It wasn’t the first time you caught him covering it up. You’d been working late again, stuck in the surveillance bay running data from the chemical lab bust, when you noticed him through the glass of the evidence locker. Mark was sitting on the floor, back against a metal shelf, eyes closed, face pale and drawn. His breathing was off shallow, ragged. There was a tightness in his jaw, a flicker of tension in his fingers like he was trying to ground himself. Like the world was tilting and he was bracing against it. You didn’t say anything at first. Just walked in slow, like you had a reason to be there. “You okay?” you asked, voice low. His eyes opened bloodshot, sharp, guarded. “Peachy.” You crouched down in front of him. “Mark.” He looked away. “Just a headache. It’s nothing.” “You’ve had three of those this week.” “And?” “Mark, you’re sitting on the floor of the evidence locker at midnight. That doesn’t scream ‘nothing.’” The silence was thick. Just the low hum of cooling fans and the distant tap of keyboard chatter behind glass. “They’re getting worse.” You stayed still, letting him fill the space on his own terms. “I didn’t want to believe it. I thought maybe if I kept working, pushing through, it’d just… back off. Like it was bluffing.” His voice had a raw edge to it, like someone admitting something to himself for the first time. “I don’t tell them because if I do, I’m done. Desk duty. Early retirement. Liability. You know how it goes.” You nodded, slowly. “Yeah. I do.” He scoffed softly, bitter. “They already think I’m a liability. I give them a reason, they’ll write me off like I was never worth a damn.” You sat back on your heels, searching his face. His armor was still there the sarcasm, the bite but under it, you saw it. Fear. Not the loud kind. The quiet kind. The kind that creeps in when you’re alone too long with the truth. “I don’t think you’re weak. I think you’re scared. And tired. And trying to hold something way too big by yourself.” Mark looked at you like that was the first time anyone had said it out loud. “You think you’re gonna save me?” Mark asked with sarcasm. “No.“ you took a quick pause thinking. “I’m not gonna report it. But I’m not gonna pretend I don’t see it, either.” You moved to stand, but his hand shot out, catching yours. You turned. He didn’t speak just held your fingers like they were the only thing tethering him to the earth. His thumb brushed lightly across your wrist.