Adam was out of the house before anyone was up. He needed to go for a run by himself; the pounding of the pavement beneath his feet was strangely therapeutic and he zoned out completely and didn't realise how far he'd run until he finally stopped to catch his breath. It had felt good and he'd fallen into such a smooth rhythm but now he needed to get home and he wasn't looking forward to that.

Kim had felt him get up and as always he kissed her forehead lightly. He was a creature of habit, he had a routine in the mornings and he never left the house if he could help it without having some contact with his wife. Almost twenty years they had been together and nothing had changed for him. He adored his wife; she held his heart completely in her hands.

By the time he got back Kim had obviously left with the kids to get them to school. When they were both working they always made their own way to school but if one of them was around they were more than happy to take them. In the blink of an eye they had gone from these helpless little babies safely cradled in their arms to walking, talking teenagers who could now experience heart break like the rest of them.

Kim found him in the kitchen standing at the fridge, door open and knocking back a bottle of water. He was dripping with sweat and stank to high heaven. No wonder Angus always hung from the door staring into the abyss waiting for something to jump out at him, he'd learnt it from his father. "Hey."

"Hi." He closed the door before Kim started nagging. "Before you say anything I think we should spend the day in bed."

"Really?"

"Yes I do." He took a couple of steps towards Kim and took off his sweaty t-shirt. "You can't say no to this?" Kim side stepped him and screwed up her nose but he could see her smirk. "I'm going to have a shower." He kissed her before she could dodge out of the way. "You need to join me." He didn't make it sound like it was an option.

He had barely stepped into the shower when Kim stripped off her clothes and joined him. She was going to make him wait but that was a fleeting thought as she watched him disappear up the stairs, stripped to the waist. He was irresistible, still to this day. "Why are we doing this?"

"Because we need it." He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her tight against his body under the steaming water. "And because I love you and because you get me all hot and bothered."

"And so we don't have to talk?"

"We do have to talk and we have a lot to talk about, but we can do that later. Right now we need this." He sucked on her lower lip and felt her completely relax and turn to putty in his hands.

Again he had been right, they did need it. They couldn't remember the last time they had spent the day in bed just talking and playing and loving each other. Life got in the way, their kids got in the way and if they managed to spend a couple of hours a week with each other, even watching TV it was a bonus. As best they could they tried to keep their sex life fairly regular and once a week was their aim at a minimum. It didn't always work out that way and Adam would get antsy if work got in the way too often. The three months he had been undercover had turned him into an angry beast of a man and not just because of the shit he dealt with on the case but because he couldn't get his hands on his wife.

It had got so bad that he broke cover once just to sneak home in the middle of the night to re-connect with Kim. It was like popping a cork. He'd been hauled over the coals but it had felt good.

Today felt good.

Adam offered to go downstairs and do some hunting and gathering because when he said the day in bed, he meant it. He threw together some fruit and toasted a couple of bagels and made them a coffee to share. Kim sat cross-legged on the bed having found one of Adam's discarded shirts to pull on was waiting for him to come back. He looked a little disappointed when he came in and found her with clothes on. "This is all so fucked up Adam and I don't want it to be a problem between us. I should never have left you yesterday, I know you would do anything to protect Polly and Angus."

"And you." He handed Kim the plate and dropped down beside her on the bed.

"And me. I love that about you. I freaked out and I am sorry."

"It's okay." Adam touched her cheek. "You did exactly what I did the night before but I am still allowed to worry about it. I am still going to worry about you."

"We are quite the pair aren't we?"

"We are bumbling through this the best we can, and I am not sure we are getting it right half the time but we haven't given up and that's all we can do." Kim popped a strawberry in his mouth and his lopsided smile made Kim's heart melt.

"We are back on the same page, yeah?"

"Always have been Darlin' just on different paragraphs."

"Polly politely informed me that you told her about the counselling."

"How did she sound? Last night, pissed off was probably the best way to describe it." After they had finished that conversation it was the last time he had seen or heard from her all night. Every night he hoped that she would come down and see him and every night he was left disappointed. It was painful to live through his daughter hating him.

"Slightly less annoyed she also said that you told her that you loved her and that you would be waiting for her when she was ready to talk."

"I did indeed." He nodded as he reached for the coffee in her hands and took a mouthful.

"And that she feels bad that you think that she hates you." Kim knew how much this was hurting him and she tried to talk to Polly about how she needed to tell her Dad how she felt but was met with stony silence. Polly loved her Dad; probably more than she loved Kim to be honest and the struggle she was having with her feelings about men in general was hard to watch. She had every faith that they would get there but she just hated seeing Adam so upset by it.

"I feel bad too."

"She loves you Baby, you know she does."

"Be nice to hear it or feel it every now and then."

Kim put the plate on the side table, took the mug from his hands and crawled over towards him and rolled him onto his back, it didn't take much effort on her part because if Adam thought he was about to get lucky he was a pushover. Throwing one leg over his waist she straddled him and leant forward to capture his lips with hers. "I love you Baby." Kim lifted his shirt over her head. "You can feel my love right now if you want."

"You saw the photos?" Adam eventually rested his head on Kim's stomach, it was comforting feeling her hands running through his hair and they had been quiet for a little while, basking in the afterglow of yet another very satisfying round of sex.

"I did."

"And?"

"I know there was nothing terrible of Polly but I felt like there was. Does that make sense?"

"Of course it does. Even seeing a photo of my baby on that man's computer sent me over the edge. I want to kill him." He completely understood how Kim was feeling and wouldn't have expected her to feel otherwise. Perhaps it was one of the reasons he didn't want to tell her. Protecting Kim had been part of his make-up for two decades; it was instinct. He was running on his gut.

"I'll help you move the body."

"I bet you would." Adam laced his fingers through Kim's and rested them over his heart. "I am taking Polly to see Abbey today."

"Oh, she told me that. I think I may have seen a little bit of joy on her face."

"I hope Abbey is up for it."

"You know I think she was happy because you are taking her."

"Pfft." Adam scoffed. "Doubt it."

The toughest part was yet to come for Adam. "I want to tell you something." He sat up and faced Kim, holding both her hands tightly and he knew by the look on Kim's face that she was preparing herself for the worst. "This stays in this room. We talk about this now and then it's done, okay? I wont' talk about it again."

Kim nodded, she was biting at the corner of her bottom lip and he felt her hands shake. He leant forward and briefly kissed her, hoping to give her some courage. "The day we interviewed Simon I know I told you he said something about Polly."

"What did he say?"

Adam would never forget it, it was burned into his brain and only the copious amount of alcohol he'd drunk had numbed the pain momentarily. He could never forget those words or the smug look on his face. 'Man that Polly Ruzek, if I'd got hold of her she wouldn't have walked for weeks. I would have had her begging for mercy. Those lips, I know what I'd make her do with them.'

"Kim, I wanted to kill him, I would have killed him with my bare hands." His voice was shaking as he told his wife exactly what was said.

"Adam." She just broke down in his arms, her body was wracking with sobs and he cried with her. The only time he'd seen her this distraught and hurt was when she lost the baby and he never wanted to see that again. Yet here they were but at least they were clinging to each other rather than pushing each other away. It felt so raw, if ever they were going to feel like they were one person it was now, there was nothing between them, not a scrap of clothing or material. They could feel each other's skin pressed together, every emotion and every inch of heartbreak. It was pure love and pure devastation.

"Kim, I'm sorry, I didn't know how to tell you. It's too much. I don't want Polly to know, ever. This doesn't get talked about again. He didn't touch her, he can't touch her." They agreed, somewhat painfully that not telling Polly was the only option available to them. The only other people who knew were Halstead, Atwater and Olinsky and they would move heaven and earth to protect Polly from this. He'd ask Halstead to remove it from the transcript of the Interview and bury it. They were doing it for their daughter and he didn't care if it was illegal or not. This was not an option.

Kim finally understood why Adam had gone out and got drunk. Her heart broke for him having to hear that and seeing him so vulnerable, as he was right now had always been tough to handle. Adam was her strength; he made her keep going on the toughest of days. She was scared this was going to break him and then she wouldn't know what to do.

It was a gut wrenching few hours for them both but at the very least they were back on the same page and paragraph. "How's Trudy anyway?" Adam was getting dressed to go and pick up Polly. Angus had Baseball training after school so if he wasn't done with Polly and Abbey at the hospital by the time he finished Kim would go get him.

"Good. I think she's missed you." Kim chuckled. Trudy would never admit it, not in a pink fit and neither would Adam but they bounced off each other and it was hilarious to watch. "We should catch up soon."

"Sure. Sounds good." His lack of enthusiasm was evident. He just wasn't keen to talk about all this with every tom, dick and harry. A tiny little bit of him wanted to hide them all away from the world where nothing could hurt them again. Irrational? Yes, absolutely but nonetheless it was how he felt.

Kim was straightening the sheets. "Adam?"

"Kim, it's fine. Set something up, but a few weeks at least. Let's get over this speed hump first." Before he left the room he pulled Kim tight against his body. "Thank you for today."

"It felt good hey?"

"It was just what we needed." The kiss was long and slow and deep and despite some harrowing moments it did feel good to just spend the time together and reiterate just how much they loved each other and their children.

"How was your day?" Adam asked Polly as she climbed into his Truck.

"Fine."

"Mine was awesome, thanks for asking. I spent the whole day with your Mom."

"I thought Mom would be coming."

"You disappointed?" Polly said nothing and turned her head away to face out the window. Guess he should be glad that she wasn't giving him a gob full of attitude. "Do you want to stop and have a coffee or something first?"

"No. Can we stop and get Abbey something though?"

"Sure." Adam had tried. He knew it was fruitless but at least she could never accuse him of not trying. They had often stopped for a coffee or cake when they were out together. "What do you want to get?" Polly had decided to get Abbey some Oreo's. They loved to share them together, they would often sit on the floor in their bedrooms laughing and giggling over boys and Oreo's. She missed those times and wanted Abbey to remember them too. Hopefully it would remind them both of a time when things were good and they could start to talk about some happy memories again because Polly really wanted to remember those times.

They pulled into a grocery store and as she grabbed the Oreo's Polly also reached for a packet of Gummy Bears. Adam saw her face drop just a little when she realised what she was doing. She was grabbing them for Sam. "Have you talked to Sam?"

"No."

"Why not?" Adam was on thin ice, he knew it but he was desperate to know what was going on with her. They were wary of the slightest little thing tripping her up and if Sam was going to be another pothole he wanted to know about it sooner rather than later.

"He doesn't understand." She shrugged and sounded so sad.

"Oh Polly." Adam was heartened by the fact that when he rested his hand on her back she didn't flinch. "I think Sam could really help you right now. Talk to him."

"I can't worry about him. He only wants one thing, you all do." Adam didn't like Polly assertion that all men wanted the same thing. He was pretty sure that Sam did want to have sex with her, he was a teenage boy after all but he never got the impression that he was only hanging around Polly for just that. He wouldn't have lasted this long in his house if that was all he was chasing.

"Talk to Sam, tell him how you feel."

"Can we go?" Polly signalled that it was the end of that conversation and honestly Adam was surprised it had gone that far but he did feel there were a few little cracks starting to appear in this wall she had built around herself and that maybe he wouldn't be the devil incarnate for much longer.

Abbey's reaction to Polly was the extreme opposite of the other day. There were still tears but she didn't push Polly away this time, this time they hung onto each other. Abbey still didn't tell Polly what Simon did to her but they did talk about what was going on with school and their friends. "My Dad is making me go to counselling."

"That's good Pol. Don't let this eat you from the inside. I let it fester and it's not good."

"It didn't happen to me though."

"No, thank god. Your Dad has been great you know?" Abbey nodded towards Adam who was sitting outside the room totally engrossed in his phone. He had what felt like a million emails banked up that he needed to delete. "I thought he'd lose it over the photos but he was pretty calm."

"What photos?"

"The photos of you."

"I don't know what you are talking about." Polly got a feeling that this was obviously what had gone down between her parents. She wasn't stupid. Her Dad had gone out and got blind drunk and slept in the spare room and then her mother had taken off and didn't come home until late last night. Photos? What Photos?

"Simon had photos of all of us."

"I didn't do anything." Polly literally screamed and Adam's head snapped up. "He didn't touch me."

"Polly. I know. They were just photos. I shouldn't have said anything I am sorry." Abbey grabbed hold of Polly who was shaking uncontrollably.

"My parents are going to think I am lying."

"They don't Polly."

What little light Adam had seen at the end of the tunnel with regards to Polly's attitude was snuffed out. "You think I am lying. Nothing happened. I don't know anything about any photos." She yelled at Adam when he came into the room to see what was going on. Polly pushed past him angrily and took off down the hall and Adam squeezed Abbey's hand quickly and told her not to worry before he sprinted after Polly and caught up with her at the lifts. "I didn't do anything wrong." She screamed.

"We know Polly."

"So you've seen them?"

"Yes, I have and so has your Mom."

"You didn't believe me? You don't trust me. I told you nothing happened, he didn't touch me."

"Polly I do trust you. I had to see the photos, they were part of the case." Adam could sense that Polly was losing it. "And forgive me for wanting to make sure you weren't hurt by him. We needed to make sure those photo's weren't all over the internet and in the hands of other people who would use them for god knows what. Trust us to do our job and our job is to protect people like you and your friends. More than that Polly, trust me to take care of you, you are my daughter."

"I told you nothing happened."

"Okay Polly. Can we please calm down? Let's talk about this at home." They were starting to draw a crowd. He waved them away as the lift doors opened and ushered Polly inside.

"No, I am not going home with you. I want to see them." She snapped at him.

"Okay. I'll talk to Jay but not right now." He wanted to have this conversation together with Kim; she would calm Polly down. Even when he tried to reach out to touch her hand she snatched it away and glared at him.

"No, no you won't. You have them, I want to see them." She tried to grab the phone from his hand and Adam stopped her by pushing her hand away and she didn't like it. It would have been pointless anyway, he didn't have the photos on his phone and his phone was security protected because of work so that no one else could pick it up and get into it. Polly wouldn't have been able to access it but he still wasn't putting up with this crap. This they didn't do. He never looked at her phone and he expected the same courtesy.

"I don't have them Polly." She turned away from him and Adam sighed and just stood and watched her wrap her arms around herself and continue to fall apart in front of his very eyes. When the doors opened he was relieved when she at least let him rest a hand on her shoulder and guide her out through a small crowd of people to the car although it was now under the watchful eye of two security guards. Once he helped Polly in the car he swung around and pulled out his CPD ID hoping to get them to back off.

"It's all good, she's my daughter." One of the security guards checked out his ID while the other approached Polly and knocked on her window, pissing Adam off no end.

"You okay love? Do you need some help? Can we call someone to come and get you?"

"Back the fuck off." He growled as the other security guard stepped between him and his car to stop him getting to Polly. These idiots were messing with the wrong guy at precisely the wrong time and when one of them put his hand on Adam's chest to stop him getting anywhere near his car he just about lost it. "Get your hand off me."

Polly was mortified and leapt out of the car and pushed the security guard away. "He's my Dad, leave him alone." She screamed. "Don't you touch him, he's my Dad."

"Polly, its okay." Adam reached out for her as the security guard rested his hand on her arm to get her to stop. "Get your hands off her." He warned them. Polly suddenly buried her head in Adam's chest and wrapped her arms around his waist and he could feel the terror coursing through her. Having a man try and grab her had sent her over the edge and her reaction had shocked Adam as she clung to him for dear life. "You need to leave." He growled at the two security guards and they backed off.

Adam tried to soothe her, whispering over and over again that he had her and that he loved her and she was safe with him until she started to calm down. "I want to go home." Polly sobbed. Adam got her in the car and he was at least grateful that while she obviously didn't like him right now she was still fiercely protective of him. She didn't say another word to him on the way home. What concerned Adam the most was her reaction to someone touching her even though it was just on the arm and the obvious fear she exhibited and her absolute distress.

Kim looked at Adam as he followed Polly inside. She flew up the stairs without saying a word and the look on Adam's face told her that things had not gone well. "What happened? I thought Abbey wanted to see her?"

"She did and that was all going well until Abbey told Polly about the photos and now she thinks that I didn't believe her that Simon didn't touch her. Then as we were leaving she was hysterical and we got followed by two security guards and they tried to separate us and asked Polly if she was okay and she lost it Kim, like seriously lost it. She pushed this guy and when he grabbed her arm she was terrified and so was I. I hate seeing her like this."

"Oh God, Adam."

"She was screaming at them that I was her Dad and to leave me alone and suddenly she's throwing herself at me and hanging onto me but Kim she is terrified and so unstable, I don't know what to do. I don't know what she wants…" He threw his hands up in desperation. "….Kim I can't keep doing this."

"Adam. She wants you to be there for her, she just doesn't know how to ask for help."

"I want to help her, this is not Polly. This is not my daughter."

"It is Polly, she's just struggling to deal with this and you are helping, just being here for her is helping, I know it doesn't feel like it right now."

"She won't talk to us, she won't talk to or see Sam."

"Did you ask her about Sam?"

"Yes I did, she was talking to me for a while on the way to the hospital but she thinks he's only after one thing, like all men are. Not sure I like that either. I mean I don't think she is in any fit state to be having any type of relationship right now but she was so close to Sam and happy with him so this is just so out of the blue."

"I think she'll come back to Sam eventually. I just don't think she can cope with both things at once." Adam hoped that Kim was right because this was seriously getting out of control. It was early days, he knew that and everything was still raw but it still scared the crap out of him.

"She wants to see the photos, she thinks I have them."

"Let me talk to her."

"No, we do it together."

"She might open up more if I talk to her."

"No. We said from the start that we were not going to shy away from anything and there is no way Polly is going to come back in a week, a month or a years time and say 'you didn't care or you didn't trust me'…not going to happen." Adam had spoken and quite frankly there was no point arguing with him. At some point she had to know that she couldn't keep behaving like this, if she needed help she had to tell them how to help her because they were at a loss.

It took quite a bit of convincing to get Polly to come downstairs and eventually Kim just told her to move it and the way she threw herself down on the couch when Adam told her to sit certainly didn't get things off on the right foot. Adam turned the TV off when Polly started watching that rather than look at them. That little display of love she had for him back at the hospital was well and truly a distant memory.

"Firstly, that incident with the security guards, tell me Polly what scared you? Because it scared me, your reaction scared me." Adam and Kim sat together, they wanted to show Polly that they were in this together and Kim knew that she needed to stick close to Adam to keep him from losing it if Polly started acting up.

"They were going to take you away. They thought you were like Simon and you are not." It was a small concession of love on her part despite it being delivered with so little emotion but Adam was going to take anything at the moment.

"No, they weren't. They were doing their job. They shouldn't have touched you though. That made me angry too but I am sure they just wanted to make sure you were safe. I am glad I was there to help you though."

"I don't want anyone to touch me."

"That's okay Sweet Pea, really it is. He had no right to put his hand on you but Polly you pushed him."

"He was going to hurt you."

"I wouldn't let that happen, but I didn't like how upset it made you. I hate seeing you like this Polly. I want to help you, please let me help you." Adam was almost begging.

Adam and Kim watched her for a minute but she didn't say anything else so they had to move on. "You are upset about the photos?"

"Wouldn't you be? You didn't believe me so went looking for photos to prove that I am lying." She snapped back at Adam. It was like the previous conversation had been put in a box and she had closed the lid on it. Pretty much like the whole episode at the hospital had happened, one minute she was yelling at him and then she was defending him and once they were back in the car the hate had returned. Adam almost had whiplash.

"Since when has it been okay to talk to us like that?" Despite his own confusion and frustration he managed to keep his voice calm. "I did not go looking for those photos because I didn't believe you. We were shown them because it was part of this case, I explained that to you and we had a right to know, as do you. I wish I had never seen them. I wish they didn't exist."

"Dad, I didn't know about them I swear." At least she called him Dad even if she was now this emotional mess in front of them and that made Adam soften instantly as Kim left his side and sat with Polly, sliding her arm around her shaking shoulders. Adam desperately wished that was him, he wished that he could do that for her right now but he had to settle for watching her mother comfort her.

"Polly we know. We know you didn't know about them and we know you didn't lie to us. Simon took those photos without permission. This is not your fault."

"I don't understand any of this."

"I wish, with all my heart that you never had to deal with something like this." Adam held his hand over his heart. "It kills me and I would do anything, anything to change what happened, but I can't."

"Can I see them?"

"If that's what you want." Kim still wasn't sure Polly was ready to see them. Perhaps when things settled down a little and Polly was a little less emotional but Adam would do anything to win Polly over at this stage. "I will call Jay tomorrow and organise for you to see them. They are part of the case so we need his permission."

"Will you be there too?" Surprisingly she looked at her father and he felt Kim squeeze his leg lightly. "Will you come with me?"

"Absolutely." His voice wobbled just a little. "Absolutely Polly."