Inspired by a scene from the Rainmaker.
Occupational Hazard
His partner was the one that always that took them under her wing. She was someone they could talk to. She understood. Part of it was a woman thing, he figured. Some of it, he would never know. But sometimes, one came along that needed a father instead of a mother. That's where he came in.
She was a beautiful, intelligent girl, and all he could imagine was one of his daughters in the same position. Some monster had hurt her when she was so vulnerable already. It made him want to protect her. Hold her in his arms and take away all of the pain that she was in. He sat in the hospital room with her. He could make her laugh, and she could make him smile. Hearing her laugh and seeing her eyes light up made it all worth it. At the end of the day, this is what it was all about.
Her courage touched him as she insisted on sitting in on her trial, despite how weak she was. Her words inspired him to keep looking when they couldn't find enough evidence to convict her attacker. Her hope helped him to get out of bed in the morning and face a grueling caseload. Her laugh made him warm again, when he had been so cold.
He wasn't the only one who cared for her, and in a way, that made it even more important that he should work hard to do his job. Her family didn't have much money, but they made it along. Her father didn't work - he wasn't all together there anymore. Occupational hazard. He had been a vet. Her mother tried to keep the family together and had somehow managed.
When the trial was over, the family left the room silently. No one watched her attacker walk free. He sat near the door, staring down at the bench in front of him. When she walked by, he looked up. She smiled - a pure smile, he remembered, like an angel. But he didn't have the heart to smile back. She had trusted in him, and he failed.
For a year, every week he would see her. He took her to the movies, and he brought her to the park. They talked about his own children, and once she met them all. She told him that she was glad there were people like him in the world - people who cared. She felt safe with him, because he was there to protect her.
The year ended. She died.
He came to her funeral. It was small, and the reception was at the family's house. Her father sat on the rocking chair on the porch, staring off into the distance. He walked over to him and slowly handed him a paper bag. He didn't have the heart the speak. Not watching the father open the bag, he walked over to the bench swing where she liked to be sometimes, and sat down. She wouldn't have wanted him to cry. She would have wanted to see his smile again. Once she told him that she didn't like tears, they were uncomfortable. He tried to smile.
Her father walked over to him, holding in his hands the picture of his beautiful daughter that he had given him. He looked up. The father smiled, placing a hand on the back of his head, in a comforting motion to a child. "Thank you, Detective Stabler," he said softly, his voice catching in his throat, "Thank you."
She wouldn't have wanted Elliot to cry. But he couldn't stop it any longer. It was an occupational hazard.
After getting a few confused reviews, I think I should perhaps clarify a little more. Olivia didn't die. The girl was a rape victim who was already dying, and someone took advantage of her weakened state. The occupational hazard is that Elliot got attached to the girl.