As Esme hugged Duke close to her and could feel his heart hammering in his chest, she could still see his eyes behind her closed eyes. They were filled with a mixture of emotions, but the main one she saw was fear. She had scared the hell out of him. Duke thought he was losing her. After everything they had been through, to think she had died there next to him had to have been overwhelming. His ‘Hey there’ after she said his name echoed in her mind. She should have told him this sort of thing happened to her on occasion, and she felt absolutely horrible for not telling him. There were other things Esme hadn’t told Duke about herself and knew she needed to before any of those things showed themselves. Maybe she should make a list and give it to him. She was pulled from her thoughts when Duke softly kissed her neck, and she could feel his fear being overtaken by relief, but his heart was still hammering in his chest. Esme closed her eyes tighter, forcing more tears from them, as Duke’s and her father’s faces returned to her again. She pushed them from her mind to focus on helping Duke calm down.

After a few moments, she felt Duke tilt his head back as she sniffled and kissed her jaw. A smile tried to tug at the corners of her mouth, but it didn’t show. Esme sniffled as Duke took a deep breath and then tangled his hand in her hair, curling his fingers against her scalp. She knew he was trying to soothe her, probably because he thought his emotions were affecting her, which was only half true. Esme took a breath and focused on his fingers on her scalp but didn’t open her eyes yet. Duke’s words relaxed her a little more, and she sniffled as he pulled her hand back. When he pulled back to look down at her, she opened her eyes to look at him with tear-filled eyes, taking in his words. “Okay.” she breathed, followed by a sniffle. As Duke placed his forehead against hers and took a deep breath, she did, too. Then she put one hand on his cheek and the other on his chest, taking another deep, calming breath. Even with Duke there with her, she was having trouble getting completely calm. Seeing and talking with her father still had her worked up.

Esme couldn’t wrap her head around how he was there. She knew it was him, not something pretending to be him. After all this time and her going to her safe place in her mind, why now did he come to her, and how? Trying to figure it out hurt her head and frustrated her. She pushed it from her mind and focused on Duke’s breathing and his fingers on her scalp. She did her best to match his deep breathing and nuzzled her forehead against his for comfort. After a moment, Esme sighed softly. “I’m sorry I scared you so bad.” she breathed. I should have told you about those moments of mine. When I overuse my powers, get overwhelmed by others, or as tired as last night, I fall into a deep sleep, and as you saw, it looks like I’m not breathing. If you hadn’t kissed me, I would have slept for about three or four days straight.” Breathing deeply through her nose, she slowly let it out and closed her eyes. “You’re not the first I’ve scared with my deep sleep moments.” she added. Esme could still clearly remember the faces of Dean, her father, and Sassy when they first experienced her waking up from her deep sleep. They were much like the look she saw on Duke’s face just moments ago.

Of the three, Dean was the only one to kiss her and have her wake, then refer to it as a princess moment. Her father and Sassy were frantically searching for other ways to wake her than to let her wake on her own. Then there was Cason, but she was sure he called Dean for help on how to wake her. He looked worried but not scared like the others, but then it could be hard to tell how Cason was feeling by looking at his face sometimes. Opening her eyes, she looked into Duke’s, sniffled, then softly nuzzled his nose with hers. She was feeling a little better but not fully back to her usual self yet. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

MIKA

As she got ready, Mika hadn’t even thought about how they were going to convince the others to stay behind. Yet now Dean mentioned it, it was all she could think about. How were they going to convince the others not to follow them or that they couldn’t come along at all? She knew none of them were going to like it, hells, she didn’t even like it but it was better only she went with Dean, than Dean going alone. “I think promising her to try and get her our location will be the only way. I feel horrible leaving her behind, but I also don’t want her near the Angels or Alastair.” she replied with a sigh. As for Sam? She agreed it was better he wasn’t around and there. “I agree Sam sitting this out is also for the best. He needs to focus on the others and Anna right now, if he stays behind Nat will more likely stay behind willingly.” she added, thinking it through as they discussed the situation.

The more they both chatted about it, the heavier it felt on her heart and as much as she was determined to get Dean in and out safely and alive, she was also dreading losing Dean all over again. She noticed him walk over by his reflection in the mirror she was in front of brushing her hair, stopping when he made it to her and wrapped his arms round her from behind. Putting the brush down, she placed her hands on his arms, holding him in place as he whispered against her neck. “I promise you, with every fiber of my being I will be careful. I don’t plan on being torn away from you today, in any capacity.” she swore to him as he kissed her shoulder once more, the only person she let get anywhere near her scars. Turning to face him without leaving his arms, she held his face in both her hands, “Like you said, we’re both getting out of this in one piece. We’re gonna be smart and careful and come home to the others without a scratch” she told him.

Mika didn’t want to let him down or go. She swore to stay back unless it was absolutely necessary and that was exactly what she was going to do. She knew just as well as some of the others did what a fiery temperament she could have and how reckless she could be when it came to Dean, but she also knew this was one of those instances that she couldn’t be like that. She knew she had to play things smart and she didn’t want to be the reason he got hurt or distracted enough to be killed. The four months without him made her really see this life differently, now that she was back in the game after not leaving her room for those same four months.

Her words last night about wanting to try and fight for the opportunity to grow old with him and never leave him were one hundred percent true. There was no way she was going to put all that at risk. Dean was her end game, not death. “We can do this baby, you and me” she said softly before kissing him.

NATALIA

Cason’s confirmation that he was with her and she wasn’t trapped in the nightmare put her at ease. Nat found herself calming down as he stroked the back of her head as she spoke to him about what she felt this time round. Natalia also couldn’t figure out why he would want to love and be with someone like her, someone who felt so broken and was quite literally only half of the person she was, but she was so thankful that he was. He took these moments of hers in his stride and became her calming rock without a single complaint.

At his next reassurance that she didn’t have any violent attacks in her sleep for a change and he didn’t have to hold her down, unlike that one last time in the motel, she felt a huge sense of relief wash over her. Sure, he was a demon and could heal but she still didn’t want to cause him injury in the first place because she wasn’t in control of her sleeping body. The kiss to the tip of her nose brought the tiniest of smiles to her lips despite the stray tear that fell from her eye. “I’d rather not have to use you as a demonic punching bag, but I appreciate what you’re saying” she replied to him, giving him a small but genuine smile back at his teasing. He was unconventional in his approach toward her but it always somehow worked.

Partially pulling her head back so she could look at him properly, she leaned back in but this time to place a kiss on his lips before she snuggled back down and rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m so glad we got at least a couple of days before anything crops up again.” She commented, just wanting to focus on anything that wasn’t hunting, Angels or demons related. If she could stay in bed all day with him, Nat would have been the happiest person in the house, but she knew eventually she and Cason would have to get up and see the others.

SAM

Sam smiled at the way Anna said there would be a million other ways he could make her smile before he tightly knit his lips together when she followed it up with an apology. He shook his head lightly at her words as he didn’t think it was warranted. Her sour mood was completely justified in his eyes as it was just a pure reaction to Dean’s actions. Dean hadn’t made it easy for her ever since she came back into their lives and that never sat well with him. If anything, he felt like he should be the one apologizing. His head shake was cut short though as she leaned up and pressed her lips against his, making him close his eyes and kiss her back. When she pulled away and tapped her fingers on his skin, he watched her innocent action. It made him remember the times they first met when they were really young kids and she convinced him to run off into the woods opposite the motel he, Dean and a visiting Mika were staying at. Back then, he was terrified of running off for a short while, but she gave him a sense of being a normal kid and it was still one of the best memories he had with her. Even if it was one where Dean and Mika went charging after the two of them to try and find him because they were worried sick about what happened to him. Thinking about it, Sam realized not much had really changed in their dynamic.

His thoughts broke up when Anna spoke once more and described things about him that he didn’t even know happened. She always somehow made him learn new things about himself, and he hoped she would never stop finding things to tell him about himself. “It is nice not having meddling demons in my mind” he chuckled softly. Like her, he wanted to take her away from everything, somewhere safe they could be a normal couple but he knew now he was back in the hunting world, there was no real out anymore. There was far too much at stake and he just knew deep down that if he tried to run off once again, something or someone would just drag him right back in.

So all he could do was take it one day at a time, one moment at a time even and hope they both made it out of all of this in one piece and together.

Then came a knock on the door that sounded urgent, but he knew it couldn’t be the motel manager as they still had quite a bit of time before they had to check out. Grumbling, wondering who it could be, he peeled himself away from Anna, sat up to grab his jeans and pull them on before he grabbed his gun and quietly crept to the door, peering out the spyhole to see Ruby standing there and looking anything but happy. Glancing toward Anna, he gave an apologetic look before opening the door to Ruby. “Now isn’t a good time Ruby” he told her, trying to get rid of her, but she just held up a finger as if to shush him.

“Well now I see why you ignored all my texts this morning” she smirked looking past him and over to Anna who was still in the bed. “Morning sunshine” she grinned before looking back at Sam. “well?” she asked with raised eyebrows, waiting for an answer from him. “I haven’t looked at my phone yet, we’ve not long been awake, give me a break” he replied, half lying as he had hoped he could have discussed Ruby’s texts with Anna before Ruby came bounding in and cornering him.

Duke settled a bit as Esme followed his breathing, happy that he could at least affect her enough to convince her to try the only method he knew to use. He kept his head still, just letting her use him for whatever comfort she needed in that moment. Whatever she had been dreaming about, while she was deep in her sleep was obviously pretty jarring. He would have to ask her about it later, after she was calm. He didn’t want to bring up any negative emotion, while she was worked up.

When she sighed and apologized, Duke chuckled incredulously and he shook his head gently against hers, instantly arguing for her not to apologize. But her explanation of what had happened took him aback. He remembered her being a particularly hard sleeper with Dean. He seemed to remember a couple of times that Dean had to work for a while to wake her up, but he never chalked it up to much. Now, it all made sense, and his heart stuttered, thinking about if he hadn’t thought to kiss her…and she fell into some sort of coma for a few days.

“Well, I do wish I would have known. I really do need you to make me a warnin’ list about these things.” He chuckled softly, trying to keep the mood as light as he could, while also trying to convince her that he wasn’t scared of the full scale of her powers. Truth was, a bit of it scared him, but he wouldn’t trade her…just because of a bit of anxiety toward the unknown. He continued massaging her scalp for a few moments, lost in his thoughts and worries, but pulled himself back to the present as quickly as he could, closing his eyes as he breathed her in.

He opened his eyes to see Esme looking into them, and a small smile curled into the corners of his lips, just at the gaze. He tilted his head, bringing his other hand up to brush the backs of his fingers against her cheek as she nuzzled his nose, and seemed a bit calmer, at least.

“I’ll live. I got startled, that’s all. You’re okay and that’s all I really care about. Don’t worry about me.” He whispered to her, brushing his nose against hers before pressing a gentle kiss to her top lip, “As long as you’re good…I’m good, Sweet Pea.”



Dean sighed softly against Mika’s shoulder when she promised him in the most serious way she could that she would be careful, and she would get out of this in one piece. It’s all he could ask of her. He knew that the odds of anything good coming from the Angels needing him, whether for intel or something worse, to help with Alastair was not likely. He knew that he would likely come out bloodied, bruised and down for the count for a while, but Mika had to come out unscathed, or he would find a way…to kill every angel in the universe.

As Mika turned to him, he loosened his arms just a bit, staring down at her with somber eyes, and he wanted to nod at her words, but he didn’t completely believe it. He didn’t believe he would come out in one piece, but her being convinced both of them would, possibly meant that she would work really hard to protect…herself.

“We’re coming home…” was all he could muster, as he dipped his eyes to her chest. But her next words made him smile sadly. He still didn’t know if he believed that they could do this at all. He wasn’t even entirely sure what the angels wanted. But he nodded his head anyway, “You and me…”

He kissed her, bringing one of his hands up from her waist to cradle her chin, tilting her head so that he could kiss her a bit more passionately, pouring all of his anxiety and love and fear in to the kiss. After a few moments of holding her there, he was reminded of the timeline they were probably on, and he sighed, breaking the kiss, just resting his forehead against hers.

“We should probably go downstairs and prepare ourselves. I don’t know when he’s gonna show up, or call…or whatever he has planned.” He grumbled, before pecking her on the lips again. He pulled away from her, dropping his hand, only to pick hers up. He brought her knuckles to his lips and kissed them gently, “We get this done, and it’s right back to laziness…as long as you want.”



Cason matched Natalia’s smile as she let her lips curl up, just a bit. And when she genuinely smiled, no matter how small, his head burned a bit with how much he actually cared for her. Her smile was enough to settle any worry he had, even if on the outside he would never show that he was worried at all. He closed his eyes briefly, as she leaned up and kissed him on the lips, a welcome first move from her that reminded him of the first night they had spent together. Things seemed so much more relaxed and casual, as if he was going to be kicked to the curb after she took what she wanted from him, back then. Now, he didn’t think he could leave if she asked him to. He was too attached…

As she settled back onto his shoulder, he pulled her a bit closer to him and sighed at her words. He had already heard a bit of rumbling, when he opened his mind to some of the demons he still trusted. Alastair was trapped and chained up in some room somewhere by the angels. No one knew why they had him. No one knew where he was, but they knew about the situation. And the name Dean Winchester was floating in the circles. So, the odds of them actually having those few days of peace were not as likely as he wished they were, for Nat’s sake.

“Yeah. Hopefully we get them. Hopefully nothing comes up.” He muttered absentmindedly as his mind swam with all the ways he could pull Natalia away from a potential Angel on Demon fight that involved her brother. There was no way she was going to allow him to take the fight on without her getting involved but he wasn’t planning to allow her within a mile of an angel…not a chance.

“As long as you don’t forget to eat, I’ll stay in this bed as long as you’ll have me.”



Anna smiled as Sam caught her words, and he actually chuckled about something that seemed so heavy. It was odd that both of them had been through so much that they could laugh about some of it, together. Dean or Mika wouldn’t have found her words funny, at all. But Sam did. Anna leaned up, brushing her nose with Sam’s as the overwhelming emotion of excitement to be close to him washed over her all over again. She opened her mouth, ready to capture his lips in a deep kiss when the knock at the door jarred her from the sweet moment, and she turned her head toward the noise with a confused look. Who would have been coming after them?

She pulled the blankets up around her chest, sitting up a bit as Sam pulled his jeans on and he strolled over to the door, in full protection mode. His apologetic glance back made her think, for a split second that it was Dean that had showed up, for whatever reason. But as Sam opened the door, Sam spoke to…Ruby. Ah, Ruby. Nice.

Sighing, Anna adjusted the blankets around her chest and she brought her hand up to brush it through her messy hair awkwardly. She furrowed her brow in confusion as Ruby brought up texting Sam all morning. She wondered if it was actually Ruby who had been calling him all night, and when they had reconnected so deeply. She couldn’t say anything, if he was still meeting with her for blood, because she took blood from Cason all the time. But, why would she need to contact him at all hours of the night?

As Ruby called over to her with a grin, Anna blushed and she faked a smile, before looking down at the blankets in front of her, “You know…Sam, I’m all for bringing home a hot woman for some play time, but I’m not really in the mood to have a threesome with a demon. Why is she here?”

She blurted the words out before she even realized it, and blushed a bit deeper, pulling her knees up to wrap her arms around them. She didn’t want to deal with demons at the moment. She didn’t really want to deal with anyone but Sam, and fixing whatever was broken…or at least what seemed broken.

“I can step out if you guys need to talk…” She almost whispered, playing with the bracelet around her wrist under the blankets.

Esme almost matched Duke’s smile as they looked into each other's eyes, and he brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek. The action calmed her a little more. She took in his words, feeling that he spoke the truth, but it still bothered her that she had scared him so badly. When he brushed his nose against her, she closed her eyes briefly, then kissed him back when he kissed her top lip, her smile growing a little more. “I’m good.” she whispered, reassuring him. “And I’ll be sure to get you a warning list made soon.” she added. “With all the signs to look for. I don’t want to worry or scare you anymore than I already have.” Esme lovingly brushed her thumb along his cheek as she took another deep breath and slowly let it out. As much as she wanted to stay in bed with Duke, just staring into his eyes and cuddling, she knew they needed to get up and get breakfast. She also desperately needed a shower. “As much as I want to stay here with you, we should get up and get breakfast. I could also really use a shower.” she told him warmly.

Removing her hand from his chest, she brought it up and brushed his hair away from his face before kissing him lovingly and sighing softly through her nose. After a moment, Esme broke the kiss, rested one hand on her chest and the other on her stomach, and then tilted her head toward the house and focused on it. Her eyebrows knitted together, and she closed her eyes with a heavy sigh and light groan. There was already tension brewing within the house. It was too early in the day for her to deal with tension, especially after how she woke up. Tilting her head back, Esme opened her eyes and looked up at the RV’s ceiling. “Tension is already brewing in the house. It’s too early to deal with tenison.” she complained with a sigh. She knew that as soon as she walked into the house, the tension would get stronger and hit her hard in the face. Esme didn’t want to mess with it but knew they needed to go in and see what was causing it. “I guess that means we should go in and see what’s up.” Esme slowly sat up in bed, wincing a bit at the soreness she still felt.

She then carefully stretched, feeling a bit stiff, and ran a hand through her hair, being sure to avoid the area with the stitches and dried blood. Even after sitting up and stretching, Esme was having trouble pulling herself out of bed to get dressed and go into the house. She felt like a kid purposely dragging their feet to avoid having to do something they didn’t want to do. Taking a breath, she finally pulled the blanket from her legs, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and stood. Esme walked over to her open duffle, pulled out a pair of black sweatpants, slipped her legs into them, and pulled them up to rest on her hips. She then looked back over at Duke. “Are you just going to lay there tempting me back to bed, or are you going to get up?” she lightly teased.

MIKA

Mika hated seeing Dean this worked up about whatever was waiting for them both. It was clear that he wasn't fully believing they'd both make it out unscathed, but that also made her more determined to be there for him if they came out worse for wear. No matter what was waiting for them, she would be there for him and try to be that anchor he needed right now. She wanted him to be certain that at least she had his back and if he needed her, she wasn't going anywhere. It was always him and her, even when it wasn't, it was. He never gave up on her deep down, especially when they were teenagers and he refused to believe John about her dying. His determination to not let her just fade away and admit she was alive, was what she needed to do for him now. No one, demon or angel was going to rip him from her now. Whatever was waiting for them was about to see just how much stronger they were together. Even if he didn't believe it- she believed it enough for the both of them.

The kiss felt so much more crucial to Mika right now, it was clear he needed it and was using it as a way to stall the inevitable, but she took all those feelings and worries from his kiss with her own kiss. Holding him close as they shared the moment, before reality kicked back in and he pulled away. Slowly opening her eyes as he pulled back from the kiss, she kept her forehead against his, sighing as he spoke, returning the quick peck. “You're right…” she replied, her eyes gazing down to follow his hands drop down and grab her hand to kiss her knuckles. She smiled slightly at his invitation of just being lazy once this was done and nodded, “deal” she replied once more, keeping her hand in his and heading downstairs with him. All the while she had Dean to herself, she wasn't going to let go of him, deciding that she would only back off when they reached whatever location these Angels had Alastair cooped up in. For now, he needed her more than he verbally expressed and that meant she wasn't going to back down from being a supporting partner.

Reaching downstairs, she could only see Bobby awake and pottering about, but saw no one else which told her that the others were possibly making the most of no hunt being on the horizon. It also meant, if they didn't see any of the others before they leave, leaving might be a little easier. The thought of telling Natalia and Duke what they were being tasked with created a huge knot in her stomach. Yet at the same time she knew they'd need to rely on Duke, Esme and Cason to all keep Natalia safe and away from wherever they were going. Reluctantly letting go of Dean's hand, she went searching for food to make them both, finding some simple ingredients out of what Bobby still had in. ’note to self, when we get back, I'm going grocery shopping for Bobby’ she thought to herself. “Hey Bobby?! I'm gonna go and do a shop later today, so write a list for me please whilst me and Dean are out this morning?” She called out to him, trying to keep the situation as casual as possible.

She knew Bobby would try and stop them from going, or at least stop her from going if he knew exactly what they were about to do, so she felt like she had no choice in wording it the way she did. Opening a cupboard and pulling out a pan, she decided to whip them up some quick bacon sandwiches, deciding it was quick and easy to be able to stomach when they were so worked up. It also mean that anything else not used was available to the rest of the group whenever they decided to get up and show themselves. As she began to cook herself and Dean the breakfast, she found herself slipping slightly into her own thoughts and worry that the Angels were going to put Dean in too much danger. She wasn't as trusting of Castiel as Dean seemed to be, despite the fact Castiel had never really done anything to make her weary of him. It was solely the fact he was an Angel and so stoic that put her on edge, at least, that's what she put it down to. Still, she trusted him enough to even allow him bring them to Alastair.

NATALIA

As Cason pulled her closer to him, Natalia gladly got closer. She couldn't ever imagine a time when she would push him away, and if she ever did she would have to be in the worst state of mind imaginable to not even want him near her. It was so easy for her to push people away, but as each day passes, Cason was the only one who would never be pushed away. So if she ever did? Something was seriously wrong with her. She was just as attached to him, as he was with her. It still baffles her mind how he could feel love and why it was her he even loved in the first place, but she cherished her luck and still wanted to find out more whenever she could go be able to understand him more. The random thought of ‘if only dad could see me now…bedding down with a demon’ flashed through her mind briefly, knowing that John probably would be even more against it than Dean was. Though it almost brought some rebellious smugness to her mind as she considered it was almost like a middle finger to John for abandoning her. A demon cared for her more than he did and that made her subconsciously think maybe it was a good thing he wasn't in her life anymore. Even though there were still times of pure distress that she fell into that little girl mindset of just wanting her dad.

She listened to his mumbles and judging by the tone of his voice, he didn't think a few days of peace was in the cards for them, but she didn't want to think about that. It was also clear to her that even though he was replying to her, his mind was partially somewhere else. No doubt trying to think of all the ways he could wrap her in bubble wrap and keep her safe and as far from the hunting life as he could. Little did she realize how close of an assumption that actually was. At his remark about not forgetting to eat, she couldn't help but softly chuckled and smiled a bit more, tilting her head to look up at him. “Its like you haven't even met me, I couldn't forget to eat, don't think it's possible.” She teased, “I also fully intend to have you forever. It's whether or not you can handle having me for that long” she smiled at him. Internally she couldn't believe she could even think those things, let alone say them. It felt like only yesterday she was an anti falling in love hunter who only thought about the job, now she was experiencing what Mika felt towards Dean, or Anna with Sam and even Esme with Duke. It was so strange to her how her mindset had changed so drastically but she welcomed it with open arms.

She eventually heard Mika's voice call out to Bobby after hearing footsteps coming downstairs and came to the assumption that Mika and Dean were up. It felt like they were up earlier than she thought they would be. “They're up early…” she thought out loud, whilst also thinking to herself not to get inquisitive and go to see why they were up so early. It wasn't any of her business what they did on their downtime and she had to keep reminding herself of that, and yet so much of her was telling her to get up and go see what's going on. Something in the pit of her stomach was giving her a weird vibe and she didn't like it.

SAM

When Ruby greeted Anna, Sam felt like he wanted the ground to open and swallow him whole as he just knew by Ruby's tone, this was going to get as awkward as she could possibly make it. What he wasn't expecting was for Anna to be the one to make it incredibly awkward by mentioning threesomes. He snapped his head a road to her so fast, he was convinced his neck would break as he stared at her in disbelief, his mouth opening and closing, trying to get words out but coming up with absolutely nothing. He was going to have to have words with her about that comment later when they were alone again. Looking at Ruby who was just smirking then laughing at Anna's remark and how she completely broke his mind. He eventually managed to gather himself so he could actually talk, “beats me! Like I said, not had a chance to read her damn texts yet.” He replied to her with a shrug.

“I think you can guess why I'm here, Sam. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. I'm here because you've not been fuelling up and instead been witnessing your girl here doing the dosing up. Yes, word gets around in the demon circles. What kind of boyfriend lets the woman do all the work and not shoulder some of the responsibility huh? You need to also be drinking the blood if you're both to defeat Lilith. You both need to be stronger…a lot stronger.” She explained, looking mostly at Sam but shooting the odd glance at Anna in the process to truly drill her point across. “You can't kill Lilith solo, you HAVE to work as a team to do it, if she doesn't get stopped we're all bloody done for” she added, her tone a lot more serious than it was before. She had to make Sam drink more, she was done and tired of his detoxing and not drinking hers and other demon's blood. Too many demons were getting Scot free from him and Anna and that annoyed her greatly.

“It's not that simple Ruby, there's too many in our group to be able to do it on the downlow and after Dean-” Sam tried to reason, wanting to find another way for both him and Anna, but Ruby interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. “Dean Schean! For crying out loud Sam, the world does not revolve Alastair's little torture bunny!! He can't win against Lilith, that's how he got into Hell in the first place remember, trying to outsmart her. It's you two or it's the end of the damn world!” Ruby exclaimed. “If you don't want your little lover girl there to be Lilith's meatsuit bitch, then you both better start day drinking and I don't mean alcohol!” She practically ordered, throwing him a couple of drinks bottles full of demon blood. “And I ain't leaving until those are all empty” she stated, standing her ground, arms folding across her chest. “So drink up kids” she smirked.

Dean sighed as he walked down the stairs with Mika, glancing around the room to see if anyone else was awake and moving around. It seemed like he and Mika were the only ones stirring, except Bobby, who was already pouring over some research at his desk with a cup of coffee. He nodded as Bobby glanced up at him from his desk, not really ready to bridge the conversation about what they had planned for the day with him, yet. Bobby would be one that could talk him out of helping the angels, even if it meant fighting them and at the moment, Dean was willing to try and see what Castiel wanted, before he fought too hard.

He stepped into the kitchen with Mika and simply leaned against the doorway, as Mika searched the kitchen for food to make for them. As she called out to Bobby, Bobby huffed and called back to her, making Dean smirk.

“Yeah, yeah…I swear, having all of you back in the house is like raisin’ a bunch of kids. I’ll make a list of things so you can continue to eat me out of house and home.” Bobby called out with a small smile, and Dean couldn’t help the chuckle that left his chest. The reality was, Bobby loved having his house full. He loved feeling useful, and having plenty of minds to pick and a bit of noise around. He always had.

Dean’s mind then fell on Sam, and he was tempted to pull his phone and call his brother, but he didn’t quite know if Sam would answer him if he even tried. He didn’t know how raw Sam’s emotions were from the night before, or if Sam would be even more angry with his plans. So, he pushed him from his mind as best he could, despite the sinking pit in his stomach at not having him within arms reach. No matter how much they fought, Dean’s priority was still to protect his baby brother.

“I keep just waiting for him to pop in and start grumbling…” Dean said suddenly, referring to Castiel as he glanced around the kitchen. He brought his hands up and ruffled his own hair, almost afraid to talk about the little nerdy angel, in case he accidentally called him down early, “And we gotta somehow make sure that we keep the kids away from wherever we’re going. The last thing that anyone needs is Anna showing up near Alastair. Remember the last time he got his hands on her? She turned into a nuke…”



Duke laughed softly at Esme’s agreement to make the warning list of signs that she was going to fall into something that would scare the hell out of him. He was appreciative, but the idea of her actually writing down every single detail of her powers was amusing to him. He leaned into her touch a bit but then frowned when she mentioned that they had to get out of bed. He could definitely use a shower, even if it would be a bit awkward with his bandaged stomach. He could still feel a bit of the dried blood that was sticky on his back, and he wasn’t sure if it looked as bad as it felt, but it felt pretty gross.

“Alright. I can’t really argue with that. Self care is valid.” Duke grumbled with a dramatic eye roll before breaking into a wide smile as she pushed some of his hair away from his face. He kissed Esme back, tempted to just roll over and pull her with him, forcing her to stay in bed. But he couldn’t do that. She needed to eat…and shower…and be human.

As she broke the kiss and glanced toward the house, Duke concentrated on her face, taking in every expression as he slowly started to realize exactly what she was feeling. Something was brewing in the house. As she complained about exactly what he suspected, Duke sighed and he brushed his fingers across Esme’s forehead.

“I should probably go and make sure Dean hasn’t started another fight. I’m kinda the only one that seems to be able to calm him down when Sam’s not around. It’s a good mornin’ for a broken nose.” He teased, moving away from Esme to allow her to sit up and leave the bed. He lay there for a few moments, just watching her get dressed with his hand resting on his cheek and his elbow propping him up. But then she turned and teased him with a line that he used…a lot, and Duke laughed.

“Well, I could just tempt you more and get you to stay here, safe and warm with me. But since you asked so nicely…I’ll get up.” Duke teased her back, reluctantly pulling the blankets back and sliding off the edge of the bed. He stood, stepping over to the sink where he had tossed his hat and his jeans the night before. He quickly got dressed, grabbing a flannel from the back of the couch and slipping it over his arms, before grabbing his hat and stepping into his boots.

“Let’s go check the temperature of that water, shall we?”



Cason shook his head as Nat spoke about her eating habits and then spoke as if she was hard to love, “I was just making an observation that when you get busy, you could forget to eat. Trust me…I know you eat. Sometimes, I wish I had some sort of magic wand to change the way you eat.”

He smiled, a small chuckled leaving his chest but then he continued, “And you’re easy to be around. Way easier than most humans. Give yourself some credit, or I’ll turn up the charm and make you believe it. I’m a demon. I can be full of surprises.”

He nuzzled Natalia’s nose, and then Bobby and Mika’s voices caught his ear as well. And he could overhear Dean talking about someone showing up out of nowhere, reinforcing Cason’s concern that today wasn’t going to be quite as relaxing as they originally thought. Someone was coming for Dean. The demon channels were right. With a sigh, Cason turned his attention back to Nat as she questioned why Dean and Mika were awake.

“They’re probably just excited to start their boring day.” Cason lied, using his ability to do so convincingly as a demon to his advantage. He hated lying to Nat, but he didn’t really have a choice. She was not leaving this house, if anything was happening with angels. Not a chance. “Maybe we should get up and around and find some way to make ourselves useful?”



Anna raised her eyebrows at Ruby’s explanation for her just barging in the way she did. Anna wasn’t even aware that Sam had still been drinking demon blood, especially not from Ruby. But as Ruby mentioned that Anna’s name had come up in demon circles, Anna’s stomach clenched painfully. She didn’t want demons talking about her. She didn’t want to deal with demons at all…and now she was stuck in a room with one that was just talking about her like an extension of Sam.

‘You both need to be stronger.’

Cason’s words about not taking anything from Ruby echoed through Anna’s brain when Ruby glanced to her, and she shook her head without realizing it, telling her that she wasn’t willing to accept blood from her. She only drank from Cason. As Sam attempted to reason with Ruby and she brought up Lilith riding in Anna’s body, Anna swallowed thickly and she wrapped her arms around her legs a bit tighter. The temptation to summon Cason was high, but she could never get him there fast enough to argue with Ruby, not really.

When Ruby pulled the bottles of demon blood, Anna shook her head again and she finally spoke up, figuring that it would probably go over like a lead brick with Ruby, “Cason told me not to drink any blood that wasn’t his or that he didn’t give me. So, I don’t think I want to. I also don’t normally drink that much. It would make me…high.”, Anna explained innocently, trying her best to play at emotions, or anything to keep from being force fed demon blood.

Before getting out of bed, Esme gently shook her head at Duke’s tease but didn’t respond verbally to it. She knew Duke was teasing, but she was sure it didn’t have anything to do with Dean starting another fight. She knew what that sort of tension felt like, and this didn’t feel like that. It felt more like unease, and the more she woke up, the more she felt uneasy about the day. Something felt off, like something terrible was going to happen. Esme tried her best to shake the feeling, but it clung to her like a leech. She couldn’t bring herself to tell Duke after scaring the hell out of him this morning. She didn’t want to give him anymore to worry about. Her little teasing to him about getting out of bed was also an attempt to get her mind off the feeling, which helped a little bit. When Duke replied teasingly and got out of bed, she smiled and watched him as he dressed. Something about watching him move around the RV and getting dressed eased her mind a bit. Maybe it was because she finally had someone in her life to love other than family and someone who loved and worried about her.

Once Duke was dressed, Esme pulled a black and purple flannel from her bag as Duke slipped on his boots. She carefully slipped it over her left arm first and then her right to keep from pulling the stitches on her shoulder. Once over both her arms, she adjusted it just as Duke spoke about checking the temperature of the water. Esme still wasn’t too keen on going inside with the tension but knew they needed to see what was causing it. “Alright.” she almost sighed. She then walked over to the door and stepped into her boots. “I know you were joking, but I don’t think you’ll have to worry about getting a broken nose this morning. It doesn’t feel like that type of tension.” she added, turning to face him. Turning slightly, Esme opened the door and descended the steps onto the gravel and waited for Duke to exit the RV. Now outside the RV, she looked toward the back door of the house. What she was feeling was for certain unease. Which made her wonder if Castiel had possibly come early with news for Dean. The thought caused Esme to tense up some.

The premonition she had a little while ago came to mind, the broken images sending a shiver through her body. ‘Could my vision and what Castiel wants Dean to do be connected?’ she thought. The bad feeling she had been feeling grew more intense and caused her stomach to cramp painfully. ‘Something tells me they’ve forgotten about the vision I told them about. I’m not even sure Dean believed it. So, how in the hell can I get him and the others to believe that I think that Castiel's plans for Dean and the vision are connected?’ she thought, sighing heavily. The only one she truly thought believed her and would believe her if she voiced it was Duke. But Esme didn’t even know how to begin that conversation. When Duke exited the RV, she was pulled from her thoughts and she looked at him. “They are feeling uneasy in there. You don’t suppose that angel came early and gave them some information, do you?” she asked Duke, her tone holding concern. She didn’t want to speak his name, just on the off chance it summoned him if he wasn’t already there. Esme didn’t know Castiel that well, but she didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him.

MIKA

Mika had to shake her head whilst chuckling when Bobby retorted the way he did. Like Dean, she knew that Bobby loved having a full house and having his kids back and making themselves at home. She also knew that she could get away with asking for such tasks from him because she always did the shopping when she was back home, never asking him for the cash to get said shopping either. She just wanted to look after her uncle the way he looked after her for years. He didn't exactly look after himself well all the time and she felt as the only biological family member of the group to Bobby, she had every right to look after him. “Thank you! And I don't wanna see copious amounts of alcohol on the list either” she warned him with a smile as she cooked. The fact that the exchange between her and Bobby also made Dean genuinely chuckle and smile for a moment made Mika happy. He deserved every brief moment of amusement he got. She knew she sounded like a bit of an agony worrisome daughter, rather than his niece but she didn't care.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw how Dean looked down and was clearly thinking about something. She wasn't sure if it was what was waiting for them, Sam or something else entirely, but it was clear it was something. As she finished up, putting the sandwiches together and onto plates, she glanced up at Dean when he mentioned Castiel. She had to hum and nod her agreement, she was half expecting it to happen at any moment as well, she hated the idea of turning around and finding Castiel just there behind them like a damn statue. Handing him his bacon sandwich, she took on board his next words, primarily about Anna. “I agree with you there. I'm also really worried about Natalia following us somehow. Thinking of asking Duke and Esme to help Cason wherever possible to keep Nat at the house. It might take all three of them to keep her here” she told him, putting hers together and onto another plate.

“If Sam and Anna stay out for a while today, that should in theory solve the issue of them knowing where we're going. If they don't know, they don't have to worry” she explained, hating keeping Sam and Anna in the dark but she knew it was for the best and better for them. She wasn't worried about those two as much as she was worried about Natalia staying behind and not doing something reckless to try and follow them. As she turned round to lean against the worktop, she saw Natalia and Cason coming out of the bedroom.

"Morning you two" she greeted.

NATALIA

Cason's comeback about her eating habits made her chuckle as he also said about how she needed to give herself more credit. She didn't doubt he was full of surprises and she couldn't wait to spend more time with him to learn and see all these surprises. Whether they are because of his demonic side or not. She nuzzled his nose back as he nuzzled hers, smiling and feeling so much better than she had felt when she first woke up. Almost as if the nightmares she had just completely vanished from her mind.

The way Cason reacted to the sounds of Dean and Mika's voices, Natalia knew she wasn't the only one who heard them. She didn't even properly realize that she expressed her thoughts out loud until Cason replied to her and took a guess as to why the others would be up early on a day off. “Maybe…it's just not like them on chill days, that's all” she said back to him, then shook the concerned feeling out of her head. “You're probably right, making the most of the day for a change. I guess I'm just used to not seeing or hearing anything from them until the middle of the day when there's nothing going on” she explained, convincing herself she was just being a worrier for no real reason, especially as Cason's was also believable. At least, believable due to his tone.

“Yeah…I'm sure someone will put us to work round the house. And by someone I'm guessing Bobby” she smirked, forcing herself to get out of Cason's hold, even though she was so comfortable and warm beside him. Sliding herself out of bed with a sigh, she stood up pushing her hair off her shoulder and down her back. Walking over to her bag, she pulled out some clean clothes, mostly a pair of baggy jeans and a clean old school rock t-shirt of hers. Ever since the asylum days, she refused to wear jogging bottoms and sweaters, the items always reminding her of how the old gray joggers and sweatshirt felt on her skin if she had to wear them, so she did all she could to not wear them. Pulling off her usual nightshirt that she wore, her hair flipped up in reaction, briefly showing her triple lines back scar before her hair covered a good chunk of them again and she put on her clean t-shirt.

Pulling her baggy jeans one leg at a time, she sat on the edge of the bed to get some socks on, not wanting to put boots on for the time being. When she was done, she turned back round so she was facing Cason again and the door to the room, walking over. “Guess we should see the others” she commented before heading to the bedroom door, opening it and walking out into the other rooms. She saw Bobby working already and as she turned the corner, saw Mika and Dean in the kitchen clearly looking uneasy.

SAM

Sam really didn't want Anna drinking any demon blood, especially in this quantity after they had just got her off the last lot and she was sober again. It didn't feel right to make Anna drink it, and it certainly wasn't right to expect her to drink any that wasn't Cason's. He held the bottles in his hands cautiously, unsure he wanted to go down this road himself and he definitely didn't want to do it in front of Anna. He had tried to remain sober around her, wanting to be a good influence on her but Ruby was destroying all of it just by being in the room with them both. “She's right Ruby, leave Anna out of this, please” he spoke up, seeing how uncomfortable Ruby was making Anna. “Well that's not either of yours decisions to make! Either you drink up, get powerful enough to kill Lilith, or I force feed Anna blood until you do!” Ruby threatened. Sam looked between the two women in the room, wanting to stand up to Ruby but he also knew she was a lot stronger than anyone could give her credit for. He also knew she wasn't bluffing.

As he weighed up the options, he noticed how it looked like Ruby was distracted by something, making him raise an eyebrow. “Well well….seems it's our lucky day kids!” She beamed as she mentally came back into the room. “word on the street is that the Angels have Alastair! Talk about a good practice run!” She smiled, but the moment Sam gave her an unimpressed look, she rolled her eyes, sighed and dropped the smile. “Look Sam, I know you don't want to do this but like I've told you before this little one came back in your life, this is the only way you will fix everything, save your precious world yada yada yada” she explained, waving her hand round in the air to bring her point across more. “There has to be another way” Sam countered, but Ruby just snatched a bottle from Sam's hand and walked over to Anna. Unscrewing the bottle, she climbed on the bed, “I don't have time for this Sam! Either you start drinking or I'm force feeding her!” She said sternly, her patience running thin. Grabbing Anna's chin forcefully, tilting her head back, she began to pour the demon blood down her throat to show she wasn't playing around.

“Okay fine!! Ruby stop!!” Sam begged her, unscrewing the bottle still in his hand and after a couple of deep breaths, she began to down the blood like a marathon runner drinking water after completing a run. He squinted his eyes shut tightly, wishing he wasn't having to do this, but he had to get Ruby off of Anna. He knew it was going to hit him harder as he had detoxed from it for so long. Ruby smirked as she watched him down her blood, stopping her force feeding and stepping away from Anna and walking over to Sam. “Atta boy” she cooed before looking over at Anna, “if you have some of Cason's blood I suggest you start drinking now sweetheart” she told her, “because if the Angels have Alastair, then they're gonna go after Dean. It's quite the poetic tale really, getting Alastair's apprentice to do the interrogation of Alastair” she chuckled, having easily put two and two together and making four.

With the bottle finished, Sam felt the power course through him as he began to look at Ruby like food. Ruby knew that look, “it's okay Sam…” she said to him, taking a knife out and making a perfect cut down her arm, offering herself to him. He tried to resist but the smell of it, the hearing of the blood pumping through her veins, he needed it and within one large step, he crossed over to her, grabbed her arm and began to drink. Everything else around him is blurring into obscurity. He just hoped Anna could forgive him for what he was doing.

Duke stopped and frowned in curiosity as Esme mentioned the type of tension that was radiating from the house. Apparently, Dean wasn’t particularly angry, just stressed. Or it could be Mika. Duke didn’t look for much confirmation, as he pressed his lips together and nodded, showing his relief that at least Dean didn’t seem in fight mode…yet.

He turned and followed Esme out the door, down onto the gravel below. Although he couldn’t feel the tension in the same way Esme could, he could still feel that things didn’t seem cheery and excited. There weren’t a bunch of voices booming through the thin windows of the kitchen, the way they typically did when everyone was awake and together. Instead, it almost seemed like everyone was quiet and waiting for something. Duke sighed, stepping up behind Esme. He placed his hand on her lower back, to support her with whatever her mind seemed to be going through.

When she voiced that she could feel that the others were uneasy, Duke rubbed his hand against her lower back in a soothing circle. He narrowed his eyes, trying to think of why the angels would have come early. He was vaguely aware of the fact that they were coming, but not today. He shook his head, “Maybe? But why would they come early, unless somethin’ big happened that they can’t wait for? And if it’s something that big then why would Dean be so uneasy unless there’s…a timeline?”

Duke decided to just rip the bandaid off, and reached around Esme, pulling the door open before stepping in, his attention immediately on Dean as he crossed the threshold. He heard Mika greet Nat and Cason, who seemed to just be joining them, and he never took his eyes off Dean, “Everything okay?”

Dean shook his head, nodding at Cason as he came into view, before turning to look down at Duke with a hushed voice, “I don’t think so. But I don’t know anything, yet.”

“Angels?”

“Yeah…” Dean grumbled, taking a bite of his food. Duke could even tell by the way that Dean was eating that he was in a hurry and he was expecting something to go down at any moment, meaning that the angels had likely given them fair warning. With a sigh, Duke returned to Esme across the room and he shook his head.

“Something’s comin’ that has them scared. Angel big.” Duke explained simply, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets, “And I can already tell that Dean is wantin’ to do this one alone. I can see it in his eyes. He’s willin’ to sacrifice himself, because I’m assumin’ he’s worried about all of us…”



“I think that’s the only option.” Dean replied quickly as Mika voiced her concern about Natalia following them and getting herself hurt, or worse. Convincing Duke to keep Nat at the house, if Mika was with Dean would be a feat, as Duke would want to follow them too. Duke would likely not take ‘no’ for an answer. So, Dean rolled it around in his mind, thinking to himself that Esme might be the best option. She didn’t know as much about angels, and probably would be just fine keeping Duke away from them. In turn, Nat would be safe, between Esme and Duke…and Cason who was the most Angel hating person in the group.

“I don’t know if we would be able to keep her away, unless Duke agrees. Speak of the devil.” He grumbled as he heard the door to the RV close. The way Mika spoke about Anna and Sam made Dean’s heart clench in his chest. He hated them not knowing about a case this big, especially something dealing with demons. Anna had heavy duty powers and so did Sam. Not letting them in on a demon case just seemed wrong. But this wasn’t any demon. This was Alastair. Nothing good could come out of Alastair having either of them close to him, teasing them into drinking more blood or using their powers. “But Sam and Anna can’t know. No one can tell them. No one can call them. They’re in the dark until we’re back. I’ll deal with Sam’s rage fit later.”

As Nat and Cason entered the room along with Duke and Esme, Dean’s tension in his shoulders only tightened as he tried to come up with a plan in his mind to keep all of them safe and away from this. He didn’t know if Cas would just show up and run off with them, or if he would explain…which would give all four of those he wanted to stay in the house a reason to follow.

“Morning sunshine.” Dean forced a smile at Natalia, and he ruffled her hair as she approached, before Duke approached him, asking for more details about what was coming. He couldn’t lie to Duke if he tried…and he tried.



Cason breathed a silent huff of relief as Natalia believed what he was saying, at least enough to concede to not worrying. Maybe he would be able to keep her close to him, even if Dean Winchester was stupid enough to run off with angels. Again, Natalia wasn’t going anywhere near angels. As Nat pulled away from him, Cason didn’t fight her, sitting up a little straighter in bed. He then rolled off the side of the bed and stood, walking over to his boots. He was already dressed, but he hadn’t bothered putting on his boots to prevent Nat from busting her ankles up on the buckles in her sleep.

He shoved his feet in his boots and then stood there, watching her dress. He inhaled a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he scanned his eyes over every scar and dimple of her skin. It still seemed surreal to him that she was his…and she was here with him. He had saved her, taken a chance with her, and now…he got to love her.

Before she could exit the room, he stepped up beside her, and pressed a tight kiss to the side of her head. He was afraid to kiss her lips, afraid they would never leave the room. But he just had the overwhelming urge to show affection, which caused the burning in his forehead to appear all over again.

He released her, letting her lead the way out of the room and then quickly followed, nodding at Bobby as he passed the desk. The second they stepped into the living room, Cason could feel a horrifically intense tension filling the space, coming from the kitchen.

“Okay…I can’t pretend anymore. Something’s wrong.” He leaned in and muttered to Natalia, wrapping his hand around her upper arm to pull her back against his chest, as he could read Dean’s expression like an open book.



Anna’s eyes widened almost painfully as Ruby made her threat to Sam. She shook her head, and met Sam’s eyes as he glanced to her. From the look on Sam’s face, she could tell that Ruby would most definitely force Anna’s hand if Sam refused to drink. But Anna didn’t want to watch him get high. If she was scary and out of control when she was high on blood, she couldn’t imagine how scary Sam would be. With a frown, Anna just weakly shook her head and kept her eyes on Sam, fully prepared to burn Ruby with whatever power she had left, if she needed to.

But then Ruby zoned out, seeming to get some sort of message or hearing something through a channel that Anna and Sam couldn’t hear. As Ruby explained that the angels had Alastair and called it a ‘practice run’, Anna went pale. She had already been with Alastair. She had already killed dozens of demons at Alastair’s hand, pushing her to the limits, and almost killing herself. She didn’t take it quite as lightly as Sam did, and she definitely didn’t want to have anything to do with any plan that involved Alastair…and angels.

But the longer Ruby and Sam argued about the ethics of drinking demon blood, the more enraged Ruby seemed to get, as if she was scared. She was on a time limit for whatever it was she wanted them to do, which made Anna worry that she would quite literally sacrifice either of them…especially Anna, if it justified her end game.

“You’re not…” Anna argued as Sam seemed to piss Ruby off. Anna clutched the blankets around her chest and she attempted to scoot away from Ruby, as Ruby climbed onto the bed with her, and roughly grabbed her chin. Any other time, and under enough influence, Ruby’s skin would be burning as soon as Anna resisted her. But Anna whimpered at the grip to her chin, and how hard Ruby gripped in order to force her mouth open, “Ow! St-“

Her words were cut off by a small trickle of blood falling out of the bottle, straight down the back of her tongue as she did her best not to swallow it, at Cason’s request. Her skin began to heat with the tiny amount, not quite burning Ruby but definitely hot enough that Anna could feel it behind her own eyes. Anna shook her head, wrenching her face away from Ruby as Ruby’s hand loosened from her jaw. “Sam. You don’t have to do this. Sam?”

Anna’s stomach cramped at the small bit of blood that was now swimming around, forcing her into a slight buzz that she didn’t want. She glared at Ruby as Ruby cooed to Sam, as if Ruby had some ownership over him…or they were in a relationship. It made Anna feel a bit sick to her stomach, and as Ruby turned to her, Anna shook her head, the glare never leaving her face, “And what exactly are we supposed to do to Alastair? I’ve killed dozens of demons in the same room with him, and it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to even hurt him. Neither of us is strong enough to kill him.”

But as Anna complained, Ruby began to allow Sam to feed directly from her body, something that Cason only did under intense stress, when they were both looking death in the eyes. It was under extreme emergency…and this didn’t seem to be that. Sure, it was Dean. But Dean had all the backup of the group and these were angels…not demons. There was nothing that Sam or Anna could do to angels.

“We can’t kill angels. Sam stop it! Stop it right now. We can’t kill angels!” Anna snapped, moving to step off the bed with the sheets wrapped around her. She snatched Sam’s t-shirt off the ground and pulled it on over her head, letting it fall around her knees as she stepped over to her jacket.

She had no desire to drink more blood, but between the addiction and the idea that Sam would go alone, she forced herself to accept it. She fetched the bottle of blood that Cason had given her. It was supposed to be an entire weeks worth of blood. She opened the lid, tossing it aside, and then reached for Sam’s hand before downing the entire bottle in one breath. The heat in her chest and her hands soared and she groaned softly, leaning into Sam’s side. She tossed the bottle aside, “You can stop. We should stop…”

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.

MIKA

Mika hated keeping Sam and Anna in the dark as much as Dean did but she knew it was for the best. Just as it was for the best that they convinced the others to keep Natalia at the house to the best of their abilities. The thought of any of them being wherever they are going terrified her more than anything. Then there her constantly feeling tense not knowing when Castiel was going to just appear out of nowhere for them both. "I agree, it's better for everyone it's the way we've decided on" she replied as Natalia and Cason appeared just before Duke and Esme did. She saw how Cason leaned into Natalia and said something to her before Nat made it close enough to Dean to ruffle her hair.

She too ate her breakfast as everyone regrouped once again in the kitchen area. It was rapidly becoming their normal place to group up and discuss everything it seemed. Mika tried to keep her nerves in control in front of the others, her only tell being that her foot silently was constantly tapping the ground as Duke brought up his assumption to why they were feeling rather uptight. She let the two of them briefly discuss everything, just enough to give information but not so much that it would cause any high emotions in the others. As they chatted, she gestured for Nat to come over to her which made Natalia raise an eyebrow, but do as Mika wanted and walked over to her, where Mika just pulled her into a hug.

"we're not gonna lie to you sweetheart, Cas is coming for us early" she told her as Esme came over to Dean after Duke said something to her. Despite standing next to Dean, she couldn't hear a single word that Esme was telling him but she could get plenty of ideas about what it could be. It wasn't difficult to figure that Esme was probably telling him not to do any of this alone or to be safe. One or the other as it pretty much standard words of warning when it came to Dean. Letting Natalia go, she kept her close, knowing she had to when she was about to break the news that she could not come with them. She waited for Esme and Dean to stop their private conversation before she looked at Nat, Cason, Duke and Esme.

"As Dean has stated, it's Angel related. Cas is coming this morning for Dean, but he's agreed to our terms about what he wants Dean to do. Those terms are that I go with him, but only me" she began to explain. "So that means we need you three-" she looked at Esme, Duke and Cason, "to keep Natalia here." she finished saying, "what, no!" Nat disagreed, "This isn't a choice Nat for you to make. It's going to be too dangerous for you to be wherever we're going and we can't risk you being there. We need you safe" Mika explained before looking back up at the others, "so please keep her safe here. We're trusting you all" she said, making it known that she truly did mean Esme as well. After the night before of knowing that Nat could confide in Esme, she knew Esme was a safe person to leave Nat with, other than Duke and Cason.

NATALIA

As they walked into the kitchen where Mika and Dean were, she felt Cason grab her arm and pull her back to him whilst telling her that he could something was wrong. She looked at him before looking at Dean and Mika and back at Cason. "If his body language is anything to go by...I agree. But right now it's just those two" she told him back quietly. She placed her free hand on top of his and lightly removed it from her arm. "Let's find out what" she added, giving him a look that she would be okay for the time being. There were no angels in the vicinity that they were aware of, taking a gamble in thinking if there was then Cason would know before the rest of them. Once she was free of his grip, she walked over to Dean who proceeded to fake a smile and ruffle her hair, making her grimace at the action and fix her hair when he stopped. Any other time she would have told him to get off, but it didn't feel like the right thing to say in this moment.

She stepped back as Duke and Esme walked in, going back to Cason, not liking the vibe that radiating off of Dean or Mika for that matter. "they're definitely not okay" she spoke quietly to Cason, confirming what he had assumed and getting extra confirming when Dean confirmed with Duke that it was Angels. She didn't like this at all, and every part of her wanted to help them, wanted to go with them, give them both extra backup. She looked around at the group, saw how Duke was letting Esme in on something to do with what Dean just said whilst Mika and he tried to eat their breakfast relatively quickly. Part of her was starting to think she should just beg them not to go at all, tell Castiel where to stick it and stay home. Yet she also knew that wasn't an option in the slightest.

As Esme walked over and spoke to Dean privately, she looked up as Mika gestured for her to go to her. Now she knew with absolute certainty that what was coming for Dean and Mika, it was bad. Mika never did this to her unless it was truly a dangerous situation that they were about to go into. It made her stomach sink and after a quick look to Cason, she walked over to Mika who just enveloped her into the tightest hug she had gotten from Mika in a long time. It took her off guard and she didn't like what this meaning. "Meeko?" she questioned, hugging her back before Mika finally let go just enough to talk to them all.

'Keep Nat here', the words she refused to accept, "what? no!" she exclaimed in defiance, but it wasn't enough. Mika continued to speak her reasons and practically beg the other three to keep her at Bobby's and as far away from wherever they were going as possible. Natalia had no choice but to accept the decision made. Folding her arms across her chest, she really didn't like being forced into a decision she didn't agree with.

SAM

Anna's words just fizzled out into a faint hum as he drank from Ruby, unable to stop and Ruby didn't want him to. She needed him strong, stronger than he had been before Anna came back onto the scene. Ruby just smirked at Anna's words, turning her head to the girl, deciding that she would speak on Sam's behalf. "Oh hunni...I'm not wanting you two kill Angels. No...I need you to kill Alistair and with how strong you both have been currently, it's no wonder you've not hurt him in the slightest. No, this is why I need you both so much stronger, drinking more blood than either of you ever have before in one go and with my help? I can help you both end Alistair's life. Not just send him back to Hell, actually kill him. Lilith needs him and so if we get rid of Alistair, then we've broken down Lilith's shield" she explained, saying anything to get the two of them on her side.

Sam soon reached a point where he couldn't consume anymore blood, pushing himself away from Ruby, stumbling backwards and onto the edge of the bed, wiping his mouth. He felt like such a failure and never wanted to go back to this addiction. He wanted to be a good influence and hopeful sign for Anna to remain demon blood free, but here Ruby was making him destroy all of those wishes in a single moment. "I'm so sorry Anna..." he said to her quietly but honestly. His whole body felt like it was vibrating with the demon blood inside his system, he looked down, unable to look at her because he was scared she would be so angry with him. He couldn't bear the thought of Anna being angry with him all over again.

Yet she reached out for his hand as she downed the bottle of Cason's blood instead. Taking it gladly, he held her hand tightly, squeezing it in the hopes that her touch can soothe him and his thoughts in this moment. "so what now?" he asked Ruby, refusing to look at her for his own self control. "You take a breather, then continue drinking. You're still not strong enough Sam." she said flatly.

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?”



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.”



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?”

As soon as Esme came to and felt Dean’s hands on her upper arms, she could feel that he had tensed up even more than before. She watched him as she gave her vague answer. She knew it was vague, but how could she tell him what she saw at the end of her vision? How could she tell him they might lose someone when she didn’t want to believe it herself? Esme watched as Dean looked over at Mika, knowing he now was probably tempted to sneak off without her. She barely heard Mika delegate Natalia’s care to herself, Duke, and Cason as she watched Dean. Esme’s eyebrows knitted together at Dean's words, and her eyes grew worried. “You always do.” she mumbled inaudibly. Dean always did what he thought he had to do, no matter what anyone said. As he backed her into Duke’s chest, she was tempted to tell him to take at least one more of them as backup but knew he would shoot her down. When Duke wrapped his arms around her, Esme sighed, leaned into him, and placed her hands on his arms as Dean spoke to all of them. She didn’t want to listen, but in a way, she knew he was right.

Esme hated the idea that they had to stay behind while Dean and Mika went on to do whatever the angels wanted Dean to do, especially after her vision. She understood that they both wanted to keep Natalia safe, but she felt like two just wasn’t enough on this case. But again, she knew Dean wouldn't change his mind and knew that he probably had to fight to have Mika go with him. At the arrival of the angels, Esme’s mind and herself fell silent. She grew tense and gripped Duke’s arm slightly as she watched and listened to the interaction between them and Dean. When Duke spoke up, she nearly flinched and gripped his arm a little tighter, then narrowed her eyes at Uriel’s answer, threat, and him calling Natalia a whore. Even though she had words she would have liked to say, Esme stayed quiet as Dean snapped at Uriel. All she could bring herself to do was stand there with Duke, watching and listening silently, even though she agreed with Duke on deserving to know where they were going. But of course, they wanted to make sure they stayed back and away. As the bickering and conversation continued, Esme watched and listened on, her ears perking when Castiel asked Dean the magic question.

Dean may not have known what they wanted, but she did, which made her stomach knot painfully. She had never seen that side of Dean and didn’t want to, though she had seen it twice due to her visions. Esme dropped her head and closed her eyes, unsure how much more she could hear or handle between them. It was becoming too much. When they left, she sighed silently as silence filled the kitchen momentarily before Cason broke it. As Esme felt Duke stepping away, she stood straighter and removed her hands from his arms. With Duke closer to Cason, Esme stepped back until her back hit the wall, then she slowly slid down it to sit on the floor, keeping her eyes closed. Cason’s voice sounded distant as the image of Duke crying while cradling someone flooded her mind. She tried to shake it from her mind but failed. ‘Who is Duke holding? Out of all of us. Who would he cry that hard for? Me, Dean, and Mika. Sam?’ she thought. She wasn’t sure if he knew Natalia and Anna well enough to make him cry that hard, but it was possible. She didn’t want to admit it to herself, but it scared her not knowing who Duke was holding.

Knowing how Dean could possibly come out of this scared her as well. With how Dean looked, it could easily be Dean that Duke was holding and crying over, but she knew it could easily be Mika because she was there, too. Squeezing her eyes shut tighter, she released a shaky breath and brought her trembling hands to her swimming head. “Who is it? Who is it?” she softly whispered.

MIKA

Mika knew Natalia wouldn't take the news or decision to leave her behind well, but the way Nat was really trying to change their minds hit Mika harder than she initially thought. It broke her heart seeing the looks Nat was giving them, but it also made Mika's decision to not let her come along even stronger. Nat had been through enough and she didn't want the girl to get affected by Alastair's conniving ways or worse, hurt or killed. She finally noticed how Esme froze after touching Dean, whilst Dean asked her what she was seeing before he guided Esme back to Duke. She didn't like how Esme was after this new vision she had gotten, it drove more dread into her mind and soul about what she was about to follow Dean into, but she knew she couldn't let Dean go alone. She silently told Nat to go back to Cason's side, knowing she'd be safe with him. She gave Cason a simple look to thank him for keeping her safe even though he, not Duke or Esme, actually outwardly agreed to keep Nat at the house. If it came to it and she had the moment to, she would just ask Bobby to keep her at the house. She knew Bobby would keep Natalia safe and put her to work to keep her distracted if it really came to it.

As Dean spoke to Nat to explain exactly why neither of them wanted to risk Natalia coming with them, she nodded her agreement to his words. She wanted to speak up but the feeling of wings creating a breeze in the house caused her to tense up. It felt bigger than last night, and when she saw Castiel had brought another Angel with him, she realized why. She didn't like the vibe this other Angel was giving off, he struck her as a real stickler for the rules type and incredibly savage if it needs must. It felt like Uriel’s stare could kill them on the spot if one were to look long enough at him and that put her on edge. Her shoulders tensing. She couldn't recall seeing Uriel before, and yet he also felt familiar at the same time. She stepped up beside Dean, showing she was with Dean no matter what. Nothing or no one was going to keep her away. She could see Castiel’s eyes softening as he turned to Dean, seeing that despite Uriel's demeanor, at least Cas was trying to be more diplomatic.

Then Duke spoke up, and Mika couldn't help but exhale, wishing Duke didn't speak at this moment. She loved him dearly, but now wasn't the time to pick an argument with an Angel. Looking over at him, she gave Duke a look to say ‘please don't…it's okay’, but it clearly went over his head. Her head quickly turned to Uriel again when he threatened to kill Duke, anger bubbling up inside her as her protective sisterly feelings got triggered, but it was when he called Natalia a whore that really angered her. She was ready to really say something to him when Dean beat her to it and told Uriel to shut up in his own way. She stepped up behind Dean and helped Castiel to pull the two men apart from each other. “Dean…” she spoke softer, but that didn't stop her from shooting Uriel a very annoyed look. If she had it her way she would have punched the hell out of Uriel for talking to Duke and Nat the way he did. Even if she broke her hand, it would have given her great satisfaction for standing up to Uriel.

She gritted her teeth as Uriel then threatened to throw Dean back in the pits of Hell, his words just angering her even more, making her more determined not to leave Dean with this guy without her being nearby. She looked between the three men as they continued to discuss terms, glancing at Dean as he glanced at her before her eyes fell back on Castiel. “I'll stay back, I just can't let him go alone Cas.” She agreed to his terms, as Dean also agreed to them, watching as Uriel stepped up to her. Him reaching two fingers up onto her forehead made her flinch slightly before she couldn't help but close her eyes and disappear from the kitchen at Bobby's and finding herself in a warehouse when her eyes reopened. Looking around, she forced herself to focus on where she was and to try and find Dean, to steady herself as it felt a little dizzy for a few seconds from the form of travel. As Dean jogged over to her, she held onto him as he hugged her tightly. Part of her was convinced that Uriel would have taken her somewhere else entirely, so when Dean came into view and engulfed her in his arms, she felt so relieved Uriel kept the bargain.

As he pulled away enough to check her over, she gave a nod, “I'm fine, I promise I'm fine” she confirmed to him.

NATALIA

As Dean had also explained why neither of them could risk having her come along, she sighed. She didn't like it but she could also tell by the way Dean looked at her, he was asking this of her as her brother, not as a leader and so she knew she couldn't dispute or deny his request. Conceding to it, she gave a nod as she went back to Cason as the rustling of items around them happened and two angels stood in front of them all. She felt Cason's uneasy feeling grow by the sight of Angels, making her want to protect him as much as he wanted to protect her. She didn't like Uriel, she was worried about seeing her brother and Mika going off with him. He felt so intimidating and cruel to her even though all he had done so far was stand and talk. But she got really bad vibes off of him, bad vibes that were on par with the demons back at the once standing asylum. He didn't seem like an Angel who was actually angelic, or at least, fair like Castiel seemed to be. As Cason wrapped an arm round her, she wrapped hers round his back in reaction, gladly staying close to him.

Then came the harsh words from Uriel, calling Cason an abomination, making her angry, but it was the calling her a whore that completely threw her off guard. She went wide eyed at how Uriel could say that about her, just because she was close to Cason. She wanted to say something, but for the first time in a while, she was stunned into silence and actually felt insignificant, looking down at the ground as Dean stood up for her and confronted Uriel about his words. She remained silent the entire back and forth Dean had with the angels until Uriel stood in front of Mika, which made Natalia lookup. In a blink of an eye the two of them were gone and Nat just stood there, trying to compute everything that just transpired. When Cason picked up her hand, she looked at him, suddenly mentally back in the room as he said he knew where they took Dean and Mika. She was ready to go, and if he hadn't been holding her hands, she would have made a bee line for getting her boots on and heading out.

Yet after he replied to Duke, he said the one thing she didn't want to hear from him. For her to stay behind. “You're joking right? There's no way I'm staying behind. They're my family. I can hold my own out there” she calmly protested, but it was clear from Cason's face that he wasn't going to back down on this. Sighing, she gave up fighting everyone in this situation, “...fine” she finally replied. “I'll stay here with Bobby…but it isn't fair and I don't like it” she told him, “I'll go call Sam” she then added, letting go of his hands and stepping away to call her other brother.

SAM AND RUBY

Seeing Anna's reaction to her words about killing Alastair, Ruby smirked knowing she was winning Anna over finally and getting her onto the side of the plan. Oh Lilith was going to be over the moon with how well Ruby's plan was working. But now wasn't the time to get too smug and excited about how well it was going for her, Ruby had to remain the way she was and not let anyone in on what her true motives were. She let Sam leave her when he had his fill and watched as Sam and Anna remained as close as ever and still very much all loved up. It made her want to vomit how sickeningly sweet they were but it was making it a lot easier to manipulate them both for the ultimate end game.

Sam closed his eyes when Anna told him it would be okay and pressed her lips against the side of his head, keeping ahold of her hand as she did so. He knew they would be okay if Anna said they would be. Just as he needed her to trust him, he too needed to trust her, and he did with his whole heart. “I know you are” he quietly said back to her, before he looked up at Ruby as Anna told Ruby they would do what she needed them to. The two blood junkies and their demon supplier. He was impressed at how confidently Anna was talking to Ruby, as well as how Ruby reacted to being called princess. “Oh I'll get you some fresh food bags” Ruby replied, having no remorse in calling her fellow demon kind food bags for Anna and Sam. With that Ruby disappeared in a blink of an eye, returning a few moments later with two demons under her grip before pushing them towards Sam and Anna. “There's more where that came from if needed. Drink kids!” She smirked.

Sam looked at one of the demons, the male with pure hunger in his eyes, making the demon uncomfortable and as he tried to turn around and leave, Sam practically pounced on him and began to drain him in a swift action by cutting the demon's throat with a knife that was concealed in his jeans pocket, and drinking straight from the source.

After a while, the demons laid dead and drained in the ground as Sam's phone started ringing. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he reached out for his phone and answered it.

“Nat what's wrong?” He instantly asked, having seen Nat’s name flash up on his screen. “What?! Okay okay calm down…we'll head back” he replied, acting like he didn't know through Ruby that it was all going down with Alastair, the Angels, Dean and Mika.

Dean huffed with relief as Mika confirmed that she was okay. He didn’t step away from her for a long few moments, just watching her face as if keeping his eyes on her could prevent him from ever having to look at the angels that were staring at them. Dean’s second thoughts were coming in like a tidal wave, and he was already scanning above Mika’s head for an exit. All they had to do was to shake the angels.

“Dean…” Castiel called out to him, and Dean reluctantly turned to look at him, glancing to the door that Cas was standing next to. Cas was alone, and he seemed to want Dean to come to him. So, he reluctantly released Mika, and walked over to him. As soon as Dean stepped up to the rusty metal door, he glanced through the window that Castiel was staring through, and his heart dropped. He scanned over Alastair, chained and bound to a Star of David iron rack. Beneath him, there was a spray painted devils trap on the slick concrete floor. “The devil’s trap is old Enochian. He’s bound completely.”

“Well that’s fascinating.” Dean grumbled, shivering externally as he clenched his jaw and turned away from Castiel. “Where’s the door out of this place?”

“Where do you think you’re going to go? No one knows where you are, Dean.” Cas tried to reason with him, but Dean waved his hand around and he picked up Mika’s hand as he searched for a door. But Uriel stepped in front of him, glaring down at him.

“Angel’s are dying, boy.” Uriel spat at him, and Dean scoffed, shaking his head.

“Seems everyone’s dying these days. I get it. You’re all powerful. You can make me do whatever you want. You can take everything from me. But you can’t make me do this.” Dean practically begged both angels, squeezing Mika’s hand as he stared Uriel down.

“I know it’s a lot to ask. But I have to ask it. WE have to ask it.” Cas chimed in, and Dean turned to him, scanning his entire demeanor. It seemed as if Castiel wanted to talk to him alone. Cas seemed extremely uncomfortable, rebellious, even.

“I want to talk to Cas alone.” Dean barked, turning to Uriel, who turned his eyes up to make eye contact with Cas over Dean’s head. Castiel gave a small nod and Uriel chuckled.

“I think I’ll go seek revelation.” Uriel grumbled before disappearing. Dean sighed with relief, and he pulled Mika with him, turning back to Castiel.

“What’s going on Cas? Since when does Uriel put a leash on you?” Dean asked, holding Mika’s hand close to his side, as if he could somehow shield her from anything that could come for her, just by touching her.

“My superiors have begun to question my sympathies. I was getting too close to the humans in my charge. Namely, you. I’ve begun to express emotions, the doorways to doubt. I was working closely with a demon. I wasn’t questioning your motives…your ways. My judgement was clouded.” Cas explained simply, bluntly, turning his eyes to Mika as if to drill home the fact that he really did have their best interests at heart, even if she couldn’t see it.

“Well, you don’t want me doing this. Trust me.” Dean tried but Castiel shook his head. “If you ask me to open that door and walk through it, you won’t like what walks back out.”

“I would give anything to not have you do this. I would give anything to send you home to rest with your family…with Mika. But my hands are tied, Dean. I mean it.” Cas said with a little more authority. Dean shook his head and the dam broke, as he scoffed and tears filled his eyes.

“Give me a minute.” He choked out, tugging Mika with him as he walked across the room, giving as much privacy as he could with Cas still in the room. He turned her to him, and scanned her entire face with his teary eyes, “I don’t want you watching any of this. I don’t want you on this planet, while I do this. I don’t want you to see that side of me, because I don’t know if I can come back from this…”

He toyed with Mika’s fingers nervously, and sighed, letting a single tear fall over his nose as he tried to think of options, “M-maybe Cas should take you somewhere…somewhere safe.”



Cason nodded, understanding that Natalia wouldn’t be happy about staying at Bobby’s, but Cason also knew that his head would be much clearer, and he was more likely to be able to help Dean and Mika if he wasn’t worried about Nat’s safety. Before Nat pulled away, Cason leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to the top of her head, before turning to Duke, to formulate some sort of plan.

“I can only get you close to them, and after that, you’ll be on your own. I can’t go…not yet. I will listen, and if I’m right, I’ll be there to handle the angels, so you guys can get Dean out.” Cason explained to Duke, who nodded his head, as if he was being given marching orders. But Duke tilted his head in confusion.

“What do you mean handle the angels? What are the the angels planning to do to Dean?”

“Nothing. Nothing that I know of, but they’re going to push him to a point that I don’t know that we can bring him back from. I’m willing to be a distraction…” Cason spoke low, to where only Duke could hear him, because he knew that Nat would fly off the handle at his plan, “If I don’t make it out, you all get out, bring Dean back and keep the angels away from Nat…by any means necessary. Got it?”

“I heard you loud and clear.” Duke nodded, before turning to Esme. Duke squatted in front of her. He brushed her hair out of her face as best he could, and judging by the look on her face, he wasn’t going to like whatever the outcome might be. But they had to try. “If you need to, you can stay here with Cason and Natalia. I can make this trip. I’m capable.”

Duke spoke quietly, brushing his thumb down her jaw as he scanned her face, trying to decide if he should just make a run for it, and force her to stay behind, “I don’t want you doin’ nothin’ that’s gonna put you in danger. Cason’s gonna back me up later on.”



Anna’s heart raced as she waited for Ruby to respond to her suggestion, but as Ruby straight up seemed motivated to get them more demons so they could get this whole thing overwith, Anna sighed with relief and she tightened her hold on Sam for a moment, as Ruby disappeared. She simply stroked his hair, looking his face over with a neutral expression, making sure that if he made eye contact, he saw no judgement. She brought her thumb up and whisked away a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth, right as Ruby showed back up with the two demons.

The smell of them hit Anna’s nose immediately, and she could feel her blood heating up, just at their presence. Anna released Sam as he seemed to have the same reaction, only more aggressive. She stood and stepped over to the table, picking up the knife that sat in the center, as if waiting for her. She then ran at the female demon, and shoved her back against the door, wrapping her hand around the demon’s throat. She burned her until she could no longer scream and then stabbed the knife into the side of her neck, latching her mouth over the wound and drinking her dry within minutes.

After a while, Anna dropped the drained demon to the floor and she growled, her teeth barred and her chin dripping with blood as she sat on her knees and Sam’s phone rang out in the mostly silent room. Anna was brought out of the roar of her high as she heard Sam say Nat’s name, and she was brought back to the present, for the most part. Cason was going to be pissed at her…

“We’re going back?” Anna spoke in a tiny voice, he body shivering from the amount of demon blood that was coursing through her veins. She could hear Ruby’s heart buzzing in her head, and as time passed, she was more tempted to attack her, but she took deep breaths, pushing the thoughts down as best she could. “But Cason’s going to be there. Cason’s gonna be there and I will…what if I attack him?”

As Esme sat on the floor, she could hear everything spoken between the three in the kitchen, even though their voices sounded distant, that was until Cason dropped his voice. It came as a bit of relief knowing Cason knew where the angels had taken Dean and Mika and that he could get them close, but it still bothered her to know what they would find. Out of all the visions she had in life, she had never been able to change them unless it was something small, and this wasn’t small. Esme knew there was no changing the outcome of this vision. Something told her they would never make it in time to change it. Her heart sank, and she forced back the tears threatening to show themselves. Now wasn’t the time to cry. She had to pull herself together and be strong even if she was scared about her vision coming true. Again, Esme tried to shake the image of Duke crying and cradling someone from her mind, finally being successful. She drew in several deep, shaky breaths and slowly let them out, trying her best to collect herself and get control of her trembling body.

Esme could feel herself starting to improve when Duke squatted in front of her and brushed some hair from her face, causing her to flinch. She didn’t feel him approach her like she usually did. Dropping her hands from her head and opening her eyes, she looked into Duke’s face, unable to erase the worry resting on her face. Her eyebrows knitted together at his words, and she softly shook her head. “No….” she started but was cut off by his thumb brushing her jaw and his following words. Esme scanned his face. She knew that look in his eye. She could see he was debating on making a run for it and forcing her to stay here with Cason and Natalia. “There’s no way in hell I’m letting you walk in alone. Even with Cason backing you up later.” she told Duke softly. Lifting a hand, she took Duke’s hand and squeezed it, looking deep into Duke’s eyes after tilting his hat back a bit. “If you go. I go.” She didn’t like what they would find there but wouldn’t let Duke find it alone. Esme knew that he was going to need her on this one more than ever, and she was damn sure going to be there for him.

“You and me. Remember?” Esme told him. “That applies to just about everything we do. You'll have to lock me in a room or tie me down to make me stay here. Which I can tell you're tempted to do.” She continued to look deep into his eyes to drive home that she meant what she said, and if he did either of those options, she would find a way to free herself and come after him. After losing him once, she was determined to keep him from going off on his own and potentially doing anything stupid and reckless, which was a possibility after what she saw in her vision. Esme was determined to be there and help him through everything. Whoever he was holding in her vision, she knew the grief could potentially push him over the edge and cause him to bolt. She was going to do everything she could to keep that from happening and show him she was there for him.

MIKA

It wasn't entirely surprising that Dean refused to look away from Mika, so she kept looking at him back, trying to transfer some kind of calm through her eyes to him. She had no empathy power like Esme, but she hoped if she could remain calm, at least on the outside, then hopefully Dean could find some comfort and calm for himself. It was times like this she wished she did have Esme's ability to share emotions with him, hating seeing him so terrified of what the angels clearly wanted him to do. When Castiel called out to him, she sighed, and even though Cas may have wanted to talk to Dean alone, there was no way she was going to let that happen. She needed to know exactly what they wanted Dean to do so she could be there for him when it was done. One glance through the window into the room from behind Dean, she instantly had a sinking feeling in her stomach as it all began to come together as to what they wanted Dean for. The only comforting words Cas said were how heavily bound Alastair was bound, and even then it wasn't a great amount of comfort. She didn't trust the fact that Alastair couldn't break free whenever he wanted. She didn't trust that Alastair wouldn't manipulate Dean in some way and get free.

Mika saw how he shuddered and looked around once more for an exit door, only for Castiel to tell him there was nowhere for him or her to go. She grabbed his hand back with both hands, using her thumb to rub the back of his hand in an attempt to be a soothing influence on him. When Uriel appeared once more in front of Dean, declaring how Angels were dying, Mika was tempted to say how they didn't give a rats ass about angels dying. Dean just got there first, and she squeezed his hand back. She didn't want him doing this anymore than he didn't. This wasn't in the least bit fair on Dean, especially when he was still dealing with the trauma of Hell in his head. As Uriel finally agreed to leave them alone, she exhaled a breath she didn't even know she was holding, glad that Uriel was gone. He really gave Mika the creeps which she found ironic considering he was meant to be an Angel, a being that people found comfort in the idea of seeing.

She let Dean and Castiel discuss the gravity of what the angels were asking Dean to do and when Cas turned to her, making her just look at him as blankly as possible, but that wasn't enough as her annoyance and disapproval of this request was still written all over her face. She wanted to just take him away from this place, find an exit herself and pull him to safety and it upset her that she couldn't do that for him. She always swore she would pull him from the brink anytime he found himself there and it felt like the angels were making her break that oath to him. As he pulled her across the warehouse just far enough for Castiel not to hear them have a discussion, she listened to him speak.

She shook her head, “I'm not going anywhere Dean. I won't watch if that's what you want, but I won't leave this place. If you come out not the same person as standing in front of me now? Then I'll bring you back. I have always said to you I will bring you back from the brink when you need to be brought back. That oath to you will not change now.” She started to say, lifting one hand up and wiping his tear off his face. “I know you can come back from this because this time you got me. I love you and I need you to keep that in your mind when you're in there okay? Don't let Alastair in there destroy that one little part of your mind that's full of love and protection. Remember, we have gotten through a lot, you have been there for me through some of my hardest times and now it's my turn to do that for you” she said, looking him straight in the eyes as she spoke. She had to drill it into him that whatever happens in there, she was going to bring him back off that mental ledge no matter what and no Angel or demon was going to stop her.

“I got you..I got you” she said once more, leaning in and pressing a firm kiss on his lips before pulling away.

NATALIA

Nat's back was turned to Cason, Duke and Esme as she got through to Sam on the phone and she had to admit, he didn't sound right. He sounded almost high and she knew that wasn't like him. This was not something they needed to be dealing with right now, if what he sounded like on the phone was remotely near to the truth of how he was in person at the local bed and breakfast. When Sam said they will head back, she sighed with relief, “thanks Sam. Cason thinks he knows where they were taken to, but I got a really bad feeling about this. So hurry back” she replied to him, “I will, we will. Just hang tight” Sam's voice said back down the phone and with that Natalia hung up. Pocketing her phone once more, she turned round to see Cason speaking very quietly to Duke and that sent her down the path of worrying what he was planning. ‘please don't be thinking of doing anything stupid’ she thought to herself before walking back to the group, or who was left of the group. *They're heading back now but uhh…Sam sounds kinda like..he's high” she warned them all.

She watched on as Duke walked over to Esme and knelt down in front of her, talking with her and it kept the anxiety of what was happening just build up more in the pit of Natalia's stomach. She reached out and grabbed Cason's hand, resting her head against his shoulder, not knowing if she would ever get the chance again if he decided to go after Dean and Mika. “You're going to go with them…aren't you?” She spoke up, glancing her eyes up towards his face. “I'm not stupid Cason, I can tell by your body language.” She commented. She really didn't want him going, she couldn't bear the thought of losing him after she almost lost him once already. Only this time angels were involved and Uriel made it abundantly clear how he feels about Cason and herself. “I know nothing I say is going to make you change your mind and Duke and Sam will need the backup but I won't lie to you and say I'm not scared of losing you. You cannot, and I mean CANNOT tell me you love me last night, only to go and die in me today okay? Promise me you'll fight to come home to me?” She requested of him, for once, being mature about the situation.

SAM

Sam had tried his hardest to sound completely sober on the phone, but there was something in Nat's tone that said she was concerned about his state of health. He was trying to block out the pulsing of Ruby's blood coursing through her body, as he focused on what Natalia had been telling him. She sounded terrified and he knew they had no choice but to go back to the house briefly, get Dean and Mika's location and head straight back out. The real test was being able to do all that without attacking Cason, something that Anna voiced, whereas he just thought it.

“We just gotta try our damndest to not do that. But Nat sounds incredibly scared about the situation. We have no choice but to go” he replied to Anna, walking back to her and taking her hand, linking their fingers together. *If you want you can wait outside and I'll fill you in once I get the information” he suggested, deciding it was better to give her another way to deal with this. “This is bigger than us” he said.

*Got that right handsome” Ruby chipped in, only to get a stern look from Sam as if to say ‘I didn't ask you’, which made Ruby smirk, “well then, I'm outta here, you know how to contact me if you need a boost” she told him, then disappeared in a blink of an eye, to not come back. Sam sighed and walked over to Anna, taking her hands, “I know you're scared to hurt Cason, but the angels have taken Dean and Mika to Alastair. Nat is terrified but Cason swears he knows where the others are. We have to go help. This could be our only chance to do what Ruby wants- kill Alastair.” He said to her softly but urgently. Leaning down, he kissed her forehead after wiping his mouth once more of any blood around it, so as not to leave a bloody mark on her head, pulling her into his arms and hugging her. They both felt so hot to the touch but it couldn't be helped, not after drinking so much demon blood that shouldn't be even remotely possible. Hugging her tightly for a few moments, he tried to compose himself before pulling away. “We gotta finish getting sorted and leave.” He said once more, despite the risks of them both going back to a house that had a demon inside it, and a demon his sister was very much in love with at that.

Dean watched Mika’s face carefully as she spoke, and although he believed every single word she said, his need to get her away from the area was still high. As she wiped the tear from his face, Dean closed his eyes and he sniffled, before opening his eyes to stare as deeply into hers as he could manage. Even though he wanted to shoulder those emotions with her, like they had promised each other, the thought of coming out of the door behind him a different person than she had ever seen was terrifying to him. He didn’t want to break her heart or disappoint her.

“Mika I don’t…” He began, but she cut him off by kissing him. Closing his eyes and breathing deeply through his nose, Dean kissed her back, breathing her in for what could be the last time, if that side of him came out. He was running out of time to let her know how much he loved her, and how much what he was going to do in that room wasn’t who he was…or at least he wanted to believe that. As she pulled away, Dean chased her lips briefly and then he took another deep breath, squaring his shoulders, “I love you. I’ll see you on the other side, alright?”

With a sniffle, Dean turned and made eye contact with Castiel. Cas nodded and stepped away, returning with a clattering cart of random tools Uriel had procured for Dean to do his job…torturing Alastair for information. Dean sighed, looking at the cart, recognizing a lot of Alastair’s favorite tools there. Trying not to think too hard, Dean took the cart from Castiel and he pushed it up to the door, before turning to look back at Mika. It was his last chance to change his mind. Huffing, he pushed the cart through the door and attempted to ignore Alastair’s mocking laugh and then his singing.

“Heaven, I’m in heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak. I seem to find the happiness I seek, when we’re out together…dancing cheek to cheek.”

Dean scoffed, but he never looked up at Alastair as he pulled an apron from the top of the cart and tied it behind his neck, flattening the fabric against his front. Alastair didn’t relent, continuing his teasing.

“I’m sorry. This is a very serious and emotional situation for you. I shouldn’t laugh but are they serious? They sent you to torture me? I can smell your tears from here, Dean! I can smell…who is that out there? Oh…the tall one. The one with the fire in her veins. What’s her name again? Mika?” Alastair teased, and Dean froze, looking down at the cart to avoid Alastair’s eyes as he picked up Ruby’s knife.

“You got one chance. One. Tell me who’s killing the angels. I want a name.” Dean barked at Alastair, who completely ignored him.

“Oh don’t be so grumpy. I’m sure we’ll have fun together. You know the bigger of the two is bringing your little one right here…right where I want her. Do you think she’ll dance with me again? I liked dancing with her. She was…really something with a little push and enough blood in her system.”

“Tell me who’s killing the angels.” Dean grumbled through gritted teeth, trying to ignore what Alastair was teasing.

“No. See, I’m not afraid of your little toys. I’m not just going to spill my guts for you.”

“Oh you’ll spill your guts one way or another. I just wanted to avoid ruining my shoes.” Dean spat at him, turning to approach the rack.

Outside the door, Alastair’s screams echoed through the boiler room as Castiel paced in front of the door, making sure that he kept Mika out of the room and safe, like he had promised Dean. He turned his head and glanced over at her, deciding to break the ice and try to have a conversation.

“You know this isn’t my doing. I would never ask this of Dean if it wasn’t necessary. I don’t expect you to trust me. You haven’t thus far, but I will make sure that he comes out of this as intact as possible. I will do what I have to do.”



Cason turned as Nat approached him and gave a situation update for Sam. He furrowed his brow, a bit worried at that point that Anna might also be high. He hoped that she had listened to him, and refused whatever Ruby might have offered her, but knowing Ruby, she wasn’t given a choice. He gritted his teeth and pushed the bad feeling down as Nat grabbed his hand and leaned her head on his shoulder. He tightened his grip on her hand briefly as she asked if he was going after Dean and Mika. Truth was…he wasn’t going to try and save them. He was going as a final blow if they needed it.

“Nat I…” He started but she cut him off, telling him that she wasn’t stupid. His face softened at her words and he just allowed her to voice her concerns, knowing that she wouldn’t fully understand his plan, no matter how he worded it. But as she voiced the he couldn’t die on her, Cason pulled away from her, and he turned and pulled both his hands up to cup her face and make her look him in the eyes.

“Listen to me. I’m not going with them…not yet.” Cason explained, his eyes scanning hers to tell her he was speaking the absolute truth. He then took a deep breath, “And when I do go…I will do everything I can to get back to you. If I’m right, I can do the job without the angels ever seeing me coming. If I’m wrong, things might get complicated.”

He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers, “The only reason I’m not letting you come along is because the plan is insane, and I’m the only one who can do it. I have to. I have a good feeling about the doubt that I felt dripping off the angel in the trench coat. If I can convince him of that doubt, he might be willing to help me pull your brother back from the edge of that cliff. He might be willing to fight on our side. I have to take that hunch and run with it. And I’ll be back here, with you, in minutes. Alright?”

Without another word, he pressed a tight kiss to her lips, brushing his thumbs over her cheeks for a moment. As he broke the kiss, he kept his eyes closed and his forehead pressed to hers, brushing her nose with his, “But for now, I’m here. I’m listening. I’m waiting until I can get him alone.”



It was times like this that Duke wished he had never let Esme learn his body language so well. She even knew his facial expressions, probably better than he knew them himself. If he had just run when he had the chance, there wouldn’t be a discussion of her even thinking of coming with him. But now, she was reading him like a book, and arguing with him. She picked up his hand and Duke sighed through his nose, freezing as Esme tilted his hat back and spoke the words that always made him freeze…using the trio’s motto against him.

‘If you go. I go.’

“Dammit…” Duke whispered, watching her eyes. He couldn’t leave her behind now if he tried. She would do something stupid and she would end up getting herself killed. And just like that, she confirmed it with her words. Duke nodded his head, his eyes darting around for a moment as he tried to find any solution that would keep Esme safe. After a moment, he sighed, scrunching his nose to push down his emotions, “Alright. Alright we’ll go together. But you have to be careful, and you have to stand back if you feel anything that feels off. I don’t know what emotions you’re gonna experience when we get where we’re goin’…and I can’t protect you, if I’m tryin’ to get to Dean.”

He paused and turned his eyes back to hers fully, “We gotta bring him back. I owe him that much.”



Anna shook her head as Sam explained that they had to go back to the house whether they liked it or not. But the idea of staying outside, where there was a wall between herself and Cason’s loud buzzing heart calmed her a little. She nodded rapidly and did her best to wipe some of the blood from the corners of her mouth, glancing down at her hands to make sure they weren’t completely covered. She didn’t exactly want to explain it to the others at the house.

As Ruby finally left, after Anna’s best attempts to ignore her, she let a breath go that she had been holding and took another shaky deep breath, looking up at Sam as he took her hands. She could feel how hot his skin was, even with the heat of her own against it. If anyone touched him, they would likely pull their hands back in fear. She didn’t even want to think about the actual surface temperature of them, figuring that it was well over 110 degrees…enough to fry any other human’s brain.

“We have to go get them.” Anna said softly, not even thinking of killing Alastair. If they managed to, that was great, but they couldn’t just leave any part of their little family to die at his hands, and Anna knew better than anyone other than Dean that no matter what trap the angels had built…they couldn’t keep Alastair for long. He would find a way to bust out. Sam’s lips against her heated skin almost felt like ice, and she closed her eyes taking in any little touch she had with him, as if it was the last time…

As he pulled her into his arms, she clung to him, gripping at his back to pull him as close as humanly possible. It almost felt like a goodbye, and it wasn’t at all what she was prepared for today. One way or another, they would be coming back from this…together. She would kill anyone in their way, all on her own. She knew that wasn’t realistic, but when it came to Sam, she would sure as hell try.

But as Sam pulled back and once again told her they had to leave, the flutter of wings blew things around the room, and a man stood in the room with them, shaking his head in disappointment.

“Well, the damage you two do when you’re alone…” Uriel scoffed, shaking his head as he looked at the dead bodies on the floor. He turned his eyes up and held a hand out. “Two less demons in the world, but two supercharged abominations in their wake. Isn’t that lovely. You two’s love story just…warms my heart. But I’m afraid it’s over.”

“It’s what?” Anna asked, and Uriel lifted his chin.

“It has been requested of me to remove you from Sam Winchester’s reach. He’s distracted. My superiors have requested that he is…released from his chokehold. You.”

“No. I’m not going anywhere without Sam.”

“I didn’t ask if you wanted to. I told you what I’ve been sent to do. Meaning, you come with me, or I break your spine and I take you anyway.” Uriel seethed at Anna, as if she disgusted him just by existing, “I have every reason to smite you where you stand…little one.”

“I’m not…” Anna started, but Uriel sighed, reaching forward. He wrapped his fingers around her chin, and then they disappeared, right as Anna reached for Sam and began to scream.

Esme watched Duke, knowing he was probably thinking he wished he had never let her learn his body language and facial expressions so well. He had promised to let her in when she asked him to, and she was glad he did. It made things better between them, but she knew that she sometimes took advantage of what she could see. She didn’t mean to take advantage, but sometimes it was the only way to know his thoughts since she couldn’t read his mind. Esme just wanted to be there for him and to keep him from doing anything stupid, which she hoped he knew. She also knew his way of thinking was to keep her safe and would do anything to keep her out of harm's way. Esme knew that if she let Duke, he’d lock her away somewhere safe and not let her out until he returned. She couldn’t allow him to do that, even if it would make him happy. She wasn’t one to just sit on the sidelines and do nothing while others needed the help. With everything she had gone through in this way of life, she had to do what she could, even if it sometimes scared the hell out of her.

Using the trio’s motto, Esme knew she was playing a little dirty, but she knew he’d never be able to leave her behind if she used it. She watched Duke freeze as soon as the words left her lips, then whispered as he watched her eyes. She watched him nod his head, and his eyes darted around momentarily as if he were looking for a solution to keep her safe. As soon as she heard Duke sigh and saw him scrunch his nose, she knew he was taking her with him. Esme sighed a bit through her nose at his words but nodded as he turned his eyes back to hers and spoke again. Keeping hold of his hand, she brought her free hand up to his face, stroking his cheek lovingly with her thumb. “I promise I’ll be careful.” she told him, still looking into his eyes. “If anything feels off, I’ll let you know. But you have to promise me you’ll also be careful. Okay?” Esme leaned forward, her nose just inches from his. “I don’t plan on doing anything that will hinder us in bringing Dean and Mika back home. After seeing how Dean looked in my vision, I want him back here just as much as you do.”

Esme looked deep into Duke’s eyes to show him she meant her words. “If it makes you feel better. Think of it as me going with you as backup. You have the lead on this. I won’t put myself in any situation that makes you feel like you need to come to my rescue.” she told him. “But if you get into trouble, you can bet your ass I’ll jump in.” Closing her eyes and sighing softly, she tilted her head and kissed his nose softly, then touched her nose to his. “Before Sam and Anna get here, I’d like to go to the RV and get some things.” she said softly.

MIKA

Mika felt she had to force herself to not just take his hands and make a run for it. She wanted to remove him from this situation so much and protect him. She felt she could find an exit if she looked hard enough, but she also knew deep down that Castiel or Uriel would find them and retaliate if she tried anything. “See you on the other side” she replied, letting him go reluctantly and watching him take the cart of torture devices and head into the room, only for Castiel to close the door firmly behind Dean. Letting out a long breath, she turned around on the spot, lifting a hand up to her mouth, her other sitting on her hip. If Castiel wasn't here or she remotely trusted Angels, she would have prayed to them to keep Dean safe and protect him. She eventually turned back round so she was facing the door and Castiel, but the screams of Alastair's sent shivers down her spine. This felt so wrong on so many levels and she couldn't see any reasons for what Cas could say that would justify making Dean do this. So when he spoke up, she stared right at him. “You’re right, I don't trust you right now. I don't trust any of you angels. However, that doesn't void out how grateful to you I am for bringing Dean back from Hell, saving him at the asylum and healing Nat. My trust still needs to be earned but you have my respect for those three actions” she said to him honestly and oddly calmly for her, considering the situation she was in.

As more screams echoed through the walls, her shoulders tensed up more, as she forced herself to not cry at knowing what Dean was doing against his will. “Cas this isn't right. I know you say you will do what you can to get him out as unscathed as possible, but you don't know him like I do. Have you even truly made sure it's demons that are killing the angels? Truly done a deep dive into checking whatever is leading you to believe it's demons at play, is actually true? Because no offense, but I don't trust Uriel and what he says in the slightest.” She said to him, not afraid to talk about Uriel this way as he wasn't in the room with them anymore. “Actually, I correct myself there, I mean full offense when talking about that asshole. He had no right talking to my family the way he has. He's lucky I kept my mouth shut back at the house and here” she added. Sighing, she began to pace herself in the little spot she was in, playing by Castiel's rules and not going to the room Dean was in. She made a promise to behave herself and for the time being she had full intent on keeping it.

She didn't know what else she could possibly say to Cas so she continued her pacing as she tried to block out Alastair's screams, knowing they weren't Dean's which was the tiniest bit of comfort, but not enough for her to really acknowledge it. So much of her wished she could tell the others in a text or call what was happening and how much she was concerned, or take this burden off of Dean and do it for him, but she couldn't and it made her hands feel tied.

NATALIA

If things hadn't panned out the way they did in the barn the other night, Natalia wouldn't have been nearly as worried about being the only one left behind this time round. But things did happen the way they did before and the last time she was left behind, she got taken, almost murdered and Cason almost died as well. She had every valid reason to be hesitant about this upcoming situation. Of course she wanted Cason and the others to go get Dean and Mika and bring them home, more so now that she has finally begun to break through barriers with Dean the night before, but she didn't want that to be at the cost of losing Cason either. As he pulled away from her and cupped her face in his hands, she looked him in the eye to listen to what he was about to say to her. Instinctively, she grabbed his jacket and gripped it back as he spoke, nodding lightly so as not to move his hands from her face.

She believed his words when he said he wasn't going yet to get them, trusting him when he said he would do everything to come home to her. Closing her eyes as she felt his forehead pressed against her own, she let his words sink in before reopening her eyes. If he truly believed he was the only one who could do whatever crazy plan he had concocted in his head, then she was going to trust him on this. “Ok-” she began to say when she felt his lips on hers, kissing him back.

She stood there silently as he brushed his nose against hers, a rapidly becoming common sign of affection she noticed from him, as he then said he would remain here at Bobby's until he knew he had an opening. “I trust you. Wholeheartedly. I guess I'm just paranoid after…you know…” she told him with a sheepish smile. “But I know if any of you can do this, it's you.” She said honestly.

SAM

Sam was ready to go and get his family back from Alastair, he was ready to end Alastair for what he had done to Anna, all the torment and games. He didn't want Dean doing whatever it was the Angels wanted him to do, but he knew it couldn't be anything particularly good. Times like this, he was starting to believe that Angels were as bad as demons and there was no good guy in the fight to stop the apocalypse between them. As he pulled away in response to Anna's pulling away, the flutter of wings and an intimidating voice echoed in the room made him quickly turn around and stand in front of Anna protectively. “Who are you?” He asked, but Uriel just ignored him and spoke to them both like they were less than human. Then came the words that he was to take Anna away from him and his shoulders instantly tensed up, not being okay with that in the slightest.

“You stay away from her!” He warned but again, it all went on deaf ears and Uriel took Anna in a blink of an eye. “Shit!” He cursed, looking around wondering how to get her back. As he quickly gathered what things were still laying around, he grabbed the car keys and room key and exited the room, rushing down the stairs, dropping the room key in the drop box outside the reception and power walked to Mika's car, where he got in and began to drive back to the house.

Panic was overriding him as he didn't know how to explain to the others that some angel just came in and kidnapped Anna. Cason was going to be so angry at him now doubt because yet again, he failed to protect her. “I'm not gonna fail you again Anna…not this time” he swore out loud to the air as he sped his way back to the house, pulling up in the back lot and making his way inside. “Some angel took Anna” he simply said.