EmmaxAldon - To the Core
I loved the chemistry between these two in Fubar... couldn't resist writing a little something for them!
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Emma sat on the steps outside the cabin, staring up at the stary sky. The past few weeks had been nothing short of weird.
After fleeing from the wedding, they’d ended up in a remote cabin the CIA had used as a safe house, while they awaited further instructions on what they needed to do next.
Standard procedure when your identity was compromised.
But that wasn’t really the weird part.
No, the weird part was the group of people she was with.
She had her team of course – her dad, Roo, Barry, and Aldon. Then there was her family too – her mom, Oscar, Romi and...
But then there was also Donnie and Carter. The two very unfortunate souls who were dragged into this complete shit show. They shouldn’t be here. Her worlds were colliding in uncomfortable ways, and she didn’t know how to handle it.
She’d worked so hard to keep Carter separate from her life in the CIA, and now it had all gone to shit.
But Emma was wiser now. Working with this team had somehow made her more self-aware. That she needed to own her decisions. That sometimes the ideals she built up in her head could never exist. Should never exist.
And that maybe the ideal wasn’t what she thought it was. Maybe the ideal was something else entirely. Something that had caught her completely off guard.
“Penny for your thoughts, Brunner?”
Emma turned her head and saw Aldon standing behind her, his hands shoved in his pockets.
There was no doubt that his stupid cute face was an ideal – especially when he looked at her like that.
She shook her head before turning back to look at the stars, “You don’t want to know.”
She heard the wood decking creek behind her before Aldon lowered himself down beside her. “Try me.”
Emma sucked in a breath, “I am... thinking about love.”
“Love?”
Emma turned to look at him with a teasing smile, “Yeah, love. You know that intense feeling of deep affection for someone or something—”
The corner of his mouth slowly tipped up, his eyes scanning her face.
Emma gulped.
How could his light perusal send her into an internal spiral? She was a spy for gods sake! She should be calm.
Then again, her dad was a prime example of how love had no rules. It wasn’t something we could ever control no matter how hard we tried. No matter how hard we tried to make love fit a mould that suited us.
“I know what love is, Emma.” Aldon responded quietly, his eyes still firmly on hers. “My mom always told me that love should rock your world to its core. It should rock it in a way you don’t ever want to come back from.”
“That’s pretty profound pooh bear. Didn’t you tell me that the only way to do this job was to not get attached to other people?” She said with a light laugh.
Aldon lifted a shoulder, “Just because I’ve never experienced love – or I’ve chosen not to experience it – doesn’t mean it doesn’t or cannot exist. Maybe it’s sometimes worth the risk. But I’m definitely open to have my world rocked.” He finished with a wink.
Emma let out a playful scoff and rolled her eyes. Trust Aldon to turn something sweet into something sexual. She knew in that moment that the CIA’s very own HIMBO struggled with vulnerability – and it was all too relatable.
He did have one up on her, however. He had been open with her in that bunker and in the aftermath. Talking about his past and his choices. About how she was making him rethink those choices. About how she was worth the wait.
And what had she done? Thrown it all in his face. Showing such little regard for his feelings. He wanted to be a choice, not an afterthought.
She wanted him to be a choice too.
And she knew that he could be.
“I think I liked the idea of Carter.” She blurted out, kind of unexpectedly. She figured if she’d started, she may as well continue. “Stability, normality, calm. I tried to force him into this ideal of what I wanted my home life to be but it just – it doesn’t exist. It can’t exist. Not in my world.”
“I think you can still have all of those things in this job. You just have to have it with the right person.” Aldon replied.
“I’m not sure what the right person could be in this job.”
“When you know, you’ll know.” Aldon replied with such conviction in his voice.
Emma looked at him. How could someone who had never experienced love be so sure? Then again, she wasn’t exactly a good example of what it looked like to love someone. What did she know?
“I’m really sorry, Aldon.”
Aldon raised a brow, “Looks like I’m the next stop on the Emma Brunner apology tour.”
She chuckled, “Looks like it. I was unfair to you. I used you without any regard for your feelings and I lied about it afterwards. It did mean something to me. I’m just still working out what.”
Aldon slowly nodded, “Maybe it’s the start of a love that will rock your world to its core.” He replied with a grin.
Emma let out a breathy laugh, “I think it would take a lot to rock my world given the life I live.”
Aldon stood up, walking a few paces in front of her. He turned around and placed his hands on his hips. “Challenge accepted.”
Emma was stunned to silence. This man was something else. Arrogant, indecent –
Who was she kidding?
He was confident, thoughtful, protective, sexy – and he just got her. He knew what she needed, and he understood her heart. Her flawed heart that just needed some work to get in the right place.
To get in the right place to love someone like they deserved to be loved.
“You’re confident. I’ll give you that.”
That was all Emma had in her to reply in that moment. The rest had to wait.
“I told you that you were worth waiting for, Emma. But that doesn’t mean I can’t give you a little nudge in the right direction.” He commented before he turned and started to walk away. He paused and turned around again, “How do you feel about being serenaded?”
Emma snorted, “Don’t you dare.”
Aldon nodded, “Hm. Thought so.” He teased with a wink before walking away again.
Man.
She was in trouble.
