Author's Note: I kind of think Dean did the right thing in the series, with Lisa. Ember knows how to take care of herself, though, and I think Dean would've probably done the same thing. What do you think? Let me know in your reviews. I don't own Supernatural. Obviously.
***Dean POV***
May 20, Afternoon
Dean knew something was wrong immediately when Ember called in the afternoon. She never called in the afternoon; she was the only person he knew, other than Sam, that was as dedicated to her job as he was to his.
When he picked up the phone, there was static on the other line, however. "Ember!" he shouted frantically. "Ember!"
"Hello Dean," said Crowley's voice, and Dean's blood ran cold with fear. "Fancy a chat? God, how long has it been, Dean? Since my so-called demise, yes."
"Crowley, let her go, now," Dean said.
"Let them go?" Crowley asked, and Dean wondered who "them" was. "Do you know how long it took me to catch Ember in the first place? It's been coming up on two weeks now! You've taught her well, Dean. She goes invisible in the car, and she's salted her work and her home… I had to come myself. And I still had to wait until she was taking a walk with a client."
"Well," Dean thought, "I guess that explained the "them" part of Crowley's explanation." "If you touch her, I'll-…"
"Please, Dean, I'm the King of Hell, I'm not one of those heathen lowlifes," Crowley said.
"You give her back, or I swear, I'll-…" Dean started again.
Crowley cut him off. "Right. Right. You'll rip me a cornucopia of orifices. Let's get to the bit where I tell you how this goes. Your chocolate's been in my peanut butter for far too long."
"I'm going to kill you," Dean threatened.
"Oh, Dean. Ever the wit. I've got your half-demon, half-human, really quite fascinating girlfriend, and I'm keeping her until I'm satisfied that you've backed the hell off!"
"I'm telling you," said Dean. "Last chance to let them go easy." He could feel the cold fury rising.
"You're adorable when you get all threatening," said Crowley. "Don't worry. I won't hurt them. I won't even touch her. Provided you and Jolly Green stand down. Got it? Splended. Kisses."
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Balthazar was completely unhelpful, and Dean refused to call Castiel.
"We're not calling Cas," Dean insisted when Sam suggested it. Castiel was probably "in" on the whole plot anyway.
"Yeah, but Dean-…"
"We're not calling Cas!" he repeated, his anger for the angel still burning through his veins.
Twenty-seven hours, eight bottles of whiskey, three dead demons, and 0 hours of sleep later, however, he still had no leads on Ember's whereabouts. Unfortunately, he was so angry that he wasn't fully paying attention, and the fourth demon Dean forced into the torture chair managed to rub off part of the Devil's Trap with his foot during all of his kicking and screaming. Suddenly, Dean was hurled across the room and held by his throat.
And then Castiel was there, saving him, yet again.
"I didn't ask for your help," Dean told the angel when he could talk again.
"Well, regardless, you're welcome," said Castiel.
"Why are you here?" Dean asked.
"I had no idea Crowley would take Ember," Castiel said.
"Yeah, right," Dean said, anger flaring again.
"You don't believe me," Castiel said. It was a statement, not a question.
"I don't believe a word that's coming out of your mouth," Dean snapped.
"I thought you said that we were like family," Castiel protested in his low voice. "Well, I think that too. Shouldn't trust run both ways?"
"Cas, I just can't," Dean said. The fact that it was Castiel was the only reason Dean hadn't gone for his angel blade and started fighting, considering how angry he was. (That, and the fact that Castiel had gotten him said angel blade in the first place.) But the "like family" excuse would only last so long.
"Dean, I do everything you ask," the angel pleaded. "I always come when you call. And I am your friend. Still, despite your lack of faith in me, and now your threats, I just saved you, yet again. Has anyone but your closest kin ever done more for you? All I ask is this one thing."
In league with Crowley. He's in league with Crowley. The whole time. Maybe he even let Eve out of Purgatory. I'll bet he did, thought Dean. Ember's face rose in his mind again, and little Ryan, dead on the floor, and the rooms full of Jefferson Starships, bloodied and gooey. And Castiel had raised Sam from Hell, Dean had found out the other day. "Trust your plan to pop Purgatory?" Dean asked.
"I've earned that, Dean," Castiel said, and Dean's anger rose even higher.
"I came to tell you that I will find Ember," said Castiel. "And I will bring her back. Just stand behind me the one time I ask."
"You're asking me to stand down?" Dean asked. You've kidnapped my girlfriend, and you're asking me to stand behind you? Dean thought. While you let out all of the monsters which have made her life hell, have made my life hell…
"Dean-…"
"That's the same damn ransom note that Crowley handed me," Dean shot back at Castiel. "You know that, right? Well, no thanks. I'll find them myself. Both of them. In fact, why don't you go back to Crowley and tell him I said that you could both kiss my ass."
And then Castiel was gone.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
It had been nearly 36 hours by the time Dean found Ember, on a tip from Balthazar, who had come through after all. Ember was being kept in a cage in a very small building in Los Angeles. With her was a boy with black hair who looked about 12. He was tall and lanky.
"Dean!" Ember exclaimed. "Thank God! It's about time you got here," Ember said. "I'm bored as hell. You know it's been two days, right?"
Dean ran to the cage and began to pick the lock.
"Get me out of here!" she exclaimed. "I've tried the lock, but the bars are too strong. Can you believe they put me in a damn cage? But really, it's to protect me from them. Crowley needed me as leverage, but I don't think he wanted to piss you, Sam, or Castiel off that much."
Dean was relieved to hear the news. Just as Dean had almost finished the lock, he realized suddenly that the boy had a knife. "Ember!" he screamed. But it was too late, and Ember hadn't been watching. The demon boy plunged the knife straight into Ember's chest.
Ember wobbled, shocked. "Zee?" she asked the boy, sounding weak.
The boy, Zee, raised the knife again, and screamed, "That was for the apocalypse!" Dean broke into the cage at that moment and grabbed it away from him, and began the exorcism. If he let another of her clients die, he knew, she would never forgive him. Fortunately Ember helped him, at that moment, by falling directly on Zee and trapping him between the bars. The iron made him weaker than he normally would have been, and before Dean could complete the exorcism the demon had left Zee in a cloud of black smoke.
"Ember!" Zee screamed, running toward Ember.
Dean tried to call Sam, but there was no answer. "Put pressure on that, okay?" he asked, giving Zee a cloth. Ember was still conscious, and obviously in horrible pain, and bleeding, and Dean was panicked. "Zee, we gotta get her out of here."
Zee, Dean noticed, was focused and on top of things. He tried to pick Ember up, but couldn't lift her, and Dean caught her before she fell. "I've got her," he told the boy. "Grab my duffel bag, and find the salt gun. Have you ever used a gun before?" Ember could kill him later for having one of her clients use a gun, he decided.
"Yeah," the boy said, and Dean wondered what horrors he had had to face that had led him to Ember's treatment.
"If anything comes at us, shoot it," said Dean.
To the boys' credit, he was fantastic. He was focused, and he shot everything that came toward them. When Dean managed to get Sam out of a locked room, however, he feared for a second that the boy would refuse to give the gun over. Just as the boy began to turn the gun on Sam, Ember said weakly, "Zee, please," and the boy reluctantly handed Sam the gun. And finally, they were free, and Ember was bleeding.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Ember was dying. She was in the hospital, unconscious and peaceful, but Dean knew where things were headed. The stab wound had stabbed through too many vital organs.
Dean had bought Zee food, and told him he had done a great job. He had called Ember's job, and they had reported that they were sending someone to Vegas to pick Zee up. Apparently, according to the administration at Ember's job, quite a few of the children had seen Ember and Zee disappear into a van. Dean suspected that what had really been reported was that Ember had disappeared, but administration was unwilling to report things that way.
When Dean attempted to make conversation with Zee, the boy had shut him down. "I don't know who you are, or who you work with," he said, "But I know why they kidnapped us. You stay away from Ember, and you stay the hell away from me."
And then Dean was left with Castiel, who had shown up as soon as Zee had left the room.
"What do you want?" Dean snapped.
"Dean, listen-…"
"What do you want me to say? She'll be dead by midnight."
"I'm sorry," Castiel said.
"I don't care," Dean snapped. "It's too little, too late."
"Okay," Castiel said, fixing Dean with a hard stare. "Well, regardless, I didn't come for you."
"Meaning?" Dean asked.
Castiel placed his hand on Ember's forehead, then looked at Dean once again. "She is my friend, too. Did you really think I'd let her die?" He shook his head. "She's fine now. She'll wake soon."
Dean looked at Ember carefully. Ember looked so helpless, but he was so thankful that she would be alright. Even though he didn't trust Castiel, somehow he trusted that she would make a full recovery.
"Dean, I said I'm sorry, and I meant it," Castiel said.
Dean swallowed. He owed Castiel his gratitude, at least, he supposed. "Thank you," he said slowly. "I wish this changed anything."
"I know," Castiel said, "So do I. All else aside, I just wanted to fix what I could. I've erased the boys' memory of this event as well, and returned him back to Ember's job."
Erased his memory? Dean thought slowly. Something tugged at his brain.
How long had he and Ember been fighting? And it was always about the same things. It had started out so well, but even back in the beginning he had known that she didn't hunt for the same reasons that he did. "You're only in this because you've had no other choice. You never wanted to be a hunter. You did it because it was safer than staying in one place and waiting for the demons to come to you. It was safer for you, and safer for the people you loved."
And he had tried so hard. But he had seen the looks that Ember's mother had given him since he started hunting again. He'd even caught Bobby with a similar protectively resentful glare in his eye. "You're supposed to live. Like your mother wants. Like we want. Like Sam wants… My daughter got out. You walked away from the life. And I was so damn grateful, you've got no idea!"
Worst of all was how hard Ember had tried to pretend like she was okay with him continuing to live the lifestyle that hunting required. "I like hunting, it's just… not what I want to do on the regular… But Dean, you've hunted all your life. You're good at it. And you miss it, I know you do."
Even when Veritas had worked her magic on Ember, Dean had still believed that maybe things could work out. "I want to get married and have a child with you but you're never home. I'm not sure we can stay together because I really want a family. And sometimes the decisions you make cause me to wonder if you would be a decent father anyway, because you're reckless and you don't think first. You need to stop pushing your anger down. You push it down, and you push it down, and you're freaking impulsive."
The worst part of the situation, Dean now realized, was not their disagreement on whether or not they might ever have a family, or even the fact that Dean was never around. It was the fact that as long as he continued to hunt, he would always put Ember in danger. "I can only say it so many times. I fucked up. I fucked up, for real. I put you in danger, and I'm sorry. It'll never happen again."
But he had put her in danger again. Just knowing him would always put her in danger, with her demon attraction issues, now that her power had gone back to normal. Even knowing of him would put her in danger.
"There's one more thing you can do for me," he told Castiel.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Dean had planned to say good-bye to Ember one last time. He thought perhaps it would be like a bad movie - she would think she had been in a car accident, and he would pretend to be the man who had hit her.
What he didn't expect was for Castiel to swish alarmingly down the hallway of the hospital in his direction. "Dean, uh-…"
But Dean would never know what Castiel had been about to say, because Ember stormed out of her hospital room. Her eyes were blazing, and the vending machine next to Dean was rattling of its own accord.
"Did you just ask Cas to white-wash my memory?!" Ember asked. She put her hand on her hip where she usually kept her weapon, and, finding only the hospital gown, brandished her fist at Dean instead. "You're lucky I'm a half-demon and it didn't work, or Bobby and Sam would've kicked your ass into next week!"
Ember turned to Castiel. "Don't you have demons to fraternize with, or angels to betray, or Heaven to take over or something?" she snapped.
Castiel gave her a hurt look, then disappeared. Dean found himself almost wishing Castiel had stayed, if only to share the wrath of his girlfriend… almost.
"Dean, of all the ridiculous, stupid shit you've done, this is the worst. What the hell is wrong with you? What gives you the right to think you have any control over my life or my memories?! Fuck you, Dean Winchester. Get out of my life. I never want to see you again. Consider yourself dumped."
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Back in the Impala 5 minutes later, he had hoped that Sam would be supportive of his actions.
He was out of luck, however. "Dean, you have pulled some shady crap before, but this has got to be the worst. Whitewashing her memory? Take it from someone who knows-…"
"If you ever mention Ember to me again, I will break your nose," said Dean.