A/N: Hello everyone! Big shout out and thank you to the recent follows and favorites! So I think I've officially decided that at some point this part of the story will end and I will be starting a second part. With where the plot is going there's just a really good place to do so and I would like to be able to keep the general feeling of what happens in this part separate from what's to come in the second. I will keep you all updated on when that will happen, if it even does, I'm so indecisive sometimes. As always I would love to know what you think and hope you enjoy this chapter :) Oh! One more quick thing! There is a new character being introduced this chapter, her name is Caoimhe, pronounced quee-va. It's an old Irish name and the pronunciation for that language can get a tad odd for those of us who speak other languages, so I wanted to provide it for you :)

DracoPotter80: Thank you so much! I love your reviews as much as you love my story ;)

Anameleth: Wow! Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoy my writing and I just can't thank you enough for the kind words. I love reading the type of stories that make you slow down and I'm thrilled that you've done that with mine :) There's still a lot to come in the story, hopefully you enjoy the coming chapters as much as you have the previous.

Cimamango: Oh dear! I hope you start to feel better very soon, but I'm glad that my story could provide what distraction it did. I'm so glad you're enjoying it so far and I've actually been putting some work into an original piece, but we'll see where that goes. Though I'm not entirely in agreement that Ana acts as if she knows everything, if it comes off that way I believe that it's because she's very much a Winchester and I think that Dean probably acted very similar at twenty. There will be some vulnerability coming up for her soon, so please let me know what you think as I continue the story. Thank you so much for the review, follows, and favorites :) I am very appreciative.

It had been three days since everyone had made it back to the bunker. The research was coming along slowly and though they found a few things pertaining to the cage, none of them had anything to do with how to open it or what one could do to keep it closed. Kellen hadn't been lying when he said another pair of eyes could be helpful, the pile of books that Ana and Connor had compiled that first night was larger than they had anticipated and that made having someone else added to their search a luxury. The group had just finished eating lunch and had sat back down at the tables in the library when the sound of the main door opening echoed through the halls, into the room where the five of them sat. Looking up from the books in their hands, each of them looked at one another as if to make sure that everyone was there, and then their expression turned confused and worried. The angels would have just flew into the room if they were returning therefore whoever was entering the bunker was either unwelcome or they hadn't thought to call ahead. Seeing as how you needed a key to even open that door it was more than likely one of their few friends that held keys to the door hadn't bothered to call. Dean and Sam both stood from the table, each reaching for the pistols that they kept tucked in the waist of their jeans, even in the protected bunker they wanted to be prepared for anything. Just as they were about to move from the table and make their way toward the noise, they were stopped by a cheerful voice that bounced off of the walls from the hall and into the room. "Anyone home?"

"Charlie!" Ana screeched and jumped up from her chair, hurrying toward the hallway and almost running straight into the redheaded hunter as she turned the corner into the library.

Charlie grinned and pulled Ana into a hug, "Hey, Little Red!" she greeted the youngest Winchester as she held her close for a moment before letting her go. "Glad to see that everyone is still alive…" Her eyes stopped on Kellen and she lifted an eyebrow, "with a new addition."

Ana smiled, "Charlie, this is my friend Kellen." turning to gesture at him, seeing that he was the only one still sitting as Connor had stood up to greet Charlie as well. "Kellen, this is Charlie. Our favorite tech guru and all around awesome person." The girls hugged again before Ana moved so that Dean and Sam could get in hugs as well.

"Why didn't you let us know you were coming?" Sam asked as he wrapped the short hunter in a warm hug, glad to see that she seemed relatively unharmed. Last they heard she had been on a hunt that went pretty smoothly, but it had been a over a week since they had heard from her last.

Charlie smiled as she hugged Sam back and then accepted a hug from Dean, "I wasn't actually going to come here, but a certain nosy archangel decided to pop into the passenger seat of my car and let me know that you guys were in it big still. So, here I am."

Ana paused and sent a worried glance toward Connor, seeing that he had the same look in his eyes that she did. "Gabriel sent you?" she questioned, wanting to make sure that she had her facts straight before she let her mind get away from her.

"Uh huh." Charlie nodded, moving to set her things down on a chair as she noticed there wasn't much room on any of the tables in the library. "I see the research part has already started. What are we looking for?" she asked as she pulled her laptop out of it's bag, ready to lend her expertise with technology to aid in whatever they were looking for.

"Possible ways to open the cage that Lucifer and Michael are locked in." Kellen told her as he closed the book that had been in his hands. "So far we don't have much, but we're hoping to find something useful."

Charlie stopped mid-movement, her laptop teetering in her hand as she had been moving to set it down on the table. "You're trying to open the cage?" her face paled as she focused on Sam and Dean, the look in her eyes a mix between shock and fear.

Sam quickly shook his head, "No, we're trying to prevent it from being open. It's the latest problem with the demons and the angels. They're both trying to open the cage to let both Michael and Lucifer out, both for different reasons, but the outcome is going to be the same. If it's open not only will Lucifer be back to wreak havoc on mankind, but Michael will be working with him." He paused, moving back to where he had been sitting to pick up the book he had been midway through. "Or something equally as bad. We're not entirely sure what Michael's mission will be if he's released, but it isn't going to be good."

"Wait, so you're saying that Michael, the highest ranking archangel there is, will be evil if he's ever released." Charlie raised an eyebrow at Sam, "Am I understanding that right?"

"Pretty much." Dean chimed in with a sigh, "Hence the study group. We have nothing to go off of right now so we're tracking down any possible lead and seeing if we can come up with anything while Gabe and Cas do their angel thing to find us more information."

Charlie grinned while she sat down in the empty chair next to the one filled with her bags and placed her laptop on the top of a pile of books, "Well, good thing I'm handy when it comes to research." she told them, the positive attitude that never seemed to leave her filtering out and filling the people around her with a little hope.

Connor frowned as his phone began to ring, knowing that there were few others than those in the room that would be calling him. Standing up he pulled the device out of his pocket and his eyes grew wide as he read the number on the screen, "Excuse me, I should take this." he muttered before hurrying out of the library and down the hall. Ana watched him with a confused expression, not being able to feel much through their bond, he was trying to keep her from whatever was going on.

Dean studied Ana's expression as he walked over to her and rested his hand on her shoulder, "Everything alright?" he asked, knowing her tense expression was never a good sign.

"I don't know." She answered honestly, eyes still focused on the last place she had been able to see Connor before he was out of view. "We should get back to work." Ana flicked her eyes up to meet her father's for a moment, then she went to find her seat so she could finish the book she was working on.

Talking ceased as everyone began to focus on the task at hand, the only sound throughout the room was the flipping of pages and Charlie's fingers moving quickly across her keyboard. Though Ana was focused on what she was doing, she was also focusing on how long it was taking Connor to return from his phone call, wondering who it could have been that he felt he needed to excuse himself from the room and block her from his mind. It had been about twenty minutes before he walked back into the room, stopping just inside the entryway before he spoke, "Ana, can I speak with you?"

The redheaded witch gave him a questioning look as she set her book back down and pushed her chair away from the table. It became clear that he wasn't going to say anything else until they reached wherever it was that he wanted to hold this conversation at and that thought had her worried. He had yet to open their bond back up, whatever the phone call had been about must have been something serious. After following him down the hallway and into his bedroom, she watched as he closed the door behind her before he slowly turned to face her. "What's going on, Connor?" she asked timidly, almost afraid of the answer he would have for her.

"There's some business I need to handle with the Council." He stated, not moving away from the door and instead leaning back against it. Though he had tried to argue with the official that had called him, it seemed that he wasn't going to be getting out of it and they were going to get what they wanted whether he wanted to cooperate or not. "I shouldn't be gone long, but I'll let you know what's going on."

Ana just stared at him for a moment, her eyes slowly narrowing as she tried to fully comprehend what he was saying. "The Council?" Connor nodded in response. "What the hell is the Council?" She was sure that she had heard about it before, probably in one of the documents on her family, but from what she could remember there wasn't any explanation of what it actually was.

With a sigh Connor pushed himself away from the door and walked over to her, "You know about the Grand Coven." he spoke flatly as if it was supposed to explain everything.

"Yeah, but the Grand Coven is barely functioning anymore. With how little witches there are in the world it's in shambles, right?" She was sure that while she had been studying about the history of their families and witches in general that she came across an entry that told about lack of witches basically leading to the Grand Coven's downfall.

"You're right. The Council is similar to the Grand Coven in the way that it's a sort of ruling entity for witches, though where the Grand Coven was based off of power, the Council is based off of lineage. The bloodlines that can be traced as far back as our history goes, natural bloodlines, that's the Council's territory." He sighed, looking down at her, "I hadn't talked to you about it because I didn't think we would have to worry about them. For the most part they stay out of everyone's way unless something goes wrong in the world or a witch goes rogue, but it seems I was wrong. So I have to leave now, but I'll be in contact and hopefully will be back quickly to continue to help in the research." As he spoke, Connor lifted a hand and tucked her hair behind her ear, "I really don't want to leave you right now."

Ana only nodded, she didn't want him to leave either, even if it was only for a short period of time. "There's something you're not telling me." It was clear because he still kept himself closed off from her.

"It's nothing you have to worry about. I just want you to focus on this stuff with the cage and I'll go deal with the Council." He assured her, leaning down to give her a gentle kiss. "I'll let you know when I have more information about what's going on." Before she could respond or ask more questions, he teleported himself out of the room.

"Good talk." She muttered to herself sarcastically, taking a moment to focus on the space he had just been standing in that was now empty. Letting out an aggravated groan, Ana let herself out of his room and made her way back to the library, basically throwing herself down in the chair she had left minutes before.

Four sets of eyes turned toward the sound of Ana sitting down, each person being able to instantly tell that the young witch had not liked what she and Connor had needed to talk about. "What was that about?" Dean asked, knowing that it was a dangerous question, but if it had upset her this much it was probably something they needed to talk about.

"He's gone to deal with some witch stuff with the Council." She shook her head, grabbing the book that sat open on the table where she had left it. "Some witch hierarchy crap if I'm understanding it all right, either way he wouldn't tell me exactly what they wanted and then he teleported away before I could ask anything else." Ana informed them, knowing that she would be bugged by more than one person about the details of it if she hadn't shared enough right then.

The other's at the table shared a look, wondering if they should push it further, but Dean decided that it was probably best left alone and gave them a small shake of his head in signal to not say anything else. With that they returned to their research and stuck with it for hours. They didn't stop other than for dinner until it was late and they were all too tired to focus much on the words in front of them. Ana hadn't heard from Connor since he left and she was becoming worried, but she knew that if he was in trouble or seriously injured that she would be able to feel at least that through their bond, he wasn't strong enough to close it completely. With that thought, she followed the others out of the library and toward her room, ready to get some rest after a long day.

-A-

Four hours later found Ana back in the library, she had a hard time sleeping in an empty bed and still not knowing what Connor was up to with the council was driving her crazy. Throughout the day they had made a large dent in the books that had been piled on the tables and so she went to work putting them all back, the silence in the room only interrupted by the sound of her footsteps and the shuffling of books. Once the ones they had been through had been replaced in their proper places, she began to go through the bookshelves again, wanting to make sure that they hadn't missed a book when they had pulled them down in the first place.

There was a familiar surge of power in the room as she looked over one of the shorter bookshelves. "Ana?" Connor's voice pulled her attention away from the row of books she had been focused on. He looked exhausted, nearly dead on his feet. "I have news."

She hurried over to him, led him over to a chair, and forced him to sit down, "What happened to you? What did the Council want?"

"They're summoning you to a hearing." He sighed, rubbing a hand across his eyes. "You've had enough training with your magic that they deem it the appropriate time to decide…"

"Decide what?" She questioned, sitting on the table next to him, "What do you mean enough training?"

Connor held up his hand to her, gesturing for her to slow down so that he could speak, "It's been their job since it was created to weed out the witches with too strong of powers that they aren't in control of, those who lacked control are either stirpped of their magic or killed. They've been aware of you for a while now and have decided that you've had enough time to learn to control your power. They've decided it's time for you to be tested."

Ana jumped off of the table in a sudden rage, "Oh sure, let me take time out of my busy schedule to meet with witches who have zero control over my life. Do they understand what's going on in the world right now?" she began to pace, "Not only have I been fighting world ending plans by demons since before I came into my powers, but now that I'm up against the possibility of Lucifer and Michael being set free, this is the perfect time for them to summon me?" With an almost primal growl, she slammed her fists down on the table. "Fine. They want to test my powers, let's get this freaking over with, but if the cage is opened while they're testing me, those idiots can deal with Lucifer themselves." Straightening herself up, she took in a deep breath, "Alright, let's go."

"What? Now?" Connor glanced up at her with a raised eyebrow. He had literally just gotten back and all he really wanted to do was get some rest. It had been exhausting, putting up a fight to push off whatever tests they wanted to put Ana up against.

"Yes, now. There's no telling how much longer we have before Jade acts on whatever wild plan she has in her head and I'd like to have this finished before that happens. If you want to rest, I can go by myself, I just need you to show me the way." She told him, brushing a hand through her hair. She wasn't afraid of whatever tests they wanted to try on her and it needed to be dealt with.

He scoffed, "Let you go in alone and piss everyone off? I think not. Come on, I'll take you." he stood and grasped her hands in his own, using his power to teleport them to the place he had just left. "Welcome to the gathering place of the Council."

Ana glanced around at the old brick work, it had to be at most a millennium old, if not more. Taking a moment she studied the long, wide hallway they stood in, right in front of two large wooden doors. "Are we in a freaking castle?" she questioned.

"Uh, yeah. Some lonely countryside in Scotland, it's spelled to make it look abandoned and no one bothers with the place." Connor explained before pushing the wooden doors open and leading her into a large open area.

Following him in, Ana took a moment to take in the classic, medieval look of it all. There were large columns made of brick holding up the ceiling, candles burning in hanging chandeliers, and a thin layer of dust coating most things. At the end of the room was a long table with nine chairs behind it, each filled with a man or women. Their attention slowly turned toward Connor, who was standing in front of her. Ana sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Honey, let me handle this one." she told him softly before stepping around him.

"Anastasia Winchester, descendant of Sarah Good, daughter of Dean Winchester and Stephanie Walker. You have been summoned to withstand the test of the Coun-"

Before the woman sitting in the middle of the table could get much further, Ana interrupted, "The Council. Yeah, I get it. You know who I am, I know who you are, let's skip the formal crap and get right down to why the Hell I'm here when I have bigger things to deal with." As she spoke, her voice grew louder. Taking a few steps toward the table she paused just in front of it, hands on her hips as she waited for someone to answer.

"It is passed time for your testing." A man near the end of the table spoke. He didn't look old, late fifties at most, but the power radiating off of him told Ana that he was much older than he appeared.

"My testing? How about this for testing. I've taken out a group of demons without lifting a hand, gone up against a Knight of Hell, almost died multiple times, and while I'm trying to prevent Lucifer from being risen from his cage you think it's the best time for us to have a little meeting?" She shook her head, "I honestly don't understand how you're supposed to be so aware of what is going on in the world and keeping track of the witches with this coven if you can't even understand that not only is my ass riding on Lucifer staying locked up, so is yours!"

Connor stepped up to her, placing a gentle hand on her back, "You might want to tone it down there a bit, Red."

"No, they want to test me. Let's have it then!" She opened her arms in a wide gesture, something she's sure her father had done more than once, a physical 'come at me, bro' sign. By this point Ana had been through enough that a group of witches wanting to test her for whatever reason was nothing she was worried about.

"We've heard of the trails you have been through, Anastasia, and we understand that you are in control of a large amount of power. The reason we've called you here is not the amount of power you have or the strength behind it, the reason is how you are wielding it." The woman with the thick Irish accent who was speaking stood from her seat toward the middle of the table. Her long hair had clearly once been black, but the color was hidden among the silver that had begun to take over. She wore a long, deep purple dressed that slightly dragged across the floor as she walked around the table and toward Ana. "It is my personal quest to make sure that you remain using your power for good and that you don't let yourself do the sort of things that turns most witches dark. With the amount of power you have, you could have most anything in the world, we need to assess how you're going to let your power play throughout your life."

Ana furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the woman, "And why have you made this your personal goal?" There had to be a reason for one witch out of the nine to take on such a task.

The older woman smiled kindly, the wrinkles at the edges of her eyes deepening with the expression. "It is a right for family to watch out for one another, is it not?"

"Family?" The younger witch asked, tone shocked. "The only family I have left is my father, uncle, and aunt. Everyone else is gone." She informed the woman standing in front of her, wondering what kind of trick she was trying to pull saying that the two of them were related.

"Your grandmother was my great niece." The woman explained, "My name is Caoimhe."

Ana studied the woman, Caoimhe, her apparent long lost relative. She shook her head, "I'm not great at math, but if you're my great great great aunt or however that works… wouldn't you look a little older than sixty at most?"

Connor stepped up to Ana's side, being able to feel the panic and confusion rolling through her. "Some witches have enough power to live for centuries, to keep themselves young." he explained, sometimes he forgot that she hadn't been raised into this like he had.

"Yes and it is for that reason that the most powerful of us are chosen to take seats within the Council. Because we have the ability to live longer, the chairmen don't need to be changed so often." Caoimhe explained, "For generations we have been able to hold our places until the next witch in our bloodlines with enough power can take over for us."

Ana's forehead scrunched up in concentration, "The next witch in your bloodlines? So the position is handed down through the family?" she was trying to process everything. She had first come in so mad that she was ready to start throwing things across the room, but now the young witch was just very confused. Looking behind the witch in front of her, she noticed that the other witches had somehow slipped out of the room without her noticing, which was strange. She was a pretty good hunter and a great witch, she should have seen them leave or felt them teleport, but there had been nothing. Apparently there was still some areas that she needed to work on.

Caoimhe nodded, "The Council has been ruled since it's beginnings by the nine strongest lines of blood witches." Taking a moment, the elder witch studied her young family member as if she were deciding whether or not she should speak the matter on her mind. "It is true that we've brought you here for a sort of test, to make sure that you are in full control of your power and that there is no need to worry about you possibly being a risk, but also for another matter. We need to know if you are strong enough to take over my position when the time comes that I need to give it up."

Both Connor and Ana's eyes went wide. "You want me to take over your position on the Council?" Ana's words were barely whispered. "Are you kidding?" She almost screeched after that, panic settling into her chest at the thought of having to do something so obviously important at a young age.

"I am very serious. It wouldn't have to be for a while, I'm still doing just fine, but you've been the most powerful witch our bloodline has produced since I was born which makes you our only option." Caoimhe reached out for Ana's hand and held in comfortingly in her own, "This is nothing to panic over, dear, there is still a lot to come in life for you and I still have time left. The Council as a whole just likes to be prepared for the next step when it comes to these things. What we need you to focus on now is the task you have at hand. We do understand what you've been going up against with this Lucifer and Michael business, though we can't offer much help, if you need anything all you have to do is ask."

Whipping her head around to look at Connor, Ana asked him a silent question and he turned back around to address Caoimhe. "What about her testing?"

The older woman smiled, "Oh, little lass, you're testing was over after you stormed through here in a rage and didn't take anything out in the process. The nine of us have been around for so long that we can feel the power within you, any witch without control or morals would have let her magic fly with her anger. You just used your words."

Ana nodded, she probably would have been alright for any explanation that her ancestor would have given her at that point. Her mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour trying to keep up with the information that she felt was being thrown at her, "Wait!" A sudden thought occurred to her through the mess in her head, "You said the nine strongest bloodlines make up the Council, so you," she turned to point at Connor, "have a family member on the Council as well. What happens when we combine our bloodlines?" she looked back and forth between the witches in front of her, leaving the question open for either of them to answer.

"There are more witches in my family than just me, Ana." He told her with a soft smile. "Our child will take over your position and another of my family members will take over the Mohr seat when the time comes. Niall will be around for a while, I'm sure my sister or my one of my cousins will have a child that can take over by the time he needs to retire."

"It's getting late and we've kept Connor long enough for the day. Why don't you return to your home and we will be in contact?" Caoimhe pulled Ana into a gentle hug, "I promise not to surprise you with something like this again, the way it was handle was completely unnecessary. Some of the other members can be a tad harsh." As she pulled away she gave the young woman a warm smile, "You have done our family proud in the short time you've been a witch and I do not doubt that you will continue to do so. Be brave, keep your wits, and don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it." Turning to look at Connor, she placed a gentle hand on his cheek, "The Mohr line has been a blessing to the Good line for many centuries, though I can tell that you are much more to her than that. Take care of each other and please keep us updated on your findings with the cage." Give one last look to the young couple, the older woman's heart filled with joy, "Now get her home and to bed, this has been quite a bit for her to take in."

Connor nodded, taking Ana's hand in his own. "Thank you. We'll be sure to send any news." he assured the elder witch before he pulled Ana in toward his chest, hoping to comfort her as he teleported the both of them back to the bunker. Once they were in her bedroom he looked toward the clock on her bedside table and noticed that it was just passed six, which meant that Sam would probably be up soon and he needed to let one of the brothers know that they most likely wouldn't be out to help with the search any time soon. "Red?" He questioned, her eyes were focused on the wall behind him, but he knew that her mind was somewhere completely different. When she finally looked up at him, he smiled down at her softly, "Why don't you lay down? I'm going to grab some more comfortable clothes out of my room and then I'll be back, okay?"

She nodded slightly, eyes looking around her room a moment before landing back on him. "We should just move your stuff in here. After being with you in the same bed in the motel room for so many days straight I can't sleep without you next to me."

"We can talk about that later, for now let's just get ready for bed, alright?" He was being extra gentle with her, feeling that if he pushed her too far that she may overload on stress. Watching as she turned away from him and climbed into her bed, he waited a moment before turning to leave her room. On his way down the hall he stopped by Sam's rooming and knocked on the door softly, being able to sense that the man was awake. When the younger Winchester brother answered his door Connor explained the short version of things and asked him to let Dean know so that the two wouldn't be bothered while they were sleeping. Making his way into his room to grab a change of clothes, he made his way quickly back to Ana's room, hoping that she would be asleep by the time he got back. Opening the door he found that his hopes were for nothing because the woman he loved was lying on her back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and obviously thinking very hard about something. "Don't stress out about this, Red." he told her softly as he closed the door behind him.

She heaved a sigh, "How am I supposed to avoid it? I was prepared for some stuck up, schmuck witches thinking that I needed to be assessed and then I get slammed with the only other living relative I have and the information that I'm supposed to step up to take over her position when she can't do it anymore? A freaking Council position, Connor, that has to be pretty important, right?"

Taking in a deep breath, he began to change into the sweats and he had brought from his room to sleep in. "It is very important, our bloodlines have thrived for generations because of the Council and it's an honor for them to be considering you for the position. Caoimhe did say that you have time before you'd have to take over for her, so there is no reason to worry about it now." Placing his clothes in the laundry hamper, he turned to look at her, seeing that her eyes had moved from the ceiling to focus on his bare chest. "For now we need to worry about the cage, alright?"

Her eyes flicked up to meet his and she slowly nodded, body relaxing slightly. "Are you going to stand there or are you going to come to bed?" she asked, knowing that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep without his comforting presence next to her. Before she met Connor and had learned that they were soulmates, she would have thought herself weak to need him in such a way that in a situation like this he was probably the only thing that could calm her down, but she knew that this was supposed to be how their lives worked. They were stronger together, which was completely fine with her.

"Well I'm not just going to stand here." He answered with a soft smile as he walked over to the bed, letting his body fall on the bed next to her. "I am so exhausted, can we sleep all day?" he asked, with a yawn.

"We've got the devil and an archangel to keep locked up, I don't think we have the time to sleep all day." Ana moved closer to him, smiling softly as he wrapped his arm around her.

Connor groaned, "Fine, I guess the fate of the world does come before sleeping all day." he kissed her cheek and pulled her closer, "Night, Red."

"Good night." The words were a whisper as her eyes fluttered closed, something about meeting a long lost family member and finding out that someday you're going to have to help keep track of the blood witches from the nine most powerful lines in existence made her more exhausted than she had been before. As she slowly fell asleep, her dreams were filled with bright white lights and a familiar face with a dark brown beard.

A/N(2): Weird cliffhanger, but I want to know who you think it is Ana saw in her dreams! You'll find out very soon! Let me know your guesses and what you thought of the chapter.