"Stop!" Elizabeth halted Blake where he was frantically torturing what looked like they once were eggs. "I don't know what's gotten into you the last couple days, but you have to stop." She took him by the shoulders and turned him away from the stove. "What is eating at you? I'm not sure I can allow you to work if you're like this… Talk to me."

"My, uh, my parents are going to be in town? I Haven't talked to them in…ages. They never approved of anything I do, my jobs, my relationships…"

"How can they not like your job? You are literally helping save the world! How's that a bad thing?" She laughed.

"Well, public service doesn't exactly pay well. They act like I shot a fire hose of cash over a cliff when I left finance. To them, it doesn't really matter what you do, so long as you get rich doing it." He looked back and the disaster of eggs in the pan. "These eggs look about how I feel."

"I know."

"And." He carried on. "They always have opinions about my relationships, or my lack of relationships."

"All of them? Or, say, only half?" She gave him a lopsided smile when he looked up in surprise. "When was the last time you saw them?"

"Years. I try to avoid it and this job provides surprisingly good cover." He made sure the stove was off and poked at the eggs with the spatula. "They're going to ask me about relationships and then when I tell them I live with my boss; they'll jump to assuming we're sleeping together. They'll feel entitled to an explanation I don't want to give about a subject I don't really want to talk about with them."

"Well, maybe they need to see where you work. Then they can brag to their friends about it, you should bring them in."

"That sounds…horrifying."

She laughed. "Then bring them over for dinner. We'll even see if Ali has time to come home for the night. It'll be nice."

"Nice? Did you not hear me?"

"Hey, we scrub up reasonably well. And really, how bad can it go?"

He watched her start to walk away, thoughts turning over in his mind. "How bad? You do remember I've sat through regular family dinners for nearly two years."

=MS=

The hotel his parents were staying at was downtown. Blake rushed in, dodging the mid-day foot traffic. A concierge recognized and greeting him as he approached where his parents were waiting. "Mom, Dad, how was the flight?"

"You know, I think those first-class seats are starting to get smaller." His dad complained. "It seems like every year, there's a little less leg room." He frowned at his son. "What do you think? Or does a public service salary only allow for coach?"

Blake ground his teeth to keep back the first retort that came to mind. "Actually, most of my travel is on a private plane."

"Ah, yes, taxpayers pay for your travel." The barb made Blake grind his teeth harder. If they were going to be like this the entire time they were in DC, he was going to need a dental visit when they left.

"I have part of the afternoon off; I was thinking I could finally show you where I work." He led them out to the sidewalk and turned.

"Where are we going?" He mother asked.

"Walking to my office. It's a lot faster than trying to get a cab, with traffic and such. It's only a few minutes away."

"Walking?" She sounded horrified by the prospect.

"Mom, this is DC, literally everyone walks everywhere. Well, except the few people who must be kept in bullet proof cases, but even then… Sometimes they do too. They just piss a lot of people off when they do."

"Fine, we're in DC, we'll do it your way." They both continued to pick at the city as they followed him.

Once they neared the building, Blake pulled out his phone. "Hold on, let me call up and say we're here." He stepped away to speak a moment to Elizabeth before leading them through security and up to Seven.

His parents gushed about the look of everything. The sight of a receptionist just for the seventh floor, the security, the way the rooms looked, it was always about appearance with them. He was thankful when Elizabeth emerged to rescue him from their opinions.

"Mom, Dad, this is Elizabeth. I mean, Secretary McCord." He tried to cover the error, relaxing slightly when Elizabeth grinned at him. "These are my parents, Fred and Edie."

"It's so good to meet you both." Elizabeth shook their hands, sparing a look at Blake before turning her attention fully to them, attempting to use a little of the diplomacy they bragged about in the State Department to hopefully give him a momentary break. When the couple were distracted by Matt and Kat showing up, she tugged Blake aside. "Did you invite them to dinner?"

"I will mention it. They're trying to buy me a condo. It already feels like a trap."

"Where?"

"Shaw."

"Oh, wow. That's…fancy."

"Says the person living in a Georgetown mansion." He smirked. "They asked me to come along to the open house. I'll go, see it, attempt to keep the peace for one time in our lives."

"And invite them to dinner." She added.

"Fine." He turned back to where his mom was now watching them. "Are you guys ready to go? Everyone is always so busy here; we really should be out of their way." He led them out.