[h3] Duke [/h3] 

Duke simply stood there, being whatever emotional support that Esme needed in the moment. She and Mika were in a full civil conversation, and it was heavenly. They could potentially be friends. For once, Dean’s inability to have closure in relationships might not hurt the two women that Dean would call his ‘big ones’. 

His ears perked up and he frowned with slightly widened eyes, turning his eyes down to Esme’s face as she mentioned being in the asylum at the same time as Nat. Duke’s mind flashed to that time, as the story was told by Dean, and he closed his eyes with regret instantly. Dean had called him, asking him to come and help with a demon situation. Duke had let the call go to voicemail, figuring that it was just a ploy for Dean to try and speak to him again, when Duke wasn’t ready to bridge the gap between them after the fallout. He listened with his eyes closed to Esme’s explanation of how things went down, realizing that maybe…just maybe if he had been the extra set of hands, he would have thought to even check for other rooms, or maybe he could have heard a noise. Deep down, he knew it wasn’t likely, but the guilt was still there.

As Mika spoke her own guilt and apologies, Duke sighed, clenching his jaw at the fact that Dean had brought Mika along and Duke hadn’t even bothered to answer the phone. He should have been there to back her up. It was a miracle, from what he had gathered, that they all made it out mostly in one piece. As the room fell silent for a brief moment, Duke shuffled on his feet a bit and he turned his eyes down to the floor, “I should…I should have been there too. Dean called me and I was so wrapped up in tryin’ to stay away from him that I didn’t come. Maybe…m-maybe I could have felt you there or somethin’. I could have looked for the door…or I don’t know. But I should have picked up the phone.”

He sniffled, not even realizing that he was getting emotional, he was so used to repressing emotions around everyone but Mika. He tilted his head, trying to push all those emotions away, “Just like if I hadn’t got hurt, because of my own stupidity, I could have protected you back at the farm. I guess…I guess I’m just sorry, like Mika. We didn’t know.”

[h3] Dean [/h3]

Dean kept his gaze on Natalia’s eyes as she took in his words. The look in her eyes once again reminded him of Sam, and it was then that she realized how much the two looked alike. Both his baby siblings had the same eyes, and it was a bit of a weakness for him. He almost sighed with relief at her little nod, before she wrapped her arms around him, her face buried in his chest. With a deep breath, Dean released her hand and wrapped both his arms tightly around her body, holding her to him. At her words, Dean closed his eyes, pressing his lips to the top of her head, “I know.  I know you have.”

Dean brought a hand up, stroking his fingers through the back of Nat’s hair as he held her, just letting her cling to him until she didn’t need to. He didn’t care how long it took. He wasn’t losing his little sister…not after all that time. Not after managing to get her back from that horrible place all over again. It was time to put pettiness aside, and be her brother. 

As Nat spoke, Dean nodded, a small scoff shaking his chest as she mentioned that both she and he were horrible with their feelings. Again, they were a lot alike, mores than they would ever admit, and Dean had to wonder if that’s why John never said anything to Dean about her. Maybe John thought that if she was around someone who she could see herself in…she would become all the parts of Dean that John hated. At the idea of Esme helping Nat, Dean nodded against her head and he petted her hair a bit more, “Esme’s a good ally to have for…dealing with uncomfortable emotions. That’s all a story for another time, but yeah…I do know that much.”

Bringing up the situation with Anna almost caused Dean to shake his head. He didn’t want to talk about that, while she was so fragile, but what he thought was going to be more calling him out for lying turned into her practically begging him not to kill Cason. Dean frowned, staring off at the gravel with hazy eyes as he let her begging sink in. He didn’t want her mixed up with demons. A huge part of him wanted to tell her that he couldn’t accept Cason. He probably never would, but couldn’t he? Cason was proving to at least be docile with Natalia. Dean didn’t quite believe that they loved each other. Sure, Nat seemed madly in love with the guy…but a demon feeling love? Nah. Dean couldn’t subscribe to that idea.

As he glanced up from the gravel, his eyes found Cason standing against a car in the distance, minding his own business and smoking a cigarette. He scanned Cason’s demeanor, and how he could tell that Cason had an ear ‘pointed’ at he and Natalia. At the very least, Cason seemed to care.

Dean’s heart clenched at Nat’s last words, and he held her a little tighter, turning his attention back to her as his heart dipped into his stomach. He pressed his lips tightly to the top of her head, and sighed, “I’m not going to do anything to him and I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. Alright? I’ve got you. I’ll talk to him…”, he promised, glancing back up at Cason again, before petting the back of Nat’s head.

[h3] Anna [/h3]

Anna had to admit that she believed Sam about Mika. Mika seemed to be able to twist Dean’s arm in whichever way that she needed to. If anyone was going to break through his stupid shell, it was Mika. When he brought up Natalia breaking the windows out of the Impala, a pang of guilt hit her chest at first, but the idea of Nat going ton a full rampage and breaking the other five windows out of the car did bring a small smirk to the corner of her lips.

“I think he’s out numbered, at the moment…lots of women.” She joked softly, feeling a bit better just at the reminder to her brain that she wasn’t in danger. She wasn’t near Dean, and didn’t have to deal with his judgements or his mean words. She didn’t have to see the fall out of her dropping a bombshell on Natalia. She could just exist here with Sam. 

When Sam’s phone vibrated, Anna sat up slowly, crossing her legs into a pretzel as she leaned into Sam’s chest, “Is that Dean? You can answer it if you need to. I’ll just…not be here.”, she offered, not necessarily wanting Sam to ignore his brother. She just wanted him to make his own decisions and to not blindly follow his brother into the pits of Hell, which seemed to be where Dean wanted to return, half the time.

“I hate this. You have so much bigger issues to worry about than squabbles between me and your belligerent brother…” Anna scoffed as more tears threatened to spill over her eyelids. “It just all seems so petty…self centered. And yet…I’ve craved being this close to you, alone for a while. I’ve wanted you to choose me…like there’s some meaning to our hearts beating in time, or me being guided to you. Something good can come out of this, you know?”

As Anna rambled, finally spilling all the thoughts she hadn’t been able to express while high that morning, she aggressively wiped tears from her cheeks, “Now everything is quiet, and it’s just me and you...we have a chance to talk, and to be close and I feel selfish…”