The department didn't know that it had been a suicide. And if they had known, then none of the figures there would have been in a dress uniform. But they were. And even if the brass found out about it now, it was already too late.
The casket at the front of the chapel was closed. It was probably more to spare everyone present from the sight of the body than anything else, which, considering, was understandable. He'd stopped trying to count all the flowers around it a while ago. Every time he'd gotten to a certain point, he'd lost count. But it wasn't only that. It was the recurring thought that wouldn't leave him alone…the one of how his partner would be laughing at them if he could see them.
He'd never really taken into consideration the effect that working in a unit such as SVU could have on someone until now. For a minute it seemed unreal…as if this weren't really happening, and he and other members of the squad and the department weren't really sitting there at Rossetti's funeral. But then, the figure at the front of the chapel stopped talking, and he was rising to his feet with five others and walking in that direction.
They'd all joked about this before…being pallbearers for one another, that is. But they had never taken each other seriously. Now they had no choice but to take it seriously. The casket felt heavy on their shoulders as they made their way out of the church and down the stairs. In some ways, it was almost a relief when they placed it on the department's caisson and started to walk behind it.
After a few minutes, he got tired of staring straight ahead, and allowed his eyes to wander. Now that they were all away from a social setting that required them to rein in their emotions, everything was written across his face…and the faces of the others, as well.
He turned to the front again and mused that maybe it was a good thing the department didn't now. As far as they were concerned, if anyone deserved this honor guard, it was the one that they had all just lost.
A/N: So, yeah. I got bored again and happened to be thinking about the episode Execution where Elliot mentions that one of his partners committed suicide...and this is what I got, so there you have it. Oh, and SVU's not mine.