Jake was silent as he finished his newspaper, having gone through every single part of it. He'd finished it completely, and always completed the crossword and sudoku for last. Once he'd done that, he tossed it in the recycling bin that was behind his desk, and sighed, looking at the clock on the wall.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"Slow day." he said. "But then again, it always gets slow this late." he reasoned.

He then perked up a bit, as he smelled... something. Food. But where? Was someone walking by inside with food?

No. It was coming from outside.

A few seconds later, the outside doors opened, and he saw someone walk in with some paper take-out bags that smelled delicious.

He smirked when he saw her.

"Hey Lunet." he greeted the youth.

"Awww, did you bring me some dinner?" he then asked with a chuckle, his serpentine tongue darting out of his mouth a few times.

Jake just smiled when she did that.

"Wasn't serious, but hey. I know better than to turn down such generosity." he said.

His tongue then darted out again, and he nodded.

"If you're looking for your father, yes, he's still here." he told her.

"Not sure where, exactly, he is, but he should still be in the building." he added.

"I'll be sure Anya knows who to thank for the cake." he said further, letting the aroma engulf him.

"And daaaamn, that smells bold and savoury. You know what I like." he added.

Sure enough, her walk to her father's office was silent and uninterrupted. She passed a few closed doors where she heard light chat and tapping away on computers, but that was normal.

When she got to the receptionist's area, she saw that the woman wasn't there, as she had gone home for the night.

But the door to her father's office was open.

She could hear him inside, muttering to himself.

And he did NOT sound pleased. At ALL.

If anything, it sounded like he was getting more and more worked up and stressed out by the second.

Hal looked over, an irritated expression on his face, but it softened when he saw who it was and what she'd brought.

"Oh, hey sweetie." he greeted her.

He then paused and looked at the clock.

"...it IS late..." he mumbled, sighing.

"And no. Not really." he admitted.

"It seems there's new cyber-threats cropping up every day, and my team can barely keep up." he said. "In the past month, there's already been 5 attempts to get into the system." he informed her.

"We've stopped them and nothing was compromised, but they're getting closer and closer."

Hal was silent, and smiled softly.

"You're amazing, sweetie." he told her.

"You're always so thoughtful." he said further, looking at what she'd brought him.

"I was in the mood for korma. You know me all too well." he chuckled.

"And yes, while I know you'd be able to take care of these issues no problem, you know there are people that would try and get me to suffer consequences for it." he lamented.

"My hands are practically tied here." he growled.

"Regardless, sorry if I've been late getting home more often." he then apologised to her.

Hal sighed again.

"I know." he said. "You're more than self-sufficient, and more than capable of taking care of yourself." he said further, with a half-smirk and an eye-roll.

"Anyway..." he then muttered, trying what she'd brought him.

"Mm, that is good." he said quietly and happily.

"You want anything while you're here?" he asked.

"A smoothie, shake, any sort of drink or anything?" he asked further.

"You said you ate with Cain earlier, but you might be thirsty." he shrugged.

Hal nodded in response.

"All right, I understand." he said.

"You go on, then." he told her.

"I'll be home in about an ho-" he started to say, before looking at the clock, and then looking at his computer screen.

".....don't wait up." he said, changing the previous statement.

"But thank you once more." he added with a smile.

"Love you, Lunet." he finished.

"Bye, sweetie!" he called to her as she left, before sighing heavily.

"...damn it all." he cursed quietly.

Lunet made her way back to where she'd come in, to see Jake sitting there, leaning back in his chair, eating what she'd given him.

"Guessing you found him." he said.

Lunet nodded.

"Lemme guess... in his office, overworked, and stressing out." Jake lamented with a sigh.

Jake thought for a moment, sighed again, and sat back up.

"What he needs is... well... a lot." he said.

"Cyber-attacks have been on the rise." he told her.

"But his budget for that sort of thing isn't as much as it needs to be." he went on.

"What he needs are two things. He needs to be able to have a central hub for everything, protected by more sophisticated security systems, and a miracle employee that can manage it all." he muttered.

"But such a person doesn't exist."

"See ya." Jake responded.

"Thanks again." he told her as she left, waving to him.

Waiting for her right there was Cain in the red and black car he was driving, and he smiled at her as she got into the front passenger seat.

"Hey." he said.

"You find your Dad?" he asked, as she buckled up.

"Well, clearly." he then answered. "No food." he chuckled.

"How's he doing?"