DEAD IN THE WATER [PART THREE]
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"I can feel your eyes on us, get over here and hug your girlfriend and Daughter."
—
"I'm comin'. I'm comin'."

• • •

They soon arrive at the Park that's in walking distance from their motel.

Upon arriving, Harlow's eyes immediately spot Lucas sitting alone on a bench, drawing. The five-year-old looks up at her father and immediately gives him the puppy dog eyes that her Uncle had taught her and clasps her hands together underneath her chin.

Dean instantly melts when his green eyes meet HIS green eyes and lets out a playful reluctant sigh. He's not THAT oblivious, he saw how his daughters eyes were drawn to Lucas straight away. He knows that she has a tiny crush on him but over his dead body would he allow anything to come of it. Harlow is still his little girl and he'll be damned if any boy wants to date her and take her away from him.

Dean nods his head, giving Harlow permission to go and do whatever it is she wants to do with Lucas but he'll be keeping an eye on them. Making sure there's No funny buiness.

Juliet watches as Harlow runs off and over to Lucas before looking to Dean. As if sensing where his thoughts have gone, she links her arm through his and pulls him closer so that she's able to rest her head on his shoulder.

"He's seven, Dean and she's five. I think they'll be just fine."

Dean exhales a deep breath as he turns to his girlfriend and wraps his arms around her waist. "I know, just don't want her growing up too fast. Like you said, she's five, she's still our little girl and she still needs us."

Juliet surprises Dean by laughing. He furrows his eyebrows at her in confusion, silently asking her why she's laughing.

"You're talking about her like she's 25 and not just five. Dean she'll always need us, even when she's way into her 50s and even then she'll still be our little girl. You worry too much. Right now the only man in her life is her Daddy, meaning you."

Dean smiles down at the brunette and pulls her in close before leaning in and placing his lips on hers. Even after all this time Juliet can still feel the sparks between them like she did all those years ago when they had their first kiss.

A throat being cleared pulls them, reluctantly, apart.

The mother and father turn and see Sam standing there awkwardly which causes Juliet to bite her lip and cover her smile of amusement, whereas Dean on the other hand gives his brother a clueless look, exactly like the one he gave him in the restaurant earlier. "What?" Sam doesn't say anything and just nods his head in the direction of a woman sitting on a bench, reading. Upon closer inspection, Juliet notices that the woman is Andrea and so it seems, Dean does as well.

The said Hunter turns to his freakishly tall brother and nods his head. "Start making your way to her, we'll catch up." Sam scruches his eyebrows together but doesn't voice his confusion and instead does what Dean asks. Juliet, also confused, looks at Dean with an eyebrow raised. "What was that about?"

Dean doesn't answer right away but just grabs both of her hands in his, there's a pause in the air between them that allows Juliet's thoughts to run a mile a minute. "Okay...you're creeping me out. Do I need to get the Holy Water? Because I will." Dean laughs and shakes his head, "No, I'm just admiring you. How did I end up so lucky to be with a woman like you? You understand me in ways not even Dad can and you always know the right things to say." Juliet's look of confusion, softens and instead becomes a look of adoration. She moves her arms around his neck and plays with the hairs on the back of his neck, just the way he likes it, causing him to close his eyes.

When he opens them he notices a playful smirk playing on her lips.

"Well, ya must've done somethin' right and I am a beautiful woman, can't disagree with that."

Dean laughs at her playfulness and pulls her in for one last kiss before looking towards his brother to see that he's almost reached Andrea. He looks back to Juliet and nods his head in Sam's direction. "C'mon, better catch up to him before he makes a fool of himself." Juliet laughs as the two make their way to Sam, hand in hand.

The three hunters make their way up to Andrea. Sam clears his throat causing Andrea to turn around, she smiles politely at the three as Sam gestures to the space beside her on the bench, "Can we join you?" Andrea pauses and looks hesitant and instead motions towards her Son without looking. "I'm here with my Son." Juliet nods her head and also motions to the bench where Lucas is, as that's where Harlow is also sitting. "And we're here with our daughter." Hearing this, the single mother turns and notices, for the first time since the hunters had arrived, Harlow is sitting next to Lucas. She smiles softly at the image before looking back to Sam and nodding in answer to his question.

Sam sits down next to Andrea and turns to Dean, expecting him to do the same but he doesn't, instead he turns to the single mother and motions to Lucas. "Mind if I say hi?" Andrea nods her head and watches as the older Winchester brother goes over to her Son. Juliet, too, watches her boyfriend as he makes his way towards the two children. She also turns to Andrea and Sam, smiling politely at the two, "If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go check on Harlow." The two nod their heads and watch as Juliet walks quickly to catch up with Dean and make their way towards the wooden park bench.

She watches as he kneels down between Lucas and their daughter before sitting opposite Harlow, herself.

Dean looks at Lucas, who hasn't looked up from his drawing. "How's it going?" Lucas's eyes remain on his drawing but Dean doesn't take offense to that. Harlow, however, beams at the sound of her fathers voice and swivels 'round to greet him. "Daddy!" Dean laughs as she wraps her little arms around his neck, hugging him. The hunter hugs her back and eyes the paper that's currently displaying a half-drawn picture. He motions to it while looking at the five-year-old. "What's that?"

As if realising that her drawing is left on the table for people to see, Harlow dramatically gasps and is quick to cover the piece of paper with her arms. "No! You wan't wook at it! Secwet." Dean nods his head as he puts his finger up to his lips, miming a 'shushing' action that's similar to the one Harlow is doing.

Deciding to leave his daughter to draw in peace, he turns his attention back to Lucas, it's then he notices the table has some green toy soldiers scattered around on it. Dean picks one up and looks at it in wonder. "Oh, I used to love these things, didn't I Jules?" He proceeds to hold up the toy soldier for Juliet to see. The huntress hums and nods her head, "Yup! I remember you used to leave them all over the floor when we were kids," She then laughs as a fuzzy memory pops into her head, "I remember one time I had gotten hold of one but before I could've put it in my mouth and chock on it, Mary snatched it out of my hand and started telling you off."

Dean grumbles under his breath about the memory not being a fond one for him like it is for her due to him being the one told off.

He goes back to looking at Lucas's toy soldier before imitating gun noises and explosions before placing the toy soldier down after seeing it was getting no reaction out of Lucas. He looks down at what Lucas is drawing and nods his head, "So crayons is more your thing? That's cool. Chicks dig art. I used to draw pictures for Juliet before we started going out. Although, I'm sure you're way better at drawing than I am..." Dean trails off when he notices a pile of drawings drawn by Lucas, he picks them up but pauses when he sees the top one is a drawing of a black swirl. He then moves to the next drawing and sees the second one is of a red bicycle.

Dean turns to Lucas, impressed. "Hey, these are pretty good. You mind if I sit and draw with you two for a while?" Lucas continues to remain silent but Harlow jumps for joy as Dean sits down next to Juliet. Their daughter is quick to pass them a piece of paper each and some crayons before going back to her drawing.

"Let's see if my artistic skills have changed since when I used to give you drawings."

Juliet hums distractedly as she concentrates on her own picture. Dean takes a peek at Juliets piece of paper to see what she is drawing and all he can see is some wavy hair and a face that is featureless. He furrows his eyebrows but doesn't question the meaning behind the drawing and instead starts on his own while still trying to connect with Lucas and try and break through his walls

"You know, I'm thinking you can hear me, you just don't want to talk-" Before he can continue, Juliet is quick to cut him off to remind and reassure Lucas of something. "And that's fine, we're not here to push you to talk. We just want you to listen." Dean nods his head and points at his girlfriend, "-Exactly, and that is fine and I don't know exactly what happened to your dad, but I know it was something real bad. I think we know how you feel. When I was your age, I saw something."

There's a pause in the air between the two adults and two kids. Harlow had stopped drawing at the mention of her dads childhood and is now intently listening and hanging on to every word that leaves Deans mouth. Harlow has heard bits and pieces of her parents life before she came into the world, but it isn't something they like to talk about very much. So when opportunities like this pop up, Harlow will drop everything to hear her dad talk about what his and Juliet's lives were like before hunting. However, much to her disappointment, Dean is quick to change the subject which causes her to pout adorably.

"Anyway. Well, maybe you don't think anyone will listen to you, or, uh...or believe you. I want you to know that I-we will. You don't even have to say anything. You could draw Jules and I a picture about what you saw that day, with your dad, on the lake."

After a pause, Dean sighs, "Okay, no problem." He then holds out his drawing of six stick people to Lucas. "This is for you. This is my family." He then points to each stick figure in turn, "That's my dad. That's my mom. That's my geek brother. That's my gorgeous girlfriend. That's my little girl, and that's me." There's another pause and still no reply from Lucas. "All right, so I'm a sucky artist." He places the drawing next to the boy's pile of drawings. "I'll see you around Lucas." Dean then gets up from the bench and holds out a hand to help Juliet up but she refuses. "I'll be there in a sec. just give me a mo." Dean nods his head, leaving her to it.

Juliet watches him, as he makes his way back to Sam, before turning to Lucas and holds out the drawing she had done of a woman with no face. "This is my Mom. I know, she has no features but that's because I don't really remember what she looked like. You see, my mother died when I was just a baby, along with my father, so they weren't around long enough for me to make out and trace every freckle to every laughter line but I do remember one thing, other than her name which was Lydia, and that's how safe and warm I felt in my mothers hold and how I felt so comforted by her embrace. I know you miss your father, I miss mine too but you still have a Mom, Lucas, and I can tell you this, you mean the world too her."

Juliet smiles at the two children before standing up to make her leave and walk back towards the other adults.

As soon as both adults are out of hearing range, Lucas puts down his crayons and picks up the two drawings that Dean and Juliet had left for him. Harlow watches him before tapping his left shoulder to get his attention, which she does. The young Winchester smiles at her new friend and motions to the drawings he has in both of his hands. "My mommy and daddy, dey wust want to welp, dat's theiw Job welping people and they awe wery good at it, pwomise. Will you pwease welp them by maybe dwawing dem somethink? I'll welp!"

Lucas looks as if he's thinking before he looks up at Harlow, a small smile on his face, and blinks twice at her which has the little girl beaming and jumping for joy at his way of saying 'yes'.

Back with the adults, the three of them talk amongst themselves while also keeping an eye on their respective child. Andrea glances at Dean and Juliet. "Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his dad's accident." Juliet nods her head, feeling concerned and sorry for what the young woman must have gone through. "Yeah, we heard about that. Sorry." Andrea nods her head in thanks as Sam turns to her. "What are the Doctors sayin'?" The mother of Lucas shrugs her shoulders and sighs, "That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress." The taller but younger Winchester adult's questioning gaze turns soft as he faces Andrea. "That can't be easy. For either of you."

"We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot. It's just...when I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw.." Andrea trails off in thought before shaking her head, as if trying to physically shake the images of what Lucas may have seen from her mind. Dean gives her a polite yet sympathetic smile, "Kids are strong. You'd be surprised at what they can deal with. I know I am if Harlow ever overcomes something neither me or Juliet thought she would."

Andrea nods her head as a thought crosses her mind. "Speaking of your daughter, I have to say, she's made Lucas open up in ways I've never seen before. He hardly ever interacts with kids at school, so to see him interacting with her...well it at least makes me hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, you know?" Juliet smiles and nods her head and watches as Andrea sighs wistfully, "You know, he used to have such a life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there. Drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish-" Andrea is cut off by feeling a hand be placed on her shoulder, she turns to see that it's Juliet's hand. Andrea meets her brown eyes and notices a small smile dancing on the corner of her lips. "Hey, just give him time. The best you can do for him right now, is be there for him and just wait until he's ready to come to you." Andrea squeezes the Huntress's hand and goes to utter a thank you for the woman's kindness, but two pairs of running feet, break the adults out of their conversation.

All four adults turns to the children, who're both carrying pictures in their hands, well Lucas is carrying one piece of paper, Harlow on the other hand, has a small pile. The brown haired girl smiles and runs up to Dean, who is already bent down and ready to pick her up. Harlow giggles as Dean throws her up in the air a little before holding her in his arms. He points to the drawings in her hand, "And what have you been doing? Drawing a picture for everyone who lives in this neighborhood?" Harlow giggles but shakes her head, "No Daddy! These awe fow the family." Dean nods his head like what Harlow is saying was meant to be obvious. He sets her on her feet when he feels her wriggling to get down. He watches as she runs over to Sam and holds up a piece of paper to him. "Dis is fow you!"

Sam takes the picture with a soft smile on his face, touched by her little gift for him. "Thanks, angel." He then looks down at the picture in his hands. He faintly chuckles as he looks down at the picture in his hand and sees that Harlow has drawn him a picture of a moose that looks to have his hair.

Harlow then moves on to the next person which is her mother. She smiles at Juliet as she hands her the drawing she has made for her, "And dis one is fow you." Juliet takes the drawing from her hands, gently and grins when she looks down and notices that Harlow has drawn a big stick figure, which is meant to be Juliet, which looks to be sitting on a chair with a book in her hand, reading, She also notices that the stick figure that is meant to be her, has long wavy hair that has been colored in using brown crayon.

Finally, Harlow moves on to the last person left to hand a picture to, Dean. The little Winchester giggles as her dad looks at her with a mock expectant look on his face but his eyes give away his eagerness to know what his daughter has made him. Yup, that's her father all right, he's more childish than her at times.

Harlow holds the picture that she has drawn Dean out to him and the said man takes it with a smile on his face. His breath however, catches in his throat when he looks down at the paper to see that Harlow has drawn him as a stick figure sitting in the drivers seat of what looks like the Impala with a piece of pie in his hand that is sticking out of the car window.

Dean looks back down at his daughter, a big, ear to ear, grin on his face as he pulls his little girl in for a bone crushing hug. "I love it, baby girl. I'll treasure it with my life." Juliet smiles at the two and joins them in on the hug while smoothing her daughter's hair down and running her fingers through her reddish-brown locks. "As will I. I love my drawing, honey. Thank you." She leans down and kisses her daughter on the cheek.

It's then Dean notices a fourth piece of paper in Harlow's hands. He motions to it as he looks at his daughter. "Who's that one for?" Harlow looks down at the piece of paper and smiles before looking back up at Dean, "Dis one is fow Gwampa." She then turns to show her father and mother what she's drawn for John, "It's me watching him as he fixes da car!"

Juliet and Dean smile at their little ball of sunshine before bringing her in for one more hug.

The family pull away from each other when Lucas approaches them, seems the poor boy stood back, not wanting to intrude on their little moment and for that, Juliet's heart melts but also sinks.

'That poor kid.'

Andrea smiles at her son, "Hey sweetie." But Lucas doesn't reply and instead hands Juliet a drawing that he did. Dean smiles at the boy, already knowing why he has given them a picture that he has drawn. "Thanks. Thanks, Lucas."

The three hunters look down at the drawing Lucas has given them and see that he has drawn a picture of the Carlton house.

Juliet smiles and turns to Andrea, "We better be going but it was lovely seeing you again." She then looks down at Lucas and shakes the drawing in her hand before sending him a smile in thanks. Harlow dejectedly sighs at having to say goodbye to her friend, again but does it anyway. She skips up to Lucas and pulls him into a hug, making sure to go slow and be gentle incase he isn't comfortable, but the small boy surprises them and her by letting the Winchester girl hug him and although he doesn't hug back, Harlow doesn't take offense to that.

She gives Lucas one more smile before running over to her Uncle Sam and asking to be put on his shoulders this time instead. Dean laughs as he walks beside the two, Juliet however hangs back to send Lucas a knowing wink that has the small boy's cheeks burning red. The huntress laughs and puts her finger up to her mouth, as if saying his secret crush is safe with her, before jogging to catch up with her family as Sam gives in and picks his niece up and places her on his shoulders.

The brunette looks back at Lucas to see him making his way back to the bench he was sat at previously.

• • •

Dean, Juliet and Harlow sit in their motel room, Sam had already left a little while ago to see what else he can find out about the lake.

Juliet and Harlow sit on Dean and hers bed as the former brushes her daughters silky and clean hair. Dean watches from the motel couch with a smile on his face as he watches the mother of his child and daughter spend time with one another, it makes his heart swell with love.

"You'll see Lucas again, honey."

The little girls sighs in sadness at her mothers words and nods her head, "I know but I want to play with him more. He's my friend, my only friend." Juliet nods her head in understanding as she puts down the hairbrush. "I know, sweetie. I know." The brunette woman wraps her arm around her daughters small frame, embracing her little girl with warmth and love.   

Harlow leans into her mothers hug as Dean continues to smile at the two. Juliet, without having to look at her boyfriend, smiles. "I can feel your eyes on us, get over here and hug your girlfriend and daughter." Dean laughs as he gets up from the couch with a groan. "I'm comin', I'm comin'." The twenty-six year old grins as Juliet pulls him down causing him to land on top of her with an 'oof'. 

It's then Sam enters their motel room and upon seeing the sight, he playfully sighs. "I need to stop walking in on you guys like this." Juliet laughs as Dean gets off of her and turns to his brother with a smirk on his face, "At least you didn't walk in to see me and Jules in a more risque posistion." The older Winchester brother laughs as Juliet playfully slaps his arm. She then turns to Sam and shakes her head in an 'ignore him' manner. Harlow, however looks to her mother in confusion, "What does daddy mean by wisky?" Juliets eyes widen as her and Dean share a look, the huntress clears her throat, "Uhh, it...um..." Dean snorts but tries to cover it before Juliet can hear it, but it's already too late as Juliet turns to him with a smirk that could only mean one thing, she then turns and looks back at her daughter who is so eager to know what her dad meant.  

"Why don't you ask your dad? I'm sure he knows better than I do."

Deans face instantly drops and he turns to Juliet who smiles at him mischievously before sticking her tongue out at him. The dirty-blonde hunter narrows his eyes at her but plasts a smile on his face when Harlow turns to him, hands on hip, expectantly. The hunter scratches the back of his head and sucks in a breath through his teeth. "Tell you what, Harls. I'll tell you when you're older."

The little Winchester huffs and crosses her arm but before she can say anything, Dean turns to Sam and motions for him to change the subject, quickly, which he does. "Anyway, I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie."

That immediately gets Dean and Juliets attention, they turn to the taller Winchester as Harlow still sits on the bed, trying to work out what her dad meant, herself.

Out of the other two adults in the room, Dean is the one to reply to Sam. "What do you mean?" The younger Winchester brother moves and sits on the bed next to Dean, "I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there..." before he continues, Sam looks to Juliet and motions to his niece. Juliet immediately understands what he's trying to say and covers Harlows ears to allow Sam to tell them the rest of what he saw/heard. ..."Will Carlton is dead." Juliet's chocolate brown orbs widen as she removes her hands from her daughters ears. "He's..." She trails off but Sam still knows what she's trying to say and nods his head.

Juliet exhales a breath as Dean raises an eyebrow at his younger yet freakishly taller brother, "He drowned?" Sam nods his head, "Yup. In the sink." Juliet's eyes widen even further, "The sink? Like an actual sink, a sink?"

Harlow looks between the three adults in confusion, "Why awe you twalkin about sinks?"

Dean shakes his head and turns to his daughter, running his fingers through her wavy locks. "Never you mind about that, baby. Why don't you go and set your bed up for the night? Ellie the Elephant is still in the bag, think you should get her out?"

Harlow gasps and runs over to Juliet and Dean's bag and rummages through it, grabbing her night stuff before walking over to her bed to set it up for the night.

Dean smiles at a distracted Harlow while Juliet is trying to wrap her head around the fact that someone had drowned in a sink, Dean furrows his eyebrows, "What the hell?" He then looks at Juliet, "So you were both right, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else."

Despite the circumstances, Juliet cups her hand around her ear and turns her head. "I'm sorry, did you just say me and Sam were right? Wow, I didn't even think you knew that the word 'right' existed." Dean laughs sarcastically but before he can comment, Sam starts speaking again, not wanting them to go off track. "Yeah, but the question is, what?" Dean shrugs his shoulders in answer to his brother's question. "I don't know. Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon?..."

Juliet cuts him off by shaking her head, getting both Winchester brother's attention. "A demon? What demon have you heard of that can posses water, no. Demons would just possess someone in order to kill someone."

Dean pulls a face in agreement before continuing on, "True, but what I mean is, it has to be something that controls water...water that comes from the same source." Juliet turns to Dean, "So, the lake?" The older Winchester brother nods his head, "Yeah." The Sullivan woman shudders in digust, "Well there goes my plan on having a shower later."

Something then clicks in Juliet's mind. "And that would explain why, whatever it is, is upping the body count. They're draining the lake. It'll be dry in a few months. So, whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time."

Dean nods his head at Juliet's words, "And if it can get through the pipes, it can get to anyone, almost anywhere." He then stands up from the bed and moves to sit in the chair at the motel table. "This is gonna happen again soon."

Sam agrees with his brother, "And we do know one other thing for sure."

Juliet and Dean turn to him, silently asking him to elaborate and he does, "We know this has something to do with Bill Carlton."

Juliet points at Sam in agreement, "That's true, considering what this thing did to both of his kids."

"And I've been asking around. Lucas's dad, Chris-Bill Carlton's godson."

That instantly gets Dean and Juliet's attention, "Let's go pay Mr. Carlton a visit." Juliet nods her head as she gets up to grab her things.

A huff gets all three adults' attention and they turn to see Harlow standing there, an exhausted look on her face. "I don't wanna go! I wanna stay here. I'm twired of travelling. Just want to west."

Juliet bites her lip as she looks at Dean and goes to volunteer to stay here but Sam beats her to it.

"It's okay, I'll stay."

Juliet and Dean looks at Sam as the former continues to bite her lip. "You sure? Cos I don't mind stayin'."

Sam just nods his head, "I'm sure you two can handle it. Besides, I want to spend some time with Harlow." That causes a smile to appear on the corner of Juliet's lips. She loves that Harlow now has her uncle in her life, she couldn't be happier.

She then inhales a breath as a thought that hasn't popped up in a while crosses her mind.

John.

If only she had just managed to stop him, then she wouldn't have to bare the weight of this secret that ways down on her day after day. The longer they are on the road and as each day passes, She just feels like shouting it out to her best friend and boyfriend.

Telling them she knows where he's gone, that he hasn't gone on your average day hunt and he's in fact tracking down the thing that caused them to lose their mother but she can't because, firstly, she's scared of how Dean will react and, secondly, she promised John that his secret would be safe with her but the more time that passes, the more she regrets that decision.

Juliet is pulled out of her thoughts by Deans voice, "Babe, you coming?" The said woman shakes her head and turns to Dean to see him standing by the motel door, holding it open for her.

She sucks in a breath and masks her worry and guilt with a smile and nods her head before turning to Harlow and kissing her head. "We'll be back soon, baby. Have fun with Uncle Sammy."

The young girl nods her head as Dean turns to her and sends her a wink, "And make sure to give him a hard time." Harlow giggles at that and nods her head, "Of couwse."

Sam playfully sighs and picks up Harlow as they watch Dean and Juliet leave the motel.

Once the door is shut behind them, Harlow turns to her Uncle. "Tant to pway tea pawty with me?" Sam chuckles and sets her down as he nods his head.

The little girl squeals in excitement before grabbing his hand and leading him to her bed where her toys are set in a circle for a tea party.

—

Authors Note

Okay, I lied looks like there is going to be four parts to this episode. :)

Wow, poor Juliet having to carry around this guilt all because of John, don't worry she plans on standing up for herself and having a serious talk with him when they end up finding him.

And, Dean will find out BEFORE they find John and I can say he will be finding out SOON, I wonder what his reaction will be...well I know but you guys don't, 😂😁

I of course had to add Juliet drawing her mother, the picture is faceless because she doesn't remember any of her mother's features all she remembers is her embrace, she has no photos as they left them all behind when John hit the road with them after Mary died. So all photos of both Mary and Juliet's parents are back in Kansas.

They will however, be making an appearance soon! 😉

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter, please remember to vote and comment and I'll see you all in the next chapter, that will be the last part to this episode.

Until then...💋