They're seen in partnerships more than they're seen as individuals…at least, in the department's eyes. To the city, they are the Special Victims Unit; it doesn't matter which set of detectives they are, they investigate sex crimes, and to the city, it doesn't make a difference.
But to them, it does. They have their own reasons for volunteering in. They have their own reasons for staying in. They do what they do and they don't look back, because they don't regret it. And they go home to different places every night, to lie awake and stare at their respective ceilings, because every time they close their eyes, they see a case that has affected them profoundly. And it is never the same one for all of them.
If it's not Benson and Stabler, then it's Munch and Tutuola. No one seems to notice that when they leave the squad room, when they leave the precinct, they are on their own. They're not part of a partnership, they're not part of a unit…hell, they're not even part of the department. They're separate people with separate lives.
And no matter how many times they've made this remark, it seems as if the city is intent on continuing to see them as two and two…never as four.
A/N: Yet another one of those 'I'm flippin' bored' pieces. Meh. SVU's not mine.