To say Sam was surprised by Stan's sudden vehemence and worry would be an understatement.

Based on Stan's reaction, there must be something important in that kid's book he'd grabbed, upping it to the first on the list instead of near the end, since Sam had initially thought to search through what he could find of curses. Reaching for the small paperbound book, Sam distractedly moved the flap of his pocket with a finger, pushing it down behind Stan to keep it out of their way while they worked.

"It's some kid's book from the fifties," Sam said as he flipped through the first few pages, examining the copyright dates. The pages crinkled under his fingers, a musty smell rising from the yellowed paper. This book had survived since before Sam was born. "Mary Norton wrote it." He flipped it over, reading through the back.

On a whim, Sam pulled out his small flip phone, leaving it open. If anyone glanced his way and saw him talking, they would assume he was talking to the speakerphone instead of a tiny guy tucked in his pocket.

"Any of this look familiar to you?" Sam asked, opening back up to the story inside and finding one of the illustrations that went with it.

Stan's frown deepened as he regarded the illustration, covering both pages and framed like a portrait. It showed an intimate, yet quiet scene of a small family, sitting together in a room full of things that rang distant bells for Stan. Like the chess piece used for decoration in the corner, or the pocket watch on the wall. The father of the family was either making or repairing a shoe on a child's alphabet block, while the mother sat knitting with sewing thread and the young daughter wrote contentedly in a book half her height and with a pencil almost as long as her arm. Spools used as seats, a half-scissor in the next room... it all made perfect sense to Stan, the way everything worked for them in that room.

It was just never meant for human eyes.

"So...humans read this? They know about us?"

Stan blinked. The 'us' had slipped out, an unexpected ending to that sentence. It all hit him at once, distant memories. A deep male voice scolding him, reminding him of how a proper borrower behaves, a younger one teasing him for trying so hard to borrow at such a young age...

He felt that warm feeling again, deep inside his chest. Like something in him fit a little more snugly, and he became a tiny bit more complete.

" 'Us?' " Sam naturally keyed in on the strange phrasing used by Stan, a sinking feeling forming in his core.

All this time, they'd assumed that Stan just didn't remember when he was normal, that he had a family out there, waiting for him to come home. A bit of work on google, some research on curses, and they'd be finished, off to see him returned to his family.

But this…

Sam flipped the book over, reading the name again. "You're a borrower?" he asked, his voice full of awe at the thought.

"I… I think so," Stan replied, and it felt right to say.

Still, the concept of the book bothered him, now that tiny details of his past life were starting to trickle their way back into his mind. He had a basic understanding of how books worked with humans, how stories were mass produced to be read by the multitudes around the world. The idea of so many humans reading this story and learning about people like Stan made him very uncomfortable.

"But… I don't understand," he piped up again, eyes glued to the book in Sam's hands. "We're supposed to be a secret. But if humans know about us..." His shoulders bunched up as he trailed off, unsure of how to end that sentence. He certainly didn't want to think of anyone else going through what he did, being sold off to people like Nicholas or worse.

Sam frowned. "Well, I didn't know about you," he said, switching his attention from the book back to Stan at last. The little guy sounded so concerned, and after what they'd discovered he'd gone through, Sam knew why.

"Me an' Dean… We hunt the supernatural," Sam admitted, not sure of how much of their involvement with the paranormal Stan could infer. "If anyone would know about people…" He read the back of the book, "Living in the walls, it would be us."

Sam tapped a finger against the table, wondering how to approach the subject. Talking about hunting with someone who might end up on the list of the hunted was always difficult. Stan's trepidation around them, his reactions to Dean, they were all beginning to make sense. Someone who never saw the world through a human perspective would interpret things differently. Sam's stomach recoiled at the thought. If Stan had always been small… if he didn't understand the mindset of most humans… he wouldn't have any way of understanding that there was no danger of him ending up under either brothers' boots.

Dean would never harm an innocent victim or a kid, whether that kid was human or not.

"This is a book written for kids," Sam explained. "Parents just laugh off the stories they hear about kids finding people like this… it's often just make-believe or pretend. Games to make life seem more interesting." He tapped at the name on the book. "Maybe Mary really did find people like you, but no one believed her when there was no proof. We get laughed off all the time, despite the fact that we save people's lives from the unbelievable."

Stan nodded slowly, understanding Sam's explanation well enough to be comforted by it. As long as it wasn't taken seriously, as fact, was a much better notion for Stan to consider.

"I guess that makes sense," he conceded. Again, it felt good knowing that Sam and Dean, hunters clearly skilled in their trade, weren't aware of them. Maybe there weren't any more people like him in danger. At least not as many as Stan would think if more humans knew about borrowers.

Stan continued to stare at the book, tilting his head curiously. He couldn't help but wonder what sort of story humans would enjoy reading about people like him. From what little he remembered, borrowers kept themselves to themselves, living their lives in secret from humans. He wouldn't imagine that as the pinnacle of entertainment.

Sam was thinking along the same lines, and flipped to the first page of the first chapter.

It was Mrs. May who first told me about them…

The story started out with two humans talking about the borrowers. This 'Mrs May' talking about why certain items would go missing. The 'borrowers' name quickly began to make sense to Sam as he skimmed the first few pages, befuddled at the thought of people like this going unnoticed for so long by hunters. Or maybe they've been kept hidden because people take advantage of them…

With that disturbing thought in mind, Sam lowered the book down. He would have to read it cover to cover if it was their only source of information on who and what Stan was, aside from the kid himself.

"Stan, do you remember anything about your childhood?" Sam asked. Earlier Stan had issues with answering, but now… "Even just a street name or town?"

Getting the guy back home might be harder than they first thought.

Stan was quiet for a moment as he tried to remember anything that would provide an answer for Sam. Despite the small details cropping up with the help of the book, he couldn't find what Sam was looking for.

He gave a helpless shrug and let his head hang a little lower, disappointed in himself for being unable to do what was asked of him. "All I remember is that we lived near a bakery. That's where I got my name, but I never really knew where. …I don't even know where I am now, let alone where I came from," he admitted quietly. "Sorry."

"Don't worry, we'll find out," Sam automatically replied by force of habit.

If only he knew how.

Briefly, Sam thought about how Stan didn't know where he was. If they introduced him to a map, he might be able to recognize things, even if he didn't know the names of places. "We're in Broken Bow, Nebraska," Sam informed him. "Once Dean's done at the station, we'll be heading out of town though. We don't stay in one place for long."

With renewed determination, he scanned through the first chapter of the book, finding his way to the actual borrowers, after the introduction. Their names were all a little odd, but the book was also outdated by decades. Sam didn't know what was popular for names back then anymore than he knew about these borrowers. Stan seemed normal enough, down to his clothing, even compared to other people they knew. The little red-head could blend in if it wasn't for being small enough to tuck away in a pocket.

And his habit of being terrified when they did something that alarmed him, which was hard to avoid so long as they didn't understand what they were doing. The book might be able to help out there, too.

Glancing surreptitiously around the corner of the library he'd squirreled himself away in, Sam flicked his wrist, snapping his knife into his hand, while Stan gave a small start at the sight of it. With a quick motion, Sam flipped it open and pried off the little plastic strip that would set off the alarms in the library, securing it to a book on fae he had placed to the side. When he left, a certain book would be coming with him, their best lead so far on Stan's past. A children's book.

A knife was the last thing Stan expected to see in this building full of books, but he reminded himself that he was with hunters now. Though he didn't know their ways just yet, Stan had a pretty good idea of their love of weapons. His glimpse into the trunk the night before had been proof enough of that.

Stan reminded himself that Sam had promised that he and Dean wouldn't hurt him. Not with a knife like that, at least. Stan took that promise with a grain of salt, certain that he simply hadn't upset or angered the hunters enough to warrant punishment. He didn't want to rule out the possibility, in any case.

"Think it'll help?" he asked, wondering about the thing Sam had stripped from the book. He wasn't entirely sure what its purpose was, but he reckoned it must be important if Sam bothered with it. With Sam so casual in their interactions, Stan felt comfortable with his simple question. Hopefully it wouldn't be shot down, at least.

"The more information we have, the better," Sam said, keeping his voice down as he folded the knife back up and pushed it up his sleeve. It was quickly reattached to the wrist strap he wore, to wait until he needed it again.

Sam checked the time on his phone, pressing one of the buttons to wake it up. A new text showed from Dean, saying he was finished at the station and on his way back. Scooping up the phone, Sam punched in a response, telling Dean he'd found what they needed and he'd fill him in as soon as he could.

"Five more minutes," Sam said to himself. He picked up The Borrowers, looking it over one last time before tucking it into his jacket on the opposite side from where Stan was nestled in a pocket, that way there would be no danger of it bumping into the guy and bruising him more.

"Kid's book or not, it might tell us more about where you're from," Sam told Stan as he straightened the other books. Now that they knew what they were dealing with, those books would do him no good. Stan had no relation to fairies or sprites, and if he was supposed to be small, nothing on curses would do them an ounce of good.

Sam had a bonafide borrower tucked in his pocket, and had no idea what they were going to do about it.

"You'd be surprised where the most useful information comes from," Sam said as he finished his pile of books. "Myths, legends, stories parents tell their kids about the boogeyman… Most people don't pay any attention to that aside from its use as campfire stories, but we know better."

Stan gave another nod, readjusting his grip on the top of the pocket as Sam moved. He was glad to have helped in some way, even if he still couldn't remember the details they needed. The book seemed to jog a few things, so hopefully the further they delved into that, the more he would remember.

"Can I go back down now?" With the book tucked away and Sam dealing with the others, planning to meet back up with Dean in five minutes, Stan figured he ought to be hidden once again. However, he didn't want to just drop out if Sam expected to continue the conversation at all.

"Uh, sure," Sam said, distracted and vaguely surprised by the question. "You don't need to ask."

To give Stan a hand, he nudged the pocket flap out of its tucked-in position, freeing it to cover Stan up. "Remember to let me know if you need anything," Sam finished up, scooping up the pile of books into his arms and scanning for a nearby library cart.

"Yessir," came Stan's reflexive reply before he could think to correct himself. He cringed as soon as he said it, stopping himself from sinking deeper into the pocket shamefully before he could apologize. "Sam. I meant... I know you don't like when I… Sorry."

With Sam's arms full and the pocket flap overhead once again, Stan let himself drop to sit in the bottom of the pocket once again, finding his little corner and clinging for stability. That deference was turning out to be a difficult habit to break, for which both brothers had expressed a dislike.

He didn't mean to keep messing it up, but… Nicholas had always ensured Stan was respectful toward him. After calling his human that year after year, he didn't even think about it anymore. He just prayed that Sam and Dean wouldn't take his constant mistakes in that area personally. He really was trying.

Sam sighed, wishing he didn't hear that nervous strain on Stan's voice when he was apologizing. What seemed like a way to help Stan relax and treat them more informally was making the kid anxious when he relapsed.

What did that witch do to you, Stan?

No answers would be found in the library, aside from the ones Sam had in his pockets, so he stacked the books on a nearby cart and quickly made his exit, nodding gratefully at the librarian as he passed her by. He got a tight-lipped smile in return, and made it through the security arches without setting off an alarm, his pilfered book hanging heavy by his side.

The longer he was with Dean on the road, the more he turned back to the less-than-respectable ways they'd been raised in.

The trademark growl of the Impala's engine could just be heard in the distance as Sam strolled out of the library, attempting to emulate Dean's casual attitude whenever he was breaking the law. It was a relief when Dean pulled up to the sidewalk and he could hop into the warm interior. The tires spun, and then they were back on the road.

"He's a borrower," Sam said without preamble, having no intention of obscuring the truth from Dean.

Dean arched an eyebrow. "Like livin'-in-the-walls-borrowers? Those little guys in the movie?"

Sam was briefly caught off guard, then shook it off. He pushed the flap of his pocket back again to give Stan some air. "Yeah, just like that. So looking for a cure won't do any good. Dean, he's always been this size. We're the strange ones to him."

A/N:

Sam and Dean have stumbled into a bigger case than they realized!

Next week is the last chapter, then we'll likely take a break from posting that's a little longer than usual. I've got some surgery coming up to look forward to, and I'm hoping to get more editing done on some of our other AUs. We're not going anywhere though! There's always more SPN g/t ideas to be had here in the BA multiverse.

Final: March 2nd, 2022 at 9PM est

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