Sam and Dean cleared out a small nest, investigated a string of weird disappearances, and picked up a box for Bobby. For a day and a half of being gone, they were rather productive.

Dean liked being out with Sam. It felt good and right. "So, college boy, when do you head back?"

Sam sighed. "I guess a few days before the start of school. jess is happy. I want to keep her here as long as possible. I don't know when Ross will want her back for the funeral. I don't even know if there will be a funeral. He hasn't called very much."

Dean tapped his fingers along the steering wheel. The music was turned down but he could still hear the beat. "What are you going to do if some big nasty shows up?"

"I'll do what we always do. I'll keep an eye out, be careful, keep stuff warded. If we get into hot water, I'll call in the calvary."

Dean nodded in approval. "Watch your back."

"I will. I have Jess to worry about." Sam said.

"You did good with her. I don't know how you managed it though." Dean said with a smirk.

"I'd be offended but I don't know how I did it either." Sam said.

(Taylor and John)

Taylor was on a high from the rawhead case. He felt really good.

John reminded him not to get cocky but what teenage boy didn't get cocky the moment something went right? He got a call from Lee Chambers and called Dean. "Hey, Lee is being released. He will need somebody to shuttle Krissy to him."

Dean groaned. "Me?"

"I am busy." John said.

"I am too." Dean countered.

John could hear Sam in the background. "Jess and I can drive her there."

Dean really didn't want to be stuck in the car with that particular four-year-old.

"Call Rod and schedule a pickup," John said, simply and hung up the phone.

Taylor was reading John's notes. "Shapeshifters."

"They can look like just about anyone. They are fast and strong and can be hard to kill. I need you to keep your wits about you." John said.

"I wonder if I can shock them." Taylor said.

"We will use what we know works. Mid-fight isn't the time to experiment." John warned.

Taylor went back to reading. He had read everything John had on shapeshifters but a second and third read through wouldn't hurt.

"Even if we are pretty sure of what we are dealing with, we still take precautions. I didn't take you into that basement empty handed." John said.

"Right, because some monsters have the same patterns." Taylor said, looking up from John's journal.

John drove for a few hours and turned off on an exit to a small town. "First, we need to question a few people. Reports say that more than one person died at the hands of someone close to them."

Taylor furrowed his brows. "That sounds like any crime show I've ever seen."

John tapped a newspaper clipping.

Taylor read it. "Oh, the second victim's brother witnessed his high school girlfriend murder him. She supposedly died in 1992. So, the brother was arrested."

"Some of the others are just fishy enough to make me think something isn't right here." John said.

Taylor soaked in the information. "So where first?"

"I am going to go into the police station and ask some questions. You are going to stay in the truck and work on that 'freak' theory of yours." John said.

Taylor frowned. He hadn't thought about not being able to tag along to go into the station. "Okay."

(Sam and Dean)

Dean drove back to Bobby's house. He was glad that Sam volunteered for Krissy duty. He liked being on the road but would rather meet up with Sophia than go on a road trip with Krissy.

Jess wrapped Sam in a tight hug. She knew he was skilled and so was Dean but she was still worried about him.

Sam told her that they were picking Krissy up. He also told her about the little boy's ghost.

Jess sat down. "He had bruises?"

"He looked pretty beat up." Sam said.

"Did you ask him who did it?" Jess asked.

"He was flickering. He had been there for a while. Most ghosts do not have enough strength or patience to sit around and tell us their life stories." Dean said.

"Still, poor thing. How could anyone do that? Do you know his name?" Jess asked.

"No, but I guess we could look for missing persons or deaths in that area." Sam said.

Jess blinked away a tear. She wanted nothing more than to be able to heal that boy's spirit. True, he was probably in heaven but what kind of life did he have before he died? Was he scared? Was it a father or stepfather that did that? Was it a home intruder? She took a shakey breath and rubbed her hands over her knees.

Sam knelt down. "He is in a better place now. Do you want to head over tonight to get Krissy? I bet she is excited to see her dad. We could leave Rod's first thing tomorrow morning."

Jess nodded. Maybe reuniting Krissy with Lee would help soothe the pain that had taken up residence in her chest.

Dean looked around. "Where is Kate?"

"Upstairs." Jess said.

Dean walked up the stairs and tapped on Kate's door. "Hey, I'm back."

Kate put her pencil down. "Okay."

Dean furrowed his brows and opened the door. "Okay?"

"I'm glad you're back." Kate said.

"No hug? No ear-splitting screech?" Dean asked.

"You were gone for less than two days." Kate said.

Dean felt a slight stabbing pain. "Ouch, kid."

Kate scooted her chair back and stood up to hug Dean. "Happy?"

Dean hugged her back. "Maybe." He looked at her notebook. "What are you drawing?"

"When I had the vision that I got attacked by one of the freaks, I was in Hellen's house. I knew the freak, well the person. I'm trying to draw the face again. I can't get it right." Kate said.

Dean saw at least a half dozen crumpled sheets of paper in the trashcan. "It could be symbolic."

Kate looked at him like he was dumb.

"Hey, don't give me that look. I'm spitballing here." Dean said.

"I don't need ideas. I just want to figure out who I saw." Kate said.

Dean could hear an edge in her voice and decided to abort his mission before he set her off. "Alright. If you need me, I'm around."

Kate gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Dean."

(Caleb and April)

April spent the morning cleaning. Ian was in full toddler destructive mode and not quite at the point that he understood how to put his toys away.

Caleb asked April to sit down. "You are flushed. Eat something."

April looked at the sink of dishes. "I can in a little bit."

"No, here." Caleb said and pulled a chair out. He pulled out one of April's snacks and handed it to her. "I will handle the dishes."

April was thankful that Caleb was helpful but she felt like he did too much. "Leave them. I can do them when I get back up."

Caleb eyed her. "Yeah, that is going to drive you nuts. You could make a list for me." Caleb said.

April sighed and reached across the table to grab the notepad. She looked a the time and checked her blood sugar. She frowned. It was low.

Caleb had his back turned and rattled off a few things for her to write down. He quickly washed the dishes that were left in the sink and turned around. "What was your blood sugar?"

April blinked slowly.

"Low again?" Caleb asked.

"A little." April said.

Caleb dried his hands and rubbed her shoulders. "I wonder if Kate can do anything about this."

"I'm not sick or injured." April said.

"You are pregnant and have two other kids to chase after. You shouldn't have to feel cruddy every day." Caleb said.

April put her hand on her stomach. "I don't want me getting help to hurt the baby."

"One thing at a time. I can get the boys packed up. Karen mentioned needing you for a project that I am not supposed to ask about." Caleb said.

April smiled. They had found a photo of Caleb and his mother before she passed away. It was one of the very few that Caleb had been able to save. In the photo, his mom was wearing a floral dress. Caleb had mentioned in passing that he loved that one. So, Karen tracked down a similar pattern to make a tiny version for Lauren. "I can help get them ready."

Caleb scoffed. "You are going to sit down for a bit."

April pulled another chair out and propped her feet up. She had learned to do everything by herself and a year ago she would have been frustrated with the 'demand.' Except, coming from Caleb it wasn't a demand. It was because he genuinely cared and wanted to take care of her. She still had moments of wishing he didn't insist that she take so many breaks. She wasn't an invalid. It took a lot for her to sit back and let someone else take over. It was a good thing though.

"Can we do the fireworks today?" Andy asked.

"Uh, I guess you'd have to ask Dean or Bobby." Caleb said.

Andy got himself ready and tied his shoes. "Okay, ready."

Caleb pulled a shirt over Ian's head and wrangled him into some shorts. He got socks out of the drawer and turned around to Ian making a break for it. He caught him and sat him down to put the socks on but Ian had a lot in common with an octopus. He had wrestled werewolves and restrained vampires but putting a sock on an unwilling toddler was beyond his abilities. He lightly tapped Ian's thigh. "Stop kicking."

Ian froze for a moment and let Caleb put one sock on. He promptly grabbed it and threw it. "No."

Caleb wanted to pick his battles but also didn't want it to become a habit. "You can have socks and shoes or just sandals."

Ian wiggled to get down.

Caleb got up and carried him to the kitchen. "I can't get socks on him."

"You can take his shoes and socks and then if he goes outside he has to wear them." April said.

Caleb put Ian down and put his socks and shoes in the bag. He grew up barefoot but Bobby's yard had hidden screws and scrap metal that would be painful to step on.

Ian started to take the shoes out of the bag but a sharp throat clear from Caleb made him stop. He backed away from the bag and sat down on the floor.

Caleb zipped the bag and put it on top of the table. Ian had an engrained defiant streak that was going to be a pain to deal with as he got older.

(Bobby's house)

"Hey, Bobby, Jess and I are about to leave. Which car do you want us to take?" Sam asked.

Bobby tossed him a set of keys. "Drive safe."

Jess smirked. "Sam always drives safe. He said it is all of the times that Dean nearly killed them with his crazy driving."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "He said that, did he?"

Sam held his hands up, placatingly. "I did not say that but it is true."

"It builds character." Dean said with a snort.

Sam tossed his duffle in the backseat of Bobby's car and cranked it. He knew Jess was looking forward to the trip. It got her out of the house, but not to Stanford. Plus, she thought Krissy was adorable.

Kate got a heads up from Caleb and sat down at Sam's computer to research hypoglycemia and pregnancy. Most of the time, she just touched people and imagined healing them. She didn't want to take a chance with a baby.

Dean walked outside when Caleb's truck pulled into the driveway. He leaned on the porch railing and waited for Andy's rapid fire questions about the fireworks.

Andy jumped out of the truck. "Can we shoot off some fireworks?"

Dean chuckled. "Yes. Your dad said you were pretty excited about them."

"Yeah! We went to the firework show for the 4th so I never got to light one." Andy said.

Dean nodded. "I'll grab a few."

Ian wanted to be down on the ground but didn't want his shoes. He wouldn't let Caleb put them on so he got carried into the house.

"What did you do to him?" Bobby asked.

Caleb pinched the bridge of his nose. "He doesn't want to wear shoes. He wants to go outside. He cannot go outside without shoes."

Bobby chuckled. "That is quite the dilemma."

Karen distracted Ian with a toy car and a snack.

Kate shared her findings with April. "So you just don't make enough glucagon."

"Yes. That is the base of it all." April said.

Kate tried to simply heal her but it was hard to pinpoint the issue. "I could take a blood sample to the lab and mess around with it. I don't want to try anything without some sort of plan."

"Thank you." April said.

"I'm going to do a little more research while you are here. I have ideas but want to make sure that it would be safe for Lauren as well." Kate said.

Dean pulled a few fireworks out from his stash. It wasn't dark but Andy was just wanting to set them off. He could understand that. He too, liked setting them off. He put one in a tube and let Andy light it, pulling him away as the fuse shortened.

Andy grinned. That was fun.

April heard the screech from inside and shook her head. "Boys."

Caleb walked outside. He saw another fly into the air and heard Andy's excited giggle. He walked over to Dean and Andy and asked how it was going.

Andy's eyes lit up. "Can I do a big one?"

Dean's phone rang. "Uh, in a minute." He walked away from Andy and answered the phone.

"Dean, Taylor and I are on a case. Something is off. If I need backup, I need you to be on standby." John said.

"Yes, sir. I'll have my stuff ready to go if need be."

Caleb walked over to Dean and listened to the conversation. "That sounds like a shapeshifter. Maybe it is more than one."

Andy sat down on the ground. The phone call was taking forever. The first two fireworks were small. They just made a loud sound. There was one more of those left. There was another that was just one of those sparklers. Then, two that looked kind of big. He picked up the sparkler and waved it around. He eyed the box of matches. He was allowed to hold sparklers.

Caleb grabbed a pen and paper from his truck. He carried it back to Dean and held it out for him to jot down some notes.

They heard a whistling sound and then something shot between Dean's feet, hitting the ground and changing directions before bursting into a spray of sparks. Another was heard right after that but there was no telling which direction it went.

"Son of a bitch!"

John heard the racket and Dean yell. "Dean, what was that?"

Dean held his chest. "I just about got my ankles taken out by a firecracker." He saw a bit of smoke. "Uh, I'll call you back."

Caleb grabbed Andy and made sure he wasn't injured. He turned him toward the house. "Get your butt inside."

Andy was shakey but ran to the house. He didn't know how he was going to explain what happened.

Dean doused the embers with a bucket of water. He found the second 'landing sight' and doused it too.

Caleb found Dean. "Did anything burn?"

Dean tapped a gas tank with his foot. "No, but this might have had that landed over here."

Caleb looked from the doused ground to the tank. He rubbed his face angrily.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm going to skin him." Caleb said.

Dean put the bucket down. "Better you than me."

Caleb turned on his heel and stalked off toward the house. He opened the door and found Andy in Bobby's office. "Andrew."

Andy looked at Caleb with big eyes.

"Did you set those off?"

People inside heard them go off but didn't know anything had happened.

"I didn't mean to," Andy said.

Caleb took a deep breath and looked at Bobby. "One shot between Dean's feet and went off on the backside of the shop and the other went off about four feet from that gas tank."

Bobby looked at Andy and narrowed his eyes. "How did that happen?"

Andy scooted down in the chair he was sitting in. "I dropped the sparkler."

"How did that set off the firecrackers?" Caleb asked.

Andy avoided his eyes.

"Andrew Ethan, sit up straight and answer me." Caleb said.

Andy sat up and licked his lips. "Well, I'm allowed to hold sparklers."

Caleb crouched down so that they were eye to eye. "Not lit ones. Not without an adult."

Andy's eyes drifted. "Dean was gonna let me do all of them but was on his phone a long time."

"With John because the case he is on doesn't feel right." Caleb said.

Andy studied his hands. "I was just gonna hold the sparkler but it was really sparkly and I accidentally dropped it."

"You lit it." Caleb said.

"I was careful, dad." Andy tried.

"Right, being careful got you into this mess." Caleb said.

Dean stepped inside.

"Dean, Andy claims that sparkler was ... sparkly." Caleb said.

Dean crossed his arms. "That wasn't just a sparkler. It was one of the ones you stick in the tube or in the ground and it shoots sparks."

Andy's face turned red.

"That is why you do not touch any of that stuff without an adult. Had you waited, Dean would have shown you what it was." Caleb said.

Andy frowned. "I didn't know."

"It doesn't matter. You know not to mess with matches and you still did that." Caleb scolded.

Andy was beginning to see his logic was flawed. "I'm sorry."

Caleb stood him up. "That isn't going to cut it."

Dean stepped back. "My room is free if you need to use it."

Caleb swatted Andy. "Run up and find a corner."

Andy squeaked and ran up the stairs.

April asked what was going on. Her face fell. Instantly she thought about how badly Andy could have been injured. She asked Dean if he was okay.

Dean looked down at his feet. "Ankles are fine. I can jump a lot higher than I thought I could."

Caleb chuckled lightly. Dean's reaction was funny now that they weren't being bombarded by explosions. "Your voice too."

Dean punched him in the shoulder. "Yeah, you would have been singing soprano if something ran between your feet."

Bobby smirked. "Was it like the time that that mouse tried to run up his leg?"

Caleb's eyes twinkled. "Yes."

Dean gave them both an annoyed look. "Kate, get what you need. We are going to the lab. I'm done with both of them."

Kate skipped over. "You just want to see Sophia."

Dean lightly popped the back of her head. "If you want to go to the lab, you had better fix the attitude."

"It wasn't an attitude," Kate whined.

Dean put a hand on top of her head and turned her around. "Grab your stuff."

Kate gathered what she needed and took a quick blood sample from April. She ran after Dean and hopped into the front seat of the car. "Hey, my smiley face is still here."

Dean smirked. "Yep. I'm not giving you the satisfaction of getting mad about it."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Jerk."

Dean chuckled and started the car. Knowing that she was getting older and would go through the annoying teenage phase, he was happy to hold onto the little things that made Kate the Kate that he knew and loved.

Caleb headed up the stairs. Of all the things a parent needed to do, this was his most hated. He took a deep breath and opened Dean's door. "Andy, come here."

Andy slowly turned around. He eyed Caleb and took a few steps toward him.

Caleb sat down on the bed and pointed to the spot between his feet. "Do you know what you did wrong?"

Andy fidgeted. "I played with the matches and fireworks."

"They are no different than weapons," Caleb said.

Andy's head snapped up. "But, dad. I didn't know that."

"Fire is just as dangerous. It has always been a rule. Your mom has never let you play with matches or fire. This isn't new."

Andy sighed. He wasn't sure what he was thinking.

Caleb didn't need to say much. There were no gray areas. Andy didn't know that the bigger ones would go off but that was the danger of it all. He positioned Andy over his lap and started landing swats.

Andy hated swats. He could go his whole life without any more swats. It would have been nice if his brain thought about that while making decisions.

Caleb hated giving out the swats. He didn't like making Andy cry. It was better than letting him think what he did was okay and winding up with a kid covered in burns later on. He paused. "You never ever light a match or lighter. Any kind of fire, you are going to stay away from, do you hear me?"

Andy hiccuped. "Yes, sir."

Caleb tugged just his shorts down.

Andy threw his hands back. He thought Caleb was done. "No, dad. I understand."

Caleb moved his hands and tapped him with a paint stir stick.

Andy froze. Did he bring that from home? Did Bobby have one? Did everyone have one? Jimmy's family didn't have one. They needed one.

"Bobby was not happy. We are at his house. You could have damaged his property. You could have hit that gas tank and then we would all be in a lot of danger. So, you are getting two with the ruler he keeps around for kids who do not listen." Caleb said.

Andy stiffened. He had heard about that ruler. It wasn't really a ruler. Dean had a name for it that Andy couldn't say without getting his mouth washed out with soap. He asked Caleb not to use it. "I'm just a kid."

"A kid who needs to get it in his head that decisions can lead to dire consequences," Caleb said. He adjusted Andy and landed the first swat across his sit spots.

Andy started crying harder. He couldn't say Dean's name for it but he could think it because Dean was right. He wiggled with the second one that landed on his thighs.

Caleb let him up and had to grab his elbow so he didn't stumble.

Andy rubbed at the two lines. He stomped his foot and met eyes with Caleb.

Caleb pulled his shorts back up and pulled him into a hug.

Andy melted. He felt really bad about touching the matches and setting off the fireworks. He didn't want anyone to get hurt.

Caleb shifted him and soothed him. "I love you so much. You can't run around doing dangerous things."

Andy sniffled. He apologized again and buried his face in Caleb's shirt.

"If you keep getting into trouble over here, you are going to start getting swats with that ruler." Caleb said.

Andy looked at him with pitiful eyes.

"There are a lot of things over here that are dangerous. You know what they are. So you know what to expect." Caleb said.

Andy looked at the ruler. "Dean calls that a..."

Caleb gently covered Andy's mouth. "I know what he calls it and I don't want to hear that coming out of your mouth."

Andy nodded.

Caleb stood Andy up. He wiped his tears away. Do you want to lay down for a little bit or go downstairs?"

Andy didn't want to face Bobby yet. He didn't think Bobby would swat him again but he didn't know for certain and wanted to give himself time to recover, just in case.

Caleb patted Dean's bed. "I'll get you a blanket." When he stood up he saw Dean's plaque and smirked. He turned it upside down and stepped back. He grabbed a blanket for Andy and covered him. He stayed with Andy until he fell asleep and then made his way downstairs.

Ian was at the door trying to open it.

Caleb raised an eyebrow. "Shoes?"

Ian whipped his head around. "No!"

Caleb held the ruler up. "You and your brother are asking for it today."

Karen took the ruler from Caleb. "If you whack that baby with this I'll whack you with it."

Caleb made sure the door was locked and followed Karen to the kitchen. "I wasn't going to."

Karen put the ruler away. "He is innocent."

Caleb scoffed. "You weren't the one trying to wrestle him into socks this morning."

Karen smiled. She poured some coffee for Caleb. "No matter what those boys do, they'll always be innocent in my eyes."

Bobby heard a sliding sound and stood up. He saw Ian pushing a box over to the door. He watched him climb it and unlock the door. Bobby sighed and picked him up. He carried him into the kitchen. "Guess who figured out how to push boxes around to unlock doors."

Caleb groaned.

Karen held her arms out for Ian. "If you wear shoes, I can take you outside."

Ian looked into her eyes.

Karen grabbed his shoes from his bag.

He held his leg out for her to put his shoes on and didn't fight her.

Caleb threw up his hands. "Really?"

April was amused. She hid a chuckle and sipped some water.

Caleb ruffled Ian's hair. "No fire for you either."

Ian took Karen's hand and pointed to the door.

Karen followed him and helped him down the steps. She knew he was going to be a handful but he was just too cute to fuss at.

Caleb called Taylor. "Hey, Taylor. I told Andy I would teach him how to play baseball but I was wondering if you wanted to help. He needs something to keep him out of trouble."

Taylor said that he'd be okay with that. He missed playing. "Uh, yeah. When we get back I can show him the ropes."

(John and Taylor)

Taylor got off the phone with Caleb.

John walked back out to the truck again.

"Any leads?" Taylor asked.

John gave him the new information. "We are going to talk to this widow."

Taylor was tired of sitting in the truck. He didn't enjoy that part of hunting. He wanted action. In some cases, there was just a lot more research needed.

John drove over to the widow's house and told Taylor he could look around the house. He was looking for a connection between victims, although sometimes, shapeshifters just attacked for the hell of it.

Taylor looked at photos and around the edges of the house. He went outside and watched the neighborhood. He did see something of interest and walked out onto the sidewalk. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. As one person walked by, he caught a glint in their eyes that looked like a retinal flair. Maybe he could see shapeshifter's eyes like film could. He didn't want to lose track of the person. They may never find it again. He called John but didn't get an answer. He looked at the house and then decided to follow at a safe distance.

John saw his phone receiving a call from Taylor. He was in the middle of a conversation with the widow. He apologized to her and sent Taylor a message asking if everything was okay.

Taylor followed the person down a few streets and watched them go into a house. He almost followed them in but they exited soon after. There were no signs of struggle at the house. He kept following and watched it go into a second house. He heard movement inside the house and heard someone scream. He ran in and got the shapeshifter off of a woman. "Run!"

The woman ran out of the house and stumbled into the street.

Taylor fought with the shifter, keeping in mind that it would be strong and fast. He got knocked around. He refocused his energy and managed to get the upper hand, slicing it with a silver-coated knife.

The creature hissed and recoiled. It lunged and attacked Taylor, pinning him to the ground.

Taylor knocked it back again with a wave of energy. He just needed to stab it in the chest. He struggled with the creature and barely managed to swing his arm and sink the knife in its heart. He stumbled back and realized that it wasn't dying. Silver was shapeshifter kryptonite. Why wasn't it dying? It was supernatural, so he hadn't followed a human with reflective contacts into a house and stabbed them. It was strong and fast. He started to feel weird. It started off as a tickle and then his mind got cloudy like it had when he accidentally took an acid trip at that party.

The creature pulled the knife out of its chest and tossed it down, approaching Taylor.

Taylor pushed himself into a sitting position, scrambling back from the creature as it got harder and harder to move. "You're not a shapeshifter."

The creature crouched in front of Taylor, cupping his chin, turning it from one side to the other. "And you're not human."

Taylor tried to pull his face away but the room was spinning. He knew he was losing consciousness. He managed to send a slurred thought to Kate before everything went dark. "I need dad."