Disclaimer: Of course none of the characters belong to me. The belong to Alliance. Please don't sue me for using them.

Author's Notes: Any and all comments greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope that you like it

Story Notes: In my world, Kowalski and Vechhio became partners at the precinct after CotW. Fraser and Dief still hang around to help

He Thought, She Thought By Nancy Claycomb

"Ray, I need your help."

Ray Kowalski looked up from the file he had been reading. It was a voice he knew well, but today it sounded strained and tired.

"Stella?" Ray stood up quickly and practically leapt over his desk to get to his ex-wife, Assistant States Attorney Stella Kowalski.

"What's wrong? You look terrible!" Then he thought about what he said. "I'm sorry, I mean... it's just..."

`I suck' he finished to himself; for the millionth time in his life.

"It's okay, Ray," Stella said. "I haven't been sleeping well. I know that I don't look my best."

Instinctively, Ray put his arm around her. `Old habits die hard,' he thought.

With a familiar move, Stella leaned into the crook in Ray's arm. `Old habits die hard,' she thought.

"Can we go someplace to talk?" Stella asked, quietly.

"Uh, sure, I think that interrogation room two is open." Ray said leading Stella toward the small room.

As they passed Ray Vecchio's desk, Kowalski stopped briefly. "Ray, I'm going to be away for a little while."

"No problem, I'll cover for you. Go ahead." Vecchio answered.

Vecchio waited until the two had gone into the small room and closed the door. He then quietly got up and quickly walked into the men's room, where the conversations from that particular interrogation room could be heard through the vent system.

`It's good to be back on my own turf,' he thought.

When Vecchio had returned from his undercover assignment, he had picked up his life right where he had left off; with one exception: He was now partnered with Ray Kowalski, who had stayed on at the 27th. The two worked well together, because there was always an air of competition when they were around each other. Both of them tried to be a little smarter, braver, or quicker than the other. Despite the air of competition, they were slowly becoming friends. If his partner was having personal problems with his ex-wife, Vecchio wanted to know about it.

"Ray, I don't know who I can trust anymore," Stella was saying. "You know that man, Roger Edwards, that was killed from my office last week?"

"Sure, I heard that homicide said that it was a robbery gone wrong. They said that the place was pretty messed up and that he must have surprised the burglar," Ray answered. "Why, what does that have to do with anything?"

"If it were a robbery, the thieves didn't get what they wanted. Roger and I were working on a case together, and ever since Roger was killed, I've had the feeling that someone has been following me," Stella said. "Today at work, my file cabinet was broken into. Ray, it had to be someone from my own office, no one else could have possibly done it. The other night I swear I heard someone trying to open the door of my apartment. I can't sleep, I can't concentrate, and I can't trust anyone. I don't know what to do."

"Okay, okay, calm down," Ray said running his fingers through his short, light brown hair. He never did know how to deal with women, or anyone for that matter, when they became emotional. Even after all of those years with Stella, she was no exception. "What case were you working on?"

"It is a mob related affair," she started, but then she glanced around the small room nervously, and lowered her voice. "Please, Ray, I don't want to say too much more here. If they gave up on Roger's death that quickly, someone from your department might be involved, too."

"Okay, let's meet tonight. I'll bring Vecchio along. If it's mob related maybe he'll have the inside scoop." Kowalski noticed the look on Stella's face. "Look, it's okay, I know we can trust him."

"All right, if you're sure," Stella conceded. "I was just assigned a new partner for this case, maybe I should bring her along so she knows what she is getting into. Where should we meet?"

"Say, six o'clock at the restaurant?" Ray said

`Our restaurant,' he added to himself.

Stella didn't have to ask to clarify; she knew exactly what he meant.

Meanwhile, back in the men's room, Ray Vecchio scrambled to get the vent pipe back together again. He was back at his desk before Ray Kowalski returned.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Vecchio and Kowalski arrived at the restaurant slightly before six o'clock and were seated near the windows towards the front of the dining area. Stella arrived shortly after.

"Is your new partner coming? Should we wait?" Kowalski questioned.

"She's right behind me," Stella pointed to the front of the restaurant. "She stopped to check the coats."

Kowalski and Vecchio both looked towards the attractive redhead walking towards them.

"Oh, God," Vecchio said, sitting back down hard in his chair.

"Oh, God," States Attorney Louise St. Laurent said just slightly later.

"You two know each other?" Kowalski asked, slightly surprised.

"Yeah, Louise prosecuted me a few times," Vecchio said staring at Louise, the ex-love of his life.

"Don't you mean prosecuted cases you had worked on?" Stella asked, trying to clarify.

"No, she prosecuted me," Vecchio said, truthfully. "Even though I never really deserved it.

"Seems to me that you even ended up in jail once," Louise said. She smiled and toyed with her earring. "I even got your friend once or twice if I recall correctly. How is the Mountie, by the way?"

"He's fine, thank you," Vecchio answered. "But I'll have to tell him to watch his step now that you're back in town.

From the way the conversation was going, Stella assumed that the Vecchio and Louise were bitter enemies. She quickly took the seat next to Vecchio in an attempt to keep the two of them separated. Ray Kowalski was barely able to hide his disappointment that Stella didn't want to sit next to him. He covered this fact by turning on the charm and ushering Louise into the seat next to him, trying to make Stella jealous.

With the turn of events, small talk was nearly impossible. They were all relieved when the waiter finally came to take their order.

"I'll have the Veal Medallions, please," Louise started ordering for the table.

`Veal, yeah, figures,' Vecchio thought to himself. `She'd probably want to kill the calf with her bare hands.' Vecchio had been shocked by his reaction when he saw Louise walking toward the table. He had slowly convinced himself while she was gone that he truly hated her for challenging him all of the time, and especially for dumping him when she left town. He hated to admit it, but his heart did a flop-flop when he first saw her.

`Veal? Going after poor defenseless cows?' Stella thought watching Ray Kowalski staring at Louise. `He is as defenseless as that veal.' Even though Stella was sure she didn't care for Ray anymore, no other female on the planet deserved him.

"I'll have the Vegetable Lasagna, please," Stella ordered next.

`Vegetable Lasagna,' Kowalski thought before Stella actually spoke the words. `That's my Stella, so practical and predictable. I never thought that we'd end up apart, though.'

`Why is she sitting so close to him?' Louise sipped her water and stared at Stella and Ray Vecchio laughing over something. `No, Louise. Don't do this to yourself again. No personal contact with any Italian Chicago cops.'

"Yeah, I'll take the Angel Hair Pasta with White Clam Sauce," Vecchio ordered and handed the menu to the waiter.

`Angel and hair... now there's two words that I never associated with Ray Vecchio' Louise giggled to herself. She was still trying to convince her heart to stop doing the dance that it started when she first saw Vecchio sitting at the table.

`Pasta? Who's he trying to impress? Oh, yeah, right, he always gets pasta. But, why's he smiling at Stella all the time?' Ray Kowalski thought playing with his silverware.

"I'll have the Prime Rib and a baked potato." Ray finished ordering for the table.

`Meat and potatoes...he'll never change,' Stella thought, staring at her ex-husband. For close to twenty years, Stella's head told her that Ray Kowalski was not good enough for her, but her heart told her that there was no one else in the world that she could ever love.

`Boy, is he ever pouring on the charm. Louise will think that he can afford to eat like that all of the time. Why can't he keep those eyes in their socket? If he puts on his glasses he might actually be able to see what he is looking at. Oh, well I can always punch `em back where they belong later,' Vecchio thought with a shrug.

Not one of them knew exactly why the mood at the table had gone downhill so quickly, but the tension in the air was incredible. By the time the salads, arrived all four were just sitting there glaring at each other.

Slowly, painfully, and with a great effort on all their parts, they made it through dinner. Eventually, they were able to put their personal thoughts aside. Once that happened, they could concentrate on the reason they were all there in the first place.

"Roger and I had been assigned to this murder case. This nutcase started out by going around and breaking into produce stores and stealing crates of bananas. Then he ended up murdering on of the store managers. It turned out the when he was caught, he had a list telling him exactly what crates to steal." Stella said.

"No big deal, sounds like your everyday drug smuggling ring." Kowalski interjected.

"Yes, but all of the crates on the list that Matthews didn't get to yet were gone by the time we went after them. There was no way that anyone could have figured out that we had the list so fast."

"So, you think that someone in your department helped spread the news?" Vecchio questioned.

Stella nodded, "But that wouldn't bother me half as much, if Roger hadn't been killed. Somebody must think that we have something that could point the finger to him or her. The trouble is, if we do, we don't know about it."

"What made you think that there was a mob connection," Vecchio asked, wondering why he had been invited to join them tonight.

"Matthews was a "gofer" for a big time bookie down on the south-side who has family connections." Stella answered. "The strange thing is that he was living high on that job, we can't figure out why this drug smuggling happened."

"Maybe that's what Roger figured out." Vecchio said.

"Roger left me a message to call him the night he was murdered. I'll never know what it was about." Stella said staring into her after dinner coffee.

"I haven't had a chance to look at anything yet." Louise finally joined the conversation. "This whole thing just got dropped in my lap yesterday."

"And might I say what a gorgeous lap it is, Louise," Vecchio smiled to her.

Trying not to turn the same shade as her hair, Louise continued, "I just mean, let's go back and take a look at what you have, and the detectives and I can get caught up at the same time."

The four left the restaurant and started across the street to the parking lot. Suddenly, a car that had been parked along the street pulled out and headed directly towards Stella. Vecchio, who just happened to be the closest to her, tackled Stella throwing her out of the path of the speeding car.

Kowalski ran over and yanked Vecchio off of his ex-wife. "Let her get some air, would ya?"

Kowalski offered Stella a hand to get up. "You okay?"

Stella nodded but Ray Kowalski could tell that she was shaken by the incident.

"Well, you're not going back to your place tonight, that's for sure. You can stay with me," Kowalski said quietly.

"That would be a mistake, Ray," Stella said, as if talking to a child. "What would people think?"

`That we still love each other,' Ray thought sadly.

"Louise, probably shouldn't be by herself either," Vecchio said, "but where can we stash them that they would be safe.

Slowly, Vecchio and Kowalski looked at each other and smiled.

A few moments later, the green Riviera, the fourth of its kind, pulled up in front of the Canadian Consulate.

"Fraser.... Fraser.... FRAS.." Ray Kowalski screamed into the Consulate door.

Benton Fraser finally opened the door, interrupting the shouting. He was dressed only in his red long johns.

"Oh dear," he said, clearly embarrassed. "I didn't realize that you had female guests along."

"Fraser, we need you to arrest Stella and Louise for awhile," Kowalski said, making it sound like the most natural thing in the world.

"Oooh, noo. No, no. This will never work. I'm not staying here with the Mountie," Louise said, trying to back away from the door. In doing so, she backed right into Ray Vecchio, who totally enjoyed having her that close. Slowly and reluctantly Louise stepped forward again, putting some distance between the two of them.

"I'm sorry, Ray, in order to do that, there must be some reason," Fraser tried to explain. "They must have committed some crime against Canada or the Queen.

"Oh, you mean something like assaulting a Mountie?" Ray Vecchio questioned.

"Well, yes, Ray, something like that." Fraser answered.

In one quick motion, Vecchio grabbed Louise's hand and slapped Fraser across the face. At the same time Kowalski had Stella's hand aimed at Fraser's mid-section.

"I guess that should do it then," Kowalski said.

"Ladies, you are under arrest for crimes against Canada, the Queen, Mounties, caribou and Inuit everywhere." Vecchio said.

"But..." Fraser said, as Stella and Kowalski walked by him into the Consulate.

"The ladies will fill you in," Vecchio said as he guided Louis past Fraser in the door. "Ray and I will be back as soon as we break into an apartment."

"Oh, dear," Fraser said dropping his head slowly. "The inspector is not going to like this."

Diefenbaker whined in agreement.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After getting Stella and Louise settled at the Consulate, Vecchio and Kowalski set out for Roger Edward's apartment. Hopefully, they would be able to find something that explained the attempt on Stella's life.

By the way that Kowalski was fidgeting, Vecchio knew that he had something to say. Vecchio waited as patiently as he could, for exactly one minute and twenty-two seconds, before he lost his patience.

"Okay, spit it out," Vecchio said.

"What?" Kowalski said

"I said, `spit it out.' Whatever you have to say, say it!" Vecchio explained.

Ray Kowalski was silent. He stared out the window for a moment before he spoke.

"Stay away from my wife," he finally said quietly.

"Your ex-wife," Vecchio said testing him.

"Just stay away, all right?" Kowalski asked again.

"You know, blondes aren't usually my type," Vecchio said teasing. "but she is very attractive."

"I saw you staring at her in the restaurant," Kowalski continued.

"Very intelligent, too," Vecchio added, still pushing. But then he grew silent.

Vecchio never took a lot of enjoyment teasing Kowalski the way he did other people. Ray Kowalski was a paradox to him. He was a tough, know it all cop on the outside, but very insecure and child-like on the inside. Ray Vecchio could never intentionally hurt someone, and although Kowalski would never admit it, he could be easily hurt. In some ways, Fraser and Kowalski were much alike: very innocent and full of wonder at the world. They fully believed that the good guys always won and that the bad guys should all wear black hats. Vecchio sometimes felt that it was his mission in life to keep those feelings alive in his friends. Even though he had learned about the real world too early in life from his abusive father, he was now learning to see the world in a new way through the eyes of Fraser and Kowalski. It gave him hope, and he would do whatever was necessary to protect those feelings in his friends.

"I saw you smiling at her...," Kowalski was saying.

"Look, I'm not interested in your ex-wife," Vecchio said.

"...passing the salt and pepper to her before she asked..."

"I'm not interested in Stella," Vecchio repeated.

"...opening the door for her..." Kowalski was still going on.

"Look, Kowalski. I don't like Stella, all right?" Vecchio shouted, finally breaking into Kowalski's thoughts

"Why, what's wrong with her?" Kowalski said, almost hurt that Vecchio was not interested in his ex-wife.

"Aaaagh!!! You are the second most irritating man on the face of this earth!" Vecchio shouted, beating his steering wheel. "She is a terrific person, all right? I was just more interested in someone else tonight."

"Oh. Oooohhh." Kowalski said, the light finally dawned on him. "Yeah, what's up with that? Did I see some sparks there?"

"Mostly the kind of sparks you see before an explosion. You know that kind that say get the hell out of here before you get burned. She had me arrested a few times. We dated a few times Ah, I don't know, for awhile I thought that things were going really great, that we could really have something, you know? And then she ups and leaves town on me," Vecchio said as he pulled up in front of Roger Edward's apartment complex. "I guess looking back now, it worked out for the best, but back then I couldn't figure it out. I wonder if we could try again?"

"Sorry, buddy, you're on your own with this one. I can tell you the dating habits of a "Stella" but with a "Louise" I have no idea." Kowalski said, getting out of the car.

Even though the case had been officially closed, Roger Edward's apartment was still taped off as a crime scene. Kowalski ripped through the yellow tape.

"Let's see what these turkeys missed," Vecchio said, meaning both the murderer and the police.

Kowalski took his credit card and slid it into the door, easily opening the lock. "Don't leave home without it," he quipped.

The apartment was still a mess. Papers, furniture and clothing were thrown everywhere. Vecchio began his search in the main living room area while Kowalski went back the narrow hallway to the bedrooms.

Vecchio found Roger Edward desk and start rooting through the papers that were scattered around. On the floor near the desk he found Roger's day planner. The day that he had been murdered looked like an average day. He had a meeting with Stella in the morning, lunch with someone named Frank was penciled in and then a late afternoon meeting with Terrence Nichols. Vecchio recognized Nichols name as a bigwig in the States Attorneys office.

"Ray, I know why someone thinks that Stella knows something," Kowalski yelled from the bedroom. He came back to the living room and handed a slip of paper to Vecchio. It was a postal receipt from the day of the murder. Someone, Roger, Vecchio guessed, had scribbled on the bottom `to Kowalski.'

"Let's go find out what Stella's gotten in the mail recently," Kowalski said already heading out the door.

With Vecchio driving, they covered the distance from the apartment complex to the Consulate in record time. When they walked through the door, Inspector Meg Thatcher was standing in the hallway, with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

"I should have known that you two were involved," Thatcher said in a stern voice. "Might I remind you that this is the Canadian Consulate. It is not the Holiday Inn, Howard Johnson's or even a Motel Six."

"Inspector Thatcher, I had no idea that your lovely face was back in town," Vecchio said, turning on the charm.

"I just arrived from Ottawa about twenty minutes ago and found the Consulate in total disarray. However, since Inspector Moffat has been placed back in charge, I, at least, no longer have to worry about it anymore." Meg said. Since her involvement in the capture of Hollaway Muldoon, Meg had been given more responsibility in the RCMP. Even though her new job had her traveling most of the time, she always seemed to find her way back to Chicago and Fraser. They had dated a few times, and since she was no longer his superior officer, the relationship had grown easier.

The relationship had also grown slightly easier between Vecchio, Kowalski and Thatcher as well. Before she left Chicago, Vecchio and Kowalski openly showed their disdain of Meg Thatcher and the way she treated Fraser. Now since Fraser and Thatcher had come to an understanding, and because they rarely saw her, the two detectives found her easier to deal with. Even though they were slowly becoming friends, the three of them still seemed to find great pleasure in their verbal battles and insult swapping.

Meg finally stepped to the side, allowing the two men to step past her. "The others are in the sitting room down the hall. I'm just getting some coffee for all of us, and then you can fill us all in on what you found at the apartment."

"That's what I love about you, Meg," Vecchio said as he walked past her. "You're still a cop at heart."

Vecchio and Kowalski walked to the back room. There, they found Stella, Louise and Fraser sitting on the floor among piles and stacks of boxes, files and folders. Stella glanced up when the two detective entered the room.

"Roger and I had ordered all of the back police records and court transcripts from some of the old cases that some of these people have been involved in." Stella tried to explain. "When I found out they were ready, I asked if they could be dropped off here. It seemed like the safest place."

"No wonder Meg is having a fit!" Kowalski said after seeing the room.

`You should feel right at home,' Stella thought sarcastically, knowing her ex-husband's cleaning habits.

"No, detective. Do not try to blame Attorney Kowalski. Meg is not upset over the condition of the room, Meg is upset because she thought that she was going out with Ben tonight," Meg said from the doorway. " I didn't know that his plans included saving Chicago once again."

"I'm sorry, Meg," Fraser began

"Save it, Fraser," Meg interrupted. "Don't you think that I know you well enough by now, to know that even if we did go out, your mind would still be on the case that you shouldn't be having anything to do with?"

"Very understanding of you inspector." Kowalski said, sarcastically. He turned to Stella "So, did you find anything?"

"Now really, Ray. You were only gone about an hour," Fraser started off on one of his lengthy explanations. He was trying to cover up the fact that he was afraid that Meg was mad at him. "The files were only delivered here..."

"Why don't you ask us what we found," Ray Vecchio said cutting him off.

"All right Vecchio, what did you find? I'll bite," Louise said.

"Don't you wish," Vecchio quipped. `Wipe that silly smile off your face, Vecchio, you look like an idiot,' he added to himself.

`No, no, no, Louise. Not again.' Louis reprimanded herself.

Vecchio walked over and handed the mail receipt to Stella. "So what did you get in the mail lately from our boy Roger."

"Nothing," Stella said, " either at home or in the office.

"He must have sent you something," Kowalski said impatiently. "Think!"

"Ray, I wouldn't forget something like that." Stella said in the same condescending tone that she used right before the divorce.

"He must have sent you something, we have the receipt right here." Kowalski said, still pushing.

"I'm telling you, Ray, I didn't get..." Suddenly Stella's voice trailed off.

"There was something, wasn't there." Kowalski said. `I knew it!' he thought smugly.

"No, Ray, it was sent to someone besides me." Stella continued.

"Then why do we have the receipt with your name on it?" Kowalski asked

"I think, Ray, what Stella is trying to tell you, is that it is not her name on the receipt," Fraser explained, catching on.

"'Course it is." Kowalski was still arguing. "Kay-oh-doubleyou-ay-el..."

"I'm not the only `Kowalski' in Chicago, Ray. What did you get in your mail lately," Stella said turning the tables.

"But why would he send me anything, Kowalski finally asked. Slowly a more important thought came to mind "You told him about me?"

"Knowing you, you probably haven't opened your mail for a week," Stella said trying to change the subject.

"You told him about me?" Kowalski repeated, still smiling.

"You probably don't even know where it is," Stella continued.

"You told him enough about me for him to mail something to me?" Kowalski was stuck on that point.

"Your name must have come up in conversation once," Stella said trying to downplay the situation. `... or two or three times' she finished to herself. `Why can't I keep him out of my head?'

`Yes!' Kowalski thought, the smile brightening his whole face. He turned back toward the door. "Let's motor over to my place and check the mail."

"Benny?" Ray said as he followed Kowalski down the hallway. He knew that with Meg's present state of mind, it might be best to get Fraser out of the way.

"I think that that is an excellent suggestion, detective." Meg said formally.

"But..." Fraser opened his mouth.

"Go, leave, get out," Meg said pushing him to the door. "We'll be fine here. I promise. I can handle it."

"I had no doubts about that." Fraser said. "I am sorry about this."

Fraser bent his head and kissed Meg gently, before walking out the door.

"Thanks for letting Benny out to play, Inspector," Vecchio said as he passed Meg. He bent towards her and kissed her also, mainly because he thought that it would annoy her. But then he continued on more sincerely "I am sorry that we ruined your plans."

`My plans? Try my whole life, Vecchio,' Meg thought as she closed and locked the door behind him.

When she had first arrived at the Consulate that evening, Meg had stashed her bags in the hall closet. After ushering the men out the door, she went to her carry on bag and took out a bottle of very expensive wine that she had bought in anticipation of a romantic evening with Fraser. Right now she had no intention of saving any for him. She stopped in the kitchen for glasses and then returned to Stella and Louise in the back office.

"How about some wine, ladies, while we go over these files," she asked.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I'm telling you, Ray, it's a sign. And don't you tell me that you don't believe in signs `cause I know you do." Kowalski was still stuck on Stella's actions.

"I *do * believe in signs...I got no problem with signs, all right? I'm just saying be careful who you're getting them from," Vecchio calmly tried to explain to Kowalski.

`I am the *last * person he should be talkin' to about signs' Vecchio thought. Then he added out loud. "Just don't go gettin' yourself all excited just because Stella mentioned you to a co-worker."

"A guy co-worker, okay? Remember it was a guy co-worker. That makes a difference. A girl co-worker, sure, that's no big thing. You get talking around the water cooler one-day and old boyfriends and ex-husband come up. But a *guy * co-worker, that kind of thing just doesn't happen...that doesn't come up unless it is important. Guys and girls just don't talk about that kind of stuff with each other." Kowalski said all in one breath, as usual. "What do you think, Fraser? Is it a sign?"

There was no response from the back seat.

"Fraser?" Kowalski said, turning around.

Dief finally nudged Fraser to get his attention.

"What?" Fraser said sounding very confused. "I apologize, Ray. I was not paying attention. What were you saying?"

"Never mind, Benny. We know that you have woman problems of your own to deal with." Vecchio said.

"Did she seem particularly perturbed with me just now? I must admit that I am not always adept at reading her feelings." Fraser said. "I can't get rid of the feeling that she was angry with me. When she first came in this evening, she said something about people taking advantage of me."

"Well, the dragon lady can't accuse us of taking advantage of you." Vecchio said, his voice a little louder than he had intended. "She's done some pretty rotten stuff to you in her day.'

"Ray, I wish you wouldn't call her that." Fraser said.

"Sorry, Fraser, buddy, but I got to go along with pasta boy on this one. If she didn't like you the way you are, she'd have beat you up and left you by now." Kowalski snickered. "Or had you thrown in jail like Louise did to Vecchio, here."

"Well, I don't believe that had anything to do with him personally," Fraser began to defend his friend, but then his voice dropped off when he remembered that she had had him arrested as well. "But, I could be wrong on that assumption."

"All right, if you're so keen on signs, did you notice the way Louise ate her pie with her spoon?" Vecchio asked.

"It was the only utensil left," Kowalski pointed out.

"Doesn't matter," Vecchio said ignoring that fact. "I still think that it means something."

"Ray, I hardly believed that the method that States Attorney St. Laurent ate her dessert has any bearing at all on whether she still likes you or not." Fraser tried to point out to his friend. "Did she *say * anything that would indicate that she would like to continue the relationship?"

"*Sheesh * Fraser, what's the point in having signs, if you still have to say something!" Vecchio said as they pulled up in front of Kowalski's apartment.

"A sign is a sign." Vecchio and Kowalski said at the same time. Then each man completed the sentence in his own way.

"Stella still likes me," Kowalski said

"Louise still likes me," Vecchio said.

`Oh dear,' Fraser thought, rubbing his thumb across his eyebrow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You know, I can almost hear Ray gloating over the fact that I mentioned him to Roger." Stella said, pouring herself another glass of wine. "That's what is bothering me the most."

Louise held her wineglass out to Stella for a refill. `As long as she's pouring,' she thought, then she added out loud "Was it really only once?"

"No," Stella finally admitted. "Oh, I don't know what it is. Did you ever know someone that you knew wasn't right for you, but you still can't stop thinking about them?"

"Cops, they'll get you every time," Louise said. "The odd hours..."

"The undercover assignments..." Stella added.

"Their unusual relationship with their car..." Louis continued

"Their bad eating habits..." Stella said.

"Their sisters butting in every chance they got," Louise said, lost in thought.

"Ray doesn't have any sisters," Stella corrected.

"Oh...my mistake," Louise said coming back to reality.

Meg looked closely at Louise. "But Vecchio does." Meg Thatcher of all people knew how exasperating Francesca Vecchio could be. Vaguely, in the back of her mind, Meg could remember Fraser saying something about Ray ant the States Attorney a long time ago.

"So, when did you finally come to your senses?" Meg asked. "I know I can only take so much of Ray Vecchio at once."

"Oh, actually, it had nothing to do with Ray. Once I got to know him, he was one of the sweetest people I had ever met." Louise said

"And he looks great in those suite, too," Louise continued staring into her wine- glass.

Meg smiled and nodded in agreement. Then she quickly looked around to make sure that no one had seen her. In a way, she was almost glad that the evening had turned out the way it had. For too many years, she had been Inspector Meg Thatcher, RCMP. She had developed an outer shell that had allowed her to survive and even flourish in a man's world. Unfortunately, her professional life had cost her most of her personal life and friends. Not that she minded most of the time, but sometimes she did miss sitting around and speaking with other women. She had a feeling that Stella and Louise would understand how she felt.

"Maybe someday he could teach Ray how to dress," Stella said sarcastically, into the file she was reading. She looked up at Louise, "So, if it was all wine and roses what happened to you two?"

Suddenly Louise got a guarded expression on her face and was quiet. She just couldn't bring herself to talk about that yet. Slowly, she sat her glass down and turned her attention back to the box of files she had been working on.

"Things just didn't work out the way they should have," she said quietly.

"I guess we all know what that is like," Stella said. "When you want a career, things rarely work out the way you want them to. I really thought that Ray and I would be together forever. We were twelve years old. Can you imagine? I never even looked at anyone after that"

`I still can't,' she admitted to herself.

Meg smiled, inwardly. She had been correct about these women. It was nice to be around someone who understood.

Louise glanced at her watch. "I sure hope everything is all right. The way that Vecchio drives they should have been there and back five times by now."

"No, if I know Ray, he probably just hasn't located his mail from last week yet." Stella giggled

"Either that, or Fraser is in the middle of one of his Inuit stories and is holding them up," Meg said smiling.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So, you see, Ray, not only was the eagle's life spared, and the wolf cub set free, but the Inuit family had all of the walrus they could possible eat for the rest of their days," Fraser finished.

"Yeah, that's great, Benny," Ray Vecchio said walking away from Fraser with his hands in his overcoat pockets. "Can we give you a hand there, Ray?"

"I'm just having a little trouble finding my mail from last week, that's all," Kowalski said walking from pile to pile around his apartment. "The worst part is that I can hear Stella laughing at me from here."

"Ray, Stella is eight point seven kilometers due south of here." Fraser said. "I hardly believe that you would be able to hear her from that distance."

"Figuratively, Fraser. I'm talking figuratively!" Kowalski said running his fingers through his short hair. "It's just... she knows. Somehow she just knows. She always knew what I was gonna say... what I was gonna do. Everything! And right now she knows that I can't find my mail and she's laughing at me. It's just buggin' me that's all."

"Well, at least she thinks about you enough to laugh at you. I'm bettin' that Louise has her head in a file right now and hasn't thought about me since we left." Vecchio said.

Meanwhile, while the men were talking, Diefenbaker was doing his own investigation of Kowalski's apartment. So far, he had found some pretzels in the bedroom, a cold slice of pizza in the living room and a doughnut in the kitchen. He was following the scent of something chocolate in the vicinity of the couch, when another odor caught his nose. There was an envelope on the floor under the couch that smelled just like Fraser's friends when they came back to Fraser's building earlier. Dief thought that he should point this out to someone, but he wanted to find the source of the chocolate smell first. Ah, there it was. One Milk Dud caught between to sofa cushions. He lapped that up quickly with his tongue, and then carried the envelope over to his three friends.

"I honestly don't understand how either of you can possible know what Stella and Louise are or are not thinking about. When I was growing up, my father gave me one piece of advice about women. He said... well, now that I think about it, he actually told me this after he had died...."

"Hey, what'cha got there Dief?" Vecchio said interrupting Fraser as usual. Ray bent over and took the envelope out of Diefenbaker's mouth. Vecchio looked at it and then handed the envelope to Kowalski. "She's not laughing anymore, partner."

Kowalski opened the envelope and peeked inside. "Let's get rolling. No wonder somebody wants this so bad."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"This looks like something you might be interest in," Meg said slipping her glasses off. She reached over and handed the file to Stella. "This is the third arrest file that I've come across where the arresting officer was reassigned to a different division right before the trial. Then the officer's lieutenant would testify in his place. In all three cases it has been the same lieutenant."

"And let me take a guess, here, and say that it was the same lieutenant that worked on Roger's case." Louise quickly dug for the report on Roger's investigation. "Let's see... a Lieutenant Abbott?"

"So, it seems," Meg said looking at her file. "I should imagine that the lieutenant then gave a rather lackluster testimony and the person got off."

"Wouldn't the judge or the DA have noticed or reported him?" Louise asked.

"Not if they were the same people in all three cases also," Stella said scanning the court transcripts.

Louise peaked over Stella's shoulder. "You can't get much higher up in our office than Terrence Nichols. No one would even question him taking these big cases, they would just assume that he really wanted a conviction. I never did like him."

"Oh, and look," Stella said in mock surprise. "Wilson Daniels was the judge in all of the cases. I never liked him either."

"Well, it looks as though you ladies have yourself an angle for your case." Meg said dividing up the last of the wine for a small toast. "Or at least enough to offer Matthews a deal to get the others."

"Hopefully, Ray will dig up something that will back up our accusations," Stella said. "Matthews will never cut a deal if we can't back him up. These people are too big."

The three ladies toasted their semi success, and then grew quite. Meg stared into her wineglass, realizing that this little bit of wine was all she had left of her date with Fraser.

"Do you think that I was too hard on him?" Meg asked. She wasn't sure why she felt that she could talk to these women, but it seemed as though they had developed some sort of common bond during the course of the night. Although she didn't quite understand it, she knew that she was happier than she had been for a long time. "Perhaps I should have given him a chance to explain."

"He wouldn't have been able to explain it." Louise said. "Those two are like peanut butter and jelly: stuck together. When one of them is involved in something the other one jumps in headfirst too. We all know that Ray Vecchio can be pretty persuasive when he wants to be."

"Put him together with my... uh...Ray Kowalski," Stella caught herself just in time. "And your man Fraser doesn't have a chance."

`My man Fraser,' Meg rolled it over in her mind. She liked the way that sounded.

"I don't know your Ray," Louise said nodding toward Stella. Stella let the reference slide. "But just the fact that he is hanging around with Vecchio and the Mountie speaks volumes. Those three are as loyal to the law as they are to each other. Fraser may talk about duty and justice more than the others, but they are all equally dedicated to that concept. Anyone and anything will always take a backseat to their fight against the bad guys.

Meg studied Louise carefully. "You still care for him, don't you? What really happened between you two?"

Louise took a deep breath. She glanced away for a moment and Meg wasn't sure she was going to answer at first.

"My older brother is pretty high up in the F.B.I. He told me... I knew about Ray's undercover assignment about three months before Ray did. I knew that he would accept it, he had no choice, really. This was his big chance to catch the worst of the bad guys. I thought that I should make his decision a little easier. But the F.B.I. had to wait until just the right time to get him in there... it drug on longer than it should have and I just couldn't wait around until it happened. I ran away...took a leave of absence and I left town. The last time I saw him, I treated him like dirt and then I left. Once the Feds did get in touch with him, things happened so fast that I never did see him again...not until tonight. I'm not even sure I could explain any of this to him."

"I really think that you and Fraser could have something, Meg. He really does care for you. Ray used to talk about you when we were seeing each other," Louise continued. "As long as you have the right expectations going in."

"It's all about expectations, isn't it?" Stella said. "Ray and I loved each other...we still love each other, always will I suspect. When it came right down to it, when I needed help and someone to trust I went running to Ray. But our expectations changed somewhere along the line. I'm not sure if it is too late for us, but don't miss your chance Louise. Now that you know what to expect from Vecchio, don't miss your chance again. You either Meg."

Stella grew quiet. It was almost impossible for her to admit it, but she still missed Ray Kowalski. She missed dancing through the night with him, not knowing or even caring what time it was. She missed his experimental hair and all of the times he tried to impress her by leaving his glasses at home. He was one of the bravest people she had ever known and he had three citations to prove it, but it was the high value he placed on others lives that earned him those awards. She was one of the few people who understood that he truly was a poet on the inside, while he put on the facade of being a tough guy for everyone else in the world. She even sometimes missed the part of him that truly wanted to be a daddy.

"If they ever come back," Louise said interrupting Stella's thoughts. "I really am getting worried about them, now that we know who all is involved. This goes way deeper than we thought."

"They should have been back by now," Meg agreed.

"I never should have dragged Ray into this," Stella said. "I just didn't know who else to go to."

"I'm sure they are fine," Meg said. "They are all capable officers of the law who can take care of themselves in any situation."

"Do you really believe that?" Stella asked. She knew Ray Kowalski far too well to accept that.

"Not for an instant," Meg said.

"Me either," Louise added.

No sooner had the words been spoken then they all heard a small `thud' coming from one of the back rooms of the Consulate.

"Is there anyone else here tonight?" Stella asked, whispering.

"Not that I am aware of," Meg answered in a whisper also. "Turnbull was leaving just as I arrived. And Inspector Moffat rarely makes it past lunchtime."

They heard a door open farther back in the hallway and Meg quickly went to the light switch and flicked it off. `No use telling them where we are,' she thought.

Meg pulled Stella and Louise behind her, her Mountie training taking over. The three women heard footsteps coming slowly down the hall towards them. When the sound reached the doorway, Meg punched towards the source of the noise where she was hoping a face should be. She then grabbed the would-be assailant around the neck and threw the person to the ground, immediately pinning the person's arms to the floor with her legs.

Stella quickly hit the light switch and the three women stared down to see who the attacker was. A pair of surprised green eyes stared back up at them.

"Inspector, I didn't know that you cared." Ray Vecchio said rubbing his quickly blackening eye. "It nice to see you haven't lost your touch."

"Vecchio? What the hell did you think you were doing, sneaking up on us like that?" Louise almost screamed at him.

"I wasn't `sneaking up on you.' I was going to the front door to let Fraser and Kowalski in. Fraser forgot his keys. He was worried that Meg was still angry with him and he didn't want to interrupt you by ringing the bell. He sent me in through his office window to test the waters to see how icy they were. I guess he was right, as usual," Vecchio said still holding his eye.

"I'll go let them in," Meg said heading to the front door. `That actually felt pretty good after all of these years,' she admitted to herself. Her hand hurt a little but there was smile pulling on the corners of her mouth.

"Louise why don't you go get some ice for Detective Vecchio's eye," Stella said winking at Louise. "We don't want him explaining a black eye at work tomorrow."

Just as Louise left the room, Meg returned with Fraser and Kowalski.

"Lookie, lookie, what we found," Kowalski said walking towards Stella, but grinning at Vecchio's eye. Meg had obviously explained things to them already.

"How long did it take you to find the pile of mail that this was in?" Stella asked sarcastically. "Or did the wolf have to sniff it out for you?"

The three men were speechless. Kowalski had been right, she did know him very well.

Fraser recovered first. "That's not important right now. What is important, is the fact that we are now in possession of a computer disk, which, hopefully, will have some enlightening information on it."

"Might I suggest that we go use the computer in Constable Fraser's office to see exactly what we do have." Meg said.

"Of course, Sir." Fraser quickly reverted back to his old habits, still unsure of how to interpret her mood.

The four of them headed back to Fraser's office just as Louise returned with the ice for Ray Vecchio.

"Aren't you even the least bit curious as to what we found?" Vecchio asked when Louise sat down next to him instead of following the others.

"Yes, I am," Louise said as she applied the ice to Ray's eye. "But before I go back there, I owe you an explanation."

"Why? It wasn't you that decked me," Ray said, slightly confused.

"Not this time," Louise said. She took a deep breath before she continued. `It's now or never,' she thought.

Slowly, Louise began to tell Vecchio the story she had shared earlier with Meg and Stella. This evening had either been a happy coincidence or a dreadful mistake. At least, if she told him the truth now she could either finally bring closure to their old relationship or begin a new one with a clean slate.

"That's why you left me?" Vecchio questioned at the end of Louise's story.

Slowly she nodded, "Ray, I am so sorry."

"I was afraid you left me because Frannie and Maria were always buttin' in all the time." Vecchio took a deep breath and ran his hands slowly over his scalp. His green eyes studied her for a moment before he continued. "Or because of something I did."

"Can you forgive me?" Louise asked. It was something she just had to know.

"Oh, I don't know," he said. Suddenly, he got a twinkle in his eyes. "Maybe if you offer to buy me dinner this Friday night, it will give me a chance to think about it."

"No way Vecchio. You still owe me for getting a conviction on the Anthony case you almost blew." Louise said flashing her eyes at him. Her heart was doing the same little dance that it had started in the restaurant.

`Why are you doing this to yourself, Louise?' she thought, but immediately she knew the answer: She still loved Ray Vecchio. She loved him for his large nose and even bigger heart; she loved him for his loyalty to his friends and family and his dedication to the law. She loved him for every smudge he ever wiped off the Riv and for every doughnut that he sneaked to the wolf; for every time he bailed the Mountie out of jail and for every time he was thrown in jail standing up for his principles. She loved him for his Armani suites and his patterned silk shirts. All in all, she still loved Ray Vecchio. But most of all, she loved his eyes; the eyes that were watching her very closely right now.

`God, she is beautiful,' Ray thought looking at her. He stood up and closed the distance between them in three strides. Slowly, he put his arms around her and drew her into a warm embrace. "I can't lie to you, Louise, I never could. It hurt when you left, but you were right, it was for the best. I had to go. It was just something I had to do."

He released her, but continued to hold onto her hand, afraid that if he left go, she might disappear again. He was also afraid for himself, however. He didn't want to move too fast or fall too quickly again. This time, he wanted to take his time and do it right.

"Let's go see what was on that disk." He said pulling her gently towards the door.

The two walked down the hall stepping carefully around Diefenbaker, who was quite comfortably lying right in the middle of the doorway of Fraser's office. Fraser was seated at the desk, his hands flying almost magically over the keys. The others were standing around him staring intensely at the monitor. Stella and Meg glanced up curiously at Louise when she entered the small office. Vecchio had spent enough time around woman to know that some sort of unspoken communication had just taken place between the three ladies, however he had no idea what it meant. He looked questioningly at Louise but she gave him no clue as to what the three of them had done all evening.

`Well, that will give us something to talk about on Friday, anyway,' he thought. `Oh, no! Friday! It will be like a first date all over again. Where should I take her?' Vecchio mind was going a mile a minute reliving his anxiety over their first date. He glanced quickly around Fraser's office, which now also served as his place of residence. `Benny could never fit a sweat lodge in here.'

"Ray...Ray...Ray..." Fraser was repeating over and over again. It seemed to be an irritating habit that Fraser had picked up while Vecchio was undercover.

"What?" Vecchio finally asked slightly annoyed.

"I asked what you know about the Santangelo Family." Fraser repeated.

"They used to be big down on the south-side. They were giving Zuko a run for his money, literally, there for awhile. The past two years or so, rumor has it that they have been losing money and control of things. Nobody takes them seriously anymore." Ray answered.

"Well, I think that we have the answer as to why they have been losing money." Stella said. "It looks like Mathews has been skimming money for a long time.

"They must have discovered that the money was missing. It looks like he has been doing his best to get it back to the right places." Kowalski said, as Fraser scanned the information on the disk.

"I guess that is why he started the freelance drug dealing, to make up some of the money he stole." Louise said. "But that still doesn't explain why these supposedly straight people are involved."

"No, but this might," Fraser said, as he scanned down a little further.

"Looks like he's been doing some freelance blackmailing, too." Vecchio said staring over Fraser's shoulder.

"Quite a few of the names on this list are the same people who were involved in those cases we found earlier." Meg said squinting at the screen. She still had problems admitting that she wore reading glasses.

"Matthews must have been working on a deal with your boy Roger for the info on this disk." Kowalski said. "I guess there were some people who didn't want that to happen."

"That's probably what he was calling to tell me that day," Stella said.

"That, and to tell you that he mailed the disk to me," Kowalski added reminding Stella that he had been involved due to her.

`Oh, great. How long is he going to be throwing that in my face?' Stella thought. Inwardly, she had to admit that she was glad that he would be close enough to torment her for a long time.

`I can get some good mileage out of this one, if I play my cards right.' Kowalski was thinking. `I might just get her to admit that she still loves me after all.'

"Inspector, can we arrange to keep Stella and Louise here until we get some of these loose end tied up and some warrants issued?" Vecchio asked. He knew that they would be safer here than anywhere else; especially with Meg Thatcher protecting them. Unconsciously, he reached up and rubbed his eye.

"Of course, I'll see what I can do," Meg said. Actually, the thought of the two ladies staying longer, pleased her. She would never admit that, though.

`Fraser, you owe me big time for this one. If I ever get my hands on you...' Meg stopped in mid-thought and smiled at the possibilities.

"Constable, why don't you go see what kind of shape the spare rooms are in." Meg said

"Yes. Ma'am," Fraser said. He got out of the chair so quickly he almost knocked it over in the process.

Fraser turned and glanced back at Meg, sadly. `I am sorry about the way this evening turned out,' He thought. "Why is it that we always *have * to get our man? This one wasn't even *our * man. He belongs to a completely different country, with a completely different government. All he did was completely destroy what could have been a very enjoyable evening.'

Meg Thatcher watched Ben leave the room. She never liked taking advice from people, but in this case she had to admit that Louise and Stella had been correct. Fraser definitely deserved another chance. He deserved a chance for every `thank you kindly' and every time he was so shaken that he called her `Sir;' she owed him a chance because he always put duty and honor above everything. For his loyalty to his wolf and even greater loyalty to his friends; for every apology for things that he had no control over and for always owning up to the things which he was responsible for.

"Uh, Ben, wait. I'll give you a hand." Meg said stepping over Diefenbaker.

`I bet you will! Those Mounties *do * always get their man.' Vecchio thought, smiling. Then he glanced over at Louise. `I guess cops don't do to bad, either.'

For no reason at all, Louise found herself smiling back at Ray Vecchio. `Here we go again,' she thought. `I wonder if he still has a sweat lodge?'

Diefenbaker looked up and sniffed the air. Things were going on that he just couldn't figure out. None of the humans were moving their mouths, which meant that they weren't speaking, so why was he picking up all of these strange signals from his friends?

`Maybe humans have thoughts running through their heads just like wolves do.' Dief lay his head back down on his front paws and got comfortable again. He finally found the perfect position and sighed deeply.

`Nah,' he thought drifting off to sleep again.