Dean has faced down demons, ghosts, and countless other horrors, but nothing could prepare him for the helplessness he feels as he sits in a crowded courtroom, watching the legal system decide the fate of the woman he loves.

For months, Dean has been in a secret relationship with a woman who quickly became the one bright spot in his tumultuous life. She’s smart, tough, and more than a match for the chaos that follows him. But when her immigration status comes into question, their world is turned upside down. She’s facing deportation due to a bureaucratic error, and despite Dean’s best efforts to find a way around it, they’re left with one last hope—a court hearing that will determine whether she can stay in the U.S. or be sent back to her home country, thousands of miles away.

The courtroom is tense as they sit side by side, their hands intertwined beneath the table. Dean is out of his element, his usual confidence shaken by the reality that this isn’t a battle he can win with brute strength or a well-placed shot. He listens as her lawyer makes the case, arguing that she’s built a life here, that she has ties—friends, a job, and someone who loves her more than anything. Dean’s heart aches as he realizes just how powerless he is to protect her from this.

As the judge deliberates, the room is heavy with silence. Dean can barely breathe, his mind racing through a hundred scenarios, none of them good. He thinks about all the times he’s run from attachments, all the times he’s kept people at arm’s length to avoid feeling this kind of pain. But now, sitting next to her, he knows that he would give anything to keep her by his side.

When the judge finally delivers the verdict, Dean’s heart drops. The ruling isn’t in their favor. She’s been ordered to leave the country within the next few weeks. The devastation in her eyes nearly undoes him, and for the first time in his life, Dean Winchester doesn’t know what to do.