Title: Of Love and Life Author: flamebrain Fandom: L&O: Special Victims Unit Spoilers: general Feeback: flamebrain00@yahoo.com Rating: PG Summary: Musings on love. Notes: To the usual suspects. Also, for the people on the SVU-list who wondered about this pairing. As this is unbeta'd, all mistakes are mine. Disclaimer: L&O: SVU and all its characters belong to Dick Wolf, his production company, NBC, et al. I'm making no profit from this.

What am I doing? I never would have considered myself the kind of woman to cheat on her husband. I've always despised those women. Ironic that now I am one of them.

I love my husband, but he can't comprehend the horrors I deal with on a daily basis. I may not be out on the line, but I deal with the aftermath. I cut into the heart of these cases.

I love my husband, but he thinks I should be able to leave it all behind when I come home at night. He thinks it should dissipate in the air as the smells disappear when I shower for a night on the town, pretending to be light-hearted for our friends.

I love my husband, but I cannot always wear the mask necessary for a night entertaining his clients. Sometimes I am sucked into the grief and frustration that regularly swirl around my squad.

I love my husband . . . but tonight I am in bed with her.