February 13
Veronika S

Comments: veronika92@yahoo.com This is short and sweet, no spoilers, no plot. Post CotW. For purposes of the story, I estimated the start date of Ray Kowalski and Benton Fraser's adventure to find the Hand of Franklin to be April 1, 1998. For those of you who don't know, the deadline for filing federal taxes in the United States is April 15.

Summary: Ray Kowalski and Benton Fraser discuss St. Valentine's Day.

Rating: R. Mild m/m interaction.

Disclaimers: The following is written purely for the enjoyment of fans and may not be reprinted or used in any way for profit. All characters are the property of Alliance Communications. No copyright infringement is intended.

February 13
Veronika S

It was dark and cold, as always. Dark and cold were the only constants winter in the Canadian wilderness had to offer. However, to Ray Kowalski, these constants were just a backdrop for the other, closer constants: the shuffling of the dogs, the crackling of the fire, and the scratch of the pencil as his companion their northern journey, Benton Fraser, was writing in his journal.

"Fraser?"

"Yes, Ray."

"What day is it?"

"It's Saturday"

"I mean, what's the date?"

"February 13."

"Valentine's Day eve."

"Strictly speaking it is Ray, although I don't believe it has the significance of Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve."

"No, I guess it doesn't," Ray chuckled.

"Fraser?"

"Yes Ray."

"What date did we begin this adventure?"

"It was Wednesday, April 1."

"Oh yeah, I remember. I had to hurry and file my taxes before we could go."

"Didn't you get your tax forms in the mail at the last village we were in?"

"Don't remind me." Catching a stern look from Ben, Ray relented. "OK, I'll sit down and do them at the next village. If I try to do them out here, the ink in my pen will freeze and my paperwork will blow away."

Ben smiled and returned to his writing.

"So we've been looking for the lost hand, Franklin's hand, for nearly a year."

"Yes Ray, it would appear that we have."

"Do you think we'll ever find it?"

"Ray, I believe our adventure is best defined not by what we find, but rather by the journey we take."

"The journey, yeah. Umm...are you happy Fraser?"

"Yes Ray."

"Even thought it's been a year since you were a Mountie, officially that is?"

"Well technically Ray, I am still a Mountie. I have merely taken an extended leave of absence whereas you have entirely quit -"

"I know that! I was meaning wearing the uniform and doing the work day after day."

"Well, if you will recall, this adventure has given me ample opportunity to act in an unofficial manner."

"That cabin of snowed in hunters last month."

"Yes, and the lost little boy we tracked down last summer."

"Yeah, that was kind of nice."

"Kind of made you feel like a police officer again?" Ben suggested in a soft tone.

"Yeah, but being a cop isn't part of me. It's a good job, and an important job, but it wasn't in me. It wasn't a big loss to me to walk away from it. Being a Mountie is, I don't know, like ingrained in you. You were practically born and bred for it. I just kinda fell into being a cop."

"That may appear to be true, but I don't believe that my family tradition in the RCMP has made me a better officer any more than your lack of family tradition made you less of one."

"Do you want to go back, to being a Mountie I mean."

Ben looked out into the darkness, barely registering the glittering terrain and the starry skies reflecting back. He pondered Ray's question for so long that Ray wanted to tell him to forget it, but couldn't. Instead, Ray waited quietly, genuinely wondering what the answer would be.

"I'm not sure. When I joined, I was so young and eager that I didn't really pause to explore other opportunities. Now, I don't know what I'll do."

"Kinda scary isn't it?" Ray said with a grin. "Not knowing what to do with your life."

"Yes it is. Thank you for asking Ray, I really haven't given it any thought before now."

Ray poked idly at the fire, encouraging it to revive one last time before the duo called it a night. The scratching stopped and Ben closed his journal and placed it in his pack.

"So?"

"So what Ray"

"So Valentine's Day"

"It's tomorrow Ray."

"You done told me that. Have you ever done any crazy shit on Valentine's Day?"

"By 'crazy shit' you mean..."

"You know, sex on the tundra, streaking the girl Mounties dorms, anything like that."

"No, I can't say that I have. I suppose you have done something like that."

"Yeah, a few things."

"Such as?"

"You gotta be - OK, fine. I guess I owe it to you for bringing it up in the first place."

"You don't owe me anything Ray, it's just that since I haven't done anything you would define as 'crazy shit', I'm just curious as to what kind of 'crazy shit' you have done."

"OK already, I'll tell ya! Just quit cussing, it doesn't sound right coming from you. Umm...well, there was this one Valentine's me and Stella, God we were so young, she was still in school, pre-law, and living in the dormitories. Her father had some crazy idea that she got better grades living on campus than she would have living in her own place. All it really meant was that we had to be careful about sneaking me in. Since I wasn't in college anymore, we both could have got into some real trouble if we had of got caught. Anyway, it's Valentine's. We go out for a little dinner, a little dancing, and we're walking back to her dorm. We're both feeling a little silly and a little tipsy, and she takes off running. I chased her and ended up chasing her into the dorm, up the stairs and a ladder, at least, I think there was a ladder, and we finally ended up together on the roof. Just being on the roof was against the rules, big time, but we didn't care. We made love. Right there on the roof in the cold and the wind and the snow, but neither one of us felt it at all."

"Ray, that was extremely dangerous and by your own admission against the rules of Stella's university!"

"Yeah, but that's what made it fun."

Ben shook his head in disgust as he got up to add a few pieces of wood to the fire.

"Would you ever do anything like that?"

"No Ray."

"No?"

"No."

"OK. I see. I guess hot love on a cold roof on Valentine's Day is beyond even you. You'd rather endanger my life in bazaar ways spontaneously rather than schedule it on a convenient day so I could plan for it."

"I suppose so," Ben said with a smile.

"Not even a kiss?"

"What?"

"On Valentine's, not even a Valentine's Day kiss?"

"I don't suppose my grandmother counts?"

"No Fraser, your grandmother definitely does not count."

"Then no Ray."

"Why not?"

Ben sighed. "I guess because I never happened to be with that special someone on St. Valentines Day."

"Just a case of bad timing, uh Frase."

"Miscalculation, Ray."

"Whatever."

"You know why it was so easy for me to quit being a cop?" Ray spoke from deep within the folds of his sleeping bag.

"No Ray, although I must admit that I was rather surprised at your decision last spring."

"It was because I wanted to do something, make my own life. After Vecchio came back and took back his life and his family and my ex-wife to boot, I didn't have an identity. On paper, to everyone in the department, hell, even to his mother, I was Ray Vecchio. I wasn't Stanley Raymond Kowalski to anyone but you Ben. You allowed me to have my own identity. You made me feel special."

"The feeling is mutual Ray."

"What feeling?"

"You make me feel special too, Ray."

"So, I'm your special someone on Valentine's Day then, uh, Ben," Ray teased.

"Yes, you are, or at least, you will be tomorrow, Ray."

"Ray...Ray...Ray...Ray!"

"What Ben!"

"It's still two hours and 27 minutes until midnight."

"You interrupted me to tell me that?"

"St. Valentine's Day doesn't start until midnight. I told you that I had never kissed anyone on St. Valentine's Day."

"Ben, quit talking and I guarantee that I will personally see to it that you get kissed on Valentine's Day."

"Understood."