[h3] Dean and Duke [/h3]

Duke sighed as Esme assessed what she could about the situation. She knew Dean about as well as he did, and he could tell that she was freaked like was. Duke shook his head when she mentioned that Mika wouldn’t let Dean go alone. No amount of tying Mika down would keep her away, if Dean was in danger, or at risk of putting himself in danger. And as for Natalia? Duke could only hope that they weren’t going to ask him to keep her home. Cason would never allow her to get near angels, but could he reasonably keep her away from Dean if Dean needed help?

“There’s no way Dean’s gonna let Nat get anywhere near this.” Duke agreed with Esme shifting around on his feet as he thought about their options, “But maybe Cason could talk her out of it? I can’t imagine he would let her anywhere near angels again, willingly that is…”

As Esme stepped away from him, Duke turned his eyes to Natalia, watching as Nat stepped over to Mika and gave her a tight hug. As Esme stepped up to Dean and spoke to him, Duke couldn’t overhear any of it, but Dean tensed up as soon as she approached him. Dean looked down into Esme’s eyes, the words she was speaking hitting him in a nostalgic place in his chest. For a split second, he was ready to sweep her up and take her somewhere safe, like the old days. If he had to lock her down, he would. 

But as she reached out and touched him, and seemed to zone out into one of her visions, Dean tensed even harder and his eyes widened. He watched her closely, reaching his hands out to grab the tops of both her arms, holding her as steady as he could. And then she came to, trembling and seemingly even more worried.

“What did you see? Esme…what did you see?” Dean asked her quickly. As she quickly explained that he couldn’t go alone. He turned his eyes up to look at Mika, as Mika started to delegate Nat’s care to the other three in the room. After Esme’s vision, Dean was even more tempted to try to sneak away without Mika, to keep her safe…to keep her away from whatever was going to go wrong. “I’ll…I’ll do what I have to do…”

Dean walked Esme carefully back until he could back her into Duke’s chest, causing Duke to frown and wrap his arms around her and then Duke turned to Natalia, “I know you don’t like this. I don’t like this. But we don’t have a choice, here. It’s me and Mika. Everyone else has to stay back. I’m not going to tell you guys that you have to stay here…but you can’t come with us. If you follow us, odds are that you’ll just be in the way…cannon fodder. We can’t do that. So, as much as I want to let you come with us, and I want you to have that shot at saving the day, you have to stay here.”

Dean hardened his expression with Natalia, making sure that she could see that he was speaking to her as her brother and not as the ‘leader’ of the group. As soon as he finished his sentence, however, everything in the kitchen was rustled by the flutter of angel wings, and Dean closed his eyes, clenching his jaw. He turned on his heel and opened his eyes, a bit confused as Castiel was standing there, but he was accompanied by the asshole angel that had wanted to smite an entire town around Halloween.

“Well, I’d say it’s nice to see you, but I’d be glad to never see your stupid ass again.” Dean spat at Uriel. 

“Well, it’s good that we’re not here to talk about your feelings, Dean Winchester. We’re here…for your job. Let’s go.” Uriel spat back at him, and Castiel reached an arm out, stopping Uriel from stepping forward.

“Mika comes with me, or I’m going nowhere.” Dean ordered, turning his eyes to Castiel, who softened his own expression as if what Dean was saying was a terrible idea. But Castiel nodded.

“Let’s go.”

“And are you gonna tell us where you’re gonna go? If you’re takin’ him, we deserve to know why.” Duke spoke up and Uriel chuckled, turning to look at Cason, who was now wrapping an arm around Natalia, fully planning to leave with her.

“We…owe you…nothing. And with that abomination in the room with us, I don’t trust you with that information. So, the answer is ‘no’…boy.” Uriel explained simply, turning his gaze back to Duke, who huffed in frustration, shifting on his feet even more. Uriel laughed, pointing a finger at him. “You shouldn’t even be alive. So, whatever you’re considering…I would store it away in that thick skull of yours and change your mind. I’ll turn you to dust where you stand, along with the demon and his whore…”

“That’s enough!” Dean snapped, stepping forward to almost press his nose to Uriel’s. Cas quickly placed a hand on both their chests and pushed them apart as best he could. “Let’s get this overwith, alright? You need me. That much is clear. So, you get me where you want me. You make sure they know how to find me when we’re finished and I’ll go with you right now.”

“You’ll go with us whether you want to or not. Like I’ve said before, I can toss you back into that pit…” Uriel started, but Dean chimed in.

“Then do it. Or…you accept my terms and I’ll do whatever you need me to do.” Dean interrupted, now turning his attention to Castiel. Uriel chuckled at the intense look they shared, as if they were speaking to each other through their eyes. And then Castiel nodded.

“Do you have any idea what we need from you?” Castiel asked, although he was agreeing with Dean. Dean shook his head, but he had an idea. “We have Alastair trapped. We have his most successful student right in front of us. We need…your skills.”

“I can’t do that.”

“You will do that!” Uriel snapped and Castiel growled stepping closer to Dean.

“Please, just consider it. For now, we need to leave. Dean. Consider it?” Castiel pleaded with him. And Dean shook his head for a moment as nerves took over and goosebumps appeared on his skin. “Please.”

“Why are we begging him like a child? He will do this, Castiel. It’s our mission.”

“And I want him to be clear in the head. I want him to know what he’s walking into. Dean. You can do this.” Castiel defiantly shut Uriel up for a moment, scanning Dean’s eyes. His blue eyes burned with the desperation of the situation. Finally, Dean sighed, and he turned to look at Mika. “She can come with us. I will keep her safe, as best I can, as long as she stays away from Alastair.”

“Alright. Let’s go.” Dean conceded with a sigh and a shrug of his shoulders. It wasn’t as if they were actually giving him a choice. Uriel stepped past him, smashing his shoulder into him as he approached Mika and placed two fingers on her forehead. At the same time, Castiel did the same to Dean and they all disappeared. When they reappeared, it was in the boiler room of some old warehouse. Dean shoved away from Castiel and looked around for Mika, finally seeing her as Uriel stepped away from her, flexing his shoulders. Dean jogged over to her, and he wrapped her up in his arms, pulling away after a second to check her over, “You good? You’re alright?”

[h3] Cason [/h3] 

Cason stayed quiet the entire time that the angels were in the room, frozen in place with his arms around Nat possessively. After they all disappeared, he loosened his grip on Nat, and he stared at the floor for a moment, listening closely to something. With a frown, Cason turned to Nat and he picked up her hand.

“I know where they are.” Cason said suddenly, and Duke stepped away from Esme, and up to Cason.

“Could you get us there?”

“It will take some time to get to them, but if we leave soon, we can.” Cason grumbled, turning and looking down at Natalia. He scanned her face for a few moments and then he let his shoulders drop a bit, “I never promised them I would keep you here…but I won’t let you go. Esme and Duke can go. And if I’m right about what I’m hearing…we need to call Sam.”

[h3] Anna [/h3] 

Anna’s eyes widened as she stared at Ruby. The thought of killing Alastair was intoxicating. Anna wanted to do it herself. She wanted to drink every demon she had to in order to kill that bastard. She shut her mouth, trying to think of how to get more blood, without taking anything from Ruby. That was the last thing she wanted to do…and between Anna and Sam, they would drain Ruby dry.

As Sam finished, Anna scooted closer to him putting aside the buzzing in her own head to comfort Sam. She reached her hand up, wrapping her heated arm around his head, just holding his face close to hers as he asked Ruby what she wanted from them. Ruby’s callous words, basically admitting that she was going to force feed Sam until his brain fried, made Anna’s blood boil. But if Sam could kill Alastair, Anna had to go along with it. In fact, she had to encourage it.

She turned her face, pressing her lips to Sam’s temple, his skin just as hot as hers now that he was full of demon blood. She didn’t look at Ruby, just concentrating on stroking Sam’s hair and pressing little kisses to his face, “It’s okay Sam. It’s okay…I’m right here. I’ll be here the whole time. I’m not going anywhere…”

After a moment, she turned her eyes up to Ruby, and with a glare she gritted her teeth and reluctantly spoke, “We’re gonna need more blood, or we’ll drain you dry, princess. You got anyone else?”