Afraid of The Light

Chapter 22

Season: 7

Episode: The Girl With the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo

***

"How's it going?" Dean asks as he enters the cramped van with a tray of coffees and a hot chocolate for Celeste. He hands them out, earning a very happy albeit tired grin from his niece.

"Great, since she set all this up. Um, look." Sam says, opening her laptop and then opening up security cam footage.

"See this? I can put each camera on a prerecorded loop. Once I do that, she'll have 15 minutes."

"15 minutes ain't a lot of time."

"No. She said if it took longer to hack his desktop, then she deserved to be eaten." I pipe up as I take a sip of my coffee, moaning at the taste of the triple shot espresso with a pump of caramel.

"I like her." Dean comments and I nod in agreement. Dean looks back to the cameras, watching Charlie pace across the forecourt.

"Wait. Is that... Son of a bitch." Dean says as he leans in to look closer at the footage.

"What?" Sam and I ask.

"Look at her bag." He says, causing Sam to lean over, zooming the camera in to focus on her bag. I look over Sam's shoulder. "Is that..."

"Bobby. Wait. Y-you think he, uh-" Sam starts.

"Hitched a ride after we told him to cool his jets? Yeah. What the hell's he thinking?"

"He's not." I say.

"So what do we do - call the whole thing off?" Sam asks

"We've only got one shot at this." I remind

Dean grumbles and pulls out his phone, calling Charlie.

"Charlie, it's Dean." He says, I watch the video footage. "Are you singing?"

"I sing when I'm nervous. Don't judge me."

"Judgment-free zone." Dean says simply. "Listen, uh, check the side pocket in your bag."

"Oh. Thank you." She says, stopping her pace, unscrewing the flask and taking a large swig. "Mmm. Good idea."

"Yeah, no problem. Look, that's, uh, kind of a family heirloom." Dean kinda lies. "It's a good-luck charm, okay, so don't lose it."

"Copy that. Okay. Let's do this." She says but doesn't move.

"Uh, Charlie?" Dean asks, waiting for a reply but doesn't get one. "Uh, Charlie?" He repeats.

"I'm having a hard time moving." The red haired girl speaks up honestly.

"You can do this." Dean tries coaxing

"Uh, I'm not - I'm not a spy. No, I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't." She's pacing again.

Sam snatches the phone from Dean, holding the speaker part to his mouth. "Charlie, hey, it's Sam."

"I'm sorry, Sam. I'm sorry. I-I just-"

"It's okay. Uh, listen, w-who's your favorite "Harry Potter" character?" Dean and I give him a weird look.

"Uh, Hermione."

"Hermione. Well, uh, all right, did Hermione run when Sirius Black was in trouble or when Voldemort attacked Hogwarts?"

"What?" I whisper as Dean says "Seriously?"

"Shut up." He whispers back before focusing in on the conversation.