Where The Wild Things Are

by MarionLuth

As Sam & Dean investigate a young singer, who shares their Winchester name & face, their lives collide. And...she's hiding a dangerous secret. A Supernatural dramedy deeply developed & richly written, with strong canon characters. Angels, demons, the earth's only Nephilim, Lucifer, Crowley, Jody Mills, Claire, Alex, the boys & a teen girl with the heart of an angel. Spanking.

21. Only Place They Call Me One Of Their Own

Chapter 21

The Only Place They Call Me One of Their Own

Lyrics: "Who says you can't go home?", By Bon Jovi, album: Have a Nice Day, 2005)

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Grabbing her forearm, she was flung up against the wall, hitting it hard. A loud bang was the report from her impact...and she'd impacted enough to leave pie-sized bruises. He approached her again, keeping his eyes on her face. Her eyes narrowed in deadly concentration as she saw his approach. As he walked to where she lay, he reached out for her again, but this time, Claire anticipated this move, rolled out of range at the last second, throwing off his lunge, leaving him with nothing. As she rolled off to his left side, gaining her own footing, Claire circled close behind him, intending to get in his blind spot. If she had a knife this would've allowed her to drive its blade into her opponent's back.

Claire was electric in her movements, galvanized by this violence, she was fighting for her life...or at least for her ego.

She couldn't let Dean win. She wouldn't.

Claire circled around Dean's left and kept dancing just out of his sight as he turned to follow her movement. Claire was feeling superior, keeping herself just out of Dean's reach. Dropping to his knees, Dean did a counterclockwise sweep of his left leg and mowed Claire down, before jumping on top of her and immobilizing her. Claire's eyes were round and then, narrowing in anger, she let out a frustrated scream.

"Fuck!"

Watching this training session unfold, Amber was watching Dean's trap work on Claire the same way it had initially worked on her when they had first started training together.

Holding the blonde down, immobilizing her with his knees placed on the trigger points of her upper thighs, Claire felt the strange weakness these points delivered. This was all new. She'd never seen this maneuver before and Dean was really quick...for an old guy.

"Dean, let me up."

"Nah huh. Who's your daddy?"

Loud laughter came from the other side of the room. Amber found herself involuntarily busting a gut at this inside joke Dean used to taunt Claire.

"Dean, you asshole! Let me up or I'll kick you in the nuts," was Claire's unwise outburst.

Not losing his self-assured smirk, Dean asked, "How exactly are you gonna do that? C'mon! Think. Your opponent pins you down like this. How do you get the upper hand?"

"If my opponent had me like this, I'd already be dead! Let me the fuck up so that we can go another round," Claire growled, jerking in his grip in a vain attempt to free herself.

"Use your damn head, Claire!" Dean barked. "That's the whole point of these sess…"

He never got to finish his sentence as Claire's forehead connected powerfully with his chin, his head jerking backwards, his grip loosening around her wrists. Freeing her hands, Claire reflexively grabbed his face, her fingers seeking his eyes. Dean whipped his head out of her grip, headbutting her hand away.

Triumphant grin spreading, Claire used her right arm to land a finger-clenched punch to his diaphragm, striking him deeper than training exercises typically allowed. This was a trigger point she did know about. Dean gasped, losing his breath and his strength.

Getting out of his grip, and hopping to her feet, Claire stared down at him.

"Game over," she called smugly. "In a scenario with a knife, the first stab would've killed you. In a scenario with no weapon the second punch would knock you out. You're welcome, by the way. I barely put any force into those."

Dean got off the floor with a groan of pain, his breathing still tight.

"Correction. The knock-out button is the chin. Not the diaphragm. Though a punch like this would definitely buy you enough time to add a hard kick to the head, ensuring your opponent wouldn't get up any time soon."

Claire looked at Dean, slightly surprised. He didn't seem mad. That was a first. If she knew this whole deal would entail a chance to kick his ass in training she would have accepted much more eagerly.

Amber watched from the corner of the room, half-amused, half-annoyed. She had been up at six, just like Claire. Now, forty minutes later, she had yet to take part in any of the exercises and rounds. While she'd enjoyed Dean's little joke, she wanted her turn now. These two were having all the fun.

"Can someone explain to me why I had to get up so early? I'm just sitting around," she snarked out, sounding bitchy even to herself.

Dean turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

"You're supposed to watch and take notes! You normally don't have the luxury of watching a fight scene unfold. You get the chance to evaluate both offense and defense and consider different moves and approaches."

"That's stupid! And pointless," Amber huffed.

Dean turned to face her completely now. "Oh is it?" He asked in a mocking tone. "Go ahead, then. You're up."

Turning to the blonde, he motioned for her to move.

"Claire, drink some water and rest. Same rules apply to you. You watch and evaluate offenses and defenses."

Not acknowledging his words, but still following the directions, Claire moved to the bench, grabbing her water bottle. Chugging half of it down, she watched Amber walking to the center of the open room.

Standing In the basic fighting stance, Amber's legs instantly planted themselves shoulder-width apart, weight up on her toes, hands half raised, flexible and fluid. 'Be like water and flow.' That was something she'd picked up from her own internet searches. Her gaze was intense and focused on Dean's face.

Dean remained rooted to his spot, waiting for the girl to make her first move, just like he had done with Claire. When Amber finally lunged, attempting a punch to his stomach, he easily dodged it, moving his body to the side and grabbing hold of Amber's arm, using it to tug her forward, forcefully putting her off her stance, causing him to gain the advantage. Dean pulled her behind himself, as he knew she wouldn't be expecting this move, further using the element of surprise to reinforce his position of power over his opponent.

In motion, watching this unfold as she was caught in it, Amber was berating herself for falling for this, yet again. Dean would slip this sort of thing in and, so far, she hadn't been able to anticipate this...and she should've.

Regaining her footing in less than two seconds, Amber huffed in frustration. Dean stood still again, waiting for her next offensive move, his displeasure evident on his face. He was using the same moves he had with Claire. On purpose. Had Amber actually paid attention, she'd see them coming. Or at least she should be able to see them coming.

"What are you doing?" was Dean's gruff comment.

Amber, totally frustrated, doubled down on her grappling, lunging forward towards Dean, only to drop to the floor at the exact same time Dean was anticipating her connecting with him. She just wasn't there...and she lunged up from her crouched position, stepping to his right side, as he was looking left...where her initial movement had indicated she was going to pop up...but hadn't.

Hardening the outer edge of her right hand, she struck him across the forearm activating a trigger point which sent a jolt of pain and paralysis up and down his arm, rendering his arm instantly weak. This sudden weakness went right up his arm and Amber jumped behind him, even as he turned and pretended to strike him with a knife through the kidney, her thudding dead fist indicating the strike would have landed and been lethal. A slight huff came from Dean and he turned around to see Amber's eyes twinkling with tricky amusement.

"So, who's not taking notes?" Amber's grin widening as she drove home to Dean that she had been paying attention and the fault was his for not realizing she'd been paying attention all along.

Eyes wide, Claire was silently impressed with this. Amber really was good in a fight. And she kicked Dean's butt.

"So, what's pointless and stupid?" Dean immediately countered. "Brat!" He added, half annoyed. Turning to Claire he asked, "Did you catch your breath?"

"Wasn't out of breath to start with," Claire quipped, getting to her feet.

With a roll of his eyes, Dean nodded for her to join them as he moved to the sidelines.

"Let's see how you two do against each other."

"What's up, old man? Tired already?" Claire asked, mockingly.

"Not too tired to bust your ass, so watch it," Dean answered, a tone of warning in his tone. He was trying to let things slide. He'd been trying to banter with Claire and keep things light whenever possible. He really had. Sam had been yapping at him every chance he got to do so.

But almost five days into their new regime, Claire kept trying to bait him every chance she got and he was starting to get tired of it. His patience was running thin and he didn't know when his threats would stop being simple threats and became hands-on actions.

Claire was taking to this part of the training fast...with the antagonism she threw in behind her takedowns adding emotional impact to her blows. It felt like a moratorium on manners...and she wasn't seeing the line Dean was drawing.

Opting not to answer, Claire focused on the task at hand and sized up Amber. The two of them had a similar build and height. Claire knew, from when Amber had first visited them at Jody's, that she wasn't that experienced in throws and holds. And this could be Claire's leverage.

Something also told her Dean hadn't tried to train with her with the 'gloves off.' No dirty moves, she suspected. This could also work in her favor. Amber had watched Dean outsmart her twice before Claire managed to take him down in that last round. Claire was hellbent on winning this round. She was a good fighter. And she planned to let both Winchesters know this.

Dean watched Claire's gears turning, and he knew she was going to try something sneaky. She had facial tells when she thought she was being cunning. A lopsided grin always gave her away. That and an eyebrow twitch. He waited patiently for the scene to unfold. This would be a good experience for Amber. She needed to start anticipating things to not go as smoothly as she was used to. If she ever needed to make use of these skills, in or out of a hunting situation, she should learn to expect that whoever stood across from her would try anything to get what they wanted.

Claire was up on her toes, hands in an open-handed fighting stance, yet she didn't do much. Dancing to Amber's left, Claire was playing with her, but Amber didn't know this yet. Turning to keep her opponent in sight, Amber kept turning herself to keep Claire from gaining the advantage of her unprotected back. Claire made some meager grabs allowing Amber to counter them and feel she was in control. This was the lure.

Amber, seeing that she couldn't keep up with this constant turning, and that this was pointless, decided to improvise. Twisting in the opposite direction than where Claire was leading her, she turned a complete 180° dropped into a squat and extended her arm as she lifted back up, connecting with Claire's jaw. The blonde tumbled back, dazed by this unexpected uppercut. She could feel her skull rattle in her head, teeth knocking together, but she refused to stop. This had pissed her off. She'd wanted to show Dean up and...this felt humiliating.

Anger seizing her, Claire righted herself and redoubled her focus, Amber saw the blonde get up and was surprised. She'd thought she'd knocked Claire out, for sure, but she'd only pissed her off. Amber was a bit frightened by the rage she saw in Claire's eyes. There was no restraint and it reminded her of animalistic survival.

Steely concentration, Claire felt herself slip into a flow she had sometimes felt while in a skirmish. There was no thought, only the 'now'.

Faster than she could see it, Amber watched her takedown unfold as Claire slipped past her arm and in one swift move, Claire had her right shoulder and arm in a lock, immobile and painful.

"Ah! Shit Claire!," Amber shouted as Claire continued to torque her shoulder joint farther back.

"What's up, princess? Need me to stop? Make me!" Claire snapped.

Dean watched vigilantly, ready to intervene if needed, but silent. He observed Amber struggling to find a way out of the shoulder hold Claire had her in.

Amber felt her own anger growing. Gritting her teeth she moved her body to the opposite direction of Claire's hold, ignoring the intensifying pain this maneuver caused.

Claire gasped in surprise when she felt Amber doing that. She could tell she was hurting her. Feeling a bit uncomfortable with the amount of strength she had used against Amber, she was ready to tell her she'd let her go and to stop straining her shoulder any further, but she never got the chance.

Amber, having gained room to move, and some momentum from her maneuver, used all of her body weight to slam against Claire's body causing her to lose her footing and involuntarily loosen her grip.

Slithering out of Claire's hold, Amber immediately turned her body around and landed a punch on the blonde's right side ribs. She took in a breath and smiled smugly, when Claire doubled over. Her smile was completely wiped off her face, when Claire, reached out a hand and grabbed her ponytail, tugging at it powerfully and causing her to fall on her back with a yelp of pain.

Scooting backwards and getting to her feet, Amber glared at Claire murderously. "Are you out of your fucking mind? What the hell was that?" She thundered.

An equally aggravated Claire shot right back, "That was me knocking you off your ass!"

"We're fucking training, Claire! Not street fighting! There are rules," Amber yelled.

"Oh yeah, demons looove rules," Claire commented, sarcastically.

"Oh you would know, wouldn't you?"

"Stop whining about this. When you're out there you can't expect anyone to play by your imaginary book of rules," Claire snapped. Amber was overreacting and she was getting real tired of it.

Turning to Dean, eyes widened with anger and incredulity Amber asked, "Aren't you gonna say anything?"

"I'm with Claire on this," Dean answered with a shake of his head. At the girl's shocked silence, he continued, "You need to be vigilant. To expect the unexpected. Every little thing they can take advantage of to hurt you, to take you out, they will."

"That's bull! In a real situation I'd have a weapon. Hair-tugging wouldn't do shit against a gun or knife," Amber countered heatedly.

"You can't depend on weapons," Dean shot down. "There will be cases when you'll be completely unarmed. No weapons at hand and you'll still have to take your opponent out."

"Oh, I have quite a few ideas on how to knock my opponent down, Dean," Amber shot back, leveling Claire with an angry glare.

"Amber," was Dean's warning tone.

"No, for real! Come on, Claire! Let's go again! I have the perfect strategy and a weapon that I know I'll always have on me," Amber continued, pissed.

"Enough!" Dean barked. The look he held on the brunette spoke volumes about his intent if his words weren't heeded.

Amber seethed, but wisely chose not to ignore the tone or the look. She knew better. She shot another glance at Claire, who looked at her highly annoyed.

The two girls, frustrated and angered, stood silently, Claire, with arms crossed in front of her chest, and Amber, rubbing tentatively at her sore right shoulder. Dean realised it would be best if he ended the session then and there, before any bloodshed occurred.

"Right, eyes on me," he called.

When both girls complied he turned to Amber first. "First of all, learn to lose! And learn from your losses. You wanna brood over this for the rest of the day? Fine, but do it constructively. Think about how Claire took you down and figure out ways alternative moves you could use to avoid that from happening again. Great work on getting out of her hold and well done with that upper-cut. Top notch, punch."

Amber's sour expression remained on her face, but a hint of smile followed Dean's praise.

Turning to the blonde, Dean continued, "You need to be more careful with the attacks coming from below. I noticed that a bunch of times when we were fighting. When your opponent is down, you stay on your toes and you guard your chin. Remember it's the knock-out button. Sweeps are bound to happen. You're good with your punches and thinking on your feet. Hone those skills. We should also work on your kicks. You don't use them as much as you could. Good job on that last lock."

Claire stared at the man uncertain of how to respond. She was used to him giving her shit, yelling, and nagging at her. Five days in and she still hadn't managed to respond in any other way than surprise when he was offering concrete, meaningful feedback and some well-measured praise. Following Amber's example she remained silent.

Dean studied the two girls and soon realised he wasn't going to get any sort of answer from either of them. Exhaling loudly, he jabbed a thumb to the door.

"Go hose off. Then straight to breakfast."

Relief setting in at the prospect of a shower, both girls hurried to comply, scurrying off past Dean and towards the door. Claire, reaching the door first, opening it and stepping out first, Amber following right behind her. The two girls walked along the corridor in silence. Claire's room was the first door they encountered.

Opening the door and getting inside she paused as Amber walked past her. After a second's hesitation she called out, "Hey, Amber!"

When the brunette turned to face her, Claire said with a short nod, "You're good. Real good. And I'm not just saying that."

Recognising Claire's oblique attempt for reconciliation, Amber let out a soft sigh and nodded.

"You too, Claire. See you in a bit."

With a small smirk Claire called out, "When you knock yourself out, going a round with the shower head, don't go bitching that it didn't play fair."

Not bothering to turn to face Claire, Amber raised her left hand and promptly flipped her friend off as she kept walking to her room.

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"Grab another one. We go through that like crazy."

Claire looked back to see if she had been heard. Seeing Sam looking off towards boxes of cereal, she decided to repeat the request.

"Hey! Can we get another box of Lucky Charms?"

Sam had his hands on the shopping cart and he'd heard Claire the first time. Undecided as to whether he wanted her to have more sugar, since Dean ate enough of this crap, he'd pretended not to hear her. Claire had noticed...she wasn't deterred.

"Hey, Dean. Can we get another box of Lucky Charms?" Claire directed her second request to a more favorable audience.

Dean hearing his name turned to look at the girl with a sly smirk. "And what's the magic word, Barbie?"

Rolling her eyes, Claire crossed her hands in front of her chest, glaring.

"Oh, I guess just the one box for me then," was Dean's response, turning back to the shelves he was combing through.

"Please. Can we get another box?"

Extracting the needed compliance, Dean casually pulled another box from off the shelf and dropped it into the cart Sam was pushing.

Claire conceded defeat whenever she had to use the 'Magic Word'...except with Jody. She still missed Jody so much. But she was getting another box of her favorite cereal.

Amber, walking next to Sam, watched the exchange with an amused expression. Claire, joining them in the bunker had sure come with its added grievances, but it also offered ample chances for pure entertainment. Amber glanced at Sam and noticed his own lips twitching, but his expression remained serious...for the most part. Internally, Sam was imagining the fight this would bring down on them when those two were sugared up, and how he'd have to intervene because neither would be able to think clearly. And he'd have to remember to grab more milk.

"Oh! Coffee! We'd better get another four pounds of beans. It's four of us now and we're going through it really fast," Amber mentioned as they approached the aisle shelves filled with all the different coffee brands.

"Coffee and sugar-packed cereal. I swear, if I let you three shop alone we'd end up with scurvy, best case scenario," Sam mumbled.

"And we need detergent! I used the last of it yesterday," Amber added, ignoring Sam's words.

"And bacon," Dean called out, not bothering to turn to look at his siblings or Claire. "We can't forget the bacon."

"God Forbid," Sam mumbled, tiredly.

"Bacon's meat, Sammy. Protein. We need the protein," the oldest Winchester said, with a smirk.

Sam, consulting his phone for the digital shopping list he'd created, was hitting buttons to add these items to the list. He'd budgeted for their basic shop and then 15% extra, but these spontaneous requests were butting up against this allocated amount...threatening to cost them an additional 25%. The extra bananas, Doritos, and frozen burritos were already stretching them.

"You guys are lucky Cas doesn't eat," Claire commented. "My dad used to down so much food," a bitter smile twisted up her face.

That comment registering, Amber slowing her pace, let Sam walk ahead, as she waited for Claire to catch up with her. She couldn't imagine how weird it must be for Claire to live in the same space with the angel that was the reason she had lost her father. Claire had told her she'd gotten over it, but Amber had a hard time believing that. Walking shoulder to shoulder with the blonde, Amber didn't know what to say to comfort her, so she decided to simply keep Claire company. Claire noticed this and knew Amber understood.

"It's still hard," was all Claire said..and this was enough. Amber wrapped her arm around Claire's shoulder and gave her a quick hug. Claire accepted this, looking down at the floor lost in her own memories. The four of them moved along to the next aisle.

"Well… at least he's kind of amusing… Cas I mean," Amber offered. Amber found it infinitely funny when the two men ganged up on the angel whenever he responded innocently in an inappropriate way. It was funny and watching these grown men torment the angel...well...it was amusing. Cas took it gracefully, being an angel and all.

Claire let out a scoff. The comment annoyed her, but she realised it was an opportunity for intel. And she had learned not to miss these.

Turning to Amber she commented, "I guess. And so annoying. Gee! How can you stand all these training sessions with him? What does he even teach you?"

"Uh… You know…we meditate and stuff…" Amber said as casually as she could. In an attempt to avoid Claire's eyes she turned to stare at the shelf on her right and reached up to grab the bags of coffee beans.

Claire watched Amber doing this using her right hand and noticed the lack of wincing or any other sign of pain the movement caused. This was weird, she thought. With their earlier hand-to-hand match, Amber should still be feeling the strain in her shoulder. Claire had way milder muscle and joint injuries in the past that allowed enough discomfort to not even use her hand to wash her hair. Let alone reach high above her head and grabbed a two-pound pack of coffee.

Her focus shifting to the words that had just left Amber's mouth, she decided to only comment on that front.

"You meditate? You spend two hours every single day meditating?"

Amber read the disbelief in Claire's tone. "And he's kind of getting me up to speed with the supernatural world," she added, attempting to deflect.

"But don't you cover that shit with Sam?" Claire insisted.

"With Sam it's more specific creatures-lore study and enochian sigils and stuff. Cas is covering the more generic stuff. Think of it as an introductory course, whereas Sam's an applied one," Amber said. She was a good liar. And she knew she sounded confident and honest. It helped that she had rehearsed this story with her brothers and Cas. Her eyes turned to scan Claire's face.

Claire simply nodded. She wasn't convinced, not in the least. But she didn't see any point in pushing this with Amber. She'd try to discover what was going on behind that closed door her own way.

As they rounded the corner and walked to the next aisle Amber halted. Her eyes grew big and round as she took in all the glittery madness that covered every single part of that section of the store.

"God! It's like Santa Claus puked in here," Claire commented with a grimace, her gaze following Amber's. When her friend's awed expression registered, Claire continued, "Don't tell me you're one of those 'the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year' people!"

Amber's face flushed and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't tell me you're one of those people pretending to hate Christmas?" she countered.

"Oh, there's no pretending here," Claire commented.

Sam, who'd already walked a few feet ahead, turned to see what had kept the girls. Amber's face, a genuine expression of longing as she scanned the aisle of Christmas decorations, her expression hit him and he instantly understood. That had been his expression growing up. Damn! He thought. He had almost forgotten. He turned to look for Dean, who was lost in his own head, absentmindedly staring at a PBR 24-pack 'Manager's Special.'

Walking to his brother, Sam slapped his shoulder to get his attention.

"What the hell, Sam?" Dean snapped.

Sam simply nodded to the girls direction, where Amber was now slowly walking down the aisle looking at the decorations like a toddler drooling in wonder at the selection of toys. It was charming and painful all at once.

"Shit," Dean mumbled. Turning to Sam he asked, "Do we have to…like...celebrate this year?"

Sam shrugged. "Wouldn't be that bad… Amber would clearly love to."

"Shit!" Dean repeated.

"Don't get too excited," Sam said, sarcastically.

"What do you expect me to do Sam? Satan is AWOL and we're talking Christmas trees and Rudolf!"

"It wouldn't be that bad," Sam repeated. "We've never done this before either. Could be fun."

Dean sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

"It's not like we have to go all out. You don't have to dress up in a red suit or anything. We could, you know, get a bit festive? Maybe a small tree, some tinsel. A box of red bulbs. I know...we could get a wreath."

"And hang it where Sam...on our front door?" Dean snarked back.

As Dean's gaze followed Amber's movements, and her full-on puppy dog eyes turned in their direction, Dean's face softened from annoyed to resigned. Walking towards where Claire stood, he glanced around him and turned to Amber.

"We keep it low-key, okay?"

Amber, understanding this was a major win, simply smiled, her eyes lighting up. Dean felt his insides melting. Amber's happiness just turned him into a puddle as his heart felt a kind of warmth grow around it. God, if she ever knew how much control she had over him he was a goner.

Amber's eyes continued to sparkle. She hadn't celebrated Christmas in more than nine years. The last time she remembered anything close to trees, decorations, and carols was in a group home she had spent six months in. The local charity groups had donated a bunch of used decorations and an ugly, artificial tree for the home's children to decorate. She remembered herself, and a few more kids around her age, scampering around, singing the two Christmas songs they knew, hanging assorted Christmas decorations on the branches. They'd loved it. There weren't any lights to string up. From what she recalled, the whole thing looked rather miserable, but this was one of her best memories from those years. It brought a smile to her face.

Claire turned to look at Dean with a surprised expression.

"Didn't think you were into the Christmas thing. Always thought you were more of a Krampus kinda guy," she commented dryly.

Dean eyed her, half-annoyed, half-amused, and shook his head.

"You're not wrong. But it's not like we've ever tried this shit. Might be fun."

When the blonde remained silent he gave her a little push towards Amber, who was already hoarding decorations in her arms.

"Go pick some, too. And keep her in line. We can't spend too much."

Sardonic smile forming, Claire turned to look at him as she answered, "Hey, if we stick the tree up Cas' ass, we can save on the topper!"

Dean lost it. He couldn't hold in his loud laugh at this image. Shaking his head, and fighting to keep his face from looking too amused, he nodded in Amber's direction, waving his hand as if to push her forward. "Go!"

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Boxed tree stuffed in the Impala's trunk, along with the several bags of groceries and Christmas decorations, Dean closed the trunk with a loud bang.

Some shoppers were walking by, chatting with cups of coffee in their hands. As they passed by, the whiff of coffee, chocolate and mint wafted towards Amber. This combination wasn't new to her and instantly evoked images of festivity, and cosy celebration. Not that she had any first hand experience of this, but she'd had a few mocha coffees with Creme de Menthe in it. Ty had been a good friend and his parents kept a well stocked liquor scent was taking her back to this memory and Amber felt the void Ty's absence had left in her life. Sure, she'd acquired two brothers and an angel, but Ty was special. She'd seen him last walking away with Sam during that fiasco in Denver. So many memories from this one scent.

"Alright, I guess we're good to go," Dean said.

Snapping her back to the present, Amber was feeling kind of opened up, hopeful, but fragile. Turning to Dean, she impulsively asked, "Can we grab a coffee first?"

She looked at her oldest brother with this hopeful look tinged with something else he couldn't quite name, but which touched him. It was unfiltered and spontaneous.

Within the two seconds, she made sure she'd gathered her manipulative self and was adding flourishes to what had been a sincere request, using her nicest voice and making her eyes grow large and moist. She was catching on to the effect this 'look' had on both of her brothers. During uneventful and happy moments at least.

"Yeah, I'd kill for some caffeine right about now," Claire called. Claire was noticing how the men seemed to actually have a soft spot for Amber. She'd never have expected this, especially not from Dean.

Sam looked around them a bit uneasily. "I don't know… We're already late as it is."

"For what?" Claire scoffed. "Work deadlines and our overtime shifts? C'mon!"

Dean turned to look at Sam with a shrug. "What the hell…" He said. "I'd like some coffee myself."

"And they might have pie," Amber tossed out with a sneaky grin, making Dean's face turn from indifferent to excited. Laughing a bit, Dean reflected on how Amber used the pie ploy often...and how it usually worked. Smart girl.

Sam eyed her amusedly. With a shrug of his own, he nodded his agreement. It was three against one. He knew when a battle was lost.

The two girls walked hastily ahead, satisfied smiles on their faces.

"Well played," Claire commented, quietly.

"Why, thank you!" Amber answered with a toothy grin. This day might have started sourly, but it was definitely turning around.

The brothers followed the two girls closely, eyes constantly surveilling their surroundings. It was a hunter's habit and it had served them well their entire lives.

As the four of them approached the cafe's entrance, Sam and Dean's minds synced, mentally travelling back to Amber's birthday party at the tavern. Their newly acquired knowledge, that a demon had been present that night, made them both suddenly uneasy as they entered this new place for the first time. It was busy...and crowded.

Amber nudged Claire with her shoulder, nodding towards a corner booth near the large front window. When the blonde nodded the two of them headed in this direction. Claire scooted in first, sitting nearest to the window, Amber following and sitting right next to her.

When Sam and Dean approached, Claire looked at them with a surprised look.

"You're not sitting here!" She declared.

Raising an eyebrow Dean fixed her with a look. "Yes, Claire! We are!"

"Come on! It's bad enough we can't do anything or go anywhere alone! Can't you just sit somewhere else?" Claire snapped.

Dean made a point of taking off his leather jacket and throwing it over the shared divider between their booth and the one on the adjacent one as he scooted in first, followed by Sam.

"And for that little outburst you can go order for us," he informed Claire, his smile tight with irritation.

Amber, rolling her eyes, tugged Claire's forearm indicating Claire should follow her before she got herself into trouble with her brother.

"C'mon! I'll help."

"Here, take this," Dean said handing a couple of folded up bills to Amber.

"Sammy what do you want to drink? Amber's ordering," was Dean's prompt.

Sam, getting up to speed on the situation, turned to Amber,

"Just order me whatever you're getting for yourself."

Amber nodded, and turned to look at Dean, her eyebrow lifted in inquiry.

"Oh, me. Just a cup of Joe and bring back any pie that looks good."

Nodding again, Amber was set and turned away, heading to go place their order, Claire right beside her.

As they walked away from the table Claire mumbled, "I'm so spitting on his goddamn pie."

Amber snorted at this sour comment. Claire was wickedly funny. The two of them approached the counter, where a small line of people were standing ahead of them. Amber took her time to check out the coffee options, written with colorful chalk on the blackboard behind the barista station. Her eyes scanning the menu for the seasonal coffee drinks, she wanted what she'd smelled in the parking lot.

Placing her order for their Holiday Mocha Mint coffee with whipped cream on top, she got one for Sam and a plain cup of coffee for Dean along with a slice of Apple pie. Claire added in her order, a cappuccino.

Moving to the next section of the counter, where their orders would come up, Amber turned her attention to the people around them. In front of her stood a man, probably in his thirties. He was short and wore a coat that was too long for him. The overall effect was that he looked like a little boy who was wearing his father's coat. It made Amber snicker quietly.

As her eyes trailed to the next person in the line, she tilted her head to the side. This face belonged to a woman. She was dressed in dark blue pants, a white collared, button down shirt, and white sneakers. She felt she knew this woman and Amber was stunned, still trying to place where she knew her from. Unusually, this woman's long dark hair cascaded down her back, reaching to her waist. The shine was dazzling. Still sorting out her memory as to why this image was oddly familiar, Amber stood staring as her mind sorted through her images. This woman was too compelling, Not giving it too much thought, Amber walked up to the figure and politely tapped on the woman's shoulder.

When she turned to look at her, Amber gasped. Her eyes grew round in surprise and her palms flew to cover her mouth.

"Shut up!" Amber exclaimed.

The young woman's eyes went from confused to surprised to delighted.

"Amber?"

Amber laughed as she still struggled to believe what she was seeing. The familiar face that looked at her woke up so many memories, all at once. She looked older than she was, but it was her alright.

"Emily Ann! I'll be damned!"

Claire watched the exchange with raised eyebrows. Who the hell was this?

Emily stepped out of the line and tugged Amber into a fierce hug that lasted several seconds.

"I can't believe this! How are you here? Do you live around here or what? How are you?" She asked, unable to stop grinning or prioritise any of her questions.

Claire watched in intrigue as the events of the next few seconds unfolded.

It was Sam that noticed Amber talking to this person first. He was on his feet in less than a second and striding towards them, face clouded with intense fear and worry. What the hell was going on? Dean shot right after Sam, his own face a mask of aggressive bewilderment.

"Hey, Amb, you got incoming," Claire managed to get out.

Amber whipped her head around in time to see Sam and Dean towering over her and Emily.

"Who the hell is this?" Dean asked in a chilling tone, his hand clasping on Amber's shoulder tugging her closer to him and away from this young woman. He stared at this new face intently. Her grown-up clothes and make-up didn't match the startled face that stared back at him. She looked young.

"Who on earth are you?" Emily asked with narrowed eyes, her gaze lingering on Dean's hand clasping Amber's shoulder.

"Dean, it's okay! She's a friend…" Amber tried, but she cut short any further explanation at the dangerous look Dean sent her.

"What have we talked about a million times?" He asked in a harsh tone. "You can't go around hugging people like that," he said through gritted teeth. He couldn't speak freely, and Amber knew this. But Amber also knew exactly what he meant with these words.

"Amber, what is going on? Who are…" the sudden droplets of water that landed on her face made Emily gasp and her words remained hanging. Blinking rapidly, she turned incredulous eyes to the taller man behind Amber, who had just used his fingers to spray her face with what looked like water from a small glass vial in his hands.

"What the heck are you doing?" She snapped.

At the numerous heads that had started turning to stare in their direction, Sam cursed under his breath, relief washing over him when nothing more happened. Whoever this girl was, she wasn't possessed. Seeing that this was drawing attention to them, Sam intervened with a level tone.

"Let's take this outside, come on!"

Claire watched the proceedings, finding it all greatly intriguing. A cunning smile graced her face, one eyebrow raised at a sly angle. The more time she spent with the Winchesters the more certain she was they were hiding something big.

Amber eyed both of her brothers murderously. A hand clasping around Emily's forearm she practically dragged her friend along as she stormed out of the coffee shop.

Claire, Sam and Dean followed right behind them, eyes trained on Amber as if they feared she'd disappear any second.

Amber's nostrils flared with every breath she took. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been so mad at Sam and Dean, but she was having a hard time keeping her temper in check.

Looking over at Amber, Emily was sizing up the situation she found herself caught up in. What was going on and should she make a break for it?

Amber, momentarily gaining some insight into how this was looking to Emily, informed her, "Those two are family. My very overprotective family," Amber huffed.

"Family?" Emily asked genuinely surprised. "I thought you didn't have any!"

"So did I," Amber sighed. She didn't get to explain anything else as the boys and Claire caught up with them.

"What the hell do you think you're doing," was Dean's outburst, getting up in Amber's face.

Anger welling up, her face flushed, Amber turned to Dean.

"You're so rude. I can't even introduce you two to someone, before you've drenched them with holy water! God, I can't believe you did that!"

Emily's eyes widened at this. "Holy water?" She asked incredulously, taking an unconscious step back.

Sam, seeing that this situation was rapidly going south, stepped in front of Dean, placing himself closest to the new woman. He eyed his brother intently and addressed him quietly, "Tone it down, we're already causing a scene and saying more than we should," he hissed.

"I don't think I'm the one giving things away, Sam," Dean snapped, glaring in Amber's direction.

Turning to his sister, Sam looked at her warningly, "That goes for you, too," he told her.

Claire took out her phone and didn't even bother being discrete as she started recording everything. "God, this shit's better than Netflix," she mumbled.

"Who are you and how do you know Amber?" Dean barked at Emily, when Sam finally stepped to the side.

Scoffing, the girl shook her head.

"Look, dude, I don't know who you are… or who you think you are, but I ain't tellin' you nothing!"

Amber turned to Sam, eyes still flaming with anger.

"Can I have a fucking minute alone with her? You're freaking her out! She's a friend. We were in a home together. Just five goddamn minutes, Sam, please!"

"We aren't going anywhere," Dean declared.

Amber felt her face flushing and had to hold it together, trying not to say something she knew she'd regret. Turning to Dean she said, through gritted teeth, "You can stand a few goddamn feet away, Dean. Is that too fucking much to ask?"

"Watch it!" Dean warned.

"Dean, come on," Sam chimed in, clasping a hand on his shoulder. "Just give them some space. We know it's safe."

Dean shot another glare in his sister's direction before letting Sam guide him a few feet away from the two girls. Claire followed them, camera focusing on Dean's face. When he noticed, he snatched the small device out of her hand, eliciting an annoyed, "Hey!"

"If you want this back before your trip back to Jody's, you'd better zip it!"

Alarmed eyes scanning this group of people, Emily's eyes looked alarmed and cautious. Internally, she was debating whether to run and get away or stay while this thing further devolved into...into who knows what. It felt unpredictable and dangerous. But, Emily had a loyal streak and decided to stand her ground. She knew Amber and this one fact kept her in place.

Amber let out a strained breath as she turned back to her old friend.

"Sorry, Em," she offered with a resigned sigh.

"No, it's okay… I guess," Emily answered, her arms crossing over her chest, her expression a bit awkward.

"So what's the deal with these people?"

"Let's… Let's not get into that, alright? Just… Tell me, how are you? Where are you? Are you placed in some home around here?"

Not addressing the elephant in the room, Emily was weighing how she felt about this. It sounded complicated and she did understand complicated situations.

"Kinda… Yeah," she answered vaguely. "I work at Target. I'm on my lunch break, actually. What about you? Where are you? God, how many years has it been?"

Soft smile forming, Amber did the math in her head.

"Six?"

"God, you're right… Six years," Emily marveled, her eyes scanning this girl in front of her who only vaguely resembled the little toothy kid she remembered bunking with.

"So, you're still in a placement around here?" Amber inquired, noticing her first attempt had been deftly brushed aside. At Emily's clear discomfort, Amber added, "It's okay. Even if you're not they wouldn't do anything about it. Not if you don't want to."

Taking Amber's meaning, she felt a bit mollified that the men with Amber wouldn't out her to CPS. Still avoiding answering, Emily asked, "Who are they anyway? What are they to you?"

Her turn to feel uncertain about offering an answer, Amber smiled awkwardly.

"You know what? Fuck that. We're here and that's what's important. I'm so glad I bumped into you. And that you live around... "

"We should definitely meet. Grab a coffee alone, catch up," Emily said, with a longing smile.

Amber grimaced slightly at that, "We'll see about that… I'll definitely try to make it happen!"

"Why wouldn't it happen?" Emily asked, her eyes flying to the two men whose gaze remained glued on her and Amber.

"That's too complicated to get into right now," Amber said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.

Emily's eyes scanned her face. "Are you safe?" She finally asked in a worried whisper.

"Yes, Em. It's not like that, I promise."

Dean's loud call of "Amber!" made both girls glance in his direction.

Dean simply nodded at his sister, his look speaking volumes.

Letting out a frustrated huff, Amber turned to her friend. "I gotta go. But, I promise I'll try to see you again. Soon."

Emily fished in her pocket, took out, and unlocked her phone before handing it to Amber. "Here, put in your number," she said quietly.

Amber glanced behind her shoulder as she hastily typed her phone number in her friends' phone, saving it, and hastily sending a text to herself to complete the loop.

Once Emily got her phone back she hugged Amber one last time.

"My break is almost over…I'd better head back."

Breaking the embrace, Amber nodded. "Go ahead. And don't forget to text me, alright?"

"Sure thing, Amber. It was so great seeing you!"

Amber watched her leave, sending one last smile over her shoulder, before walking hastily away towards the massive Target building.

Watching her depart, Dean walked closer to Amber, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You and I are gonna talk about this."

Amber sighed. Of course they'd talk about this. Her life was so fucked up. Anger at her situation, and how rude Sam and Dean had been to Emily, burned in Amber's mind. Lips compressed into a straight line of frustration, Amber was contemplating how to ever have a normal life. A normal anything. Sam read Amber's mood and decided not to intervene. Yeah, Dean was going to ream her, and he wouldn't interfere, but this was clearly hard on his sister. They still had their coffee orders.

"Why don't we go back inside. Our order is up and we can enjoy this," was Sam's attempt to calm everyone down. It wasn't well thought out.

"I'm not in the mood, Sam," was Amber's angry response.

"Yeah, Sam. Let's Just get our drinks and go. I've had enough of this," Dean delineated, drawing his line on Amber's behavior. God, how many times would he have to tell her...she couldn't keep doing this. Dean was getting himself worked up even more.

Claire, watching all of this unfold, was getting the feeling that Amber was in big trouble, wasn't sure why, and she was kind of curious to see how this played out. Claire got the impression that Dean pulled no punches with Amber. What would this mean? What she'd recorded on her phone was very interesting. She'd have to watch this again once she got her phone back. Oh yeah, they were hiding something big!

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Standing in Amber's bedroom, leaning against the desk, arms folded with his chin down, Dean was highly pissed. This carefree attitude, while they were out in public and vulnerable to attacks, was dangerous. Sioux Falls should have been a wake up call to all of them. This wasn't him and Sam blowing things out of proportion. Demon's were out there and they were after her. Anyone, from complete strangers to people from Amber's past, could be used by Hell to play her, to lure her in. And Amber kept ignoring this.

Amber sat on her bed, her back pushed up against the headboard, frustrated and upset. Her knees were pulled up to her chin and her arms were wrapped around her legs. Her eyes staring off away from Dean, she looked miserable because she was.

The drive home had been in a tense silence and, once the groceries and Christmas items were inside the bunker, Sam had pulled Claire off to the library for some sigil study. Claire, aware she was being managed away from Amber and Dean, was on alert to all sounds in the bunker, and it was distracting her. Sam saw this and knew what was up.

The bunker had certain sounds which had become familiar to the people living in it. The kitchen had a constant hum from the compressor coils chilling the old model refrigeration units. The War Room also had an electrical hum, plus having fans, that cooled the original transistors and mainframe, kicking on and turning off abruptly. And the bedrooms would occasionally let out the loudest noises if its occupant was playing music, blowing up walls, or receiving punishment. This was all known to the three Winchesters and why Sam was intentionally keeping Claire occupied in the library. Up in the library, the sounds of the rest of the bunker never found broadcast. No soundwaves, from down below, could travel up there.

"Sam, why are we here," was Claire's direct question.

"You've never talked to me about Enochian Sigils before?" Claire leveled her gaze on an uncomfortable Sam.

Understanding what she was doing, Sam decided to shut this all down.

"You know why." Sam didn't feel the need to explain the obvious to a manipulative person. Although Sam reasoned, Claire had no clue as to the high stakes the simplest slip up presented to Amber.

"Sam, why the fuck did you flick holy water on Amber's friend? Why were you two such douches to her? She was just an old friend for fuck sake."

Claire wasn't even trying to do the assigned sigil work. Besides, why would SHE wish to summon angels? This was bullshit.

Deciding he'd had enough of this, Sam sat up straighter in his chair, leaning forward towards the girl.

"Claire, you're a smart girl. I'm confident you can do the math on your own. The demon at the tavern the night of Amber's birthday didn't just happen to be in Sioux Falls. Nor did the other two demons you and Kyle faced at the cemetery. We have reasons to believe they were after Amber."

"That's bullshit! They could be out there for any number of reasons. Why do you automatically assume it's for her?" Claire countered. She knew Sam was right, of course. She remembered the demons' words at the cemetery. In this situation she was the one who knew more...much more...than Sam did. But the best possible approach to gain intel was to play the stupid card. And Claire knew this perfectly well.

Annoyed eyes darted to the girl, Sam's tone came out harsher this time.

"First of all, you need to stop swearing! God, Claire! You're worse than Dean! I don't like the tone or language you're using, especially when I'm addressing you respectfully!"

Claire stared back at him, eyebrows furrowing.

"Are you seriously telling me off about swearing right now? Real smooth, Sam!"

Sam sighed in frustration, but willed himself not to fall for her baiting.

"I've assigned you something and I expect it to be done. I'll go put the rest of the groceries away and you'd better have finished copying and memorizing at least half of these sigils before I'm back," he told her curtly.

Claire watched him walking away with an annoyed expression. She couldn't help but marvel how effectively Sam had avoided giving anything away.

"You can run but you can't hide," she mumbled, turning her attention to the sheets of paper spread on the table in front of her. Internally, Claire was grousing over Sam's assignment.

And what did he mean, 'I'd better have it done.' She'd do what she found useful and she'd never find it useful to call an angel.

---

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Coming up into the library, Cas was looking for the bunker's inhabitants and instead found Claire. Their eyes meeting, he felt uncomfortable. His face cocked to the side, looking empathetic and sad. Claire was a constant reminder of the heartless methods of heaven.

Tight-lipped expression on her face, Claire stared back at the angel, as he stood looking at her awkwardly. She remained silent, refusing to make an effort to ease his rigidness and discomfort. His presence in that moment left her feeling justified in her refusal to do the sigil study. Damn angel.

"I was looking for Amber," Cas finally muttered.

Reading the girl's displeasure with his presence, Cas gracefully gave her her space. Lowering his eyes momentarily as a way of excusing himself, he retreated back down the a sound coming from the kitchen, Cas investigated, only to find Sam putting away the groceries.

Silent in his approach, Cas announced his purpose.

"I'm looking for Amber, It's time for her practice."

Sam jumped, hearing Cas' voice so close by from within the empty space of the kitchen.

"Jesus, Cas." Sam jumped. Visibly catching his breath, he felt his heart rate return to normal.

"He's not here. I'm looking for Amber."

Sizing up the bad timing of everything, Sam decided to level with the angel.

"Cas, today's lesson will have to be postponed. Amber is... well... she's in trouble. I don't imagine she'll be in any mood to train with you after she and Dean are finished talking. "

"Our sessions are important, Sam. I don't deem it wise to lose any hours of training. What happened? Why won't she be in the mood?"

Looking uncomfortable, Sam offered a bit more clarity.

"Amber disregarded some very important rules today, Cas. She put herself in unnecessary danger, by ignoring basic safety rules. She's been doing this a lot lately and we've let it slide so far. Today, Dean's not letting it slide. He's...ah...he's punishing her," was Sam's uncomfortable divulgence. Watching the angel's face, clearly taking in his meaning, Sam's grim face remained as he returned to putting away the groceries.

"Has Dean been informed of Amber's angel grace, of her higher level of control over her power?" Cas asked.

Stopping what he was doing, and thinking about the angel's question, Sam turned back to him.

"Yes. We got some time off this last weekend and I filled him in." Sam's face became concerned, and his worried eyes gazed involuntarily out the kitchen's door and in the direction of Amber's room.

Seeing his concern, Cas reassured him, "Amber loves Dean and she respects him. I don't believe she'll harm him."

Sam's brow creased deeply with worry as he looked back at the angel. He knew Cas' words were true. He knew that Amber wouldn't intentionally harm any of them. Yet the image of Dean being blasted away from a power burst invaded his mind.

Putting down the boxes of Lucky Charms, he started to make his way out towards the hallway, when Cas stepped in front of him, making him pause.

"Do you really think there's anything you can do?" The angel asked, causing Sam to blink. Cas intervening between the three of them was a rare occurrence, but it was telling.

Sam realised he had no idea what he'd do. In fact, he doubted there was anything that could be done.

"Sam, I don't think Amber would harm Dean. She trusts him."

"I know… You told me this before Cas, but we still don't know for sure. I mean, what if she blasts him? She could accidentally hurt him badly… Or worse!"

"The same was true for you a few days back but nothing happened," Cas reasoned. "And even if Amber does blast Dean, you won't be able to do anything to stop it."

Sam gaped at the angel. "Thanks, Cas! That's making me feel so much better," he scoffed, growing even more uncomfortable. Yet he knew the angel was right. For better or worse he had to trust his siblings. Amber's control and trust of Dean, and Dean's love and fairness in punishing Amber.

The angel's expression remained even, but he didn't comment. His words weren't offered in an attempt to console Sam. They were simply facts. Seeing the younger Winchester brother turning with a sigh back to the discarded cereal boxes, Cas leaned against the kitchen's wall near the door and watched silently Sam getting back to his chore.

---

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Claire's eyes were trained at the sigils in front of her but her gaze was unfocused. Sam's warning had barely registered. She didn't want to study enochian sigils. Not at the moment anyway. And she didn't care what Sam had to say about it. She was annoyed about not knowing what was happening between Dean and Amber and even more annoyed she still hadn't figured out what they were all hiding. Her brief encounter with Cas, had only managed to further aggravate her.

Getting up from her chair with a huff, she walked quietly to the library's entrance and examined her surroundings. When she made sure nobody was around, she carefully crept down to the main level. Hearing some muffled voices coming from the direction of the kitchen, Claire headed there first. The door was left ajar, offering Claire both a hiding spot and the opportunity to clearly listen to what Sam and Castiel were discussing inside.

As she drew closer she was able to make out their conversation, catching half of Sam's sentence.

"... I mean, what if she blasts him? She could accidentally hurt him...Badly… Or worse!"

Claire's eyebrows furrowed and she mouthed a silent 'what they fuck' with her lips ! Amber could blast Dean? And hurt him? With what? This made no sense.

Castiel's next words perplexed her even more. "The same was true for you a few days back, but nothing happened. And even if Amber does blast Dean, you won't be able to do anything to stop it."

What the hell was going on with these people? Claire wondered. When silence engulfed the kitchen and the sound of cabinets opening and closing resumed, Claire moved quietly down the hall, walking towards Amber's room. Maybe she'd manage to listen to something useful there.

And beyond that, she wanted to know exactly how Dean was dealing with Amber. He had looked pissed and had made clear that Amber had somehow broken rules. She was certain that he was a dick, but a part of her wanted the confirmation that she was right. This was her opportunity to learn what kind of a threat Dean really posed and if his threats were idle or something she'd need to worry over.

Carefully, she hugged the walls along the hall and moved stealthily till she reached the door of room 16. Ear pressing against the door she focused to make out the muffled words exchanged inside.

---

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Dean was done weighing how this would all go. He had reached his decision and he was ready to start acting on it.

Since Amber had come into their lives, Dean had assumed the role of the main disciplinarian. It was a familiar role. One he'd assumed in the past with Sam. One that had ended up being part of his very nature. He knew the song and dance. And by now, so did Amber. She broke a rule, she paid the price. It was simple...except that it wasn't.

Sam had been a complicated boy, with feelings and stuff. Dean remembered how hard this had been for their father to deal with. He remembered all the times he had run interference between Sam and John. And how sometimes that had landed him in hot water with John, too.

Once Dean turned fourteen he was given the task of disciplining Sam on top of his other task of raising him. It wasn't something he'd asked for. But it wasn't something he could avoid either. With the amount of time he and his little brother spent alone, and with Sammy getting older and constantly testing the waters, Dean had no choice but to learn how to dish out discipline. He had even managed to do it in a more balanced way than John. And had he known, John would've disapproved.

Having seen Amber's struggles, Dean had a heart for his sister. She had it rough. He saw how she struggled, and it hurt him that the biggest thing he could do was protect her...and this ended up including keeping her away from other people in an effort to keep her away from demons and the supernatural world that was seeking to use her or kill her. He saw all of this.

But this girl had to meet him halfway.

Dean had been leaning against his sister's desk, arms crossed and looking down at an upset Amber. He was reviewing this line of thought internally. He knew what his next step should entail. He also hated it. But it was imperative...she had to learn to stop and think before she acted! She had to automatise her responses and safety measures. They had talked about the importance of this. Repeatedly. And yet she had ignored these rules. Repeatedly. And they had let it slide. Repeatedly.

They couldn't afford to do this anymore.

He reflected on how many times she had done this. Denver, Asa's funeral, her birthday party, today… And who knows how many times while she was at Jody's with the girls. She had not thought about where she was and who might've been around. She had ignored the established course of action in such cases. This had to stop. And he was going to have to step in here and make sure that from now on she remembered.

"So, you know you screwed up, right?"

Dean's words broke the silence of the room. Amber, not raising her eyes, was still staring at her bed cover with angry eyes. She hadn't lifted her gaze to Dean's, she couldn't. She knew she'd made a mistake, but it wasn't on purpose. It wasn't an intentional thing. Yes, she hadn't gone through the routine she knew she should've… But it was such a natural response to seeing an old friend, she didn't even think about it. This was so unfair. Pursing her lips tightly she remained silent, pushing Dean's buttons on disobedience.

"Hey! I asked you a question! You know you screwed up, right?" Dean's voice was louder, demanding a reply.

"No, Dean, I don't know that."

This was all Amber cared to say. She knew she was getting herself into hotter water, but right now she didn't give a crap.

"Well, you did. You screwed up big. That woman...girl...whatever she is...she could've been a demon. You could've been killed or taken right in front of us and we wouldn't have been able to do anything about it."

Dean's voice held an emotional tinge as he said this.

Amber looked up at him for the first time, feeling his sincerity break through his anger. She saw within his eyes a sadness, a sorrowful edge to his anger as he expressed what the loss of her would cause him.

She kept her eyes on him. He was getting her attention.

"You see, I don't know what else to do here. We've been training you and teaching you to protect yourself because your life is constantly threatened. Everyone could be a threat. Looking like your best bud is their favorite trick. Do you get this?"

"Yes, Dean, I fucking get it! We've been over this a million times," Amber said in tired frustration.

"Exactly! We've been over this a million times! So, Amber, I'm done warning you. Cautioning you. Threatening you. I've let it slide before. And you've had more than enough chances. I can't let this slide again," Dean said, his tone stern and forlorn at the same time.

Amber's eyes grew wider and her face flushed, realizing where this was heading.

"Dean, no! C'mon! I'll do better! I'll remember to do this right next time, I promise!"

"Yes, you will remember. I'll make sure of that," Dean said in the same tone. At the pleading look she sent him he simply shook his head.

"No, Amber. If I don't step up right now you'll keep screwing this up, eventually getting yourself killed and...and I lose it everytime I even think about this."

At this Dean turned his head off to the side, hiding the emotional response distorting his face at the thought of losing her, his jaw clenching, the cords of his neck becoming visible.

Mastering himself, he returned his focus back to Amber, her anger visibly deflated.

Eyes still on Dean, Amber's mouth was dipping open in a bit of flattering and appreciation for what Dean was saying. He really cared about her.

In a separate reality, Dean was holding himself together. He could do this.

"Do you have anything to say? This is your chance."

Having a grip on himself now, Dean threw this out there. He remembered Sam asking this question when dealing with the girl and it seemed like something he should do as part of his 'being more fair' effort.

Amber was listening to Dean...even as she kept her peace. She'd been here so many times with her brothers.

Something she thought was a minor issue, they deemed a major misstep. And it always turned out they were right. She never saw this on the front end; Always on the back end of these sorts of arguments. So far, this was three for three that they'd been right. God, she hoped they never found out about her going up to the cemetery with Claire.

Dean kept his silence, He could see Amber was thinking about his words.

Not wanting to sound weak, yet only having a weak position to offer, Amber was feeling herself falter. She couldn't defend herself. She hadn't intended anything wrong, yet she'd definitely put herself in danger. Not following the rules and protocol regarding her own safety. It turned out she wasn't in danger. But they didn't know that for sure until Sam and Dean got all up in Emily's face. Not until they did all those rude things, did they know for sure.

And all these could be avoided had she gone about this properly. Walking to Sam and Dean and letting them know she thought she knew that girl. Letting them know she'd talk to her so that they could be ready to act. Having murmured an exorcism near Emily before attempting to talk to her. Oh god, she was flailing about emotionally. And one thing was for sure. She had nothing. She couldn't look Dean in the eye and defend herself or actions. Letting out a sigh, Amber slumped down, shoulders dropping, and her arms relaxing across her stomach. Even she could now see how she'd screwed up.

"Nothing then?"

Eyes up at Dean, Amber cocked her head at an angle, her bangs covering part of her face, giving him the one-eyed stare.

"Ok. It wasn't good," she finally got out quietly.

"You're damn right it wasn't good. It was a disaster that could have blown up in your face. Do you get this?"

"Yes, Dean, I get this." Amber didn't wish to say anything more, because what seemed like the next concession was her agreement to get smacked. And she wasn't going to agree to that. No fucking way.

"So you get that I can't let this slide? That I won't?"

At Dean's rhetorical question, Amber's eyes flashed to her brother and she saw him standing up from his leaning against the desk. Her heart pounded with fear as he started coming over to her. She sat up straighter, eyes wide.

"Dean!"

Amber didn't get out any more than this and Dean was beside her.

"Stand up. Let's take care of this." was all he said, hauling her off of the bed, his hand wrapping around her upper arm.

Struggling against his strength, Amber was pulled to standing, Dean switching places with her.

"No, Dean! Stop! It was an accident! I didn't plan this! I won't do it again…"

Ignoring her attempts to change his mind, Dean sat on the edge of her bed. He knew this drill.

"Settle down. You know you deserve this. Suck it up," were his strong words, as he tugged the girl over his knees and immobilized her torso over his left leg. Wrapping her tightly against his side, and locking her kicking legs between his own, he'd learned this was the fastest and most effective way to get this done with Amber.

Amber heard him, knew she deserved this, but there was no way she'd willingly go to her own execution. She'd had enough of Dean's spankings by now and each one took days to heal. They really hurt!

"Augh! Dean, no! Stooooop! You asshole!"

Dean ignored her protests and focused on his target as he started smacking her backside. She was only wearing leggins, so he deemed this was enough to just follow through over this thin covering. After all, she hadn't done this intentionally.

She couldn't stop the inevitable, and Amber was feeling the helplessness of having to endure this punishment. This forced submission caused her stomach to feel like it had dropped to her feet and she was just laying over Dean's thigh, vulnerable and exposed. Dean's hard palm kept coming down on her backside, the sound loud and sharp. The shocking sting was alarming.

Dean, watching Amber take his fifteen smacks and starting to cry, felt it was time to wrap this up.

"You have to assume everyone is the enemy. Tell me how you should have gone about talking to this Emily girl today."

Amber felt the strong urge to tell Dean to go fuck himself, but she wisely managed to keep her thought silent. Having been here before she knew delaying the answer would only cost her more smacks and pain.

"I should have told you and Sam first," she managed to get out through her tears. "And then check with holy water or an exorcism before talking to her."

"Exactly. You know the drill so start using it, Amber! This will continue to happen if you continue to invite disaster. It's my job to keep you alive," punctuating his last statement with one more smack to her ass, Dean stopped.

The girl was crying but had stopped struggling. Dean lifted her up and Amber yanked herself away from his hold. He attempted to place his hands on her shoulders, and Amber glared at him through red-rimmed eyes moving away from his attempted touch.

"Leave me alone!"

She might have come around to seeing that she deserved this, but she in no way liked this.

Pulling herself away from Dean's grip she flung herself on her bed, back to him, hugging her pillow to her face sobbing. The burning sting in her ass was a rude reminder of how much this punishment always hurt. Especially when it came from Dean. He was so mean. At this moment Amber felt miserable. And angry, and embarrassed, and frustrated. Her shitty life just hurt and all she could do was cry.

Dean watched her and was left feeling like he'd kicked a dog, his own heart aching. But this was what he had to do to keep her safe. This was his job and he'd keep doing it whenever he had to.

---

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Claire struggled to catch everything that was said on the other side of the door. Dean and Amber hadn't exchanged many words, nor were they particularly informative. Other than the confirmation of Dean being an overbearing dick and the realization that Amber never once called him dad, she got nothing. When she heard Amber's yelling and soon after the unmistakable sound of repetitive slaps, Claire gasped quietly, realising the ass-busting threats were far from idle. A knot forming in her stomach she had little time to mull this over in her head, as a large hand clasped on her shoulder.

Jumping startled, she turned around to meet Sam's displeased glare. Shocked into silence both by the happenings in Amber's room and by Sam catching her eavesdropping. Claire stood rigidly against the wall not knowing what to expect.

Sam moved his hand from clasping her shoulder to circling around her forearm, turned, and started walking to the opposite direction, pulling Claire with him.

Attempting to free herself from his grip, Claire, unsurprisingly, failed. With an annoyed huff she had no choice but to let Sam lead the way back up to the library.

Pointing a finger to the chair she had vacated, he said in a tone that held no room for argument, "Sit!"

Claire, looking down at the sigil pages he'd laid out for her, she felt like a horse who'd been led to the edge of a canyon, refusing to step down onto the steep trail. She was backing up mentally, her face screwed up into a frown of stubborn resistance.

Dean had usually been the one to intervene with Claire whenever they'd found her out on a solo hunt. Dean had been the one who'd physically hauled her back to the Impala and back to Jody's. So, for Sam, this felt like he was stepping on Dean's toes and this parental-type territory only Dean shared with Claire. But...Sam was furious with this girl and, catching her red-handed, listening outside of Amber's room, no doubt hearing the private 'conversation' between Dean and Amber, Sam needed to address this head on.

"Claire, I told you to sit here, to complete at least half of this sigil work. You not only didn't do this, you intruded upon Amber and Dean. This won't happen here."

Having heard what sounded like Amber getting her ass handed to her by Dean, Claire was starting to get a fuller understanding of how Amber was being raised at the bunker. She couldn't even imagine getting her own ass kicked by Dean, but now she realized she might. Yeah, Dean had had the motive and the opportunity in the past, but this was a line he'd never crossed. And Now...here at the bunker for a month, and having agreed to all of the terms of her stay here, this looked like it was indeed on the table. Shit...this might happen.

And...not having this history with Sam, Claire was mistakenly feeling protected as their relationship had never involved anything close to this.

"Cool it, Sam! I was just worried about my friend," she answered in an annoyed tone. She had so many cooler answers she'd kill to throw in Sam's face, but she decided that if there ever was a time to play it safe, this was now.

"Worried about your friend?" Sam asked with a scoff. "Your friend was having a private conversation with her father, Claire!"

"Father, my ass," Claire mumbled before she could stop herself. Sam was getting her worked up. Catching the brief look of surprise and concern on his face, she pursed her lips together. She was losing her temper and letting things slip.

"Excuse me?" Sam asked in an exasperated tone. He peered at Claire, taking in her every twitch and shift of posture. Did she hear something being said between Dean and Amber that gave away their story?

Her mind racing, Claire crossed her arms over her chest.

"I said, 'Father, my ass!' That douche wants to call himself a father? He's in there beating her up! And you're doing nothing to help her! Some family you guys are!"

Claire watched Sam's face looking relieved for the briefest second. Good save, she thought to herself.

"Dean's not beating anyone up! Amber screwed up and she's facing the consequences she knows to expect! And if you know what's good for you, you'll start doing as you're told, is that clear, Claire?"

"What, will you do, blast me if I don't?" was Claire's snark...revealing too much in her sarcastic response.

Sam, forehead creasing and then relaxing into a broader understanding of where and how Claire had lifted this exact phrase, Sam now saw that Claire had been eavesdropping on he and Cas' conversation and ended up outside of Amber's bedroom, too. This was looking like a bigger and bigger offense.

"Who's blasting who?"

Sam and Claire turned to see Dean walking up the stairs of the library, a slight frown on his face. His eyes traveled from Sam's to Claire's, expectantly.

"Dean, why don't you sit down. I think you need to hear this," was Sam's deadly-quiet voice.

The calm manner in which Sam delivered this statement was not reassuring. It was chilling Claire' heart. This was untrod territory for them all, and it didn't look like the Winchesters were the slightest bit reserved about crossing over.

"Hear what?" Dean asked curtly, his eyes turning to the girl. He could tell Claire had done something and Sam was in the middle of dealing with it.

Claire's brain raced as she assessed her situation. Sam looked angry. Angrier than she'd ever seen him. She was betting she wouldn't get out of this. This realisation made her uncomfortable, but it also gave her a new surge of resourceful survival.

"Amber blasting you, apparently?" Claire dropped the bomb and all the pretenses shifting her challenging glare from Sam to Dean.

Dean's brow creased and his eyebrows lowered as her words registered. His eyes flashed to Sam's before turning back to Claire.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"She doesn't know what she's talking about because that's what happens when you're eavesdropping. You don't gather reliable intel," Sam snapped.

Dean's eyes narrowing, he took a step towards Claire, who managed to stand her ground.

"You were eavesdropping?" He asked in a dangerous tone. "What are you, four?" He all but yelled next.

"Why so upset, Dean? Do you guys have anything to hide?" Claire shot back.

"We have a right to our damn privacy, Claire!" Dean barked. Reaching in his pocket he took out her phone, which he hadn't yet returned and held it high over his head.

"How would you like it if we went through this, huh?"

Claire's face visibly blanched for the first time. Her expression darkening, she extended a hand, palm up.

"Give it back!" She told Dean, demandingly.

Before the oldest Winchester had a chance to answer, Sam snatched it from his hold.

"No he won't. You're not getting this back for a week. And the same goes for your laptop.

You'll only have access to it while working on your lessons under my supervision."

"That's bullshit!" Claire exclaimed.

"You wanna make it two?" Dean asked in a challenging tone.

Claire felt her blood boil. They were insufferable. Insufferable dicks. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. She had learned nothing new and ended up losing the two things that kept her sane in this pithole. Fuck!

Letting out a loud groan of frustration Claire strode towards the library's exit, only to be stopped by Sam's hand clasping around her forearm.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Hell! Or my room, whichever I reach first!"

"No you aren't," Sam informed her. Dragging her back to the table, he forced her down into her chair. "You'll finish the work I assigned you before going anywhere else. Is that clear?"

Claire turned and gave Sam a murderous glare, refusing to acknowledge his words.

"Are you listening, Claire?" Sam asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I'm listening, I just don't give a fuck about what you're saying," Claire offered in a mock sweet tone.

Lips pursing in a thin line, Sam grabbed the book of sigils and moved the silver knife, that served as a bookmark, two pages ahead.

"That little comment just earned you two more pages of work. You wanna keep testing me? Go ahead. You won't leave this table until you've finished all of the work you've been assigned!"

Dean, watching Claire's unmasked contempt for their authority, could see where this was heading. She was going to end up at this place of reckoning sooner than he'd hoped. And Sam, well Sam was stepping up in a manner he'd begun to see more often. It was impressive...and Dean was occasionally reminded of himself back in Sam's teen years.

"Oh yeah? And what happens if I do?" Claire challenged, seething.

"I take my belt to your ass," came Dean's laconic answer.

Silence followed his words. It was the first time he had spelled it out in this unquestionable manner, what the consequences would be. And it was the first time Claire was left speechless. Torn between pushing Dean to the ultimate test and self-preservation, she remained still, weighing the alternatives to deviating from this path. She wasn't finding a way around this.

Clenching her jaw, eyes angry even as she accepted her defeat, she grabbed hold of the discarded pen and paper.

Not having anything to say to this, Claire simply poised herself to get this distasteful job out of the way. Neither brother thought she was taking this seriously, but she was at least complying and they'd accept this.

Not having anything more that needed saying, actions were what counted here, the brothers gave Claire one last look before heading down to the lower lever, leaving her to work.

Claire felt them leaving and with their departure, let out a breath of relief. She came very close to getting into some seriously hot water. Not that she gave a shit about these sigils. OK, she'd do the work, but she'd do the absolutely minimal amount of work to not push them any further. There was still this opportunity to get this done faster than they'd anticipated and sneak down to pretend to use the bathroom, giving her a window of opportunity within this cover story. She might hear something useful. But god, she had to be much more careful than she'd been before. Noticing the bourbon decanter on the side table between the two chairs, Claire remembered that this hadn't been there before. The brothers must've gotten this out and forgot to return it to wherever they'd previously had it. Too bad she didn't have her flask with her to fill it up for later. If there ever was a night alcohol would help, this was tonight.

Reaching the kitchen, Dean went right for the beer. Grabbing two, he opened them both, handing one to Sam. They were both mentally exhausted. Silently drinking their beer, the two men didn't need to say anything, just sat there in silent contemplation. It was clear Claire had heard some critical intel and they both knew she was smart. She'd put this all together sooner or later. And then what?

The minutes ticked by and Dean was the first to finish his beer. Lost in the sea of implications and possibilities, he threw his empty bottle in the trash and reached into the fridge for another. Punishing Amber, then facing Claire's challenging behavior, realising she knew they'd been hiding something from her and that she was actively trying to figure things out, it all racked his nerves and temper. He hadn't felt that calm yet, and he needed to feel calm, because if he didn't, well, he'd didn't know what he'd do...and this kind of scared him.

Sam watched his brother, trying to read in his face and body, read all the things Dean kept bottled up, stubbornly refusing to let them out. Yet another thing Dean and Amber had in common. Sam drank his beer slowly, contemplating that Dean had just declared war with Claire. It was out in the open now, the way he'd handle any more blatant disobedience from her. And Claire was not the kind of person who'd back down from a challenge. It was just a matter of time. When Dean got up and grabbed his second bottle, Sam wondered how things with Amber had gone down.

"You okay, Dean?" Sam finally asked in a quiet voice.

Dean's only answer consisted of downing a large sip of his beer. A few silent seconds passed before he turned to look at Sam. "You got Claire's phone right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Give it here," Dean said, extending a hand across the table.

Sam handed the phone over and watched Dean taking it in his hands and trying to unlock it.

"Shit! It has a password!"

"Well, what did you expect? Claire allowing anyone free access to her phone?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

"And what the hell are you doing trying to go through her phone? We're chewing her out for not respecting our privacy and not ten minutes later you try to snoop through her cell?"

Ignoring his words, Dean pushed the phone towards his brother.

"Just get me in, Sam!"

"No! I'm not getting you in! Did you hear a single word I just said? We'd be nothing, but hypocrits if we did this!"

"You call it hypocrisy, I call it giving her a taste of her own damn medicine. I mean it, Sam! Get me in! If she suspects something about us, about Amber… She might have made contact with someone to gather intel or ask questions or whatever. We need to know!"

Sam stared at Dean in silence. None of this had crossed his mind, but Dean was right. If Claire had reached out to anyone about Amber and their situation they had to know. Grabbing the phone he got up and headed out of the kitchen.

"I'll let you know when I'm in," he said over his shoulder.

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Claire was in the middle of a huge stretch, arms raised above her head, neck tilting from side to side, when the three Winchesters all but burst into the library.

Amber entered first, expression worried. Sam and Dean followed her and they looked pissed.

"Now what?" Claire asked, trying to gauge what this was all about. "I did your stupid sigils!"

Dean glared at her before turning to Amber.

"Sit! Both of you!"

Amber glanced at Claire questioningly as she walked around the table. Claire shrugged at her friend before Amber sat herself down next to her, having no idea what this was all about.

Sam and Dean walked closer to the table, remaining on their feet. Tall figures towering over then. Arms crossed, Dean watched his brother setting Claire's phone on the table in front of

Claire and Amber.

"Care to explain this?" Dean ground out, opening Claire's phone to the text Amber had sent her when Claire was heading off to that demon hunt in the next town over from Jody's, the one where she'd encountered Sam and Dean.

'"Jody found the bottle and the demons' bodies up at the cemetery. She's

convinced you were up there. I haven't admitted a thing, but she's onto us.

Answer me as soon as you read this! Be safe"

Amber blanched when she realized what they were looking at. Claire on the other hand, flushed. In anger.

"You went through my phone?" she all but yelled, glaring at Sam and Dean.

"What's your fucking problem?"

"What's up Claire? You don't like people butting into your business? You explain this, both of you, and I want the truth," Dean demanded, eyes ablaze. He was so pissed and this was looking so bad for both girls. Sam, he was angry, too. This text held so much they needed to know.

"Listening to someone's conversation and going out of your way to hack into someone's phone are two very different things, you creep!" Claire exclaimed.

"Enough!" Dean barked. "What does this text message mean?"

Amber felt her stomach falling to her feet. How the hell did this happen? They weren't supposed to find out! She kept her eyes trained on the phone's screen. She couldn't manage looking at Sam or Dean right now. Not without guilt painted all over her face.

Claire glanced at Amber for all of a second and could see she was losing it. Buying time was imperative here. For both of them.

"Can't you read, Dean?" She asked, sarcastically.

Sam silently watched the exchange, not missing Amber's silence and obvious discomfort. "Amber? Anything useful to add?" Sam asked.

Amber's eyes stole a glance at Sam, but other than swallowing with difficulty she couldn't form a single word right now. Hoping Claire would understand what she asked of her to do she nudged her foot under the table.

"It's not that hard to decode, is it?" Claire asked in a challenging tone.

"I was heading to the cemetery, you two found me and Amber, being a decent friend, tried to cover for me with Jody."

"And why is she mentioning the cemetery?" Dean asked. Turning to a still silent Amber, he addressed her directly, "Why the cemetery, Amber? Were you up there?"

"No she wasn't…" was Claire's defense.

"I didn't ask you!" Dean snapped, his face a grim warning. He wasn't playing around.

"I wasn't!" Amber managed to get out. Shit would hit the fan if they didn't believe her, but at this point all she could do was fight to support the story she and Claire had devised.

"I wasn't! I only mentioned it to warn Claire. So that she'd be prepared when she got back. Read the text… I'm saying Jody's convinced 'you' were up there. Not us, 'you'!" Her tone was desperate and far from confident. She only hoped her brothers would think this was due to her worry over further punishment, after her 'discussion' with Dean.

"Then why was Jody onto 'you'? As in both of you, and not just Claire?" Sam probbed, keeping his tone as even as possible. He could see Amber was scared and nervous.

"Because she was covering for me… God, Sam, you're supposed to be the smart one, right?" Claire said in a bored tone.

Amber's eyes flew from Sam to Dean, gauging their expressions. They didn't seem convinced, but she could tell they were now doubting whether or not they actually had tangible proof.

"So, 'onto us' means what?" was Dean's demanding question.

"Well, Jody looked unconvinced… She didn't buy the excuses I made for Claire. She could tell I was lying…" Amber trailed off, pretending to admit her part in this fiasco.

"And she knew I'd also had wine…Guys, I swear!" Amber sounded desperate, but her explanation made sense...and matched with what the men knew from Jody. Because a thread of this was true.

Amber pulled this emotion into her heart so that it would be the emotion that they felt as she spoke. It was a trick for believable lying she'd learned long ago.

Turning their gaze to Claire, the two men waited to hear what Claire had to say...and to watch her face and body language.

Claire, internally impressed by Amber's acting skill, was starting to think they might pull this off. Reclining back in her chair, expression almost scolding she looked at the two men.

"Another Advil moment, Sam?" was Claire's sarcastic response.

Dean, not following her comment, looked at his brother. Sam looked uncomfortable. What the hell was going on here?

Sam looked at the two girls and considered the situation. He was sure they were hiding part of the story. But he was also sure he and Dean had no evidence to back this up. Their explanation. about the text. was plausible. He and Dean couldn't dole out punishment based on gut-feelings and suspicions. Not when it was something this serious. Now, how would they dig themselves out of this hole? And how would they make sure Amber left that table without feeling she could play them or con her way out of putting herself in danger? Before he had too much time to contemplate any of this, Dean's voice broke the silence.

"Wipe that smug smile off your face, Claire! And don't think for a moment I buy this is all there is to it," he said curtly, his gaze focusing mainly on his sister. "I just hope you two will start using your lying skills and brains before you do stupid shit. Not to dig yourselves out of trouble after. You'd better hope my suspicions won't be confirmed. 'Cause if you two have been lying about all of these..." Dean left his threat hanging in the air. Both girls knew what he was implying.

"I thought this whole thing was over and done with at Jody's," Claire said curtly. "You snooping through my phone was fucked up! This is not about us lying, this is you two mucking this up and making too much out of something really simple."

Dean glanced at Sam, not sure what they could say at this moment.

"Dean," Amber called in a serious tone. "I promise, nothing happened that night. And you know for a fact that I stayed back when Claire went after those demons the day after. I know not to risk my life like that now, alright? I really do. You need to stop freaking out over every little thing."

"Over every little thing?" was Dean's incredulous response. "You mean like you almost getting killed. That little thing?" Dean threw at Amber. He knew they were both lying at least about part of this. And they knew he knew. For the moment, this was enough. He didn't play the political games Sam felt he had to. Dean got to the bottom of issues.

"Whatever you think you know, you're wrong. Now give me back my phone," was Claire's demanding tone.

Like a lawyer being given evidence the opposing counsel overlooked, Dean was keeping hold of Claire's phone. He'd eliminate their back channel communication...at the least.

"Oh, no. We're hanging onto this." Dean was gripping Claire's phone and, Claire, knowing this was a vital part of her stealth, couldn't help the twitch of her mouth, a tell Dean read accurately.

"A week, remember?" Sam added, earning a death glare from Claire.

Castiel, who had quietly approached the scene soon after the boys brought Amber up into the library, watched the interactions with interest and some concern. He could tell both Amber and Claire were upset. He could also tell that Claire's phone had been taken away. A common consequence for teenagers, from his understanding. He wasn't sure why, but he felt the need to break this tension. Stepping closer to the table he cleared his throat making all sets of eyes turn to him.

Not having anything to offer in regards to what was being discussed he glanced at the papers with hand-drawn sigils spread in front of Claire.

"I can take a look at those," he said in his usual neutral tone, glancing from Claire to Sam.

Sam glanced at the angel surprised, not only by his sudden appearance, but also by his offer. Considering it he nodded.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks Cas. You do that and I'll go see what I can whip up for dinner."

Dean followed his brother out silently, leaving the two girls alone with Cas.

Taking a seat closest to Claire, and drawing the papers near him, Castiel scanned the sigils as he asked, "What was that all about?"

"How much did you hear?" Amber asked back.

"All of it. But I have zero context as to what occurred while you were at Jody's, Amber. From my understanding whatever this was about happened while you were there."

Claire rolled her eyes at Castiel's effort to make conversation. "None of your damn business," she said, curtly.

"Claire, c'mon!" Amber said quietly. She could understand why she was being like this towards Cas, but at the same time she had started actually feeling for the angel. And she could tell Claire's hostility hurt him.

"Sam and Dean thought I followed Claire to a cemetery in the middle of the night, Cas. But I didn't. It's all cleared out now," Amber explained.

"You went to a cemetery in the middle of the night?" Castiel asked, looking at Claire a bit confused. "Why would you do that?"

"I like the atmosphere," Claire mumbled, annoyed.

Cas didn't comment on her sarcastic response. Instead he pushed one of the papers closer to her.

"You need to fix this lower right part. If you drew this like this, it wouldn't work. Look at the original design and you'll see you've done the curve and line wrong."

"It's not like I care, Clarence. I did what they asked and I won't spend another minute on these!"

"This sigil is really useful Claire. I know it can be used to both protect from evil and cast evil away. We deal with evil every day. This is really good to know," was Amber's sincere response, turning to earnestly address Claire's refusal to even consider this. Couldn't Claire see how these added to their arsenal?

"I don't deal with evil by drawing pretty pictures." was Claire's snide response.

"I got my guns and my knives for that. Plus… Shouldn't you be on my side right about now?" She asked with a pointed look.

Amber's face flushed slightly and she glanced at Cas before raising her hands up in resignation.

"Fine, I'm shutting up! Do what you want!"

Claire, happy that the subject was closed, leaned back in her chair, disconnecting with the conversation and the subject matter.

"I'll let Sam and Dean know we're done here," Cas said, rising from his seat.

"Yeah, and remind them they promised we'd decorate tonight, so they'd better wipe those sour faces off and come help us with the tree and the stuff we bought," Amber said, desperate to change the atmosphere and mood of this evening.

Sitting in her chair, thinking about more 'Cas exposure', Claire couldn't help but picture her suggestion to Dean regarding the tree topper. Laughing out loud, she caught Amber's attention.

"What?" Amber wanted in on the secret joke.

"Oh, that we have our very own live-action tree topper."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Amber still didn't follow.

Waving a dismissing hand, Claire mumbled, "Ask Dean."

---

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Getting the box on the table, Amber was opening it up, enjoying this moment of discovery. That crappy old artificial tree that had been donated to the home she was in, it had been bent, had sharp ends and looked weirdly sparse, like a cactus and a pine tree had a baby.

The picture on the box, it looked nice. Not too tall, but full and perfectly Christmas-tree shaped.

Dean, coming up into the library, he watched Amber's cautious enthusiasm as she was opening the box and he was glad he'd indulged her. Having just been up in the library to confront Amber, Dean wasn't sure how this was going to go.

Amber, glancing at him entering the room and saw that he looked calmer. "Don't just sit there," she told him hesitantly. When he didn't react to her words in any pissy kind of way she continued, "We need some Christmas music."

Dean raising both eyebrows, his expression almost pained, answered, "Christmas music? Ah, come on!"

Hand going on her hip, Amber narrowed her eyes at him. "If you get away with making me eat a turkey sandwich for our first Thanksgiving together, I get to have Christmas music playing while decorating!"

She had a point. Dean and Sam had only gotten some pre-cooked turkey dinner from the Kroger's for their first Thanksgiving in the bunker. Of course, it had been more than what all three Winchester siblings had while growing up. Sam and Dean felt like they had to at least acknowledge this holiday with the girls with them. Naturally, turkey sandwiches had replaced the sit down Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce. It hadn't been bad, quite good really. Claire, gloomy from missing Jody and Alex, and knowing what a real Thanksgiving dinner was like, from both her original family and at Jody's, had thought it was pathetic, but she did like the turkey sandwiches.

Not having a response to Amber's request, Dean begrudgingly got his cell phone out and searched for a Christmas playlist online. Shuddering lightly as he hit the play button, he set the phone down near Amber and watched her getting back to ceremoniously bringing out the tree pieces. It reminded him of the Christmas-themed-death he and Sam narrowly escaped from those two ancient pagan gods. That had been close.

Claire was curled up in an armchair in the far corner of the room, watching Amber and Dean silently. She didn't feel like participating in any of this forced celebration. Well, forced where she was concerned. Amber looked like she was enjoying herself.

Sam entered the library holding two bottles of beer. He handed one to his brother and sipped from the other.

"What about us?" Amber asked, sending a hopeful look in Sam's direction.

"I think you two had more than your fair share of alcohol while at Jody's," Sam answered evenly.

"Aw, c'mon! It's Christmas!" Amber pouted.

Letting out a scoff Sam shook his head, "It's not Christmas!"

"It's Christmas-decoration-day. It's kinda the same thing," Amber countered.

"Dean, a little help here?" Sam asked, turning to his brother.

"Sure," Dean nodded. "I'll go grab them two bottles."

"Dude!"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Samantha! It's a beer. They won't wake up alcoholics tomorrow, I promise."

Sam shook his head, not bothering to hide his disapproval. Sam knew first hand how Dean would sometimes guilt-trip after administering punishments. That was something he'd experienced first hand, so he wasn't surprised when he saw Dean doing this with Amber, too. And now Claire. He'd let this go. After all, he was relieved that the tension from the confrontation with the girls was melting away. If a bottle of beer for each girl helped this, then so be it.

Amber's face split into a grin as she shrugged at Sam.

"If dad says it's okay…" she trailed innocently and turned her attention back to putting the tree together.

Claire watched this whole interaction, completely thrown off. Wasn't Dean angry at Amber for the whole text thing? And wasn't Amber angry at Dean? Especially after what Claire had overheard taking place between them…and now Dean letting them have beers? What was this, schizophrenia, multiple personality disorder, or something worse? And Amber calling Dean 'dad' for the first time in days… Claire almost scoffed at that. None of this made sense to her.

The artificial tree was out of the box now, piled on the floor as they flipped the box around to see the assembly instructions. Claire watched Amber working, finding the tree stand, placing it on the side table where the bourbon was now missing from...again. She'd have to find out where they kept it. How hard could it be?

"Did anyone bring up the ornaments," Amber asked, looking over her shoulder as she worked.

"I'll go get them," Sam offered, walking down the stairs to go retrieve them.

Amber worked methodically, finding the largest branches to start layering the bottom tier working her way on up. She was having fun.

Back up in the library, Dean held out a beer to Claire. Not knowing what else to do, she eyed the man suspiciously, still accepting the opened beer. Nodding his head, Dean simply passed it to her, realizing she was still steamed from earlier. He couldn't help that, and he knew she'd lied, but they were moving on even though he was still keeping an eye on her.

Walking over to where Amber worked, Dean turned slightly towards Claire.

"Why don't you come join us?" Dean asked.

"No thanks. I'm perfectly fine over here," Claire shook her head.

"Suit yourself then" Dean mumbled. At least he'd tried.

Coming up the stairs, Sam was bringing the boxes of ornaments. There were only two and the bulbs were medium and small. There was also a loose garland of green and gold tinsel that had delighted Amber's heart and a string of tree lights she'd selected. She'd figure this decorating thing out and...well...she'd do something with all this stuff.

Handing her a beer, Dean assessed Amber's progress. Amicably taking the offered beer from him, and taking a drink from it, Amber set the bottle down off to the side so she could continue with her task.

"Where's Cas?" Amber asked as she went over to Sam, grabbing the Christmas lights.

"Not sure," Sam answered.

"He should be here," Amber decided. "CAS!" she hollered a second later.

Claire rolled her eyes from her spot, but remained silent, drinking her beer and hoping this whole circus sideshow would end sooner than later.

"Amber?" Castiel asked, making his way into the library.

"We're decorating. Dean and Claire are only good for drinking beer. I need someone actually helping me," Amber said in a neutral tone. She felt bad thinking of the angel alone in a room, but she didn't want to look too eager to have him around.

"I'm here, too," Sam mentioned.

"You tried to keep us from our beer. You're lucky we let you stay," was Amber's dry response. But her eyes held a playfulness that told Sam she was merely having her fun with him. He didn't mind. Considering how this day had played out, he was more than happy that she was having fun and looked cheerful.

The tree, now fully assembled, looked cute in its diminutive 2 ½ ft height. As Amber opened the box with the string of lights, she pulled out the cardboard spindle the lights were wrapped around. She found the end and started unwinding it. She kept unwrapping its length. And she kept going. It was really long.

Sam, noticing Amber working to get the string of lights off its spindle, grabbed the box and read the length. His eyebrows shot up, those upside down Us showing on his forehead.

"Amber, this is 20 feet long."

Looking at the coiled pile on the floor, Amber could see this was really long.

"Shit. Didn't mean to buy something this long."

"Well, let's give it a go, Maybe I can really fill up the tree with lights. Might work," Amber offered. She really didn't have any idea, but what the hell, she'd give it a go. Picking up her beer, and taking another deep pull from the bottle, Amber was contemplating her next maneuver.

Sam keeping his doubts to himself, simply nodded, watching Amber trying to make this happen.

Claire watched this, still sitting over in her chair. She was no longer so confused. She was now curious.

A couple feet to the right from the blonde, Dean, leaning against the wall, drinking his beer, watched the scene as if he was taking in a play.

Sam, holding the beginning of the string of light, offered it to Amber as she placed it at the top, and carefully wound the continuing length of it down and around, coiling it as it worked its way lower and lower. She created rows of lights. This looked good and Amber had a vision she was bringing to life. Sam kept feeding her more and more length as she placed it. Done. The little tree was loaded up with lights and she still had a huge length left over.

Looking up at Sam, Amber's face had a 'what now' look on her face. She shrugged her shoulders as she held the length that was coming off of the tree. Looking around her, drawing on her surroundings for inspiration, her face lit up.

Quietly, she started draping the lights up and over the mantle behind the table, making a kind of framing effect behind the little tree. Just as Amber was seeing how this would actually work, she came to the end of her length and realized she didn't know where the outlet was. Holding the prong end, Amber looked around, back and forth, before looking up at Sam, then over at Dean, in a helpless sort of way.

"Guys, how do I plug this thing in?"

Neither brother, having considered this either, started looking around for an outlet. They hadn't needed this before and therefore didn't know where any of them were. Moving chairs, looking behind cabinets, lifting up long drapery, they searched. Claire, still drinking her beer, watched this pantomime with amusement, never moving from her seat. Castiel watched with an even countenance and mild interest.

Finally, Dean hit the jackpot, "Yahtzee!" Dean said, pointing to the outlet he'd found behind the hardwood card index file ...way on the other side of the room.

Once Amber and Sam saw the distance, both of their faces slumped. There was no way the end of their lights could reach and Sam knew for sure they had no extension cords.

"Shit! This will never reach," Amber said, disappointment thick in her voice. They'd come so close, too.

"I'm sorry Amber, It didn't even occur to me to pick up an extension cord or anything," was Sam's apology.

Dean, watching this little tableau, turned to the angel.

"Hey, Cas, think you can light these up? Do your mojo power thing...you know a little home wiring?"

Castiel, having watched this unfold, and seeing how happy it had made Amber, turned to Dean.

"Yes, I believe I can light these up."

Simply looking in the direction of the string of lights, Cas gave the slightest of gestures with his hand and instantly the twinkle of warm, white fairy lights shone brilliantly, outlining the perfect shape of the tree and the oak mantle behind, acting as a frame. It was lovely.

A grin on her face, Amber turned to Cas and smiled a huge smile. Castiel felt the girl's heart grow large and a rolling presence of energy moved from Amber to him, like an unseen scent crossing from one end of the room to the other. The angel felt Amber's appreciation and enjoyed her virtual hug. Smiling back at her, he could tell her skill and control over her powers were improving.

"How did you do that?" Amber asked, her eyes round with excitement and surprise.

"I can manipulate electromagnetic waves," Cas explained. "Not as well as I once could, but I can still handle some Christmas lights."

Amber made a mental note to ask Cas if he thought this was something she'd also be able to do. This was beyond cool and she imagined it could be really useful for her in the future. Walking to the entrance of the library she flipped off the light switch. The library was engulfed in cozy semi-darkness, the only source of light coming from the twinkling Christmas lights. Amber glanced around her and saw that everyone's gazes were also drawn to the luminous tree. A companionable silence spread among them, with the Christmas tunes still playing in the background.

Moving to curl up in the empty chair next to Claire, Amber silently extended her beer bottle to the blonde, who clanked her own beer against it. The two of them exchanged amicable glances before turning back to staring at the lights and sipping from their almost empty bottles.

Amber laid on her bed, still dressed and over the covers, staring at her ceiling. This whole day had been a whirlwind of events and emotions that had left her drained. The training session, the fight with Claire, Christmas shopping, bumping into Emily, Dean punishing her, her brothers finding the text message in Claire's phone, decorating their tree… As her brain revisited everything she brought a hand to rub at her forehead. God, what a day…

Turning her head to the side she noticed her leather notebook, forgotten on her nightstand. Reaching to grab it she opened its cover and stared at the photo of her and Ty that she had stuck on the very first page. A nostalgic smile spread on her face as she took in her friend's face. How she'd missed him… She remembered a single night last year, when his parents were out to some fancy dinner party… It was a few days before Christmas and Ty was home alone. The only time she could visit him openly was when he was home alone. Ty's parents never liked her and she avoided contact with adults as much as possible.

Outside the Woodpecker's employees and the couple of diners she frequented, the people in her life since she'd run away from her foster home were as few as humanly possible. That night, she'd gone to visit Ty. She still remembered the majestic Christmas tree, the richly decorated house… She and Ty had spent more than three hours sprawled out on the comfy sofas of his living-room staring at the twinkling lights and having their usual long and comforting conversations about everything and nothing in particular.

With this image emerging in her head, and not giving it much of a thought, Amber got her phone out of her pocket and pulled up her contact list. Putting the small device to her ear she bit her lip as she waited.

"Amber?" Came the urgent answer a few seconds later.

Her face splitting into a grin, Amber sat up on her bed excitedly.

"Hey, Ty! God, it's so good to hear your voice!"

"Same here, dude! How are you? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just missed you and thought I'd call. We haven't talked since Denver."

"I know… Your mob brothers made it clear they didn't want us to contact each other, that's why I didn't call. I didn't wanna get you in trouble or anything."

Snorting at his words Amber quipped, "They're not mob, Ty. But yeah… That's cool of you. Things are a bit weird over here and contact isn't always safe."

"Is it safe now? Are you safe now?"

"Well, I ain't calling to meet you this time around, so I'd say I am. How are you? What's new over there?"

"I'm fine. Same old same old. Parents constantly get on my case about taking school more seriously and start focusing on colleges and shit… Lizzie is as bitchy and as hot as ever…"

"So you two are still dating?" Amber asked, pleasantly surprised. "Way to go, Ty! You've must be going out for what? Three months now?"

"I know, I know… A personal record!"

Amber savored this conversation. The everyday trivial things she'd never get to focus on for so long. Nothing that reminded her of the fucked up parts of her life.

"Oh! I almost forgot! I bumped into Josh yesterday!"

Stomach clenching and sitting straighter on her bed Amber sent a hand to pick at a loose thread on her duvet. So much for trivial conversations… "Josh? What was he doing over there? Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah… He said he had some business in town and that he'd be here for a day or two. He asked if I had seen or talked to you recently."

Amber's eyebrows frowned. Business? What kind of business? Hunting business? Her heart started beating a bit faster. She couldn't help but wonder if this was a coincidence or if it had to do with her. Her stomach dropped to her feet when another thought came to her mind.

Had Ty mentioned anything about Sam and Dean to Josh? About knowing they were her brothers?

"What did you tell him?" Amber asked urgently.

"That I hadn't seen you for weeks."

"Did you tell him anything about Sam and Dean?"

"No, dude! The guys are wanted by the police and you three seem to be hiding for whatever reason. I'm not that daft."

"Thank God! That was a good call, Ty. Thanks! And never ever mention to anybody about Sam and Dean being my brothers, okay? In fact, you'd better keep clear from anyone, even if you know them, even if they knew me, that asks questions about me."

"Okay…"

"Where did you see Josh?" Amber asked next. "Was he alone or with his father?"

"At the Woodpecker. He was alone."

Alone. Damn it, Josh… She sincerely hoped she was being over-dramatic about this. It could be anything. It didn't have to be demon-related… It didn't have to do with her..

"Hey, Ty? Has anything weird happened over there lately? Like… I dunno… Crime spikes? Weird deaths? Homicides? Intense storms or anything?"

"Well... We did have a few unexplained murders and there's been a spike in suicides. It's really weird. Police haven't figured out what's been going on yet. Why? What kind of question is that? And what does that have to do with Josh? Do you think he's like… A psycho or something?"

"No! No, no, no, Ty! Nothing like that. Josh is cool. I was just wondering how things are down there," Amber blurted out. Ty sounded worried and freaked out after her questions. And she couldn't blame him.

"Remember how I told you I couldn't explain my situation exactly? Well, that's part of the reason I asked. I'd like to know if stuff like murders and weird events happen at Reno. Do you think you could let me know from now on? Text me if something happens?"

"I guess... Is there any point in asking you why?"

"No, Ty. Sorry. The less you know the better. So… Anything particularly weird about those murders and suicides?" Amber asked again.

"Aside from there being so many of them? Well, I don't know for sure… but there's this rumor going around that all the bodies reeked."

"Dead bodies are supposed to smell, aren't they?"

"Yeah... after a while. The rumors say that they reeked of rotten eggs in just a few hours after death."

Amber felt her stomach churning at these words. Fucking demons.

"Oh, I see… That is weird," she only commented. Closing her eyes she tried to banish from her mind the image of a possessed Liv staring at her through pitch-black eyes. Was Ty in danger? She'd never forgive herself if anything happened to him. "Ty? Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything, dude!"

"Keep away from the Woodpecker. And my old house and everyone I used to know, okay? And remember to contact me if anything else weird happens in town. Can you promise me you'll do that?"

"Sure thing."

"I need to go now… It was really nice talking to you, Ty. I promise I'll call again soon," Amber said in what she hoped that passed as a pleasant tone.

"Call whenever you can, dude. And take care, alright?"

"You too, Ty. Bye."

Ending the call, Amber remained sitting, phone clasped in her hand and eyes trained on its screen. Her brain raced to everything Ty had just told her. Demons were in Reno. And they were making noise. She should let Sam and Dean know about this. She hoped Josh would take care of it. That he was skilled enough to pull this off or at the very least smart enough to seek the help of other hunters.

The short vibration in her hand snapped her out of her thoughts. Looking down she saw a text message notification.

'Emily here. Just wanted to make sure you're ok.'

Amber's face split into a small smile. Her nostalgic mood returned full-force. Her call with Ty, Emily's face after all those years, her pent up worry and fear for herself and those she cared about… An intense need to flee engulfed her. She closed her eyes tightly and all that she could think of was how badly she wanted to be anywhere but here. To be with someone from her old life. With someone from before this hell broke loose.

It was then that this now familiar spike of energy surfaced from deep within her, but not in the way it did when she was practicing energy blasts. This time it felt like it remained attached to her body, making her skin tingle. As Amber blinked, for a split second she felt like she was floating in midair. When her eyelashes peeled open again she let out a shocked gasp.

She glanced around her, eyes enlarged, hand still clenching her phone in her palm. The large parking lot behind her was mostly empty, as was the coffee shop a few feet away from where she stood. Glancing to her right she couldn't believe her own eyes when she spotted the massive Target's building she was in earlier that day.

The sound of someone walking hastily a few feet away made Amber turn her head in that direction with a gasp of fear. She watched as a female figure made her way across the parking lot towards the street.

Realising what had just happened, and where she was, all Amber could do was raise a hand and call out to the departing girl.

"Hey, Emily!"

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Oh, what a strange and sorted set of events in the bunker. And Christmas decorations, no less.

Which was your favorite scene...and why? How was Dean and Sam's reaction in the cafe real? Did they seem over-the-top or justified? Why?

Did this episode upset you? Make you feel empathy or sympathy for any of its characters?

How does this entire story feel to you as you read it and put all the chapters together? What feels out of place? What can you see happening for real? This could be an observation from this chapter or from anywhere from within this entire story.

It's all fair game.

A lot of questions, we know, but we'd love if you could spare some time to answer even just one or two of them! In any case, leave us a review. Be it answers to all or some of our questions or just your random thoughts on the chapter, it's all welcome and greatly appreciated!

Until next time,

~MarionLuth and LauWhisperer