A/N: I do apologise in advance for the language...it felt appropriate.

Adam made it home for dinner, just but he wasn't completely with them no matter how hard he tried. Whether the kids noticed it or not Kim wasn't sure, but she did.

Gus was more than happy to just to have his Dad around and Adam already told Jay that no matter what he wasn't working on Sunday. Gus had told Adam he wanted to go Go-Carting but then he found a virtual baseball game simulator and had sent Adam the details and begged him for his Credit Card so that he could book that instead. Adam promised to handle it and he was a little shocked at the cost but did it anyway. When Adam told him that he had booked them in he almost got a hug from Gus but settled for a fist bump instead and a whoop of joy.

Polly didn't talk much but she didn't outright hate on her Dad either so that was good enough for all of them. She was softening, still not completely ready to seek out his support but her faith in men had been shaken and Kim hated that. Adam was quite frankly the best person she knew, his belief in her had been unwavering, even when the road was bumpy Adam never let her down. Sure, at times work stopped him doing everything Kim wanted him to do, they'd had months of struggle when his job took over his life but that's what they signed up for. Not once had she doubted him and she wished that Polly could see how much he was rooting for her right now.

As soon as dinner was done, which Polly barely touched she disappeared back into her room. Kim assured him that Polly had eaten earlier when Adam commented on it. He worried about things like that; Kim supposed it was a good thing that he took notice of things that many men wouldn't. When Adam headed up for a shower he heard Angus in talking to his sister.

"I'm sorry about Abbey." He perched himself on the edge of her bed. It had been with some trepidation that he had gone into her room because she hadn't been particularly welcoming lately. Adam stopped and listened for a bit. He loved his kids together, having been bought up as a only child he often wished that he had someone to talk to when things were shit at home, and things were shit a lot of the time.

"Thanks, so am I."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"I hope so." Polly sat down next to her brother and leant on his shoulder a little.

"What happened?"

"I don't know Gus, no one will tell me. All I know is her mother's bastard of a boyfriend raped her."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes I am, or I will be." Angus told her to let him know if she needed anything before leaving and heading back down to hang out with his Dad for a bit. They had the last few innings of a game to watch so Kim made them some popcorn and thought it was cute watching them, feet up on the table, a bowl of popcorn propped up between them and yelling at the TV. They were like two peas in a pod. Angus was the spitting image of his father and he was going to break hearts someday. Kim was preparing herself for a steady stream of crying girls knocking on their door.

"Where's Mom?" Polly asked as she came down the stairs and looked around for her mother.

"Shower. Why?" Adam ignored that she actually seemed disappointed that she had to talk to him.

"Nothing." She turned to head back upstairs. "I'll go ask her."

"Ask her what Polly? Don't hassle her while she's in the shower please."

"I'll wait."

"Polly?"

"Fine, I am not going to school tomorrow." He didn't love the snippy tone but he ignored it.

"Okay." Had it been any other day Polly's attitude would have made him make her go to school but the fact he was lucky to get more than two words out of his daughter right now and he desperately wanted her to be happy and to like him again he agreed.

Kim was surprised by the distinct lack of interest Polly showed in Sam when he just turned up, he had tried calling her all day and got nothing. Polly basically asked him what he wanted and barely even bothered to listen to his answer. Adam frowned a little; Polly's attitude wasn't impressing him much at the moment. He got that she was upset but this treating people like shit was not on. If she didn't snap out of it soon they were going to have a problem. Sam followed her outside without a word when she headed out to the back veranda.

Adam and Kim had spent many a day and evening on that veranda, laughing with friends, watching their kids run amok and even just spending time alone together on warm summer evenings when their own two had gone to bed, the baby monitor sitting in between the bottle of wine. Adam had even sat out here late on hot summer nights with Polly when she couldn't sleep and they watched the stars until she finally dozed off and he would carry her back inside and put her back into bed.

Polly pushed her back deep into the corner of the couch, she bought her knees up to her chest and it was like she was creating a physical barrier between her and Sam. He rested his hand on her feet but that was as close as he got and to be honest he was lucky to get that. She had baulked when he tried to kiss her and was lucky to land one on her cheek. "I was worried about you?"

"I've had other things on my mind."

"Hey, it's okay. I just wanted to know that you were okay." He had called her constantly for the past two days and got nothing other than one or two messages that she was fine.

"It's a little hard to believe, ya know? I mean I know this stuff happens because my Mom and Dad deal with it all the time but I didn't think I would ever know someone who was abused like this."

"Abbey never said a word?"

"Never. I had no idea." He could sense that Polly was getting agitated. "Why doesn't anyone believe me?"

"I do believe you, it's just a bit of a shock."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay." Sam nodded, he leant towards her but Polly pushed herself deeper into the corner. She had blown him away, literally. Every fear he had about asking her out, every warning he got about her family, particularly her Dad had been unfounded. Sure he knew that if he ever hurt her his life was probably over but apart from that nothing had made him doubt what he was doing with her.

When he arrived he sensed a little bit of a tense atmosphere in the house but then again the past couple of days had been pretty rough for them. "You're Dad didn't seem happy to see me?"

"He's fine." She snapped. "Who cares what he thinks."

"Don't hate on your Dad, Pol."

"I said can we not talk about it?" Sam was left in no doubt that his opinion wasn't welcome. He mumbled something and shut his mouth.

Adam grabbed a cushion off the couch and laid it in his lap, he patted it lightly. "Lie down Darlin'."

"I should be saying that to you? You're tired."

Adam moved the cushion and leant it against the arm of the couch and stretched himself out and made Kim slide in and stretch out in front of him. She pressed her back into him and draped an arm over her waist and watched TV. "You want to tell me what's got you so distracted tonight?"

"No."

"Why not?" Kim adjusted herself to get more comfortable.

"Because I wanted to spend the night with my family like the past 48hrs hadn't happened."

"But it has."

"I know and it's all I have thought about for days. I need not to think for a while."

"Fair enough."

"If our teenage daughter was not outside cuddling up to her boyfriend I would be not thinking about it in a whole different way." Not that there seemed to be much cuddling going on as far as Kim could tell when she stuck her head out and asked them if they wanted anything. Seemingly Sam was getting a slightly frosty reaction from her also. Adam nibbled Kim's ear. "Maybe I should send him home?"

"Park it Baby."

"I'd like too." He dug his fingers into Kim's hip and she could feel his growing response to having Kim right there. "I'd love to park my one eyed bus in your black walled tunnel."

"Adam." Her voice told him to stop but her body melted into him.

He buried his head in her neck and mumbled something that she couldn't quite understand but his actions were making it quite obvious what he both wanted and needed. Suddenly he pulled away. "I know but promise me later on I can love you?"

"You can love me long time." While it might seem like a strange thing to be thinking about when so much else was going on it was the very act of connecting to the person you loved like no other that could heal a broken heart just a little or at the very least make you not feel or think about it for just a while. They could lose themselves in each other, find pleasure in each other's touch and kisses and draw strength from each other and that was comforting. Sometimes you just needed to have sex; sometimes you just needed to feel someone else's love in you or around you. Sometimes you needed to shut out the big bad world and get naked with the one that owned your heart completely.

It didn't take long for Kim to feel his breathing even out and she knew he was asleep, still holding her tightly but soundly sleeping. She let him sleep, watched the rest of the movie before sneaking out from under his grasp and taking a quick look outside. Sam was up one end of the couch, with his feet on the table and Kim expected to see Polly curled up next to him but she was giving him the vibe she wanted distance from him too as she had pushed herself deep into the opposite corner and there didn't seem to be much of a conversation going on either. It wasn't just her Dad she was struggling with it seemed like Sam wasn't getting much from her either. The speed at which Polly had shut them both out was astounding and her hope that Polly would talk to Sam and they would find out what was going on with her was slipping away.

When Polly had said goodnight after Sam left Kim went back to wake Adam up, even the goodbye was strange, Polly literally walked him to the door, thanked him for coming and pretty much shut the door in his face. She had tried to ask Polly about it but got a frosty look and a grunted reply as she stormed upstairs.

"Baby come to bed." She shook his arm.

"What? Hey?" he muttered groggily. "I feel asleep?"

"Hours ago."

"Damn, I was so hoping for some love."

"Well get up then, you've still got time."

"Where's Polly?"

"In bed."

"Oh." His face fell just a little. One day his girl was going to come back to him. "Don't suppose I got a goodnight grunt even."

"You were asleep and don't worry Sam got the same goodnight as you did. Basically nothing." Kim grabbed his hand as they turned of the lights and headed upstairs. He wanted to stop by her room but Kim tugged on his arm. "Baby, she'll come back."

"I don't know if I can wait."

"Yes you can."

Kim dragged him into bed, with very little resistance on his part. They were able to put everything aside, all the shit swirling around them and have a little bit of heaven. When Adam held onto her just a bit tighter she knew that he wasn't as good as he claimed to be but he wasn't ready to share so Kim had to wait.

When he got up early to go for a run with Angus he sat on the edge of the bed for just a moment before he left and dropped his head when he thought she was still sleeping. Kim watched him quietly; he seemed weary and buckling under the weight of it all.

"Okay, Adam. What's going on?" Adam came out of the bathroom showered ready for work after his run while she had waited patiently. Even after all these years his body still took her breath away. He was never into the six-pack look but he was always fit and he had zero sense of modesty and would walk around their bedroom stark naked at every opportunity. The kids had learnt to knock before coming in, not so much when they were little but now they were older they felt it wasn't appropriate anymore particularly for Polly to see her Dad naked.

"Nothing, it's nothing."

"I know you, you have been hiding something from me since you got home yesterday. I gave you space and time now I want to know. I want to know what landmines are ahead of us."

Adam sensed that the gig was up and he couldn't hide it from Kim forever, nor did he want too. "Forensics uncovered encrypted cloud storage that Simon had hidden using false identities. They are slowly deciphering them. I do know there are photos on them and some videos but they haven't told me everything or let me see them. I am worried Polly is on them."

"What do you mean?" Kim shrieked.

"I don't mean anything bad. I think he was just taking photos of Abbey and her friends. Jay has assured me so far there is nothing terrible on there but I want to see them. They won't let me until they know what it is."

Kim was shaking. "Oh God."

Adam sat on the bed and shook his head. "I am sorry I didn't tell you but I didn't want to worry you. I just wanted you to believe that Polly is not involved in any of this. I didn't want you to freak out like I am, I wanted to protect you too." A tear slid down his cheek. "Darlin' I feel like I can't breathe anymore."

Kim knelt in front of him, moving her head until Adam looked up at her. "Oh Baby. I wish you'd told me. I could help you."

"You did, Darlin'. Last night you did."

"Please don't hide things from me Adam, I need to know."

"I know." He rubbed his hands wearily over his face. "I wasn't hiding it from you. You wanted to spend the night just being us I was trying to give you that." She had to love him for that, she had asked that they spend some time together just being them and listen to each other just breathe and that is exactly what he did. Despite all the stuff he was worried about he tried to give Kim what she had asked for. He was trying to be everything to everyone and that was one of the things she loved about him the most.

Adam leapt off the bed when his phone beeped. "They've just bought Simon in."

"Don't do anything stupid Adam."

"Jay's not letting me within spitting distance of the cunt." He saw Kim cringe at his language and it was a word that he very rarely used but quite honestly this guy deserved it and if it turned out that he had photos of his daughter that were anyway exploitative he'd be a dead cunt.

"Can you let me know what's going on?" Kim followed him downstairs.

Adam leant in to kiss her as he clipped his star onto his waist and slid his gun into its holster. "I will talk to you soon. Polly going to school today?"

"I will see how she is. I think it would be best to get her back into school but maybe another day." Adam frowned. Kim was such a soft touch, the slightest sign of a sniffle and he kept them home. Adam had grown up knowing that only a good spew would get him a day at home. This wasn't quite the same but getting Polly back into routine would need to start soon. "I am sure she will ask about seeing Abbey again today."

"Once I know what is going on with Simon I will talk to her parents."

"Be careful Baby." He was out the door in an instant and Kim turned her attention back inwards, back towards her two children.

She had to keep this ship sailing.