Nikki's POV

"Daddy!"

Derek ran into Nikki's room to find her sobbing into her pillow.

"Nikki? What's wrong?"

"He killed them," she said," and I just froze. It was my job to take care of Jess, and I failed. If you hadn't come we'd be-"

"Oh sweetie," Derek said," what happened wasn't your fault. Don't ever blame yourself for what happened."

"My dad is probably so disappointed in me," she said.

"No, no, no," Derek said," I knew your dad. And he would have been so proud of the way you've taken care of your sister."

He knelt down beside her and wrapped her in his arms. Nikki was finally able to cry. She finally felt safe.

"Nikki?"

Nikki turned around to see her little sister by her bed.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Nikki said.

She quickly wiped away her tears and tried to put on a brave face.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Derek asked.

"I'm scared," she said," can stay with you?"

"Sure," Nikki said.

Jessica crawled into bed with her sister, and the two curled up together. Once Jessica was with her sister, she fell asleep almost instantly. Nikki kept her eyes open and stared at the doorway. She was too scared to sleep. Derek's phone vibrated. He looked at the screen and stepped out.

"I'll be right back," he said.

Morgan's POV

Hotch was calling.

"Hey," Derek answered," what's up?"

"Morgan, the unsub, Patrick Shepherd, he's being transferred to the hospital where you are," Hotch said.

"What? Why?"

"He was provoking some of the other prisoners in booking," Hotch answered," he got beat up pretty bad. He won't be anywhere near the girls, and he will have around the clock supervision."

"Who's watching him?"

"Dave rode with him to the hospital so he'll probably stay until morning," Hotch said," I thought you should know just in case."

"Thanks for letting me know," Morgan said," I should get back to the girls."

He quickly went back to the girls' room and saw that Nikki was still awake. Without talking, he put his chair in between the door and the girls. Then he sat down in the chair. Even if Patrick somehow got away from Rossi, he wouldn't get to the girls. Not again. He stayed up for hours until the JJ came into the room. SHe was holding two suitcases.

"Hey," she said," I didn't know what to get so I brought a little of everything."

The girls woke up, excited to see her. She held up two stuffed animals: a bear, and a bunny.

"These two looked important so I brought them with me," she said.

She placed them on the bed and Nikki took the rabbit, and Jess took the bear. They held their support objects as tight as they could.

"How about you two get dressed, and we can go get breakfast," Morgan said," I have something I need to tell you."

Morgan stepped outside with JJ so they could talk about the girls.

"How are they doing?"

"After what they've been through," Morgan said," I'm impressed they're doing this well. At least they have each other."

"Luckily the social worker was able to find the girls a foster home for until your ready," JJ said," Garcia ran a background check on the parents. They seem to be good people."

"Well that's something," Morgan exhaled," my landlord says he has a two bedroom apartment available, so I can fly home, move my stuff downstairs, and get the girls' room ready. It should only take two days. Three at most."

Nikki stepped out of her room, and Jess followed.

"Hey, ladies," Morgan said," are you ready to go?"

"Yes, sir," Nikki said.

They drove to a small diner near the social worker's office, sat down and ordered their food.

"Girls," Morgan said," I'm going to adopt you. I need a few days to get my apartment ready, but as soon as it is, I'll come to get you myself."

The girls thought about this for a second.

"Do you know how to braid?" Jess asked.

"Well, my friend Penelope can teach me," Morgan said.

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and pulled up a picture of Garcia. He handed his phone to the girls.

"Woah," Nikki said," she's pretty."

"I think you three are going to get along just fine," JJ said.

Rossi's POV

Dave sat in a chair next to Patrick and kept his eyes on him the whole time.

"I don't know why everyone's so mad," Patrick said," all I did was slaughter the pigs."

"Fine," Rossi said," you hate cops, but why didn't you just kill the cops? Why go into their homes? Why kill their wives? Why murder their children?"

"I figured, If you're gonna kill the pigs, you might as well take out the piglets," he laughed.

Rossi leaned back and chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh I'm just thinking about you spending the rest of your life in prison," he said," you know, the men you killed were probably good friends with some of the corrections officers. They are going to make your life a living hell."

Rossi's phone rang. It was Reid. He stepped outside and spoke with the officer outside the door

"Hey," said," keep your eyes on him."

"Rossi," Reid answered," Hotch says we need to head back to Quantico and let the police do their job."

"Okay," Rossi said," I'll be right there."

He took one last look at the injured man and then left him alone. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he was making a mistake.

Two days later

Morgan's POV

The girls kept their eyes on the two coffins the whole time. Jessi was openly bawling, but Nikki was trying to hold back her tears. Derek put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned and cried into his shirt. No one was paying attention to the eulogy. When it was over, Morgan went to the woman the girls had been staying with to get their things.

"My apartment's ready for them to move into," Morgan said," thank you for taking care of them."

"Of course," she said," I'm just happy they have someone who can take care of them long-term. Thank God for men like you."

Morgan took the girls' bags and put them in the back of his car. The girls got int the back seat, and in a few minutes, they had gone to their new life.