Hello dear friends! It's been a while. Sorry it has taken me so long to get this episode out - warning: that's a sign that it is ridiculously long. Probably 10 chapters. It really is the climax of the Kasey/Mike storyline and there was so much I had to cover before Vigil! Also TheTBone kept requesting Stef/Kasey scenes for it so you can blame her if there are too many. Anyhow, the first chapter is probably the shortest but it's a set up and to tie up a couple of loose ends from episode 7. By the way, to the Guest who requested Stef beating up Liam - as much as I would love to write that I couldn't think of doing it in a way that would fit in! I'm sorry!
Once again, there will be a lot of Kasey in this episode so I hope you don't get bored. Adding too many more storylines was just too much to write, but I've tried to work in a few.
So, here it is and hope that you enjoy! Let me know your thoughts as I love to hear them! Oh, and last chance for scene requests for this episode!
"Oh come on! Timothy wins by a mile! He's got that sexy British thing going on." Kasey explained tossing a chip into her mouth.
"What? A bitter superiority when it comes to spelling and the household name for gelatine?" Cooper argued.
"Jelly makes more sense." she replied.
"Jelly is what you put with peanut butter!" Cooper slapped his fist down, igniting Kasey's smirk.
"I love how worked up you get about it." she teased. "It bugs you almost as much as my Mom!"
"This is why I don't usually hang out with you guys." Callie remarked, sipping at her water. "You're like a married couple who do nothing but fight and tries to out-do the other by leering at other people."
"You're more than welcome to go back to sitting by yourself and pining over Wyatt."
"I was not pining!" she protested immediately. "I was just...left alone."
Cooper flashed his eyebrows up with a smirk towards Kasey.
They were all distracted with the arrival of a small voice.
"Can I come sit with you?" Jude asked nervously.
"Uhm..." Callie and Kasey looked across in confusion. "Sure...but, shouldn't you be with the other kids in your grade, baby?" Callie asked.
"Callie, don't call me that at school." he whispered, embarrassed as Kasey smirked into her sandwich.
"Okay, sorry." Callie ruffled his hair. "Connor not in today?"
"No, he's sick. I hope he gets better before Saturday. I'm supposed to be staying over."
"That'll be fun!" Cooper smiled.
"Remember sleepovers, Cooper?" Kasey teased. "You know - before you got eternally grounded."
He pulled a face before collecting his tray.
"I don't even know why I put up with you. Here, Jude. Take my seat. I have to go discuss my history grade with Lemar. Hashtag ugh." he groaned as Kasey shook her head.
"Hashtag gonna be in even deeper shit." she quipped as he threw his empty bottle at her and walked away. She collected it and placed it next to her own.
"Come on the Jude, what's the gossip?"
"I have a quiz this afternoon on my English book." he signalled to the paperback he'd brought over that sat on the edge of his tray.
"Okay." Kasey laughed. "But what about your grade gossip. Where are we in the Paul/Amber saga?" Callie creased her eyebrows with a mocking smile as Kasey shrugged in embarrassment, once again giving away her guilty pleasure ever since her cinema date with the boys.
"You know I don't do gossip." he replied, more down-hearted than he usually would with either Kasey or Callie.
"Well OK, but you know there must be some people you talk to other than Connor." Callie brushed his hair with her fingers again as he jerked it away slightly.
"I don't really like hanging around without Connor. I don't feel as...welcome, I guess." he kept his eyes fixed on his tray as Kasey raised her eyebrows to Callie with a knowing look.
"Is someone picking on you?" Callie asked gently as Jude looked up at her in shock.
"No!" he barked. "Well, I mean. No more than anyone else " he shrugged taking a bite of his sandwich.
"I'll tell you what..." Kasey decided to intervene.
"Why don't we test you on your book, huh? Get in some practice?"
Jude nodded as Kasey picked up the book and began to flick through.
The three of them carried on until the warning bell and quickly panicked at how the time had flown.
"Oh my God, Jude you have to get back! You're gonna be late." Callie panicked, her Mom-mode in overdrive.
"Relax, Jude - trust me. Say you had a nose bleed."
He looked at her momentarily confused before Callie grasped his shoulders.
"And don't take advice from Kasey." we'll see you at home. She patted his back towards the school and he jogged back, the yard almost completely depleted.
"Well that was strange. He doesn't usually try and hide." Kasey observed picking up her things."
"Right? I know he doesn't have that many friends but that doesn't usually stop him from being over there." They bussed their trays and realised Jude's book was still with Kasey's.
"Ah crap, he's gonna need that." she picked it up and waved it to Callie.
"I'll take it..."
"No it's OK, I will. I've got Lesley - she won't mind being five minutes late. I'll catch you in English." she shouted back before Callie could protest.
"See you later, then..." Callie replied shaking her head at Kasey's ease of playing the system once again.
The hallways were now practically empty. She hadn't been deep in the middle school section in a while but realised she every inch of it like it was yesterday. What she didn't know however was where Jude's classroom was and she was deciding that may be crucial. She heard a noise coming from round the corner and was surprised and relieved to hear it was actually Jude's voice.
"I'm not scared of you." he mumbled.
"Then why were you hiding away at lunch? What happened? Your boyfriend off sick so you hide under your sister's skirt?"
"Connor is my friend, it's no different than you two bouncing over each other." he defended himself as the boys faces dropped. The taller boys slammed him into the locker again.
Kasey turned the corner and saw him pinned as another boy pried it open.
"What did you just say? Are you calling me a faggot?"
"Why would I use being gay as an insult?" Jude asked as Blake upped his agro and twisted him.
"You need a time out, Judy." He wrestled him along with ease and tried to contort him into the small space.
"Hey!" Kasey ran forward shoving one boy out of the way before ripping Blake off Jude. The other boy quicky ran off.
Jude staggered out, a look of terror at seeing Kasey.
She twisted Blake's arm round as he squealed in pain.
"Get off! Get off!"
"What's the matter? Can't take it?" she goaded, brimming with anger. She shoved him forward and he straightened his shirt.
"This is so not over Jacob!" he spluttered. "She can't protect you forever!" the insolence stirred Kasey into a laugh.
"Wow, you are as dumb as you look." She grabbed him again as he struggled.
"Kasey just leave him!" Jude protested.
"Do you want to say that again?" she asked, twisting him back to how she had him before.
"Because I'm not going anywhere!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he whimpered.
"You know I don't buy it. Maybe you're the one who 'needs a time out'"
"Kasey!" Jude still protested, falling on deaf ears again in her rage.
She shoved Blake back to where he had had Jude.
"How does that feel? She rammed his body into the confined space, barely needing any strength to do so.
"How long were you going to leave him in there, huh? Because I could get you in there and leave you for as long as it takes for you to promise to never touch him again."
"I promise! I promise!"
She began to ease before a chilling yell caused her to let go completely.
"Foster! Get to your Mom's office! Now!"
"Hey." Callie smiled at Wyatt as they waited outside their English classroom.
He nodded before looking away and turning his back.
"I've nearly finished your book. Should get it back to you tomorrow." she moved round slightly trying to get at least in his peripheral vision.
"Don't worry about it." he mumbled, turning away even further.
"Callie!" Cooper came bounding up. "You seen Kasey at all this afternoon?"
She turned to him, concerned. "Uhm, not since lunch. She not come back from the south corridor?" she questioned before realising Wyatt had already disappeared into the classroom.
"Maybe she got called away somewhere." she fobbed off an answer, still side tracked trying to chase down her former boyfriend.
"OK guys, settle down." Timothy called the class to attention doing a scan of the room. "Before we start, a reminder that we've reached half way point for your projects." there was a noise of grumbling, inducing a small laugh. "Cracking spirit there guys. Beautiful." he laughed. "I know you hate presentations but it'll all pay off. I reckon you'll long for presentations once you've had to fight your way through a college dissertation." he smiled. "Anyhow, as you know Carly left us last week so I'm looking for one of you in the larger groups to maybe join Jack and Julio. Any volunteers?"
"I'll do it." Wyatt instantly put his hand up, to the shock of both Callie and Timothy. Cooper lazily raised his eyebrows to Kasey's vacant seat, forgetting his gossip partner was MIA.
"OK...are you guys happy enough with that, Cooper, Callie , Ka- wait. Where's Kasey?" he folded his arms and looking to a distracted Callie.
"Either of you seen her?"
Callie averted her gaze from a brooding Wyatt to Kasey's empty seat.
"Last saw her at lunch." she finally shrugged.
"OK - well hopefully she returns by next class or I'll have to move you back, Wyatt. Otherwise that's fine with me. Boys?" he turned to Wyatt's new partners who both shrugged a nod."
"Alright." he clapped his hands together. "Now I'm going to pass around these worksheets -" he continued to murmur his instructions as Callie leaned over.
"You not like the way we were analysing?" she asked in return for another shrug and another bout of silent treatment.
"Good luck with that one..." Cooper whispered as Callie sighed and turned to him.
"Let's hope Kasey resurfaces before our meeting after school or who knows where you'll take it in all of our absences." he chuckled, alluding to his own still persistent grounding. "I hope you didn't do too much of Wyatt's work that he can now take over to the enemy."
Callie sighed taking the worksheet from Timothy. Right now she would do all of Wyatt's work if it meant she could get even a single word from him.
"Officer Stef Foster." Stef chirped down the phone, her eyes still on her computer screen. "Bill. Hi!" she immediately paused her work and gave him full attention.
"Hi Stef, I have some news. Last night I collected Sarah from the Olmsteads. She's been put in a new home. We were lucky enough to find one nearby."
"So she doesn't have to change schools?"
Bill paused. "Well, I'm afraid it doesn't quite work out as perfectly as that."
"Poor girl." Stef sighed shaking her head. The system was merciless. "At least she's safe I suppose." Stef knew they had done what was needed to be done but how she wished that it would be Liam that would suffer rather than Sarah.
"I have of course had to put an incident report on Callie's file. We can't just sweep something like this under the rug."
Stef nodded and leaned back in her chair. Yet another example of the perverse justice that something like this churned out.
"She's aware of that. Obviously none of us are happy with it but I'm assuming a two-hour rant to you wouldn't achieve anything more than wasting both of our times."
"Afraid not. There is of course the other matter, Stef."
She exhaled deeply.
"Charges?"
"I have to be honest with you here, it doesn't look good."
"I know Bill, I'm a cop. I really think that Callie deserves some level of justice though, even if it's just being able to scare the hell out of that spineless bastard. I have half a mind to serve it up myself."
The captain, passing at the worst possible moment, threw a look at Stef who quickly cleared her throat.
"I mean, but obviously I can't abuse my position." she quickly added as Roberts nodded and continued her journey.
"All I'm saying is that Callie needs to be realistic about her chances here."
"And she will be, I promise you. Look, I've already left a message or two for an ADA friend of mine. We'll wait and see what he says. Look, I'm not going to push her in any direction but Bill, if even the tiniest part of her wants to take this guy down I am going to be supporting her all the way. Don't try and convince me to do otherwise."
"OK, I trust your judgement. Just please get the facts."
"We will. And thank you for the news. I'll be in touch with what she decides."
They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone.
"Do you really think she's going to press charges?" Mike asked, peering above his monitor.
"Wow. Now I know where your daughter gets it from." she groaned rubbing her face.
"Hey, I am not taking any responsibility for her being so nosy. Or her not listening to a word I say, either." He mumbled.
"Mike. You promised - no Liam related I-told-you-sos. Kasey is on the edge with you right now and I do not need a teenage rebellion." Stef warned as Mike threw up his hands.
"And with Callie, I don't know. I have left a couple of messages with Simon from the DA's office. He's going to look into it and get back to me."
Stef's phone rang again. She was relieved to see it was the school, she could fill Lena in about the call she had with Bill.
"Hey babe." She answered instinctively before she sprang her head up embarrassed.
"Karina...I'm sorry. I have this number down as Lena work." Stef laughed before processing what a call from Karina could mean. "Hang on, is Lena OK?" She tilted her head in confusion as Sanchez spoke on the other end.
"Wait, wait, wait - Kasey did what? That doesn't sound...well yes...of course but...OK, we'll be there." She sighed, hanging up angrily and glaring at Mike.
"Know what I was saying about that teenage rebellion? I'm gonna go find Roberts, we have a meeting in the principal's office."
Next Chapter Preview: Tensions fly in the Principal's Office as Kasey deals with tough school protocol and the response of her parents.
"I think that the reason you're in this position now is because you got caught instead of reporting the kid who really needed to be, and for that no-one is to blame but yourself." Stef explained, trying to keep her tone explanatory.
"And past records aren't anything to go by then? Never mind the fact he's been in here countless times and this is my first?" Kasey further protested, turning back the topic to Karina's stance.
"It's hardly the first time you've been in trouble Kasey." Mike weighed in bitterly, also unable to keep out of the fight. The last thing Kasey needed was to have that dormant anger awoken.