A/N: Yay! SVU fic! Oh, and SVU's not mine, and I'm leaving now.

He hasn't yet managed to figure out why he goes to the courtroom when he knows that a verdict will be read. Most of the time, it's for another unit…Homicide, Narcotics, Vice…even the Major Case Squad. Every now and then, he'll come for his own unit, when he's not already busy with another case. But he still doesn't know why.

Half the time, it doesn't even go the way it should. He's worked with the best prosecutors that Baltimore and New York have to offer, but he has seen them fail. And as much as he hates to admit it…it breaks his heart every time.

This particular case belongs to his unit, and he sits, shifting nervously because this is the one that's been bothering him for so long. He's the only one of them that slipped away to come, and now he almost wishes he hadn't. The jury has come back and though he's never been one for superstitions, he crosses his fingers.

When the verdict is read, it's all he can do to keep from crying out in protest as a numb feeling settles over him. But it is nothing compared to what he sees when he looks at the victim's family. He sees shock, and rage…disbelief and disappointment. The system has failed them, like it has failed so many before.

The look on the prosecutor's face is what does him in. She hasn't been with the unit for very long, and already, she has failed. But she will have another chance, and perhaps a conviction. It helps, but at the same time, it hurts.

For all they do, and all they try to do, in order to bring justice to the city, it never seems like enough.