"Joe, I swear to God, you play 'War Pigs' one more time in my car, I'm kicking you to the curb and making ya take the subway the rest of the way," Jules mock threatened, trying to smother a laugh as she spoke.

Joe snorted, glaring at her without any real rancor. "Yeah, I know...subway's all the fucking way downtown." he grumbled, leaning over to pop the disc out of her CD player with his free hand. His injured arm was strapped firmly to his chest by a sling, shoulder thick with post surgical bandages. Stuck carpooling for the next few weeks to get around, he'd caught a lift with Jules, and hijacked the radio just because he could. || "You can torture me with the motherfucking Doors after our shift...we're almost there." he finally grunted, nodding to the station coming up on the horizon.

"Or, you know, you could just pop in Tommy and make everyone happy," she corrected with a laugh, stopping at a red light.

Joe just rolled his eyes, leaning his head back against the seat and shutting his eyes. "The kids are on a kick." he explained with a shrug. "They won't stop listening to "Amazing Journey." Most kids get obsessed with Spongebob or Barney or some shit...nope. Mine worship Keith Moon as the next great children's star."

Julianne giggled. "My parents actually took the movie 'Help!' from me as a child, so that I would not totally wear out the VHS," she informed him, smirking wickedly as the light turned green.

"Thought it was HARD DAY'S NIGHT." Joe replied with a raised eyebrow. "Least I thought you said that when you told me the story at the Galeberg crime scene."

Jules shot him a sideways smirk before paying attention to the road again, turning into the precinct's parking lot. "Naw. It's Hard Day's Night that I got hooked on after that. Not to mention have memorized like the back of my hand."

"Who doesn't?" he snorted as they drew nearer to the station. Shifting in his seat, he was already shuffling the day through his head...getting this case solved and in order, making *someone* pay for all the shit that was going down...

"Terry Riordan's coming in today to give her statement." he remarked quietly. "I ain't seen her since...well, the funeral."

Jules glanced over at him and sighed softly, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder lightly. "Not everyday you welcome back someone you lost like we lost her, huh?" She remarked softly, her tone sobering up.

"No, it's not...this whole thing is seriously fucked up." Joe admitted, shaking his head. "She's alive again...as close to alive as you can get, anyway. I mean...neither one of us ever saw the world pre-Uprising, but...this is weird shit, even by standards that used to be considered weird shit."

Pulling into an empty spot, she sighed a bit and rubbed his arm a bit. "Well... not worth delaying. I'm sure she'll feel a bit awkward, too."

"Yeah," he sighed, reaching up with his good hand to pat hers where it sat on his arm. Glancing over at her, he flashed a rare, warm smile. "You're pretty damn good at listening, y'know that?"

Jules smiled warmly. "So're you, Joey. Least I could do is return the favor."

Joe just rolled his eyes, smirking as he unfastened his seatbelt and moved to get out of the car. She acted like he was doing her some kind of favor...he'd known Simon for a good long while, and listening to her was never much of a hardship. Not when she was always so willing to put up with his crap.

"Oh, by the way, I gotta get you that CD back," Jules remarked as she stepped out of the car, putting the keys in her pocket. "I burned it into the computer, so that's good enough for me. Thanks for letting me borrow it."

"No sweat." Joe reassured her. "Take yer time, I know you're good for it. Besides, half the songs are on my iPod now...how stupid does it make me that Colleen helped me figure out how to work that damn thing?"

"Not stupid, just technologically inept," Jules teased, waiting for him before heading to the entrance.

"That, too." Joe grunted as he reached the entrance and ushered her ahead of him with his good hand at the small of her back. || When they reached the squad room, it was to a round of applause for Joe's return. Rolling his eyes, he gave the room the finger. "Whatever...back to work, losers. Where the hell's Jacko and Mike?"

Jules smirked, shaking her head. "Well, knowing Jacko, probably lecturing someone... and since Mike's missing too..."

//We are in the coffee room, come on in,// the familiar voice rang through Joe's head.

Joe blinked as Michael's mental voice filled his head, then narrowed his eyes before rolling them. "They're in the coffee room." Joe informed her, tapping his temple to indicate Mike speaking to him telepathically.

Jules arched a brow, then nodded. "Well, I could always use a cup. Lead the way, Mr. Lawrence," she quipped, giving him a smile.

As she spotted Rian nearing, Jules rose with a smile. “You do know that you’re the only person that could drag me out here, right?

Joe made a face as Gail finished fussing with the gauze wrapping his shoulder, eyeing her balefully. "Were you this big a mother hen with Jacko?"

"More." she replied with a smile, running a motherly hand over his hair. "You forget, I was still a mom when I died. Old habits, I guess..."

Joe rolled his eyes, but there was real sympathy in his expression. "I'm sorry, Mrs. J."

Gail drew in a deep breath, her momentary sorrow evaporating on a smile. "I'll have my time to grieve my kids, hon. Enough about me, though...need anything else?"

"Yeah...find out where Jacko is with some *real* freakin' food? And pass me the phone? I got a friend to call."

With an obliging grin, Gail lifted the receiver on his bedside phone and handed it to him, dialing the number he asked her to.

Rubbing her forehead, Julianne was quickly coming to the conclusion that this was going to be a very long day ahead of her. The case was going absolutely nowhere, and that drove her bonkers. When the phone rang, she grabbed the handle quickly, hoping it was the lab. "Simon."