A/N: So, that's it for today… thank you all for the feedback… I REALLY hope that I didn't disappoint anyone! And Starophie, your reviews are the treasure, not the other way around :)

Chapter 26: Promise Me

Lena was so engulfed in her wife's words, and so thrown by the bomb that had been indirectly detonated, that it was startling when Callie finally picked up the receiver and gave a meek hello. She compelled her heart to restart and warned her tongue to be patient.

"Hey, kid. You have no idea how great it is to hear your voice." Callie sought for the appropriate reply, but there was only a moment's delay before Lena proceeded in a tone that was both stern and tender, "Did Stef tell you how terrified we have been? How much we have missed you? How crazy we have all been going over here?"

Callie nodded and then felt a reddening embarrassment; Lena could not see the gesture, obviously. "Yes… I… thank you."

"How's the drive? Do you have enough to eat? Did you two get enough sleep?" Callie was not surprised by the barrage of questions. Lena was always more likely to let emotion dictate her rate of speech and range of behavior, whereas Stef was more akin to an island that remains steady while stormed by a sea of divergence. The combination of their polar tactics filled Callie with a sense of predictable consolation. At least she doesn't seem too angry… unless she's just waiting for us to get ho… back to San Diego. Regardless of the recent breakthroughs in communication, and the thousands of reassurances that Stef had uttered over the past 20 hours of her rescue, Callie was not very confident about their return. The closer their approach, the more her net seemed to disintegrate. What kind of help does Stef plan on "providing?" Will she have a choice in the matter? How is Lena going to react to her wounds… will she be repulsed and convince Stef that they made a mistake in offering to keep her and Jude? Would she regret bringing Callie home all together? And then there's the kiss… why hadn't Stef asked her about that yet? Was she just waiting until they could turn her over to Bill at Social Services? Would they turn over Jude as well? Yet again, the teen felt cursed. She had one last chance to save the guarantee she made her brother.

Ignoring the queries that Lena was continuing to pose, Callie mustered up the courage to speak, "Lena? Can you promise me something, please?" She could feel the weight of Stef's gaze now, boring into her with troubled curiosity, but Callie did not turn to face her. Instead, upon verification, she plunged determinedly ahead, "Promise me that, no matter what happens when we get back, you'll adopt Jude." She conjured the brunette's image outside of the Juvenile Detention Center, remembering how she had instinctively understood the poverty in Callie's eyes, and she willed the woman to intuit it once more.

Lena attempted to conciliate the adolescent by pledging to shelter both children, however, and Callie was unable to stop the anguish from rising up her throat and into her phrasing; her voice became progressively brassy and transparently frantic.

"You both keep telling me that! But all that I NEED to hear is that you will keep Jude, NO MATTER WHAT. WHY CAN'T ANYONE PROMISE ME THAT?" She appeared to be drawing near hysterics.

Stef put her hand on Callie's bouncing knee, wondering if she should pull over again.

The teen jerked away, too agitated by the mothers' joint refusal to acknowledge her necessity. The phone slid out of her fingers as Callie's blood began to twitch. She felt its track through her body grow increasingly erratic, racing up in some areas and down in others, leaving her with an intolerable sense of internal collision. It seemed to press against the under-layer of her skin and beg for dispatch. The proverbial hiss resurfaced: They can't promise you that they'll keep Jude because they WON'T now, and it's YOUR FAULT. They're LYING. They've been manipulating you all along, and now you're trapped…

Lena's voice was tiny in her lap, and Callie could no longer hear what she was saying; the entire world seemed to be suddenly stuck in slow motion, except for the liquid in her veins, which was moving so fast in comparison that the result was dizzying.

Before she had time to process the implications of her injudicious actions, Callie's fist smashed into the glass of the passenger window.

Stef swerved in shock, and a painful shriek pierced the air; grabbing the phone unceremoniously from its new location, Stef tried to maintain the balance of her vocal cords. "We are going to have to call you back, love."

Insistence spilled out of the impotent listener, "Is everything OK? Tell me, Stef. Tell me the truth. How big of a problem are we dealing with, on a scale of one to ten?"

"At this point? Eleven."