[This is sort of AU but it fits, most of them won't be though]
"Babe, did you put my Padres shirt in the wash?" Stef called softly from the utility, poking her head around the door to catch sight of her partner, changing her shirt.
Lena lifted her eyes to meet Stef's with a vacant look for a moment before shaking her head.
"I didn't get a chance to do it yet, what with getting that call from Bill as soon as I left work," Lena replied, pushing her curls up atop her head and wrapping an elastic snugly around them. "I haven't had a chance to look at her file yet, David gave it to me when I picked Callie up but I haven't read further than the cover."
Stef grabbed the washing basket and carried it to the bottom of the bed, dropping it there before settling at the end of the bed and resting her head against Lena's shoulder. The brunette had the thick wad of paper, encased in a cardboard sleeve, on her lap with one hand holding it there.
Reaching over to take it from her, Stef flipped it open to the first page and skimmed over the basic information before pausing under the Family heading.
One brother – Jude Jacob, born November 2000. Kept together in placements until Callie's conviction.
"You didn't mention she had a brother, did Bill say anything to you?" Stef questioned, furrowing her brow.
Blinking herself out of her daydream, Lena shifted upright and glanced down at the page, reading the words that Stef just had. Callie's distress on her release, her reserved nature in the house since then; it all made a little more sense now.
"He didn't say anything to me, no. Shall we go and ask her about it? I mean, if they were close before, we don't know what she'll do to get back to him. She was asking David about him at juvy earlier," she explained curiously.
"We'll ask her tomorrow, love. She's probably asleep by now, as should we be. We'll call Bill and sort out a meeting with him. Let's get some rest first," the blonde continued as she flicked through the pages. "This is their sixth placement in as many years, we really need to figure out what's gone on with this girl. They've been removed from two of these homes by CPS…reports of abuse. Okay, maybe we should confront this now."
Closing the folder, Stef placed it on the bed beside her before standing up and offering Lena her hand. The two made their way downstairs, prepared to be faced with a little aggression from their new ward, and found Callie sitting on the makeshift bed they had constructed in the kitchen and staring out of the window.
"Hey Callie," Lena greeted calmly as they entered the room, causing the young girl's head to turn so fast that it was audible. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. We just wanted to have a little chat with you."
Callie pulled her knees up to her chest defensively and remained silent, though this was as much invitation as they were going to get right now. The two women approached and sat at the edge of the couch, leaving as much distance as they could.
"We were looking through your file and we saw that you have a little brother, you two normally stick together in your homes, huh?" Stef continued softly with a weak smile. "Do you know where he might be staying, hon'?"
It was clear in her face that Callie felt conflicted about trusting the two women, about talking to them about this when she had intended to deal with it herself. But the softness of Lena's expression, and the way that Stef kept her eyes on Callie with a genuine concern, made her feel as safe as she had felt in years.
"I…uh, I guess he's still with our last foster father. Normally they keep us together so I don't think they would have found him a new placement while I was in juvy. I was… planning to ask Bill when he comes over to talk to you guys about my file or whatever," her words fell out of her mouth almost apologetically and left Stef feeling worried for her.
Stef was a cop, she knew how to tell when people were lying and she could feel that Callie wasn't being entirely honest with them, but forcing the issue would only drive the girl further away and that wasn't something they could afford to risk. They knew where Jude was, that meant that they could put the two of them in contact.
"Okay, well, we will call Bill in the morning and ask him how to get you two in contact then shall we? We'll sort this out, Callie, you don't have to worry about this. Try and get some shut eye," Lena finished as the two women stood up and she padded across the kitchen floor to return the landline to its charging cradle.
"Goodnight," Stef offered as she stepped out of the room, met with a hum of acknowledgement from Callie.
Lena flicked off the light on her way out into the hallway, a shadow of a smile on her face in the knowledge that she could help this girl in some way. She followed her partner up the stairs with the intention of sorting the washing before the pair of them turned in for the night.
Meanwhile, Callie had taken the phone and was calling the Pearson residence and praying that Jude was the one to answer. The sound of his voice on the other end of the phone ensured her that she needed to get to him fast, that she couldn't wait for formalities and court orders before she could get to her little brother and protect him.
"I'm going to come and get you, Jude. As soon as I can get away, you just have to hang in there, buddy." Callie promised.
[Basically carries on into canon except Jude never calls Brandon's phone the second time, everything else would take place exactly the same as normal.]