Disclaimer I do Not own the Fosters.
"So after all this, after all the therapy sessions it means nothing now!" huffed Sharon.
"That poor girl, how on earth did he even escape?" asked Dana sadness in her voice.
"It's being looked into but no one knows anything," said Stef ready to scream.
"Yes but how is this possible, he used a recording to lure Callie away from her friends knowing Callie would try to help, she was at work and that takes serious planing" said Stewart.
"I don't know how this could have happened" mumbled Stef.
It had been a couple weeks since Callie's attack and they were no closer to learning the truth. No one had found Liam yet and it was driving a wedge between the family. Jesus was out half the night, Marianna hid in her room, Brandon and Lou were in the garage all day, and Jude was angry, constantly reading Callie's journals which Lena thought should be burned because of how negative they were. Stef and Lena tried to talk to each other but with Stef being so angry and self judgemental and Lena being scared and worried they never got far. Stef heard a knock so she went to check the front door finding Robert and Donald.
"Robert I thought you were away on business?" said Stef surprised.
"It was more personal then work related, I brought Donald because the four of us have thing to discuss" said Robert clearly hurt.
"Sure come in," said Stef confused.
Stef and the guys walked into the kitchen. Stef took a seat between her mother and Lena. No one was surprised to see Robert but they were to see Donald. Donald had no idea what to do but Dana patted the chair next to her so he sat.
"So what do we need to discuss?" asked Stef watching Robert pace the room.
"Two things, how Liam escaped and when to pull the plug," said Robert.
"We were just talking about how Liam escaped but no one knows anything," said Sharon.
"That's not true," said Robert sadly.
Everyone looked at him to stunned to ask what he meant. Stef though was more focused on the second thing he said. She knew what it was that he was going to say and she didn't want to hear it.
"How...what do you know?" asked Lena.
"I had one of my guys investigate it," said Robert.
"Is it the same guy you hired to investigate Callie?" asked Stef trying to prolong the inevitable.
"It is actually," said Robert cracking a smile.
Lena gave a sad chuckle at the thought. Stef was smiling but it wasn't a full or happy one.
"What do you know about Liam's escape?" asked Stef taking Lena's hand.
"He was having sex with 2 female guards, consensual from what I understand, he stole a key set and escaped later that day, The warden who is his uncle on his mother's side covered it up since Liam was considered low risk and the warden payed off and fired the 2 women" said Robert.
"His uncle!" gasped Dana in surprise.
"Low risk?, how is that possible he was convicted of Identity theft and sexual assault!" said Stef remembering the report she made.
"Somehow that part was dropped and no one had been informed," said Robert.
"That's not right! Callie had to go into a room by herself with and pretend to be confident on one of her bad days just so he could brag how he beat her again" said Lena disgusted.
"Ok but how did he get to Callie's place of work to do what he did? asked Stewart.
"Because this all happened...a month ago," said Robert.
No one knew what to say as they could not process that. Lena hugged Stef seeking comfort while Stef stared at Robert like he was something stupid. Robert pulled out a flash drive and passed it towards her. Stef stared at it then put it in her pocket. She knew what was on it without asking and she would make sure Captain Roberts got it.
"Now the four of us need to discuss our plan for Callie," said Robert.
"No we will not!, Callie will recover and she will wake up!" hissed Stef.
"Um, why am I here then? I'm not apart of this" said Donald. nervously.
"Donald you raised Calle for 10 years, the best you could even knowing she wasn't your daughter so I do think you should have a say and Stef...what makes you think Callie wants to wake?" asked Robert.
"So you'll just pull the plug on her is that it!" yelled Stef.
"No that's why we need to discuss this Stef, we need a plan for how long we can take care of our daughter," said Robert.
Lena put her hand on Stef's shoulder but she was to angry to be calmed right now.
"How dare you!, Callie isn't your daughter, she mine and Lena's, you don't love her!" screamed Stef.
Robert stood his ground not even flinching as Stef yelled at him. He knew one of them had to be the calm and while he wanted to scream as well he knew nothing would be solved if he did. He had to be the voice of reason against the chaos. Sharon, Stewart and Dana all remained silent knowing both Stef and Robert were titans in their own right and that Callie actually looked up to both of them. Stef for being strong, honest and caring and Robert for his ability control a situation and because he had a way with people.
"Stef I do love her, I chose to sign away my rights because I knew if I fought and won I would lose her and if I fought and lost she would never trust me, So I gave her the one thing she truly wanted and made that contract so that I could know her" said Robert looking her right in the eye.
"Then trust me when I say don't pull the plug on her!" begged Stef.
"I do trust you, I trusted you when I saw how well you handled Callie, I trusted you when you took her word that she would go to therapy and start playing a sport instead of the meds I wanted her to take, I trusted you when you helped walk me through one of her panic attacks, now I need you to trust me , trust that I have her best interest at heart as well as yours, so please listen and trust me" said Robert.
Stef wanted to curse and scream but Lena held her back. Lena kissed her then turned to Robert.
"What do you have in mind Robert?" asked Lena.
"In a couple months Callie turns 17 so five years from then on her 22nd birthday if she hasn't waken up we pull the plug and let her go, we wait for her and keep hope but this will give us a chance to say our goodbys and prepare for when it's time to let her go but I won't lie no matter how prepared we are it will still hurt when we do it, we need to let her go eventually because after a point we are just being selfish, would you wait so long that when...if she wakes it's in a body she doesn't recognize , surrounded by people she doesn't recognize in a world that moved on without her, what if she wakes and all of us are gone, what would she do, how would she cope" said Robert.
"You've done this before?" asked Sharon.
"My sister had been in a coma for 2 years when my father decided to let her go," said Robert sadly.
"I don't like this but...your right," said Stef mad at herself for admitting it.
"You have no idea how much I wish I wasn't," said Robert sadly.
"Did your sister look like Sophia and Callie?" asked Dana trying to ease the tension.
Robert put his face in his hand shaking as he was trying not to laugh. Dana chuckled knowing the answer and eve though Stef was angry she could not help but smile as the answer was yes.
Flashback.
Stef was in the kitchen with Lena and Mike when she heard the door slam. She found it odd as Jesus was outside, Marianna and Brandon were both in their rooms. Jude always closed the door light and Callie you would never hear. Stef walked into the living room to find Callie on the ground crying in front of the door, her hair down indicating her mood but it wasn't just crying it was a panic attack.
"Callie!" yelled Stef as she ran over.
Callie was crying and breathing hard, face full of fear. Lena and Mike come out the kitchen to check on them. As soon as Stef reached Callie she was surprised by Callie grabbing on to her as if holding on for dear life.
"Callie what's wrong baby!" questioned Stef.
"Someones...following...me!" cried Callie between breathing.
As Stef rubbed Callie's back trying to calm her down Mike peeked out the window.
"Red Honda, white male, bald?" asked Mike still looking.
"All week," said Callie calmer now.
"All week? are you sure?" asked Lena concerned.
"He has a camera!" said Callie scared.
"Callie why didn't you tell us sooner?" asked Lena sitting down.
"I thought I was being paranoid and so did Daphne," said Callie.
Lena ignored that as She trusted Callie but not her judgment as Callie being paranoid was either horribly right or horribly wrong.
"Ok here's what we are going to do, Callie you know I don't like this but I need you to pretend to be confident, Mike get in your car and hide in the alley near the ice cream parlor, Lena I want you and the kids to walk there, I'll catch up" said Stef tying Callie's hair into a ponytail.
"Kids please come down here!" called Lena.
Mike grabbed a sandwich from the kitchen then walked out the front door like he always did when he came over. Marianna and Jude came from upstairs while Jesus came from out back. Jude went back upstairs and got Brandon.
"Hey Cal what's wrong?" asked Marianna concerned.
"Someones following her so what I need for you guys to do is walk her to the ice cream parlor, one scoop each" said Stef knowing Callie probably wouldn't eat it.
"Jesus I want you next to Callie, don't let her look around keep her occupied," said Lena.
"Ok sure," said Jesus giving Callie a smile.
"Stef I don't want to do this!" begged Callie.
"I know love but I need you to trust me on this," said Stef holding Callie's face.
Jesus held out his hand and Callie took it as he pulled her up. Lena and Jude were the first out the door followed by Callie and Jesus with Marianna and Brandon in the rear. Stef went out the back and slipped into her car. She watched as the red Honda turned on and slowly followed them.
"Today in science class we dissected owl pellets," said Jude looking at Callie.
"What did you find?" asked Callie cringing when a car horn honked.
"Rat remains, it was pretty boring actually," said Jude thinking about it.
"So Cal you watch the game last night?" asked Jesus knowing he and Callie shared some interests.
Marianna rolled her eyes then jumped forward.
"Oh move it!, Callie what we need is blah blah blah blah blah" is all Callie heard when Marianna started talking.
Lena smiled as no matter Callie's mood when Marianna started talking Callie would zone out to everything as she couldn't keep up with her. Soon they were at the ice cream parlor.
Mike had moved his car farther back into the alley and waited. The red Honda pulled up and once he got the go-ahead from Stef he hit the gas and smacked into the stalkers car. Stef ran up and pulled the guy out by his collar. Mike slid into the passenger seat.
"Who the fuck do you think you are!" screamed Stef.
"Look lady just calm down," said the guy.
MIke was going through the man's stuff when 2 uniformed police officers walked up to them.
"Officers help these people are assaulting me!" screamed the man.
One of the officers an older African American man took a good look at the party before responding.
"Hey, Stef," said the officer.
"Hey Berry," said Stef smashing the guy against the car.
"What cha doing?" asked Berry.
"Just asking this nice man why he's stalking my daughter," said Stef with a smile.
"You still want hotdogs?" asked Berry looking at his partner.
"Yup best hotdog stand right over there," said the younger man pointing in a different direction.
Stef, Mike and the guy watched as the officers walked off.
"He's been doing this for a while, he's got pictures of Callie when she was younger," said Mike holding some out to Stef.
"Hey um not all of those are Callie some are of her sister," said the man.
"You expect me to believe that!" snarled Stef.
"Her sister's name is Sophia Quinn, she's 14 years old and for some bizarre reason, all Quinn girls look the same," said the guy.
Stef and Mike shared a look.
"Sophia Quinn being the daughter of Robert Quinn?" asked Stef still holding the man.
"Yes he's my employer, he heard someone was looking for him and that it was about his ex-wife Colleen so I was hired to look into it," said the man.
"You're a private investigator?" asked Stef letting go.
"Yes ma'am, 3rd best, second is on vacation and 1st is on another job," said the man.
"Why are you investigating my daughter then?" demanded Stef angry.
"To verify if she is a Quinn appearance wise, yes but still DNA test, second to make sure she's safe, clearly, are all her needs being met also yes which means he'll most likely sign over his rights," said the man.
"That's...great but why haven't we heard from him?" asked Stef.
"Mostly her credit which is horrid, I've seen every place she goes but none have received any packages," said the man.
"What kind of packages?" asked Stef already guessing the answer.
"Purses," he said.