Amara felt anger build up inside her. No matter what she does, her brother refuses to come out of his hidey hole and confront her, and to top it off, there is something keeping Dean from joining her. She knows his brother or his pet angel aren't enough to rival her sway over the elder Winchester. No way.

But...

There is something or someone who is powerful enough or important enough to keep Dean from accepting the peace he so dearly longs for. Even without the bond between them, Amara would have been able to sense his longing to rest.

Would she have to track down this person(?) and kill them before Dean accepts her offer? Or would she have to extend the offer to this person as well? Amara isn't sure she'd be able to share Dean. It's galling that she'd have to let some lesser being have just as much power over Dean as she does, and she's older than their precious God.

Maybe if found whatever's keeping Dean from her, she can erase it from Dean's memory. It'd solve one of her problems.

Finding her brother... she has a feeling Dean is the way for her to get her little brother's attention. Dean will draw her brother out of hiding, but Dean won't come to her until she deals with whatever's holding him back. Take care of that first. She gets Dean. And then she'll track down her precious baby brother and have a few choice words with him. Maybe act out a few revenge scenarios she has been keeping on the back burner until the time was right.

Now, maybe Dean's pet angel will know who has this power over him that rivals her own. Where, oh, where is Dean's little angel?

BW

Castiel felt the air shift. It was cold. And it felt ancient. Lucifer's grace shuddered. That can't be good.

Lucifer appeared in the library of the bunker, or at least the representation of the library. It's one of Castiel's favorite rooms, outside of his own, and after Dean's room, of course. Dean's room is his favorite. It's also where Castiel feels the most grounded, which is why he skirts around it in his mind. He goes into Dean's room, the guilt of lying to Dean - and to Sam - would crush him, and he might inadvertantly reveal to his big brother Dean's ultimate weakness. That, he would not do. Not that. He'd rather Lucifer tear him apart grace piece by grace piece than put Benjamin Winchester in danger.

He is the only Winchester Castiel hasn't betrayed or lied to. Neglected, yes. But he has never betrayed the youngest Winchester.

"Hello, Castiel," the Lightbringer greeted with a mocking smile. He sneered at Castiel's surroundings. "What have you been up to, little bro?"

Castiel hunched over his tiny TV set, focusing on the Doctor and Clara's adventures through time and space. He should take Sam and Dean into space like the Doctor does with his friends. They could be his companions.

"We need to talk, Cassie," Lucifer said as he sat down across from Castiel on the library table. "I think Auntie is looking for you." That caught Castiel's attention. His older brother smirked at his bewildered expression. "I know. It confused me too. But then I thought about it. Maybe our dear aunt finally figured out that to get to Dean, she needs Sam and you."

The Morningstar's smirk grew cold and cruel.

"But I don't think that's all she needs you for. You're hiding something, little brother, and if you don't tell me what it is of your own volition, then I promise you, you won't like it when I look for it. It will be painful beyond what even Dad can imagine."

Castiel remained focused on his TV. He won't think of Benjamin. He won't. It'd be like waving a red flag for his brother to see and chase after.

He thinks of Benjamin, the spells he weaved will start to crumble and the memories will tumble out all on their own. The boy's prayers will be heard, and it's be a homing beacon for the Lightbringer to find Dean's son.

His brother sighed, like he was disappointed in Castiel for not cooperating.

"Fine. The hard way it his, little brother. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Lucifer stood up and held his arms out, his eyes were closed as he concentrated on locating any leverage he could find on the Winchesters. His fingers twitched, making flicking motions as he scrolled through Castiel's memories. Nothing interesting or vital on the Winchesters. He rather enjoyed seeing Sam through Castiel's eyes, and he almost gagged when he saw just how much Castiel cared about Dean Winchester.

His fingers froze when he found a black-and-white memory of Dean and Castiel in that old hunter's house, they're arguing but he can't hear what they're saying. There's sigils painted on the windows, warding against angels. This must be when little brother battled Raphael over the archangel's plans to jumpstart the apocalypse to get him and Michael out of the Cage. He can't even read their lips. A reluctant grin of appreciation at his little brother's spell weaving stole across Lucifer's face before he could stop it. The spell is well written.

No matter how well written, and the power behind it, there is always a weak link. If he finds it, he could unravel this seemingly unimportant memory.

He dug deep into his grace, summoning enough power to break the enchantment over the memory. Distantly, he heard his little brother cry out in pain. A cold grin stretched his lips. He did warn the Angel of Thursday he wouldn't like him looking for the memories on his own.

The memory flared to life and in technicolor and surround sound.

"Cas!" Dean yelled, anger and betrayal giving strength to his voice. "We can fix this! I told you. Just stop whatever it is you're doing with Crowley and let me - us - help. You don't have to fight your brother on your own. We fought Lucifer and won. Raphael is nothing compared to God's favorite."

Castiel shook his head in frustation. Why won't Dean listen to him? Why isn't he hearing the words he's saying?

"I'm doing this for you!" Castiel shouted back. "I'm doing this for you and Sam! I want you to have a normal, safe life. I want you to be able to go back to your family, Dean. He's still waiting for you. He may not remember you, but his soul his still waiting for you to come back to him. He'll always wait for you, Dean. He's been doing it all his life."

Dean staggered back a couple of steps, his face sheet white. Guilt radiated off of him in waves that were palpable and powerful.

"You did the right thing," Castiel couldn't help but reassure the hunter. "He'll be safe until everything is finished."

Lucifer frowned. 'He'? This is not what he was expecting. Why hide the dialogue of this memory instead of hiding the whole memory?

"What are you hiding, little brother?" Lucifer wondered out loud. "What is so important that Amara is searching for you instead of seducing Dean to her side or searching for Dad?"

Dean recovered and let out a roar of rage. He shot forward and slammed Castiel against the wall behind the angel.

"Don't you dare bring him up! Don't you dare say his name," Dean snarled. "Stay away from him! The hospital was the last time you will ever go near him, do you understand? I will kill you if I find out you went anywhere near him."

Castiel's grace shuddered and cried out for him to explain. He's hurting Dean, but Dean's, and Sam's, life is far more important than any pain he's putting the brothers through. He's not only doing it for them. There's someone more important he needs to protect now, and he knows down to the very bottom of his grace that Sam and Dean would rather die than let that person feel any pain their life might bring to his.

No!

Lucifer stumbled from the force of Castiel's shove. He reached out and grabbed onto the table behind him to balance himself. He stumbled more out of surprise than the strength of his little brother's measly push.

Castiel is standing in front of him, face dark with barely surpressed rage, but Lucifer can see the fear he's desperately trying to hide. Oh, yahtzee.

He started chuckling.

"Oh, Cassie, Cassie, Cassie," Lucifer tsked. "You really should learn how to hide your emotions."

He flicked his wrist and Castiel was thrown across the room and down the steps into the war room. Another flick and his little brother is frozen on the ground. He can feel Castiel's grace seethe and rage against the restriction, and he's a little surprised that the seraph is making head way on breaking the spell.

"The memory is too powerful for any enchantments to truly hide from me," Lucifer pontificated. "So, that means whoever it is you're hiding, is more important than your precious Dean. I felt your emotions, Castiel. I felt your guilt and frustration over the hunter, despite knowing you were in the right. How can you feel guilty by doing the right thing?"

Castiel struggled against the immobilizing spell, he even twitched. Interesting.

"Our kind was never meant to mix, little brother," Lucifer spoke in a surprisingly soft tone. "Father gave them too much free will, especially the Winchesters, and they think they know what's best. If you hadn't've done what you did, Raphael would have killed you and me and Michael would be tearing this world apart in our true vessels."

Castiel's struggles seemed weaker now. Not because he was tiring, but because he was listening to him.

Lucifer walked over and crouched down so he was eye level with his little brother. He even reached out and gently caressed the brunet's hair in brotherly affection. He's close to breaking the younger angel. He can feel it. Stupid him for thinking he should use force instead of affection and concern.

The Winchesters really did a number on him. Well, one Winchester in particular. Don't matter, it's given Lucifer the in he's been looking for. Though there is a part of him that is severly pissed off on his little brother's behalf. It's a small part. Like miniscule. No bigger than a molecule, but it's still there, and it's urging him to at least smack the elder Winchester for his little brother's treatment at his hands.

"Amara will kill him, you know this. It's why you said yes to me," Lucifer whispered softly. "I can save him and Sam. I can save this mysterious person, too. I can keep him safe from our demented aunt. Just tell me who he is, baby brother," he coaxed, "and I will protect him. Amara will never touch him, I promise."

Castiel wavered before steeling himself.

"I am protecting him," the younger angel said defiantly. "I have screwed up horribly with Sam and Dean, but I will not hurt Be- this person or put them in harm's way. You will kill him just like Amara will."

The Lightbringer felt wrath building up inside him.

"Impudent little shit," he snarled.

He raised his hand, ready to blast the annoying little brother into itty, bitty pieces when an idea struck him.

"The Winchesters," the Lightbringer breathed. "Oh, Father, I'm an idiot." He stared at his defiant sibling with a blank expresssion before saying in a bored voice, "Go back to your TV, little brother. I got what I want from you."

He left knowing Castiel would be freaking out over whether or not he spilled the beans. Good. The more he thinks of what he's hiding, the more the wards, spells and enchantments will break, and he'd be able to find out just who the Winchesters and his little brother is hiding from him. Someone Amara is also searching for.

Maybe he should find a way to change his vessel. He'd rather not be in Castiel's meatsuit when their dear old aunt comes a-callin'.

BW

Sam watched his brother stare at the wall, eyes far away. He's been doing that a lot lately.

There's no need to guess who his brother is thinking of. One word: Castiel. Their resident wayward angel who's currently the vessel for Lucifer, and though Dean'll never admit it, he's also thinking about Ben. It became obvious once they actually sat down and thought about it. Who else would Castiel protect over them? Over Dean?

It would be the one person in all the world both of them would die for: Ben Braeden, Dean's only living child. He doesn't like to think about Emma, his Amazonian daughter Sam killed. He felt so much guilt for so long for killing his daughter that he didn't know what to think when he stopped feeling guilty.

More than once he saw Dean reach for his phone, finger hovering over Jody's contact number. If he called her, she'd be able to track down Ben for them, but that would also bring Amara's attention to Ben. They've been lucky so far that no one knows about Dean's son.

Well, other than Crowley but he's not stupid enough to give up Ben without getting something out of it.

Cas was right about them staying away from Ben to keep him safe. And the fact that Lucifer hasn't come calling with Ben in his grasp, tells them that Cas is protecting Ben from the favored son somehow. Their angel is stronger than they give him credit for.

"We'll get Cas back," Sam told his older brother, "and we'll stop Amara. Once we do that, we'll go find Ben."

Dean slowly turned to look at Sam, and Sam did he best to hold his brother's gaze. He lasted for almost a minute before looking away.

"Lisa's been dead for over a year. My son has been in foster care for over a year. No, actually," Dean said, standing up out of his chair and started pacing. He gestured wildly as he continued, "My son is missing. He has been missing for months, Sam! I've only just found out. What kind of father am I that I never knew he was in foster care in the first place? That Lisa is dead. She's dead."

His brother seemed to collapse into himself and he flopped back down into his chair. He rested his elbows on his knees as he rubbed his temples.

"My son is missing, my best friend is currently the vessel for the Devil, and I'm tired, Sam. I'm just so tired," admitted Dean.

Sam didn't know what to say to make Dean feel better. This is different. Dean's son is missing. His attraction to Amara and all her promises are wearing him down, and with Cas out of commission, Sam has no idea what to do next. His brother's hellbent on saving Cas before they find a way to take out Amara, but the news of Ben's disappearence has thrown them for a loop. They had assumed that he was safe living his life with Lisa somewhere safe.

"My son thinks he's an orphan," Dean whispered, "and he's missing. And I'm just so tired, Sammy. I don't know what to do anymore."

It's the most defeated his brother has ever looked, and it scares him. Not even when they were battling Lucifer the first time was he this low. His brother is almost to the point of being broken. Just one push and he topples over into the abyss where Sam wouldn't be able to bring him back from, at least not on his own.

Dean looked at him with such a lost look that Sam had a hard time keeping eye contact. He heard his brother get up and make his way back to his room.

He cursed himself for not saying anything but he honestly didn't know what to say to make everything better.

Sam pulled out his phone and called Jody.

"Jody? Hey, it's Sam," he said. "I was wondering if you can do me a favor." There's a pause before Jody asks him what kind of favor. "I need you to find someone for me. It needs to be between us. Dean can't find out, okay?" Sam sighed in relief when she agreed. "I need you to find Benjamin Braeden for me. He's, uh, he's Dean's son. We just found out he's missing.

"No, I don't know how long he's been missing or where. The social worker we called said his foster parents claimed he was lost out of neglience of a third party." Sam listened to Jody's question before shaking his head. "No. They won't tell us who the foster parents are or where he'd been staying, and we couldn't exactly tell them that Ben's dad is looking for him. We don't anyone to know about him except you. We know we can trust you to keep Ben safe until we handle this Amara situation." There's a long pause that had Sam furrowing his brows in worry.

"Jody, you'd be able to do that for me, right? If not, I can ask Donna to do it. I know you have your hands full with Claire and Alex but it's for Dean. I'd rather family handle it." Sam listened to Jody waffle about before agreeing. "Great! Thank you so much, Jody. You have no idea what this would mean to Dean if we found Ben and confirmed he's safe."

Sam listened some more before saying goodbye and hanging up. He felt a huge weight lift off of him at crossing off one thing on his list. There is no doubt in his mind that Jody'll find Ben. Now, how is he going to get Lucifer out of Cas?

BW

Jody hung up the phone feeling ill. She should have told Sam the truth. She chickened out. Those boys mean the world to her and telling them she lost Dean's son, they would never trust her again. She'd never see them again.

Her job is going to have to take a backseat for the time being. She's going to dedicate all her focus, outside of her girls, on locating Ben and bringing him back home.

For Dean.

And Sam.

And Claire.

And Alex.

And Logan and Maria.

But most of all, for her. She misses him just as much as her girls do. He's equal parts his dad and his uncle. Too bad she never knew his mom, Jody bets they would have gotten along great. Ben is an awesome kid. Lisa Braeden did a damn good job raising him all on her own.

"Who was that?" Alex asked. She and Claire had watched her turn pale when she saw who was calling her. "Mom? Who was that?"

"Sam Winchester. He wants me to find Ben for Dean. They just found out he's missing,. I can't tell Dean about it," Jody answered distantly.

Alex and Claire shared a look.

"Should we be worried?"

Jody shook her head. "No. That's not the problem."

"Then what is?"

"I can't keep lying to them. I'll give myself a week before I call Sam and confess everything."

Claire shifted in her seat. "Then I guess we better pool all our resources and find our wayward Winchester."

Alex nodded her head. "I think we should use the Ouji board to contact some spirits. There has to be someone out in the ether that knows who Jo is."

"Good idea," praised Claire.

Alex looked taken aback at Claire's rare words of encouragement. She blushed and ducked her head, unsure how to react or if she should say anything. She caught her mother's gaze and she looked just as shocked as Alex did but she also gave her a small smile that had Alex lighting up.

Claire ignored the two women making faces at each other and focused on the TV. A flicker of hope started to kindle in her heart. With all of them working together, they might have more of a chance finding Ben then when it was only Claire and Jody looking for Ben. And the Ouji board idea is a good idea. Why didn't they think of that before? Jo is obviously a ghost or something. Find out who Jo is, and her connection to Ben, and they could possibly find Ben before Jody spills the beans to the Winchesters.

She's seen a wrathful Dean Winchester before, it'd be best not to poke that particular bear again. The nightmares she has from that encounter are still vivid and has her waking up in the middle night, drenched in sweat and a racing heart.

"We're going to find Ben this time. I can feel it," said Claire. She had this huge smile on her face. "We're going to find him."

Huh. I thought i wrote more than that... Man, I really need to get a new computer! Lol! One with Microsoft word and, most importantly, the word count thingymajig.