Chapter Text
Oscar gasped and took off after Sam in a stumbling start. His legs were shorter, but he wasn't completely left in the dust by his tall friend; Oscar had a lot of practice with sprints. As he ran, he dug his safety pin and thread from his bag, closing it hastily so he wouldn't lose the stuff he packed up for the trip.
He uncoiled the thread as he ran, determination driving him to at least try despite Sam's head start. His safety pin sprang open easily, glinting dully in the light from overhead. He prepared to throw it before he even skidded to a halt at the table.
Without paying attention to Sam, Oscar tossed his pin upwards and caught it on the edge of the table, teasing it into place with far more speed and confidence than he'd had as a child. It was practically second nature to him. He hauled himself off the floor and began his climb.
Sam’s own hook caught in time with Oscar’s, the three prongs making it catch onto the edge much easier than his old safety pin would have. He’d never had Oscar’s touch with it.
After so many years getting around on his own, climbing was second nature for Sam as much as it was for Oscar. His longer limbs made his ascent slightly faster, though he lost time when he glanced over to see where his opponent was.
Neither of them acknowledged Dean as he shuffled over to the table in his socks, peering down at their contest with a grin. “Just like old times, eh?” he chuckled as he watched the tiny arms going hand over hand, the feet pinching the thread between them as they went. Both were completely focused on their match, and ignored Dean as they went.
Oscar managed to gain on Sam at some point, and for a while he kept the pace with him. Even with an audience, he kept his focus on the task at hand to avoid slipping and plummeting to the floor. He knew Dean would likely be able to catch him, but the embarrassment might just do him in anyway.
Eventually, though Oscar climbed fast and efficiently, Sam's longer limbs won out and regained him a lead. Oscar frowned faintly and kept going. It wasn't his fault he was nearly an inch shorter than Sam. In the end, he reached the edge of the table a second after Sam did.
He hauled himself over the side quickly, not even bothering to run towards the cup of coffee that was their goal. Snitching something from it wouldn't work so well with Dean standing there, anyway. "I guess a few lessons stuck after all," he said between quiet breaths of exertion.
Sam managed a breathy laugh, having thrown his all into the race. “I was barely ahead of you, so I’m not the only one that remembers his lessons,” he shot back, tucking his thread and hook back where it belonged. He was careful to leave the fabric with Oscar’s needles folded inside carefully at the bottom.
“Sammy better watch out, otherwise he’s not going to be the fastest climber at Bobby’s anymore,” Dean chuckled as he reached out and folded his hand around his coffee mug.
“Hey!” Sam protested as he lifted the coffee away. “Not sharing today?”
Dean arched his eyebrows up at them. “You doubt me?” he asked in a fake-injured tone of voice. He nudged aside the creamer that was left near the coffee maker, revealing a small bottlecap left on its own.
“You better not hog all the coffee,” Sam grumbled as he stalked over to get himself a drink before they left.
Oscar snickered quietly, trailing after Sam to investigate the coffee Dean had left aside. The smell filling the air was familiar to him after years of living in the motel. If the humans in the office weren't brewing it, someone in the rooms was instead. He closed up his safety pin once more, stowing it in his bag as he walked and closing it up with a light pat. It was the same pin he'd had when Sam met him; he'd never gotten too heavy to use a pin to climb.
"I didn't even have to steal it," he quipped, indicating the coffee as he sat down on the table top nearby. He watched as Sam mixed cream and sugar into his allotted bottle cap. "I'd call that a win for me."
“Next time,” Sam said, smirking at the confusion on Dean’s face up above. When the coffee reached the right coloration, he pushed it in between him and Oscar to share.
The older hunter drained his cup and left it on the edge of the table. While the other two had their morning cup, he gathered up his supplies scattered around the room. Sam’s small bed and desk were gathered up with far more care than Dean’s own clothing, carefully tucked away into their own box so Sam wouldn’t lose anything from the desk drawers.
In no time at all, the only sign that anyone had stayed in the room was the rumpled bed, with a duffel left on the corner, and the sight of two guys sitting in the center of the table. Dean came over and held out a hand. “Ready to blow this joint?”
Oscar got to his feet, still nervous about the journey ahead of him. He'd never even been in a car before, but he wasn't on his own, and he was leaving a harsh life behind for a better one. His resolve didn't waver even as his apprehension told him to dash back to the walls immediately.
"I think so," he replied with a faint smile, approaching Dean's hand with steady steps, each a little more confident than the last. He was ready to never look back. He might miss things about the place from time to time, but Oscar knew he'd never miss the constant buzz of worry. "Everything I need's all packed up, so ..." he shrugged before finally stepping up onto Dean's hand. "I guess that's it."
“Well,” Dean said as Sam stepped up next to Oscar on his hand, “then all that’s left is a few minutes in the pocket.”
He lifted his hand away from the table so he could see them at an equal height for a moment as he finished talking. “Once we’re in the Impala, you can both join me on a shoulder. We’ll put this place in the dust.”
Sam glanced at Oscar as they were lowered down next to the chest pocket and Dean propped open the pocket. “Did you want to say goodbye to anyone?” he asked gently as he swung his legs off the edge.
Oscar mimicked Sam and shrugged. "Not really ... if they knew the reason I'd be saying goodbye they wouldn't want anything to do with me, anyway," he admitted with a sheepish smile. He'd always been something of an enigma to the folks on the other side of the motel. They'd never even found out he was living on his own until months after his mom was gone. By then, he was well used to doing things by himself, even if it was hard.
"They might come and visit and if they see the evidence that I left, they can probably use the food I left. Maybe use the house." With that reasoning behind him, Oscar slipped forward to land in the pocket, managing slightly more grace than last time with the motion. He pressed himself into the corner to make room for Sam, clutching his bag close.
Sam joined him in short order, staying in his own corner to keep from dipping the bottom out from under Oscar with his greater weight. The flap dropped down and covered up the opening of the pocket to block them from view.
Now, if anyone was to glance at Dean, they’d just see some drifter in a jacket. Sam and Oscar were concealed by folds of fabric, like they didn’t even exist.
To most humans, they might as well not exist. The important people out there wouldn’t let them down. Like Dean, and Sam knew that Bobby would be the same.
The swaying strides of the hunter started up as Dean headed for the door. There was a brief jostling as the hunter scooped up his immense duffel bag and tossed it over his shoulder. The guns clattered around inside until they settled, and then the door opened.
Sam glanced over at Oscar as they left. “You’ll like Arthur and Alyssa,” he supplied helpfully. “They won’t make you feel like the odd one out. Considering they accepted me, with Dean and Bobby around most days I came out to visit, they’ll welcome anyone in as family.”
Oscar nodded. He hadn't put much thought into the smaller folk already living near Bobby's. Outside. Seeing it would probably be amazing all on its own, though Oscar wasn't sure he'd have the bravery to actually live outside like they did. It had to be a community of very tough people to make it work out there.
"I don't meet a lot of new people," he mused. "Hope I can make a good first impression." Oscar could see himself falling silent after he met these new people, out of pure shyness.
Soon enough, there was another tilt of the pocket that forced Oscar to grip the sides to avoid sliding into Sam. Metal creaked, and then a door slammed and cut off the sounds of the great outdoors. Oscar knew somehow that they must be in a car now, and stared upwards curiously.
"We're actually going," he muttered, before shifting around to get his feet under himself to stand. The edge of the pocket was above his head, so he reached up to grab it to haul himself up.
Before they could actually reach the top, it opened up and let light spill inside. Dean peered down curiously at the two in his pocket. “Figured you both might want a better point of view,” he chuckled as he saw them blinking in the light. “No one’s around. They’re all either sleepin’ in or already left.”
Sam took the initiative to scramble up, glancing around the car briefly before scaling up to Dean’s shoulder. “Try not to jam the brakes too hard this time,” he snarked up at his brother, half-serious. It wouldn’t do to toss Oscar off the first time he got to ride with them. Although Dean had proven how fast his reflexes were more than once.
Glancing down at the pocket, Sam gave Oscar a wave. “There’s plenty of room up here!” he called down.
Oscar raised his eyebrows, before following at a slightly more cautious pace. He was caught between staring around at the car and the completely new sights it offered, and focusing on climbing a completely new surface. There was a sway in time with Dean's careful breathing, though thankfully it wasn't enough to jar Oscar off.
He made it to the shoulder with a quiet huff, scrambling around to sit up. He remembered sitting on Dean's shoulder as a kid, and found himself scooting a little closer to the collar. Just like back then, he wanted to make sure he had something to grab onto if he got jostled.
He glanced around the car and through the windows, cautious and alert and intrigued. His heart pounded and his breathing came faster than normal. Oscar's nerves were alive as they recognized the novelty of the situation.
"A-alright, then," he said, gripping the fabric beneath him for security while he glanced around. A smile slowly appeared on his face as he stared at the closed motel room door. "Let's go."
The engine roared to life.