Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or the characters. I don't own Merlin or the characters. I do own everything else unless I say otherwise.
Arthur failed to notice Merlin's apprehension as they entered the cavern. In Arthur's defense, Merlin had been acting uncharacteristically nervous for the duration of this journey, so this particular bout of nervousness was to be expected. Normally Arthur would at least have snickered at Merlin's expense, but he had finally noticed his father's unrelenting disappointment in him and was determined to make Uther proud of him for once.
Arthur, or prat as Merlin called him, was the crowned prince of Camelot, and his father was King Uther Pendragon. He had a cousin named Morgana that lived with them as Uther's ward. Merlin, the clumsy idiot, was his manservant— painfully brave, utterly stupid, and endearingly loyal. There was one more thing about Merlin that Arthur didn't know— he was a sorcerer. Still, as Arthur's manservant, Merlin was expected to accompany Arthur on journey's such as this one.
And what a journey it was. They had traveled for several days to find a cavern that was home to magical relics— of course, Uther wanted them destroyed, as did Arthur, but Merlin was hoping to convince them otherwise. If convincing them didn't work, well, Merlin was prepared to do something stupid to keep the relics from being destroyed. The problem came from the cavern itself. Gaius had assured Merlin that the relics they sought were perfectly harmless, but the cavern was another story. It was enchanted to the teeth to prevent someone from getting ahold of the magical relics it contained.
They entered the cavern with Arthur completely unaware of the enchantments upon the cavern, rather concerned only with getting the relics and getting out. There was an embankment to their right, with a clear blue pool in the middle of the cavern. Arthur saw this embankment they would have to climb to reach the items they had searched for. It was then that he finally spoke.
"We'll have to climb," he exclaimed matter-of-factly. "This is the only way up that I can see." Merlin just nodded. Arthur, being the prince, took the lead. He climbed quickly to the top and then coaxed his manservant into following him. Merlin was making good progress in spite of his clumsiness, until he lost his footing. He had gotten close enough that Arthur tried to reach for his hand to keep him from falling, but it was no use. Merlin was already falling.
"Arthur!" Merlin yelled as he fell. He hit the water with a splash and was under before he could take a breath. Arthur could only watch the scene unfold from his high up perch. Arthur was helpless to do anything, a new sensation for him, and he didn't particularly like it. After a moment, he shook his head and made his way back the way he had come. By the time he made it to the pool, Merlin still hadn't surfaced. Arthur sighed and dove in, hoping that it wasn't too late to save his idiot manservant.
In another time and place, a group of six men and women gathered in a conference room. There was a circular table in the center, and it was around this table that they sat. At the front of the room stood a petite blonde woman named Jennifer Jareau, although the others in the room called her JJ. A tall, muscular, black man named Derek Morgan stood near the door at the back of the room. Seated in front of him was a tall, thin, and lanky buy with long, chestnut brown hair that he had tucked nervously behind his ears. This boy's name was Spencer Reid, and he wasn't as young and innocent as he looked. To his right sat a woman with raven hair, Emily Prentiss. Across from her was a middle-aged man with an intense look in his eyes named David Rossi. He was the newest addition to the team having only recently come out of retirement and taking up his former position at the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Next to him sat the BAU Unit Chief, Aaron Hotchner. The people in the room called him Hotch, but even the nickname didn't bring a smile to his unrelenting seriousness. The only member of the team that was missing from the room was Penelope Garcia, their technical analyst—or resident computer goddess, as she preferred to be called.
From her position at the front of the room, JJ began to speak. "As the case file in front of you says, there have been four victims so far— ranging in age from 18 to 25 years old. They're all slim, pale, young men with black hair. Only two of the victims, Samuel Verger and Gregory Jordan, have been identified, and the other two are John Does. The Mistè police believe this is the same killer because, in addition to the victims' physical traits, all of their eyes have been removed." JJ paused for a moment to survey the group in front of her.
Rossi looked down at the case file in front of him. "It says here that all of the victims were sodomized?"
JJ nodded. "Yep, all of the victims were sodomized before death, and there are signs that this assault continued after death as well. They official cause of death has been determined to be extensive hemorrhaging from repeated beatings and repeated sexual assault.
Hotch chose this moment to assert his authority over the team. "Alright, we'll discuss this more on the plane—wheel's up in twenty." The members of the team nodded at their superior before getting up to grab their bags and go.