AN: When you're not allowed to go anywhere, you have a lot of time to write, so here's another chapter. Just one more (possibly two…depends what direction I go) then all done.

I don't own them, which is good, because I'm very mean to them. I make no money from my stories, but I do beat up characters, which is probably why they swear. You've been warned.

BitterSweetJoy I totally plagurized you because your earlier comment made me laugh so hard! I hope you don't mind. LOL

Far to the brothers' right was the massive door slash ramp that would be opened at the dock to drive cars on and off. And the far side of that door was crumpled inward, allowing water to flow in. The first row of cars now stood in water. And as they watched, the metal crumpled even farther, screeching as it wrinkled like paper and more water poured it. Michelle was walking between the cars, about halfway to the ramp. Her gait was awkward, halting and jerky like she was being forced to move rather than doing it of her own volition. She was up to her knees in water and was wailing and crying. The water had reached the back of the room by now. The cars closest to the ramp had water up to their windshields.

"Vodník, stop!" Michelle begged. "I'm sorry I bound you! I can't do it any more, I swear! Please just let me live!"

In answer, the edge of the door was pushed aside to create an opening large enough for a big rig to drive through. Long, tapered, greenish fingers curled around the edge. The entire ship trembled with the force of it, and the staircase Sam and Dean were on juddered so violently that they were thrown over the side.

Dean coughed and gasped, shoving himself up onto his knees, pulling his face out of the water. The water was maybe three feet deep here, enough to reduce his impact but not keep him from smacking into the floor. "Sam?!"

His brother was face down in the water. Dean flipped him over with more panic than care, and Sam cried out and coughed harshly. "Sorry, sorry. You okay?"

And the jerk chuckled at the absurdity of the question. "M'okay. You?"

"Uh…let me get back to you on that." Even as he pulled Sam up against him, Dean looked over at the poor crumpled ramp. The gigantic hand was followed by an equally, horribly gigantic body. The creature was pale green, and stood upright like a human, but it was nearly half as tall as the whole ramp. Its legs went out to the side of its body and bent like upside-down vees. They seemed too narrow to lift the thick body, but if it straightened them, it would certainly be 20 feet tall. It had no discernable neck, just a wide face and a flat mouth that was nearly as wide as its head. It had bulbous eyes set high and close together, and no visible nose. Its massive hands ended arms that were longer than a man was tall. Its odd face gave it an expression that was melancholy more than menacing, but its size and the ease with which it had bent the metal were terrifying.

Casually, the thing reached out and wrapped one hand around the weeping witch. The fingers wrapped the entire way around her body. It tossed her out the door behind it, then gave a little hop and squatted entirely inside the ship. Its weight shook the whole ship and water rushed in even faster. The force of it pulled at the brothers, and suddenly, they were floating toward the opening.

Dean wrapped both arms around Sam as the water tried to pull them apart. He slammed into some kind of vehicle and couldn't see for a moment. Sam howled in pain right in Dean's ear, and he had to shake his head to see why. Sam's ridiculously, beautifully big hand was wrapped desperately around the mirror of a van, holding himself in place, and Dean by virtue of the latter's unbreaking grip.

"Hold on one more second, Sam," urged Dean. He pulled himself clumsily up on the hood of the van, but that was almost in the water too. Keeping a fist in the back of Sam's jacket, he hauled his aching body up onto the roof. Then he hooked the off hand in Sam's jacket too. He took a long breath and blew it out. Then he hooked his toes over the other side of the van roof and curled his arms like his life depended on it. Because in a very real way, it did. The lake would not take his brother today. The freaky-ass lake monster that should be relegated to black and white movies would not take his brother today. And that meant that he had to haul his brother out of the water. So he did. It was agonizing pulling up that much dead weight, but it didn't matter. Finally, he was up on his knees and the top half of Sam's body was lying on the roof with him. He could tell that Sam was digging in his heels and pushing up against the side of the van to help him, do anything he could to make it easier. Then, it was easier. One more tug, and Sam slid his body sideways so he was lying lengthwise on the roof with his legs trailing down onto the windshield.

Dean's aching biceps took that as the sign to give up, and he fell forward across Sam's stomach. "Uh, gimme a sec," he said to the window his face was against. He began to tremble and wondered for a second what was happening, then he realized that Sam was laughing again. "There's something wrong with you, Sam."

The deck shuddered again, and that was enough to motive Dean to scramble back up and sit back on his heels, then rotate his legs so he was sitting hip to hip with Sam, facing the opposite direction. "Baby's getting wet!" he yelled, infuriated. Fortunately, she was one of the furthest vehicles from the door, but her front bumper had disappeared under the water already. "Dammit!"

"Dean," said Sam softly but insistently. "Dean! Help me sit up." Since Sam liked asking for help about as much as he liked clowns, that caught Dean's attention. He turned around carefully and pulled Sam up, lips compressing as his arms protested.

"Did you screw up your other arm – " Dean broke off as he realized what Sam was looking at. Frog man was looking directly at the two of them. Laconically, it took a step in their direction, making the room tremble and the water rise.

"Vodník! We are innocent in this! My brother freed you!" Sam yelled. The creature paused and considered him. "Wir sind nicht Ihre Feinde," Sam tried. When there was no answer, he spoke again. "Non sit tibi nihil mali fecerit." * He coughed. "This ship is full of innocents. You are freed and the witch has been punished. Please. You are peaceful. Let us go."

The monster stared at them, unblinking for a long, long moment. Then it made a noise like "harrumph," and it turned and walked its freaky green ass out of there. The ship shook one last time as it slipped into the water with surprisingly little splash, then about half the water retreated back through the destroyed door.

As if the end of the threat signaled the end of his reserves, Sam slumped back against Dean, cradling his broken wrist on his lap. They simply sat there, shivering, hurting, but alive for a long moment. Sam's eyelids were beginning to droop, and as much as Dean would have loved to let his injured brother sleep, he knew that he had to stay awake and stay out of the water. "So, uh, what the hell was that?"

"Um. A Vodník. German water demon. Well, not a demon really. Pretty much harmless."Sam's words were slow.

"Harmless, huh? It almost sank this rust bucket. And it got my baby wet!" Dean argued.

Sam coughed again. "The witch must have, uh, bound it for power. You must have destroyed her altar or grimoire, right?" He blinked slowly. "Cuz that would free it."

"I did both," reported Dean a little proudly. "So it came for revenge, huh?" He nudged Sam's shoulder when the latter didn't respond. Sam sucked in a harsh breath, and Dean was immediately contrite. "Shit, I'm sorry. Did you put your shoulder out when you grabbed the mirror? With your only good arm?"

"Mebbe." Sam didn't sound like he cared much either way.

Dean put a hand on each side of the shoulder and sighed. "It's not a bad dislocation, but it's definitely out of place. But, Sam, I don't think I can get it back in right now."

"Eh."

Dean cursed his own weakness. His arms were still shaking from hauling Sam onto the van, not to mention he was shivering. But this was Sam. Without warning, he gave a hard, controlled push and the shoulder popped into place. Sam gave a breathy "ahh" that would probably have been a scream from anybody else.

"Sorry, but better now than later. Hey, now, stay awake, Sammy."

"I'm 'wake. And you're a dirty liar."

"Nah, I just changed my mind and decided I could get it back in and I was right."

"Mmm."

Dean tapped Sam's cheek, hoping to annoy him. It worked enough that Sam twitched his face away. "Talk to me, Sammy. Where do you think the ghost went off to?"

"Um. Dunno. Possessed me for a bit. Guy named Li Wei who worked on the ship when it carried train cars." He slumped a little more.

"Possessed you, huh?" Dean pondered that. Must have been getting a little crowded in there, he thought ironically. But he couldn't exactly ask.

"Yeah, he just...wanted to stop the witch. He was mad that...she was on his ship. I managed...to touch some iron and..get him out. But he...doesn't wanna hurt anyone."

I wonder if we owe Zeke for that little assist. "Did he die on the ship, do you know?" Dean didn't especially care, but he needed his brother to stay awake. He couldn't imagine trying to wade through all the water and climb the stairs right now. He just had to hope that staff or the Coast Guard or someone would come soon. At some point, they'd need to account for all passengers.

"Yeah. Loading accident." Sam's voice was faint.

"Hey, stay awake, little brother. I have hauled your heavy ass enough today. If you fall in the water, I'm not pulling you up again."

He could hear the smile in Sam's voice as he answered, "yeah, you would."

Yeah. He would.

* Sam said, "we are not your enemies/we mean you no harm" in both German and Latin. Many, many thanks to immertreu for helping with the German!