Thomas stepped into his dad's office as he walked through the door with the 'owner and founder' crested plaque attached to it.

Thomas' smile broadened when he saw Giles in his office chair. The older man smiled back when he saw his son in the room, and he soon hung up the phone call as he went around the desk to hug his son.

With Giles being poor with technology, they weren't able to set up a video call to talk to each other. So this was the first time in a while that they were remotely in the same room, and Thomas lovingly wrapped his arms around his dad.

"Missed you too." Giles laughed as he shared the same sentiment that Thomas didn't even need to say out loud.

"I came by yesterday but I saw you were out of town." Thomas let go of his dad as he took one of the empty seats in front of Giles' desk. "How are you doing?"

Giles chuckled at how overly concerned his son was. This was their dynamic for such a long time as they were each other's best friend growing up. "Alive and kicking!"

Giles pulled out the Shelton report that was prepared for Thomas' catch up interview. He got his pen out so that Thomas could help fill in the gaps, "How was the mission with the Sheltons?"

Thomas smiled as the gave him the feeling of satisfaction and content. "Pretty great. Ethan's still alive so I say it was successful?"

"This is the same one you called and complained about, right?" Giles checked, "The same one that got you stranded in a completely different state?"

Thomas was able to laugh it off because he got the truth about the tires - eventually. "First of all, the car thing was just a coincidence. The main takeaway from that job is that the family were really nice, and Ethan was a pleasure to be around."

"I knew you could win him round." Giles laughed.

Giles was writing this all down as he updated the file about the Sheltons. Because the bodyguard was highly praising the family, Giles made a note that they were willing to do business with the Sheltons again in the future.

"So how bad was the situation?" Giles asked as he wanted to review how bad everything went.

Thomas scrunched his face as he tried to list out every dangerous situation that occurred. "Initially it was mostly fear that raised their alarms. But then it progressed to several attacks, which included several fists fights, non-lethal stabbings, and property damage."

Giles nodded along as he wrote it all down."That's quite a list..."

Thomas tilted his head as he gestured towards a small scar that would have been visible if his hair didn't cover it. "I had a couple of stitches too while I was there."

"And are-"

"I'm fine." Thomas chuckled as he knew his protective dad was going to automatically check on him.

After a few more follow up questions, both Thomas and Giles signed off the report as Giles then tucked it away for processing.

"Now that we're off the record, I just wanted to say that Javier Shelton praised you very highly for everything you did." Giles added as he showered his son with compliments. "He was very impressed with your persistence, your strength, and your ability to tolerance others."

Thomas just did everything he was trained to do, and so he was happy that all of his efforts came through, because everyone acknowledged that he did a job well done.

One of the employees at Noble Guardians & Protectors knocked on the door as he waited for Giles to allow him inside. Once he was welcomed in, the man dropped off a report on Giles' desk, and swiftly left the room without disturbing them both any further.

Giles scanned through document as he read a new client was requesting their service. Thomas was ready to get going as he wanted the new job, "I can take this case if you want?"

Giles paused because he was worried that his son was overdoing it with work lately. Giles was apprehensive that Thomas may end up physically exhausted, plus there was the danger of more possible altercation with thugs.

"You should take a break for a while." Giles suggested, because he wanted his son to have a break on the possible physical and mental anguish when on duty.

Thomas felt as right as rain as he didn't have the same concerns as Giles. He felt refreshed as Thomas was ready to continue working. "Where am I going next?"

Giles knew that he couldn't willingly force his son to take a break. Giles ended up handing over the file so that Thomas could read it himself. "Portugal."

Thomas read that this job was going to be for 6 days. It was for a young woman that was visiting the country for leisure, and the wealthy mother was concerned about kidnapping and extortion.

"Looks like I got to go now." Thomas read that he needed to be on the plane ASAP.

Giles understood as he got up from his chair, and hugged Thomas goodbye. This was another adventure for Thomas, and he was excited to go to another country. All he had to do was go home so that he could repack his bag, and take the flight to protect the next person on his list.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ethan was also back to his normal routine, as if the last couple of weeks never happened. It had been only a couple of days since he no longer had a bodyguard monitoring him, and Ethan believed he was no longer in danger from Mr Checkstone and his men.

The time since the bodyguard's departure allowed Ethan to reconfigure his emotions that he experienced at the airport. Assessing the loneliness he was currently experiencing, Ethan summed it up to missing the close friend that was there for him constantly.

Ethan mainly regretted not getting Thomas' phone number to keep in contact. They never exchanged phone numbers because Thomas was always around Ethan, which meant the lack of phone numbers exchanged were strangely unnoticed by the both of them. He also remembered how he blocked Thomas' phone number during the first week together, and Ethan had forgotten about it ever since.

Concluding that it would take an excessive amount of effort to keep in contact with a friend that lived in a different country, Ethan gave up on the idea of ever making contact with Thomas again.

Ethan thought that his rational and logical reasoning would have been enough to settle the disappointment that kept re-emerging, but deep down Ethan mysteriously felt there was another reason for it.

Ethan was shaken out of his thoughts when he saw his mom graciously walk into his office. The door was closed so Camilla ended up barging in, and Ethan was surprised by her entrance.

"Mom." Ethan called in shock, "What a rare visit. Is there something wrong?"

Camilla kissed her son on the cheek as she showed no signals that she was going to be staying anytime soon. "Nothing's wrong sweetheart! Can't I mother visit her own son at work?"

Ethan eyed the fact that she was still standing up, her bag was still over her shoulder, and her coat was still buttoned up. "Uh huh... Tell me why you're really here."

Camilla couldn't carry on with her facade because she knew the jig was up. "I want to make sure you're going on the next date with Julia."

Ethan's immediate reaction was to roll his eyes about the blind date. After cancelling the brunch with Julia at last minute, Ethan had received an earful for not showing up.

"Give me her number, and I'll call her." Ethan wanted to keep his promise to Thomas that he was going to try and be more open towards people. Even though the bodyguard was no longer around, Ethan knew that he had to at least do it for himself.

Camilla squealed as she didn't expect her son to be so cooperative with another blind date she set up. "I'm so glad you're doing this Ethan! You're growing older now, and I want grandkids before the rest of your father's hair turns grey!"

"I'm 26!" Ethan justified, "It's a bit early for all of that stuff when I'm not even dating anyone."

Camilla continued to bounce with excitement as she was still ecstatic about Ethan's decision. "It's never too late to start a family! I want lots of grandkids to spoil rotten, and for them to call me 'Nana' too!"

Ethan kept his lips tightly sealed as he forced a fake smile out. The COO didn't think he was ready for any of that yet, but if it kept the people around him happy...

"I'll let you know about it afterwards."

==========