It was shortly before 2am in the morning that the silence in the dark, sleeping Adams-Foster home was broken by the shrill ringing of the telephone.

Stef awoke almost instantly, her well honed police instincts taking her from dream land to real world in seconds. Beside her, Lena stirred, rising from sleep. She reached for the extension on her night stand hoping the sound had not woken her sleeping babies.

"Hello?" she spoke into the receiver, "Adams-Foster res..."

"Stef? It's Mike." He said cutting her off mid-sentence.

Instantly alert, she asked directly, "Mike, what's wrong?"

"You and Lena need to get to SD General right away. Jude has been shot."

Stef froze, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Honey..." Lena asked, putting a hand on her wife's back, "Who is it? What's wrong?"

"What?" Stef questioned, "Mike, that's... Jude is asleep. I closed his bedroom door myself."

At the mention of Jude, Lena pulled back the covers and stepped out of bed immediately heading out the door and across the landing to Jude's room.

"I'm sorry Stef, he snuck out," Mike went on, "with Connor and two girls. He is here at the hospital too. Father's on the way."

Lena came back into the bedroom. When Stef looked into her eyes she saw fear. Jude was not there.

"We will be right there, Mike." She said, intending to hang up.

"Stef..." he said quietly, his voice breaking slightly, "bring the kids, just in case. It um... it doesn't look good."

Putting down the receiver, Stef let out a shaky breath, bracing herself for what had to be done in the hours that lay ahead. Lena sat beside her on the bed.

"Honey? What did Mike say?" she asked softly, "Is Jude alright?"

Closing her eyes and keeping a steady voice she gripped Lena's hand. "Jude snuck out, love. He was with Connor and two girls. And umm..."

Covering her mouth with her free hand, Lena asked, "Are they in trouble?"

"Jude has been shot." Her wife replied, tears welling up behind her eyes.

Lena gasped, "Oh my god! We...we have to go right now."

Stef tightened her grip slightly, holding Lena there. "Mike said to bring the kids too. It's looks pretty bad."

Steeling her nerves, Lena moved into action. "I'll wake the kids, you start the car."

Stef nodded. "Oh and... love, tell them the truth. We need to be prepared."


"Jesus?" his mother had said, lightly shaking his shoulder. "Wake up!"

He groaned and tried to roll over, "Mama! It's the middle of the night."

Again his shoulder was nudged, "I need you to get up and dressed, Jesus. It's Jude."

Something in her voice made him pay attention, this wasn't a joke. He sat up in bed, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Looking at Lena he could see the worry etched into her face. "What did he do? Is everything okay?"

Putting a hand on his knee, she spoke calmly, "Mike just called. Jude snuck out with Connor and some girls. He's been shot. It doesn't look good. We need to get to the hospital."

"Oh my god..." he stammered, "Mama is he going to..."

Lena hugged him. "Don't even think like that, bud."

He nodded, hugging her back.

"Hurry now, Mom is getting the car started."

That was just a little more than half an hour ago.

Now, Jesus sat beside Brandon at SD General Hospital. He hated hospitals. He hated hospital waiting rooms even more - the warmly painted walls, neatly arranged chairs. They all provided a sense of comfort and security that to him seemed utterly false.

None of those things had offered him any comfort as he had sat with his siblings and Lena almost 2 years ago when he had been the cause of Stef being shot.

How did I not hear him getting out of bed? He wondered to himself. I didn't even wake up when he snuck out the window!

Jesus would never admit it, but he felt protective of Jude. Before he and Callie had come to stay with them, he had been the little brother. Always being bossed around and babied by Brandon. Now, he was also the big brother. And sure, they fought like cat and dog – but that's how brothers bonded.

Sitting there, in his pyjamas and a hoodie, he felt just as helpless as he had the last time he had been in this same room.


Callie didn't know where to begin. How was she meant to react? What was she supposed to feel first? He and Jude had been through a lot in many bad foster homes, but this was a whole new level of bad.

"Callie! Mariana!" Lena had called, shaking them awake in turn.

"What is it, Mama?" Mariana had asked, being the first to get her bearings. Neither girl was what you would call a 'morning person.'

Coming over to Callie's bed, Lena went straight to the point. "We need to get to the hospital real quick. Jude snuck out and he has been hurt."

"What? When?" Callie asked, anxiety building, "Is he alright?"

Lena hesitated for a second.

"Mama?"

"He has been shot." She said as both girls covered their mouths and scrambled out of their beds, questions flying from their mouths.

Putting a hand on both their cheeks, Lena said in a tone both firm and loving, "He was with Connor and two friends. Mike is with him now. It doesn't look good. Get dressed in hurry so we can go and be with him. Mom is already in the car."

She hugged each of them in turn. Callie a little longer.


They had all dressed hurriedly, most still in some form or other of their pyjamas, and rushed out to the car. Piling into the back seat, Mariana took Callie's hand for comfort.

She fought back tears as she thought about how Jude, or Judicorn as she affectionately called him, had become such an important part of their family.

He is too kind and sweet for this world. She thought. He needs to be protected.

Mariana knew that Brandon and Jesus each had bonded with Jude in their own way. She could see the worry written across their faces.

"Buckle up, babies." Stef had cautioned before using her portable siren all the way ICU entrance where Mike was waiting.

Callie had stayed beside her mothers' as they went in and were hastily lead to the ICU ward.

"What happened, Mike?" Lena asked as they walked down the brightly lite corridors.

"It seems Jude snuck out with Connor and his other friends to TP some girls house as a birthday prank. They landed up going to one of the kid's houses to sneak some booze..."

Mariana didn't believe it, "Wait a second. Jude? Drinking?" she asked Mike.

"Yea, so it would seem." He replied before carrying on. "The girl's father, I didn't get his name, mistook them for intruders and fired a shot. It hit Jude in the shoulder."


When they arrived there, Callie listened numbly to the conversations that continued taking place at the nurses' station. Her siblings were clamouring for information all at the same time.

"Guys!" Lena said, raising her voice, "HEY! Guys!"

Brandon, Mariana and Jesus ceased mid-sentence. "Can we please calm down. This is difficult on all of us. We do not need a riot."

"Please, just tell us," Brandon asked, turning to the nurse, "is our brother going to be okay?"

"The doctor's have him in surgery right now." She replied.

"Ma'am, what are his injuries?" Stef asked quietly.

"I'm terribly sorry but there is nothing more I can tell you." the woman spoke kindly, "Please, if you will take a seat in the waiting room, we will have an update soon."

Resigned and weary, they made their way down a short corridor and filed into the waiting room, which was all too familiar to them, where they sat together in silence.


A few feet away from where the Adams-Foster family sat, the boys stepped out of the bathroom where, for almost an hour he had tried in vain to scrub his best friend's blood from his hands and jacket.

Lost in the scenes that had burned into his mind, playing on repeat over and over again, he didn't see the figure coming – too fast - around the corner adjacent to the waiting room until it was too late.

The two collided and Connor, being the smaller one, stumbled backward, tripping over his own feet and landing on the floor.

"I...I'm sorry, Sir," he said, getting up, "I wasn't look..."

"You better be sorry." The loud voice chilled Connor to the bone.

"And you better have a damn good explanation!"

His body trembling all over, Connor looked up into familiar, frightening eyes.

Adam Stevens was furious.