So, we only have Emma-Grace in the beginning of the chapter and it breaks my heart to do this to you guys. But we finally get some closure between Callen and Joelle. This chapter follows the story line of the TV show, season 8 episode 13 to 15, the episodes where they find the mole, Kensi got kidnapped and the team finds out that Joelle was CIA. I added some of my favourite parts – in my own word and some from the show to bring the story together. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to send me a review if you want me to change something. Thanks for taking the time to read this story, means a lot to me.
Don't own anything.
"If I find that girl, she is going to be locked away for life!" Callen said as he dropped his bag on Sam's desk before he headed upstairs to go talk to Eric.
"Who's he talking about?" Deeks said without looking up from his laptop.
"Emma-Grace." Sam said with a sigh as he sat down behind his desk.
"What happened?" Kensi asked before taking a sip of her coffee.
"Callen called to find out what time graduation is for her FBI training, only to find out that she hasn't been in Quantico since Maeve's birthday." Sam answered before getting up to make himself a cup of coffee.
"But he's been talking to her every day." Deeks finally looking up.
"I don't know what's going on but clearly she's been lying to everyone." Sam said as he heard Callen yelling at Eric to track Emma's phone.
"I would hate to be in Eric's shoes right now." Kensi said before getting her ringing phone out of her pocket. "Kensi Blye speaking…" she said as she walked away.
Upstairs
"I don't care what Hetty said Eric! She has a tracker on her phone and watch. You either find her now or I will find someone who can help me." Callen yelled at poor Eric.
"Callen, Hetty said we're not allowed…" Nell started but one look from Callen told her that now wasn't the time.
"Mr. Callen, you know that we can't use our technology for personal use." Hetty said as she walked in.
"I don't care! My daughter lied to me and she's not answering her phone so I can have this conversation with her. So, all I'm asking is to use the technology YOU installed on her, to find her so I can be the parent YOU wanted me to be." Callen spat at her. Hetty just looked at Eric and he started to type away on his tablet.
"She's here." Eric said before typing everything in again and nothing changed.
"What do you mean she's here?" Callen asked.
"She's here. I'm picking up her signal and it's telling me she's here, in the building." Eric said before looking up but Callen was already out the door.
"Why do I feel like I just betrayed Emma-Grace?" Eric asked Nell with a sad face.
"No, Mr. Beale you did nothing wrong." Hetty said before turning around to walk out before she heard Callen yelling down the stairs.
"Where the hell have you been!" Callen spat at his daughter as she walked in from the courtyard.
"I…" Emma started but she didn't get to finish.
"Do you know how I felt when they told me that you haven't been where you were supposed to be for 6 weeks! And it's not that I haven't been calling you every day!" Callen yelled at her again.
"Callen…" Sam started but he knew his partner wasn't listening.
"You lied to me! You made me think that I can trust you and you lied to me, Emma-Grace. So, I'm going to ask you one more time… where the hell have you been!"
"San Diego." Kensi said as she walked back into the bullpen. "She's been at sniper school." She finished, "Why didn't you tell us, Em?"
"We're waiting, Emma-Grace." Callen said again.
"What's the first thing you all say every time I tell you I'm thinking of applying for something?" Emma finally said.
"We can make a phone call and make it happen." Eric said from his spot on the stairs but he knew that maybe that wasn't the best decision.
"And twenty bucks go to the peanut gallery." Emma said sarcastically. "You always butt in and no matter what I say, you still go behind my back to make sure I get in! I wanted to do something BY MYSELF. I wanted to see if I could get in BY MYSELF! And guess what? I got in BY MYSELF!" Emma yelled back. "They didn't know who I was until I left and I'm assuming that was the phone call Kensi got."
"I don't care Emma-Grace! You LIED to me. I'm your father and you will do as I say. You are not old enough to make life-altering decisions by yourself. You will do as I say and you will be where I want you to be. You hear me?" Callen yelled and as soon as the words left his mouth, you could hear a pin drop. Sam hung his head and the rest just looked at Hetty.
Emma just looked at Callen and she couldn't believe what she just heard. This man told her she could be anything she wanted and he would support her and now he's telling her that she'll do what he wants her to do. Shaking her head, she finally spoke, "I was going to ask you to go to lunch with me but I've lost my appetite. I think I'll go and spend my last few hours in LA with my sister. And don't worry, I'll be where YOU want me to be tomorrow morning. I'll be where you can track my every move and check up on me again." Emma said before she turned around and walked away only to see Hetty waiting for her at the door, "Don't even say it." She said before she walked passed her and out the door.
Callen just shook his head and walked towards the gym.
"You know who he sounded like, right?" Deeks whispered to Kensi.
"Deeks, not right now." Kensi said as she walked towards the gun range. Deeks just looked at Sam and then he followed her.
"I think you need to make a phone call, Mr. Hanna." Hetty said as she walked past the bullpen towards her office. "Don't you all have work to do?" she said and everyone scattered.
"Ready, Mae." Michelle said as she pasted the little girl her cup before picking up the two mugs and walking towards the kitchen table. "And here's your tea, Em."
"Thanks aunty Michelle." Emma said as she took the mug, looking at her little sister playing with her little kitchen.
"You know you were wrong too. You lied to him and you made him believe you were somewhere he knew you were safe and you weren't there." Michelle said.
"I know lying was wrong but I wanted to do this by myself." Emma said, not meeting Michelle's eyes.
"Honey, I get it. But like all fathers, he wants you to be safe. You know in this line of work, we put our families at risk too." Michelle said as she took the girl's hand.
"I know he wants me safe and Zach already gave me the speech and told me that he doesn't support me lying to you guys. But he also knows how they can be, I mean I don't see Hetty making phone calls to get Kam or Aiden into something."
"And that's because she cares about their safety but she's not their 'grandmother'. I think Callen and Hetty do these things because they see potential in you. They know that me and Sam will make the right decision for our kids. Callen finally had the family he always wanted and he doesn't want to lose that. You and Maeve mean the world to him and it would break him if he lost one of you. Now, I'm not saying he had a right to yell at you and say the things he said but he was scared when he found out you weren't where he thought you were."
"I get it but he crossed a line and he made me feel like everything I achieved till now, was because of him and Hetty. He always told me that I could do anything I wanted and he'll support me but now I see it was only words." Emma said as Mae gave her a plate with a piece of plastic toast on it.
"I know baby but don't be too hard on him." Michelle said as Mae gave her a plate with some plastic broccoli on it.
"I'm going to need a bit of time to figure out how to get over this but I can see you're point and know I feel bad for lying to you guys." Emma said and Michelle could see the teenager was truly sorry.
"Now, what time do you leave?" Michelle said as Mae pulled Emma down to the floor.
"Flight leaves at 6:30 and then I have an hour's drive before I'm at my new home for the next 46 days." Emma said as Mae sat on her lap and snuggled in for her nap.
"Do you need a ride to the airport?" Michelle asked as she moved a curl from Mae's forehead.
"Karmen's heading to the airport so she offered me a ride. She's on her way to Boston to see her new boyfriend and believe me you don't want to know the details." Emma said with a giggle.
"No thanks. I have my own child with relationship problems." Michelle said with a smile, "How's Zach doing?"
"He's doing okay, I think. He sends me emails every other week so we don't get to talk much but hopefully, we get to see each other soon." Emma said as her phone pinged. "Okay, little butterfly I have to go." Emma said as she kissed her baby sister on the cheek. "But I'll call you as soon as I can, okay?" Maeve was half asleep but she still gave her sister a big hug and kiss. "Thanks for everything, Aunt Michelle." She said as she handed over the little girl and gave her a side hug.
"Be safe and remember what I said about Callen."
"I'll try my best and good luck with Aiden's girl trouble." Emma said as she grabbed her bag and headed out the door. "Love you."
"Love you too, Pixie." Michelle said as the girl got into the car waiting for her. "Let's hope you don't turn out like your big sister, Mae. Because if you do, Callen's going to need all the help he can get." She said as she looked down at the sleepy girl.
A couple of days later
"Looks like you've shaken off the rust, Tin Man." Callen said as he and Kensi set their guns down.
"Did you expect anything less?" Kensi asked.
"No expectations," Callen answered with a smile.
"I know Hetty sent you down here to check up on me."
"Can't a guy come down here to work on his shot with a friend?"
"Well, what are you going to tell her?"
"That you have become a conspiracy theorist."
"Have I?"
"You know I want you back in the field more than anything. And you seem ready, but…"
"But what?" Kensi asked with a bit of hurt in her voice.
"It's not my decision." Callen answered back. He so wanted her back in the field but that was up to Hetty.
"But you can tell her you think I'm ready, right?"
"And she'll still wait until she feels you're ready to handle being in the field."
"But I am ready. I've been working harder than ever to get there. I've been coming here every single day to get back to the place I was before all of this happened to me."
"It wouldn't hurt to put in a few good words."
"I'll tell you what would hurt. When I smoke you again." Kensi said with a smile as she put her protective glasses on again, ready for the next round.
"You might need another squirt from the oil can first." Callen laughed.
"Look at us, huh, so in sync, walking into work the exact same moment." Deeks as he and Sam walked into OPS. "I have a question for you, give me your top five tourist attractions in LA. Go!"
"I don't do tourist attractions."
"All right, let me rephrase that. Give me the top five places you would take out-of-towners. Give me the Sam Hanna's LA." Deeks said again.
"I don't do listicles."
"Why? They're so fun and digestible." Deeks said as he dropped his bag on his desk.
"Yeah, so are gummy vitamins. Doesn't make them okay." Sam said with a smile as he pulled out his laptop.
"Mm, not even the bear-shaped multivites? Because those are awesome." Deeks said as he sat down, "I mean, how else do you get your daily recommended dosage?"
"Direct from the source." Sam answered back.
"So, you're telling me that you eat the exact amount necessary of fruits and vegetables every single day?"
Sam slapped his chest, "This house wasn't built on gummy bears."
Deeks copied Sam by slapping his chest but groaned. Just for fun, Sam hid him on the chest to. "Ow! Yeah, I'm going to have that inspected."
"Why are you doing all this tourism anyway?" Sam asked as Deeks got up. "You moonlighting as a travel writer now?"
"No, I was just taking your advice that Kensi and I don't have to do the same thing every day. So, I was just trying to find some new things we could go and try out."
"Oh, so you're not trying to find the perfect place to propose?" Sam asked.
"Oh, no. No… Yes." Deeks said.
"Do it at the beach. Ocean breeze, sunset. Maximum romance."
"This is exactly what I was thinking. But the beach is exactly what she would expect me to ask her to marry me. And that is why I can't do it at the beach."
"Oh, so you're looking for the unexpected." Sam said with a smile.
"See, that's what I'm talking about. You and I, simpatico."
"We are so not simpatico." Sam said as he shook his head.
"We are so simpatico." Deeks said again.
"We are not simpatico at all."
"Guys…" Eric started saying, "Needed up in OPS A.S.A.P."
"That's it? No quips?" Deeks started.
"No soliloquies?" Sam said.
"No nerd trivia?" Deeks said.
"No show tunes?"
"No flugelhorn?"
"Not today." Eric answered back and they could see something was up.
Hetty's office's
Hetty looked up from the file she was reading only to see Callen and Sam heading out to where she can only think was Heather's house. Picking up the phone Hetty dialed a number she thought she would never use. It didn't take long for the person to answer.
"Hello, Hetty."
"Ms. Baker. Pink elephant." Hetty said into the phone. As she placed the phone down, she saw Under Secretary Duggan walking towards her office.
"What can I help you with today Under Secretary Duggan?"
"You know why I'm here, Hetty."
"I see." Hetty said as she sat back in her chair.
"You had 90 days to find the mole and I know the Secretary of Defense gave you 60 days extra but your time is up." Duggan said.
"Ah." Hetty said as she saw Kensi walking towards her office.
"Impeccable timing." Kensi said as she came up the stairs seeing Duggan standing there.
"You remember Under Secretary Duggan, Agent Blye."
"How could I forget? What do we owe this pleasure?" Kensi asked sarcastically.
"The Under Secretary is here to oversee my departure from NCIS." Hetty said.
"Well, that's ridiculous," Kensi said.
"She made a deal, not me." Duggan said to Kensi.
"So, you're here to see heads roll, even if they're the wrong heads?"
"Miss. Blye, I'm a woman of my word." Hetty said.
"Assistant Director Granger will be in charge until we find a suitable, permanent replacement." Duggan said to the two women. "I need to brief him immediately. Where is he?"
"Oh. Um…" Hetty started to say looking towards Kensi. Duggan looked at the agent too.
"I haven't seen him." Kensi said with a smile.
"Well, when you see him, tell him I'm looking for him."
"Will do, sir."
"I don't like the feeling of this G." Sam said as they got to the crime scene.
"Makes two of us." G answered before looking at his phone.
"Emma-Grace?" Sam asked.
"I send her a text giving her the code. I don't know you did it."
"Sending them away is always the hard part. But she's safe at training and they know what to do if something happens." Sam said as they walked towards the house. "Detective Evans."
"Before you ask, the answer is no."
"We understand the position you're in." Callen said with his hands up.
"I can't let inside but nobody saw you loitering outside, did we now?" Detective Evans said as he drove away.
"Did Laura take Maeve to the safe house?" Sam asked as they looked through Heather's trash.
"I'm sure Hetty told her not to go the house and I know that Maeve's in good hands. I'm more worried about the team than my girls at the moment because they're in good hands. Us on the other hand, not so much."
Looking through the church felt like it took forever. To many rooms, to many places Kensi could be. Callen made one more turn and saw someone tied to a chair with a hood over their head.
"Kens?" Callen asked, "Guys, I got her. Basement, southwest corner." He said over the coms. "It's all right, Kens, we've got you." he finished as he walked closer to her.
"Kensi, we're right here. You're going to be okay." Deeks said as he entered the room and Callen was cutting of the tape. "Get it off her."
"Joelle?" Callen said as he took the hood off and saw who they really found.
"Where's Kensi?" Deeks asked again.
"This is going to hurt." Callen said as he took the tape of her mouth.
"Callen, I can't believe you're here." Joelle said out of breath.
"What are you doing here?" Callen asked. They've been looking for her for almost a year and here she is. "How did you get here?" he asked out of shock.
"Some asshole side swipe my car this morning and then when I woke up, I was tied up and here." Joelle said as Callen helped him up.
"Let's get you out of here and then we can talk." Callen said as they started to walk towards the exit.
The drive back to the boatshed was unconfutable to say the least. All Callen wanted to do was get this woman alone in a room and yell at her and ask her if she ever cared about him. As they stopped, Deeks made a bee line for the boatshed and into the room where Hetty was talking to Sabatino. Callen helped Joelle out of the car and walked her towards the boatshed but he stopped just before he opened the door.
"I'm going to ask you this one question and I want you to think really hard about your answer."
"Okay." Joelle said without blinking.
"Did you ever care about me?" Callen asked.
"Callen…" She started but he at stage he really didn't care about her answer.
"You know what, I don't really care about your answer." Callen said as he walked her into the boatshed. "Sit down, I'll make you something to drink." he said as he walked towards Deeks and Sam.
"I'm going to see if I can get something out of Sabatino. Mind keeping an eye on her?" Callen asked Sam before walking towards the interaction room.
While the boys were checked out the safe house Sabatino told them about, Hetty was keeping a close eye on Joelle. She was wondering how Callen was holding up with seeing her after so long. Hetty knew that the whole team was really angry with her and that they all wished they could spend a few minutes with her alone in a room but for now Kensi was their many focus.
"Honey, no lemon." Hetty said she handed Joelle her tea.
"Oh, thank you." Joelle said with a smile. "You all have been so kind to me."
"We're not always so kind." Hetty said.
"Really, I'm feeling so much better." Joelle said as she sat down.
"That surprises me, considering the circumstances. You've lost three of you colleagues today." Hetty said to a surprised Joelle. "You have a tell… Officer Taylor."
Putting her mug down, Joelle looked Hetty straight into her eyes, "How long have you known?"
"Not long enough." Hetty replied. "Criminal activity is one thing, but your betrayal of Callen and Emma-Grace will not go unpunished. But what you did to that little girl… well there's only one place you belong for that." Hetty said.
"I never meant to hurt anyone. I was only supposed to keep an eye on him, to gather intelligence. But everything changed and I got dragged into this as much as anyone. And by then, I was at a point in my relationship with Callen where I couldn't deceive him anymore. I broke it off only to find out I was already pregnant and when they found out… I didn't think they would do anything to hurt an innocent child." Joelle pleaded.
"They? You mean your team?" Hetty said, "When Emma-Grace found that little girl, she was 6-weeks old, severely malnourished and you want to tell me that they forced you to do that to your own child? An innocent little girl?"
"Whatever's going NCIS and CIA, is well above my pay grade. I'm not cut out for the wet work." Joelle said as she stood up.
"But in a pinch, you would use it." Hetty said again. "Having a child with him and wanting to get rid of the other, isn't considered wet work in your books?" Hetty said.
"What do you mean?"
"See the night they left the baby, they tried to kidnap Emma-Grace. You never asked them what their plans were, did you?"
"They cut that… uh… baby out of me and told me it died. I never got to see the baby and I didn't know they were going to kidnap Emma."
"Don't say her name like that." Hetty said with anger.
"But you don't have to worry about them." Joelle said as she pulled out a gun. "I'll take good care of them and we can be the family he always wanted."
"It's my understanding that you're already in his rear-view mirror and he already have the family he deserves." Hetty said with confidence. Joelle wanted to say something was she was cut short by someone hiding her over the head with a boat oar.
"Henriette. Who's the redhead?"
"Callen's ex-girlfriend."
"You really are in trouble."
"Is she dead?" Hetty ask as she and A.J stood over Joelle.
"I didn't hit her that hard. But it could go either way."
"A.J., I had questions I needed to ask her." Hetty said with a bit of worry.
"What, did you want me to let her shoot you first? She'll fine." A.J. said as he walked to go grab some water. She's going to have a hell of a hangover and maybe a concussion but she'll survive."
"Well, she deserves the hangover and a concussion." Hetty said under her breath. Just as A.J. poured some water on the redhead. That work and Joelle was back.
"How you doing?" A.J. asked her.
"My head. What happened?" Joelle said as she sat up. "Who are you?" she asked as she saw A.J.
"Details." A.J. said as he walked to put the glass back on the table.
"Now, I want you to listen to me, where is Ms. Blye?"
"I told you I don't know." Joelle said becoming more awake.
"Where is Officer Ferris holding her?" Hetty asked again.
"I don't know, I swear."
"Joelle, what happened?" Callen said as he walked into the boatshed.
"I wouldn't do that." A.J. said as he watched Callen take her face into his hands. "Or that."
"And you are?" Callen asked.
"A.J. Chegwidden."
"Mr. Callen, step away from CIA Officer Taylor." Hetty said.
"Oh, snap." Deeks said as Callen got up and stepped away from Joelle.
"Officer Taylor." Sam said with hurt in his voice.
"Callen, I'm sorry." Joelle said.
"And I'm the bad guy." Sabatino said to the group.
A.J. and Deeks helped Joelle up and then escorted her to the interrogation room. Callen just looked at Hetty and the little lady knew he wanted answers but she really didn't know what to tell him. She was still processing the information herself. How could she have been so stupid to let the CIA get so close to her one of her own. Not to mention her granddaughter. Callen saw he wasn't going to get answers from her so he turned around and walked toward the interrogation room. Walking in he saw that Deeks cuffed Joelle and that he slammed the door to make sure she knew that he was angry and that she shouldn't mess with him.
"It's not what you think." Joelle finally said.
"You lied to me." Callen said.
"You lied to me." Joelle copied him.
"It's not the same." Callen said back.
"Isn't it?" Joelle asked.
"Joelle, I was trying to protect you."
"So was I." Joelle said, "I really cared about you and Emma."
"Don't talk about her. You have no right to talk about my daughters." Callen said getting close to her face. "You lost that right the day you left my child, your child for dead."
"I broke things off because I couldn't keep lying to you. And then I found out I was pregnant and I didn't have a choice. They cut her out of me and told me she died, do you really think I could do that do my own child?" Joelle said.
"Yes, I believe you can but you know what? I can forgive the lying but I will never forgive you for what you put my daughters through. The betrayal, the pain Emma went through seeing how a mother would leave her defenceless little baby for dead, that is something you will have to live with for the rest of your life."
"If you can't forgive me, how can you forgive yourself for all the times you've done this to other people?" Joelle ask without blinking.
"I would NEVER abandon my child! You knew what me and Emma went through when we found each other. You knew how I felt missing all those years with her, how hard it was for me to see her grow up knowing that my time with her was limited. You knew I would give up everything to go back in time and be there for her from the moment she was born. You took that away from me again with our daughter. So, you don't get to talk to me about forgiving myself. I can still sleep at night, can you?" Callen said before he left the room.
"You want to talk about it?" Sam asked as Callen closed the door.
"No." Callen asked.
"Good, I was scared you would want to talk." Sam said.
"You know you interduce us."
"And I was waiting for that." Sam said, "She fooled us all."
"That's the problem. A problem that I will have to live with for life since we have a child together."
"And I will help you raise that child but for now let's get Kensi back and then we'll deal this problem." Sam said as Eric told them where to find Kensi, hopefully.
Callen walked up the stair and rang the doorbell. He was beyond tired and he knew that he could do this tomorrow morning but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep if she wasn't in the house with him.
"Think of the happiest things…" someone said on the other side of the door.
"It's the same as having wings." Callen said the code back before he saw the door opened.
"Callen." Julia said with a smile.
"I know it's late but…" Callen said with sheepish look.
"You can't sleep if she's not close by?" Julia said as she moved so he could enter the condo, "It's getting harder for you to leave her, isn't it?"
"With everything going on with Emma-Grace and now with Joelle, I feel like I'm failing in every aspect of my life. And not to mention failing as a father." Callen said as he sat down on the couch.
"You and I both know that you're not failing as a father. Both of the girls love you and think the world of you. Now if only I can get you to stop tracking the older one and trust her, you'll be perfect." Julia said with a smile.
"I'm trying but I'm not the one you have to talk to about tracking my daughter…"
"I've already had this talk with Kensi and Deeks."
"One word… Hetty." Callen said with a smile.
"I'll invite her for a drink one day after work." Julia said with a smile as she got up to go get Maeve. Soon she walked back into the living room with the sleeping girl. Callen felt so bad for having to move her while she looked so peaceful but one look from Julia told him that he's going to be just find. Taking her from Julia and making sure she had her fox, Callen picked up her bag and walked towards his car. Placing Maeve in her car seat, he drove home with one of his girls and hopefully soon he'll have both his girls home.