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      	  The Fall Part 6 
 by Evans  

 Disclaimer: We've done this already haven't we?

 Author's Notes: Repulse Bay is an actual place and if anyone has actually
been there and I got it wrong, I apologize. Also the bad Spanish and
Italian are all mine.

 Story Notes: If you didn't read the warning or couldn't tell by the end
of the last installment, something bad happens. And because this part
turned out so long I split it into two parts 6B is the final installment.

 SequelTo: The Fall Part 5

 

 

 //Sitting at the foot of the bed, Benton caressed the flannel covered
lump under the blanket until it moaned. "You have got to stop getting up
at the crack of -" Oscar flipped the blanket from over his head. "I can't
even say crack of dawn cause there's no sun yet." He murmured sleepily.
The young man pushed himself up into a sitting position. " You're retired
Benton, you don't have to see the start of each day. Mmm, what smells so
good." The ex-Mountie beamed at him. 

 "I made breakfast."

 Oscar glanced at the tray next to him on the night table. "You made my
favorite." The young man stared at the bowl of blueberry oatmeal like it
was the most remarkable thing in the world, then his eyes traveled back to
Benton's.

 "Where did you even get blueberries?"

 "They're freeze dried. I brought them with me." Fraser sought Oscar's
hand and entwined their fingers. "I awoke at the crack of dark and dawn at
least one thousand mornings to stand in front of a building, it is nothing
but a pure pleasure to be able to rise similarly for the next thousand
mornings to bring you a bowl of oatmeal."

 Oscar's eyes sparkled at Fraser as he reached for him and planted a soft
kiss on the older man's welcoming mouth.

 "I love you."

 "And I you," Fraser grinned around the kiss. And then his hand was under
the winter silks covering Oscar's chest and his other hand began to work
down the waistband of his bottoms.

 "The oatmeal will get cold."

 "I brought lots of blueberries," Benton whispered.\\

 *****************************

 "Can I get you anything else, Mr. Vecchio," the flight attendant asked
softly. Ray shook his head in the negative as he continued to stroke his
fingers through Jersey's hair. The attendant gave Ray a sympathetic smile
before heading back to the galley. He loved Jersey's hair long and his
husband knew that. A month ago it had been about shoulder length with
little silver strands Ray liked to tease him about. Now it stopped right
at his nape. And Ray couldn't help but trace his finger back and forth
over the smooth skin of his husband's neck. Wondered if Jersey cut his
hair the same night Ray moved out or if he waited a couple of days. Not
that any of that mattered now. Leaning down, Ray placed a gentle kiss on
Jersey's temple. "I love you." He murmured.

 His gaze skittered to one of the passenger cabin's unshuttered windows.
If you were gonna have connections, the exhausted man thought, law
enforcement and the entertainment industry were the best to have. He'd
been on this jet before and appreciated the luxury and elegance of the
plush leather seats, the couch, the fully stocked bar, kitchen and
medicine cabinet. It was truly riding in style. The medicine cabinet had
come in extremely handy. By the time they reached the Burbank airport, he
could see that Jersey's initial shock was starting to wear off. And Ray
couldn't even begin to know what that would mean. As soon as they boarded
the plane, he went to the cabinet and found what he was looking for. In
the main cabin, he handed Jersey a glass of wine and a pill. His husband
was still shocky enough to accept both without any questions. Ray knew
that he wasn't going to be able to get away with anything like that once
they got where they were going. But his husband would be able to get at
least a few hours of solid sleep. Ray understood that he too should try
and get some sleep but there was too much going on in his head, in his
heart. 

 And though he wasn't going to sleep, he appreciated the quiet, the
relative solitude of the private charter. He'd helped get a studio exec's
kid out of a jam once. The grateful mother made the standard declaration
"if there's ever anything I can do...." She was Ray's first phone call on
the way to the restaurant. 

 His second call was to his partner in his consulting business. One of the
last officers he'd supervised before retiring, she lived with her father
just down the beach from the Malibu house. Ray laid the situation down.
Like the professional she was, she tabled whatever emotion she felt at
Ray' news and helped him make a tasklist. 

 *********************

 //Benton kept peeping over the top of his novel as Oscar sat quietly,
curled at the opposite end of the couch reading through a leather covered
notebook sized journal. Their socked feet played footsies. Occasionally,
Oscar would laugh and scribble something on one of the pages before moving
to the next. Until about a half an hour later. "I don't guess we can call
it "If You Give A Diefenbaker A Donut." Oscar grinned at Benton.

 "I beg your pardon."

 "When we were kids one of my little cousin's had a book called "If You
Give A Pig A Pancake...."

 Benton's brows knitted. "Why would anyone give a pig a pancake?"

 "Why would anyone give a half wolf a donut?"

 "Ah, I see your point."

 "I wish I'd met Diefenbaker. He sounds like quite a character."

 "Yes, that he was." 

 "I think kids will really love these stories Benton and their parents
won't mind reading it to them a billion times. A guy I know from school
does these really beautiful watercolor sketches, I want to e-maoil him one
of the stories and a picture of Diefenbaker . He hasn't found a job yet so
I'm sure he could knock some sample illustrations out pretty quickly. We
could definitely self publish but if you want to go the conventional route
I think...what? Why are you looking at me like that? What?

 "This isn't how I pictured my retirement from the RCMP." Oscar's face
fell a little.

 "You don't want to do the book? I just thought -" Benton squeezed Oscar's
foot to quiet him and he shook his head.

 "The book is a...I never thought...You and I have talked before about
this. I knew that it was time for me to leave the RCMP, but the shape of
my retirement had not truly formed in my mind. I knew that I would come
back to the Northwest Territories. I didn't know what I would do. You have
given me a sense of purpose that I didn't think I would have.\\

 ********************* THUNK! Ray's eyes flew open and his hand flew out
to grab for his Glock. Instead another hand clasped his and held it
tightly.

 "Ray, Ray, it's okay. That was the landing gear. We're still on the
plane." It took Ray another moment to focus on his husband's knowing eyes.
It had been a long time since he'd awakened in this kind of panic. He
shouldn't have been waking up at all. The last thing he remembered was
stroking Jersey's newly shortened hair and going over the list of things
to do when they hit the ground. It wasn't his intention to sleep.

 Jersey peered at him closely. Satisfied that Ray was properly oriented,
he let go of the gun seeking hand and slid into one of the leather chairs
opposite the couch. His voice when he spoke again was quiet and only
someone who knew him as well as Ray Vecchio would pick up on the anger.

 "The pilot said we'd be landing in about 10 minutes. You need to put your
seatbelt on. " His gaze shifted to one of the open windows in the cabin.
All that he saw was snow, with the occasional building dotting the
landscape. "Montreal has certainly changed a lot since the last time I was
here."

 Jersey turned a measured gaze on his husband and waited. Ray's own
expression turned apologetic. This was one of the primary reason's sleep
wasn't on his agenda. He'd wanted to be awake when Jersey woke so that he
could explain. In the haste of trying to get them to the airport, he
hadn't clarified where in Canada they were going. It wasn't as though the
specific destination was going to make a difference in whether or not they
came. The flight attendant and he thought the pilot had both mentioned the
destination when they boarded, but Jersey was still shocky so it hadn't
really registered.

 "We're in Repulse Bay." Waiting for the rest Jersey simply stared at him.
" Near the Arctic Circle."

 A series of expressions flitted across Joseph Alta's face. None of them
heartened Ray.

 "This is where the Mountie's from?"

 "Not this particular town. But sort of this general area, yeah."

 "I see," he said. And Ray could see as well. Jersey was furious. Ray
guessed that it was good that they weren't completely alone and probably
wouldn't be for the next several hours, but when they were again..... 

 The jet landed without incident. Ray watched closely as his husband
bundled into the winter wear neither of them had worn in years. Ray's own
was a little tighter than he remembered but it would serve its purpose.
His mind flashed briefly on his first winter fashion foray in the
Territories and instead of bringing a smile to his lips like it once did,
he suddenly felt the sting of tears. He quickly extinguished that memory.
Now was definitely not the time to fall apart. 

 With the two of them all bundled up, they stepped from the plane and
found a brown uniformed Mountie waiting for them on the tarmac. Ray felt
Jersey hesitate behind him but he kept moving forward with an unfaltering
step. This Mountie was young, probably close to their son's age. He was
Inuit and Ray found that a relief. 

 "Mr. Vecchio, Mr. Alta I'm Constable Skeekoo, I have been assigned to
help facilitate matters while you're in Repulse Bay." He extended his hand
to Ray who shook it quickly. 

 Jersey pointedly put his own hands in his pockets and stared at some
point past the Constable's ear. Undeterred the Mountie continued. "Well,
then shall we get your luggage?"

 ******************* 

 "I want to see my son."

 The Constable looked in the rearview mirror of the RCMP jeep. "Certainly
Mr. Alta I would be -"

 "I thought maybe we should go to the room first." Ray interrupted.

 "You can go to the room if you want, just have Canada's finest drop me
off."

 "No, no. If you want to go see Oscar first then that's what we'll do,"
Ray answered softly. "Thank you Constable Skeekoo.".

 Repulse Bay wasn't a very large community and it didn't take long for
them to arrive at the two story concrete building. Constable Skeekoo
parked the jeep and escorted the parents through the entrance of the
Repulse Bay Community Hospital.

 He tipped his hat as he ushered them past the main reception and down a
long corridor. When they got to the next area of reception it was obvious
they were expected. They were greeted by an attendant in scrubs who seemed
to already know who they were. The Constable introduced them anyway as Ray
slipped his hand into Jersey's.

 "Hello Wayne, this is Mr. Vecchio and Mr. Alta, the young man's parents."

 "Yes, Mr. Vecchio, Mr. Alta right this way...."

 Ray looked at Jersey who nodded and they both turned as one to follow the
other man the rest of the way down the corridor to a set of double doors.
A few feet from the doors, the hand in Ray's disappeared. He turned to
find Jersey swaying beside him. His eyes pleaded with Ray. 

 The attendant stopped and looked at both men. "If you need more
time...there are also other ways..."

 "I don't think I can do this," Oscar's dad whispered. Ray nodded at the
waiting attendant. "Can you give us a few minutes."

 "Whenever you're ready." He answered. There's a family lounge just to the
left if you want privacy."

 "Thank you." Ray stepped back to Jersey and put his arm around his
shoulders as he guided him into the lounge. They both sat and Ray took his
love's hands in his. "You don't have to do this. It's not....I've done
this before. It doesn't make you less if you can't do this."

 "I'm his dad. How can I not. I just need a minute. I just...It's so fast.
It's happened so fast." They sat in silence for five minutes clutching
each others hands, then Jersey stood.

 "Okay."

 "Okay." Ray took his hand again.

 As soon as they stepped through the double doors, Jersey dropped Ray's
hand, stepped around the attendant and went to their son's side. Yanking
his hands out of his gloves, the father gently touched his son's face.

 "Oh, mi muchacho bello, mi hijo bello. Oh God." Ray's arm slipped around
his husband's waist to brace his sagging body. Were it not for the purple
bruising on the right side of Oscar's face, Ray thought, their son could
simply be sleeping peacefully. Tears ran unchecked down Jersey's face. Ray
steeled himself. The two of them stood like that for several minutes
staring at the too still body of the boy they had raised. The boy whose
smile and love and goodness they would never experience again. Ray's
fingers ran over Oscar's cool hand while Jersey continued to caress
Oscar's cheek and murmur to him in Spanish. Suddenly Jersey's knees
buckled and Ray tightened his hold. 

 "Okay, baby. Okay baby come on. I've got you." Supporting most of
Jersey's weight, Ray led him back through the double doors. Constable
Skeekoo came to his assistance as soon as they were out of the viewing
room. Together they got the distraught man seated.

 Wayne appeared in the doorway with a clipboard in his hand.

 "There's some paperwork I need to sign. It'll only take a minute. Okay."
Head in hands, Jersey nodded mutely.

 "I'll stay with him Mr. Vecchio."

 "Thank you Constable."

 ******************

 "Mr. Vecchio, I am terribly sorry for your loss."

 "Thank you." Ray answered tightly.

 "I need you to sign here acknowledging formal identification. And also
here acknowledging receipt of your son's personal effects."

 Ray signed in the designated spaces and reached numbly for the box
offered in his direction. The attendant initialed the paperwork and handed
the appropriate copies to Ray. 

 "Again Mr. Vecchio, I am sorry." Ray nodded absently as he slid the lid
off the box. The clothes Oscar had been wearing were wrapped in plastic
and combined with his boots and jacket took up most of the space in the
box. There was a padded manila envelope which Ray assumed contained his
son's watch and wallet. He lifted the flap on the envelope and peered
inside.

 ********************

 As soon as his foot hit the threshold of the room Jersey was talking.
"When can I take my son home? The flight crew is still here right? We can
go right now can't we?" 

 The other half of the grieving couple wavered in the lounge doorway with
the box clutched tightly in his hands. "Mr. Vecchio, would you like me to
put the box in the jeep."

 "Yes, Constable. Thank you."

 After the door closed behind Skeekoo -

 "We might not have the right."

 "What?" Jersey's dead eyes suddenly blazed at Ray. "What the hell are you
talking about? Maybe we can't go right now, but maybe in an hour or so.
He's my son, he's an American citizen. There can't possibly be any kind of
Canadian law barring next of kin from -"

 "Legally speaking we might not be next of kin."

 "What? The adoption was legal, we can get the papers faxed. He's - ."

 "He's married."

 "Married? Married? To who? What makes you think he's married?" Reaching
into his pocket, Ray pulled out a gold band. "This was in with his
belongings. "

 Jersey cut his eyes to the door, then back to the ring. His eyes locked
on his husband's "the Mountie?"

 "Jersey -"

 "Where the hell is he? My son, my son is on a slab in the goddamn morgue,
in the fuckin' Arctic Circle. My kid is a soccer playing surfer from
Southern California. He's got no business here."

 "The Mountie was unconscious when they brought him in."

 Jersey exploded out of his chair. "That son of a bitch. That son of a
bitch is still breathing and my son is gone. Where the hell is he? I want
to see him."

 Jersey angrily pushed past Ray into the hallway. "I want to see that son
of a bitch right now."

 Ray followed on his heels. "You're not thinking clearly, let's go to the
Inn and ...."

 "Do not patronize me. I want to see the asshole that killed my son."

 "Fraser didn't -."

 "Where's the Mountie? They can't possibly have more than one hospital in
this town. So he must be here."

 Ray grabbed Jersey by the upper arm and held on to him. "If you don't
dial it down, we're gonna get tossed out on our asses. Listen to me okay.
I'm still....I...apparently the Mountie never changed his emergency/next
of kin notification so I'm...they'll tell me what's going on, but not if
you're acting like a lunatic."

 "I didn't know there was a particular way to act when your son's been
killed," he growled as he shook Ray's hand off his arm and stalked away.
Stunned, Ray fought against the beginning sting of tears as he watched his
husband walk away. 

 Twenty minutes later they were on the Mountie's floor. The anger rolling
off Jersey was so palpable they were getting the fish eye from the staff.

 The events of the day were catching up with Ray and he didn't know how
much longer he could keep it together. He could feel the heat of his own
anger rising. If his husband said `my son' one more time Ray thought that
he might punch him. On some level he understood what was happening to
them. Understood that it was their separation, the grief and the lack of
real sleep combining to undo them both. The hope was always that tragedy
would bring people together, but Ray knew that wasn't always the case. In
his career he'd seen it first hand. It frightened him that he and his
husband might be those people. The one's who sank into bitterness and rage
instead of reaching out to support one another. He couldn't believe they
were going to be like parents he'd seen at crime and accident scenes
involving the loss of a child, the ones that stare at each other with
silent accusation and blame. Sometimes not so silent, instead hurling
ugliness for all to hear, "well if you had picked him up from daycare on
time', `if you hadn't let her go with her friends' and on and on. 

 The ten years of marriage hadn't seemed to give them any kind of
foundation to the deal with their son's relationship. Now with his sudden
death, Ray could hear the unmistakable accusation each time Jersey used
`my son'. The same as he had in Montreal. 

 Constable Skeekoo had located them and was watching without watching. His
stance telegraphed that he was ready to jump in if the need arose. Good
God Ray thought one of us is probably gonna end up in the Repulse Bay jail
tonight.

 He motioned for Jersey to step a little away from the Mountie and the
nurse's station.

 "He is still unconscious so he doesn't know. I'm gonna have to tell him.
Anything you think you have to say has to wait. Please, let Skeekoo drive
you to the Inn and I will call you I promise."

 "You're protecting that bastard."

 "Our son has been killed." Jersey flinched. "Fraser's husband has been
killed and he doesn't know. I'm trying to do what's right. It's our
responsibility now to do this right. Storming in there with accusations
before he has a chance to hear it from family is not what he needs."

 "And ladies and gentleman here we are at the point of it all. What he
needs. What I need is my son back, what are you going to do to to take
care of that?" 

 "Don't say another word." Ray gritted out as he clenched and unclenched
his fists. For a split second, Jersey started to say something else then
clamped his mouth shut and for the second time in an hour walked away from
his distressed spouse. 

 Standing just inside the doorway, Ray quietly watched the simple rise and
fall of Benton Fraser's chest. His son's husband. His son-in-law. It hurt
more than Ray ever could have imagined the mix of joy and pain. His only
child was gone, the Mountie wasn't. And he felt like he was drowning.
Letting go wasn't an option. His family needed him. All of his family.

 Ray took enough steps into the room to put him right at the Mountie's
side. The injuries, considering, were minor; some bruising on his face, a
concussion and a leg broken in two places. It might require surgery later
but for now the doctors had simply set it and put it in a cast. As the
grieving man peered more closely at the Mountie his eyes caught the glint
of gold on Benton's left hand.

 "Oh God Benny," Ray blew out in a despairing whisper as his fingers
reached out of their own volition to stroke Fraser's forehead.

 His other hand sought Fraser's and he slipped his fingers inside the
loose grip. "I think, I think we really screwed the pooch this time
Fraser. "

 Fraser's eyelids flickered slightly but he did not wake. For several
minutes Ray quietly brushed his fingers across the pale forehead. The
warmth of the skin underneath his fingers a lifeline.

 "Isn't this cozy?" Ray's fingers came away from the Mountie's forehead
and his hand out of the loose grip instantly. Jersey stepped into the room
eyes blazing and Ray cut him off before could get to the bed.

 "Don't." Ray hissed as he strong armed his husband up against one of the
room's walls. "Not here, not now. You will go back to the hotel and wait
for me to call you. Do I make myself clear?" A menace from long ago
flashed in Ray's eyes and for a moment Jersey faltered. If he'd been
familiar with the name Lagostini he might have been frightened.

 ********

 Their boots crunched side by side in the snow as they walked along the
road. The occasional car passed. Sometimes the driver would honk and both
men would wave. Every few steps, the retired Mountie couldn't help but
glance in awe at his new husband tromping happily beside him. The delight
on Oscar's face was almost more than Benton could stand. It was so
unadulterated in it's purity.

 A couple of times Fraser caught Oscar sticking his tongue out like a
little kid to catch snowflakes on his tongue. Fraser couldn't help but
smile. He was content. As improbable as it all was, he was in love. Warm
all over, there wasn't any part of his heart he'd concealed from the man
beside him. As he reflected, his pace slowed a bit allowing Oscar' to get
a few feet ahead. 

 "Oscar," Benton called to him. The young man turned and flashed a
brilliant smile that lit up everything. "Hey, slowpoke get a move on."
Benton jogged to close the distance between and when they were toe to toe,
the besotted man pulled his future into his arms and began a thorough
exploration of his tonsils. There was a moan of pleasure as Oscar
attempted to give as good as he got then suddenly Benton's full arms were
empty and there was darkness. The startled man tried to widen his eyes to
see and opened his mouth to scream.

 "Oscar?" Had they not been locked in a silent battle of wills neither of
the angry men in the room would have heard. The barely audible voice broke
the standoff. As Ray's attention shifted to the bed, Jersey shoved him
hard. Caught by surprise Ray lost his balance and fell on his ass. Jersey
was at Benton's bedside in an instant.

 "You son of a bitch," he yelled as he grabbed a fistful of the barely
conscious man's hospital gown. He's gone, are you happy now? You got what
you wanted are you happy now?" Ray got to his feet as fast as he could and
forced his body between the Mountie and his husband, breaking the grip the
other man had on the patient.

 "JERSEY STOP."

 "I'm gonna kill him. Get out of the way Ray."

 Out of the corner of his eye Ray saw the Constable dash into the room. An
orderly and a nurse hovered anxiously just in the hall. In seconds,
Skeekoo had the out of control dad off of Ray and restrained on the other
side of the room.

 "Mr. Alta I need you to calm down. I am going to have to escort you from
this room and if you find that you are unable to cooperate with me, then I
shall have no choice but to put you under arrest. Under the circumstances
I would hope that it does not come to that drastic an action."

 "Oscar?" The patient murmured again as he continued to fight his way to
full consciousness. Ray placed his hand gently on the Mountie's head and
heard a low rumble behind him. 

 "Mr. Alta, please." The Constable stepped back to allow Jersey to precede
him out of the room. "You all stick together don't you," he hissed before
stalking out. With the threat removed, the nurse entered the room and
began checking Fraser's vital signs.

 Ray stroked his fingers across Benton's forehead once more. "Fraser, I'll
be right back and I will explain everything."

 Still foggy and slightly bewildered, Benton could only blink at Ray. In
the hallway, Ray found his husband with his forehead pressed against the
wall. The Constable stood watching over him with a wary eye. 

 "Constable Skeekoo can you take my husband to the Inn and see that he
gets checked in."

 Despairing brown eyes swimming in betrayal looked at Ray. But he averted
his own eyes. "Thank you, Constable." 

 This time Ray was the one to walk away.

 End of 6a Concludes in Part 6b

  
  

End The Fall Part 6 by Evans 

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