It happens to the best of us
"Grab the kids!" Dean yelled barely just ducking behind the wall. Sam nodded from the broken down shed before turning and dashing in the direction of the farm house.
Riley was standing flat against the wall, her heart racing and her breathing quick, "We need to get this son of bitch. If Arian escapes, he can start his sick little breeding project all over again."
They were in an abandoned barn on an old farm on the outskirts of town. Demons surrounded them and Riley's neck and shoulder was covered in blood from where a demon had gotten lucky with a particularly sharp farming tool, thank God for Sam pulling the damned thing off her.
After they had separated at the motel, Sam and Dean had gotten to the last kid just in time, saving Mrs. McLane and forcing her husband to sing like a canary.
His name was Arian, an ancient and extremely powerful demon. From what Sam and Dean had pieced together the demon had been around since the fall of Lucifer, one of the second generational demons.
Arian's plan was absolutely crazy and brilliant at the same time.
He wanted to rule hell, wanted to burn the world, but to do that he had to open a Gate to Hell.
His plan had started way back in the 1600's, toying with a handful of teenagers, manipulating and fooling them into the thirst for immortality. The plan was finally unfolding with five children from this generation who were supposed to have the most tainted blood. They were to be sacrificed to Arian, who would then use their souls to pry open a portal straight into the heart of hell.
But Sam and Dean being Sam and Dean were fighting against all odds to save the world, again. Only this time they weren't alone. When the four hunters had finally come face to face with Arian, Riley had taunted him just enough for him to spill his entire plan. Pride was a powerful emotion, especially when you knew how to use it against someone else.
Mrs. Hasting, Mr McLane and three others had been brainwashed during their high school years by their so-called English teacher. Arian had merely adopted the poor man as a meat suit. The five teenagers were given specific instructions to find and marry a 'mate' so they could conceive a child who would later be sacrificed. Arian had promised them immortality in return. The 'mates' had been a necessary evil to keep hunters out of his plans. He hadn't counted on the Winchesters and the Reagans joining forces.
Daniel had listened to the entire tale, anger slowly consuming him to such a degree that he actually shot one of the brainwashed slaves. Riley didn't blame her brother for his hate against such evil, but the gunshot was like a red flag rising for war.
When several hundred demons suddenly appeared at Arian's command, Dean, Sam and Riley had no choice but to fight whilst Daniel had taken off in search of the four kidnapped kids. Riley was almost pretty sure that she wouldn't make it off this farm alive.
Dean and Riley fell silent as they listened for movement, they just needed five seconds to catch their breaths before heading back into the fight. Somewhere in the last few minutes where Riley had almost lost her life, Dean had given her his angel blade. She had enjoyed finally being able to cause damage to the devil's spawn.
Riley now clutched that same blade to her chest, her heart racing with adrenaline.
"Hey, Sunshine?" Dean muttered suddenly.
Riley's mouth lifted into a weak version of that infuriating smirk, "Yeah, Pretty Boy?"
"Would you really have shot me in the bar?" He asked. His face was pulled into a playful smile, but Riley could see the fear and determination in his eyes. It was a strange question, but Riley answered him anyway. She snorted, "Yeah, you don't lay a hand on my big brother and expect to still keep it."
Dean raised an eyebrow, he was looking for a distraction and he almost verbally thanked her for giving him one, "Oh, so you're the little sister?" He mocked with a crooked grin.
Riley growled lowly and crouched down when a group of demons raced past their temporary hiding spot, "We're five hours apart."
"Huh," He responded. Riley's phone vibrated and she pulled it out.
Got 'em, meet u in 5 – Daniel
Riley stuffed the little thing into her jeans and took a deep breath before looking back to Dean, "Distraction time."
Dean nodded and together they sprinted from their hiding spot and raced through the barn, right into the visual range of the demons. Riley smirked when she came to a sudden stop, she lifted her hand and graced them with her favourite gesture, "Come and get it motherfuckers." She winked and shredded after Dean again, the echoes of screeching demons following her to the outside.
"Did you purposefully just piss them off?!" Dean yelled when she finally managed to catch up to him. Riley's legs were burning when they came to a halt a good half a mile from the barn, "I couldn't resist." She breathed.
In the darkness they could just barely make out ten bodies. Riley subconsciously shifted closer to Dean so they were shoulder to shoulder. For all her bitching and whining about him over the last few years, she wouldn't have anybody else to cover her back.
"You know, Dean. If we make it out of this, I'll take back almost every shitty thing I've said about you." She managed to keep her voice normal and witty enough as the demons slowly spread out around them. Her heart was hammering so hard it physically hurt. She had never taken on so many demons before.
Dean barked a strained laugh and his shoulders tensed with the anticipation of the fight.
"If we live through this, maybe I'll forgive you for messing with my car."
Riley didn't have the time to snort and tell him to get over it already. Three demons jumped her from different angles and just like that her connection to Dean's shoulder was broken as she dived forward to meet the black eyed son of a bitch head on.
Dean jammed Ruby's knife into the last bastard's neck right before it could finish choking the life out of her. Riley gasped and welcomed the air surging back into her lungs. Dean hastily bent down to see if she was okay.
"C'mon, Sunshine, we got one more demon to go." Dean whispered as a sort of encouragement.
Riley thought of Sam and Daniel and all those kids they still had to get back home. She swallowed the pain and nodded before letting Dean pull her to her feet.
Riley and Dean burst in through the doors to catch the first few words of the exorcism spell rapidly being yelled by Sam. They came to a stop to watch Arian wither and flinch against the pull of hell.
"You think you've won? You think you can send me back to hell without consequence?" He screamed.
Riley had to admit that she didn't really think sending him back to hell would solve their problems. After all, cockroaches can crawl up out of their holes. She swallowed the lump in her throat when a vicious shiver travelled down her spine as Arian's eyes fell on her for a second.
Arian took a step forward and raised his trembling hand. Riley watched with horror as Sam was wrenched from where he stood by an invisible force, flew across the air, right into Arian's grip.
They hadn't had time to draw a devil's trap. Arian could use his power without breaking a sweat.
"Sam!" Dean called, his voice suddenly filled with so much rage. He made to move forward to help his little brother, but he was frozen to the spot by Arian's power. Sam chocked on his words and Arian's grip tightened around his throat, the spell's effect on the demon shattered and Arian sucked in a deep breath,
"I've been working for centuries to open this gate, and a group of pesky hunters will not foil my plan." He snarled. Riley scowled when she realised she couldn't move either. Sam tried clawing at the hand slowly crushing his windpipe.
Riley glanced around the room, relieved to see that Daniel was nowhere in sight. She surprised herself by only thinking of him now. A small part of her didn't mind dying, even with Arian's white eyes grinning at them from across the room. She was terrified, but as long as Daniel was safe, she could die in peace. It was a selfish thought. But Riley had never really learned how to be selfless. At least with her gone, Daniel would be free from the life. He could go back to California, reopen his shop, maybe even sell their old house. Daniel had had so many dreams for his future and she had selfishly been ripping it all away from him.
Dean's angry roar ripped her from her thoughts, "You let my brother go now, you son of a bitch or I swear I will kill you."
Arian could only laugh and tighten his grip with glee.
Riley saw a flash of movement in the shadows to her right. Her eyes widened when she recognised that shape. Before she had the time to call out to Daniel, he had already tackled Arian from the side. The great demon was so stunned, his meat suit obeyed the laws of physics and went crashing to the ground. Riley suddenly felt the invisible force's grip fall away.
Sam stumbled away unharmed and Dean rushed to his brother's side.
Riley was so stunned, she could only watch in horror as Daniel and Arian rolled and struggled with each other.
Arian got the upper hand fairly quickly and wrapped his arms around Daniel's head.
It was like watching a slow motion scene of a movie. Panic welled up within her and with a desperate cry Riley called to the demon, "Don't!"
Arian seemed only to pause for a second, Daniel's sky blue eyes only had time to connect with hers for a second, before a sickening crack resonated around the barn.
Riley screamed when her brother's broken neck couldn't support his head anymore and it went limp.
"Sam, the spell!" Dean's voice vaguely reached her ears.
Pure and ugly rage enveloped her. Riley rushed forward to tackle Arian to the ground. With a vicious scream she rained punch upon punch on his face. Sam had to stop the spell to watch in amazement as Riley physically beat down the most powerful demon she had ever faced.
Riley didn't give Arian a second to breath as her fist connected with his jaw again and again. All she could think was that this thing had taken her only brother from her, her partner. Her blind rage caused her to raise her blade and jab it into Arian's neck, his chest, his stomach, anywhere that was a weak point to the human body, just so she could imagine inflicting pain.
She barely even noticed the unnatural flickering of his skin as he died.
"Riley." Sam breathed as he took a hesitant step forward. Riley had tears rolling down her cheeks as the blade kept coming down onto the body.
The rage slowly drained away when gut-wrenching sobs shook her too much. Her energy diminished and left Riley a broken mess. She slid off the blood drenched body and crawled over to where Daniel's lifeless body laid.
Dean and Sam sucked in a sharp breath when Riley curled herself around Daniel's head and screamed until she couldn't anymore.
The sound was high-pitch, ear splitting.
There was no other release to the pressure pushing down on her chest. She had never felt such pain before, had never been effected by loss like this.
Her voice was hoarse when she started apologising, "I'm so sorry, Danny. I'm so sorry." She choked on her words and a sob tore from her throat again when she realised that her words would only fall on deaf ears.
She was shattered.
It felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest and was lying in some cold freezer where she could still feel it slowly losing warmth.
Riley's fingers and toes were numb with grief as her shaking hand slowly closed her brother's eyes. Never again would his blue irises light up to make her laugh with a funny face or soften with remorse when they had to break bad news to a family. Never again would they be able to do the most natural thing in the world, see.
She shook her head in denial, her voice gone and her body just wanted to lie down and cry for the rest of her life.
Daniel had been her best friend since they had been born. He comforted her in times when her parents couldn't and had saved her life more times than she could count. Daniel was her other half and had gotten her through the worst times in their life. He had been there through her miscarriage, had been there through her divorce and the death of their parents.
Daniel was her shoulder to cry on and her pillar to lean against when things got rough.
Now he was gone and Riley just couldn't see herself living in this world without him.
She was shaking and mumbling nonsense when Dean finally decided he couldn't take it anymore. He glanced to Sam and slowly moved forward, "Riley?" He asked cautiously.
Her mumblings only grew louder, like she wanted to drown out the world.
Dean sighed and he swallowed the lump in his throat, he had never seen anybody like this before. It scared him to watch this strong woman slowly lose her mind, lose herself over the death of her brother.
Dean knew how it felt to lose a brother, it was earthshattering, it felt like you couldn't breathe and afterwards it felt like there was always something missing, always that gaping hole in your life. Dean had been lucky though, he had managed to save his brother from death's hands both times. It occurred to him now, that there was nothing Riley could do to save Daniel.
There was nothing he could do to save Daniel. Sympathy washed over him and he had never wanted to comfort anyone more.
Dean crouched down beside the heartbroken woman and put a hand on her shoulder, hoping to give her something to pull her back to reality, "Riley, let go." He murmured.
It was the wrong thing to say and she just screamed louder and gripped Daniel tighter.
It was Sam's turn to try. Sam crouched down on the other side of Daniel's body, "Riley, I know this is hard. I know you want to curl up and die right next to him, but you can't. Daniel wouldn't want you to. I know from personal experience that he'd want you to rise. He'd want you to move on. Now I know this is going to be hard, but for you to do this you need to let go first."
Riley was shaking, her jaw clenched. Her bloodshot eyes lifted to meet Sam's gentle gaze.
"He's my brother." She sobbed. It was her last lifeline, her last chance for holding on.
Sam's eyes softened even more. He turned his head to look at Dean. Dean was too busy watching her, his eyebrows crinkled with worry and despair.
Sam smiled sadly at the irony of it all.
He turned back to her and his face mirrored her agony, "There's nothing I can tell you that will make you feel better. I can only say that it'll get better and Daniel didn't die in vain. We saved four little kids today but the mission isn't over quite yet. We need to get those kids home, and only way to do that, it to let go of his body." Sam's voice was soft and comforting.
Riley barely managed to see the logic through her agony. Daniel would want this. He'd want her to finish the job and get those kids home.
Riley stared down at her brother, memorising every feature, every freckle. Her fingers combed the hair out of his eyes one last time. She took one deep breath and steeled herself for what would come next.
Let go of Daniel? She could do that, or at least, she could try.
She leaned down to kiss his forehead, her lips lingering on the already chilling skin before she slowly put him down and stood on shaking legs. Dean caught her before she could collapse.
Riley looked to Sam and instinctively reached out a hand. Even though it was covered in blood, Sam took it without hesitation and squeezed.
With Dean's arm around her shoulders and Sam's hand intertwined with hers she managed to find the strength to leave the barn.
His body was wrapped in the motel's sheets. The pyre Sam and Dean had built was sturdy. Riley pulled off the dog tag engraved with his name and hung it around her neck before she dropped her mother's favourite lighter onto the pyre.
The flames steadily grew bigger, slowly eating away at the wood and just barely licking the edges of Daniel's body. Riley stood as close to the fire as she could, hoping the warmth would heat up the ice in her veins. She was numb, her eyes red with the tears she had shed the previous night. Riley wasn't sure if she could ever cry again.
Sam and Dean stood more to the back. Their shoulders and hands were covered in ash from the multiple bodies they had burned during the early morning. Dean tried dusting the dirt on his pants to no avail.
Guilt. That was the emotion threatening to swallow her.
I let this happen, Riley thought when the smell of burning flesh finally reached her nostrils. She was nauseous, exhausted to the bone, but she couldn't pull away from the heat slowly burning her cheeks.
If she had just moved on when they'd had the chance, if she had urged Daniel more to return to his old life, maybe he would have found a pretty girl, one who loved him for all his silence and brilliant mind. She was surprised to feel the tears behind eyes.
She shouldn't have let him attack Arian. She should've been faster.
Riley should never have let him die.
"I guess this is where we say goodbye." Riley choked. Her words were barely loud enough for the Winchesters to hear.
Riley swallowed the thickness in her mouth, sniffed away the threatening tears, "How am I going to do this? How will I live without you? You're my best friend, have been since we were born." The tears were back and Riley was almost sobbing, but words were still tumbling from her mouth. Words she could rely on when actions did nothing.
She sniffed and fell silent, a single tear rolled over her nose and down to the ground. No, this isn't how it's done. You've always been strong for me. It's my turn to be strong for you.
Riley lifted her head, straightened her back and looked up at the sky.
"I'm getting ahead of myself," She couldn't help to smirk, "There's so much still here, Daniel. God knows what Nathan and Tristan are going to do when they hear about this…" She choked on a humourless laugh and looked to the ground. Her hands intertwined and started toying with her mother's wedding ring on her finger.
"I remember when we were young, that you were the little one. Remember how I went around and told everyone that you were my little brother?" She paused to catch her breath, "Those were the days. Look I'm not going to preach to you, Danny. Way back when, we promised that with this life came a lot of death, we just never thought that meant each other."
"I'm not ready, Daniel." She confessed, "I've never been good with goodbyes, you know that better than anybody, but I guess moving on is the next step." Riley snorted, she barely believed her own words. She didn't know how to do this. She didn't know how to live without the one person that's always been there.
Riley took a deep breath and shut her eyes tightly, "Let's compromise, I won't say goodbye, instead, I'll say that someday I will see you again. You've always had my back, and no matter where you are, I know you'll still take good care of it. You are the best damn drinking partner I've ever had, you're the best brother. And I'll miss you so much, Daniel, but one day, I'll see you again."
She couldn't say anything else. There weren't enough words to describe the pain slowly eating her from the inside. Riley wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to keep it together. She was failing when tears slowly started streaking down her burning cheeks.
Sam and Dean glanced at each other after Riley grew quiet. They stood with their hands in their pockets, the weight of yet another dead hunter settling heavily on their shoulders. The sorrow however was directed more to Riley. She had been as close to her brother as Sam and Dean were to each other. The thought of the one ever permanently losing the other kept them both up at night. They could imagine Riley's pain pretty vividly.
"I want to take her with us." Sam said suddenly.
Dean glanced at him from the corner of his eyes before looking back at Riley and raising an eyebrow. He couldn't say he was surprised, "You wanna tell me why you think travelling with her is such a good idea?"
Sam shrugged, "Daniel saved my life by challenging Arian. The least we could do is make sure his sister survives the grief."
Dean pursed his lips lightly in a way that signified his disapproval. The thought, however of taking her with was steadily growing more appealing, "We're in the middle of a war, Sam." The Leviathan were still out there. They still wanted to make the human race their personal snack bar.
Sam shrugged, "She's a good hunter, Dean. I have a feeling she'll be looking for a fight when the worst of the grief is gone."
Dean narrowed his eyes to study her. A chilly breeze was lightly playing with her hair, her back was to them and her arms tightly wrapped around her suddenly small looking frame. Dean wasn't so sure that he could use dislike as a reason to not bring her along.
He knew the woman behind the iron mask. Riley wasn't just a pretty face that could fling sharp and ugly words. She was a hunter with a bright mind and an even stronger will. She was a fighter.
But Riley wasn't herself, she was broken down, that iron will was badly dented and Dean feared that a part of her was a lot like him, which meant she'd bury those feelings of pain and self-loathing by hunting. Grief made you do stupid things and recklessly hunting will get you killed.
Could they leave her like this?
Could he leave her like this?
Dean mentally shook his head and rolled his eyes. It surprised him how easily the answer came to him.
No.
Dean took a deep breath, his eyes steeling with resolve, "The grief will never go away, Sam, she'll just get good at hiding it."
