❝you're in danger here, spencer.❞
❝we'll worry about that later. right now all that matters is you and me.❞
hazel finley is afraid. afraid of being alone. afraid of losing the people she loves. afraid of making mistakes. afraid of falling back into...
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❝What was in our stars/That destined us for sorrow?❞
ANNA AKHMATOVA
✩
0.6 : risk everything
OR
season 6, episode 14 : sense memory
"METHANOL IS, COMPOSITIONALLY SPEAKING, THE SIMPLEST OF THE ALCOHOLS." Spencer's standing near the coffee bar, holding the jar of tea bags animatedly as he talks. "It's actually ubiquitous in the environment. There are small traces of its vapor in the atmosphere, but atmospheric methanol is easily oxidized by sunlight."
"Is it toxic?" Emily asks, leaning around her seat to look at him.
"Uh, ingesting ten milliliters of it will cause permanent blindness, and as little as thirty is potentially fatal," Spencer replies, almost absentmindedly as he tears open two tea bags: green tea for himself and earl grey for Fin. Fin seems to remember something about a chemical compound in green tea that improves brain function and releases muscle tension; it's probably good for headaches.
"Well, these victims had between five and six ounces in their lungs," Morgan says, looking down at his file, eyebrows knit together thoughtfully. He's of course talking about Shelly Onto, Vickie Hagerg, and Linda Dean, three women from L.A. who were drowned in methanol in a matter of weeks and then dumped in public spaces.
"You know, if they were immersed in it, they would have died even without ingesting it or inhaling it." Spencer pours the hot water carefully, tongue between his teeth. "When absorbed through the skin, it depresses the central nervous system to an unsustainable degree."
"What do people normally use it for?" Fin asks, as Spencer sits down across from her, handing her a steaming cup of tea. "Thanks."
"Uh, a solvent, an antifreeze." Spencer lifts his cup of tea to his lips, blowing on it cautiously. "In World War II, the Germans used it for rocket fuel. It's used in winemaking. Its most commonplace use, however, though, is in the creation of other chemicals. Methanol can become plastic, plywood, paint, explosives, permanent-press textiles. It's essentially the chemical used to separate other chemicals from each other."
He takes a deep breath and glances at Fin, who just shakes her head. "You know, Spencer, you're really something." She's missed his random knowledge and rambling; it's endearing somehow.
Spencer blushes and looks down at his tea.
"Can it be bought?" Emily asks curiously. "Is it tracked?"
"California's got some of the strictest environmental laws in the country," Hotch replies quietly. "I'm sure it's regulated."
"Yeah, but methanol is also used in making biofuels, which quite a few people have been doing at home," Rossi counters. "I'd imagine the sale of it is fairly commonplace."
