JustAnna

All Roads Lead To You

Dean

Dean shook his head as Duke left the kitchen and walked out the front door, a sight that he was unfortunately used to any time he tried to give Duke advice. He turned his hand over as Esme picked it up, giving her hand a little squeeze as she confirmed that he had attempted to give her space. He looked up at her and matched her smile, but his own fell briefly when she mentioned that she might have had too much space. Dean wondered if this was her way of telling him that she felt like he was avoiding her, which was far from the case…or at least he thought so.

He narrowed his eyes and snapped from his thoughts when she spoke about Duke ‘trying to help her work through her emotions’. That sounded like a classic Duke move. Emotions were his favorite door into someone’s heart. He had a habit of making people fall in love with him…just by talking to them.

“I don’t want to hover…” Dean grumbled, as he softened his face, and scanned her face for her feelings toward the situation. He tried to read whether she wanted him to come out to the shooting range or not. He was trying to just get an idea of what was expected of him, something he wasn’t exactly good at reading with people, but was trying to learn.

Her lips against his cheek made him smirk, and nod at her declaration of being okay. At least there was that. She was okay. Would it be so bad to let her hang out with Duke? If anything, Duke’s positivity might be good, after whatever had happened the night before…which he needed to press her on, himself. He looked between her eyes as she stared into his, swallowing heavily at the honesty he saw there. As she leaned in to kiss his lips, he nodded softly, “Okay. I’ll probably be out there in a bit, after I get dressed. Just…don’t get too attached to Duke. He’s friendly, but he’s a bolter.”

He kissed her back, tempted to pull her onto his lap and keep her in the house somehow, but she seemed adamant about going out. He just had to give her a warning, a warning that Bobby would have slapped him for. Duke had broken Bobby’s heart a million times by running off with no calls or signs of where he was going…and yet…Bobby didn’t allow them to talk about it.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya

Anya listened to Sam’s conversation with Dean, raising her eyebrows as it seemed that Dean was asking about her and Sam being close to one another. She rolled her eyes at the jealousy she could feel oozing from the chattering on the other end. Dean was terrified of losing Sam, in some way, not that Anya would ever leave this place…if she was close to Sam.

She smirked as Sam called Dean out on his jealousy, and then watched Sam hang up the phone and lay it to the side. She looked back up at him with a soft sigh, and reached back for her own phone. Her heart dropped as he said that the lead was nothing special, but she held it together, placing a hand on his chest as she typed with her other hand.

“Well. Then we keep working until we find something, right? I don’t mind sticking around.” She pressed play, and turned her eyes up to Sam’s with a small smile, reassuring him through her own disappointment. As she watched his face, the timer on the oven dinged, causing her to flinch and press against his chest to scoot him back. She climbed off the table, dropping her phone on the cutting board on her way by, and walked over to the oven, grabbing a glove and popping it open. She pulled both trays from the oven and let it close, before turning back to Sam. She sat the trays on the cutting board and then picked up her phone, typing again, “Maybe he will calm down over dinner.”

Dean

Dean turned to Lexi as Sam hung up on him, holding his phone out with an incredulous scowl on his face. He couldn’t believe that Sam wouldn’t even give him the chance for a rebuttal on this. But when Lexi called him out, he narrowed his eyes, realizing that he was in this alone with his feelings. Any other time, he would have fought tooth and nail to prove that he was right, but he was starting to see that not only was he out numbered, but that they may have a point about his paranoia.

Dean took Lexi’s hands as she reached for his, and snarled his nose a bit at the mental image her words brought up. He didn’t even want to think about what Sam would do with someone as seemingly sweet as Anna, alone…

But her last words about the situation caused him to tilt his head with raised eyebrows. She was right. It would be hypocritical of them both to tell Sam not to shoot his shot, when they had been in Hell all day keeping their hands to themselves. “You’re right…” he muttered, as she let go of his hands.

With a deep breath, he took in her suggestion to try and relax when they got back, get to know Anya and try to vibe with the situation. He mulled it over in his brain, raising his eyebrows as she kissed his cheek. He turned to look at her once again, fighting the urge to kiss her in his hypocrisy, as he stared into her eyes and matched her smile with a smaller one of his own.

“Fine. But I’m gonna keep an eye on her.”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Anna

Anna nodded along with Sam. She was more than excited they were all okay. There wasn’t much reason to still be upset, other than the principle of trying to kill Cason, after all the help he had provided, against Hell’s wishes. Cason had risked his entire existence to keep her safe, and then stayed…when he didn’t have to. He had gotten close to the Winchesters, and not run away when things were the worst for him. But he was alive, and she couldn’t wait to see him again…and if anything, thank him for helping her stay alive, while they waited for Sam.

The thought of the demon blood still in her system crossed her mind, as she thought of Cason. She wondered if they would end up drying her out again, something she wanted to absolutely refuse, or if Cason would give her more blood. She was drawn from her thoughts by Sam speaking up about another text.

“Wait. We’re going to Bobby’s?” She started, deciding not to fight him on it just yet as the rest of of the text hit her. Duke was roaming around on the highway after being skewered? Duke was practically dead when they were in the barn. There was no way he was just up and walking around, unless…”Duke is the murder victim. That means one of us is probably the murderer. Damn. Yeah we gotta go. They’re probably sending out every cop in the state to find him and whichever one of us they think…killed him.”

She had trouble finishing that sentence, but she sighed in unison with Sam and nodded her head, “Yeah. Let’s…let’s get to Bobby’s, I guess.”

Dean and Cason

Dean was relieved, when Mika finished the phone call with Bobby. Bobby seemed more excited for them to show up than they were to get there. Bobby’s was a safe space. Some of them would have to sleep on the floor in the living room. They would likely have to deal with Anna’s demon blood situation. And it sounded like at least one or two of them would end up in the RV. But they could figure all of that out when they got there. At that moment, they just needed…to get there. Dean glanced back at Duke once again as Esme called Duke’s name.

He sighed, not wanting to watch anymore. He wanted to talk to Duke alone, when he wasn’t stuck in an impossible to understand situation, when he was home, and safe.

Cason simply wrapped his arms a little tighter around Natalia. The whole situation and vibe jarring him, as he thought about how close Nat had actually come to dying in that asylum. He wasn’t the least bit excited to walk back into Bobby’s booby trapped hell hole. But he knew Nat would be safe there. He knew that Bobby would do everything to keep the ones he considered his ‘kids’ safe. That was good enough for Cason, even if the house was rigged to literally bite his ass.

“He’s gonna be okay…” Cason whispered in Nat’s ear, as she nudged Duke. The guy honestly seemed like he needed space that he couldn’t have, but also seemed like he would melt away if he wasn’t touched by someone he trusted. It wasn’t an emotion Cason would wish on his worst enemy.

Duke

Duke nearly flinched when Esme pulled her arms from him, his brain telling him to reach for her arms, to hold her as close to him as he possibly could, but then her hand came to touch his face and she said his name. He closed his eyes tightly, at the soft touch, until she asked him to look at her, which he opened his eyes and turned to do. He followed her eyes, his own eyes darting between both of hers as she spoke to him. Duke took a deep breath, not moving as Esme pushed his hair from his face and he began to shake his head.

“I don’t want that…”, He started, but he pressed his lips together and stopped resisting, and conceded with a soft nod. He didn’t want any of them going out there and trying to find anything. That never ended well for anyone. They ended up digging up bad crap every single time that they went for answers. He honestly just wanted to try and soldier his way through whatever the feeling in the pit of his stomach was. But he knew Esme was stubborn, and she would do whatever she had to to get the info she was looking for. Taking another deep breath, Duke scanned her eyes and nodded once again with a soft smile. “Okay.”

He closed his eyes, furrowing his brow as Esme pulled him in and kissed his forehead. It felt so real. He just couldn’t decide if all of this being real was a good thing or not. But the hug drove home the point that this was…in fact…real. He wrapped his arms around Esme, holding her so close to him that he was afraid of breaking her in half. His nickname settled in the pit of his stomach, and made him wish that he could just take her and run away. No more fighting. No more hunting. As rare as it was, they could get out. He knew better, but the wish was still there.

“I love you…” He whispered into Esme’s hair. He sat there silently, just hugging her for a while, her words, punctuated by ‘just rest’ causing him to sigh. He could feel that his general demeanor was making people uncomfortable. The biggest of them…Esme. He was always the one who brought things back to funny. He was always the one who laughed his way through mortal injuries and impossible situations. He was always the one who managed to come out of traumatic experiences with a bright smile on his face and not a trace of sadness. But this felt different, and he felt guilty as hell for not being the person they needed…that she needed. He pulled back from her just enough to slump down in his seat, his knees bumping the front seat of the Impala. He leaned his head back, but tilted it so that Esme could snuggle up to him if she needed to. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Anna

Anna glanced over from her peering around like an anxious prey victim, as Sam let out a sigh of relief. The mission had gone well, to get Nat back. She could already tell, by that sigh of relief. But that didn’t change the fact that they were down a man…and a demon, and now they were stuck waiting around to be able to leave this stupid town.

“Good…” Anna nodded, genuinely happy that Nat was safe, but exhausted. But then his next words completely stopped her heart for a brief second, as her eyes went wide and she turned to him, “What? Cason’s alive?!”

She turned back to stare at the console in front of her as tears welled up in her eyes. This whole thing had worked out. The principle of what had been done was still going to linger in the air…for a while. But Cason was alive. As far as Anna knew, they were all alive, somehow. Against all odds, they had all survived such a hopeless situation.

“Wait. Cason is with Dean? I can’t imagine that is anything but Nat twisting arms. Dean tried to kill him. If not for the optics, Dean wouldn’t have left him, he would have killed him.” Anna grumbled, although her breathing was quick and overwhelmed as she grappled the the news, and the confusion of it all. “But at least they’re alive. Now hopefully Duke pulls through and we can all get the hell out of this town.

Duke, Dean and Cason

Dean lifted his eyes to meet Esme’s as she gave him a look that he echoed. He truly couldn’t believe that Duke was sitting there, whole, in his car. It was odd, still, to see Duke and Esme so close, even if he had felt like they would end up together, if they ever found themselves close enough. They had been huddled up close and cozy ever since Duke had stumbled onto their little family, and part of him was just happy to see both Duke and Esme happy…even if it was awkward after all these years.

Duke tried to ignore the looks he was getting, as he pulled his elbow tighter to his body, holding Esme’s arms to him as she wrapped up on his arm. So, it was true. He had died. Like…dead dead. The way Mika was staring at him. The way Dean was staring at him. The way Esme was clinging to him for dear life. He had died, and the world he had seen after passing out in the Impala must have been Heaven.

“Yeah. It’s like you’re all looking at a ghost.” Cason followed up Nat’s comment, and Duke sighed and gritted his teeth for a second before holding his free hand out.

“Because they feel like they are. I mean…I did die, right?”

Dean tensed suddenly, and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

“No. No you didn’t. The people at the hospital just made a mistake is all. We…we will figure it all out, alright? But I don’t want to talk about it right now. I just want to be glad you’re with us, man.” Dean stopped the conversation cold. Duke nodded his head, his hair falling into his eyes as he looked down at his lap, staring at the dried blood spatters on the denim. “Alright?”

“Alright.” Duke responded, his voice small and unconvinced. Cason glanced between all four of them, narrowing his eyes. If Duke was alive, and Esme, Dean and Mika didn’t expect him to be…something brought him back. He didn’t dare mention it, as Dean would have likely broken his nose, whether Nat was on his lap or not. But he had his questions that he would be trying to find answers to later.

“Let’s figure out where we’re going from this place. Do we know of any place that’s near us?” Dean asked Mika, trying to help shake her out of her shock, as well. But Cason spoke up and Dean shrugged his shoulders at the answer that came back.

“Sioux Falls is four hours Northwest. Doesn’t your…Bobby live there?”

“Yeah. Meeko, what do you think. Bobby’s?” Dean answered, and Duke suddenly broke his own silence.

“Call him. Let’s go home. Safest place I can think of.” Duke murmured, trying not to drive any sort of conflict. He didn’t want any conflict, while he was still processing his own humanity or…whatever. “I mean, if you guys want to…”

“That sounds great Duke. Really. Now, rest, dude. Snuggle up with your girl. Get some rest. You’re home. You’re safe with us. We got you.” Dean reassured Duke as he glanced back and saw the light that he loved so much about his other half…just missing. Duke wasn’t acting like Duke. Even on death’s door, Dean had never seen him this dark, scared and quiet. No teeth glaring in the headlights on the road, as Duke smiled. No bright blue eyes twinkling. He was just…a shell. “Don’t you forget it, alright? We got you. I’ve always got you.”

“Yeah. Thanks…” Duke muttered, forcing his best polite smile before dropping it and turning his eyes back down to the blood spatters on his jeans.

All Roads Lead To You

Duke

Duke shrugged off Esme’s apology about forcing him into the RV. At least in the RV he had more space to himself, and he didn’t have to deal with Dean’s mood swings. It was his little slice of heaven that a lot of nights, he chose to sleep in, whether they had company or not.

He was happy to see her laugh, though. Her laugh lit up the entire room, and was music to his ears after the time she had had the night before. He didn’t know her very well, but he knew that she had to be a good person. Bobby kept her around and she was close to Dean, who rarely held onto anyone. In fact, Dean rarely stayed in one place long enough to hold onto anyone. So, Duke wanted to get to know this girl better…or perhaps for worse.

He laughed with her, raising his eyebrows as she told him that she might bring him things he couldn’t handle. There wasn’t much he couldn’t handle. He had been around this business since he was barely old enough to read, and a shotgun felt like a lead brick in his hands. Duke didn’t extend more of an invitation, only shrugging his shoulders in a suave and ‘brush it off’ sort of way until she thanked him.

“You’re welcome.” He beamed, his smile only falling a bit as she mentioned that he could talk to her as well. His mind went to the deep scars on his back, and the fact that he was walking around without a shirt…around a stranger. Hard conversations tended to try and fire up around the scars on his back. Those conversations would not be had any time soon…at least he thought.

“I’ll keep that in mind. You do seem like you’d be a good shrink. I might have to be careful my dark and edgy side doesn’t come out, if we ever have a session.” Duke teased, before turning and tossing all the guns into the duffel that laid open on the cushion of his kitchen table. He nodded at her suggestion to get moving and tossed the handles of the duffel onto his shoulder. “Sure! Just try not to make too much eye contact when you go in the house. Dean might never let you leave.”

Without another word, Duke passed her, turning his back to her as he jogged down the steps of the RV, out into the covered carport. He walked up to the back door, and swung it open with excitement, stepping into the kitchen. Dean was on his second or third helping of breakfast when Duke stepped in, causing Dean to raise his eyes from the newspaper he had laid out next to his plate.

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Dean asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m goin’ shootin’ with your girlfriend. It’s restful. It’s at home and she wants to hang out with me. So, read your paper and relax.” Duke beamed at him, passing him to walk to the fridge, retrieving two beers before kicking the door closed. “You wanted a day off.”

“And you’re going to run around, around someone you don’t know…half naked? I know you’re excited to prove yourself to her, but…are you okay?” Dean asked, with narrow eyes. Duke simply shrugged his shoulders and stood at the head of the table, before pointing the beers at Dean.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“And Esme, you good?” Dean called over to Esme, still with narrowed eyes. “I told him to give you space.”

Duke rolled his eyes with a sigh, and turned on his heel, walking through the living room and out the front door, a clear sign that he would simply meet Esme at the shooting range, rather than listen to Dean order people around.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Anna

Anna didn’t like the tension she felt in her chest, thinking about why a murder victim would just stand up and walk out of a hospital. Sam brought up exactly what she was thinking. There was a small chance it was their kind of weird, which meant demons, or ghost possession, or zombies. None of those options were things she wanted to deal with after barely making it out of a hunt alive, just a few short hours beforehand.

She simply nodded her head in agreement to his plan. She wanted to leave this place, at least until they met back up with the others. Hopefully Duke was still safe and sound, locked into whatever room that they had put him in after they patched him up. It would be easier to come back and bust him out, than to try and run in and save him, while he was unconscious.

“I think that’s a good idea.” Anna replied to Sam as he turned he engine over and pulled them out of the parking lot. As soon as they made it a couple of blocks down, Anna did a once over of their surroundings and then relaxed in her seat, rubbing her hands on her legs nervously. She glanced over and watched Sam text Mika, the first step in hopefully getting back together and getting the Hell out of this town…as far away from Missouri as possible.

“Hopefully they hurry. The faster I’m locked in a room with a gallon of salt in front of the doors, the better. I definitely need to…to process some things.” She muttered nervously, silently pointing out that she was about to be on her way back down from the demon blood high.

Dean

Dean let his shoulders fall as Cason finally agreed to get into the car and he watched Nat and Cason both climb in. Dean took a deep breath, placing his hands on his hips as he leaned forward a bit, giving his brain time to adjust to both being alive and relatively uninjured. But then Mika pulled her phone out and Dean raised an eyebrow at the message she relayed.

“Well that doesn’t sound like anything good. Could be nothing. Could be something.” He frowned, rolling through all the possibilities in his mind. Part of him thought of the possibility that the ‘murder victim’ could be Duke, but he chalked it quickly up to false hope and the refusal to believe that Duke was actually gone. The sudden memory of Esme breaking the news to Dean flew through his mind like lightning, and he brought a hand up to wipe his face. “I don’t know how else to tell you this…so I’m just gonna say it. Um…”

He broke his words off, and dropped his hand back to his hip with a shuddered sigh, tears welling up in his eyes again, “Duke um…Duke didn’t make it. Esme told me he um…he…well he didn’t make it.”

Dean let the news linger in the air, almost feeling like he was hearing it for the first time as well. Duke’s smiling face haunted the back of his mind, and the anguish of losing someone so good, a bright spot in his life threatened to wash over him like a wave. But like he had many times before, while in crisis, Dean shook himself out of it. He buried those emotions and cleared his throat.

“But we have to go. Mika, we gotta go. C’mon.” He croaked out, reaching out and grabbing her hand. He pulled her toward the passenger side of the car, opening the door for her as he sniffled, and helped her in before closing the door and glancing up at the sky for a moment. He then stepped around to the drivers side, and quickly got in, turning the engine over without hesitation. If he didn’t keep working, he would fall apart and if he fell apart, there would be no one to hold everyone else’s pieces together.

Cason

Cason draped an arm over Nat’s leg as she settled into the car, and Esme got into the car beside him. He took a deep breath, but then she admitted that she didn’t have the power to hurt him, even if she wanted to. He would have sighed in relief, if he believed for a second that her skin couldn’t hurt him, even with her calm and burned out.

He pulled Nat’s knee a little closer to his own, even though they were already scrunched against each other and he sighed, still keeping himself as far away from any open skin on Esme’s body.

Nat mentioning Mika’s text from Sam perked up his ears and he tilted his head to the side, “Normal human murder stuff or demon stuff?” He asked honestly, trying to figure out if maybe Sam was mistaken, or if it was supposed to sound as strange as it was. Either way, they couldn’t just go back to the hospital and he was tempted to poof himself and Nat out of the car, to some random hotel and then call ahead to Dean. Any reason to piss Dean off just a little more and clear the tension.

As Dean stepped into the car and pulled away from the field, onto the road back to town, Cason leaned forward, close to Dean’s ear and smirked, “You know, I could go ahead and get us a hotel room. I’ll take Nat with me.”

“I’ve already told you no. We’re not going to a hotel in St. Joseph. We’re pulling through.” Dean grumbled simply but Cason scoffed.

“With the shape everyone’s in? Just seems like you’d use the tools you have to get everyone safe.”

“You’re not a tool in my tool kit, asshat. You’re only alive because…” Dean cut himself off, and stopped, staring with a scowl out the windshield as he drove.

“Go on…” Cason teased him, and Dean slapped his hand on the steering wheel, tempted to turn around and deck Cason right then and there, but he rolled his eyes.

“You’re here because Nat’s here. Nat wants you around. Otherwise, I’d blast your ass back to Hell in a heartbeat.”

“Right. That’s the reason I’m still alive.” Cason teased some more, not able to help himself. Dean fell silent, gritting his teeth as he continued driving down that familiar road, trying his hardest not to incriminate himself before he was able to talk to Nat. Cason was pushing him on purpose, and would probably never let him live it down.

After what felt like forever, the town was in the distance, and the Impala headlights caught a figure in their beams. Dean squinted, trying to make sure he didn’t hit the poor guy, as the blonde man seemed disoriented and was walking as if he wasn’t sure where he was. He was wearing an open flannel and a pair of jeans, and Dean couldn’t tell if he was even wearing shoes.

“It’s a little early in the week for drunks to be walking down side roads in the middle of the night, ain’t it? Poor bastard. If we had room, I’d pick him up.” Dean grumbled, right as they passed the guy.

“Wait. That’s…” Cason started, but closed his mouth as they passed, frowning at the back of Dean’s head to see if he would recognize the guy.

Duke

Duke looked down at his hands, absentmindedly rubbing them together every now and then, and then placing one over his stomach as he carefully navigated the highway, just wanting to find a trucker or someone that could pick him up. He wasn’t sure why he was alone, but he was. He had to assume something had happened to the group, if they had left his body at the hospital. But had they? Was he even alive? The nurse seemed to think so. Had he actually died? Again…the nurse seemed to think so.

A familiar rumbling engine approached from his back, and Duke didn’t dare turn to face it. He couldn’t afford the false hope that somehow the group had found him, or at best…Dean himself. He tilted his head down and kept walking, the cold air biting his bare skin with every step.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Anna

Anna watched each person that ran by, checking them for injuries or any sign of demonic activity. Her hands were shaking as she placed one on Sam’s knee, trying to calm her heart before she had a panic attack over the idea of demons being around. She believed him, though. He would know better than she would, if there were demons trying to go undercover to kill them, or something.

“Okay. We’re okay…” She sighed, her breath shaky as she closed her eyes, hoping that her racing heart wasn’t transferring to Sam in any way, while she was touching him. A hand banging on the window nearly caused her to scream, as she spun around to see a security guard standing there, asking her to roll down the window. Anna scooted away from Sam, reluctantly, and with a shaky hand, she cranked the window down, just enough to hear what the man was saying.

“Ma’am, we’re putting the hospital on lockdown. Once those doors are locked, you won’t be able to get inside. So, if you’re planning to come in, you need to do it now.” The security guard ordered, as if reading from a script.

“What’s going on?” Anna asked in a small voice, her eyes wide as she looked around behind the guard. He stepped away from the truck, realizing she wasn’t going to come with him and pointed to the doors.

“A murder victim got up and just walked out of here. The suspect? Also gone. I don’t know what you’ve got going on. You look pretty busted up, but I suggest you get somewhere safe.” He finished, and turned to guide other people from the emergency bay into the hospital. Anna turned back to Sam, not bothering to roll the window up and snarled her nose in confusion.

“A murder victim? That doesn’t seem right…”

Dean

Dean shied away from Mika’s fussing, making her chase his face as she looked him over, and finally he pulled both her hands down, holding them to his chest as she commented on Castiel’s statement. He shook his head. There was no way that whatever the angels were wanting was anything good, especially if they needed him to be physically ready for the call. In his limited experience with the winged dicks, that usually meant they were sending him into an impossible situation, in false hope that he would come out alive. If he didn’t? They would just resurrect him and move on with their day. That much was apparent, now.

He pushed Mika back by her chest, gently, so that he could move to stand up. His legs felt like lead and his neck was so sore he could barely move it, but he was able to stand with a groan of pain.

“He wasn’t wrong about the soreness. Damn…” Dean grumbled, moving his joints around to make sure they were all still functional. His ears were still ringing, which he chalked up to surviving what was basically a nuclear blast. Dean looked over at Esme, cracking his neck loudly before turning his attention back to Mika. “I need to talk to her. I know…how you feel about all of it, and if you want, when all this is over, I’ll explain everything. I should have explained it sooner, but it’s complicated and messy.”

He reached down and picked up Mika’s hand, bringing her knuckles up to his lips with a soft kiss and a knowing look that he used often to tell her he was being 100% honest with her. He then pulled her close to him, and began walking over to the group.

Cason

Cason breathed a sigh of relief as Nat’s wounds seemed a lot less dire than before. She even sounded a bit better, other than being super cold in the fall air around them. Although a part of him wanted to question whether she was okay, all over again, like a record on repeat, he looked into her eyes and saw nothing but honesty. She was telling him the truth, and he didn’t have to worry about her for the next several weeks, due to the fragile human nature of her body.

The string of thoughts almost made him smile, thinking about the difference between them, and how fragile humans were. But he was drawn out of his thoughts by her hand wrapping around his and the kiss that came soon after. He furrowed his brow, closing his eyes as that pesky human emotion he couldn’t place burned the back of his brain like acid and he inhaled a deep breath through his nose, returning the kiss. As she broke away and thanked him, he shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t like angels. I definitely don’t like angels touching…those I feel compelled to keep alive.” He muttered awkwardly, not quite sure what to call Natalia in that moment. Suddenly, he whipped around as Esme spoke to him, his body language tense after the exchange they had shared in the asylum, before she went nuclear. He frowned at her, wondering why she was asking him about her life, as if he knew everything about her, just by being a demon. “I’m…I’m not sure, honestly. There was a deal? I can um… I can ask around some of my circles and see if anyone knows of anyone who has the kind of juice to turn a human child into a virtual nuclear bomb. But I’ve never heard of anything like this, myself. I will tell you, though, it’s above my pay grade.”

Cason stood for a moment, just trying to read Esme’s emotions as she seemed upset, and the last time she was upset, the boom happened. He held a hand out to her, speaking a little softer, “I promise you, I’ll find out whatever I can, but you need to calm down.”

As he got the words out, Dean scooted in, turning Esme carefully so that he didn’t hurt her any more than necessary. He then wrapped his arms around her gently, bringing one hand up to the back of her head as he hugged her. He didn’t know what to make of the ‘not human’ thing. He wasn’t even sure if he was afraid of her or not, but he did know that she was okay and he hadn’t lost her, “I’m glad you’re okay. Holy shit your head.”

He pulled his hand back and groaned as he noticed his hand was covered in aging blood, at least telling him that the wound was trying to stop bleeding. But moving his head around her shoulder, he took a look at the wound, “Did that happen on the way down? We need to get you somewhere and get you looked at…as soon as possible.”

“Alright. I’ll take Nat.” Cason said simply, turning back to Nat and wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

“Whoa! Hold on. You’re not going anywhere with her until we talk. Get in the car.” Dean snapped at him, and Cason turned to look at him like he was insane. He wasn’t riding in a car. There was no way he was willingly riding in a car. But he also knew he wasn’t leaving Natalia in the hands of a bunch of sore, tired hunters, after the night they had just had. “Either get in the car, or we’ll meet you at the hospital.”

“Dammit…” Cason groaned, closing his eyes and putting a hand on his hip, as if it would make Dean feel any different. Dean simply raised his eyebrows and held out a hand, driving home his point with one look. “Fine. I’ll…ride in the damn car.”

With a huff, Cason opened the back drivers door and ushered Natalia in. It was then that he realized Esme would be sitting in the back with them, and he had just set himself up to ride in the center…between Nat and Esme.

“As if it couldn’t get worse.” He grumbled, sliding in next to Nat, squeezing as close to her as possible.

All Roads Lead To You

Duke

Duke thought about the name. There were at least a dozen hunters he could think of with that name, and none of them seemed to be the type that would pull a stunt nasty enough to get someone hurt on purpose, unless they planned to kill the person themselves. He sighed, wringing his hands a bit before wiping them on his pants and sitting up straight, glancing up at the sky, “Well, I’ll remember that name. Whether or not they think you’re dead, you’re not. It’s in their best interest not to come around.”

He smirked, and turned back to Esme, his smile widening as she thanked him and took that final drink of her coffee. He didn’t answer her thanks, shrugging a shoulder as he contemplated whether he should leave her alone with her thoughts, or press her for more, to let her get it all off her chest. Maybe she would feel better and resting up would be more comfortable without all that anger.

But her next words took him off guard. He tilted his head back and flashed another brilliant smile at her, “You want to go shootin’ with me? You know what? I won’t ask. I’m gonna go get my pistol and we can head out to the range, right out there.”

He stood quickly as he pointed toward the small garden of mannequins, pots, pans and other random things that Bobby had set up for the kids to shoot at. He got all the way down the steps, before turning around rubbing absentmindedly at his bare chest as he turned to Esme and tilted his head.

“You wanna come with me? I gotta go grab my stuff from the RV. Ain’t no sense in just sittin’ around here waitin’ on me to get back.” He chuckled and reached his hand out, offering it to Esme.

A few moments later

Duke grumbled as he walked across the gravel, making a mental note to grab his boots once he was inside the trailer. He turned to Esme and smirked, before pulling the door to the trailer open and climbing the steps, before turning to her and offering his hand to help her up the steps. Even though he was thin, he was stout and there was no way he was letting her walk up on her own, as banged up as she was. “Watch that top step. Welcome to my home, when I get kicked out of my home!”

He chuckled and stepped over to the small table that he had all of his guns torn apart on, hoping to go shooting later on. He began to rummage through them, putting the pieces back together as he let her explore the trailer. Around the table, there were books from every religion out there, along with a small radio that was playing country music at a low volume, something he only listened to when he was alone.

He kicked his cowboy boots from under the table and sat on the cushion, pulling them onto his feet, before standing again, and putting the last couple of guns together, glancing up at Esme.

“You’re welcome in here any time you need to talk, you know. I know how Dean can be. He’s nice and cuddly, but he’s not much of an open book. I ain’t goin’ nowhere. So, if you’re gonna be around, welcome to your new therapists office.” He joked, laughing with a bright smile.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya

Anya frowned as Sam pulled away from her, her eyes telling him to leave his phone. Most likely it was Dean, either being nosey or continuing his rant from earlier, which seemed the most likely case to her, rather than him being in danger or anything. She chased Sam’s lips for a brief second, until he picked up his phone and she smirked, leaning back on her hands.

She could tell, in his voice, that he was flustered and trying to straighten himself up so Dean wouldn’t notice. She also knew the timer for the oven would be dinging at any moment and their time together would come to an end…the second Dean got back.

She pulled her phone from behind her, where she had ditched it on the table and typed out a message, playing it with a slight shrug.

“Is he still pissed at us?”

Dean

Dean was tempted to look Lexi’s hand over, as he waited for Sam to answer the phone. But the look on her face told him to drop it, and he rolled his eyes, frowning and looking down at his lap as his anxiety rose with every trill of the phone. He opened his mouth to double down on Lexi’s observation of Sam not having his phone in his hand when Sam answered, “I know. He…Sam what the hell, man? Since when do you not answer your phone?”

Dean raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer, when he heard Anya’s phone speak to Sam in the background and closed his eyes in annoyance, “Ah. You guys are awful close, I hear. Well, if you care, Lexi and I came up with nothing. Dude was just a basement dwelling dweeb who wanted to take a shot at her, and got his face bashed in for it. So, we’re on our way back.”

Dean was well aware that he sounded like a jealous and ignored girlfriend at that moment, but after what had happened to Mika, the idea of either of them getting close to anyone made him nervous, especially this fast. Sam had just met the girl. He refused to acknowledge the hypocrisy of it all, instead turning the engine over and glancing to Lexi for girl advice in advance, “So, is she staying the night or what? I know we said she needed to be on lockdown with us, but we have a lot of work to do.”

All Roads Lead To You

Duke

Duke smirked as Esme asked him if he actually cared about what she had gone through. He probably would have been offended, if they hadn’t had such a tumultuous first impression. Instead, he shrugged with a smirk, “I’m just offering an ear and almost twenty years of huntin’ experience to the situation. Nothin’ more.”

As she seemed to let her guard down and start speaking, Duke lowered his eyes to the steps, taking in every single word that she said, without interjection. He couldn’t help but notice the anger that oozed from her when she spoke about the situation, the idiocy and unnecessary outcome hanging in the air.

“Ah…the old possessed car trick.” Duke mumbled, shaking his head with sympathetic annoyance. He had been taken out of work for months due to a possessed car breaking both his femurs after running him down. Luckily, like always, Dean was there.

As she finished got to the part about the bad informant, Duke squinted, a look of disgust on his face as he kicked a couple of pebbles on the wood steps, watching them fall into the grass below. His ears perked up when she brought up her mother, and he was very tempted to ask her about the situation, but he could feel the tension as he glanced to her. He could see it in her shoulders. It was a sore subject that he knew better than to touch while she was this emotional.

“Well that’s somethin’ we agree on. Any idea who the guy might be? Maybe who he runs with? I’d be happy to take care of him for you. I ain’t a big fan of petty bitch hunters.” Duke spoke at the end, turning without a single hint of a smirk on his face as he watched her face from under his hat. “Just give me a name.”

He was genuinely angry about the situation, a rare emotion for him to show, especially to a stranger. He took a deep breath and dropped his eyes, staring out over the yard, “I’m sorry that happened to you. You didn’t deserve that crap…”