A/N: Thanks to all my reader and reviewers- you all rock!

The Princess Diaries doesn't belong to me!

"Alright, let's start this meeting!"

Even though Joseph's security team had grown used to his short temper, even the tone of Joseph's voice and the scowl on his face startled some of the men sitting around the table and they all looked down at the table, not wanting to meet his glare.

Scott was the only one who was looking at Joseph- he wasn't foolhardy, he wasn't completely comfortable with Joseph and his temper (he had been on the receiving end of it time and again over the years), but he felt that at least one person had to show their boss that they weren't completely afraid of him.

"So, has everyone got the agenda?" he asked, glancing around and there was a murmuring of agreement as well as the soft sound of shuffling papers as Joseph rolled his eyes.

"Of COURSE they would have got the agenda, Scott, I'm sure you were up early preparing for the meeting," Joseph snapped as he opened his own leather folder and retrieved his copy. "What are we discussing first?"

"Well… I thought…."

"For goodness' sake, Scott, I thought you were organised!"

"I am, I know…" he retorted, embarrassed that he had been caught out for trying to work out what he wanted to deal with first and irritated that Joseph hadn't given him the chance to start the meeting.

"Then let's go!"

"Alright, starting with Her Majesty's agenda for the next week, here is the roster that I've arranged for that week…"

"I thought that I was supposed to peruse it beforehand," Joseph frowned as he glanced at the roster and wasn't displeased to discover that his time with the Queen had been cut back somewhat and that others were being put in charge of her. "There are a few things here that I don't agree with…"

"That's why I thought we would do it now and make any necessary changes… although I did ask for your assistance a couple of days ago."
Joseph slowly raised his gaze so that he was meeting the younger man's eyes and he was slightly surprised that Scott didn't look away, that he was meeting and holding his gaze.

"When?"

"When what?"

"When did you ask me to peruse the roster? Certainly it couldn't have been today or yesterday, because I was here, in the office, dealing with administrative issues…and this could be counted as an administrative issue."

"I did come and ask you for help," Scott persisted stubbornly, not knowing why he was being argumentative… wait, he did- he was fed up with being treated like dirt (and he wasn't the only one) and he wanted Joseph to realise that. "But you waved me away and said 'I'll deal with it later' and of course… you didn't!"

Joseph still stared at Scott while the rest of the team kept their heads down and stared at blankly at the pieces of paper- Scott wasn't usually so rambunctious and disrespectful and most of them didn't want to be here when the inevitable explosion occurred between the Head of Security and his second in charge- they were very alike in some ways.

"It's true…" Scott insisted but a little more lamely than before- Joseph was usually a force to be reckoned with at the best of times, but a silent, grumpy Joseph was even worse…

The atmosphere suddenly became tense and almost poisonous as the two men continued to stare at each other, Scott's eyes suddenly becoming watery but was determined to keep his gaze locked with Joseph-

"Do you really want to go through this now?" he said finally.

"No, but I just wanted you to know that I had the roster planned beforehand."

"And we'll go through it later… thanks," he waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal and the roster was quickly hidden away until after the meeting. "So… what's next?"

"Uh…."

"For GOODNESS SAKE!" Joseph exploded. "What is wrong with all of you? You've all been here for breakfast and probably a couple of hours before this! Surely, you all could have pulled together to be ORGANISED for a stupid STAFF MEETING! Honestly, you are all incompetent and I wish I had the chance to fire you all and get a group of men who KNOW what they are DOING, instead of having interns that don't know what they're doing, organising rosters that don't work and a lack of security on the Queen… I have HAD IT!" he almost roared before leaping to his feet, almost knocking the chair over and grabbing his folder before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

He didn't know what he was doing, or where he was going, but all he knew was that… he had to get out of here.

0

Back in the security hub, there was a stunned silence as the men looked around at each other, astonished at what they had just witnessed. Yes, they all knew that Joseph had a temper (and most of them had been on the receiving end of it at one time or another) but most of the time, he had been calm and fairly in control, but obviously the last couple of months had taken their toll….

"You shouldn't have gone after him about that roster," one of the older men, Chas, chided Scott. "That could have happened after the meeting, we could have waited until he had perused it."

"I know, I know," Scott was sinking back in his seat, feeling more and more ashamed of himself and wondering why he had actually pushed the issue of the roster so far. Yes, he had been infuriated by Joseph's attitude and high handedness and… he had a case of saying what he thought before really thinking about what he was saying….but he really shouldn't have pushed the issue.

He felt awful, truly, truly awful- he knew that Joseph had been stressed more than usual during the festive season and things hadn't worked out particularly well with the intern (and he had been Scott's idea to begin with) and then… well, he could more than understand the explosion, the roster had been merely the catalyst for the explosion that had just occurred.

"So, what happens now?" someone else asked. "Will he be back soon, or has he quit or…"

"Don't say that, I'm sure he hasn't quit, he's probably gone for a walk or a drive somewhere to cool off and I'm sure he'll be back later. Until then, there's nothing we can do at the moment."

"But what if… "

"Don't say a word," Scott said. "Not one word."

"What about Her Majesty? What is her schedule for today?"

Scott sighed and glanced at the Queen's agenda for that day and let out a sigh of relief- thankfully, she was due to spend the day in her study, catching up on paperwork and preparing for a couple of meetings later in the week. At least that would make things a little easier for them.

"Won't she be wondering where he is?"

"Not if we're careful and ensure that someone else is around her at most times. We can always say that he's busy with paperwork."

"Do you really think that will fly?"

"Probably not, but it's the best that we can do for now. Anyway, obviously the staff meeting is over for now, but hopefully he'll be back in a couple of hours…"

"We'd better not have a staff meeting for a day or so, just to allow things to settle down."

"Yes, I think that might be best… so, let's go and have a great day! Oh, and if you see Charlotte, can you send her in to me?"

The room emptied quickly- the Queen was due to emerge from her suite soon enough and no that Joseph had stormed out, they had to make sure that everything was normal and that she knew nothing about what had happened that morning.

"You wanted to see me?" he heard a voice in the doorway and Scott stopped his gathering of the paperwork to look up and see Charlotte standing in the doorway.

"Hey Charlotte, yes I do…"

"Does this have something to do with the fact that Joe, your boss and the Queen's personal bodyguard, was seen storming out of the palace about ten minutes ago?"

"I…yes it does."

"Does this little discussion have to do with me trying to cover said HOS's absence from his boss, the Queen?"

"Yes, yes it does."

"Scott, I can tell you now- that isn't going to happen. I can't lie to the Queen- she's too quick and smart for that…"

"You have lied before, though, right?"

"Yes, but not to the Queen. Do you remember what happened at that dinner when Lord Fricker passed out drunk? I tried to tell her that he was sick with the flu, but she knew I wasn't telling the truth! That's why I can't lie to her… not that I would want to anyway."

"Char, calm down. I'm not saying lie outright to her, just… stretch the truth somewhat."

"And what am I stretching the truth about?" she folded her arms and just looked at him, an eyebrow raised quizzically.

"If… Her Majesty happens to wonder where Joseph is, if she wants to go for a walk and there's someone else going with her, probably one of the older men, I think that's who Joe would want to accompany her… yeah, just say that he's busy with paperwork and cannot be disturbed."

"You want ME to tell the QUEEN that her personal bodyguard cannot be disturbed because of paperwork?" even Charlotte's tone was of disbelief. "Have you ever tried telling Her Majesty something like that? Because, if you have, I would love to see you try again now."

"Well, maybe not those words exactly," Scott said, hastily backtracking. "You probably could find words of your own to tell her that Joe's not available, even to her."

"That's even worse!" Charlotte sputtered, trying to suppress a smile. "I can see that you haven't had that many dealings with Her Majesty."

"Seriously, Charlotte," Scott looked at her soberly. "This is important. I'm afraid I pushed Joseph too hard during the staff meeting and it's my fault that he stalked out of her. I just want to keep things low key, at least until he comes back… if he comes back. Can you really help me with this? I really need your help," he looked at her almost beseechingly and Charlotte nodded, suddenly serious.

"Of course. I'm a bad liar but I'll try…and I think that he will come back, he probably just needs a few hours off and he deserves that."

"Yes he does… but I really hope that he comes back… I really, really hope so…."