The room was silent except for the rapid beat of Maya’s heart. Her breath caught in her throat as she sat up in bed, drenched in sweat, eyes wide with panic. The dream still clung to her like smoke.

A circle of runes glowed red beneath her feet. Wings—huge, feathery, and scorched—unfurled around her, stretching out into an endless void. A voice had spoken in a language she didn’t know, but somehow… understood.

“The vessel awakens.”

She rubbed her face with shaking hands.

Jack was already by her side, appearing in a flicker of light. He didn’t say anything—just sat next to her and gently took her hand.

“I saw it again,” she whispered. “Same circle. Same wings. But… I understood it this time. The language.”

Jack’s jaw tensed. “Enochian,” he said after a pause. “It’s the language of angels.”

She looked at him. “Why would I understand that?”

He didn’t answer right away.

“Because you’re changing, Maya,” he said softly. “And whatever’s inside you... it’s waking up.”

---

The next day, she tried to act normal. Breakfast with Eva and Mark. Her sister made pancakes. Her cats purred and bumped against her legs like nothing was wrong. But Jack never left her thoughts.

She needed answers. Needed action. So she did what she always did when the world felt like too much: she hunted.

---

Two Days Later – Slovenia, Northern Forest

The sun was setting behind the pines as Maya crouched at the edge of a clearing. The tracks matched what she’d read—elongated claws, a musky smell, strange scarring along trees. Definitely wraith or skinwalker territory.

She had a silver blade strapped to her thigh, and a gun loaded with dead man's blood. No powers. No weirdness. Just her.

“Let’s do this,” she whispered, stepping into the clearing.

It happened fast.

She lured one creature out—a pale, fast-moving thing with black eyes and sharp teeth. She moved like water, slicing and dodging, staying focused. The thing hissed and lunged. She slammed it with the hilt of her knife and drove it into the earth.

But then—
A second one.

It jumped from the shadows behind her. Its claws scraped her back. Maya cried out and spun, but not fast enough. It pinned her down.

Panic surged in her chest. Blood on her hands. Her limbs trembled.

And then—

BOOM.

A pulse of light exploded from her body. Both creatures were thrown like rag dolls into the trees. Her knife flew into the air. The earth shook.

Maya stumbled to her feet, staring at her hands.

They were glowing. Faint and golden. She could feel something running under her skin. Like heat, like lightning. A connection to something massive.

“What… what did I just do?”

---

“Hey!” Jack’s voice echoed through the trees. He appeared seconds later, eyes frantic, scanning for her.

She turned to face him, still trembling. “I didn’t mean to. I just—something happened.”

He saw the wreckage. The two creatures groaning and stunned on the forest floor. The glowing residue on her fingertips.

Jack approached slowly, gently cupping her face. “You did what you had to do.”

“I didn’t try. It just came out of me. It felt like—like the dream. Like I wasn't alone.”

Jack exhaled. “You’re not. Not anymore.”

---

Later – The Bunker

Maya sat on the couch with a mug of tea in her hands, staring at the ripples inside. The quiet in the bunker was deeper than usual. Like it was listening.

Castiel appeared first, stepping through the war room doorway, expression unreadable. His trench coat flared slightly from the breeze behind him.

“You felt it, didn’t you?” Maya asked.

“I did,” Castiel said, walking in. “It was… celestial. But not like Jack. More… unformed. Like potential waiting to take shape.”

Jack sat beside Maya and took her hand again. “We think the dreams, the power—they’re connected to something buried in you. Something ancient.”

“I don’t want to be something ancient,” Maya muttered. “I just want to be me.”

“You still are,” Jack said softly. “But maybe… a more powerful version of you.”

Maya sighed. “Do I tell anyone? Eva? Mark? Mary? How do I even begin?”

“You don’t have to,” Castiel replied. “The world doesn’t need to know who you’re becoming. Sometimes secrets are sacred.”

She nodded slowly. “Then I’ll keep it. At least for now. I need time to… figure out what this means.”

Dean walked in at that exact moment, of course, holding a sandwich and grinning like he owned the place.

“Well, well,” he drawled. “Heard the new girl just nuked two freaks in a forest. That’s one way to make a name for yourself.”

Maya raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t nuke anyone.”

Jack narrowed his eyes at Dean. “Be nice.”

Dean smirked. “Relax, kid. I’m impressed. And honestly, your girlfriend’s starting to scare me—in a hot, end-of-the-world kinda way.”

Jack turned red. “She’s not—”

“We’re not—!” Maya chimed in at the same time.

Dean winked. “Sure, sure. Just don’t melt the bunker when you two finally stop dancing around each other.”

Maya buried her face in her hands. “Kill me.”

---

Later That Night – Jack’s Quarters

It was quiet again. Just the low hum of the lamps and the sound of Maya’s breathing. She sat on Jack’s bed, knees tucked to her chest.

He sat beside her, elbows on his thighs, fingers laced together. For once, he looked… small. Worried.

“I’m sorry,” he said after a long silence.

“For what?”

“For not warning you. For not realizing how fast it was happening. For dragging you into this.”

“You didn’t drag me,” she said gently. “I ran toward this.”

He glanced at her, eyes soft. “It’s just… I never wanted you to be a part of the chaos. Not like this. You were supposed to stay human. Whole. Untouched.”

Maya leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. “Too late for that.”

They sat there for a long moment.

“Do you regret it?” he asked quietly.

She pulled back just enough to meet his eyes.

“No. I’m scared, yeah. But not of the powers. I’m scared of not knowing who I’m becoming. Of losing the people I love.”

She paused. Then added, “And… I’m scared of what’ll happen when you stop looking at me like that.”

Jack blinked. His voice was barely audible. “I’ll never stop.”

She leaned closer. Their foreheads touched. The room felt like it wasn’t just a bunker anymore—it was a universe, folded down to one tiny, fragile moment.

Then, out of nowhere, a small lamp on the desk sparked and flared—blinding white light, then out.

They both looked over. Maya’s hands were glowing faintly again.

“Okay,” she whispered. “That wasn’t me being scared.”

Jack smiled, a little shaky but proud. “No. That was something else.”