Chapter 3
Very little could surprise Bobby Singer in the realm of hunting. He had learned to expect the worst case scenario since becoming a hunter after Karen. When John and the boys walked into his life, the gears switched rapidly and he found buried deep fatherly instincts that shined when they stayed with him. He felt those instincts rise the moment he opened the door to find a baby faced Angela holding onto two small boys fast asleep over her shoulders.
Bobby suppressed any urge to yell about stupidity at the sight since he could tell that Angela looked exhausted and he could see a cut to her forehead that was barely healing. He said, "Ya made it but it's…"
"Ten o'clock at night," Angela replied giving a tired smile. She walked in carrying the boys like they were nothing and she observed the look on Bobby's face as she put them both down on the couch. "Long drive made longer because of little bodies."
"I can see that," Bobby replied gruffly. "So ya brought stuff to study?"
"In the Impala. I'll get it," Angela replied after making sure the boys were comfortable on the ratty old couch.
"No I'll get it," Bobby replied and headed out to the car. When he came back, he could smell coffee being made and grumbled about stubborn ass girls as he set the bags on the ground. He managed to grab the usual as well as what she brought from the witch's place. He took a moment to look at the boys as they dozed on his couch.
The last time he saw them both look like that was when they stayed over while John had been away on a particularly nasty hunt. They were older then and capable of helping John out but for once, the man decided that it would be too risky to bring them along. Bobby kept the memory in mind as he went to the kitchen to find Angela making coffee and pulling out something to munch on.
To Bobby, she didn't look that much different except the difference in height and she had some residual baby fat, like when a kid went through puberty. She was still pretty and it was easy for Bobby to see that she might have had trouble growing up because of that and he could understand where Dean would get the idea that she was beating guys off with a stick since she was six. Bobby gave a slight shake of his head and walked into the kitchen saying, "You do know I meant for you to relax while I got yer stuff right?" He pulled out a chair and sat down across from her as she sat and began to toy with the slice of pound cake she found.
"I know. Old habits," Angela replied as she pushed a cup of coffee towards Bobby. "It's not your specialty coffee," she added with a tired smile.
Bobby accepted the cup and took a sip. It was black, just the way he liked it. He noticed that she just had a glass of water. It was too late to be quizzing her about what happened and he could only guess that the boys had her chasing after them most of the time. "Rough ride over?"
"If you count stopping fistfights from breaking out over stupid stuff on four separate occasions, rough, then yeah," Angela replied. She curled her hands around the small slice of pound cake. She took a crumb of a bite. "It was fun though. Dean thought I was bossy before but now I am like the ultimate referee." She gave a chuckle as she took a bite.
Bobby couldn't help but chuckle at that. He knew that even though both boys were grown men and capable of doing things for themselves and had their own minds, they were helpless when she asked them to do something. They knew when she meant business and when she was teasing and when she was being serious, they had to be the same. "I can tell you enjoyed that."
"It reminds me when they were that age. They got into trouble then too," Angela said as she took a bite followed by some water.
Bobby finished his coffee and sat back. It was a hard thing to ask but he might as well address it and it would give her something to think about while he looked up counter curses. "So what do you plan on doing now the three of you are stuck like this?"
"Work on fixing it Bobby," Angela replied in a sober voice as she drank some more water. "I know a few easy jobs for me I can handle but with the boys…"
"I don't think you should be hunting either," Bobby replied. He knew that she was probably going to be stubborn about it. "Don't get mad at me but you really need to think about it. After all you are not your normal size and neither are the boys. From the looks of things, at least you have your adult minds."
"Yeah thank the Maker for that," Angela replied sarcastically. "Dammit Bobby I went through puberty once and it was a nightmare." Angela put a hand to her forehead like she had a headache and closed her eyes in a painful grimace. At least the boys were asleep so they wouldn't see her like this. She had figured out that their ability to control their emotions was shot even though they were adults in their minds and from the familiar feeling of being self conscious coming from her. She had to be the one in charge but with Bobby she could let him know how she felt.
Bobby wasn't sure of what to say but he could imagine what it must have been like for her. Since he first met her and after the goddess paid him a visit, he had taken every spare moment to read up on Shadow Chasers. He knew that they started getting their abilities around puberty and a few accounts suggested that it was worse for girls than it was for boys. Looking at Angela, he found that she was holding up remarkably well but he could understand that her mind was trying to work with a body that was trying to fit with it.
Seeing her look like she was in pain, Bobby did the only thing that came to mind and that was to put a hand on the arm that was resting on the table. He replied, "Hey, yer doing good so far. I know you want to show that yer in control around the boys and I'll buy that and help with that but just remember that ya gotta let it out too."
Angela opened her eyes long enough to listen to Bobby. She appreciated what he was saying and in his way, he was telling her that she could count on him. It was a rare thing for people to tell her that she could trust them and it was even rarer when they said they trusted her. She smiled and replied, "Thanks Bobby."
Now that she felt better, Angela began to think about what she was going to do. That they needed to find the counter curse was a given but she got the feeling that with the way things were, they would only be a hindrance to Bobby. Even though Sam and Dean were adults in their minds they had kid bodies and the physiology was a little different. She hated to say it but it looked like she was going to have to have them play and keep them occupied. She said, "Well I guess we could go and pick up a few more clothes. We can't run around in the one outfit that fits."
"That's a start," Bobby replied. He got the feeling that as much as they wanted to help, they were going to be a bit of a hindrance. At least Angela was taking the reins on finding something for them to do. He knew though that she would feel put out if she couldn't help. It also occurred to him that the boys could help but in reverse regarding her and what she did. He made a mental note to talk to the boys in private later. "Maybe you could take down notes of what happens with you and boys, little quirks and all."
"Like the fact that they became more impulsive and emotional like kids their age size?" Angela rested her head on her hand as she asked the question. At least Bobby was giving a suggestion of what she could do in the meantime. "I can do that."
Bobby gave a slight smile. "Good. The boys need ya more than ever. They depend on ya. They just don't say it like they should."
"And I wouldn't have them be any other way," Angela replied with a smile. She finished her cake and water and moved to put the dishes away. "You think we can fix this Bobby?"
"I'll work on it."
When Dean woke up, he found the early morning rays filtering in through the study's windows and he stretched from his position on the couch. He realized that he was at Bobby's house and remembered that he had fallen asleep in the car after Sam fell asleep.
It had been long and boring since Dean couldn't drive his baby but he had made the most of it by annoying Sam with the music. That was until Angela made the executive decision and changed the station to a country western one. Dean couldn't help but moan at that but he knew what that she was exerting the rules of the car and with the size difference, she won this time.
They stopped so that Angela could get a cup of coffee and she got the boys juice. Dean had asked her why they couldn't have soda or something like that. Of course Sam had to point out the fact that they were not their normal size. Dean stuck his tongue out and started the name calling beginning with the letter 'A'. They kept that up until Sam fell asleep at 'S' and that left Dean and Angela and that was history.
Looking around, Dean figured that Angela must have brought them in and put them on the couch. He sighed, realizing that it was going to be frustrating being small for the time being. Heck he realized that when he tried flirting with the waitress in the diner and she laughed at him and said he was cute. At least his know-how was intact. He could remember the last chick he had picked up in a bar a while back and made Sam and Angela amuse themselves.
Dean slid his body off the couch, trying not to wake Sam who was curled up under the blanket he had been covered with. Dean couldn't help but grin. Some things never changed. Sam did the same thing when he was sick or cold, looking like a bear in a cave while it was hibernating. He was tempting to do something like poke a stick at the lump but the last thing he wanted to do was start another fist fight. Even he figured out that both his and Sam's impulse control was not what it normally was. Then again Sam's impulse control was shot if he got it into his head that someone was trying something funny with Angela.
Dean's eyes flitted to where there were a couple of stacks of clothes. Each was labeled as to which stack belonged to who. Dean's stack was a few more clothes like the ones he fell asleep in plus a couple of his normal sized shirts. He got what they were supposed to be used for. He grinned and said, "Thanks Angie."
Looking at the stack that was Sam's Dean decided it was time for Sleeping beauty to wake up. Taking a pair of rolled up socks, he took aim and threw it right where Sam's head was. "Rise and shine Sammy!"
Sam jerked awake from the combination of the socks hitting his head and Dean shouting for him to wake up. He twisted so much that he was tangled in the blanket and fell to the ground with a thump. He looked up to see Dean and said, "Jerk."
"Hey not my fault you were a Sleeping Beauty."
"Me? You're the one who is not the early bird," Sam retorted as he threw off the blanket.
"Yeah well, little body here. At least I'm bigger than you again."
Sam gave an annoyed frown. He knew Dean would make fun of his height no matter what. It didn't matter that if he was taller or shorter. If it wasn't one, then it was the other. "Whatever." He threw the blanket aside. "So what now?"
"Get dressed genius. Looks like Angie did some early morning shopping." Dean picked out something for Sam and tossed them towards his brother.
"I can pick out my own clothes, Dean."
"Try and stop me."
Sam knew where this was going. Like his brother, he had figured out that his impulse control was not like it should be and hadn't been since being reduced to looking like he was six again. He was sure that he could control his impulses. He just had to remember that he was 23 and not six. He replied, "I'm not even going down that route, Dean. Just let me pick. You're 27, not ten."
"Really? I didn't notice College Boy."
Sam decided not to say anything more and took the selection that Dean threw at him and went to the nearest bathroom to shut and lock the door. He wasn't going to take any chances with the way things were. He looked at the bathroom and realized that he was going to have to figure out a few things in terms of reaching without resorting to ask for help. Sighing he went to work.
It was nearly an hour later by the time both brothers were clean and dressed for the day and still there was no sign of Angela or Bobby. However there was the smell of bacon frying and Dean could smell fresh coffee. He nudged Sam to follow and they went to the kitchen to find the skillet on the flame and the bacon was sizzling hot. There was also a large pot on the stove. Dean nudged Sam to keep moving when a slight noise caught their attention.
Angela came out of the pantry carrying a container of something under her arms along with the package of brown sugar. She was humming something as she went to the stove and set down what she brought out. It was something of a nifty show as they watched her turn the bacon while the container, which turned out to be oatmeal, lifted by itself and was stirred into the pot.
Dean waited until the oatmeal was safely on the counter before he said, "Practicing again Angie?"
Angela looked at the boys and gave a grin before walking to the fridge and pulled out a carton of eggs. "I see you managed to make it to the kitchen without me trying to referee a potential fist fight."
"Eh Sammy can be a pansy."
"No just remembering to act my age," Sam replied. "You need any help Angie?"
"Not really," Angela replied as she finished the bacon and started mixing eggs and milk and poured it into the skillet. "But maybe one of you can go see if Bobby is awake and one of you can look in the fruit basket."
It was something to do and the boys wasted no time in getting it done. By the time Bobby came down, he found that Angela had made a plate for everyone and went through the pains of setting the table. He raised a brow at that since even though she prepared meals, she was not really that formal with it. When she glanced his way and gave a shrug, he took it to mean that she did it because she wanted to.
The meal was spent with Bobby stating that he was going to get to work on the stuff that they brought from the witch's place and deciphering the notebook. "So what are we gonna do Bobby? What can we do to help?" Dean asked the question as he scraped the last of the oatmeal into his mouth.
It felt like insult to injury that Angela served him smaller portions than he would normally eat but he took it like a man. It was the whole body size thing. It was just one of the many things that he took for granted that was added to his list. Of course Sam didn't complain but then again Sam had that bad habit of forgetting to eat when he was onto something.
"I can look on the database Angie showed me," Sam offered. "I figured out most of the tricks in looking up stuff."
Angela was chewing on the last bit of egg on her plate and said nothing at first. Then she said, "I can get what you need for the reversal."
"Actually I was thinking that you just skip out on helping boys," Bobby replied. He took a sip of his coffee. "Maybe take a day off."
Dean made a face that indicated that he thought Bobby was nuts. It actually looked cute but if he was his normal size, no one would find a reason to laugh. He replied, "What do you mean Bobby? You plan on cutting us out?"
Bobby could see the warning signs of a temper tantrum. He replied, "I know y'all can help but…"
"You think we are in the way," Dean countered. He could feel his temper rise a little and he closed his eyes to control his breathing. "Look I know we have a height problem but we still have brains. We can work this out. I remember seeing something about a haunting of an old building not too far from here. We can take care of that."
"Dean, I don't think going on a hunt is a good idea," Sam interjected.
"Well we can't just let it sit around. We can do a little investigating and do the usual. Besides Angie still has her mojo right?" Dean looked at Angela with a slightly wheedling tone and a little pout formed on his face. It was pathetic but he was anxious to do something even if it was a hunt. Granted it was probably stupid since it would be putting Sam in danger but it wasn't like they hadn't done this before.
Angela looked at the pout that formed on Dean's face and realized what he was trying to do. She couldn't blame him and granted that she could keep busy easily with hunting, she had to admit Bobby had a point too. Yet there was still one order of business she had to take care of. She looked at Bobby and then Sam and Dean. She allowed, "We could go to the library and do some research on the place. Then maybe wander around a little around town. You could call if you find something Bobby."
Bobby knew he was going to regret this. It would keep the boys out of his hair for a time and it wasn't like they were actually going to do the salt and burn. "Alright but I know I'm gonna regret this."
"How come we have to do errands Angie? I thought we were going to the library?"
Angela kept her eyes on the road as she guided the Impala with a steady hand. She glanced in the rear view mirror at the two pairs of eyes that were looking back at her. One was a set of hazel greens that had a slight frown in them. She replied, "We are but we might as well stock up on supplies. It's still part of the job Dean."
"I know that. Damn Angie I feel like being irritating about everything. I'm sure I wasn't like this when I actually was ten."
"You weren't Dean," Sam replied. He had pulled out Angela's computer pad and was looking through the Internet. "I think it was part of the spell that witch cast."
"Thank you Captain Obvious," Dean replied in sarcasm. He couldn't believe that Angela had made him and Sam sit together in the backseat. They weren't kids but it was like Angela was going on full Mom mode as Sam liked to tease her with occasionally. When he saw Sam pull out Angela's computer pad from her backpack, he got an idea.
He began feeling around in the hiding spot in the seat. He had stashed it there the last time he was relegated to the backseat to catch up on his sleep. He grinned as he found gold and pulled it out. "Ah now we're talking." He opened up the magazine to the last place he had been looking at and grinned widely at the image.
Sam managed to look over and saw what Dean was looking at. He said, "Dude, seriously? Do you have any idea how bad that looks?"
Dean didn't look at his brother as he replied, "Shut up Sam. Go read a law book or something."
Angela managed to look in the mirror and saw what Dean was looking at. She said, "You know Sam is right Dean."
"Whose side are you on Angie? You know my habits," Dean countered. When he glanced at Sam and caught the look on his face he countered, "Okay how weird is it that last night you ate one of your girly salads Sam? I mean what six year old eats a salad?"
"It's not the same thing," Sam countered though he could admit, if only in his mind, that Dean had a point. However skin mags were hardly on the same level of weirdness in the case of their situation.
"It is so Sam. And how weird was it that you pulled out your laptop and had research databases up. I bet that hot waitress thought you were one of those pressured kids from a fancy prep school."
"Says the guy who asked her for a beer."
"You know that you two could go on like this for hours," Angela interrupted, "So for argument's sake let's just say that usual habits are going to look weird so just take that into consideration."
"It could be an advantage on a hunt. Most wouldn't expect kids to do anything like hunting," Dean countered with a hopeful expression.
"True but I would rather not test that theory," Angela replied. She pulled into a parking lot near one of the places that they got supplies for hunting from. Luckily it was a Saturday and there would be no problems in regards to any truant officers and the like though she could use the excuse that they were being home-schooled by their uncle. She turned to look at the boys and saw that Dean had put the skin mag back in his hiding place. "I know this sucks but…"
"It's okay Angie," Sam replied as he put the computer back in his bag. "We get it. It's just the spell thing."
Angela couldn't help it and she teased Sam, "It might be because to see a six year be so rational is a little weird too." She smiled.
Dean couldn't help but laugh as he grabbed his backpack. "Come on Sammy." He pushed open the door and slide out, followed by Sam.
To outsiders it looked cute to see the three of them walking together smiling and talking. It would have seemed a little strange since the teenaged girl was glad to be with her brothers. However that didn't matter.
Angela led the way to the store. She walked in between the boys as they headed towards the camping supplies store. It was to stock up on certain things that they needed for the job like the shotgun shells and cartridges. They passed by a group of kids, mostly high school kids who thought they were tough and talked a lot of smack. She spotted them and knew that there was no way to avoid them except to walk by.
Putting a hand on each of the boy's shoulders, she just pushed them forward and gave a slight squeeze when she heard the wolf whistle. She was aware that at thirteen she had residual baby fat but she was already sporting a figure. It was the same thing when she was thirteen technically. At least there were no problems on the way to the store. It was on the way out that they had a problem.
They had to pass by again. This time though one of the guys called out, "Hey Mama, you looking fine."
Angela ignored them and would have continued on. However her way became blocked by one of the guys. He said, "I'm talkin' to ya." He looked down at her with a look that she didn't like and she tightened her grip on the boys' shoulders.
A/N: They made it to Bobby's and now they have to deal with being kids and already trouble starts. Stay tuned for next time on Witching Pains...
