The Fall Part 3    The Due South Fiction Archive Entry     Home

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      	  The Fall Part 3 
 by Evans  

 Disclaimer: not mine, don't sue

 

 Ray Vecchio glanced at his watch then back at the front door. He broke
into a grin as his son stepped through the entrance. He started to lift
his hand to get Oscar's attention when the Mountie stepped in right behind
him. And like a sea change, Ray's grin faltered and his hand fell. There
is a fluidity and grace in the way people who are in true partnership move
together. It attracts the attention of those around them, sometimes
eliciting envy, sometimes admiration. Outsiders can't help but look and
those in sync can't help but be what they are. As Ray watched his son and
the Mountie, almost against his will his brain flipped right out of
excited parent and into cop. And things started to click into place like
tumblers in a lock. What were the chances that the only two people that
Ray Vecchio knew in Montreal would be in the same neighborhood, in the
same caf, at the same time? And were they wearing the same sweater but in
different colors? 

 Ray was only in this particular caf because as far as he could tell from
the GPS in the rental it was only a few blocks from Oscar's apartment. As
potential reasons tripped with lightening speed through his mind and were
discarded, Ray could only seem to settle on one thing. Because as he and
Jersey had already discussed ad nauseam, at least that's what Ray had
thought at the time, what else could a boy be hiding about his boyfriend
if his parents had no problem with gender or race. 

 The bewildered father suddenly stood and edged around his table. His hand
came up as if to ward off an approaching horror, but it was too late.
There was no way for Ray Vecchio to unsee what he had seen, unknow what he
was pretty certain he knew. 

 The adrenaline that propelled Oscar out of his apartment at a run was
starting to ebb. This was it. The moment that in four months he still
hadn't figured out a way to handle. And it wasn't like he and Benton spent
a lot of time talking about his pop. He thought that there would be more
time. He'd sort of tried to lay a foundation in his e-mails. To let his
family know that he was happy, but with a retired cop and a yenta for
parents he should have known he wasn't going to get away with the non
gender specific game for too much longer. He knew that he'd get called on
it eventually. He hadn't expected one of them or either of them to show up
in person. He hoped it was only one of them. The last thing he and Benton
needed was to get double-teamed.

 It didn't take the Mountie and Vecchio's son long to cross the space.
Given that he'd initially come to see Oscar, Ray could not take his eyes
off Fraser. And despite his nerves, the Mountie's eyes did not waver from
those of his ex-husband, from those of his lover's father.

 "Pop, I can -" 

 "I need to speak to Benton." The ice in Ray's voice was unmistakable. It
wasn't a request so much as an order.

 "Please, just let me talk to you for a second, " Oscar tried not to let
it sound like he was begging to stay out past curfew. It was on the tip of
Ray's tongue to say this is adult business, but his son was an adult
wasn't he? A relationship, the retired cop's brain tried to seize up to
prevent that thought from completing, but it was too late. His son was
involved in some kind of relationship with the Mountie. Unless Fraser had
found a way to discard all that he carried, sharing that weight would grow
anyone up quickly. 

 Ray had comforted himself in the intervening years with the idea that
despite the intensity of their connection, he and the Mountie had maybe
only been transitional relationships for each other. Ray had been the
Mountie's first serious relationship since the Victoria debacle. And the
Mountie had been his first serious "I'm into guys " relationship. They'd
worked some things out with each other, they worked some things out on
each other. The ex-cop's ten years with his current husband had not been
marked by any of the angst or emotional upheaval that his relationship and
comparatively short marriage to the Mountie had been. Jersey had never
made him bleed the way that the Mountie had.

 Ray's eyes held his ex's. Benton met his gaze and Ray could see both a
familiar stubborn resolve, a hint of resignation and more than a flicker
of something else that Ray allowed his mind to resist. Conversation around
them had dropped an octave as some of the people at the nearby tables
couldn't help but cast furtive glances in their direction.

 "I need to speak to Benton alone," he repeated. In his periphery Oscar
twitched, then turned to the Mountie. Benton's gaze shifted to the younger
man. Oscar's body blocked his father's view, but Ray could tell from the
slight movement of the Mountie's shoulder that he was touching Oscar.
Probably low, on his stomach. That thought disoriented Ray for a moment.
And he clenched his fist against the urge to step between them and slap
the Mountie's hand away. And it threw him a little more that he couldn't
tell if the impulse came from a sense of fatherly protection or jealousy.

 It only took a few seconds for the lovers to communicate what they were
going to do. Oscar tilted his head slightly and looked at Benton through a
dark fringe of lashes and nodded his head slightly. "D'accord, " he
whispered. A ghost of a smile traced Benton's lips and then Oscar turned
to look at Ray again. He stared unwavering into his father's eyes then
stepped forward and hugged him. His eyes still on the Mountie, Ray
returned the embrace. Oscar whispered, "This is on me don't - " But Ray
pulled away from his son. If he'd needed any indication how deep Oscar was
in, there it was. Oscar was exhibiting the same instincts of others before
him, Ray chief among them. His son was trying to protect the Mountie in a
situation where the Mountie should have known better. Like the father
before him the Mountie had gotten the son on the roof of a too tall
building.

 "Don't you have a class or something today? " Oscar nodded. The original
plan for the day involved spending the morning making love with Benton
before heading off to UQAM. Oscar felt his cheeks burning and tried to not
look like Ray had come across him jerking off.

 "Yeah I have a cultural seminar in a few hours."

 "Alright. Then maybe you should call your dad. He's tired of talking to
your voicemail." Ray glanced at his watch. "I think he's at the Grill
now." 

 Oscar's eyes got wide. And Ray understood immediately. "If he asks tell
him that I will call him tonight. Do not tell him anything else." 

 "Okay, okay." 

 Benton's hand itched to caress the smooth planes of Oscar's face. He
hadn't been able to do what Oscar had done with Ray. Without creating a
disturbance in the caf and still showing respect, the young man managed to
show Ray the conviction of his choice. In the last months, as his career
was coming to a close Benton had begun to wonder what his life would have
been like if he'd had that kind of courage in his early twenties. 

 Certainly, he had courage of a piece. He could go to toe with any
lawbreaking miscreant, he'd found the courage to turn Victoria in, but the
courage to voice doubts about whether he would actually be happy in
service to the RCMP never found a home. And only now at the conclusion of
almost thirty years of service, he could honestly say when asked that he
would not miss it. He was more than ready to take up the mantle of
civilian life, especially since instead of the solitary life he'd
anticipated, he would begin his post RCMP career with the son of a man
he'd loved with all of his heart. Probably still loved to some degree. But
it was the son who'd stopped his final slide into darkness. It was the son
that had made him hopeful for the first time in a long while. And despite
Oscar's relationship to Ray, there was no real `baggage' between the two
of them. There was no legacy of hurt, betrayal or duty for them to
overcome.

 Ray Vecchio and Benton Fraser both watched mutely as Oscar left the caf.
Right at the door the young man turned and looked at them both with a plea
in his eyes and whatever he saw from each of them allowed him to step out
onto the sidewalk. Once he cleared the door, Ray spoke first. 

 "You holed up around here somewhere?"

 "Yes, I am staying at the training hotel."

 "I beg your pardon." 

 "The hotel is a comprehensive training hotel for those interested in
careers in the guest services industry. It's quite a fine program."

 Ray was already moving toward the front of the caf as he muttered under
his breath, "Like I give a good goddamn."

 ***********************

 It would have been a little like old times, Ray driving, Benton riding
hyper vigilant in the passenger seat were it not for the near stifling
tension and the fact the car was a German import. Every ounce of Ray's
attention was focused on obeying the traffic laws. In their shared past it
might have pleased Benton, but now he understood it was Ray's calculated
attempt to keep himself from exploding. 

 It didn't escape the Mountie's notice how easily they fit into some
aspects of their old partnership. He could read Ray's body language, knew
that Ray was hovering somewhere between seething and ballistic but still
when they'd gotten to the car, Ray went to the passenger side and opened
Benny's door first. The same way he had for most of their marriage. Often
that had been followed by impromptu making out on the passenger side of
the car, which in the first year of their marriage made them late for work
and a variety of family engagements on more than one occasion. He took a
moment to study Ray's profile. He'd been so stunned when Ray first called
to him in the caf that he hadn't really taken the time to look at his
former husband. And he found that Ray was still as breathtaking as ever. 

 Underneath the anger rolling off him, Benton could see that Ray was well
cared for. Certainly there were a few more age lines and the remaining
peach fuzz on his head was mostly grey. But the tell tale signs of a hard
lived life were nowhere to be found. Lines of deep worry and concentration
that Benton now realized had been a regular part of Ray's face when they
were together were absent. Though walking away all those years before
nearly killed him, it had obviously been the right decision. Ray had a
life that suited him. Joseph Alta had loved Ray better than Benton had. He
would endeavor not to let that inequity occur in his new relationship.

 Benton focused his attention out of the passenger window. He wished that
he'd made proper preparation for this meeting, but he and Oscar had been
so caught up in the surprise of each other that they hadn't talked about
the man that was important to both of them. They did talk about the
future. Oscar expressed a real interest in the Inuit culture and language
which warmed Benton's heart. He also seemed excited to see the cabin that
Benton had continued to maintain over the years. And the idea of having an
adventure in a place that was important to Benton lit his young man's eyes
in the way it hadn't anyone elses before him. 

 Once at the hotel, Ray tossed the keys to the valet without comment. And
followed the Mountie into the lobby. Everyone they passed seemed to know
Fraser and he in turn seemed to know everyone by name or by some ailment
they'd recently overcome. Ray could see him actively resisting the urge to
stop and introduce him. Instead, they maintained a brisk clip to the
elevator. Through some providence their elevator was unoccupied and it
went to straight to the Mountie's floor without stopping. Ray was
immensely grateful. He didn't think that he could handle a round of
letting every Tom, Dick and Harry precede them. The display in the lobby
let Ray know that Fraser, the annoyingly courteous, remained intact. You
think he could be courteous enough not to fuck my son, blazed through
Ray's brain. 

 ***************** The Mountie moved across the suite gracefully and
pulled a bottle of water out of the mini-bar. He held a second bottle in
Ray's direction. "I think I'm gonna need something a little stronger than
that." There was just the slightest tightening in Benton's jaw. "By all
means," he said as he stepped aside so that Ray could see the full range
of selection. Reaching in, Ray selected a beer he'd never heard of and
settled on the faux Victorian couch. Benton sipped his water and stared
out of the suite's large floor to ceiling window. 

 "Are you carrying a firearm?" 

 Benton hadn't noticed it when he first sat with Ray at the caf, but once
in the car he thought he detected the outline of a shoulder holster. Quite
a few of the newer models were sleeker, a bit more contoured to blend with
the line of a suit, but Benton thought he'd seen something. In the
elevator, the way Ray stood made him almost one hundred percent certain.

 Pulling the glock out of his holster, Ray put it in plain view on the
table in front of the couch. 

 "You never know when you might run into a crazed caribou." Or a crazed
Mountie. The attempt at levity did not completely disguise the edge in
Ray's voice. Both men let the resulting silence play. Benton continued to
stare out of the window, unsure of how to start. Ray contemplated his beer
label. 

 The father was the first to break the silence.

 +"Christ, he was twelve when you met him Benny." The sudden confused
anguish in Ray's voice unloosened Benton Fraser's tongue. He turned on Ray
fast, his blue eyes dark and flashing. 

 "I can assure you that nothing untoward occurred at Francesca's wedding.
As you say he was a child." 

 Benton understood what it must look like, that Ray was thinking what a
father would think and given the double jeopardy of the situation of
father and ex-lover Fraser knew he should be grateful that Ray hadn't put
another bullet in his back.

 "I know you're not a pedophile, I'm not .... I need you to break this
down for me. He's my kid. And I need to understand what the hell is going
on here. What the hell are you doing?" 

 "He is in fact of age Ray. By several years actually."

 "Goddammit Fraser!"

 "I merely meant Ray that for the purpose of this discussion, it would be
helpful...it might facilitate this situation if you could try to think of
him as an adult."

 "Do you have any children Fraser?"

 "You know that I do not, Ray."

 "What I know is that you're fucking my son. You have sex with the child
that my husband and I raised." 

 Benton paled. "It isn't that. It's...I had that with someone for a number
of years, before Oscar. That's not what this is. Oscar and I, your son and
I.....

 And despite the fact that the Mountie no longer had any of his tells from
before, right there in his eyes was all the tell that Ray needed. He
stared hard and let himself see the other thing he resisted in the caf.
Ray did know a lot about the Mountie. He knew what he looked like when he
loved, when he was in love. That hadn't changed in ten years. "Oh God,
Fraser you're in love with my kid.

 "I -. " Fraser started, but he was cut off. "I need everything Benny, the
where, the when, the how. You gotta break it down for me. Use small
words." 

 "I...the first contact I had with Oscar, after the wedding, I believe he
was sixteen."

 Ray inhaled sharply and impaled Fraser with his emerald daggers, but kept
silent. 

 "After the dissolution of our marriage, Tony, Junior and I kept in touch
via e-mail. He would keep me apprised of his successes in school and his
various activities. Occasionally one of his notes would have something
about his parents, his siblings, your mother or Frannie. But primarily
they were about his studies. And in one of those messages he included a
question from his cousin Oscar. As I understood it his cousin was doing a
type of research paper and wanted information on Canada. At first I was
unable to place this particular cousin. When I realized, I was more than
happy to answer his questions."

 A smile lit up Benton's face and Ray's hand clenched around his beer.

 "I replied with the URLs of several helpful sites and other reference
material. The e- mails continued in that vein, always a part of Tony,
Jr.'s, always academically themed. And after that there were other
academic inquiries about the RCMP, the anti-terrorist task force. These
spanned a period of about a year then they stopped. And I truly gave no
more thought to him, except to hope that he was well and that his studies
were successful. Four months ago, I received ane-mail directly from Oscar
telling me that he would be studying in Montreal. He asked to meet me for
dinner. I suppose perhaps he found out from Tony, Junior that I was in
Montreal. I didn't see that there would be any harm in meeting him."

 Benton stopped as if that was all there was to say. As if to say the rest
was self-evident. There was no way to tactfully tell a father that his son
was the aggressor. And that when the full realization of Oscar's
intentions dawned on Benton, he had made no effort to stop the advances.
He'd unashamedly basked in the attention. 

 "I need to hear the rest of it." Fraser took a small sip from his bottle
of water and considered.

 "We had dinner," he began slowly as he tried to feel his way through the
rest of the story.

 "And he told me about his time at University. About his immersion
program. I talked about my retirement, about my childhood in the
territories. As we talked, I realized that it was turning into something
of a date." 

 Again the smile touched Fraser's face.

 "I was in the company of a vibrant intelligent man who seemed genuinely
interested in me, who wanted to spend time with me. He seemed to have no
preconceived notions about who I was."

 "There's interest and then there's interest Benny. There are tons of
people who would be willing to help you get your rocks off. You don't need
Oscar." 

 Ray was as offended by his own vulgarity as Fraser, but he wanted to keep
the Mountie off balance. An off balance Fraser prevaricated less.

 "If I take your meaning, that's quite true. As I mentioned earlier I was
involved in a sexual relationship with a fellow RCMP officer when I met
Oscar. Though it's not something I believe could be helped at the time,
it's also not something that I'm necessarily proud of. I ended that
liaison before....before. "

 Ray opened his beer and took a long pull. How is this my life he
wondered? Fraser had found yet another way to complicate the lives of the
people that knew him. Getting up from the couch, the father moved so that
he and his ex were standing toe to toe. Staring into the eyes of the man
he'd once loved more than anything, once protected above all others. He
was still angry at Fraser but that was tempered by his knowledge of the
man, by the look in the eyes that stared back at him now. By the eyes that
had looked at him in the caf. 

 "No bullshit Fraser. I need you to look me in the eye and tell me this
has nothing to do with me. You tell me you haven't, you haven't taken a
page out of Victoria's book. Wait ten years then strike with a vengeance.
Cause if you're going through my son...."

 Fraser was gratified that he felt no stirrings at this proximity to Ray.
Certainly they had been close in the caf, but first a table then Oscar had
been between them, in the car and in the lift but this was the closest
they had been to each other since that day on the porch. 

 While waiting for Oscar to join him at the caf, Fraser understood that
this confrontation was going to be at hand. He feared it would bring two
things - possible murderous anger in Ray and a discovery that he, Benton
Fraser was still decidedly unwell. 

 He'd been afraid that he would find his desire for Ray undiminished. That
he would somehow betray the son as he had the father. But this close,
staring into the shimmering green of Ray's eyes confirmed what Benton
thought he already knew. Though he hoped to salvage his friendship with
Ray, Oscar was the man he wanted now. He did not let his gaze falter.

 " Even though there are no biological markers to indicate his
relationship to you, there are certainly those born of nurture. I would be
lying if I said that there weren't some things about him that echo you. Or
seem to. For example he seems to share your appreciation for fine clothing
but it occurred to me that perhaps that's something he acquired from your
husband. As I recall he too was rather a fine dresser. Oscar's style is
less formal but his taste is impeccable. He doesn't seem as attached to
his clothing as you were on occasion. He has a self- confidence that
mirrors yours, but it's not borne of the streets. It's his. It's not a law
enforcement officer's confidence, it's that of someone who was raised
secure and happy. And I suspect that has as much to do with Joseph Alta,
since Joseph has been in his life since he was born. I'm not sure if this
is what you want to hear, I don't even know if I am explaining it
correctly. I guess the best thing I can say is that being with Oscar has
to do with me. And him. Only us. I love him." Fraser finished quietly and
waited. 

 Ray took a little step back and took his turn looking out of the window. 

 " "God, Fraser you suck at this. This is the thing, you're really not
good at. And I don't believe you really know. All this time I don't think
you get it. I don't think you realize. Victoria, me, Stan...your RCMP fuck
buddy. And now my son. And it would be funny if what's left behind wasn't
so ugly."

 The Mountie's eyes dropped to the intricately patterned carpet. There was
really no defense that he could offer. His track record was less than
sterling. It was as Ray said, he did `suck' at intimate relationships. But
he and Ray had had five good years and might have had more were it not for
the weight of their combined emotional baggage. 

 "I'm sorry it was most assuredly not my wish to hurt you Ray. It's
definitely not my intention to hurt Oscar. The last ten years have
been...I'd like to think that' I'm no longer the same man that destroyed
our marriage."

 "And you're testing that theory on a twenty-two year old boy? It's pretty
much Parenting 101," Ray said softly, "that if I come down against this,
it'll set his mind harder on it, so I need you to think. Remember what you
were doing around his age. Remember the decisions you made. I believe you
that this isn't some kind of payback, but....You want me to think of him
as an adult and I do. I understand that a young man's got to go out on his
own. Make his own way. But is he ready for your brand of adult, your
degree of adulthood Fraser? Are you going to be the one that he regrets?
Are you going to be the one that fucks him up, the way Victoria fucked you
up when you were just a kid."

 Fraser inhaled sharply. 

 "Yeah, Fraser. I really, really need you to think about that. You're not
an easy man to walk away from. And I don't think that my son has the
strength to do it. He doesn't even know what's hit him. Not really."

 Ray blew out a loud sigh. 

 " I'm going to see my son like I intended. I'm gonna listen to what he
has to say. If this goes sideways, and I don't mean normal relationship,"
and the word was like glass scraping his tongue, "ups and downs. If it
turns out that you're using Oscar, I'll come after you. Jersey will
probably want to kill you anyway, but I'll hunt you down if I have to and
it won't be pretty." His eyes drifted to the unholstered glock for
emphasis.

 "Understood." 

 Ray nodded and reached for his gun. 

 End Part 3 

 Part 4 - Ray talks to his son and listens.  
  

End The Fall Part 3 by Evans 

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