Dean made his way downstairs, using the passages that he’d learned during the last few weeks while Sam was recovering. One day, he’d help his little brother learn those same passages, just like the way he’d helped Sam learn at the Trails West. This house was a new maze that they needed to learn.
The feeling on the back of his neck grew stronger as he reached the ground floor. Dean slipped out of the walls when the tingle was as powerful as it ever was. He was close.
A cabinet stretched up along the wall a few feet away, and he had to frown. There was no way a guy like Jacob would fit under that, yet the sense that told Dean where the necklace was pointed him right at it.
Caution in every pore, Dean darted across the wood flooring, hoping his brief time in the open wouldn’t get him spotted. He held a hand over his knife in his leather jacket, ready for anything. He couldn’t afford to be spotted by Mariana, and without Sam backing him up he had no advance warning.
The crack between the wall and the cabinet was dark and welcoming. He slid inside like it was natural, frowning at the sight of something huddled in the center. Had Jacob lost his necklace? How had it possibly ended up this far underneath the cabinet? Dean would have to grab it to get it back to the kid, there was no way they’d let him lose it…
His thought process trailed off as he realized what he was looking at, and he skid to a halt.
WELP. I’d say this hasn’t been on my mind but that would be a lie since I wrote an entire story for it…
The phone started to ring.
Everyone hushed, staring at the speaker with trepidation as Walt backed off to join Sean. The only person focused elsewhere was Mikael, and that was only because someone needed to keep an eye on the door, and no one was eager to be the person who talked to Dean. Just the thought of his size made them nervous.
The rings cut out and everyone held their breath.
“Hello? ”
The gruff voice that rumbled out of the phone was enough to freeze them where they stood. Dean sounded tired and grumpy. The call must have woken him from a deep sleep.
Apprehensive, Walt glanced out the expansive window across the room, staring at the rising sun. He cursed to himself. It was bad enough they had to call the hunter in the first place. Now they were making it worse with bad timing. Humans had such different schedules from Walt’s people, it was easy to forget Dean might not be up when they called him in their desperation.
Dean, of course, was oblivious to the subtleties on the other end of the call. He continued on. “Who is this? How did you get this number? ”
Bowman Leafwing would scoff at the idea of ‘giants’ out there in the forest, but after a run-in with Sam Winchester and his larger hunting buddies, he’ll have a hard time denying their existence.
To a sprite, ‘bigger’ usually meant ‘predator.’ Bowman, as low as he was on the food chain, wanted to be anywhere but caught in the watchful gaze of two giants.
He frowned and tried to wrench his arm free, but wasn’t nearly strong enough. He should have known better than to reveal himself. The stranger latched onto his arm may be sprite-sized, but he must be some kind of whatever the giants were.
Maybe he was just one of their young.
Bowman desperately spread his wings and fluttered them loudly, buffeting his current captor with the leafy appendages.
“Hey, wait!” Sam tried to yell as he almost got knocked down from the wind currents. “I just wanna know what you are!”
That was all either of them had time for. Dean’s hand dropped from the sky, closing around them both in an attempt to save Sam from his attacker. Sam found himself in a fleshy enclosure, rising through the air next to the struggling winged man as Dean stood to look at what he’d caught. “This is all your fault,” Sam griped at the winged man, trying to get himself unsquished. Dean’s ring was digging into his side.
Bowman heard nothing through the white noise of his terror. He was caught by a giant of all things, his wings squashed awkwardly in the biggest fist he’d ever seen. It shouldn’t be possible to be so large.
Jacob leaned in closer too, to get a better look at whatever Dean had in his hand with Sam. It was struggling as much as it could, those bright little eyes ablaze with panic. “Dude,” he whispered, noticing the wings as they twitched desperately.
“Ah, look out!” Jacob warned, but he was too late. The new creature leaned forward and bit Dean’s hand.
“Ow!” Dean said, cursing angrily. His fist sprang open reflexively from the bite, releasing the strange winged creature and Sam.
Sam.
Who plummeted.
A bit of backstory for Brothers Found: This is actually the first AU we ever worked on, after A Lich of Sense was completed! Initially, it was all done by skype RP. The first and second stories started out that way, then for the horror story we switched to a better RP system so we didn’t lose any details.
The first story was then rewritten the same way, but the second– Bothering Bowman– remained in its skype RP form. Forgive any formatting errors that might have snuck past us, this is the one and only story we’ll post that was done in skype. It was too much of a hassle in the end.
This will be coming for sure in at least one AU! In Brothers Unexpected, Oscar is found by Dean and is heading for an unsettling confrontation with Dean’s father, whether he wants to or not!
Pushing past Dean, John dug under the pillow on the teen’s bed and looked slightly mollified to find the colt hidden away. “Guess there’s hope for you yet,” he muttered as he held out the gun. When Dean didn’t reach for it, John paused, his eyes falling to Dean’s hands. Which were obviously hiding something.
“What’s in your hands, boy?”
In Dean’s hands, Oscar shook. He hadn’t even had time to yelp in surprise when Dean swiftly picked him up, and the sight of a new human in their midst locked his voice up. When he’d asked Dean if he could stay, he hadn’t even thought this far ahead. He hadn’t thought about what he’d do when another human shoved his way into the mix.
That voice, after weeks of Dean’s quiet, felt like it shook the air. Even Dean’s teachers and classmates didn’t command as much attention as his father did. Oscar remembered hearing tall humans like that from his haven in the walls.
They always scared him when they yelled, even if it was only over a sports game.
Now, at least, he had someone on his side to look out for him. Still, even with the cave-like protection of Dean’s cupped hands around him, Oscar’s timid nature took priority.
He took a chance to lean to the side, and peek between two of Dean’s fingers. The sight almost froze him. Dean’s father was tall, and his face even more enigmatic and world-worn than Dean’s. He was stern, frustrated even. Oscar ducked away with the knowledge that the human had to have seen him.
Left with no other options, Oscar curled into himself, hugging his legs close and hiding his face. Don’t hurt me, he pleaded silently, eyes shut tight.
Actually, this is an idea we’ve had floating about since last winter, and I think now’s a good time to reveal the AU! We’ve got a plot planned out (and many, many cutes because it starts off with Weechesters and kiddo Oz), and just gotta get ourselves moving on it!
Even if the brothers aren’t cursed, this still occurs in a Brothers Apart AU, with the lore and characters we all know and love.
Brothers United– By chance, Sam and Dean go to Knights Inn instead of Trails West, and find themselves pushed into a world they never dreamed existed within their own.
He had to admit, these guests were unusual. Two younger humans, one of them a teenager, called the room their temporary home. Oscar hadn’t heard an adult in there since they checked in. For some reason, the two boys were on their own. It was kind of like Oscar, in a small way. They had their routines and they left the room during the days like most humans did. They didn’t have to mutter absently to themselves like Oscar, since they had each other to bicker with.
That wasn’t the difference that emboldened him to sneak into their room, though. Unlike Oscar, these strange young humans had food.
His entrance to this particular room came through a vent low in the wall. He had already waited a long time, watching for a chance. It had come when the older boy, a loud and confident type, had announced he was going to get them some dinner. Oscar wished absently that he could have given his own order just like the younger human kid, but it was imperative that they never know he was there.
If they found out he existed, they could capture him. They could hurt him or keep him trapped, a punishment for sneaking around and trespassing in their room. It never would matter that he was born in the motel. To a human, he was a pest invading on their space.
Despite the worry, he couldn’t ignore what he’d spotted under the table from a different vent. After the older boy took off, leaving the younger one sitting at the table, Oscar had hopped out of the vent and scurried under the dresser. From there, he had a straight shot to the dropped crumbs under the table, leftover from a bag of trail mix. He never even had to put himself in sight of the human, though he was as silent as ever as soon as he emerged from the other side of the dresser.
The human’s foot tapped against the floor absently, and high above him the underside of the table echoed with the scratching of a pencil. Oscar swallowed drily and steeled his nerves. The human was busy. He couldn’t see him and he wouldn’t hear him walking on the carpet fibers. This wasn’t even the first time he’d snuck under the table like this.
The vibration in the floor from the tapping foot was a drumbeat for his nerves. Oscar snatched up a discarded piece of granola, easily half the size of his head. Some days, that was enough for his one meal of the day.
This time, as he stuffed the food into his bag, he had a chance to grab more. A raisin, smaller than most, caught his eye near one of the table legs. He snapped that up, too, and it disappeared into his cloth bag.
He was ready to leave and dive back into the safety of the walls when he spotted it. A splash of color against the drab, faded pattern of the carpet. Oscar’s eyes were wide as he stared at it, and the tremors in the floor fell away for a moment. He’d never, ever seen candy left out before. He knew without a doubt that he was staring at a dropped piece of something more flavorful than he’d ever had in his life.
The only problem was it wasn’t under the table.
He glanced over to the tapping shoe again. The candy was out on the floor, a foot and a half and no farther from the table leg. It was on the side of the table where the human sat in his enormous chair, but so far the other kid hadn’t moved at all.
Did he dare risk it?
This AU is full of cutes! We’ve got a full-sized Sammy and Dean, paired up with the smolest of the smols! Thank @justanothergiant for the wonderful work on the commission, they made the story come to life before it even exists!
It does sound adorable, but I have a few ideas of my own for Brothers Saved! This wouldn’t fit into my plans. Sam’s fight with John is already planned out, and it’s not going to all go down the same way this time because the circumstances are changed. Sam’s not fighting for his independence this time, he’s fighting for Dean’s. The older brother he looks up to, the person who taught him about hunting long before John considered it.
Domestic AUs are not my cup of tea. I encourage if anyone wants to write this out to go for it, but I’m here for action, adventure, horror, suspense. Feels and stress and angst. @neonthebright could tell you how antsy I get when the fluff scenes start to go on for chapters, because I’m itching to get back to the action. So this kind of thing will be in short supply over here.
We even have ideas thought up for Brothers Saved in multiple AUs, so it may get split into different AUs in the future.
As it is, I have given a lot of thought to Sam, Dean and John’s relationship, for better or worse, and as this probably won’t be finished for posting for some time, I’ll give you a peek:
Sam glared at John, breathing hard. He’d come home this afternoon from the store to find John back without warning from a case, talking fast and explaining exactly what he needed from Sam, where they needed to go, and how important it was that they get ready and stop dragging your damn heels.
All this was well and fine, about what the eighteen-year-old expected. Never mind that Sam was a few weeks from graduation, and they needed to study for an exam. Dean would want in on a hunt anytime he got the chance.
And then the real fight began.
John shot back that Dean needed to stay behind. He would just hold them back at his size. He went so far as to say he’d already explained such to Dean, they had no use for his ‘attempts to act normal’ getting in the way of a hunt.
“I can’t believe you said that to him!”
“Of course I said it to him! Someone has to tell him these things!”
“Dean knows what he’s doing,” Sam growled out. “You would know that if you ever bothered with him!” His voice rose higher with each word until he was shouting.
John was right in his face, spitting back. By all rights, they should have come to blows. “He needs to respect his limitations, Sam! All it takes is one second with your guard down, and he’ll be dead! ”
The thing about Jacob is he always seems to have a Grab First reaction. Wee kiddo Jacob is not that different, though luckily for little Sam he’s not a rough child by nature. In fact he’s much more likely to hug than to be mean. He doesn’t like to see people upset, and hugs are a good solution, right?
His parents just want to take care of their kid. They don’t have any expectations of a very tiny kiddo showing up in their room, but they’re both nice people. Even if Nicholas Andris is HUGE, Sam doesn’t need to be scared of him.
Of course, poor Sam won’t know any of this when he first encounters them!
Jacob paused, noticing the tiny voice at the edge of hearing. He couldn’t tell if his papa heard it too, but he was still looking at him expectantly. Behind him, Jacob could see his mama leaning to watch curiously. He pursed his lips and clutched his toy trucks closer while he rapidly processed the situation to determine if they suspected something.
“Uh uh,” he said, squirming away from his Dad’s hand to walk hurriedly around the second bed. “I’m only playing trucks today, see?” He held up the trucks to display them even as he sidled into the narrow space between the bed and the wall.
His mama raised an eyebrow at him. “Jacob, are you telling the truth? You know you’re not supposed to lie.”
“I am! I’m just playing trucks!” he insisted.
His father stood up with a quiet creak of his joints as they hoisted all of his huge body up. His mama stood again and walked around her tall husband to stand at the foot of the second bed and look appraisingly at Jacob and his pocket.
“Jacob,” his papa said gently. “Did I hear something? Do you have a mouse trapped in your pocket?” His deep voice was kind, patient with the boy, but also stern.
His mama was in charge of the really stern looks, and Jacob inched away from her even more as she leveled one on him. “Jacob Nicholas Andris, you tell us the truth right now or I’m going to come and check your pockets myself.”
Saving people, solving crimes The flatmate business
Over a decade ago, a serious of unfortunate events led to the Winchesters, at only a few inches in height, being forcibly relocated to London. Now, they’ve adjusted to their size and found a new home to live in that just happens to be the same residence of a certain detective and his blogger…
It was on cases like this that Sherlock made use of every waking moment. In his mind palace, he could go back and scrutinize everything he knew, everything he learned that day, for anything he might have missed. This would continue deep into the wee hours of the morning until his body gave in and he slept for a few short hours.
He awoke scowling at the ceiling and, after reviewing the major points of the case once more in his head, stumbled out of bed in search of coffee. He had no sense of what time it was, only that he needed to get to work immediately. After coffee.
While he waited for the brew, he glanced at the kitchen table. It was covered in the discarded clippings, as well as yesterday’s paper, left open to the newest story on the case. He rolled his eyes as he remembered reading that particular article: no new details, just a bundle of sentiment displayed for the victims. Sherlock understood that deaths were tragic, but he argued that if they were going to talk about it, they could at least bring up something useful. John had given him quite the disdainful look for that suggestion, and evidently kept the article around anyway.
He blinked when he noticed something was off. A pen lay across the paper, one he was certain hadn’t been there the night before. He leaned in closer to find a small phrase circled within the article he’d so easily brushed off.
next of kin
His brow knit as he considered the inexplicably highlighted words. Had John done that? Sherlock had found lately that whenever he got stuck on a case, he’d eventually find some overlooked detail underlined or circled. If it was John, why didn’t he just come forward and say it?
The Study of the Fourbegins Wednesday, March 8th at 9pm!
Sam wouldn’t have much reason to keep it a secret from Dean. They had a rocky start at some points, but he trusts his older brother to not bother others in the wall, and getting the recipe out wouldn’t hurt anyone.
Dean considers his burgers perfect, though, so it better be a good recipe.
Sam is definitely not a fan of knocking holes in the walls to get things out, though Dean is known to go this route if he has to– Even going so far as to prompt his hunter-in-training, Jacob Andris, to smash into the walls during a scene in
Sam blanched. “Are you nuts?! ” he sputtered. “What if there’s people living here in the walls? What if the humans see the entrance!”
“There’s already a break in the wallpaper!” Dean said stubbornly. “It was the only way for me to escape!”
Jacob paused, unsure of what to make of Dean’s suggestion. He’d never once thought he would actually be asked to break into the walls like this, by one of the people who called them safety. He didn’t doubt he’d be able to, but all the same it felt like an intrusion. If there were people living hidden here, it really was.
His slightly muffled voice was hesitant when it filtered through the wall. “Well, uh. Okay, guys. Stay right where you are.”
“Holy shit, he’s gonna do it.”
The wall a foot and a half away from them practically exploded inward. Jacob’s boot retreated from the strong kick and the parts of the drywall that he’d splintered sagged. Light broke in and illuminated the angrily stirring dust.
You’ll see this exact scenario play out in Brothers Unexpected, when Dean runs into a certain tiny someone in his motel room a month after losing Sam!
The motion stopped and Oscar winced. Already his face was wet with tears, silently released when he was paying more attention to his rising prison. This couldn’t be happening, and yet it was. He’d been caught by a human, just like his mom warned would happen if he wasn’t careful. Now, that human had all the control.
Light broke in and Oscar looked up. There was a flash of one of those green eyes again before the hands closed, and he flinched.
Oscar pushed timidly against the hands around him. The thick skin had some give to it, but there was no chance of prying himself free. Oscar had his safety pin in his bag for climbing, but he knew that using it as a weapon would only anger the much larger person. He might draw a little blood before the pin was taken away. He couldn’t help but imagine those hands closing in and squeezing him between them as a punishment. There’d be nothing left of him.
He drew in a rattling breath, a desperate sob, and curled up again. It was too much. A low, plaintive wail escaped him as he began to cry in earnest this time. All consideration of silence left, and his voice came out reedy and terrified. “Please, please d-don’t hurt me!”
Brothers Apart 