A couple minutes later Emily climbed into bed next to Derek.

"Dad huh?" Emily said, not able to keep the smile off her face.

Derek also couldn't keep the sheepish grin from covering his.

"Yeah, I guess so" he replied with a happy chuckle.

Emily sighed contently and put her head down on his chest, listening to his strong heart beat.

He wrapped his arm around her.

"Hey now, you promised me details from earlier. What happened? How did she do?" He asked.

"She-" Emily started, but her breath hitched suddenly.

Derek sat up.

"Hey hey, talk to me. What's wrong?" He asked, voice laced with concern.

He wasn't used to seeing Emily cry... ever. Even in the field when she got beat up. Her crying meant that she was really hurting.

She sniffled and quickly wiped both eyes of tears, but some kept falling.

"Oh Derek you should have heard her. Those memories.. she..." Emily trailed, remembering everything Charlotte had disclosed that morning.

Derek patiently waited for her to calm herself and gently wiped a tear away from her eye.

She looked back up at him. "Those monsters raped her. When she was four. Four! And beat her. And Hosben forced her into baths of scalding water. And all she would try to do is drink the water. Because he didn't give her any! And he would drink it in front of her and taunt her and not give it to her I just... Derek" she sobbed, putting her head down in his shirt.

Derek had to admit, he was having a hard time not getting emotional too hearing all the details of Charlotte's abuse. But he knew he needed to be strong for both of them.

"Shhh" he comforted, rubbing his strong hand along her back.

She composed herself and sat up again.

"I- and... we've seen worse. We've seen so much worse. But we just see pictures on a screen, and body tags. This... this is real. This is my daughter. And people raped and beat and tortured her and we didn't even know until she went through five years of it! Derek that's not fair!" She said, her voice on the verge of yelling and her hands clenched in fists.

"Hey, breathe princess, we don't want to wake her. Come on now" he said, effectively getting her to calm down before he continued. "It's not fair. None of this is fair. But we can't go back and change the past. And we certainly can't blame ourselves for not knowing. She was across the country Em. No one knew. We got her as soon as we could, and now she's here, safe. Smiling, happy, dancing. Today wasn't the first time she's going to have those bad memories, and it certainly won't be the last. I'm sure tomorrow won't be an easy day either. But we just have to keep being there for her, and loving her. Slowly, eventually, she'll understand that what she went through is in the past, ok?" He said.

Emily let out a sigh and nodded. She knew he was right. "Ok" she agreed, wiping the rest of her tears and snapping back to her normal self.

She kissed him and switched off the light beside them.

"Goodnight Derek" she said. "Thank you. For all of this, always being here."

"I always will be." he replied firmly. "I love you Emily Prentiss."

Morning came quickly and Derek and Emily both were dreading the doctors visit that day but they knew that had to put on cheerful faces for Charlotte so she wouldn't be too nervous.

Derek went downstairs to start on breakfast while Emily went to wake Charlotte.

"Good morning sunshine" she said, walking to Charlotte's bed and gently moving her shoulder.

"How'd you sleep sweetpea?" She asked when Charlotte blinked her eyes open.

"No bad dweams" Charlotte answered with a smile at the corners of her lips.

Emily's heart melted at how adorable she looked and knowing she had a good nights rest.

"Well I am very glad to hear that. Ready to get dressed? You can even pick your outfit." she offered, walking over to the dresser.

Charlotte hopped down from her bed still clutching Mr. Turtle and followed Emily.

Emily pulled out the drawer with shirts and Charlotte carefully selected a white short sleeve shirt that had pink roses on it, and Emily helped her pair it with pink leggings.

Charlotte then selected a blue and a green sock and Emily got her underwear.

She allowed Emily to help her unbutton her pj top, but Emily could feel her body stiffen at the close touch.

After giving her privacy to finish changing, Emily put her hair in two braids and helped her brush her teeth and feed Finny before going to eat breakfast and take her medicine.

Before they knew it, the three were in the car headed to the doctors again.

She had been fine all morning, but it was like as soon as they got in the car, Charlotte was all nerves again.

"M-mommy?" She spoke up as they left the neighborhood.

"Yes love?" She replied, looking at her in the rearview mirror.

"Will you be with me the whole time? Not just in the beginning like at the other doctows?" She asked.

"I will be with you for every second of it. I promise" Emily replied.

Relief crossed Charlotte's face momentarily.

"Daddy will you?" She inquired.

Derek's heart jumped at hearing her call him Dad again.

"That's up to you sweetie. Do you want me to be?" He asked.

She nodded instantly and then continued to fidget with Mr. Turtle.

They drove in silence for a minute before she spoke up again.

"Mommy?"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Awe you suwe they not huwt me?" She asked

"They're not going to hurt you like Master did. They may have to look at you or touch you, but just to make sure you're ok. And you can always say stop. They'll listen, ok?" She answered

Charlotte nodded and looked back down for a minute.

"Daddy?" She asked

Emily and Derek glanced sadly at each other. They knew all these questions meant she was really nervous.

"Yeah champ?"

"Will they wook between my wegs?" She asked, biting her bottom lip.

"They probably will honey, but just to check that you're ok. They won't hurt you like Master or the other doctor. Remember, this is a good doctor who just wants to help you." He said

She nodded wearily.

Emily and Derek could already tell this would be tough.

Before she could ask another question though, they arrived and Emily parked the car.

She opened the back door and unbuckled Charlotte from her car seat, then lifted her into her arms and settled her on her hip.

Charlotte wrapped her arms around her neck tightly.

In the waiting room, her anxiety wasn't subsiding no matter what Emily and Derek did.

She wasn't interested in talking, reading, or playing with toys. She just sat in Emily's lap clutching Mr. Turtle while Derek offered words of reassurance.

"Charlotte?" Dr. Coves called a few minutes after arriving.

The three stood and Derek and Emily each took one hand and walked back with her to the back hallway.

Thank you for all the reviews and suggestions! Keep leaving your thoughts and ideas so I can write the next one and get it up soon! If I get a lot of reviews, I'll post it in 24 hours :)