Author's Note: This is one of the chapters that took shape at the very beginning of this story, and one that I am the most proud of, along with probably On the Head of a Pin. I hope you like it. Reviews are needed. Do I have to beg?

I don't own Supernatural. I do own Ember, and she's a bad-ass.

***Sam POV***

February 15, Late Night

It broke Sam's heart to know that he had disappointed his brother, again, after all this. Dean was out going after Famine with Castiel, and he was stuck here, chained to a sink. It was almost too easy when the demons found him, to drain one, and then the other. Far, far too easy.

And just when his hunger had ceased for a split second, before another wave hit, a new smell hit him – demon, but not really.

It was Ember, and her eyes were black. He knew, intellectually, that this wasn't good. Most demons have black eyes, which they hide with the eyes of their vessel; Ember was the opposite. Over a year ago, when Sam had first spoken to her about being half-demon (back before Anna, when she and Dean were flirting constantly), she had told him that her eyes could go black, but not for more than a second unless she was doing something that required "dark side" powers. As in, her eyes only remained black when she was using her powers to their extent, and doing something that she really wasn't supposed to be doing. It also occurred to him that if he wasn't so hungry for demon blood, he might be terrified right now. But her blood wasn't demon blood, not pure, anyway. She was still too human.

"They got to you before I could get to them, I see," she said in an icy voice.

"What?" said Sam, confused.

"Let's go," Ember said. She didn't wait for him to get up on his own, but prodded him up with her powers. Similarly, in the parking lot, she laid her hand on a nearby Corvette, which immediately began to purr, and jumped inside, forcing Sam to follow. She then sped down the road in the Corvette at top speed. When other drivers passed them on the road, Ember used her powers to push their cars out of the way and sped past them.

It occurred to Sam through his haze of hunger that something was strange here, and he ought to focus.

"Where are we going?"

"To find more demons, obviously," Ember said, with a maniacal glint in her black eye. "Can't you smell them?"

That sounded good. Demons were good. He wanted their blood. But there was something else odd about this conversation…

"Where did you go?" he asked her, finally latching onto a question he had had earlier, when things like that seemed to matter.

"To kill demons," she said, speeding even faster with the car.

Demons? Castiel had thought she would kill them…

"Why… did you come back to me?" he asked slowly.

She smirked, her grin becoming increasingly wide and maniacal. "Supply dried up. Needed more."

"And… where we're going now… there are more demons?" Sam asked.

"I can feel them," she answered, grinning toothily. "And Famine. He's there too." She cackled maniacally again. "Guess his power is working against him. I'm hungry to kill him, too." Ember appeared to shake her head for just a second, and for just a few seconds her maniacal grin subsided somewhat. "When you go in, you need to get Cas out. Then you can drink them, if you want, if I don't kill them first. I don't care what you do. But you need to go in first. Get Cas out. Promise me. Promise me you'll get Cas out."

Sam could tell that, like him, she was struggling to focus through a haze. It made him redouble his efforts. "Get Cas out… why?"

"I'll kill him," Ember said, shaking her head again and pushing a car out of the way far more roughly than she needed to. The car spun out into the extra lane, the front headlight shattering, but Ember paid it no mind. "Demons, and angels, and Horseman. I hate them. I hate them all. You'll have maybe a minute, that's as long as I can give you. Get Cas out."

***Dean POV***

February 15, Late Night

Dean had wondered, of course, why Famine had affected Sam and Ember but not him. Famine, as it turned out, had a theory. "That's one deep, dark nothing you've got there, Dean. Can't fill it, can you? Not with food or drink. Not even with sex. You can smirk, and joke, and lie to your brother, lie to yourself, but not to me! I can see inside you, Dean!"

And somewhere deep down, Dean knew it was true. "I can see how broken you are, how defeated," Famine continued. "You can't win, and you know it, but you just keep fighting, just keep going through the motions. You're not hungry, Dean, because inside, you're already dead."

Dean sighed. Famine was right. He couldn't do this. He couldn't defeat Famine. He never should've come on his own.

Then he saw a blinding flash of light, and realized that Castiel had been banished. No! he thought. Cas! But then he heard Sam's voice. "Let him go."

With a horrible realization, Dean saw the blood around Sam's mouth, and realized he'd given in to his hunger for demon blood. "Sammy, no!" he yelled.

Two demons walked toward Sam, but Famine yelled, "Stop! No one lays a finger on this sweet little boy."

Both of the demons stopped in their tracks. Famine continued. "Sam, I see you got the snack I sent you."

"You sent?" Sam asked, and Dean realized that Famine must have sent demons back to the motel room for Sam to drink.

"Don't worry," Famine said. "You're not like everyone else. You'll never die from drinking too much. You're the exception that proves the rule, just the way Satan wanted you to be." Dean saw Sam's face flicker in disgust, and for a second, he thought he saw Sam's confidence falter.

"So…" Famine said in his slow voice, "Cut their throats!" He gestured to the demons around him. "Have at them!"

"Sammy, no!" screamed Dean.

"Please!" said Famine. "Be my guest."

Sam was taking labored breaths now, and though it seemed to cost him everything he had, he refused the offer. Instead, he raised his hands, and began exorcising all five demons at once. Dean could see that it was costing him everything he had. How many demons had he drained? Dean wondered. At least one. Maybe two? Still, his nose was bleeding, but soon all five humans, now demon-free, had dropped to the ground.

"No," Sam said firmly to Famine.

"Well…" said Famine. "If you don't want them, then I'll have them." And then the old man collected all five demons from the underworld, opening his mouth wide as though breathing them all in. Dean and Sam made eye contact, both of them horrified.

Then Sam stuck out his hand again, and Dean knew he was going to attempt to kill the Horseman, too.

"I'm a Horseman, Sam," Famine said. "Your power doesn't work on me."

Then, a voice which sent chills down Dean's spine said, "But I'm hungry too."

Ember had come out of nowhere, Dean thought. Her eyes were a terrifying black. "Sam, watch out!" yelled Dean, but he quickly realized that Ember was not after Sam. She, too, had her hand out (the one that had been twitching for the past few days), and both she and Sam were summoning all of the demons from inside Famine. Dean could see that Ember was twisting and turning the demons with her hand as well. She had a maniacal look on her face that he knew he would never forget.

And then Famine was no more.

Slowly, Ember's eyes went back to normal. Her face seemed to fall, and she fell to her knees, crying. He ran to her and caught her deftly, holding her to him. Tears swam in her eyes. "I thought…" Dean told her. "But your hunger…"

"Demons," she said, her voice muffled in his shirt as she hiccupped to catch her breath. "And angels, apparently. I left so… so I wouldn't kill Cas. Demons… when I was younger, I was so angry, and so now… I couldn't control it. I killed them all…"

Ember raised her head then, and it was only when Ember spoke that Dean realized that Cas had joined them again. "I'm so sorry, Cas. That's why I left. I couldn't be around you. It's not you, it's angels in general. And I don't feel it now, and I don't want to kill you, I promise, but…"

"There's no need," said Cas, nodding stiffly at Ember. "Famine brought out the hunger in all of us." He nodded at Dean, and Dean realized that Cas was (as usual) not stopping to heed the emotions of everyone involved, but instead was moving on to business. "I'll take Sam back to Bobby's panic room to detox. I wasn't very helpful. It's the least I can do."

Dean nodded at Sam, who looked resigned but determined. He then nodded at Cas, who left with Sam without a word.

Dean and Ember were alone, suddenly, and Dean's head was swimming with the image of Ember, standing regal and terrifying a few moments ago, black eyes blazing like coals. It stood out in sharp contrast with the Ember of the moment, who was crying into his lapels. He held her tightly and strong-armed her into the Impala, which was outside.

"What do you mean, you killed them all?" he asked her.

"I… it was like being in a haze," she confessed, still swallowing tears. "I left because Cas… I was so angry. But I knew he… he didn't deserve it. So I left, and I got to a big field… and then I used all my demon powers that I have, and they were attracted to it, and they all came... They sort of straggled in, and I could feel the demon side take over, and I killed them, one by one. There must've been…" Ember gulped. "Maybe 100, overall." Ember was calmer, now, though she was still crying. "And I was in the air, and they were all around me, and a few touched down to humans, and I don't know how many humans I killed in the process…" She was still crying.

"You… a hundred?!" Dean was startled. He didn't know what to say.

"I… I don't know," Ember said, and dissolved into tears again.

Dean held her close the rest of the way to the hotel. His heart ached for her. After how worried he had been that she would kill everyone in town, how upset and scared he had been when she had left, her hunger had been for killing demons and angels. He would marry this woman, he knew that now. He loved her, and that was that. Now that Famine was gone, Dean's heart was suddenly so full of love that he could no longer hold in the words. "I love you, Ember," he told her softly. "I love her so much."

She looked up at him, tears shining in her eyes. "I love you too, Dean," she told him.

***Dean POV***

February 16, Very Early Morning

Dean woke from a deep sleep to find Castiel at the foot of his bed. "Cas!" he said in a hissed whisper, because Ember was still asleep next to him. She did not wake.

Castiel pointed at Ember and put his fingers to his lips, and gestured for Dean to follow him. When Dean stood up and came close to Castiel, Castiel put his fingers on Dean's forehead, and suddenly he was in a completely different place.

Dean was met by a sight that would have been gruesome, if it hadn't been so awe-inspiring. He was on the edge of a small clearing. Strewn across the field were bodies – 13 total, he counted, though a couple of them were in pieces. And everywhere – absolutely everywhere – there was sulfur. There was sulfur on the trees, sulfur on the ground, sulfur covering all of the leaves. Dean stopped short of where the sulfur began, but he guessed it would have gone nearly to his waist at its deepest point, near the middle of the clearing.

"I wanted you to see it," Castiel said, "before I cleared it up. Your girlfriend has secured her place in Heaven. So long as she does not stray from the path she is on, the angels will honor her among us. But… that does not mean she has not also gone farther on the path of darkness."

"What does that mean?" Dean asked.

"Killing demons, in any capacity, is considered an act of Heaven," Castiel said. "But an infection by Famine, particularly one that causes a killing spree – not to mention the killing of human hosts - will tempt her dark side."

"Will she be okay?" Dean asked Castiel, concerned.

"There is no evidence to the contrary at the moment," Castiel said. "The angels are impressed with her, at least."

Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing."

"No," said Castiel. "I'm pretty sure that Lucifer and the demons will decide, in the wake of this tragedy, that they won't be able to use her in the way that they thought that they would," he said. "Before they wanted her left alive, to use if they could convert her. Now it seems she falls in league with you, that they want her dead as soon as possible."

"Always what I love to hear," Dean said sarcastically. He was still awed by the sight of the field full of sulfer. He wasn't sure what to think. To be honest, he himself was torn between worry for his girlfriend and sheer awe at her power and what she had achieved. "Why… why didn't you bring her?" he asked Castiel.

Castiel cocked his head, clearly confused. "She doesn't like the dead bodies," he reminded Dean. "She scares me when she cries."

Castiel had a point, Dean thought – Ember would not have liked knowing that 13 humans were killed. She didn't care about her permanent place in Heaven as much as she did about whether or not she was tempted by the dark side.

"How many demons did she kill last night?" Dean asked Castiel.

Castiel shook his head. "Somewhere upwards of 100, I'd say," he said, and Dean's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Last night her power must've reached…." Castiel blew out a breath. "Every demon in the Midwest, perhaps."

"Every demon in the Midwest?" Dean said, shocked.

Castiel shrugged. "Only the low-level ones that could be easily attracted. That's why she didn't kill any angels. We don't come simply because a half-demon calls."

"Don't call her that!" Dean told Castiel sharply.

"I apologize," said Castiel matter-of-factly. "I did not mean it as an insult. Like I said, she has earned her place with us in Heaven."

"I'll let her know that," Dean said sarcastically. "You're right, she'll be really upset about the 13 humans she killed, and how close she got to going 'dark side.'" Still, he thought, quirking a proud smile, his girlfriend had killed over 100 demons in one night. Particularly with the apocalypse coming, he wasn't letting this woman go any time soon.