The X-Project

Bobby finally gets around to giving his notice to Elpis. Nathan takes it well. Backdated to yesterday afternoon.


Okay, no more putting this off. Bobby squared his shoulders and walked over to stand in front of Nathan's desk. "Hey, you got a minute? Uh, in private? It's kind of important..."

Nathan looked up at him, raising an eyebrow, and then reached out and saved the file he was working on. "We can step out onto the deck if you want," he invited, rising from his chair.

Bobby nodded, chewing on his lip nervously. "Yeah, that'd be fine. Thanks." He followed Nate out to the deck, staring at the lake, gathering his thoughts.

"So what's up?" Nathan asked. Although he had some suspicions, all things considered. He'd noticed Bobby's name was no longer on the training roster, and had heard through the grapevine that the school was looking for someone to cover his teaching responsibilities.

Rubbing his neck sheepishly, Bobby dragged his eyes back to Nathan. "I, uh...need to give my notice. Unless you're looking to open an office in Ireland." ...That wasn't so bad.

Ah-hah. "I have to say the thought hadn't occurred to me," Nathan said dryly, resting his good hand on the railing. "Why Ireland?"

The hard part was over, and the words came out in a rush now. "Sean gave Terry the Keep, and we've decided to move there and I'm going to take over the upkeep and tours and stuff, and Terry's going to do the 'living in two countries' thing for now, to finish school." He took a deep, slightly unsteady breath, because even now, saying it aloud was an exciting, heady thing.

Nathan let the flood of words wash over him, allowing himself to take a minute to process. "Huh. Quite a change for you," he said.

"Yeah." Bobby grinned. "Kind of a welcome one, though." He sobered after that, though, adding quietly, "I don't want to leave you shorthanded after everything that's happened in the last monthish, but...we've been planning this for a while, and it's not fair to Terry to drag it out anymore." Or to himself, but that wasn't his concern right now.

"I appreciate your help, this last month or so," Nathan said. "Well. I appreciate what you've done since I hired you, I mean, but what you've done since the bombing especially. I understand," he said simply. "When are you leaving?"

Bobby shrugged. "Just doing my job. And, uh...we haven't picked an exact date, but...sometime in the next month? We still need to get our stuff sorted and packed, and make travel arrangements..."

"You'll probably be frantically busy with that." Nathan laughed softly. "Could I convince you to put in some more hours before you go? No worries if not, but you know me..."

Bobby laughed and shook his head. "No, of course I'll put in some more hours. At least for the next coupl'a weeks." After that, he'd probably be working full-time to get them ready to go, since Terry still had the team and school. "Is that cool?"

"I'd really appreciate that," Nathan said. "Especially with Angelo gone. If we could get a few of these open files moved along, get the grunt research work done..." It would put them on a good footing.

"You got it, boss-man." Bobby grinned, looking relieved. "Okay, well. I should uh...get back to it, then."

"Thank you," Nathan said, quietly but sincerely. "And hey, if you're ever looking to do a little freelance research work, that you could certainly do from Ireland." He snorted softly as he turned around. "I know, I know. I'm terrible."

"Hey, no. I'd totally be interested," Bobby assured him, heading back toward the office. "I mean...after we get settled and stuff. Probably not right at first."

"Most important to get settled first. The work," Nathan said dryly, "well, the work will always be there."