JustAnna

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean sighed and released Mika as it was clear that she wanted him to turn his focus from her for a bit. He felt anxiety eating at his stomach, bursting at the seams to just get everything off his chest and end the tension that seemed to always bubble up when they weren’t fighting for their lives. Mika deserved to know everything, but he was so scared to admit to her that he was in love with Esme. There were times he wondered if it was possible to be in love with two people at once, because he still had moments of wanting to just protect Esme, pull her away from all of this, and fix the wrongs…but it wasn’t his place anymore, and Mika was back. The torn feelings in his brain destroyed him more than he would ever be able to admit to either of them.

When she told him to go and talk to Duke, Dean closed his eyes, then turned his gaze down to the floor with a nod. He didn’t even know where to start with Duke, at this point. Seeing Duke with Esme brought up a lot of hostile feelings from what ended up a deeply hurtful period of both their lives, filled with jealousy, animosity and loss. Even his worst times with Sam hadn’t matched up with that summer.

As Sam stepped into the kitchen, patting him on the back and Nat followed not too far behind him with Cason, Dean nodded a silent ‘hey’ at Cason and cleared his throat. He didn’t even want to get into Nat and Cason’s crap in the middle of the kitchen. He would talk to Natalia later, and once again, he had some explaining to do…and possibly an apology to a demon…

“Alright. I’ll…I’ll go see what I can do.” Dean murmured, putting on his best passive face. He pressed one more kiss to the side of Mika’s head and then he pushed past her, before he changed his mind, and walked into the living room. As he stepped in, his heart dropped into his feet seeing Duke and Esme so passionate with one another. The way she kissed him was familiar, yet different from the way she ever kissed Dean, and for a moment, he almost turned around. He couldn’t do this.

He stood there for a moment, his brain playing over flashbacks of the rain falling loudly in the parking lot puddles. Duke’s anguish echoing off the stacks of cars. The water falling from the edges of Duke’s hat like a cascading waterfall as Esme pulled him back from that edge and kissed him, right there. Dean had pushed it down for years as a desperate act to keep Duke from leaving, to give him something to stay for, but all it ended up being was the beginning of the end for the three of them. It was the first big domino that changed everything…

Dean shook his head, coming back to the present as he stepped a little louder on the wood floor and cleared his throat, “Um…Can…can I borrow you for a second, man?”

Cason and Anna

Cason was relieved when Natalia opened the door for him. He had his jacket on, and could easily cover his hand to open it, but this whole house was a giant trap to kick his ass, it seemed. There was iron everywhere. The less he had to touch, the better. He stepped out behind her and smirked at Bobby’s comments on his way by, noticing that Esme and Duke were mighty cozy on the couch. Cason smirked, tempted to chime in, but he decided against it. If they were happy, for the moment, it meant less questions for him to answer about Esme’s ‘humanity’ issue. He still needed to contact his people for that one, and was putting it off. The last thing he wanted to do was find information she didn’t want to hear, and have her explode.

As he stepped into the kitchen behind Nat, he could tell that she was tense, as if they were sneaking around like teenagers, or could read her mind. He found it adorable, speeding up his steps to walk impossibly close to her back as they crossed the floor and up to the coffee pot. He placed a hand on her hip, rolling his eyes as she complained about the lack of food in the house.

“Human problems…fun.” He teased with a smile, but then Sam chimed in about going to get food. Cason narrowed his eyes when Nat told him that they were already planning to go out, wondering when she had mentioned it to him. If she had, he had missed it. But then she suggested that they all go out together, and Cason’s eyes turned to Anna’s face. She was standing there, sipping her coffee and not making any eye contact with anyone in the room, as if she still didn’t feel like she belonged, “How are you doing, Anna?”

“I’m okay.” Anna said quietly, flattening her lips in a fake smile, as she barely looked up at his eyes. She could no longer hear his heart, but she could smell him, and it was enough to make her a bit anxious. Cason was having none of it. He reached his hand out, pinching her chin and lifting her head to look him in the eyes. The touch from him was awkward, and Anna blushed, carefully looking him in the eyes.

“Are you sure? You feeling up to going out?” Cason asked her, releasing her chin, and she nodded awkwardly, taking another drink of her coffee before waving her hand around.

“If everyone will agree not to look at me like some sort of ticking time bomb, yes. I am okay with going out.” Anna explained and Cason nodded.

“You don’t look like a ticking time bomb at all. You look like a hunter...with pretty eyes and a smile that needs to show back up. We’ll get one out of you, eventually.” Cason teased, and Anna’s lips struggled to fight down the smile that almost came up, just at him mentioning her smile. Her eyes turned back to the baseboard of the wall in front of her, and she sighed as Cason continued, “But seriously. I got you back to Sam. You’re alright. Let’s go get some food…I know you’re all starving. Humans and all.”

Duke

Duke chased Esme’s lips as she broke their kiss and brushed noses with him, something she knew made him weak in the knees. Luckily he was sitting down. When she smiled against his lips and her breathed passed over them, he laughed, a fully wide smile at the words had heard from Bobby a million times about ‘sweet nothings’. He gasped with a small shudder and a groan as her fingers tangled themselves in his hair again and she deepened the kiss. With the way his heart fluttered somewhere in his stomach, they really needed to get it together, or he was going to lose his mind.

He wrapped an arm gently around her back, ready to lean into her and lay her back down when Dean cleared his throat and Duke reluctantly broke the kiss with a sigh. On one hand he was thankful, because he couldn’t let Esme move things much further. He was too afraid of hurting her, but also because his self control could only handle so much of the little touches. She was fully his, now…

Duke brushed Esme’s nose with his, and leaned back, taking his weight off of her as he glanced up at Dean and nodded, “Yeah. Yeah sure.”

He turned back and looked into Esme’s eyes, bringing his hands up to remove hers from the back of his head. He brought her hands up to his lips and kissed each of her knuckles, “Hold that thought. Please. I’ll be right back.”

He grunted with a little pain as he scooted himself back and stood from the couch, walking over to Dean. Dean nodded his head toward the basement door, and Duke followed his lead, following him down the stairs, closing the door behind him. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Duke instinctively prepared himself for Dean to punch him. It was a reflex, even after all these years, after their last meaningful day together. But instead, Dean turned and leaned against the wall outside the panic room.

“I want to um…I want to apologize for this morning.” Dean started, and Duke narrowed his eyes, trying with his fuzzy mind to remember what Dean would even be apologizing for. “I should have let you take care of her. She’s not…she’s not mine to care for, now.”

“You think I’m upset about that?” Duke asked, shaking his head with a scoff, which caused Dean to tilt his head in confusion. “This ain’t about some petty love triangle. Me and you didn’t exactly leave on good terms way back when, if you remember…”

“I know.” Dean sighed, shaking his head.

“Then you know that whatever you feel between me and you is because of me and you, right?” Duke asked, and Dean nodded but his face still held a bit of confusion. “There are days, man…most of the time I’ve known you, that I feel like you would be a lot happier if I just wasn’t around. It’s why I never called you after…that day…”

“I’m sorry about that too, man.” Dean sighed, closing his eyes as his emotions began to bubble up. He and Duke were closer than brothers, before their falling out. The pain in both their chests, standing in that basement was a reminder of that. “But don’t you ever question how much…what I would do for you. Do you hear me? I would still take a bullet for you in a heartbeat. You’re my brother.”

“I know…”

“Do you? Because from what Mika said, you think I would rather kill you myself than see you happy. You think I wanted you to die last night? I fell apart…” Dean choked the last part of his sentence out, and Duke raised his eyes from the floor to look at his face, hearing him get emotional. His own eyes filled with tears and he shook his head but Dean stopped him, “I felt a piece of me die, right then. No matter what happened between us. No matter what we said…there has never been a day that I stopped loving you. Do you hear me?”

“I hear ya…” Duke whispered, sniffling as he placed his hands on his hips. He didn’t know what to say. After all these years, he just assumed that coming back would only complicate Dean’s life.

Dean pushed away from the wall, and sniffled himself, before wrapping both his arms around Duke, holding him protectively. The hug was so tight that Duke groaned in pain, but he brought both his arms around and hugged him just as tight.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again and don’t you ever think that there’s anything I wouldn’t do for you. I don’t want to hear that again. I love you, okay? Everything else, we can figure out.” Dean spoke against the side of Duke’s face, and then he pulled back and scanned Duke’s eyes, blinking his own tears away from his eyes, “Are we good?”

Duke thought about it for a moment, as he scanned Dean’s eyes. They weren’t good. Not really. There was still so much to say. There was still so much Duke wanted to get off his chest. They needed to discuss his relationship with Esme. They needed to talk about the day they left each other. But Duke simply closed his eyes and nodded. Without another word, Dean patted the side of his face and turned to walk up the stairs, trying to wipe his eyes and make sure no one could tell he was crying. Duke sighed, looking around the basement for a moment, before dropping his shoulders and walking back upstairs, his eyes landing on the couch as soon as he stepped in.

“Wanna get out of here?” He asked Esme bluntly, wiping both hands down his face to clear his emotions.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean chuckled at Lexi’s comment about ‘annoying brothers’ and he didn’t even try to argue with her that her room would be a lot more private compared to his. He and Sam had picked rooms relatively close to each other, just in case something happened in the middle of the night, while they got used to being in the giant building on their own. Sam would hear every word…or lack thereof, the entire night if they went to his room.

The sad thought hit him for a moment that he used to share that room with Mika, but Lexi grabbing his hand and tugging him into the hallway broke him from the potentially night ruining memories, and he happily followed her, his body almost limp as he let her tug him along.

As soon as they were alone in her room, the door shut securely behind him, he let his shoulders fall, tossing their shirts onto the desk beside him casually. Without skipping a beat, Lexi’s hands were on his jeans and he smiled widely, tilting his hips forward to let her unbuckle his belt.

“Whoa…she’s not missing a single beat.” He chuckled, his smile lazy as he glanced down at her hands and then back up to her face. He found his ability to use his hands after a brief moment, wrapping his right hand around her neck. His stomach dropped and his heart fluttered watching the way his fingers touched the back of her neck, and his thumb sat so nicely against her throat, like the two of them just…fit. He used his thumb, tilting her head up with a soft growl, before covering her lips with his again, picking up where they left off. He turned and backed her against the door, trailing both his hands over her chest, down her stomach with a feather light touch as he reached for the band of her jeans. Once there, he slipped the tips of his fingers in, just tracing her waist band all the way to her hips, before they came back to the center and he flicked the button open with one hand. He shoved roughly at the fabric, pushing them down her hips before breaking the kiss briefly, with a breathless smirk against her lips. He nipped at her lip, tugging it between his teeth, “No regrets…”

Anya

Anya raised her eyebrows at how fast it seemed that Dean had moved with Lexi. Watching the two of them, you would have thought they had known each other for years and just…built up some tension over time. Then again, Dean did seem like the type to fall fast for people, at least when it came to sex. She shook her head, a little surprise on her face as she scoffed and mouthed ‘wow’.

Anya agreed. Just judging by the tired look on Dean’s face the first time she had met him, he needed a break. He needed a win, and if sealing the deal with Lexi was that win, she was happy for him. He seemed to have been through so much, and her heart broke for him, even if he didn’t seem to like her much at first. Sam’s voice broke her from her thoughts, the mischievous smirk never leaving her lips as he laughed at her joke. The mental image of Dean as a bunny flooded her brain as well and she laughed, tilting her head down for a moment.

But then Sam’s voice seemed a little different as he echoed her mischief and brought her back to the fact that she was on his bed, in his room, and they were not only alone…but expected to stay in this room all night. Dean wasn’t throwing a fit about them anymore. She stood from the bed, placing a finger on her chin in a joking manner, before stepping over to his dresser.

She turned to him, and pointed to the dresser, happy that the first drawer she reached for was where his t-shirts were. Maybe she read him too well already. As she pulled the drawer open, she saw a gray one that just seemed right. She pulled it and turned around, letting it unfold in front of her, and shook it a bit in a way that said “we were coming for clothes, remember? Wholesome.”

She tossed it on the bed beside him, and then walked to stand in front of him, reaching both her hands down to grab the hem of her own shirt, pulling it up and whisking it over her head, tossing it on his other side. She kicked her boots off, never moving from her place in front of him, and unbuttoned her jeans, shoving them down her legs, stepping out of them and kicking them to the side.

She stepped up to him, standing between his knees, and reached across his leg without touching him, just grabbing the t-shirt from the bed, and pulled it over her head, straightening her hair over it as it covered her body again.

It was only then that she touched him, bringing both her hands down to brush the sides of his hair back, playing with his ears a bit as she stood almost eye level with him. She didn’t bother picking up her phone, just staring at his eyes with a smirk, as she mouthed, “Mission complete.”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean gasped into Lexi’s mouth as he felt her fingers trailing down his back, and finally making skin contact beneath his shirt. That tiny bit of skin contact was enough to spur him on even more, and he removed the hand from her hip, reaching back between his shoulder blades, where he began to bunch his shirt between his fingers. He finally had enough of a grip and broke the kiss, removing his hand from her hair, just long enough to whisk his shirt off over his head and toss it on the floor beside his feet. He reached down, fully confident and feeling in control, and gathered the bottom of her top with both hands, whisking it up and over her head and arms, tossing it with his.

Dean came back to Lexi, craving the feeling of her skin against his, as he tangled his hand in her hair once again, tugging gently to pull her head back, and began kissing and nibbling over her chin, down to her collar bone. He had just rolled his hips forward, urging her to work on his jeans when Sam’s fist banging on the door stopped him in his tracks and he panted against the side of Lexi’s neck with a soft growl. Of course…

Of course Sam had snuck up on them and ruined the moment. Wait…they were in Anya’s room. Dammit. Dean stepped back, his skin flushed and his muscles tight as he reluctantly released Lexi and placed his hands on his hips. “Room’s ready!”, he called out, his voice raspy and frustrated as he heard Sam’s door close. He threw his hand up in frustration, and then turned to Lexi with a laugh.

He stooped to pick up their shirts, and then stood with a shrug, “At least it’s expected at this point, right? My room or yours?”

Anya

Anya walked with Sam back to his room, careful again not to touch him too much, or she was afraid the tension would burst way before they made it down the hall. From the sounds that were coming out of the room across from his, at least some of that tension had already come to a head. She stepped into Sam’s room, her hand on the door frame as she peeked around and watched him mess with his brother. Sure enough, the awkward response rang out and she could hear it in Lexi’s voice. They had been at it, probably the entire time they had been down this hall, and Sam had interrupted them.

Anya blushed and looked down at the floor with a bright smile as Sam directed them to one of their rooms, like a typical brother. Dean seemed the type to be legitimately upset that Sam had interrupted him, and when his voice called through the door, Anya laughed, the silent laugh coming out with a wide open mouth as she slipped back to make room for Sam to push through the door way and close the door behind him.

“What a mess…” She signed without thinking, walking over to sit on the edge of Sam’s bed. She pulled her phone and typed a message, turning the volume down on her phone as she heard Dean open the other door with a huff, banging his fist on Sam’s bedroom door on his way by, as if he was going to return the favor. But she and Sam hadn’t even touched each other. The action made her laugh again. “I would say that Dean was hoping to have a head start on his good night. We are mean.”

As her phone played, a little quieter, Anya typed another message instantly and pushed play, with a mischievous almost challenging smirk on her face, “They broke before us, which means…at least that tension is broken and they can just be bunnies. Who knew you were the wholesome brother?”

All Roads Lead To You

Duke

Duke opened the door of the house in a huff, grass clippings still stuck to his sweaty chest and back as he walked straight to the kitchen without saying anything. Esme seemed to be preoccupied anyway. He opened the door of the fridge with shaky hands, and grabbed a beer from the top shelf, turning to glance out the kitchen window. Dean was still laying on the ground, but he was now laying on his back, his arm over his face, just defusing himself. Duke shook his head, watching as Dean stood up ranting out loud to himself and began gathering things like Duke had asked him.

With a sigh, Duke walked toward the living room, picking pieces of grass off his chest as he walked. He cracked his beer open, and took a long drink, before looking down and picking at the grass again. As he stepped into the living room, he looked up and Esme had ended her call, her turn to him causing him to flinch. Duke didn’t really know the answer to her question. He had put a stop to Dean’s blame game, for the moment, but whether or not they had worked anything out was up in the air.

Duke stepped over to Bobby’s desk and grabbed a chair, spinning it on one leg to turn it with the back toward Esme. He straddled the chair and reached up to pick a piece of grass from his hair that was sticking out of the front of his cowboy hat.

“Um. It seems that way.” He spoke up, taking another long drink of his beer. He then slung both his arms over the back of the chair, his shoulder muscles flexing with the tension that he still held there, and he tilted his head to the side, “He seemed a little more calm when I left him. So, he’s all yours. I’m gonna go out for a bit, after I go grab a shirt. Maybe it will help you two loosen up…”

Duke was upset, but he was mostly just frustrated and the buzzing in his brain that told him it was probably time to get away from everyone for a while was ever present. He took a final long drink from the beer bottle, and then reached across to Bobby’s trash can, tossing it in. He tapped his toes, letting the living room fall into a bit of silence and then nodded his head, awkwardly picking at a couple of pieces of grass that were still stuck to his arm.

“I’ll be back…” He said suddenly, standing from the chair. He didn’t make eye contact, afraid that she would be the one to talk him into staying, this time. He barely knew this woman, and yet she had his brain in a bit of a chokehold. The need to get to know her, to find out everything he could about her, and to just spend time with her was overwhelming. He had to go. He pushed the chair back to Bobby’s desk and stepped off, a shudder of regret causing him to crack his neck as he walked toward the kitchen.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean’s heart fluttered with nerves as he waited for Mika to come around to the idea of having ‘that’ conversation. It wasn’t that he wanted to talk about it, but he wanted to clear the air. It had been hanging over them since way before he died, and now that he was back, it was time for that conversation so they could move forward. As soon as she said the word, ‘okay’, Dean sighed with relief, his puffed chest relaxing just a bit. But he tensed when she mentioned telling her side of the story. Her side of the story wasn’t exactly something he ever wanted to think about.

He didn’t want to think about her with someone else, not that he could really judge. He didn’t want to think about how hard she tried to stay away from him, or why, but it was also something he had always wanted to ask. He had always had the temptation to ask her why…or to pry into things, and never felt it was appropriate. What was done was done.

“Alright. I um…I’ll try to talk to Duke about things. I don’t really know how to bridge that gap with him. He seems so happy, you know? But it’s weird. The relationship he’s aways had with…with her. It’s been a sore spot.” Dean admitted, turning his eyes down briefly, but then he turned his eyes back up to hers. The sound of the panic room’s heavy door opening caused Dean’s eyes to flash to the side briefly, “I’ll talk to him. Then me and you will sit down, and we’ll get all this off our chest. We’ll move on, alright?”

Hearing the sound of footsteps coming up from the basement, Dean pressed a tight kiss to Mika’s forehead, holding her there for a moment with his eyes closed, as those same tiny footsteps entered the kitchen. Dean opened his eyes, looking up to see Anna standing there, her arms crossed.

“Morning Anna…” Dean murmured with a soft smile. Anna didn’t say anything, flashing him a small fake smile, and then she pushed through the doorway, into the kitchen to grab coffee.

Cason

Cason shrugged happily when Nat agreed that he didn’t exactly have the healthiest reactions to her being in the smallest bit of danger, but she was happy that he wanted to keep her safe. It’s all he asked for. ‘Shut up and let me protect you.’ He sighed happily, and almost slipped into intrusive thoughts, when Nat spoke up about being hungry. There it was, her humanity, screaming back into the room in the most delightful way. Cason found it adorable.

He smiled, and loosened his hold on Nat to allow her to untangle from him and get out of bed. He laid back, pulling his hands behind his head to watch her as he walked with some effort over to her bag. The protective side of him wanted to stand up and dress her like a doll, to keep her from any pain, but if he did, her muscles wouldn’t heal and strengthen. He knew that much about humans. She had to work through this on her own.

“So, I’m assuming we’re hanging around Bobby’s for the night. We can grab you some food, and see what Bobby’s been on the phone about all night. I’m kinda curious if his…idea…thing for Esme worked. I thought I heard her voice.” He mused as he glanced up at the ceiling, wondering if Esme was yet another person he had to nurse with his blood. Anna would be fine. She just needed to keep microdosing, but the addiction she was developing gave him pause. He wondered if Sam was buzzing with the same lingering addiction…or maybe that was Ruby’s entire plan. He didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her, and boy did she have her hooks in Sam. If only Anna knew…

“I don’t know how many of the group would even be up for another hunt after last night…”

He quickly rolled onto his side, and stepped off the bed, walking by Nat to swipe his jacket from the top of her bag. He disappeared for a moment, and then when he reappeared, he was dressed and wearing his jacket, simply walking over to the door and standing against the wall with his arms crossed.

Anna

Anna allowed her eyes to flutter closed as Sam’s thumb brushed her cheek, taking in the feeling of his skin against hers, something that was real. The way his breath brushed over her lips as he told her he loved her…that was real. The look in his eyes as she opened her own and watched the Hazel in his eyes almost fade to blue…that was real. The overwhelming feeling of relief almost brought a smile to her lips…almost.

She leaned back on her heels as Sam moved to stand, and she took his hand, her body feeling heavy as she allowed him to support her weight and pull to stand. She nodded simply and sighed, looking around the room as he mentioned leaving the room and checking in on the others. As much as she wanted to leave the room, she was still a little worried about being around everyone else with demon blood in her system. She was worried that the second she left the room, she would be able to hear Cason’s heart and she would lose her cool.

But she followed him to the door, stepping out in front of him, after the door was open. She took to the stairs, her sore body screaming with every footstep, but she kept moving, just wanting to feel some sense of normal. At the top of the steps, she pushed the basement door open and the first thing she saw was Bobby sitting at his desk, pouring over a book. She sighed softly at the sight, genuinely happy to see him and then her eyes turned to Duke and Esme. They were having a moment that she felt she was intruding on, just by being there. She didn’t say anything, simply walking into the living room and then the kitchen.

At the kitchen door, Anna stopped, as she made eye contact with Dean immediately. She crossed her arms over her chest uncomfortably. As he greeted her, she tensed a bit, letting her hair fall over her eyes as she glanced down at the floor and pushed away from the doorway. She flashed him a fake smile, not able to muster any words for him. She meant what she had said the night before and she wasn’t ready to concede being friends with Dean.

She walked over to the coffee pot, and reached up, hissing as the stitches in her shoulder pulled. She changed arms and grabbed a mug from the cabinet, before pouring a cup of coffee. The smell alone was enough to lighten her mood a bit as she kept her back turned to the room and took a drink of coffee, staring out the kitchen window.

Duke

Duke let out a little content hum as Esme’s hand made it to his hair. His head was usually adorned with a hat, so his right hand instinctively twitched to catch it, and push it out of his face, even though it wasn’t there. He just concentrated on the feeling of her fingers brushing through his hair just felt natural, but also like a dream. All the years of pining for her like a puppy, following her every footstep, taking up for her when Dean was wrong, making sure that he kept tabs on her, even when he disappeared…all those years, and now it was this simple.

Her confirmation that she loved him sent a burning flutter through his heart and he had to fight back more happy noises, tilting his head just enough to press a soft kiss against her temple as she brought up the cheesiness of her next statement. Duke chuckled as she said the words ‘you complete me’, but it wasn’t out of ridicule. It was the strangeness of hearing those words from Esme. She was decent at keeping her feelings guarded and there wasn’t any way you could have told him those words would fall out of her mouth, that he would have believed. The longer she spoke, the more uncomfortable the fluttering in his chest became. It was hard not to make a noise, but he knew it was a good feeling.

It was the feeling of being wanted and being so overwhelmed with the idea of being wanted that he felt like he was going to burst and melt into a puddle at her feet. Duke smiled softly, gathering his voice as best as he could without letting those sounds of overwhelmed emotions out, but his voice came out a raspy shaky mess, “Don’t be sorry. Don’t be sorry for that. None of that matters now, alright?”

As the basement door opened, Duke glanced to it briefly, flashing Anna a bright smile, before turning his eyes back to Esme. He pulled his head away from hers, still dizzy and reeling from her admission. Just the sound of his last name falling off her lips was enough to make his head spin…and would probably rattle around in his brain for a while. He used his hand on her neck to press a thumb to the side of her chin, turning her face back to him gently, and leaned in to press a kiss to her lips, sighing through his nose as he closed his eyes and just took in the way her slips felt on his. He brushed his thumb across her jaw, feeling the soft skin underneath his calloused fingers, and then all of it came crashing down with the clearing of a throat.

“Welp. I’m going to the garage. I’ve had about enough of the makeup party. Clean up after yourselves, and please don’t have sex on my couch…I sleep there.” Bobby grumbled, standing from his chair. He took a final drink of a mostly empty coffee cup before grumbling under his breath and walking out of the room, through the kitchen and out the back door without a word to anyone else. The whole time, he mumbled about ‘can’t wait to get my house back from all these horny kids’.

Duke’s eyebrows rose, and his eyes suddenly filled with mischief as he smiled brightly and turned his attention back to Esme, “He’ll live.”, he shrugged, and pressed another soft kiss to her lips.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean smirked briefly, when Mika joked about drinking coffee. He always knew that the best way to diffuse any potential morning tension was through coffee, even if it was crappy motel coffee. Luckily, this was Bobby’s and Bobby didn’t skimp on the few things he actually enjoyed. When her face went serious, he dropped his smile and listened intently, narrowing his eyes. It had been a while since Mika and Duke had any sort of sibling relationship, and he hadn’t expected them to just snap back to it, after Duke’s last runner. He didn’t say what instantly went through his brain, the same ‘be careful’ he always gave people when they grew closer to Duke. Maybe it was wrong of him, but he couldn’t help it. He knew the kid like the back of his hand.

He opened his mouth to speak on it, but decided against it. If Duke had managed to diffuse whatever bomb was destined to go off between Dean and Mika, he would let it go, for now. He would just pick up her pieces when Duke inevitably ran off. Her next words took him a bit off guard, and he raised his thumb, slipping it under her shirt to rub the skin of her hip with his nervousness.

Flashes of Duke’s angry face from that morning flooded Dean’s brain as Mika spoke, and Dean sighed, nodding his head, but another confused frown graced his face at the words ‘reminding you’re glad he’s still with us’. Did Duke believe that Dean wanted him dead, for some reason? Or was it just a moment of jealousy, Duke was feeling in his emotional state? Dean wasn’t sure, but his face softened when Mika told him that Duke needed his brother. He understood exactly what she meant, as she pecked his lips and he tried to catch her lips briefly as he nodded.

“You’re right. I should have been there for him when he got here. I can’t imagine how he must have been feeling after getting back and seeing Esme like that.” Dean said honestly. He sighed softly, hearing Esme and Duke talking in the other room, “And me and you? We need to talk about the time that you were gone, when we get some alone time. I told you I was going to be honest and I was serious. I want you to know everything…”

He scanned her eyes, and reached a hand up, brushing his finger tips over her cheek, and then he pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear with a soft smile, “You just tell me when.”

Cason

Cason shook his head at first, when Nat touched his cheek. He didn’t want her to talk away the fact that he hadn’t been able to save her as fast as he should have been. He wanted to use it as fuel to do better, and to make sure that she was never touched again. He would murder anyone who so much as looked at her, if he thought they might be a threat. What had happened to her would never happen again.

But as she said the simple word ‘hey’, Cason looked up and met her eyes. The fact that she didn’t hold anything against him made the back of his head burn with that familiar wash of acid pain. He almost had to close his eyes, his vision blurring just with Nat’s faith in him. Knowing Nat, if he didn’t forgive himself, even just a little, she would force him to. She wouldn’t allow him to bring it up again. She would make sure that he forgave himself, and let it go.

So, when she teased and smiled to lighten the mood, Cason matched her smile with a smirk of his own, nodding his head, “Obviously. It would be a little weird if Dean kissed you after saving your life. At least I looked cool doing it…”

His frown returned for a moment as she explained that she was willing to put herself in danger to save him from the barn. That wasn’t what he wanted from her at all, and honestly, he would have cuffed her to the steering wheel himself, if he knew she wouldn’t be able to follow him. He would have to thank whoever had talked her out of it, later on. She likely would have been seriously hurt in the barn, as she would have wanted to hang back and wait for Cason…and the demons would have shown up. It was one of his worst fears, after admitting that he loved her. Demons would know and would be all over her.

“Better be glad I wasn’t there. I would have absolutely cuffed you to the steering wheel…” Cason teased, with a chuckle. “I love you. It feels weird to say it out loud but I love you. No one will ever hurt you again. Scorched earth. Entire families killed. The amount of Hell I would unleash if you were even in danger of a paper cut is probably not healthy…”

Anna

Anna smiled softly, a rare smile that he couldn’t see, as she was suddenly engulfed in Sam’s arms again. She buried her face in his chest, suddenly feeling a happy buzz in her mind, just at his scent. Just being so close to Sam, while the demon blood reached all part of her body was something akin to heaven. She was half expecting him to turn into some horrible hallucination, bringing her back into the detox like whiplash. But as she sat there, feeling his warmth and his heart beat under her fingertips, she realized that it was actually over, for now.

Anna took a deep breath, as Sam mentioned that they could go upstairs with the others. She wanted to get the hell out of this room, and she wanted to feel somewhat normal, even if it meant being around Dean. She could already feel the looks she was going to get, of everyone knowing that she had drank demon blood in order to cut the detox short. That was also something she wasn’t looking forward to. But she was so thirsty and she wanted to smell something other than whiskey and iron for a bit.

“I do want to…” Anna mumbled against Sam’s chest after a moment. She pulled back from him, and looked up at his eyes, finally seeing him clearly. There was no hallucinated blood on his face. He didn’t seem scared. He didn’t seem like had been through the ringer, and to her surprise, he looked relatively okay after the events of the previous night. Anna couldn’t help herself, rocking up on her knees to press a kiss to Sam’s lips. It wasn’t a kiss of sadness or any negative emotion. It wasn’t overly desperate. It was just a passionate…pleasant kiss, for the first time in what felt like forever.

She dropped the empty vial on the floor, and brought both her hands up to tangle in Sam’s hair, pulling herself impossibly close to his chest as she deepened the kiss, taking advantage of the privacy for a little while longer. After a long few minutes, Anna was forced to break the kiss to catch her breath, and as she gasped for air, she pressed her forehead against Sam’s, not releasing his hair at first.

“I love you.” She whispered against his lips, loosening her fingers from his hair as she opened her eyes and scanned his, once again searching for proof that he was real, before they joined the others.

Duke

Duke furrowed his brow, but he followed Esme’s eyes when she told him he was only half right about figuring all this mess out. He didn’t quite know what she was talking about. He always figured out his problems on his own, and those problems he couldn’t handle, he usually just ran off until he could. He reached his hands out, hovering them over Esme’s body with a bit of panic as she suddenly sat up and took his face into her hands, “You should um…”

But Duke’s words broke off as she stared into his eyes, and for the first time that he could remember, someone said that he didn’t have to go through his struggles alone. He couldn’t remember if ANYONE had ever said those words to him, or if they did, he definitely didn’t believe them. His bright blue eyes practically melted as his brow softened and his eyes darted from one blue eye to the other of Esme’s. He felt a weird lump in his throat as his eyes watered, but he refused to cry in front of her again. It had made her so upset to see him cry. He didn’t want to see her face look so sad again, not because of him.

“O-okay.” Duke whispered, not really knowing where to start on the whole honesty thing. His entire being was made up of secrets, unrequited feelings, pushing down emotions and just dealing with life with a smile. It was exhausting, but it was everything to him. But Esme was requesting that he change that. She was requesting to know what was on his mind, and what he was feeling. She was requesting to be an actual partner…not just his best friend. “I um…I want to work on that.”

He closed his eyes at her last kiss to his forehead, breathing her in for a moment as she turned her head. He kept his forehead pressed to her, bringing a hand up to gently wrap around the side of her neck, just brushing his fingertips over her skin, “I don’t think you could imagine how much I love you. I love you so much.”, he whispered, nuzzling his nose against her cheek as he just held her close to him. She was his. She wasn’t going anywhere and for the first time in his life, he didn’t feel the need to run away.

All Roads Lead To You

Dean and Duke

Dean blanched, his eyes wide as Esme’s ‘no’ slapped him in the face. She had never told him ‘no’, when he broke down and apologized. As she pulled away from him, Dean turned and watched her, holding his hands out in confusion. When she turned and spoke what she was actually feeling, Dean shook his head at her rhetorical questions, “I don’t know what you want from me.”

Dean winced at the irritation in her voice, and as she kept going, he shook his head, genuinely confused. There was never a day in his life that he had put any effort into even apologizing to people, unless he felt like he was the one who had made the situation…the worst. Now, he was apologizing for being horribly possessive, and what he thought was the answer to what she wanted was apparently the direct opposite? He didn’t know what to do with that information. It was contradictory to everything that his brain was telling him to do. When people are enjoying themselves or working through emotions…you leave them alone. No. Maybe that was just what he needed when he was upset.

“Esme…I don’t know what to do…” Dean tried to reason, but Esme stopped him in his tracks by telling him to fix things with Duke. He narrowed his eyes and crunched his nose in confusion, finding it ridiculous that anything was even wrong with Duke. Duke never got mad at anyone. There wasn’t any bad blood between them, that Dean could see. He turned his eyes toward Duke and noticed how he was standing, “What?”

Duke didn’t even make eye contact with Dean. He simply turned to look at Esme from under his hat. She was coming to bat for him, in a way. She was calling Dean on his bullshit behavior toward him, and he would have to thank her for that later, if the conversation with Dean didn’t devolve into a fist fight. He simply nodded and turned his eyes down to his feet again, “Yes Ma’am. We’ll figure it out.”

“Esme where are you going?” Dean called out to her, ignoring Duke for a moment, until he realized that Esme wasn’t going to answer him, and he dropped his shoulders dramatically, turning in a circle while wiping a hand down his face in frustration. Then, he turned to Duke with a glare.

“Don’t give me that look.” Duke scoffed, scooting his hat back on his head so he could look at Dean a bit better. Dean snarled at Duke, pointing a finger at him.

“It’s been a long week of cleaning up your messes.”

“My messes? I never asked you to come save me at any point this week and if you think this…” Duke waved his arms around, and then pointed toward Esme’s retreating form, “is my mess? Oh boy do I have bad news for you. This is all you. Why did you tell her about me runnin’ like its somethin’ that’s gonna affect her in some way?”

“Because it will! What happens when she gets attached to you, like the good little puppy you are, only for you to disappear? Hm? What was her name? Ariel?”

“Rachel, you idiot.” Duke scoffed, kicking some dirt in frustration as he listened to the same speech he had heard a million times.

“Fine. Rachel. What happened when she fell head over heels in love with you? You proposed to her. You might have even loved her. Then, summer time comes along, Duke falls into the self doubt hole, and runs away. She came around every single day for a month, man! We didn’t know where you were. We didn’t even know how to contact you, after you threw away your phones…and that girl was broken. Completely destroyed.” Dean lectured, and Duke sniffled in frustration, reaching up to wipe a bit of sweat from his nose. Duke turned his eyes up to meet Dean’s face, “The only person that will tolerate you, is me…”

Duke suddenly jolted forward, shoving Dean backward with both his hands and his teeth gritted. Dean was a bit surprised at his anger.

“While we’re talkin’ about our big ones. Why don’t we talk about yours, hm?” Duke growled at Dean through his teeth, but Dean shook his head. “No. You can’t talk about the people you mess up, because the only thing that matters is who LIKES you. You have to have constant admiration, like some kind of God.”

Dean held a hand out, placing it on Duke’s bare chest with a huff, “I’m not fighting with you and I’m not gonna talk about her.”

“Oh! We can bring up all Duke’s mistakes, but heaven forbid that Dean Winchester admits he’s ever been wrong. Like right now! All that girl in there wants is for you to snuggle up with her, to maybe take her out and buy her a beer, to show her that she’s not alone after a really…really bad night. Which by the way, I haven’t heard you ask her about. I did…” Duke ranted, shoving Dean hard again. “Maybe, you’re afraid to admit that what she needs, is me, right now. That’s why you can’t fix it. She needed someone who knows nothin’ about her to spill to…and not you.”

Dean suddenly swept Duke’s leg from under him, following his body to the ground as he attempted to wrap his arms around Duke’s neck to choke him out. Anything to stop the flow of guilt that Dean was already feeling. But Duke was a little bigger and stronger than Dean, quickly rolling over, and squeezing both his knees against Dean’s ribs as he sat on his back. Dean groaned, and Duke’s arm pressed into the back of his neck, Duke’s other hand wrenching Dean’s behind his back, pressuring his elbow painfully.

“Me and you? We’re good. But you ain’t got shit to say to me about how I treat people. You know that. I know more about you than anyone and you are the same with me. But I’ll be damned if you’re gonna bring it up like I’m some sort of poison…” Duke whispered angrily in Dean’s ear, applying pressure to Dean’s elbow until he heard his adopted brother cry out, “Fix…your…mistakes…yourself. Stop draggin’ me into it, or I might have to turn up that charm until Esme sees how much of a hypocrite you really can be…brother.”

With a huff, Duke shoved Dean’s head and arm away from him and stood up, swiping his cowboy hat off the ground and dusting it off before placing it back on his head. He stepped off and began to walk back toward the house, turning to call back to Dean, “Unload those and put them in the shed for me. I need a beer.”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean could hear Lexi’s voice reacting to his touch just rattling around in his brain as he huffed, buzzing around the laundry room. He grabbed a couple of large blankets, draping them over his arm, before wiping a flustered hand down his face as he turned and Lexi tossed some sheets over his arm. He quickly brought his hand down to catch the top of them, smirking as he saw how flustered she was.

The temptation to lock them in this room and just continue their little meeting in the hallway was high, but Dean shook his head slightly, shaking the feelings down. He had to keep it together, keep his…head…on straight, and stop being so desperate. Just looking at the way Lexi stood and smiled at him drove him crazy and honestly frustrated the hell out of him.

“Great. Lets…lets go make a bed. I feel like we’ve adopted a child.” Dean quipped, turning toward the door. He balanced the blankets and sheets on one arm, and then pressed the cracked door open, stepping back into the hallway. It felt like a year, walking all the way back up to the door adjacent to Sam’s. Dean figured he would set her up rather close to Sam, because for the time being…he was making her Sam’s problem, if something went wrong.

He reached out and turned the doorknob, shoving the warded door open to reveal a simple desk, a dresser and a bed, like all the other rooms. He flipped the light switch and stepped in, quickly sitting all the blankets and sheets on the dresser to his right.

“It’s bare, but it’s home for the time being…” Dean spoke up randomly, grabbing the fitted sheet from the top of the stack. He unfolded it, and as if he was dressing a bed in military barracks, he had the sheet placed and flattened on the bed within seconds. He stood straight and turned, grabbing the regular sheet and blanket from the dresser, tossing them to the foot of the bed with a clap. “And there. If she’s gonna be a hunter, she can spread her own sheet.”

Dean turned to Lexi, and immediately, the sound of her voice rang out in his head, and his throat went dry. Here they were, standing in a room. It was as easy as closing the door. All he had to do was close that door and they could get this out of their system, but no. This wasn’t his room. This wasn’t the place.

He stepped up to Lexi and gently took the pillows from her, turning and tossing them onto of the blanket at the foot of the bed with a smile, “There. I gave her a place to sleep. Whether she stays in here…well that’s a whole other issue Sam can deal with.”

Dean chuckled, and swallowed down the hammering in his chest as he glanced to the door and then down at Lexi’s lips. He couldn’t hear Sam and Anya. Anya’s quietness was going to be a pain, as she was hard to keep up with, and Sam seemed to be so gentle with her, he was practically mute, too. But not hearing anything except the faucet turn on as he listened carefully, Dean lost that little sliver of control he was holding in. He took a wide step forward, covering Lexi’s lips with his, one hand tangling tight in the hair on the back of her head and the other coming down to grip her hip. He walked her back quickly, bumping her against the desk in the corner, the old wood banging against the wall as he pressed her against the edge of the desk.

It was his turn to make little noises as a soft moan rumbled out of his throat, straight into the kiss. His fingers searched for skin against her hip, trailing soft touches under the hem of her shirt as he deepened the kiss even more, making his intentions very clear.

Anya

Anya laughed with Sam and she tilted her head, teasing him with a look that said ‘You didn’t say you’re not’ in response to him being loud in bed. The fact that their tension was mutual, and still light hearted was even more exciting than the kiss they had shared earlier in the night. This was what she wanted, with him. She barely knew him. She wanted to be light hearted. She wanted to be sensual, since he seemed completely on board with it. She wanted to possibly be the one person who passed through his life that he remembered, after she inevitably left…after the case.

As he stood, Anya stayed for a split second to type a message that she could play. After pressing play, she stood and walked her own plate over to the sink, handing it over to Sam as she went to cover the food and put away the leftovers.

“I was implying that you don’t seem like a good whisperer. Let’s just say that. With all this tension, breakfast is going to be nice and awkward.”

As the message finished playing, Anya giggled, her giggle coming out as a breathy laugh behind Sam as she pulled down some aluminum foil from the shelf above the stove. She wrapped both pans in aluminum foil and, being careful to barely touch Sam as she passed through the narrow space behind him, she walked it to the fridge and placed it on the shelf, right next to the beer for Dean.

The kitchen was relatively quiet, and the wind outside rattled the metal upstairs of the bunker as Anya realized that now would be a great time to have a voice, and to be able to break some of the tension and silence with small talk. She turned and wiped what little liquid was on the counter top, and then wiped her hands on the towel and walked back over to the table, picking up her phone and leaning on the edge of the table.

“Your room?” She typed, pressing play and turning her eyes down to her boots as she waited for him to finish up at the sink.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean was glad that Lexi could take a subtle request, and as she willingly turned and walked toward the kitchen doorway, Dean awkwardly turned around, ready to smile politely at Anya, but she and Sam were smiling at each other and…canoodling. Dean scrunched his nose, mental images grossing him out until Lexi called for him and he turned his head to look toward the door way. He pushed off the counter without even bothering to answer her and glanced down at Sam on his way by, “You kids be good.”

He practically jogged to Lexi, grabbing her hand on his way down the hallway. He dragged her until they turned the corner, just before the boiler room where the laundry facilities were, and backed her against the wall by the door with a sigh.

“It’s in there…” he murmured with a smirk, before he pulled both of Lexi’s hands to rest against his chest, and he leaned in, kissing her desperately. He felt like a teenager, hiding around corners and behind doors, anything to be able to kiss her without Sam’s judging eyes. If Sam said a word, he would likely knock his brother out for even insinuating that Dean was moving on, or even enjoying the company of another woman.

He released one of Lexi’s hands, bringing his hand up to wrap around her neck, his thumb pressed firmly under her chin to tilt her head up as he deepened the kiss. After a few moments, and before his hands could wander in the middle of the open hallway, Dean broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to Lexi’s, sighing through his nose.

“We need to get that bedding. They’ll be roaming soon…” He murmured, pressing another quick kiss to Lexi’s lips before pushing himself back from her reluctantly. He turned and opened the door to the laundry room and stepped inside, scanning the shelves for everything they needed to set up a new room. He was obviously flustered, but he tried his best to just…stay on task.

Anya

Anya was a bit surprised as Sam’s demeanor seemed to change a bit into what appeared to be flirtation? He had been so sweet and so gentle the entire time she had known him, that seeing that smirk appear on his lips made Anya’s heart do a little flip in her chest. She watched his every move, watching how his shoulders rose and fell as he held that same smirk and decided to openly flirt with her, with a little bit of secrecy from the others. It was a bit thrilling.

“Well behaved…” seemed almost sinful the way it fell off his tongue, as if there was another side to him that she hadn’t seen yet. She glanced down at his lips, taking her own bottom lip between her teeth as he asked her if she would be able to control herself. The answer was: “Absolutely not.”, but she fought with herself, fighting for the idea of getting to know Sam and taking things as slow as he originally seemed to want to.

But…she could take his lead on this, if he seemed to want to flirt. After their kiss in the kitchen, it wasn’t exactly surprising that there would be tension between them. If Dean hadn’t called when he did…well…

She turned her eyes away from him only briefly, to type a message on her phone, before turning them back up with that same mischievous smirk. She held her phone up beside her head as she leaned in close so Sam could read it. She knew the message was more seductive than she would EVER usually be, but she also knew, as she chuckled that it was exactly what Sam was thinking. The entire bunker was hanging thick with tension, as if it just needed to boil over and release the awkwardness.

“The idea that you’re in the same building with me, and I’m wearing your shirt is going to complicate the idea of control. At least the rooms don’t echo.”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean smirked as Mika pulled away from the kiss and took a sip of her coffee. He would always come second to coffee, after a heavy sleep. He picked up a piece of Mika’s hair and twirled it around his finger lazily while watching her enjoy her coffee, until she asked who was up. Dean glanced toward the living room door, and scrunched his nose to try and remember if he had seen anyone else other than Duke, but no one came to mind.

“Duke came in. He’s in the living room with Esme, I assume. He seems a little better this evening. Anna and Sam are still downstairs and…I don’t think its going too good. She didn’t sound so good earlier. But I don’t think they ever slept.” Dean explained, reaching up to flatten the hair on top of his head. He shrugged, “And Nat and Cason, I haven’t seen them. So, I think it’s just us and Duke, for now.”

“How are you feeling this evening, hmm?” He asked, absentmindedly scratching his chest, before reaching out and placing his hand on her hip, pulling her in and keeping her close. The lingering conversation he knew that he and Mika had to have about Esme buzzed around in his brain. He wasn’t sure what all Duke had told her while she was out in the RV taking care of him. He didn’t figure it was much, as Duke usually didn’t talk about their past, much, other than a cross joke here and there.

“You sleep good? You came to bed with me, this morning. So, I assume we’re good. But we didn’t talk about much. Are we good?”

Cason

Cason smiled as Nat pulled herself closer to him, reaching an arm up so he could frame her jaw with his hand, brushing his thumb across her cheek. Her comment about him being more than a pet demon made him chuckle and he shrugged, “Like I said…also a saint. If I keep being this nice, maybe my soul can be saved, after all.”

He leaned in a pressed a tight kiss to Nat’s lips, only lingering for a few seconds before looking into her eyes again with a soft smirk, “You know…I’m fine with just laying here in bed all night and pretending that the idiots out there aren’t going to pull us into whatever mess they’re planning. But I also know that as a human, you’ll eventually need to eat.”

Cason sighed, brushing his thumb over the bruise on Nat’s cheek, wishing that she could heal as fast as he did. He knew she was probably still a little worried about his wounds, or at least how he was actually feeling. He was fine, but convincing a human of that, especially after what she had seen the previous night, was nearly impossible.

“Can I tell you something, about last night?” He asked, his smile fading a bit as he watched her eyes, the eyes he honestly feared he would never see again. The eyes that could cause him to nuke the entire planet. “When I sent the dogs to go and find you guys, the first thing they came back and told me was that you were…there. I was so hurt, that I couldn’t come right then. I had to sit there in the dirt and wait. I can’t begin to explain the things that went through my mind…blinding anger. Panic? Maybe? I am so sorry that I didn’t get to you faster. I’m sorry all this is because…it took me so long.”

Anna

Anna listened to what Cason was saying, and her heart suddenly began to hammer in her chest. She didn’t want to drink anymore blood. But she also didn’t want to go through this detox cold turkey. She didn’t want to watch Sam die a million times or end up carved up by Alastair or see Dean the way he had come to her earlier in the day. She sighed, trying to think of what to do, just as Sam shifted her to sit on the floor.

She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs and stared straight ahead, just as Dean’s voice called out to her from the desk, directly behind her. At first, she couldn’t hear what he was saying but then his voice came clear, as Sam’s voice barely sounded in her mind while he walked to the door.

“So, you know I’m not actually here, but do you? Or are you expecting me to walk down those stairs and stab you through the heart? It would put my brother out of a lot of misery. You’re gonna die. Lilith is going to wear your pretty little body, and Sam is going to have to watch you as you are ridden to the apocalypse.” Dean nearly growled at Anna as she closed her eyes, and covered her ears.

“Shut up, Dean. Please. Just shut up.”

“Shut up? Well isn’t that appropriate. Cason coming down here tells me everything I need to know about you, you blood junkie. You hate me because I’m trying to protect him…from you.” Dean sneered, leaning over the back of the chair he was sitting on.

“I said shut up! I’m not going to hurt him. I wouldn’t hurt him, Dean. Just please leave me alone.” Anna whimpered, as the door slamming closed on the panic room caused Dean to disappear, Anna coming back down to earth and blinking as she opened her eyes and looked up at Sam. She glanced behind her, as Sam approached her, seeing that Dean was gone. He wasn’t real after all.

Anna turned her eyes back to Sam as he sat down, and explained that Cason left her a vial of blood. Just seeing it, Anna could taste it. She could smell it through the cap, and her body felt like it was reaching out for it. With a shaky sigh, she nodded at Sam, “I um…I don’t want to drink it, but I can’t…I can’t do it like this anymore. Dean. He keeps showing up. He keeps showing up and trying to convince me that I’m going to kill you or something worse. Alastair. Dean. Some woman I don’t know…Even you. There’s a version of you…and he’s cold. He doesn’t care and he says the worst things.”

Anna reached out and took the vial from Sam, holding it in her hand for a moment as she thought about whether staying exposed to the blood would be worth it, to stop the hallucinations. If things kept up, she wasn’t even sure if she would be able to look Sam in the eyes, no matter how real he was right in front of her.

“I’m um…” Anna’s hands began to shake violently, and brought up her other hand to wipe her forehead with frustration, “I’m going to drink it but…can you um…can you not watch?”

Anna turned her head, making direct eye contact with Dean who was sitting once again, straddling the chair by the desk. As her shaking hands uncapped the bottle and she brought it to her lips, she toasted him, and downed the whole thing in one drink, the effects almost immediate. Dean slowly faded away to nothing as he smirked at her, and she let out a soft growl, feeling the warmth flood through her body, bringing color back to her face.

“He’s gone…” She whispered to Sam, breathing a sigh of relief at how quickly the small amount of blood brought relief.

Duke

Duke watched Esme’s face as she admitted that she wasn’t really okay. He didn’t expect her to be, if he was honest. He had only heard half of what everyone was saying, after he got back to the house, but he had heard enough. She wasn’t human…but she was human enough. She had apparently taken down a whole building, and walked out of it with some bangs and bruises. Of course she felt like Hell. Of course she wasn’t doing so hot.

As her eyes fell to his stomach, and she brushed her fingers over the bandage, Duke shook his head and raised his eyebrows, “Don’t worry about all that. Mika came out and patched me back up. I crashed pretty quick after that. I barely even noticed that I was alone after she left. I promise.”

Duke tilted his head as Esme zoned out, obviously remembering something that seemed to bother her. He wanted to ask, but he wasn’t sure if it was digging up more feelings about the conversation he had only heard part of. Until she was feeling better, he didn’t want to dig any of that crap up. He just wanted her to rest and to get better. The rest could come after. But her next words caused him to narrow his eyes and almost turn to Bobby for clarification.

What had Bobby given her that would suddenly make her not trust him? Maybe it was just a spiked drink to make her sleep or something. Either way, Bobby cleared his throat and didn’t clarify either, and the whole thing felt sticky. Duke faked a smile for a split second and nodded, “Alright. I can do that.”

He started to turn and stand, but her hand touched his cheek and he was brought back into her eyes with a soft sigh. The glimmer in his eyes didn’t fade, but his smile did as he shrugged his shoulders, “I um…I don’t really…”, he started, before clearing his throat. He rolled his head around to force himself to answer the question and then sighed again, “I’m feelin’ fine. Honestly. I got a couple holes and some bruises, but physically, I’m alright. Mentally? I-I don’t really know how to answer that yet.”

Duke turned his eyes down, staring at the blanket that was sitting just above Esme’s stomach, his eyes searching for the answers he was sure she would want to hear, but he found nothing. So, he turned his eyes back to hers and smiled softly, “I’ll figure it out. I always do, right?”