Yeah, so it's the classic Emma lives story. Well, I don't know how classic. It's been written before, but I notice Emma shows up a lot more in AU stories to make Dean a single parent than usually to canon fics. Understandable since in the show she's a little… well, murder happy. So I'd just thought I'd try my hand at it since I love the potential of the character that was never explored in the show. Seriously, loving and trusting your family despite how messed up they are is the show's main theme. I can't help but think an Amazon daughter would fit right in after an adjustment period.

Expect awkward Dean, annoyed but willing to try Sam, and a girl who's scared but a little too stubborn to admit just how fragile she can be out loud. A small and broken family that will stick together come hell or high water.

Chapter 1: Drowning

Emma hadn't experienced much in her life. Just the tribe, the laws, the teachings about what her life should and will be if she's strong enough to pass her trial. It didn't mean she's ignorant though. Her kind learn fast, soak up knowledge like sponges, take things in and memorize so quickly it's like they've always known it. So of course she knew what a hotel was, that it's a sort of temporary home for travelers, a place to rest before moving on to the next spot.

The restless move around a lot, and the strong. Her teachers explained it to her, about why they moved every couple of years. Settle down, breed, kill and then move on to do it all over again. The sisters do this to keep going, to stay alive, and continue the tribe. They do it because they were demanded by their goddess to, to find fertile ground and fertile men, their prey.

Hunters travel too, to find their own prey, the monsters.

'He'll kill you if you hesitate,' they'd told her. 'They see us as monsters, but we're not. We're blessed. Remember that.'

She wasn't experienced in much yet in her short life, but she was pretty sure burning marks into teen girls falls under the definition of monsters. It's a hunch despite her teachings.

She'd been told crossroads are important to her pantheon, and thus important to the tribe. That the greatest heroes often have to make choices and overcome trials. Transition is everything for them, to learn the lessons of life through hardships and battle and everything else told in the old stories of adventure and legends. It was her own crossroad now, her own choice, her own transition. All she had to do was take one life and she would be born into fire to make her own legend.

Honestly, it did make the kill sound a little romantic. It made sense. Centuries to work on the philosophy that justified hunting down people was a long time to make sure something sounded reasonable. Like killing, the torture and teachings had been perfected to an art form. Yet when she raised her hand to knock on the door of the little hovel of a hotel, she felt the burn still on her skin as her clothes drug across her mark. They'd told her she was too hesitant, that it was weakness, that she had to move past her fears or she would die, that he would cut her down without mercy.

She didn't even know what mercy was supposed to be. Harmonia knew she'd never been shown any herself. Even as she heard the footsteps approach the door, approach her, she stared at her mark, at her binding into the culture she'd been born into with no chance to ever even choose it. She'd flinched when they'd given it to her while the other girls had stood tall next to her. Even when encouraged to bear it, she could see the disappointment in the eyes of her teacher for not withstanding the pain unflinchingly without being told to.

They thought her weak, and slow to follow orders even if she did in the end. Despite the warnings, the urging to be strong when facing Dean Winchester, she saw it in their eyes. If she failed, no one would be shocked.

She wasn't at a crossroad. She was at the shore of the River Styx and they hadn't even seen fit to give her two coins for passage to meet Hades.

The door opened and she knew it was him, even without having to say a word. If she was feeling more philosophical and less fatalistic about all of this, she'd have told herself it was a bond between child and parent but that wasn't even remotely true. She just remembered him, standing at her crib as he looked down at her, kindness in his eyes and a soft smile on his face. Emma hadn't known him then and had thus asked, only to be told by her mother later that he was her father and therefore her target, her first kill. None of the other girls had met their fathers, hadn't seen kind smiles or heard the soft tone full of… she wasn't even sure what. It had been such a simple thing. "Hi, Emma." Nothing more than that, but it stuck with her and she didn't know why.

There wasn't kindness in his eyes at the moment, just suspicion as he glanced around quickly to see if she was alone. She felt surprised when she took it personally. He was a hunter. Of course he was suspicious and yet… It hurt. He didn't trust her, didn't know her, and it ached for some reason. She wished she was a child again, a little girl and could hear that, "Hi, Emma," unfiltered, unguarded. Words of kindness, simple as they were, were still kindness.

She hadn't had a lot of that in the last couple days.

Not that she deserved it. She'd been sent here to kill him after all. He'd be stupid not to be wary and from what she'd heard of hunters they were far from stupid.

"Hi," she said, her voice softer than she would have liked. "You don't know me, but my name is Emma. I need your help. I think I'm in trouble and you're the only person I can trust."

"Why?" he asked, his tone stiff and a little guarded.

"Because you're my father," she confessed. There was a trace of surprise in his eyes, but not much. Had he figured things out? He was on her tribe's trail. He must know something, a few things at least. Did he know why she was here? Would he fight her?

He didn't leap to attack though, didn't suddenly pull out a weapon or anything that could be considered threatening. It was so far so good.

"How'd you find this place?" he asked.

"They've been watching you," she informed him. "Ever since Mom got pregnant. They have to keep track of the fathers… for later."

She shouldn't have said that last part. She shouldn't even hint at the killings, but he already knew. He'd been following them anyway. Why not be honest on that point?

"If you're such a prisoner, you mind telling me how you escaped?" he asked her.

She took a deep breath. Right at the river, right at her death without coin to pay the toll. If she didn't live, didn't kill him, she'd be stuck at the shore to never even move on, dead and forgotten with no legend and no stories to her name.

He would kill her. Her mother was a warrior, her father a hunter, and they'd bred to create her and make the ultimate test for her. None of the other girls had to face this, their fathers all practically helpless and defenseless. He was so different, prey but a predator too. If she hesitated, if she gave into weakness, he'd destroy her.

"Hi, Emma," rang in her mind and she squeezed her eyes shut before shaking her head.

"I didn't," she whispered. "They let me go."

"What?" he asked, confused. "Why?"

"To fulfill my mission, to make my legend and complete my trial," she breathed out. "They sent me here to kill you."

She saw him reach for something behind his back and she surged forward to grab his arm. She'd been told to meet death with courage, to endure pain to be strong, that suffering was an honor and testament of loyalty to the goddess that had given her tribe powers. What honor was there though in a sneak attack, in killing men who had no chance at survival, and lying to the one that could put up an honest fight? If it was, Emma was determined for her honor to be different, to actually be more than just lip service to justify murder. If he would kill her, it would not be with deception on his mind. She'd meet it head on, her way.

"Wait, before we do this," she stated in a rush, wanting him to understand, to see her as she wanted to be seen, "I don't… I… I don't want to kill you. I don't want to kill anyone. Please, just hear me out. I'll tell you everything, and then what comes next, I'll do you proud. I'll fight you as a warrior and it'll be a battle worth telling tales of… but I want you to know everything first."

"Do me proud. The hell are you talking about, kid?" he asked her. He lowered his arm, gun in hand and she took a deep breath. She'd chosen her path. Maybe it would take her from the waters and maybe she would drown in them, but she would meet it one way or the other. Hesitating though she did, she would meet this no matter what it meant.

"I have a weapon on me, a knife. If you let me in, give me five minutes to explain, I'll hand it over now. What we do afterward is up to you," she promised him. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but please… I need you to understand."

He gave her a long look, studying her. It made her feel bare and exposed, scared despite herself. It was a feeling she had experienced with her teachers but she was terrified now instead of just uncomfortable and unsure. Honor and tradition could only steel your nerves so hard.

"Alright," he eventually said. "Come in and put your weapon on the floor and kick it away."

She nodded and stepped inside, pulling her luggage in with her. Holding one hand out in the air, she pulled the blade from her pants and slowly put it to the floor before nudging it away and taking a step back. It wasn't a kick, but she didn't feel right about mistreating the weapon. She'd been told it had been her mother's, had been the blade that dealt the first kill for Lydia's own father. Kicking an ancestral weapon, even with such a history, she couldn't do it.

"Okay, start talking," he said. He didn't raise his gun on her, but he didn't let it go either. The teen found herself hoping desperately he would respect her move of honor and meet her halfway if this came down to the fight.

"I don't know how much you know, but I'm an Amazon. My tribe mates with men and we grow quickly. That baby you met earlier? That was me," she told him.

"Yeah, I had a feeling about that," he admitted. "Puberty must have been a bitch."

She felt confused by his statement. Was he making a joke? She'd been told hunters were merciless, killed their kind without hesitation. Once he knew what she was, she hadn't expected anything like this.

"We're taken in and taught, learn fast and are encouraged through combat and torture to become strong," she continued, because she didn't know what else to say.

"Torture?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied softly before she showed him her arm. The mark was still red, still angry and painful. "They told us we had to endure pain, to be strong like them, but I don't want to be like them. I never did. I did what they told me because I didn't know any other way. They told me about you at the end, that you were a hunter, that you'd be a hard kill. I was supposed to come here, tell you a story how they hurt me and ask you to steal me away but… I can't."

Something in his expression changed as he saw the burn, his eyes softening slightly. Unlike the harsh look of disappointment whenever she displayed weakness she had seen from her teachers, this was nothing like that. Was it pity or something else?

"Why tell me all this?"

"Because they told me if you knew the truth, you'd kill me without hesitation. They told me hunters don't have any mercy for our kind, that they view us as monsters, that you'd view me as a monster. Unless I came to you asking for help, you'd never even allow me past the front door, and that my only chance was to take you by surprise," she informed him. "But if I kill you like that, if I tricked you, it wouldn't be right. You'd think of me as a monster in the end and I don't want that. I don't want my father to think of me like that."

"Okay… right, okay," he breathed out. "So then what do you want?"

"I want… I want someone to remember me," she confessed. "I want someone to think of me and be proud. My mom won't. If I fail she'll just go and breed with someone else, have another daughter. She'll only love me if I do as she did, find men, have children and hand them over to continue the traditions. You… you don't even want me-"

"Okay, let's not… go there," he said with a shaky sigh. "It's not a matter of… You know this isn't a normal situation, right?"

"How would I know what normal is?" she asked him. "Normal to me is having a whole life in a couple days, of getting only a few lessons on how to handle a weapon and suddenly being an expert with it, on being told pain and honor is all that matters and men are just things to use and then kill. They speak of honor and then tell us to sneak up on our prey and slaughter them like animals, and they think I'm weak because they see it in my eyes that I don't want to. That in my head, I question. To them, men aren't people but the very first interaction I had with one, it was you and you… you..."

She covered her mouth with her hands and took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. They felt frazzled and raw, but she had to see this through. She had no choice now. If she ran, she was sure he'd put a bullet in her back before she even made it to the door.

"I'll fight you if you want, honorably," she promised, "and when you kill me, I just want you to think I was a good warrior, a good daughter. If my name lives on with anyone, I don't need legends. I just want someone to know despite the fear I faced you proudly."

"If I want?" he asked, to which she nodded. "What if I don't want that?"

"I don't understand," she said, feeling confused. "You're going to fight me."

"Emma, I-"

"You are! You hunt monsters! You kill them! You'll kill me!" she insisted.

"Don't say that!" he snapped so loudly it shocked her. "Look just don't… don't… You haven't killed anyone yet. You can walk away."

"And do what?" she asked. "They won't take me back unless I have proof I killed you."

"You don't want to be like them. You said so yourself," he pressed.

"Exactly, which is why you have to kill me," she said. "There's no other way. One of us has to die… and it's going to be me."

"No!" he insisted loudly. "You're standing there and telling me you want me to kill you. Who the hell does that?"

"It's the only acceptable alternative," she said. "If I don't kill you and I leave, they'll know the truth and kill me. Worse you'll do is put a bullet in my heart. They'll make me feel it. This mark is what they do to Amazons that do what they're told. What do you think they'll burn me with if I willingly gave up on my trial?"

He shook his head before rubbing at the back of his head.

"I know where they are. I can make sure they won't find you," he offered. "I can keep you safe from them."

"There's dozens of them," she warned. "They're hidden."

"I know where they are," he told her. "Emma, I can protect you."

"You're my father. You're supposed to fight me," she denied.

"Hey, you said we'd do this the way I wanted," he reminded her harshly.

"I meant we could fight how you preferred. I thought you'd either shoot me or allow me to face you honorably," she said.

"Well too bad you didn't say that because both those options are crap!"

Before she could reply the door suddenly flew open, both of them whirling around to face the intruder. For a moment she thought it was an Amazon, someone to make sure she passed her test, but it instead it was a man she'd never seen before, gun pointed at her. Fear flooded her, a cold hard feeling in the pit of her stomach that she wouldn't be allowed to pass on with honor, was going to fail and die and no one would remember her.

"Whoa! Sam, stop!" Dean cried out, rushing forward and shoving Emma behind him. The action shocked her, feeling his hand on her arm, holding her firm in place. "Sam, don't."

"Dean, she's here to kill you! The mother doesn't go after the father, the-"

"The daughter does! I know, Emma told me!"

"And you're protecting her?!"

"Sammy, she hasn't killed anyone. She doesn't want to. She's not like them," he reasoned, trying to sound soothing, even though there was tension in his voice. "She thinks she has to die, that it's the only way out of this situation. She's practically asking me to shoot her."

"Dean, what does-"

"She didn't ask to be this, Sammy! You of all people should understand that! Don't hurt her! Please!"

Emma felt her voice constrict in her throat, looking between the two men. He was protecting her. Why? This other man, was he a hunter too? They'd only told her about her father. Had they known about this one, this Sam? They'd been watching Dean, they had to have been aware of his partner.

"Dean, step away," he said, cocking his gun. "This is just like Amy. You said I couldn't be soft! I'd get us killed!"

"Who's Amy?" Emma asked, out, starting to feel herself panic. It was rising up in her chest, choking her and making her feel terrified. The sight of the gun pointed at the pair, knowing her life could end with just a simple pull of the trigger, it was making her head spin.

"Emma, just stay back!" Dean ordered. "I'll protect you! You'll be okay!"

"She's a monster, Dean! She'll try to kill you!"

"No, she won't! Sam, please I know Amy meant something to you but this is not the same! It's not! She hasn't killed anyone! She said herself she doesn't want to," Dean insisted. "Please… for the love of crap, Sam..."

"She's an Amazon. She's going to kill you," Sam breathed. "Why would she be here if it weren't for that?"

"Okay… okay she came here for a fight but she… Sam, she wants me to kill her. This isn't her fault. None of this is her fault. She's stuck in a bad spot because her mom got pregnant and they're forcing her to do this. She's just another victim, one of the people we try to save," Dean pleaded. "Come on. I can't kill her. You know I can't let you do it either."

Sam narrowed his eyes before eventually he lowered his gun. Letting out a breath of relief, Dean turned to her and took her face in his hands.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked her. She opened her mouth to speak though no words came out, forcing her to just nod her head quickly. "Okay, good. Good, that's great. Alright, let's figure this out, okay? After you shanked me, what were you supposed to do?"

"Go back to the training grounds," she replied without even thinking about it. Deep down she already knew what he planned to do, to kill her sisters. If there was any conflict in her mind about it, she was pushing it too far down to let it bother her. Besides, she had a feeling if she didn't spill her secrets it would get this Sam guy pointing a gun at her again. "They were going to wait for all of us to get back and then leave."

"When?"

"A couple days from now," she answered.

"Sam, we got to go now, maybe take them unaware," Dean said, shoving his gun into the back of his pants. "Emma, come on."

"Wait, you want to take her with us?" Sam asked, disbelieving.

"Well she can't stay here," Dean pointed out.

"What if she tries something?"

"Sam-"

"No, Dean! How long have you known her, maybe ten minutes?! If she gets close then-"

"I'm not going to kill my father! All I wanted was an honorable way to go! A compromise but no one here cares what I want!" Emma snapped. These two were talking about her like she wasn't even there or capable of making her own decision, like she hadn't thought hard about her own life. Everyone around her just assumed they could do as they liked, mark her path and expect her to follow it without question. "He was supposed to fight me. All I wanted was him to see I wouldn't attack him without him knowing the truth. I never expected to win. If you think I'm just going to wait for a chance to attack him with his guard is down then you can shove it! Who do you think you are, interfering like this in family?"

The two men looked between them, Sam coughing a bit.

"Well, she sounds like you a little anyway," he said, to which Dean rolled his eyes.

"Emma, this is my brother, your uncle," he replied. "You know what an uncle is, right, or did they not bother with that kind of information when you were growing up?"

"I… I know what it means," she admitted softly. "We don't usually kill more than just the father but sometimes there are other members of the family we have to dispose of to get to them."

"Sounds like a delightful little group of women," Sam muttered.

"Sam, I swear… forget it. Look, she's coming with us. We certainly can't leave her alone in the hotel," Dean reasoned.

"Then what, pull her into the fight so she can stab you in the back?"

"I'm not going to-" Emma protested.

"Adults are talking, sweetheart," Dean said sarcastically. "Give us a second."

A hint of annoyance crept up in her at that, but she crossed her arms over her chest and didn't say another word. They went back and forth for a while in hushed whispers before finally they pulled away and Dean came up to her.

"Okay," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "look, you understand this is a really strange situation, right? If you're really here to fight me, what are you going to do if I refuse?"

"I… I hadn't thought about it," she admitted. "If you don't kill me, I have to go back with your remains. If I go back with the trial unfinished it means death."

"No… Emma, that's not what I mean. I mean, what if you live and run away? Will they hunt you down?"

"Um, I don't really know. I mean, we were never told of any Amazons who ran, only the ones who failed and got killed. I guess if I didn't go back they'd assume I died. It wasn't like that wasn't a strong possibility," she said.

"They don't come and collect the bodies?" Sam asked.

"It's really rare for an Amazon to fail," she explained. "We're supposed to pick men who don't have any chance against us? Just intelligent, well off men. The kind that would provide good seed-"

"Whoa! Yeah, okay we get it. Don't talk about… just don't talk about that kind of stuff," Dean said to cut her off.

"Why? The traditions of our tribe make it very clear there's no shame in the ritual of sexual-"

"Emma! I don't want to hear you talk about sex! You're two days old! Now come on, focus here!"

She didn't understand why he was getting so prudish about it. The whole reason she was here because of a one night stand with her mother. Well, she supposed it wasn't an important detail for this conversation anyway.

"According to the history, the last Amazon who failed to kill their father was over a century ago, and I don't know if they gave her burial rights or not. We didn't even get a name with the story. She was more a warning lesson that if we fail we won't be remembered by the gods," she said.

"I can't say I could see them leaving her behind," Sam pipped in. "Just for forensics, she's got DNA proving she's not human. The detective we talked to was one and it was pretty clear she was interested in covering her tracks. I killed her before I got here."

Both men looked to her, their eyes searching, but she didn't know why. Did they expect a reaction? Some sort of attempt of revenge for her fallen sister? She only felt baffled. He spoke of killing her like it had been easy, an after thought. Hunters seemed every bit as fearsome as she'd been told.

"Alright, we bring her with, she stays in the car," Dean said finally with a heavy sigh. "Emma, if you leave the car for any reason, Sam will… take care of you, got it?"

She nodded, understanding the warning. In her mind the river swept away from her feet, drawing back if only a little. Perhaps there was a road that led away from it after all.

"Grab your stuff. We might have to leave immediately after," he said before he started to move around the room, grabbing papers and stuffing them away in a bag along with Sam. She watched them work, feeling oddly out of place. Should she help? Should she just stay out of the way? For the moment she just stayed put. All of her things were already in her pink little suitcase after all. There was one thing she wanted to bring but she didn't think they'd be happy if she went for it.

"Can you grab my knife, Father?" she asked and she swore Dean jumped at the title. Turning to look at her slowly, he looked down at the knife still far from her feet. "I don't want to leave it behind. It was my mother's."

"Yeah, sure. I'm keeping a hold of it though," he told her, which she was fine with.

She followed them out as they left the hotel, not even bothering with check out. Finding herself in the backseat of the vehicle, she couldn't help but notice Sam watching her through the rear view mirror. It was unsettling to say the least. In all the mental preparation she had done for this, another hunter had not factored into it. Why hadn't they told her she might be facing two of them?

There was no doubt in her that the threat of Sam killing her was true if she left the car, so she stayed in place as they left. All of them would be in there right now, celebrating the return of the girls by this point. Her mother would be waiting for her, happy to congratulate her once she presented the proof of her kill and joined their ranks. She tried not to feel guilt at betraying her sisters, and it was easy all save for the memory of Lydia.

"EMMA!" she heard her father calling, jerking at the sound of it. She didn't even think, instinct taking hold as she sprung out of the vehicle and ran to the building, fists raised to fight. She imagined him in danger, overpowered by her tribe, and wished he'd trusted her with her knife so she at least had a weapon, but rushing in to defend him seemed the only answer to her, with or without the blade.

Only to run in and see the training grounds empty.

"What the hell is this?" Sam demanded. "You said they'd be here for the next two days."

"I… they were supposed to be," she said, not understanding. Where were the lights, her sisters, the banquet for celebration?

"They left then?" Dean asked.

"Ran, most likely," Sam said. "Maybe they saw me kill the other one."

"But what about..." he said before he trailed off, looking to Emma as cold realization came to her. They'd abandoned her. Even if she had killed him, they wouldn't have been here. She wouldn't have been able to complete the ritual and get back in time. They'd never even told her she'd have to hurry or risk being lost.

They were going to sacrifice her to the hunters from the start.

The two were still glancing around when she started to sniffle, unable to help herself. Dean turned as fast as if he'd heard a gun shot, even as she covered her face with her hands and turned away. It was shameful for a warrior to cry. Was she really so weak? Was her heart so soft? Even knowing she had all but betrayed her tribe to the hunters with her information, the fact they'd never even planned to wait for her tore at her.

The waters washed over her, pulling her down as she didn't even struggle. No coins, no memories, no legends and nothing to her name. Just another soul lost on the river, drowning her when she'd tried to cross. The river hit her body, her face even as she refused to let the tears fall. Abandoned or not, she was still a warrior and had her pride. It hurt though, feeling like she'd be swept away forever before arms closed around her and pulled her against a strong body.

"Hey," Dean breathed into her hair. "Don't cry. Come on, Emma, it's okay."

"They left me," she whimpered, just wanting to drown and be done with it. Even her father had denied her honor. He wouldn't kill her, wouldn't grant her even a death to sing of. She had nothing now, nothing but the Styx and it's cold eternity. "I don't have anything now."

"That's not true," Dean assured her, fingers curling into her hair. "Emma, that's not true. You have me. I'll take care of you."

She felt him shift and looked up at him through watery eyes, saw him glance over at Sam. If felt like words were being spoken without actually being said, a conversation she had no privy to.

"You have us," he said, still looking to his brother. "Doesn't she?"

Her uncle hesitated, kicking at the ground with his feet a bit before sighing and rubbing at his face.

"Until we figure out what to do next," he said with a shake of his head. "But she's not getting her weapon back."

Confusion filled her as Dean pulled her along, still holding her close. She didn't entirely understand what was happening as she was brought back to the car and eased into it, or where she was going as they drove off. The town she was born into faded as she watched it pass and then they were on the road, transitioning from one place to another. The waters receded around her as she felt a small boat pull by, a withered grip grab her to drag her onto the small vessel, row her back to shore and toss her back on the bank. Whatever her fate, she was not due for the waters today.

Perhaps there was a crossroad for her after all.

End of Chapter

So, first chapter. What did you guys think? Like it, hate it, any comments? I'd love to hear some thoughts on this. Like I said, I haven't seen many stories where Emma ends up traveling with her family, but I'd like to give it a shot. I really played up the hesitation she showed in the episode and her connection to Dean. I don't know if she really would have killed him or not, since she wasn't exactly lunging at him, but I think that might have been more cause he had a gun on her. I'm not really sure.

Anyway, again, please comment if you have any thoughts.