"No, I'm going to drive this time because last time you drove and parked like ten miles away from where we were going."

"I'm driving because I'm the man."

"Flack, you're not a man, you're a boy. I'm driving."

"You go ask my wife if I am a boy or a man, Grace. She'll let you know."

"Right. Gimme the keys, Duck."

"I don't think so."

"Well I do think so and it's also your turn to buy coffee."

"How do you figure that?" Flack asked, his voice raising an octave while he held the keys just out of her grasp.

"Because. Now gimme those keys."

"Jump."

"You really are a boy," Austin muttered, swiping her hair out of her face. "Why do I put up with you?"

"You have to."

"Yeah well someday I am ditching you on the side of the road."

"Right, like that is incentive for me to give you the keys."

Austin wrinkled her nose and put her hands on her hips, spying Adam coming into the precinct, his hands full of files.

"Hey Dum, make Flack give me the car keys."

"If I held that kind of power, what makes you think I would use it for you?"

"Well… but… why is everyone against me today?"

"Why not?" Adam countered with a shrug, handing the files over to the clerk to be taken to the appropriate place for signatures.

"You know, you're really-"

The door burst open and a teenage girl stumbled through, her arms around her stomach as she tried to stay upright.

"Please help me," she said, swaying on the spot as they all rushed over to her. Adam caught her right before she fell, half dragging her into one of the chairs. She had cuts and bruises all over her face and despite the fact that her whole body weight was resting against him, she was very wispy and slight.

"No, not here. She's coming. She'll find me."

"Who'll find you?" Austin asked, crouching down in front of the girl.

"Mom. Please help me."

"Let's take her back, get her out of the hallway," Flack suggested.

They managed to stand the girl up and help her walk across the bullpen and into an interview room where they got her a chair. She sat down and pulled her legs up to her chest, breathing heavily and looking at them for the first time.

"What's your name?" Austin asked, grabbing a chair and moving it over to the same side of the table.

"N-Natalie."

"How old are you, Natalie?"

"I'm twelve. Please don't make me go home!"

"You need to tell us what's going on," Adam said softly. It was very obvious to both him and Austin what had happened, but they needed her to say it or she would legally have to go back home.

"My mom. She hits me."

"Okay," Austin said softly, knowing that they would need to wait to get a statement. Flack bowed out of the room to call CPS and Austin scooted her chair closer, reaching out to take the girls hand. "We're going to get you some help. You can relax for a bit."

Natalie took a deep breath and loosened her arms from around her legs, but didn't let go completely.

"I got away," she whispered, staring at her hands. "I got away. She opened the door for the landlord and I just ran. I kept running until I knew where I was. She brought me here before. Told me that if I didn't stop being Satan's child, I would end up here. Jail is better than with her."

Austin and Adam exchanged glances, they both knew the feeling all too well.

"You're not going to go to jail, Natalie."

"Where will I go? I don't want to go back home."

"I'm not sure yet. We'll get it figured out."

They sat with her for quite a while, trying to calm her down and keep her mind off of what had happened. She told them about school and her friends, things she liked to do and the book she was reading. It wasn't long until her voice stopped quavering and she was able to look up at them as she talked, showing off just how badly injured her face was. Austin fell into silence and Adam took over the conversation, sensing that this was getting to be too much for her.

The door opened again and an older lady entered, introducing herself as Gloria, a CPS worker. Austin and Adam stayed in the room for a few minutes until Natalie looked like she was at ease, then left to watch through the two-way mirror.

"You okay?" Adam asked, squeezing Austin's shoulder as they stood there.

"I'm fine. Gloria's really good, I've never seen one of her kids slip through the cracks."

"That's good."

"I had to have someone else rescue me," Austin said after a while, her arms crossed over her chest. "She saved herself."

"Austin."

"I know we're different, but I can't help but think about that."

"It doesn't matter how you got out," Adam assured, sliding his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. "All that matters is that you're here now. You're safe and you're not your father."

"I know that. I hardly ever think about it except when something like this happens."

"Me neither."

"She'll be okay. I'll make sure."

"I know you will. I will too."

Suddenly she turned and hugged him tightly, her jaw clenching as she tried to keep from crying.

"No matter what we do, it still happens. No matter how horrific the world sees it, it still happens. Why does it still happen, Adam?"

"I don't know. We just have to do our best. Keep looking, keep trying."

"I need to do more," she said quietly, stepping out of his arms and wiping her eyes. "I just can't stand here and be upset about it."

"Then let's go do more."

The mood around the dinner table that night was somber despite the laughter of the kids as they swapped chairs and plates of food. Austin and Adam were both preoccupied with thoughts of Natalie, who had been sent to the hospital with a broken wrist, something that neither one of them had noticed. She'd been placed temporarily with a foster family, but it wasn't certain that she would remain safe there. Her mother claimed that Natalie had hurt herself in an attempt to get out of the house, that she was a wild child, not to be trusted. No one believed it, but legally, claims on both sides had to be investigated.

After a while Austin stood silently from the table and went out to the front porch alone, her mind obviously anywhere else than dinner. The kids didn't seem to notice, just kept chattering away, but all the adults exchanged looks.

"Did she talk to you when she came home?" Adam asked after a moment of quiet.

"She told me but she didn't talk about it," Danny replied with a shrug. "Sometimes it takes her a day or two. She say anything to you, Flack?"

"Nah. Just went down and beat the punching bag around for a while. She's got more on her mind than this."

"Daddy! Binyin said him and Colton sneaked outta their beds last night to watch a scary movie that they weren't supposed to watch!"

"Did you just squeal on them, son?"

"Guess so."

"Colton," Lindsay started, knowing it had been his idea. "Did that really happen?"

"Yes," he admitted. "But me and Ben learned our lesson because we were scared all night long."

"Is that why you slept in Avery's bed with her?"

"That wasn't because of scared," Ben clarified, shaking his head. "That was outta protectin' sissy from the things what could get her."

Flack and Jess both snorted laughs and Ben crossed his arms over his chest.

"It was what we was raised to do. Protect the ladies. Didn't you feel protected, sissy?"

Avery made a face and shook her head.

"No. I feel hot. Huggin' me so most all the night," she sighed dramatically, pulling the back of her hand across her forehead. "Brothers."

Sarah giggled and patted Avery's shoulder.

"Well at least they love you, Averylin."

"Oh yes. Least that. Hey Teagan! Liam loves you?"

Teagan nodded and smiled.

"Yep, and he does whatever I say too!"

"That's my girl," Jess said proudly, leaning over the table to give her daughter a high-five while Flack and Liam rolled their eyes.

"I'm going to go check on Austin," Lindsay said quietly, catching Adam's eye before standing up from the table. He gave a little nod and she made her way to the front porch, grabbing a blanket off the couch first because it had been windy and cold all day.

"Hey Goose," she greeted, joining Austin on the porch swing and putting the blanket over both of them.

"Hey."

"You good?"

Austin shook her head and found Lindsay's hand, holding it tightly while she tried not to cry.

"I'm not doing enough Lin. I can't stop it from happening."

"Your job isn't to stop it. The most you can do is be there to make it better later. You're one person, Austin."

"Don't try to make me feel better. What I'm saying is that after all this time, after what happened to me years ago, I haven't made anything of it. All that pain and I still didn't use it to change the world. I squandered it."

"Austin, what did you expect yourself to do?"

"Start a foundation or pass a law or… just something."

"I love you and I think you're incredible, but you are not a superhero."

"I want to do something."

"Then I want to help you. What do we do?"

"I don't know. The fact of the matter is that it's not something you can stop before it happens. It has to happen at least once, someone has to find out about it and report it. We need harsher laws, we need a tighter system, and we need more people to realize what the problem is and how bad it is. People don't understand that. We need education and… it's just such a big problem, Lin."

"I know that. It's not going to change overnight, we might never see much change, but we can start something."

"I need a plan."

"Hey. We all do. You're not going it alone. Never again."

"Thanks."

They sat quietly for a few minutes longer as the sun went down and the crickets came out.

"Hey Lin?"

"Yeah?"

"You guys are going to Montana in July still, right?"

"Yeah."

"Can we go with you?"

"Sure."

"Good. I think I need to get away for a bit and breathe."

"I know the feeling."

"We'd better go back inside. Wasn't fair to leave Jess alone with the guys and the kids."

"No, it wasn't," Jess said from the doorway, her arms over her chest. "They're animals. Room for me?"

"Sure."

She sat down with them and they all giggled as the rearranging made the swing creak.

"Are the guys cleaning up in there or are they sitting around hoping we do it?"

"They made the kids clean up. So basically we will be cleaning up again shortly."

"I suppose that's life."

"We should just continue to sit out here and ignore it. How do you guys do this every week? It's so loud and… messy."

"We're used to it," Lindsay answered with a little laugh. "We kind of go crazy if we don't do it."

"And all our kids are loud and messy anyway, so we might as well contain the mess to just one house instead of two."

"Don't you think they're worse together? I mean, Avery poured her milk all over her dinner just because Isa mentioned it."

"Maybe so, but at least she still finished her dinner. And they were all happy together so I guess we can't begrudge them that."

Jess laughed and shook her head.

"You are very brave women."

"Thanks for noticing."

Adam woke up the next morning before the alarm and found that Lindsay was laying directly on top of him, holding on tightly as she slept. He wondered if it was because she'd had a nightmare, but she usually retreated to her side of the bed if that was the case, wrapping her arms around herself and shivering in her sleep. He stroked her hair back from her face and her nose twitched a little but she didn't wake up. Carefully, he moved just a little to get more comfortable, pulling the blankets up so just her head was peeking out the top. She sighed and her eyes opened, then closed for a second, then opened again.

"Hey. What brings you here this fine morning?"

She smiled and moved so she could look at him.

"I dunno. Just wanted you."

"Hmm," he said softly before rolling them over so they were next to each other. "You wanted me, huh?"

"I was worried about you. Because of yesterday. You okay?"

"I'm okay. I'm not happy, but I'm okay."

She nodded and sleepily traced her fingers over his chest while he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Austin told me last night that she feels like being a cop isn't enough," he said after a moment.

"I know. She wants to save the world and she feels guilty that she can't."

"We all do."

"I know, but we realize it's not our faults. She doesn't. She feels as if it's a personal shortcoming that she can't change the minds and hearts of millions of people."

"She thinks she hasn't tried hard enough."

"She wouldn't be thinking about it if yesterday hadn't happened."

"Yes she would be."

"Do you think about it?"

"Yeah. A lot. It's not something I can fix, and it's hard to accept that. All I can do is my best and that's not nearly enough."

"I guess I just don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"Why you two feel like it's your duty to stop it. Like you have some kind of special insight and you should be able to keep it from happening in every home, all over the world."

"Honey-"

"I can't stop psychopaths from going on killing sprees. Should I be able to because that's what happened to me?"

"Of course not."

"Why is it different for you two then? I'm not saying that advocating is a waste of time or that we shouldn't do all we can to change things. I'm not saying that at all. What I am saying is that when you have done everything that you can, when you have made a career of preventing crime and bringing about justice and when you have broken free of what your fathers did to you, sometimes you have to accept that you cannot do anything better and making yourself feel guilty is just letting them win."

"I understand."

"I hate watching both of you run yourselves down over something like this. All you can do right now is help Natalie. You can't knock down every door in the city to make sure it isn't happening to someone else."

"Lindsay, I know. But that doesn't stop my heart from breaking every time I hear about another one."

"I know. I wouldn't want that to change."

He sighed and tucked her up under his chin, holding her close for a while before he said anything.

"Lindsay, this is going to be something I always carry around. I might not think about it every day, it probably won't influence every action, but it will always be there. I know that I can't fix it, but I can do my best. The guilt comes on days when I realized I haven't. Sometimes something happens, like Natalie yesterday and I can't help but think that maybe that could have been prevented somehow, but it wasn't because I didn't do my part."

"Adam, you didn't even know her."

"But I didn't help to educate teachers on warning signs. I didn't push for hospitals to evaluate the parents mental health before taking a baby home. There is very little I could have done, but I didn't even do that."

"Okay, I understand that."

"I'm sorry that I come with baggage."

"Hey, if I'm not allowed to apologize for mine, you can't apologize for yours."

"Here's to hoping that we don't saddle our kids with any."

"Amen. Speaking of the kids, it's almost seven and I haven't heard any of them yet. Do you think they're actually sleeping in?" she asked, her eyes going wide.

"I don't know, but don't say that too loud or-"

"Mama! Daddy! Time to play!"

Their door flew open and there stood Avery with her hair sticking up and her hands on her hips.

"Come along, we will play tea party. Daddy, you be Queen of England."

"I can't play tea party honey, I have to get ready for work."

"Mama, you play with me? I a fun girl!"

"I know you're a fun girl. It's almost time to get the boys up and ready for school though."

Avery sighed and climbed onto the bed, wiggling her way between them.

"Okay, then time for snuggles and kisses for Avery. Go ahead."

"You just want us to lavish you with love and attention."

"Lavish? That a snack?"

"Averylin, you are so, so silly."

"Know that. Thank you, daddy."

"Hey Messer, you leaving?" Adam asked, leaning on the side of Austin's desk while she made faces at the stack of papers in front of her.

"Yeah, pretty soon. Why?"

"I thought we'd go and visit Natalie. Make sure she's doing okay, maybe bring her a little present or something."

"You thought of that?"

"Always the tone of surprise."

"No, I just mean… I don't know, I guess I'm not all that surprised. Are we even allowed to go over there?"

"I called Gloria to be sure. It's a good home she's in, Austin. Older couple that have been foster parents for over forty years. Nice neighborhood, but she can go to her same school when she's ready."

"Did Gloria say anything about the charges?"

"She said that Natalie's been to the emergency room seven times in the last year, always because of some "accident." No one ever put the pieces together because it's been different doctors every time, and a few different hospitals. They're building a case and she sounds hopeful, but it's going to be a long process."

"Are they looking for family to take Natalie in?"

"They did. There's an uncle in Florida, but he's older and not doing so well medically. Natalie wants to go stay with him, but I think he's too sick. We'll see what happens."

"I just remembered that you stayed in a foster home for a while."

"Just three days," he confirmed, holding her jacket out for her.

"Was it a bad one?"

"No, I got lucky. The lady was a nurse at the hospital so she was able to take care of me pretty well while I recovered, and her husband was a comic book artist, so you can imagine how much I wanted to stay there."

Austin chuckled and shook her head.

"I'm glad there's some good ones out there."

"Me too."

She followed him out of the precinct and to the car where she buckled in and propped her feet up on the dashboard and leaned back into the seat. It had been a long day and she'd managed to keep most of the thoughts out of her head, but now that things were slowing down, it was creeping back in.

"Linds said you guys might come to Montana with us."

"Yeah, I think it would be fun. I just have to convince Danny. I think if we can go fishing he'll be okay with it."

"There was something mentioned about camping."

"Does she really want to take that on? Imagine me camping. Imagine Sarah camping."

He laughed.

"Little miss perfection spending three days in the dirt."

"Not to mention being denied access to a proper bathroom. I can't believe I have such a prissy child."

"She'll be so polite about it that she won't complain, but the dirt under her nails might freak her out."

"She's been getting better about letting loose. I think she has to in order to keep up with Avery."

"They're quite the pair."

Austin grinned and reached over to turn the air on, closing her eyes as they drove. She hadn't slept well the night before, spending a few hours roaming the loft, laying down with each of the kids in turn, just to be close to them for a while. It helped to ease her mind but it didn't help her to rest.

"Why are we going to Wal-Mart?"

"I said we'd get something for Natalie."

"Oh yeah. Like what?"

"I don't know. What do twelve year old girls like?"

"I was never a twelve year old girl, Adam."

"What were you?"

"An enigma."

He laughed and they got out of the car, heading into the store and grabbing a cart on the way.

"So candy would be a good idea," Austin started. "And maybe some socks or nail polish or something. You should have asked Danny, he was way more of a girl than I was."

"Could we just buy her an iPod or something?"

"Right, and listen to six kids whine because we got some stranger an iPod and they have to share our old ones?"

"You know that makes it sound like we have six kids together."

"Ew, go walk in another aisle."

"What? I could be in your league!"

"Yeah, but I would never get pregnant six times! This body doesn't just happen!"

"It must because no amount of exercise could work off all the crap you eat."

"It's not polite to talk about my eating habits!"

"Lindsay secretly hates you for it."

"Lindsay eats way more than I do and she exercises less so… dude, you're just trying to annoy me!"

"And it worked."

She pushed his arm and stalked off down the middle aisle towards the electronics section.

"Adam, five dollar movies!"

He chuckled and followed her over to the dump bin, realizing this trip was about to take a lot longer than he'd planned.

"Ah yes, The Breakfast Club. It's all smashed in there though. Look, E.T.!"

"We're going to be standing here for hours."

"You and me and our love for B-List movies on the cheap might be a recipe for disas- look five dollar CD's!"

She dashed off across the aisle and he rolled his eyes, gathering a pile of movies in his hands that he was sure the kids would like.

"Hey I found that movie she wanted, and it's not all smashed."

Adam looked up to find another customer rifling through the bin, holding up the old movie.

"Huh?"

"Your wife, she was looking at this one."

"Oh no, she's not my wife," he said as Austin walked back her arms loaded down with CD's that she probably already had. "She's my sister."

"Oh you too? Ew!"

She took the movie and disappeared down an aisle while Adam shook his head.

"I wouldn't have nearly enough patience for her," he muttered, walking over to where she stood looking at the shoes.

"Austin."

"They're zebra striped."

"They would not be functional at work or running or chasing the kids and did you know you will be six inches taller than Danny if you wear those?"

"I will be more able to accurately record the growth of his bald patch."

Adam burst into laughter that made him snort.

"Austin, I love you."

"I could even measure your bald patch!"

"Hey! I don't have a bald patch, you take that back."

"Well maybe I wouldn't call it a patch yet, but it's thinning a little."

"That's enough. We're on a mission, stop fooling around."

"Yes, Captain."

They spent another half hour in the store, picking out a few things they thought Natalie might like, then waited in line for fifteen more minutes. Austin got impatient and started picking at the impulse items, putting them in the wrong spot or turning them upside down until Adam pulled her away and made her load all their purchases onto the conveyor belt.

"You're mean."

"Yeah, I know."

By the time they got out the door they'd started bickering and shoving each other like they really were siblings. She stole the keys from him while he put their bags in the back and she'd already picked music once he buckled himself in.

"Hey Austin?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm always on your side. You know that right?"

"I know."

"So when you need me…"

"Thanks."