Title: Misdemeanors

Disclaimer: Angst, violence, slash, and language.

POV: Speed

Chapter Four: Losing My Place

The night had been rough to me. I couldn't sleep as well as I usually did. I know it's because of the…I shudder as the action plays out in my mind. I spent the entire night twisting and turning. My covers were on the floor when I awoke this morning. Though I find myself tired I still feel the need to be at work. Sure, I could have called in sick, Horatio would have understood. That would just give him more reason to keep Ryan around. That I couldn't settle for. So I came to work. Tired and moody.

"Boy, you look like death warmed over," Delko says as he comes up behind me in the Trace Lab.

I'm sure I do. I give him a look that stops him in his tracks. "That's what happens when you don't sleep well, you end up looking like hell and everyone in their right mind has to stop and comment on that one fact. Have you any idea how annoying that is?"

Delko sits on the stool beside me to start his work. "Gees, Speed, I was just making an observation, no need to be moody about it. What's wrong, you stay out too late last night? I thought you didn't like Ryan."

"I don't like him," I reply as I slide a trace substance under the microscope. "That's why I left after you did. I just didn't sleep well, that's all. It happens."

"Maybe your sodas were spiked," he joked.

I glare at him. "Just let it go, would you?"

He shrugs before moving on to find whoever he needs to talk to for his case. I don't care. The silence of the lab is just what I need after a sleepless night. The day passes fast for me as I identify trace substance after trace substance. This has to show Horatio that I'm good at my job and he can send Ryan packing. The sooner the younger CSI is gone the happier I'll be. My watch beeps while I'm in the middle of looking at some weird green ooze found on the dead body from the other day. I can't help but wonder if Delko has made an ID on the body or if Tripp has located the real Miss Slovesky.

I stretch my neck from side to side and reach for the sky with arms while letting out a big yawn. The time for lunch has come. My stomach growls as I stand from my stool. No one has bothered me since this morning's conversation with Delko. Normally I would be thinking that he told everyone I was in a bad mood but than I'd have been visited by Horatio, and I haven't been. Maybe they're all busy. I walk down the halls toward the break room. All the people I pass are busy with their work and their own cases. I don't even know half of them anymore.

As I walk down the halls I think of the new layout and all the work that had been done. I hate the new lab. Sure, it was brighter and looked more open. But I missed the way it used to be. I was comfortable with the old layout and the feeling of being locked away from the world. That's a feeling I got along great with. Now all the walls are glass and you can into everything without having to enter a room. It's as though I work in a fishbowl. At least the bathrooms still have solid walls.

The break room door is open. Alexx breezes out with a soda in hand. She gives me a wave as she heads back to the morgue. I see Delko sitting at the table flipping through a magazine and eating a sandwich. He takes a sip of his juice as I enter the room. He looks at me with wary eyes.

"What you reading?" I ask hoping that I don't sound mean or annoyed in any way.

"Just one of the many forensic journals they insist on keeping in here," he replies after swallowing.

"Look," I start as I pull a bottle of ice water from the fridge, "I'm sorry about this morning."

Delko shrugs. "It's okay, buddy. I should have been a bit more sensitive."

"More sensitive about what?" Calleigh asks as she waltzes into the room with Ryan on her heels. Why must everyone take lunch at the same time? It used to be fun to lunch together and catch up on the morning. Now Ryan has come along to ruin my once peaceful existence.

"Speed had a rough night," Delko says. He wipes his hands on a napkin now that he's finished with his sandwich. I sit down beside him and put my feet up on the chair to my other side so that Ryan can't sit near me.

Calleigh sits across from us with a salad and a juice. Ryan sits beside her with a soda and a small bag of chips. He flashes a smile in my direction. There's no worry in his eyes. He doesn't care if they know about last night and the kiss. Meanwhile I feel like I'm going to throw-up.

"Oh, too much partying?" Calleigh asks me.

I shake my head. "I think I was just due for a bad night. It happens to all of us."

Ryan pops a chip in his mouth. "You sure it wasn't something else that kept you up? Maybe you were having dreams. Do you remember dreaming anything?"

"How could I be dreaming if I wasn't sleeping?" I snap.

He shrugs and we all fall into a silence. This never happened when it was just Delko, Calleigh, and I. Ryan is throwing off our groove. He's ruining what once was a well oiled machine. Horatio won't keep him around when he sees how Ryan is affecting the work in the lab. The relationship between the three of us is what made us great CSI's and what kept our success rate up. Ryan needed to go.

"Oh my god, Ryan, are those Chili Frito's?" Calleigh asks breaking the silence.

He nods in response and offers the open bag of chips to her. "Want one?"

"You bet I do. I haven't had these in ages. They're way too addicting."

She grabs a chip from the bag and pops it in her mouth. Ryan offers the bag to Delko, who also reaches in for some chips. I stand up and walk over to the recycling bin before he can offer me any. Too bad for me that H picks that moment to enter the break room. I feel his eyes on my back before I even turn to look at him. He doesn't look happy with me. Well, screw him; this is his doing, not mine. I didn't hire Ryan to replace my best friend, he did that.

"Everything okay, Timmy?" He questions.

"Just fine, boss," I say with more edge than I mean to. "Just finishing up here and returning to work. If that's okay with you."

I see just the hint of pain in his eyes as the words reach his ears. Before the silence can envelope us all in its uncomfortable embrace I make an exit of the room. They start to talk as soon as I leave. Lucky for me the break room is near the lockers and they share a solid wall. I stand outside the door where no one can see me and listen in to their conversation. In the beginning it's all small chit-chat and nothing else. That is, until Horatio stabs me in the back again. At first I'm happy to hear that he's removing Ryan from the case of the unknown dead guy. That happiness is short lived as I hear him assign the young CSI to a high profile case; the killing of a judge's daughter.

Before I can hear anymore I head back to the Trace Lab. I really don't want to hear Horatio hand my life over to a younger guy. Am I really that replaceable? Delko doesn't seem to mind Ryan, and Calleigh seems attracted to him. Now my work gets handed to him. That case should be mine. I've been here longer. As much as I want the bad guy behind bars I find myself wishing for Ryan to screw up.