"What are you two up to?" Sam asked curiously, walking into the study where Dean and Bobby were pouring over something on the desk. Bobby quickly moved to put his hand over what they were studying.
"Is that the time already?" Dean looked over Sam's head to the clock. "Damnit. I have so much to do." He shook his head, giving Sam a distracted kiss as he walked past him, Jack in his arms.
"Anything I need to know about?" Sam asked Bobby.
"Nope." Bobby shook his head. Sam decided to drop it for now knowing he wasn't going to get anything out of the older man.
"You need any help?" He asked Dean, finding him in the kitchen.
"Yeah, here." He passed Jack to Sam. "I kinda want an early night tonight so I'm gonna make up his bottles now."
"You ok?" Sam checked.
"Yeah." Dean nodded. "Just tired." He proved his point by yawning widely. "Didn't take a nap today."
"Working on the car?" Sam grinned, pausing in the stream of baby talk he'd been directing at Jack who was just smiling at him widely.
"Yup." Dean grinned at him. "Trevor brought over the new seats. Gonna fit 'em next weekend."
"What's happening this weekend?" Sam asked. It wasn't like Dean to put something off, not when it was related to his project of the moment.
"I wanted to talk to you about that." Dean turned to face him, drying his hands and a towel.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?" Sam sighed. "I can't wait for you to get old enough to talk." He told Jack, kissing him on the head. "Then you can rat Daddy and Bobby out when they're cooking plans up behind Papa's back."
"Grandpa." Dean corrected. "Not Bobby. And we weren't doing anything behind your back. You just happened to be at work when it came up."
"And what exactly is 'it'?" Sam asked, sitting down and settling Jack onto his lap.
"A poltergeist." Dean admitted.
"A poltergeist?" Sam should have known this was something to do with hunting.
"It's only in Iowa." Dean replied. "Only just over state lines really. I probably won't even need to stay over night." He justified. "It's just that Bobby knows the family and this sucker's making their lives hell and he's done so much for us, I…"
"Dean." Sam interrupted. "If you really want to go I'm not going to stop you." He promised.
"Yeah, but are you gonna lay a guilt trip on me?" Dean asked.
"No." Sam promised. He'd known a time was going to come when Dean was going to want to get back into hunting in some capacity. They'd even discussed it briefly. He should have known it wouldn't take long after Dean had got himself out of the house for him to decide he wanted to go on a hunt. At least he was planning to get back into it slowly. Poltergeists could be irritating and messy but they rarely caused any serious physical damage. "If it's only just over state lines you won't even be gone for the whole weekend."
"No," Dean agreed. "I'll probably drive out there on Friday and be back Saturday."
"I'd rather come with you." Sam sighed. "But there is no way in hell we're taking Jack…"
"Of course not." Dean interrupted.
"So I'll stay here and take care of him with Bobby. On one condition."
"What?" Dean looked suspicious. This was obviously going better than he had expected.
"If you get into any trouble at all you call me and either me or Bobby will come up there."
"It's just a poltergeist, Sammy."
"It's not just anything. We both know to expect the unexpected when it comes to the supernatural and I do not have to want to explain to Jack that we lost you because you were too damn stubborn to pick up the phone."
"Ok." Dean nodded. "I'll call."
"Really?"
"Absolutely."
That Friday Sam helped Dean pack what was needed into the Impala and then they stood on the porch to say goodbye.
"I'll probably be back before morning." Dean reminded Sam as he passed Jack to him.
"I don't want you driving if you're tired." Sam replied. Dean just nodded.
"Be good for Papa." He told Jack who smiled at Dean and held his arms out to go to him. "No, no." Dean frowned a little.
"We'll be fine." Sam promised. "If you don't go now you'll never leave." He kissed Dean. "If anything comes up I'll call you".
"Ok." Dean nodded. He kissed Jack, grinned at Bobby and got into the Impala, leaving quickly. Jack began to wail immediately.
"Hey, hey." Sam soothed, bouncing the baby a little. "He'll be back before you know it." He cooed. "And me and Grandpa are here."
Jack calmed down quickly when Sam found his pacifier and distracted his attention with one of his favourite noise making toys.
"He'll be fine, Sam." Bobby assured him.
"I know."
"Relax then. You're a bundle of nerves. No wonder he's fretting." He nodded at Jack who although not crying wasn't quite his usual sunny self. "He's picking up on your mood."
"Yeah." Sam nodded, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. Dean had promised to call when he reached his destination so hopefully they'd be hearing from him in two hours or so. Maybe not even that the way Dean drove when Jack wasn't in the car.
Dean checked in as promised and solemnly swore that he would be careful. He also asked about a million questions about how Jack was getting on without him, even insisting Sam put him on speaker phone so he could say goodnight to his son before Sam put him to bed.
When Dean hadn't called by midnight Sam decided to go to bed. He kept his mobile turned on on the bedside table so if Dean called he wouldn't miss it. Jack was sleeping soundly in the bassinette on Dean's side of the bed.
"Sam. Sammy!" He woke when something heavy landed on top of him and planted a kiss on him. He opened his eyes immediately, suppressing his instinct to struggle when he realised it was Dean.
"Hey." Sam kissed him back. "How'd it go?"
"Amazing!" Dean grinned at him. "It was text book. The house is a total mess, I don't know what they're going to tell the insurance company. It was so cool though, Sam. The rush, y'know?"
"Yeah." Sam panted. All the while Dean was talking he had been stripping off his clothes and punctuating his words with little bites and kisses to Sam's neck.
"Only would have been better if you were there." Dean paused to kiss Sam deeply. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Sam smiled kissing Dean. His brother always got a rush after a hunt and this was something special since it had been a year since Dean had been allowed to hunt anything at all. The adrenaline was clearly coursing through his body and Sam for one was not complaining.