The Key

Talking

Signing/Talking

Signing

WHEN IN FLASHBACKS/DREAMS:

Talking

Signing/Talking

Signing

What Happened This Time?

It was Friday morning and Jude was sat in his science class yet again. He tapped his pencil against the notebook, glancing around the classroom. He looked up as he saw a figure move in his peripheral vision. He met eyes with Connor who turned toward Jude, smiling.

"Hey!" Connor greeted. Jude moved back in his seat, his eyes wide.

"Did you just...?" he asked, pointing to Connor's hands. Connor grinned and nodded.

"I, uh, looked up a few signs. I figured you might need someone who you don't need to read lips. I decided to be that person," Connor explained, looking at Jude to make sure he got the signs right. Jude gulped, his eyes still a bit wide. He felt a smile come on his lips and he nodded.

"Thank you," Jude said, placing his hand on his chin then bringing it down.

"No problem," Connor answered, giving Jude a warm smile. Jude returned it, glancing down, then back up at Connor.

And here he had been thinking that Connor was just ignorant. He was about to say something, maybe tell Connor he didn't have to, or try to express his gratitude further, but then Connor glanced behind him, then turned back to Jude. "The teacher wants us to pay attention," Connor explained, then turned around completely. Jude focused on the teacher, allowing his thoughts to settle. Maybe he'd finally made a friend.

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Jude walked out of Anchor Beach and glanced around, looking for his sister. He smiled when he felt a familiar arm around his shoulders and turned toward Callie, leaning into her and smiling. She dropped her arm from his shoulder and started signing.

"Hey, bud!" she greeted, leading him toward the street.

"Hey, Callie," he greeted, smiling.

"How was school?" she asked, glancing at him as they walked.

"Good. Tough," he explained. Callie nodded in understanding. The two walked in silence for a few minutes before Callie placed a hand on Jude's shoulder, signalling for him to stop. Jude looked at her confused, but saw why she stopped. Mariana came running over to them, smiling.

"Hey Callie!" Jude read from Mariana's lips. She then turned to Jude.

"Um, it's hey, Jude, right?" she asked, attempting to sign her greeting. Jude shook his head at his name sign. Mariana had been trying to learn a few signs to help Jude. She still hadn't gotten his name sign right, she would form a U then an E with her hands rather than the actual sign.

"Like this," Jude told her, lifting his hand. He kept his index, middle, and pinky finger up, keeping his ring finger and thumb down. He then formed a J in the air, ending by dropping his fingers into an E.

"Jude," Mariana corrected herself. Jude smiled and nodded.

"Correct!" He told her.

"Yay!" she grinned. She walked a bit in front of Jude and Callie. The three started walking again, heading toward the Foster's home.

"Made any friends yet?" Callie asked, watching Jude.

"Maybe. There's this one kid Connor, he's pretty cool," Jude answered.

"Well, that's good!" Callie signed, smiling at her brother.

"Yeah," Jude smiled.

"Anything else interesting happen?" Callie asked, smiling.

"We're reading a book in class. It's called A Wrinkle in..." Jude paused, frowning, having forgotten the rest of the name of the book.

"Time?" Callie asked.

"What?" Jude questioned, thinking he missed something.

"A Wrinkle in Time?" Jude nodded, remembering the name of the book now.

"Yeah, and it's a bit confusing," Jude explained. Callie and Jude stopped before bumping into Mariana. Jude gave Callie a confused look as she signed what Mariana said.

"Why are both my Moms home?" Callie signed, looking just as confused, glancing at the house. The three walked into the house and greeted Stef and Lena who were in the dinning room.

"Hey, uh, hey guys," Stef greeted, smiling stiffly at them.

"Uh, Mariana, could take Jude upstairs?" she asked, testing out the signs she had learned recently. "We need to talk to Callie," she explained. Jude looked at his sister, frowning a bit as Mariana led him upstairs.

"What was that?" Jude asked, looking at Mariana as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Uh, I don't know," Mariana answered. "Hey, why don't we go in my room and read some magazines?" Mariana suggested, placing her hand on Jude's shoulder. Jude nodded and followed her into her and now Callie's room. Mariana had Jude sat on the new bed that was now Callie's and she placed a few magazines in front of him. "Uh, stay here, I'll be right back," Mariana explained, smiling at him. Jude nodded, narrowing his eyes a bit and focusing his eyes on the magazines.

But, he couldn't find interest in them. What had Callie done this time? Were they going to send them away all over again? Jude sighed, throwing down the latest edition of Tiger Beat. He ran a hand through his hair and pulled his backpack onto the bed, shuffling through his things. He made a note to himself to organize the stuff Lena had gotten for him. He placed his bag down and groaned to himself. He couldn't think with the possibility of Callie having done something to get them taken out. Again. The only time they had left a foster home, and it hadn't been because of Callie, was when they were in the Olmsteads. Jude would never blame Callie for that.

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"Callie? Callie what happened?" Jude whispered, furrowing his eyebrows as he watched his sister come into his room, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Nothing," Callie signed, sitting down on Jude's bed and taking a deep breath.

"Callie, please talk to me," Jude whispered, moving closer to his sister and holding onto her arm. Callie looked at his hand, waves of tears starting to pour down her cheeks.

"Okay. But, I want you to listen to the whole story first okay?" she signed, unable to speak. Jude nodded. "Don't speak okay, just sign, because no one can hear, alright?" Jude paused, then lifted his hand and nodded his fist.

"Yes."

Callie took a breath and turned her body toward her younger brother. "Liam... Liam and I have kind of been... seeing each other," Callie started. Jude's face dropped, and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Callie, you know that's not allowed!" Jude signed, shaking his head.

"Please, just, listen..." Callie told him, choking and having a hard time breathing. Jude took a breath, collecting himself. He nodded for her to continue. "I know we aren't suppose to, but he made me feel good. Feel special. Especially after everything we've been through," Jude sighed and nodded. He knew how hard it was to be accepted and cared for in the foster system. They had been going through it for years together. "And, uh, well, tonight... he wanted to uh, have sex," Callie paused, turning away from Jude. Jude closed his eyes and shook his head. (A/N: I know what you're thinking, Jude is like 10 here, but it's not uncommon for kids in the foster system to learn things like that early on. And we know that Jude knows about Callie's rape, so.)

Callie waited for Jude to open his eyes before she started signing. "He forced me," Callie explained, tears streaming down her cheeks faster. She let out a sob, burying her head in her hands.

"Oh my god..." Jude whispered. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Callie. The older girl cried harder as she settled against her brother, holding onto him tightly. Like he was all she had in the world. Because he was.

The next day, the two were sent away.

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Jude raised his eyes as he felt the bed dip beside him. Callie sat down beside him, smiling softly. "Hey, bud!" Jude frowned at her. His eyes narrowed. That time might not have been her fault, but all the other times had been.

"What did you do?" Jude asked. Callie looked taken aback, but she quickly recovered. She took a breath, then turned toward Jude.

"I didn't do anything. They thought that I had stolen Jesus' pills and sold them at school, because some girl told them that. But it was actually," Callie paused before finished. "It was actually Jesus, and he came clean."

Jude frowned, nodding. "So, someone just blamed you?" Jude questioned. He felt himself become protective over Callie, rather than angry as he had been moments ago.

"I guess. But, you know me. I can take anything," Callie told him, smiling. Jude glanced down before looking up and nodding. She really could.

Surprisingly, I didn't have to edit this much. Hope you liked it.

I do not own The Fosters or anything you recognize.

-HJ