Chase tagged along with the brothers, still looking around curiously. They reached the entrance to the walls sooner than he expected thanks to the fact that even that short walk gave him several interesting sights to see. From the tall door to the desk to the way Jacob practically filled the room stretching out on the floor, everything had a new perspective.
He couldn't deny it, Sam and Dean were kind of badass for navigating a world so big as well as they did. And here they were, asking Chase for help. "So after this, am I a hunter?" he asked with a grin.
By the wall, Dean glanced over at Chase and sized him up. The small, asthmatic teen wasn't the first person he'd imagine as a hunter…
Then again, neither were he and Sam.
"I think we can whip you into hunting shape if you're up to it," Dean answered contemplatively. "You'll have a case under your belt, and we couldn't do it without you."
Sam smirked as he brushed open the wallpaper, revealing their hidden entrance. "In Dean-speak, that means you'll be in," he said in a stage-whisper.
Chase matched Sam's conspiratorial demeanor with one of his own, and his Cheshire smirk returned. He had a pretty good idea of what Dean's glance at him meant. He wasn't strong or athletic at all. In fact, he was very frail in comparison to Jacob and the Winchesters. He wouldn't have a chance of accomplishing the same feats that they could, and as if to remind him of that, the carpet fibers closest to the walls almost tripped him up. They were stiff, not often squashed flat by a passing human. Chase scuffed his shoe on the floor and knew he could be a liability in many ways.
But they'd still asked him for his help. "I'll do my best," he mused, peering into the dark of the wall. He couldn't see much beyond it at all, but he was ready to give it a try anyway. In the face of his trepidation, his curiosity took the reins and laughed.
"Here goes nothin.' " He crawled through the opening, ducking past the loose wallpaper. He brushed a hand against the thick, stubborn material as he passed, a faint rasping noise punctuating his entrance into the wall. Of course, after only a few steps, he stopped abruptly, his eyes wide as he tried to see more than a few inches in either direction.
The other two vanished into the walls right after Chase, letting the wallpaper fall down behind them and sealing them all from view. Once they were in, the only thing that gave their entrance away, and the way Sam had discovered it in the first place, was the tiny curl near the floor. For the brothers, it was a glaringly obvious signal they were trained to spot after years of survival at only a few inches tall. For Chase and Jacob, it was a detail their eyes would slide right past, making it perfect for use.
In the walls, the darkness grew more complete as the entrance closed up. Dean paused, letting his eyes adjust while some of the tension that hung over him while they were out in the open sloughed away. No matter how safe they felt around Jacob and Chase, it was nearly impossible to completely erase that instinct. Nor did they want to try. At their size, it was a simple fact that in the walls was safety and cover. At least Jacob had understood that right away.
For Sam, some of the residual tingle of eyes on him dropped off, but he continued to get a slight feel from Chase. It was less prevalent with Chase's new size, but still present.
Sam tapped Chase on the shoulder and pointed along the wall. "There's more light in our home," he explained. "Since Jacob knows we're here, we put a few slits in the wallpaper so we can see. Otherwise, it's safer in the dark."
Chase nodded along. He squinted around in the hopes that his eyes might adjust to the almost nonexistent lighting, but if they were going to they were slow about it. He couldn't help but zero in on the little sliver of light that came in through the closed entrance.
"Jacob chilled in your house for a bit, right? Let's check out the place where Jacob lost all the arm wrestling matches!" he suggested. He found that his speaking volume had lowered almost instinctively. Maybe it was the dark enveloping them, or the fact that being in the walls meant they needed to keep secret, but Chase spoke in a hushed tone. The dark was like a physical weight that held onto his voice and pondered it for a second before letting it fall away.
Dean sidled up next to him and offered his arm. It was the same way they'd taken Jacob through the walls, letting him hang onto one of the brothers' arms or jacket. They didn't want to risk losing their friend in the walls, and at that thought, Dean found himself trying to focus on Chase's inhaler or the hexbag. He didn't have much practice at tracking things when they were already found, but he wanted to have some kind of insurance.
It was a skill he might want to try developing, he realized as a familiar headache set in.
Time for that later. "Our place is in the corner of the wall," Dean explained as they started off with Chase trailing after him. Sam led the way, a bounce in his step. The last time they'd been in the walls, his arm was in a sling. Now, he was free of the restrictive cloth and they were leading a friend along, one who trusted them to lead him in the pitch black.
The little home quickly came into view, at least for the Winchesters. There was a heavy block placed in front, sealing up the house until their return. It wouldn't do for any spiders or bugs to make nests in the area they'd picked out for themselves.
Of course, if any mice took up residence in there, Dean knew that it would be hard to talk Sam into making them move. Most likely, they'd be the ones looking for a new place to stay.
Sam shoved the block out of the way, his strength more than a match for it. "Home sweet home," he announced as the soft glow of light filled the passageway, filtering in from Jacob's room beyond.
Chase slipped through the doorway, almost relieved to have some light to go by again. Compared to the encompassing darkness of the trek there, the light coming into the little house was warm and inviting. It was enough to start adjusting to the darkness and get a feel for the layout of the room.
"Pretty neat in here." The walls Dean had put together to section off their small home stopped his voice well. He took a few steps towards what might be a chair against one wall, trying to see what they'd made it from. So many things out in the world were simply not made for people the size of a finger. Sam and Dean had to improvise a lot, and sometimes Chase was quietly impressed with what they managed to do.
He squinted over at one corner of the first room they'd come to, past the improvised table and the other supplies stacked neatly to one side. "Is that ... is that one of those mini pottery things they have a bunch of?" he asked curiously. The small clay works were the perfect size for the brothers. At least they could actually use them. "It's like you visited Greece yourself, huh?" he chuckled quietly.
"Sometimes feels that way, with all the mezedes Jacob brings up here," Sam agreed with a grin, remembering the spread of food warmly.
"It's not like anyone was using it," Dean protested, defending his find. Jacob hadn't said anything about it while he was visiting during his hex, and Dean hoped they were never asked to return anything. "It was collecting dust behind Jacob's dresser. I doubt anyone had seen it in years."
Chase had to snicker and shrugged. "Knowing Jacob, he barely noticed it. Or didn't give a shit. He doesn't keep a ton of stuff around." Even as he spoke, Chase wandered over to the clay pot to brush a hand over the rough, dry edge. He remembered looking at a few of the others that Jacob's mom kept around, and thinking they were so smooth. The surface of this clay was like sandstone to his much smaller hands.
"Pretty sure he won't care about anything you pull in here so long as it's not his necklace," he finished with a shrug. He straightened and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking around more. There was a sense of ease in the little cobbled-together home, and Chase understood a little better the appeal of a smaller space. Nothing loomed far overhead, and there were fewer directions to watch closely.
Dean's hand instinctively went to his own necklace, an amulet that he was wearing when they'd been cursed. Sam had given it to him one Christmas, originally intending it for their father.
After John hadn't shown up that night, and Dean gave his all to make sure his little brother enjoyed the morning regardless of who was or wasn't there, Sam had chosen to gift it to Dean instead. Dean would never take it off. Taking it off meant taking the risk that it would vanish. It was barely over the size of a particle of golden dust. A single breath of air could blow it away.
"He doesn't have to worry about losing that necklace, ever," Dean said, determined. "If he misplaces it, we'll just have to find it for him."
Chase nodded in approval. He'd known Jacob for half his life, and that twine and glass necklace was one of the few things that had remained constant about his friend's appearance since they met. His height certainly hadn't stayed the same since Jacob first approached him on the playground. They weren't even ten yet, and Chase had been so new to the country that he could barely string together a sentence in English.
He inched towards the wall to peek out the small slits in it that Dean and Sam had made for themselves. What might be hardly noticeable outside the little home let in plenty of light. Chase closed one eye to view the room from there.
"Sweet, so ... I know I didn't have the best start with this size switcheroo, but I think I'm as ready as I can be to go on a little road trip," he decided, looking back at Sam and Dean. He shrugged and didn't try to hide any lingering uncertainties. "If you said people are dying, it'd be best to figure out what those witnesses know sooner than later, yeah?"
"People are dying, but not fast," Sam reassured him. "In a month, we have two deaths."
"But we can get going now," Dean interjected, always ready to go. He was practically bouncing on his heels himself. "You'll just stick with us, that way if we need to do any climbing at all, you can get a piggyback ride from Sam."
"Hey!" Sam blurted in surprise. "Why do I have to be the ride? What about you?"
"Because you're the moose!" Dean griped right back. "You probably won't even notice him hanging there when you climb."
Sam rolled his eyes at that. "Whatever. At least I don't have to haul your ass around, I guess." He grinned and dodged a punch from Dean. "We should get back to Jacob, right?" he said with a laugh as it sent Dean off balance. "Time to hit the road."
Chase snickered and made sure to hang back from the brothers' banter. "Careful, now. Don't wear yourselves out before we even get this whole thing started," he warned, and once again he was grinning. Chase, standing there in their home and watching them bicker on their scale, felt like a part of the team.
It didn't take long for them to return. Once again Chase held onto a sleeve to make sure he didn't run into something or get lost in the walls. The small home had a cozy atmosphere to it, but the pitch black passageway through the walls had an oppressive uncertainty about it, thanks to his complete lack of night vision.
I blame the video games, he thought to himself with a private smirk.
When they returned to the entrance to Jacob's room, Chase found he still couldn't see. The blinding light assaulted his sight for a few extra seconds before he blinked it away. "Hey, Jacob, didja miss us?" he called to the giant still lounging on the floor.
Jacob shifted where he lay to peer over at them. "I've been so worried," he quipped back.
"That's what happens when you're too tall to fit in the doorway," Dean said, jumping into the banter himself. It was hard to say if Jacob could even fit his hand in their home, considering how large it was. More than big enough to hold all three of them now that it was time to head out.
Sam, as the last one out, carefully brushed a hand over the wallpaper to make sure their entrance was concealed. While they were out of the house, it was important to make sure there were no clues left behind for Mariana or Mike, Jacob's mom and step-dad, to notice. Mike was a cop, and it wouldn't be good for the authorities to discover the existence of tiny people.
"Chase is as ready as we can make him on such short notice," Sam said as he walked towards the others. "More will have to wait."
Dean glanced between the two humans, the extra-large and the extra-small. "I'm guessin' we're riding in the pocket," he surmised, settling on Chase and meeting his eyes. "How do you want to do this?"
Chase's pause, coupled with his uncertain look, drove Jacob to cut in instead. He was still lying with his face near the floor, and he could easily see that Chase was still uncertain despite the strides he'd made. "Hey, dude, pockets are pretty safe. It'll even be easy to get my attention if anything's up."
"Yeah, yeah," Chase replied, his sheepish smile returning. "Jeez, run in blind terror from the giant one time and you never live it down, huh?"
"Probably not," Jacob shot back with a smile of his own, though his tone was more encouraging than teasing. "I'm gonna sit up now, alright?" Once he got a nod for his warning, he shifted his weight.
His hands planted on the floor, and Jacob pushed himself up carefully. With the three of them in easy view, Jacob was as wary as ever of knocking into them or looming over them completely. He saw Chase take one almost-involuntary step backwards and reminded himself of his own initial nerves when he was hexed. His size was enough to unsettle a lot of people; he didn't let it go to heart.
Instead, Jacob paused when he was sitting up to give Chase a chance to get used to looking up. Then, he lowered a hand to the floor in a careful motion to offer it palm up to the others. It lay flat on the floor, such a commonplace gesture for him by now. "Shall we?"
Dean walked forward, his confident swagger apparent to everyone. "Don't worry, Chase. There's nothin' to it. We do this every- Dammit, Sam!"
A/N:
Dean lives in a constant state of "Dammit, Sam!"
There will be a brief break in posting, the next update will be on May 31st.
Next: May 31st, 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!
