𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢 | 𝐬𝐩𝐧

𝐎𝐍𝐄

CARTER approached the door, a fake FBI badge tucked in her pocket. She wore a black suit and had her hair sitting firmly on her shoulders to give her a more professional look. Sam knocked and the trio waited. Finally, a man who looked to be in his late 50's, answered. "Will Carlton? I'm Agent Moore, this is Agent Ford and Agent Hamhill." Carter said, holding up a badge. "We're with the US Wildlife Service," Sam said. He and Dean held out their badges.

The man led them out to Bill Carlton. "I'm sorry, sir, about your loss. Is it alright if we ask you a few questions?" Carter asked. Will nodded. "That's where she got dragged out." He said, pointing at a spot in the lake. "And you're sure she didn't just drown?" Dean asked. Will nodded. "She was a varsity swimmer. Loved it with every fiber in her bones. She practically grew up in that lake. She was as safe out there as in her own bathtub."

"So no splashing? No signs of distress?" Sam asked. "Obviously not, Agent Hamhill, if she knew this lake that well," Carter muttered. "Exactly, missy." Will sighed. "Okay. Just making sure. Did you see any shadows in the water? Maybe some dark shape breach the surface?" Sam asked. When Will once again declined, Dean asked; "You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?"

"No, never. Why? Why, what do you think's out there?" Will frowned. "Nothing yet, sir. Once again, I'm sorry for your loss. We'll keep in contact." Carter said, closing her notepad and walking away. She sat down in the backseat once out of eyesight and took off the vest. "Okay, so what the fuck is going on?" She asked Dean and Sam. "We don't know yet. Let's go talk to the Sheriff." Sam said.

"Hey hey hey, jail bait, pull your vest back on," Dean told Carter. "I'm twenty!" She groaned. "Still acting like a two-year-old," Dean muttered. "Sam, I'm gonna drop kick, Dean," Carter warned. "Okay okay, both of you shut up. Can we please figure out what the Loch Ness monster wants?" Sam asked.
-

"Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" Sheriff Jake Devins asked the group. "You sure it's accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister." Sam asked. "Like...?"

"There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake. There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person unless it was Nessie. Will Carlton was traumatized, and sometimes the mind plays tricks. Still-We dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep, just to be sure, and there was nothing down there." The sheriff explained. "Three. Three missing people this year. We just want to look at all of the possibilities." Sam told him.

"I know. These are people from my town. These are people I care about. All of this won't be a problem much longer. The dam is falling apart. There won't be much of a lake anymore..." Jake explained. The door opened and a young woman walked in. She had golden-brown hair and amber eyes. "Sorry, am I interrupting?" She asked sweetly. "Not at all. This is my daughter. Andrea, this is Agent Ford, Hamhill, and Moore." The sheriff introduced. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Andrea." Dean smiled, flashing his usual flirty charm.

Carter pinched his arm behind her notepad. The last thing they needed was to be caught. There was no way Carter would be going to jail over Dean's flirty nature. A boy walked out from behind Andrea. He had brown hair with golden highlights and freckles. He seemed troubled. "Oh, hey there. What's your name?" Dean asked. The boy walked away. "His name is Lucas." The sheriff said.

"Is he okay?" Carter frowned. "My grandson's been through a lot. We all have. Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know." The man told them. "Thank you." She muttered, walking out of the building. When the boys returned, Andrea was with them. "Dean, did you drag her out here?" Carter scowled jokingly. Andrea laughed. "He claims he needs directions to a motel." She said.

"So, cute kid," Dean told Andrea as they walked across the street. "Thanks..." The mother replied, not buying into his comments. "Kids are the best, huh?" Dean continued. "This is painful," Carter whispered to Sam. Sam laughed. "There it is. Like I said, two blocks. Must be hard, with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line." Andrea smiled. Carter bursted out laughing. When Andrea left, Sam scolded Dean.

"You don't even like kids." He said. "What? I love kids!" His brother replied. "Name three children that you even know." Carter challenged. Dean scratched the back of his head and pondered that. Sam and Carter walked away. "I'm thinking!" Dean shouted.

IN THE MOTEL ROOM

"Well god damn. Look--" Carter showed them her laptop screen. "In May, Christopher Barr, Lucas's father, took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued." She showed them. "Maybe we have an eyewitness after all."
-

The group walked up to Andrea in the park. "Can we join you?" Sam asked. "I'm here with my son." She replied. "Do you mind if Agent Ford and I go say hi? It gets him out of you hair." Carter asked. Andrea nodded slowly and the two walked up to the boy. "Hey, kid." Carter smiled, kneeling beside him. He had toy soldiers surrounding his pile of papers and crayons. Lucas seemed to be engulfed in his drawing.

"I used to love these," Dean said, picking up a soldier. He imitated guns and explosions and Carter laughed. "Do you mind if I look at some of these, Lucas?" She asked, pointing at his pile of drawings. Hesitantly, Lucas picked up the pile and handed it to her without looking up. "Thanks." She said. There were drawings of a red bike and a whirlpool of black. "You've got some talent, kid." She mumbled, putting the pile down.

"Can I sit and draw with you for a while?" She asked. He didn't reply, but Carter and Dean still got comfortable and drew little things. "You know, I'm thinking you can hear me, you just don't want to talk. I don't know exactly what happened to your dad, but I know it was something real bad. I think I know how you feel. When I was your age, I saw something. Anyway. Well, maybe you don't think anyone will listen to you, or, uh...or believe you. I want you to know that I will. You don't even have to say anything. You could draw me a picture about what you saw that day, with your dad, on the lake. Okay, no problem. This is for you." Dean said, holding out a paper.

There were stick figures of a family. He pointed to each person and introduced them. "That's my dad. That's my mom. That's my geek brother, and that's me. Off on the side there is one of my best friends." He told Lucas. One looked distinctly like Carter. She smiled. "All right, so I'm a sucky artist. I'll see you around, Lucas." Dean got up and left. "Just you and I, now. Hey, Lucas. I haven't seen Dean talk that much about...anything. Uh, anyway, this is my drawing." Carter muttered, flipping over her blue paper.

"These are my best friends and I. We're kind of like superheroes, you know? We save lives and take care of each other. They're really important to me. They're all I have left...I know you went through something really bad. I wish I could help you, kiddo." She sighed. Lucas picked up her paper. The trio was wearing spy outfits and fighting off dark clouds of smoke. She could have sworn she saw Lucas almost smile. "I'm gonna go back, now. You can keep the drawing if you want." She told him, patting his shoulder and getting up.