Disclaimer: Not mine.

"Kate?" The tremor in Alexis's voice made a lump form in her throat.

"Alexis, what's wrong?" She mentally kicked herself for allowing the terror to show in her voice. She needed to stay calm; it was the only way to avoid any more panic.

"It's dad, he's-" her voice broke off with a sob.

"It's going to be okay," Kate reassured, not sure if it was directed towards the girl breaking apart on the other side of the line or herself. "You just need to tell me what's going on." She was already half dressed in a pair of old jeans and the well-worn t-shirt she had worn to bed and was in the process of pulling on a jacket when Alexis responded.

"I- I don't know what to do. He's sitting in the corner of the kitchen and he- what do I do, Kate?" The distress in her voice broke Kate's heart to pieces.

"Just hang on, I'll be there in ten minutes," she told her as she sprinted down the stairs, not willing to wait for the elevator. Her sneakers were loose on her feet as she hadn't taken the time to tie them properly, instead opting to take the extra minute to get to the loft faster. "I'm going to have to put the phone down so I can drive," she told the girl as she started her car. "I'll put the phone on speaker; if anything happens you tell me, okay?"

"Okay, I- I will."

She sped down the streets, taking back alleys whenever she came up on a red light. She double-parked her car in front of his building, not caring if she got a ticket because her partner was upstairs and whatever had happened to him was enough for his usually sensible daughter to turn into an emotional wreck. Alexis hadn't said anything since Kate had gotten into her car and the detective couldn't decide whether that was a good or bad sign. The doorman recognized her and, seeing the urgency in her movements, let her up without question.

Much like she had in her own building, she took the stairs up to his floor and practically ran to his door, knocking on the door before she had even come to a complete stop. Not ten seconds later, the door swung open to reveal Alexis's tear-stained face, with Martha not ten feet away beckoning her inside.

"Where is he?" was the first thing out of her mouth as soon as she caught her breath long enough to speak.

"Right over here," a shaken Martha answered, gesturing towards the kitchen. The three women walked quickly in the direction of the kitchen, but only Kate continued past the island to where Rick was sitting in the corner where the counters met with the fridge, his hands braced against the cupboards, one leg bent at the knee up against his body while the other was stretched out in front of him as if he had been trying to push something away with his feet. Broken glass was strewn about on his right side in between the island and the sink, and there was blood dripping down his arm from a cut on the back of his hand.

"Rick," Kate called softly to him as she crouched down a few feet from him.

"No, please," he whimpered, looking somewhere off to the side of her, eyes wide. "Don't hurt them."

"It's okay, Rick. No one's going to get hurt, alright?" She was surprised how steady her voice sounded.

She slowly moved towards him, cooing at him to try to stop his constant whispered pleas. After what seemed like an eternity, she was at his side and his murmurs stopped, his breathing gradually steadying.

"Please," he breathed after a long minute, the word barely audible.

"Rick, look at me." She gently placed a hand on his cheek, and her heart sank at his wince, but it went right back up again when his gaze finally met hers. "You're okay."

He blinked and his eyes seemed to clear, and then he surged forward and wrapped his arms around her, to which she immediately responded by pulling him in even tighter. He shuddered, paused a moment, then pulled back to look at Kate. His eyes were misty, but she knew he was holding back his tears either for his daughter's sake or to keep himself from breaking down in her arms.

He brought his hand up to brush away a tear that had slipped from her eye, sucking in his breath when he realized he had smeared blood on her cheek.

"Kate, I-" His words were barely above a whisper, and he broke off, not knowing what to say.

"It's okay, Rick." She laid her hand over his and gave him a small smile to help comfort him. "Do you want to stand up? I'm sure your family wants to make sure you're alright."

At his nod, she stood, allowing her hand to fall from her cheek along with his. After he repositioned himself in a way where he could stand up without straining his side, he took her hand, grateful for the assistance.

"You alright?" she asked when he winced and his hand unconsciously came up to his injured side.

"Yeah," he said with a short nod.

"Be careful," she warned as she wrapped an arm around his waist, keeping herself on his right side to avoid him bumping into anything. "I don't want to have to bring you to the emergency room because you got glass in your foot."

Together they walked around to the other side of the island where his mother and daughter seemed to be frozen in place. The moment Rick's eyes met his daughter's, she took the few steps between them and wrapped her arms not only around him, but also around the woman at his side. After she recovered from the initial surprise of Alexis including her in the embrace even after she had removed her arm Rick's side, Kate looked over Alexis's shoulder at Martha and silently motioned for her to join them. The older woman paused a moment, then went to the right of Alexis and wrapped her arms around her son. Kate didn't know how long they stood there, arms entangled, before Alexis finally pulled away, the rest of them following suit.