Body     *BLOOD ON THE SNOW*   

  *By GILDA LILY*   

Pairing: Benny/Ray V., Frannie/Elaine. 

Category: Drama. 

Rating: R 

Warning: Violence. 

Evil Gilda has been at it again! The basic scenario was swiped from a
scene aired on GENERAL HOSPITAL on Tuesday, December 27th. If you're a GH
fan, you'll recognize it. If not, you'll just have to read it! :) The DUE
SOUTH touches are my own. 

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, Alliance does, more's the pity. 

Comments welcome on or off-list. E-mail: jeanniemarie@sprintmail.com. 

January 1, 2001  

 

SOUND OFF, SLOW MOTION (TIME IN A WINK): 

*Snow falls lightly as the door of Chicago's 27th Precinct is opened, and
four people emerge and start down the steps.  

The first two are Elaine and Frannie, smiling and laughing, teasing their
joyful comrades behind them. Benny and Ray smile back, everyone pumped up
because the men have just made one of the biggest busts in Chicago
history: a Mob kingpin and several highly-placed city officials. A major
web of corruption is crushed in a notoriously corrupt city. It's a major
feather in Ray Vecchio's cap, and they were going out to celebrate. 

Benny is thrilled for his partner. He is finally getting the credit he so
richly deserves. He helped break the case, but the lion's share of the
work (and the credit) is Ray's. He is so happy that he feels like dancing
down the street. 

Ray is ecstatic. He has taken down some major bad guys and has made Benny
proud of him. For the first time in a long time, he believes that he can
make Lieutenaut someday. He reaches out to catch a snowflake on his tongue
and smiles at Benny. 

They glow with happiness. They are still like newlyweds, unable to believe
their good fortune. They spend every waking moment together that's
possible and still can't get enough of each other. Their gloved hands
touch and their skin tingles even through the leather.	

Elaine looks back and grins. She is happy for Ray. He has always been
overlooked in the department and works like a horse. Lieutenaut Welsh does
his best because he recognizes Ray's talents, but now the brass will have
to recognize them, too. She turns back and smiles at Frannie. 

Frannie feels giddy. She is happy for her brother. Despite their
squabbling, she loves him dearly, and she is also glad that the Mafia
kingpin isn't Frankie Zuko. Ray and Frankie have a truce of sorts, and
she'd hate to see what would happen if it was broken. She knows that it's
a love-turned-hate kind of thing with them and she worries about the
viciousness of payback. 

She is also on her own Cloud Nine. She and Elaine are new lovers, and she
can't believe her good fortune. After a lifetime of losers she has finally
found a caring, considerate mate. Life's little irony that she happens to
be female. 

Frannie feels so good that she reaches down and scoops up a handful of
snow, tossing it at Elaine. The policewoman shouts and answers the attack,
Frannie squealing with delight. Ray's green eyes sparkle as he moves
gracefully, the long, pearl-gray coat he's wearing fluttering in the wind.
The coat is a Christmas gift from Benny. The Mountie has a fondness for
pearl-gray. 

Elaine gets Frannie with a snowball down the back of her collar, and the
women shriek and grab each other in mock combat. They twirl around in a
laughing ballet. 

Ray has splattered Benny's dark-blue RCMP coat with snow, the Mountie
quite indignant as he scoops up his own missile. Ray puts up his hands as
he laughs and ducks the snowball, but is quickly battered by the next one.


As Elaine is twirled around to face the Precinct, her expression turns to
shock, then fear. 

Ray sees her face and turns, his own shock quickly turning to grimness as
he begins to pull out his gun.	

The two uniformed patrolmen, the streetlight illuminating their
blue-and-white checked bands on their hats, raise their gloved hands. The
Uzis begin to spew bullets in rapid fire. 

Elaine yells a warning as she shoves Frannie to the ground, grunting in
pain as a blossom of red explodes from her left shoulder. She is knocked
to the ground with the force of the impact. 

Ray shoves a startled Benny, caught off-balance, to the sidewalk. He hits
it hard, his head slamming on snow-covered concrete as his Stetson flies
off. 

Ray's body is caught in a macabre dance as it jerks, the force of the
bullets propelling him off the ground, then he descends in a graceful arc
to slam face-first into the snow. 

The shooters leave. For a space of seconds, all is silent, the snow
drifting down, drops of red in the pristine snow. Then Frannie pushes
herself up from the ground. 

 

SOUND ON, (REAL TIME): 

Frannie screamed. She scrabbled over to Elaine. "You're hit!" 

Elaine groaned as her shoulder was jostled. "Are you okay?" 

"I'm fine. You saved my life!" She tore off her scarf and pressed it to
Elaine's wound. 

Elaine's eyes widened. "Oh, no," she whispered. 

Benny is up, his blue eyes wide. Blood trickles down a cut on his temple.
His face is as white as the snow. Elaine feels the horror build. A
dark-red nimbus of blood is seeping out around Ray's body, staining the
snow. 

Benny suddenly screamed, startling both women. They watched as he crawled
frantically over to Ray and turned him over. 

The pearl-gray coat was now a deep red. Ray's skin was as white as the
snow, his body limp. 

"No! No, Ray, you can't leave me! I love you! Oh, god, no!" Benny's hands
ran over Ray's body, his gloves becoming soaked in blood. "Ray! Ray,
please don't leave me! Please! Oh, god, love, don't go away and leave me
all alone! You have to be all right!" Tears streamed down Benny's face as
he held his lover's shattered body and began to rock back and forth. 

"Frannie, help them," Elaine whispered. 

Frannie looked at her lover, then nodded. She gave Elaine a quick kiss,
then hurried on her knees to her brother and his lover. 

"Benton, we have to stop the bleeding." 

Benny was covered in blood, his smart red serge a deeper red now. His
knees were pooled in red slush as the tears streamed silver rivulets down
his face. Ray was a rag doll in his arms, his gold crucifix bright and
shiny against marble skin. Benny's hand shook as he gently reached out to
touch Ray's shorn head. Suddenly, he tore off his gloves with a savagery
that startled Frannie. With his bare hand he touched the precious head,
cradling it to his chest. 

"Ray..." he moaned. 

Frannie's heart broke but she grabbed the scarf he wore and applied it the
worst wound, a gushing hole in Ray's chest. She was terrified of his waxen
pallor and didn't even know if he was breathing. She screamed for help. 

"Ray, you can't leave me! I love you!"	 

"Benton..." 

The door to the 27th opened and Harding Welsh and Jack Huey were the first
ones out, guns drawn. They blanched at the sight before them and Jack
flipped open his cellphone, barking orders for an ambulance.  Welsh was
down the steps and shouted, "What happened?" 

"Two beat cops with Uzis. They went that way!" Elaine pointed with her
good arm. Detectives in their shirtsleeves pounded down the sidewalk,
closely followed by patrol officers. 

"My god," Welsh said as he saw the carnage up close. He shook slightly as
he looked down at Ray, his favorite. He had kept that a careful secret,
piling on the cases, because he knew that Ray Vecchio could handle the
work and needed the challenge. He had a soft spot for the fiery Italian
and now his quiet Canadian. 

Who was entreating his lover not so quietly. Shock gleamed in Benton
Fraser's blue eyes as the tears stung his cold skin. Star-shaped
snowflakes floated gently onto his dark hair. 

Welsh saw Elaine's bleeding shoulder and checked her. Frannie and Jack
were busy trying to stop Ray from bleeding to death. 

The ambulance arrived in record time. Welsh put a hand on Benny's
shoulder. 

"You must let go of him now, Constable." Benny reacted by tightening his
hold on Ray as a haunting keening began. "Constable, Ray needs help. The
paramedics can give that to him." A moan. "Please, give Ray a chance." 

The snow-frosted head bowed, strong arms suddenly falling away. The
paramedic efficiently strapped Ray to a stretcher while his partner tended
to Elaine. The stretcher was wheeled away, leaving Benny kneeling in the
blood-drenched snow. 

A soft whisper was borne on the wind. Could it have been, "Benny?" 

Suddenly Benny looked around wildly, his body shaking. His frantic gaze
found Ray and he began crawling toward the ambulance. He screamed, "Ray!
Don't leave me!" Tears streamed faster down his cheeks. "I love you! I
love you! I love you!" The howl rivaled Dief as he stood and ran, pounding
his fists on the ambulance door. The paramedic helping Elaine grabbed him.
Jack came over to assist as Benny struggled, his face contorted in agony
as he screamed his throat raw. Welsh took the paramedic's place as the man
fished out a hyperdermic needle and quickly filled it. He jabbed it into
Benny's arm. 

"Ray! Ray! Raaaayyyy!!!!" 

 

SOUND OFF, SLOW MOTION (TIME IN A WINK): 

Quiet suddenly descends on the chaotic scene as Benny collapses in Welsh
and Jack's arms. The ambulance doors open and the men gently hand the limp
Mountie up to the waiting paramedic. Elaine is helped into the vehicle by
the other paramedic, who runs around to get behind the wheel. The
ambulance light flashes red as the vehicle races off with its precious
burdens. Frannie runs to her car to follow. 

Welsh rubs his face with his hand, then he turns to the scene. He and Jack
look at it grimly, then Welsh barks orders to a pair of returning
patrolmen. They run for the standard yellow tape, and Welsh and Jack go
into the Precinct. 

For a brief time, there is silence on the street. The snow continues to
fall, beginning to dapple the almost-perfect scarlet outline of a human
body, the streetlight glinting off a crucifix ringed in red.*