Despite the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the reunion, it was still exciting to think about getting to work with Zack again. The whole staff of the Jeffersonian Institute's Medico Legal Lab as well as Agent Booth had gathered to welcome him back when Sweets came to drop him off from the McKinley Psychiatric Hospital. Each member of the team happily greeted him one at a time.
Dr. Simon silently observed the scientist. According to the profile Sweets gave her, he was in his early-thirties, but his shaggy sheepdog-like hairstyle made him look much younger. He didn't really look like a killer, but things are not always what they seem. Though he may have looked harmless, he was still much taller than her, so even if he wasn't stronger than he looked, he still would have an advantage over her if things were to get physical between them. Hopefully Sweets was right when he said that was a one-time thing.
The other people in the room slowly left one by one, leaving only Hodgins, Daisy, Zack Sweets, and Zoe behind. "Well, Zack, Zoe," Sweets said, maintaining eye contact with both of them, "you two know just about everything you need to know about each other. I hope that you two will get along, seeing as conflict could compromise our ability to finally solve this case." He might as well have said, "You kids better behave or else!" As if to emphasize his possibly-unintentional moment of parenting, he had the two link arms when he handed his slightly-older patient over to his younger coworker before leaving the group.
"It's like the buddy system, but more awkward," Daisy noted, mostly to herself, seeming to pick up on the theme as wll.
"Hey, Zack, you won't believe this awesome experiment Daisy and I tried out last week," Hodgins told him excitedly. "We have to show you. I think we still have your lab coat in an equipment closet somewhere."
Zack felt touched at that moment. It was completely illogical of the Jeffersonian staff to keep his lab coat. They didn't expect him to come back, and if they did, they could have easily given him an extra one instead. Nonetheless, they still held onto the same blue lab coat he had been issued upon joining Dr. Brennan's team, albeit kept in storage. Although he had three brothers, four sisters, and several other relatives back in Michigan who still cared about him, even after the incident with The Master, right here at the Jeffersonian was where his real family was.
Hodgins turned to Dr. Simon, who was still clutching onto his friend's gloved hand. "We'll have to find you a lab coat as well, Si. Safety first."
"Wait, shouldn't he be working on the Pelant case?" she questioned. "That is what we called him here for."
Daisy and Hodgins glanced at each other, quickly trying to figure out a way to get around this situation. "Well, y'know," Daisy started off slowly, carefully thinking over her word choice, before picking up speed to her regular motormouth pace, "it is his first day back at the Jeffersonian in, like, who knows how many years, so maybe it would be good for us to get him reacquainted with the lab, right? I mean, after all, the sooner he gets settled in, the sooner he can begin to help us with this case if he can."
"And he can be very helpful," Hodgins added, backing up his colleague's argument.
"Yes, from what I heard, he seems like he has a lot of potential to help us solve this case. Think about it. Dr. Brennan was the one who recommended him to help, and if she has faith in his ability, then he must be very good at his job, which also in turn could help me learn and improve as a scientist if you were to let me work with him like this. So, essentially, it's also affecting the future of this institute. Right?"
Dr. Simon was slightly surprised by the young lady's seemingly improvised speech. She wasn't quite sure whether it was Daisy's idea of letting him "become reacquainted" with the lab or her attempts at pathos and ethos towards the end of her monologue or the fact that she seemed to say all of it with no more than two breaths, but something made her agree to this idea. After thinking it over for a second, though, she quickly added, "Wait! Shouldn't we get Dr. Saroyan's permission for this first?"
"We've already done the experiment once; repeating experiments is an important part of science," Hodgins told her in a somewhat professional manner. However, he decided not to tell whether or not he'd use this opportunity to try out a few other experiments after completing the first one.