"Hey, what-" Bobby began, before catching up to what had just happened. His icy blue eyes almost crossed as he stared down the barrel of the silvery gun, and the map fell from his hands to drift to the floor. His mouth was open to protest, but for once nothing came to mind. He put his hands up and stepped backwards, letting the door fall open.
Jacob recovered from his own shock much faster. He glanced around to make sure no one was gawking at Dean drawing a gun on a kid in broad daylight. The last thing they needed was a bunch of cops to come around.
Thankfully, Bobby kept stepping back until both Jacob and Dean could edge into the house after him. Jacob paused to glance around, and a flicker of green darted towards him.
Bowman swooped into the tall door, past Dean and soaring over Bobby's head to somewhere deeper in the house. He didn't even stop to look back at the humans, though Bobby whipped his gaze around to follow his progress before looking back at the gun.
"What the fuck," he finally managed to get out.
Jacob closed the door once everyone was inside the house, leaving no chances for witnesses of them all but forcing their way in. "Dean ... uh ... don't shoot him," he pleaded quietly, though he stood back. The look on the hunter's face was filled with a rage unlike Jacob had ever seen before, and he knew he did not want to get in the way of it. "We can deal with him without it."
For every step back Bobby took, Dean matched it. His aim was unwavering as he stared down the person responsible for Sam's disappearance. Even other hunters would flinch to have that glare on them.
Dean was a weapon, and he'd found his target.
"No one's getting shot," Dean growled out, his eyes locked on Bobby. Until Sam and Scar were in sight, he wasn't going to let the kid out of his sight. There was no way of knowing what Bobby would do to them now that Dean was onto him. "So long as we get my brother and Scar back."
Bobby's look of fear shifted into confusion and doubt for a moment, but he kept his eyes on the gun and his hands raised. He didn't want to make any sudden moves with a gun trained on him, not when he'd most likely be unable to avoid getting seriously hurt.
"Your brother? " he asked incredulously, looking at Dean as though he'd sprouted an extra head. "What the fuck ... "
Jacob took a chance to step up alongside Dean, side-eyeing the gun. "Bobby, you took people against their will," he said steadily. It was almost eerie, the look in those blue eyes as they shifted from the gun to him. His friend was different. "You can't just-"
"Fuck you and the horse you rode in on," Bobby spat, interrupting him. His Texas drawl, usually hidden beneath the surface of his voice, came out in full force in his ire. "This isn't a conversation. You came to take what I found, on my land." His sullen, hateful look returned to Dean and he said not a word more, refusing to cooperate with the demands.
Bowman took several tries to find the right doorway into the room with the cage. After fluttering in and out of several rooms with all the speed he could, he hovered over that desk with wide eyes. He could scarcely imagine what the world must look like from inside that awful thing.
"Sam? Scar!" he called, turning to gaze around the immense, square room. "Sam! "
At the sound of the blessedly familiar voice, Sam poked his head out from behind the books on the shelves of the study. With no way of knowing if Bobby was about to come back into the room, they'd taken shelter where they could. Down where they were hiding, dust covered the old tomes that lined the shelf. Some caked the side of Sam's pants where he'd brushed against a book to get to the dark corner.
"Bowman?" Sam called out. "Is that you?" He leaned further out, peering up at the immense room around them. "Hey! Down here!" he shouted, waving his arm to get Bowman's attention as the sprite hovered above the desk.
Bowman stiffened, hearing the voice, and whirled around. He could hear the humans talking somewhere else in the house, but at the moment he didn't care. He found Sam and dove towards the ground as fast as he'd ever done. As always, he pulled out of the dive at the precise moment to avoid breaking his legs, and his wings made a loud crack! as they filled with air.
He stumbled up to the bookshelf and, in lieu of any other greeting, threw his arms around Sam in a relieved hug. The pent-up worry for Sam, for the brother that Bowman had known most of his life, escaped in a sigh.
"Thank the Spirit," he muttered.
"Geeze, you been working out?" Sam laughed into Bowman's shoulder, hiding a wince at the pain from his bruises. He gave him a slight squeeze of his own, trying not to hug the lean sprite too hard and make Bowman start griping about him being too strong all over again.
Pulling out of the hug, Sam checked Bowman over with a worried eye. The last he'd seen Bowman was before they ran into the demon and he wanted to make sure that his little brother was okay. He grinned at the sight of Bowman's wings, as proud as ever.
"Dude, you have no idea how happy we are to see you!" Sam exclaimed once they were standing next to each other. "I thought we heard Dean leaving. We tried to get down from the desk and get out there, but if he left and we were stuck with Bobby again we'd havta get under cover fast…" Sam rambled on from the relief.
Bowman opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Scar stepped forward out of the hiding place as well. Bowman's eyes widened and his words died in his throat at the sight of the belts and the metal strapped around one wing, and his own wings cringed back in sympathetic pain. Scar offered him a grim smile. "Good to see you, Leafwing," he greeted wearily.
Bowman stood up straighter and nodded. "Yes," he answered, wanting to ask after the injured wing. He'd have time for that later. "We should get going. Dean and Jacob will keep Bobby away from you now," he promised. Then, Bowman hopped down from the shelf to give himself room before spreading his wings again. He took flight to hover barely a foot over them. "I'll keep watch and lead the way, there's too many corners in this blasted house."
"We'll be right behind you." Sam waved Bowman off and jumped down from the shelf. He only stumbled slightly, pausing to help Scar down from the shelf. His wing was fragile in the condition it was in. Sam wasn't about to let his mentor risk it.
Once they were on the ground, Sam brought up the rear of their party. Due to the lack of wings, he was the fastest when it came to running on the ground. If he needed to make up ground fast, he could.
The room loomed overhead as they ran, and Sam wished for his sword back at his side. More than once his hand went to stray towards his knife, reassured to have it safe in his jacket. Dean was close. They could do this.
Bowman led the way dutifully, flying overhead and watching every shadow, every mote of dust in the air. While the flightless pair on the floor ran after him (he loathed to think of Scar Wolfblind as flightless), Bowman put his wings to use watching for danger.
No human footsteps stampeded in their direction. By the time they reached the door, Bowman's heart was on the rise. They'd almost gotten Sam and Scar out of the horrid situation that they'd gotten into after helping the human that captured them. Bowman was glad they weren't out fending for themselves against wolves and foxes and owls in the forest, but at the same time, he had to wonder.
Was this human worse?
He pushed the thought out of mind as they traversed the hall. Scar's breathing was labored, and Bowman stalled in the air to give him time to recover before they continued on. Finding the way back was easier than making his way to the room in the first place.
"Dean! Jacob! We're here!" Bowman couldn't help calling ahead, when the next corner was the last obstacle between them and the safe giants.
Sam kept behind Scar as they ran, but he was tempted to dart ahead when they rounded the next corner and they saw what was happening.
"Dean!" Sam shouted, his eyes falling on the tall hunter who was in control of the situation. A gun was held on the blond-haired, blue-eyed human who'd taken them from their home.
This time when the familiar tingle of eyes on him came, Sam didn't care. All three humans loomed overhead, but Dean and Jacob were like a beacon of hope. Their way home. Sam could remember standing not far from Jacob's feet when he was walking around his campground, setting it up. Not once had he and Bowman been in danger.
And Dean… Dean was safety. It had taken over a decade for him to find Sam, but now…
Dean heard the tiny voice down on the floor and couldn't stop himself from looking towards the three that were trying to cross the vast distance. "Sammy…" he whispered, overcome by relief at the sight after a day of being left in limbo for his brother's fate.
Jacob and Bobby both looked to the three tiny people approaching across what to them was a vast open floor with cathedral ceilings far over their heads. Bowman zigzagged back and forth, low to the ground, and refused to leave Sam and Scar behind. Jacob couldn't help cracking a relieved grin at the sight of them, only for it to falter at the sight of Scar running.
Then, he noticed the hobble in the sprite's steps and the awkward angle of his bound up wing, and something within Jacob leapt to life, something he rarely allowed to the surface.
At the same time, Bobby saw a cheap opportunity. It only took one moment of Dean's broken focus for him to reach up and swat the gun arm aside. The unexpected strike threw Dean off balance, and he nearly dropped the gun on the floor.
With it no longer aimed at him, Bobby turned towards the three dashing across the floor, a grin forming on his face at the second sprite he'd ever seen. The little guy's flight faltered as Bobby took one step towards them.
He was yanked backwards in the same instance and slammed with such force against the wall that he saw stars for a second. When he recovered, Bobby realized that Jacob had reached forward and clamped a hand around his arm, pulling him back with ease.
"Bobby, what did you do?!" Jacob asked him with horrified, untethered anger and betrayal in his eyes. "What did you do to them?"
With the scrawny teenager under control, Dean clicked the safety back on his gun and tucked it back into his jeans. There were more important things to take care of than Bobby, and now he had a chance.
It wasn't like he was actually planning on shooting a kid, anyway.
The three tiny people across the room from them had stopped in their tracks at the sight of Bobby coming for them, and again at the sight of Jacob's move. Bobby slamming into the wall was almost an earthquake, done in a show of Jacob's effortless strength. None of them could ever hope to match it.
When Dean stepped forward, his eyes glued to all three, Sam's eyes widened at the sight of Dean's injured arm, which up until then had been blocked from their sight. Just yesterday, Dean had been in fighting shape, and now he was clearly favoring the injury.
The hunter dropped down to his knees, holding out his good hand. "Hey guys." His eyes were bright and hopeful for the first time that day. "Let's get you off the floor and back where you belong."
Bowman sent one more wary glance towards Bobby before flying in a low circle around Scar and Sam, getting the three of them moving again. It wasn't lost on him how battered even Sam was. Both of them had been through something awful in the captivity of that human, if the cage was any indicator.
When they were inches from Dean's offered hand, Bowman dropped down to land on it and offer them help stepping up. Scar, whose wings quivered with exhaustion, nodded his thanks. "Never break a wing, boy," he advised, even as he moved aside to make room for Sam to step up onto Dean's hand.
Bowman winced slightly at the very thought, but busied himself turning to Sam to help him up next. "Made it," he said with a grin, relieved to finally have Sam back to safety.
Sam grinned back, taking the offered hand. Bowman pulled him up onto Dean's hand, and he almost stumbled over the callused surface. So far Sam had only stood on his brother's hand three times. Twice was for short trips to and from his house, and the third time was on the back of Dean's hand, trying his best to convince the hunter to let his family go. He'd been standing on a knuckle that time, and it gave him a solid surface under his boots.
There was no time for Sam to adjust. The moment all three of them were standing on Dean's palm, the hand lifted away from the ground under his control.
Dean didn't stand right up. Instead he paused with them close to his face, frantically scanning them. His eyes touched on Scar's broken wing and the way Sam stood gingerly in place. So hurt in such a short period of time. If he'd been the one pinning Bobby to the wall, the teen would have a few extra bruises for that. The thumb that was close by shifted so he brushed Sam's side, and then the three little guys found themselves held in a careful, gentle hug.
Sam was held the closest, with Dean's thumb against his side and pressed close over Dean's heart. He put a hand on the tip of Dean's thumbnail, amazed at the difference in size and for the first time that day not dismayed by it. His hand was tiny by comparison, the entire hand unable to cover up even the tip of Dean's, but he didn't have to worry about any harsh pokes or derisive comments. Sam let himself relax.
"Sorry we took so long," Dean whispered in apology.
"It's not the worst wait," Scar grumbled back, shifting slightly in the unexpected hug. Bowman, nearest his hurt wing, made sure to stay out of the way of his movements. "I think I'm just glad you showed up to see that brat, even if it's not going precisely how he might have expected." Scar glanced over his shoulder and beyond Dean's hand, noting what he could see of Bobby.
"Fucking stop!" Bobby spat, right on cue. He squirmed, but Jacob still had him easily pinned to the wall, unable to break his hold. "If you take them from here, you are stealing! "
Bowman cringed from the assurance in his voice. He was glad Dean had them in hand now, especially after seeing that cage and the state of Scar's wing. That human meant trouble for anyone sprite-sized.
A/N:
Someone needs to wash that kid's mouth out with soap
Next: April 22nd, 2020 at 9pm EST.
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