Hey guys welcome back, lots of shit going on that delayed this and other chapters from getting out, but here it is and hope you enjoy.
Nothing really to go over other than to address a few guests stating that the burned man came in too early than in canon, I will remind you all that he stocked and prepped his quest for months on end, if not years, and we don't know EXACTLY when he started following the team. Just because he's made an appearance now doesn't mean I'm going to be expediting the episode(s) he actually appears in. I put him there to show that he's studying Naruto too and has his own branching information network (He'd have to in order to track and get the information on the team that he had since one "source" couldn't have given him all the details).
So I'm not jumping the gun on anything, just getting some set up done for future chapters.
Also, I decided to cross in some of the other crime shows, though I don't think they will be full on crossed in as in Naruto will be joining in on cases that happen in those shows, he very well may but not right now. However, I will have characters from those shows appear in this as the team goes to their respective cities.
I don't believe there's anything else to go over, so let's get this show on the road.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Criminal Mind, nor do I own any characters from either item or anything else I add in just to give more context or background for Naruto.
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
"Radio or altered voice"
"Book, Computer, Letter, Text Message"
* see bottom for explanation
[Translation]
Chapter 9: To Save a Child
Season 1, Episode 12: What Fresh Hell?
Episode Quotes: "Evil is always unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed, and eats at our table." -W.H. Auden.
"Measure not the work until the day is out and the labor done." Elizbeth Barret Browning.
BAU
Naruto sat at a desk looking over some of the files he was allowed to handle and see, sorting out the false alarms or small-scale problems from viable threats as the others were doing their normal thing. He did raise an eyebrow as he saw Garcia go into Gideon's office and talk to him a moment before looking at his photo collection of saved victims that he had in front of his desk.
It was a good coping mechanism for everything they saw daily, having an array of photos of every person he'd ever saved on the job. See a couple thousand dead bodies, but be reminded of the hundreds you've saved personally and the thousands you saved before they could become victims.
He then looked to his phone as it buzzed and looked at the text message he received, "No sign of targets, they've all gone dark. Three suspicious cases in California, but nothing concrete. Will be sending details to Kurenai." It read and he sent a confirmation before deleting the exchange entirely.
"Something wrong Naruto?" Reid asked seeing the serious look on his face.
"Hmm? Oh, no, just Kurenai informing me that one of Karin's doctors wants to try switching out one of her meds for a new one that's supposed to be better and less reactive to some other medication she's on." Naruto stated easily giving away nothing of what he had actually read.
"What medication?" Reid asked and Naruto shrugged.
"Don't know the name, doc wants to switch out a medication that helps her sleep more peacefully at night because he's worried it's interacting poorly with a medication she takes for depression." Naruto stated knowing that it was vague enough to not be too detailed but specific enough that it was able to be dropped.
It worked too as Reid nodded knowing that several meds like that could have adverse side effects when combined.
It was then that Naruto saw JJ heading for Gideon's office in a hurry, "Uh oh, got a big one." Naruto stated motioning to the hurried JJ.
They and Elle watched as JJ talked with Gideon a moment before exiting, "Briefing room." JJ stated making them get up and head over there before she put files down for them and got the tv set up for them. "Wilmington, Delaware. Missing child Billie Copeland, 11-years-old. She was last seen on the playground at 4:30 yesterday afternoon." JJ stated as she handed out folders to everyone.
"That's… 20 hours ago, why are we just now getting notified about this?" Hotch asked as Naruto looked over the file.
"Parents are separated and just finalized a divorce; local PD thought the father picked her up?" Naruto asked and JJ nodded.
"Her last call was to him right around the believed disappearance." JJ stated making Naruto nod.
"They've now ruled him out?" Morgan asked as JJ nodded.
"He called the mother an hour ago having no idea where Billie was and denies having picked her up." JJ stated as Naruto hummed and looked at the file.
"Unfortunately, doesn't mean he's not involved, just means he may not have been the one to directly grab her." Naruto stated seeing that they didn't have a lot to go on for so little time left statistically.
"You'll be able to talk to him at the family home, he's on his way there right now. Though given his denial of it, police are now looking at a possible stranger abduction." JJ stated while the team all glanced at each other knowing that they were really against the odds now.
"20 hours late, odds are not in our favor." Elle stated as she rubbed her face.
"Long term abductions of Billie's age are rare, they only equal close to half a percent of the total abductions a year. They are usually more likely to be fatal to the target than in other instances. Of the children that are abducted and murdered, 44% die within the first hour. From there, the odds decrease further and further. 75% are gone after three hours. All but a rare few are dead after 24." Reid informed grimly knowing it wasn't good.
"Meaning that going by statistics, we only have just under 4 hours to find Billie before things become near hopeless." Hotch stated as Naruto grunted.
"Regardless, until we have a body, we work under the assumption that she's alive. Both for our own sanity, and for that of the parents. Statistics have been wrong before and if we do this right, we can make them wrong again." Naruto stated making them all nod knowing that there had been cases that defied the statistics and precedents in the past.
"Get your bags and let's move." Gideon stated as they left the conference room and went to their desks to grab their go-bags before immediately leaving for the airport.
PLANE
"All right, Naruto give us all you got on these types of situations." Gideon stated once they were in the air since it was faster to fly to Philadelphia and then drive down to Wilmington than it was to try to drive straight there.
"Most of the time they're usually loners, they don't interact with others except to blend in and make themselves look normal and friendly so people can't ever suspect them. They usually make friends with the local ice cream truck driver, have a cute dog, or some other attention getter for kids. They don't take the job of ice cream truck driver because they can't get close to the kids without appearing highly suspicious. The fact that Garcia hasn't found any other abductions or any incident reports hinting at there being others, attempted or successful, means he's a rookie and as such means he didn't think to go very far from his home to do the abduction. It also means he had to have frequented the park enough to not stand out or be considered suspicious." Naruto stated looking over the report still.
"Means he could have been on the door-to-door questionings that occurred." Morgan stated and Naruto nodded.
"Yes, though he's more likely to be on those that DIDN'T answer the door. You could have waited a week to start the search and this guy still wouldn't have the confidence to talk to the cops let alone lie convincingly. When he's in control he can be calm, collected, and even smooth, but right now he's got a permanent adrenalin rush going and he's shaky, scared, and skittish so he won't engage with anyone if he can help it out of a paranoid fear that he'll tip someone off and start drawing attention to himself. However, this also means he's blended into the community so well that none of his neighbors or anyone he normally associates with will ever be able to believe he was capable of anything like this until he's arrested and convicted. It means we can't depend on them to give information through a request via the press." Naruto continued making them frown.
"We could spin it that we were mistaken, the man in question is a possible witness not a suspect and we're hoping he'll come forward not knowing that what he saw could be important." Elle stated as Naruto pointed at her.
"Let's hit the ground first, we need to get the lay of the land and get a good feel for the situation. We can adapt and go from there as rapidly as we need to once we have an idea of what's going on fully." Gideon stated knowing that they needed to fully assess the situation as it was before they could make a full game plan going forward.
"I'll head to the park first before joining you at the home, if that's fine. I want to get a feel for the area where the abduction occurred." Naruto stated making Gideon nodded.
"That's fine, it could give insight for us that could prove vital." Gideon stated making Naruto nod.
"Anything else you can add?" Hotch asked looking at Naruto.
"Just that his personality type won't make a deal, he will fully keep his mouth shut if he thinks you can't touch him no matter how you stack the odds or appeal to his humanity. He will not admit his guilt until you've literally got the gun to his head in the form of having him dead to rights for arrest. There's also the fact that with no body found yet, he most likely falls under one of three types. A) He's a keeper and thus won't kill Billie unless he absolutely has no choice. B) He's a ruer, meaning he does something and then immediately feels remorse and as soon as he can convince Billie to keep quiet, he'll let her go and even if he can't, he may still let her go just to alleviate his guilty conscience. C) He's prover, he did it just to prove that he could or that it could be done. Basically, a lesser form of one of those security nuts who think you must do something drastic to show people how vulnerable they are. All of these are good for Billie, even if the keeper means she'll likely be more traumatized the longer we don't find her, and as such we have some slight breathing room, but only slight." Naruto stated making them all frown as they mentally noted those items since some of it was a new perspective and information for them to consider.
"Some of that is new, even to me." Reid stated as Naruto nodded.
"I've done a lot more hunting and a lot more diverse hunting than you have Reid, it's partly why I was so good at it. I didn't have to wait days to weeks to be invited on a case, nor did I have to wait on approval for me to hunt. As such I was able to study and learn each target before intervening to stop them when they moved after a new target. Of course, there were exceptions since if they had a victim already then I needed to act quickly to get them out of there. Of course, that's also what led to me getting caught." Naruto stated since it was common knowledge, for those that knew about him anyway, how he was caught.
They each nodded before they continued discussing anything else that needed attention before they'd eventually land and drive to the site.
WILMINGTON DELAWARE PARK, BILLIE'S LAST KNOWN LOCATION
"We put out a city-wide alert. We've got multi-agency law enforcement running canvass. Body and evidence grid search is up and running on foot with canine units. I've talked to the press twice. Gave 'em a description of the SUV and the suspect and formed a round-the-clock volunteer-manned hotline service." The lead detective, Charlotte Russet, listed as she walked with Naruto, Hotch, and Morgan through the park.
"And you checked the backgrounds of all the volunteers?" Morgan asked as Naruto surveyed the area.
"On-going, but no red flags rising yet." Russet stated as she licked her lips nervously, "I had to make a call on this one, you know? It looked like a simple family thing." She added as they nodded.
"We understand, just focus on making it right." Naruto stated as Russet nodded, "Any witnesses?" Naruto asked and she made a motion to indicate yes but not as well as they'd like.
"Witnesses have her talking to a white male, mid-30s, carrying a leash… right about there." She stated motioning to a small tree line.
"So he went with the lost dog routine to lure her to him." Naruto stated since it was a common ruse to attract kids since they wanted to be helpful, and no one wanted to lose their dog.
"A short time later, a green SUV sped out of the parking lot over there. We've put an amber alert on it." Russet added as they kept walking, though Naruto could see in the way she walked that she was nearly writing Billie off as a lost cause.
"From the reports, Billie and her mother had a fight during practice. Given the divorce of her parents is still fairly new, I'd assume Billie wants to spend more time with her father and as with most of these situations Billie is right in the middle of the divorce as well. That means the unsub was probably hunting during practice, park at 4 PM is a target rich environment, and saw the fight and saw Billie being vulnerable. Angry, upset little girl wants someone to talk to in order to vent." Naruto stated making Hotch and Morgan nod.
"How would he know she was upset?" Russet asked and Naruto hummed.
"Finding vulnerable kids is what these people are good at. They can tell which kids are upset, which are on alert, which are defensive, which ones are likely to scream, which ones are likely to try and run first chance they get, and so on and so forth. It's what makes them dangerous, because they can tell which victims are easy prey out of the whole group." Naruto stated before Russet's phone rang getting her to answer it.
"Russet. Yeah. Where? We'll be right there." She stated before hanging up and turning to the trio, "Uniforms just located another kid who might have talked to the suspect yesterday. It's only a couple blocks from here." Russet stated as they nodded.
"Lead on." Hotch stated as they followed her with Naruto taking note of all the locations and positions that could be used to look inconspicuous but still be able to watch for targets.
Unfortunately, 97% of all parents were more focused on just the kids, what they were doing, or relaxing and not on who may be paying just a little too much attention to their kids. It wasn't their fault though; everyone wants to feel safe in their neighborhood and places they've gone hundreds of times without any incidents.
If they found Billie alive, Mrs. Copeland would never do that again, ensuring she had an eye on Billie at all times and watch anyone paying too much attention to her or other children.
The trick was not to smother her, otherwise Billie would never feel like she was moving on and actually living her life.
It was part of the reason he, Karin, and Kurenai hadn't tried to have kids yet. Could they truly bring an innocent child into the world they lived in? Knowing FULL well the monsters and their numbers within the world as a whole? Do that and not be paranoid or frightful? Do that and not essentially turn any child they had into a survivalist rather than letting them be a child for as long as they could?
There was no right answer and they had considered adopting for the longest time before he was caught and then all such plans were put on hold for the foreseeable future.
Naruto shook his thoughts away knowing they weren't going to do him any good right now as they came across some kids playing basketball on a driveway while two officers were standing by.
"Good afternoon, I'm detective Russet. These are Special Agents Morgan and Hotchner of the FBI along with a friend and specialist of theirs named Naruto." Russet stated as they walked up and the kids looked at them.
"Can I see your gun?" One boy asked and Naruto smirked before he moved his coat to show his sidearm strapped to his side making the kids look on in awe.
The moment of fun for the kids was ruined as a woman walked up, "This used to be a good neighborhood. But this is what happens when you let pedophiles and sex freaks live wherever they want." She started and then continued before Russet could speak, "I have been searching the sex offender registry. Two of them live close, not that you can tell exactly where form the map on the internet. Are you talking to them?" She asked condescendingly.
"Yes, ma'am we are, and frankly you're being foolish for looking at the registry." Naruto stated before one of the other three could.
"Foolish?! How can you possibly say that?! We have a right to know where threats are!" The woman countered.
"Yes, but you clearly don't know the rules that come with that list. For instance, a pedophile may not live within two miles of a park, playground, school, or any place where children gather, or they can be sent back to prison. So correct me if I'm wrong, but there's parks and such within a couple blocks of here, so clearly those two registers aren't pedophiles or the police would have already locked them back up when they registered where they lived." Naruto stated as the woman stammered to reply, "Second, there's dozens of ways to get on that list. You can get on that list for peeing in public such as an alleyway and someone happens to see you. You can get on that list for soliciting a prostitute. You can get on that list because you get caught having sex outdoors. You can get on there if the judge or cops are being hard asses and someone pantsed you in public or you wear a dress or skirt and the wind blows it up and you couldn't cover up in time. You can get on the list for being a necrophile. Then there's the fun fact that you can get on the list because someone falsely accuses you and you get arrested, tried, and found guilty despite not doing anything wrong. That list has turned from listing real sex offenders to those who have committed crimes somehow connecting to sexual acts in nature only. And it's people like you that shows how dangerous the list is, because you could very well set off a parent or group into becoming vigilantes or a lynch mob when all the guy did was pee in the wrong location at the wrong time. That's why it is heavily stressed that only those in law enforcement access the list because they can actually look up WHY the person is on the list rather than just assuming that they are a horrible person for having their name on a list. Frankly it shows stupidity to assume we and other law enforcement personnel wouldn't think to check the list and then look into anyone that stands out as a viable threat when we know more about the list than you do." Naruto stated as the woman kept trying to stammer a reply while blushing in embarrassment. Hotch, Morgan, and Russet all glanced at each other, a little happy since they couldn't have said all that without possible repercussions and it was getting annoying having people with an internet connection think they knew how to do the job better than they did.
Naruto then turned away from the woman treating her like she was just an imbecile that wasn't worth his time, "Now kids, we need your help. Which one of you is Connie?" Naruto asked a s young blonde girl with two pig tails raised her hand.
"Well hello sweetheart. Ma'am, do you mind if we ask your daughter a couple of questions, you can be present the whole time if it makes you feel better." Morgan asked as the mother nodded her consent. "All right, why don't we step over here and talk while the rest of you can get back to your game?" Morgan stated as they, Connie, and the mother moved to the side.
"Connie, I'm agent Aaron Hotchner, thank you for speaking with us. We heard you may have you talked to a man yesterday at the park that was looking for his dog and he wanted you to help him?" Hotch stated and Connie nodded.
"Yeah, he said her name was Candy and he was hoping someone would help him look for her since she was old. I told him that I couldn't help him 'cause I had to go home and have lunch. And if I'm late, I get grounded." Connie stated sending a small pout at her mother, who smiled in amusement.
"Yeah, moms are like that. They just want to keep you safe as long as they can." Naruto stated with a smile as Morgan and Hotch both glanced at him.
"And then when he came back, I was already late for soccer practice and had to turn him down. I told him he should ask some of the adults, but he didn't really like that idea." Connie stated as Hotch, Morgan, and Naruto all turned their attention back to her.
"He came back? Are you sure?" Morgan asked as Connie nodded.
"Yeah. After lunch. He said his dog was still lost and wanted help." Connie stated as the three of them shared a look.
"Do you think you'd recognize him if you saw him again?" Morgan asked and Connie didn't seem sure.
"Maybe, I don't really know." Connie stated as Naruto smiled.
"It's all right, would you be willing to come to the station and look some pictures? You might recognize him, but if not, there's no harm." Naruto stated before looking to her mother, "Would that be all right?" Naruto asked and the mother nodded and Connie did too, "Okay, thank you." Naruto stated as Russet led them over to the officers.
Once they were gone Naruto turned serious, "Twice in one day, means he's comfortable in the area and thinks he won't stick out enough to warrant suspicion. Like I said before, he either knows how to blend or he's such a common sight in the neighborhood that no one bats an eye at him being around the area and may not even notice him except when forced to." Naruto stated making Hotch and Morgan nod. "However, he won't be so comfortable that he'll be out and about while Billie is still in his possession, which means most aren't likely to have seen him in the past 20 hours." Naruto stated making them nod again, "All right, look, the father should be getting in soon, I'm gonna head over to the house." Naruto stated as they nodded and he went to the officers and asked if they could drop him off and one agreed while his partner would stick around and keep doing some more door-to-doors.
COPELAND RESIDENCE
Naruto arrived and ignored the media circus that was outside and entered the house, "Hey Gideon, Elle, I'm here." Naruto stated before seeing a man there and immediately looked him over and noted the various signs of different things all over his person.
"Naruto, this is William Copeland. Mr. Copeland, this is Naruto Namikaze, an advisor we have on our team." Gideon introduced as Naruto nodded and shook the man's hand taking note of the tremor.
"We were discussing where Mr. Copeland has been for the past day." Elle stated as Naruto nodded.
"A hospital." Naruto stated making them three look at him.
"I'm sorry?" Mr. Copeland asked and Naruto looked him over.
"You're shaky, shallow of breath, pale, you have a tremor, your eyes are slightly clouded, you're absolutely exhausted, and every time you move there's a rattle from your coat pocket indicating a pill bottle. You're sick, and based on what I've learned, you've relapsed again and needed to get a diagnosis and based on the signs that you've been sobbing and the ghostly haunt in your eyes, the assessment isn't good. However, based on the fact you divorced your wife and insisted that your daughter stay here, you've known for months you were sick and only now you're facing your mortality and don't want them to see you waste away from cancer and radiation but want to get as much time with your daughter as you can even if you have to make her and the woman you love more than anything in the world hate you for leaving them. So, what hospital was it?" Naruto stated as Mr. Copeland tried to form some words before he sighed and sat down while Elle and Gideon watched.
"I was at Sloan Kettering Hospital. In New York City. Dr. Baylan Mahal is the head of Oncology there. He'll confirm I was there the entire day yesterday and most of this morning." Mr. Copeland stated as he put his face in his hands.
"Is it a true relapse or did you get something new?" Naruto asked as Mr. Copeland sighed.
"Same one. Only now… it's in my lymph nodes, which as Dr. Mahal explained means that the cells designed to help me fight this damn disease are now infected and are now making the battle even more one sided than it has been every other time. Pretty much means that there's nothing they can do for me anymore besides buy time and try to make me comfortable." Mr. Copeland stated before tears started flowing down his face. "Please, please find my daughter." He sobbed as the gravity of the situation finally slammed into him like a freight train.
"We will, but don't start self-attacking by blaming yourself for not having your phone on. You had no way of knowing and you wanted to try and buy more time with your daughter, it's understandable and normal, you're a better father than I've seen in a lot of other cases. The most important thing though, you need to stay strong, both for Billie and for your wife. Be strong so you won't have to be heartbroken that you gave up on Billie and so you can keep your wife from falling apart." Naruto stated as he sighed.
"She's… my ex-wife." Mr. Copeland stated and Naruto smirked.
"That would imply you stopped loving her or you didn't just divorce her to spare her some pain, even if divorcing her actually caused her a large amount of pain in the process. Plus, you can't call her an ex-wife when you both still wear your wedding rings. Clearly neither of you wants to truly let this go and nor should you for that matter." Naruto stated as he sat on the coffee table in front of Mr. Copeland, who looked to his hand as if just realizing he never removed his wedding ring. "I know facing your own mortality can make you scared of forcing others to have to face it as well, but running away from it, from the things that are motivating you to fight in the first place. That is never a good idea, fighting with a reminder is always better than just fighting alone. Trust me, I know better than almost anyone in the world." Naruto stated as he patted the man on the shoulder, "Hang in there." Naruto stated one last time before he motioned Gideon and Elle to come outside with him.
Walking outside, the three came together with Reid and JJ, "What do we got?" Gideon asked and Naruto sighed as he closed his eyes.
"Perp came to the same area twice in matter of hours, he spoke to more than just Billie about a missing dog to get them alone but only Billie was susceptible to it at the time, we've got a crusader woman spouting off about the sex offender registry, and we've got a multi-group circus across town with the cops and media all over the place handling this." Naruto listed as Gideon nodded.
"Her dog died two weeks ago, wound's still fresh so she'd be an easy target for the story." Gideon stated making Naruto nod.
"Indicates prior knowledge of the victim." Reid stated as Naruto shook his head.
"Indicates he may have seen what happened or heard it in passing, it doesn't mean that Billie, her mother, or her father told the unsub it happened. He's proven he's comfortable in the neighborhood and talking to kids in plain view of others. Means he's been here a long while or maybe has a uniform that lets him look in place while talking to anyone no matter their age or the reason for talking to them. The fact he blends in so well means he's more than likely from this neighborhood or at the very least traffics it enough that he doesn't need to be afraid of being seen because no one notices or really cares that he's here. We're looking for a type of chameleon in a bland environment." Naruto stated as Gideon sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"What do you suggest?" Gideon asked as this was getting bleaker.
"We've been acting offensively for the past few hours, now it's time to go defensive and tricky with our tactics. They've been following the CARP guidelines to the letter, but that's for early response and we're very late in the game now. So we need to change things up, let's pull the cops from the streets and cancel the amber alert. We can then have the parents make an appeal for information on a witness, NOT a suspect, the guy's neighbors will be more likely to call in about telling us about someone who could help rather than someone we should put in a cage and bury in a dark hole." Naruto stated as Gideon nodded.
"Isn't that dangerous? If he's less pressured wouldn't that make him more relaxed to do something to Billie?" JJ stated and Naruto nodded slightly.
"Perhaps, under normal circumstances, but if we keep applying pressure, he'll snap and kill Billie before removing her and then we may never find him. As heartless and cruel as it may sound, better a bit of suffering than her being dead just for this situation to start all over again. However, in this case that's not a problem, this guy's too scared and paranoid to dare risk anything until he's 100% sure he's safe, all we're doing right now is taking him to about 70-85% while leaving just enough pressure on him that he won't try anything. He's too terrified that someone saw something that will get him caught the moment he shows his face, so he's gonna keep hiding until he can confirm that there's no danger to him." Naruto explained making JJ nod.
"Gather all those clowns up, we'll need them, I'll call Hotch and tell him what's going on." Gideon stated as they nodded.
"I'll stay with the family; help ensure some surprises are stopped before it gets things spiraling too far. If you have Garcia look into sexual offenders, have her send me any info just in case that crusader woman shows up here." Naruto stated making Gideon nod as Naruto and Elle went back to the house since the rest of the team could handle giving the profile to the cops.
Entering the house, they saw the Copelands sitting at the dining room table with Mr. Copeland seeing the cops leaving the area. "What's going on?" He asked as Elle took a seat and Naruto leaned against the wall.
"We're changing tactics in an effort to keep Billie's chances up high. The police were following a procedure called CARP, Child Abduction Response Plan, that the FBI drew up for situations like this, but it's only truly effective in cases where we're getting involved early. The police were over 12 hours late getting involved and now we're even later, so we have to adapt and change the plan that we're going by. If we stick to our current course, we may very well push the unsub into killing Billie and we're trying to reduce the chances of that happening. She's in the area still as someone from this neighborhood abducted her, but if we keep pushing and pushing, he may do something drastic." Naruto stated as the parents looked concerned and confused.
"And how does this help Billie's chances?" Mrs. Copeland asked as Naruto rubbed his head a bit.
"Imagine the unsub as a steel bar, if we keep applying pressure, eventually, he's gonna snap. So, we have to lessen the pressure and apply a new technique to keep getting him to bend how we want. To do this, we make him feel safer, and calmer while still making sure there's some kind of presence to not let him get so comfortable that he may do to Billie what he intended to do in the first place. Removing the heavy police presence is the start of that because he'll think we're pressing onto a different area and relax or he may think it's a trap but will calm slightly because it gives him time to think and possibly find a way out of the situation that he's now found himself in. Once things settle, we'll need you two to help us next." Naruto informed as they looked at each other before looking at him.
"What exactly are we supposed to do?" Mr. Copeland asked but before Naruto could answer, his phone went off along with the doorbell.
"I'll get it, if it's a reporter you two don't need to deal with that, Elle will explain some things to both of you while I do." Naruto stated before either of the Copelands could stand before going to the front door and saw the crusader woman there. "What do you want?" Naruto asked in annoyance as he checked his phone seeing a list of the sex offenders in the area and what they did.
"I brought flyers showing the various sexual offenders in the area, I thought Mr. Copeland should know about them." The woman stated while frowning at him.
Naruto looked at the list before snorting, "Yes, three men who solicited prostitutes, two that urinated in public, and one that exposed himself due to his belt snapping. Yes, these are such hardened criminals that everyone should be scared of." Naruto stated with a roll of his eyes before he grabbed her flyers and tore them up before tossing them to the ground, "Stop trying to stir up trouble or I'll inform the police they need to arrest you for disturbing the peace and inciting a riot. I see you here again, there will be trouble." Naruto stated as the woman sputtered at him before he closed the door and walked back towards the others.
"Everything okay?" Elle asked and Naruto nodded.
"Just that stupid woman again, now she's handing out flyers with the names and addresses of the local sex offenders despite me already explaining there's more than rapists and pedophiles on that list." Naruto stated with a shake of his head.
"Wait what?" Mr. Copeland asked and Naruto held up his hand.
"All the local guys that aren't being monitored by the police have done is solicit prostitutes or had some bad luck where they were exposed in public. There are lots of ways to get on that list, but when people hear sex offender they immediately jump to rapist or pedophile and that's not true since sex crimes covers a large variety of things, the list should really be refined so people don't have that stigma undeservingly on them but that's a lot of political bullshit that I don't want a part of." Naruto stated as he leaned against the wall again. "Now, did Elle tell you what we want you to do?" Naruto asked as Elle shook her head.
"I was going to, but uh… Mrs. Copeland kind of saw him taking his meds so…" Elle started before leaving off for Naruto to fill in the blanks and Naruto nodded.
"Can you explain to me what we're doing and why please?" Mrs. Copeland and Naruto nodded.
"We're going to have you do a press conference where you're going to ask for help regarding a witness driving a Green SUV, disavowing that he's a suspect and hope that someone can point him out because he may not even know what he saw was important." Naruto started before Mr. Copeland spoke.
"Wait, isn't he the suspect?" He asked incredulously and Naruto nodded.
"Yes, but when people hear suspect, they can't imagine the guy next door is a monster or creep, so they immediately go into denial thinking it has to be someone else with a Green SUV and don't call it in. However, if they're told to look for a witness then they'll call immediately because both they and their neighbor could be a hero that saves a young girl's life." Elle stated as Naruto nodded at her.
"But what if he thinks it's a trick?" Mrs. Copeland asked and Naruto shook his head.
"It doesn't matter if he doesn't call, we're counting on his neighbors calling in." Naruto stated before he paused a moment, "Hang on a sec." Naruto stated as he got his phone out and called Gideon.
"What is it Naruto?" Gideon asked over the phone.
"Gideon, when we do the press conference, have the tip line set up so we check incoming tips against people who DIDN'T answer the door during the initial canvas. What I said on the plane was right, the guy would have been too scared and paranoid to let cops into his house for questioning even if he has Billie gagged and tied up somewhere. He would have made it seem like no one was home and not answered the door. He couldn't risk it, no matter how long he got away with it." Naruto stated since they could save time on calls and searching if they narrowed things to that.
"Right, the paranoia and terror would have been so great he'd never be able to consider doing that." Gideon stated as Naruto nodded, even if Gideon couldn't see it.
"Yes, it's also why we can know he wouldn't have moved Billie after the initial time, so she'll definitely be in his house." Naruto added knowing the guy couldn't answer the door, so he definitely wouldn't have been brave enough to try and move Billie.
"Good work, we'll see you soon." Gideon stated before Naruto hung up.
"Okay, that's handled, and we can focus on guiding you through what to say." Naruto stated as he came back over to them.
"What exactly can we expect?" Mr. Copeland asked as he held his wife's hand.
"You two will be up on the stand with a local priest or minister, whichever you'd prefer, and it's important you humanize Billie quite a bit as it makes it harder for the unsub to try anything and then to stress the need for help in finding the witness with the Green SUV. However, be prepared for the press since there are some that won't be compassionate and will just want their story or a reaction out of you. As painful and hard as it may be, you have to keep as neutral as possible and not lash out. While it's not likely, the unsub could get off on seeing you suffering and lashing out, and we don't want that happening at all if possible." Naruto instructed making them both nod.
"And you're sure that this is the best way to handle this?" Mr. Copeland asked and Naruto sighed as he took a seat.
"Do you know what program did the most harm to this country, in terms of crimes like this? Child abductions?" Naruto asked and they shook their heads, "Stranger Danger." Naruto answered as Elle nodded.
"I remember them coming to my classroom when I was in Jr. High. Officer Friendly with the warnings and handing out pamphlets and showing us basic defense movements." Elle stated as she shook her head.
"Taught a whole generation about a scary man in a trench coat, hiding behind a tree. Then we learned that strangers are only a... fraction of the offenders out there. Most are people you see every day: your family, your neighbors, schoolteachers. You know the rest of them. Prepared our children for 1% of the danger but in doing so made them more vulnerable to the other 99%. So, we've been wrong before. All we can do is learn from it, and hopefully be better next time. Going by previous cases that are like this and other problems that have arisen in the past, we are doing what we've found is the best plan to keep Billie alive and find her." Naruto stated as he rubbed his head, "It's not an exact science, if it was, we'd be catching these guys within an hour of searching for them. We learn, we adapt, we try our best to make a difference and ensure no other children go through this kind of thing." Naruto stated honestly making them nod as they gripped each other's hands.
"Thank you, for your honesty." Mrs. Copeland stated as Naruto nodded.
"Do either of you want to change or shower before we have the press conference? It will take some time to get it set up and everything." Naruto asked and both shook their heads. "Then maybe try to get a bit of sleep or relax as best you can, we'll find her, alive." Naruto stated and the confidence in his voice made Elle look at him for a moment.
"Can you promise us that?" Mr. Copeland asked and Naruto smiled.
"The people I work with are some of the best in the world, we won't rest until we find her, and I can promise you, we will find her alive." Naruto stated as he patted their hands before his phone chimed again and he looked at a message from Gideon.
"A body was found; initial description matches Billie." It read and Naruto kept his face rather blank.
"Excuse me a moment, I need to check in with home." Naruto stated as the two parents nodded and Naruto stepped outside.
Dialing, Naruto called Gideon, "Have dispatch patch me through to the onsite officers." Naruto stated since he needed to verify things since the body being Billie meant there was something VERY wrong going on.
"Hang on." Gideon stated as Naruto heard some things being moved in the background while Russet was talking indistinctly.
"This is officer Burns." A male voice came over the line.
"Officer, this is Naruto Namikaze, I'm with the FBI. I need you describe the body as much as you can." Naruto stated as the officer cleared his throat, most likely a little flustered talking to someone from the FBI and the fact he had to get a better look at the body.
"Um, short brown hair, around 4'10" or 5'1". A pale colored tank top and panties. The skin is pale and slightly shriveled, nails on the left hand are painted pink and blue, and it doesn't look like animals or insects have started feeding on it yet." Burns listed as Naruto closed his eyes.
"Any distinguishing marks or anything at all that could be used as an identifier?" Naruto asked as Burns hummed as he tried to look.
"Uh, I'm looking, it's hard since she's in the middle of the water sir." Burns replied as Naruto nodded.
"I know, officer, just do the best you can, please." Naruto stated as he waited a bit before Burns spoke up again.
"Uh, it looks like she's got track marks on the left arm, one looks fresh, but the rest are scarred over. It also looks like there's a large scar on the back of her left calf." He stated and Naruto breathed out.
"Thank you, officer, that is definitely NOT Billie Copeland." Naruto stated before he hung up and entered the house while making it look like he was checking his phone again.
"Everything all right?" Elle asked and Naruto nodded before sitting in front of the parents.
"I need you both to pay attention." Naruto stated seriously as they looked at him. "I am going to tell you something and I want you to listen to me entirely all right?" Naruto stated as they both gained a fearful look in their eyes, "Billie is still alive, but a body was discovered, and we've confirmed it's not Billie. It had track marks and a large scar on her left calf." Naruto stated as Mrs. Copeland sobbed slightly and clutched onto Mr. Copeland. "I'm telling you this because someone will likely bring it up at the Press Conference and I want you to be prepared and not blindsided by it. We still have no evidence to suggest that Billie is anything but alive, so hold on to that." Naruto stated as they nodded with him getting up to get them both some water.
Elle followed him into the kitchen and leaned next to him as he filled the cups. "You can promise them that we can get their daughter back alive?" Elle asked and Naruto nodded, "You should be careful when making promises like that." She added as Naruto nodded again.
"Yup, but I always keep my promises. And I can promise you that she's alive and we'll find her that way and she will get back to both of her parents." Naruto stated in full seriousness and the look in his eye made Elle feel like taking a reflexive step back, but she held her ground.
"I hope you're right." Elle stated as Naruto finished with the glasses.
"I don't need to hope, I know I'm right." Naruto stated as he walked back to the parents with Elle slowly following him.
STREET NEAR THE HOME OF DONALD CURTIS
"Third house down on the right. Name is Donald Curtis, we knocked on the door and got no answer. Neighbor says he's been home all day, he recently lost a dog named Candy, he goes to the park every day, and he's got a Green Ford Explorer in the garage." Morgan listed as they all gathered there with Elle staying with the parents to keep them centered.
The press conference and tip line had paid off as one Kirk Lomax had pointed out his neighbor as the "witness" and here they were. Of course, there was one asshole reporter that brought up the dead body, but thanks to enough coaching, neither of the Copelands reacted to it though Naruto wanted to punch the guy out and it was obvious JJ was a hair's breadth away from slapping the guy.
Regardless, things seemed to be working out as they now had a viable suspect.
"Break down the door." Gideon stated but Russet shook her head.
"No, we don't have probably cause." Russet stated and Naruto shook his head.
"We have exigent circumstances given the fact that he has her in the house, he wouldn't have tried to drive away with her after your officers showed up as they were checking every vehicle coming and going and he's too much of a coward to dare to try and drive around with her more than necessary. The longer we wait the longer he has to grow a set of balls and decide Billie is expendable. And you want to wait because of a microscopic chance that he did somehow move her someplace else? Fuck that!" Naruto stated before he took off for the house with Gideon moving right beside him.
Naruto got to the porch and immediately smashed a window with a large pot and entered with Gideon following as Morgan kicked the door down. "Federal Agents! FBI!" Morgan shouted as they entered with their guns drawn moving through the house.
Naruto and Gideon were moving down a hallway checking rooms as they passed before finding him near the end, "FBI! Hands up!" Naruto stated as he put his gun in Curtis' face as he whimpered.
"I didn't do anything, please don't shoot." He whimpered out as Naruto glared.
"Where's Billie Copeland?" Naruto demanded and saw Curtis's face twitch as he suppressed a pleased smile.
"Who?" Curtis asked and Naruto cocked his gun as he held it to his head.
"Naruto." Morgan stated and Naruto snarled a bit before grabbing Curtis and throwing him to Morgan.
"Get him out of here. Start tearing the place apart!" Gideon stated as he went to one room.
Naruto however, paused and looked at his hand seeing some white fuzz on it, clinging to him. Shaking it away, he went to help start looking.
Hours later had the cops swarming the house with techs going over everything and anything while Naruto was outside getting some air.
Hotch came up to him while looking at Curtis, "He say anything?" Hotch asked and Naruto shook his head.
"Don't expect him to, I told you he's selfish and won't give up anything until there's no point for him to give anything up. He's got no empathy or sympathy for anyone but himself." Naruto stated making Hotch nod before a tech came up.
"We've searched the entire house, girl's not here." The tech stated making them frown.
"What?" Hotch asked incredulously as Naruto narrowed his eyes at Curtis.
"We're missing something and it's obvious, but I'm not getting it yet." Naruto stated as they reentered the house to Morgan and Reid giving Gideon some news while techs and cops talked before Russet came over to Hotch and it showed she wasn't happy.
"I told you we should have waited." Russet stated knowing that all the child porn and other evidence was useless without Billie being in the house.
Naruto merely stood there with his eyes closed and pinched the bridge of his nose as his mind kept going.
"I've given Garcia access to his computer so she can track and shut down any sites." Reid stated as he stood with Gideon and Morgan.
"Make sure to bag and tag everything just in case we can take the evidence." A tech stated to another.
"Quiet." Naruto stated as he kept rubbing his eyes while his mind worked.
"I know and I'm sorry, we had to act." Hotch stated to Russet.
"Where are we on cataloging everything?" An officer asked a tech.
"Quiet." Naruto stated a little louder.
"And if we had waited, we could have gotten a warrant." Russet stated back to Hotch.
"Some of these videos are damning, but if he moved Billie then we can't use any of it." Morgan replied as more and more people kept talking.
"EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP FOR A MINUTE!" Naruto finally yelled making everyone turn to him in shock as he was rubbing his temples and breathing deeply. "Just be quiet for a minute so I can think and figure out what we've obviously overlooked." Naruto stated as he breathed deeply and fully immersed his mind to Curtis' point of view. He enjoyed the silence as he played through everything exactly how Curtis would do it with his right hand making a few motions as he visualized everything.
He kept going over it and over repeatedly before his mind settled on the white fuzz that was on his hand and thus had to be on Curtis' coat. Snapping his eyes open he looked to the stairs and hallway playing out where he could hide Billie and make sure it wasn't possible to find her while still getting the fuzz and what the fuzz could be.
The only thing that came to mind was spiderwebs, cobwebs, and insulation.
Looking around he saw an officer that had gone into the attic. Stepping in front of him, Naruto stopped him and began examining his clothes. "What's he doing?" Russet asked and Hotch held his hand up.
"Just give him a second." Hotch stated as Gideon stepped up to him both knowing when Naruto was working through something important.
Naruto kept examining the officer before finding no insulation on him at all. Stepping back, his mind went over everything he could tell about the house. "This is a 20's house, right?" Naruto asked as his mind kept working.
"Uh, yes mid 20's." Russet answered at Hotch's prompting.
"Mid 20's. Attic, no basement, upstairs area, built in prohibition era." Naruto stated before turning his attention to the stairs before closing his eyes, "32 stairs to go up 15 feet, each stair 1-foot tall, straight flight up, no turning or shallow steps, each step clearly reinforced as there's hardly any hollow sound of footsteps hitting each stair, a base layer of support is generally 4-6 feet thick to allow distributed weight, it's not a retro style house, no extensive remodeling, house is colder than should be upon entry, colder still even with door open, so heat is leaving somehow and cold is coming in, no signs of the attic on any clothes, which leaves… Hiding place for alcohol smugglers." Naruto stated as he snapped his eyes open and moved down the hallway looking along the ceiling before seeing a vent panel, "Gideon!" Naruto called as he grabbed a chair from a nearby room as Gideon came rushing to him, "Up there. Crawl space." Naruto stated as he planted the chair and helped Gideon up as he yanked the vent down.
"Up." He stated and Naruto gladly gave him a foothold and pushed him upwards letting Gideon enter the crawl space. "She's here!" He called as Naruto pushed him into the crawl space fully and could hear Gideon talking to Billie. "Naruto, here she comes." He called as Billie was lowered to him and Billie got ahold of her, noting the stuffed animal Gideon had on him was now in Billie's arms.
"Hi Billie, we're gonna take you home, okay?" Naruto asked and Billie nodded and clung to him. Naruto then leaned into Hotch, "Walk with me and block her view of Curtis, she doesn't need to see him." Naruto whispered and Hotch nodded as Morgan came over to help Gideon down as Naruto carried Billie out to an officer's car and placed her in the backseat, "This nice officer and his partner are going to take you to where your parents are, okay?" Naruto asked and Billie nodded as Naruto buckled her up, "Don't worry, you're safe now, and he's never gonna be able to hurt you again." Naruto stated as he gave her a smile and she nodded before Naruto closed the door and watched the car drive off for the station.
Naruto then turned to Curtis, who was now severely pale, and it wasn't due to the cold. Naruto sent a smirk at him before doing a neck slicing motion at him before he and Hotch went back to the house to coordinate the seizing of the evidence from the house.
ON THE JET
Naruto sat back relaxing as Morgan, JJ, Hotch, and Reid were playing cards while Gideon was in his own thoughts and Elle was making coffee.
"How come you always win huh?" Morgan asked as Reid began listing the scientific reasons before Hotch cut in.
"He's from Vegas, that's why." Hotch stated with some amusement clear in his voice while Naruto snorted and sat back.
"Hotch." Gideon stated making said man turn and look at him, "For the record I sent the tech girl a gift already, an MP3 player." Gideon stated as Hotch looked a bit surprised.
"Then she got two gifts." Hotch stated as Gideon looked at him.
"What if she thinks I'm sweet on her?" Gideon asked everyone just looked at him a moment before some chuckles rang out. "Yeah, I guess not." Gideon relented as he leaned back.
Elle came up and sat with Naruto, "I think the Copelands are going to stay together." Elle stated and Naruto nodded.
"I know, it's good for all three of them." Naruto stated as he leaned back.
"He's dying, both Billie and his wife are used to him not being around that much, maybe it would be better if he stayed away." Elle stated and Naruto shook his head and turned to look at her.
"No, it wouldn't. Every day both Mr. and Mrs. Copeland will question how much more time they would have gotten together and with Billie if he hadn't left the first time. How much heartache would they both have been spared if they had decided to stick it out and fight the cancer together. If they separate again, while he's sick, and possibly fatal this time, it will just tear them up even worse than before. Besides, they love each other, they never stopped, and Billie wants her family whole again. What more reason is there to make it work no matter how hard it is?" Naruto asked and Elle smiled and nodded before Naruto smirked, "Besides, I wouldn't write Mr. Copeland off just yet." Naruto stated as he leaned back again.
Elle frowned and looked at him, "What did you do?" Elle asked and Naruto merely smiled.
"Gave him the tools to fight, now it's all up to him how long he wants to fight for." Naruto stated cryptically as he got comfortable as Elle merely looked at him then at Gideon, who shrugged and leaned back.
Shaking her head with a smile, Elle leaned back and began sipping her coffee wondering what surprises Naruto was going to have for them next.
COPELAND RESIDENCE
Mr. Copeland sat in one of the chairs as Billie and his wife were upstairs since Billie wanted to shower and clean up before they had dinner. However, as he sat there, he saw a card on the table addressed to him.
Frowning, he leaned forward and opened it to find a letter. "Mr. Copeland. I'm sorry I didn't get to speak to you fully before we left. I didn't want to impose on your time reunited with Billie as well as the talk with her and your wife that no doubt was going to follow. Anyway, this letter is to wish you luck in the future as well as to give you an option for reinforcements in your new war with the enemy. At the bottom of this letter, you'll find contact information for a few dear friends of mine, they're experts in the fields of medicine and science and can no doubt provide you with options that most doctors wouldn't for one reason or another. Unless they say there's no options, then you have a better fighting chance then you think you do. Even if they say there's nothing that can be done, you still can fight and your will to fight and your will to spend more time with your daughter and wife can be the edge you need to break the cancer that's trying to kill you. Never give up the fight, Mr. Copeland, as that's when you've truly lost and that is when Billie and your wife will truly lose you.
Best regards, Naruto Namikaze.
P.S. Expect a new friend for Billie soon, I hope she gets plenty of time with it too."
It read and Mr. Copeland tightened his hand into a fist as he looked at the contact information, resolve hardening beyond iron and going towards diamond level strength. If there was even a chance at surviving longer or even beating this damn disease then he was going to take it, he would fight and he would fight to win.
"Daddy?" He heard and saw Billie dressed and ready to go with his wife right behind her, "Everything okay?" She asked in concern, and he smiled a large warm smile at her.
"Everything's fine, princess, everything's fine." He stated as he set the card down and scooped her up in a hug. "Now, where should we eat?" He asked as he took his wife's hand and kissed the back of it before walking out of the house with his family, fully intending to fight this disease every step of the way.
His family deserved that, and so did he.
ELSEWHERE
Asuma scowled as he downed another shot at a bar he enjoyed. He was still pissed over that bitch Kurenai laughing at him like that and it only made worse by her insinuation that he was less of a man than that convict. What he wouldn't give to make that bitch get what was coming to her.
He broke from his thoughts as someone sat next to him, "Bartender, a bottle of your best whiskey and anything my friend here wants as well." A man's voice stated as he patted Asuma on the back causing Asuma to look at the man and frown.
"Do I know you?" Asuma asked with narrowed eyes seeing the man had red hair and teal eyes and a decent build.
"Not yet, but I hope to change that with a job you'll find interesting. Especially since we have something in common." The man stated as he took a shot himself.
"And what's that?" Asuma asked he took a shot.
"Wanting to see Naruto Namikaze and those close to him put in their place." The man stated making Asuma pause.
He turned to the man with a blank face before a smirk came to it, "I think we'll be friends in no time." Asuma stated as he raised his glass to the man, who smirked and clinked his glass before they downed the shots.
"Come, let's talk somewhere more private, wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea and try to get in our way." The man stated as Asuma nodded and followed him to a VIP type area in the bar.
The man merely smirked, a new pawn to help in his game against Namikaze. One that was disposable and no way to tie back to him should the fool screw up or not take the job seriously.
A few more pieces acquired, some proper set up, and their plan for Namikaze would be ready.
Done!
Hope you all enjoyed it, next time the team hunts a poisoner and hopes to catch them before they unleash their toxin on the masses and before they can take their own life as well.
Also, before anyone says things are progressing rather quickly, keep in mind that this is episode 12 out of 22 of season 1. In other words, we're halfway through season 1 already and both the Fisher King and two of Naruto's enemies are gearing up to take a shot at him.
Special thanks to my supporters on… another site: Tom Khoury, Marley Corcoran, Alex Bauer, William Skondras, Dylan Page, Smilix, Kieron Archarya, Patrick Ferro, Zenkichi, Janus Christoffer Sønderskov, Josh Robbins, Retro Netloc, Shadow9Fox, KidChaos, Andrew Stephens, Terminator1738, and Jeff Broderick. Thank you for your support and input on some polls I've hosted.
See you all next time!