DEAD IN THE WATER- PART IV

"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea," Andrea Barr insisted as soon as she heard what the three hunters asked for.

"I just need to talk to him. Just for a few minutes," Dean begged, looking at her with his big green eyes.

"He won't say anything. What good's it gonna do?" Bethany tried not to give the woman in front of her the most annoyed look she had, yet failed miserably. She liked her, she really did. However, she was too sleepy to take anyone's shit right now and this attitude was getting on her nerves.

"Andrea, we think more people might get hurt. We think something's happening out there," Sam tried to get the woman's permission to speak to her son too.

"My husband, the others, they just drowned. That's all."

"If that's what you really believe, then we'll go. But if you think there's even a possibility that something else could be going on here, please let my friend talk to your son," the huntress asked, trying not to raise her voice. Surely hissing at Andrea wouldn't help anyone. The mother sighed in defeat and pointed at the stairs with a nod of her head. Dean thanked quietly and made his way upstairs, followed by the other three.

🌌

Lucas was sitting on the floor of his room coloring. He had his toy soldiers surrounding him and he didn't look up when Dean, Andrea, Sam and Bethany approached the doorway. The oldest hunter entered and crouched down by the child.

"Hey, Lucas. You remember me?" he asked.

Lucas didn't answer and Beth noticed that he had drawn two more pictures of the red bicycle.

"You know, I, uh," Dean started, scratching the back of his head "I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again."

Lucas didn't seem to pay zero attention to the conversation as he continued drawing a person in water. Dean sighed and opened the house picture and put it down in front of the kid.

"How did you know to draw this? Did you know something bad was gonna happen? Maybe you could nod yes or no for me."

Lucas kept coloring and Bethany yawned, covering her mouth with her palm.

"You're scared. It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared, too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom—I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe... maybe your dad wants you to be brave too."

Lucas dropped his crayon and looked up at Dean. He handed him a picture of a white church, a yellow house, and a boy with a blue baseball cap and red bicycle in front of a wooden fence. Bethany leaned behind her friend and inspected the drawing.

"Thanks, Lucas."

A couple of minutes later Sam and Dean were sitting in the front of the Impala, the younger holding the church picture. Bethany was quietly dozing off in the backseat. She had been almost too tired to keep her eyes open, so she decided she could close them and just listen to the conversation.

"Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died," Dean said.

"There are cases—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? I mean, it's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns, so if you got a better lead, please."

She shifted nervously in the seat. Her fear of deep waters and drowning wasn't unknown to the brothers and she had discussed it with Dean a lot of times. She knew she had to get over it at some point, that it could get her and others killed. However, the thought of swimming in that lake made her cringe.

"See this church?" Sam continued. "I bet there's less than a thousand of those around here."

"Oh, College Boy thinks he's so smart." Oh god, please not again.

"You know, um... What you said about Mom... You never told me that before."

"It's no big deal," Dean brushed it off and an uncomfortable silence set in. Bethany opened her eyes to see Sam staring through the window and Dean right at the road.

"Oh God, we're not gonna have to hug or anything, are we?" the older Winchester chuckled awkwardly, which made Bethany roll her eyes. Dean however, saw her in the rearview mirror and pulled off his most scolding look. She stuck her tongue at him, making the hunter put a small smile on.

"Weren't you sleeping? You can't defend Gotham with your eyes closing," he smirked, happy he could tease her and get the attention away from himself.

"Do what?!" Sam asked surprised, turning around to look a the girl, who just raised her shoulders and chuckled at the look on his face.

"Never mind," she shock her head and fell back against the soft leather of the Impala, closing her eyes. Soon enough the rumble of the car lulled her to sleep.

🌌

Baby approached a white church shaped like the one in Lucas's picture. Dean turned around only to see Bethany sleeping peacefully on the backseat. Her head was thrown slightly back and her hands were wrapped around her, chin pressed against the shoulder.

"Should we wake her up?" Sam asked, looking at his older brother.

"Nah, leave her be. It's just a simple talk, we can handle it ourselves," Dean said, leaving the car unlocked and heading down the church after the taller Winchester.

🌌

Bethany jumped awake when she heard the loud bang of one of the Impala's doors. Dean had slammed it harder than he meant it and turned around with an apologestic look on his face.

"Sorry Bethsy, didn't mean to."

"It's fine, I must have fallen asleep," she said, moving a few stray hairs from her face.

"You think?"

"Shut it, Sam," she said, leaning in so she could playfully slap him on the back of his neck.

"What, it's stronger than I am."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Just keep your sass away from my face, Winchester. Anyway, what happened in there."

"While you were in Dreamland me and Sam talked to the lady who lives there. Turns out she had a son."

"Yeah, and this little boy Peter Sweeney vanishes, and this is all connected to Bill Carlton somehow."

"Ha, I told you this guy was suspicious. I knew he was hiding something," Bethany exclaimed victoriously.

"And Bill," Sam continued his speech, successfully ignoring the girl, making her frown "the people he loves, they're all getting punished."

"So what if Bill did something to Peter?"

"What if Bill killed him?" Bethany asked seriously, leaving all the jokes behind, getting in her hunter mode.

"Peter's spirit would be furious. It'd want revenge. It's possible," Dean answered, turning around to look at his brother with his eyebrows raised.

"Then let's pay Bill Carlton another visit and hope he tells us something this time," Sam proposed and Bethany nodded. Dean didn't say anything, just started Baby's engine and drove towards the Carlton house.

🌌

The Impala pulls up in front of the large house at the lake. The hunters got out and approached the house.

"Mr. Carlton?" Sam called. However, the only answer he got was the roar of an engine. Dean, Sam and Bethany looked at each other and ran around the house.

"Hey, check it out," Dean said, pointing at Bill, who was going out in the lake with his boat. The two brothers ran to the end of the dock, yelling, leaving a pretty freaked out Bethany standing on the muddy soil, yelling with them.

"Mr. Carlton! You need to come back! Come out of the water! Turn the boat around!"

"Mr. Carlton!"

Bill ignored them and kept going deeper in the water. Suddenly it rose up and fliped boat over. When the lake calmed again, the man was gone.

There goes our number one suspect. Bethany thought against her will.

🌌

The hunters and Sheriff Jake Devins walk in the door. Bethany noticed
Lucas and his mom and smiled at them when she saw the woman stand up and make her way to them.

"Sam, Dean, Bethany," Andrea greeted. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"So now you're on a first-name basis," The sheriff scoffed and Beth had to keep herself from rolling her eyes at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought you dinner," His daughter answered, handing him the bag she was carrying. However her father brushed it off, telling her he was out of time.

"I heard about Bill Carlton. Is it true? Is something going on with the lake?" Andrea asked again.

"Right now we don't know what the truth is. But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home."

Suddenly, the kid looked up and whined, looking stricken; he jumped up and grabed Dean's arm, catching the hunter off guard since he was staring at the distance, clearly not paying any attention to the conversation. If it wasn't the terrified look in Lucas' eyes, Bethany would probably had laughed.

"Lucas, hey, what is it?"

"Lucas." Andrea called her son too.

"Lucas, it's okay. It's okay. Hey, Lucas, it's okay. It's okay," Dean repeated, trying to calm the child who was holding his hand for dear life. Andrea pulled him away from Dean and lead him outside. On his way out the kid didn't look away from the hunter.

Jake threw down his jacket and went into his office. Sam, Beth and Dean follow.

"Okay," The sheriff ran a hand over his face and glared at the three. "Okay, just so I'm clear, you see" He emphasised at the word and it made Bethany want to growl and jump at him. Yeah, we saw it, we see things like it every day, so what " ...something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill—who is a very good swimmer, by the way—into the drink, and you never see him again?"

Beth glanced at her friends and then at the sheriff. "Yeah, that about sums it up," She snapped at him.

Jake glared at her, yet kept going. "And I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake? And what you're describing is impossible? And you're not really Wildlife Service?"

Dean gave him a surprised look and the sheriff glared at him.

"That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you three."

"See, now, we can explain that," Dean tried again, only to be interrupted.

"Enough. Please. 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. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance. Or, we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your car, you put this town in your rearview mirror, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again."

"Door number two sounds good," Sam quickly said and Bethany nodded.

"Yeah, option two is cool."

"That's the one I'd pick," The sheriff said, pointing the door at them. While Sam and Dean were walking out of the door, Bethany following a few steps behind them, there was only one thought running through her mind. What about me? Where am I going now?

[A/N]: And so there we go. Only one chapter left for this episode. I wish I could just watch the 40 minutes with Bethany in it.

Don't forget to vote and comment. See ya! *waves franticaly*