Summary: Bobby placed his hand on the barrier. He knew Sam was just on the other side, and from there, Dean was only a car ride away. His boys were within reach and they were hurting. Reaching for the doorknob, Bobby wondered what would happen if he tried it, if he followed Castiel back into the world.
Episode Tag: 10.17 - Inside Man
Disclaimer: I own nothing… if I did I would treat them a lot nicer than their current owners.
Bobby's Choice
The door slammed shut leaving Bobby standing alone in the long white corridor, panting quietly from their sprint with Metatron. But now they were through the door and Bobby was left here at a loss at what to do. Looking around, Bobby vaguely realized the alarms had stopped, though he barely noticed over the pounding of adrenaline through his veins.
Bobby placed his hand on the barrier. He knew Sam was just on the other side, and from there, Dean was only a car ride away. His boys were within reach. And they were hurting. They needed him and he was here. He was retired – put out to pasture, while they were out there fighting the fight.
Glancing down at the doorknob, Bobby wondered what would happen if he tried it, if he followed Castiel back into the world. He remembered the desperation in Sam's voice over the radio and the resignation in Castiel's face. They needed him. His boys needed him. The portal would never be left unguarded again after the escape he had just facilitated. His window of opportunity was quickly closing. If he was going to go he had to go this very moment.
Bobby told himself it wasn't a selfish decision, the world was in trouble. There were monsters to kill and people to save. He was a hunter. He knew more about hunting than any hunter he had ever known. He could do a lot of good for a lot of people if he was given a second chance! And if anyone deserved a second chance it was him!
His right hand twitched slightly toward the doorknob before falling to his side. No, he thought sadly but firmly. There were other hunters out there who would – had picked up where he left off. That's how hunting worked. You hunted until you fell and then those behind you picked up the fight. That was the cycle of life. Bobby should know… he had helped raise two of the very best hunters the world had ever seen.
Besides, Bobby thought sadly as he turned resolutely away from the door to walk back to his heaven, nothing good had ever come of him trying to outstay his welcome among the living. The last thing he needed was to become another problem for Sam and Dean to deal with… again.
Decision made, Bobby didn't even glance back at the door before rounding the corner at a quick jog. The land of the living belonged to his boys. Heaven, if they didn't kick him out for this, belonged to him.
The Winchester boys might feel lost in the moment, but they would figure it out… they always did. And if they needed him, really needed him as they had today, they knew where to find him. This is where he belonged now… for now anyway.
AN: Hope you liked it. This was actually intended to be the beginning of "Shared Heaven" but once the full story was written I realized I had been feeding off two thoughts which had created two different plot lines which meant Bobby's thought processes didn't match between the two sections. So I made them the separate stories they were meant to be.
