[h3] Duke [/h3]

Duke watched Esme step forward, and check her gun, before firing a terrifyingly accurate shot into the mannequin in front of her. He raised his eyebrows, but quickly frowned at the sound of a sigh and then the pity that he would never have asked for from her, especially this early. He sighed himself, and shook his head, “I deal, you know. Wait what?”

It was then that he realized she was talking about her own situation, and his heart dropped. It was a story old as time with hunters. Either a parent, or a spouse, or a sibling…someone was killed by a monster and the hunt for revenge or answers began. A lot of them were just kids, when they were introduced to the world. It seemed he and Dean weren’t alone in that. He ducked his head, watching her line up another shot, both hitting their targets. And then she turned to him and he saw the tears in her eyes. He had never meant to make her cry. 

That was the last thing he wanted to see from her. He had made her cry. But when she furthered her own story, Duke sighed involuntarily and glanced down at his own gun, turning it over and focusing on the floral pattern on the side. It was rare that he cried, but there was a lump in his throat. He snarled his nose, and looked back up at her as she finished. The entire situation made him shake his head. Demons and Hellhounds were torturous, and ruthless. It didn’t surprise him a bit that they would come after a mother and her kid. It didn’t surprise him to finally hear about a child who was actually almost killed during what seemed like a payment for a deal, even if Esme didn’t believe it.

He watched her body language for a moment, after lifting his head, seeing how spaced out she was as she recalled everything. And then came the million dollar question. They had a lot more in common than either of them had realized, and less than a day after meeting…they had both come clean to one another about exactly how much they had in common. Duke stepped over to the fence post, and placed the safety on his gun, before approaching Esme carefully. He didn’t know if it was his place to comfort her, or if she would even accept it, but it was in his nature. “I said I deal…but I wish you didn’t have to.”

Duke stepped in front of her, and without expecting anything in return, he wrapped his arms around her, bringing his left hand up to massage the back of her head as he pulled her into his chest. He took a deep breath, echoing her own breathing as best he could to help her calm down, “And you don’t have to face all that alone…as long as I’m around, alright? I know you don’t know me, and it might be inappropriate for me to say, but I got you…”