The warm sunshine strokes the tension from his neck, the buzzing of insects and the far off sound of a hedge trimmer adding to the mellow moment. Coffee, a cigar, the crossword; all to be enjoyed in the peace of his backyard. It was a rare treat.

The rising tone of female voices interrupts his reverie, followed by a loud smash.

"Jimmy!"

He hurries in to find Angie, white faced and shaking, trying to pick up the pieces of a broken dish from the kitchen floor. From the back of the house, a door slams.

"Beth again?"

He kneels beside his wife, taking her trembling hand in his.

"You've got to talk to her, Jimmy. Try and get through to her..."

He knows, he's just not sure if he can.

The last couple of years had been tough on them as a family, but they had pulled together, rode the wave. All except Beth, their wild child. The child who had kept them up all night when she was a baby with her fretting, had kept them awake with her sleepwalking and nightmares, who now kept them up late when she failed to return home. She had always been the adventurous one, the daring one, the rebellious one but that streak now had a dangerous edge and often resulted in dramatic outbursts, harsh words and broken crockery.

Violence was an ugly factor of a cop's life; he had just never expected to see it in his home.

These troubles play heavily on his mind at work, particularly with the new addition of Logan. He'd been impressed by the way he'd handled himself on the prison case, had made further inquiries, had pulled a few strings. Goren had settled back down with the return of Eames and he felt that the time was ripe to take another risk.

He was beginning to regret that decision. The very presence of Logan was like a constant reminder of Beth. Barek too, was new and unused to working with a partner, Logan was desperate to prove himself and the tension and uncertainty was palpable. Whereas he had been previously confident in his management skills (Goren and Eames were a testament to that) his inability to resolve things at home was bleeding into work and he found himself becoming stricter and more authoritarian.

"So three days in you got Nancy and Sluggo here and an ID on the weapon..."

"We'll do better." Barek's tone is defensive and all he hears in his head is Beth's voice whining "I won't do it again, I promise, Dad" Remembering how often that had proved to be a lie, his reply to Barek is harsh.

"I'm counting on it."

Another day and a frantic phone call from Angie with news that Beth has been suspended from school for fighting. They are to see the School Principal that evening to discuss the situation. He's not in a favourable frame of mind as Logan and Barek present the case for their suspect, a mood that deteriorates rapidly when there is a report of a further murder and robbery involving a woman with a similar description to the one in custody. His temper flares.

"I don't want to hear it. Just get going!"

Funnily enough, it took someone else challenging his judgement to restore his faith in himself. Carver's words about assigning a cop with an asterisk next to his name coming back to bite him had raised his defences but had strengthened his resolve.

"I knew that going in, Counsellor but thank you for reminding me..."

By the time Logan had come to him with his own doubts, he had regained the courage of his convictions.

"You become a problem for me; I'll be the first to let you know."

This rediscovered self assurance carried him home into another screaming match between wife and daughter. Beth turns on him as Angie beats a hasty but grateful retreat. He gathers his daughter into his arms, her fists beating ineffectively at his chest, her diatribe muffled against his jacket. Her hands still, clutching at his lapels and her words become sobs.

He wishes she was still a little girl, at that age when she believed her Dad was a superhero and could fix all that was broken in the world. But she was on the brink of womanhood now and had stopped believing. He strokes her thick dark hair, so like Angie's and uses the last superpower he has left.

He tells her he loves her.