A/N:

Thanks to goldacharmed and Kajensen07 for the reviews! This is going to be a bumpy ride!

The shock didn't wear off of Dean's face at first, finding it hard to believe he'd completely missed the threat Sam posed to his winnings. "Well I'll be damned, Sammy. You've been sitting on a gold mine the entire time."

"Well, shit." The words dropped out of Jacob's mouth with about as much surprise as Dean. He perked up, no longer propped casually on his elbow, but leaning just enough to see Sam's pocket pair of queens without any glare on them. Sam had managed to keep both Jacob and Dean unaware of his advantage the entire time. The little guy was as sly as his older brother.

"You just got six bucks off us!" Jacob pointed out with a grin, absently nudging all the coins into a closer pile before retrieving the cards laid out. A quick glance between the pot and what Sam had already collected showed that he might have inched his way into the lead. His pile of quarters might end up standing taller than he did.

"Wow, I'm not even upset, that's impressive. You told both of us," Jacob said as he stacked the cards in preparation to shuffle them.

Jacob's supply of quarters was dismal now compared to what Sam or Dean had pulled in. He usually kept a lot on hand to do his laundry, or occasionally call home. He guessed he'd have enough left for one load of laundry and one call to his mom if he quit playing now.

The thought brought an idea to his head. Jacob had been traveling back and forth across the Midwest with Sam and Dean for a while, in Dean's old '67 Chevy Impala. All poker failures aside, he'd learned a lot. They'd all kept pretty busy since they set out. The brothers threw their all into any job they found, and Jacob did the same, admiring their determination despite the drawbacks life had thrown their way.

"Hey, guys, I was just thinkin,' " he began, shuffling the cards once before splitting the deck once more. "It's been a while since I visited home. How would you feel about a little trip to Iowa?" After a pause, he shuffled again and shrugged, not wanting to pressure them. "It's totally cool if you don't want to. We can look for another case instead."

Dean glanced up from helping Sam pile up his winnings, his gaze caught for a second by the sight of the deck of cards almost vanishing into Jacob's massive hands while he shuffled. It was almost mesmerizing to see them handled by the teenager. They were only a little shorter than Dean was, after all. He'd vanish into those hands just as easily.

With a shrug, Dean went back to stacking the coins. Sam's pile was already chest-high for them, and the coins were getting heavier to hold, but he couldn't help but be just as curious as Jacob to see how high it would go. "Family's important," he said firmly. "I'm sure when we want to head back to Trails West to check on Walt and Mallory, you won't have a problem takin' us. You do what you have to, and we'll be around for support. We might get to see the brave mom that raised up Godzilla, after all." He pursed his lips. " 'Course, if you get to meet our adopted family, you might have your hands full if Walt ever finds out how we met. I doubt we'll run into much trouble with yours. All we gotta do is keep out of sight."

That would be a hell of a lot simpler than ever trying to keep Jacob out of sight. Dean doubted he'd ever had a good run in hide and seek, standing almost head and shoulders over anyone else, and broad to boot. The guy was massive compared to other humans, never mind people the size of Sam and Dean's family. In the time they'd known him since his first startling encounter, he'd earned more than a little trust. Every time they put themselves in his hands, they had to trust that he wouldn't use his size against them. Except for that very first meeting, Jacob had not disappointed them.

Jacob brightened, a smile lighting up his eyes. Not only was Dean trusting Jacob to bring the two brothers around other humans, but he'd even suggested he might meet their adopted parents someday. The trust in him didn't feel deserved sometimes, especially considering 'how they met' involved a lot of grabbing and Dean spending time trapped helplessly in a coffee pot while Jacob tried to get some straight answers out of him.

"That's ... yeah, great! Mom's a damn good cook, too, so you guys will have to try some Greek food," he said, setting down the deck of cards to cut it and shuffle it one more time.

Jacob enjoyed his life on the road. He'd helped people in the last several weeks hunting the supernatural with Sam and Dean. It was a worthy way to spend his days, but even drifters missed home once in awhile, and he knew for certain that his mom would be happy to have him visit. She'd most likely try to convince him to find a job close enough to stay for a month or two, though Jacob had a feeling that the two miniature hunters on the table would have a drive to get going again long before that could happen. They were determined to hunt and find their father, and now that they had a way to travel, nothing was going to hold them back from those goals.

"Thanks, guys. I'll make sure no one spots you. And you can let me know if there're any cool secrets inside the walls of my house, eh?" He grinned and dealt out new cards for the three of them, setting their cards near their piles of coins to avoid crowding their personal space with hands bigger than their entire bodies.

Jacob's enthusiasm was infectious to the other two, pushing away the lingering worries they had of being around unknown humans for an indefinite period of time. They knew how to stay out of sight, after all. It was how they'd lived for years before meeting him, and Sam was especially adept at it with his knack.

Sam grinned up at Jacob as he put the last of his winnings in the pile of quarters, topping off his pile at just a hair taller than he was. "We wouldn't be here if we didn't trust you to watch out for us."

Dean stalked over to his own cards, ready to go. "And if there's anything in your walls, we'll find it. We can't have anyone but us running off with your stuff, after all."

Jacob chuckled and rolled his eyes at the odd statement, picking up his cards for the continuation of the game. His mind was already miles away.

The following afternoon, the Impala pulled into a small, quiet Iowa town just far enough away from Des Moines not to be a suburb. The growl of the engine preceded her, and Jacob was amazed he didn't have people peeking out their windows to see who was making all the noise. It wasn't often a car like the Impala came down this street. It was likely everyone was in the city at work, still, and that went for his stepdad, too.

When he parked the car across the street from his mom's house, he spied her car in the driveway. She was home. There were well-tended flowerbeds in front of the house, and a colorful spring wreath decorating the front door. He smiled at the sight, realizing how much he'd missed home after being gone for so long. Wave after wave of memories tugged at him in a sweeping tide of nostalgia.

Before he got out of the car to go and greet his mom, however, Jacob turned his eyes to the rearview mirror to address his shoulder passengers. "You guys'll probably wanna hide in my hood for a bit," he warned with a sheepish grin. "I'm not gonna be able to get past her to drop you guys off in my room at first."

Dean took a deep breath before standing up. He was on Jacob's right shoulder, and Sam was over on the left. It had become their usual spots to survey the world from, since from there it was easy to give Jacob direction if he needed it (or if Dean decided he needed it anyway).

"Just don't forget we're back here," Dean said dryly. Once they were hidden, they'd have to rely on Jacob letting them know when it was safe to show their faces again. Dean hitched up his duffel before dropping off of the shoulder and out of sight. The dark folds rushed up at him as he slid down the slope of Jacob's back, catching his fall in a rocking hammock of fabric. He was doing a lot better with heights in the last few months, and the brief sensation of freefall didn't affect him like it might have in the past.

Sam slid down the other side, barely able to avoid crashing into Dean. They both glanced upwards to watch the roof of the car change to blue skies as Jacob climbed out of the Impala. They didn't even bother with their usual griping at each other over the amount of space they had in the hood, too concerned with the fact that in less than a minute, they'd be near another human.

Jacob stood next to the Impala for an extra second, making sure he didn't hear any sounds of alarm from his hood. His excitement to be home had to be tempered with the same caution he'd had for the last few months. He couldn't risk hurting his small mentors. With Sam and Dean still and keeping quiet, he started the short trek towards his home, as careful as he always was with two people the size of a finger in his hood.

He didn't even lift his hand all the way to knock on the front door before it opened, and there stood his mother. Mariana Andris had most of her bouncy curls tied hastily, though several escapees framed her face. She was dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans with patches of dirt on them and an old t-shirt. The outfit combined with the smudge of dirt on one of her round cheeks told Jacob that she'd chosen today to work in the backyard.

Confusion about who had arrived morphed rapidly into a bright smile, wide with dimples that matched Jacob's own, and she threw the door open all the way to admit her son into the house.

A noise caught in her throat, something like a delighted squeal. "Oh my God, Jacob, I didn't know you were coming!" she exclaimed, before opening her arms and beckoning impatiently to him.

Jacob had to stoop to wrap his arms around his petite mother, easily more than a foot shorter than he was. "Hey, mom," he greeted her with a grin. It became clear why it wouldn't be a good idea for Sam and Dean to be on Jacob's shoulders even if they could conceal themselves. They'd have fallen right off, and that wasn't taking into consideration Mariana's startled reaction to seeing people on her son's shoulders. In the best case scenario, she'd shriek in surprise, which was a worst case scenario for their tiny eardrums.

Before she released him, she planted a kiss on each of his cheeks, then clasped her hands in front of herself. She looked like a little kid on Christmas; Jacob wondered if he should have tried to visit sooner.

"Mike's gonna be so happy to hear you're staying," she started, and Jacob saw the look in her eyes. She was already planning dinner for the night. "I think we even have an unopened bottle of ouzo around here we can break that out, and later we'll all catch up and- what is that? "

Jacob gave a start, praying fervently that one of the brothers hadn't climbed up to his shoulder to peek at the goings-on, then looked behind him to follow her surprised gaze. The Impala gleamed in the mid afternoon sun, kept in tip top shape at Dean's (constant) behest. The monstrous car rivaled some of the hardy trucks parked in the neighborhood's driveways.

He chuckled. "Oh, that's ... it actually belongs to a friend of mine. I helped him fix it up a couple months back, you remember the scrapyard job? He's letting me drive it so it doesn't just sit around."

"Well, good for you, and don't you dare take it back to him looking like your car," Mariana warned with a grin.

Jacob sighed and rolled his eyes, looking very put-upon. "Yes, mom," he answered, stepping the rest of the way into the house to close the door before flies buzzed in. As if I could. "Looks like you were working on something," he pointed out.

She nodded, and her ponytail of curls bounced with her exuberance. "Yes, I don't mean to be all over the place but I was putting in baby plants," she smiled sheepishly.

Jacob waved it off. "It's okay ... I might, uh, nap for a bit. Long drive and stuff."

She chuckled at him and reached up a hand to pat his cheek teasingly. "So long as you don't sleep through dinner," she warned him, before letting him trudge up the stairs to his room.

It was tidier than he usually kept it, as he noticed right away when he closed the door behind himself. The bed in the corner was made, the desk and dresser surfaces bore no dust, and there wasn't any laundry on the floor. Jacob took a deep breath, noting the familiar smell of home in the air. It was good to be back.

"Okay, guys, you're clear," he said. "She'll be busy with those plants for a bit."

Sam was first out, climbing his way up. He stretched his arms, amused at the exchange between Jacob and his mom. "She seems nice," he said brightly, glad that their arrival had gone so smooth. Mariana didn't know they were around and Jacob had managed to give a good reason for driving the Impala instead of his Mercury that waited loyally back at Bobby's. He technically hadn't even needed to lie, which wasn't a strong skill of his based on his poker bluffing game.

The brothers were nervous about visiting a new house, and one where people went in and out of all the rooms on a regular basis, a huge difference from the motel. Aside from the maids, people stayed in their own rooms and didn't meander between them. Here, any one of the residents could have an excuse to be in any one of the rooms, and the brothers didn't know the routine at all. Knowing the habits of the humans was a driving motivation to anyone living in the walls. Nervous or not, Sam and Dean would never refuse Jacob a chance to see his family.

After all, family was something to be cherished, in their eyes.

They'd lost their mother as children. They'd been separated from their father years later, and now had no way of reaching him. Even the phone numbers that Bobby had given them were out of service. Walt and Mallory had raised them as their own, and either brother would do anything for them. At the end of the day, Sam and Dean were low on close family aside from each other. They would always watch out for each other.

Dean huffed on the other side as he hauled himself out. "I heard something about dinner?" he asked. "And… ouzo? Is that a drink? We could use a drink." He had focused right on the part of the conversation that concerned him the most.

Jacob grinned and poorly held back a snicker. He did feel bad for subjecting the brothers to the greeting by his mother, but it was better than them being seen. She would have taken a lot of convincing that everything was perfectly fine if she spotted either brother, and in the meantime it'd just put a lot of stress on everyone involved.

"Ouzo is a drink," he confirmed, setting his backpack by the door and making his way over to his bed. He sat down wearily, careful with the angle of his upper body to avoid pitching Sam and Dean over the side.

After placing his hands on the edge of the dresser next to the bed, he explained, "It's a pretty strong one, too, so don't drink it fast," he said before anything else. It was hard to forget Dean's first encounter with strong liquor, even if Dean himself couldn't quite recall all of it. The little guy had the heart of a bar veteran, but none of the tolerance.

"Tastes like, uh, licorice, I guess. You're supposed to drink it with these little appetizer plates."

"Awesome," Dean said with a grin as he climbed down Jacob's arm, trying to avoid tickling the human with his movements when he passed over more sensitive skin. As small as they were, they didn't make much of an impression on Jacob, not even with punches or kicks, so it was best to be careful. An instinctive flinch could send them flying, no matter how hard he tried to fight it. "Trust me, I'm not repeating that morning any time soon."

Sam met Dean on the dresser, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "Licorice? " He shuddered. "They actually make a drink that tastes like that?"

Dean glared at him. "That is a classic snack, almost as good as popcorn! It's like… chewy pieces of heaven."

With a grimace, Sam replied, "That's funny. It tastes like dirt to me, so you've got an interesting idea of heaven." Candy and his childhood might be almost an entire lifetime away, but licorice had left a lasting impression on his taste buds.

He stepped away from Dean, surveying Jacob's room. The room he'd grown up in for years. A home, something they'd lost as kids and found again after their curse. Sam couldn't help but mark any places against the wall that seemed like they'd hide concealed entrances, instinctively seeking out routes to safety if they ever needed it. Dean would be doing the same, he knew, though Sam had always had a better eye for escape routes.

Dean put his hands on his hips as he scanned the room for himself. "Somehow I didn't think your room would be so neat," he joked up at the human.

Jacob smirked. "Give me time, dude, I only just rolled in," he reminded them. Jacob personally considered his neatness to be somewhere in a happy medium. He wasn't so neat that one thing out of line would bother him, and he wasn't such a slob that he left a mess wherever he went. A little clutter made things feel like home.

His mother had probably tidied up in the room, multiple times, after his official move out. It was likely a guest room now, at most, but he appreciated having a bed to return to. Even if it was just barely long enough to hold his height.

"Feels good to be back, though. And I'm glad you guys were up for it, considering you won all my laundry quarters off me last night." Jacob grinned, glad for more than that joking reason. The brothers had put a lot of faith in him coming here. He would have to prove that he earned it.

"You can always borrow some quarters," Sam interjected, rejoining the conversation after his brief survey of the room. "And we don't mind visiting your home. You're helping us track down our family. The least we can do is let you visit yours."

Distantly, he did hope that the room would get more lived in while they were around. Neat, for them, wasn't actually the best thing. If they needed to gather supplies, it was safer to get them from a messy room. Unorganized clutter was hard to keep track of, and it was a lot less likely that their supply runs would be noticed like that.

If they spent any large amount of time at the house, it would be best if the rest of the house wasn't so immaculate either. It felt wrong to rely solely on Jacob for food and gear. It was too close to letting him take care of them, and both brothers were fiercely independent, one reason that the arguments with Walt could get so loud when they disagreed.

Dean exchanged a look with his younger brother. "We should find a place to stay while we're here," he said aloud. "That way we aren't in the way. Maybe we'll even have time to check out the walls while you're eating dinner. Survey the area and see what we've got to work with."

Jacob grinned, looking forward to hearing their assessment of the inside of the walls. He had never once considered what it might be like in there, but he found himself imagining a huge maze of tunnels and passages for the tiny brothers to use. They could get anywhere in the house and never be seen by anyone. The parts of their lives that Jacob couldn't see at all could be some of the most fascinating. They could navigate in near total dark without issue, and had fought rats the size of bears. They were badass.

"Alright, but just a warning. Mom keeps a junk drawer in the front hall, there's an end table ... she's got an extra sense for that thing, I swear she always knows exactlywhat's in it. So that's not a great place to grab supplies. Everything else should be fine."

If they were going to be staying in his house as his guests, it didn't matter that no one knew they were there but Jacob. He still had to make sure they had what they needed, and that included the security that no one would notice they were there.

"Otherwise, you let me know if there's trouble."

A/N

On the road to Jacob's home!

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Next: July 7th, 2019 at 9pm EST