Chapter 36

I'll see you on the other side

Title Credit: Lyrics from the song "See You On The Other Side", by Ozzy Osbourne, album: Ozzmosis, 1995

A/N: It's here! Our finale! We're not crying, you're crying. And we're saying this in the best possible way.

But seriously, this has been such a beautiful journey for us! One we've shared with all of you wonderful people and seeing it coming to an end is so satisfying, bittersweet, and emotional.

And with that, onto our episode wrap & series wrap of WTWTA.

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Thunder crashing outside lighting up the grey sky, the booming reverberating through the house and her body, Jody sat with Kelly comforting the woman. The contractions had been getting closer and closer together and Kelly was sweating from the pain. The bad weather outside, and the turbulent atmosphere inside the room, somehow felt connected. They were.

Wiping her forehead, Jody saw the edge of pain and life that all mothers experience during birth. Eyes closed to endure the contraction, Kelly narrowly opened her eyes, looking up at the Sheriff.

"Can you help me up? I need to move," Kelly grunted as she recovered from the last contraction in anticipation of the next one.

Jody looked over at Alex, who'd already moved closer to the bed, and the two of them took hold of Kelly's arms, helping her up into a sitting position. Slowly they were getting her on her feet.

"I can take it from here," Castiel said quietly as he approached the three women intending to support Kelly on his own.

Looking exhausted, Jody silently acknowledged Cas, a tired smile of gratitude peeking out from the exhaustion. Alex was a bit more hesitant to leave Kelly, retreating to the back of the room next to the sheriff and watching Castiel take over. Like a substitute pit crew at the Indy 500, Alex wasn't sure if this new team player really knew what he was doing. It felt so surreal to trust this deeply female experience to a man, even if he was an angel.

"Remember to breathe when the next one comes. And let me know if you need to pause our walking unless you want to keep moving through it."

Alex watched the angel, not sure if she wanted to laugh or cry. He was so devoted. He'd educated himself in order to support Kelly through this.

Jody was remembering the birth of her son, which consisted mainly of screaming, an epidural she begged for, and her husband not knowing what to do with himself and simply repeating loudly "It's gonna be ok." Clearly it was more to ease his own nerves than help her out.

She'd been in thirty-six hours of hard labor. There were moments during the birth she felt she couldn't endure it any longer. It was during these excruciating peaks that she'd felt herself transported away from the pain, watching herself go through the birthing pains but not inside her body experiencing it all. Where she'd gone, Jody wasn't exactly sure. It had been surreal. And the moment she'd finally given birth and held her son, it all faded away. Mostly. Sure, she'd been massively sore and needed stitches since her son had had her husband's wide shoulders, and she'd endured the long, abstinent healing and ice packs. But it was all worth it.

Despite knowing what the future held, it was a fond memory for her, softening her drawn face with an inward smile.

With Kelly walking in a rather stilted way, the pregnant woman moved through the beginning of the next contraction. And then it grew larger, harder than any previous one. Kelly was feeling like she was being knocked to the floor from the inside...with a Mac Truck trying to come out.

"Auuuuuuuuuuuugh!"

Nearly collapsing right where she stood, Castiel held Kelly up, Alex stepping to her side, assisting the angel to get Kelly to the bed.

Amber lightly knocked on the door, slightly ajar, before stepping in with a big jug of cold water and a glass in hand.

"Water's here," she informed Kelly in what she hoped passed as a calm, soothing voice. Castiel had coached all of them to use a tranquil tone and demeanour when addressing Kelly.

Not even acknowledging her, Kelly was hardly aware of anything beyond her own experience. The birthing process was incredibly intense as her body pulled her through it, the bones of her pelvis widening and literally rending her body in two. The biological process insists and the woman endures. Jody remembered all of this. It had been exciting and terrifying.

Clutching at Cas' arm, Kelly was bracing herself to get through this new, stronger contraction. After a moment, Kelly''s face was easing.

Turning to Amber, she reached for the glass and gulped it down before handing it back to the girl with a silently-mouthed thank you.

When Castiel threw her a pointed look, Amber uttered a low staccato of, "You're doing great," before scuttling out of the room. This birthing situation was getting all too much for her, and with Castiel getting way too intense, Amber needed to escape this room.

"Call me if you need me," she called over her shoulder to Alex as she closed the door behind her.

Jody caught Cas's eyes. Leaning close, she whispered, "I need to step out and use the facilities."

Tilting his head in confusion, Jody clarified. "I need to pee." As she moved to leave the room, she gently tugged Alex along with her. "Let's give them a minute."

Slipping out of the door, Cas and Kelly were alone. The woman was in between contractions, resting, but very emotional. Tears were forming in her eyes. Castiel could feel and see her thoughts, and she was nearly hysterical inside.

Stroking her hand and arm, Cas leaned over Kelly, looking into her eyes. "You are stronger than you even know you are. I know this feels impossible right now, I know you doubt you can go through this, but you can. Many women before you and many more after you will go through this experience of bringing life into this world. Focus on this, focus on calling Jack out."

"Don't start with 'your body is made for this', Castiel. I know it. It still hurts so much. And the fact that I…," just at this moment Kelly's voice broke and she began to cry.

"...I don't get to see him in the end, Castiel. I don't get to hold him. I don't get to smell him."

Castiel watched her break down just seconds before the next contraction hit, causing her to wail in pain, pain that wasn't just physical. The sound coming from this woman was heartrending and guttural.

The angel hugged her shoulders strongly. He wasn't comfortable with physical contact but knew when to offer it, when it was absolutely needed.

"You get to bring him into this world safely. I know it's not enough. But we will do everything in our power to help you get through this and see your son, Kelly. In fact I think it's time for you to receive Amber's grace."

Pulling two vials from his pocket, setting one on the nightstand to use later, Cas held up the iridescent, swirling liquid, holding it up before Kelly for her to see.

"Amber gave you some of her grace. This should help you and if we're lucky, it will help you to survive. Just open your mouth a little bit."

Holding one of the vials next to Kelly's narrowly open mouth, Castiel uncapped it. An ethereal, vaporous substance escaped the vial and sought out Kelly's mouth. Slipping into her mouth completely Kelly felt herself radiating a shimmery silver-gold white light from within. Cas could see how this was affecting Kelly's body, fortifying her strength and boosting her emotional courage.

Returning to the room, Jody and Alex eyed Cas meaningfully, essentially asking wordlessly about Kelly.

A compressed mouth was his immediate response and both women knew the angel, for all of his previous omnipotence, had no idea if they could stop the death of this woman.

Castiel, leaning close to whisper to Jody, had a new concern on his face.

"I must go outside. He has found us and is seeking a weakness."

Eyes dark with alarm, Jody nodded, while Alex shivered with stress and fear. This could mean only one thing

Turning back to Kelly, Cas leaned over the laboring woman.

Close to her, Castiel whispered to her, "I am needed outside. I must leave you now." Big brown eyes, seeking reassurance from this angel, silently Kelly started to cry, tears trailing down the sides of her face dripping onto her pillow.

Wiping her tears from her face, Cas kissed Kelly on the forehead. His kiss left a white, glowing spot of grace on the woman's forehead and the shimmering gold-white light grew from there to encompass the whole bed, Kelly included. It was like an ephemeral veil of light, with a vermeil dusting of silver-gold sparkle, in a snow globe. Castiel's power was diminished compared to his old glorious angel days, but it was not completely gone. Kelly needed this.

Rubbing her shoulder in reassurance, Cas walked out the door, leaving Jody and Alex alone with Kelly. Smiling back at this woman, Jody was trying to reassure her...even as her own faith was ebbing.

"Kelly, it's almost time. Your contractions are just two minutes apart. You're really close to bringing this baby earthside," Alex said, carefully choosing the words she'd heard so many times at the hospital.

Just then another, bigger contraction started. Jody braced with Kelly as she watched this woman go through what no mother is ever prepared for.

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Amber, Dean, Sam, and Claire were each at a window cautiously peaking out, each vigilantly guarding their narrow strip of sight to the outside of the house. They were tracking every movement outside...even as this storm raged. It was difficult discerning what was wind and what was phenomena. Frankly, this entire windstorm was phenomenal. It wasn't even February and this weather shouldn't be happening until summer.

Rowena was watching, with an entirely different expression on her face. Her commanding presence spoke her intent. WIth deliberate steps, she was standing at the front door. She obviously intended to go outside.

"Will you confront Lucifer?"

Heads whipping around at Castiel's words, the other's all listened. They hadn't known how Rowena would attack or protect them from Lucifer, so this was novel intel.

"We will attempt to hold off, Lucifer," Rowena corrected Castiel. "And hope we'll all be off and out of here before he gets anywhere near us."

Not wishing to face the wrath of the fallen archangel, Rowena had no intention of risking falling into his hands. She'd help here for as long as possible. With no magic gameplan in their arsenal that would end Lucifer, their only hope being the Winchesters, and mainly Amber, she'd be ready to flee the moment she had to. Her own spell would hopefully hold him off long enough.

"Planning to haul ass already?" Dean asked.

"From the beginning, I planned on disappearing when I'd have to, love," the witch replied unapologetically. "And you'd all better hope Amber will be able to get you out of here and back to the bunker before he gets his hands on you."

Amber shook her head but couldn't say she'd expect anything more from the witch. Still, Rowena had played a valuable role in warding the place and she'd still do her best to buy them time and weaken Lucifer. At this point this was all they could hope for. Maybe if she found him in a weakened state she'd be able to fight him off.

Dean didn't speak. He hated everything about this situation. How vulnerable he and his people were, how their plan had so many holes and uncertainties. This wasn't the Winchester MO. He glanced at Amber before gazing back outside. He wondered if risking all this, giving the nephilim a chance and putting their lives in peril, was worth the menace they were exposing Amber to? If she fell into Lucifer's hands, then all of this would be for nothing.

"If that happens, this will be everything," Amber told him quietly.

Turning to see her at his side, he could tell she'd been in his head.

"What do you mean?" He asked gruffly.

"If I end up…" Amber paused here, shivering at the thought of what that would mean. Taking a deep breath she continued.

"If he wins, if he gets me… Jack is going to be your only hope, Dean. Remember…A Nephilim is always stronger than their 'creators'. Stronger than human and angel in my case… Stronger than an Archangel and a human in Jack's. That means stronger than Lucifer. He's our only hope to end this for good."

Dean had no response, he'd said all he had to say. His eyes showed his grave resolve, his jaw firm, his shoulders low and broad. Amber had seen her brother like this, sort of. The weight of this moment blew past every other experience.

"It's time. I need Amber's grace now."

Looking around, Sam saw the witch standing beside him. Acknowledging her, Sam nodded and drew out the second vial of grace Amber had offered to Übernova Rowena's spellwork. Swirling in it's incandescent brilliance, it was always mesmerizing to see. Rowena's face grew avaricious. Sam, seeing and literally feeling the witch's desire for this ingredient, was hesitant to hand it over. He distrusted her to use it all for this purpose. She might keep it and skip out on them.

Feeling Sam's distrust, Rowena simply shrugged.

"It's a chance you'll have to take, now isn't it?"

Jaw clenching, Sam knew he had to keep control of Amber's grace.

"I'm watching you cast the potion."

"Oh Sam, do you distrust me so much?" was Rowena's coquettish response, eyes narrowed to beautiful crescents.

"Absolutely."

Seeing this herculean man standing next to her, Rowena understood his distrust would be backed up by his strength.

"Very well. From one magic user to another, I could allow you to watch."

"You will allow me to watch how you use Amber's grace."

Hearing her name, Amber's attention was pulled to this drama. Seeking them out, and stepping close to Sam, Amber was face-to-face with the person who had been ready to kill her just a few months back. And who had saved them from Lucifer.

Glancing around to see his sister, Sam realized Amber had as much a right to witness the use of her grace, if not the most right, for its intended purpose. "Amber, we're going to start the potion now. You coming?"

Nodding, words were not needed and these three people moved to the back of the room. Cas looked over at Amber as she was walking with Sam and Rowena. They both knew what was happening. The heightened emotions of everyone in the room, big, loud emotions, were even more obvious to Cas and Amber. Words were redundant.

Remaining with Dean, Cas stood sentinel looking outside as the spellwork got underway.

Dean walked to the dining area of the safehouse, where the summoning bowl, already filled with the appropriate ingredients, was set on the table. Grabbing the piece of paper Sam had left, Dean lit a match, before throwing it in the bowl. A second later Crowley's smoke-defined shape morphed into solid form a few feet away.

"Company here already, darling?"

Exhausted and expecting Crowley's sarcasm, Dean kept his emotions centered, getting to the point.

"We need all hands on deck. Lucifer's outside."

"Oh, I see. Time for the 'girding of our loins' then." Crowley's tone held a firm resignation. Even he disliked going head-to-head with Satan.

"Yeah. And don't you dare pussy out on us."

"Worried you and Moose will become uncles to little Lucy-Amber hybrids? My, my, aren't you all protective and manly."

"Don't you fucking joke about this, Crowley," Dean barked back.

"Kyle-Amber hybrids could possibly be okay though?" Claire threw from her own corner in the room.

At Crowley's snicker, and Dean's murderous glare, she raised her hands up defensively. "Fine, shutting up."

"Just like Moose, she can't keep her hands off a hot-looking demon, can she? Well, if Amber is making little demon-nephilims, you'd be lucky to get Kyle. He's less demonic these days. Totally useless."

"And we'd get to name the species, right?" Claire asked excitedly at the prospect.

Dean turned to the blonde again. "Seriously? Now?"

"Taking steps to pave the way for this eventuality, I see?" One of Crowley's eyebrows rose in intrigued speculation, watching this discussion open up more and more layers of intel he hadn't had before.

Amber walked briefly to where they were all standing and glared at them, eyes flashing golden. Looking from Crowley to Claire.

"Speak about the products of my uterus one more fucking time…"

Crowley marveled at the energy the youngest Winchester emitted. He briefly thought about how close he'd come to taking her grace for his own. The things he'd have done with it.

"Pipe down, little Winchy. You'll need all of your fear-factor for your aspiring baby-daddy."

"Can't you ever just shut up?" Amber asked, feeling her anger rising and the fear she once had for the King of Hell slowly dissipating. She wasn't sure, but she had a good feeling she could now take him down if she chose to. With this thought, Amber looked up and Saw Crowley's face on her. His expression held an odd respect, a fearful respect with a veneer of bravado. Awww...she did have the strength to take him down, his reticence confirming this.

Reading her energy and mood loud and clear, and knowing she was probably right, Crowley took a step back, keeping a smirk on his face.

"Your wish is my command."

Amber threw him one last glare before walking back to Sam and Rowena at the back of the safehouse.

In the back of the room, Rowena had set up an altar for casting her spells, assembling a small cauldron, an athame, a handful of freshly picked herbs, and a flat piece of onyx. The onyx stone was shaped like a human rib, just smaller. It seemed odd to Amber's mind, but she knew so little about magic. Watching her, Rowena knew Amber was curious about her magical items. Not willing to give it all away, but enjoying the appreciation she felt coming from this girl, the witch withdrew a red cloth from inside her bodice, unfolding it.

Amber, watching this with intent, with Sam standing next to her watching this as well, knew Rowena had a rapt audience.

"I spent the last three days with this closest to my heart, taking it into the spirit realm to imbue it with strength. It is strong and will focus on the intent of this final step when I am using your grace, dear." Rowena spoke directly to Amber, ignoring Sam's looming presence.

Placing his hand on her shoulder, Sam firmly guided Amber to stand slightly behind him, putting some distance between her and the witch. Looking up at him, Amber instantly knew what Sam was doing and didn't mind, even if she knew she could blast the witch if she needed to. She understood Sam's attempt to shelter her and allowed this.

It's time to cast this spell. We only have a precise window of time and the power of this spell is at its peak in eleven minutes. We have to start now." Rowena was preparing to undertake the diminishing of Lucifer's strength and she had to cast this soon.

Arranging the items around the casting bowl, Rowena began to chant in Latin. Sam understood some of the spell's wording. Amber understood everything.

"In nomine omnipotentis Dei omnis divina, quae ducibus et anima mea quam ut exhauri command et lucifer essentia Patris vestri, existence tuus mortuus est. Exsultantiaque haurit viventium ultra vita vestra, vos es quondam iterum subjectugated Luciferius in virtute divina ad almighty excedere hominis facultatem redigunt, et spiritu. Hic et alibi habes non est virtus. Die Lucifer. Die Lucifer. Die Lucifer. Et mortuus et ab hoc regno, excessisse. In nomine omnipotentis Dei virtus divina, tu autem proiectus es accersitus et ductus ab omni vitae. Et mortuus est!"

Eyes up at Sam, Rowena was asking for the vial of Amber's grace. Reluctantly, and with care, Sam withdrew the vial and handed it to the witch, who was dazzled by the brilliantly moving iridescent within. Into the caldron the grace swirled, mixing and curling over and around, touching every item in the cauldron, causing a humming to emanate from the focal point of this magic. Casting the red cloth over this action, Rowena sealed the magic into action.

Like the outward, pulsing waves of a sonic boom, the entire house shook, walls rattling at the joints, dust falling from cracks in the ceiling. Rowena felt this wound her target. She walked to the front door, opened it and looked outside. She felt it had weakened Lucifer while also alerting him to their unified presence within. Castiel and Amber felt this, too. Rowena searched with her eyes, through the curtains of thick rain, and she could make out his figure in the distance, a few feet away from the house, standing, eyes glowing red.

As the tremors died down, silence enveloped the room. Amber walked close to the witch and peeked outside with questioning eyes.

"Did it work? Did we get him?"

"We did. The question is, how much damage we actually managed to inflict on him."

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He kept himself out of sight, his line of sight clear so he could be alert to any changes and opportunities. He couldn't read any energy, he couldn't tell who was present and who wasn't or what was going on inside. He had to rely on his human senses to make sense of what was happening. He felt the witch cast the spell, adding in something he'd never seen in magic. It was strong, magnificently strong and beautiful and binding. He'd never witnessed anything like that.

Kyle was trying to figure out what had made it so strong, so different. He kept his eyes on the house and tensed up when the front door opened. The witch he knew to be the King of Hell's mother, stepped out of the doorstep. Kyle wasn't expecting this. A few seconds later his heart clenched tight in his chest: Amber's figure appeared next to the witch.

And then it hit him: Amber had given some of her grace for this spell. The energy emanating from her matched the energy emanating from the spell. Kyle was both impressed and frightened by this. The binding strength of this was compelling, terrifyingly so. He could feel his own demise if he were ever the target of this spell. This was a genius move and it was effective. Kyle was begrudgingly impressed with these human's ingenuity.

Pulling back to remain out of view, he moved to better see the front of the house. Was Lucifer approaching for a frontal assault? He'd have expected something more subtle, more oblique. Yet, there he was. Lucy was within 20 meters of the fence of this warded house. He felt everything inside him going on high alert as he watched the Devil standing there, twenty feet away from the nephilim that was being born. Twenty feet away from Amber. Twenty feet away from him.

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"Augh!" Panting and rough breathing was followed by another grunt and scream.

"AUUUUUUUGH!" Auh. Hah, haaah.

Sitting up slightly curled over the edge, her hands propping her up, Kelly was drenched in sweat. Hair flat against her forehead, she was exhausted from the onslaught of contractions. They kept coming and were getting closer and closer together.

"I know it's hard, but I want you to try to not yell, Kelly. Try to keep your breath in and focus on just pushing," Alex coached her with the words she'd heard the labor and delivery nurses in the birthing wards.

Kelly looked at her with a mixture of anger and desperation as the contraction ended.

"How?" She panted helplessly. She felt helpless and frightened by this process...it took over her entire body, her entire fate.

"Just keep that breath in. You breathe in nice and deep and keep that breath in as you push, only letting the air out when you feel the contraction ending. Trust me, it's gonna go so much faster and smoother if you figure out how to do this."

"Another one is coming," Kelly said, tears and sweat running down her face.

"Good, one contraction closer to Jack being here. Focus on that and holding that breath in, alright? Big inhale and push!"

Kelly focused all her mental energy to what Alex had instructed her to do but as the pain intensified to levels she didn't think possible, she couldn't hold her scream in.

Kyle heard Kelly scream. The sound of this woman's suffering was beyond anything he thought humans could endure. The pain had an energy to it and Kyle could see this woman's consciousness straddling life and death, her consciousness in this midway state just outside of her body while watching her body endure.

"You're doing great. You're gonna get it the next time, I know you will. You're so close, Kelly. So close."

Panting, pale, and exhausted Kelly shook her head.

"No… No, I'm not. I'm dying."

Jody felt her throat clench and her own eyes well up with tears at the palpable pain, both physical and mental, Kelly was in. She didn't know what to say to her. She didn't know what she could possibly tell this woman.

Unfocused eyes turning to Jody, Kelly asking breathlessly, "Would you die for your girls?"

Without hesitation Jody immediately nodded, a few tears escaping her own eyes.

"In a heartbeat."

Kelly's face broke as a new contraction rocked her body and mind. Head and shoulders curving forward, eyes closed tightly, she managed to keep her scream inside.

"That's it! That's it, you're doing it," Alex said, managing to sound encouraging even as her own heart ached for what she was witnessing.

As Kelly's head dropped back down, eyes opening with difficulty, Jody noticed tiny drops of blood glistening along the birthing woman's sweat all over her forehead and neck. Reaching over to the nightstand, the sheriff grabbed the second vial filled with Amber's grace. Looking at Kelly, she whispered, "It's time."

Kelly sobbed as she nodded and looked at the tiny glass container with the glistening substance swirling within. Her last hope of ever meeting her son. Kelly opened her mouth right as Jody brought it close to her lips.

Alex watched the grace swirling out of the vial and seek out Kelly's mouth, gliding past the woman's parted lips and disappearing within. Out front, Amber felt something, but she didn't know what this was. It was an odd sensation, not bad, but very odd. Unbeknownst to her, she had an attachment to her grace. She hadn't known this and still didn't. Later she would understand.

Outside, Castiel was scanning the area, walking within the warded space of the house's garden. He could see Lucifer's looming figure in the distance, glowing red slits following his every move. He tensed up as he heard Kelly screaming, wishing he could be by her side as she was going through the worst part of her son's birth.

Then something sparked, brilliant and startling. Cas saw it out of the corner of his eye. About one meter from the ground, this bright, stationary sparkle remained in place. It was growing from a single sparkly glint to a glistering node hovering in mid air. Cas had no idea what it was. Walking back to the front door he looked inside, eyes searching for Rowena.

Instead his gaze met Dean's.

"What?" Dean asked, eyes alert, shoulders tensing, fear creeping into his tone.

"I don't know. Something is happening outside. Maybe from the spell."

"Rowena!"

The witch walked over, expression annoyed at Dean's barked summons, yet reading his urgency. She looked at Dean and moved to follow him outside when he motioned towards the front door with his head.

Sam quickly followed behind Rowena with Amber walking over as well. Hearing his sister behind him, Sam turned to look at her, shaking his head.

"Stay inside until we know what's going on."

"But, Sam…"

"Stay, Amber!"

Frustrated but not willing to test him, or Dean, Amber watched them stepping outside and closing the door behind them. Walking to the closest window she followed them with her gaze, as Claire and Crowley joined her.

Turning annoyed eyes on Crowley, Amber asked, "Shouldn't you go outside with them?"

"No, because I'm not a moron like the rest of you lot," Crowley answered, even as his curiosity was piqued at what was happening outside.

Amber felt herself getting angry at this fat King of Hell.

"What the hell is this?" Dean asked as the four of them circled the hovering sparkling line.

Sam was drawing a blank, looking at something he'd never seen, read, or heard of before.

Rowena inched her face as close as she dared inspecting this, too.

"Definitely not my spell's doing," she confirmed when she felt no connection to it.

From his vantage point Kyle saw this sparkling rift in the fabric of this dimension. It was only a small point yet it was slowly growing longer, widening the tear between this reality and another. He felt a dark energy poking through, feeling the opposite, upside down dimension which was connecting via this rift.

At the same time Castiel, Lucifer, Crowley and Rowena were all realizing the same thing. This sparkling seam grew and released a dark energy from whatever was coming through. This truly opened up another dimension in time and space. And Castiel was becoming aware, as Jack was being born, his presence in this dimension was opening up a connection to another, darker place. Still hearing Kelly's screams and panting, Cas literally watched this line grow a bit more with each pained scream. From a point of light into a foot-long line hovering in mid air, Jack's birth was fracturing the reality between worlds.

Rain was pouring down as the wind howled. Rowena, feeling a shift in the energy around her turned fearful eyes towards the northern part of the fence.

She could tell the warding, enhanced with Amber's grace, was dissolving from the lashing rain.

Following her gaze, Castiel and the Winchesters watched Lucifer's figure slowly approaching until he stood right at the fence's gate, where the warding had weakened most.

In his favorite vessel, Nick, Lucifer approached the perimeter, his countenance coming into full view. A malicious expression on his face, Lucifer was able to approach the safehouse. Watching helplessly, Rowena, Sam, and Castiel stepped back with Rowena glancing back at the safehouse. With a flourish, the witch cast a spell and she was no longer there, having transported herself back into the safehouse.

"Bloody hell!" Crowley saw how this retreat made the most sense, and took two steps away from the window, while Amber stood still, watching what was happening.

Left on their own, Sam, Dean, and Castiel were at the front of this battle, with no effective weapon to counter the loss of the warding's protection.

"Fuck!" Dean whispered, not caring that nobody could hear him over the storm.

"He can't get in. Not yet. The warding is weaker but still there. It won't hold for long, though" Castiel yelled to be heard through the storm.

"Now what?" Sam was trying to keep his voice devoid of the panic that was slowly building inside of him.

"Now we fight," Dean replied.

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Upstairs, Kelly's body was at its breaking point, her insides tearing in two from this violent birth. Alex and Jody, desperate to save this woman, were supporting her back and legs between their two bodies like a Spanish Birthing chair. The contractions were taking over all control. Kelly felt herself dying even as this new life was passing into the world.

Assessing Kelly's state of consciousness, Jody witnessed an intense white light shining out from where the baby's skull would normally start crowning. Kelly was barely alive. Desperate and fearful, Jody was speaking loud encouragement into Kelly's ear. Hearing was always the last sense to ebb when people were near death. Jody knew this.

"Kelly, two more pushes and your son will be here. Kelly! Kelly! Stay with us. Stay with us, sweetie. You can do this. Push!"

From within this protected space, distant from her body, Kelly looked down on the scene as her body gave way, tearing in two, and her son began his emergence into this world.

At this exact moment Kelly lost the connection to her body, and to this life, gently severed. It wasn't what she'd have expected. It wasn't painful. If anything, in that moment a sweet relief enveloped her as all of the excruciating pain went away. It was peaceful, as she drifted up and away from her body, which now laid limp off of the edge of the bed. Looking down at her lifeless form, Jody and Alex clutching at her, Kelly felt their desperate sadness and panic as they realized she was gone before the delivery actually happened. Drifting up peacefully, Kelly was not aware of what was happening down below. She no longer suffered in this life.

Finding her awareness guiding her into this softly colored space of swirling pastels and luminescence, Kelly was floating down a bright hallway. She felt light, safe, happy. Up ahead she saw another figure floating towards her. Closing in on each other, Kelly saw the face and body of a young man, beautiful and blonde. His presence was gleaming, his face beatific, full of love. His eyes were golden. The opposite of a specter, this being was glowing as if lit from within like a carnival glass lamp, iridescent and shining.

Not a word was exchanged as these two figures met up midway. The grace Amber had given to Kelly hadn't managed to save her life, but it was protecting and guiding Kelly forward. As they passed, it was a soul-to-soul contact, each seeing the other in exquisite honesty and love. Kelly was meeting her son, she was meeting Jack, as they were passing in the opposite directions between their two different states of existence.

Jack felt the dedicated love and grace emanating from his mother, her face shining, her eyes wide and serene. With the briefest of pauses, they shared this encounter, then they passed each other with Kelly feeling herself being pulled down the hallway away from Jack towards the shining vermeil light at the end.

Jack, head still turned to keep his eyes on his mother for as long as possible, felt the freely-given sacrifice she'd made for him. He lost sight of his mother as she returned to her source. He continued forward, being pulled to the opposite end of this hallway, a conveyance of cosmic power bringing him into this realm of men.

A burst of light, prismatic in color and blinding in radiance, burst into the room. It was originating from where Kelly lay slumped. This explosion of light, accompanied by a loud ringing sound, had the same effect as a sonic boom, loud, impactful, world-shaking. Jody and Alex didn't even realise what was happening before this wave of energy and light threw them against the bedroom's wall, knocking them unconscious.

What remained was Kelly's body, torn asunder from the waist down, lifeless and peaceful. There was blood all over the bed, but more than this, there was a substance that glittered and swirled, pooling on the floor, looking like the iridescent swirls you see when sunlight reflects off of soap bubbles. It was startlingly eerie and breathtakingly beautiful all at once. The strong scent of jasmine mixed with roses hung in the air.

꧁ W ꧂꧁ T ꧂꧁ W ꧂꧁ T ꧂꧁ A ꧂

It was instantaneous. The ringing, the sudden burst of energy, the new arrival that followed Kelly's demise. Castiel's eyes left Lucifer's figure for a brief second, as he glanced back at the house, knowing Jack had just arrived and Kelly was dead.

Before he had time to turn his gaze back to Lucifer, the ground trembled, shaking underneath his feet and all across the land. Everything visible was affected, causing this cascading temor to shake the safehouse, trees to shudder and parked cars to rock in place. The arrival of the nephilim shook the earth. Simultaneously, the storm died down with a last flurry of lightning reaping the darkened sky.

Sam and Dean looked at each other not knowing what was going on, before falling on their knees as the deafening ringing became audible to their human senses.

And it was at that same moment that Lucifer, smiling triumphantly, walked past the fence.

Inside the safehouse, Crowley, Rowena, and Amber were watching everything speechlessly.

They, too, had felt the arrival of Jack in all of its violence and glory.

Claire, just like Sam and Dean, had fallen on her knees, hands covering the sides of her head and moaning at this ear splitting sound.

Outside, the sparking rift between worlds was still there and was growing in length, creating a shimmering thread half a man in height.

"He's in! Bloody hell, he's in!" Crowley whispered.

Amber watched Crowley, his eyes darting to the stairs and back outside as Lucifer was taking another purposeful step. She could read his thoughts. His longing to get hold of Jack as every fiber of his being wanted out of this deadly confrontation. Away from Lucifer's threat. Rowena was calculting her own safety hatch.

"You're willing to miss out on this?" She asked, her voice steadier, more confident than she'd expect it to be.

"No. No, I'm not," Crowley answered.

"Good. I'm going out. This is my fight, too. Can I trust you two to help?"

"Us three," Claire groaned, getting back on her shaky feet.

"Go ahead, little Winchy," Crowley said solemnly. "As it is, you're our only hope to get out of this alive."

Eyes fluttering closed and expression blanking, Rowena extended a hand and silently mouthed a few words. A ball of fire appeared in her palm, flames dangerously beautiful and volatile. Eyes opening again, Rowena turned to Amber.

"I'm covering you. Go now."

꧁ W ꧂꧁ T ꧂꧁ W ꧂꧁ T ꧂꧁ A ꧂

The magnificent terror of his stance, the embodiment of death and decay and annihilation surrounding his presence, this was Lucifer's greatest power. Look upon him and despair.

Amber felt his emanation and her own despair grip her throat. Aware this was intentional on his part, she pulled deep down into her own will and redoubled her force. Amber felt the power within her grow and fill her beyond her physical body. So natural was this for her, that she was unaware that her eyes, her body, the energy surrounding her was glowing this silver-gold radiance. It was stunning in its magnificence and power!

Claire, adrenaline fueling her heightened reaction and awareness, snapped out of the initial state of shock Jack's birth had caused. She followed behind Amber, walking outside, eyes scanning their surroundings to see where everyone else was.

Backing Amber up, she didn't know what exactly to do. How does one back up supernatural power and magic with guns and knives? They had talked about the possibility of a fight, but they never made an actual fight gameplan. If that was even a thing.

Fire was flying over the two girls' heads as they rushed to where Cas, Dean, and Sam were.

Dean, seeing them approaching, groaned loudly as he managed to get up from the ground.

"No! Get back inside! Both of you!"

Sam, his brother's words registering, looked up, too. His stomach clenched, seeing the girls outside.

And it was here, out in the yard, that Sam, Dean and Cas watched as the world changed.

The rift, still sparking with its laceration between dimensions, had grown and was now over three feet in vertical length. Amber could feel the energy coming through this fissure between worlds and it was fearful, dark energy. She had respect for the danger this rift presented to this world...and to her family.

Lucifer's face was grinning, maniacal in intent, eyes frightening with the soul coming from within. Walking steadily towards Amber, Lucifer kept this focus on her and Amber felt this.

Stepping next to her oldest brother, Amber looked up at him, eyes glowing gold, her power palpable.

"This is my fight, Dean. I'm not going anywhere. We're doing this together."

"Plus, what are we going to do without her? Yell at him to leave?" Claire's pragmatic comment had no rebuttal. "Amber, Cas, Crowley and the witch are basically our only chances to survive this."

Dean wanted to protest this. He wanted them out of this place, out of this danger more than anything. But he knew they were right. Glancing at Sam he took in a shaky breath and considered their next move.

Grabbing the duffel bag that was laying near his feet, Sam threw it right in front of Claire and Amber.

"Grab anything you feel most comfortable using," Sam instructed the girls.

Zipping open the duffel, Claire dug around and pulled out a few weapons, including an angel blade similar to the one Dean had given her a couple years back. Bringing it out into the light, Amber instantly felt a recognition of this weapon, an intimate understanding of compatibility of force.

Snatching this up, Amber felt the angel blade seemed to have a will of its own and it willed Amber to use it.

All around her, in those two seconds it took Amber to reach for and grab the angel blade, everyone felt this ignition and dominance of will come into being.

Lucifer and Kyle, who was still hiding and watching, felt this, too. Both were frightened by this.

Feeling Amber's intuitive understanding of this weapon, Cas stepped closer to her.

"We never had the chance to practice with this, but you know how to use it," he told her loud enough to be heard through the storm. "You can channel your energy, your power into this blade and it will respond. In the hands of a human it can kill an angel or a demon at most. In your hands, it can cause serious damage to Lucifer."

Sam noticed Lucifer had stopped his advancement and was standing in place, extending out his awareness beyond the human body he was wearing.

"Dean!"

Sam brought his brother's attention to this change in the menacing presence.

As Lucifer stood still, deeper into the perimeter, closer to where the Winchesters, Claire and Cas were standing, Rowena's wardings were being overpowered. Cas and Amber could feel multiple spots around the safehouse breaking open. It was then that it hit them. This new energy that neither of them recognized. It wasn't significantly strong, but it had a markedly resourceful energetic signature. It wasn't benevolent nor was it evil. It was nothing they'd ever encountered before.

Amber glanced around them trying to spot what this presence was, but saw nothing. She noticed Lucifer's attention shifting for all of a second, but he immediately refocused his gaze on her.

Doing the same, Amber took a step forward, taking a step closer to him. Eyes glowing, hair flying around her face from the wild wind, blade securely gripped and held in front, her body shifting into a fighting stance. Amber almost resembled a valkyrie from the Nibelungenlied.

Sam, Dean, Cas, and Claire stepped right behind her, each holding demon and angel blades. Sam and Dean stood close behind their sister, one on her left one on her right, while Cas and Claire stood side by side just a step behind them, a protective sphere of energy surrounding this assembled force.

Individually, they brought their own strengths, blind spots, and opinions, and as this unified force, their combined abilities were exalted. Lucifer felt this and so did Kyle.

"Aw…! Look at you… All nice and posed like the power rangers," he said, his smirk only growing. "This is just adorable."

Sam felt his throat tightening at the sound of Lucifer's voice. He gripped his demon blade tighter and clenched his jaw.

"See? Sammy knows this can't be so easy. Sammy knows me well. Maybe we'll have some fun together, too. Once I'm done with your sister."

Nobody had the chance to utter a response as they watched his eyes glow red.

Head moving upwards, a ghastly grin splitting his face in half, Lucifer raised both his hands up in the air. Numerous columns of black smoke started appearing all around the fence of the safehouse. A horde of demonic presence, a multitude of malformed and nightmarish beings, malignant in their presence, answered their master's call and surrounded Lucifer.

"Holy fuck," Claire mumbled and couldn't be bothered with the fact that her voice trembled in fear.

Amber felt her energy surge and it channeled down her arm, across the edge of the angel blade and into it's tip, condensing and concentrating like photon energy in a laser; deadly and precise. Surging from the tip, the angel blade conducted this mighty energy along its blade and out towards Lucifer. Like a sonic boom, Lucifer took a direct hit. It became clear he remained standing in place, yet with some of his forces diminished. He stood his ground, his energy taking on a ferocity.

And Lucifer advanced towards them, resuming his quest to capture Amber and Kelly's nephilim. Surging up from within, Amber's heart felt as if it were the ignition point of her will. Again, concentrated energy exuded from within and down through her arms, pooling and gaining force within the angel blade as if it were an athame. There was a transformative energy the angel blade worked on Amber's power, changing it, increasing it. Feeling the transmutation of this alchemy, Amber's awareness of herself as an individual dissolved, meldling into the angel blade with a stream of atomic potency streaming out the tip towards Lucifer and his demonic horde. Amber directed this arc at the center of the action, onto Lucifer. Again, a booming thunder from a low decibel soundwave shook the earth as a cataclysmic crash of thunder broke across the sky.

Against the fierce whirling of the wind, the cracking of thunder, this laser shot out and exploded in front of Lucifer. Sam, Dean, Cas and Claire all felt the earth tremble beneath them. The thunder crackled across the sky above them, and they, human in this Middle Kingdom, beneath Heaven and above Earth, existed at the whim of the gods.

Kyle watched this all happening, his own breath stopping in astonishment at the strength of this girl.

As the sparks settled, Lucifer stepped closer to Amber. His minions were reduced to only a handful of the most malformed and ghastly creatures, their repugnant odor of decay and pestilence announcing their advance.

On the porch, Rowena was once again creating and casting more fireballs, launching them at Lucifer. Upon reaching him, these explosive munitions found no purchase. They fizzled out within five feet of Lucifer. His remaining troops were not so lucky, Rowena's efforts were indeed reducing the numbers of demons beside him.

Amber had been riding this upwelling of energy, immersed within the act of being fully present in the moment, when she realized how close Lucifer now was. He was within ten meters of her. She could see the expression on his face. A chill ran down her spine, her arm hairs standing on end, her breathing stilted.

Dean stepped up to stand beside his sister. There was no way they could speak to each other while this atmospheric phenomena whipped around them and beneath their feet. Amber felt Dean's presence and, ironically, felt protection from him even as she held this role over him. Exchanging a look, the two of them communicated strength between each other, Amber with her hair flying around her head. She understood, she needed to finish this now or pull back to the safety of the warded house. Sam watched this interaction, knowing that this was indeed the moment he would be encouraged to push the pedal to the metal. They had to win. He didn't allow the alternative into his mind. It could be used against him by the dark forces so very close.

Claire stepped next to Sam, holding the demon blade she'd grabbed from the duffel that Sam offered them.

Amber looked around her, taking in what she had managed to do. Marveling at her own power, which she had never before had the chance to fully unleash. Focusing internally, she realised her body was trembling. Her vision had started clouding at the edges and she knew she'd soon dry up and need to replenish energy.

Deciding she'd give it one last go, Amber knelt down on the earth, angel blade in her hands. She remembered Castiel's words during their training sessions, about earth and how much it could help in focusing and channelling energy. Directing her energy down her arm and into the blade, she plunged her knife into the earth, facing Lucifer's advancing army. Keeping one hand on the blade itself, the other palm flat to the earth, she conducted another powerful release of explosive energy outward towards him. She could feel it traveling through her, through the ground, towards him and it felt like a sound wave conducted through clay, rolling massively slow and yet massively connected.

Boom!

Earth and plants exploded up into the air, being carried into a whirling tornado siphoning up demons, plants, debris at will and tossing them around with the force of nuclear fission. Cacophonous and frightening, this should have an effect to stop them all. She had no idea she could channel her energy though the ground to a distant target. Readers of The Wizard of Oz would recognize the upheaval and disarray of the demons as they looked like so many disoriented flying monkeys.

Lucifer was nowhere to be seen and Amber didn't know what this meant. She felt herself losing strength and knew that she had given it all. Her legs were weak and couldn't lift herself off the ground. Her hands felt heavy. Her vision blurred.

Dirt clods still raining down with yet smaller particles of debris still in the air, Amber saw that Lucifer was still there, now less than eight meters from her.

And then a pause. A silence surrounded her as everything shifted out of focus. All but Lucifer. His face looked calmer now. Certain. Assertive. When his voice echoed in her head she gasped.

"So much power, inside you. All this chaos unleashed upon your will! You're powerful, Amber Winchester. Maybe the most powerful creature this earth had seen. Before today that is."

Amber felt her breath growing shallow. She was powerful, yes, she could see it now. But he was still standing, and she was now feeling weaker than her human comrades.

"Such great power is going to waste. Why? Are you fighting me because you really want to or because they've made you think that's your only option?"

"That is my only option," Amber growled. She looked around her frantically but all she could see was a white fog. What was going on?

"I've bought us some privacy. Just a small pause in time and space for us to chat," Lucifer smiled devilishly savoring her fear. "You see I have an offer to make and I want you to listen to it without distractions."

"Not interested," Amber replied, her stomach a knot of fear and stress.

"Why fight me, Amber? Why not join me? What more do they have to offer? Treating you like a stupid child, when you're more powerful than they can even imagine… Wasting your potential learning what you're capable of by training with a withered down angel that's almost Human by choice…"

He paused to smile widely again.

"Come with me and you'll have everything your heart has ever desired. You'll be the Goddess of this world, right by my side. My Queen. Feared and worshipped on earth, heaven, and hell. You and I will create the most powerful army that will help us rule. Jack will be among them. So you do have a choice. You can do this as a slave or as a queen."

Amber heard his words, panic settling in with each passing second. Sounds from the battlefield started to register again as she was falling into an adrenaline-induced fight or flight mode.

"Never," she said, voice trembling.

Lucifer laughed.

"I'll sweeten it up even more for you. Come willingly and I'll spare your family and friends. Fight me and see them die a slow, agonising death. Choice is yours."

With these last words Amber found herself upon the ground. She saw her brothers, Cas, and Claire all on the move towards her. The rift, a few meters from the house's south wall had grown taller than the house itself at this point.

Dean, seeing Amber had fallen, ran to her, putting his arm around his sister's waist and roughly pulled her back. They needed to get behind the wardings of the safehouse. Sam and Claire both saw this and knew this was their best bet.

Cas, still present, still standing in the front, saw the rift's increasing size. It was off to the right of the front of the house, beyond it's wardings. Trenchcoat whipping wildly in the wind, Cas advanced to Amber's side, each step taking strength and purpose to move against the unbelievable resistance of wind, rain, and catastrophic, atmospheric anomaly.

From beneath the earth, Lucifer appeared to rise up from the ground as if it were a quicksand and he was being pulled up from this, whole. His eyes blazed hot red and his mouth was twisted into a hateful grin. It made all of their skin crawl.

With a wave of his hand Dean dropped to his knees, screaming in agony. Amber slid out of his grasp and looked at him, frightened.

Sam, Claire, and Cas bolted towards them, but another wave from Lucifer made them collapse to the ground gasping for air.

Leaping from where he'd risen up, Lucifer was nearly upon Amber, his arm outstretched and grasping.

An idea formed in a split second, and Amber, gathering whatever energy her adrenaline had managed to release, drew her blade out of the ground and whipped it in the air, aiming her energy wave towards Lucifer's form.

It caught him, but she only managed to push him back to the edge of the rift, his feet still steadily on this side.

"Cute," Lucifer commented, managing to take a couple of steps away from the rift.

"Now, what's it gonna be? Queen or slave? Your pathetic humans alive or dead?"

Amber stumbled to her feet, glancing at her family's direction, seeing the panic and despair in their eyes, hearing the sounds of Dean's screams and Sam, Castiel and Claire's choking filling her ears.

Standing on trembling feet, blade falling to the ground , she extended her bare hands to the devil, forcing the last bit of energy and power to surface. She screamed as she pushed with all that she had in her, trying to throw Lucifer into the rift.

But he resisted.

Blood started trickling down her nose and Amber felt the desperation of defeat settling in. This was it. Her family would die, she'd become his slave. Jack would fall into his hands.

A flash of movement caught her eye as it was an inhumanly fast movement of a higher vibration. She saw him before anyone else could decipher what this movement was. Launching himself at Lucifer, who was pushing steadily against Amber's power at the verge of the rift, Kyle rammed the archangel, crashing into him with a tackling force of such magnitude, dragging him away from Amber, and back towards the oblique arc of the rift . Remarkably, this unexpected impact weakened the storm in the immediate area.

Seeing Lucifer still resisting and fighting Kyle, just as one unconsciously dives to save their falling child, no thought, just pure, reactive instinct, Amber instantly directed the last reserves of her grace to assist him, increasing Kyle's strength. She hadn't known she was going to do this, and neither had Kyle. Kyle was using her grace, harnessing her telekinesis to amplify his own strength.

A split second, eye-to-eye contact passed between them and in this instant, Amber knew Kyle loved her and was trying to save her. Seeing his thoughts, Amber saw, she literally saw, Kyle's love for her and her own heart expanded in response to his utterly devoted adoration of her. It was heartbreaking. Kyle, having the same ability to see emotions, was awash in Amber's recognition of his true caring for her, despite his origins, despite his purpose and despite all expectations. Then and there, he knew she loved him, too. For him, in this ephemeral volatility, he'd done his job. He'd protected his lover and she was safe.

Keeping her mental contact with Kyle, Amber felt Lucifer striking back at her, images of destruction, torture, and unimaginable terror struck fear in her mind, trying to cut the fibers of her will as if it were a rope bridge spanning a thousand foot drop over a mountain crevasse. Lucifer sought to weaken her, destroy all opposition to him.

Keeping all of her focus, Amber knew this was an all or nothing effort and didn't realize that her brothers, Cas and Claire had stopped struggling for their lives. Her and Kyle's combined attack seemed to have done the trick and distracted Lucifer enough to stop targeting her family.

Dean and Sam watched breathless, shocked and unable to process Kyle's involvement. They could only experience this. The air whipped around them, wild screaming of the wind, this celestial warfare happening right in front of him.

A booming screech tore the atmosphere as Lucifer's rage shook the ground. The vibration of this sound was ripping the atoms of flesh apart, plunging deep into Amber's mind and muscle, tearing at her will. This fear and pain struck deeply at her. It was too much for her human body to fully contain and blood from her eyes and nose began to leave streaks all over her face. Amber was only aware of the present, nothing else existed.

Shifting forward, her unbalanced weight up with the strength of Samson at Jericho, the blade that had earlier fallen, levitated from the earth into Amber's hands.

Instantaneously, and without thought, Amber felt this rift opening. Willing her grace to emerge even more, Amber concentrated on Lucifer and her telekinesis power kicked in. Accelerating Kyle in his impact with Lucifer, Amber's power acted as a springboard and Kyle instantly pushed against it as he tightened his hold on Lucifer, the two of them hurtling forward, Kyle's body in motion as ballast for greater impact.

She directed her intent of destruction and binding energy towards Lucifer even as he was still being pushed sideways, away from her. An even more powerful wave of energy coursed through the earth, like the tunneling of a colossal, underground beast heading towards her target. A shattering of the sky boomed out as the earth rumbled beneath, the wind tearing at their clothes and skin as Amber's energy pulsed inside her and deep within the earth. Blood and grace flowed from her ears, dripping down the sides of her face mingling with tears of bloody grace the wind had whipped from her eyes, smearing horizontally across her face and into her hair. A white globe of silver-gold energy radiated from inside and around Amber, Dean, Cas, Sam and Claire were all inside this protective orb.

Kyle tackled Lucifer and the contact scorched his flesh. He had no idea the front of his body was burnt, his clothing hanging in shreds. The action was too quick, with the nervous sensations of the vessel he was in, to process this searing injury in the millisecond it occured.

The earth lifted him, Kyle finding himself propelled forward exactly how he intended, yet with greater force.

In that instant, Amber recognized that Kyle was pushing Lucifer not just towards the rift, but pulling him into the rift...with him. Amber paused, struggling to hold back the reins of her last burst of power. It was Kyle and she simply couldn't let this happen. The rift was now violently sparkling with the arcing plasma from the other dimension escaping into this one. A terrifying screech swept across the heavens, this violent outburst sounding like the warring of the gods.

And then they all saw it happen.

Kyle felt the sudden withdrawal of Amber's power and he knew he had to finish this on his own. Pushing with all his might, accessing not only his demonic powers but also the traces of Amber's grace that were still inside him, in that split second he caught Lucifer off guard. And that was enough. Pulling Lucifer in behind him, Kyle managed to dive into the rift.

What followed was a shattering rush of dark souls from the demonic hordes which lay unconscious from Amber's earlier attacks. Like the draining of a deep tub, the powerful pull of the water insisting anything less forceful than itself get pulled down the spiraling void, Lucifer fell and his power over his attacking legions of demons was all sucked into the rift with him.

The cyclone of whooshing demons and debris was suctioned into the rift leaving nothing evil behind. In a matter of seconds the rift expanded in an explosion of light, before vanishing completely, leaving behind nothing but silence and calm, the evidence of this mighty battle everywhere in unmistakeable destruction.

Sam and Dean slowly got up from the ground, shocked faces trying to process everything that had just happened. Their sister winning this battle against all odds and Kyle, a demon, saving the day, sacrificing himself, winning them the war.

Claire shook off the dirt from her clothes, standing up, she saw Amber ahead of her. She looked alive, but she was changed somehow. It was a gut-level impression.

Castiel rose last, flooded by everyone's overwhelmed emotions and thoughts. He was just as shocked as everyone at the turn of events. The end of this battle found all of them standing.

Crowley and Rowena stood on the porch from where they'd witnessed the apocalyptic events, the witch's strength drained, her pale face even more devoid of color, her jaw slack in mindless exhaustion. The King of Hell extended his awareness in search of Lucifer's presence, energetically scouting out the area and findinding nothing.

Amber, blood and grace smeared all over her face, crumpled to the ground, staring at the void the rift had left behind, unable to comprehend what had just happened. What she'd just lost. She wanted to scream, but she was drained, unable to even whisper.

Feeling them before seeing them, she knew her brothers, Cas, and Claire had approached her. Dean knelt down on her right side, arms hugging her close, tugging her head below his chin. Sam lowered himself on her left, his hand finding her own and holding it tight, absorbing her trembling. Castiel and Claire stood just a step behind. Being present without intruding.

Amber, eyes still staring at the space where the rift had been hovering only minutes ago, felt herself collapsing. Silent tears violently escaping her eyes, all of her celestial glory replaced by the brokenness of loss mixed with the relief that she and her family were still standing. Still breathing. And Kyle was gone! Kyle was gone!

꧁ W ꧂꧁ T ꧂꧁ W ꧂꧁ T ꧂꧁ A ꧂

The three Winchesters, Claire and Castiel stepped inside the house, their movements heavy and silent. They hadn't exchanged a single word, but all knew their work there was not yet done.

"Where is he?" Castiel asked the moment he saw Rowena.

"Where are Jody and Alex?" Claire added, worried about not seeing them in the room.

"We never left the porch, dear. In case you didn't notice we were helping you lot fighting the devil," Rowena answered.

Amber, not wasting another second, raced to take the stairs, two-at-a-time upstairs and into the room she'd left Kelly, Jody, and Alex in.

Pushing open the door, her throat tightened. Jody and Alex were both on the floor. She could tell they weren't dead, their energies were still there, pulsing weakly, but present.

Claire stepped inside the room next and gasped at seeing Jody and Alex. Rushing to Jody first, she immediately looked for a pulse, before trying to bring the woman back to consciousness, patting her cheeks, shaking her shoulders. "Jody, Wake up Jody.".

Amber's eyes drifted to the bed next, Kelly's lower body on the bed with her upper half falling off, head and arms on the floor, limp. Images of her mother's dead body laying on a blood drenched blanket invaded her mind, searing these overlapping images upon seeing this woman's broken, lifeless body. Eyes staring into nothingness. She noticed the tiniest smile frozen on her lips, and wondered what was the last thing Kelly experienced, the last thing she'd understood before dying.

Dean, Sam, and Castiel entered the room next, taking in everything around them. Castiel walked slowly to Kelly's body, gently closing her eyes. Amber watched him as he carefully lifted her legs and brought her to a lying position on the bed, folding her arms in front of her chest.

Sam had rushed to Alex while Dean joined forces with Claire to wake Jody up.

Amber, managing to draw her eyes away from Kelly, looked around her. Where was the child?

"Where's Jack?"

Her question made everyone glance around them in uncertainty.

"There's no crying. Why is there no crying?" Amber asked again, panic starting to set in. Had all this been for nothing. Rushing out the room she almost crashed into Crowley who had just joined them upstairs.

"What did you do to him? Where is he? " Amber asked, eyes flickering gold with her alarm. She was still drained and knew there was little she'd be able to do to the King of Hell, but everything inside of her was on high alert.

"What have I done to him? I was about to ask the same question," Crowley answered, ignoring the failed intimidation attempt. Crowley found Amber's outrage adorable. And inadequate.

Going back to the room right as Jody and Alex were rousing all of them started searching the floor, under the bed, behind a door, ridiculous places like inside the closet, they found nothing. A baby had been born. Where was it?

Amber stood in the middle of this room, looking around her for anything that could lead them to Jack, her own powers unable to help her in this minute. And then she noticed it. A small poodle of a glistening substance right below the bed where Kelly had given birth. She'd initially taken it for blood, but could now see the iridescent hues in it. There were small drops trailing away from the bed and towards the door. Rushing back out to the hallway she searched the walls for the light switch. When she found it and turned the lights on and looked down at the floor. And there they were. Footprints.

Footprints from adult-sized feet trailed down the hallway, glistening with the same iridescent substance that had pooled beneath the birthing bed. This was desperately confusing. Had someone entered the house and taken Jack?

Glancing around at a noise, Amber was the first one to identify the location. A light ringing started registering in her ears. Right at the same time that Castiel took notice of it. The two of them led the way, Alex, Jody, Claire, the Winchesters, Crowley and Rowena following them, forming this odd convoy moving inside the house. Heading towards the second door down the hallway, Amber paused. Reaching out with a trembling hand, she opened the door. In a darkened corner, shivering and naked, a young man, blonde and fully formed, was curled up, head pulled in close, arms up around his face, legs bent up into a fetal position revealing that this 'newborn child' had a young adult male body.

The rest caught up to them and gasped.

"Jack?" Amber called to him, getting this young man's attention, his eyes frightened and confused. Bewildered sea blue eyes looked up.

Lifting his gaze, Jack's face was beautific in its radiance, and frightening in the unexpected size of this newborn. How was this even possible? Amber was born like a regular baby. This didn't make any sense.

Castiel was the first to approach Jack, keeping his eyes gentle, slowly approaching him, kneeling down to be at face level to him.

Since Jack didn't seem alarmed, Cas was the first to put his hand on the boy's shoulder. This was Jack's first touch and it was a touch conveying loving kindness. And it was familiar to Jack.

They all crowded around the site to behold this phenomenon of a nephilim birth.

"Newborns had less public hair in my day," was Rowena's response to what they were all thinking.

Claire snickered. "She's right. No way is he fitting into that bassinet."

Dean fought the urge to smirk at these comments, his worry and uncertainty dominating.

Turning to Cas, Sam was seeking answers. "Cas, does this make sense to you?"

Castiel, assessing the situation correctly, replied, "Yes."

The only nephilim that had ever walked this earth was Jane, who Castiel had killed, yet had no idea about how she came and materialized in this world. His guess was Amber's mother being an angel, the first angel to birth a nephilim, was what allowed her pregnancy to progress differently than Kelly's. Maybe if she hadn't given her life for the blood spell needed to bind Amber's powers, Amalthea would've survived the birth which is why Amber didn't need to be born as a functional grown up person like Jack did, to ensure survival.

Amber, ignoring everyone crowded around this nephilim, knelt down beside Cas and was looking Jack in the face, a welcoming smile enchanting this young man whose thoughts she now saw. Jack, in his frightened and confused state, recognized these two people. These two souls he'd spoken to before he came earthside. Still, the void of his mother's presence was harrowing. She had been his entire world up until he abruptly found himself in this cold, frightening place.

Jody, who had left the room momentarily as soon as they found Jack, returned with a soft, chenille receiving blanket which she draped around Jack's shoulders and body, warming him and surrounding him in fluff. Amber and Cas both saw Jack's alarm and fear diminish a bit with this comforting experience. Jody's energy was loving.

Leaning down, Jody whispered into Amber's ear, "He's frightened and cold. Rub his shoulders and his feet. I'll look for some clothes for him. Just rub his shoulders and arms, talk soothingly to him like he's a frightened animal. Your tone is the most important thing."

Everyone watched this woman's instincts kick in. Jody had given birth, had taken care of a newborn son, long ago. In this instant they all saw the magnitude of her loss and the magnificence of her love. Jody was their lodestone in this foreign land of parenthood. Amber, Claire and Alex saw this, too. They knew this love from her and both had been the recipient of , they beheld it in speechless wonder as if this was their first time seeing it in full sun. It was like looking upon the face of god and their eyes welled up. Even Rowena brushed a tear from her face, surprised by her own reaction to this maternal kindness.

Dean, placing a hand on Amber's shoulder, was letting her know she wasn't alone in this. He was still ready to slay this new nephilim to protect his sister but at the same time, understood what she needed at this moment. Sam saw his brother's reaction and was impressed by how Dean's priorities shifted instantly. Dean understood what was needed now and how to proceed even as he'd fought against this very moment. Their emotions shifting and curling around them all, like the ascending wisps of incense in a room, gracely infusing the air with blessings, a celestial offering of protection and communication between man and the divine within man.

Looking at each other, Sam and Dean communicated their silent understanding that should things get dicey, they were yanking their sister back from this creature. They had no idea the agency this newborn nephilim may have and what was his innate disposition. Fearing the unknown had saved humanity even as it contracted its evolution.

Amber, looking to Cas seeking reassurance this was the right approach, received his nod, encouraging her on. With her hands touching Jack's shoulders, their first contact was explosive.

Just like the Vulcan Mind Meld, from the original Star Trek, Amber saw and felt Jack's thoughts bursting out in their raw fear and confusion. He'd brought with him, into this new world, a universe of thought that was already manifesting in this dimension. Jack was good, chaotic good.

Extending her hand, Amber reached for Jack's and grasped it, gently pulling him up from his crouched position on the floor. Seeing all of these faces around him, some smiling, some leering, and one grinning in calculation of advantage, Jack's defenses went into high gear. Every fiber of his existence sprang to the fore in alarm, even with Amber and Castiel at his side. His eyes glowed gold and his hair puffed outwards with the electrons traveling along the strands of his hair, slightly swaying with the energetic charge erupting within. Objects around the room started rattling, the house shaking in a light tremor.

Sam immediately took a step towards Amber, with Dean drawing the angel blade he had tucked away beneath his leather jacket, both ready to attack.

Amber and Castiel's yell of "No!" halted them.

Reading Dean's intent, Jack's upset only grew as did the intensity of his reaction.

Castiel, stepping between Amber and Jack, brought his hands to touch each side of the young man's head.

"Jack, you're safe. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Castiel's tone was deep and soothing. It was reaching Jack, but so was Dean's threatening posture, Crowley's scheming and the spectre of Rowena's looming presence.

Amber, pushed away from Jack, clearly reading his fears, turned to glare at Dean.

"You're scaring him!"

"Oh, I'm scaring him?"

"Dean, he's just freaked out. I promise," Amber tried again more placatingly. "Cas thinks so too, don't you see? Just put the damn blade away!"

Turning to the rest she added, "Why don't you all give us some space in here? He's overwhelmed!"

"We're not leaving you alone with him," Sam shook his head.

"Cas will be here, too Sam. If you don't leave now he's gonna go into fight or flight mode and none of these options will bode well for us," Amber tried to reason with him.

Sam and Dean exchanged a look, trying to decide if they were willing to risk leaving the room while Amber stayed inside, even though her reasoning was solid.

Jody, having returned with a t-shirt and some sweatpants she'd found in one of the other bedroom's, heard Amber's words and felt Jack's reactions. Taking charge, she handed the clothes to Amber and turned to face the Winchester brothers.

"How about this? Sam stays in here with Cas and Amber and the rest of us give them some space. I'm sure Jack will calm down soon enough. And we have a few things we need to do," she added, eyeing Dean meaningfully. When he looked at her with a look of confusion, she added in a whisper, "Kelly, Dean. We need to take care of Kelly."

"Fine," Dean conceded. Sam, staying behind, gave him some reassurance and Jody was right. They had to take care of Kelly's body. Turning to face Claire, Alex, Crowley, and Rowena he motioned curtly with his head to the door.

"How cute, pretending you're in charge," Crowley commented snarkily. He didn't like the idea of letting Jack out of his sight, yet if they didn't, the prospect of him fleeing was alarming. Not to mention costly. He'd stretched his resources in hell very thin.

Claire, letting out a snort at Crowley's comment, ignored Dean's glare and simply walked out first, Alex following right behind her.

Amber watched them leaving the room one by one before refocusing on Castiel and Jack.

Sam walked closer to her despite knowing there was literally nothing he'd be able to do if Jack completely lost it. He trusted that Amber knew what she was talking about. And he knew if anyone was able to reach Jack, and pull him back from his alarmed state, that was Cas.

Castiel, ignoring everything happening behind him, focusing solely on Jack, did his best to soothe and calm him down with his touch and grace. He felt Jack's alarm slowly decreasing, as he was feeling the comfort Castiel was directing deep inside his mind and body.

"Jack, you're going to be fine. I'm here with you." As Castiel's hands applied gentle pressure to his head, Jack was gradually able to focus on this calm feeling. The angel's hands touched his skin. The sensation was still foreign, yet comforting and pleasant.

Sam and Amber watched Castiel work with Jack and could tell the nephilim was settling, as the house grew quiet and became still again.

Amber reached into Jack's mind, mentally reassuring him, radiating her love with comforting images of Kelly's face, sensations of warmth and protection, the animal scent of nurturance and warm milk scent. This was the presence of the universal mother known to all sentient beings throughout the cosmos. Jack understood this love. He'd known it from his mother's voice and he felt it pouring outwards towards him from these people surrounding him. He was calmed by this familiar sensation and these images even as they were coming from these unfamiliar faces.

As Jack calmed down completely, his brain opened up enough to connect to Castiel and Amber on a level only celestial beings could, with his true energetic signature more clearly present now. Dazzling in omnipotence, Cas, Amber, even Sam, felt it and knew Jack was not a malevolent creature. He was not a threat; he was an ally. Jack was good.

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"Dude, that sounds… Epic!"

"Right? Yeah, I'm telling you how my entire family almost got killed and how I was almost enslaved to the fucking Devil and your response is 'epic'. So much empathy, Ty!"

"No, no… I mean, all that sucks… But the battle… Epic! And Kyle, saving the day like that…"

Amber's stomach churned at the sound of Kyle's name. She could see what Ty was trying to do, make her talk about it. But she wouldn't. She couldn't. They had been in the bunker for fifteen days now, and obsessing over Jack, focusing all of her attention and waking moments on him was her MO in order to avoid this pain. And it was working.

"And Jack… He's like the puppy of the house at this point. It's so weird seeing this grown ass person not knowing how to do the most basic things. I mean, he could, like, kill you in a second, but he can't figure out how to use a fork and knife."

"Who's on bathroom duty?" Ty asked with a chuckle.

"Sam. As well as bath and personal care. I mean, Cas could too, but he's not the best option on these things. Me and Cas mainly work with him with all things Nephilim related. And all three of us help him figure out life on earth. I'm telling you… Full time job!"

Many aspects of Jack's acclimation to corporal form needed Castiel's touch. Some others needed Sam's. Each seemed to have a specific area they could adopt in their quest to raise this special being to more easily fit in. Checking on Jack, while he showered, became Sam's job. Making sure Jack knew how to turn off the water instead of walking away from the bathroom, the shower still running, while trailing streams of water down their linoleum hallways was an issue. He'd done this twice.

Jack learned in a flash...modeling what they wished him to do from their thoughts and images. He perceived all of their thoughts. Like Amber and Cas, Jack was an angelic being of grace. Learning to stay out of people's minds was an etiquette thing they had to teach him, and it was reinforced with both Cas and Amber in the process. Amber had to curb her own intrusive habit of overstepping into people's private thoughts, too.

"So what's your oldest brother doing then?"

"Being an ass," Amber replied dryly. "Both me and Cas keep telling him that Jack's good and cool and not the 'Spawn-of-Satan' Dean thinks he is, but he won't listen," Amber said with a tired tone. She'd spent way too much energy trying to get Dean to see things differently, but he was one stubborn man.

"Poor Jack. He's kind of afraid of him," Amber continued, frustration slipping into her tone. Dean was always hovering, face judging and suspicious when she and Cas worked with Jack on his powers. He insisted he'd be present during all of Jack's training, completely ignoring the fact that he could do nothing impactful to intervene if Jack went randomly evil.

"I kinda wish Jody and Claire were still around. Claire would call him out a lot more than I do, and Jody might even be able to make him shape up."

"Jody and Claire are the only ones you wish were still around?"

Ty's blunt question felt like a slap. At this, she stopped her aimless pacing around her room, simply stared at her bed, trying to figure out if she wanted to share her response.

"Don't do this. Dude, you need to face what happened sooner or later. Burying your head in the sand and pretending nothing's changed ain't gonna help you," Ty continued when she remained silent.

Sitting on her bed, eyes closing as tears started trailing down her cheeks, Amber simply held the phone to her ear.

"Hey, you ok?" Ty could hear Amber trying to keep herself together as she was at the verge of falling apart.

Sealed away in her room, a moment off the clock, with Ty pushing her to face what had happened, she couldn't stop herself from fully experiencing these emotions. She missed Kyle and wondered if he was still alive.

Wondering if he was still alive was frequently on her mind. She felt he was, but she also felt she was cut off from her in a very dangerous way. It had been fifteen days. Fifteen whole days since she last saw him, diving into the rift. And she was holding this glimmer of hope that he was still alive. That he had somehow managed to hide from Lucifer and his demons. That somehow, he could be saved and brought back to this world.

Laying down on her bed, wiping her nose with the back of her hand, Ty heard Amber trying to pull herself together. It was kind of gross, but Ty, being like a brother, didn't notice this.

Swinging her arm off the edge of the bed, Amber's hand grazed something smooth and hard. Getting off the bed and on her hands and knees to look, she found an empty beer bottle. It was underneath the bed on the side she rarely used.

In a rush of remembrance, Amber saw that this had been Kyle's side of the bed when he'd stayed there the afternoon they made love. Reaching out she grabbed and brought it out, staring at it. Kyle's lips had touched this bottle. Holding it in her hand, Amber felt a contact with this time, this powerful, beautiful memory. Her mind flooded with all the images and sensorial experiences of that afternoon...this set of memories opening up yet another, deeper set of images of this scene exactly like an infinity of mirrors telescoping back to that original point with Kyle.

Oddly, Amber felt time bending in a way she'd never felt before. She was hearing snippets of her and Kyle's conversation as if there was still this echo of their words hanging in the air, still there.

"Hey dude, you still there?"

Amber realized she'd dropped out of the conversation while Ty was still on the phone.

Swallowing hard and clearing her throat, Amber pulled herself back to the present moment.

"Yeah, Sorry 'bout that. I...I ah...I found the beer bottle Kyle drank from when he was here."

Ty heard her pain, and her words. "You had Kyle there?"

"Yeah…" Amber replied, almost in a whisper.

"Boy, I don't envy you telling your brothers about that."

Amber was silent..and Ty picked up on it.

"Oh, that bad. Sorry for bringing it up."

"Let's talk about something else Ty. How's your girlfriend?"

"Oh, that's a low blow," Ty responded, feeling he'd been put in his place.

The knock on her door startled her. Her thoughts had been so hyperfocused on Kyle, with all the memories the bottle brought up, that she'd failed to sense that someone was approaching. She didn't have the time to respond as her door swung open, Jack standing at the threshold, staring at her.

"You're sad," he declared.

"And you forgot, we wait for the other person to actually invite us in after we knock."

"Oh." Jack had forgotten this part of 'Entering the Bedroom Door' etiquette. He'd remembered the knocking part and this was a step forward.

"But you're sad. About Kyle. Who is Kyle?"

Amber sighed before addressing Ty on the phone, "Ty, I gotta go. Sorry. Talk to you soon, I promise. Bye."

Turning back to Jack, she motioned with her head for Jack to step inside. "Close the door behind you."

Jack did as he was told before sitting next to Amber on the bed.

"When you were born, we were all in danger and Kyle saved us. And he may have given up his life to save us" So much was left unsaid by this narrative. "And I loved Kyle. I'm not even sure if he's alive or dead…."

Choking on a sob, fresh tears dripped down her face, Amber covered her face with her free hand, the other still clutching the bottle tightly.

Jack scooted closer to Amber extending his finger towards her forehead. In an instant, his touch opened a doorway to the present with Kyle in it.

Kyle was alive.

Hiding, running, surviving and still fighting Lucifer...and alive!

Amber choked on a sob, her whole body responding to this knowledge. Kyle was still alive!

"Jack?"When he turned to look at her Amber continued, "Would you help me save him?"

"I would help you with anything. Cas says it's the polite thing to do."

A tearful chuckle escaping her at his answer. Amber couldn't help but smile.

"Maybe Cas should be teaching Sam and Dean a few things, too," was Amber's answer.

The knock on the door made both of them turn in time to see it opening.

"Teaching us what?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow as he entered, Sam standing right behind him.

"Waiting for the occupant of a room to actually allow you in once you knock would be a start," Amber remarked.

"I need to work on that, too," Jack commented hesitantly, the volume of his voice going down like it always did when Dean was around him.

Amber thought this was surreal, how someone as powerful as Jack was afraid of a human. Kick ass hunter, sure - even though this had no context for Jack, so new to this world. But still, Dean was just a human.

Dean's face hardened as he shot Jack a glance, but didn't say anything to him. He rarely even acknowledged his presence.

"Dean has had a few more years of practice than you, Jack," Amber replied, not hiding her annoyance of her brothers' barging in or Dean's attitude towards Jack.

"Dean wanted a chance to talk with his sister in private," was Dean's pointed response, looking at Amber and completely ignoring Jack.

"Dean can speak to his sister right here, right now. We're all family here," Amber shot back.

"Should I start speaking about myself in the third person, too?" Jack asked Amber quietly, looking sincerely perplexed.

Sam, pinching the bridge of his nose, closed the door behind him with more force than necessary, the loud slam effectively putting an end to what was already morphing into an argument. Walking up to Amber, Sam sat next to her on the left side.

"How are you doing?" Sam asked, locking eyes with Amber and not bothering with unnecessary chit-chat after what had just transpired.

Amber blinked twice and honestly felt a bit befuddled with everything this very simple and straightforward question had brought out.

"I feel like shit, Sam," was her blunt response, voice slightly trembling.

Dean observed his sister's face. His eyes moved to the bottle she was holding. The dark circles under her eyes, the paleness of her skin, the tightness of her face muscles, the streaks of freshly cried tears.

"All this over a demon?"

Amber looked up at her oldest brother in shocked disbelief. Sure, she didn't expect Sam-level empathy from him, but this was emotionally gutting.

"Did you seriously just say that? After what he did for me? For us?"

"Oh, I'm happy he did it. He ended up being useful. But I can't understand why you're so upset about him being gone. He's still a demon."

Brow lowering into a scowl, Amber was feeling such anger and resentment towards her brother. Amber felt herself sitting up taller, squaring her shoulders in fury at Dean's brick-headedness.

"He's so much more than just a demon. Just like Jack and I are so much more than just nephilims. And Kyle is locked into this other dimension with Lucifer and a horde of demons on his tail, seeking revenge, nothing to focus on other than him!" Amber's voice was now deeper than her usual speaking voice, trembling from both anger and sadness.

Sam was taken back by Amber's response, but impressed. Her anger was appropriate here. Dean, on the other hand, felt opposed and felt his inner opposition redoubled by what he perceived as Amber's disrespect.

Pausing to get herself together, she shook her head before continuing, "And all you have to say to this is that 'you're happy that he proved himself useful?' Fuck, Dean, I was in love with him. I am in love with him. So don't stand there telling me you don't get why I am upset!"

Dean tried to understand. He really did. And maybe he did understand to an extent, but as far as he was concerned what was important, ensuring his sister's safety, had been achieved. He could live with Amber being displeased about this. She was only sixteen after all.

"You're young, Amber. You'll fall in love again. Now that we've made sure you're gonna stay alive, I can guarantee you'll fall in love again. And like you said, Lucy and a whole horde of demons are someone else's problem right now. So, focus on that."

"Dean!" Sam hissed looking at his brother with his 'Seriously?' look. He could understand where his brother was coming from, but he could also completely understand Amber's current state. Dean should be able to, as well. He had talked to him about this.

"What I'll focus on is trying to save him, Dean," Amber growled back, furious at how dismissive he was.

"The hell you will! Out of the question!" Was Dean's predictable response.

Turning to Sam, Amber's eyes were ablaze with fury and a desperate need for backup.

"Amber, hold on… I know Dean is not being supportive of what you're going through, but we couldn't possibly risk something like that. For all we know he might even...," here Sam paused, not wanting to finish that thought.

"He's alive, Sam. I can feel he's alive. And how can you say that? How? You've been locked up in a cage with him! You know what he's capable of… How can you possibly condemn another man…"

"A demon, Amber, not a man! Where do you think Kyle came from, Disneyland? He was in hell, and judging by his job description, he must've been close pals with Lucifer," Dean interrupted her.

"I don't care where he came from or what he initially planned to do… He saved me! He changed. He fucking sacrificed himself for me… For us! I can't believe you're both saying we should let him rot in whatever place the rift threw him in!"

Sam felt his heart clench at her pain, her words reverberating loudly inside him. He did know what it was like having Lucifer's rage focus solely on you. He knew it firsthand. But the fact remained, she couldn't go searching for Kyle.

"Amber, I'm sorry. But Dean's right. We can't risk opening the rift again. Not that we even know how to do that in the first place. What if Lucifer came back through? This is just too big of a risk."

Amber shot to her feet, dropping the bottle on the floor, hands angrily wiping at her eyes.

"You know what…I need some air. And I'm gonna get it. I'll see you all later."

"Whoa whoa whoa! Where the hell do you think you're going?" Dean immediately stood in front of the door of her room, hand extended in a halting motion.

"Anywhere but here, Dean! For a god damn coffee! What's your excuse for keeping me in now? You just said it. Lucifer is tucked safely away, right? So, I'll go clear my head and you can't do anything about it."

Sam could tell Dean was jumping into his full-on confrontational mode, so he stood up looking at him warningly. The way he saw it, Amber informing them she'd be out for some air, and then back, was a good thing. Something to be encouraged.

"Dean, she's right. She can live a normal life now. Well, normalish. And part of that is leaving the bunker."

Turning to his sister Sam asked for confirmation, "You'll be back by dinner time, right?"

Amber considered simply zapping out leaving them wondering when and if she'd come back, but then noticed Jack. He was looking absolutely frightened with all the yelling and the prospect of her leaving, his upset and worry coming at her in waves.

"Yeah. I'll be back by dinner time."

Dean's brow creased. He wasn't okay with any of this. And he wasn't prepared for the fact that this type of normalcy, and whatever it entailed, would be part of their lives now. The shift of what they'd come to know as normal was huge. Still, reading his brother's face, he conceded this was a battle he wouldn't likely win.

"Wait!" Dean barked.

Turning to look at him, ready to fight him for as long as necessary, Amber asked aggressively, "What now?"

Dean reached inside his pocket and got out a credit card. Turning to glare at her, he handed it over.

"Don't do anything stupid. Phone always on you and don't even think about being late. And take the Challenger. You know where the keys are."

Sam frowned at this. "Dean, she doesn't have a driver's license."

"Well, do you want me to just pop up around people and risk them getting wind of what I do?"

"Exactly my point," Dean commented. Lucifer was the biggest threat but far from the only one.

"Ok, I see what you mean." Looking at Dean, Sam was trying to figure out a compromise.

"You guys literally live your life doing illegal things all the time. What's your problem with me driving without a license? Compared to you two, this is what you were doing when you were…. what...fourteen? Twelve?"

"Just go," Dean said gruffly. "We'll find someone to fix you a license now that you'll be able to actually drive and be out and about."

Amber could see how much he was struggling with this concept, but she couldn't care less. Grabbing the credit card from his hand, she managed to shoot Jack a small smile.

"Jack, I'll see you in a couple of hours."

Turning to survey the room, Sam and Jack both turned to look at Dean, testing his mood.

"What? I'm playing nice. What more do you want?"

No one spoke for a beat.

"Nothing. I just didn't expect you to see things Amber's way so easily. It's kind of a shock."

Dean didn't know how to respond to this, it wasn't exactly an insult, yet it wasn't exactly a compliment, either.

Just then Dean's phone rang.

Patting his jean's pocket to locate it, Dean fished it out, flipping it open. Reading the caller ID, Dean smiled.

"Hey there Donna. What's up?"

Sam looked interested and silently mouthed, 'Donna Hascum?'

Dean saw this and quietly nodded, continuing to listen to Donna on the other end.

"Oh...really. Ah ha. Yeah, she did. Yeah, this works for us. That's good. You found what?"

Dean's face looked concerned. Sam saw this and wanted to be let into this conversation. It sounded serious. Making a face of inquiry, Dean saw his brother chomping at the bit and held up a finger to indicate Sam should hold on and he'd fill him in when he was done here. Sam felt all of eleven with Dean taking charge like this. This deeply frustrated the thirty-three year old.

Jack watched this interaction, not entirely understanding it, yet getting the sense that Dean dictated to Sam the way Dean dictated to Amber. Jack had no judgement about this, no discernment, merely observation.

"OK. I'll tell Sam and Jody. We'll see you soon. Oh, and we've had some major changes on our end. We'll update you at Jody's."

Snapping his phone shut, Dean looked at his brother. "Donna's headed our way. She's on a hunt and wants our help. Jody's, too. She'll be in Sioux Falls day after tomorrow. We'll all meet at Jody's"

Looking confused, Jack looked from one bother to the other.

"Who's Donna?"

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"So… You're in or what? I mean, you know first hand this could go south."

"Yeah, well… South's fun. Been there, done that. Why the hell not? Count me in."

Amber smirked at Claire's response.

"And we also have Jack for backup," Amber added hopefully.

The snort coming from the other side of the line made her raise both eyebrows.

"What?"

"Jack can't figure out how to use a fork, but sure, he'll scheme and do high magic and haul a demon's ass out of an alternate universe pithole with us. Sure! Sounds promising," was Claire's response.

"Well, he'll at least go on coffee runs. Oh, and just so you know, he's got the utensils thing down. Knocking's still a work in progress. Anyways, I'm back. Need to go. Will keep you posted," was Amber's response.

Ending the phone call, she remained in the Challenger's driver seat a little longer, gathering her thoughts and hoping the plan she'd made with Claire wouldn't need to be put into action. How she'd proceed was in her brothers' hands now. She'd made up her mind.

Reaching over to the passenger seat, she grabbed the box that laid there before getting out of the car and heading inside the bunker.

Going down the stairs she didn't see anybody in the war room or up in the library. She kept moving towards the kitchen and sure enough she could hear voices coming from inside.

Walking in, she paused, looking surprised at the sight in front of her: Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Jack were all seated around the kitchen table, all but Cas having a beer bottle in front of them.

"So, Jack's what…one week old and gets to drink a beer, while I have to ask permission?"

Sam looked at Dean pointedly, indicating he not only agreed with Amber's point and hadn't approved of the proceedings.

"Dean had already given him one before Cas and I joined them," was Sam's response.

Amber's eyebrow rose at that. Jack and Dean alone in the same room? Dean giving him a beer? Was this progress being made?

"He saw me drinking one and wanted to try. What was I supposed to do, give him formula instead?"

"A soda would always be an option," Amber commented dryly, before heading to the fridge and grabbing a beer bottle for herself.

Seeing both brothers looking at her, both ready to protest, she simply shook her head.

"If he's having one, I'm having one," she stated.

"Fine, but that's an exception for both of you. Rules about alcohol still apply," Sam conceded uncomfortably.

Amber had a few comments to make on that rule, but decided against it.

"So…did you get your air?" Dean asked.

Noticing his tone was calmer, Amber concluded Sam had probably schooled him on how to play this. Not that she minded.

"I did," she replied as she took a seat, setting the box she was still carrying on the table.

"Is that it?" Jack asked with an intrigued expression, looking at the box she held.

Amber managed to keep herself from laughing, and glared at Dean who choked on his beer.

"No, Jack. Getting air is an expression. It means someone needs some time away from a situation to think more clearly about it and calm down from a state of being upset" Cas explained.

"Oh," was Jack's disappointed response.

"The box has pie," Amber told Jack with a smile. At Dean's excited expression she added, "pie for me and Jack only."

Dean's face shifted from excited to dejected, but didn't comment.

"So… Jody called a bit earlier," Sam offered after a few seconds of awkward silence.

"She did?" Amber asked, obviously just hearing about this, too. "Everything okay over there?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine. She just wanted to let me know Donna will be in Sioux Falls for a few days come Monday. Wanted to know if we'd like to visit, too," Sam explained.

"Who's Donna?" Amber had never heard that name before.

"Friend of ours. Hunter," Dean replied.

Hunter. Amber's brow creased at that. "Shouldn't it be Huntress?"

"What?" Dean asked, confused with the seemingly irrelevant comment.

"Huntress. Not hunter. A woman who hunts should be called a Huntress. Yeah, I think it's something like that," Amber concluded. "You should refer to me as a huntress from now on," she added, eyeing her brothers.

Raising an eyebrow, Dean replied, "Oh should we now? Since when did you decide you want to hunt?"

"Well… It is the family business," Amber shrugged. "I'm a Winchester after all."

"That you are. Causing and ending an apocalypse is as Winchester as it gets," Sam said with a small smile.

"Now that is the family business," Dean commented.

Smirking to herself, Amber was pleased her words didn't receive a big reaction. Not an acceptance either, but she could work with that.

Gathering her thoughts, she took a long sip from her bottle. Clearing her throat she decided this was as good a time as ever to get this over with.

"So… Did you think it over?" She asked somberly.

"What?"

"Kyle, Dean. Kyle," Amber answered impatiently.

Taking a long sip from his own bottle Dean shook his head. "Nothing to think over. We can't risk reopening the rift. I'm sorry, but that's that."

"But…"

"No buts, Amber. It's too dangerous. For you, for us, for the whole damn world," Dean cut her off.

Amber had hoped for a different answer. She really had. She had hoped they'd help her with this, that they'd be supportive of this expedition. She had hoped but she hadn't really expected it. Which is why she had a backup plan already laid out. Nothing too detailed yet, but she had her mice en place and that made this "no '' bother her a lot less than it did a few hours ago. She'd figure this out. And this time she'd have help, too. Maybe not Sam and Dean's, but still.

Cas, who hadn't been present during the earlier discussion about this, turned to Amber with questioning eyes.

"Amber, are you suggesting we raise Kyle from perdition?"

Before Amber had a chance to reply, Jack, in confusion, turned to her. "Is that like "Raising Arizona?"

A collective groan was let out.

Sam, turned to Amber. "You've been showing him American film?"

Amber, sheepishly nodded her head. Smirking at the cryptic double meaning of her own words, of which everyone else was oblivious, she lifted her head from staring at her hands, her eyes a mischievous twinkle in them.

"At least we haven't watched 'Breaking Bad'...yet."

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And that's a wrap folks!

Whew, what a ride, right?

We hope you enjoyed this. My god, we certainly have, and over the past 2+ years we've gained a whole new career in the process.

As you can see, we've left the door open for a few future one-shots, time permitting.

AS USUAL...OUR QUESTIONS TO OUR READERS.

How did you like the way we've ended this?

Happy about it? Unhappy? We know no ending can satisfy everyone (supernatural's finale is a good example of that, big time) but we'd love to hear your thoughts!

Do you feel we left anything unanswered?

Do you think you'll return and reread this story again?

Overall did you enjoy the story? The characters? Anything that stayed with you from this story?

Will you please give us your opinion this one last time?

Last but not least...

What would you like to see more of in future one-shots/Short-stories in this universe? Leave your response as a PM or include it in your Review!

- Hunts

- Drama

- Spanking

- Smut

- All of the above

2. Any ideas/requests for specific one-shots in this universe? Can't promise we'll do them all, but we'll definitely work in anything that sparks our interest!

Thank you all for sticking with us through this incredible ride!

Please, will you leave us one last review and give us your opinion by answering the poll?

* "Carry On My Wayward Son," playing in the background*

Till next story,

~MarionLuth & LauWhisperer

This is the translation of Rowena's spell to weaken Lucifer.

"In the name of the almighty divine that guides all of time and life, I command you Lucifer to be drained of your essence, your existence is dead. Drained of your life beyond living, Lucifer you are once again subjectugated by the power of the almighty divine to leave the realms of man and spirit. You have no power here or elsewhere. Die Lucifer. Die Lucifer. Die Lucifer. Be dead and leave this realm. In the name of the power of the almighty divine, you are cast away and drained of all life. Be dead!"

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