Grissom hated Conrad Ecklie. Though he was a scientist, he hated absolutes; absolutes left no room for the human element, but he was absolutely certain that the assistant director's pure purpose on the planet earth was to make his life a living hell. It was late, just about time to clock out from the triple he'd worked, and he was using all his strength to keep his eyes open. Maybe he'd purloin a flask of Greg's heavenly Blue Hawaiian brew, seasoned with a healthy dose of cream, and quietly sip on it as he made his final notes of the night. It sounded like a nice plan.

That was, until Ecklie's phone call.

Now he sat, elbows propped heavily on his desk, scrubbing a hand wearily over his face as he tried to make his case.

"Because, Conrad, I do not want to be put into that kind of situation… …yes I think it's a bad idea…I don't care if it's for science, I am not giving any rookie shrink that kind of information about my job and my life…You have my proposal for the appropriate candidate if you insist on going through with this charade."

At this, Sara and Warrick walked into his office, catching the tail end of the conversation. "Problem?" Sara asked, knowing that the answer was quite obvious.

Grissom looked up, the receiver still at his ear. "Ecklie wants me to…" He trailed off as his boss came back on the line. "Thank you, Conrad," he said, hung up the phone as he took off his glasses. "He wanted me to participate in a psychological study, where I am interviewed by a student for a forensics thesis paper, answering questions about my feelings towards our job. I told him the only way I'd agree to it is if I picked the student."

Sara tried her best to keep her jaw from hitting the floor. Typical Ecklie always tried to throw a monkey wrench Griss' way. Sighing she eased into a chair, made herself at home.

"So who'd you pick?"

Before Grissom could respond, Nick walked into the room, with an extra spring in his step that had Sara arching an eyebrow at him. "Sorry to interrupt guys. This is the last of the week's paperwork." He passed his files over to his boss, and then dusted off his hands. "And I am out of here."

The almost song-like tone in his voice had Warrick looking his boy up and down and flat out asked him, with not a little curiosity, "Why are you so smiley?"

It was true; Nick could barely contain the grin on his face. It was ridiculous, he knew, he was nearly thirty five years old yet here he was super psyched about a Friday night. But what they didn't know was that this wasn't just any Friday night. Instead he tried to play it like there were no big plans for the night. Or the weekend, or the entire week. "I have a full 36 hours off starting in three minutes. I plan on being horizontal for a good portion of that, doing absolutely nothing. Just some quality down time."

Beside Warrick, Sara started to wrinkle her nose. "What's that smell?"

"I don't smell anything," Nick replied, trying to keep his cool.

"Yeah, it's like…cedar chips or something."

"It's cologne." Like a bloodhound picking up a trail, Grissom rose from his desk and followed his nose – literally – to the source, stopping only inches from Nick's face. "Armani, am I right?"

Then realization dawned on Sara, in a purely female way, why Nick had splashed on some designer fragrance in the locker room. Deciding to enjoy this, she turned to Warrick, primly folded her hands in her lap and spoke coyly.

"Rick?"

"Why yes, Sara?" Warrick recognized the tone in her voice, decided to play along. Aside from a glittering black baby grand and a cold beer on a hot day, there was nothing Warrick enjoyed more then needling his best friend.

"What do you do when you know you've got a hot date?"

"I…"Warrick trailed off as Sara merely narrowed an eye at him, then he flicked a glance to Nick as the grin spread over his face. "I see why you're so excited at 'being horizontal'. Renee's back in town, isn't she?" He relished the moment, finally thankful to have some payback over the merciless teasing he'd taken from Nick when he and Tina had first gotten married. Then, turning back to Sara, Warrick continued in the priggish style she'd started up. "Good thing Greg's not here."

"Yeah, he'd try to break his nose again."

"Guys, he did not nearly break my nose."

Hoping to stave off what he knew would be a teenage level of poking and prodding, Grissom stepped in, to bring back the conversation to a particular level. "Warrick, I need you to go over to Chicane and Freemont, Greg and Catherine are working a suspicious circs involving some bangers. What time does Renee land at the airport?"

"In about half an hour. I gotta head out before I meet her I need to pick up some...stuff," Nick finished in a rush.

"What kind of stuff?" Sara asked sweetly.

"Just…stuff."

Warrick nearly swallowed his tongue as he watched his friend turn a pretty shade of crimson. He nudged Sara's shoulder with his elbow. "Come on Sara, use your imagination. 'Stuff' probably means something along the lines of massage oils, maybe a little whip cream, and a big box of-"

"Warrick, crime scene, now and take Sara with you," Grissom cut him off before he could inflict any more embarrassment on Nick. Another few seconds and Nick's red face would have gone magenta. Instead, though he knew how strange it would sound, he stood up to get his coat and follow Nick.

"I think I'll tag along."