Tick Tock Part One - Hickory

The Clock Struck One

He had no idea how long it had been when he gasped awake, but he was still sitting at his desk. His body jerked forwards, one arm reaching out to brace on the desk while the other gripped the arm of his chair as he looked around, disorientated. His mind was so muddled that he didn't know if it had been a few minutes or a few hours. It was freaking him out. Time was missing, like he'd blinked, but really fucking slowly. He almost felt sick, the way he did when he fell asleep during the day and woke up at night. A rarity these days.

"How do you feel?" Nines was a little concerned by his abrupt and unexpected return to consciousness. He'd been so careful while easing him down. He'd relaxed his body as much as possible before administering a small electrical pulse to put him under, and he'd slept soundly for around five hours.

"Like I got hit by a phcking freight train, Christ!" Reed murmured as he pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his foggy head. Nines wondered if perhaps he'd miscalculated the pulse strength. Maybe he'd pushed too hard. He scanned him, but he seemed physically fine besides his usual fatigue. Perhaps he was simply hungry and dehydrated. "What the hell happened?" Reed grumbled as he looked across at Nines, who had been typing up another case file while waiting for him to wake up.

"You fell asleep...It's hardly surprising. Your body was exhausted." There wasn't a trace of dishonesty in his features. Technically, it wasn't a lie. Nines' administrations had led him, but it was his own body that had accepted the urgent need for rest. Nines had only encouraged the inevitable. There was no way he would have been able to force his body to remain active for the next eighteen hours. He would have crashed, and it could have been dangerous. Reed appeared to accept it anyway, cursing softly under his breath as he headed to the bathroom.

He felt out of it as he walked, almost tripping over his own feet as he reached the door and pushed it open. Even though he knew he'd rested, he didn't feel like it. He felt groggy as hell, drained to the core. Turning on the nearest tap, he tried to shake it off by splashing his face with cold water a few times. It felt good on his skin, though the paper towels were a little rough as he dried off and looked in the mirror. He seemed a little more human as he fluffed his hair and toyed with the odd strands that insisted on curling over his forehead.

"What's this?" Reed asked tiredly as he returned to his desk and found a polystyrene box waiting for him with a plastic knife and fork resting on top, and a steaming mug of coffee sitting alongside. Nines looked up from his terminal to watch him nudge the box distrustfully, poking it like he thought it might explode. Nines tilted his head curiously as he watched.

"Breakfast." Reed finally prodded the box open as he sat down, surprised to find a pile of fluffy pancakes, complete with little sachets of syrup tucked inside. He couldn't get used to this. Nines was being almost too fucking attentive. He was really taking this schedule thing to heart. It didn't feel normal. Tina nagged him occasionally, but otherwise he'd been pretty much left to his own devices since Jack died. As long as he got the job done, it didn't matter what happened to his body. He'd always figured he could just rest after a long case and then drag himself through the next one. It was a routine that had been working well for him until Connor came back.

"Thanks." He was pretty damned certain it was Nines who'd ordered for him. He ate quickly, surprised by how hungry he actually felt. The pancakes went cold pretty quickly, but they still tasted good, and he had coffee to warm him up. It was eleven by the time he'd finished and cleaned up, an hour before his shift, but it wasn't unusual for him to start early. "What's the plan for today? Did you guys figure that out yet?" he asked, noting that Connor and Hank had already gone off somewhere.

"We did. Lieutenant Anderson and Connor have gone to watch Mr Adams' home, and will tail him if necessary. You and I shall replace them at five o'clock and watch for eight hours. Officers Tina Chen and Christopher Miller have been drafted in for the early hours shift," Nines explained, watching Reed nod along amicably. So they'd be stuck in the office all day? It could be worse. He could have a session with Dr Marr on top of that. Luckily, she was cutting back since Nines had kicked off his schedule. Speaking of...