Henry also gave up and walked out and heard Nicky sobbing herself to sleep.

She woke up in the middle of the night and wasn't able to go back to sleep. She had a sudden urge to curl up in Frank's chair and before she could think it through, she grabbed her blanket and started walking. It was dark but having spent much of her young life in the house, Nicky could easily navigate from memory. She reached the chair and as she was about to sit on it, she heard a grunt. Both of them realised simultaneously that the other was there. Frank didn't say anything, deciding to let her make a decision.

She started walking away but then suddenly turned and crawled into Frank's lap. Frank was surprised but took the opportunity to envelope her in a warm bear hug, which he had been craving to do since he saw her at school in the afternoon. She soaked up the comfort and slid lower, making herself cozy. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

Then she asked, "Will you sing to me?"

Frank couldn't remember the last time he had sung, perhaps when Jamie was really young and he was desperate. But he let Mary's memory guide him and sang what he could remember of the lullaby that he had heard his wife sing for countless nights. When he paused, Nicky said, "It really hurt." He didn't respond.

"You hurt me." He hugged her tighter.

"Promise me you won't hurt me again."

He wanted to agree to absolutely anything the kid asked if she would just sit with him in silence. But he knew that would be shirking his responsibility. So he said, in as neutral a voice as he could manage, "I will never hurt you. But I can't promise that I won't spank or discipline you again."

"I don't like it when you do that."

"I don't like to do it either."

"Will you reconsider?"

"I'm sure about this, Nicky."

"Not even if it would make me feel safe and maybe even trust you again?"

"Trust me, child. The boundaries and consequences will make you feel safe. I promise to be fair and consistent."

"Alright, thanks for being honest." And she moved to get off his lap.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to bed, sir." The sir grated on his ears.

"Stay a little longer?"

"I'm really uncomfortable, sir." He let her go. He sighed watching her walk away, rubbing tears from her eyes. A part of him wanted to call her back and accept the olive branch that she had extended but the responsible part of him won out and he whispered, "feel better, child."

Frank hardly slept the night and wasn't very surprised to see Erin up early either.

"Early court date." He smiled and nodded and went to pour her some coffee.

In the meanwhile, she walked to Nicky's room and shook her awake. "Good morning, pineapple. Hit the shower. We got to leave early."

"Yes ma'am."

Generally she would have got protests, downright refusal and then pleas to let Frank take her to school. She would have thought that such obedience would be wonderful but now it unnerved her.

She nodded and walked down. Frank saw her look and said, "she's behaving perfectly and it's freaking you out?"

"Yes!"

Frank hugged her.

"How do I fix this?"

"I only got as far as recognising the signs with Jamie. Let me know if you figure it out."

She gave him a look.

They sat down to breakfast and soon Nicky walked down and stood in front of them.

Frank asked, "What do you want to eat this morning, Nicky?"

"I don't want to eat anything, sir. But I'll eat whatever you ask me to."

"Since you hardly ate at dinner you need a good breakfast. Let's do pancakes. Sit down with some milk or orange juice and I'll whip some up for you."

Nicky ate like each bite was physically hurting her. Frank sighed thinking back to all the times when his pancakes were treated as nothing less than gold by his kids and grandkids.

Erin noticed Frank's face and tried to start some conversation. "Nicky, did you get a chance to talk to your grandfather about the dates when he will be available to visit your classroom."

"No ma'am."

"Okay, do you want to do that now?"

"No ma'am."

"Why not?"

"I don't think the commissioner is my hero anymore." That sentence hurt Frank more than he could fathom.

Erin rushed to explain, "There is a hero day at school for which Nicky was considering inviting you." Frank nodded.

He tried to appear calm by asking, "Who are you planning to invite then?"

"Nobody. There are no heroes. Nobody comes to save you when you need them the most."

Neither Frank nor Erin knew what to say when a ten year old says something like that.

Frank was hoping that today's school pick-up was significantly better than the previous day. He knew that Nicky's class were going to get their grades back and since Nicky generally did well, he hoped that he could utilize that to arrange for a burger and milkshake outing.

He walked into her classroom and Nicky' teacher moved to have a conversation with him.

"Hello Commisoner."

"Hello Mrs White."

"Commisioner, whatever you did yesterday worked wonders. Nicky has been a model student today and as usual her grades are excellent." Frank wasn't sure he agreed about the wonders.

"I'm glad she is behaving herself. Thank you again for bringing it to my attention. God day, Mrs White."

"And you, Commissioner."

Frank found Nicky standing by herself, staring out the classroom window. He heard a teenage girl call out to him.

"Commisioner?"

He turned and tried to rack his memory to remember Nicky's friend's name.

"I'm Selina, Nicky's friend. I don't know if this is my place but I'm really worried about Nicky. She has been quiet and sad for a few weeks now but today it has been plain disturbing. And she won't talk to any of us about it. I just wanted to talk to Nicky's mom about it but I know about the divorse so I wasn't sure when I would see her again and so I'm telling you."

Frank was at a loss of words but managed, "Thank you for letting me know, Selina. I will …" he wanted to say 'take care of it or fix it' but he wasn't sure anymore so he said, "look into it." That seemed to satisfy the girl and she walked away.

"What are you thinking about?"

"The number of years and days and hours left for when I'll go away to college."

"I hear you made a step towards a good college today. Excellent grades huh? Good job, kiddo. How about some burgers and milkshakes to celebrate?"

"I'm not feeling very good. I need to lie down. Could you drop me at at …"

"The house you and your mom live in is still home, child and so is the family home."

"It doesn't feel that way." He could hear the tears in her voice.

"Come on, you're coming back to the family home today." She looked at him with so much fear, hurt, angst and mistrust that Frank physically recoiled. "I'm not aware of any discipline that needs to be taken care of today so nothing like that is going to happen child, if that's what you're worried about."

"May I ask you something?"

"Always, Nicky."

"May I sleep in uncle Jamie's room?"

He wanted to ask a million questions and give out a million reassurances but he just said, "Sure thing, child."

He tried to put his arm around the kid but when he heard the quiet whisper of 'please don't' he took it away.

The car ride was silent and tense. Frank tried, "How about burgers and milkshakes for dinner? Pop can fire up the grill?"

"Please go ahead with your plans, sir. But I'm not sure I can stomach that. Will it be okay if I make some porridge for myself?"

"You need more food and nutrition in you."

"I really don't feel good, sir."

"Maybe it's a good idea to take you to the doctor and get you checked out."

"I'd really like to lie down for a while but as you say, sir."

Frank felt frustrated with the situation but he said, "I think a doctor visit will be wise," and asked his detail to change course to visit the hospital.

The doctor told Frank pretty much what he was expecting that the problem wasn't physical it was mental and emotional. The child had any pent up emotions. She also suggested a counselor. Frank took the card. The family didn't have a great track record with therapists but Nicky was different from the family in many ways so it might help. Since the doctor also suggested a change of setting might help, he decided to impose on Jamie and see if he could take her for the night. Jamie agreed saying that he planned to go get some burgers with Eddie but Nicky could absolutely join. Frank registered that his son was spending way too much off-duty time with his partner but filed it away for another day. Today his only mission would be to comfort his daughter.

"Would you like to stay with Jamie tonight? Perhaps go out with him and Officer Janko too?"

He saw a smile on the child's face after what felt like years. "Yes, please."

"Alright then. I'll drop you off at his precinct."