They pulled up to the Carlton house on the lake. Sam and Dean got out of the Impala and headed for the porch, while Lynn lingered by her open backseat door. The victim's father was sitting on a bench by the lake, looking out into the water with such hopeless eyes. She knew what was in the water and who would be taken into its depths never to be seen again. Bill Carlton would be the only one who would want to go… for the loss of his children. Lynn glanced back at the house to see Sam and Dean waiting for her. They motioned her to follow, but Lynn returned her gaze to the water.

She knew Bill Carlton's pain from the episode and could see it now, for real, in front of her. Only there was more. Lynn could feel it rising from the cold darkness of the lake until it was wafting off the ebbing surface into the air. It circled her, pulled her, only Lynn wasn't sure if it was because she knew the spirit of Peter was trapped there or if he was truly calling out to her.

Lynn flinched at the sudden pressure of a large hand covering her shoulder and instinctively turned around to strike. Before she realized who it was, Lynn jabbed Dean in the throat with all the adrenaline infused strength she had. Dean coughed at the impact, wheezing for air, and bent over his knees.

Lynn's eyes went wide with horror and gasped, "Oh my god! Dean! I'm so sorry!" She rushed over and held his shoulders as Dean rubbed his throat. "Are you okay? I didn't know it was you!"

Dean tried to wave it off and rasped, "I'm fine."

Lynn grimaced at his voice and sweetly said, "I must've completely zoned out because I would've never reacted like that if I even thought that it was you. I'm so sorry."

"S'okay Lynn." He rasped again, straightening himself back up. "Nothing's crushed. I can breathe. We're good."

She glanced over to Sam, who had been standing next to them the whole time with his mouth open in shock. He nodded in agreement with Dean and asked, "Are you okay, Lynn? That was some fight response."

"Awesome fight response," added Dean with more of his voice coming through. "Most girls scream and jump back. You literally go for the throat."

Lynn shook her head and curled her lips over her teeth to muffle an embarrassed giggle. "Yeah, I've never been in the "most girls" category. I just," she looked back to the lake and sighed. "I felt something in the water, and I guess I kinda got lost in it."

Sam took a step towards her and asked, "Felt what? A presence? Like a spirit?"

"It's hard to explain."

Dean cleared his throat and asked, "Is it like with the wendigo?"

"No. Nothing like the wendigo."

"Okay, well, if you want you can stay here while we talk to the family," Sam gently offered.

Lynn glanced up and gave him a small smile. They both nodded at her and walked back over to the house, Dean clearing his throat a few more times until they reached the door. Lynn focused her attention back on the lake. The waves glistened a sharp silver from the sunlight shining behind layers of clouds and the breeze cut Lynn through her olive jacket. There was no sign of Peter. Nothing but the feeling. Back in her reality, whenever Lynn felt something that she couldn't explain, she'd call it her Spidey Sense or joke about getting salt, but here… This… This was hairs raised, chills-all-over, off-the-charts sensory tingles, more than anything she'd ever experienced. Lynn just couldn't tell if it was because she knew Peter was there, if Peter knew she was there, or if this was just how she would sense ghosts from now on, or what.

She took a few steps closer to the lake, careful from getting too close to the water, and lightly rubbed her scarred forearm. At least whatever Lynn was feeling from the lake, it didn't remind her of how Brady's presence felt.

Sam slowly came to stand beside her as Lynn kept her eyes on rippling waves surrounding the dock. She glanced to him and asked, "What did his son say?"

"That there's no way she could've just drowned."

"Not on her own."

Sam turned to face her and gently asked, "Ready to go?"

Lynn took a deep breath, the scent of the lake in the air, and replied, "I just… I can't tell."

"Can't tell what?"

"If I'm being watched. If…" Lynn looked up at Sam and chillingly finished, "If he wants to play with me."

"Now, I'm sorry but why does the wildlife service care about an accidental drowning?" the sheriff asked, opening the wooden gate for them to follow into his office.

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

"Like what?" the sheriff challenged before offering them seats. "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."

Dean leaned against the door, giving the second chair to Lynn, and replied, "Yeah, right."

"Will Carlton was traumatized and sometimes the mind plays tricks," the sheriff continued. "Still, 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 countered as he walked along the wall to the edge of the sheriff's desk. "I mean, that's the third missing body this year."

"I know. These are people from my town. These are people I care about."

Dean nodded. "I know."

The sheriff mirrored the nod and sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Anyway, all this – It won't be a problem much longer."

"What do you mean?" asked Dean.

"Well, the dam, of course."

Lynn nodded and confirmed, "It's falling apart. And since the feds wouldn't spare the money to repair it, they opened the spillway. In about, what, six months? The lake will be gone." She could see the brothers staring at her out of the corners of her eyes, but kept her eyes focused on the sheriff. "Which really sucks for a lake town."

"Yes, yes it does," the sheriff replied in something of a chuckle.

"Sorry, am I interrupting? I can come back later."

They turned at the sound of a woman's voice and Lynn had to suppress a smile. Fred! Winifred Burkle! Only technically she wasn't. Not here, but still. Lynn was excited none the less.

"This is my daughter," the sheriff introduced as they stood up to greet her.

Dean, already standing, was the first to reach her with the most charming smile on his face. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Dean."

She took his hand to shake and replied, "Andrea Bar. Hi."

"Hi."

Lynn and Sam did their best not to roll their eyes at how intently Dean was staring at her when the sheriff broke the stare by saying, "They're from the wildlife service about the lake."

"Oh." Her smile faded and Lynn could see the memory of losing her husband wash over her eyes. At that moment, a young boy peeked out from behind his mother. He kept his eyes cast down, but Lynn noticed that he was still taking in his surroundings.

"Oh, hey there. What's your name?" asked Dean.

No response. However, the boy lifted his eyes enough to look at Lynn's arm – her marked arm – and shuddered. Lynn narrowed her eyes on the sensitive child. She was wearing a slate blue canvas jacket, completely covering her arms, but he sensed it.

Andrea put an arm around her son, but he didn't seem to notice. Instead, he looked up and stared right into Lynn's eyes. Lynn felt everyone in the room freeze and, of course, she knew why. Andrea and her father knew how significant it was for the boy to make eye contact with them let alone a stranger, and the Winchesters were at a total loss for what was going on. Lynn softened her gaze and grinned as she knelt down in front of him.

"I'm Lynn." She whispered and lightly rubbed her hand over the nearly healed burn underneath the sleeve. In an even quieter voice, she said, "It's ok, Lucas. I'm ok, I promise."

His eyes widened at the sound of his name, but he was the only one to hear her say it. Everyone else was too distracted by looking to each other in awe or for answers as to what was happening between Lynn and the traumatized boy.

"Lucas, honey?" his mom gently asked. "Ah – Are you making a friend?"

Lynn smiled up at Andrea and said, "I hope so."

Before she could look back at him, Lucas grabbed her hand and led her out of the office. Andrea hesitated in surprise before following them.

Sam and Dean took a few steps forward, confusion taking over, when the sheriff stopped them to say, "My grandson's been through a lot. We all have."

The three of them gathered around Lynn and Lucas, who had taken out his coloring pencils and started drawing on the paper. Andrea looked at her father in amazement as her son drew a picture for Lynn. It didn't take too long, and he handed it to her, making eye contact while doing so. Lynn started to smile and stopped when she saw the image.

It was her in the lake. Curls almost as dark as the black water floating around her face and brown eyes looking up to a surface that wasn't there. But the outlined shape of a small hand in the dark swirls was and it was reaching for her. Lucas suddenly grabbed her hand, and it pulled her out of the depths. Lynn glanced at the boy and said, "I'm still ok."

She held onto the drawing and asked, "Can I keep this?"

Lucas nodded and let go of her hand. "Thank you."

He didn't say anything. Just turned back to his drawing like nothing happened. Lynn glanced up at Andrea as she folded the picture and put it in her pocket. "He's talented. Very special."

"Yeah, he is." She smiled at her son before asking, "How did…?"

Lynn shrugged in reply.

"Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know."

Sam and Dean thanked the sheriff as Lynn tried to wave bye to Lucas. They left the station, but before they got to the sidewalk, Andrea followed after them.

"Wait!" she called. "Please, I need to talk to you."

"Is everything ok?" asked Lynn.

"You're here about the lake? The drownings?" When Lynn nodded, Andrea deeply exhaled and continued, "My son, after what happened to him on the lake, he-he hasn't spoken to anyone. He doesn't respond to anything. He barely even makes eye contact with me."

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Lynn gently offered.

Andrea shook her head. "I want my son to be ok, to feel like everything will be ok, and you… He seems to like you. I mean, that's the most interaction he's had with anyone in months. Please, would you be willing to see him again?"

At Andrea's pleading smile, Lynn immediately agreed. "Of course. When can I help?"

"I'm picking Lucas up at 3:00 and we're going to the park, the only one built for kids. Could you meet us there?"

"We'd be happy to." Lynn turned to Sam and Dean, saying, "Right?"

"Yeah, absolutely." Sam agreed.

"Great! Thank you so much!"

Lynn nodded and was brought into a hug that she wasn't prepared for. After an awkward pat, Andrea let her go and waved her goodbyes as she walked to wherever she needed to be. Lynn turned to Sam and Dean, who were staring at her totally dumbfounded.

"What?"

"No, no. That's our question to you," said Dean. "What? As in what's with you today? First the lake, now the kid. What's goin' on, Lynn?"

"And what did Lucas draw you?" added Sam.

Lynn walked between them and reached the car before answering, "That's a discussion for the Lakefront Motel."

Dean paced back and forth, holding the colored sketch of a drowning Lynn, while Sam researched on the computer.

"So, there's the three drowning victims this year."

"And before that?" Dean half-mindedly asked.

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

"Makes sense," said Lynn. "The lake is basically dying, so the spirit's running out of time."

Dean flicked the drawing over and strongly held it in Lynn's face. "Are we sure it's a spirit and not a lake monster?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

Lynn pointed to the camouflaged hand in the picture again. "That's not a monster trying to eat me. Which I'm happy about 'cause having lived that, I'd rather not do it again so soon."

Dean squinted at the drawing, making Lynn giggle. "You know those crazy colored pictures where you have to find the hidden 3-D one inside?"

Sam looked over his shoulder as Dean looked up from the colored page. "Yeah?"

She kept her eyes on Dean and said, "I bet you suck at those."

Sam laughed while Dean frowned and lightly smacked her with the drawing. "Look, I'm just saying, whatever it is, it's killing people. And somehow, this kid knows you're on the menu."

"I'm with Lynn on this one," Sam said. "The lake monster theory bugs me."

"Why?" Dean asked, coming over to look at the screen.

"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."

Lynn leaned over Sam's opposite shoulder and pointed to a pop-up window in the back. "You found the first drowning this year? Christopher Bar?"

"Bar? Where have I heard that name before?" Dean thought aloud.

Sam enlarged the page and said, "Christopher Bar, the victim in May. He was Andrea's husband, Lucas's father."

For a moment, they were silent at seeing the photo of Lucas right after he was rescued. He wasn't feeling the wet coldness of the lake, only the trauma numbing out the rest of the world.

Lynn took a breath as Sam continued, "Apparently, he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued." He rubbed a hand over his face at the horrible thought and finished, "Maybe he knows what's happening after all."

"No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over."

Lynn looked up at Dean and reached out to hold his hand.

"Hi," greeted Lynn as she walked up to Andrea.

She smiled and replied, "Oh, hi!" This time Lynn was prepared for a hug as Andrea said, "I'm so glad you were able to come." She pointed out to Lucas drawing on a bench and explained, "He's been drawing nonstop. All pictures of you. I think he wants to see you again."

Lynn grinned at the shining hopefulness in the mother and gestured permission to go over to see Lucas. She nodded and sat back down as Lynn went over to her son. Sam and Dean stayed with her, watching as Lynn reached Lucas.

"Hey, bud." He instantly glanced up at the sound of her voice. "I take it that means you remember me."

Lucas put his crayon down and went looking through his finished drawings. Lynn peered at the pages, seeing black swirls, red bikes, and her. More than half of her. Sometimes she was standing by the lake, other times she was underwater, but there was one… Lynn carefully reached out and gently took the light blue page from the pile.

"I like this one," she said.

Lucas stopped and looked at it. They were holding hands on the dock. Lucas was behind her, closest to land, and Lynn held a hand out to the waves. Neither were smiling, but Lucas watched as Lynn found a crayon and lifted their mouths to look happy. He stared up at her and Lynn guessed he was asking why.

"I promised you, everything's ok."

The young boy took the page from her and put it back in the pile. Lynn exhaled in reply. "Fair enough. Can I draw something new then?"

Lucas looked up out of the corner of her eye and gave her one, very quick, nod. Lynn thanked him and sat more comfortably on the ground. She got a blank sheet of green paper and started to draw. Lucas seemed to have found what he was looking for and was now putting the pages in order.

"I know you don't want to talk because of what happened to your dad, but I want to thank you for drawing all these pictures. People think you're not communicating, but you are. With these," she put a hand on the drawings he left on the bench and finished, "which is very brave."

Lucas briefly glanced at her. "I can't imagine what you went through, but my friends –" she pointed to Sam and Dean. "They can." He didn't look over, but Lynn kept telling him their story as she drew her picture. "They lost their mother when they were younger than you. Sam, the taller one, he wasn't even a year old, and Dean… he saw the fire that killed him mom." Now Lucas glanced over at them, but only for a second. "He was really brave like you, but not as good of an artist." She laughed lightly after looking at her own drawing. "And neither am I."

Lynn put the paper down for Lucas to see. "This is my family. I was never lucky enough to have a dad or a mom, but I am lucky enough to have two best friends now." She pointed to them on the paper and Lucas' eyes followed. "That's Sam, and that's Dean, and that's their dad over there, and their mom up here watching over them. I'm in the middle." Lucas looked at her and she said, "I don't know why you chose me, maybe you don't either, maybe it's beyond us, but I'm glad you did because I want to help you." Lucas blinked and she could feel the fear setting in as the trauma came crashing back.

Lynn slowly reached out and delicately placed her hand over his, which he in turn grabbed as hard as he could. "I can help you, Lucas. Whatever you're afraid to talk about, whatever you saw that day on the lake, I will believe you. We will believe you. That's what we do."

Lucas picked up the pile of papers and gave them to Lynn. "Thank you, Lucas."

"Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me." Andrea explained to the brothers. "Not since his dad's accident."

"Yeah, we heard. Sorry," said Dean.

"What are the doctors saying?" Sam asked.

Andrea glanced over to her son with Lynn and replied, "That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress."

"That can't be easy for either of you."

"We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot. It's just…" She took her eyes away from them and looked back at Sam and Dean. "When I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw… all I want to do is help him. Which is why I'm so glad that he met –"

"Lynn." Sam finished for her.

Dean turned to see Lynn get up with papers in one hand and Lucas' hand in the other. "Yeah, she's amazing with stuff like this. And kids are strong." He looked back to Andrea to say, "You'd be surprised 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." She shared with a fond laugh at the memories of her son with their whole family. "Now he just sits there, drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. Meeting Lynn was the first time I saw a glimpse of himself still in there." Andrea held back tears as they walked up to the group.

"Hey sweetie!"

Lucas kept his eyes down but continued to hold Lynn's hand. "Go on," she sweetly urged. He lifted up a piece of paper to Dean. Andrea watched in elated surprise as Dean took it from her son and Lynn explained to her, "I think everything he's been drawing since meeting me is his way of telling a story. Lucas put only these drawings in a specific order for me."

"What do they say?" Andrea asked.

"I haven't looked at all of them in this order yet." She leaned down to find Lucas' eyes to say, "We were drawing together." Lynn glanced at Sam and informed, "He has one for you too."

"Yeah?" Sam smiled as Lucas took the soft yellow paper from Lynn's pile and handed it to him.

Dean craned his neck and asked, "What'd you get? I got awesome army men." He showed off the drawing of a few army men keeping black swirls away.

Sam grinned and replied, "I got a really cool red bike." He squatted down to be eye level with Lucas, and even though he didn't meet Sam's eyes, the younger Winchester said, "Thank you, Lucas. I appreciate you sharing this with me."

"Yeah, thanks, Lucas. This is awesome." Dean lowered himself a bit in the hopes of Lucas seeing him smile.

Lynn gave Lucas' hand a little squeeze and said to Andrea, "I know he's not talking, but he's telling you everything. You just have to try to see what he sees."

She openly smiled at Lynn and nearly wept, "Thank you so much. Please visit us anytime, I would love for Lucas to spend more time with you."

Lucas tilted his head up to see Lynn's face as she replied, "I'd love that too."

And with that, Lucas released her hand and walked back over to the bench. "Look at that," Andrea breathed. "There's life in his steps again."