Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Beth’s heart raced for what seemed like a mile a minute. Probably more. She’s never seen Dean like this. And she was pretty sure that if this was a cartoon, he would have red eyes by now. Half of her mind thought that it wasn’t good for his health, considering that he had just gotten shot earlier this month.  And the last thing she needed was another incident  where he ended up passed out on the floor of the dealership. Now, he was pissed that she was still working with Rio. 

“Beth, he shot me for god’s sake, what else do you want me to say that would convince you that he’s a bad person,” he said. She didn’t answer, and that made Dean even more angry. “Tell me,” he demanded. 

“It’s money,” she responded. 

“No, it’s not. It’s you, working with a gang leader who shot me in our dining room!” he started. “While you did what?” Beth took a step back, inching farther from any surface she could be pushed into or slammed against. “While you did what, Beth?” Dean asked again. 

“While I stood there, trying to figure out why I wasn’t the one who pulled the trigger,” Beth owned it. Every single day she asks herself why she didn’t do it. Why she got scared, when Dean’s slept with half of Detroit. She’ll never understand. Her statement made Dean’s blood boil, as he charged at her. He grabbed her wrists, hard, pushing her into the closed bedroom door. Beth’s head hit the door last, the grip on her wrists not loosening at all. “Dean, what the fuck!” she screamed. And that only pissed him off more. One hand released from her wrist, relocating to her neck. Time passed and Beth noticed that she couldn’t breathe—his hand was choking her. 

“Dean, I- I can’t,” Beth tried telling him that she couldn’t breathe, but couldn’t get enough air in to finish her sentence. Dean’s hand came down from her neck, and she gasped for air. If we’re being totally honest, if this were Rio, she would be so turned on right now. But with Dean, she knows he’s doing it to hurt her. 

“Stop seeing him,” Dean demanded. Beth looked him dead in the eyes. 

“No,” was all she said. 

“What did you just say?”

”I said, no,” she repeated. Dean took her arm and twisted it around her back, making the front of her slam into the door once again. Beth struggled for a minute, and let out a groan. It was no use. “Dean. Let me go and get the fuck out of this house,” she told him. He finally released her, causing her to drop to the floor. The front door slammed shut, causing Beth to flinch. Tears rolled down her face as she reached for her phone, immediately texting Ruby and Annie in a group chat. 

Get here. Now. 

“All I’m saying is that it was a little dramatic, I mean it could’ve be-" Annie’s sentence stopped halfway when she saw the sight of her sister laying on the floor. “Okay, totally not dramatic,” she added, looking over at Ruby, who had the widest eyes ever. Beth rolled over onto her back, getting a sight of the two. “What the hell happened?” 

“Dean found out that we’ve been working with Rio still,” she started. “He got mad and slammed me into the door,” She could’ve sworn she heard a whisper of ‘Oh my god’ from Ruby. 

“So what do we do now?” Annie asked. It was odd since she was always the one getting hurt, especially when her and Beth were younger. But in this situation, she was stumped. 

“I don’t know. I was just going to lay here for a bit. I can’t even try to get up,” Beth replied. 

“Don’t,” Annie told her. She crouched down to ground, and laid down next to her sister. “It’s gonna be okay, babygirl,” she told her. 

“I’m just so tired,” Beth said. 

“Go to sleep,” Annie replied, stroking her hair. 

“Annie!” Ruby yelled. 

“What?”

”You’re really going to tell someone who most likely hit their head to go to sleep!” she replied. 

“I thought that was just a myth,” Annie said. Ruby rolled her eyes as Beth laughed. There was a moment of silence. 

“Can you guys do something crazy for me?” Beth asked. Annie sat up. 

“What is it?” she asked in reply. 

“Can you call Rio?”

Annie stood at the front door waiting for him to show up. Pacing back and forth, she finally saw his black g-wagon pull in front of the house, across the street. He walked up as Annie opened the door, meeting him inside. 

“What’s goin’ on?” he asked her. 

“Deansie got pissed off and,” she started. “Physically hurt her this time,” 

Rio’s blood boiled in his skin. Like it wasn’t bad enough that he cheated, now this jackass had to lay his hands on her. Only he did that, in a bar bathroom though, of course. “He’s fuckin’ dead to me,” 

Ruby walked out of the bedroom, exchanging a nod with Rio as he walked by. Beth could tell it was him, especially when he started to get closer to her. They really haven’t interacted since that night at the bar. He sat down on the ground beside her, but kind of behind as well. 

“Where is he,” Rio faintly said. Beth turned her head to get a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye. 

“No,” she said, throwing her head back against the cold, hardwood floor. Rio pushed the hair that fell onto her face back with his hand, wiping a single tear that was falling, mixing with her mascara that ran all the way down to the end of her cheek. He put his hands under her arms, lifting her up to pull her to him, leaning her against his chest. Beth put her one hand on his arm as he snaked them around her. “I don’t want you to get hurt,”

Rio laughed. “You don’t gotta worry about me getting hurt, ma,” he told her. “It’s him hurting you is what I worry about,”

”It won’t happen again. I’ll just, tell him we’re not working together anymore,” she responded, slightly closing her eyes as his warm embrace relaxed her. 

“You don’t know that,” Rio said. “Just tell me where he is, Elizabeth,” 

“I don’t know,”

Beth pulled her legs in as she shifted against Rio, closing her eyes again. Her hand let go of his arm as she lost all control, her body finally falling asleep. Rio noticed the redness around her wrists that looked like sunburn compared to her pale skin. He didn’t know what he was going to do Dean, but he did know one thing. 

“I’m gon’ make sure he never hurts you again,” 

Chapter Text

Rio had somehow managed to get Beth into the bed after some struggle.  Turns out he's not the strong guy he used to be, and had to call Annie to help him.  He knew that it would cause her to tease him relentlessly.  It was just after eleven, judging by the darkness in the backyard, that was partially illuminated by the porch light.  Dean was who knows where and the kids were at his mom's.  Annie decided to stay out in the living room, standing guard incase he were to come back.  Ruby eventually showed back up after going home to tell Stan, who forced her to go back to the house to be with Beth.  And Rio; well, he was trying to quietly climb into bed next to her. But there was no way of doing anything quietly after the night she just had. The bed shifted with Rio's weight as he laid down next to Beth, who lifted her head.  

"Go back to sleep, it's just me," he told her, running his fingers through her hair, and resting a hand around her waist.

"Okay," Beth replied tiredly, moving back against him.  She could feel his heartbeat, and his chest moving as he breathed. Up, down. Up, down. She knew he was the only one in the house that could protect her, even after the several protests in the past that Annie could 'Kick Deansie's ass'. After all, Rio was the one that carried a gun with him everywhere he went.  But in the back of her mind, she knew that her sister wouldn't let Dean past the front door.  That was what sparked the discussion where Annie tried to convince her to change the locks after he cheated, but Beth wasn't for that. Now she probably will, at least it'll give Rio a good time trying to pick the new ones. Sometimes she swears that he stole a key from her and made a copy of it just to get in. 

Ruby had pulled up just in time.  As she sat in her car, ready to get out, she saw Dean walking back up to the front door of the house. She panicked, quickly calling Annie to try to stop him. No answer. "No, no, no, no, no. You're telling me this child actually turned her phone off?" It was no use for her to try to get out to stop him, as the distance between the two wasn't even at all. Now she just prayed that Annie would hear the front door open.  But unfortunately for everyone; she didn't.  Ruby followed a little bit behind Dean, who walked in the door.  She was a couple seconds behind, but still far enough away so he wouldn't see her. Dean ducked to go to the hall near the bedroom, and Ruby rushed to Annie, who was sound asleep on the couch. She shook her awake, motioning for her to be quiet as well. 

"What's going on?" she asked.  Ruby pointed to the bedroom. Annie's eyes widened, not wanting to say what she was thinking or what Ruby was trying to tell her. "No," she whispered. 

Ruby nodded, scared. "It's not going to be good," she said. Annie jumped up and started to inch closer to the door, going to a closet to grab a baseball bat on her way. She looked back at Ruby, who gave her a confused look. 

“What is that going to do?”

”I don’t know, incase I have to hit him on the head or something,” Annie explained. “God knows I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,”

Beth was woken up by the sound of the door swinging open. It took a couple seconds for her vision to unblur to get a good sense of what was going on.  But it didn’t take long after that for her to realize that it was Dean standing there. She took a glance at the door, mapping her escape route just incase. Reaching back, she grabbed a hold of Rio’s arm that was wrapped around her, tugging it to try to wake him up. 

“Rio,” she finally said. He lifted his head that was buried in her hair to see who was standing near the door. It was at this moment that Annie was at the doorway, motioning to try to get Beth’s attention. Any way she went, she feared that Dean would hurt her again. Rio got up, grabbing his gun that was lying on the bedside table beside him, and started walking towards Dean. He spotted Annie in the hallway, and motioned to her. 

“Get her out of here,” he said to her. Annie entered the room, and locked eyes with Dean. She nodded, walking towards Beth. 

“No,” 

“Elizabeth, I ain’t got time for this. No way in hell are you gonna be in here,” Rio told her. “Go with her,” he commanded. And Beth listened, following her sister out into the hallway where Ruby was waiting. 

“What is he gonna do?” Ruby asked. 

“I hope he beats him up. Man deserves it,” Annie said. 

“Annie!” Their bickering went on for a bit while Beth was just silent. 

“He’ll kill me if Rio does anything to him,” she finally said, a tear rolling down her face. Annie and Ruby exchanged a look. You could faintly hear Dean arguing over Rio, and it seemed like he was trying to justify everything that happened. And Beth swore she heard a ‘Ain’t no justifying what you did’ from Rio. 

Then a door slammed. It seemed like an eternity that they were waiting for Rio to come back out. Because they knew that it would be him. There was no way Dean was tough enough to beat him, especially after tonight. Rio eventually emerged from the room, surprisingly fine. They really expected there to be a physical fight, but I guess maturity was in the air tonight. 

“He ain’t gonna be bothering you anytime soon,” he said. Beth kept her focus down at the ground, not saying a word. Annie was the first one to speak. 

“What did you do?” she asked. 

“Don’t gotta know,” Rio told her. Annie walked over to him, patting him on the shoulder. 

“You’re the best gangfriend ever,” she said, and walked into the kitchen. Ruby followed, leaving the two alone. Beth walked over to him, still looking down. Until she finally broke the silence. 

“Thank you,” she whispered, clinging onto him as sobs erupted from her body. Rio wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back, and making a ‘shh’ sound. 

“He’s never gonna put his hands on you again,” he told her. She looked up at him, leaving a wet spot on the shoulder of his t shirt. He looked into her bloodshot eyes and could tell that she was just—exhausted. Beth swallowed, taking a deep breath before leaning her head into his chest. 

“What did you say to him?” she asked. 

“I don’t think you should know,”

“But I want to,” Rio laughed, grabbing her legs and lifting her up to carry her back to bed. He sat her down, back where she was laying before Dean came in. “I could’ve walked,” she protested. Rio couldn’t believe how incredibly stubborn she was sometimes. 

“Just had to stick it to your sister that I can carry you,” he replied as Beth laughed. “Get some sleep,” he told her, starting to walk away. He was stopped by her hand coming out to grab his arm, pulling him back into the bed with her. Like they were before Dean ruined it. 

”Yo,” Rio said, walking towards Dean, gun in hand. 

“Yo?” Dean replied, mocking him. “What the hell are you doing in bed with my wife?”

”You mean the one you slammed against a wall before you left here?” 

“I was coming back to explain myself,” Dean swore. But Rio knew it was a lie. He would do anything to make himself sound good. 

“Ain’t no justifying what you did. Here’s what’s gon’ happen,” Rio started. “You’re gonna get the fuck out of here, let your god damn wife do what she needs to do to get money to fix what your dumbass started, and you never lay a hand on her again,” Dean was speechless, and Rio didn’t even have the gun up to his face. 

“Okay,”

“And if I find out this happens again, you might find another bullet in you,” Rio added. “You understand?”

”Yea-yeah,” Dean replied.

”Now get out of here,”