The car ride back to Dean's house was dead silent. Ryan stared out the Charger's window with a hardened expression, numb to the pain that she should have been feeling. It was out of her nature to be so weak, so she decided that it was time to fight back against her broken heart.
Her jaw clenched as they pulled into the neighborhood, and she became more and more disgusted as they passed each perfect little suburban, two car garage, perfectly manicured household. There was no doubt in her mind that Dean felt out of place here, that he yearned to be back on the road. But she didn't sympathize with him anymore. In fact, it was strangely comforting knowing that he was suffering in his little three bedroom and 2.5 bath.
Before they even reached Dean's driveway, she knew something was off. Call it intuition, or maybe perhaps the fact that they'd been attached at the hip since they were teenagers, but Ryan felt the danger that he was in. Sam had barely put the car in park before she was on her feet, running towards the open front door. Maybe she was angry, maybe she was happy that he was unhappy, but she couldn't live in a world where he didn't exist. Even if he was existing with another woman.
"Ryan!" Sam called after her, hastily slamming his car door shut. But she was already at the door, and if even if she had heard him, she wouldn't have turned around.
Dean was being attacked by two djinn's, one holding him steady while the other started to use their alternate universe mojo. Ryan snuck in unnoticed and picked up a lamp, slamming it into the second djinn before it could get close enough to send Dean on his own personal acid trip. He fell to the ground, gasping for air as he fought against the urge to pass out, and she readied herself to take on the other djinn, who was much larger.
"You killed our father…" it snarled, walking towards Ryan, nearly towering over her. She got in a good punch, sending it stumbling back a few steps, but it recovered quickly and was returning for more.
"That wasn't me, sweetheart, but I'll give you a go anyway,"
The djinn slammed into her, knocking her face to the side with its gigantic fist, cutting her cheek. But when it thought that she wasn't going to fight back anymore, she elbowed it roughly in the face, catching it off guard and sending a hard kick into the middle of its chest.
Ryan's hands were up, protecting her face as she watched it and kept an eye on the other one, who was stirring and starting to get to its feet. She heard Sam bust in behind her as she round housed the djinn in front of her, sending him to the ground, giving her the perfect opportunity to send a lamb's blood soaked knife straight into its heart.
She wiped her hands as Sam finished off the other one, and looked over to see Dean finally getting to his feet. In the world she knew, she would have been at his side, checking out every inch of him to make sure he was alright. But this wasn't the world she knew, so she left him alone. If he was hurt, he had a different nurse to tend to his wounds.
"That's it right? They're dead, we're good?" Ryan asked, wiping the bloody knife off on her jacket.
"I think so. You good?" Sam asked Dean.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."
"Good. Then let's go." Ryan said quickly, not looking at either of them as she turned, stepping over the dead bodies and walking toward the front door.
"Ryan," he said in protest, his voice low, laced with the burden that he carried.
She involuntarily stopped in her tracks. Slowly, she turned around to face them, trying with everything she had to maintain her composure, to keep her expression as hard as it had been in the car.
Her eyebrows raised, as if to ask what he wanted, because she couldn't imagine speaking at that point. If she let out a single word, she was afraid that it would turn into her breaking down. And there would be no more breaking down.
"Can we talk? Please?"