Author's Note:
Minor references to non-con.
Sexy times ensue but they are definitely consensual.
This chapter has been planned out for a very long time, I want to say over a year.
I want to SO MUCH thank the people that I know are reading this that have been around long-term, you know who you are and I read your comments and reviews. Jensen Ackles for all of you!
I left a way for Mel to return for a reason...
So updates will continue to be on the weekend... sometime Friday or Saturday or Sunday, because God forbid I commit to an actual update DATE... for at least another few weeks before I run out of stuff to post.
***Dean POV***
March 26th
Castiel, Ember, and Mel returned to the bunker early on the 26th. When Rowena arrived, Mel looked at her critically, and Rowena's gaze sharpened in return.
Mel narrowed her eyes, as though seeing more than Rowena standing in front of her. "She's powerful enough," Mel announced finally. "She'll do."
"Powerful enough!" exclaimed Rowena, putting her hand to her heart. "I've only honed my craft for over four hundred years!"
"Cool," said Mel flatly. "Then you'll know whether the angel is telling the truth."
Rowena looked around at the group of them, then said to Ember, "I like you better."
Ember stepped forward. "Rowena, can you cast a truth spell that is more powerful than that of an angel's natural defenses?"
"That's what I'm here for, dearie," Rowena responded.
An hour or so later, the spell was completed. A bowl full of blue fire sat on the table in the library with Rowena, Dean, Sam, Eileen, Krissy, Castiel, Ember, Jack, and Mel gathered around it.
"Okay dearie," said Rowena to Mel, who looked slightly annoyed but chose not to comment. "Put your hand on the table here, next to the bowl. Yes, that's right. Now. We'll ask you questions. If you're being truthful, the fire will spark green. If you're lying, it'll spark red. If things are a bit… ambiguous, it'll turn yellow."
"Like a stop light!" Jack supplied helpfully.
Everyone turned to look at him. "Jack, darling, the apple did not fall far from the tree," said Rowena.
"Now," she continued. "The truth can be occasionally affected by the feelings of those being interrogated about their interrogator. It's not always possible, but the spell recommends someone more… neutral to ask the questions."
One by one, eyes turned to Sam. "You're up, dude," said Dean.
Sam stepped forward slowly, looking at Mel with slight pity but no hesitation. The room took a breath.
"Mel," Sam said firmly, meeting her eyes. "We've heard about some of what has happened to you in the other world. And we want to believe that you're not a danger to us. But you've already attacked Ember once."
"For the thousandth time," Mel said, her fists balling up in her anger. "I was aiming for Castiel!"
The fire gave a spark of green, and Dean, who had been closest, jumped back in surprise as a spark hit the front of his shirt.
"Guess it works then," commented Krissy.
"Mel," said Sam again, refocusing the group. "Do you have any intention to harm anyone here today?"
"No," said Mel firmly. Everyone looked at the fire, which, this time, seemed sluggish in its response. Finally, it gave a yellow flash.
Ember reached up on her tiptoes as though to whisper something in Sam's ear, but he brushed her away. "Aside from Castiel," Sam asked again, "Do you have any intention to harm anyone here today?"
"No," Mel said, and this time the fire immediately flashed green.
"Right," said Sam. "Well, we'll deal with that in a minute. Mel, if we set you free, do you have any intention of hurting anyone else on this planet?"
"Only angels and demons that cross my path," she said, and the fire flashed green again.
Sam looked at Ember, who nodded, then back at Dean, who nodded toward Castiel.
"We understand that the Castiel in your world was a horrible… angel," said Sam. "But our Castiel is different. He left that path a long time ago. What can you tell us to assure us that you won't attack him again the moment we set you free?"
Mel gave the fire a look as though it had betrayed her, and took a few moments to contemplate her answer. She reminded Dean somehow of the way Ember had been before, when he had loved her – all fire, and burning, and power. He shook the thought away.
"Castiel has deceived you all," she said, narrowing her eyes as though daring someone to challenge her. "Or, at least, so I thought. So I still think. But this world isn't the world I know, and I don't know what to think anymore. So I'll wait. I'll wait, until you realize what he's capable of. And then I'll kill him." She stared at Ember. The fire flashed green.
Sam took a moment to collect his thoughts as well. Finally, he said, "So, you have no immediate plans to attack Castiel."
"No." The fire flashed green again.
"Okay," said Sam. "Good. Good."
There was an awkward silence, before Ember stepped up unexpectedly in Sam's place. "How did you avoid going dark?" she asked.
Mel looked back at her with surprise. "What do you mean 'going dark?'" she said.
"You've never stopped… caring? About others."
Mel laughed. "I didn't have others to care for," she lashed back. "But no, I never stopped caring about the fact that everyone I loved was dead, if that's what you're asking."
The fire glowed green, and both Ember and Mel looked at it as though they had forgotten it existed.
"When I gave into my demon powers, all I felt was hate," said Ember. "Hate, and… just… I didn't care. I didn't care if those close to me lived or died, not really. It was like a tidal wave, and I almost gave in to it… I almost killed everyone close to me."
Ember raised her eyes to Mel. "It was never like that, for you?"
Everyone looked at Ember. "No," said Mel, looking at Ember as though she were an oddity. "No, it was never… like that."
The fire flashed green, but everyone ignored it. The room had become awkward. Krissy studied her nails, and Dean caught Castiel's eye across the room. The angel looked worried, and Dean guessed that had more to do with Ember than with Mel.
"Mel, what will you do if we set you free?" Sam asked, reasserting control of the questioning and breaking the spell of awkwardness.
Mel gave a stunned look, as though the question had once again caught her off guard. Several different emotions ran over her face – surprise, anguish, anger, sadness – before she settled on her usual mask of "pissed off." Finally she said, "Get a cheeseburger from Five Guys."
Again the fire flashed yellow.
"For fuck's sake!" Mel exclaimed. "I shouldn't have to tell you my goddamn life story. I'm gonna look up the guy I used to know, okay? My guy, on this side of the fence. Maybe. I honestly haven't decided yet. I know there are some demons I wanna get my hands on, because I owe them a long, slow death for some shit that happened with their counterparts on the other side. And yeah, I'm gonna eat a fucking cheeseburger. Happy?"
Sam looked at Eileen, then Ember, then Castiel, and finally at Dean. Dean gave a small shrug. This "Mel" didn't seem dangerous to anyone but Castiel, and Castiel could take care of himself.
"Mel, we don't entirely trust you yet," Sam said. "But we don't see any reason to keep you captive anymore."
Ember smiled kindly, and Castiel flew away to grab the keys to Mel's handcuffs from the dungeon. Dean didn't miss Mel's flinch at the sound of his return. When Castiel unlocked Mel's handcuffs, she rubbed her wrists and glared at him, but it was unnecessary – her wrists were clean and free of cuts and bruises.
"Well, this has been an eventful day," Rowena said, moving toward the fire to douse it. "Although, it hasn't been up to the usual Winchester standard of-…"
"Wait!" said Mel suddenly, and Rowena turned to face her.
"Witch, can that fire be used for anyone, or is it specific to just me?" she asked.
"Got some feelings we need to get out, do we?" Rowena said, seeming suddenly interested. "Some juicy secrets we'd like to bring out into the open?"
"I'd like to question Castiel," said Mel.
***Castiel POV***
March 26th
All eyes in the room turned to Castiel. Castiel, in return, stared at Ember, who nodded. Then his eyes turned to Dean, who shrugged.
"I accept," the angel said, taking Mel's previous spot by the bowl of blue flame.
All of the other onlookers, who had previously been turning their eyes toward other activities, filtered back around the table to watch.
Mel's eyes looked menacingly at Castiel, though they remained their normal brown. "Castiel," she said. "Is it true you killed your counterpart, in my world?"
Castiel had expected many questions, but somehow this had not been one of them. "Yes," he said. "He was vile. He was everything I have worked hard not to be."
The fire flashed green, and Castiel felt a sense of pride.
"Did you enjoy it?" Mel asked, her eyes narrowing.
Once again, Castiel was surprised, but Dean asked, "Who gives a shit?"
"Sustained," murmured Sam. "I don't see the relevance, but we'll see where this is going."
"This isn't a court room, Sammy," said Dean.
Castiel, meanwhile, was watching Mel, who seemed suddenly wrong-footed. "He was mine to kill," she said. "I just wanted to know if you enjoyed it as much as I would've."
"It gave me no pleasure," said Castiel.
The bowl flashed yellow.
Mel looked triumphant, and Castiel sighed – he was beginning to see Mel's frustration with the thing. "The killing itself gave me no pleasure," he amended. "I never enjoy taking the life of another, especially an angel. But he could not be allowed to live."
The bowl flashed green.
"I am proud to have become something that I hope is better," said Castiel. "Dean, and Ember, have taught me to love and to be loved in return. And I'm proud of that." He smiled at Ember as the bowl flashed green again.
"Oh gag me," said Mel. She looked at Dean. "I mean, Jesus, how do you live with these two?"
Dean laughed, and Castiel wondered suddenly if he still had feelings for Ember. Was it difficult for him to see the two of them together now? But Dean was smiling and laughing. "Sam and Eileen are worse," he said.
"Final question," said Mel, looking at Castiel. "What memories did you remove from Ember?"
Castiel had expected this question, and felt he could be entirely truthful in its answer without worry. "I removed only the memories of her possession by Michael," he said.
The bowl flashed green.
"Good," said Mel, though her glare at him had lessened somewhat.
Castiel eyed Mel, attempting to keep his face impassive.
"Are we done?" said Rowena. "I'm starving."
Mel deflated, giving a wry smile and looking away from Castiel for the first time since her handcuffs had been removed.
"Yeah, witch. We're done."
"Rude," said Rowena, and she made to douse the fire.
The room seemed to give a collective sigh of relief.
"Well," said Mel, and everyone in the room turned to look at her. "I'll drop by sometime." She smiled at Ember, and then her gaze turned to Castiel. "Maybe," she added.
In the next second, she was gone.
***Castiel POV***
March 29th
Castiel climbed into bed with Ember, as was tradition until she fell asleep. He had quite a long list of things to do, most concerning of which was researching how to get Jack's soul back. But this time in bed with Ember was the one luxury he afforded himself since they had begun dating again.
Ember had informed him recently that this time the two of them spent together was "a necessity." She said it was important for couples to reconnect at least once each day, especially after they had children.
They were also enjoying the house without Mel. Mel had been a live-wire, as frustrating as she was interesting. Castiel hated being blamed for the downfalls of his counter-part, a constant reminder of what he might've become if things had been different.
And yet, when Mel had gone, the question of Jack's soul had been pushed suddenly forward into the limelight once more.
Ember curled against him and he sighed, inhaling her familiar and tantalizing scent of citrus and demon and temptation.
"Jack and Krissy broke up," she said.
Castiel's heart sank, though he had known it was coming.
"Why?" he asked, though he already knew.
Ember squeezed the hand Castiel had folded across her stomach. "She said he was dead inside," Ember whispered. "She's sure his soul is gone. She's looking for answers too, but… she couldn't take it anymore. I told her…"
Ember stopped, her voice quaking, and Castiel knew she was crying. He sent a comforting bit of grace to her, and for once she didn't protest. "I told her for now it was probably for the best. She loves him, but… not like this."
"I've got some leads, even though they're… unlikely," he said into her ear, his heart breaking. "I'm working on it."
"I know you are," she whispered.
There was a long pause. Finally she whispered, "Cas, do you think we should tell Sam and Dean?"
He paused. This had been on his mind, as well. "Sam, maybe. But I think he must already have an inkling…"
"But if Sam knows for sure, so will Dean," Ember said. "And Dean has been very…"
"Kill first, ask questions later," said Castiel, trying out a phrase he had heard Ember use recently.
"Yes," agreed Ember.
"So, we'll leave it for now," Castiel said, and Ember nodded, shuddering against him.
***Dean POV***
April 2nd
It was good to be in the bunker for once. He had his own room, and Sam was busy with Eileen, and Krissy and Jack were both at Ember and Castiel's. So, it was just him.
He wished Jo were here, but of course that had ended badly. So, his hand would have to do.
He squeezed out a few drops of lube, taking himself in hand, already half-hard from the two Asian girls on his computer screen who were bathing each other in a tub full of soapy water.
Dean closed his eyes, remembering his threesome with the Asian girls a year or two previously, how one of them had looked as her lips closed around his cock. He twisted on the upstroke, jacking himself slowly. Years in motel rooms with his father and brother had given him a strong appreciation for time to himself.
Dean opened his eyes and glanced at the screen again as one of the girls in the tub made a particularly salacious moan.
His heart leapt to his throat. Ember was standing two feet behind his bed, looking like the cat that ate the canary. "Well, looks like you've started without me!"
Dean hadn't survived this long for nothing. Instinctively, his hand shot under his pillow toward his gun, and it was only after his gun was facing her with his finger on the trigger that he realized that it wasn't Ember at all. Her countenance, how thin she was, her shorter hair… it was Mel, which, of course, was what had prompted his instincts toward his gun in the first place.
The whole thing was for naught, of course, because nothing he had in this room could protect him from Mel if she really wanted to kill him, a fact both of them knew well.
Mel, for her part, was wearing a purple corset with garters and thigh-high black boots. One of the boots still had a sticker tag on the side, and Dean knew immediately that she'd stolen the entire outfit. Her hair was done in waves, shiny and no longer knotted, and she was beautiful but deadly. Apparently, Dean realized, his downstairs brain was totally and completely on board with all of this.
"I was hoping for a better welcome," Mel said, using her powers to yank the gun out of his hands and toss it to the side. "Ah well." She came closer to him, and he made a futile gesture to cover up his erection.
"What are you doing?" he asked, his hands flailing without his gun. She didn't seem to have restricted his movement, and he eyed the door. If he jetted to the side, perhaps he could get past her… and then, there was the matter of the purple corset.
"Trying to get laid, dumbass," she said.
His brain, which was moving entirely too slow this evening, clunked into place at that point, and a thrill shot down his spine and into his dick.
"Why?" was his only remaining question. She was close enough to him that he could reach out and touch her, and suddenly he desperately, desperately wanted to. He had forgotten every single reason this might not be a good idea.
"Because I haven't been laid in years, and you're hot, single, not an angel, not attracted to my demonic side, and already have a history of being partial to my appearance," she said, putting a hand on his naked chest.
"What h-happened to that guy you were with in Apocalypse World?" Dean asked, feeling proud that he had remembered this detail in the middle of being seduced.
Mel shrugged. "Got married. Fuck 'im." She raked her nails down his chest, hard enough to leave white marks. Her eyes were wide, irises nearly swallowed by darkness, and the smirk on her face said she already knew where this was going.
Yet, she was giving him the choice, he realized.
Dean surged forward, fusing their mouths together. At the touch of her mouth, electricity surged down his spine. It was different than with Ember, before, or with Jo – it wasn't the touch of a familiar lover. Nor was it the empty physical excitement of a one-night stand. No, this had a classification of it's own.
As Mel used her force powers to force him backward onto the bed, Dean decided that this new classification was called "oh shit." He was beginning to gather that Mel didn't want to be romanced and insisted upon having the upper hand. She climbed on top of him, grinding down.
Dean moaned at the friction, and Mel smirked. She went invisible, and Dean panicked suddenly, reaching out for her ass even as she climbed off of him. Then there was nothing.
Surely she wouldn't leave him hanging like this. He had done nothing - Suddenly her mouth was right next to his ear. "It's just a little teasing, Dean…" She grinded down again, and he realized with dismay that he was as hard as a rock and she was probably just beginning.
Perhaps she realized this too, as she became visible again and kissed him, hard and demanding, still grinding him into the bed. Wanting to speed things along before he came like a teenager, he reached around her and began unlacing her corset.
Mel snapped her fingers and the corset, along with all of the other lingerie, disappeared. (Ember had never had that trick in her arsenal…)
Her nipples were dusky and perfect, but his eyes fell instead on two vertical scars going from her shoulders to each nipple, straight and pink against her tan skin. Ember's eyes shuttered, but she smirked again. "Courtesy of your friend Cas," she whispered in his ear, tugging on the bottom lobe with her teeth. "He could never resist knife play."
"That's fucked up," he said, his erection flagging. He squirmed, fully intent on crawling out from under her.
Mel held him down, but emotion returned to her eyes, a sort of determination. "I'm free of him now," she said fiercely, her eyes burning. "I can fuck who I want, when I want."
She rolled against him now, a sinuous, tempting grind of her hips, but he felt the force powers abate. Dean recognized that she was, again, giving him a choice, and he rocked up to meet her.
She smiled, a genuine smile this time, and then leaned down to kiss him again. She raked her teeth down his neck, and he shuddered under her.
It really had been so long since he'd done this…
He kissed whatever parts of her he could reach, but she was in a frenzy, taking as much as she gave. He moved to flip her, but she held him once more, this time tensing up and squeezing his arms tighter. Instead, she lifted up, holding his eyes in a question, and he nodded once.
She sank down and impaled herself in one move.
Dean groaned, relishing the tightness around him as she got used to the size. Finally, she caught his eye again, and, to his surprise, gave a genuine grin. "God, I haven't done this in an age," she said.
Their rhythm was awkward at first, but no less pleasurable for it. She raked her nails across his chest, grinding herself onto him at her leisure. Dean quickly discovered that while she was opposed to him being on top, she was entirely on board with him grabbing her ass and pulling her forward or back to change the angle or speed. She gasped into his mouth, and sped up, slamming down on him with full force.
He attempted to slow her ministrations, realizing that he didn't want this to come to a quick finish. She was a tornado, though, and too late he realized that he was less an active participant in this situation and more a fucktoy. Somehow this made his arousal spike even higher.
Yes, and God, and fuck! "Mel," he said warningly. "Mel, we-…" But she smirked, and he suddenly felt a vice clamp onto the base of his penis.
Are you fucking kidding me! Fucking demons! he thought, realizing she was using her force powers to stop his orgasm. He and Ember had done this, late in the relationship, but never like this, never bordering on pain!
Her breasts bounced in his face as she took her pleasure, and he remained poised on the edge of a precipice, waiting to fall. Through a haze of pleasure, Dean realized with alarm that there was something inhuman about the way she was bouncing on him – it was too fast, too tight, too much!
Just as he felt he might break, and, for the first time, considered fighting back or retracting his consent, she clenched up around him and the hold on the base of his penis loosened. He crashed off the precipice after her, his vision whiting out with the force of his orgasm.
It was several minutes before either of them said anything. He cleaned himself perfunctorily as soon as he once again had full control of his brain, and saw that she was doing the same. He watched her warily, half wondering once again if she would kill him.
Her eyes followed him around the room as she laid down in his bed, still completely naked. "That was fun," she said. "I wouldn't be opposed to a repeat performance at some point."
"I'm – that – definitely," he finished lamely.
He meant to stay awake until she fell asleep, because he still wasn't 100% sure of his own safety. Still, she had done nothing to imply any ill will, and it was with this thought that he drifted off to sleep in minutes.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Dean woke up early the next morning, yawning and stretching. He had that satisfied feeling only a good lay could bring, and he felt around his bed, slinging out an arm for Jo –
Mel.
God dammit. Dean frowned, refusing to let the "just had sex" feeling be dulled by the fact that it hadn't been Jo, or, even worse, the fact that it had been his ex-girlfriend's mildly evil doppelganger. It had been very good – if odd – sex.
Dean tromped to the kitchen in search of coffee, his joints protesting. He felt like he had been quite literally pounded into the mattress.
Sam raised his eyebrow when Dean entered, already up and back from a run. The coffee pot was already boiling with fresh coffee, and Dean poured himself a cup and let the black liquid heat his insides.
Sam's voice cut into his thoughts. "Judging by the fact that I doubt Ember ever walked down the bunker hallway naked in the entirety of your nine years off and on, I'm going to guess that was Mel you slept with last night."
Dean choked into his coffee.
"You – saw her?"
"No," Sam said, rolling his eyes. "Thank God, she's like my sister. Eileen did."
"Oh."
Sam laughed. "You're an idiot, Dean."
***Ember POV***
April 3rd
It was Castiel… but not.
His eyes were red. His body was no longer hunched over with the weight of sins, but light and free, sin incarnate. His grace shown within him, a twisted, snarling thing.
Ember readied her force power, though she knew it was useless. "Stay away from me!"
"I didn't come for you," Lucifer said, and he held her in place. She felt herself raising off of the floor, and a smell of sulfur burned her lungs as the tendrils of his corrupted grace seared through her. "I came for our son."
"Not… your son!" Ember gasped out.
"He's as good as," said Lucifer. "He's empty now. No soul, no feeling. Like me."
"I'll never… let…" Ember coughed, and her vision began to blur around the edges.
Another Castiel came up behind the first, and Ember felt hope wash over her. It was Cas, her Cas, his grace shining and his body hunched and weighted and his scruff a day old. "The same dream again tonight," he said, and his arms went around her as Lucifer vanished.
Ember sobbed, as Castiel held her. "It was too intense," Castiel said into her hair, and she burrowed deeper into the rumble of his low voice, into his grace. "You'll remember it in the morning again."
Suddenly, Castiel vanished.
"Cas! Cas!"
"Cas!"
"I told you he was in your mind! I told you!" someone was screaming.
Ember's eyes shot open, and on instinct she braced her force powers for an attack, but none came.
Her second instinct was to look for Castiel. He was held stationary against the wall behind their bed, frozen, the look on his face a mixture of anger and anguish.
Mel towered over their bed, her hand outstretched to pin Castiel, and her face murderous. "You're lucky I stopped in to check on you again tonight," she seethed, registering that Ember was awake now. "I heard your nightmare, and I found him with his hands on your face, like the angels do when they- when they-…" She seemed too angry to speak.
Ember was incensed. "God dammit Mel!" she screamed. "I was having a nightmare and he was pulling me out of it!"
A flicker of surprise shot across Mel's face for a second, before she said, "You were shouting his name!"
"Yeah, because right after he made Lucifer go away and made the dream better just like he does every night, he fucking disappeared! Probably because you threw him against the wall!"
Again, doubt crossed Mel's face before she said insistently, "That's not what I saw!"
Ember was shattered, confused, groggy, and enraged. Fear trumped all of her other emotions and she lashed out with her force powers, even though she knew it would do no good. "Put down my fiancé before I pray to Jack!"
A niggling feeling reminded her unhelpfully that if she could predict what he would do, she'd have prayed to him already. But he was soulless now, and she didn't have that luxury.
"You won't look!" Mel exclaimed insistently, and the walls began to rattle with her frustration, like a superpowerful toddler with a tantrum. Still, she had apparently unfrozen Castiel at least part way, because he slumped back down toward the bed.
"No," Ember exclaimed, her voice softer but somehow more venomous, even to her. "You're seeing what you want to see, based on what you know. There's enough of that therapist mind left in you to understand that, I think."
"I-…" But Mel stopped, her eyes wild and furious, as Ember's words hit her.
"You won't let him prove himself to you in the only way he knows how, and you're determined to shove him into the same little box as your other Castiel."
"He was not my-…" Mel started, but seemed to rethink her words. Finally, she turned to Castiel, and he slumped entirely back onto the bed. "Show me, then, Castiel," she snapped.
Suddenly, Castiel was yanked up and toward Mel like a puppet. He shot Ember a helpless look as his hand collided with Mel's forehead so hard there was an audible SMACK. Mel held one hand closed against his hand on her forehead in a vice grip.
"Cas!" Ember screamed, but Mel held her back.
"Show me, angel," Mel screamed defiantly, her face full of hatred. "If you're so innocent, show me everything. Prove it. I won't ask again."
Castiel sighed, shot one last helpless look at Ember, and closed his eyes, concentrating.
Minutes went by.
Slowly, minute by minute, Mel's posture became slightly more relaxed. She never fully relaxed, but her face slowly became less angry and more sad, wary. The fist held against her side relaxed just slightly into a loose ball, where before it had been clenched so tightly her fingernails must have left marks. Her other hand relaxed around Castiel's arm enough that Ember thought he might've been able to pry it loose if he'd wanted to. Ember herself was no longer held by Mel's force powers, but she didn't want to move lest it cause a break in either of their concentrations.
Castiel, Ember noticed, grew more tense. Twice he shuddered with what Ember recognized as shock, and once his body seemed to visibly recoil.
Finally, Mel pulled her hand away from Castiel's forehead. She sent Ember a look too full of emotions to understand. There was shock, jealousy, defiance – and then she disappeared.
Castiel collapsed on the bed, his strings cut like a puppet, and curled protectively around Ember.
"What did you show her?" asked Ember, squirming in his uncomfortably tight grip.
"Everything," said Castiel. "Starting with the Apocalypse, and until now."
That explained Mel's reaction, but not Castiel's. "And… what did she show you?" Ember asked.
"Nothing that she meant to," Castiel said, his deep voice whispered into Ember's neck. "But her mind isn't like yours. It's… damaged. He pushed through… so many of her mind's natural defenses…"
Ember felt something wet on her neck, but when Castiel looked at her his eyes were clear and blue and burning. "When I started sharing your mind with you, I taught you… ways to protect yourself, to wall off the things you didn't want me to see. But he never did, and, in fact, pushed past the few doors she managed to close on him. Her mind is… broken…"
He buried himself in her neck again, inhaling deeply. Ember knew instinctively that he wished to protect Ember like he couldn't protect Mel – from his counterpart, from life, from herself.
"Show me," she said, though she wasn't sure if she wanted to see.
"I will not," he replied.
***Ember POV***
April 4th
Shortly after Ember awakened the next morning, Castiel flew her to the bunker.
Mel was there, looking proud and defiant in the living room. Her hair was clean and shining and pulled back in a simple ponytail, and she wore new-looking jeans, sneakers, and a sweater. She carried two duffel bags full of supplies with her. "I want to go back," she said simply.
It seemed that Ember was late to the party, because Sam, Dean, and Jack were already completing preparations for her trip back to the Apocalypse World. Castiel joined them, leading Jack to another room to confer about the correct amount of angel grace to supply. "Are you sure?" Ember asked Mel when the two of them were alone.
"Yeah," said Mel. "Now that Michael's gone from over there, we might actually have a chance. To rebuild, or… something." Her face wasn't hopeful, exactly, but she didn't despair, either.
"Plus, this side has an Ember already."
Ember smiled, and they stood quietly for a moment. Finally, Ember couldn't resist. "You're not going to warn me about Castiel?"
Mel glared at her, then looked awkwardly at her feet. Eventually she said, "He's still attracted to your demonic nature, you know."
"I know," Ember said, smiling. "But it's more than that."
"Yeah," Mel said, still looking at her feet. "Yeah, I gathered that."
It was quiet for another moment, before Ember said, "I'll get Jack to give you some of his grace. In case you ever need to come back."
"Thanks," Mel said, looking slightly surprised. "I'd like that."
Ember smiled. "I'll miss you, Mel." She held out her hand, her fingers closing around Mel's smaller, stronger ones.
"I'll miss you too," Mel answered softly.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
After Mel left, the crowd began to disperse. Dean left with Krissy to discuss an upcoming hunt, Sam left with Jack to discuss a shopping list, and Castiel prepared to take Ember back to their home in Conway Springs.
"Wait," said Eileen, gesturing to them before Castiel flew away.
"What's up?" asked Ember, detangling from Castiel's arms. "I saw Mel here, the other night," she said, signing as she talked. "Naked."
"Yes!" Ember cried, pumping her fist in the air.
Castiel looked at her crossly, and Ember shrugged. "Tell Sam he owes me fifty bucks," she said, squeezing Castiel's shoulder to prompt him she was ready to go.