JustAnna

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Dean

Dean didn’t even hear Duke’s footsteps as Duke stepped into the basement and just stood at the door of the panic room. Dean just sat there in his chair, seemingly a permanent fixture spot for him over these three days. He tapped his foot nervously as the options rose up in his head, over and over, like a movie. He had memorized them by heart.

After a few moments, he reached a hand out and he brushed his fingers along Mika’s cold hand and he gave a sad smile, “I’m going to fix this. I’ll fix this. Don’t you worry. I’m gonna leave for a little bit. When you wake up…don’t be scared. Don’t be scared, alright? Duke will take care of you. Sam…Sam will be here. And I love you. No matter what you’re feeling when you wake up, just know that I love you…more than anything.”

After a few moments of just staring at Mika’s closed eyes, Dean nodded and he stood from his chair. He turned to the open door, and no one was waiting there, anymore. He could walk up stairs, avoid everyone, and he could get this done. He could offer himself up, and he would never have to see the fallout. Mika would be okay, and that was enough.

Anna

Anna continued rubbing at Sam’s ear gently as he finally blinked and answered her question. It was definitely a start. He was able to speak. Anna listened intently, nodding at his assessment of his own emotions before nodding a bit deeper at the thought of giving Mika a funeral. They had to convince Dean, one way or another. There wasn’t anything left to do, but to burn Mika’s body. Part of Anna thought that they may have to go behind Dean’s back to do so, in order for Mika to not just rot in the basement, while Dean held onto some false hope he could bring her back…or worse, he actually found a way to bring her back.

As Sam agreed to try and eat, his eyes finally come to meet hers, she softly smiled up at him, a rare smile…only for him. The hug that came soon after was welcomed, and Anna didn’t bother with words. She just pressed her head against his chest, letting him take whatever comfort he needed from her, until they both turned to watch Duke as he left the RV and headed for the basement door.

“We should definitely keep tabs.” Anna agreed with Sam. She moved her legs out of Sam’s way, so he could untangle himself and climb off the hood. She then kept still as Sam pulled her from the hood and onto her feet, obviously refusing to be separated from her for more than a split moment. She wrapped her fingers around his and followed him as he walked over to Esme. Anna stepped a bit closer to the basement door, peering through the window as Duke stood outside the door, but when Duke stepped away and began to walk upstairs, Anna frowned.

“Hey, I’m going to um…I’m going to go grab some food and drinks for us, alright? We can have a picnic on the hood later.” Anna said awkwardly. She had a feeling there would be no picnic. She had a feeling things were about to boil over. She brought Sam’s hand up to her lips and she pressed a kiss to his knuckles, “I’ll be right back, okay?”

Cason

Cason had spent the three days attempting to take care of Nat. He had worked hard to keep her eating and drinking. He had convinced her to take a bath. He knew that the question of demonic deals was starting to rumble around the entire house. The couple of times that he had walked past Bobby’s desk, while Bobby was half a bottle deep in scotch, he read the Latin texts in the books Bobby was jotting down notes for. A lot of them had to do with demon deals, avoiding the actual payout by trapping and killing demons, something that Cason didn’t have the heart to explain the ramifications of. But if he had to, he would absolutely step in and be the bad guy in Bobby’s story…to protect him.

On the third day, he sat with Natalia on the couch, wrapping his arms around her tightly, to give her some hope of safety, while he could. When Nat spoke up, Cason was half worried she was having another wave of anguish, and he tightened his arms around her a bit, pressing his lips to the top of her head, but she was speaking with reason.

“I agree.” He replied simply, frowning at the thought of burning Mika’s body. But the alternative was somehow worse. She could be trapped somewhere as a spirit. Her body could be used at pretty much any time for demonic reasons, with or without warding. Luckily, she was in the panic room. So, they couldn’t get in. As Nat stood from the couch, Cason followed her gaze, his brain burning for a moment over whether to stop Duke from approaching Dean, but no…this bandaid needed to be ripped off and if anyone could convince Dean, it was someone that he valued, like Duke or Sam. Sam didn’t seem up for it. Duke would do.

When Nat came back to him, Cason wrapped his arms back around her, but he was preparing himself for Duke to explode. When Duke’s footsteps echoed in the hallway to the basement, Cason frowned, realizing that Duke actually didn’t mention anything to Dean and was likely coming in for some food or some drinks. He stayed still, just watching him, until Dean walked up not too far behind him. Cason tensed, and he held onto Nat a bit tighter, things were about to bubble to a head and he couldn’t let her get between them.

Duke

Duke stood by the door of the panic room as Dean spent his time with Mika’s body. The longer he stood there and listened to Dean make all kinds of promises, and professing his love to her, Duke grew angrier and angrier. A new wave of emotion overcame him, and he tilted his head back, whimpering as the feeling of her limp body in his arms washed over his brain. He pushed away from the wall, and drug his feet as he walked up the stairs, into the living room. They needed to burn her body. They needed to burn her body and get her put to rest, otherwise, Dean would do some stupid crap to bring her back. Or a demon would use her. Something…something bad was going to happen, if they didn’t burn her body. But judging by Dean’s tears, and the fact that Dean fully planned to lock her in that panic room…for God knows how long, the chances of her burning were basically nil. No one was going to buck up against Dean, at this moment.

Shortly after he stepped into the living room, he heard the door of the panic room close, and Dean’s footsteps followed, slowly walking up the stairs into the living room. Dean instantly wrapped his arms around Duke’s back, sniffling into the back of Duke’s head, before pressing a kiss to his hair. Duke’s fists clenched and he pushed down his emotions, “We-we need to burn her, Dean.”

“No.” Dean said simply, letting Duke go and pushing past him, to walk to the kitchen. Duke instantly followed after him, his anger boiling little by little the longer he watched Dean pretend that Mika wasn’t dead for good. No one could even mourn her, because of Dean’s inability to let her go. Duke stepped in front of Dean and Dean glared at him through teary eyes, “Let it go.”

“I’m not gonna let it go! We need to burn her body. We need to let her go! The only reason she’s layin’ down in that basement is because you can’t decide what stupid ass idea you’re gonna use to bring her back. She wouldn’t want that from you.” Duke tried to reason, but Dean growled and tried to take a step forward. Duke held strong, placing a hand on Dean’s chest. “You always gotta have it your way, don’t you? Don’t you?! You make decisions for other people and you use them up and throw them away as soon as they’re no good for you anymore. How many years did…”

“Watch it. Think of your next words very carefully, Jason…” Dean warned Duke, a lot of old feelings bubbling up to the surface, as they glared at each other. 

“How many years did that girl mourn you like the dead, while you were bedding down…playin’ house with Esme? You control everyone but yourself. You controlled me! You tried to turn Esme against me! And it worked! It worked, Dean! When you split, I got left out to dry, like always. I got left alone! I was the one who suffered! And now, once again…Mika is the one who suffers. All…for you!” Duke suddenly raised his voice and Dean nearly flinched at the anger he saw on Duke’s face. He never knew that Duke was so angry about how their little trio had separated, but thinking back on it, and Duke’s obvious feelings for Esme, he was right.

“You’re right. You’re right about us…me and you. But you’re wrong about Mika. Mika made her own choices! Mika was the one who stayed away from ME! She was the one who chose to leave, not me! Esme was the one who chose to leave! Not me! I don’t force anyone to do anything…it’s their choice.” Dean yelled back at Duke and Duke suddenly burst into tears, shaking his head with a frustrated growl.

“You didn’t give Sam a choice! You didn’t give me a choice! And now, you’re not going to give Mika a choice because you’re so damn scared to be alone, you would rather take away all their choices…so they don’t leave you. Because everyone…leaves you, Dean. You’re poison! You’re…” Duke screamed, but as he spoke, Dean suddenly tackled him, shoulder to sternum, landing on Duke on the living room floor. Dean straddled Duke, and squeezed his thighs, holding him in place. But as Dean raised his fist to punch Duke in the face, he stopped himself. “Do it! You’ve wanted to for a long time…since that day sittin’ right in there at that kitchen table. You’ve wanted this fight. So do it!”

“No.” Dean growled, sneering as he loosened his thighs and stood up from Duke. Duke instantly swept Dean’s legs from under him, and rolled to stand to his feet. 

“Get up! Get up right now!” Duke screamed, waving his hands. Anna stepped into the living room, from the kitchen, coming to ask Cason if he wanted her to make some food for Natalia. She knew Bobby had gone out to grab a few things…namely more alcohol for everyone, but as far as she knew, Nat hadn’t eaten much, like Sam. She skidded to a halt in the doorway, and Duke glanced up at her briefly, only for Dean to land a hard punch against Duke’s jaw.

“Sam?! Sam!” Anna screamed, running out the back door again, to fetch Sam and try to break up this fight. The way they were looking at each other, she was pretty sure a lot of tension was coming to a head, and they were going to kill each other.

Duke stumbled, but turned and punched Dean hard across the nose, grabbing his collar. He pulled Dean closer and hit him again, Dean’s knees buckling with the second punch, Duke being the only thing holding him up for a brief moment. Duke released Dean as soon as he knew he had his feet under him.

“You’re the worst thing that ever happened to Mika. I should have talked her out of taking your stupid ass back. She don’t deserve to get wrapped up in your…self servin’ mess.” Duke gasped, and Dean growled, tears and blood mixing on his face as he ran at Duke again, pinning him to the wall with his shoulder. The slam knocked the wind out of Duke and he began to cough, crying out as Dean rammed his shoulder into his sore stomach all over again, slamming his back against the edge of the stair railing. 

Dean pulled back, and threw a punch straight against Duke’s cheek, knocking him out for a second, as Duke slumped to the floor and fell onto his side, blood pooling under his mouth as he gasped for breath. 

“Of all people…to lecture me on being poison. You’re poison. You ruin every life you touch. You break people! You run away when things aren’t comfortable! You BROKE HER HEART ALL THOSE YEARS AGO! You broke my heart!” Dean screamed at Duke’s lifeless looking body, his screams coming out as sobs as the tears flooded his cheeks, dropping in small puddles on his shirt. “I LOVED YOU! I love you, man. But Mika…she’s everything. And you want to tell me to just…let her go? Stay down…”

Duke came around, coughing and spitting a small puddle of blood on the floor beneath him as he rocked up onto his hands and knees. He was dazed, but determined to get onto his feet. He began to stand, falling to his knees once. Before Duke could stand fully, Dean placed a foot on his back, and forced him back to the ground.

“STOP! Stay down! Just…just stay down.” Dean begged him. Turning to try and put some distance between them. He didn’t want to fight Duke, and it was obvious the fight was over. Duke was barely stirring.

As Dean shook his head, trying to take the ringing out of his ears, Duke suddenly wrapped his arms around his throat, and Duke swept his legs, using his body weight to drop Dean onto his face on the floor. They both lay there for a moment, groaning and exhausted. Dean rolled onto his back, taking some heaving breaths, as Duke crawled over to him, straddled his hips and pulled him up by his collar.
“You don’t love anyone…” Duke sobbed, drops of blood splattering against his hand from his face as he held Dean’s face close to his own and sneered at him. He suddenly head butted Dean, causing Dean to cry out, and his head to go limp as Duke pulled him back, almost nose to nose. “You never loved me. You never loved Mika. You’ve never loved anyone but yourself.”

“Duke…” Dean groaned as Duke sobbed, leaning his forehead against Dean’s to catch his breath. “You…You know that’s not true.”

“That’s your problem. You don’t believe you’re ever wrong when you hurt the people you came to love…” Duke sneered, and Dean reached both his hands up, silently begging Duke to stop. But Duke pushed Dean back a bit and landed a solid blow to his jaw, letting Dean’s head drop against the floor. 

Cason couldn’t stay where he was sitting anymore. He pushed Nat forward and he stood from the couch, walking over to the two, after simply letting them get the fight out of their systems. As it stood, now, Duke had a massive upper hand, and if Cason didn’t step in, Duke was going to make a mistake he would regret for the rest of his life.

“That’s enough. C’mon. That’s enough.” Cason called to him, reaching out to grab his arm as Duke fully planned to punch Dean again. Duke wrenched his arm away from Cason and he shoved him away, pointing a finger at him.

“I will kill you. Don’t touch me.”

“Okay. Alright buddy.” Cason held his hands up and then placed them on his hips, trying to decide how exactly to break up the fight. He really needed Sam. He needed someone large enough to wrangle Dean while Cason managed to pull Duke away. “I’m not gonna touch you, but is this really what you want? You’re gonna kill him. Esme’s gonna walk in on all of this.”

Before Cason could even finish his sentence, Dean punched Duke weakly, not giving in, as Cason tried his hardest to talk them down. Duke growled at the punch and shoved the back of Dean’s head against the floor, stunning him long enough for Duke to continue trying to catch his breath.

“He’s not ruinin’ lives anymore. If that means we call his buddy angel to come fix him up after I’m done with him, so be it.”

“And when the girls get in? What are you gonna do? What are they gonna think?” Cason asked him, as Dean began to struggle again, waking up from the hit to the head. Duke tightened his grip on Dean’s jacket and Cason reached a hand out, ready to stop him, hoping that someone…anyone would walk in and stop this, before he had to break one of their limbs.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Anya

Anya smiled back at Sam, happy to see him still smiling and still present with her, even though she could tell that there was a lot of very stressful tension in his shoulders. Some, she figured, would come out in the wash, after the hunt, and it was something she was preparing herself for. When he apologized for keeping her waiting, she shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, but she was more than excited that he agreed to go out with her and just…exist. No expectation, no tension, no looming death. Just them. She leaned up on her toes to close the gap as she saw him coming to peck her lips, kissing him back with a smile.

Then she nodded her head and pocketed her phone, offering her hand to Sam, before walking off to the kitchen.

At the location

Cason and Anna

“Anna, you gonna be good?” Cason asked as soon as his little group stepped out of Nat’s car. He was so used to the car by now that he rarely complained anymore. Not to mention, it would do no good, as Nat hated when he popped in and out with her. Something about stomach issues…

Anna rolled her eyes at Cason acting like her father, not even knowing that Nat had told him to stop, already. He didn’t seem to be hovering over her, but he was still, in his own way, hovering. She crossed her arms after grabbing her backpack and tilted to one leg, “I’m fine. You brought me here because I’m quiet, and fast, right? So, where do you want me?”

“I’ve already scouted out this place, and around that big tree down the trail, there’s a smaller trail to the right. I need you to go somewhere down there. When I summon this guy, we need all corners covered. And the place we need to be able to catch him…is down there.”

“That’s all you needed to say, Dad.” Anna grumbled, and she pulled her backpack onto her back, taking off in a quick and annoyed walk down the trail, to find her place, still able to see the others. Cason turned around to Nat and he shrugged his shoulders.

“I didn’t think I came across as a dad. Someone’s testy, today.” He sighed, before walking around to the trunk to wait for Nat to open it, so he could start the summoning spell. “You’re still wearing your ring, right? I don’t want you to leave my sight without it…”

Anya and Dean

Dean stepped out of the Impala, walking around to stand by the passenger door as the others began to unfold from the car and join him. He reached into his pocket, and pulled the whistle he had found in the armory. He wasn’t exactly sure why it was etched with sigils, but he could only assume it was some sort of weird weapon the men of letters had created for demons. In his eyes, no matter what it did, it would protect Anya out here. She would be pretty much alone. That much, he hated.

Anya walked over to him, splitting from Sam for a moment to ask Dean where he wanted her to go. He smiled as she approached him, being sweet as he could to her while she was probably terrified. Anya, however, was buzzing with excited nervousness as she approached him and quickly pressed play on a message she had already typed out.

“So, if I’m going to be on my own, is there anyone who’s going to watch me? Where do I go?”

“You are going to stay right by where the summoning takes place. All eyes will be on you, to some degree and Cason will be able to pop in and pop out at will. So, if all goes right, you won’t even have to fight.” Dean explained to her. “But you will be alone for a few minutes. If we can see you, the demon can see us. Sam’s not going to like it, but we don’t have much of a choice.”

Dean then unfolded the string of the bright silver whistle and he held it up in front of Anya, like some sort of diamond necklace he was presenting her as a gift. Anya’s eyes widened, and she looked up at Dean as if questioning the fact that he had actually tracked down a whistle for her. Dean nodded and he smirked, dropping it into the hand that Anya reached out.

“This way, if you get cornered, taken, or even if you just fall down a hill, we can find you. Keep it on your neck. Keep it in easy reach. We will find you, alright?” Dean asked of her, and Anya nodded. She put the whistle between her lips and gave it a quick blow, only to make Cason scream, echoing through the woods.

“What the hell was that?!” Cason called out, holding his ears. When he pulled his hand back from one of his ears, there was a small drip of blood on his palm, and Dean, who had glanced back to look at Cason huffed a ‘hmph!’.

“Well. Looks like it’s more than a whistle!” Dean beamed, and Cason groaned and shook his head. Of course it was a weapon against demons…and of course he would have to endure it. Dean turned his eyes back down to Anya’s and he placed a hand on her shoulder, making sure she was looking at his face. “Use it…”

Anya smiled brightly, dropping the whistle against her chest and then turned to Sam, running up and wrapping her arms around his waist. Cason was holding a bowl in his hand and a bag of supplies in the other as he waited for Anya to join him for the summoning, but Anya needed a couple of moments to just breathe Sam in. So, she pressed her cheek against his chest and held on tight, getting those last few moments with him before they were forced to part, with no guarantee of a positive outcome.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Duke

Duke didn’t move or say anything on the drive home. He simply leaned his head against the window of the truck and watched the trees go by. Luckily, his mind didn’t wander much. For the most part, it was blank, like a fuzzy static screen on a tv. As they pulled into the familiar lot, Duke glanced up at the old ‘Singer Salvage’ sign swinging above the entrance. He sighed, knowing that they were coming home without Mika. Bobby was going to be devastated. Most of all, Duke wasn’t entirely sure he could stay in the house. He wasn’t sure he wanted to. Having Mika back, where he could pick her brain and lean on her whenever he wanted to was like a dream and now? She was just gone. No phone to call. No hearing her tired voice on the other side when she needed him for support.

As the truck came to a stop, Duke didn’t move at first, but then he realized that Dean would be coming through with Mika’s body. Duke wasn’t even sure he could look at her, in that moment. He wasn’t sure he could look at anyone. He just wanted to be alone. He wanted to stew, and cry. He wanted to beat himself up on his own terms.

He reached for the door handle, forcing his heavy legs to swing over the side of the truck as he opened the door. He dropped heavily onto the gravel, and closed the door, just standing there for a moment. He zoned out and stared at the rocks below his feet and then turned back to the window of the truck, patting on it to tell Esme he was going ahead. With his head hung low, Duke staggered over to the RV and he opened the door, slowly walking up the steps and closing the door behind him.

Day 1

Duke didn’t leave the RV. He simply sat at his table, rolling over his options to bring Mika back in his mind. He wondered a few times if they should go ahead and burn her body, give some closure to the family and let her rest. But those thoughts were fleeting, as he continued his search for options.

Day 2

Duke exhausted every option he could think of. Aside from possibly contacting a crossroads demon, there was nothing to do. He drank half a bottle of whiskey, actually spoke to Esme a few times coherently, and stared out the window a lot, watching the sun rise and set across the lot.

Day 3

It was day 3 that Duke began to lose his ability to not confront Dean. Dean was keeping Mika’s body, because Dean believed he could bring her back. Dean was the one that was working behind everyones back. The thought caused Duke’s stomach to cramp painfully, that Dean would throw himself back into Hell in order to bring Mika back. As bad as Duke wanted to see her again, touch her again, and have her back home, that was the last thing that Mika would want.

“I have to talk to Dean…” Duke spoke suddenly after a long while of silence with Esme, as he lay in his bed. He was staring at the ceiling, as he tried to decide how to confront Dean in a way that wouldn’t end in a horrible outcome. But his emotions bubbled back up again. He didn’t want to fight Dean. He didn’t want to rip any hope away from Dean. But no one else was going to. “We-we can’t just leave her down there in the basement. We need to burn her body. We…we don’t know where she is, or what she’s going through. We have to.”

Duke swung his legs over the side of the bed and he grabbed a flannel from the back of the bench at the kitchen table, sliding it over his arms before starting on the buttons. It was the most active he had been in days, and honestly, his muscles were screaming about it, as were his joints. The numbness was gone and he could no longer lay still, or sit still.

“I don’t know if you wanna come with…but I gotta talk to him.” He said quickly, finishing the buttons on his flannel. He then climbed partially back onto the bed, pressing a kiss to Esme’s lips quickly, before stepping off the bed and into his boots, “I’ll be back, okay?”

Dean

Dean spoke to Mika in whispers the entire drive back to Bobby’s. He told her how much he loved her. He asked her to fight back to him. He promised her that she would have a body to come back to. He just repeated those things over and over again. As they pulled into the lot, Dean didn’t move, simply burying his face in Mika’s hair as Anna pulled the Impala to a stop and turned the engine off.

“Dean, do you need help getting inside?” Anna asked, looking over the seat at him. She did her best to avoid looking down at Mika in the process and Dean nodded his head.

“Can you get the door to the basement for me?”

“The basement?” Anna asked, confused as to why Dean would want her to let him into the basement. Sure, there was an outside door, but there was nothing in the basement he would want access to, with Mika’s body other than…the panic room.

“Yeah. Just help me with the door?” Dean croaked out, and even though every bone in Anna’s body wanted her to protest the idea of just…storing Mika’s body, she slowly nodded her head and opened her door. Dean opened his door and he kicked it open, scooting to the edge of the seat as he awkwardly scooped up Mika’s body, and scooted out of the car with her, standing to his feet with a groan. Anna quickly jogged over to the outdoor basement door, wanting to get back to Sam as quick as she could, since like Esme, she was the most lucid one of her little family dynamic. She was happy to find that the door was unlocked and she pulled it open, stepping in and walking over to the panic room door. She cranked the dial and opened the door for him, knowing that he was headed there before he ever asked. After he walked inside, Anna just left the door open, not staying behind to watch him. She ran back out the basement door, closing it behind her, and then over to the car to be as close to Sam when the dam finally broke as she possibly could.

Day 1

Dean didn’t move from the panic room. He sat by Mika’s body, talking to her, promising her everything short of the moon as he believed that at any moment, she would wake up and be just fine. He was in absolute denial.

Day 2

Dean came out of the panic room only to use the restroom and to grab the occasional beer. The rest of the time, he stared at Mika’s face until his eyes burned and his body ached. Any time…at any time she would wake up. Day 2 was also the day when Dean began to contemplate a deal. He wasn’t sure about the deal, but it was beginning to cross his mind, the longer she was dead.

Day 3

The idea of a deal crossed Deans mind more consistently. He already knew what he would say to the demon, and what he was willing to offer. Immediate payment, and Mika gets away…completely unharmed. He sat there with her, explaining his plans, while he discussed with the side of her face every reason he was making the decision. He wanted her to move on and he wanted her to live as simply as she could, away from hunting, away from the curses.

But Day 3 was also the day that Duke would break…

Anna

Anna was stuck to Sam’s hip for all three days. Late in the evening on the third day, she sat with him on the hood of the Impala, their legs tangled and her body impossibly close to his, as if one of them was going to disappear any second. She didn’t know if it was Sam or herself that was so attached, that was clinging to the other. All she knew was that she was fine with it. As long as he was close, they were both safe. They were safer together. She looked up at him, as he wasn’t looking at her, and brushed her fingertips across his hair, and over his ear with a soft sigh.

“How are you feeling today? Think you can eat?” She asked him sweetly, slipping her other hand into one of his, squeezing his fingers gently.

She frowned as Duke’s RV door opened and she heard his boots on the gravel, something she didn’t think she would hear for a while as he had been pretty much locked in the RV with or without Esme for days. Where was he headed?

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Duke

Duke barely even registered that Esme had dropped to her knees in front of him, as his ears roared with numb sadness. He didn’t fight her as she lowered his hands from in front of his face, and spoke to him. He didn’t want to be told that any of this would be okay, or that he was going to survive this, or anything. He didn’t want the outcome to be anything other than Mika coming back…

But as Esme’s hands came to his face, he tilted his head back just a bit and reluctantly looked into her eyes, his own simply pools of vacancy and tears as the shivers started in his body from the shock. As Esme tilted his head back toward her and she brought her forehead to his, Duke sighed as more tears erupted and spilled over his cheeks. He finally closed his eyes, just letting himself cry for a moment at her words. It was his fault. He would tell Mika to her face, if he could. If he had acted, grabbed that knife and cut that son of a bitch’s throat, she would still be alive, but he froze. He was too late.

As Esme’s lips pressed to his, Duke sniffled and he kissed her back, although he instantly felt guilty for that too. He didn’t deserve her grace or her love, in that moment. He deserved this pain. He deserved to suffer. But he opened his eyes and scanned over her face, his own tired and sad, like he was far away.

Duke hadn’t even thought about walking out of that room, until Esme mentioned it. It was like the floor was going to swallow him whole, and he would just be there forever. But at her words, he barely had the energy to nod his head, confirming that he was willing to leave with her. He didn’t move as she reached for his keys, but as she slipped his arm over her shoulder, he willed his legs underneath him and did his best to help her with his weight, standing with her. As Duke’s boots shuffled on the floor, he turned his eyes to his stomach and groaned as he and Esme walked out the door of the store room. He was covered in blood, so deeply that it was gluing his shirt to his stomach. It was Mika’s blood. The more that his body shifted, the more he was aware that it was drying, and she was actually…gone.

The stairs were the hardest, as he willed his heavy legs to guide him, and not to crush Esme under his weight, or cause her to fall down the stairs, hurting them both. He was thankful once that cold air hit them outside the door. He took a deep inhale, and to his dismay, his mind cleared a bit, crashing all the reality around him. He sobbed quietly, blocking out the sound of the truck door opening from his mind. But then Esme was guiding him to his truck seat and he climbed in, heavily falling onto the leather seat as the numbness began to bleed its way into his limbs again, and he leaned against the seat.

Once again, Duke almost lost that numbness as Esme’s hand came to rest on his thigh and she asked him not to bottle his emotions. If he didn’t bottle them up, in that moment, he would run off. He knew that much about himself. He would die if those emotions were let go. But he met her eyes, staring down at her over his nose as his face fell blank once again, and a tear fell down his cheek. He nodded, “I um…Okay. I love you. I do…”

And for what felt like the first time, he snarled his nose and then closed his eyes tightly, sobbing as he leaned forward, just needing to fall apart with Esme. He reached his own numb hands out and slid them through the hair on the sides of her head, touching his forehead to hers as he cried.

Anna and Dean

Anna kept her arms tightly around Sam’s waist as he apologized for whatever he thought he had done wrong, but as he saw Mika, Anna caught the name that he barely managed to get out of his mouth, and she furrowed her brow. Looking up at his face, she followed his eyes, turning her own eyes down to the floor with a gasp of shock, her eyes flooding with tears as they widened. Anna tightened her grip on Sam’s waist, feeling his hands shake against her, and she cried against his back, turning her eyes from Mika’s body. She couldn’t look at her, not like this. Mika was one of the people who took up for Anna the most, saw her as human, even if she took Dean’s side on a lot of issues. She had been kind and understanding. She had rooted for Anna and Sam.

She was good, and even in Anna’s anger, she couldn’t stand the thought of Dean losing Mika. The thought made her stomach feel sick, and she closed her eyes even tighter. She almost winced as Sam tightened his grip on her arms, his entire body rigid but still, as if he was having trouble processing what he was even seeing. She could feel the numbness in him as his heart rate evened out. As Dean stepped back into the room, Anna focused her attention on him, just watching him as he coldly took Mika from Duke, leaving the poor guy sitting there in a pool of blood…alone. As Dean walked toward the door, she could hear Sam’s voice rumbling in his back, even and measured. He was completely numb.

Anna didn’t even try to say anything to him, just unwrapping herself from his waist and taking his hand. She could feel his hand quivering against hers and she tightened her grip, which was answered by his fingers tightening around her hand. It almost hurt, but she would let him cling to her for dear life if that’s what he needed. He needed her…

As Sam pulled his phone and called Bobby, Anna’s stomach clenched painfully, and she whimpered quietly, knowing that there was no way that Bobby would take that phone call well. Mika was all Bobby had, as far as blood went. That much, Anna knew. She was his world, and now she was gone. Anna was honestly scared for him. She was scared he would fall apart, and fall into habits that could hurt him. Another person that would need to be cared for, during this. Sam releasing her hand brought her out of her thoughts and she frowned, but took the keys from him, staring up at his face. He was asking her to handle Dean. Despite the bad blood between her and Dean, Sam was silently asking her to push it aside, and help him. With a soft nod, Anna didn’t think twice. She walked over to the back seat, as Dean stood there, staring blankly across the dark lot, just holding Mika’s body against his chest as if she would disappear if he let her go.

“Let’s get her in the car.” Anna whispered, as she unlocked the back door and gestured for Dean to lay Mika down. “Dean, c’mon…”

Dean snapped out of his staring, just glancing down at Anna’s face with a blank stare and a solid jaw that she feared might break his teeth. She softened her eyes, and reached a hand out, brushing the backs of her fingers against his cheek.

“Let’s get her in the car so we can get her home.” Anna cooed to him, pushing the door behind him open a bit wider with her foot. She reached up and pushed his head down a bit, which to her relief, he allowed, ducking with Mika still in his arms. He carefully sat down in the seat, and moved her, with a bit of help from Anna to where Mika’s head was laying on his lap. “There. Let’s go home, Deano. Alright? I need to close the door. Move your leg.”

As Anna instructed him, Dean moved his leg into the car and he brushed his fingers through Mika’s hair, leaning his head against the leather seat with a sigh. She barely caught sight of his face breaking into a sob as she closed the door and stepped away, giving him space. She didn’t go back to Sam, simply walking around to the drivers side. She unlocked the door and then sat down behind the wheel, deciding that she would be the one to drive them back to the house.

Bobby and Cason

“We can’t think about that…” Cason said softly, as Nat voiced her worries out loud. He could understand that she was feeling a bit worried, just like hew as about the whole situation. There wasn’t really a good outcome to this situation. No matter which way the wind blew, someone was going to come out hurt. Cason felt a bit of a knot in his own stomach, and he was tempted to pop back in, and check on Mika for some reason. He couldn’t quite place that knot, but he wondered if it was a sign of something. Maybe it was just Natalia’s anxiety rubbing off on him. But that thought came crashing down, as Bobby answered the phone.

Cason reluctantly turned and stood from the couch, walking over to Bobby’s desk. He placed both his hands on the desk and watched Bobby as he spoke to Sam. What Cason had thought was just an update, or a call for help, quickly sank in as a call to let them know that things had gone horribly wrong. Someone hadn’t made it out alive.

As Bobby took in Sam’s shaky but emotionless voice, his eyes widened and he couldn’t speak. He had to have heard him wrong, and as Cason scanned Bobby’s face, it dawned on Cason that one of the girls was dead.

“Bobby?” Cason called out to him, as Bobby didn’t speak. He just stared off into space wide eyed, and slowly placed the phone back onto the receiver, his eyes pooling with tears as he froze. Cason leaned a little closer to Bobby’s face and he patted the old man’s cheek gently, “Bobby! Who was that? What’s the update?”

“S-Sam.” Bobby stuttered out, his eyes finally falling on Cason’s face, as Cason raised his eyebrows and he held his hands out to tell Bobby to explain. Bobby shook his head, and he tried his hardest to keep his emotions in check, Dean would need the support. Hell, all the kids would need his support. He shook his head slowly, “Mika’s…Mika didn’t um…”

“Oh no.” Cason sighed, realizing that after he had left Mika in the warehouse, she had died. He left her and she had died. He couldn’t even imagine what blame was being placed on the other side of that aisle, but Cason definitely felt guilty. He shook his head, as a bit of his human emotion became jumbled with the dark smoke that flooded his brain, flooding his eyes with black, “I was just with her! I was just with her. How did this happen?”

“I don’t…I don’t know. I don’t know but I need a minute. I need a minute to um…they’ll be bringing her back. Oh god Duke…” Bobby sobbed suddenly, gripping the edge of his desk as the full weight of what was happening hit him all of the sudden. Cason winced and he tapped his foot on the floor for a moment, before placing a hand gently on Bobby’s shoulder.

“Go. Get yourself together so we can…so we can help them with this. Let me see what I can do, alright? Go.” Cason ordered Bobby, as Bobby gathered himself enough to stand. Bobby snatched a bottle of scotch from the corner of the desk and he quickly ran toward the kitchen, slamming the kitchen door open as he stomped into the garage. Cason turned and quickly walked over to Natalia, wrapping both his arms around her to hopefully catch those overwhelming emotions he knew would wash over her like a wave. Mika was dead…

Mika…the other leader of the group, the mother, the voice of reason, the moderator and the closest thing to a parent that Nat had likely ever had. She was dead. Cason held her tightly, reaching a hand up to pull her head down to his shoulder, giving her all the space to cry and let her emotions out on him as he glared into the distance, tumbling options for helping over in his brain.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean and Cason

Dean smirked at Lexi’s simplicity, nodding his head. He was just about to tell her to go and grab her jacket so that they were all ready, when he heard the upper door open, and he glanced up toward the sound to see Anya and Natalia stepping back in. As Anna filed into the room, soon after, and Dean and Anya shared a small and simple conversation, Dean tapped his fingers on the table nervously. His shoulders tensed as Anya asked about Sam, but he didn’t say anything. He simply turned his eyes toward Natalia, practically begging everyone to just keep on task.

The look on Natalia’s face when she spotted Sam told him that it would be unlikely, but as she stepped over to Cason, pretending that she never caught a glimpse of their brother, Dean relaxed his shoulders a bit. He scoffed as Nat shoved Cason’s feet off the table, causing Cason to huff in annoyance, but then Cason seemed to melt as Nat sat on his lap, and he wrapped his arms around her.

“Sammy! Good of you to join the realm of the living!” Dean called out to his brother, standing from his seat. He pushed his chair back in and picked the bag of weapons he and Lexi had packed off the floor by a bookshelf. He then held up a hand, “I’m gonna go pack the car. Lexi, you can come if you want. The rest of you, get dressed, grab a snack and a drink and let’s get ready to get this done.”

He patted Sam’s chest on his way by, choosing not to discuss whatever had happened between Sam and Anna. They had to help Anya, and then it was up to Sam to bridge that gap with her, when the time came. For once, he would let Sam just deal with his mistakes on his own, and not play cleanup crew. He stood near the stairs, holding a hand out to invite Lexi to follow him with a smirk.

“Well, doesn’t this feel like old times?” Cason mused to Natalia, chuckling against the side of her face before he kissed her cheek. “You dressed and ready to go? I mean…you’re dressed, but are you comfortable? I’ll fill you in on everything on the way there.”

“I’ll ride with you guys. It’s…it’s her first hunt. Probably better if she has Sam along for the ride.” Anna chimed in awkwardly, shoving her hands into her pockets as she rocked forward on her feet. Cason leaned forward and he lowered his voice so that only Anna and Nat could hear him.

“It has nothing to do with the fact that you and Sam can’t be in the same room without…things happening?”

“We’re past it.” Anna shrugged turning her eyes away from Cason’s face.

“Past it? Like…thirty seconds past it, and you’re good. Wow. So, bringing you was the right move.” Cason muttered sarcastically, and Anna rolled her eyes, flipping him off before she walked over to join Dean. She would wait in the car, rather than be interrogated by Cason like a parent.

Anya

Anya raised her eyes from the table as Sam announced that he was in the room. She took in his appearance, and tilted her head a bit, but she chose to ignore the nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Surely, Anya’s idea for Sam to have a full conversation with Anna hadn’t led to anything he would regret. That just didn’t seem like Sam. Anya stepped over to him, and she flattened her hand out over his chest, straightening a deep wrinkle that prevented the buttons of his shirt from laying flat.

Once she reached the bottom of his flannel, she unrolled a bit of the fabric for him, doing it as casually as she could, to make sure he didn’t notice her suspicion and she gave his flannel a tug, before signing to him.

“You okay? Ready to go?” She asked him, turning her eyes up to meet his, finally. She gave him a sweet smile, before gently reaching back and pulling her phone, to make it easier for him, “Cason found where we’re going. We were just waiting for you, and now you’re here. So, let’s go find the demon, gig it, and we can get back here in time to take one of those cars out there down to the fields and watch the very nerdy and very impressive meteor shower that I don’t think Sam Winchester would miss, on purpose.”

Anya used their mutual nerdiness to try and relax some of his tension, showing him that she was still right there in his hands, if he wanted to spend time with her. But first, they needed to kill this demon. She turned the phone to him, letting him read the message and then smiled sweetly over the top of the phone, raising her eyebrows in a way that said ‘please?’

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Cason

Cason glanced up at Nat as she asked if his plan was working. He thought about it for a moment with his lips pursed and then he tilted his head to the side, considering his answer before nodding, “I think so, yeah. I gotta let it sit for a bit, if nothing goes wrong. If something goes wrong, hopefully someone will have the brains to go outside and call…”

He scooted a bit closer to Nat and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, just needing to feel her close to him for a moment. He still felt a bit…guilty? For leaving her behind, and for not giving her much of a choice or any agency, which wasn’t like him with her. Or at least, it hadn’t been when he had first met her. Maybe things were too deep now, for him to keep himself from practically tying her down, and he needed to find a way to deal with it, other than physically keeping her out of hunting. She would go insane.

“You haven’t been going insane while I’ve been gone, have you?” He asked gently, reaching his hand up to brush his thumb across her cheek. He thought for a moment, and then he sighed and shook his head, “Until I find a way to keep you tethered to me in some way, I just can’t have you running around near Angels. They’re unpredictable and ruthless…real similar to demons. The one in the trench coat? I think he may be coming to our side, which scares me almost more than when he was against us…”

Dean, Duke and Castiel

Dean took another heavy blow to the face, then another and a few more, before he finally dropped to the ground, flat on his cheek with a groan. He wheezed, spitting a mouth full of blood, before defiantly picking his head up from the floor, just in time to see Mika blast the side of Alastair’s head with a crowbar. Reaching out to Mika, Dean was startled, when the arms that came around his torso weren’t hers. They were Duke’s.

“I got ya bub. I got ya. C’mon. We gotta go…” Duke started, before Mika stabbed Alastair and for a moment, Duke thought that she had killed him. His heart hammered with excitement, but seeing Alastair pull the knife from his shoulder and toss it aside like it was nothing caused Duke’s heart to sink. He sat Dean back down and slowly stood from the floor, his body low and ready to pounce if something went down. The wind flew out of his lungs as Alastair actually punched Mika, but she got him back, and Duke continued to step forward toward the demons back.

Castiel showed up next to Dean, wrapping an arm around Dean’s waist to hoist him to his feet. As Cas began to turn and walk out of the room with Dean, Dean peered up from his swollen eyes and in tandem with Duke, he cried out, his voice soft and hoarse but Duke’s echoing in the room, “Mika! No!”

“No, no, no, no, no. You son of a bitch!” Duke screamed, realizing that Mika wasn’t just chained to the pole, she was gravely injured, judging by the blood trail that was left as she was raised up the pillar. As Alastair turned to him, glaring down at him, Duke felt his throat tighten and he brought both his hands up, clutching at his chin as Alastair choked him. Just as he began to see stars, Sam barreled through the door and he slammed Alastair against the wall. Duke fell to his knees, but he quickly scrambled to his feet, coughing to try and catch his breath.

“Mika! I’m not leaving. Get off of me! Mika!” Dean cried out, trying to wrench himself from Castiel’s arms as his heart shattered in his chest. The longer he was away from Mika, the more he could feel her slipping away from him, until he couldn’t feel her in the room at all. His struggling in Castiel’s arms began to slow as his body went cold and numb, and he fell to his knees, Castiel simply leaning with him, until they were both on the ground.

“Dean, there’s nothing you can do. We need to go.” Castiel said simply.

“No! I won’t leave without her! I won’t!” Dean cried out, his face almost touching the floor until he heard Sam torturing Alastair, in what felt like an entirely different universe. He raised his head, watching his brother use his powers like they were second nature to him, and the ease in which Sam wrenched information out of Alastair drew the pit in Dean’s stomach even further down toward his feet. He was going to lose Sam and Mika, all in one night. But suddenly, Sam caused Alastair to spark and die, the simplicity of it shocking Dean’s heart and causing his ears to ring as he stared at Sam with wide eyes, struggling to breathe. “Sammy. Mika…”

Duke dragged his feet as he pulled his lip between his teeth, stifling a deep sob that broke from his throat as he approached Mika, where she hanged. He reached his shaky hands up, running his fingers along the chains as Mika’s blood rolled down the pillar, soaking into the front of his shirt as he stepped closer. He finally found one of the ends of the chain, and pushed it through another part, the chain falling loose, but still holding her body up a bit. Duke reached up, bracing her limp body by her armpit for a moment while he freed the rest of the chain, and her body fell forward onto his chest. With a strangled whimper, he stumbled back, and then leaned forward, falling with her onto the floor.

“Please, babygirl. Please. C’mon.” Duke’s shaky voice called out to her, as if there was a chance she would come back to him. He rolled her slightly, pressing his hand to her back, where he pulled it back, covered in enough blood that he closed his eyes tightly, tilting his head back with a soft sob. This wasn’t right and it wasn’t fair. Of all people, Mika deserved it probably the least. Duke placed his bloody hand on the back of Mika’s head and he brought her forehead up to touch his, his tears falling over her cheeks as he broke. It felt as if he had lost half of his soul. Someone had reached into his chest, ripped his soul in half and pulled it out, crushing it. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I was supposed to protect you…I always did. Please…”

Duke felt warmth against the side of his head, and a heavy weight pressing against his side as Dean crawled over to him, and leaned in. Duke didn’t budge, just tilting his face against Dean’s as they both cried, feeling every ounce of the other’s emotions, all at once. Duke knew that Dean had lost the one person on this planet that held him together. She was his constant and his peace. Without her, Duke couldn’t imagine the road that Dean might go down.

“Dean.” Castiel called out to them, and Dean didn’t budge, until Duke placed a hand on the back of Dean’s neck, squeezing gently. “Dean you have internal bleeding. I need to heal you.”

“No. Not until you bring her back.”

“I can’t.” Castiel muttered sadly, and he shook his head, standing above Dean and Duke.

“Why not?!” Dean cried out, causing Duke to flinch, but Castiel was unmoved as he reached down and grabbed Dean’s arm, disappearing with him. He reappeared outside the door with Dean, and leaned Dean back against the door, pressing his palm to Dean’s forehead. Dean’s wounds healed immediately, and he took a deep breath, glaring at Castiel. “Why can’t you bring her back?!”

“It’s complicated. Bridging the gap between life and death his hard enough, when it’s required of us. We can’t just interfere…especially not with Mika, and the nature of her death.”

“You mean to tell me that she died…” Dean started to question Castiel, but he couldn’t even finish the sentence as the absence of pain caused his stomach to cramp painfully, and he turned back to the door, pulling it open. He stepped into the room, his eyes falling instantly on Duke, cradling Mika in his arms, rocking with her as he cried. Dean rolled his shoulders for a moment, and then he stepped forward, reluctantly squatting on the floor in front of Duke. He didn’t speak to him, shoving an arm under Mika’s back, smearing his skin with her blood, and then he pushed his other hand under her knees, standing with a groan from the floor, and pulling Mika away from Duke. Duke didn’t move much, staying on his knees as he watched Dean silently press a kiss to Mika’s forehead, and then he walked out of the room with her.

Duke turned his face back to look at the floor in front of him, his entire body numb and shaking as a few random tears fell down his cheeks. He wasn’t even sure he was alive, outside of the heavy thud of his heart pounding in his ears. In that moment, he wanted to sink into the ground, or wrangle up some demon to make a deal that Mika would hate him for, for the rest of her life. He wanted to kill every demon that existed on the planet, and at the same time, he wanted to go with her. It was short sighted, and he would leave plenty of anguish and mourning in his wake, but it would be better than this feeling.

His own death flashed in his mind a few times, thinking that this must have been how Esme felt when he died. It didn’t feel fair. It didn’t feel real. At the same time, he was feeling everything at once, and he knew…he didn’t want to live without Mika, not after all these years. As he brought his hands up in front of his pale face, he just stared at them blankly, barely blinking. This wasn’t real…

Anna

Anna’s head snapped up as she heard Esme’s voice, her heart hammering in her chest with excitement. Esme had come for her! Which meant that someone was likely with her, which meant that maybe they were getting out unscathed, and no one was going to die. She looked up toward the window of the room and rattled her chains, before swallowing heavily at Esme’s question.

“Yeah! He hasn’t hurt me yet. I’m just stuck here!” Anna called back to Esme. Anna’s foot tapped nervously against the pipe it was chained to as it seemed to be taking Esme a while to get through the door. Of course the door was reinforced and heavy. Uriel would never trust Anna not to find a way to break free from her handcuffs while high on demon blood, and if she could break free of the handcuffs, some flimsy door wasn’t going to hold her back.

But Anna’s eyes went wide as the doorknob was melted from the door, and the door swung open. She stared at the door for a moment, as Esme ran to her, and her eyes caught up, turning to look at Esme. She wanted to ask her how the hell she had managed to melt a steel doorknob, but she didn’t have it in her to ask. She just wanted to be released from the chains.

“Y-you look good too. I’m assuming Duke is with you?” Anna asked, but she couldn’t carry on her questioning, which was eventually going to land on the subject of Sam. Esme crumbled the handcuffs and chains with some sort of power that Anna could have never dreamed that she had. In shock, Anna scanned Esme’s eyes, watching the bright light fade from them with wide eyes. She nodded nervously at Esme’s question, and she scooted back against the wall, sliding her body up onto her feet without touching Esme’s hands.

She nodded quickly once again at the instructions Esme gave, but before she stepped off to hurry downstairs, Anna shuddered and she couldn’t help but ask, “Esme…are you…are you a witch?”

She didn’t expect an answer, and shook her head, closing her eyes tightly with her brow furrowed, “You know what? Don’t answer that. Let’s go help the others.”

Anna stepped off finally from her place against the wall, and she jogged out the door, looking around the warehouse for any sign of a stairwell. Luckily, the lights were brightly shining down on the only stairwell in the hall, and Anna scoffed at their luck, running toward them, keeping at a pace to keep Esme close. She rounded the top of the staircase, quickly running down the stairs, almost taking two at a time as she only thought of one thing…to get to Sam before he got himself killed.

As she reached the boiler room, she could hear the chaos taking place in the other room, and she ran toward the door. As soon as she reached the door, she could hear Sam screaming at Alastair, and her heart dropped to her feet. Alastair would kill him. He would kill him and in the most brutal and creative way possible. But her eyes…landed on Dean.

“DEAN!” She cried out, as she pulled the door open and sprinted toward him, reaching back and grabbing Esme’s hand. No matter what, they needed to stay together. The questions could come later on. As she approached Dean, she looked up, just as Sam killed Alastair and the wind was knocked out of her lungs. Everything around her went silent, and Anna watched Alastair’s body slump over, dead. She couldn’t tell if the ringing in her ears, and sudden slow motion of the entire room was relief, or if she was afraid of Sam, in that moment. Sam had killed Alastair with his powers, snuffed him like it was nothing. Anna willed her heavy legs forward, as Sam panted. She crashed into his back, her eyes wide and her breathing ragged and terrified as she wrapped her arms around his waist, holding onto him for dear life. If she could have cleared her mind enough, the sight not far from his feet would have broken her, but she could see and hear nothing else other than Sam’s shirt against her cheek, his hot skin radiating against hers as she listened to his heart hammering.

“He’s dead. It’s over. He’s dead.” She breathed, panting as her heartbeat synced with Sam’s and she closed her eyes tightly.

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean - A bit later

Dean sat at the table in the war room, waiting for Cason to arrive so they could pack up and roll out, hopefully. He fidgeted with the pages of the book he was combing through, when Cason randomly appeared in the chair across from him. Dean instinctively reached his arm out across Lexi’s chest next to him, but he relaxed quickly as he realized it was Cason.

“Jesus Christ, Cason…” Dean sighed, and Cason smiled widely propping both his feet up on the edge of the table, his arms behind his head. Dean raised his eyebrows and held his hands out, “Well?”

“Yeah. I know where he is. I know who he is. He’s tricky, smart, quick but he’s also kind of an idiot. If we can get to him, and overwhelm him, we should be able to kill him pretty quick. You got angel blades?”

“Yeah. We have plenty. Let’s go.” Dean called out, glancing up at the small window above the stairs. It was now getting dark, and Anya and Natalia should be back any minute, which meant they could roll out and get all of this over with. Cason shook his head and held up a hand, “What?”

“Where are Sam and Anna?”

Dean winced, and he turned his eyes down to the table for a moment, before looking back up at Cason with a sheepish shrug of his shoulders, “You brought her here. They are…catching up, if the sounds coming from her room were any hint. They’ve been back there a while. I’m not going to get them.”

“Alright, then let them get it out of their systems. When they come back, we’ll pack up and leave. I’m most definitely not going out there without your other half. We need the experience with this guy, and Anna’s quiet probably wouldn’t hurt anything either. She’s sneaky and she won’t leave anyone behind…including her ex’s girlfriend or whatever she is.” Cason sighed, waving his hand around. He pulled the knife from his boot and began twirling it around his fingers as Dean sat back in his chair and turned to Lexi.

“So, you prepared for a late night hunt? You need to change or anything?” He asked her with a smirk, as they waited for the others to get back into the main room.

Anna

Anna lay there on her bed, staring at the familiar ceiling as she brushed her hand through Sam’s hair, just taking in all of the familiar emotions around her. It was tempting to just stay like this with him, forever, familiar and loving. There was something so simple about it. As her fingers combed through his sweaty hair, a painful pit of knowing began to creep back into her stomach. She knew that their time together was coming to an end, and probably for the last time. She rolled over, gliding a hand over his bare chest and up his jaw with a sigh, before propping herself up to look down at his face.

“So...the girl down there. You’re close to her, aren’t you?” She asked earnestly, with no malice or judgement in her voice as she twirled a strand of his hair around her finger, just lovingly scanning his eyes. She could see the answer, the longer she stared at those hopeful hazel eyes that she missed so much. And there was her closure. She would never stop missing him. She would never not mourn what they had. But Sam was an inch from beginning again, which is all he had wanted for her. She understood that, now. There was a chance they would always fall together. They were destined to. But Sam’s emotions were torn, and she could see the hope in his eyes, just with that little question, “Then we should help her.”

Anna brushed her fingertips over his eyebrow, down to his jaw, and she gently leaned down, pressing a loving and deep kiss to his lips. As she pulled away from the kiss, she nuzzled Sam’s nose and then carefully pulled away from him, sitting on the edge of the bed. She reached down and grabbed her clothes, beginning to redress with her back to him, “I love you, you know that, right?”

She glanced over her shoulder at him, and then pulled her shirt on, standing to button her jeans and shove her feet back into her boots, standing full dressed with her arms crossed, “And I’m a phone call away. Even if it’s awkward. Even if we say things we shouldn’t…I would like to know that you’re okay.”

Anya

As the sun began to sink down over the hill beside them, Anya buried all three knives she had been holding into the side of the tree, none of them bouncing, for once. She stood up straight and puffed out her chest, turning to Nat with a proud look on her face. She couldn’t believe how quick she learned things, and honestly? It was a relief. If she was going to get into hunting, she was going to have to learn quickly, so she didn’t put herself or anyone else at risk.

She pulled her phone, glancing up at the sky before typing, “We should probably go check and see if the others have found anything. I also really want a drink.”

With a small giggle, Anya pressed play and then walked over to the three, grabbing the handles of each individual knife, pulling them from the wood with a bit of effort. She turned back to Nat and walked the knives over, handing them to her. After a few moments of helping Nat pack up, Anya walked back toward the bunker garage with her, feeling a lot more confident and a little tired and thirsty. She couldn’t wait to tell Sam how much safer she would be on the hunt. She knew he still wouldn’t want her out there any more than he had already seemed to protest, but at least she knew what she was doing.

Anya pulled the garage door open, and she entered the bunker, coming out onto the landing above the others. Dean glanced up and he smirked, holding out his hand to quietly ask her how things went.

“I’m okay.” She signed back to him, and he tapped his fingers on the table with excitement before signing back a ‘Good’ that he had learned from eavesdropping on her conversations with Sam, while she was teaching him. Anya slowly descended the stairs, just as Anna rounded the corner from the corridors, flattening her hair and pushing it behind her ears awkwardly. Dean said nothing to her, just let her pass him as Anya watched her, wondering if she was okay.

Dean shrugged his shoulders when Anya made eye contact with him, letting her silently know that he had no clue where Anna had been. But Cason turned to her and signed, “You ready to go, soon?”

“Tonight?” She asked him back and he nodded. “Okay. Sure! Where’s Sam?”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean was almost hoping that Lexi would have the same optimism that Anya did about how this hunt was going to go down, but as she walked over to him and explained that she felt the same way his internal gut feeling was telling him to feel, Dean sighed. Anya was either going to have her heart broken, or maybe…just maybe she knew that there was no way to really get her way with this. Sure, getting her voice would be more convenient for her, but she managed, and it wasn’t worth losing her life over.

“Yeah, I have to agree…” Dean sighed again, glancing down at Lexi with a sad nod. He turned, needing a bit of contact as he admitted a bit of defeat, “We have to go into this with the mindset of getting her out of the deal, not finishing it. The demon dies, and Anya comes out of it and rides off into the sunset with my brother, like nothing ever happened. If she comes out without a voice? We make it work…”

He reached his hand out and cradled Lexi’s face, reaching for that touch that he craved when the pit in his stomach was growing. He couldn’t pinpoint if it was nervousness, hopelessness, or a mix of many emotions, but holding her face in his hand made the feeling calm, just a bit.

“And this is normally where I would start barking orders, but the only order I’m going to give you is to be careful…” His voice raised at the end, as if he was more asking her to take care of herself, than ordering her to. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead, “We’ve lost enough. And we’ve lost a lot to dumb, in and out cases that weren’t supposed to be able to go south…and yet they did. This can’t be one of those hunts.”

Anna

As Sam paused, Anna furrowed her brow, realizing that for the first time, Sam was having second thoughts about sleeping with her. Every time they had met up, Sam had been the one that seemed to fall into HER arms. It was as if he was trying to make up for lost time, or right his wrongs, make it up to her in some way. This time, however, he hesitated. Anna sighed, realizing that he may put a stop to things, but as she conceded to stopping and asking him to leave the room, he leaned in and kissed her again, this time deeper.

Melting into the kiss, Anna released his hand and she brought that hand up to his chest, pushing him back as she took a step between his legs and walked them back toward the bed. Before his legs reached the edge of the mattress, she pulled back from the kiss and she brought her hand up, tangling her fingers in his longer hair as gently as ever. She trailed the hand down, brushing her fingers over his lips with a soft smile.

“It’s okay Sammy…” She whispered, before leaning back in and covering his lips in a deep and familiar kiss, sealing her fate and likely making a decision that would throw her into months of missing him, regret, and a hollow chest. But for tonight? It was worth it.

Anya

Anya was super proud of herself when Natalia smirked at her choice of places to stab an enemy. Anya stayed still as Nat praised her, nodding a thankful nod as she couldn’t sign or type with her hands full. As Nat began to demonstrate how an enemy might disarm her, Anya watched her hands, seeing the knife fall to the ground, before her eyes turned down to Nat’s leg. The flip was a bit quick, but Anya could feel every movement in her muscles as she landed onto her back and the handle of Nat’s knife came down to her chest, like she was stabbing her with it.

With a breathless chuckle, Anya nodded and absentmindedly signed, “There’s always hope.”, forgetting for a moment that Nat didn’t know ASL like her boyfriend. She reached her hand out and took Nat’s, standing from the ground and shaking her shoulders out. She pulled her phone from her pocket, and typed.

“That seems simple enough. It’s all leverage and timing. Luckily, I was a dancer when I was younger.” As she pressed play, she giggled silently, and then typed another message, “So, if I get separated from the group, at least I would be able to use this to hopefully buy myself some time. I assume demons aren’t as easy to kill as humans. Buying time is better than dying.”

Anya pressed play on the second message with a shrug and pouty eyes, in her mind playing it smarter rather than harder. She was going to be out in the open with four seasoned hunters and a demon that was on their side. Surely, she wouldn’t be on her own for long. Although, she did remember something that had happened to her dad, before he disappeared and she decided to share it with Nat, giving her a heads up.

“My dad was lured out by the demon at one point. The demon pretended to have my voice and it called out to him. Because it was using nicknames and dad had never heard it, he assumed it was me. It’s crafty. So, I don’t know what other tricks it would have up its sleeve…”

"From out of Nowhere" - SPN

Dean

Dean smiled a bit brighter when Lexi mused at the idea of killing a demon. He wanted to see it. He wanted her to get that high, of being able to stop what they had thought their entire lives were unstoppable. But he still had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, letting her hunt with them at all. He knew that part of it was trauma from losing Mika…twice. He had lost Anna…twice. He had watched everyone he had ever loved die in some horrific way, and the fear of dragging new people that he was attached to into his business scared the hell out of him, hunter or not.

As she stepped away from him, Dean grabbed a few more of the angel blades from their rack and pulled a duffel bag, tossing it on the counter. He shoved the angel blades inside, and then thought about something that Cason had said. The demon could have never given Anya her voice, even if it wanted to. She was basically born without it. It wasn’t some sort of deal that caused it, as far as they knew, which meant that the demons, outside of the crossroads, couldn’t interfere. Only angels and crossroads demons had that kind of juice.

Her voice brought him out of his thoughts and he glanced up, pointing to the shelf that held literally hundreds of gallons of holy water, a dispenser on the bottle at the top. That was Sam’s idea, “Yeah. We kinda keep it on tap. I don’t know why we never thought about it before we had the bunker, but it comes in handy. We can grab some bottles and flasks and at least make sure everyone has plenty with them.”

With a smile, Dean pointed toward the older clay bottles above the water, “And that is Holy Oil. Good for trapping angels. Like I said, we’ve learned a lot…gathered a lot. It’s why we win.”, he said with pride, opening a drawer in front of him. He pulled a few empty metal flasks and then dipped back in for some salt canisters, placing them into the duffel. Cason’s words were still bugging him, and he decided to bring them up, since it was only himself and Lexi in the room.

“Cason mentioned something about demons not having the juice to give Anya her voice back. We don’t think that she believes it’s going to happen when we get there, do we? I mean, from the way she talked, she’s never had a voice. It’s not something she made a deal with…” Dean explained his concerns, hoping that they weren’t going to bring Anya out of this broken and disappointed.

Anna

Anna almost scoffed at Sam’s apology, expecting it to remain so simple, two words that she had wanted to hear since the day he left. But now? The words felt hollow. They felt useless. There was just too much hurt for her to accept an apology from him, but she needed it. Once again, her emotions were tearing her mind apart, and she growled softly, covering her eyes with both hands as she stood in front of him, just trying to process. But as he continued, Anna thought back to how he looked while he was undergoing the trials. A tug of sympathy hit her chest, rumbling up in a bit of anger, as if he was attacking her for being upset…playing on her emotions.

But he was right. During the trials, he was so sick he was seeing things, at times. She was there…the whole time, until he left her. She could still see, in slow motion, his body collapse in front of her when his fever got to the point that it took him out. If Dean hadn’t showed up and helped her drag him into that bathtub of ice, he would have died…visions or no visions.

She nodded absentmindedly, and dropped her hands from her face, staring off toward the foot of the bed with a whispered, “I know…”

As Sam stood from the bed, Anna took a step back and she held out her hand, as if she was fighting him off from touching her. But like always, when he said the words ‘look at me’, she turned her sad blue eyes up to his and she let out a soft sob. She could still see parts of his smile behind his eyes, even though they were full of tears. She could still hear him talking, back when his voice was softer and less broken. The memories just made it harder to look at him, as he began to ramble through all of the ways she could hurt him back, get some sort of revenge.

She shook her head softly. She didn’t want any of those things. She didn’t want any more hurt. She wanted to come home. But was this home, anymore? It felt like home. It smelled like home. Dean’s cheap beer reminded her…of home. She glanced down from his eyes as he picked up her hand and let out a small huff of sad amusement at how perfectly their fingers seemed to intertwine, even after all the time apart. Their heartbeats synced immediately, and Anna shook her head again.

“I don’t know that there’s anything that can make it better.” She whimpered honestly, stepping closer to Sam as she looked up into his eyes. She took a deep breath, and brought her other hand up to place it against his chest, just feeling his identical heartbeat thumping beneath her fingers, “M-maybe one day we can. I can come back, and things can just…work themselves out. A different world…”

After a moment of just letting the proposition linger, Anna stood on her tiptoes and she pressed a feather light kiss against Sam’s lips, falling into the old habits, like clockwork. In a different world, this would be as natural as breathing. For the moment? Falling back into each other’s arms would have to be closure enough…

Anya

Anya was rather happy with the way her conversation with Natalia was going. Nat seemed an open book with those that she trusted, and she seemed to be gaining a bit of Nat’s trust with every bit of conversation. When Nat moved the conversation forward, Anya shrugged at the correction of her assumptions, and she took the knife from Nat, holding it tight in her hand. She simply held it, pointing it at nothing for a moment.

Nat’s explanation on how to hold the knife properly caused Anya to raise her eyebrows, and she adjusted her hand around the knife, mimicking what Nat was teaching. She already felt more confident, just holding a knife properly in a way that would allow her to stab any demon or human that came at her. She almost wished she had learned this earlier, well before meeting the Winchesters.

As Nat offered for Anya to come at her, Anya shook her head at first. She didn’t want to risk hurting Nat, but at the same time, she had to assume that Nat was at least just as fast as her brothers. From what she had gathered from Dean, he was very confident around knives…and guns…and all of it. So, she squared her shoulders with a small nod, changing her mind.

She turned toward Nat, and glanced over Nat’s chest and torso, thinking about her first move. She decided to aim for the center of her chest and she lunged forward, stopping the knife just before it could poke Nat’s shirt or make any contact with her skin. Surely, the path to the heart was right through the center of the chest.

All Roads Lead To You

Dean

Dean caught Esme’s movements from the corner of his eye, as she brought her hand to her chest, fully buying into the mystery and ‘role-play’ quality of both of them wearing masks. A girl after his own heart. The purr of her voice as she spoke sent a bit of a spark down Dean’s spine and he clenched his jaw, tilting his head to the side at her words, especially when she leaned in and he felt her lips against his ears as she spoke. He shuddered, another jolt of electricity shooting down his spine.

Raising his eyebrows, heat building around his collar a bit as she mentioned her ‘boyfriend’, playing into the fantasy of the night even more. In that moment, Dean was tempted to whisk her away, forgetting about the job they were there to do. The way she looked, the sound of her voice, the heat of her touch, it was all coming together to unravel him to his core and honestly? He was falling apart internally at the mental images that rumbled around in his brain.

“See, I’m half tempted to walk you up those stairs, find a nice quiet room and wreck all that pretty makeup…” Dean spoke low, a small smirk on his lips as his lips brushed against her cheek. He then pulled back, just enough to brush his nose against her cheek, and then to look her in they eyes as he kept himself close, “But I’m here on business. After I finish with my business? Oh yeah…screw your husband.”

Dean’s lips curled into a seductive smile, and he brought his lips close enough to brush against hers as he finished his sentence, the urge to kiss her right there in the stairwell making his arms feel like lead, “Wait for me at the bar? I’ll make you forget all about him in no time…”

Duke

Duke spun the lady around, as she began to get to her point, and she leaned in close to his ear, tugging at his earlobe with her teeth, before whispering, “It’s in tender office upstairs. The double doors at the end of the hall. You know what else is there?”

Duke smiled, brushing his hands up her sides gently, until he reached the side of her neck, tilting her head to the side to place little kisses from her ear down to her collar bone.

“A giant…leather…couch, just for us.” She purred, practically melted in his hands. Duke chuckled, and he tilted her head back to look her in the eyes, raising his eyebrows.

“How ‘bout this…” He cooed, cradling her jaw. He brushed his thumb across her lips, smearing a bit of her bright red lipstick as he did so, “I’m gonna go get pictures of it for my boss, and then? I’ll come back and get you, and we will go find my driver. Ever joined the mile high club? Private jet?”

The woman shuddered and she shook her head submissively. So Duke flashed her a wide smile.

“Alright. Then you go get you a drink, and we’ll see about fixin’ that problem.” Duke cooed to her once again, pinching the tip of her chin, before he quickly unwrapped himself from her and began weaving his way back through the crowd. His neck and cheek were covered in red lipstick, but he had the info, and Dean would hopefully be happy with that. If it was that easy to get to the women in the mansion, Duke might eek out a good night, after all. Stepping back up to Dean and Esme, he paused, letting Dean finish…whatever it was they were doing. Then he cleared his throat and stepped closer to them.

“The necklace is upstairs in the big office. Double doors, end of the hallway.” Duke announced proudly, absentmindedly placing a hand on Esme’s lower back as Dean pulled his face back from hers, but stayed close to her. Duke and Dean shared a glance over her shoulder and then Dean turned his eyes back to Esme’s.

“Wait for me? I’ll be back in no time.” Dean started, but Duke tilted his head and sighed uncomfortably.

“Man, I think it’s gonna take both of us, at least at first. I need to get us in, and then you can work your magic.”

“And why exactly do ‘you’ need to get us in?” Dean asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Because I’m the one who’s taking home the owner’s ex wife.” Duke beamed, tipping his hat at Dean, who’s eyes widened, before he and Duke laughed like teenagers. Dean shrugged his shoulders and he turned his eyes down to Esme.

“Alright. Will you be okay? Grab a drink. We’ll be back and then it’s fun for the rest of the night. Promise.” Dean asked her, his green eyes screaming from the dark color of his mask as he scanned her eyes. He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Duke pressed a tight kiss to the side of Esme’s cheek, and he jogged up the stairs, getting to work before Dean could ever step away.