It's One of Those Days

Green Isn't Easy

A/N: Right, so... it's 2am and I should be sleeping, but this has been sitting here on my laptop poking at me to upload it. Finally, a little something breaking through my horrid writers block that has been stuck with me for way too long! Okay, so what's this about? I've written a few small stories that are supposed to be funny and are centered around the characters of CSI: NY (That much should be obvious LOL). I could write them as single oneshots, but I figured "hey, why don't I just create one story with chapters?" The chapters don't follow each other, as they are supposed to be separate, but since the idea is the same... well, it makes sense to me. ;)

The summary? You know those days where you should have stayed in bed? Everyone has them. Including those who work in the crime lab, 'cause crime doesn't care one iota about how bad you feel.

This is set after Danny and Lindsay were married and Lucy has been born.

Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own anything. I would not be sitting here this late putting this on a website if I did. Those who can and should take credit are CBS, the writers, creators, and producers of this fine show. Not me. I am none of those people. I own nothing but a car and a few cents to my name.

First up is Mac, 'cause he's the boss, ya know. I'm not sure how funny it is, but I liked it. You may notice that later on in the story, the beginning seems to repeat. It's supposed to. The past meeting the present or, more accurately, the present meeting the present. Enjoy!
-------------------------------------

"Wow, now that's the way to start the day!" Danny Messer mocked, watching his boss, Mac Taylor, walk into the lunch room to drop off his lunch. Don Flack walked in several seconds later. He stopped, wrinkling his nose as he opened the fridge.

"Did somethin' go bad in here?" he asked, sniffing the air. Hawkes, who had been following him from down the hall, frowned and did the same.

"Morning, boys." Stella Bonasera greeted, Lindsay Messer on her heels. "Looking a bit dishevelled today, Mac." she said, not even intending for it to be a question.

"Did you walk to work today?" asked Lindsay innocently. "You said you might try it."

Mac shook his head and glared lightly at them. "Enough, people. Yes, I walked to work."

"Should'a taken the subway." Danny sighed, shaking his head.

---FLASHBACK to day before---

"What's up, Mac? You looked irritated." Stella asked as she walked in to the staff room to grab her lunch.

"Traffic jam on the way back from the crime scene." He grumbled.

"And…what about it?" Stella prompted. "This is New York."

"You're right, and there's just too much."

"Too much what?" Danny asked, passing a paper to Mac as he entered the room. "Results of the fingerprint test."

"Thanks, Danny."

"So?"

"So…what?"

Stella grabbed her lunch, rolling her eyes. She had to smile, though. Mac could be so closed off sometimes. Or dense. She wasn't sure which. Maybe he was just being ignorant.

Danny sighed, feeling mildly irritated. "You were saying that there was too much of something around here. I'm asking you what the 'too much' was."

It was Mac's turn to sigh. "There's just too much traffic, too much pollution. I'm going to do something different. I want to start making a difference." he said with conviction.

"This is New York…" Stella repeated.

"Doesn't matter." Mac insisted.

"What doesn't?" Lindsay asked, poking her head into the room. Don was right behind her, stuffing the last bit of a hotdog into his mouth.

"Mac wants to go green." Stella supplied.

"Nothing wrong with that." Hawkes supported, entering the room with his lunch bag in hand. "Are you going to start taking the bus?"

"No. That's just more pollution. I want to walk."

"Walk?" Don asked incredulously. "Isn't that a long way?"

"It takes me only ten or fifteen minutes to drive. Half an hour to walk, I'm guessing. I'll get exercise, and I won't be adding to the excessive pollution that's already out there."

"Mac," Stella started, looking a bit worried. "You always leave work when it's dark out. Do you really want to be walking around this area at night?"

"I can handle myself, Stel." Mac grumbled. He didn't like people implying that he could be vulnerable. "I can also catch a late bus, or take the subway if I feel it necessary."

"You could also take the subway to begin with." Danny supplied helpfully. "It works for me."

"You live farther away, Danny. I just want to be as pollution free as possible."

Don still looked skeptical, but shrugged at him. "Go for it, then."

-END FLASHBACK-

--------------

---7:00AM present day---

Mac stretched, stuffing the last bit of toast into his mouth. He slugged down the last mouthful of coffee and walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth, then to his bedroom put on his dress shirt. He grabbed his coat and headed out into the hallway of his apartment building. He nodded politely to his neighbour and set off to get to work. He had given himself plenty of time so that he would not have to make his walk a hurried run.

He smiled lightly as he passed through a busy intersection. He took a deep breath. New York air wasn't so bad at this early time. He knew, though, that it was only because so many people were still tucked away in their beds. Wait until noon, then there would be choking smog. He turned off onto a park pathway. He knew of a few scenic shortcuts that would keep him from having to wait at traffic lights. It may even cut down on his time a bit. It's always good to show up a bit early, after all. He smiled at a few early morning joggers. They paid him no attention, the ear buds from their iPods blaring many different styles of music. A dog barked from a nearby backyard. A couple of children laughed as they kicked a ball around, their laughter ringing off of the cool morning air. Another shouted gleefully to her friend as they played on the park swings before school. Birds twittered. This was nice. Everything was peaceful.

At least, it was peaceful.

Something with some substance hit him on the head. He reached up to feel something gooey. He cringed, whipping out a tissue to wipe at his head. He glanced at it before scrunching it up to throw it into the nearby garbage can. He cringed again, noticing the cream-white-green-tinged substance. Crap. Literally. He glanced up at the birds. They appeared to be staring and laughing at him. He shook his head telling himself that he was just being delusional and continued walking.

He was starting to feel peaceful again. He glanced down, and promptly stumbled. "That was close." he muttered to himself. Or was it? He carefully looked at the bottom of his shoe. Crap. Literally. He swore to himself. Weren't there rules about picking up after your dogs? Maybe this wouldn't have happened if someone had been more attentive during their daily walk. He tried scraping his foot on the edge of the pathway. He glanced around before furtively wiping his foot on the dewy grass. That would have to be good enough, though he knew it wasn't.

A little more subdued, he started walking again. He didn't think that he was going to feel so peaceful during this little section of his walk. Not with having to watch both the sky and the ground, after all. It took him only a few moments to realize that he should have been watching in front of him, too.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" a female teenager on a bicycle cried out angrily at him. He quickly sidestepped her, and would have called out an apology when he saw her nearly run down two more innocent joggers. Apparently, it was their fault that she couldn't ride a bike. Or share the pathway like a respectable citizen. He rolled his eyes and kept going.

"Finally." he muttered quietly. He could see his building only a couple of blocks away. He glanced at his watch, noting that it was 7:45 already. His little hang-ups had cost him some time. Well, at least he wouldn't be late. At least, he assumed he wouldn't be late. You could never tell with the way things had already been going. He stopped at the corner, quickly crossing the street when it was clear. Only one more block to go. Then he would be home-free.

"Whoa!" cried out a woman as they bumped into each other. Her coffee sloshed onto his jacket. "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking." She stopped as if she had had a second thought. "Though obviously, neither were you." she added, giving him a look. She wandered off, muttering about crowded streets and ridiculous coffee prices, and how it wasn't fair that she had to waste money on spilled coffee because people couldn't watch long enough to avoid her, so that she could avoid spilling said coffee.

Mac sighed again and shook his head, taking out another tissue to sop up the rapidly cooling coffee from the arm of his jacket. If he was lucky, the stain wouldn't be noticeable against the dark material. He looked up. Finally, his building! He hurried inside, clocking in quickly and heading up to drop off his lunch. All he wanted to do was to get to his office and sit down. Maybe if he started working right away, he could forget what a disaster the morning had become.

"Wow, now that's the way to start the day!" Danny mocked, watching his boss walk into the lunch room to drop off his lunch. Don walked in. He stopped, wrinkling his nose as he opened the fridge.

"Did somethin' go bad in here?" he asked, sniffing the air. Hawkes, who had been only a few feet behind him, frowned and did the same.

"Morning, boys." Stella greeted, Lindsay on her heels. "Looking a bit dishevelled today, Mac." she said, not even intending for it to be a question.

"Did you walk to work today?" asked Lindsay innocently. "You said you might try it."

Mac shook his head and glared lightly at them. "Enough, people. Yes, I walked to work."

"Should'a taken the subway." Danny sighed. Don quickly agreed with him, nodding his head for emphasis.

"Yep. It's so much easier. But I suppose you like walkin', then?" he asked innocently, though a smirk played at his lips. There were a few titters from his friends as they tried to hide their laughter. They smiled innocently at him, too. They hadn't missed the little bit of goop in his hair, or the stink from his shoe. Mac rolled his eyes.

"What's one more car?" he grumbled as his friends laughed. "Less stress, less mess."

Danny headed out the door, but stopped long enough to call mockingly behind him. "Or you could just take the subway."

END.