Brainy hadn't really noticed the change in Nia's behavior. It was normal for her to drink a lot of coffee and sleep a lot, and generally be exhausted but somehow more optimistic than everyone else at the DEO, but what really gave it away didn't happen for what could have been weeks after Nia had been feeling overworked.
Nia and Brainy had taken a part of the night shift for patrols. Nia barely said a single word the whole four hours. When Kara came to take over, she left without saying anything.
Brainy was concerned for her, and even with his differential calculus, could find no obvious reason why she was acting like this.
He decided to visit her apartment after she left them. Maybe he could figure out what was wrong. He got there, and the door was unlocked.
Brainy rushed in, hoping she wasn't hurt, but instead found her on the couch surrounded by piles of papers and working on her laptop. She didn't even look at him as he walked into the room.
"Nia, are you okay? You just had a four hour patrol and there is a good chance you haven't slept all day," he said. Nia looked up at him. Her eyes were red from exhaustion and she looked to be on the verge of tears.
"What happened?" asked Brainy, at her side in an instant.
"After Andrea took over Catco, she caught me asleep and didn't care when I told her I have narcolepsy. She gave me extra work that day, and when I was able to handle it, she just kept giving me more and more," Nia said. "How does she expect me to write four articles and file reports about Obsidian Platinum subscriptions in one day?"
She started to cry, and Brainy held her close.
"You should talk to Andrea. Tell her you're feeling overworked and need a break," said Brainy, annoyed at this Andrea for putting so much pressure on his girlfriend.
"No. She'll fire me and ban me from the journalism world. I'll never be able to write about the things I love again."
"That woman has no right to just...take control over your life like that!" exclaimed Brainy, filled with anger. "I am going to Catco right now-"
"No, don't. You'll only make things worse," said Nia gently.
"Then what can I do to help you?" he asked.
"Can you stay?" she asked in a small voice.
"Of course," replied Brainy.
She curled up next to him and he said, "Really though, I would suggest getting some sleep. You can't get anything done if you're dead from exhaustion."
Nia closed her laptop. "Okay. Give me one hour, okay? Do not let me keep sleeping."
Brainy nodded, but they both knew he would let her sleep.
Nia rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her. She was fast asleep within five minutes. He may have dozed off sometime around three A.M., and when he woke, it was just after six.
He gently shook Nia awake. He didn't want to, but he had a plan to fix this.
Nia sat up. "I told you not to let me sleep!" she exclaimed. "I'm going to miss the bus and-"
"Nia. Calm down. You have enough time to get ready while I make breakfast for you. I can fly you to Catco, which will take approximately five minutes and thirty-seven seconds, and you should be at your desk by seven, just as you prefer," explained Brainy.
Nia took a deep breath and said, "Oh. Thanks, Brainy."
"Of course," he replied with a smile. Nia left to get ready and he made breakfast burritos while she was gone. She came back fifteen minutes later, looking more awake than she had in days, and she had only gotten about six hours of sleep.
Nia sat down and inhaled two of the breakfast burritos he had made.
"These are amazing! You're a pretty good cook," she said around a mouthful of food.
"It took practice," replied Brainy. "The first time I made these, they were horribly burnt." Nia laughed at that.
They finished breakfast together and walked out of Nia's apartment together.
Brainy picked up Nia, as they had done this a few times to and from the DEO and flew off with her in his arms. Nia never ceased to be amazed by flying. She had always wished she were able to, and loved seeing the city from above.
Five minutes later, they landed outside of Catco.
"Are you sure you don't want me to talk to your boss? You know how persuasive I can be," said Brainy.
"No," said Nia. "I'll be fine, but thank you. Thank you for everything you did for me this morning."
"I should get to the DEO," said Brainy.
"Yeah, I'll see you on patrol later," she replied, hugging him.
She walked into Catco and sat down at her desk. To her surprise, there was no new stack of reports waiting for her. She headed to Andrea's desk to drop off the files she had worked on the night before.
"Nia, I was hoping you'd drop by," said Andrea.
It wasn't like she had much of a choice, but Nia held her tongue.
"I've noticed how well you've been keeping up with the workload I've given you. Keep up the effort and you may succeed greatly here at Catco."
Nia tried to hide her surprise.
"I'd like you to write something about the fashion district and their recent usage of Obsidian Lenses to promote their businesses," she added.
"I'll get right to it," replied Nia with a hesitant smile. She went back to her desk and got started. On her lunch break, she called Brainy.
"Nia? Has something happened?" he asked anxiously.
"No," she laughed. "No, I just wanted to let you know I'm free tonight. Would you want to come over and finally watch Star Wars with me like we planned?"
"I would love to finally understand the references the rest of the Superfriends make," he replied.
"Then it's a date," she said, smiling.
