A/N

Thanks for sticking with us for this story and it's time for us all to say farewell to Knights Inn...

Oscar woke with a yawn and a slow stretch, arching his body under his pile of blankets. His eyes only cracked open after he released that tension, letting out a content sigh. He lay there a bit longer, letting himself wake up.

And then he remembered what day it was, and bolted upright.

He'd already prepared the night before, so getting himself ready was a short process. It was the reason he was in his house anyway, instead of the warm, cozy pillow in the motel room. Oscar swung his heavier bag over his shoulder and pushed his door closed tightly behind him, walking briskly in the dark with a sense of purpose.

Today was the day he was going to ask Sam and Dean to take him with them when they left.

The last month was filled with so many joyful memories with the first friends Oscar had ever made. He thought of that first night, hardly believing it had been a month.

He ran as fast as his tiny legs could carry him, the wall stretching far above him on one side. His shoes pressed against the worn carpet with a desperate force borne of an instinctual need to escape.

A booming in the floor and a tower moving in his periphery made his heart flutter. The floor quaked beneath him and he almost wondered if it would toss him into the air with all of the shaking. Oscar ran on with fear mounting in his core.

And then, something huge slammed in front of him, barring his desperate run from continuing. A matching wall of fingers appeared behind, and before Oscar could do more than whip his gaze to the side and see an enormous face above, the two hands sealed together.

Oscar was shoved by one and jostled right off his feet onto a net of fingers bigger than him. He was in a dim cage that shot up into the air so fast that Oscar thought he might fly right up to the faraway ceiling …

Now, Oscar was over the moon with happiness. He'd gone from screaming and crying in terror of the human named Dean to befriending him and his little brother Sam.

Oscar's cheeks and frame were fuller than they had ever been in his life. His brown eyes were brighter and he was more energetic than ever. Having regular access to food and lots of it had sent Oscar's health absolutely soaring.

He had so much to be thankful for, and maybe it was selfish of him, but he hoped they would let him come along when their father returned for them. He hoped that he'd just closed the door on his little house for good this time, and that this was the last time he crawled through the opening into the air conditioning duct.

Oscar stopped cold at the sight of … something in the vent. His first instinct was that it could be bad and he should run. But instead, he crept forward. After a few more inches, Oscar realized what it was.

It was a plastic baggie the width of his bed, full of food. It looked like mostly granola with some chocolate and nuts mixed in. Oscar smiled. It was so much food!

He was about to crawl out of the vent to find his friends and thank them when something under the bag got his attention. Oscar tugged the slip of paper out and held it up in the light. His reading was slow, but he could still make out the words in Sam's handwriting.

Dad came back early and he's really scary angry. He says we have to leave that there's a monster on his tail. He won't listen to Dean and he told me to pack up but I won't I w-

By the time he got to the end, Oscar's hands gripped the thick paper with knuckles that almost matched it. With a shaky intake of breath, he turned it over and the large, blocky handwriting of Dean Winchester all but punched him in the gut and set the tears loose from his eyes.

SORRY OZ

Oscar dropped the note and faced the vent. He crept up to the opening, peering into the room. One of the beds was still rumpled, and the trash can was full. But there were no bags. If Oscar leaned out far enough, he could see the counter at the sink was bare. No toothbrushes, no travel bags. The table top was beyond his sight, but Oscar already knew.

No Sam. No Dean.

Oscar climbed through the vent and ran out onto the floor, his heavy bag pounding against his side. He stopped and twisted this way and that, looking for his friends. But the words in Sam's handwriting echoed in his head. His friends were gone. He had slept too long, and now they were gone for good.

Just like his mom.

The world around him had slowly been shrinking. Oscar had found, with every new experience Sam and Dean brought to him, that the big world had become manageable. He could face it if he had his friends nearby.

As he stood there in the middle of the floor, suddenly everything snapped back. The world was big again. He shuddered and looked around him at the tall furniture. The table was dangerous again, the dresser was a risky cliff again.

Oscar was alone. Again.

He let out a squeal of fear and darted back towards the vent. It was no longer safe for him to be in this room … it wasn't theirs. They were gone and Oscar couldn't rely on them anymore.

He scrambled back into the vent, shaking from head to toe.

He waited there until he heard the maid's cart squeaking along outside. Then Oscar stood up weakly and started the task of dragging the note and the bag of food - the last help they could offer him - through the air conditioning duct. It was cumbersome and slow, but Oscar had no reason to rush.

He didn't have anywhere to be anytime soon.

When he pulled the baggie into his home and pushed his door shut at last, Oscar realized his cheeks were wet. He sniffled and wiped at them with his hands before giving it up as a lost cause and pulling the bag over to his brimming pantry and leaving it there. His cloth bag was discarded as well.

Oscar sat delicately in his ring box chair and picked up the scrap of cloth next to it. He set to work dethreading, his eyes hollow and his fingers moving almost on their own. He'd need to make himself new pants soon. He'd already finished an extra shirt and shoes. He was making his way down the list.

He was back to the way things were before. At least now he had food. The tears kept racing silently down Oscar's cheeks anyway as he worked. They continued later when he ate a small ration of granola and chocolate that left him wishing he could have just one more bite.

He had to be careful with his resources now. He wouldn't be able to treat himself to seconds or go ask for more.

That night, Oscar dug the oversized sweater Sam had given him out of his packed cloth bag. It wasn't going traveling anywhere with him anymore. He pulled it over his head solemnly, and tugged up a sleeve so he could wipe at his eyes some more. Then, he snuggled into the many covers on his bed and wrapped them tightly around himself to keep warm. He pulled the hem of the sweater over his curled up knees as the wintery temperature dipped lower and lower. When he was curled up into a shivering ball, Oscar finally let himself sob.

He never imagined it'd hurt this bad when they left. Then again, Oscar never imagined getting his hopes up so high to leave with them. They were humans. He didn't belong with them. It made more sense for them to leave without him. At least they left him food.

Even as he told himself all these things, Oscar cried until he could hardly take a breath. He lamented that he'd probably never see his friends again, the only friends he ever had. They would go on out into that huge world and meet new people and see new things. And Oscar … Oscar would stay where he was. His food would eventually deplete and he'd go back to fighting every single day for his survival.

Oscar wept until the exhaustion drew him into sleep, much like when he'd lost his mom. He was plagued by thoughts of what had become of him.

Forgotten.

Abandoned.

Alone.

The towns that passed by the window of the Impala blended together. Sam was leaning with his head against the glass, his older brother Dean in a similar position with the younger boy sitting on his shoulder.

Both of them had argued with John when he'd burst into the room and all but demanded they pack to leave.

He'd arrived with a monster on his tail, one that had already sussed out the fact that the young kids were in the motel. He wanted to get his boys out of danger.

But he didn't want to listen to what they had to say.

Sam didn't even know if John understood that there was another kid in that motel, alone and abandoned. A kid that they wanted to take with them, find him a better home where he wouldn't have to fight to survive.

"D-do you think he'll be okay?" Sam asked his older brother in a tremulous voice that wouldn't carry farther than a few feet away. It didn't matter, since they were sitting so close together, as always.

Dean blinked his large green eyes slowly, glad Sam couldn't make out his face from where he was sitting. A tear hid in the corner of one eye as he remembered the kid they'd befriended. Oscar, who'd almost starved after losing his mother.

A kid who'd helped Sam with no thought of his own gain. A kid that barely stood over two inches tall, small and scrawny, but able to put on some weight after he'd started to hang out with the Winchesters.

The kid that was all alone in the world.

Again.

"I don't know, Sam. I just don't know."

FIN

A/N

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