AN: Just a suggestion - try reading the last section (Callie POV) with the song John Nordstrom - "Lost along the way" on the background. It might just set up the right mood ;)

Hope you enjoy :)

Callie POV

When mom and I arrived at the precinct, she guided me to the break room. I sat down on the sofa, that was in the room, while mom headed out to look if either one of the detectives are still here. The precinct looked less crowded. I didn't recognize any of the cops, that were at the precinct.

In the corner of the room stood a coffee machine. At first, I tried to resit the urge to make one small cup. But as time went on, my eyes kept moving back to the coffee machine. Mom had been gone for some 10 minutes now and I was getting kind of bored. Getting up from the sofa, I headed over to the coffee machine.

My finger linger over the choices of the coffee. It stops at the – mocha latte. I had no idea what it was, but it sounded tasty. I usually drank black, no milk, no cream. And I don't drink 4 cups a day. The only time I do drink coffee is in the morning. It helps me wake up. And mom doesn't really want me to drink more than once cup in a day.

But this coffee machine, weirdly, didn't have the choice of black coffee. It had all these different, weird names, like the mocha latte. I grab a clean cup from the table, assuming those cups were placed here for that. When I place the cup under and press the mocha latte choice, the doors to the room suddenly open, making me jump.

Mom walks in, along with an older looking man. It was the same guy, one of the guys, that mom was talking to, when I got here after school. Now that I had a better look at him, I came to conclusion he could be in his mid 40 maybe. The guy had slightly grey hair. He was wearing black suit pants and a light blue shirt on top. It was rare to see these days, but he had a tie around his neck as well.

Warily I look back to the coffee machine. I wasn't even sure if I could use it. Maybe it was strictly only for cops.

"Callie, this is detective Allen," Mom said when she closed the doors behind them

"Hi, Callie. Sorry, we have to meet under these circumstances" His voice was quite low, but his face and eyes were very friendly looking "Can we sit down and have a little chat?"

I once again looked at the coffee machine by my right "Your mom will get it to you, once it is done," Allen said and gestured to the sofa. I only noticed it right now, but had a folder in his left hand.

Recurrently I walked back to the sofa where I had sat before. Allen sat on the chair that was facing the sofa, keeping his distance from me and respecting my private space. There was a little table between us, he placed the folder on it. As he sat down, he held his tie for a moment.

"So, Callie, your mom said you might know who hurt Lena," Allen said to me. It wasn't formed exactly as question, it was more like a statement. But I knew, he wanted me to answer.

I bite my lower lip and look over to mom, who was now standing by the coffee machine, leaned back at the table. Part of me was scared of talking to him. What if I say something wrong or too much, or not enough, or what if I make it worse.

"It's okay Callie. Tell Allen what you told me in the car," Mom said softly, encouraging me to talk to him

When I looked back to the detective, I nodded my head back.

"Can you tell me his name?" Allen asked leaning forward, pressing his elbows to his knees

"Matthew Malloc" I sounded hoarse at first, but after I cleared my throat I repeated it louder and more clearer for him to understand

"How do you know him?" He tilted his head sideways a little, but he kept his eyes on me all time

Once again, I glanced to mom, before I replied. Mom gave me another head nod. "I was...He was my foster father. It was my fifth foster home"

"How old were you?"

"...12" I said after I glanced to mom again. I scratched my forehead as I started to think about it some more "No, um...I turned 13 when I lived there"

"How long was that?" Allen asked for more detail

"Few months...8, if I remember correctly" I answered, when mom placed the cup of coffee in front of me. She sat down next to me as I put both of my hands on the cup. Mom placed her hand on my back, when Allen kept on asking me questions about Mr. Malloc. Allen asked me about the time when I lived with him, about the time when he started to teach in Anchor Beach, about the attack on me in school, about the trial and lastly, but most importantly, about why I think, he was the one that attacked Lena. I think I was talking to him for over an hour. And the worst part of it - I had no idea if I was helping or making things worse.

Lena POV

November 25th

"Lena, baby" I hear a soft whisper in my ear. I blink my eye open and see Stef looking down at me lovingly. Her fingers were gently running over my forehead.

"Hmm..." I hum out, as I blink my eye few more times, to fully wake up

"How did you sleep?" Stef asked as she caressed my cheek carefully

"...um...fine. Considering I'm in hospital" I reply as I stir on the hospital bed, trying to sit up a bit "Thank you for staying with me"

"Always" Stef replies instantly and leans down to place a kiss on my forehead

"What time is it?" I asked as I turned my head towards the window, to see that it was light outside. My head felt lightheaded from the head movement. I closed my eye and waited till the dizzy spell passes and till my head stops spinning.

"Little over 7," Stef says, when I still had my eye closed "Lena, love, there are two detectives here. They want to talk to you. Are you up to it?"

"Detectives?" I open my eye and look towards the hospital room doors at once

"Yes. Detective Allen and Harrison. They are the lead detectives on your case," Stef explains as she moves to sit on the side of my bed

"I don't remember anything else. I already gave my statement when I talked to..." I could not remember his name all of a sudden. It was on the tip of my tongue.

"Diaz" Stef said for me, once she realized I don't remember his name "This will be a little different, love. They want to ask you more specific questions."

"Oh" I breath out "Okay, it's not like I have a choice"

"You do have a choice. I can tell them to come back later, if you are not up to it. If you are not feeling well, we don't have to do this right now," Stef said instantly, reassuring me, that I do have options and that it is up to me

"No, it's fine Stef" I placed my hand on Stef's forearm "I have to talk to them sooner or later, right? Might as well do it now"

Stef watched me closely for few seconds, before she nodded back "I will go get them, okay?"

Stef kissed my forehead again before leaving the room. I think I heard her talking right outside the room. The doors to my room opened few seconds later and Stef walked in with two men, who were both dressed in suits. Also, both of them had a folder in their hands. I watched as they both walked to the end of my bed. Stef once again took a seat next to my bed and held my hand.

Stef gestured to the two men and introduced them to me "Lena, these are detectives Allen and Harrison" each nodded their head, when Stef said their names

"We just have few questions," Detective Harrison said getting straight to the point as he opened the folder "Would you say, that you have enemies?"

"Enemies?" the words surprised me

"Anyone with whom you had some problems? Heated arguments? Altercation in public?" Harrison explained in some detail

"No" I replied after a little while of thinking about it. Nothing like that came to my mind at this moment.

"No jealous ex- girlfriends? Co-worker with whom you have had some trouble with?" Harrison added giving me some few more examples

"No" I kept the same answer, as I looked at the two detectives

"Does the name Matthew Malloc sound familiar?" Allen asked looking straight at me "Because we checked and saw that you have taken out a restraining order against him 9 months back"

"Oh my god!" I gasped as I remember him "I had completely forgotten about him!" Stef by my side seemed just as surprised to hear that name as I was

"Are you saying it was him? That he attacked Lena?" Stef asked back straight away. She tightened the grip on my hand.

"We are not sure yet. But he is on our suspect list" Allen replied to Stef, before he returned his attention back to me "Has he ever violated his restraining order against you?"

"No, I haven't heard or seen him"

"Tell us about Matthew Malloc?"

"Um…There's not much to tell. I barely know him. We worked together for few short days. One of our teachers got hurt in a car accident. We had to look for a substitute teacher, while our teacher was in hospital. He worked at the Jefferson High. We knew he was a great teacher so we hired him in the position of substitute teacher. Malloc didn't work at Anchor Beach for long, because we had to fire him few days later" I sad thinking back to the time

"Why was that?" Allen looked at me curiously

"Um..." I glance to Stef by my side "He hurt one of the students"

"Callie Quinn Scott" Allen opened the file in front of him and stated as he briefly glanced to Stef "The daughter of Stef's partner Amy Scott"

Stef straightened her back, when their names were mentioned. I got a little worried as well, I don t even know why. Something about detectives bringing up names of the people we know and care about I guess.

"Can you tell us what exactly happened that day?" Allen asked looking up from the file

"Well, um...Callie's friend, Mackenzie, ran in my office one day - it was after classes- telling me I had to follow her, because Mr. Malloc was with Callie" I explained looking between the two detectives

"Why couldn't Mr. Malloc be with Callie? Can't teachers and students talk in school?" Harrison asked trying to get the details. I had a feeling he already knew the answer to the question he asked.

"No, um...of course they can talk. But, it had come to my attention, that Mr. Malloc used to foster Callie and he used to be abusive towards her. I don't know any details, but I knew, Amy wanted Malloc fired from the position. She didn't want him to teach Callie" I glance to Stef next to me

Stef finishes my thought "Amy has always been very protective of Callie. We both know that Amy wouldn't want anyone near her daughter, who had hurt her before. I asked Amy about it. She confirmed it, but didn't go into any detail about it"

"Go on!" Allen said encouraging me to continue the story

"...I followed Mackenzie out to the front yard and saw Malloc dragging Callie towards the beach, away from school. He had a grip on her arm. Callie was trying to get away from him, but he didn't let her. He thought Callie was the one that wrote the letter the school board to have him investigate."

"Did she write it?" Harrison interjected quickly

"No. It was Amy, who wrote it. Callie told him, that she hadn't written anything, but he wasn't listening. When I confronted him, he said he was just talking with Callie. But I knew they weren't. We exchanged some words and he..." I paused as I remember the horrible ordeal, the bone breaking sound and Callie's scream that was filled with pain "He got really angry and broke…he broke Callie's arm right in front of me"

"Did he hurt you as well?" It was Harrison who asked that

"No, he only threatened me"

"Is that why you took out the restraining order against him?" Harrison asked to clarify. He glanced to Stef as well.

"Yes," Stef said in my place "I didn't want him near Lena!"

Allen and Harrison shared a look "We recovered a piece of evidence from the house. We believe the suspect dropped it, when he run away from the crime scene, being chased by officer Evans." Allen said as he reached for a page in the file "I am going to show you a picture of it."

Next moment detective Allen held up an image of a belt, which had a huge belt buckle on it. My mind flashed back to the morning, the second I laid my eyes on the belt buckle.

Flashback

When I slowly came to, I realized, that I was lying on the floor, on my back. I groaned out in pain as I rolled to my left side to try and get up. When I was on my fours, I opened my eyes. The moment I did, I saw how blood was dripping down to the floor. I felt the warm liquid pouring out of my nose, I tasted some of it in my mouth as well.

Moving my right hand up to my nose, I tried to stop the nose bleed. But the moment my hand touched my nose, I felt excruciating pain in my nose. I was breathing in through my mouth, because I couldn't do it through my nose. But my nose wasn't the only thing that hurt. My right eye was pulsing in pain. And every seconds that passed, it felt like I saw less and less with my right eye. When my fingertips touched my eye, I felt that my eye was swollen shut. It hurt by touch as well, but not nearly as much as my nose.

I tried to sit up on my knees, but I couldn't. My head was spinning and pounding so hard, I knew I would never be able to stand anyway. That's when I heard the footsteps. The next moment I felt a hand on my back. Someone pushed me back down to the ground roughly.

When I rolled on my back, I saw a tall figure standing over me. It took me a seconds till I put a name to the face. I pressed up on my left elbows as I stared back at him. The moment I looked at him in the eye, I realized, this was not going to end well for me.

"Matthew..." I got over my lips and started to crawl backwards, away from him "-don't...don't do this, please" I begged him. He didn't say anything at first. All he did was reach for his belt. His belt had a huge, silver belt buckle with an eagle on it.

"How nice to finally have you alone, Vice-Principal...Adams Foster" Matthew said as he pulled out the belt from his pants. The long belt now hung all the way down to the ground as he held it in his right hand. What was he going to do with it?

Matthew pointed to the wall, that had photos hanged up "You have a nice family" he said as he wrapped the belt around his right hand twice, to have a better grip on it

"Why are you doing this?" my question angered him

"WHY!? I lost my job because of you! You ruined my life!" He yelled at me coming my way with nothing but anger in his eyes "You have no idea how long I have been waiting...planning to do this..."

"It wasn't my fault! You hurt a student! If you hadn't-" I reasoned back, but I couldn't finish the sentence. All of a sudden Matthew raised his right hand up, along with the belt. The next thing I know, whip lash sound rung out in the room. Next second, I felt an excruciation pain on my arm as I had managed to raise it up, to protect my head from his belt.

End of flashback

"Lena!" Stef's voice brought me out my memory "Honey, look at me!" Slowly I turned my head to Stef as I kept on breathing heavily, with the memory of my attack still fresh in my mind. I was shaking slightly as I was reliving it in my mind.

"It's okay, honey. You are safe. I got you" Stef said softly, soothing me. She whispered sweet nothing in my ear till I calmed down a little, till I got my voice back.

"It was him," I breathed out looking at Stef and then I glanced up to the detectives "Malloc attacked me!"

"Are you sure?" Allen asked

"Yes!" I said frustrated that they doubt me "It was him. He was in our house. That is his belt. He used it to hit me...I remember the belt buckle. The eagle..." I looked down to my arms, to see the marks he left

"He did this!" I said with tears forming in my eyes

Stef POV

"I will be right back" I kiss Lena on her cheek "I just want to ask them one question" I told Lena after Allen and Harrison had left the room to head back to the precinct.

I wanted to ask them about the forensics. When Allen had showed the image of the belt, it sounded to me, he already knew that it belonged to Malloc. But that couldn't be. There was no way, he could have known that. He told me himself, the forensics will take few days. It takes time to process evidence, get fingerprints off and compare them. It takes time and certainly, it can't be done overnight.

"Don't be too long, please" Lena replied quietly

"I will be back in a minute!" I reassure her before I hurry out the doors, after Allen and Harrison. They were walking down the hall, talking to one another. I hurried after them. When I had almost caught up with them, I heard a part of their conversation.

"-I can't believe Callie was right" Harrison said to Allen "I mean, she recognized who attacked Lena, just by marks on Lena's hands..."

"I know!" Allen agreed nodding his head back "Well, now we have two people who recognize the belt. Both confirmed it was his. We have a motive as well. Now all we need is for the forensics to come back and-"

"Allen?" I call out as I come to stop in the hallway. They both stopped and turned around. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I stared at the two of them, still in disbelief. Callie knew? When did she talk to them? How could she have known it was Malloc?

"Stef..." Allen said, I could tell he knew that I overheard them talking. They both looked kind of guilty. Harrison glanced to Allen, with a worried look in his eyes.

Callie POV

I had just returned home and for the time being, I was home alone. Mom was still at work and she probably won't be home till 6-ish. After I had changed out of my school clothes, I got straight to the homework. Some 30 minutes later, I decided to take a small break. I went back downstairs to find some snacks, that I could bring back up to my room.

Just when I had my head in the fridge, the doorbell rang out. I place the soda back in the fridge, close the fridge and head to the front doors, wondering, who could it be.

Stef stood on the other side "Hey-what are you doing here?" I was quite surprised to see her here. I thought she would be with Lena 24/7 these next few days.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," Stef said as she walked inside. I close the doors behind her and gesture her to head to living room.

"How's Lena?" I ask when we walk to the living room to sit down "Is she still in hospital or-"

"She's home. Resting." Stef said as a small smile appeared on her lips "Brought her home 6 hours ago. The kids are all at home with her."

"That's really good news!" I was glad that she was okay and could go back home. I opened my mouth to ask Stef if I could go see Lena tomorrow after school, but Stef spoke up first.

"Yeah...um, listen..." Stef rubbed her hands together nervously "I don't exactly know how to...bring this up, so I am just gonna ask you, okay?" I had no idea what she wanted to talk about, but boy, I have never seen Stef so nervous

"Okay" I nod back and watch Stef closely. She was usually the one that could keep eye contact, but not this time. Her eyes were all around the place – me, her hands, floor.

"Um, Lena was talking to detective Allen and Harrison this morning. About the case. And uh, after that...I kind of...uh, overheard them discussing it..." Stef said and stirred in her seat, the nervousness only grew "and uh...your name came up"

My body tensed up, while Stef's look and voice softened "What I am trying to ask, is...uh, how did you know it was Matthew Malloc, who attacked Lena... even before Lena did?"

Tears formed in Stef's eyes as she continued, now sounding desperate "Because I have been trying...I have been trying to think of something... some way how you could have possibly known that it was Matthew Malloc who attacked Lena..." Stef shook her head as tears appeared in her eyes "...And I can't! I can't...I can't think of anything else then-" Stef took in a shaky breath as one tear rolled down her cheek "-He did it to you! He hurt you...like that..."

"What do you want me to say?" I asked her in half whisper, as tears clouded my sight. Seeing Stef like this was hard. I had never seen her this vulnerable and so hurt. Never had I imagined, that I would see Stef at her breaking point. She always seemed so put together, so strong, so composed. Maybe that's why it was so hard to see her at her weakest.

"Tell me I'm wrong!" Stef pleaded with a desperate look in her eyes "Please tell me I'm wrong, Callie! Please!" The tears were lingering in her eyes, threatening to fall. Her lower lip started to whimper as she waited for me to answer.

"I can't tell you that!" I reply to her, keeping my voice steady, gazing to her eyes "I don't want to lie to you"

Once I said that, Stef covered her face with her palms as she sobbed out. Her sobs, shattered my heart in thousand little pieces.

Was she crying for me? Crying for what had happened to me? That's what it felt like. But why? Did I really mean that much to her? I never thought she cared and loved me to this extent. I never realized I was worth the tears...When did that happen? How did I miss it? What did I do to deserve the love?

I got up from the couch and walked over to the armchair on which Stef was sitting on. I took a seat on the arm holder and placed my hand on her shoulder blade. The moment my hand touched her back, Stef leaned towards me. She pressed her head to my chest, her left ear resting right on top of my heart, and wrapped her arms around me, like holding on to me for dear life, as she continued to cry.