JustAnna

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Castiel

Castiel didn’t respond at first when Mika stated that she didn’t trust him, but she was thankful for his efforts to bring Dean back into the fold. Truthfully, he had only done it on orders, and he had been too late to commit to those orders. Dean Winchester was only alive, as long as he was useful, and unfortunately, Castiel knew that. He tapped his fingers against his leg as Alastair’s voice broke through the silence around them once again, echoing off the walls. Then, came Mika attempting to appeal to his humanity, which he wasn’t even sure he could humor…but he did.

As she told him that what they were doing wasn’t right, Castiel felt a glimmer of doubt in his stomach. He turned his eyes away from her, staring at the ground near her feet for a moment. Truthfully, Castiel hadn’t done much of his own research on this deal. He was following Uriel, who was following order from their superiors, something Castiel was afraid to even begin to question.

“Uriel…” Castiel started, ignoring Mika’s angry words as they echoed Dean’s personality almost too well. He raised his hand in frustration, dropping it quickly against his side, “Uriel receives revelation from our superiors. Who am I too question their will? I don’t like this. I would much rather just use the brute force that we have always used to get through to someone like Alastair, but the superiors believe that THIS is the action. This is what we have to do. And…”

Castiel turned his eyes up to the ceiling briefly, listening as he felt Uriel return but in a different part of the warehouse. He narrowed his eyes, hearing the voice of a young woman, and he tilted his head, “And his methods are to be questioned…by humans, not angels. Is Sam Winchester here?”

Castiel asked the question absentmindedly, and he turned his eyes back to Mika’s, both questioning her and warning her. If Sam Winchester was in the building, everything was going to fall apart, and it was going to fall apart quickly.

Duke

Duke felt a bit of relief at Esme’s words, even if everything in him wanted to lock her in the basement and make her stay. He could pick her up. He could carry her down and she wouldn’t have much of a say, but she would hate him for it. So, as she pressed a kiss to his nose, and her words sank in, he sighed, “Alright…I believe you. But you don’t jump in unless it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t wanna have to patch you up when this is all over. Okay?”

At her request to go to the RV and grab some things, Duke’s heart fluttered but he choked down the excitement, just enough that she couldn’t tell the difference between the excitement and his nervousness…something he was getting way too used to doing around her. It felt like lying, which he hated. He stood from the floor, pulling her with him with a nod, “Alright. We’ll grab what you need, and we’ll head out. Cason, text me that address. We gotta get there before…”

As Duke turned to walk out the back door with Esme, Sam stepped in, breaking the news to them that the angels had taken Anna. Duke’s eyes turned to saucers, and without looking around at anyone else, it hit him that they had to hurry. This was turning into more than just Dean being forced to do things he would never want to do. This was turning into a hostage situation, a stalemate and quite possibly a hostage exchange between the Winchesters and the angels.

“Alright. Let’s go. We gotta go.” Duke said quickly, pushing past Sam with Esme in tow. He pulled her toward the RV, and he quickly patted himself down as he released her, shaking his head, “I’ll be right back. I gotta run into the house for a second…”

After she was out of his eye sight in the RV, Duke waited for the door to closed and then he slid around the side of the RV and out toward the lot, jogging as lightly as he possibly could on the gravel. If he could get to the truck and get out of the lot, he could make this work on his own. There was a chance he could make it in time, and with Cason’s help, they could finish this…together. The girls didn’t have to be in any danger.

He pulled his truck keys from his pocket, opening the drivers door and slamming it behind him as he entered the truck with shaky hands. He turned the ignition and frowned. Nothing but clicks. The radio came on. The lights came on, but the truck didn’t start. That wasn’t possible, “What the hell?!”

A knock at his window caused Duke to flinch, turning to the window to see Bobby standing there, holding his starter relay in his hand. He dangled it by the wires and Duke opened the door, dropping heavily onto the concrete. He threw his hands up and Bobby sighed, “You’re not runnin’. Not this time. Not alone.”

“So this is what we’ve come to? We’re tearin’ my engine apart?” Duke scoffed back at Bobby, glancing toward the RV as he waited for a very pissed off Esme to come out at any moment.

“It’s your starter relay. I can put it back in within thirty seconds. But it was enough to allow that girl to catch up with you, and force you to take some backup. I may be a hick…but I’m not stupid, and you’re my son.” Bobby scolded Duke, stepping a bit closer. He poked Duke in the chest and took a deep breath, “This is bigger than you and your savior complex, boy. You need backup, and Mika ain’t out there just runnin’ around waiting for you to show up, anymore. Take…Esme.”

“And if I get her killed? Hmm? Who gets blamed for that? Who would I blame for that?”

“She’s a grown woman and she’s not letting you out of this lot. So, here’s an idea…DON’T GET HER KILLED!” Bobby shouted at him out of nowhere, which caused Duke to flinch, turning his eyes to the ground like a little boy as Bobby seethed in front of him. After a moment, Bobby calmed down enough to place a hand on his shoulder, “No one…is dying tonight, son.”

Cason

Cason watched Nat’s face as she seemed to relax a bit. Her sheepish smile told him that, as she voiced the source of her concern. Smiling softly, Cason nodded and he pressed a quick peck to her upper lip, “I know…I know. But there’s nothing that’s going to stop me from getting back to you. I had an iron rod shoved through my spine, and I still managed, didn’t I? I’m a bit harder to kill than that…”

He laughed softly, and reached both his hands up to rub her upper arms in the best effort he could give to soothe her, “And you’re right. I’m the only one that can do this. I’m the only one who won’t act on emotion, as long as you’re not there. So, you can help me stay alive by staying here…”

As soon as Cason finished his words, Sam burst through the door and Cason could smell the demon blood all over him before he ever spoke. But hearing that Anna had been taken, Cason growled loudly and closed his eyes. His entire plan shattered, right there on the floor. Now that the angels had Anna, they had leverage, “Why would the angels take her? What would they even want with her, if they’re planning to keep Alastair alive, for now? It makes no sense.”

As he spoke his questions aloud, he pulled away from Nat and quickly approached Sam, shoving him, “And how could you let them?! You’re full of demon blood. Is she?! What? You both went on a bender, together? So, now the angels have a demon nuke that they can torture and bend to their will, because you couldn’t keep Ruby away from her for one night.”

Cason lowered his voice and he leaned a little closer to Sam, “And now, chances are, I have to die and break your sister’s heart…because of you.”

He stepped away from Sam, and walked quickly to Bobby’s desk, grabbing a pen and a sticky note. He wrote the address to the warehouse, only about 45 minutes away on the piece of paper, and he walked back up to Sam, slapping it roughly against his chest.

“They’re here. Get there fast and you better hope…BEYOND hope that Anna is still alive when you get there. Or Ruby’s next on my list, whether you’re shielding her or not.” Cason seethed at him, and without saying goodbye, he disappeared, reappearing in a dark corner of the boiler room, just out of sight of Castiel and Mika.

“I can hear you.” Castiel muttered softly, turning toward Cason. Cason froze momentarily, a bit of fear bubbling in his stomach before he gathered his defiance and courage and slowly stepped out of the shadows, his eyes first shifting to Mika, before back to Castiel’s face. “If you’re here to save him, I’ll have to stop you.”

“I’m not here for anyone but you, bud. We need to talk.”

Anna

Anna opened her eyes, blinking in the dim light of the room Uriel had stashed her in. As she came to, she pulled at her right arm, realizing that both her arms were tightly locked to a pipe nearby with a twisted and mangled set of handcuffs. As she shifted to sit up a bit straighter, she looked down at her ankles and they were also chained to the same pipe. She was still only in Sam’s t-shirt, and she had no idea where she was. A soft sob left her throat and she tried her hardest to listen for any sign of anyone that she knew, but all she heard was the roar of water rushing through pipes and clanging of metal pipes around her.

“Hello?!” She called out, and after a few seconds, Uriel appeared in front of her and he chuckled.

“Ah. You took a while to recover, little one. There’s not much use in screaming. No one but your girlfriend downstairs can hear you, and she can’t come to you.” Uriel explained simply. Anna turned her eyes up to him, as she attempted to appeal to some sort of sympathy. Maybe if she made herself as small and weak as possible, Uriel would simply let her go.

“Please. Please let me go. Whatever you’re wanting Sam to do, I won’t stop him. I won’t get involved. I’ll just walk out the door and I’ll walk…I won’t even call anyone.” Anna pleaded, but Uriel only laughed harder, before mocking her, tilting his head back and forth.

“Stop groveling. I know your type. You and Sam Winchester…the special ones…the kings and queens of Hell. You’re one of Azazel’s favorites, destined for greatness. Yet here you are, crying at my feet…begging me to release you. If I had Sam Winchester in my hands, a knife to his throat, you would trow yourself on a fire to save him. It’s who you people are.”

“Us people?” Anna asked in a tiny voice, still not sure what her connection with Sam was, after all this time. They were like magnets, but no one had ever really explained to them why.

“Yes. You people. The abominations sent to serve as the leaders of the apocalypse. You’re drawn to each other like moths to a flame and how lucky for the two of you that you’re the only two left? It’s poetic. You’ll die for each other, over and over. You’ll kill for each other. You’ll sacrifice others for one another. And in the end? You’ll kill each other. Lilith will have you, one way…or another.” Uriel explained calmly. He shook his head, pointing toward the door to his left. “And the only thing standing between her…and you? Sam Winchester. Dean Winchester. Alastair remaining alive. Mika Chambers…remaining alive. It’ll all be over within the hour. I’ll smite you. Sam Winchester will lose his soul to all that demon blood. He will finish his story. And we…win.”

“You’ll never win because he’ll come for me. He will come for me. He always does.”

“He’s not coming…for you. He’s coming for his brother. See? In this whole tangled web you’re woven into? The Winchesters will always choose each other. That’s why we needed you both.” Uriel explained, stepping away from Anna to walk in a circle.

“You didn’t bring Dean here for information. You brought him here to kill him.” Anna realized out loud, scanning her eyes all along the floor around Uriel’s feet. “You brought us both here to kill us…all of us.”

“Just the ones that would interfere with my orders.”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean decided to drop the conversation about Natalia as soon as he saw Lexi’s smile drop. She definitely didn’t seem to want to talk about it anymore, and he was happy to let it go, if it would ease ANY of the tension in the bunker. As she stepped inside and picked up one of the angel blades, Dean shoved his hands in his pockets and he just watched, having to chuckle as she commented on the craftsmanship of the blade.

“They are pretty nice. It’s the dicks that carry them I don’t care for as much.” Dean chuckled, shaking his head. Hearing that her fiancé’s nerdiness for swords and blades rubbed off on Lexi just made him tilt his head back with a smirk that said ‘interesting’. He walked a little closer, picking up one of the blades and spinning it on his palm, “And if you’ve picked up on a few things, then that means you’re good with one of these. I would say that comes way…way in handy in this line of work.”

He held the blade up in the light, watching the way the light flickered onto the wall next to him and then he turned his eyes back up to Lexi with a bright smile, “And you wanna know the best part? These things? They can kill demons. Not smoke ‘em out. Not send ‘em back to Hell…kill them. Dead as they would be if we shot them with the Colt. Hell, they can kill anything, and we have a ton of them, one for each of us.”

Anna

Anna tilted her head, dropping Sam’s hand as she placed her hands on her hips and listened to him explain that he was as good as could be expected. She was genuinely glad to hear it, although she did wonder if things would have been easier for him to handle Dean’s grief and binge drinking if she had come home. She was good with Dean, after some healing between them. Maybe she could have kept him off that ledge, but at least he seemed good for the moment. He seemed almost healthier than when they dropped her off.

“I’ve been good.” She replied when he complimented her, but quickly he started explaining himself, and Anna took a deep breath, not quite sure how to handle Sam actually talking. They normally didn’t talk. They just…let the past sit there, festering until the next awkward moment. Around and around that bend. He had also never stated that he might have been wrong, which took Anna aback. He was saying everything she had wanted to hear from him for months, but never thought he would say out loud. But as he continued speaking, Anna’s heart plummeted. He was protecting her after she had died. It made her feel like dying was an inconvenience, like if she could have prevented it somehow, he wouldn’t have left. He would still be hers. She would still be home.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say that things have been stable, or normal.” Anna started, sniffling as she began to pace back and forth, slowly in front of him. She took a deep breath, pushing down the anger that suddenly began to bubble up, now that they were spilling their guts to one another, “I mean, unless you count Duke having to sit with me until dawn most nights, right after you left, because I woke up screaming for you. I still dream about you. I dream about the look on your face, while the light faded from my eyes. I saw your face. Did I ever tell you that? I watched you, until the very end…”

Anna’s voice broke, and she let out a soft sob, gritting her teeth, “And I was there for you, through everything. Dean even promised me, and you know he doesn’t make promises…he promised me you would come back. He promised that he would come get me, and yet here we are. I get it. You were scared. You were scared you were going to watch me die, or that I was going to have to live without you but all you did was make me have panic attacks every time the phone rang…”

Anna stopped and she squatted for a moment, collecting herself by pushing her hair back from her face and wiping both her hands over her cheeks to try and reign in some of her emotions. Standing to her feet again, she sniffled and turned back to Sam, holding her hand out.

“Did you stop and think for one second about what I might have wanted? That maybe I was scared too, and all I wanted was to be there for you? Or that maybe after everything we have been through together that I could handle what was coming? Or did you just…think of yourself without so much as speaking to me about what you were feeling. That’s not you, Sam.”

She pointed a finger at Sam’s face, and then went quiet for a moment, beginning to pace again as she grappled with the confused emotions that were rumbling around in her brain. Part of her hated Sam for what he did to her, and the other part of her just wanted him to tell her to come home and they could start over like nothing had ever happened…

Anya

Anya hadn’t heard the entire story of Mika and Dean’s relationship, but she knew that Mika had been close with the Winchester’s entire group. From what Anya knew, they had all split up after her death, in one way or another. So, hearing that Dean had known Mika forever, Anya’s eyes softened into a sad frown. She could tell that Dean was still struggling his way back to normal, or at least whatever was normal for him. But thinking of him being so worse off that those closest to him would fear he was going to kill himself, Anya couldn’t help the pit that formed in her stomach.

Anya changed her face back to a neutral smirk as Natalia mentioned that she was actually happy to have a mole on the inside. She nodded, and pulled her phone, typing a quick, “Ask me anything. I’m an open book. But I might have some questions too…about Sam.”

When Natalia asked her if she knew how to use a knife, Anya typed another message, letting it play, before sliding her phone in her back pocket and out of the way, “I assume you just stab them with the pointy end and hope for the best. But I also assume there’s more to it than that, or you wouldn’t have me in a muddy field to teach me how to do it right. So, I’m your student. Show me…and let’s talk.”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean and Castiel

Dean watched Mika’s face carefully as she spoke, and although he believed every single word she said, his need to get her away from the area was still high. As she wiped the tear from his face, Dean closed his eyes and he sniffled, before opening his eyes to stare as deeply into hers as he could manage. Even though he wanted to shoulder those emotions with her, like they had promised each other, the thought of coming out of the door behind him a different person than she had ever seen was terrifying to him. He didn’t want to break her heart or disappoint her.

“Mika I don’t…” He began, but she cut him off by kissing him. Closing his eyes and breathing deeply through his nose, Dean kissed her back, breathing her in for what could be the last time, if that side of him came out. He was running out of time to let her know how much he loved her, and how much what he was going to do in that room wasn’t who he was…or at least he wanted to believe that. As she pulled away, Dean chased her lips briefly and then he took another deep breath, squaring his shoulders, “I love you. I’ll see you on the other side, alright?”

With a sniffle, Dean turned and made eye contact with Castiel. Cas nodded and stepped away, returning with a clattering cart of random tools Uriel had procured for Dean to do his job…torturing Alastair for information. Dean sighed, looking at the cart, recognizing a lot of Alastair’s favorite tools there. Trying not to think too hard, Dean took the cart from Castiel and he pushed it up to the door, before turning to look back at Mika. It was his last chance to change his mind. Huffing, he pushed the cart through the door and attempted to ignore Alastair’s mocking laugh and then his singing.

“Heaven, I’m in heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak. I seem to find the happiness I seek, when we’re out together…dancing cheek to cheek.”

Dean scoffed, but he never looked up at Alastair as he pulled an apron from the top of the cart and tied it behind his neck, flattening the fabric against his front. Alastair didn’t relent, continuing his teasing.

“I’m sorry. This is a very serious and emotional situation for you. I shouldn’t laugh but are they serious? They sent you to torture me? I can smell your tears from here, Dean! I can smell…who is that out there? Oh…the tall one. The one with the fire in her veins. What’s her name again? Mika?” Alastair teased, and Dean froze, looking down at the cart to avoid Alastair’s eyes as he picked up Ruby’s knife.

“You got one chance. One. Tell me who’s killing the angels. I want a name.” Dean barked at Alastair, who completely ignored him.

“Oh don’t be so grumpy. I’m sure we’ll have fun together. You know the bigger of the two is bringing your little one right here…right where I want her. Do you think she’ll dance with me again? I liked dancing with her. She was…really something with a little push and enough blood in her system.”

“Tell me who’s killing the angels.” Dean grumbled through gritted teeth, trying to ignore what Alastair was teasing.

“No. See, I’m not afraid of your little toys. I’m not just going to spill my guts for you.”

“Oh you’ll spill your guts one way or another. I just wanted to avoid ruining my shoes.” Dean spat at him, turning to approach the rack.

Outside the door, Alastair’s screams echoed through the boiler room as Castiel paced in front of the door, making sure that he kept Mika out of the room and safe, like he had promised Dean. He turned his head and glanced over at her, deciding to break the ice and try to have a conversation.

“You know this isn’t my doing. I would never ask this of Dean if it wasn’t necessary. I don’t expect you to trust me. You haven’t thus far, but I will make sure that he comes out of this as intact as possible. I will do what I have to do.”

Cason

Cason turned as Nat approached him and gave a situation update for Sam. He furrowed his brow, a bit worried at that point that Anna might also be high. He hoped that she had listened to him, and refused whatever Ruby might have offered her, but knowing Ruby, she wasn’t given a choice. He gritted his teeth and pushed the bad feeling down as Nat grabbed his hand and leaned her head on his shoulder. He tightened his grip on her hand briefly as she asked if he was going after Dean and Mika. Truth was…he wasn’t going to try and save them. He was going as a final blow if they needed it.

“Nat I…” He started but she cut him off, telling him that she wasn’t stupid. His face softened at her words and he just allowed her to voice her concerns, knowing that she wouldn’t fully understand his plan, no matter how he worded it. But as she voiced the he couldn’t die on her, Cason pulled away from her, and he turned and pulled both his hands up to cup her face and make her look him in the eyes.

“Listen to me. I’m not going with them…not yet.” Cason explained, his eyes scanning hers to tell her he was speaking the absolute truth. He then took a deep breath, “And when I do go…I will do everything I can to get back to you. If I’m right, I can do the job without the angels ever seeing me coming. If I’m wrong, things might get complicated.”

He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against hers, “The only reason I’m not letting you come along is because the plan is insane, and I’m the only one who can do it. I have to. I have a good feeling about the doubt that I felt dripping off the angel in the trench coat. If I can convince him of that doubt, he might be willing to help me pull your brother back from the edge of that cliff. He might be willing to fight on our side. I have to take that hunch and run with it. And I’ll be back here, with you, in minutes. Alright?”

Without another word, he pressed a tight kiss to her lips, brushing his thumbs over her cheeks for a moment. As he broke the kiss, he kept his eyes closed and his forehead pressed to hers, brushing her nose with his, “But for now, I’m here. I’m listening. I’m waiting until I can get him alone.”

Duke

It was times like this that Duke wished he had never let Esme learn his body language so well. She even knew his facial expressions, probably better than he knew them himself. If he had just run when he had the chance, there wouldn’t be a discussion of her even thinking of coming with him. But now, she was reading him like a book, and arguing with him. She picked up his hand and Duke sighed through his nose, freezing as Esme tilted his hat back and spoke the words that always made him freeze…using the trio’s motto against him.

‘If you go. I go.’

“Dammit…” Duke whispered, watching her eyes. He couldn’t leave her behind now if he tried. She would do something stupid and she would end up getting herself killed. And just like that, she confirmed it with her words. Duke nodded his head, his eyes darting around for a moment as he tried to find any solution that would keep Esme safe. After a moment, he sighed, scrunching his nose to push down his emotions, “Alright. Alright we’ll go together. But you have to be careful, and you have to stand back if you feel anything that feels off. I don’t know what emotions you’re gonna experience when we get where we’re goin’…and I can’t protect you, if I’m tryin’ to get to Dean.”

He paused and turned his eyes back to hers fully, “We gotta bring him back. I owe him that much.”

Anna

Anna shook her head as Sam explained that they had to go back to the house whether they liked it or not. But the idea of staying outside, where there was a wall between herself and Cason’s loud buzzing heart calmed her a little. She nodded rapidly and did her best to wipe some of the blood from the corners of her mouth, glancing down at her hands to make sure they weren’t completely covered. She didn’t exactly want to explain it to the others at the house.

As Ruby finally left, after Anna’s best attempts to ignore her, she let a breath go that she had been holding and took another shaky deep breath, looking up at Sam as he took her hands. She could feel how hot his skin was, even with the heat of her own against it. If anyone touched him, they would likely pull their hands back in fear. She didn’t even want to think about the actual surface temperature of them, figuring that it was well over 110 degrees…enough to fry any other human’s brain.

“We have to go get them.” Anna said softly, not even thinking of killing Alastair. If they managed to, that was great, but they couldn’t just leave any part of their little family to die at his hands, and Anna knew better than anyone other than Dean that no matter what trap the angels had built…they couldn’t keep Alastair for long. He would find a way to bust out. Sam’s lips against her heated skin almost felt like ice, and she closed her eyes taking in any little touch she had with him, as if it was the last time…

As he pulled her into his arms, she clung to him, gripping at his back to pull him as close as humanly possible. It almost felt like a goodbye, and it wasn’t at all what she was prepared for today. One way or another, they would be coming back from this…together. She would kill anyone in their way, all on her own. She knew that wasn’t realistic, but when it came to Sam, she would sure as hell try.

But as Sam pulled back and once again told her they had to leave, the flutter of wings blew things around the room, and a man stood in the room with them, shaking his head in disappointment.

“Well, the damage you two do when you’re alone…” Uriel scoffed, shaking his head as he looked at the dead bodies on the floor. He turned his eyes up and held a hand out. “Two less demons in the world, but two supercharged abominations in their wake. Isn’t that lovely. You two’s love story just…warms my heart. But I’m afraid it’s over.”

“It’s what?” Anna asked, and Uriel lifted his chin.

“It has been requested of me to remove you from Sam Winchester’s reach. He’s distracted. My superiors have requested that he is…released from his chokehold. You.”

“No. I’m not going anywhere without Sam.”

“I didn’t ask if you wanted to. I told you what I’ve been sent to do. Meaning, you come with me, or I break your spine and I take you anyway.” Uriel seethed at Anna, as if she disgusted him just by existing, “I have every reason to smite you where you stand…little one.”

“I’m not…” Anna started, but Uriel sighed, reaching forward. He wrapped his fingers around her chin, and then they disappeared, right as Anna reached for Sam and began to scream.

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…”