TRUTHS UNLOCKED

AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER

Okay, full disclosure, I had an entirely different idea when I started writing this, but I like what came out better than the original idea as it allowed me to address some things that I felt that they were ignoring. Takes place at the end of Gone so spoilers for the ep if you haven't seen it yet. Belongs to Dick Wolf and NBC.

Kim sighed as she closed the book and then bent over to kiss Makayla's forehead. I can't believe I almost lost her, she thought to herself as she leaned against the wall. Never going to let her out of my sight again, she determined. If that made the girl hate her, oh well. She just wanted to make sure that her daughter was safe.

"I don't wanna move," Adam murmured. Don't wanna take my eyes off of her, he mused. He was going to lock her up inside where no one could get to her. Wait. She had to go to school. Okay, maybe just a low jack or ankle monitor or something.

"Me either," Kim agreed. She then bit her lip. "I owe you an apology. I never should've yelled at you or said that she was just my daughter," she said softly. Sure I'm the one who adopted her, but he's been here for us every step of the way. He loves her and I know that, she thought.

"It's your name she has, not mine," he pointed out. "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you about the drop. We almost lost her because of me. Because I screwed up and shot that guy," he apologized. And if we had gotten there too late, I'd never be able to forgive myself, he silently added.

"No, Adam. You were right…about the drop. Statistically speaking, they don't work. You were doing your job and thinking like a cop. I wasn't," she responded. "If we had lost her…it would've been my fault," she said. Unable to help himself, Adam grinned. We. Kim had said we. She was including him. Finally. Whoa. Wait. Not the time to be thinking like that. Makayla was home, that was the important thing.

"Kim," he said softly.

"And I know-I've been pushing you away and that it's not fair to you. I'm sorry," she continued.

"Why have you been pushing me away?" he wondered.

"Because I-I don't know why you would even want me anymore," she spat out, barely remembering to keep her voice down.

"What?" he queried, blinking in confusion. Where the hell did that come from? he wondered. He had loved her for years-since she had been a rookie. She knew this.

"Maybe this is a sign that I'm not cut out to be a mother. I lost her. I nearly got her killed just like I killed our baby," she confessed, her voice catching as she tried to choke back the sob. And that's what killed her-that she had nearly killed her second child.

"Kim, what? No," Adam protested as he pulled her close to him. I can't believe she really thinks that, he thought to himself. How had he not seen that she was still grieving for their lost child? Yeah she had pulled away from him, but surely he should've known how badly she was hurting. "That wasn't on you," he assured her.

"I didn't wait for backup. I just went in," Kim reminded him. "That's part of the reason I agreed to the drop: it was what we were supposed to do. And then-" she continued, her voice trailing off.

"I nearly screwed everything up," he finished. "I'm so sorry," he said.

"It's okay. She's home and she's safe. That's all that matters," she stated.

"Absolutely," he agreed and then they fell silent.

"Adam?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being here."

"Always." With a smile, Kim closed her eyes, a smile on her face as she drifted off to sleep listening to the steady rhythm of Adam's heartbeat.

THE END