Disclaimer: Criminal Minds isn't mine. If it were, Emily would have come out of the closet by now. (see profile for a REAL disclaimer)
She knew what she had to do.
Standing there in the bullpen as Hotch briefed everyone on her worst nightmare, tears formed in her eyes, just barely restrained as she studied her team- her family- with a loving gaze for the last time. She hoped desperately that they'd forgive her for running, for keeping them in the dark, but she couldn't risk their lives. It wasn't fair. She loved them too much to let them in.
Emily took a deep breath and forced her numb legs to move, taking her away from this place, away from them, as quickly as possible. She knew how it was going to end- with one or both of them dead, or with her on the run, a new country and a new name. She'd done it before and she could do it again. Either way, as she settled herself in the back of the elevator and watched her team disappear, the doors sliding closed, it hit her how final it was. She wasn't coming back.
That was possibly the hardest part.
Those brewing tears finally slid down her pale cheeks, lower lip trembling as her heart broke in her chest. There were so many things that she never got to do, so many relationships that she hadn't been able to fully nurture, and it was all because of him. Derek had been right, she never opened herself up to anybody, never let them see her for who she truly was. It was her one regret.
Sniffling, she hastily wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as the elevator slowed to a stop and she stepped into the lobby, heading out into the late afternoon sun and the unknown.
From this moment on there would be a ticking clock on her life and she was oddly okay with that, because everything she'd encounter, whatever happened, Emily would be doing it for them.
End.