A/N: So this took way longer to finish than I planned. This chapter did not want to be written and I think it's because I'm secretly arguing with myself about what's to come so I'm pushing it off as long as I can. Anywho, I plan on getting the next chapter up in a more timely manner, but there's no telling if that's going to happen or not. I sincerely apologize and hope that you all stick with me. Thank you for reading this far and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Also for the sake of how this is going some things that have happened further in seasons nine and ten have happened in this story, other's have not. I think it's pretty obvious in this chapter, but if you're confused I'll answer questions. :)

The day had been long and filled with battle strategies, training, and communication on how each person worked while in a fight. If they were going to have a chance at stopping this they needed to be able to understand each other. Ana had spent the afternoon with Logan, Xavier, Claire, and Gabe, filling them in on how her powers worked and what she would be able to do to help them in battle. To say it was a bit awkward was an understatement. With two men who had dated for months and a girl just a couple of years younger than her seeming to judge her every move, there were questioning glances thrown her way whenever she made a decision, but they had finally come up with a decent plan. When they were done talking she sent the three hunters with Gabe to begin training on taking out angels. Ana watched as Connor spoke to the group that had been assigned to him; the angel Hannah, Donna, Rick, and his hunting partner Jerry. When splitting everyone up she knew that some people were better left off with a person they were familiar with. It seemed that Connor was beginning to wrap up whatever he was saying, making a gesture toward Hannah, who led them out the door toward the back field where Gabe had gone.

Connor waited until they were gone before moving over to Ana, "What is it?" he questioned, knowing that she wanted to talk.

"Why didn't you want to call in any of the Council witches?" She questioned, knowing that there were other things they needed to speak about, but this wasn't the right time for their relationship problems.

Looking around at the amount of people still in the room, he grabbed her hand and led her outside. He may have just been extremely paranoid, but he honestly didn't care he wouldn't chance the wrong person hearing their conversation. "Caoimhe, Niall, and I are pretty certain that someone in the Council is working against us."

Shock filled Ana instantly and then she quickly moved to wondering how something like that could have happened with how close all of the Council families seemed to be. "Do you have any idea who it is?" This was something that needed to be handled quickly, there were too many decisions and plans made within the Council to have someone running their mouth to the enemy.

"No. Caoimhe and Niall were hoping to be able to catch a hint of whoever it is, but they've come up with nothing. Before I left we were planning on using a spell, hoping that it would lead us in the right direction. I assume they'll still carry on with that plan even though I'm not there." He explained, leaning back against the wall of the building as he looked her over. "I'm needed here for now, they'll be able to handle this until I can get back."

Ana had began to pace around in a small circle, wondering why everything had to hit the fan at once. She hoped that Connor was right about their relatives being able to handle this treachery on their own, they would have to deal with Michael and Lucifer before they were able to go back to Ireland. "Okay. We'll deal with this first." she nodded, mostly to herself, before turning to look at him. His rough appearance making her chest ache once more, "You look like Hell, Connor."

"Yeah, well the love of my life suddenly disappearing after the loss of our daughter kind of had a bad affect on my ability to care about almost everything else." He snapped, turning to go back inside. Pausing just before the door, he looked over his shoulder, "I'm glad to see that you're looking good though."

The comment stung as Ana watched Connor disappear into the bar. She sighed and moved further into the small parking area, stopping only when she reached Logan's truck so that she had something to lean against. Closing her eyes, she folded her arms on top of the hood and rested her forehead on them. There was an argument being fought inside her head between the part of her that knew she needed the time away from her family and the other part who thought it had been a selfish move. Either way it had happened. There was nothing she could do to change that other than try to make amends now. The sound of gravel crunching under shoes made her lift her head and look over her shoulder, a small frown pulling at her lips as Dean walked towards her. "If you're out here to yell at me I think that can wait until after the rest of this is over."

Dean furrowed his brow at his daughter, not amused by the sass she was giving him. "I wanted to check on you. Connor came back inside in a huff and I figured that meant you two had gotten into it."

Turning around, Ana rested against the front bumper of the truck and shook her head. "We didn't fight. He was just pointing out the truth." She closed her eyes and turned her face up toward the afternoon sun, wishing the warmth of it would thaw the coldness that had been filling her for the past few months. "I left because I thought it would be best for all of us if I was gone for a while." she told him, not opening her eyes. "After what happened… I could barely stand myself and could only imagine that it wasn't easy for any of you to be around me after I failed."

Sighing Dean moved so that he was standing next to her, his eyes focused on the building in front of them. "None of this has been easy, Ana." he began, head turning so that he could look at her. "But when you left it all got a lot worse." He watched as she cringed at his words, "We were all so worried about looking for you that we pushed everything else aside for weeks. I barely slept, Connor wouldn't do anything other than try to find you. The only ones who were somewhat holding it together were Charlie, Kellen, and Sam; they all said you'd come back, that we just needed to give you time and space. That eventually you'd come back, but how were we supposed to know that for sure? You'd left without a word." Looking down at his boots, he shook his head, "I feared the worse, you know? I assumed that the next time I'd see you, if I ever did, it would be to identify your body."

"Dad-"

"No, Ana, you need to hear this. After everything we've been through you still don't understand how much any of us would give to help you. We're family and when times get rough we don't leave to deal with it on our own." His voice began to raise and he pushed himself away from the truck, "If you just would have let us help…" Shaking his head, Dean spun around to look at her and stopped for a moment when their eyes finally met. "Things would be going a lot smoother right now." he finished his statement.

Ana was trying to decide what to say next when Sam came busting out of the bar door, "You may want to come referee this." he said, eyes focused on her before he turned quickly to go back inside.

"That can't be good." She muttered to herself before pushing herself off of Logan's truck and hurrying back into her bar. It seemed that in the time she had been gone someone had reorganized everyone, and the tables, so that they were no longer just sparring with their separate groups, but everyone grouped together while a one to one was going on in the middle. In all honesty it reminded Ana a lot of the movie Fight Club. Moving toward the small break in people where Gabriel was standing, he seemed to be in charge of the whole thing, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to see who was in the middle of the ring of people. Once she was at Gabe's side, she sighed. Standing in the middle of her bar floor was Connor and Logan, both looking extremely determined to be the winner of the fight. "You can't seriously let this be happening, Connor is going to wipe the floor with him." she frowned at the archangel.

Gabe scoffed, "Like that would be any fun to watch. No, I put a damper on Connor's magic. This is straight hand to hand."

"Great." Ana grumbled. Connor had gotten better at physical combat since they had first met, but Logan had been hunting and training for years. This wasn't going to be a pretty fight and she honestly didn't believe that either man would give up until his opponent was on the ground.

"Alright." Gabe spoke up, getting the attention of the whole room. "Just don't kill each other. We don't need to be down two bodies when it's time to actually fight the bad guys."

Once he was finished talking both men moved quickly, Logan instantly attacking first causing Connor to resort to defensive moves. The sound of thuds filled the room as Connor blocked every strike Logan threw and they seemed pretty evenly matched until Connor threw his first punch. Crack! Logan's head jerked to the side, but Connor didn't stop moving. Taking a step forward he brought his knee up as his hands gripped onto Logan's shoulders, forcing him the bend over. Before he could make contact Logan pushed the leg aside and jerked his head up quickly, hitting it against Connor's jaw. Each man took a couple of steps back, reassessing their opponent before they both charged toward each other. It seemed that neither was worried about hurting the other as hands and feet connected to various body parts in thuds that only seemed to be getting louder, the force of each blow becoming greater.

"Gabe, call it. They won't be any use to us if they're both too beat up to stand." Ana pointed out, seeing that they were both getting tired and their movements were slowing down. Though she would never say so out loud Logan was still getting in the most hits, Connor was no where near as trained as the hunter was, but the witch was quick.

The archangel sighed, "But it was just getting good." he whined, knowing that he would have to stop it sooner rather than later. Neither of the men in the circle were letting up on their blows and they would need everyone there if they were going to hold a chance against those who would be working to open the Devil's Gates. "Alright! That's enough! You two are done." he called, watching as both men paused. Logan currently had Connor in a headlock which probably would have knocked the witch unconscious if he hadn't stopped them. "Next two up! Krissy Chambers and Anastasia Winchester!" He announced with his best imitation of a one of those TV announcers.

Ana turned to glare at him, "Really, you had to full name it?" she rolled her eyes and shook her head as she moved into the circle that Connor and Logan were leaving. She shared a look with each man, but said nothing as she took her place across from Krissy. "I'm assuming you're going to put a leash on my powers too?" she directed the question at Gabriel as she began to pull her hair into a ponytail.

"Of course. Your default is to use your powers, this way you and Krissy are evenly matched." He knew that Ana wouldn't purposefully hurt Krissy with her power, but with how long she had gone without using it she could have lost some control over it. Using his grace to make her powers inaccessible, he watched her frown slightly at the feeling. Once he was sure that he'd blocked her magic he looked back and forth between the two young women, "Same rules apply. Don't kill each other."

If it had been almost any other person in the room Krissy would have instantly attacked once the angel who was running this training gave them the nod that said they could begin, but Ana had been trained by the Winchester men and Krissy knew better than to think she was the stronger fighter. Even without her powers Ana most likely had the upper hand. There was one thing that Krissy was almost certain of and that was the fact that she was probably quicker than the witch in front of her. With that in mind the young huntress made her first strike, aiming for the left side of Ana's face, but the other woman dodged it quickly. It seemed that this was going to be as difficult as Krissy had originally expected.


The two women had sparred for close to twenty minutes before Gabriel called an end to it. They had both taken their fair share of hits, it seemed that though Ana had the better training out of the two Krissy's speed and quick thinking put her on par with her opponent. After Ana left the circle of people she glanced toward the clock and noticed how late it was getting, if they were going to get sleeping arrangements sorted and everyone to bed at a decent time they would need to start working on dinner. Everyone needed to be properly taken care of so they were in peak shape for the upcoming fight. Walking over to where Connor and Logan both sat at a table, having what seemed to be a civil conversation, she began to form a plan in her head. Both men turned their attention toward her as she stopped next to their table, "I should probably get started on feeding these people, want to give me a hand in the kitchen?" she aimed the question at Connor, figuring they could talk while they worked.

Simply nodding, he stood up from his chair and walked around her. "So I know I said I'm on your side in all of this, but you aren't one hundred percent in the right here, Ana." Logan spoke up once Connor was out of earshot.

"Yeah, I know." She admitted with a sigh, she knew that she had a lot to apologize for. "You feel up to helping too? I could use someone behind the bar making sure everyone has drinks."

Logan stood, "Sure. I'm probably going to need a second set of hands though." There were a lot of people in there and he knew how quick a hunter could put down a drink.

Ana nodded, knowing that leaving him behind the bar alone would only cause issues. "Why don't you ask Charlie? I'm sure she'd be more than willing to help."

Logan searched around the room until he found the other redheaded woman in the room. "Sounds like a plan. Holler if you guys need anything in the kitchen." he gave her a soft smile before walking off toward Charlie.

Slowly turning around Ana stared at the door that led into the kitchen, wondering if it had been such a good idea to place herself and Connor in one room for a long amount of time. Alone. In a room. Where fights were most likely going to be had. Why hadn't she just asked Jody? With a sigh she made her way across the room, knowing that it would just be better to get this over with. Bracing herself before pushing through the door, she was shocked to see that Connor had already gotten to work looking for things and pulling out what he thought they would use.

"So I'm just going to assume that we're making a bunch of everything? Buffet style type thing?" He asked once she had entered the room. It would just be easier to feed so many people that way. "If we're all going to be here for a while you may need to stock up on more food."

"Yeah, shipment normally comes through on Thursdays." She explained as she turned to glance at the small calendar on the wall underneath the clock. "Which is tomorrow, so we'll be fine." Moving over to the long metal table that he was lining things up on she glanced at everything he had gathered. "So you get burgers and I'll handle chicken and sides?"

Connor nodded as he grabbed another handful of stuff out of the large refrigerator, "Sounds like a plan to me." He moved past her and set everything down, his eyes yet to make contact with hers.

Taking in a deep breath she moved toward the small radio that she kept up on a shelf and turned it on, getting the message that Connor wasn't in the talking mood. Thankful that her hair was already up, she stopped by the large sink to wash her hands before moving over to where all of the food was set out. Ana began grabbing the things that she would need to make some of the sides she had in mind, making sure that she had everything before she went to work and singing the song playing on the radio softly. Very few stations came through to the Roadhouse, but she had found the one that came in the clearest was a rock station, varying between classics and some newer stuff. Since the first time she had used the kitchen she had never changed the station, mostly because she didn't want to bother with it, but also because she enjoyed it.

The song changed and the slow guitar that filled the room put a soft smile on Ana's face. Nothing Else Matters by Metallica had always been one of her favorite songs. "So close, no matter how far," she sung, taking a step away from the table where she had been cutting potatoes to make sure that the water was boiling on the stove. All of her moments were almost dance like moves, but smaller. It was something she was known for doing. A song could start playing anywhere and she would see a dance that would go with it in her head, then it was all too hard to keep herself from doing it, even if it was on a smaller scale.

Across the room Connor watched her. It had been painstakingly clear how much he missed her while she was gone and how he relied on her from day to day, but one thing he never thought he'd miss so much was this. She would start dancing and the most serene look would come over her face, like anything could happen and it would do nothing to stop what she was doing. It had taken a while for him to get over the initial hurt of her leaving, but immediately after he had all he could focus on was the anger. How could she leave him to grieve the loss of their daughter alone? It was incredibly selfish of her to do and even now he was still angry about it, but at the same time he was just happy to see her, to know that she was okay. She checked the status of the pot on the stove and then turned back around to continue what she had been doing at the table, but she froze when she noticed his eyes on her. They were locked in a stare, blue meeting green for one of the longest times since they were reunited and neither of them knew what to do. Slowly Connor dropped his eyes and turned back around to his task, they would never get anything finished if they didn't get back to work.


Jody watched as her girls sat across the room at a table with the large hunter, Zack, and another young man she hadn't caught the name of. She was sitting at the bar with Donna, Sam, and Dean and though she was still tuned into the conversation happening around her, she refused to pull her eyes away from Claire and Alex who looked completely enthralled by some story Zack was telling.

"So Ana's your daughter." Donna repeated, trying to get the story straight in her head. Jody had tried explaining everything to her, but they had been in a rush to leave so she hadn't gotten much other than Dean had a kid that no one but him had known about for close to eighteen years. "And the young black haired guy-"

"Connor." Sam supplied the name.

Donna gave a slight tilt of her head in thanks, "Connor is her soulmate? And they're both good witches?" She was no longer stranger to the paranormal world and most of the things it contained, but witches were something she hadn't quite figured out yet.

"Yep." Dean answered, taking a long drink out of the bottle in his hand. "And when angel douches one and two come top side they're supposed to be what stops them." He glanced through the window that sat in the wall that separated the bar and the kitchen, he caught sight of Ana doing a little dance as she moved around the room and he couldn't help but smile a little.

Jody turned her full attention back to the people she was sitting with, her eyes landing on Dean just in time to catch the look of inner turmoil that passed through his eyes as his smile fell. "Look, I know you want to be mad at her for running off the way she did, but I think you need to focus on the positive. You're all together again and she's doing okay, she's dealing with everything. So whatever she thought she needed, she must have gotten while she was away."

Dean scoffed, "Yeah, like a bar and gay boy wonder over there." he gestured to Logan who wasn't far away from them. He still hadn't decided if he liked the young hunter or not. He had put up a decent fight against Connor earlier and all things considered would probably make a good addition to their thrown together army, but that still didn't help him make a decision.

"Not gay, bi." Logan corrected as he moved over to where they were. "Also, boy wonder? I'd much rather be called man wonder." He gave the eldest Winchester a cheeky smile before moving to grab him another bottle of beer.

Dean rolled his eyes and took the fresh bottle when it was offered to him. "So, enough about our crazy. How's everything been with you two? Alex and Claire giving you any trouble?" he aimed the last question at Jody, knowing that having one teenage girl was enough, he couldn't imagine handling two.

Giving another glance toward the table that the girls were sitting at Jody shrugged, "They have their ups and downs. Claire has cared little about anything other than hunting so she was happy that you guys called for our help, but Alex was more weary. She'd rather have her time being normal now that she's away from those vampires. All in all, they've been pretty good."

"What about you, Donna? We haven't seen you since the sheriff convention." Sam asked, it hadn't been easy having to bring someone else into the world he and his family lived in, but he was glad that it seemed she was doing okay.

The blonde woman gave him a bright smile, "You know, things have been extremely normal. Nothing strange, just the normal weirdos we get through the station. I've been keeping up on everything though, just in case something were to come up. Even started taking kickboxing classes."

Jody turned to her fellow sheriff and gave her a grin. Though Donna was almost her polar opposite, she was glad that they had developed the strange friendship that they had. "See we get the same ol' same ol'. You guys get all the crazy stuff." she patted Sam on the shoulder and gave him a sly grin.

"Yeah, thanks Jody." He responded with a small laugh, thankful to have the rest of their extended family around them. Even if there was the possibility that none of them would come out of this alive.

"The food is ready!" Ana called as she pushed the door to the kitchen open, "You'll have to come through here to get it because I'm not moving all of this just to move all of the dishes back."

Dean glanced at the clock, he could have sworn that it had only been ten minutes since they had started cooking, but it seemed more time had passed than he thought as he sat around catching up with the two women. Everyone began to stand up and move toward the kitchen, they were all eager to eat after the training they had that afternoon.

The group of people moved fairly quickly through the kitchen, filling their plates and then filing back out to the bar. They all spread out around the room in groups, chatting while they ate, though not all of the tension was gone. What laid ahead for them was something no one would easily forget about, even more so since none of them were sure when they would have to be ready to fight. Nevertheless it didn't take long for plates to be emptied. All hands were on deck to clean everything up, which made it a quick task, and then came time to find everyone a place to sleep. There weren't enough rooms for everyone, but some of them had two twin beds instead of a queen and by doubling up they were able to get everyone a place to sleep. It also helped that Charlie offered to bunk in Ana's queen with her while Connor took the pull out couch. They weren't in a good enough place to share the same bed, but it was understood that neither should get far away from the other in case something happened that was unplanned.

Once she was sure that everyone was situated for the night Ana headed upstairs to her apartment, more than ready to fall into her bed and pass out for the night. Walking through the door the first thing she noticed was the sound of her shower running, the second was that Connor was in the middle of changing out of his day clothes and she'd caught him with his shirt off. Her eyes lingered for a moment before she turned to close the door. Deciding to keep her mouth shut she headed straight for her bedroom, only pausing when she had the door open, "Goodnight." she told him softly.

"Goodnight." Connor spoke, pulling a clean shirt over his head quickly, his eyesight clearing the fabric just before she closed her door. "Ana." Her name was rushed and he watched as it caused her to stop the door before it closed all of the way.

"Yes?" She pulled the door open just enough to stick her head out, her voice betraying the hopefulness that she didn't want him to see. Maybe he would rethink sleeping on the couch. All she wanted was to be wrapped in his arms.

There was a pause before he spoke again, refusing to let any of his own emotions through, "Thanks for letting me take the couch."

Internally wincing, she gave him a soft smile, "Of course. Night." she said again before closing the door. Of course he wouldn't want to share her bed. How could she have even thought that he would? With a sigh Ana moved over to her dresser, picked the first clothes she found and changed quickly. All she wanted to do was sleep. It didn't take long after her head hit the pillow for her to feel the affects of the day weigh down on her, successfully exhausting her enough to fall asleep quickly.