Thanks for all of your wonderful responses! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
*There may be triggering aspects to Callie's point of view.
Stef's POV
Callie's words cut like a knife through my heart.
Mom, I killed them.
She laid in my lap, weeping in the middle of the storm. Jude knelt next to us with no emotion on his face whatsoever.
"Foster! We have to get everyone inside!" One of my fellow officers ran up to us hollering above the ever-growing storm. "This storm is quickly turning into a massive blizzard! Temperatures are dropping like crazy! You need to get home!"
He pulled us to our feet and ran us to our car where the rest of the family was waiting. I basically had to drag Callie and Jude the entire way. They were emotionally and physically wrecked.
As soon as we got in the car a lightning bolt struck a tree by the school, exploding wood shards all over school grounds.
"Stef, are we going to make it back to the house? Maybe we should stay at the rec center tonight." Lena leaned over and whispered in my ear, not wanting to scare our already terrified children in the backseat.
I looked over my shoulder and eyed the four in the car with us. Jesus was trying to put up a brave front, Jude stared out the window, emotionless, and Brandon was doing his best to console a sobbing Callie.
"No, we have to go home. They're all devastated. And Mariana is home alone. We can't leave her there by herself for God knows how long. It's only a few miles. We'll be okay." I started the car and began driving home. The rain made it nearly impossible to see and the wind was constantly threatening to blow us off of the road. The water on the road was quickly turning to ice as we drove. Luckily no one else was stupid enough to be out in conditions like this. The ride home felt like it lasted hours even though it only took us slightly longer than usual.
"Okay, everyone get inside as quick as possible. This storm is growing by the second and we can't afford to be out here longer than necessary." Lena turned around and instructed the kids once we pulled up to our home.
Brandon and Jesus jumped out of the car the second I put it in park. They ran inside with Lena in between them. Jesus held his jacket over Lena's head trying to protect her from the harsh snowflakes falling from the sky.
I pulled open the back door and grabbed ahold of Callie. I reached for Jude but he avoided my touch.
"Jude, love, we have to go inside!" I reached for him again but he got out on the other side. I pulled Callie into my arms and ran with her to the porch, passing her off to Lena who brought her inside.
I turned around, expecting Jude to be running towards me, but I found him standing in the yard. His arms were outstretched and his face was turned towards the sky. It was the first time he looked peaceful in weeks. I began to go get him but Brandon barreled past me. He wrapped his arms around Jude's torso and hauled him to the house. Jude didn't fight, he just went limp.
Everyone stood in the foyer with blank expressions on their faces. Mariana had come downstairs and attached herself to Jesus.
"Alright, why don't we all go upstairs. Get dried off and put some warm clothes on. Come down to the living room when you're done." Lena and I ushered our children up the stairs and into their rooms. My heavy feet barely carried me to my room before I collapsed on the bed, trounced by the nearly unbelievable events of the day.
Lena exited the bathroom and wrapped a large towel around my shoulders. "What are we supposed to do? How do we even begin to comfort them?"
I stood and walked to my dresser. I removed a pair of cotton sweatpants and a cozy long-sleeved shirt. "I don't have one clue. Let's just take it one step at a time."
Ten minutes later everyone was sitting around the living room wrapped in warm blankets. I examined each of their faces.
The twins and Brandon looked so traumatized and damaged. I could tell that everything that had happened was replaying on a loop in their heads. They would never be able to forget the sounds of bullets being fired in their school.
Jude was still a blank slate. He barely even blinked. He just stared out the window and watched the growing blizzard. And Callie was still crying. Her sobs had turned into silent tears and occasional sniffs and whimpers.
"Mama and I don't even know how to begin to explain all of this. We want you to know that we're here for anything you need. If you want to talk, we can will listen. If you want to cry, we can hold you. If you want space, we can give it to you." I spoke quietly and hoped one of them would say something.
Everyone remained silent for a few minutes. The only sounds to be heard were the howling of the wind and our soft breathing.
"I'm sorry." Callie whispered so quietly that we almost couldn't hear her.
My heart broke for my daughter. She was taking complete responsibility for everything that happened. I moved across the room and sat next to her on the couch. "Love, you have nothing to be sorry for. You didn't cause this." I kissed her cheek and pulled her close to me.
"Callie, you and Jude saved us. If you wouldn't have been there… who knows what would have happened?" Jesus tried to comfort his sister but I knew his words fell short in Callie's mind.
The room fell silent once again. It was like we were strangers meeting for the first time. Mariana finally broke the stillness.
"What are we supposed to do for the rest of the day? It's barely even two in the afternoon." She yawned widely as she spoke.
"How about I make some tomato soup and grilled cheese?" Lena suggested with a soft smile. Her offer was met with little nods of acceptance. They all stood and followed her into the kitchen, anxious to be the one to receive the first warm bowl of soup.
Callie, however, remained in her spot, curled up next to me.
"Love, why don't we go upstairs and talk? We can get in mine and mama's bed and get warm under the covers." I led her up the stairs into my room where she eagerly climbed under the blankets and laid down on Lena's side. I smiled sadly at the young girl. She looked so small and so vulnerable.
I got in on my side and laid next to her, our noses only inches from each other.
She sighed deeply and wiped a tear that had escaped her beautiful brown eyes. "I thought I was done." She whispered.
"Thought you were done with what, my love?" I reached my hand up to wipe away more tears that started to fall. Her sad brown eyes couldn't contain them any longer.
"I thought I was done aiming guns at people. I thought I would never have to pull a trigger if another human being was on the other end of the weapon in my hand." She shuddered and moved closer to me. "Am I going to go to jail?"
Her words made my heart feel like it was physically breaking. "No, Callie. You aren't going to go to jail. You were acting in self-defense and in the defense of others. That goes for Jude as well. The security cameras at the school will back that up."
"I'm so scared. I shouldn't be, though. We were trained to not be scared of these situations. Not before, during, or after." She snuggled right up next to me and grasped both of my hands. "Can we just stay here for a little while? I'm too tired to move."
"Of course we can. We'll stay right here for as long as you want." I kissed the top of her head and closed my eyes. The only thing in that moment that I wanted was for her to feel safe and loved. Sleep had claimed Callie's consciousness and was soon washing over me like waves at a beach. My eyelids became heavy and my fight to stay awake was soon lost to darkness.
Callie's POV
"Pull the damn trigger!" Liam's angry voice rang in my ears. It was my first time working with the new trainer and he'd done nothing but yell at me. "Pull the trigger right now or you can deal with the consequences later!"
My hands trembled and tears streamed down my face. But, I raised my index finger and pulled the trigger. Screams of pain erupted from across the room as 50,000 volts of electricity rendered my little brother physically incapacitated. I dropped the taser and fell to my knees. His cries echoed in my ears and I wanted more than anything to go comfort him. But, when I looked up he was being hauled away by two members of the medical team.
"You need to go to Commander Doran's office to fill out a disciplinary report." Liam grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and yanked me to my feet. He leaned close to me and whispered in my ear. "The next time you don't do what I say, you'll wish you wouldn't have been recruited. Get out of my sight, bitch." He shoved me away from him and walked towards the trainers' suite.
I collected myself and slowly made my way to the commander's office.
"Enter." Doran's voice came from behind the solid oak door following my three soft taps.
I opened the door and saluted her weakly.
"At ease, Alpha." Her eyes soften when she saw how distraught I was. "Sit down and relax. Bravo had to be disciplined. He punched an agent without reason or warning. You know that fighting isn't tolerated. And I especially can't allow for one of my operatives to assault a subordinate. This will teach him to act like a leader, not a child."
I wiped my tears with a tissue that she handed me. "I understand this, ma'am. I just hate seeing my brother in pain and I particularly don't like causing his pain." Finally, my tears had stopped and my anger had subsided slightly. "May I fill out the disciplinary report so I can return to the barracks?"
Doran exhaled loudly. "Yes, but I want it detailed. And the only reason you had to execute his punishment was because you are the superior officer. This will get easier, I promise."
I sat in her office for about twenty minutes describing the incident from earlier in the day. I signed the bottom and filed it.
I began the walk back to the barracks but was pulled into a storage closet unexpectedly.
"Let's see if you've learned to follow orders yet." Liam's heavy breath was hot against my neck. The little room was pitch black and I couldn't find my bearings. "Stand still, don't move, and don't you dare scream."
His body pinned me against the back wall and his lips were wet against mine. He moved his hands all over and lingered a little too long sometimes.
"Alright, now lay down and let me show you how I discipline girls like you."
My eyes popped open and I shot out of the bed, my heart and mind racing.
"Shhh, everything is fine. You're safe. You're home, Callie. Just breathe with me, love." Stef was to my side in an instant and Lena wasn't too far behind.
"No! Get off of me! Don't touch me, Liam!" I curled up in a ball and covered my ears with my hands. His name escaped my lips and I so desperately wanted to retract it.
"Callie, who's Liam? Was he one of the agents in the school?" Lena's soothing voice slowly eased the panic that was growing in my chest.
I sat up and pulled my knees to my chest, leaning against the bed. "No," I shook my head, "He's not one of the agents. He was a trainer. I really don't want to talk about it."
Stef and Lena sat on either side of me, each taking one of my hands in their own. "How about we just sit right here until you feel a little better. Does that sound okay?" Stef lightly drew circles on the palm of my hand as she spoke.
I nodded my head and closed my eyes. My breaths still were labored but they were starting to come easier. Images from New Intelligence were slowly dissipating and I was constantly being brought back to the reality I was in. I was home. I was safe. That's all that mattered.
After about fifteen minutes I felt calm again, but I was so comfortable in between Stef and Lena that I decided not to move. But Jude's voice pulled me out of my now-peaceful trance.
"Alpha, we need to talk about some things." Those were his first words since we walked out of the school. I shuddered when he called me Alpha.
"Jude, love, why don't you come sit with us." Lena offered a hand to him but he took a few steps backwards.
He shook his head and his eyes silently pleaded with me. "Alpha, please just come with me."
"No. You can either come in here or you can wait until later." I spoke firmly with him knowing he would give in.
He hung his head and heavily shuffled into the room. He took a seat across from me and pulled his New Intelligence laptop from the bag he was carrying. "We have to go through the database and see if any of the other chips were defective." His voice was robotic. He was reverting on me.
Stef and Lena shared a worried look. "Uh, what database? I thought you wiped those computers months ago?" Lena was obviously worried and her voice was lined with some amounts of anger.
"I couldn't do that. We would lose everything. I decided that it wasn't worth it in case we were ever in a situation like this." Jude was typing furiously on the keyboard.
I sighed and moved away from the comfort of my moms. I sat next to my little brother and eyed the screen. "So, as far as we know, only four chips were defective. Do you think they were just missed on when they were initially activated?"
"No, I triple checked to make sure I activated everyone's. Well, all but ours'. I don't know what happened but if the others start to fail, we could have a disaster on our hands."
"Okay, well begin the scan. I need to start formulating a plan in case any others are dysfunctional."
"We don't need a plan. All we do is find them via the GPS signal in the chips and eliminate them." Jude's words were like ice down my spine. He was so traumatized that he was completely regressing to Bravo.
"Hey, you need to snap the hell out of it, Jude! You know that we aren't going to do that." I hissed. "Look at me, dammit!" I grabbed his chin and forced him to face me. "Jude, I know you're in there. Please just remember who you are."
His eyes were empty. "There's no time for games right now." He pulled his face from my grip and turned back to the screen.
"Callie, what is going on?" Stef grabbed my hand, pulling my attention away from Jude.
"Everything from today traumatized him so much that he is reverting back to his New Intelligence ways. I can get him to snap out of it. But, honestly, it will be better to do it after we figure this mess out. He works better as Bravo instead of Jude." My eyes rimmed with tears. 'Snapping' him out of it wasn't going to be easy. It was going to be painful for him. But it had to be done, I didn't have a choice.
"The scan is complete." Jude's robotic words snapped me back to reality.
"Good, how is everything looking?" I leaned over his shoulder and read through the list.
Jude let out a breath of relief. "All of the other chips are working perfectly. I'll keep an eye on them to make sure nothing goes wrong."
"And if something does go wrong?" Lena joined the conversation nervously.
"I'll just have to reactivate it. As long as I catch it quickly nothing bad will happen. I'll set up an alert system. If one of them defects, the system on my computer will notify my phone. I can reactivate it from there." Jude closed his laptop and stood. He saluted me and waited for me to dismiss him.
"Jude, you aren't at New Intelligence anymore. You're at home. It's just been a hard day. You can remember, can't you?" I stood too, and talked soothingly to him.
Lena and Stef were on their feet as well, watching in awe.
I turned to face them. "Go to the other side of the room. I don't want you close to us in case he reacts."
"Wait, what?" They both said in unison.
I didn't have time to explain. Every second that I waited, Jude was slipping farther and farther away from me. I turned back to him and locked eyes with him.
"Jude, you are not Bravo anymore. That part of your life is over."
He flinched, almost like he was starting to remember. But he quickly shook it off and straightened his posture.
"Alpha, I am requesting that you salute me back so I may return to my work."
"Dammit." I took a step back and tightened my fist. "I'm so sorry Jude."
I swung as hard as I possibly could and landed the most solid punch I'd ever thrown squarely on Jude's lower cheek. He fell to the ground unconscious.
"Callie! What the hell did you do?" Lena ran to him and pulled his limp body into her arms.
"It was the only way to get him to come back to us. I had to do it a few months ago. He was triggered by something and started to revert. It's going to be fine." I shook my hand, trying to relieve it of the pain.
"Is he going to be alright?" Stef was obviously not happy with me but was deciding to choose her battles.
"He's going to wake up in a few minutes and he's going to be sore. But, he'll be back to the Jude you know and love."
Lena let out a nervous laugh. "Well, that's something I never thought I would see."
Stef returned the laugh. "I can't decide if I should ground you or congratulate you for one hell of a punch!"