Topaz returns to work after her void vacation. Backdated to December 1.



To say Topaz felt like kind of an idiot wearing sunglasses as she walked through the office was an understatement. It was unbearably sunny outside, though, and it wasn't much better inside. She sighed, stopping outside Marie-Ange's door and pulling the glasses off. Still bright, but not as bad. She blinked a few times before knocking.

"It is open!" One of the ever-present weird little images cracked the door, and then scuttered off to poof itself into nothingness. Marie-Ange was behind her desk, tapping a pen against a flat tablet and occasionally flipping the pen over to slide along the screen.

Topaz tucked the glasses into her pocket as she peaked in, raising an eyebrow. "Not interrupting, am I?"

"You are saving me from the most boring parts of the absolute treasure of intel that Clint gave us." Marie-Ange tapped the screen twice, and then rubbed at her eye. "So yes, but it is a most welcome interruption because my goodness everyone who worked at that facility is terrible and he gave us information about everyone he could. You can imagine what those people are like on twitter and facebook."

"Something something human superiority probably America first?" Topaz guessed, dropping into the seat across from Marie-Ange's desk. "And an almost unbearable number of eagle pictures and flags."

The weary expression on Marie-Ange's face answered Topaz's question without any elaboration. "And hypocrisy about guns and freedom while also thinking half a dozen different minority groups should just be locked in camps." She pushed the screen away with relief. "What can I do for you today? Besides tea? I can always provide tea."

"Lovely," Topaz said dryly. Her relaxed demeanor shifted slightly when Marie-Ange changed the subject. "I, um... wanted to talk about work, actually." She took a deep breath. "I know everything that happened was... bad, and I've been doing bed rest and I have a therapy appointment scheduled, and I just... wanted to see if I still have a job."

"I would not fire you for being eaten by the ineffable void." Marie-Ange pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why would I... " She cut herself off with a little shake of her head. "No, do not answer that. You are not fired, you still have a job. It is a boring office job for the moment until medical clears you for activity more than casual walks through the park, but you have a job. Right now your job is to review the mountain of books you brought back, to document what in the bloody hell happened, and to take long boring walks through Central Park to check our dead drops. There is a new route, Darcy can show you."

"Not fire so much as..." She paused to run through the options in her head, and finally decided honesty was the simplest way to go. "For the most part everyone else has been here long enough to have enough credibility that if they make a bad call or two, it's not..." She waved a hand. "I don't. And I don't regret it, and I'd do it again if it meant everyone else got out safe. I still know it wasn't necessarily the best choice and putting me at a desk forever could sound like a better option."

"How was it a bad call? You got everyone out safely, and perhaps you paid a price, but that is part of the job." Marie-Ange pointed at Topaz with the stylus from her tablet. "Do not answer that either. You are not on desk duty forever, just until you are healthy and cleared for the field again. None of this is punitive. You are on desk duty because I know you, and I know if I did not put my foot down and say so, you would try to jump back into full duty." She set the stylus down, and got up from the desk. "Come make tea with me, I really do need a break. I am going to be analyzing this information for weeks, and so is everyone else. Welcome back, you get to do some of this too."

Topaz started to say something, then stopped. There was a visible shift in her eyes as she went a different route. "Brilliant, I've got a few brain cells to share trying to understand these people. Please tell me it's all digital." Night mode had been a lifesaver on her eyes.

Marie-Ange nodded. "It is all digital, backed up onto one of Doug's clouds, and slowly being fed into the Moon On a Stick." She waved Topaz ahead of her as they walked towards the break room. "The only reason you are on desk duty is because you are physically recovering. It is the same as Doug before he was cleared again. We made him take boring walks too." She tilted her head, pondering. "Actually between the two of you I imagine that the route is going to be all coffee and tea shops as cover, which is lovely. Maybe we can use Darcy's food truck announcements too. We live in a food city..."

"Put a food truck outside a coffee or shop and we'll be all set."

"Oh!" Marie-Ange paused in her steps towards tea. "We got the new building while you were in the ineffable void, speaking of shops. You are also on map out those shops duty. Light walk, scout out diners and bodegas." She pulled out her phone to send a text to Topaz's phone. "There is a shared map, I think Darcy and Jubilee are organizing the list."

"Is it really scouting or is it an excuse to send me on the lunch run?" Topaz asked dryly as she went to start the tea herself. There was a lot to catch up on and no doubt ten other things that could distract Marie-Ange before she made it to the counter.

"I am in charge because I delegate multitasking." Marie-Ange said. "You can scout and go on the food run, and get your light exercise and vitamin D. Any purchases go on the office credit card. Local contacts mean plausible deniability, of course I was in that noodle stop for noodles."

"I have the receipt and everything and yes I bought the most expensive noodles on the menu." It was the company credit card, getting something nice wasn't completely out of the question.

"Of course you did. I expect a full review of the udon and the ramen." She didn't even need to setup code phrases, because Marie-Ange was absolutely sincere about the udon, and also about scouting all the new neighborhood cafes and shops for meetings and contacts. "Do you think you made the right choice?"

The question caught Topaz off guard. She looked up, blinking a few times. "About the udon and ramen?" It was a pointless question. She knew exactly what Marie-Ange meant. "I know I did." The words were quiet, but fully confident.

"Then why assume we would disagree?" The water was making the almost at a boil burble, and Marie-Ange pulled down two mugs. "Do we still need to make sure you have some operative training, yes. Are you a fully competent adult who can make mission critical decisions? Also yes." She pointed at Topaz with one mug. "Not fired, not on desk duty as a demotion, not on remedial training." She paused. "Once you are healthy you have hand to hand training with Doug. I want you to get his magical limits determined, and figure out when his arm starts to be a problem."

Topaz nodded slowly, a knot loosening in her chest. She hadn't realized how nervous she had been about this. But reassurance was good. "Antagonize the nanites? I'm sure that'll be great."

"It will be fun." Marie-Ange said. "Doug knows, besides. He made a face, demanded I buy him dinner somewhere with waffles or chocolate, and agreed it was sensible, even if he would hate it."

"I'm not sure he'd agree with it being fun, but it'll be something."