"Hey, you're a hunter, Kota." He soothes her, placing his hand firmly on her shoulder.
She takes a deep breath to calm herself. "I don't know if I can do this, dad." She whimpers, clutching onto his hand tightly.
"You're a hunter, aren't you?" He...
His brow furrowed when he noticed the journal sitting on the trunk. He picked it up and immediately searched the car, his heart clenching when he didn't spot either of the Winchesters.
He opened the driver door to make sure he didn't miss them. Dean leaned in the car, climbing halfway over the front seat to scan the back for his daughter.
"Dakota? Baby?"
He climbed back out of the car and looked back toward the bar. His chest began to rise and fall quickly as panic seized him.
A bunch of people stumbled out of the bar, all talking quietly to themselves.
"Hey, you guys been outside around here in like the last hour or so?" He asked a couple of bikers, the couple shook their heads and walked away.
Dean had begun to panic.
"Sam! Dakota!" He shouted, his eyes never staying in one place for long. He mumbled to himself under his breath. "Sammy! Kota, baby! Sam!"
Dean stopped hyperventilating when he saw the surveillance camera. He moved to the middle of the road, trying to see if maybe Sam was taking Dakota on a walk.
"Sam?" His voice cracked, his eyes scanned the road. "Kota?" He whimpered.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Dean had collected himself enough to get an hour of sleep, his immense worrying keeping him awake. When day first broke, he immediately found himself at the sheriff's department.
"What can I do for you, Officer Washington?" The sheriff questioned, looking over Dean's fake badge.
"I'm working a missing persons." Dean responded, keeping the distress out of his voice.
"I didn't know the Jenkins case was being covered by the state police." The sheriff drawled, Dean repressed the urge to roll his eyes, too overcome with concern.
"Uh, no, no." Dean dismissed. "It was someone else. Actually, it's my cousins. We were having a few last night at this bar down by the highway, he had his niece with him, and I haven't seen him since."
"Does your cousins have a drinking problem?" The sheriff asked.
"Sam?" Dean scoffed out a laugh. "Two beers, and he's doing karaoke. He wasn't drunk, especially not with the kid. They were taken." He insisted.
"Kid?" The sheriff asked, sounding more intrigued.
"Yes, Sam's niece. She's five. Her father...isn't--well, he's not in the picture." Dean decided on.
"You guys took a five year old to a bar?" The sheriff rose an eyebrow.
"Couldn't get a babysitter in time, Sam's her guardian."
The sheriff clicked her tongue, hesitantly buying the lie.
"All right. What're their names?"
"Winchester." Dean followed the sheriff to the computer. "Sam and Dakota Winchester."
