FuriePhoenix

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

LEXI

Dean's words to her stuck in her mind instantly as he tried to reassure her about Natalia. At his first words, she simply gave a nod before he leaned in closer and promised her nothing will screw up what they got going on, and Nat is only being like this because she's being over protective of him basically. It made sense, she could have imagined if she stuck around and got anywhere near Owen's family, they would no doubt be just as cautious of Dean as Nat was of her. If anyone would be able to get through to Natalia, then it surely would be her brothers. She trusted that Dean could get through to Natalia whenever Nat got back from starting Anya's training, even though she knew it was probably important to keep being nice to Nat, so as not to give the girl more ammunition against her.

When Dean said about how he wasn't holding out on her about the angel blades, just making sure he could trust her, she had to smirk at the taunting. The way he winked at her made her heart flutter and skip a beat, glad that he was willing to entertain her attempts at changing the subject. Walking with him, she stood back when they reached the large metal door to the armory, letting him open it up before stepping inside and seeing everything. It felt familiar in so many ways and new at the same time. It was an impressive collection and she instantly spotted the angel blades, guessing it was them from the design of them. “You were kidding about the amount you collected” she remarked, as he commented about Natalia once more. Dropping her smile briefly, she looked back at him and smiled softly with a nod. “I trust your judgment Dean” she replied simply before looking back around the armory and walking over to the angel blades. She couldn't help picking one up and testing the weight distribution of it, “impressively balanced” she commented. “Gotta say, whoever upstairs is their blacksmith has incredible skills” she half chuckled, knowing it probably wasn't even a blacksmith, but it still impressed her.

“And yes…I know a good weighted blade when I see one. Owen was a bit of a nerd for these things in his spare time, so I kinda picked up a few things, which came in handy for our line of work” she smirked, before the smirk grew a somberness to it. She remembered the day Owen got his first fantasy sword in the mail and he was so ecstatic about it, it was like watching a kid getting their first Pokémon plush or their very first lightsaber toy for Christmas. She had intended on buying Owen said item herself, but Owen went and bought it for himself anyway, which started a snowball avalanche of collecting. Sadly, once he died, apart from the one she insisted on burning his body with, she sold the entire lot of them to be able to leave town. Something that Owen probably wouldn't have been happy about, but she couldn't take looking at them at the time. It brought too much emotional pain.

SAM

Sam was ready to walk away when the door opened and Anna was standing right in front of him and looking up at him. He really took in her new look, how much healthier and fit she looked, clearly living with Duke on the ranch had done a lot of good for her. Then there was the hair change, which kept taking him aback every time he looked at her, but he liked it. It somehow suited her more than he ever thought it could, even though he still had a soft spot for her natural brunette hair. He also was under no illusion that she probably thought very similarly about him. He knew the last time she saw him, he looked ill and practically on death's door. It was a miracle back then that he even had the body strength to take her to Duke's with Dean's help and walk away. But the time apart meant he could work on himself, get fit again, get healthy again and overcome the side effects of what the trials brought onto him.

At her question, he gave a sheepish nod and at her gesture and permission, he stepped inside into her room and saw that Dean had left it exactly the way she had it, with nothing overturned. Following her toward her bed as she wrapped her fingers around his wrist, he did as she asked and sat on the edge, whilst she remained standing. As he listened to her say about the temptation to ask him to let her come home, his heart pulled tightly in his chest. So much of him wanted to fall I to old habits, but he knew if they did then he'd never get out what he needed to say to her, so for now, he would do the talking first then see where it led them.

“I am…for the most part” he replied to her, “well, you know as good as anyone can be when they're trying to keep Dean from drowning in self pity and alcoholism” he gave a sad smirk. “You look good too,” he then said. “Anna, I want you to know none of what happened between us was your fault” he sighed, knowing he had to get it off his chest as soon as he could. He looked down at his hands in his lap, his foot tapping constantly and rapidly out of nervousness. “It was…IS all on me. I truly thought I was doing the right thing letting you have a chance at a normal life with Duke and Esme on the ranch. You deserve all of that Anna” he said, glancing up at her then back down again so he could get his words out. “I want you to have stability in your life, and I can't give you that… I couldn't give you that, back then. It wasn't fair on you for me to keep you nearby when I was dying, and I couldn't take the thought of seeing you die again. It was too hard to deal with. We have dealt with too much death in this family….” He explained, trying to hold it together but it was proving more and more difficult by each word that left his mouth.

NATALIA

Nat knew it would take a little longer for Anya to reply to her, having quickly noticed back in the bunker that she needed her phone to communicate. In Natalia's eyes it was actually quite smart that she could use a phone to still have a voice when she couldn't use her own. Though, it wouldn't be very convenient on a hunt if she had to remain either silent or be quick with communication. So she hopes Anya would get her voice back to make life so much easier for her. When the message was done being typed, she listened to the phone explain the story of how Anya met Sam and hearing it was in an electronics store made Nat smirk and half chuckle. Of course they met in a geeky store, she thought to herself. She gave an intrigued nod at the rest of the story, curious to who that hunter was. “I see” she replied, “Sam is always willing to help people so you were certainly lucky you bumped into him. Even if it wasn't hunting related, knowing him, he'd have helped if he could” she added, whilst Anya was typing something else out.

As the next message played and Anya was mentioning Lexi, she sighed but listened anyway. The moment Anya said about how Lexi had gotten Dean to eat and lower his drinking, she raised an eyebrow. So Red was actually helping Dean out of his grief out of the goodness of her own heart? Interesting, she thought. “You're right about him struggling. He lost the love of his life, his endgame you could say. That woman was like a sister to me, bordering on a mother figure. She was so important to us Winchester's, especially Dean. They had known each other since they were about 13 years old. Been through so much together. So when demons killed her with a unique blade, it hit us all hard. I was convinced that Dean was going to kill himself to be back with her for a while…” she sadly explained to Anya, to give the woman more context as to why she was so uptight about Lexi.

“and I can tell you're close with Sam, it's sweet.” She added as they made it to their desired destination in the fields and Anya asked about what was first, and she was willing to be a mole for her. The very notion of her own little spy in the by ker made her chuckle. “First up, knife work” she instructed, pulling out one of the knives she brought with them, handing her one, handle first. “And I might take you up on that offer of being my mole on the inside. Think Cason would prefer it to be someone else too” she laughed.

“Okay, so, have you ever used a knife before? And not for chopping foods” she asked, wanting to know how much Anya knew.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

LEXI

Lexi didn't even notice initially that Dean was as close to her as he was. She thought he was further behind than he was, until he spoke up and she suddenly saw that he was right beside her. She briefly closed her eyes at his soft touch of sweeping a strand of her hair behind her ear and out of her face. She thought she had hidden her cues of needing a breather well enough, convinced that it hadn't been long enough knowing Dean for him to not see said cues, but he proved her wrong by picking up on them instantly. Looking where he was tilting his head, she followed him to the deeper part of the corridor, squeezing his hand back to try and convey that she was okay deep down. She looked up at him when he spoke to her, practically giving her the okay to vent to him no matter what it was, something she appreciated. “It's not that…well, not entirely. I'm just computing everything discussed whilst feeling like I've been put in the position to prove myself to your sister like some kind teenage girl.” She admitted to him. Now she had said it out loud, she came to the conclusion it sounded absolutely ridiculous, she was older than Nat, her own person, and knew Dean wouldn't have gotten close to her if he didn't want to. So why was she letting herself feel like this?

“It's stupid I know. I just don't want Nat's judgment of me to add to the tension that's around the bunker right now. We don't have time to be piling on the tension and I just wanna help Anya.” she explained with a sigh, briefly looking down at the floor between herself and Dean before she looked back up at his eyes. “Natalia seems like a great sister, truly, I just don't want to come between you both, but I also don't want to sacrifice our happiness for what we've got going on either.” She finally said, lifting her hands up and stroking his arms as a way to soothe herself more than anything. She wanted him to know she would be okay, that he didn't have to worry about her when they had so much work to do.

Then it dawned on her what he said before this heart to heart in the corridor. “Did you say you had Angel blades in the armory?” she questioned with an raised eyebrow. “You've been holding out on me!” She smiled once more.

SAM

With Natalia having guided Anya out of the bunker for some basic training, Lexi and Dean leaving the library and Anna walking off, Sam saw it was just simply himself and Cason in the library. He pondered what to do, should he really go after Anna or should he focus on the job at hand? Thinking about it, he decided on the former choice. The girls were right, he did have to talk with Anna even though he knew how it would probably end up. Heading towards the corridor, he paused to look over his shoulder at Cason, “if you're hanging around for a bit before asking around, there's drinks in the kitchen or I'm pretty certain Dean has a secret stash somewhere in this room” he said, then walked off down the corridor. He couldn't see Lexi or Dean but didn't worry about where they went, assuming they already made it to the armory and were packing supplies. He searched for Anna, not finding her initially, but then he remembered the one place she would have gone to. Walking to her room, he stood out her door for a moment, hesitating for what felt like hours, but was in fact only about a minute. Plucking up the courage, he lifted his hand up and using his knuckles, he knocked on the door.

He hoped he wouldn't have to call out to her, for fear of her refusing to see him or talk with him. In the end, he decided to just call out anyway, “Anna? Can we um…can we talk?” He said through the door, just wanting to try and make an attempt at putting some kind of closure to everything. She deserved that and deserved to finally hear why he did what he did. He stood still, waiting for her to make a decision whether or not to let him in, letting himself acknowledge that he hadn't been at her room since she was last here. The thought of being in the room was just too painful for the longest time. He knew one of the last times he was in there he was incredibly sick from the trials, he was barely surviving and she became a carer for him. He didn't want that for her. Then came the time she died and Cason had to bring her back and that was the last straw for him. He couldn't stand around and watch her die again, or have her watch him die. He was so convinced that the trials would kill one of them and he couldn't be with her when he thought it was going to happen.

But that was some time ago and the longer the time went by, the harder he found it to go get Anna back. Now they were at another moment of being near each other and thoughts and feelings were racing through both their minds all over again. He hoped she would answer the door before he decides to bolt it, but the longer he waited, the more he was convincing himself she didn't want to talk to him

NATALIA

Nat let Anya look over all the equipment and tools of the trade, knowing that sooner or later Anya would have to familiarize herself with every single one. She listened to the voice that came out of the phone, giving a nod of approval that she had some kind of self defense training under her belt. “Good because you'll need to remember all of it if you're seriously wanting to stick around in this biz” she replied. “You’re also very lucky you found my bozo brothers. They're the best in this world and I'm not just being biased in that. Once they set their minds to a case, they don't stop until it's solved, so if there's a way out of this deal of yours, they'll find it. Just as Cason will.” she explained with a smile. She really hoped a way out could be found because no one deserved to have their voice just stripped from them like they were in some kind of Hans Christian Anderson novel. Grabbing a couple of her knives and a flask of holy water. “Okay, think I got all that's required for now. So let's head out” she commented, stashing the tools away and closing the trunk.

“No need to take the car. You've no doubt seen the fields just opposite, that's where we're going.” She explained, leading the way out whilst also staying close to Anya. “So how'd you come into contact with Sam and Dean? If you don't mind me asking that is and if I'm ever prying too much, just tell me to shut up” she smiled at her. It was clear that Sam was doting on Anya and even though she always thought he and Anna were endgame, she also wanted Sam to be happy again and clearly Anya was being the right kind of influence on him. Sure it made her a hypocrite as Lexi was clearly making Dean happy but she couldn't help but find it being a completely different situation. Anna was still alive, Anna and Sam all but silently broke up, but Dean was looking at another woman when he had been so swallowed up in grief of Mika being dead. She just wanted to know that Lexi wasn't taking advantage of that or Dean wasn't using Lexi as a scapegoat to pretend Mika was never in his life. That's why she was suspicious of the redheaded woman. She was just terrible at explaining that.

—--

Over on the fields, she went to a pretty secluded area that had enough trees to hide them for privacy but also for targets to throwing knives. Close combat was one thing, but she already knew Anya would need to know how to do ranged attacks with melee weapons as well.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

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.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

LEXI

Now Natalia was walking away from them to go over to Anya, Lexi felt herself relax a bit and listened as Dean leaned in once more and spoke quietly to her and her alone. She had to agree, they did need people to gather supplies and it may as well be them as the others were occupied in one way or another. She saw how Anna was being at the bookshelf and it didn't bode well that things would remain quiet for long. “Sure, partners” she said back to him with a smile. She still would have preferred to train Anya herself as she promised Anya she would, but if it meant it kept Nat happy and kept the peace, she was willing to go gather supplies and tools for their upcoming trio, once Cason had got any relevant information on where they needed to go. Standing up from her chair, she glanced at Cason, “nice meeting you” she simply said before stepping towards the hallway and waiting for Dean to catch up. As she was briefly on her own, she let out a sigh that she had been holding back whilst in the library, wondering how she could possibly win Natalia over whilst also feeling like a teenager needing to make a good impression on her boyfriend's parents. It felt weird and alien to her as she didn't normally have to work so hard to show people she was a good person.

As she waited for Dean, she became aware of Anna suddenly walking into the halls and calling out to Cason about having used to live here at the bunker. She didn't say anything to her, but she did feel sorry for the girl, not that she could imagine Anna would want the pity, especially from a woman who she didn't know.

SAM

Sam honestly felt like an asshole asking Anya what he could even say to Anna. Yet he couldn't help asking her for her advice, hoping that because she was a woman she'd be able to give him an insight that he hadn't had before. He refused to ask Esme about it all as that meant risking hearing Anna in the background if he called, texting didn't feel right either and he certainly wasn't going to dump it all on his sister. Not only that, the one person he usually sought advice from and somehow always had the answers was dead. So he really only had Anya and it was clear his mind knew that. He waited for her to be ready to show him what she thought about the situation as he tried to not see Anna at the bookshelf, rummaging through books quickly, even though he also knew he couldn't exactly avoid Anna the whole time she was in the bunker and involved in this case. He really wished Cason didn't convince her to come, so much of him wanted to have a go at Cason for bringing her, but he also knew it would be absolutely pointless so he didn't even entertain that idea.

When Anya did show him what she typed, he read it and took everything on board. What she said made sense and hearing that Anna was seemingly full of regret and that's why she's hurting was a bit of a surprise to him. He figured it would be only him that had regrets. He regretted not being able to fully articulate why he left her at the farm house with Duke and Esme, he regretted hurting Anna so much, but that regret didn't stop him from feeling he still did the right thing. Anna didn't drive him away, and hearing that Anya thought that's what Anna could be possibly thinking, he knew he did have to talk with her no matter how painful it would be. “Thanks Anya…that helps a lot” he told her as Natalia came over and said she was tasked with training Anya some basics outside if she was okay with it. He couldn't help but wonder what happened to the idea of Lexi training Anya, but he kept quiet. Then Anna closing a book harshly made him flinch. She was struggling being in this room and he knew it was all because of him.

As Anna walked away ‘for air’ he sighed, glancing at Nat, “you can go out in the fields opposite, it's close enough to here if you have to come back for any reason but far enough away that no one will bat an eyelid at what you're teaching her. Mostly because no one will be around” he suggested to his sister, not wanting Nat to take Anya any further than that for his own peace of mind.

NATALIA

Hearing Anna leave the room and tell Cason she wouldn't get lost made her feel more guilty about letting Cason decide Anna should come. It felt like every moment that went by, the more guilty she felt. She was really starting to see Anna not staying very long at this rate even though Anna would be crucial as another body to help Anya out. Refocusing her mind, she gave Anya a nod, figuring that what Anya signed was agreement in heading out and training. Looking up at Sam, she listened to his instructions on where to go and it made her smile, “that's exactly where I planned on going. I've got some stuff in my car that we can use so we don't need any gear from here. And Sam?” She started to reply before continuing, “please go talk with Anna…this tension is a serious mood killer and you two need to get past all this tip toeing around each other. It's not healthy for either of you” she said, giving her own bit of advice. Sam took the advice on board and with a pat on Anya's shoulder to say she's safe with Nat, he went and followed Anna.

Turning back to Anya, she gestured for the woman to follow her. “I hope you're a quick study like Red thinks you will be, because although I'm patient, I'm not gonna go too easy. You have the disadvantage of needing to learn a few things as quickly as possible.” She explained to her as she began to head towards the main room where the spiral staircase was to head on up. At the foot of the steps, she waited for Anya to catch up and grab whatever she needed to. Looking around, she had to admit she did kind of miss the bunker when she wasn't there, and being back in it she realized this was the closest to a normal home her brothers will probably have for the foreseeable future.

When Anya was ready, she headed up and pointed to her own car, “we'll grab some stuff from that car” she said, walking over to it and unlocking the trunk, opening it up and revealing the hidden compartment with her duffel and other supplies. “So I think we should focus on some knife skills for you and generic self defense skills” she said to her.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

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.

I am the fire - Constantine RP

JOHN'S PLACE

Kay felt so useless at the moment and she hated it. It brought back similar feelings to when she was on the streets and constantly trying to find warmth or hiding from demons that were stalking her. It was that similar kind of helplessness that she felt now. She hated making the others worried, she hated that even though they were apart, she was affecting Serena as well. The girl didn't deserve to feel what she felt just now. It was so full of dread, desperation and pain. Groaning as John hoisted her off the floor and into his arms, she held onto him securely as he spoke up, assuming she was withholding some information but she didn't know what she even held back. She thought she told him everything.

"I've told you everything" she replied to him, "I..I don't know what you need to watch for, there's been so much information thrust on me, I can't think anymore...it hurts" she said, glancing down and still seeing the mark on her arm from the male Fae, causing her to pull down her sleeve to cover it up. "I just hope those drawings will be of use to someone" she sighed, glancing her eyes down at her sketchbook.

LUX BAR

Fia gave Drake a small smile, glad that he did still know she wouldn't go out of her way to hurt him. She would never want to hurt him in any way, at least not purposely. Watching the others tend to Serena, she overheard what Serena said and rose an eyebrow at the words. Now that was curious as as far as they all knew, whilst being at John's house, there shouldn't have been anything around to scare her to that extent. "I wonder what that was" she mused to herself, more than to anyone in particular.

Josh let Lucifer see to Serena for himself before glancing up at Maze as she was spoken to and seeing her walk off to pack the bags in record time. "She'll be alright yeah?" he asked Lucifer, meaning Serena as he helped her up and off the ground when she was ready to stand up.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

LEXI

Feeling Dean’s hand and fingers wrap over her hand, Lexi felt better knowing Dean had her back right now. She couldn't believe that Natalia suspicions over her were actually getting under her skin a little, but they were. She just wanted to make a good impression on Dean's family and that included Natalia. So she was grateful that Dean was giving her more warnings about Anna and Sam, so her mind was thinking about anything other than Nat’s judgment. “We can hope for the best case scenario then” she said back to him, not wanting anyone to get hurt. She liked Anya, she adored Sam and she could see that Anna was a kind soul who also didn't deserve to get hurt anymore than Sam had already hurt her.

Like Natalia, Lexi listened to the two men discuss what they knew so far, which was very little. They had been so focused on being laid back until Nat and Cason arrived, that they hadn't gotten very far at all in even the basic bit of information. As the discussion went on, she saw how Cason reacted to the mark of Cain on Dean's arm and how Dean reacted to it being noticed. That instantly told her that he hadn't even told Natalia about it and she couldn't imagine that going down well with his sister when that bombshell drops. She was also a little taken aback how Cason felt so comfortable with them all that he felt justified just dishing out orders the way he was. “I was going to start training her in basic self defense yesterday but the day just got away from us. I can train her today though” she spoke up finally, deciding to ignore the remark about how Anna has died twice over the years and yet is still standing in the bunker very much alive. Sure she had some close to death moments in her career as a hunter, but she hadn't ever officially been considered dead before.

She couldn't help but think Cason did have a point. If this is a demon pretending to be a crossroads demon, then Anya would have to be around if they were to draw the demon out. “I have faith that Anya is a quick study so I can definitely teach her things to keep her alive” she added, tapping her fingertips on Dean's thigh as a way to reassure him that she wouldn't let anything happen to Anya. But then Natalia also offered to train Anya some basics and she just sighed. “If you wanna train her, be my guest though, I'm sure I can help Anna or Dean find more info on something, like Anya's dad” she replied to Natalia, trying to be diplomatic and polite.

SAM

Sam knew what he was beginning to tell Anya wouldn't be easy to hear. He knew it was tough to hear that the man Anya was beginning to get attached to and like had some serious history with another woman. If roles were reversed he wouldn't want to hear any of it, but the fact she typed out a new message saying she wanted to know it all, he couldn't help but wonder how she was so perfect. “I know I need to talk with her, I just don't know how…” he told her truthfully. “It's been so long, and I treated her badly when I shouldn't have, and yet I still stand by what I did ..how do I tell her that?” He said to Anya, hoping she could give him some advice of some kind, even if it was just about where to start. Glancing briefly at his siblings, Cason and Lexi all chatting together, he could see how even Nat and Lexi were tense around each other. At least he wasn't the only one having a tense moment around someone.

He held her hand back, rubbing his thumb up and down the back of her hand. “I'm so sorry you have to be thrown into the middle of this drama between me and my ex. I never wanted this to happen” he apologized to her honestly. “I don't wanna put a massive wedge between us Anya. I really do care about you” he said, hoping it would be of some reassurance to her. He didn't want her thinking that just because Anna was here, he was going to ignore her because that was far from the truth. He felt awful that his awkwardness towards Anna was being noticed so much by Anya, that she felt she even had to suggest leaving the bunker for a bit. In his eyes Anya shouldn't HAVE to leave because Anna was in the bunker.

NATALIA

Anna's suggestion of trying to be nice to Lexi would go a long way rattled around in Natalia's mind as she listened to what Dean was saying. She saw how closely Lexi and Dean sat next together and she knew deep down that Anna was right but she still couldn't shake the feeling that Lexi was using Dean's grief as an advantage. She just wanted to make sure Dean wasn't being used. Shaking her thoughts out of her head, she forced herself to focus solely on what Dean was telling her and Cason, the information that Anyasudad was a hunter and at one point, had the Colt helped her refocus her mind. She couldn't help but wonder if they tried to searching for Anya's dadyname online or phone around the Hunter's circles to get any information on her dad. She kept quiet while Dean and Cason discussed everything, but her eyebrows raised when the whole ‘demons tried to find her’ spiel was said. She didn't like Cason's response, following his glance to Dean's arm, but Dean covered his arm before she could see what Cason did.

That was something she was going to have to ask about when they could have a moment to themselves. She didn't like the idea that he had been keeping something from her, even if whatever it was was to protect her in some way. She didn't see Cason's eyes turn black for that moment as she was still standing behind him, despite there being plenty of chairs around. Yet she could feel him tense up under her hand that wasn't holding her coffee mug, and if whatever he saw on Dean's arm was making him tense up, then it couldn't be anything good. Nat let Cason suggest a starting point, nodding her agreement at it as she figured it was as good as anywhere to start. “I can teach her some basics outside, I don't mind, unless Cason needs me as backup” she spoke up finally. She mostly just wanted a job that didn't involve being near Lexi, she wasn't ready to try and be nice and give a better first impression.

Nat knew also offering to train Anya was a petty move, but she couldn't help herself. But as she glanced between Anna and Sam, the tension between them tugged at her heart, so when Lexi caved and said she could train Anya instead, she gave a nod. If she trained her, it was an excuse to get Anya out of the way of Sam and Anna and would force her brother to actually talk to Anna for a change. When Lexi conceded to giving her the training Anya some basics, she simply nodded. She could see Lexi was trying to be nice to her, so maybe she should try back. For now though, Anya needed to know some basics if she was going to get out of this fiasco alive. “Sounds like a plan” she replied to Lexi, before leaning down just enough to hug Cason behind, kiss his cheek and then walk over to Anya and Sam. “Hey so, I know you really don't know me right now but figured we can get to know each other. We've come up with some kind of plan so whilst Cason does his own research for you, I said I can give you some basic tips and stuff on how to use some of our tools of the trade. So fancy coming outside? If I start teaching you how to use a knife in here Moose here might have a go at me” she explained and then chuckled, causing Sam to give her a look that said he wasn't impressed with her calling him a moose like a Crowley always did.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

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.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

NATALIA

Nat aware that Anna was following her to the kitchen, something that wasn't surprising to her. She almost guessed that Anna would use her own exit to exit herself. "I really tried to talk him out of convincing you to come here with us. I didn't think it was fair on you or Sam" she replied honestly. She loved Anna dearly like a sister, but she also loved Sam so she tried to be there for them both whilst doing her best to remain impartial. "But I'm glad you are here. I don't think they're babysitting...well, not fully. They're clearly doing it to a degree with that Anya girl." She said as she poured her coffee I to a clean mug once she found one.

"I'm getting the feeling that other girl is seeing Dean though. Sam told me to be nice, but I don't know her." She added, trying to weave some sort of lighter conversation within the more serious side. "But hey...if it gets too much we can head out for a break together. If you ever feel like you need it" she offered, walking over to Anna and giving her a comforting hug. "Though I do think you two are overdue a good talk. He's just as uptight as you're feeling right now. I hate seeing you two like this. I love you both so much" she told Anna.

She also wondered if it truly got too much for Anna, if there was an option for her to get Anna out and back to Denver. Even if it meant she drove half way there and tried sweet talking Duke or Esme into meeting half way to pick Anna up. Nat was willing to do whatever it took to help Anna. Whether it was a long way to get her back to Denver or have Cason take her. "You got this Anna, and I got your back this whole time okay?" She tried reassuring her once more.

SAM AND LEXI

As Anna made a point to not touch him as she followed Natalia into the kitchen, Sam sighed, looking at the ground before looking at Anya as she got his attention and Cason followed Lexi and Dean to the tables and chairs. He followed her to the book shelves and waited for her to finish typing out her message to him before she showed it. Reading it, he wondered how on earth he would explain what Anna was to him. He gave a somber nod, as he thought about the words to use so not to hurt Anya and himself.

"It's a complicated history we have...I've known her since we were kids. Been through a lot and when I last saw I kinda...left her at a friend's house and never looked back a year ago. I did it to protect her for what me and Dean were about to have to do...but it didn't leave me and her in a good spot" he tried to explain in a very brief way. "It's a very long story and if you really wanna know it, I'll explain it later. But I warn youz it's not easy to hear" he explained.

LEXI

The moment Cason started asking her questions, Lexi knew Natalia had put Cason up to this. She was going to answer gladly if it meant Natalia would be happier about her being around, but Dean was clearly irritated by the interrogation situation. "It's fine Dean..." She said, placing a hand on his knee as she said it. "Yes I'm a hunter, came here thanks to Sam bringing me here because my car broke down at the time after a case. The boys have made me feel welcome here and after spending a year on the road constantly because I can't go back to my old home, I'm thankful for being welcome here. The fa t I've cooked for them both has helped too" she said simply, smiling at her last words.

She stopped talking when Dean insisted on putting an end to it, something she was okay with as she didn't want to get into why she couldn't go back to her old home. After the dream memory she had, she didn't want to bring up Owen to Cason of all people. Under the table, she kept her hand on Dean's thigh, wanting to just stay close to him, even if it was discreetly.

Lexi leaned slightly closer to Dean as he leaned in to her and whispered about which one was Anna. She glanced at him surprised that the blonde girl was the same brunette from the photos he showed her the day before. She followed his glance to Sam, seeing him walk over to the car book shelf with Anya and she could see how worked up he was. "All we can do is be there when the crap hits the fan I guess, it's certainly going to be tense" she whispered back to him.

Part of her was curious to why Cason and Natalia would bring the girl, but she also knew it wasn't her place to ask so she didn't. She remained silent and drinking her coffee, trying to not be a target for more interrogations from Cason or anyone else. Wanting to stay close to Dean without causing any possible drama with his sister, she just minded her own business, figuring it was the best course of action.

A few minutes later, she spotted Natalia return into the library, walking over to Cason, standing behind him, placing one hand on his right shoulder. "So Dean, what have you guys actually figured out or is what you said already the only things you know? If we're gonna help, we kinda need more information." Nat said, looking between her brother and the new woman, already deciding that she would only ever call her Red until she decided to use her real name. Right now she didn't care to, and it wasn't like in the bunker Lexi could do much to win her over.

Lexi got the vibes Nat was giving out towards her and she hoped there would be a time that she could try and convince Natalia she wasn't the bad guy or trying to replace Mika. Something she was assuming was why Natalia was being rather cold towards her. If that was the case, Lexi could understand it quite honestly. The whole family were clearly a tight knit group if the photos were anything to go by, but Dean was a grown man and capable of making his own decisions.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

SAM

When Anya appeared finally, he gave the gesture to what mug was hers as she grabbed for it. It was clear to him how tired she still was due to the night cap that Dean had given her in the middle of the night. He looked amongst the group, trying to avoid eye contact with Anna even though he didn't want to make it awkward for everyone around the two of them. Luckily for him, he had a distraction that was Cason greeting Anya. He was about to explain that she was mute when Anya beat him to it, then got surprised at how Cason just knew fluent ASL and was speaking to her without any issues whatsoever.

He was actually impressed and thankful that there was someone here that could communicate with Anya without issues now. Sure there was Lexi, but even her ASL was basic at best, but Cason seemed really fluent in it which would come in handy in Sam's eyes. Sipping his coffee, glad to have caffeine getting into his system, he let the two of them chat, wondering what they were saying, only catching the names being signed.

When it came to Natalia giving Lexi a light third degree questioning, he knew Natalia wasn't going to drop this anytime soon. It was why he had to tell her to be nice, but he was pretty sure it was going in one ear and out the other straight away. Glancing up, he watched Dean step beside Lexi and place his hand on her lower back, hoping that would put the end to Nat's suspicions, but the way she looked suspicious at them both, something told Sam that Dean was not going to hest the end of this. It was rather ironic to him that the roles between Nat and Dean seemed to have swapped in mere seconds.

He still remembered all the months that Dean didn't trust Cason as far as he could throw him and hated it even more when Cason was close to Nat. Now it was Nat not liking someone new being near to Dean, only difference was that Lexi was a human and a hunter and not a demon. "She's cool Nat, seriously, be nice" he repeated to her before the conversation got moved forward to why Nat and Cason, and subsequently Anna, were called to give them a hand.

NATALIA AND LEXI

With the conversation changed to why she was brought here with Cason, Natalia listened to everyone chat and discuss the situation. The moment Dean nodded his head towards Anya when Cason asked who the victim was, she instantly felt sorry for Anya. "That's seriously gotta suck" she commented, understanding the sign for 'my voice' as it felt pretty obvious. "So with that information, we find the demon and kill it. Seems pretty standard for us...right?" Natalia then added, as much as she felt sorry for Anya for not having her voice, she knew they couldn't just let a demon run around making fake deals and hurting people like this.

She was aware of how close Dean was being with Lexi and that made so many more questions flood through her mind than what she should be thinking about. She was also aware how awkward Sam and Anna were being so close to each other and she knew she'd have to step in somehow. She was leaning towards taking Anya out so Anna and Sam could hash out whatever it was that was left lingering between them. If they didn't have a chat sooner than later then this job to help Anya would be compromised and she wasn't prepared to have that happen.

Before the discussion moved forward onto Anya's demon deal, she gave a nod to Dean's comment about Natalia coming round soon enough. She could t help but wonder why the sister was instantly against her when she barely said two words, but she was also willing to just ride it out, reminding herself that it was just because his sister was worried about him. Sipping her coffee, she let everyone talk and was impressed how well versed Cason was in ASL and how charming the guy seemed to be for a demon.

"Is it really that simple though? It's never that easy" Lexi pointed out, not wanting to contradicting Natalia, and judging by the as squinting of Nat's eyes, she didn't like being like contradicted. Darting her eyes away from Natalia, she looked over at the others to try and focus on the conversation and not the judgement radiating off of Natalia.

"Anyway, I guess no time like the present to start work" Natalia said, "but first I need some of that coffee after this last six hours on the road" she smirked, walking past everyone, but made sure to place her hand on Cason's back on her way. "Watch Red with Dean" she whispered to him as she went by and headed into the kitchen.

Lexi saw how Nat was with this Cason and she didn't know whether to be weirded out by seeing such a close relationship between a hunter and a demon or find it incredibly adorable. Seeing Nat whisper to Cason, she just knew it was about her so she decided to ignore it for now, and try and focus on the job at hand. Stepping up to the table, she sat down, deciding to remain as neutral as possible. Though it was now she was sat down that she saw how uncomfortable Sam was feeling.