Wolvena

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Esme

Esme signed heavily after things calmed down, though she was still on edge about everything. She knew what she was about to tell everyone was going to stir everyone up again. With guidance from Duke, Esme followed Dean and Mika into the room. Once inside, she found a place near Duke by the door with enough space to accommodate Sarah without the others realizing she was there, Cason being an exception. With Esme in her spot, Sarah approached and sat down, leaning lightly against Esme to comfort her. When Cason addressed her, asking her what she knew, she felt like she was under a spotlight, and her every move was being watched by all those in the room. Esme shifted on her feet, leaning into Sarah more, then stuck her thumbs into the front pockets of her jeans to keep herself from picking at her fingers or clenching her fists too hard.

Esme thought about where she should start, concluding that starting from the beginning would be the best; even if it did take a little longer to get to the main thing they needed to know, it would give some context. Closing her eyes briefly and taking a deep breath, everything soon spilled from her lips. “By now, I'm sure you've all realized I'm…. Different…. So I'm hoping it won't hit too hard when I tell you how I got the information.” she started somewhat confidently. “This all started this morning after Duke and I had a little tiff. He left to clear his head and get some air. While out, Bobby contacted him and gave him an address to a farm in Western Missouri. Apparently, this farm is crawling with demon activity and has ties with Anna.” she told the group, looking at Anna briefly when she said her name.

Esme continued even though she knew Anna would have questions about what she had just said. Usually, she would have said more so Anna wasn’t left in the dark, but she wanted to quickly get through what she had to say. After Duke returned and we straightened things out between us, he told me about the call from Bobby and then showed me the paper with the address written on it.” Esme paused, only long enough to breathe in, and slowly let it out before continuing. This was the big news of what she had to say, and she was still hesitant even though they needed to hear this. “When I touched the paper, I saw the future.” she said quickly. “What I saw was very broken. I don’t know when or what time of day this will happen or if any of the images are connected in any way….”

“I saw what looked like the inside of an old barn; the only light source was a lamp hanging from the rafters. Next, I saw you, Dean.” she said, looking at him. “You were standing next to a table with an assortment of tools that would be used to torture demons; you looked extremely pissed off. You were talking to someone, but I couldn’t see them or make out what was being said; they were just out of my sight. The last image I saw was of you again, Dean.” Esme closed her eyes tight, that image returning to her and sending a shiver down her spine. Opening her eyes, she looked at the floor. “You were lying on the floor, and you looked like you had the hell beaten out of you, and you were barely breathing. I wish I knew what led up to that, but I don’t.”

Esme fell silent after finally getting everything out in the open, lifting her gaze to a wall at the back of the room, waiting for everyone to process what she had just told them. If they asked her for more details about what she saw, she couldn’t give it to them. Esme had told them everything she had seen after touching the paper. Stepping back to the wall behind her, she leaned against it to keep herself from bolting from the room, Sarah moving with her. She was beginning to regret requesting to have everyone confined to one room now, fearing Sarah wouldn’t be enough to keep her from being overwhelmed by everyone’s emotions that would soon fill the room.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Esme

Esme’s gaze went from Dean to Sam as he came up behind Dean and spoke, followed by Mika chiming in. Their words caused her eyes to widen slightly. That would explain why he was so frantic; she couldn’t blame him either. “That explains a lot.” she said mostly to herself as Duke slid himself in front of her protectively. His movements caused her to step back, then look up at him with slightly knitted eyebrows that said, “Really?” when he told her to stay with Sarah. She wanted to tell him she could handle it but knew it wouldn’t do any good, so she stayed quiet. Her attention returned to Dean, who was still beating on Natalia’s door, and then turned to answer her question. His answer, nearly the same as Sam’s, caused her to raise an eyebrow. Being out in the open was no place to yell you were going to kill someone.

As Dean stepped back from the door, Esme was about to say something, and the door opened to reveal Natalia behind it. Looking around Duke, she quietly listened to what Natalia told Dean, then smirked at her comment when she noticed everyone else there. As soon as Dean opened his mouth, Esme looked over at him. Not only could she see his confusion and hear it in his voice, but she could feel it, even with Sarah next to her. As soon as Cason confirmed Anna was alright, Esme felt the frustration that took over Dean. She watched his actions as he realized he had been mistaken, apparently a sore spot for him. She guessed that was something she never fully picked up on when they were hunting together and wasn’t sure how she missed it, especially with how he was acting now about being wrong about Anna.

When Dean questioned the three about what they were talking about, and Duke stepped in, Esme winced slightly at his glare at Duke. Dean then turned to her and questioned her; she could clearly hear the annoyance in his tone and felt attacked, which she didn’t care for. “That’s none of your business either, Dean!” Esme snapped at Dean, glaring at him, barely catching Mika’s words to him. Sam’s voice pulled her attention away from Dean, and she nodded. “We do, but I’d rather not discuss it out here in the open.” she told Sam in a slightly softer tone after he finished talking to the others. Esme could have just blurted out everything right there but felt somewhat uncomfortable doing so. She didn’t know if someone passing by them would hear and get suspicious or how the others would react to the news. So she thought it best to be in one of the rooms out of earshot of those staying at the motel before she and Duke released their bomb.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Esme

It felt like a minor accomplishment after climbing into Duke’s lap and getting a surprised chuckle from him before he wrapped his arms around her. Other than surprising the hell out of him after telling him what she was capable of doing, Esme found it hard to surprise him. In the past, she knew she surprised him a couple of times when he realized what lengths she was willing to go to during a case to keep everyone alive and get it done and how much of a beating she could take before finally collapsing. So when a little action like climbing onto his lap surprised him, Esme couldn’t help but feel like she had accomplished something. When Duke gave into her kiss and returned it while pulling her close, she slid her arms around his neck and smiled behind their kiss.

Two and a half hours later

As Esme lay next to Duke, with her head on his shoulder and a hand on his chest, she drew her own circles on his chest to keep his mind at ease as her gaze was fixated on the curtains that covered the windows. At his nuzzle, she took a silent breath, feeling that having the conversation with the others was returning to him. She nuzzled him back and cuddled a little closer. That talk was also on her mind, it was slowly creeping in to disrupt their moment of rest. She did her best to push it from her mind and continued to stare at the curtains, watching the dim colors of the sunset peeking through them. But just as she started to feel completely relaxed again, she saw the headlights of a car flash through the curtains, followed by the sound of a car pulling in.

After the door slammed, she unknowingly held her breath as she listened. At the two separate knocks, she involuntarily flinched and released the breath she was holding as Duke groaned. “So it would seem.” she answered his grumble with a sigh, starting to feel uneasy. Esme felt the same way Duke did, but every time she thought about leaving, something pulled her back in, or something would happen to make her stay like getting kidnapped. The longer she lay there, the more uneasy she became. It wasn’t what she felt coming from Duke, but from what she felt coming from the rooms on either side of them. Duke’s voice breaking the silence almost caused her to flinch. She sighed heavily before answering him. “The sooner we tell them, the better…. But…. It seems those two came back with a lot more than they left with, judging by what I feel coming from the rooms.”

Esme could feel her chest tightening up and just wanted to pull the blankets over her head and hide herself away a little while longer. She knew telling them about her glimpse into the future was going to make things all the more difficult for the group to get through, and be paranoid about everything till that day came. Sighing heavily through her nose, she kissed Duke’s cheek and reluctantly sat up in the bed with a hand on her chest. “We should definitely warn them we’re coming instead of just going over. I think it would be safer that way.” she said, trying to hide the discomfort from her voice. “I’ll leave that to you while I put myself together mentally and physically.” Esme then pulled herself out of the bed to get herself ready for the big talk. Running over how she should tell them over and over in her mind.

After getting dressed, Esme went and sat on the edge of the bed, gritting her teeth, and looked over at Sarah, who was curled up in a corner of the room. “Sarah?” she called over to the Hellhound. Sarah’s head popped up before she took to her paws then walked over to Esme and sat next to her, putting her head on Esme’s lap. Closing her eyes, Esme placed one hand on the hound's head, the other on the hound's neck. “I'm going to need your help too during this.” she whispered. “Emotions are extremely high in both of those rooms. I know I’m going to struggle to keep my own in check being in a room with all of them. It’s highly likely I’ll lose control…. I need you to stick close without making yourself known to the others….. Could you do that for me?” Sarah lifted her head and nuzzled Esme’s cheek softly.

Esme had her answer. Smiling softly, she hugged Sarah for a moment, then opened her eyes as she let her go. She was already feeling better having Sarah so close to her; the pain and tightness in her chest had settled, and she felt like she could breathe again. Standing from the bed, with a hand resting on Sarah, she looked over at Duke to ask him something, but the frantic knocking on the door and Dean yelling for Nat caused her to jump. She knew that tone. “This can’t be good.” she said, her tone holding worry. Esme almost ran to the door, then pulled it open and stepped out with Sarah at her side. “What’s going on!” she asked Dean.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Esme

Before Duke wrapped his arms around Esme and ran his fingertips along her spine, she had gotten caught up in the emotions she felt radiating from him. The more she let herself take them in, the more transparent they became, causing her to inwardly sigh and push down the fear of losing him. She wouldn’t let herself think about that, even though she knew it was a possibility. The thought of losing him was just too much for her to think about right now. She also knew that he knew that even though Duke would do anything to keep her alive, she would do the same for him. When Duke acknowledged her embrace and muttered a response, she was pulled away from that horrible thought. A small smile came to her lips, and she softly nodded to his comment about Dean. She knew that to be a cold, hard fact.

As he lifted his head from her chest, the urge to hold him tighter was strong. When he wrapped his fingers around the back of her neck, pulled her close, and smiled brightly, Esme smiled back, seeing the message he was trying to convey. It did her heart good in that moment to know that everything was good between them, that they were on the same page, and that they were going into this together. It put her mind at ease, knowing nothing conflicting was between them as they dove head-first into what loomed ahead. Esme rested her forehead against his to tell him she got his message loud and clear. When he asked his teasing question with that signature bright smile still on his lips, she softly laughed, then lifted her head just enough to see his face with a thoughtful look. “Hmm, I’m afraid I don’t either.” Esme teased back.

She shifted so she could get her legs out from under herself, then slid herself over to sit across his lap. Placing a gentle hand on his cheek, Esme brought his face closer so their noses touched. “But I’m sure we can put our heads together and figure something out.” She honestly didn’t care what they did for the next few hours. She’d be perfectly content just staying in his lap, holding each other, or even laying in bed wrapped up in each other’s embrace. Smiling more, she softly brushed her nose against his before kissing him passionately.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Esme

Esme watched Duke’s face and body after she had asked her question. She knew she was asking a lot of him, which would be hard for him. When he sighed through his nose and his shoulders tensed, this half worried her about what he might say, but when Duke smirked at her teasing, a small smile came to her lips. It relieved her slightly that she could get a smirk from him with the high tension between them. As he answered her question, her smile grew a little more. Duke’s willingness to try was all she could ask for from him. She wasn’t about to try and change the way he was; she just wanted him to try and put more thought into his actions. “That’s all I ask.” she replied as he flashed his smile. Then, she gave the softest laugh when he had a comeback from her teasing. “That so? I find that a little hard to believe.” The thought of him being more scared of her fists than demons was funny. As unlikely as it was, Esme could picture Duke cowering in front of her while she was trying to kick his ass for something he’d done.

At his touch, Esme briefly closed her eyes, then looked up into Duke’s eyes. The lightness of his touch told her so much about what he was feeling, probably more than he wanted her to know, and she could mirror wanting to be comforted. She fought the urge to crawl onto his lap, wrap herself around him, and hold him close to her to comfort him; how he bit his lip kept her from doing it. She could feel Duke was hiding something from her. She hoped he’d tell her when he was ready. What Duke said next caused Esme to give partly into her urge. Getting on her knees, she inched closer, wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him in as close as possible, cradling his head against her chest. “I hear you, bright eyes. I wouldn’t expect it to be any other way.” she said softly. She kissed the top of his head, then rested her head on his. That's how it was when it was the three of them; why would it be any different now? “As for when to break the news to the others…. Whenever we can peacefully have them in one room together.”

She honestly didn’t want to think about telling the others now or what was coming. She just wanted to comfort Duke, ease the tension between them, and spend a little more time together before things got chaotic. Was that too much to ask for? Did that make her sound selfish? Maybe, but she didn’t care because of what she knew was coming. She hardly ever asked much of anyone unless it was essential. She also put everyone before herself and would feel guilty about something small for herself. But this, she didn’t just want it; she desperately needed it. She also wanted things right between them before everything got chaotic.

(wolvena/furiephoenix) Daughter's of Darkness (Supernatural rp)

Arabella nodded to Harper’s response to using her knife to make the rip bigger. She knew going forward without widening the tear that removing the shard would be more painful and cause more problems later. As annoying as it was, it would have to be done. From the corner of her eye, Bella watched Harper retrieve her knife from her jacket and carefully make the rip broader and longer before setting the pocket knife down. Then she saw the signs of Harper preparing to remove the shard and heard her warning, but Harper quickly pulled out the shard before she could even inhale to hold her breath. “Son of a Banshee!” Bella hissed through gritted teeth. She then took in a sharp breath through her nose as her wound was splashed with alcohol. Bella hardly felt it when Harper began to stitch her up. The shards removal was much worse than the stitches, which was slightly funny to her. As Harper talked through her stitching, Bella nodded, glad that this part of the night was nearly over. “You do nice work. I guess I should consider myself lucky it wasn’t any worse.” she said with a light laugh and smile.

Once Harper had finished with her injury and got off the bed, Bella carefully sat up on the bed and pulled her arm out of the sleeve of her jacket as she stood up. After adjusting her shirt, she looked at Harper as she spoke and gave a light laugh, feeling she could relate relatively well to her. “I have to say I’m pretty thankful myself. With what we went through tonight, I’m pretty confident we wouldn’t have come out looking very pretty if we had gone it alone. And don’t even get me started on being on a case with male hunters and having it turn chaotic. It’s a wonder I came out of them in one piece.” She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her lips as a couple of those cases came to mind. As chaotic as those cases were, she was still glad she hadn’t gone alone. Garth and the hunter that came with him had proven to be a big help. However, she thought she may have unnerved the men by choosing her bo staff as her weapon, her fighting style resembling dance-fighting, and how she seemed to enjoy the fighting. Which was half true.

Pulling herself from the memory, Arabella focused her attention back on Harper. Even though the two of them had just met, she felt that they worked well together, which was a rarity for her when it came to meeting someone new. It was a bit disappointing thinking about them parting ways in the morning. Sighing inwardly, brushed the thought from her mind. “So, what’s your plan for the rest of the night? Order in and turn in, or go out and blow off some steam?” she asked Harper.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Esme

Esme finally pulled her eyes away from the wall as Duke started to talk, only to break off. She scanned his face as he searched for his words and tensed up a bit at his shaky breath. She took in his words as she stepped back towards the bed and sat on the edge of it, her eyes never left his face as she sat down. She sadly shook her head at his questions, she couldn't make out any of that. “Sadly, no.” she told him, her hands balled into tight fists on her lap. She wished she had more to go on but what she saw was so broken it was even hard for her to make out what she did. When she tried to look back on what flashed before her eyes, it didn’t make anything any clearer and it gave her a massive headache. When Duke frowned and shook his head, Esme prepared herself for some heavy news. What he said caused her to grit her teeth and clench her fists, causing her nails to dig into the palms of her hands. This caused Sarah to move over to Esme and lay her head in her lap.

When Esme didn’t react to her presence, Sarah moved her head on top of Esme’s hands and gave a small whine. Esme could only look down at Sarah, feeling that her body was frozen in place. Closing her eyes she tried to process Duke’s words that were still echoing in her mind. She just looked into the future, which added more to the strange things she could do. She was an Empath, which let her feel and alter the emotions of those around her, she could burn demons with just a touch or them touching her, she could disintegrate demons with an energy blast, and now she could see the future. What in the hell did that make her? Could she even still call herself a human? She was starting to feel more like one of the monsters they hunted daily. She knew if she ever lost control, she could easily kill someone and that scared the hell out of her, it was always on her mind. Then a scene played out before her closed eyes, she was backed into a corner and the silhouettes of the group loomed over her, guns drawn, and their emotions were through the roof.

With a lot of effort, Esme pulled herself back to reality before the conclusion of her vision could play out. Sighing heavily through her nose, she forced her hands to relax, then pulled her right hand out from under Sarah’s head and placed it on top of her head, giving it a small scratch. Opening her eyes she looked up and over at Duke. “So now I can add seeing the future to the growing list of what I can do. Which gives us both something else to worry about when it comes to my abilities.” she sighed heavily. “I can only pray that this will be the first and last time this ever happens but knowing how bad my luck can be, it won’t be. But I’m with you on figuring out how to handle this and how touching that paper triggered it…..” She trailed off thinking about what they could tell the others and how to explain they knew what was coming. She couldn’t lie to herself and say that she was hesitant to even bring it up to them even though they needed to know what was coming. She knew that no matter how hesitant she was.

“Do you think they can handle this news with everything they already have on their plates?” she asked. As she looked at Duke, she finally saw it, he was going into protective little brother mode and she knew what that meant. She had seen it before and knew what the result would and could be depending on how things went. Esme knew that Duke would die for Dean to live. Gently moving Sarah’s head from her lap, Esme took to her feet and walked over to Duke, taking him by the arms and pulling him over to the bed, she forced him to sit down. Sitting next to him, she turned to face him, then gently took his hands into her own. “Duke…. I can tell you’ve gone into protective little brother mode after what I’ve just told you. I know I can’t stop you from doing whatever you can or have to to keep Dean safe and alive. I won’t stop you, you know I’ll do the same…. All I ask of you is a promise. Can you promise me that you won’t go in half-cocked and think before you go charging into whatever we find ourselves in…. Please?"

“I don’t wanna have to kick your ass for being reckless.” she added to lighten some of the tension in the room. Esme didn’t want it to sound like she was begging him to promise her but she knew just how reckless he could be when it came to Dean’s wellbeing. She had seen him become the same way with her in the past. She just wanted him to have his head on straight when he faced whatever was in store for them, even if he did end up laying down his life for Dean, which was something Esme didn’t want to think about. She didn’t want to see anyone from the group die from this.

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Esme

Esme hated seeing the disappointed look on Duke’s face, but she wasn’t fully turning down his idea, just asking him to wait until they made sure everyone was going to get through this. She’d never forgive herself if something happened after they left and they could have helped prevent it. When Duke swept her hair from her face and said they couldn’t leave, she let out a silent sigh of relief as her grip on his shirt loosened. She knew that deep down within himself, he couldn’t just leave those he called friends and family to deal with this without feeling horrible about it. When he looked at the wall behind her, she studied his face. It was one she knew well. He was searching his thoughts or trying to think of what to say. When Duke looked back at her, she almost held her breath as he spoke. She took in his words, feeling that this was what she felt as the pit in her stomach seemed to worsen. With his words still going through her mind, she watched him as he pulled out the piece of paper from his pocket, and just barely heard what he said next.

Pulling herself together, she looked back at him with a small smile and nodded. “Yes, I would say that’s taking care of each other.” Her tone was soft, but showed she meant what she said. She was glad to have him at her side to help her help them through this, even if she wasn't sure just how much help she would be. She felt like her empathy got in the way of a lot of things. It made certain situations extremely complicated and nearly impossible to get through remaining conscious. Since coming into contact with Hellhounds and learning that they block her empathy, she has wondered if there was a way to put some of their essence into a wearable item that would function in the same way as being near them. If that was at all possible, it would become one of her most prized possessions. But the more she thought about it, the more of a dream she thought it was becoming, but what a wonderful dream it would be to have come true after all these years of dealing with all the emotions she felt from others around her and struggling to keep control of them.

As Duke held out the paper, and the address became visible, the pit in her stomach grew into queasiness. Esme slowly brought her right hand up from his side to take it from him, briefly hesitating before she took hold of it. The moment her fingers came into contact with the paper, Esme let out a gasp and her body went rigid. Her eyes remained glued to the paper as a series of images flashed through her mind, resembling a skipping movie with crucial scenes omitted. The images went by so quickly; she had some trouble making some of them out. What she could make out was the inside of what looked like a barn, a pissed-off Dean talking to someone she couldn’t see, and an assortment of items in front of him that could aid in the working over of a demon. The last thing she saw before finding herself back in the room was a badly beaten Dean. Esme took a deep breath, dropped the paper, and then grabbed onto Duke to keep herself from collapsing onto the floor, her body trembling from the experience. “What in hell was that?” she asked in a breathless and shaky voice.

“Did I just see what could or will happen?” she softly mumbled. The change in Esme had brought Sarah out of her corner to come and check on Esme. Slowly stepping towards Esme, Sarah gave a small whine and nudged the back of her leg after Esme had brought a hand to her head. With her hand on her head, Esme closed her eyes to keep her head from spinning. “I’ll be alright, Sarah.” she said in as soothing a tone as she could. As she stood there, still holding onto Duke for support, she tried her best to decipher what she had just seen from grabbing the paper and what about it made those images appear to her. After a moment, she sighed heavily through her nose and shook her head. “Please tell me another ability didn’t just show itself.” she mumbled. “I don’t know how many more of those I can handle. I feel like my mind was just violated.” It took a few minutes, but Esme finally collected herself enough to stand firmly on her own two feet. She couldn't bring herself to look up and see the worried look she knew would be on Duke’s face.

She looked at the wall across from them just to have something to look at while she explained to Duke what had just happened. “You’re going to think I’m crazy when I tell you what just happened….” she started. She paused for a brief moment to gather her words to make them sound as believable as she possibly could. “When…. When I touched that paper, I was hit with what I can only describe as scenes from a movie with parts missing. The first thing I saw looked like the inside of a barn. It skipped to Dean standing in front of a table with an assortment of items you could use to torture a demon with, and he was talking to someone just out of view. He was definitely pissed off and seemed to be fighting to keep from losing control of himself…. The last thing I saw was…. Dean. He was badly beaten and bloody and looked as if he was just barely holding on to life.” She shivered as that image of Dean showed itself to her again, that was a state she never wanted to see him in. “I hardly know what to make of it.”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Esme

As soon as Duke’s arms went around Esme, her eyes closed and a small smile came to her lips at how tightly he held her. She hadn’t realized just how much she had missed these tight hugs from him. She was also well aware of how overwhelmed he felt from her words, knowing most didn’t have much faith in him when it came to taking care of someone or something. But she did have that faith in him and wanted to show him that and possibly give him some of the confidence he lacked when it came to caring for another. And then, as if he had read her mind, he softly voiced what she had just been thinking about. It caused her smile to fade and her hands tighten into fists at what Bobby had said to him on so many occasions. Esme opened her mouth to say something in response but quickly closed it as she felt something in him change as if something was fighting to leave his lips. What he said and his suddenly quickened heartbeat hit her like a truck, causing her eyes to fly open and question if she had really heard him right.

She hadn’t expected him to bring that up so soon after just getting back. Yes, she knew that he didn’t want to get tangled up with the Winchesters again and wanted to go back to what he was used to, but it still surprised her that he wanted to leave so quickly. She wasn’t even sure she was ready for that physically right now. Before she could fully process his words, Duke squeezed her tighter for a few seconds, then pulled back from her and held her by her upper arms, speaking again. As he spoke, she looked into his sad and teary eyes with her own, her hands rested on his sides. After a few moments, Esme opened her mouth to answer but she couldn’t get the words to leave her lips. After softly clearing her throat, she tried once again. “I would love nothing more than to run off with you into the sunset, Duke. To just get back to our normal and leave all this angel stuff as far behind us as we can get it.” she said softly. “I’d be overjoyed to never deal or ever think of them again for as long as I live….”

“But I’m not sure just how much safer we’d be considering all the demons that seem to be after me after learning I’m more than I seem…. I’m a magnet for them, they always seem to know where to find me. I feel like I’m marked.” She fell silent and dropped her gaze with a heavy sigh, she had always thought about looking to see if there was something that would hide her from demons but something always prevented her from following through with it. She sighed again and slowly lifted her gaze back to his, knowing he probably wasn’t going to like what she had to say next. “I’m not sure how soon you wanted to leave, but something tells me now isn’t the time for us to leave. No matter how much we both feel that we aren’t any good to them…. I’m sure this isn’t what you want to hear but I can’t shake this feeling in the pit of my stomach that something big is coming and they’re going to need all the help they can get. It’s one thing that has kept me here for so long even though I know Mika wants me gone.”

Esme closed her eyes and sighed heavily, letting her head drop and her hair cover her face. As she stood there, her hand gripped his wet shirt, squeezing some of the water from it. “This feeling is much like the ones I would get when it was just the three of us and if you remember, something always seemed to come out of them. This one is so strong I can’t ignore it.” she said just above a whisper. Opening her eyes, she slowly lifted her gaze back up to met his once again. “Do you think you can stick around a little while longer until whatever it is comes to pass?”

Supernatural - Hell On The Horizon

Esme

Esme continued to stand next to the bed, unmoving as she looked at Duke and listened to him talk. Seeing him in this state tore at her emotionally, and it was all she could do to hold herself back from going to him before he could finish what he had to say. So she held her hands across her stomach to keep herself from reaching for him. His words pulled at her heartstrings, causing to hold back the tears that threatened to show themselves. She couldn’t deny that she was happy to hear that he wasn’t sure he could run this time. She didn’t want to lose anyone else, especially after just getting them back not that long ago. As he explained that he wasn’t a team player, obsessed over her silently for years, almost gets killed when he picks up a knife, doesn't sleep, and barely eats. Then called himself a mess, Esme’s gaze went to Duke’s boots. It was nothing she didn’t already know about him. He was the same way all those years ago and she hadn’t expected that to change about him. At his shaky breath, she looked back up at him and sighed very softly.

He looked like a child standing in front of her, a very nervous child. One that looked like he was about to be rejected even after spilling all their truths. Esme was about to step up to him but stopped when he cleared his throat and spoke once more. A light smile tugged at the corner of her lips as his words reached her ears. He wanted to take care of her and learn how to stop running. But she couldn’t help but think, could she really be the one to help him learn to stop running? She had been running for years, and she was still fighting the urge to run at times. Thinking of this caused her light smile to fade and she could feel old suppressed emotions bubbling to the surface. Kicking herself mentally, she pushed back the emotions and focused on Duke. Sniffling, then taking a deep breath, she pulled her headphones from around her neck and tossed them on the bed before slowly walking up to Duke. Slowly lifting her right hand, she gently placed it on his cheek and lifted his face just enough so that she could see his face under his hat.

“My poor sweet Cowboy.” Esme spoke softly, rubbing her thumb against his cheek. “You really think I wouldn’t let you back in?.... I just got you back and I’m not ready to lose you again. Plus, you haven’t told me anything I didn’t already know.” Standing up on her tiptoes and pushing his hat up a bit, she placed a gentle kiss on the bridge of his nose then on his left cheek. “You have taken care of me, more than you realize but I understand you feel you need to do more after what you’ve learned about me. I’m still the same woman you met all those years ago, just with a little more baggage then I had then.” she told him with a small smile. “And instead of just you taking care of me, how about we take care of each other?” Esme then let her hand slip from his cheek and wrapped both her arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace as she rested her head against his chest. “When it comes to figuring out how to stop running, that’s going to be something we’ll have to figure out together.” she added, hugged him tighter.

Even though Duke was soaked, and now she was getting soaked and having cold water drip on her from his hat from hugging him. She didn’t care. She just nuzzled more into him. Not only did she need this, she knew he needed this, to show him that she wanted him there and that they could work out their problems together. Esme wanted him to know that she forgave him without having to come right out and saying it to him. She also hoped that this strong embrace would get him back to his normally bright-eyed self without her having to use her powers of Empathy to ease him. It wasn’t something she liked to do on those she cared for if she didn’t have to. At that moment she was fighting to keep herself from giving in to Duke’s strong emotions. She knew that if she were to give into them, it would be some time before she could regain control of herself.