A/N

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Jacob couldn't see Dean's eyes anymore. The edge of the bible was in the way, blocking the top half of Dean's face from view. But he stared in shock at what he could see, because he almost couldn't believe what he'd heard. Jacob's arm was poised to strike the glass again, but it remained frozen in place.

Jacob was prepared for a number of things. Sam getting grabbed up in a crushing fist. Sam having his knife taken away. Sam being swatted aside by the angered human.

But being called "Sammy?! "

No one calls him that ... Jacob thought, his brow pinching in confusion. But then his eyebrows shot up and his lips parted in a gasp as he remembered something. No one but... Sam had told Jacob about the family he lost a few times before. They were hunters. His father's name was John, and his brother...

Dean.

Dean Winchester.

Raised to be a hunter from the start, even all those years ago before Sam had been cursed. Dean's words from before leapt to mind.

Trained for it most of my life…

And the only person that Sam had ever mentioned that called him Sammy. The brother that had escaped the witch without being cursed.

Jacob couldn't believe he hadn't made the connection sooner. He could only blame the stress of the situation. His thoughts had been frantic and confused since that enormous hand closed around his body and took away all control of his life.

It had been Sam's older brother the entire time.

The coincidence was unbelievable.

Dean was still standing over them, his last word hanging in the air almost ominously. What he might do next was unknown. Brother or not, he had all the power between the three and they all knew it. Jacob unclenched his fist and lightly put his hands on the glass again, glancing between the two of them.

Sam was frozen in disbelief, staring up at the human in front of them. Huge green eyes stared right back at him, an expression offear covering the human's face. The name echoed in Sam's mind. A name he hadn't heard in so long, he'd almost forgotten what it sounded like.

Sammy. The voice that said it was deeper now, gruff at the edges with years of experience hunting monsters behind him, and yet it was so achingly familiar.

"Dean?!" he blurted out in shock. "Dean, is it really-"

Without warning, Dean's hand swept forward. It moved faster than Jacob or Sam could ever hope to. Sam found himself knocked onto his back in a massive palm as it rose through the air, taking him swiftly away from solid ground. Behind him, Jacob yelped in surprise. Uncertainly, Sam held his knife out, trying to shift away from the human. He found himself surrounded by fingers as long as his entire body and couldn't stop a shiver for how helpless he was.

But the fingers didn't close on him the way they'd coiled around Jacob.

All too soon, he was held at eye level. Sam brought himself to a squat. The huge mouth in front of him parted, then he watched as huge teeth bit into the lip. Nervous.

The human was nervous.

"S-Sam…" The voice was so familiar. Like an echo of the past rumbling around him. "Sam, is that really you?"

Sam daringly went to a stand, holding his knife at his side in a white-knuckled grip. He didn't really know what to say, how to respond. This was something he'd never seen coming. "I, ah. I guess so. Dean… you… I…"

Dean's eyes locked on the knife. "All these years, and you still have it…" he breathed. "I…" Running out of words, Dean did the only thing he could think to do. He cupped his hand against his chest, a desperate sob escaping his mouth. "We thought you were dead! "

If there had been any doubt of who had him in that massive hand, it was dispelled when Sam spotted an amulet almost as long as his arm, hanging down from the neck high above.

Sam closed his eyes, a tear escaping him as he heard the steady thud of the heart so close by. A heart that was bigger than he was now. "Dean…" he whispered.

His family had come back.

Jacob could do little more than watch the scene unfold before him. Sam wasn't trapped in a fist or subjected to examination. He was held up and then Dean held him close to his chest. It was the closest thing he could do to mimic a hug with Sam so small compared to just his hand. From Jacob's point of view, his adopted brother vanished into that hug, but there was no doubt that he was fine.

Sam really did have his brother back. His real brother. A piece of his broken family had found his way back.

It was uncanny.

If Jacob weren't still plagued by lingering terror, he'd almost be glad to see this reunion. He kept thinking about how close it had come to an entirely different outcome. If Sam hadn't come back, or if Dean hadn't recognized him in time ...

Jacob took a deep breath and shook the thoughts away. That hadn't happened. He was staring up at the real thing. It might be through glass, but it was real. He remembered a little about what Sam had told him. How Dean, his older brother, had looked after him no matter what. How Dean had taken care of him while they grew up on the road.

Sam had his family back.

After an endless time in the silent room, Dean moved his hand away from his chest. Sam wavered in place, his stance unsteady on the unfamiliar surface. He couldn't help tightening a hand on his knife when he realized again how little control he had over the situation. How easily a single move from Dean could affect him. It might be Dean, but Dean was a man he hadn't seen in over half his lifetime.

"Sammy… I'm… I'm so sorry," Dean said, tears shining in his eyes. "We left… we thought the witch took you and dad chased her through three towns before the trail vanished. We… we didn't know…"

Sam swallowed, struck by the powerful words. Gathering himself, he gestured with a hand, waving off the past. "Dean, it wasn't your fault." He tried to keep a steady demeanor as he talked, putting as much strength behind his words as he could. His voice was so much softer, it was hard to manage. Sam pushed on.

"I got hit with a curse. I don't know what she does to her victims… Two people saved me before it ever got that far. They kept the witch from finding me before dad chased her out of town. And then they waited for me to wake up."

Sam closed his eyes, remembering that first time. "I didn't even believe them at first," he said softly. He'd darted away from Walt and Mallory, trying to escape back to his family. A family that was long gone. Dean held his hand closer to his face, desperately hanging on to every word. Emboldened by the hopeful expression in front of him, so different than the man Sam had watched snatch Jacob off the ground, he went on. "After seeing everything, it was kinda hard to deny."

Absently, he scuffed a boot against the ground he was standing on, watching the give of the skin under his foot. One of the strangest sensations he'd ever felt. He teetered on the edge of the next subject, but forced himself to meet Dean straight in the eyes. "Dean." He nodded towards the vase. "That's my adopted brother, Jacob. He was hit by the same curse three years ago. Mind letting him out?"

Dean's lips parted in shock. Sam's adopted brother. All that time Dean had spent wondering what Sam would think of what he was doing, and he'd been trapping Sam's brother. "Fuck," he whispered, watching the expression of worry on Sam's face. Sam really didn't seem to know if Dean would follow through on his request. He could even feel Sam trembling from time to time like a scared animal.

His own brother was afraid of him. Afraid of what he'd do.

"Whatever you say, Sammy," Dean said, keeping his voice at a whisper. "I… I didn't know. I swear, I didn't know."

Legs wobbly, he took a seat at the table again, lowering the hand with Sam right down for the smaller man to step off. Sam hopped down, striding over to the vase even as Dean's arm stretched overhead. A huge hand closed on the bible, putting it down on the table out of the way.

Then, the vase was lifted away from Jacob, freeing him at last.

Jacob stared upwards as the vase lifted off of him. He took a deep breath as air rushed to greet him, fresher air than the stifling confinement where he'd spent most of the morning. He briefly wondered if he would have come close to suffocating in there if Sam hadn't intervened.

Something which was a miraculous turn all by itself. Sam, in a bold request, had asked for Jacob's freedom. They all knew that he could never in a million years have forced Dean to do anything. If Dean had wanted to keep Jacob prisoner, he wouldn't have met any resistance.

But, in motions that were so easy for him, he'd lifted the book and the vase away in one strong hand. Both actions would be entirely impossible for Jacob.

When the vase was set aside with a hollow thunk that Jacob was all too familiar with, he finally looked away from the powerful hand moving it, looking instead to its owner. Dean sat at the table once more, still as huge as ever. The only difference was his expression. He looked remorseful.

He still sat so much taller than both of the table's occupants. Jacob hadn't realized it before, but the vase was like a shield between him and the human. An artificial and imagined one, but a shield all the same. Now Jacob was even more exposed and he had nothing to his name.

He took a cautious step backwards, wary of any grabs that might come his way. "Thanks," he said uncertainly, eyes still wide from shock over how it had all gone.

The guilt grew on Dean's face. "Don't mention it," he said sadly, watching Sam as he darted towards Jacob the moment the kid was clear of the vase.

Sam was at Jacob's side as soon as possible, a hand on his shoulder. "Thank god you're alright," he muttered under his breath so Dean wouldn't hear. He didn't waste any time before he was checking Jacob for injuries, making sure there was nothing he'd missed while he'd been away from the vent.

He'd trusted Dean in his life as a human. He didn't know if he could trust Dean now.

Trust had become a lot harder to give ever since he'd been cursed. Now, Sam was small enough to overpower with a single finger.

Sam remembered learning about what it meant to be a hunter. He understood how lucky they were that Dean still listened to him after the curse had struck. People that turned into vampires became monsters in anyone's eyes the moment it happened.

Tainted.

Irredeemable.

The same went for werewolves and a variety of other creatures that hunters fought. There was always the possibility that Dean could have followed through with that line of thought and killed them both. Other hunters would have.

As much as Sam had wanted his family to show up during the long years he'd been trapped in the motel, all that time he'd spent watching the parking lot and praying to see a vintage black Impala roll up with rock music blaring out the windows, he'd also been afraid. Afraid that his dad and his brother would come back only to be Sam's greatest enemies.

Hunters, set to track down Sam's family and rid the motel of their 'pest problem.'

Sam stepped away from Jacob, his brow furrowing as he realized there was something missing. Which meant… He turned to Dean, who was still staring down at them, wide-eyed, like he couldn't credit what he was seeing. The green eyes locked on Sam once more, making the light tingle on his neck flare up again.

"Dean," Sam asked slowly, "did you take Jacob's bag?"

If Sam could have believed a hardened hunter could look like a kicked puppy, he would have been prepared for Dean slumping down in his seat and taking on that exact look. Pinching open a pocket sitting against his chest big enough to fit Sam and Jacob both and then some, Dean reached in. A tiny bag dangled between his fingertips when he pulled his hand out.

"Look, I, ah… I'm really sorry about the misunderstanding, Jacob," Dean tried get out. "I didn't know you were one of the victims here, really."

Sam nodded approvingly at the hunter's admittance. The Dean he'd known as a child wouldn't stand for anything happening to a victim of a supernatural attack. He and Jacob both fit into that category here. Dean might be a lot bigger than Sam remembered, but he was still the brother Sam knew.

A/N

We all knew how guilty Dean would feel once he found out who Jacob was...

Next: Coming September 18th, 2016 at 9pm est.

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