Adam had complained when his alarm went off at 545am for his run with Angus. He felt like he'd barely been asleep because Kim had tossed and turned beside him all night. She grouchily demanded that he turn the damn alarm off and pushed him out of bed. They had spoken briefly when he eventually came in last night. "Did Polly come down?"

"Of course."

"And?"

"My Baby is growing up way too quickly." He cuddled into Kim's back. "And she wants to go out on a date."

"Sam?"

"Yep. Not until I meet him though and I told her if he was ugly she couldn't date him because I don't want ugly grandchildren." Kim could feel him smiling against the back of her neck.

Kim sighed because she could imagine him saying precisely that. "I'd like to think you are lying just to get a rise out of me but sadly I know you are not."

"You could get a rise out of me if you tried." He teased her and dug his fingers into her hip. Kim swatted his hand away and growled at him to go to sleep. He'd known it was fruitless and he wasn't surprised, it was a half-hearted attempt at best. He always threw it out there and had been shot down in flames more times that he thought was humanly possible and despite that their sex life was still pretty consistent.

Angus was already downstairs waiting for him when he finally hauled himself out of bed. It was a good ten minutes into their run before he asked about his sister. "Is Polly really okay?"

"She is Bud." Adam patted him on the shoulder lightly. "We are helping your sister just deal with some things that are going on with her friends. Try not to worry. Polly's not in any trouble."

"Is it Abbey?"

"Do you know something? Has Polly said anything to you?" Angus insisted that he didn't know anything but he figured that if Polly wasn't in trouble then it had to be Abbey. His sister and Abbey were joined at the hip. Adam wanted to talk about anything but what was going on at home, he didn't want Angus to worry about it and he could be a bit of a stress head as far as his sister was concerned. Anything else he didn't really care about and basically cruised through his days. All he cared about was his Dad, especially when he was at work and he knew he was on a tough case, his Mom and his sister, they seemed to be the only things that would get his head out of the clouds. They tried not to tell the kids too much about some of Adam's cases, particularly if it was a dangerous one but they figured they knew anyway. Adam would always check in with them when he was working just so they knew he was okay.

It was also why Adam didn't really go on any long-term undercover cases at the moment. When the kids were younger they certainly missed their Dad but they didn't have any real understanding about how dangerous some of those cases were they just knew he wasn't around. Now they understood too much so for the time being he basically only took on the short-term jobs that would only keep him out one or two nights. They may last a few weeks but it wasn't every night and not like the ones were you were gone for weeks or months on end. Kim and the kids couldn't cope with them. An UC case was not worth losing his marriage or kids over.

Kim dropped her bag on the side table when she got home from work. The house was quiet but she could smell something cooking and found Polly in the kitchen with her headphones on dancing a little to the music and that pleased Kim, they had been worried at how miserable and anxious Polly had seemed that morning. "Hey Polly. Smells good." She tapped her on the shoulder and waited until she pulled her headphones off.

"Hey Mom."

"Good day?" She rubbed her back lightly. "You seem happier?"

"Yeah, it was okay. Gus is upstairs apparently doing homework. Will Dad be home for dinner?"

"Probably not, he was just heading out when I left." Kim took over from Polly with dinner and she was surprised that Polly didn't leave straight away. Usually she was out of the kitchen like a shot, cooking was not one of her loves.

"I talked to Abbey today."

"And?" Kim turned away from the stove and pulled up a chair at the small table they had in their kitchen where they usually ate breakfast. Polly sat down with her, she was suddenly looking a little anxious but was keen to talk to her Mom so Polly got Kim's undivided attention.

"It was like nothing happened. She asked if I got in trouble for being late and when I asked her if she was okay she just shrugged and said she was fine."

"You don't think she is fine?"

"No, how can she be okay with that? I don't understand." Polly still couldn't comprehend what happened despite bearing witness to the whole thing and she was at a loss to understand how anyone could be okay with that. She knew she was a bit sheltered but not that much, she still knew what went on at parties and the like and surely it wasn't that, she was well aware that a lot of her friends were having sex but nobody seemed to say that it was that awful. If that was what she was missing out on then so be it.

Kim reached across the table and held her daughter's hand. "We will help Abbey I promise. Is she coming tomorrow for dinner?"

"I guess so." Polly pulled her hand away from her mother and twisted them in her lap and looked at them rather than at Kim. "Sam called me today to see if I wanted to go out on a date on Saturday."

"Oh." They figured this was coming. She just looked too happy when she talked about him for it to be nothing and his name just kept coming up. Even this morning she'd mentioned something about Sam during breakfast and Adam had looked at Kim and she just shrugged. This boy wasn't going away anytime soon.

"Dad said it was okay." Polly rushed out quickly, worried that her Mom was going to say no. Perhaps she had said too much to her Dad last night? She certainly didn't expect to talk to him about sex and then when she bought up Sam it was hard to miss the look on his face.

Sam had called her after school and Polly's heart skipped a beat when she saw his number come up. "Hi, how are you today? You are not chained in the basement are you? Do I have to come break you out?" He rushed out before she could even get a word in.

"Not quite. I am chained to the house though but I am good."

"I can come and tell them it wasn't your fault."

"Oh God no, they are okay really. It's just I should have let them know I was going to be late and that I was okay, that's all they wanted to know. I guess they freak out a little but it's understandable, they deal with some crappy people everyday."

"You didn't do anything wrong, you know that right? Staying until we found Abbey was the right thing to do."

"I know. My parents were pretty good." Polly actually found him really easy to talk to. Even though she refused to give him her number the first time they met she had always enjoyed it when he did make the effort and that he didn't give up. Until Abbey started losing the plot yesterday they were getting on pretty well and she had really did want to spend time with him. When he turned up yesterday you couldn't wipe the smile off her face, though Abbey certainly managed to slap it off pretty quickly. "I think I shocked them a bit when I told them what went on."

"You told them?" He sounded surprised. "How did that conversation go?"

"Not great. I basically verbally vomited all over them. Mom was pretty calm but Dad was freaking out, especially….." she paused for a bit and chuckled nervously "….I think I might have mentioned you a few too many times."

"So he hates me already?"

"Pretty much." She laughed and Sam liked it. "He's okay really."

"So okay that they will let you out on Saturday?"

"Probably. What for?" Polly was floating on cloud nine just a little bit so she didn't really get what he was hinting at. If Sam wanted to know if she was keen on him or not he just had to listen to her because her nervousness was cute and a dead give away.

"I want to see you. Just you and me."

"A date?" Polly did briefly wonder if he could hear how excited she sounded.

Sam laughed. "I guess you could call it that." He did notice it and he liked it. Again, after yesterday he wondered what he was doing. Isaac had told him not to give up when he had talked to him once he knew everyone was home safely and he'd heard from Polly.

"Man, Polly is awesome. She's a shit ton of fun, Abbey is usually not so off the reservation."

"Some of the things Polly told me Abbey said to her was pretty shit."

"And I bet Polly still was worried about her and tried to point out her good points didn't she?" Isaac loved Polly, they had been friends for a few years now and when they initially met he was keen on her but Polly wasn't interested and eventually he realised that Chloe was more his type. Polly was probably a little too reserved for him and they decided that she was better suited to Sam, who was more laid back than him and not a dickhead like plenty of his other friends.

"She did." He agreed. "What about her folks?"

"They are pretty cool, her Dad is all bark no bite." Not entirely true but he wasn't as bad as people made out.

"Look Sam, it's up to you but Polly is great. I think if you made the effort you'd be surprised." It wasn't much of a choice for him in the end he was definitely intrigued. He'd called her and now they were going out on a date and he was looking forward to spending some time alone with her.

Polly was honestly surprised he called at all after that horror show yesterday and despite him calling to make sure she was okay Polly honestly believed that once he'd had time to think about it she wouldn't hear from him again. "I thought you'd run a mile."

"Do you want me too?"

"No, no I don't." Polly did not hesitate. If she sounded a little too keen she did not care. He didn't hang up right away and they talked for a while longer although they skirted around the Abbey issue. He was starting to realise just how sweet and funny she was.

Polly was still giddy when she talked to her mother.

Of course Adam had told her. "He did, but not until we meet him." Kim did like the little look of excitement on her daughter's face. It made Kim a little thrilled as well, she wanted to see her kids happy and she wanted to watch Polly fall in love for the first time because she remembered how that made her feel. "What about Abbey? I thought she liked him?"

"I thought she did but now I am not sure, I think it was more she didn't like him paying attention to me."

Polly had decided that she needed to ask her friend what she thought about her potentially going out on a date with Sam. "Really?" Abbey looked surprised that Polly even asked. "I always got the impression that he was way more into you anyway." She shrugged like yesterday's conversation never happened.

"You don't mind? I mean if you really like him I won't do it." Polly always took to heart what other people thought; she had the tendency to make sure everyone else was happy before she was. It wasn't a bad trait to have but they tried to drum into Polly that sometimes she had to do what was right for her also.

"He's cute, and so are you. You should totally go out with him. I have no interest in Sam at all." Abbey just seemed to flip it off. It left Polly feeling a little confused because that was not the impression she got from Abbey at all. "He's never going to like someone like me. Your Dad is going to freak him out though isn't it?"

"Probably."

Adam never made it home until almost four in the morning; he crawled into bed, slept for a few hours and headed back to work. He leant across the counter and talked to Kim briefly when he arrived at the District. "How are the kids?"

"Good. They missed you."

"Yeah? Doubt that. Gus did at least reply to my message, Polly all I got was a smiley face."

"Well that's not unusual is it?" Kim chuckled. While they made the effort to keep in touch with their kids you never quite knew what you were going to get in response. Sometimes you couldn't shut Polly up and other times she made it feel like you were just annoying her on purpose. It didn't stop Adam though and Kim could always tell when Adam was doing just that, annoying her. He would send her message after message until she finally snapped and told him to stop. 'Well Pol, show me some love and I'll stop.'

'I love you Dad.' He was always happy with that.

Abbey and Polly were holed up in her bedroom when Kim got home from work. Adam wasn't going to be around again and that may not have been a bad thing. He was likely to say something stupid and Kim had a sneaky suspicion that Abbey wouldn't be quite so forthcoming with him around. Kim missed him though, at times like this she liked to have him to lean on and run things by.

"You know Polly's been in trouble lately because she's been late home without giving us any reasons why." Polly had left her bedroom when Kim came in and Abbey knew what was coming but she really liked Polly's parents and they always seemed happy to have her around. She did think about not coming tonight because she was likely to catch some heat but there was a little bit deep inside that thought maybe she could get some help, if only she had the courage to reach out to someone.

"I am sorry Mrs R." Abbey avoided her eyes. "I never wanted Polly to get into trouble. It's not her fault and she was just trying to help."

"She is worried about you. We all are."

"I'm okay, really."

"I don't believe that Abbey."

The young girl stared at her for the longest moment and then burst into tears. Kim gathered her up into her arms and let her cry her heart out. "Abbey, what's going on?"

"Nothing. Honestly. I just don't want to go home."

"Why not? Is something going on at home?"

"Mom is just more interested in Simon, she doesn't care what I do." Abbey pushed herself away from Kim and wiped her eyes. "If she doesn't care why should I?"

"Because you are a beautiful girl." And she was. Abbey was shorter than Polly and had blond hair, almost strawberry blond and mysterious grey eyes but it was her personality that made her such a drawcard, she was bold and outgoing. She'd been good for Polly because she had dragged Polly out of her shell and until this happened she had never made Polly feel bad about herself.

"No I am not, I am annoying and in the way. They don't want me around. Nobody does." Kim did not like the way this conversation was headed. She worried about what was going on in Abbey's head and also how much she had shared with Polly. Adam and Kim both got the distinct impression that Polly knew more than she was letting on but she steadfastly refused to tell them anything.

"We do, Polly certainly does. Abbey sweetheart please don't say that. We love having you around, you know you are welcome here anytime." She waited until Abbey looked at her. "You are part of our family."

Kim was surprised when Abbey told her about the incident at Navy Pier on Sunday and she seemed genuinely upset that Polly had walked in on her. Sadly she didn't seem upset that it happened, just that Polly witnessed it and that worried Kim.

Kim did ask her if she used protection and she promised her that she always did and that didn't fill Kim with any sense of peace. What did she mean she always did? How long had this been going on? As far as she knew Abbey didn't have a boyfriend so did that mean she was sleeping around? Abbey wouldn't be drawn on it no matter how much Kim tried.

Adam got home well after midnight, he was cold and wet and exhausted but they'd closed the case for the most part and now just had the paperwork to finish but that could wait until tomorrow. They had raided a drug den and spent countless hours rounding up the riff raff who had scattered in the wind. "Did you talk to Abbey?" Very rarely did he get into bed without waking Kim up. She slept a little lighter when she knew he was working so would always hear him come in. Once she knew he was home and safe she could fall asleep in an instant and Adam always joked that she slept liked she was dead sometimes but that was probably because she was protecting herself from being hit on. Sometimes when he got home he still had a little too much adrenaline coursing through his veins.

"I did. She didn't say much but something is not right at home, she doesn't want to be there and thinks that nobody wants her around."

"Not good."

"You know what worried me the most?" Kim sat up a little and Adam realised that he wasn't getting to sleep anytime in the next few minutes. "She was telling me about the sex thing and she was upset about Polly seeing her but not about what actually was going on."

"What do you make of that?"

"I don't know yet."

"You'll let me know when I can start freaking out?" He was already falling asleep so there was no point Kim even trying to continue this conversation. It had been a long few days and he'd been home for little more than five hours in two days and had barely slept.

Kim kissed him lightly and lay back down beside her husband. "How about Saturday? Polly is going on a date with Sam and she spent two hours talking to him tonight."

"Fucking fantastic."

A/N: Next up...Sam fronts up for his date...and seeing as it's the finale, I might just give you that chapter before the show...because I fully expect it to be completely bereft of anything relating to Burzek...yet again.:(