Author's Note: I had to change a few things around to give Ember and Cas this gratuitous smut scene. Totally worth it. This chapter got written and rewritten several times, so let me know how you like it. Reviews are my lifeblood! I don't own Supernatural.

***Ember POV***

May

Ember was devastated after Castiel broke up with her. He was everything she had wanted – he was kind, caring, duty-bound, and he had – at least while they were together – discussed decisions with her before he had made them. Even the decision they had disagreed upon the most, him praying to the angels for help, had been discussed a million times before Castiel had finally gone about it. And, even when he had gone about it, he had told her before doing so, and ensured Ember's and her family's safety.

In the end, however, Castiel was right, and Ember knew it. These new duties he was taking on left no time for a girlfriend and a family, nor was it safe for a human family in particular to have any ties to the angel. Ember knew that Castiel would be a far better leader for Heaven than Metatron, and from the small bits of information she caught from Sam, Dean, or Castiel himself, she knew that he was becoming a formidable opponent.

What mystified her, however, was Castiel's insistence that he would never return, even if things with Metatron resolved themselves. Perhaps, like with Dean, things would never resolve themselves enough for Castiel to truly settle down with a wife. Still, Ember was completely mystified at his refusal to leave the door open for something in the future. She had been sure Castiel loved her more than that. It was this mystery that left a nagging, unsolved feeling in the pit of Ember's stomach, and it was here that her thoughts returned when they began to wander.

In reality, though, Ember was busier than she had ever been. Josephine was a senior, which came with all sorts of ceremonies and parties. She was also preparing for college, which had been a monumental project as a parent. Josephine, Aidan, and even Krissy, who had been invited by a junior, were attending Prom. Work, also, had never been busier for Ember.

On May 2nd, not two weeks after Ember and Castiel had broken up, Ember saw two angels lurking around her house, which was now warded completely against angels once again.

"Castiel!" Ember said hurriedly over the phone. "There are two angels standing at my doorway."

"What do they want?" he asked. There was a trace of concern in his voice, Ember noted, but it was brusque, and business-like. She felt her heart sink even lower.

"They won't say," she said. "They just asked me to come out."

"What do they look like?"

"One's black with black leather pants and a leopard-print top. The other is male, white, wearing a suit, and thin,"

"I don't know the man," Castiel said, business-like again. "But the woman is Lethandriel. She's one of Metatron's, when last we checked. Take the kids and head down to the basement."

"Will you come? Or at least send someone?"

"The closest are Dean and Sam. We don't have news of any other angels in the area, so you should be okay until they get there. I'll call them."

Click.

Dean and Sam came immediately, and the brothers, Ember, and the children killed the two angels with no trouble.

"Metatron might send others. We knew it was a risk," Castiel said when Ember, Sam, and Dean called to report back to Castiel. "We discussed this, after we found out Gadreel was working with Metatron. It seems now they want to use you against me. It's not safe anymore. You'll need to move out. I'm sorry."

Castiel's voice was cold, and Ember felt a stab of misery. "Cas, it's not that simple," Ember said. "The kids are still in school. Even if we moved somewhere else, I can't pull them out of school. They're out in a month, and it-…"

"I can send guards," Castiel said abruptly. "But not all the time. We're scraping for soldiers as it is. You'll still have to go to the bunker on the weekends."

It's wonderful that you can send guards sometimes to guard the person you were screwing two weeks ago now that you became a damn Commander.

"We'll be happy to have them," Sam said.

"I can stand guard whenever you can't spare any angels," Dean said.

I just bet you can.

"That would certainly make things easier," Castiel said. "It'd still be safest for you to move into the bunker in June, Ember."

Fuck you, Castiel. "I hope the war will be over by then," Ember snapped tersely. "But if it's not, I suppose I have no choice."

When she explained the news to the children, Krissy was more than thrilled, as she wanted to be a hunter when she grew up, and this provided her with an opportunity to learn from Dean Winchester himself, who she of idolized.

"What was Cas, then, chopped liver?" Ember asked them both one morning.

"Well, first Cas was a human, and he was kind of a homeless bum, when he wasn't with us being awesome," Aidan said. "And then he was an angel, and then he was all like, 'Brush your teeth, or I'll shine on you with my holy power."

Krissy rolled her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ember asked the children.

Krissy sighed. "Castiel was really cool, and he taught us… a lot. But he's an angel. We can never live up to that, or relate to it. Dean is… he lives the life, you know?"

Ember narrowed her eyes. It annoyed her that Krissy had so easily agreed to moving into the bunker.

Josephine and Aidan were not as easily convinced, however. Both of them made arrangements to stay in town with friends over the summer. They would be safe, Ember guessed, so long as they were out of the house, which had been made. Castiel had marked the ribs of all three children with Enochian to hide them from angels as soon as his angel powers had been returned to him back in December, so no angels would be able to find them that way.

Getting through the remainder of the school year was difficult. Almost a week before the end of the school year, more angels came. One of Castiel's angel guards was killed in the ensuing fight. Castiel sent additional angel guards, and fortunately these remained alive until the schoolyear had completed.

The looming threat of attacking angels during the month of May unfortunately gave Dean more than enough reason to find excuses to be over more often, and for Ember and the children to come to the bunker as often as possible. Annoyingly, Ember had to admit to herself that Castiel had been right about the Mark of Cain. The change in Dean wouldn't have been apparent to anyone else, but Ember knew Dean very well. She saw, before it became apparent to Sam or even Dean himself, a change in her old boyfriend. A calm sort of anger seemed to simmer just below the surface, as though constantly threatening. The only time it wasn't present, she noticed, was when he was around the children.

Dean spent an awful lot of time around the children. In fact, Dean was doing a lot of things to try to win Ember back. He was drinking less. He was confiding in her more – really confiding in her, about important things. Burned by Castiel and suddenly lonely, Ember couldn't help but notice this. The fact that Dean was a very attractive man was also unhelpful. Still, she was determined – she had been down that road with Dean Winchester before, and it only led to trouble. She would not go down that road again.

Somehow, even she didn't believe that.

***Ember POV***

May 28th, Early morning

"You'll never guess who just called," Dean said, padding down the stairs and putting bacon on the stove. It was the fifth night in a row he had stayed, and Ember was first incredibly turned on, then incredibly annoyed, with how good he looked in the morning. He was fully dressed, whereas when they had been dating he would often wear a robe, she noted. It both annoyed and relieved her. He was getting increasingly close, and between the Mark of Cain, her own protection, and the childrens' protection, she could do next to nothing to stop it. Stop waving yourself in front of my face. It's been over a month. A girl has needs, you asshole.

"Who?" she said, finally remembering that he had asked a question.

"Cas," he said. "Haven't heard from him in at least a week."

Just like that, Ember stopped thinking of Dean. In Dean's place, she saw Cas, expertly frying a spread of bacon and passing it to all three children. Cas, who in one week of them being together had cooked more than Ember had in the month since they'd been apart. Cas, making love to her in the bed upstairs... Ember was halfway through eating a piece of toast, and hid her face so that Dean would not see her reaction.

Dean wasn't stupid. "Sorry," he said bluntly.

"What's he want?" Ember asked cooly. Ember hadn't heard from Castiel personally since his call more than three weeks ago asking her to move to the bunker. She had attempted to call a couple of times, but he seemed to respond only to texts. On two occasions when she had tried to call, he had even called Dean to ask if everything was ok.

Eventually, Ember had gotten the message.

"Don't know," Dean said, no longer sounding excited. "He called for Sam and I to come to his 'Headquarters', whatever that means. I was planning on heading out after breakfast. From the sound of it, it has something to do with the angel war."

Ember sighed, still not looking at Dean. "That's fine," she said.

"I'm sorry," Dean said again, lowering his voice. "I know you're still not-… I mean…"

"It's okay," Ember said awkwardly, finally looking at him. "If you're wondering, I was just as fucked up when we broke up." She flashed him a look of loathing before flouncing out of the room to the garage to go to work.

Ember Cell Phone: Dean, I'm sorry. You caught me at a bad time. I really appreciate everything you've done to help.

Dean Cell Phone: No prob. Home tomorrow.

Did Dean mean home, or at Ember's place? Ember wondered.

Apparently, he meant back at Ember's place.

***Dean POV***

June 2, Early Afternoon

Dean felt the first blade in his hands, charging him, and he felt it's fury-…

"Dean!" Ember was yelling. She was standing in his room (the guest room at her house), with her work clothes still on, pointing to his phone. "Your phone!"

He looked down to find that his phone was ringing, and had been for some time. That would explain why she had walked into his room. It must've been the first time she had come into his room to visit since he had started inhabiting the guest room. There was only one more day of school, and then the children would be coming back to the bunker.

Ember seemed practically numb to his attempts to win her back. At some points, she was even hostile. Still, Dean would be sad to stop spending time in this house. They had decided that he would look after Krissy at the bunker, and she would come visit only on weekends, when she could get a break from her job. The rest of the time, Ember would float, invisible, around motels and abandoned houses, like she had during the time of the Leviathans.

Dean hated to think of her living like that again, and he hated that he couldn't talk her out of it. Most of all, he hated not being able to see her every day. Unfortunately, it wasn't about that anymore. It was about her life, and the lives of her children.

Crowley was on the phone. "It's about time, where the hell have you been?" Finally. The First Blade might actually pay off.

"I told you I'd be in touch when I'd found Abaddon," Crowley said. "Well… I'm in touch."

"Where are you?" asked Dean.

Ember, who had been in the doorway, turned around to listen. Dean suspected she could tell from his voice that it was a more serious phone call than usual. "I'll give you the location of the First Blade," Crowley said. "You two fetch it, I'll keep her in my sights. Then we'll remove her from the payroll for good."

"Who was that?" Ember asked.

"Crowley," Dean said. It wouldn't do to lie to Ember, not now. "He's found Abaddon."

Ember blanched. "Dean, do you want me to come along?"

"No," Dean said, more gruffly than he intended. "You've already got the angels after you. For the moment you're off demonic radar, let's keep it that way!"

He began to gather his belongings, but stopped when he realized that Ember was looking at him strangely.

"What?" he asked her.

"You've changed," she said.

He looked up at her to find her looking back at him with the softest look he'd seen in her eyes in months. The last time she'd had that look, he realized, she had been looking at Castiel.

"I try," he answered softly, standing up.

"Dean… good luck," she said. "Don't die. And, if you do…"

She moved closer, and closer, and then her lips were on his. It had been so long, and Dean was immediately ready. Just as he was about to pull her closer, to tangle his hands in her hair and forget all about Abaddon and the damn First Blade, her lips were gone. She shot him a shy smile, and left the room.

Dean swore under his breath, because he so wanted more, and he needed her, and he was so damn angry all the time… but it had just been a "good luck" kiss.

***Ember POV***

June 20, Morning

Dean had killed Abaddon, but it had been at a price. When he had returned, Dean appeared angrier, surlier somehow.

Ember was more confused than ever. More and more these days, she felt as though she was somehow supernaturally drawn to Dean. She felt she could not stop looking at him. He was more at home at the bunker, of course, than he was at Ember's home. He was comfortable enough to walk around in his robe, to occasionally even walk around shirtless when he knew that Krissy was otherwise engaged. She could swear she could constantly smell his aftershave lingering in rooms it shouldn't have been in – she knew that Dean knew that the smell had always turned her on. On weekends, she watched him, hour after hour, practicing fighting with her children, cooking them food, and treating them like a father. On weekdays, she heard, as if on repeat, the praises that they sang of him. "Dean let us try to fight him today. Once I think I almost beat him!" … "Dean showed us the dungeon!" … "Another hunter called today, and Dean let us look up information for the other hunter in the archives. Have you ever heard of a vetala?"

On the other hand, Ember also knew that something horrible was brewing inside Dean. She saw the looks Sam shot at Dean when they both thought Ember wasn't looking. She noticed Dean's obsession with the First Blade, and that it never seemed to be in the same place when Ember saw it, even when the boys had a few days between cases. Ember hated living in abandoned houses and moving, invisible, from motel to motel, but at this point she almost felt it was a saving grace. Whenever she was around Dean during her weekends at the bunker, she felt as though a tidal wave was pulling her under, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Castiel was as absent as ever, though he was often with her in her thoughts. There was so much she didn't understand, and felt confused about. She had never been the type of woman to seek out men simply for companionship. So why did she feel so drawn to Dean, when it was Castiel she still desperately loved? And if Castiel truly no longer wanted her, and the door was truly closed forever on their relationship, why was he trying so hard to stay away from her? There had been dozens of times he could've texted her or called her about something, but instead he had texted or called Dean, or even Sam. They had parted amicably, and they still had business together… none of it made sense.

Finally, on June 20, Sam and Dean staggered back into the bunker after a trip to Dixon, Missouri. Sam was glaring wearily at Dean's back, and Dean's head was down and his shoulders were tense. The First Blade was being held by his side, and he was unconsciously touching its hilt.

"What the hell happened?" she asked.

"We'll tell you later," Dean snapped. It was the first time he had snapped at her in months, and for once he had dropped his "best behavior" charade.

Ember began to open her mouth again, but caught Sam's eye and dropped the subject.

The next day, Dean was finally willing to recount the tale. He told her about the suicide bombers that Metatron had brainwashed into thinking they were killing Metatron's followers in the name of Castiel. He told her about Metatron's speech to Castiel's followers, and about how Metatron blamed Castiel for the suicide bombers. He told her about how Castiel's followers had asked him to prove his loyalty by killing Dean, and when he wouldn't, they had all left to join Metatron.

"Why would they want him to kill you?" Ember asked Dean. "What have you done to them?"

Dean threw his hands up in the air out of frustration, then unconsciously palmed the First Blade again. "Hell, I don't know. Angel superiority, I guess. You know how it is. We were lucky to get out of there alive." But Ember saw, over Dean's head, a slight twitch of Sam's eyes, and she knew Dean wasn't being honest.

It was Monday afternoon, in the middle of work, before Ember could get ahold of Sam at a time Dean wasn't around.

"I'm only telling you this because you deserve to know," Sam said. "Please, please don't tell Dean I told you. And please don't blame him for not telling you. He's not in his right mind. He's-…"

"I know," Ember said. "I've seen the way he's always touching that damn stupid blade. Cas warned me about it, months ago. He said-…"

"Cas is dying, Ember." Sam said flatly.

"What?"

"His stolen grace," Sam said. "It's not a permanent solution. And when it burns out, that's the end of Castiel."

Ember's heart stopped, and then suddenly beat faster. And faster. And faster. Her thoughts began to race, and suddenly it felt like she was drowning.

"Sam, I… I need a few minutes," she heard herself saying, and hung up the phone.

So this was why. This was why he had pushed her toward Dean. This was why he hadn't expected to return. This is why he had shut the last door on their relationship. This was why he was refusing to call or text. Suddenly, in a horrible whirlwind, everything made sense.

Without thinking about it, Ember fell to the floor in a kneel. "Castiel, I know you can hear me," Ember prayed. "I know what's happened. Sam and Dean told me you're dying. Meet me tomorrow at my house, 6:00 PM."

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

At 5:55, Ember trudged, invisible, up to the house she had lived in with her family. It looked so different now – dark, and unfriendly, and foreboding. It was dark inside, and Ember hadn't planned on turning on the lights or the heat. She also hadn't planned on not getting off work until late, nor had she planned on it pouring down rain. Oh well, she thought. He probably won't be here anyway.

Suddenly, though, just as she was wiping off one of the two angel-proofing sigils in the front room, she saw his car pull up.

"Ember!" he shouted. He had an umbrella, which was probably necessary – he couldn't come into the house until she finished erasing the warding. Ember almost laughed – it made him look silly, somehow, like a character out of Mary Poppins.

"Castiel?" she said, once again becoming visible as she headed outside.

When he saw her, his whole face changed. Where previously he had been openly sad and disgruntled, his face split into a grin at the sight of her. It was like watching the sun rise. She knew, in that moment, that she had been right about his motives for their break-up.

"You didn't tell me you were dying," she accused.

Immediately, his face turned fearful, and guilty, and… pleading.

"What did it matter?" he asked her sharply.

She was incensed. "What did it matter?" she asked, heatedly. "I was in love with you! I-…"

"We shouldn't have been," he said calmly. The rain was pouring now, and he moved closer to the front of the house, just to hear her. "I never should've-... we were lucky you're still alive."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Metatron, blah, blah, blah," Ember said. And look how that turned out, she wanted to add, but didn't. At this point, her curiousity and thirst for answers was stronger than her anger at him, and she didn't want to say something that would send him away again. "But ending this, ending us, permanently? Metatron is one thing, but you wouldn't even let me wait for you. You shut down all hope, and you passed me off to Dean! Tell me it's not because you found out you were dying, Castiel. Because it's the only thing that makes sense."

"Exactly!" Castiel said heatedly. "I'm dying! And just because you know about it now, nothing has changed! I'm still talking to a lot of different-…"

"Why didn't you tell me?" she screamed at the angel. He was on the porch, now, his umbrella hanging to the side. There was barely enough room on the small porch for both of them.

"Because you would never have left!" Castiel screamed suddenly.

There was quiet for a moment. Then, more calmly, he said, "You would have insisted on staying by my side, in secret, or… something. Despite Metatron. Despite the fact that this war will probably kill me, and if it doesn't, the stolen grace will. And look what I've done. You've had to leave your house, your kids are living in a bunker with Dean, despite the First Blade. You're back moving around again, and we both know how much you hated that with the Leviathans. An angel died protecting you, and that's even with the decision I made! And you couldn't even get into Heaven, because it's still closed!"

"Do you know what the last month has been like for me?" Ember screamed back at him. "I'm worried about you all the damn time, I'm worried about my kids, and Dean is trying to worm his way back into my life! And the one person I really want to talk to has shut himself off from me completely, and is passing messages through my ex-boyfriend!"

"You think I wanted to do that?!" he said. Ember had never seen him like this. He was wild, suddenly, and she wondered if the stress of the fight was getting to him. "I loved you! I still love you! I'll always love you! I just can't be around you, because your damn voice, and you smell so good, and I can't stand not being with you, but we can't!"

There was a beat. Once again, for the first time in months, Ember saw the desperate, distraught man she had come to know so well when he was a human. His eyes were blown wide, and his pupils were round, and water was running down his face, despite the umbrella. They searched each other's face for one wild moment.

At the same time, they launched themselves at each other. The umbrella fell out of Castiel's hands, and Ember clung to the front of his trenchcoat, ripping it off of him. Their mouths attacked one another, and it felt to Ember as though she could finally breathe again. A second later, Castiel had hoisted her upward and pressed her against the wall in front of her house.

Ember wondered briefly if the neighbors could see her, and if anyone cared, and then decided that she didn't care, because it felt so good to finally be in his arms again. They were both wet, but somehow it made the friction on their clothes that much better. She clutched Castiel's back, and he ground upward into her, a guttural groan escaping his mouth.

He smelled of rain, and of Castiel, and he had somehow managed to hike her shirt up so that he could reach her bare skin. He splayed his hands out across her hip, shifting her only slightly while still grinding into her. With his touch, an orgasm shot through her so quickly that stars exploded in her head, and she went lax in his arms. He continued to grind into her just slightly, causing tiny little aftershocks that sent chills up and down her spine.

"Damn you and your stupid angel powers," she said when she had gotten her voice back again.

He smirked, and she understood – he had done it simply because he could, and other men couldn't. It was his way of laying claim, whether he would admit to it or not.

"Stay right there, do not leave," she said, extricating herself quickly from his arms. He set her gently on the ground, and looked away. Ember could tell he was both trying to decide whether or not he should leave, and also trying to pretend that he wasn't still desperate for her.

Ember didn't give him time to decide to leave. She only let go of his hand for a second to open the door to the house. She used her powers to lift a long screw that had been left on the floor in the front room, then quickly used it to slice up the remaining angel sigil on the wall. After that, she pulled Castiel inside, using her powers again to shut the door behind them.

Castiel looked at her then, his eyes blown wide. He looked thoroughly kissed, but he was clearly terrified of the situation. "Ember, I…"

"Cas, shut up," Ember said. She kissed him again, and this time, it was more sensual.

He responded eagerly, his hands winding themselves up her back. They kissed deeply for a second, standing in the middle of the forlorn-looking living room.

Ember felt Castiel becoming more desperate, more voracious, and she smiled slightly as he slid off her top and bra. She in turn peeled off his layers of clothes, wet all the way to his perfect chest. They sighed happily at the skin-to-skin contact, and Castiel wasted no time backing her up onto the room's single couch and pulling off both pants and panties in the process.

She reached upward to attempt to pull off his pants, but he danced away. "It's been too long," he said gruffly, burying his face between her thighs.

She gasped at the onslaught of his tongue, and all too soon she felt an orgasm rip through her again, leaving her shaking and panting for breath.

Ember had only just regained her breath when she heard Castiel's gruff voice again. "Ember… now." Without warning, he plunged inside her, filling her to the hilt, and she clung to him as they moved together. It was a dance that they both knew very well, and one that both had missed desperately in their two months apart.

It was all too much, and yet not enough, and too soon it was over, and both of them laid piled on the sofa, out of breath. Castiel regained his breath before Ember did, and he pulled her close to him, kissing her lightly on the forehead. "I never stopped loving you," he said. "I never stopped. I never will. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes, Castiel," she whispered.

"But… it doesn't change anything. You must understand that."

She did. She had known this, too. She looked up at him, her eyes wide, and bit her lip so that the tears wouldn't fall. "Cas, just... promise me you'll still be here when I wake up?"

"Of course," he answered.