October 17th excerpt:
Dean tried to give Sam a grin through the glass. “See Sammy? Told ya I’d take care of it. No more cages for us.” He put a hand against the inside of the jar, and Sam instinctively placed his own against it. Even standing on the bottom of the glass jar, Dean was the shorter brother.
“Not until you’re out here, too,” Sam said.
Art by @lamthetwickster
I’ve been interested in stories about fairies and borrowers and giants as long as I can remember. I didn’t know it was called g/t way back then. As a kid I’d make up stories about being a borrower in the house or having a borrower come visit me, and I wish I would have written them down back then. I was coming up with stories as far back as I can remember, and they’d play in my mind just like a movie on the TV. I’ve always found g/t to be comforting, though I’ve started to consider the more alarming factors in recent years.
October 12th excerpt:
The only warning they got was a sudden cold shock running up Sam’s back. He stiffened, and before he could warn Dean something was wrong, it was too late.
The human– Sherlock– was standing at the entrance to the kitchen, his eyes glued to them.
The trance shattered and Dean already on the move. “Sam, break! ” he shouted, shoving his little brother towards the entrance they’d come from and running the complete opposite direction himself.
Oh, sorry! I’ve even watched multiple Sherlock Holmes’ shows and movies, it just fled my mind on Sunday when I was taking care of the influx of guesses.
The crossover will be with Supernatural and BBC Sherlock!
Dean will certainly be upset about coffee, but he’s lucky that this Sherlock, at least, enjoys a good cup of coffee and not just tea and biscuits.
Hello! Borrowedtimeandspace here! John would definitely dote on the bitty bros any chance he gets. It might take him a while to graduate to Christmas sweater level, but he’d be more than willing to help make the brothers more comfortable any way he can!
September 18th excerpt:
Jacob stepped towards the desk, and his movements were heralded by creaking in the wood floors. When he knelt, his occupied hand moved closer to his chest to avoid sending Dean toppling, and then the other planted on the floor while he tilted his head to get a better angle on the cabinet. “What do ya think, Sam, worth checking out?”
Sam couldn’t quite hide a smile at that, turning the question right around on Jacob with expert practice from years of handling Dean. “I don’t know, why don’t you tell us?”
Jacob let out a quiet scoff of a laugh, caught off guard by the quick remark from Sam. Usually it was Dean throwing sass his way, though he couldn’t say he didn’t open himself up for it. He slid his hand along the floor and underneath the cabinet. His knuckles bumped against the bottom of the thing.
A short story of Brothers Apart
“At least they’re a better kind of hunter,” Bowman said dismissively. He didn’t notice the almost challenging edge to Dean’s voice, daring someone to disagree with his statement. Bowman wasn’t about to argue the point. Sam had helped save Wellwood just as much as Dean.
“Yeah,” Jacob muttered, while the rest of Bowman’s story caught up to him. A real nightmare had drifted into Wellwood and he hadn’t been around to help the sprites. After what they’d been through before, he couldn’t help but feel a protectiveness of his own for the tiny pacifist village.
“Listen, guys, I guess the rest of the story is true then, too, so I want to thank you two for helping out my friends. Bowman’s got some pretty great things to say about what you did for them.”
“That’s what we do,” Sam said, a proud grin on his face replacing his abashed demeanor. It meant the world to him to be able to join Dean in hunting. “Protecting Bowman’s village is just as important as… well, protecting my family from any dangers.”
“Besides,” Dean said with a chuckle, “how could we let Vel down? He did decide to adopt us as his older brothers. We’ve gotta watch out for the third Winchester. He’s gotta grow up and beat Bowman at flying with those little wings of his.”
Bowman grumbled something and flicked his wings. He couldn’t really protest too much since they were talking about a small nestling who was only just getting used to his wings, but still the challenge to his place as Wellwood’s fastest flyer rang loud and clear. With a flutter of leafy wings, he took flight as if to remind at least Jacob of his skill.
Jacob, meanwhile, smiled at the thought of one of the little sprites, ‘nestlings’ as they called them, adopting humans. There seemed to be an innocence to everything the sprites did, even Bowman as he swept past on his strong little wings.
“That’s awesome news, man. I’ll do my part, too, if I find out about anything going down out here I know who I can call.”
“We’ll be there,” Dean agreed. “Keep a close eye on them, okay? Evil tends to be attracted to vulnerable communities like that, especially with that Prayer thing they’ve got going on.”
Sam leaned forward on Dean’s other hand, bracing himself with a hand on the thumb that bordered the edge. His small fingers just barely stretched to where he felt Dean’s fingernail start, the rigid surface slick under his touch. “Bowman, tell Rischa we said ‘hi,’ okay?” he called out over the line. He wished he had a longer chance to talk to her. She was wise beyond her years, and able to see through even Dean’s thick walls, helping Sam understand his older brother a little better.
“Good luck keeping Bowman out of trouble,” Dean said with a smirk. “At least you might have a chance with the rest of the village.”
Jacob chuckled over Bowman’s indignant I heard that! and sent the sprite a smirk. “I’ll do my best with this guy,” he replied, thinking about the other warning. It was lucky he visited as often as he did, if things truly were as sinister as they said. It seemed like the sprites kept leading Jacob further down the rabbit hole.
“Hey, listen, sorry if I raised the alarm for a second there, I was just calling to see if Bowman’s story was real. I won’t keep you,” he continued. Somehow he got the feeling that a pair of brothers who hunted monsters didn’t do a lot of casual chatting on the phone.
“Don’t worry about it,” Dean said. “It sure got Sam to fall out of bed, didn’t it there, pint-size?”
Sam glared up at Dean, fully blaming him for the startling wake up. “Normal people don’t just stick a cell phone next to someone’s bed while they’re sleeping,” he groused right back. “Good to hear from you, Bowman, Jacob.” He slapped a hand against the END button so he could give Dean a proper tongue lashing without an audience.
States away at the other end of the disconnected call, Bowman was of the same mind as Sam. Jacob had barely pulled the phone away from his face before a flutter and a flash of green rushed right up to his face. A tiny fist impacted with his forehead, and then Bowman kicked off between Jacob’s eyes to dart away again. Jacob barely had time to wave a hand at him in surprise.
“That’s for not believing me!” Bowman scolded as he corkscrewed in the air.
Jacob rubbed at his forehead to get rid of the phantom feeling of a tiny bop. “Hey, I wasn’t that skeptical,” he pointed out. “I called them, didn’t I?”
Bowman huffed and crossed his arms, banking into a hover well above Jacob’s eye level. “Well you wouldn’t have needed to if you just believed me.”
“Fine, fine, you were right.”
Bowman flew in a circle over Jacob’s head, clearly pleased with the words. “Don’t soon forget it, giant.”
A short story of Brothers Apart
On the other end, Jacob’s eyebrows shot up. He glanced over to Bowman, who wore the biggest, smuggest I told you so expression Jacob had ever seen on that tiny face. The name matched what he’d said, and the rest of his story most likely would fall into place more or less like he’d told it.
Bowman, meanwhile, could see Jacob working things out for himself in a brief pause. Sam’s voice was softer than Dean’s gruff greeting, and it was because he was smaller like a sprite, not because they had a bad connection like Jacob had first thought. That had to be the ‘sprite-sized’ brother.
Bowman drifted forward with his arms crossed. “I told you,” he said proudly, jolting Jacob out of his short pause.
“Uh, hi, Dean,” Jacob replied. “I got the number off a card my friend had. He said you guys worked with him a month or so ago,” he explained. Jacob felt so strange speaking cryptically like that, but the thought of talking plainly about the sprites when their society was so vulnerable made him nervous. Until he could be sure, he wouldn’t risk them. “You guys know Bowman?”
Dean’s eyebrows shot straight up, and even Sam focused on the phone more than his predicament. “Of course we do,” Dean said, narrowing his eyes with his own familiar suspicion. The sprites were just as vulnerable as Sam’s people. “He gave us some help on a case.”
Sam arranged his blanket so it wasn’t dangling off the edge and took up the conversation. “I don’t think we could have finished the case without him,” he said warmly, remembering their time in the Wellwood forest fondly. It was a rare opportunity to spend time with people his own size, and Sam missed those sprites. Rischa and Vel, along with Bowman and all his griping. “What’s going on? Is there trouble?” He remembered Dean giving the business card out in case any other emergencies arose, since they knew that a supernatural community like that might draw in other dangers, both supernatural and mundane.
“There’s no trouble,” Bowman interrupted, taking a perch on Jacob’s shoulder so he could address the device in his massive hand. It took a lot of convincing for him to truly believe that phones worked so well that conversations could be held between people continents apart. Sam and Dean could be anywhere out there, according to Jacob, but apparently they would be able to hear him talking.
“Unless you count Jacob not believing what happened here as trouble,” Bowman continued, pointedly nudging at Jacob’s neck with a wing. The shoulder beneath him twitched. “I was saying how you guys came and took me away but then helped us and he didn’t believe that there were zom-bees.”
“Okay, but you gotta admit, zombie wolves are kind of out there,” Jacob defended, unable to stop himself. Then, remembering that he was talking to a pair of guys that apparently spent all their time hunting things like that, he asked “They are, aren’t they?”
Dean chuckled, feeling some of the tension leave at the sound of Bowman’s voice, hale and hearty and as annoyed as ever. “They are definitely not your run-of-the-mill monster, that’s for sure. Hell, we never knew there were sprites living on earth until we had a run in with Bowman. It was a weird case all around.”
“So, you’re Bowman’s friend?” Sam asked eagerly. It wasn’t often he got to talk to safe humans like Dean and Bobby. “He mentioned you when we were working together. We don’t run into too many people that know about people… Bowman’s size.” He stumbled over his words, almost slipping up and saying my size.
Jacob grinned, bemused by the thought of Bowman telling other people about him. Hopefully the stories were good. “Yeah, I guess the sprites keep themselves pretty hidden all over the place,” he replied.
“Because most of you humans are giants,” Bowman cut in pointedly. The fact that he could find an easy perch on a shoulder of all things spoke to how ridiculously big humans were.
Bowman’s use of the phrase ‘most of you’ reminded Jacob yet again what else he’d heard about Sam. “Yeah, we’re unfair about it, alright,” he replied. Before Bowman could gripe at him for his comment, he went on. “But I’m guessing you’re Sam? Bowman’s been telling me about both of you guys, and says you kept your brother from being too troublesome with him. I’m impressed because, well, I’m betting you know by now how easily he talks himself into trouble.”
“Climb a dead tree, Jacob!” Bowman protested. This time, his wing smacked at the hand with the phone, and a rustle of wings could be heard through the microphone.
Sam heard the wingslap, and was reminded of all the ways Dean and Bowman had poked at each other throughout the case. Those memories were temporarily overridden, though, and he felt heat rise to his cheeks. He’d forgotten Bowman would probably tell his friend about him.
“Uh, yeah. I’m Sam,” Sam introduced himself shyly. He could count on one hand the number of humans he knew and interacted with on a friendly basis, so this was a little out of his depth. “I help Dean on hunts.”
“You’re a hunter like Dean,” Dean corrected sternly, nudging his little brother in the shoulder before he tilted the phone and let Sam slide off into a hand of his own where he could safely untangle himself from the blanket. “And no one will ever say differently while I’m around.”
Every step Dean took closer to the table, Jacob felt like his heart beat a little harder. He was frozen to the spot, his hands planted against the glass and his eyes staring straight upwards. He shook at the sight of how imposing Dean was, looming over the table like he did. Jacob almost couldn’t see him past the edge of the bible. It was like Dean was directly above, casting his enormous, oppressive shadow on purpose.
Jacob was useless to do anything. Sam was vulnerable out there. His knife wouldn’t really stop Dean. It might slow him down a little bit, but that was all. At best, they’d have an annoyed giant on their case, and who knew how he’d react to that? Jacob suspected the only reason he was still alive was because he hadn’t done anything to make the hunter think he was hurting anyone.
What would happen if Sam managed to score a good cut with that knife? How quickly might Dean’s mind change? Jacob’s hands shook and he punched once at the glass again, furious and terrified that he’d gotten Sam into this situation.
Trapped, unable to defend himself, while a giant stared down at him.
“You have to run! Y-you gotta at least try! Sam, get out of here before he grabs you!” Jacob insisted, staring at the back of his brother’s head. Willing him to leave, to try to save himself.
Dean’s mind checked out halfway through the desperate, shouted words. Sam.
Sam.
Artwork by @mogadeer!
Brothers Apart 