Breath of relief

Noah started his visiting rounds at the top floor where he hoped to find Max. If he was there, Noah knew that he would be able to inform him of the status of things on the other floors and tell him all about what had gone down after he left for the hospital. Of course he would still go visit the people on those floors, this would be the quickest way for him to at least know everyone and everything was well. After that he would be able to take his time to see things for himself. Noah also knew that he could count on Max to handle things in his absence. He had been with him long enough and trained well enough to be able to think like him in situations like this. So, for those reasons alone, Noah let out a big breath of relief when he noticed Max's tall frame from a distance once the elevator doors opened.

He walked up to him in a straight line and was just about to call out to him, when he was noticed by the other people on his floor. One person after another looked up from their work as people started to whisper and call out. The usually quiet floor had become noisy and this of coursed caused more people to become interested to see what had caught the other people's attention. It didn't take much time before the commotion was enough to draw Max's attention. He was juggling a lot of different balls and he had been happy to finally have everyone up and running again as there was still a lot more for him to deal with. So, hearing the team clearly doing something else other than working, caused him to look around with a slightly agitated look. But this look didn't last long when he noticed Noah in the crowd of people.

As soon as he spotted Noah, Max's eyes grew wide for a second, he subconsciously began to smile before he quickly put on a serious expression and closed the remaining distance between them. He cleared his throat and said, "That is quite enough. I do believe you all have plenty to do and Mr. Stephens has even more to deal with today after all that happened this morning. You can see that he is fine, which should be enough to keep you going for now. Considering his expression, you can also tell that Mr. Branson is doing fine as well, at least considering the circumstances. So, give him some room and I'm sure he'll make some time later on to talk to all of you."

Again Noah smiled instinctively, though very faint and very briefly. But again it was noticed by everyone and the reactions were a mix of shock and a return of his smile with one of their own. But again there wasn't much time for them to remain in their state of mesmerisation as Noah said, "Max is right. Steve and I are both fine considering the circumstances. I will answer all other questions you might have, but for now I have to deal with this mess and the people who caused it. So, let's all get back to work and make sure that the person who did this, does not get his way." After saying that, Noah followed Max to his own office and the crowd slowly dispersed to continue what they were doing, while some quietly whispered a few final words to each other.

Once Noah and Max were behind closed doors, that is when Max began the report he had been building up in his mind for Noah from the moment he arrived at the office that day. But although Noah was kind of prepared for the worst, from the moment Max began to speak, that feeling of worry started to wash away. In fact, Max's report on how he had handled matters in his absence, had caused Noah, to able to let out another sigh of relief.

This breath of relief came, yet again, in the form of Max. He had managed to use the time that Noah was in the hospital, being busy with worrying about Steve, to take care of the mess he had left behind. To start, he had handled the parking situation in what Noah had to consider the Max way. It had been quick, efficient and carried out flawlessly. From the moment he knew what had happened, he had already anticipated what would happen next and he contacted all the nearby firms in just thirty minutes. He had called them to see who could house their team's cars in their garage. But that wasn't the only impressive part.

The impressive part was that he hadn't just contacted any firm, he had managed to find companies that were large enough to house all the cars of the I.E. employees and that were close enough to not form an inconvenience to their staff to move their car to and park there for the upcoming few days. Not only had be managed to find three willing companies, he had also managed to move all the cars out of the I.E. garage and into another garage in less than an hour from when the explosion first happened and all cars were at a no more than 10 minute walking distance from I.E. Hearing this, Noah couldn't help but be amazed. He was proud to have such a great team working for him. They had all proven to be individuals he could count on during a time of crisis.