BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Dean groaned, burying his head under the covers at the piercing noise of the alarm clock in the room. He sleepily reached for the nightstand, trying to hit the snooze button to shut the thing up. It only took him about three attempts, but eventually he felt the red button under his hand click off.

He relaxed again, slipping back into sleep.

Or at least, he tried to slip back into sleep.

"Deeeaaann!"

Sam, it seemed, had other plans for him.

"Go 'way," came the muffled reply as Dean tried to cover his head up with his pillow.

He felt a small tickle along his arm and froze in place, afraid to knock Sam off even when he was being the world's most annoying little brother. Sam hopped over to his back, and shoved at the back of his head.

"C'mon, we're gonna be late!" Sam whined. "You gotta get up!"

Dean let out another groan and sleepily reached for Sam. It took two attempted grabs before his brother was squirming in his hand. "It's too early," Dean mumbled as he set Sam back on his own pillow. "Ten more minutes."

He flopped back down in bed.

What barely felt like two seconds later, two miniscule hands shoved at his cheek.

"Get up, jerk."

Green eyes flicked open and peeked up at Sam. From where he was mashing his face into the bed, Dean was actually looking upat the younger boy for once. "But I'm tired," he whined, dropping a hand over Sam to keep him in place.

Sam kicked at him in annoyance and tried to push the hand off. "You promised!"

Dean heaved a world-weary sigh and pulled himself up at last. Sam bounced to his feet as the older boy let him up, undaunted by the sight of Dean looming overhead. "You owe me, pint-size."

Sam made a face. "I owe you because I made sure you didn't sleep through the alarm? Nice try, jerk."

"Bitch." Dean's response was reflexive. He stretched out his arms and brushed a hand through his short, spiky hair. "Whatever. Let's get this show on the road."

The school they'd been temporarily enrolled in was only a short, ten minute walk down the road. Dean didn't bother bringing his backpack with him, no matter how much Sam nagged. All he needed was his one notebook, and he only had that with him because Sam would never let the subject drop if he didn't at least try to take notes in class. And Dean was fairly certain he'd only won the argument about leaving the backpack behind because Sam wouldn't be able to sit in the hood of his hoodie if he brought it. For being two and a half inches tall, Sam was persistent.

The thick, dark fabric formed a comfortable hammock for Sam to sit in. From there, he was completely concealed. Any movements he made were softened by the folds of cotton around him, and people would just assume it was reacting to a movement from Dean. It was the safest place for him to sit, since the side pockets in a crowd of people were always in danger of being brushed up against.

It was also convenient because Sam could pull himself up to Dean's shoulder if he needed to. He was cautious every time, keeping a sharp eye out for any kids or teachers that caught sight of him up there. So far, nothing had come of it.

During a quiz, he could help Dean with the answers if he got the chance. Even though the coursework was a few grades ahead of where Sam had been at, he'd picked it up fast. There was nothing that could keep him down, not even losing his height. He'd bounced back better than anyone could have hoped.

Dean had to hide a grin at that as he sat down into one of the chairs near the back of the room. He caught the eye of a girl sitting nearby out of habit, and sent her a winning smile.

He was as hopeful as Sam that Oscar would come back that night. After all, Sam deserved to have friends his own size again. He'd always been more the type to want to fit in during school.

Now, he didn't even have the option.

The day could not have dragged by slower for Oscar. He'd slept in that morning, unusually tired after his misadventure. From there, things passed by in a crawl.

He tried the tip of the chocolate block. It was so delicious he almost laughed out loud from the flavor. And he had a whole block all to himself! He had indulged in another piece in the afternoon, too. It was too good to pass up.

He tried to do his normal tasks for the day. He had some weaving he needed to work on. He wasn't as good at it as his mom had been, so it was slow going for Oscar. But he was distracted through the whole task, and found he had to go back and redo a lot of his work a couple times.

When the day dipped into the later afternoon, Oscar finally decided it was time to go back and try to see those brothers again. He would wait at the vent; he could always change his mind if he got intimidated. With that self-assurance, he put his bag over his shoulder (this time with a second safety pin and thread grappling hook in it) and set out.

When Oscar hefted himself out of the vent into their room, he wasn't expecting to step in a huge pile of salt. He gasped in surprise and stumbled, falling to a sitting position on the carpet. He frowned, puzzled by the small white grains that had scattered a little from his tripping on them.

"What ...?"

Dean heard a sound in the room behind him, and went to turn around and see what it was.

"Hey!" Sam said, indignant. "I'm not doing all the homework today!" He brandished the small pencil stub they'd confiscated from the school for him to use, easily thicker than his arms and as tall as his knee. The pink eraser displayed more signs of wear than the normal sized pencil that was curled into Dean's larger hands. It was easy to tell which brother did the most schoolwork.

"Chill, dude. I thought I heard..." Dean trailed off as he spotted something small and moving down by the vent. This time it was easy to suppress his instinctive jumpiness, knowing who was down there. "Hey, Oz!"

That was enough to ground Sam's tirade to a halt. He dashed across the table, reaching the edge where he could see all the way to the ground and didn't have to worry about Dean's towering chest blocking out sight of the floor. He gave an excited wave when he spotted the other kid. "Oscar! You came back!" He was almost bouncing on his heels in excitement, the homework temporarily forgotten.

Oscar got to his feet hastily, wishing he hadn't fallen over first thing. At least neither brother seemed to have noticed in the wake of greeting him. Both brothers were across the room from him, and so he couldn't hear Sam's words, but he certainly got the idea. It brightened his face a little to see that they were actually happy he'd come back. Oscar hadn't had anyone around to care whether he stayed or went in quite a long time.

He brushed a few stray grains of salt from his pants before glancing around the room. He had checked it once before exiting the vent, but he always had to be doubly sure he knew where all of the humans were in a room.

With that out of the way, he waved back at Sam. Oscar was just as happy to see the other kid. He didn't have anyone at all near him, let alone someone his age. The others living in the walls stayed all the way on the other side of the motel, and Oscar didn't know how to get there by himself.

He couldn't help but notice that Dean still towered over him, even sitting down. At least this was a human he already knew. He was able to remind himself of how nice Dean was the day before, and actually began approaching the table.

Crossing the room was a nerve wracking experience. Oscar almost never let himself be out in the middle of the floor, and for good reason. It was usually the best place to get seen or stepped on. The furniture loomed and the open space all around mocked him with how exposed he was. He ended up jogging to make it most of the way, getting himself near one of the table legs before stopping to catch his breath and rest.

He hoped he hadn't looked too scared while he was out on the open floor. Even standing near the table leg, with Dean's chair and thus his own legs so close by, wasn't as daunting. Those huge shoes weren't as big as the daunting uncertainty from being exposed like that.

Dean and Sam both watched the younger kid cross the motel room floor with curious eyes. In all the time since Sam had been cursed, he'd never risked - or been allowed to risk - crossing the floor on his own. Aside from how intimidating it all would be from down on the ground, it was dangerous.

All it would take was one misstep from any of the people that knew about his curse. Dean, Bobby, John... it didn't matter. If they had one moment of inattention, it would all be over for the youngest Winchester. At the very least, he'd end up with a broken arm or leg, if not crushed.

So he kept to the tabletops and desks, nightstands and coffee tables that Dean helped him reach. At least in Dean's hands he feltsafe, a feeling that was in short supply at under three inches in height.

Dean leaned over once the other kid stopped to take a breath. "Need a hand?" he offered, reaching out the way he always did for Sam.

Oscar straightened in a surprised flinch. A hand coming his way, looking bigger and bigger with each inch between them lost, set his heart leaping into his throat. The logic reminding him that Dean had been nice to him the day before was drowned out by sheer startled reflex. He couldn't help it, and he stumbled backwards, falling over again.

"Wait, wait," he called, a startled hand held up to stop Dean from scooping him off the floor. Once he was certain he had the older kid's attention, he dug into his bag and drew out his safety pin. "I can get up there myself, remember?" he pointed out, holding up the pin.

Oscar stood himself up once more, straightening his rumpled shirt and shaking his arms out to make sure his sleeves were out of the way. While he uncoiled the thread, he looked up at Dean and said, "You said I'd need to prove it and I'm gonna," he boasted, though his usual timidness still colored the claim. He could hardly believe he was planning to put himself in even easier reach of a human, but he wanted to get up there and see Sam again. At least for a little while.

Dean drew back briefly in surprise, his eyes grazing over the safety pin held out in Oscar's hand. A completely ordinary object that was given new meaning held in the hands of a kid that barely stood two inches tall. The safety pin was almost half his height, after all. It was the same watching Sam wield his pencil stub while he worked out math problems on sheets of paper that dwarfed him.

Dean sat back up, moving his chair back a few inches to give Oscar room to climb. "Let's see whatcha got," he challenged the younger kid. Sam squatted down near the edge of the table to watch as well, only a few inches away from Dean's relaxed arm.

Oscar stared straight up, unfazed by the height he'd need to climb in order to prove his claim. He'd done it before, and it would be the same principle as climbing anything else. It was the highest structure he could climb, but that didn't bother him much either.

The real challenge was having an audience.

A/N

Sam and Dean venture to school while Oscar works on his chores. These three are adorable.

Next: December 9th