Pairings: Benny/Ray V. Fraser/Kowalski.

Rating: R.

Category: Fix-It.

Warning: The people of TWO AXES and the Sap Queen are to blame for this (Well, the Sap Queen likes sap but she and I were in chat and she likes Evil Gilda). They inspired me to write this. Fans of Seasons ¾, please be warned. You will not like this story. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

It is a product of a warped mind. Evil can be *so much* fun!

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, Alliance does, more's the pity.

Comments welcome on or off-list. E-mail: jeanniemarie@sprintmail.com.

July 15, 2000

*Harding Welsh sat at his desk in his office and rubbed his eyes. He was bone-weary. Days like this were too much for him. He was getting too old for this crap.

The whole past year had been one headache of one kind or another. It had started when Ray Vecchio had taken the assignment with the FBI that required that he go undercover in the Mob. Welsh had been surprised that Ray had taken the job. He had suspected for a long time that his favorite detective and the Mountie had been warming the sheets together. He had never pegged Vecchio to leave the Mountie...ever!

It was all very strange, especially when he had heard the way that Vecchio had talked over the phone with Fraser, agonizing at what he couldn't tell his partner. Welsh had seen it in the white-knuckled grip that Ray had on the receiver, and heard it in his voice though Ray had tried hard to hide it. No doubt Fraser had heard it, too, and had kept asking questions that Vecchio couldn't answer.

It had been tough to see Vecchio leave the station, knowing that the FBI agents were waiting for him out on the street. They would whisk him away to who-knew-where for who-knew-how-long, because Welsh didn't believe for a minute that the assignment would take only six months. He guessed a year, maybe two. If Vecchio came back at all.

And Fraser. The shock and hurt in his eyes had hurt Welsh, but it couldn't be helped. Maybe that's why he had delayed telling the Mountie about his partner.

The Canadian had seemed calm enough, but he had been like a dog with a bone asking questions. And Welsh couldn't give him answers.

And then Fraser had to play along like they all did, and teamed up with Ray Kowalski, Ray Vecchio's cover, though how anyone believed that a blue-eyed, blond Polish guy was going to be able to pretend to be a balding, green-eyed Italian guy was beyond him. The whole thing seemed like a joke.

Though Fraser's behavior in the next nine months was no joke. At first he had seemed like his old self, though even more quiet and reserved as usual, if that was possible. Welsh had chalked it up to trying to adjust to losing his apartment and his partner all in the same day.

And then an odd thing had happened: Fraser had begun acting more aggressively. The polite, shy, practically-innocent Mountie had begun pushing his agenda more vigorously. And he had been downright rude and impatient at times, Welsh wondering if he was hearing things. He never spoke of Ray Vecchio, and seemed more-than-willing to spend time with Kowalski. He had lost his air of innocence, Welsh even observing once that the Mountie had been eyeing Francesca's cleavage. Who was this pod person?

He shrugged. Why should he care that Fraser slowly unraveled after Vecchio left? The man had lost his anchor and had seemed adrift, turning into some stranger who resembled his amnesiac self rather than the man who had first come to Chicago on the trail of his father's killers...

Oh, crap. Why was he thinking about that? That stupid spiel had been said by Fraser as soon as Ray Vecchio had left. He seemed robotic in the way he repeated it. Kowalski tried to cut him off but didn't always succeed.

So the Mountie had changed. People did.

But Welsh didn't buy that it was 'growth'. Becoming impatient and curt and a tad smug was 'growth'? What happened to the polite young man who had asked permission to speak when in the presence of his superiors?

Welsh rubbed his eyes again. That hadn't been the worst. When Vecchio had come back, it had all gone wrong. How the hell had the Mountie gone off for some fuckin' Hand of Whatsis with Kowalski? Why wasn't he here with Vecchio where he belonged? And why the hell had Vecchio run off to Florida with Stella Kowalski for the love of Mike? What was wrong with this picture?

Damned if he knew. Welsh sighed and stood up, wearily shrugging into his jacket and heading home to an empty apartment.*

*The figure sat silently in the study. Unlike Welsh's utilitarian office, this room was ornate, carved dark cherrywood its furniture and blood-red drapes at the windows, blocking out part of the sun.

It had been so easy. When Benton Fraser had gone to Canada on vacation, Ray Vecchio had been approached and...persuaded...to take the undercover assignment. Blackmail was so worthy of use.

Ray Vecchio could not have been around when Benton Fraser returned to Chicago, because he would have seen right through the act.

And the actor who had replaced the real Benton Fraser was good. At first no one had suspected a thing. He had acted like the real thing. And he had stayed in the Consulate instead of getting an apartment and away from the Vecchio home so that he had minimal contact with the people who knew the real Fraser best. That bitch Thatcher had been too busy struggling with her sexual identity to take advantage of 'Fraser' being right under her nose, and that idiot Turnbull had been too busy mooning over the Polish Ray. It had been all quite amusing. Mounties! Who would have thought?

Then parts of his personality had begun to seep in, and the Constable Fraser everyone had known had become different. He was more impatient, flip, even rude. A perfect fit for that pseudo-Ray Vecchio who had been partnered with him.

Well, that was fine. Because the assignment in Las Vegas had screwed up the real Ray Vecchio so much (and it had been made certain that it would) that he didn't notice any of these changes when he came back, and the actor had been more like the old Fraser, at least during the reunion.

After the events of the Muldoon affair, the actor and Kowalski had gone off to search for the Hand of Franklin, and Vecchio had gone off to Miami with Kowalski's ex-wife Stella. Wife-swapping could be so amusing.

Anyway, it was time to put the final phase of the plan into action. Vendetta was sweet for the soul, eh?

The actor would make sure that Ray Kowalski would fall into a crevasse and be properly mourned, because as well-paying as the job was, he wasn't keen on playing the role of Benton Fraser for the rest of his life. And Ray Kowalski was so besotted with him that he would never let go, so he had to be taken care of. And after the final pay-off, the actor would go off on his merry way, but he was such a dead ringer for Fraser that if someone met up with him...well, there were plenty of crevasses in the Far North. The operative who had come down to Chicago and had intimated that absurd story of Bob Fraser diddling with some young thing would take care of things. It was always good to have a Mountie in your pocket if it couldn't be your pants.

If the actor wasn't dispatched in time, that could cause further problems, because Ray Vecchio would soon tire of bowling alleys and the Miami heat and come North for his lost lover, and if he found the fake Fraser after having time to decompress in Florida, he would see through the imposter right away. That would never do, no.

The plotter smiled. Yes, the operative in Florida was perfect for the job: cold, skillful, and efficient. She would dispose of Ray Vecchio with no trouble a'tall.

Success was an exhilarating thing, like a string of sparkling diamonds. Precious and to be admired.

Victoria stood up from the leather chair and tossed her long, raven tresses. Ben was waiting for her up North. Her latest stand-in for Jolly was keeping an eye on him. Ben would be tied to the bed, naked and spread-eagled and trembling as he awaited her. Oh, they would have so much fun! And she'd finally be rid of that arrogant Vecchio. Ah, yes, revenge was sweet, indeed.

She picked up the phone and called for a cab. She had to get to the airport and get up North because her Ben was waiting.

Hmm. First, a stop at a lovely little shop that she knew over on Rush Street that had such a darling assortment of...toys...*