The heavy door of the bunker groaned open, the cold air from the outside world following you and Sam into the hallway. Mud clung to your boots. Your jacket smelled like smoke and sulfur—remnants of the hunt you’d just wrapped two towns over. You were bone-tired, aching, but looking forward to finally being home… to seeing Dean.

But when you stepped into the war room, you and Sam both stopped cold.

There she was.

Mary.

Alive.

You’d never met her before—of course not. She died long before you ever crossed paths with Dean and his family. But her face was burned into your memory. You’d seen it in old photos tucked into Dean’s journal, in dusty frames on the bunker’s bookshelves, in the way his voice went soft whenever he spoke about her like a ghost too fragile to touch.

Now she was standing there—very real, very alive—looking just as stunned as you were.

Dean’s eyes were locked on her, like if he blinked, she’d vanish again.

You took a step forward, your breath caught somewhere between awe and confusion.

Dean finally turned toward you. His expression shifted—like something cracked through the shock and landed him back in his own skin.

His voice was rough when he said your name. Like it had been sitting in his throat the whole time.

You swallowed, unsure what to say. Your eyes flicked between him and the woman beside him.

And then Mary looked at you—really looked at you—with a curious tilt of her head.

“And who are you?”

Dean was quiet for a second. Then he took a breath, walked closer, and rested a warm, steady hand at the small of your back.

“This is… she’s my girl,” he said.

Your heart stuttered.

Mary blinked, her lips parting. You weren’t sure what reaction you were expecting. You weren’t sure she knew how to react.

Dean’s grip on you didn’t waver, though. If anything, it tightened.

“She’s family,” he said softly. “She’s been with us through more than I can even explain.”

You weren’t sure who he was trying to convince—his mother, or himself.

You could still feel the tremor under his skin. Still see the boy in him trying to make peace with a miracle that shouldn’t be possible.

And somehow, in the middle of it all—he still chose to hold onto you.