Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.
A/N: Many thanks for all the lovely reviews on the last chapter, it means the world. Here's a new one.
The following morning Adam came into the Twenty First with a bounce in his step. "Morning Sarge." He called to Platt, heading straight for the bullpen.
"Not so fast Ruzek." He put on the breaks and groaned. This was not going to be fun.
"What's up Sarge?" He drummed his fingers against the front desk.
"What's got you in such a good mood?"
"This." He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and showed him the video of Michael getting the volcano to erupt. Lying would only get him in a world of hurt knowing how protective Platt was of Kim.
"Pretty impressive Ruzek, didn't think you had it in you."
"Hey, I resent that. I was a master science experimenter." He defended himself.
"Yeah." She chuckled shamelessly. "You break her heart I break you." She threatened.
"It's not like that Sarge." He pulled away from the front desk before he got into trouble with Voight.
"I'm watching Detective." She called loudly as he disappeared up the stairs and out of earshot.
"You already on Platt's bad side Ruz?" Kevin walked out of the break room with a brand new cup of coffee.
"Won't be unless I screw up." He grumbled under his breath.
"Hhmmm." Kevin grinned. He didn't have to pry it out of Adam to know that it had to do with Kim Burgess so he was just reveling in the satisfaction that he'd get richer.
"Don't get too comfortable, we got a case." Voight came out of his office after ending his phone call.
"Let's go." Kevin put his cup down and they rolled out under instructions. "So, you and Burgess?" He questioned as they drove towards the scene.
"We're friends Kev. The kid's great, he's fun and I have a good time with them. Why does everything need to be sexual with you?"
"Cuz it usually is with you." He laughed.
"No this time." He scoffed. He was in no way going to screw whatever was starting between him and Kim and that was all because of Michael. "Not when a kid's involved."
"New speech for you Ruz, but you'll owe me that hundred, mark my words."
"Get your head in the game Kev." This day was not going the way he wanted it to and he had done nothing stupid.
Kim woke up with some weight off of her shoulders. She had spent a nice night with Adam as he helped Michael with his project and it felt nice to take a breather for a change. She pulled her phone out and sent him a text.
"Mom?" He came in rubbing sleep out of his eyes, snapping her out of her moment.
"Sit, breakfast is ready." She chuckled. She drank her coffee as he ate, his excitement about his volcano project growing as he woke up.
"Do you think Adam could come by again tonight?"
"Adam is working, and you have a baseball practice after class bud."
"I forgot about that." He hung his head low.
"Maybe another time bud, we're not going anywhere." She didn't want to promise anything where Adam was concerned because that wouldn't do anyone service if ever he disappeared from their lives. "Come on Michael, I'll bring you to school as soon as you're ready." She watched him eat while she finished her cup and he quickly got ready, grabbing his volcano to bring with him.
"I like Adam." Michael said as he watched the city pass by.
"I like him too." Kim smiled but the excitement in Michael's eyes when he looked at her made her lose it.
"I knew it."
"I'm going to stop right there. Adam and I are friends, that's it." His face changed in a second.
"Why do you have to be so closed off all the time?" He grumbled.
"I'm not closed off Michael." She defended herself. "I have you to focus on so that trumps all the rest."
"It's all dad's fault." He yelled.
"Watch it bud." She warned him. One thing she never did, regardless of the situation she was in and no matter how much he had hurt her, she never spoke badly about Matthew.
"You hate him too."
"My feelings about your dad have nothing to do in this. Everything I do is to make sure that you grow up happy and that you have everything you need."
"What I need is a dad." He was out of the car as soon as it was stopped.
"Michael Christopher Burgess, come back here right now." She called after him, but it was no use, he was already far away. She ran her hands over her face with a sigh. She knew that this was something that would come but she wasn't expecting it so soon. Maybe letting Adam in had been a mistake. She needed to talk to someone, and she really hoped that the 21st wasn't all that busy. She walked in and it was absolute chaos, but she made her way to the front desk.
"Burgess, now's really not a good time." Platt said as soon as she saw her.
"I noticed. I was just taking a guess by coming here." When Platt took a good look at her face, she couldn't let her get away that quickly.
"Let me find someone to cover the front desk and I'll be right there."
"Trudy it's fine, just call me later, we can do this over the phone." She said and turned to leave.
Adam and Kevin were heading back to the district already. Voight had called them off, the case having been given to homicide after recent developments, so they were coming back empty handed.
"I can't say that I'm going to complain, I'm not feeling it today." Adam grumbled as they walked up the stairs.
"Your mind on Burgess?" He shoved him playfully up the stairs
"Shut up." He looked back before he bumped into someone. "Shit, I'm sorry." His eyes met hers and he smiled but that smile fell when he saw her face. "Everything okay?" He questioned with concern.
"Yeah, sorry I bumped into you again." She chuckled nervously.
"No, it's okay."
"I'll catch you upstairs brother." Kevin gave them some space to be alone.
"Yeah, I'll be right up." He nodded before he gave Kim his attention, walking her away from the top of the stairs. "Come in here." He guided her towards the empty office and closed the door behind them. "Talk to me."
"It's okay." She waved him off. "I'm making it bigger than it is." She tried smiling but it didn't fool him
"You came here to talk to Platt, which means something's bothering you."
"It's just something Michael said this morning, I just, didn't think it would be a thing, at least not yet."
"What happened?"
"He accused me of being closed off." She sat down on the chair while Adam leaned against the desk, both his palms sitting on the desk. "He said it was all Matthew's fault, that I hate him and that's why I shut people out."
"I think he's just looking out for you, wants you to be happy." Adam offered. He couldn't begin to understand what she was living through, but he wanted to be there for her.
"I'm just trying to give him everything he needs. I don't want him to worry about that stuff, but I guess I just, wasn't expecting him to lash out so soon, I thought I had more time before he resented me for not having a dad."
"Shit." He cursed under his breath. He definitely wasn't expecting that. "Do you need me to talk to him?" He pushed himself from the desk and crouched down in front of her.
"I can't ask you to do that Adam." She leaned her elbows against her knees. I need to deal with this by myself but thank you for the offer." She gave him a shy smile.
"He has a baseball practice after class, right?" He groaned as his phone dinged. "Just a sec." She watched him as he looked at his phone. "Come on, let's get out of here." He pushed his phone in his back pocket.
"Don't you have a case?"
"Voight just sent everyone home; the case was given to homicide. Come on, let's grab some coffee." He helped her up and they drove to the closest diner from the district.
"I'm sorry Adam, I don't want to keep you from a day off."
"It's fine." He chuckled. "There are worst ways to spend my day off."
"Thank you." She wrapped her hands around the fresh cup of coffee that was placed in front of her.
"For what?"
"For this, for helping me with Michael while I was in the hospital, for spending time with us. He likes you and I'm just trying to do what's right, what I need to protect him."
"You're doing a great job Kim." He offered her sincerely. "You got the two of you away from a bad situation and you're doing a great job raising him."
"What do you know about it?" She was being guarded, pulling her cup towards her chest.
"I promise I wasn't doing anything shady, I just, okay, I did a complete background check on his ass." He was suddenly filled with the same anger he had been when he had questioned Michael.
"So, you saw the reports, the pictures."
"I did." She could see his jaw clench as his fingers pressed harder against his own cup of coffee. "Has he come in contact with you or Michael since he left?"
"Not once. I just don't want Michael to know about what happened, why I left him and why he's not trying to talk to him or want to see him." Kim looked at him with pleading in her eyes, but Adam lowered his head.
"Adam, what did you do?"
"I promise you that I didn't tell him anything, but he knows about the assault."
"What, how?" She questioned. She made it her mission never to mention Matthew or what had really transpired that night around Michael so she didn't know how he could possibly know about it.
"Sammy says he overheard you talk to Platt about it one night."
"Sammy knows too?"
"He does but I think that the two of them being friends, and the same age, makes it easy for them to talk. He's probably just scared of talking to you about it."
"I always told him that he could come to me for anything." That was something that she wanted out of her relationship with her son, honesty.
"I know but he's ten and it's probably just confusing. How about you take the afternoon to relax a bit and I'll pick him up for practice and bring him back to my place for dinner, spend a little guy time with him?"
"You don't have to do that, really." She argued like she always did.
"Come on Kim, we've talked about it before."
"You'll have to tell me one more time." She chuckled. "Okay."
"Great, that's settled." They spent some more time together at the dinner talking before Adam had to leave to pick Michael up for some male bonding time.
A/N: Adam finally comes clean about looking into Matthew and he's finally going to spend time with Michael, one on one for some guy time, maybe bond some more. I hope you guys liked it and please take a few seconds to review before you go, your thoughts mean the world - Sarra