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Chapter 30
When Angels Deserve to Die
Title credit: Lyrics from the song Chop Suey by System Of A Down. (Album: Toxicity, 2001)
Warning: In this chapter there's mention of consensual underage sexual activity...if you're from the US. We don't narrate this. We stop before it actually happens and restart again after it has concluded. That being said a description of the consensual, emotional connection, inherent in a powerful sexual attraction, is described. There's nothing graphic. Just in case, if you don't want to read that bit look for the ************ divider (a long line of asterisks at the beginning and another at the ending of this subscene).
Don't read what's in between and you'll be fine. You're not losing anything plot wise and you can scroll right past it.
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"So, what do you plan to do once you find her?" Amber asked, watching Dean zipping up his duffel bag in the war room.
"What we have to," was Dean's response.
"And what do you have to do?" Amber pressed on, her stomach churning uncomfortably.
"Amber, we don't kill innocent humans," Sam interjected. "We'll find out who the woman is, we'll explain to her what's going on and we'll figure out how to safely proceed."
"Proceed with killing the nephilim?" Amber asked, eyes shifting to Sam.
"This is the spawn of Lucifer...this isn't some ordinary kid. This kid is...this kid is like a bomb that can take out the whole world. And he's Lucifer's kid. It has to be done." Dean didn't sugar coat what he saw as black and white. Sam's calm, purposeful demeanour appeared to mirror Dean's words. They were unified in action and intent.
Amber heard Dean's words and wanted to believe them. She wanted to focus on who the nephilim's father was, but she simply couldn't. All she could think of was an innocent creature that came into existence without being asked. A creature that everybody already wanted to see dead. All she could do in that moment was project her own situation onto this unborn nephilim. And the fact that the ones that planned to kill it were her own brothers made everything a million times worse.
"I'm sure once she knows what's going on the mother will want nothing to do with it either," Sam said in an effort to make this easier for his sister. He could see why she was being upset over this, but there was no other way around it.
Amber chose not to comment.. She crossed her arms across her chest and kept watching her brothers getting ready to leave. Her usual fear of anything happening to them on the hunt only adding to her upset and discomfort. Especially considering who their target's father was.
"Now, you keep your heads down, mind Cas...I mean, don't kill Cas, ok? Just, sit tight and we'll keep you informed if we find something." Pulling Amber to him, Dean wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the side of the head.
It was a rare display on Dean's part. They were going to find the nephilim's mother and it gave him a heightened sense of perspective...who Amber was and how easily he could lose her.
Moving onto Claire, Dean sized up the blonde who stood still as he approached her. She looked reluctant, yet didn't back away as he approached. Clearly she wished to say goodbye, but wasn't going to initiate a hug.
"And you be good, too", Dean said to Claire as he released her from a full hug, Because Dean had made the first move, Claire had allowed this without protest.
"Won't kill the angel," was Claire's muffled response. Breaking the embrace, giving Claire a kiss on the side of her head, too, Dean watched Claire forming a small smile despite herself. It was nice.
Claire, uncomfortable with this affection, yet clearly happy about it, disrupted all this mush with, "Call me when you need someone to dig you out of the pit you're in."
Their scathing look nearly knocked her over, Claire saw her jab hit tender injury. Both brothers wordlessly disapproved of her taunting reference to 'the pit.'
Interestingly, for the first time Dean could see that Claire used sarcasm to deal with disappointment...and her deep fear of being disappointed again. This girl had some major issues. And so did he.
Shifting back to what he was doing, Dean simply looked at Claire, calmer and with a sad expression on his face, understanding her fear of losing him. Claire felt Dean was seeing her true self more than she was comfortable with...and surprisingly looked embarrassed by her own taunt.
This girl needed so much more. This time, as Claire was pulled into a hug by Dean, he held her close, full embrace...and Claire eventually returned it. It felt so desperate to him.
"Don't die. Who'd buy food?" As always, Claire's wisecracks covered her feelings.
"You ain't getting rid of us that easily," Dean quipped with a small laugh, letting go of the girl and throwing his bag over his shoulder.
Sam walked to Amber and dragged her into a hug, resting his chin on top of her head. Amber felt his love and concern. She was concerned for their safety...she wasn't going to be around to be the wild card that could save them. They were plenty good at saving themselves, but this was Lucifer and he had a plan they were trying to destroy.
"Be safe," Amber whispered quietly.
"Don't worry about us," Sam said in a reassuring tone. "We'll be back before you know it. You two make sure to follow the rules and lay low while we're away alright?"
"We will," Amber said, nodding her head against him.
Letting her go, Sam walked to Claire next. Just like Dean, he made the first step knowing Claire wouldn't. He gave her a shorter one-armed hug, which Claire returned a bit awkwardly.
"Stay safe, Claire."
"Yeah… You too," was her quiet response as they let their arms drop. It was the first time the two of them had shared any level of physical affection and it felt awkward to her. Not unpleasant, just weird.
The two girls and Cas remained watching as the Winchesters headed up the stairs and vanished behind the heavy door that led to the garage.
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Her door locked from the inside to keep Claire from barging in. Covered by a Tan Vampires poster, a miniature angel-warding sigil was discreetly drawn on the center of her bedroom door. It was to ward off angelic spying so Amber could finally feel like she had some privacy.
Yesterday, after her last talk with Sam and Cas, she'd deduced that even if Cas was respecting his promise not to poke around in her head, he was still using his powers to assess her emotional state. She was certain he was still seeing images from her thoughts. This was a major problem. Simply asking him not to wouldn't necessarily change this fact, so she had warded her room against angels. He'd still be able to enter if she'd let him. She had used chalk to draw the sigil. Easy to smudge a small part of it to let him in, easy to redraw it whenever she needed to. This way Cas wouldn't be able to sense what was going on in the room if her door was closed and the sigil intact. It wasn't much, but it gave her a sense of mental privacy. Something that shouldn't be a luxury, but a given.
Lifting up her Tan Vampires poster, the sepia-toned one of them in front of the gallows, she checked the angel warding on her door beneath. Yes, it was intact.
This was so new to her door, she hadn't had the opportunity to try breaking one of the lines to allow Cas in. She needed to at least keep up the appearance of 'nothing going on here' as this would never fly with Sam and Dean.
Sitting at her desk, her leather notebook laying open on its surface, Amber started tapping her pen against the paper, eyes drifting unfocused as she was lost in her thoughts. Writing down everything that had happened in the last couple of days, everything she'd learned since her last entry. It felt cathartic. She couldn't remember the last time she'd written in her journal. It helped her process everything.
Smiling to herself, Amber reflected on a quote she'd read somewhere.
"I don't know what I think until I write it down."
Everything with this new nephilim being conceived had evoked a huge turmoil inside her. A nephilim, someone like her and yet Satan's offspring. Someone like her, that her brothers wanted dead. No matter how logical the whole "spawn of satan" argument was, the idea of her brothers killing one of her own kind just struck a nerve. It made her feel angry and sad and betrayed all at the same time. And this was just one of the emerging issues.
What was with all this nephilim-creation thing?
What did Lucifer plan?
Was the new nephilim his way of bypassing her to get his way?
Or was there another plan they'd need to worry about? A hidden agenda they knew nothing of?
What would Sam and Dean step into in trying to target this nephilim's mother and Lucifer himself. All these imponderables were working her up nearly to a breaking point.
Finishing her last entry, and desperately needing a break from all this stress and turmoil, Amber flipped back to some of the front pages, looking over her words, remembering where she was when she wrote them. It felt both distant and just like yesterday. How much she'd grown and changed, this was the distance she could see from her earlier entries.
Still flipping through the journal, she came across the page from when she had met Kyle at Asa's wake. That whole event had been the beginning. Instantly longing to see him, she was indulging in her memories, their makeout sessions, his hands on her in the bookstore, his protectiveness...as annoying as it could be….and then it happened.
Just like a few weeks back, Amber spontaneously teleported.
There she was, standing in the small, dull living room, or what passed as a livingroom, with Kyle sitting on a raggedy overstuffed couch, laptop open87654. Not surprisingly, he was alarmed by her sudden appearance. In a flash that she couldn't follow, Kyle was on his feet, standing in front of her defensively, demon blade drawn.
Realizing this had happened again, Amber raised both her hands in a gesture of surrender and Kyle finally recognized her.
"It's me, Kyle. It's me, Amber!"
"Fuck, Amber….!"
He didn't get to say any more than this. She'd manifested in his apartment, and while anxious to stop his strike, Amber seemed to understand her surroundings.
"Kyle, stop! It's me!"
Hands up as if to push his blade away from her, she calmed him, reassuring him that she wasn't an unknown presence and he lowered his knife.
"What the hell are you doing here? Amber, how are you here?!" Kyle sounded upset, confused.
Smiling at the irony of their role reversal, despite her own surprise over the situation, Amber sported a crooked smile.
"Oh, I was in the neighborhood visiting a friend."
Anger crossing his face, Kyle wasn't buying this...because Kyle knew how he always managed to be in the neighborhoods she was in...and it was never coincidental.
"What's up? Aren't you happy to see me?" Amber demurred, giving as good as she got with a sexy taunt. This seemed to upset Kyle more.
'Amber, you're out of your home! You shouldn't be here… It's not safe! And how did you get here?"
"Same way you do, right? Yeah...how exactly do you do that?"
Sheathing his demon blade, Kyle was seriously considering this girl. He couldn't answer her. Besides everything was different now.
"I need to take you back home. Now. It's not safe here! Dammit, Amber! You promised you'd stay put," he barked at her.
Eyes narrowing at his tone, Amber crossed her arms against her chest and glared at him.
"Stop yelling! It wasn't… Intentional! I'm not suicidal, okay? I can't tell you how or why, but it happened and I'm here. And I don't need your help to go back home. I can do it on my own!"
"Then do it! You're not safe here! Wait… Does this mean your family doesn't know you're here?"
"They don't. They're not home. We had an emergency. We have an angel playing guard-dog though…" Amber paused at these words.
The thought striking her for the first time. She hadn't meant for this to happen, but it had. She was here. She was with Kyle. Her brothers were not in the bunker, were probably going to be gone until tomorrow...at the least. And she had figured out a way to have some Cas-proofing in her room. The idea and plan started slowly formulating. She could teleport Kyle with her, so he wouldn't know where the bunker was, nor would he see anything beyond her own room. Hmmm… This was perfect!
Turning to Kyle, eyes hopeful, she gave him a sly smirk, her eyes sparkly with mischief and fun.
"Come with! I can smuggle you into my room. We can catch up and I'll be safe at home with you… Win-Win!" Amber finished this last part with an open-mouthed smile, looking entirely too happy for Kyle's taste.
"Are you serious?" Kyle asked, a small disbelieving laugh escaping him. Here she was, out in the open, in an unguarded space and she was inviting him for a sleepover?
"Come with me and we'll leave right now. I mean it. No tricks, no games. And we'll get some actual uninterrupted alone time. Who knows when we'll have the chance to meet again? Come on! Make up your mind. I can't risk staying here too long."
Like an algorithm, calculating the risks and opportunities, Kyle was assessing this unexpected circumstance.
"When did you say your dad is due back?" Kyle was warming to the idea.
"Tomorrow, maybe the day after. Don't know, but I'll probably hear from him or Sam later when they have more intel."
"Intel on what?" Kyle was probing.
This was an unexpected query. In Amber's experience, Kyle seemed to know what was happening in the demon world even before her family did, so what intel did he need from her? Leveling him with a serious look, Amber was taking in his intent. Realizing she needed to get back ASAP, she pivoted and returned to the topic of the bunker.
"Kyle, I need to leave and you're either coming with me or not. Decide now. You don't have to spend the night. Just come for a couple of hours…" She'd had it with him dictating to her.
It was then it all fell into place for him...he'd have Amber Winchester all to himself...at least for a while. A rare opportunity.
"Ok, I'm in."
Amber's face lit up and she grabbed his hand and felt him twine his fingers with her own, squeezing firmly as if to encourage her forward. Then Amber focused on her room in the bunker, saw her bed, her guitar...her journal sitting open on her desk and then they were there.
Giving him a final squeeze, Amber let go of his hand and welcomed him to her room.
Eyeing this girl, Kyle held an expression on his face that Amber had never seen. Sly grin spreading, he decided to ask, "So, how long have you been able to teleport?"
Cocky smile of her own, Amber's only reply was in the form of a question.
"How long have you?"
"Touché." Kyle was laughing at her deflection. He'd been out maneuvered. He liked this about Amber.
And Kyle's questions stopped here. It was clear to him that she was becoming stronger and stronger. What other skills had she developed since they'd met, back when he'd had to protect her?
Interestingly, Kyle had started to see images from Amber's thoughts. Naturally they were from her perspective. She was trying to keep them close to her, guarding her mind from him, but allowing a trickle to seep out. Kyle wondered why a trickle? Why show them to him at all?
He decided to pretend like he wasn't seeing them. Amber was seeing images from Kyle's thoughts, including that he knew what she was doing. That suited her just fine. She'd see how long this game lasted.
Looking around, Kyle was orienting himself to her world...her room. Seeing the Tan Vampires Poster, he chuckled, the ironic dark humor not being wasted on was her guitar leaning against her bed looking like she'd recently been practicing. She had.
Spotting her open journal, Kyle took the two steps needed to get close enough to see the page it was opened too, and Amber stepped in front of him, cutting him off and closing the book.
"Uh uh. Not for your eyes." Swiftly picking it up, Amber held her journal against her chest protectively as if she was holding a child tightly in her arms. Kyle saw the fleeting look of urgent concern on her face, looking like an adorable 12-year old with her secret thoughts. It was endearing and Kyle smiled at this, his own eyes sparkling.
"So, now I know where the good stuff is," he teased.
While he was indeed teasing Amber, he was also serious. She felt the truth of his meaning and was momentarily knocked off balance with the concern of how to hide this from him. Then she remembered, he'd never be out of her sight while he was in her room. She'd know every move he made.
Relaxing, she opened her desk drawer and placed her journal inside, closing it and turning the key in the lock. The Men of Letters had designed every desk with a locking key. Of course, this had come in handy for her journal and other personal items of consequence. She didn't put it past Dean to snoop in her room if he was determined to find something out.
With stealth, her back turned to Kyle, she returned the key to its hiding spot at the back of the desk in this strange, horizontal crack she'd found. It kept the key out of sight while allowing her to easily retrieve it. It was just a gap in the joint and it suited this purpose perfectly. She hoped her movement had been undetected so she could relax. In fact, Kyle could see she was doing something but he wasn't sure what it was. He never saw the key or where she hid it.
Turning back around, Amber smiled as he relaxed. Seeing this beautiful girl, being alone in her room, Kyle looked around and saw her door had a lock. Casually walking over to the door, he checked if it was locked and came to stand in front of her. Amber's face flushed and her eyes sparkled. She wanted this, too.
Kyle's hands immediately went to her face, cupping her cheeks, pulling her to him for a deep, thirsty kiss. Melting into his mouth, his touch was electric, compelling, with Amber kissing him back, kissing him deeply. The sensation was unreal...intoxicating, beautiful.
Hand to her head, Kyle smoothed back her hair, feeling his hand glide along the shape of her head, to her neck and shoulders, feeling her eagerness and passion. Her hair was so silky, her scent was like a sweet musk with shampoo on top.
Getting lost in this girl...Kyle's mind started spinning images of her, how beautiful she was, how much he envisioned making love with her, her naked beauty, her glorious physicality and Amber couldn't help but see them all. These images were spilling over into her awareness as if he was tossing confetti into a pool…and it was all floating on top for anyone to see.
Deciding to share her own images, Amber embraced her desire for his masculinity, his scent, her hands in his blond hair, his hands on her body defining where she stopped and he started, him inside of her...and losing this line dividing them all together. Then they were on her bed, their imagination and the actual experience folding and blending over and over.
Riding this europhia, the passion and love coming from this girl, Kyle was astonished with the depth and overwhelming experience of human love.
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Stroking the curve of her waist and hip, Kyle was musing on how the female human was this perfect shape. And Amber was an even more perfect specimen. As he moved his hands across her skin, Kyle felt her body respond, goosebumps formed in the anticipation of his hand as he repeatedly created a memorized path along her torso.
Their lovemaking had been intense and passionate and messy. At one point Kyle lapsed into another deep, semi-catatonic state, eyes mesmerized with experience. Initially this scared Amber, but she saw his thoughts and they were an odd collage of brilliant colors, brightness and scary faces retreating into the background. She had no idea what this meant. And Kyle had come out of this state, returning to full awareness even more in love with her. She could see it.
And the afterglow went on and on.
Eyes still closed, contented smile, Amber was enjoying this deeply. She felt her heart was the entirety of her body. She wouldn't admit this before, but she couldn't deny it now. She was falling in love with Kyle. In this precious moment everything else had faded away, disappeared. And she'd have this perfect memory to keep her going no matter what life would throw at her next.
His own emotions surprising him, Kyle leaned forward and kissed the sweet lips of this beautiful creature, brushing his own cheek against hers, moving his hand to cup her cheek as he did so. In her pleasure, Amber arched her neck and Kyle was enticed with the lovely sight.
Moving from her mouth to her neck, Kyle traced the lovely curvature of her throat, moving his mouth along the delicate skin, Amber's rich scent coming from behind her ear. This was so different from anything else he'd experienced like this. These human bodies needed to function to keep their brains clear, so he'd experienced sex before. It seemed to be a necessity like eating. But this...this was an entirely new experience. The magnificence of this girl's very being, she was an ecstatic being.
Wide open, holding nothing back, Amber saw and felt all of Kyle's thoughts, feelings and shared her own. This was a different level of intimacy than she'd experienced before. Without a doubt, Kyle wasn't human, but neither was she fully human.
Just then a knock on her door brought the outside world back to them.
"Hey Amber, I'm getting hungry. Are you cooking tonight or are we getting our own?"
Outside of Jody-led 'Greek Night', Claire didn't cook.
Kyle looked at her, a controlled level of panic contained on his face.
Amber shook her head, and it could mean, "Don't talk" or "I got this." Either way, she piped up, giving a reply that would be in character for how they lived.
"I'm kinda on a roll with my study. Let's just have sandwiches."
"Ok. You're making them, right?"
Augh! Claire was such a manipulator.
Her own stomach growling, Amber realized how hungry she was...and meeting Kyle's face, his hopeful smile let her know he was hungry, too. This made her laugh. God, this was too funny.
"What are you laughing at? You making them or not?" Claire said impatiently, her hand jiggling the door knob in an attempt to enter the room. "Why are you locked up in there?"
"Just wanted some privacy. Now go away. I'll be out in a minute. Give me a few and I'll meet you in the kitchen."
Getting up and grabbing her sweatpants from the floor, this routine interruption somehow felt so funny to her. This sneaking around was exciting in more ways than one. Amber, secretly smiling inside, felt fulfilled, happy and even Claire's interruption was humorous rather than irritating.
Kyle watched Amber getting dressed, her beautiful body hiding it's secret glory under slouchy clothing. This was his memory...his sanctuary. Returning his gaze, her shirt sliding down over her shoulders, Amber saw his thoughts of her. No words were needed.
In the kitchen, Amber looked around in the fridge. Yeah, sandwiches would be fine.
"How has your studying been going?"
Jumping, Amber's heart stopped and she whirled around in the direction of the voice. Cas stood there, a mere two feet from her. His expression flat with a set of horizontal creases across his forehead indicating his pragmatic inquiry. He was keeping watch and nothing bad was going to happen on his watch...this time.
"It's going… Nothing new yet, but I'm on a roll," Amber answered, choosing her words carefully. Not lying, not telling the truth. This was her forte. "Me and Claire got hungry, so I'm making us some sandwiches. Any news from Sam and Dean?"
"They haven't called yet. Make sure you add vegetables in the sandwiches. Sam was very adamant about that."
Rolling her eyes at the prompt, Amber took out of the fridge an armful of ingredients and spread them on the table.
"Sam's not here, Cas. Relax."
"I have clear instructions to keep a close eye on you and make sure you remain safe and take care of yourselves. Apparently that includes vegetable consumption."
Picking up the head of lettuce, Amber held it shoulder-high for the angel to see. "There. Vegetable."
Claire stepped in the kitchen at that exact moment. Seeing her, Amber threw the lettuce at her, which Claire easily caught.
"Wash some leaves while I fix up the sandwiches," she instructed the blonde.
Not particularly excited with the assigned chore, but choosing not to complain, Claire moved to the sink.
Cas watched Amber as she deftly laid out the bread, assembled the roast beef, spread on the mayonnaise and topped it off with a smidge of horseradish sauce. It wasn't that Cas was particularly interested in her sandwich making, but that he was aware of the angel warding coming from her room and was curious as to why Amber had felt the need to do this.
Claire brought the washed lettuce leaves and placed them next to Amber, looking at what she had prepared. Noticing three sandwiches being made she turned to look at the angel surprised.
"I thought you didn't eat."
"I don't," Castiel confirmed.
"Then who's the third sandwich for?" Claire turned to Amber.
"I've been getting hungry late at night. My brain's been hungry from all this study."
Scoffing, Claire thought this was a lie. "More like you're eating like a horse. Just call it what it is."
Shrugging, Amber chose not to comment on that. Claire could think what she wanted, she couldn't care less. All she wanted was to get back to Kyle ASAP. She knew their time together was limited and she had no intention of losing any more of it by arguing with Claire.
"You want anything else on yours?" she asked Claire.
"On it… No. With it…" Raising one eyebrow meaningfully, Claire smirked and indicated towards the fridge. Instantly, Amber understood: Beer. Her mouth drooled at the mere idea of accompanying this sandwich with a beer. And she was pretty sure Kyle would appreciate the combo, too.
Turning and opening the fridge excitedly, Claire reached inside and grabbed two bottles, handing one to Amber and keeping one herself.
Castiel took a step closer to the table when he saw what was going on.
"You can't have beer while Sam and Dean are away," he informed the girls.
"Says who?" Claire was going to fight this fight for her. Nice that it didn't have to be Amber.
"Sam and Dean. Like I told Amber, I have very clear instructions on what I should and shouldn't let you do," Castiel answered, his tone neutral and even. This wasn't a confrontation he wanted to have, but Sam and Dean were not particularly pleased with the secrets he'd kept on Amber's behalf during these last couple of weeks. They'd been very clear that while they were away he needed to act as a responsible adult and not let the girls do whatever they liked, whenever they liked it.
"Cas, c'mon! They're not here! They won't notice. And you know perfectly well a beer won't do us any harm," Amber tried to sugar-coat this.
"Amber this is not up to me. You need to return those to the fridge. You can have juice, soda, water or milk."
"Or what?" Claire challenged, not liking the fact that the angel was issuing orders once again.
"Or I'll have to tell Sam and Dean when they're back," Castiel replied. "And I would not wish to do this, but I will if I have to." Again, his words were not a threat. They were simply a fact.
Looking sour, Amber considered just lying to the angel. Who was she fooling, she'd lie to his face. Yes, they'd come a long way in their friendship, but this was a real killjoy. Knowing just what Sam and Dean would do if they gave Cas a hard time for indulging 'out-in-the-open' beer drinking, she opted for a different route. She had a way around this.
Glancing at Claire, Amber's look was meaningful and Claire understood Amber had a plan.
"Ok, ok...putting back the beer. God….!" Huffing, Claire put the beer back in the fridge.
Finishing up the sandwiches, Amber plated them up and stacked two sandwiches on her own plate. Grabbing an apple and an orange from the basket, she completed her effort towards some nutrition. Cas seemed appeased for the moment. Of course, he was aware some type of communication had transpired between the girls, but he didn't know what it was.
Leaving the kitchen at the same time, Claire and Amber were side-by-side in the hallway. Cas followed them feeling like he was fulfilling his role as guardian. In a low voice, Amber whispered to Claire, "Check your room in a few minutes." Claire only smiled.
Once back in her room, Amber was welcomed by a happy Kyle. Quietly setting down the plate, she held her finger to her lips to indicate he should be quiet. Mouthing, 'Hold on', Amber teleported back into the kitchen, going for the beer in the bottom shelf. Relieved to see Cas wasn't there she grabbed three bottles, and a half-eaten bag of Doritos chips, then she teleported into Claire's room. She left the beer on her desk and teleported back into her own room. This entire maneuver took all of a minute.
Cas wasn't aware of any of it.
He was up in the library sitting patiently to be of service while Claire leisurely leafed through a book on sigils. This sigil study had proved the big save in their last hunt. As much as she disliked anything magic, preferring Newtonian-science to anything quantum-related, she had to admit, this was a powerful weapon to have. And it was immensely transportable. Cas had offered to decipher any siglis she couldn't understand and Claire had tolerated this.
Back im het room, Amber, sitting down on her bed across from Kyle, plate of sandwiches between them, she handed him one of the bottles and the Doritos chips.
"Hospitality done right, ace," Kyle smirked, dragging a long sip from his bottle.
Laughing at this, imagining Jody's hospitality in comparison to her own, Amber was highly amused. "Well, we worked hard. Only proper to reward in equal proportion."
"Proportion. Fancy. When did you become an academic?"
Amber's vocabulary had been increasing. It was all Sam's influence, with Amber falling into this naturally. The truth was, had Amber had access to a good education, early childhood opportunities and a supportive environment, her intellectual abilities and natural inquisitiveness would've put her in the upper three percentile of academic achievement. 'Gifted and Talented' was the old-fashioned term.
And landing where she had in life, this same skill still bore out in her other, more survival-oriented pursuits. Like Sam, she was an anomaly.
"Between a father that swears like a sailor and an uncle who would give Ivy League professors a run for their money, I'd say I'm doing pretty good," Amber grinned.
"So, an academic and a rock-star?"
"Haven't been much of a rockstar since that tavern in Sioux Falls. You know…the show you so graciously interrupted," Amber quipped.
Shaking his head at the memory Kyle grabbed his sandwich.
"Don't remind me how stupid you acted during that visit," he told her before taking a large bite.
"Had you shared with me that the bouncer was a demon, I might have been more careful," Amber shot right back.
"I couldn't. It was a different situation back then," Kyle said, his tone growing a bit uncomfortable.
"Different how?"
"Not important."
"I'd say it's very important. You know, 'life and death' kinda important."
"I'd say what's important is what's been going the last couple of days," Kyle deflected the subject. "And laying low. You know… By not teleporting to random houses."
Huffing in frustration, Amber rolled her eyes that he was doing this again.
"I told you…that wasn't intentional. You give yourself way too much credit," she answered, grabbing her own sandwich and taking her first bite.
"And what's going on these last couple of days that make it different?" Amber was probing to see what came to light. Kyle saw this and smiled back at her. She was playing this game. OK, he could play.
"I'm sure you know more than I do. Considering your father and uncle risked leaving you alone. I don't think they'd do that lightly. Are they close to finding what they're looking for?" Kyle asked, letting some of his guard down without sharing too much.
"And what are they looking for?"
There it was...the hook. All she had to do now was get him to take the hook and then yank back to set it in deep.
Letting out a snort Kyle drank some more of his beer. This skillful avoidance, this treading in between lies and truth… This was their thing. Their strength. And they were equals in this.
"This is not getting us anywhere, you realize that, right? We're both too good at this game."
"What game do you mean?" was Amber's honeyed sarcasm.
Laughing at her, Kyle was enjoying this, but he was also aware that she could be a handful.
"You play these games with your dad and uncle?"
Eyes shocked, Amber's face snapped up, completely stopping all other thought. Kyle read that he'd hit paydirt. Oh, there was something good underneath this. Enjoying this game now, Kyle took it that Amber didn't play this game with her father and uncle. Or if she did, she was on the losing side.
"Let's talk about something else." Laying down a boundary, Amber wanted no part of discussing this with Kyle.
Inadvertently seeing some uncomfortable memories in Amber's thoughts, Kyle was shocked at one particular image and he shut up immediately. Now he understood why Amber didn't wish to talk about this. He wouldn't either.
And it let him know the nature of her relationships with these hunters. They were a family no matter how it had started. No matter his original plan, this was a family. Amber was aware Kyle had seen into her memories and she was embarrassed by this. She knew he'd seen it. She retreated into silence.
Quietly, eyes resting off to the side, Amber let Kyle devour the rest of his sandwich in silence. He was clearly uncomfortable with this too, and didn't know how to get past it, so he ignored it.
Reflecting on how this conversion got derailed, Amber returned to her original purpose, to find out what Kyle knew.
Her conviction was growing that she'd have to find a more invasive way to extract the information she wanted. If he wouldn't give it to her, she'd have to take it. But not today. Today was too perfect. And part of her feared what she'd find out. She wouldn't ruin this for anything in the world.
A knock on her door made her jump and turn her head, panicked. Had she locked it?
"Yeah?"
"Amber, it is Castiel. Are you alright?" the angel called from the other side.
"Fine, Cas!" Amber's heart slowed down. "What do you want?"
"To check on you," Castiel sounded again. Small pause. "May I enter?"
Realising there was no way Castiel didn't know he couldn't enter even if she invited him in, Amber sighed.
"No… Just give me five and I'll meet you in the library," she called out to him.
"I will be waiting," came the angel's response.
Amber listened for his steps and turned to Kyle when they faded away.
"So…this was fun," she said quietly, turning to Kyle.
"It was," he agreed. Setting his empty bottle on her night stand and taking the plate out of the way, he scooted closer to her. Leaning in he kissed her deeply.
"Despite how good it was… Let's not repeat this any time soon, okay? I want to, don't think I don't, but I'm worried about you. Even a quick 'in-and-out' to my place can put you in serious danger."
"I know," she breathed against his lips. "I don't think I'll have the chance to smuggle you in here anytime soon, anyways. Sam and Dean won't be away for long."
His hand on her cheek, Kyle was memorizing the cup of her cheek, the feel of her lips under his fingertips, the angle of her face...he was pulling it in deeply. He needed to remember this all. He wasn't sure if he'd ever get to see her like this again. This had changed him.
Unbeknownst to him, Kyle was correct that his transformation had continued with his intimate contact with this girl. It wasn't just her blood that held magic.
Sighing, their faces close, Amber went in for a deep kiss and the world slipped away from them both. Kyle happily succumbed to this and wondered what was to become of him. Ending their kiss, he whispered "Goodnight, ace," and just like that he was gone.
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Teleporting into the kitchen, Amber was gathering up three room temp bottles of beer, replacing the ones she'd taken. Quick! She had to be quick.
Looking innocently untouched, the replacements covered her perfectly. Two empty beer bottles hidden deep in the trash completed her cover and she looked around, out of a final precaution. Finding nothing more to 'set right', she headed towards the library.
Exactly as he'd said, Cas was standing in the library, doing nothing, just waiting.
Approaching the angel, Amber was assessing his face for any tells. Did he suspect something? Were her brothers ok?
"Alright Cas, you wanted to see me?"
"Yes, I wanted to see you." And then she looked at her, head cocking to the side, brows furrowed into a river of lines.
"And…?"
"Amber, you've put angel warding on your room."
"Yeah and…?"
"You are trying to keep me out."
Here Amber knew she had to answer semi-truthfully. She knew this was coming and she'd figured out a reasonable explanation.
"Not exactly… I'm trying to keep you out, but not all the time. Just sometimes," she answered, keeping her tone even.
"Why?" Castiel inquired.
"Because there are times that I need privacy. As in 'you-not-being-in-my-head-all-the-time'."
"I have honored your request. I have not been in your head, although sometimes I do inadvertently get images that you let out."
"I know you've kept your word. And I trust you to keep doing that, Cas…It's just… When you or the guys are worried about me, or when I'm really worked up I know you can't help it," Amber tried to explain. "You can see and feel what I do. And that shouldn't happen. People's thoughts and feelings should be private. I should be the one to choose when to share what I want to share with you. I should be in control of this process."
Taking a deep breath, she went in for the big finish…
"I know you mean well, but this lack of privacy, it's driving me crazy!"
"I understand. But Dean and Sam would not like you putting up wards against me."
Sighing, hands on her hips, here we go.
"Dean and Sam don't have you lurking around in their heads. Believe me, if you did they'd kick you out real quick. There's stuff in there they don't even want to see. Plus, I told you, I don't plan to have it up permanently. I'm only going to use it when I want some time to empty my head without spectators. That's all."
"But what if something happened?"
"What could happen inside this bunker, Cas? We're the only ones living here. Nobody can infiltrate this place. It's not like you'd have to barge into my room to save me from demons or anything. I mean, all these months, you've only come to my room like two or three times! And all these times were not an emergency. You just wanted to talk about something."
"You will take it down?"
"Yes, Cas. I'll take it down. It's only up sometimes. Sometimes I need to ensure my privacy. That's when it's up. If you go check now you'll see it's down. I just wanted my private time while writing my journal and letting off some steam."
Mulling over her statement, it felt honest, but the angel could tell there was more to this and she was hiding it...yet she was telling the truth. Still thinking, Cas relented.
"Alright. I understand. Dean and Sam will be told and I'll explain to them what you've told me. I feel there is more."
Hands still on her hips, looking annoyed, Amber huffed her annoyance. It was never easy with this guy.
"Well, tell them it's my version of Dean's time with his Busty Asian Beauties. That will shut him up quick."
Looking confused, Cas said nothing. He did understand that now that the girls were living in the bunker, Dean was embarrassed by his time enjoying himself. Although the angel saw nothing to be embarrassed by, nonetheless, Dean had asked for privacy in his room. Everyone in the bunker knew about him buying this one particular porn magazine.
"Ok, I understand. I will explain this to them when they get back."
"Good, You do that."
Thinking to herself, Amber was a bit surprised this explanation went so well. She'd expected more convincing was needed. Inside, she was high-fiving herself with the porn reference. Of all things, the angel got the porn - privacy reference. Smiling to herself, that if Dean knew that everyone in the bunker knew about his penchant for busty asian women, he'd be uncomfortable.
And he'd stop trying to be so secretive when they were on a shopping trip. Dean always slipped off to 'take care of something' before returning with a magazine tucked inside his coat. It had slipped out onto the floor two times...and this is just during the time she'd been there! How many more times had Sam witnessed this?
"You need me for anything else?" Amber asked the angel.
"No, you should go get some rest. We will work on your telekinesis tomorrow. You need to be well rested and calm."
"Hmmm…." Amber was happy to hear this and was thinking over what she might actually do in telekinesis practice.
"So, I'd lift objects and stuff?"
"Yes, we will have you practice lifting and moving objects with your mind. It is a different skill. We will start small."
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"Well done. Can you place it back down?"
Castiel had watched Amber learn to control her telekinesis ability quite fast.
During their first session yesterday, in less than two hours, she was consciously moving and lifting objects. Only a day later she was attempting to place a book on a side table in the library improving her aim and smoothing out the hovering and landing process. She'd moved it from the study table across the room, but setting it down slowly onto this side table was taking effort. Like driving a standard clutch car, getting a feel for coordinating all of the different forces working for and against her effort, Amber was getting a feel for it.
With the loud ringing of her phone breaking her concentration, the book dropped to the floor with a heavy thud.
Completely forgetting about the book, Amber reached for her phone, checking the caller's ID.
"Dean, finally! What's been going on? You two okay?" She spoke urgently into the phone.
"Hey, kid. We're good. Lots of chasing around, but we finally found out who the woman is. Crowley has gone to get her as we speak. How are you guys doing? Everything alright? Bunker still standing? Angel still breathing?"
"Everything's fine. Cas is fine… Who is she?" Amber immediately asked.
"Some woman named Kelly Kline. Secretary or assistant to the president or something. Apparently she and the POTUS have been real close and Lucifer had no trouble getting her into bed."
"So what are you gonna do now?" Amber asked, worry creeping in her tone.
"Kill it obviously."
What! Amber's mind came crashing to a screeching halt.
Kill it?
Kill the child?
Kill the Nephilim!
Amber's silence let Dean know she had an objection of some kind. Dean assumed wrongly that Amber's objection was to the mother not understanding what the child was.
"We'll explain what's going on first," Dean added as if somehow this made everything better. "But chances are she'll just freak out and not believe us. Hopefully Rowena will come up with some way to kill the thing inside her without killing her. None of this is her fault after all."
"The thing inside her is a Nephilim, Dean. Just like I am!" Amber all but yelled.
"No. Not just like you are. He's Satan's offspring, Amber! Not some random angel's. We're talking 'Rosemary's baby' here!"
"You don't know that! You can't know that…"
"Yeah, we do, Amber. Satan's offspring is bound to be evil. And we're talking nephilim-powerful evil… We can't risk allowing that creature to be born."
"I know of a few angels with similar ideas about any Nephilim, Dean. You know... The ones that have killed every single Nephilim that's ever been born so far! The reason my mom died… I mean… Do you think I'm evil?"
"Course not. Don't be ridiculous...you're not evil, but we're not talking about you here. This is Lucifer's child we're talking about. He intentionally got her pregnant."
Amber felt her anger rising at his response and his refusal to listen to her. To really listen. Before she had a chance to answer him, he spoke again.
"Gotta go. Stop worrying over this. Trust us. We'll keep you updated."
Off the phone, Sam got the jist of what Amber's reaction had been. "She's upset about the Nephilim." It was a statement rather than a question. Sam figured Amber would be.
"Yeah. Still doesn't get it's Lucifer's child and the whole "Bad Seed" thing."
Sam looked conflicted.
"Hey, not you, too, Sammy." Dean was starting to feel like a minority opinion here.
"No, it's not that. It's Just I can see why this would be personal for her."
"Dammit! You sensitive types are really busting my balls today."
Sam's compressed lips and hard glare made Dean feel like he was the only one in the room who didn't get the bigger meaning.
" Augh! Come on Sam...What?"
Sam mulled things over in his head trying to figure out what their next move should be. An intense worry was settling in his mind over how Amber would react to this. He worried that in her emotional state she might act out carelessly. Cas had told them she was volatile with all the new powers and the intensified training. She was on edge with fear over the Lucifer situation, and clearly projecting her own conception and birth onto this Nephilim...and all of this could blow up inside of her. Who knows what she'd do.
"We're handling this all wrong," he told Dean. "We shouldn't have left her all alone with Cas right now. She needs us. At least one of us. I'll drive back to the bunker and send Cas over here for back-up. Crowley won't be back with Kelly for a while. Infiltrating the White House will be a challenge even for him. Hopefully Cas will be with you by the time he brings her in."
"How long before Cas could get here?"
Sam thought this over. They had spent the last two days camped out in one of Crowley's safe houses in Lexington, Nebraska doing their research remotely using Crowley's contacts in Washington to pinpoint who the woman was. This whole operation could have easily taken place in the bunker, but Sam and Dean had decided that they didn't want Crowley and Rowena so close to Amber if they could avoid it. Plus, taking Kelly to the bunker would be a big risk, considering Lucifer would definitely try to protect his offspring and his plans for it. The last thing they needed was him targeting the bunker. That's how they decided to go with Crowley's safe house. Better his than theirs. Sam driving back to the bunker from there, and sending Cas over in his place, wouldn't take long at all.
"About four hours..."
Dean was weighing the emotional cost of being with Crowley, Rowena and a freaked out nephilim-carrying-woman while waiting for backup. But he was seeing Sam's point. Amber's reaction to all of this could be volatile and put her in too much risk. Sam knew how to handle her and calm her down.
"Yeah...I guess we better get Cas here. You think you'll be ok with her, Sammy?"
Dean was considering how Amber would probably make a big deal out of this...and could possibly need a firming presence to stop her more mercurial impulses.
"We'll be fine. I think I'm our best chance at handling this right now."
The matter was settled. Now they just needed to get Cas here and Sam back.
Flipping open his phone, Sam called Cas.
"Hey Cas. Change of plans, we need you here. I'll come and stay with the girls and you'll drive back to Dean. Yeah. That's right. Exactly. Yeah, tell her will you. I'll call her, too. Ok, thanks."
Dean looked over at his brother. It seemed that the angel was on top of it.
"I'll head out now. He'll probably be here in about four hours. Think you can keep from killing him until Cas gets back?"
"Oh, don't you worry moose. We'll keep each other content...won't we Dean?"
Crawley's intrusion into their conversation was unsettling. The brothers glared at him...with Rowena coming up beside her son.
"We'll keep this wee boy entertained, won't we Fergus," the witch's possible double meaning unnerving both men. With Rowena and Crowley, their entertainment usually involved stringing the intestines of their enemies up as Christmas lights.
Sam was still uneasy about this.
"Sam, go. I've got this." Dean put his hand on Sam's shoulder to both reassure him and move him towards the door. Seeing what was happening, and really having no alternative, Sam accepted this.
"I will tell Amber and Claire what is happening."
"You do that."
Dean was glad it wasn't him. He could already see how well that conversation would go.
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Four and a half hours later, Dean was pacing impatiently in the still empty safe house.
Crowley and Rowena, after grabbing some ingredients the witch had needed, had left a few minutes after Sam. They'd told Dean the next time he'd see them, Kelly would be with them.
Having nothing else to do, Dean had hit the closest mini-mart, grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels and a copy of his favorite magazine, and headed back to the safe house with everything he needed to wait it out.
Now his phone was ringing. From the incoming call, Dean knew that Cas had finally arrived. Grateful his backup was here before Crowley, Rowena, and this Kelly woman, he went to the spot Crowley had indicated in the spacious living room. Moving a painting to the side, he used his demon blade to scratch at the sigil that kept the place hidden from angels. As soon as Cas opened the front door and stepped inside, Dean used a sharpie to redraw the line of the intricate protection he had temporarily suspended.
"I don't think that is going to be enough protection for us once Kelly is here," Cas commented.
"Rowena powered down the wards of this place so that you could find it. She'll restore them as soon as she's back," Dean replied. "I take it Sam made it home okay?"
"Yes."
"And Amber?"
"She is having a hard time accepting what needs to be done here. But I think Sam might be able to give her some perspective or at least help her accept it. She would not listen to me. After you talked to her on the phone she could not even focus on our training session," the angel explained.
Dean didn't know what to say to this. It was straight forward...this Nephilim was bad news.
Feeling Dean's confusion, Cas interjected, "She feels like this child is a version of herself." At Dean's blank look...which the angel mistook as misunderstanding, Cas continued. "She feels that this child is just as innocent as she was in the creation of its life and therefore is not inherently evil anymore than she is."
"Yeah, I got that. I just don't want her getting in the way of what we have to do, that's all."
Cas listened to this. His own opinion was irrelevant at the moment. This was a situation that they would remedy and this was the curing action.
"Before I left, Sam seemed to have been able to settle Amber down. I trust he will reason with Amber."
"And Claire?"
Dean gave the angel a sideways look...not knowing how the wildcard in the deck would play out in this game.
"Claire is fine with this," was Cas' laconic response.
"Yeah, I'll bet she is," Dean responded as he took another gulp of his bourbon.
Just then there was a bright dazzle in the room and there they were, Crowley, Rowena and this young woman with big, dark eyes set in a serene face. Surprised by her appearance, it struck him that the reality of her had just become much more complicated than the theory of her had been. Taking another gulp of his bourbon, Dean contemplated what his next move would be.
Kelly looked around, eyes wide in disbelief. A second ago she was locked in a room at the Forester Estate. Then this British man appeared out of nowhere and now here she was, surrounded by faces she didn't know in a place she didn't recognize. Was she losing her mind?
"What just happened? Who are you people?" She asked taking a step back, arms hugging her small frame protectively.
Rising from his chair, Dean took a step closer to her and tried his best to sound friendly when he addressed the frightened woman.
"Hello, Kelly. I am Dean Winchester. We've brought you here to figure out the situation you've found yourself in."
Dean wished Sam was here right now. He was the one usually talking to civilians, explaining things, making them feel at ease. Dean was the one stepping into shock and awe-mode, moving things forward. His bedside manners sucked and he knew it.
Voiceless, Kelly was trying to orient herself to what had just happened...and was failing.
"I think the poor thing is a wee bit shocked. I have just the thing for her. Let me whip up a remedy for …" and here Crowley interjected.
"Mother, let the woman relax. And your relaxation remedies tend to be a bit, oh shall we say, final." here Crowley's eyebrows lifted in speculation.
"Pish, I know what I'm doing Fergus. Just because I used a sleeping potion on you to put you to sleep...for a month...that was intended. When you woke up you were as fit as a fiddle."
"Oh, is that what you call it...having no memory and no control over your bodily functions?"
Listening to this insane conversion Kelly was feeling unhinged.
"Who are you?" Kelly asked, focusing her scared eyes on the redheaded woman and the British man. Eyes lingering on Crowley she added, "You're the one who brought me here… How?"
"Okay, let's get this out of the way, shall we dear? I am Rowena, I'm a witch. This is Fergus, my son, also known as the King of Hell. And the trench-coat is Castiel, an angel,"
Rowena informed the woman. The witch's smile was sparkling and charming the way cubic zirconia shines brightly to the unsuspecting buyer.
Kelly gaped at her and gulped uneasily. These people were crazy. What the hell had happened? What did they want with her?
Cas was reading her disbelief and fear. It was coming off of her in strong waves. And who could blame her?
"Kelly," the angel said kindly as he moved closer to her. "Do you know why you are here?"
"No," the woman shook her head, voice slightly trembling.
"Do you know you're pregnant?" Dean asked impatiently.
Turning surprised eyes to him, Kelly gasped. She'd told no one.
"How do you know that? I just found out… I…"
"Look, I know it's a lot and you're in shock or whatever, but we don't have time. The thing inside of you…that's not a regular baby. The man that got you pregnant is not Jefferson," Dean began explaining impatiently. The sooner she knew the sooner they'd be done here.
"Jefferson… What are you talking about? I'm not with…" Kelly immediately tried to refuse the accusation. The last thing she or Jefferson needed was a scandal of this magnitude.
"This is not a time to be modest or coy. You are carrying the child of President Jefferson...or at least his meatsuit's child."
"Meatsuit?" Kelly whispered now completely lost. What were these people talking about? How did they know all these things?
Cas, seeing this needed clarification, stepped in.
"Yes, President Jefferson's body is being used by Lucifer and you have conceived a child with the President while Lucifer was inhabiting him."
This did nothing to clarify Kelly's understanding.
"Lucifer?" Kelly repeated, taking another step back, tightening the grip around herself as if trying to keep her body from collapsing.
"Yes. Lucifer. As in Satan. The devil. Red eyes, big horns, pointy tail," Crowley mused. "You, have inside of you the spawn of Satan," he added, his eyes glinting with excitement obviously enjoying this woman's shock and fear.
"No… You're insane! This is impossible," Kelly said in a trembling voice.
"Well, you likely thought teleportation was impossible too till a few minutes ago, right? Yet here you are," Dean intervened.
"No… No! This is impossible! This… Jefferson isn't…" Kelly trailed, bringing a hand to cover her mouth. None of this made any kind of sense. Yet she had no idea how this Crowley person had managed to bring her here with a simple touch on her shoulder. She was losing it. Or she was dreaming and would soon wake up. She just knew it.
Cas, seeing the need for some hard evidence that Jefferson was indeed Lucifer, reached for a book in one of the shelves of the bookcase that stood in one end of the room. A Gideon's Bible. Dean's eyes got big, having not considered that this safe house had ever been a motel, much less that Corwley would've had a bible in here. Looking over at Crowley for confirmation that this was really happening, Crowley merely shrugged, his shit-eating-grin charmingly cavallier.
"Like I was going to touch that?"
Holding the bible out flat, Cas was inviting Kelly to place her hand on the bible.
"See for yourself," he told her in a kind tone.
Hesitantly, Kelly reached out and laid a trembling hand on the leather-bound tome. A few seconds later a sizzling sound came from where her hand was touching the bible. Then smoke… Kelly pulled her hand back with a gasp just in time to avoid the flames that burst into existence where her palm had been.
Kelly's face was shocked, her dark eyes round in confusion and fear.
Taking the flaming book from Cas and throwing it into the trash can, Dean doused it with some water.
"You see my dear, we were telling the truth. You're carrying the wee babe of Lucifer." Rowena's tinkling voice snaking out these words.
Having no context for any of this, Kelly looked around and sank onto the armchair behind her. Her knees were weak and she felt unstable in so many ways.
Watching this woman's reality come apart, Dean and Cas shared a glance. They knew what this felt like and it wasn't pretty. Crowley and Rowena, on the other, were unfamiliar with the empathetic aspects of what they did to others, namely they didn't give a shit as people's minds unraveled. It was their delight.
Considering their priorities, Dean was calculating their next move.
Cas understood Dean's quiet reflection and saw his plan. Turning to him, Cas simply voiced, "Yes, that works. I can stay here."
A bit taken back, but only just, Dean gulped and nodded turning his attention back to Crowley and Rowena. Kelly was simply sitting down completely unaware of the event surrounding her. She would be in this semi-catatonic state for a few more hours.
"Cas will stay here with Kelly. We should go track down Lucifer."
" So, mummy dearest and I can go on ahead. You'll only slow us down, Squirrel."
Mildly thrown off, Dean recovered from the insult, knowing that Crowley and Rowena could in fact get farther ahead in their search if they didn't have human limitations slowing them down. He still had no intention of leaving them unattended with Lucifer. Crowley had double-crossed them before and he'd do it again without any hesitation.
"There's no way in hell I'm sitting this one out Crowley," Dean barked.
"He's right, Fergus. He can be useful. Lucifer will hide unless we have something he wants. And this pretty little thing is the closest to what he really wants. He comes with. He'll do fine work as a bait, luring the devil out."
Turning to Cas, Dean simply checked in and the angel's calm reassuring face remained.
Cas was rock in this shit storm.
"Go on Dean. Kelly and I will be fine. I'll keep you posted."
Crowley, Rowena, and Dean teleporting out of the room was yet another emotional trauma Kelly was assaulted with.
"I know this seems crazy. But it is not. We are here to protect you," Cas said trying to make his tone resemble Sam's when he was reassuring scared civilians.
Cas watched the woman and saw the images of her experience...her overwhelming immersion in this unreality.
Placing a hand on her forehead, Cas reached into her mind surrounding her emotions with what amounted to "clouds of comfort." He couldn't take her emotional suffering. This had always worked on humans and it worked on Kelly.
Feeling this relief, Kelly slumped in her chair, falling asleep.
Watching her body contort itself in the chair, Cas picked her up and moved her into a room with a comfortable bed, placing her on top and covering her with a blanket.
Taking up sentry duty, Cas stood over her, watching her sleep.
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Amber was brooding.
Alone in the library, Sam was getting on with it. For the second time in his life he was searching through the lore for anything that he could find regarding Nephilim. The first being when they'd learned what Amber really was, after she'd teleported back from Canada. This time he'd invited Amber to help him, but she was in a snit. At least he felt she was in a snit.
In reality, Amber was deeply committed to arguing for the life of this Nephilim and her brothers couldn't see this. This was personal.
Walking up in the library, Claire returned to her place at the table, her own books open to where she'd left off as she assisted Sam in his research.
Looking up as Clalire settled back down, Sam cast a glance up at her as if to check to see if Amber had reconsidered joining them...and Claire saw this inquiry.
"She's still in her room."
Sam took this in and returned to his focused attention.
The library table was littered with dozens of books, some with sheets of paper slid inside to mark possible leads and others merely stacked haphazardly, threatening to collapse from their disarray. It was uncharacteric of Sam, but there were seriously pressing matters and reshelving could always happen later.
Claire's enthusiasm and willingness seemed to have been heightened by Amber's refusal to participate. She felt included and was showcasing one of her strengths, even when it felt awkward. Amber wasn't happy when Claire chose to join Sam instead of following her lead and leaving him to tackle this on his own. To Amber, in this instance, Claire had taken sides against her. Claire hadn't, but this didn't stop Amber feeling this way.
Needing a break, Sam got up, standing to his full 6'4" height, stretching. He needed to eat and figured the girls did, too. He also wished to check on Amber.
"Are you hungry?"
Claire, looking up, thought about it.
"I could eat."
"I'll get us some food, then. You keep looking through the lore. I'm going to check on Amber."
"Good luck with that," was Claire's cynical response, her eyes never leaving the paragraph she was reading.
Sam frowned at her pessimism, but he got it. He wasn't hopeful either.
In the kitchen he assembled a few sandwiches and decided to take one to Amber, check on her, see if they could at least get beyond this impasse.
Knocking on her door, Sam stood there, listening for her voice.
"Yeah?"
"Amber, can I come in?"
A long silence, then Amber answered.
"Sure Sam, but check your argument at the door. I'm not changing my mind."
Sighing deeply, Sam was feeling the futility of this. He went in.
Amber was sitting on her bed, guitar across her lap, her journal open and laying beside her on the bed. She appeared to have been going back and forth between reading her journal and playing her guitar. It was sort of an assimilation process. Sam had never thought to read her journal, yet he was curious what she was searching for that had her flipping back in her timeline.
"I brought you something. Thought you might be hungry."
Small smile, Amber was appreciative. Sam was intuitive when it came to other people's moods. Still, glancing up at him, she shook her head.
"I'm not. Can't really stomach anything right now."
"Well, I'll just leave it here. You can try eating later. I know you and Cas worked on your new powers today before he left. I'm sure you'll need your energy."
When she didn't comment on his words, he tried to think of a conversation that wouldn't lead to an argument. Still holding the plate he moved to sit at the edge of her bed, countenance even.
"Have you learned any new songs?"
It was a safe enough question. Amber knew what he was doing and understood his hesitancy to address the elephant in the room. They'd been fighting before Dean and he had left.
"Sweet Child o' Mine," was her immediate response, throwing a knowing look at her brother.
Sam had no words for this response. Amber wasn't letting this slide.
Feeling the futility of persuading her, Sam sighed, defeat evident as his shoulders slumped and his face grew sobering lines.
"Look, I know this hits close to home for you… And I completely understand why, but we really have no other option here."
"Yeah, so you keep saying. But that's bullshit. You have options, there are always options! Instead of blindly killing something 'cause you're programmed to think it's evil' you could focus on protecting Kelly and the baby!"
"Amber, you keep referring to it as a baby but…"
"No, Sam! Stop! You know what I was referred to as?"
Sam closed his mouth at that, uncomfortable with saying the word.
"An abomination! That's what I was called. This child isn't an abomination any more than I am. Am I an abomination to you? Am I?"
"You weren't Lucifer's daughter, Amber," Sam insisted in bringing this important detail to focus.
"Well, this child is Kelly's child, too. From what you've told me, Kelly is this sweet woman. She is this baby's mother. It's part of her. Look, if I was strictly John's daughter, don't you think I'd have more of his traits….his staunch ruthless pursuit of revenge at any cost?"
Sam's face darkened. Not that it wasn't true about John, but that this was his father. He momentarily forgot John was Amber's father, too.
Noticing his dark look, Amber realized how much Sam harbored injury and loyalty to john.
"Augh...that came out wrong."
"Yes, but your grace was that of an angel's, Amber. Your grace came from an angelic parent...it's pure. The grace and power this creature will be born with will come from Lucifer. And his grace isn't an angel's grace anymore, Amber. It's a fallen archangel's. It's tainted with so much darkness…"
"I refuse to accept that. According to all the scriptures that your "pure" angels swear by I'm an abomination, too. A means of destruction, a bringer of death… If none of this applies to me, why should it apply to this child?"
Sam couldn't argue with what Amber was saying. She clearly wasn't a bringer of death and destruction...at least not on a large scale.
Gaining momentum she added, "By that logic we should do what? Find all the children born from killers and criminals and kill them off as babies because they've got bad genes?"
This conversation was going nowhere and Sam was tired of arguing.
"Amber, bad genes are one thing… The supernatural offspring of Satan, who will end up more powerful than the devil himself, is another matter. We need to think of the greater good here."
"But you're not!" Amber all but yelled. "Don't you see, Sam? If this child ends up more powerful than him, it could help us get rid of him! Don't you see...this child is half Kelly's. He's half goodness and love."
And this is how she knew the child would be a boy. It was an intuitive reflex. Sam saw this and felt the accuracy of her prediction. Swallowing, Sam remained in awe of how powerful Amber was even as she was this kid sister he was raising.
"Even if that's the case… Amber I know this is hard, but we can't risk Lucifer getting his hands on this kid. If he's the one raising it then we're all doomed. Best case scenario his plan is to cut the baby's heart out the moment it comes out of Kelly to achieve his plans of ruling heaven, earth, and hell. Worst case scenario he makes the kid a soldier. His soldier. And then there's nothing stopping them."
Amber's face hardened at that. "So your solution is to kill it first?"
"I have no other solution. Anything else makes us an even bigger target. And you not helping us with the research is yet another obstacle to finding a solution. You want to find a way to ensure that he's not going to destroy the world, come help us. You can't complain and then not be part of the solution. And, Amber… You're our priority. You're family. Our first goal is to keep you safe. If killing some creature that may or may not be innocent ensures you're safer, then so be it."
Scoffing, Amber turned her face away from Sam.
"So everyone who's not privileged enough to be in the sacred Winchester Clan can rot in hell, right? Anyone you two don't consider family is fair game? Good to know, Sam."
Sam's temper was starting to rise and he knew he needed to leave. This girl couldn't see what they were doing was not just to save the world, but mostly to save her.
To protect her!
Done here, Sam set the plate down on the desk, and quietly left the room.
Amber was left alone with her convictions...and the lonely atmosphere of the righteous in the face of the Philistines.
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Happy new year guys! Let's all hope 2021 ends up better than 2020 has been.
We hope you enjoyed the chapter and can't wait to hear your thoughts on it. Remember you're the ones that are keeping us going. Your feedback and your words. So, please take the time to review and let us know what you loved or hated about the chapter.
How did you feel about Amber trusting Kyle enough to bring him to the bunker? You think it was a mistake?
Kelly is in the picture now, too, and we're steadily closing in to the big finale.
We can't wait to read your reviews!
Till next chapter,
Marion Luth & Lau Whisperer