Author's Note: Bobby finds that maybe there are other women he can love besides his wife. A Bobby-centric chapter, for once, though Loki does make his appearance, as he will in every chapter, what with being my favorite character. Bobby's possible relationship could SORT OF be interpreted as slash, but in this story, it is het, because the character is permanently stuck as a woman.
There Can Be No Peace
Ch 3.
Bobby was bored out of his mind. Sam was vigorously researching ways to repel tricksters, Dean and Cas were who knows where...he too needed to get out. Loki likely wouldn't bother him, being too obsessed with Sam at the moment.
"Hey Sam, I'm gonna take the Impala out for a drive. Gotta clear my cobwebs too, you know."
Sam merely grunted a response and went back to researching Loki. Bobby exited the house and entered his foster-sons' car. The driver's seat was a bit damp still and the passenger seat had blood on it. Sam and Loki's car confrontation, of course. Oh well. Bobby leaned back in the slightly wet seat and drove it to a nearby park. He stopped and got out to sit on a nearby bench, just to enjoy the scenery. At least a peaceful park, with no one here, gave him a better chance of clearing his mind and dealing with the recent events. The lake in front of him glinted in the setting sun. It made quite a beautiful picture. Bobby got out his cell phone and took a photo. It'd make a better background than what he had. That asshole Crowley had made his background a photo of them 'sealing the deal', and Bobby hadn't had the time to change it recently.
Soft footsteps caused him to turn away from the tranquil lake scene. A middle-aged african american woman was approaching. She looked familiar, but Bobby couldn't quite place her face. He just gave a mental shrug. They met so many people in their line of duty, it was quite possible he'd seen her before and forgot. Though how he could forget when she was so lovely...yes, she was a very lovely specimen of female beauty. Though he still loved his wife, he was able to appreciate beauty in other women.
She smiled at him. "Beautiful, isn't it? The things God creates...all so beautiful. You're Bobby, aren't you? I saw you hangin' round them Winchester boys."
Bobby was a little confused. "You know Sam and Dean? You do kinda look familiar. Was it uh, during a weird case, that we met?"
The woman smiled. "You have no idea how weird. I don't know Sam and Dean. Not personally. But I hear talk in the town about them. They're loved here, you know. They can find peace here. So can you." She sat down on the bench next to Bobby and held out her hand. Bobby shook it. "My name is Rachel. I'm pleased to see you again, though you don't recognize me."
"Well, pleasure is all mine, Rachel. I'm Bobby, but you know that already." She nodded an affirmation, then went back to looking at the lake with Bobby.
"Well, what are you doing here, Bobby? Thought you'd be enjoying your time with Sam and Dean again. Or out hunting things." How she knew they were hunters, he didn't know, but she had admitted that she'd seem them when they were on a 'weird case', so he just went along with it.
"They had some issues. I wanted to get out their hair while they sorted stuff out. I'm still sorting stuff out myself, you know. Apparently, our friend Cas, don't know if you know him...he had a run in with God. The real God. You know, guy who said 'Let There Be Light' and then there was?" Rachel smiled, almost mischievously.
"I know Cas. And...God. But you're not out here to talk about those things, are you? You're out here to make sense of shit. I don't blame you. I can't make heads or tails of things either." She sighed and leaned her head back on the top of the bench, staring at the heavens. It was starting to get dark and stars were winking into existence. Rachel sighed. "Are we the only ones, I wonder? Did He create more? Are there other humans out there, amongst the stars?"
Bobby did not interrupt her. She appeared to be talking to herself anyway. Rachel's sleek black hair and smooth ebony skin entranced Bobby. She truly was a beautiful woman. He shook himself. No. Appreciating her beauty was one thing, but thinking of acting upon his appreciation was another. He wouldn't dishonor his wife's memory like that. She was still staring up at the stars, no longer talking to herself.
"What do you think, Bobby? You think there are more of them? You think He created just us, or are we alone in this universe?"
Bobby shrugged. "I try not to think about that stuff too much. Gives me a headache. I prefer to think about the here and now." He wasn't sure what Rachel had wanted him to say, but it didn't seem to bother her.
Rachel smiled. "Yes, perhaps that is best. We would do well not to dwell on things beyond our comprehension. Or dwell on the past. What's past is past, Bobby. You need to move on. What sort of future do you imagine yourself in?"
She had hit a hard mark with him. He had no idea what he was going to do. Hunt things until he was killed. That was always his goal, once his wife had died. Sam and Dean had found...something. Whether it was love, or just...a friend. Despite what Sam claimed, Bobby knew his obsession with Loki went further than just trying to find a way to kill him. Sam wouldn't kill Loki, even though he ranted about it constantly since their run in at the burger joint.
"I don't know, miss. I just..go with the flow, I guess you could say. My wife was killed during a 'weird case' and...its hard you know. Moving on. I still think about her, and how gruesome and pointless her death was."
Rachel placed a comforting hand on Bobby's shoulder. "Her death wasn't pointless. God does everything for a reason. She's in Heaven, in his loving Embrace, isn't she? She's happy, she's at peace, Bobby. When will you find peace? When will you come to terms with her death? It may have been gruesome, and painful, for you and her, but its over now." She squeezed him softly. "Move on. She would want that, I know she would." She wrote something on a piece of paper she'd pulled out of her jacket pocket and wrapped Bobby's hand around it.
Rachel gave Bobby a light kiss on the cheek, stood up, and walked back to her car, an old white truck that didn't seem to fit such an elegant woman. He watched her drive away, then turned back to the lake, and looked at the paper she'd given him. Call me if you ever want to talk again. And a phone number. Huh. Bobby hadn't been given a girl's phone number since high school. He laughed.
Back at the house, Sam was frustrated beyond belief. He had found NOTHING on how to repel or vanquish pagan gods. Dean and Cas hadn't returned from their dinner date, so he couldn't even ask Castiel if he knew something. Being a former angel, he would likely know more than Bobby's mythology books, which had been somehow teleported to the house along with other objects of interest, including the Colt and Ruby's Knife for some reason. He wondered if shooting him with the Colt or sticking Ruby's Knife in him would do the job. Despite Bobby's warnings of not to do anything to harm him, Sam couldn't just let that Trickster run around the town terrorizing people. Someone blew in Sam's ear. He fell out of the chair, nearly breaking his neck.
"Awww, Norse Mythology...how cute! You think reading this is gonna help you? Its trash! None of that stuff's real anyway. At least, not most of it." Sam groaned. Now the fiend had invaded their very home. Sam's hand wrapped around the Colt, which he had been keeping in a pocket of his jacket.
"The Colt won't work, buddy. Don't waste your time." Loki flipped through the book Sam had been reading, using a black marker to scratch out things that he claimed were untruths. Sam shoved him away and grabbed the defiled book from him.
"That book is Bobby's, not mine. Stop damaging other peoples' things. If you must know, I was looking for a way to kill you so you stay dead. All I could find was that some guy named Heimdal kills you dead in Ragnarok, but I see you marked that out, so I'm guessing there's no such thing as Ragnarok, or that you killed Heimdal long ago and you both reincarnated. Pity he didn't finish you off for good."
Loki grinned. "You're right about that. There was no Ragnarok. Closest we came was when Luci broke free and started murdering people and gods. He killed Kali, you know. I gotta wait for her to be reborn before I can see her again, you know. That kinda sucks." Loki continued to flip through another of Bobby's books that Sam had been perusing, once again defiling it with black marker. Sam couldn't stand it and took the marker away from Loki, along with the book. Loki pouted.
"Why you gotta be that way, Sammy? Have I done anything to hurt you or anyone since I came here? No! Besides that whole water thing, but that was funny, not harmful." He actually sounded truly hurt, but Sam knew he was a master actor from the books he'd been reading about Loki.
A door slam brought him back to the present. Either Bobby had returned, or Dean and Cas. He didn't really care at this point. Maybe they could get rid of assface for him. He kicked Loki's leg as hard as he could. The god barely flinched. "That wasn't very nice, Sammy. Looks like your daddy's back. That is, Bobby." Loki picked up the chair Sam had been sitting in and sat himself down in it and teleported the books away from Sam and started once again marking them up. Sam sighed and left Loki in the living room, greeting Bobby as he entered.
"'Lo Sam. See you got a friend." Bobby glanced past Sam, noticing Loki scribbling in his books. "Why haven't you stopped him from messing with my shit?"
Sam threw up his hands. "I tried! He's insufferable! Every time I do ANYTHING, he tries to ruin it!"
"Well, you WERE looking for ways to kill him. I'd be doing the same thing if I were him." Bobby pointed out. "Any sign of Dean or Cas?"
Sam sighed. "No. They're apparently having a really long dinner date. Oh well. We have bigger problems now anyway. Getting rid of this Tricksters. Whether God sent him or not, I'm not resting until he's gone."
Loki noticed Bobby seemingly for the first time. "Bobby! Sam's friend! Hello! Nice to see you again! Or not. Have we ever even met? Oh well. It doesn't matter. Any friend of Sammy's is a friend of mine!" He companionably flung an arm around Bobby, who shoved him away with a look of disgust.
"We only tolerate your presence because we're trying to find out why you're here. Try us and we'll do it. Send you back to Hel, or whatever you Norse guys call it."
"Hel is right. She won't take my soul, you know. She's my daughter!" Loki preened at this, as if fathering the goddess of the dead was something to be really proud of. The offspring of a supposed giant goddess and an archangel...no wonder this Hel was powerful enough to control the dead and avoid the wrath of Death himself. "Whoa! Look at the time! I better get going. I have a date tonight! That is, unless YOU would rather go out with me, Sammy?"
Sam punched Loki. The Trickster didn't dodge and ran away bleeding again. Sam noticed Bobby holding a piece of paper, staring intently at it.
"What've you got there, Bobby?" Bobby shrugged.
"Some woman at the park gave it to me. She knew who and what were are, what we do. She gave me her number and wants me to call her." Sam pumped a fist. "Go Bobby! You got a date?"
Bobby rolled his eyes at his foster-son's antics. "No. I haven't even called her, and I only talked to her once. She looked familiar too. She said she saw me on one of the weird cases. Guess I left an impression. We just talked. Thats all. She didn't ask me out or anything. Just said I should call her if I want to talk sometime."
"Thats like a date, dude. She wants you to call her and ask her out. You should do it. I know about your wife and all, but...well, she'd want you to move on, right? Maybe this lady was sent by God too. For you." Sam tried to hide his sadness at this. Dean had Cas. Bobby...might have this lady. Sam had nothing, and no one. He once again wondered if he was being punished by God for the Lucifer incident.