A/N
Thanks to Christine, mckydstarlight and appletopine for all the wonderful reviews!
Curious, Dean went to kneel down as Jacob touched down on the bottom of the nightstand. There was no way he could miss the glint of mischief that edged Jacob's voice. I gotta see this, he thought, wondering what his pint-sized brothers got up to when making trouble. He knew so little about them after only a week together.
Jacob was intent on his goal as he slipped between the books under the nightstand, ignoring the giant that was marking his progress. Once he vanished, Dean nudged the books aside with a knuckle, opening the small room to the open air and giving him a bird's eye view of the shenanigans.
Sam was still sprawled out on the flannel shirt that they used for a bed. Jacob grabbed the edge, easily hauling the fabric into the air, Sam and all, and Sam rolled right off. If Jacob could lift a vase, he could certainly move his adopted brother around without any issue.
Halfway through the motion, Sam flailed as the tilting woke him up. One bare foot clipped the edge of the cup of water Dean had left them. It wasn't enough to knock the dixie cup over, but it was plenty of force to make a small splash, soaking Sam's leg even as he crashed into the back of the nightstand.
Sam scrambled to his feet, gasping in surprise as he went for his knife, which was nowhere to be found. As his vision cleared from sleep, he saw Jacob only a few inches away, and Dean blocking most of the view of the motel room, with a hand over his mouth to try and muffle the snickers.
"What. The. Hell!?" Sam finally managed to piece together.
Jacob's cheshire cat grin wasn't hidden, since his hands were still full of fabric. Sam's reaction was just as good as he expected, though the cup of water was an added bonus. Jacob snickered and dropped the fabric pointedly, an air of victory in the action. He knew he was asking for retaliation, but he couldn't help it.
"Good to see you're awake," he quipped, a laugh coloring his voice. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder, where he knew Dean was doing his best to not just burst out laughing. "We wanted to make sure you didn't miss out on the coffee before noon." He glanced over at the dixie cup, letting another chuckle escape at the sight of the spilled drops of water around it.
Sam groaned, tossing aside the rest of the fabric that had gone flying with him. He brushed his messy bed head out of the way of his face, glaring up at Jacob all the while. "So glad to see you so peppy this early in the morning," he said snippily.
Dean smirked at the grouchy reaction. "Aww, Sammy. Even you have to admit you were asking for it." He glanced overtop the nightstand, peering at the alarm clock that sat on top. Big, red numbers told him the time. "Jesus, you slept past ten in the morning. That's almost unnatural for you."
He leaned back down, giving Jacob a huge grin. "He's just mad he didn't think of it first," he laughed, holding up a fist to Jacob. "Give it here."
At first, Jacob stiffened to see that massive fist coming his way. It was jarring to watch such a large limb effortlessly moving around. A truck might as well have come to a stop right in front of him. He distinctly remembered what it felt like to be stuck in that fist and to know that he wouldn't get out unless Dean wanted him to.
And then Jacob remembered, during his time under the vase, Dean taking on a playful demeanor. There was a moment when he'd punched the vase in pure frustration only to have Dean tap back with a cheeky comment. It had confused the hell out of Jacob just as much as it had amused Dean.
After spending a little time with the stern hunter, having his first drink of coffee and discovering that it was a lot stronger than he expected, Jacob realized that the playful side was just as much a part of Dean as was his undeniable skill in hunting. It was hidden deeper down but there were ways to catch a glimpse of it.
With that in mind, Jacob gamely tapped his fist against one of Dean's knuckles, inwardly proud that his joke had gone over so well. With Dean at least. He could see from the pout on Sam's face that he wasn't getting off light for this one. He knelt to pick up Sam's jacket from where it was discarded the night before. He felt the heft of the knife inside and held it out to Sam while he tried to rein in his smirk. "Oh, come on, you know you've gotten me just as good before."
Sam snatched the jacket away from Jacob, pointedly putting it on. He didn't deign to reply to Jacob's smart-ass remark, and tried to ignore Dean's shit-eating grin. Of everything that he remembered about Dean, that was definitely the most aggravating. Just you wait, he thought in annoyance. I'll get you both back. He had no idea how, especially as far as Dean was concerned, but he'd figure out something.
Sam stood, and stuck his hand in the cup of water to try and straighten his hair. "It's not like we had anywhere to go," he snipped. "I'll remember this next time you two decide to sleep the day away."
Sam gave his arms a stretch, groaning. "Didn't someone say 'coffee?' " he grumbled up at Dean. He grabbed his boots from the side, putting them on with sharp motions.
Dean failed at hiding his smirk. "Maybe. Or maybe we already finished it all on you." He let out a laugh at the look Sam shot him. If looks could kill… For being only four inches tall, Sam certainly managed to pull off world-class death glares.
The hand that was in a fist moments before flipped over and he offered it to his two smaller brothers. "It's just over by the table. You, ah… up for a lift, or would you rather hike yourselves over?" Dean didn't want to pressure them, but it didn't feel right unless he offered.
Sam and Jacob shared a long look before Sam shrugged. "Only because you're too much of a pain in the ass to deal with without coffee," he shot up at Dean. He reached over and grabbed his own satchel from the side before stepping on the broad palm, noting that Dean was doing his best to keep it steady. It still shook slightly beneath Sam's booted foot, a slight wavering in the arm that Dean might not even realize was present. The last week spent with his older brother had helped Sam to adjust to movements like that.
Jacob followed suit after only a second's pause. It still felt strange that he and Sam, two entire people, could stand on just one of Dean's hands with room to spare. Jacob kept his eyes fixed on the palm beneath his boots, watching the lifeline and feeling Dean's steady pulse. A heart bigger than Sam and Jacob together was working away to keep Dean's blood flowing.
Jacob tightened his grip on his satchel when the hand lifted. His muscles all tensed as the ground left them behind but gravity insisted they stay. He'd hardly realized Dean grabbed his hook from the nightstand for him in his singular focus on not falling over on his ass. He'd already done that before, hitching a ride on Dean's hand. It was the last mistake he wanted to make now, so soon after pranking Sam. He'd never hear the end of it.
Once Dean stood at his full height, Jacob couldn't help but to peer curiously around the room, not even paying attention to the climbing rope as he coiled it up on his arm. It was a rare perspective. Usually, if he or Sam were up high like this, they were near the edges of the room (or not even in it, if they hid in the vents). Here, while Dean took long, steady strides through the middle of the room, they could almost get a sense of a size closer to what they should be, if not for the curse.
When they reached the table, Jacob waved a hand at the amount of coffee left for Sam. There was more than he'd ever need, though it might make a good coffee bath. "There's your coffee, sleeping beauty," he quipped, unable to resist one final jab.
"What were you up researching this time?" This question, at least, was genuinely curious. Sam had a lot more than Jacob to catch up on, after all. He'd been out of the world for ten years longer than Jacob had, and a lot had happened in that time. Until now, neither of them had any real way to know what news might be spreading across the continent.
Sam took the bottlecap from Dean once the older hunter had finished pouring it, taking himself and his cap over to the few condiments the room service had provided before they'd arrived. It was lucky Dean didn't need to use any of them, especially with the way the hunter didn't allow anyone else in the room. The DO NOT DISTURB sign remained on the door handle at all times, resulting in no refills of their towels or condiments unless the hunter hiked his ass down to the front desk to fetch them.
Even when Dean came and went, he was certain to knock twice before entering, signaling to Sam and Jacob who was outside the room. If those knocks weren't present, they were to take cover, even if it looked like Dean coming into the room.
After all, more than one creature out in the world could take Dean's form, or steal his body. A single moment of inattention on Sam and Jacob's part, if they didn't realize it wasn't Dean…
Nothing good would ever come of that. They all already had enough proof that Dean's hands alone were too powerful for them to resist.
Dean settled in his own seat, pouring himself the last dregs from the coffee pot. He grabbed the newspaper he'd left to the side, unfolding it to read over the headlines while the others talked. Sam intently added the cream and the sugar to his drink, taking a long draught of the lukewarm coffee before even considering Jacob's question.
Sam frowned, his brow furrowing as he remembered the night before. It was probably past two in the morning when he'd finally turned in, giving up on the laptop for the night. He smiled sheepishly. "New computers," he admitted. "And what new phones they have in development. Even some phones that have built in maps so we wouldn't need to drag around Dean's collection." The entire front seat of the Impala was covered in maps and atlases, enough that Sam or Jacob would be picking their way over roadways and rivers no matter where they stood the few times they were down on the seat.
Jacob raised his eyebrows, definitely intrigued by the revelation. He'd known about some websites that performed that function, but having all the maps on a phone was way easier. Dean might be able to carry around that bulky laptop everywhere, but it would be pretty useless for navigating if it couldn't hook up to the web. Growing up without a TV, Jacob hadn't been completely caught up on technology when he shrank, either. He distinctly remembered the iPod being the most popular development at the time.
"Tech was moving pretty fast, last I checked," he mused. He hadn't bothered to try keeping up with half of it, but it was entertaining to watch some of his friends get all puffed up about the latest and greatest technology. "Guess we'll have to keep an eye out for those ones. Maybe Dean can add one to his fleet."
Jacob was referring, of course, to the several phones Dean kept stashed away for cases. All of them were more sophisticated than any of the ones Jacob had seen before getting hit by the curse, but none of them had entire maps in them.
"At this rate I'll have to get you two your own phone," Dean grumbled from the side as he flipped through the paper. "Otherwise if I get a phone with a map in it, I'll never see it again. Sam will keep running off with it. Or trying to bribe you to run off with it if it's too heavy."
Sam threw a look up at Dean. He was torn between annoyance over the joking prods, and surprise at the thought of a phone of his own. Despite the fact that Dean had at least five different phones he switched between, all with the same ringtone, it had never occurred to Sam that he or Jacob would ever own anything like that. It wasn't a part of the life they were used to.
Jacob had been given less time to adjust to his new size than Sam, resulting in the odd fact that while he had a harder time adjusting to Dean's size, he had an easier time adjusting to other things. The availability of food and the ability to choose didn't come as near as much of a shock to Jacob, while Sam still couldn't bring himself to actually ask for anything. It went wholly against how he'd lived for over half his life.
Sam shifted the bottlecap sitting down on the table next to him, staring at the creamy, distorted reflection of himself. "That'd be nice," he said quietly.
Jacob perked up at the idea. He'd never had a phone of his own. The fact that any phone Dean might get would probably outweigh him didn't factor into his musings on the subject. They wouldn't be able to call anyone except Dean with it, but even that would prove useful.
It was the concept of having something that was theirs that they didn't have to scavenge, like Jacob's nail, or fight for, like the leather in their satchels, that stood out. Jacob still remembered clearly how much easier it was to get the things he needed as a human. He had never been wealthy, but he'd gotten by comfortably with just him and his mom.
Three years removed from that meant that Jacob accepted that he wouldn't have all the things that made life easier. Now that he and Sam could actually experience some of the world again, he barely even knew what he'd ask for. Jacob had made some requests for different food since being taken in by Dean, but beyond that he barely knew what they'd need. Sleeping on a shirt may not seem like much, but Sam's deep sleep had demonstrated that it was more than comfortable enough. They could get themselves around easily enough even without occasionally having Dean's help.
Seeing that Sam had fallen into a thoughtful quiet, Jacob tilted his head to try to catch his eye, ignoring a rustle of the paper that cast a stretching shadow across the table. "Hey, if we do end up with one I'll let you pick the ringtone," he quipped. He had a feeling Sam would go for something other than the guitar riff Dean favored.
Sam glanced up from his coffee, a slowly-spreading smile taking over his face. "Yeah? So I guess that means you won't be changing any settings in it on me then, like the volume or if it vibrates." The one time Dean's phone had gone off near them, it had vibrated the entire nightstand. Sam still wanted to get Dean back for that one, even though he hadn't done it on purpose. It was something he never thought of, a slight vibration against his side. By contrast, for Sam and Jacob it sounded close to an earthquake going off overhead and sent Sam diving for cover by instinct.
Which was embarrassing.
He had to try and get used to things like that. If Dean saw him diving for cover from a cell phone, of all things, he'd never hear the end of it. Sam took one last sip of the cooling coffee, letting himself grin at Jacob. "Star Wars ringtone it is."
Jacob rolled his eyes, his smirk widening. He liked the Star Wars movies as much as anyone, but he was aware of Sam's liking of them. They'd even managed to catch the tail end of one from the vents back at Trails West in Jacob's second year living with the curse. It was a nice reprieve from constantly scavenging and warily looking out for threats. The occupants of the room had fallen asleep with the movie going, and the two miniaturized humans could see the screen from the higher vent.
"Alright, geek, it'll have a Star Wars ringtone," he quipped with a chuckle. He didn't have a comment for Sam's insinuation that he'd change the settings. Jacob might go for a trick like that, if he wouldn't be just as affected by it. The speakers on Dean's phones could only get so loud, but it was loud enough for both smaller brothers to flinch from the loud volume.
Even after three years, he wasn't used to everything being so much bigger and louder. Being able to remember how things were before meant that Jacob had some of his most precious memories crisp in his mind, but it also meant that the world around him looked warped and surreal. The looming height of the furniture, the rumbling in the floor from a single human footstep, the rustling of the newspaper in Dean's hands ...
"Finding anything interesting in there?" Jacob asked, taking a few steps around to get a glimpse of the back page of whatever Dean was reading. The paper loomed over him like a building as he tilted his neck back. If Dean let the paper drop, it probably wouldn't be heavy enough to do more than annoy Jacob when he got caught underneath it.
Dean folded down the paper so he could see the other two standing on the table. "Y'know. The usual. 'Attorney Accidentally Sues Himself.' That has to be one of my new favorites. Oh, and I found us a case, too." He grinned proudly, noting the way Sam instantly looked up towards the paper.
Flattening the paper on the table, Dean pointed out the article he'd been reading over while they argued about their own future cell phone. Which, as far as he was concerned, was a definite. A way to keep in touch with the two vulnerable brothers he'd taken under his wing was important.
" 'Man killed in his own house, inside of a locked room,' " Dean read out loud as Sam pushed himself to his feet to walk over. "Not only did he die within the last week, his daughter went missing just a few days ago. Something's up with this family, that's for sure."
Jacob sidled around, tilting his head to read the text Dean pointed out. The lettering was easy enough to see at an angle, since it was almost as tall as his hands. It wasn't the sort of story that made Jacob immediately jump to the conclusion of something supernatural going on. The locked room bit was a little weird, but before learning more about the hunting lifestyle, Jacob wouldn't have given the story much thought.
Now, though, he knew better. He knew to at least try to read between the lines of the sparse statements from the police and the remaining family members in the bizarre case. Since the daughter's boyfriend also hadn't been seen in awhile, there was suspicion that the young couple eloped when they couldn't get the father's blessing. Neither foul play nor suicide had been ruled out yet in the investigation.
"So, we know what they think about it," Jacob said aloud, absently shoving his hands into the pocket of his hoodie. "Are we thinking ... some kinda spirit?" he asked, glancing between his two brothers. They both knew far more about what was out there than he did. Jacob's only guess for what could kill a man in a locked room was a ghost, but he knew he could easily be wrong.
Dean bobbed his head. "Spirits are possible. So are demons and demonic possession." Both could slip behind closed doors to do their dirty work. Without a solid form of their own, there was no need for open doors when they made their escape. The last demon he'd dealt with had been on an airplane, and that was one of his least favorite memories ever, as far as cases went. Having to deal with his own fear of flying while trying to exorcise a demon from some poor bastard and the plane was trying to shake itself apart... Dean hid a shudder.
"If it's a demon, we might not find anything there," Sam reminded him. "They might move on once they killed off the father."
Dean poked part of the article that highlighted the other disappearance that had happened in the same family. "Except the daughter's still missing. I'm betting that if a demon's involved, she's either next or already on the menu. There's a chance we can find her before anything else bad happens."
He arched his eyebrows at the other two. "So, you guys in or do I go it alone?" He had a knowing grin on his face. There was no way Sam would ever say no, and it was unlikely Jacob would want to be left out. The kid didn't have their confidence in hunting yet, but he clearly looked up to Sam and followed along with what he did.
Sure enough, Sam gave him a miffed glare. "What, and let you get yourself into trouble without us?"
Jacob smirked, though inwardly he was thinking Demons exist. Holy shit. He glanced over the article again. "Yup, it looks like a tricky one. You'll definitely want some backup," he quipped, shelving his reservations. Jacob had no idea if he'd be of any help on this case. Sam at least knew the facts going in. Jacob may be completely new to the life, but he couldn't just sit things out.
He doubted the nail fixed to his satchel would be of any use if they were dealing with something like a demon. He didn't even know how they'd be able to tell. At least if Dean and Sam told him what he was supposed to look for, at least Jacob could help with that.
"So how could we tell just from the scene?" he asked, curiosity and intrigue roused in him. He may have a lot of catching up to do compared to even Sam, but that by itself wasn't enough to discourage him.
Dean shrugged as he put the newspaper away. "Sometimes. With demons, you can find sulfur around the scene. It's leftover from their time in hell, and a residue lingers wherever they go. With spirits, and especially poltergeists, there might be ectoplasm found nearby. And both can be detected with the handy EMF reader that all hunters - and 'ghost hunters' on TV - swear by."
He reached into his jacket, pulling out a clunky device that had an assortment of knobs across the top, and various buttons to control it. A meter covered the front and an antennae poked up at the side.
Sam arched his eyebrows as Dean flipped it on, making one of the knobs flash red. He scrunched up his face. "Why's this one look like a busted-up Walkman?"
Dean grinned proudly. " 'Cause that's what I made it out of. If there's any spirits lurking around that house or any demon residue, this baby will find it."
Jacob took a few hesitant steps towards the device in Dean's hand. Pieced together out of other bits of technology, it looked like it could be a kid's walkie-talkie. The one lit bulb on it gave away nothing about its real purpose. And yet, from the wear on it, Dean had clearly used the thing numerous times before. Maybe even enough that he'd had to repair it once or twice. Jacob found himself curious to see it in action, if nothing else for more proof that they were actually about to go hunt a ghost or a demon or whatever this was.
Jacob glanced over at Sam. "Well, I guess if there's anything left around, we're a good option to find it. Our whole deal is finding things left around." Jacob may not be as good at the lifestyle of the smaller folk as Sam, but he still had plenty of practice getting the details of a room before even entering it.
"That's the plan," Dean said. "We'll head out in a bit. I just gotta finish grabbing the last of our stuff and hit the road. You two try and stay out of trouble for more than five minutes, you hear me?" All the words were said in a lighthearted tone.
He had a case and he had family. What more did he need?
A/N:
This cute little family is slowly getting used to each other, and completely ready for a hunt!
Keep your eye out for some special Halloween treats on the blog tomorrow!
Next: November 1st, 2016
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