Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who left a review on the last chapter. Sorry I've been a bit MIA, my Burzek brain was in a funk but I'm back, at least for now.

Adam found himself thinking of Kim as he made pancakes for Mackenzie. She had spent part of the evening talking about how she liked her and that she was nice and now she was talking his ear off as she waited for her food.

"Do you want some strawberries with your pancakes" He asked over his shoulder.

"Uh huh." She was eating some cheese. "She's pretty daddy."

"Who are we talking about?" Adam turned slightly to look at Mackenzie.

"Kim, she's pretty." She put a piece of cheese in her mouth.

"Is she now?" He asked with a chuckle, returning to cooking the food.

"Yes and you were smiling a lot when you were with her." Adam could admit that it had been an easy afternoon with her.

"She's a nice lady." He agreed. "And she's a great cop."

"If you say so." She hummed in response just as the doorbell rang. "Is uncle Kev coming for breakfast before you go to work daddy?"

"No." He put a plate with two pancakes in front of her before going to see who it was. "Antonio." Adam smiled as he opened the door. "When did you get back?"

"Just now, you're my first stop." Adam pulled him in for a hug.

"It's good to have you back brother." He closed the door behind him.

"It's good to be back." He said honestly. "Where's my kiss?" Mackenzie's face lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw him.

"Tio Toniooooo." She squealed as she jumped down the stool and jumped in his arms.

"How's my favourite girl?" He settled her against his waist, holding her straight.

"I'm better now." She hugged him. "Were you out catching bad guys?"

"I was and we got all of them." He confirmed as he set her back down on her chair, Adam pushing a cup of coffee in front of him. "So tell me, any new stuff out of the Ruzek house?" He questioned her.

"Daddy met a girl."

"Did you now?"

"You remember the Arruzo case?" Antonio nodded. "Well Vice came for help and Voight pulled me from patrol to lead the case with one of their Detectives. Her name is Kim Burgess."

"I've heard of her, good police."

"She is."

"So what happened when you closed the case?"

"Nothing. We exchanged good lucks and went our separate ways." He was finishing his second coffee that same morning.

"We bumped into her at the market dad." Mackenzie said with her mouth full.

"Kenzie." He warned her playfully about talking with her mouth full.

"It's true." She swallowed her bite.

"So Miss Mackenzie wasn't looking where she was going, as always, and she bumped into Kim." Adam corrected her. "She ended spending the afternoon with us."

"She even ate an ice cream with us."

"She did."

"You look happier." Antonio noticed.

"I've just been having good days." He assured him.

"When was the last time you had some of those? And be honest."

"What about you go finish getting ready for school." Adam took Mackenzie's plate that she had just finished.

"But I want to see Tio Antonio." She complained.

"You'll have plenty of time to see him now that he's back baby girl. Now come on." He finished his coffee and leaned against the counter. Mackenzie grumbled but ultimately listened to Adam and scampered off to her room to get ready.

"So, let's try this again. When was the last time you had some good days?"

"Honestly?" Antonio nodded. "It's been weeks."

"Are you still having nightmares?"

"Almost daily." He admitted. "I have good ones, but the bad ones outweigh the rest. I try not to make it show when it happens because I don't want to scare Mackenzie."

"Does she ever mention it?"

"She mostly noticed how sad I am, how she wants me to smile more."

"Does Detective Burgess make you smile?"

"She did, but so does Mackenzie. I try to take her happiness in as much as I can, helps me get through some tough times."

"You also have to allow yourself to feel something else."

"It's too soon." He played with his wedding band. "I'm not ready for that."

"It doesn't need to be romantic Adam, but it doesn't mean you can't form new friendships and see how that goes. Might benefit both you and Mackenzie." Adam knew Antonio was right and that he needed to start socialising more but he knew that he wasn't ready for that just yet and until he was sure he wouldn't drag whoever down with his hard past, he would stay away from that.

"I'll think about it."

"I'm ready daddy." She bounced back downstairs and grabbed her lunchbox that Adam had already put together.

"Alright, let's roll." He grabbed her back pack and Antonio followed them out. "Thanks for stopping by Antonio." The older Detective pulled him in for a hug.

"I'm there if you need anything and remember what I told you."

"I'll think about it." He promised.

"And I will see you at brunch miss Mackenzie." He presented her with his fist and she pounded against his and he pretended she had hurt him before pulling her in for a hug.

"Brunch is boring without you Tio Antonio."

"That's my girl. Be good for daddy too."

"I'm always good for daddy." Antonio chuckled. He always marvelled at children's resilience.

"Say hi to the kids for me." Adam threw back at Antonio as he walked to his own car.

"I will." Adam dropped Mackenzie at school and found his way to the 21st and caught up with Jim as he walked up, Kevin with him.

"Ladies." Adam snorted as he went up with them.

"You seem in a good mood?" Jim noticed.

"We got a surprise visit from Tio Antonio."

"Damn that little lady is lucky." Antonio had been gone for weeks now and being another constant in their lives since the loss of Rebecca, having him gone was always hard on her.

"Antonio?" Jim questioned, needing a confirmation of who he thought they were talking about.

"Dawson." Adam threw over his shoulder as he passed ahead of them.

"Lucky girl indeed." Dawson's reputation preceded him and anyone that was in his circle could consider themselves a lucky person.

"Speaking of lucky girl." Jim said with a smirk. "I saw you bump into Detective Burgess when I left with Riley yesterday."

"You didn't tell me that." Atwater said with an accusatory tone.

"Because there's nothing to say." Adam assured him but he didn't miss the look between his old and new partner. "Nothing. Is. Going. On." He growled as he walked backwards towards the locker room, giving Platt a mock salute before Kevin laughed knowingly and headed upstairs after a fist bump with Jim.

"Come on Adam, why not?" Jim coaxed him while they walked up to Platt.

"Why not what special sauce?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"My new partner here seems to think that something might be going on between Detective Burgess and me, because we bumped into each other at the market while I was spending the day with Mackenzie yesterday."

"Oh come on, Atwater agrees with me Ruzek." Platt looked at Adam for a reaction, knowing that he was guarded, not only for himself but also for his daughter.

"Well my old partner should know better than entertaining my new partner's ideas because my priority is Mackenzie and getting us back on track." He took the keys Platt handed to him and left Jim standing there.

"Go on, and drop the subject Barnes if you know what's good for you."

"Yeah." He sighed. He wasn't going to hinder Adam's good mood by pressing him for more. He rode shotgun and for the first few minutes, the cruiser was dead quiet.

"I was thinking." Adam finally spoke up. "How about you and Riley join us for brunch next time?"

"I don't, I wouldn't want to intrude on family time. I know how important it is to you."

"You're my partner Barnes; that makes you family. And besides, it'll give Riley and Mackenzie the opportunity to have some fun together."

"He'd like that. He's couldn't stop talking about her on the way to his mom's yesterday, he's going to lose his shit." Adam couldn't help but chuckle. He was glad to have found a good, sound partner in Barnes, so quickly after being back. And he knew that good connections and friendships would help his daughter out as well and right now that was his main focus. "And it wouldn't hurt that you make new friendships as well." He put out.

"Don't." He shot him a warning glance and Barnes got the message loud and clear. Their day went up and down call s wise and Adam was finally happy to get the hell out of there. He was going to go home and shower before picking Mackenzie up from his parents place but he was pleasantly surprised to find their car in front of the house. "Ma, pops?" He called as he walked inside.

"In the kitchen." His mom called. He found his mom making dinner while his dad was playing go fish with Mackenzie.

"What are you guys doing here?" He dropped his bag next to the counter.

"I wanted to play go fish." Mackenzie said without even looking at him or greeting him like she usually did.

"Grandma has go fish at her house too." He kissed the top of her head. "Are you winning?"

"She's kicking my ass." Bob said and Mackenzie gasped.

"Grandpa."

"Robert."

"Pops." Adam rolled his eyes at his dad but was smirking at Mackenzie.

"You said a bad word." Mackenzie added.

"I'm sorry peanut but guess what that means?"

"I get Abraham Lincoln." Adam laughed. His dad had taught her the name of every president on cash and it was an understanding that she got a 5$ every time he cursed. Adam had worked on kicking that bad habit when she had repeated the word fuck at two years old, Rebecca going on a tirade about the notion of good language.

"That's right." He pulled the bill out of his wallet and handed it to her, a new twinkle in her eyes.

"Sweet." She jumped off the chair and headed to the jar Adam kept in the living room. She knew that it was there when she wanted something big so she crammed the bill in the jar and came back to the kitchen. "You came back right on time dad, grandma just made mom's spaghetti sauce." She knew it was his favourite and when Mackenzie had asked for pasta, she took the opportunity to make it for them.

"Thanks mom." He kissed her cheek.

"You have time to shower before it's ready."

"I'll be right back." He turned to his daughter before leaving the kitchen. "And don't let grandpa win."

"I'm crushing him." She said triumphantly.

"That's my girl." He laughed as he made his way upstairs. Today was turning out to be another good day and he was happy because it didn't often happen two days in a row. He stripped and slipped into a hot shower. The water felt good on his skin as he placed his hands on the colder tiles but his mind was in overdrive as usual and all it gave him was Atwater, Barnes and Antonio's words and suddenly his thoughts were on her. The way she smiled when Mackenzie was talking her ear off at the market, as if they had known each other since she was born. The way conversation had been easy between the two, as if they hadn't just met. It felt good to be able to just sit and watch his daughter have fun without the weight of loneliness on his shoulders. He opened his eyes and they fell on his left hand and his wedding band. His heart told him that he would be dishonoring her memory by spending some time with another woman and his head was clambering that he wasn't ready and his reason won out and decided that he just couldn't do it so he pushed the thoughts from his mind and washed himself before returning to his family in the kitchen. They enjoyed dinner together before his parents left for the evening and after washing her, Mackenzie still had the energy to keep going.

"Can we go outside so I can ride on my bike a little bit?" She pouted, her hands clasped in front of her in begging.

"Just a little bit and then its bed, you have school in the morning."

"Thank you daddy." She bounced around him.

"You're welcome." He got her bike out and let her ride it while he sat on the front steps. "Just be careful."

"I know daddy." She sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Rules?"

"Not too fast, or too far and I look across the street before I cross."

"Twice." He could never be too careful even if they lived in a quiet neighborhood. She nodded and he watched her go, a smile on his face. She did a first circle around the corner and returned before heading out again. He was aware of all the other kids still playing on their front lawns and people out for a run but he kept his eyes on her as she rode her bike. She went and turned left after looking properly across the street. She was on her way back when he heard the screeching of tires, the noise scaring her and making her slightly lose her balance and before he could put his leg muscles into gear, his heart was threatening to burst out of his chest in fear and his eyes took the scene in.

"MACKENZIE!"

A/N: Did I just do THAT? Yes I did...mouahahaha. I'm sorry I'm being a total BITCH but I had this ending in mind when I started writing and what can I say, I write where my mind goes. Please feel free to throw rocks at me in your review before you go, I still want to hear your thoughts. - Sarra