A/N: SVU isn't mine. Written for the challenge 'running on empty'. Written by LSMunch.
He hears her footsteps behind him. She stands next to him.
"You doin' all right?" Soft, embracing.
He doesn't answer. Doesn't wants to. Or maybe he can't. Who knows? Certainly he doesn't.
She turns her face to the city, mimicking him with her hands in her pockets. They stand, quiet, wondering how much time they have before they have to go back inside and keep working. How much time they have before work calls them back and brings with it another victim. This case has seen too many of those. They've seen too many of those.
His voice, his words more accurately, worm their way inside her when he says, "I can't do this anymore. I'm running on empty here." They're softly spoken, like the words she uttered before, but these are so much deeper, so much more urgent. They mean more.
Still, she plays dumb, whether she's aware of it or not. "We'll catch the guy, John."
He shakes his head slightly. "Not this case. This job. I can't. Not anymore."
She wants to hold him in her arms and make the feeling of hopelessness go away. She knows she can't do that, but she can dream and wish and hope. Maybe one day it will work.
And then again maybe one day she'll be running on empty.