Summary: Tragic news of Cragen's sudden passing come at the most inopportune time for the Lieutenant, smack in the middle of a high stakes case. As events unfold, a pregnant Olivia begins to realize that her former Captain's death may be part of a larger offensive against her entire squad.
This story takes place some time in the present time of the show, though let's maybe say Olivia is a few years younger for the sake of what happens here. I'm disregarding Dodds' existence and demise because he doesn't have any weight in this narrative.
I haven't written one of these in a looooong time, but this story popped in my head and I decided it'd be fun to get it down. It will be longer, but shouldn't get too out of control. Maybe 10-15 chapters.
Small disclaimer. While I follow the show regularly, I am sure I might get some facts wrong. Feel free to call out any glaring mistakes. And I own no rights. Hope you enjoy.
—
Olivia started becoming aware that every part of her body was being rattled by small bumps of movement, like rolling over little pebbles. Her eyes were closed, and in a far corner of her mind, she felt a tickle that was becoming a nuance. She was waking up from a deep sleep, in what she guessed was a moving vehicle.
Her left ear was leaning against something that felt soft and hard at the same time. A shoulder. It's Ed, she thought to herself, and decided against opening her eyes just yet.
She had almost drifted back to sleep when a more sizable bump caused her to grunt and remind her of her mobile state. The tickle in her head scratched at her again, but this time it was more of an annoying ache that finally caused her to crack her eyes open. She didn't want to, she felt tired, but something was telling her it was time to wake up.
As soon as she opened her eyes, before she could bring into focus the interior of the vehicle, she knew something was wrong. The bright daylight coming through the windows pierced her vision and sent a jolt of pain to the back of her eye sockets. Blinking a few times, she began to lift her head, trying to unblur her surroundings.
Olivia was right in her original assessment. She was indeed in a car, more specifically a limousine, based on the style of seating and dark interior. That made her feel a bit better. Aside from the pain in her scull, she was starting to remember how she had ended up here. They'd attended Cragen's funeral today, and she was riding back to the precinct in the limo that took them to the cemetery that same morning. Looking up she saw Rollins and Carisi in the seat across from her. She raised her hand to rest on her uniform clad belly, feeling the bump there and the warmth coming from the life inside. She had only started showing about a month ago, but her belly was growing fast.
She turned her head to the left to confirm that it was indeed Ed's shoulder that she had nodded off on, but was surprised to find Fin there instead. Fin, who was also slumped over, asleep. Confused, she snapped her head back to her other two detectives in front of her and realized that in her hazy state moments ago, she didn't notice that Rollins and Carisi were completely passed out as well.
The peculiarity of her predicament hit her in full force and all at once. Her ears felt hot, eyes watery, and air caught in mid breath. She tasted bile in her mouth before she even turned her head to the glass that divided her and her three best detectives from the driver of the moving limo. The glass that would have normally allowed her to see her driver and identify him, had been taped completely black.
—
Four Hours Earlier
Fin Tutuola did not like funerals. He was aware of the fact that nobody did, but he was convinced that for him they were especially unbearable.
It's not that he didn't respect the practice. On the contrary, it felt good seeing all the people that had gathered to pay respects to his Captain of many years. But the endless hand shaking, the fake small talk, the the very real tears - all of those factors made him uncomfortable.
The ceremony had just ended, and Fin was walking right behind Tucker and Olivia, the former holding Noah with one arm and another on the latter's lower back, down the stairs and into the reception area. Fin had the rock solid plan of saying a few courteous but quick goodbyes to Don's family members and then slipping out to wait outside in the limo for the rest of the squad.
Usually they'd all go straight to a bar with fellow members of the force and drink to Cragen's many years of service. But the reality was that they were in the middle of the biggest case they'd had on their hands in at least three years, with stakes so high they kept him up at night, and there was literally no time to spare.
Liv had insisted all of them attend the funeral, even though Carisi offered to stay back and hold down the fort since he had never really worked with Cragen.
Coming to a slop as they arrived at the entrance to the reception area, Fin looked up at his Lieutenant as they waited for people to shuffle into the room. She was looking somewhere in the distance, eyes sad, but everything else about her was exuding strength. He knew she saw it as her duty to keep it together, with a tragedy like this hitting when they are all running so low on sleep and so high on stress. Just yesterday, the Lieutenant had to get in the middle of a screaming match between Rollins and Carisi, right in the middle of the precinct floor. Benson had to literally pull them apart, sending them both home at the early hour of 7pm.
He knew she wanted all of them to take this break in the day to give Don the respect he deserved, and the time for themselves to comprehend what had happened before diving back into the madness.
Hours before learning about Don's unexpected passing, they had just busted a truck transporting no less than 27 girls - sex slaves - trafficked and headed for destinations all over the country. They were from different parts of the world, but most were from Mexico and Ukraine.
It was Fin who got the call about Don's heart attack. He stood outside the room where Olivia was talking with two of the girls, opting to wait rather than interrupting her when he could tell she was making good headway with them.
He watched as she thanked them and asked the other female officer in the room to continue the interview, got up and walked out of the room to meet Fin.
"How is Rollins doing with the other two? I want you to corroborate their stories as soon as possible so we can…"
"Liv," Fin interrupted, drawing a surprised look from his lieutenant. Olivia was one of the most intuitive people he'd ever met, and she sensed the change in his tone immediately.
"What is it, Fin?"
Her eyes were looking deep into his, like long arms trying to search for answers. Fin cleared his throat, knowing this was not going to be easy news to break.
"It's Cragen, Olivia. I'm so sorry, I just got the call. He passed, Liv. He passed away this morning."
She stayed there, staring in his eyes, and he could see her facial muscles shift as his words sunk in. She blinked a few times and leaned back, her hand flying to the wall next to her and Fin realized she was steadying herself.
All of the sudden he felt like a complete moron for letting her take these news standing - she was halfway into her pregnancy and it hasn't been an easy one for her.
"He… Oh." She sighed, and Fin took both her elbows in his palms, leading her to a chair a few feet away. She lowered herself into it slowly, eyes downcast, and when she finally looked up at him her eyes were glossed over.
"He was about to leave on that cruise with Suzan… we were at his house on Sunday, for dinner. He was telling us about how he has taken up paddle boarding…" She was genuinely shocked, he could tell. "How? What happened?"
"I know, Liv. That man was lookin' younger last time I saw him than he did ten years ago." He paused. "It was a heart attack, possibly a stroke. His daughter said they think it was the high blood pressure. Said they call it the silent killer."
Olivia was nodding, a single tear escaping her eye. She leaned in and they embraced each other, a rarity for the detective and his Lieutenant, but the two of them shared a love and respect for their former Captain that they both understood better than anyone.
"The funeral is tomorrow at 8 in the morning." Fin informed her when they pulled back from the short hug.
Olivia nodded, and Fin saw her face change again as she slipped back into her role as the leader of this unit, her brow hardening and lips tightening and he saw her brain kick into high speed.
They looked at each other as if reading the other's mind, thinking what neither of them could dare say out loud. This is the worst timing.
"We can't have another all nighter tonight. I want everyone to go home by 8 this evening. We will rest, and tomorrow after the funeral we will go straight back here and continue where we left off. Get the night shift officers briefed on their stake out locations before you all head out."
Fin was nodding as she spoke, knowing that taking even a 12 hour break on this case could be detrimental to the progress they'd been making.
The Lieutenant rose form her seat, steady as a rock, and patted Fin's shoulder as she walked past him and towards the other detectives out on the floor to deliver the tragic news.
Tomorrow is going to be hell, Fin thought to himself as he started following her. But even in his worst nightmares, he could never have imagined just how true that would turn out to be.
To be continued…
