BEEEEP! BEEEEP! BEEEEP!
Nick tugged his pillow over his head and scowled.
BEEEEP! BEEEEP! BEEEEP!
He stretched his arm out, fumbling for the snooze button, again. Not finding it, he slapped his hand down on the top of the whole clock.
Silence. Nick peeked out from under the pillow and stifled a groan. He was already late.
Tossing the pillow to the side, he pulled free of the sheets and stumbled to his feet. I hate this.
He staggered toward the bathroom and turned on the shower, then went back into his bedroom. He flipped the light switch and blinked rapidly. He walked to his closet and tried to find something to wear that day, despite the fact that the clothing was blurring before his eyes. He hadn't put his contacts in yet.
Nick finally just grabbed something and threw it onto his bed. At least no one could accuse him of picking out his clothes in the dark.
He glanced at the clock again. He had about eight minutes until he had to be leaving his house, if he was already late.
Going into the kitchen, he set the coffee machine. God only knew he'd need a lot of it if he was going to make it to work without wrecking his car.
He went back to the bathroom, where he stripped off his clothes and got into the shower.
Switching shifts like this was hell. Sure, it was worse on Cath, who never got to see her kid anymore, but still.
Theoretically it should be easy to simply shift everything back eight hours. Be at work at four instead of midnight. Get up at three instead of eleven. The problem was, when he got home from work, he couldn't sleep, not until the old time. Nick knew Warrick had seen a doctor to get some medication to help him sleep. Wise idea, really.
Nick turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. He grabbed his watch off the counter. Damn. Three minutes.
Drying off quickly, he pulled on his clothes. He found his glasses in the bathroom cabinet and put them on, much too tired to bother with contacts.
Rushing through his kitchen, he quickly poured some coffee into a travel cup and grabbed an apple. Then he was out the door, snagging his jacket off the hook before slamming the door shut behind him.
As he drove to work, he considered how much everything had changed. It wasn't just the schedule of Swing shift that bothered him. There was something about the people, too.
He still worked with Warrick, which was great. The two made a great team, everyone knew it. Even Ecklie, who had come up with this ridiculous plan in the first place.
Cath was great, too. She deserved to be a shift leader, and Nick was happy for her. He really was. It was just… since becoming the boss, she had changed a bit. She had really started acting like…their boss.
Grissom had finally started giving Nick the freedom to handle things however he liked, pretty much. After the almost-promotion, Nick was sure that he had finally done it. He had his own approval, and Grissom's on top of it.
Now he had to start over, with a boss who liked to micromanage just a touch. Who didn't seem to think he knew how to do his job as well as she knew how. It was frustrating.
But even that wasn't what really bothered him. He would show Catherine, eventually, that he knew how to work a scene. The real problem was the lack of people on their shift.
He had always enjoyed working with Sara. They bantered and teased, but when it came to their cases, they were dead serious. They were smart, capable, and a good team. 'Were' being the key word there.
Even more than working together, they had been friends, and now, due to their different schedules, he never saw her. Or Greg.
That was another thing. Greg had always lightened things up with his crazy music and wacky ways. He was good to have around during a case, for more than just his CSI skills. Warrick and Nick sometimes had the tendency to get a little too intense; Greg helped even things out.
Nick supposed he and Warrick were good about not being too serious, sometimes. Their bets certainly helped. But it wasn't quite the same thing.
Not to mention, they couldn't even hang out with Greg outside the lab anymore, because of the shift change. It was kind of depressing.
Nick swung his car into the lab parking lot. He saw Warrick walking toward the doors, looking just as tired as he felt.
After he parked the car, he ran to catch up with his friend.
"Hey," he greeted.
"Hey," Warrick said, his voice lacking in enthusiasm. "How the hell do you have the energy to be running?"
"I don't. I haven't even eaten anything yet today," Nick said.
"You have an apple." Nick nodded and took a bite. "Wake up late again?"
"Yup. You?"
"Yeah. Couldn't sleep, even with the meds," Warrick said, as they trudged into the lab.
"I couldn't sleep either," Nick said, frowning. "Pretty soon, we're gonna be running purely on coffee."
"Warrick! Nick! You're both late," Catherine accused, hurrying to meet them at the door of the break room. "I have a case for you."
Warrick took the paper she thrust at them. "Okay."
Cath nodded and turned back toward her office, as Warrick and Nick continued into the room.
Nick immediately crossed the room to the coffee pot and turned on the machine. "What's the case?"
"D.B. in a hotel room," Warrick read. "Guy was the drummer for one of those old bands no one remembers anymore."
Nick shook his head. "I hate famous people cases."
Warrick nodded in agreement. "It's gonna be a long night."
Nick hefted the now-full pot. "Coffee?"