JustAnna

All Roads Lead To You

Dean

As Esme grabbed his hand and brought it down, holding it against her chest, Dean opened his eyes a bit wider with worry. He watched her face, keeping his eyes on hers as she opened her eyes and looked at him, her words causing him to sigh. Of course something had gone wrong with Duke. Dean tightened his own grip on her hand and he was tempted to bring the other one up to stroke her hair, or something that would help relax her. She seemed genuinely upset, tired and she was pale.

Dean couldn’t help the narrowing of his eyes as she continued to speak, rummaging around in his head to find a reason that either Esme or Duke would be frustrated enough to cause this sort of damage. Sure, she was aggravated at him and sure Duke was irritated at them for not welcoming him home with hugs and celebration. But it wasn’t quite so deep, or at least Dean didn’t think so.

And then Duke lied? That wasn’t all that much of a surprise, but it had affected Esme in an obviously negative way. And from the sounds of what had happened afterward, there was something about Duke that made Esme a sponge for his feelings, and possibly made him a sponge for hers. The thought of there being some sort of psychic weird connection between them caused Dean’s stomach to cramp with anxiety, but he pushed it down and covered that with a sigh as much as he could. He didn’t need Esme feeling any of his worry, on top of all this that she was already dealing with.

“Okay. So…maybe Duke just feels a little different when he has emotions. I mean, the kid’s not exactly an open book. He carries a lot of his emotions internally until he explodes. Even when he explodes, he just runs off to handle it. He doesn’t let people in. Maybe…maybe with your channeling stuff, he did it on accident.” Dean explained, trying to rationalize it all to himself. He scanned over Esme’s face and sighed once again, “Maybe he’s a little more hurt than we gave him credit for…or-or maybe something happened while he’s gone. It might not even have anything to do with you, is what I’m saying.”

Dean brushed his thumb over the back of Esme’s hand, and he leaned over on the bed, bringing himself rather close to her face, so he could talk a bit lower, “You wanna talk about the conversation? What was said that would have made things so tense between you guys?”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya and Dean

Anya was a little more than impressed by how quick of a learner Sam was, and how eager he was to learn. As soon as he figured out his first few full sentences, Anya smiled widely, holding her hands up and clapping them beside her head, proud of him. Then came Lexi’s voice, and Anya nodded her head toward the kitchen, telling Sam to go and reward himself with breakfast.

As Sam stood, Anya took the opportunity to go and refill her coffee. As she passed Dean, he looked down at her with a smile that weirded her out just a bit, and he held up his hands, signing “Are you okay?”

Anya couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. He had been watching them and now he was making what she could only assume was an effort to try and get to know her, or at least show her a bit of grace. She didn’t ignore the grace, bringing her free hand that wasn’t holding a coffee mug up to her wrist, and signing “I’m okay.”

Then she brought her hand up to her chin and signed “Thanks” which Dean surprisingly seemed to understand, because he muttered out a simple, “No problem.”, with a nod. He then stepped away from the wall and followed her over to the food on the counter, smiling as Lexi teased Sam. For the first time in a long time, it felt like they were all home. There was a family atmosphere to the room, and Dean realized right then how much they had lost…and how much he missed having people around.

“Alright, alright. How about we all grab our food and our drinks and be adults.” He teased, grabbing a sandwich, as Anya reached over and snatched one for herself. She skipped out of the kitchen, her hair bouncing against her back as she did so, and Dean watched her, shaking his head with a chuckle.

“I could get used to mornings like this…”, he muttered honestly. He grabbed his mug off the counter, stepped around to where Lexi was standing, and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, before stepping the rest of the way around to head into the other room. “Let’s go plan the day over some good food, shall we?”

All Roads Lead To You

Duke

Duke looked down at Esme’s hand as she pulled it away from him, furrowing his brow in confusion. He couldn’t fathom her not at least wanting to talk to him about this. But then she said the word ‘no’ and Duke blanched, his head yanking back as if the word had slapped him in the face. He watched her face intently, searching for any sign where he had said something wrong.

“Esme I’m not…” Duke attempted to defend himself, cutting his words off as she continued accusing him of lying to her. He didn’t feel like he was lying, not really. He felt like he was protecting what could be some very delicate feelings toward him.

‘I can’t be friends with someone who lies to me’

That was the gut punch. He zoned out a bit after that, hearing Dean’s name. Of course she would bring up Dean, as if Dean hadn’t lied about a handful of things. Most likely, half the things she knew about him were lies. He reached his hand out, just as she disappeared into the kitchen and Duke let out an exasperated sigh, growling to himself through gritted teeth.

“You alright, kid?” Bobby called out from seemingly nowhere. Duke flinched, turning around with his fists balled up as Bobby walked up, wiping his hands on a shop towel. Duke lowered his fists and sighed, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

“Jesus Christ, Bobby. How long have you been watchin’ us?”

“Oh. I ain’t watching you. This metal awning echoes, boy. I heard everything, including you offering a girl to…what was it again? Sit on the tailgate and talk about your feelings. I think it’s all adorable and everything, but what’s going on, Jason?” Bobby started with a smile on his face, but when Duke reacted badly, and then a little more badly with his body language, Bobby’s expression turned more to concern.

“It’s Duke.”

“Yeah. Alright. I’m sorry. What’s going on…Duke?” Bobby corrected himself, stepping a little closer as Duke threw up his hands. He wanted to spill the feelings and get them off his chest but he didn’t even know where to start.

“It’s nothing. I just wanted to try and make the best out of her bein’ here, you know? I’m back and I thought she could use a friend. But it seems like a lot changed while I was gone.” Duke muttered sadly, and dropped his eyes to his feet. Which caused Bobby to shake his own head, his expression softening as he tried to think of a way to comfort the kid.

“I would say so. They’re stuck at the hip, now more than ever. They work all their cases together. They sleep in the same bed. It’s a little more…advanced than when you left.” Bobby explained, his voice gentle.

“Yeah. I can see that…”

“So that’s why you had a real hard time letting that girl walk into that house to her boyfriend. You…in your ramblin’ little brain…” Bobby started, before smirking sadly, “That heart of gold has feelings for a girl. Well…ain’t that something.”

“It’s not like that. I just want to get to know her, okay? She’s…I can’t get her out of my head…” Duke started and Bobby held up a hand, pointing at the kitchen door before gesturing toward the bay where his car sat, hood up.

“Lets go grab a couple glasses of whiskey, alright? No need to complicate things.”

Dean

Dean turned the shower off, his ear perking up as he heard the bedroom door open and close before he could step out. He assumed it was Esme and shrugged it off, before stepping out of the shower and drying himself off a bit, “Esme?”

He wiped at his hair for a second and then wrapped the towel around his waist, tying it off and then stepping out of the bathroom. The second he stepped out, he saw Esme laid back on the bed, her hands on her stomach. He sighed, stepping off and closer to the bed. Duke had obviously not been very receptive to whatever it was she had tried to say.

“Sweetheart? You okay?” Dean asked, walking over to gently sit down on the edge of the bed. He narrowed his eyes as he looked over her face, and noticed how pale she was. Reaching across, he carefully placed the back of his hand against her cheek, and then her forehead. “Really…what’s going on?”

All Roads Lead To You

Duke

Duke held his hands up in defense as Esme shrugged out of his grip and took a few steps back from him. He had felt her struggling against his chest when he hugged her. He had assumed it was just her frustration with him in the moment, and so he had hugged her through it. But now, it was obvious she didn’t want to be touched…at all. The tone of her voice stung a little, but Duke straightened his cowboy hat and placed his hands on his hips, listening to what she had to say.

He was a bit surprised to hear her say that she wasn’t upset with him for leaving and that she understood why he left. In fact, he was instantly confused and he tilted his head, opening his mouth to speak before she continued. But she began speaking almost instantly and he closed his mouth again, his eyes widening at her assertion that he had blamed her for his leaving…or that she was at fault in some way. There was truth to her statement, but not because she had come between him and Dean. It was because his feelings toward her were complicated and he had only just met her.

“I didn’t…” He started as she continued again, looking almost more angry than before. He turned his eyes down to her clenched fists and he sighed. As she finished, he huffed, and took a step forward, holding a hand out in front of him to make sure she knew that he wasn’t going to touch her unless she wanted him to.

“Okay. First off…I’m glad that you want me around.” He half teased, his nose twitching as he fought down a smirk, to make sure she didn’t think he was patronizing her in any way. “Second, you ain’t puttin’ no more tension on me and Dean than we put on ourselves. We have been at it for a while. I’ve known him almost my whole life. In fact, I’ve picked up a few…quite a few of his girls and put them back together before sendin’ them home to their parents. You know how he can be.”

He shook his head, and pointed his finger at her, “And you are not leavin’ this house, because of me. Bobby likes havin’ you around and apparently so does Dean. You gotta understand that I leave to relieve that pressure valve, a lot of times. It’s easier to give Dean a breather, than to beat each other’s asses every few months when we butt heads. We’re too much alike.”

Duke raised a single hand, and he slowly reached down, leaning forward a bit while keeping enough distance to keep her comfortable, and he picked up her hand.

“How about we take a deep breath, alright? I’m sorry I made it weird the second I walked into the house. I’m sorry I ran off when things were tense and made you think I ran away from you. And I’m sorry…that I have to refuse to leave well enough alone, because I want to be around you. I want us to be friends.” He explained sweetly, taking one more step forward as he dipped his head. Half of what he said was an absolute lie.

He did leave to get away from her, at least partially. He could see her being a huge problem for him, but she was a problem his brain wouldn’t let him leave alone. He should have walked back into the RV, unpacked his stuff, and gone to a bar to pick up some sweet girl. But he was standing there, in front of Esme, practically begging her with his bright blue eyes to give him a chance…maybe not quite the chance he wished he would have had in a perfect world, but a chance none the less.

“So, how about this…” He glanced out toward his truck and then back down to her, “After we go to the bar, and we get back home…no girls tonight. I will be out there sittin’ on that tailgate and if you show up, I’ll do my best to explain. If you don’t, I’ll take the hint and we don’t have to be friends.”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Anna and Cason

Cason frowned at Nat’s dismissive answer to his question. He let it go, though, and leaned back in his seat, glancing out the window. When Maddie came back with the food, he turned his eyes back to Anna for a moment, noticing that she was just absentmindedly playing with the zipper on the sleeve of his jacket, staring straight at the table in front of her. He could see the little tears in the corners of her eyes, as if they refused to dry and he wanted so badly to just ask her to spill, or he would make her spill.

But he wasn’t that aggressive anymore, unless he had to be. With Anna, he definitely wasn’t willing to cross that line. He sighed, and turned to Nat as she grabbed a bag, clutching it as if it was going to jump out of her hands and run off. He caught Sam’s eyes and nodded, reading his expression perfectly, as if he could see into his mind. He slid out of the booth behind Nat, gently placing a hand on her back as she walked toward the door.

Anna slipped out of the booth, and straightened the large jacket sleeves that covered her hands. She never looked up. She just followed along, knowing that when they got back to the house, all hell was going to break loose, and in a way, she had implicated Sam just as much as Dean. She followed Nat out the door to her car and chewed at her lip to the point that she tasted metal.

A bit later - Back at Bobby’s

As the car pulled to a stop, Anna took a deep breath and she almost thought that she heard Cason echo her breathing. She reached for the door handle, and then stepped out of the car, almost flinching at the sound of her boots on the gravel. The lot was relatively quiet, which meant that for once, no one was fighting. No one was battling anything. Everyone was relaxed…for the time being.

She didn’t wait for Sam, walking ahead of them to just get into the house, and hopefully Dean and Mika weren’t even still there. But as she reached for the door of the kitchen, and swung it open, Dean stumbled into the kitchen with an awkward smile on his face, buttoning his jeans and attempting to straighten his clothes. Anna didn’t make eye contact with him. She simply left the door ajar, figuring that Sam would be the next one in behind her, and stood by the kitchen counter with her arms crossed.

“You alright?” Dean asked her, but she said nothing, just staring at the floor. “You know, eventually, you’re going to have to talk to me…”

Cason quickly stepped out of the car and walked around, opening Nat’s door. He reached in and grabbed her hand, pulling her in close to his side, as if she was going to run off and start a war. Judging by her behavior…she just might. He pulled her along the gravel lot, up to the back door of the house, and he could hear Dean talking to Anna just past the door, which gave him pause.

“Yeah I wouldn’t count on that…” Cason warned Dean, as he walked inside and made room for Natalia. He didn’t know why Nat was suddenly so upset, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Anna, in her anger with Dean, had spilled the beans.

“What are you talking about?” Dean asked, glancing up to Nat as she walked through the back door.

Dean

Dean ran his hand down Mika’s bare back, holding her close to him as he ran tiny little kisses and bites down her throat. Then a car door slammed in the parking lot, and he froze, “I think the kids are home…”, he murmured against her throat, pushing himself up on his elbow enough to see over the side of the couch. He couldn’t see anything out the window, but he just had a feeling they were coming through the kitchen door.

“C’mon. Up! We’ll finish this tonight.” He teased with a slight serious tone to Mika, crawling over her, and onto his feet. He pulled his jeans back onto his hips, and grabbed his t-shirt from the floor, quickly pulling it over his head, before reaching back down for his flannel. He slipped his arms into it, just as the back door opened. Thinking quick on his feet, he jogged to the kitchen to try and give Mika time to get dressed before the others filed in.

Of course it was Anna that stepped in.

Duke

Duke nearly fell apart right there, all at once when she not only reciprocated his ‘I love you’ but added to it. She said it out loud. She was his. She was his. That fact spurred him on even more, and he wanted to pull away from her and tell her to say it again. He wanted to hear it again, echoing in his mind for the next decade. She had him wrapped around her finger in any way she would have him, and Duke had a feeling that she knew it, too.

He groaned against her lips, as her fingers traced the waistband of his jeans, her touch causing his abs to tense and his hips to roll forward, until she finally pushed his jeans off his hips. He stepped out of them, and brought a hand down to her thigh, wrapping his fingers around it like a puzzle piece. Just the feeling of her fingers in his hair caused him to groan a little louder as she began pressing kisses along his face, something he would never allow any other woman to do. It was too close…to intimate. It gave her too much control. But he stilled, allowing the closeness with shaky breath as he closed his eyes, simply brushing his thumb over her cheek.

He couldn’t help the toothy smile that broke out across his face as she kissed his eyes and the tip of his nose, his heart swimming by the time she returned to his lips. His kiss became much more urgent then, and he slipped his hands carefully under her hips again, pulling her tightly against him as he lifted her and carried her back toward his bed.

A little bit later

Duke stared at the stickers that were plastered to the ceiling of his little makeshift bedroom, his breathing calming slowly but surely as he just basked in having Esme wrapped up on him under his quilt…in his RV. It was something that he only would have dreamed about a few years prior but now…she was his. She said she was his. He tilted his head, gazing down at her lovingly as he brought the arm under her head up, brushing her hair with his fingers.

A shudder hit him, causing his heart to flutter as he ran that same hand over her bare shoulder, drawing a small circle there, while attempting to avoid any scrapes and bruises.

“You’re trouble…” He teased her with a tired chuckle, his ears perking up just a little at the sound of a door slamming nearby in the lot. He didn’t figure any of them would just burst into the RV. So, he ignored it and focused on Esme. He turned a bit, laying a little more on his side as he studied her face. He brought his other hand up, and caged her jaw, smirking at the way his fingers wrapped around. “And you’re…mine.”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean sighed as Anya and Sam left the kitchen together, but he smirked the second his back was turned to them. It was oddly refreshing to see Sam so loose in the shoulders, and to see an echo of his brother’s old smile on his face. He would give him Hell until the end of time for everything, but in reality, Dean was happy to see Sam happy…for once. The guy needed a win. They both did.

He walked over to the coffee pot, and touched his fingers against the outside, to make sure it was still on and hot. As soon as he was happy with the temperature, he looked down at the counter, and paused, thinking about the sound Anya’s legs made against the metal. Without touching the actual counter, he made a mental note to make Sam and Anya clean the kitchen later, and reached for two mugs.

He heard Lexi’s light footsteps against the floor as he poured her coffee, and he turned to watch her walk…not to him, but to the fridge. The part of his brain that was food driven jumped to excitement, while the part of his brain that wanted to just keep a hand on her all day sunk into a bit of sadness. When she asked what he wanted for breakfast, he walked over to the counter, not far from the fridge, and placed her mug there. He took a drink of his own coffee and glanced down at her, tilting his head with pursed lips, “I’m thinking…”

And then Sam called out, and Dean sighed through his nose at the interruption, followed by Anya knocking on the table like it was a door to tell Lexi ‘yes’. That caused Dean to chuckle, and he shook his head.

“I’ll have what they’re having. Also, she might be too cute to bully. She’s quick. Competitive.” He raised his eyebrows as if he had been beaten at his own game, and took another drink of his coffee. “Sure is nice to see Sam smile, though…after the past few months. I don’t know how he’s held it together this long.”

Dean stepped away from the counter, deciding to go to the door like a watchful father and check on Sam and Anya, keeping out of their eye sight. As he watched them, he smiled softly, watching Anya doing her best to teach Sam sign language. He couldn’t lie, it was new…and it was nice, seeing her little giggles and watching Sam’s face match hers. Seeing how intent Sam seemed on furthering their communication was welcome. There was no way he was forcing this girl out of the bunker…not at this point. It seemed the hunters training had to go forward. His brother…would be happy, even if he was uncomfortable with the means.

Anya

Anya plopped down in one of the old wood chairs, glancing at the lit up table in front of her as she pretzeled her legs in the wide seat. Any other time, she would have propped her feet up on the table, but in Sam’s shirt, she was afraid she might give Dean more of a show than he would prefer. So, she grabbed the edge of the table and rolled the chair forward, and then to the side to be a bit closer to Sam.

After a bit of just sitting there, taking in the morning, Sam had asked her to teach him a few signs. So, she held her hand out for her phone and then laid it on the table top, thinking of words that would be helpful, specifically to hunting.

She typed the word “gun” and then held her hands up, signing to him with a soft smile. Then she typed a few more letters and pressed play to read “he has a gun” and did a slightly more exaggerated version of the previous sign. She then typed “he’s over there” and signed it to him, smiling as he called out to Lexi in the kitchen. When she called back and asked if Anya wanted anything, Anya found a spot on the screen of the table that would echo, and knocked twice for “yes”, hoping that Lexi could hear her.

Anya turned back to her phone with a cheeky grin, and she typed the words, “Are you okay? What hurts?” And then typed “I’m okay.”

She played the first part, and signed it slowly for Sam, looking at his eyes. There was something beautiful about watching him learn, and watching how fast he picked up on information…and the fact that he was doing this to be able to communicate better with her. She then tapped the last message and signed it, pausing at the end to reach out and tap her finger gently on his nose.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean smiled widely as Lexi played right into his teasing, which was so refreshing. He didn’t even have a chance to quip anything else at her before she leaned up and kissed him while they were walking, something that for some reason made her even more intoxicating to him. There was no way that he wanted to separate from her, even for a moment, feeling oddly clingy. Anyone else, he would have left them in bed, went on with work, and hopefully would have shooed them out of the bunker by now. He sighed, as they stepped up to her room and she pulled away from him to go grab things from her room.

“I would complain, but you definitely deserve the coffee.” Dean chuckled, shaking his head. His eyebrows perked up a bit when she mentioned breakfast, and he tilted his head to the side as if to say ‘alright then. I’m keeping her forever.’.

“What the hell have you gotten yourself into…” He whispered to himself as he turned and headed toward the kitchen to fetch Lexi a coffee.

Anya

Anya’s heart fluttered into her throat when Sam studied her hands so intently, and managed to make out what she was saying, or at least the general idea. Just hearing him say that he felt happy made her beam with happiness for him. He deserved to be happy. She could see it in his eyes, every time she looked at him, that he had been through so much. There was a light flickering behind his gaze that seemed to be faded, as if everything he had been through had sucked the life from his eyes. All she wanted to see, for someone like Sam was his dimples dipping in so deep that they could hurt his cheeks, the creases in his forehead there for a reason and not for worry, and a smile on his face…a real smile.

She was broken from studying his face by him speaking up, and she pulled away from her thought with a small flinch, watching his hand as he retrieved her phone from his pocket. She laughed, taking it from him and quickly sliding her finger across the screen to type a message.

“Thank you. This is a lot easier.” She pressed play with a dramatic eyeball and then sat her phone on the counter. He was close enough that she could reach over and take his hand, tugging him toward her. She dropped his hand once he was close, and reached up, placing her hand on the back of his neck to pull him down to her. Once his nose touched hers, she pressed a tight, simple kiss to his lips, as if reminding herself she could.

A few moments later.

Anya barely heard Dean step into the kitchen as she stared intently into Sam’s eyes, trying her best to learn every color in his specific brand of hazel. It was mushy, but she didn’t care…

Then Dean cleared his throat.

“Can I get a cup of coffee or will I um…interrupt something?” Dean teased, and Anya broke her gaze from Sam’s face, rolling her eyes as she picked up her phone. She typed, and Dean watched her, placing his hands on his hips.

“If I said you were, would you be nicer?” Anya’s phone read and Dean seemed offended, but amused.

“Nicer? I’m wonderful today, alright? I feel great. You know what…I will even say that you look lovely this morning, wearing my giant brother’s clothes and sitting on the only countertop that’s anywhere near the coffee that I would like to take back to my…to Lexi.” Dean awkwardly explained, waving his hand around. Anya smirked and with a little bit of a squeak from the stainless steel against her bare thighs, she slipped off the edge of the counter, standing flush with Sam’s chest for a moment, before pushing him back and stepping to his side.

“Calm down Dean. I was joking. But thanks for the compliment.” She typed on her phone, grabbing Sam’s hand. She shoved her phone back into the pocket of Sam’s sweats, grabbed her cup and tugged Sam toward the doorway. The War Room seemed like a much less stuffy place for the barrage of parental questions she knew was coming.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Anna

Anna whimpered as Nat’s arms wrapped around her, and her eyes went wide over Natalia’s shoulder. She would have never expected a hug, after admitting that she was there…and survived when Cason was expected to die. Nat’s words about her brothers being serial liars hit Anna little harder in the chest than she expected, and she closed her eyes tightly, clinging to Natalia. Finally, there was someone that understood why she was so angry, and betrayed, and hurt…and felt like she had been lied to. She wanted to cling to this feeling, and so she did, as long as Natalia was willing to hug her.

As Nat pulled away, Anna just nodded at her with wide teary eyes. In a world where it felt like every single problem rested on her shoulders, or Sam’s shoulders, it was nice to have someone actually look her in the eyes and tell her she wasn’t at fault for something. It wasn’t true, though. They all knew that the barn incident was because of her. She wouldn’t be able to shake that feeling no matter how hard she tried, but she wished she could take it all back, and keep Cason safe…as silly as it sounded rattling around in her head.

“Thank you.” Anna whispered, pressing her lips together and nodding. She turned to the mirror behind her and took in her appearance. Her nose was red, something she wouldn’t be able to hide from Sam, no matter how hard she tried. But she could at least dry her eyes up and wipe some of the last bits of dirt away from her streaky cheeks.

She was just wiping the last bit of tear stains away from her cheeks, trying to compose herself not to start the whole teary process all over again as the overwhelm of Nat knowing…and likely planning to confront Dean cramped her stomach. She nodded as Nat said that they needed to leave the bathroom, and she returned her sad smile, walking toward the door. She opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom, walking straight toward Sam with her eyes on the floor. Maybe if she didn’t look at him, he wouldn’t notice her red nose.

Cason

Cason’s smirk turned into a full laugh when Sam joked back with him. He knew that in the tiniest of ways, he was now friendly with Sam, which gave him a lot more protection from the others than Sam would ever give himself credit for. He followed Sam’s gaze and turned to glance at the bathroom door as Sam commented on the delay. He was a bit curious, but he figured they were just hashing out whatever it was that was bothering Anna. Anna could be talkative when she was upset.

“I could always pop in and…” Cason started to suggest, before being interrupted by the sweet waitress from earlier. He turned his eyes up to her and put on his most charming smile, shaking his head, “No ma’am. I had a bit of a long day. I think I would rather just have beer for dinner.”

The girls piled out of the bathroom, obstructed at first by a few people stepping away from the counter and walking out the door. Cason turned his eyes from Maddie to both of them, and he instantly noticed that Anna’s hair was pushed behind her ears. She had pulled her hands into his jacket sleeves and had crossed her arms…and her nose was red. They hadn’t been together a lifetime or anything, but he knew her well enough to know her body language like the back of his hand. He narrowed his eyes, burning his gaze into her eyelids as she looked at the floor, trying to get her to make eye contact with him…but she didn’t.

“Everything alright?” He asked Nat as Anna sat on the edge of Sam’s side of the booth, hugging herself a little tighter as she took a deep breath. “Anna? You okay?”

“Yep. Just a little emotional, today, I guess.” Anna deflected, never turning her eyes from her knees. Cason narrowed his eyes even more at the fact that she couldn’t make eye contact with him, and he turned to Nat.

“Mhm. Okay. Well…what about you? You good?”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean raised his eyebrows at Lexi’s teasing of Sam, expecting but also not expecting it from her. He almost felt proud that he had someone else to bounce teasing off of, as typically, Sam was quick with his remarks and could shut Dean up pretty fast. When Sam turned around and looked them both up and down, Dean looked down at his own torso awkwardly and he wiped a hand down his chest with a frown. He was about to tell Sam not to say a word, when Sam turned away from them and called back.

“Yeah well…you…” Dean awkwardly stuttered out, before waving a hand at his brother’s back, brushing off the fact that Sam was right. He would find other ways to make Sam uncomfortable, later on. Right now, he needed a shower or rather, he needed a shower…with Lexi.

Grabbing Lexi’s hand with a huff, Dean pulled her toward his room.

—

A little bit later

Dean was dressed, reluctantly, and he stepped out of his room, leaving the door cracked open for Lexi to follow him out. He could stay wrapped up in her all day, but then they wouldn’t get any work done, and it was already late…for him. He padded down the corridor, stopping at one of the turns to wait for Lexi to catch up. As she did, he reached out and placed a hand on her opposite hip, pulling her close to him while they were still out of eye sight of Sam and Anya.

He leaned in and pressed his lips to her ear with a smile, as he flirted with her, “So, I’m assuming I’ll see you after work? Massages are kinda my specialty.”

Anya

Anya was happily sipping her coffee on the counter when Sam stepped in. She raised an eyebrow at the fact that he was walking around in sweats and no shirt. It seemed very relaxed for Sam, who seemed pretty tightly wound. She didn’t even try to get his attention as he stepped in, but she did catch his eyes briefly and she gave him a sweet smile. There was no way he dodged Dean on his way in.

As he spoke up, she pressed her lips tightly together, raising her eyebrows with an exaggerated nod, taking a sip of her coffee in a way that let him know “I’ve already dealt with him this morning…trust me I know.”

She couldn’t help the smirk that graced her lips as he described the state HE had found them in. They seemed much more disheveled when she found them, and it didn’t surprise her a bit that they were headed to the showers, clearly not finished with each other. She tilted her head to the side as if she was thinking, and then gave him a wicked smirk briefly. She was excited to get her phone and tear Dean down a few pegs, if he tried to act as if she and Sam were sneaky teenagers, or something.

Her facial expression fell into a smile of admiration, as she took in how much lower his shoulders looked, and how much more relaxed and happy he seemed…less high strung. She sat her mug beside her, snapped her fingers at him to get his attention, and then signed as slow as she could, to help him understand her.

“You look pretty happy…” She signed, her hands moving slow and fluid as she watched his face with a soft smile. “It’s nice.”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean turned, watching as Lexi made her way back around the bed and perched beside him. She was right there. He was pretty sure that if he touched her, they would never leave this room. So, he restrained himself. Instead, he lazily stood when she did, a goofy smile on his face as he retrieved his boxers from the floor and pulled them on. He walked to the door, ruffling his hair again, to try and make it look a little less sweat stuck to his head, and then cracked the door open to look around.

Just as he stepped out into the hallway, to go warm up his shower, Anya showed up and Dean raised his eyebrows at her. He then narrowed his eyes, “Well good morning!”

Her sighing back to him caused him to frown again, and he hoped that it was something friendly like ‘good morning’ and not some sort of insult. As she kept walking, he glanced down her back, not able to ignore the dark purple finger prints that adorned the backs of her thighs, what little skin was showing. Dean stepped back toward the door and he hissed at Lexi with a frown, “Well, the kids are awake and the little one? Bruises…everywhere. Her thighs look like she went ten rounds with a boxer.”

He raised his eyebrows, as if he was judging them, when in reality, it wasn’t like his ‘usual’ wasn’t just as fiery…depending on the woman. Lexi’s hand in his and how calm she was about the situation caused him to sigh and he couldn’t help the turn in the corners of his lips as Lexi gave him a wicked smile that melted his chest into nothing.

“Oh…it’ll be awkward alright. I wonder what my brother looks like.” Dean teased back, pulling her into the hallway. Dean was barely finished with the sentence when they turned the small curve between the rooms, and Sam stepped out into the hallway, looking disheveled. Dean raised his eyebrows again at Sam just standing there shirtless, visible scratches and darker skin in random places. Sam never walked around the bunker shirtless…but Sam also never brought anyone home.

“Wow, Sam…” Dean called out in a judgmental tone, ignoring the fact that he was also just standing in the hallway in his underwear.

Anya

Anya stepped into the kitchen with a yawn, and instantly went for the coffee pot. She pressed the button, happy that the brothers had a coffee of refilling it the night before. She could only assume it was for Dean, who seemed like a grump when he woke up, just judging by his attitude.

She waited, her fingers tapping on the counter, as the pot filled up and she finally could grab a mug and pour herself some. She held the mug in both hands, climbing up on the counter, making sure that Sam’s shirt was covering her bare thighs from the cold metal as she swung her legs and drank her coffee, like she was at home.

Maybe she was at home. The thought of just working through the day with Sam, curling up with him at night, things getting steamy when he needed to destress, riding around in their old car, all of it…it was all lovely. It’s not like she really had a home to go to, anyway, other than the same dusty motels at every stop, on her way to look for clues about her father’s death.

She realized around that time that she didn’t have her phone. It was still in Sam’s room. She wouldn’t be able to communicate with anyone, other than maybe Lexi and a tiny bit with Sam. Maybe it would make the morning less awkward. She smirked at the thought, knowing that Dean was going to thoroughly try to embarrass Sam…not that last night was anything to be embarrassed by.