InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Thats why I get the xtra cooki"

Robert 'Bobby' Singer (uncle_bobby) wrote in wariscoming,
@ 2010-06-14 20:20:00

Entry tags:

bobby singer, sam winchester

Who: Sam & Bobby
When: Soon
Where: Bobby's place
What: Talking about stuff
Warnings: Not likely

The salvage yard always seemed to look, somehow, even more abandoned after it had snowed, the hulking stacks of junkers standing sentinel over the place always looked more foreboding and more derelict with a layer or two of snow over them. The gravel drive had been salted, and the walkways had been shoveled clear, mostly just to make his usual morning rounds easier, but also on the off-chance that anyone stopped by.

Inside the house there was a pot of coffee on, there was always a pot of coffee on, and Bobby's coffee was, without fail, strong enough to stand a spoon up in. There were dishes in the sink, he'd get to them later, not like a couple dirty plates were an emergency, the water in the sink was on to a trickle, mostly to keep the pipes from freezing, and the steady drip was keeping an odd sort of time with the bubbling of the coffee pot, neither of them matching up to the clock in the hall, but it hardly mattered.

And there was Bobby, sitting at the kitchen table and working on cleaning the arsenal, since he was bound to need some of it for the next round of boot camp. Not everyone had their own firearms, even though some people did. Thatcher was sprawled out on the floor beside his chair, feet or tail twitching now and then in a dream, Bobby just smiled each time, shaking his head and reaching down to pet her ears before returning to what he was doing.

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ex_demonbloo908
2010-06-15 05:34 am UTC (link)

The hunt was taking them all over the place. From California to Wyoming, from Colorado to Virginia, Sam and Dean were booking through lead to lead with nothing but dust in their hands each time they seemed to be catching up with the enemy. Sam was frustrated; he wanted Lilith dead now, but how in the hell was he supposed to make that happen when there was nothing and no one giving him anything but the same old pile of crap over and over again? Between following through on leads and keeping an eye out for anything suspicious on the news, Sam found that he was getting pretty beat up about this chase. A very large part of that had to do with the demon blood - he wasn't getting nearly enough as he was used to, which in turn made Sam look dead awful. With Ruby away, Sam could only summon her in sometimes for fixes. He was fresh out of stock now and Sam had been so for days, so he looked a real mess. Sam had been making plenty of claims toward late nights and early mornings that were attached to stress related things, so he'd been able to slip by without too much questioning. So far, that was. Sam planned on finding the time to meet with Ruby soon, but right now he needed to talk to Bobby.

Backpack slung over his shoulder, Sam jogged up the first couple steps to Bobby's house and pounded on the front door with a fist. One hand sliding into his pocket, the other rose upward to swipe his hair out of his eyes. Exhaustion crowding over him for a moment, Sam gave his head a quick shake, hopped from one foot to the other, and urged himself to focus. Lilith. He needed to find Lilith. If there was an omen here that Bobby could help him make use of, then it'd be something. Sam had compiled a list of potentials, but he didn't want to waste their time scouring the country on a might when he could gain something more certain from Bobby. They were wasting too much time as it was already. God only knew how far along Lilith was with those seals.

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uncle_bobby
2010-06-15 05:46 am UTC (link)

Thatcher trundled to her feet at the sound of a knock, making her way to the front door and barking once, she knew who it was, she usually did, and her tail was already going like a dynamo, which made Bobby chuckle again, shaking his head as he heaved himself up from the table, following her to answer the door. He arched a brow at Sam, but didn't say anything, he figured the boy knew how bad he looked, he just popped the latch on the screen and pushed it open, "C'mon in. Coffee's about done."

That was really all that he needed to say just then, besides calling Thatcher to heel so that Sam could actually get in the door without having her underfoot. He nodded towards the kitchen, "Been getting ready for the next round of boot camp." He said by way of explanation, "Said you had some portents, what've you got?"

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ex_demonbloo908
2010-06-15 05:56 am UTC (link)

Coffee. It'd taste ridiculously bland in comparison to the blood, but Sam wasn't about to complain. If anything, it'd give him something to pour down his throat for now. Sam eased his way inside, heaving his backpack up a little higher on his shoulder as soon as he cleared the doorway safely without sending Thatcher running out behind him. Once within the house, Sam stretched out a long arm to scratch Thatcher behind the ears. A touch of warmth darted through Sam's eyes at the tail wagging he got in response, but he didn't choose to linger at Thatcher's side for long. Hand sliding around to pull the bag to the side where Bobby could visibly see it, Sam tapped his fingers against the top of the bag and nodded toward it. "Got a few things listed on the laptop. We ought to sit down so I can get it set up and you can take a look."

The laptop was where Sam kept most his data. It was easy to type things up and save it for later when he was rushing around with Dean all the time. Sam took to the front hall and rounded his way to the kitchen, gratefully taking in the scent of the coffee. "Smells good," Sam commented, carefully setting his bag onto the table. "How's camp been going? Anyone manage to shoot themselves in the foot yet?" Sam wouldn't have been too surprised. He browsed the boards less frequently as of late, but he had seen some pretty stupid behavior among some of the younger and newer arrivals. Some kids were like that, but they couldn't exactly afford to be much like that when they were caught up in this mess.

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uncle_bobby
2010-06-15 06:12 am UTC (link)

"Been going well enough." He said, moving the dropcloth away from one end of the table to give Sam space for the laptop, "And haven't had any incidents with live rounds, had a couple people pelted with rocksalt." He shrugged, "Stings like a mother, but it ain't fatal. Couple knife accidents, nothin' even needed stitches, I figure that means it's going alright."

Bobby poured himself a fresh cup of coffee, setting a mug out for Sam as well, settling himself back into the creaky kitchen chair, there wasn't even a matched set of them anymore, and even though they all creaked like crazy, they were pretty well solid. He picked up working right where he'd left off, perfectly able to converse at the same time, "How've things been going otherwise? Haven't seen much of you."

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ex_demonbloo908
2010-06-15 05:39 pm UTC (link)

Sam knew all about the rock salt rounds being painful. He'd hit Dean with one ages ago, back when they were hunting their way through a haunted asylum where he'd gotten on the wrong said of a doctor. Sam still felt sort of guilty about it, but it was all right. Dean knew that it actually hadn't been him at the time and the shot hadn't been fatal or anything. "That's good," Sam commented, nodding slowly. It was a tough job, teaching all these people at one. Coming from someone who had been helping at intervals, Sam knew that Bobby had a lot more to deal with than he did. But at least it gave him something to do and a little company to boot. Bobby never really had much people coming through his place unless it was on business. Even though Sam didn't ever say it, he worried about the man sometimes. It was a lonely life, being a hunter. Even lonelier when most of the people you loved were long gone because of the things you hunted. Was generally how most hunters got started anyway. Just like his Dad - just like him, too, he supposed.

Sam took up the empty mug, shifting it from one hand to the other before he reached for the coffee pot. "Been all right, I guess. We're not really getting too far with this Lilith hunt..." Sam didn't want to admit that, but there it was. It was the truth and everyone knew it. "Aside from that, Dean's been Dean." Just more closed off and distant. "And I've been -" Drained. Demon blood deprived. Acting like an extreme addict. "- good. Distracted with the hunt lately. It's all I can really think about lately." Sam filled his mug and leaned back against the counter, looking to Bobby in concern. "You'd think we'd have found her by now. It's all I wanna do anymore. It's like..." Sam released a huff of breath. "If we don't stop Lilith, she's gonna find a way to screw us all over. Even without that last seal being broken, she'll figure it out. I just wish I knew how to find her. I'd do damn near next to anything to do it too." Sam looked down into his mug. Next to anything all right. "Even if it's somethin' morally questionable."

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uncle_bobby
2010-06-16 03:03 am UTC (link)

"Some of 'em are good." He commented, as mildly as he ever did, "'course, some of them are reckless, bull-headed, but not a one of 'em yet's been too stupid to teach. That and they all want to learn it." Which still baffled him, just a little, but he wasn't going to argue it, after all, they were going to need all hands on deck and soon. Of course, even mild praise from Bobby was equal to high praise from other people.

He nodded as he listened to the rest, Bobby knew how single-minded Sam could get sometimes, so that desire was no surprise to him. Oddly enough, Sam got the stubbornness more from Mary more than John, though his father's genes had contributed a little bit to it, at least. Bobby had seen the beginnings of that determination while Dean had been gone.

Gone, right, like he'd been on a hunt that had ended up taking longer than initially planned for.

That last caught the elder hunter's attention, brow arching first before looking up at the younger man. Because while Robert Singer might not have invented lying to the cops, he might as well have some days, "Morally questionable like what?" A good 90% of what they did on a day to day basis could fall under that umbrella, so he needed a little more clarification.

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ex_demonbloo908
2010-06-16 10:22 am UTC (link)

Sam wasn't going to complain about people wanting to learn how to hunt. Not unless they were part of that younger crowd looking to sink into things before they were ready for it. Sam couldn't stop others from teaching those kids how to hunt and stuff, but he wasn't going to partake in it himself. It was the policy that he, Dean, and Bobby had agreed on and Sam highly doubted that it was going to change anytime soon. They all knew what happened when you raised people that were so young into the mess that was their trade - you got Sam and Dean and, in spite what others may have believed, they weren't the most held together bunch of people that the world had ever seen because of what they had been exposed to their whole lives. "I can't say I'm gonna be the one to complain about them wanting to learn," Sam commented, looking mildly impressed. "Much as I hate dragging them into this mess, at least we know they're able to defend themselves if Lilith or anyone tries to attack them again." Which Sam wouldn't be too surprised by. He wasn't going to willingly tell these people to come hunting with him unless asked, but Sam knew that Lilith had her demons jumping in and out of Lawrence like they were playing a game of hopscotch. Wouldn't be long before he heard that there was a band of them holed up somewhere around there, he was sure.

Sam drank down a bit of his coffee, taking it in black for the time being. It was hot and bitter, but it sure jolted the sense enough for Sam to consider it all satisfactory. He set the mug down onto the table and pulled out a chair. Yet instead of sitting in it, Sam folded his arms over his chest and looked down at his feet. Judging from the tone of Bobby's reaction, Sam knew that he had to be real careful about what he said here. He couldn't very well up and confess that he'd been drinking demon blood all this time, could he?

"Like bad. Badder than usual." Sam chanced a look at Bobby, doing well to keep his gaze neutral. "Desperate times, Bobby. I don't have a solution to this finding Lilith business yet, but it wouldn't be the first time lately that I've hopped a little above and beyond that morality line and I don't think I gotta tell you that for you to believe it." When Dean had been pulled out of the picture, Sam had up and vanished for a while as far as Bobby knew. He'd have been right to assume that Sam had done nothing good with himself during that time. "I know it doesn't sound good, but we gotta look at all this realistically here. We got nothing right now. She's close to where she needs to be. If we don't start taking some risks, we're going to lose this fight." Sam didn't want to tell Bobby what he had been considering. Ruby had already gone apeshit over Sam confessing that he was considering dealing with Lilith. He didn't need to see Bobby react the same way.

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uncle_bobby
2010-06-16 03:15 pm UTC (link)

Bobby arched a brow, Sam was tense about something, and it was enough to put Bobby on edge, setting down the gun he was cleaning and leaning back in his chair, studying Sam more intently than he had when the younger hunter had arrived. He looked, well, not so great, really, it was something that Bobby had noticed, but had filed under 'not an emergency', because traveling the way the boys did took a lot out of a body. Now though, he wasn't so sure. It was probably something he should have noticed a while ago, and he was going to kick himself for it if it turned out to be something bad, it was his job to look after the boys, whether they wanted him to or not, really.

He folded his arms then, settling himself back a little further in his chair, brow arching, "Sam, most of what we do falls on the far side of that line. So unless whatever you're planning involves a white goat? I don't think it's going to be as bad as you seem to be gearing up for." The white goat, of course, being a human sacrifice. Bobby knew his voodoo, and his vodoun among other various little-g god religions that called it the same thing. Of course, as soon as he'd said it, he was worried that that was exactly what Sam was planning, already racking his brain for possibilities, and there were more of those than he'd like to think about.

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ex_demonbloo908
2010-06-17 01:33 am UTC (link)

Human sacrifice. Right. Ruby had actually explained to Sam a while ago that in order for him to have enough juice to take Lilith down, he was gonna have to rip someone else apart to do it. Another demon, but one that would still be possessing some poor soul on the inside. It was the last thing that Sam ever wanted to do, but he knew that he was desperate enough to do it all without a doubt. It wasn't something that he was about to admit to Bobby though - no, that'd end up with him being set up for a real verbal smackdown - so Sam shrugged and looked away from him. "Figuratively speaking, what if it was?" Sam tapped at the edges of his mug anxiously for a moment, just before he set it down onto the table. "I'm not saying that it is or anything, 'cause that's a little..." He released a heavy breath. "Extreme. But what if it was something along those very lines? We're not talking about saving just regular people on the street anymore, Bobby."

Sam understood that this was all about the bigger picture. Even with his obsession at finding her, filled with rage and the need for revenge, Sam knew that there was more to taking Lilith out of the picture than for it being out of the sake of a regular hunt. This was the whole world they were talking about. Not to mention Lilith was tougher than any other demon they'd ever seen before. She was going to be one hell of a bitch to take out, that was for sure. "One life versus the lives of a billions of people..." Sam trailed off thoughtfully, a frown slowly creasing it's way across his features. He used to never think like that. Sam had been all against killing humans; he'd get all worked up if Dean unnecessarily shot someone down on the job and he'd never take a killing aim himself unless it was absolutely necessary. Somewhere down the line, that had changed. Sam remembered his first real, blood-thirsty kill.

That had been Jake.

"I know I'm not sounding all that right in the head, but if something were to ever come up..." Sam reached for his mug again. "I dunno. I'd consider it."

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uncle_bobby
2010-06-17 02:04 am UTC (link)

That wasn't what he'd been expecting to hear, really, what he'd been fearing, sure, but not what he'd been expecting. He knew that in the long run it made sense, needs of the many vs. needs of the few and so on. It still wasn't anything he'd ever expected to hear from Sam of all people though. After an almost-tense few moments of silence and stillness while he thought it over, he finally shrugged, uncrossing his arms and returning to the cleaning he'd been doing, "I get where you're coming from." And he did, really, "So if you're touched in the head, means I am too, at least a little." He shrugged again, apparently fully intent on his work as he added: "If it were me, while we're still talking figuratively, I'd make sure it was someone who knew what they were getting into." Because some places, some people were still trained and even bred for that purpose only, like game hens.

He arched a brow, just slightly, "Or if that ain't a possibility, I'd make sure it was somebody who deserved it." Bobby was willing to forgive a lot of things, and he was willing to give a lot of people the benefit of the doubt, but some people, sometimes, just needed killing. Which wasn't something he would ever admit aloud, ever. Hell, after Vietnam he'd become a conscientious objector, that was how he'd met Karen, at a rally. But this was a different kind of war, and the stakes were so, so much higher, and he knew it.

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ex_demonbloo908
2010-06-18 02:20 am UTC (link)

Sam listened intently as Bobby offered his perspective on the matter. Sam hadn't expected for him to be all that open about it. If anything, he thought that maybe Bobby would continue interrogating Sam about what his intentions were. Dean would probably be having some sort of panic attack at this point, all up in arms about Sam getting himself tangled into something incredibly stupid. Bobby, on the other hand, offered Sam a surprising response. Sitting up a little straighter in his seat, Sam leaned forward. Large hands clasping together along the edge of the table, Sam bit down on his lip and peered across the table at Bobby uncertainly for a long moment. He wasn't Dean. Maybe that was why it had been a little bit easier to bring this up to him. Sam couldn't even begin to start a conversation like this with Dean. But, Bobby...Bobby understood, right? He knew what things had been like with Dean gone. He also knew what it was like to fight the good fight; Bobby had a lot of experience on even him, so Sam wasn't going to assume that the older man didn't know what it meant to take risks and make sacrifices that he knew weren't right - sacrifices that hurt him to make, even if they were necessary.

Like that stuff that had gone down with his wife. But Sam knew not to bring that up.

"What if you can't choose? What if, when it comes down to it, you only get one shot at saving the world with one person standing between you and doing just that? It'd be a person you knew nothing about. Might be a mother of two, a college student, someone looking to get married. I dunno." Sam shrugged, then looked down at his hands. "I don't like thinking about murder, Bobby. But I guess - if I had to...if..." Sam released a heavy breath. "I guess I would. Guess that makes me real screwed up, but I wouldn't wanna see the world burn just 'cause I was too afraid to do what had to be done." Sam was justifying his own plans. Hell, he was using Bobby to justify himself. Maybe if Bobby really knew what was going to go down, he'd disagree. But since he didn't, Sam was going to milk his opinion for all it was worth. Maybe it'd make it all easier in the end.

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uncle_bobby
2010-06-18 02:44 am UTC (link)

If Bobby had known what was going on, he'd probably give Sam an earful, but it would be hypocritical of him to tell Sam not to trust Ruby, she was an ally, and a powerful one. Bobby knew that even just a year ago, if that long, he would have balked at the idea of allying with a demon, but it seemed almost natural now, but only almost. Bobby was getting used to a lot of things that he wouldn't even have considered a year ago, before the seal broke and started dragging people in from all over.

As it stood, he didn't really have any idea what it was Sam was getting himself into, he could ponder it, and he would, sometime soon, but he really had no idea, which was an idea that he figured should bother him more than it did, given Sam's track record of half-baked plans, so he followed through on the part he knew he could answer, finally setting down the reassembled gun to look up at the younger man, "If that's the case you better make damn sure it's worth it, and you do everything you can, everything you can, to make it right. If it's a mother of two, you make sure those kids are looked after right, college student, you go and let the family know in person, same goes for someone's fiance." He shook his head then, "Not saying you have to tell the truth, be crazy to unless you know they'd believe it, but don't leave 'em in the dark."

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ex_demonbloo908
2010-06-18 07:44 pm UTC (link)

Sam didn't exactly know how he was going to be able to be certain of the person he was screwing over if he got them at random. Chances were that their family already thought that they were dead or worse if they were being possessed, but Sam could understand where Bobby was coming from. They had both seen what the bad side of a possession could do to a person. Even without knowing about what was actually happening, a person could really suffer from losing someone. Especially if they didn't even know how the loss took place to begin with. Maybe he'd find an ID on the person in question. Or maybe he'd find a way to get the demon to tell him who the person was. If he didn't survive this thing with Lilith, Sam would get Ruby to go out and do things for him. But that was something to consider for when it all went down.

"It's something to keep in mind." Sam awkwardly pulled his laptop out of his bag. "For the future, I mean. Should anything like that ever happen...figuratively speaking." Bobby wasn't stupid. Sam knew that. But he was, at least, being smart enough to not go poking around for more answers than what he had been given. At least for now. Sam didn't know if he'd follow through on that later. Sam didn't even know if it'd hold through this entire meeting here. "So, uh, like I told you before..." Sam flipped his laptop screen open and typed in his password. "Stuff is all on here. Been a few random storms here and there - stuff like that. I thought I'd let you go ahead and dig through it while I stock up on supplies." Change of subject. Yeah, that was necessary at this point.

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uncle_bobby
2010-06-20 04:06 am UTC (link)

Bobby would probably have more questions later, once he thought about it, once things started to fit together. But right at that moment he was still mulling, thoughts still simmering somewhere on a back burner in his mind, and besides thatm Sam hadn't given him any solid reason to ask anything further. While he had been known to ask more over less, he was fine with keeping quiet on the subject for now, though it wouldn't last forever.

The change of subject was just fine, however, and he nodded, "Yeah, lemmie have a look, I'll see what lines up with what's already on the wall of weird." He shook his head then, realizing Sam probably didn't know about the wall, "Chloe started keeping track when she was here, Babs has been helping off and on since, there's a lot of stuff that's signs even if it ain't actual Seals." It was pins in a map, of all things, it was way old school, but it was oddly fitting, given that it was Bobby. A shrug followed, "And you know where I keep stuff." Which was as good as a full go-ahead for re-supplying in Bobby-speak.

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ex_demonbloo908
2010-06-21 03:26 pm UTC (link)

Wall of weird? It was a good thing Bobby explained that one to Sam, because as soon as the words had left his mouth a blank look found Sam. Wall of weird. That was a new one. Yet, at the same time, it was kind of fitting. Even when he and Dean were mapping cases out, they sometimes stacked newspaper clippings and things up onto the wall as a sort of layout for their discussions and interpretations of the hunt that they were on. With everything right in front of a person, it made things a whole lot easier. Still, it was nice to know that they were keeping good track of the signs and omens out there. Sam knew that he could count on Bobby for it, but he had no idea that there were others involved as well. Not that he was complaining either; the last he had checked, Chloe Sullivan had been terribly bright. She'd even installed a few nifty features onto his laptop for research related reasons and Sam knew that she had helped Bobby out with a few things as well. As for Babs? She was also pretty clever. Sam knew that much just from what he'd heard of her hacking abilities alone.

Somehow though, Sam felt that this Wall of Weird was a lot more appropriate for Bobby than anything all that high tech. He was a lot like his Dad had been in that regard.

"All right, thanks," Sam said, nodding. "We're following a paper trail right now - it's not goin' very far - but I don't want to walk in empty-handed." Sam didn't have to explain that one to him. Bobby knew just as well as he did, if not moreso, that unexpected things popped up all the time on a regular, day-to-day hunt. You could be hunting ghosts one second, demons the next. Sam shouldered his lightened backpack, leaving Bobby with the open laptop. He took the time to open up the document with the list of categorized omens inside, then turned and started for the next room over. He'd need rock salt. Lots of rock salt.

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uncle_bobby
2010-06-23 02:35 am UTC (link)

Bobby knew his way around the computer well enough to be able to highlight things in different colors, which was what he went about doing, jotting a few down on a notepad that Sam had listed that he hadn't gotten wind of yet and would have to research further.

Thatcher, for her part, followed Sam around in silence, almost as if she thought he'd get lost in the near-labyrinth of stacked supply boxes and towering bookshelves. The place really was a lot tidier than it used to be, mostly because of making pathways for Barbara's wheelchair, but also because of keeping things organized for the boot camp.

All in all it took Bobby about a half hour to finish, and it was simple enough color coding, green for confirmed seals, yellow for possible ones, blue for miscellaneous other omens and no coding for anything that was entirely unconfirmed or didn't mean anything.
Once he'd finished he levered himself up out of his seat to get another cup of coffee, rubbing his eyes, staring at the screen too long made everything fuzzy, he hoped it wasn't an indication that he was going to need glasses.

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