Tag: au lounge series

The Lounge || A Dean in the Hand (1 of 3)

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Welcome to the AU lounge! A place of relaxation conceived and helped designed by all the readers and visitors to the world of Brothers Apart! Stay awhile, kick up your boots, and have some pie!

Current AUs in the Lounge:

Brothers Together (Teenager big Dean; tiny kiddo Sam; tiny kiddo Oscar)
Brothers Apart (The original Dean and Sam)
Brothers Lost (Big Jacob with the tiny bros)

****** Departing


Brothers Found (Big Dean and Jacob, tiny Sam)
Brothers Adopted (Big Dean, tiny Jacob and Sam)

****** New Arrivals

Time, that endless flow that the Lounge existed without, passed outside the doors. Within, the different groups mingled, each with their own stories and tales to tell the others. From time to time, the smallest member of the Lounge, little Oscar whom even the bartender loved to see come around and peek out into view, would have to leave, called by a mysterious summons.

But he always came back, and always went back over to his young Dean and Sam, who were delighted to see him and managed to take away the sadness that fell over him each time.

Between serving whiskeys and pies and mysteriously bussing tables without ever being seen, Gabriel kept a sharp eye on the TV suspended above his bar. On it, the flashing colors belonging to each AU switched between different polls, and he was surprised to see the same group get voted in a second time. Family Ties turned into First Hunt, glowing its win.

Over at the table with the two Jacobs sitting, they watched the tiny Winchesters go through a few games, Dean quickly putting up a better fight now that he knew Sam was his equal at the game. It grew more heated between them, but all in good fun with the occasional call to “Rack ‘em, loser!” when one won.

The original Dean of the crew came strolling over to watch the game, his mouth quirked into a smile as he saw his tiny counterpart clearing the table with one stroke after the other.

Then, to the smaller Dean’s eternal consternation, Dean swept him right up off the table with a shit-eating grin right after his winning stroke sunk the eight ball in the corner pocket.

“What’s the big idea?” Dean griped up at his giant counterpart, batting at the fingers around him. As fast as this Dean was, his grip was always surprisingly gentle.

“Oh, nothing,” Dean said innocently. “Just figured you might want to see how the big boys play.” With a grin, he plunked tiny Dean right down on the pool table, still a mess from an earlier game with the solid balls still on the table, all the stripes gone.

“Jackass!” Dean shot up at him, shoving a yellow 1 out of his way as he stalked for the edge.

To the side, Gabriel watched all the happenings between the groups, always alert for any actual danger between the different sizes. Danger was discouraged, but jokes and pranks…

Well, those were fully encouraged and endorsed.

Both Jacobs were just as surprised by how quickly the larger of the two Deans had just swept up his tiny counterpart. The younger Jacob, still sporting a black eye that was doing a lot better since he came into the lounge, stood from his seat to wander over to the pool. Behind him, the other Jacob held out a hand for the Sam who’d been left on his own.

Young-Jacob stared at the 1 ball as it rolled slowly to a stop only a few inches from where it started. The mini-Dean looked so small among the normal-sized pool balls.

Ever wary of how his own Dean didn’t want him around the little guys, Jacob didn’t immediately move to offer a hand. “I think this table’s more of a football field,” he mused.

“A football field with a jackass giant!” Dean griped up from where he was walking. The edges of the table had places he could climb down without his hook and thread, so that’s where he headed.

The larger Dean chuckled, lining up a shot with the cue ball and lightly nudging it towards the 1. It was barely a love tap, sending the ball into Dean’s way as he stalked by. With a swear, the smaller Dean kicked at the ball.

A second Dean strolled over, his hands in his pockets as he looked over the pool table. “Mini-me’s having some issues there,” he commented to the Sam on his shoulder.

The original Dean frowned at him. “How old are you, anyway?” he inquired as he took aim at the yellow 1 again.

Dean scowled. “I’m 26, dude!” he griped, looking annoyed at the question.

Dean chuckled as he tapped the cue ball again to piss of the smaller Dean. “I’m 27.”

“Yeah, well I’m 28 which means I’m in charge around here!” the little Dean snapped, shoving the cue ball back at his larger counterpart only to make the man chuckle again as he steadied the ball.

While they bickered by the pool tables, the screen above Gabriel flickered, and this time there were four names listed above, flashing as it was decided which one would post next.

Like a Moth to Flame

Sam of Wellwood

The Water’s Fine

Bothering Bowman

Gabriel mused that if Dean couldn’t find his way off the pool table by the time the vote ended, he’d get a free ticket off if his story came up.

The Lounge || Time to Go, Champ

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Interlude

The Lounge was a lively place, but for once Oscar didn’t mind. Back in the motel, if a room was full of humans being loud or boisterous, he had to avoid them at all costs. They couldn’t find out he was there, or he’d be in danger.

It wasn’t the same in the Lounge, where they all knew he was around and they all seemed willing to look out for him. He could walk across the open floor safely, and the most he’d get was a hello from a Dean or a Jacob standing high overhead. He could explore as much as he wanted, and even go get food whenever he felt like it.

When he got a strange feeling in his core that he had to leave, he didn’t like it at all. His eyes strayed to the tall doorway and he frowned.

Beyond this strange place, he would be alone again. Left behind just when he thought he might get to leave his motel and not be afraid anymore. He’d go back to hiding away from everyone and hoping he might find enough crumbs to eat every day.

He didn’t want to leave. It was just like his Dean had mentioned so early on, when others first started arriving. He didn’t want to leave.

Oscar glanced around to see what the others were doing, but no one else seemed to notice anything amiss. With a sigh, he found a space under one of the tables and huddled down. Maybe, if he didn’t come out for a while, it would be like he had left, without actually going anywhere. Maybe.

A pair of shiny black leather shoes and black slacks ambled towards the table. They definitely didn’t belong to any of the Deans or either of the Jacobs. Those guys all wore jeans. Oscar wasn’t the only one, in fact, watching the progress of those steps with rapt attention.

The bartender never came out from behind the bar, it seemed. Until now.

Oscar huddled even smaller as the steps came towards the very table where he hid. He tried to scoot around the base to put something between them, but stopped just as the footsteps did. As he watched, the man knelt down so he could see under the table.

Golden eyes that usually lit up with some hidden mischief fixed on him right away, and Oscar froze. There was almost pity there. He was so surprised that he didn’t even argue or try to squirm away when a hand reached under the table to scoop him up. He clung to the bartender’s thumb as he was lifted up, out from the shadows.

“Hey, champ,” Gabriel greeted him, smirking at the kid. Even to him, a head shorter than any of the other human-sized folk in the Lounge, Oscar was small when seated on his palm. “You got a job to do.”

Oscar huffed quietly and pushed himself to his feet. He felt like it hardly made a difference at all; he still looked so tiny on a hand. Whoever was still watching from other tables could probably hardly see him.

“I … I don’t want to,” he admitted, his voice breaking in the middle. His eyes stung and his vision blurred, but he tried to keep it together. He really tried.

The bartender’s eyebrows went up and he shrugged in a ‘what can you do’ manner. “I know it, kid. I put together a pretty sweet place to hang out. But right now you gotta go.”

Oscar took a steadying breath and some quiet tears raced down his cheeks. He couldn’t quite find the words to explain just how lonely he would be if he left. Here, he had multiple copies of his only friends in the whole world, and then some. Here, he was warm and safe and fed.

“I don’t wanna leave,” he echoed. He didn’t even try to brush away the tears this time and he sniffled. “Why can’t I just stay here?”

Gabriel sighed and his invisible wings shifted uncomfortably. He was all about playing pranks whenever possible. He reveled in the kinds of things humans could come up with on their own, and when it called for it a playful nudge was always ready. And, when he thought they needed to be taught a thing or two, he was right there with a lesson tailor made to them. Just desserts, like a cake with their names iced on the top right before he tossed them into a wormhole (to name one of his simpler examples).

This kid … as far as he knew, there wasn’t a lesson he needed to be taught. He’d definitely earned a chance to stay in a place as awesome as the Lounge, but…

“Sorry, kid. I don’t make the rules … well, I did. But they’re like that for a reason.”

Oscar stared imploringly for a second longer before ducking his head and brushing at his eyes. It only made room for more tears to come, as he all but gave up on his argument. He didn’t have it in him to fight hard like the Winchesters did.

“Woah, woah, buddy,” Gabriel said, interrupting the kid’s crying and ignoring the others completely. “I didn’t say you couldn’t come back, now did I? You just gotta go take care of something and then,” he snapped the fingers on his other hand, “you’ll be back and your friends will be waiting.”

Oscar didn’t look up, but he nodded anyway. He knew the Lounge would welcome him back, but he wished he didn’t have to go. Not back to what he had in his actual reality.

“I’ll getcha to the door, kid. You just gotta walk through it,” Gabriel told him gently. Oscar swayed on his hand as he moved, but Gabriel had steadier hands than any human alive. He knelt smoothly by the door to let the kid step off, never once jostling him on the way.

Oscar stood in front of the huge door while the bartender stood back to his full height and pushed it open with one hand. No one could really tell what was beyond that threshold. It was just outside the Lounge. Nothing more, nothing less.

Oscar glanced over his shoulder to see the others in the room one last time before he faced forward and walked through it.

The Lounge || A Jacob a Day (5 of 5)

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Dean replaced the cue ball on the table, and Sam attempted the shot again, this time hitting the ball off one of the solids and sinking it in the pocket. He grinned.

“We found Godzilla,” Dean corrected the younger Jacob, looking away from Sam’s lesson. “Or at least, his pie.”

The so-called ‘Godzilla’ smirked again and shrugged. “Looks like us Jacobs have trouble with first impressions,” he pointed out. “And yet Dean here still gave me a job as their driver.”

Younger Jacob’s eyebrows went up. “You got to drive the Impala?” It was obvious to anyone who saw Dean near that black-and-chrome behemoth that it was important to him. The care that went into that car was meticulous.

“Jacob helped rebuild the Impala,” Dean corrected again as Sam took another shot. “Since Dad didn’t have the heart to drive her anymore.”

Sam sunk a second ball, straightening proudly. Now he was closing the gap between him and Dean. There was a chance he could turn this lesson around on his older brother. He lined up a third shot while Dean was distracted lecturing two Jacobs.

“And now he’s part of the team,” Dean finished, “since we needed a driver. Hey–!”

Dean finally spotted Sam as he sank a third ball, huge grin on his face. “You were saying about lessons?”

The older Jacob smirked. Sam always had that way of keeping Dean in check, especially since his size made him extra hotheaded. Inwardly, he was proud all over again that he’d gotten enough trust to be invited along on hunts with the small Winchesters. His younger self would probably get his own Dean’s trust, eventually.

For now, he was welcome to hang out with them. Older Jacob leaned down slightly to count out what remained on the pool table with Sam slowly turning the tide in his favor. “Got some catching up to do, Dean,” he quipped, knowing it would just rile him up even more.

Younger Jacob cracked a grin of his own. He reached down to the stand where the unused pool sticks waited. It took some work, but he managed to pinch one in his fingers without knocking the others over.

“I got next game,” he jested, brandishing the little thing proudly.

Dean gave Jacob a flat look back, but Sam chimed in, “You bet!” as he sunk his fourth in a row.

“Since when are you a sniper?” Dean bitched as he sized up the table, and Sam missed his fifth hit. “You didn’t even know what chalk was a few minutes ago!”

Sam shrugged. “Beginners luck?”

And he grinned.

“Or just a good hustle,” the older Jacob muttered, his own grin widening. He hadn’t had much chance to get to know this Sam yet. He did know, however, that Sam knew all the precise buttons to push to needle his brother. Growing up together with almost no one else around would do that.

“Good thing you didn’t put anything on the line for this game,” younger Jacob added in.

“Maybe next time,” Sam said, sauntering to the side.

Dean took a few more shots, glowering when he scratched on the second, and Sam took his place. The game was quickly over between the brothers as Sam took out each of his balls one after the other, and the last was a double, and then the eight ball in the corner pocket.

“Rack ‘em, loser,” Sam said jauntily.

The Lounge || A Jacob a Day (4 of 5)

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Jacob mirrored Sam’s smirk, though he tried to make sure Dean didn’t spot it. He took his leave of their table and felt less like he was looming over Sam and Oscar so much. Even up on the table, they could easily fall into someone’s shadow.

He wandered closer to the entertainment area where his counterpart stood. The kid on the arcade machine was intent on it, and Jacob noticed belatedly that someone else was on the mini-version of the arcade console, too. The systems were put together so well that Jacob couldn’t even tell who was playing who.

Getting closer, he realized there were two small figures at one of the tiny pool tables. The other Jacob was absently watching both games, hands in his hoodie pocket.

“Hey,” Jacob greeted, unsure. He couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk to himself face to face, but wasn’t actually sure what he’d say.

The older Jacob grinned. “Hey, dude, good to see another me around. But who gave you the shiner?”

The newcomer Jacob touched faintly at the bruised skin around his eye. “I uh. The Dean I know actually decked me pretty soon after meeting him. Didn’t … make a good impression on him.”

“Score one for the Deans!” Dean called up to the Jacobs as he bridged his fingers on the pool table, pulling back and striking at the cue ball. The tiny clinking of pool balls could be heard from down on the table as he took the first shot, scoring two balls in the pocket holes. “Awesome!” he declared, prowling around the side of the table to size up his next shot.

Sam was standing to the side, absently rubbing the tip of pool stick. Having shrunk at ten, he only remembered a few vague lessons from Dean on the game, all done furtively at the bar while their dad was busy. Dean had declared it time for some overdue lessons the second he discovered there was equipment tailored to their size, including pool sticks aplenty to choose from. He’d tested the heft and weight of a few, finding one that felt perfect to him and had Sam test out some.

Dean lined up his next shot, and sunk it in the side pocket. “See that, Sammy? Just gotta learn from the master,” he said, just this side of preening as he took another shot. This one bounced off, and he surrendered the table to Sam.

“So, Dean got the best of you?” Dean called up to the new Jacob by their table, smirking. “Godzilla over here is regretting the first time he grabbed me, let me tell you.”

The taller Jacob rolled his eyes, but didn’t deny it. Instead, one hand emerged from his pocket and he held it out to show off two healing scars. One adorned his fingertip, and the other had been a nasty gash closer down on his arm. “They definitely make an impression, these Winchesters.”

Younger Jacob’s eyebrows shot up. He held up his thumb, displaying the bandaging wrapped tightly around it. His ‘impression’ from his own Sam was much more recent. “Sam really caught me off guard with his knife,” he agreed mulishly. He knew he’d earned it.

“Looks like your Dean had something to say, too,” older Jacob said with a grin. “Don’t worry. If he’s anything like this guy,” he pointed a thumb down at the tiny, smug Dean on the table, “he’ll probably come around eventually.”

Young Jacob nodded, glancing between the three of them. “So … I’m guessing you found them together?” he asked his older self. “I just found Sam, we had to go find Dean.”

Sam focused on his shot, trying to ignore the banter around him. His pool stick hit the cue ball, and the white ball jumped.

“Scratch!” Dean said sternly. He picked up a tiny blue square from the edge of the table and tossed it at Sam. To either Jacob, it would look the size of a grain of rice, but for the brothers it would serve its purpose. “Don’t rub the chalk off the tip,” he chided as Sam begrudgingly chalked his pool stick. “Try again.”

The Lounge || A Jacob a Day (3 of 5)

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“Oh,” Oscar replied, finally edging all the way out from under the table. He glanced past the new Dean to the new Jacob, noticing that the other human didn’t opt to sit at the table, too. Oscar couldn’t blame him; sometimes Dean (any Dean!) could be intimidating.

Oscar fidgeted with his little cloth bag while the other Jacob glanced around the room. The others were probably picking up the facts about the place like anyone new did. The Lounge had that weird effect, but no one really questioned it.

He decided he could always help it along, too. These were another Sam and Dean, new versions of his best friends in the world.

“You can go talk to anyone and rest wherever,” he explained to the nearby Sam. “There’s lots of everyone here, the other Jacob even came with a Sam and a Dean our size! The smaller Dean really likes the pie the bartender makes, I tried some and it’s good.”

“I bet it was,” Jacob answered with a smile. He was endeared by the tiny child hovering near Sam, but opted to keep some distance. He didn’t want to give the Dean he knew a reason to snip at him again; Jacob had hurt his Sam, and was still on probation for it.

“Yea, I think we already met those two,” Dean grumbled, remembering the mini-him that had snipped at him first thing.

“Dean got himself in trouble,” Sam chimed in. “Gotta watch his step around… himself.” He was bemused by the entire concept of a brother standing at his scale. A snicker leaked out, unable to contain it anymore.

Oscar covered his mouth with a hand, but it didn’t stop a quiet laugh of his own, catching it from Sam. He was only keeping up with how many Deans there were because the atmosphere of the Lounge helped him. He couldn’t even imagine what the actual Deans and Sams were feeling, seeing so many doubles of themselves. Part of him hoped a group might arrive with another Oscar so he wouldn’t be the odd one out.

“It’s kinda scary walking out in the middle of the floor, but I kinda like that we can,” he mused. Going back home after this would be a bitter disappointment. “I can show you around, if you wanna, when you’re done resting. I’ve been exploring since I got here.“

Jacob smiled faintly. Oscar was opening right up after starting out hiding from them, though he stayed close to Sam. It probably comforted the kid to have someone his own size nearby; he was so tiny.

"I might go and say hi to … me,” he said, offering the kid a little wave. “But I’ll take you up on your tour if you want to later.”

“Kay,” Oscar answered shyly, tilting his head back to meet Jacob’s gaze. He wasn’t as tall as the other Jacob just yet … but he was still a big human.

“Just don’t bugging any of the smaller guys,” Dean warned Jacob, glued to his seat so long as Sam remained near Oscar. “Me or not.”

Sam rolled his eyes and stalked over to Dean’s hand to deal a sharp kick at it. “Dean! You’re the one that’s making a bigger deal out of things than you should!”

Dean’s eyebrows went up in mock offense, moving his hand out of range of Sam. “I’m not the one who got myself caught!”

Sam flipped Dean the bird and turned back to Oscar. “I’d love to hear what you know about this place,” he said welcomingly. “It’s a good start before we go… pissing off any other Deans.” He smirked.

The Lounge || A Jacob a Day (2 of 5)

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Jacob’s eyebrows shot up and he followed Dean’s gaze. He couldn’t see the two small figures very clearly, since they’d already made some progress walking away, but something insistent in his head said that it was indeed a mini-Dean. With another mini-Sam of his own walking with him.

“There’s a … a bigger me over there too,” he pointed out, eyeing the others in the room. The ones he could see. He glanced at the floor again, wondering if anyone else would be underfoot.

“Th-there’s lotsa everybodies,” a tiny voice piped up from the nearest table. Jacob glanced over, but he didn’t see anyone there.

A tiny table and chairs sat in the center of the table, and he stared at it for a second before noticing an extra shadow near it. Someone was hiding behind it, though the little voice was so faint and timid he could swear he’d imagined it.

He almost stepped around the table to peek at whoever was hiding there, and then reprimanded himself. He hadn’t had a great first impression on Sam. He could do better with another little person, no matter where they were.

“I guess this is the place for ‘em,” Jacob finally answered.

Dean had to suppress his first instinct to see who was hiding from them same as Jacob. The little shadow looked tiny– not even as big as Sam.

Lowering his hand to the table, Dean jabbed a finger at Jacob. “Behave!” he snapped as he felt Sam step off his hand, going over to the table and chairs made for his size.

Sam rolled his eyes at Dean’s overprotective instincts. “Dude, he’s been fine, lay off a little.”

Then his attention was drawn to the small setup at the center of the massive, human-sized table. A table and chairs, along with placemats, napkin holders, utensils set up at each seat… it was unreal. And all small enough to go in Dean’s pocket.

Sam didn’t get too close, only crouching down to see if he could spot the new person. “Hey,” he said warmly, hoping to meet another person his size, “my name’s Sam, what’s yours?”

Oscar’s cheeks warmed and he offered Sam a sheepish smile from where he crouched, under the table next to one of the chairs. His wild hair actually brushed the underside of the table, something that never happened with normal ones. He wished he could say the novelty of the mini furniture was what prompted him to hide under it. But in reality, he’d simply been startled by the entrance of more giants.

“Hi, Sam,” he greeted, inching closer. He could lean out to peek up at the others, finding another tall adult Dean but a younger Jacob.

“I’m Oscar. I like exploring in here … I was gonna go try games with my own Sam but I keep finding new things I wanna look at.” As he rambled out his explanation, he scooted further out into the open, staying near the new Sam.

Jacob, though he’d been warned to keep back, couldn’t help his fascinated staring. Oscar was even tinier than Sam, something he hadn’t even considered possible.

“Hope we didn’t interrupt your exploring, Oscar,” he said quietly.

Oscar’s eyes widened and he shook his head so fast that his wild hair was ruffled. “Uh-uh, I-I was just under the table because…. because I wanted to try hiding like a human can!”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sam said, a smile blossoming over his face at the little guy. He pushed himself to his feet to give Oscar a little room to come out if he wanted, and glanced fondly back at Dean. “I know they’re a little big, but they both try,” Sam told Oscar. “I only just found Dean again yesterday.”

Dean took a look around to make sure there were no other little people about to appear underfoot, noting that his tiny counterpart was already over at the entertainment section with the other tiny Sam, setting up a pool table made for their size. Then, he stepped forward and cautiously took a seat near his Sam, unable to completely avoid hovering close.

He’d only just found Sam, he wasn’t about to let him out of arm’s reach.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about,” Dean promised Oscar, folding his arms.

The Lounge || A Jacob a Day (1 of 5)

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Welcome to the AU lounge! A place of relaxation conceived and helped designed by all the readers and visitors to the world of Brothers Apart! Stay awhile, kick up your boots, and have some pie!

Current AUs in the Lounge:

Brothers Together (Teenager big Dean; tiny kiddo Sam; tiny kiddo Oscar)
Brothers Apart (The original Dean and Sam)
Brothers Lost (Big Jacob with the tiny bros)
Brothers Found (Big Dean and Jacob, tiny Sam)

****** New Arrivals

 

Dean blinked, hard, trying to clear his eyes.

Seconds ago, he’d closed his eyes to fall asleep. Next thing he knew, he was on his feet, standing in the dark outside some door with The Lounge glowing above in neon letters. A puff of warm air left his mouth in surprise, mixing with the chill of the night to turn into a brief smoke cloud, vanishing as he watched.

“Can we go in?” came a voice from his hand, and he glanced down in surprise.

Crouched in his palm, Sam was rubbing his hands up and down his arms, trying to warm up. At only four inches tall, that wasn’t the easiest thing in the world.

“Yeah, got it,” Dean said, automatically bringing his hand to his chest to try shielding Sam from the cold air. He put a hand on the door, expecting it to be closed, but it opened right up.

The cold vanished as he stepped over the threshold, and Dean felt himself relax as he stepped in, automatically looking around for any threats to Sam. Though they’d only been reunited for a night, Dean’s protective instincts from childhood had reared, and he was on guard for Sam’s sake.

“Watch it!” a voice bitched from the ground, and Dean nearly stumbled, eyes widening as he saw not one person by his boot, but two.

One hand on his hip, the other wrapped around the world’s tiniest glass of whisky, the smallest Dean glared at the newcomer. The Sam with him took a few quick steps, getting out of the giant Dean’s way as fast as he could, but his brother stood his ground.

“You can’t go walking around blind,” Dean snipped up at his counterpart. “What happens if Oscar’s around, huh? Watch your step!”

With that, he hitched his duffel up and stalked off, following Sam on their journey towards the pool tables and leaving a very, very confounded Dean standing in their wake.

Not far behind, Jacob found himself staring in confusion at the neon sign above the door. The deep bruising around one eye almost blurred the sight of it. He shrugged inwardly and gave the door a test push.

He was surprised to find the place open, but then again if he was dreaming, why wouldn’t it be? He stepped inside, only to stop short.

There was Dean, standing there with Sam on a hand. He looked shocked, like his brain was rebooting after seeing something he hadn’t expected.

Just a second later, Jacob understood why.

The place looked like any normal bar/diner kind of place. Tables for chatting, as well as tables for poker or pool were arranged all around, with arcade consoles against the wall. Some teenager only a year or two younger than Jacob stood playing, and standing nearby watching the game…

Himself?

It was definitely Jacob, wearing a hoodie like was his signature. The main difference was in height; he was several inches taller and quite a bit broader.

“Uh. Does this usually happen after you take care of a restless ghost?”

Dean was distracted enough by the strange, swaggering double of himself that was walking around down on the floor, making a beeline for the pool tables, that he didn’t glare at Jacob for getting close to Sam. As far as he was concerned, the kid was on probation for injuring Sam during their first encounter.

Jacob’s main redeeming grace was the fact that Sam was there, safely cupped in Dean’s hand. Protectively cupped, with the way Dean was eyeing up their strange surroundings even as the atmosphere of the lounge began to work its magic on even him.

“Dude,” Dean hissed at Jacob, “there is a mini-me walking around over there!” He didn’t have any more of an idea what was going on than Jacob.

The Lounge || Advent of the Deans (5 of 5)

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“Milk for growing bones!” the bartender announced, dropping two cups off at the tiny bar for the young Sam and Oscar where they stood.

“What’s your story, kid?” called the smaller Dean from his spot. He patted the seat next to him. “C’mon! Join us!”

Oscar looked up from his hands, where he was counting out how many people were at the bar now. Realizing that the Dean over there– a Dean at his scale!– was talking to him, he perked up in surprise. “O-okay,” he answered, glancing to his Sam curiously.

There sure were a lot of Sams and Deans to keep track of.

He started towards the bar and finally noticed the biggest person there was watching him. His head tilted back to meet Jacob’s curious but gentle gaze. Even from up on the bar, he was huge.

“Hey, bud,” Jacob greeted as quietly as he could. His deep voice still startled the absolutely minuscule child. Oz couldn’t be much more than two inches, even smaller than the young Sam walking with him.

“Um. Hi!” Oscar replied, before finally reaching the bar. Scrambling up onto the stool next to the small Dean, he had to grip the edge to keep from spinning around on the stool. As fun as that sounded, he had at least one thing to set straight.

He stared in awe at the Dean his size. Still a much taller man. “I’m Oscar, ” he said, making sure the guy at least knew his actual name before the nickname sank in.

“And he’s shortstop,” regular Dean put in from behind their seats, smirking as his tiny doppelgänger’s annoyed scowl.

“My name is not shortstop!” he snapped up at Dean. “At least my ass ain’t the size of Texas! ”

“Oh, I’m shaking in my boots,” Dean said dryly, a wry grin across his face as he needled his tiny double.

“Dean, chill,” his Sam sighed, pushing against the hand Dean had draped near the tiny bar.

Once the smaller Dean was sure Dean was done with his shit, and the second Sam sat down next to his young counterpart, waving for his own beer, to the annoyance of the teenager Dean (“Everyone gets a drink but me,” he mumbled in annoyance.), the smaller Dean was able to focus on Oscar.

“Oscar, eh?” he asked, skipping on the nickname after his own trouble escaping his. “You been keeping these two out of trouble?”

The young Sam sitting next to Oscar pulled his cup of milk closer and giggled. “Only Dean gets himself into trouble!”

Oscar grinned and nodded, following along with his Sam and answering Dean at the same time. After watching so many of the others bicker, with other versions of themselves, he was almost surprised to be addressed again. Normally he’d be more frightened in this situation, but for now he was simply nervous, and that was normal for him.

He took a curious sip of his own glass of milk. The first time he ever tried it.

“I showed Sam how ta climb! I showed my Sam, anyway,” he explained, looking to the smaller Dean again and hoping for his approval.

“An’ I showed him how to get in the walls and hide and stuff, since he was new to being our size and he needed a teacher. I never got to be a teacher before. It was real fun, I wish…. I wish I coulda done more.”

The small Dean smiled, as proud as Oscar hoped. “You did exactly what you should.” Oscar beamed with pride of his own.

“See Sam?” the regular Dean nudged his Sam, noticing that the two older Sams were sitting on the outside of the bar, guarding the others. “You coulda gotten by without Walt!”

Sam huffed, pushing Dean’s finger away. “Looks like you did a good job,” he complemented Oscar, ruffling his younger counterpart’s hair. “And there’s always hope for another chance.” After hearing the kid’s story earlier, his heart went out for the youngest and scrawniest there. Oscar would be alone when he left the Lounge, the only one on his own out of everyone there.

“So what about you two?” the regular Dean turned the question around on the pair of tiny Winchesters. “I have got to hear about how you two hooked up with Godzilla over here!”

That Sam smirked. “It all started with this pie we found…”

“Do not insult the pie!” tiny Dean bitched, sweeping his slice protectively off the bar and cradling it close. “That was the best pie I’ve ever had!”

Jacob laughed, keeping it quiet for the small, sensitive ears of the smaller occupants of the bar. The nickname that his own Dean had given him almost sounded strange coming from someone else. It was another Dean, with a story of his own, arriving at the same exact jab at Jacob’s size.

“It was kinda a rough start,” he admitted, watching as little Oscar eyed the slice of pie Dean was defending. Without even having to ask, the kid had his own tiny slice placed in front of him by that ever-amused bartender. It was like he pulled things out of thin air.

“I was between jobs and I stopped at a diner, left a slice of pie in a to go box on the table. Someone couldn’t resist.” He winked at his own Dean, getting their story going while the others listened in.

Above their heads, the television screen rippled until the words Chasing Family were proudly displayed.

Soon, the bartender knew, more would join them.

The fun was only just beginning.

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Follow The Lounge from the beginning!

The Lounge || Advent of the Deans (3 of 5)

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The little Dean bristled when he saw Dean looking at his Sam. “Don’t even think about grabbing Sam like that!” he commanded bossily, making his taller counterpart smirk in amusement.

“Oh?” Dean drawled lazily, claiming the seat directly behind the tiny bar set up for them. “And I’m guessin’ you’ll be the one stopping me, shortstop?” He winked at the new Sam in the room, letting him know it was all just a joke, and Sam nodded back, relaxing a little as he walked closer to the pair of Deans.

“Yes, I will,” Dean snipped back, pointedly taking his stool at the miniature bar just in time for a tiny glass of whiskey, complete with ice and a nearly-microscopic napkin, appear in front of him, courtesy of the bartender. It was quickly followed by an equally small slice of apple pie and fork made for it, and a mug of beer, looking the size of a quart next to Sam. “I trained up Jacob, didn’t I?”

Jacob snickered quietly at that. He didn’t even have an argument for it. ‘Trained’ had become a word that suited him pretty well, when it came to the tiny brothers that had perched on his shoulders mere moments ago. He’d learned to listen especially carefully to their quiet voices, always ready to accommodate them if they needed it.

He received a beer of his own, along with a silent smirk from the bartender, and almost went off his train of thought for a moment. He couldn’t place who the guy was like he had with Dean.

“If this Dean is anything like you are, I don’t know how much luck you’ll have training him,” he commented with a shrug. Jacob didn’t have to grow up with the little guy to know how headstrong he could be.

“Besides. He probably already knows how to fix a car, I just had to take the class to fix up the Impala.”

Dean arched his back pridefully. “I’ve rebuilt that car from the ground up before,” he bragged shamelessly, wiggling his fingers at his smaller self. “With my bare hands.”

Little Dean scoffed, and tossed back his whiskey, eyebrows going up when he tasted it. Unlike the whiskey at Bobby’s, which was likely home-brewed or from a box, this was top shelf stuff. It went down smooth as ice, and didn’t burn his throat.

“Another!” he declared, slamming the glass down on the bar and looking hopefully at the bartender.

“Don’t go reliving the other night,” Sam hissed.

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The Lounge || Advent of the Deans (2 of 5)

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Jacob took hesitant steps toward the bar. His eyes trailed on the ground, not knowing who Oscar was but certain he’d find out. In the meantime, he wouldn’t put the little guy at risk. 

He arrived at the bar and took a seat. There was a beat of hesitation before he settled his arms on the bar so his passengers had a way down. Leaving them to their short climb, he nodded at the much taller Dean.

“I’m Jacob Andris,” he greeted, looking bemused. “How … how’s it going?”

“Jacob?” Dean repeated, a grin blossoming on his face. He clapped the kid on the back, earning a look from the Dean perched close by on a shoulder. “Bowman told us all about ya!”

“Do you mind? ” Dean snipped from where he was sitting. No matter how much Jacob tried, he couldn’t completely stop the impact from jostling Dean and Sam a bit.

Dean poked at smaller-him in the side curiously. “Dude, since when am I bitty? ”

The much smaller Dean batted at the questing finger in aggravation. “Dude, quit it!”

They stared at each other, and the regular-sized Dean burst into a grin. “Awesome.”

Before Dean or Jacob could react, Dean had nabbed his smaller counterpart off the teenager’s shoulder, setting him down on the bar before he could get a swipe in with his tiny knife. “Bartender!” Dean called out, “we need a whiskey and apple pie over here, stat!”

“Coming right up!”

Sam stared at where his older brother was standing now, in just as much shock as Dean was down on the bar. “What in the world,” he said weakly, though he could feel the underlying current in the room that said they were safe. As boisterous and odd as this new Dean seemed, he wasn’t a danger.

Just excitable.

“Uh,” Jacob said, once again at a loss for what to say next. He didn’t have any clue who Bowman was. He had a strange feeling he might someday, but for now the name rang no bells. He decided to just let that one slide by.

Instead, he eyed Dean– the one he knew– down on the bar. The little guy wasn’t hurt at all, but he’d definitely never left Jacob’s shoulder behind so fast. The taller Dean was swift, and clearly had enough experience handling someone smaller than himself. Little Dean didn’t have a scratch on him.

In fact, he’d been set down next to a miniature version of the bar they sat at. Jacob grinned at the sight, and reached down to nudge one of the stools.

“Check it out, guys, you got front row seating,” he mused, giving the stool a light twirl. “Sam, you wanna order anything?”

“Maybe just a beer,” Sam said, his voice low.

That didn’t stop the bartender from overhearing. “One beer, comin’ up!”

Sam slowly climbed down Jacob’s arm, taking in the new, unfamiliar surroundings. The warm lighting overhead pushed away any shadows, and though Sam was shy as he saw the other Dean glance over at him, a telltale tingle going up his neck at the motion, he knew the man meant no harm.

Not that the smaller Dean would ever believe them.

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