A/N:

Thanks got Gayle for the review!

Bowman's bored doze ended more abruptly than he expected it to. The shaking of the wide seat above him came quickly after the breeze from the wide open door. Bowman lurched to his feet while the world, dim and unfamiliar, rocked and shook around him.

He barely had time to dart out from under the ominously shaking seat before the other door opened. At least Jacob glanced his way and got into the Impala at a much more measured pace. Bowman's heart was pounding in spite of himself, and he spread his wings sluggishly.

Taking flight after sitting idle and nearly falling asleep was a trick, but Bowman managed to take to the air not long after the doors slammed closed and sealed them all in again. "Hey! Maybe warn me a little next time?!" he groused, hovering at eye level with the humans, his arms crossed.

Dean did a double take when he saw the sprite in the air, flinching backwards. "What the-" To say he was shocked would be putting it lightly. The fact that Bowman was waiting for them back in the car had slipped his mind somewhere between the morphine and the broken bone being set.

Recovering slower than normal, Dean leaned forward, staring at the sprite that was flying inside his car. "Dude!" He held up a hand, hesitantly trying to brush a wing. "Didja know you've got wings like a fairy?" Dean asked helpfully, giving voice to some of his earlier thoughts about the sprite. "Kinda more like dragon wings, but still. Dragons don't come that small."

Bowman veered away from the outstretched hand, nonplussed. "Did he just-" he looked at Jacob, and before he could finish his query, Jacob grinned sheepishly.

"Didn't have any way to warn you ahead of time, but Dean's ... had some medicine that makes him a little loopy."

"What for?" Bowman asked, drifting hesitantly back towards Dean to peer closer at him.

"It's for the pain," Jacob explained patiently.

Bowman frowned, but couldn't begrudge him that. "Well. I'm not a fairy, just so you know," he clarified for Dean.

"Well if you're not a fairy, why're you so small and flying? " Dean argued back, stubbornly digging his heels in. "Not to mention all the forest clothes. It's not my fault you'd fit right in with the Keebler Elves in their treehouse."

Before anyone else could react, Dean's hand swiped through the air. He might be drugged, exhausted and seeing double half the time, but he was still a hunter. Not to mention a big brother who'd only just rediscovered his little brother and found out he had an adopted family. Bowman ended up snatched up in a loose fist, brought close to the glazed green eyes to inspect him for any injuries.

"What about you?" Dean asked worriedly as he squinted at the tiny sprite he was holding only two inches from his face. One of his fingers carefully nudged at Bowman's arm to make sure it was moving okay. "Did anyone bother you while we were gone? Did anyone bother my car?"

Bowman silently thanked the Spirit that Dean hadn't latched onto him any harder. If he had, the dull pain throughout his legs would have flared up. As it was, he was simply annoyed as well as startled. He leaned back from Dean's face in pure surprise, hardly able to keep both of those huge green eyes in sight.

He exasperatedly yanked his arms out of range of Dean's sluggish prodding, only to plant his hands and try to push out of the human's grip a moment later. His wings hung at his back, twitching like mad, but he refrained from buffeting Dean's whole face with them.

For the moment.

"Blast it, having a broken arm doesn't give you an excuse to just grab me," he pointed out. "You could ask all of those things without it, you know. You'll notice everything is fine." He gestured vaguely to the unharmed car around them, shot a quick sideways glare at Jacob, and resumed trying to push Dean's fingers away.

"How'm I 'upposed to tell that? " Dean complained, angling his hand to see the rest of Bowman to check him. "I've never had a brother with wings. I've barely even had anyone around for ages." The drugs in his system were loosening up his words more than alcohol ever did, that was for sure. Combine that with his normal walls already crumbled, and Dean was opening up more than he had since losing Sam. The first time.

When he was sure Bowman, for all his annoyance, wasn't showing any new signs of injury, Dean opened up his hand. His eyes didn't leave the leafy wings, completely fascinated with the way they moved.

Bowman swallowed a noise of surprise as gravity suddenly took hold of him instead of Dean. His wings recovered quickly, catching him and allowing a quick swerve to land safely on the seat between the two humans once more. Once his boots were on solid ground again, he shook out his wings and glared upwards at Jacob once more.

Jacob raised his eyebrows while he focused on starting up the car with another rumbling roar. "What? It looked like you had it under control," he said nonchalantly.

Bowman pursed his lips and let out an aggravated sigh. Then, he sat down against the back of the seat with his legs stretched out in front of him and his arms crossed.

"Okay, Dean. I gotcha. But next time, no need to grab. I'll teach you to check for a hurt wing sometime later, but usually I'll just, y'know, tell you if something's wrong."

"That's not the first time I've heard that," Dean muttered as he leaned back in his seat. "Practically gotta pry it outta dad or Bobby with a crowbar if you want them to admit they got hurt." He let himself relax as the comforting purr of the Impala surrounded them. He'd never admit he was just as stubborn as everyone else. One thing John Winchester had passed down to his sons was a stubborn streak the size of Kansas, as Bobby well knew after headbutting with all of them.

At least with Sam, the headbutting didn't happen much. The youngest son was happy if he had schoolwork to focus on, and many times he'd sneak out to the field behind the house and hide out where he didn't have to worry about John chasing him down for skipping target practice. Dean always knew where he was hiding, but most of the time he'd leave Sam be.

After Sam vanished and John fell into a downward spiral of depression, Dean had taken up hiding out in the field with a book or two. Not books that he'd ever read, but books Sam had been interested in.

It helped him feel closer to Sammy's memory.

Dean's headbutting with Bobby really only happened when he was stuck between the two older hunters. Being between John and Bobby was like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Neither would give an inch, and Dean was left picking up the pieces after their arguments ended.

"Gotta go get Sammy," Dean mumbled, more to himself than Jacob or Bowman. "Now that I'm all better. It's time to go find him."

Jacob glanced to the side while he put the Impala in gear to leave the emergency room parking lot. Dean looked way more exhausted than before, even without the pain furrowing his brow. Bowman, after his previous pout, was sitting there nearly dozing off, his wings lying slack around him.

They weren't getting anywhere that night.

He contemplated what he would say as he hunted his way through town for a familiar sign. He saw it as he passed by on his way to the campgrounds ever time, and it always said Vacancies! on the bottom. When he finally found the motel and pulled up near the office, he put the Impala in park and turned his head to face Dean.

"Look, dude ... I don't ... You gotta rest. I gotta rest. Bowman's practically out like a light already," he said steadily.

"No'm not," Bowman argued, his wings picking up briefly before settling down around him once more.

Jacob pursed his lips. "I'm gonna check us into a room here, it can be a home base or something. Just a few hours' rest, and we'll all be much better help for Sam. What d'you say?"

" 'M fine!" Dean protested, in line with Bowman in trying to stubbornly dig his heels in. He shifted so he was sitting up, blinking blearily at their surroundings. "Just get me to the forest and I'll be able to help. We gotta!"

He had to give up trying to sit up, breathing heavily and letting the world slow down around him. "Just wanna find Sammy…"

Jacob frowned, feeling a little like a bad guy for what he was suggesting. But, as the only one good to drive the car, he knew that he had some room to insist. Dean needed the rest. Another glance down at Bowman showed that he needed it, too.

It also gave Jacob an idea. He reached out and gently scooped his hand under Bowman. The sprite flopped over on his hand before sitting up sluggishly, blinking slowly. His wings hung slack.

"What?" Bowman groused, his voice heavy with exhaustion.

Jacob looked over Bowman's slumped form at Dean. "Bowman's basically a plant, Dean. He's been up and flying around since well before the sun went down. He needs to recuperate a little, at least. And you probably should, too. You had an arm busted tonight, dude."

"Plant?" Dean asked, eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "Like energy-from-the-sun kinda plant?" He gave Bowman a slightly accusing look. "And you didn't want to tell me that? " he shot at the sprite, sounding put out after being lectured about how Bowman was 'fine' not long ago. How in the world was he going to be able to watch out for the little sprite if he didn't even know something as important as that? At least if he or Jacob needed energy they could grab some coffee or a soda, but a plant…

"We don't have an extra sun on hand, so you'll need to take it easy until the morning," Dean said tartly. "Sam won't be happy if we run his little brother into the ground when he's not around." He held out his hand, beckoning Jacob to hand the sprite over. "I'll keep an eye on small fry over here and make sure he doesn't get into any more trouble."

"But I'm fine, I could just eat something," Bowman protested, even as Jacob acquiesced to Dean's gesture. The leafy wings only rustled a little as Bowman slid from Jacob's tilted hand onto a new one. Jacob met the glare shot at him with an apologetic shrug. With both Dean and Bowman prepared to jump right back into the search despite looking ready to collapse, he'd had to cheat a little.

He could see in those bright green eyes that he'd be paying for it later.

"I'll be back," he said, before Bowman could call after him again. The car door slammed behind him, leaving Bowman with his newfound protective brother for the time being.

A/N:

Step 1: Plop a Bowman on him
Step 2: ?
Step 3: Profit

It's a good thing Jacob's here to keep those two from getting into trouble!Next: March 11th, 2020 at 9pm EST.