A few days had passed since Sam and Dean's confrontation, and there was still quite a bit of tension between them.

As expected, Sam turned inward and remained quiet and withdrawn while Dean seemed very much on edge. Dean passed the time helping Bobby in the yard with the cars while Sam occupied himself with a few books as he continued to serve his sentence in the house.

The hardest part for Dean was that he truly could sympathize with Sam. He knew that if the roles were reversed he would have knocked Sam and Bobby both out of the way by now and made a break for it. However, as much as he wanted to be the good guy and allow Sam to go out on his own, the little voice in his head just wouldn't let him. It would be reckless and extremely dangerous for Sam if he were permitted to leave the safety of Bobby's house, so Dean made the decision that if it meant that Sam would be safe, he would accept his role as the bad guy.

So why was it that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get that argument with Sam out of his head?

It could have been that, even though Dean knew he was right, he also knew he had hurt Sam. Here Sam was only a month out of the Lair and away from that horrible abuse and already Dean was making him feel inferior.

He also couldn't get the image of Sam's expression as he left the kitchen out of his head. The kid had just looked so…crushed. Dean replayed it over and over in his mind. Sam, trying so hard to convince him how much better he was doing and feeling, and Dean had just dismissed it, focusing more on Sam's weaknesses than strengths. That alone would be enough to devastate Sam but, no, Dean had to take it one step further and really go for the throat with that whole scaring and humiliating him maneuver.

Like Bobby had said, 'Not his proudest moment'.

Dean knew all too well that what was done was done, and there was no taking it back now. He just made a silent promise to Sam and to himself that the first opportunity he had he would somehow make it up to Sam.

Little did he know that the opportunity would be coming sooner than later.

Bobby had been waiting on a transmission from his supplier for over a week now. He had finally received the call that the order was in and he had planned to take the hour long drive south to pick it up after lunch. However, about an hour before Bobby was supposed to leave, Rufus called, telling him that he needed Bobby to come as soon as he could to get him out of a jam with a job he was doing about three hours north of Bobby's house.

As always, Bobby was expected to drop everything and run to his friend's rescue, which was exactly what Bobby planned to do. The transmission order would just have to wait until tomorrow, putting him yet another day behind schedule with his business.

Dean overheard the tail-end of Bobby's conversation with Rufus, and offered to help him by picking up the transmission order.

"We can't both be gone at the same time. What about Sam?" Bobby asked.

Dean rubbed his face with his hands and sighed.

"He'll be okay by himself. It'll only be for a couple of hours."

Bobby threw Dean a look of disbelief.

Dean shook his head before Bobby could say anything. "I know, I know. I can't believe I'm saying it either, but… Look, Sam was right the other day when he said that sooner or later I am gonna have to either let him out or leave him by himself. My gut still won't let him out, so I guess the safest first step would be to let him stay alone for a while."

Bobby nodded as he mulled it over in his head. "Yeah, I've been thinking the same thing since you two got into it that day, and it would really help me out…" Bobby squinted his eyes as he looked at Dean. "You sure about this?"

Dean smiled and shook his head. "No." he answered. "But I do know that I've gotta loosen my grip on the kid a little, or he's gonna end up hating me for it."

Dean clapped Bobby on the back. "You go help that sorry son of a bitch Rufus. I'll leave for the part in a few minutes. Lemee just go make sure Sam's feeling up to staying by himself first, though."

Bobby couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, I'm sure you won't get any arguments from him."

Dean ambled into the house, finding Sam in the kitchen rummaging through the fridge for a snack.

"I see your appetite is finally making a strong comeback." Dean quipped.

Sam ceased his search long enough to throw a quick look in Dean's direction. "Yeah, my stomach's finally adjusting to eating a few times a day now." Sam decided on some sliced turkey and brought it to the table. "Can you grab the bread in the cupboard behind you?"

Dean located the bread and handed the loaf to Sam, who went straight to work on his sandwich.

"Bobby's transmission's in."

"Yeah?" Sam said, "Finally?"

"Yeah, but there's a slight problem. Rufus needs Bobby's help and he won't be back until much later tonight, maybe not even until tomorrow morning. He was in a tight spot so I figured I could go pick the transmission up for him."

Sam stopped the sandwich making and stared blankly at Dean.

"So," Dean continued. "That means that you'll be all by your lonesome here for a few hours while I go get it….You okay with that?"

Sam seemed a little taken back by Dean's question, but answered quickly.

"I'm totally okay with that." He answered, vigorously nodding his head.

"You're sure? You know this means that you'll be completely without me?" Dean teased, knowing full well how anxious Sam had been for some alone time.

"I know, and I'm still completely sure that I am so totally okay with that."

Dean chuckled a little bit. "Look, Sam. I know I'm teasing you a little bit, but this really is serious." He walked over to Sam, checking him over a bit.

"You're still feeling okay, right?" He asked as he looked into Sam's eyes.

"I feel fine, Dean. I've felt fine for a week now, and I'll be perfectly fine on my own for a few hours, I promise you."

"Okay, but first I need to set some ground rules, and you're to abide by all of them, you got that?"

"Sure, anything. What are they?" It seemed as though Sam was so anxious to get Dean out of the house that he would pretty much agree to anything at this point.

"First of all, no going outside….for ANY reason. The windows and doors are all salted and there are devils' traps at each entranceway. You are to stay inside."

"Agreed. What else?"

"You can't do anything strenuous or taxing while I'm gone. You are to take it completely easy. Clear?"

Sam nodded again. "Crystal. Is that it?"

"No, one more thing…..I'm really going against everything that my gut tells me to do right now, don't make me regret this. If I find out that you've done something stupid while I'm gone like leave the house or get yourself hurt trying to do something too strenuous, I'll kick your ass when I get back. You hear me?"

Sam smiled. "Yes, I hear you. Dean, I'm not a child. Believe it or not, I'm actually eager to show you that you can leave me alone. I'm not going to do anything stupid to ruin that."

With that Sam grabbed Dean by the elbow and led him to the door.

"Okay, well then, I'm glad we got that settled, and I'm sure you want to get an early start on your trip." He said as he opened the front door in the kitchen. He smiled as he handed Dean the keys to the Impala.

"Drive safely, now."

"Sammy," Dean quipped, "If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were trying to get rid of me."

"Nope, not at all." Sam answered as he gently pushed Dean out the screen door and closed it behind him, "Don't forget to buckle up. Bye now."

Dean laughed and shook his head at Sam. As he was approaching the Impala, Bobby pulled up along side him with his truck.

"He gonna be alright for a while?"

"He says he is, Bobby."

Bobby smiled, "And I'm sure he was happy with the idea."

"Like a kid on Christmas morning."

This caused Bobby to laugh a bit. "Okay then, I'll be back as soon as I can get ol' Rufus back on the right track. Thanks again, Dean. I appreciate it."

Dean sighed as he looked back toward the house, trying to ignore the ache in his stomach.

"Yeah, no problem."

"Oh, will you stop already?" Bobby added as he began to drive away. "The kid'll be fine. You worry too much."

As always, thanks for reading. I hope you are enjoying it. Please take just a moment and let me know what you think.