A/N:
**Please see Chapter 1 for all warnings!** Don't like it? Don't read it!
Thank you Christine, goldacharmed and Kajensen07 for the great reviews!
Jacob was still rattled from his own experience with the kid. He could only imagine how afraid Sam had been, after growing up with that fear of children instinctively embedded in his mind. He'd just been advertised as such a cool toy and very nearly snatched up by a greedy kid, and none of them knew what that boy would have done if he'd gotten away with either of them. Jacob noticed Sam's shivering easily and knew he had to be thinking of similar things.
It was lucky for him Sam was kneeling. Jacob didn't have as much trouble leaning forward to hug the guy, though he felt more like a little kid than ever doing it. Sam's shaking slowly abated from sheer surprise at the hug. Jacob was so small, he couldn't even get his arms properly around Sam's broad chest. Normally a hug from Jacob would find Sam cupped close to his chest and nearly vanishing into his grasp. But, even though that was impossible, their shared ordeal called for it.
A pat on the back wasn't even possible. So instead Jacob just stood back and met Sam's gaze above him. "Look, dude, I know that was like the biggest deal, going through that. And the fact that you did it to help me ... it means a lot. Thanks, Sam."
Jacob curled both his arms around his aching ribs, hardly realizing he was doing it. He was lucky that was all he had to deal with. Without Sam and Bowman stepping far out of their comfort zones to come to his rescue, Jacob would have died, no question.
"Thanks to both of you," Jacob added, looking over his shoulder at Bowman. The sprite continued to sit against the wall as he put his scarf back where it belonged. He nodded and offered a faint smirk in return.
"We'd all do it again," Sam said with conviction. "You've done so much for everyone, we'd never let you down."
From outside, he heard a shifting as Dean moved in his seat. Remembering that Dean had no idea if Jacob and Bowman were okay, Sam forced himself to focus. "We need to get back to Dean. It's not safe to sit in the panic room while he's driving," Sam said. He brushed his arms one last time to try and push away the remaining trembles.
Sam touched at Jacob's injured ribs. "We need to keep you from getting hurt more," he thought out loud. "Mind riding with me until we get back into the pocket?" Sam dropped his satchel on the floor. There was more than enough room for Jacob inside, but Sam took a few extra items out, leaving his journal along with the spare key for the panic room tucked inside the pages like a bookmark and a few other small supplies.
Jacob pursed his lips at the bag while he considered it. Sam was offering, but Jacob was fairly certain it'd be insisted upon, based on the conviction in his eyes. He couldn't refuse; he was sore as hell and walking around did not sound very appealing. Every step for Sam or Bowman took three or four of Jacob's. He had a lot of ground to cover just to get out from under the seat.
Setting aside any embarrassment, he edged up to the bag and pushed down the side to make it easier to climb in. Thanks to sore ribs and the height of the bag, Jacob almost tumbled over just from that simple task. It was bizarre enough to get himself into a satchel, of all things. Knowing it was made for someone four inches tall was another thing entirely.
Jacob managed to settle himself into the bag with his knees drawn to his chest, and his cheeks a little warmer than one might expect from the stuffy air in the black car sitting in the sun. He looked over and saw that Bowman was smiling faintly at him. "Oh, what? You're just jealous you don't have a portable Jacob to carry around," he quipped, earning a tired snicker from the sprite.
"Oh, it's really too bad we can't make your picture. Rischa would just shriek if she saw this," Bowman teased.
Sam gave a slight smile at that. "Careful, if Dean overhears you, he might just take a picture of Jacob on his cell phone," he said warningly, knowing they probably didn't actually have to worry about that.
It would be tempting, but Dean knew as well as any of them that the risks were too great.
Sam adjusted the bag around Jacob, making sure to keep the flap open. Then, in one easy motion, it was up on Sam's shoulder as he stood. Jacob didn't weigh much at all. In fact, with the stuff Sam had taken out, it was the same as always. He positioned it against his side, that way he could drape an arm over bag and hunter both, a sense of protectiveness creeping in at the sight of Jacob shifting around to get comfortable.
It was hard for Jacob to not feel like a little kid when stuff like this kept happening. At least the satchel was a comfortable way to ride. Since he had such a long list of other things to worry about already, he decided to set aside his concern about the bag. It was bad enough that he'd just been dragged around like little more than a cheap toy, pinched easily in fingers longer than his body and just as easily tossed aside.
To most people, Jacob was inconsequential. Too small to bother with. Even Dean wasn't physically affected by his presence. Jacob might as well be a feather. The thoughts put a faint frown on his face as he finally stopped moving and huddled in the satchel. He sent Sam a resigned thumbs-up.
With Jacob begrudgingly settled, Sam and Bowman left the panic room behind. Sam shoved the door closed behind him, sealing it off from the world.
The trek to the front of the seat only took a few moments, passing by the box of cassette tapes once more. Dean's right leg was before them, briefly shifting in place as he waited.
Jacob looked up in awe. Dean's boot alone would be impossible to see over. Hell, just the rubber sole was almost as high up as Jacob's current stature. The towering, jean-clad leg above the boot stretched high overhead. Jacob could scarcely imagine what it'd look like to see Dean standing from a view near his feet. The thought almost gave him vertigo and Jacob had to stare at his knees for a few seconds to let the moment pass.
Unbothered by the size of the boots and the limb before him, Sam came right up to the heel and started the easy climb up to Dean's knee. He scrambled up the towering leg, fingers easily finding purchase in the thick threads. Jacob was amazed by how quickly Sam climbed up that tower of denim. It was practically second nature to the guy after spending a year around humans. Jacob could even recall a time or two when Sam had climbed up his leg like that.
They only made it a foot off the ground before Dean realized they were there. He shifted in his seat, peering down at the small hunter scaling his way up with an even smaller hunter in his satchel. A bit of the tension in Dean's face dissipated at the sight of Jacob safe and sound, peeking over the edge of the bag to watch their slow progress.
Unwilling to wait until Sam made it up, Dean slipped his hand under them. Dean had to smirk faintly as the action startled the miniscule hunter into flinching back into the bag before turning his tiny face upwards.
Jacob was pressed downward by gravity as he and Sam quickly rose to Dean's eye level. Sam tensed at the movement, holding himself taut with nerves. Even with it being his brother holding him, he continued to shake, coming down off his nerves from the library. It was sobering for Jacob to see exactly what Sam had meant when he'd said he had no control over his life unless they gave it to him. Even a simple movement like that from Dean, one where he just wanted to make sure his baby brother was okay and to check on Jacob, was a movement Sam could never hope to stop.
If Dean squinted, he could just barely see the way Jacob blinked in the light. Bowman fluttered up to his customary spot on the dashboard in the corner of his eye while he lifted Sam and Jacob swiftly to his level so he could look them over. Past a slight, lingering grin at Sam's new way of carrying Jacob, he stayed serious. "Glad to see you in one piece," Dean said respectfully. He brushed a finger against the satchel. "That was a close one."
Jacob's focus was inextricably drawn to the finger that nudged him in the bag. His hands, already clenched into fists as he kept himself steady in the bag, tightened slightly. It was his only outward sign of the lingering nerves he had, though there were plenty of inward signs. "You're not wrong," he replied emphatically. He even allowed himself a chill up his spine. If he had been kept by the kid with the crayons, maybe he wouldn't have been pinched and battered as much as he was, but they likely wouldn't have been able to get him back so easily. As children are wont to do, that kid would have gotten too rough with Jacob eventually anyway. He was simply too small and fragile.
"I ... I really don't know what happened," he admitted sheepishly. He knew what questions might be coming next, so he preempted them. "One second I was on the table next to Bowman. Then I heard what sounded like someone snapping their fingers or something. And then I was all the way across the library and some kid thought I was a toy." As if reminded of the very brief flash of pain when he'd been held up by just his arm, Jacob's shoulder twinged. "His mom dropped me in the bin."
Both brothers listened with frowns on their faces. Sam's deepened at the sound of a kid thinking Jacob was a toy. Bad enough he'd let Dean handle him like an action figure, a kid would be a thousand times worse. At least Dean understood how careful he had to be with the fragile body of his little brother, and how much trust Sam had given him with each movement. A kid could snap an arm in a second, or hold just a little bit too tight and crush him.
Jacob was smaller, and more fragile than Sam would ever be. Even Dean would have a hard time holding him pinched between two fingers like that without exercising just a little bit too much strength and snapping a bone, and Jacob had been held like that by the second kid for over a minute.
"It's starting to sound like this is more than just a case of a poison mushroom," Dean reflected. "Someone left that mushroom out there on purpose, they wanted it to be eaten by someone. They might have even targeted you knowing you've had those mushrooms before." He scowled angrily. "They're playing us like it's all just some game to them."
Dean straightened, glancing out the windows of the car to make sure no one had spotted them. "I grabbed the books we had in the library so me and Sam can keep up with the research tonight." He gave Jacob his attempt at a reassuring smile. "You just relax and let us handle it. After a day like today, you need to take it easy a bit." His hand lowered down towards his pocket. "Just hang on for a few more minutes, okay? We'll be back at the motel in no time."
The hand slipped into the pocket, letting Sam jump off. His legs were like jelly, so he ended up collapsing the moment he hit the swinging bottom of the enclosure. "S-sorry," he managed when he realized he'd ended up with the satchel sitting in his lap. "I just... need a minute."
Jacob let his heart settle from the sudden drop. He glanced up, seeing how weary the other hunter was, and chose not to complain. Not that Jacob was the type to complain about much, anyway. Instead, he shrugged, settling himself in the bag. "Hey, trust me, that was nothing compared to Bowman diving."
That had been actually terrifying. Even knowing Bowman was an expert with those wings, and having seen the sprite pull out of even sharper dives, Jacob had been afraid. The concrete, practically glaring at the pair of them and daring them to pick a fight, had rushed up to meet them faster than even just falling would have accomplished, thanks to Bowman's powerful wings propelling them downwards.
Jacob could still feel the heat that radiated off the cement. They'd been that close to it before Bowman's wings snapped open.
It had been almost beautiful to see the world through Bowman's eyes for a few seconds. Heartstopping, but beautiful. He got it now, why Bowman was so protective of his wings.
Jacob shifted slightly, pushing Sam's journal with a gentle nudge so it didn't lean on him so much. The bag wasn't really terrible. The leather that Sam's dad had tanned was more pliant than stiff, so it didn't pinch its very tiny passenger. It was amazing that the man had been able to do such good leatherwork with the resources available to Sam's folk. If Jacob ever met the guy (hopefully well after he was his normal height again - he had earned a scolding from him for trapping Sam when they met), he'd have to compliment his handiwork.
"I'm kind of adventured out anyway, so I don't plan to wander very far," Jacob added after his thoughtful pause.
Sam let himself relax with Jacob's reassurance. His eyelids fluttered shut, his body overexerted from the tense situation he'd been subjected to.
A/N:
Jacob is in Sam's bag, who is in Dean's pocket. Like a crew of nesting dolls.
We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!
Next: December 27th, 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!
