Lin's POV

     Oh my... I don't think I've ever felt my heart sink like that before when the woman over told me about her... Scarlett. She was 14 now. And her Dad was dead due to suicide....
      It's an early morning, 5:00 AM in New York. V, Sebastian, and I, are all hopping on a plane at 7:30 and flying to Tulsa, Oklahoma to meet the girl I said "okay" to taking custody if something happened. And something did happen.
       I was told there was evidence of abuse, but there wasn't anything to be dealt with considering the suspect was dead.
       "Lin, breathe." I hear Vanessa say next to me as we wait for our plane boarding. She had Sebastian on her leg, bouncing him up and down.
"I am breathing." I answered, forcing a smile.
"Not deep enough. They're very shallow." She said and I shakily took a deep breath.
       "I'm just scared, V... I mean a teenage girl... an abused teenage girl...." I said the last part quietly.
"I know..." Vanessa seemed to be nervous too.
I know that abuse can really mess a kid up, but when it's a teen girl and her father is the culprit, it destroys all trust. To authorities and most likely all males.
         Not to mention I'm leaving my job. But I don't really think I could work well with this on my heart. Chris was kinda shocked when I told him. He actually was the first person in the friend category I went to. Like, "Oh, hey, I gotta leave to go pick up the kid I have custody over now because her mom died of breast cancer and her father committed suicide." I gave him permission to tell the rest of the cast why I was going to be out for a few days.
      We were called to board so I picked Sebastian up and Vanessa grabbed the bags.
"Daddy, am I going to have a big sister now?" I hear Sebastian ask me.
"Yeah, bud... but she may not like you calling her a sister very much." I say softly.
"Why?"
I paused.
"Because she wasn't... mommy and I's kid. Like you. She was born into another family and were adopting her. So it may take her a while to get used to this one." I tell him and he nods.

        The flight was pretty smooth. But once we hit the ground, we were running. We went to the group home, where Scarlett was staying. Once we arrived, a woman greeted us.
"Hello, you must be Lin-Manuel Miranda and Vanessa Nadal, I'm Isabelle Swan. One of the managers here." She shook her hands and then her eyes drifted down to Sebastian. "Who's this little guy?" She asked fondly.
"This is Sebastian," Vanessa smiled.
       "Well... um... there are somethings I need to discuss with the two of you before you meet Scarlett and that might not be appropriate for him..." She had a serious look all the sudden. "We have a supervised playroom in the back there." She said as she pointed to a hallway.
      "Okay, I'll go take him back there real quick." Vanessa took him and returned a few moments later.
But my heart was pounding. What was she about to tell us that was so dreadful?
Isabelle lead back into her office and sat us down. She pulled out a file and sat it on the desk.
     "This is Scarlett's file...." She said slowly. "Her case, is the most violent case of child abuse and neglect I've ever seen in my 20 years of a career..." I knew the color from my face was drained right then.
I watched Vanessa out of the corner of my eye grab the file and open it.
      She gasped and just looked to me. Vanessa just slowly slid the file into my hands and I began to skim it.
        But every bit of calmness I had, was loose the second I read, "was kept in a 5ft by 5ft cage" and "had boiling water poured down her back and now has serious scars."
I clasped a hand over my mouth and flipped the file closed. I carded a hand through my hair and fought the tears threatening to fall from my eyes.
      I felt Vanessa's hand on my back, but I couldn't stop re-reading the words in my head. The sweet little girl in my friend's arms had seen more than anyone should ever see.
"Are you two ready to meet her?" I hear Mrs. Swan ask me and I brought my face up and nodded.
     "Send Scarlett Willows to my office." She said over the intercom and I held Vanessa's hand.
"Oh, Vanessa... why did I ever leave her." I said softly and that's when I heard Mrs. Swan say,
"Meet Scarlett."
      I turned my head to see her, standing there, with all her belongings in a plastic bag.