"How did the appointment go?" asked Peter, seeing Neal walk into his office. "I will check..." The threat is half-empty as he knew Neal was desperate to be back at work.
"I went and talked to Dr Quill. Brown hair, green eyes, about 5'6" with her heels, late 40's." said Neal rolling his eyes. "She also gave me this." He hands over the paper she had signed stating he could start back work at the office. "I told her you even might call her to check."
"You know, I would have long ago." said Peter, giving the paper a once over and setting it aside. "But yeah, I am working on trusting you. Hughes may though."
"I wouldn't expect anything less." said Neal, taking a seat in Peter's office. "So do I start today or when? I'm tired of being stuck in one place."
"How about you help me out on cases here today and you can start officially tomorrow?" said Peter, trying to compromise. "I had Diana set up some things in the conference room so you could work from there. Laptop and all."
"You just can't let me out of your sight yet, can you?" said Neal jokingly, knowing this time it wasn't about trust. "I never blamed you, you know. And you got to stop feeling guilty."
"I know, just give me one more day." said Peter. "I'm working on it really. I have to see Dr Quill myself later for this very reason, except El is making me."
Neal shrugged, mentally thanking El and reminding himself to do so later. "Whatever you want." he said before wandering next door. "Hey Diana...and hey Jones." Neal spots Jones walking in with some files.
"Caffrey, it's good to see you." said Jones, giving Neal a fist-bump before handing him the files. "It's been way too quiet around here without you."
"Don't inflate his ego already, Jones, we could have survived." said Diana, but giving Neal a wink, admitting she was happy to see him back as well. "And see Peter misses you already." She points at the door between Peter's office and the conference room that Peter had propped open while they were talking. "He's totally having separation anxiety."
"Nearly two months of staying there and the plan to move to his third floor when he finishes up should have starting to ease his mind." said Neal. "Plus the anklet's on." He can't help but laugh a little. "I don't think I could be more watched short of him bugging me."
"Don't give him ideas." said Diana. "He might get tempted."
"Get back to work!" yelled Peter, though meaning nothing by it. "There are cases to solve." It makes Diana and Jones laugh a little.
"We should go. I'm going to do a coffee run - want anything Neal?" asked Diana. "And I mean good coffee from down the street, not the office sludge."
"Cream, two sugars?" said Neal, taking Diana's offer as her way of saying he was part of the team and that she cared about him. "No decaf - Peter's been trying to fool me for a month."
"Will do." said Diana, laughing and leaving with Jones, getting Peter's order before heading downstairs.
Neal hears his phone chime and looks down to see it's Mozzie. It had been a few weeks since he had heard from him and he returned the text with 'Everything set up?' and smiled when he got a 'Yep' in reply. He smiled and opened a file, knowing Peter was in for a surprise.