Emma groaned as she stretched out her pleasantly sore body. Today was Sunday, the last day before school started up again, and she had spent the last 36 hours with Clay, locked away in his apartment.

Since the whole gun issue had settled, Emma had actually spent almost every night Bravo wasn't spun up at Clay's place. Her dad was still playing the 'ignorance is bliss card' and hey, if that worked for him then that was alright with her.

"You awake?"

Emma smiled as Clay's husky voice broke through her thoughts.

"No, I'm just moving around in my sleep." she answered with a smile.

Turning over, one of Clay's arms wrapped around Emma's waist and pulled her in close as he buried his face in her hair, breathing her in.

Emma shifted her body so that she was on her side and then snuggled into his chest to peppers tiny kisses over his bare skin while his hands ran up and down the length of her back.

"Good morning." he mumbled.

She answered by continuing to place tiny kisses on his pecs, collarbones, in the hollow of his throat and up to his jaw.

"I love waking up next you." Clay groaned before flipping them over so that he was hovering over her, one hand under her head, fingers tangled in her hair, and the other hand caressing her side.

Tilting her head up, asking for his lips to meet hers, Clay smiled down at her before obliging and let his mouth take hers.

They just kissed for a moment, enjoying the feeling of taking each other in and that connection between them that they so cherish. As the need for more surged, Clay pulled back so that he could look down at the girl underneath him.

"A part of me really want to continue this but I also think that maybe we've done enough for now?" he said, making it a question and, by doing so, gave her the power to decide if they were taking this further.

Emma smiled at him and lifted her head up to place a quick kiss on his well-kissed lips before falling back against the pillow behind her head.

"As much as I would love to, I think parts of my body are against that idea."

Moving his body to the side of hers, Clay pressed a kiss to her temple.

"I thought as much."

"How about you go take a shower and I will make us some breakfast?" Emma said, knowing that he most likely both wanted and needed a shower.

"Sounds great." he said and gave her another soft kiss before rolling out of bed and heading straight for the bathroom.

Emma watched him go and as the door closed she stretched out on the bed again. Yup, pleasantly sore, indeed.

As she heard the shower turn on in the bathroom she made herself get up from the incredibly comfy bed and looking around for some clothes to put on she grabbed Clay's discarded tee. When she'd tossed it over her shoulder the night before she had intended for it to land by the laundry basket but there was something to be said about wearing a shirt that smelled like your man.

Pulling it on she then located a pair of clean underwear and, after throwing her hair up in a bun, she headed out of the bedroom for the kitchen. If she was lucky there might be enough milk in the fridge for her to make pancakes.

Just as she was about to pour the batter in to the pan for the first pancake, a series of knocks on the door made her put the bowl of batter down and turn off the stove. Looking at the clock she'd made Clay put up she frowned. Who was coming by, unannounced, at 9am on a Sunday?

Walking over to the door she glanced out of the peephole and she immediately recognized the man on the other side. They had never met but she'd seen him on TV, heard a lot of stories (none of them good) and Clay had once told her that what really drove him in his work was the hope that he would one day erase the footsteps of this man.

Looking down at herself Emma wished for one second that she'd put on a pair of shorts or pants but then again, she had nothing to be embarrassed about here. The tee covered everything that needed to be covered and she wasn't the one stopping by unannounced before noon on a Sunday.

Another round of knocking made her focus back in and, after letting out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding, she unlocked the door and pulled it open.

"Can I help you?" she asked the white haired man on the other side who looked back at her with wide eyes.

"Uhm…" he stumbled, glancing at the numbers on the apartment door. "Do I have the wrong address?"

"I don't know, do you?" Emma said with a shrug.

"Right… uhm…I'm looking for my son? Clay?"

"Then no, you don't have the wrong address. I'm guessing you're Ashland?" Emma said, acting like she had no idea of who he was.

Opening the door up wider and stepping back, she allowed the man inside.

"Yeah…I'm Ash Spenser, Clay's dad." Ash answered, holding out a hand to Emma as she turned back towards him after closing the door.

"I'm Emma." she told him as she shook his hand in greeting. There was no way she was going to inform him of her last name. Nothing good could come out of that.

"Emma. Huh." Ash said as looked around the apartment. "What, what happened to my girl Stella?"

Emma frowned. What the hell kind of question was that? Who on earth asked their son's apparently new girlfriend about his ex?

"They broke up."

"Too bad. I liked her." he said, not looking at Emma as he did because his eyes where focused on the big framed picture of Bravo Emma had hung up just last week.

Not knowing what to say to that Emma stared at the man for a moment before shaking her head. There was no good answer to that statement.

Ash suddenly turned back to her and crossed his arms as he took her in.

"So, who are you to my son?"

"His girlfriend." Emma answered, crossing her own arms across her chest. There was no way he was going to intimidate her. She grew up with Jason Hayes as a father and spent all her childhood among SEAL's. Ash Spenser did not even register on her intimidation scale.

Seemingly seeing that his stance and furrowed brow wasn't going to do anything he let his arms fall back down and a smile replaced his frown.

"Have you been together long? Has he introduced you to the team?"

Emma frowned again. What kind of question was that? What was he fishing for?

"A while… and yeah, I've met them…" she answered slowly.

"Really? Do you know if they were in Saudi Arabia a while back? And India?" he asked, sounding way too eager.

That made her take a step back. Was the man really asking her for classified information? And did he really think she would know? And even if she did, that she would tell him? Ugh, she'd been in his presence for less than 10 minutes and already felt as if she needed a shower.

"I'm gonna go tell Clay you're here…" she finally said and then turned on her heel and escaped from the room.

"Clay? You have a visitor and I really don't want to be alone with him. He's giving me icky vibes."

Clay's eyes widened at the shakiness in Emma's voice and then frowned. Who the heck was visiting him on a Sunday morning? And giving Em a icky vibe?

Quickly shutting the water off, he dried himself with a towel and then hurriedly got dressed in a pair of sweats and a tee. As he opened the door to he found Emma sitting on his bed and the door to the living area closed.

Closing the distance between them he stepped in between her knees and used one of his hands to tilt her head up so that her eyes met his.

"Who's here and why the icky vibes?" he asked.

"Your dad's here." Emma said, knowing that it would be enough of an answer to both questions.

Clay swore under his breath and ran a hand through his still wet hair.

"What did he say to you?"

"Well he asked for, and I quote, 'his girl, Stella' and then, after sort of implying that Stella was a better choice than I, he started asking questions about Bravo and if I knew of place's you'd been..."

A low growl escaped from Clay's throat and his hands clutched into fists.

"Breath, Bear." Emma said after a moment and placed feathery kiss on his throat.

Clay let out a big whoosh of air and let his head down to rest on top of Emma's. He closed his eyes and counted to ten before opening them again.

"I'm gonna go out there before he comes in here but can you please do me a favor?"

"What?" she asked softly, following it up with another kiss, this time on top of his tee, over his heart.

"Stay in here? I don't want him around you if I can help it."

"That's fine. As I said, he gives me icky vibes. Also, I didn't tell him my last name because I figured that he would put two and two together."

"Good thinking." Clay said and then he pressed his lips to her hair before stepping out of her reach. "I'll get rid of him."

Emma nodded and Clay smiled at her softly before turning to the door to the rest of the apartment. He let out another big breath and then he opened the door and slipped out, closing it behind him again so that there was an actual barrier between Emma and his father.

Clay found Ash sitting in the armchair as he stepped in to the living area. Flipping through the photo book Emma had put together of their Bahamas vacation.

"Ash?" he said questioningly, making the man in question look up from the book currently open on a page with a photo of him and Emma kissing while parasailing.

"Son." Ash answered and then he pointed at the book. "So, what happened to Stella?"

Clay stared at his father. That's what he wanted to know?

"We split up."

"And this girl? Emma, was it? How long you've been with her?"

"We've been dating for about 4 months but I've known her for over a year." Clay said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Huh." Ash said, glancing back down at the still open book before closing it and placing it down on the table. "So, you cheated on Stella?"

"No. I didn't." Clay snarled. "She did all the cheating in that relationship."

Clay caught the small smirk that appeared on Ash's face before he promptly covered it up and tried to look miffed for his son.

"Oh, wow, SHE cheated on you? Well… them's the breaks I guess…"

"What are you doing here, Ash?" Clay asked between clenched teeth, having had enough of this. He wanted his father out of his space so that he could go back to his calm Sunday with his girl.

"I just wanted to see you."

Clay snorted. "Well, that would be a first. And I don't buy it. Try again."

Ash got up from the couch, looking both indignant and affronted, but tried hard to cover his emotions.

"Clay. You're my son. I'm proud of you. I keep tabs on everything you do. All right? And I wanted to see you and check that you where ok."

As Ash took a step towards him, Clay walked in to the kitchen, effectively putting the kitchen divider wall between them.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Come on. Don't think I don't know that it was you, okay. It was Bravo Team who handled that mess over at Saudi a couple months ago and Adam was leading Bravo when he got killed."

Clay stared at his father but showed no emotions. They'd been down this road before. Ash stating things, trying to make Clay slip up and show his hand but this time he was prepared.

"What, no comments?" Ash pushed on while slowly approaching the divider wall.

"None what so ever." Clay stated, arms once again crossed in front of his chest. "And I guess that answers why you're here, huh, dad? Trying to figure out if whatever source you have is right?"

Ash, seemingly realizing that Clay wouldn't budge or clue him in decided to change the topic.

"So, this new girl… how did you meet her? Can't imagine it was in a bar like with Stella… she looks way to young for that."

Clay sighed. "Her name is Emma."

"Fine. How did you meet Emma? And who old is she? Please tell me she's at least legal!"

After counting to ten in his head while consciously uncurling his hands which had formed into fists again, Clay let out another sigh. He wouldn't lie, but he sure as hell wasn't going to tell Ash that Em was Jason's daughter.

"I met Emma through her uncles. And yes, of course she's freaking legal. Who do you take me for?!"

Ash shrugged. "You never know." he said and then his eyes narrowed. "Through her uncles, huh? She got family on the teams?"

Clay hesitated for a moment. How much could he say here without digging himself in to a deep hole?

"Uncles as in family friends, not blood relatives." he finally answered. "What's with the 20 questions, dad?"

"You're my son, okay? Now, I know that I wasn't the world's greatest dad, but I'd like us to be closer and for that to happen I need to know what's going on in your life."

Another snort escaped from Clay as he listened to the BS coming out of his father's mouth.

"Yeah, well, you know, it doesn't really happen that way, Ash and honestly? I don't believe a word that's coming out of your mouth."

Clay could actually see the restrained fury flame up in Ash's eyes and as a result he straightened up into his full height and moved out from the kitchen, unconsciously placing himself between Ash and then closed bedroom door.

"I think it's time for you to leave now, Ash."

"Yeah." the older man said before turning on his heal, heading for the door.

"You know, I realize that we might never have a great relationship, Clay, but I'm just looking for a chance to work this out."

Clay shook his head because one; Ash was trying to come out as the one wronged, two; he could see through Ash's false smile and pretty words and three; the man was still after something.

"Goodbye Ash." he said and as the door slammed shut Clay had to force himself not to flinch.

He didn't know how long he stood there but sometime later the door behind him opened and Emma stepped out of the room and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her front against his back.

"I'm guessing he's gone?" she murmured in to his shoulder before pressing a kiss on the base of his neck.

Clay let out a shudder before relaxing in to Emma's embrace.

"Yeah. Hopefully he won't be back anytime soon."

"Hm.." Emma mumbled before pressing another kiss to his shirt covered shoulder.

"What do you say we get dressed for the day and go out for breakfast? Or, brunch, whatever?"

"Sure." Clay said softly, placing one of his hands on top of her two and giving it a squeeze.

"Good. And then we need to do something fun because we are not letting the Ashhole's visit ruin my last day of summer."

"I'm sorry, what?" Clay asked with a laugh.

"What?" Emma asked innocently.

"The Ashhole?" Clay asked, still laughing silently.

"Well, he's an ass and his name is Ash… pretty much makes it obvious to me."

Clay shook his head and pulled her around so that they where face to face. One of his hands immediately found its way to the back of her head, gently fisting her hair while tilting her head up so that her head was where he wanted it to be, and then he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.

This gentle kiss lasted for only a few seconds, just long enough for Emma to press back and try and deepen it, and then he pulled back, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I love you so much, Emma Hayes." he said softly.

"That's good," she whispered, "because I love you very much too, Clay Spenser."