A/N: In celebration(?) of the final season of The Closer, I thought I would provide us with some insight on what exactly Brenda Leigh Johnson's life was like before she came to the LAPD. I've taken what James Duff has given us, and just sort of run with it. The story will travel through the CIA, the MPD and her relationship with Pope, the Atlanta PD and everything that goes with that, and eventually bring us back to LA.

I hope you all enjoy reading this as mucha s I have enjoyed writing it, and expect an update evert Monday!


Brenda Leigh Johnson was an honest person. She came from an honest family, had been taught the value of morality at a young age, and the first sign of any dishonesty was nipped in the bud by her parents.

Being honest was something Brenda prided herself in at a young age.

That all changed when she discovered how rewarding lying could be.

Especially when you lied to yourself.

May, 1993. One Day After Graduation

Brenda Leigh Johnson took one last look at the place she had called home for the last four years. Georgetown University was the place where she escaped her thoughts, the place where she immersed herself in books and culture, trying to learn everything she could with the time that had been so graciously given to her.

If you asked her, which no one ever did, four years away from her small town in Atlanta, Georgia wasn't anywhere close to being enough time. In the eyes of her parents, Clay and Willie Ray Johnson, her absence had lasted a lifetime.

Brenda was the youngest of four brothers, growing up with three brothers who tormented her for days on end.

Currently, Brenda was sitting next to the fountain on The Quadrangle, her favorite place on the entire campus. The Quadrangle was home to the annual Christmas Tree Lighting event held at Georgetown, and the fountain faced the entrance to Dhalgren Chapel, where Mass was held daily.

Brenda wasn't a religious person, but she rather enjoyed the view that the chapel projected. She liked to be in the middle of things, she always had. She would often sit right where she was at this moment, watching the people trickle in and out of the chapel, while she caught up on reading or wrote letters to her family back home. She had become familiar with those that would frequent the Mass daily, and noticed that they all exited with a certain look on their face.

It was joy.

Brenda wished that she held the capacity to feel that way for something that she could not physically see, that she couldn't physically prove. Ironically, she often prayed for that ability to fall upon her.

Not surprisingly so, her prayers were never answered.

She liked to prove things, to discover the truth, to rid the world od it's secrets, and she was damn good at it.

At least she thought she was.

That was why she had decided to accept Andrew's offer.


Andrew Dalton arrived at Georgetown at approximately nine in the morning. He sat on a bench next to the fountain, which according to his campus map was located in The Quadrangle. He could see the entrance to a chapel across the way, watching the occasional student wander into the place of worship.

He sat, and he watched.

He watched for three hours, sitting silently on the bench, casually picking up the newspaper every few minutes.

Around noon, he saw that a number of students had begun to enter the chapel that sat across from him.

That however, isn't what caught the attention of his wandering eye.

Andrew couldn't take his eyes off of one student, the only student in the entire quad that hadn't entered the chapel with the rest of her classmates when the bell sounded at 12:30. Instead, she had parked herself on a bench a couple feet away from the one where he was currently situated.

She was a small girl, a bit smaller than the agency usually preferred, but she looked strong, and not just in a physical way. He watched as a boy dressed in khaki pants and a crisp white button up shirt approached her, smirking at the young man's futile attempt to win this girl's attention.

" You're not going to Mass Brenda?" asked the boy, sitting down next to the girl with unruly hair, and what seemed to be an unusual love for sweaters.

"You know I never attend your little service Benjamin, yet you feel the need to ask me every day. For heaven's sake, I'm not going to change my mind about religion in a mere twenty four hours.

Brenda crossed her legs, picking up her Bible in attempts to rid this boy from her presence.

" Yes well, I see you reading the Bible almost every day, I thought you might be warming up to the idea of it, or me even said Ben with a sheepish grin.

Ben had always liked Brenda, he found her fascinating, mainly because he couldn't figure this girl out.

Andrew listened as the girl, whose name he now knew was Brenda, turned down the boy as he asked her to go to dinner with him for what seemed to be the umpteenth time.

" I'm sorry Benjamin, but I must say that I find you to be completely unbearable, and I cannot imagine why I would ever agree to go on a date with you." said Brenda, returning back to her chosen book of the day.

" Ben, everyone calls me Ben. Everyone also seems to like me, except for you." Said Ben, crouching down to be at her level.

Brenda stared into the boy's eyes, putting down her book, and giving all of her attention to the person in front of her. She hunched forward, putting herself inches away from the boy's face.

For a moment, Andrew thought that this was some sort of game that the pair played. He then heard her speak in that southern drawl, making him even more drawn to her than he already was.

" This may surprise you, but I don't form my opinions on people based on what others seem to think of them. I am perfectly capable of coming to my own conclusions, and have therefore concluded that I don't like you.

" Well Brenda, I must say, you do surprise me. Ben sighed, realizing that this was a battle the he was going to lose. " One more thing before I go." said Ben, taking pride in the fact that before she glared at him, a small smile had escaped her lips.

" Yes Ben, what is it?" asked Brenda, not sure if she wanted to go another round with this Benjamin fellow.

" If you don't believe in God. Why do I always see you reading the Bible?" asked Ben, convinced that he had her right where he wanted her.

" I never said I didn't believe in God." said Brenda with confidence in her voice as she leaned her back into the bench.

She had been waiting for weeks for Ben to ask her this question.

" Well no, but you have to admit, you give off that impression." said Ben as a confused look over his face.

" I've learned that it's better to be educated about something before I decide whether I believe in it or not. " said Brenda, re crossing her legs, giving off the impression that she was rather perturbed by the mundane argument she having.

" Let me ask you something." said Brenda as she folded her arms across her chest.

" Please, go ahead." said Ben, patiently awaiting her inquiry.

She had never asked him anything before, it was always the other way around.

" Do you consider yourself to be a good ole' Catholic boy?" asked Brenda

Ben's forehead wrinkled, for he was taken aback by the posed question.

" I like to think so, yes." answered Ben, still confused by what she has asked.

" So you put everything before God?" said Brenda in a telling manner.

" I try to at least. Why do you ask?" said Ben still baffled at her inquiry.

Brenda re crossed her legs again, glancing down at the watch that her grandmother had given to her when she graduated high school.

" You're ten minutes late for Mass, and are therefore more interested in your futile attempts to get me into bed. " Brenda smiled as she noticed the embarrassed look on her Benjamin's face.

The boy never approached her again.

Andrew had listened to the entire exchange that had gone on between the two of them, and was even more certain that she was the perfect for the job.

Now all he had to do was convince her to join him.

Andrew walked over to the payphone, putting in the correct amount of change to make a phone call. He dialed a series of numbers before getting into contact with the appropriate person.

" Did you find him?" asked a deep voice on the other side of the phone.

" Why yes, I did. He however, is a she." said Andrew with a proud grin on his face.

The line went dead for what seemed like hours.

A few seconds later, the man on the other line replied. The Agency might not like that Andrew. This mission is dangerous, does she even have any training?" asked the concerned voice.

" I doubt it, but trust me on this." said Andrew, trying to convince the man on the phone.

" And she's everything we talked about?"

"No, said Andrew simply. He could hear the frustration on the other side of the line, and he let his comment linger before replying again.

" She's everything we need." said Andrew, hanging up the phone before the man could respond.


Brenda sat in the middle of her living room, where empty boxes were piling up left and right. She had just graduated Georgetown University, where she had majored in Criminal Justice and become fluent in Russian.

It had been the best four years of her entire life, and she desperately wanted to stay in DC. She just had to find a decent job first.

Her parents had told her that if she didn't find a job soon, she could move back home to Atlanta, where the remainder of her family resided. The thought of that mad her cringe.

Brenda walked over to her wine cabinet, grabbing the bottle of Merlot that she often turned to in desperate times, and this was most certainly a desperate time.

She poured the wine from the bottle, watching as the red liquid filled up the cup, trying not to think about whether she should be concerned with how happy a big glass of merlot makes her feel.

As she finished pouring her wine, her phone rang. Brenda stared blankly at the phone, debating on whether to pick it up or not. It was most likely her mother, calling her for the umpteenth time.

Brenda lifted the glass to her lips, taking a long sip before reluctantly answering the phone.

"Hello?" said Brenda, setting her wine glass on the table, and taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Brenda was taken aback at the voice that was on the other end, for it was most certainly not her mother.

" Yes hello Brenda, I'm calling to see of we could set up some sort of meeting. I think I may have a job for you." said the man on the phone.

" May I ask who's callin' please? I don't think I caught your name." said Brenda

The man on the other end smiled, feeling very impressed with himself over who he had chosen. They could use her southern charm to their advantage.

" We're going to have to discuss all of that tomorrow, I'm afraid we can't discuss this over the phone."

Brenda was silent for a moment. She had had many conversations with some of her professors about calls like this. People who don't give too much information, tell you what to do rather than ask you, she knew the type.

It was rather cliché really, what was going on here.

"Brenda, are you stiil here?" asked the man in a more telling manner

"Yes, yes I'm here." said Brenda, crossing her legs underneath the table.

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow then. Instructions will follow." said the man, hanging up the phone before Brenda could answer.

Brenda sat the phone down on the table, took another sip of her wine, and thought about how much her life was about to change.

Brenda wasn't foolish, she knew exactly what was going on, and who was just on the phone.

She was about to be contracted out to the CIA.


A/N: Like I said, this chapter is simply an introduction, expect more information and detail in the following chapters. Please review to let me know what you think!

Thank you, thank so much.

-Alison