Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer. Sorry, but I'm keeping them this time. Please send comments, questions, compliments, and otters to sdelcul@yahoo.com.

Author's Notes: 11/24/06

What he hadn't realized at the time was that Stella was a rebound. But how could there be a rebound when there hadn't been a breakup?

Three months in Florida with a bowling alley and an ex-district attorney, and yeah, he'd realized. It wasn't like he didn't have a lot of free time to think in between renting out used shoes. From Armani and a job actually doing something useful to tacky shoes, tacky shirts, and not even a Riv to keep him happy.

Sure he and Stella were good friends. They'd realized quickly that their main attraction to each other had been mutual escape and well, she actually liked bowling, he didn't. She liked her new life, he'd decided to go back to his old one.

Some parts of this plan had proven easier than others. His family welcomed him back with open arms. His career was fairly easy to get back to. There was a certain cache to being undercover in the mob, and he'd never officially quit.

Chicago, check. Family, check. Job, check. After two more months he even managed to find another Riv. This Riv didn't come with wolf hairs in the back though.

He hadn't been the only one running away. Benny had run as well. He and Kowalski had spent a few weeks up North, and then returned. Kowalski took a transfer to the 33rd, and Fraser stayed at the Consulate. Fraser stayed. Polite. Canadian. Benny was gone, however.

Under different circumstances he might have found the situation amusing. He didn't know when precisely Benny had gone missing. It could have happened up North, for which he could blame Kowalski, but that was doubtful. It could have happened during his time away; highly likely, but not as blamable on other people. Hell, it could have happened whenever.

He wasn't sure what to do with Fraser now. It wasn't like he could put out a missing persons bulletin. Nobody else noticed anything different. At least not enough to respond to a few guarded hints. Dealing with the new Fraser was made even more difficult because he was also trying to deal with the new Ray Vecchio. Everything had changed, and somehow he hadn't really expected that. In some way he'd believed that he could do this and return to find everything and everyone just as he'd left it.

Which of course was unlikely, if not impossible. He knew that, rationally. Emotionally, he just hadn't thought that things could become so different, and so complicated. He still saw Fraser occasionally, and they greeted each other quite politely. Fraser asked after the Vecchio family and Ray said they were all fine and then they went their separate ways.

It was enough to make a man pull out the remaining hair on his head.

He was fed up, and as the saying went it was time to do something drastic.

Fraser was on the phone when he walked in, and the surprised look on his face when he noticed Ray was nothing like the expression that showed up when Ray took the phone out of his hand hung up. He'd given the man enough time to object if the call were truly important, so Ray didn't feel the slightest bit bad about having done it. Drastic. Right.

"What are you doing here, Ray?"

"I came to see you. See if you were okay."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Ray shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, as you can see I'm fine." Ray stepped back as Fraser stood up and moved away from the desk. "Now if you'll excuse me-"

He was being pushed out the door before he knew it. The door suddenly seemed to be a symbol of the awkwardness between them, and Ray hated it with a passion that forced him back inside.

Fraser, no Benny, was staring out the window where Ray could see the Riv parked. He manhandled Benny into the closet and said, "I'm not leaving that easily."

"You did before." Fraser muttered, and looked away.

"You are mad. Why didn't you just say so? Never mind. I'm sorry. I should have talked to you before leaving again so soon. I was in a wierd space after all of what happened. I'm sorry, okay?" He smiled hopefully at the man who had been his best friend and hopefully would be again.

Benny smiled back at him and there was a definite difference. "Thank you, Ray."

There was still some tension in his posture, but Ray figured they'd be okay once they got back to their usual patterns. They both turned to leave the closet at the same time, and for a second that froze them both they were face to face and chest to chest. Ray could feel the sudden acceleration of Benny's pulse and respiration, but didn't have time to do more than register the increase before Benny moved in even closer.

He only realized they'd been kissing when Benny pulled away. "I'm sorry, Ray. I-"

Ray couldn't breathe. He opened the door and stepped back into the office. "Benny-" He touched his lips, surprised to find them swollen. "That was-"

"Ray-"

"Incredible."

Benny blushed. "Really? I thought-"

Ray gave him a moment to start again, but spoke when it became obvious that the thought would go unfinished. "Come on, Benny. You can't lay a lip lock like that on a guy and take it back. Not unless it was a mistake. Was it a mistake?"

This time Benny didn't look away.

"Okay then."

Hours later Ray was whistling as he got back into the Riv. Things weren't the same between him and Benny. They were better.