Title: The Clockwork Boy
Rating:
R
Fandom:
Criminal Minds
Universe: Creatures of the Night (Part 2)
Pairing: Reid/Austin, Morgan/Prentiss; JJ/Hotch
Genre:
Supernatural/Drama
Summary:
Reid is searching for answers. JJ, Hotch and Morgan are searching for Reid. Prentiss and Rossi investigate a series of deaths that are related to an old case. Things are much more twisted than they seem. AU.

Chapter Eight

There are three boxes sitting on the desk; files pertaining to three different terrorist organizations. Emily looks pointedly at the box that reads, "Anath's Circle."

Anath. Semetic war goddess originally found in Ugaritic tradition. Predates the Fall of Man by at least two thousand years. She's fairly sure that the people who involved in the group have no idea as to the actual history of Anath; capitalizing on the symbolism of the name. She doesn't know much about it herself, but she figures that Rossi has some knowledge on the matter, considering he's investigated them before.

'Tell me,' she says, gesturing towards the box.

'Brutal, organized, committed. They don't like to go down without a fight. If there's someone out there killing extremists, you can bet that the extremists will be trying to hunt them down as well.'

'That's not what I meant.' Her voice is soft.

He nods. 'I know.'

He shifts slightly, almost hesitant. He looks...regretful. It seems a little strange – she hasn't known him long, but regretful doesn't seem as though it's an emotion he usually portrays.

'It was three months ago. We were working a serial case – a dozen dead children. Ritual sacrifices.'

The words sound somewhat familiar, and he doesn't even need to keep talking for her to realize just why this group has stuck in David Rossi's memory. JJ had told her on her first day in the unit; Agent Elle Greenaway, killed in the line of duty.

By Anath's Circle.

'Greenaway,' she whispers, and he nods with an expression that's almost approaching a grimace.

'We only dealt with one cell; there are dozens more out there, at least. We need to find out why our unsub is targeting these extremists, and how we can stop them from killing again.'

Neither of them bring up the thought that maybe it's best to let this unsub keep killing. That's not what the job is, and if they let this one go, it has the potential to spiral well out of their control.

'Is there any common link between these groups?' Emily asks Agent Todd, whose head is cocked slightly to the side.

'Aside from their extremist behaviour, there are no similarities with regards to motivation, how they carry out their attacks...'

'We need to look through every detail of these files,' says Rossi, looking at the boxes. 'Any single detail that might link these groups.' He looks to Emily. 'Call Garcia – see if she can fit in some cross-references in between what she's doing for Hotch.'

Emily nods, pulling out her phone.

'You have reached the office of the Great Fairy Goddess, speak and be recognized, mor...immortal.' The fairy's voice seemed to be a little higher than usual, which put it almost out of the range of human hearing, but not out of range of vampire hearing.

'How's the search going?'

'Not much so far,' the fairy sighs. 'But what can I do for you?'

'If you have time, I need to you see if you can find a connection between Anath's Circle, the Matrons of the Dark, and Death's Horde.'

'I'll see what I can do,' Garcia buzzes. 'Good luck.'

She pulls out the incident report for the death in the line of duty of Special Agent Elle Greenaway. The reports bear the names of the agents involved – Hotchner, Morgan, Rossi, Jareau, Reid – but they seem clinical. Detached, almost. She reads Hotch's account first, and even though it has that detached language, she can still feel the guilt, just by reading it.

He has a lot on his shoulders.

The events had played out rather straightforward: the team enters the house, splitting up to clear for hostiles. It had been their suspicion that any ritual sacrifices were performed in the basement, which is where the majority of agents had gravitated towards. Agent Greenaway had cleared the top floor of the house with Agent Hotchner. One member of Anath's Circle had fired off a bolt of blue energy that none of the forensic investigators had been able to identify. It hit Greenaway, and Hotchner fires three magic-dampening bullets in return. The extremist is killed, and Greenaway's body is nowhere to be seen, presumable disintegrated by the bolt of energy.

The team had been given a week of leave, including the funeral. By all account, Hotch had refused to take this time. It doesn't surprise Emily in the least. She's fairly sure that Aaron Hotchner would come into the office with the apocalypse raging outside, just to finish up his paperwork.

'You think it's related?' Rossi asks, taking note of the file that she's reading.

'I think it's relevant,' she corrects. 'Whether or not Agent Greenaway's death has anything to do with our case though...I'm not sure. It's difficult to make a judgment call without knowing all the details.' She takes a look at the rest of the boxes that had been brought up from archives. The first three had been just the beginning of it.

There's a lot of reading to do.