Hello, I'm back again! After re-watching the show, I've been inspired by many scenes in the episodes and thanks to your encouragement on my previous stories, I've been motivated to actually write them… Hope you enjoy!

This one is going to be a little bit longer so I've split it up into smaller chapters rather than a long one-shot.

Disclaimer: I don't own Designated Survivor!

-Emily-

"So, Havana." Emily lifted her eyes up from her phone, smiling as Aaron looked up from his file to meet her eyes. The National Security Adviser grinned back, leaning back in his chair as he regarded her.

"So, Turks and Caicos." He shot back, eyebrows raised slightly, a knowing smile on his face. But when before, there was always a hint of flirtation behind their casual exchanges, now there was an ever present suppressed note in his responses.

Emily's smile froze on her face. "Right, yeah. So Seth told you about it."

"Yeah, he seems pretty excited about it." Aaron noted calmly, standing up and stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Emily nodded slowly, calculating her best response. Seth and Aaron were close and she didn't want to confide anything to Aaron that would put him in an awkward position with Seth. But hadn't Aaron always been her closest confidante? When did things get so complicated?

Thankfully, Aaron sensed her unease and spoke up, "It, uh, it isn't easy getting away from the White House." He said, breaking eye contact with her. He stared down at his desk for a second, his expression conflicted.

Emily cleared her throat, "Yeah, I don't know how I'm going to swing it." She said uneasily, watching as Aaron's eyes flickered back up to meet hers again. A strange look crossed his face as he straightened up, his eyes carefully watching her.

"I think you should go." He blurted, but his voice was flat, almost forced.

Emily stepped closer to him. "Do you?" She asked quietly.

No.

The word seemed to hang heavy in the air between them, a thick tension filling the room as they watched each other, waiting for the other person to finally say something to rid them of the eggshells they had been walking on around each other for the past year.

A quick knock startled Emily as Aaron's assistant poked his head into the office, "Hannah Wells is on her way to see you, sir."

"Thanks. Give us a second here." Aaron replied shortly, his eyes never leaving Emily's.

"I should go." The White House Chief of Staff said, but she made no move to leave his office.

"Em, we need to talk sometime." Aaron said seriously, stepping around his desk to approach her.

Emily crossed her arms, biting her lip as he drew closer, her eyes following the unbuttoned v of his shirt that dipped dangerously low on his sculpted chest. Not that she was noticing. But this man was dressed like he belonged on the front cover of GQ with his pink shirt and blue suit.

"I'm liking this no-tie thing. It makes you look much less intimidating." She teased, desperate to break the tension, but Aaron wouldn't let up that easily.

"I'm serious." He told her, getting dangerously close, "After I come back from Cuba, we need to sit down and have a drink. You'll ask me about Havana, and I'll tell you stories that will make you jealous. Then I'll ask you what's going on between us and make a joke. You'll laugh, and then we will work this out. Once and for all." Aaron reached out as if to touch her, but seemed to suddenly remember a certain Press Secretary before dropping his arm back to his side.

"Okay." Emily agreed softly, watching a slow smile work its way up Aaron's face. "Our usual place?"

He nodded, his eyebrows quirking up as he smirked, clearly happy to have convinced her. "Deal."

"Okay," Emily repeated, smiling as she took a step back to exit his office.

"Okay." Aaron echoed back, his expression lighter than she had seen for a long time. With one last look at him, she walked out of his office, a weight she hadn't known before, lifted off her shoulders.

…

-Aaron-

Annoyance crept up Aaron's spine as the Floridian Congressman blustered on about President Kirkman. At least in the White House, Aaron didn't have to deal with this blatant drivel. He took a breath as Hannah voiced her similar annoyance, giving him to push to speak out. Dear Lord, if this was what he had to deal with on this trade mission…

"How's that?" He leaned back in his seat, turning to face Hannah. The FBI agent was already pouring over a dossier.

"I still think I should shoot him."

Aaron chuckled but it was clear Hannah was done conversing.

Yeah, this trip would have been more fun with Emily. Much better than Turks and Caicos. Nothing against Seth, he was a good buddy of Aaron's, but Aaron just knew that Emily would have appreciated something more cultural and vivid than a getaway island resort. It would have been nice, a little political trade mission, helping Kirkman form his legacy, sunny weather, Emily by his side to help make sure everything went according to plan. Maybe they would have found time to sneak off for lunch in a small café, and squeezed in time to explore Old Havana. She would have also joked with him about the Congressman, or had a better retort than Aaron did.

The bus rolled to sudden stop and the next thing he knew, there were guys outside their vehicles with non-standard issue guns and a weathered looking man was shooting a hole into the bottom of their bus.

"I am General Ramon Bravo. And you are all prisoners for the Army for the Liberation of the People."

Christ.

Okay, Aaron 0, Turks and Caicos 1.

-Emily-

"Emily, you're needed in the PEOC." Sasha said breathlessly as she burst into Emily's office. The Chief of Staff looked up from her desk, alarmed by her assistant's urgent manner when Emily herself hadn't even received a single text alerting her of any crisis.

"I would go now." Sasha told her, eyes wide and Emily didn't need to be told twice.

"What is it about?" Emily asked, hurrying down the hallway, checking her phone for any missed messages.

"It's Aaron. I mean, it's Cuba. The trade delegation." Sasha said quickly. Emily stopped mid-stride, her heart pounding as her mind raced through all the worst scenarios.

Sasha, every the knowing expert of Emily, reached out and punched the button for the elevator, pushing Emily in as soon as the doors opened. "Go."

Emily swiped her ID card and threw one last panicked glance at her reliable assistant as the doors began to close.

"The President is down there already!" Sasha called after her.

Emily forced herself to take a deep breath, her nails digging into her palms as she clenched her fists, trying to stop her hands from shaking. It was like Afghanistan all over again.

Well, hopefully not.

Emily coughed, her hand trembling as she pushed her hair out of her face. Rising to her feet, she flushed the toilet and stumbled out of the bathroom stall to wash her hands, gurgling water as she stared at her pale reflection in the mirror.

"Emily." A soft voice called out from the other side of the door and Sasha slipped in, holding out a stick of gum as she leaned against the sinks, watching her boss with a careful eye.

Emily chewed slowly, bracing her hands on the counter as she struggled to regain her composure.

"What-," She cleared her throat, "What are they saying?" She closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for the news. She had left the room as soon as the general had announced that the President was save, but they were still confirming the American casualties in the area.

"It was a suicide bomber. Coordinated attack, they hit a market but the base is untouched. That's all they would say to me." Sasha reported efficiently and Emily let out a sigh, her hands coming up to cover her face.

"Thank God." She nearly sobbed.

"Emily, he's safe." Sasha said soothingly, "There would have been no reason for him to leave the base." She pointed out. "Do you want me to get a hold of him?"

Emily let her hands fall from her face as she squared her shoulders, preparing herself to leave the sanctuary of the empty bathroom. She was currently the highest-ranking person in the White House. She couldn't be shutting herself in bathrooms after kicking out terrified interns and vomiting in the middle of an ongoing bombing situation.

"Please do." Emily said, nodding at Sasha, who gave her shoulder a quick squeeze before leaving to heed her boss' orders.

…

"Aaron Shore." His gruff voice in her ear was enough to relax the tension in her shoulders from the past two hours it took to reach him.

"Aaron," She said, hating the small tremor in her voice. Maybe this phone call was a bad idea.

"Emily." His voice softened, "Is everything okay?"

She laughed, but there was no joy in the sound. "I should be asking you that."

"I'm fine, Em." He told her evenly and she could imagine the soft smile on his face, his body turned slightly away from the others, a hand on his hip, a calm and logical figure amidst chaos. She could really use his grounding presence next to her right now with everything going on at the White House today.

"I know that now." She said quietly. She could hear the clamor in the background, someone was calling his name.

"Emily," He seemed reluctant to go, but Emily knew it was also selfish of her to keep him on the phone when she didn't have anything urgent to communicate.

"Go, be National Security Advisor. Aaron- please be safe." She pleaded.

"I'll see you when I get back home, Emily." He promised.

Emily nodded, a small sigh escaping her. "Yeah."

Dear God.

Emily stared up at the PEOC screen, willing herself not to faint, vomit or cry. Aaron's face looked out at them, calm, but slightly irritated. Emily was probably the only one who really noticed the tension in his shoulders, the way his lips thinned in agitation. Miraculously, her knees didn't tremble under her skirt. At least Aaron was still alive and seemed unharmed.

"Emily." President Kirkman greeted her, as he turned to see her enter the room.

"Sir." She responded vaguely, a beat too late, her eyes locked on Aaron's frozen face on the screen. How was he still so heartbreakingly handsome in the middle of a hostage situation? She walked past her seat and straight to the screen, stopping a few steps behind the President. She crossed her arms tightly, trying to hold herself together.

"Play the video, General." Kirkman instructed.

"Yes sir."

Aaron began talking and Emily took an unconscious step forward, her eyes glued to the screen.

"…But now, President Kirkman props up a brutal and corrupt regime…"

Yup, this was definitely worse than Afghanistan.

"…The price for this treachery is $500 million by tomorrow at 2:00pm." Crap, she was supposed to be analyzing this as Chief of Staff and logic would dictate that ransom is a non-starter.

The look in Aaron's eyes reflected what she knew deep in the back of her mind. No way would the United States ever cave to a hostage situation like this. It would be political suicide, not to mention extremely difficult to get past Congress.

"-or the delegation of traitors will be execute."

Emily felt the color drain out of her face as her heart sank. Now she was beginning to feel light-headed again. When suddenly, the transmission was cut, bathing the PEOC in a wash of blue. Numbness was spreading over her body, the President and generals were talking again but her eyes were still locked on the screen where Aaron's face had been moments ago.

"Sir, we got President Ortega on the line."

Emily bit the inside of her cheek, refocusing on the situation. Aaron would be fine. The trade delegation would be fine. Between Aaron and Agent Wells, they had enough tactical and political savvy to keep them alive while the White House figured out a solution.

"Mr. President, how did this happen?" Kirkman walked back over to the screen and Emily felt a flash of rage as her senses came back to her.

"I don't know sir. This delegation was a closely held secret."

In a second, she found herself walking forward, her arms uncrossing as she approached the screen, "Maybe the LP has a spy in your administration." She accused.

Okay, maybe not the best move as Chief of Staff. But one way or another, she was going to get that trade delegation back, unharmed. She was not about to let Kirkman's legacy tank because of this. And she sure as hell wasn't about to lose their National Security Adviser before she could sit down with him and have a proper talk.

Stay tuned for Part II to come tomorrow!