The week before... (after the hunt)

Dean had led the man in the trenchcoat out of her bedroom and Sam looked after them for a few seconds before he stopped inside her room, his hand on the small of Riley's back. She sat down on the side of her bed slowly and he pulled the wooden chair from the corner to sit.

"Castiel is an angel." He paused thoughtfully. "He's still learning human behaviors. He means no harm."

"He can hear me pray?"

"Yes."

"Why me? Only me?"

"Dean too."

Riley looked to the doorway, then back to Sam. "So he knows why?"

"Why what?"

"Why I've gone through everything I've gone through? Why everyone I loved was taken from me?" She was getting angry and Sam's eyes widened a bit, not expecting that type of reaction from the young woman who sat in front of him. "Has he watched me suffer all this time? Because if that's the case, I'm gonna kill him."

"Easy... I don't think that's exactly the case here."

Riley got up, suddenly going from freaked out to furious. "I wanna talk to him."

"Let's just relax here a minute..." Sam could feel her temple flaring and it reminded him of how quickly Dean could flip his internal switch with the Mark his arm. She rose and started to leave her bedroom. "Just wait a minute."

"Fuck that. Where's that angel of yours?" Sam got up and followed Riley down to the war room where Dean was somewhat impatiently explaining to Castiel about privacy again and both men turned to see the pissed off brunette stop in front of them.

"How long have you heard my prayers?" Riley demanded, her eyes darker now.

Dean's eyebrow quirked at her venemous tone and Castiel regarded her carefully. "Since you started praying when you were a little girl." She took a couple steps forward and Dean stepped back some.

Riley studied his blue eyes and expressionless features for a moment before she exploded on him. "You asshole." She shoved Castiel backward with a strength she didn't know her anger held and he stumbled back a couple feet. Dean's eyes snapped to Sam's. Both brothers were shocked that the brunette manhandled the angel that way when the last time Dean took a shot at Cas when he was pissed, he'd come away with broken knuckles. "You watched me suffer."

He gathered himself and straightened his blue tie a bit, almost nervously before he answered. "It wasn't suffering so much as it was... breaking you down to build you up." Castiel seemed surprised at her anger. "Scar tissue is most often stronger that flesh that hasn't been broken." Riley let out a strangled cry as she shoved his chest with both hands again before slapping him across the face.

"Alright," Dean stepped in then, wrapped his arms around her torso, pinning her arms to her sides. Riley struggled against his hold, tears streaming down her cheeks now. "Easy tiger." She growled angrily and he lifted her up against him, her back to his chest and she kicked out wildly. "Let's take a walk."

"Let me go." Sam and Castiel watched as Dean carried her out of the room, her angry curses echoing off the hallway. He turned to the angel.

"How... did she push you around?" Castiel just stared after the pair for a few seconds before he answered. "Cas?"

"She is... not what she seems." Was his cryptic reply and that made Sam roll his eyes. "She's more powerful that she knows."

"Is she human?" The hunter lowered his voice, almost afraid of the answer.

"Of course." Castiel almost sounded sarcastic. Sam gave him a look. "She will be prove to be useful if you let her help you with your current... problem."

That, of course, was the Mark occupying space on Dean's arm.

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Two weeks later...

Dean was laying on his bed around midnight, his earbuds in, when he felt a presence in his room. His eyes opened to find Riley standing there in his doorway in her pajamas.

The look on her face was unnerving and he yanked off the earbuds, setting them aside on his nightstand. "Ry?" His mood changed immediately and he moved to the side of his bed.

"You said to come to you..." Riley mumbled softly and he reached out a hand. She closed the door and approached his bed somewhat apprehensively. Her small hand found his somewhat hesitantly.

"C'mere." His fingers tugged on hers and she climbed into his bed. "Lay down." He shifted and lay next to her, his right hand coming up to smooth her hair back. Riley was trembling against him and he hugged her close to his body. "I'm right here, Ry." He hummed softly, a vibration in his chest to go along with the melody of his heartbeat.

Riley felt silent tears roll down her cheek and she gripped his tshirt tightly, willing herself not to cry. "Dean..." Her whisper was choked and she closed her eyes when she felt him press a kiss to her hair before tucking her against him better, his chin on top of her head. He didn't shush her, didn't force her to talk.

"Riley, I'm glad you're here." That soft phrase made the damn inside her chest break. "I don't want you being alone when you feel like this. Thank you for coming to me this time." Dean hummed a bit and he felt her take a nice, deep breath. He reached over to pull an extra blanket over them. It was sort of heavy and he liked it; pulling it over himself after a long day always comforted him in some small way.

He rubbed her back in circles and felt her relax against him some. "You wanna listen to something?" Riley just nodded slightly and she felt him reach across her body for something on the nightstand. She felt one of his earbuds being pressed into her left ear gently and she opened her eyes to find him putting the other one in his right ear before turning on what he'd been sitting in here listening to before she'd come to him.

He thumbed something on his cell phone and the sounds of a thunderstorm came through their earbuds. Riley closed her eyes again, seemingly content with his selection. He smiled a bit; only bad thing about the bunker was that when it rained, all the noise was drowned out.

Dean had always liked the motels that had tin roofing becuase of the way it sounded when it rained. It was comforting and reminded him of the rain on the roof of the impala. Something he'd always associated with home, even though it wasn't exactly a conventional one. His lips rested against her forehead and she sighed softly against him, wiggling just a little bit closer.

He wanted to stay awake and overthink the situation, but he felt sleep tugging at his eyelids. "Ry?" His gruff voice didn't even make her stir. Dean brushed a kiss to her forehead, surprised at how calm he was now, also. He'd just had another argument with Sam about the damn mark on his arm.

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When the brunette opened her eyes a few short hours later, she was startled to find Dean a few inches away, his green eyes focused on her face. "Morning." His voice was full of sleep. "You sleep okay?" The concern he felt crept its way into his soft question and she nodded, a blush working its way onto her cheeks.

"Dean?" Riley took a breath, fiddling with the hem of his sheet. "How come you're doing this?"

His brow furrowed. "Believe it or not, Sam's not the only one who cares about you, here."

"I mean," She paused. "How do you know how to make me okay?" That was a fair question and he closed his eyes briefly. "Dean?"

"Maybe because I get it." There was a pregnant pause. Riley watched him struggle with his next thought.

"Why are you and Sam fighting so much lately?"

Dean's eyes darkened a bit. "I really don't wanna go there." He murmured and she shifted, still in his arms. Riley sniffled, getting choked up.

"Are you arguing about me?"

Dean looked surprised. "Of course not." He pressed his lips together before saying the next words. "We're arguing about what the hell to do about this mark on my arm."

Riley blinked rapidly. "What mark on your arm?"

He sighed softly before moving back from her, his right arm leaving her waist. "This." Her eyes fell on the reddish scar like mark, the one she'd caught a glimpse of in the motel room recently after he'd showered. Her soft fingers came up to smooth over it. Dean felt his skin tingle from her gentle touch. "Mark of cain."

"Like... in the bible?"

"Yeah," He watched her study his skin and the darkness that he felt rising in his own chest quelled for the moment. Her brows furrowed and her index finger traced it gently before she moved his arm back around her waist and her chocolate gaze moved to his.

"Are you okay?" Her concern threaded its way into her soft question and he pursed his lips a bit, not sure how to answer the young woman in front of him. She was fragile right now and Dean wasn't enitrely sure he wanted to dump all this on her, especially when Cas mentioned that she could help them with the Mark. "Please don't keep anything from me."

She had a point; Riley had been honest with him about her resurfacing problem. Dean's warm hand splayed across the small of her back, pressing her closer to the warmth of his body. "Ry, I don't know." That was the most honest he could be with her.

Her left hand reached up and cupped his stubbled cheek as she gazed into his eyes, searching for decption there. Her thumb traced the fine lines by the corner of his right eye. "Is this why you and Sam have been at each other's throats?" His eyes closed then and her hand smoothed to the nape of his neck, petting the soft hair at the base of his skull. "Dean?" Riley whispered.

"Yes." His whisper was soft. Tears stung her eyes again and she closed them, feeling her chest tighten with anxiety.

"Tell me you're gonna be okay." She begged him, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Because if Sam and I didn't have you, we wouldn't be able to do this." Her confession made Dean hug her tighter, his lips pressing against her forehead. "Please."

"I don't know, Ry." His hoarse whisper made her chest heave as she held in a sob. They held onto one another for a few mintues, emotions running high between them, although neither one could admit it. "I'm scared." His confession made her nod against the scruff on his chin. "This mark, makes me feel like I'm out of control. Wreckless."

"You're out of line, Dean. You're unpredictable, except when you're hunting... becuase then, you're just downright scary." Sam's words on the hunt rang in both their minds. She'd been in the shower at the motel the night she'd first seen the Mark and their low, angry voices carried into the bathroom.

"You don't scare me, Dean." Riley hugged his torso a little tighter. "I'm here too, if you need me."

"How are you not afraid of me?" He hummed a bit, his fingers smoothing the warm skin between her shorts and tshirt on the small of her back.

"I don't think you'd ever hurt me." Dean focused on the sounds of the rain coming through the earbud before she spoke again, softer this time. "Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking..."

"About?"

"My dad."

"And?" His eyes opened again and he focused on her. "Ry?"

"I feel like," Her gaze moved from his. "I feel like I should find him... get some answers. My whole life was a lie." That made him sigh. Bobby's letter stated that her father and his didn't get along and Dean wasn't sure that was the best idea.

However, he kinda understood. "If that's what you want."

Her eyes moved back to his. "What's that mean?"

Dean chose his words carefully. "I'm just sayin'. You may find out things you never wanted to know and sometimes, there's no going back from that."

"How much more fucked up can things be?" Her innocent question made Dean cringe internally.

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Readers,

Oh, how bad could it be? One of the things I like most is when a character is naively wrong. Like, Riley, have you met the Winchesters? ;)

CitrineMama