Super short chapter but will update it again over the weekend. Thank you for sticking with this story. It means a lot to me.
Own nothing.
Every morning Emma found Zach waiting for her outside her room so they could go for their run or to work out before the base got busy. Zach realized pretty quickly that Emma had become more introverted and that worried him. She made so much progress since they found her and hated that she felt like she needed to go back to her old ways just to make people happy. He saw how she was in the village with the women and children and could see that they adored her. But when they were back at base, Emma put her walls back up and her head went down. Walking over to the table the rest of the team sat at, Zach saw Kyle and Emma looking over a map.
"What are looking for today?" Zach asked with a smile as he sat down.
"Shae's taking us to a village closer to the mountains to see if they will be willing to let us help them." Emma said with a smile.
"Ah look, Princess Grace has new bodyguards." Wallace behind her.
"Wallace, you're not as funny as you think you are." Billy said as he got into the man's face.
"That's Sargent Wallace to you, boy." Wallace said as he took a step closer.
"Not a boy and you're nothing more than a bully." Billy answered back.
"Sit down Billy, he's not worth it." Keaton said as he sat down.
"You still can't fight your own battles, can you Grace?" Navi said next to Wallace.
"I can but I choose not to waste my time on garbage like you." Emma said with a smirk.
"One of these days you and I will have a little fight to see if you're as tough as you claim, Princess Grace." Wallace said as he walked away. "One word of advice gentlemen, be careful what you say in front of her. She's on the native's side and likes to make us look like the enemy." He finished before he finally walked away with his team.
"That guy is going home in a body bag." Ben said from his spot next to Zach.
"If she doesn't kill first." Zach said, winking at Emma.
"With pleaser." Emma smiled, "Okay, let's get going before it gets too hot."
Zach was walking back to the room when he saw Emma dressed in all black and carrying something in hand, walking towards the gate. Find it a bit strange that she would be up this late and knowing she didn't have to go anywhere, he decided to follow her and see where she would lead him. Luckily for him, he always carried a little light in his pocket so he pulled out and followed the moon and the light surrounding her. She didn't lead him into the desert for long before he saw her stop and put the bag down. Standing back, he watched her assemble a long gun and set up. Not wanting to scare her, he approached her slowly.
"You know you don't have to spy on me." Emma said while looking over her shoulder from the spot on her stomach.
"Saw you leave and knew you didn't have to go anywhere this late." Zach said as he lay next to her on the tarp.
"The only time I get to shoot is at night when everyone sleeps or is busy with something else." Emma smiled.
"And you're far away so they don't hear the sound."
"Exactly. Walker told me where to go since he sometimes comes here to practice."
"He treats you like a daughter. It's nice to see you're protected."
"I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye." Emma said before she took her shot, "Not texting you."
"You have nothing to be sorry about." Zach said like the shot didn't bother him, "This is our life. We don't always get to say goodbye."
"Funny to think how our lives change in this line of work." Emma said before she took another shot.
"Callen misses you." Zach started to say, "Maeve…"
"Don't. Please don't talk about them." Emma said as she lined up her next shot.
"Em…"
"No, I can't think about them. All I'm doing is surviving and I can't focus on them while I'm doing this assignment."
"You think they'll hate you if they find out what you've done?" Zach already knew the answer but he still asked it.
"I don't know what they will think." Emma said before she put the gun down on the ground.
"You need to know that no matter what you did here, isn't your fault. You did what you needed to do and you can't let this eat you up from the inside." Zach said as he took her hand.
"I can't think about that now. I need to get this done so I can go home and figure out what my future's going to look like." Emma said as she wiped a tear away.
Zach wished he could just pull her into a hug but he knew they couldn't and it broke him, "You're going to be fine. We're going to be fine, just know that."
"I think you should go back to base. You never know who's watching." Emma said as she picked up the gun again. "I'll be back in 15 minutes."
"I'll see you in the morning for our run." Zach said as he got up and headed back to base. He wished he knew what to say or do to get the girl he fell in love with, to come back to him.
Los Angeles
Callen woke with a loud knock on the front door. Grabbing his gun, he made his way down the hall. Stopping at Maeve's door, he peeked in and saw her on her stomach butt in the air still fast asleep. Moving closer to the door, he peeked through the peephole and sighed.
"You still in bed?" Arkady asked looking like he hadn't slept in days. "Is Anna here? Wait, don't tell me. I don't want to know."
"What do you want Arkady?" Callen asked.
"Okay, tell me, is my daughter here?"
"No." Callan answered with a sigh.
"Good." Arkady said with a smile.
"What, you came to check up on Anna?" Callen asked.
"Well, it's been long night. Are you going to invite me in or what. I'm freezing my ass off out here. Don't make me beg, please."
"Come on." Callen said moving out of the way.
"Ay." Arkady said with a smile.
"Interesting design concept, yes. Maybe you could buy more furniture or something. And why all the kid stuff?"
"Dada." Maeve said as she walked around the corner.
"Arkady Maeve, Maeve meet Arkady." Callen said as he picked up the little girl. "Anna's daddy."
"Mama daddy?" Maeve asked looking at the old man.
"Mama?" Arkady said with shock.
"Long story and not in the mood to tell it now. I'm going to get her something to eat and settled and then you can tell me why you're at my door this early." Callen said as he walked into the kitchen to get breakfast. Arkady just looked as Callen got the little girl some cereal and milk before taking her to his room and heard him switch on the TV. As soon as Maeve was settled, Callen walked towards Arkady waiting in the kitchen.
"When did my Anna have a baby?"
"She didn't. Maeve's mom left her with me and Emma-Grace to raise."
"Then why does she call her mama?"
"Arkady, why are you here?" Callen asked, trying to change the subject.
"You remember Vladlena Sokolov, yes? Beautiful face, looks like she could kill rabid coyote with bear hands?"
"Yeah, her brother Abram was using an investment bank to lauder rubles into American dollars. I remember."
"Exactly. Well, last night she texted… Callen, she text me."
"Okay." Callen looked at him, skeptically.
"Women like Vladlena Sokolov do not text, they do not call, they do not bake cherry cheesecake and come over for a visit. If you want to talk to her, you have to go to her place of business and spend ridiculous moneys on poker and vodka."
"Is this a joke?" Callen asked, getting annoyed with the old man.
"Callen, this is serious. I went over to her poker parlour and waited for her. She was gone entire night. This is unheard of." Arkady said with seriousness.
"Okay. What did she text you?" Callen asked again before Arkady showed him the text. "I need you." Arkady just shook his head yes. "You woke me up to brag about a little booty call you got?"
"Get your head out of gutter, guy. Something spooked her. Trust me, this is woman that does not spook easy. This is cry for help."
"And you think it involves her bother?" Callen asked.
"I think he is not thrilled you spoil his perfect little money laundering operation."
"Even if Sokolov suspected she helped us, we've been tracking him. His in Chisinau, Moldova right now."
"I'm telling you she is in trouble. Which means you and your posse are in big trouble." Arkady finished looking the man straight in the eyes.
"Okay, I'll call the team and see if we can help her. Let me get Maeve ready and get her off for her day, then we'll head to the boatshed." Callen said walking towards his room. "Okay, ducky let's get this day started."
"Where mama?" Mae asked as they moved towards her room.
"She's at work and daddy has to go to work too. Blue or red?" He asked as the little girl looked at her options.
"Blue, please." Mae said with a smile, "Mae stay with Nana?"
"Nana's out of town, remember. Zola's coming to get you and take you to see Alice to help her with the wedding." Callen said as he got her hair into pigtails.
"Mae help with flowers." Maeve said with a smile.
"You and Nana are helping with the flowers but remember that they need help with other stuff too."
"When Amma home?" Mae said as she picked her fox stuffy for the day.
"I don't know, baby. Hopefully soon and then you can finish your book." Callen said with a sad smile as they walked into the kitchen. "Can you watch her for 5 minutes without scaring her with Cold War stories?"
"I not good with kids, Callen." Arkady started but Callen gave him a look and that got him to keep quiet.
Arkady just looked at the little girl and smiled. "Hi, I'm Arkady."
"Ar'dy?" Mae said with her head tilted.
"Who you have there?" Arkady said as he bent down to her level.
"Mama, dada, Amma." Mae said with a smile, "Bee." She finished as she showed him her fox.
"White fox rear where I'm from. You lucky you found one this big." Arkady said with a small smile.
"Where you stay?" Mae asked while looking down at her fox.
"I live here in LA but I'm from Russia."
"Where that?"
"Far away and when Emma gets back you can ask her about it." Callen said just as someone rang the doorbell.
"You have doorbell?" Arkady asked.
"Okay, ducky let's get the day started." Callen said as he got her lunch box out of the fridge. "Shoes please."
"Bye, Ar'dy." Mae said before she ran for the door.
"I'm… Not going to say a thing." Callen said as he walked to the door. "Zola." He said as he opened the door.
"Mr. Callen. Maeve, you ready?" Zola said with a smile.
"Zola, shoes please." Mae said as she walked out with her shoes not tied.
"Funny how you potty trained yourself but you can't tie your shoes." Zola said with a smile as she helped the little girl.
"She's tried but failed so don't bring it up." Callen winked.
"Okay, let's hit the road bubs." Zola said as Callen handed her the little girl's backpack and lunch kit.
"Thanks for taking her. I'll call you when I'm done and where I can pick her up."
"No worries, we're just doing wedding stuff. Say bye to Daddy, bubs."
"Bye, dada." Mae said as he blew him a kiss.
"Love you." Callen said with a smile.
"Cute kid. Sure, she's not Anna's?" Arkady said behind him.
"Let's get to the boatshed." Callen said as he locked up the house.
"Liam and Mae read book." Maeve said to Melissa as she changed Liam's diaper.
"You are good at reading him books." Mel said with a smile. Every time she saw Maeve she missed her friend even more. She wished she knew where she was and when she would be back. She could see how much Callen missed Emma too and it hurt her heart to see how much Maeve needed her sister.
"Amma read too." Mae said with a smile.
"Emma does like to read and when she gets back, you guys can finish your book." Mel said as she moved a curl out of the girl's face.
"I miss Amma." Mae said looking down at the doll.
"You know what… I miss her too." Mel said with a sad smile. "We all do and she'll be back before you know it."
"Zach too?" Mae asked.
"Zach too and then the boys can teach you to surf."
"Callen just called, he's going to come grab her in about 30 minutes." Alice said as she picked up the little girl.
"Are you okay with her till then? Need to stop at the store to grab stuff for dinner." Mel said as she picked up Liam.
"We're good. Brae is on his way home and he's grabbing dinner so we can just play till then." Alice smiled at Mae. "Boy, you can see you and Em are related babe." She said to Mae.
"She does. If you didn't know, you would think Em was her mom. But she looks like Anna too." Mel said as she smiled at the little girl who was looking at the baby.
"How's Anna doing?" Zola asked as she walked in.
"I haven't heard from her in a while. But she's busy with work and Glendale's far but Julia said she pops in now and again to see Maeve." Mel said as she placed the baby in his car seat.
"At least she still makes time for her." Zola said, "Wait until Emma gets back… we're all going to get an ear full about all the shit that happened while she was gone."
"Bad word." Mae said as she pointed to Zola.
"You've heard worse, Mae." Alice said with a giggle. "But you're right, Zola did say a bad word."
"Okay bubs, I'm out. Thanks for keeping Liam busy and I'll see you soon." Mel said as she kissed the little girl on the head. "Ladies, I'll see you on Sunday for brunch." Mel said as she hugged them goodbye.
"Drive safe. Love you!" Zola and Alice yelled together.
"Love you." Mae yelled after them, both girls just laughing with her.
The girls kept playing while they waited for Callen and once she left, they could feel the hole left without Emma in their lives. Emma was the glue that get the shit show together. She knew what to say at the right time, she was there to comfort them when they felt the world was too much and she was the one who made sure they were taken care of no matter what it was. She was what their friendship group needed. They just want her back and safe.