Warning: This chapter contains some violence.

Stef POV

When Mike and I arrived at The Burger Stand, we began searching for Callie and her brother. There was no sign of either of the two being there, so the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach grew. What if one of them was too hurt to be able to come here? I turned to Mike.

"They're not here. We should go to the house."

"Why don't we ask someone who works here first? Callie might not work on Fridays." Oh, right. I didn't even think of that.

I made my way over to the counter and saw a familiar young man. I looked at his name tag to see 'Ryan' printed in bold, black letters. I think he's the one that said Callie could leave early last week.

"Hello officers. What I can I get you today?"

"Actually we're looking for someone who works here. Is Callie Jacob working today?"

"Callie's not working until later. She usually gets here around 4:00 because she walks here from school." I can't believe I didn't think of school. I was so worried about the well-being of these kids that my common sense went right out the window. The man seemed worried when I didn't respond. "Is she in some kind of trouble? She seems like a really good kid."

"No, no. She's not in any trouble. My partner and I are here as friends, not officers." The man seemed relieved.

"Okay. I can have her call you when she gets here if you want."

"That's alright. We'll just swing by later." The man nodded, so Mike and I made our way out. I realized how bad of an idea this was. It was only 12:00 in the afternoon. Of course she was in school, she's sixteen. Mike suddenly spoke up, tearing me out of my thoughts.

"Wanna just head back to the station?" All I could do was nod. I wouldn't have been able to hide my disappointment if I spoke.

By 3:45, I couldn't sit still. I wanted to drive right over to The Burger Stand immediately, but I knew Callie and Jude still might not be there. These next fifteen minutes would be hell.

As soon as the clock read 4:00, I jumped up, ready to go. I told Mike to get ready so we could leave quickly. I was pretty anxious to get there, but my mood instantly worsened when I heard my captain call my name.

"Stef, Mike, you've been at your desks all day. A call just came in about a robbery. How about you two head over there and check it out?" I had to keep myself from sighing. It was finally time to go see Callie and Jude, and now we got a call.

"Stef and I would be happy to, Captain. Where are we heading?"

"Have you heard of The Burger Stand? It's downtown. They said the guy already fled the scene with some cash." I was pretty sure my heart dropped into my stomach. I hoped that Callie and Jude weren't there yet.

"Yeah I know it. We'll go right now. Come on Mike!" The desperation in my voice was clear, so he hurried out after me.

We made it there fairly quickly, but it still felt like it took too long. When I walked inside, I scanned the scene for either of the Jacob siblings. The only familiar face I saw was Ryan, who was talking to another officer. Mike and I headed over to find out what had happened.

"…but you're gonna have to ask my employees more about it. I didn't really see the guy until he was leaving." I jumped into the conversation after that.

"I don't see any one else working here accept you." Hernandez answered me.

"Yeah. She's getting checked out by the paramedic outside. I'm not really sure why though, I haven't spoken to her. I think Gomez is talking to her right now." My heart started to beat faster. It was a she. I really hoped it wasn't Callie. I realized I wouldn't find out from here, so I made my way outside. The ambulance's lights were still flashing, so it was easy to find. I spotted Gomez standing off to the side, talking to one of the paramedics.

"Stef! Hey get over here. Maybe this girl will talk to you, she isn't being very helpful with me." I could tell from his voice that he was slightly frustrated. As I got closer I heard another voice.

"Look, I already told you. I didn't get a great look at the guy. I don't know what else you want to know." I knew that voice, and when I looked to its source, I realized I knew the person it belonged to. From the look on her face, she recognized me too, as did the little boy sitting next to her. Jude looked happier to see me than Callie did.

"Stef!"

"Hey Bud." I gave him a smile. Before I could say anything else, Callie spoke up.

"You're a cop?" She spit out the question with a venomous tone. She looked like she was going to continue, but she stopped with a wince. That was when I realized the paramedic that was working on her. The woman that was cleaning her head wound gave her apology.

"What happened to your head?"

"I don't know. Isn't it your job to figure that out?" Callie was never warm towards Lena or myself, but she never acted like this. Then I remembered what her friend told me, she didn't like cops.

"Look Callie, I'm just trying to help you out."

"What, by stalking me?" Is that why you keep talking to Jude and I? Because you're a cop? Are you trying to find some dirt on us or something?"

"Callie! You promised." I didn't understand what Jude meant, but from the look on Callie's face, I knew she did. She sighed and shook her head. Then, she immediately squeezed her eyes shut and held her head.

"You should really go to the hospital." Callie looked up at the woman who was trying to stitch her head.

"I already said I wasn't going to any hospitals. I'm fine." I decided to step in.

"Sweets, you could have a concussion with a nasty gash like that." She glared at me.

"Don't call me that. You—" Jude cut her off.

"Callie! You even promised to Isaac."

"Jude, he left out a very important detail."

"Callie it can only help us even more." I sensed this conversation wasn't just about today. When the girl still hesitated, I had to add some incentive.

"Well, Callie, if you don't want to give a statement, I can just take Jude's. Then, I'll be out of your hair." Using Jude was a low blow, but I had to get her to talk.

"No. I'll answer your stupid questions." She sounded defeated.

"Okay, let's start with what happened to your head."

"I was working the counter, and the guy hit me when I wouldn't hand him the money."

"You got that cut from a punch?" That definitely didn't make sense.

"No the guy hit me with his gun."

"He had a gun?" Now this was an armed robbery.

"Yeah. But I don't even know if it was real."

"Okay. How much money did he take?"

"I don't know. Probably around 150 I think."

"Great. Uh, I think that's everything. Thanks for your help." I was about to walk away when Jude called out.

"Wait! Stef, we have to talk to you." I turned to look at the two. Callie was glaring at him, but he wouldn't look at her. When he did, he seemed to lose his confidence. I noticed the change in mood, so I decided to ask a question to get the conversation started.

"It's okay. What did you want to talk to me about?" I was trying to give Jude his confidence back. Callie didn't seem like the type to open up, so Jude was my only hope.

"Do you remember Isaac? I think he's friends with uh, Brandon." I looked at Jude with a warm smile.

"Yes, I remember him. He's a great kid."

"Was his foster home really bad before you got him removed?" I was surprised when the words came out of Callie's mouth. I didn't think she was going to speak to me anymore today.

"The foster parents were definitely not fit to care for him." Callie snapped at my answer.

"Hardly any of them are." That didn't seem like a very fair generalization.

"I know plenty of good foster parents. A few of my friends try to help out as many kids as they can." She seemed angered by my statement.

"Yeah, they're all just great until you actually have to live with them."

"Callie, if your foster home isn't a good one, I can help you and Jude."

"The last time someone tried to 'help' us, we were put in an even worse home. Thanks, but you should just stay out of it." She paused to get out of the ambulance. "Do I need to give any more statements, or am I done?" I didn't want to let her leave, her answers were almost starting to give me insight about her home life.

"I believe that was all. Do you have a number I can reach you at? In case we have any more questions?"

"All I have is a house phone. Does that work?" I nodded in response, so she wrote the number on a piece of paper. When I reached in my pocket to put it away, I felt the corner of a business card, my card. I immediately took it out and stretched my arm towards them.

"Here, I have your number, you should have mine." Callie looked at it as if it might explode right in her face, but she grabbed it anyway before walking away. The two having my number made me feel so much better. They probably wouldn't use it, but I hoped that if they really needed help, they would call.

Callie POV

My head was killing me. As Jude and I approached our foster home, I realized I wouldn't even be able to rest. The reality hit me like a slap to the face. With no job, Marc would be home all of the time. He didn't have anywhere to be, so he could drink whenever he wanted to. I looked at Jude, and it seemed like he was realizing the same thing.

"We'll just go right upstairs and lock our door. Okay?"

"We could just call Stef. She wants to help us. Why aren't you letting her?"

"Look, she doesn't really care. No one ever does. And I only gave you her card to use in a real emergency. Just in case. This is not an emergency, so don't use it." With that, I opened the door and headed inside.

"Why the hell are you home? You that eager to give me your check?" My face blanched at his words. With everything that was going on at work, I totally forgot to grab my check. I was screwed, I couldn't fake a pay check to give him. "Well? Where is it?"

"I don't have it."

"You don't have it? Your job is the only reason you two are still even here!" He was already making his way towards me, so I grabbed Jude and put him behind me. I had to get him upstairs to safety.

"There was a robbery and they didn't have any money to give me. I'm so—" He grabbed my shirt with his left hand to pull me closer to him.

"Yeah you're sorry. You know, you've been apologizing a lot lately. I've been very generous to you, Sweetheart. What did I tell you before? No second chances around here." Before he was even done with his sentence, his fist came flying towards my face. It wouldn't have taken much to bring me down, so with one punch to the jaw, I crumpled to the ground. I brought my hands up to cover my face from any further attacks. My head was singing, but I had to find Jude. I looked up slowly, and the room span. I saw what looked to be Jude, so I said as loud as I could manage to go upstairs. Instead, he headed to the kitchen first. I was so confused that I didn't even see Marc lift his foot up. His action didn't register until I felt him kick my left shoulder over. I laid on my back, completely exposed to him.

Before I could roll away, he brought his boot down onto my chest, holding me down. As he applied more pressure, breathing became a challenge. I tried to squirm and push his foot off of me, but he was too heavy and I was too weak. When my vision started to blur, he lifted his foot for a moment, and I took the chance to gasp for air.

The relief was short lived, and he brought his foot down again. This time it was more like a stomp, as if he was trying to squish a bug. I cried out in pain, ignoring my own rule of showing no weakness. I could see that Marc was saying something, but all I could hear was the blood pounding in my ears.

He removed his foot again. I was expecting to be able to take a nice deep breath again, but even without his weight, breathing was difficult. I was gasping over and over again watching as Marc laughed at me, the sick bastard. The last thing I saw was his fist flying towards my face, and then everything went black.

Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think! If you have any suggestions about what you would like to see happen, I would love to hear about it so I can try to incorporate it into the story.