She sits beside him as he drifts off to sleep that night. The hospital has decided they want to keep him overnight and she's never been one to leave a fallen comrade. So she stays.

And she feels guilty. Even though no one could have stopped what happened in the courtroom, she feels that she should have been there. But she wasn't.

She wishes that he would let her call his family. But he won't. Maybe it's because he doesn't want them to worry, the reason unspoken and yet known. Or maybe it's because the inevitable has come and whether or not he likes it, his life is falling apart.

At this point, she wonders if he thinks that he's alone in this, that there's no one for him to talk to…to lean on. And she hopes not. They've been partners for seven years. If he needs someone to depend on, there she'll be.

After all…she's never been one to leave a fallen comrade.

A/N: Yeah, so...meh. I don't know what to say here other than SVU's not mine and never will be, so there you have it.