"It's interesting," Alex said out loud. She was pretty certain this thing could read her mind, and so talking wasn't really necessary, but she felt more comfortable when she could hear her own voice. It was hoarse from screaming and inhaling the stale air for so long - how long? Hours? Days? Years? Time didn't seem to matter in here - but it was still her own voice.

"You know everything that scares us…" she paused and coughed breathlessly, but then the cough morphed into a surprisingly amused chuckle. "… but there must be something that scares you as well. And I think I know what."

I fear nothing.

JJ's eyelids fluttered and she opened her eyes, staring up at Alex.

"Where are we?"

"Literally the creepiest house in the world," Alex replied and shook her head. "Do you think you can stand up?"

"Yeah," JJ replied after a brief pause when she flexed her tender muscles and decided that although everything hurt, nothing was broken.

"Good. We're getting out of here."

You are not going anywhere.

"Yes, we are," Alex replied and helped JJ up in a standing position. She put one arm around the younger woman's waist and began to slowly drag her with her in a direction she hoped lead to the exit. JJ was bleeding in numerous places and she had a bump on her head, but she was awake and seemed as aware as she did before they went inside.

There are no ways out of here.

"There is always a way out, all you have to do is find it," Alex stated in a low but confident voice.

She could feel the presence, the mind monster, search through her thoughts furiously, trying to find out about her intentions before it was too late. It wasn't exactly painful, but it was very unpleasant. She gritted her teeth and pressed on, while steadying JJ with one hand and frantically searching her pockets with the other. Eventually her fingers closed around the object she was looking for, and she pulled it out. She was unaware that a smile of triumph was playing on her lips.

"Whatever you are, you exist in a decaying wooden house full of old papers and dust. At least I know what should scare you," she said as she switched on the cigarette lighter. A bright flame cut through the murk like a blade. She set it to a heap of newspaper that they just passed, and the crumpled, dry papers immediately caught fire.

While she knew setting fire to a place you were trapped in wasn't exactly a smart idea, she could think of nothing else. And it turned out to be a good decision. The house seemed to shrink away from the two women as the presence that resided in here lost its hold over them. Suddenly they could see the front door, less than ten feet away. They exchanged quick, disbelieving glances and moved on through the rapidly thickening smoke. Alex reached for the doorknob and yanked the door open - almost falling over in the process as she had expected at least some resistance - and pushed JJ out. When she tried to follow suit, she could feel the creature inside throw itself after her, trying to grab hold of her mind once more, but it was weakened, distracted by the fire, and she pulled loose with ease.

"I told you, I don't break," Alex spat before stepping outside, into the humid late-July air, and slammed the door shut behind her. She took a few steps onto the lawn before she collapsed next to JJ, who was on her stomach with her forehead pressed to the cool grass.

"We need to call the fire-fighters," JJ muttered into the greenery.

"To hell with it, let it burn down."

JJ rolled over to the side and looked carefully at her colleague and friend. From the spiderwebs in Alex's usually well-groomed hair to the dust on her clothes, the sweat-mixed dirt that smeared her face like war paint, the streak of soot on the side of her hand... JJ began to laugh. While it was 90 % from relief, the rest was pure amusement. Classy, composed Alex Blake never looked this crappy. At least not in public.

"What's so funny?"

"You look like shit, Alex."

Alex began laughing as well.

"You know JJ, you don't exactly look like a million bucks either," Alex retorted and rolled over on her back, staring up at the clear blue sky. She had never been so grateful to see the sky before. The air, no matter how humid it was, tasted heavenly. The sweet scent of grass was a lovely change from the dry, dead smell of dust and decay. She could hear the sounds of a distant thunderstorm mixing with the crackling sound when the fire ate through the house. And she could hear the footsteps as the local police came running towards them, but for a few more seconds, she just wanted to bask in the knowledge that they had survived, and they had gotten out safely.

JJ reached out a hand and squeezed her shoulder.

"Who knew your bad habit would end up saving our lives?"

Alex chuckled and glanced at the lighter she still clutched in one hand.

"Yeah, who knew?"

"Thank you for coming in after me."

"You know, I may be a lot of things, but I am not someone who leaves a friend behind." She paused and considered. "However, you get to tell Hotch what the hell happened."

JJ groaned as she began tackling the difficult task of sitting upright.

"You call that not leaving a friend behind, huh?"

Alex smiled sweetly and said nothing. JJ grinned and shook her head.

Behind them came a roaring sound as the burning roof fell in. Nobody was going to get caught in that supernatural version of a Venus flytrap again. At least they had succeeded in that much.

Epilogue

When the afternoon turned into evening and JJ and Alex had been examined by a doctor, given their statement about the things that occurred in that house, and taken long, hot showers, they went out for something to eat. Neither wanted to catch up with the rest of the team just yet; this day had just been too weird.

After finishing their meals, they ordered in a beer each. None of them spoke until they had finished about half of it. There were just too many things to think about, and too little rhyme and reason to the whole thing. Eventually, JJ put her glass down and sought Alex's eyes.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Did… did that really happen? I mean, in there."

Alex bit her lip and anxiously tapped her fingers on her thigh before answering.

"To be completely honest, I'm not sure. I suppose it could have been… I don't know…"

"Folie á deux?" JJ suggested. Alex nodded, but didn't seem convinced.

"It's possible, I suppose. Or some kind of fungus giving off hallucinogenic spores that we inhaled. Who knows, anything could have grown in that environment."

She spoke slowly, as if expecting to be cut off any moment - almost wishing she'd be, in fact. JJ gave her a reluctant look.

"You don't believe that, do you?"

Alex shook her head. "No, I don't. What do you think?"

"I don't know what to think… but it sure seemed real."

"Mm."

They fell silent for a while and focused on their drinks. JJ happened to glance across the table and see some kind of insect crawl onto Alex's arm.

"Alex," she began, pointing to the invader of her friend's personal space. The older woman looked down at her arm and barely raised an eyebrow before squashing the bug with one hand. As she wiped the mess off with her napkin she commented in a calm voice;

"If this whole story taught me anything, it's that I'd rather deal with a bug or two, than an invisible maniac that can hack into my mind with less effort than Garcia hacks into an average online network."

JJ laughed and nodded. She couldn't agree more.

A/N

So, eventually I managed to finish the editing of the last part. It wasn't until the last chapters that this story got its wings, which is funny since this was my comfy genre back in the day. Oh well.

And yeah, you get to choose what to believe happened. Was it "madness for two", a cabin fever kind of reaction that had nothing to do with a supernatural being? Or was it a hallucinogenic fungus or the likes? Or did it really happen?

Like so many other things in life, we can't be entirely sure… though I know what I think. ^^

Reviews are welcome. I hope you liked it!