homeis.html   Home Is Where You Are 
Icecat62  

 

Rating: G 
Genre: Gen 
Category: Friendship 
Pairings: None. 
Spoilers: Post COTW. 
Teaser: Ray decides it's time he and Fraser moved on. 

Originally posted on RedSuitsYou@egroups.com, December 2000. 

Standard Disclaimer: due South and it's characters belong to Alliance. I
just use them for fun. Hopefully they will return to their world unharmed
and ready for other people to play with them. 

    Lying next to the fire, Ray stared up at the stars, amazed to find
that he remembered all the constellations. He grew excited when he
realized that he was finally beginning to be in tune with his
surroundings. When he and Fraser had first set off on their adventure, he
didn't know squat about snow, ice or sled dogs. Now each day, he and
Fraser equally shared the duties that kept them alive in this barren
wilderness. 
    He grinned again as he thought of how he had changed. From skinning a
caribou to starting a fire, Fraser had taught him everything he knew.
Fraser's persistence and perseverance in showing him how to do things had
paid off. He wasn't an expert, but he could survive here if he had too.
The strange thing is...he found that he wanted to. He didn't want to go
back to Chicago. 
    Chicago meant old memories. Chicago meant knowing that Stella was
married and living with Ray Vecchio in Florida. Going back to Chicago
would be like going home to an empty house. He also knew that when this
was all over, Fraser wouldn't be returning to Chicago. He hadn't said it
in so many words, but things he had hinted at said that the Mountie was
going to some how stay here in Canada. 
    Rolling onto his side, Ray looked over the flames at Fraser who was
lying in his sleeping pack. Fraser was staring at the sky, just like he
had been, but his expression was sad. Almost melancholy. He knew that
Fraser was thinking about what they were going to do once they headed back
to civilization. Knowing that Fraser was thinking along the same lines as
he was, Ray decided it was the best time to broach the subject. 
    "Yo Fraze." Fraser turned his head and looked at him expectantly. "Can
we talk about somethin?" Fraser rolled over and leaned on his elbow. "What
would you like to talk about Ray?" "I was thinkin. We're gonna be goin
home soon..." Ray could see Fraser's eyes cloud over slightly. He could
see that the idea of going 'home' didn't appeal to him either.
"...well...I don't wanna go back there. To Chicago." He almost started
laughing at the change in Fraser's expression. It went from guarded to
positively excited. 
    "What do you have in mind?" "Well...I was kinda thinkin...if you
wouldn't mind too much...I, uh...I was gonna go and see Maggie. The last
time I got a letter from her, she was talkin about me and her maybe hookin
up." Fraser quickly sat up, staring at Ray in wonder. "She wrote you and
expressed an interest in you and her cohabiting?" "Well...yeah." Ray
smiled and sat up as well. "She's gonna be posted near Whitehorse and she
wants to know if I'd be interested in goin there with her when you and me
were done travelin around." 
    Taking a deep breath, he rubbed at the back of his neck. "She was also
wonderin if maybe you wanted to come there with us." Fraser's eyebrows
rose a fraction. "Not to live with us. You'd have to get your own place,
but...well she said there's an opening for another constable. She asked
them if they would be interested in maybe hiring you for the post and they
said yeah." Leaning forward, Ray waited for Fraser's response. 
    Running a thumb along his brow, Fraser rested his chin on his knees.
He wanted to stay in Canada, but he had thought more along the lines of
getting a posting closer to Tuktoyutuk. He had been stationed in
Whitehorse and it hadn't worked out, but that was before he had survived
almost four years in Chicago. Whitehorse would be considered a wilderness
posting compared to the city of Chicago. 
    Glancing over at Ray, he could see the tenseness in his features. He
knew that Ray wanted him to say yes. He also knew that being stationed
with Maggie would give him the chance to get to know his sister. He also
knew that being posted in a 'real' town would give him the chance to
settle down. To marry. The problem was...would the woman he was thinking
about be interested in moving to Whitehorse and starting a life with him? 
    Ray grew excited as he saw the way that Fraser looked at him. He knew
that he was going to say yes. To seal the deal, he only had to put the
final nail in. "Ya know Fraze, if you moved to Whitehorse with Maggie and
me...you could ask Frannie to come and live with ya." He got the reaction
he was hoping for. Fraser's head jerked up and his cheeks colored a light
pink. "How did you...I've never said that I was thinking about her." 
    Ray began laughing as he picked a stick up and poked at the fire.
"Frazer, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know what you're thinkin.
You ain't been sendin letters and stuff to Toronto, you've been sendin
them to Chicago...with Frannie's name on 'em." "I just wanted her to know
that we're doing well." "Yeah? If that's all you wanted to do, you'd have
sent the things to Vecchio. I know you, Benton buddy. You said you liked
her. I mean you and the Ice Queen...I kinda thought maybe you two would
hook up, but she had big plans for herself  and they didn't include you.
Frannie...she'd wait forever and go anywhere with you and you know it." 
    Shaking his head no, Fraser frowned. "It's not like that Ray and you
know it." Growing serious, Ray dropped the stick into the fire and stared
back at Fraser. "Yeah it is 'that' easy and you know it is. Frannie loves
you, she has for a long time. She'd wait. Hell, she's waited this long,
what's a few more months? All ya have to do is pick up your pencil, write
her and ask her to come and live with you. She'd do it. I know she would.
Heck, look at me! If someone would have said a few years ago I'd be livin
the life of some other guy and then hikin through this stuff, I'd have
laughed in their face. Like you told me, ya never know until you try." 
    Ray knew he had Fraser convinced. "Come on, just try it. Write Frannie
a nice letter askin her to come up here and live with you in Whitehorse.
She'll say yes." "She won't come unless...we get married." Laughing, Ray
picked up a handful of snow and tossed it at Fraser, who quickly ducked.
"So marry her! You ain't gettin any younger Fraze and neither is she."
Smiling, he stared at Fraser, watching a shy smile come to his lips.
"Maybe I will." 
    Shaking his head, Ray lay back down. "You'll ask her. I know I'm gonna
ask Maggie as soon as we get back." "Ray!" Snuggling down in his pack, Ray
chuckled. Fraser and he would be moving to Whitehorse. They'd live next to
each other, maybe even work on some cases together just like they did in
Chicago. Only this time, they really would be brothers and this time
Frannie would really be his sister. Life sure was strange some times, but
hell...he'd take what he could get. Life was too short, he'd found that
out while living in the arctic cold. Home was where you made it, not where
you were from.