Author's Note: I had to throw in something about the bees. Just had to. I don't own Supernatural.

***Ember POV***

May 18, Day

Allan was 12. He was the sweetest young man Ember had ever known, but he was very traumatized. Ember had almost hoped that he had been orphaned, because she liked him immediately… but it wasn't meant to be. He had family who was looking for him, and Ember, Dean, and Sam were forced to sneak out of the police station due to a misunderstanding.

To make matters worse, Bobby had disappeared. The brothers had not allowed him on their last mission, and he was clearly angry about it. He'd managed to steal the flask out of the safe, and ran away with it to who knew where. Ember was angry with her father all over again, and (like the brothers) she knew there was a good possibility she may never see him again. It was almost as though he had died yet again, and she was very upset.

Ember did what she normally did when she got upset, and threw herself into work. In this case, "work" meant "hunting." Over the next couple of days, Sam, Dean, and Ember worked on the third of the four ingredients necessary to kill Dick Roman: bone of a righteous man.

Their first idea was to call Castiel. Although his ability to string thoughts together in the present was iffy at best, he seemed to have a fairly decent recollection of events in the past. They hoped that he would be able to point them toward someone who was known up in Heaven for having been extremely righteous when they lived… preferably someone whose grave was clearly labeled and had not yet been robbed.

When Ember and Dean attempted it, Sam was busy at a health food store trying to grab appropriate food. The attempt was short-lived, though. Castiel appeared naked in Dean's car, with nearly 30 bees swarming around him.

"Cas!" Dean cried as he and Ember leapt out of the car.

"What the fuck!" Ember yelled.

"What is wrong?" Castiel said, staring at them out the window, perplexed. "Aren't they magnificent? It's true perfection, really, the way they each carry out their jobs and live to be harmonious, all consistently working nonstop for the bigger picture!"

"Look, Cas, uh, maybe you should go back to where you were before and put some clothes on, and give the bees back, and then head back here. Do you think you can do that?" Ember was trying not to look at Castiel's nakedness, though what she had seen had been rather impressive.

Castiel looked back at her through a haze of bees, which did not seem to be stinging him. "Oh, I suppose," he said, and disappeared again.

He did not come back. In the end, they decided to take bones from a nunnery. They chose a nun named Sister Mary Constant, who had lived 83 years of quiet, nun-like goodness, according to the church's records. "Let's bone this nun," Dean said, breaking into her crypt. Ember rolled her eyes, but giggled. Just in case, she and Dean dug up two more additional nuns with righteous records in case Sister Mary Constant's bones didn't work.

When Ember and the brothers summoned Crowley, however, Crowley did not appear. Instead, they heard a knock on the door, which turned out to be Meg, with Castiel. Castiel informed them that Kevin, the prophet, had been kidnapped by Leviathans., before going once again on a random tangent about monkeys and cosmetics.

"Hey! Focus, is Kevin alive?" Dean yelled to Castiel, clapping his hands in frustration.

"I don't want to fight!" Castiel shot back at him.

"Nobody is asking you to fight, Cas," Ember said to him gently, though Dean gave her the stink-eye.

"They took him," Castiel answered. "He's alive." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Wow, I felt so much responsibility, but it's in your hands, now!"

"Wait, hold on-…" started Dean, but Meg had spied the summoning on the table.

"Guys, what's all that?" she asked.

"We called Crowley," admitted Sam.

"You what?" said Meg. Ember knew Meg was only teaming up with them because she was on the run from Crowley.

"Don't worry," Dean said. "He never showed."

"What do you mean never-…"

"Do you see him anywhere?" Dean asked. "He stood us up!"

"Well, I'm sorry about that, but I'm outie," Meg said. "He could still sh-…"

"Show up at any time," finished Crowley, appearing suddenly from the corner. "Hello, boys. Sorry I'm late. This is an embarrassment of riches."

All five of them looked at Crowley with trepidation. "Stay, won't you?" he asked Meg. "There's really nowhere to run." She attempted to make a break for it, but he rebelled her. "Don't you even think of smoking out, pussycat. I've got eyes all over the place."

"Leave her be," said Castiel in his low voice.

"Castiel," the King of Hell said, drawing near to the angel. "When last we spoke, you – well, enslaved me. I'm confused. Why aren't you dead?"

"I don't know," the angel said honestly.

"Well, do you want to be? 'Cause I can help with that," Crowley said.

"Alright, enough," Dean said.

"Hey, watch it," said Ember.

"It's enough when I say," said Crowley. "I came here to help you. I find out you've been lying to me – harboring an angel, and not just any angel – the one angel I most want to crush between my teeth!"

"Oh, so you can crush angels now, huh?" Meg asked.

"You bore me," said Crowley to Meg. "You know that? You have no sense of poetry." He turned to Castiel. "Now, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Well, I'm still, uh…. Honing my communication strategy," Castiel said. "You know, I haven't even been back to Heaven. I keep thinking, there's no insects up there, but here we have trillions. You know, they're making honey, and silk, and… miracles, really."

Crowley looked at Dean, who shrugged. "What are you talking about?" he asked Castiel suspiciously.

"Um, preferring insects to angels, I guess," said Castiel. "Here," he said, offering something from his pocket to Crowley. "I can offer you a token, if you like. It's honey. I collected it myself."

"At least that explains about the bees, but I still don't know why you were naked," Ember commented.

Crowley shot her a strange look, and then said, "You're off your rocker."

"After he survived the Leviathans, he took on all of Sam's pain from Lucifer," Ember said.

Crowley nodded to show that he understood. "Karma's a bitch, isn't it?"

"Look, did you come here to doggy-punch your old grudges, or to help us end Dick?" Dean asked. "Pick a battle!"

"Well, I'm vexed," Crowley said. "I'd like to do both. But where's the fun in clobbering a ball of wet fur?" He looked at Dean and Sam. "Text me when Sparkles here retrieves his marbles, I suppose. Meanwhile, a prezzie." He pulled out a vial of blood from his suit.

"Really?" Sam asked. "Just… .boxed up and ready to go?"

"I'm a model of efficiency," Crowley said.

"Is that right?" Sam asked. "Then why were you late?"

"Dick had me in a Devil Trap," Crowley said plainly.

The entire group looked at each other. "He's not an idiot," Crowley said by way of explanation. "He knows what you two are after."

"So what did he offer you?" Sam asked.

"A fair deal," Crowley said. "In exchange for giving you the wrong blood." He shook the vial, smiling. "It's demon… but is it mine?" He continued to shake it, then admitted, "It's my blood. Real deal."

"And why should we trust you?" Dean asked.

"Good God, don't, never trust anyone," Crowley said. "A lesson I learned from my last business partner." He stared daggers at Castiel.

"All right," said Dean. "Give us the blood."

"Certainly," said Crowley. "Ooooh, bonus. Meg? I'm gonna scoop you up, take you home, and roast you 'til you're jerky." Castiel moved toward the small group. "But not yet," he added. "Cas can have you for now. Hilariously, it seems he'd be upset at losing you. And the boys need Cas to get Dick. Don't they, Cas?"

"I- I don't fight anymore," Castiel said, looking downward.

"Come on," said Crowley. "Given the particulars of your enemy, sadly you're vital." And then Crowley threw the vial of blood to Sam and disappeared.

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

Ember and the brothers weren't entirely sure if the blood and bone recipe had worked, but they headed off to the Leviathan's corn syrup company, Sucrocorp, anyway to attempt to send Dick back to Purgatory. Upon arriving and wiring into the security system from the van outside like Charlie had taught them, they realized a huge flaw in their plan – Dick Roman was everywhere. He was at the desk in the lobby. He was in a meeting with several constituents. He was roaming the hallways.

"What the hell?" asked Ember. But then she spotted something that made her even more alarmed. "Bobby."

"What?" asked Sam and Dean together.

"The maid over there. With the knife?" Ember pointed to a woman dressed in a pink maid's uniform and carrying a knife, headed into Sucrocorp. "That's Bobby. She's possessed."

Sam grabbed the binoculars to look closer. "That's the maid," he said. "From the motel."

"What motel?" asked Dean.

"The one we stayed in when we went after the Alpha vampire, pay attention!" Ember snapped.

"Look, just wait here," Sam said, getting out of the car, and Ember followed him.

"Are you out of your mind?" asked Dean.

"You've got the weapon, and eyes on Dick, plural," Sam said. "I'll take care of Bobby."

"Sam! Ember! Hey!" Dean yelled, but both of them raced off without him, Ember going invisible and struggling to keep up with Sam's long steps.

Upon catching up with Bobby, Ember grabbed the maid from behind, and Sam jumped in front of her. "Bobby. I know you're in there. Listen to me, there are cameras everywhere. There's one right there." He pointed upward. "Stop, okay? You're gonna get her killed."

Bobby attempted to pry himself away from both Sam and Ember, but he didn't have the strength to tangle with one on either side. In the scuffle, he flipped them around, so that he was holding Ember up against a large van, and Sam was attempting to pull him off of her. The maid closed her hands around Ember's throat, and suddenly Bobby yelled, "No!" and let go of the maid, who fell on the ground haphazardly.

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

The next morning, the group awoke in low spirits back at Rufus' cabin. The previous night had been a complete bust – there was no clear way to get to Dick Roman, and Bobby had disappeared, though they still had his flask. The only good news was that the maid would make a full recovery.

"Tell me again why you turned tail for some maid?" Meg said. "You were right there."

"Shut up Meg," said Dean.

"Bite me," said Ember.

"Because Dick made more Dicks," Sam said dejectedly. "He must've kept a chunk of the original Dick Roman somewhere," Sam said. "They'd all have to touch it."

"Crowley was pretty sure Castiel could help," Ember said, and they all turned to face the angel, who was washing the dishes.

"I can't help," he said, clearly upset. "You understand, I can't. I destroyed… everything, and I will destroy everything again. Can we please just leave it at that?"

They all looked at each other. "No," Dean said, standing. "No we can't."

"Dean-…" Ember and Sam started, but Dean ignored them.

"We can't leave it," Dean insisted. "You let these friggin' things in. So you don't get to make a sandwich. Nobody cares that you're broken, Cas. Clean up your mess!"

"You know," Castiel said, looking thoughtful. "We should play Twister." And he disappeared.

"Nice," Meg said. "You scared off the Empire's only hope."

"Meaning?" snapped Dean.

"Did it occur to you that every one of those things was in Cas?" Meg asked. "He knows them. He can see past the meat suits." She turned to Ember. "Better even than you."

"So he'll be able to spot the real… fake Dick Roman," Sam clarified.

"Gold star, sugarpants," Meg said. "Too bad he's fruit loops, you might've had a chance."

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

That evening, Bobby showed up. "Idgits," he said, and they spun around to face him.

"Bobby," Sam said. "We didn't know if you-…"

"Well, you should've," Bobby said. "You've got the flask." He shook his head. "Dumb. You should've burned it right off."

"Bobby-…" Ember and Dean started.

"I'm still jonesing to go back, grab some poor bastard… kamikaze 'em goin' after Dick," Bobby admitted to the boys. "It's bad." He stopped for a second, looking at Dick Roman's face on the screen of Dean's computer. He turned rigid and looked very angry, but appeared to almost shake himself when Dean shut his computer.

"Let's be real," Bobby continued. "I damn near killed you. And that woman."

"It wasn't your fault, Bobby, not really," Sam said.

"Right," said Bobby. "That's just what ghosts turn into." He looked away from them all. "I really bet the farm I could outsmart that," he admitted.

"It's not that easy," Ember said, and Bobby looked at her carefully.

"So what's it feel like?" Dean asked, and Bobby whirled to face him.

"What? Going vengeful?" he asked. He shook his head. "It's an itch you can't scratch out." Bobby looked at his daughter. "I don't know how you've done it all these years, Ember. Maybe we all don't give you enough credit."

"It gets easier with time," Ember said, shrugging.

He shook his head. "Look… I'm done. I can't do it." He looked at all of them. "Go get Dick," he said. "But don't do it because you think it'll scratch the itch. Do it 'cause it's the job." They all looked at each other, and Bobby continued. "And when it's your time… go."

Without speaking, the four of them seemed to come to some kind of agreement. Sam and Dean gathered a fire, and Ember held out her hand to grasp Bobby's, preparing to talk to her father one last time. She could feel the coldness of his hand, but couldn't quite seem to grab it. She could feel tears pricking the corners of her eyes. "I love you, Dad," she whispered.

"I love you too, girl," he said. "I love all you guys. Here's to… running into you guys on the other side. Only… not too soon. Alright?"

And then the flask began to burn, and Bobby was gone.

And when Ember looked down, she realized that the hand in hers was Dean's.

***Castiel POV***

May 20, Evening

Castiel sat in the trees outside the cabin playing Connect Four by himself. The games helped him focus. They helped him think about less important things, and he thought perhaps this helped him focus on the more important things when he had to think about them. But perhaps this was wrong, and things were upside down.

Ember was coming near him, and Ember scared him far more now than she used to, because he didn't trust himself to control his attraction to her anymore. "I don't like when you come near me," he said to her honestly.

She gave him a hurt look. "Whatever, asshole, I'll leave then."

"Wait!" he said, confused. "Did I say something to hurt you?"

She looked at him strangely, then shook her head. "Cas, you just told me you didn't like having me around."

"No," he said frankly. "I said I don't like it when you come near me. I know what I said. I don't trust myself. You smell good."

Ember smiled, and, alarmingly, sat on the ground right in front of Castiel. He thought his message had been clear.

"What are you doing?"

"I trust you," she said.

Castiel squirmed backward, just slightly, so that her smell wasn't quite so intoxicating, and she didn't follow. Instead, she said, "Cas, without you, we can't tell which Leviathan is Dick."

"I won't fight."

"Fine. I get that. But Cas, you can do math, right? And probabilities?"

"I still know my math." He thought for a second. "Did you know that all animals use simple math in some way?"

"Cas," Ember said, and his focus whipped back to the half-demon girl. "With you, this plan might fail. Without you, this plan will fail. Got that?"

"I don't trust-…"

"You fucked up, Cas," Ember said, moving near him again. "It's called forgiveness. Isn't that what you angels are supposed to be about? I'm pretty sure there was something in the Bible about God being about forgiveness, at least. Or, in the new testament, anyway. Look, the point is, I trust you. You should trust yourself."

And then she did the kindest thing she had ever done for him, and kissed him on the cheek. He scrambled backward from her again, alarmed.

"See?" Ember said. "Trust yourself. We need you."

And she walked away, the mark of her lips still burning the angel's cheek.

***Ember POV***

May 21

Once Castiel was on board, the plan was simple, and perfectly executed, for the most part. Meg and Ember drove the Impala right through the Sucrocorp sign on the front lawn, drawing the fire of all Leviathans nearby. Dean, Cas, Sam, Jo, and Ellen snuck into Sucrocorp the back way. Dean and Cas went to kill Dick, and Sam, Jo, and Ellen went to free Kevin Tran.

Once Ember and Meg were done beheading Leviathans on the front lawn, Ember headed back inside the building, invisible. By the time Ember caught up with Dean and Cas, they had cornered Dick in the laboratory. Dean had what Ember knew to be a fake copy of the bone bathed in the 3 bloods of the fallen, and was holding it up in front of Dick.

"You sure I'm even me, Dean?" he was saying.

"No," Dean said. "But he is." Dean gestured at Castiel, who was behind him. "See, here's the thing when dealing with Crowley, he will always find a way to bone you."

"This meeting is over," said Dick, but Ember slammed the door shut.

In the second it took Dick to look over at the mysteriously shut door, Castiel had rushed Dick, and Dean had stabbed him with the fake bone. Dick sent Castiel hurtling into Ember, and pulled out the fake bone from his chest.

"Did you really think you could trump me?" Dick said.

"Honestly?" Dean said. "No." And he stabbed him with the real bone, right through the neck. "Figured we'd have to catch you off guard," he explained.

Dick began to scream, and then he began to pulse. Ember backed toward the door, but Dean and Castiel seemed frozen where they were. Sam, Jo, Ellen, and Kevin Tran ran through the door Ember had slammed shut, colliding with Ember in a heap. And then, suddenly, Castiel, Dean, and Dick were gone.