Chapter 1

Stef's POV
It's a cool summers night and as always I'm out on patrol with Mike which so far has been pretty uneventful and tedious. Sleep with weighing me down I am struggling to keep my eyes open. My head feels unbelievably heavy and as it begins to nod forward I see something which snaps me right back into reality: two little girls walking the dark streets alone. The two young girls seem to be wandering the streets; they both have long brown hair and are similar heights but they each have distinctive looks; the slightly taller one with the paler skin, hazel eyes and orange freckles seems to be leading the shorter, slightly chubbier girl with darker hair eyes and an olive skin tone but neither seem to be sure where they are going. I always tend to be drawn to children in need, perhaps it's a mother thing but I know these girls are in trouble.

Mike and I exchange a glance. I nod; in response he pulls the car over towards the girls and I roll down the window. Closer up I can see that these girls are not being taken care of properly; they both were in short sleeved shirts and cycling shorts that were covered in stains. The two girls had their hair pulled into messy, tangled ponytails and their dangerously skinny limbs were covered in cuts and bruises of varying ages. They also look in dire need of a bath. It breaks my heart to see two vulnerable children in the position most of my children had been in not too long ago, it always does; I see cases like this all the time.

"Hi, are you okay?" I ask them gently to which they both gingerly nod, "It's dangerous for you to be out at this time young ladies, how about we take you to the station and call your parents?"

The girls both look at each other sadly with tears filling up their sad brown eyes; before the taller answers politely yet firmly"We're fine thanks."

I notice a slight accent, Scottish maybe? My mind begins creating far fetched tales of tragedy which got them to this point, I am so immersed in my own thoughts that I forget where I am.

"It wasn't really a question," Mike says sternly getting out of the car -snapping me back to reality- before opening the back door to let them in, "In you get."

The shorter girl looks up at me with her big, sad, teary brown eyes that bore right into my soul and melt my heart. I gently smile at her and motion for her to get in. She looks to the floor like she's embarrassed to look at me; as if she's not good enough to do so, scared that I will scold her for it. Her companion however looks angrily out the window like a teenager who's been caught red handed but doesn't want to admit it.

"Belts on" I smile at them as Mike gets in.

The ride to the station is an awkward silence. I glance back a few times to see the smaller girl snuggled up to the bigger; clutching onto her hand for dear life. The taller girl's icy exterior slowly melts away and she eases into the embrace of the other girl.

|The Fosters|

Once we get the girls into the station and seated on the bench, we ask their names . The younger looks up at the older looking for assurance but she receives a glare. I conclude that the older one definitely doesn't want to go home. I ask their ages and if they are sisters; the younger confirms before informing us that she's 6 and her sister's 8, she has the same twang as her sister. The older kicks the younger one scolding her.

"Stop it. Now we need to get you both home, I'm sure your parent's are looking for you both." I say as sternly as possible trying to get their names.

"They won't be."the younger girl smiles nonchalantly kicking her legs back and forth off of the end of the bench.

"And why would that be?" I enquire.

"They died." The older snaps staring me right in the eye with a look of utter contempt.

"Who looks after you both then?"

"Me!" Replies the older

"Now I'm sure that's not true..."

I am not met with a reply but the younger girl yawns sleepily resting her head on the older's shoulder. I then realise that it's 1am and these two young girls are not in bed and have got nowhere to go. I decide that they're going to stay at mine for the night and I'll take them back to the station in the morning. I call child protective services and explain the situation; they clear Lena and I for fostering Jane Doe one and two. By the time I return to the bench both are fast asleep leaving me no choice but to wake them.

When I get them to the house I give them blankets and head upstairs to find something for them to sleep in but when I return they are both sleeping soundly on the armchair together. I shrug and tuck them in gently, turning all nights except the lamp next to the armchair on.

I head upstairs to bed and gently shake Lena to wake her. She groggily listens to my explanation of the two young girls on the couch before we both fall asleep.

|The Fosters|

I'm wakened the next morning by a bloodcurdling scream, a Mariana scream to be specific. I'm pretty sure she's woke the whole house up if not the entire neighbourhood. I drag my tired body downstairs to see her staring at the two startled little girls who are wiping their sleep filled eyes.

"Who are they?" She asks with way more attitude than I was prepared for at 6am.

I then explain who they are (ignoring her sass) and she smiles at them understandingly; she herself had been in the same position a few years ago. The younger girl hides her face in her sister's shoulder for protection, snuggling closer to her, clearly very shaken up. The older girl on the other hand glares at Mariana, angry at her for scaring her sister. This type of sibling relationship seems pretty common amongst foster kids; the stronger one protects the weaker. Mariana shrugs the girl's anger off.

"Sorry I woke you both, would you like to help me make breakfast?" She asks sweetly.

The older crosses her arms and shakes her head while the younger comes out from behind her sister, looking at Marina with bright eyes and a smile making both Mariana and I giggle. Mariana knows just how to deal with shyer kids, she was one herself and must give off a calming or familiar vibe.

"I'll take that as a yes, come on then!" Mariana smiles holding her hand out to the girl who quickly takes it and skips into the kitchen with her.

This leaves the older girl and I in the living room, I can feel her glare on me. She's got a serious attitude for an eight year old. As we sit in silence we can hear Mariana and the younger girl giggling in the kitchen, the girl's chatting away to Mariana. This clearly angers the girl as her face screws up and she mutters something.

"What was that?" I ask raising an eyebrow expecting her to have said something really rude.

"I said: 'I'm her sister!', I should be taking care of her not Mary-Anne or whatever her stupid name is!" The girl says to me rolling her eyes.