She stood there in the cold breeze, feeling slightly chilled as the wind rustled through the trees around the cabin, a few leaves blowing around her feet as she gazed across the lake. It was an overcast day and thunder rumbled ominously nearby. Riley could feel the shift in atmosphere around her and she slid her hands in the front pockets of her jeans before she spoke. "You gonna just stand there like a couple a creepers or are you gonna talk to me?"
The hair on both their arms stood up as she spoke softly to them, her back still turned. Dean looked to his brother before taking a few careful steps toward the brunette at the water's edge. "We came to bring you home, Ry." Sam ventured quietly.
She turned to face them, Dean a few feet behind his brother. "Come on in. I'll make us some coffee." Her voice was quiet and calm and the two brothers shared a somewhat apprehensive look before following her into the cabin. "I'm fine." Riley added softly as she stepped through the doorway, noting their nervousness.
Dean and Sam exchanged anxious glances before they followed her inside with some sense of trepidation and she motioned to the table under the window. The pair sat down at the kitchen chairs and watched Riley put on a full pot of coffee, her back to them.
Something was different about her, that much was for sure. Dean couldn't tear his eyes from her as she moved to pull down two mugs from the tiny cabinet. She fixed their coffees the way they liked and brought them to the table before moving to pour herself a mug, leaning against the counter.
"Riley, why'd you do it?" Sam asked quietly.
She smiled, a sad little smile. "You guys needed me to do this. You're the heroes who save people. Not me." Riley paused. "If there was some way for me to help, some way for my life to mean something, this was it."
Dean still hadn't spoken, so Sam plowed forward. "Your life has always meant something."
"To whom?"
Sam looked at her pointedly, then at his brother, who sat staring down at his mug of coffee as the steam rose from it. "To Bobby. To both of us."
"I'm sorry I lied."
"I know."
Riley sipped her coffee and dared a look at the eldest Winchester. He kept his gaze from hers, almost afraid of what he'd see.
"I'm gonna... step outside for a few minutes... call Cas and let him know we found you." Sam rose, sensing the unease between them. "I'll be back in a few." He left his mug there, untouched, before he crossed the kitchen, the deck door closing behind him quietly.
"Dean?" There was a lump in her throat as she spoke his name for the first time in months.
He finally raised those clear green eyes to her imploring gaze and spoke for the first time since getting to the cabin. "Why didn't you tell us? Tell me?"
Riley considered that. "If I would've told you my plans to take on the Mark, would you have let me?"
Dean's jaw worked. "Of course not."
"Exactly." Riley shifted a bit, her back still against the counter top. "Dean, I did this for the greater good-,"
"Fuck the greater good." He shook his head, almost disgusted with her simple answer. "I've been sick about this... how could you do this?"
"Don't say that." Riley's voice broke and she set her mug down on the counter, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "Don't you say that to me."
Dean studied her demeanor before he spoke again, a littler quieter and with less anger this time. "Ry, you didn't have to do this."
"You didn't deserve this." She whispered, her eyes dropping from his to the cedar planking on the floor beneath their feet. "Dean, you know you didn't."
"Ry, when I woke up, I felt so betrayed." He paused. "It was like... all those times you trusted me meant nothing. You shared parts of you that were hard to face, but yet you kept this hidden from me?" A tear slipped down her cheek. "Damnit, Riley. That wasn't fuckin' fair."
"I know!" She burst out. "I know and I'm sorry. I wanted to find some way to save you and when you died," Riley swallowed hard, the wound his death left on her still fresh. "I prayed for a chance to save you. I got that second chance and I wasn't gonna throw it away. I won't apologize for what I did, Dean." Riley's eyes burned into his. "I won't."
Dean looked away for a moment to let his anger simmer down a bit more before he asked quietly. "How's it been?" His eyes moved back to hers, his jaw working as his internal lie detector monitored her reply. "Having the Mark?"
"My skin burned like crazy and I felt hot all the time." Riley admitted quietly. "But within a week, those feeling subsided and I've been... okay."
His brow quirked. "Okay?"
Riley nodded. "It was weird. My appetite kind of dropped off for awhle and then suddenly, I was starving." She gathered her thoughts. "I can feel it inside me, y'know? Like it's just under the surface."
Dean knew. "Are you sleeping?" Her eyes snapped to his and he waited.
"That need sort of left me with the hunger, but only for a little while. Now, I sleep for a few hours at night and then take a nap between breakfast and dinner."
He was looking at her like he didn't believe what she was telling him. "Really." There was a hint of disbelief in his tone that the brunette chose to ignore.
"Dean, I know your basic needs dwindled off. I've had a lot of time up here to process this. I can look back over your... transition and see the things you fought to keep hidden from me and your brother." His ears burned in embarrassment then, not knowing that the two people he cared about most saw him faltering. "I could see the parallels between us, Dean."
He wasn't sure what to say and Riley shifted nervously, watching him take in what she'd said. A long minute passed before he spoke. "Did you know I was coming?"
Riley smiled lightly. "The Mark... it's been tingling for the last three hours and I could feel you getting closer."
Dean finally took a long drink of his coffee. "Have you done anything you regret?" It was a careful question and both knew the underlying meaning.
Did you kill anyone?
Is the Mark calling out to you to feed its hunger for blood?
Tears sting her eyes at the gentle way he put that. "Yes and no."
His jaw worked a bit before he dared to ask, not sure he even wanted to know. "How's that?"
"I hurt two people I love very much." His eyes held hers. "But would I take this from you all over again? Yes."
"It's been three months... took four for me to..." Dean paused there. "How are you okay?"
"I know you know about what my dad did." A nod from him. "It's neutralized things, I think. I really don't know. The only thing I've consistently felt since I got it was loneliness."
"I missed you so much." Dean admitted quietly and a tear slipped down her cheek. "Are you gonna come home?" Hearing him say that made the lump that was forming in her throat even bigger.
"I was planning on staying up here for the next couple weeks before I called you and Sam." Pause. "To make sure I was safe to call you guys... safe to come back to the bunker."
Dean certainly understood that. "Then you'll come home?" Riley didn't miss the way he'd referred to the bunker as her home as well as he and Sam's.
"I promise."
He rose from the table slowly, so not to startle her. She watched him straighten his frame to full height. Dean looked battle worn and tired and they looked at one another for a long moment before Riley crossed the tiny cabin, closing the gap between them and slid her arms around his broad shoulders, burying her face into his neck.
His strong arms locked around her waist and his eyes closed tightly at the feeling of her back in his arms. "Riley," She was crying silently and he could feel the wetness of her tears against his skin. "It's gonna be okay." Dean hugged her tight against him, feeling the tremble of her body against his.
"I missed you so much," Riley breathed and she felt him nod. "Dean, please forgive me. Please understand."
"You're forgiven, sweetheart." Was Dean's reply before he pulled back ever so slightly to rest his forehead against hers. Both their eyes were closed and Riley still had silent tears streaming down her face, weak with relief that they'd come for her. "I'm here." Dean felt Riley nod once.
He tilted his chin upwards slightly, bringing her lips to his for the first time and he could taste the saltiness of her tears on her skin. Riley kissed Dean back, soft and sweet, and he pulled back a tiny bit so he could speak again, his tone a little lower this time, his nose nuzzling against hers. "Don't you ever do anything stupid like that ever again, you hear me?" His lips were close enough to brush hers as he spoke his warning. Dean felt the brunette nod slightly, her eyes still closed, their lips a breath apart.
Sam's familiar, heavy bootfalls on the damp wooden porch made them part and the front door opened cautiously."You guys... alright?" His careful question made Riley nod, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. Sam looked to Dean, who nodded in agreement. Both looked emotionally worn and he understood that. "Sooo, are we headin' home?"
Riley and Dean looked at one another and she shook her head, making Sam's brow furrow. "I need to stay for a couple more weeks, make sure I'm..." Whatever she was going to say, nothing seemed right. Normal? Safe? Okay?
The two brothers had a silent, Winchester conversation in front of her and she averted her eyes. "I'm gonna stay with her, Sam." Dean spoke quietly, shocking the two people in front of him.
Riley's gave snapped to his face and Sam looked surprised at his statement. "What?" Riley and Sam spoke simultaneously.
"I'm staying with her." Dean's tone left no room for argument. "Okay? When the three weeks are up, we'll head home." Sam watched Riley look at his brother. "I'll get my bag." Dean left the two of them in the kitchen, staring after him as the door closed.
"Ry?" Sam waited until she looked up to him. "You really okay?" She nodded, her eyes red rimmed with fresh tears. "I'm so glad to see you... you have no idea." It was his turn to hug her tight and she smiled some as she hugged him back. "I expect you and Dean to be home in exactly three weeks." That made her laugh a little at his big brother tone and Sam pressed a kiss to her temple. "Alright? And you're okay with Dean staying here with you?"
"Yeah. Did you wanna stay Sam..."
Sam surprisingly declined her offer. "You guys will be fine. I'll go hold down the fort until you guys get back. Castiel can keep me company." He moved to hug her again and Riley nodded against his chest. "Love you, Riley." She felt him kiss the top of her head.
"Love you too, Sam." She looked up at him. "I'm sorry for making you worry..." There was some degree of uncertainty on her face and he just shook his head, dismissing that. "I never meant..."
"I know. I get it. I do."
The door opened again and Dean came back inside, his duffel in tow over his left shoulder. He and Sam hugged before the younger man left the cabin to walk up the road a little ways to where the impala was parked. They could hear the faint sound of the impala's engine starting up, a sound she could now pick out like a sore thumb.
There was a new awkwardness between Riley and Dean and he set his bag on the table. "You eat dinner yet?" She shook her head. "You wanna go grab something?"
"I've tried to stay here," She spoke softly. "In case..." Dean knew. "Can we take a drive and pick something up?"
"Course we can."
"I just... kinda have stayed away from people. That's why Margie sent me here because it was off season and no one would be around." Riley's voice dropped. Dean's arm came around her shoulders.
"Let's take a drive. Sam and I saw a lounge not far from here. I'll go in and grab us a menu and order us something to go."
spnspnspnspn
Hey lovely readers!
Shout outs to SaphyraBlu13, jloh217 and ButterflyAlley for your reviews on chapter 34! Thanks so much for your feedback! You guys keep me motivated to write. :)
Did you like their emotional reunion? Have a great night!
CitrineMama