Author's Note: I hadn't originally planned to put this kiss here. I had planned to put it at the end of Season 7, but it didn't seem to fit there, and it did seem to fit here. Let me know what you think. I don't own Supernatural.

***Ember POV***

January 30, Evening

Dean was lucky enough to catch a case in Farmington Hills, Michigan less than a week later, which was close enough that Ember drove to see him over the weekend. The three of them reunited with Charlie Bradbury, the hacker, to solve the case, which involved several people who were connected through a LARPing (Live Action Role Playing) group. After the case was solved, the two brothers and Ember had a good time dressing up in Medieval gear and fighting for the honor of the queen, who happened to be Charlie.

A week later, however, Dean called Ember in a very different mood.

"So… met my grandfather," he said.

"You what?"

Dean proceeded to tell Ember that his grandfather was apparently something called a "Man of Letters", which he described as a secret organization sort of like in James Bond or Mission Impossible, except dealing with the supernatural. Apparently Henry Winchester had used a sigil to jump forward in time to run away from a demon called Abaddon. Abaddon had ultimately been destroyed, but Henry had died in the present time, leaving his son John (Dean and Sam's father) thinking that he had abandoned him.

"Ember, that's why I'm scared to have a family. You know that, right? It's not… I'd love to have a family, you know that. But… my grandfather, and my father, did the best they could. But my grandfather still never saw my father past the first decade, and my father was gone for weeks at a time, with us thinking he was dead or worse. And every time I try to leave that life…"

Ember was surprised. Dean must truly have been shaken by the experience with his grandfather if he was willing to discuss this with her; he wasn't usually so forthcoming. "I know, Dean," she said. "And maybe…" She sighed. Truthfully, there was something she needed to get off of her chest, as well. "Dean, I miss hunting. Being with you, and Cas, and Sam a couple of weeks ago, and then again with Charlie, made me realize that it's not just you I miss. Maybe… maybe I'm supposed to be doing more. Maybe you've been right all along."

"I never pushed you to hunt," Dean said. "In fact, there were several times when I pushed you away from hunting."

"Yeah, but we both know I'd be a great hunter," Ember said. "I mean, c'mon, I'm practically ready-made for the job. And it's not like I can escape at least some facet of it, no matter what I do. And… it would solve a lot of problems, wouldn't it?"

Dean paused, and Ember knew why: they very rarely discussed the fragile state of their relationship. Ember knew Dean was choosing his words carefully. "But you still want a child."

"Yes," Ember clarified.

"So I guess we still have the same problem, don't we?" asked Dean.

"I guess we do," Ember said somberly.

"Did you get your license yet?" Dean asked, searching for a way to changing the subject.

"No," Ember said, "I'm still waiting on it. It should come in a few weeks."

"But you told them you don't want children right away, right?"

"Yeah," Ember said. "The demon thing is too much of an issue. It has to be a kid that's already familiar with the life. It'll happen, someday." She paused. "Thanks for spreading the word with your hunter friends, by the way."

"No problem," Dean said.

"You did spread the word, didn't you?" Ember asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, I did," Dean said. "Garth said he'd make some follow-up calls about some orphaned kids he dropped off with the cops about a month back in New Jersey after a ruguru got the single father. And Sam even followed up on the baby werewolf Tamara found a few months back. No dice, though. The orphaned kids have an aunt in New York, and another hunter killed the baby werewolf."

Ember sighed. "Thanks for trying, Dean."

***Ember POV ***

February 2, Evening

Dean's next phone call was less than two days later, and he was in much better spirits. "Ember, is there a chance you could take a trip to Kansas for Valentine's Day?"

Ember had been secretly hoping for the invitation, but certainly not counting on it. "I don't see why not, why?"

"You have to see the Men of Letters bunker," he said. "It's awesome."

***Dean POV***

February 13, Evening

Ember arrived at the bunker just as Dean was finishing setting up his room. He had had more fun than he thought he would arranging his own room for the first time in his life.

"Wow," Sam said, stopping by the door to Dean's room while he was showing Ember around. "Not bad."

"Not bad?" Dean echoed. "I haven't had my own room… ever. I'm making this awesome. I've got my kickass vinyl. I've got this killer mattress." Dean sat down. "Memory foam, like yours," he said, glancing at Ember. "You should try it, Sam. It remembers me."

"And it's clean, too!" Dean added, looking at Ember to make sure she was listening. She was nodding appreciatively. "There's no funky smell, there's no creepy motel stains." Sam threw a gum wrapper on the floor, and Ember and Dean gave him identical glares. "Really?" Dean asked.

Sam pretended to look ashamed. "Sorry," he said, going to pick up the gum wrapper.

"I'm gonna go fix us some grub," he said.

Half an hour later, he had fixed cheeseburgers for Ember and Sam.

"God, I forgot how much I missed these," Ember said, closing her eyes in relish as she ate the cheeseburger.

"You made these?" Sam asked suspiciously.

"Ood ee s'pised," Ember said, and Dean rolled his eyes.

"We have a real kitchen now," he said, answering Sam's question.

"I know. I just didn't think you knew what a kitchen was," Sam said.

"Seriously? He's never made you these?" Ember asked, finishing her bite. "So much for brotherly love."

"I'm nesting. Okay? Eat." Dean asked. Truthfully, he had really hoped to impress Ember. He knew how much it would mean to her that he had a home which was impervious to any kind of invasion or entrance. Even now, he knew, she feared constantly the invasions of demons and Leviathans. Sam shot him a look that told Dean that he was not fooled in the slightest. After Sam took a bite of his cheeseburger, however, he gave the same appreciative groan as Ember.

Just then, however, Dean's cell phone rang.

"Dean! Come quick!" And then Kevin hung up.

Dean explained the situation to Ember. He apologized profusely – he was disappointed that what he had hoped would be a romantic weekend filled with sex in his new Batcave had suddenly turned into a case. Ember, however, seemed enthused.

About six hours later, Dean, Sam, and Ember found out that Kevin had translated part of the demon tablet. This meant that, for the first time in months, there was movement in regards to possibly sealing all of the demons in hell. "It's a spell," Kevin said. "And it's just a few words of Enochian, but the spell has to be spoken after you finish each of the three trials.

"Basically God built a series of tests, and when you've done all three, you can slam the gates. I've only been able to crack one of the tests so far, and it's gross. You've got to kill a hound of Hell and bathe in its blood."

"Awesome!" said Dean.

"Awesome?" asked Sam and Ember together.

"Yeah," said Dean. "Hey, if this means icing all demons, I got no problem gutting some devil dog and letting Calgon take me away," he said.

"Where are you gonna find one?" asked Kevin.

"Well, Hellhounds like to collect on crossroads deals, so all we've got to do is track down some loser who signed over his special sauce 10 years ago, and get between him and Clifford the big dead dog – easy."

"How are you gonna do that?" said Kevin.

In spite of themselves, Dean and Sam both looked at Ember, who could see Hellhounds. "Look, if you want to schedule this around work, we can-…"

"Don't bother," Ember said, looking eager. "For this, I'll call off."

***Ember POV***

February 15, Evening

As it turned out, Ember wouldn't have to call off. By Saturday morning, the group arrived in Shoshone, Idaho, at the home of the Casity family. The Casitys had struck oil ten years ago where oil should not have been, in an area that had showed other signs of being inhabited by at least one stronger demon. The boys were hired on almost immediately as farmhands, and Ember chose to stay invisible and skulk in the shadows.

By nightfall, however, they had already lost the oldest of the three Casity sisters' husband to a Hellhound. Ember had seen the hound at the last second way across the lawn, and called to the brothers, but it had been too late.

Just as they were getting ready to leave the Casity farm and move on to Plan B, however, Sam said he was certain the demon had struck more than one deal, and that they should stay. So, they stayed.

Finally, Saturday night, Sam spotted the youngest Casity, Margo, and the patriarch taking a gun and going to hunt for "the wolf" that had killed the oldest sisters' husband. Sam was serving the family dinner while Dean was grilling, so Ember had been with Sam. She saw the exchange, and slipped her hand into Sam's to let him know she was there.

And suddenly, Ember saw it. "Sam! Two o'clock!" she whispered, and swung the barrel of his gun in the right direction. He fired, and the two of them heard a loud "yelp!" Sam and Ember both drew their angel blades, and Sam caught the Hellhound in its flank while Ember got its front. The hellhound tumbled, sratching Ember across the thigh. Sam knocked Ember back, pulling out her knife and going for a second stab, then a third. The third drove home through the middle of the Hellhound, and Ember knew it was done.

Sam had started the trials.

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

"It was supposed to be Sam," Dean said the next evening.

"I know, Dean," Ember said. "But that just wasn't how it happened." Dean, Sam, and Ember had made hex bags for Margo Casity, as well as for one of the farm hands that had also made a demon deal. The hex bags would hide them from the Hellhounds, and from Crowley. Dean had wanted to stay and kill the other Hellhound that would be coming for the farm hand to do the trials, but he had been outvoted.

Ember had been able to swing an extra day off with her job, and was taking an early flight back Monday morning. The fact that her thigh had needed six stitches had helped in this endeavor. Really, though, she stayed the extra day to deal with Dean's emotional fallout since Sam had been the one to kill the Hellhound.

Ember turned to face Dean. "Dean, if you were so sure that one of you would have to die to complete the trials, why would you take them on in the first place? Did it really never occur to you that Sam might want to complete the trials instead of you?"

Ember could tell the answer from the look on Dean's face. "Typical," she said, rolling her eyes. "You two spent so much time convincing me not to be the one to complete the trials that it never occurred to you that it might be Sam you have to worry about. 'Ember, stay right next to us the entire time,' she mocked. 'Ember, whatever you do, don't kill the Hellhound yourself, you have to promise us.'… 'Ember, you have a career, and children on the way, don't get any more involved in this than you already are!' God, you two are so full of shit!" Ember reigned in her irritation with great effort. Now was not the time for it.

She started again. "Dean, we don't know anything about these trials. We don't know what they'll do to Sam. We can't worry about something we don't even know yet. And maybe Sam's right – with you so convinced that whoever completes the trials has to die, it was probably better for it to be someone with a little hope."

"It's a suicide mission for you,´ Sam had told Dean the day before. "I wanna slam Hell shut too, okay? But I wanna survive it. I wanna live. And so should you. You have friends up here. Family. Ember. Hell, maybe you two could even settle down, if we manage to shut the gates. Start a family, or whatever."

Dean rolled over to look at Ember. "If we do shut the gates, would you want to? Start a family, I mean?"

Ember was surprised, but it quickly turned to fear and trepidation. "Dean, don't dangle that carrot in front of me. It's been dangled too many times, and I don't want to be disappointed again."

Dean opened his mouth as though to speak, but appeared to think better of it. Instead, he simply pulled her closer.

***Ember POV***

March 21, Noon

It was over a month before Ember saw Dean again. Ember didn't suggest visiting Dean, not wanting to push their relationship to a level she didn't feel they were ready for. Dean's hunting didn't bring him near Ember, either.

Finally, on March 21, Ember got a text from Sam.

Sam Winchester Phone: Found Cas. Lead on item discussed last time we saw him. Going for it shortly. How soon can u join? Need back-up if possible. Missouri.

The item they had discussed last time they had seen Castiel had been the angel tablet. If they were making a play for the angel tablet, they would need back-up. So, Ember headed to Missouri.

Upon arriving in Missouri, Ember was excited to see a familiar face. "Meg!" she exclaimed. She hadn't seen Meg since they'd separated after fighting the Leviathans more than a year previous, but she'd heard through the grapevine that Meg had been captured by Crowley. She was surprised to see her alive, but also surprisingly pleased.

"Hey, Mutt!" Meg replied in her drawling voice. Ember had gotten used to the name Meg had taken to calling her during their time watching over Castiel in the hospital the previous year, and it no longer annoyed her. "How's the old hospital been? Is my name still on all the boys' toilet stalls?"

"Hey, quit the girl talk," Dean said, and began filling Ember in on the mission for that night. Meg had in fact been tortured and held hostage for the past year, but had still avoided giving up the true location of the angel tablet – one of Lucifer's abandoned crypts.

"Alright, Cas, Ember, and I will head in and get our Indiana Jones on. Sam, you stay outside with Meg."

"What?" asked Sam.

"We got this," Dean said.

"What are you talking about, Dean?" Sam asked. "You're not going to bench me now. Meg can hang here, watch our backs."

"What, now you trust Meg?" Dean asked.

"Hey, I got you this far," Meg protested.

"To be fair, you still stabbed Bobby," Ember reminded her.

"Shut up, Meg!" Sam and Dean both said.

"Sam, I saw your bloody rag in the trash can, okay?"

Ember stopped walking, her heart thumping. "Sam? Is this about the trials?"

Sam looked guilty. His mouth worked for a few seconds before he tried, "That wasn't-…"

"Stop," Dean said. "Just stop. Sam, we don't know what's in there, okay? And you almost let a demon get the best of you back there."

"Sam?" Ember asked slowly.

"I did not!" Sam insisted, more to Ember than to Dean. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine," Dean said. "You haven't been fine since the first trial. That's why I prayed to Cas."

"Trial?" asked Meg.

"Shut up, Meg," said Sam, Dean, and Ember.

"Dean, I'm telling you, I'm okay," Sam insisted.

"No, you're not," said Castiel, and all three of the looked at him with surprise. "Sam, you're damaged in ways even I can't heal. Dean's right… you should stay here and protect Meg."

Ember could see Sam's jaw working, but they all knew he had been outvoted. "Since when do I need protecting?" asked Meg.

"Since you were held captive and tortured for over a year," said Castiel.

"Touche," said Meg.

And so it was decided.

***Castiel POV***

March 21, Evening

Dean had the tablet. It was in his hand. Naomi's voice was in his head. She was telling him to kill Dean, to kill Ember, if he needed to. Castiel did not want to kill Dean. He did not want to kill Ember or Dean. He had been trained to kill Dean – he knew that now, on some amount of a conscious level. He had not had training to kill Ember. The angels did not understand how he felt for her because they had never known her personally. They thought that it was no concern, because she was a half-demon. How had he hidden that from Naomi? Castiel didn't know.

But that didn't matter now. What mattered was that Dean was not giving up the angel tablet, as Naomi had commanded. "I can't let you take that, Dean," Castiel said.

"Can't or won't?" Dean asked. Ember's eyes were blown wide and fearful as she looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Both," he answered.

Dean gave a significant look to Ember, who gave no response. He paused for a second, then asked, "How did you get out of Purgatory, Cas?"

He didn't want to kill them. There had to be another way. Naomi was screaming in his head. And Castiel was advancing on Dean.

"Just tell me how you got out of Purgatory," Dean said. "Be honest with me – for the first time since you've been back – and this is yours."

"We don't trust you, Castiel," Ember said. "Something's off about you. Who's controlling you? Why did you kill Samandriel? How did you get out of Purgatory? Dean said he saw you die." She was covering Dean now, backing up with him, but both were standing their ground.

No. No, I don't want to. It's not a drill this time. This is real. This isn't me. I don't want to. I lo- I love her. I love them both.

"Cas," said Dean. "Cas, I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, but if you're in there and you can hear me, you don't have to do this! Cas!" But Castiel had struck out against Dean, who had put up the tablet in defense of himself. And Ember had taken the trunk that the angel tablet had come out of and used her force powers to hit Castiel over the head, but it hardly distracted him. Gone were the days when she was more powerful than him…

This isn't right. I won't hurt Dean. I won't hurt Ember.

But Naomi was screaming in his head, and he could feel himself fighting, as though he had no control over his body. And he remembered. "The apocalypse is over, and Lucifer is locked up again. Why is your demon attraction still so strong?" … "Hey, assbutt!" … "With you, this plan might fail. Without you, this plan will fail. Got that?"

"Cas, fight this, this is not you!" Dean was screaming. "Fight it!"

Ember was screaming, too, and he could feel the effect of her power, but it was futile against him.

What have you done to me?

"What have you done to me, Naomi?"

He only realized he had said it aloud when Dean and Ember both shouted, "Who is Naomi? Cas?"

But she was still screaming in his head. He felt his fist collide with Dean's face, and heard Ember scream, "No!" and launch herself at Castiel. He sent her flying, and she hit the other wall and screamed in pain, her leg twisting under her horribly, and sunk to the ground.

"Castiel… I may be a half-demon, but I'm pretty sure I'm more righteous than you today."

But just as he remembered, he felt Dean's wrist crack beneath his hand. The tablet had escaped from its stone encasing, and there was thunder outside. "You want it? Take it!" Dean said, his face bloody. "But you're gonna have to kill me first. Come on, you coward. Do it. Do it!"

Why wouldn't his vessel obey him? And Ember launched herself on top of Dean, somehow, screaming in pain as she did so. But he was still hitting both of them, and he wasn't sure which one.

He felt himself raise his hand up one more time to finish them both, because he had listened too long to the resisting voice, and should have smited them both in the first place. "Cas… it's me," Dean said. "We're family. We need you… I need you."

But he could feel that he wouldn't be able to resist. And suddenly there were lips on his, and he wasn't sure how it had happened, because he hadn't seen her coming. Shock coursed through his body, and stars exploded behind his eyes, and he dropped his angel blade and his fist without realizing he was doing so, and backed up in horror.

"I'm sorry, I'm – oh, what have I done?!" he said, alarmed.

"Heal him!" Ember screamed from his feet, gesturing at Dean, who Castiel realized with alarm was bloody and swollen.

Castiel reached down slowly and healed both of them. "I'm so sorry," he said again.

***Dean POV***

March 21, Night

"What the hell just happened?" Dean asked. He was hurt, and confused, and his body still had the strange tingly feeling that he had come to associate with magical healing.

Castiel began to tell them both about another angel called Naomi. "So this 'Naomi' has been controlling you ever since she got you out of Purgatory?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," said Castiel.

"And, what? A kiss woke you up? Was it some sort of demented sleeping beauty sort of bullshit?" Ember flinched, and had not looked him in the eyes since the kiss.

"It surprised me, that's all," Castiel said. "A good shock seemed to be helpful." Castiel was a terrible liar, Dean thought.

"I have to protect this tablet," Castiel said.

"From Naomi?" asked Dean.

"Yes," Castiel said. "And from you."

"From me, what are you talking about?" But with one final look over his shoulder at Ember, Castiel had disappeared.

"Cas? Cas! Damn it!"

In Castiel's absence, Dean rounded on Ember. He was surprised to see her not looking down and avoiding his eye, but glaring at him, a challenge on her face. "What'd you have to go and kiss him for?" Dean asked.

"Well, nothing you were doing was working!" Ember snapped at him. "It's been damn near four years since I had powers that could help in this situation, so I used the only thing available to me, and I'm damn glad I did! Don't get your knickers in a twist because you're still alive!"

Ember had a point there, Dean was forced to admit.