Chapter Text
Dean waited in the car as the engine cooled down and the dust settled from the drive up. He caught Sam’s eye in the rearview mirror, as used to the action as he was to the back of his own hand. His little brother was only four inches tall, but they made their own normal, size be damned.
Now, they were trying to help someone else with his normal. Dean could feel every minor shift in his pocket. Oscar, even smaller than Sam but just as brave, shuddered in the pause that formed.
“We’re here,” Dean announced.
“I-I know,” filtered up from his chest pocket, despite a startled flinch. Dean smirked. He’d long since learned not to take Oz’s timid nature personally.
Another short pause. “Wanna come out and check the place out, or does Sam need to come drag you out?”
“I can do it!” Oscar protested, and Dean exchanged a grin with Sam. Oscar moved in the pocket, presumably gathering himself up. “Just a second.”
Moments later, the flap over the pocket shifted and then rose up as some of the tiniest fingers Dean had ever seen grasped the edge. Oscar struggled with it for a moment before his head peeked out, topped with mousy brown hair in a mess.
Oscar was so small he couldn’t stand in the pocket and hope to see out. He had to cling to the edge and brace his feet against the cloth in order to join the brothers.
“How was the drive, Oscar?” Sam called down from Dean’s shoulder. Even without looking to the side, Dean heard the smile in his voice.
“It, um. It was … I didn’t feel like I’d fall,” Oscar admitted.
He’d started the trip up on the shoulder with Sam, leaving his home in Breckenridge, Colorado behind after so many years on his own. An hour on the road had tried his nerves, with all the roads and buildings passing by at blurred speeds. Dean couldn’t begrudge him a chance to hide away for a while, not with all the excitement of the last case fresh in mind.
Without Oscar’s help, they might not have heard about the Red Cap fairy until he had a much higher body count. Oscar might be scared of his own shadow, but he was as brave as they come. It had been true of him since the very first time Sam and Dean met him, shortly after accidentally cornering and catching him.
Somehow, there they were, having convinced him to leave behind all he’d ever known. Oscar was a hero, no matter if he denied it, and he didn’t deserve to live alone his whole life.
They hadn’t managed to convince him to tell them what happened to his family. They couldn’t have been there for him as he grew up, but they could make up for it now.
“That’s the important part,” Dean said with a smirk. He had to look straight down to be able to see Oscar, and in the end the two could only see upside down views of each other’s faces. Oscar was wide-eyed and cautious. “No need to be scared on moving day.”
The reminder of the task before them prompted Oscar to duck partway into the pocket again. He peeked over the edge to survey the world beyond the Impala’s windows now that she had stopped moving. Dean and Sam couldn’t see his face anymore, but they waited patiently as he took in all the details.
Sioux Falls had blessed them with a sunny day, and the windows of some of the junked cars gleamed at them from their meticulously arranged rows. To Dean, the Singer Salvage Yard and Bobby’s house was as close to a second home as he had.
To Oscar, it was all new, and they could afford to give him time to adjust.
“Is that the house?” Oscar asked at last. His focus had found the worn-but-cozy place among the salvage. It’s blue and white paint had faded and chipped away, and the curtains seen through the windows were sun-bleached. The porch posts creaked in the faintest breezes, and the same step always complained when walking up to visit.
What was once meant to be a cheerful family home now housed one of the most knowledgeable hunters around.
“That’s the house,” Dean confirmed. “Sam’s already looked around inside,” he continued, knowing what inside meant for people their size. The very walls of a building became homes for the littles, as Bobby called them (Dean never could get Sam to accept “borrowers”). For Oscar, this was the first time he’d come to a place with a permanent resident.
“There’s lots of routes around,” Sam confirmed. “People like us used to live there. Remember when I told you about the group living out in the field?”
“I remember,” Oscar answered hastily. “I don’t wanna see the field yet.” His voice was quieter, almost apologetic, as he peeked further out of the pocket again.
Dean smirked and brushed a fingertip over the tiny mop of messy hair. Oscar squeaked in surprise and Dean reassured him. “You don’t have to, Oz. You got time to get used to everything first. Do you want to go inside? Up to you if you wanna meet Bobby now or later.”
Oscar looked up again, and the uncertainty in his eyes sent a screaming signal to both brothers. They had hung out with the little guy a few times enough to know when a decision frightened him. If they didn’t give him another option, he could freeze up.
Dean floundered, but Sam had an answer for them. “How about you hide out in the pocket while we talk to Bobby about what’s going on. If you want to look out and see him, you can. If not, just stay hidden.”
Oscar huffed out a tiny sigh and nodded. “Okay. I’ll … I can hide,” he said, as if reassuring himself. Then, he ducked back out of sight and the pocket fell closed.
Dean smirked. “Don’t worry, Oz. It’s a piece of cake. Then we’ll getcha to a wall entrance so you can really move in.”
With that said and with Oscar hiding away in the pocket once more, Dean left the car. Sam’s weight barely shifted on his shoulder, the little guy so used to staying up there after over two years hunting together. Dean’s gait didn’t bother him at all, and that fact always gave him a small dose of pride.
Knowing Oscar trusted them to bring him all this way was another heavy dose of that pride. They’d do right by their tiny helper.
Dean knocked on the door and then opted to let himself in. “Hey, Bobby, you home?” he called, keeping his voice reasonable for his tiny passengers.
Instead of Bobby greeting him, there was an “Aw, hell!” from one of the other rooms and a loud thump. Quick footsteps marked by claws on the hardwood came next, and Dean realized something they’d definitely forgotten to warn Oscar about.
As Rumsfeld rounded the corner wearing a doggy grin, Dean felt as Oscar flinched into a tiny ball in his pocket.
Oops.