"She wants to look for her dad." Pause. "We talked late last night."
"Why?"
"She wants answers... answers we're not gonna be able to give her."
"I don't think this a good idea."
"Yeah, well neither do I, but what choice do we have?"
"Dean, did she tell you..."
"Tell me what?"
"Her last name? Who her dad is?"
"Who?"
"Elkins, Dean. Daniel Elkins was her dad."
"Was?" The two men didn't even hear Riley walk up the hallway to the kitchen. The brunette was standing there in the doorway, her expression full of sadness. Sam grimaced, shaking his head a little. "Is he..." She trailed off, looking back and for between the two men, distress on her face.
Dean and Sam shared a look and a few subtle facial expressions before Sam answered her carefully with a question. "Daniel Elkins was your dad?"
"Yeah."
Dean watched Sam pick up their father's journal, weighing the item in his hands before moving towards the brunette. Sam held the worn leather journal out to her. His hazel eyes were full of remorse. "He passed away." The journal was open and neat handwriting lined the page. "Dad knew him... he was a hunter, Riley."
Riley took the book gingerly. Her eyes were already watering. "Something got him?"
"Vampires." Sam's voice was careful. She nodded and eyed the page before closing the journal and holding it to her chest, her eyes closing tightly, another person yanked from her life unexpectedly.
"Can I just..." Was all she could manage. Read this? Get some closure?
"Of course." Sam nodded and she felt his arms around her shoulders this time instead of Dean. "It's just some details..." Sam murmured, his chin on top of her head. Nothing too graphic, he wanted to add. He felt Riley nod and he let go a few seconds later. The brunette moved back out of the kitchen, John Winchester's journal in her arms.
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Riley waited until the boys had turned in for the evening to sneak out to the library, her USB drive in her hand. She sat down at the table and plugged it into Sam's laptop before turning it on. Her eyes scanned the article and she spoke softly. "Castiel?" The dark room seemed much smaller in the wake of his sudden presence.
"Hello Riley." His monotone made her smile a bit.
"I need a favor, but you have to keep this between us." She pushed the chair across from her out with her foot. "Sit down, Castiel."
Castiel did so. "I do not like keeping secrets, especially from Sam and Dean."
Riley gave him a look. "I need you to get some items for me." Her hands were folded in front of her on the table.
"Items for what, exactly?"
"Are you going to help me or not?"
The angel sighed. "What items?"
"Mugwort." That made the angel frown.
"Are you doing some sort of a spell?"
"Are you helping me or not?" She repeated.
The angel studied the young woman in front of him closely before he tilted his head slightly, recognition flickering across his face. "You have that same look on your face that Dean does when he's about to do something extremely stupid." Castiel paused. "You're going to do something stupid, aren't you?"
Riley smiled a bit at Castiel's observation. "I'm trying to make things right." That wasn't the answer he was looking for and she nodded. "Black onyx and mugwort?"
"I can get those for you."
"Thank you, Castiel."
"When do you need them?"
"Sometime soon. I have some other things I need, but I can get those." The brunette sighed. "Thank you, Castiel."
"You're welcome." He was gone again in a fluttering of wings.
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Sam was watching Dean not eat breakfast for the third time that week and he snapped angrily. "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm fine."
Sam winced at his snarky tone. "You haven't eaten, Dean. In days." He spoke quietly, hearing the toilet flush down the hall, knowing Riley was awake now. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Damnit, I told you I was fine." He pushed back from the table and glared at his brother. "So stop fucking asking." Dean stalked out of the room and Sam heard Riley greet him warmly in the hallway. He strained to hear Dean's reply and she stepped inside the bunker kitchen a few seconds later.
"Morning Sam."
"Morning." He eyed her, searching for a sign of defeat after her encounter with Dean. "You want some eggs?" Sam nodded to Dean's untouched plate. She nodded and sat across from him.
"He didn't eat again, did he?"
"No."
"I'm worried, Sam."
"You're not alone."
"What's the plan Sam? Because the longer he has that mark, the worse things are gonna get."
"I know." He sighed. "You find anything when you were reading last night? I had to sleep... I was seeing double."
"We have to keep looking." Was her reply as she picked up the fork. Riley poked at the fried potatoes. "Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"I think he's giving up."
Sam closed his eyes painfully. "Well we can't."
"I know." She spoke again. "What happens if he dies with that Mark on his arm?"
Sam frowned. "He turns into a knight of hell. That Mark doesn't let go, at least according to the lore we've read."
"Like a demon?"
"Yes." He pushed his plate back, his appetite long gone too. "We have a lead... some angel is meeting us tomorrow with information, but he's not exactly trustworthy..."
"I can go."
Sam's eyes flicked to hers, his expression unreadable. "It might not be safe."
"Aren't all angels good?" The innocence in her question made Sam smile.
"No." There was so much more behind his words.
"So... what happens if they attack you?"
"You banish them away temporarily with a spell."
"Like how exactly?" He gave her a look. "I might need to know, Sam. Show me."
He pulled a notebook towards him and opened it to scrawl on the margin. "Has to be done with blood."
"My blood?"
"Yeah. You draw that symbol on a surface and slap your hand in the middle with your own blood to banish them. Gives you a good five minute head start, at least."
"So they aren't all good like Castiel?"
"Unfortunately not."
"Can we be protected from them with like a charm or something?"
"Like our demon tats?" Riley nodded. "Yeah." Sam drew another symbol. "This one. We don't use it other than to draw on walls when we're not here. Then they can't sense us or get inside. Makes ya invisible like." Riley nodded, eyeing the two things he'd drawn.
"I always read angels were good and just."
"That's not the case." They picked at their rapidly cooling breakfasts quietly, each lost in thought.
spnspnspnspn
Riley's throat was raw from screaming in frustration.
For the last five months, the trio had shared the bunker bathroom and now here she was, handcuffed there. Sam and Dean had been especially secretive that morning as they'd gotten their bags together after breakfast. Sam had called her into the bathroom and had cuffed her right wrist and snapped the other end to the exposed plumbing underneath the sink.
"Dean?" Fear instantly flooded her soul and she looked to Dean helplessly from where he stood in the doorway. There was some sense of sorrow in his eyes.
"Ry, you can't come with us. Not this time." Was his somber respone to her unasked question. "I'm sorry."
"We'll be back in a few hours." Sam set her cellphone down on the sink. His eyes moved to hers. "This is for your own good. You'll be safe here."
"Where are you going?" Riley asked desperately and the two men exchanged looks.
"We'll be back later, Ry." Dean's green eyes took her in, looking at her like it might be the last time and suddenly, she knew.
She knew that this time, there was a real chance Dean wouldn't come back.
"Don't go." Riley begged them, tears stinging her eyes. "Please." Her plea came out as a sob and Sam gave her a sad smile.
"We have to..." Sam spoke regretfully.
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It had been six hours. Six hours since she'd heard the heavy iron door slam closed at the other end of the bunker. Sam had had enough sense to leave her where she could use the toilet and have water to drink.
Her wrist was raw and bleeding from where she'd been trying to squeeze out of the tight cuffs. She froze when she heard the garage door open. Her heart started to pound in her chest when the bootfalls she heard were slow and heavy.
And she didn't recognize the cadence of the footsteps.
Should she call out and reveal her location?
Would it even matter anyway?
She was stuck in a trap like a wild animal with no place to go.
The footsteps got closer and closer until they stopped outside the bathroom. Riley was sitting on the floor between the sink and the toilet when Sam stepped into view in the doorway. Dean was in his arms and they were both covered in blood and dirt.
That's why the footsteps were so heavy.
He was carrying his brother.
Dean's eyes were closed and Riley scrambled to her feet as much as the handcuffs would allow her. Sam moved past the bathroom and out of her view and she screamed out. "Sam? Sam, please..." A moment passed and he came back the hallway to the bathroom, his hands on the doorframe.
He stood there a moment, swaying slightly before he pushed off and moved towards her. Sam dropped to his knees in front of Riley and the handcuff key removed the device from her hand. He left the other side dangling on the pipe.
Riley slapped Sam across the face, tears streaming down her face before she hugged him tight. He nodded against her wavy hair, knowing he deserved her anger for the way they'd left her in the bunker. "Sam, is Dean gonna be okay?" She whispered into his ear, his hair tickling her face. Sam pulled back and her eyes frantically searched his bloodshot eyes.
The forlorn look on the younger Winchester's face made Riley's heart drop. "Ry... he didn't make it."
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Hey readers!
A nice cliffhanger for y'all. Ugh... I hate it as much as you do. What'd you think?
CitrineMama