[h2]Esme (Collab with Duke, Cason, and Dean)[/h2]
 When Esme came out of the RV, she hadn’t even noticed Anna and Sam sitting on the Impala talking. Her mind was so focused on Duke wanting to speak with Dean and what could come of it that everything else was drowned out. Besides Sam, she felt Duke was the only other person in the group who could get through to Dean with Mika gone. She continued to pace, chewing on her lip and avoiding looking through the window. Esme knew that a fight could possibly break out over Duke confronting Dean about needing to burn Mika’s body. It felt inevitable. She was no stranger to any of their fights, which back in the day was mostly a scuffle. However, she had witnessed a few times where they threw punches. But something about this time told her this would turn out much worse than a scuffle and a couple of punches thrown between the two. When Sam and Anna approached her, she nearly jumped out of her skin, not hearing them cross the gravel. She looked up at Sam, sighing softly at his question. She saw Anna out of the corner of her eye looking through the window into the basement but didn’t take her eyes off Sam. 

She let Anna talk to Sam before she answered Sam’s question. “I’m afraid so.” she started. “Other than you, I feel like Duke is the only one who can get through to Dean about needing to give Mika the funeral she deserves.” Esme sighed heavily as she closed her eyes briefly before a visible shiver overtook her from all the emotions flowing from the house. “I didn’t want him going in alone, but I’m having difficulty going into the house. The emotions are too strong and overwhelming.” she admitted. “But I don’t have a good feeling about this.” Esme brought a hand up to her aching chest, and another visible shiver ran through her body as her face went pale. She felt Duke’s anger rising quickly. Esme looked to the back door moments before Anna came out screaming for Sam. “Oh no.” she breathed. Anna’s screams told her that Duke and Dean were in a nasty fistfight, just like she feared would happen. She turned her worried eyes to Sam. “We have to step in and stop that fight. I’ll get Duke.” she said quickly. Without waiting for a reply, Esme ran to the back door, pulled it open, and ran inside. 

Upon entering the kitchen, she could hear the fight, and her stomach cramped painfully. She hoped she and Sam could break it up before it got too out of hand. She ran through the kitchen and to the doorway, stopping in her tracks at the sight in the living room. It was almost worse than she could have imagined. Esme felt frozen on the spot until she heard Cason talking to Duke, saying she would walk in on this. She winced when Dean punched Duke, clearly not giving up the fight, then winced again, seeing Duke shove Dean's head against the floor. They were both a bloody mess, and she could see they had tears mixing with the blood on their faces. This couldn’t go on much longer. Esme opened her mouth to call out to Duke, but he spoke to Cason, causing her to shut her mouth and listen as Cason replied to him. Her heart ached as she watched the scene unfold in the living room, hearing what was being said. She could pretty much piece things together even though she missed much of what had been said in the beginning. She had to find a way to help Cason and Sam stop this fight from going further.

Esme finally willed herself to move when she saw Duke’s hands grip Dean’s jacket, and then Cason reached out to stop him. “Duke! This has to stop!” she called out. “If this keeps going, you’re going to kill him!” She ran over to Duke and Dean, thinking of what she could do or say to bring this fight to a stop. “Please, Duke, stop. I know you don’t want to kill him.” she begged him, then placed her hand on his. She hoped her voice and touch would bring him enough out of his rage to think clearly and see how much damage he had done. 



Duke stopped for a split second as he heard Esme's voice call out his name. He didn't even know she was nearby, but hearing his name snapped his head up for a moment as Dean growled weakly beneath him. Before Esme could reach him, Duke shrugged Cason's hand off his shoulder and turned his angry eyes back down to Dean, who wasn't really fighting him anymore. But then Dean's hand came up to wrap around Duke's wrist that he was holding up.

"No..." Duke growled, twisting his arm out of Dean's grip. Another touch came to his hand, and Duke instantly reacted, assuming it was Cason grabbing him to make him stop. Without another word, Duke twisted his body and he threw a punch at the person closest to him. That fist came in contact with Esme's nose, the sickening sound the blow made causing Duke to wince before he ever realized who he had hit. 

Cason dropped his shoulders, realizing that this was the end of the fight. There was no way Duke wouldn't be pulled out of his rage after hitting the ONLY person that he loved with all his heart.



Esme didn't have any time to dodge or block Duke’s fist with how fast he reacted to her touch. She never saw it coming, even if she should have. Never did she ever think Duke would hit her, not even in a state of rage, but it did happen. When Duke’s fist connected with Esme’s nose, she cried out as she stumbled backward from the force of the punch. Holding her now broken nose in her hands, she was in utter shock and could barely wrap her head around what had just happened. Esme lifted her watery gaze to Cason first, blinking quickly to clear her blurred vision. She saw his shoulders drop, then looked to Duke, who was still straddling Dean. 

She didn’t move from her spot as she looked at Duke and Dean, taking in the state they were both in more clearly. “Duke?” she called his name softly yet sternly, pain evident in her tone. “This fight needs to end now before anyone else gets hurt. You’re not the only one who wants to put Mika to rest, but do you really think beating Dean to death is going to make it happen easier?” She slowly stepped closer to Duke. “I also know it’s not just Dean’s inability to put Mika to rest that brought on this much rage.” Esme slowly stepped around in front of Duke and placed a gentle hand on his arm. “It’s time to stop, Duke. Take a deep breath.” she told him. “We will give Mika the funeral she deserves. Deep down, Dean knows it’s the right thing to do.”



Duke heard Esme's voice as he turned his eyes up to look at Cason, who was still standing beside him. It was then that his stomach dropped. Cason was untouched, unharmed and was now just staring at him in shock and sadness. Duke looked down at his bloody hands, and Dean's face, and after a moment, he willingly dropped Dean roughly on the floor as Esme spoke to him. His hands began to shake as he realized how bad his anger had come over him, and how much damage his rage had actually done. 

Duke flinched at Esme's touch, like a scared animal, but as he turned his puffy eyes up to see her face, he realized that he had, in fact, hit her. Instantly, his eyes softened and he tilted his head, reaching his shaking hand out to touch her cheek. Every ounce of rage turned to regret, and a new type of anguish that settled somewhere in his feet as he looked over her nose and what he had done.

"Oh god..." He sobbed, dropping his hand to Dean's chest. Dean didn't move, just taking deep breaths as he lay there, his own anger completely squashed by the uncharacteristic outburst, and violence. It was over. Duke's shoulders slumped for a moment as he cried openly, something that he would never have done...

"Let's get you cleaned up." Cason spoke softly to Duke, trying his best to offer an olive branch and help Esme, but all it did was bring Duke back to the reality of what he had done. With Cason wrapping an arm around Duke's, Duke stood from the ground and he instantly stepped over Dean onto shaky legs, limping toward the kitchen, "Where are you going?!"

Duke only stopped briefly, grabbing Ruby's knife from the open duffel on the kitchen table. He then pulled the kitchen door open and stomped through it, as Cason looked to Nat for any sign of what to do about the situation. The kid was going to get himself killed.



Esme wasn’t entirely sure she was getting through to Duke until he looked up at her with puffy eyes. She saw the moment he realized he had hit her in his rage. She watched as his eyes softened and his shaky hand touched her cheek. She tilted her head into his touch, feeling as his rage turned into regret and anguish as he looked at her nose. Esme’s eyes softened as she looked into his puffy eyes. As she sobbed and dropped his hand to Dean’s chest, she knew Duke would never forgive himself for hitting her, even though she wasn’t mad about it or holding it against him. She watched both Duke and Dean; their anger had been completely squashed, and neither had anything left to fight each other anymore. Esme knew it had to do with the uncharacteristic outburst and violence. As Duke openly cried, she gently squeezed his arm before Cason stepped over to Duke and spoke to him, then reluctantly stepped back as Cason helped Duke to his feet. She gave a look of thanks to Cason for the help but soon grew tense as things changed quickly. When Duke stepped over Dean and limped to the kitchen, her stomach knotted painfully.

She saw the look on Duke’s face as Cason lifted him from the floor. She knew the emotions that were pouring off him. He was going to bolt, which knocked all the wind out of her. She felt like she was losing him all over again. Duke grabbing Ruby’s knife from the duffle on the kitchen table only confirmed everything she felt was happening. “Duke, don’t do this! Please!” she called after him before the door closed after he opened it and stomped out.  Esme couldn’t control the fear and worry that overtook her. Duke was hurting emotionally and injured from his fight with Dean. She couldn't see it ending well. She would surely lose him again if he ran off now. She had to try despite still having his truck keys in her pocket. If she was fast enough, she could get to him before he could hot-wire his truck. Esme ran to the kitchen, then through it. As soon as she grabbed the door handle, she heard Duke’s truck roar to life and then peel out of the lot. Yanking the door open, she ran into the garage, seeing Duke drive off. “Duke! Come back!” she screamed at his truck. “Don’t do this to me.” she breathed, tears filling her eyes, watching his truck disappear from her sight. 

Esme nearly collapsed on the gravel with how badly she was shaking. She couldn't run after him and couldn’t get in her car to drive after him; it was still being repaired. Her chest ached and felt tight, making it hard to breathe. As much as she didn’t want to, she would have to ask Cason to help her find Duke and bring him back. It was her only option other than borrowing a car and searching every place she came across for Duke. They had to find Duke before he got himself killed. Turning on her heel, she quickly walked back into the kitchen and to the living room, worry written on her face and tears in her eyes. “Cason?” she said, barely getting it out. “I feel I have no right to ask you this, but I have to. Can you find out where Duke’s gone and help me bring him back? With the states he’s in, I’m afraid he’s going to get himself killed.” As Esme looked at Cason, her eyes were almost pleading with him to help her, and they showed just how scared she was that something was going to happen to Duke. “I’ll owe you one.” she added.