A/N:

Thanks to Christine, stargazer100, goldacharmed and Owllover555! You make posting these stories worth it.

Oscar's eyes were trained on a dropped scrap of what looked like sausage and egg from a breakfast sandwich. It waited just in the shadow of the table, fresh and inviting, and it wasn't far from his hiding place under the dresser. He kept stock still, keeping it in his sight even while his other senses paid rapt attention to the room's other occupants.

He was hungry, but he wasn't reckless. Recklessness would be a deadly oversight in his situation. Oscar had no hope of fighting back or running fast enough if someone saw him.

There were still humans in the room. Some vacationers had come to the motel to sleep at night after their days of hiking or shopping or whatever it was they did all day. Oscar never really paid much mind to what people did beyond the walls of his motel home. It was all out of his reach.

He couldn't venture out there, after all. It wasn't safe. If an animal didn't see him, a human could spot him and scoop him off the wide open ground with ease. It was the same if he went out onto the floor of the motel rooms. It was exposed and far from safety, and he didn't like the feeling. He'd been surviving for a long time, and it was thanks to his instincts. He hated feeling exposed.

Oscar had learned how to navigate the enormous world by himself a long time ago. He was only seven when his mom went out for food and disappeared. He never did find out what happened to her, so either she got swept up and crushed, or some human took her. Not knowing used to make him ache inside, but now it was simply another fact of his life.

He lived without her for a whole year, all on his own. Oscar was uncomfortably familiar with the feeling of near-total starvation, the way it gave him a headache that threatened to push his skull apart and made his vision swim. Getting food for himself back then was hard.

He'd only gotten a break when a human captured him. The thought hardly seemed real, but that was the truth as he remembered it.

It was a kid named Dean who'd been left with his younger brother to live in the motel while their dad was away. He'd swept Oscar right off the floor, thwarting a desperate attempt to get back into the walls. Oscar had tried so hard to get back home after spending time stuck in their room under a dresser identical to the one that concealed him now.

"I guess we're doing this, aren't we," Oscar muttered to himself, in a voice so low he might not have actually made any noise. His lips barely moved. As he kept his eye on a scrap of abandoned food and listened to the humans packing up their scattered belongings, Oscar couldn't stop himself from thinking about that golden month of his life when he'd been able to eat food that good every day. As much as he wanted.

Oscar's would-be captor felt bad about grabbing him and scaring him, especially after seeing him cry and flinch. Oscar had the little brother to thank for that. Sam had insisted that Dean let Oscar out of his closed hands right away, and had offered words of comfort in the shadow of a giant.

Sam was Oscar's size. Or at least, he'd been close to it back then. Oscar had always been small, even for one of the little people. He hadn't even managed to reach his modest goal of three and a half inches tall.

After that terrifying first encounter, they'd become friends. They played together and Oscar even went outside more than once with the two brothers, with Dean watching over the smaller kids. Oscar got to go to school and build a snowman and learn how to play tag. A month of his life was allotted to him to just be a kid for once. To eat too much and watch TV, and have real friends. He certainly hadn't had the chance ever since then.

The brothers were gone. One morning, Oscar had gone to see them, even hoped to ask if he could go live with them when they left, but he was too late. He was too late.They'd packed up their things and gone away. Sam didn't even get to finish his goodbye note to Oscar.

Oscar had the world, and he lost it that day. It was back to surviving. No more time to play. No more safety to be found in one motel room and one pair of bed-sized hands. No more time to be happy when he needed to make sure he'd live.

He thought about them a lot. Even now, he had a vague notion of a bright smile and hazel eyes, the best friend of over a decade ago lingering in his mind. Sam and Dean's faces might have become hazy in his head the further away that month became, but they would always be there. They were his first friends.

They were his only friends. Oscar knew some of the others that lived way on the other side of the motel, but the way the building was divided made it hard to travel back and forth between them, so he'd never grown close to anyone over there. Sometimes it still amazed him that he'd become better friends with a human than the people facing a similar struggle to his own.

At least he knew it was real. That month, though painfully short, had really happened, and Oscar really had tried all kinds of wonderful foods and played games and slept on a pillow. Things were good then. The thought gave him motivation to keep getting through his days even now.

The loud sound of a zipper being closed over a bulging suitcase drew Oscar out of his daydreaming. He huddled down a little more underneath the dresser, and finally glanced aside to watch the shoes moving around over there. The humans were done packing. Soon they'd leave and he could claim his food.

"Got everything, sweetie?" rumbled out overhead.

A second pair of shoes walked up to join the first from the direction of the bathroom. These slip on shoes might have seemed dainty on the woman wearing them, but it made no difference to Oscar. Her steps still shook the floor, no matter how often her boyfriend called her little and cute. Humans outsized him, and their strength outclassed him. To him, there was nothing little about them, not even their voices.

"I got it," the woman replied, and Oscar watched placidly as the two pairs of shoes made their way over towards the door.

Oscar kept his knees slightly bent so that the shaking in the floor from their steps didn't jostle his legs. Every little counter move made a difference when he was on a supply run. Couldn't risk getting sore, sick, or stepped on. Three S's, he reminded himself.

The wide door creaked open and a rush of chilly air surged across the floor, striking Oscar like a wave of water. He winced as it stole away some of his meager body heat. This was his reward for waiting in the room instead of in the vent. At least they'd be gone soon.

"Oh, wait, babe, some of your breakfast fell," the woman spoke again, and her shoes turned back towards the room.

"Just leave it for the maids," the guy groused, holding the door open.

Oscar frowned. "Yeah, leave it," he murmured in agreement, even as the woman stooped and her hand came into view. A hand that could probably squash the breath out of Oscar without any effort pinched around the dropped food and then both disappeared. There was a rustle of plastic as the food was tossed into the trash bin, and then the couple proceeded to get into a lighthearted argument about respecting the help as the door slammed behind them.

They left without ever realizing they'd just thrown away Oscar's shot at some good food for the day. He still had some crackers on his shelves at home, but this was sausage and eggs. He'd made the foolish mistake of getting his hopes up.

He clenched his jaw and turned away. No use wanting what he couldn't have. He told himself that a lot, and though it helped a little, his stomach still hurt.

He made his way to an entrance to the wall concealed behind the dresser. He decided he'd scope out the room closest to his home for a little while before heading in until he could try again tomorrow. There was always a shot he might find something.

Oscar shuffled around underneath the table in the room nearest his little home in the walls, accessed by a short walk through the air ducts. He'd already managed to kick up a crumb or two from the carpet and stashed them away in his worn cloth bag, mostly grey with some patches of black fabric sewn on here and there. There still wasn't enough for a meal, but it was better than returning home with nothing.

He was glad that, even though the maids had clearly gone through the room already (none of the guests seemed to know how to make a bed like they did), they hadn't run the vacuum. Someone's meal at that very table had left behind crumbs just waiting for Oscar to find them, and he hadn't even checked the tabletop yet.

He knelt to pick up another crumb, taking the stale bread in hand and lifting the flap of his bag. While he tucked it away, he thought of another time he'd gotten food in this room. It was the corner of a sandwich, flattened carefully for him. The bread hadn't been stale then, but he didn't complain about his crumbs. They would sustain him for another day, even without the delicious flavors of peanut butter and jelly on them.

Oscar's musings about good food and lots of it came to a screeching halt when he paid attention to the noises outside. An engine had cut off just beyond the huge door. A loud, growling engine that promised the car around it was either huge or falling out of repair.

Either way, it had stopped and that only meant one thing.

Oscar dashed as quickly as he could towards the leg of the table, and it wasn't a moment too soon. The door opened, bringing another wave of cool air that shivered through him as he pressed himself against the table leg to hide his small body from view. At least his size had one advantage over the human that stomped into the room. It was easy to miss his presence.

He was a few feet from the dresser. That would have been his ideal hiding spot, but drifting off to think about sandwiches given to him by someone he'd never see again had distracted him. He'd be cursing at himself if things weren't so dire.

Something clattered loudly as a bag was tossed onto one of the beds, and Oscar's whole body jolted from the noise. He shut his eyes tight and took a few deep breaths. At least any instinct to cry out when he was startled had long since been suppressed. He felt a few more steps from the massive boots he'd glimpsed. It was just one human. One big, enormous human who definitely stood taller than a lot of others.

Oscar could do this. He'd just need to dart towards the dresser as soon as an opportunity presented itself. Then he could hide there until the human went to sleep or went out, something giving him the opportunity to leave. He had crumbs to hold him over if the wait was long. All he needed was a better hiding place, and then he'd be fine.

Even hidden by the table leg, Oscar was far too exposed. Behind him was a pillar of wood, but in front of him was the wide expanse of floor under the table. His heart pounded. He felt like the open space was all pointing right at him, ready to make the human come looking for intruders in his room.

They hadn't found the lightswitch yet. Oscar took it as his best chance. The room wasn't completely dark, by any means, but having the lamps on wouldn't do him any favors. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, and then repeated the action.

And then, no time to second guess himself, Oscar ran.

As he ran, light flooded the room. Oscar's heart, already frantic and pounding against his ribcage, leapt into overdrive as the shadows around him disappeared and took away all cover he might have had. He was exposed.

He became hyper aware of every passing second as if they'd slowed to a crawl. His bag pounded against his side and he ran as fast as he could on dismally short legs. Oscar could see, in the corner of his eye, as massive boots angled towards him. Terror crept in, almost making him falter.

It only took the human a few deliberate steps to close the distance between them. Oscar felt every time a huge shoe hit the floor, and he heard the telltale shift in breathing as his movement surprised the human. Not many expected to find tiny intruders in their room. Even though Oscar had been born in the motel and lived there for his entire life, he was still the intruder. That was how it worked with humans.

The disjointed thoughts kept him driving forward, but it was too little, too late. A shadow fell over him again, but it wasn't from the light switching off.

Oscar didn't have time to flinch out of the way before fingers much bigger and stronger than him surrounded his body and secured him to a huge palm. He was caught, trapped in a fist that restrained his panicked struggling. Oscar couldn't even yell in fright, for his breath caught in his throat. Only a frightened squeak like a mouse made it past his lips.

This time, the human that caught him was bigger. Oscar had even less chance of being able to stand up to him. Tears filled his eyes and his stomach clenched as he left the floor behind to lift rapidly into the air, controlled entirely by the human checking in.

He was caught.

The ascent was dizzying as the human stood. Oscar wasn't afraid of heights after a lifetime of scaling massive cliffs, but all the same, vertigo made his entire body feel light and disoriented and out of place as the human snatched him into the air against his will and beyond his control. Oscar struggled, but the shaking in his limbs weakened him. It wouldn't change much anyway.

He didn't stand a chance against a human, and he knew that trying to get away would accomplish nothing.

The upward motion stopped and Oscar's breath hitched. His tearful eyes were wide and he could see light creeping in as those powerful fingers opened up. He caught a glimpse of a pair of intense green eyes and a slightly furrowed brow in a look of concentration. Concentration on him as those green eyes landed on him.

Oscar thought for a split second about getting his safety pin from his bag to use as a weapon, but he knew, just like the last time he was hoisted into the air by a human, that would accomplish little. This human didn't look as friendly as before, either. Instead, Oscar curled into a ball.

The background noise of fear was too loud for Oscar to make sense of the words that boomed around him, rumbling in the human's gruff voice. More light fell on him as the hand opened more for the human to see him better.

Oscar shivered and remained curled up in terror. He was so exposed and nothing he could do would change that he was high up on a human's hand, captured. The man could do whatever he wanted now.

A fingertip bigger than Oscar's head brushed at his arm, and his whole body rocked from the contact. Humans were so powerful. Oscar squeezed his eyes shut and forced out a few tears before taking one shaking hand off his neck to plant it on the intruding fingertip.

His hand was so damn small by comparison. Oscar got a sudden notion of the human poking at him and nudging him around until he could pin him under that fingertip and he shot one worried glance past the hand to its owner. He pushed weakly against it, but he only succeeded in pushing himself back instead.

The human spoke again, and this time Oscar was present enough to hear the words that rumbled around him like thunder and shook his bones.

"Think you can give me a hand?"

Oscar flinched and for a moment wondered if the human was talking to him. Until he noticed that the words were directed not to the occupant of the human's hand, but to the occupant of his pocket. Oscar's eyes grew wide as another little person nodded and climbed out of the chest pocket like it was nothing.

To this guy, it probably wasn't much of an issue to climb across the human's huge arm to get to Oscar. Oscar watched him approach before shrinking back. The guy was four inches tall. It put Oscar's meager three and a quarter inches to shame. Not that it mattered much when he was curled up on the human's hand.

"Hey," the other guy greeted as he placed a massive hand of his own on Oscar's shoulder. Oscar's breath hitched and he tensed up, confused and scared. He didn't really believe it when the man said "You're safe here."

And then came the introductions. "My name's Sam. That's my brother Dean. He didn't mean to scare you, I promise."

Sam. Dean. Suddenly, a voice that Oscar hadn't been able to recall clearly in years came back to him in full clarity, saying He didn't mean to scare you in all earnestness while Oscar cried in fear.

They came back played over and over in a loop as Oscar stared at Sam, noting the hazel eyes and the gentle demeanor. His eyes drifted aside to the human's face, so close to them both, and Oscar blinked. There were the green eyes he remembered. Changed by the years and more intense than before, but they were the same.

Oscar was almost happy, until What if they don't remember me crashed across his mind and his brow knitted. He blinked back the terrified tears and sat up, scooting back from Sam. His best friend and someone Oscar thought about almost every day was here, but what reason did he have to remember Oscar?

There was no way he could stand out in the lifetime of people like Sam and Dean. He knew what they were used to. Monsters and witches and ghosts. They helped people. It was a lot more important than some kid they met thirteen years ago.

"S-Sam, Dean," Oscar said hoarsely, trying to find his voice after the fear unwound enough to let him speak. He pushed himself to a shaky stand and glanced back and forth between them.

Despite his worries, a smile almost settled on his face. Oscar's expression couldn't decide what it wanted to convey. His eyes fell to the cloth bag that hung from Sam's shoulder and he dragged a hand down his face, covering his mouth. It was a twin of his own, minus the patched up spots.

"I-I know you," he finally said. "You were here a long time ago. Do you remember ...?"

A/N:

^^ At last his time has come.

Next: July 23rd 2017 at 9pm est

Leave a review to let us know what you think!