Emma was sitting by the library table when she heard a bag drop and her papers went flying. She was about to yell at the person but then she saw it was only Melissa with a grumpy look on her face.
"Someone ran over your dog?" Emma asked as she organized her papers again.
"I can't believe it!"
"What happened?"
"You know the centre I was going to volunteer at over the summer?"
"The one downtown next to the Boy's and Girl's Club?" Emma asked.
"That's the one. They just informed me that I can't do it as they are getting new management and need to sort that out before they can have someone volunteer." Melissa said as she took out her books.
"That's not good. Wasn't that going to count as hours worked before residency?"
"Yes and I've spent the whole morning trying to find a place to let me volunteer but all the programs are full."
"I might know of a place but I'll have to ask my grandmother if she could pull some strings to get you in." Emma said as she placed her water bottle as a bookmark on the open book.
"Do you think she could help? I mean she doesn't even know me."
"I think she would help you, don't worry about that. She likes helping people and heard me talk about you, so she knows you." Emma said with a smile.
"That would be awesome! You're a star, Emma-Grace." Melissa said as she hugged the girl.
"I'll call her on my way home to ask her." Emma said as she removed her water bottle and started writing again.
The girls fell into a comfortable silence and soon it was time for them to head home. Melissa and Justin's apartment was on Emma's way to OPS and since Justin had a late exam, Emma dropped Melissa off and headed that way. Emma could see everyone was in the field, so walking toward Hetty's office she saw the little lady on the phone. Holding her finger up to tell Emma to hang on, Emma turned and walked over to her desk. This was the last place she needed to pack up before she left; since Hetty was busy, she could do it now. Grabbing a box from storage, she started to pack the few things she kept on the desk. She was packing the last picture frame when she saw Hetty waiting by her office and pointing towards the wardrobe corner. She placed the box on Callen's desk and walked to the corner she rarely stepped foot in.
"You wanted to see me, Miss. Callen?" Hetty said without turning around.
"I wanted to ask you a favour?"
"Before you ask, what do you think about these?" Hetty said as she pointed to three dresses hanging on the changing room door.
Emma looked them up and down and had to say she liked all three of them but her eyes went to the Royal purple dress. "What's the occasion?"
"Your graduation of course. You still need a dress, don't you?" Hetty asked as she handed Emma a pair of heels.
"I do but not sure about the heels. I can barely walk with flats, so let's not push it with heels." Emma said as she stared at the heels Hetty gave her.
"Well, I think now will be the best time to just go for it and wear heels." Hetty said as she handed Emma the Navy-blue dress and pointed to the dressing room. "Try it on while you ask me that favour."
Emma took the dress and walked behind the curtain. "It's not for me. It's for a friend." Emma started as she removed her shirt.
"I'm listening." Hetty said.
"Melissa was going to volunteer at the Hope for Girls centre over the summer but they informant her this morning, that they're under new management and aren't taking on volunteers till they sort that out." Emma said as she looked at herself in the mirror.
"Did she reach out to other centres to see if they have availability?" Hetty asked as the girl stepped out from behind the curtain.
"She did and everywhere is full." Emma said as she took the heels and put them on. "So, I was thinking that maybe you could make a call to Chrysalis and see if they have an opening for her."
Hetty looked the girl over, she took the white dress off the hanger and handed it to her. "Try this one, my dear."
Emma took the dress and walked behind the curtain again. "Do you think you can do that for me? Please?" Emma said as she took off the dress and put the other one on.
"You know she will have questions on how you know the place?" Hetty asked.
"I know." Emma said as she walked out again, "Maybe it's time to tell her the truth. I wouldn't say anything she doesn't need to know but Hetty, the more time I spend with her, the more I think she needs to know."
"If you feel that she would understand, then I'll make the call for you." Hetty said with a smile.
"I think she'll understand and it would make me feel better. This secret is killing me, especially knowing she will help girls like me after she's done with her residency." Emma looked at herself in the mirror again, "I don't like this one. It looks like I'm getting married." She added, scrunching up her nose.
"I do have to agree with that." Hetty said with a smile and handed her the last dress. "On both accounts." She said with a small smile. "I'll make the call as soon as we're done here."
"Thank you, grandma." Emma said with a smile as she went to try on, fingers crossed, the last dress.
As Hetty promised, she made the call as soon as they both agreed that the last dress was the one. The centre was happy to help Melissa and Emma couldn't wait to tell her the news but she also knew this would change their friendship and she was ready to tell someone else about her past. The past she rarely thinks of these days. That past made her the person she is today.
"How did your grandma hear about this place?" Melissa asked as they drove to the centre.
"She heard about them from a friend and my family donates money to them." Emma said as she focused on the road. The centre called Melissa and asked her to come in over a weekend so they could show her around before she started. Melissa asked Emma to go with her as she knew the place.
"That was really sweet of her. I owe her big for this."
"Buy her a bottle of Scotch or some tea that you can't spell and you'll be even." Emma said with a smile.
The drive was relaxing, but Emma knew that the drive back would be another story. Soon they saw the gates, and Emma got a bit nervous. They signed in at security and Emma drove the last few feet. Parking where she usually parks, they grabbed their stuff and started walking towards reception. As soon as Sadie saw her, Emma knew it was now or never.
"Emma-Grace, I didn't think we'll see you again so soon." The nurse said as she hugged the girl.
"I know but hey, I have to get my time in before I leave California." Emma said as she hugged the blond. "Sadie, this is Melissa Harris. She's going to volunteer here over the summer break."
"Dr. Lewis told us you'll be stopping by." Sadie said as she shook Melissa's hand.
"Nice meeting you, Sadie." Melissa said as she shook the nurse's hand.
"Emma-Grace Cullen. How are you doing?" An older doctor said as he walked close to the group of women.
"Dr. Lewis." Emma said she hugged him. "I'm good thank you. This is my friend Melissa Harris. Your new volunteer for the summer."
"Nice to meet you Melissa. I've heard a lot about you from this young lady and read the files you sent us. I'm impressed and also glad we're the ones that get you for the summer." Dr. Lewis said as he shook Melissa's hand.
"Thank you for letting me volunteer. I'm looking forward to seeing the excellent work you've been doing here and meeting the girls." Melissa said with a smile.
"So, I think I'll take Melissa to walk around and then we'll join a group session. Emma-Grace, you're welcome to join Dr. Garcia's group. I think she would love to have you share your story with some of the new girls." Dr. Lewis said with a small smile.
"Sounds good to me. Mel, come find me when you're done." Emma said as she walked towards the group settling in the living room.
When Melissa found her, Emma was sitting by the pool talking to a couple of girls.
"Just remember that you can do anything you put your mind to and your past doesn't defy who you are." Emma said as she got up to hug them.
"Thank you for the talk and the encouraging words." One of the girls said as they walked away.
"So, you used to be one of these girls?" Melissa said as they sat down.
"I came here after Callen found me." Emma said as she looked out over the pool. "My foster mother was involved with an organization and they were into money laundering, prostitution and blackmail. I came to the US with her but she had this one client, Joan-Jacques that liked little girls, so I was his 'girl.'" Emma said, not looking at Melissa.
"How old were you when…" Melissa asked.
"I was 8 when he touched me the first time but it wasn't until my 12th birthday when he…"
"Raped you?"
"After he was done, I cried and went to the bathroom. I tried to scrub the feeling of him away but it didn't help. He would pick me up every two weeks and take me to this hotel downtown. Sometimes he would book the pool for just us or take me to a museum. The nights always ended with him raping me. After a while I just became numb when I was with him. Then he started to bring his friends along and he'll sit and watch them with me. Every time they were done with me, I would take a shower and try to get the feeling of them off my skin but nothing helped. I started to zone out and pretend I was somewhere else. Somewhere nobody would touch me like that, a place where I could be safe." Emma said as she finally looked up.
"How did Callen find you?" Melissa said as she took her friend's hands in hers.
"The guy that you saw with me at school." Mel just shook her head yes, "He was my bodyguard. He fell in love with one of the girls that came over but Olga had a rule against it, so she killed her in front of him. He knew that when I graduated, I'll be next. He went to JJ and told him that he needed to get me out fast. JJ arranged to take me away after I graduated and give me a new identity, a new life without him and Olga. Daniil had a plan; he wanted Olga dead but me safe and knew that JJ would take me away for the weekend. But plan A didn't work out because JJ got stuck in London so Daniil went with plan B but that involved people with a questionable past and it trigged an alert when they entered the US, so that's how Callen found out about me. They had one guy babysit me but when he heard that his friends were caught, he panicked and knew they would find him soon. And they did but not before he shot me three times to keep me quiet. Deeks found me and stayed with me till I got to the hospital. Callen found out who my mom was and that he knew her back in the day, so they ran a DNA test and it came back that I was his. They took me in and here we are today." Emma said with a sad smile.
"I don't know what to say, Em." Melissa said as she hugged her friend, "You are so strong and you are here with us, so maybe someone upstairs had a reason for you to survive."
"I like to think so. That's why this place is so important to me and I feel you can help girls like me. That's why I thought now would be a good time to tell you about this part of my life. You and the gang helped me open up so much and you have no idea how much that means to me."
"We will always be here for you. You are part of this crazy thing called friends for life." Melissa said with a smile.
"You do know you can't tell anyone about this? I mean you can tell Justin about me being sexually abused and Callen being NCIS but you can't tell him about Olga and JJ." Emma said as they got up to leave.
"I get it and don't worry, I'll only tell him if you want him to know. Till then, it's our secret." Melissa said as she held out her pinky. Emma just laughed and took it in her pinky.
"Pinky promise." They said together.
After saying goodbye to everyone, the girls drove back to LA to meet Justin for dinner and hear what he's been up to while they were gone for the day.
"What happened to JJ?"
"He killed himself in a hotel room before SWAT got to him."
"Coward way out."
"Yes but even after everything, he did one good thing."
"What was that?"
"He left everything to me."
"Everything?"
"His lawyer reached out to me and JJ left everything he had, to me. Money can't take what he did away but he made plans to save me and let me go, no matter how hard it would be for him."
"What did you do with it?"
"I sold most of the properties and donated the money to charities. I kept a hand full of properties that I rent to low-income families. I put some money in a trust for the team to use so they don't have to borrow from the bank and they pay me back with a lower interest rate. I kept some for myself to start a new life with my family and the rest I put in savings. I wanted to put the money to good use and to be honest, I don't feel guilty about taking his money to help people and start a new life." Emma said as she put the car in park.
"Emma-Grace Cullen, you amaze me." Melissa said as they walked up the stairs.
Emma just laughed and felt like the weight of the world was lifted from her shoulders. They spent the rest of the evening planning a wedding and making a list of things they needed to pack for their week away. Emma didn't get home till after 11 pm and by then, Maeve was already sleeping and Callen was sitting on the couch reading a book on raising independent women that Julia gave him as a baby gift.
"How did she take it?" Callen asked as she sat down next to him with her cup of tea.
"She took it really well. She had a lot of questions but nothing I couldn't handle and she knows she can't tell anyone about it. I told her she could tell Justin but only about the abuse and nothing about Olga, JJ or the team."
"I'm proud of you. Most people in your shoes would have fallen apart or blamed others, but you kept your head high and made the best out of a horrible situation." Callen said as he brought her closer for a hug.
"I don't think it's in my DNA to give up easily." Emma said as she cuddled closer. "I'm going to miss this."
"Me too but I know you can handle anything that comes your way. I love you, Emma-Grace Clara Cullen." Callen said as he kissed her on the head.
"I love you too, Grisha Aleksandrovich Nikolaev Callen." Emma giggled.