Horatio Takes a Vacation

chapter 2

Speed turned over and eyed the clock as the cell phone rang loudly on his night stand. He couldn't believe this. He had just gotten into bed almost an hour ago from a long day at the lab. Since Horatio had been gone, it seemed as if crime had been on the uprise. In the week since he assumed the temporary position as the head of the day shift, he had gotten maybe twenty-four hours of sleep. He tossed the pillow aside angrily and answered the phone.

" Speedle." Speed answered furiously.

" Good morning to you too, sunshine. We got a DB on the beach near Collins ," Frank Tripp said. Speed could just hear the smirk on his face.

" There's miles and miles of beach Frank. Can you be more specific?"Speed asked as he got up. He rubbed his face and kept his eyes closed for a moment.

" Funny, I thought near Collins was specific enough. Just drive until you see the blinking lights, smart ass," Tripp replied as he flipped the phone down.

Speed open his eyes and flipped the phone down. He was sure that Tripp had never talked to Horatio like that. Reluctantly, he got up and showered and was out of the door in ten minutes. On the way to the scene, he reminded himself never to accept this position again.

CSI

" Good morning, Speed," Eric said as he passed him in the corridor. Eric stopped ,as Speed kept going , and stared at his friend. There had been a marked change in Speed's demeanor since Horatio had left.

" What's so good about it?" Speed replied loudly as he turned the corner and headed up to the office. Once he got there, he slammed the door and closed the blinds. The early morning call out was not wearing well with him, and he felt like if someone pushed him, he would go off the deep end.

He put his head down on the desk and felt his eyes close slightly before hearing a knock at the door. Lifting his head slightly, he opened one eye and cursed out loud. As the knocking got harder, Speed furiously rose and strode effortlessly to the door.

" What?" Speed said as he swung the door open. On the other side, stood Alexx with a file in her hand.

" My goodness, Timmy, it doesn't look or sound like you are having a good day," Alexx said as she walked in.

Speed ran a rough hand through his hair and squinted at the light coming in from the hall, "I'm sorry, Alexx. I've had a long morning."

" Yeah ,I heard about the two thirty callout. What time did you go to sleep?"

" One thirty."

" So you're running on only an hour of sleep?"

" Yeah," Speed said yawing deeply, " that's the gist of it. What do you have for me?"

" Just some reports for you to sign. Are you enjoying this?" Alexx asked with a slight smile on her face.

" Are you kidding me? Enjoying this? The early call outs, the dirty looks from the lab techs, the paper work? Yes , I am enjoying this thoroughly, Alexx," Speed said sarcastically. Then at that moment, he heard a noise coming from the lab. He crossed over to the big windows overlooking the lab and lifted the blinds to see a fire erupting in the middle of the trace lab. " Dammit!"

Alexx walked quickly over to the window and saw the bright flame as it started to make it's way to the scopes. Speed rushed out of the door and down the steps into the trace lab and grabbed the fire extinguisher. In a matter of seconds, the fire was out and then as if on delay, the sprinklers started as well as the fire alarm. Alexx attempted to hide the smile that was on her face as Speed walked out of the trace lab and to the phone. He glared at her and punched in the number to the maintenance department. After he reported the fire out, the sprinklers were turned off and he surveyed the damage done to the trace lab. Thankfully, the mass spec was the only thing that was damaged and the evidence was still locked safely in the evidence locker, but he was soaked to the gills.

Speed looked up to see Eric and Calleigh standing next to Alexx and they all had an amused look.

" You think this is funny?" he asked, obviously pissed as he shook the excess water from his shirt.

" Well,..." Eric started.

" If it's so funny, grab a mop and help clean this mess up," Speed said as he passed them.

" I've got some test to run,"Eric offered.

" Ballistic evidence is pending in firearms," Calleigh chimed in.

" Got a departmental meeting," Alexx said as she turned to leave.

Speed walked out the door and ascended the stairs to the office.

"I am in hell," they heard him say as he slammed the door. They winced at the power of the slam and began to chuckle lightly to themselves. Maybe , they would leave him alone for the rest of the day.

TBC...

A/N: I couldn't resist an Empire Records line...