A/N: This is actually supposed to fit as a flashback scene in this fic called 'Charm Bracelets' that I'm working on, but since it's an H:LOTS/LOSVU crossover, figured I might as well choose a section to stick it in, so here it is. Oh, and neither of the shows are mine.
She watched as the courtroom erupted into chaos. One half of the people there were ecstatic. The other half stared blankly in stunned disbelief. And she remained where she was, staring at the judge with the same expression, fighting the mad desire to get up and say something. A mistrial shouldn't have been granted, and most of those there knew it. But it had been, and now those that had fought the hardest for a full trial and a conviction were left with nothing.
But that wasn't what hurt. What hurt was knowing that the victims' families had heard every word of the trial's proceedings for the past two weeks. What hurt was knowing that the people they had counted on, herself included, had let them down. Wiping furiously at her eyes, she rose to her feet, glaring at the place where the judge had just been before turning to scowl in the direction of the defense attorney she'd been up against. He smirked back at her, and at that moment, it was all she could do to keep from walking over and punching him. A hand on her shoulder was the only thing that held her back.
When she turned, she found the person she'd least looked forward to seeing. Even with the glasses on, she could see that he was just as disappointed as she was, if not more. Twelve murders in six months. And the one who was responsible for it had just walked. Twelve children dead, and because of a loophole in the legal system, justice had been served for none of them. Shaking her head in disgust, she closed the bag she'd had on the floor, picked it up and followed her companion out of the courtroom.
Reporters converged on them almost immediately. She held a reputation as one of the city's best prosecutors; he held one as a member of the city's most renowned unit. Of course they'd want to know what they thought. But neither of them answered. They pushed through the crowds together, ignoring the cameras flashing in their eyes, and the microphones being thrust in their faces. Their silence would be enough of a message to those who really wanted to know.
As they got into the nearby car to head back to headquarters, she looked back at the courthouse as he looked at the road ahead of them. She couldn't help but wish there was a way for them to go back in time, for them to change the outcome of today's decision. But she knew there wasn't, and that there never would be, so she turned back towards the front as he reached out and placed a hand over hers.
They had been defeated this time and they knew it. But defeat, in itself, meant nothing to either one of them.