Sam and Dean were in tears. They were out of breath. Their heads were between their legs as they struggled to gain some semblance of breath. And they were next to a very clearly annoyed Bobby. Evidently trying to blend in with the norm of this world, Bobby had shown up in a black wizard's robe and matching pointy hat. The sight of the grizzled old hunter sporting such odd clothing compared to his normal flannel and jeans was enough to reduce Sam and Dean into tears of sheer laughter. They had met him at the castle entrance and, while everyone else undoubtedly found Bobby's attire perfectly normal, Sam and Dean could only bring themselves to stop laughing for just a few moments before looking at him and bursting into mirth once more. Bobby glared at them and pulled his wand out of his pocket, tapping it menacingly against his leg and causing red sparks to shoot from the end. "If you two don't stop laughing you are going to spend Christmas as a pair of guinea pigs."
Understanding this as a very serious threat, the Winchesters immediately stopped laughing, though their stomachs still ached from the effort. Now, with that out of their system, they embraced their old mentor in a tight embrace. "It's good to see you boys," Bobby said, his voice somewhat hoarser than normal. For a moment Dean thought it might have been because Bobby was crying, but when they released one another, his eyes were clear from tears. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you two idjits here."
"Trust me Bobby, the feeling is mutual," Sam said, still smiling. "How did you get here? And where's your stuff?"
"My stuff?" Bobby repeated. "Back at my house, in the States, why?"
"We just sorta figured that, you know, you would be staying here." Dean explained, clearly disappointed by this.
"I would love to, but I have a job here too," Bobby said, suddenly uncomfortable. "And, well…"
Sam and Dean leaned in expectantly, waiting for Bobby to further explain himself. "And?" Dean prompted.
"Karen's here," Bobby said gruffly. "My Karen. Knows every little detail about me, except for the fact that she… died. Knows about this world too."
"Wait, Karen, as in your dead wife Karen?" Dean said incredulously. "How?"
"Hell if I know," Bobby shrugged again. "Believe me, I didn't believe it either at first. Thought she was some kind of illusion and some Djinn had put the whammy on me. That's why I tried so hard to get out of here at first, didn't want to be some monster's midnight snack. After I managed to get out once that Guide showed up and explained what she had done.
"So you really managed to get out, back to our world?" Dean asked incredulously.
"No, not back to our world," Bobby shook his head. "Looked like it though. I figured out a spell, a really old one I pulled from some ancient book I managed to get my hands on, and created a portal to another world. Stepped through and it looked like I was in New York City. But there were creatures flying around, these massive worm looking things, and a massive portal above me that they were coming out of. Caught a glimpse of some massive green thing coming at me before the Guide grabbed me and drug me back here to this world. That's when she explained herself and told me that all other ways out of this world were now sealed off."
"Why does that sound familiar?" Dean wondered to himself, thinking about the world Bobby had been to. He shook his head, storing the information away for another time, and clapped Bobby on the shoulder. "Well, you are here now that's what matters. How did you get away from Karen for the holidays?"
"She's off seeing her sister," Bobby explained. "Back in our world her sister didn't give a rat's ass about me and apparently that transferred to being over here anyways. Besides, I needed to get away for a little while."
"What, you getting tired of having her around?" Dean asked, genuinely curious.
"Not hardly," Bobby barked out a short laugh. "She practically kicked me out to get me to come see you two, apparently I've been suffocating her."
"Hey, can't blame you for that." Dean nodded.
"Let's continue this away from prying eyes," Sam suggested, glancing meaningfully to a small group of students that were coming towards them with star-struck eyes. Even halfway through the school year, students were still coming up to Sam and Dean to sign whatever item that they happened to want their insignia on. For Dean it was usually something Quidditch related. For Sam, it was unfailingly always the same shirtless picture.
Sam and Dean led the way to Sam's quarters, bombarding Bobby with questions the entire way. "So what do you do for work anyways?" Dean asked first.
"Same thing as in our world," Bobby shrugged. "I'm just paid for it now. Only difference now is that the creatures who are actually intelligent I'm supposed to bring in if I can. It's a lot different, but I'm sure even you two idjits have figured that out. Kitsune, vampires, werewolves, they all have their own protection clauses and such now. There are still a few monsters that are kill on sight. Wendigos and the like. A few I haven't tangled with too, like these little fairy things called doxxies."
"Yeah, get used to that," Sam advised. "Who have you been hunting for?"
"The American magic government," Bobby said, his tone clearly displeased. "They send me out on hunts."
"What, don't like working for them?"
"I don't like working for anyone," Bobby said, stepping through the doorway to Sam's quarters. "But it's the principle. I always sort of enjoyed figuring out what sort of monster I was dealing with. Now they have a whole division of bookworms doing that for me. Takes all the fun out of things."
"Well, if it's not my favorite geezer," Crowley asked, lounging back with his feet on Sam's desk and a glass of the liquor he had given Dean earlier. In the glass blue sparks popped up from the liquid, danced along the edge of the glass, and then leaped back inside almost in perfect sync. "Care for a drink?"
"Crowley!" Bobby said, reaching for his wand. The ex-demon didn't bother reaching for his own, opting to instead take a drink. He stared down the length of Bobby's wand to the old man and raised an eyebrow before casting his gaze over to Sam and Dean. "Care to tell your elderly friend to put that stick away?"
"What are you doing here?" Bobby demanded.
"Easy, Bobby," Dean said, putting a hand on his arm and lowering the wand. "Crowley is on our side here, he's not even a demon here."
"It's true," Crowley said, batting his eyelashes at Bobby as if to prove his eyes weren't black. "I'm as human as you are, alcohol tolerance not included."
"Where's Cas?" Dean asked, gazing around Sam's room.
A groan came from somewhere beside Sam's bed, signaling Castiel's position. The three hunters filed further into the room and saw the trench coat placed over Castiel like a blanket and a shoe placed under his head for a pillow. "What did you do to him?" Sam demanded, kneeling to examine his friend.
"Did we not just establish that I am, in point of fact, on your side here?" Crowley wondered. It was then that Dean noticed the slight slur in the demon's words. Was Crowley actually drunk?
"Did you two…?" Dean saw a glass still clutched in Castiel's hand and that answered his question before it could be voiced. "We've only been gone for an hour, maybe an hour and a half, how much did you two drink?"
Crowley's answer was to slowly slide down in his chair until it seemed as though he would fall onto the floor. Just before he did Sam and Dean managed to catch him and drag him over to where Castiel rested. Sam conjured up two pillows and, tossing aside the shoe that Crowley had apparently placed under Castiel's head, and put them under the angel and demon's respective heads. After that they pulled the blanket from Sam's bed and threw it over them.
Bobby sat on Crowley's vacated chair and was now sipping at the liquor. He blinked several times and looked down suspiciously at it. "What in the hell is this?"
"Dragonfire fermented alcohol," Dean said, falling onto Sam's bed and using a summoning charm to bring Crowley's flask to him. He summoned a pair of glasses, filled them both, placed a refilling charm on them, and then handed one to Sam. "Well, here's to the three of us being together again."
Bobby and Sam raised their glasses and echoed the toast before they drank.