Dean came over to me quickly and bent down to me. "Oh, Charlie-" he started to say, and I batted his hands away.

"NO!" I screamed. "I don't want you!" I looked up at him through my tears. "If I hadn't met you, none of this would have happened! You wouldn't have rescued me and then I would- I would be with her!"

"Charlie, think about what you're saying." Dean said reasonably. "I had nothing to do with what happened, it was just luck that Sam and I were there when we were-"

"I wish you hadn't been there AT ALL!" I yelled, balling up my fists and pounding the bed. "Then none of this would have happened and I wouldn't be here!"

Dean looked stunned. "If we hadn't been there, you might have...are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Uncle Sam had come over to stand next to Dean at that point. "Charlie, calm down," he said.

I threw my pillow at him. "NO, I WON'T calm down!" I screamed. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" I threw with other pillow at Dean, and then I grabbed the sheet and the blanket and tore them off of the bed, balling them up and throwing them too.

"Charlotte Anne! STOP!" Uncle Sam said in a loud voice, louder than I had ever heard him use, and it startled me into silence because it was so big and deep. He sat down on the bed and reached for me, to hold me like he had held me the first day I had been here, when I had gotten mad and yelled at them.

I fought against his hold on me, and it caught him off guard. He held on to my wrist and I brought my arm up and bent my head, and I bit him.

"Ow! Dammit!" he hissed. He flipped my body over and swatted my butt, hard, and I gasped at the sting. Tears came to my eyes. He turned me towards him and held me by my shoulders.

"You will calm down and stop having a tantrum." he said firmly, looking me in the eyes. "I know you're upset but you are out of control."

"I'll never see her again," I said. "and today, I thought I would never see you or Dean ever again!" The tears spilled over as I looked up at Uncle Sam, and he let go of me and then pulled me into a hug.

"Today was awful," he said. "It was really scary for all of us and I'm sorry you had to go through that."

I felt the bed give as I started to cry, and then Dean was putting his arms around Uncle Sam and me.

"Today was hell," he said, and his voice shook. "But we're all in this together, Charlie, we're here for you, and you're not alone. You have family, and we love you. Remember that."

The three of us sat together for a few minutes, hugging and sniffling. I think both Uncle Sam and Dean were crying a little bit too, but I wasn't sure.

There was a knock on the door and I jumped, because it startled me.

Dean stood up, wiping his face off, and crossed the room to answer it. I tensed up as the door opened.

It was just Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby, with a couple of bags. They came in and started to unload little white boxes full of Chinese food onto the table. Uncle Bobby took some bottles of beer out of another bag and put it them in the fridge.

My stomach growled as I smelled the food, and Uncle Sam looked down at me and chuckled. "I heard that," he said. "You must be starving."

I turned to him suddenly, hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry I bit you and yelled at you." I whispered.

"I'm sorry I swatted you," he said. "I needed to get your attention."

"It's okay. I was flipping out."

"You were," he agreed, chuckling. "Let's get you some food." He picked me up and carried me over to the table.

"Everything okay?" Grandpa John asked, looking at me.

"We had some upset, but it's all right." Uncle Sam put me in a chair at the table.

"What do you want, Charlie?" he fixed me a plate and put it in front of me. Dean walked over next to Uncle Sam and handed him a bottle of beer.

I looked up at Dean and touched his arm. He looked down at me, raising his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, Daddy." I said quietly. "I didn't mean what I said before." He bent down and hugged me, and I hugged his neck.

"Thank you for saying you're sorry," he said, and he kissed my cheek.

He straightened up and picked up one of the containers, grabbing a pair of chopsticks, and began eating out of it.

"Leave some for the rest of us, ya idjit!" Uncle Bobby said.

"No, I'm pretty sure this is mine." Dean said. "I ordered the Kung Pao Beef."

"I wanted some!" Uncle Sam whined, making puppy dog eyes, and they laughed.

"Do we need a lesson in sharing, Dean?" Grandpa John asked, and they all laughed again.

Dean looked at me. "Charlie, are you ready to talk about today?"

I looked back at him. "No." I said. "I don't want to. I don't want to keep talking about everything!"

Dean and Uncle Sam did their "looking at each other and silently talking" thing.

"Let it go for now, Dean." Grandpa John said easily. "You have the police report. Charlie will talk when she's ready."

"I'd like to ask her about it while it's still fresh in her mind," Dean said.

"I don't want to talk about it ANY MORE!" I snapped. "Leave me alone!"

"All right," Dean said. "Watch the attitude, Charlie."

"I don't have a attitude, you just won't leave me alone!"

Dean leaned down to me and looked at me. "Rein it in, little girl, or you're going to go in time out." he said quietly.

I stared at him for a moment, then I looked at my lap. "Sorry,"I muttered.

"That's your last warning," Dean said. "Next time, there will be a consequence. You got it?"

I looked up at him. "Yes, Daddy." I said.

He straightened up. I felt embarrassed that he was scolding me in front of everyone, but then, I had been sassy.

"I got a call from the Rangers at the Tall Pines site," Uncle Bobby said. "They think they found some tracks."

"We should go take a look." Uncle Sam said.

"First thing tomorrow, we can go." Grandpa John said. "How's that?"

"Dean? You want to handle this, or-" Uncle Sam looked at Dean.

"Uh, no, you go. I think it's better if I stay here." Dean put his hand on the back of my chair.

"Bath tonight, Charlie." Dean said to me.

"Okay." I agreed. "Can I have another spring roll?"

Uncle Sam picked up the container and handed it to me.

"Thanks." I said. After I finished it, I got off my chair and put my trash in the trash can.

"You ready, Charlie?" Dean asked me.

"Yeah." I said. I got clean pajamas out and went into the bathroom. Dean adjusted the temperature of the water for me and then left. I stood in front of the mirror and started to take the braids out of my hair. I wasn't used to doing that, though, and my hair got all tangled.

I opened the door and walked back into the room.

"Uh, my hair got all tangled," I said shyly.

"Oh geez," Dean said, looking at it.

"Come here, I'll fix it," Grandpa John said. I walked over to him and he started to fiddle with my hair.

"Dad, you know how to braid?" Dean asked.

"Sure, it's a valauble skill. It's similar to making rope and tying knots," he said. "And when you're young, girls are impressed if you can braid their hair." He tapped my shoulder. "Turn and I'll undo the other one."

I turned around as everyone chuckled at what he had said. "Why is that funny?" I asked.

"Uh, you'll understand when you're older." Dean said.

I frowned at him. "I hate when people say that to me!"

"Charlie-" Dean said in a warning voice.

"There, all done." Grandpa John said.

"Remember, don't get your face wet because of the bandages," Dean reminded me.

"Thanks." I said to Grandpa John. "Okay, Daddy." I said as I went back into the bathroom. I got underdressed and into the tub. I could hear them talking and laughing as I washed myself. I felt alone. I didn't want to be in this hotel room any more. I missed my bathroom with the shower curtain that had fish on it, and all my bath toys. I missed my bedroom with the lavender walls and my dollhouse. I missed waking up and knowing that my Mom was there. I missed her most of all. I bowed my head and watched the tears drip off my face and plink into the bath water.

There was a knock on the door. "Charlie? You okay in there?" Dean called.

"Yeah," I said, and my voice cracked. I laid back in the water and washed my hair quickly, then I got out and dried off.

I gave Uncle Sam my brush when I came out of the bathroom, and he brushed my hair.

"Sounds like it could be witches," he was saying.

"Could be," Uncle Bobby said. "We'd have to go over there and look for hex bags and the like."

"Well, we could go take a look tomorrow," Uncle Sam handed me the brush.

I looked up at him. "Witches?"

He glanced down at me. "Uh, yeah."

"Ooh, can I meet one? I've always wanted to meet one and ask if the stuff in Harry Potter is true!" I said excitedly.

Dean looked at me sternly. "No, you may not," he said seriously. "Witches are bad news. You stay away from all of that, you hear me?"

"Okayokay!" I snapped, walking back towards the bathroom.

Dean followed me as I went into the bathroom and put my brush on the side of the sink. He stood in the doorway and looked down at me. "You're giving me an awful lot of attitude tonight, little girl," he said. "What is going on?"

I sighed angrily. "I don't know." I said.

He leaned down and looked at my face. "If you need to talk-"

"No! I don't need to talk, and I don't want to talk! I said, I'm tired of talking!" I yelled.

He stood up, and his jaw twitched. He pointed. "Time out. Go sit on your bed."

I glared up at him. "NO!" I shouted.

He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. "All right, you want to tell me no? The next step is I put you over my knee. You want to go there?" He reached for my wrist and I stepped away from him.

"You do not tell me no when I tell you to do something, little girl. Especially when you're in trouble. That will only make it worse."

We stared at each other for a long moment.

"You have time out, and then straight to bed," he said firmly.

"Noooo," I whined.

He sighed angrily. "What did I just say to you?" He reached for me again and I tried to pull away.

"No! Get offa me!"

He took my arm and turned me, and then landed three sharp swats to my bottom. They echoed loudly in the bathroom and I burst into tears.

Dean looked down at me. "Go sit in time out unless you want more," he said, and he opened the door. He pointed. "Go." he said.

I ran out of the bathroom and over to my bed, where I threw myself down on the covers and sobbed. I was embarrassed because I knew that everyone had heard me yelling and Dean swatting me. I just wanted to be left alone. I didn't want to talk to anyone any more.

"Don't you think you should be cutting her a little slack?" I heard Grandpa John say. "She's had a rough couple of days."

"No, she's had slack, she needs rules and consequences," Dean said. "I'm not going to let her start getting all mouthy again."

"Well, this could be her way of dealing with what she went through." Grandpa John said. "Just keep that in mind."

"No, it's not." Dean said.

"You don't know that. Every kid is dfferent. When your mother passed, you shut down and stopped talking for a while." John told him.

"I did?"

"Yes, no one could get a word out of you for months. Preschool wouldn't take you back because of it. You started talking again when Sammy started to talk, at around a year old. Then you took it upon yourself to teach him how to talk."

"I never knew that." Dean said quietly.

"Well, it's not something I like to revisit that often. All I'm saying is, keep in mind everything that Charlie's been through. It was frustrating as hell with you sometimes, when you wouldn't talk, but I knew I couldn't get mad at you for it. You understand?"

"Yeah, Dad, I do. Thanks."

I heard footsteps and then someone touched my back. I turned my head as Dean sat down next to me.

"Hey," he said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"I'm bad," I sobbed.

"No you're not, you're a normal little kid who's been through an awful lot recently. Come here."

I sat up and got onto his lap, and he hugged me to him.

"I'll stop bugging you about talking if you'll promise me that you will talk to me when you're upset or feeling bad. Okay?"

I tried to stop crying, but I couldn't. I buried my face in his flannel and sobbed. Eventually I fell asleep in his arms.

I didn't dream about the campsite or the wolf creature this time. I dreamed that Aunt Michelle came to the apartment, and she said she was a witch, and that she could cure Mommy. So she did a spell, and there was lots of sparkly smoke in the air, but then when it went away, Mommy was all old and wrinkled and bald, and she fell over like she was dead. Aunt Michelle went over to her and said, "I'll reverse the spell if you give me the money." She looked at me. "I'll bring her back if you give me all the money. I can do that you know."

I woke up suddenly, and the room was dark. I could hear Dean and Uncle Sam breathing in their beds. I had an odd feeling in my chest. Maybe a witch could bring my mommy back. They had all kinds of spells to do different things, like make someone fall in love, or make someone lose their voice. I had no idea how I could find out about it though. If I got on Uncle Sam's laptop and looked stuff up, he would find out, and then I'd be in trouble with him and Dean again, and I never wanted to have a double butt warming from them ever again. Maybe if we went to a library I could see if there were any books on witchcraft or spells there. I'd have to convince Dean and Uncle Sam to let me go off and look at books by myself, though. As I laid there in the dark, I fell back to sleep as I thought about what else I could do.

"Charlie, wake up." Dean said quietly to me. "It's time to get moving." He rubbed my back and I opened my eyes and rolled over.

"Whyyyy?" I groaned.

"Sam and I have to go investigate this house to look for hex bags and stuff, and talk to a couple people."

I sat up. "You mean the witches you were talking about yesterday?"

"Yes." he said.

"Can I go too?"

Dean looked uncomfortable. "Well, you are going with us, but you're not going to be involved in anything."

I got up and got dressed quickly. Both of them were already dressed.

Dean opened the door and I followed him out. The trunk of the car was open and Uncle Sam was back there. I followed Dean as he walked over to Uncle Sam.

"We're out of wolfsbane and pennyroyal," Uncle Sam said.

"Well, I have no idea where to get refills in this podunk town," Dean said.

"I'll look it up online, there's a surprisingly large presence of online pagans and their supply shops and whatnot." Uncle Sam said.

I was staring into the trunk. It was full of all kinds of weapons in compartments, guns, knives, large syringes, bags of what looked like herbs, old looking books, and wooden boxes.

"What's wolfsbane?" I asked.

They both looked down at me.

"Nothing you need to be concerned about," Dean said. He snapped his fingers at me so that I looked at him. "I know stuff in there looks interesting, but you stay out of the trunk. There's all kinds of things in there that can hurt you, and you don't know the first thing about weapons. You hear me?"

"Yes, Daddy." I said.

"Listen, on that topic, you never touch a weapon, understand? Not unless you've been trained and you know how to handle it. I catch you messing with anything and you'll be in seriosus, and I mean serious trouble, got it?"

We walked over to the doors and Dean opened the back door for me.

"Yes, Daddy." I said again as I got in the car.

As we drove I couldn't stop thinking about the trunk. Maybe some of the books in the trunk were spellbooks. Maybe they had herbs and things in the trunk to do spells with.

Dean dropped Uncle Sam off at a house, and then drove to a local park. He was meeting someone to interview her about the witches.

"Go ahead and play," he said to me, sitting on a bench. "I'll be right here."

The playground was huge, with a lot of big climbing structures. There were a lot of kids there too, and I got involved with some of them, playing a game where we were pretending to look for buried treasure. I glanced over at the bench where Dean was sitting at one point and he was talking to a woman with short brown hair.

All of a sudden there was barking, and a big dog came bounding across the playground. Then there was yapping, and a small dog came running from the other direction.

"Harley! To me!" a man called. The dogs began to growl and bark at each other, and I felt panic rising up in my chest. I knew that they were dogs, but the sounds reminded me of that night-

Arms were wrapping around me and picking me up. "Shh, it's all right," Dean soothed as he lifted me onto his hip. I looked around. There was a crowd of kids standing in a circle, all staring at me. Dean took a bandana out of his pocked as he walked and wiped my face off.

"What—what happened?" My throat felt raw.

Dean looked down at me. "You- don't remember?"

I looked over his shoulder at the playground. The dogs were now running in circles around each other with their tails wagging.

"You must have gotten scared by the dogs, and you were just standing there screaming." Dean told me.

"Oh," I said, feeling embarrassed.

"It's all right," he said, putting his hand on the back of my head. "I was just about to come over and get you any way, Sam called me. We've got to go over to the house."

Dean put me down next to the car, and opened the door for me. Dean drove back to the neighborhood where he had dropped Uncle Sam off, and parked across the street. He turned around to face me. "I'm just going to be a couple of minutes," he said. "You stay here, and make sure the doors stay locked. Got it?"

"Yes, Daddy." I said.

"Think about where you want to go for lunch," he told me, then he got out of the car.

I watched him walk across the street and go into a yellow house. I still felt shaky, and scared. I didn't want to be alone in the car. I didn't want to be outside, I just wanted to go back to the hotel room. I started to breathe hard, and quick. I got more scared, and I started to worry. What if something had happened to Dean and Uncle Sam? What if there was a witch hiding in the house, and she killed them?

I looked out the window and saw a lady walking a dog. As she came closer to the car, a cat wandered across the sidewalk in the next yard over from where we were parked. The dog growled and ran at the cat, dragging its owner as she yelled and scolded it. The cat ran across the street like a shot and the dog tried to follow it. The dog's growling made me feel worse, and I started to cry. I took a deep breath and made a decision. I had to go find my Dad and Uncle and save them. I opened the door and got out of the car, running across the street to the house.

As I walked up the front steps, the door opened and Uncle Sam stood there.

"Charlie? What are you doing?" he asked. Dean came behind him and they stepped out onto the porch.

"Dammit, Charlie, what the hell are you doing out of the car?" Dean snapped, and he took my arm and swatted my butt. "I told you to stay put!"

"Ow! I- I got scared, I was still upset from before and a lady walked her dog by the car and it went after a cat, and I started to worry that something had happened to you-" My breathing was starting to come in shorter breaths now.

"Hey, whoa," Uncle Sam bent and picked me up. "Calm down, breathe slower."

They started to walk to the car. "What's this about a dog?" Uncle Sam looked at Dean.

Dean opened the back door for me and Uncle Sam put me on the ground.

"You're in trouble, little girl." Dean said to me.

I got in the back seat and tried not to cry, but I couldn't stop.

They got in the front seat and Dean started the car. "We were at the park and I was talking to Ms. Johnson, and Charlie started screaming, there were two dogs at the park, a big one got off its leash and ran up to another one, and they were barking and growling at each other. Charlie was just standing there screaming, so I grabbed her up and we left, and came here."

"I- I was still feeling scared!" I protested. "I didn't want you to leave me!"

"Yeah, but I told you I was only gonna be gone for a couple of minutes!" Dean said to me over his shoulder.

"I didn't know that! It seemed like a long time!" I shouted at him, my tears drying up.

"Hey!" he turned to glare at me. "Watch it, little girl!"

"So she just got upset a few minutes before and you left her in the car?" Uncle Sam asked. "Without checking to see if she was okay?"

"Sam, you called me, I wanted to see what you had found." Dean said.

"But Dean, after all Charlie's been through the past couple of days, don't you think you should have taken a minute to calm her down?"

"I did. She was calm." Dean said. "She didn't say anything about still being upset!"

"I think we both know that Charlie is not going to talk about how she's feeling, after all she is her father's daughter in that respect. We found that out last night." Uncle Sam said. "You should have asked her."

"Yeah, and like she would tell me?" Dean's voice was raised. "God, Sam, get off my ass!"

"Well, I happen to think you messed up here." Uncle Sam said.

"Well, great. What the hell am I supposed to do when we're on a case?" Dean rubbed his hand over his face.

"I don't know, Dean." Uncle Sam said. "We're still figuring this out."

"One thing I do know is that someone needs to remember to follow directions," Dean looked back at me. "When I tell you to stay in the car, you stay in the car!"

"Okayokay!" I snapped.

He turned to face me. "Excuse me? You just bought yourself an early bedtime."

"Nooo!" I whined.

"You better watch your tone from now on," Dean said in a warning voice.

I huffed at him and crossed my arms.

"Get rid of the attitude," he growled.

Uncle Sam chuckled, "You sound just like Dad."

"Yeah, and I'm about to beat some ass, just like he used to, yours included, little brother."

"What did I do?"

Dean sighed and rubbed his face again. "Where are we going for lunch?"

"I'm not hungry." I said.

Both of them turned to look at me. "You sure?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Yeah." I said.

Dean found a diner, and we went in and got a table. The waitress put a paper place mat and some crayons down for me.

"Charlie, I want you to eat something." Dean said to me.

"I'm not hungry," I repeated.

"You still need to eat."

"How can I eat when I'm not hungry?" I snapped.

He leaned toward me. "What did I say about attitude?" he said in a hard, quiet voice.

"But Daddy-"

He sat up. "I don't want to hear any excuses, Charlie."

"You're mean!" I folded my arms and glared at him.

The waitress came to the table just then, and Dean ordered me a grilled cheese sandwich and french fries.

"I'm not eating it." I said stubbornly, when she walked away.

"We can take it with us and heat it up in the room." Uncle Sam said. "Both of you need to take a break, I'm getting a headache from all the glaring and huffing going on here."

I stared at my place mat and did the maze and the word search that was on it, and listened to them talking. In a few minutes, our food arrived at the table. They started to eat right away.

I looked up after a moment, to find Dean watching me.

"Start eating," he said.

"Not hungry," I retorted, looking down at the table again.

Uncle Sam's phone rang and he talked for a couple of minutes. After he hung up, he said, "That was Dad, they're on their way back. They found the tracks but they think it was a coyote."

Dean sighed. "How in the hell is this creature so hard to find?"

"We probably need to be out there 24-7 for a couple days," Uncle Sam said.

"Charlie, come on, eat at least half of your sandwich." Dean said to me. I ignored him.

"Charlie" he said again. "Look at me."

I sighed and looked at him.

"If you don't eat it here, we'll take it to the hotel and you can eat it there. But you are gonna eat it."

"I didn't want it!" I snapped. "You're being mean! I told you I wasn't hungry and you didn't listen and ordered me something anyway and now you want me to eat it! Well you can't make me!"

Dean pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes.

"She's got a point, Dean," Uncle Sam said.

"Shut up, Sam!" Dean snapped.

Uncle Sam sighed and picked up his fork, shaking his head.

"We're still going to take it back to the hotel with us." Dean said, giving me a look.

I don't know what came over me, but my annoyance turned to anger at that moment, and I reached out and swept my arm across the table. My plate flipped in the air as it fell and landed on the floor with a clatter, scattering french fries all over the linoleum. The paper place mat drifted down slowly and landed on top of the plate.

"Now I can't eat it at all." I said, looking over at them defiantly.

Both Dean and Uncle Sam were staring at me with their mouths open, the same identical stunned looks on their faces.

"Okay Sam, you take care of the bill," Dean said, sliding his chair back. "My hand has an appointment with Charlie's butt in the back seat right now."

Uncle Sam put his hand on Dean's arm. "Stop." he said. "You're pissed off-"

"Damn right I'm pissed! My daughter's being a class- A brat!"

"Just hold on. Take a couple of minutes and calm down. You remember, Dad always did that too? Counting to 10? Or 20? Or even 30 sometimes? Don't do anything while you're angry."

Dean sighed heavily. "All right. You're right."

He looked at me. "We're still going out to the car, and you're in time out in the back until I'm calm enough to deal with you. Come on."

I pushed my chair back as the waitress came over. "Oh, what happened here? Do we need another plate of food?"

Dean stepped over the mess and took my arm. "Let's go," he said curtly.

I got in the back seat and folded my arms.

"Time out starts now," Dean told me, looking at his watch.

"Don't care," I said, looking out the window. I was tired of him telling me what to do, and expecting me to do it. I was tired of someone always being around. I wanted to go do what I wanted to do, watch t.v. when I wanted, play by myself when I wanted, and not have to do what I was told. It wasn't fair that this was my life now!

In a few minutes, Uncle Sam came to the car. He got into the passenger side with a styrofoam box. "I packed up the rest of your plate," he said to Dean.

"Thanks," Dean said, and turned the car on.

"She still in time out?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Yep," Dean answered tersely.

As soon as the car pulled into the parking space, I opened the back door and ran. I didn't get that far before hands were grabbing me, and of course Uncle Sam and his long legs had caught up with me almost right away.

"What is going on with you today, young lady?" he grunted as he tried to pick me up.

I was fighting and trying to pull away from him. He finally leaned down and threw me over his shoulder, holding my legs against his chest so I couldn't kick him. I pounded my fists on his back as he walked back to the room. It felt just like Dean, hitting a brick wall. Why did they both have to be so big and strong?

He walked into the room and leaned down, setting me down on the floor, but he took my arm and held me there as he sat down on the end of the bed.

"This stops now," he said.

I pulled my arm. "Let me go!"

"No," he said simply.

I yanked my arm again, and when he didn't let go, I started to bring it up to my mouth again to bite him.

"NO!" Uncle Sam shouted. "Charlotte Anne, you need to stop all this!"

He pulled me towards him and turned me, holding on to me like he had that first day I was with them.

"Lemme gooooo!" I whined.

"What's going on?" he asked, as I continued to struggle. "Why are you acting like this?"

"I'm tired of always having to do what everyone tells me to do!" I snapped. "I want to do what I want!"

"News flash, you don't get to, because you're a kid," Dean told me.

"That's not true! I got to do what I wanted before!"

"Only because your mother was too sick to be a proper parent to you! And, it sounds like she let you get away with an awful lot."

"She did not!" I yelled, struggling with Uncle Sam some more. "You're mean! Uncle Sam is mean! All you want to do it tell me what to do all the time! I hate it! I hate it here! I wish I'd never met you!"

Dean's eyes went wide for a second, and his face got red. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they looked funny. He looked down at the floor.

"I- I've gotta- I'm out of here," he said in a low voice, and he turned and left the room.

Uncle Sam turned me around to face him and took my upper arms in his hands.

"Charlotte Anne Winchester, what the hell is going on? How can you say something like that to your father!" His voice was loud and stern. I looked at him and his face was angry. His olive green eyes were very dark, and a muscle twitched in his cheek. I dropped my eyes to the floor, unable to look at him any more.

"Young lady, you are in serious trouble! Your behavior today is out of control, and this is the last straw! You are getting a spanking."

"Nooo," I whined, pulling away from him.

"Yes," he said firmly.

"But- but I was upset before because of the dogs, you said that Dean was in the wrong!" I whined.

"That's true. However, you also got out of the car when we were at a scene, after you had been told to stay there, and you were about to come inside! Then you threw major attitude in the car and the diner, and you pulled that stunt with the plate, dumping it on the floor so that you wouldn't have to eat it, which was a waste of good food and you gave the waitress extra work to do. Then, when we get back here, the first thing you do it take off running, which is a rule broken. And then you try and bite me again, after you already bit me once this morning! And last but not least, you mouth off to Dean and say something really hurtful to him. So yeah, you deserve a spanking, and you're gonna get one."

"But Uncle Saaaamm..." I whined.

"NO." he said decisively. He picked me up and then all of a sudden I was face down over his lap. I started to struggle and kick. Uncle Sam moved his leg so that mine were pinned under his, and I couldn't move that much. I was tilted forward a little bit, and I wrapped my arms around his calf and held on. I was starting to regret how I had been acting all day. I realized Uncle Sam's big hand was going to be spanking my butt, and it was going to hurt, and then the first swat landed. I yelped loudly and tears came to my eyes.

This time he talked as he spanked. "Now you listen to me, young lady," he said sternly. "I know you've had a rough time, and we've been trying to give you a break, but your behavior today is inexcusable. You can be upset without throwing tantrums and sassing and being rude. This is going to stop, and I mean now. And you need to seriously think about what you say to people and whether or not what you're going to say is hurtful. Do you understand me?"

Several hard swats had fallen by the end of his speech, and my bottom was stinging.

"I said, do you understand me?" He repeated in a hard voice. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes! Yes, Uncle Sam, I'm sorry!" I wailed, the tears in my eyes spilling over.

"I'm not going to let this behavior go any more," he said. "If you can't get control over yourself, then we'll have to get strict with you and really come down on you at the first sign of misbehavior. Is that what you want? You want to be in trouble over every little thing?"

"No, Uncle Sam!" I whimpered.

"You need to seriously think about how you've been acting. And it needs to change."

"Okay...okay Uncle Sam...please..." tears were starting to drip off my face onto the floor.

I whimpered as his hand began to fall again, harder than before, and before long I was sobbing. After several more swats he stopped, and he stood me up in front of him. I expected him to hug me, but he didn't. He stood up and led me across the room, and turned me towards the wall.

"Wh-what are you d-doing?" I sobbed.

"You're going to stand in the corner and think about all your behavior today," he said firmly.

"B- but I've n-never-" I glanced up at him.

"You will stay here and think about everything until I call you out," he said. "Is that clear?"

"Y-yes, Uncle Sam," I sobbed.

I heard him walk away. I looked at the walls through my tears. There was nothing to look at, nothing to concentrate on except my thoughts. So I thought about what he said. I had been horrible today, I didn't know what had come over me in the diner, I just got so mad at being told what to do. They were making rules and telling me what to do to keep me safe, and I wasn't listening or obeying them. I hadn't meant what I said to Dean either. I realized that I loved him and Uncle Sam, that they were taking care of me, and they didn't have to. Dean could have said that he didn't want a kid, I had classmates who knew who their dads were but the dads never did anything with them or took care of them.

Tears were pouring down my face at this point.

"Charlotte Anne," Uncle Sam said. "Are you done thinking about things? Are you ready to change how you've been acting?"

"Y-yes, Uncle S-sam," I sobbed out.

"Then come here."

I turned and trudged back over to him. He was sitting on the end of the bed again. I went up to him and he took me in his arms and pulled me into his lap.

"I'm suh-sorry!" I wailed as he held me. "I'm suh-sorry I'm so b-bad!"

"Shh, you're not bad, you misbehave and get out of control sometimes. And it's my job, and your Dad's job, to get you back in line. You're a good girl, Charlie, you're just learning how to live differently that you've been living, and it's hard sometimes."

The door opened, and I turned my head to see Dean come in the room.

He closed the door and stood there looking at us.

"Daddy-" I said, and I slid off of Uncle Sam's lap and ran to him, because he was my Daddy.

He bent down and picked me up in a tight hug, and I said, "I'm sorry I said that, I'm sorry I was mean, I didn't mean it-"

"Shh," Daddy said, rubbing the back of my head.

"No, I am sorry!" I said again. "I won't ever say that again!"

"All right. It's all right," he said.

"I'm sorry I was bad today and I sassed you and didn't listen-"

"Charlie. Shh. You're okay."

Daddy walked over to the bed and sat down next to Uncle Sam. He set me on his lap. "This was just a bump in the road today. We're still figuring things out."

"We'll get it." Uncle Sam said, rubbing my back.

I held tight to Daddy until I had calmed down and stopped crying. At that point I felt very sleepy.

"You awake?" I heard Daddy ask.

"Mmm," I mumbled. I felt him lift me, and he walked a short distance. I tightened my arms around him. "Stay," I murmured. I opened my eyes for a moment, and he was setting us on his bed. He propped himself up against the headboard and held me on his chest. I felt him rubbing my back and I drifted into sleep.