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A/n I've taken some liberty on how a 911 dispatch operator and police deal with calls that might me pranks on Halloween for the sake of the story. Happy Halloween to you all!

The Horror of Reality

The hooded figure stopped, and dragged the girl around in a circle to face Reid. "Get back or I'll kill her."

He could see in the glare of the lights along the path, that the man had knife to the throat of the girl.

"Please," she screamed. "He's crazy. He'll kill me."

"Spencer," Gerry began, "What are you doing? It's just part of the show."

"Yeah, ya idiot. Look what we got for feds, a dumb ass that can't tell the difference between real and fake."

Reid ignored the onlookers who continued to harass him.

"Spencer," Mike hollered. "Stop it."

"Gerry, dial 911, now."

"Spencer…"

"Do not argue with me, Gerald. Do it now!"

He didn't take his eyes off the knife. "Put down the knife and let the girl go."

"Like they said it's all part of the show, man."

"No," screamed the girl. "He's my ex-boyfriend. He said he'll kill me."

"Shut up, bitch," shouted the man. "I'll cut you good."

Reid's arms were beginning to shake a little from holding his gun. "You hurt her and I will shoot you dead."

The crowd seemed firmly on the side that Reid was nuts and it was part of the show.

"Hey," someone yelled. "You're crazy. I'm gonna call the cops on your ass."

"Go right ahead," Reid said over his shoulder, "but stay back or I'll have you arrested for impeding a federal officer."

"Oh, I'm really scared."

"Looks like I'm gonna walk right out of here," said the man.

"Let her go," Reid said, "and I'll tell the DA you cooperated. If I have to shoot you, then that offer's off the table."

"Let go of me, Sam, please."

"Shut up, bitch."

"Talk to me, Sam." Reid demanded. "Tell what she did that pissed you off. It had to be something, right. It's always something they do."

"She's the one that left me," he said. "She called the cops on me, said I beat on her. She's the one that slapped me, called me crazy."

"You are crazy, Sam. He hit me first," she told Reid. "He's nuts."

"Sam, I understand how you feel, but you're playing right into her hands here. If you let her go, then you're the bigger man, right?"

"Spencer."

"Not now, Gerry."

"Spencer, I don't think the cops are coming, at least not right away. The dispatcher said they've got a ton of crank calls tonight. When I told her where we are she just sighed and said it was Halloween, but they'd do their best."

"Wonderful."

"Looks like the cops ain't coming anytime soon, so move back and let me go."

"Sam, let her go. Do the right thing."

The girl was sobbing and struggling against Sam. His hand shook, but the knife was right at her neck.

"I'm gonna kill her."

"Sam…"

"She deserves it."

"Don't make me shoot you."

Sam's hand wobbled then dropped to his side. He let the girl go and she stumbled away.

"Drop it, Sam. Get down on the ground and put your hands on top of your head.

Sam dropped the knife and sank to his knees. Reid pulled his cuffs out, moved in to kick away the knife, and secured Sam.

"It was real?" Mike said and reached for the knife.

"Don't touch it," Reid ordered. "It's evidence."

He looked up at the crowd. "The rest of you stay where you are. I'm going to get back up and they'll need your statements as witnesses."

H pulled out his phone and called 911. "This is SSA Dr. Spencer Reid with the FBI, Badge number V795947; I have an assault with deadly and attempted kidnapping."

He gave the dispatcher the address. "Yes, sir," she said. "I show a call from your location."

"Yes, I know, but I also know the call was classified as a possible prank. You need to upgrade the priority code on the call, now. I have the perp in my custody and I need an ambulance for the victim."

"Yes, sir. Right away."

Jimmy approached him when he disconnected from 911. "Hey, Spencer, sorry we all acted like jackasses today."

Gerry and Mike nodded. "We know you had a tough time over the summer, what with getting shot and all."

"Shut up," Jimmy said. "You promised not to say anything."

"Guys, it's alright," Spencer said, as he kept his weapon on Sam.

"No, it's not. Why don't we stop at The Pearl of India when you're done here, my treat," Jimmy said.

Reid grinned. "You know how to get on my good side."

"Well yeah, we've know each other for ten years."

"Alright, we'll go for some curry, after the cops take Sam into custody."

"And, you can tell us how you knew this guy was the real thing," Gerry wanted to know.

"It was simple," Reid said. "He doesn't have a costume other than that cloak and hood. He isn't wearing any stage make up."

"That's all!"

He almost laughed at his friend's incredulity. "No, that's not all. I can tell the difference between real and fake terror."

"I'm sure that's not all," Jimmy said with a smirk.

"I could see the knife was real."

"How?"

"Trade secret," Reid said and winked at them.

CMCMCMCMCMCMCM

"Reid, I need you in the conference room," Hotch said from the doorway of Rossi's office.

"Yes, sir."

He looked around and realized the Kate wasn't at her desk. He looked at his watch and saw that it was precisely 9 am on Monday, so he wasn't late. He hurried up the stairs and down the hall to the conference room.

"Hi," he greeted as he rushed in. "I didn't notice the time and -"

"Sorry, sweet cheeks no case."

He raised his eyebrows because they were all looking at him with varying degrees of irritation. "Guys…"

Then they all burst out laughing, including Hotch. "I've got a commendation for you," said SC Cruz, whom Reid hadn't noticed, was standing to his left. "Well done, Agent Reid."

"What?"

"I love seeing you confused," Morgan said around a grin.

"When were you going to tell us about your arrest over the weekend?"

The light went on and he felt his cheeks getting hot as Kate said. "They were right when they said you're a trouble magnet, Spencer."

"It wasn't my fault," he squeaked.

"Of course it wasn't," Rossi said. "It's never your fault."

"Well, you impressed the hell out of the Harlow family." Cruz said. "You averted a possible tragedy and made the Bureau look great.

"Thank you, sir."

"Now, why don't you tell us what happened.

When he finished his story, everyone including Hotch was grinning. "I'll bet that jackass felt like - well a jackass," Morgan said.

"Did you really tell your friends you knew it wasn't a prop knife," JJ wanted to know.

"Yeah, I figured in for penny, in for a pound."

"So you're saying you decided to exaggerate a little."

Everyone was watching him with marked attention. Rossi and Morgan were smirking at him.

"I wouldn't say exaggerate. The knife did look real to me."

"Alright, if you say so," Morgan said.

"I'm just glad you didn't panic and scare a couple of actors."

"Yeah, the police wouldn't have appreciated that."

"I wouldn't have enjoyed being on the other end of your 911 call," JJ said.

They all laughed including Reid. "I can understand the cops and the dispatchers. How many pranks do they get on Halloween?" Morgan wondered.

"Actually," Reid began, "Not as many as you might think. In fact -"

"Reid!"

"Sorry, Hotch."

"Still, I'm glad you were there, sweet cheeks," Garcia said. "If you hadn't let your friends talk you into going…"

Reid shivered, "I don't want to think about it."

"I guess everything does happen for a reason," Morgan said and Garcia beamed at him.

"Yeah," Reid agreed. "I think you're right."

He returned to his desk to get to work on the pile of files in his inbox. He didn't need fake horrors to scare him. Real life horrors, loneliness, despair, jealousy and death, he'd experienced them all. Joy, family, friendship and love held the world together, and he do anything to make sure they held sway over all he held dear in this life.

THE END