Author's Note: I do not own Supernatural.
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***Ember POV***
April 8, Late Night
After vanquishing Famine, Ember spent two weeks at Bobby's. Dean and Sam spent the first week there with her, while Sam detoxed from the demon blood. Both of them left for another hunt at the beginning of the second week, however Ember insisted she was not yet ready to join them. She would later be ashamed to explain to Dean that she spent that second week binging on Netflix and wishing she were out hunting with the brothers. Still, she felt that she needed some down time. It was a sort of self-imposed jail-and-relaxation sentence.
Dean had told her that he had gone with Castiel to see the wreckage she had caused. She knew she had killed 13 people, but no one but Ember seemed to care too much about this in comparison to the hundreds of demons she had apparently offed. This was the down side, Ember thought, of dating a hunter. Hunters were trained to think of the "greater good", to think in strategic moves of logic, rather than emotions. She knew that dating anyone for a year (much less a half-demon) was already extremely far out of Dean's comfort zone, so she tried not to weigh him down with how upset she was about the 13 people. Bobby and Sam were similarly unhelpful, so Ember spent long hours on the phone with her mother.
Finally, in March, Ember returned to hunting. She and Dean immediately resumed their previous habits, including sex as often and as creatively as humanly possible.
For some time, there was no news on the apocalypse front. In early April, however, Dean and Sam managed to learn from the angel Joshua that God would not be helping them in their struggle, which was a sizeable blow to their small band of hunters, or "Team Free Will" as Dean had taken to calling them. After this, Dean brooded and became even more surly, and Ember noticed that he had once again increased his intake of alcohol.
Finally, on April 8, the demons struck back. There must've been nearly 50 them, and these were not the low-level demons she'd attracted to the field when she'd been infected by Famine. "But you've taken on that many before!" protested Sam when Ember screamed at the boys to drive away faster. He must've killed upwards of 10 of the hosts with his shotgun, but he was all out of ammo, and he'd been sliced in the arm earlier on his way to the Impala.
"Not at once, and only by tapping into my demonic side!" she yelled, pushing backward at the demons with all her might, and killing wave after wave of them. By this point, Dean had been driving away from them as they continued to give chase for nearly half an hour. "Back with Famine, they all sort of… straggled in! Plus I was…" She trailed off, but she knew the other two knew what she meant. "Not in my right mind?" "Demonic with hunger?"
Ember knocked out wave upon wave of demons, but they still kept coming. Her nose was bleeding, her head was screaming, and she knew she couldn't go on much longer. Demons were much easier to kill when she was half-crazed with hunger to kill them, when she was fully employing her demon side, and when she was faced with a few demons at a time swirling through the air rather than demons who had already inhabited hosts and amassed an ambush. This was much more difficult, and she was exhausted with the effort of keeping it up. Still, she wouldn't kill another host – not after Famine. Sam and Dean could kill as many hosts as they wanted – they didn't have the constant threat of a demon side threatening to overtake them.
Ember felt near to passing out when Dean suddenly stopped the car, and Ember heard a voice over her head. The voice was chanting words Ember didn't recognize, but it sounded like Enochian. She could see flashing lights, hear the sounds of screaming, and see black demons traveling through the air, away from exorcised hosts. Someone has come to the rescue. It'll be okay. And Ember knew no more.
***Ember POV***
April 9, Afternoon
Ember was highly uncomfortable with this entire situation. As it turned out, they had apparently been rescued by a town that was well-versed in demon hunting and killing. The pastor's daughter, Leah, was a prophet, and was able to tell the townspeople where and when demons would be coming. Ember immediately felt uneasy about everything going on in the town, especially Leah. Her first impression of Leah was of a self-righteous preppy girl Ember had known in high school. Ember had disliked Anna, but even Anna didn't make her skin crawl quite the way Leah did. Still, Leah seemed nice enough. She already knew about Sam, Dean, and Ember, and welcomed them excitedly to the town. Therefore, despite her misgivings, Ember attempted to prolong judgment of Leah for the time being.
That afternoon, Leah had another vision of demons on the outside of town. Reluctantly, Ember set off with the brothers and a group of townspeople to hunt and kill some of the demon stragglers from the previous night. Ember's head hadn't fully recovered from the exhaustion of the previous night, but even so the townspeople won the fight by a landslide – there weren't many demons left. Unfortunately, one of the demons hid and managed to kill Dylan, one of the younger men in the town, while he was having a celebratory beer with Sam and Dean. At this, Ember's uneasy feeling increased.
Ember could tell by Dean's face at the funeral that he blamed himself for the young man's death. It didn't help that the boys' mother, Jane, blamed Dean as well. "Why don't we get the hell out of here?" Ember whispered to Dean as everyone gathered for the funeral. "This town can take care of itself. What are we still doing here?"
Dean nodded, and said stonily, "Fine. After the funeral, we'll leave."
In the middle of the funeral, however, Leah had yet another vision. "You'll see Dylan again," she told the congregation. "When the final day comes, Judgment Day, he'll be resurrected, and you'll be together again. We'll all be together again, with all our loved ones. We've been chosen. The angels have chosen us. And we will be given paradise on Earth. All we have to do is follow the angels' commandments." Ember looked at Dean to see if he shared her skepticism, but he was listening raptly.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
"No drinking, no gambling, no premarital sex?" Sam commented after Leah's explanation of her vision at the funeral service. "Dean, they basically just outlawed 90% of your personality."
"Well, whatever," Dean said. "When in Rome."
"Are you kidding me?" Ember asked. "You realize that means we can't have sex until we leave town, right? All the more reason to do so."
"I don't know, maybe they know something here that we don't," Dean said.
Both Sam and Ember looked at Dean in shock. "So… uh… you're cool with it?" Sam asked.
"I'm not cool," Dean said. "I'm not not cool. Look, man, I'm not a prophet. We're not locals. It's not my call." Ember caught Sam's eye, and noted that he looked as surprised as she felt. "Look, I'll catch up with you," Dean said, and made a hasty exit.
Sam looked at Ember with his eyebrows raised. "Does any of this seem weird to you?" he asked.
"Áll of this seems weird to me," said Ember. "I've never heard any angels, or Chuck, say anything about outlawing drinking, gambling, or premarital sex."
"I guess that means we're not leaving town then?"
"I guess so," Ember replied, resigned.
***Dean POV***
April 9, Night
Dean spent much of the afternoon lounging on the motel bed, thinking. Recently, through a long and elaborate turn of events, he had found out for certain from the angel Joshua that God didn't really care about the apocalypse. This had been his last hope, he was ashamed to admit. For all his talk about "Team Free Will", he honestly didn't see what the four of them (Sam, Ember, Castiel, and himself) could do to save the Earth from a prize fight between Heaven and Hell. He was becoming increasingly convinced that he was simply putting off the inevitable.
What would become of Ember, and Sam, if the apocalypse continued in this direction? He realized that he had been relying on Ember's powers for some time now, far more than he should have. It had been terrified when she had passed out after fighting the demons the previous night. And if demons were coming in armies of 50 or more, they were clearly becoming wise to her powers. Also, Lucifer clearly no longer had "important plans" that were worth keeping Ember alive. Castiel was right, Dean thought. Lucifer hadn't expected Ember to "hunger" for killing demons. They had been lucky last night – they wouldn't always have a town with a prophet to save them at the last possible second.
When was the apocalypse going to end? Dean went through several possible courses of action, but they all ended in death, particularly for the people he cared about. There was only one course of action he could see that would guarantee their safety. He could make a deal with Michael, for the safety of Sam, Ember, and Bobby. Maybe he could even barter some legs back for his surrogate father in the process. And maybe – just maybe – he could survive the apocalypse, and come back to them in the end. "Unlike my brothers, I won't leave you a drooling mess when I'm done wearing you." It was the only way he could see that the three of them, particularly Sam and Ember, could ever truly be safe.
He had almost made up his mind to pray to Michael when Sam and Ember came through the door. "Where have you been?" Dean asked.
"Drinkin'," Sam said casually.
"You rebel," said Dean sarcastically.
"I'd've had more, but it was curfew," Sam said.
"Right," Dean said, noncommittally. His mind was still on other things.
"Did you hear they shut down the cell towers?" Sam asked, and Dean forced himself to focus.
"That's news to me," he said.
"No cable, no internet. Total cutoff from the 'corruption of the outside world.'"
"Huh," Dean said, his mind still elsewhere.
He saw, but ignored, Sam and Ember exchanging a significant glance.
"Don't you get it?" Sam asked. "They're turning this place into some kind of fundamentalist compound."
"No, I get it," Dean said. Who cared? Who cared, in the end.
Dean saw Sam and Ember exchange glances again. "And?" Ember asked.
"What's wrong with you?" Sam asked.
"I get it, I just don't care," Dean answered.
"What?" Ember and Sam said together.
"What difference does it make?" Dean asked.
Sam and Ember both started talking at once.
"It makes a hell of a-…" Sam started.
"Dean, you can't possibly-…" said Ember, and both of them stopped.
Sam started the conversation over. "At what point does this become too far for you? Stoning? Poisoned cool-aid?"
"Have you ever heard of The Crucible?" Ember asked him. "Salem witch trials?"
"The angels are toying with these people," Sam added.
Dean shrugged. "Angel world, angel rules, man."
"And since when is that okay with you?" Sam asked.
"Since the angels have the only lifeboats on the Titanic," Dean answered. "I mean, who exactly is supposed to come along and save these people? It was supposed to be us. We can't do it."
Ember and Sam exchanged the most significant look yet. "So what, you want to just stop fighting, roll over?" Sam asked.
"I don't know," Dean said. "Maybe."
"Don't say that," Sam said.
Ember screamed, "Hell no!"
"Why not?" Dean asked.
"Because you can't do this!" Sam protested.
"Actually, I can!" said Dean.
"No, you can't," Sam said. "You can't do this to me. I've got one thing – one thing – keeping me going. You think you're the only one white-knuckling it here, Dean? I can't count on anyone else! And I can't do this alone."
"Dean, what the hell am I gonna do without you?" asked Ember. "And I'm not talking about in a clingy girlfriend kind of way. Do you know how horrible it was for me, waiting back at home for the two of you when Lucifer was set free?"
Dean saw Sam flinch at this, and knew that his brother still felt guilty for the debacle.
"Dean, we go out fighting, and we fight together, or not at all!" Ember continued.
Dean put down the cup of water he was holding and turned to leave.
"Dean-…" Ember shouted after him.
"I gotta clear my head," he said by way of explanation, and left.
***Ember POV***
April 10, Early Morning
After Dean left, Sam and Ember wasted no time in calling Castiel. Castiel was extremely drunk, however fortunately he still had some answers. "The names of all of the prophets are seared into my brain," Castiel told them. "Leah Gideon is not one of them."
"Thank God," Ember said.
Castiel and Sam looked at her curiously.
"Well, no angel I know has ever condemned premarital sex before," Ember said. "I just wanted to make sure that wasn't some new thing I had to abide by to get into Heaven."
"There is no rule in Heaven about pre-marital sex," Castiel said, confused. Sam just laughed and rolled his eyes.
Dean returned early the next morning, his hands bloody, with even more clues. "Paul's dead," Dean said, referring to the town bartender. "Jane shot him."
"Dylan's mother?" Ember confirmed. "I never did like her."
"It's starting," Castiel said.
"What's starting?" Dean asked. "Where the hell have you been?"
"On a bender," Castiel replied.
"Did he – did you just say 'on a bender?'"
"Yeah. He's still pretty smashed," Sam replied.
"It is not of import," Castiel said drunkenly. "We need to talk about what's happening here."
"Well, I'm all ears," said Dean.
"Well, for starters," Sam said, "Leah is not a real prophet."
"So therefore, we can go back to premarital sex and gambling," Ember clarified. "Drinking is still outlawed by angels though." Ember couldn't help but smile as she said it, taking a drink of lemonade to hide her smirk.
"Nice try," Dean said. "You might have even fooled me if you weren't sitting next to a drunk angel. What is she, exactly?"
"The Whore," said Castiel.
Ember choked on the lemonade. "Wow, Cas, tell us what you really think," said Dean.
"She rises when Lucifer walks the Earth," said Castiel, reading from an old scripture book. "And she shall come, bearing false prophecy." He tapped the page. "This creature has the power to take on a human's form, and read minds. The book of revelations calls her the 'Whore of Babylon.'"
"Well, that's catchy," said Dean.
"The real Leah was probably killed months ago," said Sam.
"Wait a second," said Ember. "Wouldn't I have known? I can see demons for what they really look like, and I can recognize an angel in human form."
Castiel shook his head. "She is made to imitate a prophet, which is a human," said Castiel. "There was no way you could've known."
"What about the demons attacking the town?" Dean asked.
"They're under her control," said Castiel.
"And the Enochian exorcism?" Dean asked.
"Fake," Castiel said. "It actually means, 'You breed with the mouth of a goat.'" Dean raised his eyebrows at Castiel, who added, "It's funnier in Enochian."
"So the demons smoking out – that's just a con?" Dean asked.
"Joke's on them," Ember added. "Leah surely had to know I'd kill most of those demons without their fake Enochian exorcism."
"Demons throwing each other under the bus is nothing new," Castiel said, "And she's stronger than all of them."
"Great," Ember said.
"So what's the endgame?" asked Dean.
"What you just saw," Castiel said. "Innocent blood spilled in God's name."
"You heard all that Heaven talk," Sam said. "She manipulates people."
"To slaughter and kill, and sing peppy little hymns," Dean said. "Awesome."
"Her goal is to condemn as many souls to Hell as possible," Castiel said. "And it's just beginning. She's well on her way to dragging this whole town into the pit."
"Alright," Dean said, "Then how to we go 'Pimp of Babylon' all over this bitch?"
Ember grinned up at Dean. She loved his sarcasm sometimes.
Castiel disappeared, but reappeared a second later. "The Whore can be killed with that," he said, placing a long branch on the table. "It's a stake made from a Cyprus tree in Babylon."
"Great," Dean said, "Let's ventilate her."
"It's not that easy," Castiel said.
"Of course not," replied Dean, and Ember groaned.
"The Whore can only be killed by a true servant of Heaven," Castiel said.
"Servant like…"
"Not you," Castiel said. "Or me. Ember's half demon. Sam, of course, is an abomination. We'll have to find someone else."
***Dean POV***
April 10, Early Evening
Ultimately, "Team Free Will" – Ember, Castiel, Dean, and Sam – were able to convince the pastor to kill his daughter, the Whore. He knew, deep down, that it wasn't really his daughter, and that this creature was bad news.
The fight didn't start off on the best foot, however. Castiel moved to hold the Whore and the pastor came forward with the Cyprus tree branch, but the Whore was ready for him. "Pizin noco iad." It was an Enochian chant of some sort, and Dean watched Castiel buckle and let go of Leah. Leah then threw the pastor backward into the wall.
Before she could toss Sam and Dean, however, Ember hit her with a blast of power. "Don't even think about it," she screamed, but Ember and the Whore seemed to be evenly matched.
Instead of continuing to fight Ember, Leah ran into the other room, where several of the congregation were making plans to hurt other members of the congregation. Apparently, Leah had told them that tonight was "Judgment Day," and that they had to prove themselves to the angels by burning some of the "sinners."
The pastor took off after Leah. "Wait! No!" Sam yelled, and he, Dean, and Ember sprinted after both of them.
"Help me!" Leah yelled to her followers. "He's a demon!" Two of Leah's followers attacked the pastor, and Dean and Sam joined the fight as well. "Light the kerosene," Leah told Dylan's parents, and Ember hit her with another wave of force power.
Sam freed himself from his opponent and launched himself into Dylan's father just as he began to light a match. Dean also freed himself from his opponent, and looked around in time to see Ember's nose start to bleed, still making the effort to hold Leah back.
Leah withdrew her force powers from Ember abruptly and side-stepped, and Ember collapsed to the floor in surprise due to the lack of resistance, like when an opponent suddenly lets go during a tug-of-war game. Dean made toward the Whore, but she knocked him downward and climbed on top of him. Ember recovered and made to grab for the Cyprus stick, but the Whore stuck out her hand and held Ember back, stopping her in her tracks.
The Cyprus stick was so close… Dean could reach it if he only stuck out his arm, but the Whore was trying to choke him. She saw the direction of his eyes, and laughed at him. "Please. Like you're a servant of Heaven. This is why my team's gonna win. You're the great vessel? You're pathetic, self-hating, and faithless. It's the end of the world, and you're just gonna sit back and watch it happen."
It happened at the same time: Ember pushed the Whore off of Dean with her force powers, and Dean grabbed the Cyprus stick and stabbed it through the Whore. It was over quickly: she rolled over, and the hole in her belly spit out sparks, and finally she was no more.
Five minutes later, Dean half-carried Castiel out the door, while Sam half-carried the pastor. "Dean, how did you do that?" Sam asked.
"What?" Dean asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Kill her," Sam answered.
"Long run of luck held out, I guess," Dean said, avoiding the question.
"Last I checked," said Sam, glancing quickly at Ember, "She could only be ganked by a servant of Heaven."
"Well, what do you want me to tell you?" Dean asked. "I saw a shot, I went for it."
"Normally I'd be happy at your discovery of self-worth," Ember said, bringing up the rear. "But you're scaring the hell out of me, Dean."
Now back at the Impala, Sam and Dean helped their respective partners into the back seat. "Are you going to do anything stupid?" Sam demanded.
Depends on your definition of stupid. "Like what?" Dean demanded, glancing at Sam over the top of the car.
"Like Michael stupid."
I wouldn't tell you first if I was. "Come on, Sam. Give me a break!"
But he knew neither Sam nor Ember believed his answer.
A few minutes later, when he knew Sam and Ember were involved in caring for Castiel and the pastor, Dean attempted to make his escape.
"Where you goin?" asked Sam.
"I'm just gonna grab some clean bandages out of the trunk," Dean promised. "Relax."
But when he had no sooner started the Impala than Ember materialized in the passenger seat. With a sinking heart, he realized she must've turned invisible, followed him out the door, and slid in before him. "Don't even think about it," she said, using her powers to freeze him in place.