The Trickster was bored…that was never a good state for him to be in, history could attest to that…entire civilizations had suffered dire fates because of his boredom….he needed a new game….

His favorite subject of recent times had been the Winchester brothers…the fact that they knew what he was and that they could fight back a little bit made them appealing to play with…it was so much more fun when they had a little fight in them…

The Trickster set himself to the task of figuring out what game he want to play with the Winchesters…he pondered long and hard before the perfect idea popped into his head…he grinned a grin worthy of the Cheshire cat and then snapped himself out of existence and reappeared a short distance away from the Winchester brothers….he stalked them silently, watching them with all the curiosity of a child...waiting for the opportune moment…It came sooner than expected ….Dean and Sam had been loading their various duffles and bags into a hotel room…they were stopping for the night….the Trickster popped himself into the room just as they had left to return to the car for one last trip….it was laundry week…so they had multiple bags to get through before they moved on to their next gig….the Trickster leaned against the wall with practiced ease, awaiting their return….when they entered the room that last time, they were bickering back and forth, oblivious to his presence…he smiled a bemused grin as he listened to the back and forth banter…

"Dammit Dean…we only have enough quarters to do the laundry…you are not using them to get your twisted kicks from the Magic Fingers machine…."

"Awww come on Sammy, it's just a few quarters….we don't need to clean everything, do we…we could leave a load or two for next time…"

"Dean, no…that is not the agreement we had for the laundry situation…and you obsession with the Magic Fingers machine is…well frankly, it's disturbing to me…you'll just have to go without it….probably better that way…break the habit…" Sam said throwing the duffles in the corner…

Dean looked down, his hunched shoulder belying his mood as his face set in a brooding pout…"Fine….you are such a buzzkill….." he said, looking up…his eyes locked with the Trickster's noticing his presence for the first time…a look of shock crossed his face….Sam, noticing his brother's silence mid rant, looked at him and then looked the direction Dean was looking…shock gripped his features for a moment before they clouded over with hate….

"You…." He said with a cold, bitterly venomous tone….Sam quickly with drew a stake from the duffle in his and, dropping the bag to the floor, he sprinted across the room, but the Trickster sanpped his fingers and his entire body froze mid-step…only his face could move…."NOOOOO…..he screamed with unrequited hate…

Dean had watched his brother be frozen , but had already been in motion…he got to the Trickster before the Trickster registered his movement…Dean raised the stake to slam it down in his chest, but the Trickster saw him just in time…he snapped and Dean froze as well…the Trickster backed up, away from the business end of the stake…he shook his head….he had underestimated the elder Winchester…all most to his own detriment….he snapped his fingers again and both of the Winchesters blinked out of the hotel room momentarily and suddenly reappeared bound and gagged to chairs….

"Now boys…that wasn't very nice…why…with a greeting like that, you'd think you guys didn't like me…" he said a wicked grin perched on his lips...

The Winchester brothers glared at the Trickster, struggling against their bonds….

"Awww…..come on now boys…I'm not the bad guy…I just wanna have a little fun…." the Trickster said, flopping himself backward onto one of the beds…, shifted himself to put his back to the headboard…."Sammy…your not still mad about the last time we played, are you? Speaking of the last time we played, Dean did Sammy here ever tell you what fun we had while you were sitting out the last round?..."

A look of terror crossed Sam eyes…Dean looked at his brother…Sam eyes silently pleaded with him….Dean turned to face the Trickster…he shook his head no…Sam's head dropped, racking sobs shaking him, his eyes filled with tears…

"Really,….well then…let me just show you….." the Trickster said, delighted that he would get to play even more than he had originally thought…."In fact…that fits perfectly into the game I want to play…"

Suddenly, a two game wheels appeared in front of them….they were sectioned off like a pies….

"I like to call this…"Swapping Lives"…you each get to experience life during important moments of each other's lives….I think this little game might give you a better understanding of each other's motivations…now, you'll only get to watch their eyes, get to feel what they felt…you won't be able to interact with them or change any of the events…..can't have that…I don't want Angels on my *** forever and a day….bunch of mindless picks….anyhoo, Dean your first turn has already been decided, so we'll just take the cover off that piece, seeing as how we know what's beneath it now…." The Trickster said, he went to the wheel perched closest to Dean and popped off the bright orange piece of tag board sporting a question mark ….

"Now….Sammy….let see what you get…" he walked over to the other wheel, Sam's liquid-filled eyes tracked his movement, gleaming in the low light as they glared at the Trickster...the Trickster seemed oblivious to his gaze, he spun the wheel hard...it whirled around at break-neck speed for a moment before slowly winding down to a stop, the needle pointing to a bright green piece….

"Well, let see what we got for you here Sammy….Awww...Sammy, you get to see what it felt like for Dean when you left for college…well then, that's a nice easy one for you, a nice gentle start….sorry Dean, yours...is a bit more of a rough ride to start with..." the Trickster said, walking to a spot directly in front of them...they both glared up at him..."Ok, boys….let's swap…." The Trickster said, he snapped his fingers, and the world fell away from them as the tumbled backward in time and space…