The zhi ren stayed rooted on the dashboard despite Jacob's hasty driving. Whatever mojo enabled them to slip through tight spaces or glide around on paper wings kept them stable, even in his sharper turns. That same mojo didn't make them very courteous navigators, he found. Once or twice, Jacob had backtracked to find a route they wanted to use. Their tiny, exasperated instructions and pointing hands came late many times, later than the Impala's bulky weight could easily correct in time.

Despite that, it didn't take much more than half an hour to find the place. A small campground was set up for long-term stays, with rows of campers and RVs filling almost every available space. Jacob noted a few campfires still blazing in flickers of orange while drunk campers laughed and chatted the balmy summer night away.

He ended up parking in a small communal lot near one corner of the place. The Impala idled a few seconds more with quiet, prowling rumbles while he scanned the nearest row, and then finally killed the engine.

"Okay," Jacob spoke softly, already adopting a mindset towards being as quiet as he could. It took far more effort from him than it did from Sam or Dean. "What should the plan be once they point out the right trailer?" he asked, glancing in the mirror to meet Sam's gaze before looking down at his pocket. He brushed his fingertips just barely over the small form slumped within. "Got a plan?"

Lulled to a half-sleep inside the pocket interior, Dean gave a slight jolt when huge fingers brushed against his side. The voice rumbled overhead, reminding him where he was just then. Not at home, safely hidden away in the walls. Their friend was lost and in trouble, and they needed to find him.

With wobbly knees, Dean stood with one hand against each side of the pocket to stay standing. The thick threads made it easy to hang on and hold himself up, and he shoved the pocket flap out of his way to see where they were.

"Uh…" Dean rubbed his face with his other hand, trying to focus. "Campers? That means we've gotta find a way inside." He pursed his lips. "If there's an open window, we can get inside without needing to break in, or the zhi ren could slip inside to open it up. I'm not sure how to tell them that though…" He scrunched his eyes shut. "Breaking in ain't out of the question, and with cars there's always places to slip in underneath, but that's the most dangerous option."

Jacob nodded and let himself glance once at the zhi ren. They watched with quite a bit of interest as Dean led the discussion from within a pocket. They wandered closer, even though they didn't understand anything being said.

"I can back you guys up from outside," Jacob suggested. "I'm betting they know the way in if they found a way out. If it sounds like things will go south I can just distract them with a little smashed window or something." It wasn't the most subtle way to get in, but Jacob wasn't the best at subtle yet.

He held out a hand for the zhi ren to hop on, and then opened the door to the Impala. Thankfully, he had parked far enough away to be able to lean against the car and somewhat mask his silhouette while they still worked on the basics of their plan. The zhi ren were already pointing what direction he should walk, but Jacob waited for Dean and Sam to have their say.

Dean nodded, almost to himself. His thoughts were turned inwards as he leaned against the edge of the pocket, keeping the flap out of his way. "I'm pretty sure seeing you come barreling in will make anyone rethink what they're doing," he remarked dryly. Jacob was Godzilla to them, sure, but he was also a tower of a man to other humans too. Not many people would stand up to a 6'5" man who was as solid as a brick house. "We'll be counting on you."

"If they've got Chase in a cage like the zhi ren said," Sam joined in the conversation, "there's a good chance they won't want to deal with the police either. People like us might be interesting, but if anyone is found with us, it'll attract the wrong kind of attention."

Dean gave the chest behind him a pat. "I think that covers it. Let's go bust Chase out."

Jacob smirked and nodded. Even though they weren't out of the woods yet, the fact that they were so close lifted his spirits. Just an hour ago, he had begun to wonder if they'd ever find Chase in time. Without help, finding him would be a search for a needle in a house-sized haystack.

It all highlighted how important it was for Jacob to remain alert of danger to his friends. Sam and Dean were proud and fiercely independent, and he'd never want that to change. By contrast, they were small, and some of their vulnerabilities were best handled by him. He owed them that much.

He set out towards the row of campers while the zhi ren pointed their little arms to direct him. He didn't hear Sam hiss out any warnings, so he stayed assured that he hadn't drawn even passing attention yet.

As he passed behind one of the shabby little camper trailers, the zhi ren chattered at him to stop. He came to an abrupt halt and looked down to see them indicating a vent towards the bottom of the trailer's back wall. It wasn't even a foot square, and the slats couldn't be repositioned like most of the motel room vents that Sam and Dean usually used, but the squeeze didn't look too bad. Jacob knelt to get a closer look at it.

"This must be the way in," he whispered, finally offering Dean a hand out of the pocket. "Good thing you guys can see in the dark."

"It's not seeing in the dark!" Dean said irritably while he hauled himself out of the pocket. Sam climbed down Jacob's arm to join him in the hand while he scrambled up, his fingers finding purchase in the tiny cracks in the human's skin. He had to wonder if Jacob could feel that, or if it was like a feather against his palm, only there if he was paying attention. Whether or not he did, Jacob kept his hand as steady as he could for them, a skill he had learned months ago while working on the Impala with Dean.

Both brothers checked over their equipment, preparing for their trek into the camper. Leather bags, hooks, knives in place… they would be as ready as they could be to get in. If Jacob heard anyone exclaim in surprise from the camper, he'd be able to bust right in to get them out, but they would need to be on guard regardless. It only took a second for one of the smaller people to be dealt a severe injury, and they couldn't risk Chase.

"Our eyes just use the light that's around better," Sam supplied helpfully. "So if it's actually pitch dark, with no light from anything else leaking in, we'll be just as blind as anyone. This happened a few times back at the motel when there was a family staying in the room above. They'd close the curtains and shut off all the lights, so our home would be so dark you'd have to find your way around with touch. It was lucky it only happened a few times."

In conjunction with this assessment, both brothers' eyes were nearly all black, with only a tiny strip of green visible for Dean and hazel visible for Sam. The years of living in the darkness of the motel had helped them adapt, and it could have been their size again that made them adapt so quickly. The curse might have taken away their height, but it had at least given them the tools for survival.

"Ah, right," Jacob answered sheepishly. He vaguely remembered something about how that was supposed to work from some old biology lesson at some point in high school. "Seeing in the dark" just happened to be a quicker way to say it, but he should have known he'd be scolded.

Scolding from Dean was the best way to know he was alright, so his headache must have improved on the drive there.

Once both hands were occupied with ready passengers, Jacob lowered them to the vent. He always felt a bit odd sending Sam and Dean off on their own where he couldn't follow, but he had confidence in their ability to stay out of trouble. This time, he wouldn't get one of his friends taken away. He'd watch much closer.

Even so, once the zhi ren slipped into the thin openings, Jacob whispered one more thing. "Be careful in there, guys."

Dean waved his hand casually in the air while they walked towards the vent. "We know what we're doing!" he bragged confidently, hoisting himself up and slipping through the slits. Despite the brothers having more girth than the zhi ren, they were still plenty thin to fit.

Sam flashed Jacob a reassuring smile. "We're always careful," he promised, knowing their friend was just worried for them. Being stuck and having to wait on the sidelines was never fun, and Sam knew that as well as anyone after the last few weeks. "We'll get him out if Dean has to tie him to one of us. Just keep an ear out."

With that, Sam followed Dean into the vent, landing on the metal ground with a soft thump. The steady patter of running filled the air, fading away to nothingness.

The zhi ren led the way, but the vent passage was short and didn't wind much. Soon, the unmoving air in the path took on an increasingly-potent smell. There were traces of the greasy odor of cheap fast food, but more than that the trailer greeted them with a thick, pungent smoky odor. It clung to the ventilation shafts like a lingering pall.

Jade muttered something disapproving in the dark and Gold answered her with similar disdain. Whatever they said, it was easy to tell they didn't like the herb smell filling the air.

The passage ended with thin bars of dim light shining down from above. The vent opened to the floor of the trailer, and the zhi ren paused with the stripe pattern of light falling over them. There wasn't much visible in the room, but they pointed to the edge of a table that could be seen.

Jade said something quietly, and Chase's name came up in her statement. It was the last place they'd seen him.

"Awesome," Dean said in reply, understanding the gist of what they were saying if not the words. With any luck, they'd have their pint-sized translator back in hand in the next few minutes and everyone would be able to understand each other again. "Sam, got anything?"

Sam crept up to the edge of the vent and put a hand on the metal edge to shift it enough to see out. They might have Jacob backing them up from outside, but they couldn't let their guards down and just rely on him anytime there was trouble. They had their own skills and abilities, and getting into places undetected just happened to be a specialty of the brothers.

The distant sound of breathing came to Sam, heavy enough for a human, but there was no sense that they were up. "We're clear," he said quietly. "But the trailer ain't. Someone's in there."

Dean nodded. "Just like old times, right?"

Sam grinned back. "It's been a while since we raided a room like this."

With humans around, they changed their normal pattern. Instead of Dean leading, Sam took charge. It was the best way to use his abilities, and he climbed out of the vent quickly.

While Dean was following, Sam sized up the room around him. He took in the sight of the table close to where they were standing and the more distant, cramped hall that must lead to where the humans were sleeping. Though the camper was small for them, relatively, the distances loomed above their heads even as Dean landed next to Sam.

Then they were off.

Dean had his hook out in an instant, tossing it up the moment he was in range. He hadn't exaggerated to Chase earlier that day when he'd bragged about never missing - he had the best aim of anyone they knew.

That luck held, and the hook caught. Sam scrambled up and Dean followed. Though it made the black thread waver more under their combined weight, they didn't have the time of a normal run with humans around and Chase at risk.

Sam was already up on the table, eyes wide as he helped Dean up. For once Dean didn't voice a word of complaint, too distracted by the sight of the cage in front of them.

A cage.

"Son of a bitch," Dean growled. "Puttin' him in a cage? I'd like to put them in a cage and see how they like it!"

Sam put a hand on Dean's shoulder. "Time for that later," he suggested. Dean nodded and they ran together to the edge of the cage.

"Chase?!" Dean hissed.

Chase was lying down on his back in the center of the cage, but he sat bolt upright at the sound of his name. Both of his hands lifted to drag down his face and try to rub away the tired feeling in his eyes, but it didn't work too well. Despite the hard floor of the cage and the circumstance he'd fallen into, Chase's body was very relaxed.

He turned to stare out at the brothers with widened eyes and a look of surprise frozen on his face. He blinked a few times, rubbed his eyes again, and then squinted at them.

They were really there. Amidst the sty of Ed and Harry's collected supplies and conspiracies. The room hardly mattered, now that Chase wasn't alone in it.

His face broke into a wide grin. "Holy shit, guys," he said. A relieved laugh bubbled up out of him before he put a hand over his mouth to shush himself. He didn't want to wake the giants in the other room. Even so, his smile remained and he snickered instead.

After a second of staring, Chase laboriously got to his feet and drifted towards the side of the cage. He wrapped his hands around two of the metal bars and grinned out at them, his face close to the opening between the purple bars. Seeing their faces after everything he'd been through in the last several hours was a welcome sight indeed, and he felt happier than he had in a long time.

"Holy shit," he echoed with a shake of his head. He blinked sluggishly a few times and chuckled again. "Jesus. You're fuckin' here. Thank God."

Sam put his finger to his mouth in the universal sign for quiet. "Yeah, that's right. We're here. We just had to figure out where those guys went." Chase's odd behavior stood out to Sam, but he had no idea what could have caused it.

Dean, on the other hand, had a sinking suspicion. Chase's overly-happy greeting, combined with being trapped in a bird cage by two huge giants that had plucked him away from his friends and the cloying smell in the room that struck a chord in Dean's mind, bringing the memory of some guests that stayed at the motel to the fore…

"Chase, are you stoned?! " Dean asked, aghast at the thought of their friend being drugged against his will.

Chase's smile dropped away and he gave the brothers a serious look. "Dude, that would be so irresponsible," he intoned. Then, after a short delay, his smile returned and he snickered. His hands dropped from the bars and he shrugged, holding up his palms as if to say 'What can you do?'

"I mean, okay," he added hastily, lightly clapping his hands in front of himself. "So the smoke wasn't good, right? So I had to use my inhaler or else I'd die, it's a whole thing. And that just makes it easier to breathe so boy. I breathed in. I breathed in a lot. It was a real dick move on their part but I'm pretty chill right now," he finished his ramble with a placid smile, proving his own words.

Dean took a deep breath himself to steady his frustration before he decided to lash out. The fumes from the smoke weren't as potent, and didn't have any effect on him, but a burning kindle of rage filled him at the thought of their friend, small and having issues with breathing, forced to breathe in the smoke.

Once he was sure he could talk without shouting, Dean spoke. "We're going to get you out of there, okay? Just sit tight, and don't make any noise. Jacob's outside waiting for us the moment we break you free. Sam?"

Sam nodded, knowing his role. Out of his satchel, he drew a paperclip. With Dean's head still bothering him, Sam was going to be the one to do the actual breaking into the cage. The tiny hunter made his way to the door, and Dean stayed right by Chase's side.

While Sam scaled up the door and started to work on the lock, Dean gave Chase a hesitant smile. It was more to reassure himself than the stoned teen, but he hoped it helped anyway. "See? We'll have you outta there in no time."

Chase nodded and lifted one hand to the bars again. He closed his eyes for a second or two and let a floaty sensation pass him by. He was getting used to the ebb and flow of whatever feeling this was, something that had its similarities to drunkenness but was a sensation all its own. He didn't favor it, but at least it did relax him.

The elation of seeing his friends there to help him, and knowing Jacob was nearby, was magnified by the drug in his system. He smiled again, a more resigned expression this time, and turned his head to watch Sam work at the lock.

"Dude, I kinda figured there'd be no way outta this one," he admitted. "Look at him go, though, wow. This is some damn mission impossible deleted scene."

Sam had both his legs locked around the bars, keeping himself in place while he worked the paperclip into the lock. He needed both hands free to be able to get the dexterity needed, and was suspended up at least three inches in the air. It didn't sound like much, but it was a good portion of their heights, and he couldn't afford to fall that far. Years of climbing had his legs muscles tone and ready for such a strain, and it really was like he was a spy.

"That's right, mission impossible," Dean agreed, playing into Chase's thoughts. "Sam's on the mission and we've got to watch how loud we talk or we might set off the alarms and get him caught. That's no problem for us."

It reminded him of the games they used to play as kids when 'the floor is lava!' Sam would hop from bed to bed while Dean stayed at the table with his legs tucked into the chair. The main difference this time was if they touched the lava… or talked too loud… there were two giants close by that they might wake up by accident.

Though considering what they'd been doing to fill the trailer with that scent, they might be out for the night no matter what happened. One could never be sure.

"Almost got it," Sam muttered. With one last twist, there was a click in the locking mechanism and it popped open. "Yes!"

A/N:

This week has felt so exhausting to me, I'm glad it's story posting day because it always cheers me up ^^

The boys are back at it and ready to find Chase!

Next: August 23rd, 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!