A/N: This story is going to be drama-filled about an OC but in a universe where a lot of shows co-exist. It's going to be around 52 chapters and include characters from tv-shows like The Fosters (that's our OC's family), South of Nowhere, Pretty Little Liars, Once Upon a Time (just a young Emma Swan) and Faking It. TW: at the beginning of each chapter, there's a bit of everything (violence, child abuse, drugs, smut, non-con…) so check it to be sure. I will take a lot of Creative liberties with these shows to make it coherent. Don't get mad at me if things aren't exactly similar to the original show. I'll put the characters I use in each chapter in the A/N so you can check them out and you won't be lost. Also I will try to post at least every week.
And finally this is my first multi-chapter and I'm still new at writing so be kind with the reviews but I need them to get better. So tell me what you think!
I don't own any of the shows or their characters.
Characters you should check out before reading this chapter:
The Fosters
Arthur Carlin (South of Nowhere)
TW: mentions of violence
Enjoy!
Lena's POV
Lena is in her office, looking over the new budget to present at the school board next week, when her cell phone rings. She looks up from the paper and searches through her bag.
"I really need to sort through this mess." She mumbles.
She finally reaches it and answers without looking at the caller I.D.
"Hello, Lena? This is Arthur Carlin, the social worker who placed Jesus and Mariana with you. Do you remember me?" A disembodied voice, whom she thought she'd never hear again, calls from the speaker.
A million thoughts rush through her mind, mostly fears to be exact but she answers with a smile.
"Hi Arthur, yes I do. How are you? She replies, a bit anxious.
"I'm fine thanks, we actually moved to Fillmore with the kids, they'll be attending high school next week. Are you still the vice principal there? "
"Yes I am, can't wait to meet them. Do you have questions?" She relaxed a bit, this wasn't about the twins. She has this irrational fear that the social services would take them away, although they are adopted, so it's not that easy.
"No, thank you. Although they aren't happy with starting school in May, so they might be a bit grumpy on Monday." He jokes.
Lena smiles "aren't teenagers always grumpy anyway?"
"Yes, I suppose they are. But I'm not calling you about them, I need a favor." He answered with a grave tone, the one he used during the adoption process, his work tone.
"One of my charges is getting out of Juvenile Detention today. I have no home for her right now, so she'll have to go in a group home. She's bound to get in trouble there." He took a breath before carrying on. "I think she has issues with male authority, it never ends well. But she's a great kid, really. I think you guys could be good for her and I promise you, it wouldn't be for long, just a couple weeks."
"I don't know Arthur, that's a lot to ask." Lena replies, not sure what to say.
"I know, I know. Maybe just go see her, and if you're not feeling it, I'll take her to the group home in Ventura. She's at the Youth Correctional Facility in Oxnard, and she should be out by 6 pm. Please Lena, she has nowhere else to go." He sounded defeated.
She felt a bit of guilt. "I can't promise you anything, I'll talk to Stef."
"Ok. I'll be at the Facility at 5.45 pm, I hope you'll come. But anyway thanks for hearing me out. Have a nice day"
"You too Arthur." And she ends the call.
She really doesn't know what to do, so she dials Stef phone number. It keeps ringing for a while until it reaches voicemail:
"Hey it's Stef. I'm either working or avoiding your call. Please leave a message."
Lena smiles and leaves her a message:
"Hi Babe, Remember Arthur Carlin from the twins' adoption? He called me about a girl who needs a place to stay for a few weeks. It sounds like it's either us or a group home. She's in juvie until tonight, I don't know why. But Arthur said she's a great kid. I'm gonna go meet her at 6 pm and see from there. Please call me back, we need to talk about this."
She ends the call and checks the clock, it's 3:45 pm. So she takes the budget and tries to focus on it, hoping for Stef to call back. At about 5:10 pm, she finishes up her notes and checks her phone again. No missed calls.
She gets up with a sigh, puts her handbag on her shoulder and leaves. The corridors are all empty. Extra-curricular activities usually don't last more than 2 hours, so by 5pm the school is deserted. She reaches the parking lot and enters her black station wagon. On the 30 minute drive, she can't stop thinking about the girl. She wonders how the twins would have turned out if they were still in the system. And maybe that kid just needs a place to breathe for a few weeks until Arthur finds her a home. How could they refuse?
She arrives just a few minutes before 6 and rushes towards the entrance, checking her phone one last time. No missed calls. She sighs and reaches Arthur.
"Hi Arthur, it's nice to see you again". She says with a smile as he turns around.
"You too Lena, although I wish it were under better circumstances". He returns her smile. "I'm happy you're here. The girl's name is Emily Finnegan. She's 15."
Lena nods. A few moments later, a dark-blonde girl, smaller than her and quite skinny appeared at the door of the facility. She was very pale and was wearing a black and white baseball tee and a light blue baggy jean, dirty-looking and ripped at the knee.
When she arrived in front of her and Arthur, Lena noticed her face. The girl was pretty, with bright blue eyes and a thin jaw line but had a bloody lip, a visible cut on her eyebrow and a black eye was developing, causing Lena to rethink her decision.
"What happened? And why was she in juvie" She asks, remembering she forgot to ask earlier.
"She got into a fight" Arthur sighs. "When a kid gets out, others get jealous and beat them up. And she was in juvie for destruction of property." He continues.
"Arthur, I'm sorry but I can't bring someone violent into my home, I have 3 kids." Lena states firmly.
"I wouldn't ask you too. It was a onetime thing, I assure you. Emily's a good kid but she's been through a lot, she just needs a good home." Arthur tries desperately.
Lena looks at the teen in front of her. She's frowning and looks tense, hands clenched in fists, like she's about to fight or run. But Lena notices her eyes, and tries to decipher what's going on behind. She sees anger and pain towards Arthur, but when they stare back at her, they're soft, almost pleading. Lena sighs.
"Just a couple of weeks huh?" Lena makes sure.
"Yes, yes. And if there's any problem, just call and I'll pick her up immediately. I'm not far." He says with a smile, hope in his eyes.
"Where's Sara?" The girl asks, with a low angry voice.
"I can't talk to you about it now, Kid. Come to my office tomorrow after school and I'll fill you in. Ok?" He replies with a soft tone.
She glares at him. "I don't really have a choice, do I? Is she fine at least?" Her expression changes immediately to concern.
He smiles weakly. "Yes she is, don't worry" he turns to Lena. "I'll check in tomorrow night, to make sure everything's settled. Thanks again Lena". He turns to his car and gets in.
"Ok so I'm Lena Adams. Nice to meet you Emily" She says with a warm smile.
"Yeah, you too." The girl answers, focused on shooting daggers towards Arthur's moving car.
"Well, I'm parked over there, follow me." She says, clearly uncomfortable, and walks over to the car.
Emily's POV
Emily doesn't answer and just follows. They enter the car and start driving. She crosses her legs and leans her head on the window looking outside. She likes car rides, nothing bad happens in them. It's just point A to point B and if she's lucky, she doesn't even have to make small talk and is able to think, or daydream, which is rare.
The past two weeks were hard, she was always on alert. She never got involved with the others. She just wanted to lay low and stay alone. This made her an easy target. So she got into a few small fights over food or just because she was in the wrong place. One of the "leaders" of a group got her yard privileges taken away because of one of these fights. Which led her take her revenge on Emily this morning.
But back to her current situation. She doesn't know what to expect. The woman seems nice, and she cares about her kids. Well that's what it looks like. But Emily isn't one of her kids, so how will she be treated? And most importantly, she needs to find a phone. She's dragged out of her thoughts by Lena's voice.
"Nice chucks, pretty vintage. I bought the same ones when I was a teenager" She smiles.
"They belonged to one of my foster mom's". She saw Lena's frown and chuckled. "I didn't steal them. She gave them to me for my birthday. I loved the golden brown color and the red tartan interior. I was obsessed and she didn't wear them anymore, so she gave me a speech about how they were from 1974 and she had her first kiss in them so I had to really take care of them." She finishes with a smile.
"It seems you did, they're in pretty good condition" Lena replies. "Are you still in contact with her?"
Emily looked away, answering in an empty voice. "No she died when I was 13."
"I'm sorry". Lena says in a soft voice.
Emily doesn't answer. They spend the rest of the ride in silence. She's more at ease, Lena looks like one of the good ones. But as they arrive in front of 2330 Taylor Lane, she feels anxiety creeping up.
Lena must have sensed this because she says with a smile: "Don't worry, the only danger in there is three hungry teenagers, you'll fit right in."
Emily smiles back but isn't convinced. As she walks up the path, she feels herself slipping in what she calls defense mode. Basically it's anger building up instead of fear. So that if there's a danger, she won't freeze but lash out. Not very convenient in social situations but it kept her alive until now.
Lena opens the door in front of her and leads her in. The house is big with a dining room on the right and a large sitting room on the left. It feels warm with the apparent wood and carpet floors. They go through the dining room and into the kitchen at the back of the house. Lena disappears in a utility room on the left so Emily waits on a stool on the long island in the center, looking at everything, especially the knives' location.
Lena comes back and throws her a towel "Here, if you want to wash up a bit while I cook the lasagna".
She catches the towel easily and moves without a word to the sink. She washes her hands and scrubs the dried blood from under her nails. Then she ties her hair in a messy bun, before splashing water on her face. She winces a bit at the sting but keeps scrubbing the blood from her lips and from the cut on her eyebrow. She winces again when she pads the water from her face with the towel, pressing on her forming black eye.
"Are you ok?" Lena walks over to her, concerned.
Emily takes immediately a step back "Yeah I'm fine thanks". She says abruptly, and looks down. She sees blood on the towel. Her own blood runs cold. "Hum, I put blood on your towel, I'm sorry. I'll clean it I promise." She tries to keep the fear out of her voice.
"Hey don't worry" Lena takes a step towards her and extends her hand to put it on her shoulder. Emily practically jumps back, so she stops and lets her hand fall.
She says as softly as possible "It's ok, you're not in trouble. I'll clean the towel with the rest of the laundry. You're safe here, nobody will hurt you, for anything. You don't have to be scared of us."
Emily believes her, which is insane, it never ends well. But still, she feels herself relax a bit and when Lena approaches again, she doesn't move. And when she takes the towel from her hands, she barely flinches. She feels a smile creep up and Lena smiles back, visibly relaxing herself.
But then she hears shouting coming from the stairs and immediately tenses up, smile disappearing.
"Mama, it's 7 o'clock, when are we eating?" a younger girl asks as soon as she enters.
"Yeah I'm starving". A boy asks as he enters on her heels.
"Jesus, Mariana, this is Emily, she'll be staying with us for a couple of weeks, so be nice. The lasagna is practically done, so set the table. Emily, please take a seat." She adds with a smile.
Emily stays expressionless as she sits to the nearest stool on the far end of the wooden island. The twins talk about their day with Lena, while setting placemats, forks, knives and glasses in front of every seat, except the one in front of Emily. Good, she won't have to entertain anybody. They may even forget about her after a while. She's taken back to reality when a boy about her age enters.
"Hey Brandon! How did the competition go?" Lena asks just as she places the lasagna at the center of the table.
"He won!" answers a female voice from behind Emily. She resists the urge to turn around. "Who's this?" She continues. Emily can practically feel the stare on her back.
"Sit down, Honey. I'll explain." Lena gestures to a stool in the middle of the Island, and Stef sits down, still observing the blonde teenager. Jesus starts serving everybody's plates.
"Emily you can sit beside Stef, she won't bite." She smiles sympathetically.
Emily was so engrossed in her thoughts earlier that she didn't notice her place wasn't set. She slides to the stool on her right, in front of Brandon, and on Stef's' left. Besides Brandon is Mariana and besides her is Jesus.
Lena clears her throat. "Ok everyone, so this is Emily". Emily takes a long sip of water to avoid eye contact. "She's here because she doesn't have anywhere else to go for now, and Arthur asked me to take her in for a couple of weeks". She pauses, and Emily can feel the eyes on her, so she keeps drinking.
"This is Brandon, Mariana and Jesus" She points to each one in turn before turning towards Stef. "And this is my partner Stef" Emily puts her glass down and finally turns to look at her new foster mother. She practically spits out her water when she sees the police uniform.
"Is there a problem?" Stef asks, noticing the odd reaction.
"No ma'am." Emily answers automatically but she can't contain the smile on her face. After the day she had, this was just the icing on her fucked up life.
"Really? Does the fact that I'm a police officer bother you Emily?" Stef asks, eyes narrowed.
"It's just funny, Artie went all out with this one. No male authority, a police officer AND a vice-principal in the house so I really can't fuck up, not to mention actually adopted twins and what are you?" She turns to Brandon.
"He's my biological son from a previous marriage" Stef answers in a forceful voice.
Emily chuckles darkly but keeps her focus on Brandon: "So you're the real kid? How lucky…"
She regrets what she said immediately but she can't keep the anger at bay.
"That's enough Emily, the twins are as much our kids as Brandon is."
Emily looks at Lena, trying to find a trace of dishonesty, but couldn't find any. So she sighs and pushes the anger down. To hell with precautions, she felt guilty.
"Ok I'm sorry. I had a rough day, but I shouldn't have said that, clearly it's not true." She said the last bit directly to the twins. They soften a bit, Jesus even nods at her.
"So are we going to have a problem, Emily?" Stef clearly was a cop.
"I'm not a fan of your profession, but I won't cause any trouble." Emily said with a reassuring smile, but Stef kept staring at her.
"So how was the competition Brandon?" Lena said, finally touching her food.
And everyone started eating too. The conversation kept going about their respective days, Lena always asking questions to everyone except Emily. She was left in peace, gulping down her lasagna. When she finished, Lena kept serving her a new piece, and she smiled each time, as a thank you. When she reached the end of her third piece, she politely declined.
"Man you eat like, well… A man" Jesus said, smiling kindly. "And what happened to your face?"
"Jesus, seriously? I thought we raised you better!" Stef scowls him.
"No it's fine, he's right. I do eat a lot and fast, it's a habit." She says with a smile, but loses it quickly when she's about to talk about her face. "As for my face, well, hum… I got into a fight. A girl was mad at me and she decided to kick my ass with her friends. Let's say I got out of it pretty well."
"Ok let's go everyone it's nearly 8, and I want everyone's homework finished by 9:30. Bed is at 10." Stef cuts the discussion short.
They all put their plates, knives and forks in the dishwasher before going upstairs. Emily doesn't really know where to go but is called by Stef.
"Emily, can I talk to you for a minute?" Stef gesture for the stool across from her. Lena sits by her partner's side.
Emily crosses the room and sits on the stool. She knows what's next: the house rules. You can always tell by the rules if the guardians are insane or not.
"We have a few rules here." Stef starts. Emily nods, bracing herself for the answer she's been waiting for since 6 pm this evening: should she trust them?
"There's a curfew on week nights at 7 pm. 11 on weekends. Don't leave the house without asking us first, and no cutting classes. While you're here, you'll be attending Fillmore High."
"That's where I work" Lena provides with a smile.
"Any questions?". Stef asks, rather nicely.
"Hum, where will I be sleeping?". Emily tries to sound casual, but really that was on her mind the whole day.
"We don't have any spare beds so on the couch" Lena says apologetically.
"That's ok, a couch is fine". Emily replies with a genuine smile. A mattress is a mattress. "Hum, can I go to the couch?". She felt exhausted.
Stef smiles, amused, while Lena chuckles lightly before answering "Sure I'll bring you pillows and a sleeping bag in a few."
Emily smiles "Thanks".
Emily is asleep on the couch, when she feels something bringing her back to reality. She jolts right up, panting and looking for a threat. After a few seconds of blinking, she realizes it was Lena, tugging at her shoulder. The older woman looks scared so Emily apologizes.
"I'm sorry I was having a nightmare, did I hurt you?" Emily already feels guilty.
Lena manages a smile "No, no don't worry. I was just startled, that's all. Here's the pillow and sleeping bag". She puts them down on the edge of the couch. "But can I ask you a question?" She asks softly.
"Thanks and yeah sure." She answers with a smile, secretly loathing questions.
"You don't have to answer but who's Sara?" Emily's eyes widen in shock, where did she learn that name?
"It's just, you asked about her at the Facility and you were mumbling her name in your sleep. Maybe I can help" She adds gently.
Emily ponders telling her the truth. After all Lena was nice to her all evening, even though Emily acted like a bitch.
"I, hum…" Emily starts but is interrupted by Stef's appearance in the living room.
"Hey honey, it's getting late. We need to get to bed." She says, realizing she interrupted something. "Oh I'm sorry, I'll go back up. Goodnight Emily." She adds with a smile before turning back.
"Goodnight Stef. It's ok Lena, maybe some other time." Emily replied with a fake smile. She highly doubted that, but she said it anyway to please Lena.
Lena sighs. "Ok do you have a toothbrush?" Emily shakes her head. "Pajamas?". She adds. Emily shakes her head again. "All my stuff is at my last foster house. They didn't let me bring anything when they arrested me." She elaborates.
"Ok. We'll get you what you need tomorrow. There're spare toothbrushes in the basket on the right from the sink. Any preferences in sleepwear?". Lena asks with an amused smile.
"Well I'm not really picky, I'll take what I can. But if you have an old t-shirt and boxer shorts around, I wouldn't say no." Emily smiles back.
"Old t-shirt and boxers it is". Lena says triumphantly, happy to provide a bit of comfort to the teenager. "Bathroom is upstairs, second door on the right.' She adds before disappearing towards the kitchen, probably to the utility room.
Emily gets up and climbs the stairs. The upper floor has wooden floors and there are 5 doors in the landing. One of the doors on the left is open and she spots a cell phone on a night table. She approaches and sees Brandon playing piano with headphones on. Perfect. She looks one last time behind her before stepping in and snatching the phone. She hastily pockets it and walks towards the bathroom. She makes it just in time before Lena appears, smiling.
"You found the toothbrushes?" She asks kindly.
Emily feels a pang of guilt at stealing from her son, well barrowing would be more accurate but still. She looks back, takes one, before turning around again. "Yep!". She answers with a smile.
"Good. It's late so don't take too much time ok? Goodnight." She says kindly before leaving.
"Goodnight." She says sadly, to no one, locking the door. She feels like crap. First, she steps towards the toilet. She pees quickly before going back to the sink and washing her hands. As she brushes her teeth, she looks at her reflection. She's skinnier than before, but her arms are still strong. The bruise on her eye is yellowish. It looks gross. Her lip and eyebrow still sting but it should heal nicely. Her complexion is really pale though. She's always had light skin for the region, never really tanning. Just burning. Probably the Irish blood in her. But now she looked sickly, and the bags under her eyes didn't help. She feels the anger towards her last foster father building up again. She spent two weeks hating him and plotting a way to get Sara out of his house to run away from the system. She had enough.
She spits out the toothpaste angrily and cleans the toothbrush quickly before putting it in the trash. She doesn't plan on staying long.
She gets back down and smiles a little when she sees an old black Nirvana t-shirt and red tartan boxers, like the inside of her chucks, waiting on the couch for her. She sits down before getting the phone out of her pocket. Thank god Brandon didn't lock it with a code. She quickly dials one of the few numbers she knows by heart, dreading every unanswered second.
Finally a sleepy voice greets her: "Hello? Who's this?"
"Hi sweetie keep your voice down, it's Emily. How are you?" She answers, joyful tears blurring her vision.
"Em? It's really you? Why didn't you call before? I was so scared…"The trembling in her small voice breaks Emily's heart.
"I'm so sorry Sara, they wouldn't let me call. But they released me today. So I'm coming for you tomorrow night. Keep your phone near you, pack your things and keep a low profile ok?." She sniffs and shakes the tears away.
"Ok I will, I can't wait. I should go, William might wake up and take my phone away again. I love you Em!" Sara replies, excitedly.
"I love you too, Sis." Emily replies, smiling, before ending the call.
She feels a bit better than before, knowing her sister isn't badly hurt. But she knows the guy, and sooner or later he's going to hit her again. She feels determined to get to Mettler the next day, but right now she's barely keeping her eyes open. So she quickly changes into her pj's, wincing when she puts her arms up. She looks down and sees a big yellow and purple patch on her right ribs. She also notices that her breasts are even smaller than before, probably barely a B-cup now. She finishes pulling her shirt down with a last silent wince.
She opens the sleeping bag and slips into it, quickly falling into a restless slumber, filled with nightmares as usual.