They haven't had a proper break in the past forty-four hours. High-profile cases have that effect on them. No one wants to leave for fear of missing a lead. No one wants to close their eyes for fear of missing something when they get called out to a scene that could possibly be related. And most of all, no one wants to give up hoping that it will turn out the way they want it to.
They've been running on coffee ever since they came back to the precinct, having been called back to duty merely an hour after they made it to their respective homes. The caffeine serves to keep them awake, but only barely. Tired eyes pore over old case files, looking for a connection…for someone that could possibly be the one doing it this time around. But there's nothing…at least, nothing as far as they can see.
They sent the secondary set of detectives home. They'd needed them at first, but after a while, they became more of a pain than anything else. So they'd sent them off, and now the squad room is theirs to work with again. The phones set up as a tip line have stopped ringing. It's two o'clock in the morning, and a good part of New York City is asleep. They, on the other hand, are not.
It isn't long after the forty-four hour mark that they start getting on each other's nerves. A random comment turns into an argument; an argument turns into all four of them giving each other the silent treatment. It's immature, but with pressure coming at them from all sides, it's one of the only ways they have to give themselves some sort of relief.
They might be considered members of one of the department's most elite squads, but that hardly means that they have no limits.
A/N: Another piece of evidence as to what happens when I get bored. SVU is not mine. There you have it, and now I shall go.