One shot. I'm stealing inspiration with all the one shot fics and Chronology by Shae-Lynn1. Takes place just after Elliot leaves the bar at the end of "Pandora". Enjoy! (And :cough: I'd really appreciate some feedback :cough:)
God I hated this job.
Bright headlights from the other side of the road commanded me to focus. I looked straight ahead and tried to concentrate on driving.
How many sickos, pedophiles, rapists and murderers could you put away before you'd seen enough? How many crime scenes could you see in one lifetime. How many nights could you work until three AM, then go home and not be able to sleep because of the horrific acts that you saw everyday.
A horn blared from beside my car. I looked up and saw that I had just run a red light. And then there were the red and blue lights flashing behind me. I groaned and pulled over to the side of the road. The police car stopped and a thirty-something uniform came over to me. I rolled down my window and pulled my wallet out.
"Licence and registration please," he asked. I pulled my drivers licence out and handed it to him, then reached over to the glove compartment and pulled out my registration. He took it and went back to his car. I sat back and drifted back to my previous thoughts.
What was the point? Every time we put one person away, three more seemed to be inspired to commit crimes worse than the last, invoking nightmare after nightmare. The thought of one of my kids becoming a victim was enough to make me sick. With cases involving adults, they all seemed to blend together after awhile except for a couple of particularly heinous cases- a father ripping his son from his mother's body, a woman killed by her psychopath friend who was being raped by his mother, women brutally murdered by the "SoHo Strangler" because a cop hadn't done his job 18 years before, a chameleon serial killer. It was never ending, and I didn't remember most of the cases because those were the easier cases. I could handle those- at least most of the time.
I looked in my rearview mirror. The uniform was still in his car. I hoped that he wouldn't ask me for a Breathalyzer test. How many beers had I had with Sam? I couldn't be drunk. I sighed.
Even though not always as brutal, the cases with kids hit me hardest. A father pimping out his wife and daughter. Teenage sex clubs. Seven year olds imported to be sex toys. Seven year olds kidnapped, abused and murdered three days later. Was it worth it?
He was coming back towards my car. Maybe it would be good if he charged me. Not just give me a fine but charge me with something. Something that would get me kicked off the force. Give me a reason to get out of this so that-.
"Here you are, Detective."
Crap. I had forgotten that my rank would have shown up when he ran my name. I took my licence and registration back from him.
"Thanks," I mumbled.
"I know better than to write you up. It'll be erased by tomorrow morning anyways."
I smiled as best I could. He was trying.
"What unit are you?"
"SVU."
"No shit. That's a tough gig. I heard about this case today. Child porn website. This detective busted all over the country. Those perverts are going away for a long time. I gotta tell you, I'm going to sleep easier knowing that my kids are safe thanks to this guy. Anyways, you take care."
Maybe there was a point after all. Just maybe. If nothing else, it was enough to hold me over until I went home and kissed my kids goodnight.
God I hated this job.
Bright headlights from the other side of the road commanded me to focus. I looked straight ahead and tried to concentrate on driving.
How many sickos, pedophiles, rapists and murderers could you put away before you'd seen enough? How many crime scenes could you see in one lifetime. How many nights could you work until three AM, then go home and not be able to sleep because of the horrific acts that you saw everyday.
A horn blared from beside my car. I looked up and saw that I had just run a red light. And then there were the red and blue lights flashing behind me. I groaned and pulled over to the side of the road. The police car stopped and a thirty-something uniform came over to me. I rolled down my window and pulled my wallet out.
"Licence and registration please," he asked. I pulled my drivers licence out and handed it to him, then reached over to the glove compartment and pulled out my registration. He took it and went back to his car. I sat back and drifted back to my previous thoughts.
What was the point? Every time we put one person away, three more seemed to be inspired to commit crimes worse than the last, invoking nightmare after nightmare. The thought of one of my kids becoming a victim was enough to make me sick. With cases involving adults, they all seemed to blend together after awhile except for a couple of particularly heinous cases- a father ripping his son from his mother's body, a woman killed by her psychopath friend who was being raped by his mother, women brutally murdered by the "SoHo Strangler" because a cop hadn't done his job 18 years before, a chameleon serial killer. It was never ending, and I didn't remember most of the cases because those were the easier cases. I could handle those- at least most of the time.
I looked in my rearview mirror. The uniform was still in his car. I hoped that he wouldn't ask me for a Breathalyzer test. How many beers had I had with Sam? I couldn't be drunk. I sighed.
Even though not always as brutal, the cases with kids hit me hardest. A father pimping out his wife and daughter. Teenage sex clubs. Seven year olds imported to be sex toys. Seven year olds kidnapped, abused and murdered three days later. Was it worth it?
He was coming back towards my car. Maybe it would be good if he charged me. Not just give me a fine but charge me with something. Something that would get me kicked off the force. Give me a reason to get out of this so that-.
"Here you are, Detective."
Crap. I had forgotten that my rank would have shown up when he ran my name. I took my licence and registration back from him.
"Thanks," I mumbled.
"I know better than to write you up. It'll be erased by tomorrow morning anyways."
I smiled as best I could. He was trying.
"What unit are you?"
"SVU."
"No shit. That's a tough gig. I heard about this case today. Child porn website. This detective busted all over the country. Those perverts are going away for a long time. I gotta tell you, I'm going to sleep easier knowing that my kids are safe thanks to this guy. Anyways, you take care."
Maybe there was a point after all. Just maybe. If nothing else, it was enough to hold me over until I went home and kissed my kids goodnight.