Author's Note:
This chapter doesn't have as much original content as the last few and the next few will, but occasionally I still have to slog through some canon. Good news though, I've finally figured out where I want to go with Ember, and where I want to end up. There was a lot of canon I had to get through in the beginning of this ridiculously long project in order to wind up with the demon blood bonds, and Ember's foray into her demon side in Season 13, which was super important to me... but now that I know where I want to end up I'm going off the reservation quite a bit in future chapters! I'm so excited for what I've got lined up...
I don't own Supernatural.
***Castiel POV***
April 11
"Wow," said Anael, stepping into the booth across from Castiel. "This place is so… ugh."
Castiel liked the restaurant. He thought it was quaint and homely. "I appreciate you coming," he said.
"Well, you said you had something for me," Anael answered.
Straight to business, then. Once they had sent away the waitress, Castiel pulled out a box with a pair of earrings. They hadn't been easy to come by, but Castiel had managed it, mostly due to Ember's invisibility and his angel powers.
"Sixteenth-century Burmese blood rubies," Anael appraised them with surprise. "Five carats. Excellent clarity. Castiel, where did you get these?"
"On a case," he said. "They are lightly cursed, but it's nothing that would affect an angel." It had been a stroke of luck that he had found them, though he'd never thought at the time that he would do anything with them other than bury them in the bunker with the other heaps of cursed junk.
"Uh-huh," Anael said skeptically. "And you're giving these to me?"
"No," said Castiel reluctantly. "I need something. I need your help. To contact God."
Anael laughed. "Yeah, Good luck with that," she said derisively, standing to leave.
It was a long shot, and they both knew it. But, Castiel wasn't known as a strategist for nothing; the blood rubies were far past the worth of Anael's assistance with this, and they both knew that, too. "You forget, Anael, I know you. I know what you did before your demotion. When you were Joshua's right hand?"
She was listening, if reluctantly. "And I know that God spoke to Joshua. And only to Joshua," Castiel continued. "Now, he's dead, but - you understand how they communicated."
"Why do you want to know?" she asked.
"There's a Nephilim – Jack."
"Your son?" Anael said with surprise.
"Yes," said Castiel. "Jack killed Michael."
"Good night, sweet prince," said Anael with derision. Apparently, there was no love lost there.
"But to do so, he used magic that consumed his soul," Castiel admitted. "Not all of it, I hope, but we don't know how much Jack has left. And I've been looking through all the lore, and it all says the same thing."
"Only God can restore a soul," Anael finished. "And that's why you need him."
"Right."
Anael considered with a skeptical smile. "The Winchesters - they don't know you're here, do they?"
"Why do you say that?"
"Oh, I don't know, just a general reek of ill-conceived lone-wolf desperation," said Anael. She always had been good at picking up on other people's motives. "And your demon girlfriend?"
"My fiancé is waiting outside," Castiel admitted. "We didn't want to scare you off."
Anael shrugged uncaringly. "She wouldn't have scared me. Word on the street is she's docile until threatened."
"Are you in or not?" asked Castiel.
"Not," said Anael. "Sorry. You see, Joshua never spoke to God. God spoke to him. There's a big difference."
"I see," said Castiel, reaching over to collect the earrings.
"But… there was a rumor," said Anael, her eyes on the earrings. "A whisper, after the Fall. Joshua placed a long-distance call, and God picked up."
"Okay. How?"
"I don't know," said Aneal. "I wasn't there. But I know someone who was, and I can take you to them."
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Castiel had never met Methuselah before, but he had heard stories. The real Methuselah was every bit as old, but not nearly as impressive. Around the Winchesters, it was easy to forget that men in the old days had been small in stature. When they asked Methuselah about Joshua contacting God, he said only, "The thingamajig he used, it's around here somewhere."
Methuselah's "shop", Orlando's Emporium, was part antique shop, part oddities flea market, and part pile of trash. "It's like that movie Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail," Ember said excitedly, picking her way through a bunch of ugly, dirty dolls. "Find the item worthy of the Lord."
Five hours of searching later, Ember was looking defeated and withdrawn, and Castiel himself felt hopeless. He also had come to dislike the way Methuselah looked at Ember, a cross between wariness and interest.
"You throwin' in the towel?" asked Methuselah, taking his eyes off Ember for the first time in minutes and breaking the uneasy silence.
Castiel didn't want to concede defeat, but he surely would've spotted anything Godlike by now.
"Hey," Anael said to Castiel. "Our deal?"
Then, as he watched Anael pick up her bag, he saw it. It was the necklace Dean used to wear, the one the Winchesters had used to contact God for help with Amara.
"I've seen that before," he said, his eyes widening as he moved toward the amulet he recognized.
"Where?" asked Anael derisively. "Crystal shop? A dollar store? Ren fair?"
"Oh my God, Cas, that's it!" Ember exclaimed, reaching out to grab his arm.
Castiel picked up the amulet. Was it the same one? Or just a similar item? "The one I know, it glows in the presence of God. This is what we're looking for."
"Good eye," said Methuselah, appearing suddenly on the staircase above them. "Joshua forged it after he Fell."
"That thing talks to God?" Anael asked.
"Only one way to find out," said Methuselah.
Castiel clutched the amulet to his chest and shut his eyes. "God… I don't know where you are," he said. He felt Ember clasp his hand. "I don't know if you can hear me. But please. Ember, Sam, Dean- we need you. Please."
But there was nothing.
"Yeah, it never worked for Joshua, either," said Methuselah.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
"It's too bad," said Anael outside of Methuselah's shop. "I would have really enjoyed giving God a piece of my mind. But what can I say. I'm always right."
"Maybe it only works when not in the presence of others," Ember said, though she didn't sound hopeful. "We'll try it again at home. Or maybe God is waiting for us there…"
"Right," said Anael dismissively. "Okay. And if he's not? What are you gonna do now?"
Castiel looked at Ember, and found her already looking at him. "Go home," Castiel said slowly. "Go home and tell Sam and Dean the truth."
Ember nodded.
Anael began to reply, but her voice was drowned out.
"Cas, please, come quick, it's Sam, I think-…"
It was Krissy. Castiel didn't think twice. He took the earrings he had agreed to give Anael and dropped them on the ground, simultaneously grabbing Ember's hand. Then he transported them to Sam's location.
Sam was lying still on the ground next to the Impala on an abandoned country road, blood spilling from his head. Dean and Krissy were leaning over him, obviously frantic with worry.
"Come on. Stay with me now," Dean was saying.
"Cas!" Krissy exclaimed, spotting the two of them. "Thank God!"
Castiel rushed over to Sam and didn't hesitate to send Grace flowing through Sam, healing him.
"What the hell happened?" asked Ember, running forward to hug Krissy, who embraced Ember like she thought she'd never see her again.
"Nick!" Krissy exclaimed angrily into Ember's shirt. It looked as though she was holding back tears, or perhaps hiding her face so they wouldn't see. "Trying to resurrect Lucifer!"
"Cas?" Sam asked as he gasped awake, fully healed but still disoriented.
"Where's Jack?" Ember asked, her arms still around Krissy.
Suddenly, Jack appeared.
"Nick. Where's Nick?" asked Sam.
"I stopped him," said Jack. "It's over." As he spoke, he showed Castiel through angel radio images of what had happened.
Nick had kidnapped Donatello, using him as bait for Jack and the Winchesters. Really, he had needed Jack's blood (the blood of an archangel) for a spell to resurrect Lucifer. Jack had arrived with Mary just in time to push Lucifer back into the Empty. He had killed Nick… brutally…
"What about Mom?" Sam asked.
"She's fine," said Jack, a hint of a smile on his face. "Everything's gonna be fine. I'll go back and get her and meet you all at the bunker."
"No, Jack, I can go-…" began Castiel, but Jack was already gone.
Castiel looked at Ember. She looked shaken, but not unhappy. Still, an uneasy feeling grew in his stomach. He saw Nick's death in his mind, a brutal, horrid thing as Jack tortured him before finally burning him alive…
***Ember POV***
April 12
Jack hadn't come home to the bunker, and neither had Mary. Ember had prayed to Jack several times in varying degrees of desperation, but there was no response. Krissy had stayed as late as she could, but finally had to go back to take a test at college.
Ember had a horrible feeling that something terrible had happened to Jack and Mary. Castiel wasn't helping matters. He seemed stressed, which of course was normal for the situation… but Ember knew him well enough to know that there was something he hadn't told her.
Not that they'd had time to discuss the situation one-on-one. Instead, Ember, Castiel, Dean, and Sam sat around the map table at the bunker anxiously awaiting Mary and Jack's return.
"There's something we need to tell you," Castiel said eventually, and Sam and Dean's heads swiveled their direction.
"I saw Jack," admitted Castiel. "After he killed Michael. I went to check on him, and Felix was sick."
"Felix?" Dean said in surprise. "You mean the snake?"
"Yes," Castiel admitted. "Jack used his powers. He killed the snake. I think Jack considered it a mercy."
Ember understood. Castiel couldn't tell Dean and Sam about Jack and Krissy's relationship, so he was giving the other solid evidence of Jack's lack of a soul.
Dean and Sam looked at Castiel with shock. "We were gonna tell you," Castiel admitted.
"We wanted to be sure," Ember filled in with anguish. "But the more we spend time with him, the more I think… his soul…"
"So you thought you'd wait to tell us this until we were already freaked out," snapped Dean sarcastically.
Ember rushed to the defensive, already strung tight with worry and stress. There were moments she couldn't believe she'd ever dated Dean, and this was one of those moments. "Oh, because you were so quick to tell us that Nick was back and had kidnapped Donatello? No, we have to find out after our son helped put down his attempt to resurrect Lucifer, and Sam's dying on the fucking - …"
"This isn't helpful," Sam interjected, and both Dean and Ember fell quiet. "I think I have an idea."
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Sam used his computer to track Jack's phone. Jack appeared to be on the move for awhile, then finally settled at a cabin nearby. Castiel flew Sam, Dean, and Ember to the cabin, but just as they touched down -
"Uh-oh," Sam said. "The signal is gone. He's gone to Oklahoma now."
"He knew we were here," Castiel whispered.
"You guys look inside," Dean said to Castiel and Ember. "We'll take around back."
Sam and Dean headed out to the back.
"Stay behind me," Castiel instructed Ember, and his voice was strained. He headed straight toward a body on the floor, covering him with a tarp before Ember could get a good look at him.
"What's that?" Ember whispered, though she already thought she knew.
"Nick," Castiel said. "But I already knew it would be. Ember, Jack didn't just kill him… he tortured him first. His death was very brutal. I think Jack boiled his blood from the inside out."
"How do you know?" Ember asked.
"He showed me everything that happened through angel radio," Castiel admitted. "Before he left to go get Mary.
There was silence as Ember digested. She felt the feeling of dread clench her heart. "How could he do that?" she asked, and her voice was unsure, quiet.
"Jack isn't Jack anymore, Ember," Castiel whispered, and he reached out to pull her close. She returned the hug, hanging on for dear life.
"Cas!" Dean called from outside, shaking the peaceful silence.
Rattled, the two headed outside to meet him.
Outside was a large circle of nothing in the foliage, which all of them recognized as a blast radius.
There was silence. Finally Dean said, "I swear, if Jack did something to Mom, if she's - Then you're dead to me, both of you."
Castiel looked ashamed and hurt, but Ember just felt angry, the ripping, clawing anguish finally spilling over in a desperate attempt to blame someone. "And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" she said dangerously.
"Dean," Sam warned.
"No, they knew," Dean said vehemently, pointing at Ember and Castiel. "They knew something was wrong with the kid. They knew it, and didn't tell us!"
Castiel opened his mouth in defense, but Ember beat him to it. "If something happened to her, it might be because they went to fight Lucifer and nobody told us, Dean!"
Sam's phone interrupted all of them.
"Rowena. Hey," he said, hitting the button for speaker phone.
"Hello, Samuel," said Rowena. "I did what you asked. I used scrying magic on the boy, tried to find him. But his energy, it's too unstable. It was like looking at the sun."
"And Mom?" asked Sam.
There was silence.
"Say it!" screamed Dean.
"I don't know what happened, or where she is, but I can tell you with certainty that Mary Winchester is no longer on this Earth."
There was a long pause. Finally, Dean picked up a chair and slammed it against the wall, roaring out his anger. Ember held her ground, ready to use her force powers if needed on her friend, her ex-…
"So, what do we do?" asked Sam desperately, yet again siphoning off just a bit of the tension between Ember and Dean.
Dean leaned back against the table in thought, his back tense and determined. "What do we always do when we lose one of our own? We fight. We fight to bring them back."
"How?" Sam asked. "Death?" Ember's mind raced with possibilities, and with panic.
"Rowena," said Dean. "She's got the Book of the Damned. She's resurrected herself more times than we can count."
"How? We don't even know where your mother is," said Castiel.
Ember knew what Dean would say before he said it. "Then go to Heaven and find her!"
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Castiel and Ember arrived in the playground that served as the entrance to Heaven. "You can't come with me," Castiel said to Ember. "You should have stayed back with Sam and Dean."
"I don't want to be with Dean right now," Ember snapped. "When you go into Heaven, I'll walk a little ways and then pray to Jack. If he did –…" Ember gulped "-…kill her, maybe he'll show himself for me when he won't for Sam and Dean."
"That's not a good idea either," said Castiel hesitantly. "What if he hurts you?" He looked as though it had physically cost him to say those words about his son.
"He won't," Ember said. "Cas, he's not evil. Even if he has no-…" She broke off, then started again. "He healed Sam, after all! Mary must've confronted him about – about Nick, and then – he just got mad, maybe?"
"All the more reason-…" began Castiel.
"Or, more likely, something went wrong with Lucifer and Jack just doesn't know how to handle it," Ember said, attempting to reassure herself. "He's not stupid. He knows Dean and Sam will blame him simply because he was there."
"I don't like you facing him alone," Castiel insisted, not fooled.
"I'm his mother!" Ember snapped at Castiel. "Besides, he probably won't even show. I've been praying to him this whole time and…" she broke off into a sob.
Castiel hugged her and grasped her hands. "Jack," he said. "It's just us. Please, come find us. Sam and Dean aren't here anymore, and we need to speak with you."
"It doesn't matter what you've done," Ember added, holding Castiel's hand. "We're worried, and we want to make sure you're okay."
But there was nothing.
"Do you want me to take you back to Sam and Dean?" asked Castiel after a solid minute had passed.
"No," Ember whispered. "I'll wait for you here."
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
"Jack," Ember prayed. "Jack, it's just me now. Cas has gone to Heaven to see if – if Mary's there. Look, if you hurt Mary – please. We'll work it out, okay? I'll hide you from Sam and Dean. We can figure it out together. We can try to bring her back. Please, I'm so worried!"
Yet again, there was nothing.
Frustrated, Ember texted Sam for an update, and then Rowena.
Finally Sam texted back: Jack went to Rowena. Trying to bring Mom back. She says he's desperate, crazy. Spell won't work, she says. We're on our way to stop him. Cas?
"Damn it!" Ember shouted, wondering if she should've stayed with Dean. "Jack, Rowena says the spell you're trying won't work," Ember prayed. "Please, come to where I am, and we'll figure something out. We'll try it together…"
But there was nothing.
She texted Sam back. Cas in Heaven. Sam, I'm so sorry. We should've told you. But Dean should've told us about Nick and Donatello as well. Please don't let anything happen to Jack. We'll get your mother back…
Sam texted back quickly this time. He's family too. Almost there.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
After several minutes with no response from anyone – Jack, Sam, Dean, Castiel, or Rowena – Ember was feeling more hopeless than ever.
Then, suddenly, Ember heard the telltale whump-whump of wings behind her. She fully expected Castiel, and was surprised but relieved to find Jack.
"Stop worrying!" he shouted at her immediately.
"Jack, thank God, you're-…" Ember started, holding out her arms and advancing toward Jack. Jack hugged her deftly, but there was no feeling to it, no emotion.
"I'm fine," he said.
Ember's initial relief at seeing Jack whole and in one piece was beginning to subside, giving way to a more nagging, sickening, deeper concern. "Jack, what happened?" she asked.
"I killed Mary," he said simply, stepping back from her. Ember felt her stomach clench. "It was an accident. I didn't mean to. But I couldn't bring her back."
"Okay," Ember said, processing. "Jack, come home, please. We'll help you, we'll-…"
"Mary was trying to help," Jack said slowly, methodically. "I got… angry."
He took another step back. "Ember, this was a bad idea. You can't help me. None of you can. But I can hurt you. Maybe I shouldn't be around you right now."
"Jack, no…" Ember began.
Jack looked around as though weighing his options. "It's… better this way," he said, and then he disappeared.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Ten minutes later, Ember was disturbed from her sobbing by the familiar smell of Castiel's trench coat.
"Jack came," she whispered, and Castiel stiffened.
Wordlessly and without looking him in the eye, Ember guided Castiel's hand to her temple. She showed him her memory of Jack's appearance, and felt his anguish.
"His soul is all but gone," Castiel whispered inside her head.
"He's almost robotic, and still trying to protect us."
They were silent for awhile, holding each other both in their bodies and minds. Finally, Ember asked, "Mary?"
The scene in front of her changed. Castiel was showing her a memory.
Castiel walked into a home he recognized from his early days being the Winchesters guardian, though it had been many years since it looked like this. Mary sat on a 70's-style couch, her body wrapped around that of John Winchester.
"Castiel!" Mary said when she spotted him, disentangling herself from John.
"Sam and Dean's angel," said John, smiling peacefully and walking toward him as well.
"How long has it been?" asked Mary.
"Mary," Castiel said, looking at her hesitantly.
John and Mary looked at each other. "Not long, then," Mary answered her own question.
"I'm sorry," Castiel said. "We can bring you back. We can-…"
"No," Mary said. "Please don't." John instinctively held on tighter.
"What?" asked Castiel, surprised.
"Castiel," Mary smiled placatingly. "I was never really supposed to be there."
Castiel looked shocked, even angry. "I always felt like a fish out of water."
Castiel started to defend Sam and Dean, but Mary cut him off. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for the extra time I had with Sam and Dean. It was wonderful to see them as adults. They've grown into such amazing, strong men.
"But Cas… before Amara sent me back down, I was happy, here, with John. And when I was on Earth, a part of me always missed that. It was like a huge piece of me was missing. And now I'm whole again."
"But Sam and Dean-…" Castiel began.
"Sam and Dean have you," Mary said. "And Ember. And Krissy, and Jack, once you fix him. Because you will."
"Mary, I don't know how to-…"
"You will," said Mary, and she seemed so confident that Castiel didn't want to change her mind.
"Castiel, thank you," said John suddenly. "For keeping my boys safe all these years. Mary told me."
"We're so proud of them," said Mary, hugging John. "And of you."
Their smiling faces faded into Castiel's worried one.
***Castiel POV***
April 13
Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Ember were joined the next day by Krissy, back from college, and Eileen, back from a successful hunt. They had a hunter's funeral for Mary.
Sam was perfectly nice and friendly to Ember and Castiel. He allowed Castiel to share the memory of Mary's Heaven with him. After Castiel had removed his fingers from Sam's temple, he realized Sam was crying. "I didn't realize she felt… unhappy."
"She wasn't unhappy," Castiel corrected. "She was happy to know you as an adult. But a soul taken away from Heaven and put back on Earth is displaced… not quite whole. Now she is whole again."
Sam gave an uncomfortable twitch before finally saying, "Thanks, Cas."
Still, occasionally Castiel thought Sam looked uncomfortable in his presence.
Ember reported the same. "I asked Eileen about it," she admitted to Castiel. "Eileen said to give him time. She says he doesn't blame us…"
"But Dean does," Castiel said.
"Dean does," Ember agreed, looking away.