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.

26. Spoilin' for a Fight

Chapter 26

Spoilin' for a Fight

Title Credit: Lyrics from the song Spoilin' for a fight, by AC/DC (Album: Black Ice, 2008)

꧁ W ꧂꧁ T ꧂꧁ W ꧂꧁ T ꧂꧁ A ꧂

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The Gothic, thick-beamed, iron wrought doors of St. Catherine's church gave way with a soft gush of air as the brothers quietly pulled the massive doors open. A spotlight of sun cut through the dark inside the vaulted entrance, with the shaft of light hitting the wall behind the altar. This created a halo effect on the tabernacle. A few heads turned to look back at them, curious as to who was entering. Stepping inside, the scent of hardwood, candle wax and frankincense infused the air and Sam was brought back to memories of Pastor Jim. These cathedrals always had this ancient atmosphere that could comfort the parishioners as well as hide evil. Sometimes both.

One face, Emily's face, turned and met Dean and Sam's eyes. Both sets of Winchester jaws clenched as they spotted her. Knowing they shouldn't draw any more attention to themselves, they hurried to sit in a pew. Finding two empty spots on the bence right behind her, they slid along the smooth wood until they were within earshot of the girl.

Emily saw them coming and braced herself. In her limited experience, they were rude assholes. How Amber voluntarily put up with these guys, she couldn't imagine. After their life in foster care, why would Amber do this to herself?

Taking their seats in the pew, Sam and Dean spent a full minute scanning the faces around them. They recognized many of the families they'd interviewed. The whole church was engulfed in silence, people had their heads bowed, some of them silently moving their lips, others holding rosaries. On the ambo, a large bible lay open to the selected gospel, a middle-aged priest stood reciting from the gospel. With his head bowed, the brothers couldn't make out much in terms of his appearance other than his balding gray hair and wrinkled forehead. On his right, and a few steps behind him, stood a nun. She also had her head lowered, her hands clasping a scapular, as she appeared to be deep in prayer.

Sam elbowed Dean to get his attention before discreetly nodding in Sister Karen's direction. It took Dean one glance to spot the scapular and nod back at Sam.

His eyes now focusing on the back of Emily's head, Dean pretended to lean forward in prayer, bringing himself close to her ear.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked in an angry whisper.

"Praying for Sean, of course," she answered back, a raspy anger coloring her sarcasm. "What does it look like I'm doing? You were incapable of being here when you should, so I'm picking up your slack."

Dean's eyes fluttered closed as he drew in several deep breaths. After almost two days on the road with his own charges, he was well past his limit of teenage rudeness.

"We told you to stay out of the way. Why are you here?" Dean whispered into her ear, harsh tone evident to Emily's neighbors, who glanced sideways at him. Dean was drawing attention.

"Because I can do whatever I want. And I already told Amber I'd be here. Now stop making a scene. You're supposed to be good at this, right?"

Sam involuntarily smiled at this pointedly accurate dig. He was upset, but this was funny. Dean glanced at his brother, and Sam corrected his smile. This Emily person had guts.

Leaning back into his seat, Dean was forced to cool his jets and deal with this. OK...he would deal with this right now and deal with this Emily-kid later. Looking around the church, not being able to do much more than this, Dean was taking in details.

Sam did the same. Glancing around the church, he noticed something familiar. All around him, on the altar cloth, on the priest's liturgical vestments...literally all around the church, worked into the embroidery decorating the sanctuary, was the star-spoked symbol for An. Sam remembered Sean mentioning that Father Michael had told them it was a paleochristian symbol, but they knew now that was not the case. It was far older than any Christian symbol.

They needed to wait till this gathering was over before they'd be able to talk to Father Michael and Sister Karen, but things looked more and more suspicious as they became aware of the symbols, and their implications, that were hiding in plain sight. Refocusing his attention on the woman, Sam observed her fingers, which she seemed to press hard as she rubbed the fabric of the scapular she was wearing. His suspicions only growing, he wondered if there was another coin in the front pouch. Was she chanting a different kind of prayer than the one the congregation prayed?

"Heavenly Father, we pray that the children are found safe and are returned to their families who grieve their loss," Father Michael's voice reverberated off the masonry, carried out to the stonewall out across the incredible acoustics. He sounded genuine. Dean mused that the worst devil's he'd ever encountered were always those dressed as saviors.

As Sam continued to scan the church's interior, he failed to notice that Sister Karen had spotted him. She noticed the tall one with the handsome face and intelligent eyes. Through half-lidded surveillance, she took notice of the rough-looking man next to him. She'd never seen these two before. She wondered which missing child they were related to. They were actively focused, not hazed by grief and concern and this was not the usual encounter she had with parents and family members. Somehow they were different.

Through her peripheral view she glanced over at the priest. She wondered if he'd noticed those two newcomers. Father Michael saw Sister Karen's glance and wondered what she was alerting him to. Clasping her hands to look like a turk's head knot, that was her signal. But they were unable to communicate beyond this. On his own to figure this out, the priest cast his eyes wide as he continued the recitation of the gospel. There were two well-dressed men at the back. He didn't recognize them as parents or family of any of the kids in their youth group. He hadn't seen them at any of the services.

Noticing the identical suits and ties, he did the math and immediately realized they were probably FBI. His brow frowning, he cursed silently in his head. The last thing he needed was federal police poking around his church and his children.

"We pray, oh heavenly Father, that you return that which has been taken from us and deliver your missing children to your church and back to the parents who are in distress. Oh Lord, we pray that the police and other agencies find your children, returning them safely to their homes and families.

Be encouraged by the word of God. Know that our Lord will never leave your prayers unanswered even as we may not receive the answer we want. Our holy Father knows our distress and will comfort the aggrieved. Hold to your faith that God is holding your loved ones in his hand. Amen."

Leading the parish in this, the priest crossed himself.

"In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, may you go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Amen."

As Father Michael stepped down from the ambo, Sister Karen took a couple of steps forward speaking in a loud clear voice that sounded too young to match her rather withered appearance.

"Children, please follow me to the church hall. We'll have a short chat about everything that happened and work on a small project to gift to Sean, Lily, and the rest of your classmates once they're safely returned to us."

Dean couldn't manage to keep his scoff in check and a punctuated laugh involuntarily escaped during a lull in the announcement. A few angry eyes were turning to look at him. However, the majority of church parishioners arose from their seats, a collective low murmur echoing in the previously silent space. Nobody paid attention to Dean...except the priest and nun. Sam elbowed Dean as his own mind registered the second part of the nun's speech. Lily? Who was Lily? And the rest of the kids? Only Sean was missing when they'd left. What had they missed?

"Parents, you're welcome to wait here for us to finish or come back in about an hour to pick your children up," she added with a smile. Turning around and leading the small gathering of kids she herded them in the direction of the church hall.

"We talk to the Father first?" Sam asked his brother, his voice low.

"Yeah. Sister Penguin will be around for an hour. Let's not lose him ok, Elwood?" Dean remarked.

Making their way to where the priest stood, smiling and saying goodbye to his departing flock, Sam and Dean approached the man, taking their badges out.

"Father Michael, we're federal agents Cagney and my partner, agent Lacey. We're here investigating the fire incidents and now Sean Lebrinsky's disappearance. Could we have a few minutes of your time?" Sam made the introduction in his usual professional and kind manner, perfectly hiding his suspicion about the man's involvement. For now.

Sister Karen's warning was spot on. These guys didn't belong and could be trouble. Father Michael sized them up, concealing his thoughts from the two men standing in his way.

"Of course. But I need to attend to my parishioners first. We've had a great deal of loss. You understand."

"Of course. We'll wait. Take all the time your people need," was Sam's smooth delivery with Dean looking at him, wondering how long this was going to take. Sam just glanced at his brother, the meaning being clear: Patience.

A group of people who were nearby now approached the priest, growing close enough to speak. A man held his wife close up under his other arm while she held a toddler, all looking like they'd not slept in a long time. The skin hung loose on both parent's faces with their little one looking gaunt; an alarming look on a toddler.

Seeing that this would take a while, Dean nodded with his head towards the exit indicating where Emily was already walking out the church. The two brothers hurried to catch up with her as she stepped out to the churchyard.

"Where do you think you're going?" was Dean's autocratic tone.

Emily glared at him as he grabbed her upper arm, stopping her from moving. Yanking her arm away from his grip, Emily took a few steps back, looking up at this guy, indignation glaring on her face. Part of her wanted to flee, part of her wanted to punch him in the throat.

Amber and Claire, who were leaning against a large oak tree several yards away, caught a glimpse of the scene.

"Shit!" Amber mumbled. "Dammit, Em!"

Hurrying to get close to her brothers and intervene with this potential catastrophe, Amber's brain frantically sorted through ideas. She only had six seconds before she caught up to them.

Claire followed closely behind her, her own face neutral. Knowing these three, this would take a while. She wondered how much she could find out if she managed to slip away into the church and do some intel-gathering of her own.

Not wishing to publicize her departure, she kept a discreet distance from them, placing herself in the background and waited for the Winchesters to go into a full-blown, angry yelling match before she'd try to slip away. With a bit of luck, and careful timing, she'd make it back before anyone even noticed.

"I thought you didn't want me here," was Emily's annoyed answer at the infuriating man.

"We didn't want you here in the first place, but you came here anyway, so you'd better start talking! What you've heard?" Dean barked at her.

"Dean!" came Amber's angry reproach! "Don't talk to her like that!"

Turning to his sister, and pointing a finger in her direction, Dean shot her his best warning look. "You'd better cool it, Amber. Her being here is your mess! And you'd better have a damn good explanation on why you didn't tell us she was here!"

"Don't talk to her like that," Emily snapped back at him, making Dean switch his glare back in her direction. "Who the hell do you think you are?" Emily spat this out with more volume than was she'd intended, causing the few remaining church goers to turn in their direction.

"Her father, for starters. Now start talking, I'm not gonna ask nicely again!"

"I'm not telling you anything," Emily replied, becoming more and more aggravated by this asshole's horrendous attitude.

"Emily, this is not about you, Amber, or Dean. This is about Sean. And this Lily girl...and...and the other kids the priest mentioned. Are more kids missing since yesterday?"

Sam's earnest face, and smoother tone, pierced through the sheet of exasperation coming from Emily.

"If you learned something important, it could help us figure this out," Sam intervened, desperate to salvage what he could in this situation.

Emily shot him a distrusting look. She had to admit he was nicer than the Dean guy, but her memory of him splashing the holy water on her face made her disinclined to share anything with him.

"Em, Sam's right. This is about Sean and these kids. We've got a lead on this, but it's not enough. What have you found out? If you don't want to tell them, fine. But at least tell me," Amber's persuasive tone was having a positive effect as she walked closer to her old friend.

"Five more kids went missing this morning. Same age as Sean. And we heard about another fire, not far from here. No casualties there though," Emily offered this intel begrudgingly.

Having already moved away from the Winchester meltdown, Claire was approaching the interior of the church. She noticed the small clutch of people gathered around, and saw the vestments of the priest at the nucleus of this gathering. Bull's eye! She'd hang back, listen and watch.

Immediately, she noticed the star symbol of An on the altar cloth, on the tabernacle. Looking around further, she noticed other decorations with crosses and this star symbol which had the four staff with handles around a central point. It was unmistakable.

Silently taking this in, Claire listened to the conversations.

"...He's such a good child. Dan hasn't been able to sleep. The police, god help them, the police haven't found anything. Oh god...oh god where is my son?" The woman broke into renewed wailing, sounding strangled and broken as the other women surrounding her. They were hugging her, attempting to console the inconsolable.

A few steps away from the sobbing woman, Claire noticed Sean's mom holding hands with another distraught mother as they talked. At least four other couples in similar distress talked quietly with each other, tears falling and hands covering faces throughout the conversation. It was gut wrenching.

"She was gone just like that… She had her milk, she'd...she'd had breakfast...her favorite cereal and when I went back she was gone. Just Gone!… And the police said it's too soon to do anything, even after Sean…"

Claire took all these in. This looked like they had at least five more disappearances in less than twenty four hours. This sounded promising.

Walking away from this gathering she followed the sounds of voices to an adjacent room. Walking discreetly to the threshold of the open door she remained hidden behind it and peeked inside. She watched the nun around a gathering of five children. They looked like they were drawing a big "welcome-back" card. Rolling her eyes Claire thought of how inappropriate this looked. As if the kids had gone on a vacation. Her attention shifted when she heard the nun's words.

"Remember, my angels, God selected you. God loves you and cherishes you. He protects you. You should always trust Him and know He has your best interest at heart. Trust His call. Trust His servants. One day He'll call for you. For all of you."

Claire felt the urge to burst into the room and have a few words with that woman, then and there. Dean's words, drilled into her brain, managed to surface and resonate louder than her inner screaming voice: Don't engage if you don't know what you're up against and don't draw attention to yourself. The knowledge of what would follow an unauthorized engagement helped, too. She wasn't drawing the real FBI down on them. Slipping away as quietly as she had slid into the background, she walked back to the still-fighting Winchester group.

Walking up behind Sam, Claire tapped him on the shoulder. Turning, Sam looked down and was surprised it was Claire who had gotten his attention. She usually wasn't this discrete.

"You guys are missing the action. It's over in the children's section with that nun. She's grooming the next set of missing kids."

Sam, not quite understanding what he'd just heard, looked confused, then concerned in turn. Then it started to kick in. Claire, her eyes calm and steady, knew something and it felt solid.

"What did you find out?" Sam asked.

Claire, turned to look back in the direction of where she'd just come.

"The child care here sucks. That nun is telling those kids that "GOD", whatever that is, loves them, they should always trust him and one day he'll call for them all. Oh… And my personal favorite…that they should trust His Servants! Sounds like a Jeffery Epstein recruiting poster."

Amber's eyes gravitated to Sam and Claire talking. This wasn't a scene she was used to. Watching their body language she could tell they were discussing something critical. Glancing back at Dean and Emily, she nudged Dean in the side, indicating Sam and Claire with her head. Instantly Dean glanced in their direction and he understood there was something that had been discovered.

Emily, taking in the intel, watched her friend walk closer to the tall guy and the blonde.

"How do you know this? Did you go in there?" Sam asked, trying to put his thoughts in order. When did Claire manage to leave unnoticed? He was impressed and displeased all at the same time.

"How does she know what? Went where?" Dean barked in their direction.

Completely ignoring him and keeping her focus on Sam, Claire rolled her eyes. "No, I have super-hearing. Of course I went in there! Is that really what's important right now?"

"What's important right now is that you share what new intel you got," Dean spat out, frustrated at not being updated immediately.

"The nun is grooming her next harvest," Claire repeated, still not looking at Dean. "Oh, and there's like… five more missing kids apparently."

"Yeah, Emily just told us this bit," was Amber's remark.

Turning blazing eyes to the three girls, now standing close to each other, looking all pleased with themselves, Dean had to put some real effort into not to explode into full-blown yelling. They were attracting enough attention as it was.

"Okay, I don't know who made you think you're in charge of this investigation, but this stops and it stops now!"

Turning to Claire he pointed a finger at her as he growled, "You're not to sneak away like that. You letting Sam or me know, especially eavesdropping on a possible target, a target we know nothing about! What if they'd seen you? What if they attacked you? What use would this intel be if you couldn't come back to give it to us? You never go anywhere without backup. How many times do we have to go over this?"

His eyes shifting to Amber, he continued, "You don't keep things from us! Not when your stupid civilian friend tries to play Dana Scully. If she gets herself hurt or killed, or worse gets somebody else hurt or killed, that'll be on you! Not to mention how she could blow our entire cover and the case we've built so far!"

Finally turning to Emily, he towered over her. "And you… You're gonna march back to Sean's house, plant your ass there, and stop interfering with our business! Am I clear?"

Emily gaped at this man, astounded by his nerve. A disbelieving scoff escaping her lips, she had to take a few seconds to wrap her mind around the fact that he had actually spoken to her in that tone... and in such a manner.

"You… You've got another thing coming if you think I'm gonna stand here and listen to you! Who the hell do you think you are speaking to? Speaking to anyone like that? I don't know how Amber puts up with you, but I don't have to! You're nothing to me. You're not my Father, you're not a friend. Hell, you're practically a stranger. And I definitely don't have to do what you say! You can't control me, you can't do shit about me. Am I clear?"

Amber, Claire and Sam watched this interaction silently, almost in awe. None of them had ever talked to Dean like that. Or rather, none of them had ever talked to Dean like that and came out of it unscathed. Amber was more than impressed with her friend. She wasn't that quiet, reticent girl she remembered who never engaged in fights, never confronted people face to face…This was a strong woman, ready to rip Dean Winchester a new one if she had to...and she just did.

Dean stared at the girl, shocked into silence. He wasn't used to this kind of reaction from people when he gave orders, no matter who these orders were given to. From people he barely knew to his own family, when he gave an order, people always caved and fell into line. A vein in his forehead visibly pulsing, he narrowed his eyes to his sister's friend.

"You wanna try that again?" He told her, his tone low and warning.

Emily's mouth dropped open at Dean's arrogance. This was unprecedented. Taking a step closer to the man, a challenging smile on her face, eyes fierce, Emily looked up at Dean, eye-to-eye.

"You may talk to Amber like this, but you can't talk to me in that manner."

Pausing here she let her statement stand loud and firm, like a slammed door shut in his face.

"I don't answer to you."

Mouths dropping open, Amber, Claire and Sam continued to stand in shocked silence at Dean's incredible pompousness….and Emily's bravery. That girl had cojones of steel!

From his peripheral vision, noticing a figure in black, Sam saw Father Michael stepping out to the church's doors and glancing around the yard.

"Dean, it seems Father Michael is ready for us," Sam said, nodding in the priest's direction, bringing things back to a relevant focus. He watched his brother's eyes shift from angry challenge towards the blacked-clothed figure standing below the tall double doors, then focusing back on the three girls in front of him.

"Amber, Claire, to the car. You wait for us there. And by 'there', I mean inside the car," he ordered curtly.

Emily watched herself fade into the background of their concern. These guys! My god, how did Amber put up with these two. Momentarily comparing the foster home they'd been into together with Emily's take on these two guys, geez...by comparison the foster home now seemed benign. Her limited, and admittedly obnoxious, experience with the brothers was not flattering to them.

"What? Dean, c'mon! No! I just gave you valuable intel! You can't just bench us," Claire immediately protested, her voice rising.

"Hey! I just gave you an order! We're on a case! No 'no's, no 'buts', no nothing! You two get in the car, now! And if you don't like getting benched, play by the goddamn rules!"

"That's bullshit!" Claire shot right back. "If I didn't play by your stupid rules, we'd have finished this case yesterday! But I did and here we are! Five more kids missing!"

Watching this power display unfold, Emily took a few steps back and to the side, removing herself from the center of the group's attention. With Dean focusing on Amber and Claire, and Sam's focus split between this little power display and Father Michael, she managed to discreetly walk away and mix with the people who had exited the church. Then she was gone. Ironically, no one from their group noticed this.

"Claire, come on," Amber told her in a quiet tone. She shot Dean a dirty look but remained silent. She had learned the hard way to pick her battles and this wasn't one they'd win. "Not worth it. Let it go," she told the blonde, touching her shoulder.

Claire turned to look at her, her eyes round with disbelief. "Seriously? Let it go?!"

"Yeah… Trust me. Let's just get in the car for now. We can't do much here right now anyways," Amber tried again.

Sam listened to the girls while keeping his sight on the priest. Father Michael emerged from within the church, walking to the open doors, stopping and scanning the environment... apparently looking for something or perhaps someone. An innocuous action in and of itself, but coming from this person of interest, quite suspicious.

"I'm waiting," Dean said in a demanding tone, trying hard not to react to Claire's blatant disregard of his order.

Groaning in frustration, Claire turned her back and stalked away heading towards the car. Amber turned to Dean and extended her hand, palm open, indicating she wanted the keys.

Realising the implications, Dean cursed inside his own head. Fishing the key out of his pocket he let it dangle over Amber's palm for a few seconds, his eyes boring into hers. "Don't do anything stupid," was the only thing he said, before reluctantly letting the car key fall into her open palm.

Amber, wearing an angelic expression only tilted her head to the side. "Whatever do you mean?" Thoroughly satisfied as she watched Dean's temple vein start pulsing, ugly, raised and knotted against his forehead, she simply turned away to follow Claire to the Impala.

Watching the girls leave, Sam looked over at his brother, who simply shook his head, looking tired.

Sam, jerking his own head towards an oblique corner, indicating they should get out of sight, he led the way, Dean following him as they remained vigilant of the priest's behavior.

Continuing to scan the empty steps, Father Michael was still scrutinizing the remaining parishioners. Seeing nothing, he felt unobserved enough to reach into his pocket and pull out something with white loops. He fidgeted with it, before finally turning away from the doorway and heading back inside. Shoving whatever he had in his hand back into his pocket, he disappeared from the brothers' view.

Back in the car, Amber was texting Emily. Her absence was now noticed as she watched only the figures of Sam and Dean walking into the church.

"Emily, where are you?"

"Not in the car."

"Where are you?"

"Church. Side entrance. Nun still with kids. Priest behind the altar."

As Emily and Amber texted, Claire sat reading this exchange covertly, looking over Amber's shoulder.

Inside the church, the priest returned to the altar, retrieving something from inside the altar's tabernacle. Turning his back to where Sam and Dean were now hidden, the priest held a crude, dark and thick-walled metal bowl. It had stippled marks all over it. It looked nothing like the refined chalice usually kept there. It also appeared to be heavy.

Emily was hiding behind a thick column, dividing her attention between keeping an eye on the door to where the nun and children were and on the priest. She also mentally marked where Sam and Dean were crouched down. Positioning herself in such a way, she was keeping vigilant in all three directions, running reconsescence for Amber.

"Prst hs hvy bwl. Lks wyrd. Pttng on altr."

In the car Amber read this and mumbled mostly to herself, "Could be a summoning bowl."

"She says it looks heavy… Maybe an iron summoning bowl? This Nergal dude has a thing for iron, right?"

Looking up at Claire, Amber was snapped out of her concentration, realizing Claire had been there reading her texts the whole time. God dammit, how could she be so sloppy and let her guard down.

"Claire!"

Amber was unnerved, and rather pissed that she had to assume she'd not get any privacy in Claire's presence. Instantly, Amber was reminded of one of the many overcrowded foster homes she'd been in.

"Don't pitch a fit, I'm just trying to help," Claire tried to deflect Amber's anger at her intrusion.

"Don't look at my texts! If you wanna know who I'm talking to, dammit ask! Dean's rubbing off on you," Amber shot back.

Claire's face scrunched up in annoyance. In this context this was an insult. Upon reflection, she figured she'd be just as pissed if she'd caught Amber inserting herself into her private conversations. With a huff, Claire slumped back into the seat, raising her hands placatingly.

"Fine, just keep me in the loop. I can help, but only if I know what's going on in there. It's bad enough the dickwad benched us," she grumbled.

Back in the church, Emily kept watching everything taking place around her. When she saw the fake FBI agents leaving their hiding place and clearing their throat to get the priest's attention,

Emily chose that moment to quietly move into position, inching a bit closer to this action, hoping she'd be able to listen in to their conversation. From the corner of her eye she caught sight of two kids leaving the room where all the children were gathered.

Feeling torn as to where she should keep focus, Emily decided to follow the kids.

Keeping her distance from there, she remained hidden, which wasn't much of a challenge with all the columns and pews. Guerilla warfare style, she kept these two in sight….silently filling the shadows and strategically advancing in lockstep with her target...she was noticing these two didn't seem to get along. Even as they were clearly intent on going somewhere together, they weren't friends, that was for sure.

"Hurry up. You're slowing us down, asshole."

"Ummm! I'm telling. You cussed."

"Shuddup. You tell and you won't get to play video games either."

"Na uh! It's just you who won't get to play the video games. Father Mike says whoever's good gets an hour in his playroom!"

Emily was hearing all this. A playroom? This sounded sick and alarming. She remembered some of her first conversations with Nora. Her talking about her catholic upbringing and how she hoped her parents would listen to her and spare her brother from going through it, too. When Emily had dared to ask if she'd ever been abused in any way, Nora had immediately refused, telling Emily there had never been such an issue and that she just hated the oppressive church-centered environment. Could she have lied? What were these people doing to the kids? With these grim thoughts playing in her mind, she watched these kids' progress, they were headed to the far back of the church and down a corridor she didn't know existed.

Silently running on her toes, crouched down out of sight, Emily found herself being led to a back entrance these two boys seemed to know well. There were stretches of space Emily had to navigate in full view. This was nerve wracking. Keeping these two boys in sight while scanning her surroundings for anyone else….man she felt so exposed. She didn't encounter anyone, which surprised her, not that she was upset by this. She'd take the win.

Pushing open a heavy door, one of the boys started talking about the games.

Emily heard what she imagined were the names of video games. The two boys were arguing about who was going to get to run a character in Assassin's Creed 4. Emily had never played this, although she'd heard of Assassin's Creed. Mostly that it was violent...and to her thinking, very grown up.

"You won't get to, 'cause you won't come to Father's Mike place tonight. I'll go. He said so. He'll come get me after dinner," the taller boy said in a smug tone. "Me and Janelle. He said so. We were the best with fasting and everything else. He'll let us have a slumber party, and play whatever video game we like, and we'll have a ton of snacks," he added, his tone intentionally mean.

The loud metallic latch sound of the heavy door being pushed open, the two boys purposefully went through these heavy double doors into a side corridor. They were loud and obviously, no intention of hiding their direction. Hearing the mechanical clank of this door, Emily ran on tiptoes, intent on keeping the door from completely closing so she wouldn't have to push it open again. It would make too much noise. It was clearly heavy and on hydraulic hinges, slowly closing

Shit, shit shit!

Emily was far behind the boys. She wasn't going to make it. Dammit!

Like a cat on silent paws, legs fluttering like a windup toy, she was soundlessly running up to the door, slipping her hand through the last inch of space remaining as the door closed on her hand. And there it was, She'd done it and was still open. She'd stopped it one inch from closing entirely.

She did it!

She felt the weight of this heavy door pressing down on her hand, though it didn't hurt. It was very heavy and it held her hand in place. Emily stood still.

Taking a deep breath, she looked behind her as she stood in place, her hand securing her way forward.

Not a person in sight. She let out a breath...her chest relaxing. The hall behind her was all empty and she could hear the boys continuing up ahead.

Listening through this crack, the boys were still arguing about the video games. Video games? Then it hit her. Her brain finally registered what she had heard mere seconds ago. Video games. Crack for kids.

So this "playroom" was in the priest's rectory, where the priests lived. She could find this. That wouldn't be hard.

And he planned to take two kids there tonight. Two more kids, if you counted Sean and the rest of the missing kids she learned about today. Would they be safe? She kept listening to the boys arguing...getting farther and farther away. She needed to catch up. She wasn't catching any important intel at this point.

Her thoughts trailed to Amber and the fake feds. Should she tell them what she'd found out? The thought of that douchebag Dean getting this information simply handed to him made her temper spike. God, he was such an asshole. She'd have to tell them, though. She knew she stood little chance of retrieving the kids on her own. And that's the only thing she cared about. Getting the kids back to their homes and families.

Deciding she'd follow the boys for a bit longer to see what more she'd find out before texting Amber, she pushed the heavy door open and slipped through this opening. Easing the door back into place with a softened reseating of the door's lock, she scuttled ahead to get the boys back in sight. Hugging the wall, she closed up on a corner as the boys entered the right side of a set of doors marked, Boys.

Now she waited. The echoed vibrations coming from the boys bathroom continued and he knew they were still arguing. She couldn't catch much, but she could tell from the tone and cadence their argument had switched to something to do with running characters and who had more achievements unlocked, whatever that was.

While waiting for the boys to emerge, Emily sorted through what she'd gleaned. Other children had earned this privilege. It had become a 'reward' these kids earned. This privilege came from following the church doctrines Father Mike and Sister Karen instructed them tonight, Father Mike was going to take two more kids to his private residence to play video games and have a slumber party. This was one, big freakin red flag!

As Emily stood there, thinking this all over, the boys re-emerged through the lavatory door. One of the boys shoved the other, and it appeared to be turning into a scuffle before it abruptly stopped. They appeared to be talking. Then she heard one of them distinctly saying,

"Are not."

"Yeah, I am."

"Na hah."

"It's right next to it."

She saw the two boys start to retrace their steps...and they were coming directly towards her, when a most unexpected event occurred, they took a turn down a different hallway away from where they'd originally come.

Keeping up, she kept within earshot and was able to hear a few words. With an air of investigation, the boys pushed through a pair of heavy double-doors taking them into a part of the church where the admin offices were. This looked like a deep labyrinth of hallways and unmarked doors.

Their arguing had subsided as the one boy was purposefully leading the other somewhere deep into the building.

Slipping her hand between the closing doors, Emily kept this door silent, passing into the corridor and allowing the door to silently latch behind her. She saw the boys up ahead, turning a corner and she needed to catch up. Lurking was a skill she and Amber had honed while in the foster care system, and it kept paying dividends.

Still keeping the boys in sight, Emily watched the two come to a single door with a small crucifix hanging on the wall outside. As they entered, Emily thought to get a photo of this hallway and door. If nothing else, she needed to find her way back.

Safely entering this door a scant minute after the boys disappeared behind it, Emily encountered a stairwell going down. Taking another photo, she was wondering where this was all leading. Clearly this rectory had a basement. Not unusual, but this was a deeply hidden area.

The boys made no effort to walk quietly, so keeping tabs on their progress was easy. They continued to bicker and she heard the occasional curse word. They were being very cooperative as far as she was concerned.

She heard the one boy announce, "It's here."

She heard the loud sound of a heavy door being opened and the two pairs of footsteps entering. Peering up ahead, Emily saw the boys enter the only door at the end of the hallway, the clanking of the handle as they pushed it open and it latched in their passing.

Then it all went silent.

Creeping up to this door, Emily took another photo. God, she hoped she could find her way out again. How the one boy even knew to find this door was beyond her. Under What circumstances would he have been to this room and left….having the knowledge of navigating back to it.

It seemed so improbable.

Inching closer to the door, phone clasped in her hand, she stuck her ear against the rough surface, trying to hear what was happening on the other side. She couldn't risk entering at this point, she knew this much. Brow furrowing in her effort to listen, she caught the sound of distant voices. Three of them. Three? Could it be four? She couldn't tell, but she was sure there were more than two boys behind that closed door. Her heart racing, she stepped away from the door and started composing a text to Amber as fast as she could, including all the intel she had gathered in the past few minutes. Attaching the three photos she'd taken on her way down there, she hit the send button before lowering the phone, still clutching it tightly. There was no signal down here, she knew that, but once she'd make it back to the upper level it would get delivered.

Turning around she walked as fast as she dared, retracing her steps towards the staircase. At least she remembered how to get that far.

Turning a corner, she ran headlong into the torso of the nun.

"What are you doing here?"

Emily blanched at the unexpected presence and the dangerous tone of voice this woman wielded. She looked thin, kind of deflated and faded, and she wasn't much taller than Emily, but she emitted an air of strength and power that was not to be ignored.

Wordlessly, Emily turned to run. A hard grip landed on her upper arm, yanking her back with surprising force.

Wrestling her arm away, she got out of the nun's grip, only to be caught again as this woman quickly regained control over Emily's upper arm.

"Let me go," Emily managed through gritted teeth.

"Can't do that, child," the nun replied with a disturbingly calm voice. With a movement of surprising precision, she raised her free hand and slapped Emily's face while releasing her hold on her.

"Uh!"

Emily recoiled from the blow, hitting her back against the wall. Eyes big, she was taken aback by the immediate violence. She wasn't a kind, gentle "Bride of Christ." Not this nun.

Her ears started ringing and her vision blurred from her head hitting hard against the cement wall. The last thing she felt was the nun snatching her phone out of her hand. Then everything went dark.

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Sam and Dean were still talking to Father Mike, when the figure of Sister Karen walked by in the background, returning to her classroom of kids.

Sam had noticed her leaving a good fifteen minutes earlier and wondered what had kept her. It looked like some older kids had been left in charge. Being gone that long didn't seem wise on her part as the kids had been getting rowdier.

Fast steps echoed through the church, followed by a voice calling out of "Dea… Dad?"

The Winchesters and the priest turned to watch Amber approaching them. Her pace was clipped.

"I told you to wait in the car," Dean ground out, his voice low.

"Yeah… We've got an emergency. Like… a Real Emergency!" was Amber's rebuttal.

Eyes flashing with worry at the urgency in her tone, Dean managed to plaster a smile on his face as he turned to Father Mike.

"Sorry about that… It's 'bring your kid to work day'," he offered as an excuse.

"That's alright, I think we're done here anyway. Unless there's anything more you officers need from me?"

"Not at the moment, Father. We might contact you again, though," Sam confirmed.

"Of course. I'll be happy to help in any other way I can. Go with God," the priest smiled blandly before nodding his head and walking away in the direction Sister Karen had been headed.

Amber's expression was pensive and tight. She was holding on tenaciously to her composure, and this foretold the magnitude of the emergency. Neither brother doubted whatever this was, it was going to be a complication.

"What's the emergency?" Dean asked, turning to Amber. Before she had the chance to answer, he added, "Where's Claire?"

"She's outside. We can't talk here."

Amber indicated with her eyes that they needed to get out of range of any possible oversight before she shared this emergency. Nodding their understanding, the Winchesters made their way outside of the church and down the block to where the Impala was parked in an unobserved area.

Standing near a tree, Claire was the beacon they saw as they retraced their steps.

"This is far enough," Amber turned to her brothers and brought out her phone.

Opening the text message she'd received less than two minutes ago, she handed it to Dean and waited for her brothers to read through it. It was from Emily.

"So the kids are down here?" Dean asked, his brow furrowed, returning the phone to his sister.

"She thinks so… I mean, she couldn't see them, but she heard them. And even if it's not the missing kids, there's something really creepy and sick going on in that room," Amber said urgently.

"Where's Emily now?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. This is all I've got. I tried calling her while I was coming to get you, but she didn't pick up. I can try calling her again."

"Yes, do that. Before you start trying her, send me Emily's texts and those photos," Sam requested.

Slightly puzzled, Amber shot him a questioning look. Nonetheless, she did as he asked. She could tell Sam had a plan and it meant Emily's intel would be put to good use. Sam always found a way to do these sorts of things.

"Thanks," was his response as he received the forwarded texts and pics.

As Amber attempted to call Emily again, Sam immediately started to open the settings in his phone.

"It's turned off," Amber announced worriedly after two failed calls.

Sam was scrolling back to the images and text sent, he was reverse engineering the gps location of where these photos were taken. Google Maps popped up and then a highly sensitive location software. Glancing over his shoulder, Amber could see what looked like building schematics and 3-D drawings. Must be hacked law enforcement software. Of course, Sam would have that.

Both Claire and Dean could see something on Sam's phone. Inching closer to his screen, all three of them were peering around him.

"You really with the FBI, Sam?" was Claire's ironic comment as she looked back up from Sam's cell phone.

"And can you really find out this much from a single photo?" Amber asked, slightly disturbed. Good to know, she added to herself.

"These were taken below ground and just over there." Sam referenced his cell phone and then, looking up to orient himself, pointed towards the priests' rectory which was adjacent to the church.

"So… Who was right all along?" Claire asked with a smug expression.

Ignoring her comment, Dean gathered his thoughts. "Okay, we need to figure out how we're doing this. We still know nothing about how to actually burn this Mesopotamian fucker."

"Emily was telling me earlier she saw that the priest has a weird looking bowl," Amber mentioned.

"Yes, a summoning bowl. We saw that, too. It looked like it was made of iron," Sam confirmed.

"That was our guess, too," Amber confirmed.

"Yeah, OUR guess," Claire scoffed.

"Can you focus for a minute?" Amber asked in an annoyed tone, glaring at the blonde.

"I can. And I have. I googled the shit out of this all day today and yesterday. So… This other Mesopotamian dude, Utu, he's the Sun God. Kind of a big boss. He's the god of sun, truth, justice, and mortality. He was a big deal and he had some beef with Ereshkigal. Ereshkigal was Nergal's chick. Anyways, his metal is gold. So… My guess is, at the very least, we could use gold to bind the fucker, if not kill him."

Claire watched the three impressed faces with immense satisfaction.

Sam turned to look at Dean, his eyes questioning.

"Makes sense. And it's all we got. So… Let's roll with that." Turning to the girls he asked, "So… Which one of you has something golden on her?"

Raising an eyebrow, Amber shot right back, "Why are you asking us for something golden? I don't have anything gold."

"What about that necklace of yours?" Dean proposed.

"No way! That's my mom's necklace. Even if I had it with me I wouldn't give it to you to kill some psycho god," Amber immediately shot down.

Looking at Claire, Sam raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"Do I strike you as a gold jewelry kinda girl, Sam?"

"Just asking."

"So? Now what?" Dean asked. "Jewelry store robbery?"

Turning to him with disbelieving eyes, Amber scoffed.

"Any solution that doesn't require criminal action crossing your mind?" She asked her brother.

"Just one. Sam, don't we have something made of gold in the bunker?" Dean inquired. He was pretty sure when they'd moved into the bunker, his inventory included several golden items.

"Yeah, we do. There's a gold summoning bowl and some gold leaf candlesticks."

Turning to look Dean in the face, Sam looked dismayed. "But that's back at the bunker. Even if we could get Cas on the phone, he couldn't be here with them any sooner than tomorrow. He's on Lucifer lookout duty. We need this now."

Looking off to the side, thinking of any options, Amber was realizing she knew someone who could be there quickly. She couldn't send him to the bunker, but she was pretty sure he wouldn't mind committing a robbery for them.

"I might have a contact around," she said in a casual tone. She knew this wouldn't go smoothly, but couldn't see any other option. Emily was AWOL, not that she'd have any gold items on her. And without her there they couldn't get into Sean's house to "borrow" something either.

Both brother's looked at her, confusion warring with suspicion. Claire looked interested.

"Look, I have my own contacts and they've come through for me. But if they help us out, you have to let this go. Can you do this?"

"So, you just happen to have 'contacts' in this town, right here, right now? Contacts carrying gold items on them?" Dean asked, barely able to keep his suspicion and frustration at bay. Who were these contacts? Just how much was Amber not sharing with them?

"Yes...in a manner of speaking. Yes I do. And if you want something golden right now, my guy is our only option."

Dean's face was starting to twist up and Amber could see this train barreling down the track. God, would this guy never relent and let her have some autonomy?

Turning to his brother, Sam whispered into Dean's ear. Dean's face changed to a softened version of his usual aggravated distrust. Amber and Claire watched this, and it was a pantomime playing out across his features. Whatever Sam was saying to him, he was clearly considering it. Sam was making progress.

Breaking away from Dean, Sam looked at his brother and agreement had been reached. Clearing his throat Dean looked decidedly uncomfortable, yet firm in their strategy.

"Deal. But he has to bring this to us. To all of us. No private meet-ups. We get to meet this guy."

"What? Why? And what makes you think it's a guy? Dean, I'm offering a solution here… I'm doing us a big favor," Amber reacted. The last thing she wanted was another Dean-Kyle confrontation.

"Amber, your safety is still an issue. Have you forgotten?" Dean sounded frustrated and his patience was wearing thin. They had to do this and he needed Amber to get with the program.

"Dean's right, Amber. It's only fair that we get to meet this person. Make sure you're safe and get to know him. What's so bad about that?" Sam tried to intervene. And there it was again, 'him'. Amber sighed in frustration.

Thinking on all of this, Amber couldn't argue. She'd had so many spontaneous meetings with this guy, all of them away from her brothers. She'd forgotten how many times Kyle just "happened to be around".

Turning her back to them and taking a couple of steps away from their little gathering, she took out her phone and quickly pulled up Kyle's contact, calling him.

"Hey, Ace. That was fast," came his answer from the other line. The perfect combination of smugness and excitement.

"Need something from you," Amber answered.

"Shoot."

"Do you happen to have golden bullets or something? Maybe a golden-plated baseball bat? At this point, even a golden necklace could work. Although, I don't take it that you're the gold necklace-wearing type."

"None of the above. But I do have something that will work. I assume you mean to do maximum physical harm to something?" he asked her, slightly taken aback by this random request.

"You go around carrying golden weapons?" Amber asked back, completely surprised he actually had something.

"You're the one asking for them. I'm not judging," he quipped, his voice giving away his teasing.

"Fair enough. Here's the deal, I need it like, right now. And I need it here. But don't just pop up out of thin air. My family's around. And they wanna see who's bringing the goods." She whispered this last part, making sure neither her brothers nor Claire could overhear her.

"Where you at?"

"Don't you know?" Amber asked back sarcastically.

"Do you want an answer to that?"

"Just be here in ten. I don't want to raise too many questions with my dad and uncle. Well, any more questions," she corrected. Internally, she sighed. This was going to be so complicated.

"See you then."

Turning around to face the others, Amber looked cautiously optimistic. The expressions on her brothers' faces were clearly conflicted and she knew she was saving their bacon...but hers was still going to be in the frying pan later. She just knew it. Dean wouldn't let this go even if he did promise to do so in the moment. This was Dean. She wondered if she should tell them it was Kyle they were waiting on.

"I've got someone on it and he happens to be in the area. Said he'd be here in a few minutes. He has something that will work for us."

"Amber, who do you know who has something that'll work for us?" was Dean's cagey response. Sam glared at him, placing his hand on his brother's shoulder, retraining his temper. The look passing between the two brother's communicated something that calmed Dean down. Taking the lead, Sam asked the next part.

"Is this a hunter?"

"Yes." Amber answered, a slight roll of her eyes. "Relax, he's ok. He can be trusted."

"Is it that Josh douchebag?" Dean asked, his tone elevating considerably.

Surprised, Amber rolled her eyes. Seeing this, Dean was becoming increasingly irritated.

"It is that Josh douchebag, isn't it? I swear, Amber if you've been seeing that little piece of shit…"

"Yeah, Amber…have you been seeing that little piece of shit?" was Kyle's interruption.

Eyes turning to see him, having walked up on their location silently, they were all startled by his appearance.

"Frankly, I'd love a chance to eliminate Josh, but Amber's been pretty clear about his safety," Kyle added as he paused right in front of the group of four.

Surprised eyes turning to Amber, Claire asked, "That's your contact?" Turning to Kyle she added, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Visiting friends. Researching a possible case," Kyle answered, nonchalantly.

"So it's the Kyle douchebag," Dean commented loudly, turning to eye his sister.

"Dean!" Amber said in a warning tone through gritted teeth.

"And how often have you two been in contact?"

"Dean, do you or do you not want a golden weapon? 'Cause I can have him leave right now!" Amber stood her ground and Dean needed to prioritize.

Kyle watched this back-and-forth with interest. He'd seen Amber give him grief, and it was amusing to see her turn this same intensity on Dean. A broad grin spread across Kyle's handsome face, brilliant and beautiful.

Assuming an entertained and confident air, Kyle was magnificent. Sam and Dean both understood that this guy would get laid... a lot. And their sister wouldn't be immune to his breathtaking male bedazzlement.

Clearing his throat, redirecting his own thoughts, Sam took the lead.

"What you got for us, Kyle?" Sam asked in a calmer tone, though his own expression was far from trusting or pleased.

Handing the taller Winchester a cloth bag that hung from his shoulder, Kyle waited for him to open it and peek inside. Kyle knew it was coming...that recognition of what he had for them.

And there it was. Sam looked dumbfounded...looking up, mouth dropped open. Dean couldn't get to the bag quick enough, grabbing it away from Sam.

Holding open the bag, Dean's own eyes became saucers...and then delighted with a dangerous mischief. Pulling it out, his eyes twinkled at the golden war-mace with a golden morning star dangling on a gold chain. Firmly in his grip, Dean gave the morning star a swing, the chain thick and strong, clanking slightly as the golden spiked ball moved along the arc of the chain's trajectory.

Turning to the young man, expression disbelieving he asked, "So you go around carrying golden medieval weapons?"

Kyle shrugged with a smug smile. "I'm a hunter, man. You know how this goes. You never know what you're gonna need, right?"

"Don't you go calling me man, goldilocks, you hear? It's… Mr. Winchester to you!"

Claire's loud snort of laughter and Sam's barely restrained smirk, made Dean glare in their direction, before refocusing on Kyle. "Where'd you find this?"

"Inherited it. From my Father. Never asked where he got it. What d'you need it for? What are you hunting?" came the immediate response.

"Some Mesopotamian deity," Claire supplied, when Dean didn't answer.

"Cool! Haven't tackled a god before," Kyle sounded encouraged.

"And you won't today, either," Dean shot down. "How come Amber can call you for favors like this? You two close? You two done this before? Have you met up since her birthday?"

"While you're busy with the third degree, I think I'm gonna just head inside…" Amber called loudly in an angry tone taking a few steps towards the church.

"NO!"

This thundering declaration came from Sam, Dean, and Kyle.

And it stopped her in her tracks. Turning around, Amber shot Kyle a death glare. She'd expect as much from her brothers, but having him siding with them, and giving her orders as if he had the right, this was infuriating! A fierce anger mounting from deep within her chest, Amber was considering the merits of blasting them all. She was insulted. With Kyle's assumption of dominion over her, Amber felt a growing anger filling her chest, broadening her shoulders and straightening her spine. And this mounting anger triggered her powers and her eyes glared gold. It was an open threat.

Claire openly laughed at the scene, managing to tone it down to a smirk when Amber's glare turned on her. The brothers' mouths dropped open when Kyle only laughed at Amber's glowing eyes. What the fuck was going on? Looking between Amber and Kyle, the brothers were confused and alarmed. Regaining control of his upset, Dean took charge.

"You stay right here, do you hear me?" Dean barked at his sister, uncertain of what else to say or what to make of the scene that was unfolding in front of him. Did Kyle know? Had Amber been careless enough to tell him her secret, despite the risks? Despite their clear orders not to?

Amber moved closer to Dean, who was still holding the mace and reached over to take it from him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...What are you doing? You don't know how to use this."

"And you attended weekly battle practice?" Was Amber's sarcastic response.

"I have more ability to control this thing than you do. That's all."

Shoving the weapon into Sam's hands Dean kept the war mace away from his sister. Eyes still glowing gold, Amber's temper was becoming heightened and Dean was playing with fire.

Walking past Dean, fuming, Amber reached the spot where Kyle stood. Her hand gesturing, she motioned for him to follow her away from the rest of their group. Glancing at the Winchester men, Kyle met their eyes confidently, an exchange of intent between the three men, before following Amber's lead and walking a few feet away.

Dean started to walk towards Amber. He was going to stop this. Sam, realizing the blow up Dean's action would cause, placed a restraining hand on his shoulder.

Exchanging a look with his brother, Dean stopped and allowed Amber some privacy with Kyle. It was a smart move.

Putting distance between herself and her brothers, Amber turned her golden eyes on Kyle, her expression reflecting the dilemma of keeping her self-respect, being absolutely furious at him, while also acknowledging Kyle would indeed help them anyway she asked. And truth be told, she liked this bad boy. It was a sweet weakness.

"What's up, Ace?"

"You don't do that again, ever! And definitely not in front of them, do you hear me?"

Amber spat out her angry words, her voice dropping into a lower, authoritative pitch. It held command and conviction that her request could and would be backed up by her forcefully if it came to it.

Still, Kyle persisted in his pleasure...getting Amber riled up and feeling her spikes of energy... this was too much fun.

"Doing what?"

"Siding with them! Trying to tell me what to do! It's bad enough I have to endure this shit with them. I don't need this from you, too! I mean it, Kyle!"

"You're cute when you're mad," his tone condescending, intentionally teasing her.

"You'll change your mind if I punch you in the throat," Amber hissed. Leaning forward, she got up in his face looking fierce. "I'm fucking serious!" Amber's eyes surged in luminescence reflecting her heightened emotional edge. Unknown to her, Kyle felt a surge of her power and it was both delicious and frightening. This girl could really hurt him, so he decided to cool it.

"Fine," Kyle said, placatingly, hands held up in front him, conceding to her. "Fine, I'm sorry. Never in front of them. Only when we're alone."

Snapping her head up to glare at his own, Amber took a step closer to him and whispered into his ear, her lowered voice sounding more deadly than her shouting had.

"You're really pushing it today, you know that?" Amber whispered, her frustration still in her tone even as she was calming down. Her eyes were returning to their usual green.

Taking a step closer to her, he touched his palm on the side of her face, his thump caressing the roots of her hair.

"It's nice seeing you again," he said, as if he'd never heard her words.

Leaning into his touch, wishing she could resist this urge, Amber was practically nuzzling his hand. Closing her eyes, Amber relaxed further into Kyle's touch mumbling, "It's nice seeing you, too."

From their vantage point, Sam, Dean and Claire could tell Kyle had his hand to Amber's face. It was interesting to see the two brothers react to this and Claire decided this voyeurism could become her newest favorite bloodsport.

"Your Father seems about ready to come at me," he added amused, his glance traveling back to the Winchesters for a second.

"Well, then…" Amber leaned in for a kiss, knowing full well what this would do to Dean. She savored the sensation of kissing Kyle. There it was, the electricity that always tingled between them sending waves of pleasure throughout her entire body, particularly her nether regions. The added bonus of Dean witnessing the whole thing, and being close to a coronary episode, only added to this pleasure. Breaking the kiss after a few more seconds, she smiled up at him for the first time.

"Thanks for the mace. I'll get it back to you first chance I get. I need to go now," she told him.

"Yeah, you'd better. I think your uncle is barely restraining your dad," Kyle chuckled. "Call if you need anything else, okay?"

"Sure."

"Bye, Ace."

"See you 'round," Amber said with a smile, and watched him walking away, noticing his shoulders seemed broader, stronger than before. Briefly distracted by his physique, Amber was wondering what else had changed with Kyle that had been too subtle for her to pick up on. Coming back to the moment, she looked around before turning to walk back to her brothers and Claire.

Watching the two young people saying goodbye and everything that preceded finally registering, Dean found himself on the verge of a panic attack. His heart felt constricted with his breathing shallow and rapid. He was starting to sweat and his face was flushed. Glancing at his brother, Sam saw the anxiety and reaction. Dean was losing it.

"Hey Dean."

Sam was assessing Dean's response, and saw panicked eyes tracking his voice.

"Dean, what's happening?"

Sam kept this voice steady as he watched his brother's face turn towards him, responding to his concern.

"Dean!"

Sam's voice fighting its way through the loud ringing in his ears made Dean turn his paling face towards his brother.

"Are you alright?" Sam's voice was worried as he looked his brother up and down, taking in his current state.

"No, Sam, I'm not alright!"

"Dean, what's going on with you? Dude, you look really bad."

"I'm having a heart attack, that's what."

Sam, feeling actual worry at his brother's words, stepped closer to him. "What's going on? What do you feel right now?" Sam was focusing on Dean's face, assessing his response, looking for telltale signs of a heart attack.

"What do you want me to say, Sam? That my heart is aching? Should we drop everything and talk about our fucking feelings."

"Dean, you're obviously having a panic attack."

"I wonder why that would be! Maybe because Kyle fucking knows about Amber? There's no chance in hell he didn't see her eyes! He knows! We know nothing about him…and they've clearly been in contact! I mean…they looked pretty cozy with each other to me! What if she told him? What the fuck are we gonna do?"

"Lower your voice and calm down," Sam instructed in a curt tone, nodding discreetly towards Claire who was watching their interaction closely.

"What's the point? Claire knows… Apparently this douchebag knows, too," Dean managed through his tight breathing. Besides his words, he focused on trying to get his intense response under control and get it together.

"You don't know that. We don't know that, alright? We'll talk this through with Amber and we'll figure it out. Right now we all need to prioritize. We have a hunt to finish, kids to save, a damn god to kill! Get it together, man. Now is not the time to deal with this," Sam tried to pull everything into context. He shared every bit of his brother's worry, but there was little to be done right there, right now. Except get Dean to calm down.

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Emily's wrists hurt bad. That's the first thing she registered. Something was digging into her skin. Ropes. She'd been laying on her back, her arms and ankles bound, and she was coming to. It was black. All she could see was black.

Blinking her eyes, she was desperately trying to see and blinking was her attempt to dispel this blackness. She felt her cramped position as a result of the scrunched up confined space she was confined in. The blinking changed nothing.

Emily kept blinking her eyes, focusing on the sensation of her eyes to make sure she was in fact opening her eyes. This was so disorienting. Realizing she was inside the blackness, her situation was becoming clear. She remembered the nun catching her in the basement, hitting her, wrestling the cell phone from her grip, and then nothing. Her head was throbbing and her mouth felt dry. She had no idea where she was, or how long she'd been in there.

Using her feet to try and push herself up, she managed to scoot further behind in the dark space, her head meeting a wall behind her. With hollow thudding sound and a smooth grained feel, Emily realized it was wood-lined. Grunting, she pushed with her bound feet once again, this time managing to prop herself a bit further up against the confinining wall, her head this time brushing against something soft. It was fabric. She was inside a closet.

Her heart started beating faster as she realized she was bound, hand and foot in a dark closet, god knew where. Her feet felt cold. The binding must be cutting off her circulation. She could feel a mild tingling setting in. Unbenoucned to Emily, these were the first signs of reduced blood flow. These were also the first indications of a serious circulatory injury. All that Emily knew of this was that she was fucked...and she was right.

Nobody knew where to find her and she was without her phone. What was she going to do? Panic rose inside of her, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She wanted to scream but she was afraid. What if the nun was still there? Closing her eyes, she tried hard to slow down her breathing and clear her mind. If she wanted to get out of there alive and safe, she needed to keep her wits about her and figure out a way out.

Using her feet again, she turned herself slightly to the right, before attempting to push against the other side of the closet, where she figured out the doors ought to be. Her whole body was aching, and the door was heavy against her feet. With another strong push she managed to push it open.

A loud creaking sound broke the heavy silence and Emily remained frozen, holding her breath, waiting to see if anyone would come at her. Nothing happened.

After several seconds, her senses heightened to the sounds round her, she scooted towards the open door. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she could make out some of her surroundings, but the room was almost as dark as the closet had been. The smell of this closet had been of dust, wood and mothballs. This closet held items someone wished to keep protected and in good condition. By contrast, this room smelled of old fabric and dust.

Seeing only dark masses that were wide, long and hip-high, she supposed these shapes were furniture in the room. Scanning the distribution, she was attempting to sort out where the door would be in relation to the furniture. Feeling a sharp pain in her wrist, Emily could feel the beginnings of blood flow restriction in her hands. She'd been moving enough to put pressure on the bonds that held her wrists and now she was paying for it. She sat still for a moment, allowing her wrists to relax and the returned blood flow easing into her hands, the prickly pain an indication of her restored circulation protesting this restraint.

As she lay there, allowing her hands to warm, Emily looked around, her eyes able to make out more as her pupils dilated making the most of the limited light in this room.

She had no idea where the door would be, nor how she'd even reach it. She wasn't able to stand up, not the way her feet had been bound. A sense of helplessness engulfed her and her panic started to peak again. She was trapped and there was nothing she could do about it. Not caring anymore about who might hear, she let out a loud desperate scream.

"HELP!"

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꧁ W ꧂꧁ T ꧂꧁ W ꧂꧁ T ꧂꧁ A ꧂

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Amber's sharp intake of breath, followed by a pained grunt and her hands flying to her temples, caught her brothers' attention. Their faces pensive as they watched her reaction. Seeing the sudden recentering of the Winchester men's attention, Claire followed their eyes, taking in Amber's pained response.

The four of them had made it into the basement of the church unnoticed, moving quietly along the lengthy dark corridors. Sam led the way, the blueprints of the church's intricate underground passageways pulled up on his cell phone's screen. He was trying to figure out where the door with the cross was. If he could locate this, then the next landmarks could be confirmed from the subsequent pics Emily had sent. Dean followed, golden mace in hand, while the girls brought up the rear.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked Amber, concern infused in his low voice.

"I… I'm not sure… You guys didn't hear that, did you?" Amber asked, wincing again as her head started aching.

"Hear what?" Claire asked, confused.

"The scream… There was a scream… Like, a really loud scream!" Amber explained, her eyes shifting from Claire to her brothers.

"We didn't hear a thing, Amber," Sam shook his head, his own expression worried.

"A kid's scream? An adult's?" Dean asked, trying to figure out what was this all about.

"Not su… Ah!" Amber's eyes squinted shut, her hand moving to her forehead as the scream echoed again inside her mind, only this time louder, more clear, more desperate.

"I think it's Emily," she managed through gritted teeth. "She's freaking out, panicking, she's trapped." Amber's eyes defocusing as she concentrated on what she was hearing in her head, she turned to her brothers and Claire, her expression stricken. "She's screaming for help!"

"How can you possibly know this? Can your powers do that?" Claire asked, her tone a mixture of surprise and marvel.

"I guess… I had something similar happen before, but it was more of a sense of Sam and Dean being safe… Not actually hearing them," Amber attempted to explain. She'd also received similar mental messages from Cas, but that had been to clear out for Claire and Dean's privacy. This Amber didn't mention.

Sam, hearing Amber relate what was happening, recalled a similar incident.

"Well, Cas was once able to know where we're at without the need to contact us first. He could pinpoint where we were at anywhere in the world. Do you think you could try and kind of sense where Emily is at? She must be close if you're able to sense her panic and hear her in your mind. I think it's worth a try," Sam said quietly.

"Yeah… Yeah, I can try that," Amber mumbled. Turning her back to the three of them, she took in a deep, steadying breath and closed her eyes. She worked through the usual steps of clearing her mind, defocusing from any and all thoughts, and reaching that deeply calm point of just being. That point where she could access her grace.

Then it became clear...Emily was close. She was somewhere to their right and through several more doorways.

Opening her eyes, Amber was seeing the direction of where she could sense and actually see, Emily's location. Emily was laying on the ground and she was bound tightly. Amber felt the constriction and pain in Emily's wrists and ankles as if this pain was her own.

It was as if she was seeing and feeling through Emily's own experience, seeing multiple places, all layered over each other. Her brain understood what she was seeing, yet it sounded convoluted as she attempted to describe it in her mind. She could see a heavy metallic door. Locked. And she knew Emily was in there.

"Okay… I think I got her," she said quietly. "Follow me," she added as she made her way in front of Sam and started walking with certainty along the dark corridor they were in.

No thought, pure internal guidance drove Amber's progress through the hallways, through heavy doors, and deep into a part of this basement no one outside of the church could've known existed. Every turn she took, every step, took her closer to Emily. Her friend's presence felt like a pulsar, guiding Amber to her.

The brothers followed, exchanging glances with each other, knowing this was a new dimension to Amber's ability. The certainty of Amber's instinct was flawless. Claire followed, checking on Sam and Dean as she made her way quietly. This was all new to her, too.

A few moments later the four hunters paused outside the heavy metallic door that Amber had envisioned. Reaching for the knob, Amber turned it but the door never budged.

"Locked," she declared.

"Fuck!" Was Dean's response. Now all three of them could hear Emily from the other side of the door, crying and hyperventilating.

"Help!"

This audible call came from the other side of the door. It was Emily's voice. Amber recognised this. Looking at each other, this confirmed that Amber had unerringly led them to Emily.

Gently tapping on the door, Amber wished to reassure Emily, and get her to quiet down. Attracting attention would destroy everything.

"Emily? Can you hear me? It's Amber. We're going to get you out."

"Oh god, Amber! I'm here, I'm here!"

"Shhhhh. We hear you. I need you to quiet down." Gently patting the door, trying to give Emily a comforting acknowledgement, Amber was setting the stage for a stealthy rescue. She needed Emily's cooperation. " Please quiet down. We'll get you out. Just...just don't make any more sounds, ok. We're here."

Sam inspected the door, shining his phone's flashlight on its surface. His face grim, he turned to Dean.

"We can't break into this," he whispered to his brother.

"We can't leave her in there!" Amber hissed.

"What else can we do?" Claire tried to reason. "What if we focus on killing the god and preferably the fuckers who take the children too and then telling the police where she's at. They'll be able to get her out."

"I'm not leaving her here," Amber immediately shot down.

"Well what do you propose?" Claire asked heatedly.

"Zapping in and out," Amber answered after a second's thought.

"What? No! No way! That's out of the question," was Dean's frantic response.

"Why? I can do this! Hell I can do much longer distances now, Dean! I've been practicing," Amber argued. Thinking over her words she added quickly, "With Cas, you can call and ask him! C'mon, he gave you a report of my progress a few days ago!"

"Amber, this is still too dangerous. What if you get stuck on the other side? What if whoever took Emily comes before we get to you? And even if none of these happen, you haven't teleported carrying someone with you before," Sam tried to reason with her.

"There's a first time for everything, Sam! We don't have much of a choice here!"

"And what will you tell, Emily? Huh? How are you gonna explain this?" Dean asked then.

"I don't know!" Amber hissed. " We'll figure this out later, but right now we need to get her and then get the kids. Not to mention figure out how the damn nun and priest are connected with this Nergal dude and how we kill him!"

"Amber, are you still there?" was Emily's panicked voice. It had been quiet on their side of the door and she was desperate to get out, to be found.

"Yeah, Em. I'll be in there in just a sec. We're figuring this damn door out," came Amber's answer, trying to sound reassuring.

Amber couldn't take it anymore. Hearing her friend so broken… She couldn't do this. They had no other choice and Sam and Dean needed to face that. Not wasting any more time arguing, Amber's heart clicked into place and in that instant she found herself on the other side of the door, in the dark, hearing Emily's crying right next to her.

"Hey, Em! Hey, I'm here. It's alright," Amber said soothingly, getting to her knees. Reaching down, finding Emily's shoulder, Amber collapsed onto her. Emily's voice hitched and she started a panicky intake of breath. Amber could feel the flood of images and emotion pouring out of Emily. It was like being projected into full-sensory cinema.

"Amber, Amber! Oh my god. I'm here!"

Emily was sobbing and blubbering. Now that she felt her rescue was imminent, she was falling apart. Her relief was getting louder and more tearful. And this was dangerous.

"It's too dark in here to safely cut you free, alright? I'll get you out and we'll do it then. Emily, Do you hear me? We'll get you free. Alright?" Amber asked, not wishing to illuminate the room around them despite having her phone with her. The less Emily saw the better. She was in a panicked state, this could be their way of explaining how they got her out, if Emily even realized something weird had happened.

Now came the hard part. How would she actually teleport with another person? Wishing more than anything she had Cas with her right now, she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. She'd figure this out. It couldn't be that different from teleporting on her own. And it was a few feet transfer. Easy fucking peasy.

Taking a few deep breaths, calming herself and focusing her attention, she hugged Emily tightly around the shoulders, drawing the other girl's body closely to her own. She envisioned their two bodies engulfed in her energy, before swallowing hard and doing the "jump". Opening her eyes once she felt the ground beneath her knees again, she felt Emily in her arms and let out a loud breath of relief. She'd saved her. Emily was still in her embrace, still breathing, still whole, still conscious.

Dean, Sam and Claire knelt beside Amber and Emily, surrounding the girls. Amber was stroking Emily's face, trying to calm her, completely ignoring the glares aimed her way by both Dean and Sam. Using his cell phone light, Sam illuminated the grils and Dean set to work feeling for Emily's bonds. He could tell they were dangerously tight. Pulling his knife from his back pocket, Dean cut through the ropes at Emily's wrists, with Emily making a whimpering sound as her hands were released. Slowly moving them to the front of her, she couldn't move them very well.

"Shit," was the only word Emily could say.

Sam understood and assured Emily.

"Shhh, shhh, you're ok. Your hands will hurt a bit as the blood flows back into them. This is a good sign. It hurts, but it's a good sign."

Dean, having cut the ropes around her ankles, asked the girl, "Can you move your feet?"

Emily tested her legs. While stiff, the bounds hadn't been as tight on her ankles and she felt she could actually use them, despite the pins and needles sensation as the blood flowed back into her feet.

"Augh! Shit!" was Emily's gasp. This was so painful. Her eyes were shut and her body was flooded with this corrective, searing pain. Her intake of breath hissed as she continued to be held hostage to what her body needed to do as it restored sensation, blood flow and function. She wasn't okay.

"Give it a moment. Shake them out a bit… That's it," Dean instructed.

Claire assessed their situation and despite not feeling particularly inclined, she reached for Emily's ankles and gently massaged them. The sooner she got this girl on her feet the sooner they'd all be able to move. Staying here for too long could be dangerous for all of them.

"Try to stand up," Claire told Emily quietly, as she continued rubbing her ankles.

Amber helped her friend up, stabilizing her balance.

"Augh!" Damn, it hurts," Emily grunted, gingerly putting weight on her feet.

"We need to move," Dean declared. "Whoever locked you up in here might return and we still haven't found where the kids are!"

"It was that nun… Sister Karen," Emily mumbled. Then she shook her head, grimacing, as she took a tentative step forward to get her legs working. The pins and needles feeling was still paralyzing her movement. Taking another breath and turning to Dean, she added, "I can take you to the room…there's a bunch of kids there. Augh dammit! Give me a moment…"

Emily's legs were weak and she looked like a newborn colt experimenting on its own legs and nearly falling. Her face contorting, Emily looked impatient with herself with a helpless-to-do-anything-about-it expression.

Now it was easing up and the blood was flowing back into her legs and feet. Emily's face eased and her eyes cleared, looking more decisive.

"I followed a couple of kids and they knew where this room was. It was weird. They seemed to want to go there, like it was a fun place or something."

Listening to Emily's description, the Winchesters all exchanged a look with each other, with Claire's face firmly set. Turning to look at the brothers, Claire raised an eyebrow...emphasizing that she'd called this. With Sam's own forehead creased, he simply let his drop, clearing his forehead and looking rather foolish. Dean caught this exchange between Claire and Sam...and his own face looked uncomfortable and jarred.

"Claire, we don't have time for this," was his gruff response conveying his own acknowledgement that 'she was right'.

Getting up from massaging Emily's ankles, Claire simply kept her mouth shut and let her smugness have full reign as she scanned the hunters. Dean was angry at this entire situation, his own frustration with this 'time critical rescue mission' setting them back, Amber ignoring their orders, and Claire's 'holier-than-thou' attitude. But he needed to focus.

Amber noticed all of this and kept her own thoughts hidden. She knew neither Sam nor Dean would be particularly pleased with her initiative to get Emily out, but she knew she had made the right choice.

"Did you see anyone besides the nun while you were down here?" Sam asked her, assessing their situation. They had no idea what they'd face or how many people were involved in...in whatever this was.

"No, just Sister Karen. I followed two boys who apparently asked for a bathroom break. The kids trailed off to this "reward room" or whatever. It's really hidden. I have photos on my phone. Did you get them? I sent you the photos. Did you get them?" Emily was looking at Amber, seeking confirmation of her desperate ingenuity.

Emily looked up at Amber, who nodded.

"Emily, that was a total save. Those photos got us here," Amber reassured, turning to look at Sam as if handing off their conversation.

"I was able to find you using your pics. Smart move."

Correcting to Emily's sleuthing, Sam persisted, turning his full attention to Emily. Dean and Amber quietly listened. This was mission critical.

"Apparently this hidden room belongs to the priest. They were talking about being taken there like it was the best thing that could happen to them. He had promised them video-game time and snacks and a slumber party. When the two of them reached and entered that room I could hear more voices coming from inside," Emily surmised her findings as quickly as she could.

"Adult voices? Kid voices?" Dean asked next.

"If I had to guess I'd say kid voices. But the door was too thick. I could barely make out how many they were behind it," Emily answered him. She wasn't sure how or why, but he seemed calmer than she'd ever seen him so far. No yelling or threatening. Just basic human communication. That was a first.

"So, what do you think is going on? Sexual abuse? Something else?" Emily asked, her expression dark.

"That's none of your business," Dean immediately cut her off.

And...there he is, was Emily's cynical observation. Crossing her arms in front of her chest, she stared at the man distrustfully, deeply annoyed.

"You do realize it was me that found all this out, right?"

"Em's right, Dean. And we can't find the kids without her help, especially if Sister Karen comes looking for her down here. We need to find them fast and take them to safety," Amber backed Emily up.

"And kill Nergal, you all keep forgetting we need to kill this Nergal guy," Claire added, impatiently.

"Claire! Shut it!" Dean hissed.

"I'm sorry, what?" Emily asked, her expression shocked. "You plan to kill someone? Who's Nergal?"

Rolling his eyes, Dean shook his head. "God dammit, Claire!" He brought two palms to rub tiredly at his face, before turning to Sam with a helpless expression.

"Guys, we need to move. Now! No more questions until we're sure we're in the clear and we have a visual on the room," Sam intervened, seeing his brother was close to losing it.

"Emily, you're coming with me. I have some blueprints on my phone that might help us locate the room. Claire will be right behind you. Dean and Amber will bring up the rear. Are we all clear with this?" Sam asked, looking around to assess everyone's expressions.

"Why am I last? I wanna be close to Emily. I might be useful, Sam," Amber inquired.

"You're last because I can't risk you ignoring orders again. We have no idea what lies ahead of us," Sam informed her. His tone was even but had a harsh edge to it. Amber cringed a bit. Yeah, Sam was definitely far from pleased with her.

Sighing in frustration, Amber knew now was not the time to argue. They'd have all the time in the world to fight over this later on, she just knew it.

"Alright, we're moving. Dean, don't forget the mace," Sam called with finality. Sam taking charge was a rare experience for Claire and Amber, but they had little time to consider this before they had to move.

Sam draped a hand around Emily's shoulders, keeping her steady until she gained complete control of her lower limbs. Eyes moving from his cellphone's screen to the dark corridor ahead of them, Sam and Emily proceeded onward, an air of investigation muffling their steps.

As they moved quietly, following Emily's prompting direction and turns, Dean walked up from behind Claire, closer to Sam.

"So, what's the plan once we get there? What do you think we'll face?" He asked, his words whispered.

"Honestly? I have no idea. The only thing we know so far is that Father Michael is somehow enabling these kids to channel fire, Nergal's element and weapon. I don't know if we'll even get a chance to actually fight against him. I mean… If he doesn't manifest himself somehow…"

Dean's face grew grim. "What if he manifests through the kids?"

Sam sent a quick glance his way. "I don't know. We'll have to improvise."

Emily wasn't able to hear everything the two men said, but she was making a sincere effort. She caught a few words though, like fire, manifesting, and that Nergal name again. To her they made no sense at all. What the hell was these people's deal? Part of her trusted them, especially after they went out of their way to save her. Another part of her felt she knew only half truths that left her with a million questions.

Claire hadn't managed to hear what the brothers' short talk was about, but her mind was racing. The familiar excitement that hunting always invoked in her had started spiking as they came closer and closer to the action. She wasn't as worried as Sam and Dean seemed to be. All the unknown factors of this hunt, this chaos into action, she thrived on this. It was a dangerous thing that she had faith in. In her reality this was what hunting usually entailed and she invited every time: Basic information on what was being hunted. Other than that, everything was always a possibility and she was entirely comfortable with this. It definitely allowed more leeway for taking the initiative. She couldn't get in trouble for improvising when there was no specific gameplan set.

After another minute of walking and taking turn after turn, the five of them paused in front of a thick, tall door.

"This is the room," Emily announced. "Sam, you have the photo of this door, right?"

Sam glanced at his phone and nodded his receipt of this. Holding up his phone, he shared it with Emily for confirmation. Eyes looking up at 'holy water guy', Emily nodded her confirmation.

"Sam, can you light this place up a bit?" Dean asked. When Sam turned on his cell's flashlight and slowly turned it to illuminate the space around them, Dean inspected their surroundings before focusing on the door.

Emily's eyes squinted at the sudden change of light, making her shift her head to the side. It was only then that she noticed what looked like a golden medieval weapon in Dean's hands.

"What's that for?" She asked in complete shock. When nobody answered her question, she took a tentative step back, wrapping her arms around her chest, hugging herself. She felt insecure and alarmed. What were these guys?

"How did those kids get inside?" Dean asked, turning to Emily.

"They just opened it," Emily shrugged. "It wasn't locked."

Sam took a step closer to the door, putting his back against it, while he used his right hand to reach its brass knob.

Dean moved on the other side, where the door's opening would be when Sam turned the knob. As he moved into position, mace secured in his hands, he motioned with his head to where Sam was standing.

"You three go stand next to Sam," he instructed.

When the girls followed this direction, Sam tried to open the door. But it didn't budge. Trying again, he realized it was now locked.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean mumbled under his breath.

Then a child's voice that came from the other side of the door, making them hold their collective breaths.

"Father Michael?"

They were being addressed from within the room. Dean stood frozen in silence, listening intently. Improvising, Dean went with the situation.

"Yes, it's me. I forgot my keys," he called, trying his hardest to imitate the priest's voice. He didn't know who he'd find on the other side.

Sam turned to look at him incredulously, but Dean only shrugged mouthing a "what?"

To everyone's surprise, the door unlatched from the inside and slowly opened. Seeing the top of a head that didn't reach up to his chest, Dean hid the golden mace behind his back. The last thing he needed was to freak out the kids. When the door inched open, he used his right hand to grab it, wedging his hand into this gap, keeping it that way. Sam and the girls stepped out from behind him, crowding the child's view.

A blonde boy was staring at them from inside the room with a surprised expression, his mouth dipping open in shock.

"You're not Father Michael," the kid said, taking a step back. "You can't be here! No adults are allowed here! Only Father Michael and Sister Karen!"

Dean glanced around them worriedly as the kid's volume increased.

"Shhh! Pipe down, kid! We're here to help!"

Stepping back, this child looked alarmed, his eyes wide as Dean pushed the door open, stepping into the room. Right behind him, Emily stepped into view, as did Claire, Sam and lastly, Amber.

"You can't be here. Father Michael! Fa…" and this was as far as he got in raising the alarm. Dean clamped his free hand over the kid's mouth, holding him tightly.

Hurrying inside the room behind Dean, Sam waited until all three girls entered, before closing and locking the door to further drown out any yells and shouts.

Looking around, Dean was assessing whether any of the other children had noticed their entrance, the room appeared to have a quiet hum of mouse clicking and computer fans running. Scanning the room, none of the other kids even looked up.

Glancing around him, he took in their surroundings. The room was large and beautifully decorated. One wall was lined with desks holding gaming PCs and big comfortable chairs. The other wall held a 65" TV screen with a number of gaming consoles hooked up to it. A big fluffy couch and several floor pillows were scattered around a large coffee table that held an arrangement of sweet and savory snacks. A bookcase at the other side of the room was filled to the brim with colorful children's books and table games, while near it on the floor there were four large plastic boxes, filled with all kinds of toys. No wonder the kids had seemed eager to get to this room.

Just then, a familiar face appeared, coming back from a side door. Sean saw Emily and gasped. Emily, in relief she blurted out, "Sean!"

Looking around at the other children, Sean seemed mildly disoriented, ultimately returning his gaze back to Emily, a tentative smile on his face.

"Hey Emily. How'd you get here? Is Mona with you?"

Ignoring previous caution, Emily ran to the missing child and hugged him, crushing him accidentally. Sean squirmed uncomfortably, mildly disgusted by all this girly emotion, not understanding this response at all.

"Sean! Oh, god, I'm so glad we found you."

Mild disgust on his face, Sean was acting like Emily was out of line being so concerned for him. Clearly, he felt his life hadn't been in danger.

"Augh! Stop it. Stop. You're Hurting me," was the child's annoyed tone, sounding like any other 10-year old boy.

Looking back at Sam, Emily was at a loss. This kid was acting normally. Too normal. What was going on here? Seeing Emily's expression, amber stepped up, looking her brothers in the face as she did so, and knelt down to be closer to Sean's height.

"Hey, I'm Amber, Emily's friend. We've been looking for you. Your family has been worried sick about you. Did you know they didn't know where you'd gone?"

"Of course they do! Sister Karen spoke to my mom and dad. She told me. They said it would be okay for me to stay here for a couple of days. It's part of the ceremony," Sean replied, looking incredulous that Amber didn't know this. It was now Amber's turn to feel confused and her face reflected this. Sean seemed angry at her ignorance. Everything was alright in his mind.

"What ceremony?" Sam asked, taking a step closer.

"The ceremony of the chosen ones." Sean looked up at the tall man he remembered visiting them a couple days ago. Craning his neck, his tone was confident and assured.

"We're chosen as the best students and christians," Sean explained. "We get this big party that lasts for seven days and we get to do anything we want."

Sam's face went grim at this new information. This was exactly the pattern of human sacrifice; treated like a god and then sacrificed as an embodiment of the god on earth. Seeking validation of his hunch, Sam persisted.

"What happens on the seventh day, Sean?"

"We'll have a big barbeque! Father Michael says there will be a big bonfire," Sean said excitedly.

Amber turned to look at her brother's now horrified face. Turning to meet Claire's eyes, she found her wearing the same questioning expression Amber knew was plastered on her own face. What were they missing?

Sam turned to exchange a look with Dean, whose face had also turned pale having heard what Sean had explained.

The boy, who'd initially opened the door, was backing up while watching this encounter, looking like a small animal conred by a predator, looking for any opening to make his escape. Dean saw this and read it for what it meant, he had to act fast.

Glancing up, Dean watched this kid stepping backwards towards the rows of gaming computers, the other children fixated in their gaming, oblivious to anything else.

Dean correctly assessed how their cover was about to be blown and quickly walked up to this boy. Kneeling down, he looked this kid in the face, deciding to try to connect with him, man-to-man.

"Hey, I'm Dean. What's your name?" Dean plastered on his friendliest smile, placing a hand on the child's shoulder. The kid wasn't buying it and kept backing up until he was backed up against a table, the child's eyebrows lifting as his backside made contact with the table. Dean saw the kid register his predicament and knew he was inadvertently scaring the kid and had to move quickly. They were going to be compromised. Dean acted fast.

Clamping a hand over the kid's mouth, he pulled the child close to his body, holding him tight, his other hand still keeping the mace hidden behind him.

Sam saw Dean do this. It was instant understanding with Sam turning to Emily, appraising her progress with Sean.

Small faces popping up over the monitors, the hunters realized they'd been found out. Emily, glanced up from Sean's face and looked at the two hunters wondering if anyone had a plan. Met with worried expressions all around, she figured they were open to suggestion.

Recognizing another boy, Emily sensed the kids' mistrust and decided to try something.

"Hi Aaron. I know you from Sean's class. Remember when I brought the cupcakes for Sean's birthday?" Aaron nodded, eyes still big. Sean was frowning. These people didn't belong here.

Not even realizing what she was doing, Amber grabbed a black marker she saw on the table near a whiteboard and walked up to Sean.

"Come here, Sean, I got something to show you," She said in a fake excited tone trying not to scare him. When Sean took a step closer to her, Amber reached for his hand and took it in hers, quickly drawing something on his wrist.

"Hey, what are you doing? Cut it out," Sean whined.

Sean's whine made Emily turn to see what was going on. Her eyebrows furrowing and her mouth tipping open, she watched in utter confusion Amber drawing an intricate symbol on Sean's wrist. What on earth was she doing? And why? What the hell was going on?

Moving to the other boy Dean was trying to engage, Amber again reached for his arm and snagged it, marking it with the same sigil.

Sam's face brightened and he understood. Dean, help me," was all he said, an understanding passed between the brothers.

Claire watched this process confused, not realising what was happening. "What's going on? What are we doing?" She asked impatiently.

Looking back, Dean barked an order at Claire. "You keep the door guarded and don't let any of these kids out." Turning to Emily, Dean then issued her orders.

"You, get their names as Amber marks them and keep them over on that side of the room. Think you can do this?"

Emily turned to gape at the man, her confusion only growing. "As Amber marks them?" She repeated incredulously, trying to solve the riddle of what she was witnessing. Why weren't they leading the kids up and out of here?

"Marks them with what?" Claire asked again, impatience strong in her tone as she moved to the door, frustrated she wasn't being included in this process.

Amber heard Claire's question and heard her tone. Without even lifting her head, she replied, "A sigil to repel Evil. The one you didn't think was important. It could keep them from setting us all on fire."

On the spot, Amber had devised a plan to prevent any of the children being possessed by Nergal or heaving anything evil near them. Thinking on her feet was never among her biggest strengths. She'd always been a plotter and a planner. But her time with her brothers, the training, the numerous scenarios they'd analyze with Sam while studying the lore, this had all triggered a rewire in her brain, a rewire of neuroconnections towards a creative resourcefulness. And this right here, this was good hunting work.

Claire's face was shocked and she opened and closed her mouth twice without making a sound, before finally blurting out, "How do you know it's gonna work?"

"I don't, Claire! But if you have a better ideas we're all ears," Amber replied, impatiently, her focus not lifting from the upset child in front of her.

Emily couldn't believe what she was seeing, being truly lost in all this. Amber was so different.

Looking around the room, at the children, at Claire and the two men, Emily was watching
Amber draw a weird squiggle on a child's arm. She didn't understand what was going on or why. Amber and Claire arguing over this was an indication she wasn't the only one who had questions. Still...what was a sigil? What evil did they hope to repel? And anyway, how would a drawing repel it?

Clearing her doubt, and summoning the fortitude her personality had become acclimated to, Emily needed answers.

"What is going on here? Amber what...what is this?"

Standing in place, her eyes shifting from Amber to the brothers and then Claire. Sam looked at her, sympathy and conflicted attention evident.

"What sigil? What evil? How and why would they set us on fire? Why aren't we taking the kids out?" Emily's questions were shot one after the other, her frustration with the situation only growing.

The children, as alarmed as Emily, were now starting to cry, anger and upset growing louder within the room. One girl was backing up in a corner, frightened with nowhere to go watching the inevitable as Amber worked her way among the children, marking their arms.

Sam, seeing Emily's distress immediately walked to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and gently tugged her to an empty spot of the room, speaking to her in his signature soothing voice. Emily knew nothing of this world and a panicked confused civilian was the last thing they needed on the field.

"Emily, I know none of this makes any sense to you right now, but it's important that we finish this quickly, before we can attempt to take the kids out of here and back to their homes. That's the plan. That's what we're trying to do. To make sure every single one returns home unscathed, alright?"

"But… But what does drawing have to do with anything… And you talked about evil and setting fires…!" Came Emily's shaky reply.

"I know it's a lot, I know it might look crazy, but we need you to calm down and trust us. We saved you, didn't we? That's what we wanna do here. Save you, the kids, and make it home safe. All of us. But for that to happen, there are things we need to do first. There's something big going on here. These kids, Sean, they were all going to be sacrificed in the name of an ancient God. Father Michael and Sister Karen are behind this. We have reasons to believe this is not the only time they've done this."

These last words made Emily pause to think. The theory would have sounded crazy… But she remembered Mona telling her about seven kids that had disappeared in a nearby town while she was growing up, a few years before Sean had even been born. Mona had told her, that Father Michael and Sister Karen had come to their town shortly after. They used to work at the catholic school those missing kids were attending. She remembered Father Michael even mentioning this in one of his discussions with Sean's parents, when he was trying to console them. Telling them about how hard it had been for him and Sister Karen to cope with that loss and how many dark memories this current situation was waking up to both of them.

Looking up at Sam, she was torn between wanting to believe him and not feeling able to. A priest crazy enough to sacrifice kids? Sure. She could buy that. Human craziness. Nothing weird there. But drawing symbols on kids to protect them? That didn't make any sense at all. Despite these facts she found herself trusting this tall man. After all, their agenda was the same. Save the kids. She'd focus on that for now, as she knew more than well she couldn't make this happen on her own.

"Okay," Emily finally said. "I'll help anyway I can, I guess. I'll go help Amber."

Seeing Sam taking over with Emily, taking a breath and lifting her head to look around, Amber made eye contact with Dean, seeking his reassurance that she could pull this off as she saw them systematically grabbing the next children to bring over to her. Dean noticed Amber's glance and simply nodded for her to continue as he brought another child to her.

Sulking, Claire remained silently guarding the door. The smugness of her being right about the suspects was now replaced by this bitter feeling of being exposed, of her being wrong about the sigils. If she had learned to make that damn sigil, she'd be helping them right now, too. Hell, maybe she'd have come up with this idea. And she had a feeling Dean would do his best to rub her face in this, completely disregarding the fact this was Claire's own tactic she used on him.

Focusing on the task at hand, Calire stepped away from the door for a second. Going to Dean she reached out for the mace, seeing him struggling to draw the sigil on a protesting child while still holding it in his left hand.

Dean turned to look at her suspiciously, but she glared at him, not backing up.

"You're gonna fuck up the sigil and it won't work. Give it to me."

Dean glared at her, taken back by her aggressiveness. Meeting his gaze, her frustration matching his own, she instantly responded to his implied grievance.

"What? I'm not taking it forever. I'll keep it till you're done. Dean, give it. You'll get it back as soon as you're done! I'm only trying to help!"

Considering their situation, Dean had to admit she had a point, and he handed the mace to her.

"You swing that thing at anybody that tries to get in," he instructed, curtly.

"Will do," Claire replied and turned around, resuming her guard duty at the door, mace held staunchly.

Working their way amongst the kids, Emily quietly assisted Amber in holding the kids' arms as she drew the sigil on them all. The kids were frightened and a few of them were crying.

"You're ok. Shhh...you're ok. This doesn't hurt, there's no reason to be afraid," Emily reassured each child. Emily felt her temper rising with this process that she still saw no point in. But she had promised to help and she would. The faster they'd "mark" the kids, the faster they could lead them to safety.

Looking at Emily Amber didn't know what else she could say. She wasn't hurting the children, yet she saw how frightened their presence and this process made them. Amber could imagine how cruel this would look to Emily. Her friend always had a soft spot for kids. Clenching her jaw, Amber focused on the only thing she could at the moment. Drawing the sigil. Be quick, don't scare the kids too much, get this done! With each child reluctantly submitting to the sigil she felt like she was kicking a dog.

Speaking to the next little girl, Emily drew the child closer, keeping a smile plastered on her own face. Noticing the girl's concern for the other kids ahead of her, Emily took this opportunity. Amber watched with intrigue. Emily was so comfortable with kids.

"See, they're fine. Look. It didn't hurt them," Emily directed the child's attention to her friends on the other side of the room, who'd been emblazoned with the sigils just above the wrists. This calmed her down. Emily's way with kids was unexpected. And it was working.

"This won't hurt. This is like a gaming achievement. It's a protective medallion," Emily kept talking to them as they worked, trying to calm them and sort of explain while Dean and Sam kept the sigil-protected kids confined to the other side of the room, Sam was trying to calm them down.

For the most part the children were sitting quietly, looking stricken, waiting to see what was going to happen to them next. One little button, the last of the ten kids present, taking great offense to both her gaming being interrupted and these strangers taking over, kept a vigilant watch as it became her turn. With Dean approaching this little girl, intending to mark her, he was met with a squirming, sputtering tornado of small arms and legs as this child attempted to slip out of his grip, angry words flying out of her mouth like someone had hit the on button to a recording of an angry thug. Dean was a bit stunned.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...you're fine. God dammit! Sam...a little help here."

Hearing the shorter of the two men swearing, one of the boys on the 'already marked side of the room' piped up.

"You're not supposed to swear."

Looking frustrated, biting off his words, Dean let it fly.

"Well, you're not supposed to sacrifice yourself to a Sumerian god. Really pisses Chuck off. He hates the competition."

The boy looked gobsmacked, shut up and Dean got on with it, just as Emily reached him and the little girl and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"It's like a really cool tattoo. It will wash off in a couple of days and it'll be like it was never there, I promise," Emily told her soothingly, her hand going to caress the kid's soft hair.

"My mommy doesn't like tattoos," the girl whined.

"Your mommy, will be so happy to see you. She won't mind a temporary tattoo, I promise," came Emily's answer.

"But I don't like it," came the whiny voice again.

"Would you like a heart to go with it?" Emily offered.

"No…" After some thought, the little girl piped up, "But I'd like a unicorn!"

Dean, marker in hand, turned to look at Emily with a blank expression.

"Seriously?"

Raising an eyebrow, Emily nodded towards the small expecting hand. "What? You have time to paint magic symbols but can't spend one minute for a horse with a horn? Draw the unicorn!"

Turning to the little girl with a tight smile, Dean used the marker and hastily drew what he thought looked like a decent horse with a horn on its forehead.

"There, done," he declared.

"That's ugly! It looks like a dog," the little girl whined, turning to look at Emily displeased.

"Take her away. Now." Was Dean's only response, as he stood to his feet and walked to where Claire was standing, still guarding the door, an amused smirk plastered on her face.

"Not a word," Dean grumbled, taking the golden mace from her hands. "Take Sam and make sure there's nobody else in the other room. If we're good we need to start getting them out of this rat maze."

Just as his words left his mouth, the door sounded. Someone was inserting a key on the outside.

Dean immediately moved in front of Claire, pushing her with his free hand back and towards Sam, Amber, Emily, and the ten children.

Sam getting his gun out, aiming it at the door, made some of the kids scream in fear. Emily led them further back against the wall, trying to calm them down while Amber moved to stand in front of them and right beside Sam, her stance strong and ready to fight. She tried to focus and access her grace, but found herself feeling weak and unable to. This was unexpected. Maybe teleporting with Emily had taken a bigger toll on her than she'd originally thought.

With a confident stride, Father Mike pushed open the door, coming into the room, clearly expecting everything to be as he'd left it. In less than a second he knew it was not and his face morphed into one of outrage.

"What are you doing here?"

The voice Father Mike used was thundering, his own eyes blazing with anger. Shifting his attention from the two FBI agents to the three girls standing further back in the room, the priest surveyed the children. And then it registered. The kids! There were supposed to be eight, yet he counted ten. But not the right ten. A girl was missing and a boy that shouldn't be there, was. What was going on?

Seeing the priest's distraction Dean instantly lunged towards him, needing to stop him and shut him up, mace still in hand. Surprisingly, the priest stepped back at just the moment it put him out of Dean's reach and Dean pivoted, reaching out again towards Father Mike. Grabbing hold of the priest's right forearm, Dean was holding him, actually trying not to use the mace in front of the kids. The grappling was fierce and Father Mike got his right arm free, and landed a punch on Dean's cheek.

The children watched the fist fight with shocked faces, many of them starting to cry from the violence as the man with the golden mace attempted to hit their beloved Father Michael. Aaron, glancing around him frantically, noticed the tall man in front of him was tracking the movements of the priest with his gun. Not giving it a second thought, the boy lunged at the extended arm, jumping up to reach it, and hang himself from it, biting down on the man's forearm with all of his might.

Sam yelled out in pain at the unexpected attack, and the gun slipped out of his grip. Amber tried to reach it, but one of the kids kicked it hard to the other side of the room before she even got close to it.

"Guys, no! I know it doesn't make sense right now, but Father Michael is dangerous! He wants to hurt you," Emily tried to reason with the aggravated children who were now openly aggressive to her, Amber, and Sam. What else could she do? They were kids! She couldn't hit them. She wouldn't. Her words didn't seem to make any impression on the angry ten-year-olds.

"Kids, say our secret prayer," Father Michael yelled in order to be heard over the commotion. With the corner of his eye, the priest noticed Sam's gun laying close by, and he lunged for it, rolling immediately back to his feet and aiming it at Dean.

As a chorus of words spoken in a language only Amber could understand echoed in the room, the priest looked triumphantly at Dean.

"What are you gonna do now? You think you can repel bullets with that thing? In a matter of seconds these kids will be spitting fireballs. A tiny bit of almighty Nergal inside each and every one of them! What are you gonna do? Kill them all with that mace of yours?"

Dean, from the corner of his eye, watched Sam stealthy walking up behind Father Mike. Seeing his opportunity opening, tightened his grip on the mace.

"No kids are gonna die tonight, Father. But you might wanna think of a plan B. 'Cause I don't really think your little choir is gonna work this time," Dean shot right back.

The two men walked in circles around each other. The priest glanced towards the kids, noticing that indeed, none of their eyes had started blazing nor did he sense the powerful presence he had grown accustomed to.

Sam, taking advantage of this momentary distraction, lunged for the gun. With the kids busy saying what Sam believed was an invocation, none of them could warn the priest. In one swift motion, he had grabbed the gun and pressed it against the man's head.

"So… Any plan B? Or are we gonna end this nice and easy with you being delivered to the cops?" Dean asked.

The priest closed his eyes and raised his hands, his Adam's apple visibly moving up and down in his throat.

"That's what I thought," Dean said with a smug smile.

After a few seconds though, Father Michael's eyes opened, ablaze, this time with actual fire.

Before he had any time to react, Dean found himself lounging away from a large wave of flames shooting in his direction.

The stream of fire missed Dean and instead hit the wall behind him, ignited the edge of a tapestry hanging there.

"Girls! Take the kids to the next room! Now!," came Sam's shouted order.

Eleven sets of shocked eyes, looked in disbelief as Father Michael was shooting fire against these men. The fire on the side of the wall made them walk backwards in sheer terror.

Amber, jumping into action, rapidly ushered the children towards an adjoining room, with Emily falling in with her efforts despite her shock at what she had just witnessed.

"Claire!" was Amber's angry shout, getting the blonde's attention.

Claire glanced between the spreading fire and the kids and shook her head. "I need to extinguish that or we'll all die," she shouted at Amber. "You get them in. I'll get onto that," she yelled removing her leather jacket, before running towards the flames.

Pushing Emily towards the room, Amber glanced back at the fight between the priest and her brothers and Claire's fighting the flames now growing up the side of the tapestry.

Emily had the children herded into the back room, some of them still fighting against this effort. Stepping in to achieve this final push to safety, Amber literally shoved the last few kids into the room, glancing at Emily, and shut the door. Emily would have to just figure this out from here.

Moving back towards the action, Amber noticed Claire was still putting out the fire. She had this and was knocking the flames down. Returning her attention to the fight at hand, this was starting to feel like an improvised training session.

Sam and Dean moved around the room, while Claire finished extinguishing the fire, only for several more items around the room to ignite from the priest's beams of fire.

Pausing for a second, Claire looked around her frantically. Her jacket wasn't going to cur it. Spotting an extinguisher, mounted on one of the walls, she grabbed it off the wall mount, and started attacking each burning item with it.

It was at this moment that the door opened for the second time, and Sister Karen rushed in, hearing the commotion.

Amber spotted her and immediately ran towards her before the nun could react. She attempted to attack the nun from behind, but the woman saw her and dodged out of Amber's trajectory.

Claire glanced towards Sam and Dean, who still couldn't seem to get anywhere near the fire-shooting priest to hit him with the golden mace.

A bulb going off in Claire's head an idea had leapt to her brain, instinct melding with ingenuity, and it was worth a go. Instantly she yelled, "Dean, get ready!"

Lunging at the priest, Claire pulled the pin, aimed the hose and discharged the fire retardant powder right into the priest's eyes as he started shooting waves of flame in her direction. While yellow powder mixed with amber flames, and the priest completely focused on Claire, Dean managed to finally get to him.

With one powerful blow with the mace, Dean hit the man on the back of his head. The sickening sound of bones crushing preceded the blood spluttering all around him. For a second Father Michael stood there still, his eyes gradually fading from being ablaze with fire back to their normal brown. Then, the lifeless body collapsed on the carpeted floor, slowly turning into a mass of black, smoking, carbon.

"No!" The nun's chilling scream filled the room as she fell to her knees, hands flying to clasp over her mouth.

"Shut up," was Amber's response, before she landed a measured kick to the woman's jaw, hard enough to knock her out.

Unaffected by the violence, Dean used the back of his sleeve to wipe the blood that had splattered on his face, clearing his sight.

Amber, still panting with the adrenaline of the fight, averted her eyes from the gorry image of her brother's blood-covered face. She glanced at Sam and Claire, making sure both were safe. Sam looked relieved and Claire was clearly excited with all the action and ready for more, pupils dilated with excitement.

"Smart move, Claire," Amber commented with an approving nod.

"I know, right? Totally saved this hunt," was the blonde's smug response.

Smiling involuntarily from Claire's bravado, Amber turned to assess her brothers. Seeing them both standing, she reassessed the nun, making sure she was still out for the count.

"Now what?" Amber asked, glancing at the chaos around them.

"Cleanup duty and getting our story straight," came Dean's leveled response. "We hand the nun to the local police as federals, informing them she's the one abducting the kids. We pin the burning of the man on her as well."

"What about the blood?" Claire asked, pointing at the stained carpet.

"They have no body to match it to. Padre is burned nicely into a crisp. So we're good. The local police will just be happy to be handed a win. They always do. They have a suspect to blame and kids safe to return to their families," came Dean's reply.

"What about the kids? Won't they blame us?" Amber asked again.

"We'll be gone by then. The police will just want this case closed ASAP. That's how they operate. Trust me. By the time the kids say anything, everyone will be ready to move on with their lives."

"Except the kids," Claire brought up.

"That's what the shrinks are here for. Our job here is done," Dean answered. Turning to look at Claire he added, "Good call, that last move. Good job, Claire."

Claire smiled at the praise and nodded, but didn't answer. Getting to her knees and retrieving a tie-wrap from her back pocket, she proceeded to tie the nun's hands tightly behind her back.

Dean moved around the room and grabbed the throw that covered part of the sofa, throwing it over the burned body of the priest and the largest part of the blood stain. The kids would have to walk out of this room to get them back to the church and their parents. They didn't need to see this. Once that chore was done, he moved to where the now bound nun laid and drugged her behind the couch, again to block her from the children's sight when they'd leave.

Amber and Sam found themselves at the door where Emily and the kids were behind. Glancing down at his sister, Sam nodded and let Amber lead the way. Pushing it open, their eyes were met with Emily sitting huddled down on the floor with the kids, her arms around the two closest to her, all of them looking scared. Feeling chagrined, the Winchester's only then realized what the fight must have sounded like on the other side of the door.

"It's safe. You're safe now," was Amber's offered assuagement, scanning the room. Eleven sets of traumatized eyes stared back at the hunters. Sam had seen this look before and knew these people were in for a hard mental recovery.

When no one moved Sam stepped forward, towering over Amber and repeated her words, but as instructions now.

"It's safe and all of you need to come out. Go ahead, stand up," was his measured prodding. Slowly, the children and Emily started to move, untangling limbs from defensive embraces. Not a word was said.

Emily got to her feet, and looked around for Sean, placing her hand on his shoulder. The small girls who'd been protectively braced up against her didn't move far, standing up in place next to their anchoring adult.

"We'll get you out of this room and up to the church, where your parents will come to get you, alright?" Sam informed them of what would follow.

"What about Father Michael?" Aaron dared to ask, fearfully looking at the tall man he had attacked earlier.

"Father Michael is not going to hurt you anymore," was Sam's diplomatic response.

"But he never hurt us… He was good to us. He let us play all these games…"

"I know it's hard to understand this right now, but he and Sister Karen didn't want what's best for you. You will see when your parents come. They had no idea where you were. They've been worried sick. You need to get to your families. They'll explain everything a lot better that we can," Sam replied in simple words.

Emily used her free hand to touch Aaron's shoulder and nodded at him.

"It's true, Aaron. Let's get you all to your parents first, alright? Would you like that?"

At the few reluctant nods, a lot of blank stares and the hesitant steps out of the room, Emily, Sam, and Amber escorted the kids out. They rushed them past the destroyed room as quickly as possible, heading for the stairs that would lead them back to the church yard. The hunters all noticed the children's acknowledgement of the blanket thrown over the dead body of the priest. The nun's body wasn't in sight as they shuffled by.

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She'd never seen that look on her face. It was unsettling. Amber kept glancing at Emily and Emily kept her rigid face turned away from view. Glancing in the rearview mirror, Dean could see the girls were not talking. He glanced at his brother, who returned his inquiry by shrugging. Also through the rearview mirror, Sam assessed the situation backseat. Claire was looking self-satisfied and mildly annoyed by the silent drama going on in the backseat.

They were dropping Emily off at Sean's house. They had offered to drive her back to her own place, but she immediately refused. She was done. She was done with this all Sumerian god stuff. All the people shooting fire from their eyes, people bursting into flames, Amber's lies, and all of the fake FBI agents. Frankly, Emily was in shock and needed to sort out how her understanding of the world had changed, the dangers of this world were larger and more imminent now that she knew the darkness was real.

Amber realised this was going on for her friend and really felt bad for Emily's experience and involvement. This was the first case for her in which those involved didn't know of the supernatural. Their last hunt was Magda's case. And that whole family knew plenty about, and acknowledged, the supernatural world even if they'd labeled it as the 'devil's work'. With poor Magda paying the price. But there had been zero shocked faces there. Nobody had to keep living their lives, suddenly knowing how much darker this world was and how many more dangers it held. And Emily was now experiencing exactly that. Amber guessed she felt shocked, freaked out...and far beyond unsettled. Amber hated that her friend was going through all of this, but Amber's feelings were not a concern for Emily. It was a silent, raging bloodbath of emotions and Amber could do nothing to fix. It just was.

Distrust and fear that had devoured Emily's energy. She glanced out of her window, seeing they had finally made it to the street Sean's house was located. Maybe she'd get a chance to explain, to make things right.

"So… Are we gonna give Emily the whole 'all-monsters-are-real' talk? 'Cause I never got that and it kinda would've been good to know," Claire piped up, breaking the heavy silence.

She had hoped her words would bring some levity and maybe crack a smile or two, but that was clearly not the case, angry glares were coming at her from every Winchester. Emily still sat stoney-faced.

"Fine," she mumbled, resigned. "It would've been good to know, just sayin."

Dean eased the Impala on the sidewalk right in front of Sean's house and turned off the engine. Turning slightly in his seat he glanced at Emily.

"You sure you don't want a ride back to Lebanon?"

"Yeah," Emily replied, her tone frigid and minimal. Mumbling a quiet "Bye," she opened the rear door and got out of the car hastily.

"I'll be right back," Amber threw over her shoulder to her brothers, before she also got out of the car and rushed to catch up with her friend.

"Em! Emily, wait!"

The taller girl paused on the front porch steps at the urgency in Amber's tone. She wanted to get as far away as possible from all of them, but at the same time, this was Amber calling her. Turning around slowly, she looked at Amber standing a few feet away.

Eyes as flat and emotionless as an empty body, Emily stood there granting Amber one last favor.

"Emily, are you OK?"

As soon as she'd said this, she felt like an idiot. Of course Emily wasn't OK!

"Alright, so you've been through a lot and it's weird, I know. I really know, but I'm concerned for you." Amber's eyes were big, imploring and concerned. She wasn't getting the reciprocated response she was expecting.

"Don't be. I'll figure it out on my own like I always do. Honestly, all I want to do is get back to my life and forget these last few days ever happened."

"We can talk about this, though. I've been where you've been. If you let me, I can help figure this out, Em," Amber told her almost pleadingly.

"No."

Stunned by this single-word proclamation, Amber's jaw dipped open with disbelief. It felt like she was losing her friend.

"Amber… I'm glad you're alive But I don't want anything to do with any of this ever again. And apparently this is your world, too. I've fought so hard to feel secure, to have some predictability in my life. I'm not sacrificing this. Not for you, not for anyone. We're done. Really done. Please don't contact me again."

Facing each other for two beats, nothing was said. Then Emily simply turned away and entered Sean's house, closing the door.

Amber was left standing on the doorstep, Emily's words still in the air. Slowly the tight grip of her heart screwed up her face and she began to cry, her mouth grimacing, tears quietly falling. Holding her face in her hands, she remained standing on the doorstep until a large hand fell on her shoulder, and she instantly knew it was Sam. He hugged her to his side, no words, and guided her back to the Impala. Closing the door, he looked up at Claire's face, and he saw she was serious now, no wisecracks wrestling to come out.

Sam settled himself back into the front seat, the two brothers sharing a knowing look. And they simply got on with it. They'd been there.

"I know it sucks, but it's part of the process, kid," Dean offered as he turned the key in the ignition.

Amber heard his attempt at comforting her, but it didn't. Curling up upon herself she faced away from the others, numbly looking out the window watching the outside pass along as her eyes gazed out at nothing in particular.

"Most people don't want anything to do with us once they're safe in their homes. It's new to you and it sucks 'cause Emily was an old friend of yours, but that's how it usually goes down. We think ourselves lucky if we even get a 'thank you'," Dean added. Sam, head turned around to see Amber's reaction, reflected the truth of Dean's statement. He looked like he'd been the one to lose a connection.

When Amber remained silent, Dean decided all he needed to say had been said. Letting his sister process this, he refocused his attention on the road ahead. This was going to be a long drive.

Turning in his seat, Sam offered a small smile to the girls.

"Try to get some rest. We'll stop to get something to eat when we're halfway and then we can discuss everything over dinner when we're back at the bunker."

Everyone was sliding into their own headspace as the Impala's engine revved under Dean's driving, silence engulfing the car's interior. Amber was processing her grief from losing yet another important person in her life. She wondered if it would ever end. If those she cared about would ever stop leaving her for one reason or another. The fact that Emily chose to, made it all hurt that much more. Using a hand to wipe at the last of her tears, she tried to focus on getting her emotions under control and shutting this pain down. The two brothers focused their thoughts on everything that had happened these last couple of days and the impending discussion, and all the new complications it would spring up on them.

Claire was the only settled person in the Impala. She felt calm and content. The hunting had gone great and she had managed to play a significant part in it, too. Now she was riding out this feeling of contentment and pleasure, not allowing the Winchester drama around her to depress her hunting-induced high. Her eyes drifting to the side, she let her head rest on the cold glass of her window, while watching the landscape outside rush behind them.

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Finally, a hunt!

Was it good for you, too?

Since we're about half a month late in posting, due to our new jobs and other personal adventures, we wished to really give y'all something interesting. Some anthropology research came into play in this chapter. Being geeks at heart, we had fun digging around and figuring out what Sam, Amber, Claire and Dean would do here. So many different personalities.

Did this chapter surprise you in any way?

Did it challenge your perception of SPN?

How did Dean's interaction with Emily strike you?

Have you ever studied Ancient Civilizations?

Did you know about ancient Sumerian beliefs and religion?

Did the elements of the story feel spot on?

How did this story frustrate you?

How did it excite you?

What confused you?

What did you like best about this chapter?

Is there anything you've missed seeing in the story or something you'd wish to see happening in the next couple of chapters?

We can't wait to hear from you guys! All you regulars and all you whom we haven't heard from in a while :) We hope you're all still there. Indulge us with answers to some of our questions (We know, we know… we got a lot of those. Lol) or just with a quick line of how you liked the chapter.

Take care!

Till next chapter,

Marion Luth & LauWhisperer