"What d'you think, Mary? Your mama gonna be okay?"

Dean sits on one side of the bed while Mary is on the other. She has her palm over Cas' forehead and Dean holds the angel's still fingers in his hand. Mary tilts her head. "He's low on energy. I think he'll be fine."

"Good, good," Dean says with a sigh of relief. "How'd you get so smart?"

"I don't know."

Dean smiles at Mary and squeezes Cas' hand. "I'm sorry about everything that happened," he says softly.

"You don't need to apologize. I understand."

"You sure?"

"Yes!" Mary flashes her dad a big smile. "I know a lot more about myself now. And other things, too."

"That's good, I guess."

"Yes."

Dean leans down and puts a kiss onto Cas' forehead. "Is there anything we can do to help him?"

"I'm not an expert about this," Mary says with a shrug. "I don't know."

"You know more than me," Dean tells her. He lets go of Cas' hand and instead touches his face softly. "And it sorta looks like you know more than your mom, too."

"I don't know…"

Dean settles down on the bed, laying lengthwise next to Cas. He puts his arm around him and pulls him close with a sigh. "Just want him to be back."

"Me, too."

Mary sits there and watches her parents for a moment. She feels bad since there's nothing she can do to improve the situation but she's also confident that Cas will come out alright. Still, it's hard to see the angel looking so lifeless. Then Sam comes into the room and motions for Mary to follow him out. Dean's been starting to fall asleep on Cas, so she says nothing to him and leaves with her uncle.

"Is something wrong?" Mary asks. Sam shakes his head and lightly closes the bedroom door.

"No, but I thought it would be nice to give them your dad some alone time in there."

"Oh, I see."

"I want to ask you about something, too."

"What?"

"Can I go in your room?"

"Yes."

Sam steps inside Mary's room and she follows. He goes up to her desk and takes the paper on top that talks about the spell for finding her. "Where did you learn this?"

Mary winces a bit. "Are you mad?"

"No, no," Sam says, making sure his voice is soft. "Not at all. I'm impressed, actually. Dean and I haven't even heard of this. I'm just wondering how you knew to do it."

"In a book," says Mary. She nonchalantly goes to one of her shelves and pulls down a little thin book. It's fairly old with a peeling cover. "This. It was in your library."

"You probably shouldn't take books out of our library and keep them in your room. What if we needed one and couldn't find it?"

Mary looks down. "Sorry."

"It's okay, just don't do it anymore. Or we can just ask you. Don't worry about it. What book is that?"

She hands it to Sam and he starts to flip through. It's just another general book with magic rite and whatnot, most of which Sam already knows or has at least heard of. "So," he says after closing the book and leaving it on Mary's dresser. He sits on her chair, which barely fits him. "How are you feeling right now? I can imagine what sorts of stuff you've been through."

"I'm fine," says Mary. "I don't know why you and father have to keep asking me about that."

"Because you were just in Hell. We've both been there and we know Crowley really well. It's pretty much the last thing any of us would want you to experience."

"Demons," Mary says softly. She has a pensive look on her face as she goes to her bed and sits down. "They're different than us but they're just doing their own agendas."

"Alright, I get what you mean. Can you explain that more?"

"Um…well…Mr. Crowley said that I'm neutral, which implies demons are naturally negative and angels are naturally positive. Or at least some kind of variation. That's what I assume, even though he said that angels are wicked, horrible things. But mother isn't wicked."

"Your mom is different, actually."

"Because of me? Because I'm an abomination?"

Mary says this so seriously and with no hang ups or pain attached. The fact that she already knows her existence isn't allowed and yet she's accepted it is difficult for Sam to see.

"You, uh, well, Mary…" Sam has trouble speaking. You can't just tell your niece that she's the half-bred reject of Heaven. But Mary interrupts.

"I know," she says with a slow nod; again, a strange sign of how advanced she is for her age. "Heaven doesn't want me because I'm too powerful. Hell wants me because Heaven doesn't. I understand. Angels aren't supposed to mate with humans and Nephilim aren't supposed to exist." She lets out a tired sigh and looks down.

"But just because you aren't 'supposed' to exist doesn't mean you can't do good deeds or be a decent person, and it definitely doesn't mean you're unwanted."

Mary lays down on her bed and hugs at one of her pillows. She stares across the room with a rumpled forehead. This is Sam's cue to get up and squat down in front of her. He puts his hand on her thin arm and gently consoles her.

"Your parents love you, you know that, right?"

"Yes…"

"And I love you, too. That was rough today but your dad's back to normal, I think. We'll have to reevaluate where you go and what you do, just because all of Hell knows about you now, but we'll get through it and everything will be alright."

Mary begins to nod off. Her heavy eyelids blink very slowly, still glazed and looking somewhere beyond Sam. Grey flickers through them from time to time.

"Do you know how many times your dad and I were told we couldn't do something, but we did anyway?"

"No…"

"A lot. A whole lot. Our lives have basically been defying what others tell us we can and can't do, so there's no way that a Nephilim wouldn't be accepted."

"Okay…"

Sam kisses the top of Mary's head as he stands up. "Sleep for a while, I'm sure you need it."

"Yeah…"

Now Cas stays out for a little while longer. Dean remains there, on his side with his arm draped around the angel's chest. In fact, the man has fallen asleep slightly then come back again. He knows Cas is breathing and that's good, but other than that he remains lifeless. His chest raises with a deep breath and slowly lets out while Dean stares. Even though he wants Cas back, he's decided not to push it because obviously the sleep is needed.

As Dean nods off into sleep again, the room darkening from his eyelids. His fingers tighten on Cas' waist and then fall limp as he zooms away in his mind.

"Mmh…hhhmm…"

Grumbles ache forth from the angel's chest now. They're so natural and raw since Cas hasn't focused on how to make all these noises. They come out without any judgment of how he should sound.

"Huhh…ah…"

Dean perks up immediately. He lifts his head and sits on his elbow. "Cas?" Cas' eyes open and he fixes his gaze upon his partner. "H-hello, Dean…"

"You feeling okay?" Dean asks. He takes his hand and gently touches Cas' face, which the angel nuzzles into like coming home.

"Yes…Mary…where is Mary?"

"She's home. She's fine." Dean is so relieved to see Cas coming around. A great big smile is on his face and his cheeks flush pink beneath his freckles. He leans in to give his angel a kiss on the lips and whispers, "happy to hear your voice."

"Mm…" Cas turns over on his side and lazy cuddles with Dean. "Good…"

Dean hugs him tight. "Love you so much."

"What happened in Hell?"

"We don't need to talk about it now. Let's just be happy that everyone's home and safe, right?"

"I understand."

Cas burrows his face into the crook of Dean's neck and smiles. They hug and cuddle with each other in silence for a few blissful moments, feeling their bodies together and the heat that they share. "I've been thinking a considerable amount…"

"When?"

"While I was asleep."

"You were thinking?"

"Indeed."

"About what?"

"Our time together."

"Oh, yeah? And what'd you come up with?"

Cas' voice gets quieter now. "I've realized that once you pass on, Mary will be alone with me."

"Oh…"

"I have eternity with my daughter but only a few decades left with you. When you're gone, I won't go into my season anymore."

"Yeah, that's true," Dean agrees. He rubs Cas' back with both hands, holding him as close as possible. "Then let's make the most of our time together."

"Yes…"

"Can I get you anything, babe?"

"Water, please."

"Alright, no problem."

Dean kisses Cas again then gets up gently, careful not to jostle the bed too much. He goes out of the room and heads towards the kitchen to get Cas a cup of water.

"Is he awake?" Sam asks. He seems to be wandering a bit with his phone in his hand.

"Yeah, thank-whoever."

"I'm glad," Sam says with a smile. "But get this…"

"Huh?" Dean goes to the sink and fills a glass at the tap. Sam gestures to his phone.

"I got a call from a hunter in Missouri."

"O-kay."

"It was an indirect connection through a few that we know. She says they were keeping a demon on a Devil's trap and it was pretty uncooperative, but then just a few hours ago, it suddenly flipped and surrendered. It was shouting something about Winchesters, which is what prompted her to find out how to contact us."

"So what happened to the demon?"

"Well, it's still in the Devil's trap but it's terrified and won't talk."

"Weird. What'd'you think that means?"

"Not sure, but I'm willing to bet it's related to what we did down in Hell."

Dean furrows his brow, thinking for a second. "You think…you think all the demon's out there are freaking out about us and Mary?"

"Maybe," Sam says with a shrug. "I want to talk to this demon, though."

"In Missouri? Sam, we just came back from Hell. My daughter's gotta be traumatized and my wife is out of it. I don't think I—"

"Your wife?"

Dean stares at Sam like a deer in the headlights. He wets his lips and his eyes dart around a bit until they fall to the glass in his hand. "My angel-partner-boyfriend-baby mama…"

Sam laughs. "Okay, sure," he says. "Maybe I'll go by myself."

"You aren't gonna go by yourself," Dean grunts.

"Then you're coming with me."

"I gotta stay. And they have it in a trap anyway, right?"

"Yes, but I don't know what they plan to do with it."

Dean groans. "Okay, okay, let's think on it for a couple and then figure it out."

"Sure."