A/N: Whew, this chapter ended up being ridiculously long! There just wasn't a good place to end it. I asked my husband how I should decorate the scene where they confront Chuck, with the idea that Gabriel is known for creating bubble universes, and he had this really good idea that I should bring in all of the remaining Pagan gods and goddesses that the Winchesters never really got around to killing as a distraction. I think it turned out really well, but it took an extra long time.
...I don't own anything except Ember.
***Dean POV***
January 22nd
Garnering Michael's help was not easy. Michael was pissed off, rightfully so, at being locked in the cage for the past ten years, or 100 years in Hell.
Michael did seem to have created a sort of symbiosis with Adam, his vessel, they were happy to see. He even allowed Adam to speak with them for a few minutes, though Adam seemed no happier with his brothers than Michael was with Lucifer.
"Adam, look, I know we bailed on you, okay, and there is nothing that we can say to fix that," Dean began.
"How about, uh 'I'm sorry?'" Adam said accusingly before Michael took back over.
Michael at first refused to believe everything they had to say about God, but he couldn't argue with Castiel's memories.
"Leave!" he screamed at Castiel when Castiel had finished pouring the memories into his head. "Get out! I want you dead!" Tears shone in his eyes.
Castiel jumped looking genuinely scared, and Dean wondered if there was something left deep inside him that still recognized his superior.
Michael took a deep breath, and the stoic demeanor of an archangel returned, though his eyes still seemed watery. "I wish to speak to my vessel alone," he snapped, looking at Dean.
Again, the group all looked at each other.
"I'm caged and shackled," Michael reminded them. "I am not a threat to you now."
"It's cool, guys," Dean said. "Give us a few minutes."
Reluctantly, Sam, Ember, and Castiel left.
"You refused to be my vessel all along," said Michael. "Did you know about this?"
Dean was taken aback. "Um. No," he said. "We never thought… this. We never knew there were multiple universes, that God had… drafts. But we've always fought to be able to make our own decisions, rather than going through with the decisions that Heaven – um, God – had laid out for us." Dean resisted the urge to say "dick angels" somewhere in that speech.
"I've seen what the Apocalypse does to the world, and it doesn't make Heaven, or Earth, any better. In fact, it makes it worse."
"I have seen," Michael said resentfully. "God lied to us. He told us there would be paradise. He didn't really know or care. He just wanted to see what happened."
He sighed. "What would you have me do? I won't go against him directly. I have no chance. He is still my Father."
Dean felt his heart sink, but he plowed on.
"Furthermore, the Earth cannot live without God, as you well know," said Michael. "He balances out the Darkness."
"Is there a way to cage him?" asked Dean. "Like God did to the Darkness?"
Michael thought a moment. "Yes," he said slowly. "But I cannot, and will not, do it from in here."
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Eventually, a deal was hammered out. Dean didn't trust any deal of Michael's deal due to his previous experiences with another Michael, so Rowena's and even Crowley's magic were added to the mix. Michael and Castiel returned them to the bunker, and Sam and Eileen kissed each other in relief.
The deal was that Michael would go free from Hell in return for his information about a way to trap God. Michael planned to spend time enjoying his freedom for awhile and getting to know the human race, through Adam and with Adam's help. He would allow Adam to age naturally, and when Adam had finished aging Michael would return to Heaven to rule with Naomi as was his duty.
"I have grown to love humanity," he admitted. "Though I never disliked them, like my brother. But now I appreciate them as well."
Despite attempts at persuasion from everyone involved, he steadfastly refused to assist them in their fight against God, if it came to that. "My assistance will not help you in the end," he told them. "You are a fly fighting a tiger. The assistance of a mouse is not assistance at all."
He shrugged. "Regardless, I will honor our deal."
Michael pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and Dean couldn't help but mutter darkly, "Better than the other one."
"That's the spell," said Michael.
"And the ingredients?" asked Castiel.
"Myrrh, cassia, rockrose," Michael listed off.
"We've got that," Dean said thinking quickly.
"And, to bind the spell together, the nectar from a Leviathan blossom."
"A Leviathan blossom?" Dean asked, confused. "What is that, like a flower?"
"A flower that only grows in one place," said Michael. "Purgatory."
Dread rose in Dean's stomach, but also a kind of excitement that felt almost foreign.
Michael snapped his fingers, and a yellow portal opened behind him. "That's the door," he said. "It'll remain open for 12 hours. Now, if you'll please?"
Dean felt a sense of dread removing the handcuffs, but he remembered assurances from Rowena and Castiel that Michael had been truthful.
"You coming with us?" Dean asked, though he already knew the answer.
"No," Michael said.
Dean hesitated. "Before you go, can I talk to him?"
Michael didn't answer, but his eyes flashed blue, and Dean recognized the change from Michael to Adam.
"Yeah?" said Adam somewhat warily.
"Adam," Dean said seriously, "I want you to know we are sorry. What happened to you… You're a good man. You didn't deserve that."
Yet another addition to the pile of things Dean felt guilty for.
"Since when do we get what we deserve?" asked Adam with a significant glance at Ember and Castiel. "Good luck."
And Michael disappeared with a whump-whump of wings.
The group surveyed each other warily.
"Alright, let's go," Dean said pointedly to Sam. "You heard him, we've only got 12 hours."
"No," said Sam, Eileen, and Ember at the same time.
"Sam and Eileen should stay here," said Ember. "And protect this side of the portal."
Dean looked angrily at her, but she continued. "Dean, every Tom, Dick, and Leviathan-not-really-Harry is gonna come out of that portal once they find it. It's the smaller of the two jobs to be sure, but Eileen can't fight off a Leviathan with a baby belly and you know it."
Dean sighed, realizing she was right. "Okay, then," he said. "Cas. Ember. Let's go. Arm up, and we'll need to make some borax bullets."
***Ember POV***
Purgatory
Dean and Castiel were different here, Ember realized immediately. There was something about both of them that became rougher, more wary. Ember had never seen this side of either of them before, except in Castiel's memories; even watching them in the throes of battle barely came close to this. "Purgatory Cas" and "Purgatory Dean" seemed to be a façade both of them knew well, a mask that slipped over their faces the moment they entered that horrible place.
Or, perhaps, everything else was the mask.
Ember had no such mask, so she stayed between them. The two of them were a unit, that much was obvious – indestructible and hard. Ember could tell from their easy formation here, which was never discussed, that they were used to traveling these woods with a third person. She also knew that third person was not her, and she felt oddly as though she had invaded something sacred.
Two hours had passed. Ember felt embarrassed that she was nearing the end of her stamina and desperate for a dose of grace from Castiel to keep her going. She didn't want Dean to think her weak, though, so she kept silent. She had never been good on this type of endurance hunt, like them. Ember did well if you gave her something to throw a knife at through the air, but hikes were not her forte.
"I think we're going around in circles," Dean said finally. "We've seen this corpse before."
Ember looked at Castiel with curiosity, and there was a warning in his eyes. Keep silent – keep still.
"No, Dean, my sense of direction is excellent. That's a different corpse."
"I don't know." Dean crouched over the body to examine it.
A Leviathan was on them before Ember even realized he was there, but Dean and Cas were ready for him. Castiel sent him flying with a gesture, and he landed with a thud on the harsh ground.
"You're right," Dean said conversationally. "It is a different corpse."
"We saw you following us," Castiel said gruffly.
"Thought you'd never make your move," added Dean.
Ember began to wonder exactly how out of practice she was. Perhaps when she got back to the bunker, she needed to invest in some training. She felt Castiel's hand slip into hers.
"What do you want?" snarled the Leviathan.
"Well, it's a little embarrassing saying it loud, but we're looking for a flower," said Dean.
"A flower?" snarled the Leviathan. "What do I look like, a florist?"
"Well, if you can't help us, see this boom stick?" challenged Dean, holding up his gun. "It's loaded with Borax-filled shells. You know what Borax does to piranha-faced freaks like you? I'd be happy to show you."
"We don't call it a flower," said the Leviathan begrudgingly. "There's a blossom. Grows out of the soil when we die."
"When...Leviathan die?" asked Castiel slowly.
"Oh, okay," said Dean, standing up and cocking his gun. "Cool."
"I – Hey!" protested the Leviathan. "The body has to rot. It can take months. And then these blossoms bloom. Tan husks, bloody red centers. I know a place. Not far."
"And look at that," Dean said sarcastically. "Thought you weren't a florist. Get up." The Leviathan rose at the butt of Dean's gun and began to walk, but Dean stopped him. "Wait. You know a vamp around here named Benny? Burly guy, Cajun?"
"No," said the Leviathan. "Heard of him, though. Everybody has. The guy who got out and then came back. Like an idiot."
"Pretty much," Dean agreed. "Where is he?"
"Dead," said the Leviathan, and Ember felt a stab of pain at the look in Dean's eyes. "Long time ago. His own kind - they didn't trust him, and they - ksch! - ripped him apart." The Leviathan mimed being ripped in half.
"Move," was Dean's gruff response, and the party began to walk.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
"Sorry about Benny," Castiel said under his breath a few minutes later.
The Leviathan walked a few paces ahead, but apparently Castiel nor Dean minded if he heard their conversation.
"I owed him my life," said Dean. "He sacrificed himself to get Sam out of this place."
"I liked Benny, from what little I knew him," Ember said. "I wish he'd had a better time of it."
Dean nodded stoically, swallowing hard. "I do too," he admitted. "Every day."
"This place will bring that out in you," said Castiel to the both of them. "Guilt. It was my fault the Leviathan got out. It was my fault we were here the first time. I carry that guilt every day, too."
Dean nodded again, his face contemplative but his mouth set in a line.
Here, emotions were stripped raw, like everything else. "Dean, I'm sorry about how things ended last summer," Ember said. "It was… really stupid. And I'm sorry about Mary. I can't say it enough. We should've told you about Jack."
Dean paused. "I know," he said finally, taking the olive branch. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been so surly at your wedding. Gave you the wrong idea."
"What was the right idea, Dean?" Castiel interjected, pain warring with a simmering anger in his eyes. "You checked out after Mary died. You wouldn't even talk to us, not even to me."
"Maybe if you didn't just up and ghost off," Dean snapped back, hurt bleeding into his voice. "You haven't been to the bunker in months. You didn't even give me a chance to apologize."
"You didn't give me a choice," said Castiel. "You couldn't forgive me. And you couldn't move on. You were too angry."
"You could've reached out at any point, you know," Ember added. "It was weird. It's been weird for the kids, weird for Sam and Eileen, and even worse for Cas."
Suddenly the Leviathan stopped. "It's up this way," he said. "Just like I promised."
"Leviathan blossom," said Castiel, his eyes on the ground.
Ember could see them now – an odd growth, like a cactus, but with a red center.
"Alright, well, grab one," said Dean. "Let's get the hell out of here."
Castiel began to move forward but Ember held out her hand to stop him – this, at least, she could do. She used her force powers to yank the thing out of the ground, summoning it back to her hand.
The Leviathan's mouth opened into a small "oh" before he snarled, "You-you were supposed to step in the trap!"
Castiel's hand grabbed Ember's, and Dean screamed "RUN!" as another Leviathan stepped out of the forest behind them.
In tandem, Dean and Castiel shot a Leviathan each, before Ember had even held up her gun (she was never much good with firearms). Again in tandem, each of them grabbed one of her hands and all but pulled her along with them.
They ran far and fast, mowing down two vampires and a werewolf (judging by the teeth) along the way. Castiel hit Ember with a burst of grace energy once when she began to falter, until finally the two men stopped, Dean and Ember both gasping for breath.
Dean began to laugh, Castiel joining him as Ember looked on in puzzlement.
"Just like the old days, man," Dean said, smiling, and Ember was once again hit with that odd feeling that she had invaded something sacred.
Castiel began to open his mouth but Dean started before him. "Guys, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been a dick, least of all at your wedding."
He looked at Castiel. "Cas, you're my best friend."
He looked at Ember. "And Ember, you're… I don't even know what you are to me. I know you and Cas fit better than we ever did. But I've missed you too, you know? We've cut each other out of our lives so many times, for so many different stupid reasons, but it never works, does it?"
"No," Castiel said. "Because we're the people who save the world."
Ember thought about the decade, off and on (as much off as on) that she'd spent with Dean. She had been so angry with him after the second time they'd broken up, not least of all for kicking Castiel out of the bunker, that she hadn't really thought twice about being with Castiel. But it had hurt their friendship, for a long time.
"I never meant to come between you guys," Ember said honestly. "It just sort of happened, you know? I never meant to hurt either of you."
Dean twitched uncomfortably. "It wasn't about that, Ember. I didn't lie about that. It hasn't been about that for a long time. I was still mad about Jack, about-…" He stopped to collect his thoughts. "I should've been a better best man, Cas. I don't know why I get so angry. It's just always been there. And when things go bad, it just - it comes out.
"But Mom – it's not all on you, of course it's not." He squared his shoulders. "Cas, I want to see Mom. The memory you showed Sam… I want to see Mom, in Heaven."
Ember looked at her watch. "Now?" she asked, surprised.
Castiel waved her away. "We still have six hours."
And Ember understood. Here, in Purgatory, things were different. There were no social complexities, and everything from the real world was left behind. Here, Dean was used to trusting Castiel with everything in him. Back in the 'real world', he might not have the guts to ask.
Castiel put a hand to Dean's head.
Ember knew the memory – she had seen it as well.
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."
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
Tears poured down Dean's face as he relived the memory while Ember and Castiel cast wary looks around. When he opened his eyes, Dean said softly, "They both look so peaceful."
"They are," said Castiel. "They really are."
Dean seemed to shake himself. "We gotta get out of here," he said, and picked up his gun and pack.
Castiel smiled at Ember, and Ember echoed the smile. It seemed as though a weight had been lifted, a weight she hadn't even really known she had carried.
Perhaps she had carried it for a long time.
***Ember POV***
January 23rd
Ember, Krissy, Jack, Eileen, Sam, Dean, and Castiel gathered around one of the tables in the library. Castiel crushed up the Leviathan blossom into a bowl of other incredients. "Zee-loh-dah-rup, ah-lahr, zee-zohp, ah-buh-rah-muh-jzh, ahm-ee-zuh-pee," he said in his deep voice.
He rolled up his sleeve to prepare to shed blood, and Ember's own blood ran cold. "No!" Ember said, holding out her arm. She realized suddenly that he meant to take the Mark of Cain.
"Dean's already taken the Mark," said Castiel. "He can't take it again. Sam will be a father soon. This is the only way."
Krissy and Jack both began to protest, and were ignored by everyone.
"I can take it," Ember said. "Who has more experience than me avoiding temptation?"
"I have been alive for millennia," Castiel said, adopting his familiar "heir of angelic importance." "Besides, Sam and Dean will be long gone before I even begin to feel its effects."
"But I won't," Ember snapped.
Castiel sighed. "Fine," he said reluctantly. "If it's possible, perhaps we can figure out a way to pass it back and forth."
Ember rolled her eyes, but took her hand off of his arm. Much as she hated to admit it, one of the two of them was the best choice.
Dean lit the bowl on fire, and Castiel held a black glass ball above the smoke to capture the power of it. He handed the glass ball to Dean.
"Because I'm taking the Mark, someone else will have to destroy this," he said, and the others nodded.
"Okay," said Dean.
Slowly, Castiel read allowed the summoning ritual for Death.
Death showed up a few seconds after he was summoned, sitting in a chair and looking slightly more haggard than the last time he had arrived. His hair seemed just slightly more grey, his skin slightly more sallow, as though he was aging. His manner seemed unflappable as usual. "Do you have a plan?" he asked.
"We do," said Dean, coming in from the kitchen with a giant pizza. "And, we have deep dish pizza!"
Five minutes later, Death was only halfway through the first piece of pizza. He ate slowly, stopping after each bite to pause and listen to their story. "I'll admit, I'm impressed, Winchesters," he said, and they all looked at each other in excitement.
"That being said," Death added, "we can't afford to lay all of our cards on the table yet. This universe is still being successfully hidden from God, and we've even managed to get ahead of the plague that God just released." He shrugged. "After all, bats and livestock can't spread the plague if I send the infected ones to Uranus."
The group all looked at each other. "So what do we do?" Sam asked finally.
"Give me three days' time," said Death. "I have an associate who can create a safe place for you to speak with God, separate from Earth, but it will take time to prepare." He took another big bite of pizza."
"O… kay," said Dean.
"In the meantime," said Death, standing up and transferring the entire pan of pizza onto one outstretched hand. "Settle your affairs. I will return at noon in three days." And he disappeared.
"Bring back my pizza pan!" yelled Dean after him.
***Ember POV***
January 26th
Today was the day. Today they would face God.
Castiel was by her side in bed when she awakened, as usual. She knew he spent most of the night at the bunker or else performing random miracles at hospitals. Yet, somehow, he always knew when she awakened, and was often there to awaken with her.
Her cat was next to her as well, demanding to be fed and purring incessantly.
As she shook off the vestiges of sleep, Ember thought again of her journey to Hell. "So, you think if I unlocked my powers and used them for the right reasons, I'd be able to control them?"
Crowley shrugged. "They're your powers, hell if I know. I only know how magic works, love. It's my best guess."
Ember focused her power, attempting to move Castiel's hand to pet the cat.
He chuckled, his voice close to her ear. "What are you trying to do with my hand?" He reached up and scratched Kitty on the head as she purred, but Ember knew the movement had not been her doing.
"I was trying to get you to pet the cat," she grumbled. "I figure that counts as a good deed, right?"
Castiel laughed. "Perhaps, but I doubt it'll unlock your powers."
Ember sighed frustratedly. "What am I doing wrong, Cas?" she said miserably. "I've spent so much time trying to keep my demon powers under control that I can't let them out now, when it matters most! When I was young it always felt like I was walking on eggshells, waiting for that desperate moment when I would lose control completely and kill everyone. But now that I want to lose control, I can't even make my husband pet a damn cat."
Castiel chuckled again. "Ember, I have no idea how to help you 'break bad.'" He held up air quotes, making Ember smile. "What about when you were a teenager, like you said? You never lost control?"
"I did, a couple of times," Ember said slowly. "Once, I got so angry at my mother, and I… I threw her across the room. It scared us… it scared me, even more than the demons…." She remembered black eyes, feeling helpless, and stupid, and disgusting. "When I found out where the powers came from… the thought of using them, of becoming like them, scared me more than anything else."
Castiel looked thoughtful. "Your mind is ready to unlock your true powers," he said finally. "But your instincts still won't allow it."
"Something like that," Ember grumbled, closing her eyes and burrowing into Castiel's warm arms.
"I have faith in you," Castiel said. "When you need to release the powers, you will. And, you'll do it for the right reasons."
"I hope so," Ember said quietly, still unsure.
-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-SPN-
"We can't all go," Dean said three hours later. "I'm voting for myself, Ember, and Castiel only."
There was instant uproar, which had been entirely predictable. Krissy began screaming that she was an adult now and they needed to start treating her like one. Sam protested that he refused to be sidelined because his wife was pregnant, and that if they lost, everyone would die. Castiel even put in his two cents, protesting that Ember should remain here. Ember glared at him, but fortunately Dean was on her side, and Sam was too busy protesting his own situation to care about hers. She could already tell Castiel would be overruled.
It took a full half hour, but eventually the uproar died down into a general buzz of tension. Krissy had been put to sleep by Castiel, with Dean and Ember's full approval, and had been carried off to bed by Jack and Sam. Jack was pouting in an "embarrassed and ashamed" way, and Sam was pouting in a "generally pissed off" way. Eileen held her belly in one hand and Sam's hand in the other. She had managed to keep her husband out of the final stand against God only by pointing out that someone would have to be left to defend Earth "if things went badly."
"Are you ready?" asked Death, surprising them all by stepping out from behind the large telescope as though he had been there the entire time, simply waiting for their argument to end.
"As ready as I'll ever be," said Dean, and nobody corrected him. Castiel took Ember's hand.
"I'll be transporting you to another universe," said Death. "If we bring God here, it will break the spell hiding this universe from his eyes. So we have to take you there, temporarily." Ember felt Castiel squeeze her hand suddenly. His face was unreadable, but it looked like – shock? Hope?
"Chuck is already there," Death said, spitting his name out as though he found it distasteful. Your plan is to go in, wade through the crowd, get close to God, and break the glass ball."
"The crowd?" asked Castiel sharply.
Death ignored them. "Worst case scenario, you all die and the world still ends in a few months. But, not today. Best case scenario, you actually manage to save it."
"Thanks for your confidence," muttered Dean.
The world around them seemed to jump, and Ember felt a lurch in her stomach that she associated with angel flight. She felt nauseous as well, which was unusual for angel flight… but she wasn't sure whether it was a quirk of Death's mode of transport or if it was simply nerves.
When she opened her eyes again, she was looking at what might possibly have been the oddest scene she had ever seen in her life. They were in an auditorium which was full of noise, bright lights, and people.
"People" was a very broad definition for the organisms in this large room. Some of the individuals must've been eight or nine feet tall, including the three directly in front of Ember, Dean, and Castiel. They were huge, and bright red except for the trim suits they wore. The three of them formed a giant wall between their tiny group and whatever was in front of them. Next to the three giant red organisms was a shadowy figure without any corporeal form, but with definite shadow legs and arms and green eyes.
The room was loud, a cacophony of noise that sounded like cheering and booing. Ember could see a large domed glass ceiling above her, and as she watched it was hit with a giant splattering of blood.
Ember went invisible out of habit. Dean, who was in front of her, shot a questioning look over his shoulder, and Castiel answered with a shrug.
Dean tapped on the back of the arm of one of the large red individuals, who ignored him. He tapped again, and the large red person groaned and moved aside, creating a hole just large enough for one person to walk through. Dean hurried through the hole, and Ember and Castiel followed after.
Ember could now see that they were in a large auditorium. Hanging from the ceiling, an elaborately large sign said "THE GOD FIGHT" in multi-colored letters. Ember knew the moment Castiel saw the signage, because his hand grasped her shoulder more tightly.
The auditorium was filled with a crowd of organisms of all shapes, sizes, and colors, and all of them were cheering in the same direction. The crowd was thick, and it was entire minutes before Dean, Ember, and Castiel were even able to see what everyone was staring at.
Ember finally got a peek at the raised platform. There was Chuck, his hair damp with exertion, fighting a man with a flaming sword and Greek armor.
"It's Aries," said Castiel into Ember's ear, and she jumped at the sound. Dean had stopped, and she was now bracketed between Dean and Castiel, her view obstructed once more. "Every Pagan God, every minor diety I've ever heard of… they're all here."
Ember let out a small gasp, but it was lost in the sounds of the crowd as the path opened up once more and Dean pulled Ember between two centaurs. A few seconds later, flame erupted over Ember's head, and Ember belatedly realized that Aries' flaming sword was now flying toward the back of the auditorium. The crowd gave a loud "BOOOOOOOO!"
It was slow going. They passed a beautiful woman with long, flowing blond hair, who was naked with sparkling blue eyes. Dean seemed to be entranced by her, and Ember had to shove him forward several times before he finally seemed to remember where he was. Overall, however, everyone seemed willing to let Dean, Ember, and Castiel pass. Ember thought perhaps this group of gods and goddesses was eager to fight Chuck, but perhaps not as eager to get killed. Before Ember could get another good look at the dias, the onlookers shouted several more "BOOOOO"s to signal another of Chuck's opponents had been defeated.
The front of the crowd near the raised dias was more active, with onlookers jostling to be the next to take a shot at Chuck. Chuck was fighting another woman now, this one wearing a gleaming gold necklace and a cloak of feathers, as well as a man that Ember knew immediately was really a demon. She could see the demon's true face, and it was grotesque, part rotting and part an empty void. At the same time, another man riding a flying white horse was making an attempt to joust Chuck from the air, which missed him by inches. Chuck also somehow managed to defend himself from a number of projectiles, including a familiar-looking hammer thrown by a large blond man covered in furs. Chuck backhanded the hammer without even looking at it, and it returned to the man's waiting hand while he bellowed his frustration.
They were only a few feet from the dias now, and Chuck still hadn't seen them. "Dean!" Ember hissed as the man with the hammer jumped up onto the dias, allowing them to surge forward. "Break it!"
Feathers exploded everywhere, and there was a loud screeching sound as blood slashed red through the air. Some of it hit Ember's front, and she could feel the heat of it even though her top as it burned through her tight clothing.
"Dean!" Ember pleaded. The next time she got a brief glimpse of the dias, Chuck was fighting both the man with the hammer and a blue female with multiple arms and flowing black hair. Her face was familiar, and Ember gasped as she recognized her as Kali from their run-in several years before.
Ember shoved past the person next to her, only for him to be moved sideways due to the jostling of the crowd. When she caught a look at his face, she was distracted. "Kevin!" She stared openly as Kevin Tran looked around to find the disembodied voice saying his name.
Suddenly the hammer flew through the air, hitting a man dressed in purple two feet behind Castiel. A loud "RRRAAAAAAH-…" cut off into a gargling scream, and Ember flinched.
Kevin followed the hammer's path and saw Castiel, and his eyes flared in recognition. "Cas!" he said excitedly, reaching out to grab Castiel's cloak to gain his attention.
A loud popping sound suddenly came from the dias, and Ember found herself suddenly covered in an odd, viscous black liquid. Kali was nowhere to be found. "Ugh!" Ember exclaimed, realizing she was covered in Kali's blood. Kevin's head swung toward the sound.
Suddenly, everything froze.
On the dias, a gargantuan cyclops loomed frozen over God, his giant mouth open and arms outstretched. The man with the white horse paused in the air, legs outstretched as it aimed for the dias. Silence descended over the auditorium. Ember had the sensation of something swooping in her stomach as she realized that she was still able to move.
Chuck stared straight at them, a smirk on his face. In his hand was the small glass ball.
"CHUCK!" roared Dean.
Now! Ember thought, and she tried with all of her might to get the glass ball from Chuck. Now was as good a time as any, she supposed, to try to get her demon powers to work.
"Did you really think that was gonna work, guys?" Chuck said. "I mean… I've been tuned into the Winchester channel for at least the last millennia. Nice try though." He looked around at the cyclops looming frozen over him. "Nice distraction. Better than they managed in my favorite universe, actually."
Ember tried to let go of every barrier she'd ever had to wall off her demon powers, every mental wall she'd ever erected to keep them in. But nothing was happening. Chuck looked at her and raised an eyebrow – he could see her even while she was invisible, of course.
Dean made a lunge and Chuck dodged easily backward under the Cyclops' legs. "You Winchesters tried that in the other universe, too," he said. "Didn't work there, either." And he crumbled the glass ball into dust.
Ember tried to focus her powers. She was desperate now as she felt panic crawl in. She even tried to think mean, bad thoughts, taking hold of the demon tendril in her brain and yanking it to the forefront, clinging to it and trying to expand it.
Chuck was on the dias, where he had thrown Dean into the still frozen cyclops, toppling both of them over the other side of the dias.
"Time to go," Ember heard a voice in her ear. Even as the voice spoke, Ember felt the telltale signs of angel flight as her world constricted with the whump-whump of wings.
She landed in the situation room in the bunker, where she overbalanced and fell backward. Castiel's arms caught her before she hit the floor, and she hugged him instinctively. It was a terse hug, and Ember recognized their defeat.
Ember turned quickly, still wrongfooted. Sam, Eileen, Krissy, and Jack were huddled in a corner. A tall blond woman that Ember didn't recognize was eyeing Castiel in surprised recognition, and Ember could tell from her grace that she was an angel. Death stood next to her looking cross.
Dean had fallen to the floor, looking both exhausted and furious. Kevin Tran looked at the group of them, his mouth open in shock. And, beside him, the angel Gabriel was passed out unconscious on the floor, covered in blood.