Long chapter today as I just wanted to wrap all the station stuff up and I've never been good at editing out things. Just take it as if I'd posted 2 chapters for the price of 1!

Hope you enjoy - I know there is probably conflict about how people feel about Michelle but I found it really interesting how many people hated her bitterly then were saying how surprised they were about feeling sorry for her. I decided to try my best to emulate this through Stef - hopefully I pulled it off realistically enough! Bit of a shout out to TheTBone for this one who way back asked for the tender moment between Stef and Michelle to add some more layers. This chapter is kind of a result of that. May not be a post tomorrow as I'm not even sure what my next chapter will be (only have a rough outline) but as this is an extra long one take this for now as today's and tomorrow's.

Stef opened the door and wandered in slowly. She took a deep breath and closed the door behind her, pausing for a moment. Her maternal instincts for the protection of her own children battled furiously with her maternal instincts that forced her to try and understand the battered and abandoned girl curled up small on the bed. Michelle wiped a tear away. She was bruised, probably from Kasey's struggle with her but also from the shadow of what she had suffered after surrendering her emotions to Carl.

Stef blinked back a hidden tear. Everything about Michelle's appearance reminded her of a much younger Callie the day she came to them. Callie probably had had a lot more good in her to work with, but Stef remembered her struggle and her journey and knew that if she hadn't have had Jude to protect giving her purpose, she easily could have ended up the same way - she remembered the trouble she got in when she ran away. One or two more unloving homes down the road, Callie could have been in that cell. Even to the absent God in her life, she said a small prayer of thanks that Callie had been given to them when she was. The scene then quickly manipulated Stef's emotions even more, transforming them simply to bitter hatred for the people who force impressionable children onto such a downward spiral.

Michelle finally built up the nerve to look at Stef.

"If you're here to demand a confession I have already given one." The confidence in her voice was betrayed by the quiver below it.

Stef simply walked closer towards her and took a seat on a stool next to the bed. She crossed her legs over and clasped her hands over her knee. She was taking her time.

"I know you did. I'm glad you decided to do so." She tried to keep her voice as soft as she could but it was taking all of her control.

Michelle turned and stared at her. The reflection of the weak light sparkled against their teary glaze.

"Have you seen a doctor about your injuries?" Stef asked. Michelle nodded nervously. She didn't understand what was happening and why Stef wasn't yelling at her. Was she just waiting to get her close and then threaten her? Tell her to stay away from her family if she ever got out? Tell her she was going to make sure she went down for ever trying to mess with them? No. Nothing. She just sat there asking about her health. She didn't understand.

"Why aren't you yelling at me?" Michelle finally asked. "Your daughter pretty much just beat me up and I just broke your son's heart." Once again her voice quaked slightly, especially as she once again verbalised her mistreatment of Brandon.

Stef licked her bottom lip and looked down to the floor.

"How about I ask the questions." She replied sternly. "Why did you do it?" Her eyes zoned in on Michelle who gripped her fingers nervously.

"It was easy money - or it was meant to be. Carl said that the only reason people get done for an op this big is when they keep it on their property. We wanted a new start and this was the best way to get the money."

"You wanted a new start with Carl?"

"I wanted a new start with life." Michelle retorted immediately. Stef absorbed the response before starting again.

"OK. So why us? Why Brandon?" She blinked severely, trying not to lose her composure at mentioning his name and bringing it home to herself.

Michelle shrugged.

"It didn't matter who it was...just someone who would be unsuspecting and someone who the police would have no interest in."

"So one of their own would be a pretty good cover?" Stef tried to hide the guilt in her voice that came from this being more about her position than Brandon.

Michelle nodded. "That helped. If I ever was tied to Carl they wouldn't exactly be getting warrants to search your house."

Stef squinted her eyes. "And you don't think that if we had tied you with Carl and we suspected the money could be linked with you the first thing I would do would be to hand in anything you gave him?"

Michelle shrugged. "Well we got caught didn't we. Clearly I did miscalculate." Michelle turned her head to look at the wall away from Stef.

"Interesting how you start off with this being Carl's solution to your problems, then it turns into yours as soon as it fails. You don't think Carl would have screwed it up if he had been in your position?" Michelle wiped an escaped tear. She knew what Stef was about to do.

"Carl did screw up. He got seen with me too many times. Evan put us together - but I panicked. It was me that lost it at the end. I got weak."

"You got weak because you began to feel guilty?" Stef tried to clarify.

Michelle wiped another tear pulling her legs close into her body.

"I don't know why I have to tell you this. I have told them everything already."

Stef softly reached out to her chin and pulled her face to look at her.

"You don't have to tell me - but you are feeling bad about this and it will help for you to try and make amends." Michelle blinked out another tear before they began to flow freely.

"It was never meant to get complicated!" She cried through broken words. "It was never meant to hurt anybody...it was for us to get out of people's lives, not screw them up more." She buried her head into her knees as Stef looked up to the ceiling. She felt completely out of her depth. She was here with the girl who had ruined her family for the last few weeks and yet she was feeling an overwhelming urge to comfort her.

"Michelle." Her voice dropped low and serious. "The night of the play...the night you spiked Evan's drink."

Michelle sniffed a few times before pulling her head back up and looking away at the wall again.

"You had that bruise on your cheek...and I asked you if your Dad had hit you..." Michelle wiped her cheek free of tears to make room for more.

"It was Carl who had done, wasn't it?" Stef bent her head round to try and make eye contact as Michelle closed her eyes. Stef guided her chin round once again softly, causing her to open them.

Michelle looked at her hopelessly before blinking furiously and shaking her head. The memory of Stef's concern at the time came flooding back. The feelings of guilt, regret. That second time the love in the family she was destroying vibrated through her body, making her feel sick about what she was doing - but she had continued anyway. It made her angry. Why was she being forced to feel like this again? She was busted - it was all over. Why was she being forced to go through this again?!

"You don't know anything!" She thumped the wall and rocked forward diving head first into the mattress. She folded out her body and began to pound on the bed. Stef tried to wait patiently for the rage to leave Michelle but she twitched her hands nervously secretly hoping that she would lash out and have to call for help. Michelle pounded and pounded before letting out a final yelp that deflated into a whipmer. She lay there for a few moments before pushing herself up onto her elbows and rubbing her face.

"Michelle." Stef added sternly once she had calmed. "Why are you covering for him?"

Michelle stared at the bed a few moments before finally turning to look at Stef.

"Because he's all I have!" she whimpered.

Stef exhaled deeply. "Michelle. No one can help you if you don't help yourself."

"What makes you think I want help?"

"Because you're crying out for it!" Stef began to lose the composure she had fought to maintain. She was now becoming frustrated.

"Look at you!" she added forcefully. "You're in prison facing serious drug dealing charges and possibly kidnapping. You're over 18 so you can't even be tried as a child..."

"I'm not a child." she insisted.

"Maybe not - but you're also not a drug lord! You're a confused and abandoned girl who has been trapped in the clutches of an evil man."

"You don't even know him!" she charged back as Stef laughed.

"But you do! You know He isn't worth your defense. You are a smart girl. You all but pulled off a major operation - right under the noses of the cops. Literally! You are smart enough to know that he has been using you..."

"Well maybe I don't care if he is. Maybe it's better than the alternative." she shot back, her voice breaking again.

Stef bit her lip and exhaled quietly, the stress creeping through her body

"You know that if you admit that Carl has been abusing you you will get a more compassionate sentence. That - and believe me I can't believe I'm saying this - " she paused. "That you deserve a more compassionate sentence. Your life isn't worth throwing away for him."

Michelle turned her head slowly to Stef as her eyes narrowed. She gawped open slightly her mouth flapping for words. She was tired of fighting it. Of being scared of that word. They sat in silence for a few more moments.

"How did you meet Carl?" Stef finally asked quietly, her calm tone returning to replacing her frustrated one.

Michelle sniffed and gulped down.

"My Mom used to work at Broncos. She was having an affair with the former owner." Michelle once again returned to her defensive pose at the top of the bed, curled up.

"My parents had pretty much separated...my dad had begun to drink and one day my Mum took off to stay there with him. She would have left me with Dad then but he had got violent and I'd got hurt. He hadn't meant to hurt me but it spooked my Mom. When she was high she was either super protective or super negligent. I guess it depended on whether she was paranoid or carefree." Michelle let out a laugh, mocking her own pathetic memory.

Stef waited patiently for her to continue as he heart quietly twinged.

"We stayed there a few days till the owner guy my Mom was screwing decided to sell up and go. The cops were sniffing around his own drug operations and he wanted a clean start. Mom wanted to go with but he made it pretty clear that a kid wasn't part of the plan."

Stef's eyes closed as she couldn't bare to imagine the hurt that would spark.

"I mean I was old enough to understand. If I could have I'd have got myself free of both of them. I didn't exactly want to be dragged into their screwed up existence. My Mom had previously been clean for years but my Dad had always pushed her so close to the edge. I guess she just finally dropped off one day and parachuted into familiar territory. Doesn't quite take away the sense of abandonment though - that your Mom is gonna choose that life over you - especially for a sleazeball like him."

Stef's eyebrows dipped. "Did he ever hurt you?"

Michelle laughed again. "He wishes. He tried it - quite a few times. He'd always be making comments, grabbing me when my Mom wasn't there. One day he had me pinned against the wall but Carl came in and ripped him off me. He threw him out the way and punched him in the face." a gleam rolled over her eyes, apparently enjoying remembering the image. Suddenly a lot more about the whole situation made sense to Stef.

"If he hadn't have already been going Carl would have been fired there and then but he was part of the new ownership deal coming in so Richie didn't have the nerve in case it blew the whole thing."

Stef gulped back. "So...I take it your Mom never knew?"

Michelle shrugged. "She may have - I don't know. I don't really care. If she had she would have been too scared to confront him. She could barely stand up to my dad. He's bitter and a drunk but he's also a coward, as you may have gathered. He only really has his tongue when it comes down to it."

"So you go back home to your dad because your Mom disappears, Carl takes you under his wing and you get slowly more under his thumb." Stef finished off her story. "Can you not see how similar this is to what happened to your Mom?"

Michelle's bottom lip began to shake.

"He started off so understanding. We were never in a defined relationship...but he protected me."

Stef winced. "From everyone but himself Michelle. He may have been protecting you from people but only because it meant he had you for himself." she said compassionately.

"You don't know that!" Michelle snapped before pulling the aggression back again.

"But again - you do." Stef responded quietly.

"Come on Michelle. You saw it happen to your Mom. You know the signs...and I'll bet you got a taste of a different kind of relationship from Brandon." She wiped away another tear as Stef looked around and found a piece of tissue to hand her. Michelle eyed it nervously before taking it.

"He only hit me when he was scared." Michelle admitted blankly after a few more moments of silence. "A lot of the time he was gentle." Stef's heart dropped slightly, realising how tough this breakthrough of admission must have been for her.

"But you were scared of him too weren't you? He's used it to force you to do things you didn't want to as well hasn't he."

Michelle's face welled up again.

"No worse than what I deserve. I ask for it." Stef closed her eyes. She had heard variations of this so many times but it never got any easier.

"You know deep down that's not true." Stef whispered with a sigh.

Michelle turned her head to her.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked, almost scathingly. "That I definitely don't deserve." Michelle was too tired to fight it anymore.

Stef put her head down and rubbed her forehead with her thumbs, her hands clasped at the fingers.

"I honestly don't know. I really don't." she propped her head up on her now balanced thumbs.

"But maybe it's because now we have a common enemy. And I wish you would help send him down for what he deserves. Plus I needed to understand this. You can't just screw up my family and leave me with no explanation."

Michelle's head dipped.

"I am sorry." she said confidently, looking Stef in the eye. Stef nodded as she stood up.

"When you get out, you'll have a second chance Michelle. It'll be hard as hell...but while you're inside - fight. Not physically - but mentally. Fight those demons because its the only way you're going to figure out how much you are worth. You're not your mother. You don't have to follow her path. Brandon saw something in you - you may think he's a mug but..."

"He isn't." Mcihelle interrupted sternly. "He's the nicest man I've ever known."

Stef nodded hiding a proud smile.

"Well maybe it's a lesson you can learn that there are nice people in this world. And maybe it's those you should be listening to." She finished gently. It had been exhausting but she had got what she came for. A glimmer of understanding and a glimpse of hope that Michelle may one day remember her words. Now it was up to her.

Stef turned to leave.

"Thank you." she whispered as Stef turned to look at her one last time. She nodded in acknowledgement and left. She leaned back against the wall and put her hands over her eyes trying to take in what had just happened. She let out a long, slow breath before finally releasing her eyes.

As she did, she wished she hadn't as her first sight was of Carl being dragged down the hall.

She glared deep into his eyes, hers on fire with hatred as he smiled.

"Taking him back to his hole?" she asked the accompanying guard.

"Cell 7." her colleague nodded. "Mind if I join you?" she asked as the accompanying officer freed one of his arms for her to grasp. She grabbed him harshly taking over the control and walking him roughly down the hall the few steps to the cell. She walked him into the cell with the other officer by her side and shoved him firmly against the wall cracking his chest against it. He huffed in pain at the winding it resulted in.

"You better think yourself lucky you were already unconscious before I got to you. I hope you enjoy finding out what control really is when you're in with the big boys." she shoved him once more to silence him as he opened his mouth to respond.

"I don't care what you have to say." she then ripped the handcuffs off sharply, causing him to wince again as the other officer grabbed his arm.

"Like mother like daughter." Carl gasped out as she was leaving. She shook her head and left breathing deeply.

As she approached the hallway she saw the door of Kasey's room opening. She leaned on the doorframe as Kasey stood up.

"Wait there." she instructed flicking her head to the wall opposite." Kasey slid past her and did as she was told. Stef turned to Roberts.

"Michelle's nearly there. It won't take long to get her to pin him down. If I were you I'd be looking for heavier too. I reckon there's a statutory in there if not worse."

Roberts nodded. "I'll bear it in mind. But you let this go now, OK?"

Stef nodded. "I got what closure needed. Mine good to go?"

"All yours." Roberts responded. "Don't let this hero status go to your head now." she commented to Kasey who looked nervously at Stef.

"Oh it won't." Stef replied putting a firm hand on Kasey's shoulder. "Come on, let's get you guys home." she guided her down the hallway.

"So... Brandon told us why you went with him."

Kasey looked round at Stef, still in full stride.

"He did?"

"Yes. And I'm glad you didn't let him go alone. You're still both idiots but you're at least loyal idiots."

Kasey flickered a smile.

"So am I off the hook?" she asked hopefully.

"For not calling when he had stolen your phone? Yes." Kasey turned to her slightly shocked before Stef pushed her moving forward again.

"But you still hung up on me, fought a drug dealer and oh - removed your location app."

"Oh - that..." Kasey winced.

"Yes. That."

"I uhm...I just forgot to re-install it..." she flashed her a guilty smile. "I guess I inherited your scattiness as well as your kickass genes..." Kasey tested the waters for her familiar teasing.

Stef scoffed. "For future reference, You're at least a three year doghouse sentence away from being able to make jokes like that again."

"But you said I was..."

"I never said how long your sentence was before."

Stef smacked her on the behind as they reached the others. Kasey threw Brandon a grateful smile as Evan quickly snapped to attention.

"Let's go home guys." Stef said to the party.

Evan stuttered slightly.

"Right well...yes. I better get back too. I'm glad you're safe..." he looked at both of the twins. "and I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused." he looked at Stef and Lena. "I'll see you soon." he threw one more look at Kasey before striding out of the station.

Lena and Stef looked at each other before turning to Kasey.

Evan strode away furiously breathing heavily. He had no idea how he was meant to have left. His emotions were so conflicted. Where did this leave them now? Did Kasey even know he was completely innocent? Did she know about the pot as well? He began to get a headache which was quickly eclipsed by a sharp thud on the back of his head.

"Did you just walk away from me before I've had a chance to give you our talk?" Stef ordered as he stammered back. "Get your ass in that car and back home." She folded her arms as a smile crept across his face.

"Thanks Mrs F." he whispered as she too couldn't hide her smile and watched him pass her and head towards the car.

Lena approached her and put her hand on her arm.

"How was Michelle?" she asked nervously.

Stef looked across into the distance. "Battered, bruised, broken. Emotionally and physically. It took all my physical strength not to add to it and all of my emotional strength not to pull her into a hug." she sighed deeply. "I've never been so conflicted about a child."

"And Porter?" Lena asked with her eyebrow raised. Stef looked across at her with a frown.

"Apparently he hightailed off as soon as he found put what she was in trouble for. He had no legal responsibility. Roberts only called him because I insisted. Fat lot of good that did apart from bruise Evan's knuckles."

Lena looked across at her concerned. "Evan...?"

"Don't ask." Stef waved a hand at her.

"I don't understand that man. Heartless, chauvinistic - yes. But complete abandonment? They got on OK at the dinner...it can't have been a complete act."

Stef shrugged. "His ex-wife was a druggy. Maybe it was too close to home."

Lena looked across into the wind of the road. "Look you take the kids home; there's something I need to do."

"Lena..."

"I'll be fine, I promise."

Stef pointed her finger at her face. "No happy slapping." she warned before pecking her on the lips and returning to the car with the kids.

Lena took a deep breath and got into hers.

Porter opened the door and immediately huffed. "When will I be blessed enough to have a day where one of your damn family isn't knocking at my door?" he grumbled.

"With any luck this will be the last time. I sure as heck don't want my family anywhere near yours again." Her arms were folded and her face stern.

He mulled it over for a moment. "What are you doing here, Lena? If you're going to slap me again for raising a monster I suggest you get it over with."

Lena stared at him, locked in eye contact.

"Porter, your daughter put a tornado through my family. She put my kids in potentially mortal danger not to mention put my house as a target for drug dealers. Even after all that, neither of my kids is pressing charges against her because of the battered state which she is clearly in. She fell under the fist of a very bad man because she was looking for some stability in her life." Porter opened his mouth to respond but Lena trailblazed on, calm and collected.

"Now I don't know what it must have been like for you, I don't know what it must be like to have your daughter in prison or to know that it is a similar path on which you lost your wife. But I do know there's a misguided girl in a cell, scared and alone. She's already been driven to a situation no child should have to deal with and the one even half stable constant in her life is refusing to be there for her. You may disagree with all of my views and everything I say - I really don't care...but you're not a monster. You're an educated man from a bitter, but otherwise privileged life and I know there's not a parent in the world who deep down doesn't want anything but their children to have a better life than they had."

He stared at her for a few moments before looking at the floor.

"You are not only the only person she has - but she's the only one you have too. Just remember that before you drive the final nail in the coffin." She turned to walk back her car.

She sat there for a few moments with her head against the headrest. She couldn't believe the day that it had been. She finally reproduced her keys and put them in the ignition before catching a glimpse of something that gave her just the tiniest bit of hope. Porter drove off and disappeared down the road.

She started up the car and set off home.

Chapter 57 Preview: The gang return home and the family responds. Lena and Stef start to deal with the events, starting with Jesus and Evan.

"You punched him in the face?" Jesus bounced slightly in excitement.

"Yes, a little." Evan responded quickly, nervously keeping an eye on Stef's reactions.

"Man I bet that felt good!" Jesus chirped. Evan looked around to check she was still facing the other way.

"It was pretty cool..." he replied quietly with a smile before she cleared her throat and the two snapped to attention.