Disclaimer: Supernatural and all its characters belong to Kripke and the CW. I own nothing.

The Change

Bobby Singer sat in the rickety rocking chair on his back porch staring at Sam Winchester's retreating back. He silently prayed that the boy would be able to get through to that stubborn brother of his this time; that whatever he was about to do or say didn't make things ten times worse between the two. The older hunter was so tired of seeing John's boys walking on eggshells around each other. He knew they dealt with grief in very different ways and that that was a big part of the problem. But they were brothers for Pete's sake. Their father's death should have drawn them closer together, if that were possible. Instead they were drifting apart and if something didn't put a stop to it soon, he was afraid the boys would go their separate ways. Not that he was about to let that happen.

The shattering of glass startled Bobby out of his musings. Worried that things had gotten out of hand he leapt to his feet and hurried down the stairs intent on getting to the boys before one of them did something he'd regret. Just as he stepped onto the ground Sam came barreling out of the junkyard. Bobby watched as the youngest Winchester sprinted down the driveway and out of sight. Shaking his head the older man turned and trudged back up the stairs and into the house. Things had just gotten a lot worse from the looks of it which meant it was up to him to put the Winchesters back together again. Snatching the phone from its cradle on the counter he pressed speed dial four and waited for an answer. "Josh, its Bobby…not good…listen remember that idea you told me about…yeah that one, I think now's the time…set everything up for the end of the week…don't worry about them, I'll make sure they get there…okay, thanks Josh…bye". Grinning for the first time in weeks Bobby placed the phone back on the counter and headed for the living room. There were some things he needed to take care of.

Later that evening

Bobby covered the bowl of chili and set it in the refrigerator. It would definitely make another meal, maybe two with as little as Dean and Sam were eating these days. Grabbing his mug Bobby poured himself another cup of coffee and sat down at the table to review his to do list. He mentally went over everything that still needed to be done before week's end hoping he wasn't forgetting anything. He couldn't write it down; one of the boys might stumble upon it and that would screw up the whole plan. The only way it would work is if the boys didn't know what was going on until it was too late for them to object. Piece of cake, right? "Yeah and I'm a famous Hollywood actor"he muttered taking another swig of his coffee.

Sam shuffled into the kitchen taking a seat across from Bobby. Chewing on his bottom lip he nervously ran a hand through his hair as he worked up the courage to talk to Bobby knowing that the older man was going to be less than pleased with him. After several minutes of fidgeting in his chair, Sam finally took a deep breath and spoke. "Umm, Uncle Bobby?"

"Ahh crap! It must be bad if he's gone back to calling me that." Bobby thought as he gazed over at the younger man. "What can I do for ya, Sam?" he softly asked.

"Well, I, umm, I was wondering if you, uhhh, if you…" Sam stuttered looking anywhere except at Bobby.

"Spit it out, boy" Bobby ordered. He moved his chair next to Sam's and put a hand on the young man's shoulder. Getting no reply he softened his voice and tried again. "Come on, Sam. What's wrong, son?"

"Do you…do you have any, any burn cream?" Sam hesitantly asked. "Our first aid kit is still in the impala and I can't get to it right now and I looked in your kit but I didn't see any and I thought maybe you had some…"

"Whoa, Sam! Stop and take a breath." Bobby instructed. "What do you need burn cream for?" Seeing Sam glance down at his hands Bobby reached over and gently took the boy's hands in his turning them palm up. Both hands were a dark red with a few small blisters in a couple of spots. "What in the sam hill did you do, boy?"

"I, umm, kinda grabbed a hot pipe when we were fighting the Rakshasa." Sam replied sheepishly. "Ellen put some cream on them when we got back to the Road…OWWW! What was that for, Bobby?" he grumbled rubbing the back of his head.

"That was for being an idgit" Bobby said as he settled his cap back on his head. "You don't mess around with burns Sam, you know that. Those hands should have been seen about last night when you two knuckleheads got back."

"I know" Sam whispered slouching down in his chair. "I just…we were…and then…"

"Take it easy, Sam. I know, okay. I'm not happy about it, but I know." Bobby comforted. Releasing the boy's hands he stood and headed for the other room. "Come on. Let's go to the ER and get those hands checked out. If we're lucky, Vonnie will be working tonight."

"What about Dean?" Sam quietly asked staring down at his hands.

"I'll holler at him, tell him we're going into town." Bobby said from the doorway. "Now get a move on. I'd rather not spend my entire evening sitting in some crowded, noisy waiting room."

Sam meekly followed Bobby through the living room and out the front door. Getting into the beat up car he hoped Bobby was right about Vonnie. She always knew how to make him feel better.

AN- What do you think? Continue or trash?