Chapter Text
King Henry:
Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose
To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude,
And in the calmest and most stillest night,
With all appliances and means to boot,
Deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down!
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
Captain Donald Cragen sighed as he looked out into the squad room. He'd just endured the longest series of cases in his nearly thirty five years on the force. The last one, though, had been especially excruciating and he'd been given an unexpected offer and opportunity. He'd met with I.A.B. and Captain Tucker, a man whose motives were vague, told him that he could retire in 90 days time; he'd receive more of his pension, would retain all of his commendations, and nobody would ever have to know what happened. It was tempting, but the only problem was that he didn't know who would take over the unit as Commanding Officer.
The obvious choice, at first, was his right hand Sergeant Olivia Benson. But, she was still struggling from the trauma of William Lewis. He saw her falling apart, busting at the seams. She'd lost it in interrogation just a few days ago; screaming at a mother who was helping her husband traffic children. She yelled and screamed until Rollins and current partner Nick Amaro were forced to pull her outside.
He knew that Olivia deserved the position, but he worried that giving her the responsibility over an entire unit right now was not the best choice. He worried more about Olivia as a father would a daughter, especially as the job forced him to sacrifice so much of his life to the job. Olivia became that to him. His jewel, his rising star, his best detective. The young woman who started green and nearly got herself kicked out had become someone dear to him. He wanted to give this to her; he knew she had it in her, but as any parent knows, they cannot give their children things without wondering how it might impact them.
As SVU's Commanding Officer for nearly twenty years, he knew that it was a position of severe stress and personal sacrifice. In order to wear the crown and jewels of the Special Victims Unit, a person must possess the fortitude to not break – ever. The demons and monsters under your bed must be slain, must be dead, before you can make sure that your people are taken care of. Cragen had worn that crown for so long that its weight crushed his bones, his flesh, his mind, and his spirit. It was a weight that fell upon his wife and all of the relationships that he tried to have after. None of them could lift the crown; none of them could bear the load. And so, he'd carried it alone. To give that weight, that crown to someone else meant testing their resolve.
Outside of Olivia, he knew of only one other person who could handle the weight. It was his other surrogate child, his prodigal son Elliot Stabler. While Olivia was Peter, his eternal guide who had always remained close; Elliot was the prodigal son who had left but returned again seeking repentance. Elliot and Olivia had been partners at one point and during that time, there was a constant tension between them. For some reason, they'd never gotten along but worked extremely well as a unit. They'd have screaming matches all over the squad room, in the hallway, at 1PP, but managed to have a closure rate of over 90%.
The pair of them had a tension that crackled and nearly bordered on sexual tension. Cragen had enough and ordered them to get a psych eval and mandatory counseling, after which he decided to split them up for good. Both had thrived apart, with Elliot transferring to the newly developed Organized Crime Control Bureau Taskforce, while Olivia stayed on with a new partner. After Elliot left, she quickly rose to Sergeant and was nearly ready to become Lieutenant. Elliot had become Lieutenant of his own unit and ran it very well. He was solid and Cragen felt, at this time, that he was more suited for the role.
His only issue was telling Olivia and dealing with the fallout. He decided that Elliot would take the interim position and after 90 days, he'd decide who would permanently run the unit. It seemed like a good enough plan to him.
On Monday morning, he'd called Lieutenant Stabler in to officially give him the job. While waiting, he paced around his office and prayed to every God imaginable that Olivia did not show up before he could officially explain his decision. He wanted to speak to her in person and make sure that she understood everything; she also knew that she had a… complicated relationship with Stabler and truly wanted to avoid extreme interpersonal conflict.
Just at that moment, Elliot arrived. He was older now, with a freshly shaved bald head and a graying beard. He wore a three piece Armani suit, with a silk napkin in the pocket. His sophistication was new, as the Elliot on his squad wore acid washed jeans and Hanes t-shirts during his last years on duty.
This man, Cragen noted, was different.
"Hey, Cap," Elliot greeted him, holding out his hand. His handshake was firm, but the smile on his face was warm. "It's been awhile. What's going on?"
"I'm – well, I'm going to retire soon and I need someone to take over for me," Cragen began. "I've already discussed it with the upstairs and I would like to offer you the role of Acting Commanding Officer of SVU."
Elliot's face contorted in confusion. He'd left the unit nearly fifteen years ago and was running his own unit, had his own people over at OCCB. He sucked in a breath. "Why me? Why not Benson?"
"I wanted to put her in charge, but she's been through a lot and she's a bit —"
" — What in the hell is he doing here!?" yelled a very angry Olivia while storming into the office.
Elliot turned and made eye contact with her, struck by her beauty, even after all of these years. She had the same fiery brown eyes, the same golden hued smooth skin, the same soft lips. He remembered being so angry at her pretentious need to rub her Sienna liberal arts education and "I read books" mentality in his face. They clashed over her bias towards victims and his bias towards families, especially fathers and teenage girls.
He remembers how that passion gave way to one night of what he could only describe as hate sex against the wall in the cribs and one other time in the locker room. They'd sworn to keep that a secret and Olivia had simply chosen to hate him harder.
"I work here," Elliot said, a smug grin on his face. "Cap here was just offering me the job."
"As if you could run a unit. A pet monkey named Jeeves or my son could run a unit better than you, Stabler ," she sneered.
"I'm running my own unit right now and that's Lieutenant to you, Sergeant ," he said back, still smirking smugly at the angry and flustered Olivia.
"Screw you!"
"Screw you —"
"Enough!" Cragen finally cut in, his head throbbing. He was already sick of these two and immediately remembered why he split them up all of those years ago. "Lieutenant Stabler will be acting as the Commanding Officer –"
" – See? In your face, Benson!" Stabler bragged, while Olivia simply whispered fuck off to herself.
"Not so fast," Cragen said. "I have 90 days to officially accept my retirement and fill my role here at SVU. Stabler will be running this unit during that time and then I will decide who gets the job permanently. You two must show me that you're mature enough to run a unit and put personal differences aside to get the job done. Whoever manages to do that the best, gets the role."
Both cops muttered a forced fine .
"I just don't understand, Captain," Olivia whispered brokenly, her eyes downcast. Elliot looked over, feeling a glimmer of remorse before quickly hardening his gaze and turning away. "I've been here, Stabler left."
"But Liv – Olivia – you're not okay right now. You're not fit to lead and I won't do that to you," Cragen said, his voice soft and eyes unflinching.
"And he is?" Olivia pointed at Elliot. "When he was here —"
" — You're so obsessed with the past and back then, you never let me —"
" — It wasn't me who couldn't handle it."
"I could handle it, but that was fifteen years ago. Things are different now," he argued. "I'm different."
"All I remember is then," Olivia spat at him, inching closer to his face, her breath heavy and heated.
Cragen coughed, interrupting the pair who could not stop fighting. He started to wonder if he should just give the role to the Deputy Chief's son, but knew these two – one of these two — were the perfect fit. If they could just get over themselves and stop fighting.
"I'm giving you both 90 days. I've made my decision and if you don't do it, then I can just give it to someone else who wants it more," Cragen shrugged, picking up his phone for dramatic effect.
He knew these two would cave in…
Three…
Two…
One…
"We'll do it," they both said in unison.
He nodded, hoping that he wasn't making a huge mistake.