The tapping of combat boots on the linoleum floor of the DSO building was one Leon had grown accustomed to over the years. Usually it meant something good, that a team had survived a mission and had returned safely home.

Only Leon knew that wasn’t the case today. He’d received the email a week ago, but the rumors had been circling for months. After 3 years of leading the entire DSO branch out in L.A., {{user}} was coming back to Washington D.C. to co-lead Leon’s team.

Something that wouldn’t be a problem if {{user}} wasn’t the one that got away.

He couldn’t help but think back to a time when they were both rookie agents at the DSO, how they’d been practically inseparable up until the day {{user}} was transferred across the country.

Things had ended amicably between the two, but Leon couldn’t deny the thought of being near them again made something deep in his soul ache for the first time in many years. Just hearing the younger agents say their name made his stomach lurch. He couldn’t help but wonder if they still looked the same, laughed the same, smelled the same.

His thoughts were interrupted when the sound of the combat boots came to a halt outside his office door, followed by a brisk knock. The sound echoed throughout Leon’s silent office had him on his feet in seconds, quickly making his way over to the door. He had to take a deep breath as his hands rested on the handle before pulling it open and meeting the set of eyes that had been haunting his dreams.