Chapter 14

A/N: This is pretty much a part B to Chapter 13 and is dedicated to my fellow Winchester Sisters, Ellen and Amber who share my love of this show and are bad-asses in real life too. To the readers, thanks for staying with me. Enjoy!

"There was another team… Ellen almost got into a confrontation with the brother…..We didn't have a choice. We had to abort….."

Tina waited with bated breath for Lydia's verdict. She knew how high the stakes were for this mission, and her ramblings were nothing more than an attempt to mitigate whatever punishment she'd copped for being involved in this debacle. Surprisingly, though her glare was so penetrating that Tina could practically feel it piercing her brain, Lydia just dismissed her with a wave of her hand. She'd already gotten a detailed report from the head of the operation, Natalie. Her lieutenant had had the wherewithal to call her from the road, and so most of her anger had already diminished by the time Tina had come grovelling. In truth, Lydia had only given today's attempt a thirty percent chance of working. They'd been watching the Winchesters for a while now and this was the first time that Emma had left the Bunker. There was no telling when they would get another chance, and so they'd had to adapt their original plans on the fly.

Since developing an awareness of her daughter's re-existence, Lydia had become understandably obsessed not only with finding her, but with making the Winchesters pay. When Sam had killed Charlene, and it'd become obvious that Emma had failed, the tribe had made the rare decision to go on the run.

The Amazons were a race of fierce women. Several millennia of their survival had been predicated on the ideals of discipline, strength and pride. Their mission throughout the ages, and even in these modern times, had always been to sustain their way of life through the production and training of each subsequent generation of warriors. There was nothing else- they were nothing else. Their daughters were taught these principles from birth, the whole tribe contributing to their education via physical and mental rituals designed to turn them into soldiers who'd put the good of the whole above all else. There was no place for human delusions like maternal nurturing and love in their world, and there never would be. Emma's catastrophic mission five years ago had left a stain on Lydia's reputation leading to a demotion of her status amongst her fellow Amazons. Training their young might have been a community task, but failure was the individual's cross to bear. It had taken a very long time for her to regain her place among the ranks, having to do innumerable demeaning, physically punishing tasks set by their leader Camilla; a sort of re-education to remind her what it meant to be an Amazon. It had been immensely humbling, painful and…..deserved. She'd deserved every minute of her penance and now, she was all the better for it. She would never be that weak again.

When they'd crossed paths with a group of hunters in Arizona two years ago, the ensuing fight had decimated them and Camilla had been killed. The incident had brought them low, in number and in spirit. Only eight of them remained and Lydia had assumed the leadership of their broken group. They'd gone into hiding since, not even venturing out to find men to help repopulate the tribe. Lydia had found herself desperate to do anything to bring them back to their former glory and this odd sensation…no, gut feeling that her daughter was somehow alive, was the perfect rallying point, the perfect call to arms for her sisters. Revenge against the Winchesters, would be the icing on the cake.

Finding the brothers had actually been much easier than she'd expected. The tribe had come to Kansas and liaised with some of Charlene's contacts in the F.B.I. Office in Kansas City. They managed to trawl through six months' worth of traffic cam footage looking for 1960s Chevrolet Impalas. It had taken five days to narrow the search down to a few counties, and another day or two to find them in Lebanon. They'd been staking out the Bunker ever since, the plan to find a way in while the Winchesters were out on a job. Once Emma was safe, all bets were off. Things hadn't gone to plan though because thus far, the Bunker had proven to be an impenetrable fortress.

As soon as the surveillance team had spotted Emma this morning, Lydia had given Natalie the go ahead. She and the other members, Ellen, Tina and Amber, had followed the Impala to Wamego, hatching an impromptu plan to grab the girl while avoiding any direct confrontation with the Winchesters if possible. There was no point in tipping them off if they didn't have a clear shot at Emma and more importantly, they couldn't let her get hurt in any subsequent crossfire. The problem was that the Winchesters hadn't let the girl out of their sight for even a minute and the whole expedition was turning into a colossal bust.

Having taken a tactical position at the top of the Old Dutch Windmill, Natalie was running point on the mission. She'd been watching the brothers and Emma traipsing around the Park for the last few hours, becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress. Ellen and Amber were on the ground, following the trio at a distance, trying to blend in. When their subjects had moved towards the kiddie train station, Natalie could feel that their luck was changing. The ride around the track was a rather short one, but it was routed through a copse of trees on the west side of the park. From what she'd seen, the parents always waited back at the Station so it was possible that Emma could be hidden and Winchester-free for a few minutes. Natalie ordered her soldiers to fall back to those trees beyond the library to await her signal. She watched the exchange with the worthless male child with rapt attention, the subsequent argument between the Winchester brothers providing just the distraction they needed; Natalie told the women to get ready to move.

Conveniently, their subject had chosen a seat at the back of the train. Ellen and Amber were preparing to intercept their target when Emma suddenly began climbing over the seats, all the way to the front car. With a look of pure hatred on her face, she slammed her fist into the back of the bully's head. He turned around with a pained cry, and she immediately grabbed him by the throat, staring him down and never uttering a word. It was a perfect imitation of the Winchester sire's earlier intimidation of the boy. The other children started screaming, some of them scrambling to get away while the conductor shouted at Emma to let the boy go.

All three women were impressed with her fighting spirit….her fire. Despite spending some of her most formative years (really days) in the hands of their enemies, Emma was clearly still one of the tribe. It was why Lydia's plans for her daughter were so vital. They needed to get her back before any more damage could be done. They'd have to deprogram her first, of course, scrubbing away all of the emotional attachments that she'd formed to her sperm donor. Then, with the proper intensive education, she'd learn about her people's proud history and beliefs- the very tenets of their civilization. She needed to be reminded of the inferiority of her human DNA. Once her loyalty was re-secured, they'd move onto combat training, ensuring that she was focused, cold-blooded and deadly. She'd be the perfect Trojan Horse to send back to the welcoming arms of the Winchesters who'd never see her betrayal coming. She would finally be able to fulfil her destiny….ridding the world of her infuriating father. As added bonuses, they'd start repopulating the tribe by breeding with the brother before killing him, and then they'd take the Winchester fortress as their own.

Emma's ill-timed act of revenge, though admirable, still threatened to put the whole plan in serious jeopardy. The conductor had stopped the train well before the planned extraction point because of the fracas and now Emma's offensive was out in the open and beginning to attract attention. Even worse, it seemed they weren't alone.

Natalie had only just given them the go ahead to move in on the train when Amber and Ellen were attacked from behind by a group of men wearing tactical gear. Amber was tackled near the tree-line by three of them, while Ellen, hearing Amber's shout of surprise, barely had time to turn around before the probes of a Taser entered her torso. Amber went down like a ton of bricks, but Ellen only dropped to one knee, furiously yanking the probes out as the fourth man, began to reload. She rushed towards him, slamming her fist into his face. Blood spurted immediately from his smashed nose as he screamed and stumbled backwards a few steps, blinded by pain and a charging Ellen who slammed her fist into his nose again. He dropped to the ground immediately, crawling away from her while she reached down and twisted his neck. He died instantly. She quickly turned her attention to Amber who was fighting off the three attempting to restrain her. Ellen rushed over, tackling one of them. They scrabbled on the grass for a while, but he was no match for her. Ellen snapped his neck too, just in time to see Amber subduing the last of the men who was begging for his life. She hit him on the back of the head with a rock and he fell to the ground, immobile but still alive. The two women looked around; the whole battle had thankfully been well hidden by the dense thicket of oak trees.

"Natalie?" Amber coughed into her headset, trying to catch her breath, "Come in, Natalie."

"I'm here!" their leader shouted frantically, "What happened? I lost contact with you!"

"We're still in the grove at the North end of the Park. Four hostiles- three dead, the other out and being secured as we speak. At least one of them had an accent- British, maybe. We're gonna need 'clean-up'. Any idea who the hell they are?"

"No, but I'll put in the call," Natalie paused as she sent a text. "Daphne and the crew are on the way. You've got to get Emma! Our British friends may have brought more back up and the Winchesters are still distracted. We may not get another chance! Go! Now!"

Amber stayed behind to wait for the 'cleaners' and Ellen took off round the lake. Directed by Natalie, she encountered Emma in the middle of her attack on Ritter. She tried to get Emma to let go of the boy but then the Winchesters showed up and Ellen had had to retreat or risk exposing herself to the brother. Natalie knowing there was no way to retrieve the situation, called for her two warriors to abort and head for the rendezvous point. When Ellen caught up with them back at the van, the 'cleaners' had already made off with the three dead attackers while the fourth, now semi-conscious, was tied up in the back with Natalie guarding over him.

Their leader pulled out her phone with some apprehension and dialled Lydia's number, knowing it would be better if news of this disaster came straight from her. The only positive was that the Winchesters were still in the dark about the tribe, meaning that their plans were still feasible. As important, was the need to find out as much as possible about these new players on the board. If they were after the brothers because they were hunters, it was even more vital that they rescue Emma as soon as possible. The tribe had clearly underestimated this situation, a mistake they couldn't afford to make again.

"Did you check on Emma and Claire?" Sam asked, as he accepted the beer from his brother. Dean had already finished two cans and was on to his third. He had a mixture of worry, anger and fear in his eyes that Sam found very unsettling. This was Dean at his most vulnerable and therefore, his most dangerous. Emma's continued aging, combined with the sudden emergence of her Amazonian traits, had already substantially frayed Dean's control. The ongoing antagonism between he and Castiel though, with the angel's glaring dislike of Emma and his apathy towards seemingly everything, was surely going to make Dean go ballistic.

"Yeah," Dean said, not making eye contact at all as he sculled the remaining contents of his beer, "Emma cried herself out. Fell asleep as soon as I tucked her in. I've got the baby monitor with me in case she has a nightmare."

"Dean," Sam's voice was quiet and filled with empathy, "We're going to get through this…all of it. Emma, Claire, Cass…"

"Don't mention that feathered Judas' name to me right now." Dean opened yet another beer and chugged a long pull. "Whenever he gets into shit like this, we get sucked into the vortex, and barely escape with our lives while we save his butt…"

Sam cleared his throat, prepared for Dean to bite his head off with his next statement. "The means might be screwed up, but he's not wrong about Lucifer. You remember what having him loose on Earth was like, right? None of us can stop him on our own and I'm telling you now, there's no way I'm gonna survive jumping into that Cage again!"

"Don't be an ass, Sam," Dean said dismissively, sculling the rest of the can, "I'd sooner see the world burn than have you go through that again."

Sam raised his eyebrows, surprised at Dean's rather calm reply. He sat down across from his brother with a troubled sigh. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He waited a beat before he asked, "What are we going to do?"

Dean glanced over at him and shook his head, "Honestly, I don't know. What I do know is that I've got a little girl crying herself to sleep because, let's be honest, even with Chuck's assurances, all signs point to her going homicidal on me. I won't let that happen, Sam, I can't. You, me and Claire- we've gotta dedicate ourselves to beating this. I've already reached out on the Hunter Network and I'm waiting to hear back. Maybe if we can track down the Amazons, we can force them to tell us if there's any way to stop this thing. I'll search the Bunker and you get online- see if you can find anything in the Lore. There has to be something!"

"And what about Lucifer?"

"Lucifer is still gonna be there, Sam. That's pretty much a guarantee. Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys are on it. Hopefully, by the time we find something to help Emma, they'll have gotten their act together….."

"You really think that's the way to go?" Sam asked, his tone clearly doubtful.

"Of course not, but that's what we're gonna do. Emma is the priority. 'Til we fix this, I don't care about anything else."

Sam guilt spiked hearing the underlying anguish in his brother's voice. Meeting with Amelia had been wonderful but selfish. Dean was holding off on own his budding relationship with Sadie because there were too many complications right now. As much as he didn't want to, Sam knew he was going to have to do the same.

"You're right, Dean," his voice quiet, "Helping Emma is all that matters now."

"Stokely," Toni said, her voice shaky as she tried to remain calm, "How in the hell did you lose track of four of your men?"

Her doubts about the man's intelligence and competence were well founded, it seemed. The more he droned on about his complete and utter ineptitude, the more she decided she was going to have to make 'a change'. The Council was breathing down her neck about her lack of progress on bringing American hunters to heel and on eliminating the ongoing threat posed by the Winchesters. She knew from her spies that Mick had returned to England shortly after he'd attempted to strongarm her onto that plane. She had no doubt that he'd been filling the heads of any and every one in the Organisation about her naivete and ineffectual leadership. Toni couldn't really deny that she hadn't been helping him prove his case. While the closest of her lieutenants- Jeremy, Rachael and now, and still surprisingly Ketch, were dependable, the same couldn't be said of the others. It seemed like she'd been the victim of sabotage, being saddled with the Organisation's D-Team. She needed to score a win, and as soon as she satisfied her curiosity by meeting with Mary Winchester, she'd send Ketch down to Kansas to clean up after Stokely… and then dispose of Stokely. It would send a clear message to the rest of her people that she demanded results or they would pay the price.

This fiasco wasn't the only situation causing her concern. Rachael's attempt at manipulating Sam Winchester was going much more slowly than she'd anticipated. Though he was clearly hooked, he was also not a fool, keeping details about the girl close to his chest. Whatever the overgrown boy scouts were hiding was significant enough to have at least one other interested party following them. According to Stokely, they'd discovered an all-female team closely tailing the Winchesters to the park, seemingly with a particular interest in the girl. He'd been ordered to intercept and detain them by Jeremy, the possibility that Mick might be behind this second team a real possibility. If Davies thought for one minute that he'd be scoring brownie points with the Council by honing in on Toni's plans for the Winchesters, he was sorely mistaken. The girl was the equivalent of the Holy Grail. Whoever controlled Dean Winchester's child, owned the man himself.

Toni had her own plans for the girl, of course, but with this new development, she'd have to move up her timeline. She'd actually been waiting on a prospective ace-in-the-hole before enacting them; it or rather she, was driving her way cross country right now.

Mary Winchester had refused all offers to be flown to New York, stating that she would find her own way there. Unlike her sons, the matriarch was shrewd enough to know that Toni had been having her followed since their first encounter in that storm cellar in Missouri. She'd actually given them the slip several times along the way, though they always managed to pick up her trail. Toni didn't doubt that she was toying with them. Her reputation as a skilled hunter was apparently well earned, but more surprising were the reports of Mary's estrangement from her sons. The woman was completely unpredictable, and it made her an unknown entity in Toni's battle for America. Lady Bevell had to wait to see where Mother Winchester stood because, if their ideologies aligned at all, Toni might have found herself not only a formidable soldier, but also a wonderful trophy to dangle in the face of all her detractors.

Jeremy entered her office just as she was really beginning to tire of Stokely's pathetic excuses.

"Quiet, Stokely!" she said, pulling the phone away from her ear.

"Mary Winchester has just arrived at the house but there's been a compli…."

Toni shook her head, indicating that he should be quiet as she went back to her call.

"We need to find out all we can about this new threat, Stokely. Clearly, we're not the only ones after the Winchester spawn so we need to step up our offensive in Kansas. Given your stupidity, I'm going to send you some help- Mr. Ketch will be there tonight. He'll capture one of these women to bring back to headquarters and he'll also help you round up your…strays. I hope for your sake that none of them have loose lips, because if they've given away compromising information to this unknown enemy, you'll be joining them in the afterlife. Last chance, Stokely. Don't disappoint me again!"

She ended the call and dropped her phone on the table.

"Has Rachael called with the time for her next meeting with Sam Winchester?" she turned to Jeremy, her tone rife with frustration.

"She got a text…..he's thinking about her- that's all he said. Maybe they're closing ranks after what happened today. There's really no way to know when he'll reach out again, but the shapeshifter feels it's just a matter of time…"

"Don't, Jeremy," she waved her hand dismissively, "I've told you that Rachael is a part of this team and I expect you treat her as such. I am neither your mother nor your negotiator, so I don't want to play mediator between you two again. I have enough to worry about without the two of you acting like squabbling children so…Work. It. Out!"

"Yes, Lady Bevell, of course," he replied insincerely, "Shall I bring her in?"

Toni rolled her eyes. "Yes."

A few moments later, Mary Winchester walked in accompanied by three heavily armed guards. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, no doubt searching for potential threats. Finally, her cold gaze fell onto Toni and her lip curled.

"Lady Marmalade, wasn't it?" she deadpanned.

"Well, there's no doubt at all that you're the older one's mother. You speak before your brain can catch up with the situation you're in."

"And what situation is that?"

"You are here on my sufferance, Mary, surrounded by dozens of my men. While I admire that wholly foolhardy Winchester grit, it's rather idiotic to antagonise me when I have yet to hear why you decided to accept my invitation…"

"All that may be true, Toni, but I made it clear to Ketch that I'd agree to see you on my terms…." Mary paused, a grim smile on her face, "I just might not have shared all of those with you. I mean, surely you didn't think I would just walk in here without a little insurance?"

Toni chuckled. "And what would that be, Mary? As much as your reputation precedes you, I don't think you'll be able to make it past my men if you try anything."

Mary smirked, opening her jacket slowly as the guards immediately trained their guns on her. She slowly pulled out what looked like a laser pointer, her hand on the push button.

"Let's just say that I have an offer you won't want to refuse, and I've ensured that everyone plays nice while we discuss it. I've planted a few well-hidden explosive devices all around this compound."

Toni laughed outright, highly amused by this woman's ridiculous bluff. "And when would you have gotten a chance to do that, Mrs. Winchester?"

"Didn't your man over there tell you that the 'shadows' you've had following me lost track of me a few days ago? Or maybe he can confirm that you finally received your delayed shipment of weapons' storage lockers yesterday?"

Jeremy looked startled for a minute before nodding. "I was trying to tell you…"

"…And would I also be correct in assuming that those lockers are now scattered all over this lovely compound?" Mary interrupted, her eyes boring into Toni's.

Lady Bevell's expression didn't change. She wouldn't show weakness to a Winchester, but her anger both at being played and at her security for their incompetence, was making her seethe on the inside. It was definitely time to start cleaning house.

"Jesus!" Jeremy exclaimed in alarm, "Rogers, gather as many men as you can and track down…"

"Waste of time," Mary said, pushing the button, "I've just primed the charges. Anything happens to me and I let go of this…" she shook the object, "the whole place goes up like it's the Fourth of July…"

"All right, enough! I don't have the patience for all this childish posturing. Say what you came here to say or get out!"

Mary nodded her acknowledgement and then took a seat in one of the two ornate chairs situated in front of the large oak desk.

"I'll get right to the point then. I need you to kill my grand-daughter….."

Only a slight widening of Lady Bevell's eyes betrayed her utter shock. She remained silent as she waited for the woman to finish.

"I can't do it- I won't have her blood on my hands….but you can."

"And why would you want to kill your son's child?" Toni laughed incredulously, "Are you angry that your triumphant return from the hereafter has been upstaged by your son's little bastard monster-princess?"

"So, you know what she is, then?"

"Of course," Toni bluffed, her eyes involuntarily flicking to Jeremy.

"Then you understand why I have to do this. I may be too late to be their mother, but my sons still need my protection, even if it's from themselves. Emma is a little Amazonian cancer that needs to be carved out of Dean's life now before she grows big enough to hurt him….."

Toni turned away, her mind spinning with the revelation. An Amazon! The Organisation knew that they existed, of course, but they'd never managed to capture even a glimpse of one. If what Mary was saying was true, and there was no reason to doubt that it would be, Emma Winchester would grow up to be a preternaturally strong, murderous hybrid. Under the right circumstances, she could manipulate the girl's 'human half,' persuading her to use her considerable gifts for Toni's cause.

"So, let me get this straight. You expect me to believe that Mary Winchester has broken the modus operandi that governs all idiotic Winchester behaviour and not put family first? You'd risk having Dean hating you and hunting you down, for not only killing his daughter, but for siding with the people who kidnapped and tortured his brother?"

"That's what I'm saying."

"I can empathise with your dilemma, of course," Toni said, trying to tamp down her glee, "but I find it very hard to believe you. Besides, what would I get out of it?"

Mary sighed, wanting to be done with this conversation and this place. "I may just be a relic of a previous time, but in this business, killing the monster has always been the only priority. Look, given your pathological obsession with my family, I'm sure you already know that my husband wasn't born into hunting like I was. When Azazael killed me, John became angry and so full of hate that he subjected my boys to a life filled with bitterness and revenge. If they'd grown up with my family, they would've learned to keep the emotion out of it. It's simple, really. In the fight against the supernatural, it's us versus them. That hasn't changed in thirty-three years. I can recognise that ethic in you…in your modus operandi. I don't want to hurt my boys, but this will keep them alive. I'll deal with the fallout later."

"And what are you offering in return?"

"Me."

Toni laughed in genuine amusement. "I know you were good, Mary but while Mr. Ketch has nothing but praise for your talents and professionalism, he doesn't have my high standards. As I've said, I have dozens of ….."

Suddenly, Mary stood up and spun around, a gun appearing in her hand as if from thin air. Before Toni could even cry out in shock, she had shot each of the three guards before they'd even had a chance to react. She lowered her arm and turned back to see Toni and Jeremy both breathing heavily, similar looks of fear and astonishment on their faces.

"Looks like you've got fewer men than you thought," Mary said smugly, putting the gun away, "I knew that Ketch was following me weeks ago. At first, I found it annoying and I planned on killing him, but then I realised that he was offering me an opportunity- a way for me achieve everything I wanted. I figured we could meet and come to some mutual agreement. You kill the child and I help you take out every last, supernatural creature in this country. I guarantee that I'm worth more than any ten of your men combined. As an added incentive, I'll use my reputation to get other hunters to join you and adopt whatever philosophy you want."

"And your sons?" Toni wheezed, finally catching her breath, "What about Dean and Sam?"

"You leave them to me. It won't get that far, but they'll fall in line or suffer the consequences." Mary's eyes were devoid of any feeling as she stalked over to Toni, their faces just inches apart.

"Do we have a deal, Lady Bevell?"

Toni grasped Mary's outstretched hand. "Yes, Mrs. Winchester, we have a deal."

"Daddy?"

Dean turned over in bed, wrestling with the last vestiges of sleep.

"Daddy?"

"Emma?" he replied, his voice soft, "What is it, sweetheart?"

"It happened again, Dad!"

The voice, different though not unfamiliar, cut through the fog. Dean's eyes flew open as he sat up quickly. 'Emma' stood there, tears in her eyes as she stared forlornly at him. She had grown at least another two inches and maybe was two to three years older. There was a slight maturing of her features, portending the young woman she would become.

"Come here, baby."

He opened his arms and she flew into them, clinging to him tightly and almost strangling him in the process. He didn't complain though. He understood her pain, her desperation and her fear. Dean was losing his daughter again and he wasn't sure he'd survive it.