JustAnna

All Roads Lead To You

Duke

Duke waited for a silent and slightly fearful moment as Esme brought her hand up and touched the pendant. He glanced toward her hand and then back up at her face and he released a small huff of excitement when she said that the jewelry was beautiful, without an ounce of judgment in her voice. As if he could possibly look at her in a better light, suddenly, her enabling of his habits just made him love her more.

Her asking if he would put them on, again with no questions, caused Duke’s face to break into a wide smile and he nodded quickly, his hands shaking a bit as he unhooked the necklace and draped his hands over Esme’s shoulders. He brought his face close to the side of hers, his breath moving a few tiny strands of hair near her ear as he pulled the necklace around her neck and redid the clasp in the back. He brushed it forward over the side of her neck, until it rested against her chest and he stepped back, picking up her hand to spin her around to face him.

“You look like a dream, ma’am.” He drawled as he took in the way the necklace brought out her eyes, so simply but elegant enough to match the dress. It was as if he had read the universe with some sort of superpower. He lifted her hand and holding her hand with two of his fingers, he unclasped the bracelet and then wrapped it around her wrist, clasping it back together before straightening it, and brushing his fingers down to hold her fingertips. “I’m tellin’ you right now. You’ll be able to sweet talk your way into anything you want, tonight. I mean it. Ain’t another woman in that place that can match up to how gorgeous you look.”

Suddenly, other than the flutter in his heart if he made the mistake of looking too deep in her eyes, Duke felt confident. He was going to be on one of her arms. He was Dean’s equal, as long as they were working. And tonight? He was going to make the best of it.

Duke and Dean - A Bit Later - Whitaker Mansion

“My lord. That old lady said nothin’ about this bein’ a castle. You sure you’ll be able to find what we’re lookin’ for?” Duke asked Dean as he stepped out of the car and Dean opened Esme’s door for her, holding his hand out. The valet stepped up to Duke and offered him an umbrella to protect him from the sprinkle of rain that was beginning to fall around them, but Duke scrunched his nose and brushed the young man off, causing the man to step away from him in confusion.

Dean helped Esme out of the car, wrapping her arm around his and then he stepped up to Duke and nodded up to the parapet on the side of the mansion, “If I had to guess, it’ll be up there. Shouldn’t be too hard to ask around, if they’re for sale, right?”

“They’re not for sale, though.” Duke muttered, reaching for Esme’s hand. He wrapped it around his arm and the three of them began walking across the gravel of the circle lot, as the valet took their car away. Dean shrugged his shoulders, and he waved a hand out in front of him.

“Then you find out where it is. You’re the sweet talker of the group. You’re the one who looks the most out of place, but also the wealthiest. Make it seem like you want it to be for sale, for your wife…or mistress. Ask a woman.” Dean suggested and Duke tilted his head with his lips pressed together, as if Dean has a point. “Then you let me know, and I’ll take care of it.”

“You’ll take care of it? Jewelry is my thing. I can get it.”

“No. Because between the two of us, who has the better track record with alarms? Hm? You distract the rich folks. Keep Esme close, and I’ll grab it. In and out. We’ll be mingling before they even know it’s missing.” Dean whispered quickly as they stepped up to the door of the mansion. Duke nodded to the man at the door, dropping the name ‘Singer’, and the man simply nodded, ushering them inside.

“Fine. I’ll hit up the bar and see who I can sweet talk for information. You and Esme mingle and act normal. Oh! Masks!” Duke beamed, as a butler held out a tray of masks to the three of them. Duke ran his fingers across several, before landing on a gun metal, relatively simple mask that he couldn’t resist. He pushed his hat forward on his head, and tied the mask against the back of his hair, before readjusting his hat and the mask against his face.

Dean grabbed his own and turned to Duke, who rolled his eyes. Dean pulled away from Esme for just a second, as he let Duke tie his mask on, patting his shoulders roughly when he was finished. Yet another penguin suited man came up to the three of them, and reached a hand out, offering it to Esme with a smile, “Miss. You look lovely tonight. Are you here with anyone?”

Before Esme could answer, Dean stepped back over to her, wrapping his arm around hers with a sheepish smile, “She’s with us.”

At the word ‘us’, the man placed a hand on his chest and he glanced between Duke and Dean, then to Esme before walking away, which caused Dean to square his shoulders with pride. He then turned to Duke, “Go work your magic, Ace.”

“Gotcha.” Duke answered back with a nod. He leaned in close to Esme’s ear and he smiled, “I’ll be back before you know I’m gone, Sweet Pea.”

With a quick kiss to her cheek, Duke stepped away, weaving his way through the crowd. Without skipping a beat, he grabbed the hand of the wealthiest looking woman in the room, and spun her around, before bringing her close to his chest. As she made eye contact with him, she lost her breath and Dean chuckled, leaning his own head down to Esme, “Well, this is already going well. He’s a pro. And you…you’re the most beautiful woman in this room. I would like to buy you a drink, if you’ll have me. Though I have to say, you’re looking like new money. My father would never approve.”

As Dean teased her, drew himself close enough to brush noses with her, drawing attention from a few of the people in the large stairwell entrance.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean almost shook his head as Lexi took him up on his offer to hear her vent to him…and she said the last thing he would want her to feel. Despite Nat being abrasive at times, Lexi had nothing to prove to her. He could convince Nat himself that he wasn’t moving on out of some sort of coercion. But he kept quiet, just walking with her as she spilled to him. But the words only hit him worse as she continued.

“Hold on.” Dean muttered as Lexi’s hands began stroking his arms in a soothing manner, and her words rolled around in his mind. “Nat knows better, first of all, than to try and convince me of anything. You don’t have anything to prove to her. She’s not going to be happy seeing me with anyone, no matter how good they are for me, because she thinks I’m easy to manipulate when I’m upset.”

He took a deep breath, and leaned in close to her face, “Nothing is going to screw up what we’ve got. Alright? I’m right here. I’m not going to put on any sort of ‘I don’t want the parents to know we’re together’ face to make her feel more comfortable. Let me handle her…”

After a moment, Dean stood up a little straighter, and he ushered her further toward the armory as Lexi asked about the angel blade to diffuse the tension, “Oh yeah. We have a ton of them. We started picking them up, and just kinda stashing them in the armory. Don’t call it holding out. Call it…insurance to make sure I could trust you.”

Dean gave Lexi a playful wink as they reached the armory and he began to release the locks on the door. After all the locks were released and the door creaked open, Dean pulled it further open, letting Lexi step in before following her inside. As he did, he thought about their conversation in the hall and he raised his eyebrows, “Also, about my sister…I’m pretty sure that if she sees you out hunting, or even just existing in the field, she’ll come around.”

Anna

Anna’s head snapped up, staring at the door of her room with a furrowed brow. Part of her thought it might be Cason coming to check on her, but he would never be caught dead this far into the bunker halls without someone with him. He would also never come to have a heart to heart with her with company. She simply stared at the dark wood for a few moments until she heard Sam’s voice and her stomach fell into her feet. He had come after her, and he wanted to talk. He wanted talk…

Sam wanted to talk.

Anna thought it over. If he came into the room, she couldn’t think of any other way that it could end, than them falling straight into each other’s arms. They always pieced themselves back together, even if only temporarily. It just seemed that they were destined to be magnetized to one another. After a few moments, she stood from the side of the bed and she walked over to the door, not giving herself time to think it over. She opened the door, and reluctantly turned her eyes up to see Sam’s face standing there…in her doorway. A memory flooded her mind, as she looked him over. He was full of life, now, his face sun kissed and full of color. He was muscular, more so than the last time she had seen him, but still thinner than their happier times together.

Her memories were flooded with his sunken tired eyes, and his soft voice that almost seemed strained. His hair was constantly melted to his head with sweat, and he seemed on the verge of death, but back then…she refused to accept it. Seeing him now, the tears instantly pricked at the corners of her eyes, and she leaned against the doorway, just drinking him in.

“You want to talk?” She asked in a small voice, her blue eyes glittering in the dim light of the bunker halls. She stepped back slowly from the door, and ushered him in. After a moment, she reached out, knowing it was a bad idea, and wrapped her fingers around his wrist, pulling him into the room with her. “C’mon. Sit down.”

She pointed toward the edge of her bed, and then stood in front of Sam with her arms crossed, looking down at him with a soft sigh. She reached a hand up and whisked a tear away from her cheek, “You don’t know how tempting it is, being back in this room, to ask you if I can come home.”, she admitted suddenly. She knew that if she said something to Dean, he would likely push the issue, but it would also make things incredibly tense in the bunker, since Anna had to assume Anya was staying with them, for the time being.

“You seem good.”

Anya

Anya smiled fondly at the way that Natalia described her brothers. From what little Anya knew of them, she already knew that they were both headstrong and obviously good at their jobs. They already seemed so confident they could squash this issue for her. She trusted them explicitly. She fell into a quiet moment, until Nat pulled away from the trunk and closed it. Anya smiled a bit brighter and she stepped away from the car with Nat with a nod.

Anya kept her phone close to her chest, enjoying the fact that Nat didn’t seem to mind her speaking through a tool like her phone. She didn’t seem to flinch a bit, like Sam didn’t. Anya nodded about the fields. She had only been back and forth from the bunker a few times, but she had passed those fields every time. They didn’t seem like a bad walk, and they also seemed incredibly private, unless someone knew they were there and had access. The question of how she came to meet Sam and Dean made Anya smile fondly once again and she began typing on her phone.

“You’re not prying. You’re getting to know me. I literally met Sam in an electronics store, and it just happened that he was the person I was looking for. Well, not as much him, but Dean. I got their names from a hunter who figured they might have the gun my dad lost. They didn’t have it, but Sam was willing to help. So, he helped.”

She pressed play on the message and as the message ended, she decided to try and help Lexi out with a bit of diffusing language.

“Me and Sam have gotten close. Lexi was already here and she’s good with Dean. She makes sure he eats. She gets him out of the bunker sometimes. She seems to be a bit of a safe space for him. I don’t know him that well, but I can tell that he’s struggling. From what I’ve gathered, his drinking is better…”

Anya didn’t want to delve much into her relationship as Sam, as they ended up at the fields and she figured the conversation would end, at least until Nat started asking questions again. Anya glanced around the area, and she sighed, eager but nervous to start training. She could tell that Sam didn’t seem too excited for her to start hunting, and even seemed surprised that Dean would even consider it. She typed a short message as they reached the area and Anya glanced back at the hill that the bunker sat beneath, “So, what’s first? You’re the teacher and I’ll be your mole on the inside, now that no one can hear us.”

She pressed play with a playful smirk, raising an eyebrow at Nat as she offered to spill tea while they worked.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean and the angels

Dean huffed with relief as Mika confirmed that she was okay. He didn’t step away from her for a long few moments, just watching her face as if keeping his eyes on her could prevent him from ever having to look at the angels that were staring at them. Dean’s second thoughts were coming in like a tidal wave, and he was already scanning above Mika’s head for an exit. All they had to do was to shake the angels.

“Dean…” Castiel called out to him, and Dean reluctantly turned to look at him, glancing to the door that Cas was standing next to. Cas was alone, and he seemed to want Dean to come to him. So, he reluctantly released Mika, and walked over to him. As soon as Dean stepped up to the rusty metal door, he glanced through the window that Castiel was staring through, and his heart dropped. He scanned over Alastair, chained and bound to a Star of David iron rack. Beneath him, there was a spray painted devils trap on the slick concrete floor. “The devil’s trap is old Enochian. He’s bound completely.”

“Well that’s fascinating.” Dean grumbled, shivering externally as he clenched his jaw and turned away from Castiel. “Where’s the door out of this place?”

“Where do you think you’re going to go? No one knows where you are, Dean.” Cas tried to reason with him, but Dean waved his hand around and he picked up Mika’s hand as he searched for a door. But Uriel stepped in front of him, glaring down at him.

“Angel’s are dying, boy.” Uriel spat at him, and Dean scoffed, shaking his head.

“Seems everyone’s dying these days. I get it. You’re all powerful. You can make me do whatever you want. You can take everything from me. But you can’t make me do this.” Dean practically begged both angels, squeezing Mika’s hand as he stared Uriel down.

“I know it’s a lot to ask. But I have to ask it. WE have to ask it.” Cas chimed in, and Dean turned to him, scanning his entire demeanor. It seemed as if Castiel wanted to talk to him alone. Cas seemed extremely uncomfortable, rebellious, even.

“I want to talk to Cas alone.” Dean barked, turning to Uriel, who turned his eyes up to make eye contact with Cas over Dean’s head. Castiel gave a small nod and Uriel chuckled.

“I think I’ll go seek revelation.” Uriel grumbled before disappearing. Dean sighed with relief, and he pulled Mika with him, turning back to Castiel.

“What’s going on Cas? Since when does Uriel put a leash on you?” Dean asked, holding Mika’s hand close to his side, as if he could somehow shield her from anything that could come for her, just by touching her.

“My superiors have begun to question my sympathies. I was getting too close to the humans in my charge. Namely, you. I’ve begun to express emotions, the doorways to doubt. I was working closely with a demon. I wasn’t questioning your motives…your ways. My judgement was clouded.” Cas explained simply, bluntly, turning his eyes to Mika as if to drill home the fact that he really did have their best interests at heart, even if she couldn’t see it.

“Well, you don’t want me doing this. Trust me.” Dean tried but Castiel shook his head. “If you ask me to open that door and walk through it, you won’t like what walks back out.”

“I would give anything to not have you do this. I would give anything to send you home to rest with your family…with Mika. But my hands are tied, Dean. I mean it.” Cas said with a little more authority. Dean shook his head and the dam broke, as he scoffed and tears filled his eyes.

“Give me a minute.” He choked out, tugging Mika with him as he walked across the room, giving as much privacy as he could with Cas still in the room. He turned her to him, and scanned her entire face with his teary eyes, “I don’t want you watching any of this. I don’t want you on this planet, while I do this. I don’t want you to see that side of me, because I don’t know if I can come back from this…”

He toyed with Mika’s fingers nervously, and sighed, letting a single tear fall over his nose as he tried to think of options, “M-maybe Cas should take you somewhere…somewhere safe.”

Cason and Duke

Cason nodded, understanding that Natalia wouldn’t be happy about staying at Bobby’s, but Cason also knew that his head would be much clearer, and he was more likely to be able to help Dean and Mika if he wasn’t worried about Nat’s safety. Before Nat pulled away, Cason leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to the top of her head, before turning to Duke, to formulate some sort of plan.

“I can only get you close to them, and after that, you’ll be on your own. I can’t go…not yet. I will listen, and if I’m right, I’ll be there to handle the angels, so you guys can get Dean out.” Cason explained to Duke, who nodded his head, as if he was being given marching orders. But Duke tilted his head in confusion.

“What do you mean handle the angels? What are the the angels planning to do to Dean?”

“Nothing. Nothing that I know of, but they’re going to push him to a point that I don’t know that we can bring him back from. I’m willing to be a distraction…” Cason spoke low, to where only Duke could hear him, because he knew that Nat would fly off the handle at his plan, “If I don’t make it out, you all get out, bring Dean back and keep the angels away from Nat…by any means necessary. Got it?”

“I heard you loud and clear.” Duke nodded, before turning to Esme. Duke squatted in front of her. He brushed her hair out of her face as best he could, and judging by the look on her face, he wasn’t going to like whatever the outcome might be. But they had to try. “If you need to, you can stay here with Cason and Natalia. I can make this trip. I’m capable.”

Duke spoke quietly, brushing his thumb down her jaw as he scanned her face, trying to decide if he should just make a run for it, and force her to stay behind, “I don’t want you doin’ nothin’ that’s gonna put you in danger. Cason’s gonna back me up later on.”

Anna

Anna’s heart raced as she waited for Ruby to respond to her suggestion, but as Ruby straight up seemed motivated to get them more demons so they could get this whole thing overwith, Anna sighed with relief and she tightened her hold on Sam for a moment, as Ruby disappeared. She simply stroked his hair, looking his face over with a neutral expression, making sure that if he made eye contact, he saw no judgement. She brought her thumb up and whisked away a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth, right as Ruby showed back up with the two demons.

The smell of them hit Anna’s nose immediately, and she could feel her blood heating up, just at their presence. Anna released Sam as he seemed to have the same reaction, only more aggressive. She stood and stepped over to the table, picking up the knife that sat in the center, as if waiting for her. She then ran at the female demon, and shoved her back against the door, wrapping her hand around the demon’s throat. She burned her until she could no longer scream and then stabbed the knife into the side of her neck, latching her mouth over the wound and drinking her dry within minutes.

After a while, Anna dropped the drained demon to the floor and she growled, her teeth barred and her chin dripping with blood as she sat on her knees and Sam’s phone rang out in the mostly silent room. Anna was brought out of the roar of her high as she heard Sam say Nat’s name, and she was brought back to the present, for the most part. Cason was going to be pissed at her…

“We’re going back?” Anna spoke in a tiny voice, he body shivering from the amount of demon blood that was coursing through her veins. She could hear Ruby’s heart buzzing in her head, and as time passed, she was more tempted to attack her, but she took deep breaths, pushing the thoughts down as best she could. “But Cason’s going to be there. Cason’s gonna be there and I will…what if I attack him?”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya

Anya smiled up at Sam, echoing Nat’s look to him as she basically told him the same thing that Anya did. Sam and Anna needed to talk, even if it was awkward. Even if some hard truths came up, and even if they ended up closer, and reconnected…it was good for them. She reached her hand up and squeezed Sam’s hand on her shoulder as she stepped away from him and followed Natalia. If ever there was a time that Anya wished she could talk, it was this one. She wanted to tell Nat that she was a lot tougher than she looked, and she could handle whatever she would throw to her.

Instead, she pulled her phone, ready to type anything she needed to, to defend herself. Nat didn’t seem to be coming at her super aggressively. Instead, she seemed to be looking out for her wellbeing. So, she simply nodded and followed her up the stairs and over to Nat’s car.

As she stood there, her eyes scanning over all of the things in the trunk, Anya pulled her phone up and typed a message, “I think knowing how to use a knife and how to use my smaller frame to get someone off me is good enough, maybe. At least I won’t be alone. I have a little bit of self defense under my belt, but obviously, I’ve never dealt with demons.”

Anna

Anna walked through the corridors with her arms crossed, winding through the echoing halls that used to be her home. As she passed one of the familiar doors, she stopped and stared at it for a moment. The sign was still there that Dean had made during one of his many ‘housewarming’ moments, when they had all first moved into the bunker. Her name was neatly written in sharpie across a plank of wood, nailed to the old oak as if she had never left. She brushed her fingers over the doorknob and then opened the door, stepping into the room. To her surprise, nothing about the room had changed. Her blankets were still piled neatly at the foot of the bed, Sam’s flannel she had slept in the night before they took her to Colorado still laid across them.

There were frames with pictures of the three of them during happier days, and one photo that glared like a beacon, now…with Sam and herself, huddled up in Bobby’s lot. Dean and Mika were nearby, their stiff pose showing that they were posing for the photo, while she and Sam were a bit more relaxed, as if caught off guard by Bobby holding a camera at them. Anna’s eyes flooded with tears as she ran her finger across the top of the photo frame, and she quickly reached up and whisked the tears away, in case Dean walked in.

She stepped over to her dresser, opening the top drawer and smirking fondly at how neatly her collection of Sam’s clothes were situated inside, as if he funded her entire pajama collection with a ‘boyfriend tax’. She closed the drawer with a sigh, and looked over the top of the dresser, at the small collection of rings and other jewelry that lay in a bowl there. A memory flashed through her mind, of Sam, on one of the nights he was particularly sick. He sat in her room for hours, and eventually fell asleep curled up at the foot of her bed. She had taken all of her jewelry off and tossed it into the bowl on the dresser, so she could sponge cold water across his burning face, to help him sleep.

She fished out one of the rings, and turned it over in her hand, quickly dropping it back into the bowl as if it electrocuted her. It was an ‘if we survive this’ engagement ring that never actually made it to becoming official. After a year of watching Esme and Duke love each other, being quite literally the perfect married couple, Anna couldn’t even touch the ring.

Anna quickly moved to take her jacket off, tossing it at the foot of the bed, before walking around and sitting on the edge of the mattress, pushing her hair back with both hands and then rested her head in her hands as she took a deep breath. None of this was fair. Losing Sam wasn’t fair. They were supposed to make it to the other side of all of this…

But her dying changed everything…overnight.

Dean

Dean jumped up as soon as Lexi did, and he tapped the table in front of Cason, brushing his fingers across Anna’s back in a brotherly small encouragement. He then turned and walked almost at pace with Anna, until she passed him, walking down the corridor while arguing with Cason. With a sigh, Dean watched her with his eyes, and then as she turned the bend toward her room, Dean glanced down at Lexi.

“So, let’s hit the armory and grab what we can. Angel blades might be good, but you also look like you need a breath.” He explained, reaching out and brushing a strand of Lexi’s hair away from her face. He tilted his head toward the deeper part of the corridor and pulled her with him briefly with his touch. As they walked deeper into the halls, Dean reached down and picked up Lexi’s hand, squeezing it tightly, “If you need to vent, feel free to vent. I know my sister can be a lot, and there’s a lot of tension around, right now. We haven’t all been around each other for a while…people change and feelings are a bit tense.”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya

Anya kept her eyes on Sam’s face, choosing to help him work through whatever his emotions were running to with Anna. She thought about what advice she would give to him if he wasn’t a potential partner, and she tilted her head to the side, letting her curly hair fall around her face. She pulled her hand from Sam for a moment and typed.

“You tell her that whatever you did was to keep her safe, whether she likes it or not. You tell her you’re sorry that you didn’t come back for her. She needs to hear that you’re sorry. I would. She needs to know that it’s not her fault you stayed away. That’s what I would want to hear. And if you’re lucky, she’ll at least understand enough to not hate you. I can tell by the look on her face that she’s shouldering everything you did, like she made a mistake and drove you away. It’s not hate. It’s regret.”

After she typed the message, she placed her hand back into Sam’s, letting him use the back of her hand like a stress ball, if he needed to. But as he apologized for dragging her into the drama, Anya shook her head, and she wiggled her phone in front of her face, not letting him read the message just yet. But after a moment, she turned the phone and held it close to his face so he could read the entire message.

She then pulled his hand up and kissed his fingers, just as Natalia approached them. With a small smile, Anya listened to Nat and after a moment, she shrugged her shoulders and absentmindedly signed, “Why not?”

She didn’t know if Nat understood ASL but hopefully she could read body language. Pulling Sam’s hand up to her cheek, she flattened his fingers against her skin, and then tilted her head toward Anna, giving Sam a look that told him to ‘try to talk to her’. She then turned to Nat and dropped Sam’s hand slowly, pointing her finger at the spiral staircase to tell Nat she was ready for whatever.

Dean

Dean had to agree with Cason. Both of Anna’s deaths had affected her, but she came back on the other side just as strong as she left. Other than the demon blood addiction, Anna had always carried herself more like a hunter than almost anyone he had seen dragged into it so suddenly. Maybe it was her love for Sam that carried her, or maybe it was just a natural draw to the life. Dean never knew. He turned his eyes over to Lexi as she mentioned that Anya was supposed to begin her training the day before. Dean had never planned to throw Anya into all of this so quickly, like Anna was forced to. Even if Anna took well to it, that didn’t mean Anya would.

Dean reached his hand across as Nat bucked up against Lexi with the training. Dean wanted Lexi to be the one to train Anya, if anything so that she would know her capabilities when they were out together, and so that she could work with Anya to make sure she was strong enough to handle what she would see. But Natalia was a good ally for Anya to have as well. Nat was a Winchester. She had a lot of the natural strengths that Dean and Sam had, and she was patient. With Anya being mute, that patience would likely work really well.

He squeezed Lexi’s thigh, and he leaned in, “Me and you can go and gather some tools. We’re gonna need everything we can carry. Who better to pack up, than us?”

Dean paused and he thought about things for a moment and then he glanced over at Anna, who was already scanning the far end of the library for any books she could find. She was gathering books quickly, and glancing up at Sam and Anya every now and then, “And, if we let the little one gather those books, we can make ourselves disappear to the armory, give Sam and Anna time to squash all of this.”

He lowered his voice to a whisper, making sure only Lexi could hear him, “If they ever touch, trust me when I say…we’re not going to want to be around. So, partners? Me and you?”

Anna

Anna had stepped away from everyone else, when Cason gave her the order to search the books for anything she could find about rogue demons. She had long lost the habit of arguing with Cason when he was on a roll. She just went along with it, nodding and doing her best to keep him in a good mood. As she skimmed the massive library of the bunker, she recognized a few books that she had flipped through, and pulled them, stacking them in an open area of the shorter bookshelves on her side.

As she sat a book on the shelf, she glanced over, seeing the way that Anya touched Sam, and the way they spoke. She could tell that Sam was used to talking to the doe eyed brunette through a lot of texting and crutches, which would have made Anna smile, if it wasn't obvious that this girl had Sam's heart in a chokehold. She knew his looks. She knew his body language better than almost anyone, and he was fighting his emotions, to try and be present for this girl.

Anna tried to fight with her jealous emotions. She fought with the thought of someone being so close to 'her Sam'. But he wasn't hers anymore...not really. Sure, they had their rogue moments, if he came too close, or if their fingers touched during a moment of being too close in the same room. But Sam wasn't hers. The memory of why just made her slam a book rather loudly on the stack as Anya stepped away from Sam and followed Nat, presumably to go and, as Nat said 'learn to use a knife properly'. As Anna calmed herself, she gathered the books, wiping a hand across her forehead, and brought them over to the table, dropping them in front of Cason.

"I need to take a walk." She grumbled, pulling her hair behind her ears and crossing her arms. Cason glanced up at her, scanning her face for a moment, before he nodded.

"Alright. Take a walk. We have a bit of time." Cason said softly, giving Anna his neutral understanding face that bugged her. She rolled her eyes, and didn't uncross her arms, as she turned and walked toward the war room. It wasn't as if there weren't plenty of areas of the bunker to walk around in. If anything, she would go to the gym and beat something, just to get this frustration out. "Just don't get lost!"

"I used to live here. I'll be fine." Anna shot back at Cason as she reached the corridors.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean and Duke

Duke sighed as Esme assessed what she could about the situation. She knew Dean about as well as he did, and he could tell that she was freaked like was. Duke shook his head when she mentioned that Mika wouldn’t let Dean go alone. No amount of tying Mika down would keep her away, if Dean was in danger, or at risk of putting himself in danger. And as for Natalia? Duke could only hope that they weren’t going to ask him to keep her home. Cason would never allow her to get near angels, but could he reasonably keep her away from Dean if Dean needed help?

“There’s no way Dean’s gonna let Nat get anywhere near this.” Duke agreed with Esme shifting around on his feet as he thought about their options, “But maybe Cason could talk her out of it? I can’t imagine he would let her anywhere near angels again, willingly that is…”

As Esme stepped away from him, Duke turned his eyes to Natalia, watching as Nat stepped over to Mika and gave her a tight hug. As Esme stepped up to Dean and spoke to him, Duke couldn’t overhear any of it, but Dean tensed up as soon as she approached him. Dean looked down into Esme’s eyes, the words she was speaking hitting him in a nostalgic place in his chest. For a split second, he was ready to sweep her up and take her somewhere safe, like the old days. If he had to lock her down, he would.

But as she reached out and touched him, and seemed to zone out into one of her visions, Dean tensed even harder and his eyes widened. He watched her closely, reaching his hands out to grab the tops of both her arms, holding her as steady as he could. And then she came to, trembling and seemingly even more worried.

“What did you see? Esme…what did you see?” Dean asked her quickly. As she quickly explained that he couldn’t go alone. He turned his eyes up to look at Mika, as Mika started to delegate Nat’s care to the other three in the room. After Esme’s vision, Dean was even more tempted to try to sneak away without Mika, to keep her safe…to keep her away from whatever was going to go wrong. “I’ll…I’ll do what I have to do…”

Dean walked Esme carefully back until he could back her into Duke’s chest, causing Duke to frown and wrap his arms around her and then Duke turned to Natalia, “I know you don’t like this. I don’t like this. But we don’t have a choice, here. It’s me and Mika. Everyone else has to stay back. I’m not going to tell you guys that you have to stay here…but you can’t come with us. If you follow us, odds are that you’ll just be in the way…cannon fodder. We can’t do that. So, as much as I want to let you come with us, and I want you to have that shot at saving the day, you have to stay here.”

Dean hardened his expression with Natalia, making sure that she could see that he was speaking to her as her brother and not as the ‘leader’ of the group. As soon as he finished his sentence, however, everything in the kitchen was rustled by the flutter of angel wings, and Dean closed his eyes, clenching his jaw. He turned on his heel and opened his eyes, a bit confused as Castiel was standing there, but he was accompanied by the asshole angel that had wanted to smite an entire town around Halloween.

“Well, I’d say it’s nice to see you, but I’d be glad to never see your stupid ass again.” Dean spat at Uriel.

“Well, it’s good that we’re not here to talk about your feelings, Dean Winchester. We’re here…for your job. Let’s go.” Uriel spat back at him, and Castiel reached an arm out, stopping Uriel from stepping forward.

“Mika comes with me, or I’m going nowhere.” Dean ordered, turning his eyes to Castiel, who softened his own expression as if what Dean was saying was a terrible idea. But Castiel nodded.

“Let’s go.”

“And are you gonna tell us where you’re gonna go? If you’re takin’ him, we deserve to know why.” Duke spoke up and Uriel chuckled, turning to look at Cason, who was now wrapping an arm around Natalia, fully planning to leave with her.

“We…owe you…nothing. And with that abomination in the room with us, I don’t trust you with that information. So, the answer is ‘no’…boy.” Uriel explained simply, turning his gaze back to Duke, who huffed in frustration, shifting on his feet even more. Uriel laughed, pointing a finger at him. “You shouldn’t even be alive. So, whatever you’re considering…I would store it away in that thick skull of yours and change your mind. I’ll turn you to dust where you stand, along with the demon and his whore…”

“That’s enough!” Dean snapped, stepping forward to almost press his nose to Uriel’s. Cas quickly placed a hand on both their chests and pushed them apart as best he could. “Let’s get this overwith, alright? You need me. That much is clear. So, you get me where you want me. You make sure they know how to find me when we’re finished and I’ll go with you right now.”

“You’ll go with us whether you want to or not. Like I’ve said before, I can toss you back into that pit…” Uriel started, but Dean chimed in.

“Then do it. Or…you accept my terms and I’ll do whatever you need me to do.” Dean interrupted, now turning his attention to Castiel. Uriel chuckled at the intense look they shared, as if they were speaking to each other through their eyes. And then Castiel nodded.

“Do you have any idea what we need from you?” Castiel asked, although he was agreeing with Dean. Dean shook his head, but he had an idea. “We have Alastair trapped. We have his most successful student right in front of us. We need…your skills.”

“I can’t do that.”

“You will do that!” Uriel snapped and Castiel growled stepping closer to Dean.

“Please, just consider it. For now, we need to leave. Dean. Consider it?” Castiel pleaded with him. And Dean shook his head for a moment as nerves took over and goosebumps appeared on his skin. “Please.”

“Why are we begging him like a child? He will do this, Castiel. It’s our mission.”

“And I want him to be clear in the head. I want him to know what he’s walking into. Dean. You can do this.” Castiel defiantly shut Uriel up for a moment, scanning Dean’s eyes. His blue eyes burned with the desperation of the situation. Finally, Dean sighed, and he turned to look at Mika. “She can come with us. I will keep her safe, as best I can, as long as she stays away from Alastair.”

“Alright. Let’s go.” Dean conceded with a sigh and a shrug of his shoulders. It wasn’t as if they were actually giving him a choice. Uriel stepped past him, smashing his shoulder into him as he approached Mika and placed two fingers on her forehead. At the same time, Castiel did the same to Dean and they all disappeared. When they reappeared, it was in the boiler room of some old warehouse. Dean shoved away from Castiel and looked around for Mika, finally seeing her as Uriel stepped away from her, flexing his shoulders. Dean jogged over to her, and he wrapped her up in his arms, pulling away after a second to check her over, “You good? You’re alright?”

Cason

Cason stayed quiet the entire time that the angels were in the room, frozen in place with his arms around Nat possessively. After they all disappeared, he loosened his grip on Nat, and he stared at the floor for a moment, listening closely to something. With a frown, Cason turned to Nat and he picked up her hand.

“I know where they are.” Cason said suddenly, and Duke stepped away from Esme, and up to Cason.

“Could you get us there?”

“It will take some time to get to them, but if we leave soon, we can.” Cason grumbled, turning and looking down at Natalia. He scanned her face for a few moments and then he let his shoulders drop a bit, “I never promised them I would keep you here…but I won’t let you go. Esme and Duke can go. And if I’m right about what I’m hearing…we need to call Sam.”

Anna

Anna’s eyes widened as she stared at Ruby. The thought of killing Alastair was intoxicating. Anna wanted to do it herself. She wanted to drink every demon she had to in order to kill that bastard. She shut her mouth, trying to think of how to get more blood, without taking anything from Ruby. That was the last thing she wanted to do…and between Anna and Sam, they would drain Ruby dry.

As Sam finished, Anna scooted closer to him putting aside the buzzing in her own head to comfort Sam. She reached her hand up, wrapping her heated arm around his head, just holding his face close to hers as he asked Ruby what she wanted from them. Ruby’s callous words, basically admitting that she was going to force feed Sam until his brain fried, made Anna’s blood boil. But if Sam could kill Alastair, Anna had to go along with it. In fact, she had to encourage it.

She turned her face, pressing her lips to Sam’s temple, his skin just as hot as hers now that he was full of demon blood. She didn’t look at Ruby, just concentrating on stroking Sam’s hair and pressing little kisses to his face, “It’s okay Sam. It’s okay…I’m right here. I’ll be here the whole time. I’m not going anywhere…”

After a moment, she turned her eyes up to Ruby, and with a glare she gritted her teeth and reluctantly spoke, “We’re gonna need more blood, or we’ll drain you dry, princess. You got anyone else?”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Duke

Duke stopped and frowned in curiosity as Esme mentioned the type of tension that was radiating from the house. Apparently, Dean wasn’t particularly angry, just stressed. Or it could be Mika. Duke didn’t look for much confirmation, as he pressed his lips together and nodded, showing his relief that at least Dean didn’t seem in fight mode…yet.

He turned and followed Esme out the door, down onto the gravel below. Although he couldn’t feel the tension in the same way Esme could, he could still feel that things didn’t seem cheery and excited. There weren’t a bunch of voices booming through the thin windows of the kitchen, the way they typically did when everyone was awake and together. Instead, it almost seemed like everyone was quiet and waiting for something. Duke sighed, stepping up behind Esme. He placed his hand on her lower back, to support her with whatever her mind seemed to be going through.

When she voiced that she could feel that the others were uneasy, Duke rubbed his hand against her lower back in a soothing circle. He narrowed his eyes, trying to think of why the angels would have come early. He was vaguely aware of the fact that they were coming, but not today. He shook his head, “Maybe? But why would they come early, unless somethin’ big happened that they can’t wait for? And if it’s something that big then why would Dean be so uneasy unless there’s…a timeline?”

Duke decided to just rip the bandaid off, and reached around Esme, pulling the door open before stepping in, his attention immediately on Dean as he crossed the threshold. He heard Mika greet Nat and Cason, who seemed to just be joining them, and he never took his eyes off Dean, “Everything okay?”

Dean shook his head, nodding at Cason as he came into view, before turning to look down at Duke with a hushed voice, “I don’t think so. But I don’t know anything, yet.”

“Angels?”

“Yeah…” Dean grumbled, taking a bite of his food. Duke could even tell by the way that Dean was eating that he was in a hurry and he was expecting something to go down at any moment, meaning that the angels had likely given them fair warning. With a sigh, Duke returned to Esme across the room and he shook his head.

“Something’s comin’ that has them scared. Angel big.” Duke explained simply, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets, “And I can already tell that Dean is wantin’ to do this one alone. I can see it in his eyes. He’s willin’ to sacrifice himself, because I’m assumin’ he’s worried about all of us…”

Dean

“I think that’s the only option.” Dean replied quickly as Mika voiced her concern about Natalia following them and getting herself hurt, or worse. Convincing Duke to keep Nat at the house, if Mika was with Dean would be a feat, as Duke would want to follow them too. Duke would likely not take ‘no’ for an answer. So, Dean rolled it around in his mind, thinking to himself that Esme might be the best option. She didn’t know as much about angels, and probably would be just fine keeping Duke away from them. In turn, Nat would be safe, between Esme and Duke…and Cason who was the most Angel hating person in the group.

“I don’t know if we would be able to keep her away, unless Duke agrees. Speak of the devil.” He grumbled as he heard the door to the RV close. The way Mika spoke about Anna and Sam made Dean’s heart clench in his chest. He hated them not knowing about a case this big, especially something dealing with demons. Anna had heavy duty powers and so did Sam. Not letting them in on a demon case just seemed wrong. But this wasn’t any demon. This was Alastair. Nothing good could come out of Alastair having either of them close to him, teasing them into drinking more blood or using their powers. “But Sam and Anna can’t know. No one can tell them. No one can call them. They’re in the dark until we’re back. I’ll deal with Sam’s rage fit later.”

As Nat and Cason entered the room along with Duke and Esme, Dean’s tension in his shoulders only tightened as he tried to come up with a plan in his mind to keep all of them safe and away from this. He didn’t know if Cas would just show up and run off with them, or if he would explain…which would give all four of those he wanted to stay in the house a reason to follow.

“Morning sunshine.” Dean forced a smile at Natalia, and he ruffled her hair as she approached, before Duke approached him, asking for more details about what was coming. He couldn’t lie to Duke if he tried…and he tried.

Cason

Cason breathed a silent huff of relief as Natalia believed what he was saying, at least enough to concede to not worrying. Maybe he would be able to keep her close to him, even if Dean Winchester was stupid enough to run off with angels. Again, Natalia wasn’t going anywhere near angels. As Nat pulled away from him, Cason didn’t fight her, sitting up a little straighter in bed. He then rolled off the side of the bed and stood, walking over to his boots. He was already dressed, but he hadn’t bothered putting on his boots to prevent Nat from busting her ankles up on the buckles in her sleep.

He shoved his feet in his boots and then stood there, watching her dress. He inhaled a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he scanned his eyes over every scar and dimple of her skin. It still seemed surreal to him that she was his…and she was here with him. He had saved her, taken a chance with her, and now…he got to love her.

Before she could exit the room, he stepped up beside her, and pressed a tight kiss to the side of her head. He was afraid to kiss her lips, afraid they would never leave the room. But he just had the overwhelming urge to show affection, which caused the burning in his forehead to appear all over again.

He released her, letting her lead the way out of the room and then quickly followed, nodding at Bobby as he passed the desk. The second they stepped into the living room, Cason could feel a horrifically intense tension filling the space, coming from the kitchen.

“Okay…I can’t pretend anymore. Something’s wrong.” He leaned in and muttered to Natalia, wrapping his hand around her upper arm to pull her back against his chest, as he could read Dean’s expression like an open book.

Anna

Anna’s eyes widened almost painfully as Ruby made her threat to Sam. She shook her head, and met Sam’s eyes as he glanced to her. From the look on Sam’s face, she could tell that Ruby would most definitely force Anna’s hand if Sam refused to drink. But Anna didn’t want to watch him get high. If she was scary and out of control when she was high on blood, she couldn’t imagine how scary Sam would be. With a frown, Anna just weakly shook her head and kept her eyes on Sam, fully prepared to burn Ruby with whatever power she had left, if she needed to.

But then Ruby zoned out, seeming to get some sort of message or hearing something through a channel that Anna and Sam couldn’t hear. As Ruby explained that the angels had Alastair and called it a ‘practice run’, Anna went pale. She had already been with Alastair. She had already killed dozens of demons at Alastair’s hand, pushing her to the limits, and almost killing herself. She didn’t take it quite as lightly as Sam did, and she definitely didn’t want to have anything to do with any plan that involved Alastair…and angels.

But the longer Ruby and Sam argued about the ethics of drinking demon blood, the more enraged Ruby seemed to get, as if she was scared. She was on a time limit for whatever it was she wanted them to do, which made Anna worry that she would quite literally sacrifice either of them…especially Anna, if it justified her end game.

“You’re not…” Anna argued as Sam seemed to piss Ruby off. Anna clutched the blankets around her chest and she attempted to scoot away from Ruby, as Ruby climbed onto the bed with her, and roughly grabbed her chin. Any other time, and under enough influence, Ruby’s skin would be burning as soon as Anna resisted her. But Anna whimpered at the grip to her chin, and how hard Ruby gripped in order to force her mouth open, “Ow! St-“

Her words were cut off by a small trickle of blood falling out of the bottle, straight down the back of her tongue as she did her best not to swallow it, at Cason’s request. Her skin began to heat with the tiny amount, not quite burning Ruby but definitely hot enough that Anna could feel it behind her own eyes. Anna shook her head, wrenching her face away from Ruby as Ruby’s hand loosened from her jaw. “Sam. You don’t have to do this. Sam?”

Anna’s stomach cramped at the small bit of blood that was now swimming around, forcing her into a slight buzz that she didn’t want. She glared at Ruby as Ruby cooed to Sam, as if Ruby had some ownership over him…or they were in a relationship. It made Anna feel a bit sick to her stomach, and as Ruby turned to her, Anna shook her head, the glare never leaving her face, “And what exactly are we supposed to do to Alastair? I’ve killed dozens of demons in the same room with him, and it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to even hurt him. Neither of us is strong enough to kill him.”

But as Anna complained, Ruby began to allow Sam to feed directly from her body, something that Cason only did under intense stress, when they were both looking death in the eyes. It was under extreme emergency…and this didn’t seem to be that. Sure, it was Dean. But Dean had all the backup of the group and these were angels…not demons. There was nothing that Sam or Anna could do to angels.

“We can’t kill angels. Sam stop it! Stop it right now. We can’t kill angels!” Anna snapped, moving to step off the bed with the sheets wrapped around her. She snatched Sam’s t-shirt off the ground and pulled it on over her head, letting it fall around her knees as she stepped over to her jacket.

She had no desire to drink more blood, but between the addiction and the idea that Sam would go alone, she forced herself to accept it. She fetched the bottle of blood that Cason had given her. It was supposed to be an entire weeks worth of blood. She opened the lid, tossing it aside, and then reached for Sam’s hand before downing the entire bottle in one breath. The heat in her chest and her hands soared and she groaned softly, leaning into Sam’s side. She tossed the bottle aside, “You can stop. We should stop…”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anna

Anna knew that Natalia wasn’t responsible for the tension in the bunker, although it seemed she was dealing with her own annoyance about their arrival and the girls being there…particularly the red head that was pretty connected at the hip with Dean. Of course Nat was glad she was there. If anything, Anna was an experienced hunter who would be able to help diffuse any arguments that came between Cason and Dean, and she typically was one of the few people that could call Dean and talk him off ledges, because of their complicated history and long road to growing close as siblings. So, Anna couldn’t help the small sigh of understanding as she nodded her head.

But she nearly rolled her eyes when Natalia went off over Lexi. “Maybe being nice is a good way to get to know her, yeah? It’s worked for you before…”, she grumbled with a small smirk. When Nat offered to take her out of the bunker if things got too tense, Anna’s shoulders relaxed and she hugged her back, wrapping her arms loosely around Nat’s waist. She frowned over her shoulder, however, when Nat mentioned that she and Sam needed to talk. They had seen each other in passing, not that anyone but Dean really knew about it, and not much…talking had been done. They always seemed to just fall into the same habits. Emotions would run high. They would end up both stuck, not knowing what to say, and the next morning, they woke up in bed together, separated, and went right back through the same cycle all over again.

“I wish it was that simple to just…talk.” Anna grumbled once again, before Nat pulled back and reassured her. With a small nod, Anna looked down at her feet and she brushed her hair away from her face, deciding that this time…she was going to talk to Sam. She didn’t know when and she didn’t even know if her emotions would allow her to finish a sentence without the cycle taking over, but she had to try. She needed that closure, or for him to just…let her come home. She would take whichever he was willing to give her.

She followed Nat a few minutes later, stepping into the library with a pause as she caught Sam and Anya over to the side, having a conversation in close contact with one another. A small pang of jealousy that she didn’t even know she was capable of bubbled up in the pit of her stomach and she crossed her arms, walking over to lean against a bookshelf on the opposite side of the room.

Dean and Cason

Dean noticed Lexi’s hand on his thigh, her attempt to make him be civil with Cason, something that seemed hit or miss with the two of them. As the conversation was squashed, he reached down and placed his hand over hers, wrapping his fingers loosely around it to make sure she knew she could touch him as much as she wanted to…whether Natalia liked it or not.

He stayed leaned in as Lexi acknowledged the tension between Sam and Anna and he nodded, “It’ll be tense until the dam breaks. I just hope it breaks in private and not out in the middle. I would hate to see the look on Anya’s face. In fact, I think I would break Sam’s face over the look that I’m imagining.”

As Nat came out of the kitchen with Anna close behind her, he watched Anna’s body language and sighed. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into the chair on his other side, and wrap his arm around her to make her feel safe. It was obvious that she didn’t trust herself around Sam, after all of the late night meetings that they thought were behind Dean’s back. He had confronted Anna, months back, and the breakdown she had in return wasn’t something he was prepared to handle again, either.

Nat’s voice forced his eyes up to her and he nodded, clearing his throat.

“Right. So, what we know is that a demon came to her. Her dad…a hunter adjacent human had the Colt for a while.” Dean explained and Cason sat up straighter, hearing him say that they were that close to the Colt. “But he didn’t have it when he died. The deal is the Colt for her voice. We haven’t found a lead on the gun. We haven’t found a lead on the demon. We don’t even have a name…or a meat suit. Some demons tried to find her yesterday, probably running in the same pack.”

“Or they’re after you.” Cason grumbled from across the table, his eyes glancing down at Dean’s arm. Cason’s eyes were almost black as he stared at the mark and Dean quickly pulled his arm down from the top of the table before Natalia could see it.

“They came to her. We are going to assume they’re after her.” Dean corrected Cason, giving him a look that said ‘I’ll explain later’. Cason almost seemed scared of the mark, as if he knew exactly what it meant and Dean was dying to pick his brain over it as well.

“Right. So, demons are circling her early, for what? They’re not after her soul. Do we know for a fact that there’s no connection with her and the Colt? Maybe her old house? Her dad’s house? A car?” Cason changed the subject back to Anya, closing his eyes for a moment to make them go back to normal.

“We hadn’t sussed any of that out, yet.”

“Well, that’s where we start, then. I’ll go ask around, get some addresses and see what I can find. Anna, you can skim the books and see if there’s any mentioning of rogue demons. Get names, motives, habits, anything you can find in the library. And, as for everything else, we just need to find out who we’re dealing with.” Cason handed out tasks, glancing across at Dean again, “We’re probably going to need some snacks for the humans, make sure Anya knows how to use at least some basic weapons…because she’ll have to come with us when we go after the demon.”

“No. She hasn’t even started getting ready for that.” Dean argued and Cason shrugged.

“Well, that’s a ‘you’ problem. She has to be there, or the demon will never show. So, she’ll come with us, trained up or not. Teach her how to use a knife and a flask of holy water, and hope for the best. That’s what you did to Anna.” Cason shrugged again, glancing to Anna, who was much stronger and independent than she was when she first came to the Winchesters. “And she only died twice. Odds are, the girl comes out in one piece, attached to your brother’s hip and we all ride off into the sunset…deal free.”

Anya

Anya could see the conflict on Sam’s face as he tried to find a way to explain what was going on. Hearing that he had known Anna since he was a kid didn’t exactly throw Anya off at all. Okay. So, they were friends way back in the day, and they had grown close as adults. But when he mentioned that he had left Anna at a friends house and left her because he wanted to protect her, Anya’s stomach dropped. That’ didn’t seem like Sam at all. It didn’t seem like something he was even capable of, and Anya was tempted to ask him what exactly was so bad that he had to abandon Anna, if Cason brought her to help them. She was obviously capable.

She could tell that he didn’t want to talk about it much with Anna in the room, and she sighed, chewing at her lip at how awkward the whole situation felt. Just with Anna being in the room, Anya could feel Sam’s attention shift. She could feel how careful he was around herself, and she could almost feel that their relationship had screeched to a halt. The tension had replaced everything…

She pulled her phone back up and typed, turning the phone around to him after she was finished, “Well. If you guys need to talk, maybe you should try to talk. But I do want to know everything, the good and the bad. If I’m going to be here for the long haul, I need to know everything. Honest question…Do I need to leave for a bit? I’m not upset if your answer is Yes. I just want to know.”

As she let him read it, she kept a stern and worried look on her face, staring up at Sam’s face. She reached her other hand out and picked his hand up, rubbing at the back of his fingers.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anna

Anna was nearly buzzing with the odd pull toward Sam that she felt, just being this close to him again. She barely heard a word that was being said as she stood close to Cason’s back. As she heard Natalia chime in, wanting coffee her attention snapped to the brief exchange between Nat and Cason, and she pulled away from Cason’s back, following Nat instantly toward the kitchen. She carefully angled her body to make sure that she didn’t brush shoulders with Sam on the way by and then as they entered the kitchen, she ran her hands through her hair with a sigh, finally able to breath.

“I shouldn’t have come. I should have never let him talk me into this…” She sighed in a groan, pacing a bit in the kitchen as Nat went to grab coffee. She stepped over to the sink and turned it on, wetting her hands, before wiping them over her face, anything to calm the anxiety that was roaring in her ears. “I mean, I half expected he would be here, but I didn’t expect that there would be others…like are they babysitting? What is going on? And what am I supposed to do? Avoid eye contact for the time we’re here and hope that Sam never talks to me?”

She turned, her eyes tired and sad as she leaned against the sink and wiped her face a bit more, trying to navigate whatever this feeling was. She flexed her fingers a bit and then turned her eyes up to Natalia, “I can’t talk to him, Nat. We…we don’t talk when we’re around each other, anymore. It’s just anger…and pain…and…and I guess lust? Mourning? What even would that feeling be?”

Cason and Dean

Cason was a bit nervous as Natalia told him to watch Lexi. Dean was a grown man, and honestly? Cason wasn’t super worried about his wellbeing around this girl. If anything, he seemed better off around her. Cason walked over to a table, sighing as Anna scooted past him and followed Natalia, avoiding Sam as if he had some sort of incurable disease she could catch. He turned his eyes back to those in front of him and he scanned over all of them, before his eyes fell on Lexi.

“So, what’s your story? You’re built like a hunter. Dean seems to like you enough, and you’re comfortable here…at least from what I can tell. You a hunter?” Cason asked Lexi as he got comfortable and tossed his legs over the side of the table, kicking back.

“We’re not here to interrogate.” Dean grumbled.

“Alright. No interrogation. Fine. So you two.” Cason started again, before Dean glared at him and he held his hands up. “Alright. Fine. I’m here to work. When Nat gets settled, I’ll poof out of here and go see what I can find. Until then, I’ll just sit here.”

Dean nodded, “That’s a good idea.”

Dean glanced toward the kitchen and he sighed, tilting his head down to whisper in Lexi’s ear.

“The blonde one? That’s…well…that’s Anna. The Anna. The big one. If you watch them, they’re avoiding being within three feet of each other for a reason. If they ever touch…things are gonna get a lot more awkward.” Dean explained, turning to glance at his brother and his body language, “I have a sneaking bad feeling that it’ll happen sooner rather than later.”

Anya

Anya watched as tension continued to build between Lexi and Natalia, but what she hadn’t noticed until the two women walked to the kitchen, was how avoidant the blonde one was acting toward Sam. The way she turned to the side to avoid touching him, and the way neither of them could look at each other was tugging at Anya’s curiosity. So, she reached down and took Sam’s hand, tugging him over toward the library shelves with a frown. She sat her coffee mug on the top of one of the shelves and tilted her head pulling her phone from her back pocket.

She typed, but didn’t press play, trying to be as private as she could with him, her eyes full of concern and care.

“Are you okay? You seem really tense and far off, like one of them is the last person you want to see. Is it the girl? The blonde one? Do you know her?”

She turned her phone and let him read the message, before picking his hand back up and running her thumb over his knuckles as she searched his face. Seeing him tense after he had such a pleasant night was concerning and even as tired as she still was, she couldn’t just leave it alone. She couldn’t just let Sam go back down after he was so happy just a few short hours prior.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya and Cason

Anya barely stirred when Dean banged on the door. After his little night cap, she was pretty out of it, still. She had slept so hard that the idea of opening her eyes made her pout in her sleepy state. But when Sam’s hand came to her forehead, brushing some of her hair away, she sighed, and reached for him. Unfortunately, his warmth disappeared as he got up, causing Anya to pout again and drop her hand. She finally opened her eyes and she brought a hand up to ruffle her own hair, looking around the room to see Sam getting dressed.

As Sam came back to the bed, Anya reached her hand out and brushed her fingers across his arm, watching him pull his boots on. She sighed again when he leaned over and kissed her head, realizing that he wasn’t going to accept ‘I don’t wanna leave the room’ as an answer. Before she could complain too much, Sam left the room and Anya reluctantly pulled the blankets back, sliding out of bed. She quickly walked over to her bag and grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, deciding that if they were expecting company, she probably shouldn’t just run around in Sam’s clothes all day.

After taking a quick shower, just to wash up a bit, Anya jogged toward the door and then took to the corridor in her bare feet, smelling the coffee that was obviously brewing over and over in the kitchen. She walked into the war room, not really seeing anyone at first, until she got to the library, where she heard voices. As she stepped in, everyone was greeting each other, but Sam seemed absolutely frozen in place, as if he had seen a ghost…all the way until the person she had to assume was his sister hugged him and they muttered to each other about something. She closed the gap between herself and Sam, stepping up beside him. She didn’t grab for him, the way she normally would, just stood nearby and picked up one of the mugs that Sam had sat on a table near him.

“And who are you, little one?” The man with Natalia suddenly spoke up, and Anya’s eyes snapped to his face that was smiling warmly at her, as if he was afraid he would scare her. She glanced between him and Nat, and narrowed her eyes. “Cat got your tongue?”

Anya sat her mug down on the table briefly, tilting her head.

“I don’t talk.” Anya signed simply, testing the waters to see if he understood her. As he tilted his head back with an ‘ah’ sound, Anya almost broke into a smile. He brought his hands up and signed to her.

“Sam’s new girlfriend, I presume?”

“No labels, yet. Are you the boyfriend? The demon?” Anya asked him and Cason smiled, nodding his head before signing.

“Yep. My name’s Cason.”

“Anya…” She signed, letting her hands linger for a moment.

Dean and Anna

Dean smiled a bit brighter as Nat confirmed that Cason had kept her on the straight and narrow, something he would have to thank him for before he was out of the bunker. He held his arms out as Nat approached him, wrapping his arms tightly around her, and burying his face in her shoulder for a moment. When she commented on his appearance, Dean shrugged his shoulders, pulling back from the hug with a sheepish grin, “Well, I’ve been a little more at myself lately. Things are…okay…”

He stepped back from her, shoving one of her shoulders before turning and walking the group toward the stairs. As they stepped onto the landing, Dean’s eyes immediately went to Anna as she caught sight of Sam and stilled, just staring at him. She awkwardly brought both her hands up to her shorter blonde hair and pulled it behind her ears with a heavy gulp, nodding. She turned her eyes toward the floor and sighed, pressing her lips together.

“So, he’s here…” She muttered, and Dean stepped over to her, leaning in close to her ear with a soft sigh.

“It’s been almost a year. You can handle this. If things get too tense, I swear, I’ll send him out.” Dean whispered in her ear and Anna nodded, her face blushing a bit at the idea of even speaking to Sam. Judging by how frozen Sam was in place, not only had no one told him she was coming, but he was just as scared to be face to face with her as she was him.

As Natalia jogged down the stairs and quickly hugged Sam, the others followed her, a bit more orderly. Anna turned her eyes to the ground and Cason placed a hand on her lower back, following her down the stairs with Dean trailing in the back. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Anna glanced up, seeing a girl slightly smaller than herself wiz by, and stand near Sam. She tilted her head, but then the girl started to speak to Cason in sign language, and Anna’s curiosity deepened. She frowned, trying to make out anything she could from the conversation, but the only thing she made out were the names.

Reading Sam’s name and then Anya’s introducing herself, Anna glanced up at Sam and then back to Anya. She kept her distance from Sam, putting Cason between them as Cason talked up the younger woman, but she had trouble tearing her eyes away from Sam and how different he looked from the last time they had met up in Denver.

Dean stepped over to Lexi, around the same time that Sam warned Nat to be nice to her. He placed a hand on Lexi’s lower back and leaned in close to her ear, “She’ll come around to you. Don’t worry. She’s…weary of new people.”, he almost whispered, brushing his nose against her ear before turning to Nat as she asked about the reason he had called them.

“Well, it’s a bit more complicated than just a demon problem. Have you ever heard of a demon making a deal that is quid pro quo? Like ‘you do this for me, I do this for you’?” Dean asked, looking over at Cason. His eyes glanced over Cason’s shoulder a few times, seeing Anna’s tension and his heart dropped a bit. As much as he didn’t know if it would help, Anna and Sam needed to talk to each other, before this trip ended…

“Not crossroads demons. They give you something. You give them your soul. It’s pretty simple.” Cason replied with a shrug, but he winced, “But your ‘less friendly to hell’ demons can sometimes use deals like that to get through to unlikely victims. You pick someone vulnerable and convince them that you can do the bidding…even if you can’t. They give you what you want and you kill them. I know some demons who have made similar deals.”

“And how do you get out of it?” Dean asked quickly.

“Kill the demon that holds the fake contract. Should be easy enough. They’re likely young, fresh from Hell and think they’re getting one over on whoever smoked out their soul. If they get caught? They’re dead. Dust.”

“Interesting.” Dean said softly, suddenly very happy with their phone call. But Cason continued and Dean sighed.

“Give me a day or two, and I can point you in the right direction. Kill the demon. Release the victim. Who’s your victim?”

Dean nodded gently toward Anya, and Cason shook his head with a frown, and then placed his hands on his hips, “Well, then we kill the demon as quick as we can. What did he promise you?”

“My voice.” Anya signed, and Cason shook his head at her sadly.

“Other than parlor tricks…no demon outside of the crossroads can give you that.”