Work Text:
The lab was quiet in the way that the toddler room at a daycare is during nap time. The kind of stillness that carries less peaceful undertones and more the sense of kinetic energy being recharged. The fluorescents that normally shone down from the ceiling had been turned off when Abby left to meet her bowling team for a couple of quick games. However, various lights continued to blink and flash in shades of red, blue and green. An electronic hum filled the room with a sound that was music to a techno geek's ears.
On the counter next to a keyboard sat Abby's last Caf-Pow of the day. The bottom inch and a half of the cup was filled with diluted soda and a few small chips of leisurely melting ice. A circle of moisture ringed the cup from where it had sweated off condensation as the inside and outside temperatures worked to establish a level of equilibrium. In the morning the old cup would be swept into the nearest garbage can and replaced with the first one of the day, but for now the current resident reigned supreme from the power position beside to Abby's mouse.
A smell that might have been candle wax, sandalwood or a dozen other anomalous scents floated lightly on a cushion of air. It would have rest right about chest level on the mistress of forensic evidence had she been in attendance. No doubt it was left over from one of the many experiments that had been conducted that day since Abby never wore perfume. At least not at work. She might be quirky, but Abby was also a consummate professional and scents were easy to cross contaminate even in a controlled environment.
Residual energy from all the strong life forces that passed through on a daily basis imbued the lab with a warmth that had nothing to do with the thermostat on the wall. Abby would say it had a life and personality of its own which most days was to her advantage. Her machines, no matter how technically advanced or basic they were, worked for and in accordance with her. They were friends, minions, indulged children, and occasionally quarrelsome co-workers. She had a long and complex history with each one just as she had with all of her favored human associates.
For the moment all was calm and peaceful. No experiments or software calculations had been left running over night for a change. Tomorrow was another day and most likely it would be the beginning of another case. There would be ballistics to compare, finger print and facial recognition software to run, and possibly security encryption to be brought to its knees. Tonight though, they rested in the peaceful slumber that comes with the knowledge of day's work well done.