Author's Note: Again, I went through a bunch of episodes at once, because none of these were long enough to warrant their own chapter. First of all, I hate zombies, so that's a "writer's choice" matter. I just can't get into the zombie stuff. Also, I feel like this story is long enough already and I want to get to the good stuff and not get bogged down the parts of the story that Ember doesn't really change. I re-did the Castiel section about 3 times, so let me know if you like it! I don't own Supernatural.

***Sam POV***

August 21st, Morning

"Sam! SAM!" Someone was shaking him.

Sam could feel that he had sustained several injuries. He ached everywhere, especially on his face. What had happened this time?

Oh, yeah. Death's offer. Ember's solution. The friends he had gathered together to remove the Mark. The Darkness.

"Ember, what happened?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," she said, "I teleported out at the last second. I'm sorry, Sam, it's just, the kids, you know, and I couldn't-…"

"Ember, it's okay," Sam said as he attempted to focus on her face. "You never have to make excuses to us about why you didn't stay somewhere and die."

Ember was silent. "Sam, where's Dean?" she finally asked.

"Dean?" Sam said, finally bringing Ember's face into focus. "Dean!"

***Ember POV***

August 21st, Morning

Ember was exhausted. She'd come off of a night shift with Rowena, and spent the previous day seeing clients. She'd been planning to get some sleep after visiting Charlie for wine and company, but instead she had been off and running to search for Dean as soon as Sam had called. Finally, the previous night, while Sam had been passed out in the Impala and Dean had been who knew where, Ember had spent the night watching from a safe distance as red lightning attacked the sky, and cursing her teleporting abilities for not allowing her to take others with her.

Even now, searching for Dean, Ember was practically falling asleep standing up. "You should've just gone home," Sam said, watching her.

"Dean," was Ember's only answer.

Sam and Ember walked for over a mile before they finally found Dean, passed out on a grassy hill. "Where's the car?" was Dean's first question upon awakening.

"I-i-it's . . . About a mile that way," said Sam, as Ember shook her head.

"What?" said Dean, looking curiously at them.

"Seriously?" Sam asked sarcastically. "The - the Darkness hit. You disappeared. You remember none of this?"

Dean thought about it for a second. "Hold on… She saved me."

"What? Who?" asked Sam and Ember.

"The Darkness," Dean answered.

"Wait, the Darkness is a she?" Ember asked, a slight note of jealousy in her voice. She was definitely awake now.

"Wait a second," said Sam. "What do you mean, she saved you?"

"I – I think so," said Dean to Ember. "You were there. When the storm hit, everything went dark."

"Yeah, but you just disappeared from the car," said Sam.

Ember nodded. "And I teleported out, because, you know, the kids, and I couldn't-…"

Dean looked thoughtful, but he said, "I don't even remember that."

"Well, I don't remember some woman pulling you out," said Sam, as Ember threw Dean a put-upon look.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" asked Dean. "I was in the car, and then I wasn't in the car. I was in the field, and she was there."

"And she told you she was the Darkness?"

"No. She was wearing a nametag. What do you think? She thanked me," said Dean.

"For what?"

"Setting her free."

"You didn't set her free," said Sam. "I set her free."

"Technically Rowena set her free," offered Ember tiredly.

"Does it matter?" Dean asked. "I mean, yeah, Rowena said the spell, but I had the Mark, so lock and key."

"So, what, now she feels indebted to you or something?" asked Sam.

"I don't know," said Dean. "She's The Darkness. Does she feel anything?"

"And that's all she said? Thanks?" asked Sam.

"Yeah," Dean said. "She was weird. But she had this energy about her, this - this focus." Ember was glaring at Dean as though she might explode him with her mind. "But, yeah, not a talker," Dean finished.

"So we know jack," Sam clarified.

"Well, we know what she looks like, and we know that she's evil," said Dean. "The question is, what does she know? I mean, she's been locked away since the beginning of time. Does she even know what a cheeseburger is? All I know is that we set her free, and we're gonna put her back in, no matter what it takes."

Ember felt slightly as though she was suffering from whiplash, as her fatigue again hit her in full force. Just the thought of another case, another adventure, made her feel too tired to take another step. "Guys, I'm gonna… look, you guys are both safe, so…"

Sam and Dean looked at each other. "She hasn't slept in 3 days," Sam told Dean. "She wanted to make sure you were safe."

Dean turned to Ember. "Go home, Ember," said Dean. "No, go to the bunker, it's closer. You won't have to stop and recover your powers halfway."

"The bunker?" Ember asked. "You're sure?" Was she really welcome there? Did he really want her there? He had gotten angry with her, after all, because she had tried to remove the Mark of Cain, and thrown her across the room…

Dean walked over to her hesitantly, and then pulled her into his arms. "Ember, I can't even tell you how sorry I am for everything that's happened. And we'll talk later about… about everything. But I love you, and I'll be there in an hour or so."

Ember looked up at Dean, lost for words. "I… love…"

"I know," Dean said. "Can you make it to the bunker?"

"Yeah," Ember said tiredly. "'s only 45 minutes. 'Could teleport there in my sleep."

"I'll see you in 45 minutes," said Dean. And he kissed her. It was a sweet kiss, a very short kiss, but Ember understood it's meaning. I'm here, if you still want me.

Five minutes later, Ember's head hit the pillow, and she knew no more.

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

When Ember finally awakened again, it was nearly 13 hours later. Neither of the brothers had returned, but both were reachable by phone. Dean explained that they'd been stopped on the way out of town by a group of people which seemed to be infected by what sounded like a zombie virus. Dean was convinced it was related to the Darkness. Dean further explained that he was 40 miles outside of Superior, and would spend the following day taking a woman he'd saved, and a baby, to the grandmothers' home in Cedar Rapids, IA.

"I can teleport to Hastings," Ember said. "Do you want me to catch up with you there for the night?"

"I do," Dean said, "That would be amazing. But Cas is in trouble. He called us, and he said 'What I have, you can't help me,' whatever that means. And he said that Rowena escaped with the 'Book of the Damned' and the Codex."

"What?!" Ember screamed, jumping up in a panic. "Any idea where he is?"

"Well, I can't imagine Rowena got the Book and the Codex without putting up a fight, so he's probably hurt. If we're lucky, he won't have gone far. Will you look around and see what you can find?"

"Yeah," Ember agreed, worry for Castiel flooding her system.

"Thanks," said Dean. "I love you. Even though I know I've been an ass."

"I love you too, Dean."

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

The next evening, Dean and Sam still weren't back. Things had developed, Dean said. He had caught a few hours of sleep and been halfway home when Jenna, the woman he had saved in Superior, had called to tell him that the baby was showing signs of being possessed. Now, he was heading back to Cedar Rapids.

Meanwhile, Ember had struck out completely in looking for Castiel. She found some farmers who had seen him, and stated that he has seemed "like a rabid dog." Ember could only assume that Rowena had cast some sort of beast spell on him – she'd seen it once before, when Rowena was trying to get away. After the farmers, however, the trail went cold. She'd come home to check on Krissy, as it had been her first week as a senior in high school. Now, she was hungry, tired, upset, and heading back to the bunker again to sleep.

When she arrived at the bunker, however, she found Castiel, half-passed out in the doorway.

"Help me," he told her in a low voice.

"Rowena's beast spell?" Ember asked him. He nodded. It seemed as though every movement cost him energy and strength, but also as though he was holding back something horrible.

"Chain me up," he said. "I'm – I'm trying to fight it, but I don't know how long I can fight it for."

Ember nodded. "But not in the dungeon, okay? I'll get some angel chains and bring them out here."

Castiel nodded.

***Castiel POV***

August 22nd, Night

Ember emerged with chains from the dungeon. "Don't – don't come any closer!" Castiel said.

She stopped short, looking at him questionably. "The – the beast spell is just getting – um, your smell agitates it," Castiel admitted, lowering his voice to almost a whisper and reddening.

Ember blushed, but dared another step closer, looking concerned.

Castiel froze. "Just – just send the chains over here, and I'll put them on most of myself, and you can do the rest," he commanded.

He did, and once he had chained himself up as much as possible, he finally permitted her to finish the job. When he was good and chained, she sat down in front of him.

"You should leave," he told her.

"Why?" she said, challenging him.

He decided not to dignify that with a response. She smelled so good, and the beast spell wasn't helping. His senses were mixing together. He couldn't tell if he wanted to grab her and screw her into oblivion, or tear her to shreds. Grab her, tear her clothing to shreds, and then screw her into oblivion sounded like it was probably the best option.

She looked like she was considering something. Finally, she said, "Are we ever going to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Half of him wanted to screw her and/or tear her to shreds, and the other half wanted her to get the hell away… and she wanted to talk?!

"The kiss!"

Kissing sounded really good right now… No! "What's there to talk about?" he questioned gruffly. "It was a mistake. It never should've happened, and it was no big deal. You're with Dean. I'm an angel. End of story."

"Fine," she said, her face becoming unreadable. "If that's the way you feel about it." She seemed to be probing for something, but in his addled state he couldn't figure out what it was. Finally, she said, "If it wasn't a big deal, you'd think you would be… I don't know… civil.. You haven't even looked at me since it happened."

He felt like he had said something wrong, but he wasn't sure what. She was with Dean. He basically wanted to attack her. Any discussions about kissing were probably bad. Civil. She wanted him to be civil. Right. "I'll try to be… civil," he said, looking up at her through a haze of desire.

This was a bad idea. The beast inhaled another smell, and he could feel his lower anatomy tightening and his teeth baring, all at the same time. He needed her to go away. He couldn't kick her out of the bunker – not when it was practically her home. He shouldn't have come here in the first place, but he'd been hoping to see Dean, not her. "This – this spell Rowena cast – it's probably going to kill me anyway."

"Yeah," she said, obviously annoyed. "You said that last time." It was a mark of the fact that she could tell that he was serious that she didn't stalk away and slam the door – Castiel could tell that, even in his addled state. Instead, she said, "I'm going to go try to research what to do. I'll let you know if I find something."

***Ember POV***

August 23rd, Night

Ultimately, it was August 23rd before Sam and Dean returned to the bunker. It was late at night before Ember and Dean finally had some time alone to talk in Dean's room.

"Ember," Dean said, "I can't even start to tell you how sorry I am. Truly, there aren't words. I-…"

Dean looked at the ground. Finally, when he had collected himself, he sat down on the bed again, and gestured for her to sit down next to him. "Ember, I'll be honest with you. It's all been too much. I just want to crawl in bed with you and sleep, and maybe have some pie and get laid, if I'm lucky. But I have no right to ask anything of you. Ever again. I don't know if you want to still be… if you can ever forgive me for everything I've done… I'll try everything I can to make it up to you…" He looked at her hopefully.

Ember smiled at him. She thought briefly of Castiel, but once again she banished the thought. Castiel didn't want her; he had (yet again) made that abundantly clear. She wasn't even obligated to discuss their kiss with Dean, because technically Dean had broken up with her before it occurred.

Still, Dean was, and always had been, supportive of her, and of the children, aside from the Mark of Cain. They could start over, now. They could take things slower, without the threat of the Mark looming over them, and without Ember constantly wondering about Castiel's feelings, or what said feelings might have been if Castiel's grace wasn't failing. Perhaps someday she might even tell Dean about the kiss… right now, though, she didn't think he could handle it, and she didn't want to throw yet another wrench in their already complicated relationship.

"I understand why you took on the Mark. I do," Ember said. "We never could've taken down Abaddon without it, and you didn't have time to find out more, and things just got… confused." While she had been speaking, he had pulled out the engagement ring, and was twisting it between his fingers. She understood the question he was asking, without actually asking it. "I love you, Dean. But - let's just… be us for awhile, okay? I mean, there's always something. First it was the Apocalypse, and then Sam's soul, and then the Leviathans, and the trials, and then the damned Mark, and now the Darkness… but nothing has ever been as bad as the Mark. There's no… you're not gonna die tomorrow, you're not gonna become a demon. The pressure's off, so… let's just enjoy each other for a bit longer. Okay? We can start fresh."

Dean thought for a second, and finally reached out to her. "Okay," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Then Dean kissed her, the sweetest of kisses… but it didn't stay sweet for long.

***Dean POV***

August 29th, Evening

Things were good, for the first time in a long time. Not great – his brother, girlfriend, and best friend had released "the Darkness", and he had an extensive list of people he owed exponential favors and groveling – but good. His brother was whole and in one piece. Ember was back in his arms again, even if they were no longer engaged. They'd managed to get the Codex back from Rowena, if not the Book of the Damned. "The Darkness" was a baby, and she was with Crowley, which at least gave Dean a little time to figure out what to do next. (As much as Dean hated that Amara was with Crowley, at least it meant that Dean could play the "bromance" card if absolutely necessary. Plus, ever since they had given Crowley human blood, he had been less intent on world domination and sadism and more intent on simply running Hell like a business, if he bothered to run it at all.) Finally, just today, they'd manage to track down Rowena long enough to cure Castiel of the bestiary spell she'd put on him.

Granted, Dean had sustained several blows to the face in the process, but relatively speaking, he was good.

"You should keep applying that," said Sam, pointing to the cold compress in Dean's hand. His brother threw him a beer.

"Thanks, mom," said Dean sarcastically.

"Dean, I... There aren't words," said Castiel, looking sadly at Dean's face. Dean knew how his friend felt - it would be a long time before he stopped feeling guilty for the things he had done while under the influence of the Mark.

"You're right," he said. "There aren't words, Cas, 'cause there's no need. You were under a spell. It's fine."

"Yeah, but you had Rowena. Because of me, you..."

"You know, Cas, we've got the Codex," said Sam. "That's a start. You know, it'll slow Rowena down some. If we'd killed her, the Book of the Damned would've been lost."

"Besides, we got bigger fish to fry," said Dean.

"The Darkness," Castiel said. "What does she want?"

"Well, the big question is, where the hell is she?"

Castiel gestured toward Dean's face again, looking tortured. "Dean, I can fix that."

"No, no, no. No, no. It's fine, Cas," Dean said. "Besides, I had it comin'."

No, things weren't great, but they were good.

***Dean POV***

October 18, Evening

TWO MONTHS LATER

Things were still good. Actually, things had been kind of boring, but Dean felt that he had needed a little relaxation.

Nothing had been heard about The Darkness for two months. On the contrary, things were too quiet. Castiel said that both Heaven and Hell were trying to figure out what to do about The Darkness. Dean and Sam had had the occasional case involving a vampire or werewolf, but even these were few and far between. Ultimately, Dean had picked up a seasonal construction job in Conway Springs, and was spending most of his time there with Ember.

This week was the exception, as Sam had caught a case in Oregon. Halfway there, they had stopped at a bar, where Dean had spent the night drinking. He had kept his promise to Ember to keep his drinking to a minimum, but occasionally he still liked to go on a bender, particularly at times when she wasn't around. Sam had spent the night in the Impala with a waitress from the bar.

"Man, I needed that," admitted Sam the next evening. Dean had spent the day kidding him about his "night moves".

"And hey, look at that, you're finally not a virgin anymore. But you know what? I think it was time. I respect the fact that you, uh, you know, you wanted to stay true and pure and waited."

"Yeah, you know what? You - you're an idiot."

"Even put a blanket down," Dean said, gesturing to the back seat. "Buddy, classy and thoughtful as always."

"I tried to give her my number," Sam said. "You know what she said?"

""We got tonight. Who needs tomorrow"?" Dean guessed.

"Is everything a Bob Seger song to you?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Dean said.

Sam sighed. "It was nice knowing you, Piper."

"Piper?" Dean said. "That's awesome. One-night wonders, man. Shoot, we're lucky we still get laid at all."

Sam laughed. "Speaking of which, what's up with you and Ember?" Sam asked. "Are you ever gonna propose again?"

"Don't know," said Dean. "I was thinking maybe in March if things keep going well… it would be the anniversary of when we first got together."

"Look at you, being all sentimental," Sam kidded him.

"Hey, man," Dean said. "She lets me do what I do. Her kids think I'm a superhero. And for some reason, she's still around. And not to mention this thing she does, with her tongue-…"

"She's like my older sister!" Sam exclaimed. "I do not want to know!"

"Fair enough," said Dean, laughing. "Okay then, tell me more about Piper."

Dean had never told Sam this, but these conversations in the front seat of the Impala with Sam or with Ember were the best times of his life. He'd explained this to Ember once, a very long time ago. He wondered if, if he did die and go upstairs, his personalized Heaven would be something like this.

***Ember POV***

November 28, Evening

ONE MONTH LATER

The Darkness, Amara, finally surfaced near the end of October. She had grown up into a young adult, feeding on souls and leaving behind soulless husks. Crowley was no longer able to keep control of her, though he was trying. The first time Ember, Dean, and Sam met Amara, she swatted them aside as though they were flies – except for Dean, whom she showed interest in. "It's because I saved her, she says," Dean said again. "She thinks we have some sort of… bond or something." Though he wouldn't admit it to Sam, he confessed to Ember that he felt supernaturally drawn to her. "Intellectually, I know what she did, and who she is," Dean said. "But I feel like she's almost…" he looked disgusted. "Like a sister. Who needs to be protected, and cherished." Still, Amara's bond didn't have complete control over Dean – he had tried to run at her with a knife, after which he had been shoved aside as well.

On the up side, it didn't seem as if Amara was wholly evil. Castiel was able to locate Metatron, who was human now, and found out more information about her. "In order to create the world, God had to sacrifice and betray his only kin," Castiel explained. "The Darkness… his sister."

"Something she said… It sounded to me like she wanted revenge on God," Dean said.

"Maybe so," Ember said, "But even if that doesn't automatically mean ending the world, it could mean killing a lot of people in the process."

Either way, Amara had to go.

Meanwhile, Ember had other concerns. Krissy had decided that she wanted to be a hunter, and was refusing to go to college. After several long conversations, however, she compromised and agreed to work toward a criminal justice degree, under the condition that she remain living at home so that she could accompany Ember and/or Dean on one case per year effective immediately, two the following year, and a number which increased exponentially every year after.

"You sound like Sam when he was younger," Dean told Krissy after she had pleaded her case and the three of them had signed an agreement contract. "You might want to skip Criminal Justice and go into law." In response, Krissy had flipped him off. "Hunting lesson one: Don't point that finger at me!" Dean yelled after her.

Three days after Ember's 34th birthday, the perfect case came along. "It's probably just a cursed object, and there's three adults involved," Ember reminded Dean over the phone. Krissy was driving and Ember was in the passenger seat, and they were on their way to meet Dean and Sam before heading out to Minnesota. "I mean, come on. A murderer wearing a bunny mask that won't speak, and nobody can get the mask off? It's definitely one of the more comical cases we've had. We're not going to get a better opportunity than this."

"I hate taking kids hunting," Dean said.

"I hate taking my kid hunting," Ember said, giving Krissy a hard look. "But she's going to college. And she's 18 now, we can't keep her out of the life for much longer if she's this determined to be in it."

"Exactly," Krissy hurumphed.

The case went south almost immediately. Before they were able to determine whether the bunny mask was cursed or not, the police were forced to shoot the boy wearing the mask when he assaulted an officer, despite his handcuffs.

"This is crap," Krissy grumbled. "We didn't get to save anyone. The guy wearing the mask got shot. All we got to do was burn a dumb mask and watch Dean fight off a giant bunny."

"What, you thought all of our cases were fun?" Dean snapped at her. "This is why we didn't want you hunting. It's not all saving people and fighting monsters. A lot of it is death, and worrying about the people you love, and more death. You're lucky this was a milk run."

Krissy was quiet after that, but she refused to look at Dean or Ember for the remainder of the evening.

The next day, Krissy awakened and dressed in silent fury. This changed quickly, however, when Sam got a call explaining that a person in a jester mask had attacked the football coach at the local high school. And just like that, the four of them were off and running.

In the end, the masks turned out to be a case of ghost possession. The ghost was a man by the name of Chester, who had sworn revenge on the two men who had accidentally killed him. Sheriff Hanscum, a friend of Sam and Dean's who had called them, managed to burn most of the masks Chester possessed, but the last one was put on by Chester's young nephew Max.

It was a group effort from there: Chester threw Dean against the wall, but Krissy got him immediately with rock salt. Together, the four of them burned the mask.

"Nice job," Dean said on the way home.

Krissy gave a shy smile, but Ember could tell that the compliment meant everything to her.

Ember looked at Dean, who rolled his eyes at her, but quirked a smile. "At least we don't have to take her again for another year," he said.