JustAnna

All Roads Lead To You

Dean

Dean almost jumped out of his skin when Esme opened her eyes, ruining his plans to just let her sleep the entire night. He had planned to talk to her in the morning, and hopefully, she would be a little more cheery to see him. But as she teased him, Dean couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his face. He scanned over her face as she seemed to feel pain. He figured it was soreness from whatever hunt she had just come back from, but his worry wasn’t any less either way. He reached his hands out, hovering them over her body as if he could diagnose her just by having his hands near, but was afraid to touch her in case he hurt her worse.

He instantly shook his head as she began to apologize, “No…no, stop it.”, he started. But she continued her apology and he looked down at the mattress. Truth was, she did hurt his feelings, but he was also quick to get over things, when it came to arguments. As long as they were honest with each other, he would still be right there.

Dean furrowed his brow, concerned and wanting to hear more about her cases. But, she still seemed to be in apology mode, not complaining mode. Taking a deep breath, he reached out and brushed his fingers lightly against the back of her arm as she brought her hand down to her face, letting her finish her apology.

“You know what…” Dean started, a soft smile creeping up on his face, causing his freckled dimples to brighten up. He looked away from her for a moment and then turned his eyes back down to hers, “I was more concerned about that cut on your face than I was any of the mean crap you said to me. I’m just glad you’re here and you’re okay. Alright? Me and you…we’re good. I was just worried you were going to run off. You seemed so pissed at me. Duke is Duke.”

He leaned his body toward her, reaching his arm over to brace himself to where their noses brushed, sighing softly with a smile as he scanned her eyes, his lips brushing her upper lip as he spoke,“This doesn’t leave this room, or Duke will never let me live it down…being soft. But I missed you. A lot.”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Anna

Anna shook her head, holding her hands out toward Sam as he bent and picked her up. Over his shoulder, she reached for Cason, trying in every way she could to twist her body out of Sam’s grip as she screamed out to Cason, “Cason, NO! No. Sam we have to go back. We have to go back! You can’t just leave him! He’s the only reason I’m alive. Sam please!”

She continued to scream, until they were almost halfway up the hill and the shock set in that Cason was definitely dead. There was no way he could fight back against the demons that were coming, especially Alastair. And with her gone? They were going to take losing her out on him, 100%. She was silent, sniffling as her head buzzed with demon blood, and her skin seemed to crawl, as if she was covered in bugs.

And for the first time, her faith in Sam was shaken. For the first time, her trust in the entire group was broken…especially the goodness she tried to see in Dean.

Dean and Duke

Dean hustled up the hill, as best he could with the majority of Duke’s weight against his body. He was trying to hold him as close as he could, both to make sure he stayed alive, and so Esme could keep his wound covered, and hopefully slow some of the bleeding. As they approached the vehicles, Dean scanned between them, trying to decide which car would be best to transport Duke in. He finally decided on the Impala, right as Mika dipped and picked something up off the ground.

He signalled for Esme to walk with him around to the drivers side of the backseat, using his free hand to open the door, and then carefully lowered Duke’s head, turning and laying him down gently on the seat. “You hang on, you hear me?”

“I waited this long…just watch…” Duke choked out, giving his best attempt at a smirk as he struggled to open his eyes.

“Watch the bumps. I know. Rest, man…” Dean stopped him, not closing the door as he jogged around to Mika. He didn’t even look up, not willing to meet Anna’s eyes as she fell into silence, numb. But that’s when Mika’s words sank in. “What did you say?”

“She said they took Nat. So…this isn’t over. We’re not out.” Anna murmured, staring off into space. Dean closed his eyes, his nose snarled, and for a moment, he was tempted to make the trek back down the hill to get Cason. He growled, grappling with the idea before turning his back from Mika with a loud and frustrated scream.

“What the hell is going on?!” He screamed, echoing through the empty farm. He glanced up at the sky, his face anguished as he was tempted to pray. He couldn’t take this anymore. He couldn’t take the losses. It was getting heavy. It was getting too heavy. He placed his hands on his hips and turned to Mika again. “What is that? Where did they take her?”

Cason

Cason didn’t fight any of them. He simply resolved himself to dying, until Sarah walked over to him. Such a good girl. The Hellhounds were always the bright light for him, ever since he was tasked with taking care of some of them in Hell. He smirked at her, shaking his head as Sarah leaned her head against him, a silent goodbye. He knew that she would always choose Esme…because he had asked her to.

“I love you too. Go on.” He whispered to her, lifting his hand to scratch behind one of her ears until she reluctantly turned and went after Esme. And then the barn fell into silence, with only Anna’s screams being heard outside.

On cue, the door opened again, after the group was up the hill. Three demons rolled in, their Hellhounds snarling as they padded along beside them. Cason smirked, seeing how large the hellhounds were, and how pissed they seemed. Before either of the demons could approach him, Cason began to laugh.

“What’s so funny? You’re going to die…and you’re laughing?” One of the demons asked with his eyes narrowed.

“A little something I learned from a frenemy of mine, I guess.” Cason groaned, suddenly realizing his legs were working again. He pulled one of them up, causing the smaller of the three demons to flinch, his fists clenching. “And what’s so funny? You brought me dogs.”

“Yeah. Alastair said to make it fun for you.” The demon attempted to tease Cason, but he just laughed louder. “Make sure you didn’t poof your way out of here.”

“Is that so? He knows me…but he doesn’t know me, I guess. See, Lilith trusted me with a lot…including her babies.” Cason explained, glancing down at the Hellhound to the right of the demon who seemed to be in control. “And by babies, I don’t mean her food.”

“Get the dogs out. Right now!”

“Attendite! Discedite nunc, pueri!” Cason suddenly began screaming at the dogs, causing them to growl, their attention focused on him, and then turning in fierce obedience toward the other demons. “Nunc!”

And suddenly the Hellhounds jumped on their handlers, ripping them limb for limb in front of Cason, as he smiled, choking out a laugh. He glanced down, as the screaming continued, and touched the bloody wound to his stomach, pulling both his legs up in front of him. The wound was nearly healed, which meant that if he hurried, he could get up the hill to the Winchesters, and beat the life…out of Dean Winchester. But as he tried to teleport, he couldn’t and he realized very quickly his legs weren’t healed enough to stand. With a sigh, he leaned back and smiled at the dogs.

“Bonum est. Nunc ite. Find Natalia.” Cason ordered them, and the Hellhounds turned and ran out of the barn.

At the hospital

Dean and Anna

The ER nurses rushed out to the Impala, pushing everyone aside to help Duke after Dean called ahead. They needed him in a bed, getting fixed up as soon as possible, or there was no hope of him surviving, if there ever was. As Dean followed the nurses to the doors, one woman held a hand out, placing it on his chest.

Dean looked past them to Esme, whom they let go in with Duke. Sure, Esme could handle it but he wanted to be there if she got the bad news he was dreading. He looked down at the nurse, opening his mouth to speak but she cut him off.

“He requested his girlfriend. But you? We have questions. Don’t leave, sir.” The nurse snapped at him, and Dean furrowed his brow, watching them wheel Duke inside, out of his reach and eventually out of his eye sight. He turned and walked back with frustration to the Impala, wiping both frustrated hands down his face.

“So what the hell are we doing now?”

“Miss, are you okay?” A random nurse leaned in and asked Anna, who was sitting in the passenger seat of Duke’s truck, leaning against the open window. Anna didn’t answer him at first and he tried again.

“No.”

“Do you need help? If you don’t feel safe, I can call ahead for…” The man continued, insinuating that Sam may have hurt her. Anna winced at the accusation, but shook her head.

“No.”

“I have to insist that you get checked out. If you’re afraid, I can escort you.”

“I don’t need help. I’m fine.” Anna grumbled, rolling her eyes. The nurse could see that she was covered in sweat and her shoulder was bleeding badly enough that it was still weeping down her arm, splattering onto the leather seat below her.

“Well, that shoulder needs attention. If you won’t come with me, I’ll have to call ahead.”

“Fine. Stitches, a bottle of water and I’m out. I just want to go home.” Anna snapped finally, opening the truck door without so much as a look to Sam. She climbed out of the truck and followed the nurse. The nurse didn’t even give Sam the option to follow them, turning to him.

“You stay here. There will be questions.”

Inside, the nurse that had held Dean back pumped the manual respirator they had already set up for Duke, her expression concerned and stern. She looked up at Esme as they walked along and frowned.

“Hes going to need blood, right away. You wouldn’t happen to be O-negative would you?” She asked her, still suspicious of the woman in front of her. Sure it was this man’s significant other, but she had arrived with a man that seemed awfully emotionally invested.

They burst through a set of doors and another nurse came to take over the bag, as the female nurse touched Esmes arm gently, stopping her.

“Let’s um…let’s get that sleeve rolled up so we can help your boyfriend.” She explained, as Duke was rolled back to surgery with urgency. “We can pray for a miracle together, alright? He’s in good hands.”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya

Anya smiled brightly as Sam seemed to agree that food might be the way to Dean’s heart, if she wanted to gain his trust. She could tell from looking at the older Winchester that he was a meat and potatoes guy, with a stomach for down home cooking. Judging from both their accents, and the bunker being in Kansas, she guessed soul food might be his drug of choice. The simplicity of Sam pushing his hair behind his ear caught Anya’s eye, following his hand absentmindedly with a soft sigh. She resisted the urge to snuggle up with him, gesturing for him to press play on the movie so they could finish it up. If he didn’t, she wasn’t sure they would ever fully shake the awkwardness, because her temptation would get the better of her…all over again.

A little later, Anya stretched, dropping her legs off the side of the bed to stand up. She stretched a little harder once she stood, and smiled, turning to Sam typing on her phone, “I think I’m more relaxed than I’ve been in months…”

Dean

Dean raised his eyebrows when Lexi mentioned that having ‘him’ was a breath of fresh air. It nearly caused his heart to skip a beat. He couldn’t decide if it was excitement, or flattery, or a mixture of the two. Either way, his raised eyebrows fell into a proud smirk at her words. She adjusted himself in his seat, squeezing the steering wheel a little tighter to prevent his hands from reaching over for her, not knowing that she was fighting the same urge.

“Well, I’m glad to be of service.” He teased, glancing over at her as she stared out the window. He decided to focus more on the case than the tension in the vehicle, grounding himself so he wasn’t distracted. “I say, when we get there, I’ll hang back and let you handle the guy. I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him, but you showing up with me might cause him to…bolt. If I need to, I’ll rough him up a bit. But if we’re right, dude’s just a basement dweller with a little too much interest in the occult, you know?”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Anna

Anna continued to try and reach for Sam as he tried to break the chains free of the floor. As weak as they were, Anna was confident that he could break them free, but it wasn’t happening fast enough. She looked all around them, expecting a demon to show up and begin the massacre any second, but as Sam finally broke the chain, Anna’s heart flew into her throat with happiness.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder as he lifted her from the ground, “I thought they had killed you. Cason kept saying you were coming for us, but…I couldn’t feel you or anything. I thought you were dead.”

Anna was shivering, a clear sign that she was both terrified and strung out on demon blood. Her skin was blazing hot and she was drenched in sweat as she shivered in Sam’s arms.

Dean, Duke and Cason

Dean gritted his teeth as Esme pushed past him, punching the air by his hip. Before he could turn around and follow her, he heard as she found Duke. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, preparing himself for this one. This is something he always thought he would be prepared for, Duke dying on him, breaking his heart. He had worked up to this, for years, but having Duke back, a lot of those feelings had fallen away. Duke had changed, even if just a bit. He seemed more careful, more trained up.

He turned with a huff, deciding to play this as stern and tough as he could, but the second his eyes fell on Esme cradling Duke in his arms, his entire mind reverted back to fear and he nearly froze. There was no way Duke could survive that wound. There was no way that he was getting out of here alive. He quietly walked over to Esme and Duke, slowly lowering himself onto his knees beside them, “C’mon man…please…”

It was then that he realized he was beginning to tear up, something he didn’t necessarily want Esme to see, in this moment. He turned his eyes away from them, as Esme tried to wake Duke, and stared over at Sam and Anna, his heart flooding with a little relief, like a cool drink of water. But hearing Esme tell Duke how much she loved him shattered Dean’s heart. Duke had to survive this…

In Duke’s mind

“You runnin’ from your boyfriend?” Duke called out, the sun shining so bright that he could barely see as he looked up from under the rim of his cowboy hat. In the bright sunlight, as he squinted, Esme appeared. She was wearing a dress she would never wear, and she looked almost like an angel…if he didn’t know better.

He sat his knife aside on the tailgate, and looked around. He was sitting in a large field, near the barn he had apparently died in, on the tailgate of his truck. And Esme? Well she was looking too good to be true. He tilted his head as she stepped even closer to him, “Now hold on. If Dean come’s out here, he’s gonna assume the worst. You know that.”

Esme didn’t answer him, but her hand raised, causing Duke to shy away from her touch briefly, as it made contact with his cheek. He could feel her fingers against his skin, eventually knocking the cowboy hat off the top of his head, which confused him to no end.

“I love you, Duke.” She whispered, the sound echoing all through his brain and freezing him in place.

“Wait wait wait…I’m dead, right? I died in the barn? Dammit. I can’t go out like that.”

“But you have to.” Esme suddenly spoke for the first time. And Duke shook his head. “Yes. You can’t argue with death, Jason.”

“You’re not her. Let me guess…you’re a reaper. You’re one of them? Then you let me go back and say goodbye.”

“You know I can’t do that.” She whispered, stepping up to him. Her steps caused him to flinch but she smiled. “And you know I can’t take you unless you agree to go with me.”

“I know. And I ain’t goin’ nowhere, until I tell that girl goodbye.”

“It’s a bad idea, Jason. They will try to save you…and they will fail.” She explained sadly.

“I don’t care. I don’t care because it will give them closure…”

“No. It will leave a hole. It will be a failure. It will be a casualty that both of them will never heal from.” The reaper whispered, brushing his hair away from his forehead as she spoke. Duke shook his head.

“They know how this job is. They know people die!”

“And that’s why it’s unnessary pain. You can go with me. You’ll rest…they can rest.” She spoke softly, but firm. Her words caused Duke to scoff incredulously, shaking his head.

“You think they’ll rest? In case you haven’t noticed, the world is endin’ around them. There is no rest! Please. Please…I’m not goin’ with you. So do what you need to do. I’m goin’ back to them. I’m goin’ to tell that girl goodbye.” Duke said definitely, and the reaper sighed sadly. She leaned in, and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, the sun brightening into a blinding white light. The light suddenly faded, and the world was dark again, but her lips were still pressed to his. Duke kissed her back, not opening his eyes, as Esme’s lips began to feel real to him. He wasn’t leaving yet…

Breaking the kiss, he smirked.

“I don’t even wanna know…how h-hard you’re gonna punch me later…” Duke suddenly spoke, causing Dean to flinch. He turned back to stare at him with wide eyes, reaching forward to his limp hand. Duke instantly squeezed his fingers weakly and Dean sighed, not even realizing he had been holding his breath.

“Oh my god, Duke. Jesus Christ…” Dean shuddered out a terrified sigh, his face scrunching as he fought a sob.

Dean’s entire body jolted as Mika called his name, asking him to come and help with Cason. He came back to reality slowly, and the aggravation and anger bubbled up in his chest as he turned to her. If it was Duke’s life or Cason’s he already knew his choice, even if Natalia would hate him for it. Dean closed his eyes tightly and sighed, standing from Duke’s side and turning on his heel. He looked around the area, and his eyes fell on a crowbar hanging on the wall. He grabbed it on his way by, his aggression heightening with every single step. He then squatted in front of Cason, wedging the crowbar between the iron cuff and the wall, breaking it with ease and releasing Cason’s neck.

He tossed the crowbar aside, and sighed through his nose before grabbing Cason’s jaw in his hand, “I want you to look at me…”

“Why? So you can look me in the eyes, while you kill me? You don’t think I know?”

“Oh I know you do. I know that you know…you’re not walking out of here. Right? You know that there is no part of me that’s going to give you even half a chance to take my sister any further down whatever hell slide you have planned for her.” Dean spoke low, making sure that no one would be able to hear him, other than Cason. Cason shook his head.

“I would never hurt her.”

“Sure. You’re a good lapdog, right? No. See…unlike my siblings, I don’t believe that for a second. I don’t believe for a second that you have some sort of human soul trapped in that meatsuit that is calling your shots out of some sense of what…love? No. No…” Dean laughed incredulously and wrapped his hand around the fire poker that was lodged into the wall through Cason’s body. Cason cried out in pain, reaching up to grab Dean’s wrist. But Dean slapped his hand away and began rocking the poker up and down, seemingly attempting to remove it from the wall. “You almost got them killed. My brother…Anna. What happens…when the chips are down, and you have to choose between Lucifer and my sister?”

Cason growled, his eyes black as he glared back at Dean, once again reaching for Dean’s wrist. Dean slapped his hand away again, and Cason groaned, gritting his teeth, “I protected Anna. I r-rebelled.”

“And a lot of good that did. The demons are hotter on her ass now than they were, and Sam’s. If they take you, they will leave Nat alone.” Dean sneered at Cason but Cason shook his head and coughed.

“No. They will just get to her faster…”

“What do you know? What do you know about Anna and my brother?” Dean asked, rocking the poker again and causing Cason to cry out once again.

“Dammit! I don’t know. I know that Lilith…Lilith wants Sam’s head. I know that…I know that Lilith wants Anna. I don’t know why. It’s not like I can read her mind.”

“But she was your boss. She must have told you something!” Dean growled a little louder.

“Her only orders were…were to keep Anna safe. That’s it. Keep her safe until he comes. She didn’t say why. She didn’t tell me what she wanted from her. And then I hid…I hid Anna from her. I didn’t bring them together…fate did.” Cason gasped out. Without another word, Dean ripped the firepoker out of the wall behind Cason, freeing him, and threw it to the side with a loud ‘clang’. Cason took a deep breath, as if it was the first he had ever breathed, but stayed still.

“If you are some sort of unicorn demon, then fine. If that’s the case, I’m sorry. And if that’s the case, you will understand…why you can’t come with us.” Dean said as he stood up, a torn look between disgust and regret plastered to his face. He turned to walk away, and then turned back to Cason briefly, “Nat will forgive me eventually. Good luck, man…”

Cason didn’t argue with Dean. He simply leaned his head back, allowing his body to slowly start healing as Dean turned, and walked back to Duke’s side. Luckily, Duke was relatively thin, or there’s no way they would have ever made it out with him.

“Let’s get him out of here.” Dean grunted at Esme. He didn’t know if moving Duke was a good idea, but they didn’t really have a choice. He signalled for Esme to help him, and he wrapped one of Duke’s arms around his neck, counting to Esme before hoisting Duke from the ground, “I got you bud. Let’s get you patched up. C’mon…just stay with me.”

As Dean began to walk to the door of the barn, Anna looked back to Cason, and then to Dean and then to Sam and instantly shook her head. She pulled out of Sam’s arms, peeling him off her with her burning hot hands, and twisted in every way she could to get away from him until she was free. “No. No. We’re not leaving him! You can’t leave him!” She cried out, running over to Dean.

“Anna…move.” Dean warned her, his face showing nothing but seriousness and urgency. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he was getting Duke out, even if he had to anger his brother.

“No! We’re not leaving him. Sam. Help me. Please. Mika? Someone!” She cried out, running over to Cason and pulling one of his arms around her neck. She attempted to lift his damaged body with all her might, but they both collapsed on the ground as she whimpered. “Someone help me! Please!”

Dean closed his eyes, sighing through his nose, as Anna’s voice pierced his heart and then turned to shoot a look at Mika, shaking his head to tell her they didn’t have time to save Cason. They had to go. Anna continued to cry out for help, as Dean left the barn with Esme and Duke, his heart heavy with guilt. Nat might never forgive him.

“Sam…Please. Please help me…” Anna begged, her trauma bonding with Cason evident as she shielded his body, covering the wound in his stomach with her hand as it gushed blood. Even with her addiction, her mind wasn’t even focused on his blood, only his well being. He wasn’t healing fast enough to walk out on his own two feet. The lights began to flicker, signalling that the demons were likely on their way back.

All Roads Lead To You

Bobby

Bobby smirked when Esme assumed so quickly that Duke would cut her out upon first meeting. That wasn’t Duke’s personality at all. In fact, the moment she began scrapping with him verbally, the boy probably fell in love with her. He shrugged his shoulders, “I wouldn’t be so sure…”

He walked back over to his desk, hearing the shower turn on, and the house fall into a lull of almost silence, just how he liked it. Pouring himself another drink, he glanced up at Esme from under the bill of his hat and scowled for a moment. As much as he wanted to force her to come sit in a chair and let him redoctor that cut on her head, he knew that she would just refuse. If anything, she was in good hands with Dean. The boy was head over heels for her, whether he liked it or not.

Dean and Duke

A few minutes later

“Fresh and…clean.” Dean sighed, cutting himself off as he rubbed at his hair, walking shirtless into the living room. His eyes landed on Esme, laid back on the couch, either sound asleep or just on the verge and in deep thought. He tossed his towel in the overflowing laundry hamper in the kitchen, and carefully walked over to the couch. Bobby said nothing, flipping the page on his book as if he had seen this song and dance a million times.

Dean slowly sank down onto the cushion beside Esme, and reached his hand out, brushing his fingers through her hair against her forehead.

“She’s awful cute when she’s sleepin’. Way more peaceful.” Duke chimed from the kitchen and both Bobby and Dean shot him a glare that said ‘shut the hell up and let her rest’. Bringing his hands up in defense, he wiped his messy blonde hair with a towel and lumbered over to Bobby’s desk. “I’m just tryin’ to diffuse the tension.”

“And you think callin’ someone who just met you…and instantly hated you ‘cute’ is that option?” Bobby teased Duke quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. Duke tilted his head to the side, signalling that Bobby had a point, then sat down, picking up Bobby’s half drank beer, and taking a swig.

Dean turned and in a loud whisper, he pointed at Duke, “Listen…after the night we’ve had, you don’t think it’s RV time for you?”

“This is my house too, you know…” Duke grumbled back, just as Bobby snatched his beer back from his adopted son with his own grumble.

“It is. And there’s a reason you have the RV. It gets crowded in here, and I’m taking the guest room. Esme always gets it when she’s here.” Dean narrowed his eyes, waiting for Duke to say something stupid, but Duke simply shrugged and Dean rolled his eyes. “Just go to the RV, Jason.”

“HEY! Hey. There’s no need for government names to come out here…You never call me that.” Duke suddenly errupted. Bobby reached an arm out and placed it on Duke’s shoulder, pushing him down into the chair with gritted teeth. “Sorry. It makes me feel weird…and he knows it.”

“Son. I suggest you just go to bed. By in the mornin’ maybe we can start over. You want to diffuse the tension? Go to bed.” Bobby whispered to him, putting on his best supportive father face. With a sigh, Duke reached over and plucked his now clean hat off the stack of books on Bobby’s desk and plopped it on his head. He stood from the chair and began to walk toward the kitchen to head out to the lot.

“I guess tell her I said goodnight when she wakes up. I’ll be in for breakfast. After all this, somebody better make me some bacon.” Duke grumbled as he opened the back door and headed out to his RV. Dean turned back to Esme with a sigh and brushed his fingers across her forehead, just as Bobby turned on his TV by his desk, settling in for his own night of sleep…right there in his office chair and later, the couch.

“Hey sweetheart. Why don’t we go get some rest. I wanna take a look at you.” Dean whispered to her sweetly, all of his bravado fading away the second he knew only she could hear him. After a moment of watching her eyes for any sign of waking, Dean sighed, glancing over at Bobby’s desk. He could tell Bobby was beginning to nod off, himself.

Dean stood from the couch, and reached for Esme, slipping one arm behind her and one under her legs, before hoisting her into his arms. He let her head roll against his cheek and turned his head to press a kiss to her hair, as he walked toward the stairs.

“See you in the morning Bobby…” He muttered on his way by the desk. Bobby waved at him, and Dean smiled making the trek up the stairs with Esme. Luckily the bedroom door was already cracked open, and all he had to do was nudge it with his foot. He quickly and gently walked to the bed and as if she was made of glass, lay her down against the pillows.

All Roads Lead To You

Dean and Duke

Dean watched Esme’s facial expressions, trying to read what stages of her anger she was in at that moment. She could be hard to read, but he was also getting to know her faces, all too well. When she finally sighed and explained that she believed him, Dean released a huge sigh, releasing Duke’s mouth.

Her comment about their smell caused him to pick up his shirt, and sniff it, his nose curling at the horrible smell. They really did reek, but there was only one shower, and what if Esme was gone before he got back, and he didn’t have a chance to check on her, or pick her brain? He wanted to see what she was thinking after all this, why she was so angry. He wanted to make sure she wasn’t too hurt, or hadn’t made any mistakes that had her in a bad mental space. For once, he cared about a woman he hadn’t known long.

As if reading his mind, she reassured him that she wasn’t leaving. He wanted to believe her, especially since she looked worse for wear. But, a pang in his stomach told him that she might actually run off. Like he pushed her away, or scared her away with his lack of care…for himself.

“There’s only one shower and I’m not showering with Dean. But I ain’t stayin’ out here alone with you either.” Duke spoke up, causing Dean to harshly slap the back of his head, ruffling his bloody blonde hair. Duke grabbed the back of his head and swung around to look at Dean, his eyes wide and hurt, “Ow dude!”

“You boys stop the two year old squabblin’ and go clean up. There’s a half bath in the basement. You know that. It ain’t a shower, but you know how to use a bucket and some towels, don’t ya?” Bobby chimed in, glaring at both boys in front of him. He raised his eyebrows to drive home the point, and Dean and Duke turned to each other.

“Winner takes the shower.” Duke held out both his hands for ‘rock, paper, scissors’ with a bright smile. Dean eagerly set his own hands up and leaned toward Duke. They counted, and finally laid out their signs, Duke holding scissors and Dean holding rock. “No! Best two out of three!”

“Nope! Winner gets the shower. And I’m the winner!” Dean gleefully chimed, walking around the chair and to the linen closet. He pulled a couple of towels and stopped at the bathroom door, looking back at Esme. “Please…don’t leave.”

Duke reluctantly stood from his chair, holding both his hands in front of his face at Esme, and also raided the linen closet. As he passed Esme to head for the basement stairs, he stopped and looked down at her, “Sorry we met under these circumstances. I really ain’t as bad as I probably seem to you right now.”

“Duke!” Dean yelled from the bathroom, causing Duke to roll his eyes, and stroll past her to the basement.

Bobby shook his head, and stepped around his desk. He walked up to the chair that Duke had been sitting in, moving it back to its place in front of his desk. Then he stooped, and picked up Duke’s hat, holding it in his hand with a sigh, “His head ain’t screwed on right…but he is one of the good ones, once you get attached to him.”

"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.”