Author's Notes: I wrote this listening to "January Rain" by David Gray, provided by Tara for the specific purpose of writing RayK/Fraser. It's so smooth and quiet, I thought a smooth and quiet story would be nice.

"Let me see if I've got this right," said Welsh. "Constable, you and Detective Kowalski were off to find this hand -- "

"The Hand of Franklin," said Fraser. "Yes."

"This hand," said Welsh. "And you just so happened to run into Nautilus, who eluded you a few years ago -- "

"No, sir, she did not elude us. We captured her -- "

"Escaped a few years ago," said Welsh. Ray snickered. Fraser didn't turn to glare at him, but Ray knew he wanted to and that was the important part. "And Nautilus was dealing artificial Canadian artifacts and you caught her and brought her to justice after many days of tracking her through Canada?"

"Uh, yes, sir," said Ray. He was still snickering.

"Detective..." Welsh frowned. "Why do I get the feeling that there's something I'm not being told?"

"Sir, if I may?" said Fraser. Welsh nodded; Fraser continued. "There is much that I didn't tell you. For example, when Nautilus -- whose real name is Ruth Huxby -- tried to evade capture by running from us down the -- "

"Shut up, Detective," said Welsh to Ray, and Ray stopped snickering, but it was hard. "Thank you, Constable."

"Oh, my pleasure, Lieutenant," replied Fraser, and kicked Ray's ankle.

"Hey now, that's not fai -- " At Welsh's stare, Ray snapped his mouth closed.

"Please allow me to finish, Detective," said Welsh, and Ray nodded.

"So in the end, you caught Nautilus and turned her over to the proper authorities, who extradited her to the United States, and then you both came back here because you, Constable, decided to remain attached to the Consulate -- "

"As liaison, yes," said Fraser, and it was Ray's turn to kick him, because Welsh's jaw was ticking a little bit and that couldn't be a good sign.

"And you, Detective, decided to return to the 2-7 out of the goodness of your own heart, even though you're not Vecchio anymore and can therefore go wherever you want."

"Well, sir," said Ray. "Constable Fraser and I did think about staying in Canada and becoming domesticated -- "

"Domestic," said Fraser.

"Yeah, that's what I said, Fraser, domesticated partners. But then we figured you'd miss us," said Ray.

Welsh groaned. "Get out of here, the both of you. We'll talk tomorrow about your assignment."

"Thank you kindly, Lieutenant," said Fraser as they left; Ray figured it was better not to push his luck.

"Ha!" said Ray once they were out of range of Welsh. "You lied."

"I did not lie, Ray," said Fraser reprovingly. "I merely allowed the Lieutenant to draw his own conclusions."

"Yeah, cause what were you gonna say?" said Ray. "Let's go get Chinese. I missed Chinese."

"Ray, I would not have asked the Lieutenant to have Chinese food with us." But Fraser was kind of smiling under that big hat -- Ray could tell.

"I bet Dief is up for Chinese too. Where is that wolf?" Ray scanned the squad room for Diefenbaker, and found him at the coffee machine. "Hey! Dief!" he called, and Dief came bounding over. "Chinese food?"

Dief barked. Fraser rolled his eyes. "Yes, dumplings," Ray agreed. "Anyway, Fraser, you know what I'm saying. What would you have said to Welsh? Well, Lieutenant, we gave up looking for the Hand of Franklin after I about froze my balls off two weeks in, so we went to this hotel in Inuvik and were fucking our brains out when we accidentally saw Nautilus crossing the street through the window?"

"Ray, there's no need -- " Fraser frowned.

"I think the good Lieutenant might've had a problem with that Fraser. You know why?" Ray unlocked the GTO and let Dief climb in first, and glared when it looked like Dief might go for his ear. "Bad dog," he said, and Dief growled at him.

"Ray, are you suggesting that the Lieutenant might be homophobic?" Fraser buckled himself in, and Ray looked at him speculatively.

"You think that's why Welsh got divorced?" asked Ray. "That is not a mental picture I wanna have, Fraser."

"No, Ray, I meant that he doesn't like -- nevermind." Fraser sighed. "Chinese food sounds great."

"You know what your problem is, Fraser? Chicago messes with your head and you can't stay on track with a conversation. Focus here." Ray pulled into traffic and ran two red lights on his way to the Chinese takeout counter he favored.

"Yes, Ray, Chicago is rather difficult, but -- "

"Yeah, but worth it, cause it's got flush toilets," said Ray, and he sounded very self-satisfied with himself. Dief barked at Fraser, and Ray rolled his eyes. "No, Dief, I didn't invent the flush toilet. But I am gonna be paying for your dumplings, so maybe you wanna show a little respect here?"

"I can pay for Dief's dumplings," said Fraser. Ray knew that voice. That was the stiff upper lip, I'm-a-Mountie, certain-things-aren't-proper voice that Fraser only employed when he had something on his mind that he didn't plan on sharing with Ray.

Ray decided to ignore it. "Yeah, but you don't have to," he said, "because sometimes you can pay and sometimes I can pay. Like we're domesticated in Chicago."

"Of course," said Fraser, and at the next stoplight, Ray actually stopped, and turned to Fraser.

"You're upset that we're back," said Ray.

"No, although obviously I do miss Canada."

"You're upset that we're back and we're in Chicago and not out in the wilderness peeing on trees and fucking in the bushes," said Ray accusingly.

"No, Ray." Fraser rubbed his eyebrow. "And I don't recall that we ever -- in the bushes."

"Every fucking where else," said Ray.

"You might want to step on the gas, Ray," said Fraser.

"Why? It's a stoplight -- we're stopped."

"The light is green, Ray," said Fraser, and Ray looked up. Sure enough, the light was green. Ray stepped on the gas.

"Listen, Fraser, we didn't have to come back."

Fraser stared out the window.

"I didn't want to come back. You remember? I was the one who said, `Let's stay in Canada. Let's be domesticated. Let's get me a green card and I'll be a Mountie and we'll wear matching itchy pants.' You remember that, Fraser?"

"Yes, Ray, I remember."

"Then why are you acting so subtle?"

"Subdued?"

"Whatever!" Ray pulled into a parking space right in front of the Chinese restaurant and put the GTO into park and turned to Fraser. "We're not eating until you tell me why the fuck you're acting like someone just killed your best friend."

Fraser turned to him. "Actually, Ray, I think that I am stifling my impatience quite well."

"Yeah, well I think you're stifling something and you should tell me what! We're partners, Fraser."

"Yes, Ray, a duet."

"Exactly. And we need to communicate." Ray leaned toward him. "Even Dief knows we gotta communicate."

"I'll be honest with you, Ray; I'm worried that Lieutenant Welsh isn't very happy to have us back."

"Welsh loves us," said Ray, and turned the car off. "That all?"

"For now, yes," said Fraser.

"You're a liar, Fraser. You're a lying liar and you're lying now, and I'll tell you something. Welsh loves us like we're puppies and kittens, Fraser. He loves us like we're the soy sauce on his fried rice. We're gonna bring the 2-7's solve rate up three hundred percent in the next month and we're gonna get a bunch of good press and everyone from Canada is gonna want to shake his hand. So when you're ready to talk about what's really bothering you, you can do that, but don't bring Welsh into it. Can we go eat now?"

Fraser sighed. "Yes, Ray."

Ray got out of the car, shaking his head, and disappeared into the Chinese restaurant before Fraser had even opened his door. Dief waited for him on the sidewalk, wagging his tail and panting.

"You needn't look so excited," said Fraser. "You're not getting any spare ribs after the mess you made last time. I know it was over a year ago, but I'm sure I'll never forget where that last rib ended up!"

Dief barked and Fraser shook his head. "That's a very rude thing to say," he said. "Now let's go have some supper."

Ray turned and smiled at Fraser when Fraser walked in and the little bell chimed, and when Fraser came up beside him, Ray clapped Fraser on the back. Fraser hesitated a moment and then smiled back, and Ray's smile grew even broader and turned into a grin.