She shouldn't have brought him, she should have fought him harder.

Callie slides her eyes to Brandon, watches his leg bounce up and down, his fingers tap a rhythm on his knee to a beat only he can hear.

He looks nervous.

She has a bad feeling about this.

As the bus stops to pick up more passengers, Callie mentally plans out her rescue mission.

Her stomach turns, the fact that Jude needs to be rescued makes her physically ill. She left him unprotected, her baby brother, the last good and pure thing in her life.

Even as she thinks it, she knows it isn't true. The system has corrupted them both. Callie has borne the brunt of it, but Jude has not escaped unscathed.

She takes a deep breath and tries to shake the thought from her head. She feels Brandon shift in the seat beside her.

She sighs.

Brandon.

She could tell that Brandon was the type of person that followed the law to the letter, did what he was told by his parents, never broke the rules.

She catches sight of his reflection in the window across from them no longer obstructed by a little old lady. His eyes, which are currently darting back and forth as though he expects at any minute to get caught, are soft and kind, like he grew up being doted on by two loving and caring mothers. He was probably taught by those same mothers, to love and care for others.

Its not his fault he's here, he was just raised right.

She realises that this situation she has dragged him into is probably exactly what Stef and Lena were worried about. She is putting their son in danger and she knows they will never forgive her for this.

She feels guilty, but Jude needs her and he will always come first.

She knows she wont let anything happen to Brandon, that's not her style. She is the protector, always has been, she is the one who shields and guards, not the damsel in distress. She knows that if this goes as horribly wrong as she has a feeling it will, she will be able to protect him, even if she has to trade her life for his.

He is worth it.

Not to her, she could happily step off the bus and never see him again and not spare him a second thought. Its not that she cares about him at all, its that someone does.

If something happened to Brandon, his mothers would be devastated, his brother and sister, the twins, would be lost. The kids at school, his friends, his girlfriend -people would miss him.

He is worth something in this world, he is worth something to people, he matters to them and for that reason alone, she would risk her life for his.

Because she doesn't have that.

She has Jude. Her baby brother. She is all the people in his life, his mom, his dad, his sister, his whole family. Everything she has done in the past six years has been about him, has been for him.

Every beating she took was one he didn't have to. Every meal she didn't eat was one he did. Every injustice she suffered in silence, was so that she could stay with him, so that she could protect him.

But for all her effort, she has still let her brother down more times than she can count. She protects him from the physical blows, but even she cant fight the monsters she can't see, the monsters that don't have a face or a foster license.

Loss. Fear. Abandonment.

Not even Callie, with all her bravery and strength, can protect Jude from the emotional scars the system has inflicted on them both.

That wont stop her from trying.

She will never give up on him because they are a team, her and Jude, he saves her just as often as she saves him.

She protects him and he gives her a reason to keep doing so. She guards his body, and he guards her heart. He keeps her grounded in a way Callie didnt know she needed until she got landed in juvie and didnt have him to keep her together.

Apart from Jude, she was worthless to everyone else. She had been told as much by nearly every foster parent she'd lived with to date.

On her worst days in juvie, she thought maybe they were right. Maybe she was more of a hindrance to Jude.

He is a cute kid, he has an adorable smile and a sweet demeanour about him, something she had fought hard to ensure he kept.

If they weren't a package deal, he could be adopted by a family that would be able to love and support him in ways she couldn't.

But while without her Jude could get adopted, he could just as easily be sent to another foster home, a worse foster home. That's the only thing that keeps her fighting, that keeps her from leaving him behind, the knowledge that while things could be a lot better, they could also be worse.

That is why she is doing this, risking the best foster home she has ever been in, because she still matters in Jude's eyes, she is still worth something to him.

She doesn't trust the Fosters, doesn't trust that Stef and Lena are as good as they seem, because in her experience, when something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

She doesn't trust Brandon either, not fully, but he's still with her, still riding the bus that is now only two stops away from where they need to be, and that counts for something.

If anything goes wrong tonight, she knows that Brandon is her best bet.

'Hey Brandon,'

Her voice is scratchy, she hasn't spoken since she told him about wrecking her foster dad's car nearly twenty minutes ago.

Brandon looks up, meeting her eyes in the reflective glass.

"Yeah?"

She stares straight at him as she replies, she needs him to understand how serious this is.

"If anything happens to me, you have to promise me you will make sure Jude is okay."

Its not a question, she hasn't asked him for any favours and she doesn't plan on starting now.

She sees him startle, his eyes breaking contact with hers in the window as he turns to face her.

"Callie -"

She cuts him off, rolling her eyes as she shifts to face him as well.

"I'm not saying something's gonna happen, but I just want to make sure that Jude will be somewhere safe. You know.. in case."

She holds eye contact with him. Letting her emotions show on her face in a way she normally never would. He considers her carefully, frowning as the reality of the situation sets in for him; this really might be dangerous.

"Brandon just please, promise me?"

She grits her teeth. She doesn't beg. Ever. But she's already risking everything to save her brother, why not her pride as well?

He must realise that she is not one for saying 'please' because his eyes immediately soften, his shoulders slump in defeat.

He answers her, albeit reluctantly.

"I promise."

She breathes a sigh of relief and relaxes against the back of her seat.

"But Callie? Everthing's gonna be fine."

He looks away from her as he speaks, like he doesn't want to lie to her face.

He has a bad feeling too.