A/N:

Thank you to everyone who's coming along with us on this journey!

I did at a part in the first chapter that explains what AU this story is from (Brothers Asunder :D) and where to find the prequel to this story, if anyone's interested in reading it who hasn't been with us before! It's a very fun story to lead into this one that focuses on Sam.

Thank you so much to Christine, ngregory763, Kurama's Foxy Rose and Kajensen07 for the great reviews!

News of the attack in the woods spread. Three friends camping in the woods, having a good time together when one had turned on the others, striking out with a vicious and unwarranted attack that no one saw coming. There was no reason for the attack. No betrayals in their past, nothing but the good-natured ribbing that all teenage guys did.

Reporters and police were drawn to the scene. More than one camping trip was put to an end as the word spread. There was a dangerous man at large in the woods, and there was no way to know if he'd lash out again. All the campgrounds were emptied pending investigation and search.

The two teenagers recovered. One had a brief asthma attack from the blow to his sternum, but his inhaler was nearby and they were able to head it off before it go any worse. Both were taken in an ambulance to the hospital to check for other injuries, and to answer questions from the police.

Police and reporters weren't the only people attracted to the case.

A tall man stepped into the room that Jacob and Chase were staying in until they got released. So far, Jacob was allowed to leave, but after the recent asthma attack, Chase was under close watch to make sure that the attack hadn't caused any other injuries. It left them spinning their wheels together, stuck with bland hospital food.

The first thing that stuck out about the man was the dark, dirty blond hair sticking up in a casual spike that didn't quite fit in with the suit he was wearing. He flashed a badge at the two guys waiting with a wry grin. Though older than both teens, it didn't seem that he was old enough for the FBI badge he wielded.

"Name's Jimmy Page," he greeted. "I was hoping you could answer a few questions about the attack at the campground for me."

Jacob's eyebrows shot up. He glanced over the guy's appearance, lingering on the official-looking FBI embossed over his ID.

Holy shit.

He shared a glance with Chase, who shrugged in his hospital bed. Neither of them had realized this was a case for the feds.

Looking back at the agent, Jacob realized he wasn't sure if he was supposed to stand, or shake the man's hand, or what. He'd sat in the same worn out chair when the cops came by to question him. If he was supposed to do something, they'd probably tell him.

"Uh, yeah," he answered, straightening in the chair. His headaches had begun to subside, and now he only sported a ghastly bruise on his cheek from Bobby smacking him with the firewood. "I guess."

Chase spoke up after him. "We did already talk to the cops, though. What's going on? We're not in trouble, are we?"

"Not at all." Jimmy gave them a reassuring grin as he grabbed one of the other chairs in the room to sit down on. "We're all just glad you two are okay after the attack. Now, the reason they sent me in is this case raised a red flag in my department."

Jimmy stowed the fake badge in his suit, next to the other fake ID's he used on a regular basis. "From what we can tell, your friend, Bobby, attacked you without any reason and is currently at large in the forest. We could have a full search on our hands. Comb the forest, have the search dogs out in force with their trainers and teams. Everyone is hoping to avoid that, which is where I come in. I've got… special training for a situation like this. I'll just need you to answer a few questions before I can get started."

Jacob's jaw clenched and he blinked a few times, nodding shallowly. He tried not to react any more than that, but Jimmy's explanation had him on edge immediately. The thought of agents and dogs swarming those woods worried him, but not on Bobby's behalf.

His thoughts immediately went to Sam and Bowman, and the other wood sprites that called the deepest parts of the forest their home. If the FBI found them, they would likely lock each and every one of them up, or at least whichever ones didn't fall victim to a dog's bite. They were helpless out there.

Four inches was tall for them, and they had been warm and welcoming to him even after he trapped Sam and Bowman under a bucket during their first encounter. Small and trusting. That was precisely why Jacob, after gaining their trust a few months ago, had decided to never tell anyone their secret. Even Bobby and Chase didn't know about the sprite village deep in the woods, but they would if they let the FBI search the land. Jacob hoped he could give Agent Page enough information to prevent a search of that magnitude.

"Right, of course," Jacob said with a strained smile. "Hopefully whatever's wrong with Bobby can be sorted out fast ..."

Chase scoffed. "No joke. My parents are traveling, imagine calling your mom in the middle of her business trip and explaining this."

The agent could only assume it was fear for Jacob's best friend that worried him so much. Lost and alone and no way of knowing exactly what had turned him against them, though the agent had his suspicions about the cause. Suspicious he needed to confirm for the good of everyone, no matter what the real authorities thought.

Pulling out a notepad from his jacket, the agent leaned forward, his expression intense. "I'm going to need you to answer some questions, then. No matter how odd they get, it's important you answer each and every one."

He held their gazes for a long moment, trying to convey the importance of their discussion. "First things first. Can you tell me exactly what happened when Bobby lashed out?"

Jacob took a moment to collect his thoughts and memories of the confusing night. The blow to his head could have been much worse, but there were still fuzzy spots from the night his friend had gone off the deep end.

When Jacob paused, Chase picked up the story. "We were just sitting around our campfire. I tossed him a soda and missed and then it just sorta happened."

Jacob shook his head. "He got up to go pick up the can," he added in. "When he came back he had a piece of firewood in his hand and he clocked me." He pointed to the long bruise on the side of his face for emphasis. "I remember that much for sure."

Chase sighed wearily. "I've never seen the guy do anything like that. He's kinda more of a big talker, y'know?"

The agent pursed his lips thoughtfully as he sketched down notes on the yellow paper. "People can change," he cautioned as he did so. "Sometimes you won't even recognize them afterwards. It's a good thing he didn't catch you at the right angle with that wood."

If that had happened, he'd be examining corpses in the morgue, one of the worst parts of the job. Especially when the victims were just some kids, out camping to have a good time.

"Next," Jimmy went on, keeping himself on track, "did you two… smell anything strange? Like bad eggs, or anything out of place in the campground?"

Jacob frowned and glanced at Chase. They racked their brains, but the smell of the air was far from their minds that night, all things considered. "Y'mean like someone cooking something?" Chase eventually asked.

Jacob pursed his lips. He could only think of one reason why they'd be asked about a weird smell. "Was there some kinda chemical leak or something? Is he gonna be okay out there?"

"Well, there could be an outside source influencing his decisions," the agent told them delicately. That was putting it mildly, considering the possibilities that existed for a guy to turn on his lifelong friends. "If there is, we want to find it and put a stop to it. If not, we need to find him and find out why he attacked you." He tapped down on his notepad, following an invisible list of questions. "Did you feel any cold spots or breezes?"

Both teens shook their heads, while inwardly thinking that it was an odd question. Jimmy had warned them, though so they didn't say anything about it. "No breeze, except up in the trees, I guess," Jacob replied.

"And it was hot as fu- it was really hot," Chase chimed in, barely remembering to moderate his language for the agent. "His ... eyes seemed a little funny for a second, but I think it was the lack of oxygen messing with my head."

"They did?" The agent's interest was piqued. Now they were getting somewhere. Random attacks in the woods were one thing, but strange happenstance around those attacks made them his business. "Do you remember exactly what you saw?"

Jacob was watching Chase, too, only hearing some of his words repeated from before. He apparently hadn't deemed the details worth mentioning to the cops, and he looked unsure of them even now. "Well, I mean, other than smacking Jacob in the face he was already acting weird," he admitted. "I guess if there's some kinda gas leak out there it'd make sense, 'cause he was super tense and he hit me fast. While I was pretty much dying on the ground in front of him, his eyes looked super dark."

"What the hell," Jacob muttered, staring at Chase incredulously.

Chase shrugged exasperatedly. "Dude you try suffocating and tell me you don't hallucinate a little."

"Perfect," Jimmy muttered under his breath, finally eager to be in town. Up until that point he thought he was off on a goose chase. Just something he'd been put up to so he'd chase his tail for a bit and keep him out of trouble. But now, he had a purpose and a goal.

The agent stowed his notepad back in his jacket and stood up. "I think that should be all for today. You should both stay out of the forest until this is all sorted out. With him on the loose, it won't be safe to confront him until we know what caused the attack." He drew out two business cards from his pocket and handed one off to each teenager. "If you see or hear anything strange, no matter how little, give me a call. Anything."

Chase took his card and set it on the tiny table next to the bed where he was confined until further notice. Jacob shoved his into his hoodie pocket and nodded. "Yeah, dude. Thanks. Hopefully you can figure this stuff out before anything happens," he said, still a little dazed that the FBI thought this was worth their time. He began to wonder if maybe Bobby's family had leaned on the government for it.

The threat of a full search of the forest still worried at Jacob's core, so he stood after the agent walked out and sidled to the door curiously. Chase asked him what the hell he was doing, but Jacob waved him off and concentrated on leaning carefully out so he could watch the agent walk down the hall.

When he stopped and started to glance around, Jacob ducked back into the room, and then listened hard for any further signs on what the guy was doing.

The second he was out of the room, Agent 'Jimmy Page' glanced surreptitiously around the hall, checking that none of the actual police or any of the overly helpful nurses were around to overhear him. He didn't need his identity being questioned, not now that he'd found an actual case. Unlike that goose chase he'd gone on in Haven, Kansas. There was nothing there to find, but here he had an almost-guaranteed demon to deal with.

Once he was sure he was alone in the hall, he slipped a flip phone out of his jacket. He pulled up a familiar number, one he'd never thought he'd be calling again until the man called him the other night pointing him here. The older man always kept tabs, with honest worry for the younger man after losing his entire family, and his leads were good nine times out of ten.

"Hey," he greeted. There was a pause while the person on the other end of the line talked, then, "It's me." He scoffed. "No, the other me. Who else are you expecting to call you? A local candygram?"

There was a longer pause, and the agent's ears turned pink. "Whatever. That case you told me about? It's definitely our kinda thing. Black eyes and all. Problem is, it escaped into the forest." The person on the other end of the phone must have been talking, because the agent gave a very unprofessional roll of his eyes. "Bobby. I can handle myself in the woods. What do you take me for?"

He shifted his feet, then twisted around to check the hall again with a squeal of black rubber shoes against linoleum. "Fine. Any problems come up, I'll call ya. I'm pretty sure I can handle a little walk in the woods though." He nodded. "Yep, got it. Let me know if you hear anything else."

Stowing the phone in his jacket, the agent strolled casually away.

Jacob frowned and shuffled back into the room, leaning idly against the wall. The agent was going out to the forest on his own to investigate. While Jacob wasn't too worried about the man being able to subdue Bobby, he was worried about him stumbling upon Sam or Bowman out there.

For that matter, if Bobby found them while he was in this state, there was no telling what he'd do. They were small. Bobby could do some serious damage without meaning to, without even considering that he'd knocked Jacob out with one decisive blow, by catching him by surprise. Whatever his state of mind was, it wasn't good. The sprites wouldn't stand a chance, no matter how talented the knights were with their swords.

"So, what's up with all the shifty looks?" Chase asked, breaking into his thoughts.

Jacob glanced up with a sheepish grin. "Hey, at least he didn't notice me. I was hoping he might know what's up with Bobby and he's just not telling us."

Chase nodded absently. "Whatever it is, I'm not camping with that nut for a while," he quipped.

Jacob bobbed his head in sympathy, understanding Chase's reasoning. While Jacob might not have taken lasting damage from the brief altercation, the assault had been enough to taint the memories of camping with Bobby. "Listen, you gonna be alright here? I gotta get out of this room for a while."

Chase pouted and put a betrayed look on his face before waving a hand. "I'll be fine. You head out. I bet your mom and stepdad are just waiting for you," he said.

Jacob chuckled and nodded before heading out of the room, leaving Chase to wait for the all-clear.

A/N

Enter Jimmy Page!

If that's even your real name

Next: November 7th, 2018 at 9pm est