A/N: Thank you for all your continued love and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 24: When the Dust Settles

The genuine fear displayed on Jack and Kate's faces as the two security guards approached them was far too satisfying for Ana, and she had to step off to the side as the guards walked toward the two idiots who had just outed themselves to the world.

"Wait, guys… I think there's been a misunderstanding," Kate said with a nervous laugh, backing away slightly as the larger security guard stepped toward her. "Jack and I… w-we were just talking. None of what we said was true, okay? This isn't what you think."

"We'll let your father be the judge of that," one of the guards said firmly, grasping her by the arm, and the other guard grabbed Jack in a similar manner, causing him to flinch. "You need to come with us."

Jack went pale. "I had nothing to do with it," he said quickly. "It was all Kate's idea."

Kate whipped around to glare at him. "What?! What the hell is wrong with you, you piece of shit…!"

Jack and Kate continued to argue with each other as the two security guards practically dragged them out of the break room, and the crowd of people who had gathered in front of the window laughed and jeered as they were being taken away. Ana watched them before glancing over to see Jessica still holding up her phone.

"Oh my God, this is insane," Jessica said, her eyes wide with disbelief as she continued to record Kate and Jack being pulled away down the hall by the security guards. The group of people who had gathered around the windows began to follow them, chattering as they went. "So Jack and Kate are the ones who did it? Not Christian?"

"Looks like it," Ana said, watching the group of people move away down the hallway. "I knew something was going on with them, but I didn't expect them to basically shout it out for the whole office to hear. They pretty much just screwed themselves."

"They really did. And I got it all on camera," Jessica smirked, shaking her head as she finally brought her phone down. "Those morons are so stupid – they deserve everything coming to them."

"You can say that again," Ana snorted. She couldn't wait to see Jack and Kate get their asses handed to them, which was probably going to be today.

"God, and I can't believe they tried to pin all of this on Christian," Jessica added, looking up at Ana with wide eyes. "That poor guy, having to put up with all this crap when he did nothing wrong. I hope he's got a good lawyer."

"I heard he's pursuing legal action," Ana said, feeling pride and love fill her heart as she thought about Christian and how hard he was fighting this injustice. "Mr. Kavanaugh won't know what's coming for him."

"That's for sure," Jessica snorted. "Man, the shit's really going to hit the fan today."

"It's gonna be fun, though," Ana smirked, gazing down the hallway, and Jessica laughed.

"Indeed it will."

Within the hour, everyone in the office seemed to know some version of what had happened with Jack and Kate in the break room. All the video evidence of the event made it pretty clear to people what had actually happened, so even the wildest rumors that spread around didn't stray too far from the truth: that Jack and Kate were the ones who had tried to screw over the company by overbilling those clients, and Christian was actually innocent.

Needless to say, not much work got done that afternoon as news of the incident continued to spread like wildfire. People gathered together in the hallways, the front foyer, and even around the water cooler, talking about what had happened. The fact that this whole incident was instigated by the CEO's own daughter was a huge cause for concern too: how could she do something like that to her own father's business? What were the ramifications of that? Would Mr. Kavanaugh have to step down from his position as CEO? Were they all going to lose their jobs? All these burning questions people had were enough for Max to call an emergency department-wide meeting in the large conference room that afternoon so he could clear up any rumors that were circulating.

"…As I'm sure you've all heard at this point, there was an incident in the break room earlier today with Mr. Kavanaugh's daughter, Kate, and our marketing intern, Jack," Max explained to the conference room full of marketing agents. Even though the room was completely packed, nobody spoke a word as they listened to Max with rapt attention. "During the incident, it was revealed that the two of them were actually the ones involved in the overbilling incident from last week, and that Christian most likely had no involvement whatsoever. Jack and Kate were taken away by security and are currently in police custody. The case is pending further investigation, but it does appear as if Christian is innocent."

The silence in the room evaporated instantly as everyone began whispering feverishly amongst each other. "So the CEO's own daughter put the whole company in jeopardy?" a guy near the back piped up angrily. "For what? Why the hell would she do that?"

Max shook his head, looking flummoxed as well. "I have no idea, but Mr. Kavanaugh seemed to be just as much in the dark about this as we were. He's currently speaking with the authorities and our company lawyers to see what should be done, but we likely won't have any definitive answers today."

Ana couldn't help but feel extremely skeptical of the idea that Mr. Kavanaugh was totally unaware of his daughter's actions, and based on the expressions of most of the marketing agents' faces, Ana wasn't alone.

"So are our jobs safe?" a woman standing near the window asked. "The company's not going under because of all this crap, is it?"

"I know you're all worried, and it's understandable. A lot of stuff is up in the air right now, but as of this moment, all of our jobs seem to be safe," Max said reassuringly. "I spoke to HR earlier and they reassured me of that fact. They also wanted me to pass along the message that, in light of the events from earlier today, anyone who would like to go home early is allowed to without it affecting their PTO hours. Lorraine will be sending out an email going over it in a bit more detail, but if none of you have any prior engagements today, you're free to leave after this meeting. This is just for today, however – our regular work day will still resume tomorrow."

That seemed to perk everyone up quite a bit, and all the people standing around Ana began chatting eagerly with each other, clearly excited at the prospect of getting to leave work early today. Soon, everybody began filing out of the conference room, and Ana made her way over to Max.

"I'm sure you're relieved," Ana smiled at Max as she approached him, and he looked up at her. "Knowing for sure now that Christian's innocent. The guy you hired isn't a felon after all."

Max grinned, chuckling. "No he's not. And yes, I am definitely relieved about Christian's innocence… although Jack was technically my hire too, so I guess I'm not completely off the hook there."

"I suppose not," Ana shook her head. "I still can't believe Jack was a part of all this. He was the last person I would have suspected to be involved."

"Me too," Max admitted. "But when you suggested I take a closer look at Kate and her possible involvement in this whole incident, I discovered that she and Jack had actually known each other for years. And then IT found out the two of them had been communicating via their company email for weeks now and had been saying some pretty incriminating stuff. I was planning on alerting security about it today, but then that fight between him and Kate happened in the break room, so it all worked out in the end."

"That's good to hear," Ana said honestly, and the two of them walked out of the conference room together as they headed toward Ana's office. "I'm just glad justice is going to be served. And that we're all getting the rest of the day off."

"Yeah, I kinda had to twist Lorraine's arm about that," Max admitted. "She only caved when I reminded her that there's only two hours left in the work day today, so it's not like we're losing too much productivity."

"Regardless, we appreciate getting those two hours off. Some of the people here sounded like they were planning vacations."

Max laughed as they turned the corner to where Ana's office was, and to her shock and delight, standing in front of her door was none other than Christian and Mr. Whalen. Christian was in a long-sleeve blue t-shirt and black jeans, and he and Mr. Whalen hadn't seemed to notice Ana and Max yet as they talked quietly with each other.

With all the craziness of Kate and Jack being taken away by the authorities earlier, Ana hadn't gotten a chance to get in touch with Christian to inform him that his name had finally been cleared. She was planning on paying him a visit after work, but seeing him here right now in front of their office was an unexpected delight.

"Christian," Max said, obviously noticing the two men standing there as well. "Glad you got my message. Did you want to talk in my office?"

Christian and Mr. Whalen both looked up, and Christian and Ana immediately locked eyes. He smiled at her, and the expression on his face Ana was sure mirrored her own: their surroundings seemed to fade away, and it was like they were the only two people in the world right now.

"Christian," Ana said with relief, and without thinking she practically pushed past Max and hurried toward him.

"Ana," Christian said back, not acknowledging Max either as he made a beeline toward her. In a moment, they were in each other's arms, holding one another tightly as if they had been separated for a year rather than just a day.

"Hi," Ana whispered against Christian's shoulder, and she felt him smile.

"Hi yourself," he said, pressing a kiss against the side of her head. "I heard the good news."

"Apparently," Ana giggled. "I was going to tell you after work tonight that your name's officially been cleared. How does it feel, Mr. Grey?"

Christian didn't respond with words, but instead moved his head back so he could look straight into Ana's eyes, conveying everything he felt with a single loving expression that made Ana's heart flutter. He then lifted a hand to cup her cheek before leaning down and pressing his lips to hers in a sweet kiss, conveying all the happiness and relief he clearly felt. Ana didn't hesitate to respond in kind, sliding her arms around his waist and holding him tight as she kissed him back.

In that moment, they had forgotten that there were others around them, and it was only when Mr. Whalen pointedly cleared his throat and Max said a flabbergasted "Whoa" that they remembered they had an audience.

Ana and Christian broke apart before looking over at Max, who was staring at the two of them as if he were looking at them for the first time. "Uh… I'm sorry, when did this happen?" he asked after a moment, gesturing between the two of them. "I mean, I know I'm getting up there in years, but my memory isn't so terrible yet. I'm pretty sure you guys absolutely hated each other two weeks ago."

"Things change," Christian said simply, smiling down at Ana as he slipped an arm around her waist. She blushed and smiled back at him. "But for the record, I never hated Ana – she just hated me."

"That's not true," Ana protested. "Okay, maybe it's kind of true," she admitted, shrugging.

Christian laughed, and Ana thought he looked more happy and carefree than she'd seen in a long time. It made her heart feel light as a feather, and she couldn't help sliding her arms around his waist again and hugging him tight.

"As adorable as the two of you are," Mr. Whalen said, smirking at Christian and Ana in amusement. "Max asked to speak with us right now, Christian. I think we should probably do the polite thing and see what he has to say."

"Take a few minutes, if you need," Max said, also looking at Christian and Ana in amusement, and he gestured down the hallway. "I'll be in my office whenever you're ready."

He turned and walked away, and Mr. Whalen moved over to clap Christian on the shoulder. "See you up there," he said, giving him and Ana a friendly wink before striding past the two of them.

Christian and Ana looked at each other, and neither of them could fight the happy laughter from bubbling up. Christian took Ana by the hand and led her into their office.

"I can't even begin to tell you the kind of day we've had here," Ana said once they were inside. "Jack and Kate tried to confront me in the break room about you and I meeting at the diner yesterday, but then they ended up getting into a huge argument. It was crazy, and Jessica filmed everything on her phone."

"Yeah, I know," Christian said with amusement, and he stopped to pull Ana into his arms once again. "Max explained everything in his voicemail when he called earlier today. He apparently got that video from Jessica and is going to hand it in to the authorities."

"Good. And where's Mr. Kavanaugh in all this?" Ana asked, letting out a scoff. "Trying to cover his ass from cops and angry board members?"

"Probably," Christian chuckled. There was something unreadable in his expression, however, that Ana couldn't help but notice.

"What is it?" she asked, looking at him in concern. "Are you not happy to be back?"

"Of course I am," Christian assured her, pulling her closer to him. "I can't tell you how good it feels to be standing here with you right now." He looked sincere as he spoke, but then his expression faded into a frown. "But I guess I'm just thinking about the future… my future. At Kavanaugh Media."

Ana looked at him, frowning slightly. "Oh."

"I mean, I'm happy my name's going to be cleared, of course I am. But I can't help but wonder how I'm supposed to continue working here after everything that went down," Christian explained. "I was falsely accused by our CEO's crazy-ass daughter and I could've almost gone to prison for it! How am I supposed to keep working for that man as if everything is fine and I could just forget all this shit?"

Ana's frown deepened, understanding where he was coming from. "I get it, Christian. I'd also struggle to come back to this job after everything that happened."

Christian sighed, letting go of Ana's waist and moving away from her. "Max is going to offer me a raise to get me to stay on," he admitted, rubbing his hand along his jaw. "He practically said as much on the phone. To be honest, I don't know what I'm going to do… I don't want to work for Kavanaugh anymore, but Max is going to make it difficult to quit."

Ana felt indignation fill her body at him saying that. "Screw the money," she said angrily, and Christian looked at her in surprise. "You're an amazing marketing agent, Christian – obviously Max sees that in you since he's doing everything he can to keep you on. But you can do whatever you want! If you want to stay on board, you can… but if you want to tell Mr. Kavanaugh and the other higher-ups here to go fuck themselves, you can do that too."

Christian stared at her for a second before a smile broke out across his face, love and admiration shining in his gray eyes. "From your tone, it sounds as if you want me to do the latter," he said in amusement, and Ana couldn't help but grin.

"It would be very satisfying," she admitted. "And considering everything you went through, I'm half tempted to leave the company myself."

Christian looked surprised at her saying that. "Really?"

"Of course," Ana said insistently. "I love you, Christian, and I don't want to just stand by as the man I love is being treated like garbage by our own bosses. These people shouldn't be able to get away with something like this without feeling the consequences of their actions."

Christian's smile was very evident now, love and affection shining in his eyes as he moved toward her again. "I don't think I've ever been more attracted to you than I am right now, Miss Steele."

Ana smiled back, walking forward and sliding her arms around his neck. "Really? Well, maybe I should threaten to quit my job more often."

"That would be pretty hot," Christian brushed the tip of his nose against hers, and Ana didn't hesitate to lean forward and kiss him full on the lips, relishing in the taste of him. God, she loved this man so much – words couldn't describe how happy she was that she was able to be with him out in the open now.

It felt like nothing could stand in their way.

After a few moments, Christian pulled away and smiled down at her. "I should probably meet up with Max and Burt right now… and you should probably stay here for a bit."

"Why's that?" Ana couldn't help but ask.

Christian tilted his head toward the window beside them, a small smile still on his face. "Because your friends look like they want a long and detailed explanation about what they just saw."

Ana glanced over toward where he indicated and, sure enough, Nadia and Jessica were standing outside their office window, staring at the two of them with gobsmacked expressions on their faces. Ana had to bite back a laugh.

"Good call," she said, turning back to look at Christian. "This will probably take awhile."

"Can I meet up with you later?" Christian asked, and Ana nodded. He leaned down to peck her on the lips one last time before walking out of the office, giving a nod to Nadia and Jessica as he went.

Almost immediately, the two women pushed through the office door and rushed toward Ana. "Oh my God, Ana! Details. Now," Jessica said insistently as Nadia nodded fervently.

Ana couldn't help but smile and chuckle at the two of them. "What do you want to know?"

~/~

The meeting between Christian, Max, and Mr. Whalen took about two hours, and since pretty much everyone else in the office had left early, Ana was just hanging around waiting for them to finish up. Nadia and Jessica stuck around for a bit to grill Ana about her and Christian's 'secret' relationship, and Ana answered as much as she was willing to share. She told them about their first kiss, which resulted in her canceling her date with Boyd, then their "work-from-home" day date to IKEA, which then led to their first night together. Jessica and Nadia were shocked to hear all of this, but thankfully, they both seemed happy for the two of them.

"Y'know, a part of me always knew the two of you liked each other. Very deep down, at least," Jessica laughed. "I wasn't sure it would lead to something like this, but still – I'm happy for you guys. Seriously."

"I'm happy for you too," Nadia said sincerely, and then she bounced on the balls of her feet, squealing excitedly. "Oh my God, you and Christian have to double-date with me and Michael sometime! Let's plan on it!"

Ana laughed, feeling happy her friends were so accepting of her new relationship. "Definitely."

Jessica and Nadia stuck around for a little while afterward, continuing to ask questions about her and Christian, before eventually heading home when Ana got a text from Christian saying that he was ready to go. She grabbed her things before heading downstairs and meeting him in the front atrium.

"So have you decided what you're going to do yet?" Ana now asked, threading her fingers with his as they walked toward the front doors. "About your job here at Kavanaugh Media?"

"Not yet," Christian sighed, running his thumb along Ana's palm. "Max did offer me a significant raise to keep me on board, and he's also giving me a paid leave of absence until I decide what I'm going to do. I'll have a few weeks to think about it, at least. "

"Well, whatever you decide, I'll support you," Ana said, smiling up at him, and Christian smiled back at her.

"How is it that I fell in love with someone as perfect as you?" Christian asked humorously. "Honestly, it isn't fair to all the other guys in the world."

"That just means you can never leave me, Grey," Ana argued, smirking up at him as she nudged him with her shoulder. Christian laughed as they exited out of the front doors and began making their way down the steps toward the sidewalk.

"Christian."

Christian looked up and stopped in his tracks, the smile immediately disappearing from his face. Ana looked over at who had spoken, and she noticed a middle-aged man and woman standing at the base of the steps a few yards away, gazing up at Christian. Ana glanced over at Christian, whose face had fallen into an unreadable mask.

"Mom," he greeted flatly after a moment. "Dad."

A/N: Looks like more drama is afoot!

Thank you all for reading and reviewing :) Next chapter, Ana and Christian find out why Christian's parents are here.