Broken || Dean Winchester

10. Sacrifice.

Riley thanked the barista and smiled at him as she picked up her order of coffees and headed back to the motel. It was her turn to buy the coffees for her, Sam and Dean. She smiled at an older couple as she passed them on her way back. When she reached the door to their motel, she could hear yelling on the other side. Riley sighed and rolled her eyes as she pushed the door open. Both Sam and Dean looked at the door quickly as she walked through and then turned back to each other, continuing their fight. 

"This is pointless Dean! We should be looking for Dad, not wasting our time following up on this crap!" Sam yelled. 

"Dad sent us this for a reason." Dean argued, holding up a sheet of paper. 

"Guys, enough!" Riley exclaimed, standing between them. "Look, I know you want to find your Dad but this has to stop!" 

"It's not as simple as that Riley." Sam said, sighing heavily. "He wants us to stop looking for him and deal with another case." 

"So deal with the case then." Riley said. 

"No, why should we keep being his obedient little soldiers?" Sam argued. 

"Because that's what we've been brought up to do! Like it or not Sammy, this is what we do now!" Dean exclaimed. 

"Alright, how about this." Riley said, holding her hands out. "We go and check out whatever your Dad left for you and then as soon as we've dealt with it, we'll go and find your Dad, that way you're both doing what you want." 

Sam looked at her intently for a few minutes before sighing. "Fine." 

They packed up their stuff and hit the road. Half way into their journey to Burkitsville, Sam and Dean started arguing again. 

"Stop the car." Sam demanded. 

Dean pulled the car over and Sam got out the car, taking his bag with him. Riley looked at Dean, expecting him to get out and follow him, but he didn't. Riley got out the car and followed Sam. 

"Sam, wait!" Riley hurried towards him. "Where are you going?"

"California. I'm going to find my Dad." Sam said. 

"Sam, you can't leave!" Riley insisted. 

"I'm sorry Riley but I can't stay here when I know he's out there." Sam sighed. 

"Fine, I'll come with you." Riley said. 

"No, stay with Dean. He's gonna need someone to keep him out of trouble." Sam shook his head. 

"Please don't do this Sammy, I need you." Riley whispered. 

"And he needs you. Go, I'll be fine." Sam smiled sadly at her. 

Riley wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Be safe." 

"You too." Sam said as they pulled apart from each other. 

Riley watched Sam walk up the road then turned back to the impala. She wiped away the stray tear that slid down her cheek and spotted Dean standing by the driver side door, leaning on the car. Riley glared at him and climbed into the passenger seat. Dean got back into the car and started the engine again. Around ten minutes into their journey, Riley turned to Dean. 

"How could you let him leave like that?" 

"Sam's a big boy, Riley, he can handle himself." Dean sighed, keeping his eyes on the road. 

"He's your brother, Dean!" Riley exclaimed. 

"Look, I can't exactly tie him up and force him to follow me." Dean argued.