The sun has just barely started to show through the storm clouds over New York City when the phone in the squad room rings. He's the only one present, so he reaches for it, even though he doesn't really want to. A voice on the other side tells him where he needs to be; he reaches for his coat and the keys on his desk.
This latest scene is in someone's home. CSU techs are already there when he arrives; so is the medical examiner. Sighing resignedly, he closes his eyes before crossing the tape. From what he can see, it doesn't look good. The expression on the medical examiner's face when he draws close enough to see her clearly only serves to confirm his suspicions.
As she starts to tell him what she thinks the cause of death is from her first look, he allows his eyes to roam over the area. No one is present other than those directly involved with going over the scene, to look for evidence. After a while, he looks back down at the medical examiner, but she has finished talking, and is now directing her assistants in moving the body.
He watches them go before looking towards CSU to ask if they know who found the bodies. Two of the technicians motion towards a uniform standing nearby, with a pale-faced teenage girl standing beside her. Shaking his head in obvious disgust, he walks towards them. The uniform says nothing at first, and after a few seconds she walks away, knowing that she is no longer needed.
At this point, he decides that the girl doesn't need to be inside with all of what's going on, and he leads her outside, and into the muggy warmth that comes when it's just rained and the temperatures are starting to climb. She starts to visibly break down as soon as the CSU techs are out of sight, and he allows her to cry into his shoulder as they sit on the front steps. When her tears finally subside, he starts to ask her if she knows what happened. And she tells him all of what she knows.
As it turns out, the uniform had found her huddled in her parents' closet, white-faced and terrified, having just heard the sounds of her entire family being brutally murdered. Tears well up in her eyes again as she continues on until she can no longer speak, but by then, he needs nothing else. She can identify the ones who did this, both visibly and by name. Once he and the squad find them, their case is closed. But even though cases that are easily closed are a relief to the squad in some ways, they hardly bring comfort.
This one is no exception. As the CSU techs come walking out of the house, with everything they'll need, the girl looks up from staring down at her hands, and watches them go.
"Will you find them?" she asks, her voice hoarse from all of her crying. He looks at her and sighs.
"I can't promise you anything," he tells her, and it pains him to say it. "It's more than likely that we'll be able to, though."
She nods wordlessly, resignedly, as if she knows that there is no choice for her but to accept this.
"I can't believe they're gone," she says finally, quietly. "I just…" She trails off, her voice breaking, and he wraps an arm around her shoulders as her tears start up again.
What seems like an eternity goes by as they sit there, her face hidden in his shoulder, his eyes on the road in front of her home, watching the traffic go by. It is almost as if the city hasn't noticed that something has happened…which is more than likely. No one in the city really notices anything unless it directly affects them, and while it's fine by him most of the time, sometimes, it just irritates him.
Winter is beginning its ascent into spring. The temperatures are rising in New York City. And once again, the crime rate is rising with them.
A/N: Damn.I get bored a lot, don't I? Oh, well. At least I can be somewhat productive when I'm bored...even if my subject matter isn't mine...which SVU is definitely not.