Bobby's gloating smirk was foul to behold. He stood the ruler up again, placing it next to the surly little guy to see exactly how tall the runt really was. He didn't care about the number as much as his victory against Dean's defiant attitude. Someone so small should know better.

"Hmmm. Looks like you're a bit above three and three quarter inches tall," he said aloud, drawing back the ruler and shoving it back into the desk drawer. He had two tiny little men, four inches tall and shorter, standing on his desk. It was incredible, and yet there they were, standing there and waiting for him to make his next move. Because he was the one running the show as it went along.

Bobby's family had passed down stories for generations. A plot of family land was kept protected because of tiny, mythical beings that were supposed to live there. It was just one of those old heirloom stories that the family held onto, but Bobby had always wondered in the back of his mind.

Even if these guys weren't exactly like his ancestor's journals described, they were close enough. Tiny, humanoid, and tenacious. And somehow Jacob of all people had found them. He had to wonder how the huge guy had managed to keep them around. Even some regular sized people had trouble hiding their nerves around him.

Saving the questions for later, Bobby reached out without warning, picking Sam up in a loose grasp and whisking him into the air.

"Sam! "

The second that hand rushed forward to pluck Sam into the air, Dean tried to run forward. He didn't know what he was going to do- grab Sam, punch the hand holding him, something, he just knew he needed to do it. But it was only a second before Sam was whisked up out of reach, carelessly tilted this way and that, subjected to a new human's curiosity. One that didn't care what he did to his captives.

Dean skid to a halt, arms briefly pinwheeling at the edge of the desk. The gap yawned under his boots, beckoning him with a flash of vertigo. He had to take a step back, tilting his head up to see Sam suspended in midair above him.

If Dean had been a better climber, it would have been a great time to try and escape with Bobby's focus on his younger brother.

But he wasn't, and Sam needed him.

Sam's scared hazel eyes caught his, and Dean's heart turned to ice. His little brother had always been afraid of kids, worried if either of them were ever caught, they'd be treated like toys to be tossed around. It might not be a kid that had found them, but the same thing was happening.

They were helpless.

With a thumb and a couple fingers pinched around the tiny torso, Bobby looked Sam over, turning him to get a better look. He poked at the little jacket, trapped one of the squirming legs to keep it still between two fingers, and tilted the tiny chin. Whatever they were, they were perfect mimics of human shape.

"How the heck d'you get by at this size?" he said aloud, though it was more of a musing to himself than a question directed at either of his captives.

Sam's arms caught onto the fingers pinched around his chest, trying to hold on as he was suspended horizontally in the air. He scrunched his eyes shut in pain at the pressure focused on his chest, breathing hard.

To everyone's shock, Dean wasn't the one to respond to Bobby's question. Sam was.

"We get by… by avoiding asshats like you," he said, ending in a cough as he tried to breathe. His hands scrabbled at the fingers around him, and he tried to kick at the other hand.

Bobby froze, one tiny boot planted on his knuckle and trying to kick his hand away. He had to really concentrate just to feel the contact. Sam, despite his greater bulk compared to Dean, was still just a wisp of a thing compared to Bobby.

He raised an eyebrow, caught off guard for a moment by the insult coming out of Sam. He'd come to expect it out of Dean, but until this point Sam hadn't seemed inclined to fight. Indeed, his focus seemed to be aimed more towards clinging to Bobby's hand to avoid dropping to the desk. Bobby didn't retaliate right away, but he did take the bait.

" 'Asshats like me,' huh," he echoed. "Oh man, that sure hurt my feelings."

"I'm kinda wondering how you somehow ended up with Jacob carting you around." Bobby smirked, holding Sam upright again. "I mean, he's one of my best friends from school, he's pretty chill, but the guy's huge."

Ignoring the little kicks, Bobby's other hand approached again. He trapped one of Sam's arms between a finger and thumb and pried it away from his grip on Bobby's hand. "You'd think a big guy like him would have you running as soon as he was out of sight."

Sam's fingers curled inwards, trying not to flinch his arm and get it hurt. The grip was firm, but not as painful as the pinch around his chest. "Maybe Jacob just treats us like what we are," he grit out, his own eyes flashing with stubborn determination to match Dean's. He might not be as easily riled, but he could hold his own in an argument with Dean when anyone else would give in from sheer exhaustion.

"Maybe he treats us like people," Sam snapped. He tried to twist his arm out of the grip but got nowhere. "At least Jacob doesn't hurt us just because he can. He'll come after us. You'll see."

Dean wished he had Sam's confidence, but down on the desk, a bout of helplessness stronger than ever hit him. He had no way to get to Sam. They had no way of telling Jacob where they were.

And if this guy was telling the truth, and he was one of Jacob's best friends, what if Jacob took his side? They'd only just met him a few months ago. What was that compared to a childhood best friend?

"I can handle Jacob," Bobby dismissed, breezing right past Sam's boastful claim and shooting down his bold assertions with bored confidence. He'd always been a leader. Jacob might be big, but he never gave off any indication that he wanted to be alpha. It was almost funny that Dean, the tiniest person Bobby had ever laid eyes on, was more assertive than his enormous friend had ever been.

Bobby moved Sam's arm slowly, testing the range of motion and how it compared to a human's arm. He didn't want to risk snapping the little shoulder, though his motions were clumsy, not used to handling such a tiny being.

How does Jacob carry them? They're too small, he mused to himself as he raised Sam's arm above his little head.

If he concentrated, he could feel the tiny muscles shifting as Sam clenched his fist. The delicate arm was half engulfed in Bobby's grasp. Sam had no chance of pulling himself free, and, despite his catty remarks, it looked like he knew it.

Bobby tilted his head and slowly released his pinch on the little guy's torso. He kept his hand nearby, but eventually he was only holding Sam up by his little arm. He ignored Dean completely for a moment, curiously watching Sam's reaction to the change.

Sam let out a hiss of pain as his weight was suddenly concentrated right where Bobby held his arm in a pinch. The fingers were closed roughly around his forearm, cutting off circulation and threatening to do worse if the human so much as tightened his grip.

"You sick son of a bitch, let him go!" Dean raged from the desk, eyes wide as he watched Sam's plight. Dangling from a hand like that just made them seem even smaller. Sam's weight was nothing to the human. "What did we ever do to you?!"

The sway in midair from dangling was enough to make Sam yelp in pain, his voice going up in pitch. His legs kicked at nothing and desperately searched for somewhere to settle his weight and take the painful pressure off his arm. His mind had no room for any snark now. Only pain and fear, and Dean's shouts in the distance.

Bobby frowned faintly, glancing over Sam's little face. It looked like he was in a lot of pain, though Bobby wasn't sure if he was just exaggerating out of fear or if it was accurate. People could hang on with just one hand; this didn't seem that different.

Sam's kicking and swaying translated into the muscles in his arm twitching and straining in Bobby's grip. It was only an instant, he would swear, but he thought the little guy might slip free and drop. His grip tightened just a little to keep him secure...

And Bobby felt a snap. The little guy's yelp turned into a pained scream.

"Ah, shit," he hissed, quickly bringing his other hand up under Sam to let his tiny weight settle on his palm before he released the arm. His brow furrowed. He didn't intend to break the tiny bones. It was too easy to make that mistake.

Sam and Dean were simply too fragile.

The second Sam landed on Bobby's palm, he collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He only just had enough left of his mind to curl around his arm, trying to cushion the broken limb and avoid landing on it. A spark of white-hot pain kindled through him at the impact, wiping out all other thought.

He went limp, his mind fleeing into unconsciousness to escape the all-consuming pain.

"Sammy! " Dean, stuck on the desk, couldn't see his brother. He had no idea what had broken. The scream of pain stuck in his mind, ripping through him like it was his own.

He glared up at the human, unable to do anything else. "What were you thinking?" he cried out, concern for Sam flooding out thoughts of the battle of wills he was trapped in. "You can't just treat a person like that, he's not some toy you can toss around!" He kicked angrily at the air, wishing Bobby's arms were down on the table so he could at least work out some of his helplessness and anger, even if it got him into more trouble. "Put him down!"

Any sparks of remorse in Bobby's eyes were slowly snuffed out and his look hardened. Of course Dean would keep yelling at him and being ornery. Of course. His wavering resolve shored up and Bobby glanced away from Sam's pitiful, curled up form to shoot an exasperated glare down at Dean.

"Jeez, it's not my fault you guys have bones like toothpicks," he complained, frustrated. He hadn't meant to break Sam's arm, and now he couldn't really tell the extent of the damage. It was too small.

"He'll probably be fine," he muttered, more to himself than to Dean. Then, glancing down at himself, Bobby propped open the pocket of his shirt. It had plenty of room; he dipped the hand with Sam on it into the fabric confinement, letting the little guy slide to the bottom. He'd figure out a better place to keep them later. Sam had only enough left in him to curl around his broken arm even further to protect it, his head limp.

Bobby's focus shifted back to Dean, with whom he was no closer to getting along. A hand rushed at the tiny man, snatching him up without leaving a chance to escape it. Bobby was at least more careful this time, now that he knew how pitifully easy it'd be to snap one of Dean's tiny ribs.

"What's the matter, did your bike gang leave ya behind, or something?" he jeered, tugging at one of Dean's miniscule leather sleeves. He tilted Dean so he could prop a fingertip under one of the tiny boots, examining the remarkable craftsmanship of them.

With Sam out of sight and unconscious in a pocket, Dean was no closer to cooperating with the human. Even as he was tilted, his eyes remained glued on the folds of the pocket, concealing his little brother, the only family he had left, completely from view.

There was barely even a lump.

Dean tried to lash out with the boot Bobby was examining, wishing he could reach the guy's face and hit him in the eye. Let him know what it felt like. If their positions were reversed, Dean wouldn't put him in a pocket. A damn cage sounded like just the place for the human.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you manners?" Dean snapped. With Sam out of sight, there was no reason to hold back. Whatever happened to him wouldn't be as bad as being forced to watch his baby brother get hurt and stuck in a pocket. Sam was of so little consequence to this human. He was like a toy, an object. Something that didn't matter if it was broken.

Claimed.

"You have to buy me dinner before any foreplay. When's the last time you went on a date? All hands is not the way to woo a girl."

"And I guess you know all about getting the girls, don't you, runt," Bobby shot back derisively, even as he released Dean's shoe. His blue eyes weren't notably pale, but when they fixed on Dean's face again they were icy cold. He could see Jacob finding this attitude amusing, but it had gotten old for Bobby a while ago.

His next move was abrupt, but more careful than he'd been with Sam to avoid putting extra strain on Dean. He tipped the tiny man forward, deftly pinching both legs in his fingers so that he hung upside down in his grasp. The little leather jacket bunched up and Bobby smirked as Dean's tiny arms pinwheeled in surprise.

"I dunno where you get that attitude, being so small," he mused, leaning his chin on his elbow and holding Dean at eye level. The drop to the desk was over a foot. "Aside from some cute little knife tricks you have nothing to back it up."

Dean's face was green as he stared back, but he didn't break his gaze with the huge blue eyes staring right at him. Almost staring right through him. He knew that if he looked at how high he was hanging in the air, that would be it. He'd start to hyperventilate and Bobby would win. There wouldn't be anything left in Dean.

Don't let him see you afraid.

Sam's voice echoed in his head, and he glared. Sam had done nothing to this human, and he was trapped in a pocket with a broken bone. Just because they were different.

Just because they were small.

"I'd like to see you stand up to a giant," Dean snarled at Bobby Loran. "We'll see how 'cute' my 'knife tricks' are when they're all you have."

A/N

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Next: July 21st, 2019 at 9pm EST

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