A/N:I got mixed reviews on whether to do a Demily story, but I decided to go for it. The intro chapter definitely leans towards a casefic, but I promise I'm just setting the scene. It will become much more family oriented and Derek/Emily centered in future chapters.
And as always, I do not own any of the characters, storylines, etc. of Criminal Minds.
"Ugh, turn it off." Emily groaned as the alarm went off on Derek's side of the bed. She shivered at the loss of his body heat as he rolled over to shut the alarm off. When he turned back around, Derek pulled Emily closer against him, dropping a kiss to her hair and running his fingers up and down her spine. Emily smiled, humming contentedly at the feeling.
"We're going to have to get up some time, you know." Derek noted a few minutes later, knowing Emily was falling back asleep.
"Let's call off."
Derek chuckled. "I don't think Hotch would appreciate that." It was their first day back after taking a week off to celebrate their three-year wedding anniversary. They'd spent a blissfully relaxing week in Majorca, Spain soaking up the sun and sand.
"Mmm, I'd make it worth your while." Emily smirked, planting a series of kisses on Derek's jaw and neck, working her way down his smooth, bare chest. As much as Derek would've loved to continue, he stopped her before she could get to her desired destination.
"Don't start something you can't finish, princess."
Emily sighed, planting a final kiss to Derek's lips and getting up. "Alright, I'll start the coffee."
"I'll warm up the shower."
####
JJ was waiting at the round table when the team arrived, briefing folders at the ready. "Morristown, NJ is requesting our help." She began, flipping through several crime scene photos on the screen. "They've had four home invasions in two weeks, all taking place in the middle of the night and everyone home is found shot in their beds execution style to the head."
"How many victims?" Reid asks.
"13 so far." Hotch answers. "We'll go over more details on the plane. Wheels up in 30."
Garcia videos in on the jet to go over the four home invasions that have taken place. The first was an older couple in their late 60s. The second home invasion was a family of four, followed a few days later by a family of five and last night by a young couple in their 20s.
"This unsub is crossing all sorts of typical boundaries. Age, race, couples with and without kids. Garcia have you found any overlap in their lives by reviewing financials?" Rossi asks.
"No, they all live vastly different lives. They shop in different neighborhoods, eat at different restaurants. The two families with kids lived in different school districts. So far I'm coming up empty."
"Alright, Garcia keep digging. JJ and Reid go to the latest crime scene when we land. Morgan and Rossi, you guys head to the morgue. Prentiss and I will set up at the local PD's office." Hotch instructed.
####
Two days later the team had made no progress when the unsub struck again.
"Go ahead Garcia." Hotch's voice rang out over the speaker of the conference call. Derek and Reid had gone to the latest crime scene while the rest of the team went back to the PD's office.
"The latest victims are Tom and Beth Rodgers. Their twins, Jake and Lydia were six years old and…" Garcia starts.
"Wait, Beth Rodgers. We just talked to her, she's the daughter of the first two victims, the Hippler's." Prentiss noted.
"Coincidence? It is a relatively small town." JJ asked.
"Doubtful. I think we've been looking at this wrong the whole time. The unsub wanted us to think it was all random, but the Hippler family was the target the whole time." Rossi stated. "There's a brother as well, right?"
"Let me check." The line is quiet for a moment while Garcia does her search. "Yes, his name is Trent. He and his wife Julie have two children and live a couple towns over in Westfield."
"Prentiss, I want you to meet up with Morgan and head to Westfield. If this family is the real target, we need to stay with them until this is over. Garcia, I need you to dig deep. Find out everything you can about this family and who might be targeting them. The rest of us, we're going to continue working this from here." Everyone noted their agreement and Hotch ended the phone call.
An hour later, Derek and Emily were pulling up to Trent Hippler's home in Westfield. "You ready for this?"
"As I'll ever be." Derek sighed. He and Emily got out of the SUV and approached the front door of the house, ringing the bell. A second later a man opened the door.
"Can I help you?" He asks.
"Trent Hippler?" When the man nods, Derek pulls out his badge, Emily following suit. "I'm Agent Morgan, this is Agent Prentiss. May we speak to you?"
"Of course, come in." Mr. Hippler led Derek and Emily into his sitting room. "Is this about my parents?"
Derek looked at Emily, who spoke solemnly. "Sir, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your sister her family were killed early this morning."
"No. No, this can't be happening. First our parents, now Beth."
"We're very sorry, sir. I know this is a hard time for you and your family, but we need to ask you some questions."
"Of course, go ahead."
Derek sighed. "Do you know of anyone who may want to hurt or have a grudge against your family?"
He shook his head vehemently. "No, I've been wracking my brain since the cops asked me that last week. I can't think of anyone."
As Derek was about to speak again, Trent's daughter ran into the room, his wife not far behind carrying their son. "Oh! Is everything ok, Trent?" Julie asked her husband.
"Who are they daddy?" His daughter asked.
Emily bent down in front of her. "My name is Emily. What's your name?"
"Nora. And that's my mommy and my brother, Adam." She replies, pointing back to her mom and baby brother.
"Nora, do you think you could go show Miss Emily your playroom upstairs?" Trent suggested.
"Sure! You can help me build a fort." Nora takes Emily's hand and leads her upstairs, leaving Derek to speak with Mr. and Mrs. Hippler.
####
Mr. and Mrs. Hippler turned out to be quite the handful. Despite several lengthy conversations, they refused to go into protective custody. Furthermore, they had plans to attend a gala for Mr. Hippler's company in Manhattan that evening and refused to cancel their plans to stay in the city for the weekend. The only thing they'd caved on was allowing Emily and Derek to stay with the children instead of a nanny, for safety.
The first evening with the kids went smoothly. 3-year-old Nora was a bundle of joy and energy, unphased by the dangers haunting her family. She was enamored with her 10-month-old brother, Adam, who was a happy, easy-going baby. Emily made pasta for dinner and after both kids had been given a bath, Derek settled in with Nora to read a bedtime story while Emily put Adam down. Once both kids were asleep, Emily and Derek settled down on the couch and started reviewing files.
They were startled from their work a few hours later when they heard Nora scream from upstairs. Both agents ran up the stairs to Nora's room, guns drawn, to find Nora sitting up in her bed crying. Emily quickly holstered her weapon and sat down next to Nora, wrapping her in her arms and pulling her onto her lap while Derek secured the room.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Emily spoke softly to Nora, who was clinging tightly to her.
"There, there was a, a monster outside the window." Nora managed through her sobs. Emily looked to Derek then with wide eyes and he walked to the window, looking outside. He looked back to Emily, shaking his head to inform her there was no sign of anyone, then went down the hall to check on Adam.
"Ok, you're ok now sweet girl. You're ok." Emily stroked her fingers through Nora's hair as she held her close. Derek returned to the room a moment later with Adam in his arms, still sleeping.
"Hey Nora, what do you say we all go curl up in the guest room and we can have a sleepover." Derek recommended.
"Can I bring Scruffy?" She asked, referring to her stuffed dog that she brought with her everywhere.
"Of course." Emily replied, picking her up and following Derek down the hall. They got Nora settled in the middle of the king-sized guest bed. Derek crawled in the right side, sitting against the headboard with Adam sleeping against his chest while Emily climbed in the left side of the bed. She continued to comb her fingers through Nora's hair soothingly until the little girl had fallen back asleep.
"I should call Hotch." Emily whispered to Derek, who nodded in agreement. Emily crawled out of the bed once she assured that Nora was sound asleep, going to retrieve her phone and dialing Hotch's number. He patched in the team as she informed them of what Nora had said.
"Have you gone outside the house?" Rossi asked.
"No, our focus was on the kids." Emily responded. "Derek looked out the window but didn't see anything suspicious. Her window is on the second level though, so if the unsub was really there that means he climbed up the trellis."
"We'll dispatch extra patrol to the neighborhood for the night and send techs in the morning. You and Derek just focus on keeping the kids safe. And Emily," Hotch paused. "You and Derek be careful."
"We will." Emily ensured before hanging up.
####
Derek and Emily took turns sleeping that night, making sure that someone was always awake and alert. Come dawn, crime scene techs arrived at the house to search the yard and surrounding areas for any sign of trespassing. Sure enough, footprints were found in the garden and dirt was found on the trellis, confirming Nora's claims that a monster was outside her window, and that monster was the unsub.
JJ called Trent and Julie to inform them of what had happened, and while they agreed to come back to town that day, they also didn't seem rushed.
"Some parents." Derek scoffed to Emily as they were cleaning up from breakfast.
"They remind me of my mom. Too caught up in their own careers to truly care about their own children." Emily replied. Derek looked at her solemnly, which did not go unnoticed by Emily. "Hey, it's ok. I didn't say that for pity, I just feel bad for the kids."
"They're sweet, aren't they?" Derek smiles.
Emily nods in agreement just before her phone rings. "You've got Morgan and I on speaker." She answers.
"Alright, Garcia. We're all on, go ahead." Hotch informs.
"Ok, so, I've been digging deep into every member of the Hippler family and I found something interesting in William Hippler's past. When I went digging into the family company, I found some reviews on a website called Owler. It's a website that has basic information about companies, including who their CEO is. Most people thought very highly of William Hippler as CEO, but there were a few nasty comments made claiming that he was an amoral, callous old man. However, when I dug deeper, all the comments were made by the same person."
"That has to be a strong grudge to go after the whole family. Are you sure it's relevant?" JJ pointed out.
"Hang with me. The man's name is Andrew Langetti, his mother Barbara worked as an assistant for William Hippler 32 years ago. After Andrew was born, his mother was suddenly promoted to the accounting department and given a substantial raise, like 3x the amount anyone else in the department was making and she had zero experience. She passed away when Andrew was 12 and with no father listed on the birth certificate or other family, he went into foster care and his life pretty much went downhill from there. He was in and out of juvie all throughout his teens, never finished high school and hasn't been able to hold down a job for more than 6 months."
"Is there any actual proof that Andrew is William's biological son?" Hotch asked.
"Unfortunately, no, it's all speculation. But if you look at the picture I just sent, I'm telling you, this guy is the homely replica of William Hippler."
Derek pulled out his phone and opened the image, showing it to Emily. Garcia was right. "Baby girl, do you know where Andrew is now?"
"Uh, his Metro Card shows him getting on the subway in Newark at 6:23am."
"He's going into the city." Emily spoke. "JJ, when did you talk to Trent and Julie?"
"Just after 7am, they sounded fine. You think he's going after them in the city?"
"He came here last night and didn't find what he was looking for. I think that's exactly what he's doing."
####
Hotch scrambled to get a team from the NYC field office to Trent and Julie's hotel, but they were too late. When the team arrived, Julie was already dead, and Andrew had Trent held at gunpoint, ranting about how Trent and Beth had the lives he should've had and that his dad was a disgrace for not acknowledging his existence. He shot Trent milliseconds before he himself was taken down in a hail of gunfire, and just like that, Nora and Adam became the sole survivors of the Hippler family.