From this angle, it was easy to see how small the cleared-out area was for Jacob. As huge as it all could seem for Sam and Dean, there would barely be enough room for the kid to stretch out fully, instead of curling up to sleep like the night before.
With the bag sitting to the side, along with Jacob’s pillow and a firepit that could fit a pool in it, Sam could almost imagine he was the small one. Only the trees that surrounded the area broke the illusion.
Oscar couldn’t sleep. He had a huge pillow to rest on and a warm shirt to curl up in, but his attention was focused away from them. At night, sometimes, he was up and about searching for food, after all. He was used to sleeping when he was tired, and at the moment he wasn’t tired.
He sat up on the pillow with his legs stretched out in front of himself and his hands braced on the plushy surface beneath him. Nearby, he could hear the quiet pattern of Sam breathing, sprawled under the shirt-blanket. Sam was a little more used to sleeping every night, or most every night.
Dean’s breathing was much easier to hear. His huge lungs were bigger than Oscar’s home in the walls. Probably. Those breaths created little breezes back and forth over the pillow, with the way Dean had hugged it protectively close. Oscar had stayed in the big motel room more and more often as the days wore by. He spent so much time with his friends, and couldn’t be happier.
It wasn’t doubt or even fear for the big, wide open room that kept Oscar awake now. For once, his reason was peaceful and without worry. He stared at the window of the motel room, where the edge of a curtain had gotten caught in just away that left it hanging open a few inches.
To someone who barely stood over two inches tall, it was a wide break in the fabric indeed. Oscar stared at the sky beyond that window in awe. The streetlamp outside had flickered out earlier, and after that, Oscar couldn’t look away.
Oscar could see the stars out there.
Little twinkling lights seemed to peek back at him. Oscar had only ever seen the daytime sky with them, so far. By the time night fell, they were always safely back in the room to watch TV or run and play (sometimes with Dean trying to catch Sam and Oscar as they laughed and scurried away).
Oscar sighed contentedly and lay back down to draw some of the shirt over himself. He curled up, but made sure he could still see that small space between the curtains. He fell asleep watching the stars for the first time in his life.
Set in the Brothers Together au created with @nightmares06. Oscar is about 12 in this one.
Oscar didn’t fully understand it, but every once in a while the office staff would decorate the lobby of the motel. He vaguely remembered his mom telling him that the humans had special days that they liked to celebrate every year. Since he didn’t have a calendar (and could barely make sense of one anyway), he was still learning when to anticipate these days.
He watched surreptitiously from a vent as one of the older staff members, a lady with hearing problems and a frown stuck in the wrinkles on her face, trudged around the room. Despite her scowly appearance, she seemed pleasant to every person that came in and Oscar knew her voice well. It was softer than it looked like it should be, and she talked about her grandchildren to whomever would listen.
He sometimes wished he had a grandmother like her. Someone that could take care of him since he didn’t have anyone at all. He was twelve years old and it had been four years since he had warm food.
At least Oscar remembered that he was supposed to check the office sometimes, make sure they weren’t planning any pest control or something. That was how he’d found the woman in the lobby, frowning around absently and hanging paper shapes from the ceiling or taping them to the walls.
They were pumpkins with scary faces or black bats with fanged grins. Some of the shapes were stylized pictures of wrapped candies. Oscar knew this one. He frowned thoughtfully and tried to remember the word.
One of the maids came into the room to duck behind the front desk and find something back there. She grinned at the shapes already hung up. “Getting ready for Halloween?” she asked.
Aha! Oscar thought with a faint smile. While the ladies struck up a conversation, he inched back away from the vent. He had seen what he needed to, and he needed to focus on seeking out food now.
‘Halloween’ was a strange holiday for the humans. Oscar didn’t know what it was for, but he never questioned it, because a lot of times people had late nights away from their bed. Seeking food was easier. It also meant that the one they called ‘Thanksgiving’ was coming up, and after that was ‘Christmas.’ Lots of people drifted through and dropped more crumbs than usual.
Oscar didn’t celebrate the holidays the same way humans did, but they were worth looking forward to in his own way. Anything that made his life easier was to be celebrated.
He ventured into the dark with silent steps and found himself drifting back in memories again. He wondered with a peaceful acceptance if his friends were out there somewhere, excited to do whatever it was humans did on Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas. Like he often did, he imagined finding Sam around the corner, beckoning him to hurry back to the room, inviting him to join Sam and Dean for their celebration this year.
Come on, Oz, Dean’s already started! Sam said in his imagination.
Oscar smiled and walked faster, even though he didn’t really have anywhere to go. It was nice to imagine, though. He knew that this Halloween wouldn’t be any different than any of his other Halloweens, or any in the future. Oscar was there to stay.
He could still celebrate. He had his memories to keep him company.
Jacob smirked at the sight of Sam’s slow waking. The sluggish movements and lack of much concern was a huge contrast to what Jacob had grown used to in the last few weeks. No one else sat still when he was so close, so he never really had much chance to see their various actions in miniature. Delicate little hands and arms (that he had to remind himself were actually just normal) moved about with so much dexterity that he’d miss it if he didn’t pay attention.
Then, he glanced back to Dean. One hand reached down and gently nudged at the quarter sticking out of Dean’s bag again. “You’ve got a lot to carry back and it’s a bit of a hike,” he pointed out. “You want me to get you there?”
Dean put his hand protectively over his duffel bag, giving the huge hand that hovered nearby a mistrustful look, wondering if Jacob was going to pluck the coin away. “It’s not as heavy as it looks…” he countered slowly.
This prompt takes place between the events of Taken and Schism, while Sam’s arm was healing and Dean stayed at the motel for three months (a record, for Trails West ).
It was late, but Krissy found herself wandering the passageways and vents in the walls on her own.
Normally, she would wait until someone else was willing to go. She didn’t like to venture close to the human rooms on her own. Lessons drilled into her mind from her father and her mother, back in those happy years before everything had changed, taught her the dangers of humanity.
Those lessons stuck fast after her father was gone, and her mother withdrew from the world, leaving Krissy and her young brother Bennett to fend for themselves.
Walt was amazing. He’d come to live with them after Krissy had dragged him out of the ash herself, saving his life as he’d saved theirs since. He helped find enough food for everyone to eat, brought home more supplies than Krissy ever dreamed of finding on her own now that her best friend Sam was gone.
Of course, Sam was back now, along with his older brother.
Dean.
No one had ever expected them to reappear, Krissy least of all. She knew Walt had hoped to see his erstwhile adopted son again, but those were dreams and fantasies best left to musings. Sam appearing on her doorstep had been the last thing she’d ever expected.
And so she wandered, and wondered.
Sam’s arm was broken, so he was staying in the walls with them until he healed. She’d noticed a nervousness about him that hadn’t been there when he left with Dean. It wasn’t hard to figure out that his recent injury had forced him to confront truths better left to the subconscious.
He was afraid, just like her.
Krissy paused at the slits of a vent, drawn to the light. She knew what room she was over, and only just managed to get herself close enough to see out. She didn’t want to risk the human glancing up and seeing her.
The large hunter was sprawled out on his bed. The television was on in the background, but the sound was turned off. In his hand was curled what she’d heard called a… ‘music player,’ or an ‘iPod.’
Humans sure had strange names for things.
Dean was wearing earbuds, so Krissy let her guard relax a little. She could hear the music, a soft rock that Sam had talked about while they were growing up, leaking from the buds. He’d never hear her with those on. Even a hunter’s senses could be dampened down.
For a moment, she stared at him, trying to imagine him standing at the same height as Sam. He didn’t look that scary, not laying on the bed, his eyes closed and his face so peaceful. Kara talked about him nonstop, and for a moment Krissy could see it.
Then her phobia caught up to her and she stumbled away from the edge of the vent. The soft music vanished, and her breath caught as she realized he might have heard that.
“Sam?” came a deep call, a hopeful note resounding in it. For over three weeks Sam had been in the motel, and Krissy knew that he hadn’t gone back to see Dean yet.
She slowed her breathing and pulled herself out of sight around a corner. A shadow dampened the light, and she covered her mouth.
“Sammy? That you? I’ve got some salad, if you wanted to come visit…” Dean’s voice trailed off, sounding forlorn and lost. Krissy had to blink back surprise at that.
The light came back, and she heard the human stomping away.
Maybe she’d see how Sam was feeling. Human or not, Dean sounded lonely. No one deserved to be forgotten like that.
Sam could barely hide a grin at the sight of the tiny form sprawled out on the pillow near Jacob. Dean might as well be a kitten in the center of the pillow, trying to claim it for his own.
“So much for ‘checking out the perimeter,’ ” Sam quipped, remembering Dean’s initial plan.
We’re looking forward to it just as much! (Sam and Dean must find their way back to each other, they must!)
I was actually working on editing a Brothers Adopted story just the other day so it’s ready to go for everyone ❤ The first story of Brothers Lost, The Road Not Taken, will be wrapping up on July 14th, which means this weekend it’s time – For another poll! I’ll cross my fingers for you, Jacob and Sam are the cutest cursed bros around, and they’re raring to go.
Once he checked out the edge of the forest around them, staying within the warm glow of the firelight, Dean drifted over to Jacob’s belongings, eyeing up the massive bag with an amazed gleam in his eyes that he hid most of the time. That bag could hold their old home in Lawrence if Jacob wanted it to.
Then, to the side of the bag, Dean spotted something far more interesting.
Jogging the last few feet, Dean found a pillow shoved up next to the bag. Just as massive as Jacob and the rest of his belongings, they could use the pillow as a pedestal for the Impala if they wanted to. He couldn’t resist scaling up it, discovering a fluffy, soft surface that he almost sank right into.
“Whoa,” Sam said, his eyes wide as he pushed against the fabric to one side. “Are we…?”
Dean glanced behind himself, spotting one of the entrances to the pocket. It was large enough to be a cavern of its own, and he knew how small it would look compared to Jacob. Sam and Dean, two dangerous hunters who were trained to kill monsters without hesitating, were simply a fold in the fabric against Jacob’s stomach.
A little story from Kara while her daddy was missing!
Kara sniffled, brushing away a tear as she curled into a ball.
Her dad was gone. Christian was gone, and she had no idea how to get him back.
Her tiny form was hidden away in the walls, just like he’d always told her to do if she was in trouble. Stay out of sight, out of reach, beyond notice by any humans. She had to choke down her cries, forcing herself to stay quiet in the vents.
She’d run long and hard to get away from that terrible, horrid room where he’d been taken from. Why? Why him, why now, why did she have to lose the last person she had in her life?
Her mom was gone, nice old Mikael had vanished a week ago, and now daddy had followed, grabbed in huge hands.
She blinked her grey eyes open again, and uncurled enough to creep along the vent. The metal was cold to the touch, but it wasn’t on. If she heard the clanking motors activate deep in the bowels of the motel, she’d be forced to find a new place to hide.
Ahead, there was a slit. She came up to it, peering out to see where she was.
One of the motel rooms stretched out before her, and she very nearly ducked back down. But there were no humans up and about, just one guy sitting on the bed down there. The television was on nearby, and she stared at it. Her dad had told her about televisions before. How they could show humans things that happened very far away.
This one had a white forest on the screen, and her grey eyes reflected the sight of gentle snowflakes landing on the ground.
It was so peaceful and idyllic. A scene that Kara would never be able to see outside of the walls.
She took a deep breath, holding the image in her head. Peace. She needed to get her daddy back so they could find some peace of their own.
The human shifted, and her terrified eyes flashed back to him. He was huge. Why did humans have to be so massive?
Him moving caught her attention to something she’d missed. On his shoulder, there was another man.
The human’s voice was drowned out by her shocked reaction. She almost scrambled away from the vent, then inched forward once more to see if she’d been imagining things.
But no. It wasn’t her imagination. There was a man on the human’s shoulder, and he looked as relaxed as anyone she’d seen. No fear, no worry. Casual words exchanged between the two of them as they argued over what they should do next. The human stood and snapped off the television, dispelling the image of the snowy forest.
Kara blinked, then her resolved firmed. When the human wasn’t around, she needed to talk to this new guy. Sam.
Brothers Apart 