A/N So this is my very first SVU story because it has suddenly become my newest obsession. Mainly because of the recent departure of our dearly beloved recent ADA. Still sad and reeling from that BTW. So this is how I cope. And apparently one shots are my new thing now IDK its fun anyway. So if you like this fantastic! If not, well sorry but this is my fantasy life. LOL so please, please leave reviews I love to hear from readers and if its liked enough maybe I'll start another series of one shots similar to the ones I did for The 100. Happy reading!

Heart of the Law

A Law and Order SVU

One Shot

Amelia Connors was never one at a loss for words. She had a quick tongue and an even quicker mind. She had to due to the job she had, a job that she was very passionate about. A job, that according to her mother a girl like her should never have but she loved it none the less. Whatever the reason she found that she couldn't form a coherent sentence or even a coherent thought whenever he was in the room. That in turn flustered and frustrated her. She was shy by nature but had worked hard at hiding her social anxieties. She was so good at this that very few even knew she had them. In fact it was often stated that her cool calm demeanor helped to bring tensions down in the tensest of situations. Victims responded to her and often confided in her which in turn led to her being a favorite among the police department, especially the special victims unit. Her specialty was child victims. She had a thing about kids and felt that she had to protect them from the evils of the world. She had faced down abusers and child molesters with no problem but for whatever reason she couldn't talk or even make eye contact with one Rafael Barba ADA and she didn't know why. Well she did, she just didn't want to admit it to herself or anyone for that matter. He was cocky with an ego, was ruthless in the court room but had something that most lawyers didn't. He had a heart.

When he came into the room however she always made the excuse of needing coffee and would disappear into the squad break room. The problem, she wasn't a coffee drinker. Never had been but everyone had assumed she was and had made the statement more than once that her coffee habit was as bad as his. Just goes to show how little people really knew about her. She was good at hiding her emotions; at least she had thought she was.

What she didn't know or anyone else for that matter was that he in turn found her equally fascinating. So much so that he had a hard time focusing on much else except on how to talk to her. When he would gain up enough courage to actually speak to her she would disappear on her mysterious coffee breaks, to drink coffee that he knew she never actually drank. He made her nervous, he wanted to know why but in the same sense he didn't. He didn't want to push her. She was sweet, genuine and had a calm air about her. She always had a smile on her face, always a good kind words to everyone. He wasn't use to such genuine kindness, not in his line in work. He was at a loss for words when around her, something he had never had a problem with. She was in a sense everything he was not. So when he saw her sitting and waiting in Liv's office, tears in her eyes and her smile gone he went into complete protective mode. He immediately went to her side her gaze already shifting away from his. This hit his heart badly and he wanted to tear apart the one responsible for taking the ever present light from her eyes.

"Amelia?" He asked in a quiet voice as he sat next to her a safe distance away but close enough that he was there just in case. He didn't want her to feel any more uncomfortable than she already did.

"Hey." She answered in a small quiet voice brushing away her tears. There was silence as both tried to find something to say. She shifted nervously again so he did something a little out of character for him. He lightly touched her knee giving it a slight squeeze. She froze for a second causing him to question his action and just when he went to move his hand she visually relaxed placing her own hand on top of his giving it a return squeeze. He then asked the question that opened the flood gates.

"Are you okay?" She finally turned her shy watery gaze toward his and he looked at her with worry.

"No." She answered simply.

"Is it this case?" He asked knowing the answer. He knew because he had been watching her when word had come in about the victim. He had seen her devastated look and watched how she tried to hide it.

"I couldn't save her." She looked away again as more tears came. It had been a hard case all the way around. A two year old little girl had gone missing, taken by her non-custodial parent. If that wasn't enough the girl suffered from a life threatening illness. When taken none of her meds were. When she was found she was sent to the hospital but it had been too late. What had made things worse was the fact that the father had taken the girl because he believed she was being molested by her mother's boyfriend, a fact that had turned out to be very true. No one was going to win in this situation but he would make damn sure someone would pay for it. In the meantime he needed to make sure she could see that.

"Amelia, look at me." At first she wouldn't do he asked her again. "Ame, please." She looked up at his use of her nick name he had heard others call her. He tipped her head up by placing a finger under her chin. She caught his gaze and found herself not being able to look away. "This is not your fault. You did everything you possible could to save her. We all did and as hard as this is to hear we can't always save everyone. No matter how hard we try." More tears leaked from her eyes and he wiped them away causing her to take a shaky breath only to completely break down. He went against his better judgment and pulled her too him taking them both slightly by surprise. She relaxed into him sobbing as he brushed her hair working on soothing her. When she finally settled down he kissed the side of her forehead and whispered in her ear.

"I promise you, someone will pay for this." She sniffed and pulled away looking up at him with her red puffy eyes.

"Thank you for that." He gave her a bit of a half-smile.

"Anything to see that smile again." Her face grew warm and she pulled away shyly wiping her tears.

"Oh, I'm sure I look a mess. I'm sorry." She looked away again but he caught her hand giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Hey, don't be sorry. It's okay to be human."

"Sometimes I wish I wasn't so human."

"Now why would you say that?" He asked her curiously. She shrugged and wouldn't meet his gaze once again. "Listen being human, having a heart is not a bad thing. In the line of work that we do every day, seeing what we see. It's easy to lose sight of that. Besides being human is what makes you, you and I wouldn't change that for anything." She swiped at her tears once more and looked at him.

"But having a heart means that it can get broken."

"True, but from that we become stronger. Is this the first time you lost someone you were trying to save?" He asked trying to get to the root of her misery. She shook her head which actually surprised him. "What's really bothering you then?" She fidgeted slightly moving away. He suddenly missed her closeness and wanted to pull her back, to protect her from whatever she was upset by. She suddenly stood up and started pacing the room.

"I don't know. I've done this for so long; have seen so much that I should be used to it by now. But sometimes...sometimes I ask myself why? Why these kids? Why do I do this? What do I have to gain here? Then I think my mother was right, that I'm not meant to do this. That I'm not meant to live these kids' nightmares and it should be someone else's job to...to."

"To care?" He asked finishing her sentence with a question. He looked up at her from his still sitting position as she stopped pacing and looked down at her hands.

"Yeah, something like that." They were silence for a few seconds when Rafael stood up and approached her once more. This time he took her nervously twitching hands into his.

"You know what I think?" This earned him a bit of a shy smile as she looked up at him.

"I'm sure you're going to tell me councilor . " He smiled but told her anyway.

"I think you are meant to do this. You are meant to care and no one is more suited to fight this fight than you are. You remind everyone around you why we do this and why it's okay to have a heart. Everyone has a case once in a while that really gets to them. There is nothing wrong in that. We just move on to fight the next fight." She nodded her head as she seemed to shake herself out of her funk.

"Your right and thank you for that." He squeezed her hands before he let them go and reluctantly stepped back.

"If ever you need to talk or need anything, just come find me okay."

"Okay. " She nodded hiding her face once again. He lowered his gaze and caught her eyes noticing the slight blush she was trying to hide. "And another thing Amelia...no more hiding in fake coffee breaks that you and I both know you don't really drink coffee." Her eyes went wider and he smiled as her cheeks grew even redder.

"You noticed that then?" She asked in a quiet voice looking away and made him chuckle ever so slightly.

"I'm very observant, so why don't you let me take you out for a drink other than coffee and you can tell me why you hide every time I walk into the room."

"Um, drink yes, talk no. "

"Well I had to try." She returned a full on smile as they headed out of the room and made their way to the elevators. "And there it is." He stated as they both stepped in as the doors opened.

"What? " She questioned.

"The smile I was hoping would come back." She ducked her head shyly.

"You think you're so smart don't you councilor?"

"But I am little miss. " he sassed back at her.

"Is this the way it's always going to be with you?" She asked as they stood side by side, shoulder to shoulder in the empty elevator.

"Would you really expect anything less from me?" He questioned as he looked down at her with a smirk. She smiled back up at him.

"Oh I do hope you're worth it?"

"This is going to be the start of a beautiful relationship my dear." And it was.