I know this territory has been covered before, and very well, in other stories, but this is my take on what happened when Benny returned to Chicago after the Pilot.
Alliance legally owns these characters. (You know, no matter how many times I type that, it never gets any easier or less painful.) This story is written for entertainment purposes only, and no profit will be made.
Ray sighed as he closed another file and added it to the stack on his desk. He was still confined to desk duty doing paperwork, and he hated it. He hated the boredom of it, hated being stuck inside the dreary station house all day, instead of being out on the streets doing real police work.
Fortunately, he had a check up with the doctor tomorrow, at which he would receive his final clearance to return to full, active duty. He couldn't wait.
The phone on his desk rang, and Ray reached for it, glad of the diversion. "Detective Vecchio, 27th."
"Hello, Ray."
Ray frowned slightly. That voice... quiet, polite, almost shy... "Fraser!" He exclaimed happily.
"Yes, Ray."
"How are you? Are you calling me from the wilds of Canada? I didn't think they had phones there."
"Well, of course they do, Ray. But that's not where I'm calling from. I'm here in Chicago, at the Consulate."
"Really?" Ray felt his smile grow wider.
"Yes, Ray. I've been assigned here permanently."
"You have? That's great!"
"Thank you, Ray."
Vecchio frowned slightly. Fraser's voice sounded subdued, and Ray began to suspect there was much the Mountie had not yet told him. "Listen Fraser, are you free for lunch?"
"Yes, Ray." Fraser's tone had brightened considerably.
"Great! I'll take you to lunch as an official 'Welcome to Chicago' type thing. Pick you up at noon?"
"Yes, Ray. I'll see you then."
Ray ran lightly up the stairs of the Consulate, whistling happily. He gave his name to the attractive woman behind the receptionist desk and asked for Constable Fraser. She picked up the phone and spoke briefly, then smiled up at Ray. "Constable Fraser will be out shortly."
Ray nodded, then sat down on one of the sofas in the waiting area. The sofa turned out to be quite uncomfortable, and Ray shifted restlessly. After just a few minutes, he heard his name.
"Hello, Ray."
He looked up and Fraser was standing before him, in that boyscout-turned-doorman uniform, smiling shyly and happily at him.
Ray jumped to his feet. "Fraser!" He resisted a sudden urge to give the other man a hug. "How are you?"
"I'm well, Ray. How are you?"
"I'm great!" Ray grinned.
"You look much better than you did in Canada."
"Well, take away the sling and the neck brace and anyone would look better. You in the mood for some deli?"
"Some deli?" Fraser repeated blankly.
"Yeah. Deli. A delicatessen sandwich."
Ben still looked confused, and Ray's eyes widened in horror as understanding hit him. "Oh my God. Come on, I got here just in time."
He grabbed Ben by the arm and dragged him down the stairs and out to the street. Dief jumped up from his spot under Jasmine's desk and trailed them down the stairs.
Out on the sidewalk, Ben looked around in confusion. "Where is your car, Ray?"
"Here it is." Ray said stopping in front of the Riv.
"But I thought..."
"Oh, that other car?" The disdain was clear in Ray's voice. "That one wasn't mine. That was just a loaner for the case I was working. This is my baby." He ran his hand slowly and lovingly over the hood of the Riv.
"Ah. I see. Well, it's a very nice car, Ray."
"Nice? You call a 1971 Buick Riviera nice? That's like calling the Mona Lisa an okay painting, or Frank Sinatra a pretty good singer!"
"I'm sorry, Ray. I intended no offense."
Ray unlocked the passenger door, and Ben opened it and pushed the seat forward, allowing Diefenbaker room to jump into the back seat.
"Hey, whoa!" Ray protested. "Having your wolf in the back of the other car was one thing. But allowing him into my Riv is something else entirely."
"Don't worry, Ray. He'll behave." Ben got into the front seat and closed the door, then turned to face his wolf. "Do you hear me, Diefenbaker? You will behave."
"It's not just his behavior I'm worried about." Ray said, fastening his seat belt. "I don't want him shedding all over everything."
"Don't worry Ray. Diefenbaker doesn't shed that much."
"He'd better not." Ray muttered. Pulling the Riv into traffic, he drove the fifteen blocks to his favorite deli, then proudly led Ben inside. Fraser stood in line, looking at the menu board, and he looked positively overwhelmed at the wide array of choices.
Ray saw his expression and grinned. "You know what you want yet, Fraser?"
Ben shook his head helplessly. "I could spend the rest of the day looking at the menu, and still be unable to reach a decision."
Ray laughed. "Why don't you let me take care of it for you?"
"Thank you." Ben nodded gratefully.
When they reached the counter, Ray placed their order, and soon their sandwiches and drinks arrived and the two men found a table near the window and sat down. While they ate, Ray kept casting frequent glances at Diefenbaker, who was waiting outside next to the Riv.
"How's your sandwich?" Ray asked.
"It's delicious." Ben sounded a little surprised, and Ray grinned.
"Yeah, that one has a little bit of everything, so I figured there was bound to be something on there you'd like."
"It's very good, Ray. You chose well." Ben had been eyeing the pickle on the side of his plate, and he picked it up for closer inspection.
Ray looked at him in disbelief. "Don't tell me you've never had a kosher dill pickle, Fraser."
Ben shook his head. "I haven't, Ray."
"Oh, my God! You were raised in a barren wasteland! How did you survive?"
Fraser didn't answer the question; he just shrugged and started to take a bite out of his pickle.
"No, Fraser!" Ray exclaimed, and Ben froze. "You save that until the very end of the meal. It's the best part."
"Oh. Okay." Ben dropped the pickle back onto his plate and picked up his sandwich again.
"So, what made you decide to transfer back to Chicago?" Ray asked.
"Well, I didn't so much decide as it was decided for me."
"Really? What, are you being punished?" Ray grinned, but the grin faded fast when Ben broke his gaze and dropped his eyes back to his plate, suddenly giving all his attention to his potato chips. "Fraser?"
"It's not a punishment, exactly, Ray. It's more of a..." Ben's voice trailed off and he shrugged.
"Why did they send you here, Fraser?" Ray asked quietly.
"They wanted to get me out of the way, I imagine. I had become an embarrassment and a source of anger for not only my regiment, but the entire RCMP."
"Why?"
"For my role in the Gerrard affair."
"But that's crap! He's a murderer!"
"He was also an officer in the RCMP. You know what happens when a police officer arrests a fellow officer, Ray."
Ray winced as he thought about the times he had been around that situation, and some of the things he had heard. And some of the things he had said. "I'm sorry, Fraser. That sucks." He said sincerely.
"You know what really bothers me?" Ben asked. "It's not so much the way they treated me. I could handle that; I was never the most popular man in my regiment anyway. But Gerrard murdered my father, and everyone seemed so willing to forget that. To overlook it.
"Dad was also an officer in the RCMP, and he was a damn good one. But no one seemed to care about that; they seemed angrier that Gerrard had been arrested than they did about the fact that he had committed murder. It seems like they were saying Dad's life didn't matter, that he didn't count for anything.
"He gave his life to the RCMP, literally, and he deserves better than that."
"You're right. He does deserve better. And so do you. I'm sorry, Fraser." Ray said.
Ben shrugged and smiled. "It's all right, Ray. There are worse places they could have banished me."
"Banished you? You think of Chicago as being banished?"
Ben grinned at the indignant tone in Ray's voice. "Of course I don't think that, Ray. But I think they do. It was really quite handy for them. Send me off to America where I can't cause further embarrassment, to a city where I'll be alone, without knowing a soul."
"Well you do know someone here. You have me, so you're not alone. You remember that, Benny."
Ben looked up, blinking in surprise, and smiled. He repeated silently to himself 'Benny'. He liked the sound of that. He looked back down at his plate, his smile deepening.
"So," Ray continued "where are you living?"
"I haven't found an apartment yet, so right now I'm staying at the Harrison."
Ray looked horrified. "The Harrison? That place is a shithole! We have got to find you an apartment, Fraser."
"Yes, Ray."
"And we have got to get you out of that neighborhood. It's horrible!"
"Yes, Ray."
Ray looked sharply at Ben. "You don't walk through that neighborhood, do you?"
Ben looked highly amused. "Yes, Ray. Of course I do."
"Benny, that isn't safe!"
"Ray, I am an officer of the law, highly trained, and fully capable of self-defense."
"And not carrying a gun."
"I can handle myself, Ray."
"Oh, yeah? What are you going to do? Politely ask the junkie who's attacking you not to knife you to death?"
"It seems to be working so far."
Ray's eyes widened. "You're joking with me, right, Fraser?"
"Yes, Ray. I'm joking with you."
Ray sighed heavily. He had forgotten how weird his friend's sense of humor could be. "Fraser, would you like me to give you a ride home from work tonight?"
Ben seemed amused at the question. "Thank you, Ray, but that won't be necessary."
"Fraser..."
"Aren't you afraid to take your car into that neighborhood, Ray?"
"Nah, we'll just have Diefenbaker keep an eye on it."
Having finished his sandwich, Ben picked up his pickle again and took a small bite out of it. "Mmm, this is very good!"
"Told you so." Ray grinned. "So what time do you get off work, Benny?"
"Six o clock."
"Okay," Ray said, as if the matter had already been settled, "I'll pick you up at six to give you a ride home; and I'll bring a newspaper so that we can start looking for an apartment for you."
Ben looked up at his friend with a smile, a feeling of warmth starting to push aside the loneliness that had been his companion since arriving in Chicago. "All right, Ray. Thank you kindly."