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

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Ray's Return

Fraser was depressed.

Ray Kowalski could tell that his partner was depressed. He'd been depressed for some time. Ray was quite familiar with the signs, having been in a similar place himself in the past. He wanted to help Fraser, but first he needed to figure out why the Mountie was depressed.

"Hey, Fraser, have you been to a doctor lately?" Ray asked him.

"No, I haven't needed medical attention recently. Why?"

"Well, um, this might not be any of my business, but you've seemed kind of down lately, depressed," Ray commented.

Fraser sighed. "I have been depressed lately, but there's nothing a doctor can do about it."

"You sure? I've heard they have some new drugs out ..."

"My mood does not have a physical cause, Ray," Fraser interrupted him.

"Oh. Well, is there anything I can do?" Ray asked. "Does the RCMP have some sort of employee assistance thing, you know, to get you a counsellor or something?"

"I don't need a counsellor, Ray. I know exactly what is causing my problem, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. I have to live with it."

Ray didn't like the sound of that. Fraser was being stubborn. But if he didn't want to talk about what was bothering him, Ray couldn't force him to do so.

Over the next couple of months Fraser's mood worsened. He kept everyone, even Ray, at arm's length. He never smiled. He was intensely polite and formal with people at the precinct, and someone who didn't know him as well as his partner did might not have even noticed that something was wrong. But Ray knew better. He just didn't know what the cause was. Then one day it all became clear.

Ray walked into Fraser's office at the Consulate, hoping to convince the Mountie to go to a hockey game or out for Chinese food or something. Fraser wasn't expecting him. He saw that his partner was staring at a postcard. As he came closer he saw the card contained a picture of Fraser with Ray Vecchio. The look on the Canadian's face said everything. Fraser's depression was caused by Vecchio's absence.

Ray closed the door behind him. The sound made Ben look up. "Ray!" he exclaimed, startled.

"Talk to me, Fraser," said Ray. "Tell me about Vecchio."

"There's nothing to tell," Fraser insisted.

"I think there is," Kowalski said. "Do you love him?"

"Yes," Ben answered in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Tell me about it."

So Ben told him. Not long before Ray Vecchio went undercover, he and Fraser had come to a realization that their feelings for each other went beyond 'friendship.' Neither was certain what to do about this new aspect of their partnership. Ben had taken a holiday up north while he sorted out his feelings. He had returned ready to pursue a romantic relationship with his American partner, only to find that Ray was gone. "I guess he wasn't able to handle the idea of that kind of relationship after all," Ben concluded sadly.

"You think that's why he left?" Ray Kowalski asked.

"I can't see any other reason. When I left for my holiday he said he would have made a decision when I returned ... I suppose that was his decision."

Ray didn't like the way that sounded. He had been told a few things about the man whose identity he had assumed, and had picked up things from his family. Somehow it just didn't seem like the Vecchio he'd heard about to pick up and leave without informing Fraser of why he was doing so.

"Has he tried to contact you at all, besides that postcard?" Ray asked.

"No."

"I'm sorry, Fraser. I can see why you've been depressed."

"Your friendship does mean a lot to me, Ray," Ben said.

"Listen, do ya want to get something to eat?" Ray offered. It was a lot like the offer Ben had made to him the day they'd met for the first time.

"No thank you, Ray. I think I'll stay in tonight."

Ray left, deep in thought. If Vecchio didn't come back soon, he was afraid Fraser would sink so deep into despair he would never recover. Ray had never thought it possible to die of a broken heart before - he'd survived his breakup with Stella, after all - but after seeing what Fraser was going through, he was beginning to reconsider. But there was nothing he could do about it.

Or was there?

He was a detective, and a pretty damn good one. And he was pretty sure from what he knew about Ray Vecchio that the man would not just pick up and leave without arranging some way to stay informed about his family. And Kowalski was willing to bet that 'family' included Fraser. So what Ray Kowalski had to do was track down Ray Vecchio's informants.

It didn't take him too long to find what he was looking for. Francesca had been complaining lately that she had the feeling someone was watching her. Ray kept an eye out for anyone who seemed *too* interested in Frannie, and then confronted the most likely suspect. At first the man refused to tell him anything, but Ray produced his badge, proving that he was 1) a police detective and 2) a Vecchio (and therefore a member of the family he was watching) and the man spilled the beans. Yes, a man named Armande Lagostini was paying him to keep an eye on the Vecchios. He was supposed to be watching the Mountie too, but Fraser had almost caught him a few times so he had backed off. The funny thing was that Lagostini hadn't mentioned Ray before.

"Oh, well, I'm kind of the black sheep of the family," Ray explained. "But listen, I'll do you a favour if you'll do one for me. I'll keep an eye on the Mountie for you and give you some info for your employer, if you'll give him a message for me."

The informant - he said his name was "Jim" - agreed to the deal, provided he was allowed to see the message first. He couldn't be too careful about what kinds of things he delivered to his mobster boss.

Ray considered his message carefully. To prove who he was, he provided a copy of his police identification showing his name was Ray Vecchio, and to prove his relationship with Fraser he included a photograph someone had taken of the two of them at the precinct Christmas party. Then he wrote a brief note saying that he wanted to talk to Armande Lagostini about Benton Fraser. After sending the message, all he could do was wait.

A few days later 'Jim' returned with a message for Ray. Armande Lagostini wanted to meet with him in Las Vegas in a week. Now Ray needed an excuse to go to Vegas. Fortunately he had some vacation time coming to him, and he was able to slip away quietly. He didn't tell anyone where he was going.

When he arrived at the rendezvous point, he found a slim, balding man waiting for him. Yes, this was the man on Fraser's postcard, the man Ray had been pretending to be for the past year. "So," said Ray Vecchio, "you're my replacement. You don't look a thing like me."

Kowalski shrugged. "That didn't seem important to the feds."

"You wanted to talk about Benny."

"Benny? You call him 'Benny'? Oh, that's cute."

"Get to the point, whoever you are," snarled Vecchio.

"Name's Kowalski. Ray Kowalski. My point is that I'm Fraser's friend, and he's not doing so well lately."

"What's wrong with him?" Vecchio's hostility had vanished, replaced with concern for his friend.

"I assume you know that he's in love with you."

"I know," stated Ray Vecchio.

"Well, he thinks you went on this undercover gig because you couldn't handle being in love with another guy, so you ran away instead of working things out with him."

"That's not what happened!" the Italian man protested. "The feds ... someone told them I was having an affair with Benny. They blackmailed me. They said if I didn't take this job they'd get Fraser sent back to Canada and bust me down to beat cop."

"You could have fought them," said Kowalski.

"No, I couldn't. They have too much power. They could have done what they said. If they'd sent Benny back to Canada I'd never see him."

"You don't see him now," Kowalski pointed out.

"I know ... I just have to hope he'll still be there when I get back."

"He thinks you don't want him, Vecchio. It's like he's dying. I don't know if he'll be there when you come back or not."

"What can I do?" asked Ray Vecchio in despair.

Ray Kowalski sighed. "I don't know. Talk to the feds. Work out some kind of deal. If they send Fraser to Canada - let them! His government might not look too kindly on their pushing around a Canadian citizen. And even if they did, you can go to Canada, can't you?"

"You're right," said Vecchio. "I never thought of it that way. They can't do anything to Benny without the cooperation of the RCMP."

"Look, I can't stay too long or people are going to start getting suspicious. Talk to your bosses. I'll talk to Lt. Welsh. Is there anything you want me to tell Fraser when I see him?"

Ray Vecchio thought for a long time. Finally, he said, "No, don't say anything to Benny. I don't want him to get his hopes up, just in case things don't work out. Listen, Kowalski, uh, thanks for telling me about Benny. And, you know, thanks for taking my place. Look after my family for me."

Ray Kowalski and Ray Vecchio shook hands and parted.

As soon as he got back to Chicago, Ray Kowalski went to talk to Lieutenant Welsh. Without mentioning the nature of Fraser and Vecchio's relationship, he explained how the federal agents had blackmailed Ray into accepting the undercover assignment, and how Ray wanted out but didn't know how to get out.

"What do want me to do about it, Detective?" asked Welsh.

"You must have some pull with the Feds. They owe you one after the way they tried to pin a bribery rap on me - that is, on Vecchio."

Welsh took a deep breath and let it out in a slightly exasperated sigh. "I'll see what I can do. Don't hold your breath."

Ray grinned. "Thank you, sir," he said. As he was about to leave, Welsh stopped him.

"Vecchio," he said, "would this have anything to do with the Mountie?"

"What makes you think that?" Ray asked innocently.

"Never mind," the Lieutenant muttered.

On his way to his desk, Ray stopped to speak to Francesca. "Hey, Frannie, you still having problems with that guy you thought was following you?"

"As a matter of fact, no, I haven't. It's strange, he just stopped hanging around all of a sudden," she answered.

Ray was pleased. If "Jim" wasn't spying on the Vecchios any more, that might mean that Ray Vecchio was really coming back.

Then one day, with no fanfare, Ray Kowalski walked into the precinct and there, seated at the desk that had been his for the past year and a half, was the Real Ray Vecchio.

"Fancy meeting you here," said Kowalski. "How'd you do with the Feds?"

"Not bad," answered Ray Vecchio with a smile. "Welsh actually has some pull with them these days. And I told them that if they didn't let me out, I would go to the RCMP and tell them that agents of the US government were making threats against a Canadian citizen who happens to be a member of the RCMP. Turns out their threat to send Benny away really didn't have any weight."

"You seen him yet?" Kowalski asked.

"No, I went by the Canadian Consulate but it moved. Then I went to the building on West Racine and it wasn't there any more. What happened?"

"You remember a guy named Zoltan Motherwell? Performance arsonist?"

"Did he burn down Fraser's building?" asked Vecchio.

"No, his girlfriend did, but she did it to get back at you and Fraser." It had been the first case Fraser and Kowalski had worked on together.

"So where's Benny now?" Vecchio wanted to know.

"C'mon, I'll take you to him," said Kowalski.

When they reached Kowalski's GTO, Vecchio asked, "Where's my Riv?"

"Long story," said Kowalski.

"What happened?" Vecchio demanded.

"Motherwell's girlfriend again. She torched it."

Vecchio groaned. "Why do these things always happen to my car?"

At the Consulate, Ray Vecchio followed Ray Kowalski down the winding corridor to Fraser's office. "Wait here, I want to surprise him," said Kowalski with a big smile. He was looking forward to seeing Fraser's reaction to Ray Vecchio's return. He knocked on the office door. "Fraser!" he called.

Fraser opened the door. "What is it, Ray?" he asked.

"I have a surprise for ya," replied Kowalski.

"A surprise?" asked Ben, puzzled.

"Kind of a present," said Ray.

"It isn't my birthday, Ray."

"So who says it has to be your birthday for me to give my best friend a present? Come out here, your present's in the hallway."

"I have work to do, Ray. I don't have time for games," Fraser answered sternly.

Impatiently, Ray Vecchio stepped forward. "Benny, will you quit arguing and do what the man says?"

Fraser's jaw dropped. "Ray?" he said in a hoarse whisper. "Ray Vecchio? It's really you?"

"It's really me, Benny," said Ray. "I came back. I came back to *you.*"

Then the two men were in each other's arms, alternately laughing and crying. Kowalski started to leave. "I think the two of you need to be alone." Fraser grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Ray, thank you," he said.

"For what?" asked Kowalski.

"I know you had something to do with Ray's return. I don't know what you did, or how you did it, but thank you."

Ray shrugged self-consciously. "What are friends for?" he asked rhetorically before taking off and leaving Fraser and Vecchio alone.

Ben led Ray into his office, shut the door behind them, and locked it. He leaned against a wall while Ray sat on his chair. He studied Benny carefully. The Mountie looked pale and thin.

"Ray, don't get me wrong, I am very happy to see you ... but I would like an explanation. Why did you leave so suddenly? Why didn't you tell me where you were going?"

Ray explained the threats that the feds had made. He told Benny how they had threatened to deport him. "I was ready to take the next step in our relationship, Benny ... I wanted to tell you that when I talked to you the last time, but I couldn't. I wasn't alone. And then I had to leave. I just hoped you would still want me when I came back." He took a deep breath. Then he swallowed hard. "Benny, I need to know just one thing. Do you still love me?"

Benny was at Ray's side in an instant, crouching beside his chair. "Always, Ray," was his answer. The two men kissed. It was their first kiss, and it was tentative. It was quickly followed by their second kiss, and their third, and several subsequent kisses, each of which was less tentative and more demanding. Finally they broke apart for air.

Fraser pointed to his cot. "We're alone right now, Ray - Turnbull is on holiday and Inspector Thatcher has some meetings to attend. Do you .. do you want to ..." he couldn't quite bring himself to say the words.

"Yes, Benny. Yes, I want to make love with you," answered Ray.

They quickly undressed and lay on Benny's cot. "I've been waiting for this for a long time," sighed Ray.

"As have I," said Fraser happily.

"I love you, Benny."

"And I love you, Ray."

Back at the precinct, Ray Kowalski was transferring the cases he was currently working on to his new desk. "Kowalski!" called Lt. Welsh. It seemed strange to hear his own name after all this time.

"Yes, sir?" asked Ray politely.

"Where is Detective Vecchio?" asked Welsh.

"He's busy," stated Kowalski.

"*Where* is he?" repeated Welsh.

"Uh, I don't know."

"You were the person last seen with him," Welsh reminded Ray.

"Well, I did drop him off at the Canadian Consulate ... I don't know where he is now."

Welsh made a 'harumph' sound. "I suppose he will be 'busy' for some time, then."

Kowalski grinned knowingly. "Probably for the rest of the day, sir."

Welsh went back in to his office, muttering something incomprehensible.

That evening the Vecchios held a big celebratory dinner to celebrate Ray's return. Fraser was there, of course, as were Ray Kowalski and his parents, who had also been invited. Kowalski had to learn to tolerate being called by his real first name, Stanley, because it was too confusing to have two people answering to the name "Ray." Stanley/Ray noticed that Fraser and Ray Vecchio held hands most of the evening, letting go of each other only when it was absolutely necessary.

At one point Fraser did let go of his lover's hand and approached Kowalski. "Ray, I haven't had a chance to talk to you since Ray got back," he said. Apparently he didn't have any problem calling both of them 'Ray.' "I know that you took this job because you were dissatisfied with your own situation. How do you feel?"

Stanley smiled reassuringly. "I'm okay, Fraser. I still have a job at the 27th. I like working there. I'm over Stella now. I think I'm ready to move on with my life." Then he added, "I guess you're going to be partners with Vecchio again."

"That is another thing I wanted to talk to you about," said Fraser. "Ray and I are going to move in together. I'll see him every day at home. We don't need to be together twenty four hours a day. I would like to still be your partner, if you'll have me."

"I'd like that," said Kowalski.

"Good, then it's settled. Come back and join the party."

Later in the evening Ray Kowalski noticed that Francesca wasn't around. He looked for her and eventually found her alone on the porch. He noticed the places that had been repaired since the fire that Greta Garbo had set in the house. "Frannie, what're you doing out here by yourself?"

"Just thinking," she murmured.

He sat down next to her. "What about?" he asked.

"It's just a bit strange, seeing my brother with Fraser like that. "

"Surprising, huh?"

"Yeah. I never knew Ray was like that. Or Fraser either. I guess I always hoped that one day he'd declare his undying love for me, not for my brother."

"Are you happy that he's back?" Ray asked.

"Am I happy that Ray's back? Sure. I missed him. But it was nice having you around too. Now that Ray's back, I hope you'll still come around. Ma likes you." She blushed a little. "I like you too."

Ray took Frannie's hand and squeezed it. "Sure I'll come by and see you. I like your family. And I like you." He leaned over to kiss her cheek, but Frannie moved her face at the last minute and the kiss landed on her mouth.

"AHEM," came a staged throat-clearing from the doorway. Kowalski and Francesca pulled apart. Ray Vecchio and Fraser came out on to the porch.

"We noticed that the two of you were missing. Come back inside - Ma wants to have a toast."

The family and their friends gathered in the living room. Mama Vecchio gestured for Fraser and both Rays to stand next to her. "To my Raymondo, who is back with us," she said. "To Benton, who Raymondo has found his happiness with. And to Stanley, who brought Raymondo back to us."

Everyone drank their toasts to the three men, and the party continued late in to the night.

END

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