video; ~5 pm

[momchester]

[Mary looks... well, alive, which is a bonus, but also frazzled and exhausted, with pale skin, dark circles under her eyes, lips chapped, hair falling out of her ponytail.

But more than that, she looks haunted.]

I'm back. I'm alive. [Her lips press together in a thin line. She bows her head and talks to her knees.] No thanks to those monsters.

I don't know if anyone else made it out... there were no- [sniffing hard to avoid tearing up.] -shelters. Nothing Darkness proofed. [Head still bowed tightly.] I don't know if any of those people I fought with made it out alive, but if they didn't, I'm going to tell you all right now.

[She finally looks up, eyes welling now with tears she refuses to cry.]

They hunted us. They bound us, put collars on us, they put us in cages. They chased us and hunted us down like we were fucking dogs and we couldn't-

[she claps a hand over her mouth, breathing hard to rein in her emotions. When she opens her eyes again, there's something chilling and deadened in her eyes.]

When I died at home- the first time, before I came here... it was a demon. A demon pinned me to the ceiling and burned me alive in my baby's nursery, and I didn't feel as violated as I did those two days. In that cage. [She shakes her head intently, looking away.] Those monsters kidnapped children. They wanted to see every one of us die like dumb fucking animals.

I wonder what would happen if I prayed for them. [There's a weird look in her eyes. Something you wouldn't leave your children alone with.] It's the Christian thing to do.

Would I get their souls into Heaven, or their heads on a plate?

[With a last ugly look at the NV, she turns the public feed off.]

[Private to Jinx]

I found a plus one.

[Private to the angels]

Did you hear my prayer? [The one she whispered as she lay dying.] Please, tell me none of you- tell me you didn't go there. Please.

Comments

[mulletrock]

[Dean lets Ben shoot ahead of him and run down the stairs and up the hall to his mom's room because this was safe ground as far as he was concerned. Being privy to the entire conversation between the two of them helped too.

He knows his mom needs to see Ben just about as bad as he needs to see his mom. He comes around the corner during their spin hug.] I remember those. [He got them a lot when he was young. Dean holds up the bag of Iams.] Now the rats can eat.

Speakin' of rats. Hey, Ben, she has pizza in there. [He wanted some time to hug his mom too.]

[momchester]

[The spin hug makes her laugh, too, and it's just such a perfect moment until Dean shows up- and then it's something strained, but in a beautifully broken way that's about love and pain and remembering to act like she's still the same person she was before he walked into the room.]

Oh, hey. [A forced smile. She puts Ben down and scoots him off to the kitchen with a breathy little chuckle.] Yeah, why don't you go on and pick one out that you like. Even put some more pepperoni on it.

[Once he's off, Mary takes a second to meet Dean's eyes. Her eyes are a little wet, but it's real. There's more honesty in her lost, sad look than in trying to smile for Ben's sake.]

Dean.

[mulletrock]

[Dean watches Ben scoot inside. The kid's got a knack for knowing when to bite his tongue and when to run his mouth. He remembers being the same way. Sure, it was harder on the road, town to town, but he still had his dad. ]

Hey. [Now that he had his mom back he was willing to risk everything to make sure she was alright. He'd screwed it all up not being able to save her from MANs hunt and the look on her face broke his heart.

He steps forward into the room to set the bag of cat food down and pulls her into a tight hug.]

[momchester]

[She folds into the hug instantly, burying her face into Dean's shoulder with a broken kind of sound. Mary already cried with Meowth, so she isn't so pressurized and tense that she has to explode, but it was a different kind of release with him than what she wants and needs from Dean- from the person she's come to love so dearly, from family.

In a second her hands fist in his shirt, and she starts to cry.]

[mulletrock]

[Dean buries right up against her and wraps his arms around her tight. He smooths his palms over her back and rests his chin down on her shoulder.] Hey... It's gonna be okay.