A/N: A huge sorry that I broke my promise. Circumstances weren't favorable for me to write. But, I'm here again. Jo-Ann, you requested Dead in the water, so here it is. Next part will be in a day or two. Thanks for your reviews, favs, and follows.

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural but Lyra is definitely my creation.

The trio was sitting in a diner, looking for a new hunt. For the past few days Lyra had been mulling over her life. How it had taken such sharp turn and changed dramatically. A couple months back, all she could think about her future was which college to apply to. But then the sudden death of her parents and her marriage to Dean made her realize that nothing is certain in this world. She didn't believe in destiny but what she had witnessed in her life so far, forced her to think again. She had her own theory about destiny: when you think that you have changed what was written for you then you are making a fool out of yourself because actually that particular change was meant to happen all along. Free will was just an illusion to her but it didn't bother her. She liked her life to flow without her control over it; because that way she didn't have to worry about the end result.

"Hello… back to earth, Lyra," Dean waved a hand in front of her face.

"What?" Lyra shook her head to focus on him.

"Where were you? I called you so many times," he raised an eyebrow.

"Nowhere. Just thinking," she replied, turning her eyes away from him.

"Alright, take a look at this," Dean said, placing a newspaper at the table. "Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week Sophie Carlton, 18, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. 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 asked, taking the newspaper in his hand.

"They buried an empty coffin. For uh, a closure or whatever," Dean shrugged.

"Closure?" Sam sneered. "What closure? People don't just disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them."

"Something you want to say to me?" Dean shot him a scornful look.

"The trail for dad – it's getting colder every day," Sam responded in the same tone.

"Exactly, so what are we supposed to do?" Dean tried to keep his calm.

"I don't know," Sam threw up his hands. "Something. Anything!"

"You know what?" Dean's voice dropped. "I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think I want to find dad as much as you?"

"Yeah, I know you do, it's just—" Sam tried to explain but Dean cut him off.

"I'm the one that's been with him every single day for the past four years, while you've been off to college going to pep rallies," Dean said in an accusing tone. "We will find dad, but until then, we're gonna kill everything bad between here and there."

"Alright, Lake Manitoc," Sam conceded.

"Can you two survive just one day without arguing?" Lyra said, exasperated.

"Blame the grumpy boy over there," Dean pointed at Sam.

"You are not any less yourself," she turned to Dean.

"I just try to knock some sense in him. That doesn't count as arguing," he defended himself. "Now, we gotta get moving."

They went to question Will Carlton, brother of Sophie Carlton, who was present at the lakeside when she drowned. Dean knocked on the door and a man of his age opened it. "Will Carlton?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's right," the man replied.

"Agent Ford, Agent Hamlin and our trainee Stevens," Dean introduced with a motion of his hand. "We are with US Wildlife Services. We need you to tell us everything you know about what happened."

"Come on, I'll take you to the lake," Will said, leading them ahead. There was an old man sitting on a bench at the dock who was most probably his father. "She was about 100 yards out. That's when she got dragged down."

"Are you sure she didn't just drown?" Dean asked for confirmation.

"Yeah. She was a varsity swimmer," he had a twinkle in his eyes which Lyra didn't miss. She made a mental note to express her condolences later. "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 asked.

"No. That's what I'm telling you," he shook his head.

"Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark shapes breach the surface?" Sam questioned again.

"No. Again, she was really far out there," Will answered.

"You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dean carried on the interrogation.

"No, never. Why? What do you think is out there?" he queried back.

"We'll let you know as soon as we do," Dean replied with a nod.

"What about your father? Can we talk to him?" Sam asked.

Will looked over at his dad, "Look, if you don't mind, I mean…he didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot."

"We understand," Lyra smiled sympathetically at him. "We're sorry for your loss." Will nodded in return and they went back to their respective businesses.

The trio decided to head to the Sheriff's office to gather more info. He led them to his cabin and offered a seat.

"Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" he asked suspiciously but with a hint of curiosity.

"You sure it's accidental?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "Will Carlton saw something grab his sister."

"Like what? There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake. There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness monster," the Sheriff said.

"Yeah, right." Dean chuckled.

"Will Carlton was traumatized, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still, we dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep just to be sure, and there was nothing down there," the Sheriff explained further.

"That's weird though. I mean that's…that's the third missing body this year," Dean pulled a confused expression on his face.

"I know. These are people from my town. These are people I care about," he stated seriously. "Anyway. All this, it won't be a problem much longer."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Well the dam of course," he looked at them dubiously.

"Of course… the dam. It's uh… sprung a leak," Dean quickly covered up.

"It's falling apart," the Sheriff's tone was incredulous. "And the feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spillway. In another six months there won't be much of a lake. There won't be much of a town either. But as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that."

Dean nodded enthusiastically, "exactly."

There was a knock on the door followed by a feminine voice, "Sorry. Am I interrupting? I can come back later."

"Agents, this is my daughter," the Sheriff gestured to the woman.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Dean stood up and extended his hand. "I'm Dean."

"Andrea Bar," she smiled. "Hi."

"Hi," the three of them replied in almost unison.

"They're from the wildlife about the lake," the sheriff told her. Andrea nodded and a little boy around 7 walked in.

"Oh hey there. What's your name?" Dean asked him sweetly but the boy shied away.

"His name is Lucas," the sheriff supplied.

"Is he okay?" Sam noticed the sorrow mixed with fear on the kid's face.

"My grandson's been through a lot. We all have. Well if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know."

"Thanks. You know, now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced hotel?" Dean asked, heading to the door.

"Lakefront motel, go around the corner, it's about two blocks south," Andrea gave out the direction.

"Two? Would you mind showing us?" Dean smiled innocently.

"You want me to walk you two blocks?" she laughed, not missing his flirty tone.

"I'm sure we can find it on our own. Thanks for your help," Lyra spoke for the first time. "Come on, Dean," she grabbed his hand and tugged.

"I'm headed that way, anyway. It won't be a problem," Andrea said, amused. "I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three. We'll go to the park, okay sweetie?" She bent down and kissed him on the forehead.

They all followed her out and Dean started talking to Andrea, "So… cute kid."

"Thanks," she smiled and looked at Lyra from the corner of her eye, wondering why she wasn't stopping his advances. She knew they were married. Anyone could tell that much by their matching rings.

"Kids are the best, huh?" Dean smirked.

"You like kids?" Lyra butted in, moving forward to match their steps. "You never told me," she acted as if she was hurt by that. "Well, if kids are the best then we should plan for a baby soon," she smiled lovingly, taking a hold of his arm and placing her head on his shoulder. "What do you think, honey?"

Dean scowled at her but the other two found it amusing. Sam was having a hard time controlling his laughter.

"There it is. Like I said, two blocks," Andrea pointed to the motel.

"Thanks," Lyra replied curtly.

"Must be hard with your sense of direction," Andrea turned to Dean. "Never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line," she smirked. "I wonder how he got you," she looked at Lyra curiously.

"Maybe luck decided to shine on him that day," Lyra shrugged.

Andrea chuckled and waved a good bye. "Enjoy your stay," she said over her shoulder.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Sam burst out laughing. "Oh God," he gasped for breath. "You should look at your face," he pointed at Dean. "Man, why don't I have a camera right now?"

Dean looked at his brother and smiled slightly. He had missed his laughter. After Jessica's death, Sam was nothing but devastated. He even smiled very rarely and so, seeing him laugh like that made Dean grateful to Lyra. It was because of her that he was enjoying his life again.

"And 'kids are the best'? You don't even like kids," Sam said after his laughter was under control.

"I love kids," Dean argued.

"Name 3 children that you even know," Sam challenged. Dean concentrated hard but Sam didn't wait for him and walked ahead.

"I'm thinking!" Dean exclaimed.

"Don't exhaust your meager brain, Dean," Lyra taunted and followed Sam.

"Hey wait!" Dean called her.

"What?"

"Uh… thanks for making Sammy laugh," he said, looking at Sam's back to avoid eye contact with her.

"I didn't knew he was gonna laugh on that but I'm glad he did. He need to lighten up and you too," she smiled at the brothers.

"So, three drowning victims this year," Sam remarked. He was researching about the case on his laptop.

"Any before that?" Dean asked.

"Uh yeah…six more spread out over the past 35 years," Sam replied. "Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace."

"So what, we got a lake monster on a binge?" Dean raised an eyebrow.

"This whole lake monster thing- it, it just bugs me," Sam said.

"Why?"

"Loch Ness, uh Lake Champlain- there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing," he explained. "Whatever it is out there, no one's living to talk about it."

Dean read over Sam's shoulder, "Bar… Christopher Bar. Where have I heard this name before?"

"Do you really have such poor memory?" Lyra mocked him. "Andrea Bar! You dumbass," she rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah. Christopher Bar, the victim in May," Sam said. "Apparently he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned, two hours before the kid got rescued. Maybe we have an eyewitness after all."

"No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over," Dean stated with a hidden emotion. He was present in the house when his mother had died and that affected him greatly.

"What do you say we join Andrea and Lucas at the park?" Dean asked.

"You'll never learn," Lyra shook her head.

"What? I want to talk to Lucas regarding the case," he explained. Lyra and Sam shared a look and rolled their eyes simultaneously.

"You two go. I'll drive around town and see what I can find," Sam excused himself. Dean nodded and walked out with Lyra on his heels.

"Can we join you?" Lyra asked Andrea, who was sitting on a bench watching Lucas who was drawing a little far.

"I'm here with my son," she replied.

"Uh… mind if I say hi?" Dean asked her.

"No, go ahead," she said. Dean went to talk to the boy while Lyra took a seat beside Andrea.

"You two are perfectly matched," Andrea commented.

Lyra laughed wryly, "Believe me we're anything but perfectly matched."

"You know, me and Chris… we were like you two. The Sun and the Moon: opposite but complementary," she said with a far away look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry for you," Lyra said sincerely.

She waved her off, "It's alright. I have Lucas as a memento of him. Anyway, Dean seems a nice guy. If you overlook his cockiness, that is."

Lyra chuckled a bit, "Yeah. He's good at heart. And I think that's what matters the most." She looked over at Dean and a small smile played on her lips.

Andrea turned to face her, "He'll accept it soon. Don't worry."

Lyra was confused at what she wanted to say. 'What will he accept?' she thought. Before she could ask her what she meant, Dean returned.

"Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me - not since his dad's accident," Andrea told them.

"Yeah… sorry," Dean said.

"What are the doctors saying?" Lyra asked.

"That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress," she answered sadly.

"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 trailed off.

"Kids are strong," Dean spoke up. "You'd be surprised what they can deal with." Lyra tried to read his face to find the reason behind his words and found a deep situated pain which shaped the man he was now.

"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…" Andrea paused when Lucas walked up to them. "Hey sweetheart."

Lucas handed a picture, which he had drawn, to Dean. "Thanks Lucas," Dean smiled at him and he went back.

They headed back to their room and Sam joined them shortly after. "So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie," Sam said as he entered the room.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there," he replied. "Will Carlton is dead."

"He drowned?"

"Yep, in the sink," Sam confirmed. This revelation brought back memories to Lyra which she didn't want to confront again. Her mother had died somewhat the same way.

"What the hell?" Dean exclaimed. "So you're right, this isn't a creature; we're dealing with something else."

"Yeah, but what?" Sam said.

"I don't know. A water wraith maybe? Some kind of demon?" Dean took a guess. "I mean something that controls water…water that comes from the same source."

"The lake," Sam agreed. "This 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," Dean pointed out. "This is gonna happen again soon."

"And we do know one other thing for sure. We know this has got something to do with Bill Carlton," Sam stated.

"Yeah, it took both his kids," Dean nodded.

"And I've been asking around. Lucas' dad, Chris - Bill Carlton's godson," Sam informed.

"I say, let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit," Dean suggested.

They went to the lake and found him sitting on the same bench as before. Sam moved a little closer to him, "Mr. Carlton…we'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind."

"We're from the Department…" Dean started but Bill cut him off.

"I don't care who you're with. I've answered enough questions today," he said shortly.

"Your son said he saw something in that lake," Sam prodded. "What about you? You ever see anything out there?" Bill didn't reply. "Mr. Carlton, Sophie's drowning and Will's death—we think there might be a connection to you or your family."

"My children are gone. It's…its worse than dying. Go away…please," Bill pleaded in a sorrowful tone.

They left the pitiable man alone and got back in their car. "So what do you think?" Sam asked.

"I think the poor guys been through hell," Dean replied. "But I also think he's not telling us something." He glanced at the Carlton house and knitted his eyebrows in thought.

"What is it?" Sam looked between the house and Dean.

"Huh," Dean looked up at him. "Maybe Bill's not the only one who knows something." He pulled out the drawing Lucas had given him. It was of the Carlton house. "We gotta meet him again."