Bobby kept a wary eye on Sam even as he watched Dean and Jacob in his periphery. His brow pinched with caution and confusion and his blue eyes hesitantly dropped to the hand offered to him. Several weeks ago, that hand and much of the arm connected to it had disappeared in a grip between his thumb and first finger. Bobby remembered feeling the strain in that little arm.
He remembered feeling the break and the way Sam's whole body seized up when he was released to Bobby's palm. By rights, that arm should be pummeling him, and yet it was extended peacefully.
Bobby avoided Sam's gaze while he thought it through. Now that there was a pause, he could take a real look at his surroundings again. The bed, the dresser, the desk all towered over him. Perspective played a trick on him, and the furniture appeared to lean closer as if observing what had transpired in the room. Bobby could walk under Jacob's bed without even ducking his head. The floor spanned out around them, though Bobby knew it was a small room. The ceiling towered overhead...
The realization hit Bobby like a dart to his temple. This was what the world looked like to Sam and Dean. He was actually living it. "God dammit," he muttered, struck by several things at once.
He met Sam's gaze again, still without taking his offered hand. "I, uh. I was wrong," he told him, his eyebrows furrowing together as though admitting that simple truth took colossal effort. His pride seethed for it, like a wounded animal thrashed in his chest. "I was wrong about a lotta things and ... I hate y'all a little for this, but I can't say I didn't have it comin.' " A faint drawl slipped into his voice as he spoke, Texan roots shining through despite him conceding his prideful point. Only after he said his piece did Bobby reach out slowly to let Sam help him to his feet.
"Everyone has to start somewhere, right?" Sam offered kindly as he gripped the teen's hand. It was a shock when he saw how slim Bobby's hand was in his grasp as it almost vanished completely. Not long ago, Sam would have vanished into that hand. Now, he was almost worried he'd squeeze too hard and crush it himself as he pulled himself and Bobby up.
Bobby was a lot lighter than Dean, who Sam generally dragged or hauled around on a daily basis, so it was only a second before they were both standing. Side by side, Sam was a good head taller than the blond teenager and a lot broader. His former tormentor couldn't knock him off balance from what he could see. A strange feeling, but one that Sam did his best to suppress even as he ignored the slight burn on the back of his neck from Bobby looking back.
On the outskirts, Dean merely watched, clearly focused on Bobby. The kid was, at best, on probation with the older Winchester, and would be lucky to be upgraded from that any time soon.
"Sometimes, we all need a little perspective," Sam said, meeting Dean's eyes for a brief second. "You might hate us now, but I think one day you'll understand." He meant that for both Dean and Bobby, this time, knowing his brother had a hard time forgiving the teenager. Sam didn't want Dean dragged down by thoughts like that, and hoped to spare him.
Bobby wanted to scowl, but he restrained the sour expression. With both Dean and Jacob watching him closely, he knew his leash was short. He didn't want to test how short.
He wanted to tell Sam flat out that he was wrong, that he'd never see things their way, but he already was. Just by standing at their scale, he was seeing a lot of the terrifying side of what they apparently dealt with daily. He still wanted to know what the hell they were, and how they'd managed to live to adulthood this way, but had a feeling he wouldn't find out anytime soon. That by itself dug at him a little.
Bobby realized his cheeks were still damp from moments ago, when he'd thought they'd have Jacob squash him in one hand. He shuddered as the memory of that fear washed over him once more, and hastily brushed at his cheeks with one hand. He adopted a stubborn look and crossed his arms before his ice blue eyes focused over on Dean.
"S-so, what's next? You've slapped my hand ... Am I..." He couldn't help the faint worry that crept into his voice. Am I stuck like this? flashed across his mind.
Dean scoffed. "This wouldn't be much of a lesson if we kept you at this size, now would it?" he queried dryly. "You'll be back to your King Kong knock-off size in no time. I don't feel like having to babysit anyone, and I have a feeling you'd last less than a day if we left you on your own. So you can relax." His face darkened. "Just make sure we don't find out you've treated any other people like you treated us, or we'll be revisiting this subject and you might not like the outcome."
Bobby shrank back under Dean's scathing look. He chanced a look upward. Jacob, still looming over them watchfully, didn't move except to raise an eyebrow at him. He certainly didn't contradict anything Dean told him.
As far as Jacob was concerned, Bobby was still under guard. He agreed with Dean. Bobby could see it in his face.
"R-right," Bobby murmured, lowering his gaze again. He shuddered. Did Sam and Dean get this cold so easily? "I'll remember," he assured them, if a bit begrudgingly. Much like burning his hand on a hot stove, Bobby recoiled from any scenario that might bring him right back here. Next time they might not let him go so easily. If at all. He certainly hadn't planned on letting them go.
Jacob finally shifted, lowering a hand to the floor with the palm facing upwards. "Well, shall we do this, guys?" he asked, his voice booming overhead. When Bobby made to step towards the hand, Jacob moved it back a few inches. "Not you, genius, I'm not gonna balance you on my hand while you grow back."
Dean stalked by, giving Bobby a slap on the back that might have been friendly if it didn't almost knock the teen off his feet. Jacob's hand remained in place for the small hunter, letting him step up without pause.
Sam, on the other hand, helped steady Bobby. Out of his satchel, he pulled out the ratty brown hexbag. The source of Bobby's hex, courtesy of a pint-size witch that now resided with Bobby Singer for lack of anything better to do with her. Technically, she never killed anyone, so killing her would have to be done in cold blood. Bobby could do it if he had to, but for the time being she remained alive. Complaining up a storm in a jar, but living.
"If you want the cure to work," Sam said, giving Bobby an intent look, "don't put this down. If the hexbag gets lost, you'll have to find some new living arrangements. Maybe a dollhouse, or a mousehole might suit." The teen's face became paler than it already was. Sam dropped the bag into Bobby's hands and then jogged over to Jacob's hand to join Dean, grinning to himself for the white lie. They needed the bag to grow back with Bobby, one way or the other.
Bobby kept the bag on his cupped hand, staring at it even as Jacob's fingers curled to cup securely around the brothers. Then, Bobby's eyes widened and he watched the floor as it rumbled with Jacob's movements. He was almost afraid to watch, but he couldn't help but look up as Jacob rose into the air with the brothers in tow.
He was massive. A tower of a person at an equal scale, Jacob was like a skyscraper now. Perspective played tricks again and Bobby leaned back, feeling like the whole room tilted towards his towering former friend.
Bobby stumbled backwards, and ended up falling on his ass less than a foot away from Jacob's boot. It was huge, big enough to crush Bobby underneath it and barely leave a trace. Bobby felt his heart trying to crawl right out of his chest when it lifted.
Jacob glanced all the way down to the floor in time for Bobby to realize he'd dropped the hexbag and scramble to pick it back up. Jacob smirked at the sight of how delicately he held the ratty little thing, and then made his way to the dresser to let the brothers safely watch. He was not going to have them staying on the floor with Bobby full-sized again, with or without his recent revelation.
Besides, even walking away, his steps shook the floor and gave Bobby another healthy dose of that perspective he needed.
Jacob didn't bother to keep one eye on Bobby while he set his hand on the dresser for Sam and Dean. The promise of a cure was too tempting for him to risk running off. Bobby might be proud, and he might be stung now, but he wasn't stupid.
Once Sam and Dean were on the dresser, Jacob didn't hold back his smirk any longer. "Damn, looks like the cure isn't over here, my mistake," he said aloud. He nearly snickered at the faint, worried What? that shot up at him from the floor.
That done, Jacob shrugged at Sam and Dean as if to lament his own forgetfulness before turning to cross his room to his desk. As always, he was watchful of where his steps landed, but Bobby was too preoccupied watching his boots to notice.
After so long placing his steps lightly and carefully, it almost felt weird to cause earthquakes again, as Dean would call it. Bobby had stood himself up again only to fall right back down after one of Jacob's steps landed a foot away and shook the floor.
Jacob ignored Bobby's indignant cussing to pull open a drawer on his desk. Inside was the bag full of the cure for the shrinking hex, what would hopefully bring Bobby back to size along with the hexbag. He wandered back over to stand a few feet in front of Bobby, pinching some of the glittering dust as he did so.
With no further fanfare, Jacob tossed the pinch of powder over Bobby's waiting form. "Redire ad normalis," he intoned, and he had hardly finished the last word before Bobby sprang up to his usual height like a weed.
He flinched back from Jacob and dropped the hexbag like a hot potato. His icy blue eyes were wide and he looked around in shock at his surroundings. Eventually, his gaze found Sam and Dean on the dresser, and he blinked several times. Just moments ago, he'd been shorter than those two.
When Bobby's eyes found them, Sam took an unconscious step back. He may have forgiven the teenager for what he'd done, but he would never forget what it felt like to have his arm clamped between two fingers. Dangled helplessly until those fingers tightened just enough to snap his arm.
Then just pain and blackness, leaving Dean to face Bobby alone.
By contrast, Dean didn't budge so much as a millimeter from where he was standing at the edge of the dresser. With his arms crossed, he cut an intimidating figure all on his own, despite how small he stood.
Now, Bobby knew who called the shots.
Dean fixed an intent look on Bobby. "You be good, Bobby. Or we'll be back, and next time might not have such an easy fix."
Bobby frowned as the implications in those words sank in. Dean's warning, despite coming from someone the size of a finger, was too ominous to ignore after what had just happened. Bobby averted his gaze to keep glancing around the room, only to find Jacob standing by and looking intimidating himself. He and Dean worked together to put pressure on Bobby from either side.
"F-fine, yeah," he stammered, glancing between the two. Intimidation snuck in despite his efforts to keep it at bay, and his shoes shuffled uneasily on the carpet.
Jacob rolled his eyes. "Alright, you're free to go. You know where the door is, or do I need to watch you on your way out?"
Bobby scowled but made his way to the door. "No, dammit. Just leave me alone now, I'm staying outta whatever this fucked up operation is." With the last shreds of his pride, Bobby saw himself out. Jacob remained tense until he heard his front door slam closed in the distance.
He immediately let out a sigh and his demeanor slackened. The act of looming and using his size to be scary was useful, but Jacob much preferred to come across as more relaxed. He didn't want to look threatening, but there were always times for it.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and made his way over to the dresser, back to his lighter steps to avoid shaking the furniture. "That ... all worked pretty well," he assessed, glancing back to the hexbag on the floor.
With Bobby out of sight, Sam's shoulders relaxed as well. He absently rubbed the back of his neck to try and clear away the phantom burning sensation the other human had left behind. His other hand held tight to his satchel strap, using it as an anchor after confronting his former captor and tormentor.
"The test went perfect," Sam said to distract himself from those thoughts. Dean and Jacob could likely see right through him, but he didn't care. Anything to forget about Bobby. Forgiven or not, Sam did not want to be around the other human more than he had to. "He only shrank once, the hexbag came with him, and it did nothing when I touched it."
"Not to mention it grew back with him," Dean picked up Sam's line of thought. His intense demeanor fell away when the rest of their plans came rushing to the forefront of his mind. "I think we're ready to see if Chase is up to being a pint-size translator."
"Dean," Sam said sharply, looking offended.
"What? It's true. First we had the bite-size Bobby and now the pint-size Chase!"
Jacob snickered while he dug his phone out of his pocket and stepped back from the dresser. "Don't let him hear you describe it that way," he warned. With the phone flipped open absently in one hand, Jacob knelt to pinch the edge of the hexbag and get it off the floor. "Convincing him might be tough enough as it is."
He picked up the hexbag as gingerly as he could, depositing it on the dresser a comfortable distance from Sam and Dean. Next, he thumbed through the menu of his phone to find Chase's stored number. "You guys can help with convincing him to drag his lazy ass over here."
After pressing SEND, Jacob put the phone on speaker and set it down on the dresser for Sam and Dean to join in.
It rang several times before there was a click and then a muffled thump. "Dammit..." echoed faintly out of the speaker, and then a clatter as Chase retrieved his dropped phone. "Hey, Jake, what's up? "
"Actually," Dean cut in smoothly. He knew it was unlikely Sam would say much over the phone if he could avoid it, and since this entire plan was theirs, they could give Jacob a break in telling Chase. "We're all here. Can't have Godzilla off on his own, now can we?"
Sam rolled his eyes from where he was standing and Dean shot a flat glare back as though inviting him to try and do better. All of this action was silent, so Jacob could see it but for Chase there was a simple pause before Dean continued on.
"We're actually working a case a few towns over," he said, keeping his voice loud so the speaker would pick it up without losing any words on them. Cell phones were great for convenience, but they certainly weren't made to be used by people Sam and Dean's size. "We ran into a snag earlier on today so we came back to regroup. Turns out, some of the only witnesses we could find only speak Mandarin, so we need a translator."
"No shit? Well, damn, guys, I know a little Mandarin," Chase quipped back. The smirk in his voice over his own joke was as clear as day as if he was standing in the room with them.
Jacob rolled his eyes. "Yeah, jackass, that's why we called you. Think you wanna help us out?" he asked, for the time being leaving out the hexbag's involvement. "Just think, you could save lives."
"What you're saying is 'road trip?' Guys I had literally nothing to do all day 'til you called. I'm in."
"Better get yourself over here then," Dean interjected, pulling the conversation back his way. "We can fill you in on the specifics once we're all together." He was in silent agreement with Jacob that the hexbag might be easier to stomach if they could explain it face-to-face. Telling someone that they needed to shrink down to talk to the witnesses just wasn't normal. Or expected, in any way.
For the first time, Sam spoke up. "You should probably bring a jacket!" he called out, his face slightly flushed. There was a reason both brothers wore jackets most days, only rarely taking them off. At their size, a comfortable room temperature brought with it a chill that could work its way into their bones. They were too thin to be able to keep a stable body temperature. One good thing about using Jacob's pockets for transportation meant they could at least share his warmth. At nearly six and a half feet tall, he had plenty to spare.
Chase paused, and the sound of a door sliding open came through the phone. "Got one right here, if you insist," he replied. More movement could be heard through the phone as he apparently got himself ready to head over. "Anything else I need, besides my head full'a Mandarin? "
"Not really," Jacob answered. His eyes wandered inexorably to the hexbag on the dresser. The thing had been the source of several headaches and a few close calls, but now it might be the only thing getting them their lead on the case. "We have everything else needed for the hunt."
"Right. Hunters. Always ready. Does this mean I'm in the club now? " Chase asked, the smirk back in his voice.
"Just get your ass over here," Jacob shot back, though he couldn't help the smile on his own face.
"Alright, jeez, cānɡ cù de, I'm practically on the way already," Chase answered, smugly this time. "That was just a primer. Seeya in a bit."
The call ended and Jacob rolled his eyes. "He's really excited for all this," he pointed out. "Wonder if the hexbag'll change his tune."
Dean covered his face with his hands. "He has no idea what he's signing up for."
A/N:
Dean has Bobby just about housebroken after that little show, and undoubtedly Bobby will be jumping at any shadow that reminds him somewhat of our borrowers. Just the way Dean wants it.
Meanwhile Chase really has NO idea what he's in for when he shows up at Jacob's.
Next: April 19th, 2023 at 9PM
Adding in this author's note for all my followers here, and will keep it on all chapters going forward:
If the worst happens and fanfiction shuts down, you can find all my stories on both archive of our own and deviantart, posted under the nightmares06 account. You can also find our story tumblr, which contains a ton of information and answers that are only posted on that site, along with artwork for the stories and future plans we have. That can be found under the brothersapart tumblr account. I can't put links in chapters, but googling "Brothersapart tumblr" should bring it right up!
