"Dad." Makayla screeched at the top of her voice. "Run, oh shit… run."

"Fuck…." he ducked and waved his hands wildly over his head. He was usually much better than this is a crisis.

"Run." She screamed. "Run."

Suddenly he face planted into the pavement, smacking his cheek on the concrete. He gasped as the force of the fall made him expel all the air in his lungs. Briefly he lamented how his bullet vest seemed to help absorb the impact of falls and he had none of that now. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

"Get up, run." Makayla screeched at him as she eventually stopped when she felt like she was a safe distance. "Dad, come on."

Adam pushed himself up off the ground and grabbed his face as he staggered towards his daughter. "Are you okay?" he grabbed her shoulders and looked her over. His parental instincts kicked in as he checked over his shoulder to see if they were still in danger and led her further down the path away from danger.

"Yes. That was insane." Makayla sighed heavily and then looked at her Dad's face and completely wigged out. "Oh My God you are bleeding." She gasped. "Oh My God, does it hurt? We need to go to the hospital."

Adam touched his face and looked at the blood on his fingers. It was hardly a mortal wound. "I'm pretty sure we don't need to go to the hospital."

"Your arm is bleeding too." She gasped. By her reaction you'd expect it was hanging by exposed bone rather than the small graze he was sporting.

"Didn't even notice." He looked at his elbow. Now that she had pointed it out it did sting a little. "I am fine."

"Are you sure?" One thing they did know about Makayla is she was a worry wart when one of the were hurt, throw in a little bit of blood and she often swan dived off the deep end. "There is blood everywhere." She claimed a little dramatically.

They had drawn some attention and a young woman stopped to see if they were okay. "He's bleeding. I think he needs a doctor."

She smiled at Adam looked apologetic. "She's a little prone to dramatics."

"It's just a graze." The kind stranger assured him. "Are you both okay?"

Adam promised her they were fine and thanked her for stopping. Makayla grabbed his hand tightly and he could feel her spiralling. "I'm fine bumblebee. Let's go home, Mom can work her magic."

Kim had nicked a finger recently with a knife trying to get the pip out of an avocado and Makayla had completely wigged out. "Adam, Dad, Dad…." She went flying out the backdoor. "Come quickly. Mum's bleeding, she's gonna die. Call an ambulance."

Adam dropped the shovel he was using and flew up the back steps, taking them three at a time with Makayla close on his heels. He had no idea what he was walking in to but did not expect to see Kim standing at the kitchen sink rinsing her hand under the tap.

"What's wrong?" he gasped breathlessly.

"Nothing." Kim looked bemused. "I just knicked my finger with the knife." She held it up to show him.

Adam sighed a little as he took a closer look. It was barely a scratch. He kissed it lightly. "So you aren't dying?"

"No." They both looked at Makayla. "Over dramatic much?"

"Sorry." She struggled not to cry. "I don't like blood."

It was one of her quirks and they understood this one. Her past memories, even those that were buried and the ones that were just flickers in her subconscious would always be part of her. Funnily enough if she fell and scrapped her knee or got a papercut she was completely unbothered.

Someone else though and all hell broke loose. It was obvious this was a reaction to the circumstances surrounding how Makayla came into their lives and they just had to reassure her, support her and hope that eventually it would become less stressful for her.

"Can you drive?" Makayla asked worriedly when they got back to the car.

"Yes I can drive." He kissed her forehead as she settled into the back seat. "Thanks for caring. It really is okay."

"That was a little crazy right?" Makayla commented when he climbed in the front seat. "Wait until I tell Mom."

Adam peered at his daughter in the rear vision mirror. He had checked out his mortal wound before they drove off and it wasn't as bad as Makayla declared that it was. He had the smallest graze, a few specks of blood and would probably end up with a bruise. "You don't have to tell her everything."

"What, like how you screamed like a banshee?"

"I wasn't the only screamer bumblebee." Adam reminded her.

Makayla huffed a little and it made Adam smile. "Yeah, but I'm just a kid." That made him laugh and as much as he tried to make a deal with her as they drove home, offering ice-cream, a trip to the movies, pizza for dinner, the moment they pulled up at home she was charging through the front door calling out for her Mom.

"Mom, guess what happened? You will never guess.." she hopped from foot to foot and Kim looked at Adam who just headed straight to the fridge to grab an ice-pack.

"What happened?" Kim looked at both of them curiously. Adam didn't seem up for explaining so she turned to Makayla for information. What she did love is the bond they had, it had been a force that she couldn't stop and ever since she'd called him Dad, of her own volition they had bounded along.

Kim had asked her why and she had explained that listening to her friends he was doing everything their Dad's did so he felt like a Dad to her.

"Dad got attacked by a duck."

"A duck?" Her face twisted into a smile but she managed to hold herself together.

"Yeah." Makayla squealed. "A mother duck went nuts and chased us and flew at his head and he fell over and started bleeding, but he's okay, we didn't go to the hospital. It was crazy." It all rushed out of her, her arms flailing excitedly and her face was alive. "It a was duck, a crazy assed duck."

Kim queried. "Crazy what duck now?"

"Crazy Assed." Makayla repeated. "That's the type of Duck it was. Dad said it was a crazy assed duck."

"It was just a duck bumble bee… a crazy duck."

Kim couldn't help herself, the laugh she was holding in burst out of her as Adam sat at the table with a despondent look on his face and an ice-pack pressed to his cheek. "A duck?" she raised one eyebrow at him. "Really?"

"A crazy-assed duck." He reminded her and smirked at Kim's exasperated look.

"It was insane." Makayla continued breathlessly. "We were just walking past and she had ducklings and the ducklings were running away everywhere, oh and they were so cute, and she freaked out and started running at Dad."

"And what did you do?" Adam asked her. He wasn't going to be the only one going down with this ship.

"I told you to run faster."

"Ummm… you ran away screaming that we were going to die." Adam let Kim remove the ice-pack and take a look at his injury and Makayla peered at it as well. It was barely a mark but he was going to have a bruise at least that he'd have to explain at work. "I took the hit for you."

Kim placed a little kiss on his cheek and replaced the ice-pack. "So brave." She laughed again. It was hard not too, she could just imagine the drama, the screaming, the hand-waving and she knew exactly how Makayla would've reacted.

Adam declared he was going to sit on the couch, put his feet up and watch a game, with his injury and Makayla was more than willing to help him get settled. Now that her fear had dissipated she had kicked into mother hen mode. She got him a blanket, a glass of water, the remote and a cushion for his head.

"I guess it is pointless asking if we cannot tell all and sundry about this?" he lamented when Kim bought him in a coffee and just giggled as she looked at him all cossetted and sad on the couch. "And by all and sundry I mean Kevin and Trudy?"

"Sorry Babe, there is no ducking out of this one."

"Duck off."