Pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Francesca Vecchio/Stella Kowalski

Rating: NC-17 for both m/m and f/f loving relationships and the various expressions of that love. If slash ain't your cup of tea, walk on by.

Spoilers: For "Call of the Wild."

Disclaimer: They aren't mine. Although they would be having so much fun if they were.

Notes: Well, I believe that this is the first piece of StellaSlash ever. It won't be the last though. =) The title is from the Joan Baez song of the same name. Listening to the woman's beautiful voice the other night helped me recover from a terrible case of writer's block and in my (delusional) mind, it fits. However, this is not songfic.

Thank you to my wonderful betas Magnes, Dine, and Steph. All other mistakes are mine, of course. And, of course, a big thank you to my Serge list sibs -- you all continue to amaze me with your talent and kindness. Smarties and rubber duckies to all!

All feedback will be treasured at Antigone921@aol.com

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"Diamonds and Rust"
by Giuliana
March 25, 2000
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On a cold Inuvik night, Fraser quietly opened the door to his and Ray's cabin. It was past eleven and he knew his lover was most likely sleeping. Once inside, he closed the door slowly behind him and walked into their bedroom. Sure enough, there was Ray, fast asleep, the moonlight coming through the widow and casting an unearthly glow on his face and hair. Beautiful. Fraser loved watching Ray sleep, something that Ray found to be both freaky and kind of sweet at the same time.

Diefenbaker had been lying at the end of the bed, but jumped off the side when Fraser entered the room. He knew very well that for his packmates, three was a crowd.

Fraser silently took off his uniform and hung it up. He then slipped in between the covers of the bed. He was very tired and as soon as his head touched the pillow he felt sleep coming over him. Ray's arm wrapped around him, something that often happened when his lover was sleeping. The lips on the back of his neck and the hips grinding into his ass, on the other hand...

"I thought you were asleep."

"Nope," Ray said, and moved his lips up to the shell of Fraser's ear.

"Ray, I'm tired."

"Oh and I suppose you have a headache, too," he said, pushing Fraser onto his back and settling himself on top of him.

"As a matter of fact--" Fraser's reply was cut off by Ray's mouth.

Breaking the kiss, Ray said, "You were watchin' me again."

Fraser placed his hands on the blond's face and brought the lips to his again. "You know I can't resist."

"Freak."

"But you love me."

"Forever," Ray whispered, brushing his lips lightly over Fraser's before capturing them again. He then lowered his head and began to work earnestly on Fraser's neck. Fraser had never been happier for the high collar on his serge tunic than when he and Ray had become lovers. The man had something of a neck fetish.

"Try all you like Ray, but nothing is going to happen tonight."

"That's what you think," Ray said and began his descent down his lover's body, alternately kissing and nipping the smooth skin. Taking a nipple between his lips, he bathed it with his tongue and then bit down sharply. Fraser moaned and brought a hand to Ray's head, running it through his spiky hair while pushing him closer to his chest. Feeling the familiar hardness against his hip, Ray grinned. Nothing is going to happen, my ass, he thought.

When Ray was nearing his goal, the near silence that had been only filled with Fraser's soft moans and gasps was interrupted by the loud shrill of the telephone. Fraser removed his hand from Ray's head and began to reach for it. Ray grabbed the wrist before he was able to answer. "Ignore it," Ray said, not stopping his ministrations to his lover's body.

"It may be work."

"All the more reason to ignore it," he said, but released the hand. Sliding the rest of way down Fraser's body, Ray licked the tip of Fraser's cock in perfect accordance to his lover picking up the receiver, causing him to nearly drop the phone.

Fraser shot him an annoyed look and brought a hand down to Ray's cheek. The original intent of the action was to push him away, but somewhere in the execution it became a caress. Ray took it as encouragement and engulfed his lover's cock, making Fraser buck and vainly attempt to stifle a moan.

Trying to retain a semblance of control over his body, Fraser cleared his throat before greeting the caller, praying that whoever was on the other line had not figured out what had transpired in the last few moments.

Fully enjoying what he was doing as well as Fraser's simultaneous annoyance/excitement of the whole situation, Ray half listened to his lover's conversation with whomever didn't have the common decency to call at an hour when most people weren't trying to sleep. Or have sex.

"Oh, hello Leftenant. How are you this evening?"

Welsh. Figures. His former boss had a bad habit of calling at the worst possible hours.

Ray continued his actions, loving the small, controlled movements of Fraser's hips, knowing that he was just itching to let go. Suddenly the movements of both Fraser's hips and hand halted. Confused, Ray released the cock from his lips and raised his head. What he saw on Fraser's face was nearly indescribable -- an expression somewhere between horror and shock. Ray, alarmed from realizing that Welsh's call was anything but social, climbed out from his position between Fraser's legs. He moved up towards the headboard and looked at his lover with interest.

"We'll be there in the morning, sir. Thank you for calling." Fraser sat up and replaced the receiver.

"Fraser, what was that about?"

Fraser ran his thumb over an eyebrow. "Francesca was shot."

Fuck. He really wasn't expecting to hear that. "Is she okay?"

"Leftenant Welsh said that she's in stable condition. She sustained two bullet wounds, one to her shoulder and one to her upper thigh, which narrowly missed the femoral artery."

"Christ," Ray said, jumping out of bed to get dressed. "I'll pack while you make arrangements."

Fraser nodded and picked up the phone.

After dressing, Ray took out a suitcase and had opened the closet door when he realized that majority of his clothes were no longer suitable for a Chicago June. Grabbing some t-shirts and two pairs of jeans, he decided if he needed more he could always go to the mini-storage where he had put all his things the last time he was in Chicago.

That was right after capturing Muldoon. That night Fraser had asked him if he really wanted to look for the Hand of Franklin and the next day there he was in Chicago, turning in his temporary leave of absence forms to Welsh and cleaning out his apartment.

That 'temporary leave of absence' had now become more than five years. They never found Franklin, but they did find each other, although it was difficult to do anything more than kiss while they were on their adventure. Of course, a couple of months later, when they arrived in Inuvik and had a nice, warm cabin of their own with an equally nice, warm, soft bed, they definitely made up for lost time. Fraser was still doing what he did best -- that is, he was still a Mountie. While Ray occasionally went with Fraser when he was in pursuit of a criminal, he spent most of his time doing various jobs around Inuvik, everything from fixing engines to coaching a children's hockey team. After an initial uneasiness from being outside his element had passed, Ray had really begun to love it there for many reasons, the most important being that it was the place Fraser called home.

They hadn't been back to the States, let alone Chicago, since. They had instead stayed informed through Ray's parents and Welsh. From his mum he had found out that Stella was no longer with Vecchio and was seeing someone new, although his mother didn't know the name of the new guy. From Welsh they had heard that Vecchio had stayed in Florida after Stella left and was still running the bowling alley. Huey and Dewey had actually opened a comedy club. They had kept their day jobs though, which was good since the club went belly up a year later. Thatcher was doing some undercover thing for the Canadian government that was apparently top secret. Turnbull was still, well, Turnbull.

And Frannie had become a cop.

Ray wasn't sure what had surprised him more: that she actually graduated from the academy or that she was by all reports a really good cop.

Unfortunately, being a good cop doesn't protect someone from getting shot, which brought him back to his current situation.

He quickly finished packing their things. Fraser had finished his calls and was getting dressed.

"Jake says that he can fly us down to Edmonton where we can catch a connecting flight to Chicago. Inspector Graham is giving me a week of absence since it's an emergency and I have time coming up," Fraser said, pulling a navy sweater over his head.

Ray nodded and picked up the suitcase. "Hey, what about Dief?"

"We'll take him over to Maggie's. Come on, let's go."

***

They arrived at the hospital in the late morning after dropping off their luggage at the Consulate to an enthusiastic Turnbull.

Fraser walked directly to the young woman sitting behind the desk. "Hello, we're looking for Francesca Vecchio. She was brought in last night."

The woman typed the name into the computer. "Room 273 on the second floor of the east wing."

"Thank you kindly."

***

"Ah, here we go." Fraser walked into the room with Ray directly behind him. A well-dressed blond woman was leaning over the hospital bed, apparently engaged in what appeared to be quite a passionate kiss with whomever was in the bed. Not wanting to disturb the couple and wondering how he could have entered the wrong room, Fraser turned to leave.

And ran right into Ray.

Ray was frozen in the doorway, staring over Fraser's shoulder with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Not understanding Ray's reaction, Fraser turned back around. The couple had parted -- most likely because of the sound in the doorway -- and were now looking at Ray and himself. Fraser then realized what had caused his lover's reaction.

Oh dear.

Everyone was silent for what felt like an eternity. It was Frannie who broke the silence. "Hi Frase, Ray."

Fraser cleared his throat. "Hello Francesca." Then nodding, he acknowledged the other woman in the room. "Good morning, Ms. Kowalski."

***

Oh God.

Stella.

Frannie.

Stella and Frannie.

Together.

Oh God.

Ray realized that someone was talking to him. Fraser.

"Ray?"

"Sorry," he said and shook his head as to clear his mind. "Hi Stella," he greeted his ex-wife.

"Hello Ray," Stella said evenly.

Walking over to the hospital bed, Ray kissed Frannie on the forehead. "Hey. How are you doing?"

"Okay. They have me on like a thousand painkillers at the moment, so I'm feelin' no pain. And the doctors say that I most likely can go home tomorrow night, so I must be doing pretty good. Thanks for coming down, though."

Ray smiled. "There was no way in hell that we weren't. Did they catch the perp who did this?"

Frannie nodded. "Tim -- that's my partner -- got him."

"Good." Ray couldn't help noticing that Frannie's and Stella's hands were clasped together on Frannie's chest.

"Ray?" Frannie began.

He shifted his gaze from the hands to Frannie and saw a knowing look on her face. He quickly ducked his head.

Sparing him from further discomfort, Frannie suggested, "Um, why don't you and Stella go get some coffee or something? I'm sure that Fraser can keep me entertained for a bit with one of his In-so-what-its stories."

"Inuit," Fraser corrected automatically.

"Whatever."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Stella asked her, concerned.

"I'm sure," she said and squeezed Stella's hand. Stella leaned down, placed a quick kiss on Frannie's lips, and gave her hand a squeeze of her own before releasing it. She then looked over at Ray and motioned towards the door.

As they walked out of the room Ray could hear the beginning of Fraser's story:

"In Aklavik there was this trapper named John..."

Ray inwardly groaned. Well, at least Frannie was definitely going to get some sleep.

***

Ray and Stella walked in silence to the hospital cafeteria, the only sounds being the rhythmic tapping of Stella's high heels echoing in the surprisingly empty hallway. The cafeteria was mostly empty as well. Only a few visitors sat in the surrounding booths. The rest were doctors, nurses, and other hospital employees. Ray supposed that was a good sign.

They paid for their coffee and sat down in a corner booth. Ray had also bought a package of M&M's and Stella rolled her eyes when he dropped a couple into his coffee.

"Some things never change," she said with a grin.

"Nope."

"Do you still put them in your coffee when you're in Canada?"

"Not M&M's. The general store doesn't carry 'em, but they do have these candies called Smarties, which put M&M's to shame."

They sat in a comfortable silence, slipping their coffee, until Ray spoke again. "How are you doing?"

"Good, considering..." she trailed off. Ray could figure out what was left unsaid: Considering her lover had almost been fatally shot.

Lover. It was strange for him to think of Frannie as Stella's lover. When he had entered the hospital room and saw his former wife kissing Frannie, he felt like he had walked into some parallel universe. He had known Stella for nearly 30 years, and they had been married for more than 10 of those 30, and still he never knew...

"So you and Frannie, huh?" At Stella's nod, he continued, "Wow. I had no idea that you even swung that way."

"I didn't know about you either Ray."

Ray paused in mid-drink. After swallowing the coffee, he asked, "Who told ya 'bout me and Frase?"

"No one. I wasn't even sure until now. I had my suspicions when you first went up with him to Canada, especially when you didn't come back within a couple months. Then when your mother told me that you were planning on staying permanently, I realized that he would have to mean a lot to you for you to do that."

"He does. I love him, Stella."

She reached over and took his hand. "I'm really happy for you."

Even though he knew he didn't need her approval, Ray was glad that he had it. "So, when did you and Frannie get together?"

Stella took a sip of her coffee before answering. "At my bachelorette party."

Ray laughed. "You're kidding, right?"

Stella smiled and shook her head.

"Damn. I take it Vecchio wasn't too pleased."

"No, he wasn't. He did eventually start talking to us again. I think his pride was more hurt than his feelings though."

"Where is Vecchio, by the way? I thought he would've been one of the first here."

"He and Ma had a 10:00 am flight this morning out of Miami, so they should be arriving in a little while. Maria and Tony were here with the children earlier."

Ray nodded and, having finished his coffee, began eating the M&M's.

"So how long are you planning on staying?" Stella asked.

"For about a week."

"You have anywhere to stay yet?"

"We dropped our things off at the Consulate before coming here, but we haven't gotten a room yet."

"Okay, then you can stay with us."

"Stella," Ray protested.

"No, I mean it. We have a guestroom and it will also give us some time to talk. We haven't really talked in a long time. I miss that."

Ray nodded. Part of that 'long time' included most of their marriage. "I've missed it too, Stel, but don't ya think it's gonna be a little weird?"

"It already is weird, Ray."

Ray had to smile at that. "True enough."

"So will you stay with us?"

"You sure Frannie won't mind?"

"She'll be delighted."

"Okay, we'll stay."

"Good." She took a pen from her purse and wrote the address on a paper napkin. "I'll call the landlady and tell her to let you in."

Ray put the address in his jeans' pocket and stood up. "I think we better go make sure that Fraser hasn't put Frannie into a coma or somethin'." He stretched a hand out to Stella. She took it, but didn't let go when she was standing. Instead she brought Ray closer to her and hugged him.

"So are we friends?" she whispered.

Friends. They hadn't been that for a very long time and Ray really liked the sound of it.

"Yeah, we're friends." Ray hugged her back and kissed her cheek before they parted.

Walking back to Frannie's room, Stella asked, "Do you have any plans for next September?"

"Nothin' at the moment. Why? What's in September?"

"The wedding."

That stopped Ray right in his tracks. "Really?"

"Uh huh."

"Wow. Congratulations, Stella. Third time's the charm, I guess."

"I hope so."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. I get a dance, right?"

She smiled. "Of course."

"And, let me guess, there won't be a bachelorette party."

Stella laughed. Ray had forgotten what a wonderful sound that was. "No, there won't."

When they entered the room, Frannie was unconscious, but it appeared to be from exhaustion rather than an Inuit story-induced coma. Fraser seemed very surprised to see them smiling and when Stella walked over to the Mountie and hugged him, Ray thought that they were going to have to call a doctor.

Moments later, when they exited the room, Fraser said, "So, I take it everything went well."

"Yeah, Frase," Ray said, putting an arm around his lover's shoulders, a broad grin lighting up his entire face. "Everything's fantastic."

The End.