Chapter 2

Alright! Thanks for reading my first chapter. This was a bit difficult to write because I had to explain the relationship between Hotch and Brenda. It's a bit writer's discretion because it's not explained in either who conducts the "Closer" seminar so I envisioned that Hotch and Gideon would be present. In this chapter, all the clues are presented and the choice of mythology is presented. Please read and review! I love knowing what my audience think and how I can improve my story.

"Sergeant Gabriel, do we have a name of our latest victim yet?" Brenda asked, almost as immediate as her dress made contact with the seat.

"Yes. Her name is Agatha Reeds. She was a stay-at-home mom with two kids."

"Any identifying aspects of the victim?"

"Well, Chief, she was laying on top of a bucket of chrysanthemums. Would that be considered identifying aspect?" asked Sergeant Gabriel.

"Well, considering our first victim was a 19 year old virgin, the second victim was an 80 year old undertaker. Both of them died exactly one year apart. The third victim died in our custody, and now we have a woman who was disposed of with mums, I honestly don't know if you'd consider that 'identifying'. How I hate mums." Brenda observed as they drove to the crime scene.

…

After another 10 minutes of driving, Sergeant Gabriel and Deputy Chief Johnson arrived on the scene. She walked up to the FBI tent and found Agent Howard there.

"So am I going to be about to meet the two agents that found my fourth body? Or is the FBI going to withhold that information from me?"

"And how are you doing Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson?" Fritz asked with a smile. "They are right here. I'd like to introduce Agent Derek Morgan and Dr. Spencer Reid."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." Morgan said as he extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you, too. Although I've the strangest feeling that we've met before." Brenda said with her Georgian accent.

"I don't think we have; I would have remembered if we had." Reid said as he held onto his messenger bag.

"And why's that? Doctor Reid?" Brenda said with a strained smile painted on her face.

"I have an eidetic memory." Reid said as a statement of fact.

"Oh, well, then…" stuttered Brenda, shocked at the bluntness of Reid.

"Do we know why Mrs. Reeds was stashed with a bucket of mums?" asked Brenda.

"Well it could be that the killer is showing grief. Especially if the unsub is of a European background. In European cultures, especially France, mums are a symbol of death. If the unsub was of an Asian background, they would possibly leave them as a sign of lamentation or remorse," squeaked out Reid, nervously fidgeting with the handle of his messenger bag.

Brenda looked at him with surprise.

"I'm sorry. I–"

"No, no, Dr. Reid, it's quite alright! That's more information than I get out of my team in a whole week of investigation without prodding them to go look into things." Brenda said as she moved passed Fritz towards Reid. "Do y'all plan on being in town any longer? Or can y'all stay and help me out?"

"Well, I'd have to call Hotch, err, Agent Aaron Hotchner, my boss, and see if we can have the time off." Morgan said as he snaked his left arm up Reid's back and placing his hand on Reid's left shoulder.

…

"Sir," Derek spoke softly as he entered the living room of the mansion, "If I may ask: Who are you?" The clothes that were given to him were a butler's uniform. He had put on the suit in perfect detail, not realizing how his body knew what to do.

"That is none of your business, Monsieur Simon. But I will let you call me Thanatos for now," spoke the older man, seated on a chaise lounge, navy blue in color.

"Yes, Mr. Thanatos." Derek said as he used his left arm to cut himself in half as he bowed. "What may I get you, sir?"

"Right now, rien. Come here, Mr. Simon. We need to discuss a few rules that will apply while you are staying with us."

Hesitantly, he obeyed. He marched over to the master of the house and stood at perfect attention. With his arrival, Thanatos stood up and walked around the boy, inspecting his job on the application of the uniform. He stopped in front of Derek as he completed his circle.

He took in the sight that was before him. A rather medium statured man, probably no taller than 5' 9". His skin tone was lighter than Thanatos', almost a Latino skin tone but not quite, but then again Thanatos was from the Belgian Congo. An unusual feature in his eyes–one was blue and one was green, something that he hadn't seen before, and it intrigued him so. His head and face were devoid of hair. Thanatos brushed his hand down Derek's cheek to find that it was as smooth as a baby bottom – which surprised him, considering there was hair elsewhere on the body. His muscles were clearly defined, but he was not outrageously buff – a feature that Thanatos did not enjoy seeing, so the boy in front of his acceptable. He had noticed in the saddened cage that there were well defined washboard abs underneath the clothing that were probably harder than steel. He had broad shoulders and long arms that ended with long, narrow fingers. All in all, the sight before him was definitely worth the price he had paid Mr. Hearts for a bodyguard. He would ask if he could go beyond that boundary later but at this point in time, the answer was a "no".

"Please do not hesitate again when I ask, Monsieur Simon. I will allow you this one hesitation, free of punitive measures, but do not tempt my grace or mercy. Do you understand?" spoke Thanatos as he gently slid a finger under Derek's chin, pulling it upward.

"Yes, Mr. Thanatos." Derek responded with a bow of his head.

…

Back in Brenda's office, Morgan called Hotch.

"Hey, Hotch."

"Morgan, why are you and Reid not back from Las Vegas yet?"

"Well, well we went to go see Lila in Hollywood, and ended up finding a dead body."

"And how is she?" Aaron asked, knowing that Morgan had put him on speaker.

"She's good, sir." chimed in Reid, knowing that the question was actually meant for him.

"Well, Hotch, the reason we're calling is to have a few extra days off. Seems that a Brenda Leigh Johnson is in charge of Priority Homicide here in L.A. and she's got four dead bodies with no apparent connection. We–"

"I was wondering if you could lend them to me for a couple of days, Aaron?" interrupted Brenda, ignoring the looks of confusion on Morgan and Reid's faces

"What makes you think you need them, Brenda?"

"Well with each body there has been a part of a riddle and I'm completely stumped." Brenda informed Aaron.

"What do you have of the riddle so far?"

"So far I've had four victims, all cut with a scythe diagonally across the chest. One is a 19-year-old virgin, one is an 80-year-old undertaker, one was a prominent gardener who died here in the interview room–she was only 24, coroner deemed a heart attack, and my fourth victim, that your two agents found, was a 30-year-old mother of two young children. With the first one: When the god of time has taken his last breath. The second one: A mighty Conqueror will ask "Et tu?". The third one: Creation of the new dawn will be complete. Tell me, Aaron, even you would connect them with the lines that were found with them, right? That's what you and Jason Gideon taught us in the seminar when I was at the CIA anyway." Brenda said with a bit of urgency in her voice.

"Alright, alright, Brenda they're yours. But they will be on the clock. You two understand?" Aaron caved with little pressure. He knew that Brenda Leigh Johnson was the best closer the CIA had ever seen. He also knew that she wouldn't have asked if she didn't need the help.

Morgan and Reid looked at each other with that last comment. "Yes, Hotch." "Yes, sir." They replied in unison.

"What was that last comment supposed to mean?" Brenda asked, although she already had a pretty good clue.

"Nothing that you need to worry about because it won't affect work," stated Morgan in a definitive statement as he looked from Reid to Brenda.

…

Brenda walked out of her office with the two BAU agents and Fritz behind her. "Alright, listen up, y'all. I'd like to introduce Agent Derek Morgan and Dr. Spencer Reid, both of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. They are on loan to us from the BAU to help us solve the puzzle that our killer seems to be leaving us. Now I want y'all to be pleasant and welcome these gentlemen by introducing yourself to them." Brenda said as she stood in front of the whiteboard.

"Detective Lieutenant Provenza," Provenza said as he pulled himself from his reclined position offering a hand out.

"Detective Daniels, nice to meet you," Daniels said with a smile as she looked over Morgan, not noticing the bit of green that was creeping over Reid.

"Sergeant Gabriel, sir," Gabriel said as he threw up the file in his hand for a wave.

"Lieutenant Flynn," Flynn said sleepily.

"Detective Tao," Tao said as he looked up from the papers on his desk with a smile. He looked back down at the papers on his desk.

"Detective Sanchez," Sanchez said as he squinted his eyes at fidgeting Dr. Reid.

"And of course, y'all know Agent Fritz Howard," Brenda said with a slight blush crossing her cheeks. "Now if we could let's get the FBI caught up as to what's happening, please? Thank you."