A/N: This chapter is really loosely based on "Snow Day." Loosely as in the case is the same (which I don't even delve into here) but virtually nothing else really is. Basically, what I am trying to say is using it as a plot device was the only way to further the story and I am not proud of it but at least it kicked my butt a little. Really trying to not go this long between chapters again.

Levi had never been forgotten before. She never had to wait to be picked up from school, no one ever forgot to pack her a lunch or help with her homework. She was never alone, always had someone to rely on and in those few moments when she did feel like an afterthought she remembered that she'd never been left behind.

But today, she sat on the bench outside the principal's office, swinging her legs gently and sniffling to herself before checking the clock once again. Today was not a daycare day, it was Tuesday, and on Tuesdays her mama was off work early and was always there to pick her up as soon as the last bell rang. Sure, there had been times when she couldn't make it, but on those days, Adam would be standing in the same spot at the bottom of the steps, waiting for her.

No one came today.

Her teacher had come out of the office a moment ago, letting her know that Adam was on his way, but that didn't make Levi feel any better. What had tied them up for over an hour? Did they forget? Were they fighting? Maybe her mama was busy packing up their apartment so they could go back to Montana. Her stomach lurched at the thought and she pulled her knees up into the chair, tucking them under her chin while she tried to keep the sniffles at bay.

Everything was so out of sorts lately. Her mama was quiet a lot, Adam didn't come over as much, and she felt like everything was getting worse. This adult thing was awful, and she was glad she was just a kid, but at the same time, she wished she could grow up and solve all these problems so they could get on with their lives.

The door at the end of the hallway creaked open and she looked up, wanting to run into Adam's arm, but also nursing her broken heart and refusing to let him know that.

"Hey Doodle," he started, crouching down in front of her. "I'm so sorry, honey. I didn't forget you, I just didn't realize what time it was."

"Was it your day?"

He bit his lip, eyes shifting as he tried to come up with an answer that wouldn't upset her.

"Sweetie, something pretty bad happened at work today. Everything will be okay but there was a lot of chaos and time got away from us."

"Where's mama?"

He hesitated again, reaching out for her hand.

"She's alright baby, but she's in the hospital right now."

"Why?"

"Because she got a little hurt at work. She's going to be just fine, probably a little sore for a few days."

Levi shook her head and leaned forward, letting him gather her up in a hug.

"I'm upset," she stated plainly, voice quivering. "I feel forgotten. I'm worried about mama. And I miss you."

"Let's get out of here and we'll talk about it, okay?"

He signed her out at the office and took her hand, leading her outside to the car. She squirmed in her seat, staying silent while he put the key in the ignition, then turned around to look at her seriously.

"Would you like me to tell you what happened?"

"No," she answered softly. "I would just like to go see mama."

"Okay, but I think you need to know what you're going to see."

She gave a one-shoulder shrug and nodded, looking down at her hands while he tried to figure out how to explain the truck, the drugs, and the rest of the unfortunate circumstances to her. How could he really tell her that her mother had just been doing her job and had been beaten for being in the wrong place at the wrong time? How could he destroy her faith in the world like that?

"Okay, the first thing you need to know is that it looks much, much worse than it is. The next few days she's going to look pretty bad, but it will get better, I promise. Second, this isn't something that's going to happen again. And third, just because there are some bad people who would hurt your mama and Danny, does not mean that there are only bad people in the world."

"Someone really hurt them? Did they get beat up?"

"Yes, they did. Your mama has a lot of bruises and her body hurts a lot, but she's still herself. There's nothing to be scared of."

"Well of course not, it's mama! Now take me to her?"

Hospitals were scary. Hospitals had doctors and doctors had needles, and Levi was not a fan of needles. It smelled strange, it was loud, and the lights were so bright that she wanted to close her eyes. Instead she grabbed harder onto Adam's hand, knowing that there was nothing to be scared of, especially not if he was right there with her. They stood in front of a door and he crouched down in front of her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes. I just want to hug mama and get her out of here."

"We probably can't take her home until tomorrow, but you can hug her if you're careful."

"Will this make you and mama love each other like boyfriend and girlfriend again?"

"What?"

She sighed and tipped her head to the side.

"It's what mama always hates in movies. Someone gets hurt and the other person realizes that they can't be apart. She says it's so silly. I think it is real life romantic. What do you think? Will you love mama again?"

"Levi, I will always love your mama, you know that. We'll figure out what that means later, alright?"

"I don't like how everything is changing, Adam. It feels like when we moved here. I don't know what is going to happen and I don't like that. I need a plan. It makes me feel safe."

"I know."

"You don't have anything to say to make me feel better?"

"I wish I did kiddo, but I can't lie to you. Sometimes we just don't know what is going to happen. I don't like it either. All I know for sure is that you won't ever have to be alone. Understand?"

"Yes I do. Please take me to mama now."

He nodded and stood up, opening the door and peeking in.

"Hey Linds. You ready for a visitor?"

"Sure," she breathed, wincing at the movement. She knew Danny was injured far worse than she was, and she was irritated with herself for not bucking up and taking this like a fighter, but everything hurt.

"Mama," Levi started, standing at the foot of the bed with wide eyes and a frown. "You look very hurt."

"I know."

"Was it scary, when the bad guys were hurting you?"

"Yes it was, but I knew it would be over soon."

"I want to hug you but what if I hurt you?"

"Come up on this side and it will be just fine."

Adam lifted her onto the bed and she hesitated a bit before hugging her mother gently.

"I love you."

"I love you too, turkey leg."

"Did you have surgery?"

"Just a quick one to make sure I wasn't bleeding inside."

"Were you?"

"Nope. All clear."

"And when can you come home?"

"Probably tomorrow."

"Well… who will stay with me?"

Lindsay bit her lip. She hadn't even thought of that in all the chaos, she'd really only been worried about someone picking her up.

"I'll stay with you sweetie," Adam assured, reaching for her hand. "You won't be alone. And I'll make you a good breakfast in the morning. You know my eggs are better than your mama's."

She giggled and nodded.

"Okay, but who will stay with mama?"

"I'll be fine here, I promise. They have cable, they bring me food, and I can sleep all I want. I'll be okay."

"Do we have to leave you now?"

"No, why don't you stay and have dinner with me, then Adam can take you home and help you with your homework before bed."

Levi glanced at Adam, who gave her a nod.

"Okay, but may I call you before I sleep?"

"Sure can."

"Alright then, I guess this is okay, for tonight. Can I use your little bathroom over there?"

"Sure sweetie, go ahead."

Levi climbed off of the bed and slipped into the small bathroom, closing the door behind her. Lindsay stared down at her hands, hating the silence, hating that this whole situation was forcing her to confront things, hating that Adam wasn't upset with her. It would be so much easier if he treated her the way she felt, rather than continue to be the flawless man he'd always been.

"Thanks for offering to take her tonight. You don't have to, I can call Freddy and have him take her."

"Linds, I don't mind. You know how much I love spending time with her anyway. It's fine."

"I know you love her but this isn't your responsibility."

"Would you stop acting like you're the most awful person on earth? Look, this whole situation sucks, but it is what it is and you didn't do this to hurt me."

"No, I didn't."

"Look, we'll have time to talk about this once you're home. Right now I just want to make sure you're okay and she's okay. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Besides, this gets me brownie points."

"If I could hit you with a pillow right now, I would."

"I'll take a raincheck."

She smiled as the bathroom door clicked back open and Levi stepped out.

"Okay," she started. "Here is the deal. That bathroom has foamy soap. I think I would like us to always have foamy soap from now on, mama."

"I'll keep that in mind kiddo."

Adam had been tossing and turning in Lindsay's bed for over an hour before he decided sleep was not coming tonight. With everything that had happened today, everything over the last few weeks, his brain was too full to shut down and sleep. Laying still, he stared up at the ceiling figuring that if he focused his mind strictly on what happened at the lab rather than at the warehouse. Not a lot remained a mystery of course, but there was the question of what evidence from other cases had been compromised, and how far the ripple effect from that would stretch. It was going to be a lot bigger clean up than simply drying things off.

He stood up from the bed and rubbed his eyes, leaving the room and crossing the hallway to check on Levi. She'd been difficult to calm and put to be a few hours before, her constant questions and worries leaving her unable to calm down. There were a few tears of course and it wasn't until she'd climbed into his lap in the rocking chair and curled her little fingers around his shirt that she'd finally succumbed to sleep. He'd sat there with her for a long time, making sure she was in a deep sleep before tucking her in, letting her innocent presence permeate all the questions he had.

She was still sleeping, arms lazily splayed above her head, snoring with some of the leftover spring allergies she'd been fighting, cheeks pink with warmth. He pulled the blankets closer around her and kissed her forehead. It was still a mystery to him how he could love this child so much, worry about her well-being and self esteem daily, make decisions based on what would be best for her. She wasn't his, they had not been in each other's lives for very long, but he loved her more than he'd loved anyone in his life. It didn't make sense for the three of them to not be a family, and maybe Lindsay wasn't entirely ready to jump back in again, but he couldn't lose either one of them and there was no way he was going to sit back and let it all dissolve.

How he was going to make that clear without driving it all away, he had no idea.

The profane language sliced through the tense air and Adam bit back a chuckle at the uncharacteristic way Lindsay was dealing with her pain. Her steps were more like slow shuffles and he really wanted to just pick her up and carry her the rest of the way, but he would also like to live to see tomorrow.

"I'm sorry I'm so slow," she said finally, holding onto the wall as she caught her breath.

"It's okay. I like a nice stroll."

"This isn't a stroll. This is like… slugs on parade."

"It's fine Linds. Take your time, you'll get faster."

"It has never taken me twenty minutes to get from the elevator to my front door. I think I just got lapped by a sloth."

"It's okay, he said he'd meet you at the door."

She smiled weakly and tried to push off the wall but whimpered and reached out for his hand.

"Let's just stand here for a minute and you can catch your breath."

She nodded and he slid his arms carefully around her waist so she could lean into him.

"Don't hold on too tight."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. In a few days it'll be fine."

"It might take more than a few days," he said honestly, ticking off the list of her injuries in his head.

"No. It'll only be a few days. It can only be a few days."

"Linds-"

"Don't argue with me Adam. I need to be better in a few days okay?"

"Then you'd better start pushing yourself harder," he shrugged, letting her go. She glared at him and he moved ahead to the door, unlocking it then turning back to look at her.

"You comin' or what?"

"Don't call my bluff, it's not polite."

He smirked but stayed quiet until she finally made her way to the door, face screwed up in a grimace.

"Well," she panted, swiping her hand across her forehead. "At least we know you're not going to let me get away with much."

"Probably not. Want to let me help you now?"

"Yes."

He smiled and came alongside her, letting her lean against him while they struggled through the door.

"Where's Levi?"

"Stella has her. Went to the pharmacy to pick up your meds and then grocery shopping."

"Oh. Where are you going? I want to lay on the couch."

"You're not at couch recovery yet, Linds."

"I know but… it's closer."

"Bed's not that much further. And once you're there you don't have to get up for a while."

He didn't miss the tear that slid down her cheek, but he didn't comment on it either. She'd been made aware of the state of things enough, he didn't need to beat the dead horse.

It took almost five minutes to get into the bedroom, and even longer to figure out how to get her comfortably situated on the bed. By the time she was leaning against the pillows with her shoes off she was too tired to even tell him how in pain she was.

"Are you hungry?"

"No."

"Thirsty?"

"Mmm."

"I'll bring you some water for now."

He reached down and brushed the tears off her cheeks then kissed her forehead, feeling a small leap of victory when she lifted her hand to brush against his wrist.

"Be right back."

He was halfway out the bedroom door when she squeaked his name, eyes opening a fraction.

"I was going to tell you," she started, breathing hard. "Last night, I had it all planned. I was going to tell you that I'm ready. But then this happened. And I want to talk about it. But I'm so tired. I don't remember…"

"Shh," he whispered, brushing her hair back. "It'll keep. And I'll be right here."

"I wanted you to know."

"I know, Linds. We'll talk it out when things are back to normal. For now, get some rest."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

He closed the bedroom door behind him and went to the kitchen, pulling a glass down from the cupboard, thinking hard. If her decisions had been made before the situation, then he felt no hesitation to talk about it and move on, back to how things had been. He wondered still if this had anything to do with her readiness, even if she had decided it was time before all of this. He couldn't help but be a little cynical about it, couldn't help but worry that maybe they weren't supposed to be together after all.

The door clicked open and he glanced up, smiling as Stella and Levi came through the door. Levi's eyes were red and puffy and he wondered if she'd had a meltdown while they were out.

"Daddy!" she cried, running across the kitchen to be lifted into his arms. He didn't miss the look Stella shot him, but ignored it in favor of the little girl who was clinging tightly to his neck.

"I scared Stella," she said in a low voice, her breath tickling his ear. "I started to have a panic in the store so I hid behind some stuff. She found me fast but we had to go out to the car so I could have a big cry."

"Are you better now?"

"I need mama."

"She's in the bedroom. You can go see her but be very quiet because she's sleeping."

"Will you stay here with us?"

"Yeah."

She slid down from his arms and headed to the bedroom, tiptoeing the whole way.

"She didn't sleep very well," Adam told Stella, in explanation of Levi's emotions. "We got home from the hospital and she tried, but she was so worried. Hopefully she'll sleep tonight."

Stella frowned a little and started to put the groceries away.

"Seems like there's been a lot of changes around here," she finally noted. "She'll feel better when things are stable again."

Adam nodded, reading over the medication instructions without really seeing them.

"We'll fix it," he stated simply after a moment. "It's partially fixed already."

"Well make sure you do. That little girl doesn't deserve the back and forth."

"The daddy thing is new. When she's upset. I don't think it will stick. Not that I don't want it to. But I don't encourage it either. I mean, she's got a dad and everything. It's just… well if she wants to call me that, then I can't tell her no. Do you think it's weird?"

"I think you guys have cobbled together a family, whatever that means at the moment, and she feels like you fit into that place in her heart that's been empty for so long. I don't know what could be bad about that, unless you're not entirely committed."

"I am."

"Go with it. Let her make the decision about what she feels and then be what she needs you to be."

"You make it sound simple."

"Love is a lot simpler than people make it out to be. I've gotta go meet Mac, start a game plan for the lab, but call if you need any help."

"I will."

She gave his shoulder a squeeze and left the apartment, the door clicking closed behind her.

"Mama looks bad," Levi whispered from the hallway, arms wrapped about herself. "How long until she gets better?"

"A little bit. After a few days, you won't notice it as much."

She sighed a little and slid into the chair at the kitchen table, contemplating him as he studied the prescription bottles and started making a chart of times and dosages.

"Adam?"

"Yeah Doodle?"

"Mama's job isn't supposed to be dangerous."

"I know. Sometimes it is a little bit."

"This isn't a little bit. She is really hurt!"

"I know that Levi."

"Why wasn't she safe?"

He joined her at the table and took her hands, being as honest with her as he hoped she could always be with him.

"Levi, what happened to your mom, that's not a normal thing that happens in our job. She is very rarely in a dangerous situation. But sometimes she is. And I'm not going to try and make it sound like everything will always be okay. We don't know that. We can never tell when the bad days are going to be and we can't predict what will happen."

"I don't like that."

"I don't either."

"What if it is more dangerous next time?"

"You can't think like that. You'll spend your whole life worried about it."

"I don't want mama to get hurt."

"I know."

"How do I fix it?"

"You can't, sweetheart."

"Is that why you and mama do your job? To try and fix all the bad people, so there's not danger?"

"Yeah."

"It's not fair. But I don't want anyone to quit trying to fix bad people either. So what do I do?"

"You take it one day at a time and you don't worry. No matter what, your mama will always try to stay safe, and she will always want to come home to you. Okay?"

She nodded and slid out of her chair, climbing into his lap.

"I can't handle all this. I am not even seven."

"You can handle it, Levi. Today your mama is fine. Today you can still snuggle with her, you can talk to her, and that's not going to change. If something bad ever happens, you will need to have all these days and good things to get you through it. And if nothing ever happens, you still need all the good things to pass along to your kids when you get to be a mama someday."

She giggled and buried her face in his neck.

"I love you."

"I love you too sweetie. What do you say we go lay down with mama?"

"Yeah. Okay."

He stood easily and carried her into the bedroom, letting her snuggle down on Lindsay's good side while he stretched out on the edge of the mattress.

"Why don't you get some rest, sweetie? I'll make us all a late lunch when we wake up."

Levi yawned.

"I wish you could live with us forever."

"I know. Get some rest, we'll all feel better when we wake up."