Chapter 9.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Fosters. I do own the character of Daniel Evans.
AN: Picks up from where Chapter 8 left off. Deals with the immediate aftermath.
Jude's POV.
I sat in the back of the police car with Danny and Connor, I stared out the window into the distance, reminiscing about what had just happened.
I had got jumped.
I had been held at knife point.
Danny had been forced to kill somebody in self defense.
I shivered heavily.
"Are you boys okay to tell us what happened?" Stef asked.
"I was going to the bathroom. Was making my way back to the food court, when they grabbed me." I tell her.
"I noticed he was gone for too long," Danny said slowly, "Went looking for him. Found them beating the crap out of him, and stepped in. Saw somebody we knew from school, screamed for her to go find Connor."
"She found me, told me and I took off running to get to them," Connor continued, "Held them off while Jude called you for help. Took down most of them, and then Jason grabbed Jude. The rest of them ran and ten seconds later you showed up. You all saw what happened next."
We rode the rest of the way in silence. We pulled into the driveway of the Fosters household. As soon as the car is in park, we all exit. Connor and I settle in on either side of Danny, and he flings an arm around each of our shoulders. We get about halfway to the front door when the door opens and Callie, Brandon, Mariana, and Lena sprint toward us. I step forward and allow my siblings to embrace me.
All three were frantic, and crying hard. Lena turned and embraced Connor and Danny.
"Thank you." She whispered to them.
Meanwhile, my siblings pulled out of our embrace. Brandon reached and grabbed me in another hug.
"You scared the fuck out of us, Jude." He muttered shakily into my hair, "Momma and Dad tore out of here like hell was on their heels, then ten minutes later dad calls telling us it was you three."
"We thought it was you that was killed." Mariana cried, "Until mom sat us down and told us it wasn't."
"We were so scared, kiddo." Callie said, squeezing my shoulder before turning to Danny and Connor, "Thank you for protecting our brother."
Danny nodded. Callie turned back to me, and I could tell the questions were about to start.
"What happened?"
"I was going to the bathroom. I was making my way back to the food court to meet up with the other two, when they grabbed me and dragged me outside. Danny came looking for me. Found me with my back against the wall, and jumped in. I went for my knife. We saw somebody we knew passing us, and I screamed for her to go find Connor. We held them off till he got there, then they held them off while I called Stef."
"How many times have I told you not to run off on your own?" Callie shouted.
Here she goes. I know I shouldn't be irritable with her, but all the stress of the day starts to set in and I couldn't stop myself from snapping at her.
"Do NOT START WITH ME!" I scream back, "Back off! I'm barely keeping it together right now as it is!"
She recoils like I slapped her.
"Sorry," She said, tears welling in her eyes, "I was just worried, I couldn't handle it if I lost you. I barely got through what happened to Jesus. If it was you..."
"I know," I say shakily, "I'm sorry."
Danny and Connor walked up to stand by my side.
"Let's go in the house." Lena said, "We can talk more inside."
I look to Connor and Danny, and take a good look at them.
Neither of them look like they are in very good shape. Danny was shaking almost uncontrollably, and he had a cut on his left eyebrow and right cheek, as well as a split lip and a bruise forming under his right eye. Connor was shaking equally as bad as Danny, and he looked like he was moments away from a complete breakdown, but he was relatively unscathed. His hair was messy. His flannel shirt was ripped on the side.
"Can, uh. Can somebody call my dad?" Connor muttered, "He's in L.A visiting my grandparents, so he won't be here till tomorrow."
"Call me ma and dad too," Danny said, "Tell 'em I'm fine. Tell them I'm not leaving Jude and Connor. Tell them I'll be home tomorrow and to be ready."
Lena nodded and pulled out her phone before going back in the house.
We all go in the house, and head into the living room. Danny plops down in a chair, and Connor and I sit down on the couch. Connor curls up into my side and wraps both arms around me. I start playing with his hair.
Lena reenters the room, followed by the rest of the family.
"Your dad is on his way, Connor." She said, "He was already in the car by the time I hung up the phone. He'll be here in about three hours. Danny, your parents told me they wanted you home before noon tomorrow, and be ready for a lot of questions."
Connor nods.
"Alright guys," Stef interjects, "Let's give these three some alone time. They need it."
Everybody leaves the room, leaving just us three.
We sat there for a couple of hours, just trying not to panic about the events of the day. Then Connor's shaking gets worse.
"You alright?" I ask him gently.
He shakes his head.
"It's starting to hit me," He started saying, "That I almost lost you."
"But you didn't." I try
"He had you around the neck with a knife to your throat, Jude." Danny interjected, "He was going to kill you."
I flinched.
"I know that, alright?" I say to him, "I am well aware of what just happened. When I felt that knife at my neck, I was more scared than I've ever been in my life. Right now, though, I'm just more happy to be alive, and that all of us are alright. I'm trying to keep it together. He didn't kill me. YOU saved me. You both did! It'll probably hit me later today, and you two can help me when I break down."
"Of course we will." Connor said.
He reaches up and strokes my cheek. I look down at him and look him in his eyes. He leans up and kisses me, hard.
In that kiss I could feel every emotion he was feeling.
Anger.
Fear.
Worry.
Relief.
He pulled back and stared into my eyes again. A single tear fell from his eyes.
"I was so scared, Jude." He said shakily, "I saw him head for you, but I didn't react quickly enough. If I'd only been a little faster..."
"DON'T!" Danny shouted, making us jump, "Do NOT, blame yourself for this. It was NOT your fault. It all happened in a split second. The only way you could have got to him in time, is if you had the ability to Apparate like they do in Harry Potter. Do you have that ability."
"No." Connor answered flatly.
"Then it was not physically possible for you to react fast enough. Don't beat yourself up. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty."
"Where did you learn to shoot like that?" I asked him.
Danny's eyes became unfocused, and he did not answer. He stared off into space. A tear fell from his eyes, and he exhaled a shuddering breath. He quirked his lip into a small smile.
"Giddy's dad."
My eyes widened. Even though he had revealed to us what had happened with Gideon, other details about his life in Scotland were few and far between. It was still too painful for him to talk about in any form of detail. When he did talk about it he almost always ended us crying a little bit, even if it was about a happy memory.
"He was a professional competition shooter." He continued, wiping the tear away, "He taught both of us. I was always best at it. I can use anything from a muzzle loader up to a belt fed machine gun, even if I am a bit rusty."
Danny stood from the chair and sat down next to me.
"I probably could have handled that better." He said quietly, "I didn't meant to kill him."
"We know you didn't Danny." Connor said, sitting up and looking at him.
"I just reacted to what he said to me."
I furrowed my eyebrows.
"What do you mean? He didn't say much to you." Connor asked him.
"He said it when he knocked me down." Danny continued, "He said when he was done with me he was going for you two. I reacted. I grabbed the gun and fired a blind shot at him. I didn't think it would hit him in the eye. All I knew was that I had to protect you two."
"I'm wondering. What do you think is going to happen to the rest of the team?" I asked.
"Not all of them wanted to be there." Danny said simply, "Jason's little brother Nathan and his two buddies were some of them. I could tell from the look in their eyes that they were horrified and didn't want to be there. When they scattered, they were the ones who ran the fastest. They'll probably get off lightly. The others? They'll be in a heap of trouble."
"You're damned right they will be." A deep voice says from the doorway.
Our gazes whip towards the voice, to meet the furious face of Adam Stevens.
Connor flew at him at a speed fast enough to break a land speed record. Connor collapsed into his arms and started sobbing. Adam clung to his son so hard, I was surprised Connor could breath.
"I came as quickly as I could." He whispered to him, "I'm so glad you're alright."
He turned his head to look at Danny.
"Thank you for protecting them."
I couldn't help the spike of happiness I felt, when I heard him say 'them'. It made me feel good to know that Connor's dad actually cared about my wellbeing, as well as Connor's. He turned to me.
"You okay Jude?"
"Yeah." I answer, "It hasn't really hit me yet."
Mr. Stevens stayed for an hour and a half, barely leaving Connor's side the whole time. He talked with Stef and Lena about starting a lawsuit against the ones who attacked us. The three of us gladly gave him the names of those involved. He gave Connor a tight hug before he left, telling him to be home by three the next afternoon.
After he left I looked at the clock. It said it was 9:00 pm. I looked over at the other two.
"Is anybody else exhausted?" I asked. They nodded.
Connor, Danny and I all headed up to my room. We took turns using the bathroom to change into our pajamas.
I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
The dream started out normal enough. I was late for school and I couldn't find my socks. I stumbled down the stairs, and walked into the living room.
Blood was everywhere. Connor and Danny were laying against the wall, surrounded by a pool of blood. I blinked. Stef and Lena's bodies appear. I blink again. Mariana's body appears. I start to scream, and I blink again. Brandon and Callie appear. I blink again, sobbing as Jesus's bloody body appears. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I whip around. Jason is standing there with the knife. The knife flies toward my face.
I awake with a scream. I fly out of the bed...
...And right into Danny, sending us both to the floor.
I stare into his shocked face.
"Nightmare?" He asks. I nod shakily, "Us too."
I get off him and turn to see that Connor was awake too, sitting up in bed. He slid off and wrapped me in a hug.
"You alright Jude?" He asks me gently. I start crying softly.
"I saw all of you dead." I mutter, "You and Danny. Then Moms, then Mariana, then Callie and Brandon, then J-j-jesus. Then I whip around and he's there. I woke up right as he swung the knife at my face."
Danny wraps the both of us in an embrace.
"He's gone." He tells me, rubbing our backs in comfort, "He's dead."
"His cronies won't get away with it either," Connor said, "Dad, Stef and Lena will make sure of that."
"We're safe." Danny says.
We stand there in our embrace for ten minutes.
"Let's push the beds together." I say, breaking the silence, "I doubt moms would mind, and I doubt I can get back to sleep without you two next to me."
"We probably won't be able to either." Danny said.
We pushed the two beds together, and curled up. We quickly fell asleep.
One nightmare was over... but we couldn't help but wonder if another was about to begin. I fucking hope not. I don't know how much more we'd be able to handle.
Then again, with Danny and Connor at my side, I think we could handle anything.