Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Sorry this one is so sad :( I've got Penelope and Derek as the couple who blames the other for everything that goes wrong and can't take responsibility for their own actions. It's kind of the direction this story took itself in, so bear with me. In addition, my deep love for JJ comes out in this story as I have her playing a fairly universal peacekeeper. Thanks for the reviews, lovely people! You rock :)

Derek was sitting in his office, his elbows resting against his desk, and his forehead balanced against the palms of his hands. It had been three days since he'd last spoken to Penelope. Three days since they'd had angry sex against the kitchen wall. It had also been three days since he'd picked up a razor, and his face was covered in a thin layer of stubble that was going to become more than just a thin layer if he wasn't careful.

He'd done as she'd told him and picked the girls up and dropped them off at the house, but he hadn't even gone up the walk to knock on the door. The problems with Tala had increased tenfold as well and before he'd picked the girls up he'd made sure to lock his liquor cabinet at the apartment up, wondering if she'd nicked some from there ever. His daughter was struggling more than she'd let on. It had become apparent to him that the anger she'd been displaying was just a shield.

The most recent episode before he'd dropped them back off at Penelope's had made it perfectly clear.

The smell of something burning alerted Derek to something going on and he jumped up from his seat on the couch to rush in the direction the scent was coming from. Bursting into the bathroom, he found Tala standing over the sink with a box of matches at her side. In the sink was a pile of ashes and a photograph that was half way to destruction.

The photos were family photos of the five of them before the separation had happened. Next to the box of matches was a whole pile of photos, some of them of Tala and Penelope, some of Derek and Penelope, some of Derek and Tala.

"Tala! What the hell are you doing?" he said, turning on the sink to stop the fire.

Still not looking up at him, Tala muttered, "What does it look like, Dad?" Her dark eyes moved up to meet his finally. "I'm having a bonfire."

Taking the stack of pictures from the bathroom counter, Derek set them on the floor outside in the hallway and stared wide-eyed at his daughter. "Tala, you can't be doing stuff like this!" he said sternly. "You're going to scare your sisters. You're scaring me right now!"

"Pfft, please," she snapped. "If anyone's scary, it's you. You're saving those pictures. They should all burn. I thought I'd get away with burning them here because you wouldn't care."

Rubbing his face, he said, "Tala..."

"I don't want to hear it, Dad!" she shouted. "I hate all of this! This is ridiculous! You're stupidly trying to keep this family together when it's pretty clear it's never going to be fixed again! You're an idiot, that's what you are!" Tears filled her eyes and started to trickle down her face. It shocked Derek when he realized how much the anger was just a way at keeping the tears at bay. And right now the shield was failing. "Our family is ruined and you know what? I realized it's not just Mom! It's both of you! You both can't compromise and you're both trying to assert you're the one who is right. You can -" Her voice started to crack. "You can —"

Finally her tears broke out and her voice turned to wrenching sobs. She leaned against the counter and slid down it to sit on the floor, burying her face against her knees.

Blinking away his own tears, Derek sat down next to Tala and pulled her into his arms, letting her cry against his chest.

A knock sounded from his door and he didn't even look up before saying, "Come in."

The door opened to reveal JJ and she closed the door softly behind her. She smiled sadly at him. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," he said. He gestured to the chair in front of him. "You here for long?"

She sat down in the chair. "I'm here as long as you need me," she said. "I came to see how you were holding up."

Derek observed her closely before snorting. "Ah, Penelope had a conversation with you, did she?" he asked sarcastically, leaning back in his chair. "What'd she tell you? How everything is my fault? Or better yet, did she tell you I seduced her? Because before you start in on me about that little episode, I'll have you know that she kissed me. Not the other way around."

JJ shot him a look that very clearly read, Shut the fuck up. "Do you honestly think she would say that?" she asked incredulously.

"You tell me," he snapped. "I never would have expected her to be cruel either, but three nights ago proved me wrong." He rubbed his face tiredly. Of course he didn't think any of what he was saying was true; he was lashing out in anger.

"Derek, I walked in on her sobbing because of what happened," she explained. "I've never seen her so torn up. She didn't mean a single word of what she said to you."

He held up both his hands. "You know what, JJ?" he said in snappy tone. "You don't get to play ambassador for Penelope. If she wants to come and explain herself, then that's exactly what she should do. Sending you was pointless."

"She didn't send me here," JJ said calmly. "I came because I wanted to see how you were doing. And by the looks of it, you're doing just as awful as your wife." She sighed. "You both need to sit down and have a proper talk."

Derek cocked an eyebrow at her and muttered, "JJ, the last time we tried to do that our sixteen year old came stumbling into the house, drunk out of her mind. And then that ended even worse." He shook his head again. "Right now, my main concern needs to be my children. Soraya and Lindy just seem to be denying the separation, but Tala..." His voice trailed off as he remembered his daughter's breakdown from her last visit. "I smelled something burning last night and I found her in the bathroom, burning pictures that had Penelope or me in them. She had a complete breakdown after that."

JJ watched Derek's face and she recognized the same pain she'd seen on Penelope's face. "You both are doing to much blaming the other when you really should be focusing on fixing the things that went wrong," JJ said.

"I -" His voice cut off. "I'll figure it out. Right now I just need to -" He was cut off yet again, this time by his cellphone ringing. Groaning, he picked it up. He frowned and looked up at JJ. "It's Tala's school," he said with concern. Answering it, he said, "Morgan."

"Hi, this is Derek Morgan, right?" a voice said. "Tala's father?"

"Yeah," he said. "What's wrong?"

"Mr. Morgan, the reason I'm calling is because the principal wants to meet with both you and your wife about your daughter, Tala," the woman said on the other end of the line. "We were wondering if you could come in now."

Derek groaned and glanced at his watch. It was three-thirty. "I can be there at three forty-five," he said tiredly. "Do you mind me asking what this is about?"

"I think it would be better if you just waited for the meeting, sir," the woman said.

He sighed. "Alright," he said. "I'll be there soon. Has someone already called my wife?" Penelope wasn't in the office that day and for that he was grateful. He didn't particularly feel like going and speaking to her in person without another person around.

"Yes, she had us call you," the woman said again. "Her phone was dying."

"Oh, I'm sure it was," he said sarcastically. "I'll be there soon." He put his phone back in his pocket and rose from his seat. "Well, I've got to run, JJ. Apparently Tala's principal wants us to have a little sit down over something that happened with her. They wouldn't tell me what it was about over the phone."

JJ stood, too, and pulled Derek into a hug. "Okay," she said. "If you ever need to talk, let me know, okay? I'm happy to lend an ear."

Derek gave her a sad smile. "Thanks JJ," he said, before disappearing out the door.

XXXXX

"Lindy, I need you to keep an eye on Soraya while your sister and I are in with the principal, okay?" Penelope said, making sure her seven year old was sitting down right outside the door. "Don't let her run off."

Lindy nodded. "You got it, Mom," she said with a thumbs up. Her eyes drifted from her mother's and she grinned at someone standing in the doorway. "Oh, hey Dad!"

Penelope turned around and saw Derek walking into the high school office, pulling off his leather jacket in the process and taking his sunglasses off his face. Her breath caught in her chest and she had to force herself to meet his eyes. "Hi, Derek," she said, not able to muster the energy to even smile at him.

"Hi," he returned through tight lips. Striding past her, he planted kisses on Lindy and Soraya's heads. "Hey, girls. Have okay days at school?"

Soraya grinned cheekily at him. "I got the highest grade on my spelling test, Daddy," she said, rifling through her backpack and producing her one hundred percent test. "See?"

A huge, proud smile covered his face. "Great job, sweetie," he said, holding up his hand for a high five.

As he was about to say more, the door to the principal's office opened and the principal, Mrs. Pallo gave the Morgans a grim smile. "Mr. and Mrs. Morgan," she said, holding out her hand to shake both of theirs. "Glad you could make it. Come on in."

Derek allowed Penelope to go in first and when they entered the office they found Tala sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk, her arms folded across her chest. The moment they got a look at her face both of them gasped. Penelope sat next to her and murmured, "Tala! What happened?"

On Tala's face was a large bruise covering her eye and there was a cut on her lip. She continued to stare straight ahead of herself, not glancing at either of her parents.

"What the hell happened to her?" Derek demanded, staring hardly at the principal. "Who did this?"

Mrs. Pallo gestured to the other open seat in front of her desk. "Your daughter got into a fight with another girl today," she stated bluntly. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but she broke the girl's arm."

Both Penelope and Derek's heads snapped to look at Tala. "What?" they said at the same time.

"We do have a few students who witnessed the altercation and they said the fight was in fact provoked," she said. "However, we're going to have to discipline Tala, likely with a suspension."

"What did this other student say to her?" Penelope asked.

"Well —"

Tala finally spoke. "You know what," she snapped, rising from her seat. "I'm going outside. I don't think this particular conversation has to happen with me in the room, so I'm going to take the girls outside. They probably hate being cooped up in here, too."

Derek was about to say something, but the principal shook her head. "That should be fine," she said. "We can continue this without her." Once Tala had slammed the door shut and the room was covered in silence, she spoke again. "Now, the student in question, Ashley Jenkins said -"

Penelope cut her off. "Wait, the Ashley who plays soccer with Tala?" she blurted.

Mrs. Pallo nodded. "Yes, that Ashley," she said. "Now, Ashley made some comments about you Mrs. Morgan and a relationship you started with Kyle Roberts, the trainer we just hired at the school. Based on these comments, I'm assuming you two are separated or in the process of getting a divorce?" She looked between them.

Derek nodded mutely, not even looking at Penelope when she murmured, "Yes. But even though I went on a few dates with Kyle, that relationship is over. It was just casual. I broke up with him."

"Well, regardless, these things that Ms. Jenkins said set your daughter off, and she attacked her," the principal said. "I know that a divorce can be trying on many kids in the home, particularly teenagers and —"

Penelope interrupted her. "Mrs. Pallo, we're separated," she said. "There's been no talk about having a divorce. I just wanted to clarify this." She ignored Derek's wide, shocked eyes that shot to her.

"Right, I apologize," Mrs. Pallo said, correcting herself. "As I was saying, I know that these kinds of things can be extremely hard on teenagers when they happen. What I wanted to talk to you both about in addition to the disciplinary action we're going to have to take, is the prospect of maybe putting Tala into counseling. She's been having some problems in school and maybe if she had someone to talk to then it would help her."

"What kind of problems?" Penelope asked. Tears were burning in the back of her eyes as she waited to hear what more problems her daughter was going through.

"Well, there's been a lot of back talking with teachers and authority figures, her school work has been slipping and as you know she's an extremely gifted student," she explained. "She's struggling. That much is clear. We think it would be beneficial for everyone involved to have Tala visit someone she can talk to. Maybe even med -"

Derek held up his hand. "Whoa, now!" he said. "Whatever problems Tala is having, they don't need to be solved with medication. Her mother and I can help her and we'll send her to someone to talk to, but we won't force her to take medicine she doesn't need."

To his deep surprise, Penelope agreed with him. "Tala doesn't need any medication," she said. "We will figure it out."

"Alright, then," the principal said. "As far as I'm concerned, this meeting can be finished. We can meet at another time to discuss the disciplinary action we'll be taking."

Both Derek and Penelope rose from their seats and shook the principal's hand before leaving the office. They walked together in silence down the hallway, an uncomfortable tension filling the space between them.

Finally Penelope couldn't take the silence any long and she grabbed his forearm and pulled him into the first empty classroom she found. He looked at her in complete confusion. "Penelope, what the hell?" he demanded.

She put a finger to his lips to silence him. "Please, let me talk," she said desperately. He looked for a moment like he was going to protest, but then he clamped his mouth shut. She nodded her thanks. "I'm so, so sorry, Derek," she said solemnly. "I wanted to tell you that, every word I said that - that night was not true. I don't know what came over me. I really don't. What I said was cruel and those - they weren't me. I had no idea I could be like that." She paused to wipe her eyes and stifle a soft sob. She couldn't appear weak for this and she certainly shouldn't have been crying.

Derek was the wronged one here. Not her.

"So I wanted to apologize. For everything. I understand if you don't ever forgive me. Really, I do. I won't ever forgive myself. I just want us to work together to help Tala. And we can't do that if we're at each other's throats all the time."

Derek just stared at her, his eyes piercing through her gaze and seeing right into her. She prayed he could see her remorse and her self-hatred.

And — by some miracle — he seemed to.

He stepped closer to her and took both her hands in his. "Okay," he said. "Let's work together." Tilting her chin up so he could look at her more closely, he added, "And you know what? At first, I was mad. I was furious. And I thought I'd never seen that side of you. But what I figured out while JJ was having a chat with me earlier, is that that wasn't you. It was just rage. And we both have a lot of it. We both did shit that was wrong. So...let's work on fixing up Tala. Then we can work on fixing up ourselves."

With tears in her eyes, Penelope let Derek pull her into his arms and hold her. At first they were stiff, but gradually they relaxed into one another's embrace like it was the most normal thing in the world.