Arachnophobia
Dancing4every1 asked for a oneshot of Emma being frightened of spiders and finding one in an unused drawer at the station. She breaks down on her dad.
I heard Emma sigh as she stopped typing on her keyboard. I knew the screen was filthy, it was getting to the point she could hardly see what she was typing. I'd been hinting for weeks for Emma to clean it, but in typical Emma fashion had been putting it off. I continued with my own work as I heard Emma rummage through the drawers of her desk and around the station. Somewhere we had special screen cleaning stuff. Most of these drawers badly needed cleared out. Suddenly Emma screamed and jumped back nearly the length of the office. My head shot up as I saw Emma cowering on her swivel chair. I was baffled and a little frightened. Emma didn't scare easy.
"Emma, what's wrong?" I asked. Emma just pointed a shaky finger at the drawer. I quickly moved over with my gun and examined the drawer. I couldn't help but laugh at what I saw- a spider. Maybe a little on the big side, but nothing to write home about.
"Emma, it's just a little spider." I picked it up in my hands. "Here, look…"
"Don't put that thing anywhere near me!" Emma shrieked. I could see that this wasn't a game, she really was terrified.
"Alright, it's ok." I quickly put the little guy out of the window. "There, it's gone. You can come down now." Emma slowly sat down properly on the chair. I could see that she was shaking. I felt bad now, I hadn't meant to tease her about something that was clearly serious to her. I came over and bent down beside her, placing my hands on her knees. "You ok honey?" I couldn't deny that I was alarmed when Emma suddenly launched herself into my arms sobbing. "Hey," I said, automatically rubbing circles on her back. "What's wrong baby?"
"Spiders!" Emma wailed. "I-I can't stand them! I'm terrified, ok? I'm frightened of spiders." I now felt rotten for making her feel bad. I pulled her back into my arms.
"Emma, baby, it's alright. We're all frightened of things. Don't tell your mother but I can't stand cotton wool."
"Really?" Emma mumbled into my chest.
"Really." I replied. "I'll go down to the supermarket this evening and see if they have any special bug spray for spiders. When I'm done fumigating this place there won't ever be a single spider ever dare try and make their webby home here ever again." I promised her. And I knew I would keep that promise. Emma might be too old for me to chase away monsters under the bed, but I could certainly chase away eight legged beasties.