1 | Undeniable Chemistry [S. Reid]

iv. beryllium

"HELLO?" Spencer asks as his picks up the call, making Willow turn to look at him.

"Uh, Reid, you have me, Rossi, and Hotch." Willow hears JJ say, after Spencer puts them on speaker so she can hear as well.

"I'm here with Willow. Kimura made some calls. It turns out that 2 days ago, 2 people in 2 separate Baltimore E.Rs And one person in a Philadelphia E.R. slipped into comas and died suddenly." Spencer explains to them.

"Now, the C.O.D. on all of them was meningitis. Doctors didn't test for anthrax because the illnesses presented themselves as meningitis, but I think it can be caused by anthrax." Willow adds on.

"Did they show symptoms that we're seeing now-- the lesions?" Rossi asks the duo.

"They wouldn't have if the bodily functions expired as quickly as they did." Spencer points out.

"How quickly?" Hotch asks, making Willow bite her lip as she reads over the file.

"All dead within 3 hours of being admitted." Willow answers, a frown settling on her face as she realizes something.

"But the first patient died yesterday at 10 hours." Hotch points, making Willow nod.

"Here's the thing-- if they inhaled a higher concentration of the strain, it would cause a quicker death. Organ failure without exterior physical symptoms." She explains to the agent on the phone.

"What are their names?" Hotch asks, and Spencer gives him the name list, before hanging up.

"What's next?" Willow asks, making Spencer raise his eyebrows at her. "What?"

"You realise you can go back to the office right? I think General Whitworth is there and I'm sure he'd give you more information than you're getting right here." Spencer points out, making her chuckle softly as she shakes her head.

"I've always told my students that the most evidence won't be found behind an office, rather on the field." She muses, making him give her a tight smile.

"You're right. Come on, let's go talk to Dr. Kimura more." He says, making her nod as she follows him towards the Doctor that is waiting for them at the reception.

"It feels like the plagues of Egypt." Dr. Kimura says as they start walking together again and a dead body is rolled passed them.

"10 scourges created by God. Plague 6 was unhealable boils believed by biblical scholars to be caused by anthrax." Spencer explains, making Willow raise an eyebrow.

"Never missed sunday school, did you?" Willow asks him, making him look down at her sheepishly.

"Actually, never been before." He admits, making her smile in amusement, but the smile immediately drops as they stop in front of Abby's room. "How is she doing?"

"She's a fighter. She's held on this long because she's young and strong. But she's started to bleed into her lungs." Dr. Kimura says as she takes a quick look at Abby's file.

"One of 4 left." Spencer sighs as he looks at Abby through the glass.

"We're running into another problem. When the next of kin have questions, what do we tell them about cause of death?" Dr. Kimura asks Spencer, making Willow wince slightly as he looks taken a back by the question. Before he can answer her question, he receives a phone call, making him smile apologetically before stepping away to answer.

"I wasn't aware the BAU had a Professor among their ranks." Dr. Kimura admits, as they wait for Spencer to finish.

"Oh, no. They've just asked me for help. It's the first time I meet them." Willow says, making Dr. Kimura raise her eyebrows in slight shock.

"The way you and Dr. Reid interact would have me fooled. But, I'm no Profiler, so I wouldn't be able to tell." She says teasingly, making Willow chuckle softly just as Spencer gets back.

"Dr. Kimura, we're gonna have to leave you." Spencer says, making the Doctor nod in understanding as Spencer leads Willow out.

"What's going on?" She asks as they leave the Hospital and rush to the SUV that's waiting for them. In it, Derek is waiting for them.

"We have a lead. Dr. Lawrence Nichols." Spencer says as he opens the passenger door for her, making her smile gratefully.

"Dr. Lawrence Nichols? That makes sense, he's done a lot of research on Anthrax. There's a rumour that he's tried to warn the US Government of a potential biochemical terrorist attack." Willow says, just as Spencer gets in the back of the SUV.

"It's not just a rumour. It's true. He asked for a fifty billion dollar founding into protection against WMD." Derek explains, driving out of the Hospital car park.

"Okay, and what's his profile. If I can know. I understand if it's confidential." Willow says, making Derek chuckle in amusement.

"It is confidential for anyone outside the team, but you're part of it right now. So you're allowed to know. The UnSub has immense amount of logged hours at work, has taken an abnormal amount of vaccinations against Anthrax. He has fascination concerning Anthrax, he's researched and published papers about it. Yet, no one listens to him and he's angry." Derek explains briefly, making her nod in understand.

"And I'm guessing Dr. Nichols fits that. So are we like about to go arrest him or something?" Willow asks, making Derek chuckle.

"Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. We have to go get some evidence against him." Spencer says, slightly amused by the Professor's excitement.

"Right, of course. That makes absolute sense." Willow shakes her head, a slight smile stretching on her lips. "So, where are we going then?"

"We're going to his house to find the evidence."