Author's Note: As it turns out, it's a lot easier to manipulate around canon than to write original stuff. I love that this has diverged so much from canon now that I've gotten through both Demon Bonds, but it's taking longer. I've also found that I don't want to write too close to where we currently are in Season 13, because every once in awhile I'll learn new facts about the universe that will affect how I would've written something earlier, if I'd just waited. Therefore, updates are coming more slowly now, only once a week on Saturdays instead of bi-weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Thanks!

Also PPPPPPLLLLLLLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEEE review!

I don't own Supernatural.

***Dean POV***

August 16, Morning

TWO WEEKS LATER

Over the past two weeks, Dean, Sam, and Krissy had done everything they could to find Ember. They had looked at every teleport spot they knew. They had informants everywhere looking for her. They had turned over every stone, and called in every favor they had. Still, there was nothing.

Finally, the remainders of Team Free Will were forced to conclude that they had quite frankly taught Ember too well. It had never occurred to any of them that she would ever be hiding from them. Truthfully, they might've passed her several times and still missed her, because none of the four of them could actually see her when she was invisible.

When Jo called one morning, it was a welcome distraction.

"Jo, how are you?" Dean said, picking up the phone.

"'Mmm okay," she said. "Can we meet up? I'm in the area. We've gotta talk."

"Sure," Dean said, his heart pounding unexpectedly.

"Okay. I'll be there in an hour and a half. Biggie's cheeseburgers?"

"Sounds good," he said.

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

In an hour and forty minutes, Jo arrived at Biggie's and sat across from Dean. Biggie's was relatively sparsely populated with lots of room, and Dean knew Jo had picked the diner for that reason. Jo looked tired, but otherwise good. Her hair was a bit longer than when Dean had last seen it, and a new scar stood out white on her arm. "Wendigo," she said, when she caught Dean looking at it. She smiled, and Dean once again felt his heartrate accelerate.

"You could ask for help anytime you want," Dean said, grinning his best grin.

"I will," she said, smiling at him. "When I'm in over my head."

She lowered her voice, and Dean knew he was about to find out why she had really asked him to meet. "Speaking of being in over my head," she said conspiratorially, "Tell me about this nephilim."

Dean's spoon dropped onto his plate. "How did-...?"

"Tortured a demon last week. He had a lot to say about your ex-girlfriend. And the angel, Castiel."

This meeting was not at all going how he had hoped. "How do I know you're not a demon?" he challenged.

Slowly, Jo pulled down the neck of her top, showing her anti-possession tattoo. Dean's heart leapt to his throat, and he smiled despite himself at the skin she was showing. She caught his grin. "Focus, Dean," she said, rolling her eyes. He gave her another charming grin. Jo cut her finger, and drew a tiny angel banishing symbol on the table, then held her hand to it. Nothing happened.

"Okay," Dean agreed. Slowly, he told her everything that had happened with Ember, Castiel, and Lucifer. It felt good to vent to someone that wasn't Sam, for once. An image came to his head, unbidden: himself and Ember in the car, so long ago, after he had just met her, discussing hunting and demons. He smiled reminiscently.

"What?" Jo asked.

"We should meet up more often," Dean said. "When there's not a crisis."

Jo smirked at him. "Maybe we should," she said.

***Castiel POV***

August 19, Night

Castiel had almost caught Ember twice. The first time, he had arrived at one of her old teleportation spots in Nebraska and asked around. A lady had told him that a woman fitting Ember's description had left 15 minutes ago.

The second time, he managed to catch a glimpse of her in a motel in Alabama that she had frequented occasionally. "Ember, please!" he had shouted, but she had teleported away, giving him a fearful look.

He was pacing a motel in Hawaii when he heard Sam's prayer. "Cas… Dean says this is a lost cause. Look, I don't know if you knew, but Hell knows about Ember now."

Castiel felt a lurch near his stomach region.

"It was one thing when it was just us looking for her, but now it's every damn demon in the United States, and soon every angel too. We've got to give her a place to hide. I've got a proposition. Come back to the bunker."

It took Castiel a good three days, but he eventually made it back to the bunker. Dean gave him a scornful look, but otherwise said nothing. Krissy avoided his eyes.

"Look," said Sam once all five of them were in the kitchen. "We hoped once you disappeared, Ember would come back. But she hasn't. I think she's too afraid you're going to tail us to find her."

The idea had crossed his mind. He had a feeling Dean guessed this, because Dean caught his eye at that point and gave him an icy glare.

"It was different when it was just us," Sam continued. "But now every demon alive is after her, and probably the angels, too. And they won't think about her. Hell won't think twice about letting her die after they get the child, and Heaven will kill them both on principal. And the demons can teleport."

Castiel nodded. "So what's your proposition?"

"A truce," said Sam. "I know you don't want the nephilim to be born, Cas. I get that. But I know you, at least, don't want Ember to die, either. What we need is more time to decide what to do about this, with Ember safe. So we'll get the word out to her that we're willing to offer amnesty. She's not even six months along. We have a little time to figure out what to do, but in the meantime we need her safe, with the people who care about her, rather than the nephilim. And that means you have to promise not to abort her child when she's not looking."

Castiel considered this for a second. He was desperate, to be honest. He had yet to come to a conclusion about what to do. He loved Ember endlessly, more than even he could understand, but allowing the nephilim to live went against everything he had ever believed in. He wished he could get her to understand why it had to go… perhaps Dean and Sam were right. Perhaps more time was what they needed.

"Agreed," he said.

***Dean POV***

September

ONE MONTH LATER

Dean, Castiel, Sam, and the children had continued to look for Ember for the past month, to no avail. They had left messages for her about their truce in her hideouts in places only she might look, such as in the back of the remote control where the batteries would go, and inside a bottle of her favorite Deoderant. Still, the brothers and Castiel had not seen from or heard about her. Every so often at various hideouts, they ran across demons who were also looking for her. This was reassuring in its own way, because at least they knew she was still at large.

Still, they were beginning to get desperate.

***Ember POV***

September 23, Night

Ember was now six months pregnant. She had a routine schedule now. She would wake up in one hotel, then teleport to a new spot. She would sneak into the new hotel, invisible, and take a shower. Then she would spend the remainder of the day wandering around the city, familiarizing herself with new spots to teleport to if she needed to. After the first month on her own, she had completely abandoned every single one of her old teleportation spots, and now had an entirely new network of spots to which she teleported. She ensured that her pattern was entirely random. She would teleport to different cities at least twice throughout the day, and be in a third city by nightfall. She was taking no chances.

Once each week, she allowed herself the privilege of glimpsing someone familiar. Nearly half the time, she went to one of her children's colleges. Occasionally, she got far enough away from the bunker to see Sam or Dean entering or exiting.

These trips were risky, especially lately. Lately, there had been angels positioned outside of the bunker, as well as Krissy's college, and of course their home in Conway Springs. Still, Ember couldn't resist these trips. She lived for them, for the chance to see someone, anyone, familiar, if even for a second.

Aside from this, Ember spent an immense amount of time watching television. She drowned herself in every show she had abandoned all these years. For the brief period she watched television, she could forget – forget about Castiel, forget about the possibility of having Lucifer's child, and forget about the fact that it had been months since she'd spoken to someone familiar.

It was September 23rd when Ember once again felt the headache that meant a premonition was coming on. As usual, she was watching television when it started. She rolled her eyes, and laid back and let the pain wash over her:

A demon – a strong demon, though Ember had never seen him before – was standing over Castiel with a long blade. Castiel was crawling away, holding his side, then running away with Mary Winchester… Then she saw Castiel, black foam pouring from his mouth, and he was choking on it…

When Ember awakened from her fainting spell, she knew, instinctively, that this time the vision had already occurred, or was occurring. Castiel had already been stabbed, she knew.

In a split second, Ember had teleported to the barn.

"You look like hammered crap," Dean was saying to Castiel, leaning over him.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," said Castiel.

"Let's see," said Dean. He froze halfway to Castiel, however, as he spotted Ember out of the corner of his eye. "Ember!"

Everyone turned toward Ember at once, and the room grew silent. It was as though time was suspended in animation as everyone waited to see what Ember would do next – even Castiel, who Ember could tell was getting worse by the second.

Ember didn't have time for this. "Premonition," she said, by way of explanation. She pushed Dean out of the way, and leaned over Castiel. "Let's see…"

Castiel's skin was rotting, from the point of entry of the spear onward. It reminded Ember of the toxic virus Amara used to spread, or of the Croatoan virus, only less pronounced and much quicker-acting.

"All right," said Dean. "Okay. Hey, you know what? I've had worse."

"Oh, yeah? When?" Castiel snapped. "Dean, something's wrong. I... I can't heal myself. I think the... I think the demon's s-spear was poisoned. I don't... I-I think I'm dying."

No. Something inside Ember snapped.

"No," Dean said. "No, you just need some time, okay? You'll heal up the old fashioned way. Sam! Sammy!"

Crowley appeared just behind Sam and Mary, suddenly. "You idiots. You're all going to die."

Ember reacted immediately. Tearing her eyes away from Castiel, she stuck one hand out, and covered her stomach with the other.

"Relax," said Crowley, gesturing to Ember. "I'm not after the spawn of Satan. Not at the moment, anyway. We have other issues."

"Well, this day just keeps gettin' better," said Dean sarcastically.

"Crowley?" Sam asked, annoyed.

"You're him? The King of Hell?" asked Mary.

But Ember tuned out while they did introductions. She went around to Castiel's side so that she could still see the demon if he did anything threatening, and turned her attention to Castiel. He couldn't die, not now. Not when she was about to have his child, when they weren't even talking… "I can heal you, I think," she said. She had healing powers, now, as she had accidentally learned two weeks ago when she had stumbled and skinned her knees on the rocks. Her powers were growing by the day, actually… they had been for the past month. She laid her hand on Castiel's stomach.

She was surprised when he wrapped his own hand, covered in blood, around hers. "Ember," he whispered.

Try as he might, though, she couldn't heal him. She had another idea, though. "I can teleport you," she offered instead. "And then we'll figure something out back at the bunker…"

"No, you can't," said Castiel. "Moving me may speed up the process. You may have gotten stronger, but teleporting humans and teleporting an angel are two very different things."

Ember moaned in protest. She tried again to heal him, but the effort was fruitless. She knew that she should have been able to do it, but something about his wound wasn't allowing it.

"Wait a second," Sam was saying. "The demons. They were yours."

"Obviously," said Crowley.

"They killed my friend," said Mary.

"Your friend was stupid," said Crowley. "You're all... Do you know what you've done? Does the name Ramiel mean anything to you?"

"Yes," said Ember and Castiel at once, while the other three all said, "No."

"What?" asked Sam.

"Ramiel, Prince of Hell," Castiel answered, by way of explanation, and Ember nodded. Castiel had told Ember everything he knew of Hell when the two of them had dated.

"Lucifer made Lilith, and then he made four other demons, " Ember filled in, her hand still on Castiel's stomach. "The Princes of Hell, more powerful even than the Knights of Hell. They're Azmodeaus, Dagon, Ramiel… and Azazel."

"Azazel," Mary breathed, recognizing the name.

Crowley nodded. "They all have his eyes. My demons were there to keep people away from Ramiel. Believe me, that's a hornet's nest you do not want to be kicking."

"Too late," said Dean.

"What happened to Cas?" asked Sam.

"He got stabbed with some kind of silver-tipped spear," Mary answered.

"It's not a spear," said Crowley, recognition flaring in his eyes. "It's a lance. The Lance of Michael."

"Michael." Dean repeated. "As in Michael Michael?"

"Nasty bit of business," Crowley agreed. "Kills everything it touches. If you're a demon, you go up in a puff of smoke. If you're an angel, you just... rot away. Sorry, Castiel."

No. Castiel couldn't die. They had been through so much together, this couldn't possibly be the end. She looked into his eyes, and she saw fear… and an apology. Very slowly, he took his hand from around hers, and placed it gently on her face. She leaned into his touch, despite the fact that it was gooey with his own blood. She placed both of her hands on his hand when it started to slip.

"We took down the Darkness, and the Devil," Sam was saying, thinking along the same lines.

"It took you years to defeat Lucifer, and the power of God to stop the Darkness," Crowley said. "Maybe if you had more time, you could manage Ramiel. But right now, in this barn... Hey, I was growing fond of the choir boy, too."

"Shut up. Shut up!" Dean screamed. "We don't have time, okay, for your– for you. So either help us or get the hell out of here!"

Crowley disappeared. "Yeah, figures," Dean said. "Cas, how bad is it?"

Castiel was groaning and writhing in pain, but he managed to pull aside his collar. Under his shirt, the tendrils of the infection were spreading across his chest. "Crowley's right," he said. "You should go."

"Cas, come on," Dean insisted.

"Cas, no," Ember whispered. She was still holding Castiel's hand in both of hers, and tears were streaming down her face.

"No, you listen to me," said Castiel. "You– Look, thank you. Thank you. Knowing you, it... it's been the best part of my life. You're my family. I love you. I love all of you. Just please... please, don't make my last moments be spent watching you die. Just run. Save yourselves. And I will hold Ramiel off as long as I can. "

"Cas, no," said Dean and Ember again, sharing eye contact.

This wasn't happening, it's not happening…

"Like you said, you're family," said Dean. "And we don't leave family behind."

Castiel was looking at Ember, now.

"We hit him with everything we got," Dean was saying.

They were moving around Ember, preparing for battle, but when she turned to help, Castiel tugged her backward and caught her with his gaze. 'I love you, you must know that. I've always loved you… I've never stopped…"

"Cas…" Castiel smiled at her and his gaze burned through her. "I'm so sorry about the Demon Bond, Ember. And I have no right to even ask for your forgiveness, after everything… after the child… But those months with you were the happiest of my life, and if things were different, I'd have settled down, like you wanted…"

Ember looked back at him, shocked at the words he had for so long refused to say, but which she had somehow always known were true. "Cas, I-…"

Suddenly, however, they were distracted by a crash. Crowley was sailing, screaming, through the window, where he landed unconscious on the floor. Dean and Sam jumped up to go investigate, but Ember stayed next to Castiel. The brothers had barely reached Crowley's body, however, when the demon Ramiel walked through the door.

Sam quickly dropped a lighter to the floor, and a second later a ring of fire rose up around Ramiel. "Toasty," he said.

"You stabbed one of our friends," said Dean, pacing around the circle.

"Your friend was trespassing," said Ramiel.

"Tell us how to cure him," demanded Sam menacingly.

"There is no cure," said Ramiel.

"You have any idea who we are?" asked Dean.

"I don't care," said Ramiel. "I don't care who you are. I don't care why you're here. I don't care about Heaven or Hell or anything. I don't even care that Lucifer's got a bun in the oven."

"You know about that?" asked Mary.

"My sister Dagon, she's taken an interest," said Ramiel. "But me? Eh."

"Let me guess," said Dean with a significant look at Ember, who had begun to open her mouth. "You don't care." Dean was looking at Ember sharply, and she understood his look: "Don't tell him. Not yet. He doesn't know about you."

"All I wanted was to be left alone," said Ramiel. "But then you come. You steal from me. And that? Oooh. That I cannot abide."

Ember looked at Dean and then Castiel, but both of them looked back at her innocently, their eyes holding the same question: Who had stolen from him?

Ramiel slowly took out a pocket watch from his jacket. "Give me back what's mine," he said. "Or I take it off your lifeless bodies. You've got 30 seconds."

The seconds ticked by slowly, and Ember looked at Castiel. "Go," the angel told her telepathically. The grey was creeping up to his face now. "I'm not worth it."

"I won't abandon everyone I love unless I have no other choice," Ember thought fiercely at the angel. She thought she saw Castiel give her a small smile, but then his eyes sailed over her shoulder.

Ramiel had drawn a large, silver lance from out of nowhere, and was readying it. Ember stood up, also readying herself.

As if in slow motion, Ramiel brought the Lance down onto the ground. It blew out the circle of holy oil, but made no more effect.

Ramiel's eyes immediately leapt to Ember, who had fought back the blast caused by the Lance of Michael. He squinted at her carefully. "I thought you were with him," he said, gesturing to Crowley, who Ember just now noticed seemed to have regained consciousness. "But there's something more to you…"

"I am half-demon," said Ember. "The child I carry is part demon, part angel, and part human."

"It's yours?" Ramiel asked her, clearly surprised but trying not to show it. "You're the mother of Lucifer's child?"

Crowley stood up, brushing off his long black coat. "'Told you not to go in the barn."

"Might be," replied Ember honestly. "Now cure him, or I'll kill the child." And she aimed her own angel blade at her stomach. Dean, Sam, and Castiel all looked shocked.

"You're bluffing," Ramiel said.

"How mad do you think Lucifer will get?" Ember asked. She sent a glance of her own toward Dean: "Do something."

"Doesn't matter," said Ramiel. "There is no cure. Now get out of the way, or I'll make you." He started toward Ember, but at that moment Mary took advantage of the distraction and ran Ramiel through with an angel blade. Ramiel turned toward her, throwing her backward, but Ember blocked his blow. Instead, Sam grabbed the Lance of Michael from Ramiel and stabbed him squarely in the chest. For a moment, his face was alight with laughter… until he exploded, in a giant burst of grey smoke.

At the same time, Castiel screamed in agony, and Ember turned around to find that black goo was flowing from Castiel's mouth. "No!" she screamed.

Sam threw the Lance down and ran to his side. "Cas. Hey, buddy. Hey, we're here, Cas. We're right here, buddy. Hang in there, all right? What do we do?" And the world was ending, because Castiel was dying, even after they'd beaten Ramiel…

Crowley was investigating the Lance Sam had dropped, and suddenly, he snapped it in half. To the surprise of everyone in the room, Castiel began to glow, a bright blue light surrounding his body.

"Cas!" Ember screamed. What was this glow, and what had caused it? Had Crowley caused the glow when he broke the Lance in half?

The glow faded, however, and when it was gone Castiel lay on the same sofa as before, without a single scratch.

Slowly the group turned to Crowley, stunned.

"The magic's in the craftsmanship," he said.

Ember screamed, and ran to hug him. Crowley gave her a dazed look, and it occurred to Ember too late that he likely was not used to hugs. "You - you're welcome," he said. And with that, he dropped the broken lance and disappeared.

-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-

"Ember, please," said Sam five minutes later. "Come back to the bunker with us. Let's talk."

Ember shook her head, her heart sinking. All she wanted to do was go back to the bunker and talk with Castiel, for hours on end. She wanted to see her children, and make sure they were okay. She wanted to kiss Castiel, to prove to herself that he was still alive… to prove to herself that she was still alive.

But she shook her head. "I can't," she said regretfully. "I have to go. I'm stronger than Crowley, but it won't take him long to arrange back-up. He wants that child, I can see it in his eyes. And none of us know how Crowley found out from Lucifer about the child in the first place, because I'm assuming it wasn't anyone here. And Dagon, the other night of Hell, has taken an interest?"

She shook her head. She was shaking, she could feel it. She was trying desperately to hold the tears back. She wanted nothing less than to go on the run again, estranged from everyone… but she couldn't slow down. "I have to stay on the move," she said.

"Then I'll go with you," said Castiel. "A truce. I promise, I won't try to hurt the -…" Here he paused, a sickened look on his face. "The child again. I just want to talk."

Ember was sorely tempted. But what would happen when Castiel wanted more than just to talk?

It didn't matter, however – she was stronger than Castiel, more powerful, now this late in her pregnancy. She'd known this as soon as she felt him again in her premonition, and it had surprised her, though it had been eclipsed by the rest of the premonition. Unfortunately it wasn't only Castiel that she was worried about. Dagon was more powerful than any other living demon, and apparently she was "interested." And Castiel couldn't teleport. Additionally, Castiel was right, Ember could feel it – she may be able to teleport other humans, but angels were a different thing entirely. Castiel was completely grounded, and so would be a liability.

"I'm sorry, Cas," she said. "I wish – I really wish that I could. But I teleport… everywhere now, for my own safety, and for his." She put a hand gently on her stomach. "And Dagon can teleport too. I can't… can't risk it. It puts you in too much danger, all of you." She smiled, wanely.

And with that, she turned invisible and teleported away once more, to a motel room in Texas. To her horror, a couple was already busy having sex on the motel room bed. "Fuck you guys!" Ember expelled angrily at them, and the couple screamed and looked up at the unexpected intrusion.

Ember was already gone, however, to another motel room in Chicago. This motel room was mercifully empty, and Ember sprawled out on the bed, finally letting the tears fall.