Prologue: Ten years ago
"Damn it, Hotch, Gideon! I know who it is!" Derek Morgan yelled into the phone. "It's Rebecca Hayes, Danny's ex!"
"Danny? Danny, your old friend from college, Tony?" Hotch asked.
Derek groaned, "Yes," he said. "Last night, Rikki and Kennedy showed up on my doorstep with Quintin. Rikki told me she saw her step-father stabbing one of the men on the news... Hotch she told me, "Sometimes Mommy isn't Mommy... sometimes she's our Other Mommy, the mean one, that hits us and hurts us". Hotch, she has multiple personalities and the husband is helping her."
"Morgan, are you absolutely sure about this?" Gideon asked.
"I've never been more sure of anything," Derek said. "Hotch, you should have seen the kids, I've never seen anyone look so scared."
"Where are the children now?" Hotch asked.
Derek sighed, "Their step-father took them a few hours ago," he said. "I couldn't do anything, he threatened to call the cops and tell them I kidnapped the kids."
Derek heard Hotch sigh, "Your first priority is to make sure the kids are okay. Gideon and I can handle the Hayes."
"Yes, sir," Derek said. He looked around and hit the steering wheel, "Damn it," he groaned. "I should have noticed. I can't believe I didn't notice."
"Morgan, you need to breath," Gideon said. "How are you going to help Rikki, Kennedy and Quintin when you're freaking out?"
Derek sighed, "You're right."
"How far are you from the house?" Hotch asked.
"Four blocks," Derek said.
"Morgan, you need to watch out around Rebecca," Hotch said. "If it's the Rebecca you know, she may not know she is the one committing those murders."
"How can I tell?"
"I don't know," Hotch said. "Try looking for something that makes her seem... wrong."
Derek groaned, "That's helpful."
Derek could practically hear Hotch frown, "Morgan, multiple personalities are not very common and have not actually been proven to be a mental illness. Also, it's nearly impossible to tell if someone has another personaity," Hotch said.
Derek sighed, "I know, Hotch," he said. "That doesn't make me feel better."
Hotch chuckled, "I wasn't trying to make you feel better," he said.
Derek groaned and pulled up in front of a house, "Hotch, I'm goijng to have to go, I'm outside."
"Morgan, don't go in that house. Wait for Gideon and I," Hotch said.
Derek sighed, "Hotch, there are three kids in that house," he said, hanging up the phone.
Derek kicked down the back door and ran into the house, "Kennedy?" he called. "Rikki? Quintin?"
"Uncle Derek?" Derek heard someone whisper.
Derek looked to his left and he slowly pushed open a closet door, "Kennedy? Quintin?" he said. The two boys hiding in the closet, thirteen year old Kennedy and four year old Quintin, immediately ran out of the closet and hugged Derek, Kennedy grabbed Morgan's waist and Quintin grabbed his knees. Derek looked down at Kennedy and Quintin and leaned down a little so he could wrap his arms around them. Kennedy and Quintin were two dirty blond haired boys with dark brown eyes and dirty clothes that made Derek frown.
"He took Rikki," Kennedy said, breaking Derek's thoughts. "Step-father took Rikki."
Derek swore, "Where?" he asked.
Kennedy pointed to the basement door, "The back room," he said. "It's were he takes all of the others."
"The others?" Derek asked.
Kennedy nodded, "The bad ones. The ones that don't come back," he mumbled burying his face in Derek's stomach.
"Crap," Derek said. He looked down at Kennedy and Quintin, "Here," he said, dialing Hotch and handing Kennedy the phone. "Do you remember Agent Hotchner?" he asked. Kennedy nodded as he took the phone, "Okay, he's on his way. When he answers the phone, tell him where you are and he'll come and get you as soon as he gets here."
Kennedy looked up at Derek, "Where are you going to be, Uncle Derek?"
Morgan nodded to the basement door, "I'm going to be getting Rikki," he said, making Kennedy smile as he pulled himself off of Derek and pulled Quintin into the closet.
"After you get her, kick her butt for being stupid," Kennedy said.
Derek nodded, "Yes, sir," he said before walking down into the basement. Derek turned at the corner and quickly checked the small, empty basement. "Clear," he mumbled to himself as he headed over to a large metal door.
Derek looked around the basement one more time before trying the handle, which was locked. He sighed and looked around again before kicking down the door and charging into the room.
"Mr. and Mrs. Hayes," Derek yelled. "Step away from your step-daughter and put your hands up!"
Matthew Hayes looked up at Derek, he held a bloodied knife in one hand and a needle in the other. His wife, Rebecca Hayes, stood over her bloody nine year old daughter and was holding her down by her shoulders.
"Derek, what are you doing here?" Rebecca asked with mock shock.
Derek glared at his best friend's ex-wife, "Mr. Hayes, please put the knife and needle down and take a step back. Mrs. Hayes, please back away from you daughter," he said.
Rebecca pressed down on one of the gashes on Rikki's shoulder and Derek pointed his gun at her, "Mrs. Hayes, please back away from your daughter," he said.
A moment later, Matthew lunged at Derek and tried to grab his gun, forcing Derek to shoot him twice. When Matthew hit the ground, Derek pushed him out of the way with his foot and turned the gun back to Rebecca.
"Becca, let go of Rikki," Derek said. "Please Becca, stop hurting her."
Rebecca glared at Derek, "Why do you care about this whiny brat so much?" she asked. "You could be married by now, if you weren't so invested in my ex-husband, his "partner" and these brats."
Derek sighed, "I have no interest in getting married, Danny, Tony, Rikki, Kennedy and Quintin are my family. Everyone I've ever dated refuses to understand that, so I haven't settled down yet."
Rebecca rolled her eyes and pressed down onto the gash on Rikki's shoulder again, making the girl whimper, "Poor you," Rebecca said.
Derek opened his mouth to replay, but was cut off by Hotch yelling, "Morgan!"
Derek didn't take his eyes off Rebecca as he yelled, "In the basement, Hotch. There's a back room."
A few seconds later, Derek heard Hotch walking down the stairs and pause before walking into the back room, "Mr. Hayes?" Hotch asked.
"He lunged at me. I shot him, twice," Derek said.
Hotch looked down at Matthew, then back up at Rebecca, "Mrs. Hayes, do you hate your children?" he asked, coldly. "Because, I think you do. You are torturing your daughter and you beat all three of your children. You let them starve and leave them to fend for themselves."
"I do not hate my children!" Rebecca screeched.
"Then you will back away from your daughter," Hotch said. "Richelle is going to bleed out on that table, your husband may have hit a major vein, artery or organ."
"He couldn't have," Rebecca said. "We've done this before, none of them have died from these cuts."
Hotch sighed, "Rikki's smaller, her veins are closer together," he said.
Derek and Rebecca gave Hotch an alarmed look and Rebecca slowly backed away from Rikki, giving Hotch the chance to grab her and snap a pair of handcuffs around her wrists, "Morgan, get Rikki out of here. Gideon's already called an ambulance, it should be here," Hotch said before he started reading Rebecca her rights.
Derek rushed to Rikki's side and immediately picked her up, making her whimper, "I know Little Miss, I know," he said as he carried her up the steps and out of the house, where Gideon was standing with two paramedics.
When the paramedics saw Derek, one of them rushed over and the other ran to get a stretcher, "You shouldn't have moved her," the paramedic said, checking Rikki's pulse and looking over her cuts.
Gideon walked over as the other paramedic brought over the stretcher, "The boys are in the SUV, I don't think you want them to see her."
Derekgave Gideon a grateful nod and gently place Rikki on the stretcher, "Hotch should be coming out with Rebecca soon," he said.
The paramedics started to wheel Rikki towards the ambulance and Derekfollowed them, "I'm coming with you," he said to the paramedics.
One of the paramedics, a woman, the one who took Rikki's pulse, looked at Morgan for a moment before saying, "Fine, just stay out of the way," she said.
Dereknodded, "Yes, ma'am," he said.
The woman stared at Derekfor a moment before shaking her head, "Let's go, smart mouth," she said, pushing Derekonto the ambulance after the stretcher.
The female paramedic introduced herself as Emma Faith, her partner was Franklin Chang.
"Is she your daughter?" Emma asked as the ambulance pulled away from the Hayes' house.
Derek chuckled and held Rikki's hand in both of his, "God no," he said. "She's my friend Danny's daughter. He hasn't been allowed custody of her and her brothers."
Emma frowned as she started wiping the blood off of Rikki, "Why?" she asked.
Derek could tell what Emma was thinking and rubbed the back of Rikki's hand, "He's not a bad guy, if that's what you think," he said. "Their mom told the court she didn't think he was a "proper role model" because of his choice in partner."
"Are she a bad influence?" Emma asked.
"He's a very good influence," Derek said. "The problem is-"
"He's a he," Emma said, giving Rikki an IV.
Rikki whimpered and Derek nodded as he ran a hand through her blond hair, "Yeah," he said.
"Well I doubt that will matter now," Emma said, looking between Rikki and Derek.
Derek sighed, "I know," he said, sadly. He looked down at Rikki, "Is she going to be okay?"
Emma nodded, "Physically, she'll be fine... but, from what I'm seeing, she was tortured."
Derek nodded, "She was," he said.
"I'm no shrink, but she may develop PTSD or she may have anxiety problems," Emma said.
Derek shook his head and ran his hand through Rikki's hair again, "Not this kid," he said with a small smile. "She's smart and sweet and crazy. She'll bounce back, she always does."
"Where is she?" Danny Lander asked as he ran into the hall where Derek was sitting with his head in his hands. "Is she okay?"
Derek looked up at Danny and smiled, "She'll be fine," he said. He paused for a moment, "But you may need to invest in a shrink."
Danny sighed in relief and he collapsed into a chair as his partner, Anthony Cortese, walked into the room and, when he saw Danny, he asked, "Is she-"
"She's fine," Derek said, grinning up at Tony. "Relax."
Danny grinned back and sat down next to Tony, "Tell him to relax," he said. "He's been freaking out."
Danny Lander was of medium height and very lean. He looked exactly like Kennedy and Quintin with his dark brown hair and brown eyes, but he was much paler than the boys. Tony Cortese was almost the complete opposite of Danny. He was a mechanic so he was slightly buff, with light dirty blond hair and golden tan skin.
Derek chuckled, "He's a mother hen," he said, ruffling Danny's hair.
Danny stuck his tongue out at Derek, who smiled and pecked him on the cheek, "I'm allowed to mother hen, my baby girl's in a hospital room, getting stitched up."
Derek and Tony smiled at each other and wrapped their arms around Danny, "She's fine. Mother henning is not needed," Tony said as the double doors at the end of the hall opened and Hotch walked in with Kennedy, who was carrying a sleeping Quintin.
"Daddy! Papa! Uncle Derek!" Kennedy yelled, running over to Derek, Daniel and Tony.
Danny got up and immediately pulled Kennedy and Quintin into a hug, "Kenny! Quinn!" he said, smiling and kissing the tops of their heads.
Derek and Tony smiled at Danny and the boys before standing and joining the hug.
After they pulled away from the hug, Kennedy looked around, "Daddy, where's Rikki? Is she okay?" he asked.
Danny looked down at Kennedy and smiled, "She's got a few cuts," he said. "She's just getting a couple of stitches."
Kennedy frowned, "Did step-father hurt Rikki?" he asked.
Derek nodded, "Matthew hurt Rikki," he said.
Kennedy ducked his head, "Can we call him Matthew?" he asked.
Derek frowned and gave Hotch a look and nodded, "Always call him Matthew," he said.
Kennedy smiled, "Really?" he asked.
Hotch nodded, "Really," he said.
Kennedy put Quintin on Danny's lap before he climbed up onto Tony's lap and curled up into a ball, "I want Rikki," he said.
A doctor walked out of a room and looked around, "Lander?" he asked, looking over at Derek, Danny, Tony, Hotch and the boys.
Danny lifted Quintin off his lap and held him oh his hip as he stood up, "When can we take her home?" he asked.
The doctor looked at Danny in shock and Tony came up and wrapped an arm around Danny's shoulders, "Sorry, he's agitated," Tony said.
"I'm assuming that you're Daniel Lander?" the doctor said.
Danny nodded, "Just Danny," he said. "How's Rikki?"
The doctor smiled, "Richelle is going to be fine, you can take her home tonight," he said. "She woke up while I was stitching her up and started swearing at me, she told me that she "don't need no goddamn, freaking stitches" and, after I insisted she did, she glared at me... it was unsettling..."
Derek chuckled, "She's going to be absolutely fine," he declared with a smile. He looked at the doctor, "Can we go in and see her?"
The doctor nodded, "Of course, I'll bring her discharge papers to her room for you to sign," he said, motioning to the room before walking away.
"Hey, Little Lady," Derek said with a smile as everyone walked into the hospital room.
"Hey, Uncle Derek," Rikki said with a little smile.
Rikki Lander was small for her age. Her hair was the exact same color as her brother's, but her eyes were a dark electric blue/cyan color that unsettled many people, like her doctor.
The adults watched Kennedy as he climbed up onto Rikki's bed and wrapped his arms around her before kissing the top of her head, "Rikki, Rikki, Rikki," Kennedy mumbled after a minute. "I'm going to kick your butt for being stupid."
Everyone laughed, "You won't," Rikki said, kissing her brother's cheek. "I'm injured."
Kennedy rolled his eyes, "I'll do it when you're better, genius."
"I know I am, Brains," Rikki said.
Hotch shook his head, "They must be a handful," he said to Derek as they watched Rikki and Kennedy with their dads.
"We wouldn't really know," Derek said, quietly. "We haven't really had a chance to see."
Hotch looked over at Derek and gave him a small smile, "Well, you have the chance now," he said.
Morgan chuckled and nodded, "I guess we do," he said, grinning at Hotch before walking over to his family.