Disclaimer; i do not own spn. and i like pie. those two statements are true.

Dead in the Water; Part One
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"A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step." -Lao Tzu

EMERY WAS GOING TO THROTTLE THE waitress. The whole time, she had been flirting with Dean, and Emery made it her job to ruin it. Or try to. Every time she came back around, asking if they were okay, Emery would make sure to lean against Dean.

She was doing it so much, Dean had put his arm around her shoulders, just so it wouldn't annoy him as he looked through the newspaper. Emery made sure to lean her head on his shoulder, and nuzzle her nose into his neck sleepily, inhaling his musky scent.

Dean smelt like leather, cologne, whiskey, and, well, musk. It was a weird combination, but Emery found it being her favourite scent. It had been for a while now.

As the waitress came back around, Emery grabbed the newspaper a little to fast, effectively paper cutting herself.

"Shit," she swore, looking at the tiny cut that was on her index finger.

"Did you paper cut yourself?" Dean asked laughing. "You want me to kiss it better?"

"Yes, please," Emery stated, holding her finger out. Dean took her hand, bringing the finger up and sarcastically putting a slobbery kiss on the cut. "Dean! That's gross! I don't want your slobber!"

Dean laughed, before he went back to reading the newspaper. The waitress glared at Emery, and Emery looked at her quizzically. So, she was ruining her chances of getting with Dean, whatever. There was plenty of other guys sitting in the restaurant wanting the girl's attention.

Dean was circling a picture on the newspaper, before he placed the end of his pen between his lips. Emery almost melted. He looked incredibly sexy like that, but she wouldn't say anything. Distracted, she didn't notice the blonde waitress, Wendy her name tag read, showing Dean her cleavage while asking if she could get him something else.

At that moment, she was grateful that Sam and Dean butted heads sometimes. The tall man returned to the table from going to the washroom, answering the girl with a "Just the check, please."

"Okay," Wendy said, sending Dean one last smile before she walked away and back into the kitchen.

Dean's head sunk, and Emery felt herself rolling her eyes. He was going to say something along the lines of 'that waitress was hot, why did you ruin my chance of hooking up with her?' But in different terms obviously.

"You know, Sam," Dean started. "We are allowed to have fun, once in a while." He gestured to Wendy, who was wearing short jean shorts, Emery noticed.

Emery felt envious to the girl in that moment. If she wore shorts like that, you would see all the scars that were obtaining her legs. Especially the ones she got from the werewolf when she was twelve.

"That's fun."

Sam gave him a look. Dean's expression faded to one that was more serious, before he put a newspaper in front of Sam.

"Here, take a look at this, I think I got one," Dean stated. "Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin. Last week, Sophie Carlton, 18, walks into the lake, doesn't walk out. Authorities dragged the water, nothing."

"Sophie Carlton is the third Lake Manitoc drowning this year. And none of the other bodies have been found," Emery stated proudly, earning a smile from Sam. "They had a funeral two days ago."

"A funeral?" Sam asked, baffled.

"Yeah, it's where they bury an empty coffin for closure," Emery stated, remembering how she forced John to take her to her parents funeral.

They had buried empty coffins then too.

"Closure?" Sam scoffed, and Emery tried to keep her tears in her eye sockets. She got emotional just thinking about her mom and dad. "What closure? People don't just disappear, Emery, other people just stop looking for them."

"Something you wanna say to me?" Dean wondered. Sam was hinting at John, yet again.

Not being able to stand the guilt and sadness inside of herself, Emery got up and stormed out of the diner. She felt eyes on her, but she didn't care. If she was in that conversation any longer, she probably would have a breakdown.

As she tried to stop herself from crying, Emery thought of happy things. But most of those happy things included either John or her parents (or Bobby, but those didn't seem to come to mind), so the waterworks started coming. With disappointment in herself, Emery cried into her hands. It was quiet, but she was so wrapped up in it that she didn't notice the boys get into the car until someone's arms were wrapped around her.

Emery recognized Sam's jacket and she clung to it as she silently sobbed about her parents. And John.

Sam rubbed Emery's back soothingly, and it took her a couple minutes to calm her down. Once she finished crying, she leaned away from Sam and wiped her tears with the back of her hands.

"Sorry," she mumbled to Sam. "Your jacket's wet and covered in mascara."

Sam waved her off, giving her a small smile. In the review mirror, Emery met Dean's eyes, who gave her a small reassuring smile.

Things were going to be okay for now.

☪✡

They had been driving for what seemed like forever, Emery clinging onto Sam for most of the ride. She was trying to comfort herself, and Sam was the one who would probably be the most pissed about her keeping the secret about John. So, she took Sam's comfort when she could get it.

After what felt like forever, but was only however long they were driving, they pulled up to the Carlton house. Emery looked at the quaint house, feeling that if the family was in a suburban area, this probably wouldn't have happened.

Nonetheless, she followed Sam and Dean onto the porch of the house. Dean knocked on the door, and about two seconds later, a person opened it. A sort-of attractive man was standing on the other side, and Emery sent him a soft smile.

"Will Carlton?" Dean's deep voice asked, dragging the boy's attention to him.

"Yeah, that's right," Will stated, giving Dean a nod.

"I'm Agent Ford, this is Agent Hamill and Fisher," Dean pointed at the two Hunters beside him. "We're with the U.S. Wildlife Service." He flashed his badge.

The four of them walked around the house, coming to a stop when they saw Mr. Carlton sitting on a bench on the dock, staring out onto the Lake.

"She was about a hundred yards out," Will explained, jerking his chin in the direction of the Lake. "That's where she got dragged down."

Emery mentally awed at the fact that his eyes were glistening. It was sad. He really cared about his sister.

"And you're sure she didn't just drown?" Dean questioned, and Emery almost slapped him.

Empathy, man, empathy.

"Yeah, she was a varsity swimmer," Will stated. "She practically grew up in that Lake. She's as safe out there as in her own bathtub."

"So, no splashing, no signs of distress?" Sam asked softly, Emery mentally praising him.

He got it. It's all about the empathy.

"No, that's what I'm telling you," Will stated.

"Did you see any shadows in the water?" Emery asked, her voice gentle. "Any dark shape breach the surface?"

"No," Will stated. "Again, she was really far out there."

"Have you seen any strange tracks by the shore line?" Dean's voice asked, and Emery looked at the man. He really looked beautiful in this light.

"No, never," Will said, eyebrows furrowing. "Why, what do you think's out there?"

"We'll let you know as soon as we do," Dean stated, turning around and making his way back to the Impala.

Emery, going on a limb, walked forward and pressed a kiss to Will's cheek. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Will nodded, seemingly in a daze, giving her a smile. Emery gave one back, before turning around and walking back to the Impala. She passed Sam, who was still standing there, looking at Will.

"What about your father?" Sam paused, both Dean and Emery looking back. "Can we talk to him?"

Will seemed to drop his daze, looking over his shoulder at his dad. "Look, if you don't mind... I mean, he didn't see anything, and he's kinda been through a lot."

"We understand," Sam said, nodding his head, giving Will a smile.

Emery gave Will a small wave, which he returned, before climbing into the middle of the front seat.

She felt lonelier than usual in the back.

Dean sent her a glare as Sam climbed into the Impala. Emery looked at him quizzically, before asking, "What?"

"A kiss on the cheek, really?"

"It's not like it meant anything. I'm just trying to cheer him up, stop being such a grouch," Emery told him, rolling her eyes.

Dean said nothing, just gripped the steering wheel a tiny bit tighter. Sam looked at the two suspiciously out of the corner of his eyes.

Was Dean jealous?

The ride to the police station was quiet, and once they got in, the three flashed their badges and the sheriff was directed to them immediately.

"Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" The sheriff asked, opening the gate and leading them to his office.

"You sure it was accidental?" Sam asked, looking down upon the man.

He seriously needed to shrink, Emery decided, coming up with various scenarios on how to make him. Most of them involved cutting off something.

"Will Carlton saw something grab his sister," Sam then stated, cutting off Emery's scheming.

"Like what?" The sheriff said, rather rudely. "Here, please sit," he motioned to two chairs, Emery stuck standing between them, "there are no indigenous carnivores in that Lake. There is nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Lochness Monster."

Dean gave him a blank look, before saying, "Yeah, right."

"Will Carlton was traumatized and sometimes the mind plays tricks," the sheriff stated. "Still, we dragged that entire Lake. We even ran a sonar sweep, just to be sure, and there was nothing down there."

Dean sighed, "It's weird though. I mean, that's- that's the third missing body this year."

"I know," the sheriff said gravely. "These are people from my town. These are people I care about."

"We know," Emery stated, nodding at the man. At least he actually cared about these people.

"Anyway," the sheriff leaned back, throwing his hands up in a motion, "all this, it won't be a problem much longer."

"What do you mean," Dean asked, confused.

"Well the dam, of course," the sheriff stated.

Sam nodded knowingly, Dean and Emery exchanging a look before Dean blurted out, "Of course, the dam! Its, uh, sprung a leak."

"It's falling apart," the sheriff said, Dean nodding knowingly. "And the Feds won't give us the grant to repair it, so they've opened the spill way. In another six months, it won't be much of a lake. It won't be much of a town either, but as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that."

"Exactly," Dean stated, as the door opened.

A pretty brunette walked in, stating, "Sorry am I interrupting?"

Emery wanted to slap her. Obviously she was, there are people in here with the sheriff. You don't just walk in here without at least knocking, you idiot.

The boys stood up, the girl turning around after saying, "I can come back later."

"Gentlemen, and Lady, this is my daughter," the sheriff stated.

"Pleasure to meet you," Dean stated, giving her his infamous smirk. "I'm Dean." He shook her hand.

"Andrea Barr, hi," She said, giving him a smile.

"Hi," Dean echoed, still smirking.

"They are from the Wildlife Service," The sheriff stated, snapping Dean out of whatever lust-filled trance he was in. "About the Lake."

Andrea's face went to a shocked expression, her mouth open. She tried to form words, before she simply stated an oh.

A kid popped out from behind Andrea, and Emery gave him a soft smile.

"Oh, hey there!" Dean said, looking down at the kid. "What's your name?"

The kid stood by Andrea for another second, before turning around a walking back to the entrance. Emery tried to stiffen her giggles as Dean shot her a glare. When Andrea gave the four other people in the office a sad look before following after the kid, Emery immediately stopped laughing.

"His name is Lucas," the sheriff stated.

"Is he okay?" Emery asked, turning to look at the man.

"My grandson has been through a lot," the sheriff stated. "We all have."

Emery felt her mood worsen, the sheriff walking around his desk to show the hunters out.

"Well, if there is anything else I could do for you, please, let me know," the sheriff said.

As they walked through his office door, Emery mumbled a quiet thanks.

"Now that you mention it," Dean spoke up. "Can you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced hotel?"

He was looking at Andrea. Emery, tuning out Dean, walking closer to Lucas and giving him a smile. Weirdly enough, Lucas gave her the tiniest one back. The girl hunter ruffled his hair a little, before she felt herself get dragged out of the station by Sam. Just as she was about to exit, she gave Lucas a small wave, and he gave on back.

As they were walking, Emery ignored the fact that Dean started flirting with Andrea shamelessly. Well, tried too, at least.

They stopped in front of the motel, Andrea turning to Dean. "There it is just like I said. Two blocks."

"Thanks," Sam stated, obviously ready to go in.

"Must be hard with your sense of direction," Andrea stated, as Emery giving her a weird look. What was hard? "Never being able to find your way to a decent pick-up line."

With that, Andrea walked away, leaving the three hunters behind. Dean eyebrows were furrowed, Emery was laughing her ass off, and Sam was smirking.

"Enjoy your stay!"

"'Kids are the best'?" Sam quoted. "You don't even like kids."

"I love kids!" Dean stated defensively.

"Yeah?" Emery stated through laughter. "Name three children you even know."

Dean held his hand up, ready to start naming them off, but it seemed that none came to him. After a minute or two, Sam waved him off, and Emery scoffed, before walking into the hotel together.

"I'm thinking," Dean called out to the two, before following behind them.

After checking in, Emery flopped onto a bed, Dean looked through his bag, and Sam did research on his laptop.

"So, there are the three drowning victims this year," Sam stated, Emery rolling onto her stomach, listening intently.

"And before that?" Dean asked, fumbling with something in his bag.

"Uh, yeah, six more spread out over the past thirty five years," Sam said, flipping through the articles. "Those bodies were never recovered either."

Emery started looking at her nails, seeing that she had cracked and chipped a few of them. Yes, she was totally bored, and the boys weren't providing her with a lot of entertainment. She ended up laying on her back again, checking out her nails before playing with her hair.

"If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace," Sam then stated. Emery watched as Dean threw another shirt on the bed she was laying on, before the whole world went dark. The girl picked the shirt up off of her face, tempted to throw it back at Dean, but decided against it.

"So, what? We got another lake monster on a binge?" Dean asked, and Emery scoffed quietly.

Definitely not, she thought. Monster senses weren't tingling yet.

"This whole lake monster theory, it just bugs me," Sam expressed.

"Ditto," Emery said, throwing the shirt up in the air and catching it before it landed on her face.

"Why?" Dean asked, coming up behind Sam and looking over his shoulder.

"Lochness, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eye witness accounts, but here, almost nothing," Sam stated. "Whatever it is out there, no ones living to talk about it."

"Wait, Barr," Dean stopped whatever Sam was looking at. "Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before."

Emery rolled her eyes. Andrea Barr ring any bells?

"Idjits," Emery mumbled softly, picking up on the slang Bobby Singer used.

"Christopher Barr, the victim in May," Sam stated, the boys ignoring Emery. They seemed to be on a roll. There was a couple clicking noises, Emery threw the shirt up just as Sam continued talking. "Oh, Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband. Lucas; his father. Apparently, he took Lucas out swimming, Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drown. Two hours before the kid got rescued."

Emery let the shirt land on her face, feeling sad for the kid. She knew what it was like to watch your parents die in front of you.

"Maybe we have an eyewitness after all," Sam said, rubbing his neck.

"No wonder that kid was so freaked out," Dean thought, and Emery took the shirt off in time to see Dean still looking at whatever was on Sam's laptop screen. "Watching one of your parents die is something you don't just get over."

Emery stared at Dean sadly, which Dean met evenly.

☪✡

They were in the park, next thing Emery knew, going to try to talk to Lucas. The three came to stop at the bench Andrea was sitting at, Emery feeling awkward as she looked at all the kids.

They were something she always wanted, but being a hunter, she didn't want to raise a child into the life.

"Can we join you?" Sam asked gaining the attention of Andrea.

"I'm here with my son," Andrea said, and Emery couldn't help but want to punch her. Andrea's voice just came off as bitchy and rude.

Was it a gene in the Barr family?

"Oh," Dean said, looking at Lucas, who was drawing on a bench. "Mind if I say hi?"

Without waiting for an answer, Dean made his way over to the kid.

Sam and Emery took a seat beside Andrea, who scoffed. "Tell your friend this whole Jerry McGuire thing won't work on me."

"I don't think that's what this is about," Emery told her, a little bit of attitude in her voice. Andrea didn't seem to notice.

Emery tuned out Sam and Andrea's conversation, watching Dean with the kid. She almost laughed when he picked up a crayon and some paper. Lucas still ignored him, but Emery noticed the brooding face Dean had on. She watched as he showed Lucas his pictured, pointing at it and smiling.

Suddenly, his face went sort of sour, and Dean threw the crayon on the bench, getting up and putting his drawing where he was sitting. As he walked back to the group, Emery watched as Lucas set the crayon he was drawing with down, and picked up Dean's picture.

Lucas examined it for a second, before he looked at Emery, who waved. He wave back, before he put the picture back down again, and flicked through the pictures he had already drawn. The kid grabbed one, before standing up and walking towards where they were standing.

Lucas joined the group shortly after, thrusting the chosen picture at Dean. Dean took it, saying thanks, before examining it. Once Emery saw the picture, a lightbulb flashed in her head.

Vengeful Spirit.

☪✡

"So," Sam said, walking into the hotel room. "I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

Oh no, Emery thought.

"I just drove passed the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead."

"He drowned?" Dean question, though it sounded more like a statement.

"Yep," Sam confirmed. "In the sink."

"What the hell?" Emery thought out loud, shaking her head.

She didn't know if her subconscious was right about the whole vengeful spirit thing, but right now she was ruling it out. The clues just didn't point to it.

"So, you're right, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else," Dean said.

"Yeah, but what?" Emery asked, looking between the brothers.

"I don't know, water wraith maybe? Some kind of demon? I mean, something that controls water," Dean offered. There was a pause, all three of them realizing something. "Water that comes from the same source."

"The lake," Sam stated.

"Yeah."

"Which explains why it's uping the body count. The lake it draining, it'll be dry in a few months," Sam said. "Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time."

"And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, almost anywhere," Dean explained, looking at the two other hunters.

Vengeful spirit didn't sound too far fetched now.

"This is gonna happen again, soon," Emery stated, watching as Dean got up, walk to a chair to get his shoes on.

"And we do another thing for sure. We know that this has got something to do with Bill Carlton," Sam said, turning to look at Dean.

"Yeah, it took both of his kids," Dean said, putting on his shoes.

"And I've been asking around. Lucas' dad, Chris? Bill Carlton's God-son," Sam stated.

"Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit," Dean said, getting up.

Emery got up from her spot on the bed, shrugging on one of Dean's hoodies (surprised that he actually brought one) and slipped on her battered converse. She followed them out of the motel room, sitting in the back of the Impala as they drove to the house.

Once there, they got out of Baby, walked around the house, and onto the dock where Bill was seated.

"Mr. Carlton?" Emery said, her voice gentle. Bill looked up at the three of them, his face full of pain. "We'd like to ask you some questions, if you don't mind."

"We're from the department of-" Dean started.

"I don't care who you're with," Bill said, his voice the saddest thing Emery has ever heard. "I've answered enough questions today."

"Your son said he saw something in that lake," Sam stated softly, trying to make a point. "What about you? You ever seen anything out there?"

"Mr. Carlton," Emery started, a little more demanding this time. "Sophie's drowning and Will's death, we think there might be a connection. Do you or your family-"

"My children are gone," Bill interrupted. He blinked back tears, before looking at the three hunters. "It's worst than dying."

Emery gave him a sad smile, feeling sympathy for the man. He was heartbroken.

"Go away," Bill then said, turning to look back at the lake. "Please."

The three did as told, making their way to the Impala. Emery ignored Sam and Dean's conversation, getting into the car and cuddling deeper into Dean's sweater... and scent.

☪✡

"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's a good idea," Andrea stated, the three standing in her house's den.

"I just need to talk to him," Dean tried. "Just for a few minutes."

"He won't say anything," Andrea explained, hands on hips. "What good's it gonna do?"

"Andrea," Sam chimed in, "We think more people might get hurt. We think something's happening out there."

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

"If that's what you really believe," Dean started, looking pleadingly at the girl. "Then we'll go. But if you think that there is even a possibility that something else is going on here, please let me talk to your son."

Next thing Emery knew, they were being shown up to Lucas' room. He was drawing, of course, green toy army men scattered around. Emery, Sam and Andrea stood in the doorway/hallway as Dean took a step in, kneeling in front of Lucas. The kid looked up for a split second, giving another tiny smile to Emery before going back to drawing.

Beside her, Andrea looked shocked.

"Hey, Lucas," Dean said. "Remember me?"

Dean looked at the pictures Lucas had already drawn, which were a couple pictures of a red bicycle.

"You know, I -uh- I wanted to thank you for that last drawing," Dean paused, getting his words together. "But, the thing is, I need your help again."

Dean reached into his pocket and grabbed the picture Lucas had drawn before. Emery observed how Dean was actually, truly trying to get this kid's help, and her heart fluttered. Dean unfolded the drawing of the house, laying it in front of Lucas.

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

Emery sighed inwardly. Lucas was cute and all, but they were getting nowhere.

"You're scared," Dean stated. "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 knew she wanted me to be brave. I think about that everyday. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe your dad wants you to be brave too."

Emery felt as if she were intruding suddenly. She had never actually known this fact about Dean, all she knew was the things he told her, like how he carried Sam out of the house. Or that John had been the one to find Mary. Not that he had actually seen it.

Lucas dropped the crayon he was drawing with suddenly, and looked up at Dean. Emery watched as he grabbed a picture he drew and handed it to Dean, all of them shocked.

Dean took it, looking the little boy in the eye.

"Thanks, Lucas."

___________

edited.

so, i should get a life, but I don't want to.

P.s special shout out to VampireDiaries2899 because her comment on the last chapter made my day.

Thanks for reading :)