Lily sat in the outdoor coffee shop beside Dean, sipping on her cup of hot chocolate. She alternated between watching Dean search for a hunt on the computer and watching Sam talk on the phone, along with just plain people watching. It was the middle of March and fairly cold out –but the sun was shining and there wasn't much of a breeze, so it was nice.
"Your half-caf, double vanilla latte is getting' cold over here, Francis." Dean called.
"Bite me." Sam replied.
"So anything?"
"I had 'em check the FBI Missing Persons Data Bank and there were no John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even went so far as to have them check for traffic violations. Nothing."
"I don't think Dad wants to be found, Sammy." Dean said. "But check this out, I think I got a hunt. Only 'bout a hundred miles from here."
"'The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on 9 Mile Road.'" Sam read.
"Keep goin'." Dean urged.
"'Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of the killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible.'"
"Could be somethin' interesting." Dean said, shrugging. "Dad would check it out."
Sam agreed and they drove to Ankeny, Iowa. Once they got there, Dean dropped Lily off at a park because they were going to a frat house and having an eleven-year-old girl along with them wouldn't exactly help their cover.
It was a Sunday morning, so there were a few kids around the park. Lily was able to be a kid for a few hours and played basketball with a group of kids her age. Since she'd been training with Dean a lot, she'd gotten into pretty good physical shape and made a few shots.
But when she saw a seven-year-old boy with the same dark hair as Logan, she had to stop herself from going over and hugging him; it brought back so many memories. More times than she could remember, she'd taken Logan to the local park – she'd send him off with some of the younger kids while she and a group of friends went behind the school to smoke – but he'd always sneak his way back to them.
Once in a while, Lily would steal some money from her Mom's purse and they would stop at a little pizza shop that sold slices for a dollar and pops for fifty cents.
Thankfully Dean and Sam picked her up a few minutes later before she could go over to the boy.
"Where we going?" Lily asked.
"Church." Dean said.
"No seriously, where we going?" Lily asked, chuckling.
"Seriously, we're going to Church." Dean said, pulling into a Church parking lot.
"I'll stay in the car." Lily said, pulling out a book.
"Come on, it'll be fun." Dean said.
"I said I'll stay in the car." Lily repeated.
Dean gestured for Sam to go ahead and turned around to face Lily. "Why don't you wanna go in?"
"I think religion is a joke. God doesn't exist and it's pointless to go in there and hear someone preach about Him."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because if God existed He wouldn't have let my brother die." Lily snapped.
"This is a hunt, Lily, we do what we gotta do regardless of how we feel about it." Dean said.
"Do you believe in God?" Lily asked.
"No. But I think Sam does." Dean said.
Lily sighed and climbed out of the Impala. "I don't want to go to the park anymore." Lily commented as they walked over to where Sam was waiting.
"Why?"
"I saw a kid that looked like Logan. I'd rather not go again."
"Okay." Dean said, nodding.
They walked into the Church, the door slamming behind them and causing everyone to turn around to look at them as they found a pew at the back.
Lily did attempt to listen, but her mind wandered – not thinking about anything in particular. Dean had to nudge her to bow her head for prayer.
Afterwards, Lily went straight to the Impala while Sam talked to Lori, the eyewitness, and Dean talked to her Dad, the reverend.
They went to the library in search of information, only coming up with the Hook Man legend; it fit fairly well- the guy suspended above the car; the hook; the invisible man.
Later that night they drove to 9 Mile Road – Dean pulled a rifle from the trunk and handed it to Sam.
"If it's a spirit, buckshot won't do much good."
"Yeah, that's why it's filled with rounds of rock salt." Dean said, smirking.
"Huh…salt being a spirit deterrent…"
"It won't kill 'em, but it'll slow 'em down." Dean finished.
"That's pretty good…you and dad think of this?"
"I told you," Dean said. "You don't have to be a college graduate to be a genius." Dean said as they started into the woods. Lily was careful to remain out of there way.
A sudden noise sent them all looking into the woods.
"Over there. Over there." Dean whispered and Sam aimed the gun, a figure appearing from the trees- the sheriff.
"Put the gun down now! Now! Put your hands behind your head."
Dean shot Lily a look and she slid into the shadows of the trees. "W-w-wait, okay, okay!" Dean said.
Lily watched as Dean and Sam were handcuffed – a bit of fear running through her as she watched them be pulled away. Shoving her hand into her pocket, she grabbed the matchbook from the motel and set it on the hood before beginning the long walk back to the motel.
The next morning Dean woke her up.
"Good thinking leaving the matchbook." Dean said, tossing it back to Lily who had taken to collecting the matchboxes of all the motels they stayed at. "Get dressed.
"Where we going? Breakfast? I'm starving."
"Later – there was another murder." Dean said.
"Where? Who?"
"Lori's roommate." Sam said, sadly.
They snuck into the sorority house through a closet window – the body was gone but the blood was there. On the wall written in blood were the words "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?" and the cross symbol they'd seen in there research.
With a little more research, they found out similar killings done by clergymen. They also figured out that it was Karns spirit latching onto reverends and their repressed emotions, killing those they felt were immoral.
Sam agreed to watch Lori's house in case the spirit showed up while Lily and Dean salted and burned the body.
"I turn twelve in a few weeks." Lily commented idly as they drove.
"I knew that." Dean said, happily.
"It's gonna be weird. Mom and I would always go see a movie, just the two of us. She'd be sober and it was nice."
"We can see a movie if you want." Dean said. "Or do something different."
"I think a movie would be nice. So much has changed…so many things that I use to do. I've been responsible for Logan since I was four-years-old and now it's like – I'm not. I move around and used to live in the same house my whole life and I have a Dad and I've never had that before. I lost a lot of stuff."
"Maybe that can be something you hold onto." Dean said.
"Yeah." Lily said, smiling a little. "I'm glad you showed up Dean. I mean, it led to a lot of bad stuff but I wouldn't have known you if you hadn't showed up."
Dean smiled, a little embarrassed.
Burning the bones was an odd experience – the smell was something that Lily was sure never to forget- but seeing the bones wasn't really scary…as long as she thought of them as fake.
When they picked up Sam though, they realized that the spirit hadn't disappeared – he'd attacked the Rev.
"I don't get it." Sam said, the next morning over breakfast. "You burned the bones."
"Maybe the spirit latched onto Lori." Lily said, eating her third donut. "You know, the hook wasn't there. Isn't that like part of him?"
They quickly did some research and found out it was melted down and made into objects for the church. In a frenzy, they gathered all the silver from the church and even Lori's house and tossed it into the furnace.
When they found the hook man attacking Lori, they quickly came to her rescue.
Lily stood beside Lori as Sam and Dean surrounded them. Looking up at her, Lily saw a silver necklace hanging from her neck. "Where'd you get that?" Lily asked.
"What? I don't know, it belonged to the church." Lori said.
"Take it off…take it off!" Lily quickly ordered.
Lily tossed the necklace to Dean who raced to the basement to throw it into the furnace.
Lily leaned against the Impala while Dean talked to the police – it felt nice to finish a hunt. She'd helped save people – Lori could live a normal life now. It didn't exactly make up for Logan and her Mom, but it helped.