In their line of work, companionship doesn't come easily. They're conditioned to see the abnormal as normal, the horrendous as just another day at the office.
The first set of crime scene photos showed a body mutilated beyond recognition. The fifth collection that landed in their computers was another set of near-identical imagery, illustrating aspects of a crime that in a perfect world wouldn't be committed. Avoiding a sixth was their purpose for the day, but the whodunit would be more complex than avoiding another file folder full of pictures.
A long day attempting to prevent more chaos bled into a longer night, one that came without any warning, as the hours blended together, and the extra analysts shifted around them.
Hetty finds them a little after midnight, the only people in the room at that time of day, even with the additional pressure the current case brought. Photos, maps, and files were pulled up across the screens, showing scenes that two people shouldn't have to see day after day, the scenarios recycled, the identities changing. Across from the door, in their little corner, his glasses laid on the desk, his head slumped over the keyboard, hers on his shoulder. She let them be - their ongoing searches would continue without them.
Hours of uncertainty passed like the night, with no more bodies or visible trauma to show. When dawn broke, two members of humanity's worst were taken into custody, their trial of terror on the streets complete. The case reports would detail their takedown, with a footnote at the bottom mentioning the "excellent work of the technical crew".
What would never make any case reports (besides a word describing the hours of analysis and digital investigation contributed by those behind the scenes) would be the emotional cost - how tracking terrorists and serial killers and mass murderers impacted those that found them, and never got the satisfaction of handcuffs or a gunshot. The agency had resources available for those in the field, but not for those that never left four stone walls.
All they got was a slight sense of satisfaction before the next criminal came knocking down their door. Crime scenes become more familiar than their own homes, a constant feeling of dread resting heavy at all times.
They spent their days getting more and more familiar with the other as searches ran in the background; their quirks and resignations, their dreams and heartbreaks, demands and wishes. Work behind the curtain was what they excelled at, but it was lonely and isolating, characterized by blue light and pre-dawn darkness.
In their line of work, companionship doesn't come easily. They're conditioned to long days and longer nights, the worst of humanity at their fingertips. They're the first there and last to leave, until one day, they're coming and going together.