Riley kept her eyes from Sam's while they ate quietly, still a little pissed off by his questions about her father. Dean noticed the tension between the two, his eyes moving from one to the other carefully. The brunette pushed off the couch after she finished her third sice and headed towards the front door. "I'm going fo a walk." The screen door slammed behind her. The older man immediately turned to his brother, quirking an eyebrow.

"What the hell did you say to her? You're always the female whisperer." Dean hissed at Sam, who shrugged.

"I was asking her about her dad, her biological father, and she got all pissed off." That made the older man's eyes close painfully.

"He hunted, Sam. He probably took off on her and her mom to hunt the same crap we do." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Only Riley has no friggin' idea." Realization dawned on Sam's features. "So now what?"

"Do we bring her back to the bunker?"

That made Dean snort. "Oh yeah, she totally seems like the kinda chick that would run off with two strange men in her would be dad's house after we pointed guns in her face and told her Bobby was dead." His smartass reply made Sam give him a look. "Yeah... go on out there and tell her that. Let me know how it goes." Dean leaned back on the couch.

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Riley walked out to her truck and let down the tailgate before hoisting herself onto it. The envelope was in her hands and she turned it over, almost scared to open it.

Fuck it, she thought.

Riley Ann,

I am so damn proud of you.

The tears immediately welled up as she imagined his voice saying that to her.

If you're reading this, well, something happened to me and I can only hope this letter found you somehow. I want you to know how loved you were and still are, whether I'm around or not. There's so much you don't know about your own life and I hate that you had to find out like this.

That made her frown.

Your dad is a hero.

What?

When you were a baby, I met your dad. He was tracking a demon who would come to posess my wife. We took it down together and unfortunately, my love was taken from me. He taught me all about the evil in this world that no one knows about. Your momma hated that he was out there on the road when he wasn't driving his rig, hunting all the baddies.

She gave him an ultimatum.

Stay and raise you or go and stay gone.

Obviously, he chose the latter.

Your daddy kept you and your momma safe the best way he knew how; by staying away so no one could use you two against him. He loved you more than anything and it busted him up real bad when she gave him the choice.

I'm thankful, though, that I had a hand in raising you into the woman you are today. I never had any rugrats of my own, but I felt like I got to experience a bit of that with you.

That made her put the letter in her lap and more tears blurred her vision. Boots on gravel made her wipe her eyes and Dean was walking towards her, beer in hand. Her eyes met his and he held out the cold bottle wordlessly. She took it and downed a fourth of it. Dean moved to sit on the tailgate next to her. Riley handed the beer back to Dean, who took a pull from it.

If you found this much out, you're gonna find the rest out. I want you to contact the two men I trust with my life, and yours as well, even though you've never met them.

Dean and Sam Winchester.

There were several phone numbers listed under that.

Sam's a lot like you, college educated and got one of them inquisitive minds. He's sensitive though and he's gotten a taste of your world, though I suspect he'd much rather be hunting with his brother than working some yuppie lawyer gig. You'll like him real good. He'll never break a promise.

Dean's the other side of the coin; he's got fire in his blood and he never misses a trick. He'll always look after you and you can rest easy knwoing he's around. You bake him one of your famous pies and you're in good with him, I promise. He's a damn good man, best I ever met.

Please reach out to them. They'll keep you safe because you're important to me, on both sides of the veil.

That made her eyes close and Dean watched her out of the corner of his eye. He held the beer out again and she shook her head. The brunette felt him shift next to her and his heavy arm come around her shoulders. She started to cry quietly for the millionth time that afternoon and she felt Dean sigh. "I'm sorry." His gruff voice softened some. "I'm so sorry, kiddo."

"Me too." Her whisper made him smile somewhat sadly. "Winchester?"

His brow went up when she called him that. "Yeah?"

"Bobby mentioned you and Sam in my letter." Riley exhaled. Dean's eyes stayed on the horizon, the sky turning into deep orange and scarlet. "You guys were important to him... he said if I found this letter, that I should contact you... told me that you'd... keep me safe." Dean hummed a bit.

"We will."

"Why did he say my dad was a hero?"

Dean let go of Riley a bit and she looked up at him. "What did the letter say?"

"I haven't read it all yet." Pause. "You guys... hunt demons." It was almost a question. "Dean?"

"Yeah... among other things." She bit her lip.

"And Bobby did too?" The pieces were coming together slowly. "And my dad too?"

"And ours too." His reply was gentle.

"Where's your dad?"

Dean's expression didn't change. "Died on the job."

Riley sniffled. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." They were quiet for a moment. "Bobby didn't want this for you, you know that?"

"Apparently, neither did my dad." That made the corners of his mouth turn up slightly, although her tone was bitter. She slid off the tailgate and started to pace the dust and gravel in front of Dean. "He fuckin' took off and never gave me a choice."

"Hey look," Dean began. "Hunting's a shit way for a kid to grow up."

"I never had a choice." Her voice rose. "You hunted with your daddy, didn't you?" Riley's tone was accusatory.

"Yeah, but-,"

"You had your dad in your life! Maybe it wasn't an ideal sitaution, but damn it, you had him."

"Yeah, I had Dad ordering me around like a soldier. We bounced around from place to place. Sam was just a baby..."

"So you're telling me you'd rather have had him leave you behind and have some normal life without him?"

Dean hesitated. "I don't know."

"I watched my mother die." Fresh tears began. "He was long gone and I watched her die."

His expression hardened. "My mom died too, Riley."

"Did you watch her wither away for five years until the cancer took her? Because I did."

His green eyes closed. "I'm sorry."

"Maybe you didn't have a choice, but I wasn't given one either... and I hate him for that." Her hoarse whisper made him look down at her.

"Riley," Dean spoke again, his eyes on the brunette in front of him, her arms around herself. "I'm glad you had Bobby. I'm glad I had him too." That made her move into his arms suddenly, hers sliding around his waist as she cried into his chest. "I'm so sorry."

"Me too." Dean hugged her tight; Bobby had kept this young woman from their world as long as he could. A breeze blew and the pages of her letter fluttered to the ground. "Shit Ry." He patted her side and she let go, turning to watch him pick up the pages from the ground and straighten them. He folden them in half and handed them to her. "You read all these already?"

"Just the first one." Riley wiped her eyes again. "I don't know if I can tonight." Dean nodded as she folded them again. "I just... feel like my whole life is up in the air right now. Everything about my life was a lie, Dean."

"Bobby loved you." His tone was careful. "That wasn't a lie."

Riley nodded. "That's the only thing." She held up the letters. "He left me a bunch of phone numbers for you and your brother... told me you'd keep me safe."

The man in front of her gave a nod. "We will."

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A/N:

Hey lovely readers!

Hope you are enjoying this story so far! Please leave me a review or PM me and let me know what you thought!

CitrineMama