A/N

Thank you sammygirl1963, mckydstarlight, Wunjo, stargazer100, Zoneperson, Geek-Girl0416, Happyritas and Christine! Let's hop down from this cliff and see what Jacob and Sam do about it! Dean is so close!

Jacob only had a second to react. He was startled enough by the sudden exclamation right by his head. But then he felt the tiny boots stumble and slip. He saw in the corner of his eye as Sam lost his balance and started to fall forward. Jacob did what many startled drivers would do.

He slammed on the brakes.

Thankfully, there was no one else driving on that street at this time of the afternoon, so he didn't get smashed into. But Jacob felt a panic suddenly surging in him as he realized how devastating the action could be for Sam. Before his tires even finished screeching on the pavement, one of his hands left the steering wheel.

He managed to catch Sam in a cupped hand against his abdomen. Jacob's jaw dropped and his heart absolutely pounded. Sam could have died right then and there, so close to the goal. All because Jacob had been careless. And now, he had the little guy basically pinned to his stomach while his arms were almost frozen with shock.

He pulled the car into the parking lot one handed and double (maybe triple) parked. Then, he finally moved his hand away from his stomach, cupping it under Sam and hoping against hope that he wasn't about to see a broken Sam lying on his hand. "Holy shit, I'm so sorry," he breathed. "Tell me I didn't break anything, Sam. Are you okay?!"

When the hand moved out into the open, Sam was lying flat on his back, staring up at Jacob in shock. "N-no…" he managed, trying to push himself up to a sit with both hands. The adrenaline refused to let him get that far. Both arms shook, and he slipped back down. For a moment, he let his arms flop out to the side, mentally going through every limb and searching for new pain.

Aside from a slight flare-up in his ribs, there weren't any new pains. Sam managed to regain control of his arms, and this time when he sat up, it was for good. He patted himself down, double-checking to be certain. He couldn't imagine trying to convince Dean, facing down an immense human just like Jacob, with a crippling injury like that. He was already vulnerable enough.

Satisfied, Sam met Jacob's eyes, giving him a wane smile. "Nothing's broke," he stated. "I'm fine. And that one was my fault. I just…" he trailed off, trying to see outside of the car. "I thought I saw the Impala…"

Jacob held his breath until he got Sam's assurance that he was okay. He leaned his head back against the seat, gazing at the ceiling without really seeing it. Holy shit. Holy shit. That was way too close. He took a few slow breaths to calm down his rapidly beating heart, wondering absently if Sam could feel his accelerated pulse through his hand. He probably could.

After composing himself, Jacob looked out the window of his car and scanned the lot. There weren't many other cars at the dingy motel, so it was easy to find the Impala. He raised his eyebrows in an impressed reaction to how nice the car looked in person.

After making sure no one was around, Jacob cupped his other hand near the one holding Sam and lifted him slowly above the level of the windows. Sam should be able to see out without any problems, but Jacob remained watchful for anyone that might peek at him and notice his small passenger. "That the one?"

Sam's mouth parted in his amazement. It was her. He could even make out the blessedly familiar license plate from where he was sitting in Jacob's hand.

KAZ-2Y5

The sunlight winked off the car once more, as though the world itself was bringing his attention to her. Sam held up a hand, instinctively trying to put it against the glass pane of the window, despite the fact that he was sitting a foot away from it. "That's her…" he whispered. "That's the Impala I grew up in."

Sam blinked away the rising emotion in his chest. Right now, Dean was less than a hundred feet away. Nothing else mattered. He was close to his brother for the first time in over a decade. In a few minutes, he might be able to talk to Dean. Find out what had happened in the last thirteen years.

Sam bit his lip. "So, now what?" he asked. Nerves rose up again. He could suppress them all he wanted, but the fear of rejection was always floating right beneath the surface.

Jacob was staring at the car with his own kind of reverence. They'd actually found Dean. Somehow, despite it being a long shot to track him down, they'd found him. Judging by the way Sam stared at that car, and even how he instinctively tried to reach for it, there was no doubt about it. Jacob couldn't help the swell of pride in his chest. Maybe he'd really messed up at first, but he could make up for it in some small way if he helped Sam put his family back together.

"Okay," Jacob said, acknowledging that he'd heard Sam's question and thinking about how best to approach that door. Jacob stared at it for several seconds, chipped paint and all. One of the numbers screwed to the door was slightly askew. He realized belatedly that he was taking in those details and stalling his introduction to Sam's older brother. He knew he shouldn't have a reason to be nervous, but then again it'd be tough to walk up and bring him this kind of news. Jacob would have to be careful about how he brought Sam up.

"Well, I think I should get in the door before anything, try to talk to him first. That way you can stay hidden as long as you think you need to. What do you think I should say to get him to let me in?"

Sam took a deep breath. They were there. They'd found Dean. Now all they had to do was explain to him that Sam hadn't died, that he'd lived in that same motel ever since being cursed, and that he barely stood four inches tall.

Simple.

Suddenly he wondered if it was even possible. Who'd believe that their long lost brother was alive and cursed?

Dean will. He's never let me down.

Closing his eyes, Sam threw his mind back in time, trying to think of a way to let his older brother know he was alive. It wasn't easy, and Sam knew it would be hard to convince anyone of the truth. But they had to try. Why else had they driven eight hours and tracked down one car out of millions?

He needed to try. He'd never forgive himself if he just gave up, so close to his goal.

"He helps people," Sam said. That, more than anything else, stood out to him. "He always wanted to help people." His eyes blinked open, staring up at Jacob before flashing back to the Impala. "If you asked him for help, he wouldn't turn you away. Iknow he wouldn't. That's just not the way Dean is. Even his worst enemies wouldn't get turned away right off the bat if they truly needed help."

Jacob nodded slowly. The excuse would hardly even be a lie, if he really stretched it. Jacob had made the calls and driven all this way. But the last person would could finish up this self-assigned mission of his was Dean. Dean needed to see Sam and accept him. Jacob couldn't take that step for him. No one else could.

With everything planned out, Jacob sighed, staring out the window a little longer. "Alright. Guess you'd better get out of sight for now," he suggested, moving his hand up to his shoulder for Sam to make his way to the hood again. "I'll talk to him for a bit, see if I can convince him of something, get him ready for the shock of his year." Or maybe his life. "You come out when you feel ready, I won't give you away."

Once assured that Sam was settled, Jacob took a steeling breath to collect his thoughts, and stepped out of the car. He almost had a mind to fix his parking job, but the lot was so sparse that it really didn't seem to matter. And if he got a ticket ... big deal. Jacob had more important things to worry about.

Like the person hiding away in his hood even now. Every step towards the door in front of the Impala was taken with care.

Jacob only hesitated for a second when he got to the door. With a surprisingly steady hand, he rapped on the worn surface with his knuckles.

Dean took a sip of his coffee as he perused the town records he was reading from.

Right now, he was looking at a late night. He'd have to wait until the night to sneak into the town graveyard. The spirit he was hunting shouldn't strike again, with the house she haunted being completely empty, but he wanted to clean up the mess that night. He didn't want to risk any more innocent onlookers stumbling in and getting savaged by the vengeful spirit.

It was a fairly straightforward case. A girl had been murdered by her jealous fiancee, and years later was starting to kill off anyone that had been close to him. Dean wasn't sure what had taken her so long to start, but he knew that spirits could lay dormant. Maybe she'd been at peace and her gravesite was disturbed…

He was researching into that line of thought when there was a knocking at the door.

Dean glanced up in surprise. He didn't know anyone in town, and for once he didn't think he'd stepped on any toes so far this case. He'd only talked to the family of the victims. They thought he was a reporter, doing an article for their loss in the local Tribune.

The knocking came again.

Dean pulled himself out of his chair. Instinctively, he pulled out his gun, padding silently over to the door. He left the chain on, opening it up. The gun was out of sight, leveled towards…

A kid?

The guy standing outside couldn't be over twenty. In fact, if he was pushing eighteen, Dean would be shocked. Standing shorter than Dean, the kid was brown haired, brown eyed, and looked like he was seeing a ghost. The gun in Dean's hand wavered in place, lowering at the unexpected sight.

"You lost, kid?" Dean asked gruffly.

Jacob was more than a little caught off guard by how gloomy the man was. After hearing Sam's numerous stories about his protective big brother, the one who chased off his nightmares and played pranks on him, Jacob wasn't expecting the man to be so gruff. And yet here he was, looking at a distrusting face through a door opened only partway.

Jacob recovered a few seconds later, remembering the faint weight in his hood. All expectations aside, he had a job to do. "Uh. No, not lost," he answered, shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets. "Unless you're not Dean Winchester ... I need to find him. Someone told me he helps people."

Dean arched an eyebrow at that. The last thing he was expecting was to hear his own name come out of the guy's mouth. Ever since arriving in town he'd gone by Jimmy Paige, the guitarist from Led Zeppelin. It always made him smirk when no one noticed the odd correlation.

So how had this kid figured out who he was? Dean cast his mind back, but he didn't remember ever helping out anyone that looked like this kid. Did Bobby send him? Dean wondered.

"Who wants to know?" His voice was no less gruff, and edged between worried and demanding. Unknown factors could screw up a hunt, and a kid appearing out of the blue that knew his name would definitely be filed under unexpected.

Jacob raised his eyebrows, still thrown off by the suspicion in Dean's entire demeanor. At the very least, the question pretty much confirmed that he had the right guy. He was just quite a bit more paranoid than Jacob had expected. Guess fighting monsters all the time would make this kinda necessary, he conceded to himself. At least the door hadn't slammed in his face. Yet.

"My name is Jacob Andris. I met someone who said you could be counted on to help no matter what. Is that true?"

"Jacob Andris?" Dean repeated, going over the name in his mind and locking it down. Maybe Bobby knew the kid. It wouldn't be the first time Bobby had sent a case his way, and it wouldn't be the last. John was another possibility… but considering the radio silence the man was flying under, he found himself doubting it. If John wouldn't talk to his only son, why would he talk to some random stranger and send him to Dean?

"I might know a thing or two that could help you," Dean said cautiously. "It really depends on your issue. You might be better off just getting help from the police."

Really, ghostbuster? Jacob thought, some exasperation leaking onto his face. But, again, he couldn't blame Dean for being cautious. From what Sam had said, he was in a dangerous line of work. Dean was allowed to be extra cautious. But Jacob was, in turn, allowed to be extra persistent.

Sam was counting on him.

"Yeah, okay, that is a possibility," Jacob answered, though he made it clear that he wasn't convinced they could help at all. He shrugged halfway before thinking maybe that would disturb Sam's perch in his hood and stopped. "But I'm thinking 'people who you think are dead not being dead' is a little bit beyond their pay grade? Maybe?" Hopefully that would catch Dean's attention to at least get Jacob in the door. Beyond that, there wasn't much more explanation needed.

Dean considered Jacob, cocking his head as he thought it over. "That really depends on how they came back to life," he said dryly. He shut the door in Jacob's face, unlatching the chain before opening it again. "But maybe we should do this talk inside," he finished, stepping away from the door. 'People who you think are dead not being dead' could cover a broad range of subjects, from something easy like a kidnapping victim escaping all the way to a zombie slipping out of their grave. The last thing Dean needed was people hearing that conversation right outside his door.

Dean tucked his colt back into his pants. "Maybe you should start from the beginning," he prodded, wondering what secrets Jacob was carrying.

Jacob had thought, for a brief second, that the door slamming in his face was Dean's way of sending him off. That he'd failed to convince the man on his first attempt to reach out to him. It was no small relief that the door had opened up again, this time with an invitation into the room, albeit a cautious one.

And there was no way on Earth that Jacob would have missed the gun as Dean stored it away. Or the absolute arsenal of weapons arranged on one of the beds. Holy shit. He coulda killed me right there. Dealing with Dean was turning out to be nothing like dealing with Sam. Jacob took a shaky breath, knowing that Dean still could. He made sure to never give his back to Dean completely. Brother or not, the man was a danger to Sam until they could sort things out.

Hell, Dean could be a danger to both of them.

Jacob sighed and wondered how he'd bring up the subject. But, Dean had told him to start at the beginning. This had all started with one thing. "Okay. I need you to keep an open mind on this one. I met your brother yesterday."

For a second, memories flashed through Dean's mind. Him, plastered to the wall. No way to move, no way to help. That blonde bitch, laughing at them as she raised her hands in the air to send a bolt of light towards the third figure in the room.

Sam.

The light refracted around the younger boy, dancing around him until it was too bright to see. The light faded…

And Sam was gone.

Dean slammed a hand into the front of Jacob's hoodie and hauled him forward. "Sam's dead," Dean growled. "I was there when he died. Try again."

The sheer strength in the motion had Jacob more shocked than the intense glare that Dean leveled on him. He could swear he felt a tiny flinch in his hood as Dean took hold of his jacket, jostling the hood. The smaller brother was trapped and subject to the whims of the unknowing older brother. In order to keep from sending him plummeting, Jacob didn't even think about trying to break out of Dean's grasp. He put his hands up in surrender, his eyes wide.

"Dude, wait a second," he said, keeping his voice as steady as he could while a guy he knew was armed had a death grip on the front of his hoodie. "Sam didn't die when that witch attacked you. He's been lost but not gone, okay?"

Please don't shoot me.

Sam had his eyes closed, desperately clinging to the fabric of the hoodie. Out of all the possibilities, the last thing he'd thought would happen was a human the size of Jacob would be tossed around like it was nothing.

Dean, just listen to him… please… A tear leaked out of the side of his eye.

He was so close…

A/N

Maybe he's not what you expected, but this is the brother that needs you back, Sam.

Next: Coming August 9th 2016 at 9pm est.

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