Final Thoughts
She stood once again in his office…his old office…just soaking up the lingering scent of the man that once occupied the now-empty desk. She still couldn't believe he was gone and how the team just seemed to move on so effortlessly without him. Why was she the only one that seemed so affected by his absence? After all, others had left before him without leaving her with such a sense of dread and desertion. Maybe it was because she was the one that had to walk by his darkened office every day on the way to her own. Or, if she was being truthful, it was because the one she felt actually needed her the most wasn't there anymore. When he left, he told her that she had always made him feel safe and years earlier he had gone so far as to call her his God-given Solace. How often in life do you find someone who actually says those things to you, and means them? She knew it may never happen again in her own lifetime. She had always thought that she wanted him to be her protector and encourager. But now, she realized, what she had actually craved was the way she needed him to need her. Sure, her team required all sorts of things or information from her, too, but with him he had needed nothing more than HER. And she realized that her place within the team had been anchored by that. Now that was gone, where did she fit in? She suddenly felt like a fish out of water. Of course, life would go on at the BAU, and she would be a part of it. What else could she do? She just knew it would be different from here on out. Taking one last look around, she reached for the light switch, sliding it into the "off" position, darkening the office into oblivion. Taking a deep breath, she closed and locked the door behind her, and headed to her own office to start the next chapter, whatever that may be.