We can’t say toooo much without giving it all away, but it actually isn’t a big Sam! That is our beloved four inch tall Sammy, and his extra downsized Jacob! Or, as Dean calls him, half-pint.
Dean, you are always such a shit with the nicknames.
This will all take place in one of the future stories of the AU’s. Which AU won’t be disclosed until right before the story posts.
This attempt to find himself space to breathe and think was interrupted when a pair of hands appeared under his arms and his shocked staring contest with Dean shattered.
Bowman hoisted Jacob up under the arms the way one might hold a child, lifting him to eye level. Jacob squirmed a little and kicked his small legs, but Bowman ignored that to look him over. For what, he wasn’t sure. Some kind of trace of what happened? Perhaps something that’d help them fix him. But, just the fact that Bowman would actually lift Jacob was perplexing.
He looked over at Sam, and then up at Dean, still holding the extra miniaturized human up and hoisting him in the air for all to see. He didn’t notice the tiny hands clutching desperately at his sleeves or the more intense kicking in those tiny legs as Jacob’s eyes widened in shock. “Well now what?!”
Sam practically sputtered at Bowman’s movements. “Bowman! Put him down!”
He will indeed! During the Brothers Adopted series, Dean and Jacob will have a run-in, and Sam isn’t around to straighten things out.
“Hey.” Leaning forward, Dean tapped against the glass vase a few times to get the guy’s attention again. “I already know you can talk so this silent treatment crap ain’t gonna do you any good.” Again, he felt ridiculously oversized seeing his finger next to someone so small. A casual tap like that against the kid might end up knocking him over. Hell, a stiff breeze might knock him over.
For a moment, all of Jacob’s fear vanished from his face, replaced by confusion. He frowned. The action hadn’t had any effect on his desire to speak to the human holding him captive. The scrutiny and the noise with the human that close had his nerves back in place in no time, but not without Jacob giving the human a look that said Really? He squared his shoulders, took a step forward, and drew a fist back. He punched the glass as hard as he could, defiance and frustration in the action. See how well this works? his expression seemed to say.
Dean was briefly caught off guard by the punch. It showed a spark of defiance he hadn’t expected, to say the least. A small bit of his former playful demeanor rose up in him and he found himself actually grinning for a moment. The angry facade dropped away, letting the Dean he used to be showed through in that moment.
“Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be?” Dean asked gamely. He tapped right back at the little guy, finger rapping lightly directly opposite where the punch had landed.
Jacob flinched in surprise, the sound of another tap on the glass startling him almost as much as the sudden shift in the giant face in front of him. A smile, a genuine one, lit up the human’s expression and a playful tone had leaked into his deep voice.
Jacob glanced side to side, waiting for someone to walk around the corner somewhere and end the joke here. His fist was still held up at the ready, but he glanced at it before looking at the glass, unsure if he should even try to punch again.
Jacob’s been downsized, and Sam rescued him from the witch along with the help of Walt and Mallory! After helping raise the teen as his own little brother, Sam is ready to take Jacob out to the rooms to help gather supplies. Without Walt for a chaperone.
What could go wrong?
The table itself had the standard motel pamphlets sitting on it in the center and a pen that was longer than Sam or Jacob was tall, along with a listing of the channels for the TV. Everything was haphazardly left lying about in a heap, making it hard to tell if there was anything that might not be missed, or anything that could be useful.
When Jacob reached the top, Sam offered him a hand to help him over the edge. He eyed the immense door at the other end of the room while he did so, narrowing his eyes at the serene sunlight that filtered its way into the room.
Deceptively calm.
“Thanks,” Jacob muttered, brushing his hands off on his jeans. He took a second to let himself be in awe of the view this time. The table was barely half the height of an average human. But Jacob might as well be standing on a building a few stories tall. It was still bizarre to him. Sam seemed like he’d gotten used to it, and Jacob was never sure how.
There were some water spots near the edge of the table that suggested a wet cloth had been wiped over it hastily. But that didn’t rule out the possibility of there being crumbs of something left behind on the table. The maids were hasty, most of the time.
Jacob started towards some of the pamphlets left on the table, thinking he’d take a quick glance under them. He shot one look back at where his hook was secure on the edge of the table. It felt weird to leave it behind like that, though he remembered Walt telling him why they did that. Even so, he hated the thought of losing the simple length of twine, since a lot of his lifestyle depended on it now.
Jacob paused and scuffed his boot over a nick in the table, a gouge the length of his arm. He raised an eyebrow at it. “Looks like someone got pissed,” he mused. The solid wood of the table seemed beyond sturdy, considering it was thicker than his body. The thought of someone marring its surface like that (probably by accident even) was almost unsettling. Humans were powerful.
“See anything?”
Sam pushed aside a few pamphlets of his own on the other side of the table, even going as far as to check between the pages. “No,” he sighed, “nothing.” Standing, he kicked a few to the side, making one sheaf of paper float down and slide over close to Jacob. “At least we still have the dresser and the nightstand to check. Stuff falls behind the nightstands here all the time and nobody ever checks them.”
Sam made his way over to Jacob, stepping on the papers cautiously so that they didn’t go sliding and send him flying. He ignored how big the letters were compared to his boots, used to seeing the scale difference after thirteen years spent this size. At 23 years of age, he’d been downsized longer than he’d been human. Compared to the scant 3 years that Jacob had under his belt, Sam was a seasoned veteran at this new life.
He had only reached the edge when he heard it.
The thundering growl of an engine right outside the door.
Sam’s heart froze. They were far away from any way out of the room. Far from the vent, and up high on a table. “Fuck,” he cursed. “We’ve gotta go.”
In celebration of reaching ten stories for Brothers Apart, this story is a special edition. It brings in a new set of characters that I’m very excited for everyone to welcome into the BA universe!
A Lich of Sense arrives officially on December 11th.
Over the last hour, Dean’s movements had become more sluggish, his snark slowing down compared to normal. Sam could feel a pang of fear whenever he caught sight of Dean’s arm. His brother had tied a tourniquet to slow the bleeding while they were walking, but the red stain had continued to spread.
Dean was weakening, and there was nothing he could do.
“Dean, how–” Sam’s query was cut short when the massive hunter suddenly dropped down, going to a sit with his legs crossed. He leaned back against a tree, closing his eyes to the silence of the forest.
It took Sam a few moments to recover, shoulders slightly shaking from the terror of the ground dropping out from under him. It gave the effect of being trapped in free-fall, with no seatbelt to secure him in place. Dean had never done anything like that without warning, or making sure Sam was secure.
“Dean, you alright?” Sam asked worriedly once he caught his breath again. The huge hunter was paler than normal, his lips a brighter pink against the whitened skin.
A green eye cracked open, searching out Sam. “Yeah, Sammy. I’ll be okay. Just… gotta rest for a bit…”
Worry spiked in Sam even more. It wasn’t like Dean to just rest like this… not on a case… and with his injury beyond Sam’s ability to handle, Sam couldn’t risk Dean dropping off into a deep sleep. Most of the time, Dean was an extraordinarily light sleeper, waking at the smallest noises around him (like Sam, arguing with his father by Dean’s laptop that first time they’d met up again), but other times nothing could budge him, come hell or high water.
Standing precariously on his perch, Sam shoved roughly against Dean’s cheek. It was clammy to the touch, ratcheting Sam’s worry up another notch. “C’mon, Godzilla. No falling asleep. You have townspeople to terrify.”
This elicited a grumble from the hunter, but nothing more. Thankful that Dean was still responsive, Sam started to climb down the long sleeve to where Dean’s hands were folded on his lap.
Now that Season One of Brothers Apart is over, the boys will have more obstacles to face and will need to work together as a team like never before!
Here’s a snippet from the upcoming eighth part of BA: The Schism of Fire and Water
(Warning: words and phrases may change before the chapter this is a part of is released)
Sam realized that Dean was doing anything but sleeping. His face had the familiar stubborn cast of a person trying to ignore the world around them, instead of his usual relaxed posture. The reason he hadn’t reacted to Sam became clear when he caught sight of the earbuds in Dean’s ears.
Dean just wasn’t going to make this easy on him.
With a world-weary sigh, Sam jogged over to the bed. If Dean refused to listen to him, he’d find a way to make Dean listen, whatever it took. A brief shiver went up Sam’s back when he remembered how big Dean was, but it faded away faster this time.
Sam grabbed the edge of the bed cover, hauling himself up the sheer cliff with no need for his fishhook or line. A climbing surface like the cover offered plenty of handholds and places to grip. He was careful to stay clear of the hand that was hanging off the bed, spotting it silently twitching in time with the song Dean was listening to at the moment. He didn’t want to get knocked off the bed by accident.
Once he made it to the top of the bed Sam wasted no time in climbing up Dean himself. He felt the hunter freeze up under him the second he made contact, then smirked as Dean tried to force himself to relax and ignore Sam. You already gave yourself away, jackass. That wasn’t exactly your most subtle move. I know you’re awake and you know I’m here.
Sam jogged up Dean’s stomach, ignoring the way the uneven ground gave way beneath his feet. That was normal enough for him these days. It was hardly the first time he’d walked on Dean, though it was the first he’d been ignored while walking up. For all the good that would do Dean. Sam felt a spark of determination fill him. Dean would listen to him.
With that in mind, Sam brought his boot down on the cord of Dean’s headphones, yanking one of the buds out of his ears. Dean’s eyes flashed open before he could catch himself, an annoyed look in his stare when he caught sight of Sam standing on his chest with arms stubbornly crossed over his chest.
“Dude, you’re standing on my headphones,” Dean grumbled, the ground under Sam vibrating. The quiet sound of Smoke on the Water leaked out of the free bud.
“Yeah. That’s kind of the point,” Sam said, meeting Dean levelly in the eyes. “We need to talk.”
Brothers Apart 