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      	  Seeing Fraser 
 by estrella  

 Author's Notes: Thanks to Rhyo and Brooklinegirl for beta!

 

 "Ray."

 Sunlight streamed through the blinds in his bedroom. Burying his face
into his pillow, Ray groaned. That was not Fraser calling him from out in
the hallway.

 "Ray!"

 Really. There's no way - no fucking way that Fraser was here, waking him
up at God knows what time on his day off. No fucking---

 "Ray! Honestly! I know you're in there, and---"

 "All right, that's it, Fraser!" Tossing the covers back, Ray got out of
bed and stormed to the door of his apartment. "Goddamn bunch of crap," he
muttered under his breath (not that it mattered. Freaking Mountie could
hear everything), throwing back the dead bolt and yanking the door open. 

 Nobody. Un-fucking-believable.

 Ray looked around. "Frase?" He shook his head. "Oh, funny guy. Knock and
knock till I actually get up, and then leave. Yeah, well, have a nice
day."

 He started to close the door when Fraser's voice stopped him. "Well,
under the circumstances, Ray, I do think that's highly unlikely, though I
will certainly try my best."

 "Wait." Ray blinked. Rubbed his eyes. "Fraser?"

 Again, that voice. "Yes?"

 "Hang on a second." Leaving the door open, he went back to his bedroom
and grabbed his glasses off the nightstand. Maybe his eyes had started
getting worse? He couldn't see Fraser, but he sure as hell could hear him,
from bed and again at the door. Making a mental note to schedule an eye
appointment, Ray shoved his glasses on his face and headed back to the
front door.

 No Fraser.

 "Shit. I told him to wait just a second," Ray muttered, reaching out to
close the door, when Fraser's voice interrupted him.

 "I'm still here, Ray," Fraser said quietly, and Ray started to freak the
hell out. 

 "Where, Fraser?" he squinted. Christ, had he gone blind? Maybe his mother
was right. "I don't get this. What the---"

 "Well Ray, it would appear - well, maybe appear isn't the best choice of
words. It would seem that I'm, ah, hmm." 

 "What?" Ray waved his hands around in the air. "You're what?" 

 "Ah---"

 And then it hit him, and Ray felt his knees go weak. Taking a shaky step
back into his apartment, Ray reached out and grabbed the top of his
kitchen counter. "Oh, fuck, no. Fraser, you aren't like - dead - are you?"


 "I don't feel dead, Ray, but, really, it's an interesting philosophical
point. The Inuit believe that the spirit that animates the flesh
survives---"

 "Fraser, enough with the theory - are you or are you not fucking dead?"

 "Ah - no."

 Ray breathed out a sigh of relief. "Ok. Not dead. Not dead is good." He
squinted. "But if you're not dead, then how..."

 "Apparently, I'm invisible."

 "What?"

 "Yes," and then the door to his apartment swung shut, (by itself! No one
was touching it! What the fuck?) "Invisible."

 "But wait...what?" Ray sputtered. "I mean...how? When?"

 "Oh, I'm assuming something transpired during the night," Fraser said
from just behind him and Ray jumped. 

 "Shit. Stop sneaking up on me like that." The air around Ray shifted, and
then Fraser was in front of him. Somehow he was sure of it. "Frase?"

 "Yes?" 

 "Ok." Ray ran a hand through his hair and started to pace. "So I saw you
yesterday. That was yesterday, right? That we closed the Mullins case?"

 "Correct."

 "Right. So we went back to the station, finished up the paperwork. There
was that woman there from the news station. She interviewed us, me mostly
about working with a Mountie , and then...what. Did we go get something to
eat after that?"

 "Yes. We went to the diner."

 Ray snapped his fingers. "Right. Ok. So maybe that's it."

 "What's it?" Fraser asked.

 "Maybe it was something at the diner. Something that---"

 "Causes invisibility?" Fraser made a sound that sounded very close to a
snort and Ray frowned. "I highly doubt that, Ray." 

 "Yeah, well you got any other bright ideas?" Ray stepped forward, then
stopped. "Am I, uh, gonna bang into you or something?" 

 The air moved again, and Ray turned his head to the right. "No, I'll make
sure to steer myself clear of where you're walking," Fraser said from
Ray's side. "Speaking of which, did you want to maybe return to your room
for anything?"

 "Why would I..." Ray trailed off as he looked down. With all the
commotion he hadn't realized that all he had on was a pair off boxers.
"Gotcha. I can't see you, but---"

 "Exactly," Fraser paused to clear his throat. "I can see you quite
clearly." 

 "Ok." Ray nodded and pointed his finger to where he guessed Fraser to be.
"I'm gonna go get dressed. You stay here."

 "Over here, Ray."

 Ray whirled around to face Fraser's voice coming from his other side.
"Here, there. Wherever. Just - stay."

 Moving quickly, Ray pulled on a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. He
shoved his feet in a pair of boots and grabbed a baseball hat from the top
shelf of his closet, shoving it on his head. "Hey, I just thought of
something," he called out. "Where's Dief?"

 Pulling the door shut on his bedroom, Ray wandered over to where he'd
tossed his jacket the night before. He stopped in the middle of pulling it
on. "Frase?"

 "Sorry, Ray. Over here."

 Ray turned his head toward the front door. "By the door?"

 "Yes."

 "Cool." Grabbing his keys, he walked over, stopping a few feet behind the
door. "I, uh, need you to open it so I don't hit into you or something."

 "Ah. Very good." And Ray just shook his head as the door swung open,
seemingly by itself. 

 "Actually, I wonder..." Ray stared at the open door, and moved closer.
The more steps he took, the closer he felt to Fraser. He could practically
smell him, all the things that he normally associated with Fraser: serge
and leather and comfort and friendship. He reached out a hand; felt the
rough scratch of wool under his fingers and smiled. "I can feel you." 

 Fraser was right there, somehow right in front of him, but somehow not.
"So fucking weird," Ray said softly. 

 Locking the apartment up behind them, Ray shook his head. "So, about
Dief?" He walked down the hallway slowly, wanting to make sure Fraser
stayed near him 

 "Well, Ray, the problem with bringing Diefenbaker along is that he reads
lips."

 "Yeah. So?" Fraser remained silent and then it clicked and Ray chuckled.
"Got it." 

 Fraser laughed quietly, and something curled hard and tight in Ray's
chest. It was almost like normal. Just an average, run of the mill day for
Detective Ray Vecchio and Constable Benton Fraser. Except, oh yeah. Today
one of them was invisible. 

 Christ in a bucket. 

 A door from down the hall slammed, and Ray reached out to grab Fraser's
arm. "Wait, Frase. Hang on." Ray cleared his throat and smiled his most
charming smile at his landlady who was walking toward them. "Morning," he
said as cheerfully as he could. "We were wondering if maybe you could help
us out with something."

 She narrowed her eyes and frowned at him. "We? We who?"

 Ray sighed. "Nothing. Forget it. It's just," he glanced to his left,
where he could feel Fraser, then looked back at her. "There's no one next
to me, right? Mountie? Red jacket?"

 A brief pause. "There are no drugs allowed in my apartments, Mister," she
said, shaking a finger at him and walking forward. "I had no problem with
your clomping, but the first time I find out you're using and you're gone.
Understood?" She took one more step and tripped, her body pitching toward
him. "What the..." She looked down at the floor and frowned. Ray heard
Fraser grunt and shift next to him. 

 "You ok?" Ray said quietly, trying not to move his lips. 

 "She stepped on my boot," Fraser answered, sounding a little miffed. 

 "Well, you are invisible," Ray chided, before remembering his landlady
was still standing there, staring at him curiously. He grinned at her.
"You hear that?" 

 "Hear what?" she asked, taking a small step away from him.

 "Ok, then," he said, and clapped his hands once. "You have a nice day."

 She shook her finger at him one last time. "I'm not kidding. No drugs!" 

 Ray waited until she turned and walked away before heading for the
staircase.

 "That went well," Fraser said and started down the steps. Ray could hear
his feet on the stairs.

 Ray glared at where he thought Fraser was. "Well, next time keep your big
feet out of the way."

 The sun was shining brightly, and Ray pulled a pair of sunglasses from
his jacket as he pushed open the front door and hit the sidewalk. The
diner they'd eaten at the night before was only a few blocks away. Seeing
as how that was the last time Ray saw Fraser, he figured it might be the
best place to start today.

 "You still here?" Ray asked.

 "Still here, Ray."

 An attractive blonde woman was putting change in the meter next to her
car, and as Ray went to pass she looked up and smiled. Ray slowed down and
grinned back. "Hey."

 "Hi there." She tossed her long hair over her shoulder. 

 "Nice morning," Ray said.

 "It sure is."

 "Yep. " Ray crossed his arms over his chest and jerked his head to the
side. "Me and my friend here just decided to go out, get some fresh air."

 The woman faltered, her eyes flicking over Ray's shoulder then back
again. "Your...friend?"

 "Yeah. Mountie uniform. Hat. Boots. The whole shebang." He paused. "You
don't see him?"

 "Oh sure. I see him." Ray's mood brightened for a split second, before
she continued. "Right there, next to the unicorn and the seven dwarves.
Freak. I swear, not a normal guy left in the world. Not one..." Turning on
the heel of her shoe, the woman stalked away. 

 Ray rubbed a hand over his face. Cracked his neck. This definitely wasn't
going according to plan. "Fraser?"

 "Yes, Ray?"

 "No more asking people if they see you. I'm gonna get locked up if I keep
this up."

 "Understood."

 Without another word Ray, made his way to the diner, pausing only briefly
at the door to be sure Fraser had passed through. 

 "I'm inside, Ray."

 "Cool, that's---"

 "I'm sorry, sir, did you say something?" Ray looked over at the hostess
who was smiling brightly at him, glossy red menus clutched close to her
chest. 

 "Uh, I said two."

 "Two?" She peered over his shoulder before looking back at him. "Are you
waiting for someone?"

 "Yes. Yeah. Waiting for someone. Can we - I, uh, sit?"

 The waitress nodded and he followed her toward the booths in the back.
Noticing that the one he and Fraser had sat in the night before was free,
he stopped next to it. "Okay if I sit here?"

 "Sure, that's fine." She dropped a menu on the tabletop for him and
walked away. 

 So here they were again, at the same goddamned table as last night. Only
last night, Fraser had been sitting across from him, clear as... night,
and Ray had been trying to not see him. They were partners, friends, they
had a good thing going just the way things were. 

 Cop. Mountie. Partners. Lately he'd been forgetting that. More often than
not lately he'd find himself thinking about how Fraser's hands would feel
on his skin. Wondering if Fraser's lips were as soft as they looked. There
were lines you had with a partner; lines you couldn't cross. Just last
night Ray'd been thinking about how much that line sucked. He hated that
line. But it was there and he had to make sure he stayed firmly on one
side of it. Cop. And Fraser had to stay on the other. Mountie. 

 And that was it. That had to be it. 

 Ray picked up his menu and hid his face behind it. "Frase? You here?" he
whispered. 

 "Yes," Fraser sighed. "And Ray, I must say I feel that, for a man who
spends his life working undercover, well, quite honestly, you're doing a
dreadful job of being discreet." 

 Ray noticed the silverware across from him start to move. "Stop that," he
hissed, slapping his hand down on top of the knife and fork. "And you just
shut up about me being discreet. I get woken up this morning, by my
invisible partner. You hearing this? Invisible. Everything considered, I
think I'm doing pretty fucking well---" 

 "Ray, ssh!"

 Ray snapped his mouth shut just as another waitress - and hallelujah! it
was the same waitress from last night --came up from behind him. 

 Ray grinned and she smiled right back. "Morning there. What can I get
you?"

 "Coffee. Just coffee for now, and," she had started to walk away but
stopped and turned back as Ray kept talking. "Well, last night I was here.
With my partner. And I was wondering, after we left or during the night or
something, did anyone say anything about the food? Any complaints? Weird
side affects?"

 "Nope." She shook her head and snapped her gum. "Not so far as I heard.
Is that why he's not here with you today? He sick?"

 "You could say that." Ray dropped his face into the palm of his hand. 

 "This the same guy I always see you with?"

 "Yeah." Ray looked up. "Big guy." Something shimmered in the corner of
Ray's eye and he whipped his head around to where he thought Fraser was
sitting. "Mountie." The light faded. "Dark hair." Ray squinted. Another
flicker of light but it was faint. So faint Ray almost thought he was
imagining it. "Red serge jacket." And bam. Nothing. No light. 

 "Ray, what are you..."

 But an idea had formed in Ray's head, and he tried one last time,
ignoring the puzzled look the waitress was giving him. "Really dark, blue
eyes," he said quietly, and there! That was it! He could just make out the
outline of Fraser's body sitting across from him. "Fuck, that's it!" he
said, and jumped from his seat. 

 "Forget about the coffee," he said to the waitress who rolled her eyes
and walked away. "Stetson, Sam Browne, pumpkin pants," and Fraser
disappeared again. "Good. Stay that way until we get back to my
apartment."

 "Really, Ray, I fail to see---"

 "Yeah, and everyone's gonna keep failing to see you if you don't shut up
and come back to my apartment with me, right now."

 "Very well," Fraser said, and Ray could feel him fall into step right
behind him. 

 By the time they made it back to the apartment, Ray was absolutely
certain what it was he needed to do to get Fraser back to normal. So the
minute the door closed behind them, he started saying whatever made
Fraser, Fraser, and not what made Fraser a Mountie. 

 "Tall, dark brown hair, blue eyes, crooked tooth, strong sense of duty,
honor, my partner, my friend..." and with each phrase Fraser became a
little clearer, a little more solid, until he was just there, looking
touched and grateful and happy all at once.

 Ray stepped towards him, and reached out a hand, laying it flat against
Fraser's chest. He looked in Fraser's eyes and smiled. 

 "You can see me?" Fraser asked.

 "Yeah, Frase," Ray answered thickly. "I see you now."	
  

End Seeing Fraser by estrella 

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