Disclaimer: Criminal minds and its characters do not belong to me. They have been borrowed for entertainment purposes only.
AN: Written for the Pick a Pair Challenge at the Country Song Prompts Forum. Prompt was the song "Me and Emily" by Rachel Proctor.
This is my take on why Elle may have chosen to join the BAU and transfer from Seattle. Definitely a bit AU. Also, as in keeping with the other one-shot with Elle and Morgan the two went through the Academy together.
Elle Greenaway felt the weariness washing over her. It had been a long drive from Seattle - the only option that had been open to her. All other means of travel could be tracked and it had finally gotten to the point where she knew she had leave. It wasn't just her own safety anymore. She had to think about the safety of their daughter sleeping peacefully in the back seat of the car.
~Jake hit me so much that I know there is nothing that would stop him from raising his hand to her, ~ Elle thought as she took her eyes off the rain-soaked road briefly in order to cast a glance at her sleeping daughter. The fading bruise from the last time Jake had hit her was visible on her left cheek.
It was an irony really when she thought about it. Elle Greenaway, the FBI agent with the highest number of solved cases in Seattle for three years and specializing in sex offender cases, would be involved in an abusive relationship. And it had been a long-term abusive relationship at that. Five years to be exact.
It wasn't like she hadn't thought about leaving before -she had. Quite a few times, usually when she was holding ice to whatever part of her body had been hurting at that point and time. Yet when the pain had subsided and he had whispered his soft words of apology to her, she had given up her resolve to leave and had stayed. That was before Emily had come along.
"I want that position at BAU."
Those were the words she had said with determination to Agent Derek Morgan when he had been in Seattle helping with a case. What she hadn't told him was the reason. Being a part of the BAU would mean that she was across the country - away from him. Somewhere that he could never hurt her again or even have the opportunity to raise a hand to Emily.
Elle had gotten the open position with the BAU team that had been in Seattle helping them with the case. She had a feeling that her SAC in Seattle had probably influenced the process some, as he had been pushing for her to transfer - not because he wanted to lose her as an agent but because he knew what she was going through in her personal life. Most of her fellow agents did and had been supportive. In fact, the bureau and her mother were the only ones who knew about her transfer. She had never even mentioned to Jake her interest in the BAU. Had never told him that she had taken the profiling classes.
~Though some might wonder about how much those classes took, ~ Elle pondered, as the wipers continued to brush the rain drops off the windshield of her car as she approached the area surrounding the nation's capital. ~I couldn't see what kind of person Jake was until I was so far into the relationship that it was hard to leave. That no matter what he did to me there was a part of me desperately wanted to believe that he really did love me.~
Elle Greenaway had never thought she would be one of those women who stayed in an abusive relationship but she had been. It had taken the birth of her now eight month old daughter to give her the courage to break away from it. To walk away from her life and to start over - not for herself but for her little girl. Leaving Seattle was what was best for Emily.
There was a beep from the cup holder. Reaching down, Elle picked her cell phone up. Glancing at the screen she whispered a soft curse at the message - low battery. Though she had almost reached her destination, she still had to find a place for them to stay for the night. She wasn't expected at the BAU for three more days. Elle had planned on finding a hotel when she got here, just as she had been each night of her journey; paying for each with cash so that there was no record. She was determined to make it almost impossible for Jake to find out where she had gone. The bureau wouldn't tell him where she had been transferred to. She had her former SAC's word on that. She had cancelled all of her credit cards, withdrew and closed her bank accounts and even cancelled her cell phone and bought a prepaid phone for the trip. Quantico, Virginia would be a brand new start for her and her daughter.
~Let's just hope I find a hotel with a vacancy before that phone dies completely, ~ Elle thought, squinting into the night as the rain picked up.
As if things couldn't get any worse, she began to hear an ominous sound - a low-pitch thud that couldn't mean anything good. Pulling to the side of the road, she put the car into park. Turning on her four-way flashers, casting a glance at Emily to make sure she was still sleeping, and grabbing the umbrella sitting on the passenger seat, Elle stepped out of the car. A short inspection confirmed her fears. The front passenger side tire was flat. Nor did she have a spare. The spare had been put on as she had made her way through Iowa, and as she had only the cash on hand until she got settled again, the old tire was in the trunk of her car, just as flat as this one was.
Frustrated, Elle walked around the front of the car and flopped down into the driver's seat. Wondering whom she could possibly call, she reached for the phone only to see that it had completely died. Letting out a soft cry of frustration, hoping not to wake Emily up, she leaned her forehead against the steering wheel fighting back the tears.
It wasn't long before she heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. Looking up, she saw a dark SUV pass her before slowing as it pulled to the side of the road. Hoping it was someone willing to help, but wary due to her years as a federal agent, Elle reached into the glove compartment for her gun. She was pulling the weapon out, as the man stepped from his vehicle and started walking back toward her. As she clipped the holster to her belt, the headlights of her vehicle fell on the guy and she breathed a sigh of relief as she realized she knew him.
Grabbing the umbrella once again, Elle climbed from the car.
"Do you require assistance ma'am?" SSA Derek Morgan asked as he approached the car. It wasn't long before he too recognized the woman standing in front of him. "Elle? Are you okay?"
"Physically fine, but I'm kind of stuck. Flat tire," she informed him with a wave toward the car.
"You got a spare tire? I can have it changed in no time."
"The spare got used back in Iowa. It's been a long trip."
"You drove here from Seattle?" Morgan asked her. "By yourself?"
Elle shrugged her shoulders. "It's a long story and it's just me and Emily," she replied.
"Emily?"
"My eight-month-old daughter."
"Now why didn't you tell me you were a mother when I saw you in Seattle five months ago?" Morgan asked, surprised at the news.
Elle shrugged. "We were kind of wrapped up in the case and didn't get a chance to talk much on the side."
"Well, we'll have to change that now that you're a part of the BAU," Morgan said, a broad smile on his dark features. He glanced at the car. "There isn't much I can do about the tire at this time of night if you don't have a spare. I'll give you and your daughter a lift to wherever your staying and then we'll take care of the car tomorrow."
"I'm not exactly sure where I'm staying yet. I was planning to find a hotel when I got here until I got settled . . ."
"I won't hear of it," Morgan said, cutting her off. "I've got a spare room at my house. You'll stay there until you get yourself settled."
"I'll be fine in a hotel."
"I'm not letting you stay in a hotel," Morgan told her firmly.
"Thanks, Derek," Elle said, relief sweeping over her at the offer her friend from their Academy days had made. For the first time since things had started going wrong on this trip, she was starting to think things might turn out okay.
"Now get yourself and your little girl in my vehicle and I'll take care of your luggage and mark the car as abandoned. I'll handle getting a new tire on it, first thing in the morning."
"You're a life-saver," Elle told him, closing the short distance still between them and holding the umbrella out of the way, gave him a quick hug.
"Just helping out a friend," Morgan replied modestly before heading for the back of the car.
Turning toward the car, Elle reached in to pop the trunk before she moved to get her daughter from the back seat. Starting over was still going to be hard, but it was good to know she at least had one friend already in the area and once she started at the BAU she was sure she could count on her co-workers here just like she had back in Seattle.
"We're going to be okay, Emily," Elle whispered to the still sleeping baby as she moved to unhook the car seat. Pressing a kiss to her daughter's forehead, she lifted the car seat from the vehicle, and protecting Emily from the falling rain made her way to the waiting SUV.