Digging With Bobby

With a pair of shovels on top of her shoulder, hands hanging on each end of the wooden poles, (y/n) treks through the slick mud of the dense forest in Idaho. Bobby leads the way through the plumes of deep green ferns covering their path. With the navy blue sky overhead, a pale yellow glow from the setting sun breaking through the thick leaves of the trees above, (y/n) finds herself catching up to the older hunter.

"Bobby?" she begins, breaking the silence with her soft voice ,"Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot"

"How are you doing?"

Bobby glances over at the girl for a moment, unsure how to answer the sudden question about his well being. Clearing his throat lightly he focuses his attention back onto the path in front of him, shining a flashlight on the foliage.

"Why are you asking?" He asks her almost defensively. She finds a smile tugging at her lips, noticing the way he acted a lot like Dean when it came to vulnerability.

"House burnt down, all of your belongings destroyed, Leviathan kicking our assess...I feel like it's only normal to wonder how you're taking it all"

"Well, I'm fine-"

"Bobby-" She interrupts him with a sigh ,"-I know bullshit when I hear it....But I guess I shouldn't pry, sorry...."

There's a moment of silence that falls upon the pair and they continue their walk towards the middle of the dense forest. A few minutes pass before Bobby finally talks again.

"I'm not okay"

"What?"

"I'm not okay, but that doesn't matter-" He explains quickly, trying to hide the vulnerability behind the clearing of his throat ,"-what matters is that those idjits back there see that I'm doing fine."

"Why do you feel like you have to be strong for them?" She has a feeling she knows the answer, but knows that Bobby is opening up to her and needs to make sure she's being sensitive. He sighs

"Because...I'm all the family they got left. If I fall apart, they fall too. Like god damn dominos, those assholes"

(y/n) finds herself chuckling lightly at this, admiring the way Bobby tries to use his dry sense of humor to lighten the conversation. He continues to talk, finding himself more comfortable opening up to the girl due to her calming presence next to him

"I raised them, you know? Those boys might as well be my own flesh and blood-" there's a faraway look in his light colored eyes as if he's recalling all of the memories he's made with the Winchesters. (y/n) smiles fondly at the man.

"You raised a couple of heroes, you know that? They're lucky to have you as family." Bobby seems taken aback by her statement, light eyes widening upon seeing the genuine smile on her lips. He clears his throat awkwardly, unsure how to take the overwhelming compliment.

"Do you, uh, have a family?" he tries to change the subject, taking the attention off of himself to ask her about her past instead. She chuckles lightly at the poor attempt, but decides it would be best to just comply. She shakes her head lightly

"No"

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"I mean-" she sighs, an amused smile on her lips as she explains ,"-Phoenix's don't have families. I'm the only one of my kind. The second I popped out of my pile of ashes, I was cursed to wander the Earth alone."

"That's depressing..."

"But, it's how my life was destined to be" Bobby finds himself intrigued by the calmness in her voice, not finding even a hint of sadness in her face as she explains the somewhat cruel life she is supposed to live.

"Have you ever tried to start a family of your own, like Elijah Finch did?"

"During the 1900's-" she begins slowly, trying to recall the details ,"-I was with a nest of vampires who refused to kill humans. I considered them family after they took me in. For a while, everything was great. We looked out for each other, went everywhere together, things were normal."

"I'm sensing something is going to go wrong..." Bobby sighs, getting a nod in response

"A few of the vamps started feeding on humans, convincing the others to join them. I tried to reason with them, but they refused to listen. The body count reached the double digits before I had to kill them. Up until now, I chose to be alone after that happened"

"Why did you stop?"

"What?"

"Why did you stop wanting to be alone? You know, join our dysfunctional team of hunters?"

(y/n) finds herself smiling at his question, unsure how to answer. Thinking back to it, she joined them because they offered her security. Promised that if she had helped them, they would protect her from the creatures out to torture her for the death of their mother. When things got rough though, she could have left whenever she wanted, but she didn't. Her reasoning for staying changed after the mess with Castiel. These hunters, broken and bruised from years of trying to steer the earth from total destruction, showed her that life was something to be fought for. How could she go back to her life of hiding in the shadows when she could be here, with them, making something out of the depressing destiny she was expected to live.

"Because you guys fight-" She explains vaguely through a hope filled smile ,"-and I want to fight too."

Through those words, as few as they were, Bobby understood everything she wanted to convey. Something about her reminded him of the boys when they were younger, hearts of gold and a determination to right the wrong doings in their world. It was something he found himself thinking about a lot when he looked at (y/n). He may have raised two boys until they were old enough to handle themselves, but now he had a girl he wanted to do the same with. A girl who was supposed to be a monster, but had the heart of a human. He wouldn't say it out loud because he was too much of a 'macho man' to admit it, but he knew that (y/n) was his kid now. Whether she liked it or not, he's taken her under his wing and vowed to protect her like he did with his boys.

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Yawning into the back of her hand, exhausted from the all nighter the pair pulled to find the important books he had buried in the Idaho forests years ago, (y/n) lazily leaned against the beat up truck they were using to drive. Watching the sky bloom different shades of orange as the sun slowly peeked over the horizon, she let her land slowly feed the nozzle of the gas pump into the tank of the car. The flammable liquid begins to pour into the small compartment, sloshing against the empty tank loudly as she continues to watch the painted sky pass by overhead.

"Why don't you let me drive the next few miles-" Bobby appears next to the girl, observing her tired state as she slowly looks over to meet his gaze ,"-you look like hell"

"Thanks, Bobby-" She laughs, running her soft fingers into her messy (h/c) locks ,"-just what a girl needs to hear"

"Do Phoenix's even need sleep?" Bobby questions, placing his small bag of road food through the open window of the car. (y/n) chuckles again

"Not technically. I sort of developed the habit somewhere in the late 1800's and now my body thinks I need it."

"What a sucky habit" Bobby comments, getting an eye roll in return. Before the two are able to continue talking though, Bobby's phone begins to vibrate in his coat pocket, dark fabric glowing from the screen. Yanking the device from his jacket, he shows the girl the bright surface. In bold letters read the name 'Dean'. He answers, hitting the speaker button so that (y/n) can listen too.

"Other shoe" Dean's voice sizzles over the line, vague wording causing the pair to toss confused glances towards each other

"Other who?" Bobby asks, annoyance lacing his voice from Dean's cryptic message. (y/n) hears Dean sigh on the other end

"Sam. He took off."

"Where did he go?" (y/n) asks to hunter, worry beginning to work it's way through her body

"I don't know, (y/n), but it can't be anywhere good."

"Well, maybe he needed a little 'me-time'?" Bobby suggests, unsure how to calm the growing anxiety in the older brother.

"Yeah, but his 'me-time' ain't just him. I mean, for all we know, he's road trippin' with Lucifer somewhere!" The pair listen as Dean suddenly grunts into the phone, sounding like the exact noise he's been making all week whenever he stood up on his own ,"Left me here like Jimmy friggin' Stewart."

"Did you call him?" (y/n) asks, only to get a scoff in reply

"Straight to voicemail, doll, and turned off his GPS too. Oh! And he took my car!"

"Don't panic-" Bobby sighs tiredly, only to be interrupted as quickly as he opened his mouth

"Too late!"

"Look, he says he's okay, Dean-" Bobby tries to continue calming the worried hunter, voice calm as he explains ,"-so give it a couple days. At least, just until you can get the cast off...then hunt him down"

"Bobby-"

"Dean, he'll be okay-" (y/n) tries to reassure him ,"-until you can find him, just be patient and rest up. Keep calling him and we'll do the same."

"Alright, fine" Dean seems to take the information well. Too well. Bobby and (y/n) share a knowing look before their bidding quick goodbyes to the anxious hunter. When Bobby finally hangs up his phone, shoving the device back into his coat, she raises an eyebrow at him.

"He's going to rip off that cast, isn't he?"

"Yup" Bobby sighs tiredly, massaging the bridge of his nose in a parent like frustration

"Hunt down Sam?"

"Most likely"

"I'm going to kick his ass" this brings a light smile onto Bobby's face, watching as (y/n) begins to slip into the passenger seat of the truck.

"Yeah? Not unless I beat you to it..."