Just a short chapter for you guys.
Don't own anything.
Emma sunk into the ice bath and it didn't even bother her anymore. This was the only thing that helped with all the muscle pain. She thought training with Sam and Kensi was bad but what they put them through at FLECT, was hell. What made it worse was that Emma felt like they were picking on her and she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction. So, she just sucked it up and then cried herself to sleep at night. All too soon the timer went off and she had to work on getting herself out of the tub. Grabbing her shower stuff, Emma tested the water of the shower before turning and taking off her sportswear. A sigh left her lips as she felt the warm water hit her back and shoulders. She knew that her hair needed a wash but it was pointless with all this training. Emma made her shower quick because she needed to make it to mess before all the food got cold. Dressing in her sweats, Emma packed her bag and walked out of the gym towards the mess hall. Dropping her bag at the table she always sat at, she walked over to grab a plate and cutlery but she was stopped by a loud yell coming from the door.
"CALLEN! Office now." Ross yelled before she headed out.
"Great!" Emma said as she put the plate down and grabbed her bag. She didn't care about the looks the rest of the trainees gave her. At this point in her life, she was used to it. Overachiever, spoiled brat, only got in because of daddy, etc. Walking quickly, she saw Director Lopez standing by his sectary's desk.
"You can go in." He said as he pointed to his office.
Emma saw two men dressed in black, standing by the door. "Thank you." Emma said before she opened his door only to see Director Vance sitting in a chair and an older lady sitting behind Lopez's desk. "Director Vance, it's nice to see you again." She said as she shook his hand.
"Emma-Grace, you're looking good. How's training treating you?" Vance said with a smile.
"It's good. I'm learning a lot and trying my best." Emma said with a weak smile and he could see she was excused.
"That's good. You're exactly where you wanted to be and you're doing amazing." Vance said to her, "This is Assistant Director Hayes with the Department of Defence. Elissa, this is Emma-Grace Callen."
"It's nice to meet you ma'am." Emma said as she shook her hand.
"I've heard a lot about you, Emma-Grace." Hayes said with a smile, "I know you're wondering why we came to see you." she said with a small smile.
"The thought crossed my mind but I figured that you have your reasons." Emma said as she sat down.
"Well, I wouldn't keep you waiting. I've been looking over your files… Graduated with honours from UCLA, early acceptance to the FBI training program with first-year agent privilege, helping the BAU solve 6 high profile cases, first in your group at Sniper Academy and by the look of it, you're top of your class at FLECT." Hayes said as she looked up at the girl sitting in front of her. "I see you can speak 14 languages now, am I reading that right?"
"Yes, ma'am. Need to keep my brain fresh and I like learning about new cultures and languages. Sam always said it wouldn't hurt to know how other people think or live. You respect each other is a big win in everyone's books." Emma said without looking up.
"That's why we need you on this assignment." Vance said as he turned towards her.
"But I'm not an agent. I'm not done with my training." Emma started to ramble.
"You're done with training, Agent Callen." Hayes said as she handed her a badge. "You're the youngest agent we ever had and you've earned it tenfold."
"Emma-Grace, Granger believed in you and he believed that you and only you, could do this assignment." Vance said to the shocked girl.
"What… what… what's the assignment?" Emma asked not looking up from her badge.
"You will get all the information when you're airborne." Hayes said.
"What about all my stuff?"
"We'll pack it up and send it back to LA." Vance said with a small smile.
"What… what do I pack?" Emma said as she looked up for the first time.
"Pack your camera and some toiletries. The rest will be waiting for you when you get where you're going." Hayes said as she stood up. "They're waiting for you in your room. You will hand them your phone, watch and laptop. You can keep the phone and laptop only after they've taken out your tracker and Wi-Fi. Once you are settled, I will contact you."
"Can I send one more text before you cut me off from everyone I know?" Emma asked. Hayes looked at Vance. "You can look over my shoulder. Please?" Emma said with pleading eyes.
"One and Leon, we'll talk later." Hayes said as she walked out with the two men Emma saw earlier.
"Let's walk and you can send that text to Callen." Leon said with a smile as he held the door for her. Walking back to her room Emma was trying to think what she was going to say to Callen. He was going to flip if he found out he missed her graduation and that she wasn't where he could track her, again. Weird to think when she woke up this morning, she was hoping to kick Adam's ass and now she will be packing up and heading out on her first assignment as an agent. As Emma got closer to her room, she could see the rest of the trainees standing outside the building. Walking past them, she ran up the stairs to her room on the second floor and saw that half of her stuff was already packed and waiting outside.
"We're going to need you to hand over your watch and phone." A dark-haired guy said with his hand outstretched. Emma handed him her watch but looked at Vance.
"She's allowed one text. Hayes approved it." Leon said. The guy just nodded and took her watch.
"Make it quick. You leave in 10."
Emma looked at Vance and he could see she was having a hard time wrapping her mind around everything and took a step closer to her. "You need to take a deep." Vance said in her ear. When he saw her take a breath, he took a step back. "Text Callen and then you need to get going. I will be with you till you get on your flight, after that you will be in good hands. I promise you that."
Emma walked over to her bed and she could see her camera bag was already packed. A female officer walked over and placed her toiletry bag with her bag. Looking at her phone, she saw her locked screen. She took the picture on Maeve's birthday… Callen, Anna, her, and Maeve. The family she always wanted and now she doesn't even know when she'll see them again.
"Emma-Grace?" Vance said again, pointing at his watch.
All Emma could think about was her words and she knew that he was going to be upset again but she didn't have a choice. Looking down she typed as quickly as she could and handed her phone to the tec guy before he could see her tears. Grabbing her bags, she made a beeline for the waiting car. Once Vance got in, the car started and she felt the tears started to fall. Vance pulled her in and she let the tears fall, not knowing when she would feel them again.
Los Angeles
Callen heard his phone ping on the bedside table. Moving so he didn't wake Maeve and Anna, he got out of bed, grabbed his phone, and walked toward the kitchen. Walking over to the sink, he grabbed a glass and filled it with water. Sitting down, he looked at his phone.
I'm SO sorry, daddy.
I love you.
He read those words over and over but his brain didn't want to process it. Reading it one more time, he dialled Emma's number.
The person you're trying to reach, isn't unavailable. Please try again later.
Ending the call, he tried again only to get the same message.
"Damn it, Emma-Grace. What did you do?" Callen said looking at his phone.
"Who are you talking to?" Anna said as she walked into the kitchen. Callen just looked at her and she could see the tears in his eyes waiting to fall. Taking his phone from him, Anna looked down and saw the text. Walking over to the counter, she took her phone off the charger. Dialing Emma's number, she waited.
The person you're trying to reach, isn't unavailable. Please try again later.
Anna looked at Callen and she didn't know what to do. Walking over to him, she moved his chair and sat on his lap. Bringing his head down, she cradled his head and as soon as she did that, she felt the tears fall.
Callen woke up to a little giggle. Maeve was looking at her fox and then at Callen. When she saw her daddy was awake, she moved closer to him.
"Morning, little ducky." Callen said as he kissed her forehead.
"Dada, 'Amma?" She asked as she looked at him.
"Emma… Emma…" Callen was looking for words but he had a hard time thinking of something to say.
"Emma's at training, Mae. We'll see her soon, okay?" Anna said as she sat up. It took her an hour to get Callen back to bed and settled. She knew he was still trying to figure out why Emma sent that text and she wanted to know too but for now, Maeve needed them. "How about I make us some coffee and then we can go for some breakfast." She said with a sad smile.
"Anna, I need to go in. I need to know why she sent that text message." Callen said over Mae's head.
"First coffee, then breakfast and then you can go find her." Anna said as she kissed him.
Callen wanted to argue but he knew it wouldn't help. Getting up with Maeve still on his chest made the little girl giggle. "Want a piggyback ride to the kitchen?" Maeve moved so she could get on his back. "Hold on." Callen said as he got up and walked to the kitchen, holding on to her. Anna just smiled at the two of them and it wasn't long before she heard Maeve calling for her.
Callen broke every traffic rule and he didn't care. Emma was somewhere and he needed to find her. He had this weird feeling that something wasn't right and that she was in trouble. Parking behind Sam's car, Callen walked through the mansion doors and dropped his bag by Kensi's desk. As soon as he turned to head to the stairs, he saw Eric coming down them.
"Eric, I need…"
"Callen, Hetty's waiting for you upstairs." Eric said before he turned and went back up.
Callen took the stairs two-by-two and the doors opened before he was even close to them. As he walked in, he saw the whole team waiting for him and Vance on the screen. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Agent Callen, how are you?" Vance asked.
"I would be much better if someone would tell me what the hell's going on. Where's my daughter?"
"Agent Callen's on assignment." Vance said before Hetty said anything.
"Wait, Agent?" Deeks said, looking at Hetty.
"Emma-Grace isn't done with training." Eric said.
"Agent Callen graduated last night and she's been sent on assignment." Vance said again.
"To where?" Callen asked with a raised voice.
"Callen…" Sam started.
"That's classified." Vance said again.
"Classified? My 18-year-old, just graduated training daughter is somewhere out there and you wouldn't tell me!"
"Agent Callen, Emma-Grace is in good hands. You guys need to trust her and how you trained her. I know you think she's not ready but she is. Granger trusted that she could do this assignment and you have to trust him. He would never put her in danger and like I said, you need to trust her training." Vance said again. "If you can't trust Granger, trust me and most of all trust Emma-Grace. She needs to know that you are there with her, that you have her back and that you believe she can do this."
"Callen, Vance is right. We trained her, we know what she's capable of. We need to trust her and trust Granger." Kensi said to him.
"Callen, I promise you that I will keep an eye on her and if something happens, you will be my first call." Vance said.
"I'm your first call, not Hetty." Callen said.
"You have my word." Vance said before he disconnected.
"I don't like this Hetty." Callen said.
"Agent Callen, you, and I both know she can do this. For once trust your daughter." Hetty said before she walked out the doors.
"Callen, take the day. Spend the day with Maeve and Anna. You can't do anything for Emma-Grace while you're emotional." Sam said.
"Call me if anything comes up." Callen said before he left.
A couple of weeks later
Callen hoped that he wouldn't have to see Maeve dressed in black so soon in her life but in this line of work, anything could happen. It broke his heart every time she looked at the pictures in the room and asked where Shelly was. Anna was his rock and he felt bad because he knew Sam needed him too. He found himself feeling more emotional these last few weeks. He missed Emma-Grace like crazy and he was worried that she was in danger but like the team told him – he needed to trust her and trust that they gave her the tools to be a great agent. Looking to where Maeve was sitting on Zach's lap, holding onto Kam's hand. When the little girl saw Zach this morning, she wanted to be held by him all the time. Somehow she knew that Emma and Zach were close and she wanted to be close to her sister. Emma would have known what to say and do in this situation but she wasn't here. He can't even imagine how she would handle not having Michelle in her life. Michelle had a way of dealing with the kids when Sam and Callen didn't know what to do. She was not only a mom to Aiden and Kam but also a mother figure to Emma-Grace.
"Thanks for coming guys." Aiden said as he hugged Kensi.
"Where else do you think we'll be? If you need anything, let us know." Deeks said.
"I still can't believe this is happening." Aiden said as he looked down.
"I know but you have your family around you. We're here to help you guys through this." Callen said as he slapped the young man on the back.
"And we appreciate that, G." Sam said as he joined the group.
"Take your time and get everything sorted out. We have everything covered at work and if we get a case, we'll manage." Kensi said with a hug.
"I put a couple of freezer meals for you in the freezer." Julia said as she came to stand with them.
"Thanks Julia. Think the kids will be happy there's food in the house." Sam said with a small smile. Kam came over to stand with her dad and brother.
"I think it's time for us to head out. Give you guys some time for yourselves." Callen said as he took a sleeping Maeve from Zach.
"Let me know if you need anything, Aiden." Zach said with a slap on the back, "I'm here for a few more days."
As the group said goodbye, Callen made sure he had everything in Mae's bag. Handing the bag to Anna, Callen said bye to Sam and then headed to the car. Placing Mae in her car seat, Callen closed the door and waited for Zach.
"Thanks for keeping this one busy today. Think she misses you and Emma a lot." Callen said with a sad smile.
"No problem. I'm glad I could help, Sam needed you to be there for him and the kids."
"Have you heard anything from Emma?" Callen hoped that at least Zach would hear from her. "Not a word but maybe she's still settling in wherever she is." Zach said but he could see that Callen was having a hard time with all of this. "She's a strong woman, Callen. She'll contact us when she can and now we have to trust her."
"I know, it's just hard to think she's somewhere I can't help her."
"I told her that it was a bad idea to lie to you guys about sniper school. But I did support her going, I knew she wanted to go because of Kens."
"I know I can be a bit overprotected," Callen said and Zach smiled at him, "But I just need her to be safe. Emma and Maeve are my world and I want them to be who they want to be but I also need to learn to trust them." Callen said as Anna and Julia walked towards the cars.
"It's hard to let them go. You want them to stay little forever and want them to always want daddy to help them." Julia said.
"But we have to let them go and find their place in the world." Anna said as she went to stand by Callen.
"Maybe one day I'll be as wise as you, Julia." Callen said as she hugged her.
"It doesn't come overnight, Callen. You're doing everything a dad's supposed to do and both girls love you so much." Julia said as she looked at Anna, "You too, Anna. Maeve loves you so much."
"Thank you, Julia." Anna said with a smile.
"Well, I think it's time we head home before this little monster wakes up and realizes Zach's not holding her." Callen said with a smile.
"And then we're in trouble." Zach said with a smile. "If you need someone to watch her, let me know."
"I will and enjoy your time at home." Callen said as he opened Anna's door.
