[fic] second of november

She comes into work with reddened eyes and tangled hair, and he asks if she's all right. The anxious gaze she levels on him silences Chase; like she's seen a ghost, like she's seeing a ghost now, before she breaks it off and stifles a yawn. Not false nonchalance, but genuine exhaustion; the hand pressed over her lips trembling faintly.
"I had a visitor yesterday," is her only answer, with a sidelong glance at nothing.
"Are you-"
"Fine." She turns away to pick up a file, paging through it without seeing a word.
Pressing his luck, Chase frowns at her. "I mean it."
She cracks. Her slender shoulders sag and she lets out a breath that might have been a sob, if she didn't bite down to keep herself from falling apart. When he touches her arm she flinches, then wheels to stare wild-eyed, surprised at herself.
"My husband..." chewing at her lip, her silence pleads with him not to ask anything more.
Thinking he understands, he lays a hand on her shoulder.
This time, she doesn't pull away.