DISCLAIMER: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and all characters are
property of NBC and Dick Wolf.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just greasing up my fic gears with a ficlet. Pretenders
lyrics perverted for my own purposes.
SPOILERS: None really. It helps if you've seen "Loss", though.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
2000 Miles
By Heathers
She's gone 2000 miles
It's very far
The snow is falling down
Gets colder day by day
I miss you.
The wind burned her face as the snow squeaked under her feet. Tight black leggings hugged her curves. Her pace quickened, the blonde ponytail swinging wildly against the fleece collar of her jacket. Her chin brushed the zipper as it bounced.
She ran to forget. Her elbows swung with practiced expertise. There was nothing to think about except the comforting cadence of her feet hitting the ground, the burn in her muscles, and the soreness in her throat. The cold stung, but it reminded her she was alive. Today was the stuff dreams were made of. Cold and clear, like her icy blue eyes.
The trail curved, this was her favorite part. A series of hills and valleys urged her on. She pushed herself, the fire in her calves traveling to her thighs, spreading like a brush fire until she couldn't feel anything anymore. She distanced herself from the hot puffs of her breath that lingered, captured in foggy clouds above the trail behind her.
She stomped up the last hill, her feet struggling for traction as her legs refused to carry her any further. She doubled over, sucking in as much cold air as her lungs could take. The pale skin of her cheeks flushed with effort. Hands on her knees, she stood there, gulping.
Her nose was red. She sniffled and brushed the bangs from her eyes as she looked back at the trail that had nearly done her in. Alone in the middle of nowhere, running from her past. The trees were so tall here, so bare.
She thought about New York, about what Central Park looked like this time of year. All the winter runs she had taken there. The morning she ran into Olivia. New York was such a big place, you could get lost there, but in so many ways it was the smallest place on earth. It was a day quite like this. The sun shone deceptively against the high-rise buildings, reflecting off the wet pavement where the rock salt and sand had chased away the snow.
Her feet thudded against the concrete, elbows held close to her sides, head up, always alert. She'd seen too may crime scenes in Central Park not to be alert. She loved the city and the park but they were not without inherent dangers. Another jogger was coming down the trail. Somehow knowing someone else shared her morning ritual comforted her and when her eyes recognized the other jogger as Olivia Benson she felt even less alone in this world. Olivia's face lit up when she made the same realization and stopped in front of her. Their conversation was short and full of smiles and it left Alex feeling warm despite the cold that numbed her fingers.
She wondered if Olivia still ran, if she ran to forget Alex or if running only stung Olivia with memories of their time together. Alex couldn't bear the thought of taking the joy out of something that Olivia so obviously loved, even if it was beyond her control. Alex hugged her sides as she turned to walk back the way she came. Her muscles tingled. She couldn't run anymore. It had lost its joy somewhere in New York and she was alone with her thoughts again. The snow crunched under her feet and somewhere in New York City a lonely detective came to the same conclusion.
2000 miles
Is very far through the snow
I'll think of you
Wherever you go
The End