#And to be fair- Riley would be ready to throw hands for what Dean did to Christine alone. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

foreverwayward · 6 years ago

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“Wayward Hearts” Season 3 Chapter 4: Bedtime Stories

Summary: After the Devil’s Gate had been opened that fateful night in the graveyard, the hunters are forced to face a new war. Countless demons now run rampant, hungry for blood and power. It’ll take everything the three have to survive when darkness once again knocks on their door. But, with only a year before Dean’s deal comes due, Sam and Riley will stop at nothing to save him; to save their family.

Masterlist

Word Count: 7,888

Content Warning: language and violence

DISCLAIMER: any words or phrases in bold in the story are not my own and are credited to the writers of Supernatural.

**GIFS ARE NOT MY OWN**

In a random, beat up motel on the east coast, the three hunters packed their things after their most recent case. They finally had the Colt back after Bobby had discovered a way to alter it and to create bullets infused with the same original magic.

Though having the weapon in hand again brought a small relief to the family, there was a palpable tension rising in the room. Riley and Sam were hell-bent on saving Dean from his deal, while he had resigned to his fate.

Riley practically threw her clothes into her duffel bag with a huff. “I don’t get it, Dean. Why? Why not?”

“Because I said so,” he simply stated.

She scoffed, “excuse me?”

“We got the Colt now!” Sam added in frustration. “We can summon the crossroads demon…”

They all began to shout over each other’s words, getting louder each time.

“We're not fucking summoning anything,” Dean barked as he shrugged his jacket on.

“ …we pull the gun on her and force her to let you out of the deal!”

“We don't even know if that'll work!”

Riley jumped back in and threw her hands in the air. “Well, if we shoot the bitch, the deal goes away!”

“We don't know if that'll work either! All you two are pitching me right now is a bunch of ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’ and that's not good enough, because if we fuck with this deal, you die, Riley!”

“And if we don’t fuck with it, you die, Dean!”

“Enough! I am not going to have this conversation.”

“Why, because you said so?” Sam yelled at him.

“Yes! Because I fuckin’ said so!”

“Well, you're not Dad!”

Riley picked up a glass cigarette tray that sat on the dresser and chucked it across the room in anger. When it hit the wall, it shattered as glass fell to the ground. She had been dealing with her own hurt and frustration and feeling Sam’s and Dean’s as well had brought her to the brink of rage.

“And you’re not my goddamn father either!” Riley yelled. “You don’t get to die for me! I won’t fucking let you!”

The three just stared at each other unsure of what to do next.

Dean finally broke the silence with a quieter but firm voice. “No, but I’m doing what’s best and you’re both going to let this go, you understand me? You don’t get to fuck with this. You’re the one that doesn’t get to die, Riley.”

Throwing her bag over her shoulder and grabbing her guitar case with her free hand, Riley glared at Dean. “I’ll be in the car.”

Dean sighed. “Sam was gonna tell us about the next case…”

As she walked out the door, she just shouted without ever looking back, “I said I’ll be in the car!”

Sam exhaled heavily and went back to packing, slower this time and somewhat defeated. His older brother ran a frustrated hand over his head and clenched his jaw.

The conversations about what would happen in less than seven months weren’t getting any easier.

“Tell me about the psychotic killer,” Dean said trying to move on. When his brother didn’t answer, he pushed. “C'mon, Sam, tell me about the psychotic killer.”

Grabbing a nearby folder, he pulled out a paper and read it monotonously. “Psychotic killer...rips victims apart with brute-like ferocity.”

“Okay, any mention of his razor-sharp teeth or his four-inch claws? Animal eyes?”

“No. But, the lunar cycle's right. Look, if it is a werewolf we don't have long, moon's full this Friday and that's the last time it changes for a month.”

“Two days, no sweat.” Dean grabbed the last of his things and nodded to Sam for them to leave. “Now, a car ride with an angry, pent-up, empathic hunter? ...now that fuckin makes me sweat.”

------

After a long and awkward road trip, Sam, Dean, and Riley had made it to Maple Springs, New York. The victim was still in the hospital recovering and interviewing him was their best shot at finding the possible werewolf.

Dressed in suits, the three stood at the man’s bedside. He was a heavyset guy with strawberry-blonde hair with a matching beard and fair skin. Claw marks near his eye were still healing and bandaged up.

Dean took out his fake badge and the others did the same. “I'm Detective Plant, this is Detective Page.” He then pointed to Riley, “and this is Detective Bonham. We're with the County Sheriff's Department. You’re Kyle, right?”

“Yeah, uh--I've been expecting you,” he replied in a broken voice. “You’re the sketch artists, right?”

The three eyed each other waiting for one of them to come up with an idea.

“Absolutely,” Dean answered with a smile. “Yeah. That’s exactly who my partner is. The things he can do with a pen…” he added as he pat Sam’s shoulder and laughed as his brother glared at him. “But listen, before we get started on that, I wanted to ask you, uh--how'd you get away?”

“I--I have no idea. I was hiding, and he found me. He was coming right for me and then he just...stopped--staring at me with this blank look. And after that, he just took off running.”

Sam sighed as he pulled a notebook and pen from his pocket and acted to be ready to sketch. Riley lightly chuckled under her breath watching how nervous he was. “‘Kay. Um, I'm going to need as much physical detail as you can remember.”

“Uh--yeah. He, uh--he was about six feet tall...dark hair.”

“What about his eyes?” Riley asked. “Do you remember what color his eyes were?”

“Maybe….blue? I mean, it was dark.”

Riley kept leaning on her tiptoes to look over Sam’s shoulder at the drawing. It was enough to finally lighten her mood with how ridiculous the sketch was becoming. “Did his eyes seem...animal-like? Or was there anything strange about his teeth?”

The victim shook his head with confusion and an odd look. “No...they were just...teeth.”

“Fingernails?” Dean chimed in.

“Okay look, he--he's just a--a normal guy, with normal eyes a--a--and teeth and fingernails!” Kyle stammered.

“Look, sir, it's okay if you need to--”

“No. No. Those were my brothers. This guy, he--he,” Kyle’s voice broken further and his eyes welled. “He...killed my brothers. How would you feel?”

Sam paused and his head fell. “Can't imagine anything worse.”

Dean and Riley said nothing in response, still, it struck a chord in the older brother and it forced him to acknowledge the pain the others were feeling. “I know this isn't easy, but if you could remember any more details…”

“Th--there was one more thing he had a--a tattoo on his arm of a cartoon character. Um...it's, uh--it's the guy who's chasing the Roadrunner--”

With a hint of uncertainty and mild humor, Riley added, “you mean Wile E. Coyote?”

A little smirk grew on Dean’s right cheek knowing he was about to give the same answer. She always got him in ways that no one else did, even the little things.

“Yeah, that's it.”

Kyle’s doctor walked into the room in a nice button-up and slacks under his white coat. He was an older man with grey peppered hair and a gentle demeanor. “How you holding up, Kyle?”

“Okay, considering.”

The three held up their badges again to the doctor.

“Are you treating Kyle?” Riley questioned.

“Yes? I’m Doctor Garrison.”

“Mind if I ask you a few questions?” Dean asked as he put away his ID.

The doctor nodded. “Sure.”

As the physician and Dean left the room, Sam and Riley were alone with Kyle.

The man pointed to Sam’s notebook. “Don't I get to see it?”

Riley had to turn herself around not to break out in laughter as Sam chuckled nervously to himself. “Uh--yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, it's a--you know...work in progress.”

The hunter handed the notebook over to Kyle. On the page was a badly drawn stick figure of a man; almost like a child’s drawing.

“Hm,” Kyle murmured. “It--it's really...huh.”

Unable to hide it anymore, Riley chortled through her nose with her back still turned and she immediately hurried out the door.

------

Walking away from the hospital, Riley and the Winchesters headed back for the car they had parked a few blocks over. The sun was shining even though fall had already come and the brisk air nipped at their noses while they still squinted at the light.

Sam and Dean had loosened their ties and Riley pulled her hair out from its bun, shaking it out.

After finally getting a look at Sam’s final drawing, Dean laughed as they walked on. “Boy, this is a piece of, uh--art. Really.”

Sam snatched the notebook from Dean with an annoyed look. “Yeah, like you could've done any better. So, what did the Doc have to say about Kyle's brothers?”

“Not much, they were D.O.A. at the scene. He did give me the lowdown on the coroner's report.”

“Lemme guess, their hearts were missing.”

“Nope. But chunks of their kidneys, lungs, and intestines.”

Riley’s face crinkled with disgust. “Lovely.”

“Yeah, also definitely not werewolf behavior.”

“So…” she paused trying to come up with an idea. “Possession? Attacker didn’t even know he was doing it?”

“Why would a demon stop halfway through an attack?”

“Maybe, it--well, it could have...yeah, I got nothin.” Her phone rang and she stopped to answer it. “Hello? Yes, this is Detective Bonham.” Riley’s eyes went to the brothers as she listened. “Yeah, we’ll be right there.”

As she hung up, the hunter put her cell back in her pocket. “Looks like we’re going back to the hospital.”

------

There was bustling activity around the nurses’ station as the hunters looked for the right room. As they approached the station, two Sheriff’s deputies exited the patient’s room.

“5-0. 5-0,” Riley mumbled under her breath and they all hastily altered course to focus on a set of flowers on the counter to hide their faces.

Once the two deputies passed by, Sam, Dean, and Riley continued down the corridor to the room.

“This whole ‘America’s Most Wanted thing’ is getting real old,” she told them.

“Please, please…” the woman in the bed pleaded with the doctor. Tears ran down her face and she was shaking with emotion.

Riley leaned against the door frame trying to gather herself as the woman’s pain struck her the second she came in the room. The poor woman had lost her husband.

Dean took a step back and whispered to her, “you alright, sweetheart?”

“I’m fine,” she answered plainly and straightened her jacket.

The truth was, Riley’s abilities were drowning her. She still didn’t understand her empathic abilities or how to control them. Weakened by all the pain her family was already under, everything seemed intensified. She just wasn’t about to admit it.

“Shh,” Doctor Garrison told her gently. “Hey, we need to observe you while the drugs still might be in your system.”

“I have to go. I have things to do, arrangements I need to make!”

“It can wait. Now you need to rest. Stay--I'll be back in a few minutes.” The doctor walked toward Riley, Sam, and Dean who were still standing at the doorway., He sighed. “Detectives, please tell me you know what’s going on here. My whole town is going insane.”

All Sam could do was share an empathetic smile. “We'll let you know as soon as we do.”

As Garrison left, they all moved inside but Riley turned to the boys. “Hey, I got this one, okay?”

The two nodded in agreeance before heading back into the hall.

“Mrs. Watson?” Riley’s tone was compassionate and soft. She couldn’t imagine the loss the woman had experienced and it made her dread the impending months to come even more. “Hi. Would it be okay if we asked you a few questions?” Taking out her badge, Riley then sat in a chair she pulled close.

“Do we have to go over this again? Now?”

“I promise, I won’t take much of your time. Mrs. Watson, how did you get away?”

The woman just softly nodded before she spoke meekly. “I didn't eat as much as Ken did, so I wasn't as out of it. And, when the old woman was...carving up Ken, I shoved her and she fell--cracked her head on the stove.” She paused as more tears fell. “She's dead, right? I--I killed her?”

“Do you have any idea at all why this woman would want to hurt you?”

“No! One minute she was a sweet old lady and the next she was, like a monster.”

“Is there anything else you remember? Anything at all.”

“Um, yeah,” the widow sniffled. “Did you find a little girl there, by any chance?”

Riley’s brow scrunched as she asked, “at the house? You saw a little girl there?”

“I thought I saw her outside the window. She--she just disappeared. Just vanished, into thin air. It m--must've been the drugs.”

“Mrs. Watson, what did the little girl look like? No detail is too small.”

With a heavy sigh, the victim tried to answer. “She had this dark--dark hair and really pale skin. She was around eight. She was a beautiful child. It was...odd to see her in the middle of something so horrible.”

The two talked for several minutes before Riley was able to get all the information she could.

Taking the woman’s hand, Riley waited until the widow’s eyes met hers. “I am so sorry for your loss.” The hunter’s heart swelled with love and understanding as she tried to force it through her. “Thank you for your help. I promise we’re gonna do everything we can to get you answers.” It seemed as though Riley had been able to conjure her abilities to do what she wanted as the woman sighed with slight relief. “Here’s my card. You call me if you need anything.”

As Riley left the card on the side table, she began to leave. She was at the door when she heard a small voice coming from behind her.

“Thank you, Detective.”

Riley turned to give the broken woman a soft smile before going back into the corridor. Sam and Dean were outside waiting. “So, what’d she say?” Sam’s hands went into his pockets as he and his brother stepped closer.

“She and her husband got lost in the woods on a hike. They stumbled on some old lady’s house and she offered to have them inside, gave them food, and I guess poisoned it. The husband was too weak to run and she stabbed him to death. The victim pushed the old woman away and she hit her head and died.”

“Huh,” Dean stated. “Drugging and stabbing granny. What has the world come to?” he asked sarcastically as he spun around to go.

------

The Impala sat parked outside of the small cottage that belonged to the old woman. It was the only thing in the clearing with nothing else for miles. The outside was a soft blue with white shutters and flowers around the porch. Birds ate from the feeder and the breeze rustled through the trees.

Inside, Sam, Dean, and Riley studied the home looking for anything out of the ordinary. The youngest Winchester was looking for EMF readings while his brother and Riley searched for clues.

The detector whirred as Sam brought it in front of the main window. “EMF’s going nuts,” he told them. “When I went over here by the window...there's definitely a spirit here.”

“Who stood outside the crime scene and watched?” Dean asked with an incredulous look.

“Looks like.”

Riley shook her head. “There may have been a spirit here at one point or another, but it’s not here now.”

“How do you know?”

“Empath,” she stated. “Remember? I can feel when there’s another energy in the room most of the time. It’s just us right now.”

Dean looked almost impressed with her. “You never really talk about that part of things.”

“Yeah. Well, now you know why I get all fidgety in hospitals. There’s too much pain and loss...and suffering. It’s terrible.” Riley seemed to get lost in her thoughts before she forced herself back to reality. “Anyway, I’m still onboard with the whole ‘spirit thing’. I mean, there’s no sulfur anywhere.”

“Actually,” Sam started. “I do have a theory. Uh--sort of. I’m, uh--I’m thinking about fairytales.”

The older Winchester’s eyebrow hooked as he saw an open window to mess with his brother. “Oh, that's--that's nice. You think about fairytales often?” Dean teased as he packed up their gear.

“No, Dean, I'm talking about the murders. A guy and a girl? Hiking through the woods, an old lady tries to eat 'em? That's Hansel and Gretel. And then we got three brothers, arguing over how to build houses, attacked by the Big Bad Wolf.”

“Three Little Pigs. Actually, those guys were a little chubby. Well, wait, I thought those things ended with, uh--everybody living happily ever after?”

Riley gasped softly and her eyes practically twinkled and she walked around as she spoke. “Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! What if we’re talking OG fairytales? Like--Grimm Brothers’ stuff. I mean, it was full of sex, violence--even cannibalism. Disney flicks and whatnot just baby-proofed them. Ugh. I love the originals--so much more interesting.” She stopped at looked at them with a realization. “Except for ‘Beauty and the Beast’. That’s a classic.”

Chuckling a little, Sam nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I don’t know how but they’re almost...reenactments.”

“The question is, how is that creepy little ghost girl involved in this? I mean, she has to be showing up for a reason.”

“I’ll bet you top dollar she was at that construction site too.”

Dean’s face fell. “We gotta do research now, don't we?” As the others grabbed their things, they shrugged and Dean groaned.

------

Sam and Riley waited outside the library after finishing their own research through internet searches. The older Winchester came out the front door, not looking happy.

“Checked every record they had. Found the usual amount of violent childhood deaths for a town this size.” The three walked across the road and toward a park. “Wanna know how many how many were little girls with black hair and pale skin? Zero. You wanna know how many how many little girls with black hair and pale skin that have gone missing? Right again. Zip. Zilch, nada. Fuckin’ goose egg. Tell me you've got something good 'cause I've totally wasted the last six hours.”

Sam chuffed as they walked up the dirt path of the park. Trees surrounded them along with the sound of playing children nearby. “Well, you ever hear of Lillian Bailey? She was a British medium from the 1930s.”

“She got a thing for fairytales?”

After running a hand through her hair, Riley stuffed her hands in her pockets as they walked on. “Nope--trances. Apparently, she’d be able to have her thoughts and actions completely controlled by spirits while she was in some weird unconscious state.”

“So, like a ghost puppet master. Think that's what this kid is doing? Sending Wolf Boy and grandma into trances, making them go kill-crazy?”

“I mean, maybe,” she shrugged. “Hypnosis for spirits or something?”

Dean scoffed under his breath with a slight smile of amusement. “Trances I get, but fairytale trances? That's bizarre even for us.”

Stopping dead in their tracks, they all looked down to see a bullfrog sitting in their path, croaking at them.

“Yeah, you're right. That's completely normal,” Sam snarked.

The bullfrog croaked again and again.

“Alright, maybe it is fairy tales. Totally fucked up fairy tales.”

Riley shook her head as she looked at the frog. “Mm-mm. Nope. I don’t care if it breaks the spell or even makes me the next Stevie Nicks...I’m not kissing a damn frog.” She shuddered at the thought and stepped over it as the brothers followed.

At the edge of the park, Sam noticed a house with a large front porch. A pumpkin sat at the entrance of the house as a little mouse scurried around it.

“Hey. Check that out. You guys remember Cinderella? With the pumpkin that turns into a coach and the mice that become horses?”

Dean looked at Sam and said, “dude, could you be more gay?”

His little brother looked at him nonplussed and his jaw fell speechlessly without a comeback.

“Never mind. Don't answer that.” Scurrying up the steps, Dean led the others to the front door. He picked the lock and quietly opened the door before they all entered and he closed it softly behind them. “Well, who knows? Maybe you'll find your fairy godmother, Sam.”

Sam looked irritated and completely done with Dean’s games as his big brother just smirked back.

There was a noise nearby and they all drew their guns. Hesitantly, the hunters went on their search through the house. Another noise of clattering and banging was in the other room and Dean motioned for Sam and Riley to head toward it as he followed.

“Help I'm in here!” a voice cried.

In the kitchen, a scared teenage girl with blonde hair was covered with bruises and handcuffed to the stove. She was shaking and dirty with tears running down her face.

“It's okay. We're here, we're here. We got you.” Sam tried to comfort the girl as he opened his lock pick to undo the cuffs. “What happened?”

“My stepmom, she just freaked out, screamed at me, beat me--chained me up.”

“Where is she now?”

“I don't know.”

Dean went to check the other rooms as Riley’s eyes caught movement down the hallway.

A little girl with long dark hair peeked out at her. Her skin was fair, almost pale, and she wore a white dress with a red ribbon in her hair. The girl turned away and Riley followed her. When she reached the entryway, she saw the girl standing in the living room before she walked out of sight.

Riley entered the room and looked around, only to find no one else was there. But she could feel something with her; the hunter knew she wasn’t alone.

Turning around, she saw the mysterious girl was staring back at her. “Who are you, honey?”

The spirit was silent before she flickered and vanished.

Riley looked down at a red apple on the rug and picked it up before looking it over.

Dean yelled from across the house as Sam helped the girl to the front door. “Riley! Rye!” He came in the room to see her standing there frozen with the apple in her hand. “What happened?”

“I saw her.”

------

On the hood of the Impala, Riley and Dean sat together quietly. She still held the apple as she thought to herself and Dean scooted closer, trying to be inconspicuous.

“Hey,” Dean cleared his throat. “You, uh--you okay? I mean, we haven’t really talked since our fight. Are--are we okay?”

Riley sighed. “Dean,” she turned to face him. “We’ll always be okay. But I’m--” Sighing, Riley tried to find the words. “That doesn’t mean that you can’t break my heart sometimes.”

He didn’t know what to say. Dean hated how deeply she was hurting and yet there wasn’t a single moment that he doubted if he made the right decision in giving his soul for hers.

Riley needed to live; if not for herself, then for him.

The awkward silence was broken when Sam joined them. “Paramedics picked up Cinderella.”

“That's good,” Dean replied.

Tossing the apple to Sam, Riley looked up at him as he caught it. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yep,” he agreed. “Snow White.”

“Snow White?” Dean thought to himself before it clicked for him and he snapped his fingers. “Ah, I saw that movie--or the porn version anyway. There was this wicked Stepmother? Woo, she was wicked.” He grinned and the others just stared back.

Riley gave him an almost judgmental look. “Really, Dean? Fairytale porn?”

“Hey, don’t knock it ‘til you try it.”

“Pass. Anyway, in Snow White, there’s an evil stepmother who tries to kill Snow White with a poison apple.”

Sam nodded as he looked at the apple. “Right. Only it doesn��t kill her, just puts her into a deep sleep--so deep, it’s almost like she’s dead.”

“See?” Dean started as he went to the driver’s side of the Chevy. “This is why I don’t eat fruit.”

------

Riley and the boys had returned to the hospital again, looking for answers. One of the nurses was answering their questions as they all talked in the hallway.

“No, sorry. We don't have any comatose little girls. It's mostly old guys. And, well...Callie. She's been around since before I started here.”

“Callie?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, it's so sad. And poor Dr. Garrison, he just...won't give up on her.”

Riley put her hands in her back pockets. “So, she’s one of his patients?”

“No. His daughter.”

After the nurse had pointed them in the right direction, the three hunters found Callie’s room. Doctor Garrison sat at her bedside with glasses perched on his nose. He was reading to her from the book ‘Tales of the Brothers Grimm’.

Callie was a young, adult woman with long, straight black hair. She laid completely motionless on the bed with monitoring equipment around her. The girl was truly beautiful and a modern-day Snow White.

“...and the Huntsman stepped inside and in the bed lay the Wolf. So, the Huntsman took a pair of scissors and cut open the Wolf's belly.”

Sam, Dean, and Riley glanced at each other before Garrison noticed them. He put down the book and got up to walk over to the undercover detectives. Clearing his throat, he tried to compose himself.

Riley could feel that being around Callie in that state was always a constant reminder to him of what he’d lost. That was his little girl in that bed and there wasn’t a day his heart didn’t break for her. The hunter tried to keep herself together as the emotions flooded her.

“Detectives. Can I help you?” the doctor asked.

“We just…” Dean started, “heard that Callie is your daughter. We’re so very sorry.”

Nodding, Garrison began to make his way out of the room. “Well, uh--thank you. If you'll excuse me.”

Quickly, the three spun around to stay at his side. “Oh, heading this way? We'll walk with you,” Dean told him as nonchalantly as he could. “How long's Callie been like that?”

Riley nudged Dean letting him know she disapproved of his questioning. “Sir, I’m sorry. We’re not trying to intrude. I mean--there’s no way we could possibly even begin to understand what this has been like for you.”

“It's not easy. She's uh-- been here since she was eight years old.”

“That's when she was poisoned?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. Swallowed, uh--bleach. Never figured out how she got her hands on the bottle. My wife found her--brought her to the ER here and I was on call.”

Trying to have a little more tact, Dean questioned gently, “your wife was, uh--was that Callie's stepmother?”

Doctor Garrison stopped walking and looked at Dean with curious and almost shocked eyes. “Actually, yes. How'd you know that?”

With a shrug, the Winchester tried to brush it off. “Lucky guess.”

“Well, Julie was the only mother that Callie ever knew. My wife passed away last year and...it's just my daughter and me now. She's all I've got left,” Garrison uttered as a knot grew in his throat. “Uh--if you’ll excuse me. I've gotta get back to work.”

“Yeah, of course,” Riley told him. As the doctor walked away, the three turned in the opposite direction. “One hundred percent...we’re talking Snow White.”

“Yep,” Sam agreed. “Step-mom poisons the girl, puts her into a deep sleep. What's the motive you think?”

“Could be like Mischa Barton,” Dean offered and Sam looked taken back. "‘Sixth Sense’ not the ‘O.C’.”

Riley turned to him, almost excited by the reference. “Oh, yeah. She played that sad ghost girl who was always getting sick. The mom had Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy and poisoned her--kid gets sick and mom gets all the attention.”

“So, say all these years, Callie's been suffering silently because nobody knows the truth about what mommy dearest did? And after all this time her spirit just gets angrier and angrier, until it finally just starts lashing out.”

They entered the reception area of the hospital and Riley kept the lookout for cops. “But that doesn’t tell us how we stop her. Callie’s stuck in her body because her dad’s keeping her alive. We can’t exactly burn the bones.”

“You think?” Sam replied with sarcasm.

EMT’s came rushing in with an old woman on a gurney. “Coming in! Seventy-two-year-old female, sustained multiple lacerations and puncture wounds. BP is eighty over forty and falling. Sinus tachycardia.”

The doctor looked her over noticing something on her neck. “Is that a bite?”

“We’re thinking she got mauled by a dog or something. Maybe a wolf?”

After overhearing the commotion, Dean turned to the others. “What was the last story Dr. Garrison was reading Callie?”

“It was Little Red Riding Hood,” Riley told him as she watched the injured woman disappear into the ER.

Only a short time later, the hunters saw them cover the old woman with a sheet. The doctors had already called her time of death.

“That means Little Red is probably next.”

A paramedic that had brought the old woman into the hospital passed by and Sam called for his attention. “Excuse me,” he and his siblings all showed their badges. “Was she the only victim?”

“She was found by the side of the road, barely alive. Alone.”

“We need to find her next of kin.” Dean’s face wreaked of urgency. Whenever there was a kid involved, he always grew more serious. “Does she have a granddaughter?”

“Uh--yeah…” the EMT answered almost in a question. “She’s her only family.”

“Do you have an address?” As Dean was handed the paper from the patient’s folder, he thanked the man and they all began to walk off. “Hey, you two find a way to stop Callie, alright? Rye, I have a feeling Sam’s gonna need your ‘Six Sense’ here.”

“Alright. But, sidebar? You’ve met your allotted quota of Haley Joel Osment references for the day,” she replied. “But what about you?”

“I'm gonna go stop the Big Bad Wolf,” he paused and tilted his head. “Which is the weirdest fucking thing I've ever said.” The older Winchester turned in the other direction and disappeared down the hall.

“Let’s go,” Sam said to Riley as they hurried to Doctor Garrison’s wing of the hospital.

Finally there, Riley stopped and looked around. “Ugh. This place gives me a headache. It’s too much.” She tried to shake it off and gather her thoughts before taking a deep breath. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine. I’m gonna go look for Callie.”

They both saw the physician ahead of them and Riley gently nudged Sam to go after him before she went for Callie’s room.

“Doctor Garrison! I need to speak with you.”

“Detective. What can I do for you?”

“Well, um...it's about Callie.”

Taken back, the doctor looked at him more sternly. “My daughter? What about her?”

“You know maybe, maybe could we sit down for a minute?”

“No,” he said firmly with annoyance. “What about her?”

“Okay. Well um--” Sam paused trying to work up the nerve to tell Garrison the truth. “Alright, Doctor, this isn't gonna be easy. But what happened to Callie wasn’t an accident.”

“You have no idea what happened to my daughter.” Garrison turned to walk away, offended at Sam’s suggestion.

Still, the hunter just followed him. “There are things you don't know, Doctor, about your wife. Your wife poisoned Callie.”

The physician stopped and glared at Sam. “Why would you say something so horrible to me? You stay away from me and from my daughter, you understand?”

“Doctor, this isn't...please, uh--”

Doctor Garrison went into Callie’s room only to see Riley there at her bedside. She seemed to be muttering to herself as she reached out for Callie’s soul.

“What are you doing here? I’m calling security.” As the doctor reached for the phone on the wall, Sam sighed and shut the door behind them. His large arm crossed over Garrison and the Winchester clamped his hand over it to stop him.

“No, listen. We don't have time to do this gently. If you don't listen to me more people are going to get hurt, because Callie is going to hurt them.”

With eyes tightly shut, Riley tried to focus over the two bickering. “Sam, I need more time. She’s too scared to come out. I can feel her.”

“What the hell are you two talking about?!” The doctor was anxious as he looked back and forth between them both.

“You're gonna think we’re crazy, but just understand me. Your daughter Callie is still here. She's a spirit.”

Doctor Garrison looked over at Callie with a heavy heart. He sat at the end of her bed and turned back to Sam. “So, you've seen her too.”

Sam looked surprised as the doctor went on. Riley’s eyes went open as she waited for Callie.

“I sensed her...Callie. Her presence--her scent. I even saw her standing at the foot of my bed but I never…” Garrison paused as his voice broke. “...believed it, I thought I was dreaming, I--”

Riley took a few strides to be closer to the bed. “You weren’t dreaming, Doctor Garrison. Let me guess, she looked like she was still eight years old and had on a white dress with a red ribbon in her hair? She’s been trying to talk to you for so long now.”

“You're not cops, are you? So, who are you two?”

“Just some people who happen to know the truth about some things.”

“But what he said about my wife poisoning Callie,” Garrison said to Riley with pleading eyes. “That's--”

With a sigh, she looked at the girl in the bed. “I’m so sorry, but it’s true. In her own way...Callie told us.”

“No,” the doctor shook his head in denial. “My wife loved Callie. So, how is--how is that possible?” Taking a moment to think to himself, Garrison refused to accept what he was being told. “No. No, I--I don't believe you.”

“Sir, Callie is killing people. She is so desperate and angry because no one will listen. If I can help--please, just listen to your little girl.” Riley turned around to look into the empty corner of the room and could feel someone with them. She smiled as she said, “Callie, your dad’s here. He’s ready to listen.”

Callie’s spirit flickered in front of the hunter as the girl looked at her father, sad and forlorn.

Doctor Garrison gasped seeing her and his eyes welled. “I--I know I wasn't listening before, but I'm listening now. Please honey, is--is there any way that you can tell me?” Still afraid to know the answer, he asked her, “Is it true?” All the little girl could do was nod in response and the doctor sobbed. “Oh--I'm so sorry, baby. But, listen to me...you gotta stop what you're doing, okay? You're hurting people. I know everything now. I know the truth. It's time for you to let go. It's time for me to let you go.”

Slowly, Doctor Garrison stood and his hands shook as he turned to Callie’s body in the hospital bed. He caressed her face and kissed her forehead tenderly. Tears fell into her hair as he wept. “I love you.” The monitors began to buzz and flatline as Callie’s spirit was finally set free.

Riley looked back at where the girl had stood and her once sad face had a small smile as she was engulfed in light and disappeared. The hunter couldn’t help but cry with a little breathy chuckle of joy knowing she was finally at peace.

------

Back in front of the nurses’ station, Sam, Dean, and Riley joined Doctor Garrison. The grieving father looked at the hunters. “And the girl's okay?” When Dean nodded, Garrison sighed heavily. “So, it's really over.”

“Yeah,” Sam said. “All thanks to you.”

“Callie was the most important thing in my life. But I should've let her go a long time ago.”

“Well,” Dean started as he reached to shake Garrison’s hand, “see ya ‘round, Doc.”

The doctor chuckled shakily and took the Winchester’s hand. “I sure hope not.” He patted Dean on the shoulder and walked away.

As they watched him turn the corner, Dean leaned into his partners. “You know, what he said? Some good advice.”

“Is that what you want us to do Dean?” Sam asked with a broken heart at his brother’s words. “Just let you go?” He refused to look away as Dean’s glance met Riley’s.

Her eyes had flooded with tears and she bit her trembling lip.

Dean reached for the side of her face and she closed her eyes at his touch. His thumb rubbed softly against her cheek to wipe away the tear that fell.

No one said anything as Dean’s turned to leave. Sam’s arm went around Riley and she clung to his side as they watched him walk alone down the corridor.

------

That night in their motel room, Riley and Sam moved swiftly through the darkness.

Dean was sound asleep and snoring as the other two got ready. His time was ticking away with each passing day and neither was willing to lose him.

Riley stopped to watch Dean sleep and she studied his face as she thought of how there was no mountain she wouldn’t move for that man.

Softly touching her arm, Sam let her know it was time to go. They gathered a bag of necessary items and snuck out of the room.

Sam and Riley took the Impala and drove into the night. Their heads were spinning but their goal was clear and that was all that mattered.

They stopped not far from a train track and parked the car. The whistle of the locomotive blew in the distance along with the chirping of the evening insects. It was a clear sky with a glowing full moon that lit the way as they walked into the center of a crossroads.

The hunters dug into the dirt and Sam crouched down with a box in his hand. Exhaling sharply, he added a photo ID of himself and Riley to the contents and closed the box. His hands grabbed at the dirt and filled the hole until he had buried the summoning box.

Sam stood and dust flew off his hands as he wiped them onto his jeans.

The two turned in circles, surveying the four routes at the crossroads. As they turned their backs, a woman in a black dress appeared. She had long flowing black hair and glowing tanned skin, her eyes blood-red as she eyed the hunters.

“Well, little Sammy Winchester and Riley Munroe,” she said and Sam spun around to face her. “I'm touched. I mean...Dean’s been to see me, but you two? I never had the pleasure.”

As Sam and Riley glared at her, their hearts raced.

The demon’s eyes returned to normal as a glimmer of pleasure came through her sinister smile. “What can I do for you?”

Drawing the Colt from his waistband, Sam pointed it at the demon and smiled with tight lips. “You can beg for your fucking life.”

“We were having such a nice conversation. Then you had to go and ruin the mood.”

“If I were you, I'd drop the wisecracks and start acting scared.”

Still grinning, the demon replied, “it's not my style.” She looked at the tampered-with gun and then back at the Winchester. “That's not the original Colt. Where did you get that?” When Sam didn’t answer, she had a realization. “Ruby--had to be. She is such a pain in my ass. She'll get what's coming to her...you can count on it.”

“We’re done talking,” Riley bit. “We’re here to make an offer.”

“You're gonna make me an offer?” she asked incredulously. “That's fucking adorable.”

Holding tightly to the pistol in his hand, Sam kept his aim. “You let Dean out of his deal right now. He lives, Riley lives--you live. Everyone goes home happy. Or…” He cocked the gun and stared her down. “You stop breathing--permanently.”

She laughed to herself. “Oh, all this tough talk. I have to tell you, it's not very convincing. I mean, come on Sam. Do you even want to break the deal?”

“What do you think?”

“I don't know. Aren't you tired of cleaning up Dean's messes? Of dealing with that broken psyche of his? Aren't you tired of being bossed around like a snot-nosed little brother? You're stronger than Dean. You're better than him. You and Riley would be better off without him.”

Sam’s jaw clenched with anger. “Watch your goddamn mouth.”

“Admit it. You're here, going through the motions. But truth is...you'll be a tiny bit relieved when he's gone.”

“Shut up,” he seethed.

“Sam…” Riley warned. “Don’t let it under your skin. That’s what she wants.”

Slowly, the crossroad demon sauntered closer as she continued to provoke him, enjoying every second of it. “No more desperate, sloppy, needy Dean. You can finally...be free.”

“I said shut the fuck up!” yelled with rage in his eyes.

Riley’s hand reached up to touch his extended arm, hoping to calm him.

“Huh,” the demon teased. “Doth protest too much if you ask me.”

“Cut the bullshit, alright? You let Dean out of this deal right now and you leave my sister alone. You hear me?”

“Sorry, sweetheart, but your brother's an adult. You yourself were going to make that deal for Riley, weren’t you? How are you any better than he is? Or any better than your fathers for that matter? No, Dean made that deal of his own free will, fair and square. It's ironclad.”

“Every deal can be broken. You won’t do it? Fine. I’ll kill you right here, right now. The deal’s gone if you are too.”

“Oh, Sam, I'm just a saleswoman. I got a boss like everybody. He holds the contract, not me. He wants Dean's soul, bad. And believe me, he's not going to let it go.”

“You’re so full of shit,” Riley snarked.

“Am I? Shoot me, if it'll get your rocks off. But the deal still holds and when Dean's time is up, he's getting dragged into the pit.”

“Then who's your boss?” Sam demanded. “Who holds the contract?”

“He's not as cuddly as me, I can tell you that much. I'm sorry, Sam. But there's no way outta this one. Not this time.”

Taking a few strides forward, Riley took a deep breath and clenched her fists trying to stop her shaking. “Tell him he can have me then.”

“What?!” Sam yelled. “No! Riley, what the fuck are you doing?” He grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her back, only for her to yank her hand away.

The demon grinned. “Interesting.” She got close to the hunter and looked her in the eye as her soulless red eyes returned. “You know, all of Hell wants you dead, Munroe. You shouldn’t make promises you won’t keep.”

“I’ll keep it. Take me. You leave Sam out go free and you let Dean out of his deal.”

“Oh, honey…” the evil woman took in a deep inhale of Riley’s scent and licked her lip. “You are too tempting. Believe me, I would love to be the one that drags you into the pit myself--especially after what you did to my coworker.” The demon chuckled under her breath and leaned in to whisper in Riley’s ear. “We know about you, Riley,” she hissed and the hunter flinched. “We know what you’re capable of. And yet…” Taking a few steps back, she sized Riley up. “you can’t get it up now, can you?”

Riley’s jaw clenched. “Don’t test me.”

With a laugh, the demon clicked her tongue. “You try to act so tough, like you’re just as strong as the big boys, but you’re just still a scared little girl. So much rage, but I don’t think you have the juice right now, do you? You’re not strong enough. Not since you came back.”

“You’re right,” Riley replied callously. “I’m not.” Sam was filled with dread and worry as he watched Riley face off with the demon. With a deadpan tone and no emotion, Riley uttered, “kill her, Sam.”

Before the demon could react, Sam’s gaze looked back at the red-eyed woman and he instantly pulled the trigger.

The bullet flew right between her eyes and her body jolted as electrical shocks ran through her body. Strong light from the currents reflected on her face until the possessed vessel finally fell to the ground, smoke slowly seeping from the bullet hole.

The two stood in the silence of night once again. With no more answers than they had before, the hunters were left in the middle of the crossroads.

With frustration, Sam blurted out, “what the fuck was that? We had a plan!”

“Yeah, well...she’s dead,” Riley answered as she turned to face him. “That was the plan either way.”

“What?” Sam took long steps until he was right in front of her and stared down at his sister. “You were just gonna sell your soul? How could you do that to me?”

Finally exploding with emotion, Riley shouted, “because we’re running out of time!” Tears ran down her face and she ran a hand through her hair. “I can’t...I can’t let him die, Sam. He can’t die for me.” Riley began to sob and her words were barely audible. “I can’t lose him.”

Sam wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as she cried into him. His hands rubbed her back and he rested his head on hers after kissing into her hair. “Shh. I know. We’re gonna get through this, Rye. We won’t let them take him.”

Sam was just as desperate to save Dean. He needed his brother more than he wanted to admit and Sam wasn’t sure if he could go on without him. Whether he said it or not, he loved Dean. He was more than a big brother; he was his best friend. But it was more than that. If Sam was being honest, he would admit that an eternity in Hell would be better than a life without his brother and sister.

It didn’t matter the cost, Sam and Riley were determined to save Dean. They both knew there was nothing they wouldn’t do to keep the hounds at bay. There was nothing they weren’t ready to sacrifice for each other.

It would take the end of the world to keep their family apart; and even if that day came, they would only go down together.

------

S3 Chapter 5: Red Sky at Morning

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