Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.

A/N: So this story has been published and erased a few times but i've been editing it from what was a full, one big thing to chapters so here's the end result.

The Winchester brothers and Riley Adams knew each other since, always. Growing up in a family of hunters wasn't an easy or conventional life. The boys had lost their mother in a house fire caused by the yellow-eyed demon when Sam had only been six months old and so had she, which made her and Sam special, a fact that they would come to discover later in their lives. Growing up, Dean was the guardian of the three because he was the oldest. While both their fathers were on the hunt for whatever had killed their wives, the three of them were left in a string of crappy motel rooms to fend for themselves. Sam and Riley would always have the beds while Dean would sleep on the couch. The brothers would fight ever so often for the bed because they would never let her have the couch, even if she begged until she was red in the face. As they got older, the roles suddenly shifted. Riley would be the one to take care of the boys so no one would starve to death, leaving Dean the one in charge. Whenever their fathers would return after their hunts, there would always be some sort of lesson for them, whether it be weapons, languages or the art of research. That was their life, the only one they knew but Riley never really thought she fit in.

She was sitting by a big oak tree, her nose in an incantation book while the boys were sparring in the open field. They were left to their own devices for yet another while and Riley kept glancing their way, trying to concentrate on what was written on the pages but couldn't. The brothers were always the center of her inner turmoil. She longed to have a relationship like theirs but getting between the two of them was a task on itself. They would take jabs at each other verbally and you could tell that even if they got into fights their bond was strong. Being friends with Sam because of their closeness in age was easy but she wondered if she'd ever really fit into that family. The sun started blinding her as it shone high in the sky and she was thankful for it, a stark contrast from the darkness they lived in every day. Not seeing Sam approach until he sat down next to her.

Riley's POV

"Hey buddy." He sat smiling.

"Hey." I barely returning his smile as I kept my nose in the book.

"You ok?" He frowned.

"Mmmmmhmm." I hummed absentmindedly.

"That's very convincing." The sarcasm was thick in Sam's tone and it was hard to miss.

"I miss him, you know." I looked up, not meeting his eyes.

"He'll be back soon. They've been gone for two days already."

"Doesn't it bother you at all that they're gone all the time?" I leaned into the tree, crossing my feet at the ankles.

"All the time. But this is our lives and we don't have a choice." He shrugged. I knew he was right but that didn't mean I had to be okay with it.

"Don't you wish we did?" I pulled away from him and stood. "We get left alone most of the time, eat crap and sleep in run-down motels." I growled in irritation.

"Well, we've got each other, that counts." He stood to face me.

"Well, you have Dean, I don't exactly have anybody." I sat back down, putting my nose back in the book, feeling a little bit childish for thinking like that.

"Of course, you do. You have us." He lowered his long body back down next to mine. "We might not be blood but you're family and you're my best friend. For the first time I have someone that understands me. I tell you things that I don't even tell Dean." His words prompting me to look him in the eyes.

"You're mine too, I just wished it was easier." I sighed. "Do you remember that time in grade school? When the most drama we had was when I came to your rescue?" I chuckled. "You were so mad at me."

"Yeah I remember. I didn't talk to you for a whole day." He had joined in the laughter.

They were walking through the halls of their current elementary school together, laughing, when this chubby sixth grader came at Sam from behind, blind sighting us both. They had always kept to themselves, knowing that they wouldn't stay there long enough to form friendships but two new fifth graders were easy targets.

"Where did your mom find these clothes?" He shoved him around. "The thrift store?" He laughed. "And who's the girl? She your girlfriendddd?"

"I don't want to fight with you ok." Sam said calmly.

"Too scared Sammyyyy?"

"Don't call me that. And I'm not afraid of you." Sam was getting defiant but he got shoved completely on the ground. Riley had enough and she couldn't let him be treated that way and do nothing about it.

"Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?" She shoved him hard against the nearest row of lockers. Everyone around them were stunned that a little girl like her could push someone like Tim around. "And his name is Sam." She threw one good punch on his nose.

"What the hell Riley?" He dusted his pants and attempted to get up.

"What? I got your back." She tried helping him up, only to have her arm brushed away.

"You know what? Stay away from me. I don't need you, or anyone else to defend me. Just leave me alone." He screamed and walked away. He spent the better part of the morning ignoring her, and when she got to the cafeteria to find him nowhere in sight, she knew she would be eating lunch by herself. They had four more classes together and he didn't say a word to her and sat in the back of each one of them. She was refusing to give up. Sam kept ignoring her while they were sitting on the curb waiting for Dean and she was getting annoyed.

"You can't ignore me forever Sam. We're living together for crying out loud." She shoved him to get a reaction but he continued to give her the silent treatment. As soon as Dean came into view, Sam stormed past her as she turned to follow him.

"What happened to the two of you since I dropped you off this morning?" Dean looked at them quizzically.

"He got shoved around by this kid and I had his back." Her explanation made him chuckle.

"What's so funny Dean?"

"Let's just say that having a girl fight your battles is humiliating." He was full on laughing now.

"So, defending my best friend just because I'm a girl is humiliating?" She ground her teeth together in anger.

"Pretty much yeah." He chuckled.

"You're such an ass Dean." She shoved his shoulder hard. She came to the realization that they saw her as inferior to them and it was making her angry. After everything they'd been through together, they still saw her as a defenseless girl. She walked in the room and went straight for her duffel bag. She pulled her jacket out and walked back towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Out" She slammed the door and could hear Dean behind her shouting for her to come back but she just kept walking. She had been walking for a while when she heard a car slow down next to her. She turned around as it stopped at her level. She didn't care if she was being reckless but she knew that she needed to get away from the boys, so she just got in the car before it drove off. She knew the guys would be looking everywhere for her, but she didn't care. The car drove to a motel and that's when she started to be worried.

"So, you're the girl that's with the Winchester brothers." He said with a smirk on his lips.

"I don't know anybody by that name." She was trying to stay as calm as her eleven year old self could.

"You shouldn't be lying to me little girl." He hissed.

"It's the truth." Her eyes were starting to water. She was trying to play with the door handle, but it wasn't budging. She was trapped. He started closing in on her but the window smashed behind him.

"Stay away from her." Dean yelled, pulling him out through the window. Even though he was still a teenager, Dean was stronger than anyone his age and he easily rammed him in the pavement, chopping his head off with a swift motion.

"Are you ok kid?"

"I'm not a kid." She growled.

"Fine you're not a kid." He rolled his eyes at her. "Is the princess okay?"

"I'm fine." She brushed his hand aside and got to her feet.

"Why did you run off like that? And get in a car with a stranger no less? We were worried about you."

"I doubt that Sam even cares what happens me." She mumbled as they started walking back towards the car.

"He is, he's looking for you around the motel, he's worried sick." He wrapped a protective arm around her.

"I'm sorry." She whispered as they got back to their room only to be crushed in a bear hug by Sam.

"Oh My God, where were you?" He held her at arms-length to look for any signs of injuries.

"I'm sorry I scared you."

"Just don't do it again." He smiled as he crushed her in a bone crushing hug again.

"I won't" She smiled back in his chest but in the moment, she was determined to prove to them that she was just as good as they were, that she would never again be helpless.

"I remember, we didn't let you out of our sight for days." Sam was laughing.

"Yeah but after that it was never the same was it? I trained for weeks to be able to keep up with you guys. Dad would never let me fight Dean because he was so scared that he'd hurt me."

"It was always you and me out in that field." He reminisced.

"I don't know what I would do without you Sammy."

"You're not ever going to find out." He bumped his shoulder against mine before standing, returning to Dean for some more sparring.

"Come on. Feel like getting your ass kicked?" She put her book down and bounced back up on her feet.

"Cocky, aren't you?"

"It's not cocky if you can back it up." I chuckled as I walked backwards.

"You're on." We sparred under Dean's watchful eyes. My moves held more precision and agility from years of practice, and I showed Sam exactly how much better I had gotten since that night years ago.