(Authors Note: This was written after someone requested an AU fic of Nolan and Emily being spies on tumblr. I wanted to change some things to make it AU but also keep it to the theme of the show. So the AU is more loosely based than completely out there. It isn't Nolan and Emily and the gang just being priests in a church because I said so. It's all thematically the same, with a few minor differences.)
(Sorry if there are grammar mistakes, must have been absent that day. I hope it is suffice. Enjoy.)
Her hair looked almost yellow in the light and when Nolan caught her figure in the corner of his eye, he could swear she was glowing. Headstones looked less eerie in the sun, birds chirped from their set places on their tree branches and little dandelions bloomed in the grass that seemed way too green for a cemetery. Emily Thorne looked over at Nolan Ross, both of them feeling the same things. At least that was how Nolan took it but he always gave Emily too much credit where credit wasn't even due. People flocked around the hole in the ground and everyone wore dark suits and dresses. The women who wore heels began to sink into the soil. A man in a gray suit, hair almost matching the shade of the fabric threw some dirt onto the casket and said a few words, but they weren't heard over an airplane passing. This was LA after all and they were right by the LAX.
Pupils clinking together once again, they both found the lingering eye contact odd. Nolan finally spoke. "Doesn't seem right, it being so sunny out."
Emily nodded as they watched on, a flag being handed to the family of the dead agent who had a story of his own. "Nothing about this is right Nolan."
Looking on, they watched a few people cry and dab their eyes with crumpled tissues, one of them being Ashley Davenport who was a new agent at the CIA. She was recruited less than a year ago. Nolan didn't find it all that surprising that she was crying, he always thought she had endured a connection with Tyler Barrol from the get go. Emily however was surprised since she didn't understand their link as well as Mr. Ross had. Tyler had worked for the agency for a little over a year, so he too was new to the game. He was young and straight out of college, a fresh face. While he was a good agent, knew the rules and how the game was played, he was a bit of a wild card which Emily only knew was going to be trouble later on. No one knew what to expect from him, especially not Conrad Grayson who had hired him in the first place, impressed by his cunning intellect. While Tyler Barrol was a smart man, he stuck his nose where it didn't belong and it was what eventually got him killed. What also got him killed was his condition, a mild form of schizophrenia. While he was taking medication that he had secretly been prescribed to by his doctor- brother he also at times chose not to be on the pills. The problem was, although he was a "Go get em" agent, he was also a liar and he didn't tell the agency about his condition because he wanted to work for them. Agent Barrol did at that, only he went earlier than he would have ever expected to.
"Are you sad Nolan?"Emily asked a bit out of the blue which made him do a double take in his mind palace.
"Sad? No. Disappointed, yes. He had such...promise,"Nolan said, as he pulled his arms behind his back and let them cross at the small of his back.
Emily piped up maybe a little too loudly "Promise? The psychopath slashed your arm open."
"All is forgiven in love and war," Nolan almost hissed out like a snake, like he was some great wise owl perched on the tree of knowledge.
Emily rolled her eyes "It's, "All is fair in love and war" Nolan."
She always said his name like she knew things better than he did. It was...condescending to say the least and it always made Nolan bite the inside of his lip, trying not to refute even the way she often said his title, the one he was born with.
"I know the expression Ems, just, it's true. I forgive and forget. Lucky you, huh?"
Emily turned to him again, her heels almost clicking together like Dorothy's ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz. "He hurt you, how could you get past that so quickly?"
Nolan shrugged. "While he may have gone all Norman Bates on my arm, he was still a good agent. Also he was a pretty good kisser, just don't tell Ashley that little, hmm shall we say, tidbit."
Emily gave a little hum in her throat as a reply to him before looking back at the service, the priest in charge saying his last words. With the service concluded, Nolan and Emily stood side by side, shoulder to shoulder only he was a bit taller than her. People often said they looked like brother and sister, the only difference being his blue eyes, but that was not the case. Emily Thorne had come from a place, a world far different from his. Watching people go, agents and civilians and the like, Nolan Ross kept his eyes mainly on Tyler's brother who walked with his wife and their tiny daughter. Tyler had had a niece and now, she would hardly remember her uncle. The worst part of it though was that the Barrol family would never know who killed their son, a man named Satoshi Takeda.
Satoshi Takeda was an international businessman in the headlines, but in the world of the CIA, he was a member of the Yakuza. He was Yakuza and a brutal one at that but that detail in his life had only been made clear to the CIA just days ago. His story, his bloodlines were strong. He was powerful and he brought many innocent people into his fold and would strike them down. Emily Thorne was one of those people and she too had just learned about his affiliations. She was betrayed to say the least and now she was afraid she would soon become his next target. While Emily Thorne did not fear death, she did fear not having work to do, but luckily her job kept her busy. Her hate for the Grayson's, her bosses, also kept her busy and now the traitor Satoshi Takeda would do just the same.
"We should probably, pile on out of here."Nolan murmured to her as she looked at the hole in the ground, probably thinking about life and death.
She was thinking about life and death, her life and death and if she too would soon be placed in one of these wooden boxes, a casualty of war, an American hero. She too would get a star on a wall somewhere, carefully engraved when she bit the dust. All of this thinking was not good for her mental state.
"How did you get here?"she asked him as she kicked a pebble with her shoe.
"I got my driver to take me here, you?"he asked as he put his hands in his deep pockets which made sense because he was a wealthy man.
"I took a taxi,"she said as she began to walk to the pavement so she could call for a new one.
"You brought a big yellow taxi to a funeral? How gauche," he said with a little smile pulling up at the corner of his mouth.
He waited for her to respond, but she did not so it was his turn yet again. "Hey wait, I can drive you too! Free of charge."
Gladly, she accepted.
The smell of fresh fruit filled his nostrils to the point of waking him up. He wasn't used to it. While he was rich and could hire his own personal cooks and maids, he didn't. He kept a clean home. He could cook for himself or go out, get some air and he didn't like to be dependent on others. That left him a lonely man though. While work kept him busy, he was never as busy as the other agents who were in the field. He was a tech guy, on technical operations only and he was one of many on the force. Even though Nolan Ross was the best, he wasn't always needed. Deep down he felt the need to give other people a chance too. He wanted to give others a shot at furthering their career or getting a promotion. It wasn't as if he needed the money. He had already had his own corporation, Nolcorp, but had since sold it to the highest paying bidder. There was an auction and the name was eventually changed. He wanted it off his hands anyway since he was working for the agency.
Getting out of bed, his hands pulled his silk paisley robe to his chest. The man waddled downstairs, eyes still half closed to find out where the tropical scents were coming from.
"Ahhh Emily, master of destruction...in my kitchen," he proclaimed with a scratchy morning voice. He needed orange juice or coffee, stat.
"I do eat yah know,"she stated as she sipped a cup of coffee, and did him the favor of pouring him a cup. Handing it to him bitter, just how he liked it, she kept her eyes on him. She preferred hers with a little coffee creamer or milk.
"Black, like I like my men," Nolan said with a smirk. Emily chose not to pay any attention to his remark. Taking in the rich smell of the coffee beans, brewed to perfection by the mysterious CIA operative he cocked his head. "Need any help?"
Emily shook her head, blond ringlets falling round her face. "They're just pineapple slices Nolan; I think I can handle it. Thanks for letting me stay over."
He nodded, self-assured over his Los Angeles mansion. He was more confident of the places he owned and his personal property than his own body. While he dressed in bright colors and had a sense of style, he was often down on himself about his appearance. Maybe not having many friends did that to a man.
"You are welcome as always Ems, know you're still playing gypsy, traveling place to place. Mi casa es su casa," he said with a curled tongue, trying to perfect a Spanish accent, or something of the sort.
Emily Thorne gave a hint of a smile before cracking her knuckles and making herself a plate of pineapple, coconut chunks and strawberries.
"Those strawberries would go better with chocolate"Nolan said as he surveyed the alcohol he kept behind the bar, making an inventory list in his head.
Emily smirked and nibbled one of the delicious red morsels. "Everything goes better with chocolate Nolan."
Off she went with her skinny jeans, plate of food, and her confidence fueled by her need for revenge.
FLASH BACK. 2011. Langley Virginia, Central Intelligence Agency Headquarters.
He bangs his hands on the table, one, two, three times, powered by his rage and the rocketing pressure that his brain is feeling without the meds. For some reason, when he's off his meds, Tyler Barrol feels like he's being shot with adrenaline. When he stops taking the medication that is supposed to benefit him there's a breath of fresh air, but that's the disease talking. The anxiety creates speeches for him and seems to have a life of its own which is why he never told anyone about his condition. This is why Conrad Grayson had the heart to hire him, that and the fact that he knew the Barrol family since the boys were little. Schizophrenia makes a monologue, a time line for his life. It creates a story for him, a passion and an obsession with Daniel Grayson, his boss's son. What started as a friendship led to more, the same thing happened to Nolan Ross just a few weeks after he began working with him, but that's all in the past now.
This is now.
Tyler watches Ashley whimper in the corner, shaking like a leaf. She tries to do something, looks for a button to press or someone to call for help but he's got her locked in this room with him. Nolan too is trapped and the computer's primary mainframe is down, making a lot of the cameras in the headquarters blink in a fitful technological rage. He didn't come here for this; he came here to get help. Tyler had come to turn Satoshi Takeda in for his crimes but Takeda had gotten to him first.
In his hand is a gun, and his brain is stirring. They'll blame my illness, he thinks. They'll say I was making the whole thing up, he thinks, but he has proof. He just hopes someone will find it in time.
Nolan, panicked looks up at Tyler, his arm already slashed, blood seeping through his dress shirt. "Ty please, don't do this."
Tyler's hand twitches uncontrollably and his lip quivers "I know you found out about the pills."
Nolan nods, quick to agree with the man spouting off about Takeda who was good friends with Emily Thorne. "Yeah, it's okay, you just gotta let us go buddy."
Tyler pouts but something about is maniacal, and Ashley remains still. "Nolan you don't understand, it's not about that. This has got nothing to do with my fucking brain!" he yells.
Nolan leans back in his chair, trying to escape but there's no way he can, the ties that bind him are tight. "Tyler, Ty, it's...why are you doing this? Maybe if you make me understand. Make me see it your way."
"I'm TRYING!" He yells, hands on his head like his brain is about to spill out through his ears, his face red and almost splotchy.
He's sweating through his suit, the both of them are. Nolan takes a breath "Calm down, it's okay, start at the beginning."
Tyler kneels, the gun still pointed, but he's almost begging Nolan now. "You promise that this gets out. You have to promise me."
Nolan isn't very good at keeping promises but he nods quickly to save himself some trouble. "Cross my heart."
Tyler tries to contain himself. "I said that to you once."
Nolan nods. "What goes around comes around. I remember. Well it's my turn now. What's Takeda's end game?"
Tyler stands again, his gun slightly off kilter. "Takeda isn't working for Agent Thorne, he's not who he says he is."
Nolan gulps, saliva coating his throat and then his mouth going incredibly dry like it's filled with cotton. "What?"
Peering over at Ashley, Tyler learns a little self-control when he sees fear in her eyes. She's also curious. She's always a little too curious for her own good.
"Takeda isn't just an international businessman on Emily's side. I know he taught her everything she knows, martial arts, different languages, what it takes to be a spy. That's all good and fine, but that wasn't his endgame. He's lethal Nolan. He's Yakuza."
Nolan's eyes widen, Ashley furrows her brow. She lets her English accent slip from between her pink stained lips. "OH MY GOD."
Nolan struggles against the ropes, desperate to speak but forgetting how for a second. He knows Emily has enough going on in her life; she doesn't need to be betrayed by more people. "Tyler, how do you know this?"
Tyler sighs. "I've been undercover, working on my own. I knew something was up, so I started to work for him. I learned all his secrets...Nolan; I think he's done something to me."
"Like what?" Nolan asked, inching forward but before he can say anything, Tyler begins to swallow his tongue.
Falling to the ground he squirms, unable to catch his breath. Eyes rolling back into his head only the whites visible, he shakes and Ashley holds him. She screams for help, but they are not heard.