As predicted, within an hour, the case was wrapped up; Nick had found both hair and fibre transfer on the victim and Archie's replacement had found the footage of the man in the store. The offender had been positively identified, arrested and charged with the elderly person's murder shortly thereafter. Merry Christmas to the poor child that would have gotten that toy; he had not only lost the company of this adult, whatever the relation may be, on Xmas morning but he also lost his toy since it was evidence. People really need to learn foresight.
With the paperwork half-heartedly filled out and nothing else left to do, Nick wandered slowly through the halls until he reached the break room. Upon entering through the heavy door Nick's ears were assaulted once more by Christmas music. "…listen, to hear sleigh bells in the snow. The snow. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, with every Christmas card I write--" Nick strode purposefully across the room towards the coffee, beside which the portable stereo was also set up, and tried to ignore the song which he had never really sympathized with but usually enjoyed nonetheless. At the moment he would have preferred nails on a chalk board. As he poured the soothing black liquid to the rim of his cup, which he noted with displeasure had been switched to red and green plastic ones, he reached over for the cord of the stereo. "May your days be merry and br--" he yanked it out of the wall without removing his eyes from his coffee. Satisfied by the silence he dropped the cord on the floor and put the coffee pot down and busied himself by adding sugar and cream to his cup.
"I see you're in the spirit of things," Sara noted as she strolled into the break room. "You know, Greg warned me about you today; he's been calling you Scrooge."
"Bah humbug." Nick replied dully as he turned around to face his colleague. She looked amused. "And I'd say I'm more of a Grinch; money plays no factor in this. My heart is simply two sizes too small this year." Suddenly she didn't look so amused anymore, Nick noted with mild irritation. Now she looked at him with eyes filled with concern and it only made him feel worse, like he was dragging her down now too.
A frown flickered across her face as she studied Nick's slumped and tussled appearance. She had assumed that Greg was embellishing Nick's bad mood; she figured that the Texan had made fun of Greg's Santa hat or silly light-up Rudolph tie and that the former lab-rat was just exaggerating. However, standing before him now, listening to his emotionless voice she realized how serious it was. Nick normally loved this time of year. Hell, he was normally the one in the Santa hat, insisting that he be addressed as "St. Nicholas" while within the lab walls. Sara knew better than most how easily the magic can be zapped out of Christmas… but she hadn't ever considered that it would be lost to him. At least now she knew why he had stayed to work in Vegas this year. "Any chance of it growing three sizes any time soon?" she asked, not being able to disguise the disappointment in her voice. She wasn't disappointed in him; she was disappointed in all the events that had conspired against him and finally managed to crush his spirit.
"Doesn't seem very likely," he warned. "However, if ever there were a time to hold out for a miracle, I hear it's around this time." He offered her a weak smile which she returned.