[h2]Esme[/h2]
 Esme took a breath when she felt Duke’s hand making soothing circles on her lower back as she worked through what she felt coming from inside the house and what was going through her mind. As he answered her question, she looked up into Duke’s face, watching his expression. Esme could tell he was thinking the same as she was: why would the angels come early? She took in his words as he spoke, sighed silently, and shook her head. “I’m not sure, but I don’t like any of what I’m feeling.” she answered. Esme was growing more uneasy about what they might discover after entering the house. If Castiel had come early to get Dean with whatever the angels needed him for, she could slightly understand why he would be uneasy, but it seemed like there might be more to it that they didn’t know. Something also told her that not all of them would be going or something terrible would come out of it. Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, Esme followed Duke inside after he opened the door and stepped in. As soon as she entered, she was hit harder with all the tension, just like she predicted she would. 

Esme gave a small smile to Mika and Natalia and a nod to Cason as she saw them. Then, she stopped at the wall beside the refrigerator, resting her back against it while Duke walked over to Dean. She crossed her arms loosely over her stomach while she watched Dean answer Duke’s questions. She couldn’t hear what they were discussing, but Duke was clearly getting Dean to speak to him. Esme’s eyes briefly shifted to Duke as he walked back over to her and simply explained things to her as he shoved his hands into his pockets. The way Dean ate and the look in his eyes said so much and confirmed what Duke was telling her. Pulling her eyes from Dean, she looked up at Duke and sighed. “Something tells me Mika won’t be letting him go alone.” she started in a low tone. “I don’t know the details of what they want him to do, but I know that he shouldn’t go alone even if the angels want him to. I also hate that Dean thinks he has to take everything upon himself to protect all of us. I don’t have a good feeling about any of this.” 

Esme sighed and dropped her gaze to the kitchen floor, pulling her arms a little tighter around her cramping stomach from the tension. “But knowing Dean, he’s going to try and force us to stay behind despite knowing he should have backup. I’m pretty sure he and Mika aren’t going to want Nat anywhere near any of it. Other than Cason, who would they get to stay behind with her?” Esme then tilted her head back and rested the crown of her head on the wall to avoid putting pressure on the stitches on her head. Her mind was swimming with several outcomes and who they would trust Natalia with. Other than Cason, she could see the next choice out of those there being Duke. She wasn’t sure if Mika trusted her enough with the task just yet, even if she didn’t like the idea of having to stay behind, not knowing what was going on, but would help keep Natalia safe if they asked her. The longer she stood there against the wall thinking about it all, the more it bothered her, knowing Dean was wanting to go alone. Esme’s eyebrows knitted together, and released a heavy breath through her nose.

Without a word to Duke, Esme dropped her arms to her sides,  pushed herself off the wall, walked over to Dean, looked up at him, and spoke so only he could hear her, her face neutral. “Dean, please don’t tell me you’re actually thinking about doing this alone. I know you have to know it's a bad idea, even if they told you only you could go…. I know you want to keep everyone out of it and safe, but you can’t shoulder every problem that comes our way.” As she spoke to Dean, she looked into his green eyes, trying to drive home what she was telling him even though she knew he could be stubborn. “Share some of the burdens you carry. You don’t always have to be the strongest one in the group. Let us be strong for you sometimes.” Esme gave a small smile to show she cared, then brought a hand up, resting it on his forearm. As soon as her hand touched his arm, she gasped sharply, going rigid, her smile fading and staring blankly. Just like her last premonition, she was plunged into that same room she didn’t recognize, but this time, she could see the face of the man Dean was torturing. 

It played out like an old, poorly put-together silent movie with missing parts. Esme watched as it skipped along through Dean torturing a man who seemed to be enjoying being tortured by Dean. She watched as Dean chose a variety of objects to use, including salt and holy water. Then it skipped to Dean lying on the floor, badly beaten and bloody, then she saw Duke from behind, kneeling on the floor, cradling someone in his arms and crying. Esme was quickly snapped back into reality, staggering back a bit as her hand dropped from Dean’s arm. She looked at the floor and took a shaky breath as her body trembled slightly. “You can’t go, Dean…. At least not alone if you’re being forced to go. Whatever they have planned is going to end terribly.” she told him in a shaky whisper. Esme lifted her gaze from the floor to look at Dean's face, instantly regretting it as it flashed to Dean’s face from the vision and back to normal after a few minutes, causing her face to contort into a look of hurt and worry.