Author's Website: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/8741/jmgarden.htm

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, Alliance does, more's the pity.

Author's Notes: Shattered.

Story Notes: Pairing: Benny/Ray V.
Categories: Drama, Romance.
Rating: PG-13.

Benny shivered as he curled up to the warm body next to him. He was 'feeling poorly' as his grandmother would have said, but that was just because he was tired. He was with Ray, and that always made him feel good. He loved the warm, slender Italian body and the olive skin, the delightful nose and the incredible green eyes.

He could smell the mouth-watering smells of good Italian cooking wafting up the stairs. Perhaps that wonderful food would make him feel better.

He needed Ray so much. He had never had a love like this, and sometime that need seemed to make him desperate. He blushed as he remembered that after they had been together for awhile and felt comfortable with each other, he had broached the subject of need and desire and perfectionism and how he had needed a certain set of sexual practices that no one would have dreamed of hearing from him. And Ray had given him what he needed, even in that, and they had both benefited.

They had come so far and through so much. So many images swam through his mind: A wild race through the blinding snows of the Territories; the darkness of dirty, grimy alleys; the smile of Ray as he sat at his kitchen table in 3J and drank coffee that his lover had made; Ray griping as he tried to type without mistakes; Ray giving him a wink as he disappeared into Welsh's office; Ray walking with that breathtaking grace as the folds of his long coat swirled around him; the flash of a fireball and the beloved Riv burning with the smell of flesh...

His body jerked and he clamped down on the memories of an anguished scream as strong arms held the man whose partner was burning in that inferno. So much pain afterwards. So much emotional bleeding as events careened out of control.

But that was over. He had Ray now, and that was all that mattered. He pushed his body closer, inhaling the wonderful scent of his lover, and relaxed as he slowly fell asleep.

His companion's fingers stroked through pelt-like hair, a faint smile on his face as he stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom. He could smell that wonderful cooking, too.

The man beside him needed him so much. He'd wanted this man since the first moment he'd seen him. This beautiful Mountie had come into his life in the throes of grief, and had needed comforting. Throwing all his cautions to the winds, he had allowed himself to get caught up in the Canadian's life. He knew that other people were appalled at the relationship. He didn't give a flying fuck about them but he had to protect this man. For once, he could do something right.

For the man they both had loved.

Frankie Zuko sighed as he closed his eyes, drifting off into sleep as the man with the shattered mind curled up closer to him.