A/N: Here we are: "Dead in the Water". Talk to me! Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like.
But I do want to say thank you to all of those who have followed this story, added it to their favourites, and reviewed so far! All of it is much appreciated!
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own characters. Or the show. Or Kripke. You know.
Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin:
"Morning Daddy," a young blonde says, walking into the kitchen. She kisses the back of his head.
"Morning, sweetheart," he replies, reading his paper.
A young man is sitting on a counter, eating cereal. "All these workouts Soph, I dunno. Guys don't like buff girls."
"She's not buff, she's fit!" Jess said indignantly.
"Yeah! Why shouldn't we be buff anyway!" Lizzie joined in.
"What they said!" Cassandra added. Mary found herself nodding along.
"Yeah, well, girls don't like guys who still live at home," she says back.
"Burn!" David shouted.
The young man laughs sarcastically, and she returns it before leaving out the back door, to her father's cautionary, "Be careful."
"I will," she replies.
She dives into the lake from a dock for a swim. She senses something and looks around. Nothing but water and the surrounding forest. There is something coming up from below. She starts swimming, and comes up when she senses something again. There is weird whispering and she keeps looking around. Something pulls her under and there are only bubbles.
"Now I'm never going to go swimming again!" Lizzie complained.
"Oh drats," Cassandra said dryly. "Since we're in heaven anyway…"
"Oh shut up, you know what I mean," Lizzie stuck out her tongue.
At The Lynnwood Inn, Dean is going over newspaper articles. He circles a picture of a young woman – the girl who went missing earlier. "Can I get you anything else?" a young blonde waitress asks him. He smiles at her, debating.
Brady and David both wolf whistled while the girls collectively groaned.
Sam comes back and sits down, "Just the check, please."
"Cock block! I don't believe it! Sam!" David howled.
"I can't believe he just did that to his own brother!" Brady chimed in.
"Okay," she walks away, smiling at Dean.
"He's still got a chance," David breathed in.
Dean bows his head in frustration. "You know, Sam, we are allowed to have fun once in awhile." He points to the waitress, walking away in short shorts. "That's fun." Sam just looks at him.
"Or not," Brady sighed.
"Here," Dean hands him the newspaper he was looking over. "Take a look at this. Think I got one. Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week Sophie Carlton, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out." Sam looks from the article to his brother. "Authorities dragged the water. Nothing. Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. None of the other bodies were found either. They had a funeral two days ago."
"A funeral?" Sam asks, confused.
"Yeah, it's weird they buried an empty coffin. For, uh, closure or whatever."
"Does anyone else think this won't go well?" Cassandra asked.
"Dean's doing what he can," Mary said softly. She hated it when they fought. Where she was watching them herself in heaven, Sam had just jumped into the pit. Knowing that and going back to watch this all over again, she really wished it could all go differently.
"Closure?" Sam says. "What closure? People don't just disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them." Sam seems to be implying something.
"He's doing what he can," Jess said, pain in her voice. "Please don't pick a fight."
"You know," Lizzie offered, "I've never seen him so angry. I mean, he was so even tempered at school."
"I saw him get angry once," Jess replied. "It was the scariest thing ever. I hadn't thought he could even be that scary."
"What happened?" Lizzie asked, eyes wide.
"We were at a club and some guy was harassing a girl. She kept saying no and she looked away for a moment and the guy slipped something into her drink. I was about to go tell her, but he was already walking over. He looked so – so dangerous. And he got right up into the guy's face and, well, I'm just gonna say I don't think the guy ever did anything like that again."
David whistled. "Sam the Man." Everyone else agreed.
Dean shifts, tensing. "Something you want to say to me?"
"Trail for Dad. It's getting colder everyday."
"Exactly. So what're we supposed to do?"
"I dunno. Something. Anything."
"You know what? I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think I want to find Dad as much as you do?"
"Yeah, I know you do –"
"I'm the one that's been with him every single day for the past two years while you've been off to college going to pep rallies. We will find Dad. But until then, we're going to kill everything bad between here and there. Okay?"
"Ouch," Cassandra flinched. "That was harsh."
The brothers stare at each other. They seem to be continuing their argument nonverbally. Finally Sam slumps and rolls his eyes. Dean has obviously won this round.
"This nonverbal thing is crazy!" Lizzie said.
The waitress walks by again and Dean watches her, distracted.
"All right," Sam tries to pull his attention back.
"Quit cock blocking!" David tried again. Eyes rolled all around.
"Lake Manitoc." Dean is still staring at the waitress. "Hey."
"Huh?" Dean looks at Sam.
"How far?"
The boys are driving down back roads.
They arrive at the Carlton house, where the brother answers the door.
"Will Carlton?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Agent Ford, and this is Agent Hamill," Dean introduces them. "We're with the U.S. Wildlife Service." Dean holds up a badge.
"Okay, I'm taking bets," David said. "How long do you think that lie will last?"
"You're on!" Brady agreed, grinning.
"I'm in!" Lizzie bounced excitedly.
"Uh, guys? What exactly are you going to bet with?" Jess asked.
Brady, David and Lizzie all looked at each other for a moment, before collectively calling out, "Bragging rights!"
Mary, Jess and Cassandra watched as they placed their bets, shaking their heads when invited to join.
"I already know," Mary explained.
"That's the perfect reason for you to have bet!" Cassandra told her, shocked.
Mary laughed. "They would've caught on quickly enough."
"She was about a hundred yards out," Will leads them out back to show them where Sophie was last seen. Her father, Bill, is sitting on a bench on the back dock.
"The poor man," Mary said. "It's hard enough to have a death in the family, but your child isn't supposed to go before you do." She didn't mention how lucky she was that she hadn't been placed in that position. Her early death had saved her from that. However, if she was alive, they never would've been in place to do the things they had. She pushed the thoughts away to continue watching.
"It's where she got dragged down."
"Are you sure she didn't just drown?" Dean asks.
"Yeah, she was a varsity swimmer," Will says, pride evident in his voice. "She practically grew up in that lake. She was as safe out there as she was in her own bathtub."
"So, no splashing? No signs of distress?" Sam asks.
"No, that's what I'm telling you."
"Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark shape beneath the surface?"
"No. Again, she was really far out there."
"You ever seen any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dean asks.
"No, never. Why? Why, what do you think's out there?" Will seems worried.
"We'll let you know as soon as we do," Dean assures him. He starts walking back to the car.
"What about your father?" Sam asks, not quite finished. Dean stops and turns back to listen. "Can we talk to him?"
Will turns to look at his father, and then turns back. "Look, if you don't mind, I mean… he didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot."
"Did that seem kind of suspicious to anyone else?" David asked.
"Definitely," Lizzie raised her eyebrows.
"Oh come on," Jess said. "He just lost his daughter. He really is going through a lot."
"We understand." Sam says, not unkindly, and he and Dean go to the car. Will watches them.
"Now I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" A sheriff asks Sam and Dean at the police station.
"This is totally where they get busted!" David laughed, already starting to celebrate.
"It's way too early. They've got nothing yet," Brady informed him.
David stopped celebrating and stared at the screen.
"You sure it's accidental?" Sam asks him, eyebrows raised. "Will Carlton saw something grab his sister."
"Like what?" the sheriff asks. His nametag says 'Devins'. He leads them into his office. "Here, sit, please. There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake," he assures them. "There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person unless it was the Loch Ness Monster."
Dean raises his eyebrows, "Yeah," and laughs, "Right."
"Will Carlton was traumatized, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still…" Devins sits. "We dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep, just to be sure, and there was nothing down there."
"That's weird though." Dean leans forward. "I mean, that's, that's the third missing body this year."
"I know. These are people from my town. These are people I care about."
"I know," Dean nods.
"Anyway," Devins leans back and sighs. "All this, it won't be a problem much longer."
"What do you mean?" Dean asks.
Devins looks at him curiously. "Well, the dam of course."
"Here!" David shouted again.
"Ugh, can we get duct tape or something?" Lizzie complained. "You're not going to win just because you call it every time it's possible."
"Of course," Dean says, leaning back, trying to look as though he knew what Devins was talking about. "The dam." He looks at Sam who makes an 'of course' gesture. "It sprung a leak."
"It's falling apart," corrects Devins. Dean nods, somewhat nervous. "And the feds won't give us the grant to repair it. So they've opened the spillway. And another six months, it won't be much of a lake." Dean eyes him, wondering. "Won't be much of a town, either. But as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that," Devins looks from one brother to the other.
"Please don't suspect, please don't suspect." Lizzie had bet the middle of the show, or somewhere around there. Brady had bet on the end and David had, of course, bet the beginning.
"Exactly," Dean says assuredly.
"Sorry," a young woman walks in. "Am I interrupting?" Sam and Dean stand up to face her. Dean checks her out. "I can come back later." She goes to leave.
"Gentlemen," Devins stands also. "This is my daughter."
Dean moves towards her, holding out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Dean."
"With everyone?" Jess rolled her eyes.
"You're just upset that you weren't special," David teased.
Jess smacked the back of his head.
"Andrea Barr," she smiles widely. "Hi."
"Hey." There is mischievous glint in Dean's eyes.
"They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake."
"I'm pretty sure you lost, man," Brady informed David. David looked like someone had just kicked his puppy.
"Oh," Andrea's smile disappears. A young boy walks out from behind her back.
"Hey there," Dean says to him. "What's your name?" The boy turns and walks away.
"I hope he's just shy," Jess said sadly.
"Me too," Cassandra agreed.
However, with the way things were happening, it didn't seem likely.
Andrea follows. Dean looks at Sam who is staring after the woman and her son.
"His name is Lucas," Devins supplies.
"Is he okay?" Sam asks him.
"My grandson's been through a lot. We all have." Sam nods in understanding. "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please, let me know," Devins shows them out.
"Thanks," Dean says to him. "Hey, you know, now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?"
"Lakefront Motel," Andrea offered. "Go around the corner, it's two blocks up."
"Two –" Dean makes a show of trying to figure it out.
Everyone rolled their eyes.
"Would you mind showing us?" Sam rolls his eyes.
"I'm with Sam!" David called.
"I think we all are," Brady informed him.
Andrea laughs. "You want me to walk you two blocks?"
"Not if it's any trouble."
"I'm headed that way anyway," Andrea turns to her father. "I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three." She bends down to Lucas. "We'll go to the park, okay sweetie?" She kisses his head and leads the Winchesters out.
Dean waves and Sam thanks Devins who watches them go.
"So, cute kid," Dean tells Andrea as she leads them down the street.
"Thanks."
"Kids are the best, huh?"
"Tell me he did not just say that," Lizzie begged as everyone laughed.
"He did," Mary said through her laughter. "He has as much charm as a snake sometimes."
Sam laughs at Dean, who shrugs. Andrea is laughing too, but they can't see her.
"There is it," she turns towards Dean. "Like I said, two blocks."
"Thanks," Sam offers. She's still facing Dean.
"Must be hard, with your sense of direction. Never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line." She smiles and walks away, starting to laugh. Dean looks confused. "Enjoy your stay."
Everyone stared.
"I like her," Lizzie said immediately.
"That was awesome," Jess declared.
"Burn!" David shouted.
"Kids are the best?" Sam teases. "You don't even like kids."
"I love kids!" Dean defends himself.
"I bet you do," Cassandra rolled her eyes.
"Name three children that you even know."
Dean stops and tries to think of even one. Sam makes an 'I give up' gesture and walks away. Dean scratches his head. "I'm thinking!"
Everyone laughed again.
"So there's the three drowning victims this year –" Sam starts. He's sitting in a motel room, looking at his laptop. Dean is behind him, going through clothes, separating between clean and dirty.
"And before that?"
"Uh, yeah." He's looking at articles online. "Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace."
"So what've we got? A lake monster on a binge?"
Cassandra shivered. "Lake monsters are nasty. And drowning is one of the worst ways you can go." Everyone looked at her. "What?" she asked defensively. "I was curious one day!"
"This whole lake monster theory, it just bugs me."
"That's what bugs you? It's not the fact that there's something going on, that people are dying, no. It's the theory," Jess rolled her eyes.
"Why?" Dean comes over to stand behind Sam.
"Loch Ness, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing. Whatever it is out there, no one's living to talk about it."
"Even captives knew about the Black Pearl," Lizzie said, shivering. Everyone now turned to her. "'Pirates' is a great movie!"
"Wait," Dean points at the screen. "Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?"
"Christopher Barr, the victim in May. Oh, Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband." There is a picture of Lucas accompanying the article.
"Awe!" Cassandra cooed. "That poor boy! I bet he was traumatized! I couldn't even imagine watching someone like that die now, never mind being a kid."
"Lucas' father. Apparently he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued." Closer up, Lucas looks terrified. The brothers are sympathetic. Sam runs his fingers through his hair. "Maybe we have an eyewitness after all."
"No wonder that kid was so freaked out," Dean observes. "Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over."
The air in the room sobered even more than it had with the mention of Christopher Barr. At least they hadn't known him, and now they were getting to know Mary. Everything was taking on a whole new meaning.
Sam and Dean head over to the park to find Andrea.
"Can we join you?" Sam asks her.
Andrea smiles at them, "I'm here with my son."
Dean looks over at him. He's not playing with the other kids, but kneeling at a bench and using it as a table to draw on. "Oh, mind if I say hi?" Without waiting for an answer, Dean walks over to him.
"I think this might be good for Dean," Cassandra said thoughtfully. "He knows the most about what Lucas is going through and can probably get through to him more than others. He's someone who isn't going to force Lucas to do anything because he probably remembers how he first felt."
Andrea looks up at Sam. "Tell you friend this whole Jerry McGuire thing is not gonna work on me."
"I don't think that's what this is about," Sam tells her. Andrea stops smiling.
"That was blunt," Lizzie said.
Jess laughed. "He's never not just said what was in his head. At least when I knew him. If there was something on his mind, that he wasn't trying to hide, then he said it straight up. That's one of the things I loved about him."
"How's it going?" Dean asks Lucas, crouching across the bench. Lucas is drawing something and doesn't answer. Besides the paper he's drawing on, there are little army men and crayons scattered everywhere. "Oh, I used to love these things," Dean picks one of the little army men on the bench. He makes little shooting noises and laughs as the 'soldier' dies and he drops it to the bench. "So crayons is more your thing," he tries again. "That's cool. Chicks dig artists." He fingers through some of Lucas' other drawings. A large swirling mass, a red bicycle. "These are pretty good. Mind if I sit and draw with you for awhile? I'm not so bad myself." Dean picks up a crayon and some paper and sits on the bench. "You know, I'm thinking you can hear me. You just don't wanna talk. I don't know exactly what happened to your dad, but I know it was something real bad. I think I know how you feel. When I was your age, I saw something." Dean stops drawing, and looks pensive, remembering his mother's death and the fire. "Anyway, maybe you don't think anyone will listen to you. Or, uh, will believe you. I want you to know that I will. You don't even have to say anything. You could draw me a picture about what you saw that day with your dad. On the lake." Lucas hasn't looked up or acknowledged Dean this entire time. "Okay, no problem. This is for you." He shows Lucas what he drew. "This is my family. That's my dad. That's my mom," his voice catches. "That's my geek brother. And that's me." There is a pause. "All right, so I'm a sucky artist." He drops the crayon. "See you around, Lucas." He puts the paper down next to Lucas, and walks back towards Sam and Andrea. Lucas picks up the drawing.
Everyone was silent during Dean's talk with Lucas. No one with the exception of Mary could believe what they had just seen, what they had just heard.
For all the students there, it put Dean in a totally different light. Sure, they had known that he saw something of the fire that night, that he knew his mom had died in it and on the ceiling, and that he had carried that knowledge with him ever since. But to hear him say it out loud, to hear that pain that was still in his voice and to know that he could connect to this boy about seeing his father drown, it was just stunning.
"Does anyone else feel really, really bad for Dean right now?" David asked quietly, breaking the silence.
They all nodded. Mary was relieved that they had finally seen the softer side of him. He didn't show it often, but when it did it really hit.
Andrea is talking to Sam when Dean joins them. "Lucas hasn't said a word. Not even to me. Not since his dad's accident."
Dean looks at Sam. "Yeah, we heard. Sorry."
"What are the doctors saying?" Sam asks Andrea.
"That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress." She seems frustrated. Sam shakes his head slightly.
"That can't be easy. For either of you."
"We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot. It's just when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw…" she trails off, looking at Lucas as he gets up.
"Kids are strong," Dean tells her, looking at Sam. "You'll be surprised at what they can deal with."
"You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there, drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish –" she cuts herself off as Lucas approaches. "Hey sweetie." Lucas hands a drawing to Dean. Andrea looks at Dean in surprise.
"Wow," Brady said. "That's amazing."
"Thanks," Dean says, taking the picture. It's a drawing of the Carlton house. "Thanks Lucas." Lucas goes back to the bench. The brothers give each other a look.
At the Carlton's house, Bill is sitting in front of the T.V.
"Oh no, not something else! This family has been through enough!" Cassandra said sternly.
"They can't hear you Cassie," Lizzie said sadly. They all knew what it meant that they were seeing the family again.
"Dad? You should probably eat something," Will says from a doorway. Bill gives him no response. "I'm going to make some dinner, okay?" Still no response.
Will is cleaning some fish and leaves the water running. It goes from clear to muddy. He turns off the water and muddy water starts coming up from the drain and once the sink fills up, it stays there. Will rolls up his sleeve to pull the plug, which must have fallen into the drain. He pulls it up, the water stays. He puts his hand back in to see if there's something clogging the drain. Something pulls him into the water completely. He struggles, but can't pull his head out. He drowns and the water drains.
"So," Sam walks into the motel room. "I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie."
"Well that's great," David said sarcastically.
"What do you mean?"
"I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead," he informs Dean. He looks back at Sam, frowning.
"He drowned," Dean is in disbelief.
"Yup. In the sink."
"What the hell? So you're right. This isn't a creature; we're dealing with something else."
"Yeah, but what?"
"I dunno. Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water." Dean and Sam seem to come to a realization.
"I still think it's unnatural when they do that," Lizzie professed.
"Water that comes from the same source," Dean says.
"The lake," Sam follows.
"Yeah."
"Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining. It'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time."
"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, almost anywhere. This is going to happen again, soon."
"It's going to be Andrea," Cassandra groaned.
"Why do you say that?" Jess asked.
"Because she's who Dean's hitting on and he's forming a connection to her son," she responded.
"I think it's going to be Bill, then Andrea," Brady argued. "First, Christopher, then Sophie and Will. It's going after the immediate family of Bill, and the last time we saw him he was on the dock, just sitting there. It's close enough to the water."
"And we do know one other thing for sure, we do know that this has got something to do with Bill Carlton."
"Yeah, it took both his kids," Dean is putting on his boots.
"And I've been asking around. Lucas' dad, Chris? Bill Carlton's godson."
"Damn. Mr. Carlton's been a bad bad boy," David sang out.
"And it adds more reasons on to why it's going to be Andrea. First her husband, then his godfather's children. Since it was something Bill did, it's probably going to go after everyone else first," Cassandra continued her argument.
Dean stares at Sam a moment. "Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit."
"Mr. Carlton?" Sam asks. He's sitting on the dock again, staring at nothing. He looks up as the Winchesters approach. "We'd like to ask you a few questions. If you don't mind."
"We're from the Department –"
"I don't care where you're with," Bill interrupts. "I've answered enough questions today."
"I can understand that," Mary winced. She could only imagine how many people had wanted to ask him questions from 'what happened' to 'is there anything I can do'. It must have been awful. Of course, her sons needed the information, but she wished they didn't have to bother him.
"Your son said he saw something in that lake," Sam tries. "What about you? You ever see anything out there?" Sam's voice is soft, comforting. "Mr. Carlton," more urgently this time. "Sophie's drowning and Will's death, we think there might be a connection to you or your family."
"My children are gone," Bill says, his voice shaking. "It's – it's worse than dying." There are tears in his eyes. "Go away. Please."
Sam and Dean go back to the car. "What do you think?" Sam asks.
"I think the poor guy's been through hell," Dean answers. "I also think he's not telling us something."
"So now what?" Dean doesn't answer. "What is it?"
"Huh." Dean is staring at the Carlton house, the one that Lucas drew him. "Maybe Bill's not the only one who knows something. He takes out Lucas' drawing and he and Sam compare it.
"That's kind of weird," Brady acknowledged.
"A little," Lizzie shivered.
"I'm sorry, I just don't think it's a good idea," Andrea tells Dean.
"I just need to talk to him, just for a few minutes."
"He won't say anything. What good's it going to do?"
"Can't she see that Dean's helping him?" Cassandra asked, frustrated.
"Hey, calm down. It's not easy for her either," Jess wrapped an arm around Cassandra comfortingly.
"Andrea," she turns to Sam, "we think more people might get hurt. We think something's happening out there."
"My husband, the others, they just drowned. That's all," she says resolutely.
"That's what you really believe?" Dean questions. "Then we'll go. But if you think there's even a possibility that something else could be going on here, please let me talk to your son."
"Thank goodness," Lizzie breathed. "I didn't want to know what Cassie would do if she didn't believe them," she teased gently.
Andrea relents and shows Sam and Dean to Lucas' room. He's drawing again, surrounded by army men.
Dean goes inside. "Hey Lucas. Remember me?" Andrea and Sam watch from the doorway. Dean shifts some papers and there are two more drawings of that red bicycle. "Hey, you know, I uh, wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again." Lucas is drawing a man in water. Dean pulls out the drawing of the house.
"How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was going to happen?" Lucas doesn't answer, doesn't look up. "Maybe you could nod, yes or no for me?" Dean waits. "You're scared." He comes to a realization. "It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom." Sam focuses his attention on Dean, listening intently.
"So Sam doesn't know any of this?" Jess questioned. "Dean never mentioned it?"
"You have to understand that what Dean went through was hard, and he doesn't want anything like that for Sam. Sam grew up with Dean being everything. He was the strong one, the one Sam looked up to. And for Dean to admit that he was scared, well, that's a crack in the appearance he makes for Sam. It also makes him feel vulnerable. John also didn't like to talk about that night and Dean was taught to keep quiet about it," Mary explained.
"That's really sad," Cassandra said.
"Sam needs to know though," Jess looked resolute. "I'm glad he's finding out."
"And I was scared too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day."
Mary felt a tear roll down her face.
"And I do my best to be brave. And maybe your dad wants you to be brave too." Lucas drops his crayon and finally looks up at Dean. Andrea looks stunned. Lucas grabs a drawing and hands it to Dean. It's a house beside a church. There is a kid leaning against a fence, with a red bicycle. "Thanks, Lucas."
There was more stunned silence. They just couldn't believe this side of Dean Winchester. The badass, the player, the hunter. And he was this man who was being brave for his mother and his brother. It was surreal.
The Winchesters are driving, Sam studying the picture.
"Andrea said the kid never drew like that until his dad died," Dean reasoned.
"There are cases – going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies."
"Whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow?" Sam makes a disbelieving noise. "I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please."
"All right, we got another house to find."
"The only problem is there's about a thousand yellow two-stories in this county alone."
"Yeah, but the church…" Brady noticed.
Sam is looking at the picture. "See this church? I bet there's less than a thousand of those around here," he suggests.
"Oh I'm good!"
"Oh college boy thinks he's so smart."
Sam laughs, then goes sober. He looks at Dean, deciding what to say. "You know, um, what you said about mom," Dean looks straight ahead. "You never told me that before."
"It's no big deal." Sam is staring at Dean and Dean glances over.
"Oh God, we're not going to have to hug or anything, are we?" Sam just smiles and looks down.
"That whole thing and that's the whole conversation?!" Jess said in disbelief.
The others laughed. They were getting used to the way the brothers interacted. It was amusing sometimes – where anyone else would have turned it into a thing, they just seemed to say everything in a moment of silence, in a glance. And the two of them understood.
Any of them would love to have a relationship like that – where they didn't even have to speak because they knew each other so well. Where they moved in tandem with each other or spoke at the same time without even realizing it. Sam and Dean were lucky to have each other, especially since everything else seemed to suck.
They've managed to find a church with a yellow two-story beside it.
"We're sorry to bother you ma'am, but does a little boy live here by chance?" Dean asks an older woman, inside the house. "That might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle." This means something to the lady – her eyes go wide and her breathing speeds up.
"So… Yes?" David asked.
"No sir," she says, looking down. "Not for a very long time."
The woman looks at a picture of a boy. "Peter's been gone for thirty-five years now." She sighs. "The police never – I never had any idea what happened." She turns away from the picture, back to the brothers. "He just disappeared." Sam notices a bunch of army men on a table, and nudges Dean. "Losing him, you know, it's – it's worse than dying," she finished shakily.
Dean looks at Sam. It's the same thing Bill said to them.
"Did he disappear from here? From this house?"
"He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school, and he never showed up."
"Parents say that all the time, that it could happen, but you never really believe it…" David said. "My mom always made me call her if I was going to be even five minutes late and I always had to tell her exactly where I was going. This lady makes me feel bad that I didn't always tell my mom."
They sobered at that.
Dean sees a picture on a mirror edge and goes to take a look. "Peter Sweeney and Bill Carlton, 1970," he reads.
"That's interesting," Brady pointed out. "I wonder what that means. Maybe he killed Peter and that's why Peter's going after his family?"
"I think you're on the right track," Cassandra smiled at him. "It makes sense."
Bill is sitting outside on the dock again.
"Take everything. Everyone. I've got nothing left. I didn't understand. I didn't believe. Now I think I do. I think I finally know what you want."
"Oh no, please tell me he doesn't do what I think he's going to do," Jess pleaded.
"I don't think I can," Lizzie said to her.
"Okay, the little boy, Peter Sweeney vanishes and it is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow."
"Yeah, Bill as hell sure seems to be hiding something, huh?"
"And Bill, the people he loves, they're all being punished."
"So what if Bill did something to Peter?"
"What if Bill killed him?"
"Peter's spirit would be furious. It'd want revenge, it's possible."
"Haha I got there before you," Brady bragged to the T.V.
"Oh, you're good," Lizzie rolled her eyes.
They arrive at the Carlton's house.
"Mr. Carlton?" Sam calls. Dean notices a boat going out into the lake, Bill inside.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no," Jess repeated.
"Hey, check it out." The two of them run out to the dock. They call for Bill to come back. Suddenly something comes up under the boat, flipping it. There is nothing left – no boat and no Bill.
"That was sad," Jess finished.
"And expected," Lizzie said.
"And weird," Cassandra added.
"And suspicious," David supplemented
"So that should be it then, right? If Bill murdered Peter, then everyone should be safe now," Brady wondered.
"Why do I feel like you're wrong?" David asked.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Andrea asks Lucas in the police station. He doesn't answer. Sam and Dean walk in with Devins.
"Sam, Dean, I didn't expect to see you here."
"So now you're on a first name basis," Devins observes. "What're you doing here?" he asks Andrea.
"Someone's a little chilly," David teased.
"I brought you dinner," she offers.
"Oh I'm sorry sweetheart, I don't really have the time." Lucas looks close to crying.
"I heard about Bill Carlton," Andrea says after looking at Sam and Dean. "Is it true? Is something going on with the lake?"
Devins glances at the brothers. "Right now we don't know what the truth is." Dean looks at Lucas. "But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home." Lucas looks terrified and runs to Dean, grabbing his arm and pulling, making distressing noises.
"Well we know that Dean made a breakthrough, but isn't that rather odd?" Lizzie asked.
"So maybe this means that someone else is in trouble?" Jess guessed. "Lucas has been right about everything so far and he looks pretty terrified."
"But who else could it be besides Bill? There wasn't anyone else in the picture…" David reminded them.
"What about Devins? He's the only other person we know besides the old lady, and so far it's all been people we've seen," Brady reasoned.
"It's always the sheriff anyway," Cassandra told them.
Mary laughed – they could've been hunters with the way they were thinking. They were thinking things through and actually seemed to be enjoying it – like puzzles. If it was nothing more than a T.V. show she knew they would all be fans of it. As it was, it was a lot harder to enjoy it when it was about people you knew who could actually get hurt, and those who did die, really did… die.
"Lucas, hey, what is it?" Dean asks, concerned.
Andrea tries to pull Lucas away. "Lucas, it's okay, it's okay," Dean tries to assure him. "Lucas, it's okay." Andrea guides him out and takes him home. Dean stares after them.
Devins goes into his office and eventually the boys follow.
"So, just so we're clear, you see something attack Bill's boat. Sending Bill, who is a very good swimmer by the way, into the drink, and you never see him again.
"Yeah," Dean looks at Sam and back at Devins. "That about sums it up." Sam is nodding his head from his place beside Dean.
"I'm hoping they realize how crazy they sound," Jess said. "If they said that to me, I'd think they were hallucinating."
"And I'm supposed to believe this? Even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake and what you're describing is impossible. And you're not really Wildlife Service." Dean looks offended. "That's right, I checked. The Department's never heard of you two."
"Now?!" David yelled, offended.
"Yes!" Lizzie shouted, celebrating.
"It could be the end!" Brady protested.
"No way! They haven't even caught the ghost or gotten rid of it yet! I so win! Nananananana."
"See? Now we can explain that –"
"Enough," Devins cuts off Dean. "Please. The only reason you're breathing free air, is one of Bill's neighbours saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So, we have a couple of options here. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance. Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day. You get into your car, you put this town in your rear view mirror and you don't ever darken my doorstep again," Devins says angrily.
"He got up on the wrong side of the bed," David joked.
"Or someone else he knows just died," Cassandra pointed out, rolling her eyes.
"Door number two sounds good," Sam chooses calmly. Dean shrugs.
"That's the one I'd pick," Devins agrees.
"Good. Get back on his good side," Brady told the T.V.
"Uh, I don't think that's going to happen," Jess said.
Lucas is drawing swirls again when he's supposed to be asleep. Andrea finds him and asks him what he's doing up. He doesn't answer of course, and she puts him in bed.
"I knew Andrea would be next!" Cassandra boasted.
"We all knew Andrea would be a victim," Brady replied. "You just didn't think of Bill."
"What about Lucas? It could be Lucas," Lizzie suggested.
"No way," Brady replied. "Lucas is in his room – no water. But Andrea looks like she's going to have a bath."
"And Sam and Dean are leaving," Jess murmured. "They're not going to be able to save her."
Meanwhile, Sam and Dean are about to leave, but Dean has a bad feeling and they turn around.
"Good," Jess breathed. They weren't in the clear yet though.
Andrea starts running bath water, putting the plug in the drain first.
Sam is arguing that the job is over – if Bill killed Peter, then Peter has his revenge. Dean thinks that there's something wrong based on the way Lucas was acting. He wants to stay and make sure everything's okay. "Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Sam asks.
Andrea gets into the tub and everything seems fine. She leans her head back, eyes closed, and doesn't notice the water turning muddy until it's the whole tub. She tries to get out and screams as she's pulled back in. There is a voice saying 'Play with me'. Lucas is knocking at the door for her to let him in.
"That's the creepiest one yet!" Lizzie said, gasping.
"Play with me? What?" David repeated.
"Well if it's a kid I guess it would make sense?" Jess offered.
Dean and Sam arrive at the house and wonder if they should open the door.
"Oh my God, stop debating and go in and save her!" Jess yelled.
Lucas yanks it open, trembling and terrified. He leads them upstairs to the bathroom. Dean kicks the door in, and Sam rushes past. Dean comforts Lucas while Sam fights to pull Andrea out of the water.
"Okay, that thing is strong. Sam could even take me on in an arm wrestling contest," David admitted. "He's built."
"Most spirits are very strong, and they've had a long time to build up that strength to get revenge," Mary said.
Eventually Sam wins, he and Andrea falling to the floor.
"Score!" David jeered.
Jess hit him in the back of the head.
"Can you tell me?" Sam asks Andrea. The sun is coming up and she is dressed in a robe.
"No."
Dean is going through files and books.
"It doesn't make any sense," Andrea gets out. "I'm going crazy." She puts her head in her hands.
"No, you're not," Sam assures her. "Tell me what happened. Everything." She tells him about the voice.
Dean finds a book labelled 'Jake'. Devins' first name. He takes the book to Andrea and asks if she recognizes any of the people in one of the pictures. Dean and Sam realize the connection wasn't just to Bill – it's to Bill and the sheriff. They were both involved with Peter's death.
"I knew it!" Brady crowed.
"Yeah!" Cassandra and Brady high fived.
Lucas' attention is drawn outside. "Lucas?" Dean calls. "Lucas, what is it?" Lucas goes outside without answer. He walks to a spot and looks down. Dean tells him to go back to the house and stay there. Andrea walks him there and the boys start digging. They find Peter's bicycle.
"How does he know all this stuff?" Lizzie asked, looking around.
"Maybe it's that psychic thing that Sam mentioned earlier?" Jess suggested.
"Maybe…" Lizzie didn't seem convinced – none of them did to be honest.
Mary found herself wondering if he was one of the special children – if he was having visions or flashbacks of everything that had happened. Sam hadn't seen him, but that didn't mean he wasn't in the town before Sam was, when neither he nor she would have seen him.
"Peter's bike," Sam observes.
"Who the hell are you?" Jake Devins asks from behind, cocking his gun.
"Oh snap," David whistled.
"They're in a bit of a pickle. Especially since they found out about him and Peter," Brady figured.
The brothers turn around, startled. "Put the gun down, Jake," Sam asks.
"How did you know that was there?"
"What happened? You and Bill killed Peter? Drowned him in the lake and then buried the bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake," Dean tells him. "Nothing stays buried."
"Talking like that's going to get them killed," Cassandra stated.
"I feel like that's not going to stop them," Jess said worriedly.
Andrea sees the group from the window and decides to intercept. She tells Lucas to stay in his room.
"He's probably terrified and she's going to leave him there," Jess sighed.
"She doesn't want him in the middle of a fight, especially since her dad's holding a gun," Cassandra reasoned.
"I know. It's just that I feel like something bad's going to happen. I mean, he knew about everything else and I can't help feeling like that's a bad sign," Jess confessed.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Jake tells the boys.
"You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the hell we're talking about."
"Dad!" Andrea calls out, running up.
"And now you've got one seriously pissed off spirit," Dean continues. They all ignore Andrea.
"It's gonna take Andra," Sam takes over. "Lucas, everyone you love. It's gonna drown them and it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you. And it's not gonna stop until it does."
"I thought it just wanted to play," Brady tried joking. He only got weak smiles for his effort.
"Yeah? And how do you know that?"
"Because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton."
"Listen to yourself. Both of you, you're insane."
"If they just randomly said that to me, I'd think so too," Brady said. "It's not easy finding out about this part of the world." The others nodded in agreement.
"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us," Dean says. "But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. Now tell me you buried Peter somewhere, tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake." Dean is uptight, frustrated.
"So how do they get rid of the ghost then?" David asked. They'd have to go through the whole lake and they don't have time for that."
"Is there another way?" Jess turned to Mary.
"They could find the ghost's weak spot and that would destroy him, although I'm not sure what it would be in this case. Or they can give it what it wants."
The group shivered. What it wanted was to kill an entire family for what two stupid bullies had done.
Lucas is watching from the window.
Andrea asks her father if it's true, and he tells her they're lying. She tells him something tried to drown her, and reminds him that her husband died on the lake. He can't deny it anymore.
"Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one, we always bullied him. But this time, it got rough. We were holding his head under the water. We didn't mean to, but we held him under too long, and he drowned. We let the body go, and it sank," Jake Devins' confessed. "Oh Andrea, we didn't mean to. We were kids. We were scared, it was a mistake, but Andrea, to say that I had anything to do with these drowning's, with Chris because of some ghost? It's not rational."
"Being a kid doesn't mean you can get away with murder!" Cassandra said angrily. "I knew it was wrong to bully someone when I was growing up! And it's even worse to murder someone! You don't just hold a person's head under water! And they had to be doing it for a long time after he stopped thrashing too!" She was absolutely fuming – they all were.
"All right, listen to me," Dean orders. "All of you. We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can, right now." Andrea looks over and gasps as she sees Lucas by the water. He reaches in.
"Oh my God," Lizzie gasped, her hand going to her mouth.
"Why did he even go over there!" Jess moaned.
"Lucas!" Jake yells. They all rush towards the lake, calling his name, trying to call him away from the water. A hand reaches up and pulls him in.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no."
Sam and Dean keep running. Jake stops and stares when Peter's head comes up out of the water and he looks at him.
"Don't just stand there! Do something useful!" Lizzie screamed.
The brothers immediately dive into the lake. Sam tells Andrea to stay where she is on the dock, assuring her that they will find him. They have no luck and dive back in.
"Please, oh please, oh please, oh please."
Jake walks into the water, pleading with Peter to take him and let Lucas go. Peter pulls him under. Sam and Dean dive back in. Sam surfaces and shakes his head. Andrea screams for Lucas. When Dean surfaces, he's holding Lucas in his arms.
"Thank God, oh my God," Jess kept saying.
Even the boys were pale from that episode. It had been so close.
They took a few minutes to get their breathing back to normal.
The brothers are walking to the Impala, ready to leave.
"Look, we're not going to save everybody," Sam tells Dean.
"I know," Dean replies.
"That's so depressing. Knowing that whatever you do, however many people you save, you still can't save everyone," Cassandra observed.
"Sam! Dean!" Andrea calls them. She and Lucas walk up, Lucas carrying a plate with food. "I'm glad we caught you. We just um, we just made you lunch for the road. Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches himself."
"Can I give it to them now?" Lucas asks his mother.
"He talked!" the girls squealed at the same time.
Brady and David cheered.
Sam and Dean smile at each other.
"Of course," Andrea kisses his head.
"Come on Lucas, let's load this into the car," Dean takes the plate from him and goes to the car with Lucas. Andrea and Sam watch them go.
"How are you holding up?" Sam asks Andrea.
"It's just going to take a long time to sort through everything, you know?"
"Andrea, I'm sorry."
"You saved my son," she says with a smile. "I can't ask for more than that. Dad loved me, he loved Lucas. No matter what he did, I just have to hold on to that."
"She's being very strong about the whole thing," Brady said thoughtfully. "I hope she's not just avoiding it. If she is, it'll all come crashing down on her one day."
"All right, if you're going to be talking now, there's a very important phrase, I want you to repeat it back to me one more time," Dean tells Lucas.
"Zeppelin rules!" Lucas says enthusiastically.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Mary laughed. She had forgotten about that.
"That's right. Up high," Dean raises his hand for a high five. Lucas gives him one, grinning.
"You take care of your mom, okay?"
Sam and Andrea approach the two. Andrea leans over to kiss Dean.
"Thank you."
"Sam, move your ass," Dean says, turning awkwardly and walking around the car. He looks pleased though. "We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road."
Andrea and Lucas wave goodbye and watch as they drive off.
"That was really intense," Lizzie breathed. "I'm kind of glad it's over."
"Me too. It was great seeing Sam and Dean get along like that, but geeze," Jess agreed. "I hope we get to see more of their relationship though. It's really great! And Sam's so different with Dean."
They continued to talk about what they had seen so far, and Mary just watched them and thought about what she had learned about them so far.
Jess really was a sweet girl, Mary decided. Sam was lucky to have known her. She was compassionate and generally happy. And she definitely loved Sam. She was hurt by what he hadn't told her, but Mary knew from seeing her here that if Sam had told her (and given her proof), then she would have stayed with him, given him her support. And the others were good people too – they seemed to genuinely care for Sam, despite being possessed for much of the time they had known him. It was interesting, watching all of them interact. They hadn't all been close in college, but they were united now, and they wore the friendship well. Mary was content – Sam had met good people. She was eager to know more about them.
Eventually conversation died down and they turned back to the T.V. keen to see what had happened next.