When Aubrey walked into the BAU office that morning, it seemed nobody was there. She checked her watch and saw that while she was cutting it close to her usual 8AM arrival time on a normal day, there was no way every single one of her co-workers was late.
She walked over to the Round Table room, looking in as she saw everybody was already there, waiting on her. She saw a Quicktime file was pulled up on the computer screen, and she gave JJ an amused look while she took her normal seat next to Derek. "Movie morning?"
"Not exactly," JJ said as she played the clip, showing an interrogation of a father believed to have beat his son near to death with a tire iron. Aubrey winced as she watched the video, watching the father painfully and desperately beg for the officer to believe his innocence. When the clip ended, Hotchner turned to brief the group instead of JJ, who stood up to pass out the specific files for each person.
"This happened two days ago in Beachwood, New Jersey. Jack Fisher consumed LSD some time before the attack, but didn't go back down until 18 hours later," Hotchner said. Aubrey whistled.
"Is he a junkie?" When Hotchner shook his head, Aubrey looked at him in concern. "Most people don't take enough LSD for an 18 hour hit. Those who over use like that usually are just unaware of its side effects or were given a bad batch. Considering he knew he was spending the weekend with his son, a rarity, I doubt he intended to get high for that long and risk ruining the weekend and the relationship with his son in one swing."
"He's not the only one," JJ revealed. "The hospital has admitted six other people with LSD in their systems and bad reactions to it. They've had one death, and one patient go into a coma since admittance. They called the CDC, and the CDC called us."
Derek leant back, putting his arm on the back of Aubrey's chair. "What makes this a BAU case?"
"These people, as Aubrey suggested, were spiked. They received ten to twenty times more than the regular dosage a junkie would take when wanting an LSD hit," Hotchner said. Everybody's eyebrows shot up at that statistic, except coy Gideon, who shook his head.
"They weren't spiked," Gideon said as half the team looked at him curiously. He said to them, "They were poisoned."
"Unless this is a prank, which, by the sophistication of it, I'm going to guess it's not, there's a high change there's going to be a bigger attack, so we better get going," Hotchner said as he gathered up his files into his arms. "Wheels up in fifteen."
Everybody grabbed their go bags quickly, sensing the urgency more in normal in getting to the crime scene and nabbing the UnSub before he had a chance to poison more people. They were only on a short ride to New Jersey, so the moment the plane leveled out, JJ started her mini-presentation.
"The only death was 78-year-old Gail Norman. She ran out in front of car and was DOA," JJ said, throwing out a file onto the desk. Aubrey frowned at the picture; the woman reminded her of her own grandmas.
Hotchner threw down another case file, this one with a picture of a gauze-covered head in it. He told them, "We also have one in a coma. 9 year old Brittany Buchanan fell out of a treehouse and fractured her skull. They're not sure she'll ever come out of it."
"We need to issue a warning to press," Gideon said, half in his mind still as he studied the pictures.
JJ shook her head. "I think that could cause a panic. It wouldn't be wise to do so, they'll start getting inundated with people thinking they're poisoned, and they won't be able to respond properly to the real cases. I did notify the local PD to be discreet."
Derek sighed, dropping his file back onto the table. "How do these people have no idea how they were poisoned?"
"Nobody remembers what happened the day they were poisoned, and they were so messed up that local PD are having difficulty retracing their last steps," Hotchner said.
"So, let's look at precedent," Gideon said as he shifted in his seat. "There are four types of prisoners that target multiple types of victims."
"The true believer, a religious or political leader, usually of a cult," Hotchner said.
"The extortionist, who holds a business hostage in exchange for money," Derek said.
"The prankster, usually a young offender who doesn't mean any harm but usually ends up doing so anyway," Elle said.
"And the avenger," Aubrey said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat as her stomach turned over, telling her the one she was defining was the one she was dealing with. "He usually wants to fulfill a personal vendetta, and uses poison as his weapon."
"So, we need to figure out which one of these our UnSub is," Gideon said. "I suggest that we split up the victims and look at victimology to see what we can connect between them."
"I'll look at lab reports, see if there's any motive that can be seen through how he poisoned them," Spencer said.
"Aubrey," Hotchner said, gaining her attention, "I want you to come to the hospital with us, but stay there and be our contact there. If one of the victims comes to or thinks of something that will help us, I want you to be there both to take care of them physically and emotionally."
Aubrey nodded. "I understand."
When they nodded, Aubrey, Spencer, and Hotchner went straight to the hospital as they became acquainted with the staff there. Spencer and Hotchner left her soon enough to go follow a lead at a local restaurant one of the victims they had interviewed claimed that he had visited the same day he was poisoned. Aubrey was in the room of the last victim, the nine year old a coma patient, when she received a call from Hotchner.
"Come back with us to the station real quick. We want to regroup after the interrogation of Danny, one of the suspects," Hotchner said over the line. She looked over at Brittany, the nine year old girl whose vitals looked dismal. She sighed, and Hotchner asked, "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just reminded right now of why I didn't become a doctor after all. I'll meet up with you at the station in a little bit," Aubrey said as she hung up the phone and went downstairs to ride in with an officer Hotchner had sent to pick her up. She made small talk with him on the way in, and when she entered the interrogation room, Elle was already picking up speed with the Danny kid, talking to him about how his girlfriend claimed he beat her and raped her. He claimed that he only beat her to control her as she was high off of something, revealing he'd never give her LSD because it killed the mood.
"Kid is right about that," Derek said thoughtfully. Aubrey turned and looked at him, one eyebrow raised.
"You've taken acid right before getting with a girl? That's not appealing," Aubrey said as Derek rolled his eyes and she smirked at him. Even Hotchner had to let out a small chuckle at her hit on Derek. Aubrey finished Derek's thought by saying, "Why would he give her more than a date rape drug if his sole purpose was just to rape her? Why would he give her the LSD on top of that?"
"He wouldn't. He's not our guy," Hotchner said as he massaged his chin.
"The cafe was just a coincidence. But the two drugs... they're used for two different things. They want the LSD for the hallucinations and the rape date drug for amnesia, not to forget what happened during their hallucinations, but to forget how they were dosed," Gideon said, his voice slow and thoughtful.
"That means our killer's organized," Hotchner said, frowning. "He's covering his tracks. He's not a prankster."
"No businesses have been involved, so he's not an extortionist," Aubrey added, cracking her fingers nervously.
"And there's no cults in the area, so it's most likely not a true believer. Also, the victimology is all over the place, so even if there was a cult present, their victims would have some connection, and since they don't, probably not cult activity," Spencer said. Aubrey looked over at Hotchner and Gideon.
"So this means we're dealing with an avenger," Aubrey said, almost proud for having a preemptive feeling about what type of poisoner they were dealing with. Hotchner nodded to affirm her thoughts.
"We're ready to give a profile. Aubrey, you can go back to the hospital after we're done," Hotchner said as Aubrey nodded, Hotchner rapping on the window to gain Elle's attention as they released Danny from custody and gathered the police officers into the main station room, standing in front of them as Hotchner started, gaining the avid attention of their audience.
"We believe whoever started these poisonings did it as an act of revenge," Hotchner said, eyeing each officer as he spoke. "The seemingly randomness of the victims probably means the UnSub is a local, who targeted specific people within the community."
"Most of these avengers, as we call them, usually act alone, but he may have manipulated someone close to him. If this is a case, then he will dispose of them shortly after their use is deemed needless," Aubrey said, feeling her heart drop a little bit at the thought of another body surfacing or someone witless and spineless enough to aid a poisoner.
"He is likely a cautious, deliberate, and high-functioning male between the ages of 35 and 50," Derek said.
"LSD was chosen for a reason," Hotchner said, his words deadly serious as he paced a few steps, then stopped. "It alters perception. We think that the UnSub is acting out because he was incorrectly perceived, or believes he was incorrectly perceived. He thinks that these events will fix the unjust situation in his own alternate universe, the situation he feels that he needs to act in vengeance for."
"He's so self centered that he thinks his victims will know the reason for the attack, and who did it," Derek said, shaking his head. "This may be part of his delusion, an elevation of self worth that was destroyed by the event that he feels he has to fix."
"This UnSub was savvy enough to use a rape date drug to wipe their memories and obstruct our investigation," Spencer said. The detective sighed, obviously feeling wounded in his pride with this realization that the UnSub was one step ahead of them.
"Most importantly, as is the case with most poisoners except one sub group out of the four, this was a test run, also proven by the random victimology." Everybody in the room tensed, paying more attention to Aubrey as she told them, "None of these victims had any connection to the real issue at hand. The UnSub is trying to grab a foothold, see what his weapon will be. Now that he has one that does what he wants it to, you can expect another attack."
"Thank you, that's it for now," Hotchner said as they released everybody. Aubrey jumped into one of the officer's cars again as he drove her back up to the hospital, where she mostly just kept checking on the victim's lucidity until there was influx of people, most of them yelling at nurses.
"We've been poisoned! We went to the Red Cat over in the Beachwood area and we've been poisoned!" One woman shouted into Aubrey's face. She stared at her as a nurse pulled her away, and Aubrey pulled aside to one of the hallways, hearing more or the same from most of the victims.
"Hello?" Derek asked, sounding stressed.
"Are you guys getting 911 calls about poisonings? Because there was just a huge flood of people into the hospital and I don't know why," Aubrey said. Derek sighed.
"There was a leak, but they didn't name the restaurant. Now, everybody's thinking they got food poisoning or something from restaurants. Tell them to send everybody home who isn't complaining about hallucinations, because they're not our concern right now," Derek said.
"Yeah, okay," Aubrey said as she hung up the phone and walked away to give the directions to the floor nurse, who, after checking the symptoms and temperature of every self-proclaimed victim, sent almost all of them home spare a few who had come to the hospital for different reasons.
A nurse walked up to Aubrey and asked, "Excuse me, you're one of the FBI agents, right?"
"Yes, I am. I've also got a medical degree, but I don't practice much, if you need me for something like that," Aubrey said. The nurse frowned and nodded.
"A little bit of both would be good. My floor nurse told me to tell you we just admitted a patient who doesn't fit food poisoning or anything else everybody else is complaining about. She's barely breathing. I was wondering if you'd like to come take a look at her?" The nurse asked. Aubrey nodded vehemently, following her down the hallway and past the mayhem to a private room off the main corridor.
"Agent Bentley?" The doctor asked, putting out his hand. "I'm Doctor Johnson. Patient's name is Lynn Dempsey. She came in with complaints about nausea, labored breathing, and difficulty swallowing. Her words were slurred when she came in, and she could hardly control her legs. She says she can't remember how she became sick, or how long she's been sick. She's lost the ability to speak as well."
Aubrey walked over to Lynn, who looked at her with bloodshot eyes. "Tested for Rohypnol and LSD?"
"Yes, came back positive for Rohypnol and negative for LSD," the doctor said. Aubrey looked at her charts, her vitals, and her body as she turned back to the doctor, pulling him aside so she could have a chance to talk to him without being heard by Lynn, who she thought was too busy coughing to really hear what they were saying.
"You should test for some other biological agents. Our attacker we're looking for may have some higher-level attacks in mind," Aubrey said. The doctor went wide eyed as he nodded.
"I'll go off and do that right now," the doctor said as he left the room with Aubrey. While he rushed away to go order the tests, Aubrey pulled off to the side of the hallway as she called up Hotchner and filled him in on her new findings. He arrived within ten minutes with JJ and Spencer behind him, who immediately were updated by Aubrey as they watched Lynn Dempsey.
Aubrey was making sure her vitals stayed normal, sitting by Lynn's bedside with JJ to comfort her. Lynn's coughing had ceased, but she looked ten times more sickly than before, which Aubrey hadn't thought would be possible. She was just getting used to Lynn's new sickly pallor when the doctor walked in and said, "The tests came back."
"And?" Aubrey asked. The doctor looked grave.
"She's been infected with a version of botulism, for which there is currently no antitoxin," the doctor said. Aubrey stood up as Hotchner and Spencer re-entered, having heard the diagnosis. JJ kept Lynn comfortable, and Aubrey knew she probably couldn't even process what the doctor said.
"Botulism? That's like a cryptid disease. It's like the non-infectious version of TB. Everybody knows what it is, but few actually have it," Aubrey said as she sat back down in her chair, looking over at Lynn. "God, that poor woman's body is wrecked inside."
As if hearing the words, the body reacted violently. Aubrey and JJ backed away quickly, watching as Lynn's vitals dropped and the doctor and nurses tried to save her. Aubrey's heart tore as her heartline went flat despite their best efforts, and Aubrey couldn't help but blame herself for the harsh words she had spoken before Lynn had died.
JJ, Hotchner, and Spencer headed back to the station soon after, leaving Aubrey to conduct more victim interviews as they were slowly coming out of their hallucinations. She went into the room of the little boy who had almost been beating to death by his own father, and found his mother at his bedside.
She walked up to him and put out a hand, saying, "Hi, my name is Agent Aubrey Bentley. I'm with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Would you like me to watch your boy? I've got a medical degree and awesome babysitter recommendations from my high school days."
The mother looked up at Aubrey, blinking her eyes as she smiled, processing her words. "That'd be great. I just need to sleep for a little bit..."
Aubrey nodded, taking a seat in the other chair in the room. "Take as long as you need."
The mother left the room, and Aubrey reached over to touch the boy's hand, playing with his fingers. She frowned as she looked at him, hoping to God that he'd wake up just as much as she hoped the little girl who broke her skull would wake up as well.
Her phone rang while the mother was still gone, providing a report from Derek that they had arrested a man named Edward Hill that had worked for the same company Lynn Dempsey had long ago. He had tried to develop a patent but Hitchcock, their company, had stolen his idea and then downsized him to get rid of him. Now, he was back for vengeance.
Derek left so he could help with the interview, and Aubrey hung up the phone just in time. The mother had returned, and she took her seat again as she looked over at Aubrey and gave her a smile. "Thank you. I was wondering, have you caught the man who did this to my son?"
Aubrey looked at her in surprise. "Your husband did this."
"He's my ex-husband, but I know that he didn't do this to our son," the mother said as she leant over and took ahold of her son's hand. "I know that someone affected my ex to do this, but Jack would never, ever do this to him."
"We're working on that, ma'am, I promise you," Aubrey said as she got up from the chair, knowing if the mother asked them if they had any suspects, she wouldn't be able to lie to her and she wasn't sure if the arrest was supposed to be under wraps. Aubrey headed for the door as she said to the mother, "If you need anything else, let me know."
The mother nodded as Aubrey exited and went to conduct yet another victim interview with someone who was still half on their high. She was just about to call Hotchner to ask if she could return back to the station with them when Derek ran in.
"What's wrong?" Aubrey asked him as he grabbed her hand, pulling her out.
"We've got a huge problem. The guy that we arrested told us that he poisoned the punch bowl at a party at Hitchcock. While he did that, his main goal was a retreat in the middle of the forest with the big wigs. We've got to get there before they die from the poison," Derek said as he and Aubrey ran to the car, getting in with Hotchner, Gideon, and Spencer as they drove toward the forest.
"So, we have no idea where they are?" Aubrey asked.
"We've got helicopters, state troopers, and local PD looking for them, plus us," Gideon said as he stretched his neck to look into every crook and cranny of the forest. There were dispatches over the radio, but nothing of interest for about ten minutes until they said the state troopers had found the campers at the edge of an access rode, giving the coordinates.
Hotchner pulled up and Aubrey bounced out immediately, shooting over to the ambulance as she slipped on medical gloves after flashing her credentials at an EMT. She grabbed the antitoxins and started administering them to the twenty or so executives that were strewn about the lawn in various stages of illness.
Within two hours, almost all of the men were sitting up normally again, a little sick to their stomach but no worse for wear otherwise. After validating everything with the local police station, they had a short plane ride home as they all distributed into the office, leaving one by one albeit quickly. Aubrey went to go grab something from Penelope, and when she came back, she and Derek were the only ones left in the pit. Hotchner was in his office, obviously and unsurprisingly immersed in his work.
"You going to pull another long night here?" Aubrey asked as she sat on the edge of Derek's desk, holding her bag. Obviously she herself was about to head home.
Derek sighed and nodded, throwing a case file down on top of his desk. "Unfortunately, they aren't going to do themselves. I'd rather do it all tonight and get some good sleep tomorrow rather than get spotty work and spotty sleep the next two days."
"I guess that's logical," Aubrey said, swinging her legs. "Doesn't mean I'll follow."
Derek laughed. "Like you ever do."
Aubrey grinned at him, and he looked up at her, thinking about her focus back in the hospital. He suddenly asked her, wondering what how his subconscious took ahold of his mouth so easily, "Why didn't you become a doctor after you graduated?"
Aubrey stared at him with surprise, and Derek apologized. She smiled and shook her head, saying, "No, it's alright, I just wasn't expecting you to say that. After I did clinicals and internships, I realized that as much as I wanted to help people, watching half of them die wasn't the way I wanted to do it. I had this long conversation with my dad, and he told me to join the FBI so I could protect people. I told him I didn't want a desk job, and he finally told me about his. Up until that point, I hadn't really known what he did, and when I found out about the BAU, I thought, that's what I wanted to do."
"So tell me, girl genius, why'd you go to college so soon and skip the last few years of high school?" Derek asked. Aubrey lost her playful attitude, and Derek almost questioned why, but he didn't have the chance as she answered quickly.
"High school wasn't a good time for me. I wanted to get out and get gone," Aubrey said, sounding like she was purposefully ignoring answering his question. His eyebrows furrowed.
"Why? Were you bullied?" Aubrey didn't answer, and Derek put a hand on her thigh. "Aubrey..."
She stood up, pushing her hand off his skin, almost as a reflex it seemed.
"Derek, stop," Aubrey said, sounding suddenly angry and a little fearful, too. Derek looked at her in surprise and confusion as she told him, "I'm not ready to talk about it. It's getting late, anyway. I need to head home. I have no intention to spend the night in the office again."
Derek knew if he prodded further, he could end up in a bad spot with Aubrey, so he let it go as he kissed her goodnight and watched her walk into the elevator. Although he hadn't verbally discussed it with her, her situation was still running rampant in his mind as he tried to push the pieces together.
What was she hiding from him?