Return of the Prodigal

Participants:

elisabeth_icon.gif emerson_icon.gif jj_icon.gif

Scene Title Return of the Prodigal
Synopsis The FRONTLINE rookie returns after an unexpected month of "vacation."
Date March 7, 2011

Textile Factory 17


FRONTLINE headquarters have probably been a touch quieter in JJ's absence — it's been a touch more than a month since the jovial young man has been at work, thanks to the dome and the injuries he'd sustained within. While he doesn't have another apartment that he's ever mentioned, he also hadn't come back to Red Hook, confirming his medical leave by phone.

The scent of fresh-baked bread precedes him as he enters the "Tower," a bagful of bagels and all the fixings in one arm, a box of "good" cafe-house coffee in the other as he heads toward the meeting room.

"Hear ye, hear ye, all ye slackers! Jones has returned, it's time to quit being lazy asses and get back to work!" he calls out with a booming voice. One might think he's having delusions of grandeur and forgot he's the low man on the totem pole, not the boss.

Elisabeth's standing in the operations center wearing a feminine black suit, high heels, and a dove-gray silk blouse. Apparently it's a meeting day somewhere — she only dresses like that when she's got to meet with Those People. "Jones," she greets with a small smile, genuinely glad to see him back on the floor. Her arms uncross as she walks toward the man. "Good to see you, man." She's been keeping in touch by phone but letting him recuperate at his own pace.

"It's about God damn time." The voice rings out from around a corner, Hannah Emerson on her way from God knows where in the building, a plastic bag in hand as she searches for JJ. She had just heard that the her friend and wayward FRONTLINE comrade was back in the building. And like she had said, it's about God damn time. She doesn't setp all the way into teh operations centre, she mearly leans against the wall, a smirk on her face as she waits. She's rather causally dressed - long sleave shirt with the VMI logo prominent in the midde, and a long pair of cargo pants. She should be more dressed for futy, but whatever she was doing involved a bit of relaxing, clearly.

"Thanks. It's good to be back. Except for the work part of work, you know?" JJ says with a smirk first to Liz, before turning to grin at Emerson. Any injuries sustained are no longer visible; the small cuts on hands and fingers healed away and the larger wound to his back safely out of view by his sweatshirt. He lifts the box of coffee and the bagels. "And I brought breakfast."

He glances down at the coffee, brows rising a little. "And real coffee, not that sewer sludge they keep trying to pass off as coffee," he adds. Normally he won't drink it and sticks to his Monsters and Red Bulls. "So how bored were you all without me? Did anyone beat my high scores on the games?" Priorities.

Elisabeth laughs quietly. "I'm not even sure anyone's touched the damn Wii since you left," she informs him. "It's been a bit crazed around here." Cleaning up dead bodies from all over the friggin' place and all. "I'm sure they'll enjoy breakfast. You back on full duty or light duty?" she asks, since she hasn't seen his paperwork yet.

"A bit might be a bit of an understatement," Emerson remarks as she steps forward, digging into the plastic bag. What's withdrawn is a silver, blue, and red can, probably a welcoming sight to JJ. "Got somethin' for you, been savin' it for when you came back to work." The Red Bull can is tossed lightly towards JJ as she walks forward, a smile on her. "Morning, Liz. How're things looking today?" She inquires, quirking an eyebrow at the woman's state of dress.

The hand holding the bag moves quickly to slide the handles up the wrist while freeing the fingers to catch the can and a broad toothy smile is flashed. "Thanks, Red," he says with a smirk. "I donno if I have any left in the fridge, and this coffee won't gimme no wings."

He juts a chin back to Liz. "Full duty, unless you decide you want me to do something horribly boring involving heavy lifting sound like a good answer?" He's teasing of course. "I'm good to go. I'm not at any risk of hurting myself any more than I already am. I'll try and stay out of Dooley's path, though, keep her from feeling the little twinges and itches."

He moves to a side table away from the equipment to set down the food and coffee, pulling out a bagel and sniffing it, before poking around for the cream cheese.

"Blah," Elisabeth retorts quietly, walking forward to retrieve the real coffee before it can be spilled when he wants to catch the Red Bull! "Gotta go sit through another interminable round of rehashing." She sounds disgusted. "If they spent half as much fucking time doing as they do talking, the goddamn city wouldn't be a hellhole." She looks at JJ with a sincere smile, though. "Good to have you back on the roster, Jones. I'll pair you up with Emerson or with me for runs to keep Dooley from bitching too much," she adds on a grin. Her eyes on him are thoughtful. "When I get back from these meetings, or tomorrow — depends on how the day goes — I'd like to sit down and get some additional details from you about the dome situation that weren't in your report. Just… observations, thoughts. After a little time away, I figured you might have some other things to add."

"Here that, JJ?" Emerson says with a grin, pulling a second red bull out of he bag. She doesn't usually drink these kinds of energy drinks, but it's part of her celebration of JJ's return to active duty. "DOn't miss a beat, and it'll be like the Dome never happened," she remarks, almost sounding a bit wishful in that. As she pulls back the pop top and takes a sip, she's looking over at Liz. "I guess being Ops director isn't as glorious as they'd like us to think, hmm?" Not said in a teasing or sarcasic manner, she even frowns a little. "There's a reason I hate politics. Makes me wish we had the aythority to just do some things. Better than sitting around waiting to be told we can." She shrugs a bit. "Don't envy you, but I hope it goes well."

"Better you than me," JJ says in regards to the meeting — not only because he couldn't stand to sit still that long, but also because he'd fluster and say the wrong thing. At the mention of talking about the dome, there's a slight twitch in his jaw, and he just shrugs. "Sure," is offered with little enthusiasm but tempered with that polite manner and eagerness to please. "I don't think I'll have come up with much that's useful that's not in the report."

Green eyes dart down to focus on the important task of spreading cream cheese on his bagel. "Em will catch me up to speed, I'm sure, while you're off being bosserly."

Elisabeth's expression is sympathetic. "It won't take long, then," she says quietly. "Thanks for the coffee," she tells him with a smile. "I'll see you when I get back."

Emerson waves to Megan as she makes her way out of the room, a look offered back to JJ. "There's not really that much to catch up on, that I'm afraid. Most of the last month's been spent wandering around outside the dome, trying to keep people gathering around it in check. Trying to keep people from hurting themselves trying to bust in. Then the cleanup and relief effort. It's amazin' we're ot out there right now, but I doubt you'd be really eager t' go running back to Roosevelt anyway." She purses her lips, moving to where JJs tands with the breakfest food, retrieving a bagal. "Must've been hell, though. Glad you cam out of it alright."

JJ laughs softly. "Yeah, I had pretty much plenty of that kind of work while I was in there. Hardly a vacation, I'll tell you. Next time I get stuck in a freakin' dome, can it be in Hawaii or something? I guess that would require going to Hawaii. Never been."

He presses one half of the bagel on top of the other and brings it to his mouth to take a bite.

Chewing slowly, he gives a nod toward her. "Thanks. 'All right' is probably an exaggeration, but not dead is a bonus."

"Me either," Emerson replies with a laugh and a shake of her head. "Each and every one of us deserves it too. I think a FRONTLINE Summer Vacation may be in order, don't you?" Though she knows it'll never happen. A shame, that. As she kleans against the table, spreading cream cheese on a bagel, she rolls her shoulder a bit. "Well, you're better off than a lot of what I saw in clean up. So, I'd say you did pretty well. Holdin' up otherwise? Even the people who seemed fine… you could tell they weren't." It's genuine concern she expresses, a bit of a worrie dtone in her voice and on her face.

He smiles again, though his pale eyes drop again, a blink that says maybe he's not all right, not completely but he nods. "I'm good. Gonna have a primal scar and a story for the grandkids, yo," he says, eyes back up to her face before adding in a wink for effect.

"Won't lie. It's good to be out. But there were some good people in there who make you believe in the good in people again. More of them than the other kind, so I guess that counts for something, right? In the end I can just hope they saw me in that same light."

His brows quirk together again and he looks away, taking another bite of the bagel.

That makes Emerson smile, despite the weight of the situation. "Maybe the scar'll nab you some 'nice' girl," she remarks with a grin, taking a bite of her bagel. "That… is good to hear. You honestly wouldn't know if from the testimonies I heard. Liz and I talked to one woman on the edge of the dome, when we were getting an u[pdate on how things were foinf inside. It didn't sound pretty, but she mentioned you." ANother bite, and she grins. "I'd say you made a good enough impression. I'm just hoping that's more reflective of the city as a whole than anything else. I'm getting tired of people not really foing anything to make things better around here."

Her free hand reaches up, patting o JJ's shoulder. "I'm not exactly the team psych council or whatever it is they assign to people who ahve been through rough times around hre, but if you need t' get any of it out, you know where my room is."

This time the smile is more sincere, and he nods. "Thanks. You'll be a hell of a lot better to talk to than any government shrink they'll be tossing my way, I'm sure, Em. I appreciate it." He lifts a hand to pat the hand on his shoulder, then squeezes it.

He picks up the Red Bull and his bagel. "Oh, and I totally nabbed a nice girl, which is why my medical leave was completely the hell away from here," he says as he begins to move to head toward the living quarters. He glances over his shoulder. "Laughter is not the best medicine."

"Oh, did you?" This jsut gets better and better, and Emerson can't help but form a rather devilish grin. "I'll have to pry sometime, then," she says slyly, setting down her bagel and pucking up her red bull. "Well, congrats, And no problem. But for now?" She holds the Red Bull up, angling it towards JJ. "Cheers, to the end of all that bullshit, and to having made it out of it relatively well. It's good to have you back, JJ. This time, try and stay out of any strange evo spheres."


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