Almost an Angel

Almost an Angel
by Kikkimax

Jim put the key in the lock and reached out with his hearing to locate his roommate and was surprised to find not one, but two heart beats. And giggling. Lots of giggling. As he pushed the door open he heard Blair's voice with a soft, warm tone he couldn't ever remember hearing before.

"You've had your bath. Now in five minutes, I want you in this bed."

Jim dropped his keys in the basket by the door momentarily pondering the words, wondering if he should just back out of the loft for a while. As he took off his jacket, she sauntered out of the bedroom wearing one of Blair's T-shirts, and not much more. She dropped a wet towel on the floor and flipped her damp blonde hair over one shoulder, as she eyed Jim petulantly.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"I live here," Jim answered, somewhat amused. "Who are you?"

"Daddy told me not to talk to strangers," she said seriously as Jim crossed the room and pulled out a chair to sit at the table. She dug around in a little pink knapsack on the floor and retrieved a package of ding-dongs. With a shy smile she climbed into Jim's lap and tore open the wrap, handing one of the treats to him before thoroughly enjoying the other one herself.

Jim checked out the cupcake with Sentinel scrutiny. Finding nothing of a foreign nature on it, he took a large bite. "So you can sit on me, you just can't talk to me," he clarified.

She finished her half and nodded as she licked her sticky fingers.

"Jim! No!" Blair called out as he came out of his room. "I can't believe you gave her chocolate. It's bedtime."

"I didn't give her chocolate," Jim explained guiltily through a mouth full of cake. "She gave me chocolate."

Blair sighed. "Emma," he said softly, "this is Jim. He's the policeman I told you about. Remember?"

"Yes," Emma answered sweetly. "Now I can talk to you," she added, twisting in Jim's lap to give him a hug and kiss his cheek, leaving a smear of chocolate on his face and shirt. Blair stifled a grin. Jim stifled a groan.

"How old are you, Emma?" Jim asked.

"Five," she answered holding up all of the goo covered fingers on her right hand.

"A little young for you, isn't she, Chief?" Jim asked, popping the last bite his half of the ding-dong into his mouth.

"Come on, Em," Blair huffed, shooting Jim a dirty look. "Let's get you cleaned up. Again." The little girl slid off of Jim's lap and rushed into Blair's open arms. He carried her to the bathroom and the loft filled with her musical laughter.

Jim wiped the chocolate off of his cheek, but he couldn't quite wipe the grin off of his face. He was smitten. What an angel.

"Read me a story!" Emma begged as Blair helped her crawl into his bed.

"I don't have any story books," Blair said gently.

"But you've got lots of books. I can't go to sleep without a story," Emma argued, turning tearful green eyes on him.

"These books aren't bedtime stories," Blair explained. "These are just icky old text books." Emma pulled the cover up to her chin and her bottom lip quivered ever so slightly. Blair sighed. "Okay, how about I tell you a story and then you can go to sleep."

"You know a story?"

"He knows lots of stories," Jim answered from the door. "Don't you, Chief?"

"Sure I do," Blair said throwing an annoyed look at his partner for the double meaning. "Let me think for a minute. Okay, once upon a time..." he began as he knelt down beside the bed.

Emma's face lit up as she listened intently to Blair's soothing voice. Soon she sighed and snuggled deeper into the pillow, her eyes growing heavy and each slow blink lasting longer than the last. Before Blair could finish his tale of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, she was asleep.

Blair turned off the lamp and leaned forward to kiss the sleeping child on the forehead. Jim stood unmoving in the doorway, silhouetted by the light from the dining room. He swallowed a lump in his throat as he watched his partner tend to the little girl. The actions of the bouncy grad student were calm and gentle, easy and sure. Jim's own interactions with children were few and far between. But he liked kids. Most of those he dealt with were victims of some type, too young to endure the harsh realties life dumped on them. Having this happy, sweet kid around; Emma, not Blair, although sometimes that description fit him as well, was nice. She struck a chord somewhere in his heart, even though he knew nothing about her. She made him feel almost... fatherly.

"So then what happened?" Jim asked when his thoughts became a little too scary.

"Shh. She's asleep," Blair said as he adjusted the covers one more time before leaving the room, shooing Jim out in front of him.

"I know she's asleep. I just want to know how the story ends."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No. I may want to tell that story some day."

Blair leveled a startled gaze at the big man, which he quickly covered by asking "You never heard it before?"

"We didn't exactly do fairy tales at my house, Chief," Jim said, a little forlornly.

"That's really sad, man," Blair replied sincerely.

"No big deal," Jim mumbled with a shrug. "I guess Naomi read you all that stuff when you were little, huh?"

Blair looked the slightest bit melancholy himself. "She got me lots of books. But she didn't really read them to me. I mean she was always pretty busy, besides I started reading kind of young. No big deal. But there always seemed to be someone around to tell me stories."

Jim moved through the kitchen, snagging a couple of beers from the fridge and handed one off as he headed to the couch. "So," he said. "What's the story with our little houseguest?"

"You know Karla from next door to Mrs. Gilbert, right?" Blair began, pointing down toward the second floor as he settled on the couch.

"The red head?"

"No, other side. The blonde."

"I didn't know she had a kid." Jim thought back. No toys lying around. No children noises.

"Yeah, apparently the father has custody most of the time. I don't know if you noticed or not, but Emma is really comfortable around men."

"I noticed. She's five going on thirty."

"Exactly," Blair smiled. "She's more sophisticated than I am."

"No argument from me," Jim laughed.

"Anyway, Karla stops me in the hall and asked me could I watch her kid for a while. She says that she cut her hand and was going to go to the emergency room."

"She okay?"

"Jim, I didn't see any blood. And there was this guy with her and they were all dressed up. That was like, six hours ago. I haven't heard a word from her since. I mean, she doesn't know me from Adam and she leaves her little girl with me for the night?"

"We need to call social services," Jim growled angrily.

"Wait," Blair urged. "I called her father. Emma has all of his numbers embroidered inside of her knapsack. Smart guy. It didn't take me any time to track him down. He's in Hong Kong on a business trip, but as soon as I told him what happened, he booked a flight to come home. This isn't the first time Karla has dumped the poor kid on somebody. That's why she lost custody in the first place."

"We can't keep her here," Jim stated. "Let me call my friend Joyce over at social services."

"Uh... I already did."

"You called Joyce?" Jim asked, mildly amazed.

"Yeah, and she arranged it so that Emma could stay here until her dad gets here day after tomorrow. What with you being a policeman and all, it didn't take as much convincing as I thought it would. I mean... if you don't mind. And it is getting kind of late, and she is already asleep..." Blair pointed out, with a touch of pleading in his voice.

'It followed me home. Can I keep it?' Jim stifled a laugh as the thought popped into his mind.

"What?" Blair asked suspiciously.

"I'm thinking," Jim covered quickly.

"If you could just watch her for two hours in the morning, three at the most, I can keep her the rest of the time," Blair wheedled.

"Some of us work for a living," Jim countered taking a long sip of beer.

"I know that," Blair stated irritably. "I have to proctor an exam in the morning. Everything else I can put off, or take her with me. Just take a couple of personal hours. Please, Jim. She's a sweet kid. I don't want her to have to stay with strangers."

"Chief, we're strangers, to her."

"Besides, her mom may show back up in the morning," Blair added, going for the jugular.

"Oh, no. She stays with us until a responsible adult can take her."

"She stays?"

Jim groaned. "I just said that, didn't I?" he asked in disbelief.

"You sure did, you old softy."

"I'm not old," Jim protested. "And I'm not soft, either," he added, doubting his own words.

Jim wasn't sure exactly what woke him, if it was anything at all. He had dreamed of a wife and a garden and a house full of children. It was a warm dream, but grew ever colder as he woke. Without really trying, he could hear Blair's soft respirations coming from down below on the couch. Slipping on his robe he tiptoed down the stairs, glancing at the curls hanging over the arm of the couch as he headed for Blair's room. It was something he did on occasion if he couldn't sleep, but this time, the object of his nocturnal inspection was different. Not that he wouldn't look in on his Guide on the way back upstairs. He couldn't not check on him if he tried.

Emma. She had touched a part of him he hadn't known existed. Not even when he was married to Carolyn did he fancy thoughts of fatherhood. Adjusting his eyes as he pushed back the door he felt as if his heart had stopped. The bed was empty. Turning up his hearing and eyesight to search the room, he was drawn instead back to the couch. Following his hearing he smiled with no small amount of relief to hear two heartbeats coming from under the blanket. He pulled it back slightly to see Emma lying on top of Blair, her head resting comfortably on his chest. Blair held her gently in his sleep.

Jim bent down to gather the little one up to take her back to the bed when Blair began to stir. "What's wrong, Jim?" he asked.

"I thought I'd just relieve you of your teddy bear here," Jim teased.

"Huh?" Blair looked down at the bundle in his arms and grinned sleepily. "It's okay, Jim. Just leave her here. It's kind of nice."

"Have it your way, Junior. Good night." Jim fondly patted one head and then the other before making his way back upstairs. Somehow his bed seemed a little lonely tonight.

"Night, Jim." Blair closed his eyes and Emma snuggled closer to him, wrapping an arm around him.

The two couch potatoes were still asleep when Jim showered and shaved. As he was dressing, he heard an odd snipping noise. Puzzled, he descended the stairs to find Emma standing next to Blair's head with a pair of scissors. "Emma! No!" Jim staged whispered to her. She dropped the scissors and shrieked in terror. As Blair sat up on the couch, she lunged into his arms, weeping hysterically.

"What! What's wrong?" Blair asked, gathering her to him.

"Nothing!" Jim said, a little loudly as he kicked the scissors and the curly lock of hair under the couch. "I just startled her. That's all."

"Jim, you have to be a little quieter around kids," Blair admonished. "Easy, kiddo. Everything's alright. Don't cry."

As the tears turned to sniffles, Blair went into the bathroom to find something to blow her nose with.

"Emma, I don't think Blair would appreciate a hair cut," Jim admonished, leaning on the couch with his forearms.

"I was gonna make him pretty," Emma said, leaning back to look into his face.

"Boys aren't supposed to be pretty."

"They're not supposed to have so much hair, either," she replied, not a tear in her eyes.

Jim Ellison was late for work. Simon sipped a cup of coffee as he contemplated the fact. It hardly ever happened, and when it did, it usually had something to do with the over-active grad student he hung out with. "Where's the kid?" he asked, knowingly.

"Oh," Jim said with a surprised tone. "I dropped her off at the day care center down stairs. They made me fill out a shit load of paper work, and then we had to call social services. That's why I'm late. Don't worry, Sandburg is gonna pick her up at lunch."

"I, uh, was talking about Sandburg. But your story sounds much more interesting," Simon supplied.

"We're baby-sitting," Jim said uneasily.

"I see," Simon held up a hand to ward off any further explanation and walked back towards his office.

"Hey Simon, do you know any fairy tales?" Jim asked shyly after him.

Simon stopped dead in his tracks. "A few," he replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you know the one about three Billy goats?"

"Ellison," Jim snapped as he answered the phone. "Again? What did she do this time? All right, I'm on my way." He slammed the phone down with more force than he intended. The little angel was far from perfect. In fact, she had a mischievous streak a mile wide. And she played Jim like a fiddle. He was outmatched and he knew it. Silently he counted down the minutes until Sandburg arrived so he could handle her for awhile.

"What now?" Brown asked with a grin.

"Roll of toilet paper stuffed down the pot," Jim sighed as he dragged himself to the elevator. "I'll bet they can't even prove she did it."

"Wow. That's like the fifth time she's tore something up in the last three hours."

"Yeah, I know. They want her removed from the day care center this time. She's not welcome anymore."

When Blair arrived at the bullpen, Emma was sitting at Jim's desk happily drawing on paper with crayons out of her trusty knapsack. She had drawn at least one picture for everyone, except for Megan, who she really didn't take a shine to, in spite of the repeated attempts by the Aussie to make friends. She had a stack of pictures for Blair.

"Chief!" she yelled when he came through the door and ran to him jumping into his arms. "I missed you!" she cried.

"I missed you, too, Emma," Blair crooned with a smile, hugging the stuffing out of her. "What did you do today?" he asked innocently.

"I had to stay in a room with a mean old witch. She put a spell on me and everything."

Blair eyed Jim speculatively. "Not exactly," Jim said in a low voice. "Although I understand there was some cursing involved."

Sitting at the desk with Emma in his lap, Blair perused the pile of artwork with his name, sort of, on it. Jim stood behind him and duplicitously pulled a strand of hair over Blair's new not-quite-bald spot. "Uh, Jim..." Blair began as he turned over one of the masterpieces. "Isn't this part of that quarterly report you've been working on?"

"Oh, no," Jim groaned. "She must have gone through all the blank sheets I gave her. Damn, er, darn it. I never thought she could draw that fast."

Emma didn't show much interest in the doll Blair bought for her at the store, but she clutched it under one arm and held Blair's hand as they climbed the steps, the elevator being on the fritz again. She was much more interested in the new panties and outfit they had picked up, since Karla hadn't bothered to send anything with her except for what was in the small knapsack.

"Oh, there you are," Karla called out as they passed the second floor landing. She looked rough. Blair tensed, and Emma drew closer to him, wrapping her doll arm around his leg. "I was looking for you."

Blair shifted the knapsack and bag of clothes so he could place a hand on Emma's head. "Hi," he said attempting to sound casual. Emma turned her face into his leg, not even glancing at her mother.

"About last night, let me explain..."

"No, it's okay. Don't worry about it," Blair interrupted, trying to think of a way to diffuse the situation before it got ugly, because he was not about to let Emma go with the strung-out woman. "Listen, I know how it is in the emergency room."

"What?" the woman asked, apparently having forgotten her original lie.

"Why don't you rest and I'll keep Emma. I was gonna fix her some lunch and put her down for a nap anyway," Blair continued, knowing the woman wasn't using any higher brain functions at the moment.

"Are you sure? I know what a bother she is."

"She's no bother at all," Blair said coldly. "In fact, I'll just keep her again tonight. If you don't mind, that is."

Karla looked at him strangely for a minute and then shrugged. "Sure. If you want."

"Okay, see you later then," Blair sighed with relief when the woman turned and went back into her apartment. A thin veil of smoke drifting out the door behind her. "Jim is gonna freak when he smells that," Blair muttered under his breath. "Come on, Em. Let's get some lunch." He pried her arm from around his leg and led her up the last flight of stairs.

Jim smelled the steaks broiling way before he got to the door. The music was nice. Soft, with a lullaby quality to it. He opened the door and was attacked by his miniature houseguest.

"Jim's home!" she squealed loud enough to cause an echo inside of his head.

He smiled and snatched her up, tickling her for a minute, forgetting how aggravating she had been earlier in the day. "Hey, munchkin. And Emma," he teased.

"Funny, man," Blair said, looking up from turning the steaks.

"Rough day?" Jim asked, sitting his armload of wiggles on the counter next to Blair.

"Huh? No, why?" he asked, genuinely confused. He picked up a knife and began to chop some tomatoes.

Jim furtively nodded towards Emma, who began to peel at a strip of caulk on the counter.

Blair turned his back to rinse a head of lettuce. "Don't do that, please," he added without looking up, before Jim could voice a warning of his own. Emma's hands stilled immediately. "Are you kidding? Emma's an angel."

"Holding out on me, Chief?" Jim asked as he placed the child back on the floor. "I thought I was the Sentinel here. Or have you got eyes in the back of your head?"

"I've just got her figured out is all. She's a lot like I was when I was little. The trick is to keep her busy. Come here, Em. I've got a job for you." She ran to him at once, and he held her up to the sink to wash her hands. He sat her back on the counter where Jim had had her before and handed her half of the head of lettuce. "You wanted to help me fix dinner, so I'm gonna let you make the salad. Okay?"

"Okay," she agreed excitedly and began to tear off small pieces of the lettuce and put it in a bowl.

"What's in that pot?" Jim asked lifting the lid. "Spaghetti-Os?"

"Yeah, Emma doesn't eat anything that used to have ears," Blair explained.

"Except corn," Emma chimed in.

"Except corn," Blair conceded.

Jim laughed and helped himself to a beer, before setting the table. Soon they were all gathered to eat. "Milk?" Jim asked, noting Blair's choice of beverage.

"Yeah, well, good example and all that," he said, taking a drink to prove his point.

"Mommy says that men are fucking pigs," Emma announced guilelessly.

Blair snorted milk out of his nose and began to choke in earnest. Jim suppressed a grin, secretly glad he hadn't been trying to drink as well at that moment, sure that beer would have been much worse. "Is that right?" he asked Emma as he got up and patted Blair on the back. "What's the matter, Chief? You never heard that word before?" he teased his partner.

Blair cleared his throat and wiped his eyes. "I wasn't exactly expecting to hear it from her," he choked out as the coughing subsided.

"That's a very adult word, Emma," Jim said when he sat back down. He knew immediately he had taken the wrong tact when Emma's face glowed with pride.

"It is?" she asked.

"Way to go, Jim," Blair griped.

Jim shrugged. "Your turn."

"Yes, Emma, that is a very adult word. But when you say it, it makes your face turn ugly for a minute. And if you say it too many times, your face stays that way," Blair lied, greatly exaggerating his expression of trepidation.

Emma's face fell. "Really?" she asked in awe.

Jim and Blair both nodded solemnly.

"I won't never say pigs again," she swore softly.

"I'm not looking," Blair said for the third time, sitting on the floor with his back to the tub. "I promise."

Emma splashed around in the water as she rinsed her hair that Blair had insisted she wash. "Ok, just don't look."

"Hey, Chief," Jim said as he came into the bathroom, about to ask if the shirt he picked out was okay for Emma to wear to bed.

"Eeeeeck!" Emma squealed as she covered herself with her arms. "Don't look, Jim!"

"Sorry!" Jim yelped as he threw a hand over his face and turned his back. "I didn't know you were Mae West."

Blair chuckled as he held up a towel over his shoulder. Emma plucked it from his hand and wrapped it around herself.

"Are you decent yet?" Blair asked, peeking over at his charge as he rose from the floor.

"Uh huh."

Blair grabbed another towel and covered her head with it before plucking her out of the bathtub. "Let's comb your hair out. I have some conditioner here that you just leave in." He closed the lid to the toilet and sat on it and pulled Emma to stand between his legs. She closed her eyes drowsily and leaned back against him as he dried her hair and then worked a handful of conditioner through it.

"You're pretty good at that," Jim commented.

"I know a thing or two about tangles," Blair agreed with a grin as he combed out the blonde mess.

"Done?" Jim asked as he held out the T-shirt to the youngster. She nodded and slipped the shirt over her head, dropping the towel in the process, suddenly not so modest. Jim rolled his eyes as Blair shook his head in amusement. Blair produced a pair of tiny pink underwear, which she slipped on with a grin before reaching up to Jim. He scooped her up and carried her to Blair's room.

"Between the two of us," Blair mused quietly to his Sentinel, as he stayed behind to mop up the floodwaters and drain the tub, "that kid's feet never touch the floor."

"Tell me a story!" Emma commanded as Jim plopped her playfully on the bed, where he had been in earlier to pull back the covers. He had made plans, and he wasn't going to be left out of the bedtime ritual tonight.

"Ok, I'll tell you about Goldilocks and the Three Bears." Jim sat on the edge of the bed and Emma snuggled up to him.

"That's a good one," Blair agreed from the door. "But I thought you didn't do bedtime stories at the Ellison household?"

"It's all right, I did a little recon today while I was at the station," Jim assured. He cleared his throat meaningfully. "There was a little girl who..."

"Once upon a time," Emma corrected sleepily.

"Yeah, Jim, that's how you know it's a fairy tale," Blair agreed as he lowered himself to sit cross-legged on the floor by the bed. He turned his rapt attention to the storyteller.

"Whatever," Jim growled softly. "Once upon a time there was a little girl with a history of breaking and entering. Her rap sheet was as long as my arm. Anyway, as she was loitering in the woods one day, she came across a house where the inhabitants had been careless, and didn't use their deadbolts..." Soft snoring filtered up from the bed. "Wow. She's asleep already," Jim said with some disappointment.

"Finish the story, man," Blair urged from the floor.

"I thought you knew this one?" Jim asked as he moved the limp form to the pillow and covered her up.

"Not this version!" Blair snorted.

"What do you mean?" Jim asked sincerely, turning to look at his Guide. "That's exactly the way Simon told it to me today."

Blair's face split in a grin before he began to chuckle. Soon he fell back on the floor with both hands clamped over his mouth trying not to wake the child, literally rolling on the floor with laughter.

"That's enough," Jim said with a bemused expression. He grabbed Blair by the ankle and dragged him out of the room. He went back in briefly, to turn out the light and gently kiss Emma's forehead, as he had seen Blair do the night before. "And they lived happily ever after," he said softly into her hair. "That's how you can really tell if it's a fairy tale."

He stepped over Blair as he shut the door. "What's so damned funny?"

"Don't get me wrong," Blair said, trying to catch his breath. "You were great. I just got this mental picture..."

"Never mind, don't tell me," Jim winced.

"...of you sitting in Simon's lap while he told you bedtime stories. Oh, God. I can't breath."

Jim smirked and held out his hand to help up the red faced anthropologist. "So Karla never came around?" he asked, determined to change the subject.

Blair sobered almost immediately, with only short relapses into hysteria. "Sort of, I guess," he said and headed for the table. "I told her I wanted to keep Emma for another night and she agreed right away. She never even questioned my intentions. For all she knows, I could be a pedophile or who knows what."

"I thought I smelled cannabis in the hall," Jim added.

"Yeah, I did too. And you know what else?" Blair continued, an edge of anger to his voice. "She never even spoke to Emma. Em hung on to me like her life depended on it. Wouldn't even look at her mother."

"That's sad. I guess a bad mother is worse than no mother at all," he said wistfully.

"I guess having a baby doesn't necessarily qualify you for motherhood, huh?"

"You said it, Chief. Listen, you take my bed tonight and I'll sleep on the couch. It's only fair."

Jim woke to the sound of small bare feet on the hardwood floor. He cracked open an eye to see the little face study him for a moment before heading towards the stairs. "Emma," he whispered, startling the child. "Where are you going? Are you scared?"

"No, Chief needs me," she lied.

"He's a big boy. He sleeps by himself all the time," Jim assured. "You can lay with me until you go back to sleep if you want."

Emma thought for a minute. "No, you can come with me," she said at last, and quickly started to climbed the stairs in the dark.

Jim jumped from the couch and followed, afraid she would fall, and with every intention of putting her back in her own bed. She reached the top before he got to her, and bounced across Blair to lie in the middle of the bed.

"Emma..."

"Please, Jim," she whined, petting Blair's sleeping head.

Caving in, Jim walked around to the other side of the bed and crawled in with her. He'd wait until she went to sleep, and then carry her back downstairs. He couldn't believe she hadn't woken Sandburg with all the movement.

Someone was knocking on the door, Jim realized as he gently pushed the foot out of his face. Early morning light was streaming into the loft. Emma lay cross-wise between him and Blair, her head on Blair's chest, her feet in Jim's face. That's about right, he mused. Sleepy blue eyes across from him opened.

"What's going on?" Blair asked.

"Someone's at the door," Jim replied, getting up and pulling on a pair of sweats to answer it.

Emma shifted and Blair pulled her into a hug before closing his eyes and drifting back to sleep.

Reaching the door, Jim undid the lock and opened it, half expecting Karla to be standing there. Instead an anxious looking rumpled man stood poised to knock again. "Hello?" Jim said.

"You must be the detective. I'm sorry, I'm kind of jet lagged, I can't remember your name. I'm Michael Evans. Emma's dad."

"Jim Ellison," Jim said offering a hand to the man. "Come on in. I'll make some coffee."

"I'd really like to see my daughter," Evans stated after a quick handshake.

"Sure, I'll get her," Jim said, moving to the stairs. "Sandburg, wake up. Emma's father is here," he called out as he reached the top.

"What the hell is going on here!?" the man roared as he followed Jim and arrived to find his five-year-old daughter in a bed with a man he didn't know. Blair sat up rubbing his eyes and Emma cried out at the noise and clung to him.

"It's okay, sweetie, your daddy is here," Blair soothed, kissing her head. She calmed down and looked around.

"Daddy?" she asked.

"Right here, Pumpkin," Evans said, pulling his baby girl out of the other man's arms.

"Calm down, sir. She climbed into bed with him after he went to sleep. Nothing happened," Jim stated, giving the abridged version of events. He was suddenly worried about what the impact of such a misunderstanding could do to Blair's career. Not to mention his own.

"Hi, Mr. Evans. I'm Blair Sandburg. I'm the one who called you." Blair offered his hand but was glowered away.

"Are you alright, Emma?" Evans asked his daughter softly.

"Yes," she said and squiggled out of his arms to crawl back into Blair's lap. "This is my friend, Chief. He took very good care of me," she stated, all grown up, and somehow sensing the charged atmosphere.

"So help me, if anything..."

"Do I have to remind you that your ex-wife dumped the kid on Mr. Sandburg for two days. She hasn't even checked on her. Now Social Services is aware of this, as a matter of fact, they approved her staying here instead of going to a foster home," Jim lectured.

"It's okay, Jim," Blair said. "Frankly I'm relieved you're a little upset with the situation. I would be. You're just looking out for your child. We'll do whatever you want to do to resolve this to your satisfaction. Talk to your daughter. Or take her to the emergency room. You have every right."

"Why is Daddy mad?" Emma whispered to Blair.

"He just doesn't understand why you were sleeping with me," Blair explained gently making sure that Evans heard him.

Emma looked at her father thoughtfully. "I missed you, Daddy. I was pretending Blair was you," she said.

Jim did a double take and realized the man before him and his partner were fairly similar in height, weight, coloring... everything except that Blair's hair was much longer.

"Oh," the man said and relaxed visibly. "I can see that, I suppose. I don't want to appear ungrateful. I was just worried, you understand."

"How could you send her to stay with Karla when you know how she is?" Blair asked with a slightly accusatory tone.

"I know how it looks. And I don't think Karla would put up much of a fight if I refused to send her, but for heaven's sake, she's her mother. How do I deny my child that, even if I think it's best?"

"Have you asked Emma what she wants?" Jim asked.

"I don't like staying with her," Emma stated emphatically. "She doesn't like me."

"Of course she does, honey," Evans said uncertainly. He looked at Blair who shook his head. "Well, I guess I should talk to her before we leave."

"Let me get my badge and some shoes. I'll go with you in case there's trouble," Jim offered.

Evans hugged Emma again, but relinquished her to Blair without hesitation.

"She'll be ready when you get back," Blair promised.

Somehow Emma had acquired a lot more things while she was at the loft. Since everything wouldn't fit into her little pink knapsack, Blair found an old canvas bag in his closet and put the rest of her new stuff in it.

"I enjoyed spending time with you," he said as he tied Emma's shoes.

"I love you, Chief."

"I love you too, squirt. I'll always remember you." He kissed her on top of the head and gave her a hug. "Come on, I'll fix you some toast before you go."

She followed him into the kitchen and he sat her on the counter while he put the bread in the toaster and poured her some juice. Twenty minutes later, she was packed, dressed and fed. The door opened and two grim faced men entered quietly.

"What's up?" Blair asked. Jim gave him an I'll tell you later look.

"Ok, Emma. Let's go. You won't ever have to stay with your mother again," Evans promised. "Thanks, Jim," he added and shook the big detective's hand. "Mr. Sandburg, I can never repay you for your kindness. Thank you."

"No problem, man. Bye, Em," Blair smiled and winked at the little girl.

Evans gathered all of Emma's things and walked through the door with the little girl in tow. Emma broke away from him briefly to run to Jim. He bent down and returned the hug. "I love you, Jim," she said and ran back to her father.

Jim grinned foolishly and waved before shutting the door. He cleared his throat and moved quickly to the kitchen so Blair couldn't see he was a little misty eyed. He focused all his energy on making coffee.

"Detach with love, Jim," Blair instructed kindly, smiling to himself.

"I think I'm going to miss her," Jim confessed. "Even though she wasn't the angel I first thought she was."

"She was fine. You're just not used to being around kids."

"And you are? Have you noticed your new haircut?" Jim asked, now that the little troublemaker was gone.

"Have you seen your Jags cap yet?" Blair countered, touching the back of his head. "It wasn't her fault. This was hard on her. Mr. Evans told me on the phone that he has to put her into therapy for a couple of months every time she visits her mom. So what went on downstairs? You guys were gone a long time."

"You wouldn't believe it. There were more drugs there than the last crack house I busted. Out in the open. I didn't have any choice. I had to call in a unit to take them all in."

"You busted Karla?"

"Yeah, sorry," Jim said glumly.

"Don't be sorry on my account. I think it's great," Blair exclaimed.

"What did Emma do to my Jags cap?" Jim asked suddenly.

"It's ok, we'll get you another one. If you're good, I'll even tell you what happened to the Billy goats."

The End