WARNING: Re-edit. Also, spoilers for 7x02 "Hello, Cruel World".
Author's Note: This was inspired by that scene in 7X02 "Hello, Cruel World", when Dean and Sam drive back to Bobby and find the place burnt down. Then Dean leaves that heart-wrenching voice mail for Bobby... I just had to write something for it. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.
Dean paced back and forth through the garage, the smell of smoke still lingering in the air from the house that smoldered not ten yards away…Except it wasn't just a house.
It was his home.
Other than his Impala, Bobby's house was the only place Dean had ever really considered to be home, and now it was nothing more than a pile of ashes, dirt, and burnt memories.
And Bobby was nowhere to be found.
Dean wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. After all, finding him alive would be great, but finding him otherwise…Not even an option.
RING RING RING
Every time the phone rang and there was no answer, the pit in Dean's stomach got deeper. What if he never answered again? What if he was actually gone forever? Like Ellen, and Jo, and Cas… With that thought Dean remembered the conversation he and Bobby had just after Cas had walked into the water reserve to meet his demise.
"Ok, so he's gone." Dean was half in shock as he said it.
He leaned down to collect Castiel's coat from the muddy water, folding it up and patting the top, trying to process what was happening. It felt so wrong to see the coat empty.
"Dumb bastard." He muttered, unsure of what else to say.
"Well he was friends with us, wasn't he?" Bobby said, looking at Dean with sympathetic eyes.
Bobby had understood that Dean needed to remember Cas as "their friend"- to think of all the good he'd done for them, and ignore the bad.
Because the angel was dead and Dean couldn't bear to hate him after he'd gone like that- after he had tried to make things right…
And Bobby had known it.
He had called Castiel their friend one last time to prove he wouldn't let Cas's mistakes completely sully the memory of him, because Dean needed to be allowed to remember the angel as the friend he had once been to them, and Bobby wouldn't deny him that.
Because Bobby never denied him anything.
Whenever Dean was in need, Bobby was there. From the time he and Sam showed up at the older hunter's door asking for help getting their dad back, to during the past few weeks, when Bobby had given him all the materials he needed to fix up his precious Impala, free of charge.
Bobby had never said no to Dean or Sam. He had been there for them through everything, thick and thin. He had always been there to talk, and been there to listen.
And he had always been there to pick up the phone…
"This is Bobby Singer's direct hotline. You should not have this number." … BEEEEP!
"You better not be in that crater back there Bobby. You asked me how I was doing? Well, not good! If you're dead, I swear I'm gonna strap my Beautiful Mind brother into our car, and drive us off the pier. You got that? Now you said you'd be here when I needed you. Where are you?!" Dean ended the call and closed his eyes for a brief moment, fighting the urge to tear up.
Now was not the time to lose his head and get all emotional. Bobby had to still be out there, and wherever he was, he would need Dean calm and thinking clearly in order to help him.
So Dean took a shaky breath, and then another…
He could do this. He had to do this.
Because Bobby needed him for a change, and he wasn't about to let down the man who had never once failed him.
Secondary Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Feedback is Greatly appreciated! :)
