Author's Note: I played around, for this chapter, with making the siren some echo or incomplete or different version of Ember for Dean, but in the end I decided I liked it better the way it was. Do you? Let me know in your reviews. I don't own Supernatural. I'd like a poster, though. Somebody please buy me a poster!

***Dean POV***

December 27, Late Night

Clackclackclackclack. Clackclackclack. Dean couldn't sleep. Again. It wasn't a surprise – he'd rarely slept, ever since he got back from hell.

Clackclackclack. "Dude! What are you doing? I'm trying to sleep!" Dean groaned into the air.

"You used to be able to sleep through anything," came Sam's voice sarcastically. "Relax. I'm just shooting a message to Ember, and then I'm going to sleep."

"Ember?" Dean asked, his eyes flying open. He turned toward Sam and said nonchalantly, "I didn't realize you… still talked to her."

Sam paused. "I never really stopped talking to her," he said. "Ember and I are friends, man. We have a lot in common."

"Like what?" Dean asked. He had felt a stab of jealousy which was both unexpected and uncomfortable.

"Uh, like, we both have demon issues," Sam said, staring at Dean with suspicion. "And, we both like to read…"

Oh. That should have been obvious. "Right, yeah. How's she doing?"

Sam arched an eyebrow. "You know, if you bothered to call her, or text her, she'd probably talk to you. You thought it was your last night on Earth, dude! What you did was sleazy, but not unforgiveable."

"I told you, man, it's better this way." Dean gave Sam a big grin. "Makes me a free agent. I'm single and ready to mingle."

Sam shut his computer and gave Dean a look that said he wanted to discuss the situation. "Dean, if this is about what happened in hell-…"

"Dude." Dean said, fixing Sam with a poisonous glare. "I said I'm trying to sleep."

But Sam fell asleep long before Dean did.

***Ember POV***

February 6, Early evening

"Listen, I know how you feel about Dean," Bobby said over the phone. "And I wouldn't ask if I didn't need you."

Ember groaned. "But surely the siren can't fool both of them at once," Ember said. "Like, even if Dean gets suckered in by her charms, Sam will sort things out, won't he?"

"I wouldn't bet on that," Bobby said. "I wouldn't put it past this bitch to play both of them at once. I mean, c'mon, we already know she's pretending to be a stripper. You know as well as I do that both those idgits are doomed. And you're the only person I've ever met who can tell who the siren is by looking. And now the FBI's sent in another one of their goons…"

"Shit," Ember said. She doused the small flame of excitement that rose up at the opportunity to see Dean again, and concentrated on the strong desire to throw her phone out of anger. She'd already been hurt by Dean once. "Fine," she snapped, "I'll grab a plane later tonight."

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

Once Ember arrived in Bedford, Iowa, she had tried Sam first, but he hadn't picked up the phone. Reluctantly, Ember tried Dean. Dean picked up on the first ring. "Ember! Hey, how are you? Are you in town?"

"Yeah. I tried Sam, but he's not picking up."

Dean gave a frustrated groan from the other end. "Yeah, he's not picking up for me either. I thought this case would be easy, but maybe Bobby was right to send you. Hold on, I'm coming to you."

"Okay."

Twenty minutes later, Dean pulled up to the airport. He looked as good as Ember remembered, if maybe harder around the edges, and she could feel her heart turn over and plummet to her feet.

Ember wasted no time on pleasantries after climbing into the Impala. "Any word from Sam?" she asked.

"Bupkis," he answered.

"Where did you see him last?"

"At the Taylor County Medical Center, looking into the blood samples of the people who were infected by the siren. I went with Nick, from the FBI, to the strip club to keep him busy and to see if we could find the siren there."

Ember laughed. "I'll just bet you did."

Dean ignored her comment. "But I checked the Medical Center before I came to get you, and he's not there. And I checked the hotel before that; he's not there either."

Ember could tell Dean was frantic, and she was beginning to worry, herself. It wasn't like Sam not to answer the phone. "And you have no idea where he is, or who the siren is?"

Dean screwed up his face. "Well, Nick saw flower petals at the crime scene where the last man murdered his mother. And there were some flowers like that in the office of one Dr. Cara Roberts at the Medical Center, where we went to get the results."

Suddenly, Dean got a call on his cell. "Sam! Where the hell have you been? … Oh, it's 'Cara' now. And you're not picking up your phone. … Yeah, I'll bet." Dean's face was looking more and more severe as he continued his conversation.

"Nick found flower petals at the crime scene. Hyacynths." A long pause. "Hyacynths? Meditteranean? From the island where the whole freaking siren myth started in the first place? Sam, Cara had hyacinth flowers."

There was a long pause, during which Dean's frown got deeper. "Well, I did a little checking up on her. She's only been in town for two months. … And she has an ex-husband. A dead ex-husband, Carl Roberts. Dropped like a stone, no warning, supposedly a heart attack."

Another long pause, and Dean shot Ember a frustrated glare, still speaking into the phone. "You're kidding me… and what makes you so sure? … A hunch? I'm giving you cold, hard facts here, and you're giving me a hunch? … Did you sleep with her?"

Ember Cell Phone: Bobby, you're right. They're in way over their heads.

***Dean POV***

February 6, 2017 Later evening

Dean had forgotten how amazingly hot Ember was. In their three months apart, it seemed she had just gotten more attractive. Her hair was longer, and she seemed just a little bit thinner. She wore a black hoodie and jeans, but somehow to him this made her seem all the more attractive.

But now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. "I think it's got Sam under its spell," he said. "Which means the best idea at this point is for us to kill it before we see him again. We've got to find Cara."

First Dean and Ember looked at Cara's house, which was on the outside of town. While they drove, they chatted about their lives, and their jobs, and ultimately fell into a comfortable silence. Cara wasn't at her house, however, so Dean called the Medical Center to see if anyone knew where she spent time after hours. "They said she hangs out at the Pub on 45th and Simmons," Dean said when he got off the phone. "That's all the way back in town. I'm gonna call Nick and have him keep an eye on her so we don't miss her. We'll meet him there."

"Okay, cool." And with that, they headed back the 45 minutes into town.

"So," Dean said, turning down the radio and attempting conversation, "If a siren came to you in disguise as the perfect man, what would that look like?"

A blush colored Ember's cheeks, but she said nothing for a long time. Finally she answered, "I'm not sure, really. I guess they would definitely be understanding about the whole demon thing. And they should probably be able to protect themselves a little bit, too. The tattoo wouldn't hurt. And… you know, they should be funny. And have a good set of morals. And… and not be a dick." She averted her eyes, looking out the window. "How about you?"

Dean sighed. He knew he wouldn't have a better opportunity than this to make things right between them. "Look, Ember, I'm sorry about Anna."

Ember jumped, but still didn't look at him. "That was three months ago. It doesn't matter."

"It obviously does, or we would've talked in the last three months," Dean said with more force than he had intended. He didn't wait for her to interrupt him, but continued on. "Look, if I'd thought that I'd had even half a chance with you, I might've thought twice about what happened."

Ember's head whipped around so fast it nearly made him jump in surprise. "Look, it's cool, really. I mean, it was your last night on Earth, supposedly. Like I said, I get it." She was silent for awhile, but then she spoke again, as if she couldn't help it. "Here's what I don't get, though, okay? Here's what I don't get. We'd been flirting for nearly a month. We talked all the time. You were even going to come visit me, until that ghost in Oregon happened. You had to know that if you'd said something that night…" She looked away from him, then once again turned her head to stare at him venomously. "I mean, c'mon Dean, we thought it was your last night on Earth. All you would've had to do would've been to ask me. I'm not easy, but I'm not a prude either. But instead, I find you in the Impala with Anna. I mean, what the fuck? Was it the demon thing? And if so, why even bother flirting with me all that time? Or, are you really that scared of a relationship, that you'd hedge your bets and fuck it up just in case you made it out alive? Or, were you planning on sleeping with both of us? Because I get the whole 'last night on Earth' thing, but that's going a little far."

Something inside Dean snapped. Maybe it was being worried about Sam, or maybe it was because he hadn't been laid since Anna (and he was still paying for that one), or perhaps it was not being able to sleep because of the nightmares of hell that still haunted him, or maybe it was the impending apocalypse. "Look, I thought I was going back to hell the next day," he said. "And you have no idea what that's like. Now normally I like the chase, I'm not gonna lie. And you're beautiful, and you can take care of yourself, and you understand my job, hell, you're everything I've ever wanted! But that night, I didn't have another three months for more of this "will we, won't we, text message" crap, and it's not like you ran up and gave me the green light. The only thing I could think about was how the angels were probably gonna drag my ass back to hell the next day. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry, and I'd give anything to take it back."

Ember was staring at him, her mouth open. Hell, he was surprised at himself – he'd only ever talked about hell before with Sam. Well, he figured, in for a penny, in for a pound. "You want a relationship? I'll do a relationship. I'll suck at it. You'll always have to worry if I'm dead or not, unless you come hunting with me, and then there's the matter of the demons. I can't guarantee that I'll call you every day, because sometimes I'm getting beat up by things that most people don't know exist. And I certainly can't buy you anything nice, unless you really like shit motels. And God knows it'll piss Bobby the right hell off, but if you're up for it, let's do it!"

Ember looked down, her face beat red. Too late, Dean realized that he'd put himself "out there" much more than he meant to during his tirade. There was a brief pause, then Ember said, very quietly, "I have a boyfriend."

"Yeah?" Dean said, backtracking. Dean searched around for what to say, but the only thing that came to mind was, "Does he know about you?"

There was a pause. "No," Ember admitted. "We've only been dating a month."

Dean recovered himself, and smirked at her. "Shit, what a waste."

And then he turned on the radio again.

This sort of crap was why he stuck with one night stands.

***Ember POV***

February 6th, Night

Ember was still reeling from the conversation with Dean on the way to the Pub. She had known he was scared to go back to hell, but perhaps she hadn't truly understood the depth of this. He was right, she supposed… she hadn't exactly put herself out on a silver platter, and perhaps Anna had. Was it justifiable, in his situation, for him to have taken what was willingly given? She thought that perhaps it was. He had never made her any promises.

And the bigger question: she liked her boyfriend, Eric… maybe even loved him. But, it also occurred to her that she hadn't thought about him for even a second since she'd gotten the phone call from Bobby that evening. Why was Dean all she could think about? Why had she reacted that strongly to his words, even after all this time?

Ember was so deep in her thoughts that she was hardly paying attention when Dean got out of the car to meet up with Nick in front of the pub. Therefore, it took her a couple of seconds longer than it should have to realize that Nick was the siren.

Should she tell Dean? She thought fast. If she could tell that Nick was the siren, could Nick tell that she was half-demon? It didn't appear so. He was talking and chatting with Dean like old friends, even though she knew they'd just met today.

Ember's Cell Phone: Sam. Nick is the siren. I'm with them at Pub on 45th & Simmons. Come ASAP.

Shit! How would the siren infect her and Dean? Would it try to infect Dean while Ember was there? Or would it try to infect both of them at once? And then Ember saw it: the siren was passing Dean his drink.

"Hey, Dean?"

Dean ignored the drink long enough to turn around in his seat.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom, okay?"

Dean looked her up and down. "You sure you don't want me to go with you?"

"I think it would be safer if we both went in with you," the siren said. "That girl is in there, you know."

"C'mon, you said she goes after guys," Ember said. "I'll be fine. But I really, really gotta go! Look, Dean, I really don't want to go to the bathroom in your car."

Dean wrinkled up his face. "Yeah, okay," he said, "Just come right back.."

Ember made a beeline for the Pub. She met up with Sam behind the pub, about ten minutes later. Bobby was about two seconds behind Sam.

"What's going on?" they both asked. "Where's Dean? Where's the siren?"

"Not sure," she said, "I wanted to wait until you got here. I don't know if my powers are a match for his… hers… the siren's. Whatever. The two of them should be parked in a car out front."

But the car was gone.

"Do you think they went back to the motel?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Ember said. "Let's go."

Back at the motel, the three walked silently upstairs.

"Remember, they're only expecting one of us, maybe two," Bobby told Ember and Sam.

"I'll go first," Sam said, and Bobby and Ember both nodded.

As they had predicted, Dean had grabbed hold of Sam and forced a knife to his throat the moment he walked in the door. Ember ducked in around the two of them and attempted to force the siren against the wall, but quickly realized that they were evenly matched. "I thought there was something strange about you," the siren said to Ember. The siren, though barely able to move, but was quickly gaining ground, like a slow winner in a game of air tug-of-war. Meanwhile Bobby had stabbed Dean in the arm with the bronze dagger, and was headed toward the siren.

Dean let go of Sam after Bobby stabbed him, and Sam attempted to punch him; Dean ducked just in time. The siren attempted to duck out of Bobby's way and was successful. Ember used all of her power to push the siren sideways toward Bobby, and Bobby made a wild dive, finally throwing the bronze dagger into the siren's back.

The siren slumped down in front of the mirror, and was silent.

***Ember POV***

February 7th, Morning

"Here's what I don't get," said Sam. It was nearing time for Ember's plane to board, and the four of them were standing outside the airport in the misty dawn. There hadn't been enough time to bother with sleeping, so Ember was desperately looking forward to getting some sleep on the plane. "Why did the siren decide to be a guy? I mean, last time I checked, he wasn't Dean's usual type."

Ember thought for a second. "I was wondering about that too," she admitted. "And I think I understand."

All three men looked at her, surprised. "OK, so my guess is that by now the siren has gotten pretty good at covering its tracks. And you said the siren showed up at the lab first, right? Where Cara was?" Sam nodded. "So, my guess is that it first showed up there at the lab in a form that it thought would be pleasing to Cara. It must've figured she was onto it because of her research with the victims and oxytocin, and it wanted to take her out before things got more complicated… so when you first met it, it was a man."

"Makes sense," said Bobby.

"But that only explains why the siren appeared in the form of a man," Sam said, "not why it stayed that way."

Ember nodded. "It must've found some kind of weakness, some kind of… desire that wasn't being met."

There was silence as they all thought about this. "You sure you didn't kiss him?" Bobby asked Dean.

"No, dude! Come on! We shared a flask, that was all."

Ember looked at Dean. "So there wasn't anything he did, or said, that you liked? Because I know what a lone wolf you are usually, Dean. But I had barely gotten up here when you were calling Nick to help out with this investigation. He must've… I don't know, known how to get you free lap dances, or… didn't you say he knew all the words to all the classic 80's songs?"

Dean was definitely looking furious now, and uncomfortable. "Look, we didn't have a goddamn bromance, okay? He just knew a few good songs! It was the saliva, okay?!" And he walked away.

"Ember, I miss having you around," Sam said when he was done laughing. "Promise you won't be a stranger, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Ember said. "I do miss hunting with you guys," she admitted. "We should do something in a couple of months, when things slow down at my job. Text me, okay?"

"Yeah, we will," Sam promised.

"And Sam?" Ember asked.

"Yeah?"

"Whatever's going on between you and Dean? Work it out," she said.

Ember and Sam both looked toward the Impala, where Dean was drinking his soda (Bobby had forgone the usual beer after reminding them that they would both be driving soon) and looking irritable. Ember shared a look with Sam, and she knew that he understood: the siren had capitalized on some sort of insecurity of Dean's, and it was Sam's job to get to the bottom of it. Sam smiled. Did this have to do with the demon blood? But it wasn't the right time to ask… after all, Ember hadn't seen either of the boys in months.

"I will," Sam promised.