A/N:
**Please see Chapter 1 for all warnings, and check the tags!**
Thank you Icy Icee, Guest, itsmuffintimesir and Christine for the great reviews!
Brief reminder cause I sometimes forget over on this site, but Jacob and Bowman are written by my fab coauthor, neonthebright/PL1! None of this would slightly be possible with her and certainly not such quality content!
What... what happened...?
To say Jacob was in shock was a vast understatement. He had not expected to still see tall blades of grass or gigantic leaves lying about when he looked up. He briefly wondered if perhaps the mushroom now only came with dizzy spells for him, but no changes in size. Maybe the thing only worked to make people 'sprite-sized' but not anything else. Jacob made a valiant attempt at cautious optimism.
He was not that fortunate.
The approaching footsteps he could feel in the ground hadn't been Dean's.
They had been Sam's.
Sam, who Jacob knew to be four inches in height, had shoved his way past some grass and darted over, crouching to get a better look at Jacob. The footsteps, even carefully planted by Sam's years of practice moving around unnoticed by the giant humans around him, sent the faintest vibrations through the earth. Jacob felt each and every one.
Because Jacob was small to Sam now.
"What the fuck?!" Jacob blurted, scrambling back and shakily getting to his feet despite the feeling that his limbs were made of jelly. His head tilted upwards and his eyes met the shock in Sam's. Jacob had been able to trap Sam in a single fist with ease when they first met.
Now, Sam was big compared to him in one of the most alarming reversals that Jacob had ever experienced. He barely passed Sam's knees in height! If Sam had seemed quite bulky and strong when they were close to the same four inch size, he was absolutely huge now, making all new details Jacob had never noticed much more obvious.
He could see the stitching on Sam's handsewn clothes, and even a little fray on one of the jacket sleeves. He could see the furrows in Sam's brow and he could see the muscles shift as he clenched his jaw, just as alarmed about Jacob's shocking change. Details that he'd never notice when he was his regular size, all standing out in stark relief.
More footsteps, accompanied by the familiar (and slightly amplified) sound of rustling wings preceded Bowman rushing up, seconds after Sam. Jacob took a startled step back, somehow even more surprised to see a second four-inch giant approach. Bowman's bright green eyes, which were normally so hard to see because they were so tiny, widened and Jacob saw every bit of shock on the sprite's face.
Jacob stared wide-eyed at them, hardly believing that he actually had to look up at his smaller friends. Normally smaller friends. He tentatively reached a hand up and pinched himself on the arm. There was a bare twitch of a wince, and he knew he wasn't dreaming this up.
It wasn't Jacob who spoke next, but Bowman. "What?! How did this blasted happen?! He's sprout-sized!" Bowman was all too weirded out by the fact that his voice actually startled Jacob. That Jacob was tilting his head back to look at him in complete and utter shock.
This was so wrong. He was supposed to be a giant! Instead, now Bowman felt like a giant, and he wasn't sure he liked it much. Jacob looked like an oddly-proportioned child, with limbs far too thin for him to be safe in the world. Doubtless his prodigious strength from his human size didn't translate to much at all in his newly-reduced stature.
Dean couldn't see anything from where he was standing a few feet back, just that Sam and Bowman were both standing there and Bowman was clearly upset, judging by the way his agitated wings fanned in a rhythmic pattern. A sense of unease exploded in Dean's chest, only growing the more he watched.
Hesitantly, Dean took a few steps forward, leaning over with his hands on his knees to see into the grass his brother was standing in.
Jacob was quickly distracted from his shock over Sam and Bowman's size when he felt the rumble in the ground. A much bigger rumble than before. The tips of each blade of grass around them quivered in time with the tremors, and the shaking traveled up his legs through his planted feet and shaking knees.
He knew what caused it and his regret for the extra shrinkage doubled. It was one thing to face being tiny in a very big world alongside his friends. Now even they were big to him, so tall that he had to tilt his head back to speak directly to them. And that was nothing compared to what was shaking the ground beneath him.
Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit that's right.
Dean's even bigger now.
And he was.
Jacob's eyes were drawn straight up into a more distant sky. Dean's face was still framed by the green and gold canopy now a world away. He was over twice as big as he'd been before. Even leaning over, his intense green eyes were higher up than they'd been. Dean was colossal compared to Jacob now, and no amount of time with Sam or Bowman beforehand could have prepared him for the shock. Dean's very breathing created a gale high above.
Dean's eyes widened at the sight of an even smaller Jacob a few inches away from the other two. "Holy fuck," he whispered. Jacob couldn't be more than an inch and a half tall. From where he stood, Dean couldn't even see any details on Jacob's tiny, upturned face. He wasn't even half Sam's size, and Sam was taller than him while he was squatting on the ground.
With a sinking feeling in his gut, Dean said what was on everyone's mind. "So, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this mushroom ain't from Wonderland."
Jacob flinched from the sound of the voice. He had thought it was a powerful rumble before, but now it was like a low roll of thunder, so far above him. Jacob gasped and his mouth hung open at the sight of such a colossal being. Jacob fit in his palm when he was around four inches tall. Now, at less than half that, he'd be able to stand easily on one fingertip.
It didn't seem possible that someone so big could exist. It very nearly felt as though Dean lived on a completely separate plane of existence.
His heart was pounding with fear that he couldn't help. Everything around him was even bigger, and he hadn't even had a chance to get used to things at a sprite scale. Jacob almost managed to choke out a number of curses as he tried to stumble away.
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 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. 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, 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!" The order was barked, Sam's voice severe. The look on Jacob's face was as terrified as Sam had ever seen him be and the last thing he needed was to be tossed around in the air. Someone that was normally over six feet tall wouldn't be used to being lifted up so casually. "Let him get his bearings!"
Jacob could see the sheepish look on Bowman's face when the sprite looked back at him after Sam's scolds. He knew he couldn't blame Bowman for being so weirded out. He'd been weirded out when he learned small folk existed. The rational side of his brain understood that things were strange, especially for Bowman, someone used to being the small one.
Of course, the other side of his brain had many other things to say. Jacob felt like he was over fifteen feet in the air at four inches up. He was immensely relieved when Bowman followed Sam's advice and let him back down on the ground so he could stumble back. The sprite crouched, looking very concerned still. His big wings lowered and Bowman looked apologetic as he took in the sight of his best friend coming to terms with his alarming new size.
Dean was freaking out inside as much as Sam and Bowman. Even held up in Bowman's arms, he couldn't make out all of Jacob's features. His face was too small for Dean to see, his arms and legs… so fragile… weren't much thicker than pencil lead. Holy fuck, his mind repeated, almost stuck in a loop. This was insane. This was impossible. He'd never even thought it was possible to see someone shrink smaller than Sam's four inches. That was small enough.
Trying to take a steadying breath, he knelt down on the ground carefully, trying to get low enough to be able to make out Jacob's features and see if his friend was alright.
Jacob's eyes were drawn right back up to Dean, the definite winner of the giant contest here. Jacob could tell he was trying to move slowly to kneel closer, but even those movements were so massive and fast and alarming to watch. It really was like seeing a skyscraper kneel down to greet him. Dean's knee hit the ground with all the grace and subtlety of an avalanche. The ground shook under Jacob and the other two, but Sam and Bowman didn't react to the trembles.
After all, that was part of their normal. They were used to Dean and Jacob being that size. They trusted Dean and Jacob like that, and did so every day of their lives.
Jacob dragged both hands back through his hair and took a deep breath, puffing his cheeks out to release it slowly. This was a lot to take in. A small primal part of him wanted to just turn and bolt and find a nice hollow to curl up in while he coped with this, but that'd get him nowhere. Especially out here in the woods, where he could lose a match with a bug.
He tried to take several deep breaths, looking between all of his giant friends' faces, to get his mind back in control of itself. It was unnerving that, while he took his own deep breaths to calm himself down and focus, he could hear the gusts of Dean's breaths filling lungs that were likely the size of a small concert hall to Jacob.
"Holy shit," he finally murmured. "Holy fucking shit." He shook his head, shook out as much of the nagging panic as he could, and sighed. His eyes were still wide but he was clearing his head. Working it through. Slowly. "Okay. Uh. So. Mushroom didn't work, we'll uh. Have to find a different solution I guess. Holy shit."
"Yeah…" Sam breathed. He inched forward so he was next to Jacob, trying to not freak him out more. "We will. Shit, Jacob. I fucked up bad with this one." He put a steadying hand on Jacob's tiny shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze.
Dean, above them, could hear Sam fine. On the other hand, he had no idea that Jacob had said anything, with the downsized hunter talking in such a naturally soft voice. "I don't think you can take all the blame for this one, Sammy," he told his little brother, responding to the part of the conversation he could make out. "We all agreed on it."
He tucked the mushroom in his jacket. There was no way he'd be leaving that anywhere a sprite could stumble on it, or even some innocent wildlife. "Guess it's a good thing you didn't eat more," he said to Jacob, eyes locked on the tiny form of his friend. "We, ah… we gotta get you off the ground though. It's not safe down there for ya."
With a cautious motion, he reached his hand forward and flattened it against the ground a few inches away from everyone. Hell, Jacob was almost small enough that the width of Dean's hand outsized him. Dean swallowed nervously. Seeing someone that was taller and more muscular than he was suddenly standing smaller than an army man was more disturbing than anything else he'd ever seen. And he'd seen a lot.
The weight of Sam's hand on Jacob's shoulder was heavy but not overbearing. Mostly he was just amazed that Sam's hands seemed so big to him. He could remember accidentally covering up part of that arm with his fingertips that first time they'd met, when Sam had taken a leap of faith and offered to shake his captor's hand.
Of course, Dean's hand was much bigger by comparison. Jacob clenched his jaw and sighed, knowing Dean was probably right about it being dangerous on the ground. Even a runty mouse could give him trouble if it were so inclined.
"Right, right," Jacob answered, speaking up because he realized Dean had to be having a hard time hearing his voice. Even Sam and Bowman could become too soft-spoken sometimes. "Good idea." Getting onto the huge hand would be safer than taking his chances where everything that crawled could look at him funny. He shuddered at the thought of gigantic bugs.
So why weren't his legs moving?
Jacob stared down at his feet, willing himself to just step forward and climb onto that hand. It was still just Dean, and he knew he could trust Dean with his life. And now more than ever, his life definitely needed to be looked after if he wanted to keep it. But his body was still frozen up from the shock. "Yeah, wow, sorry. I'm. I'm getting there, I swear," he assured them, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
Sam winced, knowing how hard this was for the downsized hunter. "Jacob, this is for your own good, okay? Just don't move." Before Jacob could respond, Sam stood, sweeping his friend into his arms in one easy movement. Even that was a shock. Jacob was lightweight compared to Sam. Hell, he could probably fit the guy in his satchel if he needed to. The surprised squirming didn't do a thing to change what was happening.
Jacob was too small.
With Jacob in his arms, Sam walked quickly over to Dean's hand. The size difference might be jarring for him but they all knew the dangers that existed on the forest floor for even Sam. Jacob would hate to meet a spider or a swarm of ants.
Once he climbed on, Sam let Jacob down in the center of Dean's palm. He stayed kneeling next to him, hoping to help lessen the shock a bit. "You good?" he asked softly, waiting before giving Dean the 'okay' signal. Even just standing on Dean's hand like this was already safer than the ground; critters would avoid a human like him nine times out of ten. They could afford to give Jacob a few moments to get settled if he needed it.
Jacob sat down next to Sam as he took a few more deep breaths. Getting scooped up in someone's arms like that had been decidedly unexpected, but it got the job done. It was for the best. Jacob's legs were so wobbly from the surprise of it all that if he tried to take any steps, he'd probably fall right on his face.
Bowman inched closer to the hand, but opted not to travel on it so he wouldn't crowd Jacob in. He was handling things well, all things considered. He hadn't screamed or bolted from Dean, and was making clear sentences and everything. But Bowman could see that his friend was shaken, and he couldn't blame him at all. He tried to offer Jacob an encouraging smile, and the human returned a very nervous, tight-lipped smile and one of those weird thumb-up gestures humans used.
"I'm good," Jacob replied. He might never quit being amazed that Sam was this big compared to him. Jacob probably wasn't any bulkier around than one of Sam's arms."Not so bad at all." He glanced at the surface beneath him, and definitely noticed that while there had been some miniscule give to the callused palm before, there was none now. Jacob was too small for it. He might as well have been sitting on a sidewalk. A sidewalk with a pulse that thrummed under him and shook his entire body.
"Hang on then, okay?" Sam said, giving Jacob a smile. Despite the cheery demeanor he affected, the expression in his eyes was pure worry. Even when he first shrank down years ago Sam hadn't been this small... if his memory was right, his first year of being cursed, he'd stood at an entire two and a half inches. Not to mention the fact that Walt had kept Sam far away from any humans, period. He hadn't gone to gather supplies until a few years later. By then he'd had time to learn to climb and all the basic survival skills, drilled into his head by Walt much like the lessons John and Dean had drilled into his head as a human.
Glancing up at Dean, Sam gave the hunter a thumbs up, letting him know they were ready. He was thankful that he was being patient while they got settled on his palm. Jacob, no doubt thanks to his usually very chill demeanor, was managing to hold onto his sanity for now, but there was a lot being thrown at him. Sam didn't envy what he was going through at all. Hell, Jacob was barely the length of Sam's arm.
Once he saw the signal, Dean nodded cautiously. His fingers curled up around them as he lifted himself off the ground and went back to his knees. Sam swayed in place, and Dean realized he was shakier than normal. Slow and steady, he cautioned himself. He couldn't even feel Jacob's weight, so he needed to do this right. The people on his hand had a huge amount of trust invested in him.
Once he was upright, Dean held the hand near his face, finally able to see Jacob clearly. "Hey kid," he whispered. "How you feeling?"
Jacob's eyes were wide as he stared back. He could see every freckle on Dean's face, every minor shift of his irises as green eyes nearly the size of Jacob dilated to focus on him. Jacob thought that he could be looking at a face projected on the Times Square coke sign and it would be about this big.
It was a discouraging thought that he needed to be this close for Dean to be able to see him clearly. There was no way for him to be sure exactly how big he was; he was certain the others had a guess as to his current measurement, but he wasn't going to be asking that anytime soon. It had to be tiny if the simple action of Dean whispering sent a considerable breeze over his body.
"Uh, well," Jacob started, offering another nervous chuckle as he glanced around from his high perch. It was kind of funny that Sam had told him to hang on ... there wasn't much to hang onto on the huge, living platform. Of course, he could feel every ridge in Dean's skin. If it came to it he could probably try to hang onto those, and that was just a weird thought. "I'm feeling like this is all kinda weird, and like maybe the bones in my legs went on vacation. But other than that I'm actually fine, mostly just being a pansy ass because fuck."
His next smile was more genuine, to show that he really was unhurt. Dean already looked worried enough, a deep crease in his forehead plain to see.
Hell, the crease in Dean's skin was now deep enough for Jacob to stick his hand into.
Dean offered back a wan smile of his own, glad to finally be able to hear Jacob without straining. It had been weird, seeing Sam or Bowman talking to him but not hearing any of the responses. He didn't like it at all. One of his closest friends was right in his hand and he couldn't hear him unless he was close. Even now Jacob's voice was light and soft, as though a gentle breeze might snatch it away.
"You're allowed to freak out a little, trust me," Dean reassured Jacob. "None of us saw this coming. We're gonna get this fixed for you, I promise. No matter what it takes, you'll be back to looming over me in no time, Sasquatch." He couldn't imagine what the kid was going through. He'd never seen anyone that small in his life. Even the youngest sprite Dean knew, young Vel, was taller than Jacob.
He glanced over at Bowman, then back to Sam and Jacob. "We should get back to the motel me and Sam checked into. I have a feeling we're gonna want to do a lot more research on this before we try and 'cure' you again."
Sam bowed his head, still guilty that he'd screwed up so badly. Jacob was less than half his size. Even if he could fly or climb like Bowman or Sam, it wouldn't be safe for him to try. One of Dean's fingers curled in, ruffling Sam's hair to try and help him feel better. In the corner of his eye, Sam caught Jacob watching the motion with awe and trepidation.
Bowman agreed. They needed to take this cautiously. Sam's idea had been a good one, considering the story that apparently all the humans knew. He took flight and hovered closer to Dean's eye level, his gaze straying to Jacob more than once as his friend looked around.
"Yeah, good idea. I'm coming, too. But I'll probably need to let my family know that I'm gonna be gone." He offered a grin that he tried to believe. "Last time I took off with you guys without telling Candara, you know what happened."
That got a faint chuckle out of Jacob. He had been the guy who grabbed Bowman and carried him out of the forest against his will so easily. Bowman had been unable to resist, though he'd struggled mightily, even tensing those wings. Jacob heard every beat of them now, and they seemed so powerful. The sprite may have a willowy frame and thin body compared to Sam's, but he had already shown that he was plenty strong enough to carry Jacob in this state.
"Alright, yeah, don't need Bowman to get slapped in the face again," Jacob concurred. The sprite's aunt, Candara, had been a tad upset with him when they finally brought him back. She was more like a mother to him, after all, and he had been gone for more than a day unannounced.
And now, who knew how long Bowman might be away? They had no idea how long it'd take to figure out what had caused Jacob to fall under this frankly terrifying miniaturization. His family deserved to know, and Jacob was more than a little humbled that his friend would so willingly leave home for an indeterminate amount of time to help him.
Anyone who knew Bowman was aware of his love for the forest he grew up in. Ever since he'd learned about humans existing, the sprite had taken it upon himself to learn every corner of the vast woods, flying far and memorizing every tree. When Jacob wasn't visiting, he knew that was what Bowman did with his time.
"Let's get this show on the road then," Dean said. He gave Jacob a small, strained smile. "Sorry if things get bumpy for you." He had a feeling this would be rougher on the kid than it would on Sam or Bowman.
Sam put a hand on Jacob's back as Dean straightened, no longer looking down at the two of them. The green eyes above did their standard scan of his surroundings, a habit he'd formed after a few visits to the forest haven. The sprites had welcomed the giants into their homes, to the point where children would come and visit with Jacob constantly.
Luckily, since they were still across the stream that burbled along none the wiser to the drama in its midst, there wasn't any traffic in the area. The ground around Dean was clear aside from the scattered remains of Jacob's lunch, all now far too big for him. Even the berries Jacob had been snacking on were enormous beach balls compared to the miniaturized hunter.
Pushing on his knee with his hand, Dean went to a stand in one smooth movement. As soon as possible, his free hand was cupped around Sam and Jacob to make sure there was no chance Jacob would slip off. Sam, at least, was unaffected by the movement, remaining crouched on his knees next to Jacob. Once Dean was certain they were protected, he started a careful walk back to the village, stepping briskly over the stream on his way.
A/N:
Sensory overload! No one knows how to handle!
Dean, pls. Why so tol.
Next: October 1st 2017 at 9pm.
Leave us a review to let us know what you think! This lil experiment is a test of our abilities when completely unleashed!
****Read this!****
So, I don't know how much I've kept update on here, but things have been pretty tough this summer! Between unexpected expenses, a dying car and the loss of an aunt and an uncle (completely separate sides of the family, one to cancer one to a tumor), I've been trudging through.
I won't be posting this Sunday or the following Wednesday and I'll be taking a bit of a breather for the week, and tumblr will only have the usual queue posts going, nothing new. No asks or excerpts. No story updates.
Don't worry, the askbox is open and I'll still respond to messages and comments! I just won't be able to take any time for larger posting projects. Things are looking up a little this last week. If possible, I'm still doing commissions and could definitely use a boost!
