Dean, Natalie, and the girls are sitting at a table in the diner. Dean is reading a newspaper, looking for a new case, chewing on his pen as he reads.
Libby is sitting on Natalie's lap as the two color on the sheet that the waitress gave the two girls. Ophelia is sitting next to them and working on her own sheet.
"Can I get you anything else?" The waitress walks up, only looking at Dean. The pen stays in Dean's mouth as he smiles.
"Just the check, please." Sam sits down between his siblings.
"Okay." Wendy walks away. Dean drops his head.
"You know, Sam, we are allowed to have fun once in a while." Dean says. He points at Wendy. "That's fun."
"I'm fun." Ophelia says.
"You're a different kind of fun." Dean tells her.
"Well, what kind of fun is she?" Ophelia's face scrunches in confusion.
"Uh..." Dean glances at his siblings.
"You set yourself up for that one." Natalie says.
"Yeah." Sam nods.
"She's, um... she's a drink grown up juice with fun." Dean says.
"Oh. I can't do that." Ophelia mutters.
"Yeah." Dean mumbles as she returns to her drawing. The twins smirk as Dean visibly feels relief wash over him.
"Here, take a look at this." Dean slides the newspaper over to the twins. "I think I got one. 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. None of the other bodies were found either. They had a funeral two days ago."
"A funeral?" Sam asks.
"Yeah, it's weird, they buried an empty coffin. For, uh, closure or whatever." Dean says.
"Closure? What closure? People don't just disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them." Sam says.
"Okay. Hey, sweet girls, uh... how does the park across the street sound?" Natalie asks.
"Yay!" Libby cheers, bouncing in excitement.
"Okay." Natalie stands up, holding Libby. "C'mon, Opie." She holds her hand out to the girl and Ophelia grabs her hand, Natalie leading them to the park.
Ophelia immediately goes to the slides.
"Swing. Swing!" Libby points to them.
"Okay, okay, okay." Natalie chuckles. She walks over and puts Libby in the baby swing. Natalie goes behind her and pulls her back a little before letting go, giggles instantly leaving Libby's lips as she goes back and forth.
Natalie gently pushes her niece, smiling softly at the joy of the toddler, knowing it's been a hard few weeks for her since seeing Jess die.
"Higher! High, high!" Libby cheers.
"Okay." Natalie softly laughs, pushing her a little higher. Ophelia runs over and gets on the swing next to Libby.
"Can you push me too?" Ophelia asks.
"Uh-huh." Natalie nods. She moves over behind Ophelia. She pulls her back, pushing her forward. Natalie stands behind the two swings, pushing them when they come back.
+++
Natalie had stayed in the car with the girls while Sam and Dean talked to the brother of Sophie Carlton. They're at the police station now and talking to the sheriff.
"Now, I'm sorry, but why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" Jake asks.
"You sure it's accidental? Will Carlton saw something grab his sister." Sam says.
"Like what?" Jake asks, the group walking into his office. "Here, sit, please." The siblings sit on the chairs in front of Jake's desk. Ophelia climbs onto Dean's lap, cuddling into his chest. Sam picks Libby and puts her on his lap.
"There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake." Jake says, sitting down. "There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness Monster." He jokes.
"Yeah." Dean awkwardly laughs. "Right."
"You said that wasn't real." Ophelia frowns up at her dad.
"It's not, baby." Dean quietly tells her.
"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." Jake says.
"That's weird, though. I mean, that's-- that's the third missing body this year." Dean says.
"I know. These are people from my town. These are people I care about." Jake says.
"I know." Dean says.
"Anyway..." Jake sighs. "All this... it won't be a problem much longer."
"What do you mean?" Dean asks.
"Well, the dam, of course." Jake says.
"Of course, the dam. It's, uh, it sprung a leak."
"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."
"Exactly."
There's a knock on the door and they turn to see a young brunette woman walk in.
"Sorry. Am I interrupting? I can come back later." She says as the siblings stand up. Sam holds Libby and Dean holds Ophelia's hand.
"Gentlemen, miss, kids, this is my daughter." Jake informs.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Dean." He shakes her hand.
"Andrea Barr. Hi." She smiles politely.
"Hi." Dean says.
"I'm Ophelia." The girl butts in with a small smile.
"Hi, Ophelia." Andrea softly smiles at her.
"They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake." Jake says.
"Oh." Andrea mumbles. A young boy walks in.
"Oh, hey there. What's your name?" Dean asks. Ophelia waves to him. The boy walks out of the room and Andrea follows him.
"His name is Lucas." Jake says.
"Is he okay?" Sam asks.
"My grandson's been through a lot. We all have." Jake says.
"Yeah. Yeah, I get that." Sam mumbles, looking at Libby who is reaching out and playing with Natalie's ponytail, running her fingers through her aunt's brown locks.
"Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know." Jake says, the group walking out of the office.
"Thanks. You know, now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?" Dean asks.
"Lakefront Motel. Go around the corner, it's about two blocks south." Andrea says.
"Two-- would you mind showing us?" Dean asks.
"Oh, my God." Natalie rolls her eyes.
"You want me to walk you two blocks?" Andrea asks with a small laugh.
"Not if it's any trouble." Dena says.
"I'm headed that way, anyway." Andrea says. "I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three." She tells her dad. "We'll go to the park, okay, sweetie?" She tells Lucas. She kisses him on the head before walking out.
"Thanks again." Sam tells Jake.
"So, cute kid." Dean comments as Andrea leads them to the motel.
"Thanks. You guys, too." Andrea says.
"Thank you." Ophelia grins making Andrea softly laugh. They cross the street to the motel.
"Kids are the best, huh?" Dean asks. Andrea glances back at him, but doesn't reply.
"There it is. Like I said, two blocks." Andrea says.
"Thanks." Sam tells her.
"Thank you." Natalie says.
"Must be hard, with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pick up line." Andrea tells Dean.
Natalie snorts, starting to laugh as Sam snickers.
"Enjoy your stay!" Andrea calls back as she walks off.
""Kids are the best?" You don't even like kids." Sam tells Dean.
"Hey." Ophelia frowns.
"I love kids." Dean says. "Exhibit A." He motions to Ophelia.
"Name three children -- that you aren't related to and don't raise -- that you even know." Sam says. Dean scratches his head as he thinks. Sam and Natalie share amused looks, walking to the motel.
"I'm thinking!" Dean calls out.
"You like me, right, daddy?" Ophelia asks.
"Of course I do, baby girl. You're my ultimate favorite kid." Dean says, picking her up and she grins.
+++
"So, there's the three drowning victims this year." Sam says.
"Any before that?" Dean asks.
"Uh, yeah. Six more spread out over the past 35 years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace." Sam says.
"So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?" Dean asks.
"This whole lake monster theory, it-it just bugs me." Sam says.
"Why?" Dean asks.
"Loch Ness, uh, Lake Champlain, there are literally hundreds of eyewitness accounts, but here, almost nothing. Whatever it is out there, no one's living to talk about it."
"Wait, Barr, Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?" Dean asks, looking at the article on Sam's computer.
"Andrea Barr?" Natalie asks after a moment.
"Yeah." Dean nods.
"Andrea and daddy sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N--" Dean covers Ophelia's mouth.
"Shut it." He gently tells her and she giggles, the noise muffled by his hand.
"Christopher Barr, the victim in May." Sam says. "He was Andrea's husband, Lucas' dad. Apparently, he took Lucas out swimming. Lucas was on a floating wooden platform when Chris drowned. Two hours before the kid got rescued."
"Poor kid." Natalie frowns.
"Maybe we have an eyewitness after all." Sam says.
"No wonder that kid was so freaked out. Watching one of your parents die isn't something you just get over." Dean says.
Sam's gaze immediately goes to Libby who gets a sad look in her eyes as she processes Dean's words. Libby waddles to Sam and holds her arms out. Sam grabs her when she's in reaching distance and puts her on his lap, the girl cuddling into his chest.
"Sorry." Dean whispers.
"No. No, it's not you." Sam mumbles, wrapping his arms around Libby, kissing the top of her head.
+++
They get to the park and see Andrea sitting on a bench.
"Can we join you?" Sam asks.
"I'm here with my son." Andrea says, pointing over to Lucas who is at a bench on the playground and coloring and playing with toy soldiers.
"Oh. Mind if I say hi?" Dean asks, walking over, bringing Ophelia with him.
"Swing! Swing!" Libby points.
"Uh..." Sam looks at Natalie, one of them needing to talk to Andrea.
"I got her. Come to Aunt Natty." She holds her hands out to Libby. The girl grins, reaching for her aunt who takes her and Natalie carries her over to the swings.
"Tell your friend this whole Jerry Maguire thing isn't gonna work on me." Andrea tells Sam.
"I don't think that's what this is about." Sam says.
Dean and Ophelia get to Lucas.
"How's it going?" Dean asks, kneeling across from Lucas. Ophelia sits on an empty spot on the bench. "Oh, I used to love these things." He picks up a toy soldier. He imitates gunshots and explosions before tossing the toy down, Lucas not giving any reaction.
"So crayons is more your thing? That's cool. Chicks dig artists. Right, Ophi?" Dean asks. Ophelia nods, softly smiling at Lucas.
Dean does a double take at her, his jaw going slack at her agreement.
"We'll be talking later." Dean tells her before turning his attention back to Lucas and looking at his drawings. "Hey, these are pretty good. You mind if I sit and draw with you for a while? I'm not so bad myself." He grabs a crayon.
"You suck at drawing." Ophelia counters.
"No, I don't." Dean argues. Ophelia rolls her eyes at his denial. Dean looks at her offended.
"You know, I'm thinking you can hear me, you just don't want to talk." Dean tells Lucas. "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." Lucas just continues his drawing. "Okay, no problem. This is for you."
Dean shows his stick figure drawing.
"This is my family." He says. "That's my dad. That's my mom. That's my geek brother, that's his little girl. That's my, uh... colorful sister. That's my little girl and that's me."
"Uncle Sammy's taller than you." Ophelia frowns in confusion at Dean's stick figure being taller than Sam's.
"Well, I'm older." Dean retorts.
"I told you that you suck at drawing." Ophelia says.
"Yeah, okay, so maybe I'm a sucky artist." Dean admits. He puts the drawing down. "I'll see you around, Lucas." Dean grabs Ophelia's hand.
"Bye, Lucas." She waves at him as her and Dean walk away. They return to Sam and Andrea, Dean seeing Natalie pushing Libby on the swings.
"Lucas hasn't said a word, not even to me. Not since his dad's accident." Andrea says.
"Yeah, we heard. Sorry." Dean says.
"What are the doctors saying?" Sam asks.
"That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress." Andrea says.
"That can't be easy. For either of you." Sam says.
"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." Dean says. He sends a knowing look to Sam, the statement also meant for him about Libby.
"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--" She stops as Lucas walks over. "Hey, sweetie."
Lucas hands a drawing to Ophelia.
"Thank you, Lucas." She tells him and he walks back to his bench. Ophelia looks at the picture of a house and holds it up for Dean and he looks at it.
=============================
So I've decided that the story is kind of gonna be from scratch. I won't just copy everything from their individual books, but things that are staying the same:
- Natalie's pre-series story with all the stuff John's done (sorry not sorry, we love trauma)
- Oph's a psychic
- Nathan
- Jacob
And other big things will be decided when I get around to it. Some things will stay the same whether it's intentional or not just because it is still my same brain and if I like something, I'll keep it
I'll also try to add more angst and happy moments and Dean's not going to be a total dick to Natalie (and he tried more protecting her while growing up) Dean's still brainwashed into soldier mode, but also having a large internal struggle with his loyalty to his dad he was forced to have and also hates him cause of the all the thing he did to Natalie.
Especially being a father himself now which just kind of makes his feelings toward his father change even more cause he could never imagine putting Ophelia through anything John put Dean and Nat through.
So things may get complicated when John does show back up (fun times 🙄) but Dean is protective big brother