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Chapter 2

Little Charlie

The next thing she knew she was waking up in the back of a car with her head in the lap of a strange man. Well, she didn't know who he was but he somehow felt familiar to her, as did the sound of the car and the other man who was driving. The man in the back with her had longish brown hair and seemed pretty tall, though it was hard to tell as he was sitting down. His hazel eyes looked down at her.

'Charlie?' He asked as he brushed her hair out of her face.

Ok, he was being kind and gentle with her, even if he did get her name wrong. He didn't feel like someone she should be scared of, even though everything just felt strange. She couldn't remember how she had got here and didn't know what was going on. Where were her mom and dad and why was she wearing nothing but a t-shirt which was several sizes too big for her? She tried to sit up, but the man gently pushed her shoulder back down.

'Don't try to sit up. You hit your head pretty bad, it's better if you stay lying down for a bit.'

''Where am I? What's going on? Where are my parents?' She asked and noticed the long haired man glancing meaningfully at the other man who was driving. He had shorter, slightly blonder hair and from what she could tell in the mirror he had green eyes.

'It's ok Charlie, you're safe. We're on our way back to the bunker, which is where you live, where we all live.' Said the driver.

Charlie's eyes grew wide. The bunker? What on earth was this guy talking about. She lived with her mom and dad in a house in Kansas and she definitely didn't live with these 2 men.

'Who are you? Are you kidnapping me?' She said trying to be brave but her voice wobbled and she was pretty close to tears right now.

'Hey, hey Charlie, it's ok. You've had a bit of a shock and your head is not straight right now but I promise you do know us and we're not kidnapping you. I'm Sam and that's my brother Dean. You got hit by a witch's spell and it's kind of changed you.' Sam explained awkwardly, not quite knowing what to say.

The fact was when Charlie had grabbed the amulet she had been de-aged by 20 years to an 8-year-old. Thankfully she had broken the altar and so the power was diminished otherwise things could have been a lot worse and she would not have lived to tell the tale.

'My name is Celeste, not Charlie, why do you keep calling me that?' She asked in her small childish voice.

'That's what we know you as. It's kind of hard to explain. You were older before, you were 28 years old and the spell made you little. How old are you now?'

'You're crazy!' She protested, trying to sit up again and this time Sam didn't stop her as he didn't want to scare her, but she winced as a pain shot through her head and she shifted to sit at the opposite end of the backseat and rest her head against the window.

'I know it sounds really crazy but it's true. When you are older you change your name to Charlie and you don't live with your parents anymore.' Dean explained. Of course, he didn't want to tell her that her parents were actually dead.

'Why should I believe you?' She demanded. Dean was pretty impressed that she wasn't just crying by now. She was only little and suddenly she was in a car with 2 apparent strangers who were talking about spells and witches and telling her she was actually 28 years old and her name had changed.

She was feeling scared and confused but somehow she kind of did know that these guys were telling the truth and despite her protest she did believe them, which was all kinds of crazy! She had scrunched herself up into a ball, hugging her knees as some kind of self-protection.

'My name is Celeste and I want to go back home, please?!' She said in a quiet, pleading voice.

'Ch...Celeste.' Sam said gently 'I know this is all a big shock to you and it's hard to believe, but we are taking you home. Your home is with us now and I promise you can trust us. You are family and we love you and we will take care of you until we can figure out a way to break the witch's spell and bring you back.' Charlie responded to Sam's calm voice and she looked over at him. In all this strangeness there was an underlying feeling that she could trust these men. They were so familiar and they did feel like family. But what about her mom and dad? Something was very wrong there, she could just tell by the way they kept avoiding the subject.

'Where are my mom and dad? Did they get hurt by the witch too?'

Sam's heart clenched as he looked at the brave little girl, who he only knew as a brave young woman. How was he gonna tell her her parents were dead?!

'No, the witch didn't get them.' Dean replied, looking at Charlie in the mirror and feeling a wave of guilt that he had let this happen and she was going to have to relive her parents' deaths all over again. She was just a little kid right now, it wasn't fair.

'We're nearly back home, kiddo. We'll explain things a bit better when we get there, ok?' He said gently holding her gaze.

She nodded 'Ok' When he called her kiddo it felt somehow comforting. It felt right and she could tell that these guys were sincere. So if what they were saying was true she was really meant to be 28 years old! Man that was old! And she wasn't Celeste any more, she was Charlie?! She had never liked her name so she wasn't surprised that she had changed her name when she grew up. Charlie was cool and she kind of liked it.

Sam reached across and took her hand as he could see her brain whirring. He gave it a gentle squeeze and she managed a small smile at him in return.

'I'm 8' she said, answering his earlier question.

'Wow, 8 years old' Sam let out a breath and shook his head 'Man this is all so weird, but we will sort it out Char...Celeste.'

'You can call me Charlie if you like, it's cool. Celeste doesn't suit me anyhow, it's too girly.'

Sam smiled 'OK then, Charlie it is. You'll be ok Charlie. We'll figure this out.'

'This is so bizarro, I feel like I've gone through the wardrobe into Narnia or something!'

Sam and Dean laughed at her fantasy-book reference. It was just so Charlie.

'Well you're still a nerd at 8, so one thing hasn't changed.' Dean scoffed.

Charlie scrunched up her little face in indignation. 'Hey!' She protested.

'Dean, she's just a little girl, be nice.'

'I'm not just a little girl!'

'Sorry, I just meant he can't talk to you the same way he did to 28-year-old you.'

'Gosh, none of this makes sense. I wish I could close my eyes and wake up and it all be back to normal.' Charlie said and felt tears prick her eyes as she was overwhelmed with all that had happened. She turned her face to the window hoping that Sam wouldn't notice the tears rolling down her cheeks. Of course, Sam being Sam, he did notice and took hold of her hand again, giving it a gentle squeeze and running his thumb over the back of it.

'It'll be ok Charlie.' She turned her head to look up at him and he gently pulled her along the seat so she was right next to him and put an arm around her shoulder. She leaned her head against his chest and let some more tears fall as he rubbed his thumb over her shoulder.

Dean glanced at them in the mirror and frowned. Poor kid. What were they going to do if they couldn't turn her back? They couldn't look after an 8-year-old child could they? But they couldn't very well dump her in some kids home either. No way, this was their fault and they had to deal with the consequences.

When they got back to the bunker Charlie was suitably impressed as she had been the first time she saw it.

'Wow, this is so awesome!' She exclaimed in her new little voice, which even Dean had to admit was pretty cute. In fact, all in all she was quite a cute little bundle, with her long red, slightly wavy hair, big green eyes and her smaller than average body with skinny arms and legs only just protruding from one of his white t-shirts.

'Let me show you to your room and then we can go get you some clothes. You can't walk around dressed like that the whole time and all your stuff is way too big now.' Said Sam.

'Ok.' She said, surprising Sam by grabbing his hand as he led her to her old room. Since she had been living there for a few months she had made it her own. There were fairy lights strung up above the bed and around the mirror on the dresser. Next to that was a pin board with photos and favourite quotes from Tolkien and Game of Thrones. On the bed was a bright yellow blanket with multi-coloured dots and she had a round, rainbow-coloured rug on the floor. It was bright, cheerful and quirky just like Charlie.

'I thought you said I was grown up?' Charlie asked, looking at what appeared to be a young girls room!

Sam laughed 'Yeah, you were 28 but you were still young at heart!'

Charlie moved over to look at the board. There were photos of her with Sam and Dean and with Garth and one of Cas. In the corner was a small tattered photo of her mom and dad.

'That's me?' She asked pointing to one of herself with the boys, though it was more of a statement than a question. Sam nodded 'It's weird seeing myself like that. I guess it's proof you told me the truth.' Sam smiled and shrugged. 'I already believed you anyway. I feel like I do know you and Dean even though I can't remember you exactly. Why don't I have any new photos of my mom and dad? This is what they look like now, they must have got older like me.'

Sam cleared his throat, not quite knowing how to answer, then realised he was going to have to tell her the truth. 'Come sit down a minute.' Sam said, sitting on the bed and gesturing for Charlie to sit next to him. Charlie looked at him warily sensing this was something bad. She sat and stared up at Sam with big fearful eyes.

'I'm really sorry Charlie but your parents, they died in a car accident when you were 12.' Sam said placing a hand on her knee.

'No!' Charlie shouted. 'No they can't be dead!' She jumped up off the bed and ran to grab the photo off the board clutching it to her chest. Tears were streaming down her face by now and Sam got up to wrap his arms around her small shaking body.

'I'm sorry Charlie, I'm so sorry. It's so much to take in I know.' He rubbed her back and carried her over to the bed lifting her onto his lap continuing to soothe her and stroke her rhythmically as she sobbed into his chest and clung onto his shirt with her fists as if hanging on for dear life. Dean walked in after about 5 minutes.

'Hey guys what's taking so long?' He began, before taking in the scene. He raised his eyebrows at the sight of Charlie sobbing on Sam's lap. He looked at Sam silently asking for an explanation.

'I told her about her parents.' Sam mouthed. Dean grimaced and approached Charlie, putting his hand on the top of her head.

'I'm sorry kiddo, sorry you had to go through it all a second time.' Charlie sniffled, then looked up at Dean and hesitated only a moment before jumping off of Sam's lap and throwing her arms around his waist. 'Woah kiddo, it's ok.' He said gently, stroking her hair, surprised at her reaction. Charlie had always been a hugger and she was one of the few people Dean didn't mind hugging, but seeing as mini Charlie didn't really know him, he had not been expecting that response from her.

Charlie's tears finally subsided, but she wasn't ready to let go of Dean or Sam. It was like she needed their touch right now for security and she didn't want to be left alone.

'I wish I could have said goodbye.' She said quietly, sitting back down on the bed, as close as possible to Sam, so that their legs were touching and holding onto Dean's Jeans pocket.

'I know sweetheart, but they knew you loved them and they never stopped loving you. You have to hold onto that.' Charlie nodded at Dean's words.

'Can you tell me what happened to me? I mean how did I end up like this when I was big before?'

'Well you weren't exactly big kiddo, just older.' Dean smirked.

'Dean!' Sam admonished.

Charlie rolled her eyes at Dean and ignored his comment 'I mean, I know it was a witch, but what actually happened?'

'We were on a case in Colfax, New Mexico...' Began Sam.

'A case? Are you guys police?'

'Not exactly.' Dean laughed.

'We're hunters and big you was a hunter too. We hunt down ghosts and monsters and all those kind of bad things and we get rid of them, to keep people safe.'

'You mean all that stuff is real?!' Charlie exclaimed in excitement 'That is so cool!'

'You're just as crazy as your grown-up self. She gets excited about all the wrong things too.' Dean grumbled.

'So you…we, were hunting a witch in Colfax?'

'Uh huh, this witch had already killed 4 people by disintegrating them, turning them back to before they were born.'

'Weird,'

'Weird is normal for us. Anyhow, you went to check out the suspected witch's house while Dean and I went to talk to her and the rest of the PTA who were the ones she'd been bumping off. We're not sure what happened exactly, but when we couldn't get ahold of you we went back to the witch's house to look for you and we found you unconscious and buried under a pile of your old clothes and you were little. When you were destroying the witch's spell you must have got zapped by it too, but it wasn't as strong as it had been for the others because you had already destroyed some of it. While we were picking you up the witch returned and we had to kill her so that she couldn't go on and kill anybody else.'

'Yeah at least we got that bitch...'

'Dean! Charlie's just a little kid, you can't talk like that around her.'

Charlie sniggered and Dean winked at her.

'So how do I get turned older again?' Charlie asked.

'Good question sweetheart. That's what we need to look into, but first things first, we need to go out and get you some clothes to wear and get us all some lunch, I'm starving! You hungry kiddo?'

Charlie nodded and smiled at Dean.

'Ok, let's go then. You'd better put some of your old shorts on or something and tie them with a belt. You can't really go shopping wearing Dean's t-shirt and nothing else.' Sam pointed out.

'Ok.' Charlie began rummaging through the drawers and found a pair of jersey shorts with a cord at the waist, which she managed to pull tight enough to keep them up, although they could barely be seen under Dean's enormous t-shirt.

At the nearest Walmart Dean grabbed a cart and they headed straight for the kids' clothes.

'Go wild kiddo. I don't know how long you're gonna be stuck like this but I'm guessing it's gonna take us a few days at least to track down a way to change you. Pick out 4 or 5 outfits to start with.'

Charlie grinned 'Really? I get to choose whatever I want?'

'Sure.' Said Dean with a smile.

Charlie of course went straight for the novelty t-shirts! She picked out a variety of them including one with Rainbow Dash and one with Yoda. Next she grabbed 2 pairs of jeans, one pink and one dark purple, then a rainbow coloured skirt and a denim skirt and some black and purple leggings. She picked up one flowery summer dress in case she felt like being pretty and she chose some spotty pink and yellow socks and some my little pony underwear. Lastly 2 pairs of pyjamas, one with a unicorn and the other with princess Leah and a pair of shoes. Sam told her to get a sweater and Dean found a cute black leather jacket for her, which they both agreed on.

'So much stuff! Do I have money to pay for all this?' Charlie asked peering earnestly up at Sam and Dean. It had only just occurred to her that she was meant to be a grown up so she was going to have to pay for all her new clothes.

Sam smiled fondly at her and Dean grinned ruffling her hair. 'Don't worry about that kiddo, we've got it covered.'

Charlie blushed and felt tears prick her eyes again. Her mom always took her shopping for clothes before and she and her dad had paid for them. Now her mom would never take her shopping again and she would never see her or her dad again.

A single tear escaped down her cheek and Dean looked panicked, unsure as to why him offering to pay for her stuff had started the waterworks, but Sam seemed to understand that she was thinking about her parents, understandably since their death was still so fresh for her. He knelt down in front of her gently wiping the tears from her cheek with his thumb and cupped her face with his hand.

'It's ok to cry Charlie. You must really miss them?'

Charlie nodded and let another silent tear fall, although she was bravely trying to hold them back. Sam pulled her into him and she leaned her head on his shoulder, allowing herself to cry a bit more. Sam rubbed her back and made soothing noises 'Its ok Honey, it'll be ok. You're such a brave girl.'

Dean watched on amazed at how good Sam was at this. He had never had much to do with kids and yet he had always been in touch with his softer side and this was Charlie after all. She may be little now but this was still her and she and Sam had formed a close friendship, like siblings. So it wasn't so surprising that he felt able to deal with her like this. Dean and her were close too of course but he was better at showing his love through action and not through words. He went over and laid a gentle hand on Charlie's head, causing her to look up at him with a tear streaked face.

'What do you say we go and pay for all this and then you can go get changed in the bathroom before we go get lunch?'

She nodded and held out her hand for him to take as Sam stood up from the floor and took charge of the cart. Dean squeezed her hand and led her towards the checkouts.

'Sam's right Charlie, you really are one brave little girl.'

'I don't feel brave Dean. I feel sad and scared.' She said honestly in her small voice.

Dean's heart clenched at her simple heartfelt statement.

'Of course you are kiddo, that's what makes you so brave cos you're here and carrying on walking and talking anyway. You are about the bravest kid I've ever seen, but I shouldn't be surprised. Big Charlie is one of the bravest people I know too.'

Charlie smiled at the compliment. She cared what Dean thought of her for some reason and it was nice that he thought her brave.

Once they were checked out Charlie took her clothes and went to change in the store's bathroom. Dean and Sam waited for her outside.

'Man, this is so weird! Do you think we are gonna find a way to change her back Dean?' Sam asked.

'Course we are Sammy, we have to. What's the alternative? We sure as hell have no clue about raising a kid and we ain't sending her off to some kids home or something.'

'Well Dean, you did practically raise me, so you do have some experience, not like me. I don't have a clue about kids!'

'Looked like you were doing a pretty good job there earlier. You've got that mothering instinct or something.'

'Shut up Dean, you're an idiot. Seriously what are we gonna do if we can't change her back?!'

'Let's cross that bridge if we come to it. For now we just need to look after her and try our damnedest to get her back. It's our problem and we need to fix it.'

'Ta da!' Said Charlie as she came out of the changing room wearing her Rainbow Dash t-shirt, purple leggings and jean skirt, along with the pink sparkly sneakers she had chosen.

Sam smiled and Dean was reminded of the time he had taken her shopping for fbi clothes.

'All ready Charlie?' Sam asked.

She nodded and went to stand next to Sam taking his hand. It seemed to have become normal for her to hold one or other of their hands or be close to be holding onto them in one way or another, but Charlie always had been pretty tactile, so Sam and Dean weren't that surprised.

'You look good kiddo. So, burger ok for lunch?' Dean asked.

Charlie scrunched her nose up in distaste and shrugged.

'You don't like burgers?!' Dean exclaimed as if he'd never heard anything so strange. Charlie shook her head. 'Who ever heard of a kid that didn't like burgers?!'

'Dean if we go to the diner up the road she can order whatever she likes, it doesn't have to be a burger.' Sam said, noticing Charlie looking a bit abashed.

'Sure. Sorry kid, old Charlie pretty much ate anything! Still getting used to mini you.' Dean said with a wink to reassure the little girl. He was rewarded with a small grin.

After lunch they headed back to the bunker to get started on researching a way to reverse the spell. Sam pulled out several books about hexes and curses and spell breaking and brought them to the table in the men of letters main room. Dean was in the kitchen grabbing some beers and Charlie sat at the table her legs swinging, not really sure what to do.

'Sam, can I help?' She asked as he looked up from the large brown book he was starting to look through.

'I don't know if you should really be looking at these books Honey, there's some pretty heavy stuff in them and it's not really suitable for little kids.'

Charlie pouted and huffed 'I'm 8, I'm not that little and I CAN read you know!' She protested. 'It'll go quicker if you let me help.'

'I'm with Sam on this kiddo, it ain't Narnia or Winnie the Pooh. It's serious stuff and you shouldn't be reading it.' Dean added coming in from the kitchen and handing Sam a beer.

Charlie frowned. She was not impressed at them stopping her reading the books. She could help and maybe find a way to get things back how they should be.

'It is for me, I should be able to help.' She stood up now, putting her hands on her hips to emphasise her point.

'You can help by letting us get on with it.' Dean said sternly.

'Why don't you find something to watch on Netflix or something.?' Sam suggested more gently.

'What is Netflix?!' She grumbled.

'It's kind of like a tv channel, it has loads of kids stuff on there. You can watch it in my room or you can watch it on the iPad.'

Charlie was still not impressed. She stamped her foot in irritation.

'I don't want to watch stupid tv, I want to help researching a way to get big me back.'

'Hey girlie, you can drop the attitude. Sam and me are the adults here and if we say it ain't safe for you to do something you don't do it. We are only looking out for you and if you can't do as you are told you will face the consequences.'

Charlie bit her lip. She didn't like Dean being so stern with her. She wondered what the consequences would be, but she was pretty sure she wouldn't like them. When her dad talked about consequences it usually meant being grounded or if it was really bad, a spanking. She didn't want Dean to do either of those things. She looked down at her feet and chose not to answer back, although it was really what she wanted to do.

'Sorry.' She mumbled.

'Ok, so what's it to be? You wanna go watch tv in Sam's room, or here with us? or is there something else you want to do?' Dean asked more gently.

Charlie shrugged. 'Can I sit in here and read a book? Not one of those, a normal book?'

'Sure you can Honey. I've got the hobbit or the Harry Potter books in my room.' Sam offered.

'Harry who?!' She looked up at him.

'Of course, they weren't written when you were 8! You are in for a treat! I know for a fact that you're going to love them. I'll go get the first one for you.'

'Thanks Sam.' She said smiling at his excitement. She could definitely sense a fellow geek in Sam.

Things went better after that. Charlie curled up in her usual armchair and read Harry Potter while Sam and Dean scanned the old, slightly scary looking books on the table.

After an hour Sam went to get more beers. Charlie looked up from her book as he came back in.

'Can I have one?' She asked.

'Yeah, I don't think so kiddo.' Dean scoffed before Sam could get a word in, 'I'm not giving an 8 year old beer!'

Charlie rolled her eyes 'My dad sometimes lets me have a sip of his.'

'Yeah well you can have a sip of mine or Sam's, when you're back to being 28. Till then you can have a soda or some water.'

Charlie pouted again. 'I'll get you a soda. do you want coke or 7up?' Sam asked, smiling at the pout on Charlie's face. 8 year old Charlie was turning out to be quite feisty and quite funny to watch!

'7up please.' She answered begrudgingly.

Sam came back with the soda and they all resumed their original tasks. Another 2 hours went by and Charlie suddenly realised she was hungry again. It must be dinner time.

'Dean, I'm hungry can I get something to eat?' Charlie asked coming to stand next to him at the table.

Dean looked up at her then at his watch. 'Wow, 7.00 already, I guess it is dinner time.' He stood up and Charlie slipped her hand into his as he led her into the kitchen.

'Sandwich alright kiddo?'

'Yes, thanks Dean.' He started getting stuff out of the fridge and he turned around to find she had hopped up onto the counter and was sitting there watching him.

'Hey, off of there girlie, sit on a chair!' He said firmly, but not as sternly as he had spoken to her earlier. Immediately she jumped off and sat on a chair chewing on her lip.

'It's ok Charlie, you're not in trouble, I just don't want you sitting on the counters. You might fall off and they're not meant for sitting on anyway.'

Charlie rolled her eyes. 'I won't fall off Dean..'she scoffed.

'That, on the other hand, might get you into trouble.' He said giving her a stern glare.

'What?!' She asked her green eyes wide with horror.

'Rolling your eyes at me for one.'

She almost rolled her eyes again at that, but stopped herself in time. Dean turned back to his sandwich making and she rolled her eyes quickly, grinning to herself as she did so. 'Ham or cheese?'

'Ham please.'

Dean plopped a plate with a delicious looking ham and tomato sandwich in front of her and a glass of milk. She grabbed it with two hands and began eating straight away. 'Thanks.' She said through her mouthful. Just as Sam walked in.

'Hey, don't talk with your mouth full!' He protested. Sam was hot on things like table manners apparently, he had already told her the same thing in the diner at lunchtime, and he had told her to use her cutlery instead of eating her fries with her fingers.

'Sorry' she said when she had finished swallowing. 'I'm just so hungry!'

'Me too actually. Hey did you make me one too Dean?'

'Get your own, Sasquatch! Stuff's all here.'

Dean sat opposite Charlie and munched his cheese and ham sandwich while Sam put together a cheese salad sandwich for himself.

'So no joy yet I guess?' Dean asked Sam, with his mouthful of sandwich.

'Don't talk with your mouth full Dean!' Said Charlie with a cheeky grin. Sam laughed and Dean made a face at her.

'No nothing yet, you?'

'Zilch. Next step is to ask Cas I guess. He may be able to do something. I know he's not exactly to be trusted right now, but he is still powerful.' Said Dean. After the way Castiel betrayed them Dean was still not sure how to feel about him. He was family but he had let them down badly.

'I guess so.'

'Who's Cas?' Charlie asked innocently.

'He's an angel.' Sam said sitting at the table with his sandwich.

'Seriously?! A real-life angel, like with a halo and wings and a shiny face and stuff?!' Charlie said her eyes bright with excitement.

Dean rolled his eyes 'Not exactly, but yes he is an angel. He has wings but you can't usually see them, but no halo, no shiny face. He is...was...our friend and he helps us out sometimes.'

'He may be able to get you back to normal Charlie.' Sam explained.

Charlie nodded pushing her plate away as she finished her sandwich. 'I'm done, can I get down?' She asked, remembering what her mom had taught her.

'Yeah kiddo, put your plate by the sink and then you can go wash up for bed.'

'Bed?! It's only 7.30, I go to bed at 8.00, 8.30 sometimes.'

'Well, by the time you're in your pyjamas and brushed your teeth it will be about 8.00.' Dean said.

'Come on Charlie, I'll come with you.' Sam said and took her hand leading the pouting girl to her bedroom. It had a bathroom adjoining the room so Sam sat on her bed and waited while she went to get changed, brush her teeth and do her business.

'All ready?' He asked smiling at the small girl in her princess Leah pyjamas. She nodded.

'Sam, will you read to me? Mommy always read to me at bedtime. I'm scared to go to sleep without her.' She said almost in a whisper as a tear spilled over and down her cheek.

Sam gently rubbed her shoulder and pulled the covers up over her. 'Of course I will Honey. Shall I read you more Harry Potter?'

'Yes please, I only have 2 chapters left of the first book. It's really awesome. I wish I could be brave and go on adventures like Hermione.'

Sam laughed 'Well, you know, big you is also a great fan of Hermione and she does go on adventures like her, so you will one day. And you are brave already, so you don't even need to wait for that.'

Charlie grinned at that and she snuggled into Sam's side as he read her the end of the book. She was almost asleep by the time he finished and he tucked her in as she snuggled down onto the pillows. He stroked her hair back from her face and wasn't sure whether to give her a kiss or not. Dean was really better at all this. He was the father material, not him. But this was Charlie and he loved her and she was feeling sad and scared so he bent down and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

'Night Charlie, sweet dreams.'

'Night Sam, thank you.' She murmured sleepily as her eyelids closed. Dean came along the corridor just as Sam was coming out.

'Just coming to check on you, you've been ages.'

'Yeah, I was just reading to Charlie and tucking her in.' He confessed

Dean smirked 'You really were made to be a mother Sammy, that's cute.'

'Shut up. She was upset and missing her mom, what was I supposed to do?'

Dean turned more serious 'You did good Sammy, poor kid she's had one hell of a day. She's pretty damn strong to be handling it as well as she is. I can't believe we haven't found a way to turn her back yet. It's not looking hopeful is it?'

Sam shook his head as they headed back to the main room. 'That witch was pretty powerful and the amulet smashed when it zapped Charlie, which seems to be the only way to turn her back. I guess Cas is our best hope now.'

'I'll call him. Who knows if he'll come though. He's not exactly reliable these days. Cas! We need your help with a little childcare issue if you could grace us with your presence that would be awesome.'

There was the familiar whoosh of wings as Cas appeared in the room.

'What is it Dean? I'm pretty busy so it'd better be important.'

'We think it is Cas.' said Sam, 'our friend Charlie got zapped by a witch's spell and its de-aged her by 20 years. The witch is dead and the amulet with the spell is shattered and we don't know how to help her.'

'Don't all women want to be younger?' asked Cas confused.

'That's just it, she's not a woman anymore, she's a little girl and we need to get her back. Can you help or not Cas?'

'Can I see the girl?'

'She's sleeping.' Grumbled Dean

'What I need to do to ascertain the situation won't wake her or harm her.' He reassured the brothers.

'Ok, her room is this way.'

The 3 men entered Charlie's room and Cas knelt down beside her bed, putting 2 fingers on her forehead and closing his eyes. He sat like that for several minutes before removing his fingers. He stood up and motioned for Sam and Dean to leave the room with him. When they were back in the main room Dean turned to Cas.

'Well, how do we help her?'

'We can't.' Was Cas's simple reply.

'What do you mean we can't?!' Asked Dean angrily.

'I mean the spell the witch used was powerful and its effects are permanent. Without the witch or the amulet there is simply no way of bringing Charlie back. She is going to have to remain a child. '

'Can't you do anything Cas? Can't you zap her with Angel power and just reverse it all.' Sam asked anxiously.

'I'm afraid I can't. I can age her 20 years but she would not return to her original state. Physically she would have aged but her mind and memories would still be those of an 8-year-old. If I tried anything more complicated like extracting the spell there is a high risk that I would kill her, she would probably explode in fact.'

'You mean we're stuck with the kid and our Charlie is gone for good? That's just friggin awesome!' Exclaimed Dean, running a hand over his face.

'I have to go.' Said Cas abruptly before vanishing with a whoosh of wings. Dean threw his hands up in exasperation and then raised his eyebrows at Sam.

'We can do this Dean, we have to. This is on us and she's our responsibility. She's like our little sister man, we can't abandon her to foster care or something.'

'She's more like our little kid now than our little sister. She's just 8 years old man, what do we do with her when we have a case? What do we do about school? What do we know about bringing up a kid?'

'Well, you practically brought me up Dean. You looked after me and did everything for me when Dad wasn't around, which was most of the time. I know you've always secretly wanted a family, kids, the whole works. Well this could be your chance to get close to that. Charlie is a great kid and she needs us Dean. We can work out all the details as we go along. But for the record, I think you would make a great Dad, you were already laying down the boundaries for her earlier. That's all part of being a parent.'

Dean grunted. 'I just can't get my head around the fact that this little kid is our Charlie. She was our friend, like a sister yes, but not a daughter! It's so weird to have to think about bringing Charlie up. You really think we can even contemplate this Sammy?' Dean asked seriously.

'I don't think we have a choice, we have to at least give it a try.'

'What's she going to say when we tell her she's stuck with us?! Poor kid. One minute she's living a normal life with her mom and dad and the next she suddenly finds herself mixed up in the supernatural world, without her parents and stuck with 2 men who have no clue how to look after her.'

'She's a tough kid and she seems to trust us, despite everything. Losing her parents is the worst part for her. For the rest, at least she doesn't remember being bigger, so she can't miss her old life and she will get used to us and we'll get used to looking after her. It will just take a bit of time Dean.'

'Well I'm gonna hit the hay.'

'It's only 9.30 Dean!'

'Yeah well I was driving all last night and if I don't go to bed I'm about to keel over. Anyway. little kids don't sleep in remember? She'll probably be up at the crack of dawn so we'd better get our sleep while we can!'