Kneeling in the snow, Alex smoothed Maggie's hair, holding her close. Maggie pressed herself closer to her mother, deeper into comforting arms. She felt tired, almost weak, and afraid, though not for herself. "Where's Daddy?" she asked softly. "Is he okay?"

Alex felt a tremor she could not suppress assault her muscles. "Let's get you in out of the cold first and make sure you aren't hurt."

"But Daddy..."

"Enough, Maggie."

Maggie recognized the tone. It was the same tone Mommy had used when she left Daddy behind after the accident. Burying her face in her mother's shoulder, she began to cry.

Alex rose to her feet, lifting Maggie from the ground. She didn't look toward Bobby. She was too angry right now. She needed a few minutes to calm down before she could deal with him and not send him spiraling into a panic. It did not occur to her that by ignoring him and taking Maggie into the house, she did just that.

Alex carried Maggie into the living room and laid her on the couch. John came hurrying out of the kitchen at the sound of Maggie's sobs. Reggie was right behind him. Alex had removed Maggie's jacket and she was kneeling beside the couch, looking over the little girl. She found an abrasion on the side of Maggie's forehead along with a bruise just above it, extending to her hairline, where Frank had unintentionally hit her. Her husband's brother had better be careful never to cross paths with her again. She would not hold herself accountable for anything she might do to him. John sat down beside Maggie as Reggie went after the first aid kit from the bathroom. "What happened?" he asked Alex, reaching out to touch a bruise near her right eyebrow.

"It's okay, Dad. There was a little problem out in the driveway, but it's over."

Maggie struggled to control her sobs as Tommy dove head first out of the toybox and scrambled to her. "Maga!"

She pulled her brother into her arms and held him as she leaned against her grandfather. Alex leaned back on her heels. "She seems to be okay."

John slipped an arm around Maggie. "Where's Bobby?"

Alex looked toward the front door and sighed. She had to go back out into the cold and deal with him. She met her father's concerned gray eyes. "I'll be right back," she replied evasively.

As she rose, Maggie grabbed her arm. "Mommy..."

She leaned down and kissed Maggie's head and then Tommy's. "Don't worry, Maggie," she said sternly, looking into the sad little face.

She hung Maggie's coat on its peg by the door before she left the house.

When Alex stepped out of the house, Bobby was nowhere in sight. Her gut tightened reflexively. His cane was on the ground beside the car, and she wondered just how far he thought he was going to get on foot. She started toward the end of the driveway, certain he couldn't have gotten far.

She was surprised to find him sitting on the ground behind the car, his head buried in his arms, resting on his left knee. She stood still for a long moment as her remaining anger slid away. Slowly, she approached and sat beside him on the ground. She felt his body stiffen, but he didn't move. Not until...

Very deliberately, she slid her arm along his back and rested her head against his shoulder. He shuddered for a moment, then his arms dropped away and he turned, pulling her against him and holding her tight. "I'm so sorry," he murmured against her hair, his breathing ragged. "I...lost control."

She held him until his arms relaxed, and she let him pull back. He rested his head back against the car. Not knowing his state of mind, she remained silent, waiting for him to talk. When he regained control of his breathing, he asked, "How...How is Maggie?"

Alex was not surprised by the question. "She's okay. She's worried about you."

"Did...he, uh...we...hurt her?"

She could hear the pain and reluctance in his voice. He was afraid of the answer. "Well," she said cautiously. "She has a little scrape and a minor bruise on the side of her head, but that's all. My sister is cleaning her up."

She watched him close his eyes as he processed her words, certain he was trying to piece together what had happened, to determine which one of them had actually injured Maggie. Reaching out, she sifted her fingers through his hair. "Let's go inside. It's cold out here and I really don't want to sit in the driveway all day."

After a long pause, he finally nodded. He had braced himself for another scene like the one in Syracuse. Her tenderness knocked him off balance, and he had no idea what to do with it. She should be mad, furious with him, but she wasn't. At least, not yet.

She rose to her feet, picking up Maggie's crutches from the driveway before she walked around to retrieve his cane as he struggled up from the ground. Eyes closed, he leaned back against the car, light-headed and sweating. When he opened his eyes, she was waiting for him. He accepted the cane without looking at her, not sure he wanted to see what was in her eyes. He was still braced for her anger, and he wasn't sure what to do when it didn't come.

He steeled himself to bear weight on his injured leg, and there was no surprise with that. Pain shot up into his hip as he stepped forward. It took all his effort to make it seem as though he wasn't struggling too badly as they walked to the house, but he was relying on the cane more than he had been and he was very careful to avoid the ice at the edge of the driveway.

She held the door open for him and followed him into the house. After hanging up both their coats, she looked toward the couch, glad to see that Maggie had calmed down. Not surprising, though, her dark eyes welled with tears when she looked up at them. She watched her father closely, clearly willing herself not to cry. Beside her on the couch, Tommy had a book spread open in his lap, but he looked up right after she did. Normally, he would have scrambled off the couch and run to his parents as though he hadn't seen them all day, but when he shifted the book, Maggie grasped his arm. "Stay here, Tommy," she softly cautioned.

He slid the book back onto his lap and stayed where he was.

Bobby sat heavily beside the two children and dropped the cane flat on the floor directly in front of the couch, so no one would trip over it. Reluctantly, he eased out a heavy breath as the pain lessened. Then he turned his head to look at Maggie and Tommy. He touched the edge of the bandage on the side of Maggie's forehead. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. He tipped his head, inviting her up onto his lap. She scrambled up into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Tommy followed her example, and he hugged them both. Then Tommy moved away and climbed off the couch. Confident he had taken care of his sister, he scurried to the kitchen after hugging his mother's legs, looking for his misplaced cup of juice.

Maggie pulled back and sat in Bobby's lap, looking up at him. He studied her, then finally took a chance and looked up at Alex. He was caught off-guard by the bruise on her brow, and whatever he had been about to say fled his mind. Finally chasing down a random thought, he motioned toward her and said, "You...your face...Alex..."

That was concise. She drew in a deep breath, but there was still no anger on her face. She just shrugged. "I knew better. It was my own fault."

His memory of the fight was blurred by rage, but he had a vague sense of her being there, close by, and... "You grabbed me, didn't you?"

She was pleased to see that he could still string his words into a sentence after all. She nodded briefly. "Like I said, I knew better. I should have learned my lesson after the last dog fight I tried to break up."

"Alex..."

She waved a hand at him. "We'll talk about it later."

She rubbed her still-cold hands against her pants and moved to sit on the couch beside him. They had something more important to deal with.

Bobby took a few deep, slow breaths, clearing his mind and readying himself to deal with his little daughter. She had his protective recklessness, and he had no idea how to teach her to curb it. He wasn't sure she could, any more than he could, but she could have been badly hurt and they had to do something about it.

Maggie looked at Alex, and then at Bobby. Neither of them were smiling and she knew she was in trouble. She remained silent, waiting to see which parent would speak first.

Finally, Bobby broke the silence. "What did you think you were doing?" he asked.

She looked down, running her finger along the edge of her cast. In a small voice, she said, "I didn' wan' him to hurt you."

Propping his elbow on the arm of the couch, Bobby rubbed his forehead. Alex remained silent, and he knew this was his problem to deal with. She would back him, but he was the one who had to handle it. "Maggie, do you have any idea who that man was?"

She shook her head. He wasn't surprised that she didn't recognize him. There had been pictures of him in his mother's room, but none were recent, and drugs had changed his brother in a lot of ways. "That was your Uncle Frank."

Maggie looked at him, surprised. "Uncle Frank? But...he's your brother, Daddy. Why was he tryin' to hurt you?"

He fought the sense of amusement that suddenly cropped up. There was no way he could ever make Maggie understand the complicated relationship he had with Frank. "It wasn't entirely Uncle Frank's fault. I had something to do with what happened. I don't expect you to understand, but I don't get along with my brother, and that's not something you are ever going to change." This was hard for him, because he knew that she was the way she was because of him, compounded by her mother's stubbornness. "Maggie, you can't fix the world. You are five years old, and it's not your job to protect me. It's my job to protect you. You can't go running headlong into disaster every time you think I'm in trouble."

"But...but...he was tryin' to hurt you."

"So then you let him hurt me. I was trying to hurt him, too. You should never have gotten between us."

"But Mommy..."

She was being stubborn, and he was going to have to get firm with her. "Mommy is an adult, and she would never have tried to interfere if you had been somewhere safe."

Maggie looked back down at her lap. She twisted her fingers together, and Alex was once again struck by how very much the little girl was like her father. Her behavior was deeply ingrained, and so was her sense of moral responsibility, even if she was too little to recognize it for what it was. They might be fighting a losing battle, but somehow, they had to teach her to evaluate a situation before throwing herself into it. She had to learn to think before she acted.

Bobby shifted his position, and he was unable to suppress a sharp intake of breath when the pain in his leg bit into him like fire. He knew he'd undone what progress he'd made toward healing and he silently cursed his brother again. Why couldn't he have just stayed away, like he usually did? Why the hell did 'family' have to suddenly become a word in his vocabulary?

Maggie raised her head when he gasped, concern replacing the sadness in her eyes, but she didn't say anything. Bobby's fingers brushed across her back, reassuring, and the fire of pain eased from his eyes. When the pain had receded enough for him to speak again, he said, "Do you realize you could have been badly hurt?"

"But, Daddy, you..."

"No, Maggie. I was not looking out for you! You were supposed to have been in the house!" Alex touched his hand lightly, and he paused, forcing himself to calm down. Frustration would get him nowhere. "Look, baby, I know you were worried, and I understand that you feel the need to protect everyone you love. But sometimes, you can't. Sometimes, you just have to let things happen."

Alex was struck by a strong sense of irony. His words were very true, but it was something that he himself was unable to do. She also noticed that he was able to predict Maggie's every argument. He knew how Maggie thought because she thought like he did. This child was going to be a force to be reckoned with when she grew up, but right now, they had to convince her to simply be a child.

Maggie's eyes flashed with temper. "So are you sayin' I shouldn' watch out for Tommy, or Molly, or..."

"Don't!" Bobby warned, and Maggie fell silent. He lowered his voice and softened his tone. "Don't put words in my mouth. I didn't say that at all. You should watch out for the little ones because you're older and you know better. You should do what you can to keep them safe. But I am not your brother, Maggie. I can take care of myself, and if something happens to me because I messed up, then that's on me and no one else. I will not have you getting hurt by being in the middle of something you have no business being in. Do you understand me?"

She met his eyes. "Yes, Daddy. I unnerstan'."

He could tell there was more she wanted to say. "Go ahead," he said softly. "Say your piece."

She didn't look away. Her face was set with determination. She was going to make him understand what was on her mind. "I don' 'member a lot from when I was little, but I 'member some things. I 'member when you telled me that you are my Daddy. I 'member when we got Tommy from the hopsital. I 'member protectin' Tommy from the mean lady, and talkin' to Your Honor about her." She paused as she drew forth the most painful of the few memories she had from past few years. "I 'member when you and Uncle Mike went away, and Mommy cried 'cause she didn' think you was ever comin' home again." Her voice softened even more. "I 'member that I was your best med'cine."

Bobby rested his forehead on his hand again and closed his eyes. Alex stared at Maggie, stunned. Maggie looked at her. "I do 'member, Mommy."

Alex nodded and spoke for the first time since the conversation began. "I know you do, sweetheart."

Maggie looked back at her father, her dark eyes intense. She reached out and touched his cheek. Slowly, he opened his eyes to look at her. Her voice was soft, but it was every bit as intense as the look on her face. "I love you, Daddy. More'n anybody. And if you was gone f'rever, I would never be happy again. That's why I try to pr'tect you. I don' never wanna be alone, without you."

Alex looked away, to hide the tears that had welled up in her eyes. Bobby pulled Maggie into a hug, swallowing hard. How the hell was he supposed to answer that?

Maggie rested her head on his shoulder and hugged him. She knew she was little and there wasn't much she could do against a big person. But sometimes, she couldn't help herself, like when she hit Uncle Frank with her crutch.

Gently, Bobby set her back on his lap so he could look at her. "Okay, I understand where you're coming from. Now I need you to understand me. How do you think it would make me feel if you were hurt trying to do something you shouldn't be doing? Suppose Uncle Frank or I had really hurt you. It would have been an accident, but you still would have been hurt."

"You woulda been mad an' sad all at once, and then you woulda really hurt Uncle Frank."

He couldn't help smiling a little. "That's probably true."

She touched his smile and he kissed her finger. She smiled back for a moment, then became serious again. "I'm sorry, Daddy. But..." She paused, trying to find the words to describe what had happened out in the yard. "I watch when you and Uncle Mike play ball, and I seen you an' Mommy wrestle, too. But Uncle Frank was tryin' to hurt you." She paused again, thinking. "I wasn' gonna do somethin', Daddy. Really, I wasn'. But he hit you an'...in my brain..." She made a face, concentrating on her memory of what happened. "It...It jus' went red."

He swallowed. "Red?"

She nodded. "That's what happened. Ev'eythin' went red and then Mommy was holdin' me onna ground by the driveway."

He ran his hand over his hair. "Oh, Maggie..."

That wasn't what he'd wanted to hear from her. He understood exactly what she was describing. He glanced at Alex, who was slowly shaking her head. His brow furrowed and he had no idea what to say to either of them.

Alex slowly got to her feet and retrieved Maggie's crutches from beside the front door, where she'd left them. "Maggie, baby, go out in the kitchen and ask Grandpa and Aunt Reggie to let you help them. Uncle Mike will be here soon, and we're probably going to have some company in a little while. I need to talk to Daddy."

Maggie leaned in and gave her father a kiss. Then she slid from his lap and took the crutches from Alex. "Okay, Mommy."

Alex watched her hobble off to the kitchen. "She's getting good with those crutches." She looked at Bobby. "She has a pretty mean swing, too."

He looked up at her, puzzled. She sat beside him. "She held that crutch like a bat and slammed it into Frank's legs. Brought him right down. She's a real fighter."

He blinked, puzzled by the pride in her tone. "Alex..."

She touched his lips. "Shhh. Just listen. She's a fighter, Bobby. She is loving and sweet and kind and gentle. But if someone steps out of line with a person she loves, a different kid emerges. I was like that when I was a kid, only I wasn't as loving and sweet and kind and gentle. Ask Dad how many calls he and Mom got about playground fights. I don't really see us getting the same kind of calls about Maggie."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Did you hear what she described, Alex? That...That was rage. I know that feeling...that...red that she described."

She nodded. "I realize that. But I'm not overly concerned. Do you know why?"

He shook his head, honestly perplexed. "No. I don't."

"Because she had a reason. If she'd felt that rage with no provocation, then I would be worried. But she was provoked; she had a good reason to feel that way. Believe me, I wanted to club Frank myself. I nearly did last night. She hasn't learned self-control or restraint, but it will come. In time, she will learn to control those overpowering emotions. She'll learn to recognize them and keep them in their place until she needs them. She will also learn to accept the consequences when they slip out of her control. She's not an angry child, Bobby. She's going to be fine."

"How did she end up with the worst of both of us?"

Alex smiled. "It's because she also got the best of us. Everything is balanced."

He scrubbed his hands over his face. She moved closer to him. "Don't worry too much."

"But I do worry." He tapped the side of his head. "I know what's in here."

She placed her hand on his chest, over his heart. "And I know what's in here. Everyone has their dark side, whether you want to admit it or not. It's a matter of balance, of keeping everything in perspective. You learned to do that the hard way. Maggie won't have an uphill battle to fight."

He remained quiet, letting her assurances tumble about in his head as he stared at the floor. She made sense. He raised his eyes to her and slowly nodded. "We'll take care of her."

"Of course we will."

He nodded again, with more conviction. "All right. Now answer a question for me."

"Go ahead."

"Why aren't you pissed as hell at me?"

"Do you think I should be?"

"Well, I...I expected it. Hell, Alex...I had an accident in a snowstorm and you wanted to leave me the hell in Syracuse for good. I didn't do that intentionally. Now...I got into a fight with my brother and you're okay with it?"

"No, I'm not okay with it. But your relationship with your brother is strictly between you and him. I have no say in it and I don't want any. It is whatever you guys have made it, and I know you have your reasons."

"And Maggie getting hurt...?"

"That wasn't your fault; it was hers...and mine for not realizing she'd followed me. I was so mad about Syracuse because it should never have happened. You should have come home and let me help you cope. There is a huge difference between the two."

He touched the side of her head, smoothing his hand over her hair. "I never know what to expect from you."

"Good. I have to keep you guessing to keep it fair."

"Keep what fair?"

Her mouth twitched into a half-smile. "The balance of power. It's not easy being married to a genius, but it sure helps balance things out when you manage to keep him guessing."

He laughed softly. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

She rested her hand on his right knee, barely hiding her concern at the heat that radiated from the joint. "Hurt?" she asked.

He nodded. There was no point in denying it. "I guess I didn't do it any good fighting with Frank."

"No. I'm sure you didn't, but I'll let Dr. Wrightweiler deal with you. And if the words 'admit you' come out of his mouth, don't you dare argue with him or I swear I will drive your ass back to Syracuse and leave you there."

He couldn't help another laugh. "You wouldn't."

"Do you really want to try me?"

He seemed to consider it. "No. I guess not."

"All right, then. It's up to the doctor, entirely."

He grabbed her wrist before she got up. "No cheating, Eames," he warned. "You can't talk to him before we see him."

The corners of her mouth turned up. "I won't have to, Goren. You screwed yourself over this time." Leaning down, she kissed him. "I'll get you an ice pack and something to eat. You stay put."

He nodded, turning to watch her trot into the kitchen. She turned his world upside down, and that wasn't a bad thing, not at all.

Alex finished sponging off the counter and she set the sponge on the back of the sink. Tommy was in his room, sleeping, and Molly was in the crib in the bedroom. Maggie was in the living room with Bobby, watching television.

John closed the refrigerator and turned to her with a smile. "All in all, a busy day, but a good one."

She nodded. "Much better than it started out."

He followed her into the living room. The television was still on, but Bobby was stretched out on the couch, sleeping. Maggie was laying comfortably on his chest, also sound asleep. John smiled fondly. "Remember all the times we used to find them like this when she was a baby?"

Alex nodded. "Right there has always been her favorite place to be."

"Some things never change." He kissed her head. "Good night, sweetheart."

"Good night, Dad."

She got a blanket from the wooden chest under the window and covered them. Then she kissed them each softly and whispered, "Good night."

She turned off the television and went to bed.

fin.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this. I'm not sure what's coming next. I'm waiting for inspiration to strike.