Disclaimer: I own nothing.

So now that they're all home, we've got some healing to do, mostly starting with Tala. Actually, it's mostly going to be Tala. Penelope and Derek's marital problems get addressed after they help her. Thank you for the reviews and I hope this chapter meets your expectations!

"Derek, have you seen Tala at all?" Penelope asked as she came into the kitchen. "I haven't seen her since she disappeared upstairs."

He shook his head. "I haven't actually," he said. "Dinner's about ready though. Do you want to go grab her?" He wiped his hands on a dish towel. "I'll have the girls set the table and get drinks out." They were all having their first family dinner together in months. Hopefully it would go well. He had yet to tell her of his meeting with Strauss. She had been fast asleep when she had been there and had not heard any of the conversation. He was planning to talk to her later in the evening before they went to bed.

So far since Penelope had been home, he was watching for signs that she wanted more distance. But each and every night for the past two weeks she had pulled him by his hand into their room and snuggled into him, letting him hold her. And he did. He spent the night with his arm wrapped around her waist and his face buried in the crook of her neck.

She had yet to tell him to get the hell away from her. Both of them were fully committed to fixing their marriage.

Penelope nodded in answer to his question. "I'll go up and find her now," she said. "She must be done with her homework. I'd be surprised if she wasn't." She started for the stairs and made her way up. She knocked on Tala's door. "Tala, baby? Dinner's almost ready. You done with your homework."

A very strangled answer came out. "I'm - I'm not hungry!" she called out.

Penelope furrowed her brow. Something was not right about this. Her daughter's voice sounded...off. Putting her hand on the knob, she opened the door and gasped. Sitting on the floor, hair covering the ground around her and a bottle of half empty vodka at her side, was Tala. She looked up with wide, glazed eyes and cried, "Go away, Mom! I can't - can't see you! I have to be alone!"

Immediately she rushed to Tala's side and cupped both of her cheeks in her hands. She looked into her daughter's eyes and tears sprang to her own. "Oh, Tala," she said brokenly. "What have you done? Baby, why did you do this?" She brought her hands to her daughter's newly choppy hair and tears started to roll down her cheeks.

Tala stared at her with blank, drunken, empty eyes and mumbled, "I got rid of his toy. I got rid of his experiment. He has nothing to style. He can't t-touch me now. He c-can't-" She bent her head and let out a dry sob. "He's still hurting me, Mom! He's still playing with me for his games. I'm j-just a pawn...he's inside my head! He's not leaving me alone!"

Feeling entirely hopeless, Penelope moved towards her daughter and pulled her into her arms. She stroked her back and kissed the top of her head, rocking her in her arms. "He can't hurt you anymore, Baby. He's locked up. He won't ever get to you again. And I won't let anyone touch you again. You're safe."

"He's never going to leave me! He's -" She was overcome with emotion again and lost the ability to speak. Her breathing and sobs came in great bursts now. Her tears were wetting Penelope's shirt and she allowed herself to be held in her mother's comforting arms.

"Tala, I'll never let anyone hurt you again. Ever." She kissed the top of her head.

After another moment of Tala's sobs, Derek appeared in the doorway, concern covering his face and his mouth dropped. Penelope shook her head and he nodded, understanding what she meant. He backed away and disappeared again, going back to the younger two daughters.

Penelope returned to looking at the top of Tala's head and holding her more tightly. "Baby, I think we need to get you into bed," she murmured. "You need to sleep. We can talk in the morning." Supporting her, Penelope pulled her very drunk daughter up and started helping her towards her bed. Still sobbing, Tala slid into her bed and Penelope pulled the covers up over her and kissed her forehead. "I love you," she whispered, wiping her tears from her eyes.

But Tala had already fallen asleep.

XXXXX

Late at night after Lindy and Soraya had gone to bed, Penelope was sitting on the edge of her and Derek's bed, staring at the ground. The door opened and she looked up to find Derek coming in. He closed the door softly and she stood up. "How is she?" she asked anxiously, wringing her hands together.

Derek shook his head. "She's still asleep." He rubbed his face, complete devastation covering his face. Looking directly at his wife, he had tears swimming on the surface of her eyes. She had never seen him look so lost, so without hope and no direction of where to turn. "Penelope...what are we going to do?" he asked even though he knew neither of them had any answers. "How can we help her? She's..."

"I know," she whispered hoarsely. "All I know is we need some help. A lot of help. And so does Tala."

"She thinks she's still under his control," he said. "Who knows how long it could take to bring her back."

"Is she going to hate her hair forever?" Penelope asked.

"I honestly don't know," he responded. "It's possible. We need to talk to Dr. Jansen. We need to get her opinion on the matter."

Penelope wiped her tears from her cheeks. "If she suggests sending her to a facility, I won't let them take her," she said fiercely. "Unless it's absolutely dire and she starts trying to hurt herself or someone else. I don't want her taken away from us...not when we just got her back from those bastards." She shook her head and her face was taken over by something Derek had never seen before in her. It was a look of complete rage and pent up anger and grief all mixed into one lethal combination. "I never thought I could hate any human being, not even the some of the scum we deal with everyday. But these men...these evil bastards who took our daughters, who hurt them and tortured them emotionally...them I can hate. Them I could kill if I had the chance."

Derek nodded. "I know the same feeling, Baby Girl," he said softly. "I would give anything to kill Kyle over and over again and then put a bullet in Keith's brain. But we can't. The only thing we can concentrate on is healing Tala, Lindy, and Raya. They are all that matter now."

Penelope was silent for a moment. "Derek, this could take months and months," she said worriedly. "Strauss is going to call you back into work."

"She already did," he said. "She came to the house earlier while you were sleeping."

Her face began to falter. "When do you have to leave next?"

He shook his head. "I've been suspended indefinitely," he said. "I told her to go shove it and that I wasn't going anywhere or setting foot back in the Bureau until you and the girls recover. If she decides to fire me in the end, then so be it."

She moved closer to his and wrapped her arms around his waist. He cupped her cheek in one hand. "How could have ever doubted you?" she whispered. "How could I have ever thought you weren't committed to your family?" More tears began to pour down her face. "Thank you, Derek. Thank you for staying."

"I'm not going anywhere until you're all better. The only people who matter are you. I mean that with all my heart."

Leaning her head against his chest, she murmured, "Hold me, Derek. Just - just hold me."

"You don't need to ask me twice."

Another emotional one...I hope you liked it though. These ones are sometimes a challenge to write, but I find scenes like it to be extremely effective in stories. I hope I don't sound arrogant when I say that :-/