Happy Halloween! :D
Here's my entry for the Masquerade Challenge on CCOAC (My first time doing something like this... As stressful as getting this together was, I already have sent in my ballot for the Christmas Challenge). My assignment was Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz," which is one of my all-time favorite movies (I also read the book, so I can tell you that the book was pretty amazing, too). It took me a while to get the muse interested, but I did it! :D
Also, sorry if any of the characters seem OOC; just chalk it up to the fact that most of this story is all a dream of Emily's.
I don't own Criminal Minds, although I have heard there's going to be an episode coming up where Reid faces off with a tornado; ironically enough, it's called "There's No Place Like Home."
I also don't own "The Wizard of Oz," or "Doctor Who." (You'll see when you get there).
And now, what you've all been waiting for...
….
"To please a child is a sweet and a lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own reward." ~ L. Frank Baum
Emily Prentiss plopped down on her couch, sighing as she laid back and propped her feet on the far end of the comfy piece of furniture. There had been many a night when she had returned from a case, only to collapse onto its comforting length. She yawned.
She needed a Halloween costume; JJ was throwing a small Halloween get-together at her house, and Garcia had requested (AKA ordered, and promised terrible consequences if this order wasn't followed through) that everyone dress us. Thankfully, Hotch and Rossi had drawn the line at her actually picking out people's costumes, but it was small comfort to Emily.
Even worse, her car broke down, and JJ lived miles away from the Metro network. Thankfully, Rossi and Morgan had agreed to look at the car the next day, and Reid had offered her a ride to and from JJ's house.
And now, all she wanted to do was sleep; Reid wasn't coming to get her until five-thirty, and the clock said it was only three-fifteen that Sunday evening.
She settled in, sighing as she closed her eyes; five minutes would be a nice break, she thought...
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
When Emily first awoke, she realized that she wasn't in bed; heck, she wasn't even on her couch! Instead, she was lying in a small patch of grass just off a field of corn. She bolted upright, her hand instinctively reaching for her absent gun.
That was weird….
Keeping her emotions in check, she examined her surroundings. No cars, no other humans… just corn and crows.
That was when she looked down at her clothes. She was wearing a blue and white gingham pinafore dress with a white crinkle-neck blouse and white knickers underneath. The skirt reached to just past her knees, where white knee-high stockings led down to a pair of….
"You have got to be kidding me," she growled, glaring at the ruby-red slippers that adorned her feet. "Seriously? Wonder what simple dream analysis would say about this? I'm Dorothy from 'The Wizard of Oz!'"
"Hey there, Princess!" called a voice from behind her
Emily glanced behind here, but couldn't see anything from behind her now bushy black hair, which had been divided into two ponytails on the side of her head. She did a full 180, but no one was there.
"What the-?"
"Down here!"
She then glanced down at the yellow brick she was standing on, staring at the tiny black figure in front of her.
"….Morgan?"
"In the flesh, Prentiss," he yipped. "Well… the fur, at least."
"You're a dog!" she cried.
"Really, Emily? Because now isn't the time for insults! I mean, I will admit that I like the ladies, but-."
"No, I mean you're a dog, you're Toto the dog!"
"….What?"
Emily produced the signature basket from where it was lying, and ruffled through it until she found a simple hand mirror and held it in front of Morgan. Indeed, he looked like the little puppy Toto from the movie, but there was something distinctly… Morgan-like about the canine. Emily guessed it was the eyes; they were dark, but there was something mischievous about them that reminded her of Morgan.
As soon as he could see himself, Morgan tilted his little doggie head to the side. "You're right," he admitted. "I'm a dog. A tiny, mangy dog, but I'm still a dog."
"Don't forget cute," Emily added. Morgan's tail wagged in response.
"So… What do we do now?"
Emily replaced the mirror in the basket. "Don't you remember the movie?" she asked. "We follow the yellow brick road. Maybe if we go to Oz and see the Wizard, we can solve this whole dream-sequence and hopefully put it behind us."
Morgan scoffed. "I can't wait to meet the Scarecrow!"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
They didn't travel very far until they reached a stretch of corn guarded by a scarecrow. And just like in the movie, there was a fork in the road.
"Which way do we go?" Morgan yipped.
"Honestly, I have no idea," Emily replied.
"You could go that way," exclaimed a new voice.
They turned to see the Scarecrow on his post, pointing toward the left fork.
"Did he just-?" Emily began.
"Or you could go the other way," the new voice continued.
"I think he just-!" Morgan gasped as he stared at the Scarecrow, pointing at the right fork.
"Wellllll... I suppose you could go both ways!"
By now, the Scarecrow's arms were crossed in both directions over his torso, pointing in either direction.
Emily walked toward the stuffed figure. His face was mostly covered by the wide-brimmed hat he wore, but if his clothes weren't made of patchwork, he would have looked just like….
Oh, no, he didn't just look like him, he was, in fact….
"Reid?" she whispered, reaching a hand to the side of the Scarecrow's face.
"Hey, Emily," he said, a warm smile spreading on his face.
"But you're…"
"Made of straw, rags and hanging from a pole," he joked. "That's a new concept to grasp, isn't it? But you're correct; I'm a Scarecrow." He paused, making one of his trademark frog faces. "Say, Emily, there's a catch on the back of this pole. I was wondering if maybe you could unhook it from my back so I can get down? Please?"
"Of course!" she said, climbing the fence behind him to work on the latch; a moment later he crashed to the ground with a yelp.
Morgan winced. "Pretty Boy, that has got to hurt!" he grumbled.
"I'm fine, really," Reid gasped as he sat up and adjusted his stuffing. "See? No harm done!" he added, pushing down on his hat.
Emily leaped from the white fence, dashing to the still smirking Scarecrow. "How about you—That's what I thought," she said as Reid attempted to stand up and walk, only to stumble and fall back into a straw-stuffed heap in the grass. She pulled him to his feet, giggling as he made to dust himself off and once again, adjust his stuffing and hat. He then began experimenting with his legs, and once he seemed more comfortable, he struck out on his own, wobbling slightly as he walked.
"I haven't felt like this in ages!" he crowed.
"Please don't start singing," Morgan howled. "I saw the movie, and I know everyone sings, but not now, okay?"
"You could come with us," Emily cried suddenly. "You know, go to Oz. I just want to go to make him stop talking,' she added, gesturing to the talking dog.
"Very funny," Morgan scoffed, turning on his heel and walking down the road.
"I guess the puppy is impatient," Emily stage-whispered to Reid.
"The puppy wants to keep moving," Morgan snapped. "Let's go!"
"Someone got p on the wrong side of the dog bed this morning," Reid muttered.
Emily laughed.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Hey guys!" Morgan yipped. "Look what I found!"
They had been traveling for a while now; after a stop to get apples, which ended when the apple trees began throwing the red fruits at them when Reid began insulting the apple trees, Morgan had run across the road, dodging the missiles to hide in a bush. It was from this bush that his voice came from.
Reid and Emily followed him into the thicket to find a man standing as if about to chop down a tree, but he was frozen in the act.
As soon as she saw the Tin Man, Emily acted. "Reid, look for an oil can," she ordered and moments later, one was pressed into her hands. She immediately began oiling the Tin Man's jaw, lips and neck. She nearly dropped the can in shock at the voice that came from the Tin Man.
"I've been stuck there for days, I…." the Tin Man paused, looking at the three weary travelers before him.
"Prentiss? Reid?"
"Hey Hotch," Reid muttered, puppy dog face firmly in place.
"Hotch?" Morgan whined. "Oh, damn…."
"Morgan? You're a-"
"Don't say it." Morgan growled threateningly.
"Stop it, Morgan," Emily threatened. "I said you were cute!"
Morgan continued to grumble as Reid and Prentiss finished oiling Hotch the Tinman; as soon as they could move his legs, they guided him to the edge of the road and set him on a grassy knoll nearby.
"Let me guess," Morgan grouched. "You're not supposed to have a heart?"
"What?" Hotch asked.
"Like in the movie," Morgan continued.
"If that's true," Reid added. "Then am I not supposed to have a brain?"
Emily rolled her eyes. "Once we get to Oz and figure out what the heck this dream is about," she snapped. "I'm going to ask the wizard to remove your voice box."
"Okay, okay, I'll stop talking," Morgan huffed. "For now."
Reid caught the murderous glare in Emily's eyes. "I think we should keep moving," he muttered quickly, beginning to lope at a less-than-graceful jog down the road.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
By the time they reached the forest, they were all tired. Morgan was snapping at anyone who talked, and Emily was snapping at Morgan for snapping at the others. The sound that Tinman Hotch made as he walked, a sort of squeaky clanging sound, was loud and redundant and made Reid wince at times.
Fog rolled in when they reached the deepest part, and soon the visibility of their area was that of cottage cheese. Morgan, who was the worst off, growled his displeasure.
"We're going nowhere, and fast!"
"Technically, we're going somewhere," Reid corrected. "We just can't see where we're going."
"Stop talking before I shove you into the path of an oncoming bear!" Morgan howled.
Emily wrapped her arms around the Scarecrow's shoulders. "He won't be able to push you off a cliff," she assured him gently. "Let alone in front of a bear."
"Or a lion," Reid voiced.
"I don't think lions live in these woods, Reid," Hotch reasoned. "Or tigers, for that matter."
"Lions and tigers and bears," Emily stage-whispered jokingly.
"Oh my!" Reid squeaked in a high falsetto.
"Will you two stop?" Morgan snapped. You are trying my patience, you-!"
"ROAR!" snarled the sound from the jungle beyond the path.
"AHHHH!" was the cry of the travelers.
Moments later, the trees and foliage parted to reveal….
"Rossi?" Prentiss and Reid gasped.
"Dave?" Hotch whispered.
Morgan slapped his head with one black furry paw "This just gets better and better," he groaned.
"Who dares enter my forest?" Rossi the lion growled.
Morgan laughed; it sounded like a bark. "I never thought you'd be the Lion, Rossi," he joked.
Rossi sprang at the little dog, who yelped and ran off in another direction. Emily took the initiative, running to the lion and bopping him on the nose. As expected, he howled, gripping his face in pain.
"….You hit me?" he whispered, staring at Emily with shock. A second later he burst into tears. "T-that h-h-hurt," he whimpered.
"You big baby," Morgan grumbled. Hotch glared at him.
"Don't make me feed you to the crows," Reid growled.
By now, Emily was hugging the Lion, telling him not to cry.
"How about you come with us?" Reid asked suddenly; his voice shook slightly, but it was still firm.
After a short time of debating, the Lion agreed and the group of four, plus a talking dog, continued down the path to Oz.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Upon reaching Oz, the travelers made no delay in making their way to the center of the city, save for the red-faced, large-nosed Gatekeeper and his insistence that they tidy up for the Wizard. So with their hair combed, tin buffed, clothes straightened, straw re-stuffed, and a new collar for the dog ("You can't be serious!" Morgan wailed. "I'm NOT actually a dog!"), they approached the Doorman.
"No one is allowed to see the Great Oz," he began to say, but one glare from Hotch, a growl from Morgan, and the sight of Rossi's twitching tail made him quickly open the doors and allow the team into the viewing room.
As soon as the door closed behind them, the room came to life with bright flames and the floating head of a woman.
"I am OZ! The Great and Powerful! WHO ARE YOU?"
"….JJ?" Reid gasped, quaking from his straw-filled cap to his manky old boots.
"I AM NOT 'JJ!'" shouted OZ/JJ. "I AM OZ, SCARECROW!"
Morgan growled. "No one yells at my Pretty Boy like that," he barked. Seconds later, a large flare shot up from beside the walkway and Morgan retreated, yelping.
Emily stepped forward, placing a hand on Reid's shoulder. "Look," she began. "I know that you may not be in the mood to speak to us, or help us out or anything, but we do need help. You see, I fell asleep on the couch in my apartment back home, and woke up here. All I really want is to go home; I'm supposed to go to a Halloween party, and I need to find a costume before I can. This nap, as nice as it has been, is taking more than the allotted five minutes that I gave it in the first place. I would like to wrap it up sooner rather than later."
JJ the Wizard of Oz stopped to ponder this thought. Her eyes widened for a moment and her face softened, before she returned her piercing gaze to the team and continued her tirade.
"I will give you what you want, you and your friends. But first things first…. You must kill the Wicked Witch of the West!"
"What?" Morgan cried. "That's not fair, Man! She just wants to go home, and honestly, I'm all ready for this craziness to finish itself up myself."
"Same here," Reid admitted. "Because while I like being made of straw, I would really like to be human again."
"BRING ME THE BROOMSTICK OF THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST," JJ screamed. "AND I WILL GRANT YOU YOUR REQUESTS! NOW GO!"
"But-but what if she kills us first?" Rossi asked.
"I SAID GO!"
And as more flames blazed through the room, reaching the ceiling and lighting the room a bright white color, the group ran outside into the Town Square….
Right into the arms of a legion of flying monkeys, each with the faces of various UnSubs; Emily cringed as she saw that their faces included Ian Doyle, George Foyet, Tobias Hankel, Adam Jackson, Karl Arnold, Billy Flynn, Owen Savage, and even Nathan Harris.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
The monkeys had carried them through the sky to a large stone castle and deposited them into a small office-like room, where a green-skinned woman in a black cape and hat stood waiting for them. Emily's jaw dropped at the realization that she recognized the witch.
At this, she turned to Reid.
"Strauss is the Wicked Witch of the West?" Emily whispered to Reid.
He shrugged. "The rest of the team is already here," he offered, nodding to Morgan, Hotch and Rossi. "It makes sense, right?"
Emily could have smacked herself; with the exception of Garcia, the entire team was right here, standing in front of Strauss the Wicked Witch, who was gloating gleefully.
"I finally have you all right where I want you!" she cackled. "After years of chasing you through tons of red tape and lookholes, you are all here, with me. In trouble, of course."
"And we usually get out of it, Erin," Hotch added; clearly, Emily and Reid weren't the only people to realize just who they were talking to.
"You're one to talk, Aaron," she chuckled as she shuffled toward Reid and Emily, a mad glint in her eyes.
"I should have known," she said knowingly; Emily watched in horror as a ball of fire materialized in her hand. "Want to play ball, Scarecrow?" she taunted, throwing the fire toward him.
Thinking quickly, she grabbed a bucket of water that was resting next to her foot and threw it onto both Reid and Strauss the Witch. While Reid's was a yelp of surprise, Strauss' was a scream.
"What have you done to me?" she shrieked. "I'm melting, melting! Oh, what a world, what a world….."
And she sank into a puddle of black material; Rossi gingerly lifted her broomstick and passed it to Emily.
"You did it, Princess," Morgan yelped. A general cheer went up.
"Three cheers for Prentiss," cried a voice gleefully.
The four travelers and Morgan the talking canine turned to find a lovely young woman standing in a silver bubble, which popped as it landed, revealing….
"Garcia!" Emily, Reid and Morgan cheered. The Tech/Good Witch bowed before stepping toward Emily.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," Emily began. Garcia chuckled.
"It's a good thing I stopped by; I could hear that woman screaming all the way from Munchkinland."
A chorus of laughter was struck up.
"So does this mean we can go home?" Morgan asked hopefully.
Garcia turned to the talking dog and laughed. "Oh, Chocolate God, I had no idea you would be so cute in this dreamy fantasy!"
"Really?" Morgan asked, looking a bit more pleased with himself. "You think I'm cute?"
"That's what I've been telling him all this time!" Emily cried. Reid laughed.
Garcia grinned at him. "You, my little Einstein, should be a Scarecrow more often; you look adorable!"
If a scarecrow could blush, Reid would have been beet red.
"Rossi makes a handsome Lion," she added.
"Thank you, Kitten," Rossi chuckled.
"And Hotch…. I love that Tinman look on you," she finished.
"Thank you, Garcia," Hotch replied.
Finally, Garcia returned her gaze to Emily, smiling slightly.
"I believe you have done what you set out to do," Garcia said to her friend. "It's time to go home."
"How do I do that?" Emily asked. "Do I click my heels together?"
"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of…."
As she spoke, Garcia waved the magic wand she held in her hands, and Emily closed her eyes, unconsciously moving her heels together three times….
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Emily jerked awake, the sound of her phone alarim buzzing in her ears. Quickly she grabbed the thing and silenced it, throwing it back onto the coffee table before stretching and sitting up.
What a weird dream….
But there was one thing good that came out of it, she realized as she checked her phone for the time and grabbed her coat.
Emily Prentiss had a costume to rent.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Someone rapped on her apartment door while she was in the bathroom door.
"Hang on, I'm coming!" Emily called as she ran to the front door, adjusting the hem of the pinafore dress before peeking through the peephole. She grinned at the outsider before undoing the chain and opening it wide enough to let her visitor in.
"Hey Reid," she said, glancing at his costume. "Wow! You're…"
"Were you expecting something else?" he asked, adjusting the dark red bowtie and shrugging his thin shoulders under his tweed jacket, grinning as he spoke. "By the way, I like your costume; The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was first written by L Frank Baum in the early 20th century, first published in 1900; ii was only renamed The Wizard of Oz when it was adapted into a movie. However, when they adapted it for the silver screen, lots of references were changed or removed; for example, when Dorothy's slippers in the book were silver, they were ruby red in the movie, a change made to accommodate the Technicolor aspect of the movie. Features of the book, including China Country and the Hammerheads, were cut for timing, and the Wicked Witch of the West was given a larger role, while the Good Witch of the North, Glinda the Good Witch of the South and the Queen of the Field Mice were combined into one character. Overall, there are at least 44 identifiable major differences between the book and the movie adaptation."
"I know, Reid," She said.
"Plus, The Wizard of Oz was the debut of Minnesota-born actress Judy Garland, or Judy Gumm, and also her most famous role. Did you know that before acting, Judy and her sisters were singers? It was where Jusy got the name 'Garland;' when they performed, the Gumm sisters were called 'The Garland Sisters.' There are actually many theories as to why that is. Also, the Gumm family home in Grand Rapids, Minnesota has been turned into a museum. However, there are reports that the ruby slippers used in the filming of the movie that were on display in the museum were stolen a few years ago."
"….Do you want me to buy you a fez?"
"No, but thank you, Emily; I have a Sonic Screwdriver in my pocket."
...
A/N: Virtual Halloween candy if you can guess which Doctor our good Doctor was portraying tonight (It should be really easy).
Also, if you go out on this happy Halloween... Stay safe! Only take wrapped candy, stay in areas you know, travel in groups, and if you feel uncomfortable in a certain situation, go somewhere safe, find someone you can trust, regroup, or go home, prop up your feet and watch a Halloween flick (I'll suggest the ever-popular Hocus Pocus, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Halloweentown (the original Disney Channel movie; I liked the others, but the original was possibly the best in my opinion... Marnie yelling "Hey Chocolate Bar!" hahaha priceless... And Benny the Skeleton! :D), 1408 or something like that; I know Matthew has a list of good Halloween flicks on his Tumblr).
Please stop and leave a review; feed the Flying Monkeys, please!
And have a Happy Gublerween! :D
Love,
*~N_CBAU~*