Disclaimer: Copyright to Alliance.

Author's Notes: Thank all slash gods that be for the Due South email groups called "TwoAxes".

Story Notes: I can't keep track of all the spoilers I use, so beware!

Copyright to Alliance. Pairing: Fraser/Vecchio Summary: Ray helps Benny remove his makeup after being Ms. Fraser. Rating: PG

"Passion Flower" by LadyAna

"Oh, and Benny? Before I drop you off?"

"What?"

The Italian Detective looked in the rearview mirror and circled his own face with his finger, indicating the make up the Mountie still wore. The Canadian looked in the rearview mirror and became greatly disturbed he'd forgotten he was still decked out in Cover Girl's finest.

"Oh, dear."

They had been discussing the case of the missing girl, Celine and reading parts of her diary to try to find out who she might be with. It made Ray think of the English classes he had to take in school, a lot of which he really didn't remember. But there were a few that stuck out in his memory, simply because he could understand what the writer was trying to say and it wasn't a bunch of that abstract garbage he could never make sense of. Vecchio once again glanced in the mirror to see Benny remove the earrings. Then the Mountie started to anxiously rummage around in his handbag. Fraser looked up, but now he seemed even more upset. Blue-grey eyes floated closed in horror.

"What's wrong?" Ray asked.

"Ah, it seems...when I went shopping for the items to disguise myself, I thought I had obtained all I was going to need. But for some reason I can't find my makeup remover." The desperate Constable began to search in vain through his purse again. "I have some tissue, but I don't think it will remove it completely."

Ray smiled, then began to laugh. "You actually didn't double check, knowing you'd need to take all that stuff back off?"

"This is not a laughing matter, Ray. The Inspector will definitely notice something if I don't eliminate all the evidence, as it were."

The Constable's eyes were getting scared at this point, so Ray decided to stop teasing him. "Okay, Benny, don't worry. I've got it covered."

"But Ray, I am running a tad behind schedule and if we do not hurry, I will be late. And given I do not have the Glendorlan Scotch the Inspector wanted..."

The Detective sighed. Leave it to the Mountie to remind the cop of how he had let him down. And Ray certainly didn't want Thatcher to see his partner in his present state.

"Yeah, Benny, I get the message. I broke your bottle and I'm doing what I can to make up for it. Now calm down. You've got time and I know what we need to do."

The Riv pulled onto a side street and parked, which did nothing to ease the fearful tension growing in his best friend in the backseat. "Ray, I don't understand how stopping here is going to help."

Vecchio got up and turned around so that he was on his knees in the driver's seat, facing the Canadian. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his pristine, white handkerchief and a small tube. "Benny, I've lived with women most of my life. I, if anyone, know how to remove makeup. Now come closer and hold still." The Italian squirted a pea-sized amount of the thick liquid from the tube onto the cloth and came towards his friend.

The Constable twisted his neck a bit to look at the folded napkin. "What is that, Ray?"

"It's lip balm, Benny. It won't bite you. Now close your eyes."

Doing as he was instructed, Fraser closed his eyes and Ray applied the warm goo to Benny's eyelids. Fraser sniffed. "Ah, I see. It's petroleum-based. Yes, it will be very effective in dissolving the ingredients in question."

He wiped down Fraser's forehead, using the opposite side of the handkerchief to clean it off. Ray shook his head in awe, seeing the detail and quality of the makeup job. He was also surprised to see how much foundation the Constable had used. Removing it would take a little more effort than Vecchio initially realized. He should have known, when the Mountie did something, he went all out. The Italian backed off just a bit to get a better view and the words came to him, uncalled for, but still the plain truth.

*Beautiful. Inside and out.*

Ray knitted his brow, not accustomed to reacting to Fraser's appearance. What unnerved hm the most was the sad fact it wasn't *Ms. Fraser* he was favorably observing. This was Benny, sans wig and gown, but he suddenly found the *man* appealing. Well, that wasn't exactly true. In the past, Ray *had* noticed just how beautiful Fraser was a thousand times and then some. This was just one of those rare instances where a person could take their time to drink in the Mountie's beauty.

Once again, Vecchio squinted, wondering why he'd want to gaze in abandon at his friend's face in the first place. Not believing what his mind was saying, he distracted his fluttering heart by obtaining more of the oil. He took hold of the Mountie's chin, separating the supple lips and dabbed at the lipstick Ms. Fraser wore, still marveling at the effort Benny had put into the task.

*Damn. He did a great job here. I can't believe he did this, dressing up like that. I just thought he were *way* too uptight to do anything of the sort.*

It made him wonder what *else* that unconventional upbringing of the Mountie's had encouraged him to experiment with. Well, he knew what Fraser was capable of. As much as he liked to play the stoic solider, there was a lot of sensuality and style under that controlled facade. Ray's memory went back to the last few weeks of them together, times and events that made the Italian wonder if he was losing his mind.

He thought of the Mountie giving him searching looks, coy smiles and seemingly innocent, but possibly intended physical contact, sometimes a little more than just a passing touch. And there had been some suggestive and leading conversations that it made the cop wonder if Fraser was just being clueless. Or was he? Some of the incidents and dialog seemed provoked, like an open invitation on the Detective's part.

Ray couldn't get his head around what his instincts were telling him. Was the Constable...*interested* in him? That thought made Vecchio's heart beat faster and he became a little more than nervous. What was even more unnerving was the fact the Italian was reacting to the seemingly seductive message. Ray began talking, hoping it would distract from his trembling hands. "So tell me...the Inuit teach you this?"

"I've never been instructed in the art of dressing as a female, but I just thought it best to keep the tones understated and the colors neutral, just as would any teacher employed at a school for Catholic Girls."

Benny's breath was sweet and warm on Ray's cheek. It was all still a bit too much for the American, so he segued the topic a bit. "Frannie uses that remover stuff by the ton, let me tell you. I'll never forget the time she was twelve and tried using soap to take off her mascara. She almost dunked her whole head in the sink to get the stuff out of her eyes."

Ray giggled, to which Benny admonished him. "Now really, Ray. You shouldn't laugh at your sister's misfortune."

"Give me a break, Benny! It was Ma's makeup! Frannie was using it without permission. Don't worry, there have been plenty of times where she laughed me when I did stuff like that."

"You played with your mother's makeup?"

Vecchio backed up about a foot, bonking his head on the roof of the Riv. "*Ow!* I never did that!"

"But you just said-"

"That's not what I said, Fraser." The Italian rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head.

"Fine, I'm just saying there's no need to be ashamed-"

"*Benny*! Stop twisting this conversation or I swear I'll let you face the Inspector looking like RuPaul!"

Fraser's soft eyes fluttered open. "Who?"

There was a stray thought that Benny's were blue, with a hint of gray. An unmistakable sizzle connected with Ray's pounding heart, right down to his groin. In a flash, he thought of what it would be like to cover that sensuous mouth with his own and do a little experimenting himself. He tried to assume the best, detached face he could, but it wasn't working. He was still astonished over his own arousal.

"Never mind, Benny. Let's finish this."

"Of course, Ray."

The Constable's eyes closed again and as Ray continued to cleaning his friend's face, Ray casually looked down and saw the Mountie's purse and bunched up panty hose on the floor, along with the some of the other clothes he wore while being Ms. Fraser. And in the purse was a tiny tube. And Ray did a double take. He couldn't make it out completely, but *knew* what that container was; the size, the color, the style of writing. It was the exact same kind of makeup remover Frannie used. Which meant the Mountie had lied. But, why? Chills reverberated throughout the Detective as he came to one Hell of a conclusion. Benny *wanted* to be close to him! But he had to be sure. How was he going to know for certain Benny was coaxing him to further their already intimate connection? That's when he saw Celine's diary. They'd talked about the poetry she written for her boyfriend. Perhaps Ray could segue the conversation into the arena he wanted by mentioning some rhyming verses he was familiar with. But what kind of poetry did Ray know? Except for some naughty limericks, the list was sparse.

"Are you almost done, Ray?"

Jolted from his thinking, the Italian realized he'd slowed his progress on the Mountie's face. "Sorry, Benny. Just thinking. I gotta' take off the mascara here and then I should be finished."

"What were you thinking of?"

Seeing his chance, he said, "Ah...Celine's diary. It made me remember one of the few poems I learned in school."

"Which one was that?"

Ray shrugged, trying to find a clean side to his hanky. "Actually, it's Shakespeare's twenty-ninth sonnet."

Benny smiled, eyes closed and Vecchio's stomach tingled at the sight. "Ah, yes!" Fraser stated. "That is a classic, Ray."

"Oh, yeah. I always liked it's message. I think that's the one where he really pity's and hates himself until that special someone comes along."

At that, Benny blushed and said, "Yes. That...is the message I got from it as well."

The Italian had to think, praying he didn't screw it up. He had to admit he had more of a fondness for this particular poem these days, which kept it fresher in his memory...and now he was starting to understand why.

Ray said, "Now, how does it start again? When in disgrace... with fortune and men's eyes..." That's when Fraser started as well and Ray reciting what he could remember of the famous work.

"When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself, and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd, Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven gate; For thy sweet love rememb'red such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings."

Once they completed the last verse, it obviously took the Mountie a minute to realize Ray had stopped cleaning his face and was lightly caressing his cheek with his thumb. Deep grey slowly opened, curious and unsure. In response, Ray meet his eyes and with his face deadly serious said, the last line again, full of inflection.

"That then...I scorn to change my state...with kings. I wouldn't. You know that, don't you, Benny?" The Detective let his fingers skim over Fraser's stunned face, resting lightly on his lips, then cupping his chin. "I like exactly where I am, here and now."

Cloudy-ocean eyes bloomed, followed by the hushed inquiry, "You do?"

Ray smiled shakily. "Yeah. I think I just realized it. How about you, Benny? Do you have a special someone in your life?"

Benny's pupils dilated and he let his head drop. He raised it again and said, "Of course I do. I've felt this way about you for a while. I just didn't know how to tell you." Shameful eyes darted upward. "Or *if* I should tell you."

Ray nodded. "I hear you."

"What...made you decide to-"

Ray interrupted him by leaning over, grabbling the tube out of the Mountie's purse and holding it up for him to see. "Frannie uses it as well." The Canadian blushed and Ray softly said, "Benny, have you been trying to get my attention for so long you've stooped to lying?"

Fraser's eyes once again got huge. "Um...no, Ray. I didn't use that because I'm allergic to it and I haven't had time to buy more."

Totally floored, Ray blurted, "*What?!* Are you telling me I just made a pass at you off of a clue that I was totally wrong about?!"

"Yes, I guess so, Ray." Fraser shrugged. Then, his eyes grew mellow. "But I'm still glad you 'made the pass', as it were. I *was* getting tired of conjuring up ideas to get close to you."

Ray smiled. "I *thought* that's what you were doing. Hey, sometimes I kinda' slow. It takes an outright flirt over subtle hints.

Vecchio looked at the soiled cloth clutched his hand. "This thing is never going to come clean. At least it's not one of my suits."

"Thank you, Ray."

"No problem. Just one thing, Benny."

"What's that, Ray?"

"Never come on to me dressed as Ms. Fraser. *That* would be too weird, even for me."

Smiling, the Mountie said, "Understood, Ray." END