"Get ready, Sammy, I hear her coming," Dean Winchester instructed his younger brother Sam.
As hunters, it was their job to rid the world of evil, supernatural beings. In the case of the hunt they were currently on, they were trying to kill a witch who was responsible for the death of many people.
The two brothers had been camped out in the witch's favorite hiding place, an abandoned factory, and were waiting for her to show up and perform her killing ritual.
Shortly after Dean had warned his brother of the witch's presence, she burst into the room they had been hiding out in. The Winchester brothers had startled her, making her drop what she had brought for the ritual on the ground. Sam, who had been standing behind the door, grabbed the witch from behind and pinned her arms behind her back.
"Now, Dean!" Sam yelled, indicating to his brother to end the witch's life. However, before Dean could respond and move, the witch recited a Latin spell that neither brother had heard before, and there was a flash of white light that enveloped Dean. As the light vanished, so did he, leaving only the clothing he'd been wearing in his wake.
Sam spun the witch around and pinned her up against the wall. "You bitch!" he yelled, furious at the witch. "Where's Dean?! What'd you do to him?!"
The witch simply smirked. "Why don't you ask him yourself?" she said before vanishing.
Sam was standing in a stunned silence, trying to figure out what had just happened, when he heard a small voice call out to him.
"Sammy?" the little voice called.
Sam was looking around the room, trying to find the source of the voice, when it called to him again.
"Sammy, I's scarded."
Sam quickly realized that the voice was coming from the pile of Dean's clothes.
As he cautiously walked over to the pile of clothes, he saw that there was a small, moving lump beneath them. He carefully moved Dean's jacket aside, revealing a small boy with sandy blond hair, large green eyes, and a freckled face.
"Sammy!" the little boy cried, lunging forward and wrapping his tiny arms around Sam's neck. "What happened, Sammy? I's scarded."
"D-Dean?" Sam asked, pulling the boy from his neck and holding him an arm's length away so he could get a good look at him. He truly looked like a younger version of his big brother.
"Yeah, Sammy?" the child asked, as tears started to fall down his freckled cheeks. Seeing the boy cry made Sam's heart ache. Sam reached forward with the arm he wasn't using to hold the child, and gently wiped away his tears.
"Are... Are you Dean?" Sam asked the crying boy.
He sniffled, and nodded his head slightly. "Yeah. Me's Dean Winhester."
Sam was shocked; he was having a hard time believing that this was really his big brother. "Dean," he asked the child, "Who do you think I am?"
Little Dean wiped his nose on the back of his hand, and giggled slightly. "You's my big bruder, Sammy," he replied.
Sam was stunned. Somehow Dean, even after being turned into a toddler, knew that Sam was his brother. Sam looked down at his little-big brother, and saw that he was yawning and rubbing at his eyes sleepily. Sam quickly glanced at his watch, and realized that it was nine-thirty at night; probably past Dean's should-be bed time.
"Hey Dean, are you tired?" Sam asked. Dean nodded and leaned towards Sam, placing his head on his now big brother's shoulder, making Sam's heart melt.
Sam collected Dean's clothing, and carried them and Dean out to the waiting Impala. Dean had fallen asleep on the way to the car, so getting him into the back seat without waking him up proved to be a task for Sam.
Before Sam strapped Dean in his seat, he wrapped Dean in the shirt that he'd been wearing before he had become a toddler, and put his own jacket over him so he wouldn't become cold.
Once Dean was strapped in and fast asleep, Sam turn the car on and closed him in to keep him warm. While Sam was looking back at Dean from the driver's seat to make sure he was safe and comfortable, Sam noticed that Dean was trying to find a comfortable place to rest his head in his sleep and was having difficulty finding one.
Sam got out of the car and opened Dean's door. He took off his own jacket, rolled it up, and placed it carefully behind Dean's head for him to use as a pillow.
Seeing that Dean was comfortable, Sam closed the Impala's door as quietly as he could and stepped away from the car. He pulled out his phone to make a phone call.
Sam punched the buttons on his phone and put it up to his ear while he waited for an answer.
"Hello?" the voice on the other end answered after three rings.
"Hey Bobby, it's Sam," Sam replied.
"I know who ya are, ya idjit. I have caller ID ya know. I'm in the middle of something important, so whatcha need?"
"Well," Sam said, scratching his head, "If it's okay with you, Dean and I will need to stay at your place for a little while."
"Oh, that'd be fine. Ya boys know yer always welcome here."
"Thanks, that's great. Also, I need your help with something," Sam said, starting to get nervous.
"What is it?" Bobby asked.
"Well, Dean and I were hunting a witch tonight, and she kind of hit him with a spell."
There was a short silence on Bobby's end of the line. "What kind of spell?"
Sam took a deep breath before answering. "A de-aging spell. I think he's around three-years-old right now."
There was a long silence on Bobby's end,, before he finally said, "Yer telling me that yer brother, Dean Winchester, has been de-aged to a three year old?"
Sam sighed. "Yeah. That's what I'm telling you."
"Sam, ya idjit! How could ya let that happen? He's yer brother, for God's sake! I thought you were more responsible than that!" Bobby yelled through the phone.
"There was nothing I could do!" Sam yelled back, defending himself. "We were about to hell her when it happened, we were pre-occupied!"
"Damnit, Sam, I thought ya knew better than to let yer guard down. 'Bet ya won't be making that mistake again, now will ya?"
Sam felt his eyes begin to sting with oncoming tears. "I know it's my fault. I should've been more careful. But Bobby... I'm just so lost right now. How the hell do I even take care of a three year old?"
"Sam, listen; I'm sorry. I take back what I said about ya not being careful enough. How could ya have known that the witch was going to say that spell? There's nothing that ya could've done, and it's not yer fault. Now, tell me what's going on with Dean. Where is he, and is he safe?"
"Dean's in the Impala outside the factory we were in, and I have him tucked in and asleep in the back seat right now."
"And what's his mental state? Does he know what's happened, or is he thinking and acting like a three year old?"
"He is mentally three-years-old. As far as I can tell, he doesn't remember anything about hunting or going to Hell or demons or anything like that. The strange part is that he remembers that I'm his brother, though he thinks I'm the older one," Sam said, chuckling slightly.
Bobby chuckled too. "Right now, you are the older one. Alright, it's getting kinda late. How far out are ya from my place?"
"I'd say about ten hours. It might take a bit longer to get there though. I'm going to need to stop somewhere and pick up some things that Dean needs."
"Sounds good. I'll do some research on de-aging spells. You might want to start heading out soon."
"Will do, Bobby. Don't stay up too late; we can always research tomorrow. Anyways, thanks so much for everything. Have a good night."
"You too, Sam. Stay safe, and look after your brother," Bobby said before hanging up the phone.
Sam stuck his phone back in his pocket, and climbed into the Impala's driver seat. He turned on his , and started driving toward's Bobby's place.
The boys arrived at Bobby's in a little under fifteen hours. The trip had taken longer than they had expected, as they had stopped to buy Dean some clothes, grabbed a bite to eat, and Sam had to take a short nap when he had gotten too tired to drive.
As Sam was parking the car, he looked back to see that Dean had woken up from a long nap he had taken and was looking out the window.
"Hey Dean," Sam said, getting the toddler's attention, "This is where we're going to live for a while," he told him, pointing at Bobby's house. "Do you want to go inside? There's someone I want you to meet in there."
"Yes peese, Sammy. We go in!" Dean replied, pointing excitedly at the house.
Sam couldn't help but smile at Dean's enthusiasm. "Okay. Sit still and I'll help you get out of the car."
Sam turned off the car, and got out and walked to the back to help his little-big brother. He unbuckled Dean's seatbelt and lifted him down to the ground. He closed the car door and led Dean around to the trunk, so he could keep an eye on the little guy while he unloaded the things they needed.
When Sam had gotten the things that they needed, he closed the trunk and turned to his brother. "Are you ready, Dean?"
The small boy nodded his head eagerly. He had a huge smile on his face that put an equally large one on Sam's.
Sam took Dean's little hand in his big one, and started leading him towards the house. After walking a few yards, Dean suddenly stopped and tried to free himself from Sam's grasp.
Sam let go of Dean's hand and knelt down in front of him. Even knelt down, he still wasn't eye level with his brother. "Hey, what is it, buddy?" he asked.
Dean held out his arms and looked up at Sam expectantly. "Cawwy me?"
Sam looked down at his little brother fondly. He had to be the cutest child he had ever seen. Carefully, he picked up Dean and carried him the rest of the way to the house in one arm, the items from the car in the other.
When they arrived at Bobby's front door, Sam realized that he didn't have a free hand to ring the doorbell with.
"Hey, Dean?" Sam asked, distracting the toddler, who was busy playing with his brother's long hair. "Could you press that little white button next to the door for me, please?"
"Yeah! Me's do it, Sammy!" Dean exclaimed, pushing the doorbell as hard as he could.
Sam found himself laughing at Dean's enthusiasm for everything he does. "Good job! Thanks for doing that for me."
A few seconds after Dean rang the doorbell, the door was opened to reveal the boys' mentor and fatherly figure, Bobby Singer.
"Well, look at you boys. You two really are a sight, aren't ya?" Bobby asked in his typical fashion as a greeting. When Dean, who had gone back to playing with Sam's hair, heard Bobby's voice, he stopped playing and looked around to find the source of the voice. When he saw Bobby, a huge smile formed on his freckled face.
"Hia," Dean said, waving at Bobby, "Me's Dean. Who's you?"
Bobby and Sam both laughed at how cute Dean was. "Well hi, Dean, I'm Bobby."
"Hia Bobby!" Dean replied, waving excitedly. "This my Sammy bruder!" He poked Sam in the cheek to show Bobby who Sam was.
"Oh, I know who he is, ya big silly," Bobby laughed, tickling Dean's side to make him laugh. "Come on in, you two," he said, opening the door wider for Sam and Dean to enter. As Sam walked by, Bobby took some of their belongings from Sam to help him out.
Once everyone was inside, Sam set Dean down and knelt down to talk to him while Bobby put their belongings in the guest bedroom.
"Dean," Sam said, earning his brother's attention, "This is where we're going to live for a while; it's our new home. Do you want to look around?"
Dean nodded his head excitedly. "Yeah! Me's see new home, Sammy!"
Sam laughed and took his brother's small hand in his own. "Come on, buddy. I'll show you around."
After Dean had seen the house, Sam took him into the living room where Bobby was waiting for them.
"So Dean," Bobby said, "what do ya think? Do ya want to live here?"
Dean started jumping up and down while clapping his hands. "Yeah! This nicest howse ever!"
"I'm glad ya like it, kiddo," Bobby replied. "Now, why don't ya go wash up and I'll fix ya some food. I'm sure yer starving."
"That sounds great, Bobby," Sam said, "Thanks. And thank you so much for letting us stay here."
Bobby smiled at the two boys. "Yer welcome. Ya know yer always welcome here. Now go get yerself and Dean cleaned up."
Sam led Dean to the bathroom and helped him get cleaned up. When they walked into the kitchen, the saw that Bobby had made spaghetti and meatballs; a dish that Bobby would make for the boys when they were young.
"Yah, s'getti!" Dean said while Sam lifted him to his place at the table.
"Here you go, Dean-o," Sam said, cutting his brother's noodles into a more manageable size. "Can you you eat it on your own?"
Dean nodded his head determinedly. "Yeah. Me's big boy," he said, stabbing a few noodles with his fork and stuffing them in his mouth.
"Mmmmmm," Dean said around his mouthful. "Dis yummy. Fank you, Booby."
Sam nearly spit out his food because he was laughing so hard. Bobby's face turned beet red.
"My name's Bobby, not booby!" he said, starting to laugh.
"Oops!" Dean said, gigging. "Me's sowwy, Bobby!"
"It's okay, ya silly man. Now, eat yer food before it gets cold."
The rest of the meal, Dean continued to entertain the two men by acting silly and saying things to make them laugh.
Over the next few days, Dean got adjusted to living at Bobby's house and had gotten used to Bobby. However, Dean spent most of his time playing with Sam.
Sam didn't mind having Dean as his little brother; he actually loved it. He figured that if Dean had to be a kid again, that he should be able to have the childhood that he deserved to have the first time around, and Sam was determined to give it to him not matter what.