Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Criminal Minds.

Here's the next chapter and I know you all have been waiting for! Thank you for the reviews and I hope you enjoy it :)

"Well, that's the last of the boxes!" Tala said excitedly, gently placing her father's last cardboard box of things in the study. He hadn't taken much, so it had been a relatively short to move and the furniture had been part of his rental agreement. Moving home was relatively easy for Derek.

Currently Derek was sitting in the living room with Penelope, waiting on her hand and foot. If she needed water, he got it. If she needed assistance moving around, he was there to guide her around, keeping a supportive arm around her waist. She watched as Tala came back into the living room and grinned. "I got the last box in and stacked with the other ones. Well, all six of them anyway."

"Baby, you didn't really have to do that," Derek said. "I could have gotten them out later."

Tala shook her head vigorously. "You're taking care of Mom," she said. "I can take care of it." She checked her watch and sighed. "Well, I'm going upstairs. I - I have to go do some homework." Hurrying out of the living room, she called back to them, "I'll unpack them later."

Penelope looked at Derek worriedly. "Derek," she said. "I'm really worried about her. Didn't her therapist say they were having a hard time making progress with her?"

He nodded. "I know," he murmured. "I'm worried about her too. The doc said she was closing herself off in the sessions. Lindy and Soraya are letting her in, but Tala...she's not talking. And she's been throwing a lot of stuff away. Last night I found her curling iron in the trash can along with a bunch of makeup." Penelope leaned her head against his chest and he kissed the top of her head, resting his chin against her blonde hair.

"Why is she running around like crazy here though?" she asked. "Every time I turn around, she's there with a bright smile and ready to help."

"Things at home are getting back to normal for her with us getting back together and she's feeling safe like that," he explained. "But the throwing out the makeup and curling iron, that makes sense because of what Keith Roberts did to her."

Tears filled her eyes. "I wish I knew how to make everything go away for them," she murmured. "They didn't deserve any of this, this shit that had nothing to do with them, but with me."

"Don't talk like that," he whispered, using his thumb to wipe her tears away. "Baby, there's nothing that would have stopped Keith from taking Tala. He had his heart set on taking her. None of this is your fault. You are just as much a victim."

She shook her head and moved to look up at him. "I went through nothing like what they went through!" she wept. "They're just girls! Soraya isn't even ten years old and she's seen more than she ever should have. I can't -"

He put a finger to her lips and shook his head. "Sweetheart, just slow down," he said. "You're just making yourself more anxious and that's not going to help anyone. You'll make yourself sick."

She touched his cheek gently and said, "I'm so glad you're home. I would never know how to handle this on my own. None of us would."

He pulled her close and held her tightly. "The bonds of a family can never be broken. That's how strong we are."

XXXXX

After Penelope had laid down for a nap, Soraya and Lindy tucked in with her, wanting to spend time with her, Derek returned downstairs and poured himself a cup of coffee. He leaned against the kitchen counter and closed his eyes for a moment. His whole house was in a state of turmoil. Tala was almost never out of her room, Lindy and Soraya hardly spoke, Penelope was worried sick, and Derek was trying to protect them all from feelings that he himself was enduring and not entirely sure of how to handle them.

Their lives had become a living hell.

A knock sounded from the front door, interrupting his thought process. Sighing, he went to the door and opened it, surprised to see that the person standing on his porch was Erin Strauss. She nodded to him. He stared at her blankly before speaking in a gravely voice. "What can I do for you, Strauss?" he asked, stepping aside so she could enter the house. He closed the door and started towards the kitchen again. He grabbed another mug for her and poured a cup of coffee, sliding it over the island towards her.

"How is your family?" she asked, taking a sip of the steaming liquid.

He looked at her with narrowed eyes, wondering what her ulterior motive might be. There would be no other reason she would show up at his doorstep. She had no personal connection to his family. Their relationship was one of strictly business. Nevertheless, he shook his head. "Not good," he said sorrowfully. He rubbed his face tiredly. "No one is getting a good night's rest here. My daughters haven't been speaking and Penelope is doing nothing but worrying."

She fixed his with a sympathetic look and at that moment he thought she was sincere.

"I am sorry," she murmured. "I wish they didn't have to go through this. It's going to be a rough ride for you all."

He huffed bitterly. "Huh, no shit." Taking a sip of his own cup of coffee, he muttered, "No offense, but why did you show up at my door? I'm assuming this isn't a social call." He raised a brow at her.

She shook her head and folded her hands in front of herself. "I've come to let you know that your two weeks of leave are up," she said, her tone turning business like a matter of seconds. "Your team has been without you and now you're being called back in." She paused a moment. "I'm sorry to drag you away from your family at this time, but it has to happen. You're needed at the Bureau. Again, I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Bullshit, you're sorry!" he growled. "You're not sorry at all. Don't even try to tell me that you are."

Strauss bowed her head a moment. "Agent Morgan, I know we've never seen eye to eye, but -"

"Take your order, and shove it up your ass!" he snapped. "I'm not coming back until I know that my family doesn't need me."

"I understand that you want to stay home, but right now the case load is too large and the team is under manned right now. They need you back and so do the victims of those cases."

He glared at her. "With all due respect, ma'am, I don't care if they need me now. The most important people in my life are the only ones I will worry about until I see that they're okay. And at present, they need me."

"You will come back in -"

He shook his head and said, "No...I won't. And if you want to fire me, go right ahead. My marriage almost fell apart because of this damn job, I won't let it happen again."

"Are you resigning?" she challenged him.

"No," he said. "But if you continue to tell me that I have to come in and abandon my family when they need me most, then yeah...I'll resign. Don't think I'm bluffing either. Find me a temporary replacement and I'll return after my family recovers, or I'll leave the Bureau without even looking back."

She rose to her feet. "You're on a suspension...indefinitely," she said, outrage in her eyes. "No one speaks to me like that."

"Then I guess this is a first," he said bitterly. "And if you want it to be the last, I suggest you get the hell out of my house and out of my face."

She started for the door. "I'll show myself out." He didn't even care when she slammed the door. Returning to his cup of coffee, he slammed his fist down on the counter and began to breathe heavily, rage boiling inside him fiercely. He was so mad he could kill someone.

Strauss was particularly high on his list.

"Daddy?"

Turning around, he saw Soraya entering the kitchen, her huge brown eyes wide. He attempted to smile and said, "Hey Baby Doll. You not sleeping very well?"

She shook her head and went to his side. He reached down picked her up, kissing her cheek in her process. "Sorry, sweetheart. I wish I could help you. Are you feeling okay? Do you want something to drink?"

Soraya wrapped her arms around Derek's neck and snuggled into his shoulder. "I'm okay right now, Daddy," she said. "I'm not thirsty. I just heard you talking to that lady." She looked at him with fat tears floating on the surface of her brown, doe like eyes. "Daddy, are you going away again? For a long time? Like when you go to save people?"

"No," he said firmly. "I'm not going anywhere until you and Mommy and your sisters are all better. And if the lady keeps telling me to leave, I'll just quit. Sound good?"

"As long as I get to be with you, Daddy," she said, hugging him again.

He nodded. "I'll always be with you Raya."

XXXXX

Tala sat in her room, her back resting against the edge of her bed as she sat on the floor. She lifted her bottle of vodka she was drinking straight from and took a quick swig, savoring the feel of the burning alcohol as it slid down her throat. She was drunk, and quite happy that way.

Wiping her non existent tears from her cheeks, she leaned her head back against her bed and closed her eyes. She couldn't get the feel of Keith's hands off her scalp, she couldn't handle moving her hair away from her face without remembering how he curled it and styled it. She couldn't look at her face without seeing it put together with makeup.

So she had done the one thing she could think: she threw out all her makeup and anything to do with her hair. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized she couldn't even look in the mirror without seeing her hair and what he had experimented with. It had been his little experiment, something he had played with. And that was something she did not think she could handle.

Rising unsteadily from the ground, she stumbled over to her desk and opened her desk drawer, producing a pair of scissors. Without a second thought as to what she was doing, she brought it up to her hair and began to hack away until it was at the nape of her neck and no one could run their fingers through it.

So this one was kind of sad and emotional. Sorry if I made you upset...I was a little upset just writing it. Alas, it had to be done.