It took convincing, but Sam managed it at last.

With a giggle, he squirmed his way into the vents at the motel. Dean was left sitting out on his own, forced to wait for his younger brother to come back. He hadn't wanted to let him go, but since he couldn't exactly fit himself, he didn't get much of a choice.

Sam ran the first part of the distance, his new cloth bag, loaded up with his pin, climbing thread and aluminum foil cup, thumping against his side. He was excited to find Oscar and tell him the good news. They'd forgotten, the night before, to let him know that the next day was Saturday, and so they had the entire day off to do whatever they wanted.

And there was no way they'd be spending it shut in the motel room.

Sam reached the end of the light and skidded to a halt. This was his first time taking the path on his own and he didn't want to risk getting lost. He sent a glance over his shoulder, one last check to see the shadow that sat next to the vent and make sure Dean was alright.

Then he pressed on.

Sam ran a hand along the side of the vent to help find his way. Unlike Oscar, who'd learned the ways in the walls of the motel since he'd been born, Sam had never had to walk in darkness like this. His eyes had a hard time adjusting to the dim lighting, leaving him in the dark. But he knew where the hidden home was and he wanted to find it on his own. If they waited for Oscar to find his way to their room the day would be half gone.

His hand ran over a loose panel in the wall, and he came to a halt. This was it. The path to his friend's home. Sam was larger than Oscar, so he was able to pry open the small entryway with ease. He slipped into the opening and let the panel close behind himself. From there he picked the direction he remembered from the times he'd come, helping Oscar bring home extra food to fill his barren shelves. Compared to the amount he needed to survive, they had plenty to spare.

Sam's small feet shuffled in the dark as he found the support beam and turned again. Almost there. At least once he got to the little home there would be light leaking down from the cracks in the wood.

There was enough light at the end of the tunnel for Sam to see the block of wood that covered the entrance to Oscar's home. It was to keep out pests like rats and spiders, he'd been told. It wasn't foolproof, but any type of protection for a child that stood barely over two inches tall would help.

More than anything, Sam wanted to ask Oscar if he wanted to come with them when they left. They'd spent so much time getting to know each other that he'd never want to leave his other friend behind. The world was dangerous and Oscar was very small. Forced to sneak into rooms inhabited by massive giants thirty times his size or bigger just because he needed food. Sam and Dean could help him out if he came with them; even if Sam got his curse reversed, he'd never try to trap his best friend. And Dean treated the kid just like another younger brother, Sam was sure he'd agree.

Of course, that left their dad.

Putting that out of mind, Sam pushed aside the block and let himself into the small home. His eyes had to adjust to the sudden onslaught of light that leaked through the cracks in golden bars. It was welcome after so long in the dark.

He dropped his cloth bag on the ground near the doorway and pushed the block back in front of the door. "Oscar?" he called out as he took a few steps into the home. "You around? I've got good news!"

The voice at the edge of hearing drew Oscar out of a sluggish, content sleep. He'd gone to bed full yet again, and that made it pretty easy for him to sleep into the morning. When he wasn't in the motel room and dragged along to school, anyway. He'd gone a couple times, but only when he got too tired to go home the night before. Sam and Dean made sure he had a safe place to rest.

Today though, he could tell there was enough light in the front room for morning to be well underway. Sam and Dean should be off to their school already, so Oscar decided he must have dreamed up the sound of Sam's voice calling his name. Sometimes his days blended into his sleep, after all.

He mumbled something unintelligible even to himself and snuggled under his pile of blankets, drawing one closer around himself. Oscar was barely visible in his nest of cloth. But it kept him cozy, especially in the winter when the walls became drafty.

"Jus' a little more sleep," he told himself and the house, sighing and drifting off again.

If Oscar had ever stopped to ask Dean what having Sam around in the morning was like, he would have known there wasn't a chance he'd get to sleep in that day.

Sam bounced into the bedroom, not about to take "no" for an answer. He didn't take it from his gigantic older brother, he wasn't about to take it from his smaller best friend. "C'mon, Oz!" he said, too excited to realize he was borrowing Dean's nickname for the kid. "It's Saturday! Dean said we can go wherever we want and we can't let that chance pass us by!"

Sam landed on the nest of fabric that Oscar had built up around himself for warmth and comfort. It took a minute of digging through the fabric to find a small shoulder so he could shake it. "Time to get up!"

Oscar's eyes fluttered open, and he wore a mask of confusion. "Wh- ... Sam?" he said in a voice still thick with sleep. He squirmed away from his friend's insistent shaking so he could free his arms from the blankets and rub his eyes with his knuckles.

After burying a yawn in his arms, Oscar crawled partway out from under his pile of blankets to sit up and look over at Sam. He was definitely there, a bright grin on his face for his triumph over Oscar's sleepiness. He'd come to Oscar's house all on his own this time, and that alone helped speed Oscar's journey towards being more awake.

"Saturday?" he echoed, the unfamiliar word sounding so halting and strange in his voice. For people who had to survive day to day like Oscar, the actual names of the days weren't as much of a priority. He knew humans used them to set their schedules, and little more. "No school? Then where're we goin'?" he asked, intrigued now.

Sam bounded his way back out of the mass of blankets that Oscar had surrounded himself with. "Dean said we can go to the park! If there's no one around we can go exploring like I used to get to do at uncle Bobby's before I got cursed!" Once he was standing on his own two feet again he gave Oscar's arm a tug. "And then, he even said he'd take us to the movies because Jurassic Park is playing and we can have popcorn!"

Oscar let Sam tug him along, stumbling to his feet. He shook himself free of the last blanket and followed Sam out into the main room of his home. He was still blinking a little slowly, not expecting the early wakeup. He certainly hadn't expected someone to bounce onto his bed to find him.

"Y'mean ... we're gonna go outside?" he asked, his eyes wide as he found his bag and pulled it over his shoulder. Outside was a dangerous place for someone so small to venture on their own. Oscar had only been out of the motel with Dean, and that was just to go to school. He stayed safe in the human's hood, out of sight of anyone or anything that might otherwise be a very real threat to the tiny boy.

Sam nodded excitedly. "Yea! Dean said that if we promise to stick really close to him, we can even explore the ground! We can see the grass and the leaves and get to be out in fresh air for a bit… it's even warmer today than it's been for the entire week! It'll be like an adventure!"

Unable to sit still, Sam darted into the other room. He scooped up his bag and bounced on his heels. "And movies! We almost never get to go to the movies because we never have enough money but Dean said we've got plenty left on the card and he's been really wanting to see the movie so he doesn't mind taking us with him!" By the time he'd finished, he ran out of breath trying to get the entire explanation out at once.

Oscar's eyes remained wide as Sam explained, and he took in each detail with care to make sure he didn't miss any of the plans. It was always good to be aware of what was coming with Sam and Dean. When he was caught unawares and taken to school with them after only a couple days knowing the brothers, Oscar had spent a lot of the morning stressed out beyond belief.

Still, he wondered if there was anything that could adequately prepare him for going outside and not being hidden. He'd never imagined he'd see grass or leaves for real. It was too dangerous to go outside on his own. He was small and easily targeted by the animals, but with Dean around to deter them ...

A grin burst onto his face. "O-okay, I'll try it! I wanna see what grass looks like. And try popcorn." With his attitude decided on, he made sure he had everything in his bag (he did), and went to the door to lead the way back out.

"You did a good job comin' all the way down the vent to get me by yourself," Oscar pointed out with a smile.

Sam beamed at the praise. "I've been keeping track when you take me in the vents," he bragged. "The hardest part was convincing Dean. He didn't think I'd be able to find my way here without help but I sure showed him!"

He fell into line behind Oscar regardless of his practice arriving at the house. He didn't want to push his luck. As the darkness closed in again, Sam's eyes flashed from side to side as he tried to acquaint himself to the lighting like Oscar. With practice, he was certain he'd be able to navigate walls just as adeptly as anyone else.

Oscar chuckled, but the sound quickly died off. He didn't make as much noise in the walls just on principle. Whispering was one thing, but laughter was way too dangerous. A human could hear it by some chance, and they could come for Oscar. They'd go investigating and find a tiny house with an even tinier kid in it who would have no way of fighting them back, especially if it wasn't from the same room that Dean stayed in. That human, at least, was one Oscar could trust to keep him safe.

" 'S a good thing, too," he muttered as they made their way. "I wouldn'ta known you didn't have school today. I was gonna weave all morning. It's hard, but I'm getting better at it."

"I'da found my way eventually," Sam whispered back. "I won't give up easy. Dean would never let me hear the end of it if I got lost after all the arguing I had to do to get him to let me come on my own. But I'm gonna figure out the walls like this, that way I can try and find my way around at uncle Bobby's on my own next time we stay with him. I'm not gonna be helpless anymore." As small as his eyes were, a solid determination filled them. The complete assurance that he would be able to master everything Oscar taught him and put it to use.

Oscar grinned at Sam, but had to put a hand out to gently nudge his shoulder before he kept walking and missed the entrance to the vent. It was darkest at this point in the walls, so he could hardly blame the other kid for missing it. "Yeah, no more getting stuck up high," he agreed while they crawled back into the metal passageway. After Oscar closed up his door, there wasn't much farther to go. "I'm real glad you let me be your teacher, too. It's fun."

When they reached the light spilling into the vent, it felt like their steps picked up speed. Oscar was excited to have more time with his friends. He'd grown used to them spending the days at school. Despite what he'd learned about humans, he only gave the room a cursory glance before slipping out of the vent with Sam, knowing that so long as it was Dean, he'd be fine.

With the warning sound of small footsteps approaching, Dean was prepared for the sight of two small children slipping out of the vent. This time he already had a hand under them before they let go of the metal, landing them both in his palm with no time to spare. "Hey guys," he said with a grin as he stood up. "Guess Sammy managed to find his way on his own after all."

His smirk grew at the annoyed look Sam threw up at him. "I told you I'd be fine!" Sam tossed back instantly as he got shakily to his feet in Dean's hand. Dean didn't even get a chance to ruffle his hair as Sam batted away the closest finger.

A/N

What's a stay at a motel without a trip to the park?

If you have a prompt idea for the story, please tumble on over to the tumblr and drop it in my askbox!

Next: A Day at the Park 2, coming February 22nd

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