AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry to leave the last chapter on such a cliffie! I didn't realize that bones hurt as they are growing back together, so I've been dealing with that pain, and it's made it harder to focus on things and type. I'm trying a new medication that will hopefully help get me through this process! THANK YOU to all of you who leave reviews, I love them, and it's been great to see some new names pop up on the reviews page. Melanie, I laughed when I saw your review, saying you were a French fan, as I had just finished writing the part of Charlie and Cas's adventure where they go to France! XXXOOO

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I woke up shivering. It was cold in here, and the damp felt like it had seeped into my bones. I curled up on the mattress, wrapping my arms around my knees.

"Daddy-" I whimpered, and then I got an idea. I tried to reach out to him in my mind, I called out, I tried to find him. I imagined going to find him, I imagined what it would be like if I came up to him somewhere.

I didn't feel anything. I reached out to Uncle Sam and Grandpa John, calling to them, imagining them and crying out to them. It made my head hurt worse, the pain was throbbing behind my eyes. My stomach twisted and I started to cry again.

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I heard the creaking of metal on metal, and voices talking. "-shouldn't have put her down here! This is a Panic Room, for crap's sake!" Daddy said angrily. I was curled in a ball, facing the wall, on the mattress.

"Why aren't you coming in?" Daddy demanded.

"I cannot, there are sigils which prevent me from entering," I recognized Castiel's voice, "I put her to sleep, she should sleep for at least 24 hours."

"Charlie? Charlie!" I heard Daddy say, and I heard quick footsteps. I slitted my eyes open and whimpered, since any movement made my head hurt.

"Oh God, what happened, baby?" Daddy asked. He knelt down next to me and turned me over. I looked up at him. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were behind him, leaning down.

"Did you fall down and hit your face?" Daddy asked, putting his hand behind my head.

"Oohh, my head," I moaned as he sat me up.

"Daddy where were you? I woke up an' I was all 'lone an' I didn't know where I was or where anyone else was an', an'... I tried to reach you—I tried to call out to all of you in my head...did you hear me?" I looked at him, and saw Grandpa John glance at Uncle Sam.

"No, sweetheart, what happened?" Daddy asked concernedly, "Why is your face bloody?"

I started to cry. "I picked up that cup, I was thirsty, and I wanted to see if there was water, and I saw the man who held the cup before, and he- he-" my chest started to heave with sobs, "he had something bad inside of him, he could feel it and it made his eyes black and it made him think bad thoughts, and he—he tried to cut it out, and there was so much blood!" I burst into loud sobs and curled up again, scared of the images. "I keep feeling the feelings an' I was so scared an', an' I got dizzy and fell down, an when I woke up my nose was bleeding!"

"You threw up all over yourself too," Uncle Sam commented.

"Jesus," Daddy muttered, leaning down to hug me, "What the hell was all that?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder.

Grandpa John said, "I know this has been used as a holding tank for people who've been possessed."

"Great, just great," Daddy sighed angrily. He turned his body and said, "This is why I said she shouldn't be down here, man!"

"I apologize, I did not know that this would happen. Humans usually sleep for many hours when I put them to sleep," Castiel said from the doorway.

"Well, Charlie's a psychic kid with pretty strong abilities, so she's not going to be like a 'normal human'!" Daddy retorted, "Next time check with someone before you do doing something like this!"

"I did what I had to do at the moment," Castiel's voice became deeper and booming, "Time was of the essence and I had to move quickly to help you all. If I had not arrived when I did the damage could have been a lot worse. I had to weigh the options, and assisting you was of more importance. I made a mistake with the child, it will not happen again."

"Yeah, well...let's get you upstairs, baby," Daddy leaned down and slid his arms under my knees and around my back. He stood up, holding me against his chest. "Phew, you're ripe, kiddo."

I closed my eyes as he carried me upstairs, because the light was making my head hurt. The movement made my stomach flip and nausea rose in my throat.

"Da—Daddy, I feel sick, m'gonna—" I gulped, "Moving is makin' my tummy feel yucky."

"All right, I'll sit for a minute," Daddy said. I heard a clatter as something fell and opened my eyes briefly. We were sitting on the sofa, and the Mastermind game had gotten knocked onto the floor.

"Looks like you two had a game marathon," Daddy commented with humor is his voice.

"There's Lucky Charms, chips, and pie left out on the counter, you two must have had quite a party," Uncle Sam said dryly, "Uhh...why is there a bottle of French champagne and a box of chocolates over here? Where the hell'd they come from?"

"I...made a mistake," Castiel said, "The child requested French Vanilla ice cream, and I thought that it was made in France. As it turns out, it is referring to the technique used to make the ice cream, not the country."

"You took Charlie to France, for ice cream?" Uncle Sam asked disbelievingly.

"Wait, let me get this straight," Daddy's voice was deep with anger, "I ask you to watch my kid and keep her safe, and you take her out of the Goddamn country for some freakin' dessert?"

"We were completely safe, Dean Winchester, I assure you," Castiel replied calmly, "I sped up our molecules so that we would be undetected by anyone, especially supernaturals."

"Sped up your molecules? How is that even-" Uncle Sam said, but then his voice changed to panicked- sounding, "Dad? Dad!"

I heard quick footsteps, and the sound of a thud.

"What's wrong?" Uncle Sam asked.

Daddy shifted on the sofa. "Dammit, I knew he was more hurt than he let on!"

"Sammy...it's okay...I'll be okay, just got lightheaded for a moment-" Grandpa John's voice sounded weak.

"You are bleeding excessively from that stab wound. I can heal it if you wish," Castiel said.

Grandpa John groaned loudly, and Uncle Sam and Daddy both exclaimed, "Dad!"

Their loud voices made my head hurt, and I moaned and tried to cover my ears.

"How—how'd you do that?" Grandpa John asked, "Thank you."

"I am an angel of the Lord, I can heal injuries. If you wish, I can put Charlotte Anne to sleep again, to help her mind-"

"Don't you touch her!" Daddy snarled, tightening his grip on me, "I don't need any more of your 'help' right now! Get the hell out of here!"

"I was only doing what I did to-"

"Just GO!" Daddy yelled, and I whimpered. There was the sound of flapping wings, and then Castiel was gone.

"Dean, he was doing what he thought best so he could come and help us," Uncle Sam said.

"Yeah, well, I trusted him with my kid, and he takes her halfway across the world without my permission and then knocks her out and sticks her in a Panic Room without letting anyone know?"

"He helped us right when we needed it, things would have gone very differently if he hadn't showed up when he did," Grandpa John said.

"Still not happy about this situation," Daddy grumbled, "Charlie, we need to get you into a bath, sweetheart."

"Nooo," I whined, "Wanna sleep...head hurts."

"I know, baby, but you've got dried puke and blood all down your front, on your arms and in your hair too. I don't want to put you to bed like that," I felt him moving, holding me against his chest.

"I'll get the water started," I heard Uncle Sam say.

Daddy stood up and I felt us moving. "Can you stand up?" he asked me.

I opened my eyes- we were in the bathroom, and I was standing in front of him. He let go of me, and after a moment, my knees buckled.

Uncle Sam had been crouched by the tub, and he stood up, "Whoa!" he reached over to grab me with Daddy.

"I guess that answers that question," Daddy sat down on the closed toilet seat and took me on his lap. "Come on, let's get your clothes off," he said gently. I felt him lifting my arms, pulling them out of the sleeves, and my shirt pulled on my hair because thick strands of hair were stuck to the fabric with dried blood or throw up. I whimpered as I felt them pulling my hair off of the shirt.

"All right, pants," Daddy said. Uncle Sam knelt on the floor and pulled on the cuffs of my pajama pants, removing them, and then Daddy stood me up, holding me under my armpits. I felt Uncle Sam pulling down my panties and lifting my feet to take them off. I wanted to protest and say I wasn't a baby, I could do it myself, but my head was throbbing so bad I couldn't talk.

"Tub," Daddy picked me up like a baby, and then leaned over and placed me in the water. It was warm, but the sensation still shocked me, and I screeched, and then started to cry.

"I'll hold her up, you wash," Uncle Sam said. I felt his arm around my back, and he said soothingly, "It's all right, Charlie, we're going to get you cleaned off and in bed."

Daddy wet a washcloth and began to wipe at my neck. I raised my hand and batted at him, trying to grab the washcloth.

"What?" Daddy asked.

"M' not a baby, c'n do it m'self," I mumbled.

Daddy chuckled. "Little girl, you are in no condition to do anything for yourself right now. Relax."

"Lay back, I've got you," Uncle Sam said.

"I brought in clean pajamas," I heard Grandpa John's voice.

"Thanks, Dad," Daddy said.

"How is she doing?"

"Trying to wash herself, spunky as ever," Daddy said with another chuckle.

"You want to put her in your bed instead of the bunkbed? I'll grab her Hello Kitty pillows and blanket and move them."

"That's a good idea, Dad," Uncle Sam said.

It took Daddy a few minutes to clean the dried stuff out of my hair, and even though it didn't hurt, the pulling was uncomfortable, and I started to cry again.

"All right, baby, almost done," Daddy said soothingly, "Hey, Dad?" he called over his shoulder, "Could you grab a towel and take her when we lift her out?"

"Sure." I heard Grandpa John's voice again.

Daddy took my hands and pulled, and Uncle Sam lifted against my back, and they helped me stand up. Uncle Sam lifted me out of the tub, and Grandpa John took me and wrapped a towel around me, holding on to me so I didn't fall over.

Daddy sat on the toilet seat again. "Okay, let's dry her off," he said. He began to dry my body off, and then Grandpa John took a towel and rubbed my hair until it was damp.

"Give me your arm," Daddy said, and I felt him guiding my arm into a sleeve. He pulled my pj top on my other arm and then buttoned it, and then bent over to put my panties on my feet. He stood me up, holding me upright, and Uncle Sam knelt again and pulled my panties up and then guided my feet into my pj pants and pulled them up too.

Daddy scooped me up and carried me to the bedroom. He laid me down in his bed and pulled the covers up. "Here's MaryBear, and Hello Kitty, and your pillows," he told me.

"Don' want them, jus' wan' you," I mumbled, grabbing his arm. I could smell his Daddy-smell on his pillow.

"I'll stay with you," he said, "I'll be right here."

"Wait, take some medicine, Charlie," Uncle Sam said.

Daddy propped me up and I swallowed medicine from a little plastic cup and then drank some water. I laid down again, and fell asleep feeling Daddy carding his hand through my damp hair.

I woke up smelling food. Daddy was sitting by the bed with a plate on his knees. I rolled onto my side, and he looked at me.

"Hey, baby girl, how are you feeling?" he asked softly.

"Head still hurts," I murmured.

"You hungry?"

"Uh-uh."

Uncle Sam came into the room with a mug. "Here's the cof- oh, she's awake! How are you feeing, Charlie?" He handed the mug to Daddy.

"Her head still hurts," Daddy reported, taking a long drink from the mug.

"Are you hungry? You want me to fix you a plate?" Uncle Sam asked me.

"No thanks," I mumbled.

"I want you to drink something, I'll go get you some medicine, and some water, okay?" Uncle Sam left the room.

Daddy got up and sat on the bed next to me. "Try to eat a little," he coaxed, "Just a bite or two for me." He held the fork up. I let him feed me a forkful of mashed potatoes.

Uncle Sam came back into the room and Daddy helped me sit up.

I drank the medicine from the little cup and then some water.

"You feel up to talking about what happened?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Uh...I d'no," I said.

"Missouri wants to hear about everything, she wants me to record you talking about it and then I'll send it to her," Uncle Sam told me.

"Have some more," Daddy held a piece of turkey meat up to me. I ate it.

"Can I have some more water?" I asked.

Uncle Sam leaned over and held the glass up to my mouth and I drank some more. Then he sat down at the end of the bed and took out his phone.

"Charlie, can you tell me what happened when you were in the panic room?" He pressed some buttons on his phone and I heard it beep, and he held it up like he was taking a picture of me.

"I woke up...it was all dim and kinda cold. I went to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. I got scared...I started banging and kicking on the door and kinda freaked out, screaming and all," Daddy stroked my hair back from my face, watching me.

"I looked around the room to see what was there and if I could try to find a way out, and I saw the table and chair. There was a cup on the table and I was real thirsty, so I went over and picked it up. Then I saw...I saw..." my eyes filled with tears. Daddy put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

"A man holding the cup, he had short dark hair, and there were bandages on his wrists. Then it changed and he was standing in front of a mirror looking at himself and his eyes changed, from blue to shiny black to blue, and he said "Gotta cut the demon out". He had a—a razor, and he started to cut—himself-" I started to cry, feeling scared again, "there was so much blood everywhere and he just- kept—cutting-" my chest hitched a couple times.

"All right, Charlie, breathe," Daddy said quietly.

"I could—could feel the feelings in him, he was mad an' confused an' scared, an' the feelings just kept coming, then I saw him stab another man, and then he was on top of a woman and he had his hands on her neck, but I don't know—I don't know if the bad thing inside him was making him think those things or if he really did them-" I sobbed and put my head on Daddy's chest.

"Oh, Charlie," Daddy's voice was sympathetic, "I'm so sorry you had to deal with that."

"He knew there was something bad inside him and he didn't want it there," I said, "I was able to throw the cup away from me, an' then I got real dizzy, an' the next thing I knew I was waking up on the floor next to the table. My nose and chin were all wet, with blood. I tried to get up and walk but I was too dizzy, so I crawled over to the mattress and laid down. My head was hurting so bad, it was like a knife stabbing."

Daddy put his arms around me and hugged me, rocking us from side to side.

I looked up at him after a moment, and said, "I woke up an' I felt scared, an' I tried to reach out to you, Daddy, I tried to call to you an' Uncle Sam an' Grandpa John, I was screaming in my head. Did you hear me?"

"No, I didn't, sweetheart, I'm sorry," Daddy said. He looked at Uncle Sam. "Anything else?"

"Do you have anything to add?" Uncle Sam asked me.

"Uh-uh," I said.

"I guess that's it," Uncle Sam turned off his phone, "I'm going to go send this to Missouri," he leaned down and kissed the top of my head, "Make sure you drink all the water," He left the room.

I ate another bite of turkey and mashed potatoes, and drank the rest of the water. Then I was tired, and Daddy helped me lay down in bed again. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

The walls were gray...the ceiling was gray...the floor was cold gray cement...I was trapped...I felt the evil that I had felt when I picked up the cup, moving through me like a wave...I shivered...I remembered seeing Mommy crying in the bathroom after she'd taken a shower and large clumps of her hair had come out when she washed her hair...holding the trash can in front of her as she threw up and holding my nose so I didn't smell it and puke myself...feeling scared when I saw her connected to the tubes and wires when she got her treatments...I'd had to take care of myself and her and not do anything to draw attention to myself, and be extra extra good, and she had still gotten sicker and then died...and there had been a monster at our campsite that killed her and could have killed me...the fear I had felt when I was huddled in my sleeping bag listening to all the sounds outside the tent came back to me...and then Aunt Michelle had kidnapped me, I had been so scared I would never see my Daddy again...and then I remembered the cage, and the changeling woman leaning over me, and her pointy teeth, and her tying the ropes around me, jerking them extra tight because she was mad that I had fought her...and the pain I had felt, being cold and uncomfortable in the dark cage, the fear and sadness about my Daddy and wondering if I'd ever see him again...waking up in the hospital and not being able to move...the humiliation of having to be fed like a baby and learn how to walk again...seeing and feeling all those intense things, the PT therapist whose boyfriend hit her, and Miss Lettie coughing blood into a handkerchief, and Big Luke lying dead on a table...and now this man with the evil in him, feeling his desire to do harm fighting within him to be a regular person...it was all too much for me...everything that had happened to me over the past several months, everything felt like a heavy weight, pressing down on me, and I couldn't get out from under it...

"Charlie? Charlie! What the hell is—what's going on?" I heard Daddy's voice above me, panicked and loud.

"What is it, Dean?" I heard Uncle Sam's voice.

"She's—it's almost like she's having some kind of- of seizure-"

"I—I c-c-can't..." I whispered, "Ev—ev—ry—thing...is so...t-too much..." I started to cry even though it made my head hurt, "My mommy's hair fell out and she had tubes all sticking out and the hospital smelled funny and it was scary hearing all those sounds when I was in the tent and I wanted to go after her and Aunt Michelle was so mean and scary I thought I'd never see you any more and the monster with its gray skin and dark holes for eyes and the sharp teeth in my ne-"

The memories and feelings rose up in me like a wave and I felt like I was going to drown. I was babbling, shrieking, clutching at something, and the edges of my vision were getting dark. My head throbbed with pain and it felt like there was a metal band around my brain, tightening and tightening.

"Hey, whoa, whoa," I heard Daddy say.

"No more," I whimpered.

"Here, take this, it's applesauce," Uncle Sam said urgently, "Swallow it-"

"Why I gotta eat applesauce?" I mumbled, turning my head away.

"It's got some medicine in it that will help you feel better," Daddy told me.

Uncle Sam held a spoon up to my mouth and I opened and swallowed, and tasted the sweetness of the apple but also a bitterness, and I gagged.

"Drink, good girl," Uncle Sam said. He held a cup to my mouth and I drank the cool liquid, to get rid of the bitter powdery aftertaste.

"Daaaddddyyy," I whined, and my voice sounded younger than it was, "Don' goooo," I grabbed on to something again.

"I won't, baby, I won't, shh, relax," Daddy said. I started to feel fuzzy-headed, and opened my eyes.

"Don' leave me," I whispered, pulling on his shirt.

"I'm right here," Daddy told me. He laid down next to me in bed and put his arm around me, and I snuggled into his chest and went to sleep.

I woke up alone in bed. I had to pee, so I sat up. My head pounded, so I waited a moment, and then stood up slowly to walk to the bathroom. The light in the bathroom made my head hurt, so I did my business as fast as I could.

As I stood at the sink washing my hands. I glanced up into the mirror over the sink. I saw the man I had seen when I was in the panic room, him standing before a bathroom mirror, and his eyes changed, and he held the razor- I shook my head to clear it and turned the water off, reaching over to dry my hands off. When I raised my head again I saw the man again, I saw his eyes change to black, heard him whisper, "Gotta cut the demon out," and then I looked at my face and it looked like my eyes turned black for a moment!

"NOOOO!" I screamed, and I hit out at the mirror. I heard a crunch and felt a pain in my hand and then the sound of glass shattering as a shards of mirror fell into the sink.

"What th—on my God, Charlie, geez, what happened-" Daddy said concernedly.

"I saw the man, looking in the mirror, the man from before, when his eyes changed, he had badness in him, what if it's in me, it looked like my eyes changed, what if it's in me, Daddy?" I screamed. I looked down and my hand was bleeding. I started to feel light-headed again.

"Sammy, get in here, a little help!" Daddy bellowed, and then he caught me as I wobbled. "No, Charlie, there's nothing bad inside of you, okay, I gotcha," he picked me up, and started to carry me out of the bathroom.

Uncle Sam met us in the hallway. "What hap—oh geez," he said when he saw my hand.

I cried and screamed as Uncle Sam cleaned my hand off. He had to wipe it down carefully and make sure there were no slivers of mirror in the cuts, and I squirmed and kicked on Daddy's lap. Grandpa John had to come in and hold my legs still. Finally my hand was bandaged, and Uncle Sam gave me some more medicine in a teaspoonful of applesauce.

I whispered to Daddy, "What if the bad thing comes back in my head?"

"Charlie, there's nothing bad inside of you, all right? We...we checked it, and you're okay. Missouri said that your abilites got overworked again, and that it can take time for the images and feelings to get filtered out. Remember, your brain is still young and isn't able to handle those intense experiences. It will fade," Daddy reassured me.

"Don' leave me 'lone," I said.

"I won't," he picked me up, "Let's go out to the living room."

He sat down on the sofa, and I curled up on Daddy's lap, my unbandaged hand fisted in his flannel, and fell asleep.