This chapter is a bit shorter than the first two, but, therefore, the next (and last) one will be pure Sam and Bobby sweetness. :)
„Bobby?" John's voice was rough when he answered the call. He sounded, as if the ringing of the phone had pulled him from a deep sleep. He cleared his throat, before asking, "What the hell do you want from me? It's the middle of the night."
"What I want from you?" Bobby asked, already furious with the younger man. He couldn't imagine that John didn't understand the seriousness of the situation. That he could simply lie in bed and sleep after he got rid of the burden that were his sons. "Who left his kids at my door and left without a word? Are you out of your mind, Winchester?"
"What's the matter, Bobby? I called you, didn't I? You didn't seem to mind taking them in for a few days," John replied, his voice no longer tired but angry. As if Bobby had no right to call him at so late an hour to tell him off. As though his mission for revenge was more important than anything else. More important than his own children.
"The matter?" By now, Bobby was talking so loudly he was almost screaming. He took a deep breath, willing himself to be quieter. He didn't want to wake the boys; they didn't need to overhear the argument. Bobby continued in a harsh whisper, "How about your son being sick for three whole days? Or you still dragging him across the country? Or maybe the matter is that you didn't do a single thing to help him, much less Dean."
"I had a lead on the demon, Bobby. You know how…" John started, equally enraged. Before he could finish his sentence though, Bobby cut him off.
"Stop it with your excuses! You're there to take care of the boys. I can't believe you can't even get that right, John!" the older hunter swore angrily, taking a sip of whiskey to calm his nerves. Somehow, he had to get through to the other man, making him realize that having kids meant more than offspring with the same last name he could use for his fight against evil. He couldn't just shoo the boys wherever and whenever he thought he had a new lead on the thing that killed his wife. Bobby understood him for wanting revenge. However, although he didn't have kids of his own, Bobby could clearly see that the life Sam and Dean were forced to live right now was destroying more than it was healing.
"I brought them to you," John interrupted Bobby's thoughts, still not aware of what he was to blame for. It seemed like he didn't even realize that something was terribly wrong here. As though his need for revenge had banished every other thought from his brain.
Bobby snorted incredulously. "Tell me, do you just not want to understand what I'm getting at? You brought them here after three days! You can't be serious. You're their father!" A father that was currently working hard for losing that privilege. Should child protective services get whiff of the affair, John would have been in charge of his sons for the last time. During the last years, Bobby had witnessed several hunter buddies losing their children to CPS. The authorities had eyes and ears everywhere and he did not want Sam and Dean to share that fate. One wrong move, one too nosy motel clerk who noticed John vanishing for several days, leaving Sam's care up to Dean, would be enough. A task no eight-year-old should have to shoulder.
"Believe me, I'm glad the boys are here right now. Even so, why didn't you bring them earlier? Why wait for three days?" Bobby wondered, when John didn't reply.
The younger man snorted, as if Bobby was talking nonsense, before he continued with a lecturing tone of voice, "You just have to listen to me, Bobby. I was right about to explain it to you." He made a significant pause, but Bobby didn't react to the jab. "I had a lead. The first reliable one in a long time. There were signs that the demon was in Nebraska. Dead cattle, weird weather, the usual omens, you know. I had to follow it up."
„The only thing you should follow up with a sick kid are doctors' appointments and patient information leaflets. Don't you get it?" Bobby hissed angrily. He had to restrain himself from yelling at his stubborn friend. "You're playing with their safety! What do you think happens to them, should they be taken away? Did you ever care to think about that?"
"I need to find the demon! It's the least I can do. I owe it to Mary," John said, not any less furious than Bobby, passing the older hunter's question over. Bobby realized that in John's eyes he probably didn't get the problem any more than John did from his point of view.
"John, the only thing you owe Mary is to take care of your children. Her children." Using John's dead wife against him was a lame approach, but by now Bobby wasn't sure how else he would be able to get through to him. Somehow, he had to help John accept that there were many more important things than revenge. He didn't receive an answer, so he continued, "You can't continue being so selfish. That's not how it works, all longing for payback aside. Don't do that to her."
John's answering sigh sounded much more like a grunt, however, Bobby had finally managed to at least get him to listen. Maybe he had even animated him to give his behavior a thought. Bobby could only hope that John would mull over the things he had just said – before it was too late for change.
The hunter ran a hand over his mouth, waiting for John to reply. "I don't know what to do, Bobby," he finally whispered after a few long seconds of silence, his voice suddenly rough and filled with a hint despair. "I need to find that demon eventually."
Overall, that was not the answer Bobby would have liked to hear but it was a start. It wasn't John's nature to openly ask for help. If he asked though, Bobby wouldn't deny it to him. "Please, John. You gotta be there for the boys. At least when they can't help themselves. They're way too young for the responsibilities you're expecting from them," Bobby continued.
He could almost hear the turning of wheels in John's head. The way he considered his doings and his behavior, weighing good against bad, right against wrong. Bobby could only hope that the other man finally understood that he couldn't continue like this. That he was risking his children's future, solely because he wasn't able to put aside his vow of vengeance for a change. Although John didn't break the tense silence for a long time, Bobby felt the inner fight of the father John had once been against the hunter, he had become against his will.
When John finally answered, he sighed dejected. "Okay, okay, Bobby. You're right. But it's hard. Sometimes it's darn hard. The boys… and without Mary… She always had everything under control." A scraping noise could be heard through the phone when John ran a hand over his beard. The he sighed again.
Apparently, Bobby had hit the right nerve. After all, he knew from experience what it was like to lose a loved person. Those memories would bring everybody to their senses. Saddened by the reminder of his own fight after his wife had been killed, he emptied the glass of whisky, feeling the liquid burning down his throat and soothing the well-known ache in his heart. As big as the longing for revenge might be, nothing was stronger than the need to fulfill your beloved one's expectations.
Bobby knew that John's understanding wasn't permanent. Maybe right now he realized his misdemeanor, but Bobby didn't trust the man. Even though John said he understood bobby's point of view and his motives, was it not a promise for change. And that was something the older man couldn't put up with. Not with how much he had taken the boys into his heart.
"How about you bring Sam and Dean to my place, in case it becomes too much,", Bobby offered. Not only for the kids, but for you too. "But you can't continue to just foist your responsibility off on Dean." It was a simple solution for John and simultaneously an insurance for Bobby and the boys. A possibility for Bobby himself to take care of the brother's wellbeing. Even though he normally couldn't handle kids, Sam and Dean were one of a kind. Intelligent and inquisitive, but also reserved and easy at the same time. Where Dean went, Sammy would follow. The eight-year-old had a mesmerizing control over his sibling, being way more mature than other kids his age. No trace of the usual childlike innocence or naïve playfulness. Bobby had noticed early on that every activity Dean invented for his little brother had some kind of training aspect. Be it reading tracks during hide and seek or mesmerizing secret codes during bedtime stories. There was always a hidden agenda. Simple odds and ends in case of emergency. Things, no kid should have to think about. Which eight-year-old took the blame for his parents unfulfilled tasks, anyway?
"John, promise me to bring those two boys to my place.", Bobby requested, his voice low and raspy, his anger had given way to concern. "Promise me." He was none to beg, but he had to hear John actually say the words to be able to believe him.
"Enough of that, Bobby. I promise," John assured, sounding not exactly believable. It was all Bobby would get, though, so he accepted it for what it was. John's way of telling him what he wanted to hear to get out of a situation he didn't like. Like Bobby suspected, John was done talking when he said, "Are you happy now? Cause I'm gonna go back to sleep now. I need to get up early tomorrow."
"Mark my words, John!" Bobby advised urgently, before John said a short goodbye and hung up, the beeping of the dial tone the only sound in the sudden silence. Don't do something you'll regret, he added in thought. Bobby could only hope that John didn't just make a hollow promise, but rather took his words to heart.
The hunter had just put the phone aside and contemplated another shot of whiskey when he suddenly heard noises from upstairs. He discarded the idea quickly and instead listened to the creaking of the old floorboards and the following padding of small feet on the crackling wooden steps.
TBC
