TO BE LOVED
:: iv, dean byers

Thomas went up to his apartment, knocked on the door but there was no answer. He called his brother's name . . no answer. Just to make sure he was right, he went to go check if his car was there. Once he got to the garage, found his parking space and saw nothing— he knew something was wrong.

As he sped walk back to the apartment complex, he pulled out his phone and called rossi. After a couple of rings, he answered.

"It's late. Everything ok?" Rossi ask on the other line, as he laid in bed.

"He's not here. I-I can't find him." Thomas began to freak out a little bit. He was scared, he was scared for Dean. He didn't want to wonder but he couldn't help it. His mind couldn't stop thinking of all these bad things— if his brother's dead, someone took him, or worse.

"Ok, clam down. Take a deep breath. Meet me at Quantico. I'm going to call hotch." Rossi then hung up, leaving a distressed man alone.

Thomas knew what he had to do, yet he also didn't. He could barley walk but he made an effort into getting back to the complex before hitching a ride with a friend.

"Thanks for doing this, Reggie." Through his worrying, he managed to show a sign of gratitude for his friend.

Reggie pulled up to the curb of the BAU, so Thomas could get out. Just before Thomas reached the door, Reggie grasped his attention.

"Hey, Tom! I'll let you know if I see anything!" Reggie gave him a slight nod, which Thomas returned before continuing his way into the building.

He didn't have a pass key yet so he texted rossi to come down and get him.

• • •

They all sat in the briefing room. On their way up, rossi told Thomas that he already shed some light on Dean to the team. Thomas was curious to know what kind of things were told about his brother so he ask rossi. From what he heard, rossi didn't know what about the drugs or anything. Rossi didn't know Dean is an addict.

Thomas walked into the briefing room and everyone had smiles on, light smiles. Almost like they were reassuring him that everything was going to be alright. He greeted everyone back with a slight head nod, as he walked around to the front of the room.

"Rossi said he shed some light about Dean, but there are things that nobody knows except me. Certain things that could maybe help." He began to say.

"Please —continue." Hotch encouraged him.

"Well, this isn't easy to talk about but Dean is an addict. He's been for years and I'm pretty sure him missing has to do with it. He called me yesterday morning and said he's been clean for a little while but now I'm not so sure." Thomas told the group, who were staring at him with sorrow in their eyes.

Hotch began to stand up, "This is a missing person's case. We treat it like any other case, ok? Nobody rests until we find Dean Byers. In the meantime, Garcia, can you track down Thomas' car?"

She quickly nodded, "I'm going to need the license plate but yes."

• • •

Dean laid on the ground, crouching behind a building. He really doesn't remember what happened in the last couple of hours. It was all a blur to him. As he painfully tried to sit upright, his face got smashed with a fist— again, he assumed. Next thing he noticed, he was picked up by his shirt and was thrown over someone's shoulder.

He couldn't move much. He's been beaten pretty bad and had some type of drug coursing through his veins. He was completely out of it. Though he was groggy, he sort of saw what was happening.

He was thrown into a trunk of a suv. His eyes were slightly open and he could see two guys talking. From the little vision he had right then, he was able to recognize one of the guys a bit but still wasn't too sure. He was still extremely out of it and woozy.

The trunk closed and the guys both got in the car, one on the driver side and the other on the passenger side. Dean could feel the car starting and then beginning to move. He tried mumbling but realized there was tape over his mouth. He didn't remember them putting tape on his mouth or tying his hands behind his back.

Eventually his eyes just closed shut. He didn't attempt to open them. He just wanted to rest, he had no other choice. It's not like he could fight back in his current state. But the longing question was— where was he?

• • •

As spencer was coming up with the geological profile, Garcia finally got a hit on Thomas' car.

"Thomas, I found your car!" Garcia announced as she tried zooming in closer to the image. Thomas made his way over and stood behind penelope.

"Where is it?" He ask looking at her laptop, didn't really understand what he was looking at.

"It's . . . somewhere in Maryland." Penelope leaned closer to the screen, "Near a 7/11?"

"What's your brother doing in Maryland?" Derek suddenly ask. He wasn't quite direct with his question but they all knew who the question was for.

Thomas kept his eyes glued to the location with his arms crossed over his chest, "That's what I want to know."

Hotch soon intervened, "Ok, Thomas you're going to take the black suv up there and find out anything that can help— jj you're going with him."

Jj and Thomas both shared a look before parting with the group to head to Maryland. Before getting to the suv, of course they had to equip themselves. No one knew what they were going to go into. They didn't know what Dean got himself into, so being extra careful— it might just save someone's life.

to be continued . . .

a/n:
sorry for another cliffhanger!!
this first act is gonna be intense 🤷🏼‍♀️