Tag to Adventures in Babysitting. Spoilers for everything up till that point.
This is part of the Alphabet Series but I skipped ahead a bit so I'll call it 8 but there will more then likely be a 7.1 and 7.2 at some point to fill in the blanks.
Bobby was gone.
He repeated it over and over again. A giant loop in his head that wouldn't stop. There was the drinking, of course. So much of it he was even beginning to worry himself. Worse still was that Sam was matching him drink for drink.
Dean certainly had a streak of self destruction a mile wide but watching Sam embrace the same fatalistic attitude was saddening. Sam. The same man who had only a few months ago told him that he felt at peace. Sam. The boy who had spent a hundred years trapped in prison.
They had lost so much. All starting with their Mom.
Dad, Jessica, Ash, Pamela, Adam, Jo, Ellen, Castiel. So many more. Not to mention all the people they had left behind to keep them safe.
His mind wandered back to Lisa and Ben before focusing on the one person he couldn't seem to forget. The one person who continued to haunt his dreams.
It had been getting worse and worse the longer he was forced to deal with Frank.
Luckily Sam hadn't mentioned her. It seemed he had gotten the memo. Never say her name. Not even when she was the best person for the job. He wouldn't risk getting her on the Leviathan's radar. Wouldn't risk putting her in danger.
He should never have let her get involved but when he had met her they had both been so lost. So close to the edge he hadn't had the strength to do what was right. And then there was death and the rings and Sam said yes and jumped into the pit.
He's stayed with her for a full 2 months after Sam's swan dive. Somehow managing to avoid talking about what the hell Death had said about her. Avoiding how even Cas had asked her what she was.
They played house. Pretended to live a normal life. Her hiding her nightly activities from him while he pretended he didn't know. Busy living in the self pity that was Sam's demise. But it was a lie. One built on denial and self loathing. Then she had started with the questions again. What was different about her? What the hell death had been talking about. Singularity.
So he left. Once night he just left. He didn't say anything. Didn't leave a note. Didn't call. Didn't write. He fell off the face of the earth until he heard the first rumor about Sam. Soulless Sam.
What a god dam mess.
Now Cas and Bobby were gone. Sam's was still crazy and the world was on the brink. Again. They were alone. Seriously, no one left in the world, alone.
The first time he had really thought about her was when they went to Frank for new identities. New lives. Bobby had suggested it but all he could think about was her. Knew she could have fixed this. Knew she could have made their vanishing act a piece of cake.
Part of him wanted to. To call her. To see her. That smile and those bright green eyes. Then he thought about her waking up to find him gone. Waiting to see if he would come back, checking the local morgues for anyone matching his description.
The worst part was he knew she would help. She might rail and scream but at the end of the day the job was more important than hurt feelings and she would have understood that.
But then Frank had taken care of it. Given them new (horrible bland) ids and scrubbed the internet and any database of their existence. Worse still was the fact that Frank had made them put his baby in storage.
Storage.
Denying her the open road was a sacrilege. Blasphemy.
Now it had been four weeks since the factory. Since the Turduken nightmare. Since Bobby had…
He still couldn't say the word. Couldn't accept that the man he had considered a father was really gone. Wouldn't be calling him an idjit the next time he did something stupid.
4 weeks and the numbers that Bobby had fought death for still meant nothing. Certainly they had to mean something. And now she was in his mind again and he was fighting himself to call her. She would help. She would solve the problem.
He picked up the phone and dialed the number and it felt like he had only done it a week ago instead of more than a year ago.
She answered the phone without a word. Terrified it was the call that she had been dreading since the moment he had left.
"Chloe?" It was his voice and she released the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.
"Who else would be answering this phone?" She tried to keep her tone light but it was hard. Torn between screaming at him and telling him how much she had missed him she tried to stay silent.
"I …" He paused unsure where to start.
"Either you are on your death bed and you want to tell me you're sorry or you need my help."
"Not dieing." He tried to push down the guilt.
"Help it is then. What do you need?" She waited for an explanation. The pain from that morning flooded through her and tears stung her eyes. "Tell me where you are and I will be there in 5 minutes."
"Bobby's cabin." He whispered the words and the line went dead. She hung up on him.
She cried. A horrible wailing sound that eased some of the pain in her chest. She wanted to keep on wailing but there wasn't time. He had called and she knew that meant it was urgent so she wiped her face and called a ride.
"At your service my flaxen haired beauty." Bart smiled at her as she finished pulling herself together. A bag with her emergency supplies already at her feet. His face fell when she turned. The sadness evident. "Tell me who hurt you and I will see them roast on a spit."
Chloe smiled at him and waved off his threat. "I'm fine Bart. But I do need a ride. Perhaps you can help me with that?" He watched her for a moment longer. Certain that she wasn't fine but he knew she was never one to talk about anything that bothered her. Not to him or anyone else on the team. Not even to Lois. So instead of asking her again he grabbed her around the waist and sped off.
"Your destination my lady." He offered her a small bow before speeding off again. Whatever she was doing wasn't league business and he wasn't about to risk being compromised. Besides. It would only take a scream from her and Clark would be at her side.
She stood on the front porch of the ramshackle cabin. Her hand raised to knock but the knowledge that he was just on the other side of the door made her hesitate. She had to remind herself it was the end of the world.
He pulled open the door at the first knock and she had to fight the urge to rush into his arms. He looked so tired. So haunted.
"Hey Chloe." She looked away from him at the sound of Sam's voice. She hadn't spoken to him since before his swan dive and there was a part of her that couldn't help but smile to know he was okay. Okay maybe not okay but he was not trapped in a hell box with Lucifer and Michael anymore.
"Hey Sam." She still felt the familiar tug of friendship. Even after all this time she cared about him. Cared about him, about his wellbeing. She had missed their talks.
"So now that we are all caught up lets talk about this new problem." Dean moved aside to let her enter the tiny cabin. He caught the haunted look in her eyes as she passed him. Wondered how much of it was his fault.
"Whose luxury accommodations are we enjoying?" Chloe moved some papers and sat down.
"Bobby's." Chloe was going to ask where he was but she saw the look in Dean's eyes. Suddenly it all made sense.
"I'm so sorry. I know how much he meant to you both." She watched as Sam nodded.
"Yeah it's crap but we're fine." Chloe gave Dean a look that said she knew he was lying but she didn't push it. He wasn't a big fan of talking about his emotional state. "I called you because he gave us these numbers and we can't seem to figure out what they can mean."
"Do you have a place to start? It will make the searching a bit easier." Chloe pulled out her laptop while Dean told her the highlights starting with Sam's soullessness, Castiel's deal, Purgatory, the fight in heaven and finally the leviathans. "So it's been a busy year."
Her heart was breaking. How much was one family supposed to have to deal with? Sam without a soul? Castiel betraying the boys? She was angry that he had chosen to deal with all of this on his own. She could have helped. She could have supported him. Been there by his side. Stupid selfish idiot always behaving like the dam lone ranger. Like no one knew his pain.
"So these numbers have something to do with these purgatory escapees?" That at least gave her a place to start. "I'm going to need some…" She was going to say coffee but Sam was already moving forward and handing her a steaming mug. She offered him her first real smile and he smiled back. A tiny bit of the sadness melting away. "Bobby was lying about the shape shifters."
"Shape shifters?" It took Sam a minute to know what she was talking about. "Yeah not shifters. Big mouths pretending to be us."
"I called after the first story broke. I knew it wasn't you. I just wasn't sure what the big bad was." Dean looked surprised and she wasn't sure why. Of course she still cared what happened to them. Just because he had walked out on her didn't mean she thought he would go on a killing spree.
"I didn't…" Sam spoke but she cut him off.
"Didn't think I would care? Didn't think I would believe you? Past aside I know neither of you is capable of that." She took another sip of her coffee and checked the laptop. "I was going to scrub your record but somebody beat me to it. He missed a few things but it wasn't a bad job."
She didn't want to talk about it anymore. How much it had hurt to know they had gone to someone else when she could have helped. Did they think she wouldn't? And now? How bad was it that they finally called her?
She couldn't think about that. There was a problem and she needed to solve it. If Bobby had spent his last breath on this earth getting this info to the boys it was important. It was everything.
She sat at her laptop typing and searching and trying to puzzle out a solution. The boys wandered through the cabin picking up various books and cleaning weapons. It seemed like they were just trying to keep busy and she couldn't blame them. Computer searching wasn't exactly a team activity.
To her utter joy they kept her coffee cup full and warm.
After about 2 hours of searching she got an idea. "Any chance the number is longer?" Both boys suddenly looked up at her. "I mean is it possible he couldn't finish whatever he was trying to tell you?"
Sam seemed to think about it. "He did have a bullet in his head." Dean said it so matter of factly but it caused Chloe's heart to ache.
"That changes things." She went right back to typing. She didn't have time to play mother hen to them. No matter how much she might have wanted to.
It was another hour before she hit pay dirt. Coordinates. She frowned that Dean missed it. This was the way his father had sent his jobs for years. It said volumes about his mental state. About how close to the edge they were both operating.
She traced the location back to a land purchase and to one of Roman's numerous shell companies. She wanted to be sure before she told the boys. There wasn't any room for error with this. It was too important. So she dug deeper. Tracing the purchase back to about 1 month after the leviathans were unleashed on the world. Enough time to come up with a plan and put it in motion. It fit.
"I think I have it." Dean got up and moved to stand over her shoulder. Her cursed as he glanced at what she had pulled up.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid. I've been staring at these numbers for weeks and the answer was so obvious." He slammed his first down on the table as Sam came up behind him.
"Freaking Bobby." Sam's voice held sadness and a fondness that made Chloe smile.
"What are they building?" Dean leaned in closer and Chloe's breath caught as his smell surrounded her. Memory flooding back of the way it felt to be held in his arms. To be touched with his calloused hands.
"I haven't found any plans submitted with the local building commission but I put a worm in place. It will alert me when something is filed."
"Thanks." Dean whispered the words before stepping back.
Chloe started packing her things up. "Be safe boys." She grabbed her phone and sent Bart a text. He would be standing outside in ten minutes. She was leaving again. Back to her life in Metropolis. At least she would get to say good bye this time.
Sam gave Dean a look as Chloe moved towards the door. Dean shrugged his shoulders and pretended he didn't understood what that look meant. Pretended that the idea of her walking out didn't hurt. Didn't make him die a little more inside.
Sam moved towards her and gave her a hug. She was lost in his embrace for a moment. She was reminded of there huge size difference. If it was possible he was bigger than Clark.
When he released her he made his way to the back of the cabin and went into the tiny washroom. Chloe could appreciate his effort but she didn't have anything to say to Dean. She just wanted to leave. Glancing up she noticed Dean looked pained. Like the thought of being alone with her was more than he could bare.
The award silence was ended with a quick knock at the door. "That would be my ride." She turned to go but stopped at the door and turned back towards Dean. "I'm sincerely sorry about Bobby. He was a good man."
Dean was going to give her some stupid platitude or tell her she didn't even know him but he couldn't. His mouth wouldn't work. He couldn't get his brain to think about anything but the fact that the man he had loved more than his own father. The man who had raised him to be a good man. The man who had saved his ass more times than Dean cared to count was gone.
He felt his chest tighten with the grief that he had been doing his best to ignore. A prickling in his eyes as he squeezed them shut only to open them to find Chloe standing before him. Her hand reaching towards him. Her fingers twining with his right before she pressed her face to his chest and held him. He felt a tear slip out and he wiped at it absently. Coughing to try and clear his throat. He wrapped his arms around her.
His mind drifted to the time after Sam's death. When he had been hanging on to his sanity by a threat and she was the only thing keeping him from going over the edge. She had been so good to him. So patient. So understanding. Never asking him to talk about anything, never pressing him. Just letting him be.
He might have let her hold him forever but there was another knock on the door. This time more insistent. Chloe pulled back and stared up into his face for a moment. Her eyes locking on his as she felt that familiar pull. God how she wanted to forget everything and get lost in his eyes.
She reached her hand up and ran it along the stubled edge of his jaw before turning and walking towards the door. "Goodbye Dean."
It sounded so permanent and she immediately wanted to take it back. She wasn't ready for it to be over but there was always a good chance this would be the last time she was going to see him. It hurt but there was nothing to be done so she walked out and hoped that fate wouldn't be so cruel this time.