Title: Priorities
Author: Kenuck
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Characters: Elle Greenaway, Jason Gideon.
Spoilers: "Unfinished Business"
Rating: K
Warning: None.
Disclaimer: "Priorities" is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to AJ for the beta.
Summary: "You're afraid that you're going to end up like Ryan, with no family?" Elle finds a way to stop her life from passing by. Post Unfinished Business.

***

"The mind can have tremendous control of the body; very few ailments can defeat focused energy and a determined spirit."
- Katherine Lambert-Scronce

Nothing can stop her now.

The lights have dimmed and the building is quiet – everyone has gone home.

She candidly sets the last frame on top of the contents of an office supply box and, as slowly and hesitantly as possible, places the lid on top of the box. Two boxes sit atop her empty desk, both filled with her belongings, her memories.

Glancing up at the windows of the offices across the bullpen, she acknowledges the illuminated office in the corner, and the last of her tasks.

Paper in hand, she crosses the silent room and heads up the few stairs and walks slowly in the direction of his office. The door is cracked slightly, with the light from his desk lamp pouring onto the ceramic flooring. She watches him from outside of the doorway, observing his lowered head, concentrated framed eyes, tranquil manner. His eyebrows are slightly raised – he's interested in what he's reading.

He inhales and exhales deeply, and looks up to meet her gaze.

"Elle," he says softly. "I thought you went home."

She swallows hard, gathering her courage. "Uh, no. I had a few things to do."

"Come in." He motions for her to sit in the chair opposite him, closes the file he was reading, and stuffs it under a pile of paperwork.

She enters, still clumsily clutching the paper, and sits down. Her hands are sweating profusely and her pulse is quick. She hopes he doesn't notice.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, dad," she says, adding the small joke to comfort herself.

He is visibly annoyed; she apologizes.

"What's the paper for?" He is curious.

She glances down at it in a moment of deliberation and, without a word, hands him the piece of white paper.

He examines it. " 'Letter of Resignation'?" he asks.

She shrugs. "Life's too short, Gideon."

He shakes his head in disbelief and sighs. "Elle…"

"Gideon, I woke up this morning and realised that for the past thirty-some-odd years, I've been hiding from myself. I chase monsters so that I can pull through, and I just can't live like this."

"Does this have anything to do with Ryan?"

"You talked to Hotch?"

"I did." He observes her. "You're afraid that you're going to end up like Ryan, with no family?"

"Can you blame me?"

He shakes his head. "I can't. Being an agent in the BAU, the odds of it happening are extremely high. Did you not anticipate it when you joined?"

"I wasn't sure what to anticipate," she says.

It becomes silent. He looks down at her letter of resignation. "Where are you planning on going?"

"I want to go and visit my family in New York, sort out my priorities."

"Are you sure this is what you want to do? It's not going to be the same without you."

"I'm sure you guys'll be just fine."

"Elle, I don't know if I can let you do this," he says, placing the letter delicately down on his desk.

"You have to," she says. "I've made up my mind, and I need to follow through." She gets up and heads for the doorway.

"Goodbye, Gideon."

As she leaves his office, he says nothing. When he knows she is gone, he puts her letter aside and pulls the file he was previously reading, out from underneath the pile of paperwork. Across the tab of the file, in large block lettering, it reads: GREENAWAY, ELLE. Gideon opens the file and stares at the police report.

There's nothing he can do to stop her.