Unstable (CM, Alex Blake, Secret Santa for Chanel_no5)

[PropertyofCora]

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Character: Alex Blake (f)

Secret Santa for @Chanel_no5

 

Hello!  Sorry I’m cutting this close to the end, but you’ll see why in a moment.  I was so thoroughly excited to see I got you, as you have previously written me such a wonderful secret santa gift, I could not wait to return the favor.  My excitement was somewhat short-lived, however, when I realized that I did not know any of your preferred fandoms.  At all.  Of course, I could have gone original, but I wanted this to be something truly enjoyable for you, so I have been trying my best to learn enough about Criminal Minds and Alex Blake by watching some of her episodes, researching her background.  I say this because I undoubtedly have probably gotten some information wrong, either about her character or how they all work, so I want to apologize in advance for any blunders.  Hopefully it still makes sense and lives up to your expectations!   I had lots of fun working on this!

~~~

It just had to be a horse ranch.

Alex Blake couldn’t have been sent to talk to the man in the nice, horse-free hospital.  That would have been much too simple for the fates, it seemed.  Certainly, she doubted her team would have forced her to come had they known of her aversion to the hairy beasts, but she could hardly tell them anything sufficient enough in place of the truth.

And of course, the truth was never going to be an option.  New to the team, there was no reason to give them cause to think her weak.

But ugh, why did it have to be a ranch?

Steeling herself, Blake walked steadily ahead, feeling the presence of Reid not far behind.  They were both in charge of speaking to the girl who tended to the horses after one was involved in the particularly gruesome murder of a leading jockey. 

Determined she could do this and clenching her fists in resolve, Blake pushed her way through the half-open wooden door and into the stable.  Her first thought was panic, because nearly every direction she looked was another torturous horse either staring at her or sleeping.  Her second thought was dread, because she could see a figure at the complete opposite end of the stable, presumably the girl they were here to speak with, and the only way to reach her was to shuffle her way through the hay-strewn ground and past every single beast.

Her third, and most horrific thought, was that a deep itch was already forming high up in her nose.

It was possible that maybe, just maybe, she could hold the tickle back if she refrained from breathing for the remainder of their time inside, but Blake was less confident that she would succeed very far without air.  Which meant, she was soon going to have to take a breath, and she could already see in the beams of sunlight streaming through the windows that the horses had long-since filled the spacious building with millions of tickly little allergens. 

“Hello!” the girl, named Cassandra Giles, called over.  Realizing that any last hope of fleeing before being spotted was over, Blake smiled weakly and continued to close the distance.  She was a young girl in her twenties with braids, and behind her stood a big black horse, seemingly towering over them all. 

“I’m Agent Blake, this is Agent Reid.  We’re here to ask you a few questions about the Holloway murder.”  She reached out and shook hands reluctantly, trying not to think about how many horse hairs her hand might be picking up in the process. 

“Oh, of course!”  The girl looked mildly sympathetic.  “I doubt I know much of help, but anything I can answer I’d be glad to.”  Her face changed, looking suddenly quite solemn.  “And of course, getting Buttercup back is of the utmost importance to us.”

Buttercup being the horse, which a witness had seen the unsub dashing away on at the crime scene.  Blake faked a sympathetic smile, not feeling entirely caring about horses at the moment, all things considered.

Reid jumped in to fire off a few questions, leaving Blake to her thoughts a bit too long.  It soon became apparent that her increased proximity to the horse was going to be a problem.  The itch was beginning to burn more deeply in her nasal cavities, and it seemed to now be accompanied by a very threatening drip getting closer and closer to escaping. 

Subtly, while still trying to listen to the conversation taking place beside her, Blake reached a hand into her pocket for a tissue.  Instead, her fingers grasped an empty plastic wrapper, the remnants of a pack she had depleted trying to fix her lipstick several hours back.  Had she realized the only thing standing between herself and a fit of embarrassment would be that flimsy piece of paper, she would have forgone makeup entirely. 

Now, instead, she was faced with the ultimate dilemma.  She either needed to sniffle, which would thwart the current situation but lead to another, as that tickle was beginning to intensify beyond a mere annoyance.  Or, she could leave it be, and look like a messy toddler in front of her co-worker and a perfect stranger, which really wasn’t an option at all.

Risking it, Blake scrunched up her nose and sniffled, immediately regretting her superficial decision.  It was as if every single bit of horse dandruff, hair, and hay dust flew up and sucked itself up her nose, dancing around the tickle and causing it to burn beyond belief.  There was no doubt that she was going to sneeze, and judging by the raging itch, it would hardly be easy to disguise for long.

Blake searched desperately around her for any sort of solution, but bar fleeing toward the exit, there was little she could find.  She raised a hand to her nose, hoping she might be able to squash the itch before it grew too strong for her to withstand, and rubbed a finger quickly along the underside of her nostrils.

Whether it was because she had forgotten she shook hands with the horse-hair covered glove just moments before, or the pressure was merely too much, immediately the itch overtook her, silently stifled clumsily into the back of her hand.

Nervously, she peered around, but no sound had escaped, and the movement seemed to have evaded any attention from the others.  Unfortunately, it had hardly done anything to dispel the itch, and she quickly realized why she had not been noticed.

Cassandra had turned back to what she was doing, still chatting away to Reid in a conversation Blake had long lost track of, and was brushing the beast behind her, flinging hair right in Blake’s direction.

As if sensing the oncoming storm, her nostrils quivered in fear, feeling as though her nose might burst right off her face if it wasn’t soon subjected to relief.  She tried to breathe in through her mouth but her breath hitched desperately.  The stifle she’d been too slow to stop had done nothing, and every torturous allergen flung in her direction sent her nose into nearly spastic torment.

It was all she could do to press her against her nose, hoping it wouldn’t make too much sound, before she took one last desperate breath and exploded into a stifled fit.

Huhh...uhuh... huu’NgXT, NGXT, hu’NGt, gxNT, nxtCHOO!

The last sneeze broke out louder than the rest at the end, drawing the attention of everyone around her almost instantly.  Blake blinked and straightened up, glad to see only a small sheen of moisture against her wrist as she yanked it down away from her face, hoping to look composed.  She knew she was blushing from the last sneeze, but it had given her a small bit more relief than the others, which did nothing more than make her torment worse.

“Bless you,” the girl said halfheartedly before turning back to her brushing, somehow even more vigorously than before.  For half a beat, Blake was struck with the urge to explain the etymology of the phrase, but as she opened her mouth, she was hit suddenly with a sneeze that exploded out of her without enough warning to cover, Hurrishoo!, leaving glints of moisture that mingled with the allergenic particles in the closest stream of sunlight.

Blake could feel more threatening to escape, but they were both staring at her again, Reid looking like he was considering moving further away.  “Sorry, just a tickle, it’s nothing,” she muttered after clearing her throat, blushing crimson to match her increasingly irritated nose.

Reid was still watching her nervously, as though she might be some deathly hazard.

“I’m fide,” she stressed, flinching herself at the congestion that came out in her voice, unable to be solved without any tissues nearby.

But the tickle was still there, persisting stronger than ever, nearly suffocating Blake in its stronghold.  The thought of fleeing once more compelled her, but she needed to hear at least some of this interview if she had any hope of this torment being worthwhile.

“… why anyone wouldn’t want to steal Buttercup is a better question since …”

Her nose twitched, and she dared to touch it once more to try and pinch it shut.

“… two new stall cleaners we hired last month …”

The fragments of conversation reaching Blake were hardly of any help.  As she sucked in another shaky breath, and watched another strong sweep of the horse’s back send impossibly more fibers into the air, she knew her resolve was quickly slipping.

“… worked in a barn in Oklahoma before…”

Blake released her nose and took instead to waving a hand in front of her face, as if one last desperate attempt to blow the allergens away from her direction might somehow save her.

It did not. 

The itch was more intense than ever, impossible to hide.  Surely Reid would fear the plague from the outburst her nose was preparing, and she thought for a flashing second that it might be preferable to the torment she was currently undergoing, like a million tiny feathers all swiping the same spot at once.

Her nostrils quivered, jaw fell open as her lungs took in shaky breaths, preparing for the final battle.  She was surely losing, and every ounce of hope that she could somehow hide this vanished between her fingers, which were now outstretched in front of her face as though they might somehow hide her humiliation behind a barrier.

The first sneeze was brutal, ripping through her lungs and punching the air.

HUhh…uhhhhhh… ERRRESHHH.  EshOo!! 

Both sneezes were caught in her cupped hands, though the sound managed to escape throughout the stables.

Eshhiew!

This one dug at her throat with its force, and the horse Cassandra had been brushing bucked in fright.

“You’re scaring Onyx!”  Cassandra bit out through clenched teeth, as if Blake had been able to exercise any control over her nose in that moment.

HURRESHoo! Huhhh… hitchOO-chiew!

Her hands were still held out uselessly in front her of, blocking her face from view.  Blake could feel hot tears sliding down her face as her eyes burned. 

She glanced over and Reid had one hand clasped over his mouth, the other outstretched as far as possible and holding a tissue.  She grabbed it gratefully, no longer caring about propriety as she blew her nose.

“I’m not… HuhISHoo.  Dot sigk.  I’b aller-heh-gic to the h-horse.” 

Reid seemed to relax, but Cassandra did not.  She was still glaring, trying to calm her beastly Onyx all the while, who still seemed shaken from the force of her sneezes.  Blake’s announcement of her allergy only seemed to increase the daggered glares, as if that had somehow been the biggest insult she could have made.

HurreSHOO! ESHHOo!

These were captured into her elbow, as the tissue had gone past the point of usefulness, and her nose seemed incapable of letting up for more than a few seconds.

Reid jumped again and Cassandra yelled, “STOP SCARING HIM!”  Blake’s head was spinning with the commotion as Onyx kicked over a bucket and the number of feathers tormenting her most sensitive nose seemed to increase beyond belief.

Hihhh..he..heh.. hereSHIEW! HetchOO! Hishiew-huhhhh hitchiew! HuhRESHoOO!

“OUT!”

She certainly didn’t need to be told twice.

With a look that she hoped conveyed to Reid that she would meet him at the car once he finished, Blake fled through the nearest door, hand still held tightly over her burning nose as another deep hurSHHoo tumbled out.

 

[tenderwarrior]

Oh my god. This was so, so, so good!! I loved Blake's need to hide her allergy and Cassandra's cold demeanor. So good!!!! I loved it! 

[Shay]

I'm not at all familiar with this fandom, but that fact was irrelevant to my enjoyment of this story. Your descriptions of the torturous allergic buildup and panic before she finally gave in to the fit were masterfully done!

[Chanel_no5]

Oooiiiiiiiiihhhh!!!!! That’s almost exactly the sound I made when I logged in and saw this. Then I had to take a twenty-minute walk before sitting down to read because I was so excited and worked up I couldn’t sit still!

I LOVE THIS! I LOVE IT!! Oh my God, it’s so sweet of you to even take time to do research for something you weren’t familiar with, thank you so much!  

The spellings. Hotness!  

I adore her absolute determination to try and soldier through it rather than admitting it and be "weak". So very Blake.

16 hours ago, PropertyofCora said:

Which meant, she was soon going to have to take a breath, and she could already see in the beams of sunlight streaming through the windows that the horses had long-since filled the spacious building with millions of tickly little allergens. 

I am so going to think of this next time I enter the stable to this image. ^^

16 hours ago, PropertyofCora said:

“Bless you,” the girl said halfheartedly before turning back to her brushing, somehow even more vigorously than before.  For half a beat, Blake was struck with the urge to explain the etymology of the phrase, but as she opened her mouth, she was hit suddenly with a sneeze that exploded out of her without enough warning to cover, Hurrishoo!, leaving glints of moisture that mingled with the allergenic particles in the closest stream of sunlight.

Oh, the imagery here.  Beautiful.

16 hours ago, PropertyofCora said:

like a million tiny feathers all swiping the same spot at once.

Oooh yes...!  

16 hours ago, PropertyofCora said:

The first sneeze was brutal, ripping through her lungs and punching the air.

That is one of the best descriptions I have ever read/heard. Wow.

16 hours ago, PropertyofCora said:

“I’m not… HuhISHoo.  Dot sigk.  I’b aller-heh-gic to the h-horse.” 

 

Reid seemed to relax, but Cassandra did not.  She was still glaring, trying to calm her beastly Onyx all the while, who still seemed shaken from the force of her sneezes.  Blake’s announcement of her allergy only seemed to increase the daggered glares, as if that had somehow been the biggest insult she could have made.

Hahaha, I know a whole bunch of horse owners who would react just like that to such a revelation. Poor miserable Blake; unsettling Reid, scaring the horse and pissing off the owner, she's not winning any popularity contests here.  

Definitely wins my heart, though. I love this so much, thank you!!!!