Work Text
Disclaimer: The characters of Supernatural do not belong to me.
Riley stood back as Bobby opened the front door. Bobby had told her that he had a friend coming over, and that the friend had two little boys with him. He’d told Riley that she didn’t have to play with the boys if she didn’t want to, but he did expect her to be nice and at least say hello to them. Riley agreed, though the thought of meeting someone new terrified her.
Riley might have only been four, but she had a clear memory of everything that had happened in the last few months. She still had nightmares about it. Mommy had met and married Bobby right after her second birthday. They’d been married for just over two years when it happened. Mommy coming into the kitchen one day, where Riley had been eating her cheerios and looking at a picture book Bobby had gotten for her from the store the day before. Riley had looked up at her mother, not knowing at first that something was wrong, smiling and telling her good morning. Before Riley knew what had happened, her mommy had taken a knife from the counter and was diving for Riley.
Bobby had come in at just that moment. Riley didn’t know it, but he had heard her screaming in the kitchen and come running. Bobby grabbed Riley, told her to go upstairs and hide and not come out until he told her to, and Riley did just that. She didn’t know how long she hid, but it was long enough for her to fall asleep. When she woke up, it was to Bobby holding her on his and Mommy’s bed, where he told her the news.
Mommy had gotten sick. She’d gotten sick in her head. She hadn’t known what she was doing when she went after Riley. But they hadn’t been able to save Mommy and she’d died.
At first, Riley had been scared. She didn’t remember her real Daddy, but she knew that Bobby wasn’t it. Where was she going now that Mommy was gone? Though she didn’t ask, Bobby seemed to sense her question and he delivered the news that set her at ease right away.
Bobby had adopted Riley not long after he and Mommy got married, which meant that she always had a home with him.
They had Mommy’s funeral, and ever since, Riley had been trying to get used to it just being her and Bobby. Bobby worked at home, so he started bringing Riley into the garage with him to help him. It made both of them less lonely, but there was still a big hole for both of them that Riley was sure could never be filled.
The door opened and Riley saw what she thought was the scariest looking man she’d ever seen. Behind him was two little boys. One was really little, a baby, with curly brown hair who could barely walk straight. He was holding his older brother’s hand. The older boy, who Bobby introduced to Riley as Dean, smiled at her and waved. Riley waved back, and suddenly got an idea.
“Can we go play in my room?”
Bobby looked surprised by the request but agreed. “It’s okay with me. John?”
John, the big man that Riley was a little afraid of, seemed surprised too. “Dean, do you want to?”
“Yes, sir. Is it okay?”
“Sammy can come too.” Riley said.
“Yay! Sammy go pay, Dada?”
With the approval of both adults, Dean, Riley, and Sam headed to her bedroom. Riley apologized for only having girl toys to play with, but Dean didn’t seem to mind. Riley gave Sam her set of big Lego blocks, which the two-year-old set to work on right away. Riley and Dean started a game of Candy Land, and by the end of the second game, Riley was certain of one thing.
She and Dean Winchester would be best friends for their entire lives.
Though Riley’s affirmation had turned out to mostly be true throughout their childhoods, the two of them had ultimately grown apart.
Riley’s upbringing had been drastically different from his and Sam’s. Bobby had mostly stayed home, providing support to other hunters, except for the occasional hunt on which he would accompany John. Riley became capable of caring for herself at quite a young age, but Bobby was determined that she wouldn’t have to unless absolutely necessary. But every single summer, Sam and Dean came to see her, and for anywhere from a few days to a few months, Riley had two siblings.
With Bobby’s overwhelming approval, Riley chose not to hunt. She’d found out the truth of what Bobby did on her ninth birthday, when she’d overheard Bobby talking to John about whether or not he should tell her the truth about her mom’s death. Though Riley was proud of the work he did, she wanted to focus more on helping people in other ways. This had caused some strife between Bobby and John, when Sam got wind of the fact that Riley wasn’t being forced to hunt. The fight that ensued between the two of them caused all of them to not see each other for years.
When Sam and Dean came back into Bobby’s life, Riley, who was still living with Bobby, and Dean’s friendship had picked up right from where it had left off.
Riley was there with Sam and Dean when John died. She hugged Dean at John’s funeral pyre, the only person who did so. Though Dean had stood stoically, not returning the hug, he felt forever grateful to Riley for doing it. Riley was the only one who didn’t constantly ask Dean if he was okay, choosing instead to take a few days off work and help him rebuild the Impala. Being raised by Bobby, who she called the best mechanic ever, she was able to offer Dean tips when he got stuck, hand him tools he’d forgotten, and gently remind him to eat and drink something that didn’t have alcohol in it.
Riley had stayed with him when Sam died. Unlike Bobby, Dean screaming at her to leave did nothing to make her do so. She simply let him scream, bearing the brunt of his temper, before putting a hand on his arm and telling him firmly not a chance. It was only when Riley had fallen asleep one night that Dean left the house and made the deal with the crossroad demon that brought Sam back.
That deal had led to the first and only time-for a few years, at least-that Riley had hit him.
She said nothing when Dean ‘surprised’ her with Sam, made small talk with Sam and Dean on the way back to Bobby’s, and led Sam into the house before going outside with Bobby and Dean. She let Bobby lecture Dean about what he’d done, turning her back to him and starting to walk back to the house before turning around and landing a punch to his nose so hard that she knocked him down. No words were exchanged after that, Riley making her message quite clear to him.
Riley had been the first call Dean made when he came back to life. She of course didn’t believe him, but was the first to embrace him when Bobby convinced her it wasn’t a joke. Riley had been there to support him helping Sam through detoxing off demon blood, even though she vehemently disagreed with the way he did it. She kept in touch with him after Sam jumped in the cage, despite Dean’s insistence that she stay away.
All of this made what happened that afternoon all the more shocking. Not only for Dean, but for Sam and Bobby too.
The three of them were in a hotel room, discussing how they were going to attack whatever they were after. Riley had ultimately become a social worker, and discovered that one of her ‘kids’, which she called the children she took care of, was Dean’s biological daughter. She had debated for a couple of days on whether or not to tell Dean, but decided that the opportunity to take an older kid out of foster care was well worth the risk of anything happening to her as a result of Dean’s hunting.
Riley had made herself clear when she told Dean the news. If she supported Alyssa coming to live with Sam and Dean, Dean had to promise that he would keep Alyssa with him no matter what. Alyssa had been bounced around between thirteen foster homes in seven years, and if Riley was going to tell her she now had a permanent place to belong, Dean had to not make a liar out of her. Dean, overwhelmed yet ecstatic at the news that he had a daughter, immediately agreed. Alyssa came to live with them, and all was well for close to a year.
Alyssa had been staying in the motel room, working on the homework that Sam had assigned her as part of her homeschooling. Alyssa excelled in school and seemed to thrive on the road with the two of them. She had explained to Dean once that she’d learned a long time ago that home didn’t have to be a building. It was the people that were with you when you needed them. That, Alyssa told him, was Sam and Dean for her.
But the vampires that Sam and Dean had been after had somehow snuck past the two of them and broken into the motel room. Alyssa had fought them, and fought them well. After only ninety seconds, Sam and Dean had come back and taken care of the vamps. Throwing Alyssa into the back seat of the car, it had been nearly an hour later, when the adrenaline was starting to come down, that Dean realized Alyssa had broken her arm.Dean became spooked by Alyssa’s injury. He didn’t say anything for a day or two, but ultimately decided that, to keep Alyssa safe, he had to break his promise to Riley.
Alyssa had seemed to take it well. She’d met Jody before, and the two of them got along, but she refused to look at Dean when he left her there at Jody’s house. She’d taken her bag inside, shut Jody’s front door, and that had been the last time Dean talked to her for two weeks. Alyssa refused to answer his phone calls, texts, or emails. Dean was determined, once they finished the hunt they were on, to go and visit Alyssa to try and work out what was going on between them.
Someone started to knock at the motel room door so hard that the coffee mugs on the table started to rattle.
Bobby cautiously walked to the door, hand on his gun, when he looked out the peephole of the door. Surprised to find Riley there, he opened the door and started to ask her what she was doing when Riley burst in and slammed the door behind her. She ignored her father and Sam and stopped just short of yelling at Dean.
“What the hell did I say when I brought Alyssa to you, Dean?”
Dean started to stutter, unused to Riley being so angry with him. “I…she wasn’t safe…”
“What did I say, Dean?” Riley was seething. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was shaking with the effort not to reach over and beat him to a pulp. Without giving him a chance to answer her, Riley continued. “I told you to keep her with you. Did I or did I not say that was a condition to me helping you get custody of her?”
“You did, but…”
“Ray, what’s going on?” Bobby asked, unused to Riley’s anger himself. “Is Alyssa okay?”
“No. She isn’t, dad. She’s not okay.”
“What happened?” Dean asked. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Oh, now you care?” Riley asked. She scoffed. “You couldn’t have cared before she got hurt?”
“She’s hurt?”
“Yes, Dean. She’s hurt. I told you before you took her in that she was suicidal. I told you that you had to keep her with you. It wasn’t just because I wanted to make sure she was with someone.”
“Oh, God. Is she…?”
“No, Dean. She’s not dead. It’s a damn miracle she’s not, but she isn’t dead.” Riley pulled a note out of her pocket and handed it to him. “Read this.”
“Ray, what happened?” Sam asked.
Riley turned to Sam and it was the first time anyone noticed that she’d been crying. “She went to the bridge on Yellowstar Lane and jumped.”
Dean started to read the note, his eyes misting over. What had he done?“I’m leaving, Dean. I’m leaving to go and take care of your daughter, like I asked for you to do. Don’t bother coming with me.”
Riley turned and started to leave. Bobby took her arm gently, trying to whisper to her that this could be worked out. Riley snatched her arm back and glared at Bobby so hard that Bobby immediately backed down. Dean was already grabbing his coat and trying to follow her out.
“Dean, I mean it. I have always, always, been there for you. But I am done. Hear me and hear me good. You better pray that she makes it. Because if she doesn’t, I will come back here and I will put a bullet in your brain.”
With that, Riley turned and left, certain that her friendship with Dean Winchester was over for good.