Author's Note: This chapter was rewritten 2 or 3 times, particularly the part Casifer part. I didn't want to make Ember seem like she was whining to Castiel, or that she was dependent on Castiel to solve her Dean problems... more that she had a weak moment which Lucifer more than took advantage of. An explanation about this new development will come in later chapters. Let me know what you think in the reviews! And thank you for everyone who has stuck with me - it took awhile to get here, to this culmination of plot twists. So much had to stay canon so that this could happen, so after this there will be a lot more diverges. I don't own Supernatural.

***Dean POV***

February 15, Morning

ONE MONTH LATER

Dean wasn't typically one to worry too much about his love life. He had never had a shortage of women who wanted him. Ember had been one of a very select few girls in his life that he had been interested in for more than just sex, and she had certainly been the only girl he had ever even considered marrying. Even with Ember, however, he had typically focused far more on saving people and hunting things than he had on her. (Perhaps this was part of the problem.)

Now, for the first time in his life, the difficulties in his love life related directly to the hunt. First, he hadn't been honest with Ember. He'd told her his bond to Amara was more sisterly, but really it was pure attraction.

More important even than honesty with Ember, why was he attracted to Amara? He had never seemed to be particularly attracted to crazy girls, or at least not especially attracted to them over non-crazy girls, and he definitely wasn't the type of guy with a fetish for supernatural forces. He had to assume, then, that his attraction to Amara was like Ember's demon attraction – entirely supernatural, with no real substance.

So, he put it out of his mind. It wasn't like he'd be doing the nasty with her anytime soon anyway. He really just wanted her dead.

***Ember POV***

February 15, Evening

Valentine's Day had been beautiful. It hadn't been expensive, but it had been special in its own way. They had gone skiing in Denver, Colorado. It was still very "Dean Winchester" – a crappy motel instead of a ski lodge, and a lot of cheeseburgers and pie, but Ember preferred his style over superficial ski lodges and expensive food like cavier anyway.

The day after Valentine's Day was a Sunday, and Dean and Ember were just waking up in the Colorado motel when Sam called to say he had found a case.

Dean looked at Ember apologetically, his eyes dancing with curiosity. Ember smiled. "Mind if I tag along?" she said, smirking. "It's been a month since I was in the field, and that ended up in Hell – literally. I'm short on client hours the next couple of days, and I haven't taken time off in forever."

Dean gave her a wide grin: it had been decided.

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

"This roughly translates to the kiss of death," Sam said two days later, poring over some lore.

"I swear. She never told me that," said Melissa. Melissa had sought out Dean and Sam after her dead husband came to kill her. The day before that, said husband, Dan had been killed by the dead babysitter, Stacy. The day before that, when the case began, Staci had been killed by Dan – or, at least, someone who looked like him.

Sam and Dean's first guess had been a shapeshifter, but in the end Melissa had admitted that she had bought a spell from a "white witch." "A return to love spell," she had said. "All I had to do was chant it and seal it with a kiss. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I swear. I just wanted my husband back."

Ember chuckled under her breath at the irony. Instead of getting him back, she had accidentally given him the "kiss of death." If it wasn't for the guilt, she'd probably be better off in the end, however – her husband had been cheating with the babysitter..

"What does the lore say?" asked Dean.

"There is no lore," Sam said. "My best guess is that this is the white witch's home cooking."

"Terrific," said Dean. "Alright, so what do we know? Um, you kiss someone, then they die."

"I guess," said Sam. "Wait a second." He looked at Melissa. "You didn't kiss Stacy?"

"No of course not!"

"No, but Dan did," said Dean.

"So the curse is transmittable?" asked Sam.

"Like a magic STD," Dean guessed. "Okay that works. Kinda makes you nostalgic for good old fashioned herpes."

"Oh God," said Melissa. "I killed Dan and Stacy!"

"You didn't kill anyone," said Sam, as Ember nodded. "This is all on that witch."

"Riddle me this," asked Dean. "Why did Stacy die first if she was kissed second?"

"I don't know," said Sam. "Maybe you're safe if you can pass the curse on?"

"And then if that person dies then it comes back to you?"

"I mean that would make sense. It would explain why, whatever this is, is working it's way back to Melissa," said Sam.

Just as they finished their conversation, there was a giant clatter. Dan (the monster) was breaking through the window! He was closest to Sam, but he threw Sam aside. All 6'4" of Sam crumbled against the wall with a clatter and lay motionless, barely stirring. Dean and Ember acted at once. Ember threw a blast of force power toward Dan, and Dean unloaded an entire clip into his belly. The monster was entirely unfazed by the gun, and only barely fazed by Ember's force powers. It reminded her of facing down Alastair, or the siren, so many years ago. She knew she could only hold the monster at bay for a few seconds before it bared down on Dean.

Sam was stirring in the corner, but he wasn't moving fast enough – he wouldn't get to them in time. Then Ember saw Dean. "I'm about to make a decision that's probably going to get me dumped!" Dean screamed at Ember.

Ember saw what Dean meant. He had grabbed Melissa – he meant to kiss her, to take the curse for himself, long enough to distract the monster so they could get away and regroup. It had worked for her, with Castiel, so many years ago, and for completely different reasons…

"Just do it!" Ember screamed.

Then several things happened very fast. Dean kissed Melissa. The monster stopped. Ember fell backward when her force powers were suddenly met with no resistance. Sam hit the monster over the head with a chair.

Sixty seconds later, they were all scrambling into the Impala.

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

"Alright, got it," said Sam an hour later. They were in the hair salon, attempting to look for something belonging to Melissa's hair dresser that might give them some sort of clue as to what they were fighting. "It looks like we're dealing with a Qareen."

"Never heard of it," said Dean.

"It's a creature, corporeal in form. A slave to your commands."

"Like a genie?" Ember asked.

"I guess," said Sam. "Here we go. Someone chants a curse, lays a wet one on you, then the victim is seduced and killed by the Qareen, but instead of taking the form of Barbara Eden, they present themselves as your deepest, darkest desire."

"Makes sense why the sitter was killed by the husband. The husband by the sitter," said Sam.

"Yeah," said Dean. "And why Melissa was attacked by Dan. She really loved him."

Dean laughed.

"What?" said Sam.

He's looking forward to making out with Daisy Duke," Ember said, rolling her eyes. "I still say I should take the curse."

"No," said Dean. "And I still say you should avoid this entirely and head back to Kansas. It's too dangerous. End of conversation. Again."

Ember ignored him, and let the subject die. Normally, she would've fought harder to get Dean to give her the curse, being the stronger of the two of them. Normally, she would've kissed him when he wasn't paying attention, or perhaps even used her force powers. Unfortunately, she was too scared that if she did so, an angel in a trenchcoat might show up to kill her.

Castiel had had his chance, and Ember wouldn't allow her residual feelings for the angel to ruin what she had now. So, she shut up.

"Alright, how do we kill it?" Dean was asking.

"By stabbing it in its heart," said Sam.

"Well, given that it has a giant hole in its chest, does it even have a heart?" asked Dean, looking at the book Sam was holding.

"Apparently not in him," Sam answered. "The person who holds the Qareen's heart is the one who commands it."

"So Sonja the hairdresser," said Dean.

"Alright, let's find us a heart," said Sam. "I'll take upstairs."

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

Sam left the room, and Ember found the corner opposite from Dean and started looking around.

"Why don't you go upstairs with Sam?" Dean asked.

Ember looked at him strangely. They never separated on a hunt when the other might be in trouble. "Dean…"

"Or… you know, maybe you're right," he said suddenly. "Maybe you should take the curse. I'll watch your back."

Okay, this was really weird. "Dean?"

Then Ember saw her. Walking into the room was a woman that Ember had never seen before, yet she recognized immediately. "Amara!" Ember said. "You… Amara?!"

But Dean did not seem surprised to see her. In fact, he shot Ember a look that was clearly full of guilt, and dread.

"I understand Dean," said the fake Amara.

Dean stood his ground and readied his knife. "Is that right?"

"The longing in your heart, I feel it too."

Dean's hand inched toward his knife. Ember, finally recovering from her shock, moved her own hand toward her knife as well. "Well that's touching," said Dean. "Considering that you don't have a heart. Qareen."

"Who I am doesn't matter," the monster said. "The real question is who are you?"

"What do you mean who am I?" asked Dean.

"You're a mystery," said Amara. "I can see inside your heart. Feel the love you feel. Except it's cloaked in shame. When it comes to this, you can't help yourself, so why fight it. Just give in." The words felt like a dagger to Ember's heart. Well, at least he's ashamed of it.

"Yeah," said Dean. "You know what? You're right. The real Amara does have a hold on me, but you? Are nothing but a cheap imitation." The monster attacked, and Dean evaded her. Ember used her force blast again, which slowed the monster down somewhat, enough for Dean to move to the other side of the room. Ember let the monster go once more… and then the monster screamed, and disappeared.

"Dean!" Sam yelled from upstairs.

"Yeah!"

"So. I got it."

"Yeah," said Dean, looking wearily at Ember.

She looked at him, and at the guilty look on his face. He lied. Again. What had he been doing? What was this tie to the Darkness that he had never been able to properly explain? What had they done, while Sam and Ember had been in Lucifer's cage, in Hell?

A second later, she was gone.

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

In hindsight, Ember realized that the fact that Castiel was the only person she knew who could truly give her advice about supernatural attraction was not actually why she prayed to him. In the moment, however, she was able to convince herself that this was a good idea. Dean had lied to her – again! "Like a sister," he'd said. She was fairly certain he wasn't actually involved with Amara, if such a thing were even possible. Still, she felt that not admitting to her that he desired God's sister was a fairly large oversight.

"Cas, I don't know what to do," she said to the air as she sprawled across her bed in Conway Springs. "Dean is in love with Amara – Amara! And he didn't tell me – again! Do you have any -…"

Ember's phone rang.

"Ember," said Castiel's deep voice. "I'm close by, actually. Do you have a teleportation spot in Wichita?"

"Yeah," Ember said. "I'll be there in a minute."

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

Ember met Castiel in an old diner in Wichita. She couldn't help wondering what she was doing. It had started off innocently enough. She had been upset. The more she thought about it, however, the more this seemed petty. Was she really going to whine to her ex-boyfriend about her current boyfriend? Was that really fair? For the first time ever, she cursed her teleportation abilities for getting her places so quickly, and Castiel for being so close. Perhaps if she'd had to make the drive to Wichita, she would have thought better of it and returned home already.

Plus, who was she to judge Dean for not telling her about Amara? She hadn't told him about Castiel – about her on-going feelings for the angel, or even about their kiss last year…

Still, she rationalized, there was no way that kiss could've made the difference between life and death for several million people, nor had it been with a cosmic being whose power was equal to or greater than God Himself. Honestly, she and Dean hadn't even been together when she had kissed Castiel, because it had been right after Dean had given her the ring back and left. Plus, she rationalized, it had been Castiel who had asked her to come here in the first place… Castiel needs to know, she decided finally. Dean wouldn't have told him about Amara, and he needs to know.

"What happened?" Castiel asked, appearing arriving in the diner. He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, but she knew his car must've been outside. "Tell me everything." Ember felt her heart speed up, as it always did around the angel. There was something off about the angel, though – something she couldn't put her finger on, though she recognized it immediately.

Ember explained, from start to finish, what had happened.

"So Dean's deepest, darkest desire is Amara?" Castiel asked.

"Yeah," said Ember. She was wrestling with her emotions – anger at Dean, and at the situation, residual attraction to Castiel, and guilt for calling Castiel in the first place. She tried to pull herself together and focus on the task at hand. "So… I just figured I'd let you know. I, um, probably shouldn't have gotten so upset about it, but I figured you would need to know, and I know Dean wouldn't have told you."

Instead of bidding her good-bye, however, Castiel stared at her strangely with a look that she couldn't decipher. "You said he's been close to her before… what happened during those times?"

"You know as much as I do, Cas," Ember said. "I mean, he definitely tried to attack her with a knife during one of them, I saw that, but… I mean, he's been with her for so long, before, and he wasn't answering the phone while Sam and I were in Hell, and -…" Castiel was looking concerned, and Ember suddenly felt like crying. It was the closest she'd been to him in almost a year… did he care? Was he affected? She bit the inside of her lip to avoid the tears. She never should have come here.

"Have you talked to him since then?" Castiel asked, putting his hand on her arm.

"No," she said, looking down at his hand in surprise. "I don't really know what to say." She took an infinitesimal step away from him, despite her desire not to. Once again, she tried to collect herself, willing away the urge to cry. "I know the attraction is supernatural," she said. "I don't know if he even has a choice, you know?" She looked at him awkwardly. "I just, um… figured you needed to know." She turned away from Castiel, once again ready to bid him farewell. She had been here too long already. She needed to work things out with Dean.

Castiel caught her by the arm. "Ember… how are you?"

"What – what do you mean?" she asked.

Castiel put his other arm on her other arm, looking her squarely in the eye. "He should've told you. He should've told all of us. He's put us in danger by not doing so. How many times have you and Sam confronted her, without this vital piece of information? I know Dean loves you, but he's put you at risk by not telling you. And I don't like that."

Ember had turned fully, and was now staring Castiel in the face. Suddenly, she was extremely uncomfortable. If it had been her mother or Krissy, perhaps this speech would've been fine. But coming from Castiel, the speech was making her uncomfortable. Ember felt herself going on the defensive. "Cas… I mean… I guess he just thought… I mean, he did go after her with the knife that time, so he has some control over it… And I never told him about… about the kiss…" She looked downward, unable to meet his eyes. She was embarrassed. She never should've come here. This was getting more awkward by the minute, and she'd let her emotions run away with her.

"The kiss was none of Dean's business," Castiel said vehemently. "He'd given you back the ring. You weren't even together at the time."

Ember looked at Castiel, surprised once again. On the single occasion they had discussed the kiss since its occurrence a year previously, Castiel had refused to look at her. Now, however, he was looking into her eyes with a hard look that was unmistakable hunger… and anger.

"And Amara was practically a child the last time you all faced her," Castiel continued vehemently. "She's God's sister. You have no idea her power, and neither does Dean. What would've happened the next time you faced the real Amara, at full power? Dean was being reckless and irresponsible."

Wow. Castiel was legitimately angry. In a short speech, he had touched on everything wrong with Dean, everything wrong with their entire relationship. All of the doubts Ember had had over the past two years… or had it been longer? Ember couldn't help it – she began to cry, despite biting her lip so that she wouldn't. Castiel immediately pulled her into his arms, and held her there for some time.

When he pulled back, he looked into her eyes again. There was that look again… hungry. It surprised her, scared her even, but not as much as his next words. "Ember," he said quietly. "Tell me this. Who is your deepest, darkest desire?"

Something turned over in Ember's stomach. "Cas, I-…" She couldn't look away. She should run, she knew she should run, but she couldn't bear it, not again. And then Castiel's lips were on hers, and she was soaring, flying-

But something was wrong. Something was horribly, horribly wrong.