for Sarah shielding her, but she knew there was no way she was getting out from under it.