A/N:

Thank you to everyone that came with us on this journey, we loved each and every review we received! We wouldn't have come this far without our readers!

Jacob opted to sit at the corner of the bed once Dean was gone, settling his weight slowly and carefully. The pillow wobbled a little, and he tried to slow down his movements even more to avoid sending anyone rolling over the side. That done, he sent an amused grin Bowman's way.

"You'll have to try some more today since Sam missed your performance yesterday," he teased. "Dean practically had to hold onto him for a bunch of the car ride so he wouldn't fly in front of me while I was driving." The little guy had done laps between the dashboard and the back of the seat or Dean's shoulder.

Bowman flared his wings at Jacob and was tempted to flutter up and give him a bop on the forehead. He remained where he sat, however, sticking close to Scar in case he needed help with his wing. "I never once flew in front of you," he insisted.

"I may have to try some of this liquid energy," Scar decided, a faint, tired smirk on his face. "If it can rile Leafwing up more than normal it must be blasted powerful."

"I doubt it took much to get him riled up," Sam said with a laugh. "I mean, I can get his wings puffed in about five seconds flat if I try."

He stood on the pillow, trying his best not to wobble, and carefully picked up his rapier. When that went back to its rightful place through his belt, he smiled to himself. Now he felt right, for the first time since getting back. The water in the bathroom gave a distant background noise that blocked out the outside world, a sign of Dean trying to return himself to normal.

Jacob kept his ears trained on the coffee machine, ready to go and pour the hot drink as soon as it was done. His eyes were focused on the pillow; with Sam standing, he practically froze in place. He could hardly imagine what his movements felt like to them, and he didn't want to be careless. All three were in various states of injury.

Two of three weren't even hurt by the demon, but by a plain, run-of-the-mill human. Jacob could hardly believe how much time he'd spent with Bobby and seen no sign of the greed and selfishness he'd displayed the day before.

Bowman tried to mimic Sam and push himself to a stand. He wobbled and winced as his bruised legs protested, but he made it. Scar watched him with crossed arms, deciding not to press his own luck.

When he was standing, Bowman stretched his wings overhead and smirked at Sam. "You're just jealous that I can make myself taller this way," he quipped.

Sam arched an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" He didn't look impressed by the height cheat. A glimmer of mischief shone in his eyes.

Though Sam was plenty bruised, the pillow they were on was soft, so he wasn't worried about falling and getting hurt more. Scar was far enough away from Sam and Bowman that they wouldn't risk injuring his wing while they tried to balance on the pillow.

So Sam decided to take advantage of it all. "I wonder who'll be taller after this!" he called. Keeping a hand on the hilt of his sword, he bounced up an inch and landed on the pillow next to Bowman, aiming to upset the sprite's balance.

Bowman's grin fell from his face and he stumbled backwards as the pillow sank under Sam's weight. He tried to compensate his balance with his wings, but in the end the surface under them was too plushy for him to keep his feet.

His last ditch effort to leap up and hover above the pillow failed as well. He couldn't find his balance and simply ended up falling backwards in a tangle of limbs. "Blast it!" he blurted out, awkwardly trying to roll over and pinning one of his wings.

Above them, Jacob couldn't hold back a laugh. "Holy shit, Bowman," he said through his snickers. "I don't think anyone could have done that any better."

Scar had a grin a mile wide as well, and he didn't even bother trying to hold it back. "One of the first lessons, Sam can tell you, is choose your battles wisely, Bowman."

Sam crossed his arms, triumphant and cracking up. "I don't think he'll ever learn that lesson," he pointed out with a laugh. "A lost cause if I've ever seen one."

Watching Bowman flail around was entertaining, but Sam took pity on his younger brother. He stuck both hands under Bowman's armpits and hauled the sprite in the air to help free his wings. Holding Bowman like a puppy, Sam grinned broadly. "Still feelin' like the tall one?" he joked.

If Bowman's skin was paler, he would be blushing fire. As it was, his cheeks darkened and he felt the heat all the way in his ears from his indignation. Scar and Jacob both were snickering at him. "Yeah, yeah, so you're stronger," he groused, squirming awkwardly. He felt like a nestling, in one of the many times Sam had hefted him up when he tumbled over.

"I'm gonna bop you," he grumbled, finally managing to reach up and push on Sam's arms enough to free himself and stumble back to the pillow with a flick of his wings. "When you least expect it."

"Good luck with that," Sam snickered. "You'll have to catch me off guard first."

Brushing his hands off, Sam decided to magnanimously leave Bowman be. At least for a bit. There were other things that took priority in Sam's mind now.

"Should we get to the table?" Sam asked Jacob, his eyes wide. Without his glider, he felt odd. He had no way of getting around the room on his own. Scar would be the same until his wings healed. Of the three of them, Bowman was the only one able to flit around freely.

Jacob had to take a second to rein in his laughter. The pillow might as well have been a stage for Sam and Bowman's antics, with Scar providing his own comedy just by sitting there keeping an eye on them. "Yeah, sure," he finally relented, a smile still lingering in his eyes.

He lowered his hand to the pillow, careful once again to avoid jostling the whole thing. Bowman sent him one final glare before inching over to Scar's side to help him stand. The knight stumbled onto his palm, and Jacob held his hand stock still for him to get situated and waited for Sam to join him.

Sam stepped up last, only tensing slightly at the way he was putting himself into a hand like the one that casually flicked him the day before. It took effort to relax. The aches and pains he was dealing with were all caused by a human, but not their humans.

Still, putting himself in a hand big enough to close around his entire body wasn't easy.

It was good he had all the trust from the last few months of getting to know Jacob to draw on. Watching the teenager interact with all the sprites, even the littlest, and always being so gentle, helped ease some of the tension from Sam's back.

Rischa trusted him and she was able to read people better than anyone but Cerul.

Once he was in the hand, Sam flanked Scar, ready to help him if the trip was rocky.

Bowman watched Jacob's face, as always secretly impressed with how attentive the human could be. For someone who could probably grab both sprites and Sam in one hand, he was remarkably careful. The hand lifted away from the pillow, and soon enough the other approached to act as a railing for his passengers. Bowman leapt into the air to fly and keep them in sight.

"Here we go," Jacob announced before moving his hand closer to his chest and pushing to a stand. As he expected, the recently-vacated pillow pitched and wobbled from the movement, so he was glad Bowman hovered just above his eye level to watch the proceedings carefully.

On his palm, Scar kept as steady of a stance as he could. Air brushed past him and Sam both as Jacob turned towards the table. Heavy footfalls tremored all the way up in the hand underneath their boots. A hand that would be fearsome if not for Cerul's word that it was safe. "Steady, boy," Scar warned as Jacob started to lower his hands, too fast for his liking.

"Sorry," Jacob said sheepishly, slowing down until his hands were flat on the table.

"We'll have to get you some more practice," Sam commented as he stepped down to the table. "The nestlings seem to have adopted you already and you'll need steady hands while dealing with those rascals."

Helping Scar down, Sam took a step back to clear space for the older sprite. A fleeting grin passed over his face. "You could always enjoy the attention while it lasts," he told his mentor quietly enough that the others wouldn't overhear, knowing that was the last thing Scar would ever do.

Once Scar was down, Sam acted like he'd never said anything. "In fact," he called up to Jacob, "I think Vel will want to visit again when you're there."

Jacob grinned, more than glad to hear the assessment. Even Bowman didn't look like he was inclined to contradict Sam as he landed near the others on the table. "Yeah? I wouldn't mind at all if he did," Jacob answered, sounding as pleased as he looked. Behind him, the coffee machine emitted a polite beep to indicate that it was finished and he straightened. "I'll get better about that," he assured them with a sheepish look before turning to the kitchenette to pour the piping hot coffee.

Scar chuckled quietly. "Vel adopts any new friend he meets," he mused fondly. Karlis, his lieutenant among the knights, was the boy's proud father, and could hardly keep up with him some days. "A lot like a certain Leafwing boy."

Bowman scoffed. "Right. I'm not the one who drilled Jacob with questions about ... computers the first chance he got," he said, throwing Sam a pointed look.

"But you are the one who stuck around for the entire conversation and listened," Sam countered without missing a beat. It was second nature to him. "Even though you had no idea what was going on and thought we were making the entire thing up just to mess with you."

Sam took a seat on the flat tabletop, brushing a hand over the wood grain it was made from. After so many years with the sprites he had a hard time believing he was actually here, and Dean was close by. Not even the lingering trepidation he felt in him from Bobby's tender mercies could dampen the happiness at that thought.

He'd wanted it for so long, and now that he had it he hardly knew what to do with himself.

We'll figure it out, Sam thought to himself as the water turned off in the bathroom. Just like we always do.

Jacob poured himself a cup of coffee and set it aside, considering how he'd bring some for the smaller guys on the table. A spoon had worked for Bowman, but on a whim Jacob took one of the small creamer cups and emptied it, rinsing it out so he could put black coffee in it in a portion the size of a bucket. It was still a lot for them, but it might be easier.

Leaving the pot with more than enough for Dean to claim his own coffee, Jacob brought his cup as well as the improvised container and some extra sugar and creamer back to the table and took a seat. "Here we go," he announced quietly, claiming one of the sugar packets for his own drink and leaving the rest for them to sort out their own preferences.

Scar and Bowman eyed the supplies critically. Bowman nudged at a sugar packet and tilted his head to squint at the lettering on the side. "Sss ... sugar," he managed, calling on his rusty knowledge of human lettering. "Never saw sugar that looked like that." He pointed at a few crystals that had escaped Jacob's coffee to land on the tabletop. "Does the coffee really need it?"

" 'Course not!" came a bright voice from the bathroom. Dean came out, toweling off his damp hair and wearing a clean set of clothing. "The only way to have it is hot and black."

Sam threw him a look. "Black coffee is as bad as Bowman's pine sap," he complained loudly and grabbed one of the sugar packets. "No thanks."

Dean made himself a cup before coming over to the table to join the others, arching an eyebrow at the sight of Sam with a sugar packet. It was half the size of the small knight, but that didn't stop Sam from tearing off the top.

Bowman eyed the sugar packet before cupping his hands in the container Jacob brought them and scooping up some coffee for himself without anything added. He doubted that he would mind the drink sweetened, but he was fond of his pine sap. He settled down carefully to avoid spilling his coffee and sipped at it while Sam added to the rest.

Scar, for his part, was still wary of the drink in general. He would drink it however it ended up with Sam's additions, but he watched Bowman's wings in the meantime. If coffee was as powerful as they all made it seem, they'd see signs in those leafy appendages in no time at all.

"And this place isn't far from home?" he asked, glancing up at the two humans on either side.

Jacob shook his head. "Not at all. Much shorter drive this time, and then the walk to the village. We'll getcha home soon."

"Once we're finished the coffee we'll head out," Dean affirmed as he sipped his own cup. "Can't head out without at least a little energy for that walk."

"Not everyone gets energy from the sun," Sam quipped as he grabbed another creamer and gave the top seal a good yank. A drop of the cream landed near his boot and Sam backed away from it with a grimace. Adding a few similar droplets to their 'cup' made the brown liquid swirl into a light brown and Sam picked it up to mix it faster. "There we go."

Before pushing it over to Scar, he dipped his own hands in and sipped it to make sure the taste wasn't bad. The warmth from the liquid filled him from his stomach and radiated out. "Perfect," Sam murmured as he nudged the cup over.

Scar took his own portion of the coffee. He couldn't help but think of drinking water out of the enormous cup that Bobby had given them the day before. He hadn't finished his drink fast enough, so the human's jab had caused it to spill. Scar drank his coffee faster, both for appreciation of the taste and to get rid of the risk of spilling.

Jacob couldn't help a relieved sigh as he worked on his own coffee. He kept an eye on the three on the table, proud and glad that they were out of their ordeal at least. Some of the guilt in the back of his mind wanted to surge up again, but he held it at bay. It was a time to celebrate.

When everyone had finished their coffee (and Bowman's wings were fidgeting just as much as the day before), the group packed up to leave. They left no sign of the smaller folk having been there, and soon enough all three of them were hidden in Dean's protective hand as they all went out and the sight of the Impala greeted them.

The hood of the car gleamed in the sun when Jacob found himself behind the wheel again, Dean in the passenger side with passengers of his own. The key slid into the ignition, and the car roared to life.

FIN

A/N:

A bit of liquid energy will do a world of good!

Thanks so much for coming with us on this journey! The gang's all together now, and on their way back to Wellwood! Dean will see them home.

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Next: Dean of Wellwood, posting in the future!

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May 13th: Bobby of Far Away finishes posting!

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