It was some time before anyone else roused in the room aside from Jacob. The sun crept upwards in the sky, the small ray of light that slipped through their curtains shifting its way across the bed as it went.
It was when the room had grown brighter and he could no longer remain asleep that Dean blinked open his eyes.
Staring upwards, it took him a few moments to untangle his thoughts. His body was sore all over from the last few days, but the sharp pains from his ribs were dampened. For the first time all week, he couldn't recall any nightmares.
The first time he'd slept a full night since losing their dad.
Letting out a sigh, Dean relaxed into the pillows. It was then that he realized he could feel a slight pressure against his chest that had nothing to do with the hand draped lazily there.
Sam. Vel. They were both curled up under his hand. Sam had an arm draped across Vel, keeping the kid close against his chest like he was a fluttering teddy bear.
Normally the sight of Sam safely in his grasp reassured Dean, but today, after a week of torture at the hands of a giant stranger, Dean felt an unexpected rush of panic to see his little brother and littler brother helpless there.
"Sam!" he hissed, trying not to wake Vel but at the same time doing his best to wake his baby brother. If Sam was awake, he could move the tiny kid away from Dean.
Vel didn't respond at all to Dean's voice. His wings, still weaker than they should be, shifted in his slumber. At most, the tiniest, squeaky grumble passed his lips as he dreamed the morning away. He'd claimed his spot to sleep, and after everything he'd endured, he was capitalizing on it.
Across the room, Jacob did hear Dean, and it jolted him out of an absent doze. He straightened in his seat and his eyes tore away from the crooked salt line by the door.
For a moment, he hesitated to say anything at all. He had no idea how Dean might react.
"Um," he said, going with it anyway. Dean had gone to sleep with some concerning injuries. "How're you feeling? Want me to, uh, start some coffee? You don't even have to get up or anything yet."
Dean shot Jacob a faintly desperate look, still coming to terms with his recent size turnaround. "Uhh… coffee?" he said lamely, afraid to move so much as an inch so long as the others were out cold on his chest.
This time, he didn't bother trying to rouse Sam by calling his name. Dean shifted his hand an infinitesimal amount, nudging his now-much-smaller brother in the shoulder with a finger that felt insanely oversized for the action. It brought all his fears from captivity rushing back to the fore, hardly believing anyone would want to trust him while he was this large.
Dean was deeply regretting that he was no longer Sam's height, able to use Sam as a leaning post.
The nudge seemed to get through to Sam. Unwinding his arms from around Vel, the smaller Winchester stretched out slowly like a cat, coming back to waking slowly and luxuriously. Dean watched with fascination, which quickly vanished when Sam used one of his fingers to push himself up to stand and stretch his arms over his head. Everything that made Dean feel big left his insides a solid block of ice.
Sam rubbed his hair and blinked up at Dean with a smile. "You're back," he said with a heavy, relieved sigh.
"Yeah, and what are you doing over here?" Dean hissed, his voice low. "I didn't know you were there! What if something happened?"
Sam frowned, looking down at his former bed and spotting Vel there. Eyebrows raised, he looked up at Dean. "You were hurting," he said bluntly. "I just wanted to try and wake you up, you're the one that decided you needed a teddy bear."
Dean's cheeks burst into flame, surreptitiously checking to see if Jacob had overheard.
Jacob raised his eyebrows. From where he sat, Sam's voice was quiet, the faintest mumble on the edge of hearing. Jacob had no idea what the little guy might have said to put that look on Dean's face.
He wasn't about to be the one to ask.
His gaze wandered to where the sprites still rested in their own pile on the bed, and then back to Dean and his extra passengers. "Seems like everyone got some good rest so far," he mused. Then, hesitantly, as if any slight move might set someone off or startle one of the sprites awake, he pushed himself up out of his chair. "I'll just get something started," he announced, remembering how far a bit of coffee could go with Sam the mornings after their frantic research.
While the biggest person in the room moved about, Vel stirred in his sleep. For a moment, it looked like he might wake up, as his wings stretched over his back, but then they crumpled back down around him.
"... don'wanna," he mumbled, shifting just enough to cover his face with one arm, now that he was lying on his own. One wing fluttered against Dean's chest, then fell still.
Sam couldn't hide a smile at that, and took pity on Dean and his frozen status. He waved for Dean to move his hand, and as the massive hand lifted away, muscles working and flexing under Sam's feet as it went, he walked over to the tiny kid.
"C'mon, you can use my bed," Sam murmured, slipping his hands carefully under Vel, not pinching the wings as they fluttered in sleep.
Once he had a good grip, Sam stood up, taking Vel with him as he tucked the young sprite against his chest. "Mind giving me a lift?" he asked Dean, nodding towards the nightstand and the bed sitting on top.
Dean held out his hand, nervous to see how small they were against the outline of his fingers, but trusting that Sam knew what he was doing the entire way. It was going to take some time to readjust to this perspective again.
When Sam was ready, Dean lifted them over to the nightstand and got to sit up, letting his fingers come to rest right next to Sam's tiny bed, looking more out of place than usual while it was on the nightstand. The remote for the television was much longer than the small piece of furniture.
"Just call if you want to come join us, okay?" Sam said as he tucked Vel into the covers and left his wings spread out atop the covers. He brushed Vel's messy hair out of his eyes. "I'll send Dean to fetch you."
"Uh-kay," Vel mumbled, already snuggling into the small bed. He hardly cared that they'd moved, and even when Sam had carried him, he'd snoozed right through it. Like the other children in the room, he was out cold as his body caught up with the fact that they were out. They were free.
Coffee was slowly filling up the pot, and filling the room with its aroma. Jacob waited awkwardly near the kitchenette, but not without several curious glances back to where Dean waited.
His demeanor had taken a full 180. The Dean that Jacob first met had been all bristle and glares, all but shoving past him. He'd been confident in every step, warding Jacob out of his way with nothing more than his aura. Now ... Dean was battered. Maybe even broken.
"There's still, uh, some leftovers from yesterday," he said, nodding towards the mini fridge. "The kids'll want the fruit but the rest is pretty much fair-"
Movement on the bed standing between them stopped Jacob's voice. One leafy wing stretched straight up into the air and cast a green-tinted shadow over the bedcovers while Bowman stretched his arms, much like Sam had done just moments ago. He rolled over onto his back away from the nestlings, and didn't seem to care that he'd landed on one of his wings.
"Ugh, why," he complained cryptically, sending the faraway ceiling a glare before rubbing at his eyes.
Sam finished tucking Vel into bed and wasted no time jumping back on the hand waiting for him. Dean didn't bother bringing him all the way up to his shoulder for the short trip. Bracing his other hand on the mattress, Dean pushed himself heavily to his feet. He was still dressed fully, an uncomfortable way to sleep but it meant his stuff had grown back with him.
"Coffee, Bowman!" Sam called out as they passed by where the sprites were curled up in a pile, waving the sprite on. "You remember that, dontcha?" He and Dean shared a smirk together. One of the more entertaining parts of their last hunt in the Wellwood, once they'd calmed Bowman down after their inadvertent kidnapping, was his reactions to everything in the room. Including corners, and the television, and coffee.
Letting Sam down onto the table, Dean sat with a heavy sigh, surreptitiously rubbing his bruised ribs. It would likely be some time before all the pain went away if left alone.
Jacob kept his distance, though waiting on the coffee pot to fill up gave him a good excuse not to sit back at the table. Once again, he had a view of Sam walking onto the table among books and a computer all much bigger than himself. He made it look normal, like nothing about the scene had ever or would ever faze him.
"C'mon, Bowman," Jacob said, taking his cue from Sam's teasing to continue it. He returned to the bed to lean down and check on the barely-awake wood sprite. "I've never seen you on coffee before. Don't you want some?"
Bowman's wings curled inward in response, as if he might wrap himself up in them to avoid the inevitable waking. Then they flopped right back down. "Yeah. No. Shut up, giant."
"Hey, now," Jacob chided him with a smirk, "I'm just a messenger. Wings feeling okay?" A tentative hand reached down and barely brushed at Bowman's wing before drawing away from it again. Jacob only barely resisted the urge to glance over at the table to see if he'd get a disapproving look.
Bowman finally uncovered his eyes and sent him a flat look. "My wings were fine yesterday," he groused. "Just bring me to the coffee."
Jacob nearly rolled his eyes, but it took some effort to resist. With the permission given, he slid his hand underneath Bowman's sluggish weight and lifted him off the bed to bring him back over to the others. The coffee would be ready soon and they could all have their wake-up potion.
Bowman was far less graceful than Sam about dismounting a hand. He stumbled onto the table before taking a heavy seat on the base of the laptop. Waking up was no easier for him now than it was at any other time, no matter where he was.
Sam had two tinfoil cups at the ready by the time Bowman reached the table, holding one up for the sprite. He was going to need to resupply soon after this case, his satchel was nearly emptied of its most useful items.
It had been a long week even before Jacob's call. Now they all had time to recover.
"Oh," Sam blurted as he remembered. "Bobby had some news for us. He's hanging on to it for when you got back."
Dean arched his eyebrows, then slumped in his chair. "I'll give him a call after breakfast."
Jacob, listening in, glanced back at the others, ready to voice his curiosity. After talking to Bobby (or texting) him a couple times, he already knew that whatever the man had to say, it was interesting.
He thought better of it not a moment too soon. It wasn't his business, not after only helping on one case. Instead, he made a point of stopping the coffee machine just before it filled the room with a shrill beep that would scare the tiny sprites still snoozing the morning away.
He returned to the table with a cup to hand off to Dean, and kept one in his hand. There was another awkward pause before he took the seat opposite, only after Bowman impatiently beckoned him to do so.
"Don't burn yourself on that," Jacob warned as Bowman marched over to his cup.
Bowman flicked his wings. "I'm not gonna burn myself," he dismissed. Then, he pointed up at Jacob accusingly around his still-empty foil cup. "Why are you tiptoeing around so much? You're not hiding from anyone, you're too blasted big."
Jacob shrugged and gave Bowman an exasperated look for putting him on the spot. "I'm just trying not to wake up the kids, that's all!"
While they argued, Dean merely snagged a bottlecap to fill for Sam and managed to avoid burning his fingers this time. He put it down along with some cream and sugar, not a word of teasing crossing his lips as he slumped back in his seat to enjoy his own brew. He might have slept, but after the last week there had been very little energy regained.
Sam frowned up at him but didn't complain. Even Dean needed to take it easy from time to time. It was odd to see his energetic older brother in such a state, but Sam hoped it would pass if they gave him some time.
"The only person who's gonna wake the kids will be Bowman and all his complaining," Sam said blithely, knowing just where to poke at first thing in the morning. He finished mixing his drink and sipped hesitantly at it. "At least Vel's far enough away he probably can't hear you."
Bowman turned his glare on Sam this time. "The others are too far away, too," he snipped. "I'm not that loud!"
Jacob raised his eyebrows. While Bowman had his scolding look on Sam, Jacob reached out to nudge him in the side. "You practice yelling at me a lot, Bowman. Don't underestimate yourself."
He didn't have a bottlecap himself for Bowman to draw from for coffee. Instead, Jacob left it to cool more while the sprite waited for the steam to die down.
"Oh," he remembered suddenly, prompting Bowman's green wings to twitch. Jacob snatched his wallet up from where he'd left it on the table and flipped it open. The fake ID that he and Sam had made, as well as the card borrowed from Dean's stash, were inside. "Guess I should give these back before I forget or something."
Dean reached out, taking them back. He stared down at the cards, recognizing the one from the glove compartment. On autopilot, he tucked it back into his wallet, but he kept the second out. It was with some fondness that he could remember teaching Sam just how to forge an ID. Sam had thought nothing of giving Jacob an age over 21. The smaller folk ignored ages more than humans, and a lot of that attitude had rubbed off on him over the years.
"You can keep this one," Dean said, holding it out. "You never know when it might come in useful, and we owe ya one."
Jacob was so surprised that he nearly forgot to take the card back. After Dean's stern look about it the night before, he was resigned to losing the convenient fake ID. "Wow, thanks, dude," he said, reclaiming it almost reverently. He knew a couple people that'd be wildly jealous of that.
Present company was not one of them. Bowman eyed the card skeptically before finally taking a chance to steal some of the coffee out of Jacob's cup. He had to stand on his tiptoes and open his wings for balance, but soon he had claimed his drink.
"Does this mean you can bring beer to Wellwood again?"
Jacob smirked. "I dunno, Bowman. You're still underage, too, same as me."
Bowman narrowed his eyes, but somehow managed to refrain from taking the bait. After all the exhaustion, his snark came and went.
"Just be responsible about it?" Dean implored dryly. "Don't… let your mom know."
"Or your stepdad," Sam supplied, remembering talking to Jacob about Mike before. It wouldn't do them any good to have Jacob's cop-of-a-stepdad on Dean's ass for giving his stepson a mostly-illegal ID card Sam had designed for him without thinking through the repercussions.
Jacob nodded and couldn't stop a wince as he imagined his stepdad finding out about that one. Then would come questions about where he got it, and he wasn't sure how well he'd be able to hide what he'd been up to. He'd never give up Sam's secret, or Bowman or Wellwood, but he'd definitely be in hot water.
He stowed away the card and claimed his own coffee at last now that Bowman had his. With a bracing sip, his eyes wandered around the room for a moment. With their goal already reached, he wasn't sure if there was any more conversation left; while they waited for the nestlings to rouse in the sun, things could get quiet.
"Listen, uh, Dean," he finally said with a sheepish shrug. "If there's something wrong with the car, I'll do what I can to help fix it."
Dean waved off the offer. "No big," he reassured the teenager. "I've fixed her from worse. Just ask Sam. The last time we needed repairs, the car took a fireball to the front. I was cleaning the soot off for a week before it shone. I'll just take her to Bobby's once we're done here."
That reminded him of the call to Bobby he'd promised Sam to follow up on, but before he faced their old friend, he needed something substantial in him. Something more than coffee.
Pushing back with his toes, Dean leaned back in the chair to reach the mini-fridge, nearly tilting backwards as he snagged his leftover sandwich from the night before. The towering cheeseburger now fit snug in his hands. He pushed that out of mind, slowly unwrapping the foil so he could microwave it.
"I can't tell you how good it is to be back to normal," Dean announced, letting his chair thud back on the ground with a satisfying feeling to it. "Though I gotta say, it feels weird to be so heavy now."
Bowman's wings perked up while he was in the midst of sipping his coffee. He gulped down the warm liquid faster than he would have wanted and grimaced, but the opportunity for snark had almost caught him off guard. He smirked and gestured up at Dean's height sitting at the table.
"Heavy is right," he quipped with a raised eyebrow. "You gotta be thousands of ounces now. At least."
Dean looked over at him, brief offense passing over his face before his eyes lit up with jackass mischief.
"Heavy? Me?" He stretched out his arms, faking a yawn as he exaggerated every moment. "You'll have to tell me all about it."
With that, Dean draped his hand over Bowman as he settled back down, caging the sprite in under his hand with the most casual motion he could manage, the smirk never once leaving his face.
A/N:
Dean sharply discovers that his size has been fixed, and the others remind him that Bobby's waiting for a call with news.
What could Bobby possibly have to tell them?
Cowritten by PL1, the creator of the Wellwood sprites and Jacob Andris!
Beta read by creatorofuniverses on tumblr.
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Next: December 23rd, 2020 at 9pm
