Author's Note: I do not own Supernatural.
***Ember POV***
March 28, Afternoon
On March 28, Ember got a call that changed everything. "You still want kids, right? With a history in the hunting life?"
Ember's heart began to pound. "Yeah? Dean, what happened?"
"Well, is it okay if they're pretty committed to staying together, in another state? I mean… that whole license thing, you can get it switched over, right?"
"If everyone agrees, I can get an interstate compact," Ember said. "It'll take a bit longer, but it'll work out in the end. Why?"
"Well, I've found three kids, all three teenagers, all orphaned. Their parents were killed by vampires. They were set up as "the next generation of hunters," but it was all an elaborate – well, you'll be here soon, right? You'll never believe it… how soon can you get here?"
Ember was on the next plane.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Ember approached the large house in Conway Springs, Kansas with trepidation and rang the doorbell. The boy who answered it was tall with dark, coarse hair. Behind him was a smaller brunette girl with fire in her eyes.
"This is Krissy, and Josephine, and Aidan," said Dean's voice from just behind them.
"Dean says you're gonna be our new guardian," Krissy said, a challenge in her voice. "He told us you're a half-demon. But he also says you're trustworthy. What did you do to make him think that?"
Ember liked Krissy immediately. "Well, I helped stop the Apocalypse," she said. "And we dated for a couple of years, too."
***Ember POV***
April
Ember was busier in April than she had ever been in her entire life. Upon returning home from Kansas, Ember immediately put in her 30-day notice from her job. She called Garth, a hunter who was a friend of Dean's, who agreed to check in on the children from time to time during the week, when she couldn't be there. Dean agreed to check in on them as often as possible, as well. The kids were old enough to take care of themselves, for the most part. Josephine was 18, Aidan 17, and Krissy was 15, but that didn't mean there wasn't still a lot that they didn't know or understand.
It wasn't easy, and trust was an uphill battle. Still, after a long series of discussions, the three children agreed that they weren't ready to be on their own yet. Though they were all more independent than most children their age, they still weren't ready for things like bills, living paycheck to paycheck, and navigating the social work system. For this reason, and largely on the recommendations of Sam and Dean, the three children lied and claimed to have known Ember in the past. In this way, Ember was able to force through an interstate compact and take immediate guardianship of the group.
Ember spent weekends in Conway Springs, Kansas, as well as several days off. It was a sudden adjustment to her life, but one that made her very happy. She packed, broke the lease on her apartment, and moved across the country. She got a job in Conway Springs working with younger children than she had worked with in Indiana, which was somewhat less stressful. By the end of April, Ember had three children.
***Dean POV***
April 3, Afternoon
"Look, I know I said I'd check on the kids today," Dean said over the phone, "but you're gonna have to give me this one. We found out about the second trial."
"Yeah? What is it?"
"We have to bring an innocent soul back from Hell, and take him to Heaven," Dean said. "And you should know… we're bringing back Bobby."
"What?!" Ember screeched into the phone. "There's no way Bobby is in Hell!"
"Yeah, that's what I said," Dean said. "But apparently Crowley was pretty pissed at him, and made some deals."
"I'm on my way," Ember said. "I swear to God, as soon as I get there, I'll kill that-…"
"Don't bother coming, Sam's already gone to Hell," Dean said, and explained the situation. Sam had gone with a rogue reaper, Ajay, to Hell to retrieve Bobby. Apparently, Sam would be back in 24 hours.
"Okay," said Ember. "And you're sure there's no reason for me to come?"
"Only Bobby's soul will spend any time on this plane," Dean said. "Neither of us will get to talk to him. There's nothing to tether him here. Seriously, aren't you coming out in two days anyway? There's really no reason for you to come early."
"Yeah, okay," said Ember, "I'll drop by and check in with you guys in a couple of days. Let me know if anything goes wrong, okay?"
"Yeah," said Dean, and he hung up.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Sam didn't return from Hell until almost a week later. He had ended up stuck in Purgatory. Benny, Dean's old vampire friend, had agreed to let himself be killed in order to get to Purgatory to find and retrieve Sam.
Bobby's soul had been returned to Heaven and the second trial had been completed, but at a great cost: Benny had not returned with Sam, as was planned.
Dean was miserable. One of his best friends (Castiel) had beat him to a pulp and then been kissed by his not-quite-girlfriend before disappearing. The other (Benny) had sacrificed his life for Dean and refused to return. He understood Benny's decision – he knew it had been difficult for his friend lately. It had been so difficult that he had favored Purgatory over the trials of being a vampire committed to donated blood, shunned by both vampires and humans. Still, Dean mourned the loss of his vampire friend more than he could ever tell Sam. Ember knew, though, and she even took a trip with Dean to bury the vampire's body in his old tomb in Louisiana.
Kevin the prophet, the brothers had learned, had been kidnapped by Crowley, leaving behind only a bunch of confusing notes on his translations regarding the third trial. Worst of all, Sam's health was getting worse. He was sleeping more, eating less, and avoiding talking – and Dean – whenever possible.
Hunting was slow-going during April, and Dean was extremely bored, favoring almost anything over the never-ending research into Kevin's confusing translation notes. Therefore, he was more eager than he might have been to take on the seemingly endless amount of favors Ember requested regarding the kids in Conway Springs.
The original plan had been for Garth to check in on the children on weekdays as often as possible while Ember wrapped up her affairs in Indiana, but Garth was MIA as well. Dean was the closest hunter available, being only 3 and a half hours away, so the duty fell to him instead.
"Hey, are you busy?" Ember said one day in early April.
"Yeah, I'm swimming in research on hieroglyphics in a language only God understands," Dean said sarcastically. "What do you need?"
"Look, Krissy's math grades are dropping, and she's got a big test tomorrow. And Josephine said something about a guy coming over to talk to her about her parents' will. Could you check in on them?"
Only two days after that, Ember called again. "Look, I know you were there two nights ago, but Josie and Krissy got into a big fight because he thinks she's leading Aidan on. And I definitely don't want anyone dating in that house without an adult there. Could you go over and sort them out? I'll be up on Friday, I'll see you then if you're still there."
By the end of April, Dean realized that he had somehow become a sort of pseudo-parent himself. Even more alarming, he realized that he liked it. He had a lot of respect for those three children, and was determined to ensure their safety. He also planned to ensure that they didn't grow up to become hunters, if he had anything to do with it. He enjoyed teaching them some of the basic defense skills that their previous (poor excuse for a) mentor, Victor, had missed. He found that he liked watching football with Aidan, that Josephine was hilarious but practical, and that Krissy was tough as nails. He even found that when he was around them he desired less alcohol, and instead wanted to set a good example.
Best of all, he realized that he was spending more time with Ember than he had since they had been together. They talked or texted multiple times each day, and not just about the children. She had begun to look at him differently again, as well. It was a glance here and there, a "thank you" when he least expected it, and, of course, more sex than he'd had in years, despite the children.
Dean was quickly beginning to realize that he desperately wanted to be a part of the little family she was putting together.
***Ember POV***
May
April moved quickly into May. Ember moved to Conway Springs, Kansas, and took a job there working with younger kids. She delighted in her new duties as a parent. Sometimes, on the weekends, she would take the three kids to live at the bunker. All three of them enjoyed these trips, especially Krissy, and it kept them out of trouble. During one such trip, they were able to catch Charlie as she left after working with Sam and Dean on a case. Aidan liked Charlie immediately, and they spent a long time discussing comic books and computers.
In mid-May, Dean and Sam managed to get Kevin back with the help of the Scribe of God, Metatron, who they had managed to track down thanks to Sam's acute research skills. Castiel was found, too, lying bleeding on the side of the road. The angel tablet had been stolen by the demons, and Castiel had been injured trying to get away. Ember knew that Dean had not yet forgiven the angel for ignoring his prayers, not trusting him with the tablet, and (of course) kissing his not-quite-girlfriend. Still, upon Kevin and Castiel's return, Ember noticed improvement in Dean's disposition.
Ember had hoped that even after she moved to Conway Springs that Dean would continue to have a role in the childrens' lives, and she was not disappointed. He spent as much time in Conway Springs as he did in Lebanon at the bunker, and Ember was finding herself falling more in love with him again each day. He was wonderful with the children, he was attentive to her, and she finally began to feel that she might eventually be able to truly have a life with him. He had even kept his drinking down to a minimum since he had escaped from Purgatory, at least in front of her and the children.
The final piece of the puzzle, it seemed, was the trials. Would they kill Sam? How would Dean handle this? Would they be successful in locking the doors to Hell? In Ember's mind, and, she knew, in Dean's, the trials and their relationship had somehow become inexplicably linked, as though the outcome to the trials would also determine the outcome of Ember and Dean's relationship. In a perfect world, they would finish the trials, Sam would survive, and Dean would move between Conway Springs and Lebanon, sometimes hunting, sometimes being a father, as he was now. Ember knew all too well, though, that things never turned out ideally for her, or for the Winchesters.
***Ember POV***
May 17, Afternoon
"What do you mean you 'fucked up?'" Ember said over the phone. "How did the plan go wrong? Did you do everything without me?" The third trial was to cure a demon, and Sam and Dean had found records of an old experiment that showed them how. The plan had been simple.
· Step 1: Dig up the two pieces of Abaddon, an extremely strong demon that Sam and Dean had defeated a year ago. Abaddon was too strong to be killed with the demon knife, so Sam and Dean had trapped her in her vessel and separated her body from her head.
· Step 2: Sew the body to the head, keeping Abaddon trapped in the vessel.
· Step 3: Begin the process of curing the demon, which took several hours.
· Step 4: Ember would return home from work and join them.
"Look, you can't be more pissed off than I am!" Dean exclaimed, yelling into the receiver.
Ember doubted that, but she let him continue.
It was Sam who spoke next. "Look, we're really sorry, Ember. Crowley called. He's trying to force our hand, threatening to kill people we've saved in the past. He's trying to get the demon tablet, but we'll figure out something to save them. We're headed to Prosperity, Indiana to figure it all out."
"Okay, what does that have to do with the third trial?"
"Well, we sort of got distracted, and she escaped."
Ember screamed with rage. She had just pulled into the driveway of the house in Conway Springs, and in her anger she managed to uproot every single bush in the front yard without actually touching them. Not five seconds after the bushes went flying past the windows, Ember saw the shadows of Krissy and Aidan readying shotguns from inside the house.
"I gotta go, Sam," Ember said.
"What?"
"Look, I just accidentally uprooted all the shrubbery, and I think the kids are gonna shoot me. Good luck with that. Get another demon while you're in Indiana, okay?"
"That's the plan," Sam said, coughing.
Ember would normally have asked Sam how he was feeling, but in her anger, she simply hung up.