Hey guys and welcome back to Serial Killer of the FBI. Shit and life happened, and now we're here, so let's move on.

I don't believe there's anything to go over, so let's get this show on the road.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Criminal minds 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 10: Poisonous Intentions

Season 1, Episode 13: Poison

Episode Quotes: "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves." -Confucius.

"What is food to one is to others bitter poison." - Roman Philosopher Lucretius.

BAU

The team was sitting around the meeting table watching an interview recording of a man accused of beating his son to near death with a tire iron while under the influence of a drug. "State trooper took this photo before the ambulance arrived. He's unconscious, has 4 broken bones, and is going to be in the hospital for a month." The interviewer stated before the father slammed his hands on the table.

"I didn't hurt my son." He growled through gritted teeth as he was clenching his hands together tight enough to nearly draw blood.

"Do you remember removing the tire iron from the trunk?" The interviewer asked as he waved an orderly off since the guy was on a psych ward after his drug induced haze.

"No, NO!" The father stated shaking his head as he was distraught and trying to remember and understand what happened.

"What's the last thing you do remember?" The interviewer asked as the father put his face into his hands.

"I picked Eric up from school, Friday for the weekend… what day is this?" He asked sounding horrified and afraid of the answer.

"This happened two days ago in Beachwood, New Jersey. Mr. Fisher had ingested LSD one afternoon and didn't come down until 18 hours later." Hotch stated as they flipped through the files.

"Local hospital reported six other patients who had ingested LSD in the last 24 hours. The hospital called the CDC and the CDC called us." JJ stated as Naruto looked at the reports.

"So a bunch of people were spiked, what makes it a BAU case?" Morgan asked wondering what was so special or abnormal about this case.

"They each received a range of 10 to 20 times the normal dose, enough to kill a small child or send a father into a spiral that he tries to kill his child." Naruto stated seeing the report.

"Of the seven victims, there was one death and one coma. This is footage of the hospital the night Fisher snapped." JJ stated as she clicked the tv and it showed multiple people spasming and freaking out from the effects of the hallucinations.

"These people weren't spiked, they were poisoned." Gideon stated and Naruto sighed.

"Which means there's a high probability of a second action and it could be even bigger and deadlier. This was the testing phase, who knows what the actual hit could become." Naruto stated knowing that this type of thing didn't just stop at once, especially if this was some kind of message.

"Unless this was some stupid prank gone wrong." Morgan stated and Naruto shook his head.

"All the victims state they can't remember anything from the day in question, LSD doesn't do that, means that the unsub dosed them with something to hit their memory in addition to the LSD. Most likely candidate is Flunitrazepam aka Rohypnol, a central nervous system depressant similar to Valium, only it's 10 times more potent and is commonly known as the roofie or date-rape drug as 9 out of 10 times it causes amnesia for the victim. If it's a prank, you usually don't care if someone remembers how they got dosed and the sophistication to do this is beyond the amateur hour of the prank, even if it has a low grade possibility due to Fisher being a teacher and some student could just be pissed off and it's not getting uncommon for teens to have those types of drugs." Naruto stated as he rubbed his forehead making the others have to nod in agreement. "There's also the fact that Fisher was dosed but his son wasn't, so was he targeted in some way, did he do something that his son didn't, or was it truly just Russian Roulette, he got the bullet and the kid didn't only to suffer it later on anyway." Naruto added making them all frown knowing that was all possible scenarios too.

"Wheels up in 20." Hotch stated as he got up along with the others.

Naruto moved to where his go bag was when his phone chimed, "Two minors acquired, conversation is slow but progressing, hoping to get information soon. F.U. has dropped off the radar along with R.S. We think they may have contacted each other, but to what end, besides you anyway, we don't know, we also have no knowledge if any alliance they have is temporary or permanent. Keep an eye out, we'll deliver any hard evidence to Kurenai and contact you with any other information acquired. -P" It read and he frowned before deleting the message and pocketing his phone.

He trusted the team, he did, but they weren't ready to step into his world fully, they'd barely dipped a toe into it and were struggling at times to comprehend things.

No. Better to hold them back for now and watch if they were truly capable of taking on the world that was out there, even if the means may not be what they want at times.

Once Naruto opened their eyes a bit more, then he could consider the subject of awakening them to the world that existed behind the veil, until then, they'd have to remain ignorant sheep as it was both safer for them, himself, and his friends and loved ones.

He just hoped they were prepared for it when it came time.

LATER: ON THE JET

"Let's start with what we got and then see what Naruto's encountered. We know there are four types of poisoners who target multiple victims." Gideon stated as the team nodded.

"There's the true believer, the political terrorist/religious cult." Hotch started off as it wasn't an uncommon one.

"There's the extortionist, product tamperer who holds a business hostage in exchange for money." Morgan offered knowing it was possible that they ingested something that was branded or unique to a company and now the company was being extorted.

"The prankster, usually a younger offender who doesn't mean any harm and it's basically just a big practical joke to make people do something humiliating or get payback for a joke." Elle stated, as it was the most common one.

"And finally, the avenger. Someone with a personal vendetta who chooses poison as their weapon and targets people for a specific reason." Hotch stated knowing that it was one of the most dangerous ones, mostly because some were angry at everyone and tried to attack a town or city as a whole turning it into a terrorist act.

"So, we need to find out as quickly as possible which type he is, 'cause with the exception of the prankster, all these types commonly test their poison on a small scale before carrying out a larger attack." Gideon stated, making the team nod knowing they were on a time crunch.

"Well, let's hope this was just a prank." Morgan stated and Naruto shook his head.

"Like I said, it's too sophisticated for a prank based on the unsub making sure the victims wouldn't remember anything about the day in question, so no way of narrowing down how they got dosed unless we do a lot of foot work. Of course, by the time we do that, they can attack their next target making all that work near useless unless we get lucky." Naruto stated making them frown since that was true.

"Naruto, what have you seen of cases like this?" Gideon stated wanting Naruto's case knowledge to be added to their own.

"It varies, naturally, depending on what second type of unsub the target is." Naruto stated making them look at him.

"Second type?" Elle asked and Naruto nodded.

"Yes, all but two of the poisoners I've encountered fell into a second category of unsub. A few were rapists, they'd poison and then hold the antidote or cure over the victims or their family's heads and then get sex out of the deal. Another was to make a point about how vulnerable we were and was trying to draw awareness at how easy it would be to poison or unleash a biological attack. Another was a workplace mass killer; he was pushed too hard and snapped and decided to wipe out the company that was responsible for his life falling apart. Yet another was a form of Darwinism, they biologically engineered their poison to be truly lethal in hopes that it would thin the population to only those with a strong constitution or a natural immunity to the poison. Still another was scientific research, they made a poison and wanted to see it in action and study the results and find ways to alter it to make it stronger. A similar one was that they made a truly deadly poison or toxin and they wanted to see it in action, so they planned to unleash it and see the chaos that came. Another was an excitation killer, he got off watching people suffer and die through the poison and toxin. Another few were hitmen; they were tasked with making it look natural or it being obvious so they could send a message to others. Each of them had a subcategory that they could fit into giving me a better chance of hunting and finding them." Naruto explained making them nod in understanding.

"So break the unsub down into what parts make him whole and use the analysis of those parts to find him." Reid stated and Naruto nodded.

"Yes. It's similar with arsonists: Do they get off on the fire itself? Do they just take sadistic or sexual pleasure from people burning? Do they do this to kill and the fire is just a weapon? Are they doing this to get the land cheaper or force out those that won't sell? Are they using it through religious means of punishment or pain? Are they using fire to cleanse what they consider to be filth? Are they a Hitman and fire is their weapon? Are they doing this as a form of terrorizing and they don't care if someone is killed or not? Are they trying to stop people from using the location for some reason? Are they trying to erase evidence? And there's even more from there." Naruto explained making the team see his point that while a primary form for the unsub to be classified as a poisoner, they could be something else as well.

"We're going to need more information. Reid, you, Hotch, and Elle talk to the doctors and victims and see what you can get. Morgan, you do a deep dive on financials with Garcia and see if you can find a common link. Naruto, you and I will talk to Fisher, I want to see if the drugs made the rage or just tapped into it." Gideon instructed, making them nod.

"I sincerely hope I'm wrong and this is just a screwed up prank." Naruto stated looking at the picture of Eric Fisher in the hospital.

"We all do, Naruto, we all do." Morgan stated knowing that it would be much better if it was a prank, but they knew that their luck wasn't leaning towards it being a prank, hence why they were taking this very seriously.

Lives were at stake and they couldn't afford to not take it seriously.

HOSPITAL

Naruto and Gideon stopped by the room with Eric Fisher and saw his mother there before a man walked up to them, "Detective Hanover, Beachwood PD." He stated shaking their hands.

"Agent Gideon, and this Naruto Namikaze, a consultant that works with us a lot." Gideon stated making Hanover nod to him.

"Thanks for coming down on such short notice. Doctors say he may have permanent brain damage. I've never seen anything like this." Hanover stated looking at Eric Fisher.

"We can't do anything for him, our focus needs to be on catching the one who caused all of this. I'd like to start by talking to the father since he seems to be one who got the most violent out of all the victims. The lab can handle the drug angle, we're more interested in the behavior as to whether the drugs caused him to attack the boy or if they just triggered something instead. If we can determine that, we may get a better idea of what kind of offender we're dealing with." Gideon stated as Hanover nodded.

"He's in the psych ward under observation, so you may need to keep it short. Follow me." Hanover stated as he led them through the hospital.

Arriving in an observation/visiting room, which Naruto thought looked like a cramped and creepy version of a cafeteria, they saw Fisher sitting with his back to the wall. "Mr. Fisher." Gideon stated as the man sighed.

"Shrink or cop?" Fisher asked and Gideon smirked a bit.

"I'm a profiler with the FBI, so a bit of both, I guess. My name is Jason Gideon and this is my colleague Naruto Namikaze. We'd like to ask you a few questions." Gideon stated as he sat down across from Fisher. "I can't imagine what you're going through, what you must be feeling, or what you must be putting yourself through trying to make sense of everything, but this is sadly necessary." Gideon stated as Fisher merely nodded.

"You're recently divorced right? Care to tell us what caused it." Naruto asked and Fisher looked at him before looking at Gideon.

"Let me guess, you want to know if I was angry about the divorce? Was I… was I so angry at my wife that I decided to hurt my son to get back at her? Is that what you want to know?" Fisher asked and Naruto looked at him.

"Were you?" Gideon asked as Fisher released a shuddering breath.

"Let me tell you something about my wife, about the things she did, in our house, in our bed, with my best friend next door, but my son is angry with me. She's the cheater and he's angry with me." Fisher stated as tears formed in his eyes and his voice cracked.

"Well, he's her kid, of course he takes her side, makes you look like a fool." Gideon stated and Fisher shook his head.

"No! Eric just doesn't understand, he's a kid." Fisher stated and Gideon shrugged.

"I mean he doesn't respect you, he acts up, makes you want to slap him in that arrogant stupid mouth of his." Gideon stated as Fisher shook his head more and more.

"No, no, no. I wouldn't hurt my son. Oh Eric, why did this happen to you?" He asked before thumping his head against the wall, "Why did this happen to you? Why? Why? Why?" He kept repeating while slamming his head against the wall harder and harder before Gideon and Naruto had to hold him as an orderly came over and helped.

Gideon and Naruto exited the area a minute later, "He's raw, broken, pissed off, enraged, heartbroken, mentally torn apart, and emotionally a wreck." Naruto stated as they walked to the others.

"But he didn't intend to hurt the boy." Hotch stated and Naruto shook his head.

"Not consciously or knowingly anyway. He was clearly distressed and upset over the fact the kid was hurt and was offended at the idea that he would hurt him to get back at the wife. The rage and turmoil was there, but the drugs didn't cause it, just pulled it to the surface. He didn't even apologize when he snapped, he just kept asking why this happened to the kid, never even admitted to a desire or intention to hurt the kid. No, my guess is he was angry at how his son acted, but was never going to act or even show that anger since he was just a kid and didn't understand all that was going on, plus he could easily believe and assume that it was the typical bit of one parent turning the kid against the other with the wife doing that. The LSD brought the anger up, but it's entirely possible that whatever he was hitting with that tire iron didn't look anything like his son depending on the hallucinations, if the kid hadn't had been right there with him it's extremely likely that Fisher never would have harmed him or even given any thought to the idea of harming him." Naruto explained making them nod as they kept walking.

"So the drugs tapped into the rage, but weren't the source." Hotch stated as Naruto nodded alongside Gideon.

"We got the lab results back, you were right, all the victims were spiked with both LSD and Rohypnol and there is absolutely no trace of any drug like PCP or anything that causes violence or explosive rage." Reid stated as Naruto nodded.

"So one to bend and twist their minds to the point they could snap while altering their perception of reality and one to make them easy prey to threats and make it unlikely they'd be able to remember how they got dosed. Could mean that they saw the unsub face to face and got directly dosed and the unsub wants to remain anonymous for a while longer, which could easily lead to be him prepping for the second attack and it shows far too much sophistication for a prank." Naruto stated making them nod.

"Still hopeful on that prank though, Fisher was a teacher and from what some of the friends and family say, he could be a bit harsh and strict." Morgan stated as Naruto nodded.

"Likely only more so after the divorce and the lingering anger and resentment from her cheating, the divorce, and his son blaming him making him even stricter and harsher on his students. Still, if you wanted payback on your teacher why not just find a way to dose him at school where he can humiliate himself in front of everyone and possibly get fired rather than dose him at a random location and then dose several others as well?" Naruto reasoned and Morgan sighed and nodded seeing the point.

"Right now, we're not sitting well on a pattern after comparing what we know for each victim's day and routine. The drugs themselves could point to something but it's not like those are hard to come by anymore." Morgan stated making Naruto nod seeing that they were nearly at a dead end.

Hotch was about to say something when his phone rang, "Hotchner." Hotch answered and Naruto could just make out Hanover's voice on the other end. "We'll be right there." Hotch stated hanging up, "Cops may have found where the victims were dosed." Hotch stated leading them off with Naruto making a quick stop at a nurse's station.

"Excuse me, could you please give this card to the mother of Eric Fisher, he's a patient in the ICU." Naruto stated making the nurse nod her head as Naruto thanked her and walked off.

"What was that about?" Elle asked as she waited for him.

"I've made a few contacts in my time hunting; I was giving the mother a contact info card for a friend of mine that's a very skilled doctor and surgeon. She does a lot of pro bono work so I figured having her take a look at the Fisher kid couldn't hurt and may improve his chances." Naruto stated as Elle smiled a bit and kept walking.

"Softy." Elle stated and Naruto smirked before leaning towards her ear.

"Not where it counts." He stated making Elle freeze with a slight blush as Naruto grinned at her and kept walking with Elle quickly catching up and giving him a half-heated glare for that.

CAFÉ

"Canvas turned up this place. Staff here remembers that four of the seven victims came here Saturday, that's the most we've been able to find so far and we're still cross checking to see if any of the others were here." Hanover stated as they entered.

"Did you tell anyone why we were looking into this?" Naruto asked and Hanover looked at him.

"Well, I didn't tell the staff about why, but I had to tell the owner in order to start testing and checking everything." He stated making Naruto sigh and nod.

"All right, JJ, Elle, make sure the staff knows to keep this quiet and the fact that it could negatively affect them if this got leaked. That the owner?" Gideon instructed then asked pointing to a woman and Hanover nodded and led him over with Naruto and Hotch sharing a look that clearly stated they knew it was gonna get leaked.

Best case scenario, it's a food poisoning/bad batch of food story.

Worst case scenario, someone was gonna start running with it being a biological attack.

"Nell Trucco, this is special agent Jason Gideon with the FBI." Hanover introduced as Gideon shook Trucco's hand.

"How do you do. I need to ask you some questions if that's okay." Gideon stated and she nodded. "Do you get a lot of teenagers around here? High school or even college kids?" Gideon asked and Trucco shrugged.

"I mean we get quite a few people, we're in the middle of a business district that's within walking distance of the college and school. If you want specifics, you'll probably want to talk to Danny." Trucco stated making Gideon look at her in interest.

"Danny?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yes, Danny Wallace, he's my best employee, a lot of his friends and classmates come here. His girlfriend was here Saturday and left with him after he finished his shift. He was supposed to work today, but he called in sick." She stated making Gideon look to Elle and Morgan, causing them to nod as they were going to go and try to find the kid.

"Did anything seem strange or off about Saturday?" Naruto asked and Trucco frowned in thought before shaking her head.

"No, not that I can think of, it was a typical day of people coming and going, getting coffees and pastries. Nothing memorable happened that I can think of." Trucco stated and Naruto nodded and moved away with Gideon.

"Let's hope we're on the right track and Elle and Morgan can find the kid. He's the last chance of this being a prank. If he's not the unsub, he could either be another victim or just wrong place wrong time with this." Naruto stated as Gideon nodded, knowing they were running out of alternatives for this not being potentially lethal by intention soon enough.

BEACHWOOD PD: LATER

Naruto looked at the kid, Danny Wallace, who was the main connection to the café. "It's not him." Naruto stated, making Morgan, Hotch, Gideon, and Reid look at him.

"How can you tell?" Morgan asked as Naruto stared at the kid through the interrogation room window.

"Common sense and analyzation. He's spooked, genuinely worried about his girlfriend, wanted her to be willing, and lacks the sophistication to pull this off with the only way he was caught was because he went to check on his girlfriend and explain himself to her. Common sense is just pretty simple: If he wanted to roofie his girlfriend, why the fuck would he give her LSD as well? That was bound to ruin any kind of mood he was trying to get or set up and obviously made it more likely for him to get caught as she woke up with marks. If he just wanted to have sex, why hang around once the deed was done? Why risk possibly drawing neighbors or outside attention as she screamed or tried to get away from the hallucinations? If he is the unsub, then he's REALLY fucking stupid. There's also the point of the fact we can't find anything at the café and we haven't been able to link all the victims to the café. No, he's not the unsub, he was just an unintentional red herring and his girlfriend was a victim of the test run." Naruto explained making them see his point.

"You said test run." Gideon stated and Naruto nodded.

"Too sophisticated to be a prank, the roofie removed their memory of how they were dosed and possibly if they saw the unsub if he directly dosed them. There's been no ransom demand to save a product or business from the backlash. There's also been no clear political or religious motivation or message in the attack. Therefore, we have an avenger and he's had two days to gear up for his next attack." Naruto stated making them frown knowing that was a problem.

"We need to deliver the profile." Hotch stated making them nod as Naruto tapped the glass getting Elle and Hanover to leave the interrogation room.

"Cut him loose, he's not our guy. You could maybe get him for assault if you push, but I believe him when he says he didn't know she was dosed and was trying to figure out what the hell was going on once the LSD kicked in." Naruto stated making Hanover sigh and nod. "We also need you to get your men together, we're ready to give you all the profile of what we're dealing with." Naruto added making him nod as he left to do that.

"What's the verdict?" Elle asked and Naruto looked at her.

"Avenger, and he's had two days to plan his next attack." Naruto stated making Elle grimace.

"Great." She stated as they walked off to help get things ready.

LATER

"We believe whoever poisoned these people was motivated by revenge." Hotch stated beginning the profile briefing.

"The randomness of the victimology, average people in an average-sized town, all points to a local resident. Because of the randomness, he chose a location as his target rather than a person, the location is meant to get revenge through his trial run, which is what happened that Saturday, just the trial run. While sad and horrible what happened, it is nothing compared to what could be coming once the unsub is ready to unleash his full attack. If we're lucky, he's aiming at a small group of people, if we're not? Anyone here that's religious should start praying and we all need to start working double time." Naruto stated making many of the cops nod knowing this could be very serious.

"We know that people who poison for the purpose of revenge primarily act alone. They can't trust someone else to be fully with them in their plans, they can't depend on someone else to get things done right." Elle continued making it clear that this was a one man show not a terrorist cell.

"However, he may have manipulated someone close to him to assist him. The unsub usually disposes of these accomplices when they are of no further use to him so there's no chance of them interfering in his plan or betraying them." Hotch added knowing it was possible.

"The unsub is a cautious, deliberate, and highly functioning male between the ages of 35 and 50. He's meticulous and plans things out as much as possible and takes pride in his work because he enjoys knowing that his superiority over those that wronged him validates his intelligence and capabilities." Naruto added knowing to get this type of attack done the unsub had to be intelligent and careful.

"He chose LSD for a reason. LSD is about altering perception. We think that this unsub is striking out because he feels that's he's been inaccurately perceived by the community, or a subset of it." Hotch stated explaining the psychological angle of the attack.

"He feels that these attacks will affect and alter a reality that he is caught in, that he perceives to be unjust. He's so self-centered, he believes his victims will know the reason for the attack and who did it." Morgan added knowing these guys were very egotistical.

"This individual was savvy enough to use Rohypnol to obstruct our investigation, erasing the memories of the victims of how they were poisoned. However, the other item to note about LSD is that it can be effective in a dose as small as one one-thousandth of a gram, meaning that the LSD while altering perceptions can also be used to let him test how to best infect his targets." Naruto added since if you could get something that small into someone's system without them knowing then you had options on how to deliver it.

"Hold on. If this guy believes that his victims know who he is, why is he covering his tracks?" Hanover asked and Naruto sighed.

"Because these victims aren't his primary targets. The location in which they were dosed was a way of striking back at a location that he believes wronged him in some way and all the current victims were just guinea pigs for his actual revenge." Naruto stated before seeing JJ quickly leave to answer a call.

"Uh, we know from precedent that this kind of offender, the avenger, tests his weapon first. As Naruto just explained, this attack was a test run for a different attack." Hotch stated wondering what had JJ run off like that.

"What kind of attack?" Hanover asked and the worry in his voice was clear to everyone.

"We don't know yet. What we do know is this is not the first time he's aired his grievances. While it's not likely that he has a criminal record, it is possible that he has filed criminal charges, or pursued a civil action against his perceived adversaries. And now, to measure the results of his test, he's watching. And he wants to see the results of his test, he needs to know how well his plan worked and what might need to be adjusted for his end game. Once he has the results, all those years of pent-up rage will be unleashed in the form of a larger, quite easily deadlier, attack. Profile indicates a lot of people could die depending on how big of a vendetta he has. The problem is we don't know the timetable that he's working on, some unsubs have gone weeks after the first attack before going again and others didn't even wait a day before they attacked. What's important is to check everything thoroughly, even if it seems unlikely, check it anyway as we can't leave any stone unturned in this until we know what this guy is planning, lives are depending on us." Naruto stated and the cops all nodded before JJ came back in.

"We have a leak." She stated making Naruto curse as she went to the TV and turned it on to a local news channel showing a reporter named Suzanne Whang reporting on a local restaurant that apparently was contaminated.

"That's right, Steve, neighbors became aware something was wrong when a local Beachwood restaurant closed early. From inside sources, we have learned that representatives of the CDC began testing inside the restaurant." Whang reported as Naruto sighed.

"If you're going to run the story, be professional and name the restaurant." Naruto stated making Hanover look him as Whang kept going.

"We can confirm that we were told that some of the food had apparently been tainted with hallucinogenic drugs." Whang continued making Naruto start fidgeting.

"Come on, name it, please just fucking name it." Naruto stated tapping his hand repeatedly.

"However, until we can confirm all of this, we will not release the name of the restaurant." Whang stated making Naruto sigh and curse under his breath. "We'll only say, it's a Beachwood area favorite." Whang stated sending the last nail into the coffin of what was coming, "This is Suzanne Whang reporting live from Beachwood, back to you, Steve." Whang ended as JJ turned the tv off.

"They didn't name the restaurant." JJ stated as she sighed and moved to the phones.

"Goddamn fucking idiots and their fucking ratings." Naruto swore knowing shit just got a hundred times harder.

"Wh-what is it?" Hanover asked in confusion as Naruto held his finger up a moment.

"Call the local hospital. Make sure they know what's coming. Excuse me." Gideon stated as he moved to the phones as well.

"I'll explain in a minute, but first we need to try and get things going, okay? Where do your 911 calls get routed?" Naruto asked Hanover before he could question them again.

"Uh, there's a county phone bank. They contact first responders, the fire department, us." Hanover stated, not liking that he didn't know what was going on.

"Alert them, too. They're gonna need additional personnel. And any other backup you've got, auxiliary cops, you're gonna have to call them." Naruto stated as Hotch went to get on the phone.

"But why?" Hanover asked and Naruto sighed.

"Because the news didn't give the location, everyone is going to start panicking and having psychosomatic symptoms because they're going to be terrified that they were poisoned, which means they're going to start flooding your system with calls while swarming the hospitals. We're gonna have a heck of a time calming people down, when we really don't need the confusion to interfere with our investigation especially since the unsub could see this as a perfect cover for him to unleash his own attack, so we need as many people as you can get on this, now." Naruto instructed making Hanover widen his eyes in realization.

"You want me to start making those calls?" One of the cops asked, not questioning the FBI on this.

"Yeah, do it, get ahold of Charlie and Mac in the neighboring areas and see if they can give us a hand too. We need all the help we can get it sounds like." Hanover ordered, making the cop nod as Hanover moved to make his own call, but before he could the phones started blowing up with incoming calls.

"And here comes the panic." Naruto sighed as they quickly started to try and field everything.

LATER

Everyone was currently working on the phones or going over reports and documents to see if they could find anything while trying to stem the tide of the panic.

"I just got off the phone with the hospital, they've got over 50 potential cases of "poisonings" from local restaurants in past hour and are getting hit with more, but no hallucinations or anything that seems truly life threatening." JJ stated making Naruto sigh.

"This is why I hate reporters, journalists are okay, they actually do good work, reporters just want ratings and stories." Naruto stated with a sigh.

"We've been over every employee, every complaint, every former employee, every supplier, every single legal matter pertaining to the café and we've got nothing." Hanover stated as he sighed and rubbed his head.

"There's gotta be someone connected to that café who pops as a suspect." Gideon stated and Naruto paused.

"Texas Sharpshooter." Naruto stated making everyone look at him, "We're being Texas Sharpshooters. We took a bunch of shots at an area and then drew the target around the closet bunch that worked for us. However, in this case we drew the target too small, don't just look at the café, look at the area the café is in." Naruto stated making them widen their eyes.

"Elle, want to take a ride?" Morgan asked making her nod as they both got up.

"There's a bank across the street from the café that one victim said he went to, check the footage inside the bank, a few larger banks have candy bowls, but they could easily be dosed through ink on bills or spiking a water fountain inside it. Hell, even the paper towels or toilet paper in the bathroom could do it. If you don't get anything from inside the bank, try the ATM footage outside it. If it's not an actual building, maybe the unsub was a street vendor and dosed people that way." Naruto instructed, making them nod as they took off.

"Reid, you and JJ head to the hospital, see if there's any actual claims there just in case." Hotch ordered, making JJ and Reid nod.

"Call me if you think you found a case and the docs don't know what's going on. I've dealt with some toxic and viral substances before, I may be able to narrow the field for them." Naruto stated making Reid nod as they left.

A while later, Naruto's phone rang and he stopped flipping through files to answer it, "Yeah Reid?" Naruto asked as he held a finger on a file.

"Naruto, I'm with a doctor for a patient that may be a real case." Reid stated as he looked to the doctor next to him.

"When she arrived, she could barely remember anything about her day. Her speech was so slurred that it was difficult to understand her." The doctor informed.

"Sounds like Rohypnol, I assume she was tested?" Naruto asked and the doctor gave confirmation.

"Yes. She was positive for Rohypnol, but negative for LSD. We're running more tests because Rohypnol doesn't explain the rest of her symptoms. She's presented with nausea, difficulty swallowing, labored breathing, she was also having trouble moving her legs and she's clutching at her throat and chest constantly while coughing." The doctor listed.

"How long has she been sick?" JJ asked and the doctor shook his head.

"She didn't remember. I could barely understand her when she arrived and now she can't speak at all." He stated and Naruto cursed.

"Pain in the abdomen? Dizziness? Drooling or excessive mouth dryness? Blurred or double vision? Pupils are dilated or signs of weak eye muscles? Drooping of upper eyelid? Paralysis? Poor reflexes?" Naruto asked making the doctor blink and look at the phone in shock.

"Yes, to several of those. Do you know what this is?" The doctor asked and Naruto swore.

"Take me off speaker phone." Naruto ordered and Reid clicked the phone. "It's botulism toxin. Start giving her the antitoxin right away, if we're lucky we've caught it fast enough to save her and she can give us information. Get ready for her to possibly go into septic shock as well as her body could be close to the final stages of shutting down." Naruto instructed making the doctor widen his eyes as he began ordering his nurses to start prepping different things.

"If it is botulism, we've got a bigger problem." Reid stated knowing fully well what they could be dealing with.

"I'm aware, I'm praying in every language and to everything I can think of, hoping I'm wrong, but she's got too many of the symptoms for it to be coincidence." Naruto stated with a sigh, "Keep us updated on her and send her name and picture to Garcia so she can start digging into her and then have Garcia forward the picture to Elle and Morgan so they can try to find her on the security footage." Naruto ordered and Reid gave confirmation before he hung up and Naruto sighed and tossed the phone onto the desk.

If this guy was skilled enough to handle botulism and be this effective, then they needed to find him fast or they were in for some deep shit.

A short while later had Naruto's phone ringing and he quickly answered, "Morgan, what's up?" Naruto asked as he motioned Gideon to him.

"Hey, we got Hotch on the line too. All eight victims are on this security footage at the bank, looks like they were dosed through the candy bowl that's right by the envelope and signing area." Morgan informed, "We need CDC here to test the candy and Elle's calling Hanover as we speak. This has to be our testing target." He continued making Naruto sigh in a bit of relief.

"Good work, Garcia should be emailing you a picture of Lynn Dempsey, we think she's involved in some way." Hotch stated as he had gone to help Reid and JJ.

"Hang on, I think I got it. Yup, give us a sec while Elle looks." Morgan stated as he showed Elle the picture and she flipped through different stills and found her. "Yeah, Hotch, we got her, and from the looks of this tape it looks like she's the one who dosed the candy dish. She's either our unsub or working with him." Morgan stated knowing that if they got her it may be over.

"Unfortunately, I don't think she'll be much help." Hotch stated as Dempsey began to crash and code.

"Dammit. We'll see you back here shortly then." Naruto stated as he slumped back and dropped the phone on the desk.

"There went our best lead on the next attack, but I doubt she's the unsub." Naruto stated as he sighed and Gideon nodded.

Shit just went back to near square one.

Soon, everyone was back at the precinct going over the information on Dempsey. "Lynn Dempsey was an executive assistant and has no background or knowledge in chemistry. She doesn't fit the profile." Gideon stated reading the file on their latest victim.

"CDC found traces of both drugs in the candies." Morgan stated and Naruto sighed.

"She was the patsy, decoy, and disposable assistant. She likely helped the unsub plant his testing items and then when he saw he didn't need her anymore, removed her from the board completely. Dempsey wouldn't have had to go to the hospital if she knew she was poisoned, anyone with the knowhow and proficiency to handle botulism would also know how to either get ahold of or create the antitoxin to ensure their survival until their end game was complete." Naruto stated as he wiped his face.

"So what does using botulism tell us about the unsub?" Gideon asked looking at them all.

"He's far more sophisticated then we've been giving him credit for." Naruto stated as he leaned back.

"And why's that?" Elle asked and Naruto motioned to Reid.

"Botulism toxin is the deadliest substance known to man. It blocks acetylcholine receptors, paralyzing it's victims until basically choking them to death. Without an antitoxin, a lethal dose can kill you within 36 hours. The window for the antitoxin depends on how strong a dosage of toxin, but typically a normal dose needs to be given within four hours of being infected for the best chances of survival." Reid listed and Naruto nodded.

"Meaning that to be able to handle and manipulate that stuff to your desires, you have to be skilled, patient, and have a background in chemistry." Naruto stated adding to the information.

"How many people have access to this stuff?" Elle asked and Naruto snorted.

"Here? A lot. New Jersey is the pharmaceutical and chemical capital of the U.S. You can get it in the form of Botox from at least five different sources legally and then purify it into the deadlier form. Any lab assistant or chemistry worker/major could easily do it." Naruto informed and Reid nodded.

"So we're looking for lab people and chemists in the pharmaceutical and chemical capital." Elle stated and Reid nodded.

"Pretty much." He stated as Morgan frowned.

"Wait, if the unsub is a chemist and could get botulism on his own, why did he need Dempsey?" Morgan asked and Naruto snorted.

"First she was a patsy, he wasn't on that camera, she was, so if it came back to her she'd be dead by then and thus couldn't be tied to him or people would assume she was the attacker and thus never look for him. However, the bigger portion was that if she didn't get him access to his weapon, then she must have gotten him access to his true targets." Naruto stated making them look at him as Gideon started flipping through a file.

"She worked for a company called… uh… Hitchcock Pharmaceuticals." Gideon stated and Naruto nodded.

"Three to one odds that the unsub worked there too and if he is a chemist, then he likely didn't have any access to the big shots, but Dempsey being an executive assistant would have." Naruto stated as he grabbed his phone and called Garcia, "Hey, honey, look, I need your magic to start working. Cross reference all employees that were downsized, fired, passed over for promotion, or had any kind of slight by Hitchcock Pharmaceuticals then cross reference them with any kind of link to First New Jersey Federal Bank and Lynn Dempsey and see what crops up together. The guy will be between 40 and 55, he wouldn't have had an office or any kind of big deal title, likely worked in labs and on products, and may have filed a lawsuit of some kind against Hitchcock." Naruto instructed as he could hear Garcia typing away.

"I'm on it angel, first cursory look shows a lot of pink slips in the past year, but I do immediately see 30 names of people who were downsized and shunted off to weaker companies with massive hits to pay and benefits." Garcia stated as she typed rapidly.

"Send us the names and keep digging, even if it doesn't seem important at first, if it's a connection then we need to know about it." Morgan stated and Garcia gave affirmatives before clicking off.

"Guy's secondary is showing to be that of a workplace murderer. Sticking close, seething, waiting for revenge, losing his empathy, morality, and just seeing people as objects to be used and removed as he needs to get at his true targets, he also won't give himself up and won't stop unless he's made to stop." Naruto stated making them nod.

"I'm going to head over to Hitchcock, see what I can learn about Dempsey there and maybe get an idea of what the unsub needed her for that he couldn't find a way to get himself." Elle stated making them nod as Naruto sat there and tapped his head in a steady rhythm.

A short while later had Naruto flicking through the names and details of the 30 names after Elle had called and told them she hadn't found anything out besides Lynn had access to the entire building and was helping organize some retreat that was coming up. "No, no, definitely not, no, no, doesn't take risks, no, no, no, no, would need a major kick in the ass to do it, no, no, no. I'm not seeing anyone on here that looks like they could get pissed enough to go homicidal from being downsized, mostly because they got some severance packages that make tenure retirement packages look like a kid's allowance for the week." Naruto stated as he saw that while Hitchcock was shunting some people, they were being very nice with the pay and such they got for being shunted.

"All of these people are living off of pensions, they're pissed, but you're right, I don't see them going off the deep end." Gideon stated as he was going over his own section.

Morgan's phone then began ringing, "Garcia." He stated as he answered and put it on speaker, "What you got, hot stuff?" Morgan asked as they looked to the phone.

"Get this, sugar, I found a chemist that worked for a lesser company that Hitchcock purchased, Palmay Cosmetics. Here's the interesting thing; Lynn Dempsey applied for a loan at First New Jersey Federal Bank around the same time this chemist applied for a patent for some anti-aging breakthrough skin technology thing called PCO-99." Garcia informed making them look at each other.

"So they were working together before the unsub decided that he had to make the company pay in a more violent manner and likely killed Dempsey so she couldn't get cold feet. He applied for the loan in her name to make his product knowing that she'd be much more likely to secure the loan given her salary and background risk assessment." Naruto stated making the two nod.

"That was my thought as well, except that both the loan and patent were rejected because Hitchcock had already filed the patent for the product. And, of course, the patent happened to be accepted and processed through First New Jersey Federal Bank." Garcia stated making them look at each other knowing they had the guy, "His name is Edward Hill, I am currently tracking his cell phone and I will have his location shortly." Garcia stated sounding proud of herself, and she had every right to be.

"The moment you have an address, send it. We'll get S.W.A.T. and CDC ready to roll out the moment you do. Also send all you got on Edward Hill, I want to know as much as I can on this guy." Naruto instructed as Gideon went to talk to Hanover and Morgan hung up the phone after Garcia gave affirmatives.

"Let's hope we're not too late." Morgan stated and Naruto nodded. "You coming?" Morgan asked as he saw Naruto still sitting there and Naruto shook his head.

"No, I can't stop this nagging feeling that we're overlooking something, so I'm gonna stay and dig some more, just watch it while you're there. If this guy is a workplace killer, he may just smash a vial of an airborne toxin to kill himself and anyone around him as a last sign of defiance, especially if he's already initiated his end game." Naruto stated making Morgan frown and nod.

"Right, I'll tell S.W.A.T. to prep up like we're moving into a tear gas filled room and to be extremely cautious to not break anything." Morgan stated knowing that until it was cleared, anyone entering that location needed to be masked up and ready.

"Yeah, have CDC bring antitoxin with them just in case, better safe than sorry for this kind of thing." Naruto stated making Morgan nod.

"All right, we'll call you if anything happens." Morgan stated as he smacked his shoulder and moved to catch up to Gideon while Naruto kept going over the files and information, especially the info on Hill to help him fully immerse himself in his shoes and actions.

INTERROGATION ROOM

"His lab was confirmed to have Botulism toxin, so he's definitely the guy, but there's no indication of what he's planning." Hanover stated as they looked at Edward Hill sitting at the table.

"Doesn't make much sense, why isn't he dead?" Naruto asked as he looked at Hill, sitting calmly at the table though he was sweating quite a bit and had his hands tightly clasped together.

"We got to him first, sometimes we miss the mark, maybe he's not a conventional workplace killer." Hotch stated and Naruto frowned.

"No, we're missing something. These guys are smart enough to plan things out, if he's alive, it's because he wants to be, but I don't think he's planning to stay alive for long, likely just long enough to ensure we're not going to stop his endgame. He's not even trying to get us to come in and talk to him so he can reveal his superiority and master plan and brag about how superior he is in his plan to destroy his enemies." Naruto stated since he wasn't sure about what was going on and why the guy wasn't dead yet.

"You think we're already too late?" Gideon asked and Naruto frowned and closed his eyes for a moment.

"No, but he wants to make us too late." Naruto stated before he turned to Reid, "Reid, check the footage and photos again, make sure Dempsey only touched the candy since a scientist like this would want to try at least two methods for testing, the candy would be a slower ingestion of it, but there are other methods that are faster, also make sure that we've checked all of his connections." Naruto instructed, making Reid nod as he left to do that with Hanover helping him.

"You think he may have been testing the delivery system?" Gideon asked and Naruto nodded.

"It would make sense, I mean getting a poison into a food or drink is one thing, but you need to directly access that, but something else that's not obvious means you could swap it out or change something and no one noticed until it's far too late." Naruto stated knowing it was highly possible.

"We can try talking to him, getting him to confess in exchange for a fair deal and I can always take his case as a lawyer to get him something to get back at Hitchcock." Hotch stated and Naruto frowned.

"I don't think it will work, but go ahead, I'm gonna stay here and get into his head." Naruto stated as he sat in a chair and took a breath with his hands on his knees and his back straight.

Hotch and Gideon just left the room and closed the door and began interviewing Hill. "You were romantically involved with Lynn Dempsey?" Hotch asked after introducing himself and Gideon.

"Is that what she told you?" Hill asked with a smirk.

"It's what her sister said. What happened to her?" Hotch asked and Hill sighed.

"The truth is, that Lynn was already dead, that company killed her years ago." Hill stated while still sweating profusely.

"Did they kill you too?" Gideon asked and Hill scoffed.

"They may as well have. They took everything from me; fruits of my labor, best years of my life, my family, my livelihood, and when there was nothing left to take, they took two thirds of my salary and my health insurance." Hill stated making it clear he was angry at Hitchcock.

"What's your plan, Hill? What are you really doing? What is the master move?" Naruto muttered to himself as he envisioned everything through Hill's eyes; Working the job.

The slap to the face from the company.

The rage and the contempt.

Plotting revenge.

Working out the logistics of it.

The painstaking control and means and attempts to launch the attack.

Luring Dempsey into his clutches.

The test run.

The observation of the fallout and making notes to correct and improve the plan.

Initiating his plan.

And acting in the best way to ensure it won't be stopped.

Naruto snapped his eyes open and bolted for the door just after Hill informed Hotch and Gideon about a punch bowl at Hitchcock, "I need a medic!" Naruto shouted as he burst into the interrogation room and ripped Hill's collar open while forcing his head back to help get his throat clear, "What did you take?! Tell me what the fuck did you take?!" Naruto shouted as Hill just smiled at him.

"Naruto!" Hotch stated as he got up.

"He's taken something already." Naruto stated as the medics came in with an officer. "He's taken some unknown drug or toxin; he needs to be transported to a hospital and given antitoxin." Naruto ordered, making the cop cuff Hill as the medics worked to get an IV started.

"It's too late, I'm already a ghost." Hill stated as the tremors that had been going through his hands were obvious now.

"We need to go, now." Naruto stated as he left the room and got his phone out. "Elle, get over the Hitchcock, take CDC with you and take antitoxin for botulism, he's spiked the community punch bowl as a means of diverting our attention away from his intended targets. While you're there, go through Dempsey's files and see if you can find where the fuck the executive camping trip or retreat or whatever the fuck they're called is exactly located. Hill used Dempsey to spike the envelopes their going to use for some of their bonding experiences." Naruto stated getting confirmation before he hung up.

"Envelopes?" Hotch asked and Naruto nodded.

"I remembered reading that one of the victims was severely diabetic, meaning he wouldn't take the candy at the bank meaning he had to be dosed some other way and I remember Dempsey's hand was on the envelopes, whether lacing them or replacing them doesn't matter. Botulism toxin is capable of dosing in the same amount as LSD, less than one-thousandth of a gram, easy to fit onto a glue strip of an envelope. The candy and the envelopes were test runs for delivery and after the checks inside the envelopes were processed and deposited the envelopes were destroyed. Lynn Dempsey was organizing a company retreat for all the company big shots, he needed her in order to get access to what they were doing, where they were going, and how much time he had to get his plan in motion. He spiked the envelopes and they're going to be out in the woods possibly not to be found for weeks or months leaving them to be at the mercy of the elements and maybe not even found at all depending on animal feedings. No greater revenge than to let them die slowly alone with the possibility of never being found. He poisoned himself once we got to his lab, he just ensured the dosage was small enough to prolong his life to know how much we knew and would point us to the other distraction of the punch bowl giving more time for the big shots to be infected and die before we have any chance of getting to them. We can't warn them because most of these retreats don't allow cell phones so you can embrace nature and focus on bonding with your fellow retreaters." Naruto explained as he went to Hanover.

"We need cops and medics sent to Hitchcock Pharmaceuticals to help contain and treat people there. We also need State Troopers, helicopters, Park service, medics, and anything else we can get to comb the woods for a large group of campers. Hill was targeting the big shots of Hitchcock that are going on a company retreat in the woods, we may not get a specific location so we need to start combing now in the off chance they've been infected, once they are we only have 4 hours to save them if Hill hasn't mutated the botulism strain." Naruto instructed making Hanover nod.

"Got it, I'll start making calls." Hanover stated as he went to his desk.

"If they find the group, they are to immediately stop them from using any envelopes they have on them and they are to be left for the CDC to collect. I don't want to risk someone getting a paper cut or getting glue residue on their hands and risking more lives." Naruto stated as Hanover nodded with Gideon and Hotch getting on phones as well.

CAMPSITE

"Air one, you got anything yet?" Gideon asked as he and the others kept an eye out.

"Negative, nothing from the first three campsites." The pilot responded as he was doing his sweep.

"What about park services?" Gideon asked as they drove.

"Couple of families on holiday, but no sign of the target." The pilot responded before pausing, "Wait, I'm getting some radio chatter from the staties. They got something on the access road near trail head 6, medics are enroute." The pilot stated as Naruto quickly drove towards that location.

Naruto, Gideon, and Hotch all pulled up to a campsite to see at least a dozen men all laying down and sweating with short breaths and hyperventilating. "We got here a few minutes ago, they're all exhausted, and have varying symptoms but they're getting worse by the minute." A state trooper informed while two ambulances came up and the medics got out.

"What time did they use the envelopes?" Naruto asked as they moved.

"About an hour ago." The trooper stated.

"Who's in the worst shape?" Gideon asked as the trooper indicated a middle-aged man wearing a sweater and sweating badly.

"Medic." Gideon called and one of them ran up with a bag and started prepping a needle. "Don't worry, you're gonna be fine. Control your breathing, that's it. This is gonna fix you right up, so just focus on breathing." Gideon stated as he nodded.

"Thank you." He stated as the medic made a tourniquet and was giving him the antitoxin.

Naruto grabbed a syringe and the vial and began prepping another dose. "You know what you're doing?" The medic asked and Naruto nodded.

"Years of medical training, plus military triage training, I can tap a vein and give a shot no problem. You want my resume or you want help saving these people?" Naruto asked as the medic nodded at him and Naruto moved and prepared another before giving him the shot and then moving to the next.

They luckily made it in time, but it was still far too close for comfort.

JET

Naruto was leaning back on the sofa exhausted while idly stroking Elle's head as it was on his lap.

They'd saved everyone at Hitchcock, unfortunately Hill was DOA at the hospital, whatever he had taken was too far along to stop by the medics, but he died knowing that he had failed, and that was satisfactory enough for Naruto.

He looked at his phone as it vibrated and saw it was a text message. "Cleared out a small nest. B thinks she has a lead on some transportation, W is looking into some business deals for us, and BW is looking into a French Connection. I've got a lead on a new target and will report it before I make a move. Hope to have more info soon. -JW" It read and Naruto nodded to himself before he deleted the text message, though he knew it was likely that soon Garcia would be cloning his phone to see any messages and calls he got.

He'd have to tell the girls to not send any intimate pics if Garcia did do that.

However, that was for later, right now he needed some rest and sleep.

"You're not asleep?" Hotch asked JJ as he sat down with some tea.

"Finishing my report, but there's always another one waiting. I'm just glad that we had Naruto with us, this could have been a lot worse." JJ stated as Hotch nodded.

"It could have, Naruto's definitely proved himself as an asset." Hotch stated as JJ decided to seal the envelope with the case file via the pin rather than licking it.

"But you're still not fully trusting of him." JJ stated and Hotch snorted.

"I sometimes forget that you have to do a bit of profiling when selecting our cases. And, no, I still don't fully trust him because I can tell that he's still holding things back and not telling us things. However, my instincts tell me that it's not hazardous to us, or he at least doesn't think it is. So, until I have proof otherwise, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. I just hope that nothing happens that gives Strauss cause to get involved or we could all have problems." Hotch stated knowing Strauss was threatened by him and Gideon as she thought that they may try to replace her.

"Here's hoping." JJ stated as she set the folder down. "I'm gonna try and get some sleep." She added as Hotch nodded and she curled up to try and sleep while Hotch sighed and leaned back.

He couldn't help but think on Naruto; his skill range, knowledge, tactics, capabilities, and insights didn't seem to have an end. Hotch was starting to think that something else may be going on since this seemed too coincidental that he happened to know and do all of this without someone teaching or educating him in some way.

His admission of medical and triage training was also something to factor, though the latter wasn't that surprising since his father was military, it was natural Naruto would pick up some things and be taught others.

However, Garcia couldn't find any information on what his father actually did nor any records of an education on Naruto's part, though it was easy to assume that he used a false identity to get the education.

Each revelation about Naruto only yielded more questions, but at least he didn't make things boring for the team.

DONE!

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Next time Naruto matches wits with an asshole psycho and finds a life he wants to save in prison.

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