Disclaimer: I don't own The Fosters or anything pertaining to it except my writing. All rights go to the rightful owners.
A/N: Set during my version of Déjà Vu, s3ep3 (which hasn't premiered yet). I used all the promos I could find to write this. *smiley
"So is your dad home?" Jude inquired as he and Connor approached the apartment. Connor shook his head, taking the key from his book bag's pocket. He had just been able to get off his crutches the day before.
"No," he said. "He's at work. Won't be home 'til, like, seven." Jude followed him inside once the door had been swung open, and Connor shut it behind them.
"Wanna do the English homework?"
Connor glanced back at Jude, laughing, while they walked into the den. "Good one." Jude grinned, but didn't say anything more. "Hey," Connor added, "did I tell you Mom got me Dawn of Armageddon 5?" Jude shook his head. "Well it just came out; I haven't even played yet. You want to?"
Jude's open expression grew closed, his eyebrows drawn together as he once again shook his head. "No, I'm good."
Connor dropped his bag beside the couch, confused, but only said, "Okay. You can watch if you want."
Seeing guys blowing each other's heads off? "No, thanks," Jude said, sitting in the armchair facing away from the television. Connor raised his eyebrows but didn't comment as he too took a seat, on the couch, to play.
It was while the game was loading that Jude glanced over at Connor, away from Bejeweled Blitz, and said, "So we have a foster kid living with us." Connor looked at him in surprise.
"How come I didn't know 'til now?"
"Just remembered," Jude said. "His name's A.J."
Connor leaned back against the couch cushion, toying with the remote control in his hands. "How long's he staying at your place?"
"I dunno. Until Mike can get a license to house him, I guess," Jude decided. "That's what my moms told us."
The game started up as Connor asked, "Where's he sleeping?"
"My room, since Jesus is gone," Jude told him. "I guess it could be weird, but it won't be for too long, anyway." There was a brief pause in which Connor began his tour and gunshots began to rattle the room.
"So you don't feel weird about sharing your room with some kid you don't know?" he asked Jude, his eyes glued to the TV set.
"I've been in seven foster homes," Jude reminded him, moving a red jewel to sit beside another and create a match. "I've shared a lot of rooms with a lot of kids I don't know."
"Oh, man, sick!" Connor exclaimed upon one player being shot to death by another. Almost immediately, the shooting began again and Jude glanced over at Connor, his face crinkling in displeasure. He used to enjoy games like that, sure. But it was sort of hard to bear what with everything that had happened. So Jude simply sat quietly and continued with his own non-violent game.
"You're going down…" Connor said to the screen.
Or not. "Could you turn that down please?" Jude asked, unable to hide is disdainful tone.
"Dude, no way! I'm dominating!" Connor said.
"Seriously," Jude said. "It hurts my ears." It wasn't a total lie.
Connor grabbed the remote and fixed the volume, frowning. "Fine. Whatever, Granny."
Jude glanced again at Connor, a hurt frown of his own appearing. He reached for Connor's headphones and put them over his ears, looking at his supposed boyfriend only once more before ignoring him and his stupid game.
It was later that same day that Jude arrived at his house. His moms were already inside, preparing dinner. He had wanted to go home at least an hour before his actual leaving time, but hadn't wanted to hurt Connor's feelings. Ridiculous, considering Connor didn't seem to care one way or the other how he treated Jude.
Lena stood at the stove, swirling soup in a saucepan, while Stef leaned against the island with a cup of tea wrapped between her hands.
"Hey, bubba," Lena greeted their son, smiling at him, as was her wife. "Have fun at Connor's?"
Jude shrugged, making a split second decision as he retrieved a glass from the cupboard. "I wanna learn how to shoot a gun." Stef, in the midst of sipping her green tea, nearly spat it back up, and Lena moved forward to rub her back.
"Um," she began.
"Wh–why would you want to do that, bud?" Stef asked him, recovering her composure.
Jude poured himself some water from the fridge and said, "I want to be able to protect myself. I can't stand being helpless."
"You aren't helpless," Lena assured him quickly. "You have us."
"That's just as bad as helpless," Jude said, and his moms both fell quiet. He sighed. "That's not what I mean. I just… I don't wanna have to rely on anyone but myself. I need you, yeah. But if I can learn this one thing for me, I'll know I'm safe." And that Connor is safe. "And you're a cop, mom," he added to Stef, "so I just figured you'd be the best one to teach me."
"Well I can't just put a gun in your hand," Stef told him. "We'd have to go to the range…"
"Perfect," her son agreed heartily. "Is tomorrow okay?"
"Tomorrow?" Lena repeated, disbelieving. She looked to her wife. "Honey, can we… talk about this first?"
They sent Jude to his room so they could discuss the idea, but Jude was adamant. He needed this. He knew they didn't understand why, and he knew as well that Connor wouldn't either, when he told him the following day. But either one of them could've been killed at Taylor's, and even if Jude didn't carry a gun around and it wouldn't have made a difference, in another more life-threatening situation, Jude could take control. And all Connor would have in his belt would be DA5.