A/N: With the current season of "The Fosters" (Season 4) taking Jude into a new relationship, I wanted to get some more of this story written before I get pulled too deeply into his new storyline. Besides, I was too excited when I finally figured out where to take this story for now to not write more. Enjoy!

Saving Connor

"Jesus, go up and get Jude for dinner, please," Stef told her middle son, her hands still busy serving up the salad to each plate.

"Why do I have to go?" Jesus protested, forever the indignant one.

Stef let out a sigh, already frustrated from refereeing his argument with Mariana earlier. "Because you're our favorite. Now go."

"I thought I was your favorite," Brandon fake pouted, remembering when his mom had used the same line on him to get him to go upstairs after Mariana when she pierced her nose.

"You're all our favorite," Lena jumped in, giving Brandon a kiss on the top of his head. "Please, go, Jesus," she reiterated for her wife. With a sigh of frustration, Jesus complied, storming off. "I'm worried about Jude. I've barely seen him today," Lena commented, hoping another member of her family could provide some insight.

"I'll explain later, hon," Stef half-whispered to Lena but was clearly overheard by the others.

"Is Jude okay?" Mariana butted in.

"He will be. Finish setting the table, please," Step told her daughter, working to distract from the topic of Jude.

Meanwhile, upstairs in the Foster house, Jesus had stormed into the room he shared with Jude, banging loudly open-handed on the doorframe in attempts to rouse his brother who was lying face down on his bed. "Yo, Jude. Come on. Dinnertime."

"Tell Moms I'm not hungry," Jude told him, his voice muffled as he talking into his pillow.

"Dude, you know that doesn't work on Moms. They'll come up here. It's easier if you just –"

"Just leave me alone!" Jude snapped, catching Jesus off guard. This wasn't like Jude.

"Fine, man. I was just trying to help," Jesus muttered before going back downstairs.

"Where's Jude?" Stef asked, seeing Jesus enter the room alone.

"Said he's not hungry," Jesus explained, swinging his leg over the stool to sit in his usual spot, his eyes trained on the table.

"Maybe I should go check on him," Lena said, taking her napkin from her lap and standing.

"And I told him that you would. He yelled at me."

"He yelled at you?" Callie piped in, shocked at her little brother's behavior.

"Yeah. Something must really have him messed up."

"I'll be back. Go ahead and eat, guys," Lena said, heading toward the stairs.

As she passed behind her wife, Stef reached out, grabbing her by the hand. "Love, he, uh… he found out Connor's moving." Lena let out a sigh, knowing this was not going to be easy. A wave of realization washed over the rest of the Fosters kids, particularly Jesus who finally looked up from the table, a look of concern for his little brother covering his features.

Lena softly knocked on the doorframe of Jude and Jesus's room, the door having been left open from Jesus's previous attempt to talk with Jude. "Hey," she softly prodded, taking a couple of small, tentative steps into the darkening room. Jude didn't move. Lena pressed a bit harder. "Mom told me Connor and his dad are moving." Jude's head thrashed against his pillow, a sort of shaking of his head 'no'. "They aren't?" Lena asked, genuinely confused.

Jude turned his head to the side to say, "Just Connor," before burying his head back in the pillow.

Lena was still confused and her son wasn't helping to clarify. "Is he going to live with his mom?" Jude's head thrashed again. Lena was running out of ideas. "Is he… transferring to a boarding school for baseball?"

"He's being sent away because he's gay!" Jude practically screamed, his face a hot mess of tears.

"What?" Lena rushed to sit on the edge of Jude's bed. Jude turned himself over to lay his head in Lean's lap. She was slighting surprised by this abrupt switch, but soon recovered from her shock, her hand rubbing comforting circles onto Jude's back. Lena let Jude cry for a bit in her embrace, but when his sobs calmed to more of silent tears, she tried to press for more information. "Did Connor say where he was going?" Lena was trying to measure her words carefully, not wanting to set Jude off again.

Jude swiped at his eyes with the heels of his hands. "Some… camp. Out of state."

Lena fought to keep her breathing calm. She was piecing together what this meant and it wasn't good. "And this camp is for… kids who are gay?"

Jude fought to form words, only barely managing a whisper. "He said it was to fix gay kids."

Lena fought her gut, forcing her anger down to focus on Jude. "You know there's nothing wrong with you or Connor, right?"

Jude gave a meek nod. "But it feels like it's my fault."

"Like what's your fault, bud?"

"That he's being sent away….Because I was his boyfriend."

"You were?" Lena asked, listening carefully to Jude's words.

"Well, am. But after he leaves, if he's… ya know, going to be straight…."

"Jude, honey, listen," Lena told him, helping him to sit up. She took him by the shoulders and look him square in the eyes, having to dip her hand slightly to catch his gaze. "It is not your fault. Connor would be who he is whether or not you two decided to date –"

"But his dad wouldn't have known if it weren't for –"

"No, Jude. I think Adam has at least suspected Connor was gay for quite some time. I think that had more to do with why he fought so hard to keep you two apart. This is not your fault and there is nothing to fix – with you or with Connor." Lena took Jude into a fierce hug, holding him close, wishing her embrace could protect him from all the hate and bigotry in the world. "Did you try to text him?" Lena asked, finally pulling away.

"His uh – dad has his phone," Jude explained simply, not wanting his Momma to worry about the text that had obviously been sent by Adam.

"Okay, well… you'll at least see him at school tomorrow…." Jude gave her a small nod. They both knew it was a consolation considering the circumstances, but it was all Lena could manage that seemed reassuring. "I'll send a plate up for you a bit later, okay? Your homework done?"

Another nod from Jude. "I finished it before Connor came over."

"That's my boy," Lena reassured him with a kiss to the top of the head. "Get some rest, bud." Heading back toward the stairs, she paused and watched Jude settle back into his bed. Her heart was broken for her son and for Connor as she went back down to the rest of her family.

When Lena reappeared in the doorway to the kitchen, Stef looked up and could see the pain in her wife's eyes. "Stef, can you come in the living room with me for a minute?" There was a stern, almost cold tone to her voice that Lena had to put on to keep her emotions at bay.

"Sure, love," Stef said cautiously. "Brandon, you can serve up ice cream once everyone finishes. One bowl only." She added the last statement looking directly at Jesus who put his arms up in a defensive position. She then followed Lena into the living room.

The kids all looked at each other in silence for a moment, all of them obviously knowing that something major was happening. Mariana quickly glanced toward the doorway, making sure their moms were fully out of the room. "So, are we just going to sit here or are we going to go eavesdrop so we know what the hell is going on?" The answer Mariana expected was obvious – eavesdropping – but others were not so sure.

"Moms would kill us if they found out," Brandon protested.

"Okay, but maybe we can help Jude," Mariana fought back. "Come on," she urged, tip-toeing toward to the dining room, careful not to go too far and into their moms' view. With varying degrees of reluctance, the others joined her.

Lena didn't even sit down when she got into the living room, showing Stef that this was a serious situation. "What's going on, love?" Stef asked, trying to think what could possibly be so bad.

"Connor isn't moving. He's being sent to conversion therapy," Lena explained, her anger at the situation seeping into her tone.

"What?" Stef was shocked.

"He told Jude he was being sent to a camp that fixes gay kids. I can't believe Adam would do this. He told me he was going to pull Connor from Anchor Beach, but I never expected him to do this."

"Oh, I can believe it. If he would ban Jude from seeing Connor just on the suspicion that Jude was gay, I would hate to see what happened when Connor came out."

"What are we going to do?" Lena's eyes were on fire.

"Unfortunately, I don't think there is anything we can do, love," Stef admitted, hating the fact they were powerless to help.

"You're kidding, right?! Isn't conversion therapy illegal?"

"In California, yes. But not everywhere unfortunately. If Adam is sending Connor out of state, it's probably somewhere it's still legal."

Lena couldn't believe what her wife was saying. How could she not want to help Connor? "Those places are basically torture! How is it not… child abuse or something to send him there?"

Stef had to admit that her wife had a point. "I'll look into it, okay, love? I'll see if there is any precedent to interfere. But right now, we need to worry about our son."

Lena softened. She knew her wife was right and it helped to know that Stef would be looking into the legality of the situation. "He's heartbroken. He blames himself."

"Poor kid. Should we talk to him?"

"I did, but I didn't know what more to tell him other than making sure he knew that there is nothing wrong with him or Connor….."

Stef gave a solemn nod, also unsure of what else to do for her son at that moment. "Think he's hungry?"

"I kind of doubt it. I feel sick to my stomach – I can only imagine what he's feeling. But I figured I would take him a plate up to his room anyway as soon as the kids were done."

Hearing their momma mention them, the four oldest kids of the Foster house gave a small start.

"Speaking of, they are awfully quiet," Stef mused skeptically, taking a couple of steps toward the dining room.

"Go, go!" Jesus whispered, ushering his siblings back to the kitchen where Brandon frantically got out the gallon of ice cream as Callie grabbed bowls and set them out for each of them.

"Pretend you're finishing," Brandon whispered frantically as Stef's footsteps echoed on her path into the kitchen.

"Dude, I want my ice cream -" Jesus protested.

Mariana cut off her twin with an elbow to the ribs. "Shut up," she told him through gritted teeth just before their mom came back in the room.

"Done already?" she asked, observing the empty bowls. There were nondescript nods from Callie, Brandon, and Mariana. "Well, clear your places and head up for homework," Stef instructed, the kids oddly silent.

The kids did as they were told and, as a group, they climbed the stairs. On the landing, they gathered into a huddle and kept their conversation hushed. "We can't let Connor be sent to that place," Mariana insisted to her siblings.

"But what are we supposed to do? Moms don't even know what to do," Jesus huffed.

"I don't know just yet, but we are not going to let Connor's dad send him away. For Jude."

"For Jude," they all whispered in response before separating to their individual rooms for the night.

A/N: Thank you to those of you who have read and followed "Saving Connor" so far. A special thank you to the two guest reviewers who left suggestions for me after chapter one. I am definitely taking them into consideration and may use them in some way a bit later. I roughly knew that this was what would happen in this chapter, but I didn't know how to end it until I finally came up with Mariana's plan (which you'll learn in probably the chapter after next).

Suggestions are welcome! Your thoughts might trigger a great idea that helps this story take off even more!