Love Never Dies (SPN Fanfic)

Dead in the Water [2]

"Oh, hey there. What's your name?"

Lucas walked away without speaking.

Andrea followed.

"His name is Lucas," Jake explained.

"Is he okay?" Sam asked as he watched Andrea give Lucas some crayons out of a box.

"My grandson's been through a lot. We all have." Jake stood and went to the office door "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know,"

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

"Lakefront Motel." Andrea replied "Go around the corner. It's about two blocks south,"

"Two...would you mind showing us?"

Andrea laughed "You want me to walk you two blocks?"

"Not if it's any trouble,"

Andrea shrugged "I'm heading that way anyway." she turned to Jake "I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three." Andrea looked at Lucas "We'll go to the park, okay, sweetie?" She kissed Lucas on the head.

Sam waved as they left "Thanks again,"

Andrea led Dean and Sam along the street.

"So, cute kid," Dean said breaking the silence.

"Thanks," Andrea replied.

The group crossed the street.

"Kids are the best, huh?" Dean asked.

Andrea glanced at Dean and ignored him.

They kept walking, stopping in front of a building that said Lakefront Motel.

"There it is." Andrea nodded "Like I said, two blocks,"

"Thanks," Sam said.

"Must be hard," Andrea told Dean "with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line," She left "Enjoy your stay!"

Rae appeared next to Dean with a smirk on her face "Kids are best? You don't even like kids,"

"I love kids,"

Rae crossed her arms "Name three children that you even know,"

"I know something's got you in a tizzy. Something about her kid," Dean nodded to where Andrea had walked off.

Rae looked over at Andrea "He's got an energy..." she shook her head "I don't know. Best keep an eye on him,"

***

Sam was working on his laptop in the motel room, while Dean was going through his clothing.

"So there's the three drowning victims this year,"

"Any before that?" Dean wondered.

"Uh, yeah." Sam had a browser open to The Lake Manitoc Tribune. "Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace,"

Dean tossed an item of clothing onto a bed "So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?"

"This whole lake monster theory, it, it just bugs me,"

Dean came over to read over Sam's shoulder "Why?"

"Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing." Sam looked at the Tribune homepage. "Whatever it is out there, no one's living to talk about it," He scrolled to the comments section of an article.

Dean pointed to the screen "Wait, Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?"

Sam read from the page "Christopher Barr, the victim in May." He clicked a link, opening a new page.

The picture loaded: it showed a police officer with Lucas.

"Oh. Christopher Barr was Andrea's husband, Lucas's father. Apparently, he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued." Sam clicked the picture for a better look "Maybe we have an eyewitness after all,"

"No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over," Dean said, feeling a whisper of a touch on his shoulder by Rae.

***

Andrea sat on a park bench watching Lucas, who was sitting at another bench coloring and playing with toy soldiers.

"Can we join you?" Sam asked Andrea.

Andrea looked up at Sam and Dean. "I'm here with my son,"

"Oh." Dean said, "Mind if I say hi?" He went over to Lucas.

"Tell your friend this whole Jerry Maguire thing is not gonna work on me," Andrea said as Sam sat next to her.

"I don't think that's what this is about," Sam reasoned.

Dean approached Lucas "How's it going?" He knelt down next to the bench where Lucas was coloring; when Lucas didn't even look up, Dean picked up one of the toy soldiers. "Oh, I used to love these things," he imitated guns and explosions, then tossed the toy soldier down. "So crayons is more your thing? That's cool. Chicks dig artists,"

Dean took a look at the pile of drawings Lucas had on the bench.

The top one was of a big black swirl; the second one was of a red bicycle.

"Hey, these are pretty good. You mind if I sit and draw with you for a while?" Dean picked up a crayon "I'm not so bad myself," He sat on the bench, picked up a pad of paper, and started drawing. "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 has to be something really 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 of what you saw that day, with your dad, on the lake. Okay, no problem. This is for you." Dean held out a picture to Lucas. "This is my family." he pointed at each person in turn "That's my dad. That's my mom. That's my geek brother, and that's me. All right, so I'm a sucky artist. Now Rae..." Dean smiled "she was a true Picasso." he shook his head "I'll see you around, Lucas," He headed back to Sam and Andrea.

"Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me." Andrea explained to Sam "Not since his dad's accident,"

"Yeah, we heard." Dean admitted "Sorry,"

Andrea nodded.

"What are the doctors saying?" Sam wondered.

"That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress,"

"That can't be easy." Sam said "For either of you,"

Andrea shrugged "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..."

"Kids are strong. You'd be surprised what they can deal with.

A gust of wind blew one of Lucas' drawings towards Dean.

"You know, he used to have such 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..."

Dean felt the paper against his leg and leaned down to pick it up, it was a picture of the Carlton house.