It had been a long night for Bull. The looming anniversary of his divorce from Isabella was weighing heavily on his mind, especially when he had to face Benny at work. He still loved his ex-wife, and every attempt at reconciliation went badly. Benny was always there to help Bull afterwards, since he didn't have a very good relationship with his sister, but it was trying anyway. Bull's relationship with Benny always got strained when the anniversary came around, and it took them weeks to fix it. They both hated that- after all, they were best friends, and each considered the other to be a brother.
"Bull? You busy?" Marissa asked as she opened his office door.
"Of course not. What's going on, Marissa?" Bull asked as he stood from where he had been sitting on the couch in his office. "Did we get a case?"
"No. Cable has a question about the case we just closed. I couldn't answer it, so I offered to ask you."
"Okay. What's the question?"
"What happened to the real killer? Did they get arrested? Who are they?"
Bull shut his eyes for a moment and thought. What was the last case they had? He had been so distracted lately that he couldn't remember.
"Jason? Are you okay?" Marissa's question broke through his haze.
"Yeah. I'm fine. The killer was the victim's mother-in-law. She was arrested as we closed the case, I think."
"Okay. Thanks. I'll let Cable know." Marissa stepped out of the office, then poked her head back in. "Are you sure you're okay? I know you slept here last night."
Bull smiled. "I'm fine, Rissa. I'll be out there in a few minutes. Make sure they aren't lounging around out there."
"Got it." Marissa smiled back and left, not noticing the pain in Bull's eyes for the very first time since they had met.
Benny was dreading going to work that morning. He loved TAC, truly he did. And he couldn't have asked for a better boss either. But he knew what day it was for Bull, knew that they would find a way to butt heads or argue that day. He always wanted to help his ex-brother-in-law, or, as he thought of Bull, his brother. He just didn't know how to. He had never been married, and, even with all of the failed relationships he had had in the past, he didn't know the pain Bull suffered every day of the year. Benny knew that Bull still loved Izzy, not that he knew why that was after everything she had done to him. Hell, he even knew that Bull continually tried to fix his relationship and get back together with Isabella. But, there wasn't anything left in that relationship, and Benny could see that while Bull couldn't. It was the main reason why they always said something or did something on the anniversary to screw up their friendship. Benny was determined not to do that this time. He was determined to keep things the way they were- good. If Bull brought up the love he still held for Isabella, then Benny would say something in as nice a way as possible. Otherwise, he wouldn't mention anything at all about his sister. He just had to find something to distract him whenever he felt the need to mention Izzy.
"Hey, Benny," said Chunk brightly as he came up with coffees. "Here you go."
Benny smiled as he took his coffee. "Thanks, Chunk. I can really use this today."
"Late night?"
"Nope. Long day. Have you seen Bull this morning?"
"He was in his office when I left. Marissa made up a reason to go in and check on him, but I get the feeling he didn't go home last night."
"Yeah, that's because he didn't." Benny sighed. "I know that he's not himself today…" he said, mostly to himself.
"Benny, do you know something about Bull that we don't know?"
Benny grinned. "Of course I do. And I'll never tell you," he laughed.
Chunk smiled. "Right. Look, if Marissa can't get through to him, then you should try. You're his best friend, Benny, and everyone knows that you and Marissa are the only people that he ever really listens to."
"Sure. I'll give it a shot." Benny groaned internally, knowing that today was going to be hard. They didn't have a case currently, so everyone would be wanting to know why Bull was so upset.
Bull walked out of his office slowly, not really wanting to be at work that day. But, he knew he would face more questions by not coming in than if he showed up while in a bad mood.
"Hey, Bull," said Benny brightly. "I know I'm late, sorry about that. I got stuck in traffic."
"No problem, Benny," Bull replied distractedly, though he knew that Benny would understand.
"Did you get any sleep at all?" Benny asked softly, making sure he was only heard by his boss.
"Uh… maybe an hour? I don't know."
Benny sighed. "Are you sure you want to be here, Jason? Nobody will blame you for going home today."
"I'm not leaving…" Bull looked away. "I'm distracted if I stay here. I don't know what I'll do if I go home where there's no way to stop myself thinking of it."
"You can come and stay with me tonight, if you want. Or I can come to your place, if it's easier."
"Thanks, Benny." Bull gave a small smile and kept walking towards his assembled team.