Unveiling Hearts: a love beyond duty

PART 4

SOFIA

I let Spencer drive our way to the now isolated crime scene. I was on the phone with a colleague of mine, asking her to read me a few books extracts from the ones I had in my lab about venomous plants. When she finished reading me the little section I forgot, I closed the call and turned to Reid.

"How about Physostigimine? It's a toxic parasympathomimetic but we can use it to reverse the symptoms."

He reflected a few seconds before answering. "It could work, yes, but it' extremely dangerous. What if it reacts with another of the plants already in circulation? And, to find the doses we need we'd have to make a half-lab made version, and I repeat, it's extremely dangerous." I could see his hands grip the steering wheel, knuckles going white.

"I know it's dangerous, but we don't have another choice. You have any ideas other than this, Doctor? Because if you have, it's time to spit it out!" I was panicked. I'd never been in this kind of situation, and it was horrible. A dozen, if not more, people were waiting form me to save their lives. What if I failed? What if I accidentally killed them? "Since you happen to have no good ideas ye are sticking to this. I'm calling Hotch to let min know what I need. How long still?"

"About twenty minutes" he affirmed.

I picked out my phone, once again, and called Hotch. I couldn't imagine how he felt, two of his team members were in there. His family.

"Sofia, where are you two?" he yelled. Not angry, stressed.

"Hotch, is the lab set?" i rushed him, there was no time to waste. When i heard a yes on the other side I continued talking. "I need to have as much liquid Physostigimine ready as soon as i get there. I also need p-ethoxymethylaniline, α-bromopropionyl bromide and aluminum chloride. Got it?"

"No, wait a second. Imma call someone. Hey, Hernandez. I need you to get these thing. As much as you can get in..."

"Twenty minutes. I need liquid Physostigimine, p-ethoxymethylaniline, α-bromopropionyl bromide and aluminum chloride. Hurry up. Also need Two coats and protective goggles. See you soon."

The rest of the ride was filled with me and Reid calculating the right dosages, hoping our gods to get them right. Once we parked we ran to the tent set up lab near the entrance of the Miller's house. It was full of people, roaming around, looking clueless of what to do. Reid looked at me and i shook my head. We didn't have enough time to brief everyone on what they were supposed to do.

"Everyone out. I'm FBI and I need this space clear. Come on!" In not even a minute we were alone, and we knew what to do, at least I did.

"I hope you know what you are doing Smart Ass, right?" I said, tossing him a coat and goggles.

"Don't worry for me, just try to catch up."

And with that, we started. The whole process wan't long, but it was complicated enough to grab quite some time, what we didn't have. People in the house were starting to feel more and more sick, team member included. After a good sixty minutes of testing, creating and checking, we had it, at least we hoped. Before we could even go outside to tell anyone Hotch barged inside.

"Are you done? Is it ready?" his voice filled with desperation.

"Yes. Call Derek. I need the people who are in severe conditions out first followed by the rest. They have to exit one every five minutes so I can monitor the results of the serum. Also, we need a concentration tent, we can't let them roam around. I hope you called everyone who had only a direct contact with the house and asked them to come over. Sit them in here. Reid, get the syringes. First patient out in five. Come on!" I blurted out trying to look the less bossy I could.

Me and Reid placed everything in a new tent, waiting for the medical staff and the patient. Once a few doctors and a nurse came by, the first patient was outside.

"Remember, the antidote has to be injected in the nervous system. If not, and injected in the flesh, it may cause atrocious death." I reassured the doctor before letting him get in the now medical tent to treat a patient.

I stood outside waiting for someone to tell me to go check on him. I said every five minutes, so now I had to wait five minutes. My mind wondering, on all the thing I could have done best.

"Hey, are you good? You look pale." Reid questioned with a puzzled loom in his eyes.

I brushed off my insecurity, now ready to speak. "Yes, perfectly."

Lie.

"Could I ask you a question?" I continued, in the attempt to get my mind away from all my thoughts.

"Yes, sure." his voice soft and red eyes. If he had cried, I wasn't sure.

"Why did you want to know my IQ?"

"Oh" he chuckled a little. "It's kind of my fault. I'm quite a genius so people continue teasing me for it."

"You're a genius, Smart Ass? How come?" Sarcastic tones coming out of my mouth like music.

"I have Ph.D.s in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering, B.A.s in Psychology and Sociology, and I'm working on a B.A. in Philosophy. I have an IQ of 187 and an eidetic memory." Such a show-off.

"How old are you?" Please be older, please be older. I can tease him in he's older.

"I'm twenty-seven. Turning twenty-eight next year."

"So, technically speaking, I'm smarter. I'm twenty- six."

"Well, I wouldn't put it th-" before he could finish arguing the five minutes had passed and a doctor called me in the tent.

"Nice chat Smart Ass. See you later." I giggled off.

"Spencer. My name is Spencer!" he yelled at me, before i completely disappeared in the tent.

The serum was working, and one by one they were all feeling much better. Morgan and Prentiss were on the verge of being caught by the venom, luckily we arrived just on time. Once they cleared off Hotch called all of us together and told us to get some rest. We may have prevented the death of these people, but the mother-fucker who did this was still out there.