Horror

She handles horror much like she handles everything else…

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Prentiss could make a list of 'things that were real shit about tonight' and it'd probably require footnoting and its own postal code. But she was in that grumpy edge of completely fucked off with life where she was going to inflict it on Reid even though he was suffering right there in the dankest of basements alongside her.

"I hate basements," she grumbled. Reid mmm'd thoughtfully from where he was trying to fiddle the basement door open. It had slammed shut on them, leaving them locked in a crap-hole old creaky house with no one back at the precinct expecting them for hours. "And it's raining."

"We're inside," he said. His flashlight went out. "Fu—damn."

Water blooped onto Emily's forehead. "It's raining inside." More water blooped. She wiped it from her face, frowning as it came off sticky and kind of glutinous. "It's raining slime?"

"Mould," Reid replied right as the stairs dropped out from under him. He fell with a yowl, hitting the ground hard. Prentiss winced for him as he staggered up and moaned.

"You okay?" she asked. There was silence. "Reid?"

"That wasn't me," he whispered, inching closer to her.

Grooooooooooaaaaan, said the moaner.

"Oh, fuck no," said Emily, who hated horror movies because everyone in them completely failed at punching scary things in the face if they got too close. "Fuck right off with that, thanks."

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrooooooooonnnnnn, moaned the groaner.

Reid shrunk back against Prentiss, about one scary moment away from trying to climb into her arms with fear. The Scooby Doo to her Shaggy. "Emily," he whimpered, his eyes huge and bulging and locked on a white shape unfolding from the wall and oozing across the floor towards them.

Bloop, went the water.

Brrrrrrrrrrooooooooaaaaaaannnn, went the white floor shape thing.

Well, thought Prentiss as she looked down at it, if she was going to die, she was at least going to prove her theory about horror movies before doing so. Anything—anything—would stop being spooky if sufficiently kicked in the face.

She raised her boot and readied herself.