While he waited for Emmie to come back, Deidara cleaned and managed to wrangle his apartment into some semblance of order. Then he started on a new painting, Thank God Emmie forgave him. Jesus, he missed her. Emmie reappearing in his life provided a fresh burst of inspiration. While he painted, he reevaluated his predicament. Now that she was working with him again, Deidara had to come up with another plan or theory. Who else would want her brother dead? It was clear the Akatsuki wasn't on it; with Antonio vindicated, they had left him alone. MacDougal didn't want a competitor so he wouldn't create one. It was either the Triad or the Yakuza.

On top of that, there was Emiliana herself. While ridiculously glad that Emmie was back in his life, she stirred up all of the deliciously illicit feelings Deidara had for her. The sexual tension between them was so high, he felt like an awkward adolescent all over again. Despite desperately wanting to have sex with her again, Deidara was still uncertain about the way she felt towards him. He didn't want to force himself on her too early and earn her ire.

Deidara checked his phone. Where the hell was Emmie, he wondered. She said that she would come to his place at night but it was approaching 11. Standing, Deidara wavered between staying put or going to get her. He pulled out his phone and called but got her voicemail. Screw the consequences, it was almost 11, he thought. He was going to pull her out by her hair. Mind made up, Deidara grabbed his keys and headed to the door. He pulled on a jacket and blindly charged out the door, bulldozing straight into Emmie.

With a squawk, both tumbled to the ground. Hitting his arm Emmie screeched, "Get off you oaf! What are you doing?" Deidara got off and helped her to her feet. "What does it look like? I was going to get you!"

Disgruntled, Emmie brushed herself down and grabbed her overnight bag. Deidara held the door open and noticing the bag asked hopefully, "You're planning to stay the night?"

"Yeah, it's 11. I think it's going to take a while to make a good plan and I don't want to be sneaking home at 3 in the morning. Sorry I'm late, I couldn't get away. Kabuto was making me choose napkin colors and appetizers," Emmie said dismissively, sauntering past him. Deidara stared, "Babe, you didn't call off the wedding?!"

Emmie unable to meet his gaze, busied herself with making some tea. Deidara came up from behind to pin her in the corner of the kitchen. "I see. He's your contingency plan right? If anything goes wrong, you'd be running back to him," he sneered in disgust. Emmie slammed her mug down in fury, "Yeah, so? What's wrong with having a fallback? Kabuto is good to me, he's a decent person." Deidara leaned down to say angrily, "I thought we were over this, you know that you and me are good together."

Emmie stood on her tiptoes to glare belligerently, "What does that have to with anything?! Why do you care about my marriage? You just want the money, then you're off. It's not like you're going to propose." Deidara held her tightly against him, "You don't know that. Maybe I will! I don't need the money, I got everything I need." She stared at him bewildered. The minute Deidara said it, he knew he meant it. Yes, he wanted Emmie. He wanted her for the rest of his natural life. Somehow, he had fallen in love with this irritating, abrasive, damningly perfect woman. That was the best way to describe it. Falling. It was intense, sudden, and immutable. His sapphire eyes shone earnestly, conveying his unspoken question.

"No, nononononononono. I do not have the time for this, Deidara, I need to guarantee my brother's safety. I'm sorry, he comes first." Emmie shook her head and gently pushed him away. Deidara let her go without protest, "But think about it ok?" he whispered.

Emmie looked uncomfortable so he let the subject drop. Moving to the counter he outlined his plan to go back to Frission and get the hackers there to trace the hit to it's physical source. Emmie added that they could also ask them to screen all of her brother's employees. The background searches should show them any red flags. Lastly, she said that she would ask Kabuto to see if any legal actions were filed against the company.

After an hour of arguing over Kabuto's involvement, Deidara finally conceded sullenly, "I still think it's dumb," he grumbled. Emmie ran her hand through her hair tiredly, "I told you, we need to see if anyone outside is a threat, only someone wealthy enough to sue an entire company would have the clout to pony up the amount of money for the hit."

"No, I meant why involve Kabuto. We don't need him," Deidara glowered. Emmie smiled tiredly, "Ohhh, that's why. Well, he's a lawyer, he'd be able to find details that others would miss. The hacker guys can hack but I'm sure they don't know legal jargon," Still pouting, Deidara crossed his arms. He didn't want any involvement with Kabuto.

Emmie rose and Deidara called after her, "Where're you going?" She grabbed her bag, "I'm going home, I don't think staying here another night is a good idea," she said. He got up and held her hand to his chest. "No, please. The nights are the hardest, I can stay clean during the day but at night, the cravings hit hard," he said truthfully, Emmie searched his eyes then sighed with defeat. "That's not fair. Alright then, let's go to sleep."

In the middle of the night, Deidara woke up with Emmie astride him. "Oh shit. Yes," he breathed as she rolled her hips wantonly on his erection. He was so hard, it was almost painful. He put his hands on her hips to guide her down. They found a rhythm and soon, Deidara felt like he was going to implode with pleasure. Just as he was about to nut, Emmie reached down and put her hands around his neck.

"As if, I'd choose Kabuto over you," she hissed malevolently.

With a jerk, Deidara woke up, still painfully hard. That was the most erotic and depressing dream, he'd had in a while. Something was wrong though. He felt cold and clammy and unable to breath. The room swam. Blinking colored spots out of his vision, Deidara fought down the nauseous feeling. Reaching over he shook Emmie awake. She turned towards him, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Baby, I'm having a withdrawal," he shuddered.