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Chapter Text

Hotch and Reid had been tasked with interviewing people around the area where the bodies of their latest case had been showing up to see if they knew anything. They had been told by a woman that there had been three men she’d never seen before who just so happened to appear around the time the murders started. 

So naturally, they asked where they could find them. The answer was a semi-nice bar, and the lady informed them that they should be there now because she had just left the bar recently, and they had been hanging around.

The two agents made their way to the bar, and when they entered sure enough there were three men sitting at a table and chatting. They didn't seem to be drinking anything, just hanging out and having a good time. All laughing and smiling at one another.

The man that caught Hotch’s attention first was the shorter one with dusty blonde hair and brown eyes. He had on a red sweater with a white undershirt peeking out from the top. He also had brown slacks and shoes. He was all and all well-dressed matching the man next to him.

To his right was a man in a black suit with a red tie with matching black dress shoes. This man was much taller, well over a head between them. He was extremely pale, his eyes looked slightly sunken in and while objectively they had to be brown they looked red, it must be the lighting. His hair was slicked back with a few sprigs loose. Finally, he had a mustache that was impeccably styled.

To the shorter man’s other side was another guy, he wasn't quite as tall as the man in the suit, but it was close. What he didn't have in height however he made up with in mass. Where the man in the suit was gangly, this man was built like a fighter. 

He had brown hair and gleaming green eyes that spoke of mischief and a smirk to match. His face had a huge scar that crawled up his cheek and another across his nose bridge, but it didn't take away from the charm that oozed off of him 

He had on a light tan shirt that had the first few buttons undone and over that a darker brown bomber jacket. His brown cargo pants were a touch baggy, and his brown boots scuffed. 

Hotch and Reid walked further inside and the man in the red sweater stopped laughing with the other two as he spotted them. He just eyed them curiously; it was fair enough considering they were the last patrons in the bar. Even the bartender had glared when they entered, as it was set to close any minute. 

Hotch casually approached them, or he tried his best to. Something about these men set him on edge and made his hair stand on end. He'd been in enough situations to trust his gut when it told him something. These men are dangerous, but that same instinct promises they know something, something that could save lives. 

Reid was behind him even more hesitant, but the kid didn't say anything, just hovered. The green-eyed man was the next to spot them and he just smiled, “Why hello there.” The words were syrupy sweet and felt like they were drawing him in. “And who may you both be?”

The tall man with them startled and turned to look at them, his eyes wide. He put a hand to his chest and the blond man chuckled at the display patting him sympathetically before whispering something to him that got a glare.

Almost against his will Hotch answered, “Special Agent Hotchner this is Dr. Reid, we are with the BAU.”

“Ooh fancy~” The man purred, “The names Scar of the good times and the fine fellow next to me is Grian and to his other side our good friend Mr. Mumbojumbolio.” 

His friends rolled their eyes, obviously annoyed at Scar's antics.

Hotch paused momentarily unsure of how to continue, but he got himself back on track quickly. “We wanted to know if we could ask you some questions.” He gestured between himself and Reid. 

Grian eyed them curiously before looking back at a progressively more annoyed bartender and sighed. “Sure, but we might want to have this conversation outside.” He was British hotch noted. He nodded his agreement, he didn't have an issue with that. Grian got up and paid the now less annoyed bartender as his friends both got to their feet. Scar had grabbed a cane next to him that Hotch hadn't spotted before and with that they all made their way outside.

Hotch was surprised at just how tall the black haired man was. Hotch himself was pretty tall but this man still had a few inches on him. Scar was about his height, maybe slightly shorter and the blonde is as short as Hotch expected. It was almost comical to see him dwarfed by his friends. 

But ironically the blonde set Hotch’s instincts on edge the most.

“So what did you two fine gentlemen want to ask us?” Scar asked.

“There have been people showing up dead around here with these weird vine-like plants all over them.” Hotch explained.

The three men blanched and Hotch could have sworn he saw Grian's eyes flash purple, but that was impossible. They looked at one another in shock and made a few confused gestures. 

“But that doesn't-” The tallest started, another Brit huh, but was cut off by Scar, “Mumbo we are here.” Grian however shook his head adamantly, "There's no way it can't be.” He denied.

They both turn on him then, “Grian why couldn't it be?” Mumbo asks exasperated. “Because I'm the one that brought us here.” Grian insisted desperately.

Hotch and Reid looked to one another utterly lost on what the conversation in front of them was about. However it was undeniable they knew what was going on.

Mumbo looked back to them, “How long have there been bodies showing up?” His canines were far too sharp, the other two looked towards the agents now intently, all their eyes looking like they were glowing dimly.

“Three weeks ago.” Reid answered hesitantly.

More shocked expressions and half finished sentences. “That's when we first-” Scar started, “But it was just us.” Grian insisted desperately. “We weren't even around one.” Mumbo bemoaned. 

Silence for a moment.

“Could it be another-” Scar tried asking, but Grian tensed up and glared, “No.” Scar squinted, “Are you sure?” Grian paused for a moment, “I….I would know.” he didn't sound as sure now.

“Would you? Even if it wasn't while we were here?” Mumbo pushed. And Grian seemed to wilt, “Why would they even do it?” He asked helplessly.

Mumbo and Scar shared a sad look, “I think you would know better than us.” Scar told him sadly. Grian looked devastated as he seemed to accept whatever the other two had put together. “This is my fault isn't it?” He asked miserably.

Mumbo shook his head adamantly, “No Grian, you didn't kill anyone. They could have done this anywhere and they don't pay attention to you much anymore anyway. You've scared them off enough after all.”

Scar through an arm around him, “Don't worry about it G we can fix it and you can go threaten them again if you want.” Grian leaned further into the man with a sigh. 

Scar looked back to the agents, “You won't believe a word of it but we know what's going on, and we can fix it.”

“Do you know who did it?” Reid asked.

“What.” Mumbo corrected as he laid a hand on Grian's shoulder in support. “What did it, and yes.” 

Hotch glanced at Reid and saw the same thought reflected in his eyes. 

“It's a Warden, it's something from our world.” Grian answered as he stepped forward, eyes full of guilt.

“...Your world?” Reid asked cautiously. They hadn't expected to run into people with this kind of delusion.

Scar stepped forward and grinned, “Why yes our world. We aren't from around here you see but our dear friend Grian brings us places sometimes when we overwork ourselves.” His words were thick like honey again and his eyes seemed to gleam a light bluish-gray. Hotch, despite himself, wanted to believe the man.

“Now if you would be so kind, could you tell us where these people went before they died. After all, I'm sure you know that.” Once Scar was finished he leaned back his eyes back to the normal green. Hotch knew he shouldn't be giving this information away, but despite that he couldn't help but do just that. Reid looked at him in alarm but kept his mouth shut.

Once he gave the location Scar and Mumbo looked back at Grian who rolled his eyes, “Well then let's go.” He grumbled and with that the trio started heading that direction. 

Reid and Hotch shared a wide-eyed expression before hurrying after them. It didn't take them long to get to the location it was close by, hence why they had been searching for people to ask about it around here in the first place. The place was barren and seemingly uninhabited, surely people that would go through here were looking for shortcuts out of the way, and even then this wouldn't be a common path. Once again they all looked to Grian who just huffed.

“I'll look, just give me some space.” He requested. In sync the two stepped back a few steps, before the two BAU agents could ask what was going on Grian shifted, closing his eyes and suddenly glowing purple eyes started to blink into existence around them. In another moment wings seemed to flicker into sight one set on his back and another near his ears. First they were parrot wings then they flickered white with that same purple from the eyes on the tips of the feathers. Finally Grian opened his own eyes again and they were a pure white with a ring of the same glowing purple and matching pupils.

Hotch felt like the air was weighing down on him and Reid looked like he was experiencing the same thing. He locked eyes with Hotch and yeah neither of them we're imagining this were they?

Grian scanned the area and all the eyes did the same looking this way and that searching for something. Suddenly they all locked onto one place before Grian snapped towards that spot. Slowly purple eyes started to blink out of existence, his wings flickering back to the previous parrot-like appearance, and the (man?) blinked his own eyes back to normal. Well almost instead of the normal brown they were now that same purple without the white.

“So, what are we doing?” Scar asked as he hobbled back up to Grian expertly avoiding the wings as they flexed and folded back, like he'd been doing it for years. Mumbo too cautiously walked up to Grian’s other side, eyeing the place that Grian was staring at with trepidation, also avoiding the wings without a thought, not once even glancing their way. One of Grian's ear wings twitched in thought, “If only we had Etho huh?” Mumbo asks in seeming jest. 

Grian's wings flared and twitched, “Shut up.” He huffed and the others laughed. “I mean I should be fine to just…destroy it no?”

Scar raised a brow at him, “Do you expect us to know this? You're the eldritch abomination my friend.” Grian sighed, “I don't like using my powers for stuff like this.” He huffed. Mumbo just patted him on the shoulder, “You'll be fine G.”

Grian just sighed and stepped forward towards what he had seemingly spotted. He clapped his hands and like that with a great rumble the ground started to shake and bow as something seemingly crawled out of the ground. The thing was huge and absolutely monstrous. That vine-like plant was all over the thing; its ribcage was visible as was its pulsing blue heart. 

Hotch’s vision flickered like the monster in front of him was causing him to go blind. He looked back to the other two men who seemed hesitant and took a few steps back as they shared a glance. Whatever this thing was scared even them, which was not exactly good news for him and Reid.

Reid was already ahead of him however and grabbed him pulling him much further back. 

Grian didn't flinch however as the looming beast locked onto where he was. The man just sighed before his eyes flared that damn eerie purple and with a twist of his wrist,he was holding a sword that gleamed that same color. Without any more fanfare Grian lunged and sliced the beast and to the agents’ surprise it froze before disappearing in a puff of smoke. 

Grian eyed where it had been for a moment before again with a twist of his wrist the sword disappeared and his eyes were back to the baseline purple, his wings twitched like an afterthought and he bent down to scoop up something from the ground and walked back to his friends handing the thing to Mumbo who took it with an intrigued hum. “You don't want it?” Mumbo asked.

Grian shook his head, “I have plenty.” He said dismissively. Mumbo just made a happy sound and with a wave of the black-haired man’s hand it disappeared.

It was so anticlimactic Hotch thought they may have been duped, that he was going to look around and see cameras filming him, but there was nothing. Just him Reid and the same three….men? What were they? They couldn't be human.

“See not an issue G.” Scar told him happily, Grian just rolled his eyes, “It's so much more fun to plant one in someone's base and watch it chase them around. Feels like a waste of a Warden.” He grumbled.

Hotch wanted to point out that this thing had killed multiple people. But it seems they knew that which made this even more bizarre. 

“Yeah…but it's a lot less fun when you can't respawn. You've done a good thing, saved lives, slayed the scary beast, and foiled your mortal enemies.” Scar listed off getting more sarcastic towards the end. Grian just huffed out an annoyed grumble. “How much sorrow and terror can really be harvested from one Warden in this kind of place?” Grian asked to seemingly no one in particular.

“I mean there are so many better ways. Go hang out over 2b2t for a bit for mojang’s sake!” He grumbled angrily, wings flaring slightly as he paced back and forth. Hotch hadn't realized until now that Grian had been walking weirdly before, leaning too far forward like he was used to a counterbalance. 

“Not everyone is as ethical about that as you.” Mumbo told him sympathetically. “Grian, you're really the only Watcher who doesn't torture people for fun.” Scar stated with much less tact.

“SCAR!” Mumbo yelled, but Grian just snickered.

“No he's right Mumbo, I escaped them for a reason. Sometimes it's good to be reminded of why.” The winged man reassured his taller friend.

Grian then turned back to the agents, “I'm sorry this happened, but I'll try my best to make sure it doesn't happen again. It's been nice meeting you but It's time for us to head back home.”

Hotch wanted to ask so many questions, and he was sure Reid was bursting at the seams himself. But before either of them could Grian's eyes flared once more, and his wings wrapped around his friends. With a pull even he felt from a few yards away the very universe wrapped around them and suddenly they were gone, but in the final moment he could swear that 

Scar had ragged wings and a long pointed tail, while Mumbo was covered in blood.

Chapter Text

Another job, another town, the same old, same old. They were heading to another local bar to ask questions. It was quite amazing what you can get out of a drunk person, that you couldn't out of a sober one. Granted it was close to midday but still there was definitely still information to be gained. 

Walking inside Spencer was shocked to see a familiar face. There at a table sat Grian, Spencer just stared in surprise they were halfway across the country from where he'd last seen him. What were the chances of running into him again especially considering he came and went.

Grian looked up to meet his eyes and just smiled as he waved them over. Spencer grabbed his team and herded over the others. They were confused but that didn't matter right now. Grian stood from his place and grabbed a few chairs from another table without a word. Spencer noted the people he was sitting with weren't Scar and Mumbo but different men he didn't recognize.

“It's good to see you again Grian.” Spencer greeted him. His teammates looked shocked as Grian just smiled, “It's good to see you again too Reid.” 

Once there were enough seats, they all sat down, and Spencer finally got a good look at the new people. Grian was beside a white-haired man with a black neck gaiter and headband, he had a scar through his right eye both of which were dark, green vest, and black undershirt. The next man has short brown hair and nearly golden eyes with a black T-shirt that had a yellow ‘i’ on it. 

Finally, a man who was similar to Mumbo what with the suit, tie, and black hair but the sleeves were cut off, the tie was in taters and just hung around his neck not even tied not that it could be. He had scars that covered his arms and face and a white streak in his slicked back hair and his eyes were a striking blue.

Spencer introduced his team and Grian reciprocated easily, “So what are you doing around here?” Grian had asked. Prentice took it upon herself to explain, “Another job sadly there has been some ritualistic murders around here.” 

Impulse frowned as did Skizz. “It's not the same kind of weird as when you helped us out before Grian it seems just like the normal psychos.” Spencer further explained. Grian nodded absently but asked if there was anything else noteworthy. 

There was the psycho had been scribbling in a language that was incomprehensible that they had yet to be able to translate despite their best effort. Rossi handed over his phone to show the picture he'd taken of some of it. Grian glanced at it curiously before his eyes went wide, “Oh….this is….”

Etho, who was looking at the phone over his shoulder froze. “That's galactic.” He said surprise radiating off of him in waves. Impulse and Skizz shared a wide-eyed glance before Skizz made grabby hands for the phone which was passed over without a thought.

“Galactic?” Rossi asked, absolutely puzzled. “It’s an ancient language only spoken by a few people.” Etho tried to explain. “Yeah, and we can't read it.” Impulse complained as he squinted at the screen all while Skizz frowned and glared at it grumbling for ‘Dippldop’ to hand it over.

“Well one of us can.” Grain pointed out sarcastically and a moment later the phone was being handed back to Grian with sheepish expressions from the far end of the table. “I'd need to see the rest to give you a better idea of what it's trying to say but I can tell you now it's barely understandable. Something about trying to summon someone.” Grian was frowning at the screen in disgust, “This is the worst galactic I've ever seen, and I tried to teach it to Mumbo.”

Skizz and Etho snickered at that, “Wow G-Sharp that's harsh.” Skizz told him.

Prentice glanced at Spencer in question, and he just nodded, “We have the rest of the pictures in the hotel room if you want to look at them.”

Grian was quick to agree, and the others seemed just as interested, all perking up. As they walked back and chatted with one another Spencer couldn't help but study Grian's friends. How inhuman were they? Was it something he could spot? He noticed the way Skizz walked like Grian too far forward and he suspected he may also have wings. The other two, however he couldn't see anything that stood out to him.

Once back in the hotel room, which thankfully was big enough for all of them, Rossi grabbed the photos as Prentice continued to chat with Skizz. The man seemed stoked as they went back and forth about the differences from their worlds while Impulse added his two cents every once in a while, or corrected something.

Etho was looking around curiously himself, and Spencer just placed himself next to Grian. “You know if you want to let your wings out you can.” 

Grian glanced at him and seemed to consider it for a moment as a smile appeared. “I'll probably have to anyway considering it's galactic which speaks to a much deeper issue.” The man rolled his shoulders and his eyes flared and moments later the wings were there folded neatly behind him.

Prentice looked up with wide eyes and Skizz lit up, “Oh dude! Can I have mine back too!? It's so weird without them.” Grian's eyes flared again and suddenly all his friends looked different. Skizz had wings but only one pair that were pure white with a halo to match which was silver and looked almost like it was dripping. 

Impulse had horns, pointed ears, and a thin black tail with a yellow point on the end. Etho had white ears and a tail with dark tips and sharper black nails and the eye with the scar through it was now red instead of the dark color it was before. 

An angel, a demon, a fox, and whatever Grian was. What a group they made. 

The agents stared in surprise as Skizz sighed and stretched out one wing. “That's so much better. How do you put up with this G-Sharp?” 

Grian just shrugged, “I didn't always have wings.” He said it casually. The others didn't seem to take it as such however, Etho's ears drooped, Skizz visibly deflated wings sinking, and even Impulse looked displeased tail flicking.

They were ignored however as Grian looked at Rossi, “The pictures?” He made grabby hands, and Rossi handed them over and got a happy trill in response. Grian collapsed onto the couch as he started looking them over.

“What exactly is the deal with this language?” Prentice asked, confused. “I mean how come only Grian knows it even though you all can recognize it?”

“It's the language of void walkers and Watchers.” Impulse explained as he took a seat in a chair tail curling around his leg. “It's old and powerful, used for magic and creation. Most admins know it as well but it's not easy to learn and you really don't need to know it.” 

Skizz muttered something about being a nerd and got wacked on the leg by the imp’s tail.

“That's a lot of words we don't understand.” Rossi told him plainly, eyebrows lifting.

“What do you need explained?” The Imp asked.

“First, what are void walkers and Watchers?”

“Void walkers are an ancient species that originated in the void, a place of nothingness. They lived on the outskirts of the end and worshiped the Watchers, which are all powerful beings, most of which were created from the void itself. They can shape reality as they want and desire and feed on pain and suffering. They wiped out Void walkers a long time ago and there are only a few left now.”

“And so the language all but died?” Spencer guessed. Impulse nodded sadly.

“You mentioned magic?” Prentice pointed out.

“Yeah, it's a powerful language. Lots of times it's used for magic. We use it for enchanting stuff to make it more powerful, hence why we recognize it.” Etho elaborated from his place next to Grian.

“And Grian can read it.” Spencer said as he put pieces together from the last encounter. Grian was a Watcher, but a good one who escaped from what he remembers. 

“Why is that?” Rossi asked, absolutely not in the loop. 

Grian glanced up, “Most Watchers were made from the void, not all, some were turned by them. I'm a rare breed agent.” He sounded somber

Prentice and Rossi stared blankly, taking that revelation in. Etho leaned further into his side and Grian just went back to the pictures. 

It took a while but eventually Grian finished, “Ok so while each scene has different phrases, they all basically say the same thing with slight variations.”

“This one.” He places down the first set of photos, “Translates to, hear me old ones please bring and then a word that means nothing. It's not a name, it's not a place. It's gibberish.” 

He puts down another set of photos. 

“Hear my pleas and save this word bring and then the same gibberish word.”

Another set.

“Old ones answer my pleas this world needs then once again the same gibberish word.”

The final set of photos.

“Gibberish word please come save this world we need you now more than ever.”

“What does the word translate to?” Spencer asked curiously.

Grian shrugs, “It is quite literally incomprehensible, I can write it down though.”

Grian does and it really is just a mash of letters. There's no anagram or code, it's nothing.

“This feels like a normal baseline delusion.” Rossi pointed out.

“Does older ones mean anything?” Prentice asked cautiously. Grian shrugged, “I don't think so, I'd say Watchers but there's no way anyone in this world should even know of them.”

“Didn't we already establish there was one here before though?” Spencer asked.

Everyone looked at Grian curiously. 

“That was nowhere near here, but there's no other way to know galactic. I really don't know. I can check but I'm pretty confident there's nothing here. Though it wouldn't be a bad shout to also check for magic.” Grian said.

“Could you have dropped something at some point? You come here with us often enough.” Skizz asked.

“Maybe…but I don't usually write in galactic.” Grian pointed out as he thought back one ear wing twitching.

“Well either way that doesn't matter.” Etho pointed out. “What matters is there's nothing here now.”

“Yeah, Etho's right let me check. How far out do I need to look?” Grian asked as he stood and moved to the middle of the room. 

“Within the city and a few miles out.” Prentice told him.

Grian nodded and his eyes flared, and wings flickered to white and purple. It was still mesmerizing even though Spencer had seen it before, though his team were gob smacked and Grian's friends watched curiously. He wondered how often Grian did this and suspected it probably wasn't a lot, judging by his friends' expressions.

He closed his eyes and like before purple eyes blinked into existence, but they fizzled out this time, though the feeling of being watched was still prevalent and unnerving. He wondered what all exactly Grian could see and in the next breath wondered if he would even want to know. 

Grian's eyes opened, and they were white with the purple ring and pupil, but they didn't seem like they were seeing anything, at least not in the room. His eyes scanned in simple straight lines in ways they shouldn't be able to not without tracking something. 

It took him about five minutes before he blinked, and his eyes went back to the normal purple and his wings back to their normally bright colors. “Nothing, no magic or signs of Watchers so that's good.” Grian explained as he went back to his previous place next to Etho who threw an arm around him, tail ending in the man's lap. Grian stroked it and pulled out some debris without thought. One of Etho's ears flicked.

“What can we even do?” Skizz asked, sounding genuinely distressed. Etho raised a hand, “Yes?” Rossi asked flatly. “Do you have anything of theirs?”

The agents shared a glance, “No…” Rossi told him unsure of what he was getting at.

“Can you take us to one of the murder sites?”

“Maybe, depends on intention.” 

“I can probably track him.” The man informed him

It barely took a glance from the agents to agree that this was the next course of action. Skizz just whined, “But my wings.” Grian just patted him sympathetically as he got up once more, “You'll live Skizz.” The angel just sighs, “Whatever.” With a flare of magic, they all looked like normal humans again and they all started making their way to one of the more out of the way crime scenes through Ethos' request.

It thankfully didn't take forever to get to the location, and it was the most recent. They had chosen the hotel they had for a reason. Granted they were going to the location for this away, but the trip really was still short. Only about a 20-minute walk. 

Once they got there however, things moved quickly. Etho lowered his mask and sniffed at the air, frowned, opened his mouth and repeated. His fangs were sharp though not as pointy as Mumbo's Spencer noted. It took a while but eventually Etho's eyes lit up, “Think I got it.” Spencer was sure if he still had his tail, it would be wagging.

“Can you follow it?” Rossi asked.

Etho nodded, “Yeah, come on.” He started in a direction and the others quickly followed. It was a seemingly nonsense path like the person was trying to make sure they weren't followed. But despite that Etho seemed more confident the further away they got. His friends seemed entertained as well as they watched him.

Eventually he stopped in front of a house with a glint in his eyes and a sneer on his lips. Rossi called Garcia and Spencer knew in a few hours they would have everything they needed.

Grain put a hand on the man's shoulder in comfort, “You did great Etho they'll deal with the rest.” Etho just grumbled. Impulse put a hand on his other shoulder, “Etho it'll be fine.” Finally, the man relaxed. 

He turned to the agents, “You'll stop this.” It wasn't a question but also wasn't a statement. 

Prentice nodded resolutely, eyes hard, “We will.” Etho seemed pleased with this and walked back to where the rest of them were. 

Spencer glanced over to Grian, “Is it time for you guys to go back?” Grian sighed looking at the darkening sky, “Yeah, we really should. It's been nice seeing you again and I hope it's not the final time we meet.”

The others said their goodbyes before Grian brought them to a nearby ally before wrapping his wings around them and like that they're gone.