Hey guys - thanks for the reviews as always! I am excited about this chapter - probably because it was a little different to write (and it was a bit like writing my Fostering Funs again!). Anyway, I hope you enjoy it - would love to know what you think, as if it goes down well I may try to incorporate more things like this if I ever decide to do any future fics.

Oh FYI - I posted the next chapter of Fosters, Nerds and Dummies yesterday. If you want to see Stef and Lena dealing with exploding soda, drunken teens and inappropriate closet behaviour then have a wander over...

Back to the past...enjoy...

Stef approached Kasey's door with caution. She had been dreading facing Kasey more than the others - her lack of accountability blurred the ease of the confrontation - plus she tended to fight back a lot more than Brandon ever did - or at least fought back in a way that Stef found harder to argue with. The whole situation had been playing on her mind. She felt like she had been here before - with Kasey at least...

"Sorry to interrupt Foster but your daughter is about to break Davis's leg." Lieutenant Roberts poked her head into the captain's office.

"Davis? What are they doing with...?"

"Seems they tried to make a break for it and he picked them up coming in to start his shift."

"They went off by themselves? Where's Mike?" she exclaimed with horror.

"He left them at the front desk before stating his - apparently he said you should be out soon."

Stef swore silently in her mind. He had been avoiding her since the divorce proceedings had begun and she could tell he was slipping into another depression. He would never have left the kids if he thought they were in any danger, but his lack of foresight frustrated her to no end. He knew they were struggling with the divorce and leaving them even with colleagues was careless.

Stef threw a look to Captain Morgan.

"Go ahead - we can finish this off tomorrow."

Stef followed Roberts into the main part of the station and could already hear the commotion. Davis was a large man and was laughing at the sight of the tiny five year old hanging off his arm and kicking against his leg.

"Let..me...goooo!" she screamed as a nervous Brandon scolded her for making more trouble.

"Kasey! Mommy's going to already be angry! Stop it!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Stef shouted running over, grateful they had managed to drag the embarrassing display to a quieter part of the station. Brandon immediately ran behind Davis's other leg and Kasey made one last break for freedom.

"What is going on?!" she exclaimed as Kasey began to swing from Davis's hand like a deadweight. He placed her down on the floor as she tried to run but Stef grabbed her top and dragged her over to the wall.

"I'm not talking to you!" she said folding her arms and dropped herself down on the floor, red with the struggle.

"I am so sorry Jim..." Stef apologised as Davis smiled.

"It's OK" he responded looking round at Brandon still hiding behind him.

"Saw them trying to hightail it away as I was coming in."

"You tried to leave the station by yourselves? You both know better than that! What were you thinking?! Why were you running away?"

"We do know better Mommy but we were scared because you go to the poilce station if you've been bad and..."

"Brandon! Shhhh!" Kasey scolded as he grabbed her attention and he took a deep breath.

"She's going to know anyway Kasey!"Brandon responded peeking round from his hidden position.

"But that's not why we're here! How many times do I have to tell you! God!" she shot back rolling her eyes and huffing as Stef tried to keep up with their bickering, momentarily unsettled by the accuracy at which Kasey was mimicking actions she knew she was guilty of, even at five years old. She wasn't sure when she'd seen her do them but she knew there was nowhere else she could have got them from.

After completely losing track of what either twin was saying she silenced them both.

"Enough!" she cried, chopping her hands towards them. Kasey turned her head away again, scowling as Brandon retreated once again behind Davis's leg, tugging on his pants.

"Kasey - why did you run away?"

"I didn't. Brandon did because he's an idiot."

Stef bit her lip at the frustrating circle she was chasing them round.

"But you went with him...so why? And don't call your brother and idiot."

"But he is! He thinks you're going to put us in jail." Stef sighed, temporarily putting the bizarreness of the answer on hold.

"Then why didn't you come and get me?" she folded her arms staring a Kasey down sternly.

"Because I'm not talking to you. Someone needed to protect him now you and Daddy don't want to anymore."

Stef gawped as the comment cut through her. She swallowed it down putting that in the stack to be confronted later as well.

"Brandon." she turned to him realising her progress with Kasey would likely be stunted soon. "Come out from there." she grabbed his arm tugging him round as he cowered slightly folding his arms behind his back and looking up at her with a puffed out stomach and bottom lip.

"Why on earth would you think I was going to put you in jail?"

Brandon nervously looked across at Kasey who glared at him threateningly trying to force his silence. Stef pulled his chin towards her. "Don't worry about what Kasey said - tell me why you ran away."

"Because..." he began through a deep breath "when bad people get taken to the police station they get put in jail and we were bad."

Stef bit her bottom lip hard and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying not to show how stressful drawing this information was.

"What did you do that was so bad? It can't be worse than running away when you know you should never do that."

"Kasey got into a fight and then Daddy brought us to the station!" he said in one breath.

"Brandon!" Kasey reprimanded slapping her hand on her forehead.

Stef blinked hard carefully letting out a long breath. Criminal interrogations were easier than extracting coherent information from her five-year-olds.

"Who did you fight with, and why?" she asked Kasey, her exhaustion showing.

"Mommy - I've told you already... I'm not talking to you." she replied firmly as Stef shook trying to stop herself from strangling her. "Right. So I've heard. Brandon. Tell me what happened."

"But then you'll put us in..."

"I am not going to put you in jail - Daddy brought you here because he had to start his shift and he needed to get you back to me to take you home."

"Told you!" Kasey commented angrily as Brandon shuffled his arms together against his back.

"Well I didn't know that!" he replied quietly.

"Daddy didn't even see me kick him - he was on the bench and wasn't looking. He never looks when he has his sunglasses on."

Stef made a mental note to wring Mike's neck when she did finally get her hands on him. The thought of it was the only thing stopping her from wringing his children's.

"Kasey why...never mind. Brandon - why did Kasey kick this boy - and who was he?"

"Kurt Mc...Mc..Illnilly." Brandon stuttered, struggling to pronounce it.

"McElhinny!" Kasey corrected bluntly.

"Kurt McElhinny." Brandon reaffirmed. "He was being mean and Kasey kicked him and he fell over and then he ran away."

Stef was about to comment before placing the boy they were talking about and realised he had at least two grades on them. The thought cleared her mind of where she had originally planned to go next. If Kasey could floor a kid that big she was packing some serious punch - he was a notorious bully in their neighbourhood. She clocked Brandon's expectant look waiting for her to respond and quickly tried to recover her thoughts.

"Well that was bad Brandon but you don't get put into prison for that."

"But when we were fighting with each other you said you would lock us up to get some peace..."

Stef opened her mouth to respond but again was caught off guard and hit with momentary guilt. Lena had always warned her about how she had to watch the hyperbolic threats around her kids when they were at such a literal age - especially Brandon who believed every word you said.

"Brandon I didn't mean that when I said it. I was just angry and was pretending so that you would understand how angry I was."

"See! I told him that, Mommy, but he just doesn't listen!" Kasey added as if trying to join Stef in solidarity with her frustrations.

"So you're talking to me now then are you?" Stef cut her off looking round sternly, getting fed up of her smugness.

"No." Kasey replied firmly turning her head away again. Stef closed her eyes and counted to ten under her breath. Davis, who was still supervising the spectacle tried to offer her a lifeline.

"Look - how about Brandon comes and helps me with some of my paperwork while you two have a chance to talk...or not do as the case may be." he teased trying to offer some light relief.

Stef turned to him almost having forgotten he was still there. "Jim these two have wasted enough of your time today..."

"Don't worry about it - he can help me with some of my filing and help me make up the time." he winked at Brandon.

Stef smiled gratefully and turned sternly to Brandon.

"You do everything Officer Davis tells you, OK? We will talk about your punishment later when I have spoken to your sister." he nodded enthusiastically grabbing back onto Davis's leg as he rubbed his head. He guided him out with another wink at Stef who turned to a still stewing Kasey.

"OK little miss, you come with me."

"No." she replied, just as firmly as the last.

"If you don't come by yourself I'll drag you just like when you were a toddler..."

Kasey responded with silence, her body language confirming her obvious lack of intended co-operation.

"Fine." Stef grabbed her arm as Kasey immediately snapped to attention and began to wriggle violently starting her loud protests again. Stef hauled her up under her arm clasping her firmly around the waist as Kasey kicked and writhed. She strode briskly into the nearest empty interview room, Kasey's petite body barely registering any hindrance in weight, and dropped her down onto an empty chair. She immediately bunched her legs up into her protected position again, shaking violently with her pent up anger.

"You are on very thin ice, young lady. Do you really want all of Mommy and Daddy's work friends to think you can't behave?"

"I don't care." she replied stubbornly as Stef tried to think of a different angle of approach. She was clearly upset about something. The divorce had been hard on her but she was usually more accessible than this.

"Honey why won't you tell me what's bothering you?"

"Because I'm not talking to you! How many times?!" Kasey snapped back, showing her own frustrations that the message was clearly not getting through.

Stef forced a smile. "Can you tell me why you're not talking to me?"

Kasey rolled her eyes and looked at her with a face more fitting to a teenager.

"Well then I'd be talking to you - wouldn't I!"

The audacity quickly killed off Stef's new technique. She would have found the attitude hilarious coming from such a disproportionately small girl were it not her own daughter.

"Oh you're going to be a fun teenager." Stef whispered to herself sarcastically before turning her attentions back to the issue at hand. "OK. Well you're not leaving this room until you start talking so you can either be stuck in here all night or you can start giving me some answers, young lady. I can very easily have people watch you in here while I go home."

"Well I can't tell you if you're at home can I?" Kasey replied pushing Stef right to the edge.

"Kasey, that's enough." she whispered, the chill in her voice finally making some progress against Kasey's stubborn mind as she turned to look at her more receptively and slightly sheepish, she knew when she had no further to push.

"Before you said Daddy and I no longer want to protect Brandon. What makes you say that?"

Kasey took a deep breath. "Because we're not a family anymore and only family looks after family. That's what Daddy always says. We can't be a family now so me and Brandon have to be OK together."

Stef's heart sank a little. She felt guilty enough already and this was a screeching reminder of the reality of a divorce for her children.

She walked around to lean against the table in front of Kasey and pushed her hair back.

"Honey, just because Daddy doesn't live with us anymore doesn't mean anything is going to change us being a family. Daddy and I are still in a team and we're not going anywhere...that is not going to change."

Kasey turned to her angrily. "Stop lying to me!" she shouted back, her eyes watery. "You tell us that lying is bad but you do it all the time to us!" Kasey shed another tear before folding her arms and burying her chin in her knees. "You keep saying nothing will change but Daddy is sad and he's angry. And you're sad too even though you keep saying you aren't! You keep saying it will be OK but it's not. Everything is changing so don't lie that it won't to me!"

Stef's heart broke a little more as she wiped Kasey's tears away with her thumb, caressing her cheek gently. Kasey flinched her head away.

Stef squatted down to have her eyes in line with her daughter's diverted ones.

"I can't get anything past you can I?" she sighed realising no matter how hard she wanted to protect her from the reality of this, she couldn't. She rested her head on her hands over the arm of Kasey's chair and poked her gently trying to get her focus back.

"You're right. Things will be different - and I'm sorry for pretending they won't be." as she said the words she wondered whether the lies had really been for the kids or more to try and convince herself.

"And maybe we're not OK right now - but we will be - and that isn't a lie. Sometimes things take a little bit of time and it can help to say how you wish things were. It helps you stay positive. Things will get easier though - we just need to keep trying to figure out how the new things will work. We may not get it right all the time, but it will get better if we stay strong together - and I need you to help me by being brave so that Daddy and I don't have to worry about you too."

"But Daddy doesn't worry about us anyway anymore. He's too sad."

Stef sighed. Hearing this from her baby's perspective was almost too much to take.

She poked Kasey's shoulder again.

"Daddy worries about you just as much as he always has. He's just going through a difficult time right now and sometimes he gets distracted - but he is getting help and he needs you and me and Brandon to try and help him get through it. He knows you are a brave girl and are good at looking after yourself and Brandon so sometimes he forgets that you still need help too. That doesn't mean you're not still the most important thing in his world."

"And what about with you?" Kasey's eyes bulged wide as Stef stuttered, blind sided by such a loaded statement.

"Hey! Nothing and no-one will ever be more important to me than my children."

"Me and Brandon?"

"You and Brandon." Stef affirmed, softly knocking her cheek with her fist. "Even when you drive me crazy! That's why it's so important to me that you're safe and don't go off on your own. It's dangerous and it makes me more scared than you could ever imagine."

"And what about Lena?" Kasey asked quietly as Stef's face sunk. "Are we more important than her?"

She had tried so hard to integrate Lena slowly and carefully into their lives and had begun to take it for granted that she fitted so perfectly.

"Baby - as I said, no-one is more important than you. Nobody. Do you not like Lena?"

Kasey shrugged. "I like her." she said non-committal. "But she's not your friend. I've seen you kiss her like you used to kiss Daddy." Stef's heart lifted slightly to know that Kasey wasn't unhappy but once again was washed with guilt that Kasey had seen right through all of her attempts to sugar coat the situation. She also wondered when Kasey had seen them kissing. She had been developing a devilish habit of eavesdropping that she'd have to watch.

"You're right. Lena isn't just my friend - "

"Then why did you lie to me! Again!" Kasey's frustration flared up again with the admission as Stef tried to calm her from becoming defensive once more. "You maybe can trick Brandon but you can't trick me!"

"OK, OK, I'm sorry. You're too smart for games like that. Sometimes when there's a difficult situation it's easier for parents to tell you things slowly so that it doesn't feel like such a big change. Also, sometimes we don't have all the answers yet and we want to be absolutely sure we know what it is we are telling you. We do it to try and help you, to try and protect you just like you try and protect Brandon. We do it because we love you and we don't want you to be scared about the future or confused..."

"But it's not nice because boys like that idiot Kurt say mean things about it and Brandon gets upset."

Stef boiled slightly with anger at the thought of her kids being picked on because of her situation. It did explain where this had all suddenly come from, however.

"So that's why you kicked him?"

Kasey nodded unable to make eye contact. "He made Brandon upset. I thought he was going to cry and I didn't want him to."

"But you know it's wrong to hurt other people." Stef cupped Kasey's hair out of her face and brushed it behind her ear where it seemed to refuse to stay. It was tangled and messy from all of her struggling. She nodded without making eye contact.

"If someone is being mean to Brandon or to you, you have to tell Daddy or me - and if you can't then you should just count to 3 and walk away."

Kasey nodded again.

"So how about this. We're gonna try and figure out a way for you to spend some of this extra energy of yours, I'm going to try and take care of Daddy and you try and be a good girl. No more fighting, or tantrums or running off or silent treatment. For whatever reason." She made a mental note to also explain to her one day what the "silent" part actually meant.

"If you help me by doing that I promise I will be honest with you. Do we have a deal?"

Kasey nodded again.

"I can't promise I will always tell you everything right away - but if I don't it's only because I am waiting for it to be the right time. Sometimes it's important to give me some time, OK? It's not the same as lying." Stef knew that this would probably be used against her one day but right now she was too tired to explain any further and Kasey was tiring.

"OK." Kasey agreed through a deep breath.

"And try and be nicer to Brandon - he doesn't always figure things out as fast as you, but it's important for Daddy and me to tell him things at the right time too. I need you to help us do what's best for both of you - can you do that?"

"I guess so."

Stef flickered a small smile. "OK. Now are you going to apologise to Officer Davis for causing him all that trouble?"

Kasey nodded again confidently.

"I love you, baby." Stef kissed her on the forehead getting up from her position.

"I love you too. And I'm sorry I decided not to talk to you. Sometimes I have to punish you so you learn not to do bad things again." Kasey said deadly serious as Stef laughed and cupped her hands around her daughter's head.

"Oh really? Is that so? Well you're gonna fully understand what I've got in store for you after your performance this afternoon then..." she laughed.

"Are you just gonna stand there staring at me for another 5 minutes or are you gonna come in and get this over with?" teenage Kasey snarked without looking up from her book and snapping Stef out of her memory.

"Sorry...I was just reminiscing." she responded walking slowly over to Kasey's position. She lowered herself on the edge of the bed.

"About a time before you had kids?" Kasey joked in return for a smile.

"Every day." Stef teased poking her.

"Actually no, I was thinking about the last time you and Brandon tried to run away."

Kasey scrunched up her face.

"I don't remember..."

"During the divorce, when Brandon thought you were being taken to the police station because you got in that fight." A look of realisation flooded Kasey's face.

"Oh God! He was such an idiot sometimes." she scowled as Stef twitched another smile.

"Don't call your brother an idiot." she scolded nostalgically, the reference glancing off Kasey who didn't remember the details.

"You've been calling him one all morning..." she argued.

"Never mind." Stef rolled her eyes and moved further onto the bed, the memory still fresh in her mind. She had been affected by the guilt of it and it suddenly felt the need to clear the air of another topic.

"Kasey..." she began nervously looking down at her fingernails. Kasey raised her eyebrows, being able to tell what such an action often led to. They were about to have a deep discussion.

Chapter 60 Preview: Stef opens up to Kasey as they explore their relationship. Lena and Stef finish doling out consequences.

"But I'm not the only one who's been holding something back." she poked her sternly. "Hint hint." Kasey looked back confused.

"What have I been lying about?" she asked, genuinely shocked.

Stef took a deep breath. "I'm not sure you even know, so it's time we actually start communicating. Why have you been so rebellious about these SATs?"