Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.

A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful review on the last chapter. SO Adam finally spends some time with Michael and hopes to be able to make him open up to him.

Adam was leaning against his truck, waiting for Michael to show up. He was expecting some hostility from him after what Kim had told him about dropping him off, but he was surprised to find a smiling boy when he laid eyes on him.

"Adam! What are you doing here? Mom said you had a case."

"Had being the operative word. Put your stuff in the back, it's you and me tonight."

"Where's mom? Is she okay?"

"She's fine physically but she's pretty sad about what you told her this morning." Adam went straight to the point when he took his spot behind the wheel.

"It's the truth though." His mood suddenly became somber as Adam pulled out of the school parking lot to drive towards practice.

"Well do you think that maybe you don't know the whole story?" Adam looked at him. He wanted to know what Michael really knew about his mom's attack without saying it out right.

"I know about the restraining order and what he did to her." Adam saw his shoulder stiffen at the anger is was obviously hiding from his mother. "They told me it happened on the job, but I knew that wasn't true."

"Why didn't you tell your mom about it?" About how you feel?"

"Because I'm not supposed to know. Every time Aunt Trudy would come over and mom would send me to bed, I would stay hidden in the shadows on my room and listen when they talked and mom hates if when I snoop."

"Maybe she hates it that you snoop but do you think that maybe she would hate it more if you lied to her?"

"The same way she's been lying to me all of this time?"

"Your mom is only trying to protect you Mike, it's a thing moms do, even if it hurts them to do it." Adam really wanted Michael to understand what was driving Kim to do what she did.

"I wish she would stop treating me like I was a kid."

"Whether you like it or not, you're still a kid Mike and your mom's job is to protect you until you can do that for yourself so you need to respect that, end of story." Adam cut the engine on his truck but he knew that the discussion was far from over. He watched as Michael took his things and went to join his team on the field and Adam sat and enjoyed watching both him and Sammy do their thing.

"Your son is really good." Adam turned at the sound of the voice on his left but his face must have looked confused because the woman spoke again. "Number 44, your son is really good." That's when Adam clicked.

"Oh, he's not my son." He smiled politely at her. "He's my friend's son but yeah, he's really good. My nephew plays for the team too, he's number 30." He wasn't up to chatting up with baseball moms but he was polite none the less.

"Do you have kids?" He rolled his eyes before looking at her with a polite but forced smile.

"CPD cops doesn't mix well with kids or relationships." He was hoping she got the hint now. He looked back in front of him just in time to see Michael hit a home run. "Yeah, go Michael." He yelled from his spot. The spot in his heart for growing for him with every time he spent with him and he was glad to have offered Kim to come down here today. Michael waved at him as he made it to the plate. Practice was over about fifteen minutes later and both Sammy and Michael ran towards him.

"You've got a great swing kid." He ruffled his hair and pulled Sammy in a hug. "Who's picking you up today?"

"Mom but I think she's running late." Adam hadn't seen his sister in the bleachers.

"Let me give her a call and I'll drop you off on my way back home."

"Thanks Uncle Adam." Adam made the call but the boys had their heads together.

"What are you guys up to there?" Adam questioned them as he ended the call with his sister.

"We were wondering." The two were sporting exaggerated smiles. "Can Sammy eat with us?" Michael asked.

"Not tonight boys." Adam couldn't help but laugh. "But how about I try to get something together so the three of us go to Six Flags on one of my week ends off?"

"Sweet." The two high fived.

"Come on, in the truck." He needed to remember to talk to Kim about it when he dropped Michael off later. The ride was quiet from the front but he could hear the two whispering in the back seat.

"Think about what you want to eat while the two of you are whispering back there."

"What are the options?"

"He makes the best chicken and ribs."

"Is that okay?"

"Sure. We just have to make a quick stop at the store." The drive wasn't long to his sister's and Sammy hopped out and the two boys fist bumped before Michael took a spot in front.

"Did you mean it about going to Six Flags?" Michael questioned as Adam drove them towards the store.

"I just have to run it by your mom just to make sure she's okay with it but yeah, I think it could be fun."

"Cool. Mom brings me but she's afraid of heights and we don't usually do all of the rides."

"It's okay, I take Sammy once a year because my sister has the exact same problem."

The ride went back to being quiet as Adam made the quick food run and they were back at his place in no time. "You got homework in there?" Adam pointed towards Michael's back pack on the floor.

"A little bit."

"Kitchen table, go."

"I don't have to hand them in until day after tomorrow." He protested.

"Doesn't matter. Let's try to give your mom a break yeah?" He wasn't a scholar but if he could take a bit off Kim's plate he would try as best as he could. Adam got the food ready while he watched Michael get his homework done. "You okay over there?"

"Yeah I'm almost done."

"Alright, dinner will be ready soon." Michael finished scribbling in his book and closed everything.

"I'm done. Can I help?"

"Look through the fridge for something to drink for the two of us."

"Do you want some beer?" Michael's muffled by the fact that his head was inside the fridge.

"I'll take what you're having." Adam brought two plates and Michael took the two glasses he had left behind. "So, what do you think?"

"Sammy was right, this is the best."

"B.B.Q was our thing in the Ruzek household. I'll give the recipe to your mom if you want."

Michael broke the silence five minutes into dinner. "Thank you." He simply said.

"Thank you for what?"

"For spending some time with me."

"You don't have to thank me for that, I love spending time with you. But you know we need to talk about what you did this morning."

"Do we have to?" He complained.

"We do. How about you tell me how it was growing up." Adam knew he sounded like a cop interrogating a suspect but he was trying to get a full story.

"Dad was always nice when I was little. He would take me to the park every day and bring me tons of different places when mom worked."

"What changed?"

"He stopped taking me to the park at first but he said he was working at a new place but that we would do it again soon when he would get settled in his new job."

"How old were you?"

"Five. Then he started arguing with mom."

"While you were in the room?"

"Sometimes yeah and sometimes I was pretending to be asleep but I could hear everything. He would tell mom how she wasn't a real wife because she was a cop; that she wasn't taking care of me properly because she would sometimes get off work late."

"What kind of job did he do?"

"He didn't like the new job. He was working in a warehouse across town." He shrugged.

"Did he ever hurt you?"

"No, just mom. Except this one time." He thought back. "I was doing some paint on the kitchen table while mom was making dinner and I knocked down the bottle of blue paint and he got so mad at me." Adam could see that he was reliving it. "He grabbed me by the arm and started yelling at me but mom got mad at him and told him to leave."

"Did he let you go and leave?"

"Mom had to say it more than once before he let go of me and he left after yelling at her too. I remember I jumped when he slammed the door closed."

"How bad did it get?"

"I came back from school and mom had bruises all over her face and arms and she had a black eye and a cut lip."

"Was that when they told you she got hurt on the job?"

"Yeah. She stayed at home for a week and I'm not sure what happened, but dad left after that. I was seven and he just never came back."

"How do you feel about that?" He was sure that Michael's answer was what made him say those things to his mother.

"I hate him for leaving and I hate that mom won't meet someone new because of him. If he hadn't treated us like dirt, maybe mom would be with someone and I would have a dad. I would have someone to take me to sports games, go to the movies and come see every one of my games."

"Well did you think that maybe your mom is scared to meet someone who will be just like your dad? That she doesn't want anyone to hurt the two of you again?"

"You wouldn't hurt the two of us." Adam took a deep breath and leaned against the table after he was done eating.

"Your mom and I don't have that kind of relationship Michael."

"But I know that you like her, and she likes you." He insisted.

"Liking someone isn't the same as loving someone and I can't speak for your mother, but I doubt that she wants to let a man in that would possibly leave you again. She's not just trying to protect you; she's also trying to protect herself from having to go through something like what she did with your dad all over again."

"Are you going to leave?"

"I kind of like hanging with you and your mom so no, I won't be leaving but I just want to make something clear. Your mom and I are friends, well I hope that we are." He chuckled. "There's nothing more going on between us and you can't push something like this on people, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good, now finish up and we'll make some cookies for dessert."

"Sweet." Adam watched him as he polished his plate and he let him make the cookies while he did the dishes. Michael asked to bring some for his mom, and they left after he put them in a zip lock bag. Adam followed behind Mike as they went up towards Kim's place. They went inside and found Kim on the couch with a glass of wine.

"Hey baby, did you have fun with Adam?"

"Yeah." He went to her and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry about this morning." He offered her the cookies.

"What's this?" She looked at Adam.

"We made cookies for dessert and Mike wanted to bring some back for you."

"Thanks." She smiled at them both. "I want you to say bye to Adam and it's shower and homework."

"My homework is all done mom."

"I figured we could give you a break."

"Alright, in the shower."

"Thanks for dinner Adam." He wrapped his arms around Adam's waist and squeezed tight.

"It's my pleasure, we should do it more often."

"That would be cool, can we mom?"

"Sure." Kim was happy that Michael was smiling again.

"Later." Michael left and Adam took a seat on the arm of Kim's sofa.

"How did it go?" Kim took a sip of her glass.

"It went good." Adam looked in the direction of the bathroom. "He just wants you to be happy and he's someone to hang out with, do guy stuff."

"I just don't want him to live with the disappointment of another father figure leaving so I try not to get involve with anyone who has the potential of breaking his heart." Adam knew that it was directed at him and at men in general.

"That's what I told him." He drummed his fingers against his knee. "But I told him that I'd stick around if that's okay with the both of you."

"I'd like that." She smiled at him.

"Oh, and I sort of promised him I'd check with you about taking him to Six Flags during one of my week-ends off if you'd let me. I told him that we could go with Sammy and have some fun."

"You'd be a god sent; I hate going there but I suck it in because he loves going there."

"He told me." Adam chuckled. "Anyways, I better get going." He stood from his perch on the sofa. "Voight won't likely give us another free day off." He chuckled.

"Thanks again for taking him and making him open up." She followed him to the front door.

"Like I told Michael, we're friends. If you need me, just give me a call and I'll try to be there as much as I can, and that you let me."

"Thank you." She pushed herself up and pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth and Adam's arm came instinctively to wrap around her waist.

"Anytime. Good night Kim." He voice was low, and he smiled at her as he released her waist.

"Good night." She took a step back and closed the door behind him as he left. A spark of excitement went through her as the feeling of her lips so close to his took root inside of her. She didn't want to get her hopes up but being around Adam felt right and it made her happy so she was looking forward to see where their friendship would take them.

A/N: So Michael tells Adam a bit more about what happened with his dad and about the things that he's missing out and both Kim and Adam decide to give into their friendship but what does it have in store for them? Please take a few seconds to review before you go, your thoughts mean everything. - Sarra