Logan came into the room carrying Maggie. He sat her on the bed and met Goren's eyes. He didn't envy him this task at all. "I'll be back," he said, gently kissing the top of Maggie's head.

Goren nodded and watched him leave. Then he looked at Maggie. "Come here, baby."

She crawled up to him and he sat her on his stomach. She leaned back against his thighs. He gently played with her shoulder-length curls, fingering the butterfly barrette her mother had put in her hair to tame her unruly bangs. "Talk to me, mouse. What's bothering you?"

He saw the shadows enter her eyes. She had said nothing to him about what had happened. Not one word, not even about protecting her baby. She stared at his chest, at the buttons on his pajama shirt. She had gone to the store with Mommy and picked these out for him, and ones with fire trucks and dinosaurs for Tommy. Hers had teddy bears and zoo animals. Her hands rubbed the fabric and pulled at the buttons. Like her father, her hands were always busy. "Mouse?"

Finally, she looked at him. Her eyes brimmed with tears. "She was not a nice lady, Daddy."

"I know she wasn't."

"She hurt me...be-because I'm like you."

He closed his eyes, swallowing the anger that welled up inside him. He took a deep breath, concentrating on the pain and away from the anger. He had been hoping she would talk to her mother, or Logan, about this because he knew it was going to be hell for him to deal with. But his baby needed him...and he would never let her down. He pinched the bridge of his nose and then opened his eyes. "I don't think it's a bad thing to be like me, but you'll have to check with Mommy on that one. I just know I wouldn't want you to be any different than you are."

"I wanna be like you, Daddy." She looked confused. "But why did she hurt me?"

In her experience, adults never hurt children. She had no idea what to do with this experience. Her parents had always protected her from the evil in the world. Once they were taken from the equation, bad things happened. He sighed heavily. "Maggie, there are a lot of bad people in the world...people who do bad things to innocent ones, like children. Mommy and I find these people and arrest them. Then Mr. Carver tries to send them to jail. But it doesn't always work like it's supposed to, and sometimes, the bad guy gets away. The lady who hurt you is one of those people who got away."

"Why do they hurt kids?"

"I-I don't know. Just sometimes, they do."

"Like your daddy?"

He felt liked he'd just been punched in the gut. "Wh-what?"

"The lady tolded me your daddy hurt you."

Damn her! She had no right to tell her that! But since when did Nicole Wallace care about the rights of anyone? Again he found himself fighting down a hot surge of anger. Again he breathed deeply, flaring the pain in his chest to rival the anger and take his mind away from it. Her little face was still serious. "Did he hurt you, Daddy?"

"Y-yes. He did...sometimes."

"But daddies aren' s'pose to do that."

"I know they aren't, but some do."

"Did he hit you?"

He nodded. "He did."

"Did he hurt your arm?"

"A few times. But I am not my daddy, and I would never hurt you."

"That's what I telled her!"

"And I love you."

"Did your daddy love you?"

That was a question he'd never been able to answer. "I-I don't know, mouse. He never...let me know."

"But you tell me alla time!"

"Because it's true. I do love you, very much."

"Was he bad, too, like the lady?"

"In some ways."

There was no way he could explain to her how Nicole had turned his father into a weapon to use against him, something that had eaten at his soul, opening raw wounds that festered for a long time. Those wounds had finally healed over, thanks to his wife, but the scars remained and now Nicole was poking at them, trying to reopen them through the little girl who was sitting on his belly. "Can I see him?"

"Why would you want...to do that?"

"To ask him why he hurt you."

He sighed and caressed her cheek. "It's all over, baby. He died a long time ago."

She pouted. "He shouldn'-a hurt you."

"A lot of people do things they shouldn't."

"Why?"

His head was starting to hurt. As skilled as he was with profiling and understanding the criminal mind and how it worked, why was one question he had never been able to answer. "I wish I could explain it to you but I can't even explain it to myself. I don't know, mouse. They just do."

"Did you ever hurt someone?"

"Sometimes I had to. It's part of my job. But I have never intended to hurt anyone, and that makes a big difference."

"But why does Mommy cry sometimes?"

God, she was hitting all the buttons. Damn Wallace! "I never want to make Mommy cry."

"But she does."

He nodded. "Sometimes."

"Do you hurt Mommy?"

He shook his head. "Not like the lady hurt you. Never. I would never hurt Mommy or you and Tommy. Ever."

"That's what I telled her."

"You were right."

She thought about that. But something else was troubling her. "Do you need me and Tommy, Daddy?"

"Of course I do."

"You love us...like you love Mommy?"

"Um...not quite. I love you in a different way, but I love you just as much."

"There's diff'rent love?"

This was getting harder and harder. "Yes. Think about it. Do you love your brother or Uncle Mike the way you love me?"

He watched her face as she thought about it. "I don' love anybody like I love you."

"See? Different love, but just as strong."

She nodded. "I love my baby. I taked care-a my baby, not that lady."

He kind of liked the way she made those words seem so...distasteful. "That's what they told me."

"I did, Daddy. I gived him his bottle and his food, and I changed him and I singed to him. I tol' him you was gonna come and get us, too. And you did! I was right."

"What would ever make you think I wouldn't?"

Again she looked at his shirt. He was seeing in her his tendency to turn inward when confronted with something painful. He placed his finger under her chin and tipped her face up toward his, dipping his head down at the same time to catch her eyes. "Maggie? Did you ever doubt I would come for you?"

Slowly, she nodded. "You did?" That hurt. "Why?"

"The lady said she left you notes."

"She did leave me notes."

"She said she telled you where we were."

"She lied, Maggie. Her notes were meant to...make me worry, not to tell me where you were."

"You didn' know?"

"No, I didn't. I would have come right away if I did."

"She tolded me that you just needed Mommy, not Tommy and me." Her tears finally escaped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. "You and Mommy can have more babies! You don' need us."

"What? Did you believe that, mouse?"

"You didn' come, Daddy! She tolded me you didn't want us."

And in all her life, no adult had ever lied to her. No wonder she was confused. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. When he sat her back up on his stomach, silent tears were running down her cheeks. "Listen to me, Maggie, and listen carefully. There are not going to be any more babies for Mommy and me. We have you and Tommy, and you are enough to make us happy. I need you in my life, baby. Both of you."

"But you have Mommy."

"Mommy and I do need each other. But we need you and Tommy, too. Our lives would be sad and empty without you." He sighed, looking for a comparison she would understand. "Do you remember how you felt last year when Uncle Mike and I had to go away?"

She nodded. "I missed you."

"Were you sad?"

"Yes."

"That's how Mommy and I would feel without you and your brother...only worse."

"Really?"

"Really. I wouldn't lie to you. I never have."

She looked into his eyes, and he held her gaze. But there was something else. "What else is troubling you, baby?"

She was trying hard not to cry, and it broke his heart. He didn't know how to fix it. He rested a hand against the side of her face, his thumb gently wiping away the tears that managed to escape. She took a big, uneven breath. "I did it..." and she started crying.

She did it? Did what? He pulled her against his chest and held her, kissing her head and whispering to her, trying to calm her down. When she finally stopped crying, she sat up, still sobbing intermittently. He was confused; he had no idea what she meant. "What did you do, Maggie?"

"I-I-I made her h-hurt you!" She started crying again.

"No, no...shhh...Maggie..." He pulled her back to his chest and tried to soothe her. "Shhh..."

When her sobs quieted, he said, "You didn't make her hurt me, baby. It was not your fault."

She sat up. "B-but I got outta the car! She t-t-tolded me she would k-kill you if I did!"

"But she didn't kill me, did she?"

"N-no."

How was he going to convince her this wasn't her fault? He adjusted his legs so that she was closer to his face. "Maggie," he said softly, meeting and holding her gaze. "I have never lied to you, and I never will. I...I know that lady. Mommy and I have been trying to put her in jail for a long, long time, but she keeps getting away. Now, we finally have her...because you were such a brave girl. When you tried to find me on the phone...that let us know where you were. That's how we found you and Tommy." He gently stroked her cheek. "You did exactly the right thing getting out of that car and hiding with the baby. You took care of Tommy and you kept him safe. You waited for Uncle Mike and Aunt Carolyn to get to you and get you out of there. Now, listen to me and listen carefully. That lady was going to hurt me whether you stayed in the car or not. She has been trying to hurt me for a very long time. You're a smart girl and you did exactly what I would have wanted you to do. I'm proud of you. But it's not your fault in any way that I got hurt." He placed a finger under her chin. "Do you understand me?"

"Sh-she didn' h-hurt you because I got outta the c-car?"

"No, mouse. She didn't. She hurt me because she..." He couldn't say what he wanted to say and his brain scrambled for replacement words. "She is one of those bad people who like to hurt others. She doesn't like me or Mommy, so she tried to hurt us. It had absolutely nothing to do with you. She hurt you, and she told you the things she did, to hurt me."

She looked confused again. "It h-hurt you...when I g-got hurt?"

"Yes. It hurt me a lot, but it wasn't your fault."

After all, it was his fault she got hurt. Alex had been right-he was the reason Wallace had come back into their lives...and it was to hurt him that she had taken their children...threatened them and hurt Maggie...it was his fault she was crying now, because Wallace's venom was directed toward him and everything that was important to him. He pulled the little girl into his arms again and kissed her head. "Don't believe anything she told you, Maggie. You did everything right." He wished he could say the same about himself.

When Logan returned to the room, Maggie was sound asleep on her father's chest. Goren was staring at the ceiling. Logan lightly tapped his leg. "Hey, how'd it go?"

"I need a damn drink," he muttered. "That was the most difficult conversation I've ever had in my life."

"Is she okay?"

"I think so."

"What'd Wallace tell her?"

He saw the fury ignite in Goren's eyes. "I...Do me a favor, Mike."

"Sure."

"Call Carver. When I get out of here, I want to see Wallace."

"I don't think that's a good idea, man."

"No one is gonna think it's a good idea. But I have unfinished business with her. I have to do this."

"Bobby..."

Goren met his eyes, and Logan knew there would be no talking him out of it. Alex would try, but Goren was determined. Logan sighed. "One condition...you don't go in there alone."

Goren thought it over. "Okay, but I want you to be the one to go in with me. I don't want Wallace near Alex ever again."

"You got it, but Alex won't like it one bit."

"She doesn't have to like it. And she doesn't have to know."

Oh, shit..."What? You're gonna do this behind her back? Either you're nuts or you've got more balls than any guy I know."

"Maybe a little of both? I want to protect her, Mike."

"You know how she feels about you protecting her."

"She'll want to go in there with me and confront her, but I don't want her doing that. This is between Nicole and me. It always has been. She's going to prison for a very long time, and I want her to know once and for all that she didn't win. She won a few battles. She hit me and she hit me hard. But I won the fucking war."

Logan sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You know I'll go with you. But keeping it from Alex...I don't know, man. I kinda like my body with all its parts attached."

Goren sighed heavily. "Fine. But I'll tell her."

"It's your funeral."

Goren almost smiled. He gently ran his hand over Maggie's curls. "I have one more score to settle with Wallace, and I'm not letting her walk away unscathed."

The words were softly spoken, but Logan felt a chill run down his spine. He made a mental note to buy Deakins a very large bottle of Milk of Magnesia. He was going to need it.