Embers~Criminal Minds 2

Brothers Hotchner

Hotch: "And the M.E. reports showed 3 other victims bleeding out over the last week." he says on a video conference from New York

Garcia: "Yeah. One in Harlem, two in the Village, all 5 of them categorized as Ecstasy overdoses."

Hotch: "And one of the victims may have been drugged without her knowledge."

Rossi: "Ecstasy is frequently used as a date rape drug, but I've never seen it cause bleeding like this."

Strauss: "Could it be a bad batch?"

Garcia: "Well, uh, according to the M.E., the victims had so much MDMA in their systems that it caused their internal body temperature to go out of control. They boiled from the inside out."

Rossi: "That's not typical of overdose victims either. We could be looking at product tampering, similar to the Tylenol cyanide poisoning in '86."

Hotch: "And the working theory in that case was that the unsub targeted a specific victim but dosed mass quantities to cover his tracks."

Strauss: "So you're telling me these deaths could just be the start."

Hotch: "Yes, ma'am. I'd like the team to join me in New York as soon as possible."

Rossi: "We're on our way, Aaron."

Hotch: "Thanks." he nods before hanging up

Rossi: "You're coming, aren't you?"

Strauss: "Just as a precaution. This team tends to go rogue when loved ones are involved."

Hotch: "Rarely do members of the same family grow up under the same roof." Richard Bach."

On The Plane

Morgan: "This is more than product tampering. This is mass murder."

Rossi: "Overdosing certainly seems like a hard sell now."

Strauss: "How is he taking out experienced partiers and non-drug users at the same time?"

Alex: "He has to be dosing his victims without their knowledge somehow."

Reid: "Ecstasy can be made in pill, powder, and liquid form. It wouldn't be that hard to slip something into someone's drink or to convince them the pill they're taking is safe."

JJ: "So even regular users might not know they're being dosed until it's too late."

Strauss "Why kill in such a graphic manner?"

Watson: "Well, he gets off on the spectacle. It's not just about the victims with this guy. It's about the witnesses. He incites fear."

Alex: "Which means the unsub is desperate for attention, and he wants all eyes on his work because he craves recognition."

Rossi: "He'll be paying close attention to the media, then. It allows him to relive his crimes."

Reid: "You know, the medium of his kill is interesting. He's picking a drug that's known for its euphoric effect. It's like he wants to take that happiness away."

Morgan: "Well, it can't be a coincidence that the majority of his victims are known drug users. He's taking the law into his own hands."

Watson: "But what about the two who were clean? Linda Heying and Erik Sullivan's families insist they never touched the stuff."

Rossi: "Either the victims are good at hiding the truth or the unsub's killing for another reason. We should take a closer look and see how they're connected."