Author's Note: I spared Ellen and Jo... they were the trade I made for Bobby's legs, earlier. I won't use them a lot, but I'll pull them out once in awhile. I couldn't help it. They're both such great characters.

Also, just to make sure everything worked, I put together a sort of "power system" for all of the magic players involved in each episode, so that I could make sure I wasn't making Ember too powerful, and that I had the right number of Hellhounds. Just so you know, it works. In general,

Hellhounds: 5

Average Low-Level Demon: 10, with higher-level demons being 15 - 20

Ember: 15 in the beginning, maxes out at 50 beginning in "I Believe the Children Are Our Future"

Castiel: 40

Alastair: 45

Sam on Demon Blood: 50 - 70, but only works on demons and only partially on Ember

Lilith: 70

Archangel: 80

GOD: 100

So anyway, I figure Ember can hit a couple of blasts of Hellhounds for 5 each and then be tapped out on power. I'm way OCD-ing about this, but I didn't want to make her all-powerful. (Not yet.)

I don't own Supernatural.

***Ember POV***

Halloween

The next time Ember saw Bobby, he had gambled away 25 years of his life to a 900-year-old witch. The whole thing was a disaster, not least because witches were immune to Ember's power, but fortunately Dean and Sam were able to straighten the whole thing out.

"Don't you ever do that to me again!" Ember shouted at Bobby and Dean, who had also bet away years of his life. "I love you two more than nearly anybody else in the world, and you go gambling years of your life away for what? A pretty face?"

She turned to Bobby. "I don't give a rats' ass how you feel about whatever demon may or may not be my father, or about your damn legs! You ever do that again, I'll take away more than your damn legs!"

Ultimately, Ember and Bobby decided not to find out whether or not he was her real father. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Ember said. "I just didn't want to disappoint you when it didn't really mean that much to me anyway. We know I have demon powers. But you've always been my father. There's never been anyone else taking that position, and there never will be."

***Ember POV***

November 19, Evening

Shortly after Halloween, Dean and Sam both disappeared for nearly two weeks. Ember might have gone insane during this time if it hadn't been for Castiel, who did his best to search for the brothers and gave Ember updates when he could. As it turned out, the brothers were stuck in a television universe created by the Trickster, who turned out to be the angel Gabriel. Fortunately they were able to escape, and Dean and Ember solidified the reunion by springing for their own motel room for once to have sex, rather than simply asking Sam to leave for awhile.

Ember's 26th birthday was on November 15th, and she and the brothers took a brief trip back to Indiana to see her mother, a luxury which she rarely afforded herself. Shortly after her birthday, however, the brothers miraculously managed to gain back the Colt, a gun which could reportedly kill anything. They had thought that it was gone forever to Lilith, but it was in fact in the possession of Crowley, one of Lilith's subordinates. Sam, Dean, and Ember ambushed Crowley at his house, but he was more willing to give up the Colt than they had expected. He even killed two of his subordinates who were holding Sam and Dean hostage.

"I want you to take this thing to Lucifer and empty it into his face," Crowley told them.

"And why exactly would you want the devil dead?" asked Dean.

"It's called survival," Crowley said. "But I forgot, you two, at best, are functioning morons." Then, to Ember's discomfort, he looked her straight in the eyes, though she previously had thought that he couldn't see her while she was invisible. "Speaking of which, even if I couldn't see you, which I can, I'd definitely be able to smell you. You wreak. Went a little overboard on the men's cologne, there, love."

Ember seethed at him, but said nothing, and instead became visible.

Crowley continued. "Lucifer isn't a demon, remember? He's an angel. An angel famous for his hatred of humankind. To him, you're just… filthy bags of pus. And if that's the way he feels about you, what can he think about us?"

"But he created you," Sam said.

"To him we're just servants," Crowley answered. "Cannon fodder. If Lucifer manages to exterminate human kind… we're next. So… help me, hmm? Let's all go back to simpler, better times. Back to when we could all follow our natures. I'm in sales, damn it! So, what do you say? What if I give you this thing… and you go kill the devil?"

"Okay," Sam said. "You wouldn't happen to know where the devil is, by chance… would you?"

"Thursday, birdies tell me, he has an appointment in Carthage, Missouri."

***Dean POV***

November 21, Day

Carthage Missouri went to shit almost as soon as Dean, Sam, Ember, and Castiel arrived, accompanied by their friends Jo and Ellen. Castiel disappeared within the first five minutes, shortly after telling them that there were reapers – lots of reapers, according to Ember.

Then the demon Meg showed up, complete with "Hellhounds!" Ember shouted. "I'll hold them off! Run!"

Sam took off with Jo and Ellen to the nearest building, a gas station, but Dean stayed with Ember. He was alarmed to see that it was taking her more effort than it should have done to hold off the hellhounds, though he could hear many of them yelping in pain. "Ember!" he said, alarmed.

"Run!" she said, and finally she ran with him, with Dean shooting backward at what appeared to be nothing. Just as they reached the gas station, Ember screamed, and Dean saw a gash appear down the side of her leg. A loud yelp was heard right at Dean's feet, and Dean pulled Ember the rest of the way into the gas station. Sam was already ready with salt, throwing it behind them into the doorway.

Ember fell against the cash register, cradling her gashed leg. Jo ran up quickly and began to wrap it.

"They were ready for me," Ember said, pursing her lips from the pain. "They knew you'd be here, and they knew I'd be with you. That demon… you knew her, Dean?"

"Yeah," Sam said, throwing more salt to Dean. "We've met."

"She's the one that stabbed Bobby," Ember told the boys flatly.

Both of them stopped what they were doing in shock, then quickly resumed. "I'll kill that bitch," Dean said, anger boiling up inside him.

"What happened?" Jo said. "Dean told me you took out four demons a few weeks ago."

"The demons know I'm getting stronger," Ember said. "So they brought reinforcements."

"How many hellhounds?" Dean asked.

Ember said, ''I don't know, maybe… God, more than 20, less than fifty… maybe 25? 30? I got over half of them, but… my head. I think I overdid it a little… I feel… really weird. It's not just my leg, it's… like when you read too many books? Except… so, so much worse." Ember was holding onto her head as though it ached horribly.

"Will you be okay?" Dean asked her, worried.

"I should be, but… I can't guarantee how much help I'll be against the rest of the hellhounds. It feels like a premonition coming on, but I'm not… ahhhhgggh, I'm not seeing anything!" She seemed to be trying to focus on Dean's face.

"Do you know how many hellhounds are left?" Dean asked.

With what seemed like great effort, Ember stood. "Ember, don't-…" Sam began, but Ember told him to be quiet.

Dean, understanding what she was trying to do, helped her carefully over to the window. "There are 6 left," she said slowly, staring into the darkness as though she was having troule focusing. Then she added, "Damn," and Dean could see that this time she was smiling slightly, through her grimace.

"What?" asked Dean.

"I killed… 20, maybe? Most of the others."

"Wow!" everyone said. Sam arrived near the window with a chair for her so that she could sit down and look out the window.

"What are you seeing now?" Dean asked.

"Six death dogs, all yapping away trying to get in here," Ember said, trying for sarcasm but failing in her exhaustion. "Meg is gone, though, but there are another couple demons that have come and gone over the past few minutes. What do we do?"

"Salt lines are holding up," Sam reported. "Safe for now."

"Safe, or trapped like rats," Ember said, wincing again. "I don't think I can take six hounds right now, much less the 2 demons… It feels like my head is exploding. God, I keep getting these stabbing pains!"

"We've gotta figure out something," Dean said to Sam in an undertone. "You heard Meg. Lucifer is here. This is our one shot, and we gotta take it no matter what."

"I think I've got a radio working," Ellen said from the corner.

"Dean? Ember? Sammy?" came Bobby's voice on the radio.

It took about ten minutes, but Bobby was able to work out from the presence of the reapers that Lucifer was most likely in town to perform a ritual to summon Death, the worst of the Four Horsemen.

Just as they hung up with Bobby, Ember let out one long scream and crumpled to the floor. Dean ran over to her, but by the time he reached her she already had her eyes open.

"What's happened?" he asked her in alarm.

"Death!" she said. "Dear God my head hurts! Death is… he's going to summon him, tonight, at midnight! Lucifer…. He's killed half the town, and all the rest are demons.

"What?" asked Dean.

"Where?" Sam asked.

"How?" said Jo.

"Slow down," said Ellen. "How the hell are we going to get out of this gas station, for starters? Ember can't give us any guarantees, and without her powers we're all gonna get ourselves killed." Ember gave a small cry.

"What if we built a bomb?" Jo asked. "Ember, if you don't kill even one of those hellhounds, they'll have our scent forever. We've got to figure out a way to wipe them all out at once."

"Who's going to set off the bomb?" Dean asked.

"I will," said Ember.

"No!" Dean said. "Absolutely not."

Ember rolled her eyes. "Don't be dramatic," she said, "I'll detonate it remotely. Shrapnell is easier for me to hold back than hellhounds."

"You're sure?" Sam asked her.

Ember shrugged, wincing as she did so. "It's the best plan we've got," she said. "I'm more sure about this plan than the five of us trying to take down 6 hellhounds when I'm practically benched."

Dean didn't like it, but it was the best plan they had. Ten minutes later, the bomb was ready. Dean, Sam, Ellen, and Jo stood behind Ember, who stood as far away from where the blast of the bomb would hit as she reasonably could, while still able to see the doors.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Ready," everyone said.

Ember hit the button to trigger the blast, and the other four ran farther up the roof, shielding their faces. Once fully on the fire escape, Dean waited. One… two… three… four… finally, Ember came into sight, running as fast as her limp would carry her. She had a long gash down her face, was missing a shoe, and looked exhausted, but she was alive, and the bandage on her leg had held. Dean let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Did you get them all?" asked Sam.

"All except for two, and I killed them off afterward," she said hoarsely. "Let's go."

Twenty minutes later, the group found Lucifer. He was digging a gigantic hole in the ground, and he was surrounded by demons.

"It's just like in my premonition," whispered Ember.

They were going up against Lucifer. This was insane. They had lost the angel up their sleeve, and Ember could barely walk and barely use her powers.

"Last words?" Sam asked, echoing his sentiment.

Perhaps it was because he was thinking about Ember, or maybe it was because he'd just watched her get mauled by a hellhound, and still manage to take out nearly 30 of them. Whatever the reason, Dean whispered, "I love you" to Ember.

She stood, stunned, for a second, then blurted out, "I love you too."

"Okay," Dean replied.

"Okay," repeated Ember.

"Here goes nothing," said Dean.

The group strode forward with their guns cocked. "Hey!" Sam yelled at Lucifer. "You wanted to see me?"

"Well, Sam, you don't need that gun here," Lucifer replied. He was tall, and his skin seemed to be peeling in places. Dean wondered what pour soul Lucifer had chosen as his vessel, and if that would happen to Sam if Lucifer took Sam as his vessel next.

"You know I'd never hurt you," Lucifer said. "Not really."

"Yeah?" Dean said. "Well I'd hurt you. So suck it." And he shot Lucifer in the head, at point blank range, with the Colt.

Lucifer crumpled, and at first Dean felt elated. It was only a couple of seconds, however, before he realized something was wrong. None of the demons surrounding them had so much as blinked an eye. Worse, Lucifer had showed no signs of pain or death, like demons typically did when they were shot with the Colt. Like Azazel had. Dean looked around in fear.

Suddenly, Lucifer took a big breath. "Owwwww!" he said, getting up quickly. "Where did you get that?" And then Lucifer backhanded Dean. He could feel himself flying off the ground, hear Ember's scream, and he knew no more.

When Dean woke again, he quickly scrambled to find Sam, ignoring the pain in his forehead. With a sigh of relief, he noted that Ember, Sam, Jo, and Ellen were all still close-by. Ember shot him a terrified look, and he could see why. She appeared to be using all of her power on Lucifer, but he barely even seemed to feel it.

"Repeat after me," Lucifer was saying to the demons surrounding him. "We offer up our lives, blood, souls, to complete this tribute."

The demons did, and one by one they fell – 20, 30, 40, 50 of them fell to the ground.

They had been men once.

"What?" Lucifer said, catching Sam's frightened glare. "They're just demons."

Then the ground began to shake, and Lucifer looked away. Then, suddenly, miraculously, just when Dean thought all hope was lost, Castiel appeared in front of him. Castiel put his finger to his lips, reached out his hand, and suddenly all six of them disappeared, far away from Lucifer.