Criminal Minds: Danika

Family

I wake up in a sweat and out of breath, again. I keep seeing the white eyes piercing into mine. Ever since I moved out of Hotch's place and into my own I've been having nightmares of the shapeshifter.

It's like my mind is trying to come to grips that what I saw was real. That what I went through wasn't just my imagination or a crazy hallucination. I've seen a lot of things before but...I watched that thing shift out of Dean's skin. It was gruesome, the sounds it made were even worse.

I head to the bathroom and wash my face, trying to get the images out of my mind. There's a knock on my door and I huff as I dry my face off. I look through the peep hole and see Derek standing there.

I sigh as I open the door and he walks in.

"You finally left the nest." He chuckles as he looks around and I roll my eyes.

"Hotch finally agreed that I was ready since I did so well the last case." I chuckle and then my phone goes off.

"Speaking of the devil." Derek chuckles but I shake my head.

"No." I mutter and see that it's Dean's number.

"Hello?" I ask.

"This Danika?" Dean asks.

"Yeah, what's up?" I ask noticing he sounds concerned.

"My brother Sam's missing and it's looking more like something that you would deal with than what I deal with." He says and I gulp.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"I'm not sure." He says and I huff.

"I need your help. And it needs to be just you." He pleads and I think it over.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because you're the only one I trust to help get him back." He explains and I'll gulp.

"Okay, text me the place." I agree and hang up.

"Who was that?" Derek asks.

"A friend." I shrug.

"A friend?" He asks with a look.

"Not like that." I scoff.

"Look, I have to get ready, I said I'd go meet them." I say and he nods his head and takes his leave and gives me a wink.

————

I take the gun Gideon gave me, a go bag, and some cash. I get to Missouri and find Dean waiting in a park by a bench. He waves me over the moment he sees me.

"You made it." He says sounding relieved.

"You're lucky I'm on leave." I chuckle and he nods.

"Thank you." He thanks me and I nod.

"Okay, so what are we looking at here?" I ask and a cop walks over with something.

"This is the sheriff, she's on the case." Dean explains and I show her my badge.

"It's not official business. Just helping a friend out." I assure her and she nods.

"These traffic cams take an image every three seconds. It's part of the amber alert program. These images were all taken around the time your brother disappeared." She explains and I look them over with Dean.