This story will be AU as having Charlie as a little girl will change things but I will try and keep the amazing characters created by the Supernatural writers in character! Hope you enjoy the story and please review, as I love to get your feedback. This is my first Supernatural fic so I hope I have done the characters justice as I love them!

Chapter 1

Bunker life for 3

Since saying her final goodbye to her mom at the hospital Charlie had been staying at the bunker with Dean and Sam. It had been 4 months now and they had got into a rhythm, Sam and Dean adapting to having a girl about the place and Charlie getting used to sharing her life with 2 large, somewhat over-protective men, who she thought of as brothers. Sam liked having someone to share the research load with and Dean, although he would never admit it, liked having someone else around to take care of. Not just 'someone else', he liked having Charlie around, both of the boys did. She was fun and quirky and she made them laugh and see the world in a different way some times. They really did feel like they had gained a little sister and though they never thought that was something they were missing before, they couldn't imagine their lives without her in them now.

Reluctantly Dean had allowed Charlie to join them on more hunts, although he always tried to persuade her to stay out of the action and stick to the research. He felt very protective of her and if anything serious ever happened to her on a hunt he knew he would never be able to forgive himself. Of course, Charlie was having none of it. She was still learning, but she loved the thrill of the hunt and still talked about it as if it were some kind of adventure. So far she had not only dealt with the leviathan and the djinn, but a poltergeist, who had given her a cracked rib, much to Dean's chagrin, some run of the mill ghosts, a ghoul and a nest of vampires. These she and lured away from Dean by cutting her arm, which had earned her a severe talking to on the journey home. Luckily the distraction had worked though, it gave Sam enough time to grab a syringe of dead man's blood, incapacitating 2 of them before Dean had managed to get free and behead the other 2. Dean had made Charlie promise to never do anything so reckless again or he would not let her come on any more hunts.

This particular morning Dean had slept in uncharacteristically late. It was 9.30 when he made his way into the men of letters library to find Sam and Charlie in their usual positions. Sam sat in front of his laptop, scanning for cases and Charlie curled up in an armchair with some huge old tome on her lap, studiously focused on the page. She had been working her way through the huge library, trying to expand her knowledge of all things supernatural and she had already added 2 or 3 new and slightly more obscure creatures to her database, which was the envy of Sam.

'Morning nerds.' Dean said coming to look over Sam's shoulder and slurping on his coffee. 'You found something?'

'The kraken awakes!' Chirped Charlie, causing Sam to grin and Dean to scowl and look slightly offended.

Sam laughed 'We were about to come and check you hadn't been abducted or something. It's pretty late for you Dean.'

'Yeah well I had to finish season 2 of the game of thrones before I got to bed at about 4.00.'

'Hey you shoulda told me. I'd have watched it with you.' Complained Charlie.

'You've seen it like a hundred times already Charlie and I didn't want any of your spoilers.'

'What? I wouldn't do that.' She pouted

Sam and Dean just looked at each other and raised their eyebrows. In her enthusiasm it was very hard to stop Charlie spilling the beans about any show that she'd watched before. She just couldn't help herself!

'Ok, well maybe...' She admitted. "Hey Dean where's MY coffee?!" She demanded gesturing towards the steaming mug which Dean was holding.

'There's plenty in the pot, you know where the kitchen is.' He grumbled, but Charlie knew he would give in and get her coffee if she played up her recent sprained ankle from the last ghost hunt. It wasn't bad, barely even noticeable, but Dean's immediate guilt at either her or Sammy getting hurt on his watch guaranteed a bit of pampering if she played her cards right. She gave a slight grimace as she shifted in her chair feigning to get up and it didn't go unnoticed by Dean.

'Your ankle still playing up?' He said gruffly.

'No don't worry about me Dean, it's not that bad.' Charlie attempted to get up and Dean pushed her back down.

'Don't make it worse. Sam will get your coffee.'

'What?!' Sam protested. 'You get it, I'm researching here.'

Dean huffed, admitting defeat and shuffled off to the kitchen to fill 2 mugs for Charlie and Sam.

Sam glanced over at Charlie with a smirk 'That was cruel.'

Charlie smirked back. 'Oh he's too easy, I can't help myself. You know he likes looking after us anyway, I wouldn't wanna deprive him of his life's purpose by getting my own coffee.'

'Seriously though, is your ankle ok?' Sam asked.

'Yeah, I can barely notice it. How come it's always me who gets hurt on every hunt?! You and Dean barely get away with a scratch, except when you die of course!' She grinned.

'I can't work out if it's because you're so tiny and easy to squash or if it's because you sparkle so much the monsters can't miss you.' Dean commented with a huge smirk on his face as he came back with the coffee.

Charlie frowned and poked her tongue out at him. 'Sparkle?! I do not sparkle Dean!'

'You admit you are tiny then?' He teased.

' No, just not unnaturally huge like the two of you!'

'Stop bickering you two, come and look. I think I've found us a case' Sam said as Charlie and Dean moved to stand either side of him and look at the webpage he had open.

'Colfax, New Mexico, 4 women in the last week have been found disintegrated, just a pile of clothes left behind and no body except for, get this, police forensics found what appears to be a small amount of semen and an egg, as in a human egg...'

'Ugh, gross!' Exclaimed Charlie and Dean simultaneously and then smirked at each other.

'So what are you thinking? A witch?' Asked Dean, 'I can't think what else could turn back time like that.'

'Yeah, that was my thinking and apparently there are a lot of Wiccans in that area. Modern day pagans, some of whom practice witchcraft.'

'So, let's go, we should check it out.' Said Charlie, with her usual enthusiasm 'it'll be cool to meet a real-life witch.'

'Let me tell you kiddo, there is nothing cool about witches at all. They're always spewing their bodily fluids all over the place, case in point, semen and an actual human egg, doesn't get more gross!'

'That's how we all started off Dean.' Sam said matter of factly.

Dean just pulled a face 'Yeah alright Mr Sex-ed, how are we gonna find our witch if there are so many of them in that place?'

'I already thought of that, I looked at all the victims and they all have one thing in common. They are on the PTA of Raton elementary school.'

'The PTA' Dean said disparagingly, 'a hotbed of paganism, I always knew it.'

'What are we waiting for? Let's go.' Charlie said turning on her heel about to head to her room and pack.

'Hold it kiddo, I think you should stay here. The victims are all women, we are not about to let you rush in there and get disintegrated.'

Charlie rolled her eyes 'In case you hadn't noticed Dean, I'm not on the PTA, I don't fit the profile.'

'That may just be a coincidence they could just be after women. You should stay here and you can back us up with research when we find out what we need to know.'

'Dean, I'm coming so suck it up!' Charlie snapped and then stormed off leaving Dean to roll his eyes this time.

'Dean you've got to let her do this. She's getting more experienced and she's one of us now. You can't keep on trying to protect her.' Sam said gently.

'Says who?,' grunted Dean and he too stormed off. 'We're leaving in 30 minutes so get your ass into gear.' He yelled over his shoulder. Sam sighed and went off to his own room to pack, resigned to an uncomfortable car ride, with a prickly Dean and a put-out Charlie.

As predicted the majority of the car ride wasn't much fun, but at least with Dean driving it only took 6 hours instead of the 7 and a half it should have taken. Charlie sat in the back with her headphones on, studiously ignoring Dean and refusing to meet his eyes in the rearview mirror. After 5 hours Dean finally relented and apologised.

'Charlie look kiddo, it's not because I don't think you can do it. I know you can, you've had our backs enough times by now. I just don't want anything to happen to you on my watch. You know you're like my kid sister, it's my job to keep you safe and this overgrown dork here.' He said gesturing to Sammy.

Charlie smiled and blushed. She definitely saw Sam and Dean as her brothers but that was the first time Dean had called her his sister and it made her happy to hear him say that.

'I know Dean, thanks, but I'm a big girl. You don't need to worry about me.'

Dean raised his eyebrows in a gesture which said he didn't exactly agree with that, but he said no more on the subject.

They pulled up to the 'Good Nite' motel and got a triple room. Dean had insisted on that much, not wanting Charlie off in her own room unprotected. It was 7pm so they went to the next-door diner to get some dinner and discuss their next move.

'We need to talk to the remaining members of the PTA, find out who's into black magic and who has it in for the ones that were killed.' Suggested Sam.

'Sure, do we go as FBI or what?' Asked Charlie with more than a hint of excitement. Dean glared at her and she tried to dampen down her smile to appease him.

'Charlie.' He warned. 'This is not a game, these witches are nasty and if we rub them up the wrong way we'll be the next ones turned into tadpoles. It's serious stuff.'

'Come on Dean, she knows that.' Sam spoke up for Charlie. 'It's not like you don't get a kick out of it sometimes either.'

Dean just herumphed and Charlie smiled. 'S'ok Dean I'll follow your lead. You're in charge all the way, 100%.'

Dean carried on as if none of that conversation had just happened. 'So we rock up to tomorrow nights' PTA meeting and check things out. I'm sure they'll talk to the FBI.'

'Maybe we should talk to the families of the victims tomorrow, see if they can shed any light on it.' Said Sam.

'Good thinking Gandalf.' Charlie said calling Sam by her favourite nickname.

'Yeah thanks Frodo.'

'Frodo?! Why don't I get to be Galadriel?'

'Sorry you're too short for an elf, you make a much better hobbit.'

Charlie was just puffing herself up to protest when Dean cut them short 'Alright dorkfest. Let's head back to the motel and get some rest. There's bound to be some crap film on cable to send us off to sleep.'

The next day the three of them interviewed the 4 grieving families and the common factor seemed to be the arrival of a new mother at the school, who was keen to take over the running of the PTA and change the way things were done at the school. The 4 women had been the chair of the PTA, the deputy, the treasurer and the secretary. No coincidence there and the lady in question had already stepped in as stand-in chair.

'Do people really get this hung up over the PTA?' Charlie asked incredulously as they left the 4th house and heard yet more tales of Maggie Parkins, who was the woman in question.

'Apparently so. All we have to do now is find out if she really is a Witch...' Said Sam.

'I say we check out her house while she's at the meeting this evening.'

'Maybe I should do that while you two go and speak to the PTA? It would still be good to check them out, just in case it's not her.' Charlie suggested.

'You ain't going there alone.' Dean protested 'You and Sam go to the meeting and I'll go to the house.'

Exasperated Charlie glared at Dean 'Dean she'll be at the meeting, I'll be perfectly safe. Besides those women are more likely to talk to you two handsome dudes than me, you know it.'

'She has a point, Dean, and with the witch at the meeting it'll just be a fact-finding mission, no danger involved.'

'Ok, but if there's any sign of danger, you get out of there, you hear me?'

Charlie gave him a salute 'Sir, yes sir.' Dean glared at her.

'I'm serious Charlie, no risks.'

Charlie straightened her face 'I promise Dean, I'll be careful.' She said giving his arm a squeeze.

After a Chinese takeaway and a change of clothes they headed out. Dean dropped Charlie off at the nearest bus stop to Margaret Parkins' house and told her to wait for word from him that she was at the meeting before going to the house. 15 minutes later Charlie's phone beeped and Dean's text popped up.

'She's here. Be careful!'

She texted back a quick 'OK' and headed down the street to number 25, which was the house in question. It was a normal, 3-bed detached house in a quiet street, about 10 years old maybe and perfectly respectable looking.

'Appearances can be deceptive' Charlie thought to herself as she approached the side door, which opened into the kitchen. She fiddled with Sam's lock pick he had lent her and after quite a lot of swearing the lock finally gave way and she entered the dark house, listening intently in case anyone was in. The place was silent and she concluded that she had the place to herself, but still crept quietly around the house, using her torch rather than turning on the lights. It all looked perfectly normal. Like any run of the mill, middle class house. No creepy frogs legs in jars or potions on the shelf. No weird-ass pets or hex bags and not a broomstick to be seen. After searching upstairs and finding nothing untoward Charlie was about to give up, when she noticed a door under the stairs.

'Aha! She thought to herself, a cellar. The perfect place for a witch's den, this has to be it!' She crept down the stairs, this time switching on the light since nobody would see from the outside. She stepped down into a room with bare walls and a bare concrete floor, but in the corner was some kind of altar. A table, covered with a purple cloth and on it some black symbols, which left her in no doubt that this really was a witch's lair. She cringed as she examined the items on the table. A large stone dish containing some small bones, some dried up twigs and a gold watch, all covered in sticky red liquid, which just had to be blood, sat in the middle of the table. Around it were 2 lit candles, their flames flickering and making shadows on the wall behind, as well as a large leather bound book, with spidery old looking writing on the open page, which was thick and yellowing. It had to be a spell book and this had to be how she was turning these people into nothing. Hanging over the bowl was a green pendant on a thick black chain. It was almost glowing it was so shiny and Charlie felt the urge to reach out and touch it, but she could almost hear Dean's voice in her head telling her not to do anything stupid! She knew what she had to do. First she blew out the candles, then with all her strength she pushed the table so it was flung onto its side. The contents of the bowl were scattered over the floor but the pendant was still hanging there from a hook on the ceiling and so she grabbed hold of it to yank it down, not wanting to risk the spell continuing because she had left the vital part intact. But as she clasped the green gem she felt a strange sensation flow down her arm and through her whole body, then there was a blinding green light and she fell to the ground with a scream before all went blank.