AU: A Tale of Two Sizes; size shifter Stan Baker AU
Word Count; 1,880
Notes: had a bit of a rough patch, and needed something low stakes to get me through my writing slump. So have some rare Levi Baker time.
~~~
Once he was sure no students or teachers were looking, Levi Baker ducked into the nearest supply closet.
He wasn't usually one to sneak around and hide. Most rightly assumed he wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone be up to anything suspicious. Plenty of other boys were like that at fifteen, but Levi did pretty well at flying under the radar.
Even so, he felt his heart beating harder in his chest when he closed the door behind him. One wrong move, and he wouldn't be the only one in trouble.
“Ok, coast is clear,” he whispered as he blindly pawed around in the dark for a light. He found a string dangling in the center of the closet and gave it a gentle tug, washing the tiny space in the dim, flickering light of a dying bulb on the ceiling. Just enough to see, and that was all Levi needed.
More delicately than he'd done anything in his life, he let his hand slide into his trouser pocket. He went slow, knowing what sat at the bottom and dreading the thought of being too rough. Fingertips brushed against something that twitched, and Levi gave a wince as he scooped it into a loose fist and held it up near his eyes.
Unfurling his fingers revealed a tiny boy, wearing a school uniform identical to his.
“Stan? Y’okay?” Levi frowned in concern as he watched his now quite little brother uncurl from a ball to get his bearings.
It was still fairly new for everyone, this bizarre phenomenon of the youngest in their family shrinking without warning. One minute things could be going on as normal, and the next Stan would be three inches tall. They still hadn't found any patterns to it, nor had they worked out a way to stop it from happening. There wasn't exactly a guide book for this sort of thing, or anyone that could help with it. If they brought it up to the wrong person, Stan could end up a government experiment, never to be seen again! The last thing his brothers wanted was to put him at risk like that.
Until they could figure out a way for Stan to better control his shrinking, they thought it best that he stick with one of his brothers in public, when possible. Levi was more than happy to keep him company between classes since they attended the same school. That way if he ended up shrinking, at least he wouldn't be alone and stuck somewhere dangerous.
Today it finally happened, and Levi acted as quickly as he could to get Stan out of sight without raising suspicion.
Now that Stan was safe, it hit Levi all at once that he was holding his thirteen-year-old brother in one hand. He barely weighed anything and just looked so tiny sitting there in his palm. The barely-functional light was just enough for Levi to notice his little chest going up and down a bit too quickly, and that drew attention to the way he could faintly feel Stan trembling.
“Shit, I… Did I pick you up wrong?” Levi fussed. Every other time he'd handled Stan when he was so small (and that still wasn't often) they were at home where things were calm and safe and the kid had a choice in the matter. This wasn't like that at all.
Stan managed to shake his head and wave a hand. “I-I’m alright,” he insisted, though his voice was so quiet that Levi just barely heard him. “Just…f-fast. I can't… C-can you put me down?”
“Oh. Y-yeah, ‘course.” Cupping his free hand underneath the one holding Stan for support, Levi slowly shuffled closer to one of the supply shelves. He let his hands flatten on one shelf near chest level.
Levi tried not to take it to heart when Stan scrambled to get to solid ground and all but jumped behind a can of cleaning spray. Though having Stan out of sight sent another shock of worry through him, he couldn't bring himself to ask the poor kid to come out. It was hard to be sure of what the world looked like from such a perspective, but Levi's imagination certainly gave him a few ideas.
Normal objects that could be held in a hand would become immovable. Even a spray can dwarfed Stan, to the point that he completely vanished from Levi's view behind one. He reckoned that rooms, even the cramped broom closet, must seem impossibly cavernous. And people…they'd be loud, heavy, fast, and… Levi couldn't think of a better word than dangerous.
“Sorry,” he murmured. “I'll be more careful, I promise. Didn't mean to scare ya–,”
“N-no,” Stan's little voice cut through Levi's soft whisper. He still made no move to come out of hiding, but his voice did sound a bit stronger. “It's fine, really. I just…need a minute.”
Levi let out a breath he realized he'd been holding. “Yeah. Okay. Take your time.”
Rubbing at the back of his neck, he turned to lean his back against the one bare wall of the closet. He really wasn't used to feeling like he had so much power over anyone in any given situation, and with his baby brother he couldn't help worrying even more. He could at least be reassured that he wasn't making anything actively worse, and wait this out.
He glanced at his watch for another distraction. Classes were starting soon, and in a few more minutes, they would officially be tardy.
“You don't have to stay,” Stan piped up, drawing Levi’s attention back to the shelf immediately. Even in the shadows of the dimly lit shelf, Stan's bright red hair stood out as he leaned just far enough to be seen around the can. “I dunno when I'll be back to normal, and I don't wanna make you late.”
Not wanting Stan to work himself up about it, Levi clicked his tongue and shrugged it off. “They can live without me for one class,” he said with a soft smile. He and Stan hardly had glowing marks, but their educations wouldn't be tarnished by a tardy or two. “And I'm not about to leave you all alone.”
Stan went quiet again, and Levi couldn't help leaning in the slightest bit to try and get a better look. “Anything I can do to help?”
Levi was almost certain he saw Stan's little shoulders bob up and down in a shrug. Couldn't blame him; even Stan was clueless as to how exactly it all worked.
Chewing his lip, Levi let his gaze wander as he pondered how it had been every other time they'd helped Stan grow back. He and his brothers did their best to be supportive, but figuring out anything this mysterious ability of Stan's was no easy task. Sometimes it seemed random, or based on emotion. Other times, it seemed that sheer concentration could break through and give Stan at least a little control. None of it was consistent, and it was hard to know what would work best on a given day.
His arms crossed tightly in discomfort as Levi began to wonder if he was making things worse for Stan just by being there. Maybe Stan was trying to express that when he suggested Levi go on without him. Getting to the closet was a bit of a blur in his memory, focused as he was on getting Stan to safety. What if the whole experience shook him up more than he let on, and–?
“I'm all right,” Stan's voice cut through Levi's thoughts. He sounded much closer than before, and when Levi looked back he found his teeny little brother standing about a foot away. No longer hiding behind anything, plainly in view just near the edge of the shelf. “Really.
Levi blinked, then gave a sigh that let his tense shoulders slump. “What, did you get telepathic, too?”
He could just make out a sheepish smile as Stan said, “Nah, it's just…easier to read faces when they're so big.”
That thought was a bit sobering, and Levi didn't quite know how to take it. The whole thing was just so bizarre.
“You're…really not scared of me being big?” The question slipped out before Levi could think to stop it. He'd wondered things along the same line before, but thought it would be weird to ask.
Second-youngest among five brothers was a slightly awkward place to be at times. He was a little brother to most of them, but was still a big brother to Stan. Even though it had been that way all of Stan's life, sometimes it felt like Levi was still learning how to be a big brother to him.
And now the big part was very literal in cases like this.
Rather than answer, Stan stared at Levi for a moment…and then suddenly took a running start and leapt off of the shelf with a cry of, “Think fast!”
Levi's arms instantly unfolded and shot out to catch Stan in cupped hands. The kid landed harmlessly in his grasp, giggling through the shot of adrenaline that had run through them both.
“You're a right nutter, y'know that,” Levi hissed.
“Basically, yeah,” Stan smirked as he got comfortable in the dip of Levi's palm.
Levi couldn't completely hide a grin even as he tried to scold his tiny brother, and he curled in his thumb to playfully (and very gently) nudge Stan's stomach. Just as easily as Stan could apparently read him, he knew what Stan was trying to do here. Despite the scare, Levi's posture was much looser now, and he at least had a better feeling about where he stood with his shrunken brother.
Things would be okay, and Levi could see that Stan knew that as he looked over his teeny features.
They hardly noticed Stan was growing until he was suddenly the size of Levi's hand rather than smaller than a finger. Stan gave a jolt in surprise, and Levi quickly adjusted his grip to accommodate the added height and weight.
“It's okay,” Levi whispered when he noticed Stan's growing slow down. It didn't stop completely, as Levi could still faintly feel Stan expanding in his hands. One of the few things the Bakers had observed at home was that he could really only stay one size or another, and never fully stop in the middle. Now that the process had started, they just had to let it run its course. “Here, let's getcha down.”
Smoothly as he could manage, Levi crouched down and let Stan hop off of his hands onto the floor. Then he quickly straightened and flattened himself as much as he could to the bare wall, giving Stan as much room as possible.
A minute later, Stan was back to his usual height, and the closet was now quite cramped.
By some miracle, the hall was still empty when they snuck out, and they wordlessly parted ways to hurry to their respective classes. Levi spent his class watching the clock to make sure he was ready to go check on Stan at the end of the period, and wondering how best to bring the whole thing up to the others without making them worry too much.
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I truly appreciate all of the hard work you put in your au’s. It was a very rough year for me last year but being able to read an au every week really helped me in having something to look forward to. 1,000,000 kudos to you and your writer friends. Thank you. :3 I can't wait to see what happens next! (Poor Stan I'm giving him all my chocolate)
Sorry for the delay on replying to this!
Let me just say, when I first got this message in, I had a huge grin. It’s always wonderful to hear that our stories mean so much to others! Sometimes it feels like it’s such a self indulgent habit, writing out our own paths for characters that already exist, but comments like this are such a good reminder of how we can help others.
I hope you enjoyed the way the story went for Stan! We’ve certainly charted out an interesting path for him and his Winchesters!
Gently scooping Dean off his shoulder, Stan gave a small smirk and asked, "Where to, Mr. Winchester?" He didn't want to assume where Dean would prefer to be to start out.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Once upon a time, long long ago, there lived a boy from a small coastal town who wanted nothing more than to help and protect his people.
When that boy grew up, he decided the best way to do that was to join the Guild of Giant Slayers. They were dedicated to the cause of pushing back and eradicating the monstrous behemoths that lived on the fringes of society, the largest of all the mystical creatures that posed a threat to humanity. And now that he's completed his training, Stan Baker finally feels ready to take on his first giant, one who lives just a little too close to his hometown for his liking.
Is he ready for what awaits him there in the giant's lair?
Happy pride! Have the compilation of my boys being thrust into a fantasy setting!
This is gonna be similar to other stories that are mostly prompt or short-based, but I do want it to come across as a coherent story. So I'm in the process of revising the initial prompts to flow a little more smoothly into one another, and will add fill-in chapters over time.
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A summary of original characters that are featured in and originated from AU I've cowritten with @brothersapart's @nightmares06. The original Brothers Apart is a Supernatural g/t AU, and my contributions add in characters from the BBC's Sherlock.
Supernatural belongs to the CW, Sherlock to the BBC, adapted from Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, The Borrowers to Mary Norton, and these OCs to me!
Stan Baker - The Unexpected Good Boi
art by the wonderful @quackghost
Stan is playful, selfless, and protective. He cares deeply for others, especially his loved ones and those who cannot easily defend themselves. His combat experience and low-key paranoia give him excellent reflexes, and he's honestly a bit of a g/t nerd who doesn't have the context for that (def one of the most self-insert aspects of him). At the end of the day, he's just a big softie, in the 'looks like a cinnamon roll and is one but will kill you if necessary' way.
Though he wasn't the first OC of mine introduced in the Brothers Consulted story, "A Burglary at Baker Street", Stan stole my heart the second he hit the page. He was meant to be a plot device, never to be seen again, and he decided he deserves to be an actual character. Who was I to argue? I mean, lookit him! Complete and total charmer.
Unlike Zepheera, who is always my emotional support borrower, I can play around with Stan's Situations™️ a lot more freely. Oftentimes he's a human, like in Brothers Consulted. In AU like Brothers Chosen, he's a born and bred borrower. I've even got a size-shifter AU for him!
Mark and Anita Bend - Power Twins
art by quackghost
Mark and Anita are twins, and victims of terrible circumstance in Brothers Consulted. Mark is the heart of the pair, trusting and friendly and happy to make friends. His problem is he's not the most tactful, which is where his sister comes in; the self-established more thoughtful and responsible one. Anita is the brains, thinking everything through before acting.
The one thing they share perfectly is a strong devotion to and protectiveness for one another. They would do absolutely anything to keep the other out of danger. A fact that is easily exploited, unfortunately. They're all they've got in a world set against them.
Nathan Sullivan - Stan's Partner
Pride photo by the lovely @abookishweasel
Nate is the yang to Stan's yin. He keeps his excitable partner grounded, and rolls with all the incredible things that happen in their lives. Whether he's a teacher as a human or a curious drifter as a borrower, Nathan always has a deep love of learning and will do what he can to be in an environment where he can keep discovering new things. He's also a passionate home cook, and keeps Stan and their German shepherd Juno very happy at home.
Where there is Stan, there must also be a Nate. Like Stan, I love to play around with Nate's size and background from story to story. So far he's appeared as a human, though I've written one short with him as a borrower, in which he and a young Stan met as kiddos.
Stan's Brothers
Stan Baker is the youngest of five brothers, who basically raised him. They have yet to show up in proper BAU, but they've shown up more often in the size-shifter AU as they help their baby bro in distress.
The oldest, Simon, stepped up to lead the household when their parents were no longer in the picture. He worked hard to make sure his brothers could live the best lives possible, and couldn't be more proud of them all. He's incredibly chill and approaches everything with a calm and clear head. If Simon freaks out, you know it's all gone pear-shaped.
Dylan, the second oldest, holds the most fight in him apart from Stan. His scholastic track leaned towards the athletic, and he has the bigger temper of the bunch, especially when it comes to his loved ones being messed with. He taught his younger brothers how to hold their own in a fight when they were kids, and very nearly joined the British army as an adult before changing his mind.
Seamus Baker is the know-it-all middle child. He mellows out of them with age, but certainly had pedantic tendencies as a kid. Studies were a major aspect of his youth, as well as making sure his brothers were all keeping in some kind of order. He seems humorless compared to his boisterous brothers, but his funny bone is just harder to tickle.
And Levi is the one just older than Stan, a sweetheart who only wants everyone to get along. He's on the chill side of the spectrum, like Simon, but he's got too much energy to keep it up all the time. He's also the most creative of the brothers, and is most likely to end up with a career in the arts.
Adult Simon (left) and kid Levi (right) by the lovely @rainyday-deer
AU: Kind of BAU, but not attached to any actual AU? Stan grew up with smol friends, and Nate somehow doesn't know about them.
This is also my 666th post. And it's the gays. It's a little late for priDE MONth, ain't it?
~~~
Stan kicked back his cocktail to steel himself for the next round of the racing game Nate had challenged him to.
It was his fiancé who had brought him to the gaming bar in the first place, evoking all kinds of nostalgia in Stan as he thumbed through the games available in their private room. Neither of them had touched video games since they were younger, life stealing the time and energy to devote to them long ago. It was to be expected that they would be rusty on their first go.
A few rounds later, Stan noticed Nathan began to look at him sidelong.
"You're letting me win," he playfully accused Stan over the celebratory music coming from the screen.
"I'm not!" Stan tossed his hands up in an attempted display of innocence.
Nate fixed him in a flat, knowing look. "Stan, you and I both know how your reflexes are. I'd have to be blind to not notice the way you're hesitating."
Stan didn't have a good answer for that, but it really wasn't intentional. More of a habit, really. While the fingers on the triggers at the back of the controller were quick to use them, his thumbs hesitated to manipulate the joysticks and buttons. That hesitation, however slight, was enough to give Nate the advantage, even though he considered himself quite average at this. Probably below average, honestly.
It wasn't easy to admit to Nate exactly why he wasn't used to playing with the entire controller to himself. The truth would be hard for anyone to believe, even Stan’s trusted partner in life who never judged Stan for all his idiosyncrasies.
Growing up with incredibly tiny friends who liked to be involved in his games, resulting in them manning the majority of the controller while he held it in place and worked the triggers, had to be an experience unique to Stan. He could hardly be blamed that his muscle memory then developed in such a way that he hesitated to use his thumbs for fear of hurting or upsetting said friends.
“Must be rustier than I thought,” he insisted.
Nathan thankfully seemed to accept this with a shrug and an amused roll of his eyes. He went back to enjoy his own cocktail and Stan breathed a subtle sigh of relief as he set things up for another game. He knew he couldn’t hide the truth from Nate forever, but he’d figure out how to tell him…eventually.
💯 HUNDRED POINTS SYMBOL — share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.
(sorry anon, mobile did me dirty and this ended up deleted from my drafts. Hope you still find this!)
Zepheera
Most might know that she was once married to a man named Orrick. He sort of ruined men for her, and after their relationship came to an end, she found she had less interest in them. Maybe one day the right woman might catch her eye, though...
She's ambidextrous! I wrote about this a while back in a little fun fact, I'll have to dig it up and put an edit to make sure I have my facts right. EDIT: she prefers to write with her left hand, and relies more on her right hand in a fight.
Though she doesn't go in search of it, Zepheera has an affinity for music. It's not a huge part of borrower culture, and she thinks she pays less attention to it on the human side of things than she actually does. When pressed, though, she finds she recalls music she's been exposed to better than she expects to.
Stan Baker
His mother, Theresa Baker, was a seamstress. She taught all her boys to keep a sewing kit on hand, and made sure they knew how to repair and patch up their clothes.
Stan's father, George Baker, was a British marine who served in the Falklands War. He came home injured after the attack on the HMS Sheffield, and was never the same.
On a lighter note, Stan doesn't get to watch a lot of TV, but he most enjoys lighthearted game shows. The more he laughs, the better! One big favorite is Taskmaster.
