THEN

2 years ago

Jenny sat in a dark bedroom surrounded by old and semi-new books. A pair of round glasses fit on the bridge of her nose, a pen between her fingers as she typed away on her computer, occasionally pausing to write something down in a journal.

"Jennifer!"

The woman didn't hear the voice, too soaked up in her research that she barely noticed the footsteps echoing up to her bedroom.

"Jenny! For the love of— Get some hearing aids, would you?" Jenny turned to Bobby Singer, his hand gripping the handle of her door as she chuckled awkwardly, eyeing the newspaper in his hand.

"Sorry, Bobby. I was trying to find a case... Catch up in some monster research." She took off her glasses as Bobby sighed through his nose.

"Yeah. I was trying to call you down to tell you that. I found you a case." Jenny's eyes lit up at the words and she stood up quickly.

"You found me a case? Where?" She said with a serious tone, clearing her throat as Bobby handed her the newspaper.

WIFE SLAUGHTERS HUSBAND, KILLS SELF IN HOUSE FIRE

"Well that sounds lovely." Jenny said sarcastically as Bobby shrugged.

"I assumed you'd find a thrill in that."

✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

NOW

Jenny sat next on one end of the square table at a restaurant, circling obituaries as well as Dean was, while Sam had gone off to the bathroom. A near empty plate except for a few fries sat in front of Jenny, while Dean's was completely empty.

Jenny put her pen down for a moment to drink her coffee, grabbing her pen again and circled a name as their waitress, Wendy, walked up.

"Can I get you guys anything else?" She asked as Dean looked up at her, smiling with the tip of his pen between his teeth. Sam walked back over as Jenny's eyes flickered between Dean and the waitress, and she cleared her throat.

"Uh, no thanks. The check would be nice." She smiled, though her eyes were back on the obituaries. Wendy nodded and walked away, Dean looking at Jenny. She circled another name.

"You know, Jen. We're allowed to have fun." He complained as she shrugged. Dean was going to gesture back to Wendy before realizing Jenny still hadn't looked at either of them. "She's fun."

"You don't see me eye-fucking the guy at the bar." Jenny commented, flipping to the word puzzle as she had run out of names. Sam choked on his coffee as Dean rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he handed Sam his newspaper.

"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. None of the other bodies were found either. They had a funeral two days ago." Dean pointed to the name with his pen as Sam looked it over. Jenny finally looking up from her newspaper.

"A funeral? Without a body?" Jenny asked as Dean nodded.

"Yeah. For, uh, closure, or whatever." He looked back at Sam, who held a frown.

"Closure? What closure? People don't just disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them." Jenny lowered her paper as Dean side eyed her, the two looking at Sam.

"There something you want to say to us?" Dean asked as Sam sighed, dropping the newspaper.

"The trail for Dad. It's getting colder every day." Jenny sighed quietly as she grabbed her coffee, chugging the rest down.

"Exactly. So what are we supposed to do?" Dean asked, shrugging as he looked at his brother.

"I don't know. Something. Anything." Sam shrugged as the woman of the three looked between them awkwardly.

"You know what? I'm sick of this attitude. You don't think I wanna find Dad as much as you do?" Dean leaned forward with a glare as Jenny slowly grabbed one of her fries, shoving it into her mouth.

"Yeah, I know you do, it's just—"

"Jenny and I have been the ones that's been with him every single day for the past two years, while you've been off to college going to pep rallies. We will find Dad, but until then, we're gonna kill everything bad between here and there. Okay?" Jenny pressed her lips together awkwardly, tapping her fingers on the table. Sam rolled his eyes, the two brothers snapping their heads towards her.

"Are you two going to keep going at something we've been going at for like... two months now, or are we going to Wisconsin? I want cheese." Jenny smiled innocently as Wendy walked past, distracting Dean from the conversation. Jenny snapped her fingers in front of Dean's face, his eyes watching her hands movements for a second before following back to her face.

"How far is Lake Manitoc?"

✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Jenny looked out at the lake from the porch, waiting for whoever was home to answer the door as Sam and Dean stood there.

A boy that appeared to be a few years younger that Sam answered soon after Dean knocked, pausing in confusion at the three. "Will Carlton?"

"That's right." Will said, still eyeing them.

"I'm Agent Ford. This is Agent Hamill and Fisher. We're with the US Wildlife Service." Dean held up a fake ID, Will glaring to see it before hesitantly letting them in.

"Is this about my sister?" Will asked as Jenny cleared her throat.

"Yea, it is. We're very sorry for your loss, Mr. Carlton, but we just need to ask a few questions regarding her death." Jenny answered as the younger boy nodded, guiding them out to the back.

The first thing Jenny noticed when they got out back was the man sitting on the dock by the lake, staring into a void. Dean followed her gaze, looking back to Will.

The boy led them down to the dock, standing just by the shore. "She was about a hundred yards out." Will gestured out to the lake, Jenny following where he pointed before nodding slowly. "That's where she got dragged down."

"Any sign of a struggle? Splashing, screaming?" Jenny asked as Will shook his head.

"No. One minute she was there... then she was gone."

"And you're sure she didn't just drown?" Dean asked, the boy nodded.

"She was a varsity swimmer." Will stated, and now it was obvious that something was going on. "She practically grew up in that lake. She was as safe out there as she was in a bathtub."

"Ever seen Nightmare on El—" Sam jabbed Jenny in the side and she winced, glaring up at him. Will shot a look at Jenny, who cleared her throat. "Did you see anything suspicious? Dark shadows... Something following Sophie, maybe?" Will shook his head again.

"No. Again... She was too far out there to see."

"You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" Dean asked as he pointed his finger to the sand, waving it around.

"No, never. Why? Why, what do you think's out there?"

"We'll let you know when we've figured it out." Jenny reassured, looking back to the man who she assumed was Will's father, Bill. "Do you mind if we talk to your father? See what he knows?"

"Look, if you don't mind, I mean...he didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot..."

"We understand." Sam smiled softly at Will before the three walked back to the Impala.

"Varsity swimmer drowns? That would make headlines." Jenny commented as Dean cleared his throat, nodding.

"So what do you think happened?" Sam asked as the three slid into the car, Jenny in the back.

"Well, last time I checked, Nessie lives in Scotland. So unless she's migrating, I'd say a very big fish." Jenny said as Dean started up the car, the hum of the engine vibrating Jenny's back for a moment.

✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Jenny sat down behind Sam and Dean in the Sheriff's office, her eyes scanning all around the room as Sheriff Devins talked.

"There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness Monster." Jenny kept herself from smirking as Dean slowly looked back to her, and she winked at him, clearing her throat.

"Are you sure there haven't been any recent invasive species' brought to the lake?" Jenny asked as Devins shook his head.

"No. We dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep, just to be sure, and there was nothing down there." Jenny nodded as she frowned.

"That's weird though... That's the third missing body this year." Dean pointed out as Devins sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I know. These are people from my town. These are people I care about." Devins gave them a saddened expression.

"I know." Dean gave him a sympathetic smile, Sam and Jenny doing the same.

"All this...it won't be a problem much longer."

"What do you mean?" Dean tilted his head in confusion as Devins shrugged.

"Well, the dam, of course."

"Of course, the dam. It's, uh, it sprung a leak." Dean joked, Jenny clearing her throat awkwardly, standing up and walked over to stand behind Dean.

"It's falling apart, and the feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spillway. In another six months, there won't be much of a lake. There won't be much of a town, either. But as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that." Devins expression turned sullen before a knock came from behind Jenny, the four turning around to see a young woman standing in the doorway.

"Sorry... Am I interrupting?" The woman asked as Sam and Dean stood up. "I can uh— I can come back later."

"This is my daughter." Dean stepped forward slightly, outstretching his hand as the woman took it.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Dean." He smirked as she smiled, nodding.

"Andrea Barr... Hi." Jenny eyed the two before she outstretched her hand, smiling forcefully.

"Jennifer. Hi." She grinned, Andrea shaking her hand.

"They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake." Andrea nodded in understanding as a little boy walked in, staring at the ground. Jenny gave the boy a smile, kneeling down to his height.

"Hey there, Bud. What's your name?" The boy stayed quiet as Jenny frowned softly, Devins clearing his throat.

"His name is Lucas." Jenny stood up as her and Dean watched the him and Andrea leave the room and go to the front office.

"Is he okay?" Sam finally spoke, Devins sighed and crossed his arms.

"My grandson... He's been through a lot. We all have." Jenny watched the mother and son with a solemn look, sighing. The Sheriff walked to the door, Sam, Dean and Jenny walking out. "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know.

"Thanks. You know, now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?" Dean asked with a cheeky smile.

"Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner. It's about two blocks south." The three turned around to look at Andrea, and Dean frowned, looking up.

"Two... would you mind showing us?" Jenny have Dean a side-eye as Andrea chuckled.

"You want me to walk you three two blocks?" Dean shrugged, still holding his smile as Andrea sighed.

"It's fine, Andrea. Really. I'm sure Dean here will just give you a god awful pick-up line." Andrea laughed as Dean paused, fulling turning to glare at Jenny, who was still looking at Andrea.

✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"My pick up lines are not that bad." Dean complained as he, Sam and Jenny walked down the street.

"Mhm." Jenny hummed, glaring in the sunlight. "I would bet money you were going to say something about her kid." Dean clamped his mouth shut as Sam snorted, shaking his head.

"That is not true." Dean argued as Jenny looked at him with a 'I very highly doubt that' look.

"You don't even like kids, Dean." Sam said as Jenny and Dean turned to him.

"I love kids!" Dean yelled, causing a few people to look at him weirdly. Jenny snickered as Dean groaned in annoyance.

"Name three kids you know." Sam asked as the three stopped walking, standing in front of the motel. Dean stayed quiet, scratching his head. After a few more seconds, Jenny and Sam walked inside the motel.

"I'm thinking!" Dean yelled, chasing after them.

✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"Okay, I found some news clippings that date back 35 years. A drowning stopped an ice fishing festival... a uh— a little girl drowned six months after. Four more are spread out." Sam started as Jenny sat up in her seat, which was next to Sam.

"None of the bodies were recovered." She read as Dean tossed an article of his clothing into one of the beds.

"So what... We got a lake monster or something?" He asked as Jenny blew out, shrugging.

"I'm going for the 'or something." Sam nodded in agreement as he slid his computer over to Jenny.

"This whole lake monster theory, it, it just bugs me." Dean walked over to the two, leaning over Jenny closely to read through the news page.

"Why?" Dean asked as Sam gestured to the computer.

"Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing."

"Maybe it's invisible." Jenny joked as Sam and Dean gave her a side look. "Okay, obviously I'm joking. But it's a possibility." She went to turn to look at Dean, pausing when she noticed how close his face was to hers, and looked back at the screen, attempting to hide a blush rising on her cheeks.

"Hey— look at this name... Christopher Barr. Andrea's husband drowned a few months ago in the lake." Jenny pointed to a picture of Lucas with a police officer.

"Apparently he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued." Sam read as he clicked the picture for a better look.

"It explains why he was so freaked out. Seeing your parents die isn't something you get over." Dean said as he stood up, grabbing his jacket from Jenny's chair, Sam and her standing up.

"Looks like we have a witness."

✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

At the park, Sam, Jenny and Dean approached Andrea, who sat on a bench further from her son, Lucas, who was drawing with toy soldiers.

"Can we join you?" Sam asked as Andrea looked over at the three, sighing.

"I'm here with my son." She said with a slightly harsh tone, Jenny looking over at Lucas.

"Do you mind if I go talk to him?" Jenny asked as Andrea just looked at her. Without another thought, Jenny started walking over to Lucas.

She crouched down next to the boy, peering over his shoulder. "Hey Lucas. What're you drawing?" She asked, watching as he just scribbled with his crayons, not talking.

"I see you aren't much of a talker. It's okay, I didn't talk a lot at your age, either." She grabbed one of the little toy soldiers, a smile on her face.

Setting the soldier down, Jenny picked up the other drawings Lucas made. A red bicycle was on one, and another just had a swirled black hole. "I see you're more of an artist. You mind if I draw with you?" Jenny sat down on the bench, grabbing a paper and crayon and started drawing.

The two continued to sit in silence, Jenny occasionally looking at Lucas. "I lost my parents when I was your age. I wasn't there when it happened, but I do understand that it's hard. I know you think people won't believe you, Lucas... But me and my friends will. We've seen a lot of stuff not a lot of people believe in." Jenny paused, hoping to get a reaction from Lucas.

Nothing.

Jenny turned the paper to Lucas, a poorly drawn portrait of her and Bobby on the paper. "That's Bobby. He took care of me after my parents died." Still nothing, Jenny set the paper down and sighed.

"I'll see you later, Lucas."