As soon as Emma's door was closed, she turned and saw something she never thought she would see in the middle of the desert. The makeshift Christmas tree looked like something out of a Dr. Suess book and she could only shake her and smile… boy did she miss Nell and Eric. Walking towards the mess hall she could see some people getting ready for their rounds, some people were waiting to load their stuff in the trucks so they could make their flights out and she knew that by the end of the day, there would be a bunch of new faces around here. Grabbing a cup, she walked over to pour herself a cup of tea and found her seat. She didn't have to go into the village today and she was up to date with her files so she could spend the day just relaxing. When her tea was done, she placed her cup in the sink and turned towards her room. Before she could think more about her day, she saw Palmer walking towards her and she knew that her day of relaxing was over.
"Can I help you sir?" Emma said with a smirk.
"Go grab your go bag and tablet. We leave in 10." He said before he walked past her.
"Okay…" Emma said before turning towards her room. That was kind of weird but she stopped asking questions a long time ago. Grabbing her stuff, she locked up her room and set the alarm. She saw Wallace smirking at her and she just looked past him, she wasn't in the mood for him today. Meeting up with Palmer, they walked towards the truck waiting on them. They barely made it out of the gates before Palmer handed her a USB drive and she knew what she needed to do.
Los Angeles
It kind of felt weird with barely anyone in OPS. The Power outages were making everyone late and Nell and Eric barely escaped Mosley this morning. Who doesn't like to celebrate Christmas? Everyone knew this year would be different with a few family members not here but Nell felt like she needed to find a way to convince Mosley that they needed to do something, even if it was only the tree. Waking into the OPS, her phone rang.
"Callen, hi. How's it going out in the wild?" Nell said with a smile.
"Not good." Callen said as she was trying to make his way to his car. "This city is paralyzed. If we don't fix this quickly, we're going to see some casualties. How's everything back there?"
"Oh, great. Now, in addition to trying to save Christmas, I have that fun fact to process." Nell replied.
"If you need a break, I know a nice little Airbnb that's just up the coast."
"I never took you as the crowdsourcing type."
"Yeah, I'm not. Turns out Finn has been renting out the apartment that he leased under Dexter Hughes's name and pocketing the cash."
"That's disappointing. Maybe there's some explanation?"
"I'd like to hear it, if I could find him." Callen said as he opened his car door.
"Don't worry. I will track him down faster than you can say 'en-suite bathroom.'"
"Thank you, Nell."
"Oh, and Callen? Finn's just a kid – everyone messes up at that age."
"Did you?" Callen asked with a smile.
"Well, almost everyone." Nell smiled as she typed away.
Callen shook his head as he tried backing up but that was no use. They needed to sort out this power outage and fast. Now he has to worry about Finn as well as his worry about where Emma-Grace where. The only kid not giving him a headache was Maeve and she was just learning to say everyone's name correctly. He never signed up to be a dad to Finn but he saw a lot of himself in the kid. He finally saw a chance to get out of his parking spot and made his way towards the boatshed.
As Callen was sitting on the table looking at the TV screen where Kensi and Deeks interrogated Edgar. Feeling his phone vibrate, he took it out and saw a message from Julia and he just smiled. Maeve was covered in frosting but she had the biggest smile on her face. Laura was out of town and even though he didn't want to bother Julia with Mae, he had no choice but to call her and ask if she would take care of her while he finished up some work. Hearing the door open, he placed his phone on the table.
"She did her research. She knew exactly who to target."
"So, it was a distraction. Now we need to figure out for what." Deeks said as he looked at the screen.
"Well, whatever it is, it has to be in the radius of the downed power grid." Kensi answered back.
"That's a lot of ground to cover." Callen said as he looked down, "I'll have Nell start with the high-value properties in the area."
Just then Nell appeared on the screen. "Greetings fine people."
"Is it me or is Nell just like Hetty going all Benjamin Buttons on us?" Deeks asked.
"Deeks, I am." Nell whispered back.
"Nell, can you contact the local authorities, and see if there's been reports of any suspicious activity around the power outage?" Callen said with a smile.
"Oh, already on it." Nell said as she typed something. "So, far the only reports have been about a stolen lamb from a residential nativity scene."
"Hmm," Deeks said as he looked at a guilty-looking Kensi.
"All right, it was cute, it was dirty. I was going to wash it and return it. Get over it." Kensi said looking down.
"Good to know." Nell said, "There is this one other thing, and um, before I continue, let me remind you that it's the holiday season after all. That means it's a time for giving and… forgiving."
"You found Finn." Callen said closing his eyes.
"Finn's missing?" Kensi asked in shock.
"Hiding feels more appropriate." Callen said.
"Well, I ran some of Finn's financial records that aren't linked to Dexter Hughes and it turns out he is the proud owner of a shiny, old van."
"Oh, that's not good. Vans are notoriously creepy." Deeks said.
"It's been ticketed twice this week in Culver City. I'm sending you the address now. Until we meet again." Nell finished off before the screen went down.
"Oh, no. You've got a 'mad dad' face." Deeks said looking towards Callen.
"I am not his dad and I'm not mad." Callen said as he got up to go track down Finn.
"Hidoko, where did you send the holidays last year?" Nella asked as they entered the armoury.
"Stuttgart, Germany on assignment with EUCOM. We lived off brats and mulled wine."
"And the year before that?" Nella asked as she turned towards the young lady.
"Bagram Air Base, with 1st CAG. Turned an MRE into a green bean casserole. I'll never forget that one."
"Well, we don't always get to spend the holidays with our real families. Sometimes we spend them with this family. And this family has been through a lot lately. Now, I know the holidays aren't going to be the same without Hetty, Granger, Michelle and Emma-Grace here, and that is exactly why we need to remind them how special it was when they were here." Nell said, "And we need that tree, Hidoko. I need that tree."
"Okay, well how do you plan on convincing Mosley?" Hidoko asked, not liking the tears on Nell's face.
"I haven't quite figured that out, yet. So, I could use your help. What do you say?"
"Okay." Hidoko said with a smile and they started to move the palm tree out just before Mosley walked into the room.
"You got to be kidding me." Callen said as they walked into OPS.
"It should have been restored hours ago." Sam said looking into the darkness.
Just then the lights went on and Christmas music started to play.
"This is Eric written all over it." Kensi said with a smile.
"Sorry to disappoint." Mosley said with a smile and her hands on her hips.
"Ma'am, I thought there were rules." Hidoko said.
"With all due respect, there are rules but I also have the power to override them. Merry Christmas." Mosley said with a smile.
"This is impressive." Deeks said with a whistle, "Where did you find all this?"
"It took a little investigating and a few glues that were lying around but I didn't do it all by myself." She answered as Nell wheeled in some Eggnog.
"Well, hello there. Looks like this crowd could use a little drink." Nell said with a smile. "Eggnog for everyone but the little Elf." Nell said as she handed Callen and Sam a drink.
"Little Elf?" Callen asked, a bit confused but just then he saw who she was talking about. Maeve came running out of the bullpen right into her daddy's legs. "Oh, this little Elf."
"I had Nell pick her up. Though you would like her to see the Christmas lights." Mosley said looking at the little girl with a sad smile.
"Thank you." Callen said with a smile as Sam took the little girl from him.
"Nice outfit, Mae. You ready for Christmas?" Sam said as he kissed her on the cheek.
"Presents." Mae said with a smile.
"I bet Santa is going to bring you a lot of gifts. Were you good this year?" Deeks said as the girl wiggled to get out of his arms so she could hang on Kensi's legs.
"Oh, before I forget," Nell said as she made her way towards Hetty's office. "This came for you, Maeve." She finished as she put the big box on the floor.
"Santa bring?" Maeve asked as Kensi sat down on the floor with her on her lap.
"I don't know. Open up and we can see who sent it." Nell said with a small smile.
"Do you need help Mae?" Callen asked. Maeve just shook her head yes before he took out his pocket knife and ran it over the tape. Opening the box, he found a smaller box inside, took it out and placed it in front of the little girl whose arms were reaching out for it. Once she got the box open, she started to take out a couple of crochet dolls.
"Dada, dolls." She said with a small smile.
"That's right, dolls. Looks like someone took the time to make you this amazing gift… I wonder who that could be?" Callen said as he looked at Nell.
"Hey, don't look at me. I'm just the messenger." Nella said with her hands up.
It took Maeve a few minutes before she started to put the dolls in a line on the floor before she handed Kensi the letter that was at the bottom of the box.
"Read, Kensi." Mae said as she looked at the dolls in front of her. Each one looked exactly like one of each of them. Kensi took the letter and opened it up to start reading.
My dear little butterfly,
I'm sorry I can't be there for Christmas. I made you these dolls and I hope they will keep you busy till I get home. See how many of the family you can guess…
I love you and take good care of everyone, especially daddy.
I miss you so much and I will see you soon.
Hugs and kisses,
Amma
"Amma, send box dada." Maeve said as she looked at her dad who had to turn around and wipe tears from his eyes.
"Emma did send you the box. You want to see who we have here?" Sam said seeing his partner needed a minute.
Maeve just shook her head and she got up and looked at the dolls before her. "This dada and mama." Pointing to the two dolls that looked like Callen and Anna. "Amma," she said as she pointed to the one with a dress and shoes that looked like Converse shoes. "Mae." She said next, pointing to the doll with mismatched eyes and light red hair. As she moved on to the next doll, Sam just smiled. "Sam, 'Aiden, Kam." She said before she handed Sam the last doll, "Shelly." Sam took the doll and he had to say Emma put a lot of thought into making all these dolls. "Kensi, Deeks, Gigi, Nana, Zach." Was next in her line and Deeks just smiled when I saw that 'Gigi' was holding a wine bottle.
"Why is this Gigi, Mae?" He asked the little girl.
"Gigi special juice." Mae said as she handed him the next doll, "Nana has flowers."
"That's right she has a lot of flowers." Kensi said as she looked at her doll and then at Zach's doll.
"Nelly, Eric." Mae said as she pointed to the two dolls who were looking like they had tablets in their hands. "Gran gran." She finally said but they could see she was kind of confused about the last doll. Callen could see that and he bent down and took the doll.
"This is Granger. You met him when you were a baby so you wouldn't remember him. He's looking down from heaven and makes sure we're all safe."
"Angel like Mimi and Amy?" Mae said as she put her arms around Callen's neck.
"Angel like Mimi and Amy." Callen said as he hugged the little girl.
The rest of the evening was spent laughing and just happy talking with Mae running around everyone. Callen was looking at the little girl talking to Hidoko about all her ducks and he knew that the little girl was looking at the young agent as if she was part of the family.
"You know, Finn is just like you. He's just a scared kind who has to figure out what the future will bring." Sam said behind him.
"It's funny how the world works isn't it?" Callen said with a smile.
"Emma-Grace is going to be fine. She's as stubborn as you and boy she's going to be a force to be reckoned with when she gets back."
"Funny to think a couple of years ago, I would be running for the hills if you told me I had two kids. And now I can't imagine my life without them in it."
"Welcome to fatherhood. Now, I'm going to take my goddaughter and take her to go see the boat and Aiden. You go find Finn and see what he says about the apartment." Sam said as he walked towards Mae, who was talking to Eric about the mall and Santa. "Let's go meet Aiden, little lady."
"Aiden home?" Mae said with a smile.
"Kam will be home tomorrow. And maybe we'll come over for dinner on Christmas."
"Dada, Aiden and Kam come to dinner." Mae said as they walked past him, placing a kiss on his cheek.
"I'll see you in a bit, ducky. Love you!" Callen said as he kissed her head.
"Love too." Mae said as she waved to the rest of the team.
A couple of weeks later
Emma was going to lose her mind. That or she was going to kill someone soon. She was so sick of sand and mountains and people who looked at her like she was a piece of ass. All she wanted to do was to take a shower, make a cup of tea, and get to bed early. Walking towards her room, she saw Niall walking towards her.
"What now?" Emma said and she felt bad as soon as the words left her mouth.
"Walker's looking for you." Niall said without looking up.
"Can he give me like 5 minutes to put my stuff down?" Emma asked.
"Hmmm." He started and looked behind him to where Sergeant Walker was standing in the doorway of his 'office.' Looking behind him, she held up 10 fingers and he shook his head yes before he went back in. Nodding, Emma smiled at the young man and turned to open her door. As she entered her room, she could see that A.D. Hayes was calling her on her tablet.
"AD Hayes. What can I do for you today?" Emma said with a fake smile.
"Agent. Callen. I'm not going to ask how you're doing as I can see you've had a bad day." Elissa said sad smile.
"Sorry, ma'am. I shouldn't have taken my frustrations out on you." Emma said feeling bad.
"Never apologize for speaking your mind, Agent Callen." Elissa said to the young agent. "Well, let me tell you why I called and then I'll let you prepare for the next call."
"Next call?" Emma asked a bit confused.
"Your next call will be from OPS, Agent Callen." Elissa said and she could see Emma was shocked. "They found two of Wallace's team dead in LA."
"King and Leighton?" Emma asked.
"King and Mills." Elissa said, "Leighton's still missing." Elissa said. "Agent Callen, this is serious. This is a need-to-know mission. This could cost a few people their jobs and if Wallace finds out three of his team is missing, he's going to come after you. I've sent you a team that will help you stay safe and finish up this case. You've come further than any other agent we've sent so you need to wrap this up as soon as you can." Elissa said.
"I know ma'am. What do you want me to tell OPS?" Emma asked.
"As far as they know, the dead men were dishonourably discharged and they turned to drugs to make ends meet. You're going to tell them about Leighton and his involvement with stolen weapons and equipment from the bases around the border and how they've made their way into Mexico. You can tell them about how they travel into Afghanistan and tell them about Jamal and his organization and how Leighton is the main man."
"You mean direct them into arresting Leighton and stopping the transport of the weapons into Mexico? Do I tell them about the connection to Spencer Williams?"
"No, not yet. ATF is working on getting him. You tell them just what they need to find Leighton and stop him. Understood?" Elissa said and Emma could see she was serious.
"Yes ma'am. Tell them what they need to know. Got it." Emma said with a small smile.
"Good girl and Emma, if Mosley gives you hell, tell her to call me." Elissa said as she lifted her phone.
"Yes, ma'am."
"I'll let you get cleaned up before they call you. Good luck and you'll like the new team coming to help you out." Elissa smiled.
"More new people… fun times." Emma said while rolling her eyes.
"Good luck Agent Callen and talk to you soon." Elissa said as she ended the call.
Before Emma could say anything, she heard a knock on the door. "Coming." Emma yelled before opening the door to see Niall standing there. "Really… he couldn't give me like 5 extra minutes?" Emma said as she locked her door.
"He's not in a good mood today." Niall said as they walked the feet steps.
"I'm going to guess that the kitchen misplaced his favourite mug again." Emma said with a smile.
"And you will be correct. Good luck in there and see you tomorrow Grace." Niall said as they stopped in front of the door.
"You said 10 minutes." Walker said as he opened the door before she could knock.
"Got a call so had to take that before I could meet you, sir. I'm sorry and I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again." Emma said with a smile.
"You and I both know that's not going to happen. What's in the bag?" Walker said as he pointed to the bag in Emma's hand.
"Oh, you know. The weirdest thing happened this morning… I went to grab a coffee and they handed me this." Emma said as she handed him his missing mug. "But then I got distracted and left it in my room but you can have it back now." she said with a smile.
Walker looked inside the mug and saw two small chocolates in it. "You'll have to apologize to half of the men I yelled at this morning."
"Yeah, not going to happen. Half of them hate me and would love for me to just disappear." Emma smiled, "Now you wanted to see me?"
"Elissa told you that she sent a new team to help you finish up this case?"
"She did." Emma said.
"Well, I would like you to meet…" Walker said as he opened the door.
Emma looked behind him and saw someone she knew pretty well, "Company 7."
"Pixie!" Billy yelled before he came to hug her. "We've been looking for you."
"Yeah, was here the whole time." Emma smiled as she hugged the rest of the team but her eyes were on only one of them. Moving in front of him, she opened her arms and he hugged her.
"I've missed you." Zach whispered into her ear.
"Missed you too." Emma said.
"Okay, let's get this over with. Grace, do you want to tell them why they're here?" Walker said from behind her and he could see the men looked a bit confused.
"I have a few things to input before I can say what I need from them. Mind if we check in tomorrow morning after breakfast before we head out for the day?" Emma asked the group in front of her.
"That sounds good. You can use my office, your place is too small and I don't want people to get the wrong idea." Walker said with a smile.
"Perfect. Then I'll see you all tomorrow morning." Emma said ready to head out.
"Before you head out, Grace. Do you know what day it is?" Niall said from the door.
"I haven't looked at the calendar yet, why?" Emma asked and she could see something was up but before she could ask again, she saw him reach for something behind him and then it hit her.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" everyone in the room said at the same time as Niall held a small cake in front of her with one candle on it.
"Shit!" Emma said as she looked at the floor. She would have loved to forget this day but of course Walker would know when her birthday was. Deciding she couldn't break the poor rookie's heart she looked up and smiled, "Thank you, Niall." She said before she blew out the candle. "You boys can have the cake on my behave. I'll see you guys tomorrow morning." She finished before she closed the door and walked back to her room. Unlocking the door, she put her back to it and slid down. With her hands on her chest, Emma let the tears fall. She wished she was at home, with her family, her sister. She was so close to finishing this case but her loneliness didn't hit her until she saw Zach. She never knew she would someone so much, until she was away from everyone she knew. Wiping her tears, she got up and made herself a cup of tea. She would have loved to just go to bed but she needed to finish inputting the information and she still had the OPS call to worry about. Putting her mug down, she moved a few files around the desk and then she sat down and started to input her files.
She was almost done when she saw her tablet screen light up with an incoming call. Sitting up straight, she pressed a few buttons and she saw Eric's face on the big screen.
"Emma-Grace." Eric said with a big smile.
"Hi Eric, Nell." Emma said with a small smile.
"Nice to see you again, Em." Nell said with a smile. Before she could say anything, the doors opened and the rest of the team walked in. They were a bit taken aback to see her but she could also see relief.
"Look what the cat dragged in." Sam said with a smile.
"Looking good Uncle Sam." Emma said but she looked at Callen.
"How are you doing, Pixie?" Deeks asked to lighten the mood.
"Good under the circumstances we find ourselves in. How's everyone doing there?" Emma smiled.
"Doing good." Callen said with a fatherly look.
"Now that we've caught up with each other, we have a case." Mosley said as she and Hidoko walked in. "Agent Callen Jr." she said with a fake smile.
"It's just Agent Callen or Emma-Grace, ma'am." Emma said and the team knew the look the young girl gave Mosley.
"Well Agent Callen, I'm…" Mosley started but she didn't get to finish.
"EAD Shay Mosley," Emma said with a smirk, "And you must be Agent Harley Hidoko." She finished looking at the young agent next to Mosley. "AD Hayes informed me."
"Well then let's get this going, Hidoko?" Shay said as she turned to Hidoko, already not liking this girl.
"Yesterday two bodies were found in a known drug house. They were identified as Petty Officers Kyle King and Andrew Mills. They both were dishonourably discharged two months ago as they both failed drug tests and they were said to be behind two robberies on Marine bases." Hidoko said as she brought up the reports.
"Agent Callen, you've met the two officers, correct?" Shay asked the young agent.
"Both were stationed at a base close to my location. They have a connection with Petty Officer First Class Michael Leighton…" Emma started to say but was interrupted by a simple question.
"Michael Leighton?" Shay said and now she was paying attention.
"Like I was going to say before I was interrupted," Emma said and the team knew how she felt about being interrupted. "Michael Leighton was once a known member of the Martinez cartel. They specialize in stolen amination and weapons from military bases in and around the Mexican border." Emma finished.
"If he was a known member of a gang, how did he get into the Army?" Kensi asked.
"Leighton's father knows a few people and let's say that a phone call was made and it wasn't to talk about the next fishing trip to Cabo." Emma said and Deeks had to smile. "With Daddy's help, he got in but it was made clear that he had to comply with random drug testing and that would never be more than a Petty Officer."
"But he got a promotion a year ago." Nell said.
"On paper, he got a promotion but he become a general's bitch and he had to follow orders from people whose rank is less than his."
"Bet that made him angry." Sam said.
"Well, he wasn't happy about anything. He served two years before he got to leave Afghanistan so his mindset wasn't the best and when he got home, he got arrested for beating up a waitress. She didn't press charges and she moved out of her apartment the day she was released from the hospital."
"She got paid off?" Kensi said.
"Nobody can find her but it wouldn't surprise me if she was paid off. Leighton's dad has a lot of powerful contacts. It's his dad who introduced his son to Jamal Abdullah and Leonardo Aziz."
"Both are on the FBI's most wanted list and Interpol." Nell said as she brought the files up, "And looks like they have had dealings with a known weapons dealer Spencer Williams."
"Did you just say Spencer Williams?" Shay said and the team just looked at her.
"That's rumours. There is no proof that Leighton ever met him or that they've done business together." Emma said.
"How do you know?" Shay asked.
"Because Jamal and Leonardo work for a group called Abboud Abd Al-Rashid."
"Devoted worshipper of a servant of the right-minded." Sam said.
"They specialize in bombing small villages forcing the rest to move to a bigger more radical village. They put guns in the hands of kids as young as 6 and they sent the girls away to be war brides, they see them as a reward for the men who've done well for the group." Emma said.
"Where do the stolen weapons fit in? And where does Leighton fit in?" Callen asked.
"Rumour has it that Leonardo has a few friends that steal the weapons and ammunition from the bases. It gets transported to Mexico, some get traded to the cartels and then the rest is shipped to the ports. They're placed into fishing boats and head toward Sierra Leone, then transported to Afghanistan and Iraq."
"So, our men and women get killed with our weapons, great." Kensi said.
"Not just our people. They've killed 97 children and 34 adults in the last year."
"Who calls the shots in Afghanistan?" Sam asked Emma.
"You don't have to worry about them." Emma said.
"And why is that Agent Callen?" Shay asked.
"Like I said, EAD Mosley. You don't need to worry about them." Emma said with a smirk.
"Listen here Agent Callen, you better tell me something we can use to find Leighton because you're wasting our time." Shay said, getting irritated with this child.
"Leighton has two brothers. Does that help?" Emma said. The team just looked between the two women.
"Where can we find them?" Shay asked again.
"One lives in San Francisco and the other one lives in San Diego but good luck getting them to talk." Emma said.
"Why is that, Agent Callen?"
"If you think Leighton's angry at the Military, try two brothers who didn't make it past a Psych eval. They have radical views about everything the USA is doing wrong and what they would do if they were in charge."
"Can't you give us something that will help us find him?" Shay said again.
"Leighton has a girlfriend but I don't have any information on her."
"How do you know he has a girlfriend?" Hidoko said.
"He had her picture on his arm when I met him and he kept on talking to it. Kind of fracked me out and a few other people thought he needed a Psych eval. And before you ask EAD Mosley, she's blond and has green eyes. That's all I can tell you."
"Listen hear your little…" Shay said but looked at the team, "I'm higher on the food chain than you and you're wasting my time. So, I'm going to ask you one more time, can you give us any information on where we can find Leighton?"
"I can't give you something I don't have, ma'am."
"Maybe a phone call to AD Hayes will get you to talk."
"Please do. It's speed dial 4 in your phone. She might not answer on the first call as she was on her way to her son's school concert when she called me." Emma said with a smirk. Mosley just looked at the girl and then turned on her heels to leave. "I have a feeling she doesn't hear the word 'No' much."
"HIDOKO!" was all the team heard before the young agent left the room.
"Emma, can you give us anything to help us? Please?" Callen asked.
"Leighton has an apartment in Ocean Side, close to the beach. It's under his mother's maiden name." Emma said, "But be careful, please. He has a habit of leaving bodies wherever he goes. I've seen a lot of his work and don't want to see what he will do to any of you."
"Thank you." Callen said with a smile.
"Do you know when you're coming home?" Kensi asked and Emma could see she was scared.
"I don't know." Emma said with a sad smile.
"Well, please stay safe and come back in one piece." Sam said.
"Good luck and see you soon." Emma said but she was stopped before she could end the call.
"Ah, Emma before you go. I hope we're still in time… but HAPPY BIRTHDAY." Eric said with a smile.
Emma just smiled, "You're 10 minutes late but thank you Eric. Love you guys." She added before she ended the call and started to cry.
"Eric, do you have an address?" Callen and they could see this was killing him.
"On your phones." Eric said.
"Enter." Mosley said before Callen walked into her office.
"We found Leighton's body alongside his girlfriend." Callen said as he sat down.
"So, we have nothing to tell two families why their sons died." Shay said.
"They know what their sons were involved with. Do they need to know the details?"
"I guess not." Shay said as she looked at him.
"Well, I'll finish up the paperwork tomorrow." Callen said as he stood up. "I need to get home to Maeve."
"You need to talk to your daughter about following orders from her superiors." Shay said as she sat back in her chair. "She needs to learn where her place is and that she can't do whatever she wants."
"Emma-Grace did what she was told to do, so I don't see anything wrong with that." Callen said as he turned towards her.
"She has an attitude and if she doesn't drop it, she will never achieve at NCIS."
"My daughter will achieve more than you will ever know."
"She's a high-priced call girl who was let off the hook by this agency because she shares DNA with you. You and I both know that's all she'll ever be because nobody held her accountable for her actions."
"Listen to me, Emma-Grace was a victim. She brought down a whole organization, an organization the ATF, DoD and every agency under the sun couldn't do. And she did it all before her 16th birthday. She has achieved more than you at that age and you know what, maybe one day she will have your job and you will just be a memory. Now if you ever call my daughter that again, you and I will have a different conversation." Callen said before he walked out slamming the door closed.