This is part of a series relating the adventures of Fraser and Thatcher on a training tour in Disney World. Since all kinds of brand names and corporations are mentioned through the course of this epic, let me make it clear I own none of them, and I have used them purely for the purposes of free entertainment, and will make no personal gain from this. The due South characters belong to Alliance, not me. However, I do own all of the people that you've never heard of before. Disney World belongs to some huge publicly owned conglomerate, not me. I hope they don't sue me for some of the liberties I take in this series. I acknowledge the role of Disney in the American Culture, and recognize it as a national resource. I also acknowledge that management training seminars are a foundation of the international economy, but do not need to be taken as seriously as Disney.

This series assumes that season 3/4 did not take place; that Ray and the Riv are still around; that Thatcher never cut her hair or got as strange as she did toward the end, but that Fraser's apartment was burned down and he did live for a while at the Consulate.

RATING: G

Comments: tomato_3@excite.com

~ Here we are on the first step of the road to hell. ~

Meg should never have watched the Pretender where Jarod turned a room into a giant Roach Motel - it was all that she could think about at the moment. She moved her feet slightly; just checking, you can never be too sure sometimes. She sat and listened to the beginning spiel in the seminar orientation. She knew that she'd been to at least three too many of these types of training events and had developed far too jaundiced an attitude to enjoy the prospect of participating in another one.

Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at her 'team partner.' As she expected, Fraser was listening apparently with complete attention to the introductions. At first she wondered if he were faking it, and then mentally shook herself for even entertaining the idea. This was Benton Fraser, who was constitutionally incapable of pretending anything as far as she could tell.

~ Although there was that time he impersonated a female teacher at an all girls high school, so who knows. Maybe he's as suspicious of this whole thing as I am. ~

She still found that whole drag queen episode extraordinarily bizarre. Meg had never understood the need for Fraser to personally conduct the investigation. Did the Chicago PD have NO female officers who could fake teaching for all of three days! Like so many of his other adventures, she had finally decided that Fraser was not able to walk away from a case that needed investigation once he knew about it. It didn't seem to matter whether he was on the case or not. Somehow, he always seemed to make it his business. To him, it was all about people in trouble.

When she thought about it - which tended to be either more than she should, (when she was thinking about him as an interesting, attractive, intelligent man); or less than she should, (when she was thinking of him as his superior officer, and trying to figure out how to more effectively direct his activities toward the conduct of the affairs of Canada) - Meg figured that he must have a tremendous amount of pent up intellectual energy that only police work seemed to satisfy. So, rather than have him twitch from stymied 'investigational' frustration, she let him go out and play with the Chicago PD. She also prayed a lot that he wouldn't get too badly banged up, which seemed to happen with alarming frequency. For the last two years, her New Year's wish had been to not have to visit him in the hospital. She had been disappointed both years, more than once.

Having let her mind drift out to sea for a while, she realized that she had better catch up with what was going on back in 'Touchy-Feelly Ville.' Turning back to what the seminar leader was saying, she realized that he had moved onto the actual goals and objectives for the seminar. Well, she'd read the goals and objectives last night, and she knew what her personal goals and objectives were: survive with something approaching her sense of self respect intact, and get a handle on this itch for Fraser - one way or the other. And also, silence that little screechy voice in her head saying ~ ~ ~Stop, Meg, Stop~ as well as the one saying ~Go, Meg, Go.~

Looking around she counted 36 other people in the meeting area, with two seats empty for apparently a late-arriving team. So, 20 teams would be participating in the two-week seminar.

She was trying to decide which circle of hell from Dante's Inferno would best describe what they were doing. Between the information in the packet and what she'd heard at registration, this was either going to be comparable to living off of oatmeal gruel for two weeks, all texture but little substance. Or, it was going to involve shredding every personal defensive barrier that she had carefully erected while in Chicago, if not a few from before. Not enough information, yet.

"During the next two weeks we will be striving toward creation of a new mental paradigm for defining management relationships within your team construct. Each of the organizations participating in this seminar has sent two person teams currently tasked with mission critical assignments that require a high degree of synergy. Many of you are faced with the challenge of responding to a wide variety of poorly defined, fast response action items, requiring highly flexible, fungible resources. This seminar is intended to help you understand and appreciate your task team assets and to develop strategies for organizing your workload to more fully utilize these scare resources."

It was like lying in a lukewarm glycerine bath. His words washed over Meg, slowly tranquilizing her into a stupor. She loathed these kinds of speeches, with the over use of technobabble geek-speak, and with so little internal structure that once your attention drifted, you were lost as surely as if they'd removed every street sign in Mexico City, or Boston. All she really wanted to do was stay awake. Fraser appeared totally engaged. How did he do it? He was probably able to go into that alpha state he used on sentry duty.

(Fraser was in fact intensely concentrating on trying not to stare at Meg's legs, revealed by the short denim skirt whe wore today. She'd crossed them and her right foot was bouncing just beyond his knee, twitching with her impatience. She always did this when she didn't want to be in meetings. It drove him crazy, not the least because he wanted to reach out and grab her ankle to still her foot. Of course, after he grabbed it, he was never very sure what he would do with it. His mind tended to melt a little at the thought, the image blurring. He was working very hard on resisting this urge, primarily by keeping his eyes focused on the speaker's bald spot. His eyes were starting to feel like termites had been dancing on the lids.)

"First, I think each of us should introduce ourselves and identify the organization we are representing. One rule that we adhere to very seriously in this seminar is the "No Ranks" rule. From now on, for the next two weeks - regardless of how you address each other when you are on the job, you only use first names. Getting beyond the ranks and titles is the first step to appreciating the essential capabilities of the team. So, with that proviso, lets start over here on my right."

~ Thank God Fraser's not in red serge, or we would spend the next two weeks fielding questions or fighting off women.~ Meg didn't want to examine her intestinal reaction to the later situation.

"I'm Jim Thatcher, from the United States Geological Survey." Said someone from the back of the room.

Meg had been listening with half an ear, but upon hearing this introduction her head bobbed up like a yo yo on a string. Swiveling around in her chair she searched for the speaker. Fraser had noted the similarity in names, but since Thatcher was not uncommon, thought nothing of it until he saw Meg's response.

He was waiting for her to find him. Having resumed his seat, the speaker had leaned forward so she could have a clear field of view. She spotted him. He grinned at her, waving his fingers in greeting. Clearly delighted at this turn of events.

Leaning back in her chair, Meg stared forward looking pale as snow. Fraser heard her mutter, "Oh God, this is all I need!" Fraser was somewhat concerned, however, he resisted the urge to turn and look at the other man.

"Is everything alright?" He whispered, leaning over to Meg. She looked at him blank-faced, but he could still see the shade of dread in her eyes. She knew she would not be able to keep this from him. It was just that what had started out to be a difficult two weeks, what with sharing the apartment with Fraser and all, had suddenly become truly unnerving.

"I'll tell you at the break. But let me warn you, whatever you thought you were prepared for with this seminar just went out the window." He had no idea what she was talking about.

Eventually they did break for coffee at midmorning. Jim Thatcher made a beeline for Meg and Ben, a huge grin on his face. Meg stood still, knowing what was coming.

"MEGGIE! I can't believe it! You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw you stand up and introduce yourself!" He wrapped her in a big hug, which she somewhat uncomfortably accepted, and placed a big smackeroo kiss on her cheek. Turning to Fraser, who had been standing beside Meg watching this interchange, Jim stretched his hand, the smile still on his face.

"Hi! I'm Jim Thatcher, Meg's brother." He said with an even bigger grin when he saw Fraser's eyes widen at this news.

"Reportedly missing in the US Government for the last year and therefore unable to write or call any other member of his family." Meg said with a smile as she shook her head at this surprising turn of events. Jim had the good grace to look abashed at being caught.

Ben smiled, surprised at the unexpected opportunity to meet any of Meg's family. Up until now, he wasn't really sure that any of her family was still living, since she rarely spoke of them. Looking at the two of them he could see the family resemblance. Dark chestnut hair, brown eyes, although Jim was closer in size to Ben in height and weight, and probably 4 or 5 years younger. While Meg tended to be more self-contained, Jim was clearly extroverted, radiating a kind of delight with the world at large and especially with seeing his older sister.

"Pleased to meet you, Jim." Fraser decided that bridging the conversational gap was a good move at his point. Jim shook his hand, pausing as if to say something, he looked at his sister. Seeing the look of steel as well as the glint of panic swarming in her eyes, he reconsidered his next statement. Instead, he seemed to go with discretion.

"So, Meggie, how in the world did you end up in this boondoggle? I thought you were being oh so serious and professional in Chicago, or was I mistaken?"

~ Oh joy, I am now with the two men in the world who can make me blush with a single question. This is payback - probably for being such a shrew to Fraser in the beginning. I am now willing to believe that 'Cosmic Justice' exists. ~

"Ben and I were sent here by the RCMP. They want each of their liaison 'teams,'" here she raised her eyebrows at Fraser, indicating her use of the desired seminar term; he smiled at her effort, bringing out one of his dimples. She stopped for a moment, drawn into his smile, then remembered that they weren't alone. Turning back to her brother, she continued.

"They want their consulate liaison teams to go through some kind of training like this." Jim had caught the brief look that had passed between Meg and Ben. Delighted at the opportunity to goose his sister, he advanced his line of inquiry.

"So, which one of you is on top." He asked with a smile, knowing the answer but much more interested in the response to the question. Sure enough, Meg's cheeks turned deep rose, but then so did Fraser's. Ah, a double header!

"Fraser's my deputy at the Chicago Consulate, Jim." Meg made it clear from the tone of her voice that she wasn't expecting her brother to pursue this line of inquiry. The twinkle she saw in his eye made her distinctly uncomfortable.

"That must be interesting. You'll have to tell me what it's like working for my sister. I seem to recall that she had more than a slight tendency toward work-aholism. But I think we are going to have to save that discussion for later. How about if we continue this over lunch? We can catch up on what's been happening over the last year, and I can introduce you to my teammate, Albert Pennyweather. Right now, I need coffee. See you later Meggie, Ben." And with another bright smile, Jim whirled off into the crowd, heading toward the coffee bar.

Meg just stood there, stunned at the sudden apparition of her baby brother. Turning to Ben, she tried to explain.

"I never know where Jimmy is going to pop up next. The last time we spoke, he was still doing graduate work at McGill. Then I heard that he'd gone to work as a consultant to some US Government agency, but no one in my family could remember which one. So, I'd decided to just wait him out. Eventually, he always remembers that he has a family somewhere and gets in touch. Usually it's with me."

Fraser saw the soft smile on her face and realized that she was, in fact very pleased to see her younger brother, too. It was another new facet of Meg Thatcher's personality that he was seeing on this trip. It was intriguing.

"The only thing is, Jimmy has something of a 'quirky' sense of humor. I do hope that he observes some of the sense of who and where we are. Otherwise . . . ." She actually shuddered at the thought of what her brother could do to her already shaky peace of mind. It did not bode well.

  Since this was obviously just a set up section, there must be more to come.