Author's webpage: http://victoria.tc.ca/~wy236/fic.html

Author's notes: The song lyrics are from the song "Stay With Me" by the group Shakespeare's Sister. This story was inspired by the video for that song.

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Stay With Me

The sled was travelling across a frozen lake when they heard the crack and the ice began splintering beneath them. Fraser jumped, calling for his partner Ray to save the dogs. Ray Kowalski stayed with the sled long enough to cut the dogs' straps so that the sled didn't drag them down. He then tried to jump for safety also, but it was too late, and he fell in to the water. His parka and heavy winter clothing prevented him from climbing out. Fraser knew that hypothermia, not to mention drowning, was a real danger if he didn't get his partner out as soon as possible. But the ice was dangerously thin.

"Fraser!" Ray cried out.

"I'll get some help, Ray, try not to panic," he said, trying to sound reassuring. He began to gingerly make his way across the ice to the shore.

"Don't leave me!" Ray exclaimed in fear.

"I won't," Ben said in what he hoped was a soothing voice. "I just need to get some help. The ice is too thin for me to risk on my own." Where he would find that help, he had no idea. Luck was with him, however, and as he carefully crawled off the ice he was met by a hunting party.

"Innusiq!" Ben exclaimed at the sight of his old friend. "I need your help. My friend fell through the ice and he can't swim."

The Inuit man smiled. "Fancy meeting you here, Ben." He called to the other members of his party in Inuktitut. The men made a human chain, with Ben at the end, and they carefully made their way across the frozen lake to where Ray was clinging to the ice. Though he was desperately cold, Ray managed a smile for Fraser. "I knew you wouldn't leave me," he whispered through chattering teeth.

Fraser and the others helped Ray to shore where Innusiq was already building a fire. "It's good to see you, Ben," Innusiq said. "It's been a long time."

"It's good to see you too," Ben said to his old friend. "And thank you for helping me rescue Ray."

The hunter looked to where Kowalski was sitting by the fire, leaning on Diefenbaker. "Are you and he, you know, together?"

"No," said Ben firmly. "Ray and I are just friends."

"You could have fooled me," replied Innusiq. "The way he looks at you? I swear he must worship the ground you walk on."

"We're friends. That's all," Ben insisted.

"Ben," said Innusiq with a tolerant sigh, "we've known each other since we were kids. I knew you were Two Spirited practically before you did. You don't have to hide anything from me."

"There's nothing to hide."

Just then there was a shout from the fire. Ray had passed out. Ben ran to his side, Innusiq following.

"You need to get him somewhere warm and dry," said the Inuit man. He called to one of his companions who cleared off a dog sled. "I have a cabin not far from here." He gave Fraser directions. "There's a fire and a few days' supply of food. If he doesn't get better, though, you need to find him a doctor."

"Thank you kindly," Fraser responded as he tucked Ray into the sled. "I'm sorry we didn't have more time to catch up."

"I'll be by to get my sled in a few days," said Innusiq. "And I'll look after your team until then." He indicated the dogs that Ray had cut loose from their sled before it had fallen through the ice. "And Ben? I meant what I said about him worshipping you. You might want to let him know how you feel." Then Ben called to the dog team and was gone.

Fortunately the cabin was not far. But if Ray really did need a doctor? Ben didn't know what he would do if so. There were no hospitals or doctors for miles, and he couldn't leave Ray alone to go look for one. Neither could he risk taking Ray with him if he were suffering from advanced hypothermia. All he could do was wait and pray that his friend recovered.

Ray had been so excited about their "adventure," searching for the remains of the Franklin expedition. He hadn't complained about the cold, about the sometimes harsh conditions, about the lack of fresh food to eat. He took care of Diefenbaker and the dogs, and it had been trying to save the dogs that this had happened.

Once inside Innusiq's cabin, Fraser stripped Ray of his wet clothes and wrapped him in a blanket. Then he set about building a fire.

Meanwhile, Ray wasn't certain where he was. He wasn't with Fraser anymore, but otherwise the surroundings looked pretty much the same. Cold, white and barren. Then he noticed a figure sitting by a campfire, not too far away. It was a man, maybe about his dad's age or a bit older, wearing an RCMP uniform. He looked familiar somehow, though Ray couldn't say where he'd seen him before. The man looked up as he approached. "Hello, Yank," he said.

Ray sat on the other side of the fire. "Who are you? And where the hell am I?" he asked.

"Not in hell, son," said the older man. "You're in the borderlands."

"Borderlands? Huh? Last time I looked at a map I wasn't anywhere near the border."

"Not that kind of border," answered Robert Fraser, for that was who the man was. "The border between life and death."

Ray didn't know what to say about that.

"Name's Bob Fraser," said Robert.

"Fraser? I was just with -."

"My son."

"You're Fraser's dad? But you're -."

"Dead, son. Yes, I know. I'm here to show you around until you decide which way you're going."

"Going?" Ray was getting more confused.

"Well, at the moment you're more than half dead. Eventually you have to decide if you're going to be all dead or if you're going to go back to being alive."

"Oh." Ray sat back in the snow, surprised to find it wasn't wet. He had a choice between life and death? Wow. He'd never really thought he'd be given a choice when his time came. "So, how long do I get before I make this decision?"

"You have some time yet. You're suffering from quite severe hypothermia, as well as being half- drowned. That was some move you made, cutting the dogs from the sled before it went into the water," commented Bob.

"Couldn't let them drown," Ray muttered self-consciously.

"I know, Yank. I can see why my son keeps you around."

"Fraser's my partner, and he's my friend." Suddenly, Ray had a thought. "Can I see him?"

Robert nodded. "All right, but he won't be able to see you. That is, see the spirit you - your body is still there."

"So I can't talk to him or anything," commented Ray.

"Right," said Bob.

There were things Ray would have liked to ask Robert, asked him about Fraser, but from what his partner had said about his father, Ray figured that the other Mountie didn't know all that much about his son. Which was a pity, because there were things Ray really wanted to know, things he was afraid to ask Fraser directly.

Ray and Robert arrived at a small cabin. There was a fire burning brightly in the fireplace. Ray's body was lying on a cot, wrapped in blankets. Fraser was sitting next to him, just sitting, looking at him. The expression on his face was one of extreme worry and fear. Ray didn't think he had ever seen fear like that from Fraser before.

Stay with me
Stay with me

"Ray," Ben said softly. "I don't know if you can hear me ..."

"I can hear you, Fraser!" Ray exclaimed, forgetting for a moment that his friend couldn't hear him.

"Please don't leave, Ray. Stay with me. If you go - if you die - I will find some way to go after you."

Whoa. Did Fraser really mean that? He'd follow Ray to the afterlife - whatever that was?

Robert shook his head disapprovingly. "My son can be so melodramatic," he said.

Ray's body began to shiver uncontrollably. Ben removed his clothes, then unwrapped the blanket from Ray long enough to climb into the cot beside him. Then he took the other man into his arms and wrapped the blanket around them both. Ray's shivers soon subsided.

"I can't believe I'm missing this - having a naked Fraser in bed with me," the American sighed.

"Took him long enough," muttered Robert.

"Long enough? What are you talking about?" Ray asked.

"Benton has been in love with you practically since the two of you met. I'm surprised it took him this long to actually do something about it."

"Fraser's in love with me?"

The elder Fraser snorted. "You never noticed? Are all Yanks as dense as you are?"

"Hey! Don't insult my countrymen," protested Ray.

"I'm not," answered Bob.

Ray thought for a moment about what Bob had actually said. "Oh. Right. Well, I'm not dense."

"Just blind."

"Nearsighted."

"Oblivious," stated Robert.

"Okay, I'll cop to that," Ray said with a sigh. "But now I *really* have to go back there, because I may not have another chance to have a naked Mountie in bed with me."

"If you tell him how you feel about him, you will," replied Bob Fraser.

"Well then I really, really have to go back, so I can tell him." He tried to simply walk back into his body, but something - some kind of invisible wall - blocked his way.

"Okay, Mister Mountie Man, how do I get out of here and back to my body?"

"Perhaps it hasn't recovered enough yet," suggested Robert. "Why don't we go back to the campfire and try again a bit later?"

"Okay," Ray said with a shrug and a last look at himself in bed with Fraser. "Not too much later, though. I got important stuff waiting for me."

Back at the cabin, Fraser was wrapped securely around Ray's body, and was just about to drift off to sleep when he felt something. Something was not quite right in the cabin. He wasn't sure what it was, but he didn't like it. It wasn't anything he could name, anything he could identify. It was just *there*.

He started to climb out of bed. Ray's body began to thrash back and forth. Alarmed, Ben turned back and held him tightly. Ray seemed to be fighting something.

In the borderlands, Ray had turned to go back to the campfire when he slammed in to the invisible wall again. It appeared to be surrounding him. "Hey!" he cried in alarm. "What's happening here?" He fought against the wall but couldn't move.

A - person, thing? - Ray wasn't sure - appeared in front of Ray. It grinned wickedly at him. "You didn't think you would make it back to your own world that easily, did you?"

Bob Fraser looked frightened. "What is it?" Ray asked him.

"She doesn't have a name," Bob answered. "She - she tries to steal men's souls, tries to keep them trapped here."

"So how do I get away?"

"I don't know if you can," said the elder Fraser worriedly. "Possibly if Benton fights for you, she'll let you go."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Think of Benton. Concentrate on trying to reach him. Nothing else - don't let yourself be distracted."

"I thought you said he wouldn't be able to hear me!" Ray protested.

"He might not be able to hear you with his ears - but he might be able to hear you with his heart."

Such sentimental words did not come easily to Bob Fraser, but his son loved and needed this man, and Bob would do anything he could to make certain that Ben got to keep him around.

The creature laughed. "He won't get you," she said. "You're mine."

Stay with me
Stay with me

Someone or something was trying to take Ray away from him, Fraser realized. Perhaps it was a spirit of some sort. Whatever it was, he wouldn't let it take Ray. "You can't have him!" he shouted to the air around him. "He belongs with me!"

The demon appeared in the middle of the cabin. "He is mine!" she screamed.

"No! He's mine!"

Ray could see everything that was happening, and was powerless to do anything about it, no matter how much he fought against his invisible prison.

"Fraser!" Ray cried out, though he knew Ben couldn't hear him. "Don't let her take me! I want to stay with you! I love you!"

Ben held on to Ray's body for dear life. "You will NOT get him. I love him!"

The demon screamed once and vanished. Ray's body stopped thrashing. In the borderlands, Ray was suddenly free of the walls. He almost fell over. He turned to Bob. "Can I go back now?"

"Yes, son. Go to Benton, and tell him that you love him." He was about to leave when he suddenly turned back to Ray. "And tell him that I love him, would you?"

Ray smiled. "I sure will. Nice meeting ya." And he vanished from Robert's sight.

The next thing Ray knew he was lying on the cot in Innusiq's cabin, with an exhausted Fraser asleep next to him. As soon as Ray moved, though, Fraser was wide awake.

"No! You can't take him!" Fraser cried out. "I love him!"

"Fraser, it's okay, the whatever-it-was is gone. I'm right here with ya."

Fraser's eyes slowly returned to normal size. He blinked. "Ray?" he whispered.

Ray wrapped his arms around the deliciously naked Mountie. "Hiya, Fraser."

With a half-sob Fraser returned the embrace. "Oh, Ray, I was afraid I had lost you. How do you feel?"

Ray shrugged. "Okay, I guess. A bit cold. I seem to have lost my clothes somewhere."

"You were suffering from hypothermia. Skin-to-skin contact is a common way of increasing body temperature. And your clothes were soaking wet."

"Skin to skin contact, eh?" Ray mused. "That anything like buddy breathing?"

"No," answered Fraser.

"Oh." Ray was quiet for a minute. "But I know something that's a lot like buddy breathing."

"What would that be, Ray?" asked Fraser.

As an answer, Ray kissed him. When he released his partner's mouth, he said, "I love you, Fraser."

Fraser kissed him back. "And I love you, Ray."

"I know. I heard ya say that to the demon/monster thing."

"How did you hear that? You were unconscious."

"I saw the whole thing. I couldn't do anything, but I could see ya. I heard ya say that you loved me. An' I knew I had to get back to you so I could tell you that I love you, too. And so that I could do this...." he kissed Fraser again. "And this ..." he moved down Fraser's body, continuing to kiss him. "And especially this.." and he took Fraser's cock in his mouth.

"Ray!" Ben cried out.

Ray stopped what he was doing and lifted his head. "You want me to stop?"

"No! You just ... surprised me. Please continue. "

Ray smiled. "You got it, Fraser." And he continued working magic with his mouth, tasting, licking, and especially sucking, until Fraser cried out his name again and came in his mouth. Not seeing any convenient towels around, Ray swallowed the semen.

"You didn't have to do that, Ray," Fraser admonished. "I would have gotten you a towel."

"It's not so bad," answered Ray. "I'm sure you've tasted plenty worse."

"May I taste you?" Ben asked.

"Oh yeah," was his lover's response, as Ben did just that.

When both men were spent, they lay contentedly in each other's arms. They discussed what this new aspect of their relationship meant. They discussed the future of their quest for the hand of Franklin. And Ray gave Ben his father's message. Then he held his lover while he cried.

Eventually they got out of bed. Ray was still a bit weak, and Fraser cooked a meal for them. Then they cuddled up together back on the cot. "Are you still cold, Ray?" Ben asked.

Ray kissed him happily. "As long as you're here to warm me up, I'll never be cold again."

From his place in the afterlife, Robert Fraser watched his son and his son's new lover, and smiled.

END

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