[1x03; Dead in the Water]
Julia's nose practically touched the pages of her bible as she bent over it, reading a passage from First Corinthians. She only picked at the fries on her plate as she read silently read her mother's favorite verse over and over. The page was almost worn, as it had been for years, and the verse was highlighted in blue so it stuck out. She had it memorized—it was only four words, after all—but something about seeing the words on the page calmed her down.
Do everything in love.
It was such a simple verse but her mom recited every day—sometimes more than a few times a day, depending on the situation. Naomi loved helping people until the day she died, running the philanthropy department of Petersen Sports Co. until she could no longer keep up. She was as saint like as you could get without actually being a saint but she never preached needlessly at you and she didn't push you or your beliefs.
She was Naomi…and Julia missed her so much.
November thirtieth was always hard on Julia, no matter what. Usually she barricaded herself in her room and watched her mom's favorite movie—which, ironically, was Dirty Dancing—and ate chocolate chip cookies but she didn't have the time or proper setting to do that. She was on the road with the Winchester brothers so that was doing a little bit to help her feel better.
Sam sat at her left and watched her carefully, looking at the melancholy expression on her face. "Did you call Beth yet?"
"She called me," she informed him, smiling softly at the thought of her oldest sister. "and she let me talk to Lydia. She's such a talker these days."
Sam chuckled. "Well, she is Beth's kid."
"Yeah, that's true," Julia agreed; Dean may have thought that she talked too much but she didn't compare to Bethany. Her oldest sisters voice was probably the most recognizable sound to her because of her endless talking. "I called Abby."
"What's she up to?"
"A hunt down in Texas. She said something about a spirit. Levi's in meetings all day but we're gonna talk tonight."
"And your dad?"
Julia sighed heavily, looking down at her bible as her eyes started to sting. "Haven't heard from him."
Sam frowned in sympathy, watching as she practically curled into herself. She went back to reading her bible, her index finger trailing softly over the highlighted verse.
It was then that Dean walked over to them, a pile of newspapers in his hands so he could start looking for their next case. He sat in the stool on Julia's right side and stole a fry from her plate.
"You okay, shortcake?"
"Dean…" Sam gave him a warning look.
Sam knew how depressed Julia got on the last day of November. She didn't need his brother bothering her when the loss of her mom was still so fresh. Still, if anyone could understand her pain, it would be Dean. He was old enough to remember their mother and her death, so they had kindred experiences.
Dean immediately understood the look Sam gave him. He grimaced and softly patted Julia on the shoulder and Sam swore he saw his thumb rub soothing circles into the fabric of her shirt but he could just be imaging things. Either way, that was the closest he had seen Dean comfort a girl in his life.
Julia gave him a soft smile and pushed her plate of fries toward him. Sam watched in slight awe as Dean accepted the fries with a large smile; Julia never shared her fries with anyone. Sam couldn't count the amount of times his hand had been slapped away from her plate because he was trying to steal one—they were her ultimate favorite food.
Dean went to work on looking through the obituaries in the newspapers he collected, circling deaths that seemed suspicious. Sam pulled out his phone and started checking his emails, helplessly hoping that maybe his dad would have sent him one. Julia turned to Revelations and started studying for her New Testament final that she would be taking online.
"Can I get you anything else?" a pretty blonde waitress walked over to them, dropping a flirty smile at Dean.
Dean looked up, pen resting against his lips, and grinned.
Sam cleared his throat. "Just the check, please."
"Okay," the waitress sent Sam a smile and then turned to walk to the register on the other side of the bar.
Dean groaned in displeasure and glared at Sam over Julia's head. "You know, Sam, we are allowed to have fun once in a while," he gestured toward the waitress, who was dressed for tips. "That is fun."
Sam gave Dean an unimpressed look, making the older brother sigh.
"Here, take a look at this," he slid the newspaper he was looking down the bar to him. "I think I got one. Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week, Sophie Carlton, eighteen, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water, nothing."
"Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year," Dean continued. "None of the bodies were found, either."
Julia frowned and pulled the paper over to her, quickly reading through the obituary. "She was the swim team captain at her school?"
"Yep," Dean confirmed. "None of the other bodies were found, either. They had a funeral two days ago."
Sam looked over at him, his eyebrows raised. "A funeral?"
"Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin," Dean shrugged. "For, uh, closure of whatever."
Julia she was all for whatever helped people cope with their grief but she didn't really understand why the family just didn't have a memorial for the poor girl. Then again, it certainly wasn't her business.
"Closure," Sam scoffed sourly. "What closure? People don't just disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them."
Dean turned in his stool to face Sam, sensing his displeasure. Truthfully, he'd picked on up the fact that Sam was irritated they weren't actively trying to find Dad for a few days now. "Something you want to say to me?"
Dean was an upfront guy; he didn't like passive aggressive bullshit.
Sam inhaled deeply. "The trail for Dad—it's getting colder every day."
"Exactly," Dean pointed out. "So, what are we supposed to do?"
"I don't know. Something. Anything."
"You know what, I'm sick of your attitude," Dean's eyes narrowed in irritation as his voice lowered in anger. "You don't think I wanna find Dad as much as you do?"
"Yeah, I know you do, it's just—"
"I'm the one who's been with him every day for the past four years while you've been off to college going to pep rallies," Dean cut Sam off coldly. "We will find Dad but until then, we're gonna kill everything bad between here and there, okay?"
Sam rolled his eyes heavily, making Dean bristle. Sensing that their argument was going to stumble out of control—like they sometimes did with brothers who both had the famous Winchester temper—Julia spoke up.
"Please stop, all right?" she looked between them, her eyes wide and sad; Dean and Sam almost immediately melted—her puppy-eyed look was almost lethal compared to Sam's. "Please."
"All right," Sam sighed, giving in. "Lake Manitoc. How far?"
Dean grinned at him and grabbed the check when the waitress delivered it, a phone number at the bottom.
They reached Lake Manitoc within a couple of hours, having already been in Minnesota for a small spirit case that had Julia torching her first corpse. They decided to head to the victim's family first before they went to the police station to question the sheriff about the recent drownings and missing bodies.
The Carlton residence was a basic cabin, right on Lake Manitoc. It was a cute little home with dark green shutters that made Julia smile sadly. The house looked well loved and she felt horrible that the family was going through this kind of grief.
Grief from a family member dying was one thing. When that person died of something that couldn't easily be explained? That was worse—much, much worse.
Dean knocked on the front door of the cabin; a man around his age opened the door, giving them a questioning look.
"Will Carlton?" Dean asked him; the man nodded. "I'm Agent Ford, this is Agent Hamill and junior Agent Fisher. We're with the US Wildlife Service."
Behind his back, Julia gave him an unimpressed look. Did he think he was being slick using the most notable stars of the popular Star Wars franchise? And he had to quit with this junior agent and intern stuff—she wasn't that much younger than him and Sam and she wasn't a kid by any means.
"More questions?" Will sighed.
Julia gave him a sad smile. "Sorry but it's for our investigation."
Will nodded and walked out onto the porch. He led them closer to the lake, his eyes on the closest dock. There was an older man sitting on it, looking out at the lake with depressed eyes.
"First off, we'd like to give you our condolences," Sam said softly as came to a stop. "We've heard great things about Sophie."
Will gave him a half-hearted smile that spoke volumes with just how sad he was. Julia's heart ached with sympathy.
Sam and Dean started asking him questions, hoping to get a better insight on the circumstances surrounding Sophie's death. They were careful not to offend the man while also trying to get as much information as they could.
"She was about a hundred yards out," Will nodded at the lake, answering Sam's question about where he last saw Sophie. "That's where she was dragged down."
"And you're sure she didn't just drown?" Dean prodded.
"Yeah," Will scoffed and smiled fondly. "She was a varsity swimmer. 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?"
"No, that's what I'm telling you."
"Did you see any shadows in the water," Sam followed up. "Maybe some dark shape breach the surface?"
"No," Will shook his head. "Again, she was really far out there."
"You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dean spoke up.
"No, never. Why?" Will stiffened, looking paranoid. "Why, what do you think is out there?"
"We'll let you know as soon as we do," Julia assured him kindly. "Thanks for your time, Mr. Carlton."
"What about your father?" Sam asked Will as Julia and Dean started back toward the Impala; they paused to listen to Will's answer. "Can we talk to him."
Will looked over to the dock; his dad was in the same position, looking down at the dark water below him. "Look, if you don't mind, I mean," he said hesitantly. "he didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot."
Sam nodded and gave him a small smile. "We understand. Thanks again."
Julia, Dean, and Sam got into the Impala and drove off. As they headed to the police station to ask the sheriff for more details about the case, it was almost too quiet. It unnerved Julia because usually Dean had some of his music playing and although she wasn't the biggest fan of mullet rock—as Sam put it—she preferred it to silence.
"Why isn't there any snow?" she spoke up, looking out her window. "Shouldn't there be snow?"
She had lived in Chicago all of her life up until she left for college in California and there was usually some snow that fell around this time of year. And Chicago was much more south than Lake Manitoc. Bethany had told her just that morning that they had a few inches of snow already at home.
"Global warming's a bitch," Dean answered.
Julia laughed lightly in agreement before picking up the local newspaper she bought when they got to town. She had been interested in the front headline, which was giving the town's residence more details about the nearby dam that was falling apart. When they arrived at the police station, she had read the whole article and discovered that the government had decided not fun repairs.
"Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" the sheriff, who introduced himself as Jake, asked them as he led them to his office.
"You sure it's accidental?" Sam raised his eyebrows at him. "Will Carlton saw something grab his sister."
"Like what? Here, sit please," Jake gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk; Dean let Julia and Sam sit in them. "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."
"Yeah," Dean chuckled awkwardly. "Right."
"Will Carlton was traumatized and sometimes the mind plays tricks," Jake went on as he sat in his own seat. "Sill, we dragged that lake. We even ran a sonar sweep, just to be sure, and there was nothing down there."
"That's weird, though," Dean commented. "I mean, that's the third missing body this year."
"I know," Jake agreed sadly and a little defensively. "These are my people from my town. These are people I care about."
"I know."
"Anyway," Jake sighed and leaned back in his chair. "All this won't be a problem much longer."
Dean gave him a curious look. "What do you mean?"
"Well, the dam, of course."
"It's falling apart," Julia spoke up, knowing that their aliases probably should have known about something that would so drastically affect the town's wildlife; Sam and Dean gave her questioning looks while Jake nodded solemnly.
"And the Feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spillway," Jake added; Dean and Sam were impressed with Julia's sudden knowledge of the town that saved their asses. "In another six months, there won't be much of a lake. There won't be much of a town, either."
Dean gave the sheriff a weak smile and went to speak but wasn't able to. An attractive woman around his age had knocked on the door, getting the man's attention.
"Sorry, am I interrupting?" the woman asked sheepishly. "I can come back later."
Jake stood up; Julia and Sam followed his lead. "This is my daughter."
Dean grinned at her. "Pleasure to meet you," he shook her hand. "I'm Dean."
"Andrea Barr," the woman introduced herself. "Hi."
"Hi."
"They're from the Wildlife Service," Jake informed Andrea pointedly. "About the lake."
Andrea's face visibly fell. "Oh."
A little boy with a bored and depressed expression on his face walked into the room after her. Julia gave him a small smile; she loved kids and had always wanted to be a mother but unfortunately that wasn't in the cards for her.
"Oh, hey there," Dean spotted the boy too. "What's your name?"
The boy seemed very shy; he hurried away from them to go sit at a table outside of the office. Andrea gave them an apologetic look and followed after him, taking out crayons and some paper to give him.
"His name is Lucas," Jake informed them, watching his grandson with a sad smile.
Julia perked up at the name. She felt like it was a sign from her guardian angel that she happened to be working a case on the anniversary of her mom's death that involved a boy with her father's name. He hadn't contacted her at all today, so she felt like the angels were assuring her that she'd be okay.
"Is he okay?" Sam asked, watching the little boy take the crayons from his mother and start to draw on the construction paper in front of him.
"My grandson's been through a lot. We all have," Jake sighed as he walked toward his office door. "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know."
"Thank you for your help," Julia smiled at the sheriff gratefully as they left his office.
"You know," Dean turned back to Jake and Andrea halfway out of the station, though he was speaking mostly to Andrea. "now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?"
"Lakefront Motel," Andrea informed him. "Go around the corner. It's about two blocks up."
"Two—" Dean scratched his head, acting confused. "Would you mind showing us?"
Andrea chuckled, amused. "You want me to walk you two blocks?"
Dean smiled sheepishly. "Not if it's any trouble."
"I'm headed that way anyway," Andrea turned to her dad. "I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three," she kissed her son's head and promised, "We'll go to the park, okay, sweetie?"
"Thanks again," Sam told Jake before he and Julia followed Dean and Andrea out of the station.
As they walked through the bustling town square, Julia squinted around. It was pretty much December and it wasn't cold and there was no sign of winter weather. Andrea was wearing a t-shirt and skirt for crying out loud and no one that they passed was wearing any sort of coat. The only sign that it had been fall was the bare trees and dead leaves blowing around in the slight breeze.
"So," Dean cleared his throat to get Andrea's attention. "cute kid."
"Thanks," Andrea smiled before leading them across a street.
"Kids are the best, huh?" he laughed.
Andrea gave him a clearly amused look but didn't answer as they walked closer to the motel. They stopped on the sidewalk in front of the building and Andrea turned to Dean with a smirk.
"There it is," she gestured to the motel. "Like I said, two blocks."
Julia laughed lightly, amused at the woman's spunk. She liked that she wasn't falling at Dean's feet like most women would. She was smart and knew that he was trying to get on her good side. "Thanks."
Andrea grinned at her before looking back at Dean. "Must be hard with your sense of direction," she commented, her tone sarcastic. "never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line."
Julia gaped at her, a laugh escaping her throat before she could stop it. Andrea left with a satisfied smirk on her face, calling back to them, "Enjoy your stay!"
Dean was at a loss for words but he did manage to send Julia an annoyed look. Julia controlled her laughter but she was beaming at him, her cheeks red with mirth.
Sam grinned at Dean, just as amused as Julia. "Kids are the best?" he repeated Dean's earlier line. "You don't even like kids."
"I love kids!" Dean defended himself.
"Name three children that you even know," Sam dared him.
"Lydia," Dean said immediately, naming Julia's three-year-old niece.
"Okay, that's one," Julia commented. "How about two more?"
Dean pressed his lips together and pulled his hands out of his pockets to count on his fingers. He took too long to say another name, since he didn't know any other children, and Sam got bored. He started toward the motel's front off with Julia on his trail.
"I'm thinking!" Dean called after them, scratching his head.
Since Julia was paying for this motel stay—she, Sam, and Dean agreed that she would pay for every-other motel they had to stop at—she splurged for an extra room like usual. When the Winchester were paying, she had to share the bed with Sam but she enjoyed a room to herself, especially since Sam was a giant and took up eighty-five percent of the bed. The only thing was that the rooms had to be connected; Dean was adamant about that, especially since she was in training and he was worried if something would happen.
Dean's concern was sweet but sometimes Julia liked her privacy. Especially since she spent all of her time with two grown men.
She laid on the bed in her room on her stomach, her feet swaying in the air above her as she typed the class discussion that was due that night for her Archaic Latin class. The connecting door to Sam and Dean's room was open and she could hear Sam typing away but other than that, it was pretty quiet other than her quiet humming that helped her concentrate on her work.
She looked up from her laptop as Dean entered her room.
"You saved our asses back there at the station, you know."
She gave him a confused look, having already forgotten what he was talking about. "What do you mean?"
"What you said about the dam," he reminded her. "If you hadn't of said something, I'm pretty sure our cover would have been blown."
"Oh," Julia smiled like she did whenever she received praise and looked back at her screen. "It was just luck. I saw an article about it on the newspaper I picked up at the gas station when we got to town."
"Well, either way," Dean shrugged. "You did good," he sat down at the end of the bed, just behind her computer. "Whatcha doing?"
"Class discussion," her eyes were back on him, unable to focus now.
"Class?"
Julia nodded at the confused look on his face. "It's the last week before finals."
"What class?"
"Classes," she elaborated, sharing her class schedule. "New Testament, Archaic Latin, Aramaic, Islam, and French."
Dean gave her an impressed look. "You're doing all of that online?"
"Mmhmm," she hummed. "I had an internship at Stanford so I was able to do my classes online."
"What about next semester?"
"Already registered and they're all online again," she assured him.
"And then you graduate?"
Julia nodded proudly; she had worked so hard on her education all her life, even skipping a few grades so they she could attend college with Sam. "Double major in religion and linguistics."
"That's great, m really proud of you, Julia," Dean said with an impressed smile; Julia beamed at him. "Don't tell Sam but I kinda wished I went to college, too."
Julia gave him a surprised look. She had never heard Dean say anything about his want for higher education, especially since he dropped out of high school. "Really?" she asked. "What would you major in?"
"Mechanical engineering, I think," Dean answered her. "I like making things and working with my hands."
"You're great at that," Julia agreed, knowing that he would had been great at his job if he had gone down that road. "Remember when you built that barbie house for me?"
Dean grinned at the memory, his cheeks slightly flushing. "That's not quite the same, Junior."
"I know that, I'm just saying," Julia rolled her eyes playfully. "You're a genius with that kind of stuff."
Dean smiled, secretly pleased with what she was saying. Sam was the smart brother and he had always been but he had some tricks up his sleeve, too. It was nice to have someone acknowledge that side of him. Over the years he had picked up skills and making things was one of his favorites. He had made an EMF device out of a Walkman once, which he was particularly proud of.
"Guys!" Sam called from the other room, breaking Julia and Dean out of their little world. "Come here, I found more information."
Dean got up and walked back into his room, Julia rolling out of bed to follow him. Sam was at the table, his laptop in front of him. He had been on the thing for an hour or so, so she wasn't surprised to see that he had discovered something.
"So, there's the three drowning victims this year," Sam stated, bringing up the information he complied.
"Any before that?" Dean asked quickly.
"Yeah," Sam nodded. "Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered, either. If there's something out there, it's picking up its pace."
"Maybe it's picking up the pace because the lake's being drained," Julia spoke up thoughtfully.
"Might be," Sam agreed.
"So, we got a lake monster on a binge, huh," Dean said dryly, going over to sit on his bed.
Sam shook his head in disagreement. "This whole lake monster theory bugs me," he declared. He explained when Julia gave him a questioning look. "Loch Ness, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts. But here? Almost nothing."
"So, whatever's out there, no one's living to talk about it," Julia assumed.
Dean hummed in agreement and walked back over to the table, hovering over Sam to read over his shoulder. "Barr," he muttered, reading the latest drowning victim before Sophie Carlton. "Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?"
"Christopher Barr, the victim in May," Sam took a closer look at the article, scrolling further down the page. There was a picture of Lucas in the middle of the writing, bundled up in a large towel with soaked hair. "Oh, Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband and Lucas' father. Apparently he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating platform when Chris drown; it was two hours before the kid got rescued."
Julia sighed sadly. "Poor little guy."
"Maybe we have an eyewitness after all," Sam scratched his head.
"No wonder that kid was so freaked out," Dean said quietly, getting Julia and Sam's attention. "Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over."
The knowing, faraway look in Dean's eyes made Julia's heart ache. Dean never talked about his mom or if he saw what actually happened to her. Julia assumed that he did, by his comment. It was hard for her to witness her mom die when she was a teenager and her mom died of something human. She couldn't imagine when Dean went through at four years old, watching his mom die because of a supernatural creature.
He was too young. No kid should have to go through something that traumatic.
Knowing that Andrea was picking up Lucas from her dad around three, Julia, Sam, and Dean headed to the park around the same time. They wanted to see if they could get anything out of Lucas without traumatizing him further and Dean had volunteered to talk to the kid while Sam and Julia spoke with his mom.
The three of them walked through the park, spotting Andrea sitting at a bench just outside of the play area. She was watching Lucas, who didn't seem like he wanted to join in on the rambunctious activities by the jungle gym. He was perfectly content to sit at a bench and color.
"Can we join you?" Julia asked Andrea as they approached the bench she was sitting on.
Andrea looked up, smiling slightly when she saw them there. "I'm here with my son."
"Oh, mind if I say hi?" Dean wondered, walking away toward Lucas before Andrea could agree to his request. Andrea didn't seem all that bothered by it, turning to Julia as she sat next to her.
"You should tell your friend that this whole Jerry Maguire thing is not gonna work on me," she said, amused, as they all watched Dean greet Lucas.
"I don't think that's what this is about," Sam spoke up, watching Dean thoughtfully.
"We heard about your husband," Julia said apologetically; Andrea frowned sadly. "Dean went through something similar as Lucas when he was a kid."
"Really?" Andrea looked relieved that he wasn't just talking to her son to get in her good graces.
Sam nodded. "Our mom," he explained. "I don't remember much but Dean—well, from what I heard, he didn't speak for a long while afterwards."
"I know the feeling," Andrea sighed sadly, glancing back at Lucas and Dean. "Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his dad's accident."
"I'm sorry," Julia grabbed her hand and squeezed comfortingly as Dean started walking back over. "What are the doctors saying?"
"That's it's some kind of post-traumatic stress."
"That can't be easy," Sam said sympathetically; Dean coming to stand next to him. "for either of you."
"We moved in with my dad," Andrea smiled slightly. "He helps out a lot. It's just…when I think about what Lucas went though, what he saw…"
"Kids are strong," Dean said when she trailed off. "You'd be surprised what they can deal with."
"You know, he used to have such life," Andrea smiled back at Lucas as he left his bench; Julia grinned, thinking of her niece who was as crazy as little girls get. "He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now, he just sits there, drawing those pictures and playing with those army men. I just wish—" she abruptly changed the subject as Lucas came up to them. "Hey, sweetie."
Lucas' eyes were on the ground but he held out a picture he drew for Dean. The picture was of a cabin and it was pretty good for kid his age.
"Thanks," Dean looked at with a smile. "Thanks, Lucas."
Lucas just slouched off, going back to his bench to color.
The next morning, Dean and Julia were eating the breakfast he had picked up when Sam walked back into the room. He slammed the door shut behind him and took a seat next to Dean on his bed.
"So, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie," he said dryly.
Dean gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"I just drove past the Carlton house," Sam informed them. "There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead."
Julia stiffened, horrified. "Did he drown?"
"Yep, in the sink."
"What the fuck?" Dean took the last bite of his breakfast sandwich. "So, you were right, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else."
"What could it be?" Julia wondered.
"I don't know," Dean shrugged. "Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water…water that comes from the same source."
"The lake," she stated; it seemed like her assumption the day before was correct. Whatever this thing was, it wanted to get its agenda done before the lake was completely drained.
"You were right, J," Sam commented. "It explains why it's upping the body count. It's running out of time."
"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, almost anywhere," Dean added, standing up and crumpling his wrapper. "This is gonna happen again soon."
"And we do know one thing for sure," Sam sighed. "This has got something to do with Bill Carlton."
"It took both of his kids," Julia hummed.
"And I've been asking around," Sam added. "Lucas' dad, Chris? He was Bill Carlton's godson."
Dean sighed and pulled on his boots. "Well, let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit."
Julia stayed in the car while Dean and Sam questioned Mr. Carlton, and talked to her brother, Levi, since they hadn't gotten to talk the day before. It was a nice conversation but a little awkward since they weren't the closest of siblings.
Levi and Abby were kind of loners growing up and now that Levi was an adult, he was quiet when he was pitching meetings to the company or selling big item products. Still, Julia loved him and she was glad they got in touch. He was a little worried about her on the road and was more than a little skeptical about Dean and Sam training her as opposed to Abby or Luke but he liked the brothers so it didn't come from a bad place.
After Sam and Dean talked to Mr. Carlton—tried to talk, anyway, since the poor man didn't feel like talking—they discovered that the drawing Lucas gave Dean at the park was actually the cabin the Carltons lived. They went to Andrea's house next so Dean could talk to him and he was presented with another drawing, this time of a yellow two-story house near a church with a little stick-figure boy and a red bike.
"Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died," Dean informed Julia and Sam as they rode around town, searching for the yellow house in the drawing.
Honestly, this case was hitting close to home for all of them—but mostly for Dean and Julia. For Dean, he could see himself in the little boy; his parent died and he stopped speaking out of grief. For Julia, besides the fact that Lucas shared her dad's name, is that knew things that other people wouldn't always know.
Julia knew how that felt; all her life she knew of things that would just randomly pop into her head and, of course, she had the bad feelings she got once in a while, like with Dean and Sam. It would scare her in the beginning, to see her family look at her in confusion—like how she stated the day before the news broke about President Clinton that he was going to be on trial—but she never thought of herself as a freak. To her knowledge, her family didn't, either.
"There are cases—" Sam sighed doubtfully. "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?" Dean asked; Sam made an uncommitted sound that made him stiffen. "I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please."
"It wouldn't hurt, Sam," Julia spoke up. "You know that sometimes these things happen."
"All right," Sam gave into the pressure Dean and Julia were putting on him. "we got another house to find."
"The only problem is there's about a thousand yellow two-stories in this county alone," Dean grumbled.
Julia hummed and leaned forward, studying the drawing on Sam's lap. "What about the church?"
"True," Sam agreed. "I bet there's less than a thousand of those around here."
"Ooh, college kids," Dean teased them playfully. "you think you're so smaht, huh?"
Sam laughed and Julia joined in, pushing Dean's shoulder before sitting back in her seat.
They drove around the town, looking for the churches in the area. They had already looked at four of them when they came across a white church, almost identical to the drawing Lucas gave Dean. Right across the street happened to be a yellow two-story.
Dean and Sam nodded at each other before the three of them walked up to the house and knocked on the door. An old woman answered the door, looking at them in confusion. She let them in without a word—and introduced herself as Helen Sweeney—so apparently they passed her silent test. Or she was just a sweet lady who didn't think any harm would come to her in a small town like Manitoc Lake.
"We're sorry to bother, ma'am, but does a little boy live here, by chance?" Dean asked her politely. "He might wear a blue ball cap, has a red bicycle."
"No, sir," Mrs. Sweeney said sadly. "Not for a very long time. Peter's been gone for thirty-five years now," she glanced at an old picture of an adolescent boy sitting on the nearest table. "The police never—I never had any idea of what happened. He just disappeared."
Julia pressed her lips together sadly and looked around Mrs. Sweeney's home. It looked like a shrine to her lost son. There were a bunch of pictures, toys, balls, and even some small green army men just like the ones they saw Lucas playing with.
"Losing him," Mrs. Sweeney shook her head slowly. "you know, it's…it's worse than dying."
Dean and Sam gave each other a pointed look—that was the exact phrase that Bill Carlton had used when talking about his recently-deceased children.
"Mrs. Sweeney," Julia gave her a gentle smile, keeping her voice soft. "Did Peter disappear from the house?"
Mrs. Sweeney shook her head. "He was supposed to ride his bike straight home after school but he never showed up."
Julia gave her a sympathetic smile and helped her sit down before offering to get her a glass of water. As she disappeared into the kitchen, Mrs. Sweeney allowed Sam and Dean to look around.
Dean spotted a picture of Peter and another little boy in a mirror hung on the way. He studied it and then turned it over to read the writing on the back.
"Peter Sweeney and Billy Carlton, nineteen-seventy," he muttered.
With the realization that the whole situation with Peter Sweeney going missing and being somehow connected to Bill Carlton, the three of them left shortly after Julia came back into the room with a glass of water for Mrs. Sweeney.
Sam, Julia, and Dean theorized that Bill must have killed Peter when he was a little boy and was now going after Bill Carlton. First, he killed Bill's children so that he would know the pain his mother went through when he went missing and then he'd take Bill for himself. As they raced to Bill Carlton's house, they knew Peter had gotten his revenge.
Bill had gone out onto the lake with his small motorized boat and in the middle of it; the boat flipped over on a very small wave that came out of nowhere and Bill plunged into the lake. He didn't resurface.
Julia, Dean, and Sam were led into the police station by Jake for questioning about Bill's death. It was suspicious to the sheriff that they just so happened to be at Bill's cabin at the same time as his boat flipped over.
Andrea and Lucas were waiting for Jake with a bucket of fried chicken when they walked into the building. She looked up in surprise when she saw them trailing behind her father.
"Sam, Dean, Julia," she furrowed her eyebrows and stood up. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"So, now you're on a first-name basis?" Jake asked her. "What are you doing here?"
"I brought you dinner."
"Sorry, sweetheart," Jake apologized. "I don't really have the time."
Andrea glanced at Julia, Dean, and Sam before looking back at her father. "I heard about Bill Carlton," she crossed her arms over her chest. "Is it true? Is something going on with the lake?"
"Right now, we don't know what the truth is but I think it might be better if you and Lucas went home," Jake advised.
Lucas looked absolutely panicked at the thought of leaving the station. He jumped out of his chair and ran to Dean. He whimpered as he frantically clutched Dean's arm, tugging at him.
"Lucas, hey, what is it?" Dean asked worriedly.
"Lucas?" Andrea asked uncertainly.
"Lucas, it's okay," Dean comforted the little boy, making Julia's heart ache and melt at the sight—he was damn good with kids. "IT's okay, Lucas. It's okay."
Andrea pulled Lucas away from Dean and Lucas let go with a reluctant and stricken face. Andrea silently led him out of the station, giving her dad as hesitant look as they went. Lucas looked back at Dean with fear the whole time he walked away.
Uncomfortable, Jake slipped off his jacket and threw it onto the chair at the front desk. He walked into his office and the others followed him, knowing that they were going to be questioned now.
"Okay, just so I'm clear," Jake sighed heavily, sinking into his chair. "you see…something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill—who is a very good swimmer, by the way—into the water and you never see him again?
Dean glanced at Julia and Sam before looking back at him. "Yeah, that about sums it up."
"And I'm supposed to believe this even though I've already sonar-swept the entire lake?" Jake asked skeptically. "And what you're describing is impossible? And the fact that you're not really Wildlife Service?"
Julia's face fell in surprise. It wouldn't be far out to think that Dean and Sam felt the same way.
"That's right," Jake observed their expressions. "I checked. The department's never heard of you three."
Dean hastily started to make an excuse. "See, now, we can explain that."
"Enough," Jake snapped. "The only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did. So, we have a couple of options here."
Julia pressed her lips together; she really didn't like this guy.
"I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as a material witness to Bill's Carlton's disappearance," Jake listed, pointing a finger in their faces. "Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get in your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again."
Sam spoke up before Dean's temper and Julia's indignance got them into more trouble. "Door number two sounds good."
"That's the one I'd pick," Jake nodded harshly.
Julia, Sam, and Dean quickly took their leave, making a quick pit stop back at the motel to grab their things and check out. Dean was quiet as they loaded up the Impala and got some gas and when they pulled up to a red light that would lead them out of town and toward Milwaukee, he didn't move when the light turned green.
"Green," Sam drawled, getting Dean's attention.
"What?"
"The light's green."
Dean waited a few seconds before pressing the gas. He turned right, pulling onto the road that would bring them back into town.
"Uh, the interstate's the other way," Sam pointed out flatly.
"I know," Dean didn't seem to care.
Julia was glad that they were going back. They may have thought that only Bill Carlton and his family were connected to this but Lucas was so scared when his grandfather told him and his mom to leave the station. He had practically anchored himself to Dean before Andrea got him to let go. He was terrified and with all the correct signs he'd given them before, why wouldn't they believe him now?
"Dean, I think this job is over," Sam tried to get Dean to act rationally.
Dean shook his head firmly. "I'm not so sure."
"If Bill murdered Peter Sweeney and Peter's spirit got its revenge, case closed," Sam pointed out. "The spirit should be at rest."
"All right, so what if we take off and this thing isn't done?" Dean asked him. "You know, what if we've missing something? What if more people get hurt?"
Sam gave him a weird look. "Why would you think that?"
Dean pressed his lips together and Julia spoke up in his defense. "Sam, Lucas looked really scared…"
Sam glanced back at her and, when she subtly nodded in Dean's direction, he looked back at his brother with wide eyes. "That's what this is about?"
"I just don't want to leave this town until I know the kid's okay," Dean declared firmly.
"Who are you?" Sam scoffed in amusement. "and what have you done with my brother?"
Dean glared at him. "Shut up."
"Dean, just admit you like kids," Julia rolled her eyes playfully.
"You shut up, too."
It was a good thing that Dean was so stubborn about going back to check on Lucas because, when they got to the Barr residence, Andrea was being drowned by Peter's spirit in the bathtub. Julia and Sam pulled her to safety while Dean held Lucas back from harm but it was still scary for the both of them.
It was when Dean discovered that Jake had been friends with Peter Sweeney and Bill Carlton that Lucas ran out of their house and pointed to a patch of dirt out by the lake. When Sam and Dean dug up Peter's red bicycle, Jake had arrived and threatened them with a gun.
It went quickly after that; Dean had confronted Jake about helping Bill Carlton kill Peter Sweeney and Jake admitted that it was an accident and they left the body go in the lake. Lucas was lured into the lake by Peter and Jake surrendered to the spirit in order to save his grandson.
Despite losing Jake, they were able to save Lucas and Andrea.
Dean was melancholy all morning the day after, still sulking about the fact that Jake had been killed by Peter. Julia was sad to see him so down on himself when he was the main person who kept Lucas and Andrea safe—he believed in Lucas and he made sure they stayed in town to protect them.
Sam noticed the same thing as Julia. "Look," he sighed as he slung his and Julia's bags into the trunk. "we're not gonna save everybody."
Dean nodded. "I know."
"Turn that frown upside-down, Bean," Julia used her childhood nickname for him and reached up, playfully poking his left cheek. The corners of his lips lifted even though he swatter her hand away from his face. "You guys saved Andrea and Lucas. That's what matters."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"
"Sam, Dean, Julia!" Andrea called as she and Lucas ran up to them.
"Hey," Dean grinned at her.
"We're glad we caught you," Andrea declared. "We just, uh, we made you lunch for the road. Lucas insisted on making the sandwiches for himself."
"That's super sweet of you, Lucas," Julia gave him a sweet smile.
Lucas smiled sheepishly and looked up at his mom. "Can I give it to them now?"
Julia's eyes widened when she heard Lucas speak and let out a small huff of relief. She could tell by the look in Andrea's eyes that she was so relieved to see her son back to his old self.
"Of course," Andrea kissed his head.
"Come on, Lucas, let's load this into the car," Dean gestured the kid over to the Impala.
When they were out of hearing range, Sam turned to Andrea. "How are you holding up?"
"It's gonna take a long time to sort through everything, you know?" Andrea smiled sadly.
Sam sighed apologetically. "Andrea, I'm sorry."
Andrea shook her head. "You saved my son. I can't ask for more than that. Dad loved me and he loved Lucas. No matter what he did, I just have to hold onto that."
Julia grinned at her. "You're very wise, you know? You remind me of my mom."
Sam gave his best friend a sad smile and wrapped a supportive arm around her shoulder. Andrea gave her a grateful look and Julia was surprised when she pulled both her and Sam into a hug. If it had been a different life, she could really see herself being friends with Andrea.
The three of them walked over to the Impala, where Dean was sitting in the backseat so he was down at Lucas' level.
"All right," they overheard him say to Lucas. "if you're gonna be talking now, this is a very important phrase. So, I want you to repeat it one more time."
"Zeppelin rules!" Lucas exclaimed.
"That's right!" Dean grinned and held up his hand for a high-five. "Up high."
Lucas slapped his hand against Dean's. It was all very cute.
"You take care of your mom, okay?" Dean told Lucas seriously.
Lucas nodded. "All right."
Dean stood up when he noticed that Julia, Sam, and Andrea were watching them. Surprisingly, Andrea pulled Dean into a short kiss to show her thanks that had Sam and Julia raising their eyebrows at each other in amusement.
"Thank you," Andrea whispered as she pulled away from him.
Dean stared at her for a second before awkwardly scratching his head. "Sam, Jules, move your asses," he told Sam and Julia as he walked around to the driver's side. "We're gonna run out of daylight before we hit the road."
He was being dramatic since it was ten in the morning but Sam and Julia indulged him. It was clear that he was feeling unsarcastically awkward from the kiss Andrea gave him and it was all kinds of endearing.
Julia gave Andrea and Lucas a final smile. "You two be safe."
What was left of the Barr family agreed as she slipped into the backseat. They waved as Dean drove off, his music blasting loudly.
"Hero gets the girl," Julia sighed, leaning her chin on the front seat. "and the other two get ham sandwiches and bananas."
Sam chuckled while Dean rolled his eyes in amusement.
"I'll eat your sandwiches if you don't shut up."
"Touch them and die, bitch."