AN: Sorry for the late upload, been busy. I'm working on more Foster fanfics.
Lena's POV
This is a bad idea, somehow Stef had convinced me to let her teach the kids self defense. Mariana didn't want to do it and I understood her. I wanted to jump in and tell Stef that this was a bad idea. However I needed to trust her judgment and I tried.
After Mike and Jax arrived things got worse. Stef was able to convince Mariana to stay for a bit. Jax seemed to be trying to provoke Callie, and she looked annoyed.
Stef asked Mike to help her demonstrate. I decided to go inside and grab a few cold waters to bring outside. I returned outside and put the waters on the small table of the back porch.
I looked to see how it was going, it was going as expected. Stef was trying to help Mariana and Jude figure it out. Mariana looked annoyed, Jude looked tired already. Brandon and Jesus were playing around while Mike was trying to help them. Jax and Callie were practicing but I could tell Jax was still trying to provoke her.
I couldn't tell what he was saying, he seemed to be keeping his voice down. Callie still looked pretty annoyed until Jax said something and she finally responded. He told her something, then her demeanor changed. She went from annoyed to angry.
This wasn't good, I tried getting Stef's attention to warn her but she was too busy and concentrated on helping Mariana and Jude.
Callie's POV
Jax and I were practicing our defensive moves. We had to play dumb of course, we both knew how to fight already. Kennedy had taught me and I taught Jax. My methods had been easier than Kennedy's methods. Another big difference between Kennedy and I was that I didn't teach Jax everything I knew. I only taught him a few things.
I didn't want him to possibly take advantage of being able to fight. Despite him trying to make me mad he didn't intend to cause a real fight until he whispered something.
"Fight me like you would fight Kennedy. I want a real fight against you. I've been practicing and training, I know I can fight you." This angered me, he didn't know how he trained me. He didn't know what a match like that was. Or what it meant.
"You don't want that." I whispered back. "Trust me I do. Let me fight you, like you fought him." "If we start a fight like that, we have to finish it." I told him. "I know."
Everything started to slow down. I looked over at Stef, she was busy with Mariana and Jude. I saw Mike with Brandon and Jesus goofing around while training. This was nothing like Kennedy's training. I looked at Lena and she was trying to get Stef's attention.
I stood up and took a few steps back.
I was in the forest with Kennedy again. It wasn't a dream, this was a memory.
I took a deep breath.
"Take a deep breath. That's the very first thing." Kennedy explained.
Jax stood up and got into a fighting stance and I did as well.
"Get in a fighting stance." I do and he comes closer. Then he pushes me to the floor. "See that, your stance is weak. Plant your feet and keep your balance." He told me.
I stood up and followed his instructions, he pushed me again. I didn't fall, then he pushed me again with more force. I fell to the ground. "Get up and do it again. If I can push you, you're weak." He told me.
He kept this cycle until he wasn't able to push me so easily.
I looked my eyes on Jax.
I felt a hard impact on my face. "Keep your eyes on me." He demanded. "Track my movement."
Jax launched the first hit and I backed up to avoid it.
"Don't hit first, wait for them to hit." He said before launching a punch, I stepped back avoiding his hit.
Jax continued to launch punches. While I avoided them, I watched the pattern and noticed his footing was rushed and unsteady. We were feet away from the mat.
"DON'T!" I heard Lena warn us. I saw from the corner of my eye, everyone's attention was on us.
For a second I lost my focus and Jax launched another punch.
Another impact on my face. "Don't lose focus, but if you do, you have less than a second to make a decision. Don't overthink it. Make a decision."
I moved my head and grabbed the arm that he launched toward me. I turned my body causing him to flip over and drop him. However he didn't drop flat, he rolled and protected his head. I remember that was one of the few things I taught him.
Kennedy dropped me, causing me to fall flat. "Next time roll and protect the face."
"ENOUGH, YOU TWO!" I heard Lena yell. However Jax and I were in our own world.
Jax quickly stood up and started punching. He landed a few but I managed to recover quickly.
Stef and Mike had started heading toward us but were on the other side of the backyard at this point.
"The most important thing. Fight for your life."
"JAX!" Stef and Mike yelled as Jax tried kicking my face. I swatted down to avoid and kick the other leg. He fell onto his back, and stood up in pain. He started running toward me, he was going to tackle me. It was a desperate move out of anger. I waited until he was closer to step forward and jump as I raised my right fist. By the time he realized what I was planning it was too late.
I was on my way down and my fist made contact with his face. He fell to the ground and I grabbed his arm.
"We don't stop until one of us breaks a bone or is left unconscious."
"I can't fight you like I fought him or else your arm would be broken. We didn't fight for fun, we fought to not break a bone." I told him angrily, before letting go of his arm.
I felt someone pull me back and instinctively I started to fight against the person.
"Stop Callie." It was Stef, I didn't want to hurt her so I stopped struggling.
Mike helped Jax up then Jax looked at me and slowly started laughing. Mike looked puzzled. "Dude! You just Super punched me." Jax said then continued to laugh. Stef let go of me, I think she knew I wasn't going to hit him. "Shut up, I'm never doing it again." I told him.
"Are you kidding? That was awesome. It hurt but it was awesome." I started laughing along with him.
"I'm glad you two are having fun." We turned to see Lena marching this way, oh no. I looked at Jax and he looked at me. This was going to be bad.
"This is why I didn't want you teaching them this…" "She didn't." I interrupted Lena who was about to reprimand Stef. "Callie…" Lena tried staying composed.
"No, I'm not done. Stef didn't teach me how to fight. Kennedy did but I just didn't want to remember because of the way he trained me." I looked at Jax. "See what you saw wasn't the whole picture." I turned back to Lena. "It was never as friendly or simple as that." I pointed to where the siblings were, who are watching me now.
"It was a fight to see who would be able to hit stronger or faster. We didn't stop until one of us broke a bone or passed out. Which by the way, we never went to hospitals for. We had to wait for one of his doctor friends to show up. When we were lucky they would be there within hours but when we weren't we had to wait weeks with the pain. And when we weren't fighting to keep our bones intact he managed to teach me in other slightly less painful ways. He had me kick and punch trees until my bones were nearly broken. For a while I thought he was just torturing me but after we left that house, I realized that the punches and kicks I received afterwards were bearable because of what he taught me. The fighting he taught me saved me and Jude from a lot. And I can tell you right now, I didn't use full force on the punch I gave Jax. So don't blame Stef for how Kennedy taught me to be." I said.
Everyone was in shock, I never realized how bad it sounded until it came out of my mouth.
"Kids go inside, all of you." Stef was the first to snap out of the shock. Everyone just headed inside while Lena, Stef and Mike talked outside.
Brandon and Mariana went up to their rooms, while Jax and I grabbed ice from the kitchen. Jude and Jesus were sitting at the kitchen counter.
Jax and I had bruises on our face and now ice packs on them. "That was a cool super punch." Jesus told me. "She took that from one of the Superman movies we watched as a kid." Jude told him. "Can we not make a big deal about the punch. I was just trying to prove a point." I said.
"Did you ever win against him?" Jax asked.
"No, I managed to get a few ties with him but I never won." I admitted. "Maybe you should prepare to fight him again." Jax said. I looked at him confused.
"Why would I fight him again?" I asked. "Mike told me he's out on bail while he waits for his court date. And he may or may not have found me and talked to me." "Do you tell Mike?" Jesus asked.
"Not yet, and I don't think we should." Jax expressed. "Why not? Mike and Stef can do something about him." Jude jumped in. "Because it's not that easy. He hasn't threatened us or anything. Besides, we kind of need his help." I started explaining. "We do?" Jax asked, confused.
I looked at Jesus and Jude. "I need you two to promise to not say anything. It's really important." I told them. They thought for a minute, then Jesus answered. "Promise."
Jude took another minute. "I'm not sure I can, Callie. Moms have been good to us. Why do you want to risk that? Why are you still doing these things, we're going to be adopted." He said. I wanted to respond and tell him that we're not adopted yet but I couldn't. I would break his heart, especially after he called them moms. Instead, I stayed silent and he got up and went upstairs.
"What did you want to tell us?" Jax brought the previous conversation back.
"Um so, Kennedy knows I have the journal." I told them. "What journal?" Jesus asked.
"When we were at the cabin, I found a journal. It was full of names and pictures. I don't know why but I couldn't leave it to the police. I didn't trust them to find and help these people, if they are alive." Jax explained.
"So what? You're just carrying an illegal piece of evidence and hope moms don't find out?" Jesus asked. "She's been doing a great job so far." Jax commented.
"It's not his kill list." I interrupted the start of a possibly very heated argument. "What do you mean?" Jax asked. "It's a list of missing or kidnapped kids. He told me." I explained. "He talked to you in person too?" Jax asked.
"You two realize that he's a dangerous man right? He killed your brother and he almost killed you." Jesus reminded both of us. "We know but…" Jax was going to explain but Stef, Lena and Mike walked in.
Stef's POV
The kids had just walked inside before we began to talk. "Lena, I'm sorry. You were right, this was a bad idea." I said. "Maybe it wasn't." Mike said. "Mike…" "Just listen." He interrupted me.
"I don't know about you but I've never seen Jax or Callie fight. Or laugh for that matter." Mike pointed out.
"So what? We just let them fight it out, until one of them gets hurt." Lena asked sarcastically. "No, not exactly. Something is clearly bothering Jax and maybe fighting is his way of getting out. The only people who he has talked to since were Alex and Callie so he doesn't know how to talk to others. I doubt Callie knows how to express her feelings in words. Does she? He asked Lena.
"No she doesn't." Lena confirmed, I think Lena was starting to understand what he was trying to say. "We might have another Jesus. He's recently joined the wrestling team." I said, with context so Mike wouldn't be lost.
"I know that fighting is a way to let out what they're feeling but are we sure that's how they need to let out their feelings? I don't want them using violence if they don't have to." Lena expressed her concerns.
This gave me an idea but I'm not sure Lena is going to like it.
"There is one way we can find out if it is their way of expression." I said. "We are NOT letting them fight each other." Lena stated. "They aren't fighting each other." I tried to calm her worries but it only made her and Mike confused.
I explained my idea to them and as expected Lena didn't agree with the idea. Mike thought it was reasonable. It took a minute to convince Lena but I managed to. Then we headed inside, they looked to be in the middle of a conversation.
"So we have discussed it." Lena started. "And we want the two of you to go outside." I jumped in. The three of them looked confused. "What?" Jax asked. "You heard her, Jax and Callie outside." Mike told them. As confused as they were, the two of them walked outside.
"On the mat, both of you." I instructed. They walked over to the mat. I looked at Mike and he nodded. We both walked over to the mat. Mike stood in front of Jax and I stood in front of Callie.
"What? Are we going to fight the two of you?" Jax said jokingly. "Yeah, you are." Mike said. Jax and Callie were now even more confused as before. "Since the two of you want to fight, you're going to fight us." I explained.
"I'm not going to hit you." Callie said then tried walking back inside, only for me to push her back.
"Now we're talking." I heard Jax say.
"This is dumb." Callie tried walking away and again I pushed her back to the mat. "I'm not going to hurt you." Callie said. Then it clicked, she was only trying to run from the fight because she was afraid of hurting me. That's why she didn't try to fight Jax earlier. She only hit him to make him stop.
"You think you're going to hurt me? I'm not fragile Callie, I know how to hold my own." I told her.
Jax and Mike started fighting, and Callie looked over to them. I took the chance and grabbed her into a hug from behind. She didn't try fighting against me.
"Come kid, what's bothering you?" Mike asked Jax while they fought. "I don't know what you're talking about." Jax responded. He took a small glance over to us and tried provoking Callie.
"You really going to let her win, CJ?" Jax was purposely trying to get a reaction from Callie. Why didn't I see that earlier? Lena had mentioned Jax trying to aggravate Callie. "Your fight is over here Jax." Mike kept Jax's focus on him.
I let go of Callie seeing as this wasn't working. She was focused on Jax, it seemed as if she was making sure he was ok. I looked over to the porch where Lena, Jesus and now the rest of the kids were.
"This isn't working, come on Cal." I signaled for her to follow me to the porch. However she didn't move. "Callie." I called her.
"She's mad." Jude said. I was confused, she didn't look mad. She was annoyed but not mad. In fact right now she had her full focus on Jax.
I looked at Jax and Mike. Mike had a good handle on things but Jax was holding his own. However despite Mike being able to handle Jax, Jax had a grin on his face. I couldn't tell if he was trying to make Callie mad or he was enjoying the fighting.
I looked back at Callie then saw what Jude was talking about. She was angry but her face didn't show it. She had her fists clenched, almost turning her knuckles white.
"Since you can't defend yourself, you'll be his next victim, CJ." Jax told her. That was her breaking point. She was going for him, I quickly grabbed her and pulled her back.
I let her go but got in between her and Jax and Mike.
"You want to get him, you have to fight me first, Callie." I told her.
Without a word she started launching a few punches. I blocked and dodged them pretty well. I quickly dodged another punch and grabbed her the way I did earlier. This time she fought against me, trying to get out. I expected her to be able to get out, what I didn't expect was her stepping backwards.
I began to push forward trying to keep us on the mat. That's when she used it against me. She twisted her body to the side and fell on her knees causing me to flip over her. I fell onto my back, did this kid really flip me over?
"OH." I hear the kids go. "Are you ok honey?" Lena asked. Before I could respond I heard Callie. "It's ok if you want to quit." I looked at her and she was attempting to hide a smile, but she was failing badly. I stood up and she looked surprised. "I'm not a quitter." I told her. "Good." I heard her whisper, as she got into a fighting stance.
She tried tackling me but I managed to push her to the mat. "You ok?" I asked but she got up and got into her fighting stance. I expected her to start punching but she didn't.
In fact she stood there in her stance for a few seconds until I saw Jax behind her. He tried doing the same punch Callie had hit him with on Mike but he moved out of the way. Jax was going straight for Callie.
In a swift motion Callie blocked and flipped Jax over her shoulder. "Don't try copying me again." Callie told him. That's all it took for me to realize Callie was exhausted but she refused to say it.
"I think that's a point to end it on." I announced as Callie helped Jax up. "Afraid I'll beat you?" Callie asked me in a cocky tone. Where is this coming from? "I'm a great influence on you." Jax told Callie.
They both become different people when they're with each other. They have some kind of influence on each other.
"Ok guys let's go inside now." Mike backed me up. "Sure, old man." Jax commented. "Dude!" Brandon almost yelled. "Relax, he's joking." Callie said with a smirk. Brandon looked at his dad then me. I just shrugged.
"Come on. Or are you too tired?" Callie asked, getting into her fighting stance. Funny coming from her. She's the one who was tired and she refused to stop. I guess I'll have to tire her out.
I decided to take the initiative this time and through a punch. She easily blocked it. She's good, whatever he taught her she clearly remembers. I tried tackling her, I went for her waist and tackled her to the floor.
I heard a gasp, it was Mariana's. I could tell from her tone. Before I could try and see why she reacted like that, Callie tried getting me into a headlock but I picked her up on my shoulder. She kept wiggling so much that I couldn't keep my grip on her and she fell on her stomach.
Callie struggled to get up, something was wrong. "Ok, you win." She said as she stood up. "You okay?" I asked. "I'm clearly rusty. I need to get back into fighting." She stated. That's not what I meant, she didn't even acknowledge the fact that she was tired.
I looked to check on Jax and Mike but they were on the porch. "What happened?" Callie asked. "I lost." Jax said.
"So are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Mike asked. "Fine. I'm mad that after everything, Kennedy is still free. But what makes me more angry is that after all this time, you've never once cried for Xavier or Mindy." Jax said as he looked at Callie and stood up.
Is this kid not tired yet? "Because I already have and I'm not going to do it a second time." Callie told him as she stepped closer, the second she did, she instantly stepped back. What's going on?
"What's wrong?" Jax asked. Everyone but me looked worried. I couldn't see her face because I was slightly behind her. I began to step closer to get a better look at her face but she walked toward the gate.
"I'll be right back." She said opening the gate door.
"Where are you going?" Lena asked, stealing the words out of my mouth.
"The store I'll be right back." She answered. Then she ran off.
"Should I go after her?" I questioned. I didn't know what happened or why she left so suddenly.
"Ok, don't be mad." Mariana said. What did she do?
"Does it have to do with Callie?" I asked.
"Yes." She answered. "Spill." I told her. She clearly knew something.
"Callie has a bruise on her side from juvie. She told me not to tell you guys because it didn't hurt her. I was going to tell you guys but then I was mean to her and I didn't want her to be mad at me again." Mariana explained. Oh great, not only did I not know this, I probably made it worse.
"Since when did you know?" Lena asked. "Since the funeral, she wasn't in any pain at the time. She looked like she didn't know it was there." Mariana tried excusing herself.
"I'm going after her in the car." I told Lena, then I went inside to grab the keys and went after Callie.
Callie's POV
I was on my way to the store when a man stopped me. "Hey, is your name Callie?" He asked. Two other men were behind him. I'm guessing these are the guys Talya was talking about.
"Depends who's asking?" I didn't want to confirm anything.
The men folded their arms. "I'm asking." The man said.
I couldn't fight them right now I had just fought Jax and Stef. I didn't have the energy to. I felt the pain from my side. Maybe, I didn't need the energy, just the adrenaline.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. What do you want with her anyways?" I asked.
"Do you think we're stupid?" He was angry.
"Do you really want me to answer that?" I asked. "YOU LITTLE BITCH!" He yelled before punching me in the face. He tried hitting me again but I grabbed his arm and kicked him into the glass of the nearby store. Causing the glass to break as he fell through.
The other two guys tried to grab me but I backed up. One of them tried to punch me, I grabbed his arm and flipped him over. The other tried tackling me but I swiftly moved out of the way.
I was already almost out of adrenaline. When he tried around I gave him a good kick to the jaw. He fell back to the floor. I felt someone touch my shoulder.
I turned around ready to fight. "Wow, Cal. Not here to fight." Stef told me. "Mom?" Oops. I let it slip out, while trying to catch my breath.
She had a shocked look on her face. "Yeah." She said with a smile. "Are you okay?" She asked. I nodded and answered. "Yeah, I'm okay." "Yeah?" She asked again and I nodded and she hugged me. I think she was a little excited that I accidentally called her 'mom'.
After a while the police came, Stef's co-workers. They arrested the men, after going to the station and giving our statements we went home.
Stef explained what happened to Lena and Mike while I talked with Jax in the living room.
"I'm sorry." I apologized. "I'm the one who should apologize. I just thought you really didn't care. After all that you've done for us, and I forgot who you are." Jax said. "It's ok. I understand. You want someone else to understand what you're feeling." "I can always count on you, for everything." He stated.
The adults came back in and Mike took Jax home.
Stef and Lena sent me to get some rest and I went upstairs to my room. As soon as my head hit the pillow I fell asleep.
Stef's POV
"Do you remember a few days ago, how you told me Jude called you 'Mama' and didn't notice?" I asked Lena.
During their protest Jude came to her to ask her a question about school and Jude called her 'Mama' without noticing. She was excited to tell me about it, she nearly jumped through the roof.
"Yes." She answered. "After Callie fought those guys off, I went to check if she was ok and she called me 'mom'." I tried containing my excitement but I felt the same way Lena did when Jude called her that.
That made my entire week, we went upstairs to check on Callie but she was asleep.
"That's the first time I've seen her sleep without her having a nightmare." Mariana whispered from her bed.
We signaled her to follow us into our room and she did. Mariana had told us Callie was having nightmares but we thought since she hadn't told us anything that the nightmares had stopped.
We entered our bedroom and shut the door. "Is she still having nightmares? We thought they stopped?" Lena asked.
"So did I, for a while I hadn't woken up to her moving and saying things." Mariana said. "You didn't tell us she said anything the other time." I encourage her to explain.
"That's because it was only the one time before. I didn't want to say it before because I thought it was kind of creepy but that night that you went to Ana's house. She kept saying your name in her sleep and she said something else…" Mariana looked uncomfortable. Lena and I waited.
"She said, 'I couldn't save her, but I can get justice for her.' Then when she woke up she told me she was sorry that he shot you. That was before Mama told us you were in the hospital." Mariana explained. I have more questions than answers.
What in the world did Callie mean by that and did she do something stupid? How did she know I was shot?
"You said before, what has she said recently?" Lena asked.
"She says a lot of names from what I can remember, it's mostly Kennedy, Xavier, Jude, and Liam. She sometimes says phrases but some of them I don't really hear. But there are a few that she says pretty often like, 'keep fighting', 'it's kill or be killed', 'I need to save them', 'I can protect them' and 'it was my fault'. She says some pretty scary things in her sleep. Sometimes she wakes up and I pretend to be asleep, but she's always out of breath." Mariana explained further.
I looked at Lena and she was as shocked as I am.
Before we could ask anything else, our bedroom door opened. "Moms, somethings wrong with Callie." Brandon told us. We followed him to the room, Jesus was just outside the girl's bedroom door. He stepped back and out of the way allowing us to enter. Jude was inside, he was putting sunglasses on Callie who was sitting up on her bed.
When he grabbed headphones from her nightstand he saw us and looked at Brandon annoyed. "I told you, I had it handled." He whispered, he seemed to be annoyed that Brandon came to get us. "What's…" "Shhh." He shushed Lena. Did he really just do that?
"Sorry, you have to whisper. She's still asleep." He whispered. "What happened?" Lena asked again in a whisper. "She's having a nightmare." Brandon whispered. "A memory, but that's not the problem." Jude said. "Then what is?" I whispered, if it wasn't her reliving the worst times of her life then what could possibly be a bigger problem than that.
"Her senses are heightened, it usually happens while she's awake." He explained.
"What do you mean?" I didn't understand what he meant by that.
"It means everything is brighter, louder, the temperature is more extreme and she feels pain more than usual. While she's in her memories she feels the pain more as well. We have to wait until she wakes up on her own. Right now it doesn't matter if we try to wake her up, she can't wake up. She's stuck in her memory and she's the only one who can get herself out. All we can do is sit and wait." Jude explained further.
I'm not going to stand here and wait while my daughter is stuck relieving hell. I was going toward her but Lena stopped me. She gave me a 'don't do it' look. This was frustrating having to wait for her to…my thoughts were interrupted by Callie twitching.
Was that normal? I looked over a Jude and he was watching her carefully as if trying to see what exactly was happening in the 'dream'.
"Let's go." Brandon whispered but only Jesus left with him.