A/N:

Thanks to Shadow cat 181 for the review!

"You can help search for Sam tomorrow with the rest of us," Dean said sternly as he cupped the hand holding his adopted sprite brother close to his chest. His drug addled mind had settled on keeping Bowman safe as his most important task. They couldn't let anything happen to the little sprite while they were searching for Sam. Family was all important and Dean refused to let anyone else in Sam's family suffer.

The tiny weight in his palm was reassuring. It gave Dean something else to focus on to keep his mind off of Sam and how useless they were to him until they'd all rested. At least Dean could do some good, and look after Bowman.

"The sun's been down for hours," Dean said. "Shouldn't you be asleep by now? You're no good to Sam if you collapse trying to find him."

Bowman sighed and pulled his wings close. "I've flown late at night before, my wings aren't so worn out." They folded loosely to his back, still partially resting on Dean's palm. They kept betraying his insistence that he was fine to keep flying, but the part of him that cared assiduously for his wings reminded him that Jacob and Dean were right. Pushing himself too far was a good way to go crashing into the ground.

He had a feeling he knew what would happen if he tried to hop off Dean's hand. Even with that medicine, he was a quick human. Bowman was stuck. "I wasn't really paying attention to it all that much," he admitted after a moment. "And I could eat something to get a little more energy, but ... sunlight's better for wings."

Dean thought about that, staring down at the tiny guy moving around on his hand. The little wings felt strange resting on his hand where he could feel them. The calluses that covered most of his hands made it harder to make out such light weights.

Man, my life is weird.

"I need a guidebook to this whole thing," Dean decided abruptly. " 'Sprite Care 101.' At least with Sam I already know what to do if he's hurt." Images of the tiny knight trapped on the ground with an injured arm just like his flashed through Dean's mind. "He might be too small for me to do much for now, but I know how to set an arm. But you and Rischa and any other sprite, I'm in the dark. Useless unless someone tells me what I'm doing, and that's beside how big I am." He got the feeling he was rambling but didn't much care. His life had flipped upside down on his latest case and he hadn't quite figured things out in his mind. "I'm supposed to help people, but how'm I supposed to do that if I don't know what I'm doing?"

Bowman gave Dean an odd look, tilting his head back to stare up at the worried human's face. After a few seconds of thought, he replied, "Well you just met us all today,how're you gonna be a wood sprite expert in a day?" The idea was even more ludicrous to him when he said it out loud. Even wood sprites took some time to learn everything about themselves, after all.

"I am the fastest flyer in the village, but I didn't get there overnight," Bowman continued, shifting one of his wings around himself so he could absently preen to keep himself awake. "Besides, even though you grabbed at first, you didn't hurt anyone, even by accident."

" 'M glad," Dean mumbled, leaning his head back against the seat. Sitting around in the car with nothing else to do but talk while Jacob did… something… left him with the rest of his energy dissipating. "Didn't… didn't know why Jacob was there. Thought he might try and go for Rischa if he saw her so I closed my hands. Then you and Sam showed up and everything got more muddled. Just… wanted to help..."

Dean's voice trailed off and he stared into the dark. He didn't see the parking lot around the car, his thoughts turned inwards as he remembered those first few moments through a drug-addled lens. Trapping the sprite was the only option he could come up with on short notice to make sure they didn't go near the other human, then he turned out to already know them and Dean was the outsider.

The outsider that the entire village knew.

"This is all way too confusing," he grumbled aloud.

Bowman barked out a tired laugh. "Yeah, well," he muttered back, shrugging lightly. "I think it surprised all of us, to tell you the truth. Not every day the giant brother you only ever heard about stops by for a visit." His musings trailed off into mumbles as he stretched his wings before shaking them out and folding them once more.

The silent wait felt longer than it was. Eventually, Bowman perked up at the sight of Jacob walking back around the front of the huge Impala and settling himself on the other side of the seat at last.

"Got us checked in, soon as the clerk was awake enough to understand me," he announced, wasting no time in getting the car started. Both Bowman and Dean looked more exhausted than ever, only proving him right. At this point, it was even odds on who would drop off first.

Dean didn't respond, just barely staying awake as Jacob pulled the car around to the side of the motel their room was on. He'd run out of energy to question the teenager with, his body sapped of energy by a combination of the injury, the worn-off adrenaline of the case and the morphine in his system. It made him easier to prod out of the car when they parked.

Cupping his fingers around Bowman's tiny form to help block him from sight, Dean climbed out of the car with a distinct lack of energy. Jacob grabbed the duffel he indicated, the one that had his extra clothes (and extra weapons) inside.

Living out of his car meant everything was easy to find.

Dean let Jacob lead the way to the room since the kid had the key, and knew which room number it was. The hunter was having trouble even reading the room numbers on the doors, so he stopped trying to keep from getting a headache as the world spun. It was his determination to keep Bowman safe in his hands that kept him on his feet by that point. Each step was heavy as he walked.

Jacob glanced back before shoving the key into the lock. It took some coaxing as the old metal resisted, but soon enough he got them into the room. "Here we are," he announced quietly, getting out of Dean's way to set the duffel bag on a chair at the table.

The room had a cozy feel to it, evidence of the motel owner doing their best to avoid the tacky look of most similar venues. The table was wobbly, and the dresser didn't have matching knobs on any of the drawers, but there were beds, and that was all Jacob cared about in the room.

"Home sweet home," Dean agreed as he walked in. Seen one motel room, seen 'em all.

Though he'd only met Jacob earlier that day, their shared experiences with the sprites and the demon solidified their new, tentative friendship as only a trial by fire would do. Letting his guard down didn't bother Dean the way it might normally. The pain medicine didn't hinder that progress, either.

There were two queen-sized beds with matching tacky covers. Between them was a carved wooden nightstand, and Dean directed his footsteps towards it. Bowman was still in his hand, and Dean didn't want to risk drifting off to sleep with someone so fragile in his grasp. It just sounded too dangerous. All it would take was one twitch in the wrong direction to hurt the tiny limbs when the little guy was only the size of a finger.

Dean slid Bowman off his hand onto the nightstand, jolting the sprite out of a doze as he landed on the flat surface. With him safely out of the way, Dean collapsed on the bed. He didn't bother with the covers and left his boots on, any remaining energy stores sapped the moment his head lay on the pillow. The broken arm would keep him on his back but that wasn't much of a deterrent as sleep claimed him instantly.

Bowman blinked owlishly at Dean. His wings were partially open again, a remnant of the startle reflex from moments ago. He watched Jacob kick off his own boots, taking more time to get ready for rest than Dean did.

"You gonna be comfortable there?" Jacob asked, raising an eyebrow at Bowman's spot on the hard surface of the nightstand. The human sat heavily on the second bed. "I can set a pillow somewhere if you want to."

Bowman sighed thoughtfully and then pushed himself to his feet. His sore legs protested and tried to knock him down again, but he made it. His eyes wouldn't focus on anything in the room for very long, and the sleepy haze over everything only caused more confusion. There were corners everywhere. And big, hulking, unfamiliar things no matter which direction he looked.

"I'll look after Dean," he decided, fluttering his wings to fly over the bed and hover just over Dean's chest. He settled his boots down cautiously, wondering if he'd wake the human. After a few more seconds of a steady rise and fall, he took it as a good sign.

"This human dwelling is strange," Bowman groused at Jacob while he sat and then lay down on his side. "You and your blasted corners." That said, he pointedly covered himself with a wing like a protective blanket, hiding the sight of the room from himself.

He heard a quiet, exhausted chuckle from Jacob before the electric lighting in the room switched off. Bowman took a slow breath to calm his nerves. He didn't need to worry. He was among safe humans, even if the room was huge and strange. He'd grown up hearing about Dean.

Sam's stories confirmed the notion that he was safe right where he was, and Bowman drifted off to sleep not long after.

A/N:

Bowman has quite soundly claimed his new, very big brother!

Next: March 15th, 2020 at 9pm EST.