Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you still enjoy! The whole 1x06 (Skin) episode as a whole has always bugged and irritated me as a whole, especially when it came to how it was referenced in the entire series. It was a big case for the boys (one could argue the beginning of all big cases) and it got brushed aside/only brought up when the writers felt like it was relevant. Expect manhunts and checkpoints and Kathrine wondering how much Winchester Luck actually covers her. (Haha, just kidding. This isn't really a crossover fic, but I love the idea of Criminal Minds and Supernatural taking place in the same world, because sometimes, Winchesters hunt the crazies, and, if you've noticed a slight theme, the BAU team seems to arrest the paranormal...)
Post-Chapter Posting edit: I went ahead and combined Part 1 and 2 due to the difference in length.
Leann Nickerson: Fantastic! Thanks so much for your time and effort in writing!
Thank you for reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: Supernatural is over and does not belong to me. I'm just here for the ride
"You said you had a stepdaughter," Sam said a few weeks after the Bloody Mary case, Christmas and New Years' having passed with little fanfare.
"Yeah, Claire," she hummed, grinning a bit sadly. "I did my best to keep her away from Hunting, but life wouldn't let me,"
"Stepchildren usually means you married someone."
Oh, right, Kathrine blinked before turning her gaze towards the two, Dean faking a curious innocence whereas Sam just looked curious. "Yeah, his name was James."
"Was?" Dean asked.
"There… Some demons were looking for you two. They correctly thought they could get to you through me. Jimmy had gotten stabbed, protecting me. He didn't make it." She saw Dean's grip on the wheel tighten and Sam looked away. "Why are you so interested in my life before all of a sudden?"
"Usually, most cases… raising kids, it means you got out," Sam explained, making her take a sharp breath. "When?"
The silence between all three of them was thick until her voice finally cut through it. "John and I had a fight when I was 18. Things were… said. I was told to get out or get shot. So I got out. Went to school, became a nurse. Met Jimmy around mid-2004." she flicked a torn piece of leather on the back of the passenger seat, not really wanting to continue.
"Do you think you'll meet him again?" Dean's voice was guarded, but she could hear what sounded like… hope?
He had been a bit less guarded since she explained that, yes, God existed and, yes, he was a massive dick who left everyone to do everything but what he needed to do the most. She didn't really go too deep into the concept of the angels and Nephilim, but she went deep enough to throw in that seed of 'angels aren't always good and Nephilim aren't always bad'. She was also careful around the topic of why Azazel killed Mary, but that there was a reason that fed into a much larger reason that would lead them to be introduced to said angels.
"He's probably still married to his ex-wife," she murmured. "The world adapts to those who were born in it, and since I wasn't, any waves I might make won't stay."
"Do we ever meet? On a case?"
She hesitated, far too long, before finally nodding. "Yeah. You'll meet him eventually. Can… can we not talk about him anymore?"
Without waiting for an answer, she sunk down to lay down in the back seat, doing her best not to cry as she recalled crinkled blue eyes and an easy-going smile.
She came to as they pulled up into a gas station, her dream area only sending her into a bitter state as she had realized it was the neighborhood Jimmy and she had lived in, before…
Shaking her head, she glanced up as Dean spoke. "Alright, I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight."
"Anything in particular?" She asked, but he shook his head. "Sam? Any objections?"
"I've been listenin', I'm just busy," he murmured, and she raised an eyebrow at the PalmPilot.
"I haven't seen that in forever," she noted. "What're the emails?"
"From my friends at Stanford."
"You're kidding." Dean scoffed. "You still keep in touch with your college buddies?"
"Why not?"
"Well, what exactly do you tell 'em? You know, about where you've been, what you've been doin'?"
"I tell 'em I'm on a road trip with my big brother and bonding with a sister we just realized we had. I tell 'em I needed some time off after Jess."
Dean hesitated, glancing over at her, making her shrug. His opinion on her stung like hell, but he was allowed to have one. "So you lie," he said. "You don't tell them about,"
"No. I just don't tell 'em….everything."
"Yeah, that's called lying. I mean, hey, man, I get it, tellin' the truth is far worse."
"So, what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life?" Dean just shrugged, while Kathrine avoided his pleading look. "You're serious?"
"You stay in close contact with civilians, they become targets," she mumbled. Amelia came to mind. She should've just left when Jimmy accepted Castiel. Sam just shook his head and went back to reading the emails.
"God…."
"What?"
"In this e-mail from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine."
"Is she hot?"
"I went to school with her, and her brother, Zack. She says Zack's been charged with murder. He's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case."
She sat straight up, eyes widening. "Do they live in St. Louis?"
"Yeah, why?" Sam looked unnerved, but she nodded, looking at Dean.
"This case made national news. You're not allowed to help any during this one. I'd rather the FBI chase me than you."
"FBI?" Dean repeated. "What the hell is happening over there?"
"Shapeshifter. Takes the form of the male partners, murders the females while the guy is at work or out of town. The guy comes home at the end of the day with his prints all over the scene and body. If you do this case, it'll turn into you and torture Rebecca."
"Jesus," Sam murmured.
"You can't expect me to sit back!"
"I'm not," she said, keeping her tone even. "I'm asking. This case, it's horrible, and it starts a series of chain events that ends with mass shootings and trying to kill the president in the end. If you're not the wanted one, then things will change. Sam's a concerned friend from college who took law classes. I'm a woman who has absolutely no record. You've been in homes. You're officially in the book in about 15 states."
"Ok, I get it," the younger blonde grumbled, turning the car on. "No workin' on the case."
"Sam!" Kathrine smiled as the blonde woman opened the door and immediately hugged Sam.
"Hey, little Becky," Sam laughed.
"You know what you can do with that little Becky crap," the blonde joked, making Kathrine roll her eyes and step forward with a hesitant wave.
"I'm Kathrine,"
"She's my sister, apparently," Sam added, and the two blondes shook hands. "I got your email, and Kathrine has some expertise when it comes to, uh,"
"I was an EMT in college, and when I got my medical degree, I became part of Doctors Without Borders," she explained, and it was true, for the most part. While she had been a trauma nurse in the first go-around, she joined the group in hopes of making a difference without stepping forward into the limelight. "I've seen some pretty nasty stuff, and I want to help, anyway I can."
Sam's friend nodded, stepping back. "Come in, please," Letting Sam go first, she shut the door behind them. "I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zack's free," she was saying to Sam.
"Where are your folks?"
"They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home now for the trial." They walked into the kitchen, and Rebecca hesitated. "Do you want a beer or some wine or something?"
"I'm-I'm trying not to drink," she said, unsure how to explain only the mass amount of all the liquor stores in Kansas and Oklahoma combined could get her drunk. "If… you don't mind, what happened, exactly?"
"Well, um, Zack came home, and he found Emily tied to a chair. And she was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn't breathing." She started to cry as she shook her head and grabbed a kleenex. "So, he called 911, and the police— they showed up, and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way that Zack could've killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time. The police— they have a video. It's from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zack coming home at 10:30. Now, Emily was killed just after that, but I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight."
"Does the house have any security cameras?" she asked. "Big, nice place like this, gotta have something…"
"It's just a night vision one," she admitted. "No audio, but you can see his face. Police wouldn't even look at it or take it in."
"We'll talk to them," Sam promised. "Bec, look, I know Zack didn't do this. Me, Dean, Kathrine, we're going to solve this."
"Well?" Dean demanded as they walked into the motel room.
"Definitely a shapeshifter," Sam said. "Police won't be able to capture it, and they're ignoring evidence."
"Except I have a trump card," she said. "A slightly illegal trump card, but still, if I play it right, we'll have one of the best BAU teams backing us up."
"BAU? You're purposefully baiting the feds?"
"Just a few hints here and there. A serial killer in St. Louis that can survive bullets to the head. Innocent men locked away with police officers purposefully ignoring evidence."
"Make the force look corrupt, then when they take over, what, you just tell them it's a shapeshifter?" Sam asked.
"Not in so many words. There's a genius on the team, he's a nerd who likes folklore stuff. Just a few symbols here and there in the crime scenes, enough to get his attention. I'll have to find a way to replace their bullets with silver, or at least have them silver-lined, but the hardest part is not actually getting tagged in the case."
"Agent Jareau speaking,"
"There's a serial killer in St. Louis. He makes himself look like the male partners, torturing the women, and then manages to shift the blame to the actual partners. The police aren't doing anything."
"Ma'am, there are proper channels to get a case through-"
"What if it were your leader. Oh, what's his name again? Ah, yes, Aaron Hotchner. And his wife, Haley? They have a son, don't they? This man, he'd kill them both, if it meant getting the satisfaction of framing an FBI agent."
"Who the hell are you?"
"If you want to know that, Jennifer, you'll have to come and get me. I'll be waiting in St. Louis. Don't disappoint me."
"I feel disgusting," she announced as she painted one of the three shapeshifter symbols they had decided on.
"Because you're in a crime scene?"
"Because I practically blackmailed a woman I had come to see as a sister," she corrected. "Using the team boss of all people. They don't take well to one of their own being threatened, and having a potential stalker, practically giving their location, as well as a high risk, corruption case? They'd be fools not to come."
"How long do they usually take?"
"Well, it depends on how many bodies have dropped. A couple, spaced out? A week or two. Three in the span of a week? They'll be here in two, three days max."
"If we can find the liar, we can leave breadcrumbs," Sam murmured as she finished touching up. "You think they'll be able to handle a case like this?"
"They have to," she said, darkly, recalling the many breaking news announcements, telling the horrifying tales of how the Leviathans who got Sam's and Dean's went on killing spree after killing spree. She had been hounded and eventually had agents watching her 24/7 until they were 'taken care of'."
Sam let out a hum, and as they went to exit through the back door, she paused. "What is it?" Sam asked, and she just pointed to the pole. "Someone came this way."
"Now we know how the shapeshifter left, at least," she noted as an ambulance whizzed past them. "You wanna check that out?"
"I hate the sewers," she grumbled as she stepped off the final ring and clicked on her flashlight.
"Check this out," glancing towards where Sam was pointing to and grimaced. "He's using the sewer system to move. Could this be from a victim?"
She looked at him, wondering if he had forgotten before realization came over her. "This is your first time dealing with one," she murmured. "No, when a Shapeshifter is finished with a form, it sheds the borrowed skin and flesh. If we were to do a test, it would come back as the guy they hauled off."
"That is sick," he mumbled, and she nodded.
"We should go back to the hotel, tell Dean what we've found. And maybe paint another shifter symbol on the manholes."
"So how do we gank the son of a bitch?" Dean asked once they had explained what they found.
"We can't," she said. "I know that it needs to be stopped, but if it captures one of us, it'll go after Rebecca, and if it chooses one of you two to wear your skin, it will be a nationwide manhunt that lasts for years."
"It can't be that bad," Dean scoffed.
"It ends with you two being arrested for mass murders and attempted assassination of the president of the united states! I had to fake your deaths to get you out and even then it drained me for weeks after!" She all but shrieked. "You two used me as your own damn personal taxi without even thanks for saving your asses, or even a 'are you ok' when I almost died from the strain! When Cas did die from the strain! So yes, it is that fucking bad!"
Everything was quiet as she balled her fists at her side. How long had she been forced to keep that to herself? How long did she have to stay up so Jack wasn't alone with them, so he wouldn't be forced to feel the strain too? Cas and she had never seen eye to eye, but their love for the Nephilim had been the one thing they agreed on; Jack was not to be left alone with Sam and Dean.
And now he was, and Cas would be searching for her as well with half power, and none of them had ever asked…
She had to kill her brother, for God's sake, and they didn't even bat an eye when she had ran Michael through.
"We won't do that," Sam's voice cut through her thoughts, and distantly, she was aware of how much she was crying as she looked at him. He wasn't looking anywhere at her.
"No," Dean murmured as well. "No, we won't."
Someone was knocking on the door.
Curious, the blonde stood up and went downstairs. When she opened it, she blinked before looking around. "Oh, hi," she said, awkwardly.
Kathrine grinned back, looking sheepish. "Sam kicked me out," she said. "Said that he… he was done, pretending I was his sister."
"Oh, that's…" Rebecca trailed off, trying to say that it didn't sound like him, but when she thought on it… he never had said anything good about his family, had he? "Do you want to come in and talk about it?"
Kathrine grinned. "I'd like that." As Rebecca turned around, she missed the silver hue of the other blonde's eyes. As they moved into the living room, she poured some wine, handing a glass to her and watching as she drank it. "Sam thinks there's this creature, it can become anyone it wants. He thinks it became Zack."
"What'd you call it?" She asked, a bit wary, making Kathrine frown.
"A shapeshifter," she replied, making her let out a laugh. "Yeah, maybe we're crazy. But what if we're not? I mean, look, you said it yourself that Zack was in two places at once. Now, tell me how that can happen."
The younger blonde nodded. "Okay, so, this thing— it can make itself look like anybody?"
"That's right,"
"Well, what is it, like a genetic freak?" Kathrine let out a laugh that sent a shiver down Rebecca's spine.
"Maybe. Evolution is about mutation, right? So, maybe this thing was born human but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else." Rebecca couldn't help but glance over towards the kitchen, the back door, and as she turned, she once again missed the silver eyes. "It's funny. I kind of understand him. He's all alone— close to no one. All he wants is for someone to love him. He's like me." If anything, the blonde looked ready to run at any second. "You know, everybody needs a little human touch now and then. It's so hard to be different." Kathrine reached forward, but Rebecca flinched away before she could touch her hair.
"You should go," she said, but Kathrine leaned forward.
"Do you want to know what really happened to them all?"
Leaning back, her dark grin grew wider as Rebecca's jaw dropped. "You are disgusting, just get the hell out of here!"
"You really should've seen the signs," Kathrine purred instead, standing up in time with Rebecca. "I don't take female forms often, but this one? This one sings of power. I'll quite enjoy having my little one-on-one with dearest Kathrine once I'm finished here."
Kathrine paced from where she was waiting in the hospital hallway. Dean, Sam, and her had been ambushed when they went to go paint the manhole covers, and the two men had stab wounds, a broken leg, and a broken arm between them, whereas she escaped with cuts along her thighs, upper arms, and a patch of skin carved from her back.
Finally, one of the nurses came out. "The taller one, Sam, is awake and asking for you, Miss Winchester," she said, making the blonde quickly thank her and go into the room.
"Thank god," she breathed. "I didn't expect it to be waiting to ambush us! I just saw your arm and the blood-"
"I'll be fine," Sam interrupted with a pained grin. "Dean?" She nodded to the man in the other bed, who was still out.
"He hasn't woken up yet, but he'll probably complain about the leg." Sam let out a grunt, and she hesitated before pulling out Dean's cell. "You should call D-John. He needs to know you two got hurt bad enough to go into a hospital."
"I'm not exactly on speaking terms," he protested.
"And Dean's out for the count," she argued.
"Why don't you call him? He'll find out eventually," she blinked before looking away. Did she… did she want John to know about her? With Jack looking for a way to bring her back to her world? Who's to say she wouldn't just up and vanish before she even saw John again?
Sighing, she conceded defeat and pressed the speed dial 2. "This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son Dean 866-907-3235. He can help."
"Uh, Mister Winchester, this is… this is Kathrine Novak. I'm calling because I was hunting with your sons, and we got ambushed by a shapeshifter.. Sam has a broken arm, and Dean a broken leg. And they were both stabbed a couple of times. They'll be ok, but… you need to talk to them, Winchester. Before it's too late." Hanging up, she ignored Sam's curious look, instead moving to sit between them. "Immediate family can ignore visiting hours," she murmured. "With the shifter most likely disguised as me, I need to stay in a high populated area where everyone can see where I am."
Kathrine pulled her hood over her head as Sam and Dean watched the news, unsure if she wanted to laugh or cry at their gobsmacked expressions. "An anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker, a white female, approximately twenty-six to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home."
A sketch of her face came up, and it just looked so young, she snorted. "That's not even a good picture," Dean agreed. "You have Dad's nose." She blinked, looking at him with wide eyes, but then, the door opened, making her tense up.
A few seconds later, she wanted to curse as Morgan and Reid came in, both pulling guns at the sight of her.
She knew Reid could tell something wasn't right when the first thing she did when she was sat down in the interrogation room was take off her jacket and button up to reveal very obvious stab wounds instead of gunshot wounds.
After about ten minutes, Hotchner and Greenaway (someone she only knew from stories) came in, settling down across from her.
"Where were you last night around 10:39 pm?"
"In the hospital, where I had been for a few hours. I had gotten jumped when I was leaving my motel room to get food. Some guy sliced up my arms and legs pretty deep. Had to get stitches while my brothers got stabbed and bones were broken."
She kept her gaze even as she stared at the two. She did nothing wrong, and like hell would she play into their traps. "How, exactly, do you know Rebecca Warren?"
"Sam, my youngest brother, introduced me to her a couple days ago. When he heard her brother had been wrongfully arrested for a murder he didn't commit, he offered to come up and help with everything. Since he was on a sibling trip with Dean and me, we decided to all come."
They continued the back and forth, the agents trying to get her into a corner, and Kathrine always answering truthfully to get away from the walls.
"What do you mean, Zach Warren was wrongfully arrested?" Greenaway finally asked, making her tilt her head towards her.
"The Warren house has security cameras. The night his girlfriend was murdered, he was with Rebecca. The police refused to accept the footage, saying it was a clean-cut case, just like I know they'll do the same with me. I was in that hospital all night. Whoever those policemen shot, it wasn't me."
About an hour later, some old man in an ill-fitting suit came in. "Right, here's what we're going to do. You're going to take the plea deal, and you won't complain about it."
"Get out," she snapped.
"Young lady, I am your lawyer, though you don't deserve-"
"I said get out!" she snarled. "I have been, in a span of 24 hours, stabbed, had an unwilling biopsy done, knocked out, been stuck in a hospital overnight worrying, arrested for a crime I didn't commit, and now, to fucking top it off, I have some crusty ass lawyer trying to tell me what he thinks I should do! You're probably just as corrupt as half of the people here, so get out. I don't need a public defender."
The man's face was an ugly shade of purple as he sputtered before storming out, leaving her to put her head in her hands and groan. "You've got a temper," Morgan's voice commented, making her glance up from under her fingers.
Please say that's for me, she mentally begged. She hadn't eaten much due to the stress of the case, and it was getting to her now. Instead, however, she slipped a mask on and smiled. "Can I help you, agent?"
"Figured you could use some food." he shrugged, and she hesitantly took the bag. "Your story about getting attacked and staying in the hospital checks out, but there's one thing that doesn't make sense."
She froze from where she had been unwrapping the sandwich, hesitantly looking at him. "I told you everything I could," she began.
"Miss, Kathrine Winchester was stillborn. Why are you claiming to be her?"
She was distantly aware of the sandwich falling into the table as she stared at him. She knew, of course, that without Jophiel getting permission from John and Mary to be their daughter, that Kathrine would've been stillborn, having no soul to help the newborn body to properly function until it turned 3, but… "I… we took DNA tests when I first met Sam and Dean. I-I heard stories of them, growing up, but they hadn't of me, so they were suspicious, and we did a test."
"Where was this at?"
She listed off the hospital she had been taken to after the plane crash and watched as he left, leaving her to pick at the sandwich, no longer feeling hungry.
At least now she knew how John would react if he ever saw her.
"Do you recognize this symbol?"
She blinked as Reid placed down the shifter symbol; the one she had left on the wall and manhole of Zach's place. "That's, uh… Norse?"
"It's a symbol, most commonly used in the explanation of the legend of a shapeshifter."
"Like, someone who can make themselves seem like someone else?" She hated playing dumb. "I might've heard a few stories about stuff like that. Why are you asking me this?"
He was looking at the photo before leaving, not answering her.
About 10 hours after her initial arrest, she was allowed to go, and she quickly went back to the hotel, where Sam and Dean were respectively on a couch and bed. "Sup fuckers," she greeted.
"You escaped?" Dean asked, but she shook her head.
"No, they released me. Our context clues might have worked a bit too much. I think they think I'm a shapeshifter myself."
"Why's that?" she hesitated at Sam's question.
"It doesn't matter now," she said instead. "What did I miss?"
She went into the sewers once they had caught her up on everything that had happened.
She didn't expect to see the BAU team in the sewers, but they caught sight of her before she could vanish, which meant guns were pulled on her the second time that day.
"What are you?" Hotchner demanded.
"Not the creature you're looking for," she answered. "Besides, regular bullets can't kill a shapeshifter. You'd need these," she lifted a silver bullet up.
"Why'd you say you didn't know what that symbol was?"
"Well, usually, when a hunter gets caught by feds or police, they aren't believed when they tell the truth, so we act dumb. Sometimes it can get us out in time to save more lives," she shrugged. "I suggest you take your team back topside, Agent Hotchner. I'd rather not get shot when I fight my duplicate if it hasn't shifted out already."
"Morgan, take her topside," the man in question said instead, making her sigh, and the second he grabbed her arm, her hand was on his.
"Sleep," she ordered, and the man dropped like a stone before looking at the others. "You were attacked by a strange creature that seemed to be shifting between your faces. It chose Agent Morgan's and knocked him out before you were able to shoot it in the heart with a silver bullet. You never saw me down here."
As soon as they turned the corner, she sagged against the wall, pressing the back of her right hand to her nose, not all surprised to feel blood trickling down. Suggestions were never her strong suit, especially with how her power was… well, it was certainly more chaotic than before.
The next day, she collapsed in the back of the Impala while Sam and Rebecca talked.
"Well?" Dean asked from the passenger seat.
"Officially ganked," she murmured. "Remind me when I wake up to heal you and Sam. Used too much mojo getting the agents out of the sewers."
"Heal me?" Dean echoed. "What're you talking about?"
But Kathrine was already asleep.
I hope you guys enjoyed! Let me know, what do you guys think? I honestly hadn't planned on even having the Criminal Minds crew come in, but I've always entertained the idea of an FBI branch called SIS (Supernatural Investigation Services). Who knows what will happen, cause this is the first two-parter, with the next chapter being an original content chapter :)
The next chapter is going to be 1x07 - Hookman!
