A/N

Thank you to Icy Icee and appletopine for the reviews!

Bowman glanced around as Dean's loud voice echoed off the trees. As quickly as he registered the words Dean said, he noticed that he couldn't hear the human's crashing steps anymore.

A familiar chill raced up his spine.

It was an instinct that he had as a member of a hunted species, the inherent knowledge that he'd been targeted. Bowman had gotten that feeling before, at night when owls were on the hunt. It had saved him from having harsh talons close around him many times.

At first he almost thought Wolf! but Bowman realized quickly what had happened. Dean had decided to prove himself after Bowman's remark. Well, Bowman wasn't about to lose this game, not in his own forest and against a human!

Bowman quieted his wings and banked upwards, quickly swooping towards the canopy. His wings, vibrant and green, matched the color and shape of the leaves rustling in the breeze. Of course, he could go above the canopy to truly avoid notice by the hunter somewhere below. But that would only make him vulnerable to hunters from above, hawks with strong eyes accustomed to picking out a sprite among the leaves. No, staying right among the welcoming branches of the trees provided Bowman the perfect camouflage.

He settled on a middle branch, several feet above Dean's reach. Crouching behind a tuft of leaves, Bowman finally turned his gaze behind himself, seeking out the human from his stock-still position. He left his wings open and they swayed in the breeze, along with the leaves all around him.

Adrenaline coursed through him. Bowman's rational side was well aware that Dean was not the kind of predator that would do him actual harm. But the rest of him, the side governed by the prey instincts that kept his kind alive, was on high alert. He listened for every sound, every minute rustle of a leaf, as if his survival to the next sunrise depended on it. In most cases with an unseen human, it probably would.

Sam remained silent against Dean's neck, listening no less intently than the hunter he was leaning against. The forest rustled softly around them, the natural wilderness sounds offering nothing to give their position away. He shifted, staring at the branches above them. Bowman had gone silent at Dean's words, invisible among the leaves that matched his wings so closely.

Dean skulked out from behind the tree, his footsteps silent. Sam tensed, as surprised as always at how damn good his brother was when it came to the hunt. It was disarming to realize a human almost the size of a building could sneak up on him if he wanted to. That fact alone kept Sam on his toes, especially during training.

With a deft move, Dean slipped behind another tree. Sam jabbed his neck, pulling Dean's attention down on him. With the hunter's eyes on him, Sam gestured up in the branches, pointing out two green wings just barely distinguishable from the leaves around them. Bowman. And his back was turned on them.

Cupping his hands around his mouth, Dean threw his voice to make it seem like it was coming from right next to Bowman. "So, what was that about me being rude, again?"

Bowman stiffened, but the only outward indication that he gave was the momentary freeze in his wings. He crouched lower to the branch, letting his wings sway in the breeze again, and turned his head cautiously to the side. It had sounded like Dean was right there. Bowman's eyes scanned the ground in that direction, searching for the human and always feeling that prickly sensation of being observed by something dangerous.

Dean and Sam both watched the sprite freeze up in the branches. Dean smirked, recognizing Sam's reaction to being in danger (or Dean flipping on the overhead lights unexpectedly). It was apparently built into all the little guys as a survival instinct.

Bowman narrowed his eyes. Owls could make it seem like their voices came from all around. Bowman had no idea humans could be capable of the same. He sank so close to the tree branch he perched on that he was practically lying down on it. Still scanning the direction Dean's voice appeared to have come from, Bowman slunk back into the leaves carefully, crawling silently and slowly.

This game wasn't over, and as Bowman edged out of sight, Dean edged forward, trying to keep the sprite in sight. From his spot on Dean, Sam kept his eyes glued on the rustling leaves, better equipped than his brother to spot the minute movement in the tree.

Once he thought he was hidden enough, Bowman dropped off the side of the branch, quickly gliding to another. Normally he would waste no time flying high into the canopy and darting away at his top speed. Few predators could keep up with that. But he didn't actually want to leave Dean behind.

Bowman didn't linger in his new hiding place for long, instead opting to dart higher, pushing through bunches of leaves. They'd be rattling far behind him by the time he reached the next set, hopefully making his trail harder to keep. It was especially tricky when a breeze kicked up. Bowman smirked as almost all of the leaves around them rustled without his encouragement, creating several possible directions for him to have flown.

Finally he settled down again, hiding near the end of a branch almost overladen with leaves and peering around, trying to spot that blasted human.

Sam saw the sprite drop from the branch, darting to another. Stiffening, Sam grabbed onto Dean's neck to pull his attention in the right direction. They both watched the shaking leaves from the sprite's passage. Dean lost sight of the sprite when the breeze started up, hiding which way Bowman had gone. But Sam, much better attuned to how he'd hide from Dean, was able to pick out the direction the leaves shook the most.

Following Sam's silent direction, Dean crept along until he was under the branch Bowman was sitting on, staring at where he thought Dean was, due to the way he'd thrown his voice. Dean pinched a low-hanging leaf between his fingers, careful to not rattle the branch and call down the sprite's attention.

Slow as he could, Dean pulled it down until...

Flick!

Bowman was tossed into the air with a choked yelp of alarm when the branch snapped up. Before he could recover, Dean's hands caged around him, cushioning his fall and trapping him at last.

Bowman had no idea what happened. One second, he was scanning the woods, trying to find the giant human's trail. How hard could he really be to find?

The next second, the branch he'd crouched on snapped upward, and after a few seconds of spinning in the air, arms pinwheeling in surprise, he found himself in an enclosed space.

He lay in a daze for a few seconds, blinking the dizziness away. And then he slowly realized where he was. Dean's hands were surrounding him. The human's fingers formed the bars of a makeshift cage, and Bowman scowled indignantly.

"Hey! How did you blasted do that?!" he yelled, shifting around so he had his feet planted on the palm below him and his hands braced against the one above. His wings fluttered angrily as he tried in vain to push the two hands apart. "Blast it, let me out!"

It didn't take Bowman terribly long to figure out how it must have been done. Dean threw his voice, just like an owl could do, but much more efficiently than Bowman had assumed. And Bowman, thinking he knew where Dean was, had wandered far too close to his real position.

He was lucky Dean was on his side.

"You just got lucky, that's all!" Bowman continued. He still fluttered his wings around inside Dean's hands, and moved to try and pry two of the human's fingers far enough apart to squeeze out. They let in plenty of light, but there wasn't enough room for a sprite to slip out.

The part of him that governed his hunted instincts had his heart pounding, but most of him was devoted to being indignant that he'd gotten caught! "Spirit scorn you, human! What's the big idea, let me out!"

"Right, lucky. That's what we'll call it," Dean snorted as he lifted up his hands, peering inside at the fluttering sprite. "You know, I'm not gonna keep you trapped. You can calm down a little in there."

Sam stood on Dean's shoulder, watching the familiar scene from a completely different perspective than normal. The number of times he'd been 'caught' in those unyielding hands... he always went through the same struggles as Bowman, trying to push apart fingers stronger than his body. Naturally, it worked just as well for him as it was for Bowman. Even with the fluttering wings to assist him, Bowman was helpless in there.

Sam felt a little better about all the times Dean had caught him now, watching Bowman go through the same problems. Even with his wings, a complete advantage over Sam, he'd gotten caught.

Dean lifted off his top hand, opening up the makeshift cage around the sprite. "So I think we can agree, I'm perfectly good at stalking when I need to be, right?"

Bowman stumbled a little on Dean's palm, but immediately felt some relief. Being trapped, even by a human he knew wasn't going to hurt him, put Bowman on edge. It was a helpless feeling, and it put his instincts on alert whether he wanted them to be or not. That was an unfortunate part of being so low on the food chain. He glared up at the human.

"Fine, you can stalk," he begrudgingly admitted. "I'd still call that a fluke, if you weren't a blasted hunter," he added. No human without Dean's particular skillset should have been able to see where Bowman hid. He hoped.

Dean let out a laugh as he resumed his steady pace away from the secluded village. "And don't you forget it, small fry. I might not let you go so easy, next time." He couldn't resist needling the sprite.

Bowman remained standing on Dean's hand for a moment longer. He had an opportunity to stretch his wings and he took it. They fanned open slowly, stretching to the full wingspan of nearly nine inches while he rolled his shoulders. With them so still, it was easier than ever to see the leafy pattern catching the sunlight that filtered down.

Dean quieted as Bowman stretched his wings out to their full span, eyes drawn to the leafy membranes. It was easy to understand why Bowman would hate them being touched - the fragility of the wings was obvious, seen against the backdrop of Dean's sturdy hand. He was glad to have that much trust from the sprite, despite their rocky start.

Sam leaned forward in his spot, just as drawn as Dean to the unique limbs. His eyes were wide as he stared at the green-veined wings.

The sprite lifted his wings high and then, in one stroke, kicked off into the air so he flew along at roughly Dean's eye level. Now that he wasn't being hunted, his gliding was far more relaxed again, and he took comfort in the simple pleasure of flying after that rather embarrassing defeat. "I'll do better next time," he assured the human, sending him a confident look. "Throwing your voice won't work again, I dodge owls."

Even talking so confidently, it was rather unsettling to have been found so quickly. Bowman would have to work harder to keep his skills intact. He brushed past some low hanging leaves, barely skimming them with the edge of a wing. But as he passed, he turned a critical eye to the side, trying to compare his wings to the vibrant leaves. They still looked quite similar. So how did Dean spot him so easily?

After Bowman took off, Dean waited until the sprite's attention was away from him and Sam. Once he was certain it was on a leaf, Dean held a finger up to Sam, sending his little brother a wink and mouthing "Up high!" silently. Sam's hand hit it in their own kind of high five, making Dean grin broadly. Bowman hadn't stood a chance with the Winchesters working together.

The gesture went unnoticed by the preoccupied sprite. But he glanced back in time to see the pair of brothers grinning, and he threw them both flat looks. "Oh, sure," he grumbled. "No respect for the guy taking you right to where you need to go." He rolled his eyes dramatically before turning to face front again.

Bowman had to find a way to get back at the human for catching him so quickly. Some way to prove he was actually quite adept in his own element here. As a gentle breeze picked up, he smirked. He had an idea, and that breeze rattling the leaves all around presented the perfect opportunity.

At first, he wove side to side as if coasting on the gentle draft. Then, with a chuckle, Bowman shot straight up, until he was high in the canopy. With the leaves all in motion, it was easy for him to double back unnoticed.

It was a trick that sprites often played on each other. It should be just as effective on a pair of humans, maybe more so since they couldn't expect it. Once Bowman was situated behind Dean, he let himself fall. He plummeted quickly, but as soon as he was just a foot or two behind the tall human's head, Bowman opened his powerful wings.

They filled with air with a loud snapping sound, amplified by the way he curved them to really bounce the noise around. Normally this trick was followed by creating a small puff of air with one's wings before the other sprite could turn around. But Dean probably wouldn't feel it, so Bowman just flew backwards a bit to avoid getting swatted at again.

Dean was scanning the canopy, searching out any sign of Bowman. He wasn't worried about losing the sprite this time, after everything they'd gone through together. Probably just upset about Dean getting the better of him...

In the middle of those thoughts, a loud Crack! filled the air behind Dean. Instinct kicked in. One hand wrapped around Sam for protection, Dean whirled around, bringing his gun, already cocked and at the ready, to bear on...

Bowman hadn't expected Dean to jolt so much. He opened his mouth to gloat, but before a single word got out, there was a flash of something shining. And then, Bowman was looking right at the dangerous end of a gun, and the smirk fell from his face like a stone.

A/N

Oh jeeze, shit got real. o.o;

Next: April 22nd

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