JustAnna

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya

Anya was relieved that Sam didn’t take her declaration of attraction as some sort of overstep. He took it in stride. That seemed to be a trend with Sam, a personality trait that only made him more attractive. He wanted to be her friend. He wanted to spend more time with her. He wasn’t just running away and shunning her for having weird feelings for him. That much was a relief.

She smiled softly, finally showing some emotion on her face other than awkward worry, and nodded to him. Without looking at her phone, she typed a simple, “I think I would like that.”

After thinking over his offer for food, Anya shook her head and pointed to the movie. She wanted to finish the movie with him, something simple and personal. Then, they could explore more of their budding friendship. She pulled her phone up and typed a message, “Let’s finish the movie, and then I might see about making you something sweet. I can be a decent cook. Maybe it will help Dean warm up to me, too.”

As the message read out, she giggled softly.

Dean

Dean furrowed his brow in a tiny bit of offense when Lexi once again brushed off his advances, but she related it to work, which made him tilt his head to the side, as if she had a point. He blinked a few times and smirked, sighing. As they drove down the road, Dean gripped the steering wheel excitedly and agreed with her.

“Oh yeah. I feel like I’m going crazy in the bunker. It’s like the walls are crushing me, and then Sam is moping around. He’s lonely and fixing everything. He’s fine with just staying inside, pouring over the same old books over…and over.” He paused and chewed at his lip. “And I can’t help but feel like theres something…around. Like it’s not the same home it was, you know? Hell, I don’t know what it is. I know the place ain’t haunted. It’s proofed. Like…more than proofed. But it just feels tense. The air is heavy. Call it grief or anxiety or whatever…but I needed to get out of there or I was going to go crazy.”

He paused and smiled fondly, “But I will tell you, it’s nice to have a new voice echoing off those walls.”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean’s face broke into torment as he tried to conceal his emotions, especially from Mika. He needed her focused on the case, not him. If she was worried about him, she might go into this reckless. But Esme made it clear that she wasn’t strong enough to handle the loss if Duke was dead, and Dean’s mind went into the space that it always did when she was emotionally compromised…protection. With her hand squeezing his arm, he was reminded that she knew him almost better than anyone. She knew that right now, he wasn’t the strongest in the group. He might be the most protective, but he wasn’t the tough guy. He was terrified.

“We’re all gonna get the hell out of here.” He repeated her, reaching a hand up to squeeze her hand as his eyes also fell on Duke’s truck, and he let out a shaky sigh. The feeling in the pit of his stomach wasn’t one that he was fond of. All he could think of were flashbacks to the many times they had been in this situation. Every one of them, Duke came out on the other side. But this time felt different. “Let’s go find him…Hey. We’re gonna find him.”

He pulled Esme into his arms, pressing her forehead against his chest as he clung to her for a moment, just trying to hold onto anything he could that didn’t feel completely hopeless. It was like being that scared young hunter again. After a few minutes, he loosened his grip, sniffling and pulled back from her, placing a hand on each of her cheeks.

“Stay close.” He whispered to her, before placing a tight kiss to her forehead with a sigh. He then reluctantly stepped away from her, and over to the Impala. Nat puking out the side door hurt his stomach all over again, as her physical state made him anxious. He didn’t want to come back to this car and find his sister dead…especially if they found the worst case scenario down the hill. His thoughts of handcuffing her to the steering wheel were out the window. She would never make it anywhere in this condition. He passed to Sam and began to re-evaluate the weapons on his body, making sure he was full on ammo, Ruby’s knife was tightly slid into his belt, and he still had holy water in the flask in his jacket pocket.

Sam’s voice perked him up as Sam closed the door of the car. Dean shrugged and shook his head, “Not really much of a point, now, right? I mean, it’s not like she’s going to bolt down the hill and go in guns blazing when she can’t even see straight. I think she’ll be fine, right where she is.”

He leaned in close to the window, signalling for Nat to roll it down a bit before leaning close to the gap she made with a sigh, “We’re going to finish this. I need you to stay put. I need you to keep yourself safe and I need you to listen to me…for once. Please. I love you, kid…”

A few moments later

Dean led the group back down the hill, Ruby’s knife held so tightly in his hand that his knuckles were white. He held the knife up to his chest as he reached the barn, and pressed his back to the cold wood, assessing the situation. Peering around the side of the barn, he glanced back at the others, and held up two fingers, letting them know that there were two demon lackies guarding the front door. From what he could tell, both looked terrified, and they seemed to be expecting the group to show up. This could very well be a trap.

He counted down to himself internally, before walking out from the side of the barn, brutality taking over his entire brain. He rushed the first demon, giving the others room to move around him if they wanted, and without missing a beat, he stabbed Ruby’s knife through the heart of the smaller man, causing him to flash and spark before dropping dead on the ground at Dean’s feet. He pulled the knife from the body and turned to take on the other demon, when it suddenly smoked out in terror…or as a messenger.
“We gotta hurry. If they’re smoking out like that, they’re going back to someone. I don’t want to find out who that someone is.” Dean explained simply, gasping for air as his body shook with adrenaline and fear. He ran to the door of the barn, grunting as he slid it open with some effort and his eyes focused in the bright light inside.

Instantly, those eyes fell on Anna and Cason against the far wall of the barn. Dean’s shoulders fell with absolute relief, seeing that she was alive at least. Cason didn’t look so hot. But they were found. He took a deep breath and turned to Sam, stepping aside to let his brother through. At least one of them would have a happy ending, here. As he stepped aside, however, his eyes fell on something that made his stomach fall to his feet, Duke’s hat, lying in the straw, covered in blood.

Staying aside so Sam could get through, he turned to Esme and gave her a knowing look, as Anna began panicking to be let free, and called out Duke’s name. He swallowed heavily, before reaching his arms out to stop her from running through, “Esme. Stop. Let me go in first…”

Anna and Cason

Anna rolled her head to the side, staring blankly at a hole in the side of the barn as Cason rested, his hand now limp again. She flexed her fingers, trying to see if he was still alive, and as if understanding her internal question, he tapped his middle finger against the back of her hand. She took a deep breath, letting it out in a shaky attempt to not start crying again as she stared. The sound of a body hitting the ground outside, and a familiar grunt perked up her ears.

“Dean?!” She cried out, looking toward the door with wide and hopeful eyes. But then the sound stopped, followed by a horrific scream from one of the demons as it smoked out. The silence was deafening as she waited to see who was going to come through the door. When Dean slid the door open, standing there with Ruby’s knife in his hand, panting for air, Anna’s heart nearly burst with relief. Dean didn’t seem to care for her much, but in that moment, seeing his face was like seeing a spring of water in the middle of a barren desert. Then he stepped aside, and her eyes fell on Sam. All independence and toughness that might have been stored in her brain fell away. She reached out for him, sobbing violently as she stressed the chain around her wrist to try and get to Sam.

“Sam! Oh my god…You’re alive! The demon. That demon. He’ll come back for us. He’ll come back and he’ll kill all of you. He’s…get me out of this, please. Please!” Anna panicked, swinging her arm forward to show him that she was bolted to the floor. “And Cason. We have to help him. He’s dying. Duke! Oh my god Duke!”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya

Anya met Sam’s eyes as he turned to her and she sighed, hearing his explanation for Dean’s behavior. It wasn’t anything she couldn’t see herself, seeing Dean being so guarded and aggressive. She didn’t know if it was just a personality trait that came out when he was stressed or if he was genuinely high strung, but from what Sam was saying, it was a mixture. She pulled her phone and began typing as Sam explained that Dean would be happier out of the bunker, but stopped typing when he told her not to be embarrassed about kissing him.

She deleted everything she had typed on her phone, and looked up at him, not really able to smile, because she was embarrassed. There was something about him that felt safe, and attractive in a way that wasn’t just physical. He made her feel safe and she could tell that in a perfect world, he was someone she would be able to be good friends with…at the least. At best, maybe they could try to spark up a normal friends to relationship type situation.

Anya frowned and typed on her phone, her fingers moving quickly before she pressed send with a sigh, “I am embarrassed. But I’m more embarrassed that I kissed you while you’re trying to help me. It’s not really like me. I just think you’re…someone I want to get to know better. I didn’t know how to tell you that, and I guess now you know.”

Dean

Dean tilted his head in a mocking way when Lexi explained away Sam’s actions, as if he didn’t have a stranger in his bed, while he and Lexi were about to leave the bunker. Thinking about it, though, it might be good for Sam to get some quality time alone with a girl. Who knew? It might crack open that brain of his and make him concentrate on work a little harder, when Dean got back. Anything was better than all the moping…Dean too.

He grumbled a bit, but finally followed Lexi up the staircase with an awkward smirk. She wanted to see him in action, like he was some sort of mythical superhero. The thought widened his smirk and he stepped out into the cool night air behind her, gesturing toward the Impala, “You know we have to take that sweet girl. She’s been on damn near every hunt I’ve ever been on. No need to change things up!”

As he teased, he walked around and popped the trunk, tossing his bag inside, and as soon as her bag was in, he slammed it shut and walked around to the drivers side of the car, opening the door and sitting down heavily in the seat, “I’m just hoping I don’t overwhelm you too much with my…skills. I would hate to scare you away. Not many women have seen…what I can do.”

Dean shot her a proud smile, happy with his joking skills as he turned the engine over. “And I promise to keep my hands to myself on the way there.”

All Roads Lead To You

Dean and Duke

Dean waved his hand at Duke, off to his side, as he noticed Esme’s eyes turn to what he only recently recognized as…off the edge rage. He reached toward his best friend, tempted to push him away and force him to go take a shower. Anything but piss Esme off further. But then she grabbed Duke and pushed him into the empty chair in front of him, Duke’s bodyweight rocking the chair briefly onto its back two legs, and then down onto the floor with a loud ‘bang’ that caused Dean to release the back with a flinch.

“Oh Jesus Christ…” Dean sighed as Duke’s demeanor changed from proud and slightly confused to irritated and annoyed. There were times that Dean forgot Duke even had those emotions, with how he carried himself. Luckily for Duke, when Esme threatened the cowboy, he did indeed shut his mouth, simply glaring up at her as he folded his arms across his chest like a petulent child. Dean’s gaze was brought back up to Esme, when he felt her eyes burning into his and he took a deep breath through his nose, preparing to, at least, attempt to explain himself. But once again, Duke chimed in, when Esme insulted him by calling him a moron, a verbal knife wound that Duke couldn’t have let go if someone had a gun to his head.

“Ouch! See that’s hurtful. You don’t even know me!” Duke scolded Esme and Dean’s instincts kicked in to protect his best friend. He reached down, wrapping his arm around the back of Duke’s head and instantly covered his mouth, holding firmly, and knocking Duke’s hat off in the process. He held the back of Duke’s head tightly to his stomach and sighed, closing his eyes for a brief second, and then opening them to try and smooth this over.

“Now. Would you believe me…” He started, suddenly distracted by the blood trickling from Esme’s eyebrow. He knew that if he didn’t finish his explanation, just to check on her, she would explode all over again. So, he chose to keep his attention on what seemed to be a very touchy subject…recklessness. “Would you believe me, if I told you that we didn’t go in half cocked…at first?”

“You wanna elaborate on that, Dean? I think we’re both all ears.” Bobby grumbled from his desk and Dean gave an awkward nod, tightening his hold on Duke’s head as he cleared his throat.

“We found one of them, right? We followed it back to this old building, and sure enough, there were two of them. Just two. Well, it turns out that the others were just…not outside.” Dean winced at how awkward the sentence was, coming from his mouth. “Two vampires, we could have handled in twenty minutes, no problem. We would have been back by dinner. But it was like they were calling them in. They kept showing up. By the time we fought our way back outside, there were ten…maybe twenty of them? I don’t even know anymore. I just know that I went on hacking and slashing…and we got separated. You know how that can go. They work on you. They separate you from your people, and that’s how they kill you. I know that. You know that. Well…Duke got snatched.”

Bobby grumbled for a moment, not wanting to interject too hard, but with Duke quiet, he had to help Dean. He believed him. Things simply hadn’t gone as planned. “And any reason you couldn’t use a phone? Call for backup?”

“I couldn’t just leave him behind, Bobby.” Dean’s eyes broke into sadness as the thought of Duke being ripped apart, just so Dean could call back up crossed his mind. He turned his eyes back to Esme. “I couldn’t take the chance and leave him behind. I fought. I killed. I brought him home with me.”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya and Dean

Dean raised his eyebrows, tilting his head back and forth in a mocking way as Sam explained that he and Anya were simply watching a movie…on his bed, as if he didn’t just see them kissing. He shook his head and then held up his hands, “You know what? Fine. I was just coming to tell you that me and Lexi are gonna go follow up on this lead we found. Don’t wait up. Don’t destroy the place and keep her inside.”

Anya was tempted to chime in, and ask what he found but she also wanted to be as invisible as possible in the awkward tension in the room. Her face burned with embarrassment, both toward Dean and toward Sam for her actions. They had just met and she was already making moves on him? That wasn’t like her at all, and from what she could gather from Dean’s reaction, Sam didn’t seem the type to move that fast, either. She sank back into the pillows and hugged her knees as they talked.

“So, I’m going to head out…” Dean almost grunted, waving his brother off as he turned and walked down the corridor, back toward the war room. He wasn’t angry, as much as he was worried. They knew nothing about Anya, outside of what she had told them, and what little information they had about her father. Her inability to speak made her even more of a threat, as it was hard to not see her as sneaky. But he had to try and trust Sam’s judgement. As he re-entered the war room, he stepped over to the library area, and picked up a duffel bag, before swiping his phone from the table on his way to the stairs, where Lexi was waiting, “So, Sam’s…very comfy. So is Anya! I told them not to let us distract from their…fun, and not to wait up. I told you I didn’t trust her just wandering around, and now she’s holed up in his room…on his bed…convincing him of God knows what.”

All Roads Lead To You

Dean and Duke

Dean’s spine stiffened as Esme came into view, and he instantly knew she was going to be firing on all cylinders, ready to kill him. He held his hands up in front of him, putting a tiny bit of space between himself and Esme, as if she was going to stab him with a knife he couldn’t see yet. He looked to Bobby for help, and Bobby simply shook his head and stepped back, crossing his arms, “I ain’t touchin’ this with a ten foot pole. You did this to yourself, boy.”

“Bobby…” Dean started before Esme continued her rage at him, and his eyes widened even more. He hadn’t seen her this angry…ever. She never got fully angry with him. Agitated? Yes. A little bossy at times? Yes. But pissed…this was new. Dean took another step back, and pulled a chair in front of him, as Duke just watched with raised eyebrows.

“Now hold on…” Duke spoke up in his heavy southern drawl. He held up his hands, and took a step toward Esme, careful to not try to touch the angry woman. He had never seen her in his life, but it quickly dawned on him who she was, and he narrowed his eyes, “Hold on a minute.”

“Duke. Shut your mouth.” Dean warned him, closing his eyes, knowing that whatever was about to come out of Duke’s mouth was just going to make the situation worse. But Duke didn’t listen to him. Duke never listened to him.

“You’re the girl. The pretty blonde hunter that Dean’s all sweet on. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Duke. Will you shut up?!” Dean called to him. He tightened his grip on the chair in front of him, and turned back to Esme, his expression softening. “If we can calm down…just for a second, I can explain everything. Please? There were…complications.”

“Complications being me. It was me.” Duke chimed in, flashing a bright smile as if he was proud that he had almost got himself killed…but didn’t. Dean sighed, and closed his eyes, ready to knock Duke out himself.

“I’m gonna pour myself some more whiskey. This is better than anything on tv.” Bobby joked with a scoff, his own anger at Dean fading as he watched him navigate how to explain himself to Esme.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean nearly exploded when Natalia defended Cason. She had no idea the path that she had taken herself down, and there was no way in Hell he was letting her stay on that path. He was just about to explode on her worse, when Sam spoke with actual sense, and his brother’s touch brought him out of his anger for a brief second. Nearly in tears, he wiped a frustrated hand down his face, squeezing his eyes closed for a second.

Then came Nat’s proclamation that she was running off to find Cason on her own. Dean’s eyes snapped open and he glared at her, “You’re not…”, he started, as Mika chimed in and Dean glared back at her as well. She was going to go along with this? Babysit Nat while they went off on what might be a death quest to find a demon…to save him?!

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing right now. We cannot just go into this half cocked! We don’t have a clue where they are. And of course, Dean knows nothing.” He ranted for a moment until Sam mentioned the barn. Dean nearly spun so hard that he made himself dizzy, as he turned to look at the barn, just across the lot from them. It was hard to believe that any of them were alive, if they hadn’t heard them by this point. The barn wasn’t insulated and you could practically see the light shining through the holes in the roof. But it was the only option they had on the property. Dean sighed in resignation, looking to Sam as he squared his shoulders. “Fine. We check the barn. But first, we regroup.”

He turned to Nat, his protectiveness painted all over his face, “And you. You are going to wait in the car. I don’t need you going off the rails if we don’t find him. We don’t know what we might find.”

He punctuated the sentence by turning to give a fearful and knowing look to Esme, communicating with his eyes that he was worried about finding Duke, considering his injuries that they knew about. He stepped away from the others, as Sam began to group everyone up. He walked carefully over to Esme and let out a worried sigh, “I need you to be prepared for this…for whatever we’re gonna find. You know how Duke is. We both know how Duke is. I’m not prepared for it. I don’t want to see what he’s got himself into. Esme I don’t know if I can handle it this time…”

Dean walked close to her as they began to walk back to the car to regroup, and gather themselves and any weapons they could use. He fully planned to lock Natalia in the car, handcuffed to the steering wheel if Mika would allow it. But Duke was heavy on his mind. He couldn’t shake the chill that was running through his veins. He repeated himself, “I don’t know if I can handle this. Nat’s gonna go off the reservation, and if we don’t find them…”, he couldn’t finish his sentence, just glancing up at Sam’s back with a sigh. They had to find them.

Anna, Cason and Duke

Anna had dozed off at some point, her head laying against Cason’s side. When she came to, she groaned, her head nearly bursting with pain, and realized that her hand was practically glued to his shoulder, the blood having dried to her skin. Snarling her nose, she peeled her hand away from his shirt and groaned, as the blood instantly began to pour from the wound. He still wasn’t healing. He also wasn’t awake, which wasn’t normal. She also could no longer hear his rattling breathing. It all hit her at once. She leaned her forehead against hers, and broke down in tears, now fully convinced that all hope was lost. If Cason died in that barn, she was definitely going to die.

“Please…please…” She begged him, as she attempted to reach her hand up and touch his face. She nearly screamed in frustration, realizing she couldn’t touch him, other than holding his limp hand in her own on the ground. “Please…Cason please.”

“If you keep beggin’ like that, the angels are gonna think you’re praying…” Cason spoke suddenly, his voice weak and raspy,but the sound nearly shocked her out of her body with a flinch. Cason squeezed her hand, a lazy smirk adorning his face, but he didn’t open his eyes.

“Oh my god. I thought you were dead.” Anna sobbed, and Cason instantly shushed her, frowning.

“I just decided not to breathe because it hurts. I mean, I’m skewered. Sam hasn’t shown up, yet…”

“No. I don’t think they’re coming. I-“ Anna started, when she heard a cough from across the barn, and both she and Cason sat a little straighter, turning their heads toward the noise. “Duke?!”

“Shit…” Duke groaned, Anna not able to see him, but hearing his voice sent her heart racing.

“Stay still. Are you hurt?” Anna called out to him, and Duke coughed loudly, dropping Anna’s relieved expression. He sounded awful.

“Yeah. Yeah…it’s bad…” Duke struggled and Anna shook her head.

“Don’t talk! Just stay still. Just wait!” She called to him. She didn’t know how bad he was hurt, but she knew that his cough sounded bad. There was no way he had been out this long from anything other than blood loss, which meant he was likely bleeding out, and unfortunately…or fortunately for him, it was happening slowly.

“Sam needs to hurry. I don’t think we’re gonna last much longer.” Cason whispered, tilting his head back against the wall.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean almost didn’t believe Mika when she said she was fine. He picked up her arm, and began to look it over, making sure that it wasn’t more than a scratch. He looked up from her arm and searched in the darkness for Nat, his heart hammering in his chest at how quiet the night still seemed. It didn’t seem like there were signs of life anywhere around them. As if answering his silent prayer that Nat was okay, he heard her voice. He released Mika and spun around, his entire body numb with relief as tears welled up in his eyes.

“Nat! Oh my god…” He gasped, walking toward her as Esme began helping her to them. He reached out, wrapping a hand around her upper arm to help Esme hold her up, and began to look her over. He winced at the wound on the back of her head as his hand found it, and he pulled it back covered in blood. “Jesus. What…?”

Before he could get the words out Sam also appeared from the dark, and he breathed a quick sigh of relief. Sam was jogging. He seemed okay and at himself. He was okay. Doing a quick inventory of everyone that had shown up, Dean closed his eyes. They were missing three. A pang of worry hit his stomach, seeing that Duke was missing. Duke was known for being the most reckless person he had ever met. Of all the missing, Duke was the one who was most likely dead. The thought wasn’t even something he could entertain as he shook his head and listened to Sam.

When Sam said that they were outnumbered, and Cason was missing. Dean lost it. “Dammit! I knew that son of a bitch would bail on us. I knew it.”

He took some deep breaths, closing his eyes to calm himself, in an effort to not upset Nat more than he had to. He was over emotional. He was worried about Duke. He was lost as to how they lost. How did they lose? This was an easy hunt and they were ambushed. The demons had it all planned, beat for beat. He opened his eyes, and Esme met his gaze, which made things even worse. As she confirmed his suspicions on Duke, Dean gritted his teeth, his ability to contain his emotions almost bursting at the seams. He carefully released Nat, and stepped away from her, growling as he paced for a moment.

“We have to find him. DAMMIT!” He screamed, echoing through the silent empty farm as he failed to process his emotions. “We have to find all of them…and I better not see Cason again. I will kill him myself. I swear to God I will kill him…myself.”

Anna and Cason

Cason’s breathing was beginning to give Anna chills as she sat as close to him as she could. She held her hand over his shoulder, the knife no longer protruding from his skin, but lying on the floor beneath him. She was shaking with a mixture of fear, unease, pain and sadness as she put pressure on a wound he would have typically healed in less than a minute. As she sobbed, Cason weakly lifted his head and tilted it as far forward as he could, touching the side of her face with his forehead. Anna leaned into the touch and sobbed, squeezing her eyes closed as she listened to his rattling breath.

“Now would be a good time for one of your j-jokes…”, she choked out, her voice breaking into a desperate sob. Cason weakly smirked, and took a shaky breath.

“Imagine the look…on Alastair’s face…when your boyfriend sucks the life out of him.” Cason stammered out, nudging Anna’s face with his forehead. The statement didn’t exactly comfort Anna, as she wasn’t aware of Sam drinking any demon blood. Sam would be a pig to slaughter if he tried to take on Alastair, at this point. “He can do it. And it will be beautiful to watch. I’ll die…watching the boy king of Hell take out the son of a bitch who made me. Beautiful, right?”

“No. Sam would never be able to hurt him. I couldn’t even hurt him.” Anna whimpered, but Cason weakly shook his head.

“He’s more powerful than you know. T-trust m-me.”

“Okay. Just rest. Just rest. Please stay with me.” Anna sobbed, huddling even closer to him. Cason reached a bloody hand out and linked their fingers together, trying to comfort her as she cried. “Please just stay alive.”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean waved his hand at Lexi when she insinuated that he should just text Sam about his location in the bunker. He didn’t want to harrass his brother. Who knew what was going on in Sam’s head? For all they knew, he was showing Anya every old book in the entire library to keep her busy, just calming the poor girls brain.

He sat down in the chair close to Lexi and glanced at the computer. He held his hand up and crossed his fingers, physically agreeing with her sentiment. The guy seemed obsessed and desperate. Maybe they could get lucky and get out of the bunker before Dean felt the need to go around and look for ghosts. He didn’t know how to tell Lexi what he was dealing with, because it was hard to explain. It didn’t quite feel like a haunting and how could anything haunt this place anyway?

Before he had the chance to think much further, the laptop pinged and he sat up straight, “There he is…”

He leaned in and read over the message before clapping his hands and scooting his chair back from the table. He was ready to go. “Yep! Let’s go…oh wait. We have to tell them we’re leaving?”

He thought about it with a frown and then sighed, dropping his head a bit, “Fine. I’ll go tell him. So help me if he’s doing anything stupid, I’ll kill him, Lexi.”

Dean reluctantly tapped his hand on the table, and then walked away, down the hall to look for Sam.

Anya

Anya laughed at Sam’s assessment of Dean’s fragility toward chick flicks, although, oddly enough, she wasn’t surprised that Dean had been suckered into enjoying Disney and other things that seemed out of character for him. Seeing him with Lexi, she could read that he was a pushover for pretty girls with pretty eyes…that he cared about.

For a while, while Lexi and Dean were in the war room setting up for their night out, Anya sat and watched the movie, laughing with Sam as they teased about some of the cheesier moments. But as the movie progressed, Anya felt herself tempted to reach out and wrap her arms around Sam’s arm. She was tempted to get closer. Maybe it was the movie. Maybe it was their closeness. She couldn’t really place it.

She pulled her phone into her lap, trying to decide what to type that would bridge a gap and make it less awkward if she did ask him to be closer. She had just met him. It wasn’t like the knew each other, or had a chance to really be attracted to one another. For all she knew, he saw her like all the other hunters did…some broken kid.

Anya sat up a little taller on the bed, and pulled her legs up to her chest, seemingly getting more comfortable. And then she decided to just…make a move. She leaned toward Sam, feeling a little awkward, and tapped his arm. As soon as he turned his head, she leaned in, and placed a simple, and impossibly gentle kiss against his lips.

“Seriously?!”

Anya flinched, so hard that she likely would have screamed if she was capable. Her head instantly turning to see Dean standing in the doorway, his hands on his hips in annoyance.

“I leave you alone, and you bring her to your bed?”

All Roads Lead To You

Dean and Duke

Dean and Duke had been on what should have been a very simple vampire take down, when things had gone horribly wrong. Dean twisted his body, pushing the weight of the dead vampire he had just killed. As it fell in a pile on the ground beneath the platform he was laying on. With a gasp of relief, he pulled himself back toward the center, suddenly realizing that he had almost fallen to his death from such a high place.

"Holy shit. Shit. Okay. You're okay. Duke?!" He called out to his best friend. The air was silent and he could no longer hear any sounds of tools or Duke's voice and the silence brought a familiar pain to his chest. Duke was in trouble. Duke was always in trouble. "DUKE! Can you hear me, man?!"

Nothing.

Dean groaned as he struggled to sit up, the pain in his ribs intense but the need to find Duke more intense. He scooted toward the edge of the platform, to the ladder, and then reached for his machete. He slipped the cord of his machete around his wrist, and began to climb down the ladder, dreading what he might come across when he reached the ground. As soon as his boots hit the ground, the silence seemed even louder.

"DUKE! Say something!" He called out in the darkness and finally, the sound of a struggle caught his ear, and he broke into a run, toward the sound. "Hold on! I'm comin'!"

"Aw. You've come to save your boyfriend! That's the most adorable thing I've ever witnessed. It's almost like a mo-" A blonde vampire stepped in front of Dean, and before she could finish her sentence, Dean whipped the strap of his machete into his hand, and sliced her head off.

"Shut up." He grumbled, and kept walking down the alley, to the sounds of Duke struggling to breathe. He had to hurry, because knowing Duke, he was an inch from death and still thought he was on top. Finally, the sight of flailing cowboy boots came into view and Dean sprinted toward a saw mill that was definitely on, and definitely close to sawing his best friend in half. "Hey! Care for some two on one?!"

Duke laughed while struggling to breathe, as soon as Dean came into view. He reached up and grabbed the giant man above him by the collar. Without missing a beat, he pushed him up as hard as he could, and Dean kicked the back of the man's head. Slowly, the man's grip loosened on Duke's throat and with a deep cough, Duke released him and rolled out from beneath his weight, leaving the giant alone on the saw mill.

"What about now?" Duke asked, referring to Dean's comment about 'two on one'. He leaned down, running his hand along the side of Dean's calf until he found the syringe he was looking for, just as the giant wrapped his arms around Duke's neck. Dean raised his machete, threatening he large vampire, but he just tightened his grip around Duke's neck. "See...this ain't workin' for me. You gotta squeeze a little harder...a little to the left...OH! oh there it is."

As Duke teased the giant vampire, he reached down and jabbed the syringe into the vampire's thigh, emptying every drop of the Dead Man's Blood into his system. The response was instant as the vampire dropped Duke roughly to the ground, dazed and nearly passed out. As the vampire stumbled, Dean pulled up a booted foot, kicking him onto the saw mill. He then used his machete to chop his head off.

Duke stood from the ground, groaning and chuckled while pointing, "He's so big, he's just sittin' there."

He and Dean both broke into laughter, until the giant body fell over, directly onto the running saw. Within a second, both Duke and Dean were covered in blood, as if they took a shower in it. Spitting a bit from his mouth, Duke turned to Dean and began to laugh all over again, but this time, Dean didn't echo his laughter. He simply rolled his eyes, with a growl, and walked away.

"C'mon man! You know that's funny." Duke called out to him, before picking up his now bloody white cowboy hat from the ground near the saw. He plopped the disgusting hat onto his head, grimacing at the squishing sound his hair made, and followed Dean down the alley.

--------

An Hour Later

"Don't say a word to Bobby about what you did." Dean ordered Duke as he attempted to unstick his dried bloody shirt from his chest and they walked toward Bobby's front door. He didn't even notice the other vehicle in the drive and he had no idea what he was walking into.

"Will he be that surprised though? He knows how I am. I ain't never said I'm smart..."

"No one has ever said you're smart, Duke." Dean grumbled, opening the front door and strolling in as if he wasn't covered in blood.

Bobby Singer stood from his desk with a start, nearly tripping over himself as he saw his boys, "Jesus Christ! What the hell happened to you two?!"

"Vampires!" Duke chimed, causing Dean to let out a loud sigh through his nose with his eyes squeezed shut. "We found the Vampire nest!"

"Yes. We did." Dean grumbled. And Bobby slammed his book shut on the desk as he aggressively crossed the room and stepped up to them both. Dean flinched, closing his eyes and standing a little straighter, as Duke seemed confused to his side. "But we took care of it, and this...this is not as bad as it looks. One of them kind of..."

"We accidentally sawed him in half. It was a mess. I mean...a mess." Duke chimed once again, his eyes big and excited as he beamed at Bobby. But the look that Bobby shot him, caused him to turn his own eyes to the ground, his cowboy hat covering his face as he straightened his shoulders and stood still and quiet.

"I have never told you what to do...but walkin' into a vampire nest half cocked without so much as a phone call, or backup nearby. How stupid are you, boy?!" Bobby practically yelled in Dean's face. It was then that Duke glanced past Bobby, to his desk and noticed two beer bottles sitting there.

"Bobby, you got company?"