Thanks for the reviews, so glad you have been enjoining this little journey. Katie131925 per your request, hope you like. I was asked what season this story takes place, sometime after beginning of season 4. Thanks snn7b for the encouragement.

Chapter 11

Dean slowly started waking up as Riley mewed softly beside him. He hummed to her and carefully slid off the bed as she settled back down.

"Hey, did you find anything?" Dean asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"Bobby's checking it out, Riley?"

"She's still sleeping."

"Dinner will be in twenty minutes."

"You cooked?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah, I did when I was at Stanford, I don't think I've forgotten. Made Riley some soup."

"Well aren't you Miss Betty Crocker?" he smirked.

"Bite me." Sam jeered as he put rolls in the oven.

"Testy aren't we." he said lifting a pot lid.

"Stay out of things." Sam warned smacking at his hand. "If you want to help, set the table."

"Ok, ok. B*tch." he complained opening the cabinet to get the plates and glasses.

"Jerk." Sam answered as he stirred one of the pots.

"I'm going to get Little Sis."

"I'll have it on the table in shortly."

"Bobby, dinner is almost ready." Dean called as he went thru the dining room/library.

"Right." he said gruffly.

Dean came back downstairs carrying Riley protectively. She had her head on his shoulder and arms around his neck.

"Well look at you." Bobby smiled. "You had a haircut; it suits you." She looked down but gave him a weak smile. "Looks good sweetie."

"Hey Riley I've got your new clothes in the dryer, they should be ready shortly."

She gave him a half-hearted smile and took a seat between the two brothers. She still looked sleepy and her eyes were red from crying. Dean had tried to smooth down her mop of curls to no avail. Ringlets hung around her face making her look even younger.

"I made you something light to start, in case your stomach is still queasy." Sam told her placing a bowl of soup on her plate. "Be careful it may still be hot."

"So what did you come up with?" Dean asked as Sam began to pass around the bowls.

"Chicken tenders, mac and cheese, steamed vegetables, rolls and fresh fruit for dessert."

"What no pie?" Dean said his facing falling.

"You don't always have to have pie at every meal."

"Why not, it's good for you."

"Boys, you're not setting a good example." Bobby interjected.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Dean said helping himself to the mac and cheese.

"I poured you some ginger ale to help settle your stomach." Sam offered pushing a small glass toward her. Riley took her glass and sipped a small amount thru the straw. She blew on a spoon of soup before putting it in her mouth. The guys ate trying not to be too obvious about watching her.

"Little Sis, we know you can talk, why don't you?" Dean finally asked her softly.

She swallowed the spoon of soup and looked over at him. Her forehead creased with wrinkles as she concentrated on how to answer the question.

"Will you talk to us?" he continued to question. She looked down at her soup and shrugged her shoulders. "We only want to help." She shrugged again.

"Try and eat, you need to build your strength back up." Sam told her offering her a roll.

She accepted it and pinched off a small bite. After chewing it up, she dipped the roll in her soup and took another small bite. Sam gave her a small spoon of mac and cheese trying to get her to eat more. She obliged by taking a small bite, making Sam smile happily.

"When you want to talk, we're here." Dean assured her. "I have to admit Sammy, food's not half bad."

"I have my moments."

"Well, since you cooked, I'll clean up."

"What, you're offering to clean?"

"Yeah, Little Sis and I'll take care of it." he nodding toward Bobby hoping he would get the hint.

"Great."

"You did good Sam, could you help me with some research?" Bobby asked.

"Sure, you good?" Sam asked Dean.

"Yeah we can handle it, right Little Sis?"

"Yes." She gathered up Sam's plate and silverware taking them to the sink.

"You heard her."

"Ok then." Sam said following Bobby.

Dean helped Riley clear the table. "Do you want to wash or dry?"

Riley started running water in the sink and found the detergent adding it to the water.

"Here, put these on." Dean told her holding out rubber gloves. She huffed as she tried to keep the gloves on. Dean chuckled as he waited to rinse and dry.

Did you find anything?" Sam asked glancing toward the kitchen to make sure Riley couldn't hear.

"Yeah, it took me awhile, but I did find something. Around five years ago, there was a string of child abductions in central Texas. Ten kids went missing, three bodies were found and they were branded. One of the kids was a Riley Heather Hudson, age 2, she was one of the missing never found."

"Crap! So did any of the others ever turn up?"

"Not that I can find, case went cold after three months, no leads. It was like they just vanished." Bobby said printing out the article and handing it to Sam. It showed a picture of a brand just like the one on Riley's back.

"So Riley was kidnapped and kept hostage all this time. Wonder when she got away?" Sam asked as he scanned the article. "What about her parents?"

"I checked, they died in a car accident two years ago. Doesn't list any other relatives."

"Did the cops find out anything about the brand?"

"It was homemade, like what ranchers use to brand cows, they never did find out what it stood for."

"It kind of looks like a letter, maybe Greek or Latin, could it be Mayan?"

"Hey guys, all cleaned up." Dean warned before letting Riley come in.

"Well thanks." Sam said turning over the papers and downsizing the pictures. "What you reading Little Sis?"

Riley held up a book about demons that she had picked up by the door. "Should you be reading that?"

She looked up, giving him a why not look and went back to the book.

"Sam why don't you take Little Sis to the kitchen and color. There's a book and crayons on the counter there."

"Sure." Sam said getting up. "Come on Riley, let's see what Dean got." Riley followed Sam to the table sitting beside him. She watched him put a coloring book and a box of crayons in front of her.

Riley looked at the items, but wasn't sure what Sam wanted her to do with them. She looked up at him questioningly.

"Have you ever colored?" Riley shook her head slowly no. "Look, here's a picture of a baby rabbit, you color this one and I'll color the horse."

Sam tore the pages out and emptied the crayons on the table. Riley watched him closely as he picked up a brown crayon and began to color. After a minute, she picked up a gray and started to fill in the rabbit body. He tried to keep the sadness off his face as he thought about the things most kids took for granted, Riley had not even experienced.

Sam watched her concentrate on the rabbit trying to copy what he was doing. Sam switched colors and started coloring the grass. "Wow, that's good, you've stayed in the lines so well." Riley smiled, she had never been praised before.

"When you're finished with that one you can color as many as you want." Sam had not seen her so happy. He couldn't believe she had never colored before. He remembered Dean had taught him to color when he was around four. Dean always made sure Sam had toys and games to play with as he grew up.

Riley looked at the picture and then at Sam who was smiling happily. "What say we hang this on the frig so everyone can see. Do you want to sign it?" A puzzled expression crossed her face. "Your name, can you write your name?" She held a blue crayon and he wrapped his hand around hers and helped her printed 'Little Sis' at the bottom. He led her to the frig and gave her a magnet to hang the picture on the door. They stepped back and admired her work.

"What did you guys find?" Dean asked glancing at Riley and Sam being sure she couldn't hear.

"This brand was found on the bodies of three missing kids like five years ago in Texas."

"Did they catch the person?" Dean asked taking the pages Bobby offered him.

"No, only three were ever found, case went cold after couple of months, nothing was ever turned up on the other missing kids."

"So Little Sis was one of the abducted kids?"

"Would explain a lot. If she got away and someone is hunting her, she could be in danger." Bobby commented as he glanced over at Riley.

"We should need to keep her under wraps."

"I agree. Maybe she'll talk to us later."

"I don't want to push too hard, she may shut down or run away."

"Agreed lets give her some time."

"Guys, check out Little Sis's art work on the frig."

Dean and Bobby walked into the kitchen and looked at the picture of the baby rabbit.

"You did good, Little Sis." Dean commented giving her a hug.

"Maybe you'll do me some more later. I got a whole frig to cover." Bobby told her.

"Why don't you go find a book to read?" She nodded and strolled back to the living room.

Riley read the book about demons with interest as she curled up in Bobby's desk chair. She looked around at other titles seeing they were about supernatural, religion, folklore, and mythology in one form or the other. Her mind began to process everything she knew about the three men.

She knew she was different from most eight year olds. Her brain worked differently, she knew things, but didn't know how. Having these traits was the only reason she was able to escape and stay alive.

Riley yawned widely trying to decide whether to finish the book before going to bed or just go on to bed. Dean glanced in and saw her trying hard to stay awake. He strolled over tapping her on the shoulder. "Looks like its bedtime for someone." he smiled leading her up the stairs.

"Go brush your teeth and I'll fix your bed. You can wear your new pjs."

Riley went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth and used the bathroom. Dean had laid out pjs and turned down the sheets.

"I'll wait outside while you change and then tuck you in." Riley nodded as Dean gave her some privacy. When she had changed she whistled softly and Dean came back to tuck her in. He noticed she held the doll tightly to her chest. "Sleep tight, I'll be downstairs if you need anything. Nightlight?" She nodded yes cuddling her baby.

He noticed something shiny under the pillow and realized it was one of her knifes. He left it, figuring if it made her feel safe it was ok with him. He slept with a 45 under his pillow and Sam had a hunting knife under his, must run in the family.

"She asleep?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, only took a couple of minutes and she was out."

"What are we going to do with her? We know her parents are dead, wonder if there are other relatives still alive."

"I don't think she would know if she was that young when taken."

"Road trip to Texas to look at those old police reports." Sam suggested.

"I was thinking the same thing, but I think it's bedtime for me too." Dean yawned stretching as he got up.

"While you boys are down there, I ran across some strange killings that you might want to check out in a small town outside Lubbock called Childress."

"Sounds good, we're going to turn in, want to get an early start tomorrow."

"Right, but boys; you're telling the kid you're leaving." he told them going back to his reading. Dean looked at Sam and just shrugged his shoulders like no big deal.

Please review it makes me warm and happy on this cold North Carolina morning. You guys are the best, thank you.

NC