NATALIA

As much as Nat wanted Cason to stay home away from the new threat that was Duke's rage, she knew it was the right thing to do to go after him and bring him home. She knew Mika would want him home and he deserved to say goodbye to her properly if they convinced Dean to burn her body. She looked up again when Cason came over to her and she listened to his words, reassuring her that he was going to come back. As he leaned in and kissed her deeply, she kissed him back, closing her eyes causing a couple more tears to fall before Cason pulled away and wiped away her tears. She let the feeling of his forehead on hers to linger as she looked at him, knowing the look he was giving her. “I know you will” she whispered to him, to show she did indeed understand the look he was giving her before letting him go and find Duke. When he disappeared, she let out a breath, hoping that Cason and eventually Esme could bring Duke back from the edge of whatever suicide mission he had bolted to. She didn't know Duke as well as the others did, but she still liked him and he always had made Mika happy, which made Natalia happy. He was also always so nice to her and didn't judge her for her outbursts. So she wanted him to come home.

She barely had a moment to register that Cason had momentarily popped back in the room when he had taken Esme to what she presumed was Duke's location. If he had come back for Esme then there was still hope that Duke could be brought back alive, so she forced herself to focus on the others left in the room and finally seeing that Dean let himself mourn and accept the facts. As much as he terrified her, she felt so sorry for him seeing him feeling this hurt and distressed. She watched as Dean just crumbled on Sam, crying uncontrollably into Sam's shoulder as he gripped onto him tightly, and Sam held him tightly in place, feeling glad that his brother was finally letting it all out. Nat glanced over at Anna as she spoke up about getting a bed ready for Dean so he could rest up, thinking it was a good idea. Dean needed to get this grief properly out of his system alone and not by sitting beside Mika's body in the panic room. “I'll bring the ice pack” she told Anna, wanting to help them get Dean upstairs. She unwrapped herself from the throw and got off the couch, power walking to the kitchen and opening the freezer to grab one of Bobby's ice packs he always kept in there with the frozen veg bags that Mika had always insisted he have. Any other time she would have grimaced at the frozen broccoli, but she didn't even give it a second glance this time. Her brother needed her and Sam and that's all she could think about right now.

Walking back into the room, she stood in front of both her brothers, looking up at Sam. “Let's get him upstairs, I'll help” she told him, getting a nod in response as she led the way to the stairs and up the staircase.

SAM

Sam kept a tight hold on Dean as he got onto his feet, seeing and feeling how unsteady Dean was on his feet. “I got you” he told him softly, letting Dean just take in all their other words. He knew that Dean would want to argue their requests but he also saw how much weaker Dean was after the fight with Duke and he just didn't have the energy to argue. Only able to finally agree to burning Mika's body. He held Dean close to him as Dean finally broke down, letting himself feel all the pain and grief he had been holding back these last three days. He let Dean just sob onto his shoulder, grip onto the back of his shirt, anything to just let it all out. “Let it out brother…I got you” he cooed before looking past Dean's shoulder to Anna when he heard her words break through the silence. “Thanks Anna” he replied, then glanced over at Natalia who offered to get the ice pack. He gave her a soft sympathetic smile to say thanks for helping, knowing how much she was scared moments ago, but still being able to be a sister to Dean.

He waited for Natalia to come back with the ice pack then when he thought Dean was ready to move, he began the slow careful walk towards the staircase and helped him up, letting Natalia always be two steps ahead of them both. He knew it would be risky taking Dean into Mika's room, but he also figured Anna would take care of any triggers for Dean so he could focus solely on resting up. Once at the door to the room, he paused for a moment so Natalia could open it for him, letting them in and he brought Dean to the bed, laying him down. He let Natalia step up and hand Anna the ice pack so she could play nurse. “Need either of us to stay with you to help?” Sam asked Anna, hating seeing his brother in such a state. He watched as Nat perched on the edge of the bed and took Dean's bloodied hand into her own without saying a single word. Just wanting to give him some kind of comfort as the baby sister. It brought the tiniest of smiles to Sam's face seeing Nat wanting to be there for Dean.

“Something tells me Nat wants to stay here” he remarked to Anna, with Natalia nodding and looking at them both. “I do…I wanna be here for him” she commented.

Dean cried quietly into Sam’s shoulder as everyone seemed to be preparing to get him cleaned up, around him. He barely even heard them as they spoke, through the roaring in his head as a lot of hard truths sunk in. Dean unwrapped his arms from Sam as he felt him begin to walk after a few moments, wrapping an arm around his shoulder as he tried to help his brother with his own weight. Dean was exhausted, and he was emotionally spent. He honestly felt like he was going to pass out from a mixture of lack of sleep, the fight, and finally getting his emotions out of his system. But he took each step slowly.

Anna stepped back into the bathroom, when she heard Nat and Sam bringing Dean up the stairs. She took an extra towel out of the small linen closet, and quickly wetted it under the bathroom faucet, before stepping back out into the room, just as they walked through the door. As she expected, the second that Sam lowered Dean onto the bed, Dean basically passed out, and Anna sighed sadly, dropping her shoulders.

“Poor guy.” She sighed, turning to look up at Sam as Nat picked up Dean’s hand and Sam asked if she wanted them to stay. Anna shrugged her shoulders, walking to the small dressing chair Bobby kept in the corner of the room, by the window. She picked it up, and turned it where Sam could straddle the back the way that he preferred. She sat it down on the floor and patted the seat, “Then why don’t we all stay for him. Until Duke comes home, I think we should focus on keeping Dean sane and resting…”

Anna didn’t like taking control of situations, especially after what had happened with Dean, but she couldn’t just let him bleed and suffer because she was angry with him. Whether he saw her as family or not, she was his family. Anna unfolded the towel in her hand and she stepped up to the bed, sitting on the edge near Dean’s head. She reached across and began cleaning the blood from his nose, forehead and cheeks. As she wiped the damp towel across his busted eyebrow, he opened his eyes and frowned, “Anna?”

“Shh. Be still. I’m gonna clean you up.” Anna stopped him, shaking her head. Dean scanned her face and his own melted into sadness all over again, but Anna shook her head once again. “Don’t even think about apologizing while you look like this. I want you in your right mind before you bother with groveling.”

Anna smirked softly, brushing the wet rag over the last of the blood near Dean’s ear. She gave his earlobe a slight tug, and shrugged her shoulders, watching as he seemed to almost smile before closing his eyes. Anna brushed the wet towel over his neck, cleaning up the drips of blood that had trickled down, and then reached across, handing the towel to Natalia.

“If you want to clean up his hands, I’m about to start working on his face. He doesn’t need stitches. A few butterflies and an ice pack and he should be alright. But he’s gonna sleep like a rock and be sore tomorrow. I would ask if we should undress him, but he looks like dead weight right now.” Anna explained. She reached her hands down and lifted Dean’s t-shirt up, brushing her fingers over his stomach gently, trying not to wake him as she checked for any sign of bruises or pain. Other than some bruising on his elbows, knuckles and probably his knees, he seemed pretty unharmed. “I think he’ll be alright until he can shower tomorrow.”

Anna opened the first aid kit, and she pulled a hand full of butterfly bandages and some ointment. She then started to work on Dean’s eyebrow, which seemed to be the worst wound.



Cason sighed and gritted his teeth so hard he thought they would shatter out of his mouth when Esme instantly uttered the words he was hoping she wouldn’t. Of course she wasn’t going to do anything he was asking of her. It was the way of practically every human he had come in contact with in this dysfunctional little self sacrificing mess of a family. He almost reached his hand up to choke her, but remembered that it wasn’t the way he handled his problems anymore. So, instead, he closed his eyes and let an angry sigh leave his nose as he contemplated his next words to convince her not to run the clock out on Duke, by arguing with Cason.

“Fine. Fine you can…” Cason paused, looking around as he tore his eyes away from Esme’s and attempted to find some way that she could go in with him safely. But the longer he scanned the building, he couldn’t find a single way to guarantee her safety. Her next words took him off guard, and he turned his eyes down to look at her once again, furrowing his brow at the mental image of Nat even getting herself into a situation like the one Duke was in. He didn’t even want to fathom the things he would do to get her out alive, and unfortunately, Esme had found his weak spot, “I would kill every single one of them in five seconds…and I would bring her home.”

He sighed, and glanced around the warehouse once again, pointing to the demons that hadn’t seen or heard them yet, perched around one of the entrances, “I’ll need you to fight your way in. I won’t be able to save you, if I’m trying to pull him out. So, don’t get overwhelmed or knocked down. Take out as many as you can, and meet me inside the door, quietly, in the dark, until I can take care of the rest. Mess this up and you die. I don’t know any other way to explain it to you…”

Without saying another word, Cason disappeared, and he reappeared in the warehouse, directly in front of the head demon. Cason stepped out of the shadows and Duke’s eyes instantly flashed with fear as he recognized him, and began to glance around for Esme. Cason snapped his fingers at Duke, causing his eyes to turn back to his, and Cason simply shook his head, telling Duke that he wasn’t stupid enough to have brought Esme with him…at least inside.

“Cason. I never thought I’d see you with my own two eyes again. Wow.” The demon in front of Duke called to Cason as he stepped into the light with a smirk.

“Yeah, yeah. Lilith wants my head on a pike. We can skip the chit chat. I’m here for the Cowboy.” Cason quipped across the room, his voice echoing off the walls, almost as clearly as the laugh that followed.

“See, he came for us. I figure he’s fair game. The Winchesters would understand…and wait a second.” The demon released Duke, stepping forward while pointing the long silver blade in his hand at Cason. Cason didn’t flinch or move, still smirking, “Why would the Winchesters send a demon to pick up their strays? Which one of the hot little pieces are you rolling with, hmm? The blonde one? No. The tall drink of water? See last I saw, she was…”

Duke growled, and the demon chuckled as Cason’s eyes darted to Duke’s teary eyes and Cason shook his head.

“The sister? Oh…oh this is good. This is real good. Two Winchesters bedding down with demons. Won’t Hell just be tickled…” 

“You know. You always did talk too much, Sal. So, why don’t we get this overwith. You and me. I win, Cowboy comes with me. You win? Well, the Winchesters have a couple more bodies to burn.” Cason offered, holding his hands out to his sides. The demon spun the blade around his hand, causing Cason to watch every move of the bright silver. “What do you say old buddy?”

“Deal.” Sal growled, and rushed forward, swinging and missing Cason’s face by centimeters. Without missing a beat, Cason caught his hand, turned the blade with a crack of Sal’s wrist and shoved it through his sternum with a bright light and a scream from Sal’s burning body. Cason’s eyes widened, and he stared at the blade for a few seconds. Another weapon that could kill demons?

Footsteps alerted him that demons were moving in. So, he dropped Sal’s body and turned, slicing two demons throats before they could fully approach him. From across the room, he could hear Duke fighting his own battles, demons being killed. So, he decided to turn and back his way toward Duke. The mission was to get Duke out of here, not to kill every demon in the building. As soon as he and Duke touched, their shoulders bumping together, the demons stopped coming, realizing that they had no weapons to use against Cason and Duke both…who had weapons that could fully kill demons.

“Don’t you smoke out now…C’mon!” Cason screamed at them, but the remaining six demons began tilting their heads back, smoking out of their bodies with a chorus of screams. With a growl, Cason stepped forward, chopping one of their heads off. And then it was quiet as the bodies dropped to the ground around Cason and Duke. 

Cason turned to Duke, expecting him to just come with him, “Let’s go.”

“No!” Duke screamed out of nowhere, turning his exhausted teary eyes up to Cason’s face as he pulled the knife out in front of his body, pointing at Cason’s chest.

“Duke…I promised them I would bring you home, and I will bring you home, one way or another. I don’t want to hurt you.” Cason explained slowly, and Duke simply chuckled. Cason held the blade out in front of himself, and dropped it to the sandy floor at his feet, holding his empty hands up. “I don’t…want to hurt you.”
“Well that’s the mistake right there, ain’t it. I’m DONE losing people. I’m DONE runnin’. And I’m real sick and tired of bein’ saved…” Duke choked out, his voice rising as he spoke and distraught tears falling down his cheeks, over his nose and off the tip of his chin. Cason nodded and kept his hand out toward Duke.

“I know. As a demon, you’re not gonna believe me, but I know. I know that right now, this feels hopeless. You just lost the one person who believed in you, no matter what. She was the one person who never pointed out your faults, she never picked you last, even when it came to Dean. I know…” Cason attempted to explain, stepping forward slowly. He placed that outstretched hand on Duke’s shoulder, and Duke reacted immediately, stabbing the knife into Cason’s stomach with a sob. Duke quickly removed the blade as Cason sparked a few times and stepped back with a gasp, holding the open and sparking wound.

“NO! You don’t get to talk about her!” Duke screamed, rushing Cason. He tackled Cason to the ground and pointed the knife down at Cason’s face, trying to force the tip into his eye socket. Cason grabbed both his hands, resisting as they both growled loudly, Duke’s growls a sob of mixed emotions. Cason almost managed to flip Duke, but in the process, Duke buried the knife deep into Cason’s shoulder, causing Cason to scream, echoing through the warehouse as he sparked, his skeleton showing behind the brilliant gold. Duke removed the blade and held it in his hand, so tight that his knuckles were white.
Duke leaned back, beating at his forehead a couple of times as he growled out a regretful sob and Cason took the opportunity, throwing a heavy punch that landed against Duke’s temple, knocking him almost completely out. Duke slumped over onto the dusty floor, the knife still clutched in his fist as Cason gasped for air, growling between ragged breaths. This felt nice and familiar…

Duke groaned, rolling onto his back as Cason rolled over onto his stomach, standing from the ground as quickly as he could. Now on his feet, Cason stepped away from Duke, trying to put some distance between himself and Ruby’s knife while his wounds began to slowly heal.

“I’m…I’m taking…” He inhaled a breath, barely able to fully breathe in, and then spit some blood onto the floor. “I’m t-taking you home.”

“No…” Duke groaned, slowly rising to his knees and then his feet. He stumbled, but stood on confident feet as he squared up. “Kill me. Let’s go.”

“I’m not going to kill you and I don’t want to hurt you, kid. There’s a girl who is likely about to walk through that door and she would…well…she wouldn’t survive that. I’m done losing people too....”

Duke punched Cason across the face, breaking his nose instantly, which Cason reacted to by punching Duke in the stomach, doubling him up before connecting an uppercut to his chin, knocking him completely back like a tree falling in the forest. But as soon as Duke hit the ground, he rolled onto his stomach, coughed, and began to rise again, causing Cason to sigh and roll his eyes.

“Stay down. I’m not going to kill you, idiot.” Cason groaned, standing over Duke. Duke swiped the knife from the ground as he stood to his shaky legs and turned to swipe it at Cason’s throat. Cason tilted his head back and the blade barely missed but somehow ended up lodged in his thigh, straight to the bone. With a growl, Cason started to reach for the blade, trying to take control, but Duke grabbed it first, twisting and pulling it from Cason’s thigh. Cason reached out, catching Duke’s wrist and snapping it with one flick of his own. Duke cried out, the knife slipping from his hand. Cason caught the knife, and quickly pulled Duke to his chest, jamming the tip of Ruby’s knife into Duke’s chin, small drops of blood pouring down the sides.

“The next round? I’ll break both your legs. You’re human. That arm’s gonna take long enough.” Cason growled in Duke’s ear, his eyes black and his head holding Duke’s still on the tip of the blade. Duke whimpered, trying to pull away, but Cason’s other hand reached around, caging Duke to his body, while putting pressure on his broken wrist. “Stop it!”

“Just k-kill me!” Duke cried out, nudging his own chin against the tip of the blade, but Cason turned the blade, pressing the sharp edge against his throat instead. Cason nudged himself a little closer to Duke’s ear, and softened his voice.

“I’m not going to do that. You have people who love you…still. There are people at that house who are depending on me to bring you home. I know this hurts. I know that everything in your body is screaming at you to run away, to do something stupid. But would your sister want you to tear yourself apart and get yourself killed because she died? We…will kill Lilith.” Cason almost cooed in Duke’s ear, feeling the poor guy nearly melting in his arms from grief. As he felt him relax, he kept the knife in place, but loosened his grip on Duke’s broken arm, “I will stand there with you…side by side if that’s what you want. I will hold her, while you drive this blade through her heart. But I will NOT let you die…here. I will not kill you and I will not let you continue down this path, because they need you. Esme…needs you. As much as you’re angry with your brother, he just lost the love of his life.”

“They don’t need me. They got each other.” Duke whimpered, now nearly limp against Cason’s chest. 

“And they don’t need another loss. None of them. Dean barely made it out of that room by the skin of his teeth. Your sister…she died. Sam fried half his brain killing Alastair and may be hanging on by a thread. Anna is trying to take care of everyone and hold them together. You’re the only one…the ONLY one that managed to come out of this situation fully…human and whole with someone on your side. I’m bringing you back as close to that as I can. I have to, man.” Cason whispered to Duke, and for the first time, Cason heard an emotion come out of Duke that wasn’t just rage screams and growls. He whimpered, and then a sob broke from his chest, deflating him as Cason loosened the hold on his neck. Cason shifted his arm, wrapping his arm around Duke’s neck to hug him to his body, “There you go. Esme?! A little help?!”

“I don’t know what to do…” Duke sobbed, and Cason nodded against the side of his head.

“I know. And that’s where the others come in. Let them…let them help you. Come back with me, and let them help. I got you…” Cason cooed to him, and even though Duke wasn’t entirely sure why, he tilted his head back on Cason’s shoulder and just cried, no more fighting. Cason sighed with relief, and just let him for a few moments before shifting his body to drape one of Duke’s arms over his shoulder, wrapping an arm around his waist. The poor guy was almost limp with exhaustion and grief. But at least he was going home, and Esme wouldn’t have to burn his body along side of Mika’s…

Esme watched Cason after she had spoken what she felt she needed to. She wasn't surprised by Cason gritting his teeth and sighing angrily. She knew refusing to stay outside in the shadows would piss him off, but she didn’t care. Her main focus was getting Duke out, back home, and patched up. Then, once home, maybe she could get him to talk to her. She knew getting him to talk to her would be challenging, but she knew he needed to instead of bottling all his emotions. When Cason began to tell her she could go in too but paused to look for a safe route for her, Esme looked too, seeing there was no safe way for her. That was why she felt the need to bring up the alternate situation, feeling it was the only way for him to see it from her point of view. As he replied, Esme nodded softly. “Exactly.” she said softly. She finally felt they were on the same page in a way. She hated that she had to use Natalia as an example to get through to Cason and not fight her to help him get Duke out of the warehouse.

When Cason pointed, Esme looked to where he was pointing, seeing the demons perched around an entrance that hadn’t noticed or heard them yet. She nodded as Cason spoke, then looked at him, giving him a look that said she understood. She knew it was entirely accurate, even if it was a bit harsh. Esme would fight her way into the warehouse to the best of her ability, knowing there was no way she would get in unscathed. After Cason disappeared, Esme looked back to the demons perched by the entrance again and sighed heavily. She could make out at least four demons from where she stood, but that didn’t mean there weren’t more, just out of sight. Esme pulled the two knives she had on her, then quickly and quietly made her way over to the demons, keeping to the shadows as much as she could. Once on them, she sprung on the first demon, shoving one knife into his back, piercing his heart, and twisting it before pulling it out. The body hit the ground with a thud. The other demon turned around in surprise, then narrowed her eyes at Esme. “Well, look what we have here, boys. The last Stirling.” one demon chuckled.

“I’m a little surprised you’re still alive after what I’ve heard going around.” the demon said as he took to his feet. Esme narrowed her eyes at the demons, but they soon widened as the one speaking stepped out of the shadows, and she saw his face. She knew this demon from her asylum days. “Venrik.” she nearly growled, her eyes narrowing again. “I thought you died that night.” Venrik laughed loudly, tilting his head back as he did. As he laughed, Esme adjusted her stance, then locked eyes with him when he looked back at her. “I barely made it out when those two buffoons showed up to save their sister.” Venrik told her. “It’s such a shame they also didn’t find you that night. Maybe things would have turned out differently, and you wouldn’t be so broken.” Venrik smirked as he saw the anger coming to Esme’s face. “Shut up! You, Vladin, and Morana should have died that night instead of running like cowards, but they both got what was coming to them!” she growled. “I killed them both!” Venrik laughed at Esme again and shook his head as he looked at her. As he laughed, Esme glanced at the other demons. They hadn’t moved a single inch.

“Oh, Pet…. Wait, that’s not right. What was it they called you?.... Oh, right. Little Dove.” he chuckled. Esme gritted her teeth and tightened her knife grip upon hearing the pet name Valdin and Morana had given her. Venrik grinned from ear to ear, seeing how the pet name affected her. It showed that she hadn’t forgotten about what had happened to her and hadn’t gotten over it. “Did you really think it was only myself, Valdin, and Morana you had to worry about from your days in the asylum?” he asked with a wide grin. A look of confusion came across Esme’s face as she thought about the demons that always loomed over her in the asylum. She couldn't remember any other faces other than Valdin, Moranna, Venrik, and occasionally one called Caellum. Venrik chuckled at her confusion before speaking as if he had read her mind. “Other than Caellum, there was one more. I'm not surprised you don't remember him. Every time he came to check on your progress, you were either unconscious or completely out of it. He was in charge of everything, and it was his idea to use you for the experiment.” Venrik grinned. “He’s going to be thrilled you’re still alive to finish what he started.”

“And I’m sure he’ll reward me handsomely for taking you to him.” Venrik grinned brightly as if he had hit some good luck. Before Esme could ask for a name, Vinrik nodded his head toward Esme, and the two demons with him charged her. She narrowly dodged the first demon, but the second landed a punch to her jaw, sending her stumbling back a few steps. Regaining her footing, Esme swiped at one demon, catching his cheek with her knife. He cried out in pain as the holy water and salt-soaked blade burned his skin. “Thrilled, huh?” Esme responded with a laugh as she sliced through one of the demon's shoulders. “Perhaps, but you should know I won’t go without a fight.” “Oh, I do know, Little Dove. I wouldn’t expect anything less from someone who runs around with the Winchester’s pet cowboy.” Venrik said as she watched Esme fight. After a moment, Esme plunged her knife into the heart of one demon and twisted it, but before she could remove the blade, the other demon tackled her to the ground and pinned her down after a scuffle, disarming her. He smiled down at her face triumphantly, but it faded as Esme grinned back.

Esme looked into the demon’s face as she projected fear onto him. She watched as the fear overtook him, and as soon as his grip on her loosened, she rolled and placed her hands on his face, melting it as he screamed. Once the demon was dead, Esme took to her feet and faced Venrik again with a glare, who grinned at her. “Well, would you look at that? That’s something we weren’t expecting you to do after everything.” he said in faux surprise. “What else are you capable of?” He whistled, and a large handful of demons appeared out of the shadows and surrounded her, but she held her ground. ‘I wasn’t expecting to fight this many, but I also wasn’t expecting to run into him either.’ she thought. Reaching into the inside pocket of her jacket, Esme pulled her collapsible bo staff, gave it a flick, and expanded to its full length. “Come and get me!” she called out to the demons as she spun the staff in front of her. She took a fighting stance as they charged her three to four at a time. Esme fought to the best of her ability, aiming at their heads mainly, but several got in hits on her.

Her eyes took on a lavender glow as she fought, and her body began to emit heat. She could feel Venrik watching her intently, taking in everything she did so he could relay it to whatever demon wanted her. “That’s right, fellas, rough her up but not too much. Ryker doesn’t want her too broken.” he said from the sidelines. ‘Ryker. That’s who wants me.’ she thought. “He’s not getting me!” Esme growled from the middle of the demons around her. Pressing a button on the staff, a blade popped out on one end, a modification she had made during her three days in the RV with Duke. Twirling the staff, she cut the necks of a couple of demons and cut the hands off a few others. Without missing a beat, Esme stabbed a demon in the heart, then flung their body into another. It took several long minutes to defeat all the demons Venrik sent after her. The bodies that lay at her feet and around her were either decapitated, stabbed through the heart, or had their faces partially melted and stabbed through the heart. Esme turned to Venrik, looking disheveled with a feral look in her glowing eyes and breathing heavily.

“Alright, Venrik! Enough games!” she growled at him. “If you want me to go back to him!.... Take me yourself!” Venrik stood from where he had been sitting, his eyes shifting to black as he pulled out a long, shiny silver blade. It was unlike anything she had ever seen, and she wondered where a demon could get such a weapon. Venrik saw her looking at the blade, and he twirled it in his hand. “This is a little something from those feathered assholes. When they die, they drop them, and these sweet little beauties can kill anything.” he chirped. Without another word, he charged her. Esme narrowly missed his attack, but the blade slid across her cheek, cutting it and causing her skin to sizzle as she gasped from the pain. “What the hell!” she growled as she spun to face Venrik. “Hmmm, interesting. Very interesting. Looks like you’re allergic to angelic weapons.” he said, smiling brightly. Esme and Venrik charged each other, making blows one after the other to each other's stomach, face, and ribs. She lunged and embedded the blade on her staff into his shoulder, causing him to cry out. Esme took this chance to go after the knives she had dropped earlier in the fighting.

As soon as she had picked them up and turned to charge Venrik, he had thrown the angel blade at her, and it pierced her right shoulder as soon as she turned. Esme cried out and dropped to her knees, gritting her teeth as the blade burned her. She reached up to pull the blade from her shoulder, and it burned her hand. As Esme fought with the angel blade, Venrik pulled the staff from his shoulder and walked over to Esme, placed his foot on her chest, kicked her backward onto the ground, and stood over her triumphantly as she hissed in pain. “You ready to give up yet, Little Dove?” he sneered down at her. “Never!” Esme growled. Bending down, Venrik picked Esme up by her jacket onto her feet and looked into her face. “Give up. You have nothing left.” he told her. “I have plenty left!” she growled with a grin. Esme’s eyes began to glow brighter, and the heat from her body intensified, burning Venrik. Without warning, she headbutted him and then jammed a knife into his stomach. As he cried out, she could hear his skin sizzling from where her head had hit his face. “I told you, I’m not going back to him!” she growled.

Taking hold of the hilt of the angel blade, she grit her teeth as it burned her, then pulled it from her shoulder with a scream. Esme then plunged the blade into Venrik’s heart. Letting it go, she stepped back as he screamed and sparked before his body fell to the ground. Esme stood there momentarily to catch her breath and took in the scene before her, hardly believing she had done all of it. But on the bright side, she had one less demon from her past to worry about. Esme then collected her knives, tucked them away, and then collected her staff, folding the blade back into it and collapsing it. She tucked it back into the inside jacket pocket and then returned to Venrik’s body and looked at the blade sticking out of his chest. It baffled her that the angel blade burned her like iron burned demons, but why didn’t it burn them? Pulling a purple bandana from her pocket, Esme wrapped it around her burnt hand and tied it. Esme then pulled her gloves from her pocket and put on the right glove, putting the other back in her pocket. Using her bandaged hand, she pulled the blade from Venrik’s chest and placed it in her right hand before finally walking to the door and going into the warehouse.

After Esme walked in, she kept quiet and kept to the shadows. The only thing alerting to her being there were her glowing eyes. She could hear the fighting going on as soon as she entered and instantly knew it was Duke and Cason fighting before she saw them just up ahead of her. Esme walked closer, stopping at some old shelving, and leaned against it just as Duke stabbed Cason, causing him to scream. She winced as his scream echoed through the warehouse as he sparked. She watched as Duke pulled the knife from Cason’s shoulder and held it tightly in his hand, then watched as he leaned back and beat his forehead a couple of times as he sobbed. Esme hated seeing him like this, and it caused her to grip the angel blade tightly in her hand, then tighter as she winced when Cason punched Duke’s temple, almost knocking him out. It took everything in her not to run from the shadows to him as she saw Duke slump over onto the floor. ‘Come on, Duke. Stop fighting him and just come home.’ she thought. Esme’s glowing eyes teared up when Duke told Cason to kill him.

She looked down at the floor and shook her head, wishing she hadn’t heard him say that and not wanting to watch the fighting anymore. Esme closed her eyes tightly and gripped the blade tighter as Cason responded to Duke. ‘I’m already here, and you’re right.’ she thought, sighing silently. She winced at the next blows they landed on each other but didn’t open her eyes until Cason broke Duke’s wrist and he cried out. All she could do was watch and listen with teary eyes as Cason continued trying to get through to Duke. ‘Come on, Duke. Listen to him.’ she thought. Esme’s eyes teared up more when Duke told Cason to kill him once again. Those tears rolled down her cheeks and onto the floor. She lifted her left hand to her aching chest from Duke's emotions, watching as Cason moved the knife from Duke’s chin to his throat. Cason’s next words to Duke made her see him in a different light, and she was thankful for his words to Duke. However, Duke’s response caused her heart to drop. “That’s where you’re wrong, Duke. Without you, I don’t have much of a place in this group.” she said barely above a whisper.

She sighed softly as Cason spoke to Duke again, and Duke stopped fighting and sobbed in Cason’s arms. Esme felt like she could breathe a little better now that Duke had stopped fighting and finally let himself cry. When Cason called to her, she pushed herself off the old shelving and stood there a moment, watching the two and listening. Esme hoped that Duke would let her and the others help him. After carefully dabbing her tears with her bandaged hand, she walked out of the shadows and towards the two men, the glow in her eyes slowly fading as she got closer. She looked up at Duke with soft eyes, even though she wanted to kick his ass for the worry he put her through. “He’s right, you know. You need to let us help you.” she said softly. “And if you can’t let everyone help, at least let me help you.” Esme looked at Cason and gave him a look of thanks before looking back at Duke. “But first things first. We’re getting you to a hospital to get looked over before we go home.” she told him, her tone saying she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“I’ll get myself looked over as well. If my ribs aren’t cracked, they are severely bruised from the fight I had out there.” Esme then stepped up to Duke's other side, put his arm over her shoulders, and put her arm around him. “Let’s get out of here. I’ll explain what happened once we’re patched up and home.”