Hope you all enjoy, thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Chapter 9

"Nightmare"

Late that night...

Dean had been sleeping soundly, his room dark and quiet with nothing but the sound of his breathing when his eyes popped open and he remained for a moment wondering why he was even awake. He turned slightly over and reached for his cell phone resting on the nightstand beside him. 2:17am. He collapsed back into his pillow and closed his eyes once more. As he began to drift off, he heard a sound, light and faint. He opened his eyes once again and sat up slowly. He listened with more focus this time.

After a moment, his senses told him something was off. He swung his legs over the side of his bed, got up and walked over to his bedroom door. He slowly opened it and peered beyond its threshold into the hallway. There was the sound again. He hurried back to his bed and grabbed his Colt gun from under his pillow and made his way down the hall in full stealth mode. He couldn't help it. As he rounded a corner he glimpsed a small flood of light spilling out from Charlie's room up ahead. He headed towards the light. He heard distinct sobbing.

"Charlie?" He called out cautiously.

Dean readied himself, keeping his gun aimed low and quickly moved into the room. There he found Charlie on the floor at the foot of her bed, with her knees drawn up to her chest and arms wrapped around them tightly. Dean did a quick scan of the room. When he was satisfied, he sat down on the floor beside her.

"Another nightmare..?" Dean asked. This was the fourth night this week alone.

Charlie only nodded.

"You okay?" He asked.

She shook her head no.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He probed carefully.

Charlie was silent for a few moments. "It won't make a difference. Nothing will help."

Dean gazed at her for a moment and as he brushed her hair back from her cheek with his fingers, he noted a small tear stream down her cheek. Her face was pale and gaunt looking in the dimmed light. She looked like she was stretched to her limits mentally, emotionally and physically.

"Come on Charlie, talk to me. Please." He coaxed.

Her brows were furrowed together in heavy thought. She was silent for a long moment before she spoke. "He won't leave me alone."

"Styne." He said

She squeezed her eyes closed and nodded. "I wish my mom was here." She confessed in a shaky voice. "I miss her. I miss how she used to make me feel safe." She looked back to him her eyes distraught. "I'm really scared."

Dean eyes connected with hers. Beautiful blue eyes, he thought, but the pain within them burrowed into his heart like a drill. She was one of the few things good in the world and as usual the world was fucking with it. He gently took hold of her hand in a comforting manner. It was shaking.

"I know." He responded as his eyes wandered down to her hand. His eyebrows squeezed together quizzically when he saw bruising on her knuckles. He carefully brushed his thumb over the ridges. It's color alone told Dean the bruise had been made within at least the last 24 hours. The kind of bruising he himself was very familiar with. He gave her a subtle side glance. Questions were quickly piling up but for now he put them aside in favor of a more pressing matter.

"Charlie, maybe it would be a good idea if you could see someone. Someone who has more experience with this kind of situation." He told her.

Charlie scoffed at him unexpectedly. "You mean like a professional? A therapist?"

Dean nodded. "You can always talk to us. To me. I'm there for you in any way I can be. But maybe talking to a professional too, maybe it could give you some insight into what you're experiencing in a way that Sam and I can't."

Charlie was quick to shake her head disapprovingly. "It didn't work when I was a kid, why would it work now?"

"I wasn't there when you were 12. But I'm here now and... you're spiraling." Dean responded. "And I can't seem to catch you." His voice suddenly soft.

Charlie simply stared at him for a moment surprised by his admission. Her thoughts started to swim. Her eyes fell back to the floor. She felt so lost.

"If it doesn't stop, I won't get through it." The tone in her voice was saturated with desperation and the implication of her words put Dean's concern for her on yet another level, again.

"Charlie, look at me." He cupped her cheeks in his palms. She looked to him, the blue in her eyes glistened with newly formed tears. At that moment he would have brought down the moon for her if it had meant her tears would have dried up. "You have to believe me when I tell you we will figure this out. Sam and I will not let Crowley get away with whatever the hell he's got cooked up in that warped brain of his." Dean said adamantly.

"And Styne...? What about him?" She asked flatly.

Dean paused a moment. All his thoughts fell away leaving only one behind. He wiped another fallen tear from her cheek before he pulled her in close, wrapped his free arm around her and took hold of her hand again. He felt like he was losing her. And it was a terrifying prospect.

He looked down to the bruise on her knuckles and brushed his fingers over it once more. Dean's voice sounded determined as he protectively tightened his arm around her.

"We'll take care of him too." His face held a determined expression of resolve. "I promise."

... To Be Continued...